Saturday, May 31, 2008

It's Still An Excuse Update

Recently in the article "It's Still An Excuse", I reported that a Texas State Appeals Court ruled that authorities had no right to seize the more than 440 children in a raid on the polygamist compound last month. I am glad to see that finally, the Texas Court has come to it's senses. The Texas Court delayed returning the more than four hundred children currently in State custody, to their polygamist families. A deal is in the works between the State and the families attorney's. It requires that the children stay in Texas, allow child welfare authorities access, and that parents agree to take parenting classes. I suppose that the deal is something positive, but Texas is unlikely to alter the polygamist sect's way of life. I still maintain that these polygamist religious cults are little more than a vehicle to allow grown men to have sex with young girls.

Out Of Gas

High gas prices are old news by now, but there is value in continuing to talk about the subject. When enough people become irate, perhaps that groundswell of anger will prompt our leaders to work harder to bring us some relief. In another sign of the impact of high gas prices, data released last week indicated that Americans are driving less. Miles driven fell 4.3 % for the month of March, when compared to last year. This represents the first decline since the last major oil crisis in the late 1970's. According to the Department of Transportation, Americans drove 11 billion miles less in March 2008 than a year earlier, the first time estimated travel on public roads fell in March since 1979. We did not learn our lesson 30 years ago, and begin to ween ourselves off of foreign oil. Think of where we would be today if in 1979, a commitment was made to build up U.S. reserves, build refineries, and increase the MPG of the average car. So the question is if and when we get through this oil crisis, will we have learned our lesson? Will things just return to the old status quo?

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Obama Takes Another Page From Clinton's Book

In "Obama Takes A Page From Clinton's Book", I compared Obama's repeated statements that most of his campaign money has come from small donors, to Hillary Clinton's now famous misrepresentations of the truth. It seems that Obama may have recently pulled another play from the Clinton playbook, in his speech on Memorial Day. Obama said; "I had an uncle who was ... part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps". A few days later Obama admitted that it was in fact his great-uncle, who had helped liberate a part of the Buchenwald camp, not Auschwitz. Earlier, Republicans had pointed out that it was Soviet troops that freed the Auschwitz camp. Is this really such a big mistake? When Obama spoke about his donors, as I spoke about above, it could be considered a lie. This time I think we need to give Senator Obama the benefit of the doubt. He was most likely told this story about his "uncle" when he was very young. Of all of the horrific Nazi camps, Auschwitz is the most infamous. If people cannot see that there is a huge difference between this Obama gaffe, and let's say Clinton's Bosnia fantasy, then they are just attempting to politicize this story. Clinton's dramatic experience was firsthand, Obama's was told to him years ago.

The Secret Life Of Hillary Clinton Part IV

Oh Hillary you silly goose. I hope you stay in the race all the way to the bitter end. Perhaps you will even leave the Democratic Party that shunned you and run against both Obama and McCain this fall. I wouldn't put anything past you. Even as the Democratic Rules Committee is meeting at this very moment to decide the fate of the Michigan and Florida Delegates, Clinton is somewhere plotting her next move. So with things coming down to the wire and Hillary on the ropes, she is doing what any good Clinton would do. Hillary is inventing wild stories and exaggerations. At a campaign stop last week, Senator Clinton began with some strong arguments of opinion. Clinton claimed that she was the Democrat's stronger Candidate to match up against Republican Senator John McCain this fall. OK, it's a matter of opinion, however there is some evidence to support that argument. Good old Hillary never stops there at mere truthful opinion. Clinton said; “You have to ask yourself, who is the stronger candidate? And based on every analysis, of every bit of research and every poll that has been taken and every state that a Democrat has to win, I am the stronger candidate against John McCain in the fall”. Wow, four "every's" in one sentence, sounds pretty absolute, but is it true? Well of course not! There are a number of polls that suggest Obama matches up better against McCain as well. Oh, Hillary did you "misspeak" AGAIN? That's alright, we would not expect anything less from you. The election just would not be as much fun without you.

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Friday, May 30, 2008

Left Out In The Cold

We have all been suffering from the skyrocketing cost of oil and it's effect on many of the products and services we use. Now with the summer upon us, the price of gas will be an impediment to our plans to enjoy the summer. Even past the summer, the economic forecast is grim. The Government's Energy Information Administration predicts outrageously high prices for home heating oil this winter season. An Economist from the University of Maryland, predicts a domino effect driven by high oil costs. In his words; "The American consumer will continue to pay for fuel, food and heat, but they will give everything else up, that's going to make it harder to sell the average consumer a television, a suit, or even a meal at a restaurant." OK, the news is pretty depressing but that's how it happens. One part of the economy drags down another part, and so on. With the sunshine filled days of early summer, Winter seems so far away. In less than six months the big Christmas retail season begins. This year many business will be at risk of not getting into the "black" on "Black Friday". Where do we go from there?




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Destiny's Child

Democratic Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he expects to wrap up the Party's nomination early next week. I think somebody forgot to tell Hillary Clinton because she is still pressing on. Obama said that he will be in a "pretty strong position" after Saturday's meeting of the Democratic Rules Committee, to determine the fate of the delegates from Michigan and Florida. When asked if he will be the nominee after next Tuesday's primaries, Obama replied; "I believe so." Delegates or not, there is no quit in Hillary Clinton. It will be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out over the next few days. Who says politics can't be fun and interesting.

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The New Keystone Cops II

In the original article "The New Keystone Cops", I compared today's Democratic Party to the old Keystone Cops films. I gave some examples of the more noteworthy Dems who have shot themselves and/or their party in the foot. As you would expect, Former President Jimmy Carter was on that list. Before, it was for his ridiculous meeting with Hamas terrorists, and now he continues to shame his party. Why don't the Dems lock up their crazy old Uncle Jimmy already? Last week Carter was talking about Iran with The London Times, suggesting that The United States and other Nations should engage Iran directly, concerning their nuclear ambitions. Carter was criticizing some of Israel's actions in Gaza when he stated factually that Israel had about 150 nuclear weapons in their arsenal. Before Carter's estimation, many people including myself, had never learned of a firm estimate of Israel's nuclear capacity. Did Carter blunder and let slip some information that he was privy to as President? One things for sure, Carter trotting the globe and opening his mouth is not helping Democrats in this election. I said before that I respect Carter's work with Habitat For Humanity immensely. That said, I thought he was one of the worst Presidents in U.S. history, and I am getting tired of him being in the news so much lately.

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Mr. Peanut Jumps Ship

National Disgrace

We have lost all sense of reason in America. Did you know Arizona is the ONLY State that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. That is just completely insane! Several other States are working on legislation similar to the Arizona law, but they will likely not finish before the fall elections. Besides being common sense, the Arizona law is part of an effort to prevent illegal immigrants from affecting the political process. That's a good plan, why was it not enacted a long time ago? Why has only one State passed this measure? It's difficult to believe, but there are opponents of these measures. What the hell is wrong with making certain that only Americans vote in an American election? Only and idiot would oppose this idea. The opponents of these measures use the cover story that certain impoverished an elderly voters wont be able to vote because the don't have proper identification. Hogwash, every American should have some form of Identification. If we can not be certain that only Americans are voting in our elections, we are on the road to losing our Country.

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All You Need Is Love

This is the kind of crap that holds the Human Race back from evolving. Child welfare groups are calling for an overhaul of Federal laws dealing with transracial adoption. They claim that black children raised by white families, may not be best for the children. This is based in part on a study performed by the Donaldson Institute. The report states; "There is a higher rate of problems in minority foster children adopted transracially than in-race, all children deserve to be raised in families that respect their cultural heritage." Crap, crap, more crap. Current legislation prohibits race from being taken into consideration in most decisions about adoption from foster care. Some have suggested racial training for the adoptive parents. That's just great, let's teach parents what black/white kids eat and white kind of music they should listen to. Go ahead, perpetuate the old racial stereotypes. I have known a few, and even was married to an adopted woman. Her birth and adoptive parents were from the same race. What I have learned form that experience is this; adopted children sometimes have difficulty accepting that fact well into adulthood, even when race is not an issue. I suppose it is hard just to deal with the fact that those who gave you life, gave you away. I think we all know that the most important qualification for a parent is that they love their children. The many children waiting for a home don't care what shade of skin that love is wrapped in.

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Put Down That Pancake

OK, maybe you can have a short stack, but don't' overdo it, because you just can't eat as much as you want. At least that's according to Democratic Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. Last week Obama said; "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK". I have been holding back on bashing Obama over these comments because I think he was attempting to get a point across, but expressed his thoughts poorly. I think Obama's point was that with the rising cost of energy, Americans need to take a sober look at their habits for financial as well as environmental reasons. That was pretty good, I should write his speeches. So anybody who has read my blog knows that I agree with his/my statement. The way he expressed the thought was surprising for such an intelligent, well spoken man. The SUV's most people will overlook, but you cannot tell people how much to eat and how to set their thermostats. Are you nuts? Besides, that's a pretty dismal message; we had better leave the table hungry and sweat. It does not sound like the positive politics of hope and change that Obama is supposed to represent. But he is right...this time.

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I Now Pronounce You...

The California State Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is now legal. I say big deal. What exactly is everybody so upset about? Same-sex couples in California will be able to wed in as early as three weeks. That has some people in an uproar. I guess we can understand those with a religious reason for opposing the court's ruling, and we should respect their feelings even if we disagree. Efforts are already underway to amend the State Constitution to ban gay marriage. I have to ask why? I would consider myself to be a fairly conservative person, however I do not oppose, nor am I pro gay marriage. Confused? It's real simple; I just don't give a damn. Gay marriage is about number one million on my list of important things. We have more urgent matters to legislate in this Country than gay marriage. As a divorcee, I must caution our gay brothers and sisters to be careful what they wish for. I will support a Constitutional Amendment to ban marriage. All marriage. Oh come on, lighten up.

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Hooray For Herpes

I needed a little break from all of the heavy stuff, so I decided to have a chuckle. I suppose for those men who suffer from erectile dysfunction, a product like Viagra is a godsend. I am sure the day will come when I have to ask the doctor for that little blue pill. While I may be happy to get the prescription filled, I don't think you will catch me singing about it on television like the guys in the "Viva Viagra" commercial. What really makes me laugh out loud is the Valtrex commercial. Valtrex is a drug for the treatment of genital herpes. The commercials always begin the same way. There is a man and woman getting all lovey-dovey and they have big smiles on their faces. You would never know that it was a commercial for a herpes drug, and that the couple are inflicted with this horrible, incurable, condition. One of the pair always proudly proclaims; "I have genital herpes". To that I say congratulations, but if it were me, I would keep that bit of information to myself. I suppose that you need happy actors to sell any product. I much prefer the straightforward approach of the Enzyte commercials. The whole Smilin' Bob thing is a little campy, but at least they don't take themselves too seriously.

Mr. Peanut Jumps Ship

In "This Is Painful To Admit; Again", I offered a rare defense of Senator Clinton because the news media had been unfairly attempting to end her bid for the Presidency, before she was ready to quit her campaign. To date, Clinton still vows to fight on. Even in light of her unrealistic chances, and despite the many people who have called for her to throw in the towel, Clinton has the right to continue on if she so desires. The latest Democratic heavy hitter to call on Hillary to quit is former President Jimmy Carter. Last Sunday, Carter said that the Superdelegates should make up their minds soon after the final Democratic Primary on June 3rd. Carter also strongly prompted Clinton to quit the race after the last primary. Carter said; "I have not yet announced publicly, but I think at that point it will be time for her to give it up". Former President Carter is a Superdelegate himself. Carter is getting annoying lately, popping up in the news a little too often for my tastes. I do not think that Carter holds any more sway over Clinton than the throngs who have already called on her to quit. Senator Clinton might just take the fight all the way, to spite those whom she feels have betrayed her.






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Hillary Reads My Blog

Our Own Worst Enemy

It's true that many times my fellow Americans, we are our own worst enemy. Our Government gets away with deceit and trickery, and outright shirking it's responsibility to the people. Ultimately we the people, bear the responsibility for holding Government accountable. In the information age, our Government has become more transparent then ever, of which I am sure lawmakers are very displeased with that fact. That said, it surprises me that there is not a greater uproar amongst the people, now that a gallon of gas is hovering around four dollars per gallon. The solutions our elected officials have offered up so far are a bogus 18.4 cent "gas tax holiday" and a lawsuit against the oil producing nations of OPEC. They can do more, much more to bring relief to the American people. In fact some of the solutions are relatively easy to implement. We can drill in Alaska and off of our own coast to increase our domestic supply. Sounds like a great idea, why hasn't it happened yet and why don't the people demand it? It has not happened because Congress will not allow it, siting environmental concerns. The people do not cry out because most are probably not aware of this opportunity. I am very concerned with protecting the environment. Having said that, there are four really good reasons for Congress to allow domestic oil companies to drill in and around The United States. One, it will bring price relief to the millions of Americans suffering due to the cost of gas. Two, it will make us somewhat less dependent of foreign oil, which in turn will give us more negotiating leverage with some troublesome nations, thus helping our National Security. Three, the technology to drill for oil with minimal environmental impact is available, and has been already proven to work in environmentally sensitive areas. The last and biggest reason; FOREIGN COUNTRIES ARE ALREADY DRILLING OFF THE COAST OF THE U.S. CHINA DRILLS CLOSER TO THE U.S. COASTLINE THAN WE DO! We can not regulate the environmental impact of their drilling efforts right off our coastline. So we might as well get some of our oil for ourselves. The ineptness of our Government and apathy of our people would almost be laughable, if found in some work of fiction. This is all to real, and we had better smarten up real soon.

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Is the United Nations still relevant? In principal, I understand what the organization is supposed to accomplish. The problem is they have not accomplished anything worthwhile in recent memory. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, reported that Iran is not cooperation with nuclear inspections. No big surprise there. The IAEA claims that Iran is holding back information on high explosives testing relating to its nuclear program. There is a lot of military intelligence to suggest that Iran is covertly working on an a nuclear weapon. Again this is no shocker, but what is surprising is that the United Nations is once again dropping the ball with regards to Iran. Am I the only person who sees shades of Saddam Hussein and Iraq. If Iran's words and assurances about their nuclear program were true, they would just let the IAEA do it's job and the issue would be put to rest. As I have said before, a nuclear armed Iran is something the world cannot tolerate.


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The Low Road

I think that we are falling into a dangerous pattern in the United States. It seems that more and more we like to allay blame into three categories; racism, sexism, and discrimination. Believe it or not, sometimes things just are what they are. It's like Freud said; "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". Now it seems that money, yep good old greenbacks, are discriminatory. A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that money discriminates against the blind. The issue being that people who are blind cannot distinguish between the different denominations of our paper currency.
The Government has resisted the complete overhaul of our paper currency claiming that it would cost too much to "make the change", and leave our money more vulnerable to counterfeiting. I must admit the Government makes a good argument, they are however experimenting with small improvements to paper currency in order to assist the vision impaired. I would be all for doing what can be reasonably done to augment paper currency to make it easier for the blind. Like many Americans, I get so turned off when I here discrimination applied to this case. The currency problem is just that, a problem to be worked on to help improve the lives of people. Paper currency was not created centuries ago to discriminate against the blind. What's next, money discriminates against poor people who do not have much of it? Surprisingly one legally blind man, Charlie Richardson, disagrees with the Court's decision. He said; "To actually be discriminated against is to have something denied to you, we're not denied the use of money." Mr. Richardson has better vision where it really counts.


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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Another House Of Horrors

It's hard to believe that there is another horror story that rivals the Austrian man, Josef Fritzl, who confessed a few weeks ago to the 24 year imprisonment of his daughter in his basement dungeon, and fathered seven children by her. Last week an Argentine man was sentenced for keeping his daughter as a sexual prisoner for over ten years, ultimately fathering two children by her. The man, Eleuterio Soria, used threats and intimidation to keep his daughter hostage, at times by using a handgun. Like Fritzl, Soria began abusing his daughter at an early age. It is very hard for me to get my head around these stories. How could a person abuse any child, let alone their own flesh and blood? Are these men pure evil or just mentally ill? Perhaps both.







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Divided They Stand

On every news and talk show, there are plenty of Democrats towing the party line by insisting that the long struggle between Senator's Clinton and Obama, has not left them divided. It is difficult to believe that the long, and at times harsh struggle, between Obama and Clinton has not had an impact on Democratic unity. Evidence of this can be found in the polls that suggest many Clinton backers would vote for McCain if she were out of the race. Polls suggest some of the same for Obama's supporters. The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee meets Saturday to decide the fate of the delegates from Michigan and Florida. It has been reported that Clinton supporters are busing in protesters to demonstrate at Saturday's meeting. Obama supporters plan to have demonstrators out in full force as well. There are historical, economic, and many other reasons why the upcoming election should be the Democrats to lose. If you would have asked me last September if John McCain stood a chance, my answer would have been no. I think the Dems have shot themselves in the foot in their primary, and opened the door for McCain to achieve victory.


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With Friends Like These...

Ah, the 2008 Presidential Election. Heaping large amounts of bull fertilizer on a record setting scale. I want for just one, just one single moment, to narrow the focus and examine one point. I want to put aside all of the other issues and politics to make one argument. Democratic Senator Barack Obama looks more like the nominee as every day passes. Tabling all of my other arguments against voting for Obama, I put forth the best one that I like to call "the three endorsements from hell". First there was the traitor Jane Fonda's endorsement a few months ago. That alone is enough to convince most Vietnam Veterans. Second, we have Obama's ringing endorsement from leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas. This would convince anybody with a half of a brain. Last but not least, good old Fidel Castro supports Obama. Castro did not want to say too many good things about Obama because he feared; "if I defended him I would do a huge favor for his adversaries." Lovely, lets recap. Senator Obama has the support of a traitor, terrorist, and communist. In fairness to Obama, perhaps he has nothing in common with these people morally or politically. We must consider this one fact that Obama cannot escape. It's bad enough that these cretins are endorsing the policies that Obama supports. That means that Obama's policies are wrong for us, it's just that simple.

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Take Them To Court

Remember the original "The People's Court" in the 1980's with Judge Wapner? They were some of the early pioneers in reality television. I can clearly remember the shows host Doug Llewelyn's catch phrase. He would say; "Don't take the law into your own hands: you take 'em to court". The Federal Government plans to do just that. The House of Representatives passed legislation last week allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to manipulate oil prices. The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow. I say what the hell, Congress is not doing much else to help stem the rising cost of oil and oil related products. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill, saying that such a measure will cause the oil producing nations to retaliate against us. The bill passed the House in a 324-84 vote, a big enough margin to override Bush's veto. While I am not all that optimistic about the outcome, this bill is better than the whole lot of nothing that our lawmakers have been doing up there on the Hill recently. Come to think of it, we should check and see if Judge Wapner is available to hear the case.

It's Still An Excuse

Last month in "It's Just An Excuse", I examined the Government raid on the polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas. In writing about that story, I came to the realization that these polygamist religious cults are little more than a vehicle to allow grown men to have sex with young girls. A few days ago the Government's case against the polygamist sect began to unravel. A State Appeals Court ruled that authorities had no right to seize more than 440 children in a raid on the polygamist compound last month. The Texas Court said the State failed to show the children were in any immediate danger. The leaders of the sect have maintained that the State had no right to take the children. I am aware that we have to respect religious freedom and be careful not to pass judgement based upon the polygamist's lifestyle. I have said before that polygamy does not offend my sensibilities, as long as all of the parties involved are adults. What the Court has over looked here, is the fact that at least five of the young girls under the age of sixteen taken from the compound, were pregnant. Other underage girls had already given birth. Having looked at a lot of material regarding this case, my opinion remains the same. The polygamy sect is nothing more than an excuse for grown men to abuse young girls. It's Institutionalized pedophilia.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Let's Honor Them

I have been wanting to return to a place where my family and I visited in my teens. That place is Washington D.C., my thoughts in particular, of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. I will never forget when my Father, a Vietnam Veteran, and I walked down to the Memorial and saw the thousands of the names of the fallen heroes. The scene at Arlington is equally as impressive, with the hero's from many wars resting in eternal peace. It would be hard for me to describe Washington D.C. as a "fun" trip. For that reason it has been difficult to get my "tweenage" kids to get excited about going to visit there. So I am planning to do what any good parent would do; I am going to make them go. I feel that it's important enough to do just that. Besides, when we get there the kids natural curiosity will take over. I was reminded of this trip from yesteryear by a news story about our National cemeteries. An average of 1,800 veterans die each day, and 10 percent of them are buried in the country's 125 national cemeteries, which are expected to set a record with 107,000 interments this year. Additional National Cemeteries are planned in the future to keep up with the burial rate. Today being Memorial Day, this story really drives the point home of the sacrifice that so many brave people made in defense of their Country. Not only is it important for us to remember, but also to teach our children that Memorial Day is about more than just barbeque's and water park fun.

Memorial Day 2008

Today is Memorial Day, the traditional kickoff of the summer season. Where I live in the northeast, the weather has been the most perfect of any Memorial Day weekend that I can recall. This weekend has so many meanings with deep roots in our American culture. Families and friends will come together for barbeque's and many seasonal businesses cast their hopes for a successful summer. It is nothing less than a tragedy, that many will not stop for just a moment today, and consider just what Memorial Day is all about. That tragedy is magnified with this year, being another in which so many of our young men and women are in harms way. I could never understand those Americans who do not appreciate the service of out soldiers. When a soldier is called upon to serve, he/she does not question the nature of that service. They simply and faithfully answer the call of the Country that they love so much. I respect those opinions that are different from my own, after all that it what America is all about. In fact, last week I met with a close friend of mine, who stands 100% opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What he and I do have in common is a great love and respect for our military. I call on all Americans to honor the fallen soldiers of today and years past, this Memorial Day. Please keep the soldiers and their families in your hearts and your prayers. God Bless America.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Diplomatic Immunity

Here's one form the "been trying to get to it file". Last month Quintero Curiel, a Mexican Diplomat, stole a half dozen BlackBerry phones from outside a special room in the hotel where the Mexican delegation was meeting with President Bush. It is common practice at these high level meetings, for all handheld phones and devices to remain outside the meeting room. Soon after American Officials discovered that their phones were missing, the Secret Service nabbed Quintero Curiel at the airport. Curiel denied taking the phones, but the Secret Service whipped out a video of the incident. Curiel returned the phones and claimed diplomatic immunity, so he was permitted to leave with the Mexican Delegation. That diplomatic immunity sure is something. It's like the ultimate get out of jail free card. I suppose I should not be upset that this Mexican official broke the law and got away with it. After all, if it's based on breaking our laws, we have over 20 million Mexican Diplomats here in our Country right now.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

What A Sellout

Last month in the stories linked below, I lamented about two of my favorite music artists, Elton John's and Bruce Springsteen's, very public political endorsements. My argument was that entertainers like all of the rest of us, have the right to express their political opinion. It's when they utilize their celebrity to influence the voters, that I feel that they cross the line. As it turns out, I found something that one of my favorite music artists can do to disappoint me more than making a political endorsement. Have you seen Meatloaf with his son and daughter in the commercial for Go Phone? They are doing a very bad parody of Meatloaf's landmark song "Paradise by the dashboard light". I am disappointed that he chose to disgrace himself and this song by doing this commercial. I wonder how Jim Steinman, who wrote those lyrics for Meatloaf over thirty years ago, felt about the commercial. "Paradise" is not just another song, and Meatloaf is not just any artist. When the album "Bat out of hell" was released in the 70's, it changed music forever. To see it in the Go Phone commercial cheapens the song and Meatloaf himself. Perhaps I should not be so hard on Meat, maybe he needed the money. One thing's for sure, I don't have to feel so guilty the next time I butcher the song at karaoke.

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Game, Set, Match

I am wearing a big grin as I write this one. I have been trying to convince the world that Senator Clinton is the creepiest in a town full of creeps. This latest Clinton gaffe proves that she does not have a soul. Yesterday Senator Hillary Clinton was responding to a question from a reporter about why she remains in the Democratic Presidential hunt. Clinton answered; "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California". Did anybody happen to notice pointed ears and a tail on Clinton? Was she holding a pitchfork? Do my ears deceive me? Stay tune Hillary fans, same Hill time, same Hill channel! If I heard correctly, Senator Clinton just said that one of her reasons for remaining in the race is, just in case Barack Obama gets clipped by an assassins bullet? No wonder Obama has so much security. He is probably worried that Clinton herself will put the hit on him. Hillary Clinton has reached the apex of insensitivity and depravity with this one. This has to rob Clinton of the momentum she has been building over the last few weeks, and I think it could spell the end of her campaign. Come on Hillary you know that you're never supposed to let the horns show. To be fair, Clinton also gave other reasons for remaining in the race. What did Senator Obama have to say about Clinton's remark, he said;"I have learned that when you’re campaigning for as many months as myself and Sen. Clinton have been campaigning that, you know, sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make. And I think that’s what happened here". Obama has more class in his pinky finger than Clinton does in her whole body. Just to be safe, Obama better don a vest when Hillary is around in the Senate.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Living Large

In "Conflict Of Interest", I blasted our members of Congress who have as much as 196 million dollars collectively invested in companies doing business with the Defense Department. In "America For Sale" and "You're Out Of Touch", I theorized that our Congressmen and Congresswomen were all wealthy millionaires, which is partly to blame for their indifference of, and inability to, understand the working folks economic woes. I did not realize just HOW wealthy our Congressional members are. Today, I saw it reported on the news that the average wealth of our Congressional members was 10 million dollars. After the shock wore off, I abandoned all hope that this Congress can or will cope with our economic crisis. We need some new "real world" lawmakers to give us some "real world" solutions to our problems. That's pretty far off from what we have now. The people suffer, and all that the wealthy geniuses in Congress can come up with, is a lame "gas tax holiday" to save us a lousy 25 bucks this summer.

Feeling Unstimulated

We are well into the distribution of the Federal stimulus checks that cost our Government a gazillion dollars. Families will receive about six hundred bucks on average, depending on your tax filing circumstances. I have not gotten mine as of yet, but I got to thinking today about how I am going to spend it. Something occurred to me as I walked through my local "warehouse club" store, where you find mostly items in bulk. While I have noticed prices steadily climbing each month I shop there, the jump in prices from April to May, left me with a severe sticker shock today. So I thought back a few months ago, to when The President and Congress conjured up this stimulus package. I guess it was a good idea, but it did not quite work out like they intended it to. The stimulus package was supposed to infuse Americans with cash so that they could (hopefully) spend it quickly and put the paddles on the heart of our ailing economy. Consider this though, since that time, a barrel of oil is 40 dollars more, and the prices of foods and services have spiked dramatically. I like many Americans, will probably use this money just to keep up and not have much left over for extra spending. Looking back Congress should have called it the "break even package".

Held Hostage By Oil

I have been beginning to see stories on the news about Iran and Venezuela hoarding vast amounts of oil in supertankers in order to manipulate the market and drive gas prices even higher. I found some evidence to support this on the net, and think that this story is still developing. There is also evidence to support that the two nations Iran and Venezuela, are working together in this effort. I believe that this is not solely an effort to reap greater profit by manipulating the oil market. What do the two countries have in common? They both hate us with a great passion. There are so many directions in which I wanted to go with this story. I am consumed however, by only one thought. I think that this has the potential to be the flash point for a global conflict. We are already at odds with Iran for their nuclear programs, aid to insurgents in Iraq, and general sponsoring of terrorist organizations World wide. Now with Americans and our economy suffering greatly, it may just come to war. It would not take much, and may not start with a military action. This covert oil embargo by Iran and Venezuela may have already been the "Hitler crossing into Poland" of our time.

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Just A Friendly Reminder

Too Great A Danger

When Doing Right Is Wrong

There are times when I wonder if we have lost all sense of sound judgement and common decency. This is one of those times. Mark Beverly, an overnight shift supervisor at a gas station in Minnesota, was fired after he jumped on a robber who he believed was attacking a fellow employee. On a March night around around 3 a.m., Beverly was cleaning the bathroom and his female co-worker was behind the cash register. Beverly heard her scream, and rushed to her aid. Beverly said; "It looked like he was hurting her, so I jumped on him". The robber, who was armed, fled with about 15 bucks and nobody was hurt. For his trouble Mark Beverly was fired. The company SuperAmerica, said he violated company policy when he came to the employee's aid. SuperAmerica said Beverly was fired for not following the company policy as stated in their handbook. The company handbook tells employees to "cooperate: don't argue, resist or attack the robber". So SuperAmerica put aside his courage, and fired him. I don't give a #$% what the damn handbook says! What if the woman cashier had been killed? Well at least he could keep his job. This Country has serious problems beyond those attributed to Government. We have issues as a society. In "Spirit Of The Law", I argued that rules should not always be an absolute. In many cases we must weigh the circumstances surrounding an event, in along with the rule itself.
It was wrong for SuperAmerica to dismiss Mark Beverly. Until this situation is rectified, everyone should boycott SuperAmerica stations.

Some Rules Were Meant To Be Broken:

Have A Heart

Infringing On Our Rights

When Life Hands You Lemons

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Cruelty Beyond All Reason

I was thinking today about the "MySpace suicide". In case you have not heard about it, Federal criminal charges were brought against a Missouri woman, Lori Drew, in connection with a teenagers suicide. Allegedly, Drew created a false profile on MySpace and posed as a teen boy, to get the attention of a 13 year old neighborhood girl, Megan Meier. Drew claimed she did this to "gather intelligence," regarding what was being said at school about her own teenage daughter. Drew was allegedly so mean, cruel, and harassing, that it led to the teenage Meier committing suicide. Drew committed an unspeakably horrible act, but should it be a crime? I want to see her punished as much as anybody, but is this not a matter for Civil Court? Not any longer. The Justice Department charged Drew with the same statute used to prosecute computer hackers, prompting many legal eagles to decry that this case will result in tragic unintended consequences. Federal Prosecutors charged Drew with breaching the MySpace "terms of service" agreement, on the grounds that she accessed protected computers without authorization. Legal fine print gives me a big headache, but I sure do understand the unintended consequences of this precedent setting case. To help me explain, this is borrowed from ABC News; " It is important to understand the underlying "crime" here. The indictment does not really have anything to do with the alleged mistreatment of the girl in this case -- the alleged crime is that Drew did not follow MySpace's "terms of service." The charges are based on an anti-hacker statute, and in this indictment, the "victim" is MySpace, not the girl. " Pretty scary stuff huh? Many people like myself do not even read those elongated terms of service on the hundreds of Internet sites we visit. Now if we violate them with even a false name, we will be guilty of Federal fraud charges. I am not sorry that the Federal Government went after Drew because the result of her cruelty, had such tragic consequences. I am torn, having done many stories about our "big brother" Government stripping us of our rights. Well this is a big one, with scary implications for an individuals rights. Please do not hate me, but I think the Fed has to reverse themselves here, even if it means that Drew goes free. Otherwise, if you signed up to read this under an assumed name, you have just committed a crime. And that's just plain scary. Shades of "1984".

Two Can Play At That Game

In my very last post, I slammed Senator Hillary Clinton for playing the blame game. Clinton blames the media for having a bias against her, and also the general attitude of sexism prevailing in America. While I agreed with Clinton about the media, I thought the sexism charge was ridiculous. Not to be outdone, Obama decided to get in on the blame game also. Speaking about his defeat in Kentucky, Obama said; "There are a lot of voters who get their news from FOX News. FOX has been pumping up rumors about my religious beliefs or my patriotism or what have you since the beginning of the campaign". I disagree that Fox has been unfair to him, but from his point of view, he has been the media darling for so long that it seems he cannot take any criticism. I see an Obama pattern emerging. He gets asked some tough questions in a debate; he cried that it was unfair. He is sensitive about his weak foreign policy stance; he trumps up charges that President Bush called him an "appeaser". Now he loses big in a few States and obviously has a disconnect with some voters; so he blames Fox News. Not only is Obama NOT the Candidate of change, he has apparently stolen a few pages from the Clinton playbook.

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Now The Blame Game

This one is right out of the Clinton playbook of crappy politics. And you know what, as much as I detest Hillary Clinton, I have come out and stuck up for her. When Clinton blamed the media for treating her unfairly and putting her rival Barack Obama on a pedestal, I agreed one hundred percent. Unfortunately Clinton did not stop there. She decided to play the sex card. Of course "The Man" is to blame. After all, he is an easy target and seems to garner lots of blame. Clinton said; "There should be equal treatment of the sexism and the racism when it raises its ugly head". Ah, the "ism's", who doesn't love to blame a good "ism". So whom can we blame if McCain looses the election? McCain? He's the man right? Well then how could he lose if he's the man? This is all very confusing, so I am going to make it real simple for everyone. Hillary, people don't like you, because of you, who you are and what you represent. Most people who don't like you don't like hubby Bill either. How do you explain that as sexism? People do not like Hillary Clinton because she is the biggest liar and phony in a town full of liars and phonies. I have heard Clinton and her supporters cry sexism. What I have not heard from them are any solid examples to support that claim. I have an example of sexism that they can study. Think back to how Bill Clinton qualifies candidates for internship in the White House.

Got Some Explaining To Do

In a cruel irony, oil was hitting a new record high price as executives from the five largest oil companies testified before Congress today. For the second time this year, oil company officials were summoned to appear before Congress to explain their massive profits, as gas prices are spiraling out of control. Oil execs testifying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee, claimed that the market is to blame for the price of oil, and their companies were not gouging consumers. John Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil Company said; "As repetitive and uninteresting as it may sound, the fundamental laws of supply and demand are at work". He is right actually. We are not interested in what he has to say, only why his company and the others are making record profits while Americans suffer. From what I read, lawmakers really gave the oil execs hell, but did it accomplish anything to help us? Congress has threatened big oil with extra taxes, and revoking the 17 billion dollars in tax breaks that they receive. Why they get that much money in the first place, I will never know. I stopped for a minute to consider the question; what if the oil company executives are telling at least part of the truth? What if supply and the markets really are part of the problem? Congress needs to act and meet the oil companies halfway. They need to lift restrictions on oil exploration in North America, and clear the way for additional refining capacity. I am deeply concerned about the environment, but with my brother and sister Americans suffering 4 dollar a gallon gas, we need help. Real help, right now.

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Here's Johnny II

Republican Senator and Presidential Candidate John McCain is showing his funny side again. McCain appeared on the long running Saturday Night Live television show and was a hit in his latest humorous campaign stop. This following other McCain comedy stumps that include, WWE Raw, The Daily Show, and American Idol. I think that these appearances have shown a side of McCain that will help him connect with voters this fall. I think back to Senator Bob Dole when he ran for President back in 1996. I think most people had confidence in Dole's steady leadership, but his downfall was that he came across as a stuffy old man. John McCain is not falling into that trap. Not only is he hamming it up on popular television shows, he is doing it strategically. In his SNL appearance he made certain to poke fun at his own age. McCain said; "I ask you, what should we be looking for in our next president? Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old." In doing this, McCain stole the thunder of those critical of his age. He manage to sprinkle a little political policy in there but mostly poked fun at his age. McCain went on; Controlling government spending isn't just about Republicans or Democrats. It's about being able to look your children in the eye. Or in my case, my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren, the youngest of whom are nearing retirement. I have the courage, the wisdom, the experience and, most importantly, the oldness necessary." Pretty funny stuff. Good news for McCain. If he looses the Presidential Election, he can have a new career in stand up comedy.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

A Serious Threat

Recently I wrote about two very serious threats to our National security (links at bottom of the page). Both involved sensitive stolen military equipment being sold to our enemies. But from what I have been reading lately, it seems that Chinese espionage has become our biggest counterintelligence problem. In recent years there have been many espionage cases that the FBI traced back to China. This year alone there have been two cases already. Government Officials say it is an intense effort by the Chinese government to steal U.S. Government and industrial secrets. China's espionage success has come from their approach to the spy game. In the days of the old Soviet Union, the Evil Empire relied upon a few highly placed agents to gather intelligence about our Country. The Chinese utilize a large network of Chinese and China-born students, business people, and scientists. I think in layman's terms, the Chinese use a shotgun rather than a rifle to increase the chances that they will hit something. So what can a free and diverse society like ours do to protect itself? I think we need to devote more resources to counterintelligence, perhaps on the same scale as in the Cold War. It is difficult for me to have any faith that our Government can protect our secrets when you can by stolen U.S. military equipment on Ebay.

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Completely Unacceptable

Punch, Counterpunch

Early this morning in "And The Winner Is", I attempted to discern what if anything, Clinton's landslide victory over Obama meant in yesterday's Kentucky Primary. Later last night, the results from Oregon's Democratic Primary came in, giving another victory to Senator Obama. Although it was a convincing win for Obama, his margin of victory over Senator Clinton was only half of her Kentucky win, and a third of last weeks West Virginia thumping. Is Hillary gaining momentum? Apparently, she thinks so. Today Senator Clinton said that she is willing to take her fight to seat Florida and Michigan Delegates, all the way to the convention if the two states want to go that far. I wonder if Clinton really plans on bringing the fight to the Democratic Convention or is she up to something else. In "Change The Rules For Me", I theorized that Clinton's new strategy was to push hard to get the Michigan and Florida Delegates seated, with the upcoming Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on May 31, to consider how to handle Michigan and Florida's 368 delegates. That's exactly what she is up to, only now Clinton is ratcheting up the pressure by suggesting that she will remain in the race until the convention. Obama must have cold sweats.

Hillary Reads My Blog

Over the last few weeks, I have seen a jump in subscribers to this Blog. I never would have guessed that Senator Clinton was one of them. OK, so she's not really. Even if Clinton were an avid reader, I doubt that she would be happy with me. I have pounded her repeatedly in posts that cover a wide range of topics. Being a fair person, I have defended Hillary Clinton in the few occasions where I felt it was warranted. The reason I made the joke that Clinton reads my Blog was due to the fact that her recent statements concerning the media, sound very much like my post "This Is Painful To Admit Again". In that article, I made the same case that Clinton and her hubby Bill are now making. The media has retired her campaign long before it is actually finished, and that is not fair. Not being a fan of the Clinton's, I chuckle at the irony of this situation. In my recent "Check Your Facts", I talked about the left-wing media bias. Opponents of this theory has said that a media bias is imaginary, but lately many Clinton supporters are admitting that it exists. The reason that Clinton is the target of this bias is because Obama is the more liberal, far left, of the two Candidates. It's definitely not fair, but it's hard for me to feel sorry for her. I am beginning to believe in karmic retribution.


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This Is Painful To Admit

And The Winner Is...

Democratic Senator and Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton smashed rival Senator Barack Obama yesterday in Kentucky's Democratic Primary. Clinton defeated Obama by a massive 35% in Kentucky yesterday. Last Tuesday in "Does This Mean Anything", I wondered if Clinton's landslide in West Virginia had any implications for the Democrat's Primary. Just like last week, the commentators and pundits seem to be dismissing Clinton's victory in Kentucky as well. She won by a 35% margin this week, and a 41% spread last week. That has me thinking it must be of some significance; but what exactly? In my thinking, it means that Senator Obama has a problem on his hands. There are some voter demographics in which Obama is performing very poorly. If I were Obama, I would be very concerned about the large number of Democratic voters polled, who say they will vote for McCain if Clinton is out of the race. I do not think Clinton wants the number two spot, and Obama probably does not want her there either. Obama may have no choice however, to at least ask Clinton to be his running mate. This way he can hope to retain some of those Clinton supporters. Of course, that assumes that Clinton is finished. I would not turn my back on her.


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The Cow Jumped Over The Moon(s)

I always though it was fascinating to learn about and imagine our Earth, long before we came along and ruined it. I was watching a show on the Science Channel recently, and it seems like most scientists now agree that our Moon was formed by a violent collision of an early Earth with another planet sized body. The Moon also used to fill the night sky, as it was much closer to us than it is now. In an new theory, NASA scientists believe that the impact that created our moon would have actually created three moons. The two additional moons would have been only a fraction of the size of our Moon today. Due to their small size, scientists theorize that they would have impacted with the Earth, the Moon, or have just drifted off into space. Perhaps it's because they were made of cheese.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Man Of Peace?

I have often said that some of the most deviant people I have ever known attended Church regularly. I suppose some "peace protesters" are the most violent of people too. Last month an anti-war protester was arrested in New York and charged with assault and resisting arrest. Pretty rough charge for a man protesting for peace after all. That's not the whole story. The man German Talis, was arrested after he began punching an 18 year old young lady, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. What a Guy! The young victim was watching First Lady Laura Bush and Daughter Jenna as they were leaving a promotion for their children's book, when Talis assaulted her. Talis was shouting obscenities at the First Family like any good war protester, when the family of the young lady asked him to stop. So Talis did what any courageous peace loving man would do; he punched a defenseless, handicapped young woman in a wheelchair. Talis is definitely in the running for the scumbag of the year award.

We Are All Americans

Today it's been all over the news that long time Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The prognosis is not yet certain, however even in the best case scenario, this is not good news. I do not think highly of Kennedy's politics or even of the man himself. Politically, we are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Personally, I disapprove of some of the aspects of his life, such as the "Chappaquiddick incident". It's not time for that now. Now it is time to come together and send our thoughts and prayers to Kennedy's family and friends. I sincerely hope that everybody will, even those who may not be fond of Senator Kennedy. When Charelton Heston passed away recently, I was utterly disgusted at some of the comments from his enemies and detractors. Don't we want to be better than that? Heston and Kennedy both are polarizing figures. They are also men with families. When sick, they deserve our best wishes, when passed, our prayers. After all we are all Americans and we are all human.

Iron Man

The last thing I thought that I would be doing with this Blog was writing a movie review. So this is, kind of, but it means so much more than that to me. Last night I went to see the new Iron Man film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. First let me say that the movie exceeded my expectations by far. Robert Downey Jr. was amazing as Tony Stark / Iron Man, perhaps in no small part, due to his real life past experience with substance abuse. The writers and directors produced a fantastic movie than anybody could enjoy, even if you were unfamiliar with the Iron Man character. They also stayed very true to the comic book origin and story of Iron Man, with only a few changes to modernize the story. I bet you guessed it by now, I am a big Iron Man comic fan. In the late 1970's like most kids, I collected comics and baseball cards with great enthusiasm, and Iron Man was undoubtedly my favorite. It began when my best friend and next door neighbor, introduced me to Iron Man comics. It was his favorite super hero and with him being a year older than me, I would copy him often (perhaps a little more than my Mother liked). As my buddy and I got older, for years we would go to the newsstand every month and pick up the latest issue of Iron Man. In my teens into adulthood, I would search comic stores and flea markets every where I went to find the older back issues to complete my collection. Once while on vacation with my family in Florida, I begged my parents to set aside some time from Disney, and take me to some places where I might find Iron Man comics. They did, and I found some rare old ones. Today my Iron Man comic collection stands at about 300 issues. Now with a family of my own, the occasional purchase on Ebay are the only additions to my collection. After seeing the Iron Man movie, I pulled out a few of the old comics and thought about this 30 year love affair with this character. I think what I liked most, was that Tony Stark / Iron Man was different from other super hero's. He was not perfect or flawless. In fact to begin with, Tony Stark was not even a good man, certainly not a hero. Stark was an alcoholic and struggled with many personal demons. He did not always succeed or save the day. He tried, and wanted to be better than he was. That's what his Iron Man armor meant to him. A chance to be a better man and his shot at redemption. While he fell many a time, he never gave up. It's that very theme that made Iron Man real to me, because he was an everyman like you and I.

Monday, May 19, 2008

I Suppose He Never Read It?

Democratic Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's left-wing media shield is strong. It has gotten him past such scandals as Rev. Wright, the "typical white person" comment, and "bittergate". Like I said in the earlier "Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire", there are many issues Obama survived in the primaries that may plague him in the general election. It seems that a Presidential Election brings all the skeleton out of the closet, and in the information age, more people get a bone to pick. I think that one thing in particular is going to play out badly for Senator Obama this fall. Obama has said that he was never present and did not know about Rev. Wright's hate speech even though he had attended the Church for over 20 years. Most people including me, found this difficult to believe. Obama is going to have to claim illiteracy as well. While doing some research, I found some stories about what the controversial Rev. Wright has printed in the Church's newsletter. While I have not heard that much about this to date, I am sure it will be prominent this fall. Obama's Church reprinted a Hamas manifesto written by Mousa Abu Marzook, that defended terrorism as legitimate resistance, refused to recognize the right of Israel to exist, and compared the terror group's official charter, which calls for the murder of Jews, to America's Declaration of Independence. How is Obama going to explain that one away. The way I see it, he has but two choices. First, he can admit that he was aware of everything that Rev. Wright said and printed over a twenty year period; election over. The second choice is to continue to lie and say he never heard anything Rev Wright said, or saw any of the Church's newsletters. This strategy will only work if Americans are dumb enough to believe it, and are willing to have a President in office who can spend 20 years in a place and not be aware of what the hell is going on there.

Change The Rules For Me

This election just would not be as much fun without Hillary Clinton. Last week in "End Game", I thought Senator Clinton was on the ropes when John Edwards came out and publicly endorsed Barack Obama for President. I thought a back room deal might have been reached with the Clinton camp after Edwards spent the first ten minutes of his speech kissing her ass. Even comedian Jon Steward jokingly wondered just who Edwards was endorsing, on Comedy Central's Daily Show. The way Senator Obama himself had been whispering sweet nothings into Clinton's ear lately, only deepened my suspicions. Senator Clinton says no way and that she is not going anywhere. Last week I could not discern what her strategy would be, but I think it's becoming clear now. The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting on May 31, to consider how to handle Michigan and Florida's 368 delegates. Once again Clinton has been pushing hard to get the rules changed because she would stand to net 111 delegates, using the results of the January elections with no votes for Obama from Michigan. This would put her only about 70 delegates behind Obama. I guess that Senator Clinton hopes that a small delegate deficit, paired with strong showings in the few remaining primaries, would be enough for her to make an appeal to the remaining super delegates. Senator Obama had better watch out because Hillary's attempt to change the rules, is only one of the dirty tricks in the Clinton political playbook.

Poly-Tics As Usual Part IV

Please make it stop! The ridiculous "gas tax holiday" scam is now going to the State level. State Rep. Joe Boylan, R-Moore, plans to formally introduce legislation on Monday, calling for suspending North Carolina's 30.2-cents-per-gallon gas tax for 90 days, beginning June 15. The measure would save drivers an estimated 75 dollars this summer at the pump. Well that's a little better savings than the Clinton/McCain idea. If we use North Carolina as an example, the combined Federal and State "gas tax holidays" would only save drivers 100 dollars this summer. Taking this revenue from Government coffers will only place stress on services such as road repair, and wind up being collected ultimately by raising another tax. What happens after the summer is over? This is not the long term solution that our Country needs, it's just politics. Wake up America, we suffer as our politicians continue to play games.


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Hot For Teacher II

What the hell is going on down there in Florida? We all remember the case of Debra Lafave, the former middle school teacher who plead guilty in 2005 to statutory rape charges, for her affair with a 14 year old male student back in 2004. Now another teacher in Florida, 29 year old Stephanie Ragusa, has been charged with Lewd or Lascivious Battery and two counts of Sex with a Minor. Investigators say that Ragusa engaged in oral sex and sexual intercourse with the then 15 year old male victim. During the relationship, Police say Ragusa had sex with the child 20 times and she even served the minor alcohol. The young victim positively identified two tattoos that Ragusa has, which can only be seen when the defendant has no pants on. In an earlier post, I suggested that Lafave only got a slap on the wrist for her crimes because she is a woman, and her victim was a male teen. I also stated that there were many jokes about the case suggesting that the boy victim was "lucky". If the perpetrator were male and his victim a female student, the public outcry and court sentence would have been harsher. Is this fair? I think not. This time around in the Ragusa case, I suggest that we take it more seriously and hope the court imposes a harsher sentence. This and the story links below, are examples of the overall decline of our education system and terrible acts being committed in our schools. It sure feels like we are leaving some children behind.


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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Check Your Facts

I want to borrow from the now famous advertising slogan for milk; "Got Milk?". My new slogan is "Left-wing Media bias?". Kinda catchy huh, and all so true. As if we needed further evidence of this, just watch some television news, pick up a newspaper, or let your fingers do the Googling. Today I caught some of ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", where the panel clearly worked from the assumption that President Bush actually directly attacked Senator Obama, a few days ago with his speech in Israel. Search online and you will see headlines that actually and falsely state that Bush made a derogatory comment about Senator Obama, and thus was injecting the President's Office into this election. That's when the Democrat's strategy became clear to me. With the support of the liberal media, they waited in ambush to take an opportunity for the DEMS to inject an unpopular President into the election. After all in his speech, Bush did not even mention or imply anything to do with Barack Obama; I listened to the whole thing. Why was there not all of this media hoopla when Obama said that McCain had "lost his bearings" a few weeks ago? Unlike Bush's speech, "lost your bearings" can certainly be taken as an age related insult to Senator McCain. Besides, Obama named McCain directly in that attack. By comparison, Bush never named Obama and was speaking about overall American foreign policy. If Bush were referring to a recent example of "appeasement", he was probably referencing Jimmy Carter's recent failed meetings with Hamas leaders. This whole issue has been clearly manufactured by the Democrats. I say again, Obama's audacity has caused me to lose hope. So much for change we can believe.

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OK, Now I'm Pissed

I think that my position on immigration and the millions of illegal aliens in this Country has been middle of the road. Well, at least it used to be. In the passing months, I have grown weary of the left wing protests and frustrated with our Government that has not done squat about the immigration issue. To put this issue into context, our Government has not done squat about any of the Country's other problems lately either. One of the things that I pointed out in an earlier post titled "Immigration: Losing The Middle Ground", was that some of the protests and actions of immigration supporters are actually counterproductive to their cause. Many Americans like myself, who were moderate in their immigration stance, get angry when immigrants protest waving the flags of other nations, and demand rights in the Country that hosts them illegally. These actions only polarize the people, and do not allow for the compromise that will be necessary to solve this issue. It is getting harder for me to stay in the middle when I am confronted by things that have me mad enough to chew through steel. I have seen comparisons
between the 60's Civil Rights Movement and the illegal immigrant's protests today. That's just plain nuts! Illegal's claim rights in a place they are not supposed to be! They were not brought here and forced into slavery. If you want to immigrate to the United States, then do it through the legal process and there will not be a problem. Then I saw a protest slogan on a sign that read "America is a continent not a country". That pretty much sums up their position. They feel they have a right to be here, and Americans have no right to interfere or set policy in our own Sovereign Nation. This is why so many Americans are angered and anti-immigration. I am becoming one of them.


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No Oil For You

For the second time in four months, Saudi officials rejected President Bush's request to boost oil production. The idea is simple, more oil supply is supposed to drive down our gasoline prices.
I think the President gave his best pitch to the Saudis when he said; "I said very plainly, I said you've got to be concerned about the effects of high oil prices on some of the biggest customers in the world, and, not only that, of course high energy prices is going to cause countries like mine to accelerate our move towards alternative energy." The reason that the President's statement did not sway our oil rich friends is twofold. First, the Saudis don't care about the economies of the world, and they are making a bundle off of the high oil prices. Second, the Saudis know that even a serious push for alternative energy would take many years. Bush said that the short term solution to our oil crisis is to boost domestic production, and I agree. He criticized the Democrats opposition to drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. He also wants more offshore drilling, more nuclear power and more U.S. refineries. In reading my Blog, you will see a great deal of concern for the environment. We may have to consider easing some of the above restrictions because a lot of Americans are really suffering due to the price of oil.


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Hold On "Sweetie"

Come on and give me a break already! Looking back at my earlier posts, I have not held back on Senator Obama when I thought he was wrong. On the other side of the coin, I have jumped to his defense when I thought Obama was unfairly attacked. This is one of those times. Recently, Democratic Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, was at a campaign stop in Detroit, when a local female reporter asked him a question. Obama replied "Hold on a second, sweetie. We'll hold a press avail". Obama called the reporter hours later and apologized saying that he did not mean any disrespect. Oh but that did not stop the election year poo-poo storm. Obama is now being attacked and called sexist for the "sweetie" comment. That's just a load of BS. Obama was just being his charming self. The only offense he is guilty of here is forgetting to watch every little thing that you say on the campaign trail. I am compelled to point out that this incident may be karmic retribution for Obama. After he made such a big deal out of President Bush's "appeasement" statement that was not even directed at Obama, he just might deserve this.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Our Schools In Crisis II

You really have to see the video to believe this one. I have seen it on cable news and I am sure that it's a You Tube favorite by now. Students at a Memphis high school dance simulated various sex acts as teacher "chaperone's" stood by and did nothing. The footage best describes what happened at the dance, but I can assure you that it was beyond just normal kid stuff. The boys were behind and on top of the girls humping. In the video, adults can be seen standing close by, who must have been parents or faculty. This is yet another example of the erosion of standards and values in our school system. This type of behavior would not have occurred when I was in high school (not all that long ago). I do not want to place all of the blame on the school system. Parents are also responsible for their children's behavior. Mom's and Dad's today do not get any help from our society. The steady erosion of parental rights by our Government is also partly to blame.








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Higher Education

Completely Unacceptable

Just yesterday in "Point, Click, Kaboom", I was shocked to learn that sensitive stolen United States military equipment has been available for purchase on popular Internet sites. This equipment includes fighter jet parts and nuclear and biological warfare protective gear. Only a day later, there is another similar story. Stolen advanced military night vision gear has reached our enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq, where it can negate the advantage U.S. troops have in nighttime combat. Federal prosecutors linked shipments to terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, while others were headed to Iran and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. I ask the same question as I did yesterday. How could we let this happen? Today's question is how can we let this happen so regularly? Young Americans already in harms way, are being place in greater peril by our own stolen military equipment. This is completely unacceptable. Stories like these have me looking for accountability. I blame all of our elected leaders for this issue, along with so many other problems that are going unfixed. This is another tragic example of the overall trouble our Country is in. We need real leadership in Washington to put us back on the right track.

Flying Under Our Radar

I suppose that backroom dealing and sneaky underhanded politics have always been par for the course in Washington D.C. That era should have ended with the transparency that C-Span and the Internet bring to Government. So the question is; why is it still politics as usual in Washington? The answer is simple; because we the American People allow it. One of the classic dirty tricks in D.C. is to take a popular spending Bill, and attach a bunch of other unpopular crap to it at the last moment. This gives the unpopular legislation attached, a greater chance of passage, while attracting the least amount of attention. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is attempting to sneak an illegal alien amnesty measure into the Iraq supplemental war spending bill. This is a clear attempt to circumvent the will of the people, and pass this illegal alien amnesty, while attracting the least amount of attention. A similar immigration Bill was defeated recently in Congress. Senator Feinstein should be immediately recalled. How long will we put up with this kind of crap? The politicians in D.C. have been taking advantage of the indifference of the American People. The sad fact is that many people are not all that concerned with what is going on in the Country when times are good. But right now things are not all that good. With the many threats to our security, soaring food costs, and gas at 4 dollars a gallon, plenty of people will be watching our leaders moves more closely. The powers that be should be on notice. If things keep on going the way they are, we are sure to see the rise of a viable third political party that may just upset the establishment.


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Much Ado About Nothing

Democratic Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, stepped up his rhetoric yesterday concerning President Bush's "appeasement" remark. Yesterday in "Learn History's Lessons", I took a look at the speech President Bush made at Israel's 60th anniversary celebration. In the President's speech, I saw nothing that should directly give offense to Senator Obama. However Obama took offense yesterday, but really began to blow this issue out of proportion today with some very hard comments aimed at President Bush and Senator McCain. I think that perhaps it is Senator Obama who has "lost his bearings". This controversy is centered around Bush's statement comparing those who wish to sit down and meet with our terrorist enemies to "appeasement". The President was referring to foolhardy peace negotiations with Hitler in the beginning of World War Two that only served to embolden the German Dictator. So what the hell does this have to do with Obama? President Bush, if he was referring to anything at all, may very well have been referencing Jimmy Carter's recent failed meeting with Hamas. Apparently the Senator is concerned about the flaws in his own vision for an Obama Presidency and foreign policy to manufacture this conflict with Bush. Perhaps Obama is just trying to assure fellow Dems that he can play rough with the Republicans. I have no problem with that, but Obama should choose a real issue, not manufacture one. Senator Obama and his staff have been attempting to draw a comparison between his plan to meet with Iran, and past President's Nixon and Reagan. Nixon went to meet with China in the heart of the Cold War, and Reagan met with The Soviet Union which would eventually end the Cold War. This comparison is total BS because Reagan and Nixon met with enemy Nations, not terrorists and the Countries that sponsor them. Big difference there. Below are some links to other posts, some in which I have defended Senator Obama. What he has done here was create a controversy where none existed and in doing, caused me to lose some respect for him. If Senator Obama calls this the politics of change he is wrong. What he has done is politics at it's worst or might I say; as usual.

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When You Gotta Go...

If you stop to think about it, our world is full of those simple little wonders that have us asking; "how do they do that?" There is even a cable show by the same name, that is dedicated to answering that question about everything from making toothpicks to automobiles. Didn't you ever wonder how the astronauts go to the potty? I have actually seen a television show that explained how astronauts do it, in gentle terms. What about fighter jet pilots? How do they go wee-wee during an extended flight mission? This is not your typical story about Government "waste". The Air Force has spent 3.3 million dollars developing a high tech "potty" for pilots. After all, we know how distracting it can be when you have to let go of the yellow flow, and we really do not want our fighter pilots to be distracted. The way pilots used to handle this "situation" was to first try and avoid it altogether. On longer flights, pilots used what is know as "piddle packs" which are nothing more than glorified diapers. The new system, called the Advanced Mission Extender Device, uses special underwear equipped with a hose linked to a pump that drains urine into a collection bag. The men's model uses a pouch; the women's has something that resembles a sanitary napkin. Wow, the Air Force even gave it a cool name. Then again, anything is better than "piddle packs".

Friday, May 16, 2008

You Need A Better Hobby

In Iceland, Sigurdur Hjartarson is looking for a human penis. I realize how that sounds, but the truth is even stranger. Hjartarson is founder and owner of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which offers visitors from around the world a up look at the male reproductive organ. He began his collection back in 1974 with a single bull's penis, and now has 261 preserved members from 90 species. I guess they are not into stamp collecting in Iceland? The largest in the collection, is from a sperm whale (pardon the pun). It weighs about 154 pounds and is 5.58 feet long. To complete his collection, Hjartarson needs a Human penis. Hjartarson said one of his pledged donors has backed out. "He has mentioned lately that his penis is shrinking as he gets older and he is worried it might not make a proper exhibit," Hjartarson said. Not to worry there are three other pledged donors lined up to fill the spot. I just hope that they keep the temperature warm in the museum.

Death,Back From Holiday

Last month. by a 7 -2 vote, The Supreme Court upheld that lethal injection is not a violation of the Constitution. Lethal injection is the most widely used form of capital punishment. This challenge was not about the legality of the death penalty itself, but questioned whether lethal injection was a humane way of carrying out capital punishment. A separate challenge, pertaining to the constitutionality of the death penalty for people convicted of raping children, has also been heard recently by the High Court. A decision in that case is expected by late June. I understand my fellow Americans who object to the death penalty on moral or religious grounds. I do not agree with them, but I respect their convictions. What I do not understand is those who claim that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. While I admit that most criminals do not consider this at the time of their crimes, the death penalty may save lives by limiting the degree of the crime committed. What I mean is if a rape is committed, perhaps the perpetrator will not also murder the victim, if faced with capital punishment as a result. OK, that may be a thin argument. Here is what I am sure of. Convicts fear the death penalty. If they did not, death row inmates would not appeal the sentence for 20 years. I am also positive that the death penalty brings some closure to the families of the victims who often attend the execution. What I am sure of beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that the death penalty eliminates repeat offenders.

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If They Can Do It

We can too. Today Police in Italy announced the arrest of hundreds of suspected illegal immigrants. Italian Police arrested 383 people including 268 foreigners, with 53 immediately taken to the border for expulsion. Now that's how you do it. These arrests are part of an overall strategy to get tough on illegal immigrants, blamed by many for crime. Italy is also drafting new laws to screen immigrants and jail or expel those breaking the law. Here in America, the illegal immigration issue is sure to heat up again during the fall elections. Now America is a Nation of immigrants, and I think most of us would support legal immigration. That's what the majority of Americans are asking for, control of our borders, not necessarily closing them for good. Italy is an example of a Country protecting their sovereignty by exercising control over it's borders. Why do some Americans see this as a bad thing? One Italian official said; "This operation against illegal immigrants is good because , it's what people want. They ask us for security and we have to give it to them." What a concept the people electing a Government to represent the will of the people and provide them with security. Do you think that kind of Government would work here in The United States? Sounds familiar....let me see....We The People.....or something like that.

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Learn History's Lessons

I am not one of the many Bush haters, but I admit that our President may not be the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes. This time he is spot on. President Bush made a speech today to the Israeli Parliament as part of his visit to Israel to mark that Country's 60th anniversary. President Bush said "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along." I do not see how any reasonable person could refute Bush's statement. The real trouble began when Bush said "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." It did not take long for the democrats to pounce on President Bush for his statement. Most notably the two remaining Democratic Presidential Candidates, Clinton and Obama. Senator Obama took particular offense, saying that the President's statement was "the politics of fear". I guess Bush hit one of Obama's nerves with his speech, as he has said that if elected, he would sit down with our terrorist enemies and talk. It should be noted that President Bush never refereed to Barack Obama during his speech. By negotiating with terrorists, you inadvertently legitimize terrorism
as a vehicle to accomplish political goals. Most reasonable people know this, and Obama must too, seeing as how he was so sensitive to the President's speech. If senator Obama does not trust the lessons of history, he can consult another source. He can just ask fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter how well he did on his recent visit to meet with Hamas.

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Point, Click, Kaboom!

How could have we allowed this to happen? Congressional investigators say that sensitive stolen United States military equipment has been available for purchase on popular Internet sites. This equipment includes fighter jet parts and nuclear and biological warfare protective gear. The fighter jet parts are from old F-14's, and highly sought after by the largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. Undercover investigators have purchased over a dozen these sensitive military items from popular online destinations like Ebay and Craigslist. This is particularly disturbing in the post 9/11 era. How are we going to counter the more serious threats to our security when we are apparently unable to secure our sensitive military inventory? I wish that there was more concern amongst my fellow Americans regarding the many global threats that our Country faces. Have the lessons of September 11th been forgotten? One who forgets the lessons of history are doomed to see them repeat, and nobody wants that. The people need to hold our elected officials feet to the flame over stories like this one.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Tragedy In Myanmar

Starvation and diseases could end up killing as many people as the storm and subsequent flooding has in Myanmar over a week ago. The International Red Cross estimated that aid has reached less that a quarter of the up to 1.9 million people left homeless, injured, or hungry. The biggest obstacle preventing aid from reaching cyclone victims is Myanmar's military government. The military government has been slow to accept aid, blocked foreign aid workers from entering the country, and has gone as far as to steal the foreign aid, hording it for themselves. We have begun lobbying for a United Nations resolution condemning the nation’s generals for human rights violations. I wonder how the members of Myanmar's government stand by and watch the suffering of their fellow countrymen. All of the donations and aid does not amount to much if we can not get it into the hands of those who need it so desperately.

Kids Sold Like "Cabbages"

A Chinese newspaper has reported that thousands of children in Southwest China have been sold into slavery like "cabbages", to work as labourers. These children, who's parents are mostly poor farmers, are usually between the ages of 13-15 with some laborers as young as 7 years old. These poor children are forced to work as many as 80 hours in a week. The Chinese Government has said that they have began a crackdown on slavery and child labor and would send agents to go an rescue the children. It's difficult for me to believe this statement by the Chinese Government, given the common practice of sweatshops in China and their overall poor Human Rights record. While I hope that the Chinese Government is sincere in their desire to help these children, I wonder if they are just attempting to clean up their image before this summer's Olympic Games. It's hard for us in the West to imagine the conditions of poverty that would force parents to sell their children. China is a rising economic and military superpower. They still have a long road to travel on Human Rights issues in order to achieve true greatness as a people.