Sunday, March 30, 2008
Global Warming - Could this be?
Well, I don't know what to make of this. I can't come to terms with "global warming" by itself, let alone affecting a small group of states more severely than others.
What I did notice is the related stories on the linked page.
On Mar. 16, 2007 - Global December-February Temperature Warmest On Record
And on Mar. 15, 2008 - Coolest Winter Since 2001 For U.S., Globe, According To NOAA Data...
What I did notice is the related stories on the linked page.
On Mar. 16, 2007 - Global December-February Temperature Warmest On Record
And on Mar. 15, 2008 - Coolest Winter Since 2001 For U.S., Globe, According To NOAA Data...
Here's the link to Science Daily's story:
"American West Heating Nearly Twice As Fast As Rest Of World, New Analysis Shows"
Politicians - and their earmarks
In my humble opinion, most of our elected officials are out of control and are no longer accountable to the people who elect them.
My guess is that those Senators who are running for President could not afford to vote AGAINST this; however, I bet two of them would have...
My guess is that those Senators who are running for President could not afford to vote AGAINST this; however, I bet two of them would have...
You can see how your favorite Senator voted at the Citizens Against Government Waste website:
"Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named all 71 senators who voted against an amendment to impose a one-year earmark moratorium in the fiscal year 2009 Budget Resolution March Porkers of the Month. The amendment was offered by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and had fourteen bipartisan co-sponsors including all three presidential candidates.
As Sen. DeMint has said, 'The earmark process allows politicians to fund pet projects based on political power instead of merit. Earmarks are rarely subject to public hearings or oversight, and they invite the kind of corruption that has sent lawmakers to jail.'"
Politicians - And the money
This is what it is.
I figure all political campaigns are run like this...
I figure all political campaigns are run like this...
At the Politico.com, Kenneth P. Vogel reports on the status of Hillary Clinton's campaign finances:
"Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cash-strapped presidential campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months — freeing up cash for critical media buys but also earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat in some small-business circles.
A pair of Ohio companies owed more than $25,000 by Clinton for staging events for her campaign are warning others in the tight-knit event production community — and anyone else who will listen — to get their cash upfront when doing business with her. Her campaign, say representatives of the two companies, has stopped returning phone calls and e-mails seeking payment of outstanding invoices. One even got no response from a certified letter."
Friday, March 28, 2008
Politicians - Barack Obama
If you want some insight on who he may be, this article should provide it. For me, I don't like the "smell" of his persona...
At NewMediaJournal.com, Joan Swirsky provides a compilation; and then reminds us:
"If history is a guide, the liberal media will go out of its way to cover for Obama, paper over his far-left liberalism and spin away any gaffes. It will be up to conservatives to sustain Operation Truth."
Wal-Mart vs. Government
Free enterprise.
Law of supply and demand.
Survival of the fittest.
Anything but government...
Law of supply and demand.
Survival of the fittest.
Anything but government...
At the NationalPost.com website, Colby Cosh writes:
"No one who is familiar with economic thought since the Second World War will be surprised at this. Scholars such as F. A. von Hayek, James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock have taught us that it is really nothing more than a terminological error to label governments "public" and corporations "private" when it is the latter that often have the strongest incentives to respond to social needs. A company that alienates a community will soon be forced to retreat from it, but the government is always there. Companies must, to survive, create economic value one way or another; government employees can increase their budgets and their personal power by destroying or wasting wealth, and most may do little else."
Hillary Clinton - On the ropes?
I think the writer is right on the mark. (Disclaimer - I admit to not being fond of Hillary.)
Try not to miss the last two paragraphs...
Try not to miss the last two paragraphs...
In her Wall Street Journal opinion column, Peggy Noonan begins with this:
"I think we've reached a signal point in the campaign. This is the point where, with Hillary Clinton, either you get it or you don't. There's no dodging now. You either understand the problem with her candidacy, or you don't. You either understand who she is, or not. And if you don't, after 16 years of watching Clintonian dramas, you probably never will."
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Democratic Presidential race and a numbers guy
You can think what you want; however, I'm staying with "It's not over 'til it's over" until I'm really sure it's "over"...
In the Wall Street Journal, Lawrence B. Lindsey explains the numbers and then closes with:
"Democrats are clearly going to have to rewrite their delegate selection rules after this contest, like they did after similar fiascos in 1968 and 1988. Until then, it's up to the lawyers, and may the cleverest lawyer win. My money is on Mr. Obama blocking the statistically based solution described above. After all, as a product of Harvard myself, I know perfectly well that Harvard produces cleverer lawyers than Yale, regardless of what the numbers might say."
Site 555 - Truth or Fiction?
There are a lot of stories out there.
This is but one of them...
This is but one of them...
I found this on the Flopping Aces blog:
"Along with a business partner, he began tracking down the Eastern European engineers who had worked in Iraq and interviewing them. “We found five or six independent sources who all noted that they had seen eighteen-wheel trucks pass through an entrance into the hill area we were looking at,” the former operations officer said. What the trucks did once they entered the hillside, nobody knew. The entire area was a military zone, ringed with several rows of barbed wire."
Energy - Wouldn't this be nice?
My passion for simplicity would be satisfied a hundredfold if something like this would put our oil issue to rest...
In the Tifton Gazette (that's in Georgia), Jana Cone reports:
"Published March 15, 2008 09:54 pm - A Tifton agricultural researcher says he has found the solution to the world’s energy crisis through genetic modification and cloning of bacterial organisms that can convert bio-mass into hydrocarbons on a grand scale. The local researcher believes his groundbreaking discovery could result in the production of 500 to 1,000 barrels of hydrocarbon fuel per day from the initial production facility. The hydrocarbon fuel — commonly known as oil or fossil fuel when drilled — will require no modification to automobiles, oil pipelines or refineries as they exist today and could forever end the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, he said."
Global Warming - Oceans aren't warming
At least not lately.
It will be interesting to see if this means anything...
It will be interesting to see if this means anything...
I found this in a article by Richard Harris at NPR.org:
"Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them.
This is puzzling in part because here on the surface of the Earth, the years since 2003 have been some of the hottest on record. But Josh Willis at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the oceans are what really matter when it comes to global warming.
In fact, 80 percent to 90 percent of global warming involves heating up ocean waters. They hold much more heat than the atmosphere can. So Willis has been studying the ocean with a fleet of robotic instruments called the Argo system. The buoys can dive 3,000 feet down and measure ocean temperature. Since the system was fully deployed in 2003, it has recorded no warming of the global oceans."
Hillary Clinton - A Blast from the Past
O.K. See if you can top this.
From the New York Times, no less...
From the New York Times, no less...
For those of you that think stretching the truth is a new behavior, check out what William Safire wrote back then:
"From the New York Times January 08, 1996: Americans of all political persuasions are coming to the sad realization that our first lady - a woman of undoubted talents who was a role model for many in her generation - is a congenital liar. "
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Saddam's regime did what?
I wonder if I'm alone in wondering how this can be in the Australian press; while our American press reports differently...
I found this in an article by Geoff Ekkiot in "The Australian":
"On the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, which toppled Saddam's regime, the sweep of his terrorist activities and plotting have been revealed in millions of documents gathered by allied forces from Baath party offices and Saddam's palaces.
The documents, including correspondence between Baath party officials, paint a complex picture of Saddam's sponsorship of national and international terrorism and portray a leader willing to do anything to advance Iraqi hegemony in the region and beyond.
The documents are contained in a US Institute for Defence Analyses report released by the Pentagon, which says they provide 'strong evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism'.
'In the period after the 1991 Gulf War, the regime of Saddam Hussein supported a complex and increasingly disparate mix of pan-Arab revolutionary causes and emerging pan-Islamic radical movements,' the report says."
Yes, there definitely were links
I guess the media has moved on to something else and these links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda really don't matter anymore...
Even so, as Tim Wilson explains, documents are proving that the links WERE there:
"How else does one explain the headlines covering a report which starts with the following sentence: 'The Iraqi Perspectives Project (IPP) review of captured Iraqi documents uncovered strong evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism.'
The actual report goes on to detail that, despite having examined only 15% of the documents (although they also examined all of the English document titles), they found solid links to al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda spokesman and Imam Sheik Omar Abdul-Rahman’s Islamic Group, al-Qaeda’s Bahranian arm known as the Army of Mohammed, the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan which was the forerunner of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who was a key ally of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and the Abu Sayyaf group, another al-Qaeda affiliate in the Philippines. In particular, on page 42 of the report they acknowledge that 'Saddam supported groups that either associated directly with al Qaeda (such as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led at one time by bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri) or that generally shared al Qaeda's stated goals and objectives. 97'
For some unfathomable reason the authors of the report decided to use the phrase “no smoking gun” to describe the above multiple connections between Saddam’s Iraq and al-Qaeda."
Meet the McFaddens
Well, I guess there are people who absolutely love the government.
I'm glad this couldn't happen here in the U.S.
Or could it?...
I'm glad this couldn't happen here in the U.S.
Or could it?...
In the U.K. Daily Mail, Sadie Nicholas and Diana Appleyard report:
"Known as the 'Shameless' family among horrified neighbours, the McFaddens 'boast' three generations of adults who are not working.
All ten members of the clan share a council house and live off benefits amounting to around £32,000 a year. And very happy they are, too.
Matriarch is grandmother Sue McFadden, 54. 'Our neighbours are so snobby - they call us the 'Shameless' family and say that we ought to go out to work. But how can we work when we have all these children to look after?'"
Politicians - Earmark Overload
This is really, really bad.
Is it any wonder that their ratings are so low?...
Is it any wonder that their ratings are so low?...
At TownHall.com, Jacob Sullum reports:
"On Friday [March 21], a House Appropriations Committee website was so overwhelmed by legislators' wish lists that it crashed, forcing the committee to extend the deadline for earmark requests until Monday."
al-Sadr said what?
This is for those who missed the wall to wall headlines in our media...
Dan Senor and Roman Martinez report in the Wall Street Journal:
"'I have failed to liberate Iraq, and transform its society into an Islamic society.'
-- Moqtada al-Sadr, Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, March 8, 2008
Moqtada al-Sadr -- the radical cleric dubbed 'The Most Dangerous Man in Iraq' by a Newsweek cover story in December 2006 -- has just unilaterally extended the ceasefire he imposed on his Mahdi Army militia last summer. And on the eve of the Iraq War's fifth anniversary, Sadr also issued a somber but dramatic statement. He not only declared that he had failed to transform Iraq, but also lamented the new debates and divisions within his own movement. Explaining his marginalization, Sadr all but confessed his growing isolation: 'One hand cannot clap alone.'"
Hillary Clinton - Flip-Flop?
This seems to fit the definition...
Jack Kelly reports in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"In a speech in West Virginia Wednesday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton described Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, as 'an extraordinary leader and a wonderful advocate for our military.'
Just seven months ago Mrs. Clinton indirectly called Gen. Petraeus a liar (it would, she said, take a 'willing suspension of disbelief' to believe what the general was saying about progress in Iraq since the troop surge began). This most recent Clinton flip-flop illustrates the sea change that's happened in Iraq since then."
The Clintons - Inevitable?
Apparently, to some, this was quite predictable...
At NewsMax.com, Phil Brennan wrote about his discussion with R. Emmett Tyrell, author of "The Clinton Crackup":
"I asked Tyrell if it wouldn't be better to have Hillary win the nomination because she would be easy to beat in the general election. Tyrell said a resounding 'No. The sooner we get these crooks off the national scene the better off our country is, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.'
Speaking of the media, Tyrell told me it is 'so biased that they'll allow all sorts of anomalies to take place, the most prominent anomaly being that a presidential candidate in 1992, who had obviously lied about marijuana use, who had obviously lied about his energetic dodging of the draft during the Cold War, and had also been caught on tape coaching a mistress to lie to the press, would still get a pass from the American media and still be reported as a political genius.'"
Hillary Clinton - Dick Morris says...
More of the same...
At NewsMax.com, Dick Morris writes:
"So why did Hillary make up the story about Chelsea? Most likely to was because her co-senator (and implicit rival for the voter's affection), a real New Yorker Chuck Schumer spoke of his daughter, who attended Stuyvesant High School (Dick's alma mater) located next to the TRade Center, being at real risk on 9/11. Hillary needed to make herself part of the scene.
She invented the entire story on national television, the "Today" show, and didn't blink an eye.
Her fabrication on the "Today" show was no unique foray. It is her standard M.O.. It gives us pause in evaluating all of her stories and calls into question her entire credibility"
Hillary Clinton vs. Aesop (and his fables)
This is actually starting to look really sad.
She wants to be President so badly; and all she is doing is creating material for Saturday Night Live...
She wants to be President so badly; and all she is doing is creating material for Saturday Night Live...
In her New York Post column, Michelle Malkin begins:
"SEINFELD'S George Cos tanza famously quipped: "It's not a lie if you be lieve it." This is how a Clinton - take your pick, Hillary, Bill or Chelsea - makes it through the day. Better living through self-delusion."
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Terrorism - Parents to the Rescue?
Well, even bad guys have parents.
Perhaps, parents can get involved and end some of this craziness.
Can you say, "whatever works"?...
Perhaps, parents can get involved and end some of this craziness.
Can you say, "whatever works"?...
Bret Stephens writes about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"Do minors require their parents' consent to become suicide bombers? Believe it or not, this is the subject of an illuminating and bitter debate among the leading theoreticians of global jihad, with consequences that could be far-reaching."
Hillary Clinton - Is politics her only life?
This writer seems to think it might be.
I don't think his idea is far-fetched...
I don't think his idea is far-fetched...
David Brooks writes in the New York Times:
"The better answer is that Clinton’s long rear-guard action is the logical extension of her relentlessly political life.
For nearly 20 years, she has been encased in the apparatus of political celebrity. Look at her schedule as first lady and ever since. Think of the thousands of staged events, the tens of thousands of times she has pretended to be delighted to see someone she doesn’t know, the hundreds of thousands times she has recited empty clichés and exhortatory banalities, the millions of photos she has posed for in which she is supposed to appear empathetic or tough, the billions of politically opportune half-truths that have bounced around her head.
No wonder the Clinton campaign feels impersonal. It’s like a machine for the production of politics. It plows ahead from event to event following its own iron logic. The only question is whether Clinton herself can step outside the apparatus long enough to turn it off and withdraw voluntarily or whether she will force the rest of her party to intervene and jam the gears."
Monday, March 24, 2008
Who Knew?
They say: you learn something new every day...
I found this at NewsMax.com:
"The National Black Republican Association is promoting its nationwide educational campaign by erecting a billboard announcing 'Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican.'"
"No connections" vs."Actual connections"
I guess this only mattered when it seemed there might have been NO connections.
Did some say "media agenda"?...
Did some say "media agenda"?...
I found this on the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Page:
"Five years on, few Iraq myths are as persistent as the notion that the Bush Administration invented a connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. Yet a new Pentagon report suggests that Iraq's links to world-wide terror networks, including al Qaeda, were far more extensive than previously understood.
Naturally, it's getting little or no attention. Press accounts have been misleading or outright distortions, while the Bush Administration seems indifferent. Even John McCain has let the study's revelations float by. But that doesn't make the facts any less notable or true.
The redacted version of 'Saddam and Terrorism' is the most definitive public assessment to date from the Harmony program, the trove of 'exploitable' documents, audio and video records, and computer files captured in Iraq. On the basis of about 600,000 items, the report lays out Saddam's willingness to use terrorism against American and other international targets, as well as his larger state sponsorship of terror, which included harboring, training and equipping jihadis throughout the Middle East."
Get ready to pay, and pay, and pay
There's no doubt about it. Tax hikes are coming...
At HumanEvents.com, Brian Riedl summarizes:
"Worst of all, Congress’ budget ignores the greatest economic challenge of our era: the costs of providing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits to 77 million retiring baby boomers. In the absence of reform, paying all the currently-promised benefits would eventually require either permanently raising taxes by the current equivalent of $12,072 per household [my bold] or eliminating all other government programs.
The problem is well-known. Medicare’s public trustees recently issued a financial warning, and Moody’s has threatened to downgrade Washington’s bond rating until entitlements are reformed. Yet Congress steadfastly refuses to make the tough decisions necessary to save the next generations from crippling debt. And every year of delay raises the eventual cost of reform.
Congress has voted to raise taxes for every American taxpayer, while offering no spending sacrifices themselves. President Bush should keep his veto pen handy."
Wow! - A "Four Pinochio" rating
I think it's a given that politicians will say anything to further their cause.
I've always added selective memory to their many self-serving traits.
Now, we apparently can add fictional memory to that list...
I've always added selective memory to their many self-serving traits.
Now, we apparently can add fictional memory to that list...
At the Washington Post blog, you can read about this one and draw your own conclusion:
"Hillary Clinton has been regaling supporters on the campaign trail with hair-raising tales of a trip she made to Bosnia in March 1996. In her retelling, she was sent to places that her husband, President Clinton, could not go because they were "too dangerous." When her account was challenged by one of her traveling companions, the comedian Sinbad, she upped the ante and injected even more drama into the story. In a speech earlier this week, she talked about "landing under sniper fire" and running for safety with "our heads down."
There are numerous problems with Clinton's version of events."
"Chips on the Shoulder" are not productive
This writer relates some of his personal experience.
I don't think you can honestly disagree with his conclusion...
I don't think you can honestly disagree with his conclusion...
At Philly.com, Stu Bykofsky explains that point:
"Any rational black person knows America offers more opportunity for success and safety than any country on the face of the earth, including all of Africa. If America has a system of racism, how could Oprah Winfrey be the most influential woman in the country? How could African-American Richard D. Parsons be the chairman of Time Warner? How could Obama be running for president?
At the same time, any rational white person knows there's a reason Chris Rock can say no white person would trade places with him, 'and I'm rich!' Pockets of white hate and resentment remain."
The Clintons - and their donors
It's easy to see why someone wouldn't want their records released.
The more you look the more you find...
The more you look the more you find...
Jerry Seper discusses one such "find" in the Washington Times:
"Justice Department and House committee records also show that Mr. Huang played a critical role in seeking an end to the Vietnam trade embargo. He quit his $120,000-a-year job at Lippo in December 1993 to accept a job offered by Mr. Clinton as deputy assistant secretary for international economic affairs at the Commerce Department, at $60,000 annually, where he aggressively argued for a new U.S. trade policy toward Vietnam.
Mr. Huang resigned from Commerce in December 1995 to join the Democratic National Committee as a fundraiser, after Mr. Clinton had made inquiries on his behalf. The DNC returned $1.6 million of the more than $3 million he raised because the contributions were either illegal or suspicious."
Sunday, March 23, 2008
"An Open Letter to the Democratic Party"
The truth about the Democrat Party; the whole truth; and nothing but the truth...
At the Lincoln Heritage Institute, Lt. Colonel Frances Rice, U.S. Army Retired tells it like it is; and then closes with this:
"Now, therefore, for the above and other documented atrocities and accumulated wrongs inflicted upon African Americans, we demand a formal written apology and other appropriate remuneration from the leadership of the Democratic party."
The Black Community and the Democrat Party
Seems like we should hear more of things like this...
On his website, Rev. Wayne Perryman explains his case:
"Attention Congressional & Community Leaders:
I thought it would only be fitting and proper to provide an explanation as to what brought about the Reparations lawsuit against the Democratic Party. Before I share with you the chain of events that led to the lawsuit, I thought that perhaps I should give you a brief background on myself and my past political affiliation."
The Media - BBC "inaccuracies"
Apparently, the media is sloppy and inaccurate all over the world.
Unfortunately, their corrections don't have the same impact.
Now, if I were in charge, corrections would be required to be in double-sized print, and on the front page, along with a year-to-date running count of how many there are.
It's time to hold their feet to the fire...
Unfortunately, their corrections don't have the same impact.
Now, if I were in charge, corrections would be required to be in double-sized print, and on the front page, along with a year-to-date running count of how many there are.
It's time to hold their feet to the fire...
The Jerusalem Post discusses the latest "inaccuracies":
"The BBC has apologized for significant errors in two recent news reports on Israel.
In a news item on March 7, following the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack, the BBC showed a bulldozer demolishing a house, while correspondent Nick Miles told viewers: 'Hours after the attack, Israeli bulldozers destroyed his family home. Later, mourners set up Hamas and Islamic Jihad banners nearby.'
The house, however, was not demolished; the BBC was embarrassed when news reports from other broadcasters showed the east Jerusalem home intact and the family commemorating their son's actions."
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Meanwhile - in Washington State
Good question, wouldn't you say?...
In the Seattle Times, Mike Carter asks:
"32 aliases. Doctored fingerprints. Who is this guy?"
Incarceration Pros and Cons
It seems to defy conventional wisdon, however; if this statistic is right, keeping criminals incarcerated is a real bargain...
At DallasNews.com, Thomas Sowell informs us:
"Liberals seemed to find it puzzling that crime rates go down when more criminals are put behind bars.
Nor is it surprising that the left uses an old and irrelevant comparison – between the cost of keeping a criminal behind bars versus the cost of higher education. According to The Times, "Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan and Oregon devote as much or more to corrections as they do to higher education."
The relevant comparison would be between the cost of keeping a criminal behind bars and the cost of letting him loose in society. But neither The New York Times nor others on the left show any interest in that comparison.
In Britain, the total cost of the prison system per year was found to be 1.9 billion pounds sterling, while the financial cost alone of the crimes committed per year by criminals was estimated at 60 billion pounds sterling."
Peak Oil or Oil Everywhere (at a price)
So, the higher the price, the more oil we will have.
In a weird way, this seems to make sense...
In a weird way, this seems to make sense...
Jerome R. Corsi writes at WorldNetDaily.com:
"Hofmeister explained to the CNBC audience why he believed Simmons' hypotheses were too narrow.
'In other words, Simmons is looking at conventional oil only,' Hofmeister said. 'In the industry, we look at unconventional oil as well.'
Unconventional oil is a reference to oil that is not found as crude oil in reservoirs contained in sedimentary rock layers just below the surface of the earth.
An example of unconventional oil is the oil sands in Alberta, Canada, from which oil is produced."
High Oil Prices
Here are some answers as to why...
At Reason.com, Ronald Bailey reports:
"Oil prices climbed to their highest level ever, reaching over $108 per barrel this week. And Americans are feeling this price spike at the pump, with gasoline averaging $3.22 per gallon. An analysis released by the investment firm Goldman Sachs suggested that oil prices might soar to $200 per barrel. Does this make sense?
Not really. Although U.S. crude oil inventories have fallen, gasoline inventories are at their highest since March, 1993, notes Tim Evans, an energy futures analyst at Citigroup's Futures Perspective. World oil production was up 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2008 over the same period in 2007 while world oil consumption rose by just 2 percent. In fact, world production is projected to be 3.3 percent higher in the second quarter and 4.1 percent higher in the third quarter than the same periods a year ago. On the other hand, world demand is projected to rise by just 1.6 percent over the next six months. "
Hillary Clinton - and her current chances
Here's an informative article explaining the current Democrat presidential race and the possible outcomes...
At the Politico.com, Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen begin with this:
"One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.
Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency.
Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote — which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle — and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.
People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet."
A Catered Affair - New York Times
I normally don't perpetuate articles from the New York Times; however, this one seemed worthy of an exception...
In her opinion column, Gail Collins discusses the affairs of Albany, N.Y. and makes these requests:
"Please, future disgraced politicians, let’s get the rules straight:
1) No wife at the humiliating press conference.
2) No blaming the affairs on wife, especially if she’s standing beside you in total contradiction of Rule No. 1.
3) All former mistresses deserve advance notice, especially if they are soon going to be asked to explain their qualifications for the $150,000 job."
Friday, March 21, 2008
Politicians - Hillary Clinton
NAFTA yes; NAFTA no.
I guess it depends on your current agenda...
I guess it depends on your current agenda...
This is from Jack Tapper on an ABC News blog:
"And what is this attendee's response to Clinton today distancing herself from NAFTA? 'For people who worked hard to pass NAFTA and who support the importance of markets opening for the economy in the long term, they're very upset. A number of the women who were there are very upset. You need to have some integrity in your position. The Clintons when Bill Clinton was president took a moderate position on trade for Democrats. For her to repudiate that now seems pretty phony.'"
Pat Buchanan asks:
Some things just need to be said, or written.
Pat Buchanan does not fail us on this issue...
Pat Buchanan does not fail us on this issue...
At WorldNetDaily.com, Pat Buchanan writes about Reverend Wright:
"Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.
Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks – with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas – to advance black applicants over white applicants.
Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?"
Energy with less heat
Science conquers all. This appears to be a really good thing...
I found this at ScienceDaily.com:
"Using nanotechnology, the researchers at BC and MIT produced a big increase in the thermoelectric efficiency of bismuth antimony telluride -- a semiconductor alloy that has been commonly used in commercial devices since the 1950s -- in bulk form. Specifically, the team realized a 40 percent increase in the alloy's figure of merit, a term scientists use to measure a material's relative performance. The achievement marks the first such gain in a half-century using the cost-effective material that functions at room temperatures and up to 250 degrees Celsius. The success using the relatively inexpensive and environmentally friendly alloy means the discovery can quickly be applied to a range of uses, leading to higher cooling and power generation efficiency."
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Politicians - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
Maybe the voters in Detroit are getting what they deserve...
At WXYZ.com, Detroit, Steve Wilson reports:
"Information uncovered by Chief Investigator Steve Wilson is raising new questions about who's paying Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's soaring legal and PR bills -- and recent trips on expensive private jets."
Immigration - H-1B Visas
I understand this.
What I don't understand is why the powers that be (Mr. Gates included) aren't doing more to create initiatives to educate and prepare American students for these types of jobs...
What I don't understand is why the powers that be (Mr. Gates included) aren't doing more to create initiatives to educate and prepare American students for these types of jobs...
This is from the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page:
"The preponderance of evidence continues to show that businesses are having difficulty filling skilled positions in the U.S. By blocking their access to foreign talent, Congress isn't protecting U.S. jobs but is providing incentives to outsource. If lawmakers can't bring themselves to eliminate the H-1B visa cap, they might at least raise it to a level that doesn't handicap U.S. companies."
Politicians - The Clintons
The documents dogs are now hard at work.
And sometimes, what is NOT said is more incriminating than what IS said...
And sometimes, what is NOT said is more incriminating than what IS said...
At Newsweek.com, Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball are hot on the trail:
"The January 1996 records show Hillary Clinton appearing on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and numerous other TV and radio shows to promote her just-published book, 'It Takes a Village.' But they show no meetings whatsoever about the Rose Law firm billing records, no sessions with her lawyers to prepare for her grilling by Starr. The calendar for Jan. 26, 1996—the day crowds of reporters and TV cameramen gathered at the courthouse to watch Hillary Clinton enter and exit the grand jury—is totally blank. 'NO public schedule,' it states simply, wiping out any reference to one of the more embarrassing public episodes of the First Lady's days in the White House."
Rachel Corrie - What really happened?
Over time, I've noticed that stories in the Arab world, involving the death(s) of woman and children, are often permeated with questionable "facts".
Remember, this section of the world is well aware of the power of media to create or change public opinion. That being said, I think we have to look very carefully at certain dramatic "atrocities"...
Remember, this section of the world is well aware of the power of media to create or change public opinion. That being said, I think we have to look very carefully at certain dramatic "atrocities"...
At FrontPageMag.com, Judy Lash Balint writes about her investigation of the Rachel Corrie death circumstances. She concludes:
"So, while the memorial services laud and remember Rachel Corrie as a peace activist murdered by Israeli occupation forces, the truth lies elsewhere.
An Israeli bulldozer injured Corrie as she tried to prevent it doing its job of protecting Israeli civilians, but she was alive when she was taken to An Najar Hospital, according to at least three eyewitnesses. Only Dr. Mussa, a man intent on accusing Israel of child killing, claims otherwise. None of Rachel's comrades have stated they were with her in the hospital when she died. No one has commented on the extent of efforts to preserve Corrie's life at An Najar.
And all the while, the ISM continues to encourage misguided young people from around the world,like Rachel Corrie, to spend time in the Middle East providing cover for terrorists."
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A history test for you
The media has done a great job keeping this unpublicized...
On their website, National Black Republicans ask us to take a simple test:
"Don't worry, they give you the answers"
Politicians - "Kitting Out" in the U.K.
I wonder if U.S. politicians are similar, or worse!...
Daniel Martin reports in the U.K. Daily Mail:
"They are allowed to claim a total of £22,000 for a range of items ranging from a £200 food processor and a £750 high-definition TV to £10,000 for a new kitchen and £6,000 for a bathroom.
The secret list of 38 items MPs can claim back from the taxpayer for their second homes was revealed last night under the Freedom of Information Act after the authorities fought to keep it under wraps. "
Earmarks 71 - Taxpayers 29
Considering the fuss about this, I think that the recent Senate failure to reign in earmarks is a real "in your face" moment for the American taxpayer...
At NorthStarWriters.com, Paul Ibrahim summarizes his thoughts:
"One can only hope that they will change even more and pledge that as president, they would not sign any bill that has earmarks in it, as McCain has. No candidate deserves a vote for president without pledging, at the very least, that American taxpayers will not have to sacrifice their mortgage payments in order to fund mule museums, bridges to nowhere or a new wing at Michelle Obama’s hospital."
Will the penalty fit the crime?
This really says a lot...
I found it recently in a Wall Street Journal opinion column that discusses the eventual war tribunals for the 9/11 conspirators:
"It is a strange worldview that considers such tribunals and the death penalty inappropriate for the murders of 2,972 people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and hundreds more world-wide. A society that would not tender justice to a human butcher like KSM is not serious about defending itself."
Politicians - John Kerry
Maybe this book will establish the real truth beyond any doubt...
At HumanEvents.com, Cheryl K. Chumley writes:
"It’s not the main point of the authors—call it an additional but unwitting side-effect of the book’s actual goal, which is to show how even the smallest of voices can grow and influence when properly motivated. But if John F. Kerry had not already become synonymous with the word 'lie,' he will be after readers complete these 327 pages. The first few chapters alone ought prove enlightening, even to those who thought they knew the extent of Kerry’s philandering days with Communists and Socialists, his classic performance before Congress painting a picture of Americans as baby-killers, rapists and uncontrolled thugs, and how the media lapped it up and couched it in the gentlest of terms."
Assassinating terrorists
There's nothing ambiguous here...
Alan M. Dershowitz wrote the following at FrontPageMagazine.com:
"When a terrorist like Imad Mugniyeh is not in custody and cannot be captured, there is no reasonable alternative to killing him. Targeted assassination is the option of choice. So a hardy three cheers for whomever killed Imad Mugniyeh. It was a good deed, a lawful deed and a life-saving deed."
Politicians - John Murtha
Our government sometimes leaves a lot to be desired...
This was reported by Paul Van Osdol on the thePittsburghChannel.com:
"A Team 4 investigation found millions of your tax dollars going to a local government agency that many in Washington, including President George W. Bush, believe is a waste.
But a powerful local congressman has kept the money flowing."
The Jena 6 scam - by Pat Buchanan
If Mr. Buchanan has the facts right, we've clearly been "had" by the media.
Not to mention fanning the fires of racism...
Not to mention fanning the fires of racism...
At WorldNetDaily.com, Pat Buchanan wrote this back in February:
"By now, most folks know the media story. White students at Jena High in Louisiana hung nooses on a tree to warn black students not to sit under it. After a fistfight over this racist outrage, black kids in the fight were indicted for attempted murder, while the white racists who hung the nooses walked away with a verbal spanking.
Last September, 20,000 traveled to Jena to march against this prosecutorial outrage. Fortunately, however, there are still a few real journalists around. Among them are Craig Franklin, assistant editor of the Jena Times, whose wife teaches at Jena High, and Charlotte Allen, who wrote an extended piece for the Weekly Standard. According to Allen and Franklin, here are the facts and chronology you have been denied by the Mainstream Media."
Free Speech - But not on our campus
Somehow, I'd guess that the majority of Americans don't know this...
In the Jewish World Review, Thomas Sowell discusses free speech:
"Liberals in general, and academics in particular, like to boast of their open-mindedness and acceptance of non-conformity. But they mean not conforming to the norms of society at large.
They have little or no tolerance to those who do not conform to the norms of academic political correctness. Nowhere else in America is free speech so restricted as on academic campuses with speech codes."
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Health News - Omega 3
Omega-3 fatty acids reviewed...
ScienceDaily.com reports this from the Mayo Clinic:
"'The most compelling evidence for the cardiovascular benefit provided by omega-3 fatty acids comes from three large controlled trials of 32,000 participants randomized to receive omega-3 fatty acid supplements containing DHA and EPA or to act as controls,' explains Dr. O'Keefe. 'These trials showed reductions in cardiovascular events of 19 percent to 45 percent. Overall, these findings suggest that intake of omega-3 fatty acids, whether from dietary sources or fish oil supplements, should be increased, especially in those with or at risk for coronary artery disease.'"
National Health Care - in the U.K.
This is talking about the "health care" system.
I'm thinking more like "cruel and unusual"...
I'm thinking more like "cruel and unusual"...
This practice is reported by Daniel Martin in the U.K. Daily Mail:
"Seriously ill patients are being kept in ambulances outside hospitals for hours so NHS trusts do not miss Government targets.
Thousands of people a year are having to wait outside accident and emergency departments because trusts will not let them in until they can treat them within four hours, in line with a Labour pledge.
The hold-ups mean ambulances are not available to answer fresh 999 calls. "
National Health Care - in Britain
Just another reminder that we should look before we leap (or vote)...
Deroy Murdock reports at HumanEvents.com:
"'Anyone looking to reform the American healthcare system should learn lessons from the European experience,' says Matthew Sinclair, the TPA policy analyst who authored this study. 'Britain’s NHS has produced dismally poor results. Thousands die every year, thanks to its poor performance and its failure to make good use of new resources. Other European healthcare systems deliver greater competition, decentralization, and independence from political meddling.'"
Man Convicted in Huge Calif Wildfire
This is just one of those stories that I can't get my arms around...
I found this at NewsMax.com:
"LOS ANGELES -- A homeless man was convicted Friday in federal court of starting a 2006 wildfire that burned more than 163,000 acres in California's Los Padres National Forest.
The jury also convicted Steven Emory Butcher, 49, of starting the smaller Ellis Fire in the same forest four years earlier."
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Bush Secrecy Myth - WSJ.com
Government secrecy is a very complex issue, with many diverse consequences. It's certainly not "one size fits all", as our self-serving media wishes it would be...
That being said, we would be prudent to evaluate it on a case by case basis...
That being said, we would be prudent to evaluate it on a case by case basis...
Here's part of a highly informative article by Gabriel Schoenfeld in the Wall Street Journal:
"Our democracy faces a challenging conundrum. On the one hand, openness is an essential prerequisite of self-government. The electorate depends on the free flow of information to make considered choices about policies and the political leaders who will carry them out.
On the other hand, secrecy is an equally essential prerequisite of self-governance. To be effective, even the ordinary business of democratic rule -- from the development of policies to the selection of personnel -- must often take place behind closed doors. When one turns to the extraordinary business of democratic governance -- self-preservation carried out through the conduct of foreign policy and the waging of war -- the imperative of secrecy becomes a matter of survival."
The Media - They can turn on anyone
Political allegiance is apparently a fleeting shadow...
Ben Smith writes about it at Politico.com:
"It was a story that appears everywhere. Clinton has hardly won a news cycle since the fall, and Obama has hardly lost one. There are no tidbits of turmoil inside Obama's campaign, no destructive leaks on which to harp. The role of Drudge — and Clinton's other former allies in the media — has been to amplify the signs of her weakness, not to create them.
As for the broader collapse of Clinton's romance with the conservative media, Podhoretz and many others offered similar explanations.
'When people thought she was a winner, then they were inclined to feel more warmly toward her, and when they suspect that she's a loser, they decide — like all Americans toward all losers — that she must be humiliated and crushed,' he said."
Of all things - Littering?
Littering laws are tough.
Do-gooders should certainly know better...
Do-gooders should certainly know better...
Stephanie Innes reports for the Arizona Daily Star:
"An immigrant-aid volunteer is facing a $175 fine for leaving water jugs in the desert for illegal entrants.
Daniel Millis, 28, was cited for littering Friday by a Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge law enforcement officer.
He said he'd left 22 water jugs in the desert and told a refuge officer where they were located.
Millis said the officer was planning to go get them. The officer seized another eight jugs he had with him, Millis said.
Millis and three other volunteers with the Tucson-based No More Deaths organization had been placing 1-gallon plastic water jugs on a trail in the refuge, which is known to be heavily traveled by migrants who are illegally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico on foot."
The White House - Experience required
Hopefully, whoever gets elected will have some really astute advisers, and not just a bunch of "yes" men and political hacks.
Otherwise, we could be in for interesting times...
Otherwise, we could be in for interesting times...
At RFFM.org, Daniel T. Zanoza discusses the Kennedy presidency, inexperience, and foreign policy:
"Perhaps the greatest historic misnomer today regards the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Historic revisionists say Kennedy had a successful administration--even though he had little or no experience in foreign affairs.
In reality, the Kennedy presidency possibly represented the most dangerous period in American history. From its inception, Kennedy quickly learned the world was not a place of cordial state dinners and visions of Camelot."
Philadelphia and the Boy Scouts
Obviously, they have the right; but, is it really right?...
In the Wall Street Journal, Kevin Ferris reports:
"On May 31, the Cradle of Liberty Council, the local Boy Scout chapter, will be evicted from its headquarters on 22nd and Winter Streets -- a space it has occupied since 1928.
The eviction isn't for a breach of contract. It comes at the behest of the City Council, which voted 16 to one last year to kick the boy scouts out unless they reverse the national Boy Scouts of America's ban on gays serving in the ranks or as scoutmasters or start paying 'market rent' -- about $200,000 a year. Local chapters can't reverse national scouting policies. So it's a matter of paying up or moving out."
Politicians - Barack Obama
Presidential candidate or not, it looks like "same old, same old" to me...
At PajamasMedia.com, Rick Moran writes:
"Do you wonder why this 'Agent of Change' and modern day prophet Barack Obama would have gotten himself involved with a man indicted for political corruption and fraud?
Well, allow me to clear things up for you. Following is a little primer on Rezko, Obama, and how Windy City politics can have its way even with new messiahs.
To set the stage, you have to remember that we’re talking about Chicago. This is 'The City That Works.' No one disputes that. The question is who it 'works' for. If you’re a member of the Democratic Machine, it works wonderfully."
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Meet Michelle Malkin
An interesting person, for sure...
In the Baltimore Sun, Jonathan Pitts writes about her:
"If you're seeking a living symbol of America's rancorous political divide, look no further than Malkin, one of the most popular and provocative voices on the modern right. The only daughter of first-generation immigrants from the Philippines, Malkin, 37, began blogging on politics nine years ago after a successful run as a newspaper columnist and has become a menace out of proportion to her Size 0 frame."
Government at Work - a 10 foot ramp
When we hear that some want the government to handle our health care, we should be mindful of stories like this...
In the San Francisco Chronicle, Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross report:
"Thanks to a maze of bureaucratic indecision and historic restrictions, taxpayers may shell out $100,000 per foot to make the Board of Supervisors president's perch in the historic chambers accessible to the disabled.
What's more, the little remodel job that planners first thought would take three months has stretched into more than four years - and will probably mean the supervisors will have to move out of their hallowed hall for five months while the work is done."
Government at Work - Community Reinvestment Act of 1977
And the damage goes on, and on, and on.
I wonder what the long term consequences of the latest "fix" will be...
I wonder what the long term consequences of the latest "fix" will be...
In the Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby reports:
"The subprime mortgage collapse is another tale of unintended consequences.
The crisis has its roots in the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, a Carter-era law that purported to prevent 'redlining' - denying mortgages to black borrowers - by pressuring banks to make home loans in 'low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.' Under the act, banks were to be graded on their attentiveness to the 'credit needs' of 'predominantly minority neighborhoods.' The higher a bank's rating, the more likely that regulators would say yes when the bank sought to open a new branch or undertake a merger or acquisition."
Michael Reagan says:
After considering what government rules and management are doing on a daily basis, I'm inclined to agree...
At TownHall.com, Michael Reagan writes this:
"Compared to Congressional Democrats, Eliot Spitzer was a rank amateur in the art of screwing -- he should have learned how to do it from his Democrat Party colleagues in Washington. They’re the real experts."
Saturday, March 15, 2008
In Our Courts - Knoxville, Tennessee
Do you think our forefathers could have anticipated this?...
Ay KnoxNews.com, Jamie Satterfield reports:
"'She made a mockery of the system,' one juror said of the black woman whom members of the panel said refused to even consider what the rest of the group believed was overwhelming evidence of Martin's guilt."
Politicians - Ted Kennedy
It's an old story and it's not right, but F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Gatsby" nailed it...
At CapeCodToday.com, Walter Brooks reports:
"The photographer was so shocked as the scene unfolded on the day that the 2002 Figawi Race ended in Hyannis, that he put his dingy into the water and rowed out to question the crew member left aboard Mya that May day.
After he approached the yacht the diesel slick coming from Mya was clear and spreading.
He asked the crewman 'what the hell are you doing?'
The crewman told him that diesel had gotten into the bilge and he was ordered to dump it.
When told that he was moored in coastal waters near shellfish beds and people swimming, the man replied, 'whatever.'"
Political Spouses - Michelle Obama
I bet that politicians (and their spouses), wish they had access to a time machine...
Then, they could "fix" all those things they wrote or said that might become issues in their futures...
Then, they could "fix" all those things they wrote or said that might become issues in their futures...
I found this post by "MCCAIN" on the RightPundits.com blog:
"The conclusion of the thesis is alarming. Michelle Obama’s poll of black alumni helps her understand that other black students at Princeton do not share her obsession with blackness. She laments that only 1/3 say they are more comfortable around black people than white people.
But rather than celebrate, she is horrified that black alumni identify with our common American culture more than they value the color of their skin.
'I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility.'"
Political Spouses - Michelle Obama
Everything you say can and will be used against you...
Noel Sheppard has this at NewsBusters.comT:
"As NewsBusters previously reported, the wife of Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama isn't very proud of her country.
Two weeks after making her disdain for the nation clear during a campaign speech for her husband in Wisconsin, Michelle further debased America by saying that we're a country that is 'just downright mean.'"
Political Spouses - Michelle Obama
Here's one person's synopsis...
I found this at DiscoverTheNetworks.org:
"Born in Chicago on January 17, 1964, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an attorney who has been married to Barack Hussein Obama since 1992.
In 1985 Miss Robinson received her B.A. in Sociology from Princeton University, where she minored in African American Studies. According to FrontPageMagazine reporter Jacob Laksin, 'In a [February 2008] interview with Newsweek, [Michelle] Obama reveals that she got into Princeton … not on the strength of her grades, which she admits were unexceptional, but thanks to her brother Craig, a star athlete and gifted student who preceded her to the school. As a 'legacy' candidate and a beneficiary of affirmative action, Michelle Obama was granted an opportunity that others more accomplished were denied.'"
Friday, March 14, 2008
Global Warming - a statistical forecasting failure?
More on the Global Warming controversy.
Notice, I DID NOT SAY "problem"...
Notice, I DID NOT SAY "problem"...
The following paragraphs are from H. Sterling Burnett's article in the Washington Times:
"These problems led Mr. Wegman's team to conclude that the idea that the planet is experiencing unprecedented global warming 'cannot be supported.'"
"In a recent NCPA study, Kesten Green and J. Scott Armstrong used these principles to audit the climate forecasts in the Fourth Assessment Report. Messrs. Green and Armstrong found the IPCC clearly violated 60 of the 127 principles relevant in assessing the IPCC predictions. Indeed, it could only be clearly established that the IPCC followed 17 of the more than 127 forecasting principles critical to making sound predictions."
"The IPCC's policy recommendations are based on flawed statistical analyses and procedures that violate general forecasting principles. Policymakers should take this into account before enacting laws to counter global warming — which economists point out would have severe economic consequences."
The Clintons - Not exactly forthcoming
I wonder what's really going on here...
The Wall Street Journal attempts to understand it:
"Last weekend, USA Today reported that it had finally received some records from the Clinton Presidency four years after making a Freedom of Information Act request. Except that hundreds of pages pertaining to the handling of Bill Clinton's 140 last-minute pardons had been redacted or withheld by the helpful folks at the National Archives.
The Archives told USA Today that they had referred all the excluded and redacted material to lawyer Bruce Lindsey, the longtime keeper of Clinton secrets who's responsible for vetting the records. But Mr. Lindsey refused; apparently he doesn't want to second-guess the Archives. The Clintons themselves, meanwhile, say that everything is in the hands of the Archives and Mr. Lindsey, even though the Archives are acting pursuant to Bill's personal instructions, and those instructions include a provision to allow Mr. Lindsay to second-guess the Archivists.
If you can't easily follow all that, maybe that's the idea."
Thursday, March 13, 2008
38 parts per 100,000
This sounds pretty convincing to me...
FOXnews.com talks to the founder of the Weather Channel:
"Coleman has long been a skeptic of global warming, and carbon dioxide is the linchpin to his argument. 'Does carbon dioxide cause a warming of the atmosphere? The proponents of global warming pin their whole piece on that,' he said.
The compound carbon dioxide makes up only 38 out of every 100,000 particles in the atmosphere, he said.
'That's about twice as what there were in the atmosphere in the time we started burning fossil fuels, so it's gone up but it's still a tiny compound,' Coleman said. 'So how can that tiny trace compound have such a significant effect on temperature?
'My position is it can't,' he continued. 'It doesn't, and the whole case for global warming is based on a fallacy.'"
Politicians - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Well, it is what it is.
And there's no getting around it. Arnold can afford it...
And there's no getting around it. Arnold can afford it...
I found this on the Sacramento Bee's opinion page:
"As the Los Angeles Times reported last week, the governor has been spending nearly every night in his Brentwood mansion, shuttling between Sacramento and Southern California in his private jet.
The governor uses his own money to pay for his Gulfstream flights, which price out at about $10,000 an hour, the Times reports.
And what about the cost to the environment? The governor's staff says he purchases 'carbon credits.' Such credits are aimed at offsetting the greenhouse gases generated by his flights but do nothing about the particulates and smog-forming compounds they spew into the air."
Politicians - Debbie Wasserman-Schultz
I've seen Mrs. Wasserman-Schultz on TV several times.
I won't go as far as to insult her intelligence, however, she does always seem way over the top in her blaming Republicans for everything under the sun...
I won't go as far as to insult her intelligence, however, she does always seem way over the top in her blaming Republicans for everything under the sun...
I find that Mike at FloppingAces.net feels even more strongly:
"As readers can probably tell, I’m not a big fan of Debbie’s. I first saw her on C-Span a few years ago and my first thought was that I had flipped to the nearby Home Shopping channel by mistake. Like some presenters on the shopping channel, Ms. Wasserman is an empty-headed pretty face trying to sell you something you don’t need.
And this time, she just makes Florida Democrat voters look even more foolish than they already are."
Meanwhile in South America
There's a lot of funny stuff going on in South America...
Maty Anastasia O'Grady discusses some of it in the Wall Street Journal:
"The tactical discussions found in the documents are hair-raising enough. They show that the FARC busies itself with securing arms and explosives, selling cocaine, and otherwise financing its terrorism operations through crime. In a memo last month, for example, a rebel leader discussed the FARC's efforts to secure 50 kilos of uranium, which it hoped to sell to generate income. In the same note, there is a reference to 'a man who supplies me material for the explosive we are preparing, his name is Belisario and he lives in Bogotá . . .'"
Politicians - "Orwellian"?
Politicians talk and the people listen.
One group is clearly smarter than the other.
The question is: Which is it?"...
One group is clearly smarter than the other.
The question is: Which is it?"...
At NewsBusters.com, Mark Finkelstein calls attention to a recent Tucker Carlsen segment:
"TUCKER CARLSON: You know this term "Orwellian"? Everything's 'Orwellian.' But rarely do you hear a statement that is in fact Orwellian. That actually reaches the threshold of 'war is peace,' 'hate is love' and it's this right here. Hillary Clinton talking about the Potemkin primaries in Michigan and Florida and saying this: 'If you're a voter from Florida or Michigan, you know that we should count your votes. The results of those primaries were fair and should be honored.' They were fair in Michigan? Barack Obama was not on the ballot!"
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Canadian Health Care
Be careful what you wish for...
Quotes from an article by Lisa Priest in Canada's Globe & Mail:
"At that point, in October, 2006, her condition was worsening - so she tapped her savings and went to the U.S.
After the surgery, she tried to get into the cancer system in Windsor, this time for chemotherapy. In November, she was told there was a six-week wait for chemotherapy, and she ended up getting chemo in the U.S. as well."
"Her husband, Adriaan de Vries, an IT systems engineer, said they had no choice but to go to the U.S. 'Nobody was in charge,' he said, 'and nobody really cared.'"
Hillary vs. Sinbad?
So, who do we believe?...
From Mary Ann Akers on the Washington Post's "the Sleuth" blog:
"In an interview with the Sleuth Monday, he said the 'scariest' part of the trip was wondering where he'd eat next. "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'"
Clinton, during a late December campaign appearance in Iowa, described a hair-raising corkscrew landing in war-torn Bosnia, a trip she took with her then-teenage daughter, Chelsea. 'They said there might be sniper fire,' Clinton said.
Threat of bullets? Sinbad doesn't remember that, either."
Is New York State dysfunctional?
Well, this writer certainly thinks it is...
John Derbyshire writes at the NationalReview.com, :
"A thing I ask myself a lot is: 'Why the hell do I live in New York State?' State and local taxes here combine to the highest per capita figure in the nation. Health-insurance premiums are through the roof, owing to our state legislature having mandated coverage for moxibustion, aroma therapy, astral healing, and something called “Thai relief massage” (don’t ask me).
We receive 82 cents in services for every $1 we sends in taxes to the feds, ranking us 42nd in federal spending per tax dollar."
