Update on CiCi's

I sent an email to the corporate headquarters regarding my experience a week ago. I am very happy with their response. Not only did they respond to me from the corporate office, but I also got a response from the local store.

I was assured that the seats and tables are thoroughly cleaned after each patron finishes their meal. I do see the workers going about doing this every time I eat there. I'll be watching to see if they do wash the seating - I can't recall specifically if they do.

I will return to CiCi's because my little one loves to eat there. I just won't during an obvious rush time - such as the church crowd I was confronted with last Sunday. This is a personal rule I have at any restaurant as I loathe crowds and waiting in line.

Most disgusting act I've ever seen in a restaurant

My 6 year old loves to go to Cici's Pizza. It is a heck of a bargain and they have salad to go with the Pizza carb-fest. We've been patronizing the joint for years and my complaint certainly isn't directed at the personnel - its at the clientele.

As we sat down to eat in the overly crowded Cici's Pizza (Fort Smith on Rogers Ave. next to the Supercenter) my eyesight was entertained with the scene of a ten-year-old boy repeatedly sneezing and making no attempt to stifle the spread of germs. While I was alarmed at this, considering the swine flu scare, this is something you see from time to time at any restaurant - or any public place.

It was immediately after the sneezing fit that I witnessed the most horrible event I've ever seen in a restaurant. A girl, also about ten, seated across from the boy dug into her nose and retrieved a booger. She then examined the nugget and wiped in on the seat next to her. I desperately wished I could "unsee" this incident, as I had not had a bite of pizza yet, but we all know that is impossible.

It was a table of three kids with the accompanying adults seated at an adjacent booth. I considered telling who I assumed was the mother about what her child did then I thought this person probably wouldn't care. I've had skirmishes with these types before only to end up getting scolded myself.

I almost vomited after seeing this. My immediate thoughts were - do the Cici's employees ever wash the seats? Am I sitting on some other kids boogers? I'm forever traumatized. I really hope Cici's does wash the seating and if I can find out that they do I will update this post.

The darker side of liberalism

The left - liberals, progressives, "social activists" - I prefer the latter two terms because modern "liberals" have changed the meaning of the word to imply social activism (libertarians are liberal in the classic sense). Whatever we want to call them, the "vocal left" is used to getting its own way by lobbing derogatory falsehoods at the other side...name-calling essentially.

"Nazi," "fascist"...these are two of the most popular insults lobbed at the conservative right but did you know that fascists and Nazis came from social activist/progressive ideology? I'm sure most of my readers have heard the blurbs of recent headlines referring to some halfwit saying Obama is a Nazi and didn't give it much though. But you should...

Jonah Goldberg traces the history of the progressive Democrat to the presidency of Woodrow Wilson (a president referred to as a "fascist dictator") in his book Liberal Fascism. Wilson famously screened D.W. Griffith's homage to the KKK, The Clansman, in the White House - he even invited the director to sit with him as he watched it. The movie, soon to be renamed The Birth of a Nation at the insistence of a close friend to the president, was the first ever shown in the White House.

The left would like everyone to forget that Democrat Wilson was extremely racist, and a progressive. He viewed the KKK as a great bastion of southern heritage that "sprung into existence...to protect the Southern country." Wilson's progressive policy created numerous limitations to market competition - the first of their kind. The Clayton Act of 1914, for example, established a tedious list of "unfair business practices" that formed the groundwork of the Federal Trade Commission that still exists today.

Wilson's shocking behavior didn't stop there...after entering World War I in 1917 - Wilson swiftly issued executive order 2594 that created the Committee on Public Information whose purpose was to influence public opinion in favor of the war. Chaired by George Creel, CPI quickly put out 1,400 posters and the press at the time cooperated to suppress news stories. In 1918 Wilson backed the Sedition Act which outlawed "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" in reference to the government. The act worked to jail some 175,000 Americans as political prisoners. Despite all these horrific acts, Wilson is often remembered as one of the greatest presidents in history.

Goldberg did not make up the term "liberal fascist." In fact, it was a progressive during the time of fascims's height that coined the term. Author H.G. Wells came up with the phrase as a way to revitalise liberalism in 1932 when it was thought the progressive movement was in decline. The fascism of Benito Mussolini was widely respected by the Hollywood crowd and intelligentsia of the time - Time even put Il Duce on the cover twice - once in 1923 and again 12 years later.

New Republic published numerous articles praising Mussolini as the ultimate progressive. Cole Porter's song "You're the Top" is a salute to the dictator - Irving Berlin penned a musical tribute as well. Mussolini had admiration for America at the time also - particularly for Woodrow Wilson.

Mussolini was a leftist with a strong contempt for Christianity and capitalism (sound familiar). He didn't hate Jews, however, that was strictly a belief of the National Socialist Party of Germany. The future "Great Leader" gained early support by supporting striking workers and attacking his former socialist rivals. Mussolini effectively combined nationalist pride with government control, just like Wilson did, and the result was fascism. After establishing dictatorial powers by murdering his adversaries, Il Duce established huge government projects that built bridges, drained swamps, and reduced unemployment - and the public adored him for it.

Comparing progressives to fascists is obvious - the term belongs to them. The Nazi comparison is there as well and not only because the political party contains the word "socialism." Nazis believed strongly in "social reform" policies that included a national health system, a smoking ban, publicly funded abortions - even their own version of affirmative action which included exterminating the Jews. Affirmative action for the Nazis meant eugenics or "racial purification" through selective breeding.

Its the left gone haywire and certainly a comparison that progressives will rail against - insisting that the Nazis were right-wing. But how could they be when they had such strong beliefs in a central, "social reforming" government? That is certainly not a political belief of the right and it never has been. I believe that the left has pegged the Nazis as rightist because of the militance of the group. But they did this without looking into where the Nazi party actually stood on political issues - many issues that the left agrees with to this day (except that part about exterminating Jews).

Wilson wasn't the only liberal fascist...I'll continue this topic at another time.

Briana lost first tooth

It had hung on for more than 2 weeks as she was terrified of pulling it out herself. Tonight it finally came out and she told us how...

"I sneezed," she said. "I sneezed it out."

Libertarians are true liberals

Liberalism today has come to mean social activism but this is not what the term is supposed to mean and did mean until the Progressives forever changed the term in America. Libertarians are liberals in the classical sense; that is, we are the true liberals.

Classic liberals - what "liberalism" used to mean - believe in free markets, limited government, and personal freedom. We are liberal because of this strong belief in personal freedom however we go about establishing this freedom in a different way - we don't think the government needs to mandate it. Personal freedom is implied and the government has no business meddling with it.

This is where classical liberalism strays greatly from the modern liberal "social activists." Modern liberals believe the government has to define and enforce personal freedoms for everybody. But doing this forces government involvement in everyone's lives. Doing this takes away personal freedom as it is impossible for the government to "enforce" personal freedom without infringing on the rights of individuals who may disagree with others.

So why has liberalism come to mean social activism? It happened in the late 19th century before the re-definition was complete with FDR's New Deal. The late 19th century politicians, among them Theodore Roosevelt, came to prominence with progressive ideals that were supported by voters. The government began to interfere with the economy (T.R.'s 'trust busting) and the public was happy to allow this. At the time corporate titans John D. Rockefeller, Dale Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan dominated the oil, steel, and banking industries which brought about the public sentiment to regulate business practices.

These first government interventions into wider society mark the first time the government acted as a social activist. Other laws followed such as child labor, worker safety, etc. It was during this time when social liberals split from classic liberals who thought the government shouldn't intervene with the actions of wider society because the markets should determine business practices.

Wilson solidified the acceptance of statism where before classical liberals embraced anti-statist individualism. This stance was assumed at the time by conservatives. Powerful corporations and the enhanced ability to communicate (telegraph, telephone) brought economic organization to a national level - and the "liberal" government of the time period reacted accordingly - culminating in FDR's New Deal where the government functioned as an economic planner. New Deal "economic planners" went so far as to daily dictate the price of gold and reorganize entire industries.

The failures of New Deal economic planning then led liberals to embrace Keynesian economic principles that call on the government to manage aggregate demand - still direct market involvement but not to the extent of FDR's policies.

It was also during this time that individual rights were emphasized by liberals - particularly civil rights - which led to the clashes of the 1960s. It was in the 1960s that the transformation of the liberal into a social activist became complete.

So what happened to the classic liberals? Well, by and large they didn't exist. The dual-party political system in America embraced progressive ideas on both sides and classical liberals were relegated to the sidelines. A few classic liberals popped up from time to time from the Republican Party - Barry Goldwater comes to mind - but a new brand of GOP dominated that accepted the renovations of the social activists and New Deal policies of the 1930s - the "neo-cons."

Today the Internet allows for easy transfer of ideas and people are discovering that they agree with the classic liberal policies of the Libertarian Party when they read about it. Its a completely different stance from the two-party system.

I am having to think way too hard today

Exclusive Interview with Future Prediction Expert Gerald Celente

It’s the end of the world as the Greater Depression hits after 2010’s failed “W-recovery”

Human Events had the opportunity to interview forecaster extraordinaire Gerald Celente, President of Trends Research Institute, several days ago -- and the future he predicts looks bleak indeed. In fact, as Mr. Celente sees it, the Great Depression will seem like a mild recession as what waits for us in 2011 hits with the force of a Katrina financial hurricane.

In case you’re wondering who Mr. Celente is (if this is still possible), he’s appeared -- along with his predictions -- on Oprah, CNBC, Reuters, NBC, PBS, BBC, the Glenn Beck Show -- the list goes on an on. His Trends Report has been successfully predicting the major future trends impacting our lives for 3 decades, including calling the dot com crash back in the 1990's.


Mr. Celente's forecast on our impending future is based on his study of history. He says we are bent on destroying our currency, bankrupting our government, and unleashing a violent citizen-against-citizen eruption as the economy collapses into chaos and martial law fascism.

Quite a claim. And God help us if he is right -- again.

“We’re sounding the alarm about the ongoing downward economic cycle”, Gerald told Human Events. “In 2002, we predicted that the collapse of the American empire would fall like the World Trade Center in a thunderous crash -- in slow motion before our eyes. And now it’s happening.”

Mr. Celente follows over 300 trends: family, crime, war, education, consumer & business patterns which TRI synthesizes to predict the future.

“The US is becoming a shadow of what it used to be. Take education for example. The OECD group of developed countries ranks quality of life, education, health care of its member nations. The US is now falling down the table as one piece of data after another shows America is in decline. We’re no longer Win, Place or Show in quality of life, education, longevity… all the essentials where we used to be #1. And our economic underpinnings are failing.”

Mr. Celente puts part of the blame squarely on the federal government, and especially FED Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Geithner, and warns us not to believe a word they say “They’re the same people who didn't see it coming - are now telling us the worst is over, that ‘green shoots are spouting upwards’. But they were wrong before. They’re wrong on this too”.

“When you pump out tons of money manure into this system based on nothing – printing press paper, it’s like giving a patient with a chronic disease a pain killer -- it won’t cure the patient.”

“But let’s go beyond the economics. Our whole Constitution has been abrogated. The president simply writes an Executive Order to do whatever he wants. Nationalize the banks, take over the insurance industry, automobile industry, health care industry…
None of it is constitutional.”

When did the problem begin?

“After Dwight Eisenhower -- our last great president -- the Allied Supreme Commander in WWII – who warned us of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. We've become completely corrupted.”

“We became enmeshed in foreign entanglements. We forgot the lesson of England - and how their global imperial overreach destroyed their empire.”

Of course, the average American doesn’t think that we’re an empire. We’re not like the classical empires of old - raping, pillaging and stealing the wealth of invaded peoples. What does Mr. Celente have to say about this?

“What we’re doing is squandering our wealth, our resources, the genius of our scientists and the future of our children. We’re over-consuming in every way -- but under consuming our education and focusing on the quantity, not the quality, of what we’ve built. So much of today’s culture is counter-productive to what American built it’s foundation on -- a high-quality producing nation building things, not pushing paper.

"And we’ve become not only a consumer society but a low-quality consumer, as well as the most obese society in the world, eating low-quality high-carb, high-fat processed foods.”

“We’re now focused on the lowest cost, the lowest common denominator. Not the best and highest quality. We advertise buying cheapest as the most important thing.”

Mr. Celente argues that we’ve socially destroyed our productivity and have abandoned it to other countries.

“And we have fallen into a moral vacuum. Look at how people used to dress. Smartly. Not like the cheap hoods of today. Fashion now copies the lowest common denominator. Our children wear clothes without belts, and shoes without shoelaces, to copy the styles of the violent criminals -- who have these items removed by the police in prison so they can’t be used as weapons. That’s become the fashion statement of today’s youth. Like rap music from the ghetto. We’ve become an underdeveloped nation.”

Mr. Celente observes that "people used to think of America as that shining beacon on the hill with 'liberty and justice for all…' ." So what happened?

"Morality is missing from our American public consciousness. Start with Wall Street. It’s run by a criminal gang. The only question is ‘how much can you make, how much can you steal?’ At the bottom, the welfare recipient says ‘how much can I take?’ And the government is in on the take."

“Morality is absolutely the issue. We had a government where we were taught all our lives that we are a free enterprise system -- so we depend on our own strength, our entrepreneurial ideas. The world used to look to us for our innovative spirit.”

“This is being destroyed before our eyes. And our government has become more interventionist than any of the old empires could imagine.”

"Our society is now based on consumption -- 70% of the GDP. This is more than we produce. So to pay our bills, we use funny money invented in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve and the fiat dollar based on credit (debt) -- the fractional reserve system. In 1930's you bought what you could afford. You saved up to buy your home. The easy credit of the 90's has destroyed the country. Now you borrow what you can’t afford - and the nation’s done the same."

Mr. Celente predicts the use of printing press money will cause the "greater depression".

"I predict continuing deflation of real estate, followed by extreme currency inflation -- ultimately becoming worthless. This is why gold is the only honest money -- the government can't counterfeit it. Look for it to top at least $2000 an ounce"

"Our unemployment numbers are also bogus. For example, the construction industry is really above 20% , and the government is creating low-level jobs, not real jobs. The US total real unemployment is more like 16%. Before the crisis is over, it will reach 25% - great depression numbers."

"When people have lost everything they have nothing to lose. Violence and crime will explode. Look at the OECD figures. The number of people not graduating from high school is exploding -- they're wacked out on drugs. New York City will look like Mexico City in a few years. The collapse of morality from top down -- and especially in the government -- makes it inevitable."

"What can we expect in the coming future", we asked.

"Washington has declared 'Economic Martial Law'. Wall Street is putting Main Street out of business. The key to watch is Christmas sales. They’ll fail. Christmas will be when reality sets in."

"Another trend we wrote about over 2 years ago was the tax revolt. What’s happened? Tax revenues have collapsed by 33%. And the wealthy people are leaving."

"We predict state secessionist movements will rival the breakup of the Soviet Union."

"The only way we can ever recover is to return to individual community, personal responsibility, local government. Next, average will disappear, Quality will return. Look at GM. Junk cars financed by junk bonds. Now owned by a junk government. As a consumer, don’t consume quantity -- consume quality."

"How will it all end?", we queried. Will the dollar survive?

"The dot com bubble should have burst and gone away in a short sharp recession. But the boys at the Fed re-inflated the economy by lowering interest rates to a 46 year low -- and in turn created the real estate bubble -- much bigger than the dot com bubble. "

"Now they’re creating the bailout bubble -- which will ultimately dwarf the real estate bubble. It will cause the implosion of the global economy world wide -- which will not be able to be repaired by creating yet another bubble. Every time the government fails, it tells a bigger lie and then a still bigger lie."

"These previous bubbles were not allowed to pop -- but they didn’t destroy the infrastructure of the country. This bailout bubble will."

"But this bubble will be the last one. After the final blowout of the bailout bubble, we are concerned that the government will take the nation into war. This is a historical precedent that’s been done over and over again."

"So, it’s not that the dollar that will survive. We may not even survive. Look at the German mess after WWI. It gave rise to Fascism and WWII. The next war will be fought with weapons of mass destruction."

Pravda - American capitalism gone with a whimper

http://ping.fm/LsYWP

God bless the Fritschie family

My co-workers are looking at me funny because I wore a suit today!

Just found out at the last minute that I don't have to do my software rollout tomorrow!

Yippee!

The world is full of bad liars

Brinks, AR

A murderer lurked here for a long time. Clifford Mac Ritter, a killer of two, existed here for more than two decades before he would kill again.

On May 13, 2009 Clifford killed my friend. He shot him down for no reason. It was a senseless murder of a good man, a good father, who didn't have an unkind bone in his body.

Clifford's family knew he would kill again. Nobody was surprised when the police came after the shotgun blasts were fired. The neighbors knew to stay away from this monster.

Why didn't my friend know?

Why was this monster living freely?

Why did he serve a total of five years in prison, over a period of fifteen years, only to be unleashed to society to kill again?

Brinks, AR is on the fringes of civilization....

But why was my friend murdered there?

I'm in class!

Trump stands up for Miss California...

http://ping.fm/GvQOD

Boi de Ouro

Ate at this Brazilian steakhouse yesterday following the graduation ceremony...permit me the freedom to borrow the name of a British sitcom to say it was Absolutely Fabulous!

The price was reasonable as well. I ate at a similar restaurant in Atlanta and it was $50 a person. We were charged only $20 a person but I believe it was cheaper because we were there during brunch hours.

The salad bar was extensive and full of unusual items not seen very often. Considering the limited fare in Fort Smith I was delighted. From the salad bar I particularly enjoyed the black beans which had some sausage mixed in.

At Brazilian steakhouses its all about the meat. Once the card is turned over the meat server comes with a huge cut of meat on a giant skewer. The meat keeps coming - all sorts of meat until the card is flipped over again. We had filet mignon, top sirloin, pork tenderloin, rotisserie chicken, and sausage. All were cooked to absolute perfection, save the chicken which was a bit dry. The chicken is really a mild complaint that didn't detract from the wonderful meal we had here.

I highly recommend this restaurant. If visiting Fayetteville its a must.

http://ping.fm/P6d3f

UA Commencement 2009

It was a big affair in old Barnhill Arena. Thousands were on hand to watch the undergrads and graduate students receive their degrees. The ceremony opened up with an extremely poor rendition of "God Bless America" - I assume that every song is traditionally performed by a prospective graduate but this performer was particularly tone-deaf. Then the honor students were named (no I wasn't one of them but I did keep a 3.5 GPA). Then the commencement speaker gave his speech.

General Steele is an accomplished individual and an accomplished speaker. He started as a private in his military career and worked his way up to 3-star general. He must have gone to West Point somewhere along the way. Today he runs a management consulting firm of sorts and serves on the board of 6 companies. He started his speech and it began well.

General Steele spoke of the need to keep the capitalist system in place and referred to it being challenged...not strongly enough in my Libertarian opinion but he did mention it. Then he gave his "simple philosophy" and made a reference to "arrogant" MBA graduates. I'm not sure if he knew he was addressing MBA graduates such as me, but he was and he made no attempt to qualify his statement. He basically said that MBAs are caught up in themselves and that an MBA degree is some sort of license for snobbery.

I just felt like I should write my thoughts on the matter. I�m not one to lodge a complaint with the university or anything. Just want to keep my thoughts for future reference. I thought it was amusing really.

Thank you General Steele for your service to our country. I haven�t accomplished anything close to what you have done but I feel my MBA will set me on the right path � after I�ve completed the summer courses!

Looks like a doozy of a storm is headed right for Fort Smith

Graduating tomorrow!

I'm doing the graduation walk thing tomorrow in Fayetteville.

It's a bit anti-climactic though considering I have to take to classes in the summer. July 11th I will have officially completed the MBA program!

Just put Twitter on my phone - wow I'm behind the times.

What is it about liberals...

That makes them think of taxes as the government's money?

A rabid Obama supporter at work the other day came up to a known conservative with a rant. This was about the time that Obama's $13 a week "tax cut" went into effect. He claimed that since conservatives weren't happy with the way stimulus money was being spent that they should sent the $13 back to the federal government.

I responded by explaining to this person that taxes are not the government's money - taxes are MY money that the government takes from me. Why should I send money back to the government that was mine in the first place?

How did modern liberals arrive at this understanding of taxes?

Testing this new service...