Where is OTIS?

My blog was created on 11-11-11. It seemed like a good launch date. I used to blog moderately successfully under the moniker "Jeff Blogworthy" several years ago. As of today, this blog is still not indexed by any search engines and has not been "crawled" by any spiders. I don't remember this taking so long in the past. One would think that Google would favor its own product. In any case, I'm getting antsy. It's no fun blogging if no one knows you are there.

Can you find OTIS?

The Sad Decline of Herman Cain's Campaign

I find myself melancholy this morning that Herman Cain is unable to endure the slings and arrows of the presidential gauntlet. A gauntlet exempting some, while destroying others. How nice it must be to ascend to the most powerful post in the world absent serious vetting. I kept hoping that Mr. Cain would persevere. This morning his campaign appears to be finished, regardless of the merits of his sexual accusers, whom I still do not believe. The Cain train suffers death by too many mischugs.  It's all over but the crying.

BREAKING: Herman Cain's Iowa campaign chair announces that Cain is "reassessing" his presidential bid. 

UPDATE: Cain reassessing the reassessment. Block says there is "no way" Herman Cain quits, conveying another mixed message in a sea of mixed messages. The Cain campaign is too self-conflicted to survive this. I do not see a successful path forward.

UPDATE 12-3-2011: Cain puts his campaign "on hold." Nothing short of divine intervention can save it now. I hate to see it end like this. I hope that Cain and his attorney takes it to his accusers hard.

Cyber Monday exceedingly unimpressive

Cyber Monday flops as an online counterpart to Black Friday. It appears that the big online retailers already had their major sales on Black Friday, just like everyone else. Cyber Monday is the crumbs left on the tablecloth and the floor after a big dinner party. What is the point? FAIL.

Female on Male Extortion

Protecting vulnerable females is an instinct engrained in American society, doubtless much to the chagrin of those of the radical feminist persuasion. Some women find ways to use this instinct for evil. Often, the mere charge that a man may have "done something" is enough to finish him -- ruin his standing in the community, lose custody of his children, and perhaps land him in jail.

Reader's Digest this month publishes the account of Tracy West, a woman who went to extraordinary lengths to destroy her former lover and father of her child. Ms. West staged a violent attack on herself complete with self-inflicted injuries and an elaborate tale to back it up, all designed to deprive the father of child visitation rights. The story was originally published in the LA Times. Go read it.

"Women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners."

To date, Ms. West has received no punishment for her heinous actions.

Sunday Ponderance

A thought provoking film.

House of Numbers full documentary now on YouTube

I'm really glad to see this important documentary is now publicly available for free. I just discovered that due to a debate I was having elsewhere.




Part 2: The Emperor's New Virus

The False Herman Cain Narrative

What I regard to be a false narrative that has quickly become conventional wisdom is making the rounds. The narrative is most recently advanced in passing by Thomas Sowell.

We have already seen how unsubstantiated allegations from women with questionable histories have dropped Herman Cain from front runner to third place in just a couple of weeks.

I love Thomas Sowell. He is a brilliant man and I generally wish that I had one tenth of his insight. Nevertheless, even brilliant people are sometimes wrong. Those of us seeking a viable Republican candidate are engaged in a thoughtful, extended vetting process. We will not be deterred by false accusers, amplified as they are by cacophonous media blowhards.

The chief person Cain has to blame for his decline in the polls is Cain. When he flubbed a few answers or responded vaguely to questions, Herman Cain received the benefit of the doubt from many of us owing to the fact that he is a business man, not a politician. We Cain supporters were undeterred. However, as time wore on and Cain discovered his "inner Perry" in an interview where he was questioned on Libya, my faith suffered a devastating blow. Neither was Cain's stated position (in the same interview) on collective bargaining by public-sector employees satisfactory. The doubts that were nagging me but that I refused to acknowledge were suddenly brought to a focal point. As days and debates passed Cain failed to sharpen up, and persisted in his fuzziness on the issues. The continuous repetition of "999" will only get you so far.

Don't misunderstand. I still believe Cain is superior to several of the candidates. The jury is still out. If Cain becomes the clear front-runner I will support him without reservation. I do believe that he is a quick study and that he can overcome his deficiencies. But, for now, I feel compelled to explore other avenues. Apparently I am not alone.

So please, drop the sex-pot blame game. It's insulting to those of us who always believed the accusations to be lies. The blame in Cain lies mainly in the same.

Occupy Rape and Pedephilia

Student mobs for pederasty.

Via Mona Charen:

So it was almost as dismaying [as the horror of Sandusky's acts, enabled by those around him] to see the response of a mob of Penn State students reacting to the ouster of Paterno, as it was to hear about the child abuse itself. When word of the firings first reached campus, thousands of students surged from their dorms and rampaged down the streets of State College, Pa., blowing air horns and other noisemakers in the middle of the night.

They chanted Paterno's name, threw rocks and fireworks at police, knocked down two light poles, and overturned and crushed a local TV news truck. According to The New York Times, the mob also tore down street signs, smashed car windows, and tipped over trashcans and newspaper vending boxes. Call it Occupy State College. The only missing piece was public defecation.

It seems that there is no evil horror that the leftist mob will not elevate from the gutter or rationalize away.

Horowitz: Ron Paul Is A Vicious Anti-Semite and Anti-American

"Ron Paul Is A Vicious Anti-Semite and Anti-American and Conservatives Need To Wash Their Hands of him."

Tell us how you really feel, David! I must say that I have been very uncomfortable regarding some of Paul's comments and associations, but I haven't taken my conclusions to the same intensity as David Horowitz. Dr. Paul has many antisemitic friends and followers, but is he antisemitic himself? I don't know. If enacted, Paul's stated policies will certainly negatively impact Israel. Regardless, Ron Paul attracts antisemites like a magnet. That, there is no denying.

Perhaps Horowitz is right. Most power-seeking antisemites, like communists, do not fully declare themselves until it is too late. A wily antisemite would mitigate his positions in public, while privately plotting extremism. It is certainly possible that Ron Paul fits this mold. Judging by Paul's aggressive public anti-Israel stance, there is no telling what he might do once he comes to power. I do not trust him.

COWS - Communists on Wall Street

Are the people involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement Commies? Not all. Some of them are fascists. Some of them are a mix. All of them are anti-capitalist. Glenn Beck exposes the truth.

"I'm all for the return of the guillotine."

"You're singing to the choir on this show. We've been advocating the guillotine for years now."

More:

Zuccotti Park in pictures. When I went to the site it was very slow loading. There are many pictures. It is worth the wait.

Company Logo Evolutions

Follow the link to see an interesting treatment of the evolution of various company logos. As a small business owner who does his own marketing (along with bookkeeping and just about everything else, including cleaning the bathroom and mowing the grass) I find the treatment fascinating.

99 out of 100 Scientists agree!

According to a recent study, 99 of 100 scientists agree that argumentum ad populum is a logical fallacy. A similar ratio was found to apply to the general population. Strange, but true!

Don’t Pepper Spray Them: Expel Them

Don’t Pepper Spray Them: Expel Them, says David Horowitz

The most intelligent, common-sense editorial I have read on the UC Davis "pepper spray" incident is written by David Horowitz.

The threat to republican democracy we see comes from those who insist on encouraging mobs, and who shield them from the consequences of their actions.

The Truth about Herman Cain and Women

A former receptionist comes forward.

...never once [during Cain's entire tenure at Godfather's Pizza], she says, did a woman raise an eyebrow about Cain’s conduct. In fact, in an interview with National Review Online, Vachal says that during her entire career at Godfather’s Pizza, she never heard about any improper conduct, harassment, or inappropriate behavior by Cain, even in the form of water-cooler gossip. “Believe me, receptionists know everything,” she says. “They see everything.”

After watching Cain work closely with young women for years, Vachal says she was shocked to learn of the sexual-harassment claims made by former Cain associates at the National Restaurant Association, the organization Cain led after he left Godfather’s Pizza.

Read more at NRO

The Barack Obama Salute

From Russia, with love.
H/T The Blaze



This doesn't fit the "Bush lowered our standing in the eyes of the world" cliche very well, does it? It is only a cliche because the elites loved repeating it. The propagandists love repeating lies, but are loath to repeat the truth. Our standing in the world certainly has been lowered by the bower-in-chief. One would think the Russians would be ecstatic since Obama summarily gave up our entire missile defense shield just for them.

Shocking Video: Michele Bachmann Serves Water

The following was posted by "Right Wing Watch" to YouTube as they apparently found it uproariously funny and worthy of ridicule. I, for one, find it refreshing and emblematic of servanthood. You know -- that quaint concept to which all politicians give lip service when they actually want you to believe they mean it when they call themselves "public servants."

"Snort, snort. Michele Bachmann serving water? How positively gauche."

Ok. That was my caricature of a leftist. I am being charitable. read the comments on YouTube.

"So, Bachmann is used to, and even finds it funny, being marginalized and treated like a servant?"

What could be more emblematic of the left's misconception of representative government? It is not servants they desire but masters. How sad.

Netflix Stock Hits New 52-Week Low (NFLX)

NFLX Stock | Netflix Stock Hits New 52-Week Low (NFLX) - TheStreet

After a few months of missteps alienating subscribers Netflix stock hit a 52-week low today. I have been a Netflix subscriber since January of 2000, far longer than most. When the controversy ensued I knew that if Netflix "did wrong" the market would punish them soon enough. The tale has now been told in terms of stock price and subscriber loss.

Netflix has made many changes since 2000. When streaming first became available, it was bonus value at almost no extra cost. I only needed to pay the price of the Roku box to get unlimited streaming to my TV. I jumped on the offer immediately. It looked like a great deal and it was. Even with all the changes and turmoil I still think so.

Yes, I do get frustrated that Netflix does not offer more new titles, or even better old ones. But is Netflix still the best value in the streaming video business? You bet. I've looked at other services and none of them come close in terms of Netflix's vast library at a reasonable price. If I ever do find a better deal, I'll dump Netflix in a second. That's how the market works. But not today.

MSNBC Chris Matthews furious that his "Commander" leaves him Orderless

Chris Matthews: "Where are our orders?... Give us the mission... They don't call... he never calls..."



That's so sad.

If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not worth the winning.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

H/T Breitbart

Sunday Ponderance

God - Doing more with less.

History is filled with examples of God doing more with less.

• Gideon’s men. 
• Moses vs. Pharaoh. 
• David vs. Goliath
• Nathan vs. King David. 
• Joseph the slave/prisoner rises to essentially rule Egypt.
• The Walls of Jericho vs. trumpets and jars. (A tale completely verified by modern archeology, by the way.) 
• Samson vs. 1,000 warriors. 
• Creation ex nihilo.

We are even told that the road to salvation is the “gift of God, not of works (human effort) lest anyone should boast.”

God is glorified by doing more with less. Doing so makes it impossible for people to take the credit, and honor themselves. If the God of the bible really were just a figment of the imagination of man, we would be unable to restrain ourselves from embellishing the tale. No other “religion” but Christianity proffers the concept of God lowering Himself to man. In Christianity, God pursues men. Elsewhere we find that men are enjoined to pursue God.

“Of eleven major religions of the world, ten of them teach salvation through human effort. Only Christianity recognizes the frustration and futility of man's own efforts and declares that man's salvation rests in the provision and grace of God.” 

Now consider Christ. A minimalist God-man such as Jesus would never spring from the imagination of humanity. Never. From a human perspective, Jesus is not nearly “big enough.” Even His own disciples thought so. The disciples were looking for a conqueror to end the Roman occupation. They kept waiting for the time when Jesus would declare himself an earthly king. Jesus never pretended to such a goal, saying “My kingdom is not of this world.”

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

This essay was adapted from a sermon by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926

Ponder this. Would you ever conceive that world-wide influence from such a minimalist life were possible? Would anyone? Knee-jerk defensiveness, rejection, and cynicism prevent many people from seriously considering the life of Christ. If one does, one might just conclude that Jesus must be God in the flesh.

Leon Panetta Makes Foreign Policy Gaffe - Washington Wire - WSJ

Leon Panetta Makes Foreign Policy Gaffe - Washington Wire - WSJ

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in remarks Thursday, ranked U.S. ally India with China as a rising threat to the U.S. in Asia. The Pentagon quickly sought to roll back the remarks. 

India is an ally. Panetta is the Secretary of Defense. Do you hear? Secretary of Defense! A supposed expert on foreign policy. A specialist. If anyone should know better it is he. Where are the catcalls? The peals of uproarious laughter? The snobby snickers from the ruling elite? The insults to Panetta's intelligence? I'll hold my breath.

Herman Cain is looking pretty good right about now. And I bet Sarah Palin knows where we stand with respect to Russia.

Conversation with a Liberal Elitist

As always, good humor must be true. This is brilliant.

Bold claim: Ron Paul will win Iowa

So says Punditty:

"The participatory enthusiasm of Rep. Ron Paul’s online fans is widely known, and it has carried over on several occasions to real flesh-and-blood straw poll victories in the North, South, East and West. In roughly six weeks, it will pay off with a victory in the Iowa Caucuses."

I'm not a Paul supporter owing to his too-wacky foreign policy comments, but a Paul win in Iowa couldn't hurt. Ron Paul seems to be the only candidate who really gets that we are in serious financial straits. It IS an emergency. It IS dire. Something MUST be done. The more attention given to the unprecedented destruction of our economy by government hacks, the better.

The Washington Post agrees that "Ron Paul is for real."

Small kids forced to walk "gauntlet of screaming protesters"

Obama endorsed Occupy Wall Street protesters harass children and their parents trying to get to school.



Obama on OWS:

“The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side, and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you’re supposed to do, is rewarded,” Obama tells ABC News. “And that people who are irresponsible, who are reckless, who don’t feel a sense of obligation to their communities and their companies and their workers that those folks aren’t rewarded.” ["We are on their side."]

To recap, it is the violent screamers who are characterized as "responsible" and who presumably "feel a sense of obligation to their communities" while the kids and parents peacefully going to school are "irresponsible" and don't. Got it?

H/T Breitbart

The Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street

The Tea Party protests against government on behalf of the people.

Occupy Wall Street protests against people on behalf of the government.

-OTIS

The Occupy Wall Street Memorial

As seen on The Daily Show. I got it from Military Times. Hilarious. H/T Verum Serum

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Mitt Romney staff purged computer records

Mitt Romney's staff took unusual steps to obtain and destroy all electronic records of his time as governor. Romney claims this is S.O.P. and that they "did nothing wrong."

Update: Romney spokeswoman Andrea "Saul then went on to accuse Gov. Patrick’s office of making a mountain out of a molehill for political reasons. Patrick, a Democrat, has close ties to President Obama." Via The Daily Caller

Occupy WS: Two months of defecation, violence, rape and murder

Make that two months of Obama endorsed defecation, violence, rape and murder. Not to mention whining, vandalism, chaos, and generally trampling the rights of decent citizens.

Happy two-month mensiversary poisoners, cankers, reprobates.

Text Fixer

Many times, when one does a "cut and paste" between various documents there are hidden line breaks which make the result look terrible. You can fix the whole thing manually, or you can use this tool to remove them. I have used it after OCR scanning as well. The tool has proved to be very handy to me on many occasions. A real time saver. Thanks so much to the creator.

Make Unhate, Not War

You go, guy. Who doesn't enjoy getting his groove on with a dictator every now and again? A left-leaning group photoshops a series of same-sex images as part of an ad campaign of which they are undoubtedly proud.

Update: Rush says that the real purpose of the campaign is to illustrate the ideological similarities between pairs. Could be. Obama is more philosophically aligned with Chavez than with middle America, that's for sure.

Occupy "Reign of Terror"

The Grammy nominated Occupy Wall Street insurrection song says that "on the canvas of freedom, your blood is our paint," and talks of dragging you from your home, hanging you, and burning your house for "not sharing." If the left gets their way, words will become reality. This is the French Revolution playbook. In fact, the planned OWS "Days of rage" is named after, and a hope for reenactment of,  the "Reign of Terror" of the French revolution. Yet, this is not France. Even with a perfidious president, corrupt judges, and sympathetic congressmen, the plans are destined to fail. American's fight back.

Ann Coulter could not possibly have been more prescient. Her book "Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America" reads like a detailed narrative of OWS ratdom.

Related: "Should I buy a gun?"

Perhaps. The OWS types rely on the decency of others for their success. They are counting on the fact that you will hesitate to pull the trigger. It is a difficult thing to shoot an "unarmed" person who is kicking your door in. Not everyone can do it.

The question raises another question. Why do you think so many activists are so hell-bent on rescinding the second amendment? Hmm?

Bachmann's Effective "Don't Settle" ad

Will this be sufficient to shake things up? I doubt it. I would personally vote for Bachmann in a second. Anyone who takes "Mises to the beach" get's my attention. And she is impressively knowledgeable on foreign policy. Too bad few people feel the same.

Coulter's fascination with the "most liberal Republican"

First it just "had to be Christie," now it just "has to be Romney," Ann Coulter says. I don't get it. I thought Coulter was more of a "go for the jugular" type. A regular contrarian. This is more like the puppy that lays on its back and exposes its belly while weeing on itself. She apparently really believes that American's want a Republican that is as close to Obama as we can get.

Nietzsche and the Nazis

I watched this gem of a documentary on Netflix awhile back. It is well worth the time, and can be watched entirely on YouTube. It is vital to recognize the ideological underpinnings for socialist movements like Nazism. What happens when "God is dead?"

Brits kill, maim Pets for Insurance Money

"...insurers detected $3 million in pet insurance fraud in 2010, compared to just $668,000 in fraud the year prior."

That's the detected fraud. Actual fraud is undoubtedly much higher. A few thoughts here.

First, the market will correct this. Insurance companies obviously erred by assigning unrealistic monetary value to animals. Insurance premiums will soon skyrocket and shut off the fraudulent revenue stream.

Secondly, why did this unrealistic value assignation occur? The entire "animal rights" movement is based on fraudulent assertions. The cultural animal anthropomorphic tendency is out of control. Doubtless, the whole movement may be attributed to the recession of the the Christian worldview and the influx of paganism. Naturalism is antithetical to humanity. Naturalism makes mankind subservient to nature, the precise opposite of the Christian worldview. Here is an object lesson in the unintended harm caused by philosophic error.

Thirdly, the purported naturalist, pantheistic view breaks down when it means human gain. I suppose this is a bit of good news. People are not really willing to sacrifice their own well being for that of animals. Not when they are confronted with practical choices. Not yet, anyway. Putting "nature first" is easy as long as the idea remains an abstraction and the burden has to be born by "other" people.

Why Newt Gingrich deserves your support over Romney

In a nutshell, Newt Gingrich apologizes for his past liberalism, Romney doubles down on it.

Ben Shapiro elaborates.


American Spectator asks, "Is Newt Gingrich America's Churchill?"

Since the Herman Cain implosion, I'm warming to Newt more. I really, really want to like Cain. But his shallow grasp of the issues has become too apparent to ignore. Yes, Newt's past indiscretions raise serious questions. I'm conflicted, but not closed-minded. The search for the anti-Romney continues. A lot can happen between now and Super Tuesday.

Update: I'm starting to see this theme all over the blogosphere. It looks like Newt may finally be our guy. I haven't seen coalescence like this previously.

Update 2: The Cain implosion also dampened Dennis Miller's spirits.

Racist Bill Maher calls Herman Cain an "Ape"

At least, that's what I heard. And my assessment certainly exceeds the low bar for journalistic integrity currently set by the MSM and Media Matters. Listen for yourself. Where is the NAACP?

H/T Breitbart

No Rational Self Interest

Describes the self destructive tendencies in many movements these days.

Radical Islam is a different animal. Never in history have so many people committed suicide in order to kill large numbers of innocent people. And not since classical antiquity have so many cultures willed themselves out of existence by failing to have children. Countries and individuals who habitually destroy themselves to inflict harm on others have no rational self-interest. You cannot negotiate with them. David Goldman interview, FrontPage Mag

Jobs American's won't do?

Are some jobs so menial, disdainful, or just plain hard that American's won't do them? 

Apparently so. Despite record unemployment, farmers are having a difficult time finding willing workers. The indefinite extension of unemployment benefits by Democrats exacerbates the situation.

Depending upon which government unemployment figure you follow, nearly one in five Americans is unemployed. Yet at harvest time farmers are finding that the only willing labor has to come from a nearby penitentiary.

In Idaho, farm labor is so scarce, convicts from the minimum-security St. Anthony Work Camp are picking, sorting and packing spuds for $7.50 an hour and happy to have work outside the prison walls.

***
Convict labor in Arizona is up 30 percent this year... (via Mises.org)

Yes, I fell out of bed in a drunken stupor, but it wasn't my fault!

A Fordham University student tumbles from his loft bed after a night of drinking, causing himself a serious paralyzing injury. He subsequently sues the school and the bed manufacturer.

Full 90 Minute National Journal/CBS Republican Debate, South Carolina

Newt Gingrich explains the rules of engagement

Gingrich insists on something.

It is a pity what passes for "common knowledge" these days, as is the necessity for debunking it.

Via Breitbart

Atlas Shrugged: A poignant story of self-sacrifice. NOT

Producers scramble to fix embarrassing error.

The back of the newly released Atlas Shrugged DVD reads, "AYN RAND’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life…" Ha ha. Anyone familiar with Rand, Objectivism, or who has read "Atlas Shrugged" knows just how off the mark this is. The error is not a minor quibble. The statement is horribly, stupendously wrong. Rand expends pages railing against the very concept of self-sacrifice. In fact, the Atlas Shrugged credo is nicely summed within the book itself:

I SWEAR BY MY LIFE AND MY LOVE OF IT THAT I WILL NEVER LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF ANOTHER MAN, NOR ASK ANOTHER MAN TO LIVE FOR MINE. [Caps in original.]

I suggest running out to find your copy now. Keep it sealed. It may one day be a collector's item. Hat tip: The Blaze

Atheists insist they are Religious too!

Atheists are just as religious as the rest of us. And they finally admit it by seeking chaplain status. That's why using "the separation of church and state" to oust Christians from the public square is so incredibly disingenuous.

Sunday Ponderance

I've been on campuses where, to put it simply, today it is worse to judge evil than it is to do evil. The confusion, the uncertainty, the stress on tolerance, on nonjudgmentalism, is such that with many groups it is now worse to judge evil than it is actually to do evil, so profound is the ethical confusion.  A Place for Truth: Leading Thinkers Explore Life's Hardest Questions by Dallas Willard

Israel develops breakthrough Cancer Vaccine

The drug is said to be effective for 90 percent of all cancers.

Rogan Hazard comments: "Israeli researchers have recently produced a cancer vaccine, one of countless life saving scientific innovations to come from Israel over the decades. Islamic science, over the same span of time, has given the world explosive vests, shoe bombs, underwear bombs, improvised explosive devices, Qassam rockets and new uses for passenger aircraft as weapons of mass destruction, among many other innovative ways to kill and maim indiscriminately. The contrast between a culture of life and a culture of death couldn't be clearer."

Indeed. Stop the moral equivalency hogwash.

Breakthrough: Israel Develops Cancer Vaccine

OWS wasn't "Hijacked" by Anyone

 Of course Occupy Wall Street is a mob.

First they attack with words, words escalate to incitement, then it gets physical. Such is the progression of mobs.

Make no mistake. COWS (Commies on Wall Street) has been a mob from its inception. Would one expect a different progression?

What distinguishes a MOB from legitimate assembly for the purpose of redress? Though doubtless an incomplete list, here is a start:

1) Mobs are unreasoning. A mob cannot be reasoned with, nor does it act according to reason. Mobs make irrational, contradictory demands. It is because the unstated purpose of a mob is to incite chaos. Reason undermines this goal.

2) Mobs disregard law. I do not disagree that civil disobedience is sometimes necessary, in extreme cases as a last resort. One recognizes honorable civil disobedience as it specifically targets an unjust law. Rosa Parks defiantly, and quietly, sat at the front of the bus. She did not break 100 laws in protest. Yet, mobs relish flouting even minor laws and enjoy rebelling against so much as the appearance of authority. Mobs are criminal. In the same fashion that they progress toward ever greater violence, mobs progress from minor to greater lawbreaking.

3) Mobs seek to take down the entire sociopolitical system, not reform it.

4) Mobs destroy property.

5) Mobs disregard the rights of citizens. If people get hurt, so much the better.

6) Mobs are incapable of acknowledging reality. For instance, attacking the police or others while screaming "We want peace!"

7) Mobs accept no responsibility for its actions. Whatever harm a mob causes is justified and rationalized both by the mob, and its defenders. However criminal the mob, the mob defender intones "We must not lose sight of their important message" or "This behavior is uncharacteristic of the group as a whole."

8) Mobs despise individuals. Individual thinking or behavior is not tolerated. If one thinks or acts independently, he is ousted from the group, if not physically attacked. If you want to be safe (or rather, safer), then you'd better keep to the herd.

9) Otherwise cowardly people find courage in the mob. The mob provides anonymity. The coward acts within a mob in a way that she would never behave individually.

10) Mobs are bad for society. Mobs undermine civil authority. Peaceful assembly to petition the government for redress is a beautiful, necessary constitutional right. Mobs bastardize the concept. Mobs do not build society up, they rip at its fabric. They do not prune the tree, they chop its roots. Mobs do not strengthen our rights, they weaken constitutional protections and turn the rest of us into targets.

Insistence by politicians and propaganda fueled media on treating OWS as legitimate poses a threat to society. A spade should be called a spade and a mob should be called a mob.

Keywords: Is Occupy Wall Street a Mob?; Is Occupy Wall Street legitimate?; 10 Characteristics of Mobs

Are you worried?

You should be. Life is uncertain. Eternity looms.