Almost everybody I know who has seen this movie, liberal or conservative, has told me it is nothing more than a tired, recycled plot, pumped up on special effects. Yet, because it carries an anti-capitalist world view, it has been lauded by the Academy and up for Best Picture.

The Academy Award goes to the film that best carries our message and slaps it upside your head.

I’ve noticed that over the past five years, I have hated 99% of all Academy Award nominated film. I now use today’s nominations as a guide. Has it been nominated? Well then, I’ll skip it.

I find it interesting how many of the psychic houses I pass as I drive through Denver make it very clear that you are to set up an appointment. I suppose if you were psychic you could call me ahead of time and tell me not to arrive at 3pm on Tuesday, because that’s when Susan is supposed to drop in.

What makes fortune telling so effective is that they cater to our over inflated egos. Think of the last horoscope or fortune cookie you read. They always read to the effect of, “Everybody ever born between these dates have these exact same traits: you are kind and thoughtful, thinking of others before yourself, generous. Your hard working attitude and your attention to detail is what will allow you to be successful this year. You are the perfect lover, a charmer.” Well, shoot, these psychic people must know what they are talking about, I guess I am hot stuff.

Imagine for a second if the horoscopes actually told the truth. “You are a stuck-up, mean-spirited jerk– oh, and your breath stinks, too.” Well…, you know those horoscopes, can’t really trust them to be accurate.

Of course, the moment today’s seers started telling it like it is becomes the moment they lose business. Which makes me wonder why they charge money in the first place. With abilities like that, you’d think they’d do pretty well in Vegas.

When you allow government to funnel your money to in order to “take care” of you, the costs far outweigh whatever perceived benefit in the long run. Thank you Mary D for this great idea!

Christmas day proved me right. Now with the TSA’s overreaction from the thwarted attack, I am livid. Let’s examine some of the irony with the new rules.

First, the guy who saved the day got out of his seat to do so. In response, the TSA now says you can’t leave your seat.

You are not allowed to keep anything in your lap 1 hour prior to the plane landing, including paperback books. Serious? You guys at the TSA think banning paperback books is going to stop terrorism?!? The terrorists stated goal is to, what, kill our freedoms, is it not? They no longer need to be successful with their terrorist attacks anymore–the overreaction of our government will automatically take away our freedoms for them.

So we are expected to sit strapped to our seats for hours on end without even the relief of a book to pass the time the next time we want to take a flight. We can’t cover ourselves if we are cold, we can’t get up to use the bathroom if we have to. Prison inmates have more freedoms than this! The detainees at Guantanemo have more freedoms than this! The terrorists have effectively put 1 million flyers into prison every day!

(But Ben, we’ve got to do SOMETHING!) Yes, but we have to do the right thing and the right thing was not done on Christmas day. The so-called “panty-bomber” was on a terrorist watch list, had an Islamic name, bought a one-way ticket to America with cash and NOBODY raised a red flag. Similar things happened with the Ft. Hood incident.

Screw political correctness. We are at war with radical Muslims, they should be suspect and scrutinized. Until the war is over, that’s just the reality of it. Granted, maybe not every jihadist who says “Death to America” on his website will actually carry out plans to do so, but let’s double check him, just in case.

Here’s my solution, it’s a good one, who can I talk to? One: Give us our books, blankets, shampoos and knitting needles back. Let us roam the cabin if we need to. I mean this. The ban on these items will not make us a lick safer. All it does is give the illusion of security at the expense of freedom. Several foreign airlines operate just fine without these restrictions.

Obama has promised more full body screeners. Good. I can live with that. It’s an invasion of privacy, yes, but not of freedom. But let’s use them the right way. If you have an Yemenese passport, Islamic name and you are buying a one way ticket with cash, buddy, you’re going through it.

Let’s spend our money on getting some chemically trained dogs to roam the security lines. People aren’t moving anyway, they might as well be subject to a “sniff” search.

Allow flight attendants who qualify with training and a thorough background check to be allowed to carry if they want to. Assign more undercover air marshals as well. There is no greater defense than a good offense.

Finally, make a BIG deal out of the everyday heroes who risk their lives to save the day. They should be given some sort of financial reward for their efforts, so as to encourage more people to take safety into their own hands.

Between you and me, I am so upset about the new rules, that if I’m to ever get on a plane again, I swear I’m tempted to engage in civil disobedience, just the make a point. I WILL NOT put away that paperback. Let them fuss over me. Let them arrest me. My cause will be vindicated and hopefully enough people will see how stupid it is that they waste all their efforts over some chronically ill white guy because he refuses to put down his book “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine, instead of focusing that time and money on the real perpetrators. I just pray these restrictions are lifted by the time I take the next flight or else, you might be seeing me on the news…

Question: If you were to walk down the halls of congress and trip, who would catch you? The Republicans or the Democrats?

Answer: Neither. The Democrats would form a government agency designed to catch people who happen to trip in the halls of congress. It will span several bureaucracies, cost millions and will not be completed for several years. Of course, you’ll be long recovered from your fall by then, but they’ll keep the agency in place, “just in case” you happen to fall again.

The Republicans will simply tell you to catch yourself.

The whole ordeal is comical, but the policy issues they want to pass as a result of all of this are frightening. CO2 is NOT a toxin, not anymore than oxygen is. You follow that logic for very long, and you end up in the camp that says we need to eliminate life to sustain it, because there are too many humans exhaling. Once you end up there, you’ll find yourself in a bad place. Since you’ll be hard pressed to find volunteers to leave the planet, government will have to make that choice for you.

We’ve got to stop eating beef because cows fart. We’ve got to stop eating fish because we might overfish. We’ve got to stop eating plants because they’ve got feelings too. Let’s ban incandescent bulbs because they run hot. But why stop there. Let’s just ban manmade light altogether, as today’s Blackout Friday attempted to do. Forget the fact that we’ve spent CENTURIES to develop the technology to improve and lengthen our lives, technology is the new evil, let’s deny it and go back to the Dark Ages (has anybody studied the history of Rome, by the way?)

I’ll restate my position on environmentalism. God commanded man to be a steward of the land, nothing more. Man cannot save the earth. That is God’s job and in the end, we are promised, it will be destroyed. The problem is not with conservation or recycling or being litter free. It’s when government uses “environmentalism” based on shoddy science as an excuse to pass laws to control and dictate our lives.

Sometimes the far left just makes my job so easy. This cartoon is based off of the news story that came out a few days ago regarding the elementary school in Mass. that has banned ANY Christmas reference whatsoever for their “Winter Holiday,” including Santa Claus and candy canes! What really got me rolling, however, is when the administration, in defense of the decision, came out and said that they wanted to have a religiously neutral holiday*, and that it was enacted so that they could teach tolerance to the kids. Huh? Yeah, maybe in high school, this might have been appropriate (okay, so it’s never appropriate), but in elementary school? You’re going to confuse the poor tikes.

“Teacher, what’s tol-tolrr-torllrrance?”

“Well, Johnny, that’s when you ban everything and don’t let certain religious people express their faith during holiday celebrations.”

“Oh…”

Talk about doublespeak. Gotta love it. When it gets this extreme, all I can do is sit back and laugh. And create a cartoon to invite you to laugh with me.

–oh, and in case I forget… Merry Christmas!

*um…, doesn’t the word “holiday” itself come from “holy day?”… more on that in a later cartoon.

Just a few thoughts I have been burdened with…

What really saddens me is how ignorant many people are on how the real world operates. Ran into a guy, is in favor of school vouchers, is opposed to unions, is pro-life, and yet votes Democrat. And nothing I could say could convince him he had the wrong party. Another friend of mine, atheist by choice, did not know about America’s Christian heritage. History is boring, he always says, but then makes his decisions based upon his misconceptions of a history he does not know!

I’d like to give a lesson in economics to every graduating senior. Perhaps instead, requiring them to read Atlas Shrugged might be an easier way to get the point across. Call it balanced perspective.

I find it funny how some of those who are the first to say, “The Bible says don’t judge!” when it comes to their sexual lifestyle are the same to sit and judge the earnings of top execs and CEOs. I’m not saying that there aren’t corrupt CEOs and executives, but since when did God task us with deciding what they should earn, when and how. The last time I looked, I read, “Do not covet.”

And well meaning Christian friends tell me how socialism is God’s government of choice, because the government needs to take care of the poor, because isn’t that what Christ commanded us? Yes, when we read in Acts, we see how Peter and the church set up a communal society, from each according to his ability to each according to his need. The difference, however, was that it was a voluntary system, and even the example of Ananias and Sapphira demonstrated its failure. Socialism requires the perfectibility of mankind, and since Scripture clearly states man is fallen, it will never work without His Spirit. Capitalism works not on what man can ideally be, but on what man is now, and derives its success from there.

What is the best form of government to take care of the poor? Capitalism. Which country has the richest poor? America. There is not a country in the world that does not have poverty, however, there are so many opportunities for America’s poor that do not exist in other parts of the globe. Only out of our blessings can we bless others, how can it be otherwise? Which country has given more money, dollar for dollar, to private charity than any other nation? America. Yes, God calls us to care for the poor. But He calls us to actively participate, not to pawn it off on some government program so that we don’t have to think about it.

Don’t get me wrong. There is a always a place for government programs, but they can’t hold a candle to the effectiveness of private charity. Shouldn’t we be focusing our dollar on what works?

Final thought, just something I’ve noticed. Democrats promise big, but rarely deliver. Republicans simply don’t promise.

My opposition to the health care bill is not because I don’t want insurance companies to treat those with pre-existing conditions, as was aluded by a friend of mine. If you know my past health history, you know this isn’t the case. In my view, to deny pre-existing conditions (and I know this will break from some of my libertarian friends) is paramount to discrimination. Some changes are necessary in our healthcare system. However, the public option should not be among them.

According to a recent Washington Times editorial, here are 8 practical alternative ways to reform healthcare. Interesting that none of these seem to be on the table.

1)Various lawsuit reforms to keep down medical malpractice premiums, whose costs are passed on to consumers.
2) Allowing health insurance to be bought and sold across state lines.
3) Allowing the tax break for health insurance to be claimed by individuals as well as by businesses.
4) Increased use of health savings accounts.
5) Creation of “health stamps” for low-income people who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for tax credits.
6) Allowing doctors who provide pro bono care to treat the value of their time spent doing so as a charitable deduction from their income taxes.
7) Allowing states to band together in regional insurance-pooling arrangements.
Various measures to make it easier for patients to figure out the costs of various services and doctors’ fees so they can comparison-shop.

The entire article can be read here:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/09/better-ways-to-reform-health-care/

A common saying goes, “Never argue with an idiot, for after a moment, no one can tell the difference.” Michael Moore is an idiot, so at the risk of sounding like one myself, here I go.

My biggest beef with Michael Moore is that he is a hypocrite. His latest movie sets out to make the point that capitalism is evil. While I have not seen the movie (my health is too fragile for that kind of abuse), I’ve read enough glowing reviews (from the “unbiased” media) about it to know the points Moore makes to try to support is lame assertion. What befuddles me is how Michael Moore can sit making windfall profits on his movies and then point his fingers at anybody else who dares to make a profit and call them evil.

According the reviewer, Michael Moore asserts Wall Street executives gamble with innocent people’s money, and since gambling is illegal, they should be thrown into jail. The other argument he makes is that under capitalism the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and that the middle class disappears.

These points are so easily debatable that it is not even worth my time going into them, however, I know so many people who gobble up his line of thinking, that I’m afraid I have to.

To begin, where the heck does Michael Moore think our middle class came from?!? How can capitalism be shrinking our middle class, when the very fact that we have a middle class proves that 200 years of capitalism does in fact work? Seriously, can anybody with a straight face tell me that Cuba has a more robust middle class than America? Let’s go down the line: North Korea, anybody? Aha, China has a growing middle class!… for about a couple of decades now… since American industry began injecting capitalism into their society. Moore is clever in the way he uses selective anecdotes to craft his argument, but it simply does not hold up when compared to the whole of human history.

Finally, Moore’s premise is flawed, in thinking that Wall Street is somehow stealing the people’s money and then gambling with it. People have CHOOSEN to invest their money into Wall Street, knowing the risks and possible benefits. They were never forced to hand over their money. (On the other hand, people ARE forced to give their money to government, via high taxes and fees, for government to put into programs that have PROVEN not to work. So the question remains, Who’s the real thief here?)

I don’t deny that there is a ton of corporate greed in capitalism. But there is greed in government as well. The problem isn’t the system, the problem is people! Greed is evil, yes, however, hard work is noble. Unfortunately, the two are so intricately tied that to try and destroy one will inevitably lead to the destruction of the other. To preserve hard work, ingenuity, creativity, we must preserve capitalism.