Whoever said all politics is local was very wise indeed. What makes me think back on this bit of wisdom? I spent the better part of 2 hours this evening, meeting with some very passionate people discussing the direction of the city I live in. Yes, dear readers, it is City Council election time. Off year elections are always tough - people are not motivated to get out for City Council elections as they are for Presidential elections. However, this time may be different.
I live in a small, semi-rural town. It is the type of town people move to in order to raise their families and escape the pressures of their work day. It is a quiet town on one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. Recreation is a vital part of life in our town. Our town, however, is located in one of the top 5 fastest growing counties in the entire United States. That growth has been effecting our community if good ways and bad ways. As a result the mayor and the current city council have had to address how to handle the growth. One of the things that the current mayor and city council have been managing (if that is the word you want to use) has been housing growth. Housing growth is a natural by-product of population growth. Their idea of managing housing growth is to rezone areas from single family homes to high density housing and from environmental set aside lands to high density housing. Now this flies in stark contrast to what the citizens of the city want. According to a survey that was conducted by consultant that the city council itself hired, 53% of the residents of this town want to keep the small town/rural feel of the community. I have a hard time seeing how high density housing fits into that mold.
While I am just one vote and what is important to me may not be the most important issue to my next door neighbor, the common theme I took away from this meeting was that the city leaders were unresponsive to the citizenry. The phrases that I kept hearing was that the people had "no voice" in city government and that there was no sense of "accountabilty" within City Hall. Those two phrases, in a nutshell, reverberated in my mind. While the voters say they want their state and federal governments to be more accountable, they demand it from their city governments. A city government that is unresponsive and unaccountable is going to face an uprising at the polls. Will it happen this time? I can't say for certain, but it will eventually happen. However, if it takes too long to happen, the city may be doomed.....
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Friday, October 07, 2005
Conservatism demands Excellence
When Norm Coleman ran for office - as conservatives objected we were told - We need his vote in the Senate so we can get our conservative judges confirmed.
When Arlen Specter was being supported by the White House against the wishes of conservatives - We were told - We need his vote in the Senate.
And now the President had a chance to nominate someone to be a true constitutional Judge and instead gives us an unknown who we are told can get confirmed because she has no record - So why did he need the votes?
We wanted a candidate who a record of Constitutional writing and judgment.
We have had other justices who were not judges, but they had a long and distinguished careers and writings in Constitutional Law. Something this candidate lacks.
Some say it is because she is not from an Ivy League School or because she is a woman, but many of the other candidates being suggested are not from Ivy League Schools and many are women - It is sad to see a "conservatives" play the gender and eliteist card.
And what does the nomination of a stealth candidate tell conservative legal scholars, judges and law students?
That even when we have a "conservative" President and control of the Senate - you had better not stand up and show your conservatism - because only those who say nothing can get appointed.
But the thing that worries me the most is we are told to not worry because the president knows her and trust she will be a "constitutional" judge.
The same President who told us he believed in a limited government - and then signed the Campaign Finance Law - A direct attack on the First Amendment.
The same President who talks about fiscal conservatism then went on TV to tell me how much money the Federal Government was going to transfer to New Orleans.
Conservatives have said - She will be the swing vote we need on "Roe".
I don't want a vote - I want a Judge.
She may turn into a reliable conservative vote on the bench - but the outcome does not justify the selection.
As a conservative, I seek excellence and for the Supreme Court I want an excellent Constitutional Scholar - We did not get it with this candidate.
As another nominee said, the Supreme Court is about calling Balls and Strikes.
On this one President Bush was told the swing away and instead we have a called strike - with the bat still on his shoulder.
When Arlen Specter was being supported by the White House against the wishes of conservatives - We were told - We need his vote in the Senate.
And now the President had a chance to nominate someone to be a true constitutional Judge and instead gives us an unknown who we are told can get confirmed because she has no record - So why did he need the votes?
We wanted a candidate who a record of Constitutional writing and judgment.
We have had other justices who were not judges, but they had a long and distinguished careers and writings in Constitutional Law. Something this candidate lacks.
Some say it is because she is not from an Ivy League School or because she is a woman, but many of the other candidates being suggested are not from Ivy League Schools and many are women - It is sad to see a "conservatives" play the gender and eliteist card.
And what does the nomination of a stealth candidate tell conservative legal scholars, judges and law students?
That even when we have a "conservative" President and control of the Senate - you had better not stand up and show your conservatism - because only those who say nothing can get appointed.
But the thing that worries me the most is we are told to not worry because the president knows her and trust she will be a "constitutional" judge.
The same President who told us he believed in a limited government - and then signed the Campaign Finance Law - A direct attack on the First Amendment.
The same President who talks about fiscal conservatism then went on TV to tell me how much money the Federal Government was going to transfer to New Orleans.
Conservatives have said - She will be the swing vote we need on "Roe".
I don't want a vote - I want a Judge.
She may turn into a reliable conservative vote on the bench - but the outcome does not justify the selection.
As a conservative, I seek excellence and for the Supreme Court I want an excellent Constitutional Scholar - We did not get it with this candidate.
As another nominee said, the Supreme Court is about calling Balls and Strikes.
On this one President Bush was told the swing away and instead we have a called strike - with the bat still on his shoulder.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Harriet Miers for Supreme Court
I have been holding my tongue on this issue, because so many others have been going off emotionally on the nomination of Ms. Miers. The conservative punditry was quick to condemn the President on his choice and the ensuing noise from the echo chamber has been deafening. From the National Review, to Michelle Malkin, to the Powerline gents (whom I have great admiration for), the conservative world is abuzz with disappointment. Those who take a more positive approach (Hugh Hewitt for one) are sometimes taken to task for their "blind support" of the President. The hue and cry has been so overwhelming that President Bush had to hold yet another press conference today to try to calm the base a little bit....
Now I will not pretend to be an expert on Consitutional Law. That is why I admire the Powerline gents and Hugh Hewitt so much. They know the law and they can translate it so that a lay-person like myself can understand it. I would (however) like to comment on the hysteria that has been coming out of the vast right wing conspiracy (of which I am a card carrying member) over the last 24 hours. It seems to me like we are doing it again....we are fracturing ourselves over an issue where we simply do not have all of the facts. Yes, Ms. Miers is a judicial unknown. However, the days and weeks leading up to the Senate Confirmation hearings is where we will get to know her judicial temperment better. The nay-sayers say she has no judicial experience. True enough - but neither did 19 other seated Supreme Court justices. She has had the administrative experice of running a large legal enterprise that has to make tough decisions and do it in a way where all parties feel that they were given the opportunity to make their side heard. That is a good thing in my book.
All I am saying, dear readers, is let's back away from the feeding frenzy of self destruction and wait until we have all of the facts, before we make a snap judgement on whether Ms. Miers is an acceptable candidate or not. We have time, let's not jeopardize the 2006 mid-terms over an unknown.
Now I will not pretend to be an expert on Consitutional Law. That is why I admire the Powerline gents and Hugh Hewitt so much. They know the law and they can translate it so that a lay-person like myself can understand it. I would (however) like to comment on the hysteria that has been coming out of the vast right wing conspiracy (of which I am a card carrying member) over the last 24 hours. It seems to me like we are doing it again....we are fracturing ourselves over an issue where we simply do not have all of the facts. Yes, Ms. Miers is a judicial unknown. However, the days and weeks leading up to the Senate Confirmation hearings is where we will get to know her judicial temperment better. The nay-sayers say she has no judicial experience. True enough - but neither did 19 other seated Supreme Court justices. She has had the administrative experice of running a large legal enterprise that has to make tough decisions and do it in a way where all parties feel that they were given the opportunity to make their side heard. That is a good thing in my book.
All I am saying, dear readers, is let's back away from the feeding frenzy of self destruction and wait until we have all of the facts, before we make a snap judgement on whether Ms. Miers is an acceptable candidate or not. We have time, let's not jeopardize the 2006 mid-terms over an unknown.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Just what district is this again????
Colleen Rowley, former FBI whistleblower of 9/11 fame, has been in the news a lot lately. She was in Crawford Texas last month with Cindy Sheehan and she has been giving speeches all over the state lately. Her most recent was in Brooklyn Park and is reported here. About the only place where she has not been giving "stump" speeches has been in CD 2 and that is the district that she is supposedly running to represent! You hear reports of her speaking in lots of places outside of CD 2 including Washington DC where she spoke in support of Representative Dennis Kucinich's proposed "Department of Peace and Non-Violence".
Hey Colleen - why don't you save your money and speak a little closer to home. Say, anywhere in CD 2 where the people that you want to represent live.....Just a thought.
Hey Colleen - why don't you save your money and speak a little closer to home. Say, anywhere in CD 2 where the people that you want to represent live.....Just a thought.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Smoking ban
I'm going to step into Anti-Strib's realm here. The folks over there have posted numerous stories about the adverse effects of the smoking ban that Hennepin and Ramsey counties instituted this year. According to this story in today's Star Tribune, charitable gaming revenues are down 22% in Hennepin county for the 2nd quarter of 2005 (the last quarter reported) and Ramsey county is down 10%. Metro counties (where there is no ban) are more mixed with a few counties gaining minimal revenue and others loosing minimal revenue. This should surely add to the pressure to both counties to reconsider their smoking bans.
This adds to the economic bad news that the smoking bans have brought to the counties. I would encourage you to go read the archives over at Anti-Strib. They have put a ton of research into this and they deserve all the credit for keeping this issue front and center.
This adds to the economic bad news that the smoking bans have brought to the counties. I would encourage you to go read the archives over at Anti-Strib. They have put a ton of research into this and they deserve all the credit for keeping this issue front and center.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Hysteria in the Media
My dear friend in New Orleans send me this today. I think I have read and re-read it a dozen times since then. Two passages hit me the hardest. First was this one:
"The picture that emerged was one of the impoverished, masses of flood victims resorting to utter depravity, randomly attacking each other, as well as the police trying to protect them and the rescue workers trying to save them. Nagin told Winfrey the crowd has descended to an "almost animalistic state.""
I was stunned by that statement. I can not help but wonder what the collective press corps' reaction to that statement would have been had the mayor been someone like Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago or Mayor Randy Kelly of St Paul - white men.
The second striking paragraph was this one:
"One widely circulated tale, told to The Times-Picayune by a slew of evacuees and two Arkansas National Guardsmen, held that "30 or 40 bodies" were stored in a Convention Center freezer. But a formal Arkansas Guard review of the matter later found that no soldier had actually seen the corpses, and that the information came from rumors in the food line for military, police and rescue workers in front of Harrah's New Orleans Casino, said Edwards, who conducted the review."
Remember the game "telephone". I whisper a sentence into one person's ear and that sentence is whispered, one person at a time, until the last person in the room to hear the sentence gets it and then he/she is supposed to say it out loud and never resembles the initial sentence. This one was that this widely ciruclated story was reported as gospel by the various media outlets around the country and it turned out to be nothing more than the results of a game telephone! These same people who denigrate certain news bloggers as being rumor mongers and unreliable because they don't have editorial boards looking over their shoulders. Well folks you all have the editorial board oversight - why didn't you catch this?
I guess that just goes to show that even with editorial board oversight, just knowing stuff isn't enough. You have to be willing and able to chase a story down - to get to the truth! The legacy media, in their hysterical rush for disaster of the week ratings, ran with stories that now, in the cold, hard light of reality were not what they claimed to be.
"The picture that emerged was one of the impoverished, masses of flood victims resorting to utter depravity, randomly attacking each other, as well as the police trying to protect them and the rescue workers trying to save them. Nagin told Winfrey the crowd has descended to an "almost animalistic state.""
I was stunned by that statement. I can not help but wonder what the collective press corps' reaction to that statement would have been had the mayor been someone like Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago or Mayor Randy Kelly of St Paul - white men.
The second striking paragraph was this one:
"One widely circulated tale, told to The Times-Picayune by a slew of evacuees and two Arkansas National Guardsmen, held that "30 or 40 bodies" were stored in a Convention Center freezer. But a formal Arkansas Guard review of the matter later found that no soldier had actually seen the corpses, and that the information came from rumors in the food line for military, police and rescue workers in front of Harrah's New Orleans Casino, said Edwards, who conducted the review."
Remember the game "telephone". I whisper a sentence into one person's ear and that sentence is whispered, one person at a time, until the last person in the room to hear the sentence gets it and then he/she is supposed to say it out loud and never resembles the initial sentence. This one was that this widely ciruclated story was reported as gospel by the various media outlets around the country and it turned out to be nothing more than the results of a game telephone! These same people who denigrate certain news bloggers as being rumor mongers and unreliable because they don't have editorial boards looking over their shoulders. Well folks you all have the editorial board oversight - why didn't you catch this?
I guess that just goes to show that even with editorial board oversight, just knowing stuff isn't enough. You have to be willing and able to chase a story down - to get to the truth! The legacy media, in their hysterical rush for disaster of the week ratings, ran with stories that now, in the cold, hard light of reality were not what they claimed to be.
We have officially entered the "Viet Nam" zone...
But not in the way that the left has envisioned it...There is no military quagmire, only a protesting quagmire...
I have been reading and watching the coverage of last week-ends Anti-American (and Pro-American) protests in Washington DC. While watching (and reading) the coverage, I had a flashback to Chicago 1968 and the Democratic National Party Convention that year. For context, I grew up in Chicago and in 1968 we were innundated with live coverage of the anti-American protests there. The protests themselves (and the City's horrible reaction to it) are indelibly etched into my memory. I would sit, alternately transfixed and horrified, as I watched my beloved city collapse into lawlessness. The fact that the City reacted with such overwhelming brutality was even more frightening to me than the riots were.
Fast forward 37 years to 2005. Watching the protesters and seeing their signs, I could not help but think that I was having a deja vu moment because the people that I saw were the same people I watched back in 1968. The only difference was that the protesters were a lot grayer (aren't we all) than they were then. They only thing missing (thankfully) were the riots and the chants of "THE WHOLE WORLD'S WATCHING". The rest was the same...the same tired chants, the same socialist speakers and the same tired ideas that died when the Cold War ended.
More importantly, I remembered something my father said to me one night (while we were watching the chaos unfold). He said, never forget that people died in Europe, people died in Korea and people are dying today in Viet Nam in order for these people to have the right to protest today! Never forget the sacrifices of our soldiers. Now my father was not a "military" man. The closest we got to having a family member in the service was one uncle in the Navy and a great uncle in the Air Force (both during Korea), but even then he knew what was right. It's amazing how smart my parents got as I got older. I hope I am that "smart" when my son gets older too.....
UPDATE: From my lips to God's ear. According to this story from the Washington Post, Cindy Sheehan was arrested today in front of the White House. She was arrested for blocking a public sidewalk. As police led her away, her follow protesters were heard chanting "the whole world's watching". I can't help but marvel at the narcissism and total lack of a sense of history that these people (protesters and reporters) have. When the 1968 protesters were chanting that, they were being trampled by police horses and beaten bloody by baton weilding police officers and gassed with tear gas while being dragged to waiting police vehicles. Not one tear gas canister, not one baton, not one horse and not one dragging was in sight in the pictures I saw of the arrest.
I have been reading and watching the coverage of last week-ends Anti-American (and Pro-American) protests in Washington DC. While watching (and reading) the coverage, I had a flashback to Chicago 1968 and the Democratic National Party Convention that year. For context, I grew up in Chicago and in 1968 we were innundated with live coverage of the anti-American protests there. The protests themselves (and the City's horrible reaction to it) are indelibly etched into my memory. I would sit, alternately transfixed and horrified, as I watched my beloved city collapse into lawlessness. The fact that the City reacted with such overwhelming brutality was even more frightening to me than the riots were.
Fast forward 37 years to 2005. Watching the protesters and seeing their signs, I could not help but think that I was having a deja vu moment because the people that I saw were the same people I watched back in 1968. The only difference was that the protesters were a lot grayer (aren't we all) than they were then. They only thing missing (thankfully) were the riots and the chants of "THE WHOLE WORLD'S WATCHING". The rest was the same...the same tired chants, the same socialist speakers and the same tired ideas that died when the Cold War ended.
More importantly, I remembered something my father said to me one night (while we were watching the chaos unfold). He said, never forget that people died in Europe, people died in Korea and people are dying today in Viet Nam in order for these people to have the right to protest today! Never forget the sacrifices of our soldiers. Now my father was not a "military" man. The closest we got to having a family member in the service was one uncle in the Navy and a great uncle in the Air Force (both during Korea), but even then he knew what was right. It's amazing how smart my parents got as I got older. I hope I am that "smart" when my son gets older too.....
UPDATE: From my lips to God's ear. According to this story from the Washington Post, Cindy Sheehan was arrested today in front of the White House. She was arrested for blocking a public sidewalk. As police led her away, her follow protesters were heard chanting "the whole world's watching". I can't help but marvel at the narcissism and total lack of a sense of history that these people (protesters and reporters) have. When the 1968 protesters were chanting that, they were being trampled by police horses and beaten bloody by baton weilding police officers and gassed with tear gas while being dragged to waiting police vehicles. Not one tear gas canister, not one baton, not one horse and not one dragging was in sight in the pictures I saw of the arrest.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
The racism of the "anti-war" movement
A Texas friend forwarded this to me today. To say that this was an eye-opener is an understatement, but not totally surprising when I think back on conversations that I have had with the rabid anti-war left. Their statements puzzled me and saddened me at the same time for I was always told how accepting of others these people were (granted they were usually the ones telling me how accepting they are but that is another story). I have heard, out of supposedly intelligent, well meaning people, that the Arab culture could not handle democracy. That they don't understand it, that it is not workable for them. These are the very same kind of justifications that people used when trying to justify slavery, opposing women's sufferage and opposing the Voting Rights Act of 1968!!!! The very people who today say that "liberating Iraq is not worth the sacrifice that my son (white) made" would not be caught dead saying that the life of a black man or woman and yet they feel quite comfortable saying that about a brown (or "yellow") man or woman.
Are they truly that blinded by their hatred of President Bush that they can not see the hypocrisy of their own statements? Or are they willfully that hypocritical? That is the million dollar question. For if they are blinded by their hatred of President Bush, well then maybe there is hope - hope that when the next Administration is in place they will see the error of their ways. However, I fear that they are that willfully hypocritical....take a look at the leadership of the "loyal" opposition. They are the ones whose voices are calling for our withdrawl from Iraq the loudest! Leaders like Senators Clinton, Kennedy or Kerry are demanding that our troops be brought home now because of the quagmire that Iraq has become. So supposedly "color blind" people are using race to score political points! That to me, is the lowest of low. Whatever happened to having a "color blind" society? It was sacrificed on the alter of political power! When will the people of America wake up to the hypocrisy of the anti-war movement??????
Are they truly that blinded by their hatred of President Bush that they can not see the hypocrisy of their own statements? Or are they willfully that hypocritical? That is the million dollar question. For if they are blinded by their hatred of President Bush, well then maybe there is hope - hope that when the next Administration is in place they will see the error of their ways. However, I fear that they are that willfully hypocritical....take a look at the leadership of the "loyal" opposition. They are the ones whose voices are calling for our withdrawl from Iraq the loudest! Leaders like Senators Clinton, Kennedy or Kerry are demanding that our troops be brought home now because of the quagmire that Iraq has become. So supposedly "color blind" people are using race to score political points! That to me, is the lowest of low. Whatever happened to having a "color blind" society? It was sacrificed on the alter of political power! When will the people of America wake up to the hypocrisy of the anti-war movement??????
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day
This morning, while getting ready for church, I was listening to George Stephanopolis interviewing Senator John McCain (R-AZ). Now Senator McCain is more of a liberal than he is a true conservative and as such, has taken much scorn from the hard core Republican base. However, what he had to say this morning made a lot of sense. He was saying that if we are going to spend billions of dollars on rebuilding the hurricane ravaged areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas we must find other areas in the budget to cut the spending. Sen. McCain's idea was to cut some $26 billion out of the Highway budget that was just passed. So far, the only governmental "leader" to get behind this idea was Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca). The Republican leadership in both the House and the Senate are dead set against this, as is the White House. This is a shame as the Republicans are supposed to be the party of fiscal responsibility...at least that is what the grass roots activists are all about!
It is time for the Republican grass roots to speak up to their leadership! N.Z. Bear, over at www.truthlaidbear.com has started a new project called Porkbusters. He is asking that all concerned citizens, regardless of political party, write to their respective represenatives in both the House and the Senate demanding that they take a stand against this continued deficit spending. I suggest taking it one step further. Send the message to the White House as well! I did. I hope to hear from my representatives (Senators Dayton and Coleman and Rep John Kline) soon and if I do, I will be sending that information on to N.Z. Bear like others have. With the 2006 elections right around the corner, now is the time to make your voices heard. Because if they don't hear and they don't respond, they know that we the voters will take our voices elsewhere.
UPDATE: I sent a letter to Congressman Mark Kennedy (who is running for the Republican nomination to Senator Dayton's seat). I noticed on his website he talks about a $2.5 million grant to a regional airport in his district. I wonder what his reaction to my letter will be in light of that grant. I will keep you all posted.
It is time for the Republican grass roots to speak up to their leadership! N.Z. Bear, over at www.truthlaidbear.com has started a new project called Porkbusters. He is asking that all concerned citizens, regardless of political party, write to their respective represenatives in both the House and the Senate demanding that they take a stand against this continued deficit spending. I suggest taking it one step further. Send the message to the White House as well! I did. I hope to hear from my representatives (Senators Dayton and Coleman and Rep John Kline) soon and if I do, I will be sending that information on to N.Z. Bear like others have. With the 2006 elections right around the corner, now is the time to make your voices heard. Because if they don't hear and they don't respond, they know that we the voters will take our voices elsewhere.
UPDATE: I sent a letter to Congressman Mark Kennedy (who is running for the Republican nomination to Senator Dayton's seat). I noticed on his website he talks about a $2.5 million grant to a regional airport in his district. I wonder what his reaction to my letter will be in light of that grant. I will keep you all posted.
Friday, September 23, 2005
A department of WHAT?!?!?!?!
Just when you thought it couldn't get ANY sillier, comes this gem from Washington. It seems that my esteemed Senior Senator, Mark Dayton, has decided that our federal government needs yet another Cabinet level position (he obviously hasn't learned any lessons from the fed's reaction to Katrina has he?). So he has introduced legislation to form (sit down for this one) a Department of PEACE AND NON-VIOLENCE! Yep, the same Senator who closed his office and ran back to Minnesota to hide in his mansion on Lake Minnetonka because he heard that Washington DC might be a target for terrorist attacks is proposing that we form a department of Peace. The budget for this new department is supposed to come out of the DOD budget, but we all know how that works. Give the federal government a penny and they'll steal a dollar! Cover your wallets friends.
In a related note, on 9/11 Colleen Rowley (former FBI whistleblower and candidate for congress in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District) was the featured speaker at a Washington DC conference that was being held to support a similar bill in the House (sponsored by Rep Dennis Kucinich). The bill, H.R. 3760, (which can be found here) calls for the creation of a "Peace Academy" that would be modeled after military schools such as West Point, would rename January 1 from "New Years Day" to "Peace Day" where citizens would "be encouraged to observe and celebrate the blessings ofpeace and endeavor to create peace in the coming year." and would develop such needed bureaucratic offices as the "Office of Peace Education and Training" and the "Office of Domestic Peace Activities" (not to be confused with the "Office of International Peace Activities" and positions such as the "Assistant Secretary for Peaceful Coexistance and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution".
I wish, dear reader that I could tell you that this is satire, but sadly it is all too real. The resolution already has 60 co-sponsors in the House. Some of the co-sponsors are the usual Minnesota suspects - Rep Betty McCollum, Rep Martin Olav Sabo and Rep Jim Oberstar - but it also includes some of the usual national suspects such as Rep. Cynthia McKinney (GA), Rep. Charles Rangel (NY) and Rep. Maxine Waters (CA).
My dear friends and readers know that I despise the inflammatory rhetoric (using such words as "moonbat" and "chickenhawk") as it detracts from the debate, rather than adding to it, but I really have to wonder seriously about the mental health of the people sponsoring this legislation. Do they not understand that the world is full of dangerous people who see this kind of nonsense as weakness? Are they really that out of touch with reality that this seems "sensible" to them? I have to ask in all honesty for I simply do not understand their logic in this.
Dear, dear readers.....this is why elections are so very important. Trivial issues like this should not be the focus of our elected leadership at a time when we are facing multiple crises (Katrina and Rita clean-up, Iraq elections pending and Afghan elections just finished). Serious times demand serious leadership and I desperately hope that my friends here in CD2 reject Ms. Rowley's bid for Congress, that my neighbors in CD4 (Rep McCollum's district), CD5 (Rep Sabo's district) and CD8 (Rep Oberstar's district) find serious leaders to replace them with and that the good people of Minnesota elect a serious leader, like Rep Mark Kennedy, to the Senate seat that Mr. Dayton will soon be vacating.
In a related note, on 9/11 Colleen Rowley (former FBI whistleblower and candidate for congress in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District) was the featured speaker at a Washington DC conference that was being held to support a similar bill in the House (sponsored by Rep Dennis Kucinich). The bill, H.R. 3760, (which can be found here) calls for the creation of a "Peace Academy" that would be modeled after military schools such as West Point, would rename January 1 from "New Years Day" to "Peace Day" where citizens would "be encouraged to observe and celebrate the blessings ofpeace and endeavor to create peace in the coming year." and would develop such needed bureaucratic offices as the "Office of Peace Education and Training" and the "Office of Domestic Peace Activities" (not to be confused with the "Office of International Peace Activities" and positions such as the "Assistant Secretary for Peaceful Coexistance and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution".
I wish, dear reader that I could tell you that this is satire, but sadly it is all too real. The resolution already has 60 co-sponsors in the House. Some of the co-sponsors are the usual Minnesota suspects - Rep Betty McCollum, Rep Martin Olav Sabo and Rep Jim Oberstar - but it also includes some of the usual national suspects such as Rep. Cynthia McKinney (GA), Rep. Charles Rangel (NY) and Rep. Maxine Waters (CA).
My dear friends and readers know that I despise the inflammatory rhetoric (using such words as "moonbat" and "chickenhawk") as it detracts from the debate, rather than adding to it, but I really have to wonder seriously about the mental health of the people sponsoring this legislation. Do they not understand that the world is full of dangerous people who see this kind of nonsense as weakness? Are they really that out of touch with reality that this seems "sensible" to them? I have to ask in all honesty for I simply do not understand their logic in this.
Dear, dear readers.....this is why elections are so very important. Trivial issues like this should not be the focus of our elected leadership at a time when we are facing multiple crises (Katrina and Rita clean-up, Iraq elections pending and Afghan elections just finished). Serious times demand serious leadership and I desperately hope that my friends here in CD2 reject Ms. Rowley's bid for Congress, that my neighbors in CD4 (Rep McCollum's district), CD5 (Rep Sabo's district) and CD8 (Rep Oberstar's district) find serious leaders to replace them with and that the good people of Minnesota elect a serious leader, like Rep Mark Kennedy, to the Senate seat that Mr. Dayton will soon be vacating.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Hurricane aftermath
Much has been made, in recent days, of the attitudes of the evacuees from New Orleans. I have talked to many people in the shelters. Most have stories of grateful people who are thankful to be alive and truly astonished at the goodness and kindness of strangers who would put their lives on hold to help them recover from a personal disaster. Then there are the ingrates who, rather than being thankful for the help they are getting, are complaining that they aren't getting better. I'm sure we have all seen the email, that was purported "written" by a doctor who decries the greed and ingratitude of evacuees in the Houston area.
Well today, I have the most uplifting exchange with a couple of lovely ladies. The first was a young woman who was volunteering in a shelter in northern Louisiana. The second was a woman who was helping, as best as she could, from a distance. The young lady in Louisiana echoed the Houston account, which saddened her greatly as the people she was seeing this attitude out of were "her own". She was so angry at this attitude of ingrattitude that she was considering not going back. The other young woman, put herself in the situation and reminded the first that while the bad attitude was not acceptable, it is understandable given what they had all gone through. What struck me though, what should strike us ALL in the heart was the end of the email. She said:
"...do not take this on as a race issue. Attitudes come in all colours, and don't reflect you. I have met some pretty ungrateful and spoiled white people and don't feel they reflect me. I know it's hard because racism uses faulty logic to explain itself by clumping things together. One bad attitude from a black person and ALL black people are such and such. It's faulty logic of people trying to prove what they themselves believe. It's not logical. Attitudes come in equal share to all colours. It does not reflect race, it reflects the individual and the situation they are in."
I stopped and let that sink in. So much truth in so few words. How much better would this world be if we all remember that simple phrase - attitudes come in all colors. If we could all stop and put ourselves in one anothers shoes and remember that attitude comes in all colors.....
Well today, I have the most uplifting exchange with a couple of lovely ladies. The first was a young woman who was volunteering in a shelter in northern Louisiana. The second was a woman who was helping, as best as she could, from a distance. The young lady in Louisiana echoed the Houston account, which saddened her greatly as the people she was seeing this attitude out of were "her own". She was so angry at this attitude of ingrattitude that she was considering not going back. The other young woman, put herself in the situation and reminded the first that while the bad attitude was not acceptable, it is understandable given what they had all gone through. What struck me though, what should strike us ALL in the heart was the end of the email. She said:
"...do not take this on as a race issue. Attitudes come in all colours, and don't reflect you. I have met some pretty ungrateful and spoiled white people and don't feel they reflect me. I know it's hard because racism uses faulty logic to explain itself by clumping things together. One bad attitude from a black person and ALL black people are such and such. It's faulty logic of people trying to prove what they themselves believe. It's not logical. Attitudes come in equal share to all colours. It does not reflect race, it reflects the individual and the situation they are in."
I stopped and let that sink in. So much truth in so few words. How much better would this world be if we all remember that simple phrase - attitudes come in all colors. If we could all stop and put ourselves in one anothers shoes and remember that attitude comes in all colors.....
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Anniversary of a tragedy
Tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of an American tragedy - the 9/11 attacks. To honor the passengers of Flight 93, the Discovery Channel is showing a program that "recreates" that doomed flight - based on phone conversations, voicemail messages and 9-1-1 taped calls that the passengers made on that fateful day. That is the ONLY program that the "legacy" media is doing to recognize what the day is. Meanwhile over at CNN, their attorneys are suing the government because their reporters are not being allowed to video/photograph the bodies of the dead as they are being recovered in New Orleans. Now I can certainly understand the ban. If I were searching for a relative, say I have an Uncle Beaudreaux who is missing, I certainly would not want the first word of Uncle Beaudreaux's fate to come from CNN!!!! Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit makes another point. The same press that is suing to show my dead Uncle Beaudreaux felt that showing us the dead and dying (and jumping off of the 20 floor of WTC Tower 2) was "too upsetting" to the American people.
Now what am I missing here? Showing us the dead of Hurricane Catrina, a natural disaster is ok, but showing us the dead who were killed by a cowardly attack on civilian targets is "too upsetting"????
Now what am I missing here? Showing us the dead of Hurricane Catrina, a natural disaster is ok, but showing us the dead who were killed by a cowardly attack on civilian targets is "too upsetting"????
Friday, September 09, 2005
Howard Dean...what can you say...
More eloquent people than I have written about the DNC Chairman, the gift that keeps on givning. Hugh Hewitt, Mitch Berg, KvM just to name a few have waxed poetic on the utterances of Howard Dean. Today Chairman Dean was on "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer and after reading the transcript, it is impossible not to offer a word or two.
Wolf was asking Chairman Dean about the political fall-out of the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
"BLITZER: Do you believe the response from the federal government, the Bush administration specifically, the president of the United States, that there were racist or racial overtones in that response? DEAN: No, I don't think so. What I do think, however, is the way our society has worked in the last 20 years -- actually, a lot longer than that, but in the last 20 years when nobody has been talking about it, is that, in fact, those below the top 20 percent in America, white, black, and brown, have been significantly disadvantaged.The average income in this country went down $1,700 since George Bush has been president for everybody under the top 20 percent. So, 80 percent of Americans saw their income drop. There's something the matter with a country that does not want to talk about what's good for 80 percent of the people and focuses on what's great for 20 percent of the people. "
Well Mr. Chairman, the Census Bureau disagrees with that. In 1999 (the last year of the Clinton Administration) the 3-year median income in the US was $40,800. In 2004, the 3 year median income was $44, 473. Now, I'm sure Chairman Dean's supporters will say "He said that it was the bottom 80% that lost money", but remember that the defination of median is that half of the people make more and half make less.
"BLITZER: What about the Democratic governor of Louisiana, and the Democratic mayor of New Orleans, how much responsibility should they have for what happened to those poor people who suffered in the immediate aftermath of those levees collapsing? DEAN: As you know, Wolf, as you know, I was governor more almost 12 years. I think we had seven or eight nine emergencies during that time, states of emergency, under three presidents. And I can tell you that what you need when there's an emergency is the National Guard. The National Guard was in Iraq. BLITZER: Well -- a third of the National Guard troops of Louisiana were, approximately, were in Iraq. DEAN: And the equipment was in Iraq. "
He just can not let go of the idea that the war in Iraq is somehow responsible for the lack of response to Katrina. Even Wolf realizes the fallacy of this meme...However it was this exchange that really struck me (emphasis mine).
"BLITZER: But there were 1,000 -- at least 1,000 school busses in New Orleans, and none of them were mobilized to get poor people, old people, people who didn't have cars, out of that city as that hurricane, Category 5, was building up steam along the -- in the Gulf of Mexico. Who should have ordered that those school busses, to get drivers and start driving people who don't have cars out of the city? DEAN: That's an easy criticism to make, because beforehand you can blame everybody. You can blame the last four or five presidents -- BLITZER: Isn't that the responsibility of the mayor or the governor? DEAN: Unless you tell people what the sequence is, I can't answer that question. I have to tell me that the sequence was that the hurricane was known to be, going to hit New Orleans directly, which it didn't. And that those busses weren't under water, and that the people who were supposed to be driving them didn't -- BLITZER: On Saturday and Sunday there was no water in New Orleans. DEAN: Right. BLITZER: And that was the -- the hurricane hit Monday morning. DEAN: You're holding the mayor -- BLITZER: On Friday they knew this could potentially hit New Orleans, and that it could be a Category 4 or 5. DEAN: You're holding the mayor to a different standard. This is a Republican spin machine stuff. You're holding the mayor to a different standard than you are holding FEMA. "
Let that sink in for a moment dear reader...Holding the Mayor of NO responsible for not following his own evacuation plan is Republican spin machine stuff....but wait! There's more...
"BLITZER: Let's talk about a comment you made. "In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina we have a clear, moral responsibility to do a better job of ensuring social and economic justice for every American, and there is still far too much that we don't know about John Roberts' record and beliefs on these critical issues."You're making a connection between Katrina and the confirmation hearings of John Roberts, which begin on Monday. And I'm not exactly sure what the point is. DEAN: My point is that John Roberts has a record. John Roberts appears to be a wonderful, decent, family person, but, again, we get back to the question about whether you really care and whether you have compassion. It's not enough to say you care. It's what you've done. John Roberts' legal career has been about taking away every protection for young girls and women who want to participate in sports, for African-Americans and Hispanics, who want the equal same right to vote as everybody else, for taking away for women who believe they should determine what kind of health care they have, instead of having politicians do it.His entire legal career appears to be about making sure those folks don't have the same rights everybody else does. That's probably not the right thing to do two weeks after a disaster, where certain members of society clearly did not have the same protections that everybody else did because of their circumstances. Americans are fair people and they want a sense of justice. I know Judge Roberts loves the law. I'm not sure he loves the American people. BLITZER: So should the Senate reject his confirmation? DEAN: Based on what I know now, absolutely, yes. "
Based on what I know Chairman Dean, you are destined to be the Chairman of a minority party. I hope that is what you want, because as long as you continue to give the Republican Party in this fashion, that is exactly what you are going to get.
Wolf was asking Chairman Dean about the political fall-out of the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
"BLITZER: Do you believe the response from the federal government, the Bush administration specifically, the president of the United States, that there were racist or racial overtones in that response? DEAN: No, I don't think so. What I do think, however, is the way our society has worked in the last 20 years -- actually, a lot longer than that, but in the last 20 years when nobody has been talking about it, is that, in fact, those below the top 20 percent in America, white, black, and brown, have been significantly disadvantaged.The average income in this country went down $1,700 since George Bush has been president for everybody under the top 20 percent. So, 80 percent of Americans saw their income drop. There's something the matter with a country that does not want to talk about what's good for 80 percent of the people and focuses on what's great for 20 percent of the people. "
Well Mr. Chairman, the Census Bureau disagrees with that. In 1999 (the last year of the Clinton Administration) the 3-year median income in the US was $40,800. In 2004, the 3 year median income was $44, 473. Now, I'm sure Chairman Dean's supporters will say "He said that it was the bottom 80% that lost money", but remember that the defination of median is that half of the people make more and half make less.
"BLITZER: What about the Democratic governor of Louisiana, and the Democratic mayor of New Orleans, how much responsibility should they have for what happened to those poor people who suffered in the immediate aftermath of those levees collapsing? DEAN: As you know, Wolf, as you know, I was governor more almost 12 years. I think we had seven or eight nine emergencies during that time, states of emergency, under three presidents. And I can tell you that what you need when there's an emergency is the National Guard. The National Guard was in Iraq. BLITZER: Well -- a third of the National Guard troops of Louisiana were, approximately, were in Iraq. DEAN: And the equipment was in Iraq. "
He just can not let go of the idea that the war in Iraq is somehow responsible for the lack of response to Katrina. Even Wolf realizes the fallacy of this meme...However it was this exchange that really struck me (emphasis mine).
"BLITZER: But there were 1,000 -- at least 1,000 school busses in New Orleans, and none of them were mobilized to get poor people, old people, people who didn't have cars, out of that city as that hurricane, Category 5, was building up steam along the -- in the Gulf of Mexico. Who should have ordered that those school busses, to get drivers and start driving people who don't have cars out of the city? DEAN: That's an easy criticism to make, because beforehand you can blame everybody. You can blame the last four or five presidents -- BLITZER: Isn't that the responsibility of the mayor or the governor? DEAN: Unless you tell people what the sequence is, I can't answer that question. I have to tell me that the sequence was that the hurricane was known to be, going to hit New Orleans directly, which it didn't. And that those busses weren't under water, and that the people who were supposed to be driving them didn't -- BLITZER: On Saturday and Sunday there was no water in New Orleans. DEAN: Right. BLITZER: And that was the -- the hurricane hit Monday morning. DEAN: You're holding the mayor -- BLITZER: On Friday they knew this could potentially hit New Orleans, and that it could be a Category 4 or 5. DEAN: You're holding the mayor to a different standard. This is a Republican spin machine stuff. You're holding the mayor to a different standard than you are holding FEMA. "
Let that sink in for a moment dear reader...Holding the Mayor of NO responsible for not following his own evacuation plan is Republican spin machine stuff....but wait! There's more...
"BLITZER: Let's talk about a comment you made. "In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina we have a clear, moral responsibility to do a better job of ensuring social and economic justice for every American, and there is still far too much that we don't know about John Roberts' record and beliefs on these critical issues."You're making a connection between Katrina and the confirmation hearings of John Roberts, which begin on Monday. And I'm not exactly sure what the point is. DEAN: My point is that John Roberts has a record. John Roberts appears to be a wonderful, decent, family person, but, again, we get back to the question about whether you really care and whether you have compassion. It's not enough to say you care. It's what you've done. John Roberts' legal career has been about taking away every protection for young girls and women who want to participate in sports, for African-Americans and Hispanics, who want the equal same right to vote as everybody else, for taking away for women who believe they should determine what kind of health care they have, instead of having politicians do it.His entire legal career appears to be about making sure those folks don't have the same rights everybody else does. That's probably not the right thing to do two weeks after a disaster, where certain members of society clearly did not have the same protections that everybody else did because of their circumstances. Americans are fair people and they want a sense of justice. I know Judge Roberts loves the law. I'm not sure he loves the American people. BLITZER: So should the Senate reject his confirmation? DEAN: Based on what I know now, absolutely, yes. "
Based on what I know Chairman Dean, you are destined to be the Chairman of a minority party. I hope that is what you want, because as long as you continue to give the Republican Party in this fashion, that is exactly what you are going to get.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Just who is to blame for the suffering in New Orleans?
Much has been said, in recent days, about the failures that caused the massive human suffering in New Orleans apre Katrina. As I stated here there is certainly more than enough blame to go around, and most of it should start with the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana, but that some blame could rightly be laid on a federal doorstep. The Manchester (NH) Union Leader had an interesting editorial that to addresses the issue of just who is at fault for the levee failure and the lack of funds to bring the levees up to a standard that could withstand the storm surge of a Cat 5 hurricane (I will give you a hint and say that they do not blame President Bush). Many, myself included, have opined that those who stayed in New Orleans after the evacuation order was issued should also share some blame for their state of suffering. Thanks to Captain Ed at Captains' Quarters blog, I have to say that I was wrong, wrong, WRONG in making that statement. Captain Ed had a post this morning that talks about the NOLA comprehensive emergency evacuation plan that was developed in September of 2004! The evacuation plan can be found here and it lays out precisely who is responsible for rolling the busses in order for the poor and feeble to be able to evacuate should the need arise. According to the comprehensive plan, the Mayor of New Orleans is not only responsible for declaring the need to evacuate, he (or she) is supposed to have a SOP in place to cover the evacuation needs of those who are unable to evacuate on their own! In other words, Mayor Nagin is the one who needs to stand up and take responsibility for the state of his city! Mayor Nagin should have and could have prevented the suffering of the people of NOLA. Not the governor, not the President, not the National Guard, no one but Mayor Nagin himself. Considering that Mayor Nagin was elected in 2002, he certainly has no one to blame but himself for not being prepared for a storm that "everyone expected to come eventually"!
My Sermon for today
Over the last few days we have heard certain "Christians" saying that the hurricane was proof that God had removed his hand of protection from a) the US and b) New Orleans for allowing sin to run rampant in our cities. Jihadists are saying that the hurricane was Allah's punishment on us for our wickeness. Now there is no way that I am going to presume to speak for God, because I have seen what he has done in the past to people who presume to speak in His name and do not speak His truth. However, what I will do is, through the words He has given us in His book (the Bible), try to answer those who say that this is God's punishment on a wicked America....
God has indeed shown us what he will do to wicked cities, as he did with Sodom and Gomorrah, however, when God did choose to punish these wicked cities He also allowed the righteous (Lot and his family) escape the punishment (Gen 19). However this hurricane hit good people just as hard as it hit those who are wicked. Jesus tells his followers (in John16:33) "in this world you will have trouble but take heart, for I have overcome the world!", so how can we definatively say that this is God's punishment when we know that trouble will come to all? After all, Jesus (in one of his many parables) says in Luke 11:11 "If a son asks for bread from his father, would he give the child a stone? or if he asks for a fish, will he be given a serpent? or if he asks for an egg be instead given a scorpion? If you then who are wicked know how to give good things to your children: how much more will your Heavenly Father (who is good) give to those who ask him?"
To those that would judge, I would like to respectfully remind them of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:1 - "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way that you judge others, you will be judged!" Instead of looking to God's word for judgement, how about we turn to it for hope and instruction on how to move forward. Psalms 38:15 says "For in you, O Lord, do I hope; you will hear me, O God." and Psalms 41:1 says "Blessed is he who has regard for the weak, for the Lord delivers him in time of trouble".
God has indeed shown us what he will do to wicked cities, as he did with Sodom and Gomorrah, however, when God did choose to punish these wicked cities He also allowed the righteous (Lot and his family) escape the punishment (Gen 19). However this hurricane hit good people just as hard as it hit those who are wicked. Jesus tells his followers (in John16:33) "in this world you will have trouble but take heart, for I have overcome the world!", so how can we definatively say that this is God's punishment when we know that trouble will come to all? After all, Jesus (in one of his many parables) says in Luke 11:11 "If a son asks for bread from his father, would he give the child a stone? or if he asks for a fish, will he be given a serpent? or if he asks for an egg be instead given a scorpion? If you then who are wicked know how to give good things to your children: how much more will your Heavenly Father (who is good) give to those who ask him?"
To those that would judge, I would like to respectfully remind them of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:1 - "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way that you judge others, you will be judged!" Instead of looking to God's word for judgement, how about we turn to it for hope and instruction on how to move forward. Psalms 38:15 says "For in you, O Lord, do I hope; you will hear me, O God." and Psalms 41:1 says "Blessed is he who has regard for the weak, for the Lord delivers him in time of trouble".
Friday, September 02, 2005
The rain of blame....
OK - I told y'all (I've been hanging out with my southern friends lately) on Wednesday that I was declaring a personal moriatorium of 24 hours on politics. I gave it almost 48 and now it is time....
Over the last 2 days, while many Americans were pulling together to help our friends and neighbors who had been hurt by the furor that was Hurricane Katrina, the "armchair first-responders" (as Michelle Malkin called them last night) were heaping blame on the federal government for the situation in New Orleans. From the cries that "global warming caused the hurricane" (total poppycock according to the people at NOAA who know better) to "the government should have had boots on the ground in NO the minute the storm moved out", to "we aren't getting hot meals" (uttered by an ingrate who is stuck in a city that has no way to cook food) the din has been impossible to miss. Michelle Malkin has had a very good round up and response to a lot of these people, but I would like to add my 2 cents.
So you are upset that the only food you are getting are cold MRE's....you feel that the troops that are keeping you safe from the predators patroling the streets should also be cooking for you? Well I want to know why you don't get off of your behind and get yourself to a place where you can heat your MRE's! You made the choice to ride out a Cat 5 hurricane in a town that is prone to flooding, what DID YOU EXPECT???? So you think that the federal government should have had National Guard troops in the city waiting for the storm to hit - with trucks to evacuate people...well if we had done that, the trucks would be under water and the troops would still not be able to get you out and you would still be stuck! What do you think would be different from today??? So you think the federal government should have spent more to "upgrade" the canal and levee system that surrounds New Orleans, what about the government of New Orleans? I mean the City of Minneapolis is responsible for their own infrastructure....shouldn't the city of New Orleans be responsible for THEIR OWN infrastructure???? Never mind the fact that the levee that failed was one of the few that had been upgraded in recent years....and never mind the fact that the current governor of Louisiana won (in part) on a platform of not spending more tax dollars on levee improvement...
Now before you go and accuse me of being an "apologist" for the President, I will tell you that there ARE a lot things that he could have done better, but the bottom line is this... there is plenty of blame to go around. Those that refused to follow an evacuation order share some blame in this, the City of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana have some blame to share here, AND the federal government shares some blame....Don't be suckered in by the illogical ideology that is driven by hatred of the President and all he stands for. The American people and the people of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi deserve better!
Over the last 2 days, while many Americans were pulling together to help our friends and neighbors who had been hurt by the furor that was Hurricane Katrina, the "armchair first-responders" (as Michelle Malkin called them last night) were heaping blame on the federal government for the situation in New Orleans. From the cries that "global warming caused the hurricane" (total poppycock according to the people at NOAA who know better) to "the government should have had boots on the ground in NO the minute the storm moved out", to "we aren't getting hot meals" (uttered by an ingrate who is stuck in a city that has no way to cook food) the din has been impossible to miss. Michelle Malkin has had a very good round up and response to a lot of these people, but I would like to add my 2 cents.
So you are upset that the only food you are getting are cold MRE's....you feel that the troops that are keeping you safe from the predators patroling the streets should also be cooking for you? Well I want to know why you don't get off of your behind and get yourself to a place where you can heat your MRE's! You made the choice to ride out a Cat 5 hurricane in a town that is prone to flooding, what DID YOU EXPECT???? So you think that the federal government should have had National Guard troops in the city waiting for the storm to hit - with trucks to evacuate people...well if we had done that, the trucks would be under water and the troops would still not be able to get you out and you would still be stuck! What do you think would be different from today??? So you think the federal government should have spent more to "upgrade" the canal and levee system that surrounds New Orleans, what about the government of New Orleans? I mean the City of Minneapolis is responsible for their own infrastructure....shouldn't the city of New Orleans be responsible for THEIR OWN infrastructure???? Never mind the fact that the levee that failed was one of the few that had been upgraded in recent years....and never mind the fact that the current governor of Louisiana won (in part) on a platform of not spending more tax dollars on levee improvement...
Now before you go and accuse me of being an "apologist" for the President, I will tell you that there ARE a lot things that he could have done better, but the bottom line is this... there is plenty of blame to go around. Those that refused to follow an evacuation order share some blame in this, the City of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana have some blame to share here, AND the federal government shares some blame....Don't be suckered in by the illogical ideology that is driven by hatred of the President and all he stands for. The American people and the people of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi deserve better!
Another place to search for missing friends and family
NOLA.com has a page dedicated to finding lost friends and family.
http://www.nola.com/forums/searching/
and here is a blogger who is there and reporting what is going on in Louisiana
http://slidell.weblogswork.com/
http://www.nola.com/forums/searching/
and here is a blogger who is there and reporting what is going on in Louisiana
http://slidell.weblogswork.com/
A follow up to yesterday
WOW - after all of the bad news out of New Orleans, I had just about lost hope for mankind. But then yesterday the good people of this world came out in droves. Over 1400 bloggers in 23 countries got together and raised almost $450,000 in hurricane relief and this is only the reported donations! Many people donated, but chose not to "brag" about their donations! It is overwhelming how good people can be!
Due to the demand, the Blog for Relief Day has turned into a weekend. If you have not done so yet, please contribute to either The American Red Cross or the Salvation Army. If you are looking for an organization that is helping the animals that have been hurt and left behind, please consider the HSUS. Our 4 legged friends need a hand as well.
Due to the demand, the Blog for Relief Day has turned into a weekend. If you have not done so yet, please contribute to either The American Red Cross or the Salvation Army. If you are looking for an organization that is helping the animals that have been hurt and left behind, please consider the HSUS. Our 4 legged friends need a hand as well.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Heard the following
on the Hugh Hewitt show. By the time Hugh got done reading this, I had tears in my eyes. This is my last bleg of the day. PLEASE contribute to the charity of your choice. Our neighbors to the south need us badly....
From a thread on Free Republic
Neonatal Evacuation report from New Orleans 9/1/2005
Posted on 09/01/2005 3:19:11 PM PDT by truthandlife
Just to update everyone. We just returned from New Orleans to Birmingham with 4 neonatal patients at the same time on transport. We flew to New Orleans airport via jet and Lifesaver helicopter met us > there with the helicopter. Lifesaver took 3 crew members from the airport to Oschner since there was no ground access due to flooding. Oschner's heliport was under water and we landed on the parking deck. With equipment in hand, we walked down 6 flights of stairs, (all of the elevators are out of service), through the hospital where there is caution tape and leaks all throughout the hallways. We then walked up two flights of stairs to the unit where they are now caring for the babies. Luckily it was now the 2nd floor instead of originally the 10th floor. All of the windows were blown out of the 10th floor by the storm. On the flight into the airport all you could see is destruction and water everywhere, I thought "Truly a saddening sight", then with the flight on the helicopter it got worse. We were much closer at that point and could see more destruction, more water, looters, Police/ EMS, and uncontrolled fires all over.
Upon entering the make-shift nursery, the first two staff were onphones crying their eyes out talking to someone on the other end trying to cope. All of the staff in the unit were overjoyed to see that someone had come to help. They had requested help from all over but they told us we were the only ones to show up today. They thought we were coming for only one patient and when we told them we had the resources to transport 4, they were shocked to say the least. Then we said maybe we can help more tomorrow and to our surprise they all were even more excited that we would come back again to help. The nurse practioner in the unit pulled me aside and asked me "How bad is it out there looking from the air? I mean really, is it as bad as they say?" With tears running down her face and tears in my eyes I said "Yes Ma'am it is, maybe worse and my heart is broken for all of you down here". With that she had to walk away.
All of the staff are working in t-shirts, shorts and flip flops due to the lack of ventilation. It was at least 110-120 degrees in the unit. They had all of the babies in open cribs or warmers that were off and all were down to their diapers, some with elevated temps still. All of the staff have been there since Saturday and said they don't think they will be able to leave until the 5th of September. With that said, many have nothing to go home to.
Tonight all 4 babies came back to UAB RNICU but they have at least two more babies for us to transport tomorrow and Dr. Prince here in Birmingham said we could bring one back to TCH and one to UAB. Plans may change by tomorrow.
New Orleans is in a total state of destruction and chaos and my heart is broken so badly. I didn't have good words to make them feel better but made sure they all knew they were in my thoughts and prayers.
I'm sorry to have been so chatty but I had to release somewhat.
Respectfully and mentally/emotionally drained,
Jason Peterson RN Coordinator, Critical Care Transport
Children's Hospital of Alabama
From a thread on Free Republic
Neonatal Evacuation report from New Orleans 9/1/2005
Posted on 09/01/2005 3:19:11 PM PDT by truthandlife
Just to update everyone. We just returned from New Orleans to Birmingham with 4 neonatal patients at the same time on transport. We flew to New Orleans airport via jet and Lifesaver helicopter met us > there with the helicopter. Lifesaver took 3 crew members from the airport to Oschner since there was no ground access due to flooding. Oschner's heliport was under water and we landed on the parking deck. With equipment in hand, we walked down 6 flights of stairs, (all of the elevators are out of service), through the hospital where there is caution tape and leaks all throughout the hallways. We then walked up two flights of stairs to the unit where they are now caring for the babies. Luckily it was now the 2nd floor instead of originally the 10th floor. All of the windows were blown out of the 10th floor by the storm. On the flight into the airport all you could see is destruction and water everywhere, I thought "Truly a saddening sight", then with the flight on the helicopter it got worse. We were much closer at that point and could see more destruction, more water, looters, Police/ EMS, and uncontrolled fires all over.
Upon entering the make-shift nursery, the first two staff were onphones crying their eyes out talking to someone on the other end trying to cope. All of the staff in the unit were overjoyed to see that someone had come to help. They had requested help from all over but they told us we were the only ones to show up today. They thought we were coming for only one patient and when we told them we had the resources to transport 4, they were shocked to say the least. Then we said maybe we can help more tomorrow and to our surprise they all were even more excited that we would come back again to help. The nurse practioner in the unit pulled me aside and asked me "How bad is it out there looking from the air? I mean really, is it as bad as they say?" With tears running down her face and tears in my eyes I said "Yes Ma'am it is, maybe worse and my heart is broken for all of you down here". With that she had to walk away.
All of the staff are working in t-shirts, shorts and flip flops due to the lack of ventilation. It was at least 110-120 degrees in the unit. They had all of the babies in open cribs or warmers that were off and all were down to their diapers, some with elevated temps still. All of the staff have been there since Saturday and said they don't think they will be able to leave until the 5th of September. With that said, many have nothing to go home to.
Tonight all 4 babies came back to UAB RNICU but they have at least two more babies for us to transport tomorrow and Dr. Prince here in Birmingham said we could bring one back to TCH and one to UAB. Plans may change by tomorrow.
New Orleans is in a total state of destruction and chaos and my heart is broken so badly. I didn't have good words to make them feel better but made sure they all knew they were in my thoughts and prayers.
I'm sorry to have been so chatty but I had to release somewhat.
Respectfully and mentally/emotionally drained,
Jason Peterson RN Coordinator, Critical Care Transport
Children's Hospital of Alabama
First Things, Katrina and The Salvation Army
I've just completed two donations to The Salvation Army, one personal and one from the company I own, for victims of Katrina. I'm going to wait a day or two and then vent on the complete collapse of the government aid, relief,and preparedness and those idiots that depend on government. But, right now, people are in dire need. And the Salvation Army is THE organization that time and time again ALWAYS comes through. And the reason I recommend the Salvation Army is the stories my Uncle Harold (who was a WWII and Battle of the Bulge combat vet) told me about the Salvation Army versus that other charity/relief organization. And Uncle Harold's stories are confirmed by my other WWII veteran friends.
So, I urge you to contact the Salvation Army and donate.
They are the boots on the ground, long term people that get the job done.
www.salvationarmyusa.org/USNSAHome.htm
So, I urge you to contact the Salvation Army and donate.
They are the boots on the ground, long term people that get the job done.
www.salvationarmyusa.org/USNSAHome.htm
Move On jumps in to help hurricane victims
Trillin over at MN Lefty Liberal got an email regarding a Move on sponsored initiative that deserves wide spread recognition.
"Hurricane Katrina's toll on communities, homes and lives has devastated the nation. Now victims must face the daunting question of where to go next—and we can help.Tens of thousands of newly homeless families are being bused to a stadium in Houston, where they may wait for weeks or months. At least 80,000 are competing for area shelters, and countless more are in motels, cars, or wherever they can stay out of the elements. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross are scrambling to find shelter for the displaced.This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) and search for available housing online at:http://www.hurricanehousing.org"
Go to MN Left Liberal and read the whole post and then if you can, sign up to host a displaced family.
"Hurricane Katrina's toll on communities, homes and lives has devastated the nation. Now victims must face the daunting question of where to go next—and we can help.Tens of thousands of newly homeless families are being bused to a stadium in Houston, where they may wait for weeks or months. At least 80,000 are competing for area shelters, and countless more are in motels, cars, or wherever they can stay out of the elements. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross are scrambling to find shelter for the displaced.This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) and search for available housing online at:http://www.hurricanehousing.org"
Go to MN Left Liberal and read the whole post and then if you can, sign up to host a displaced family.
HELP FOR PETS IN NEW ORLEANS
I got this information via email today. If you are a pet person (like I am) and you are still looking for some way to help, here is another one. If you know someone in the afflicted area that needs shelter for their pets, direct them here.
Subject: Help for Pets in New Orleans
Please crosspost widely... Help for pets in New Orleans....Cross-posted - please share! Please just let all members know that we have opened a pet shelter at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, right next to the Cajundome. Evacuees may bring their pets their for housing. We havePLENTY of food, water, crates, cages, bedding and newspaper. BUT the owners are responsible for feeding, watering, walking and medicating their own pets. Interested parties may call Lafayette Parish Animal Control at: 337-291-5644 for more information. Also many area vets are accepting animals right now, until they fill up. Get the Yellow Pages out! Please help me to get this word out.
Annie Milliron
Visit our newfs: Cora, Kira and Sailor (plus our Foster Newfs) at our website: http://freewebs.com/coranewf>
Subject: Help for Pets in New Orleans
Please crosspost widely... Help for pets in New Orleans....Cross-posted - please share! Please just let all members know that we have opened a pet shelter at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, right next to the Cajundome. Evacuees may bring their pets their for housing. We havePLENTY of food, water, crates, cages, bedding and newspaper. BUT the owners are responsible for feeding, watering, walking and medicating their own pets. Interested parties may call Lafayette Parish Animal Control at: 337-291-5644 for more information. Also many area vets are accepting animals right now, until they fill up. Get the Yellow Pages out! Please help me to get this word out.
Annie Milliron
Visit our newfs: Cora, Kira and Sailor (plus our Foster Newfs) at our website: http://freewebs.com/coranewf>
Katrina's aftermath
The reports are trickling in from New Orleans. Massive flooding, people who refused to evacuate with the first evacuation order trapped on their roofs with no food and water, looting, the scale of the misery is impossible to describe. Rather than try to describe it myself, let me refer you to the stories here and here from the Washington Times, here and here from the New York Times and here from NOLA.com. NOLA.com is the best place to go for up to the minute news as they are in the thick of it.
Now is the time to act dear readers. Our southern neighbors desperately need our help. Please contact either the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army or any of the other worthy charities listed on the Blog for Katrina Relief effort. No amount is too small. Please donate today!
Now is the time to act dear readers. Our southern neighbors desperately need our help. Please contact either the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army or any of the other worthy charities listed on the Blog for Katrina Relief effort. No amount is too small. Please donate today!
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Do you have friends in the areas hit by Katrina?
People can post queries about friends and family who were in areas hit by Katrina.
Please pass along this URL www.GulfCoastNews.com
Please pass along this URL www.GulfCoastNews.com
Hurricane relief
For the next 24 hours there is no right or left, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist or whatever. For the next 24 hours, I want to concentrate on Louisana, Mississippi and Alabama. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Many more have taken severe damage to their homes and businesses. The over 300 (and counting) bloggers, including your friends here at Savage Republican, have gotten together and are asking their readers to step up to the plate and contribute to one of the many worthy charities that are coming to the aid of our fellow Americans (hat tip to NZ Bear at Truth Laid Bear for organizing this). Savage Republican has already posted his request to contribute to the American Red Cross and I would like to lend my request for donations to the Salvation Army. Others are plugging for Catholic Charities USA, United Jewish Communities and United Methodist Committee on Relief. Whichever charity you choose, please indicate that the donation is for Hurricane Katrina relief.
My plea to you, dear readers, is to find a charity that is helping out the citizens of the Gulf States and give generously. Our countrymen and women will definately appreciate the assistance from their neighbors across the country.
For the next 24 hours, I will be posting about the great need in Louisana, Mississippi and Alabama. Please take a few minutes and make a pledge - no matter how big or how small - to help in the recovery effort! For more information on the Bloggers drive for hurricane relief please go to http://www.truthlaidbear.com/communitypage.php.
My plea to you, dear readers, is to find a charity that is helping out the citizens of the Gulf States and give generously. Our countrymen and women will definately appreciate the assistance from their neighbors across the country.
For the next 24 hours, I will be posting about the great need in Louisana, Mississippi and Alabama. Please take a few minutes and make a pledge - no matter how big or how small - to help in the recovery effort! For more information on the Bloggers drive for hurricane relief please go to http://www.truthlaidbear.com/communitypage.php.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Hurricane Katrina - How you can help
Seeing Hurricane Katrina come ashore brought back memories of the stories my Grandmother told of Hurricane Audrey hitting Lake Charles, LA.
As the storm was coming ashore, my Uncle (an Eagle Scout) was part of a group that was out rescuing people during the storm. Some day I may share more about those brave folks, but for now I will use them as inspiration.
While I may not have the opportunity to help during this storm, I can do my best to help now.
If you have a chance you can join me in donating online to the Red Cross and help out.
I'll list some of the other groups providing relief and updates as I get them from friend down in the Big Easy and Mississippi way.
It just seems right that those of us at the head waters of the Mississippi should help our neighbors at the other end.
May God bless and keep them in his care.
As the storm was coming ashore, my Uncle (an Eagle Scout) was part of a group that was out rescuing people during the storm. Some day I may share more about those brave folks, but for now I will use them as inspiration.
While I may not have the opportunity to help during this storm, I can do my best to help now.
If you have a chance you can join me in donating online to the Red Cross and help out.
I'll list some of the other groups providing relief and updates as I get them from friend down in the Big Easy and Mississippi way.
It just seems right that those of us at the head waters of the Mississippi should help our neighbors at the other end.
May God bless and keep them in his care.
Where is the rest of the world?
When earthquakes level large portions of Mexico City, which country is the first to respond with money, people and equipment to aid in the recovery and rebuilding effort? When tsunami's struck Asia, who had an aircraft carrier there within 72 hours in order to get food, shelter and potable water to the hardest hit areas? Who later pledged over $950 million in long term aid to the countries hit by the tsunami? When droughts hit Africa, causing massive crop failures on the continent, which country is the first to pony up money and food for the afflicted? Is it France? Germany? Iran? Saudi Arabia????? NO!!!! It is the USA, that horrible country that is (according to the leftists) the cause of ALL that is wrong in this world! And yet, when the US is hit with their own "storm of the century" do any of these countries (who think that they are soooo much better than we are) pony up a single pfennig or franc? Heck no, they couldn't be bothered.....
Well guess what guys, we don't need your help. We will take care of our own, this time as we have always done. And when disasters hit your respective countries, we will cough up the money again, because that is who we are. We are a country of people who genuinely care for others and when the need is really and truly there (such as tsunami relief) we will open our hearts and pocketbooks as we always have in the past.
Having said that, I certainly hope that I never hear (out of Turtle Bay or Paris or Berlin) that the US is too "stingy" in their aid relief. Because, Mr. Annan, Herr Schroeder and Monsieur Chirac, until you follow Hugo Chavez' lead, you have no moral authority to stand on. Yeah, President Chavez might have stolen his election, but he is the only foreign leader to date to offer the citizens of Louisana, Alabama and Mississippi - people whose loss was no less tramatic than the losses of the people Sri Lanka and the rest of southeast Asia. Shame on the UN, shame on Europe and shame on anyone else who dares to think only about themselves when others are suffering as the people of Louisana, Mississippi and Alabama are.
Well guess what guys, we don't need your help. We will take care of our own, this time as we have always done. And when disasters hit your respective countries, we will cough up the money again, because that is who we are. We are a country of people who genuinely care for others and when the need is really and truly there (such as tsunami relief) we will open our hearts and pocketbooks as we always have in the past.
Having said that, I certainly hope that I never hear (out of Turtle Bay or Paris or Berlin) that the US is too "stingy" in their aid relief. Because, Mr. Annan, Herr Schroeder and Monsieur Chirac, until you follow Hugo Chavez' lead, you have no moral authority to stand on. Yeah, President Chavez might have stolen his election, but he is the only foreign leader to date to offer the citizens of Louisana, Alabama and Mississippi - people whose loss was no less tramatic than the losses of the people Sri Lanka and the rest of southeast Asia. Shame on the UN, shame on Europe and shame on anyone else who dares to think only about themselves when others are suffering as the people of Louisana, Mississippi and Alabama are.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Is it NOW time to question their patriotism?
This is how Cindy Sheehan's friends at Code Pink and Veterans for Peace "suport" our troops. Just to show you that I am not taking just the word of some "right wing news source" I will direct you here and here and here and here. The Freepers have pictures at their site and there is a video link at the CNS news site.
Every Friday night, armed with props like mock CASKETS and signs that read "Maimed for a lie" and "Enlist here to die for Halliburton", Cindy Sheehan's friends from Code Pink and VFP protest in front of Walter Reed Medical Center - in full view of the patients (soldiers wounded in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan) and their families. The protestors are unapologetic when confronted (by soldiers and their families) with the inappropriateness of their protest at the hospital gates. One said (in the video clip) that he was "offended" at people being offended by his protest!
Now, I have no problems with these folks protesting the war. We have free speech in this country, however, there is a little restriction to full free speech. You are not allowed to engage in speech that can incite a riot and this could certainly qualify for that. The location and the style of the protest are at best questionable. It would be like staging a KKK march through North Minneapolis. Or Downtown DC. Or the Jewish neighborhoods of Skoie Illinois (as was done 5 years ago). Would that be considered "acceptable free speech"? In the case of the 2000 Klan Rally in Skokie, the city of Skokie sued to get the rally stopped, stating that it was (and correctly so in my very humble opinion) a public safety issue.
The demonstrations are held of Friday nights for a reason. Friday night is a popular night for family visits. This protest is DESIGNED TO HURT the family members of the wounded soldiers! So the next time one of these anti-war types tries to tell you how much they "support the troops" I hope you will join me in telling them what they can do with their so-called support.
UPDATE: I am truly honored. This entry was choosen as one of the top 5 entries in the inaugural "Blog of the Week" competition that Hugh Hewitt is hosting. Voting is over at Radio Blogger. The winner of the contest will be interviewed by Hugh (gulp!) on his program next Monday night and will hold bragging rights for the week. I hope that you will all go over to Radio Blogger and read all of the fine entries. The competition is tough. May the best blog win!
Every Friday night, armed with props like mock CASKETS and signs that read "Maimed for a lie" and "Enlist here to die for Halliburton", Cindy Sheehan's friends from Code Pink and VFP protest in front of Walter Reed Medical Center - in full view of the patients (soldiers wounded in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan) and their families. The protestors are unapologetic when confronted (by soldiers and their families) with the inappropriateness of their protest at the hospital gates. One said (in the video clip) that he was "offended" at people being offended by his protest!
Now, I have no problems with these folks protesting the war. We have free speech in this country, however, there is a little restriction to full free speech. You are not allowed to engage in speech that can incite a riot and this could certainly qualify for that. The location and the style of the protest are at best questionable. It would be like staging a KKK march through North Minneapolis. Or Downtown DC. Or the Jewish neighborhoods of Skoie Illinois (as was done 5 years ago). Would that be considered "acceptable free speech"? In the case of the 2000 Klan Rally in Skokie, the city of Skokie sued to get the rally stopped, stating that it was (and correctly so in my very humble opinion) a public safety issue.
The demonstrations are held of Friday nights for a reason. Friday night is a popular night for family visits. This protest is DESIGNED TO HURT the family members of the wounded soldiers! So the next time one of these anti-war types tries to tell you how much they "support the troops" I hope you will join me in telling them what they can do with their so-called support.
UPDATE: I am truly honored. This entry was choosen as one of the top 5 entries in the inaugural "Blog of the Week" competition that Hugh Hewitt is hosting. Voting is over at Radio Blogger. The winner of the contest will be interviewed by Hugh (gulp!) on his program next Monday night and will hold bragging rights for the week. I hope that you will all go over to Radio Blogger and read all of the fine entries. The competition is tough. May the best blog win!
Here is ANOTHER story you won't see in the Strib!
I got this story from the Chicago Sun Times. I wonder if we will ever hear about it on CNN, ABC, NBC or any of the other alphabet media outlets or in my favorite "fishwrap" (aka Pravda on the Mississippi).
In June of 2003, a US Customs agent working at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport would not let Ra'ed Mansour al-Banna enter the country. The agent just marked him as a "suspicious traveler". The officers that interviewed him felt that his verbal reasons for entering the country didn't match what was on his visa. Fast forward to February 28, 2005 where a homicide bomber in Hillah detonated himself and killed 125 people - one of the DEADLIEST attacks in Iraq's history. The bomber was later identifed to be on Ra'ed Mansour al-Banna! Now we don't know what al-Banna's intentions were when he tried to enter the country in 2003, but I can tell you this, I am so very grateful to the unidentified agents at O'Hare who decided not to let this bomber into the country.
Having said all of this, I have to ask the following question of Cindy Sheehan and her friends at Code Pink.....would you rather have the homicide bombers coming over here and blowing up your friends and family? Not me, I want to keep them over in Iraq where our valient men and women - people who VOLUNTEERED to go into harms way, can take care of them.
In June of 2003, a US Customs agent working at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport would not let Ra'ed Mansour al-Banna enter the country. The agent just marked him as a "suspicious traveler". The officers that interviewed him felt that his verbal reasons for entering the country didn't match what was on his visa. Fast forward to February 28, 2005 where a homicide bomber in Hillah detonated himself and killed 125 people - one of the DEADLIEST attacks in Iraq's history. The bomber was later identifed to be on Ra'ed Mansour al-Banna! Now we don't know what al-Banna's intentions were when he tried to enter the country in 2003, but I can tell you this, I am so very grateful to the unidentified agents at O'Hare who decided not to let this bomber into the country.
Having said all of this, I have to ask the following question of Cindy Sheehan and her friends at Code Pink.....would you rather have the homicide bombers coming over here and blowing up your friends and family? Not me, I want to keep them over in Iraq where our valient men and women - people who VOLUNTEERED to go into harms way, can take care of them.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
65 Girls at Canton Area HS Pregnant
Hugh Hewitt was talking this evening about a story that has him disturbed. 65 girls (out of 490) at Timkin High School in Canton Ohio are pregnant. Now you may know (if you have read this blog before) that I am a mother and as such issues like this interest me greatly. Hugh was of the opinion that the school should be held responsible, in large part, for this situation. Now I rarely disagree with the distinguished Mr. Hewitt (except for his opinion of Pittsburgh Steeler football, but I digress) however I must disagree here.
According to the story the girls will "face mounting tensions created by unplanned child-rearing responsibilities, causing students to quit school and plan for a GED. " Pardon my sounding like the teen-ager I'm not, but "DUH". Did you need a college degree to figure THAT out Mr or Ms. Journalist that wrote this story???? I graduated from high school in the 1970's and I knew that BEFORE graduating from high school.
The statistic from the story that stunned me the most was the fact that number of babies born in Canton, to girls between the ages of 11 (11 year olds????) and 19 is 15% and the number of babies born to girls in the same age group in outside the Canton area (does this mean the rest of the state of Ohio or just the surrounding Canton area?) is 7%.
Just what are the parents of Canton teaching their children? That have kids is an easy thing? Where are the parents of these girls? These are the people, dear Mr. Hewitt, that need to be held responsible for the predicament that these girls are in, not the school. The school does not have the influence that most pundits (and parents) give them "credit" for. Whether we realize it or not, our children watch our every move. They watch for us to do what we say. When they catch us in the "do as I say not as I do" mode, we loose them.
The school is reacting to this situation correctly. Now that there is this "epidemic" they need to give these girls classes on what comes next. Child rearing is not easy. Also, the fathers of these babies need to be included. It takes 2 to make a baby and the boys need to be held accountable for their actions as well as the girls. Next, I think the school needs to re-think their sex education cirriculum. Maybe a cirriculum that includes abstinance education? It certainly can not be as much of a failure as the current cirriculum is.
Parents - you can not be your child's best friend - forget it, it's not happening. So for heaven's sake BE THE PARENT!!!! Know where your kids are and who they are with. Be the "bad guy" once in a while and maybe, just maybe your kids won't end up pregnant and dropping out of school.
According to the story the girls will "face mounting tensions created by unplanned child-rearing responsibilities, causing students to quit school and plan for a GED. " Pardon my sounding like the teen-ager I'm not, but "DUH". Did you need a college degree to figure THAT out Mr or Ms. Journalist that wrote this story???? I graduated from high school in the 1970's and I knew that BEFORE graduating from high school.
The statistic from the story that stunned me the most was the fact that number of babies born in Canton, to girls between the ages of 11 (11 year olds????) and 19 is 15% and the number of babies born to girls in the same age group in outside the Canton area (does this mean the rest of the state of Ohio or just the surrounding Canton area?) is 7%.
Just what are the parents of Canton teaching their children? That have kids is an easy thing? Where are the parents of these girls? These are the people, dear Mr. Hewitt, that need to be held responsible for the predicament that these girls are in, not the school. The school does not have the influence that most pundits (and parents) give them "credit" for. Whether we realize it or not, our children watch our every move. They watch for us to do what we say. When they catch us in the "do as I say not as I do" mode, we loose them.
The school is reacting to this situation correctly. Now that there is this "epidemic" they need to give these girls classes on what comes next. Child rearing is not easy. Also, the fathers of these babies need to be included. It takes 2 to make a baby and the boys need to be held accountable for their actions as well as the girls. Next, I think the school needs to re-think their sex education cirriculum. Maybe a cirriculum that includes abstinance education? It certainly can not be as much of a failure as the current cirriculum is.
Parents - you can not be your child's best friend - forget it, it's not happening. So for heaven's sake BE THE PARENT!!!! Know where your kids are and who they are with. Be the "bad guy" once in a while and maybe, just maybe your kids won't end up pregnant and dropping out of school.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Flat Earth, Round Earth.
I was talking to a very good friend this weekend and of course our talk ventured into politics. We are very like minded, but what's interesting is that in high school he was four hours away from going to Chicago in 1968 to protest at the Democratic Convention. And now, well, reminds me of the Churchillian quote about heart and brains, youth and maturity.
We talk often, and usually we are quite close in our feelings and outlook. But, he and I are also clear that there is no dialogue with the anti-liberty,collectivist, socialist left. Their worldview is that the government is the answer to everything. That the solution to all the problems visited upon us by ourselves (which usually is a response to another intrusive government program) or problems visited upon us by the government is ANOTHER government program.
Well, the truth is that they see the earth as flat. We see it as round. And therefore there is no common ground. Their worldview is diametrically opposed to ours. And all the reason, logic, history, truth is useless in arguing with these people. They have to have a "living" Constitution to be able to pull off their programs based upon their worldview. "You can not reason a man out of a position that he didn't reason himself into in the first place." -Jonathon Swift
Dr. Thomas Sowell has written a superb tome on these elitists called "The Vision of the Anointed-Self Congratulation as A Basis for Social Policy".
A brief review:
Compare what the anointed see the role of government as being as compared to what Bastiat wrote in the "The Law" ( http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html ) and you'll see that the left is flat earth, we are round earth.
As Dennis Prager said a few weeks back, the left sees the government as the instrument to ensure that life is fair and that outcomes are equal. We see the government is supposed to ensure liberty and justice.
Flat earth, round earth.
We talk often, and usually we are quite close in our feelings and outlook. But, he and I are also clear that there is no dialogue with the anti-liberty,collectivist, socialist left. Their worldview is that the government is the answer to everything. That the solution to all the problems visited upon us by ourselves (which usually is a response to another intrusive government program) or problems visited upon us by the government is ANOTHER government program.
Well, the truth is that they see the earth as flat. We see it as round. And therefore there is no common ground. Their worldview is diametrically opposed to ours. And all the reason, logic, history, truth is useless in arguing with these people. They have to have a "living" Constitution to be able to pull off their programs based upon their worldview. "You can not reason a man out of a position that he didn't reason himself into in the first place." -Jonathon Swift
Dr. Thomas Sowell has written a superb tome on these elitists called "The Vision of the Anointed-Self Congratulation as A Basis for Social Policy".
A brief review:
Sowell analyzes these "anointed" people and finds that they have several characteristics in common:
- They are absolutely convinced of the righteousness of their views and policies even when mountains of empirical evidence point to the contrary.
- Instead of attempting to understand opposing views (much less debate them), they use verbal sleight-of-hand to evade such views - and even try to denigrate and publicly discredit those who espouse them.
- They have a tendency of hiding behind their "good intentions" when the policies put in place based on their vision blow up in their faces, asserting that things would have been "even worse" were it not for their "vision."
- They view certain aspects of reality that do not conform to their vision as "problems" or even "crises" in need of "solutions," as opposed to systemic processes involving normal human interactions and economic trade-offs.
- In explaining the rise of black single-parent homes since the 1960s, they refer to concepts such as "income distribution," crime, and the "legacy of slavery" in ways that fit ever-so-neatly with their vision, no matter what history, the real world, and opposing views say.
Compare what the anointed see the role of government as being as compared to what Bastiat wrote in the "The Law" ( http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html ) and you'll see that the left is flat earth, we are round earth.
As Dennis Prager said a few weeks back, the left sees the government as the instrument to ensure that life is fair and that outcomes are equal. We see the government is supposed to ensure liberty and justice.
Flat earth, round earth.
Where citizens fear the government....
There is a great quote from Jefferson "Where government fears the citizens, there is liberty. Where citizens fear the government, there is tyranny."
And, so now, we have the height of arrogance from those fine folks in Connecticut who stole land to give to someone else:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45851
Reminds me of the Chinese government that sends to the family of an executed citizen a bill for 35 cents for the cost of the 9mm bullet used for the execution.
Time to reset the trip odometer. Back to Concord Bridge!
And, so now, we have the height of arrogance from those fine folks in Connecticut who stole land to give to someone else:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45851
Reminds me of the Chinese government that sends to the family of an executed citizen a bill for 35 cents for the cost of the 9mm bullet used for the execution.
Time to reset the trip odometer. Back to Concord Bridge!
Friday, August 19, 2005
If I were allowed to have my say
Tomorrow morning I, along with many other party activists, will be attending a Leadership Summit for the Minnesota Republican Party. Given what has happened in the last 10 months, I have several words that I would like to give to the Party Leadership. Since this is appearing to be a tightly controlled meeting, it is doubtful that I will get the opportunity to speak. HOWEVER if it were to happen, this is what I would like to say to the Governor and to Party Chairman...
Chairman Carey, Congressional District officers, BPOU Chairs and Deputy Chairs and fellow State Executive Committee members.
I thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this morning. I have asked for this opportunity to address you on 2 issues. Both have to do with the state of the base. During last year’s campaign, I talked to numerous voters in our base who were sick to death of all of the voter/issue ID calls – calls from the State Party, the Bush Campaign and the RNC.
Then we had this last legislative special session. While I understand the need for the Governor to bargain and that in bargaining, we need to give up some ground, I do not understand the Governor’s insistence that this new cigarette tax is a “health impact fee”. Refusing to call this new tax anything except tax is ludicrous. This Clintonesque parsing of words ranks right up there with debating what the definition of “is” is (as took place during the Clinton Impeachment trials). Everyone in the state, from cigarette sellers, to smokers, to Minneapolis Star Tribune, to the DFL is calling this tax a tax. The Governor needs to get with reality and call a tax a tax and then he needs to come make amends with the base. His refusal (so far) to do so is angering the activist base all the more.
This same disgruntled activist base is now being “hit up” by the state party with fundraising calls. The only way that an angry base knows how to get the Party leadership’s attention, is to withhold funding. Having your fundraising callers argue with the fed up base who is not contributing (as happened on a fundraising call to MY house) makes them all the angrier.
My point here is this is, the base is upset. Ignoring why the base is upset endangers any possible gains we hope to make in 2006. For an ignored base will, come Election Day, elect to stay away from the polls.
Chairman Carey, Congressional District officers, BPOU Chairs and Deputy Chairs and fellow State Executive Committee members.
I thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this morning. I have asked for this opportunity to address you on 2 issues. Both have to do with the state of the base. During last year’s campaign, I talked to numerous voters in our base who were sick to death of all of the voter/issue ID calls – calls from the State Party, the Bush Campaign and the RNC.
Then we had this last legislative special session. While I understand the need for the Governor to bargain and that in bargaining, we need to give up some ground, I do not understand the Governor’s insistence that this new cigarette tax is a “health impact fee”. Refusing to call this new tax anything except tax is ludicrous. This Clintonesque parsing of words ranks right up there with debating what the definition of “is” is (as took place during the Clinton Impeachment trials). Everyone in the state, from cigarette sellers, to smokers, to Minneapolis Star Tribune, to the DFL is calling this tax a tax. The Governor needs to get with reality and call a tax a tax and then he needs to come make amends with the base. His refusal (so far) to do so is angering the activist base all the more.
This same disgruntled activist base is now being “hit up” by the state party with fundraising calls. The only way that an angry base knows how to get the Party leadership’s attention, is to withhold funding. Having your fundraising callers argue with the fed up base who is not contributing (as happened on a fundraising call to MY house) makes them all the angrier.
My point here is this is, the base is upset. Ignoring why the base is upset endangers any possible gains we hope to make in 2006. For an ignored base will, come Election Day, elect to stay away from the polls.
I see I am not the only curious one
Dementee over at The Kool Aid Report (ok I allow myself some guilty pleasures and KAR is one of them - I'm a sucker for satire) reports here that Ms Rowley was asked some of the very same questions this morning on AM1500 KSTP that I raised in my previous post.
Colleen Rowley for Congress
The former FBI agent, Time co-person of the year and, seeker of anonymity, was on Rosenbaum and O’Connell today on KSTP-AM 1500. A caller asked a three part question:Do you agree with Cindy Sheehan that President Bush is the world’s biggest terrorist?Do you agree with her statement the Israel should get out of Palestine?Do you agree that it was an Israeli cabal that got the US into Iraq?The response to each began with, “I wouldn’t choose those words…”
You really should go to KAR to read the rest of the story. It is howlingly biting and wickedly truthful.
Colleen Rowley for Congress
The former FBI agent, Time co-person of the year and, seeker of anonymity, was on Rosenbaum and O’Connell today on KSTP-AM 1500. A caller asked a three part question:Do you agree with Cindy Sheehan that President Bush is the world’s biggest terrorist?Do you agree with her statement the Israel should get out of Palestine?Do you agree that it was an Israeli cabal that got the US into Iraq?The response to each began with, “I wouldn’t choose those words…”
You really should go to KAR to read the rest of the story. It is howlingly biting and wickedly truthful.
The pending CD2 race
A lot has been said (in recent weeks) about the sad story of Cindy Sheehan and the direction that her grief has taken her. I am not going to add to this. Instead, I am going to write about the decision that Colleen Rowley (FBI whistleblower and CD 2 DFL candidate) made to call up another Gold Star Mother (DFL State Senator Becky Lowry a woman that she had never met before) and said "Let's go to Crawford to support Cindy Sheehan". Ms. Rowley is running against incumbent Congressman (and REAL war hero) John Kline.
I have some questions for Ms. Rowley that I would like her to answer, if she wants to be my representative. You say you are going to Crawford to support Ms. Sheehan, does that mean that you support Ms. Sheehan when she says "America has been killing people on this continent since it was started. This country is not worth dying for."? Do you support Ms. Sheehan when she says that George W. Bush "killed" her son? Do you agree with her characterizing convicted terrorist lawyer Lynne Smith as "my Atticus Finch"? Do you agree with her saying that the sitting President should be impeached for "war crimes"?
Think carefully about your answers Ms. Crowley. The 2nd Congressional District is a fairly red district and your answers could make a big difference in what your chances for getting elected in 2006 are.
I have some questions for Ms. Rowley that I would like her to answer, if she wants to be my representative. You say you are going to Crawford to support Ms. Sheehan, does that mean that you support Ms. Sheehan when she says "America has been killing people on this continent since it was started. This country is not worth dying for."? Do you support Ms. Sheehan when she says that George W. Bush "killed" her son? Do you agree with her characterizing convicted terrorist lawyer Lynne Smith as "my Atticus Finch"? Do you agree with her saying that the sitting President should be impeached for "war crimes"?
Think carefully about your answers Ms. Crowley. The 2nd Congressional District is a fairly red district and your answers could make a big difference in what your chances for getting elected in 2006 are.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
A picture and a thousand words
Now, don't we ALL feel so much safer with TSA on the job?
From the article http://businessreform.com/article.php?articleID=11440&ofid=81
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Making a mountain out of a molehill?
Jed Babbin is filling in for Hugh Hewitt this evening. He spent quite a bit of time talking about this story filed by the AP this afternoon. Jed was making a big deal out of this story, saying that implies that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts may be racist based on the town he "grew up in". A caller to the program said that he re-read the story 3 times while waiting to talk to Jed and thought that Jed was crazy. I went back and re-read the story myself, for I got some of the same things (as Mr. Babbin did) out of the story myself. I will let you, dear readers decide for yourself.
"Like many towns across America, the exclusive lakefront community where Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. grew up during the racially turbulent 1960s and '70s once banned the sale of homes to nonwhites and Jews. "
That is the beginning of the story. The article continues:
"Just three miles from the nearly all-white community of Long Beach, two days of looting and vandalism erupted when Roberts was 15, barely intruding on the Mayberry-like community that was largely insulated from the racial strife of that era."
Mayberry like community????? I grew up in the Chicago area and this part of Indiana is hardly rural South Carolina.
"It was here that the 50-year-old Roberts lived from elementary school until he went away to Harvard in 1973, and that decade — as well as the rest of his life — is receiving intense scrutiny as the Senate gears up for its Sept. 6 confirmation hearings on President Bush' s first Supreme Court nominee.
Roberts' criticism of racial "quotas" in some documents from his work as a White House lawyer has alarmed civil rights groups and some Democrats, who say he may be a partisan for conservative causes. Other memos from his time in the Reagan Justice Department portray an attorney who urged his bosses to restrict affirmative action and Title IX sex discrimination lawsuits.
It is hard to know how much Roberts' upbringing in this northern Indiana community on the shores of Lake Michigan influenced his views. Some say the fact that there were riots and restrictions on home ownership is not relevant at all."
OK - this is where (I think) Mr. Babbin is getting his inference. I understand that a parent can (and does) have influence on a young person, but that does not mean that they stay that way. For example, your humble writer. My family used to joke about Norman Lear having a camera in our home. Why you may ask? My father WAS Archie Bunker! Given that he grew up as a Mexican in Colorado and faced some pretty nasty discrimination of his own, that puzzled me growing up. Now does that mean that I am equally racist or does that mean my father is still Archie Bunker like? No and no! In my case, I could not see the logic of my father's position, so I rejected it. In his case, he finally realized that his actions were not right as well.
"The family purchased land a few blocks from the beach in 1966 and built an unassuming tri-level house. The Roberts property did not include a racially restrictive covenant, according to LaPorte County deed records, and the restrictions had begun fading away by then.
Other homes built decades earlier in the town had covenants. Deeds on file from the 1940s in Long Beach ban the sale or lease of houses to "any person who is not a Caucasian gentile."
The covenants date to the community's early days in the 1920s as a summer getaway for Chicagoans.
"Every time you would go to an area you would find there were restrictions against a certain type," said Phyllis Waters, who moved to Long Beach in 1958 and bought Century 21 Long Beach Real Estate in 1967. "What they didn't like, they'd restrict."
Fern Eddy Schultz, the county historian, said the covenants were common for property near Lake Michigan. "They didn't want particular people to have homes around the lake areas," Schultz said.
Covenants have gotten attention in the past. President Bush purchased a house in 1988 in Dallas with a covenant restricting blacks from buying the property. His staff said Bush was unaware of the deed restriction, which was void under Texas law, when he purchased the home.
In Long Beach, nearly all residents were white when Roberts was growing up, a makeup that has changed little in four decades. Today, nearly 98 percent of the town's 1,500 residents are white."
Other homes built decades earlier in the town had covenants. Deeds on file from the 1940s in Long Beach ban the sale or lease of houses to "any person who is not a Caucasian gentile."
The covenants date to the community's early days in the 1920s as a summer getaway for Chicagoans.
"Every time you would go to an area you would find there were restrictions against a certain type," said Phyllis Waters, who moved to Long Beach in 1958 and bought Century 21 Long Beach Real Estate in 1967. "What they didn't like, they'd restrict."
Fern Eddy Schultz, the county historian, said the covenants were common for property near Lake Michigan. "They didn't want particular people to have homes around the lake areas," Schultz said.
Covenants have gotten attention in the past. President Bush purchased a house in 1988 in Dallas with a covenant restricting blacks from buying the property. His staff said Bush was unaware of the deed restriction, which was void under Texas law, when he purchased the home.
In Long Beach, nearly all residents were white when Roberts was growing up, a makeup that has changed little in four decades. Today, nearly 98 percent of the town's 1,500 residents are white."
OK - shall we talk about the covenant restrictions at Hyannis Port????? What is the racial make-up of Hyannis Port? Just to name one....
The article goes on further, but what I posted above is the jist of the story. Please follow the link, read the whole story and decide for yourself. Is the AP trying to infer that John Roberts is a racist based on where he was raised, and isn't that a racist assumption in and of itself????
Sunday, August 07, 2005
A tale of two employees
This is the tale of two employees, each faced with a family medical situation. One employee's wife had to have back surgery to repair a degenerated disk, the other had to help with the post-operative care of her mother (who lived in another state). Both employees work customer service in a field that relies heavily on technology. One employee works for a large corporation that is governed by federal regulations such as FMLA. The other works for a small business owner. One employee was allowed to work remotely while caring for the family member, the other is heading to court over the issue. My challenge to you dear readers....which employee is getting the opportunity to work remotely, with no hassles from the employer and which is going to court?
Give up? The employee that is having to go to court is the one that works for the company bound by federal regulation! You see, by being bound by regulation (and thus having to fill out mountains of paperwork) the large corporation has made the process so onerous to the employee that he has had to resort to drastic action. Meanwhile, the small business owner, eager to keep his employee happy and productive, made it possible for his employee (through cellular and VPN/internet technology) to be in another state and still work and handle her familial duty.
How do I know all of this, you ask? Simple, one employee is me and the other is a dear friend of mine. My employer (the small business owner) has graciously allowed me to work remotely, thus filling the empty hours when my mother is sleeping, resting or with her doctors. My friend, on the other hand, had to fight so long with his manager (regarding his wife's surgery and post operative care) that it has gone to HR and is possibly going to court.
The moral of this story is simple, dear reader. Government regulation is NOT the answer when it comes to situations like this. Simple human decency and belief that workers are not sheep that need to have their every move managed (regulated) are the answer.
Give up? The employee that is having to go to court is the one that works for the company bound by federal regulation! You see, by being bound by regulation (and thus having to fill out mountains of paperwork) the large corporation has made the process so onerous to the employee that he has had to resort to drastic action. Meanwhile, the small business owner, eager to keep his employee happy and productive, made it possible for his employee (through cellular and VPN/internet technology) to be in another state and still work and handle her familial duty.
How do I know all of this, you ask? Simple, one employee is me and the other is a dear friend of mine. My employer (the small business owner) has graciously allowed me to work remotely, thus filling the empty hours when my mother is sleeping, resting or with her doctors. My friend, on the other hand, had to fight so long with his manager (regarding his wife's surgery and post operative care) that it has gone to HR and is possibly going to court.
The moral of this story is simple, dear reader. Government regulation is NOT the answer when it comes to situations like this. Simple human decency and belief that workers are not sheep that need to have their every move managed (regulated) are the answer.
The Law of Unintended Consequences
This post is not as timely as I had hoped, and I apologize dear readers. Family business has kept me off-line for a few days. However, it is better late than never (as the old saying goes).
This is an important subject for all of us, especially our legislators. It has to do with the "law" of unintended consequences. This is the "law" of nature that causes our best intended actions to back-fire on us causing some unexpected results. For example, 6 months ago Hennepin County passed the most restrictive smoking ban (for bars and restaurants) in the state. Opponents of the bill said that smokers would flock to bars in the surrounding counties that did not have a similar smoking ban and that it would kill businesses and tax revenue. The county commissioners poo-pooed their claims saying that the non-smokers would come out in larger numbers so there were no worries. Well, now it seems that the county is considering scaling back the smoking ban. Why? What has changed their minds? The fact that the intake of tax dollars from pull tab sales has dropped dramatically since the smoking ban took effect! One bar owner told the County Board that his business was down so far that he was not going to be able to pay his taxes. We can't have that now, can we?????
Two weeks ago there was a bill pending in the Senate (S397 the Protection of Lawfull Commerce in Arms Act) that was to protect Arms manufacturers from frivilous lawsuits brought against them. Now the anti-gun forces were out in droves against this bill as were the 2nd Amendment supporters. Sen's Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn) were subjected to intense lobbying from the constituents as five of the oldest manufacturers of fire arms are in the state of Conneticut. Job losses for millions of Conneticut citizens were expected if the class action lawsuits were allowed to continue. Thankfully (if you are a fan of the 2nd Amendment) S397 was passed overwhelmingly.
Then there is Governor Pawlenty's "health impact fee". What are the unintended consequences here? Well, since the "health impact fee" went into effect on August 1st, smokers in the state of Minnesota have turned to several alternative options. Many have quite smoking, others (if they live close enough to the border) are driving to Wisconsin, Iowa or the Dakota's to buy their cigarettes, while others are ordering their smokes over the internet! Unintended consequence of raising taxes on the backs of the smokers? LESS TAX REVENUE FOR THE STATE!!!!! An ad (from the Taxpayers League of Minnesota) says it all when it says "The future of Minnesota's education rests on the wallets of the states smokers. So light up folks! The state's 660,000 cigarette smokers can't live forever. And when they die, Minnesota lawmakers are going to have to find a new form of revenue." (emphasis mine)
That about sums it up. Our governor, in caving to pressures from the DFL lead Senate, has turned the funding of our education system over to the smokers of the state. With restrictive smoking bans (like the one in Hennepin County) being pushed for ALL counties in Minnesota, smokers in Minnesota are going to be forced to quit. THEN where is the money going to come from Governor???????
This is an important subject for all of us, especially our legislators. It has to do with the "law" of unintended consequences. This is the "law" of nature that causes our best intended actions to back-fire on us causing some unexpected results. For example, 6 months ago Hennepin County passed the most restrictive smoking ban (for bars and restaurants) in the state. Opponents of the bill said that smokers would flock to bars in the surrounding counties that did not have a similar smoking ban and that it would kill businesses and tax revenue. The county commissioners poo-pooed their claims saying that the non-smokers would come out in larger numbers so there were no worries. Well, now it seems that the county is considering scaling back the smoking ban. Why? What has changed their minds? The fact that the intake of tax dollars from pull tab sales has dropped dramatically since the smoking ban took effect! One bar owner told the County Board that his business was down so far that he was not going to be able to pay his taxes. We can't have that now, can we?????
Two weeks ago there was a bill pending in the Senate (S397 the Protection of Lawfull Commerce in Arms Act) that was to protect Arms manufacturers from frivilous lawsuits brought against them. Now the anti-gun forces were out in droves against this bill as were the 2nd Amendment supporters. Sen's Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn) were subjected to intense lobbying from the constituents as five of the oldest manufacturers of fire arms are in the state of Conneticut. Job losses for millions of Conneticut citizens were expected if the class action lawsuits were allowed to continue. Thankfully (if you are a fan of the 2nd Amendment) S397 was passed overwhelmingly.
Then there is Governor Pawlenty's "health impact fee". What are the unintended consequences here? Well, since the "health impact fee" went into effect on August 1st, smokers in the state of Minnesota have turned to several alternative options. Many have quite smoking, others (if they live close enough to the border) are driving to Wisconsin, Iowa or the Dakota's to buy their cigarettes, while others are ordering their smokes over the internet! Unintended consequence of raising taxes on the backs of the smokers? LESS TAX REVENUE FOR THE STATE!!!!! An ad (from the Taxpayers League of Minnesota) says it all when it says "The future of Minnesota's education rests on the wallets of the states smokers. So light up folks! The state's 660,000 cigarette smokers can't live forever. And when they die, Minnesota lawmakers are going to have to find a new form of revenue." (emphasis mine)
That about sums it up. Our governor, in caving to pressures from the DFL lead Senate, has turned the funding of our education system over to the smokers of the state. With restrictive smoking bans (like the one in Hennepin County) being pushed for ALL counties in Minnesota, smokers in Minnesota are going to be forced to quit. THEN where is the money going to come from Governor???????
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Bork and Roberts
I was listening to Judge Robert Bork a few weeks ago (and got upset at Teddy Kennedy all over again that this man is not on the Supreme Court). Bork made a great point in reference to judicial review. He commented that if the Supreme Court rules that a statute is unConstitutional, the remedy is that a state legislature or Congress can re-write the statute (though I flinch that a state legislature needs to be beholden to the Supremes as we have a federal not a national constitution...at least up until the 14th Amendment).
However, how does a bad ruling on the Constitution by the Supremes get remedied? Judge Bork pointed out that there was only one way- by the Supreme Court revisiting the decision. No legislative action can reverse a bad Supreme Court decision on the Constitution. Consider what state of afairs would exist in America were the Dred Scott decision not revisited? Or Plessy vs. Ferguson (the separate but equal case)?
So, we have this from Supreme court nominee Roberts: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/8/2/202839.shtml .
Left wing ideologues on the bench have no compunction against revisiting any decision. But strict constructionists seem quite reluctant to erase the past sins of the their fellow judges.
And I'm therefore concerned in light of the NewsMax story.
However, how does a bad ruling on the Constitution by the Supremes get remedied? Judge Bork pointed out that there was only one way- by the Supreme Court revisiting the decision. No legislative action can reverse a bad Supreme Court decision on the Constitution. Consider what state of afairs would exist in America were the Dred Scott decision not revisited? Or Plessy vs. Ferguson (the separate but equal case)?
So, we have this from Supreme court nominee Roberts: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/8/2/202839.shtml .
Left wing ideologues on the bench have no compunction against revisiting any decision. But strict constructionists seem quite reluctant to erase the past sins of the their fellow judges.
And I'm therefore concerned in light of the NewsMax story.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Ignorance plus....
I notice my fellow blogger, Lady logician, has hit upon one of my favorite areas, the Constitution. I'd even go further than her and saying it not only ignorance, but also a terribly flawed and dangerously wrong understanding of what the Constitution means.
It's supposed to be a federal, not a national constitution. Also, it 's supposed to guarantee your freedoms via the government, not privately (if your employer doesn't want you to talk politics at work, as the company is his private property, he has every right, under the constitution to fire you for talking politics. How's that for an application? Dangerous to the staus quo,ehh? And don't even get me started on sexual harassment laws!). And as for law, there are Executive Orders that have the force of law unless specifically vacated by Congress within a certain amount of time (and if you ever want your blood to run cold, go here to read what power the office of President has ceded to itself with executive orders http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/1999/may99/psrmay99.html and here for a history http://www.thisnation.com/question/040.html . Though these articles were written during the Clinton administration, all presidents since Washington have issued executive orders).
I remember a radio program back in 2002. I was on my way to Duluth for a rally that Charlton Heston was going to be attending. CCRN (the organization that sponsored and lobbied for the shall issue bill) was organizing the event with the NRA. The guest on the show was Gail Marks Jarvis, business reporter for the Pioneer Press. The discussion started out about Social Security and economics. The talk was around how Social Security is a disaster, what returns that money would make if privately invested, the incredible private economic growth that would have resulted, etc. As the discussion progressed, the show's host made one of the more insightful comments I've heard in a long time. The comment was "If basic economics were taught in high school, there would be a tremendous revolution in the voting booth!" I looked at the radio and said "You got that right, white boy!" And if basic history were taught, along with real,not Kenseyian economics, and a good legitimate discourse on the Constitution, there would be another revolution in the voting booth.
Ignorance of the Constitution, ignorance of economics,ignorance of history, failure of the courts. All based on ignorance.
And always remember, this has all been done in our names. We, the people do have the power.We can take it back. All we have to do is exercise it.
It's supposed to be a federal, not a national constitution. Also, it 's supposed to guarantee your freedoms via the government, not privately (if your employer doesn't want you to talk politics at work, as the company is his private property, he has every right, under the constitution to fire you for talking politics. How's that for an application? Dangerous to the staus quo,ehh? And don't even get me started on sexual harassment laws!). And as for law, there are Executive Orders that have the force of law unless specifically vacated by Congress within a certain amount of time (and if you ever want your blood to run cold, go here to read what power the office of President has ceded to itself with executive orders http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/1999/may99/psrmay99.html and here for a history http://www.thisnation.com/question/040.html . Though these articles were written during the Clinton administration, all presidents since Washington have issued executive orders).
I remember a radio program back in 2002. I was on my way to Duluth for a rally that Charlton Heston was going to be attending. CCRN (the organization that sponsored and lobbied for the shall issue bill) was organizing the event with the NRA. The guest on the show was Gail Marks Jarvis, business reporter for the Pioneer Press. The discussion started out about Social Security and economics. The talk was around how Social Security is a disaster, what returns that money would make if privately invested, the incredible private economic growth that would have resulted, etc. As the discussion progressed, the show's host made one of the more insightful comments I've heard in a long time. The comment was "If basic economics were taught in high school, there would be a tremendous revolution in the voting booth!" I looked at the radio and said "You got that right, white boy!" And if basic history were taught, along with real,not Kenseyian economics, and a good legitimate discourse on the Constitution, there would be another revolution in the voting booth.
Ignorance of the Constitution, ignorance of economics,ignorance of history, failure of the courts. All based on ignorance.
And always remember, this has all been done in our names. We, the people do have the power.We can take it back. All we have to do is exercise it.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Ignorance
Ignorance (of the Constitution at least) is running rampant in this country. Between mis-intrepretations of the 2nd Amendment (the right to keep and bear arms) and the way people forget the 10th Amendment (rights not specificaly given to the Federal government in the Constitution reverting to the states) even exists, ignorance of the Constitution is daily on display. Sadly the majority of the cases seem to come from places where you least expect it - like our elected representatives and the main stream media.
The latest show of ignorance of the Constitution comes from the Minneapolis Star Tribune (or Pravda on the Mississippi as my friend Amendment X calls it) and Senator Charles Schumer. The Strib, in a recent editorial, implied that judges make laws when it calls for President Bush to pick a "moderate" to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Senator Schumer, in a recent press conference, stated that the President needed to be cautious in who he choose because this person would have 30+ years on the bench to "make law" (I am still looking for an online reference to this quote).
ATTENTION SENATOR SCHUMER AND THE STAR TRIBUNE EDITORS!!!!! The Legislature is the only body, out of our three branches of government, that is given the job of making laws. The President can not make law anymore than the Legislature can adjudicate legal cases. Fifth graders in Minnesota know that and I am appalled that a sitting US Senator apparently needs to be reminded of that basic Constitutional fact of life.
The latest show of ignorance of the Constitution comes from the Minneapolis Star Tribune (or Pravda on the Mississippi as my friend Amendment X calls it) and Senator Charles Schumer. The Strib, in a recent editorial, implied that judges make laws when it calls for President Bush to pick a "moderate" to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Senator Schumer, in a recent press conference, stated that the President needed to be cautious in who he choose because this person would have 30+ years on the bench to "make law" (I am still looking for an online reference to this quote).
ATTENTION SENATOR SCHUMER AND THE STAR TRIBUNE EDITORS!!!!! The Legislature is the only body, out of our three branches of government, that is given the job of making laws. The President can not make law anymore than the Legislature can adjudicate legal cases. Fifth graders in Minnesota know that and I am appalled that a sitting US Senator apparently needs to be reminded of that basic Constitutional fact of life.
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