The DNC

Found the below article on the DNC so apt that I had to share it here. Vote in November! Read this on the Web at http://patriotpost.us/editions/14671/ Subscribe to The Patriot Post — It's Right and It's Free The Picture They Painted in Charlotte "It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty?" --Patrick Henry An elderly Spanish woman recently set about the work of restoring a 102-year-old oil painting of Jesus. To put it generously, her work was less than successful. Just as she attempted to refurbish the cracked and peeling fresco, however, Democrats at their North Carolina convention tried -- and failed just as miserably -- to improve the image of their own tarnished and faded messiah. Restoring the Obama fresco In a video produced for the opening of the convention, Democrats succinctly summed up their entire philosophy: "Government is the only thing we all belong to. We have different churches, different clubs, but we're together as a part of our city, or our county, or our state, and our nation." Everything separates us but government. Indeed, the rest of the convention paid homage to government as the be all and end all, the Alpha and Omega, the solution to every problem. Because, let's face it, as someone once said, "You didn't build that." The Obama campaign quickly denied having anything to do with the video, but no one doubts it's Obama's vision. And nothing could be further from what our Founding Fathers established -- a republic with limited and enumerated powers in which "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" were the rights and values to be cherished, not the bureaucratic labyrinth at the Department of Health and Human Services. It was also no small irony that the gavel came down on the convention just as our national debt passed $16,000,000,000,000. Democrats have done more than their "fair share" to help us reach that horrendous number. With all that in mind, we chose a few of the more egregious quotes from the DNC floor -- and believe us, the choosing was hard -- with concise rebuttals to the various attacks, distortions and outright lies. Barack Obama: "[T]hose of us who carry on [FDR's] party's legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from Washington. ... We don't think government can solve all our problems, but we don't think government is the source of all our problems -- any more than are welfare recipients, or corporations, or unions, or immigrants, or gays, or any other group we're told to blame for our troubles." Except George W. Bush. He's definitely to blame. Obama has yet to offer a single solution to anything that isn't top-down government control. Ronald Reagan once said, "[G]overnment is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Reagan was right. You can choose a future where we reduce our deficit without wrecking our middle class. Independent analysis shows that my plan would cut our deficits by $4 trillion." His plan will further increase our debt by about $10 trillion, regardless of a nominal "cut" in the rate of growth. "I want to reform the tax code so that it's simple, fair, and asks the wealthiest households to pay higher taxes on incomes over $250,000 -- the same rate we had when Bill Clinton was president ... [W]hen Governor Romney and his allies in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficit by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy -- well, you do the math. I refuse to go along with that." Letting people keep their own money by leaving tax rates where they've been for 10 years is NOT a spending item. "You didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth." He should try that some time. "[Republicans] want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. And that's because all they have to offer is the same prescription they've had for the last 30 years." Yes, conservatives have offered a working free-market plan for more than 30 years. By contrast, the Left has offered the same failed governments solution since the 1930s. Forward!™ Joe Biden: "After the worst job loss since the Great Depression, we've created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months." Who created those jobs? "Mitt Romney grew up in Detroit. His father ran American Motors. Yet he was willing to let Detroit go bankrupt." Barack Obama, on the other hand, had "the guts to stand up for the automobile industry" by ... letting it go bankrupt. The only difference was, Obama protected the unions. Bill Clinton: "In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president's re-election was pretty simple: We left him a total mess, he hasn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in. In order to look like an acceptable alternative to President Obama, they couldn't say much about the ideas they have offered over the last two years. You see they want to go back to the same old policies that got us into trouble in the first place: to cut taxes for high income Americans even more than President Bush did; to get rid of those pesky financial regulations designed to prevent another crash and prohibit future bailouts; to increase defense spending $2 trillion more than the Pentagon has requested without saying what they'll spend the money on; to make enormous cuts in the rest of the budget, especially programs that help the middle class and poor kids." No doubt the economy Obama inherited was a mess, but that certainly wasn't due to conservative policies, which didn't exactly dominate the Bush administration. Fiscal responsibility didn't cause the mess -- there was none. Free and truly deregulated markets didn't cause it -- regulation increased. Lower taxes didn't cause it. Exploding government spending and over-regulation caused it -- recall Clinton's own expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act that played a critical role in the housing crash. Obama then multiplied these failed policies to prolong the economic malaise. Michelle Obama: "I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as 'us' and 'them.'" Except when he's demonizing "The Rich" or those awful Republicans. "Being president doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are." We can all agree on that! Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth "One-Sixty-Fourth" Warren: "[F]or many years, our middle class has been chipped, squeezed and hammered. Talk to the construction worker I met from Malden, Massachusetts, who went nine months without finding work. Talk to the head of the manufacturing company in Franklin trying to protect jobs but worried about rising costs. Talk to the student in Worcester who worked hard to finish his degree, and now he's drowning in debt. ... People feel like the system is rigged against them. And here's the painful part: They're right. The system is rigged." Wait -- isn't this Honest Injun supposed to be helping Obama? Who's running the system? Obama's been president for the last three-and-a-half years, and Democrats took Congress in 2006. "Mitt Romney ... wants to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. But for middle-class families who are hanging on by their fingernails? His plans will hammer them with a new tax hike of up to $2,000." Actually, that's the Democrats' plan if the GOP won't agree to hike taxes on the "rich." Romney plans to cut taxes across the board by 20 percent. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick: "We believe that freedom means keeping government out of our most private affairs, including out of a woman's decision whether to keep an unwanted pregnancy and everybody's decision about whom to marry. We believe that we owe the next generation a better country than we found and that every American has a stake in that." Every American has a stake in our future, all right -- about $51,000 in debt per citizen, in fact, thanks in large part to redistribution for things like paying for those "most private affairs." "In Massachusetts, we know Mitt Romney. By the time he left office, Massachusetts was 47th in the nation in job creation -- during better economic times." National Review's Patrick Brennan replies, "While the 47th number has some basis in reality (over his four years, that was Massachusetts's rank), Patrick actually insists on distorting it anyway: He implies that Romney took a state with robust job growth and ran it into the ground. Exactly the opposite happened: Romney inherited the dot-com disaster, but boosted the Commonwealth from 50th in job creation in his first year to 28th in his final year." Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer: "When a politician doesn't want to be honest about a tax hike, he calls it a fee." Sort of like a health care "reform" law we've heard of... In conclusion, Barack Obama once again: "[W]hen all is said and done -- when you pick up that ballot to vote -- you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace -- decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children's lives for decades to come. On every issue, the choice you face won't be just between two candidates or two parties. It will be a choice between two different paths for America. A choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future." Truer words were not spoken at the DNC. All things considered, we drew one overarching conclusion from the Democrats' week in Charlotte: Their messiah is awfully small. If you could stand to watch a minute, what did you think of the DNC? Publisher's Note Patriots, we encourage you to set aside any and all divisive criticism of the Romney-Ryan ticket and form a unified front to defeat Barack Hussein Obama and his socialist regime. If we have the opportunity to hold a "President Romney" to the high standard of Liberty after inauguration day in January, we will be grateful!

Dining in the Dark?

I have been amused in the past by various stereotypes involved with the sighted and the blind. I have found this amusing article particularly helpful in aiding me to laugh.

event however brings it to a whole new level of dark amusement, if you’ll pardon the pun. The chief highlights are the following:

•Coffee, tea and other hot drinks are not served in the dark, for safety reasons, but are available in the lighted lounge at the end of the experience. •Wine is served with a special sleeve to prevent the bottle from breaking.

Now the last time I checked drinking hot beverages did not require sight, and although I love iced coffee I don’t drink it for the safety. Although I may or may not have been known in my college days for breaking a wine bottle or two with my head, my friends assure me that my blindness had absolutely nothing to do with any such events. I understand the need to have those who are not trained in alternative techniques to be careful, and in our sue happy society one can never be too careful, but I wonder how much of this can be chalked up to the need to cover one’s donkey and how much points to a misunderstanding about blindness. Thoughts?

Are the Rich Patriotic?

In this article the President makes the argument that having the rich pay more tax is patriotic. He suggests that with this "modest" amount added to the federal income we can invest in things that create jobs like education. I would suggest to the President that education that results in a job at the end is indeed a good thing, but why then shouldn't the families and individuals who would benefit from this education not be willing to make that investment themselves? Additionally, the President seems to think that education, regardless of the goal of said education, is of value. I think that a degree in underwater basket weaving, while fun, is not worth investing in. Then again I have come to appreciate eating on a regular bases.

In regards to the President's larger point on it being patriotic for the rich to pay more, if they wish to do so they may without being forced. All those wishing to pay off the public debt, and here I particularly look to my liberal friends who believe so much in the goodness of big government and its ability to fix problems, may do so by the following.

There are two ways for you to make a contribution to reduce the debt:

•You can make a contribution online either by credit card, checking or savings account at Pay.gov •You can write a check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it's a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to: Attn Dept GBureau of the Public DebtP. O. Box 2188Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

So why should the rich, or anyone else for that matter, be forced to pay more when they may do so voluntarily?

Swimming in Shark Infested Waters

The NFB National Convention of 2012 was a blast. During the day I attended meetings of interest, including the computer science division and Meet the Blind Month 2012, and attended general session. At night I got to spend time with friends, both old and new, and had a great time. Sleep was a fleeting commodity, but at convention I adopt the attitude that I'll sleep when I'm dead. The exhibit hall and Independence Market were wonderful, as ever, and the banquet was the highlight as it always is. The food was surprisingly good this year, as I normally look forward to the company at banquet rather then the food, and the keynote address by Dr. Maurer was the best I've heard live.

I broke down in the exhibit hall and upgraded my JAWS Service Maintenance Agreement (SMA) and bought the Focus 14 Blue Braille display. Although I have and will continue to support the outstanding work Serotek is doing, I believe JAWS will be able to meet my screen reading needs more efficiently then System Access. The Focus 14 Blue was a no brainer, as it is a sleek and beautiful machine. Will be great to have both for my iPhone and portable Braille reading needs.

It's hard to believe we're already at July 7th. Where did the summer go again? Last time I checked my colleagues and I were prepping for the goombas to arrive. Now we're half way through the program. Amazing how time flies.

Speaking of we have a great class this year. Between my colleagues and the high quality students we have it's no wonder that the summer program has been such a success up to this point. One of the best feelings in my life is watching students grow into independence, particularly with their blindness skill set. Seeing the fantastic improvements in my students thus far has been a treat, and I look forward to seeing them grow even more over the remaining time they have here.

Post summer I start work for the Colorado Center for the Blind as an adaptive technology instructor. I am eagerly anticipating the work of assisting my students with their independence in adaptive technology. The job will be a complete 180 from my soul killing work with the IRS. Here I will provide a needed service, and one that presumably the student wants, as opposed to dealing with me only because they have absolutely no other choice. Additionally, as mentioned above I enjoy this type of work, so I think it will be a great match.

Memorial Day

In honor of Memorial Day I wanted to share the article below.

Former Lt. Col. Oliver North, USMC, wrote of Memorial Day "As a crowd of high-school students offloaded from the tour bus for a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial aka 'The Wall,' he yelled, 'There are no good wars!' ... He held a sheet of cardboard, hand-inscribed with the words 'I'm the 99 percent' on one side and 'Help me, I'm Homeless' on the other. ... "'The Wall' is like that. The V-shaped black granite panels with 58,282 names inscribed upon them attract visitors like no other place in our nation's capital. ... "[T]his year, our countrymen who pause from travel, shopping, sporting events and auto races on the last Monday in May will see a very different observance: the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War. "For the 2.7 million Americans who fought for our nation in Southeast Asia, the Gold Star families who lost loved ones there and those who still yearn to know what happened to the 1,350 who still are unaccounted for, Monday's ceremony is a long-awaited requital for unacknowledged sacrifice. It's an overdue but welcome event. "What is less certain is whether this commemoration finally can bring closure to the most polarizing armed conflict for Americans since the Civil War. Will it end the false mythology of the Vietnam vet as a pothead marauder, a homeless, unemployed dropout who couldn't fit in after coming home? "The Occupy protester I confronted on my way to 'The Wall' this week probably won't be convinced by this single ceremony. It's unlikely he ever will grasp the innate decency, unstinting perseverance, quiet courage and true humility of those whose names are engraved on those black granite panels. There are no good wars. But there are good warriors. ... "Like most Vietnam War veterans, they still are giving more than they ever asked in return. They aren't dropouts. They are American heroes -- and I'm blessed to call them friends."

Sage on the Stage?

The below is from the Patriot Post. I found the PC insanity amusing enough that I had to share. Talk about tollerent.

A North Carolina teacher has been suspended with pay after she flew off the handle when, during a discussion about Mitt Romney's alleged high-school bullying, a student pointed out that Barack Obama had admitted to bullying someone in high school, too. Telling the student that he "will not disrespect the president of the United States in this classroom," the teacher launched into an angry diatribe, going so far as to claim that people were arrested for criticizing President George W. Bush. (If that were the case, undoubtedly the vast majority of the media would have mug shots on file.) In response, the student accurately noted that criticism alone isn't grounds for arrest. We're not sure what's worse: that a social studies teacher understands constitutional liberties less than her student; that the teacher spun high tales of arrested Bush-era discontents; or that the taxpayers of North Carolina are still paying her salary.

The Power of Braille

This outstanding article sums up well my thoughts on Braille and its importance.

Being the Tech God I am (Drop Box and Hey Tell not withstanding) I still believe that Braille is vital to be literate and involved in today's society. Spelling and formatting errors do not add to a positive image of blind people.

I only hope that with falling prices for Braille displays (Perkins is doing a bang up job on this with their displays) this tool for literacy will become more widely available.