Braunstein Speaks

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Last week Braunstein Speaks moved to a new server, Word Press, and is abandoning this server.

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‘Undocumented Americans’

Before Harry Reid attempts to jam an “emergency” border bill up our anuses (or “ani” for Latin purists) by means of the Senate parlor-trick of “unanimous consent,” let us review how immigration matters were handled in the past—before the Executive Branch of government (the Obama White House) decided that if it didn’t have a rubber-stamp Congress (Pelosi and Reid) it would rule through executive decree.

Majority Leader Reid coined “undocumented Americans” a few years back to describe “illegal aliens,” but the Democrats have for years used every linguistic trick they could to blur the difference between lawful immigrants and illegal aliens.

According to Title 8 of the United States Code, there are two categories of people living in this country: United States citizens; and aliens. An “alien” (stranger, foreigner) is anybody who is not a citizen. Back when there was an Immigration & Nationalization Service (dissolved in 2003) immigration law was actually enforced. About 10 percent of those living in this country are Lawful Permanent Residents; those who arrived as immigrants, but not yet have fulfilled the requirements to become American citizens.

All LPRs are required to carry their “green cards” with them at all times; those nonimmigrants that are here on visitors’ or business visas are required to carry their passports and entry-card receipts (I-94) with them at all times. Noncompliance with these requirements makes the alien subject to arrest.

In 2002, the 2000 Census noted that there were 37 million Hispanics in the United States, and the political will to enforce immigration laws—especially at the border and other points of entry—died with the old INS.

The former Justice Department agency was replaced in 2003 with four Homeland Security agencies, three of which—the Border Patrol (USBP) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—are charged with enforcing the immigration laws (Title 8, USC) as well as customs laws (Title 19) drug laws (Title 21) and any other applicable laws of the United States.

Even the primary mission of these new Homeland Security agencies has changed from “immigration enforcement” to “counter-terrorism,” to cover for this newly-found reticence by our politicians to enforce laws that may offend Hispanic or other minority voters.

A nation that cannot enforce its borders cannot defend its sovereignty. The Democratic Troika (Obama, Pelosi, and Reid) wishes to make voters out of our 12 million illegal aliens, ensuring that those who pay no taxes—currently 48 percent of us—will be in the majority, and thus dependent on government (Democratic Party) largess for the rest of their lives—while an indentured minority (taxpayers) support them in perpetuity.

This is the dream of Obama and the Democrats, just as it was the dream of Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Pol Pot. Just as history has always taught us, this dream will lead to the dissolution of our republic, and ultimately cost millions of lives, before Obama learns the hard lessons of the recent past.

God save our Republic.

‘[Gold] Has Never Been Worth Zero’

This balding, bespectacled character actor, who used to play police supervisors on television in the 1980s, is now hawking gold. If he were Gordon Liddy, another television gold salesman—and a real-life tough guy—he probably would not have to reassure us that “it has never been worth zero.”

Gold is called “the talisman of fear,” because gold sales rise as confidence in the economy drops. Gold now costs about $1,200 an ounce. Gold is measured in troy ounces, which are about 10 percent larger than customary (avoirdupois) ounces; and when gold prices rise, it indicates that the value of the dollar is dropping.

Before the Great Depression, the dollar was pegged to the price of gold, at $20 per ounce. One of the first things that President Franklin Roosevelt did was to confiscate gold; preventing citizens from owning gold coins or bullion, to prevent a run on the precious metal by panicky investors who could see what was coming.

No matter what the price of gold—or the dollar—historically, an ounce of gold would buy you a well-made suit, or a quality firearm.

Unlike cash or many other investments, gold does not “shrink,” nor does it pay interest. Although many gold coins also carry a separate numismatic value which may rise or fall with fashion; throughout history, an ounce of bullion, a South African Krugerrand, an American Eagle, or Canadian Maple Leafs have always been readily convertible to cash; and moreover, have never been “worth zero.”

Hiroshima Mon Amour*

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the first pressurized bomber used in World War II, and was developed for high-altitude long-duration missions, such as the 12-hour-long round-trip flight from Tinian, an island in the Marianas, to the home islands of the Japanese Empire. These Mariana-based missions totally destroyed Tokyo and many other major cities beginning in 1944, but still the Empire fought on.

The strategic thinking during the spring and summer of 1945 was that Japan could not be defeated from the air, but would have to be invaded in the fall. Operation Olympic would be staged from the recently-occupied Okinawa, with Operation Coronet to follow in 1946.

It was estimated that these two invasions would cost one million allied casualties, with a million more Japanese—mostly civilians—killed or wounded before the Japanese Empire capitulated.

Little notice was paid to the 509th Composite Group when it arrived on Tinian from Wendover Field in Utah in late May. The 509th trained separately and the air crews did not socialize with the other B-29 crews on the small island.

Sometime after midnight August 6th, 1945, three B-29s left Tinian on a classified mission. The first plane, equipped for weather analysis, determined that the other two planes could proceed to their primary target. The second plane, piloted by the 509th Group’s commanding officer, Col. Paul Tibbets, contained the first nuclear weapon to be dropped in war. The third plane was equipped with cameras to record the historic event for later analysis.

At 8:05 a.m. local time, Tibbet’s plane dropped its single bomb, fused for 1,000 feet, and began a 180-degree turn away from the target. Less than a minute later, the bomb exploded with the force of 12,000 tons of TNT.

A second atomic bombing on Nagasaki, three days later, was necessary to convince Japan that we had more than one such weapon. Within a few weeks, the Empire of Japan surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II. The planned invasion of Japan, which was to have cost 2,000,000 casualties, was not necessary.

Today we note the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Today, through the clear lens of backsight, many feel that the destruction of these two cities was not necessary; but the two nuclear weapons dropped 65 years ago this weekend finally ended the war that had caused over 50 million deaths over seven years of conflict in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

*Hiroshima Mon Amour is the title of a 1959 French movie that explored the morality of the atomic bombing.

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You …

… Happy Birthday Dear Barack, Happy Birthday to You!

Yesterday was President Obama’s 49th birthday … maybe. The President says he was born on August 4th, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and it is possible, but not proven. Yesterday was the President’s second birthday since he took office, and just like last year, nobody where the Obama family allegedly lived, or in one of the two hospitals where Barack Obama was allegedly born, had any remarks.

As I wrote a year ago, it is hard to conceive that nobody would remember being a neighbor of the then-future President of the United States, or attending his birth in any capacity; doctors, nurses, nursery aides, or admitting personnel.

Since no one has ever seen Barack Obama’s birth certificate, it is impossible to ascertain exactly where, or even when, he was born.

It is the same with the President’s school records. When Barry Soetoro was sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Hawaii when he was abandoned by his mother and step-father in Indonesia at the age of 10, he seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth.

After graduation from high school, Barry attends Occidental College in California for two years, and then magically appears at Columbia in New York. How did he get there? Top secret. As a foreign student, holding an Indonesian passport, was he awarded a scholarship? Top secret.

After Observing President Barack Obama for 18 months, we know only two things about him for sure: everything he can’t explain is a secret, and every word he utters is a lie. Were it not for the news media having covered up for him, all of Obama/Soetoro’s inconsistent and disparate stories would have been explored during the 2008 Campaign.

So was yesterday Barry Soetoro’s 49th birthday? Maybe; but as with everything else about him, we just don’t know.

We’re Baa-ack!

This site has been down for over a week awaiting new hardware installation, but we are going ahead with our change to a new server later this week, which I hope, will be more dependable than the server that I have been using for the last four years.

The new site will feature differing fonts—including italics so I won’t have to capitalize words for emphasis; and who knows?—maybe graphics, too.

Not much has changed over this past week, except that the Dems are on the verge of full meltdown, and this doesn’t even include Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-Outer Space) being brought up on charges for ethics violations. The only way open for Democrats to fight the probable loss of Congress this fall is by labeling all Republican opposition as Tea-Party RACISTS!

Speaking of racism, the Congressional Black Caucus is ready to state that all white congressmen, Republicans and Democrats alike, as are racists for indicting two black congresspersons.

Nothing new there.

The Gulf oil spill, it now appears, is no longer the environmental disaster first predicted. The skimmers have run out of oil to skim.

On a personal level, after five months I finally got my new wheelchair. I feel like a kid with a new bike, and the comparison is not that far off, as this chair has bicycle wheels and tires—and the tires have Presta valves, known to cyclists with expensive bikes.

As with an expensive road bike, this wheelchair has quick-release wheels, and the frame only weighs about 12 pounds, so it fits easily in the back seat of a car.

I am still undergoing chemo, and while I have no new lesions, the existing ones prevent my being fitted with a prosthetic leg. Surgery is not an option, as the tissue beneath the lesions will not heal, and the open wounds will likely become infected; and with my weakened immune system, infection is NOT an option.

On the pop-culture scene, I understand that Michael Jackson is still dead, and Lindsay Lohan is either in jail or in back in rehab.

As I said before: nothing has really changed in the last week.

On Being Without Power

[This time my excuse is that my oldest daughter’s family is visiting—including four grandchildren—so I simply have no time for thought and creativity. Remember also that I suffer from “chemo-brain,” a very real phenomenon that affects memory in those who are taking chemotherapy.

[There is at least one other reason for my not writing an original piece this morning instead of rerunning this essay from January 29th, 2009, but I can’t remember what it is.]

Republicans aren’t the only ones without power this winter. Global warming, which hasn’t given us a really bad Atlantic hurricane season since 2005, has made this winter one of the worst in years.

For those of you who don’t understand how global warming can cause hurricanes or super-cold winters, I suggest you see Nobel Prize-winning Al Gore’s Academy Award-winning movie, “The Day After an Inconvenient Truth” (or something like that) which explains it all.

This 2004 movie features director Roland Emmerich’s cartoonish special effects and Dennis Quaid’s over-the-top emoting—but that’s a story for another Day After.

An ice storm this week left 1.3 million homes and businesses in Louisville, Kentucky without power; and with continuing sub-freezing weather, electricity may not be restored to some homes for as long as two weeks.

Aside from needing shelter from the bitter cold, many residents are likely to die in house fires and the inevitable carbon-monoxide-poisoning caused by improperly burning fuel indoors.

When I lived in Michigan, winter always dealt one last blow in late March, with ice storms that brought down trees and power lines. In South Florida, summer hurricanes and tropical storms accomplish the same thing—but without the danger of freezing to death.

During the two 2005 hurricanes that struck Miami—Katrina and Wilma—I lost power for six and eight days, respectively. These two outages were both county-wide, and were the widest-spread Miami-area losses of power since Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992.

I live on a small island in a relatively isolated community, and Florida Power and Light rightfully begins its repairs in areas with the most customers first, so my power is restored after most other areas are.

Everyone should know that in an extended power failure, refrigerated food must be cooked or eaten within six hours, and frozen foods used by the next morning. (Do NOT open the freezer door after the power fails to check on the frozen food!)

Without the fear of hypothermia, the worst thing about having no power is that when the sun goes down, reading must be done by candlelight.

Even if you have gas appliances, electricity is required to ignite them; and without power, the safety valves stay closed.

I have a backyard propane grill, which can be used for cooking food and heating water. I also have a 96-quart cooler where I store perishable food—providing that I can get ice (never a problem where I live).

After that summer, many of my neighbors bought portable gasoline generators. In fact, the government had a program that paid most of the cost for a generator after Hurricane Katrina.

Few people, unfortunately, understand how dangerous gasoline generators or gasoline storage can be, and many people have been burned by refueling running generators, or suffocated by carbon monoxide that came into the house through open windows.

After the 2005 hurricanes, gasoline was unobtainable; as gasoline stations had no power to pump it. Gasoline storage requires special containers, as gasoline vapors will climb the walls of ordinary containers, and spread across the floor looking for an ignition source.

The only safe way to power a house during a loss of electricity is with a standby generator connected to the home’s electrical center through a transfer switch. The transfer switch simultaneously connects the generator, and disconnects the house from the utility grid.

Standby generators which are large enough to power an entire house may cost $15,000 or more installed, but as they are powered by natural gas or propane, they are safe—so long as you keep the windows adjacent to the generator closed.

Loss of electricity for more than a few hours is uncomfortable—and in freezing temperatures, can be extremely dangerous. Don’t make a power outage even more dangerous by using kerosene or propane heaters indoors, or by improper use of portable generators and gasoline.

Blago!

[Yesterday, I had my third dose of joy juice, so I am not feeling well enough for an original piece, but as Blago! – the trial, has come and is almost gone, this is a legitimate follow-up to Blago! written January 26th, 2009.

[Although every time Blago opened his mouth since his indictment, it was to reassure his public that he would DEFINITELY testify as to his innocence at his upcoming trial, the defense rested without presenting a case. This tactic is often used when the defense feels that the prosecution’s case was not in itself strong enough to require a defense; and Blago could only do himself harm on cross-examination.

[It is my feeling now that ex-Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will be acquitted of the charges, as the prosecution did not employ all the star witnesses (members of the Obama Administration who would have supported their iffy case) as the most they proved was that Blago is an idiot; and that is not a crime in itself. Neither is dropping the “F-bomb” in every sentence on the tapes that were presented to the jury.]

“I will not resign this office until I complete the job that the American people elected me to do.” – Richard Nixon, shortly before he resigned the presidency.

Today, it’s Blago! – the media star. By week’s end, it will probably be Blago! – the ex-governor of Illinois. Within the year, I expect Blago! – the motion picture, followed by Blago! – the musical.

At his press conference last Friday afternoon, where he appeared before Pontius Pilate, scourged and wearing a crown of thorns, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich—already impeached by the Illinois House on a vote of 114-1—announced that he would boycott his trial beginning this morning in the Illinois Senate.

Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America in the 7:00 block, Blago expanded his theme of victimhood, as he danced around the charges that he attempted to sell President Obama’s former senate seat to the highest bidder. Blago also ducked questions that host Diane Sawyer asked him about the other impeachment charges brought against him.

Governor Blagojevich admitted that he expected to be removed from office and revealed that he considered talk-show diva Oprah Winfrey for the empty senate seat that ultimately went to Roland Burris.

Blago intends to spend the day on his anti-impeachment media blitz. Besides his appearance on GMA, Blago did NBC’s Today Show, and is expected on ABC’s The View, where with his wife, will probably share anti-impeachment recipes with hosts Barbara Walters, Whoopie Goldberg, and the other ladies.

The Illinois governor will finish his one-day blitz with CNN’s Larry King, and after Blago rises on the third day, Larry will probably convince him to run for president.

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” – Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Liars, Pimps, and Thieves

It should be obvious by the title that this is an essay on government. It has always been known that governments of all sorts have people on top, who run things, and people on the bottom, to kick ass to make sure that the citizenry stays in line.

Imagine a poker table with six players. One player is transportation, one is communications, and three others are businesses of some other type; say, banking, energy, and food production. The sixth player at the table is government. All the other players always keep their eyes on government, because government is the only player allowed to have a gun on the table.

Our European forebears knew the evils of government; and when they set up our republic, they took care to keep our government to a minimal size. There are some things that governments are needed for: keeping an army; laying out thoroughfares; issuing currency; and picking up the trash, to name a few.

Laws, statutes, and ordinances are also necessary for any political entity to function; so the government runs the courts, and maintains policemen to enforce the various laws, and to maintain order.

The author and humorist P.J. O’Rourke said: “A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.”

I, who worked at the ass-kicking end of the system, can vouch for the truth of that statement.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Abraham Lincoln might have been saints, but that’s because all we know about them comes from history books. Certainly no President of the United States in my lifetime has ever come close to sainthood—and that includes John Kennedy, who was buried with his halo still on his head.

At the close of the first decade of the 21st century, even fools realize what trouble we are in because of our government. Our military is being wasted, our treasure is being pissed away on “good endeavors,” and our freedoms are being eaten for the sake of “our own good.”

As a republic, we vote for members of the Upper and Lower Houses, who are supposed to represent the People. As I wrote last week, that no longer happens. Our elected representatives no longer have an interest in representing the People, because their power and wealth now runs from the top down, instead of from the bottom up as the Framers intended.

Government is now a lifetime job—much too complicated for citizen-legislators serving two-year terms—and reserved for decades-long seat warmers. West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who recently passed away, held his seat since 1958. Before that, he was served one term as a Representative, giving him an unprecedented 58 years at the public trough.

Michigan Representative John Dingell comes close, with 55 years’ service; but if you include his father’s service—who was elected to office the same year as President Roosevelt—father and son have held the same seat for 77 years. Hardly the two-year-service in the Peoples’ House that our Founding Fathers intended.

A little over three months from now—November 2nd—will be the most important Election Day of our lifetimes. If we don’t sweep the liars, pimps, and thieves from Public Office, then we face a new decade of darkness descending upon us; no less dark than the one that Europe descended into 80 years ago.

God save our Republic.

Taxation Without Representation

“… For imposing taxes on us without our consent.” – Declaration of Independence

Not once over the last five years when I have attempted to contact my representative did I ever receive an answer. I had, earlier during this time, written three letters seeking help with problems about my then-impending disability retirement from federal service, receiving no response whatsoever.

Since the onset of the Age of Obama, my Democratic representative has sent her constituents several e-mails seeking response to her Washington activities. The choices ranged from “being absolutely enthralled with President Obama’s agenda,” to “being merely satisfied with the President’s activities.” There was no place on the form for any other answer, nor did she supply her e-mail address to the voters.

Several times before last year’s key votes in the House of Representatives, I telephoned her local office to state my opinion on the issues. My inquiries were met with total contempt by the phone clerks. “There is no such bill as ‘Cap and Trade,’” I was coldly informed when asking about H.R. 2454, the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” informally known as the “Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill.” Total contempt for a voting constituent.

My own representative, who I find embarrassing every time she is on television, is not unique in her contempt of her constituency. All elected officials on the federal level ignore the wishes of the folks back home for two reasons: First, fewer than one in ten people know who their congressmen and senators are; and second—and more importantly—our senators and congressmen no longer depend on the “people back home” for their funding.

Once-upon-a-time, a congressman’s money came from his district. While only a minority of wealthy constituents funded the campaigns, back home is where the money came from.

No longer. Over the years, various “campaign reforms” have replaced local money with PAC (Political Action Committee) money controlled by the various congressional committee chairmen and other party leaders. This means that the congressmen no longer do the bidding of their constituents—you noticed that, did you?—but instead, are totally controlled by the wishes of their parties’ leadership.

What we have experienced under the troika of Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, is a total disregard and utter contempt for the voters’ wishes and concerns in matters of healthcare, private business, and the economy. What the troika wants, they get—through subterfuge and outright lies to the People.

What we have in essence, then, is legislation that we did NOT want, but have to pay for—definitely WITHOUT our consent—or taxation without representation.

It seems that we fought against such injustices some 234 years ago.

Since few voters know anything about their representatives’ voting records—but remember their names—not only do the incumbents enjoy the advantage of name recognition, but incumbents, through party-directed funds, have more money for television advertising which usually determines the winner.

I hate to keep waling on this same theme, but as a group, Democrats are less educated, and thus less informed about current issues; and are more easily misled by their own party’s blandishments.

Fewer than 25 percent of voters turn out for off-year elections or non-presidential elections. Therefore, with only a quarter of the electorate turning out, only about one-eighth of the eligible voters will elect all 435 representatives and 33 senators up for election this November.

God save our Republic.

“That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” – ibid.