Rational Nation USA

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth I was one of those youthful individual that knew instinctively that Vietnam was wrong. America had no business in Southeast Asia and President Lyndon Baines Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam conflict was among one of America's most unjustified foreign policy decisions. A decision that caused the death of innocent Southeast Asians as well as thousands of American lives were lost. Lost in a cause that never should have been. Thinking back on those years; all the justified demonstrations against our involvement in Southeast Asia; the escalation under President Johnson, the graphic pictures and body bags coming home I cannot help but think LBJ should have been tried for war crimes. But LBJ is dead, as is President Richard Milhous Nixon. So we're left with Code Pink making a stink about wanting Henry Kissinger arrested for war crimes. Of course progressive weblogs are actively blogging in support of the Code Pink demonstration (vid

For all intents and purposes, this octopus basically teleports from inside a boat to the water outside.

Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch standard 4 pound dead chickens at the windshields of airliners,military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields. British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains.Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the British engineers. When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer's back-rest in two, and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin, like an arrow shot from a bow The horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield, and begged the U.S. scientists for suggestions. NASA responded

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Thinking pro business and pro growth makes sense for everybody ; after all economic growth, or an expanding economy ( added demand )creates jobs which are in turn filled by folks looking for work, and it gives businesses the opportunity to increase their income ( the result of increased demand for goods or services )and provide those extra jobs that get filled by folks looking for work. All that makes sense; right? It does if viewed from the perspective that all businesses are, to a great extent, concerned with the importance of a growing vibrant middle class. But we all know this is not the case and mega wealthy corporations spend mega millions financing political campaigns of candidates they believe will be most favorable to their interests , not yours or the country's at large. Very wealthy individuals and corporations spend the millions they do on political campaigns for one purpose and one purpose only, TO BY INFLUENCE and CONTROL

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth I'm thinking that the female members standing in opposition to the bill as written are by far more representative of the general population (both female and male) than either Gohmert or the GOP leadership. But keep on plugging away Louie and sooner or later you and you tribe of reactionary religionists will succeed in making the conservative agenda, or whatever is left of a true conservatism, totally irrelevant. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Tuesday accused GOP congresswomen — who he called “Republican females” — of sending “entirely the wrong message” when they derailed a 20-week abortion ban because it did not have an acceptable exception for rape. During a conference call with pastor E.W. Jackson on Tuesday, Gohmert urged conservatives to continue to pressure Republicans in Congress even after bills like the 20-week abortion ban did not pass as expected. “Really, I think that was driving the abortion bill — the pro-life bill — to

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Just when you thought Sarah Palin couldn't out do her prior ramblings she steps up, tees off, and has just about everyone wondering just what the hell her purpose was. If the GOP has any sense the leadership will figure out how to shut her up. Should Palin decide to mount a campaign one can imagine it will be very difficult for her to find serious donors that would be willing and foolish enough to throw good money after bad supporting a dim light candidate. DES MOINES — As a chance to evaluate possible 2016 Republican presidential candidates, the Freedom Summit here in Des Moines was a solid success. Several potential candidates — Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, and a few others — left the 10-hour political marathon with their prospects undeniably enhanced. All that was good news for Republicans. But at the same time, more than a few GOP loyalists came away shaking their heads at the performance of a party star, former vice pres

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Here's one that's bound to entertain you. The Nuge and the Stooge. For those who are a hankerin for some politics Sarah style she had this bit of advice for the GOP. LAS VEGAS — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declined to speculate on a potential 2016 run Thursday at the 2015 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, but she did offer the GOP some free political advice. We caught up with Palin as she was promoting the second season of her show, “Amazing America,” which airs on the Sportsman Channel Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. “I’m not going to talk politics except to say the GOP had better go on offense. Man, they are not going to win any game on defense,” she told TheBlaze. “Being in the majority there in D.C. — we’re blowing it if we just bend our back.” She added, “That GOP leadership, that establishment, they’ve got to get their stuff together. I love what they believe in, I believe in it too. But they’ve got to get tough, man. You know what? It’s

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Tonight is open thread comment night here at Rational Nation USA with respect to the SOTU address. On the heels of the President's SOTU address last night, one in which the President laid out his progressive agenda for the remainder of his presidency, there is much for the advocates and the naysayers to "crow" about or "bitch" about. In this writer's view the speech was superbly delivered with some interesting ideas yet substance with respect to just how the nation is to pay for his aggressive progressive agenda was in short supply. In fairness to the President such is almost always the case. The video, a highly truncated "sound bite" of the full SOTU address, along with the quoted text from VOX should provide sufficient impetus to get the juices and comments flowing. 1) The most striking sentence in President Obama's 2015 State of the Union came near the start: "Tonight, we turn the page.&q

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth You just can't make this sh*t up. During his speech at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention yesterday, conservative entertainer and YouTube celebrity “ Wild Bill ” Finley claimed ownership of slain Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. “How appropriate that we are here right at the Martin Luther King holiday,” he began. “Martin Luther King had a dream, and it was a good one — a day when skin color wouldn’t matter anymore. A time when character would be more important than skin color.” “But when we look at what’s going on in America today, it’s pretty easy to see that Dr. King’s dream got hijacked,” Finley continued. “I believe racism in this country would’ve died out a long time ago, except that some people figured out that racism can be very profitable — both financially and politically.” “And now, those who are most vocal about Martin Luther King being their hero seem to be the most race-driven people in America

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Today as we reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy, Dr. King's 1962 speech in NYC continues to have relevance. Dr. King was a remarkable and courageous man whose life was cut short by a man who was possessed of a misunderstanding and hatred that still exists in some corners yet today. For more on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Proceed Here . Hat tip Progressive Eruptions . UPDATE : Speech starts at approximately the 5 minute mark. Hat tip TPM .

Rational Nation USA Purveyor o Truth As the Paris terror attack against Charlie Hebdo unfolded and the worldwide show of unity followed, terror in West Africa destroying thousands of lives continued to take place. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com WASHINGTON – One of the most brutal and murderous Islamist militant groups has been steadily gaining ground, inflicting a streak of atrocities shocking by even their standards -- and it's not Al Qaeda or the Islamic State. At the same time the world focuses on the terror attacks in France, the growing territory and lethality of Boko Haram, the Nigerian terror network which for a short time last year commanded global attention, is fueling calls in Washington for a new U.S. strategy. “If we don’t stop it in its tracks, we are destined for this horrible group to not step back but to continue to be in power,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said. Boko Haram slaughtered its way through another Nigerian town in early

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Certainly provocative is the cover of this weeks edition of href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/01/13/charlie_hebdo_new_cover_translated_and_explained_cartoonist_luz_on_new_mohammed.html">Charlie Hebdo . One can just imagine future response from the radicalized extremist element entrenched in Islam. The right of free speech critical of government and religion absolutely must be advocated, supported, and if necessary fought for by all who desire to be free to experience the joy of liberty. Having said this it does seem that intentionally provocative and negative press presumably for the sole purpose of goading a particular group may not be all that sensible. Especially given the particular in question long track record of violent response. Just a thought. Moving to the governments of the free world; they must be collaborating, planning, plotting, and ultimately setting in motions concrete actions that will help the

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth On Sunday, leaders representing Europe, Israel, Africa, Russia, and the Middle East linked arms and marched together down Place de la Concorde in Paris. Unfortunately and most conspicuously our own president chose not to attend. The decision by the President of the United States of America to not be present, or at the very least send his Vie President, has been most troubling. Obama may have had his reasons but in politics and governance perception can be everything. Certainly the perceptions of many, if not most on this important issue is not a positive one. The White House belatedly recognizing the error in judgment has acknowledged the mistake while at the same time spinning to put the best face possible on the snafu . On this issue Rational Nation USA finds itself behind Senator Ted Cruz . At issue is the growth of, and the threat radicalized extremist Islam present the civilized world. President Obama should have been there. Our

AN EXAMPLE of GENERALIZED, UNHINGED, IRRATIONAL HATRED TOWARDS ALL MUSLIMS Example Here .

Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth My position on organized religions is fairly well known;  rarely do I visit sites whose primary purpose is to espouse or advance a specific religion. Surfing the blogosphere today an article in Catholic League caught my eye. In light of the recent terror attack in Paris the article has great relevancy and for this reason Rational Nation USA is reprinting it here in full. MUSLIMS ARE RIGHT TO BE ANGRY January 7, 2015 by Bill Filed under Latest News Releases 2015 - January Releases CHARLIE HEBDO - Bill Donohue comments on the killing of 12 people at the Paris office of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo: Killing in response to insult, no matter how gross, must be unequivocally condemned. That is why what happened in Paris cannot be tolerated. But neither should we tolerate the kind of intolerance that provoked this violent reaction. Those who work at this newspaper have a long and disgusting record of going way beyond the mere lampoon