The Reaganite

Dennis Prager Vs. Perez Hilton on same sex marriage

jheffley — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:07:54 +0000

Conservative radio host Dennis Prager went on Larry King live and debated Perez Hilton on the issue of same sex marriage and whether it is right to change the definition of marriage. While Hilton made one or two good objections against the idea of keeping traditional marriage, he was no match for Prager’s intellect and experience. Prager systematically countered Hilton’s objection without getting ugly or offensive: a skill that is much needed today in debates.

Miss California

jheffley — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:34:15 +0000

By now the fuss over the Miss America pageant is at an all time high. After pageant judge Perez Hilton asking Miss California her thoughts on gay marriage, he opened himself up to quite a bit of controversy.

The best response I have seen to this controversy is by a man named Roland Martin who works for CNN. I have placed his response to the incident here. To view the original article follow the link below.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/22/martin.miss.california/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

(CNN) — A lot of folks are always saying they like to keep it real, that they want authenticity and straight talk. Yet when someone actually does it, there is hell to pay.

Welcome to the world of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, who, since she answered a question regarding same-sex marriage in Sunday’s Miss USA pageant, has been savagely attacked by those who oppose what she had to say.

Leading the burn-her-at-the-stake parade is media opportunist Perez Hilton, the self-described gossip queen, and the individual who kick-started this controversy by asking the initial question as to whether the issue of same-sex marriage should be left up to the states.

It seems that Hilton, who is gay, was none too pleased that Prejean chose to actually give her personal opinion on the issue, and ripped her on his blog after the show, using crude obscenities as he continued to attack her at every turn on his media blitz.

Hey, Hilton, from a real journalist to a wanna-be who traffics in gossip: Never ask a question if you’re unprepared for the answer!

Frankly, this whole story is pretty stupid. Isn’t the whole point of asking a question to get someone’s true feelings, rather than the plastic and superficial answers we are all used to receiving?

Sure, Prejean could have gone the safe route and given one of those answers that reveal nothing and is hard to decipher — you know, the ones politicians give all the time — but no! She actually gave her real opinion, and is now being torn to shreds for it.

She opposes same-sex marriage. OK, fine. So what if she had said, “Hey, I’m in full support of same-sex marriage.” Would she now be celebrated on gay-focused blogs, magazines and Web sites? Would her detractors actually be saying how open she is and that she’s a great person?

Same-sex marriage is undoubtedly a hot button issue. And being from California, the site of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that voters approved outlawing same-sex marriage, Prejean has surely had to hear the debate go back and forth. But her remark isn’t outside the mainstream. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that 55 percent of Americans are against same-sex marriage, and Proposition 8 did pass in her state 52-48 percent. iReport.com: Prejean ’should step down’

What’s interesting about this is that many of the same folks who are slamming her for her remark voted for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who both have the same belief: that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that she has the same view, and it was her husband, President Bill Clinton, who signed the In Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that forbids states from having to recognize gay marriage in other states.

In other words, four of the biggest liberals in the country have the same belief as Prejean, but a beauty pageant winner is being torn to shreds. Hello, hypocrisy!

Those who criticize Prejean have the same right as she does to express their viewpoints. But enough with all the political correctness, where someone says she should have danced around the issue, smiled and move on. iReport.com: ‘Thank you, California!’

At the end of the day, we all have to be true to ourselves. Whether it’s a gay gossip writer who favors same-sex marriage or a heterosexual woman who is against same-sex marriage. The day we condemn folks for speaking honestly is the day we become a bland society.

Maybe we’re already there.

Israel On The Offensive

jheffley — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:58:46 +0000

http://news.aol.com/article/hamas-leader-killed-in-israeli-strike/232890

For the past week I have watched the news as the anchors report on the increasingly aggressive action of Israel. Israel has begun air strikes in Gaza and has been clearing out Hamas and its leaders. In fact, last Thursday during an air strike, Israel bombed the home of one of Hamas’ leaders killing him, all four of his wives, and ten of his twelve children. Now Israel has moved an impressive number of troops to the border with what looks to be preparations for a ground invasion.

I believe that these actions are completely justified. The Israelis have put up with missile attacks from Hamas led groups in Gaza for some time and I am glad to see some retaliation from Israel. Negotiations have been tried but the facts are that you cannot negotiate with evil. You cannot have successful negotiations with an enemy who has sworn to God that they will wipe you off the face of the earth. They may obey the treaty for a short time but then they will continue doing what they are doing now. Personally, I am glad that Israel has started pushing back. For more information on Israel’s battle with Hamas, follow the link at the beginning of this blog.

-J. Heffley

The green zone in Iraq’s hands

jheffley — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:08:59 +0000

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7806812.stm

Well, my friends, it is official. The US government has turned over military control of the green zone (the area where the government headquarters and embassies reside) to Iraq’s government. This act is a major step in our troops coming home from Iraq. With this move in place, we will now begin to see a decrease in troops guarding and patrolling areas in Iraq and an increase in our soldiers coming home.For the sake of historical record, I would like to point out that this major act in diplomacy happened under our current president George W. Bush.

-J. Heffley

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

jheffley — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:03:50 +0000

I stumbled across this video and thought it was well worth watching. Not only does it explain how everything happened, but explains who is responsible for the mortgage meltdown.

-J. Heffley

India and Gun Control with John Lott

jheffley — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:52:17 +0000

A friend of mine sent me this article and I couldn’t help but post it. With the current crisis going on in India, I think that this is a proper post. This post is written by John Lott (bestselling author and professor at the University of Maryland) who has become one of my favorite authors and thinkers. He is clear, concise, and more importantly, he is factually grounded (as evident by the many links throughout the article). Although this article is long, it is well worth the read.

-J. Heffley

The Life-and-Death Cost of Gun Control

By John R. Lott, Jr.
Author/Senior Research Scholar, University of Maryland

Banning guns is in the news. India practically bans guns, but that didn’t stop the horrific Muslim terrorist attacks20this last week. A football player concerned for his safety violates New York City’s tough gun control regulations by carrying a concealed handgun, and people call for everything from banning NFL players from carrying guns to demanding that the athlete serve many years in jail.

When police can’t promise to protect law-abiding citizens such Plaxico Burress or the victims in India, why don’t we allow people the right to protect themselves?

Where is the sympathy or debate in either case over letting people defend themselves? Given that the terrorists smuggled their machine guns in with them, would anyone argue that India’s extremely strict gun licensing and artificially high prices for guns helped prevent the terrorist attacks? In fact, the reverse is more likely the case.

Would Plaxico Burress, the New York Giant’s receiver who was arrested yesterday, really have been safer just trusting the police to protect him?

Terrorism

In India, victims watched as armed police cowered and didn’t fire back at the terrorists. A photographer at the scene described his frustration: “There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything. At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, ‘Shoot them, they’re sitting ducks!’ but they just didn’t shoot back.”

Meanwhile, according to the hotel company’s chairman, P.R.S. Oberoi, security at “the hotel had metal detectors, but none of its security personnel carried weapons because of the difficulties in obtaining gun permits from the Indian government.”

India has extremely strict gun control laws, but who did it succeed in disarming?

The terrorist attack showed how difficult it is to disarm serious terrorists. Strict licensing rules meant that it was the victims who obeyed the regulations, not the terrorists.

Academic research has continually found that police are the single most important factor in reducing crime, but police can’t always be depended on to be quick enough.

The attack also illustrates what Israelis learned decades ago. — Putting more soldiers or police on the st reet didn’t stop terrorist’s machine gun attacks. Terrorists would either wait for the armed soldiers or police to leave the area or kill them first. Likewise, in India, the Muslim terrorists’ first targets were those in uniform (whether police or security guards).

Terrorists only stopped using machine guns to attack Israelis once citizens were allowed to carry concealed handguns. In large public gatherings, a significant number of citizens will be able to shoot at terrorists during an attack — and the terrorists don’t know who has them.

With mass shootings becoming more difficult, terrorists were forced to switch to a less effective strategy: bombs. Bombings are more difficult for armed citizens to stop because they can’t respond after the bomb blows up.

Still, even though handguns can only kill would-be bombers before they set off their bombs, during waves of terror attacks, Israel’s national police chief will call on all citizens who are allowed to carry guns to make sure they carry their firearms at all times, and Israelis have many examples where citizens with concealed handguns have saved lives.

In their warped minds, both terrorists and the murderers are kamikaze-like killers, who value maximizing the carnage. Even if the killers expect to die anyway, letting victims have guns at the scene can help deter these crimes in the first place by reducing their expected return.

Do Football Players Need Self-Defense?

Physically huge NFL players admitting they feel threatened by crime? This hardly fits their tough, macho image. Our concern is supposed to be for women walking alone at night. Who can have sympathy for a professional football player such as Plaxico Burress who is 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 232 lbs.?

Burress, who has no previous criminal record, now faces between three and a half to 15 years for illegally carrying a concealed handgun with him in Manhattan, if convicted. He was arrested Monday and was released on $100,000 bail. — Burress had had a concealed handgun permit in the state of Florida for the last five years, but he forgot to renew it in May this year.

While the massive size and strength of NFL players might make them seem like unlikely potential crime victims, their wealth and high public profile nonetheless make them particularly attractive targets for violent criminals. While “only” two players were murdered last year, that means a murder rate of 118 per 100,000 people, compared to 5.9 per 100,000 for the rest of the population. In other words, the rate for NFL players was 20 times higher than the average for the rest of the country. This is even higher than the most at risk segment of the population -– young black males between 18 and 24. It is even higher than the risk faced by police officers.

Last year, the Washington Redskins’ Sean Taylor was killed during a robbery at his house. The Denver Broncos’ defensive back Darrent Williams was killed outside a nightclub.

As Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber noted, “We are targets, we need to be aware of that everywhere we go.” Yet, the news coverage doesn’t engender much sympathy for Plaxico Burress.

So, what do many NFL players do when they realize that their physical strength does not give them enough protection from violent crime? The same thing that many other would-be victims do — they get guns. Well over 50 percent of NFL players are estimated to own guns, somewhat higher than the 45 percent of American adults who own guns.

Not everyone approves. Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end and former Chicago Bears football coach, advocates banning NFL players from owning guns. Ditka said, “I don’t understand the league, why can anybody have a gun? I will have a policy, no guns, any NFL players we find out, period, you’re suspended.” AOL Sports writer Michael Smith also supports the ban and says, “If you carry a gun around, you’re more likely to hurt yourself than protect yourself.”

It would be great if the police were always there to rescue would-be victims, but as the police themselves understand, they virtually always arrive on the scene after the crime has already occurred. Fortunately, just as criminals are deterred by higher arrest rates or longer prison sentences, the fact that potential victims own guns deters some attackers. The Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey, which covers almost 30 years, also shows that having a gun is consistently by far the safest course of action for victims.

Over the last three or four years, numerous professional players can attest to the benefits of owning guns. For example, Corey Fuller, the 5-foot, 10-inch, 210-pound defensive back for the Baltimore Ravens, was confronted by two armed robbers outside his Tallahassee house. One robber chased Fuller into his house where his wife and children were sleeping, but Fuller was able to grab a gun and fire at the attackers, who then ran away.

T.J. Slaughter, a 6-foot, 233-pound linebacker, was arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at motorists who pulled up next to him on the highway. Slaughter denied that he had pointed the gun at the motorists and claimed that they had threatened him. No charges were filed, though, possibly following Dikta’s rule, the Jacksonville Jaguars still cut Slaughter the next day. Jacksonville claimed Slaughter was performing poorly.

Professional athletes’ physical strength hardly makes them immune to crime. Take a couple additional examples.

– The Oakland Raiders’ Javon Walker (height: 6-3, weight: 215 lbs.) was robbed and beaten this past June while visiting Las Vegas. He was hospitalized with a concussion and facial injuries.

– The Houston Texans’ Dunta Robinson (height: 5-10, weight: 184 lbs.) was robbed by two men in his home a year ago. The robbers bound him with duct tape and stole jewelry.

Unfortunately all of the nation’s four leading pro-sports leagues — the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball — trivialize the athletes’ concerns over safety. The NFL’s official advice: “In some circumstances, such as for sport or protection, you may legally possess a firearm or other weapon. However, we strongly recommend that you not do so.” The league advocates passive behavior when confronted by a criminal.

Fred Taylor (height: 6-1, weight: 228) a running back with the Jacksonville Jaguars made the point clear: “League officials tell us we need to take measures to protect ourselves. But the NFL says we can’t have guns in the facility –even in the parking lot. Crooks know this. They can just sit back and wait for us to drive off, knowing we won’t have anything in our vehicle from point A to point B.”

Even professional athletes are not supermen. T.J. Slaughter expresses no regrets for having a gun despite running afoul of political correctness and being cut by the Jaguars. He says, “I believe legally owning a gun is the right thing to do. It offers me protection. I think one day it could save my life.” It seems a lesson that many who are not quite as strong can also learn from.

Toys R Us

The media can’t be blamed for some of the left out information and misimpressions about guns. For example, the news coverage over the weekend about a shooting at a Toys R Us in Palm Desert, California gave the wrong impression about guns. It seemed the perfect fit –- two couples squabbling over who would get a toy resulting in a deadly shoot out. Surely this demonstrated the dangers of letting people have guns for self defense.

But political correctness made it difficult for local authorities to even admit a simple and important fact — the two couples were members of rival gangs. As Palm Desert city councilman Bob Spiegel told The L.A. Times, there were apparently “two rival groups shopping at the store.” Even stories that mentioned the gangs often left the mention until the end.

Unfortunately, commentators at places su ch as the Huffington Post confuse letting gang members and law-abiding citizens carry guns. As one remarked: “does anybody still think concealed weapons laws are a good idea?” But in contrast to gang members, data for states like Florida or Texas indicate that concealed handgun permit holders lose their permits for any gun-related violation at hundredths or thousandths of one percent and even then usually for very trivial, non-threatening violations.

Conclusion

When police can’t promise to protect law-abiding citizens such Plaxico Burress or the victims in India, why don’t we allow people the righ t to protect themselves? Unfortunately, bans do more to encourage crime than prevent it.

John Lott is the author of Freedomnomics and a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland.

Meteor sighting in Canada

jheffley — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:32:45 +0000

http://news.aol.com/article/meteor-streaks-across-canadian-skies/257570

This post would fall under current events. It appears that over the weekend, a massive meteor went across the Canadian sky. Follow the link and watch the video, I think you will be amazed at its size. The Canadian scientists have said that they want to “find the landing site before snowfall hits the area and complicates the search.”

I don’t mean to oversimplify this; but my suggestion? Look for the massive hole in the ground.

-J. Heffley

Buddha Reincarnated

jheffley — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:42:48 +0000

I stumbled across this video on Wednesday night and really could not believe it. Personally, from a Buddhist’s point of view, I did not even think it was possible for Buddha to be reincarnated. After all, I thought he was the “perfect one” who was divine, thereby, eliminating his wrongs leaving no reason to be reincarnated. The entire essence of Karma is that if you do the right things you will keep being reincarnated until you reach Nirvana: then you’re done. Well if “the enlightened one” who you have been basing your life around isn’t even good enough to get in to Nirvana, what makes you think you’re going to make it? But then again, maybe he isn’t the Buddha.

Personally, I do not believe in reincarnation. I hold to the biblical Christian view of one life, death, and then judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

However, three years without food and water is pretty impressive, but I don’t think that should be it to be labeled a deity. If I had to make a checklist of accomplishments that future deities of my made-up religion had to perform, it would be a little harder. No food and water for a few years? That one is a gimme. Try walking on water and flying. Raise a guy from the dead, then we’ll talk. The ultimate test is being killed and coming back from the dead. If I see Buddha-boy do that, then (and only then) might I pay attention to what he is saying (or in this case not saying).

-J. Heffley

Today, We Are All Americans

jheffley — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:07:02 +0000

As I am sure you have already heard, America has elected its next President. That man is Senator Barack Obama. While I am not glad that he was the choice of the people, I am glad that the power of choice is still in the hands of the people. Although I disagree with the choice of the people, I am happy with the results of any free election because it shows the strength of our Republic.

I would like to congratulate Senator Obama and his supporters for a victory that they have worked hard for. And when he is elected, I will support him as President because he will be my commander in chief and the leader of this nation. Will there be disagreements between his decisions and my beliefs? Absolutely. But the fact remains that after each election, we are all still Americans. I would encourage the readers of this blog to not confuse criticism of an idea or policy with the criticism of the man himself. You can disagree with and even debate someone without demonizing the person. With the issues facing this nation, Conservatives and Liberals must unite against our common enemies.

I love this country and will do everything I can to make sure that it stays strong, holding true to its founding principles. This means that Conservatives are going to have to work harder than ever before. There is a great amount of work ahead, the road will be hard, but we will come back. We have before and we can again.

While we live and work in the present, we must set our eyes on the future. We cannot let the discouragement of this election make us let go of the dreams that we have for this nation. When you willingly give up hope, you sacrifice your will to continue the fight. Now is not the time to give up, it is the time to carry the fight to our enemies.

-J. Heffley

Obama and Halloween (This Is Funny)

jheffley — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:09:15 +0000

I’m following Mr. Eichenberger and posting some humor on Friday. I originally heard this on the Rush Limbaugh show and it is fantastic. I could only find it as a youtube video but the effect is the same. Enjoy!