Do It Now!

August 7, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Europe, Family, History, Immigration/Immigrants, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

Don’t tell Nike, but we have changed their slogan from “Just do it” to “Do it now!” We see no point in advising them of this event. They are happy with the way things are. We made this change last month when we signed up for a two week tour of New Zealand and Australia. This trip is one Barbara (my spouse) has wanted to take since her high school days. Whenever discussion about going to Australia came up, as it often did, I’d make all the comments you’d expect from one who knew such a trip would never happen. I don’t like to slosh cold water on people’s dreams. You know how that goes.

Things changed one day in early June when a travel brochure arrived. It was an invitation to tour New Zealand and Australia including a three day cruise of the Great Barrier Reef on the Coral Princess, a 25 stateroom boat. Within an hour we were having a serious discussion about doing it. The rationalizing went very well. We are nearing the time of life where such trips are becoming physically difficult. With a 25 couple limit we knew from experience that it doesn’t take long to book the entire cruise. Within three days we had made the commitment. We had been going along with the “Just do it” routine for years. It was time to “Do it now!” We did and another adventure has germinated!
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Typical Earthling?

August 2, 2008 | Filed Under History, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

According to a CBS news report a retired astronaut named Edgar Mitchell says extra-terrestrials have visited the Earth. Further, he says the government has known about the outer-space visitors for at least the last sixty years. He was the sixth of 12 men who have walked on the moon. I would say there is some slim chance he knows what he’s talking about. Very slim, but who knows?

A year or so ago I pretended that I met an alien from outer space. He was obviously disguised as a human. Neatly dressed, looked to be about 40 and had a friendly demeanor. He told me he was on a mission from his base planet at the other end of the Milky Way. His assignment was to bring back a “Typical Earthling.” He told me not to worry. I was not a typical Earthling because I was white skinned, had blue eyes and way too old. He emphasized his point by saying there are too many humans of different colors, cultures, beliefs and therefore any one individual selected could not possibly be considered a “Typical Earthling.”

He told me that it might take another ten thousand years before a “Typical Earthling” came into existence. According to his definition, a “Typical Earthling” would represent at least 80% of the human population. In other words, a “Typical Earthling” will not exist until most of humanity blends into one race. He said that the process had started on Earth, but it would take another 10,000 years before 80% of our people spoke the same language, had same color skin, had the same values and priorities, held the same beliefs, etc.
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An Open Letter to General Wesley Clark (Ret.)

July 8, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Media Bias, Military, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Vince Johnson, War on Terror | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

Dear Wesley:

Your recent comments on MEET THE PRESS June 29, 2008 are disturbing and entitled to rebuttal:

For example: You said: “He (John McCain) hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn’t a wartime squadron.”

Don’t you realize that the entire United States Senate will be unhappy to learn that you do not believe serving in either House of Congress involves executive responsibility?

Do you really believe it is wise to belittle John McCain’s six years in the House and his twenty years in the Senate when your candidate, Barack Obama is in his first term in the Senate? This also invites your opposition to point out that your candidate has never been qualified to command any “large squadron” at any time in his life.

Your most shocking statement was this: “I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

As a retired general with your many years of service, you should know there is a huge difference between flying an airplane and riding in one. In your eagerness to belittle John McCain’s background, you have insulted every pilot that ever flew a fighter plane since World War I.
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Find out who you really are at Chemeketa Community College

June 26, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Education, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

There is a surprising course awaiting your discovery in Chemeketa’s 2008 summer class schedule.

It is about something more important than computers, or history, or math, or nutrition or any of those things. In fact, this course may very well be dealing with the most important subject you can learn about in your entire life. I know this first-hand because I experienced this course last summer.

It is a three-hour course starting Saturday, June 28, and yes, if you haven’t guessed already, I’ve registered to experience it again this summer. Notice that I said “experience” this course rather than “take”. You can’t “take” this kind of course because it is an “experience” and one that will find a permanent home wherever your pleasant memories are kept.

When you “take” a course, as in History or Biology, you learn by using a combination of thought processes requiring logic, memory, reasoning, etc. Emotions have nothing to do with it. When you “experience” a course, you learn by using a combination of energies such as surprise, anger, bewilderment, fear, disgust, pleasure, etc. Emotions have everything to do with it. Yes, you can learn about emotions from courses in Psychology, Human Relations, Nursing, Counseling, etc. But you can learn much more about emotions by experiencing them rather than reading about them.
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An Open Letter to Einstein

May 21, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Science, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

The media has reported that Einstein wrote a letter containing the following quote:

“The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.”
(The word “god” was not capitalized in the article.)

The comment is from a letter he wrote in 1954 to a German philosopher known as Eric Gutkind. Einstein was 75 when he wrote the letter, so it is very likely his conclusion was based upon a lifetime of serious consideration. (Einstein died in 1955.)

I don’t know if this quote is factual, but if Einstein had written that letter to me, here is how I would have responded:
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The Very Predictable and Very Convenient Deadlock

March 30, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Race, Society/Culture, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

Some will say the Clinton/Obama bashing and counter bashing is a clever orchestration arranged by moles working for Al Gore. The more they bash and counter-bash, the bigger the hero he will be when he suddenly arrives just in time to convert his party into an unstoppable effort to put himself in the Oval Office.

Others will say this is simply a case of mismanaged political strategies that are playing into Al Gores hands. This scenario was predictable so why not sit back and wait for the most appropriate moment to make a move? Why should he spend his money or energy running for President until his opponents spend all of theirs convincing America that neither one is fit to be President?

Is the Clinton/Obama deadlock by design or by accident? I say it doesn’t matter. I say it is not only “convenient” to Gore’s ambitions, it was sufficiently predictable to count on as a stepping stone of “heroic” proportions. When two candidates are perceived as equally inexperienced, it is predictable that both candidates will focus on the other’s weaknesses rather than the issues. When two candidates have a young and extremely dedicated following, there will be impulsive trash talk and there will also be emotionally driven remarks that belittle those they were aimed at them as well as those who uttered them. In their efforts to tear each other apart, they will tear themselves apart. And Mr. Gore will arrive as a great and benevolent hero without spending a dime!
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If You’re a Teenager, Listen up

March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, GOP, Government, Corruption, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

This picture was taken back in 1950’s when I was in my teens. If you don’t know who I am, your parents or teacher will. They will probably tell you how I blew the whole deal after I got to the top of the world. Well that’s OK, because it’s true. In 1977, I was 42 and worth millions, but I messed up big time. I was addicted to drugs. I overdosed. The end wasn’t pretty and I didn’t make it.

So now let me tell you about another kind of addiction. It is going on in your Congress. The “addiction” I’m talking about has to do with borrowing money. Congress is absolutely hooked on borrowing money. Tons and tons of money. Check this number: $9,000,000,000,000! That’s $9 trillion! That’s how much money Congress has borrowed to cover their hog wild spending. If I made $100 million a year, I would have to work 90 thousand years to pay it off! If your calculator doesn’t have enough zeros, check it out with your math teacher.

Here’s what you ought to keep in mind. They are borrowing most of that money from YOU!
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