William Boetcker’s “Ten Cannots” (published in 1916):

Found this list after hearing a couple of them mentioned.  What does it make you think of?  (Feel free to answer in the comments below.)

1.  You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2.  You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
3.  You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
4.  You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
5.  You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
6.  You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
7.  You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
8.  You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
9.  You cannot build character and courage by destroying men’s initiative and independence.
10.  You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Jeff Duncan keeps racking up endorsements

Jeff Duncan, candidate for U.S. Congress from South Carolina’s 3rd district, has been racking up endorsements on a regular basis lately.  Just in the last couple months, the list includes South Carolina state Senator Shane Massey, who at one point was an opponent in this primary; the well-known Erick Erickson of RedState.com; former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN); two conservative advocacy groups, Conservatives of America and Club for Growth; as well as the Independence Caucus, a very conservative group dedicated to putting constitutionally-minded candidates into Congress.  Some quotes:

Vote for Greenville, SC!

Go to http://www.googlefiber.com/fiber-optics/ to vote for Greenville, SC to get the high speed fiber optic from Google!  (See the event web site at http://www.wearefeelinglucky.com/ .)

Who is more stupid?

OK.  These two stories hit the news the same week.

First, Somali pirates attacked the U.S. Navy.  Yep–you read that right.  If you hadn’t already heard about that, you are saying “no way!”  But I kid you not.  Pirates a couple hundred miles off the Seychelles islands fired on a guided-missile frigate.  As you might expect, things went downhill for them.  The Navy sunk the small skiff the pirates were using to approach the frigate, seized their mother ship, and captured five of the pirates.

Second, a member of Congress (yes, that auspicious group) was grilling an admiral on the planned relocation of several thousand marines to the island of Guam.  Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) actually said that due to the small size of the island, he feared Guam would “tip over and capsize.”  It’s hard to believe this man is actually voting on issues of national importance.  It’s also hard to believe the admiral kept his composure.  I think I would have just burst out laughing.  If you go to Johnson’s congressional web site, he claims it was “subtle humor” and a “metaphorical reference” but I’m not inclined to believe that one.  I think Johnson’s staff immediately had to scramble to come up with that excuse.

I’d say the Navy won both skirmishes.  The big question is who is more stupid–the pirates, or the congressman?  Give me your opinion, then send your friends here to vote!

story of a bumper sticker

This morning I did something I’ve never done before:   I put a political campaign bumper sticker on my vehicle.   In the 25+ years I’ve been driving, I’ve never done so.   I’ve always insisted my vehicle be free of such statements.  Why would I change after all these years? Because last night I met Jim Lee.

Let me give you some background on myself.  

Tips on Blogging for all you political-activist bloggers!

A while back I ran across a site called DailyBlogTips.com.  This blog is devoted to creating a better, more effective blog.  Many topics are covered, starting from the basics.  The owner of the blog, Daniel Scocco, who also periodically puts out an email with some of his tips, has produced an eBook entitled “Make Money Blogging.”  This book has a lot of great information on starting and continuing a blog.  While my primary purpose in what I write isn’t pulling in money (in fact, I currently have no mechanism to do so), I have learned quite a bit about blogging from this book.

Make Money Blogging has advice on blog format, headlines, content selection, usability–all items that can bring people back or drive them away.  Scocco then covers promoting your blog with other bloggers, link exchanges, social networking sites, etc.  After all, it doesn’t matter how good your post is, if no one reads it, you’re not accomplishing much–unless, of course, you just have an online diary.  Finally, he covers ads and marketing, getting to the objective specified by the title.

So why mention this to all my activist friends?  Well, most of these strategies and techniques are just as applicable to us.  Our goal is generally selling a message.  It may be support for a candidate, rallying people to sign an online petition, or just to spread the word about the insanity permeating our government as of late.  But the point is, we still need to get people to read our blogs.  Give it a look–it’s free, as are many other tips on his web site.

Thoughts for the day–Feb 17

Random thoughts on several topics:
1.  War in Afghanistan. Well, I have to give credit where credit is due.  The Obama administration has made some gains in the Afghan war.  Drone attacks have been significantly stepped up in the past year, and seem to accomplishing goals.  Quite a few Taliban & al Qaeda targets have been taken out.  This week’s revelation that the #2 Taliban leader was captured in Pakistan further illustrates progress there.  Mind you, it’s probably driving the “bring ‘em all home” crowd nuts, but they haven’t been as vocal about Afghanistan as they are Iraq.  This is probably the biggest (only?) area where Obama is leading from a centrist position compared to his campaign.

2.  Special notes on Capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. What makes the capture of this Taliban military commander especially noteworthy is it happened in Pakistan, with the help of Pakistani forces.  I have long felt that Taliban influences in Pakistan government and military were hindering our efforts there–at least by not disclosing all information and possibly tipping off Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents.  Guess they have finally figured out they are going nowhere as long as they align with the Taliban.

Also, officials have publicly stated that Baradar is providing valuable intel.  I’m sure this is because he is being held by the Pakistani government.  The Obama administration has made sure that no terrorist fears an American interrogation, but they will be very aware of the techniques available to the Pakistanis!

3.  Biden & Iraq. This information is from Gary Bauer’s email of yesterday (16 Feb 2010), as I try to avoid listening to Joe Biden’s comments.  Last week he predicted that success in Iraq would be one of Obama’s “great achievements.”  This comes after both Biden & Obama voted AGAINST the Iraqi surge in 2007.  It is that very surge (proposed by General Petraeus) that Bush put into place that was the turning point in the military efforts in Iraq.  Another moment of “audacity” for this administration . . .

4.  Anniversary of the so-called “stimulus.” I’ll just include this,  courtesy of Lori Ziganto.