Great Timing for :24

Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer 

We are tunning out of time, but the clock just hit :24.

After a few weeks of horrendous news, inclusive of children being murdered, kidnapped and held as sex slaves, an evil abortion doctor convicted this afternoon on a multitude of crimes including murder, an ongoing flirtation of our government with a terrorist organization in the Muslim Brotherhood, a corrupt government utilizing the IRS as the arm of our oppressive government to target political opponents and our government leaving fellow country men charged with working on behalf of our government to die, comes some good news.

Jack is back! 

And boy howdy, does America need him.

FOX has announced that Kiefer Sutherland, who played the iconic Jack Bauer on the series 24 has agreed to reprise his role, will join the direction of producer Howard Gordon as 24 returns for a limited engagement. What great timing, as our country seems to be burning to the ground on every avenue possible.

Given the times, hopefully Bauer will not have fallen victim to the political correctness of the times.

It is hard to put magic back in a bottle, but with Sutherland and Gordon teaming with former writers co-writers Evan Katz and Manny Coto, we all can hope for the best.  We will look forward to the Live Another Day episodes which come our way in May of 2014, provided we are still free to enjoy television dramas at that time.

Time To Grab Control

It is time to wake up!

Alarm bells are going off, and the phone is ringing. It is 3AM!


Thanks in part to the idiotic decision by the Romney campaign to not run this ad, none of the alarm bells or phone calls have been answered under the Obama administration.  People, American heroes, have died.

What does it matter cried former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

Excuse me?

Our government lying to the citizenry and the families of the slain heroes, is of critical importance.  Unless of course, you are in power and cannot be concerned with the proles who employed you to represent them.

We have an administration exhibiting a level of arrogance rarely witnessed who takes great pleasure in distorting the facts, initiating falsehoods and operating outside both the checks and balances of our republic and the rule of law.  Their actions make Richard Nixon look like a childish prankster.

While the events of Benghazi encapsulate the deterioration of sanity at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, most Democrats have made the choice to protect their party leaders rather than helping protect the rule of law and dignity of those who serve our country.  The media is apparently going to sit it out, but the American citizens had better not.

While the stars continue to dance, the freedoms and liberties we hold dear are promptly eroding. It would be far past time to answer the bell, for the rounds are getting late.

We are running out of time to thwart the oppressive encroachment.  When the rule of law is lost, when the song is over, who will be left to tell you where to run?

Shine Out The Darkness of Evil

Almost anywhere your dart tossed at the globe of earth hits, evil is flexing muscle.

BAHL Revere recently posted a blog noting that throughout time, evil has been fierce an opponent of freedom.  Evil can come in many forms, from basic theft to targeting opponents with scorn and ridicule to creating mental anguish and physical harm to orchestrating and participating in unspeakable acts.

Sadly, this week we Americans are absorbing a variance of evil actions, from a sensationalized murder to governmental misuse of power resulting in deaths to among the most heinous crimes against man.

In Arizona, the mainstream media was sitting at bay waiting for the verdict to come back in the Jodi Arias trial, an attractive young lady accused of shooting and stabbing her seemingly stable and handsome boyfriend to death. Arias, who is obviously consumed with evil, was found guilty late this afternoon. Due to the media pushing the relevance of the case, it became a national story along the lines of Casey Anthony, an attractive Mom who murdered her daughter here locally in Orlando. Although covered by every news outlet found on DirectTV, other than noting another example of evil, neither story had any bearing on the lives of 99.9% of the people following the cases.

The events in Benghazi, which have been covered on the blog frequently, were the centerpiece of hearings today in Washington.  The media was lukewarm, as most have been since the event occurred, in their coverage.  Many Democrats, deeming the hearings some sort of witch hunt, snickered at and ridiculed the witnesses. Some are simply dimwits.  Given that we have four dead Americans, inclusive of US Ambassador Chris Stevens, one would think men and women of character would seek the truth and demand adherence and accountability to the rule of law. 

Sadly, many are in protective function, concentrating efforts to conceal their positions, participatory in covering up the lies and intimidation of morally bankrupt leadership who relish in the misuse of power.  The actions of our leadership who lied to America and the victims families, most notably President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are nothing short of offensive, and on many levels, evil.

Then, there are the Houses of Horror in Philadelphia and Cleveland.

Not politically expedient, the mainstream media is also sitting out the trail in Philadelphia of Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor accused of killing several live babies. Gosnell, whose clinic performed late term abortions Planned Parenthood and President Obama find morally acceptable, is charged with actions any sane individual would find unacceptable in a civil society.

FOX News Kimberly Guilfoyle, of whom we are big, big fans, posted a Facebook post on Saturday promoting a FOX News Special on Gosnell which aired last Sunday night.  Although the show has already aired, her post thoroughly states the case and is well worth the read:

Kimberly Guilfoyle

See Evil So That We May Rid Ourselves of It
By Kimberly Guilfoyle

We can be judged in many ways. One measure of a civilization’s morality is how it treats those without power. Pope John Paul II once said, “a society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members; and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying.” As I write these words 7 women and 5 men are deliberating the fate of a man accused of killing our country’s most weak and most vulnerable. The alleged crimes are horrific and difficult to imagine, but they must be shown to the world. We cannot turn away because a topic is unpleasant or vile. Why? Because one way to rid our society of evil is to confront it boldly.

The man standing in judgment is Dr. Kermit Gosnell. His trial, in Philadelphia, went to the jury this week. The charges being considered number in the hundreds, but it is the four first-degree murder charges and a single third-degree murder charge that have left me bewildered and saddened.

Dr. Gosnell ran what became known as the “House of Horror.” An abortion clinic where he is accused of killing 3 babies, born alive, during late-term abortions. He faces the third-degree murder charge for the killing of 41-year-old Karnamaya Monga.

Many of you may not have heard about this case. It has the dubious distinction of being one crime story the mainstream media isn’t all over. It is an “abortion story,” the one topic that defies the media’s “if it bleeds it leads” mantra. Whether it is the gruesome details of how these children were allegedly killed or that the case involves the politically inconvenient topic the courtroom seats reserved for the media went largely unused.

I have sat in those seats and witnessed court testimony so heartbreaking and abhorrent that it could easily be mistaken for the most horrible of fictions. Sadly, as a seasoned prosecutor, I know what dark acts people are capable of. I have seen and heard my share of evil, but this trial has tested my faith in humanity. It has been eye-opening and life changing.

Tonight at 9pm Eastern on the Fox News Channel we are airing a special on this crime that I participated in. It will not be easy to watch. It will bring many to tears and fill others with anger. However difficult it may be I urge you to watch. Information is power; it is the light that will “shine out the darkness.”

Given the testimony, it is becoming concerning the jury deliberation is taking so long.  Hello?

Seemingly by accident, authorities discovered this week a home where three kidnapped girls were held as sex slaves for approximately 10 years in a suburban Cleveland home.  Three brothers were arrested, but investigators have centered around the homeowner, Ariel Castro. 

While we thank God these three girls were found alive and have been reunited with their families, the acts committed against them are among the highest levels of evil.  We will not get into specifics here, but it is needless to say this home was in fact a house of horrors.  Charges against Castro currently include kidnapping and rape, but odd strongly favor more very serious charges will be forthcoming.

The victims in Cleveland will face extensive therapy on the road to recovery, if that is even possible. Hopefully in the case of Ariel Castro, there is a do not pass to go straight to the electric chair.

The bottom line after review of these particular cases is that evil is running rampant in America. Investigation of the reasoning will lead down many different avenues, inclusive of urban decay, the breakdown of the family, the lack of personal accountability and the lack of adherence to the rule of law, from our governmental leaders down to the local shoplifter.

As evil encroaches our landscape, we will continue to see an erosion of our liberty and freedom.  From government agencies seeking additional regulation in an effort to keep the citizenry safe to the citizens handicapped ability to engage in various activities due to a rogue criminal element and due to acts of terrorism as we recently witnessed in Boston, freedom is lost. Freedoms lost range from cancelled Boston Red Sox games to the local playground activities.

As the groundswell of voices, not letting a crisis got to waste, command for additional regulatory action in effort to keep the citizenry safe, although in some instances it will be difficult, as we shine out the darkness we must remember the words of Benjamin Franklin:

Rule of Law Must Reign

One of the seemingly diminishing list of good guys, Rep. Trey Gowdy, (R:SC), informed us last week that "explosive" hearings on Benghazi were coming this week. The testimony before The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee of three State Department "whistle blowers" begins on Wednesday, and although the administration has had a few days to prepare, the conclusions drawn could, and should, leave the Obama administration staggered.

 

Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who on rare occasions can be quite an asset to our republic, placed the following on Facebook this afternoon. "I think the dam is about to break on Benghazi. We're going to find a system failure before, during, and after the attacks.  We're going to find political manipulation seven weeks before an election. We're going to find people asleep at the switch when it comes to the State Department, including Hillary Clinton. The bond that has been broken between those who serve us in harms way and the government they serve is huge — and to me every bit as damaging as Watergate."

 

CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson has been the leader, by far, among the mainstream media in reporting the events of Benghazi, and finally, it appears her colleagues over  at CBS have seen the light, as indicated by the devastating investigative report CBS News filed Sunday.

 

You need have been Lieutenant Colombo to recognize the events in Benghazi were a terrorist attack, and not a reaction by street gangs to a YouTube video nobody saw as put forth by the Obama administration, inclusive of both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. 

 

These were lies, despicable cold hearted lies, told to the surviving family members and the American people.  To add minor insult to major injury, the filmmaker of the video was promptly arrested and remains in jail.   Even The Washington Post recognizes the mistruths.  In fact, unless you were part of the Obama propaganda team or having been residing under a rock, you knew it was a terrorist attack. 

 

Everybody knew. We knew!

 

There were many in what could be considered the alternative media who spoke the truth about Benghazi from the get go.  The usual suspects, including Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, stood firm in discrediting the portrayal presented by the propaganda of the administration and the lap dog media.
 

Glenn Beck, within just days of the attack, laid out the entire case of what really went on in Benghazi, and why, and we concurred. Along with his media arm The Blaze, Beck continues to be out front on Benghazi, and for that matter, most other issues.

 

Beck speculated that gun running was going on, and we agree.  Although, due to the inability of our investigative staff to drive the nail home on this thus far, we cannot present a concrete case, we have noted activity centered around an upstate New York location being central to the air shipment of guns to Russian locations, which translated, are part of a path of guns making their way to Syrian rebels associated with, if not operated by, the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

Rush Limbaugh eloquently summarized the sad state of affairs of the current landsacape of Uncle Sam, being managed and operated by the blame America first crowd, in a blistering series of comments on top rated nationally syndicated radio show this afternoon:

 

One more thing about this Benghazi stuff, because the fireworks are gonna start tomorrow. But in a sane and normal era or world -- and I mean this, folks, from the bottom of my substantial and loudly beating heart (Ba-boom! Ba-boom!) -- what happened in Benghazi would finish the public career of Hillary Clinton. Any secretary of state, any secretary of defense who in supposedly peacetime -- peacetime they wanted us to believe existed! We all know we're not at peace with Al-Qaeda.

They tried to make everybody believe we're at peace. They had taken care of this enemy. They had killed bin Laden. They had gotten rid of Bush. They had made us loved and respected again. Four Americans dead, and not an effort made to save them. In any other administration, any other time, any other era, whoever was in charge of that and allowed that to happen and then offered the excuse, "Well, what difference does it make now?" or "Well, we couldn'ta gotten there in time," would have been gone.

They would have been publicly humiliated and gone. Deservedly so!

Things got ugly when the left went after Reagan during the Iran-Contra hearings, with all the networks going with wall to wall daytime coverage, postponing General Hospital and the like for weeks.  It was big, with Ollie North and Fawn Hall and such.  Benghazi; nothing to see here.

There are many outstanding questions about Benghazi beyond why the Obama administration failed to act in adequate fashion in efforts to rescue our countrymen.  Why was Amb. Stevens meeting with the representative from Turkey?  Did the discussion center around gun running?  Or perhaps, should you wish to explore a conspiracy theory, was Amb. Stevens set up by our government to be abducted to set up an exchange of prisoners paving the way for the release of the "Blind Sheikh" and the effort went awry?

Obviously, the hearings have the potential to be blockbuster. We have not, and will not, ever forget about our countrymen who were left to die without the backup of our government, and we demand accountability and justice.

 

We will find out during these hearings if we are nation of laws or a nation of corrupt governmental elites who rule along with a lap dog media over a citizenry of lemmings operating outside the system of checks and balances constructed by our founding fathers during the founding of  our representative republic.

Royal Crown Lies

The Kansas City Royals, after taking two straight with big six inning comebacks against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays, were looking for a sweep during the current homestead with a win this afternoon.
Unfortunately, with a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, the game was postponed due to inclement weather with rain turning to snow by late afternoon.

Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO on 5/1/2013 @4PM EST
 

The Tampa Bay Rays will have to fly back (oh good heavens the carbon footprint) to finish the game at a later date, costing the Rays organization a nice chunk of change.

Don't tell the Global Warming crowd, but the weather report in Kansas City gives perfect reasoning why Global Warming is now called Global Climate Change.  Kansas City is expecting 3 to 5 inches of snow today.  It is not February; it is the first day of May.

During this week, Al Gore, who may actually be the most discredited public figure breathing these days, went on a tirade at the Milken Institute Conference about the imminent catastrophe of Global Climate Change.  Gore wondered "what the hell we are thinking", he of new mansion homes and Lear jet travel. The hypocritical arrogance is really stunning.

Across the fruited plain are examples of record cold temperatures. Real Science says was the second coldest spring on record.  Accuweather says a historic snowstorm hits plains to upper Midwest.

You see, the trouble with our progressive friends is they know so much that isn't so, and there is no better example than global climate change.  Unfortunately, in the face of volumes of statistical evidence, the masses have bought into the story allowing the government to use the hoax as a vehicle to increase significantly taxes and regulation, and most notably control, over the citizens in the name of environmental stewardship.

It really is ridiculous, but the narrative has been so effectively promulgated by the progressive left, reversing the mindset will almost take an act of God.  I am not sure if a snow out at the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex will do the trick.  A postponement of NASCAR Spring Cup qualifying due to ice at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March a few years back did not.

Maybe America's weatherman Joe Bastardi, formerly of Accuweather and now CEO of Weatherbell Analytics can explain.  Bastardi sat down with Neil Cavuto of FOX Business Channel yesterday.

I am still trying to cheaply purchase some ocean front east cost property from one of these global climate change nuts who think the sea level will seize Florida in short order. I have had zero success. The global warmists cannot put their money where their mouth is, but their mouth has no issue advocating the theft of our money to pay for their imaginary environmental cause.

Ignorance of Masses Strength of Ruling Class Elites

The power to tax is the power to destroy, and few have more power these days than the Environmental Protection Agency.

With total backing from the Obama administration, the agency is flexing their powerful muscle, in many ways implementing and enforcing executive order in the absence of backing from the normal protocol of legislative action.

The elephant in the room is Global Climate change, perhaps the greatest hoax in centuries and nothing short of a vehicle to increase revenues (taxes in the 2 + 2 = 5 Orwellian times we are living in) and control over the people.

In a recent example of complete absurdity, Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley, demonstrated the lengths the progressive elites will go to confiscate money from the citizenry.  In  the aftermath of the Maryland general assembly passing a "storm water pollution fee" to raise money to cleanup the Chesapeake Bay, O'Malley has initiated a rain tax.  A rain tax?

As Brietbart reports,  the tax, mandated by the EPA and enforced locally, will be calculated "through satellite surveillance of your property."  Former 2012 GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino bashes the tax in a Wednesday afternoon press release. The law "requires individuals, businesses, and even charitable organizations and houses of worship to pay a tax based on the amount of rain that falls on their property and the 'impervious surfaces' on their land," he says.

To find this encroachment of liberty merely troublesome would be representative of the complacency of the American people.  However, the alarm bells going off on this action would wake up my long lost descendant, Lord Baltimore!

The tax is anticipated to be enforced locally by the EPA with the tax calculated through satellite surveillance of your property, by measuring the impervious surfaces on a site or lot and assessing a tax on the total.

Federal authorities, local municipalities and private companies currently utilize aerial imagery to identify improvement and parcel size, although many contend this is a violation of a central tenant of founding of our republic; property rights and the right to privacy on your property.

The fine citizens of Maryland get the government they deserve, and due to excessive taxation enacted by the government they elected, the state has suffered a measurable population loss.  But those in Terrapin country are not the only citizens under attack from the oppressive tax collectors and environmental terrorists.

Privacy in the heartland is being violated by the EPA as officials are spying of farmers in Iowa and my home state of Nebraska.  Recently, as reported by Investors Business Daily, Nebraska's congressional delegation sent a justifiably angry letter to Administrator Lisa Jackson last week complaining that her Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its legislative and constitutional authority by conducting drone surveillance flights over Nebraska and Iowa farms looking for violations of the Clean Water Act.

 "As you might imagine, this practice has resulted in privacy concerns among our constituents and raises several questions."

Sen. Rand Paul,  R:KY, warned recently about the slippery slope of various forms of surveillance at the hands of an oppressive government acting outside of legislation, which can ultimately lead us to the dystopia of George Orwell's 1984.

But there is no cause from concern, says the federal government, as in a response to the letter from Cornhusker country, the EPA justified the use of drones as customary and cost beneficial.  As evidence the government cannot be trusted comes reports that, as reported in Investors Business Daily, The Environmental Protection Agency has acknowledged that it released personal information on potentially thousands of farmers and ranchers to environmental groups, violating their privacy rights and acting in collusion with private groups with private political agendas.

"This information details my family's home address," J.D. Alexander, a Nebraska cattle farmer and former president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, told FarmFutures.com. "The only thing it doesn't do is chauffeur these extremists to my house."

If you think the leftists will not swarm individuals homesteads, you may wish to recall the events of the Bank America executive in, of all places, Maryland.

For those who revel in conspiracy, are the increased regulations of the farmers an effort to burst what the FED perceives as a potential bubble; farmland, providing the opportunity for the government to gain more control through offering assistance of bailouts?

Any encroachment on the rights of the citizenry by dishonest brokers operating a government which cannot be trusted, in part due to operating outside of reasonable checks and balances leaves the citizens struggling for friction. These actions reducing individual liberty must be defeated.

The more the government spends, additional plans and programs are enacted to increase taxation to fund them.  As Ronald Reagan pointed out, the more the plans fail, the more the planners plan. In the predictable process, liberty and freedom of the citizenry is gradually erased.

Ultimately, without the freedom and liberties granted our republic, we could well become citizen proles of Oceania, ruled by an elite ruling party in a large city in urban decay where 2 + 2 = 5.

Us And Them

As the dust settles in the aftermath of the terrorist bombings in Boston last week, the investigation is in high gear. So is the propaganda.

Among the things that we can reasonably conclude it that the Chechen brothers Tsarnaev carried out the bombings at the Boston Marathon and killed an MIT Security Officer while on the run. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother, was killed while Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured last Friday night.

The brothers were radical Islamic terrorists, individuals the Russian government warned the US authorities about. That these jihadist killers were loose in America after multiple warnings is a substantial failure of those charged in counter terrorism. Of course, President Obama does not recognize the United States is engaged in a war on terror with radical Islamic jihadist terrorists, has embraced Muslim interests and has reduced the capabilities of our counter terrorism efforts. These failures are partially responsible for the bloodshed in Boston.

An unsolved triple homicide, which occurred in Boston on September 11, 2011, resulted in the death of the supposed best friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Reports suggest a bloody scene, and that Tsarnaev did not attend the funeral of his friend. Not often confused as Jim Rockford, I got this cold case just about closed.

Obama is pushing significant legislation on gun control and immigration, both of which, in the rear view mirror of Boston, should be soundly defeated. While our citizenry is becoming increasingly concerned about losing the right to defend themselves against a tyrannical government, Bostonians without firearms left control of their livelihood and property in the hands of law enforcement. We are big fans of law enforcement, but they did loose these guys a couple of different times, and a private citizen alerted the police about the eventual whereabouts of  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Meanwhile, the lack of proper enforcement of current immigration laws has allowed jihadists of all shapes and sizes to enter this country without documentation. Our citizens are paying with bloodshed. We must have the ability to protect our livelihood and property from the terrorist roaming our streets, and both legislative initiatives should be soundly defeated.

Furthermore, the brothers had no credible source of employment, yet were reported to have expensive foreign automobiles. Tamerlan Tsarnaev flew to Russia, where he spent six months before returning, all the while his family was on welfare. Yep, in the interest of fairness at the hand of wealth transformation, the 47% were alarmingly helping to fund these, and God knows how many other, terrorists.

Although the administration hopes we figure all those responsible have been apprehended, the case does not wrap up with the brothers Tsarnaev. There is little doubt the brothers were part of a larger sleeper cell with others involved, and then there is the case of the Saudi national.

Caution America!
 

 

Is the Saudi a third terrorist who the authorities initially identified and have now discarded as a suspect?

 

A third terrorist originally fingered by law enforcement who then disappears from the radar of those charged with the investigation? My memory banks immediately deposited in my mind the events surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing. Yes, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were no doubt the agents of terror on this day, but did they have help? The FBI originally thought so, the third terrorist. In her book "The Third Terrorist", Jayna Davis recounts the story and identifies who the third terrorist was. A compelling read to be sure.

 

There is quite a bit of information regarding the Saudi, who nobody in the mainstream media will mention, making the rounds many on non mainstream sites. Some are very credible, including The Blaze, Gateway Pundit and Brietbart, many are reporting what is out there and there are those who are reporting unreasonable and undocumented conspiracies.

 

CNN's John King was first to report that a "dark skinned male" individual had been arrested.  Fran Townsend of CNN also reported the arrest.  But did King, a veteran reporter who later back tracked history in embarrassment, really make such a significant error or was he purposefully hung out to dry by his sources?  Was he set up, or was King in fact originally correct?

The Saudi in question was initially identified as a suspect and placed under guard at his hospital room after supposedly having been injured at the bombings.  An "event" file was made on him, which The Blaze has record of, although Homeland Security Janet Napolitano condescendingly denied while being questioned by Congress.  A handful of Congressman, inclusive of Jeff Tucker, (R:SC), are asking questions.

Glenn Beck recaps where we are with respect to the Saudi national in the following report:



While the Obama administration and their mainstream media propaganda arm continues to distort the facts on the brothers Tsarnaev and lie to the American people regarding this prospective Saudi national terrorist, the truth seekers will continue uncover the facts.

There are seemingly dozens of question that need to be asked, about the Tsarnaev brothers, the connection to the radical Islamic jihadists and the potential for some extremely troubling answers regarding the Saudi national.  A handful of the inquiries are as follows:

* Who exactly is the Saudi national, described as Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi?

*How did this hospitalized individual go from suspect to student (who never intended the school he came to America to attend)?

*Describe the area of discussion of the scheduled and of record walk by meetings President Obama had with the Saudi Foreign Minister?

*As Alharbi is known to have an "event" file, why was there efforts to hastily deport him?

*Reports indicate Alharbi had previously been a guest of some frequency at the White House, and an unsubstantiated series of reports that had Michelle Obama visiting Alharbi in the hospital.  While our First Lady did in fact visit victims in Boton area hospitals, it cannot be confirmed she visited Alharbi, although there are several reports, some with photos of the visit.

If Michelle Obama did in fact visit Alharbi in the hospital, we really must demand to know just what the hell is going on here?

The situation is fluid, and without being directly involved in any area of the investigations, it it difficult to separate the facts from the noise.  Given we do know the history of the Obama administration to distort the truth (unemployment number an example), we really are not sure what is going on, but it all seems troubling to say the least.

We do know the events surrounding this bombing are centered around radical Islamic jihad, and given the position the Obama administration takes regarding Islamic terrorists and its coziness with The Muslim Brotherhood, we likely have not seen the last of terror on our streets.

Furthermore, the difficulty in determining us and them, who is who and who is on what side is increasing.  While is gets sorted out, the answer lies in standing firmly in our divinely inspired founding first principles.

The Heat Is On

You have no doubt heard the story about the frog and the boiling water?

As it goes, if a frog is thrown into a pan of boiling water, the frog will instantly jump right out of the pan. However, should you place the frog in the pail of water and then slowly bring the water to a boil, the frog will not recognize the change in temperature until it is too late and the frog will be boiled alive.

The story is usually descriptive in a metaphoric sense highlighting the inability of people to recognize significant changes that occur gradually until the point of no return has been reached. What is going on in America today has that same feeling, as a major transformation is underway with the greater majority of the citizenry oblivious to the changes.

Among the many instances of transformation currently at play are positions against the church, embracing reductions in military abilities and status, entrepreneurship, the lessening of the value of citizenship and American exceptionalism and individualism; gun control efforts, socialized medicine and American sovereignty.

The monetizing of the debt, expansive entitlements, bailouts, exponential stimulus spending, the devaluation of our currency, the departure from investor protocol and contract law, notable during the auto bailouts, wealth redistribution and the absence of the rule of law are among the economic examples.

That is quite a list; however, the lack of adherence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is by far the most troublesome example, as the arrogant progressive ruling class deems themselves grantor's of rights through government, in contrast to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from God as noted by our founding principles.

President Obama views the Constitution as a imperfect document with deep flaws of Colonialism; a document of negative liberties which limits what a government can do instead of outlining what a government must and should do.

These positions are in extreme contrast to the vision of our Founding Fathers as you might imagine.  But as the average citizen is working double to keep their family afloat amid the horrendous current economic conditions, and fails to adequately recognize the reduction in their freedom that is occurring.

The water is really getting warm!

Sometimes, we need an old friend to help us see the forest for the trees, a friend who is stern but friendly, a great communicator who is grounded in first principles and faith, a clear visionary who embraces freedom and cherishes the United States of America.

Enter Ronald Reagan:

The Boston Hockey Stick

The wounds from the terrorist actions in Boston on Patriots Day Monday are fresh in our minds, and while we continue to send our thoughts and prayers to all those affected, attention has turned to finding those responsible for these atrocious actions.

After what can be categorized as a series of bumblings, inclusive of false and mixed information, the FBI released photos of persons of interest. Please see the following pictures:

While America is now focused on these individuals identified by the FBI as person of interest who are extremely dangerous, as usual, it is important to watch the other hand.  While we subscribe to a secondary path of activity regarding the bombings, these individuals identified likely are involved are should be treated as such.

Recall that earlier Wednesday, John King and Fran Townsend of CNN both reported an arrest had been made, a seemingly erroneous and reckless relay of false information.  Or was it?

As a guest analyst last evening along with Mark Fuhrman on Hannity, Steve Emerson of The Investigative Project informed us of the imminent deportation of a Saudi national who was in the general area of the Boston bombings when the occurred.  Please see the following:



On Thursday morning on his nationally syndicated radio program, Glenn Beck went into detail confirming the information Emerson broke on Hannity.  Given the significance of the finding and in the spirit of getting the information out to a wide audience, Beck and his team attempted to involve additional media outlets in an effort to further this most important development. Not surprisingly given the level of the mainstream media these days, they were unsuccessful.

Reuters broke the story that President Obama had an unscheduled "walk by" meeting with Saudi foreign minister yesterday, an unusual meeting to be sure.

Thankfully, Beck and his exemplary staff over at The Blaze, have continued their investigation only to be spooked by what has been uncovered.  Beck spoke about this troubling situation on his afternoon television show on The Blaze TV.  Please take a listen:



Obviously, some members of Congress wanted answers on this subject in meetings on the hill today, only to be scolded by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.  She was awful uptight in not responding to information she deemed false and ridiculous.

While many may be aprehensive to embrace the story, perhaps due to the incorrect perception of credibility issues with Beck, it should be noted that Steve Emerson, who re-iterated his comments again tonight on Hannity, is perhaps the most credible source on terrorism out there.

We shall see as the information unfolds, but President Obama and Secretary Napolitano are the people I find untrustworthy. While America is being presented a crafted narrative by the administration and their mainstream media propaganda arm, Beck and Emerson are the people to be listening to as they uncover what the other hand is doing.

Don't buy the hockey stick!

Theft Is Sadly An Option

The DOW and NASDAQ were clobbered again today in higher volume and the markets look to be entering a downtrend at a minimum.  What was the catalyst for such a move?  Take your pick among many market driven and geopolitical events.

Among the market analysts whose opinions I take under advisement is Karl Denninger over at The Market Ticker.  While investors have been fixated on the collapse of gold and silver, this morning, Denniger astutely pointed out a complete break of support by copper.

WAKE UP!

In my capacity as a collateral risk real estate appraisal analyst, I vividly recall most of the vacant homes I appraised were minus the outside A/C unit, as thieves found the copper within most valuable.  In fact, in some cases, all the copper in the improvements was ripped out and stolen.

But the price of copper has collapsed, signaling, as Denninger points out, "because it's a measure of industrial demand -- that is, industrial production on a global basis."

Denninger is correct to point out that Europe, more specifically the EU, is living on borrowed time. First, Greece came to light as essentially bankrupt, and the bailouts began in earnest. They would only provide a temporary respite, with the wheels of collapse spinning a wider web as the days go by.

Additional bailouts have taken place in effort to prevent total insolvency, but they won't work.

Recently in Cyprus, the situation was so bleak that the government resorted to the unthinkable; theft of portions of the monetary holdings of its citizens.  Although a stunning development, the sad truth is that the action will not fix the issue.

What will be the next move of the elitist technocrats, or criminals; and is anybody awake to call the thieves out?

Nigel Farage is, and delivered yet another verbal tongue lashing today at a European Parliament meeting, well worth a listen:



Farage, and Denninger for that matter, has been on this issue for several years, but sadly, few are listening.  Although the bailouts will continue without long term success, eventually, the bubble will burst and the EU will blow up.

Alarmingly, America will not be immune from the destruction, for much of the same market distortion, bailouts, data propaganda, crony capitalism, fraud and deceit we have seen overseas is taking place here.

Don't think these things can't happen here in America?  A Cyprus style theft of deposits has already taken place here in the United States, an action which has completely unpunished, with the malfeasance over at MF Global.  Under CEO Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey Democrat governor and an individual Obama and Biden seek out for financial advice, the company went bankrupt evaporating all the firms cattle rancher deposits along the way.

At a minimum, it should be noted the US economy is in very poor shape, the EU is insolvent and destined for failure, China is an untrustworthy economic enigma and your government is masking the truth in astonishing levels of propaganda, most notably associated with unemployment.

These are not the ingredients of healthy market, and not conditions worthy of your investment, unless you are a very serious professional with rocks in your stomach.  For me, I'll be golfing when the collapse happens unable to get out, a chance I am not prepared to take given all the uncertainty.

Everyone is essentially insolvent and simply playing a shell game.  Bernanke has our printing presses in high speed pursuit in effort to stay ahead of the oncoming bubble burst, creating an a series of positions most difficult to painlessly unwind.

I am not sure where to hide, as a government starving for solvency will leave no stone unturned in their quest to acquire cash. As we have sadly witnessed, theft is now an option.

Economic Freedom Regression

Given the terrorist acts in Beantown yesterday resulting in the deaths of three American citizens and injuries, some most significant, to potentially hundreds of others, Americans appropriately lost focus on what April 15 is commonly known for; the day individual income taxes are due.

With every American becoming a Bostonian in heart yesterday, the 100th anniversary of the income tax passed without fanfare.  It is hard to fume at Woodrow Wilson when you are on a seek and destroy mission after the ruthless terrorists who aim America harm.

Should the events in Boston not have occurred, the Progressives would have spent the day rejoicing at the ever increasing levels of taxation they have levied on working Americans.  Ronald Reagan once half sort of joked that "Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15."

How true. The Progressives under President Obama, exponentially increasing what was already a bloated national debt upon their election, find nothing that cannot be taxed.

Just in the past week, we find Obama seeking to find ways to tax the 401K accounts of individual citizens and under the Progressive leadership in Maryland, under the false premise of global warming, comes word of a complete absurdity; a rain tax.

The progressive elites claim knowledge superior to the rest of us, but somehow, obviously slept during economics class.  Standard economic theory indicates when you tax something, you get less of it.  As the Progressives seek to continuously raise revenues, oh excuse me, taxes, it is clear every American should have a thorough understanding of The Laffer Curve.

As such, please see the following short tutorial from Prager University:



The Progressives leadership has a fundamental understanding of this, so therefore, their policies are illogical and in full scale violation of basic economic theory.  But why?

The reasons are found in the concepts put forward by Cloward and Piven, basically centering upon crashing the current system to have it replaced by a form of socialism which prohibits individual economic growth and entrepreneurship. Obama is doing a fine job achieving this goal thus far.

When over half the country is dependent upon government assistance, those footing an increasing bill will ultimately collapse, allowing an all too welcoming government to take control.  The individualism of the citizenry is lost when your wages and benefits are not rewards for your hard work and accomplishment but rather controlled hand outs from those in governance, ultimately unelected technocrats.

Increasing taxation is restrictive to economic freedom.  It should be remembered that free market capitalism is the best path prosperity. Always.

Eyes on the Tentacles of Terrorism

The situation is fluid, but we conclude terrorists have attacked America in Boston. We will have plenty to say in the future, but for now, please keep our Bostonian friends, race competitors and their families in your prayers.

Contrary to the opinion of the Obama administration, we have been and remain in a global war on terror, both militarily and economically.  In times of a crisis, when attention is directed in appropriate fashion in a particular arena, our eye is temporarily taken off many other, and perhaps more important, issues 

Today may be such a day, as gold was in free fall as the markets closed sharply lower on Wall and Broad.

While we keep our Bostonian friends, race competitors and their families in our prayers, we must watch the other hand. There IS something to see here.

Kevin Freeman over at Secret Weapon has all the tentacles of the gold collapse covered, it is well worth your time to get up to speed over at his Global Economic Warfare site.

The economy is not doing better, and whether it is the Obama administration of Goldman Sachs informing you it has, they profit from delivering false information to you, so eliminate the noise.

Another strong piece describing the precarious situation can be found over at Zero Hedge.  As noted on this stellar website, gold volatility is signaling counter party risk again.  Is another bubble bursting?

Financial analysts are all over the place, and due to excessive market manipulation, guidelines from past history are out the window.

On top of this, we had what appeared to be a natural landslide the other day at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott mine in Utah which erased a large portion of Silver mining production for what may be years to come. Silver joined gold in tanking today.

 
Could these events possibly be related?  What does the immediate future hold?

I don't know what I am having for lunch on Tuesday, much less the direction of equity and precious metal trading in the capital markets, but I do know the market is being manipulated by the FED and that the economic fundamentals (yes, I know many companies are beating much lowered earnings expectations) are not good at all. 

I will point the labor force participation rate to hang my hat on. Caveat Emptor!

Health Care Mirage

Unfortunately, due to arrogant elected officials, who shoved down the throat of the American people a take over of one sixth of the American economy without one Republican vote, and the inability to accurately interpret the Constitution by Chief Justice John Roberts, we are likely stuck with The Affordable Health Care Act, or Obamacare.

The roll out of Obamacare is running into all sorts of issues, inclusive of much higher than anticipated costs, increased regulation and difficulties in implementation.  The architects of the Health Care Act, written before Obama got elected by The Tides Foundation, know exactly what the future holds with respect to the plan.  The majority of the politicians, who never read the bill, are useful idiots playing the political game.

And of course, there is the extreme propaganda of false, incorrect and deceitful information the American people were handed by the politicians who supported the effort. 

*Premiums will fall
*No Death Panels (Sarah Palin was correct as usual)
*You can keep your Doctor

Perhaps the most deliberate omission in the description presented the American people was that, although the ACA itself is not a single payer plan, it was a necessary stepping stone, or trojan horse, because the architects deemed jumping to a single payer plan would be met with anticipated public disapproval.  The people must be nudged that direction over time, with the elimination of choice, and freedom, along the way.  Make no mistake, a single payer plan is the ultimate objective, although the mainstream media did their best to conceal it.

However, many have publicly stated the intentions, including former Senator Barney Frank (D:MA)and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D:CA).  Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D:CA), not only admitted to the ACA being a precursor to a single payer plan, but gleefully spoke of her intention to destroy a private sector industry.  Imagine the arrogance.

Over at Verum Serum, Robert J. Samuelson has a great piece on the public plan mirage, although it fails to examine the extension beyond health care.  For example, as an investor in capital markets and real property, I found particularly interesting the portion of the health care bill that hits capital gains and real estate with an investment income tax of 3.8%. 

How does capital gains on investments or real estate relate to health care?  Well, obviously, it is not about health care.

As Ronald Reagan warned us back in 1961, a government method to impose socialism or statism on the people is through socialized medicine as a vehicle for increased taxation, regulation, surveillance and control. 



Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius really insulted the intelligence of the American people this week when she opined that the implementation of the law was much more difficult than previously thought.

“Probably no one fully anticipated when you have a law that phases in over time, how much confusion that creates for a lot of people. So that has been difficult,” Sebelius said. “When the law was signed and people immediately did not get affordable health insurance, they were surprised and a lot were disappointed but now understand that this was a gradual phase-in.”

Really? Who is she trying to kid? 

The planners recognize that most Americans do not follow closely enough to decipher the lies being told them on a consistent basis, not to mention changes to the language, and therefore are not privy to the inside baseball of the plan.  Since when are revenues tax increases?

Those of us who understand free markets and the importance of individual choice knew full well what a monstrosity of misery the law would be. We also understood the false premise the whole movement was based upon.  Charts like the one presented below would have been pure comedy if it were not sadly real and poised to wreak havoc on our liberties.

 

Unfortunately, the more the planners plan the more the plans fail. Governments don't tax to get the money they need but find needs for the money they get.  Every area of freedom will be invaded by the tentacles of bills of this nature, and with each victory the progressive elite planners achieve, the more freedom we the people lose.

These Are The True Awards Of Manly Sport

Evil seems to be gaining strength in America, but not in Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday.

For those of us who treat the color and pageantry of college football as a religion, there are three seasons; National Signing Day, spring practice culminating with annual spring games and the excitement of the regular season.

Although the south is rampant with this enthusiasm, many across the fruited plain are as well.  Nowhere is the support for the home team any stronger than in Lincoln, Nebraska, home of the five time national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers, who hold the record for the longest home sellout streak in the nation, continuing at over 300 even with a dismal economy.

After wicked weather postponed last seasons spring game, a day of sunshine was expected at Memorial Stadium on Saturday for the Red-White game.  For those who could be among the 60,000 who were able to attend, the game was broadcast live on The Big Ten Network.

Many fans, eager to get a glimpse of the progress of some of the young Huskers who are expected to contribute to a young team next fall, it was a youngster who stole our, and the nations, heart on this day.

Jack and Rex Burkhead

Rex Burkhead, a standout running back from Plano, Texas who exhausted his Nebraska career last year in an injury riddled senior season, had befriended a pediatric cancer patient in young Jack Hoffman.  Throughout last season, Hoffman and Burkhead forged a friendship Burkhead visiting Hoffman after treatments and with Hoffman having an opportunity to visit many practices of the Big Red.  Hoffman meant a lot to the entire team, and led the 'Huskers on to the field in a home game versus Wisconsin last fall.

But on Saturday, as the spring game was nearing conclusion, a magical event took place as Jack Hoffman got the opportunity of a lifetime.  Please see the following video:


All Big Ten quarterback Taylor Martinez re-entered the game along with Jack to run the pitch sweep to the right, and Jack Hoffman got loose.  Hoffman gave glimpse of former 'Husker greats Mike Rozier or Ahman Green breaking into the next level. 

There truly is no place like Nebraska, as BTN analyst and former 'Husker running back Damon Benning said on the broadcast, as Hoffman hit pay dirt.

I had tears in my eyes watching this live from my living room.  At the Orange Bowl in 1971, someone asked me what the "N" on my hat meant.  An Alabama fan sitting next to me replied, "Nice People."  That was very well put.

There have been many moments over the years, but I cannot recall being more proud to be a Cornhusker than I was on Saturday.

As the story has appropriately gone viral over social media and the cable news networks, many have described this touching event in outstanding fashion.  BTN, the Omaha World Herald, the Lincoln Journal Star, ESPN, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post and FOX News.

Jeffrey Koterba, cartoonist for the Omaha World Herald, gave us an overview of those in the Scarlet and Cream.

 

For those instrumental for putting this action together, inclusive of Burkhead, and via ESPN, former Husker Jeff Jamrog and current fullback CJ Zimmer, may I extend the heartfelt thanks from 'Huskers everywhere. “Obviously, Jack is a young man who has touched the hearts of a lot of people,” Husker coach Bo Pelini said. “People have got behind him and he’s become a big part of the team. … I thought it was a pretty special thing” reported the LJS.

 

The academic excellence of the football team is second to none, and while Nebraska is not quite the team they used to be under legendary coach Dr. Tom Osborne, the program is on solid footing both on, and off the field under Bo Pelini.  I saw that on Saturday.

 

But like most of America, particularly those of us fortunate enough to be fathers, the spirit of the action touched our hearts. As Lincoln Journal Star columnist Steve Sipple quipped, "The day belonged to Jack!"

 

The team coming together for Jack Hoffman on Saturday was a testament to the words engraved on the northwest corner of Memorial Stadium, Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport.  

 

Engraved at the southwest corner reads "Not the victory but the action; Not the goal but the game; In the deed the glory."

 

Jack, and all those fighting these terrible diseases, exhibit courage we all can be proud of.  We all pray for their victory. The action on the field Saturday when Hoffman took the field on Saturday was a most moving gesture indeed, capturing the hearts of the nation.

 

With any luck, the extended awareness this act of kindness brought to the country on Saturday will help expedite the finding of cures for those who fight these diseases on a daily basis .  #TEAMJACK

 

There truly is no place like Nebraska.  Well done Big Red! Very well done. N #GBR

Iron Leadership Lost

The Iron Lady, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, passed away this morning at age 87.

Lady Thatcher, joining Pope John Paul II and Ronald Reagan, shined the light on freedom and were instrumental leaders in defeating the Soviet Union, without firing a shot I might add.  She had said she entered politics because of the conflict between good and evil, hoping she could help good triumph.  Only in rare instance has a collection of leadership been so effective defeating evil and in the promotion of freedom for the people and free market economic liberty.

 

Thatcher believed that free marker capitalism, rather than the socialism Europe embraced as she took office, provided the best path to prosperity. She took on all those who challenged her, stating the case from her heart with stern eloquence.

"And I will go on criticising Socialism, and opposing Socialism because it is bad for Britain — and Britain and Socialism are not the same thing. (...) It’s the Labour Government that have brought us record peace-time taxation. They’ve got the usual Socialist disease — they’ve run out of other people’s money".

Sadly, those in government these days seem to have forgotten this lesson, if they ever understood it at all.



A statement from The Reagan Ranch may have said it best, Lady Thatcher made profound contributions to liberty and freedom in Britain and throughout the world.

In an era where the left has abandoned any reasonable level of civil discourse, I am reminded of a telling quote from Lady Thatcher: "I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."

Indeed. 

God Bless You Lady Thatcher!

Evil An Opponent of Freedom

The History Channel's epic five part mini-series The Bible concluded on Easter Sunday, and I hope you had occasion to watch. It was, in a word, tremendous. Executive producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey preserved and did a fabulous job bringing these stories to life. Additionally, the cast from top to bottom was exemplary, particularly Diogo Morgado, who played the role of Jesus.
Morgado put in a brilliant performance, and is knocking the door to stardom down.

In part three, Satan made an appearance for the first time and a controversy was born.  Many thought the Satan character had a striking resemblance to a very familiar person, President Obama.  In the interest of full disclosure, I immediately saw Obama when Satan appeared.  The producers dismissed any connection between President Obama and the Satan character in the film. The actor who played the role looks nothing like Obama in real life and is appalled to think others saw Obama in his portrayal of the Satan character.  Downey commented she was almost heart broken that the conversation went in this direction as opposed to the actual story being presented.  Good point.

As the controversy emerged, the left went ballistic, wondering how sick someone must be to correlate Obama with Satan.  Among the leaders lowering the level of discourse is a familiar outlet, who finds racism at the core of this, and every, issue.

However, in a recent poll, approximately one in four Americans thought Obama may be the Anti-Christ.

Certainly, Obama is not Satan, or the anti-Christ.  But is it so far fetched to associate President Obama with evil? I contend it is not.

In his association with ACORN, Obama taught Saul Alinsky, which focuses on non civil approaches to achieve goals with the ends justifying the means, no matter whether they violate common moral guidelines.  In fact, Alinsky's book Rules For Radicals, the bible for leftist activists, is dedicated to Lucifer.

The policies enacted by President Obama, policies that restrict freedom and reduce incentives, offer a top down government aimed at controlling the masses through expansion of the welfare state, robbing the individual of free agency

Wealth transformation, simply stated as theft, oppresses those who do the necessary work to achieve greatness enabling those who do not offered in implementation by technocrats and government officials who think they know better.  These oppressive dictator style officials think they alone can dictate markets among the populous, picking winners through crony capitalism exhibiting no respect for the rule of law.

President Obama is set to release a budget this week, a budget that will include significant revenue increases, otherwise stated, tax increases.  Given that almost half of our citizenry pay no income taxes, this another effort at wealth transformation.  Basic economic theory is not a strong suit of this group, as when you increase taxation on something you get less of it.  Prosperity comes to mind.  The economic reality of the point is so simple, it can be written on a napkin. The Laffer Curve is quite illustrative.

Jesus was an opponent of oppressive tax collectors, knowing the government utilized the taxes to oppress the people.  In today's world, although a base of taxation for a limited government to provide basic services for it citizens is necessary, rarely have governments operated efficiently or exercised restraint in spending money the take from those they govern over.  As Lady Thatcher famously said, socialism is great until you run out of everyone elses money.

Governments run by technocrats and dictators who oppress their citizenry through suffocating taxation and regulation house the types of individuals and regimes that brought the wrath of our loving God.  Those in governance who implement restriction of freedom of the people in various forms of oppression are evil and have been since the beginning of time.  The story is told over and over again in the Bible.

Thankfully, The History Channel presented the work of Mark Brunett and Roma Downey in their epic mini series The Bible.  It is hoped that many who may never have had the opportunity can learn of the great news, and recognize that freedom is the key to a peaceful, moral existence in our journey on earth.

College Football Losing Our Tradition

It has been a very period of time of late for those associated with the Oklahoma Sooners, and sadly, it continued today with the loss of former head football coach Chuck Fairbanks. Fairbanks was head coach from 1967-72, before Barry Switzer took over.

 

It was Chuck Fairbanks coaching the Sooners in The Game of the Century at Norman in 1971, as Nebraska defeated OU 35-31 en route to winning the national title routing Paul "Bear" Bryant and Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

Nebraska's Bob Devaney with OU's Chuck Fairbanks

Jack Mildren, who quarterbacked the game for OU in '71, died of stomach cancer much too young in 2008. Ricky Bryan, and All America defensive tackle for OU in the early eighties, died of a heart attack in 2009 at only 47.

The death of Fairbanks comes just weeks after former Oklahoma quarterback Steve Davis, Switzer's first signal caller, died in a plane crash in Indiana.  Davis was magical running the wishbone Fairbanks implemented at OU.

Sadly, college football is losing many people who played significant roles in the history of the game.

Just yesterday, the game of football lost Jack Pardee, one of Bear Bryants "Junction Boys" at Texas A&M and College Football Hall of Fame member.  I remember Jack Pardee when he coached our hometown Florida Blazers in 1974.  

Nebraska All America tailback Ken Clark died just a few weeks back, and Alabama lost Mal Moore this week.

Last fall, the game lost legendary Texas Longhorn coach Darrell Royal and Beano Cook, who in particular helped keep the history of the game, inclusive of the military academies, fresh in our mind.

Emory Bellard, who many credit with creating the wishbone while at Texas under Darrell Royal, passed away just over a year ago. Bellard was head coach at Texas A&M and Mississippi State.

Many of these men were instrumental in forming the fabric of The Color and Pageantry of College Football, America's game.  While we have lost many, we still have time to embrace and honor those who remain with us.  Some are among our heroes; excellent athletes, coaches, father figures, teachers and men of faith.

These men will be missed.  Let us not change our traditions; let us remember those who made them.