Interesting Statistics

Here is an interesting website I found. It is the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This link will take you to an inflation calculator, where you will find that in the year I was born, a person could live off of less than $200/week as easily as someone making $1000/week today. When I graduated high school, I could have lived just as easily off of less than $600/week.

This link will take you to the unemployment statistics, broken down by state. For a depressing experience, try setting it to January of 2008 and then forward it one month at a time.

If you look around a little, you will find a few good statistics, at least if you live in the midwestern states. For example, a few of these states have refused to get depressed, and some are even starting to show job growth.

Interestingly (just as a side note, of course), here is a link to a list of states that have Right-to-Work laws. Hmmmmm.

Common Ground

Once again, His Choseness has called for conservatives to find "common ground" on the abortion issue. In his speech at the Catholic Non-Denominational University (NDU), Obama pointed out that we who dare to disagree and stand on moral principles would be less uptight about our positions if we only moved to the common ground offered by those more enlightened than ourselves. He begged that we refrain from caricaturizing him (I guess the big-eared likenesses hurt his feelings) just because we disagree with his positions. Civility, he pointed out, starts on the left and can only be attained when we hard-core, back-woods rebels cross over to the dark side and drink the Kool-Aid of secular socialism.

Obama demonstrated his firm stance on common ground by requiring doctors and other medical practitioners to kill babies on demand. This is the only way we can improve health care for all. I guess he figures that if the woman is too stupid to keep her legs closed, she is too stupid to figure out how to find another doctor when her family practitioner tries to provide prenatal care rather than a butcher knife. The woman can thus choose to abort, while the doctor cannot choose not to perform it. Rather to protect the woman from the natural consequences of her actions than the doctor from the moral, emotional, and mental anquish that would naturally come from performing such a horrendous act.

This is common ground?

Brainless Beauties Only, Please

PC Police Officer Perez Hilton arrested and convicted Miss California for being honest and having a valid opinion. I usually don't pay much heed to the beauty pageants. In fact, they are usually more laughable than anything, especially when it comes to the question and blabber sessions. But something very special happened in this one. When asked a question about her stance on the gay marriage issue, Ms. CA stated that she believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman. She had to outspeak the boos emanating from the audience. I think this is awesome. What a unique opportunity this young lady experienced.

We talk of suffering persecution for standing up for what we believe to be right. Often, we experience this in very indirect ways. We are accosted through our TV sets or newspapers or internet. If confronted on a one-on-one situation, there is usually some semblance of respect given for your opinion by the other party, who may then go and gossip about you later.

This girl was confronted with a big dilemma. She likely would have gotten the crown. She didn't even have to give a strong stance. She could have given a non-answer that would have satisfied the head-hunting liberals who were reaching for their pitchforks as the question was being read. In fact, if you read her reply carefully, I think you see the struggle she is going through. She realized the importance of this question, and of this moment, and she went for it. What a defining moment in her life. In this moment, she rose above the crown... sort of a Miss USA++. The crown she wears will endure much longer than the one she gave up.