Wednesday, May 31, 2006

More Violent Death in D.C. then Iraq

This a very interesting article in that it matches the civilian death rate in Iraqi cities to those here in the states. Also it is amazing to learn just how off center the media is when reporting the news from that country.

The spin that is applied to the numbers from Iraq makes everything look like the Democratic agenda wants it to. The news has to be bad - the news has to show America in the worst possible light.

The terrorists love the American media. They are a team.

(From Gateway Pundit)

So, How Bad Are Things in Iraq Really?

We all know that despite news reports of massacre and carnage, the civilian death toll in Iraq has gone down considerably since the war to remove Saddam Hussein began back in March 2003.Here are more figures on how the Iraq War stacks up historically:

The recorded Iraqi civilian fatalities (including insurgents, military, morgue counts, police, etc.) were down 16% (16% maximum) in 2005... 38% (48% maximum) less than 2003 (via Leftist anti-war site Iraq Body Count).

If you take out the numbers from that horrible day in August 2005 when nearly one thousand panicked Iraqis were trampled or drowned near a Muslim shrine, the year shows striking progress compared to 2003 and 2004 with fatalities one third less than in 2004.Ann Althouse (via Glenn Reynolds) reported this comparison of Iraqi Civilian War casualties with other conflicts in recent history: Click on picture to enlarge.This shows how Iraq War Casualties compares to other American Wars:(2,471 Iraq War Fatalities as of 5/31/2006) John Hinderaker at Powerline adds this:

A total of 2,471 servicemembers have died in Iraq from 2003 to the present, a period of a little over three years. That total is almost exactly one third of the number of military personnel who died on active duty from 1980 to 1982, a comparable time period when no wars were being fought.

Until very recently, our armed forces lost servicemen at a greater rate than we have experienced in Iraq, due solely to accidental death. Do you recall that during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s there was any suggestion, from anyone, that our military policies were somehow disastrous due to fatalities among our servicemen--fatalities that nearly always exceeded those we are now experiencing in Iraq? No, neither do I. And, please don't bring up Russian military casualties:

In 2004, Russia lost conservatively 1,100 military men and women- no war. In 2004, the US lost 848 military men and women- Iraq War. Here's more perspective on how the War in Iraq stacks up compared to other US Wars:Iraq is no Vietnam, or Civil War or War of 1812! Historically, this war has been a remarkable success.To further put things in perspective, Newsmax reported yesterday that...Iraq Is Less Violent than Washington, D.C.

Despite media coverage purporting to show that escalating violence in Iraq has the country spiraling out of control, civilian death statistics complied by Rep. Steve King, R-IA, indicate that Iraq actually has a lower civilian violent death rate than Washington, D.C.Appearing with Westwood One radio host Monica Crowley on
Saturday, King said that the incessantly negative coverage of the Iraq war prompted him to research the actual death numbers."I began to ask myself the question, if you were a civilian in Iraq, how could you tolerate that level of violence," he said. "What really is the level of violence?"Using Pentagon statistics cross-checked with independent research, King said he came up with an annualized Iraqi civilian death rate of 27.51 per 100,000.

While that number sounds high - astonishingly, the Iowa Republican discovered that it's significantly lower than a number of major American cities, including the nation's capital."It's 45 violent deaths per 100,000 in Washington, D.C.," King told Crowley. Other American cities with higher violent civilian death rates than Iraq include:Detroit - 41.8 per 100,000Baltimore - 37.7 per 100,000Something to think about when you read the next "Iraq the quagmire" headline!

Hat Tip SugieroUpdate: (5:00 PM) Rep. King's numbers appear to be low. The broader point still holds. I stand corrected.
posted by Gateway Pundit at 5/31/2006 05:52:00 AM
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Star Bright is Gone - A Good Friend

Posted by Picasa Star Bright shine for us tonight - You were our friend and constant companion. You stood your watch while the world passed by. You were always there ready to be a friend for everyone.

Now you are gone. We won't forget the good times - there were no bad times with you. We will be looking for you in the window when the sun comes up in the morning.

We mourn your passing - you will be sorely missed - rest easy good kitty.

William Jefferson - Democrat - Crook

As usual, the Marxist left try to spin there way out of having to face the fact that William Jefferson, Democrat, Louisiana is a crook.

His nick name is "Dollar Bill" - What a hoot - but it's no wonder seeing how the whole state of Louisiana has been run by Democrats for the past sixty years.

Hey! What about the other star pupil from that area, "School Bus" Nagan? Now there's a prize. What a pair to draw to. Along with governor Blanko, it's a total waste land and sump hole of graft for tax payers.


A real culture of corruption - make no mistake.

( from the American Thinker)

The leftists can't get their story straight

Representative William Jefferson is obviously an embarrassment to the Democrats. Just when their culture of corruption complaint against the GOP was showing signs of promise, along comes videotape of him accepting $100k in bribes. So profound is the shock that a split has emerged over how to handle the matter.

In one corner, the New York Times, which made excuses for him based on the good old poverty made him do it defense. Not that Dollar Bill Jefferson has been poor for a very long time. He grew up poor and black in Louisiana, and in the world of the New York Times that fact grants a perpetual indulgence, or at least constitutes a mitigating factor. Never mind the millions of people who growup poor and never accept a bribe or abuse the public trust.

In the other corner, the hard left magazine, The Nation, edited by wealthy heiress Katrina vanden Heuvel, who was once interviewed by Chris Matthews and could not provide the name of her representative in Congress (hint: it wasn't Jefferson, vanden Heuvel lives in Manhattan).

Our friends at Sweetness & Light have discovered The Nation ludicrously claiming William Jefferson has the profile of a Republican, or, as S&L puts it, he is a Republican at heart. S&L cites such authorities as the ACLU and and the American Conservative Union to the contrary (both groups have rated Jefferson distinctly non-conservative).

But in the world of the Nation, such matters count for little. Bad = Republican. Period.
We can hardly wait for the New York Times to become appraised of the verdict by the Nation. It will have to withdraw its story sympathetically portraying Jeffersons childhood and adopt a sneering attitude toward his background, as is standard operating procedure for conservatives.

Thomas Lifson 5 30 06

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Eye Problem and Solution

Posted by Picasa It all started with this allergy that I have on my face - I rub and scratch so much that I ground off the hair by eyes and that's when the problem started.

One day I got carried away and scratched too hard and hit my eye with my toe nail. It hurt for a few minutes but then it went away so it didn't give it another thought.

About a week later, I found that I had to squint to use that right eye, and it didn't go un-noticed by my friends that I live with.

They thought I had a weed seed or something like that in it that was causing me to squint, or that I scratched it on a blade of grass when we go running in the field behind the house, but no, it had to be much worse than that. It was infected and cut pretty deep.

After several home remedies like eye wash and saline solution, my friends decided to take me to see the doctor when their best efforts failed and I continued to rub my face in the gravel drive way. Not a good thing.

Of course the local doc got right to the point and sent us to a eye specialist in Milwaukee. They performed some kind of magic on me and sent me home. It wasn't a big deal as it was day surgery so my friends dropped me off in the morning and then picked me up in the afternoon. The instructions were I had to wear this hood for a month so I wouldn't damage the eye again or make a bad thing worse.

Of course, this all cost money, and I don't have a penny to my name. I have rely on charity from my friends so I have to watch my step. I know it was expensive as one of my friends said on the way home from the doctors he could have gotten a new dog for what is cost and thrown this old one away. Now I'm not a genius or anything, but it doesn't take rocket science to figure out I have to lay low for awhile and do what I'm told.

So like most all things in this life, when a problem has a solution you have to comply to the rules of the solution or suffer the consequences. I guess I didn't mind it so much after I got used to it. it was colorful and it provided some comfort as a semi-privacy shield from my annoying relatives, and I didn't wind up at the docs again getting the 'good by juice'.

(really, I think he was just kidding about getting the new one) heh

I'm A Democrat - Stealing is Okay for Us

The culture of corruption that makes up the liberal Democrats and their cohorts has run true to form with this seedy character. Just look what it did for John Kerry and Ted Kennedy.

As we have seen in the past, when the Democrats what to divert attention from them selves, they start to shout and point in all direction, proclaiming others have run amuck shaming us all by their misdeeds. Senate Democrats at their best.

They have a lot of help in this as the media is on board to apply the smoke so the Democrats can slip out the back door leaving the innocent to take the rap.

This scheme is called the Democratic agenda for running the country.

(This article is from the American Thinker)

Making Excuses for A Democrat
( Or it' okay to steal if you're a Democrat)

The New York Times continues to astonish us with its relentless spin and condescension toward blacks and others it regards as victims. Today’s example falls into the category “candidate for the world’s smallest violin” created by James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal’s online “Best of the Web” column.

Representative William Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, has reportedly been photographed accepting $100,000 of cash, $90,000 of which was discovered in his freezer. Does the Times thunder in outrage over this betrayal? Not a bit. It offers excuses, in this article by Christopher Drew and Robert Pear. Some excerpts:

Representative William J. Jefferson has always liked to talk about growing up in an impoverished farm community, picking cotton for $3 a day and hitting the books hard enough to win his ticket out — a scholarship to Harvard Law School. [....]
...a remarkable ascent from the deepest poverty and a quest for the comforts his family never had. [....]

Mr. Jefferson was raised, along with eight brothers and sisters, on a small farm in northeast Louisiana, where, he said earlier this year, “our whole life revolved around that cotton field.” His father left school after second grade, and his mother attended only through eighth grade. [....]

After he graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge in 1969, Mr. Jefferson has said, he won his mother’s blessing to go to Harvard Law School — she had never heard of it — only by explaining that it had been John F. Kennedy’s college

When the modest backgrounds of GOP leaders like Tom Delay or Dennis Hastert are mentioned at all, usually it is in a sneering fashion. Dick Cheney worked as a youth on electrical power lines, a demanding and hazzardous task. Does the Times ever mention this?

Presumably, Rep. Jefferson enjoyed a scholarship to Harvard Law School, since his family would have been unable to help him with tuition. If so, his turn toward avarice and greed would be all the more worthy of condemnation.

The notion that poor people are somehow exempt from the same ethical strictures as the rest of us is poisonous condescension, robbing hte poor of their human dignity as moral actors. At its root, it regards poor people as permanently inferior.

Ed Lasky 5 29 06

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Palestinians Help Hamas Dig the Hole

You have to wonder how things could and have gotten so far out of hand between the Israelis and the Palestinians- why have the Palestinians been living in refugee camps longer than any other peoples in history? The blame falls almost always on American and Israel. There never seems to be any fingers pointing at Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and, of course, the king pin of butchery and mass murder, Yessar Arafat.

The American left seems comfortable in having the United States as the wiping boy for the rest of the world when it comes to terrorists. Even our main stream church's are taking a stand against Israel, and again, no mention of the thousands of Israeli murdered by suicide bombings.
I am puzzled by their ability to profess on the one hand that we are all sons and daughters of God, but then on the other hand, say that God has taken a dislike to his own people. Do these elite members of the main stream religions really speak of God Himself? I think not.

I believe what is really happening is the church and the Marxist left in America have no stomach or moral necessity to deal with difficult decisions, and the easiest way out for them is to wash their hands of the whole mess, join with other self-servicing packs of moraless thugs, and declare the enemy of the world to be America and Israel. I's so easy and the members seem to be growing daily.

Of course this is nothing new, you have heard it all before in the newspaper, on television and on the floor of the United States Senate. The theme is always the same: there is no hope - we must surrender to the common sense of the old world thinkers - lets talk about it for a while, maybe it will all go away.

The following is from the American Thinker


Fatah members seeks asylum (in Spain) from Hamas

One group of terror supporters is seeking asylum from other terror groups in a Western European nation. You gotta like that!! Luke Baker of Reuters reports:

Staring idly across the hills of the northern West Bank, toward the plains of Israel, Mohammed Zaghal and his friends have no doubt about where they would rather be: Spain.

Having earned almost nothing for the past six years and with little prospect of getting jobs in Zabouba, a village near Jenin where unemployment tops 60 percent, they are desperate to follow friends who have fled to Europe.
Since the Islamic group Hamas won Palestinian elections in January‚a move that drew the wrath of Israel, Europe and the United States and led to an economic blockade‚the number seeking to escape has risen sharply, locals say.

Everyone in town, everyone in Jenin, just wants to get out,‚ says Zaghal, 24, who used to work in Israel until a Palestinian uprising began and Israel built a barrier through the West Bank, penning him into Zabouba. ‚In Europe we can move freely, there are jobs, there is money that we can send back to our families,‚ he said. ‚Here I have no hope, I sit at home and get bored all day.

Looking at Jenin and its surrounding villages, it is easy to see why young men want to leave. Many buildings are merely rubble, the result of days of fighting when Israeli forces reoccupied the town in 2002.

Ed Lasky 5 26 06

Friday, May 26, 2006

Bush the Hard Nose

This is really a good article about why Bush's poll numbers are so low, if even they really are. It does points out some serious flaws in his managing style and his lack of political backbone.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5527

Minuteman Corps. Will stand their Ground

The United States Senate has decided to act as though the people that put them in office have ceased to exist. They have become some kind of royalty, strutting their stuff before cameras and making decisions about immigration and other things that do not represent the majority of the American people.

And it's not just the nutjob Democrats, there are several Republicans mixed in there as well, like Senator McCain. They are called RINO's - Republicans in name only. They will say and do anything to get elected, just like the Democrats.

Would you believe anything that McCain says in the future after you saw him and Ted Kennedy shaking hands and congratulating each other on a job well done after getting the new immigration bill passed in the senate yesterday?

If there ever was a time for a third party, it is now. I consider myself a Republican, but I also consider myself a conservative. What we need now is for the conservatives to form a new party and let the centralist Republicans and centralist Democrats join forces to try and govern form the center - it won't work.

How can you be an effective legislator when your feet don't touch the ground when you make a career out of sitting on the fence.

You have to stand for something. You have to believe in a course of action and then act on it. It isn't possible to wait for a consensus of opinion from all parties involved and then make a decision. This is what McCain and Clinton are trying to do now. They are not believable. You know that when they get elected, it will be business as usual. It's called and agenda of 'smoke and mirrors'.



Breaking from NewsMax.com
Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, issued the following statement on the passage today of an illegal alien amnesty bill by the U.S. Senate:

"The vote to give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens by the United States Senate today, should it pass into law, would ensure that the status quo is maintained: the borders would remain wide open and the attractive nuisance of endless welfare and social programs at the expense of the American taxpayer would remain. Those climbing over the backs of those waiting patiently to abide by our laws; and instead breaking the law, illegally entering this country, and committing document fraud; those not paying taxes; and those hiring illegally would be granted full amnesty. American citizens would, of course, still be subject to prosecution for document fraud and tax evasion.

This sends the message that if you play by the rules, you suffer; if you enter the United States illegally, you are not subject to the rule of law.

"The American people do not trust the government to grant amnesty now and secure the borders later. We already went down that road in 1986, and the borders remain wide open still today.

"Their constituents are watching, and these Senators will pay the price come election time. We are now focusing our attention on the House of Representatives where we do not expect amnesty to pass. The House is more respectful of their voters, as they stand for re-election every two years. The arrogance and cavalier disregard of the will of the American people by this Senate will not be forgotten-there will be an accounting. The American people are still sovereign in this country, not a gaggle of politicians pandering to their special interest donors.

"The existing border crisis is a dereliction of duty by those entrusted with this nation's security, sovereignty and prosperity. The U.S. Senate just left America vulnerable to a tsunami of migrants at the border, to terrorist infiltration and to an unprecedented crime wave by drug smugglers, thieves, rapists, human traffickers and murderers who cross our frontier at will-and whose bravado and aggression will now increase with the Senate's message of our apparent national weakness.

"But the Minutemen will remain on patrol, at our posts-and continue to build border fencing and barriers on private land with private donations until the U.S. government performs its most basic constitutional duty to these United States, and safeguards the people and protects the territorial integrity of America."

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Drug Addiction and Old Ideas

Drug addiction? Of course it's what everyone has always believed. If you took the drug once you were hooked and to kick the habit was like dying over and over again. But not so -

Wow, what an eye opener - I must admit that I held all of those views about heroin addition - it is interesting that addiction is more a matter of moral weakness than a chemical dependency.

It seems the more one is predisposed to become dependent, that is, those that seek alternative and radical life styles, raging wildly with flailing arms spewing unintelligible psychotic fantasies about how right they are about how wrong everyone else is, the more likely that person will seek out a substitute for their lack of independent thought, i.e. liberal Democrats - heh

In any event, a great article - but I won't print it here -

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

More Bad News for the ACLU

If you ever thought the ACLU was anything but a neo-communist organization, you don't have to wonder anymore.

Over the years they started to lean further and further to the left of center until they leave no doubt as to their true intentions when considering your civil liberties - the ACLU has the right to decide who has rights and who doesn't or shouldn't.

If you are a conservative, you have no right to civil liberties.

A.C.L.U. Reveals True Colors

The ultimate liberal hypocrisy was revealed today by the announcement that the A.C.L.U., purported defender of free speech rights, construes them as applicable only to those in agreement with its own dogmatic liberal views much reminiscent of the speech-stifling students who demonstrated this principle so publicly in the recent commencements at Columbia University, The New School, and Boston College, where attempts were made to prevent Sen. John McCain and Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice from presenting their views. As reported in this morning New York Times:

The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing new standards that would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization policies and internal administration.Anthony D. Romero, head of the American Civil Liberties Union:

Where an individual director disagrees with a board position on matters of civil liberties policy, the director should refrain from publicly highlighting the fact of such disagreement, the committee that compiled the standards wrote in its proposals. [....]

Given the organization longtime commitment to defending free speech, some former board members were shocked by the proposals. Nat Hentoff, a writer and former A.C.L.U. board member, was incredulous. [....]
"For the national board to consider promulgating a gag order on its members I cant think of anything more contrary to the reason the A.C.L.U. exists", Mr. Hentoff added.

The only surprise here is that the Times reported the news in an objective manner to which its readers are unaccustomed for topics of this nature, particularly after this weeks hysterical speechifying at New Paltz by publisher Pinch Sulzberger in which he revealed the 60s illogical which drives his thinking and undoubtedly effects the work of staffers who, humanly enough, understand the advantages of pleasing the boss.

Richard N. Weltz 5 24 06

More New Orleans Good News

I was never under the impression that FEMA was suppose to be the first responders in an emergency. They are to provide and maintain help for the victims of a disaster after 72 hours have gone by.

The states are responsible for the initial disaster control - Jeb Bush, governor of Florida said he never had any problem with FEMA, and who has had more disasters than Florida?

This article show that we can respond to the emergency needs of victims of a disaster and do it well - the press had no intention of finding the real story - it always more fun and entertaining to make one up.

The Battle of New Orleans Part II

Powerline has a link to a very important and fresh story about the rescue of Katrina survivors in New Orleans by Lou Dolinar on Real Clear Politics. The gravamen of the story is that a massive rescue operation occurred on Monday - Thursday before the press really showed up i.e., that the important work occurred off-camera. That is why the death toll was so low.
Here are two points from the article:

1. The entire rescue operation operated under the concept of triage, whereby the truly desperate were air-lifted out of the area to facilities in the larger region while those who were in good shape, if still uncomfortable, were left in safe places for the next stage of the rescue. This was the situation of the people we saw on TV being left on the overpasses they were the rescued people, not the abandoned ones. Yes, they may have been in some discomfort, but they were healthy and not in current need. Those in real need were being tended to.

2. The National Guard performed heroically. It has its headquarters in the Superdome, well supported by several hundred soldiers trained in police operations and supplied with meals ready-to-eat and bottled water. There was no panic or desperation in the Superdome even though living conditions got unpleasant.

There were always food and water, although the Guard did quite properly ration them out rather than run an open kitchen. After the levees broke on Monday, the Guard in New Orleans called the National Guard Bureau in Washington, which mobilized the Guards in the 50 states through a mutual aid pact called EMACS (Emergency Management Assistant Compacts).

Additional helicopters started coming in as early as Monday afternoon. Thus, while FEMA was spinning its wheels, the Guard along with the Coast Guard was running a massive and effective operation, including things like dropping teams with power saws on roofs to cut free people trapped in attics.
There is a lot more. It is quite a story. Read the whole thing.

Greg Richards 5 24 06

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Jimmy Carter's New World Order

Jimmy Carter is insane - I have posted this on several different occasions and I have to say it here.- he is a neo-communist, that is a 'socialist without a cause'. He's a wandering deranged old man. A pure psychotic liar.

This article is a little long but really brings the message home that Jimmy is not one of us.



http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5518

The Liberal Left - Devoid of the TRUTH

The hatters of freedom, the weak willed and the morally corrupt people that live in this country, rally to the sound of their own deranged nightmares of discontent and failure.

Without these fantasies to drive them to new depths of denial, all the world would see them for what they are, an empty shell. They can not defend themselves as their philosophy has no basis in truth.

They are what they fear most, meaningless.


Myth and meaning ( Powerline )

Peter Wehner, deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House's Office of Strategic Initiatives, successfully takes on four myths about the war in Iraq. The myths are (1) the president misled Americans to convince them to go to war, (2) the Bush administration pressured intelligence agencies to bias their judgments, (3) because weapons of mass destruction stockpiles weren't found, Saddam posed no threat, and (4) promoting democracy in the Middle East is a postwar rationalization.

As with most myths, these four are interesting mostly for their origins and important mostly for what they tell about the people who hold and promote them. All four myths tell us that the promoters have little regard for the truth.

In addition, the first two myths are, in part, an attempt by Democrats to compensate for their cynical posture during the run-up to the war. The likes of John Kerry supported an action they didn't really believe in because they feared the political consequences of opposing the war. They now attempt to excuse this outrageous breach of their duty by manufacturing claims that they were misled.

The fourth myth -- that promoting democracy is a post-war rationalization -- strikes me as quite interesting. If those who promote it mean that we would not have taken military action in Iraq merely to promote democracy, they may be correct. If they mean that the administration didn't regard promoting democracy as part of the extremely beneficial things we could accomplish through milit

The Liberal Left - Devoid of the TRUTH

The hatters of freedom, the weak willed and the morally corrupt people that live in this country, rally to the sound of their own deranged nightmares of discontent and failure.

Without these fantasies to drive them to new depths of denial, all the world would see them for what they are, an empty shell. They can not defend themselves as their philosophy has no basis in truth.

They are what they fear most, meaningless.


Myth and meaning ( Powerline )

Peter Wehner, deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House's Office of Strategic Initiatives, successfully takes on four myths about the war in Iraq. The myths are (1) the president misled Americans to convince them to go to war, (2) the Bush administration pressured intelligence agencies to bias their judgments, (3) because weapons of mass destruction stockpiles weren't found, Saddam posed no threat, and (4) promoting democracy in the Middle East is a postwar rationalization.

As with most myths, these four are interesting mostly for their origins and important mostly for what they tell about the people who hold and promote them. All four myths tell us that the promoters have little regard for the truth.

In addition, the first two myths are, in part, an attempt by Democrats to compensate for their cynical posture during the run-up to the war. The likes of John Kerry supported an action they didn't really believe in because they feared the political consequences of opposing the war. They now attempt to excuse this outrageous breach of their duty by manufacturing claims that they were misled.

The fourth myth -- that promoting democracy is a post-war rationalization -- strikes me as quite interesting. If those who promote it mean that we would not have taken military action in Iraq merely to promote democracy, they may be correct. If they mean that the administration didn't regard promoting democracy as part of the extremely beneficial things we could accomplish through military action, then they are plainly wrong, as Wehner shows.

Although the analogy is not perfect, one can compare this situation to our Civil War. Lincoln did not go to war with the South in order to end slavery, but instead to preserve the Union. However, this does not mean that he didn't regard freeing the slaves as a potential and highly desirable outcome. And it certainly doesn't mean that Lincoln doesn't deserve great credit for bringing slavery to an end.

In the case of Iraq, those who argue that, because the desire to promote democracy may not alone have impelled us to go to war, this accomplishment should be discounted as a rationalization are again revealing much about themselves.

Mostly, they are revealing their indifference to democracy -- if it mattered to them, they wouldn't be obsessing over its precise role in the administration's pre-war thinking.

Some probably also recognize deep down that through our brave efforts in Iraq we may ultimately accomplish something monumental (in history's eyes, if not their own), and they are desperate to deny President Bush credit for it.

Posted by Paul at 11:59 AM Permalink

Can't Drill for More OIL - Congress

If you ever wondered why we have such a problem with our gas supply, look no further. How can we become energy independent if congress denies drilling rights off our coasts or ANWAR. It doesn't make sense.

How is it that two states can run rough-shod over all the others?

No one raised the question as to how we we're supposed to increase our supply of oil without drilling for it.


ASSOCIATED PRESS

The House rejected attempts late last night to allow oil and natural-gas drilling in 85 percent of the country's coastal waters, despite arguments that the supplies are needed to reduce energy costs.

Lawmakers from Florida and California led the fight to maintain the quarter-century-old drilling ban, contending that energy development as close as three miles from shore would jeopardize their tourism industries. "It's a grievous assault on Florida" and other coastal states, said Rep. Adam H. Putnam, Florida Republican, of attempts to end the drilling prohibitions that Congress first imposed in 1981 on most of the country's coast and has reaffirmed every year since.

"This country has an energy crisis," said Rep. John E. Peterson, Pennsylvania Republican, arguing for lifting the moratorium, which applies to virtually all coastal waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico, where most of the country's offshore oil and gas wells are concentrated.

A measure, offered by Mr. Putnam and Rep. Lois Capps, California Democrat, to continue the prohibition on drilling for natural gas, which some lawmakers argued was less of an environmental threat than oil, was approved by a 217-203 vote and inserted into a $25.9 billion Interior Department spending bill. Earlier, the House voted 279-141 to reject an attempt by Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican, to lift the moratorium as it applies to oil drilling.

The offshore drilling issue dominated much of the debate over the Interior spending legislation, which later passed.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Canadian with a Clear View

I believe this little short note sums up what a majority of Americans believe. If you have time read the article to get the flavor of how other people from other countries that supposedly, according to our media, hate us.

In truth it's our own media that hates us.


Sticking with Bush ( American Thinker)

Our contributor Paul Jackson writes an outstanding column for the Clagary Sun today, titled “I’m sticking with Bush.”

President George W. Bush strides across the world stage as much as the U.S. dominates the world’s stage.
This is very good news for those of us who still believe in decency and democracy.

So forget what some slanted opinion polls say about the leadership of the 43rd president and his patriot countrymen.

Recall, Sir Winston Churchill was once one of the most detested men in Britain, then went on to save the free world.

That’s Churchill’s undisputed legacy.

In another era it may be Bush’s legacy, too.

As usual, Paul writes with clarity, moral and linguistic. An excellent read, and a reminder that despite what our media peddles, the whole world does not hate us.

Al Gore as President on SNL

The only way Al Gore will ever become President of the United States will be in a dream or some staged event. That way we won't have to live in terror that it is all true. It's bad enough that we can imagine what what life would be like if Al Gore were president on 9/11.

To see him on television sitting in the oval office was a shock to my nervous system, to say the least, and to tell the truth, the sight made my blood run cold. A paranoid psychotic Marxist socialist as our president.

(This article is from NewMax)


'President Al Gore' Addresses Nation

The May 13 installment of "Saturday Night Live" kicked off with an address to the nation from "President Al Gore" that was in fact a thinly veiled spoof of the Bush administration.

Appearing in a mock-up of the Oval Office and assuming his customary grave expression, Gore began his address: "Good evening, my fellow Americans. In 2000 when you overwhelmingly made the decision to elect me as your 43rd president, I knew the road ahead would be difficult. We have accomplished so much yet challenges lie ahead."

Then Gore, who stars in the global warming documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," told the audience:
"In the last six years we have been able to stop global warming. No one could have predicted the negative results of this. Glaciers that once were melting are now on the attack. As you know, these renegade glaciers have already captured parts of upper Michigan and northern Maine, but I assure you: We will not let the glaciers win."

Trying to milk laughs from the recent gasoline price crisis, Gore said:
"Right now, in the 2nd week of May 2006, we are facing perhaps the worst gas crisis in history. We have way too much gasoline. Gas is down to 19 cents a gallon and the oil companies are hurting. I know that I am partly to blame by insisting that cars run on trash.

"I am therefore proposing a federal bailout to our oil companies because - hey, if it were the other way around, you know the oil companies would help us."
He continued: "On a positive note, we worked hard to save welfare, fix Social Security and of course provide the free universal health care we all enjoy today.

"But all this came at a high cost. As I speak, the gigantic national budget surplus is down to a perilously low $11 trillion dollars."

Mocking his notorious comments as vice president when he appeared to take credit for inventing the Internet, Gore said a weather disaster in the U.S. was unlikely "because of the anti-hurricane and tornado machine I was instrumental in helping to develop."

But his administration has also seen some "setbacks," he admitted.

"Unfortunately, the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Michael Moore was bitter and divisive. However, I could not be more proud of how the House and Senate pulled together to confirm the nomination of Chief Justice George Clooney."

He added: "Baseball, our national pastime, still lies under the shadow of steroid accusations. But I have faith in baseball commissioner George W. Bush."

Friday, May 19, 2006

A Nice Day for a Bike Ride

Went out for a quick bike ride today as the rain finally stopped for a while and the sun felt like it was summer but the temperature was only 61. Still it was nice to just spin along the country roads and smell the fresh cut hay in the fields and honeysuckles and lilacs that are still in bloom.

But what has always made these rides a puzzle for me is why the wind is always in my face no matter what direction I go in. I wonder if it's just Wisconsin or does this happen to everyone that rides a bike no matter where they live?

I have been riding for ten years, and racing for just about as many, and it has always been the same no matter what the season, spring, summer or fall. My friends say the same thing. Whatz up with that?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Australia - A World Anchor

Ya' just hafta to love the Ausies!

Speaking truth to pettiness

Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard does not join the chorus of anti-Americanism common to West European elites, disappointed at their eclipse in power and wealth. He has lead Australia into close alliance with the United States because he believes what he says. From The Age of Melbourne.

“Without American leadership, the trials and tragedies of recent years could be but a prelude of darker days to come,” Mr Howard said in an address yesterday to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. “With American leadership, we can build a better world — not just for us, but for all.” [....]

“To the voices of anti-Americanism around the world, to those who shout ‘Yankee go home’, let me offer some quiet advice: be careful what you wish for.”
Addressing specific global challenges, Mr Howard:

■ Reaffirmed the commitment to match the resolve of the US in Iraq. “Australia is with you. We will stay the course. We will finish the job,” he said.
■ Described Iran’s refusal to back down on its pursuit of uranium enrichment as a challenge for the United Nations.
■ Predicted that the emergence of a global middle class, particularly in China and India, would be one of the most momentous trends of the 21st century.
■ Defined China’s rise as the defining phenomenon of the age.
■ Praised Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, saying he was tackling the enormous challenges facing Indonesia robustly and admirably.

Mr Howard also said none of the problems in the Asia-Pacific region — including in the Taiwan Strait and on the Korean Peninsula — could be resolved, or even managed, without US leadership and engagement.

Richard Baehr 5 18 06

Bill Cosby Gives Reality Check

Bill Cosby is right on the mark. It's not just the blacks that have this problem, but a lot of people that find they just can't get by without someone to lean on. Many of our national leaders demand that these people stay the way they are. Victims - Poor me - I'm a victim of circumstance. It's not my fault. Now you owe me a helping hand.

Bill takes a stand here that many in the black community do not like. Some black leaders are invested in keeping the poor black people as a voting block. Giving them self respect would only give them options that would be unacceptable to several specific national black leaders and the liberal Democrats in general.


Bill Cosby: Blacks Should Fix Own Communities

Comedian Bill Cosby told a forum on family and education Tuesday night that African Americans should be proactive and fix their own communities.
"I have a problem with people sitting there and saying God and Jesus will find a way," Cosby said.

He also said he had a problem "with churches who allow drug dealers to set up two blocks away." The audience cheered several times during Cosby's remarks.

The star of the hit situation comedy "The Cosby Show" was at the University of the District of Columbia as part of his nationwide tour, "A Call Out with Cosby," which is designed to spark debate about family and educational issues among black communities.

Cosby joined a panel of local agency officials and other experts and took questions from the audience during two sessions, one to help foster parents and grandparents who are rearing children and the other geared toward the general public.

Cosby wasn't as biting as he was in Washington in May 2004, when he made headlines telling the NAACP Legal Defense Fund that blacks spoke poor English and spent money frivolously. But he touched on similar themes during Tuesday's panel and maintained that African Americans shouldn't blame their problems on others.

Washington Mayor Anthony Williams presented the comedian with a ceremonial proclamation naming May 16 as "Bill Cosby Day" in recognition of the work Cosby has done to support African-American communities.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Congress votes for Boarder Fence

The Jeff Session Amendment passed by an 83 to 16 majority today that clears the way to build a 370 mile fence on our southern boarder. This is a good idea that is long over due, and the fact that congress actually voted for it is amazing.

This article is before the fact but points out many of the demands of the American people to take a strong stand on boarder security.

Much of the media carried articles in recent weeks that said a majority of Americans weren't in favor of a fence. As usual they are in the hip pocket of the Democratic Party, trumpeting the party line to try and crush George Bush.

Do you think the Democrats would have come out of the woodwork like they have to vote for this bill if the demand had been just the opposite?

Their whole liberal agenda was to leave the boarders open so they could increase their voting block with new illegal immigrants. Millions of them.

Would this damage our economy, health system and reek havoc with our national security? Of course it would, but it's not about what's the right thing to do.

Remember, for the liberal Democrats, it's about gaining power.

How much will the Steel Patriot cost? Well, what is the cost of illegal immigration to the nation - $10 billion, $20 billion per year?

How much do taxpayers pay in the education and emergency medical costs for illegals?How about the costs for the criminal justice system? What about the cost of drug smuggling on American society? And what of the cost of terrorists crossing the border with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons?Building a fence is not a new idea.

In fact, it was the Clinton administration that launched Operation Gatekeeper in 1994. This operation called for fences to be erected in California and Texas. It has succeeded in funneling illegal traffic to the largely unprotected borders of Arizona.

The current administration was given an ultimatum by the Minuteman Project to add troops on the open border here or they would construct fences on private land starting May 27. Arizona's politicians are split on what to do about the problem. Democrats and U.S. Sen. John McCain consider the illegal influx into the state as something to celebrate. (Who else would pick lettuce in Tucson?)

Republicans are on the "other side of the fence" from their left-of-the-aisle foes. U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl and U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth have voted for increased border security measures, including the building of fences.Here's what Kyl said in a press release in March: "Nearly half of illegal aliens crossing the southern border of the United States enter through Arizona in the Tucson and Yuma sectors . . . Fencing works.

The construction of a triple-layered fence in the San Diego Sector has clearly done a great deal to reduce the flow of illegal immigration and drug smuggling in California."Hayworth had this to say to Fox's opposition to the fence: "President Fox should shut up . . . He should shut up about all of this because he is only fanning the flames of poor relations between our two nations. He needs to cease and desist."

It's time for Juan Hernandez to head back to Mexico and Fox to save Americans from any more of his silly declarations. And it's time for the Steel

Patriot to save Americans, period.As Arizonans, it's time to support candidates who will uphold their constitutional oaths to protect this great country from all enemies.

J. James Estrada is a Gilbert resident and freelance writer. For contact info visit http://www.jjamesestrada.com./

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Zarqawi: A Psychotic Killer

If you have ever wondered what the leader of the killers in Iraq is all about, Zarqawi, this article will enlighten you. It is a comparison to the most famous mass killers in history like Stalin, Hitler, Saddam.

According to this author, Zarqawi is by far the most demented. A common criminal that lusts for the kill. He is crazy. A nutjob. A down and out psychotic killer that is about to be crushed by his own people.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5500

Immigration Debate Goes On

George's speech last night sounded good as he delievered it, but this article points out some serious flaws in his and the bill now headed of the US senate.

It seems that the entire government is ignoring what the majority of the American want in border security and enforcement of existing immigration laws.

The real question here then is, who is more important here, the American people or the government. hmmmm


http://www.suntimes.com/output/osullivan/cst-edt-osul16.html

Monday, May 15, 2006

Limbaugh is Still the King

You have to read this as it explains why the liberals are so hate filled and losers.

Why is this so clear to me?

How is it that there are millions of people still cling to the Democratic Party as way to achieve a future for themselves and their children?

It can't and won't happen. History has shown this to be true over and over again and yet, so many people refuse to believe they are actually falling off the horse as they reach for that elusive brass ring. Mostly they are not bad people. Why can't they see the true nature of the liberal agenda?

I have no good answer. But this question has puzzled much smarter people them myself for decades.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5495

United Nations - Band of Criminals

As I have been says in past posts, the UN must be removed from our soil and placed where these cut-throat killers can feel more at home. Some place like the Sudan or the Ivory Coast where they can shoot people from the windows of the UN for sport.

This book covers all the bases on these urban terrorists blood suckers.

From NewsMax.comBy Joan Swirsky
"The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World" by Eric Shawn. Penguin Press, 336 pages.
Eric Shawn's new book "The U.N. Exposed" is a blistering attack on the world body's corruption, hypocrisies, greed, ineptitude, scandals and crimes against humanity - and it delivers knockout punches on every page.
Shawn, a veteran Fox News Network anchor who has covered the United Nations for years, mourns the demise of the organization that, in his childhood and adolescence, stood for everything he stood for: "world peace, cooperation, compassion and goodness."

Editor's Note: Get Eric Shawn's explosive book about the United Nations with our FREE offer Go Here Now.

With clear regret, laced with the contempt and anger reserved for fallen icons, Shawn reports that today, "less than five miles from Ground Zero in Manhattan, sits an international hotbed of anti-Americanism" ... an organization led by "institutional narcissism" that has fallen from grace in a "decline of its own making."

The United Nations, Shawn writes, "only exists in the imaginations of the people who work there" but where tour guides sell "the U.N. fantasy in 13 different languages."

In chapter after chapter, many with self-explanatory titles - including "The U.N. Press Corps Cover-Up," "How the U.N. Funds Terrorism" and "The International Anthem - Blame America!" - Shawn details how the U.N. has steadily violated its original mission to prevent future wars by maintaining member nations' forces as "peacekeepers."

Instead, Shawn writes, many of the self-important ambassadors of the U.N.'s 191 member nations, even those from third-world countries, live in lavish residences, are protected by diplomatic immunity - which includes exemption from paying $19 million in New York City parking tickets - are chauffered around in limousines, dine in fine restaurants and generally live a lifestyle that "no American not on the Forbes Richest 500 list will ever see."

China's ambassador, for instance, lives in Trump World Tower, "where his neighbors pay as much as $14 million" for similar digs, and Yemen's ambassador, although from the 14th poorest nation on earth with an average gross annual income of $465, lives in an Upper East Side townhouse valued at $6.8 million.
"But we still chip in for it," Shawn reports, explaining that for the honor of hosting America's adversaries and fair-weather "allies," the United States pays a whopping 22 percent of the U.N.'s bloated $1.3 billion annual budget - quite a far cry from Germany (9.82 percent), France (6.5), the United Kingdom (5.57), or Canada (2.57).

Shawn's sweeping exposé includes much more than interesting - and infuriating - factoids. In detailed but highly readable commentary, he discusses the ways in which the United Nations has consistently violated its once-noble raison-d'étre. Among those violations:

Failing to investigate the Oil-for-Food program intended to allow Saddam Hussein to sell oil to buy food and medicine for Iraq's starving and sick population. Instead Saddam used the money to enrich himself and buy weapons while France, Russia and China participated in the cover-up, along with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's son, Kojo.

Failing to sanction Saddam when he "rewarded" Palestinian homicide bombers for murdering Israelis.

Failing to conduct internal investigations to uproot corruption and balking at outside monitoring, as it did when former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker's commission - which found "grave" conflicts of interest in the Oil-for-Food program - was unable to subpoena documents or force anyone to testify.

Failing consistently to condemn terrorist acts.

Supporting some of the world's most oppressive governments.

Diverting U.N.-supervised funds into weapons used against American troops.

Allowing terrorists and rogue states seeking nuclear weapons to flout U.N. resolutions.

Trafficking in kickbacks and bribes.

Turning a blind eye to the widespread sexual abuse and exploitation by U.N. "peacekeepers" of girls as young as 12 in Bosnia, Congo, Haiti, Liberia, et al.

Electing international thugs like Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the U.N. Disarmament Commission - the day after Iran announced its advanced enrichment of uranium.

Electing brutal human-rights violators like Sudan and Libya to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights - with Libya chairing the commission!

Failing to prevent the 1994 Rwandan genocide of nearly 1 million people.

Failing to intervene effectively or carry out humanitarian aid during the second Congo war that claimed nearly 5 million lives (1998-2002).

Failing to intervene in the 1995 Srebrebica massacre.

Failing to deliver food to starving people in Somalia.

Failing to reveal that a senior official in the U.N. Development Program, Justin Leites, worked for the Kerry presidential campaign while on the U.N. payroll.

Being unremittingly racist and anti-Semitic in its dealings with member state Israel.

Shawn's book reinforces what a growing number of ordinary citizens as well as political commentators have come to agree on. As journalist and author David Frum insists, "It's time to wake up to reality: The U.N. scandals are not unfortunate accidents. They are not incidental blots on the reputation of an otherwise idealistic organization. The scandals are inherent in the very structure of the U.N. It could be said that the U.N. itself is the scandal."

Shawn, in what appears to be a last-ditch effort to find redemption in the corrupt world body, refers to a painting hanging over the Security Council chamber that depicts a phoenix rising from the ashes of the world war that created the U.N. in 1945, saying that he hoped the bird meant to symbolize the birth of a new world will "stand now for the birth of a new U.N."

But if this is not possible, he warns, "and if the U.N. continues to be little more than a façade, then whenever America stakes out a position and our diplomats settle in behind the Formica sign that reads `THE UNITED STATES,' our security will be threatened, the world will be failed again, and real answers to the day's biggest problems will have to be sought elsewhere."

Editor's Note: Get Eric Shawn's explosive book about the United Nations with our FREE offer Go Here Now.

Laura Bush says Media Sucks

Laura Bush says that the pole numbers are wrong. She believes that the media will do what ever it takes to make George look bad including making stuff up.

I have always believed that the media is in direct opposition to freedom of speech and the American dream of everyone having a chance to change their lives for the better.

The media, in conjunction with the Democratic Party, have other plans for us and they don't include democracy or freedom.

First Lady: 'I Don't Believe George's Low Ratings' (From NewsMax)
First lady Laura Bush isn't worrying much about President Bush's low poll ratings - she says they're wrong.
"I don't really believe those polls," said Bush, who added that the news media seem to have "a lot of fun" writing front-page stories when ratings are low but ignoring the numbers when they are high.
"As I travel around in the United States, I see a lot of appreciation for him. A lot of people come up to me and say, 'Stay the course,'" she said on "Fox News Sunday

Sunday, May 14, 2006

General Hayden Highly Recommended

The liberals love to hate this man - why? - easy, he will make a difference. He will increase national security and make the CIA an agency for the protection of America instead of a tool to help the Marxist Democrats destroy our way of life.

http://www.americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=5133

Wilson and Plame up in Flames

This is really a good article on how the defense is developing their case against the DNC man, Fitzgerald.

Can you imagine what this is costing the taxpayers? Joe Wilson and his wife, along with the Democratic National Commitee and the CIA riged this whole thing just to get Bush. It will cost millions and, in the end, it will show how Wilson lied and the CIA willingly worked along with the DNC to make it happen.

What's worse, when Libbey is found innocent and this whole thing is found to be a set-up, it will disappear from the media like the morning fog. But don't worry, the liberal Democrats will have another lie ready and waiting. And, as always, the real losers are the taxpayers.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5494

Money and Tears

I love this one - heh


Money can't buy happiness...but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than in a Hyundai.

Giuliani Under Attack by Liberals

It's no wonder Rudy is under attack given he has had so much success in New York City.

I know I always come back to this same theme concerning liberals, but it's who they are and we can't repeat this often enough - liberals love losers and defeat. Liberals love to hate success in others as they can't comprehend what it is like to be successful and live a life based on principles.

All they know to do is to tear-down and destroy progress. They have no vision or plan for the future, and that is what is so scary if they get elected in 2006.

Once in office they have no ideas to take the country forward. No moral base to establish a firm rule of law and no principled history to lead this country in a 21st century world.


Liberal Film Bashes Rudy Giuliani

From NewsMax.com

As a 2008 presidential bid by Rudy Giuliani looks increasing likely, liberal media groups are lining up to take pot shots at the popular Republican.

The first major attack comes from a new documentary that seeks to debunk former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as "America's Mayor" - and has opened in Manhattan. Even its director admits the film is anything but fair and balanced.

"I'm not claiming there's anything approaching objectivity in this film," director Kevin Keating says about "Giuliani Time," which is playing in one Big Apple theater.

Publicity materials for the film say it is "certain to bust open the myth of Giuliani" as America's Mayor that developed after 9/11 and reveal his inner "totalitarian" impulses.
But a review in the City Journal calls it a "silly documentary" that "tries - and fails - to tar the record of America's Mayor."

Writing in the Journal, Charles Upton Sahm notes that the movie's main indictment charges Giuliani with ushering in police tactics that led to widespread brutality against minorities.

The film delves into the tragic death of Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo, who in 1999 was gunned down in a hail of 41 bullets by four detectives who mistakenly thought the innocent Diallo had drawn a gun - an act the movie suggests was an intentional racist outrage.

But the film fails to point out that complaints of police brutality and incidents of police shooting declined dramatically during the Giuliani administration, Sahm discloses.
Keating's documentary tries to portray the dramatic drop in the crime rate in New York during Giuliani's tenure - including a 70 percent reduction in murder - as merely part of a nationwide trend.

"But crime in New York fell farther and faster than crime nationwide, and continues to drop while many other cities have experienced a reversal," Sahm writes.

"Giuliani Time" also attacks his "mean-spirited" welfare policies - which in fact led 650,000 people from a life of dependency to gainful employment.

Even more outrageously, the movie gives screen time to a local reporter who discusses Giuliani's father's possible links to organized crime - while acknowledging that as U.S. attorney and later as mayor, "almost no one in history has done more to combat the Mafia than Giuliani," the City Journal article states.

As NewsMax disclosed before the movie opened, some analysts think its criticisms of Giuliani might actually help him among Republicans - many of whom are skeptical of his moderate views on abortion, gay rights and gun control - by demonstrating that he's not a liberal.

And Sahm concludes: "New Yorkers know the real story of the Giuliani era; it's all around them every time they walk out their front door. And no left-wing documentary will convince them otherwise, especially one as silly and patently ideological as this."

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Gen. Hayden - for the Record

In this excerpt of a speech that General Hayden, the President's new CIA director, gave back in January of this year, he points out what the NSA program acutally does and what it can't do.
Congress is aware of all of the limitations but still wants to use this non-story as a club to try and beat down the Bush administration. Will the American people fall for this line of disinformation, only time will tell.

It hurts our national security though, of this there is no doubt, but that has never stopped the Marxist Democrats from trying to destroy our government and I'm sure they will use it in the future as well to try and regain power.

Remember, to the liberal Marxist Democrats, nothing is sacred, absolutely nothing.


So let me make this clear. When you're talking to your daughter at state college, this program cannot intercept your conversations. And when she takes a semester abroad to complete her Arabic studies, this program will not intercept your communications.

Let me emphasize one more thing that this program is not and, look, I know how hard it is to write a headline that accurate and short and grabbing. But we really should shoot for all three accurate, short and grabbing. I don't think domestic spying makes it. One end of any call targeted under this program is always outside the United States.

I've flown a lot in this country, and I've taken literally hundreds of domestic flights. I have never boarded a domestic flight in the United States of America and landed in Waziristan. In the same way and I'm speaking illustratively here now, this is just an example if NSA had intercepted al Qaeda Ops Chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in Karachi talking to Mohamed Atta in Laurel, Maryland, in say, July of 2001 if NSA had done that, and the results had been made public, I'm convinced that the crawler on all the 7 by 24 news networks would not have been NSA domestic spying.

John B. Dwyer 5 11 06

Friday, May 12, 2006

Snow in May?

I can't believe the evil weather that we are experiencing. We had snow last night and this morning it was thirty five degrees in southern Wisconsin. In northern Wisconsin they got four inches of snow. Come-on, whatz goin' on here?

On Tuesday of this week, I rode my bike for three hours, and on Wednesday, I was working out the field with only a tee shirt.

Hey, I'm ready for sunshine and warm breezes. Bring it on, NOW!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

A Leopard Without Spots Is Still A - ?

I can't help but pass this along - today is a banner day for just plan great articles -

I think this will apply to many democrats in the United States as well.

Neither great nor wise

Following the election of Giorgio Napolitano – a communist – as Italian president, there is great rejoicing in the European media who have been eagerly painting a picture of a great, wise and reasonable statesman. This is what the UK Telegraph had to say:

Mr Napolitano is widely respected for his coolness and balance. A former interior minister and parliament speaker, he was one of the major reformers of the Italian Communist party, forcing it to change its name to the Left Democrats and drop the hammer and sickle.

This could not be more absurd. The man is a life-long communist and as such he can neither be great nor wise nor reasonable.

Communists believe in something that is patently false and work for things that cannot but fail. They do this in a complete contravention of common sense and in the face of overwhelming empirical evidence showing the wrongness of their course. A man who devotes his life to this cause is none of the above. At best, he is woefully confused.

Vasko Kohlmayer 5 11 06

Iranian Hijinks

The letter from the Iranian president to President Bush is more than meets the eye - there seem to be a lot of fine print. Like why did he release the letter to the press before he sent it to Bush?

This article brings some perspective to this situation and how we should possibility respond -


http://www.americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=5119

A Micro Chip for Everyone?

At first blush this doesn't seem all that bad because it would help in just about everything that we do that requires identification. But looking closer at the fine print we see there definitely is a down side to having someone else control every aspect of your life -

It's coming for sure but we need to know the entire impact of this new technology before we say it's for the betterment of all society.


We Are the Borg, Resistance Is Futile: Part II

Yesterday, Mark Nestmann compared the present-day practice of implanting microchips under people's skin to the fictional characters "the Borg" in Star Trek: Next Generation, who implanted every member of their society to create a "hive intelligence." Today, he continues to discuss this escalating trend - that could make the average consumer or citizen a somewhat "Borg-like" individual. Dear A-Letter Reader:

As more industries point out the advantages of implanting microchips under individuals' skin, you have to wonder if the day will come when resistance to this new "safer, easier" method of identification really will be futile.
Banks are already excited about the prospects of implantable microchips. Credit and debit cards can be lost or stolen, putting your money at risk. But an implanted microchip can also link you directly to your bank account and can never be lost. In addition, it eliminates the need to use cash. Why risk using cash, which can be lost or stolen, when a more secure microchip implant is available?

Banks also dislike cash, because it doesn't earn money for the bank. Governments don't like cash because cash isn't easily tracked. It doesn't take much imagination to predict that once implantable microchips are widely used for financial transactions, momentum will build for cash to be eliminated (as a security and anti-crime measure, of course).

A world with most humans living with implantable microchips could evolve into the ultimate police state. Microchips would replace all of current forms of ID such as passports, driver's licenses, social security and credit/debit cards. You might not be able to withdraw money from the bank without it, receive benefits from the government without it or buy or sell anything without it. The chip would also include data on your family history, address, occupation, criminal record, income tax information etc.

At the touch of a button, your assets could be frozen, medical treatment denied, etc. The ultimate punishment would be to have your chip deactivated. In that case, you could no longer exist, since all personal and financial interactions would require verification of identity and confirmation of sufficient assets to complete a transaction.
Yet, most people would probably go along with the system, because of its potential to reduce crime, make medical care more accessible, etc. "There are enough benefits that outweigh the concerns people have about privacy," claims ADS Chairman and CEO Richard Sullivan. It's even possible that an advanced microchip could be equipped with a satellite modem to allow you to browse the Internet anywhere you are. This ability begins to approach the "collective consciousness" achieved by the fictional Borg.

Proponents of implantable microchips deny such a nightmare scenario could come to pass, because their use is "voluntary." But "voluntary" is not an appropriate word to describe something that might one day be required to merely exist as a human being. I have the option of eating at different times of the day, but it cannot be said that for me eating is "voluntary."

An example of how "voluntary" is actually "involuntary" recently emerged from Great Britain, where the Tory party has proposed that pedophiles receive microchip implants after their release from prison that would allow them to be tracked by satellite. Release would be conditional on "voluntarily" receiving an implant. The government would know not only whether pedophiles visited locations such as schools or parks but, based on a proposal by one company, whether they are sexually excited.

What politician in Britain or anywhere else has the guts to stand up in favor of the privacy rights of pedophiles? Yet, by implanting microchips into the likes of pedophiles and other persons whose proclivities disgust most people, we begin descending a slippery slope into Borg-dom.

An industry that's built around tagging human beings against their will grow powerful as it consumes tax dollars and forges alliances with the rich and politically connected. Like all industries, it will try to expand its market, and create products and scenarios to make expansion politically expedient.

Lobbyists will funnel campaign contributions to politicians and urge them to expand mandatory chipping, say to parolees and ex-felons. Once this is accomplished, they'll argue that society would be safer if all convicted criminals had a chip implant. Next (for safety's sake, of course) lawmakers will require workers in high-risk or high-security occupations-police, prison guards, drivers transporting hazardous materials, etc.-to be chipped. After that, potential offenders will be tagged involuntarily-e.g., gun owners, persons working with children ...ANYONE.

There should be a core principle that microchips should never be implanted in anyone, unless it's a truly voluntary act. You'll be reading a lot about implantable microchips in the future. When governments begin proposing their use to track society's undesirables, I hope that you have the courage to stand up for their rights. For by defending their rights, you defend your own, and prevent society's descent into the Borg.

MARK NESTMANN, Wealth Preservation and Tax Consultanton behalf of The Sovereign Society assetpro@nestmann.com http://www.nestmann.com/
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you missed "Part I" of Mark Nestmann's article, click here .

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

China's Has Big Internal Problems

We always get the stories from the Marxist media about China's unstoppable economy and military might and that it is foolish for us to challenged them on anything.

The liberal philosophy of defeat and pro-communist agenda works well to calm a jittery pseudo-elite that believes the only way to get along with a big bully is to fall on ones face and hope they take pity on you.

As I have mention on several occasions, the liberal is a moral and physical coward. They believe their isn't anything that is worth fighting for, even freedom, if it means losing power to control others.

If the liberal can convince others to die for a cause, like freedom, all the better. Nothing is lost. Power remains in the hands of the weak. Honor, Pride and integrity mean nothing to the liberal. They are only slogan's of the weak and confused. Everything and anyone is to be sacrificed to remain in power.

Liberals hate America and everything it stands for. The liberal believes that socialism is the best place to hide from the bright lights of reality. To stand up and risk their position of power is unthinkable.

In this article from the American Thinker it becomes clear to me that China's is anything but the monster that is going to take over the world.

America is still the only country now, and hopefully in the future, in the world that stands and fights for freedom, and believes that we have a manifest destiny to project freedom whenever and whereever we can.

China's bad debt mountain and other porblems.

China Challenges directs us to an article in The Australian about the alarming amount of non-performing loans being carried on the books of Chinese financial firms. The amount is thought to exceed one trillion dollars, or a staggering 40% of GDP.

Politics and corruption are to blame. The Australian comments
The revelation shows that half-hearted reforms have addressed merely the symptoms of ChinaÂ’s financial fragility.

Poor business practices are blamed for NPLs but the real source is political. As long as the communist party relies on state-controlled banks to maintain an unreformed core of a command economy, Chinese banks will make more bad loans.

Systemic economic waste, bank lending practices, political patronage and the survival of a one-party state are inseparably intertwined in China. The party can no longer secure the loyalty of its 70 million members through ideological indoctrination; instead, it uses material perks and careers in government and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). That is why, after nearly 30 years of economic reform, the state still owns 56 per cent of the fixed capital stock. The unreformed core of the economy is the base of political patronage.

Government figures show that, in 2003, 5.3 million party officials held executive positions in SOEs. The party appoints about 80 per cent of the chief executives in SOEs and 56 per cent of all senior corporate executives. Recent corporate governance reforms, Western-style on paper but not in substance, have made no difference. At 70 per cent of the large and medium-sized SOEs ostensibly restructured into Western-style companies, members of party committees were appointed to the boards. Painful restructuring appears to have spared this elite. China has shed more than 30 million industrial jobs since the late 1990s but few party officials have become jobless.

Our contributor Rosslyn Smith adds:

That sounds akin to the way American managers of public companies in the 1990s used a ton of accounting tricks to prop up quarterly earnings in order to keep their stock market prices high. As we know, they pulled off for a while, but eventually reality (i.e. cash flow) caught up. The article does not speculate on what may happen when a similar reality catches up to China.

5 09 06

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

The American Bar Joins the Left

I know that the ACLU is Marxist, but now the ABA is on the down slide as well? Who next! (This from the American Thinker)

American Bar Association shenanigans

The ABA is treading on dangerous ground by allowing its rating of judicial nominees become openly politicized. Charles Hurt writes in the Washington Times:

A 14-member ABA committee changed Brett M. Kavanaugh’s rating last month in part because six members downgraded their rating from the last time the White House aide was reviewed, panel Chairman Steven Tober said.

Washington divorce lawyer Marna S. Tucker, a registered Democrat, conducted the most recent interview of Mr. Kavanaugh and delivered testimony on behalf of the ABA over the telephone yesterday for the Judiciary Committee hearing today.

Ms. Tucker has donated more than $10,000 to Democratic candidates and causes, according to Federal Election Commission records [here], a Web site that tracks campaign contributions. She has never given to Republicans, according to the site.

The Washington Post described her as a ‘prominent liberal’ in 1991 and the following year noted her friendship with Hillary Rodham Clinton, now a Democratic senator from New York.

Ms. Tucker also is a founding member and board director of the National Women’s Law Center, an organization committed to abortion rights and other liberal causes.”

Hat tip: Todd Christian

The Ten Commandments for Life

Most everyone has heard of Ten Commandments and know what some of them stand for.

If you are a liberal they are like the morning sun to a vampire that stayed out too late. When a liberal comes in contact with the Ten Commandments, the liberal is totally consumed in fiery rage. Everything that Ten Commandments embodies is hated by the liberal.

The liberal demands that they must be hidden from the public eye, and with good reason on their part.

The Commandments are a guide for the common person. The commandments have be so for thousands of years. It is the very glue that holds our civilization together.

America was founded on these very principals. They represent everything that makes us Americans. The civilized world would disintegrate without them.

Is it any wonder why the Marxist liberal Democrats want them removed from all public display?

I know this has been going around for awhile, but it still has a good laugh for those that haven't read it or have forgotten it: ( It has to be a conservative joke though as it puts a smile on your face. As we all know, liberals don't smile or laugh.)

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse is that you can't post something that says "Thou Shalt not Steal or Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery or Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians - - it creates a hostile work environment.

I love that one - heh

Monday, May 08, 2006

Jimmy Carter Begs for Sanity

Jimmy Carter, as I have noted before, is the absolutely worst president we have ever had and possible the single worst public figure currently making a fool out himself. The man is insane.

I believe he is actually worse than Al Gore or Bill Clinton, and that's going a long way, in wanting to destroy our way of life in America.

I believe Jimmy Carter is a neo-communist - that is, he is a socialist without a cause -

When you read this article, your senses can't grasp the reality of a man so deranged to think he is imbued with some special authority to decide right from wrong when he can't even remember where he was born or how he grew up.

Jimmy Carter thinks he is still president. In reality, he never was president, he just happened to be in the White House for four years while the rest of the world went to hell -

http://www.americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=5084

Sunday, May 07, 2006

New York Times Invested in Defeat

If you ever thought that the New York Times was anything other than a terrorist organization, this article from that paper will change your mind for ever. ( Power Line )

I believe thay have invested the reputation of that organization in the defeat of America in the war on terror, and to change America into a socialist state that more reflects the agenda of the Marxist liberal left that now dominates the National Democratic Party.

Joe Malchow drew our attention to this astonishing article in today's New York Times, in which the Times sticks up for Zarqawi, defending him against what the Times regards as unfair criticism of his weapons-handling technique in the video released by the U.S. military last week:

The weapon in question is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it. Moreover, the weapon in Mr. Zarqawi's hands was an older variant, which makes its malfunctioning unsurprising. The veterans said Mr. Zarqawi, who had spent his years as a terrorist surrounded by simpler weapons of Soviet design, could hardly have been expected to know how to handle it.

Unbelievable. I suppose they could have defended Zarqawi further by noting that his weapon of choice is the knife.

The Times also said they think that releasing the video footage wasn't effective propaganda because Zarqawi looks "clean and plump."

(Really, I'm not making this up.) Okay, here's an idea: how about if we haul Khalid Shaikh Mohammed out of whatever cell he's being kept in and release a video of him? I doubt that he's looking too "clean and plump" these days. Do you think the Times would like that propaganda effort better? No, I don't either. Other than waving a white flag, it's hard to think of anything the military could do of which the Times would approve.