Photo Credit: Bernard GoldbergThere are times, not many thankfully, when I get depressed, brought down by the sorry evidence that we live in a country fixated on shiny objects. This is one of those times.
A jury in Phoenix has found Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder. That’s not what gets me down. What I find so depressing is our collective fascination with trivia, with anything that we can follow without having to actually think.
No one ever heard of Jodi Arias until cable TV made her famous. No one ever heard of the boyfriend she killed, you know, what’s his name. The Arias murder trial tells us nothing about anything bigger than Jodi Arias. She wasn’t famous like O.J. Simpson before she was arrested. This wasn’t Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. Those trials had implications. The Arias trial had none.
When it became known that the jury had reached a verdict, cable news went wall-to-wall with Jodi Arias. It would be 90 minutes before the verdict was announced in court, so anchors and pundits spent the time saying nothing – nothing that mattered anyway. But this is a small point. Saying nothing about Jodi Arias gets you more viewers than saying something about the national debt.
But you can’t blame cable TV news, not entirely anyway, because television is a business that gives the people what they want. And if they want Jodi, TV executives will give them Jodi for hours on end. Hell, if she had been found not guilty they might have even given her a show.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-10 03:01:542016-04-11 11:21:39Jodi Arias is Guilty; So Are We
Photo Credit: Serfs UP ! Roger SaylesAmerica as a continent, a region and as a political entity may well survive for centuries, but the American who has created and populated this nation is a vanishing breed. Is it possible for America to survive while Americans disappear?
Yes, it is possible. As our character and culture change, we become a different nation, like an alien being taking over a human body. It looks the same, but the soul is different.
As what it means to be an American changes, we are justified in wondering whether the nation’s Founding Fathers – or Alexis de Tocqueville or Teddy Roosevelt – would recognize the new Americans who celebrate not a special American identity and American destiny but our “common humanity” and “oneness” with the world’s collective misery.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to speak of Americans as a new people who required a new nation. For Franklin, what propelled Americans toward independence was not the Stamp Act or the Tea Tax or the quartering of British troops in the homes of colonists. America was destined to be a separate nation because we were a new people on the face of the earth.
In 1776, a fellow Pennsylvanian, John Dickinson, asked Franklin, who had been an early advocate for independence, exactly why the colonies should separate from the mother country. Franklin replied: “We have spawned a new race here in America. It’s rougher, simpler, more violent, more entrepreneurial, and less refined. … We require a new nation.”
Photo Credit: National Review One of the most ingenious and effective strategies of the Left on any number of topics is to frame the debate and co-opt the language so effectively that it becomes all but impossible even to discuss the subject honestly. Take the brothers Tsarnaev, the incendiary end of a Chechen family that in very short time has settled aunts, uncles, sisters, and more across the map of North America from Massachusetts to New Jersey to my own home town of Toronto. Maybe your town has a Tsarnaev, too: There seems to be no shortage of them, except, oddly, back in Chechnya. The Tsarnaevs’ mom, now relocated from Cambridge to Makhachkala in delightful Dagestan, told a press conference the other day that she regrets ever having gotten mixed up with those crazy Yanks: “I would prefer not to have lived in America,” she said.
Not, I’m sure, as much as the Richard family would have preferred it. Eight-year-old Martin was killed; his sister lost a leg; and his mother suffered serious brain injuries. What did the Richards and some 200 other families do to deserve having a great big hole blown in their lives? Well, according to the New York Times, they and you bear collective responsibility. Writing on the op-ed page, Marcello Suarez-Orozco, dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and Carola Suarez-Orozco, a professor at the same institution, began their ruminations thus:
“The alleged involvement of two ethnic Chechen brothers in the deadly attack at the Boston Marathon last week should prompt Americans to reflect on whether we do an adequate job assimilating immigrants who arrive in the United States as children or teenagers.”
Maybe. Alternatively, the above opening sentence should “prompt Americans to reflect” on whether whoever’s editing America’s newspaper of record these days “does an adequate job” in choosing which pseudo-credentialed experts it farms out its principal analysis on terrorist atrocities to. But, if I follow correctly, these UCLA profs are arguing that, when some guys go all Allahu Akbar on you and blow up your marathon, that just shows that you lazy complacent Americans need to work even harder at “assimilating” “immigrants.” After all, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan were raised in Cambridge, Mass., a notorious swamp of redneck bigotry where the two young Chechens no doubt felt “alienated” and “excluded” at being surrounded by NPR-listening liberals cooing, “Oh, your family’s from Chechnya? That’s the one next to Slovakia, right? Would you like to come round for a play date and help Jeremiah finish his diversity quilt?” Assimilation is hell.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-04-28 02:21:322016-04-11 11:22:37The Collapsing of the American Skull
Photo Credit: The Daily SheepleThe truth is that I cannot recall in my lifetime when our government has been so corrupt, so filled with lawless individuals who only think of themselves and not what is truly best for Americans.
America has a government that is slowly strangling the liberty out of its citizens and even though there are plenty of conservatives who rail against it, work to change it, and understand what is coming if we fail, the difficulty is that those in our government (aided and abetted by the media) do what they want to do anyway, often in total disregard for the rule of law. It’s not only maddeningly frustrating, but it goes against the very core of the Constitution.
America is a Constitutional Republic and I’m sure you know that. As such, we elect individuals who are duty bound to uphold and protect the Constitution upon which this country is founded. We do not elect individuals so that they will do what the perceived majority wants done. That kind of government is a Democracy, which America is not.
Even Obama gets this confused with his remarks about 90% of Americans wanting stricter gun control. First of all, he’s lying because that percentage is something he pulled out of the vapid environment in his head. Secondly, it does not matter if 100% of Americans wanted greater gun control measures to be enacted. That percentage has nothing to do with anything and he knows that, but simply refuses to acknowledge it. The Constitution clearly defines the 2nd Amendment as the right to keep and bear arms and it shall not be infringed. Simple. Clear. Definitive. Elected officials are supposed to do all in their power to protect, uphold, and defend the Constitution, not engage in every subterfuge they can think of to circumvent or overturn it.
We have a Congress that passed Obamacare without even reading it and now is secretly trying to exempt themselves (and their staffs) from it that very legislation they created. They couldn’t care less about us.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-04-26 03:16:072016-04-11 11:22:48When Will Enough Be Enough America?
Photo Credit: Mens News Daily The world is heading into a horrific economic nightmare, and an inordinate amount of the suffering is going to fall on innocent children. If you want to get an idea of what America is going to look like in the not too distant future, just check out what is happening in Greece.
At this point, Greece is experiencing a full-blown economic depression. As I have written about previously, the unemployment rate in Greece has now risen to 27 percent, which is much higher than the peak unemployment rate that the U.S. economy experienced during the Great Depression of the 1930s. And as you will read about below, child hunger is absolutely exploding in Greece right now. Some families are literally trying to survive on pasta and ketchup.
But don’t think for a moment that it can’t happen here. Sadly, the truth is that child hunger is already rising very rapidly in our poverty-stricken cities. Never before have we had so many Americans unable to take care of themselves. Food stamp enrollment and child homelessness have soared to brand new all-time records, and there are actually thousands of Americans that are so poor that they live in tunnels underneath our cities.
But for millions of other Americans, the suffering is not quite so dramatic. Instead, they just watch their hopes and their dreams slowly slip away as they struggle to find a way to make it from month to month. There are millions of parents that lead lives that are filled with constant stress and anxiety as they try to figure out how to provide the basics for their children.
How do you tell a child that you can’t give them any dinner even though you have been trying as hard as you can?
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2013-04-25 02:55:302016-04-11 11:22:53Child Hunger Is Exploding In Greece – And 14 Signs That It Is Starting To Happen In America, Too
The smartest, most literate, most influential minds of America have something mordant and deeply wrong infecting the core of their souls. No publication epitomizes this sarcoma more completely than Salon Magazine. Salon Magazine’s commentary following the Boston Marathon Terror Bombing provides further evidence that America’s most well-educated and carefully trained minds are in the midst of the iniquitous process of turning our nation into just the sort of evil we used to stand up and fight.
Just as every INGSOC needs a Goldstein; every Progressive needs a good Boogeyman to make the proletariat perform another idiot dance. Salon Magazine wants a good, stereotypical, White Male. They would even prefer a Bible-believing Christian if available. They hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a !WHITE! American. Like all good Progressives, they have another racial quota to fill. Bigotry worthy of Reverend Al Sharpton follows below.
“White privilege is knowing that even if the bomber turns out to be white, no one will call for your group to be profiled as terrorists as a result, subjected to special screening or threatened with deportation,” writes author Tim Wise. “White privilege is knowing that if this bomber turns out to be white, the United States government will not bomb whatever corn field or mountain town or stale suburb from which said bomber came, just to ensure that others like him or her don’t get any ideas. And if he turns out to be a member of the Irish Republican Army we won’t bomb Dublin. And if he’s an Italian-American Catholic we won’t bomb the Vatican.”
It comes as no shock that David Sirota would have penned the article. He seems to have a history of imagining a burning cross and a Klan Rally every time he walks past a rack of white linens for sale at Macy’s. In a previous article Time to Profile White Men?* Sirota offered us up the following perverted version of Affirmative Action. If only we could smash White Privilege and lock them up in internment camps the way Japanese Americans were during WWII. Hey, let’s send a few White Gun-Owners to Gitmo for four years. That would make Amerika really fair!
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-04-18 03:17:352013-04-18 03:17:35Salon Magazine and White Males: It Warms My Heart to No End that They Want Me for Something…
America launched a war on illegal drugs in 1979, spending an estimated 1 trillion on law enforcement efforts since then…..How’s that working out so far? See CNN’s War on drugs, a trillion dollar failure
Mexican drug cartels are profiting hugely from our war and have now grown so powerful they are moving into the United States.
Americas insatiable desire to get high, has kept our prisons full. Many of those incarcerated, abused drugs or alcohol; which may have accounted for the criminal behavior that landed them in prison…Perhaps they were involved in the sale and marketing of drugs, or were themselves the end users.
The cost of addiction to our society can’t even be measured in dollars alone. What bad decisions do addictions cause when judgment is impaired? How many families are shattered? Careers and reputations ruined? Accidental deaths and overdose?
In a world view, President Clinton commented on an incident in his book. He said he was briefed by the Secret Service after they found Russian President Boris Yeltsin standing outside the White House guest quarters, totally inebriated. Dressed only in his underwear, he was trying to hail a taxi in order to get a pizza…this was a world leader with his finger on the button of nuclear weapons. Yeltsin was well known for his chronic drinking problems.
Libertarians like Fox News correspondent John Stossel, have been calling to legalize current “illegal drugs,” saying it’s no business of the government to tell adults what they can, or cannot ingest.
Many experts in the field of addiction say it’s time to take the focus away from criminalization and the stigma that goes with it and focus instead on education/treatment.
There are many great organizations ready to help those suffering from addictions.
Alcoholics Anonymous has successfully helped millions of alcoholics to become productive members of society. Many other organizations adopted AA’s basic premise of 12 step groups and have successfully helped millions of others in their struggle with addictions to drugs, gambling and other harmful behaviors. AA and organizations such as Narcotics Anonymous, are available to help those suffering and are free of charge. See addiction recovery groups
Addiction treatment facilities have developed their own unique and successful ways of helping people break their addictions. Some are free or relatively inexpensive such as what the faith based Salavation Army offers. There are also many state supported facilities which offer drug and alcohol treatment for a nominal fee or free of charge. See recovery resources
There are private rehabilitation facilities offering state of the art treatment using their unique brand of intensive psychotherapy and holistic treatments, such as those developed by Richard Taite at Cliffside Malibu. Richard outlined his roadmap for an addiction free life in his book: Ending Addiction for Good
Louise McCallion’s facility in Northern California, Reflections, has devoted itself to providing treatment for not only the addictions to drugs/alcohol…But also has expertise in dual-diagnosis and co-occurring disorders, all under the care of her well qualified and professional staff.
But private treatment facilities can be expensive; from several thousand dollars for a 30 day stay, to tens of thousands and more for high end facilities.
Other unique forms of help are available such as what Declinol offers in natural cures for alcohol cravings. It is an eight-week at home alcohol program that is completely anonymous. There are no group meetings and clients can go about their regular daily routine. Declinol claims its unique blend of herbs assists the body by restoring the balance and helps to reduce alcohol cravings. While on their program, they offer phone support to answer questions and an online forum where you can communicate with current and past clients of the program.
Declinol isn’t a long term treatment program and doesn’t purport to be, but like many of the other programs, it can be a tool to take that first step towards a long term sober lifestyle…. for a fraction of the price that rehab facilities charge.
Millions of people suffer from their addictions, they should know there is a helping hand ready to lift them up. All they have to do is ask for help.
___________________________________________
Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-04-12 01:19:352013-04-12 01:19:35Addicted Nation: The Price Tag to our Society and a Way Out for Those Suffering
On Wednesday, April 3, 2013, a group of women enjoying a “girl’s day out” noticed something amiss in Beverly Hills California. They noticed that the Beverly Hills Hotel was flying the Mexican flag instead of the American flag.
They proceeded to enter the hotel and ask why a hotel located in Beverly Hills, CA was flying the flag of a foreign nation and not Old Glory.
Brandon (who did not give his last name) the front desk manager working in the hotel told them it had been raised to honor the heritage of Mexican farms that were located on the land before the hotel was built.
He then proceeded to tell them to “get used to it” and had security escort them from the building.
Apparently this is not the first time this issue has been raised with the hotel.
Why were American Citizens escorted from the premises for asking that question?
Why were American Citizens told to “get used to” seeing the Mexican Flag fly above a hotel located within the United States of America?
Not only does the day manager’s explanation sound dubious, it does not jive with the history shown in the hotel’s own video.
Anyone acquainted with American history knows that California has been part of the United States since the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which determined that the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah would became U.S. Territories, while the lower region of California, the Baja Peninsula, remained a part of Mexico.
America assumed a $3.25 million dollar debt and paid out $15 million more for California. Translated to today’s money, that $15 million comes to $376 billion.
Quite simply, this is part of the “progressive” assault upon America. This is happening while “progressives” within both major American political Parties attempt to devalue American Citizenship through “comprehensive immigration reform.”
Not only should American Citizens contact Congress and tell them granting American Citizenship to foreign nationals who broke the law to come and stay in America unwarranted, they should contact the Beverly Hills Hotel immediately and let them know that flying the flag of a foreign country within the United States of America is completely unacceptable.
Michael Fell is a former MCA recording artist from the seminal punk rock era who toured America from coast to coast. Today, he’s a leading voice in the L.A. Tea Party movement, active since the February 2009 inception. Mr. Fell currently chairs the Westwood Tea Party, is a founding member of the L.A. Metro Tea Party Coalition, serves as the Vice Chairman of the Westside Republicans Club in L.A. CA, and is an elected Republican delegate to the L.A. 47th AD Central Committee. He’s been Campaign Manager for a primary winning Congressional candidate, as well as Santa Monica and L.A. City Council candidates. Mr. Fell is a contributing writer for https://conservativedailynews.com/, https://rightwingnews.com/, https://www.hollywoodrepublican.net/, https://beforeitsnews.com, https://www.redcounty.com/, https://www.uspatriotpac.com and, https://westsiderepublicans.com/. His opinions on today’s news events and political climate can be found on his blog: https://mjfellright.wordpress.com/
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-04-05 04:00:572013-04-05 04:00:57Welcome to the Hotel Mexifornia
The “American empire” will fall this year, the head of Iran’s Basij forces claimed Sunday, a message that was approved by the Islamic regime’s supreme leader.
“America should not think that with some diplomatic dialogue it can solve its dossier (problem) with the nation of Iran,” Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi said. “The path of this land is directed by the martyrs. America with its hollow slogans … thinks the Iranian nation will believe it.”
The Basij commander was speaking to an audience of the 10th conference of “Journey of Enlightened Land” commemorating the “martyrs” of the eight-year war with Iraq, according to the Journalist Club, an outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence division.
Naghdi called President Obama’s actions deceitful, saying, “Obama in letters sent to the Islamic Republic promised to put an end to the Iranian nuclear dossier but … reacted in a different way.”
As reported in January 2012, Iranian officials revealed the contents of an Obama letter to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that indicated a deep desire by the U.S. president for a dialogue with the radical leaders of Iran. Iranian officials also claimed that a subsequent oral message by Obama delivered through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran was even more revealing than the letter delivered to the Iranian supreme leader.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-04-01 03:00:402013-04-01 03:00:40Iran: 2013 Will Be 'Fall of American Empire'
On Sunday, June 26, 2011, the world premiere of the first episode of the new Colony Bay Entertainment series: “Courage, New Hampshire” took place in Monrovia, CA.
The Inspiration channel, which ranks among the fastest growing basic cable networks in America with a broadcast reach of up to 73 million viewers, recently announced it will broadcast “Courage, New Hampshire” nationally on Memorial Day 2013.
“We are very excited to make this announcement,” said INSP Senior VP of programming, Doug Butts. “Original scripted dramas are going to play a significant role in INSP’s future programming strategy. Courage, New Hampshire is an outstanding addition to our already strong programming line-up.”
“With the overwhelming success of period shows like Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, North & South, etc., audiences will find Courage, New Hampshire equally compelling,” Butts said. “Courage, New Hampshire fits perfectly with the INSP brand.”
Visionary, screenplay writer, director, actor and co-producer James Patrick Riley noted, “I am looking forward to seeing INSP deliver a large audience. I am hoping that we will eventually go into regular production, with many more seasons to come. Likewise, it would be great to establish ourselves in mainstream media, because we have done something really special here. To have created an American 18th century serial episodic period drama is something really phenomenal. Not even any of the major networks have attempted that.”
When asked about the future of Courage, Colony Bay Entertainment executive and Courage co-producer Jonathan Wilson replied, “Currently, we are in the pre-planning stages for a season two, so stay tuned. We can’t say a whole lot about the number of episodes, but we’re pretty sure about one thing…There will be more romance.”
In episode one-“The Travail of Sarah Pine”- The viewer visits the frontier township of Courage, located in western New Hampshire. When British soldiers arrive in search of deserters their quarry escapes, but one of them catches the eye of Justice of the Peace Silas Rhodes and a dramatic, gripping trail ensues.
Dramatic, believable acting by an outstanding cast of talented actors (featuring Alexandra Oliver as Sarah Pine, Nathan Kershaw as British deserter Bob Wheedle, James Patrick Riley as tavern keeper and Justice of the Peace Silas Rhodes and Basil Hoffman as royal solicitor Simeon Trapp) propel the show.
In episode two-“The Sons of Liberty”- Justice Rhodes travels to Portsmouth for the execution of two notorious criminals. Royal Governor Wentworth details how ruling New England will require a “light hand”, and the Township of Courage greets the arrival of a new pastor.
Performances by Donal Thomas-Cappello as the deceptively sinister Reverend Silence Laud, Isabelle Gardo as the desirable Abby Lamb, Greg Martin as the burglar and Joe Massingill as the counterfeiter make this episode delightful and compelling. Mike Gallagher appears as a jovial barkeep and Andrew Breitbart plays the part of the High Sherriff.
In episode three-“A Snake in the Garden”- Governor Wentworth begins enforcement of the unwelcomed, unpopular white pine act. The “Reverend” Silence Laud makes romantic advances on the lovely Miss Lamb, and the sons of liberty are the only one who stands between royal imprisonment and a farmer’s freedom.
Donal Thomas-Cappello reprises his role as Reverend Laud, and Isabelle Gardo returns as Abby Lamb. Jonathan Salisbury as Noah Pine, Allen Marsh as Abraham Fox and Patrick Finerty as William Bramley further drive the drama of this episode.
In episode four-“Ambition”- Reverend Laud becomes ensnared in his own deceit while Governor Wentworth takes steps towards enforcement of royal justice upon Courage. While at a training day in Portsmouth the neighboring towns’ gathered militias are pushed by Courage townsmen to ponder the question: “are you with us?”
The circle of drama continues as the Sons of Liberty stand against corrupt British rule.
The production quality is top notch, featuring crisp photography and well-paced editing that tells the story while avoiding the pitfalls of encryption or dragging scenes. The beautiful music is consistently appropriate. The compelling screenplay employs clever, time appropriate dialogue which evokes a wide range of emotions while conveying time tested morals.
Watch the ISPN trailer here:
James Patrick Riley and Jonathan Wilson, co-founders of Colony Bay and the driving force behind the success of Courage are to be congratulated for their fine production. It is highly recommended and can be enjoyed by children of all ages.
To obtain a DVD copy of Courage, go here:
____________________________________
Michael Fell is a former MCA recording artist from the seminal punk rock era who toured America from coast to coast. Today, he’s a leading voice in the L.A. Tea Party movement, active since the February 2009 inception. Mr. Fell currently chairs the Westwood Tea Party, is a founding member of the L.A. Metro Tea Party Coalition, serves as the Vice Chairman of the Westside Republicans Club in L.A. CA, and is an elected Republican delegate to the L.A. 47th AD Central Committee. He’s been Campaign Manager for a primary winning Congressional candidate, as well as Santa Monica and L.A. City Council candidates. Mr. Fell is a contributing writer for https://conservativedailynews.com/, https://rightwingnews.com/, https://www.hollywoodrepublican.net/, https://beforeitsnews.com, https://www.redcounty.com/, https://www.uspatriotpac.com and, https://westsiderepublicans.com/. His opinions on today’s news events and political climate can be found on his blog: https://mjfellright.wordpress.com/
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-03-29 01:44:052013-03-29 01:44:05Courage Is No Longer Just a Word (+video)