President Ford - RIP

"A government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take from us everything we have."

Gerald R. Ford, the nation's first unelected vice president and then its first unelected president, has died, his wife, Betty, said late yesterday. He was 93.


When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts."

It was indeed an unprecedented time. He had been the first Vice President chosen under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first President ever to resign.

Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the challenges of mastering inflation, reviving a depressed economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace.

Ford's major contribution as president was probably in providing a sense of stability and continuity of the office in the aftermath of the Watergate turmoil and the Nixon resignation.

Season's greetings !!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL !!

And of course all the other possible greetings of the season , just to accomodate anyone visiting Randomview , wouldn't want to be politically incorrect !
Actually , I am a Christian , so it is only natural that I would use Christmas in my greeting . I respect the right of others to follow their own faith , but ask that they NOT ask me to forget mine .
The image above is of a display my wife made for her desk at work this year , most of it was handmade or decorated by her , with a little help from me . It now sits in our breakfast nook and is the current screensaver on the computer at home .

Applicants line up at Swift

After many illegals were removed from Swift plants recently , it seems people are lining up for the open jobs .

GREELEY - The line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated by undocumented workers taken away by immigration agents at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant earlier this week was out the door Thursday.

Rocky Mountain News


I am sure Swift will be more vigilant in checking citizen satus now . These jobs can and will be taken by citizens .

A different Christmas poem

This poem is traveling around the internet . I wish I knew the author so I could attribute it properly . It purportedly came from a Naval commander in Iraq .

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out there!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as
you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S.service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's
try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and
think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for
us.

ICE doing its job

It is good to see ICE is actually doing its job . A long investigation has led to the arrest and hopefully deportation of a large part of the workforce in Swift's meatpacking plants . These people have all committed at least one crime , either illegal entry into the US , or ID theft . They need to be deported forthwith . Yes , I know they will leave behind spouses and children , but such should be the consequences of criminal acts .

see the
story on myway.com .

More than 1,200 people were arrested in meatpacking plants in six states during raids that federal officials said amounted to the largest-ever workplace crackdown on illegal immigration.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday the investigation uncovered a "disturbing front" in the war against illegal immigration, in which illegal immigrants are using the identities of U.S. citizens to obtain jobs.

"Violations of our immigration laws and privacy rights often go hand in hand," he said. "Enforcement actions like this one protect the privacy rights of innocent Americans while striking a blow against illegal immigration."

The raids followed a 10-month investigation into illegal immigrants suspected of buying or stealing other people's identities to secure U.S. jobs. The scheme may have had hundreds victims, officials said.

Immigration officials last month informed Swift that it would remove unauthorized workers on Dec. 4, but Swift asked a federal judge to prevent agents from conducting the raid, arguing it would cause "substantial and irreparable injury" to its business.

The company estimated a raid would remove up to 40 percent of its 13,000 workers. Greeley-based Swift describes itself as the world's second-largest meat processor with sales of about $9 billion.

This should send a message to illegals and those who hire them .
Can't wait to see what the ACLU has to say about this , some are already whining " what about the children ?"

In a written statement, President and CEO Sam Rovit said the company has never knowingly hired illegal workers and does not condone the practice.

Swift uses a government pilot program to confirm whether Social Security numbers are valid. Company officials have raised questions about the program's ability to detect when two people are using the same number.

In the company I work for , we hire truck drivers and in the task of confirming identity , a simple program will flag an SSN or Driver License number that is duplicated . Seems a government program would at least have that capability .

Joining the enemy

Here is a Rabbi in an Orthodox sect who deeply misunderstands the goal of the radical Islamists . He doesn't realize that he will be killed just as quickly as all others if Amadinejad has his way .
He was attending the recent Holocaust Conference and was among those applauding the speech of Iran's hothead .

Yisroel Dovid Weiss is not your average rabbi sporting a black hat. As the head of the Neturei Karta sect in Monsey, Rockland County, Weiss proudly calls himself an anti-Zionist, and regularly burns the Israeli flag at demonstrations.

He's embraced Muslim leaders and went to Washington last year to greet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Yesterday, he was front and center at a conference denying the Holocaust took place. He applauded Ahmadinejad's keynote address urging Israel be "wiped off the map."

But Weiss' critics have called him anti-Semitic.

Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League branded Rabbi Weiss' group "Jews who hate Jews" and accused them of selling themselves as props for anti-Semitic groups worldwide.

"They are such perverters of what Judaism is all about they have to embrace all the enemies of Jews," said Foxman. "They dance at every wedding of Jew-haters."

Read the whole story on http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/479759p-403577c.html

Political correctness getting worse

The City of San Francisco has bowed to PC madness again ! MTA was forced by the city to stop an ad campaign which put cookie scented strips on the bus stop shelters in a "Got Milk" campaign .

It seems some people

"complained the ads could be offensive to the poor and homeless who can't afford to buy sweet treats."

Is this madness or what ? This would lead us to agree that any ad would be forbidden since anything advertised is unaffordable to someone in this world , even in America .
Why not block car ads , computer ads , jewelry ads , ad infinitum .??
here is the story .

Satan or Terrorist ?

Was it that Satan was on a flight to Texas , or had the Satan Chavez swore had preceded him to a speaker's podium been booked on the flight ?

If I were on an airplane and smelled burning matches , I would have been very worried , just as passengers were on an American Airlines flight the other day .

But it was just a passenger with a wish to cover her flatulence . Striking matches is a time-proven way to cover that smell , but on an airplane ?? In this day and age ?? Not smart . The passenger was removed after an emergency stop in Nashville ans has been questioned by authorities and was not allowed to get back on the plane with the others as it continued on to Texas .



wsmvnews.com had the story .

Santa Butt Beer

From

Portland, Maine — A beer distributor says Maine is being a Scrooge by barring it from selling a beer with a label depicting Santa Claus enjoying a pint of brew.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Shelton Brothers accuses the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship for denying applications for labels for Santa's Butt Winter Porter and two other beers it wants to sell in Maine.

The episode is reminiscent of last year when Connecticut told Shelton Brothers it had problems with its Seriously Bad Elf ale. The state later approved the sale of the beer.

“Last year it was elves. This year it's Santa. Maybe next year it'll be reindeer,” said Daniel Shelton, owner of the company in Belchertown, Mass.

How far will political correctness go ? How many kids would be affected by this beer ? The ACLU needs to get a grip on reality and go back to fighting against REAL civil liberties offenders .