Gun Control Logic

If the Constitutional argument was taken off the table and gun control assessed on its own merits, a gun control regime like we see in the city of Chicago would not make sense. If you consider that the restrictions on legal gun ownership that the judge has just ruled unconstitutional have produced the highest murder rate in the country, why would government want to maintain a prohibition that keeps law-abiding citizens disarmed and at the mercy of criminals? Obviously, the street thugs have been ignoring the gun ban to produce such horrific homicide numbers already, so why not give innocent residents of Chicago the ability to fight back? If less legally owned firearms meant less crime, everyone but the criminals would support laws banning guns, but evidence continues to bear out that more guns in the hands of respectable citizens actually produce safer streets.

The Frost Bites

While anthropogenic global warming is a real joke except to those profiting by perpetuating the myth, the cold snap gripping almost all the continental United States is deadly serious. Restating the obvious advice about avoiding exposure is useful, but it is what is less obvious that also needs to be addressed. I remember one winter, that was actually much warmer than this one, a neighbor's dog nearly died of dehydration because it did not occur to his owners, who kept him outside, that his fresh water kept in a large tub had become a block of ice. Please stay safe and keep your pets safe as well.

From the Grave

While Osama bin Laden's earthly remains have disappeared into the depths, his hideous legacy continues to spill innocent blood from Russia to Iraq and through the Middle East. Syria remains embroiled in a civil war with no side having clean hands but with absolute barbarity being conducted routinely by Wahhabi terrorists who share al-Qaeda ideology. Egypt is roiled by bin Laden's fellow travelers in Muslim Brotherhood garb. Now, Fallujah in Iraq has been reconquered by terrorists under al-Qaeda's banner. Even Russia, about to host the Winter Olympic Games, has been attacked by fundamentalist Sunni Muslim nihilists. With the death of the arch-terrorist bin Laden, it was hoped that al-Qaeda was vanquished, but in the event, the evil idea behind the al-Qaeda organization could not be killed as easily as the prince of violence who founded the terror group.

The Deep Freeze

As the United States is experiencing one of the worst winters ever, it is ironic that a ship filled with global warming researchers was stranded in ice in Antarctica. The so-called "scientists" were there on what became a fool's errand to document how man has "warmed the planet". Perhaps they have changed their opinion now, but too many research grants are contingent on maintaining the party line to think they will ever tell the public that they were wrong about the human race causing so much environmental destruction. Global warming hysteria is for some almost religion and for others, pushing the notion pays too well to let go of, which is why ice fields must be melting and polar bears drowning to force government regulation that limits your choice of everything from cars to light bulbs.

Global Warming Folly

Much of America would probably welcome some global warming today. Snowfall and extreme cold is gripping great swathes of the country. Fear not though, Barack Hussein Obama remains safe and warm on his Hawaii vacation, able to contend that he sees no evidence that global warming is not as great a threat to the planet as ever and regulating our behavior to tamp down that carbon footprint we are all producing. Only incredible hubris or extreme gullibility permits people to believe our actions control climate.

A Certain Future

America's Federal government operates under Murphy's Law and under the law of unintended consequences. When Obama Care was pitched, who would have thought that its first effect would be to cause many more medical insurance policies to be cancelled than to be issued? With Barack Hussein Obama pledging families would pay "twenty-five hundred dollars a year less" under his Affordable Care Act, who guessed that medical coverage costs would rise for most Americans, as not only bills for medical insurance would rise but that suddenly many Americans would be faced with high deductibles they had never encountered before under their pre-Obama Care coverage? Who would have predicted that with a four year window to set up the system for implementation of the Affordable Care Act, that Team Obama could not even accomplish that? I foresaw that the Affordable Care Act would be horrible, but even I did not think that the Federal government could mess it up this badly from the start.

To New Beginnings

Promise or peril- what will 2014 hold? Only time will tell but likely both in abundance. I predict that what is passing for a peace process in the conflict Palestinians have waged on the Jews will turn out to be all process, no peace. I foresee Republican gains in both the US House and Senate largely because in its implementation, Obama Care will prove to be much worse than a botched roll out. I see Red China becoming even more aggressive over the Senkaku Islands, and Assad using ever greater brutality with Iran's blessing and backing to maintain his rule over Syria. I warn now that the sign that Iran has completed their nuclear project may well be an attempt at an atomic attack on Tel Aviv. The year we have just entered will prove we live in interesting times.