Thursday, July 31, 2008
About that 14th Amendment
Maybe it's just me, but after reading Professor Erler's arguments, I think this has been misinterpreted from the very beginning.
You can decide for yourself...
You can decide for yourself...
Vin Suprynowicz explains it all in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
"Long considered uncontroversial, the 14th is now believed to have created that obstacle to deportation of illegal immigrant women and their families known as the 'anchor baby.'
The young mother may not be a citizen or even a legal resident, but the newborn is considered to be both: The newborn thus cannot be expelled, and our sense of common decency makes it difficult to envision expelling the mother but not the child.
But what's that clause about 'subject to the jurisdiction' doing in there, professor Erler asks in his new paper, adapted from a speech delivered in Phoenix back on Feb. 12.
'We have somehow come today to believe that anyone born within the geographical limits of the U.S. is automatically subject to the jurisdiction,' notes professor Erler. 'But this renders the jurisdiction clause utterly superfluous and without force. If this had been the intention of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment, presumably they would simply have said that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are thereby citizens.'"
Kuntar: 'Allah Willing, I'll Get to Kill More Israelis' - News Briefs - Arutz Sheva
In a previous post, I said I couldn't understand the behavior of the Israelis.
Now, we have this...
Now, we have this...
This is from the Israel National News webstie:
"Samir Kuntar has told the Lebanese station Future TV that 'Allah willing, I will get the chance to kill more Israelis.' "
Global Warming - the end might be near
If so, we should be very careful before we invest our time and resources unwisely...
Alan Caruba reports Dr. Roy Spencer's comments at ClimateChangeFraud.com:
"'Our latest research results, which I am about to describe, could have an enormous impact on policy decisions regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Despite decades of persistent uncertainty over how sensitive the climate system is to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, we now have new satellite evidence which strongly suggests that the climate system is much less sensitive than is claimed by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…the warming we have experience in the last 100 years is mostly natural.'
Read that again, 'mostly natural.' The notion that human beings have had any impact on the Earth’s climate, while absurd when compared to that of the Sun, the Oceans, and other natural factors, is now headed for the trash bin of really bad ideas.
As Dr. Spencer put it, 'If climate change is mostly natural then it is largely out of our control and is likely to end—if it has not ended already, since satellite-measured global temperatures have not warmed for at least seven years now…'"
Politicians - John Edwards
Ugly, interesting, or a fizzle?
I guess we'll have to stay tuned...
I guess we'll have to stay tuned...
This is from RadarOnline.com:
"...David Perel tells Radar that while he is 'definitely' in possession of photos from Edwards' bizarre early-morning tete-a-tete with Enquirer reporters at the Beverly Hilton last week, he won't be putting them in tabloid's next issue, or making them accessible online.
'It's a story that we're taking a long view of,' Perel told Radar by phone. 'We've got a big exclusive coming out this week, and we are on the trail of some stuff that's even hotter. But no one will dictate the time-table for when we release our unpublished material. We've been setting the agenda, and will continue doing so.'
Perel declined to comment on the record about the nature of the unpublished material he is withholding, but did say that he 'plans on releasing the photos when the time is right.' He was similarly mum about what the Enquirer's 'big exclusive' is. We've heard that the tabloid has established a financial link between Edwards and his rumored mistress, Rielle Hunter, though what that means—clandestine child support payments? Hush money?—is unclear."
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The New York Times - Behind the times?
This is sort of funny and sort of sad.
I guess they wrote about what they'd like to think as opposed to what they really know.
Obviously, the New York Times leaves a lot to be desired...
I guess they wrote about what they'd like to think as opposed to what they really know.
Obviously, the New York Times leaves a lot to be desired...
At NewsBusters.com, Mark Finkelstein uncovers this:
"Whoops. On the very day that the New York Times takes President Bush harshly to task for failing to promote human rights in China, the president meets at the White House . . . . with five Chinese human rights activists.
Railed the Times in this morning's editorial, Past Time for Speaking Out:
Two weeks before he goes to the Beijing Olympic Games, President Bush remains unacceptably silent about China’s crackdown on basic human rights.
[H]is refusal to speak out publicly and clearly about China’s repressive behavior is an abdication of leadership and a blot on his record.
But just hours later, the president was hosting the group of Chinese activists, in a meeting that had been planned in advance."
Jon Voight - My Concerns for America
This proves that there is another side of Hollywood, a group of mature celebrities, with pro-American opinions.
Unfortunately, as Mr. Voight points out, the younger generations have fallen for the propaganda...
Unfortunately, as Mr. Voight points out, the younger generations have fallen for the propaganda...
This is just part of Jon Voight's opinion column in the Washington Times:
"The Democratic Party, in its quest for power, has managed a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way. It seems to me that if Mr. Obama wins the presidential election, then Messrs. Farrakhan, Wright, Ayers and Pfleger will gain power for their need to demoralize this country and help create a socialist America.
The Democrats have targeted young people, knowing how easy it is to bring forth whatever is needed to program their minds. I know this process well. I was caught up in the hysteria during the Vietnam era, which was brought about through Marxist propaganda underlying the so-called peace movement. The radicals of that era were successful in giving the communists power to bring forth the killing fields and slaughter 2.5 million people in Cambodia and South Vietnam. Did they stop the war, or did they bring the war to those innocent people? In the end, they turned their backs on all the horror and suffering they helped create and walked away.
Those same leaders who were in the streets in the '60s are very powerful today in their work to bring down the Iraq war and to attack our president, and they have found their way into our schools."
The Media - CNN doing sloppy work?
Our media is biased and does sloppy work.
That's two pretty good reasons to be skeptical about what they report...
That's two pretty good reasons to be skeptical about what they report...
The L.A. Times blog caught on to this:
"The president of the College Republicans at the University of Southern California is charging that CNN used a "fake College Republican" in its broadcast report today, claiming there was a lack of enthusiasm for the GOP candidate, Sen. John McCain.
A CNN spokeswoman now says it was an inadvertent error."
Michigan Power Grab - WSJ.com
Get elected. Stay elected.
Change the laws if you have to; and, cover up your intentions if you can.
How much more obvious can they be?...
Change the laws if you have to; and, cover up your intentions if you can.
How much more obvious can they be?...
The Wall Street Journal reports:
"But it turns out that these populist measures are included to disguise a deeply partisan agenda being pursued by Reform Michigan's Democratic backers. That agenda was laid bare last week when the Mackinac Center, a Michigan think tank, discovered a PowerPoint presentation of the proposal posted on a United Auto Workers regional Web site.
The 35-page presentation's blunt subtitle is "Changing the rules of politics in Michigan to help Democrats," and it begins by lamenting that "Democrats have not controlled the entire State Legislature in 25 years." To fix that, the strategy is to gain control of the redistricting process by which voting district lines are drawn every 10 years."
Government at Work - Helping Us Out?
First, they break it.
Then, they try to fix it.
And we should be grateful?
Maybe, they should just keep their hands off most things;, or, how about complete adjourning during election years?...
Then, they try to fix it.
And we should be grateful?
Maybe, they should just keep their hands off most things;, or, how about complete adjourning during election years?...
Thomas Sowell writes at NationalReview.com:
"We don’t look to arsonists to help put out fires but we do look to politicians to help solve financial crises that they played a major role in creating.
How did the government help create the current financial mess? Let me count the ways."
The Frog Theory - Larry J. Tracy
In blogger jargon, this article is a "great read".
Maybe it's just my personal thinking; but, I just can't imagine anyone saying better what this article states...
Maybe it's just my personal thinking; but, I just can't imagine anyone saying better what this article states...
Larry J. Tracy writes at RightBias.com:
"This election year could be the turning point in our history because the frog theory has come into play. It’s time to step back and look at how the country has slowly changed since the cold war started.
Don’t get caught up in all the hype."
Meanwhile - in Los Angeles
Think about this for a minute and ask what would really change?
History tells us that prohibition does NOT work, so why would anyone think that this idea would?...
History tells us that prohibition does NOT work, so why would anyone think that this idea would?...
Sarah McBride writes in the Wall Street Journal:
"Jan Perry, a Los Angeles city-council member, is spearheading legislation that would ban new fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC from opening in a 32-square-mile chunk of the city, including her district."
Fractal Tubes
Maybe you already knew this. I didn't...
Michael Rovito writes at Frontiersman.com:
"The process simply requires increasing the strength-to-weight ratio of the material by minimizing the mass and atomic dimensions while maintaining order in line with the atomic compressibility law, he said."
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Democrats' Energy Charade - WSJ.com
This "charade" has been going on for a long time.
Remeber the gas crises of the early 1970's.
We knew back then that dependence on foreign oil was going to hurt us badly in the future.
And now you know the results that our elected officials have steered us into.
It's NOT a pretty picture!...
Remeber the gas crises of the early 1970's.
We knew back then that dependence on foreign oil was going to hurt us badly in the future.
And now you know the results that our elected officials have steered us into.
It's NOT a pretty picture!...
In the Wall Street Journal, Congresswoman Michele BachmannAUTHOR summarizes her comments about it:
"Unfortunately, the Drill Act is likely to be the first of many phony bills offered to the public this year. They will be aimed at giving the appearance of wanting to increase energy supplies. But in reality they will undermine efforts to increase domestic oil production.
Perhaps the Democratic majority will change course in the months ahead, and choose to join with Republicans to adopt commonsense proposals to unlock vast American energy reserves. But that will only happen if the American people make it clear that they know when they are being had."
You won't like me when I'm angry
This article shows up just as an N.R.A. membership application sits on my desk.
XX dollars a year to support an organization dedicated to fighting laws like this and preserving everyone's 2nd amendment right.
Hmmmm...
XX dollars a year to support an organization dedicated to fighting laws like this and preserving everyone's 2nd amendment right.
Hmmmm...
In the Washington Times, Acob Sullum explains:
"D.C.'s political leaders know they are inviting another Second Amendment lawsuit, but they are determined to defy the Supreme Court and the Constitution for as long as possible.
The new law 'clarifies that no carry license is required inside the home' to move a gun from one room to another. It also "clarifies" the District's firearm storage requirements, saying a gun may be unlocked and loaded 'while it is being used to protect against a reasonably perceived threat of immediate harm to a person' in the home.
Much hinges on what counts as a 'reasonably perceived threat.' If you're awakened in the middle of the night by a crash, may you carry a gun with you as you investigate? Evidently not. The Washington Post reports that D.C.'s acting attorney general, Peter Nickles, 'said residents could neither keep their guns loaded in anticipation of a problem nor search for an intruder on their property.' According to Mr. Nickles, if you see an armed criminal charging your home, or in the event of 'an actual threat by somebody you believe is out to hurt you,' you're allowed to get your gun, unlock it and load it."
Zap! Poof!
High tech LADS on the front lines...
On the Jerusalem Post website, Yaakov Katz reports the latest:
"The Jerusalem Post has learned that a prototype of the model is already used by the IDF Southern Command to detonate explosive devices planted alongside the border fence.
'With the laser, there is no need to send troops across the border to destroy the bomb,' one official explained."
Adventurer Steve Fossett
I wonder if he read all the Amelia Earhart stories?...
In the U.K. Telegraph, Chris Irvine writes:
"However, Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Ryan of the US Civil Air Patrol has said Fossett, whose body or plane was never found, could still be alive.
She said: 'I've been doing this search and rescue for 14 years. Fossett should have been found.
'It's not like we didn't have our eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for him. We're pretty good at what we do.'"
Politicians - Pork is a way of life (votes)
Throw the bums out.
That has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?...
That has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?...
Club for Growth's Pat Toomey writes about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"The idea that bringing home federal dollars is integral to a politician's job and essential to getting re-elected is a favorite of Republicans and Democrats alike. Three months ago, Hillary Clinton told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 'I'm very proud of my earmarks. It's one of the reasons I won 67% of the vote, because I took care of my people.' Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, a professional earmarker, sees a direct correlation between earmarks and political longevity. 'I listen and I provide. That's what I'm elected for. You show me a congressman who says, I'm not going to have any earmarks, and I'm not going to listen, and I'm not going to provide, and I'll show you a short-timer.'
There is just one problem with this theory. It is dead wrong.
The Club for Growth recently conducted a nationwide poll on government spending, and the results were exactly the opposite of what most politicians have been saying for years. Voters are fed up with Washington's out-of-control spending. Politicians aren't representing the will of the people when they bring home the bacon. They are really representing the will of their special-interest cronies. And it's not just conservative voters who feel that way. Voters across the board have finally found something they can agree on even if their elected officials can't: It's time to cut the fat, even if that means fewer projects for their own districts."
The Insanity of Drive-55 Laws - WSJ.com
I doubt if this idea will get any "legs"; however, if it does, this article could be educational...
In the Wall Street Journal, Stephen Moore picks at it and explains why:
"It didn't seem possible that politicians could think up a sillier energy proposal than Barack Obama's windfall profits tax on oil companies, but Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia has done just that.
Earlier this month, Mr. Warner suggested a return to the federal 55-mile-per-hour speed limit on America's highways, as a way to save on national gasoline consumption."
A Tale of Two Counties
Maybe it's politically incorrect, but some things just need to be said.
It's hard not to notice that newspaper reports of criminal acts and/or violence frequently contain the surnames of a certain nationality.
You might note that the article's headline reflects the "bad news county"; not the "good one"...
It's hard not to notice that newspaper reports of criminal acts and/or violence frequently contain the surnames of a certain nationality.
You might note that the article's headline reflects the "bad news county"; not the "good one"...
In the Fairfax Times, James Cullum reports:
"Overall crime in Fairfax County increased by nearly 22 percent for the first quarter 2008 compared to first quarter figures from last year."
"Recently, Prince William County reported a 19.3 percent decline in crime, with chairman of the Board of County Supervisors Corey Stewart attributing the downturn to the hard line the county has taken toward illegal immigrants."
Meet Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
I take this as a reminder that we really do live in the "land of opportunity".
Sometimes, I think that too many natural born Americans have forgotten that...
Sometimes, I think that too many natural born Americans have forgotten that...
Brendan Miniter writes about her in the Wall Street Journal:
"'Seventeen hundred nautical miles, there were no doctors on board and my mother sat up for three nights and three days, just continuously soaking my sister's body, little body, with cold water' to break her fever.
'So I see opportunities in this country, perhaps, in a slightly different way. . . . America really is unique,' she says. 'It's really a land of meritocracy, where it doesn't matter where you were born, who you know. If a person works hard, most of the time . . .'
On this last point, Ms. Chao's words trail off, as the current state of the economy seems to be weighing on her mind. There is widespread speculation that the economy could soon slip into recession as the country sheds jobs and faces a slumping housing market. Still, Ms. Chao points out that the national unemployment rate remains below where it averaged in the 1990s (5.5% today versus 5.7% last decade). 'people forget that,' she says."
U.S. uranium deposits
Is this a familiar story?
We have uranium resources and can't/won't use them.
Will these environmental scare tactics ever stop?...
We have uranium resources and can't/won't use them.
Will these environmental scare tactics ever stop?...
In the Wall Street Journal, Max Schulz discusses the issue:
"Virginia is one of just four states that ban uranium mining. The ban was put in place in 1984, to calm fears that had been sparked by the partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island outside of Harrisburg, Pa. in 1979.
Messrs. Bowen and Coles, who last year formed a company called Virginia Uranium, are asking the state to determine whether mining uranium really is a hazard and, if not, to lift the ban. But they've run into a brick wall of environmental activists who raise the specter of nuclear contamination and who are determined to prevent scientific studies of the issue.
The Piedmont Environmental Council is one of the leading opponents. It warns of the "enormous quantities of radioactive waste" produced by uranium mining.
Jack Dunavant, head of the Southside Concerned Citizens in nearby Halifax County, is another outspoken critic. He paints a picture of environmental apocalypse. 'There will be a dead zone within a 30 mile radius of the mine,' he says with a courtly drawl. 'Nothing will grow. Animals will die. The radiation genetically alters tissue. Animals will not be able to reproduce. We'll see malformed fetuses.'
Yet it is not as if we have no experience with uranium mining, which is in fact relatively harmless. Handled properly, the yellowcake that is extracted is no more hazardous than regular household chemicals (and unlike coal, it won't smolder and combust).
James Kelly, who directed the nuclear engineering program at the University of Virginia for many years, says that fears about uranium mining are wildly overblown. 'It's an aesthetic nightmare, but otherwise safe in terms of releasing any significant radioactivity or pollution,' he told me. 'It would be ugly to look at, but from the perspective of any hazard I wouldn't mind if they mined across the street from me.'"
Monday, July 28, 2008
In Our Courts - in Pennsylvania
I think the courts got this one right.
The changing from agricultural vandalism to a hate crimes bill appears to be another sad example of how our polticians work...
The changing from agricultural vandalism to a hate crimes bill appears to be another sad example of how our polticians work...
John Jalsevac writes about it at LifeSiteNews.com:
"Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America and a petitioner in the case, also expressed his relief that the Supreme Court had agreed that the hate crimes law was unconstitutional.
'Having been arrested, jailed and charged with a 'hate crime' for preaching the Gospel, I am elated that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling in striking down Pennsylvania's expanded 'hate crimes' law,' he said.
'The methods used by the Pennsylvania legislature in passing the 'hate crimes' bill were extremely devious and yet another chilling example as to how far politicians are willing to go to silence Christian speech that they would violate our own state Constitution to do it. In a nation that is becoming increasingly hostile toward Biblical Christianity, we remain vigilant as the Pennsylvania legislature will most likely attempt to pass another 'hate crimes' bill and are continuing to educate the American people on the significant dangers of such laws."
Iraq Reporting - Military vs. Media
The behavior of our media leaves a lot to be desired...
At CNSnews.com, Kevin Mooney discusses the issue:
"'The reality is they [the insurgents] could never stage a massive attack against any of our bases, even the smaller ones,” he said. But anytime there was more than one rocket launched, you would read about how Baghdad is under attack, and I would just have to say to myself, ‘What are they talking about?’ '
The insurgents were adept at using video to distort battlefield realties and to score public relations points, he acknowledged. Capt. Sean Michael Flynn, who served as company commander with the 69th in Iraq, concurs on this point.
'Along with creating fictional propaganda, they seized on every failure of the Americans and the interim Iraqi government and exploited the missteps at every opportunity,' Flynn wrote in his book The Fighting 69th.
'Orators railed against U.S. forces at the mosques. They printed up anti-occupation flyers and posters. They filled the newspapers and radio stations with eyewitness accounts from people who had lost their children during an American raid. The insurgent marketing machine rivaled any used in modern warfare,' Flynn added."
The Media - CBS mischief?
It's NOT funny how these things seem to align themselves with the media's liberal bias...
Howard Kurtz and Michael D. Shear posted this on the Washington Post blog:
"When CBS's Katie Couric interviewed John McCain on Tuesday, her producers edited one exchange to include part of McCain's answer to a previous question on Iraq -- and, in the process, deleted comments that have touched off a controversy.
The 'CBS Evening News' interview began with Couric quoting Barack Obama as saying that 'there might have been improved security even without the surge. What's your response to that?'
But what viewers saw next was not what the Arizona senator said next, an out-of-order sequence that news organizations generally do not allow."
John Edwards - Uh, Oh!
If this interview with David Perel, editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer is legitimate, there will likely be changes in the life of John Edward's...
It's posted by Mondoreb at DeathBy1000papercuts.com:
"How did the supermarket checkout staple, The National Enquirer, scoop the combined forces of CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox News, Time Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, New York Times and the rest of the mainstream press in the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Love Child affair?
'Inquiring minds want to know.'
After an hour-long interview with David Perel, Editor-in-Chief of the National Enquirer, we can now say with certainty: it was easy. The steadfast “cone of silence” placed on the story by the Mainstream Media (MSM) made it easy for anyone willing to do the legwork to grab the story from a decidedly-uninterested 'respectable' press.
Perel, who was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of the Enquirer in 2005, has overseen the John Edwards Scandal investigation from the very start and provided DBKP with some interesting insights on Edwards, the Love Child Scandal and the Mainstream Media."
About those John Edwards Affair Rumors
Here's a well-written blog post about the John Edwards affair...
Here's part of what Lee Stranahan posted at HuffingtonPost.com:
"I'm judging this situation using two standards; 1) what's the truth? 2) how's it going to play out in the media?"
Politicians - John Edwards
In the political world, there doesn't seem to be enough closets to hide all the unethical and immoral stuff that's going on...
At theHill.com, Byron York discusses some current events:
"But now there’s another reason to watch: an extensive story in the National Enquirer providing new evidence that Edwards, in the midst of his presidential campaign, had an extramarital affair that has, perhaps, resulted in a child.Here's the link to the National Enquirer story:--> National Enquirer
The story began in 2006, when Edwards commissioned a woman named Rielle Hunter — sometimes described as a documentary filmmaker and sometimes as an aspiring actress — to make a series of brief behind-the-scenes Web videos about his campaign."
Politicians - Barack Obama
Considering that he's rarely on the job, he probably doesn't even know what committees he's on...
CNN's Alexander Marquardt reports:
"(CNN) – Responding to an Israeli reporter’s question Wednesday on his commitment to protect the Jewish state, Barack Obama pointed to a bill 'we passed' in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee that tightens sanctions and authorizes divestment from Iran. 'My committee,' he called it.
Except that he isn’t a member of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs."
Politicians - Barack Obama
Politicians work hard to control the news about them.
Sometimes, it's more obvious than usual...
Sometimes, it's more obvious than usual...
At NewsBusters.com, Mark Finkelstein posted this:
"Andrea Mitchell might be a doyenne of the liberal media, but she has her reporter's pride and principles, which have been trampled by the way the Obama campaign has managed the media during the candidate's current trip to Afghanistan and Iraq. Mitchell let loose on this evening's Hardball, speaking of 'fake interviews,' and decrying that she was unable to report on pertinent aspects of the trip because the media has been excluded and that the video released is unreliable because it's impossible to know what has been edited out."
Politicians - in Denver, Colorado
Politicians avoiding their own laws and taxes?
Please say it isn't so...
Please say it isn't so...
In the Rocky Mountain News, Daniel J. Chacon reports:
"The committee hosting the Democratic National Convention is using the city's gas pumps to fill up on fuel, avoiding state and federal highway taxes, officials said today.
'There's something there that just doesn't seem right to me because, in a sense, you're saying then that the officials who pass the laws are not willing to live by them, and that concerns me,' Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz said.
The issue came up during the council's weekly meeting with Mayor John Hickenlooper when the Public Works Department requested authorization to be reimbursed by the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee for use of 'fueling facilities, fuel and car washes.'
'By doing it this way, by running it through our Fleet Maintenance, that means that that fuel does not pay state or federal highway taxes,' Faatz said."
Sunday, July 27, 2008
In Our Schools - I guess it depends who is counting
Don't you want to know how the state's dropout numbers are so different from these?
I do...
I do...
In the Sacramento Bee, Deb Kollars reports:
"A new statewide count of high school dropouts, based on the tracking of individual students, shows significantly higher numbers than have been reported for years in California.
The dropout report, released Wednesday by the California Department of Education, estimated that one in four high school students - 24.2 percent - failed to graduate with their classes or move into another educational program to continue their high school education. The estimates were derived from data from the 2006-07 school year.
By contrast, the state claimed a 13.9 percent four-year dropout rate for the prior year."
Electronic Voting Machines
This has a discomforting ring to it.
I sure hope the election people know what they're doing.
Better yet, I hope all involved are HONEST!...
I sure hope the election people know what they're doing.
Better yet, I hope all involved are HONEST!...
I found this story by Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane at New Zealand's Scoop.com:
"A leading cyber-security expert and former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says he has fresh evidence regarding election fraud on Diebold electronic voting machines during the 2002 Georgia gubernatorial and senatorial elections."
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Photographing your children? - Be careful
I can see all sides of this story so I'll just say it's a sign of the times...
In the U.K. Daily Mail, David Wilkes reports:
"When Gary Crutchley started taking pictures of his children playing on an inflatable slide he thought they would be happy reminders of a family day out.
But the innocent snaps of seven-year-old Cory, and Miles, five, led to him being called a ‘pervert’."
ACORN - never far from the tree of fraud?
Almost every time there are allegations of voter fraud, this organization's name is involved.
I figure "where there's smoke, there's fire"...
I figure "where there's smoke, there's fire"...
The New York Post has the latest:
"The folks at the far-left radical activist group ACORN are embroiled in a financial corruption and cover-up scandal that they managed to keep hidden from their donors and political partners for eight years.
Now their deception has been uncovered for all to see.
But is ACORN's leadership apologetic? Not in the slightest. 'We did what we thought was right,' said the group's president, Maude Hurd.
ACORN's founder - whose brother perpetrated the fraud - also defended the cover-up, saying publicity would have given the group's critics a 'weapon.'"
Friday, July 25, 2008
What We've Learned From the Massachusetts Health Plan - WSJ.com
Has Massachusetts found the answers...
Mitt Romney backs up this statement in a Wall Street Journal column:
"Health-care reform is working in Massachusetts. The people of the state, having the closest view of the plan, are the most positive: A recent poll shows favorable opinions outnumber unfavorable by three to one.
The left argues that to get everyone insured, the federal government must take over health care. Leaders from both parties in Massachusetts and the Bush administration have proven them wrong -- this will be one of their signature achievements. It would be a mistake to walk away from it now."
Political Diary - WSJ.com
Businesses are leaving because taxes are high. Duh!
Wanna bet that one solution will be raise taxes to make up for the difference?...
Wanna bet that one solution will be raise taxes to make up for the difference?...
This Wall Street Journal column discusses the issue:
"Few entities in California are better known than the California State Automobile Association, which for decades has provided the car-happy state with auto insurance, towing services and travel planning. Its departure is one more sign that California's current tax and regulatory climate is driving jobs away. California's liberals seem oblivious to such developments."
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Democrats Against Drilling - WSJ.com
Now, Congress won't even discuss offshore drilling.
That certainly doesn't serves us at all!...
That certainly doesn't serves us at all!...
The Wall Street Journal prints their opinion:
"Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and other liberal leaders on Capitol Hill are gripped by cold-sweat terror. If they permit a vote on offshore drilling, they know they will lose when Blue Dogs and oil-patch Democrats defect to the GOP position of increasing domestic energy production. So the last failsafe is to shut down Congress.
Majority Leader Reid has decided that deliberation is too taxing for 'the world's greatest deliberative body.' This week he cut off serious energy amendments to his antispeculation bill."
Just an Ad?
Somehow I think this is purposeful, and intended to cause trouble...
Jeremy Olshan writes about it in the New York Post:
"Allah board!
An Islamic group plans to blitz 1,000 subway cars with advertisements this September in a campaign being promoted by a Brooklyn imam whom federal officials have linked to a plot to blow up city landmarks.
The group says its mission is to explain the true nature of Islam to non-Muslims who believe the religion is bent on acts of violence - but Siraj Wahhaj, the inflammatory imam who appears in a promotional YouTube video for the project, has defended convicted bomb-plotters and called the FBI and CIA the 'real terrorists.'"
President Truman - "We're Not Leaving - "
Here's a history lesson from 1948.
President Truman held his ground, even though he had the worst approval rating ever.
"Where there's a will, there's a way"...
President Truman held his ground, even though he had the worst approval rating ever.
"Where there's a will, there's a way"...
At TownHall.com, Michael Barone writes about the Berlin Airlift:
"Air Force generals said that there was no way planes could ferry the 8 million pounds of food and coal Berlin would need every day. Secretary of State George Marshall and Joint Chiefs Chairman Omar Bradley, two of America's most respected generals, felt Berlin was indefensible and we should withdraw. One man disagreed. President Harry Truman, in one crucial meeting after another, said, 'We're not leaving Berlin.'"
Congress's Edifice Complex - WSJ.com
When politicians egos go haywire, none of our tax dollars are safe.
And if that's not enough, maybe a "favor" is available for a little "donation"...
And if that's not enough, maybe a "favor" is available for a little "donation"...
John Fund discusses some of them in the Wall Street Journal:
"Charles Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, is intent on raising $30 million for a new academic center in his New York district -- a center with his name on it. After securing an earmark and two other federal grants totaling some $2.6 million for the project, the Democratic congressman wrote letters on his congressional stationery to businesses with interests before his committee. They sought meetings to help him fulfill his 'personal dream' of seeing the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service completed."
Politicians - a very ugly profession
Let's just throw the bums out and start all over...
Amy Worden reports at Philly.com:
"Buried deep in the grand jury report, released last week, that led to the indictment of 12 people are details of what is described as a "massive" effort by House Democrats to oust the independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader from the ballot in 2004.
Also, the report says, in 2006 the same machine fired up again to boot from the ballot Carl Romanelli, the Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in a race won by Democrat Bob Casey.
In light of the grand jury revelations of political work conducted with taxpayers' money, the candidates and reform advocates want a federal investigation into the ballot challenges, which they now think were the result of the criminal conspiracy that has come to be known as Bonusgate."
Politicians - California's Jerry Brown
Three decades may make him a professional; but, I wonder if politics is an honorable profession...
Joel Kotkin writes about him in the Wall Street Journal:
"Jerry Brown has been a fixture of the state's politics for more than three decades. He was elected governor in 1974 and four years later earned the moniker 'Governor Moonbeam' for his interest in creating a space program in California. In 1998, he was elected mayor of Oakland, a working-class city across the bay from San Francisco. And in 2006, he was elected attorney general. Today he is mulling a run for governor in 2010, when he will be 72.
In the meantime, Mr. Brown is taking aim at the suburbs, concerned about the alleged environmental damage they cause. He sees suburban houses as inefficient users of energy. He sees suburban commuters clogging the roads as wasting precious fossil fuel. And, mostly, he sees wisdom in an intricately thought-out plan to compel residents to move to city centers or, at least, to high-density developments clustered near mass transit lines."
Politicians - in Pennsylvania
Politicians are out of control in Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, it's probably the same everywhere.
I know I've said "throw the bums out" before; but, I think I'll just say it again...
Unfortunately, it's probably the same everywhere.
I know I've said "throw the bums out" before; but, I think I'll just say it again...
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dennis B. Roddy and Tracie Mauriello report:
"The project was spearheaded by Eric Webb, director of the Democratic Office of Member Services, who, on Jan. 31, sent e-mails to state employees advising them to begin digging up information on 35 declared and potential candidates for the state House.
'We are mainly looking for bad things: liens, bankruptcies, homicides ... you get the picture,' Mr. Webb advised a dozen House colleagues via their state e-mail accounts. Employees were asked to use LexisNexis, an online search service that makes use of thousands of databases. The state had several LexisNexis accounts that a grand jury later said were used for opposition research.
Mr. Webb told staffers to send results from the searches to Dan Wiedemer, executive director of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee, at Mr. Wiedemer's political campaign address."
Politicians - to the rescue?
Our politicians have NO respect for our money!
I totally agree with this article.
Why do so many think they are free from accountability for their actions?...
I totally agree with this article.
Why do so many think they are free from accountability for their actions?...
At BostonHerald.com, Michael Graham discusses the bigger picture along with the "victim" attitude:
"In Congress, Republicans and Democrats are pushing Barney Frank’s $300 billion boondoggle to underwrite bad loans given to worse customers.
On Beacon Hill, Gov. Deval Patrick pushed for a $250 million bailout for people who borrowed more than they could afford. (Sen. Barack Obama has a similar $10 billion idea he must have 'borrowed' from Patrick).
And now, activists for the newest civil right - the right to skip your mortgage payments - have taken to the streets of Roxbury.
On Tuesday, around 60 local housing activists gathered outside the condo of Paula Taylor. Led by Steve Meacham of the group City Life, they sang the civil rights anthem 'We Shall Not Be Moved' and chanted 'Hey, hey, ho ho! Greedy banks have got to go!'
Why are the banks “greedy”? Well, according to The Boston Globe-Democrat, Countrywide loaned Taylor $260,000 to buy a condo, and now they actually want her to pay it back!
Heartless bastards."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
June 7, 1981 - Israel bombs the Osirak nuclear reactor
This is an interesting story.
I don't know if Israel has the fortitude to do something similar today...
I don't know if Israel has the fortitude to do something similar today...
David Horovitz describes that eventful day in the Jerusalem Post:
"AS ONE of his chapter headings, Claire cites the US Army maxim that "No plan, no matter how perfect, survives first contact with the enemy."
The raid on Osirak, though perceived as peerlessly clinical and precise, was certainly no exception.
And yet, compared to the challenge that Israel would face if it attempted something similar against Iran's nuclear facilities, Osirak was a walk in the park."
The N.Y. Post - Getting it right
As far as I can determine, this editorial by John McCain was intended to rebut a previously opinion column by Barack Obama.
I think that by NOT publishing the rebuttal, the New York Times has exposed their biased to the highest degree...
I think that by NOT publishing the rebuttal, the New York Times has exposed their biased to the highest degree...
You CAN read John McCain's rebuttal in the New York Post:
"EDITORS' NOTE: The New York Times wouldn't print this oped from the GOP candidate."
Barack Obama - and the "birth certificate"
I've posted about this before. Here's the latest...
IsraelInsider's staff is following the Obama birth certificate issue very closely:
"The latest examinaton of the purported documents is by far the most detailed and technically sophisticated to date.
Atlas Shrugs publisher Pamela Geller reports that the expert analyst, who goes by the screen name 'Techdude', is 'an active member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, American College of Forensic Examiners, The International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners, International Information Systems Forensics Association -- the list goes on. He also a board certified as a forensic computer examiner, a certificated legal investigator, and a licensed private investigator. He has been performing computer-based forensic investigations since 1993 (although back then it did not even have a formal name yet) and he has performed countless investigations since then.'"
Let's Have Some Love for Nuclear Power - WSJ.com
This article seems to diffuse the "fear factor"...
In the Wall Street Journal, William Tucker discusses nuclear power:
"Because the public first became aware of nuclear energy through warfare, reactors have always been thought of as "silent bombs." But nuclear plants cannot explode. The fissionable isotope of uranium must be enriched to 90% to create a weapon. In a reactor it is only 3%. You could not blow up a nuclear reactor if you tried.
Nor is the threat of terrorists crashing an airplane into a reactor and setting off a holocaust very plausible. The Department of Energy once crashed an F-4 jet going 500 miles per hour into a concrete wall the thickness of a nuclear containment structure. The plane vaporized while the concrete was barely dented. (You can watch it on YouTube: "Plane crashes into wall.")
Finally, the problem of radioactive waste has been absurdly exaggerated. More than 95% of the material in a spent fuel rod can be recycled for energy and medical isotopes.
We have a nuclear waste problem in this country because we gave up reprocessing in the 1970s. The fear was that terrorists or foreign nationals would steal plutonium from American reactors to build bombs. This is a bit like worrying that terrorists will steal all the gold from Fort Knox. Other countries have built bombs in the intervening years. They didn't need American plutonium to do it.
Meanwhile, France has proved that reprocessing works. With a fully developed nuclear cycle, the French now store all the waste from 30 years of producing 75% of its electricity beneath the floor of one room at La Hague in Normandy."
Global Warming - poll results
This article says that higher educated Republicans and higher educated Democrats are diametrically opposed as to whether global warming is caused by humans.
Are higher educated people so biased in their political beliefs that it affects "everything" else?
That's a little scary. Wouldn't you say?...
Are higher educated people so biased in their political beliefs that it affects "everything" else?
That's a little scary. Wouldn't you say?...
At CO2sceptics.com, Cheryl K. Chumley writes about a recent survey's results:
"Seventy-one percent of Americans believe the Earth is warming, down from 77 percent of Americans who held that belief last year. The six percentage point drop parallels falling, and in some parts of the country, record-low, temperatures over the past year that continued a decade-long trend of temperatures remaining flat or falling."
Global Warming - a new idea
As good as this sounds, I'm not sure I like the idea of tampering with the oceans on a large scale.
What if there are "unintended consequences"?...
What if there are "unintended consequences"?...
I found this at ScienceCodex.com:
"Adding lime to seawater increases alkalinity, boosting seawater's ability to absorb CO2 from air and reducing the tendency to release it back again."
Kyoto's Long Goodbye - WSJ.com
Let's give credit where credit is due...
The Wall Street Journal is reporting:
"... The U.S. has relied on the arc of domestic energy programs now in place, like fuel-economy standards and efficiency regulations, along with billions in subsidies for low-carbon technology. Europe threw in with the central planning of the Kyoto Protocol -- and the contrast is instructive. Between 2000 and 2006, U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions fell 3%. Of the 17 largest world-wide emitters, only France reduced by more.
So despite environmentalist sanctimony about the urgent need for President Bush and the U.S. to 'take the lead' on global warming, his program has done better than most everybody else's. That won't make the evening news..."
Global Warming - the American Physical Society speaks up
I have to think that it takes quite a bit of humility for an organization of this magnitude to change their mind.
I think it's really telling us something. Don't you?...
I think it's really telling us something. Don't you?...
At DailyTech.com, Michael Asher discusses their change of stance:
"The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming. The APS is also sponsoring public debate on the validity of global warming science. The leadership of the society had previously called the evidence for global warming 'incontrovertible.'
In a posting to the APS forum, editor Jeffrey Marque explains, 'There is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution.'"
Global Warming - the Russians speak up
Are we starting to see a consensus that the global warming "consensus" is in trouble?
It sure seems that way...
It sure seems that way...
IN India's online newspaper, Vladimir Radyuhin reports:
"Russian scientists deny that the Kyoto Protocol reflects a consensus view of the world scientific community.
As western nations step up pressure on India and China to curb the emission of greenhouse gases, Russian scientists reject the very idea that carbon dioxide may be responsible for global warming."
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Meanwhile - in Liverpool
Here's one of those things that "sounds" right; however, it's too much government involvement for me.
I'd certainly like to see healthy children, but I think that's a parent's responsibility.
In free enterprise countries, businesses promote their products (think Tony the Tiger, Mr. Peanut, etc.
Just think about the complications. Suppose the toy is a pedometer? Would there be a government agency to judge what toys are acceptable?...
I'd certainly like to see healthy children, but I think that's a parent's responsibility.
In free enterprise countries, businesses promote their products (think Tony the Tiger, Mr. Peanut, etc.
Just think about the complications. Suppose the toy is a pedometer? Would there be a government agency to judge what toys are acceptable?...
In the Liverpool Echo, Nick Coligan reports:
"A UNIQUE by-law could be brought in banning fast food companies from giving away toys with unhealthy meals in Liverpool.
Councillors are ready to act on the findings of an inquiry earlier this year which accused burger giants such as McDonald’s and Burger King of contributing to the city’s child obesity crisis.
Next week they will be asked to back plans for specific Liverpool-wide legislation preventing toys being given away with fatty food such as burgers, chips and chicken nuggets."
Meanwhile - in San Francisco
In San Francisco, it has become: illegal immigrants first, American citizens second.
This article describes it, and how it's [not] working...
This article describes it, and how it's [not] working...
Cinnamon Stillwell reports at SFgate.com:
"San Francisco's political establishment has long prided itself on providing a haven for illegal immigrants. Mayor Gavin Newsom even launched a taxpayer-funded $83,000 'public awareness campaign' earlier this year assuring illegal immigrants that the 'sanctuary city' by the bay was in their court.
And indeed it is. Under the city's 1989 voter-approved sanctuary ordinance, police officers and other city employees are prohibited from inquiring into immigration status. In addition, the city will not direct municipal funds or employees towards assisting federal immigration enforcement, unless such assistance is required by federal or state law or a warrant."
It's not over yet
I guess this issue isn't cast in stone yet, so Californians should get out and vote...
Bob Egelko reports at SFgate.com:
"The state Supreme Court refused today to remove a proposed ban on same-sex marriage from the November ballot.
The initiative, Proposition 8, is a state constitutional amendment that would overturn the court's May 15 ruling allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry in California."
Web Spiders
This technology is an example that we are clearly in a time when "everything can be tracked".
On the other hand, some of my other posts show that "everything can also be manipulated".
It serves truth to the theory that every invention can be used for good; or for evil, which brings us right back to the intentions of the user...
On the other hand, some of my other posts show that "everything can also be manipulated".
It serves truth to the theory that every invention can be used for good; or for evil, which brings us right back to the intentions of the user...
On the Wired.com blog, Sarah Lai Stirland reports:
"The politicos' mutual stalking has reached unprecedented new levels this year: At least one side has started to spider the other's campaign website to track that campaign pages' precise word changes up to an hourly basis.
John McCain's campaign published a side-by-side comparison of Barack Obama's Iraq War policy web pages on Tuesday using a new automated online tracking service called Versionista.
The service, which launched two months ago, allows users to track and cache changes to specific web pages up to an hourly basis, depending on the level of filtering requested, says Peter Bray, its creator in Portland, Oregon."
Barack Obama - Changing his website
Rewriting history is something politicians do very well.
You might say they can "turn on a dime"...
You might say they can "turn on a dime"...
On an L.A. Times blog, Andrew Malcolm reports:
"A funny thing happened over on the Barack Obama campaign website in the last few days.
The parts that stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge and his statement that more troops would make no difference in a civil war have somehow disappeared. John McCain and Obama have been going at it heavily in recent days over the benefits of the surge."
A "Nation Of Whiners?"
I think this writer has it right...
At TownHall.com, Austin Hill writes:
"Has the United States of America, on some level, become a nation of whiners?
An examination of the rhetoric from this entire presidential campaign cycle would suggest that, to some degree, America is, in some collective sense, inclined toward whining right now. The candidates aren’t whining themselves, so much, but their ideas and proposals suggest that they are playing to an audience of whiners. And that’s not good for anybody - - not the whiners, nor for the rest of us."
High profit business
Wow! What does this tell us?
Drug dealing is so profitable that they even have submarines.
It may not be long before they buy a used "stealth" fighter...
Drug dealing is so profitable that they even have submarines.
It may not be long before they buy a used "stealth" fighter...
In the Seattle Times, Ken Ellingwood writes:
"Capt. Jose Luis Vergara, a spokesman for the Mexican navy, said authorities were hauling the 'very well-constructed' vessel to shore and had yet to weigh the contraband, which he said likely amounted to 'tons.'
The unusual episode suggests that the government, already struggling against drug traffickers by land and air, faces a vexing new undersea front."
Celebrities - Yuk!
I wonder why so many of the "do good" celebrities are apparently hypocritical?...
I found this on the New York Post's "Page Six":
"TIM Robbins' and Susan Sarandon's mission to protect the poor and needy doesn't apply to their Greenwich Village neighborhood. The Oscar-winning liberals recently attended a Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing to oppose St. Vincent's plea to build a new, larger hospital on West 12th Street, three blocks from their home."
Hollywood - Yuk!
I totally agree with the premise of this article.
Hollywood really is a sad example for a great place like America...
Hollywood really is a sad example for a great place like America...
I found this in an article by Andrew Breitbart at AmericanNewspaper.com:
"More than a dozen box office failures vilify the troops without a single counter-perspective seeing the light of day. Yet one impactful and heartfelt pro-war film, Brothers at War, dares to tell the story of a noble and patriotic American family yet can’t find a distributor.
The litany of negative consequences to the ideological rigidity of modern Hollywood is virtually limitless. The lack of tension between competing ideas has made the arts increasingly tedious and rendered the celebrities woefully uninteresting.
But what’s worse: When Mr. Obama can come to town to cherry pick untold millions in donations — and Mr. McCain is shunned because a simple FEC search of his artsy donors could ruin a phalanx of careers (not to mention many Lexus paint jobs) — then something’s desperately wrong."
Monday, July 21, 2008
Chappaquiddick - July 21, 1969
Happy Chappaquiddick Anniversary to Sen. Ted Kennedy...
yTedK.com is NOT likely to be Ted Kennedy's favorite website:
"Chappaquiddick has been called 'the most brilliant cover-up ever achieved in a nation where investigative procedures are well developed and where the principles of equal justice prevail, at least during some of those moments where people are watching.'
~ The Last Kennedy by Robert Sherrill
The mysteries of the case continue to haunt Ted Kennedy as well as the authorities who investigated them. Charges of ineptitude and lack of diligence abounded, as did insinuations that the machinery of justice crumbled beneath the power and prestige of the Kennedy family. George Killen, former State Police Detective-Lieutenant, and chief of a never-revealed investigation, lamented that the failure to bring the case to a satisfactory conclusion was "the biggest mistake" of a long and distinguished police career. Senator Kennedy, he said, 'killed that girl the same as if he put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger.'
~ Senatorial Privilege by Leo Damore"
Victor David Hanson writes
I always enjoy Victor David Hanson.
His recent thoughts on CNN and Anderson Cooper are no exception...
His recent thoughts on CNN and Anderson Cooper are no exception...
This is part of Victor David Hanson's July 4th posting:
"I was watching a rerun of the Anderson Cooper biographical documentaries of McCain and Obama. In the McCain piece here’s what I think we got in the end: Cindy McCain’s a former drug addict, a stroke victim, and fought false rumors their adopted child was an illegitimate offspring of her husband’s liasons, and is the only-child of zillionaires; McCain was knee-deep in the Keating Five, took on and then caved to the Religious Right.
In contrast, in this National Enquirer-type approach, the Obamas were blessed from the beginning—no mention (as there should not have been) of Obama’s admitted drug use, his radical past, nothing about Michelle’s divisive speeches, Princeton thesis.
Result: here is the contrast, a 42 year old who lied about his age married a princess who lied about hers, then lived apart, and then she spiralled downward while he got caught in ethics problems and flip-flops; meanwhile the super couple were drug-free, hardly privileged, and have a true partnership based on their model parenting and meritocratic-based education excellence.
In short, not even the pretense of even-handedness."
Post 9/11 dragnet
I have to wonder whether publishing the stories about what we CAN do, HOW we do it, and HOW we use it, is the right thing to do.
It's one thing to have the bad guys work to find these things out; but, I think it's a bad thing to just hand them that information...
It's one thing to have the bad guys work to find these things out; but, I think it's a bad thing to just hand them that information...
This is from Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post. It's at MSNBC.com:
"The fingerprinting of detainees overseas began as ad-hoc FBI and U.S. military efforts shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It has since grown into a government-wide push to build the world's largest database of known or suspected terrorist fingerprints. The effort is being boosted by a presidential directive signed June 5, which gave the U.S. attorney general and other cabinet officials 90 days to come up with a plan to expand the use of biometrics by, among other things, recommending categories of people to be screened beyond 'known or suspected' terrorists."
The Media - the New York Times
Try to imagine that sometime after the act of trying to do right for American citizens, someone published your name and put you and your loved ones at risk.
Would the New York Times employees want to be in that position?
How about the "golden rule"?...
Would the New York Times employees want to be in that position?
How about the "golden rule"?...
Byron York provides more at NationalReview.com:
"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has sent a letter to the New York Times, protesting the paper's naming of a former CIA anti-terrorism interrogator. The CIA had objected to revealing of the man's name, but the Times decided to go ahead anyway. There was a case a while back in which many on the left became very upset about the revelation of a CIA employee's name. So far, that does not seem to be happening in this case."
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Iraq - news you might have missed
What! Saddam had a nuclear program.
Go figure...
Go figure...
In the Las Vegas Sun, is this Associated Press story:
"The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program _ a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium _ reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
The removal of 550 metric tons of 'yellowcake' _ the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment _ was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.
What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad _ using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine."
Government at Work - Wasting our money
I have to wonder whether our politicians even know about things like this.
After all, nobody in their right mind would agree to pay these exorbitant costs.
Would they?...
After all, nobody in their right mind would agree to pay these exorbitant costs.
Would they?...
Michael O. Leavitt wrote this in a recent Wall Street Journal:
"DME prices are based on a fee-schedule established by law in the 1980s and subsequently updated for inflation. But the fee-schedules weren't based on competitively determined market prices. It is a price-fixing program, and the equipment suppliers like it because they get overpaid and don't have to compete.
An oxygen concentrator, for example, is a device that delivers oxygen through a tube to patients, and it costs about $600 on the open market. Medicare beneficiaries typically rent the machines. The rental period, set by statute, is up to 36 months. The monthly rental payment, also set by statute, is $198.40. So renting an oxygen concentrator for 36 months costs $7,142.
As with most items and services in Medicare Part B, beneficiaries pay 20% of the costs, and Medicare pays the remaining 80%. The government, therefore, pays $5,714 – almost 10 times the free-market price of purchasing a concentrator outright. The patient pays $1,428 – more than twice the free-market price of purchase. Even allowing for the costs of setting up equipment, training and fitting the beneficiary, and other things, the rental fee is way out of line."
Birth to U.S. Citizen Parents
The citizenship of noth Barack Obama and John McCain have come under criticism as they were both born "outside of the United States"...
FindLaw.com has explanations of what the laws were when:
"In many circumstances, even though a child is born outside the United States, if at least one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of the child's birth, the child automatically "acquires citizenship" (the legal term for this situation). When this child marries and has children, those children may also acquire U.S. citizenship at birth.
The laws governing whether or not a child born outside of the United States acquires U.S. citizenship from his or her parents have changed several times. The law that was in effect on the date of the child's birth determines whether he or she acquired U.S. citizenship from a parent or grandparent.
If there is anyone in your direct line of ancestry who may be a U.S. citizen, it is worth your time to read what the laws were on the date of your birth and his or hers. Many people are pleasantly surprised to find their quest for a green card ended by the discovery that they are already U.S. citizens.
Following is a brief history of the citizenship laws."
Obama birth certificate: Real or phony baloney?
I've been following this for a while now, and apparently, it's still not resolved.
I figure there a two likely scenarios.
One is that it's being used as a diversion to keep people from looking into other things.
The second is that he's not "natural-born" and that it cannot be proven...
I figure there a two likely scenarios.
One is that it's being used as a diversion to keep people from looking into other things.
The second is that he's not "natural-born" and that it cannot be proven...
This is a good synopsis from WorldNetDaily.com. They begin:
"Questions over a birth certificate for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama – the document that could prove his constitutional qualifications to run for the presidency – have been revived by a report from Israel Insider.
A blogger who earlier raised the 'unlikely' but circulating rumor Obama was born not within the United States, but elsewhere, possibly Kenya, eventually said he was satisfied the senator was born in Hawaii.
WND's report on the questions over his birth site followed secrecy by the Obama campaign over the issue, which centers on the U.S. Constitution's requirement that presidents be 'natural-born' U.S. citizens."
"Rev. Jackson, the Fat Lady is Singing"
Hitting the nail on the head!...
Larry Elder does just that at TownHall.com:
"Jackson, and his race-card-waving cohorts, derive stature, power, significance and self-enrichment by claiming that racism remains a serious problem in America. After complaining about the lack of minority beer distributorships, for example, Jackson's sons ended up with a lucrative Anheuser-Busch distributorship in Chicago. Author Kenneth Timmerman, in his book 'Shakedown,' describes the Jackson modus operandi -- playing the race card for self-enrichment, as well as that of friends and family.
Rather than display pleasure at America's obvious progress, or pride in his role in getting us there, the anachronistic Jackson now morphs into a shrinking, petulant, self-pitying 'leader' -- with little left to lead.
Good news for America; bad news for Jackson."
Meet Jennifer Kolar
I don't think anyone wants to see animals abused.
That being said, I can't elevate that issue to a point where it is justifiable to cause property damage, etc.
Obviously, these E.L.F. groups see it differently...
That being said, I can't elevate that issue to a point where it is justifiable to cause property damage, etc.
Obviously, these E.L.F. groups see it differently...
At Crosscut.com, Kim McDonald tells the story:
"Software engineer Jennifer Kolar is to be sentenced this week in federal court for her role in Earth Liberation Front arsons, including one at the University of Washington. Her time in prison will be reduced because she turned state's witness, but that doesn't mitigate the fact she is now regarded as a snitch by peers and could be labeled a terrorist by the government."Update...
From KOMOnews.com:
"Seattle woman gets 5 years for UW arson"
Meanwhile - in Victoria, Australia
At first, this sounds pretty harmless, BUT, why should government even be involved? Why not let the free market work?
And I guess it's no surprise that the Masters Builders Association wants this. $$$$ Duh!...
And I guess it's no surprise that the Masters Builders Association wants this. $$$$ Duh!...
Craig Binnie reports this in the Herald Sun, :
"HOME owners could be forced to turn their houses green before they can sell them under a proposal before the State Government."
Israel - Go figure
I just can't understand this.
If you can, more power to you...
If you can, more power to you...
At the Columbus Dispatch website, the Associated Press's Steven Gutkin and Aron Heller discuss the issue:
"Israel has been carrying out unequal prisoner swaps for decades, including handing over 4,600 Palestinian and Lebanese captives in 1983 in exchange for six captured Israeli soldiers. In the past it's even traded live prisoners for bodies, as it did Wednesday."
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Bad timing for good book - The Denver Post
I am AGAINST illegal immigration. I'm NOT against LEGAL immigration.
That being said; I think ALL immigration should be controlled. If you consider America as a ship, it is only prudent to control who gets on. After all, the captain must provide food and services for the passengers. No matter what it's size, a ship cannot handle an unlimited amount of passengers. We should all be intelligent enough to understand that.
We are that intelligent, aren't we?...
That being said; I think ALL immigration should be controlled. If you consider America as a ship, it is only prudent to control who gets on. After all, the captain must provide food and services for the passengers. No matter what it's size, a ship cannot handle an unlimited amount of passengers. We should all be intelligent enough to understand that.
We are that intelligent, aren't we?...
Al Knight discusses a new book by Mark Krikorian at DenverPost.com:
"The book has its share of statistics. One of them ought to shock even those who think they know everything about immigration. Krikorian writes, "Fully one-third of all the people ever to move to the United States, starting from the first Siberian to cross the Bering land bridge in search of game, have arrived since 1965."
His book is a record of how this mass immigration policy began and what it has produced. He details the impact on the public education system, showing that nearly all of the the more recent increases in enrollment are traceable to immigration. He demonstrates the impact on health care, that about one-quarter of the uninsured in America are immigrants or their children. Because U.S. law mandates that no emergency room may turn away a needy patient, such rooms are closing at an alarming rate. In Los Angeles alone, some 60 hospitals have closed their emergency rooms in the last decade.
The book is packed with useful information. There is material on the justice system, national security, the labor market, the media and a full account of how the Mexican government has managed to become an important player in domestic policies once considered absolutely off-limits to a foreign power."
