Wednesday, July 06, 2005
More judicial follies in Minnesota
Mitch over at Shot in the Dark has been covering the case of Jeff Skelton, who is accused of shooting his wife's lover 5 times (in the eye, the foot, the groin and 2 times in the chest), killing the man. Mitch goes into great detail on the case, how Mr. Skelton was released on bail, called a local radio station to brag about what he had done, was re-arrested for violating a condition of his parole (not contacting his wife) and was released yet again. While I agree with Mitch's outrage over the situation, I do not agree with his conclusion that it is Amy Klobuchar's (Hennepin County Prosecutor) problem solely . This is not just happening in Hennepin County (see my post "My heart is breaking...") - it is happening all over in Minnesota. If the blame is to be laid at any politicians feet, it should be laid at the feet of the man who wants to be our next governor - Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch! AG Hatch is the man who sets the pace for the county prosecutors - he sets the standards that the counties must abide by. Maybe we need to send the AG the memo that we are fed up with perps getting more rights than their victims! It is time for the people of Minnesota to stand up for the rights of the victims and make sure that their stories are heard!
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
My heart is breaking.....
As I have mentioned before, I am the parent of a grade school aged child. I also live in a suburb of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It is with a heavy heart that I heard (yesterday) that Shasta Groene (the missing 8 year old Idaho girl) was found yesterday in the company of a known sex offender who had been released from a Minnesota jail. This is following the sad story of Dru Sjodin who was murdered by another sex offender who had been released from a Minnesota jail. As more and more comes out about Shasta's 6 weeks of horror, the angrier I - as a mother - get at the system.
Convicted child predators, like Shasta Groene's attacker, are supposed to register with the state. According to the US Department of Justice records, 67% of ALL sexual assult victims are under the age of 18. According to the same US DOJ records, there are approximately 550,000 convicted sex offenders in the country and 100,000 of them are "lost" - location unknown to law enforcement officials. Did you see that dear reader - 1/5 of the convicted sex offenders in the US can not be found by law enforcement!!!! One of them now stands accused of murdering 3 members of Shasta Groene's family, of kidnapping and sexually assulting Shasta and her 9 year old brother Dylan (before murdering him that is). The beast (for there is nothing human in my mind about him) was paroled from a Minnesota prison, where he was serving a sentence f0r raping a 6 year old boy.
What, in heavens name, are we - as a nation thinking, by placing the rights of people such as Joseph Duncan, John Couhey (who raped and murdered Jessica Lunsford in Florida), Roger Bently (who raped and murdered Jetseta Gage in Iowa) and Alfonso Rodriguez (Dru Sjodin's killer) above the rights of their victims? What happened to the rights of these beautiful little girls? Who is advocating for them? Starting now, this mom is! I am tired of having to explain to my child why he can not go do things that I used to do when I was his age. I am tired of having to train him self defense methods. I am sick and tired of being afraid for my child's life and safety.
We need to start - TODAY - to battle for the rights of our children. Our children deserve to be protected from the likes of those above who have no respect for anything but their own sick, twisted desires! We need to join up with groups like this who are fighting to do the right thing - to keep sexual predators of children locked up in jail for good! We need to get with our state and federal representatives and make jail terms for sex offenders longer and if they are paroled for any reason, they should be forced to wear an ankle monitor (if it's good enough for Martha Stewart...) and be on 24 hour GPS monitoring! We can no longer afford to "trust them" to check in with their Parole officer every 2 weeks or so! We need to hold these offenders AND the law enforcement system accountable for the deaths of these innocents! We need to do a better job protecting our children from the monsters of the night!
Convicted child predators, like Shasta Groene's attacker, are supposed to register with the state. According to the US Department of Justice records, 67% of ALL sexual assult victims are under the age of 18. According to the same US DOJ records, there are approximately 550,000 convicted sex offenders in the country and 100,000 of them are "lost" - location unknown to law enforcement officials. Did you see that dear reader - 1/5 of the convicted sex offenders in the US can not be found by law enforcement!!!! One of them now stands accused of murdering 3 members of Shasta Groene's family, of kidnapping and sexually assulting Shasta and her 9 year old brother Dylan (before murdering him that is). The beast (for there is nothing human in my mind about him) was paroled from a Minnesota prison, where he was serving a sentence f0r raping a 6 year old boy.
What, in heavens name, are we - as a nation thinking, by placing the rights of people such as Joseph Duncan, John Couhey (who raped and murdered Jessica Lunsford in Florida), Roger Bently (who raped and murdered Jetseta Gage in Iowa) and Alfonso Rodriguez (Dru Sjodin's killer) above the rights of their victims? What happened to the rights of these beautiful little girls? Who is advocating for them? Starting now, this mom is! I am tired of having to explain to my child why he can not go do things that I used to do when I was his age. I am tired of having to train him self defense methods. I am sick and tired of being afraid for my child's life and safety.
We need to start - TODAY - to battle for the rights of our children. Our children deserve to be protected from the likes of those above who have no respect for anything but their own sick, twisted desires! We need to join up with groups like this who are fighting to do the right thing - to keep sexual predators of children locked up in jail for good! We need to get with our state and federal representatives and make jail terms for sex offenders longer and if they are paroled for any reason, they should be forced to wear an ankle monitor (if it's good enough for Martha Stewart...) and be on 24 hour GPS monitoring! We can no longer afford to "trust them" to check in with their Parole officer every 2 weeks or so! We need to hold these offenders AND the law enforcement system accountable for the deaths of these innocents! We need to do a better job protecting our children from the monsters of the night!
The Economically Freest Nation (oh, and WE ain't it)
Every year there is a study that ranks the nations in the world based on economic freedom. Not surprising those countries with more economic freedom also enjoy a higher standard of living (duh!).Let me pose the level of economic freedom with a question: You own an orange tree orchard. This is the harvest season. You and I strike up a conversation and my eyes fall on a particular orange. Now, I've never enjoyed an orange right off the tree and I decide that that one orange is for me. You, the grower/owner, pluck the orange off the tree and I pay an agreed upon price. Have there been any laws broken? If that orange is under 3 1/8 inches in diameter, both you and I have committed a crime. It's illegal to sell or to buy an orange of that size. Why? Because the Department of Agriculture says so. An agreed upon transaction, no force, no fraud. But illegal. A small segment (pun intended) of economic freedom is peeled away (intended again).
The Heritage Foundation does a study each year that ranks nations (161 this year) into four categories Free, Mostly Free, Mostly Unfree and Repressed. There are seventeen nations in the Free category. And the United States is NOT #1. Not even #5. #10? Nope.
We are #13. 13. Way below Singapore, below Estonia (Estonia?). Even below Chile (no offense to Guillermo, my first scrum half at the U of MN Rugby Club, who is a hard working capitalist in Santiago. My apologies Willy).
Click on United States and you'll see the category rankings and a graph of the past years ranking for that particular country. (www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm )
The very first sentence in the introduction states "The U.S. Constitution provides strong protections for private property, and the vibrancy and dynamism of the U.S. economy are testimony to these constitutionally protected economic liberties." The listings were before the Kelo v City of New London Supreme Court decision.Go down the list to near the end where there is a ranking for Property Rights and read the dire pre Kelo predictions.
Now, the lefties will seize upon the comment under Regulations "By global standards, the level of regulation in the United States is low." Now, the lefties ALWAYS claim "It could be worse." Well, I've ALWAYS found little comfort for my misery by seeing someone else who's more miserable. Especially when that misery is inflicted on me by someone else by force.
Vox Day, in his column yesterday ( www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45111 ) , near the end he comments:
" The genius of America was its independence. As that independence has been systematically reduced over the years, so too has its competitive advantage over other, less free, nations declined. The best and brightest have been leaving the country for years, and the American brain drain is accelerating as the Internet has made it possible to run a software company from the Bahamas or an import-export operation from Ireland, where the taxes are lower and there's no danger of losing your home to a Wal-Mart."
I remember about a month ago, while I was stopped at Hwy 13 and Cty Rd. 42, looking around and trying to find one thing, just one thing that was not taxed and/or regulated (as regulation has a cost and is therefore a tax). I couldn't find a thing.
When I look around and see what we have, I wonder how much more we could be if the government just got out of the way.
The Heritage Foundation does a study each year that ranks nations (161 this year) into four categories Free, Mostly Free, Mostly Unfree and Repressed. There are seventeen nations in the Free category. And the United States is NOT #1. Not even #5. #10? Nope.
We are #13. 13. Way below Singapore, below Estonia (Estonia?). Even below Chile (no offense to Guillermo, my first scrum half at the U of MN Rugby Club, who is a hard working capitalist in Santiago. My apologies Willy).
Click on United States and you'll see the category rankings and a graph of the past years ranking for that particular country. (www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm )
The very first sentence in the introduction states "The U.S. Constitution provides strong protections for private property, and the vibrancy and dynamism of the U.S. economy are testimony to these constitutionally protected economic liberties." The listings were before the Kelo v City of New London Supreme Court decision.Go down the list to near the end where there is a ranking for Property Rights and read the dire pre Kelo predictions.
Now, the lefties will seize upon the comment under Regulations "By global standards, the level of regulation in the United States is low." Now, the lefties ALWAYS claim "It could be worse." Well, I've ALWAYS found little comfort for my misery by seeing someone else who's more miserable. Especially when that misery is inflicted on me by someone else by force.
Vox Day, in his column yesterday ( www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45111 ) , near the end he comments:
" The genius of America was its independence. As that independence has been systematically reduced over the years, so too has its competitive advantage over other, less free, nations declined. The best and brightest have been leaving the country for years, and the American brain drain is accelerating as the Internet has made it possible to run a software company from the Bahamas or an import-export operation from Ireland, where the taxes are lower and there's no danger of losing your home to a Wal-Mart."
I remember about a month ago, while I was stopped at Hwy 13 and Cty Rd. 42, looking around and trying to find one thing, just one thing that was not taxed and/or regulated (as regulation has a cost and is therefore a tax). I couldn't find a thing.
When I look around and see what we have, I wonder how much more we could be if the government just got out of the way.
Monday, July 04, 2005
The 4th of July and some brief thoughts
Today, after my morning Bible readings and prayer, I took a moment to thank The Lord that I was born in the United States of America.I've often thought about gratitude towards God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and how I really don't show much.Certainly not anywhere close to what's due Them. When I see the bumper stickers saying "Proud to be an American" I've always thought that to make a true statement it should read "Blessed to be an American".Humility becomes us and shows real gratitude.None of us earned America, achieved America or have America coming to us. We inherited America as it was bequethed to us from The Lord and those who came before us.
I see the bumper stickers "God Bless America", and when and how does
"America Bless God"? How do you show your gratitude? To the Lord? To those who are "out there" on the wall for you and for me? What are you doing to reclaim the promise that our Founding Fathers (and Mothers) suffered and bled and died for to provide this nation that was founded on liberty for you and for me? And do you acknowledge that liberty which has been grossly eroded thanks to yours and my indifference?
Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? In it's entirety? (I'm impressed at how closely the complaints against the king mirror what we could list against our present overseers in Washington and St.Paul. We went to war over a 3% tax on sugar and yet today tolerate working over half the year to pay for government [http://www.atr.org/national/cogd/ ] and then call ourselves free{ see my blog The Economically Freest}).
I just finished David McCullough's book "1776". I'm a student of history and have always been amazed at how great events in history have turned on very small incidents (the horseshoe nail and the fall of the kingdom). And in "1776" it's amazing how close we came to NOT being.
So, go out and enjoy what God and our predecessors have provided and our armed forces protect ("Our loved ones sleep at night because of those rough men who will do violence to those who would do harm to our loved ones").
Always remember: Freedom is not free.That the only acceptable currency for liberty and freedom is and has always been blood.
May America Bless God!
He has certainly blessed all of us.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Don't know much about history...
At least one has to think that is the case with our esteemed friends on the left. They seem to have a glaring lack of historical knowledge or context, given some of the statements that they have made recently. For example:
Many claimed that President Bush should have never started the war in Iraq because "they didn't attack us", the implication being that America has never attacked countries that didn't attack us first. Well, FDR sent American troops into Europe, against Germany but Germany never attacked us - Japan did. JFK took American troops into Viet Nam when the Viet Namese never attacked us. Bill Clinton took American troops (who are still there by the way) into Bosnia - another country that never attacked us.
Many claim that the Iraq war is a "quagmire" that we must exit, a quagmire, like Viet Nam was. Let's take a look at the Viet Nam quagmire versus the Iraq "quagmire. In Viet Nam, we lost (on average) 5,900 soldiers lives a year. In Iraq, we have lost a little over 1700 soldiers in the year that we have been in there. In Viet Nam, we never made any progress against the Communists. In Iraq, we have gotten rid of a despotic leader and we are slowly cutting the "head" off of the foreign "insurgents" all the while restoring public services like electricity, water and phone service to levels not seen in Saddam's 30+ year rule. They claim that we need to have an "exit strategy". What was the exit strategey in Germany? Korea? Bosnia? I will give you that, at this time, there does not seem to be an "end date" of when our troops will leave Iraq, but you know what - we still have troops in Germany 60 years after the "end" of WWII, we still have troops in Japan and the Phillipines and Korea as well.
Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and officials at Amnesty International compared our treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to Nazi death camps (like Auschwitz and Dachau) and the gulags run by Stalin in Russia. Really? No medical experiments are being done on the detainees at Gitmo like there were in the Nazi camps. No "ovens" to gas prisioners. No 6-12 million dead. Shoot we have not even detained 700 there. In Gitmo, there is no thin soup made of human refuse and fish heads as there was in Stalin's Gulags. Instead detainees eat orange glazed chicken and rice pilaf. I understand that there is a "Gitmo cookbook" being published so that we can eat like a detainee. I don't recall Stalin publishing a cookbook.
There is so much more we could talk about, but you get the picture don't you dear reader? I certain understand and appreciate an honest, principled opposition, but that is hardly what we have here. Instead we have intellectually bankrupt party that is more concerned with scoring political "points" than they are in doing the people's business. JFK, FDR, Herbert Humphrey II and even Paul Wellstone would be embarrased that this is what their party has come to. I know I am.....
Many claimed that President Bush should have never started the war in Iraq because "they didn't attack us", the implication being that America has never attacked countries that didn't attack us first. Well, FDR sent American troops into Europe, against Germany but Germany never attacked us - Japan did. JFK took American troops into Viet Nam when the Viet Namese never attacked us. Bill Clinton took American troops (who are still there by the way) into Bosnia - another country that never attacked us.
Many claim that the Iraq war is a "quagmire" that we must exit, a quagmire, like Viet Nam was. Let's take a look at the Viet Nam quagmire versus the Iraq "quagmire. In Viet Nam, we lost (on average) 5,900 soldiers lives a year. In Iraq, we have lost a little over 1700 soldiers in the year that we have been in there. In Viet Nam, we never made any progress against the Communists. In Iraq, we have gotten rid of a despotic leader and we are slowly cutting the "head" off of the foreign "insurgents" all the while restoring public services like electricity, water and phone service to levels not seen in Saddam's 30+ year rule. They claim that we need to have an "exit strategy". What was the exit strategey in Germany? Korea? Bosnia? I will give you that, at this time, there does not seem to be an "end date" of when our troops will leave Iraq, but you know what - we still have troops in Germany 60 years after the "end" of WWII, we still have troops in Japan and the Phillipines and Korea as well.
Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and officials at Amnesty International compared our treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to Nazi death camps (like Auschwitz and Dachau) and the gulags run by Stalin in Russia. Really? No medical experiments are being done on the detainees at Gitmo like there were in the Nazi camps. No "ovens" to gas prisioners. No 6-12 million dead. Shoot we have not even detained 700 there. In Gitmo, there is no thin soup made of human refuse and fish heads as there was in Stalin's Gulags. Instead detainees eat orange glazed chicken and rice pilaf. I understand that there is a "Gitmo cookbook" being published so that we can eat like a detainee. I don't recall Stalin publishing a cookbook.
There is so much more we could talk about, but you get the picture don't you dear reader? I certain understand and appreciate an honest, principled opposition, but that is hardly what we have here. Instead we have intellectually bankrupt party that is more concerned with scoring political "points" than they are in doing the people's business. JFK, FDR, Herbert Humphrey II and even Paul Wellstone would be embarrased that this is what their party has come to. I know I am.....
AP/ABC News releases report confirming abuse at Gitmo
However, it is not the kind of abuse they were hoping for. This report, compiled from documents obtained by the AP from the US Government shows that the abusers at Gitmo are the detainees and not our military men and women.
Senator Durbin et al, you can announce the real apology (on the Senate floor) any day now!!!!! You owe it to the American people, our service men and women and to your constituents (for emabarassing the heck out of them). We expect it but I am not holding my breath waiting for it to come!
Senator Durbin et al, you can announce the real apology (on the Senate floor) any day now!!!!! You owe it to the American people, our service men and women and to your constituents (for emabarassing the heck out of them). We expect it but I am not holding my breath waiting for it to come!
Friday, July 01, 2005
Voter Fraud in the 2004 election
This week, an East St. Louis (Illinois) jury convicted 5 people of voter fraud (hat tip Gateway Pundit). I have been following this story every since Gateway Pundit first filed it for a couple of reasons - 1) I grew up in Illinois and 2) I went to college in the St Louis (Missouri) area. What makes this case all the more troubling is that the 5 defendants were members of the East St Louis Democratic Party!!! The defendants were accused of using money, supplied to them by the St. Claire County (Illinois) Democratic Party to buy votes for the Democratic slate of candidates! One of the 5 defendants is next going to trial for the attempted murder of a state witness for the prosecution as well.
Last week, in Milwaukee, 2 more people were charged with voting twice in the ongoing voter fraud case in Wisconsin. More charges are expected as federal prosecutors are investigating more than 200 cases of felons voting (illegal in Wisconsin) and 100 people either voting twice or filing a voter reqistration card using an invalid address!
I find it interesting that these cases are not out of Florida or Ohio, but out of states that went to the Democratic candidate for President. In the one case (Wisconsin) the state was so closely contested, that it is plausible that such fraud could have changed the outcome of the election in that state.
It makes you wonder what motivated for the cries of "voter fraud" in Ohio and Florida. Could it be that certain parties wanted to throw those states in doubt so that if they got caught with their fingers in the fraud cookie jar it would be overlooked by a willing establishment media?????
Last week, in Milwaukee, 2 more people were charged with voting twice in the ongoing voter fraud case in Wisconsin. More charges are expected as federal prosecutors are investigating more than 200 cases of felons voting (illegal in Wisconsin) and 100 people either voting twice or filing a voter reqistration card using an invalid address!
I find it interesting that these cases are not out of Florida or Ohio, but out of states that went to the Democratic candidate for President. In the one case (Wisconsin) the state was so closely contested, that it is plausible that such fraud could have changed the outcome of the election in that state.
It makes you wonder what motivated for the cries of "voter fraud" in Ohio and Florida. Could it be that certain parties wanted to throw those states in doubt so that if they got caught with their fingers in the fraud cookie jar it would be overlooked by a willing establishment media?????
Adios Swingin' Sandy
Swingin' Sandy Day O'Connor is going away. Now, I ain't going to celebrate until I see who GWB appoints. I'm going to hold my breath (and hopefully not my nose) until the appointment.
Just a thought on Miss Swing Vote.And God's sense of humor:
My most vivid memory of our top unpr
edictable female politician in a black robe (Justice Ruth "Buzzy" Ginsburg is entirely predictable) is this picture (to the left, of couse. Irony? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge?!?!?) from almost exactly two years ago.
The event was a dual event: the awarding of the Liberty Medal at the dedication and opening of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
A mural and frame fell on the front row of honored speakers on the dais.
The incredible irony in all this was the combination of this event, where it happened, when and to whom came just days after Swingin' Sandy sided with the majority in finding McCain/Feingold constitutional (McCain/Feingold is also known as the badly and bogusly named Bi-Partisan Campaign Finance Reform Act). As soon as I saw the picture and description, I again thought "In The Lord's world there are no accidents and there is no happenstance."
If I had been Swingin' Sandy's counselor, I'd have advised her to immediately give back the medal, do a very public mea culpa after announcing her resignation, wear sackcloth underwear for the rest of her life and be a Johnny Appleseed of liberty by giving away copies of the Federalist Papers and "The Law" by Bastiat to anyone she met.
Now, the incredible importance of this resignation:
Swingin' Sandy was a/the swing vote on many issues. GWB needs to follow though on his comments that Scalia and Thomas are his models for Supreme Court appointments. The fact that the lefties are losing the swing vote is going to prove for very predictable actions by the usual gang of extreme constitutional criminals in the Senate.
I would HEARTILY recommend Janice Rogers Brown...this afternoon. No, on second thought, make the announcement on the 4th of July. In Philadelphia. At the National Constitution Center.
Let's roll!
Just a thought on Miss Swing Vote.And God's sense of humor:
My most vivid memory of our top unpr
edictable female politician in a black robe (Justice Ruth "Buzzy" Ginsburg is entirely predictable) is this picture (to the left, of couse. Irony? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge?!?!?) from almost exactly two years ago.The event was a dual event: the awarding of the Liberty Medal at the dedication and opening of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
A mural and frame fell on the front row of honored speakers on the dais.
The incredible irony in all this was the combination of this event, where it happened, when and to whom came just days after Swingin' Sandy sided with the majority in finding McCain/Feingold constitutional (McCain/Feingold is also known as the badly and bogusly named Bi-Partisan Campaign Finance Reform Act). As soon as I saw the picture and description, I again thought "In The Lord's world there are no accidents and there is no happenstance."
If I had been Swingin' Sandy's counselor, I'd have advised her to immediately give back the medal, do a very public mea culpa after announcing her resignation, wear sackcloth underwear for the rest of her life and be a Johnny Appleseed of liberty by giving away copies of the Federalist Papers and "The Law" by Bastiat to anyone she met.
Now, the incredible importance of this resignation:
Swingin' Sandy was a/the swing vote on many issues. GWB needs to follow though on his comments that Scalia and Thomas are his models for Supreme Court appointments. The fact that the lefties are losing the swing vote is going to prove for very predictable actions by the usual gang of extreme constitutional criminals in the Senate.
I would HEARTILY recommend Janice Rogers Brown...this afternoon. No, on second thought, make the announcement on the 4th of July. In Philadelphia. At the National Constitution Center.
Let's roll!
Schweinfurt, WWII, choke points and the black vote
I'm a WWII history buff. Have been since I was 5. Yesterday I was in Little Falls at the Lindbergh Museum and House with the 8th Air Force Historical Society, of which I'm a lifetime member. I've written about them before.These are mostly WWII vets who flew and maintained the B-17's, B-24's. We've also got a number of Pacific pilots and ground crew. Anyhow, I flew up with a group of guys including Earl. He was a sgt. on a B-17 that was shot down on raid in July '44 on Schweinfurt (a center of ball bearing manufacturing in the 3rd Reich). Ball bearings were a choke point in war production. Nearly all the machines of war use ball bearings. Nearly all the machines that manufacture war material need ball bearings. All the transport vehicles for the war effort require ball bearings. Ball bearings were a choke point.
The black vote is a choke point for left wingers.
Without the lock-step black vote remaining at 90+ %, the lefties are relegated to permanent minority party status.If 30% of the black vote gets peeled away to Republicans (though I'd much rather say pro-liberty, small government Republicans, that is no longer the case) the lefties become small vine fruit. Forever.
Captains Quarters (www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ ) has a great column called "The next Generation of Republican Leaders". I have always been amazed at how and why black voters consistently vote against their own best interests. Blacks consistently see education as vital to escaping poverty yet vote for lefties that bring disastrous education programs (most large cities have a combination of a black mayor, city council, school superintendent (see Mpls. and St. Paul for instance) and black teachers). And as Dr. Walter E. Williams (who is black) once said that the KKK could not have designed a better program to destroy blacks than government/public education. Social Security is a disaster for blacks, and yet they vote for the people who refuse to let them, and us, out of this unconstitutional scam. That well over 70% of blacks abhor the idea of gay marriage, and yet vote for the lefties that think gay marriage is hallowed. I wrote that at the 2004 MN Republican Convention, Mrs. Battle (wife of rev. Battle of St.Paul's Mt. Olivet Baptist Church) wanted to be an at large delegate to the National Convention on just the single issue of gay marriage). I saw this as a beachhead issue.
Now, perhaps, the national party has had a double espresso on the issue...maybe.
The black vote is a choke point for left wingers.
Without the lock-step black vote remaining at 90+ %, the lefties are relegated to permanent minority party status.If 30% of the black vote gets peeled away to Republicans (though I'd much rather say pro-liberty, small government Republicans, that is no longer the case) the lefties become small vine fruit. Forever.
Captains Quarters (www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ ) has a great column called "The next Generation of Republican Leaders". I have always been amazed at how and why black voters consistently vote against their own best interests. Blacks consistently see education as vital to escaping poverty yet vote for lefties that bring disastrous education programs (most large cities have a combination of a black mayor, city council, school superintendent (see Mpls. and St. Paul for instance) and black teachers). And as Dr. Walter E. Williams (who is black) once said that the KKK could not have designed a better program to destroy blacks than government/public education. Social Security is a disaster for blacks, and yet they vote for the people who refuse to let them, and us, out of this unconstitutional scam. That well over 70% of blacks abhor the idea of gay marriage, and yet vote for the lefties that think gay marriage is hallowed. I wrote that at the 2004 MN Republican Convention, Mrs. Battle (wife of rev. Battle of St.Paul's Mt. Olivet Baptist Church) wanted to be an at large delegate to the National Convention on just the single issue of gay marriage). I saw this as a beachhead issue.
Now, perhaps, the national party has had a double espresso on the issue...maybe.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Short memories or political pandering?
That is what you have to wonder. Do the Democrats in the House and the Senate really have such short memories or are they simply trying to score political "points"? Why do I ask this? Well to hear the loyal opposition tell it(this week), there were no ties between Saddam Husseins regime in Iraq and Osama bin Ladin's al Qaeda organization. As I have shown in the last couple of posts, there do appear (to the logical mind) to be many, many reasons to suspect that the two were indeed working together. Now, let's take a look at a couple of things that came off of the Senate floor. First comes this speech - do you know who made the following statement?
"I have said publicly for years that weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein pose a real and grave threat to our security and that of our allies in the Persian Gulf region. Saddam Hussein's record bears this out. I have talked about that record. Iraq never fully accounted for the major gaps and inconsistencies in declarations provided to the inspectors of the pre-Gulf war weapons of mass destruction program, nor did the Iraq regime provide credible proof that it had completely destroyed its weapons and production infrastructure. "
That would be the honorable junior Senator from Massachusettes - John Forbes Kerry! (from http://www.independentsforkerry.org/uploads/media/kerry-iraq.html). Fast forward to 2004 where he campaigned on the "illegal" war meme stating that Saddam had no WMD's.
Then there is this little gem (hat tip to Powerline www.powerlineblog.com):
Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;
Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens;
Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, underscored the gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by international terrorist organizations;
Whereas Congress has taken steps to pursue vigorously the war on terrorism through the provision of authorities and funding requested by the President to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;
Whereas the President and Congress are determined to continue to take all appropriate actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;
That dear reader is taken from the text of the Congressional resolution that approved military action in Iraq.
I know that the current meme is that the President "lied" about the WMD's - that he "made up" or "doctored" the intelligence. As I showed in the previous 3 posts, that would have been a pretty neat trick considering that William Jefferson Clinton was President back in 1999. So again this begs the question - short memories or political pandering?
"I have said publicly for years that weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein pose a real and grave threat to our security and that of our allies in the Persian Gulf region. Saddam Hussein's record bears this out. I have talked about that record. Iraq never fully accounted for the major gaps and inconsistencies in declarations provided to the inspectors of the pre-Gulf war weapons of mass destruction program, nor did the Iraq regime provide credible proof that it had completely destroyed its weapons and production infrastructure. "
That would be the honorable junior Senator from Massachusettes - John Forbes Kerry! (from http://www.independentsforkerry.org/uploads/media/kerry-iraq.html). Fast forward to 2004 where he campaigned on the "illegal" war meme stating that Saddam had no WMD's.
Then there is this little gem (hat tip to Powerline www.powerlineblog.com):
Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;
Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens;
Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, underscored the gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by international terrorist organizations;
Whereas Congress has taken steps to pursue vigorously the war on terrorism through the provision of authorities and funding requested by the President to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;
Whereas the President and Congress are determined to continue to take all appropriate actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;
That dear reader is taken from the text of the Congressional resolution that approved military action in Iraq.
I know that the current meme is that the President "lied" about the WMD's - that he "made up" or "doctored" the intelligence. As I showed in the previous 3 posts, that would have been a pretty neat trick considering that William Jefferson Clinton was President back in 1999. So again this begs the question - short memories or political pandering?
More and more MSM denial
The Guardian (of London) is hardly a "conservative" publication. That is why this 1999 article should be given a second look.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,314700,00.html
In the article, Julian Borger goes right into the dangers of a Hussein/bin Laden alliance:
"Saddam Hussein's regime has opened talks with Osama bin Laden, bringing closer the threat of a terrorist attack using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, according to US intelligence sources and Iraqi opposition officials. "
Go back and read that again. The talks bring closer the threat of a terrorist attack using "chemical, biological or nuclear weapons" What were those weapons called again????
"News of the negotiations emerged in a week when the US attorney general, Janet Reno, warned the Senate that a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction was a growing concern. "There's a threat, and it's real," Ms Reno said, adding that such weapons "are being considered for use."
Oh yeah - that's right. The weapons that Saddam supposedly didn't have (if you would believe the recent press reports).
Now to be honest, the Guardian goes on to say that they do not know for sure if Osama accepted the Iraqi offer of assylum, an offer that Osama had previously turned down because of his disdain of the secular aspects of Saddam's Baathist regime, however it does conclude with the statement that Osama didn't have many choices......
It astounds me, that someone like me - a working mother of a very active school aged child - can find this information in the limited time that I have and yet no one in the so-called Main Stream Media can find this and they wonder why their circulation and viewship is going down at a rapid rate.....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,314700,00.html
In the article, Julian Borger goes right into the dangers of a Hussein/bin Laden alliance:
"Saddam Hussein's regime has opened talks with Osama bin Laden, bringing closer the threat of a terrorist attack using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, according to US intelligence sources and Iraqi opposition officials. "
Go back and read that again. The talks bring closer the threat of a terrorist attack using "chemical, biological or nuclear weapons" What were those weapons called again????
"News of the negotiations emerged in a week when the US attorney general, Janet Reno, warned the Senate that a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction was a growing concern. "There's a threat, and it's real," Ms Reno said, adding that such weapons "are being considered for use."
Oh yeah - that's right. The weapons that Saddam supposedly didn't have (if you would believe the recent press reports).
Now to be honest, the Guardian goes on to say that they do not know for sure if Osama accepted the Iraqi offer of assylum, an offer that Osama had previously turned down because of his disdain of the secular aspects of Saddam's Baathist regime, however it does conclude with the statement that Osama didn't have many choices......
It astounds me, that someone like me - a working mother of a very active school aged child - can find this information in the limited time that I have and yet no one in the so-called Main Stream Media can find this and they wonder why their circulation and viewship is going down at a rapid rate.....
More MSM reporting of WHAT???????
I have to admit, I have a lot of friends who have friends who have waaaayyyyyy too much time on their hands. Of course, if they didn't I would not have gotten the following information from said friends today.
The following was found via a Goggle and Lexus Nexus search of newspaper articles from 1999 - back during the Clinton administration! These are condensed summaries of the articles in question.
The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), December 28, 1999.
Iraq tempts bin Laden to attack WestExclusive. By: Ian Bruce, Geopolitics Editor.THE world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, has been offered sanctuary in Iraq if his worldwide terrorist network succeeds in carrying out a campaign of high-profile attacks on the WestÝ ...
Now we are also facing the prospect of an unholy alliance between bin Laden and Saddam. The implications are terrifying.
"We might be looking at the most wanted man on the FBI's target list gaining access to chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons courtesy of Iraq's clandestine research programmes."
The U.S. intelligence community has been squeezing bin Laden's finances steadily for several years. His personal fortune of anything up to £500m has been whittled down to single figures ...
- - - - -
U.S. Newswire, December 23, 1999.
Terrorism Expert Reveals Why Osama bin Laden has Declared War On America; Available for Comment in Light of Predicted Attacks.
... (author Yossef) Bodansky also reveals the relationship between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and how the U.S. bombing of Iraq is "strengthening the hands of militant Islamists eager to translate their rage into violence and terrorism."Ý ....
- - - - -
The Observer. December 19, 1999.
Sanctions reviewed in West as Saddam wields sword of Islam
The Iraqi dictator has rejected a UN deal to lift sanctions. The Western blockade, far from toppling the regime, has bolstered it. He's ditched the sunglasses and taken up the Koran to harness the fervour ofÝ fundamentalists.
By: Jason Burke, in Baghdad
... This time last year the U.S. claimed that another delegation had met Osama bin Laden, the alleged terrorist mastermind and tried to woo him to Iraq.
Senior officials claim that the Islamisation programme is an attempt to defuse the threat of Islamic militancy rather than encourage it ...
- - - - -
United Press International. November 3, 1999, Wednesday, BC cycle.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government has tried to prevent accused terror suspect Osama bin Laden from fleeing Afghanistan to either Iraq or Chechnya, Michael Sheehan, head of counter-terrorism at the State Department, told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee ...
- - - - -
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio). October 31, 1999. Sunday 1 STAR EDITION.
BIN LADEN SPOTTED AFTER OFFER TO LEAVEBy: From Beacon Journal wire services
DATELINE: JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN:
... The Taliban has since made it known through official channels that the likely destination is Iraq.
A Clinton administration official said bin Laden's request "falls far short" of the UN resolution that the Taliban deliver him for trial....
- - - - -
The Kansas City Star. March 2, 1999, Tuesday.
International terrorism, a conflict without boundaries
By Rich Hood
... He (bin Laden)Ýhas a private fortune ranging from $250 million to $500 million and is said to be cultivating a new alliance with Iraq's Saddam Hussein, who has biological and chemical weapons bin Laden would not hesitate to use. An alliance between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein could be deadly. Both men are united in their hatred for the United States and any country friendly to the United States....
- - - - -
Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1999, Tuesday, Home Edition.SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 6; Letters Desk.HEADLINE: OSAMA BIN LADEN
Where is Osama bin Laden (Feb. 14)? That should be the U.S.'s main priority. If as rumored he and Saddam Hussein are joining forces, it could pose a threat making Hitler and Mussolini seem like a sideshow....
- - - - -
National Public Radio (NPR)MORNING EDITION (10:00 AM on ET)February 18, 1999.
THOUGH AFGHANISTAN HAS PROVIDED OSAMA BIN LADEN WITH SANCTUARY, IT IS UNCLEAR WHERE HE IS NOW.ANCHORS: BOB EDWARDSREPORTERS: MIKE SHUSTER
... There have also been reports in recent months that bin Laden might have been considering moving his operations to Iraq. Intelligence agencies in several nations are looking into that. According to Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of CIA counterterrorism operations, a senior Iraqi intelligence official, Farouk Hijazi(ph), sought out bin Laden in December and invited him to come to Iraq.
Mr. VINCENT CANNISTRARO (Former Chief of CIA Counterterrorism Operations): Farouk Hijazi, who was the Iraqi ambassador in Turkey ... known through sources in Afghanistan, members of Osama's entourage let it be known that the meeting had taken place.
SHUSTER: Iraq's contacts with bin Laden go back some years, to at least 1994, when, according to one U.S. government source, Hijazi met him when bin Laden lived in Sudan. According to Cannistraro, Iraq invited bin Laden to live in Baghdad to be nearer to potential targets of terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There is a wide gap between bin Laden's fundamentalism and Saddam Hussein's secular dictatorship. But some experts believe bin Laden might be tempted to live in Iraq because of his reported desire to obtain chemical or biological weapons. CIA director George Tenet referred to that in recent testimony....
- - - - -
Agence France Presse. February 17, 1999.
Saddam plans to use bin Laden against Kuwait, Saudi: opposition
Iraq's President Saddam Hussein plans to use alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden's network to carry out his threats against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, an Iraqi opposition figure charged on Wednesday."If the ... Jaber, a member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said Iraq had "offered to shelter bin Laden under the precondition that he carry out strikes on targets in neighbouring countries."
... Islamic fundamentalist bin Laden, who has gone missing from his base in Afghanistan, would never seek refuge in secular Iraq on ideological grounds. "I think bin Laden would keep quiet or fight to the death rather than seek asylum in Iraq," the London-based dissident, who asked not to be named, told AFP last week.....
- - - - -
Deutsche Presse-Agentur. February 17, 1999, Wednesday, BC Cycle
Opposition group says bin Laden in Iraq
DATELINE: Kuwait City
An Iraqi opposition group claimed in a published report Wednesday that Islamic militant Osama bin Laden is in Iraq from where he plans to launch a campaign of terrorism against Baghdad's Gulf neighbours.
The claim was made by Bayan Jabor, spokesman for the Teheran-based Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Bin Laden "recently settled in Iraq at the invitation of Saddam Hussein in exchange for directing strikes against targets in neighbouring countries," Jabor told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai al- Aam ... Taleban leaders in Afghanistan, where he had been living, said they lost track of him. Media reports have speculated he sought refuge in Chechnya, Somalia, Iraq, or with a non-Taliban group in Afghanistan.
Jabor, who was interviewed in Damascus, Syria, said Iraq began extending invitations to bin Laden six months ago, shortly after the United States bombed his suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan after linking him with the August 7 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania.
The United States indicted Bin Laden for the embassy bombings and has offered a five million dollar reward for information leading to his capture. Bin Laden's disappearance has coincided with stepped up threats by Iraq against neighbours Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey for allowing the United States and Britain to use their air bases to carry out air patrols over two "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq ....
- - - - -
Seeing all of this, I wonder exactly how bad the memory loss is at the DNC and in the newsrooms of America. All we heard (during the build up to the Iraq War and in the last Presidential campaign) was how there was NO connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Are they that forgetfull or are they willing do lie, cheat and steal in order to get back into power?
The following was found via a Goggle and Lexus Nexus search of newspaper articles from 1999 - back during the Clinton administration! These are condensed summaries of the articles in question.
The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), December 28, 1999.
Iraq tempts bin Laden to attack WestExclusive. By: Ian Bruce, Geopolitics Editor.THE world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, has been offered sanctuary in Iraq if his worldwide terrorist network succeeds in carrying out a campaign of high-profile attacks on the WestÝ ...
Now we are also facing the prospect of an unholy alliance between bin Laden and Saddam. The implications are terrifying.
"We might be looking at the most wanted man on the FBI's target list gaining access to chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons courtesy of Iraq's clandestine research programmes."
The U.S. intelligence community has been squeezing bin Laden's finances steadily for several years. His personal fortune of anything up to £500m has been whittled down to single figures ...
- - - - -
U.S. Newswire, December 23, 1999.
Terrorism Expert Reveals Why Osama bin Laden has Declared War On America; Available for Comment in Light of Predicted Attacks.
... (author Yossef) Bodansky also reveals the relationship between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and how the U.S. bombing of Iraq is "strengthening the hands of militant Islamists eager to translate their rage into violence and terrorism."Ý ....
- - - - -
The Observer. December 19, 1999.
Sanctions reviewed in West as Saddam wields sword of Islam
The Iraqi dictator has rejected a UN deal to lift sanctions. The Western blockade, far from toppling the regime, has bolstered it. He's ditched the sunglasses and taken up the Koran to harness the fervour ofÝ fundamentalists.
By: Jason Burke, in Baghdad
... This time last year the U.S. claimed that another delegation had met Osama bin Laden, the alleged terrorist mastermind and tried to woo him to Iraq.
Senior officials claim that the Islamisation programme is an attempt to defuse the threat of Islamic militancy rather than encourage it ...
- - - - -
United Press International. November 3, 1999, Wednesday, BC cycle.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government has tried to prevent accused terror suspect Osama bin Laden from fleeing Afghanistan to either Iraq or Chechnya, Michael Sheehan, head of counter-terrorism at the State Department, told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee ...
- - - - -
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio). October 31, 1999. Sunday 1 STAR EDITION.
BIN LADEN SPOTTED AFTER OFFER TO LEAVEBy: From Beacon Journal wire services
DATELINE: JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN:
... The Taliban has since made it known through official channels that the likely destination is Iraq.
A Clinton administration official said bin Laden's request "falls far short" of the UN resolution that the Taliban deliver him for trial....
- - - - -
The Kansas City Star. March 2, 1999, Tuesday.
International terrorism, a conflict without boundaries
By Rich Hood
... He (bin Laden)Ýhas a private fortune ranging from $250 million to $500 million and is said to be cultivating a new alliance with Iraq's Saddam Hussein, who has biological and chemical weapons bin Laden would not hesitate to use. An alliance between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein could be deadly. Both men are united in their hatred for the United States and any country friendly to the United States....
- - - - -
Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1999, Tuesday, Home Edition.SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 6; Letters Desk.HEADLINE: OSAMA BIN LADEN
Where is Osama bin Laden (Feb. 14)? That should be the U.S.'s main priority. If as rumored he and Saddam Hussein are joining forces, it could pose a threat making Hitler and Mussolini seem like a sideshow....
- - - - -
National Public Radio (NPR)MORNING EDITION (10:00 AM on ET)February 18, 1999.
THOUGH AFGHANISTAN HAS PROVIDED OSAMA BIN LADEN WITH SANCTUARY, IT IS UNCLEAR WHERE HE IS NOW.ANCHORS: BOB EDWARDSREPORTERS: MIKE SHUSTER
... There have also been reports in recent months that bin Laden might have been considering moving his operations to Iraq. Intelligence agencies in several nations are looking into that. According to Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of CIA counterterrorism operations, a senior Iraqi intelligence official, Farouk Hijazi(ph), sought out bin Laden in December and invited him to come to Iraq.
Mr. VINCENT CANNISTRARO (Former Chief of CIA Counterterrorism Operations): Farouk Hijazi, who was the Iraqi ambassador in Turkey ... known through sources in Afghanistan, members of Osama's entourage let it be known that the meeting had taken place.
SHUSTER: Iraq's contacts with bin Laden go back some years, to at least 1994, when, according to one U.S. government source, Hijazi met him when bin Laden lived in Sudan. According to Cannistraro, Iraq invited bin Laden to live in Baghdad to be nearer to potential targets of terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There is a wide gap between bin Laden's fundamentalism and Saddam Hussein's secular dictatorship. But some experts believe bin Laden might be tempted to live in Iraq because of his reported desire to obtain chemical or biological weapons. CIA director George Tenet referred to that in recent testimony....
- - - - -
Agence France Presse. February 17, 1999.
Saddam plans to use bin Laden against Kuwait, Saudi: opposition
Iraq's President Saddam Hussein plans to use alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden's network to carry out his threats against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, an Iraqi opposition figure charged on Wednesday."If the ... Jaber, a member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said Iraq had "offered to shelter bin Laden under the precondition that he carry out strikes on targets in neighbouring countries."
... Islamic fundamentalist bin Laden, who has gone missing from his base in Afghanistan, would never seek refuge in secular Iraq on ideological grounds. "I think bin Laden would keep quiet or fight to the death rather than seek asylum in Iraq," the London-based dissident, who asked not to be named, told AFP last week.....
- - - - -
Deutsche Presse-Agentur. February 17, 1999, Wednesday, BC Cycle
Opposition group says bin Laden in Iraq
DATELINE: Kuwait City
An Iraqi opposition group claimed in a published report Wednesday that Islamic militant Osama bin Laden is in Iraq from where he plans to launch a campaign of terrorism against Baghdad's Gulf neighbours.
The claim was made by Bayan Jabor, spokesman for the Teheran-based Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Bin Laden "recently settled in Iraq at the invitation of Saddam Hussein in exchange for directing strikes against targets in neighbouring countries," Jabor told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai al- Aam ... Taleban leaders in Afghanistan, where he had been living, said they lost track of him. Media reports have speculated he sought refuge in Chechnya, Somalia, Iraq, or with a non-Taliban group in Afghanistan.
Jabor, who was interviewed in Damascus, Syria, said Iraq began extending invitations to bin Laden six months ago, shortly after the United States bombed his suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan after linking him with the August 7 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania.
The United States indicted Bin Laden for the embassy bombings and has offered a five million dollar reward for information leading to his capture. Bin Laden's disappearance has coincided with stepped up threats by Iraq against neighbours Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey for allowing the United States and Britain to use their air bases to carry out air patrols over two "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq ....
- - - - -
Seeing all of this, I wonder exactly how bad the memory loss is at the DNC and in the newsrooms of America. All we heard (during the build up to the Iraq War and in the last Presidential campaign) was how there was NO connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Are they that forgetfull or are they willing do lie, cheat and steal in order to get back into power?
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
ABC News reported what??????
On January 14, 1999 Sheila MacVicar reported for ABC News that Mamhoud Mahmud Salim had been arrested. Salim was (at the time) close associate and confidate of one Osama bin Ladin. The US government alleged that Salim was under orders to procure enriched uranium for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons - a charge that Mr. bin Ladin never denied. During the course of the report. I am quoting the report now....."With an American price on his head, there weren't many places bin Laden could go, unless he teamed up with another international pariah, one also with an interest in weapons of mass destruction. Osama believes in the'enemy of my enemy is my friend, and someone I should cooperate with.' That is certainly the current case with Iraq. Saddam Hussein has a long historyof harboring terrorists: Carlos the Jackal, Abu Nidal, Abu Abbas. The most notorious terrorist of their era all found shelter and support at one timein Baghdad. Intelligence sources say bin Laden's long relationship with the Iraqis began as he helped Sudan's fundamentalist government in their efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Three weeks after the bombing, on August 31st,bin Laden reaches out to his friends in Iraq and Sudan. Iraq's vice president arrives in Khartoon to show his support for the Sudanese after theUS attack. ABC News has learned that during these meetings, senior Sudanese officials, acting on behalf of bin Laden, asked if Saddam Hussein would grant him asylum. Iraq was indeed interested. ABC News has learned that in December, an Iraqi intelligence chief, named Farouk Hijazi, now Iraq's ambassador to Turkey,made a secret trip to Afghanistan to meet with bin Laden. Three intelligence agencies tell ABC News they cannot be certain what was discussed, but almost certainly, they say, bin Laden has been told he would be welcome in Baghdad.''
Did you get that dear readers? ABC News reported back in 1999 that Osama bin Ladin was in discussion with Saddam Hussein for assylum in Baghdad! Now fast forward to the days leading up to the Iraqi war....the same so-called independent media is now reporting that Saddam had "no ties" to Osama and al Qaeda. Which leads to one question....which report is correct?
Audio transcript of the whole report can be found at:
http://www.radioamerica.org/audio/MR_ABC-Osama-Hussein-connections.mp3
Did you get that dear readers? ABC News reported back in 1999 that Osama bin Ladin was in discussion with Saddam Hussein for assylum in Baghdad! Now fast forward to the days leading up to the Iraqi war....the same so-called independent media is now reporting that Saddam had "no ties" to Osama and al Qaeda. Which leads to one question....which report is correct?
Audio transcript of the whole report can be found at:
http://www.radioamerica.org/audio/MR_ABC-Osama-Hussein-connections.mp3
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Follow up to a previous topic
The Washington Times reported today that the Montgomery County (MD) Board of Education has reached an agreement with a conservative parents group and a group of "former" homosexuals (see my May 6, 2005 post). The agreement says that the board must give Citizens for a Responsible Cirriculum and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) each a place on the new cirruculum committee that will be responsible for drawing up the new sex ed cirriculum for the Montgomery County Schools. While the agreement does not guarantee the content of the cirriculum, it does guarantee that the groups will have a say in what is presented to the students (and how).
The schools are also responsible for paying the court costs that the 2 groups incurred in suing to stop the last flawed cirriculum.
Maybe if the school district had not copped such an attitude toward the parents that objected to said cirriculum, they wouldn't be in the situation where they are having to incurr this extra "cost". I hope that they (and school districts across the nation) have learned a valuable lesson in being responsive and responsible to their employers - the taxpayers of their district!
The schools are also responsible for paying the court costs that the 2 groups incurred in suing to stop the last flawed cirriculum.
Maybe if the school district had not copped such an attitude toward the parents that objected to said cirriculum, they wouldn't be in the situation where they are having to incurr this extra "cost". I hope that they (and school districts across the nation) have learned a valuable lesson in being responsive and responsible to their employers - the taxpayers of their district!
Regarding Kelo vs. City of New London
I think the Founding Fathers had the right idea.....
"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence." --John Adams
I don't think it can be said any better than that!
"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence." --John Adams
I don't think it can be said any better than that!
Well, it WAS eradicated...
Some time ago I came across an article that talked about a silent killer that was raising it's head here in America. The reference was to Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB). It was an unknown disease here in the U.S. but was endemic to Mexico. The article went on to talk about the incredibly bad hygiene of third world aliens (such as throwing used toilet paper into the corner of the lavatory or into the wastebasket). Three years ago the Austin, MN police department came down with eight cases of TB. The reason? Contact with illegal aliens-illegal Mexicans (www.frostywooldridge.com/articles/art_illegal_immig_invades_small_town_2003.html )
Today I got an email with a list of articles. One that caught my attention was one titled Hospital to the world:Welcome illegals and contagious diseases" ( http://eco.freedom.org/el/20050602/cosman.shtml ).
I had been looking for a year or two for data on this unreported danger from illegals. I've wondered how many American citizens have died because of these diseases brought to this country by illegals.
The article by Dr. Cosman also alerts us to the fact that terrorist are in the market for highly contagious strains of bio-weapons. A combination of Tom Clancy's "Executive Orders" and "Teeth of the Tiger".
Read the article by Dr. Cosman.
And ask, AGAIN,why the incredible reluctance of the President and Congress to protect us and seal the border with Mexico.
Today I got an email with a list of articles. One that caught my attention was one titled Hospital to the world:Welcome illegals and contagious diseases" ( http://eco.freedom.org/el/20050602/cosman.shtml ).
I had been looking for a year or two for data on this unreported danger from illegals. I've wondered how many American citizens have died because of these diseases brought to this country by illegals.
The article by Dr. Cosman also alerts us to the fact that terrorist are in the market for highly contagious strains of bio-weapons. A combination of Tom Clancy's "Executive Orders" and "Teeth of the Tiger".
Read the article by Dr. Cosman.
And ask, AGAIN,why the incredible reluctance of the President and Congress to protect us and seal the border with Mexico.
Monday, June 27, 2005
"Congratulations, you are now officialy a modern serf", or "the fraud that lefties are for the 'little guy'"
Just read a great column by Vox Day at WorldNetDaily regarding the Kelso decision (local governments have the right to take from private property and give it to another private party, or, in other words, you don't own it. Period!) (www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44997 ) where he outlines that you and I have no private property any longer. The government has the final say over what you own, if you own it. And what you will do with it, or rather what you'd better do with it...or else. Basically”use it the way we want you to use it or lose it!"
I heard a talk show host make the cogent point that the reason your house or property has value is that it's protect
Day, in his column makes a chilling, and accurate analysis:
"Merely substitute a few terms in describing the system and it becomes clear that the Supreme Court has establish
I tri
Strange (not really) that the Supremes apply the 14th Amendment construing the FEDERAL Constitution into a NATIONAL Constitution and yet sid
And how many times have you heard over the years, decades "The Republican Party is the party of the rich"? And that "Democrats look out for the little guy"? Well, the Supremes in Kelo put a wood stake through that fiction. From Day again:
"Although perhaps the court's actions would be better view
The radical left wing jurists on the bench sid
The judiciary was SUPPOSED to be our firewall against the abuse of power by the government.
Now, the jurists have become the arsonists.
It’s the second time in 24 hours I’ve heard a call to physical action to protect our inalienable rights.
Oops...listening to Rush, make that three times.
Plus read this article, then be sure to read the postings following.
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1187052/posts
PPS-
Just read this at letters to WorldNetDaily (and there is a firestorm brewing over Kelo):
Property ownership a sham already
Though the recent decision by the Supreme Court shows egregious disrespect for the People, the Constitution and traditions of property ownership in our country, it is by no means surprising.
I recently ask a woman I know if she owned her home. She proudly responded that she does. I gently corrected her that, in fact, she did not and that she was, like me, only a renter. She strongly reasserted that she in fact owned her home and that she and her husband paid a mortgage.
I was forced then to explain that like me, she may own her home, but she is renting her property. If she did not pay her "rent" in the form of property taxes, her "landlord," the government, would have her evicted. If she resisted, she'd be jailed. This is the same thing that would happen if she rented an apartment or hotel room and refused to pay or leave.
She continued to assert that the difference was she was paying for the "right" to do what she wanted with her property. To which I responded by pointing out the numerous housing codes that regulate how tall her trees could be, what "aesthetically" pleasing colors she could paint her house, where her garbage cans could be and for how long they could be at the curb, how much water she was allowed to use in the flush toilet, etc.
The only real difference is that we elect our government landlords based on how little they say they'll raise the rent.
ML Hawk
Friday, June 24, 2005
You have treatable cancer? Please take a number...
I always enjoy reading Dr. Walter E. Williams columns. He has the talent of making a complex situation understandable. Or, as I like to say, he puts the cookies down where the kids can get them.
That being said, how many times have you heard the radical, anti-American, anti-Constitutionalists lefties proclaim the virtues of a single payer (read government/socialized medicine) health care system? That we should emulate the incredibly successful system that Canada employs? I've read of weeks and months wait for MRI's and 6 to 8 months for an angioplasty, etc. Well, Dr. Williams has a column( www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20050622.shtml ) where he starts out telling about a lawsuit that sought to overturn the statute that outlawed, that's right, outlawed private health insurance. It was illegal to buy private health insurance in Canada. What I found incredible was the findings of fact from the Canadian Supreme Court.
The high court found the Canadian single payer/socialized medicine system literally inflicts unwarranted and needless pain and suffering on its citizens. And that the system also kills those who it's supposed to help.
But, the very simple question from Dr. Williams that I found so intriguing was why, if this system , much heralded by Hitlerary Clinton, Barbara Boxer and their ilk, is such a superb system, why is there any need for private insurance?
And once again, the arrogance and self-piety of all socialists and leftists is that they are willing to let you suffer while they get it right. This reminds me so much of Dr. Thomas Sowell's comments about the self-righteous left and their outlook on the failed systems they inflict on us. As Dr. Sowell puts it from his book "The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy-"The anointed steadfastly refuse to acknowledge mountains of evidence that their policies have failed while accusing their critics of dark motives ".
As Dr. Sowell says in another column (www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell042103.asp ) , the "anointed" (left wing elites and their acolytes) don't want you to be independent:
"Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin responded to the court's decision saying, "We're not going to have a two-tier healthcare system in this country. What we want to do is strengthen the public healthcare system." That's the standard callous political response. He's telling Canadians to continue waiting, continue suffering and perhaps dying until the day comes when there's no more waiting. And though Canadian politicians can't give their citizens a date certain when there'll be no more waiting, they're determined to deny them alternatives to waiting for government-provided healthcare. I'd bet you the rent money that Prime Minister Martin and members of the Canadian Parliament don't have to wait months and years for a medical procedure."
Yup. It's what I once heard 10 years ago from a lefty on why all their programs are such failures "Well, we need just a bit more time and adequate funding."
Once again, it's the failure of a democracy versus a constitutional republic (like we're supposed to have).
That being said, how many times have you heard the radical, anti-American, anti-Constitutionalists lefties proclaim the virtues of a single payer (read government/socialized medicine) health care system? That we should emulate the incredibly successful system that Canada employs? I've read of weeks and months wait for MRI's and 6 to 8 months for an angioplasty, etc. Well, Dr. Williams has a column( www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20050622.shtml ) where he starts out telling about a lawsuit that sought to overturn the statute that outlawed, that's right, outlawed private health insurance. It was illegal to buy private health insurance in Canada. What I found incredible was the findings of fact from the Canadian Supreme Court.
The high court found the Canadian single payer/socialized medicine system literally inflicts unwarranted and needless pain and suffering on its citizens. And that the system also kills those who it's supposed to help.
But, the very simple question from Dr. Williams that I found so intriguing was why, if this system , much heralded by Hitlerary Clinton, Barbara Boxer and their ilk, is such a superb system, why is there any need for private insurance?
And once again, the arrogance and self-piety of all socialists and leftists is that they are willing to let you suffer while they get it right. This reminds me so much of Dr. Thomas Sowell's comments about the self-righteous left and their outlook on the failed systems they inflict on us. As Dr. Sowell puts it from his book "The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy-"The anointed steadfastly refuse to acknowledge mountains of evidence that their policies have failed while accusing their critics of dark motives ".
As Dr. Sowell says in another column (www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell042103.asp ) , the "anointed" (left wing elites and their acolytes) don't want you to be independent:
"Those things that help human beings be independent and self-reliant -- whether automobiles, guns, the free market, or vouchers -- provoke instant hostility from the anointed.
Automobiles enable you to come and go as you wish, without so much as a "by your leave" to your betters. The very idea that other people will go where they want, live where they want, how they want, and send their children to whatever schools they choose, is galling to the anointed, for it denies the very specialness that is at the heart of their picture of themselves.
Guns are completely inappropriate for the kind of sheep-like people the anointed envision or the orderly, prepackaged world in which they are to live. When you are in mortal danger, you are supposed to dial 911, so that the police can arrive on the scene some time later, identify your body, and file reports in triplicate.
The free market is a daily assault on the vision of the anointed. Just think of all those millions of people out there buying whatever they want, whenever they want, whether or not the anointed think it is good for them.
Think of those people earning whatever incomes they happen to get from producing goods or services for other people, at prices resulting from supply and demand, with the anointed cut out of the loop entirely and standing on the sidelines in helpless rage, unable to impose their particular vision of "social justice."
The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites."
Listen to what the Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin says about their mutilating and mis-named health care system:"Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin responded to the court's decision saying, "We're not going to have a two-tier healthcare system in this country. What we want to do is strengthen the public healthcare system." That's the standard callous political response. He's telling Canadians to continue waiting, continue suffering and perhaps dying until the day comes when there's no more waiting. And though Canadian politicians can't give their citizens a date certain when there'll be no more waiting, they're determined to deny them alternatives to waiting for government-provided healthcare. I'd bet you the rent money that Prime Minister Martin and members of the Canadian Parliament don't have to wait months and years for a medical procedure."
Yup. It's what I once heard 10 years ago from a lefty on why all their programs are such failures "Well, we need just a bit more time and adequate funding."
Once again, it's the failure of a democracy versus a constitutional republic (like we're supposed to have).
Thursday, June 23, 2005
My, my, my...
I take off for a couple of weeks (a family reunion in the Keystone state) and all heck breaks loose. Rather than opine on old news (the new MN GOP Chair, Dick (Turban) Durbin) I'll opine on some very recently breaking news....
Last night, Senior White House Advisor Karl Rove spoke before New York State Conservative Party. During the course of his speech, he said "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Conservatives, he said, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war." Well, that just sent the Congressional Democrats into apoplectic fits! They are now demanding that Mr. Rove apologize and resign - preferably both! I find this to be quit ironic after the stunning silence of the same Congressional Democrats when one of their senior leaders, on the floor of the Senate, called our men and women in uniform "Nazi's". When the Republican leadership reacted in the same manner that the Democrats are reacting now, we heard (out of the Star Tribune no less) that no apologies are necessary and that the Senator was well within his free speech rights in opening this "necessary" discussion. The calls for resignation/apology were nothing more than "more noise from the right wing noise machine".
Well I am here to say now, Karl Rove has the same free speech rights that Senator Durbin has. If the "right wing noise machine" needs to quit their complaining about what Democratic leadership has to say about them, then the "left-wing noise machine" needs to do the same. After all, free speech is a right for ALL AMERICANS - not just the elites in the Democratic Party and the MSM......
Last night, Senior White House Advisor Karl Rove spoke before New York State Conservative Party. During the course of his speech, he said "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Conservatives, he said, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war." Well, that just sent the Congressional Democrats into apoplectic fits! They are now demanding that Mr. Rove apologize and resign - preferably both! I find this to be quit ironic after the stunning silence of the same Congressional Democrats when one of their senior leaders, on the floor of the Senate, called our men and women in uniform "Nazi's". When the Republican leadership reacted in the same manner that the Democrats are reacting now, we heard (out of the Star Tribune no less) that no apologies are necessary and that the Senator was well within his free speech rights in opening this "necessary" discussion. The calls for resignation/apology were nothing more than "more noise from the right wing noise machine".
Well I am here to say now, Karl Rove has the same free speech rights that Senator Durbin has. If the "right wing noise machine" needs to quit their complaining about what Democratic leadership has to say about them, then the "left-wing noise machine" needs to do the same. After all, free speech is a right for ALL AMERICANS - not just the elites in the Democratic Party and the MSM......
The Tyrananny State (part I...I'm sure many will follow).
You ever come across that story that proves what you knew all along? Even though it's anecdotal, it is so illustrative. There is a story that proves, once again, Jefferson's quote about the natural order of things is for government to increase and liberty to decrease.
Years ago, there was no seatbelt law. If you wished to impale yourself or launch yourself through the windshield in an accident- your body, your choice. Then a few years ago, there was a seatbelt law passed, but was passed with the proviso that it was going to be a secondary violation. That you wouldn't be pulled over for not wearing your seat belt, but would get a ticket if you weren't and were pulled over for something else.
Welllllll....that won't do!!! My lands no!! So, because all of us are idiots and perhaps can only tie our shoelaces without GOVERNMENT, OUR legislature in collusion with and under threat from the Feds-see Dr. ) made the seat belt law a primary violation. Government grows, liberty shrinks.
Jack Gordon has a great article on this www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5471209.html and ends it with a great summation "That's when I realized what I love so much about the click-it-or-ticket commercial. It provides a perfect Nanny State moment, a quintessential illustration of the snake swallowing its own tail. Our police agencies' Big Honking Initiative for the entire month of May (National Seat Belt Awareness Month) was to protect us -- from ourselves -- by tracking down and punishing those who threaten us -- namely, us...Your government, elected by you, is fed up with standing idly by while its citizens -- you -- are endangered by reckless criminals -- you. And your government -- that is, we -- means to put a stop to it. That is, to you."
The whole article is a great read.
Dr. Walter E. Williams writes an excellent (as usual) article on this very subject of "Click it or Ticket"www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20050615.shtml ".
Years ago, there was no seatbelt law. If you wished to impale yourself or launch yourself through the windshield in an accident- your body, your choice. Then a few years ago, there was a seatbelt law passed, but was passed with the proviso that it was going to be a secondary violation. That you wouldn't be pulled over for not wearing your seat belt, but would get a ticket if you weren't and were pulled over for something else.
Welllllll....that won't do!!! My lands no!! So, because all of us are idiots and perhaps can only tie our shoelaces without GOVERNMENT, OUR legislature in collusion with and under threat from the Feds-see Dr. ) made the seat belt law a primary violation. Government grows, liberty shrinks.
Jack Gordon has a great article on this www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5471209.html and ends it with a great summation "That's when I realized what I love so much about the click-it-or-ticket commercial. It provides a perfect Nanny State moment, a quintessential illustration of the snake swallowing its own tail. Our police agencies' Big Honking Initiative for the entire month of May (National Seat Belt Awareness Month) was to protect us -- from ourselves -- by tracking down and punishing those who threaten us -- namely, us...Your government, elected by you, is fed up with standing idly by while its citizens -- you -- are endangered by reckless criminals -- you. And your government -- that is, we -- means to put a stop to it. That is, to you."
The whole article is a great read.
Dr. Walter E. Williams writes an excellent (as usual) article on this very subject of "Click it or Ticket"www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20050615.shtml ".
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
When the minority becomes all the Senate
Just went to the Pravda on the Mississippi website and saw this story:"Bolton nomination again blocked by Senate". www.startribune.com/stories/587/5467149.html
and I decided to read the story for what I suspected was the real story of Bolton's nomination being blocked. I was not disappointed. Nice to know that Pravda is consistent even if it's not truthful or honest.
The real story is in the second paragaph: "The failure to end Democrats' delaying tactics...". The failure to nominate is because the out of the mainstream left wing senators are blocking the nomination, NOT the Senate.
So, the real headline should read " Bolton nomination again blocked by Senate Democrats".
But, then again, the meeting of the truth and Pravda on the Mississippi would be termed a random event.
P.S. I just wrote an email to one of the article's author's.
I'll update you on any reply.
Also,so as not to tar Pravda unnessarily, the article was written by Wahington Post reporters.
1:57pm- Mr. Babington replies to my question of "Therefore, wouldn’t a more accurate headline be “Bolton nomination again blocked by Senate Democrats”?"
Mr. Babington replies "that would be fair, yes. Thanks."
and I decided to read the story for what I suspected was the real story of Bolton's nomination being blocked. I was not disappointed. Nice to know that Pravda is consistent even if it's not truthful or honest.
The real story is in the second paragaph: "The failure to end Democrats' delaying tactics...". The failure to nominate is because the out of the mainstream left wing senators are blocking the nomination, NOT the Senate.
So, the real headline should read " Bolton nomination again blocked by Senate Democrats".
But, then again, the meeting of the truth and Pravda on the Mississippi would be termed a random event.
P.S. I just wrote an email to one of the article's author's.
I'll update you on any reply.
Also,so as not to tar Pravda unnessarily, the article was written by Wahington Post reporters.
1:57pm- Mr. Babington replies to my question of "Therefore, wouldn’t a more accurate headline be “Bolton nomination again blocked by Senate Democrats”?"
Mr. Babington replies "that would be fair, yes. Thanks."
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Best complaint about the new MN Chair
From one of the MN liberal blogs:
Nice to have the left reveal their "tolerance."
First Howard Dean's comments and now this.
So everyone who has a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ - remember not to run for office or vote or even speak.
That is the left's new way.
And they wonder why they keep losing elections.
Ron Carey, who attended Northwestern College, a "Christ-centered" college, whose web site asks: Would you like to begin a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ? Carey also headed the Minnesota Christian Coalition, the organization founded by religious fanatic, Pat Robertson.
Nice to have the left reveal their "tolerance."
First Howard Dean's comments and now this.
So everyone who has a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ - remember not to run for office or vote or even speak.
That is the left's new way.
And they wonder why they keep losing elections.
I Give You Evidence of the Dangers of Inbreeding...
As we all know, inbreeding of any type leads to diminishment across most areas.
And this is abundantly evident in the majority of radical, intellectually dishonest columnists at Pravda on the Mississippi. For evidence, I give you Doug "Welfare is Evil Except For Those Programs I Choose" Grow. In his screed www.startribune.com/stories/465/5451506.html he claims corporate welfare is bad. But, of course any other welfare is good. Supporting a failed entity is bad as long as that entity is a private company. When that entity is failed government education or failed any governmnet program, well, of course that's good. Seems that he and Nick Coleman ("Beanie Babies and an Intellectual Field Sobriety Test") drink from the same water fountain labeled "The Anointed" (from Thomas Sowells book "The Anointed: Self Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy" ( http://tinyurl.com/b54hv ).
I recommend these sites for some great quotes and overview of Dr. Sowell's book:
http://www.townhall.com/bookclub/sowell3.html
http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=3388
http://www.rightwingnews.com/quotes/anointed.php
And this is abundantly evident in the majority of radical, intellectually dishonest columnists at Pravda on the Mississippi. For evidence, I give you Doug "Welfare is Evil Except For Those Programs I Choose" Grow. In his screed www.startribune.com/stories/465/5451506.html he claims corporate welfare is bad. But, of course any other welfare is good. Supporting a failed entity is bad as long as that entity is a private company. When that entity is failed government education or failed any governmnet program, well, of course that's good. Seems that he and Nick Coleman ("Beanie Babies and an Intellectual Field Sobriety Test") drink from the same water fountain labeled "The Anointed" (from Thomas Sowells book "The Anointed: Self Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy" ( http://tinyurl.com/b54hv ).
I recommend these sites for some great quotes and overview of Dr. Sowell's book:
http://www.townhall.com/bookclub/sowell3.html
http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=3388
http://www.rightwingnews.com/quotes/anointed.php
Friday, June 10, 2005
Beanie Babies and an Intellectual Field Sobriety Test
A few years ago, our Teaching Minister was at a McDonald's when they had a first offering of a certain mini Beanie Baby. He watched as children and some adults descended on the bin like a piranha feeding frenzy. As he watched, he thought "There's a sermon topic here..." I read an article by local left wing screed artist Nick Coleman at Pravda on the Mississippi. From the column lead in, about the proposal for a Twins Stadium built at public expense, I thought that I'd probably agree with him (www.startribune.com/stories/357/5449231.html ). I went to the article and for most the article, I did. I do not oppose a Twins Stadium. Not at all. I do vehemently oppose public financing for a Twins Stadium.
Mr. Coleman talks about public money going to subsidize a privately owned concern, owned by a billionaire who employs millionaires. So far, so good. But, at the eighth paragraph, good ol' Nick shows how he is absolutely incapable of walking an intellectual straight line. He screams that this forcible taking of money from the citizens of Hennepin County benefits the rich but screws the poor. That all this money could go to pay for early childhood education for all at risk kids in the county. And he never mentions that taking this money screws the taxpayers. He ignores all the facts and studies that paying for public education does not get anyone an education. He says that welfare for billionaires is bad, but ineffective welfare is OK if it sounds like it's for a good purpose. That the forcible extraction of someone's hard earned money for a well intentioned, but perfectly useless and therefore dangerous program to the development of children is OK. And so this is a program where the taxpayer really gets screwed! If government education were a product sold on the open market, school boards, Superintendents and the like would be indicted for fraud and deceptive practices. And rightfully so.
And about a minute later, I went to Drudge ( www.drudgereport.com/ ) to look at Joseph Sobran's column. He had posted a column that he'd written just after the Clintonistas sued Microsoft for giving something away. He talked about monopolies. I had some questions during this time to my socialist friend. I told him, if I gathered correctly from his statements about Bill Gates, that Big Software-BAD, Big Oil-BAD,Big Pharmaceuticals-BAD, Big Education---GOOD, Big Regulations-Good, Big Government-Good,no BETTER tending toward BEST. And my friend saw absolutely no intellectual inconsistency in his stance at all. And that the fact that this lawsuit started the avalanche in tech stocks that resulted in the citizens of the United States losing over $2,000,000,000,000 (that's trillions kids) in value. And he thought nothing of it. No connection at all.
And the connection between the two: the coercive force of government. And this while I'm listening to Dr. Walter E. Williams talking about the forceful taking the property of one person and giving it to one that it doesn't belong. Most people would call that theft. The law calls it theft. If I were to go to someone and put a gun to their brainstem and force them to give me $50 and I were to go downtown and give a homeless person that $50, or buy him a meal and a coat with that $50, most people would recognize that as armed robbery nonetheless. Theft. Illegal theft. And yet, the Congress of the United States, through their agents the IRS, takes that same $50 from that same person and gives it to a homeless person. And most Americans see absolutely no problem with the last example. They see one as wrong and the other as perfectly OK. One is illegal theft. The other is legal theft. But both are the taking of someone else's property by force. And just because it's legal doesn't make it right. It was legal to take the property of Jews in Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. And then round them up and kill them. It was legal to own slaves 150 years ago in America. Legal doesn't mean moral.
Anyhow, here is the Sobran column titled "Bill Gates, Robber Baron". It's good. And always timely.
Mr. Coleman talks about public money going to subsidize a privately owned concern, owned by a billionaire who employs millionaires. So far, so good. But, at the eighth paragraph, good ol' Nick shows how he is absolutely incapable of walking an intellectual straight line. He screams that this forcible taking of money from the citizens of Hennepin County benefits the rich but screws the poor. That all this money could go to pay for early childhood education for all at risk kids in the county. And he never mentions that taking this money screws the taxpayers. He ignores all the facts and studies that paying for public education does not get anyone an education. He says that welfare for billionaires is bad, but ineffective welfare is OK if it sounds like it's for a good purpose. That the forcible extraction of someone's hard earned money for a well intentioned, but perfectly useless and therefore dangerous program to the development of children is OK. And so this is a program where the taxpayer really gets screwed! If government education were a product sold on the open market, school boards, Superintendents and the like would be indicted for fraud and deceptive practices. And rightfully so.
And about a minute later, I went to Drudge ( www.drudgereport.com/ ) to look at Joseph Sobran's column. He had posted a column that he'd written just after the Clintonistas sued Microsoft for giving something away. He talked about monopolies. I had some questions during this time to my socialist friend. I told him, if I gathered correctly from his statements about Bill Gates, that Big Software-BAD, Big Oil-BAD,Big Pharmaceuticals-BAD, Big Education---GOOD, Big Regulations-Good, Big Government-Good,no BETTER tending toward BEST. And my friend saw absolutely no intellectual inconsistency in his stance at all. And that the fact that this lawsuit started the avalanche in tech stocks that resulted in the citizens of the United States losing over $2,000,000,000,000 (that's trillions kids) in value. And he thought nothing of it. No connection at all.
And the connection between the two: the coercive force of government. And this while I'm listening to Dr. Walter E. Williams talking about the forceful taking the property of one person and giving it to one that it doesn't belong. Most people would call that theft. The law calls it theft. If I were to go to someone and put a gun to their brainstem and force them to give me $50 and I were to go downtown and give a homeless person that $50, or buy him a meal and a coat with that $50, most people would recognize that as armed robbery nonetheless. Theft. Illegal theft. And yet, the Congress of the United States, through their agents the IRS, takes that same $50 from that same person and gives it to a homeless person. And most Americans see absolutely no problem with the last example. They see one as wrong and the other as perfectly OK. One is illegal theft. The other is legal theft. But both are the taking of someone else's property by force. And just because it's legal doesn't make it right. It was legal to take the property of Jews in Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. And then round them up and kill them. It was legal to own slaves 150 years ago in America. Legal doesn't mean moral.
Anyhow, here is the Sobran column titled "Bill Gates, Robber Baron". It's good. And always timely.
www.sobran.com/columns/2005/050526.shtml
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
I Need Someone to 'splain This To Me...
I am pro life. I'd like to think that I'm rational. I can entertain an opposite point of view while not agreeing with it (Ask Rep. Mark Buesgens about this).
That being said, am I the only one that sees no small discrepancy in the law in this story http://tinyurl.com/94eqf ?
That being said, am I the only one that sees no small discrepancy in the law in this story http://tinyurl.com/94eqf ?
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Deep Throat Spoke...And Millions Died
Seems to be much joyful reminiscing and reliving the good old days when the radical and hate fill
It's the intention that counts...or the revenge.
As Deep Throat comes to the surface (like a dead fish breaks through pond scum) Peggy Noonan explains it very well www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110006763 .
The Treaty of Paris (Paris Peace Accords) that ended direct
The North invaded. Ted (Water Safety Instructor of the Year 1969) Kennedy and the hyenas in his clique, seeing that they had President Nixon on the ropes, betrayed an ally and a people and did not authorize the support of the South. Yup, Teddy was on a roll- doing to the South Vietnamese exactly what he did to Mary Jo Kopechne.
Rush Limbaugh pointed out the hypocrisy of the left...AGAIN, with their extolling a disgruntled government employee (Deep Throat Felt) for being a whistleblower and demonizing Gary Aldrich for being a whistleblower. The differences? Deep Throat kept his identity secret. He hid.And he attacked a Republican. Gary Aldrich's name was out there for all the world to see. Oh, and the most unexcusable of all, he exposed the rock star of the left, Bill Clinton. (Oops. Maybe exposed isn't the right term. Sorry.)
The lefties are like the Bourbons: They never learn and they never forget.
Political revenge from the left on one man is easily worth the lives of millions, including hundreds of thousands of children . Just ask the lefties.
Nah, don't waste your time.
Peggy Noonan got it right. Read her article.
I'm trying to find the transcript of an interview yesterday between Michael Reagan and G. Gordon Liddy. Things you never heard about John Dean. And should.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
The Most Successful Political Party in America
I usually describe myself politically as a conservative with libertarian leanings. I agree with Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily www.worldnetdaily.com/ that I'm not conserving anything. That implies a defensive posture, hanging on to what's left.
I want my liberty back!
The Libertarian Party has pretty much marginalized itself. They are purists and compromise does not exist in the ranks. Though I agree with much of what they represent, they don't live in the real world of politics.
I went to Captains Quarters www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ and he linked to a site which bills itself as The New Libertarian (or Neolibertarians). They go on to define themselves with a new magazine www.qando.net/articles/tnlv1i1.pdf (I'm going to let you do all the linking here).
The magazine defines a paleo and neo libertarian quite nicely.
And they go on to quote Milton Friedman in telling which political party he believes is the most successful of the 20th Century. His choice? The Socialist Party of 1928. By 1980,nearly every economic plank in the 1928 Socialist Party Platform had been passed by the Unted States Congress (re-read the link "If You Stop Their Touchdowns..." tinyurl.com/9bb8h ) .
Good going boys and girls of the Congress.
And BTW, here is the first thing that nearly all (save one, Ron Paul, R-TX) Congressmen and Congresswomen break:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
They immediately throw out this oath of office and conduct themselves and the business of the nation as a democracy, not the constitutional republic that they just took an oath to uphold ( www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr012903.htm )
I want my liberty back!
The Libertarian Party has pretty much marginalized itself. They are purists and compromise does not exist in the ranks. Though I agree with much of what they represent, they don't live in the real world of politics.
I went to Captains Quarters www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ and he linked to a site which bills itself as The New Libertarian (or Neolibertarians). They go on to define themselves with a new magazine www.qando.net/articles/tnlv1i1.pdf (I'm going to let you do all the linking here).
The magazine defines a paleo and neo libertarian quite nicely.
And they go on to quote Milton Friedman in telling which political party he believes is the most successful of the 20th Century. His choice? The Socialist Party of 1928. By 1980,nearly every economic plank in the 1928 Socialist Party Platform had been passed by the Unted States Congress (re-read the link "If You Stop Their Touchdowns..." tinyurl.com/9bb8h ) .
Good going boys and girls of the Congress.
And BTW, here is the first thing that nearly all (save one, Ron Paul, R-TX) Congressmen and Congresswomen break:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
They immediately throw out this oath of office and conduct themselves and the business of the nation as a democracy, not the constitutional republic that they just took an oath to uphold ( www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr012903.htm )
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
June 11th - Change will come to Minnesota
It looks like the Savage Republican's are not the only ones upset with the direction and leadership of the Republican Party (See one of our early posts on the subject here)
When we starting seriously discussing a need for a change back in March, we hoped to find someone to run against the current chair (The Fourth Rules of Savage Politics: It is easy to be against something, a Savage Republican must find or offer an alternative)
By the time we were ready (and had the votes) to get something done at convention at least one alternative appeared.
Various reports have seen the race as either too close to call or leaning towards Ron (based on his polling).
Well in the past few days, a number of events have come together and momentum seems to be building against Ron.
1st, a poorly conceived letter was received from the current chairs of the house caucus. This was met by either a yawn or a quick rebuttal (see reprint here)
2nd, I came home to find a message from Ron Carey annoucing his candicy for chair - he stated "the time for a change leadership". While I know nothing about his positions, the fact that a current member of the executive committee calls for a change is a big deal indeed.
and then today -
Another letter, this one from not one but six current and former executive members saying that it was time for a change in leadership.
Now the big question is not if we will replace Ron, but who will replace him.
The State Central Meeting on June 11th will be fun indeed.
And what does this do for Hoplins bid for Vice Chair - Since he hooked his wagon to Ron, I would hope his bid is gone also.
He seems to suffer from the same problem as Ron - lack of connection to the grassroots.
While we often hear about how many people he has recruited, those of us who were in the trenches during the last election know how false those numbers were - when it came to help at the grassroots level.
He seemed more interested in getting numbers not worrying too much why they were joining or if they would turn out when needed.
For all the talk about the thousands of volunteers, When called upon all you saw from the College Republicans was Flip and Flop and two other recruits.
Things were so bad in CD2 that we actually had to divert campaign funds to hire a professional liaison to work with youth, since the CR was no where to be found.
There are many good CR chapters on our local campuses, but I think their success has more to do with those leaders and support from the Northern Alliance, then anything Hoplin could claim credit for. While he did do a good job of bringing attention to the College Republicans (and himself also), when it can time to deliver - nothing.
Stay tuned for more - The upcoming rules meeting should shed some light on what the Chair may be planning to do - will he read the writing and go quietly - or will he try and pull some last minute trick to try and hold onto his seat.
(Of course after seeing how well he did for the party late in 2004, not sure anyone need to worry)
When we starting seriously discussing a need for a change back in March, we hoped to find someone to run against the current chair (The Fourth Rules of Savage Politics: It is easy to be against something, a Savage Republican must find or offer an alternative)
By the time we were ready (and had the votes) to get something done at convention at least one alternative appeared.
Various reports have seen the race as either too close to call or leaning towards Ron (based on his polling).
Well in the past few days, a number of events have come together and momentum seems to be building against Ron.
1st, a poorly conceived letter was received from the current chairs of the house caucus. This was met by either a yawn or a quick rebuttal (see reprint here)
2nd, I came home to find a message from Ron Carey annoucing his candicy for chair - he stated "the time for a change leadership". While I know nothing about his positions, the fact that a current member of the executive committee calls for a change is a big deal indeed.
and then today -
Another letter, this one from not one but six current and former executive members saying that it was time for a change in leadership.
Now the big question is not if we will replace Ron, but who will replace him.
The State Central Meeting on June 11th will be fun indeed.
And what does this do for Hoplins bid for Vice Chair - Since he hooked his wagon to Ron, I would hope his bid is gone also.
He seems to suffer from the same problem as Ron - lack of connection to the grassroots.
While we often hear about how many people he has recruited, those of us who were in the trenches during the last election know how false those numbers were - when it came to help at the grassroots level.
He seemed more interested in getting numbers not worrying too much why they were joining or if they would turn out when needed.
For all the talk about the thousands of volunteers, When called upon all you saw from the College Republicans was Flip and Flop and two other recruits.
Things were so bad in CD2 that we actually had to divert campaign funds to hire a professional liaison to work with youth, since the CR was no where to be found.
There are many good CR chapters on our local campuses, but I think their success has more to do with those leaders and support from the Northern Alliance, then anything Hoplin could claim credit for. While he did do a good job of bringing attention to the College Republicans (and himself also), when it can time to deliver - nothing.
Stay tuned for more - The upcoming rules meeting should shed some light on what the Chair may be planning to do - will he read the writing and go quietly - or will he try and pull some last minute trick to try and hold onto his seat.
(Of course after seeing how well he did for the party late in 2004, not sure anyone need to worry)
7 in a day? Yah, not too bad for a... rookie!
This past weekend, I went to the R
I'm a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society of Minnesota (8thmn.org/ ). These are the guys who were the air and ground crew for the B-17's, B-24's, C-47's. We also have guys from the 15th Air Force (
We set up a PX at the airport and I go to help. This weekend one of our members (Larry) went to take part in the ongoing seminar of the different aspects of WWII and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Larry is a B-24 pilot with 35 complet
And the other thing that impress
As we were setting up the interview, and before I knew his background, I ask
I am always aware that when I have lunch with these guys on W
And I am so honor
Lunch with the 8th Air Force Historical Society of Minnesota is at legion Post 550 (NW corner of 94th and Lyndale in
Mr. Swett: www.acepilots.com/usmc_aces.html#Swett and www.tcpilots.org/bios/swett.html to cite a few.
Mr. McNiece: tinyurl.com/9gxs3
AND if you want a surprise, go to www.combataircrew.net/ and ask for the DVD or tape of Mr. Swett's interview to hear his thoughts about Greg "Pappy" Boyington and the Black Sheep Squadron on the mission they both flew.
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