Sunday, December 30, 2007
An Ugly Statistic
It's strange, isn't it?
I mean how we get so indignant about young people getting killed by some methods, while, this other method kills many more, year after year...
I mean how we get so indignant about young people getting killed by some methods, while, this other method kills many more, year after year...
I found this at www.streetblog.com:
"Automobile crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in the United States, with nearly 6,000 deaths a year for the past decade, and more than 300,000 injuries annually. Yet millions of parents continue to let their kids drive unsupervised, many of them counting on god and government to keep them safe."
Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian
After you read the story, you can decide if you agree with this conclusion...
From Snopes.com:
"However, the notion that every major news outlet in the U.S. (all of them competitive, profit-making businesses) has conspired to ignore what would otherwise be a compelling national story is rather implausible. A more rational explanation might be found in the sober observation that murders - even decidedly horrific murders - are unfortunately too frequent an occurrence in the U.S. for all of them to garner national attention."
Reagan to the rescue
Well done!...
Here's part of a news release from the USS Ronald Reagan Public Affairs Department:
"Sailors from USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), and the pilots and aircrew of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four (HS-4) rescued a teenage girl Dec. 15 who suffered a ruptured appendix while aboard a cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean.
The girl, a 14 year-old from Albion Ill., had been experiencing abdominal pains while aboard the Dawn Princess. The Bermuda-flagged vessel was located off the coast of southern Baja California, Mexico and was approximately 550 miles away from Ronald Reagan when they issued the distress call late Saturday evening."
Immigration - Activity along our borders
I have to wonder if anyone cares about this.
Life along our southern borders must be a bit harrowing, to say the least...
Life along our southern borders must be a bit harrowing, to say the least...
This is from an article at FoxNews.com:
"Smugglers have responded with violence. Assaults on Border Patrol agents are occurring at a record pace, with 250 attacks reported from Oct. 1 to Dec. 16, an increase of 38 percent over 2006."
Syria - and Nancy Pelosi
Some of our politicians seem to be behaving questionably...
In the Washington Times, James G. Zumwalt writes:
"It has been eight months since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi embarked upon her foreign policy initiative to Syria to meet with President Bashar Assad. She made that trip against the advice and without the consent of the president constitutionally responsible conducting foreign policy. Justifying her April journey, Mrs. Pelosi stated 'the road to Damascus is a road to peace.' She has said little since. Let us examine what has happened in Syria since her visit that may explain her silence."
Syria - Bio-Warfare Threat?
This might make you think a bit...
It's the opinion of Dr. Jill Dekker expressed in an interview by Jerry Grodon of the New English Review:
"Contrary to how the US State Department and other agencies tend to downplay the sophistication of the Syrian biological and nuclear programs, they are very advanced. Syria has always had the most advanced chemical weapons program in the Middle East. The US and other western agencies have in a sense been distracted by this, but their biological programs and the 'concept of use' are robust. Syria’s biological weapons capability today is closely tied to the former and current Soviet and Russian programs respectively, the DPRK, Iran and the former Iraq regime. A major concern is their strategic concept of use - which has gone from one of ‘special weapons’ to incorporation into their ‘conventional arsenal.’ That is a significant shift and one that seems to have eluded the US. The Syrians run their biological programs out of the Syrian Scientific Research Council (SSRC) in Damascus. They have separate wings for separate pathogens. They also have a number of programs running in Aleppo. The Syrians are 100% committed to deniable operations as their modus operandi. Biological weapons, particularly those which might occur naturally, are the ultimate in deniability, for example, their cryptosporidium program for force reduction. The Wednesday Report noted a few years ago that in terms of the Syrian anthrax program, Syria has extensive expertise in the industrial cultivation of germs and viruses for the civilian production of anthrax (and smallpox) vaccines. It also noted that Russian experts, contracted by Syria, are apparently helping them to cultivate a highly virulent anthrax germ for installation in missile warheads. Their pharmaceutical infrastructure is fully integrated with their defense structure. Syrians cannot reach parity with US and Israeli conventional weapons. However, they view their bio-chemical arsenal as part of a normal weapons program. This is a huge shift in thinking by the Syrian military. It means they condone the use of biological pathogens as 'offensive' weapons. NATO and the United States should be very concerned about that re-designation."
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Global Warming - Selling Out?
I'm actually beginning to think that some people are willing to sell us out for their own self-grandisement...
Perhaps you can think of a certain one of them...
Perhaps you can think of a certain one of them...
In the Sacremento Bee, Jay Ambrose actually names the name:
"'So,' said Al Gore at the recent Bali, Indonesia, conference on global warming, 'I am going to speak an inconvenient truth. My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali. We all know that.'
Well, no, Al, what we all know is that a sufficient degree of disloyalty, pomposity, vengefulness and incompetence can lead people to dismiss truths that don’t lend them credence.
And we know that one such truth in your case is that America is controlling its increases in greenhouse-gas emissions better than a long list of European and other Kyoto-signing poseurs. Another is that the objective the United States opposed at Bali was an immediate industrial-nation commitment to emission-reduction goals that could throttle economies and create vast misery if met. That would be anything but progress."
The Voyage of the Great White Fleet
There are several history lessons tucked away in this article...
In the Wall Street Opinion Journal, Bret Stevens relates:
"The voyage itself was fraught with risk. By shifting the bulk of America's naval might to the Pacific, Roosevelt left the Eastern seaboard largely undefended. Slight miscalculations on the first leg of the journey nearly left the fleet without enough coal to reach South America. The transit through the Straits of Magellan (the Panama Canal would not open until 1914) could have crippled any one of the ships and sunk the entire enterprise. There were serious worries the Japanese would sink the fleet at anchor in Yokohama. The fear was compounded by the discovery that the armor belt of the battleships, fully laden with men and stores, dropped several inches below the waterline.
The fears turned out to be misplaced. Journalists embedded in the fleet used primitive wireless devices to report rapturous public receptions everywhere from Rio de Janeiro to Sydney to Marseilles. The fleet crowned itself in further glory when it provided disaster relief in Messina, Sicily, after a devastating earthquake. The tradition would live on in U.S. Navy relief operations, most recently in Indonesia and Bangladesh."
Global Warming - Pete DuPont writes
This seems like a story that should be headlined everywhere...
This paragraph is from Pete DuPont's Wall Street Journal opinion column:
"China is vastly expanding its factories and power plants--it is building another coal-fired power plant every seven to 10 days--and so opposed emission targets that would bind it. As the New York Times reported a year ago, China now 'uses more coal than the United States, the European Union and Japan combined,' and so 'the increase in global warming gases from China's coal use will probably exceed that for all industrialized countries combined over the next 25 years.' China is already home to 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, but Su Wei, China's top climate expert in Bali, said the burden of reducing global warming pollution is one that belongs to the wealthy, not China.'"
Global Warming - 400 Scientists say ...?
Apparently, I'm not the only skeptic that global warming is human caused...
Here's the beginning of Senator Inhofe's U.S. Senate committee report:
"Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called 'consensus' on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.
The new report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's office of the GOP Ranking Member details the views of the scientists, the overwhelming majority of whom spoke out in 2007.
Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists. In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics 'appear to be expanding rather than shrinking.' Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears 'bite the dust.'"
"Stupid Intelligence" - is that an oxymoron?
Some see it one way, and some see it differently.
This argument seems pretty believable...
This argument seems pretty believable...
Here are some of James Schesinger thoughts:
"Let us examine what else has not been considered. The NIE asserts "that Iran halted the program in 2003 primarily in response to international pressure" and that "indicates that Tehran's decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach." Now what might have constituted the principal elements in that "international pressure" to induce Tehran, at least temporarily, to halt its covert weaponization program?
• The American invasion of Iraq, resulting in the seizure of Baghdad in 10 days time--something that had widely been suggested could not be accomplished.
• The earlier destruction of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, another display of American military prowess.
• The decision of Col. Moammar Gadhafi to abandon his nuclear program and to renounce and make amends for terrorism.
• The exposure and partial demolition of the A.Q. Khan nuclear technology network, Khan's confession and his confinement by the Pakistani government to his home.
Does it not seem likely that Tehran took notice of these events, and may have been intimidated by them into more circumspect behavior?"
Global Warming - Mars Melt
Mars is warming, too!
Could this be too basically logical for anyone to grasp?
Contrarians have been known to be right at times, you know...
...
Could this be too basically logical for anyone to grasp?
Contrarians have been known to be right at times, you know...
...
At NationalGeographic.com, Kate Ravilious reported this in February 2007:
"Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."
...
"Abdussamatov remains contrarian, however, suggesting that the sun holds something quite different in store.
'The solar irradiance began to drop in the 1990s, and a minimum will be reached by approximately 2040,' Abdussamatov said. 'It will cause a steep cooling of the climate on Earth in 15 to 20 years.'"
The Media - Suddenly it's Less
It's probably not fair to compare war and sports; however, I have to wonder, "What if sports stories were dominated by losses and injuries, and winning scenarios got minimal coverage?
Oh well. It's just a thought...
...
Oh well. It's just a thought...
...
At MediaResearch.org, Colleen O'Boyle has this and some statistics to prove it:
"But as the news from the war front improves, a Media Research Center study finds ABC, CBS and NBC are less likely to tell viewers about it."
So who is the real racist party?
This article is a response to the perception that the Republican Party has been more racist than the Democratic Party...
In the Wall Street Opinion Journal, Bruce Bartlett makes a strong case to support this comment:
"Following are some quotes from prominent Democrats largely drawn from my new book, 'Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past.' Even with the exclusion of all quotes that contain the N-word, it is clear that many of the Democratic Party's most important historical figures have long made statements that reduce Reagan's alleged transgression to a drop in the ocean. If we are going to hold him and his party accountable for a single mention of states' rights, then the party of those listed below is far more culpable in promoting and defending racism."
Monday, December 24, 2007
Tony Snow - an interview
It appears that Tony Snow has earned the respect of his peers...
I found this, along with some of Tony Snow's perspectives, in an interview by Shikha Dalmia of Reason Magazine:
"During his year-and-a-half-long tenure with the Bush administration, The New York Times congratulated Snow for 'reinventing the job with his snappy sound bites and knack for deflecting tough questions with a smile.' Snow even won plaudits from Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who told the one-time Fox News Channel host, 'I really respect you as a person and I like what you bring.'"
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Are you a Deontologist?
I'm willing to bet that you don't know.
I'm also willing to bet that you are not alone.
I didn't know either, until just a few moments ago...
I'm also willing to bet that you are not alone.
I didn't know either, until just a few moments ago...
The beliefs of deontologists are a part of this article about torture written by Keith Burgess-Jackson in the Wall Street Journal:
"During the past few years, in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, much has been written about torture, almost none of it, regrettably, philosophically edifying. May I help?""
Politicians - Sen Jay Rockefeller
This article IS pretty heavy duty.
It is NOT politically correct...
It is NOT politically correct...
At the New Media Journal, Joan Swirsky writes critically about Sen. Rockefeller and closes with this like-minded quote:
"As writer Ray Kraft says: “The inclination to risk or sacrifice the lives of American soldiers, Iraqi civilians, or any other non-terrorists in order to preserve the comfort and equanimity of terrorists, is one of the most profoundly immoral choices that it is possible to make – it is the decision to kill the good in order to protect the evil.” Most Americans understand and agree with Kraft, except for liberals, of course. When rank partisanship – which they and their Democrat colleagues embody – trumps concern for our national safety, sane voters, from left to right and in the middle, should remove them from power."
"Roller Derby Politics"
I have to wonder, "Since when is it a bad thing to want to protect our country from possible future problems?.
I guess that happened when elections, politics, money, and power, all became more important...
I guess that happened when elections, politics, money, and power, all became more important...
Daniel Henninger discusses the NIE report in the Wall Street Opinion Journal:
"The most disturbing thing about the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran wasn't the news itself, but how the episode displayed the wild and manic swings that now characterize American politics. A regular watcher of our politics could be forgiven for feeling that one isn't watching a serious country but a place that conducts its internal affairs like a Saturday morning cartoon show. Thunk! Boooinng!""
Global Warming - Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner
As the interviewer says, "I would like to start with a little bit about your background".
Hmmm. He sounds like a scientist; certainly NOT a politician...
Hmmm. He sounds like a scientist; certainly NOT a politician...
I found this interview at this Argentine website. It's the English translation:
"Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner is the head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics department at Stockholm University in Sweden. He is past president (1999-2003) of the INQUA Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution, and leader of the Maldives Sea Level Project. Dr. Mörner has been studying the sea level and its effects on coastal areas for some 35 years. He was interviewed by Gregory Murphy on June 6 for EIR.
EIR: I would like to start with a little bit about your background, and some of the commissions and research groups you've worked on.
Mörner: I am a sea-level specialist. There are many good sea-level people in the world, but let's put it this way: There's no one who's beaten me. I took my thesis in 1969, devoted to a large extent to the sea-level problem. From then on, I have launched most of the new theories, in the '70s, '80s, and '90s.
I was the one who understood the problem of the gravitational potential surface, the theory that it changes with time. I'm the one who studied the rotation of the Earth, how it affected the redistribu-tion of the oceans' masses. And so on."
Global Warming - And cascading
This article contains several terms to learn and think about.
They sort of remind me of "peer pressure", "group think", "selective reporting", and even "political correctness", in that they inhibit objective analysis of all of the facts.
I think it's a recipe for making mistakes...
They sort of remind me of "peer pressure", "group think", "selective reporting", and even "political correctness", in that they inhibit objective analysis of all of the facts.
I think it's a recipe for making mistakes...
In the Wall Street Opinion Journal, Holman W. Jenkins Jr. asks this:
"What if everyone believes in global warmism only because everyone believes in global warmism? "
Global Warming - May "we" question authority too?
I wonder if human caused global warming will someday be known as "an old wives tale"?...
At MensNewsDaily.com, Bob Parks wants equal opportunity to question authority:
"And all the while, we are ridiculed as head-in-the-sand dupes one step below a Holocaust denier. Unlike Gore and Hollywood celebrities-turned-scientists, there is little to no profit in questioning. Isn’t “questioning authority” (what those who preach the global warming line say all the time) what we’re supposed to do? Obviously not when it comes to questioning them.
So, to avoid having to provide logical answers, the global warming believers resort to the standard name-calling approach, while using their authority over our children and scare them into joining their cause. However, the facts are slowly leaking out and the battle has officially begun."
Global Warming - The Pope weighs in
I agree wholeheartedly that in the case of global warming, being sure NOT to overreact, seems wise and prudent...
In the U.K.'s Daily Mail, Simon Caldwell reports:
"Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate-change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.
The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.
The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement."
National Intelligence Estimate - It said this
Nothing happens without a reason.
This article presents some very plausible ones...
This article presents some very plausible ones...
At FrontPageMagazine.com, William R. Hawkins actually read the recent NIE report:
'The NIE states, 'We assess with high confidence that until fall 2003, Iranian military entities were working under government direction to develop nuclear weapons.' This effort had been underway since 'at least the late 1980s.' So, why the sudden decision to halt in 2003? What happened that year to send Tehran a message? The capture of Baghdad by U.S. forces that April.
President George W. Bush showed he was willing to follow up his earlier characterization of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an 'axis of evil' by destroying one of the 'axis' regimes. This action sent a shock wave through the other two rogue states. By August, both North Korea and Iran had entered negotiations to head off feared military strikes by the United States. The Six Party talks with North Korea were hosted by Pyongyang’s ally China to promote a 'peaceful diplomatic solution' to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Iran was meeting with England, France and Germany (the European Union 3), also seeking diplomatic cover with other powers to avoid a direct confrontation with Washington."
Stem Cells - Suddenly it's very quiet
Politicians are opportunistic for sure; and SOOOO transparent...
A certain party get exposed by Investors Business Daily:
"A few weeks ago this would have been unthinkable. For years, Democrats have pushed the stem cell issue hard, making overturning the White House's restrictions on federal funding a key part of their platform. Yet almost overnight the issue seems forgotten."
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Free Trade - Go figure!
I'm confused.
One of our American political parties wants government to control almost everything.
Meanwhile, a signifant portion of Europe is moving in the other direction.
This parallels the tax cut scenario.
Other countries are moving toward lower taxes, while one of our political parties doesn't like that policy...
One of our American political parties wants government to control almost everything.
Meanwhile, a signifant portion of Europe is moving in the other direction.
This parallels the tax cut scenario.
Other countries are moving toward lower taxes, while one of our political parties doesn't like that policy...
In the Wall Street Journal, John Fund reports:
"LONDON--The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute and other free-market Washington think tanks are known to many Americans. What isn't generally understood is that there has been an explosion of free-market think tanks around the world that are increasingly challenging the conventional view that government is the solution to society's problems.
Last week the Stockholm Network, an umbrella organization for European free-market think tanks, held its first annual award ceremonies to honor the groups that have been most effective in informing policy makers and the general public about policies like school choice, portable pensions and decentralized approaches to delivering health care. The Wall Street Journal was a co-sponsor, in line with its adherence to an editorial philosophy of 'free markets and free people.'"
Global Warming - About that ice
Global Warming sure is a "hot" topic...
I found this in a post by John Hinderaker on the PowerLine blog:
"The abstract of the article states tersely:
We examine tropospheric temperature trends of 67 runs from 22 Climate of the 20th Century model simulations and try to reconcile them with the best available updated observations (in the tropics during the satellite era). Model results and observed temperature trends are in disagreement in most of the tropical troposphere, being separated by more than twice the uncertainty of the model mean. In layers near 5 km, the modelled trend is 100 to 300% higher than observed, and, above 8 km, modelled and observed trends have opposite signs. These conclusions contrast strongly with those of recent publications based on essentially the same data.
Lead author David Douglass elaborates:
The observed pattern of warming, comparing surface and atmospheric temperature trends, does not show the characteristic fingerprint associated with greenhouse warming. The inescapable conclusion is that the human contribution is not significant and that observed increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases make only a negligible contribution to climate warming."
Politicians - and Funk Music?
This earmark thing is just unbelievable.
Our corrupt, unaccountable politicians just keep wasting our money...
Our corrupt, unaccountable politicians just keep wasting our money...
At the WashingtonPost.com, Mary Beth Sheridan writes about it:
"'We made very substantial progress in making sure that earmarks, which I support, are transparent,' Hoyer said in an interview.
And yet, pet projects can still be slipped into bills with little scrutiny.
Consider the $450,000 that Hoyer inserted into a 2008 education spending bill for the California-based InTune Foundation Group, whose Web site describes it as a music-education nonprofit group.
In 2005, InTune got a previous earmark for nearly $500,000 to develop lesson plans on funk music and Nobel Peace laureates. Asked recently how effective that program had been, Education Department officials said they didn't know. InTune hadn't turned in a report on what it did, officials said.
'It is significantly past due,' department spokeswoman Rebecca Neale said, noting that the deadline was September 2006. She said that the department had tried to reach InTune but that its old telephone and e-mail were out of service and there was no contact information on its Web site.
After The Washington Post asked InTune about the delay, the foundation got in touch with the department, Neale said last week. She said the group had not yet submitted its report."
Iraq - Joining the Bandwagon?
This change of opinion seems like a pretty big concession.
The link to the actual article can be found ..
The link to the actual article can be found ..
The link to the actual article can be found in Michael Goldfarb's WeeklyStandard.com column. He begins:
"In today's Washington Post, Pete Hegseth, executive director of Vets for Freedom, has coauthored an op-ed with...wait for it...Major General John Batiste.
Batiste, you will remember, is the formerly 'antiwar' general who spoke out against Donald Rumsfeld, and who, until recently, was a Board Member of VoteVets.org (the antiwar MoveOn.org vets front group)."
Immigration - Assimilation
I answered "Yes".
I guess that is very politically incorrect.
But, then, I think the law should mean something...
I guess that is very politically incorrect.
But, then, I think the law should mean something...
At TownHall.com, Phyllis Schlafly asks:
"Are you tired of anonymous voices on the phone telling you to 'Press 1 (or sometimes 2) for English'? The ability to speak and communicate in English is the litmus test of whether immigrants are assimilating into U.S. culture.
To become a naturalized U.S. citizen, the law states that the immigrant must demonstrate 'the ability to read, write and speak ordinary English.' All public opinion polls confirm by majorities approaching 90 percent that this is what the American people want.Despite the law, the Pew Hispanic Center just reported that only 52 percent of Hispanic naturalized citizens speak English well or pretty well. Pew also reported that 28 percent of Latino immigrants speak only Spanish on the job."
National Intelligence Estimate - The Brits weigh in
Here's another point of view...
Tim Shipman reports at IMRA.org:
"British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons programme, as a US intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Teheran.
Analysts believe that Iranian staff, knowing their phones were tapped,
deliberately gave misinformation"
National Intelligence Estimate - keyword "estimate"?
Once again, we would be wise to consider history before assuming the NIE is accurate...
In the Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens reminds us of a past inaccuracy:
"'The USSR could derive considerable military advantage from the establishment of Soviet medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba, or from the establishment of a submarine base there. . . . Either development, however, would be incompatible with Soviet practice to date and with Soviet policy as we presently estimate it.'
--Special National Intelligence Estimate 85-3-62, Sept. 19, 1962
Twenty-five days after this NIE was published, a U-2 spy plane photographed a Soviet ballistic missile site in Cuba, and the Cuban Missile Crisis began. It's possible the latest NIE on Iran's nuclear weapons program will not prove as misjudged or as damaging as the 1962 estimate. But don't bet on it."
"The Legacy Thing"
I agree. Let's allow history to be the judge...
Investors Business Daily takes issue with CNN and others:
"CNN isn't the first, or only, mainstream media outlet to misunderestimate Bush, to coin a phrase. He put his weight behind Annapolis because supporting democracies in the Middle East is the only lasting way to peace and not because, as CNN put it, 'his legacy on the Mideast is under fire because of the war in Iraq.' His legacy in the Middle East and worldwide is quite secure.
The Annapolis conference is not an act of desperation but another logical step in support of democracy in the region. Bush knows that to defeat terror it is necessary to drain the swamp in which terrorists thrive and recruit."
The Media - Willingly manipulated?
Could it be that many in the media are totally blinded by their bias and agendas?...
[sarcasm OFF]
[sarcasm OFF]
The Gateway Pundit tells us to:
"LAY THIS BOGUS IRAQI SLAUGHTER STORY TO REST...
Reportedly, on Sunday, 11 close family members of Jordanian-based Baathist reporter Dia al-Kawwaz, who runs the online anti-Iraq newspaper Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq, were slaughtered in Baghdad. The attack occurred in the Al-Shaab neighborhood shortly after 7 a.m. Shia militia men shot dead two of Kawwaz’s sisters, their husbands and their seven children, aged 5 to 10. They then exploded the house on their way out.
This story was carried by dozens of media outlets around the world...
...About that horrible slaughter...
It didn't happen!!
It was just a hoaxer that Reporters Without Borders failed to fact check."
Monday, December 10, 2007
Do you remember what you thought you knew?
Disclaimer: This is from September of 2003.
I honestly don't remember hearing of this. Perhaps, you do.
It sure makes me wonder if we ever get the truth about anything; especially, if the government and/or politics are involved...
I honestly don't remember hearing of this. Perhaps, you do.
It sure makes me wonder if we ever get the truth about anything; especially, if the government and/or politics are involved...
Back then, WorldNetDaily.com had this:
"But more important than any of that, the authors say, this book reveals an official CIA document 'that may well be the most shocking piece of evidence ever to arise from the enigma surrounding Kennedy's murder.'
The document affirms that an international assassin had been captured by U.S. authorities in Dallas less than 48 hours after Kennedy was shot, and that instead of arresting him, those same U.S. authorities secretly flew the assassin out of the country to freedom.
The authors also reveal a Mafia chieftain, who employed Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald's uncle, confessed to federal officers he had been directly involved in Kennedy's murder."
Politicians - and PayGo
Well, it sounded good (if we could ever believe a politician)...
The Wall Street Journal weighs in:
"But paygo shouldn't be allowed to expire without everyone kicking sand on its grave. That's because it has been nothing but a confidence game from the very start. Paygo doesn't apply to domestic discretionary spending, and it doesn't restrain spending increases under current law in entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid. Its main goals are to make tax cutting all but impossible, while letting Democrats pretend to favor 'fiscal discipline,' a la Ms. Pelosi's boast above.
In fact, the paygo farce has been unfolding all year. Since the day they took the gavel, Democrats have been using gimmick after gimmick to evade it. The Schip bill for health care, for example, includes a spending 'cliff' that disguises its actual cost. It assumes spending would rise to $14 billion in 2012, but then pretends the costs would fall to less than half that level in 2013--which just so happens to fall outside the five-year budget scoring window. Some $60 billion in spending over the next 10 years were hidden through this ploy.
Then there is the House farm bill awaiting action in the Senate. That spending marathon includes between $5 billion and $10 billion in fictitious paygo savings by shifting the date of farm aid payments from one year to another. If a Fortune 500 CEO did that sort of thing, he'd be indicted."
GPS - Unintended Consequences
Say again, what's the "shortest" route?...
At the International Herald tribune, Sarah Lyall tells us why:
"Rural Britain wants to take itself off the GPS map"
Chuck Norris - discusses 'The Golden Compass'
This movie sure sounds "over the top".
I wonder how many parents are even aware of it's underlying theme...
I wonder how many parents are even aware of it's underlying theme...
At WorldNetDaily.com, Chuck Norris clearly doesn't like it:
"This upcoming weekend I'm giving the worldwide release (Dec. 7) of the children's movie, 'The Golden Compass,' a definite 'Chuck Norris disapproval.' I normally don't critique others' movies, but this one not only warrants critiquing but condemning. The reasons are it will very subtly push agnosticism, atheism, secularism and anti-Christian thoughts upon youthful minds and hearts. There is hot debate right now about this movie all over the Internet. And liberal news agencies and publications are waging war to assure its global proliferation, viewing and success."
New York Times - Editor Bill Keller
I see the New York Times as the TimesWatch website does.
Obviously, the New York Times editor sees it differently.
But, how can we trust his own reporting?...
Obviously, the New York Times editor sees it differently.
But, how can we trust his own reporting?...
At TimesWatch.org, Clay Waters posted this and more:
"Editor Bill Keller, Unleashed in London: 'A War Going Very Badly in Iraq' Times Executive Editor Bill Keller proudly states of his paper: 'We do not work in the service of a party, or an industry, or even a country' and went after 'hate-mongering radio broadcasts.'"
New York Times - Under the microscope
I've been observing the NY Times' consistently biased publishing for quite a while. It's heartening to see it documented and publicized.
That said, it's still sad to see it continuing on a daily basis...
That said, it's still sad to see it continuing on a daily basis...
I found this at HonestReporting.com:
"Are there any patterns of bias in New York Times reporting? HonestReporting employs an array of tools to respond quickly to inaccurate or biased news articles. Our weekly communiqu?s identify and challenge the worst cases of bias, and our 24HR Megaphone tool instantly alerts subscribers to issues that require immediate attention. However, not all cases of slanted reporting are instantly clear. It's often helpful to take a step back and examine a news organization over a long-term period. Subtle elements of bias such as headline or photo selection then become clearer. In our second in-depth media analysis, we studied six months of reporting from the New York Times, one of the most popular and influential newspapers in the world."
Iran - What gives?
I have to wonder, "Where are our spys these days?".
At face value, our intelligence services seem to leave a lot to be desired.
That being said, I really believe that there are well-calculated reasons for everything they say. After all, they wouldn't be what they are if they told everyone what they know and do...
At face value, our intelligence services seem to leave a lot to be desired.
That being said, I really believe that there are well-calculated reasons for everything they say. After all, they wouldn't be what they are if they told everyone what they know and do...
The following comes from a Wall Street Journal opinion column:
"In any case, the real issue is not Iran's nuclear weapons program, but its nuclear program, period. As the NIE acknowledges, Iran continues to enrich uranium on an industrial scale--that is, build the capability to make the fuel for a potential bomb. And it is doing so in open defiance of binding U.N. resolutions. No less a source than the IAEA recently confirmed that Iran already has blueprints to cast uranium in the shape of an atomic bomb core. The U.S. also knows that Iran has extensive technical information on how to fit a warhead atop a ballistic missile. And there is considerable evidence that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps has been developing the detonation devices needed to set off a nuclear explosion at the weapons testing facility in Parchin. Even assuming that Iran is not seeking a bomb right now, it is hardly reassuring that they are developing technologies that could bring them within a screw's twist of one."
The New York Times - Fact defying?
Here's Ann Coulter being Ann Coulter.
She certainly seems to be having fun with it...
She certainly seems to be having fun with it...
On her website, Ann Coulter makes her point:
"Whatever Arizona voters didn't like about Hayworth and Graf, it wasn't that they were too tough on illegals.
My theory is that Hayworth and Graf lost because the multitudes of Times reporters losing their jobs due to the Newspaper of Record's plummeting circulation have recently moved to Hayworth's and Graf's districts. (This is what's known as a 'brain drain' in those districts.)
My theory -- like the Times' theory -- is supported by no evidence. But unlike the Times' theory, mine is not specifically disproved by other evidence such as common sense, an everyday observation of my fellow man, and also those four anti-illegal immigrant measures passing in landslides in the very same election."
N.O.W - Biased; but not how you would think
After reading this, you might even agree with it...
At ModernConservative.com, Christopher Cook supports this conclusion:
"Simply put, the left gets completely outraged at conflicts in which the side perceived to have more power is from the groups and ideologies they "dislike," but they remain silent when the side with the power comes from an ideological position they support. You can reverse those components too—they are outraged when they "like" the victims and silent (or worse) when they don't. It doesn't matter how brutal the conflict is, or who has a better claim to use force in their own defense—the only thing that appears to matter is group identity."
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Oil - It's Out There
History seems to show that the higher the price, the more innovative we become in obtaining it.
It seems that we won't run out anytime soon, but we will see higher prices...
It seems that we won't run out anytime soon, but we will see higher prices...
At the Republican-American website, Gene Guilford discusses our oil fears:
"There are now 2.2 trillion barrels of conventional oil reserves known in the world; that's more than 200 years' supply.
In addition, there are three times the proven reserves in tar sands in the United States — 800 billion barrels — as exist in Saudi Arabia's proven reserves. That's 110 years of total U.S. demand at 20 million barrels a day. If we used it for half of our daily consumption, it's 220 years, according to a Rand Corp. report for U.S. Department of Energy."
Virtual - How's that again?
For protecting our borders, a "virtual fence" sounds fairly reasonable; but, when you really do think about it, it's clearly not a total solution.
I bet there's more than a "virtual" fence at the White House.
Now, if the illegal immigrants were "virtual"...
I bet there's more than a "virtual" fence at the White House.
Now, if the illegal immigrants were "virtual"...
In this article, James P. Pinkerton labels it "virtually useless":
"That sounds like a good plan, doesn't it? After all, you use a virtual lock on your front door, right? That way, when intruders approach your house, you can spot them. And when they walk in, well, a police SWAT team is on the way. The key to this enforcement strategy, to be sure, is to respond after the crime has occurred. "
Immigration - the Ramos-Compean case
I've been following this case for quite a while and I'm anxious to see what the final outcome is.
The two Border Guards are still in prison...
The two Border Guards are still in prison...
At WorldNetDaily.com, Jerome R. Corsi brings us up-to-date:
"Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean The U.S. government admitted today in federal court that the prosecution's star witness in the criminal trial of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean – confessed drug dealer Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila – lied under oath. 'He told some lies on the stand,' Mark Stelmach, the assistant U.S. attorney representing prosecutor U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said under questioning by a three-judge 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans. Ramos and Compean are appealing prison sentences of 11- and 12-years respectively for a 2005 incident in which they fired on Aldrete-Davila as he fled back into Mexico after smuggling 750 pounds of marijuana into the U.S. near Fabens, Texas."
Immigration - and the Border Patrol
Ughh!
And he thinks he's protecting our borders...
And he thinks he's protecting our borders...
I found this at JudicialWatch.org:
"During the meeting, held at Texas A&M International University’s campus, US Border Patrol (USBP) Laredo Sector Chief Carlos X. Carrillo disclaimed the illegal immigration and narcotics enforcement missions of the USBP. 'The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop illegal immigrants . . . The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop narcotics . . . or contraband or narcotics . . . the Border Patrol’s mission is not to do any of those things . . . The Border Patrol’s job is not to stop criminals . . . The Border Patrol’s job is to stop terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering this country,' Mr. Carrillo stated."
Global Warming - 600+ Bad things
It seems like the street signs are fading in my neighborhood.
Do you think it could be because of.........?
Do you think it could be because of.........?
Christopher Alleva writes at AmericanThinker.com:
"Dr. John Brignell, a British engineering professor, runs a website called numberwatch. He has compiled what has to be the most complete collection of links to media stories ascribing the cause of everything under the sun to global warming. He has already posted more than six-hundred links. The site's stated mission is to expose all the 'scares, scams, junk, panics and flummery cooked up by the media, politicians, bureaucrats and so-called scientists and others that try to confuse the public with wrong numbers' Professor Brignell's motto is 'Working to Combat Math Hysteria.'"
Global Warming - Not much help here
You're asking me to do what!...
Susie Boniface reports in the U.K.'s Sunday Mirror:
"Celebrities, royalty and captains of industry were invited to join a select club which matches their travel needs to those of other VIPs for red carpet events. Just the 78 signed up to the Flight-share Private Members Guild. Aviation experts say around 5,000 empty private jets take to the skies every week to collect high-profile passengers from entertainment events, political summits and sporting fixtures. Paddy Gillett of pressure group Plane Stupid said: 'They seem to be sticking two fingers up by flying as much as they like.'"
Hurricane Katrina - Ecological Disaster or ???
Here's an article discussing the ecology of forests.
The quoted paragraph is what caught my eye...
The quoted paragraph is what caught my eye...
At the CATO Institute, Patrick J. Michaels reports:
"Here's the cool part: the present era. Ninety-five percent of the last 100 million years were warmer than now. It's only about 5 million years or so ago that we began to slip into the current ice-age climate (from which carbon dioxide may mercifully extricate us, some say)."
Hurricanes and Politics?
NOAA forecasting seems both inaccurate and questionable...
David Almasi wrote this and more on November 30th at The National Center for Public Policy Research:
"Today marks the official end of the 2007 hurricane season, and for the second year in a row the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's forecast for the season was wrong. NOAA had predicted there would be seven to nine hurricanes, three to five major hurricanes and 13-17 'named storms.' The season ended with just five hurricanes, two of which were major (category three or above) and 14 named storms."
Monday, December 03, 2007
France vs. England
Apparently, they see the same things quite differently.
The Brits are known to be a bit stuffy, you know...
The Brits are known to be a bit stuffy, you know...
In the UK's Telegraph, Anne Elizabeth-Moutet reports from France:
"If it had been Britain, it would clearly have been an attempt to hide a politician's embarrassing matrimonial breakdown. Not in France. Media-savvy Sarko was using his high-profile divorce to deflect attention from the much more harmful consequences of an industrial dispute. That is a key difference between our two countries.
The truth is that while we voters here in France like a good gossip, we're about as likely to judge our leaders on personal transgressions as to expect them not to have affairs. It's when they don't have any that we worry."
Oil - It's out there
This looks like good news for down the road.
No pun intended...
No pun intended...
This is from Gary Duffy of BBC News:
"Brazil has developed expertise in deep-sea drilling in recent years The Brazilian government says huge new oil reserves discovered off its coast could turn the country into one of the biggest oil producers in the world. Petrobras, Brazil's national oil company, says it believes the offshore Tupi field has between 5bn and 8bn barrels of recoverable light oil. A senior minister said Brazilian oil production had the potential to match that of Venezuela and Saudi Arabia."
HomeLand Security - Still much room for improvement
I know it's a monumental job; but, I'm thinking these huge gaps at major airports should be closed by now...
MSNBC.com tells how Chicago's O'Hare is doing:
"One report indicates more than 100 workers at have been found with fake security passes. Authorities said 110 of the badges issued to a contracting company did not match their owners. Of those arrested, 21 are from Mexico and two from Guatemala, the Associated Press new agency reported. The case concerns workers employed by Ideal Staffing Solutions, which contracted work for carriers including United Airlines, KLM and Qantas. Applications for the 110 fake badges used social security numbers that did not exist or belonged to other people, some of them dead."
In Our Schools - in California
I know a lot of money is invested in this issue; and, it would seem that by now, there should be more to show for it...
Here's a story by Emmanuel Opati at CampusReportOnline.net about the findings of the Pacific Research Institute:
"He said that statistics from their research indicate 'nearly 300 schools across California in some of the priciest places did not have at least 50% of their grade level proficiency.' For instance 'at Hillsdale High, a school in an affluent suburb with a median house cost of $867,000 (and which was voted as a California Distinguished School by the Department of Education), amongst 11th graders only 40% are proficient in English,' he said. At Prospect High School where median price of the home is about $1.6 Million, he said, 'less than half of the 10th and 11th graders are proficient in English.'"
The Media - New York Times at work
In my opinion, there's not much to admire about this once respected newspaper.
Perhaps we should admire their tenacity in staying biased...
Perhaps we should admire their tenacity in staying biased...
Rich Galen posted this at RealClearPolitics.com back on November 9th:
"The news out of Iraq, Wednesday, was that there was no news out of Iraq. At least no news that the New York Times wanted to particularly feature, doing everything it could to be certain that readers would not be around to hear that tree fall. We have previously discussed the matter of the Times editorializing by placement. As another example, this was the squib in the teaser box on the front page of Thursday's paper: Rebel Force Out of Baghdad: American Troops have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia from every neighborhood of Baghdad, the commander of United States forces in Baghdad says. Not the front page. Not the second nor third nor fourth page. Page 19."
"Milking the Insults"
Michelle Malkin usually sees things clearly and it not afraid to tell it like she sees it...
In this article, Michelle Malkin points out what is always so obvious, but usually unspoken:
"The ululations of the aggrieved ebb and flow like the tide. If there's an insult to be milked — Macaca! Nappy-headed ho! — the professional victims will rush in, sell some T-shirts, fire up their bullhorns, make the media rounds, issue their 21-point demands, and then recede until the next race-hustling opportunity comes along. Thanks to his bipartisan enablers in politics and the media, leading civil rights charlatan Al Sharpton never lacks a stage."
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Meanwhile - In Pakistan
Apparently, local people are acting against terrorists in Pakistan...
I found this at the Pakistan Daily Times website:
"Meanwhile, Swat Media Centre spokesman Amjad Iqbal told journalists that a local resident had killed Taliban commander Khan Khitab, as people of the area were tired of the Taliban."
The Clintons - Rewriting History?
Same old, same old...
Steve Kornacki points it out at the New York Observer's website:
"The latest retroactive adjustment is Bill’s claim at an Iowa event this week that he 'approved of Afghanistan and opposed Iraq from the beginning'—a revelation to the many anti-war activists who received no public help from the former President back in 2002 and 2003 when they were pilloried and ridiculed for their views.
'What does it mean to oppose it if you don’t verbally say you are against the war?' a baffled Chris Matthews wondered on his MSNBC show on Wednesday.
It means that you’re dealing with Bill Clinton, the same guy who smoked marijuana without inhaling and who maneuvered his way out of Vietnam only to declare with a straight face, 'I put myself into the draft. I didn't take it out.'"
Investors Business Daily says: "Liar, Liar (Pants On Fire)".
CNN - On the Job
More of the same from CNN...
This one is from Ray Robison at AmericanThinker.com:
"I cannot imagine a much more unfair venue than the debate-hoodwink that CNN launched on the Republican Party. Every Republican candidate should make sure it is the last time CNN gets a shot at such cheap tactics."
CNN - On the Job
I'm not liking CNN. In fact I don't/won't watch it.
I just can't decide if they have changed to be this way; or, were they always this way, and I wasn't noticing it.
Whichever it is, Joseph Goebbels would be proud...
I just can't decide if they have changed to be this way; or, were they always this way, and I wasn't noticing it.
Whichever it is, Joseph Goebbels would be proud...
This is being exposed all over the Internet. I picked Michelle Malkin's site, because of the convincing graphics:
"Digging out more CNN/YouTube plants: Abortion questioner is declared Edwards supporter (and a slobbering Anderson Cooper fan); Log Cabin Republican questioner is declared Obama supporter; lead toy questioner is a prominent union activist for the Edwards-endorsing United Steelworkers"
You can read about Joseph Goebbels.
CFL's or no CFL's; that is the question
So, you tell me, "What in the world are we to believe?"...
I found this in an article at WorldNetDaily:
"Even the EPA, which is cheerleading the mania for the switch to CFLs, offers bone-chilling warnings about the dangers of mercury – if you search for them.
'Exposure to mercury, a toxic metal, can affect our brain, spinal cord, kidneys and liver,' says the agency."
On Target?
Well, first of all, it's apparently not illegal; however, it doesn't seem "right".
My thinking is that when something is known to be illegal, many of us don't or won't do it. When something is NOT illegal, we all make different choices. That leads to the need to have a law about every single thing; which proliferates our litigious society.
I guess that's just the way it is...
My thinking is that when something is known to be illegal, many of us don't or won't do it. When something is NOT illegal, we all make different choices. That leads to the need to have a law about every single thing; which proliferates our litigious society.
I guess that's just the way it is...
In the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Jackie Crosby reports on Target:
"The Minneapolis-based discount retailer is being outed in online blogs and discussed in college ethics classes after students allied with the company were told to 'keep it like a secret' while singing the company's praises on the social network site Facebook.com.
'Keep it a secret? That sounds unethical,' said Rosie Siman, 21, a senior at the University of Georgia and a member of the Target Rounders. The group of mostly college students gets discounts, CDs and other prizes for marketing Target products to their friends and providing the company with feedback."
Rocky Mountain Politics
I don't have anything against unions; EXCEPT, when they get entangled in politics...
It looks like the Denver Post is not happy with Colorado's governor:
"Either Gov. Bill Ritter knowingly deceived Coloradans and sold them a bill of goods with his executive order on labor unions, or he doesn't understand the law.
We're not sure which is worse.
When he issued his disastrous order giving state workers collective bargaining rights, the governor assured Coloradans that state workers couldn't strike.
After all, he said, it's right there in his order.
But executive orders can't trump state law, much less Colorado Supreme Court decisions — no matter how many times Ritter and his supporters say so. It was either deceit or ignorance. Take your pick, but neither bodes well for Colorado."
Immigration - Undocumented Health Care
I'm sure we're going to see much more of this.
I'm assuming that the Southwestern states are the most affected.
It will be interesting to see how it all gets resolved...
I'm assuming that the Southwestern states are the most affected.
It will be interesting to see how it all gets resolved...
In the Galveston Daily News, Laura Elder writes about the issues:
"The University of Texas Medical Branch is considering a policy that would deny cancer care to indigent, undocumented immigrants — an unusual and controversial move for a state-funded institution.
Medical branch officials are forming the policy as they strain to stretch dwindling state dollars for uninsured patients and while illegal immigration ranks among the most divisive issues in the nation.
Turning away undocumented cancer patients undoubtedly would pull the oldest medical school east of the Mississippi into a fierce contemporary debate about the legality and fairness of treating undocumented immigrants with tax dollars when millions of uninsured legal residents can’t afford health care.
It also will force the institution to face thorny questions about simple compassion and the limits of a physician’s duty to treat the ailing."
The Dollar - History vs. Headlines
Even though the "mainstream media" portrays the current dollar situation negatively, history seems to tell us "not to worry".
Of course that doesn't sell as well as "fear"...
Of course that doesn't sell as well as "fear"...
An article at Investors Business Daily puts things in perspective:
"The plunge in the dollar has turned normally calm voices strident and fearful. A weak currency, they say, spells catastrophe for the U.S. economy.
But like much conventional wisdom, this isn't true. Nor is it true that the dollar, to use one favorite recent word, has 'collapsed.'
You wouldn't know it, however, from recent headlines."
