Archive for February, 2008
By Frank Hyland
Every generation firmly believes that, because they’ve got all the answers, it’s time for their predecessors, their elders to step aside and out of the way to make way for them. All the calls for "Change" tell us that once again those in their 20s, 30s and 40s are panting to take over the lead from the "old codgers" who are making all the mistakes. Many of the youngsters, though, display a words-deeds dichotomy that speaks loudly that they can use a bit more "seasoning" before they take the reins.
Added to the daily barrage of calls for "Change," we’re now told that it is once again time for a new generation to assume the leadership of the United States. We are told this by no less an authority on young people than Senator Edward Kennedy, age 76. Senator Kennedy, for those not intimately familiar with him, is also a paramount example of truthfulness, marital fidelity, and non-partisan politics. Nevertheless, it is always helpful to look at the day-to-day behaviors of the younger generation to see if there are clues there, clues to how they would act in the Oval Office. The younger generation clamoring for change and to take the reins of power, like all other generations before it, needs to be willing to look in the mirror and to be honest with itself as to the image it sees there.
There is a way to at least get an indication of how Young Folks would act in the Oval Office, The US Senate, or the House of Representatives: Their predecessors’ behavior in office has been very similar, identical actually, to the way they acted before being elected. In most cases, to be fair, the behavior in office has been honorable (or at least the Mainstream Media hasn’t yet uncovered the truth). It’s the behavior of Young Folks in society at large that can be alarming.
Essentially, we must be able to trust the word of our public officials. Well, what we used to call wedding "vows" seems to have taken on a new meaning, as divorce rates soar. Promissory notes for bank loans take a back seat more and more as bankruptcy rates soar. Realtors must wonder at night how many of the "15-year" mortgages these days will be honored longer than 15 weeks; moving out in the middle of the night and bringing in hogs to take your place, because you’re upset at being foreclosed, may become even more of a trend. The horror stories about abuse of others, children and adults, are made more horrible by the growing number of police officers, priests and ministers, counselors, health professionals and teachers who are convicted of perpetrating the crimes.
By Alan Caruba
I can understand why people believe that global warming is real and that all the things Greens say are true. One cannot read a newspaper or magazine, turn on the television or radio, without getting the Green message.
Since switching their message in the 1970s that an Ice Age was coming to the complete fiction of a massive, dramatic global warming due to greenhouse gases, the Greens have been able to influence policy at the international and national level. They have been utterly relentless, a modern version of the Mongols on horseback who swept out of the East to conquer everything before them until the reached the gates of Europe. These days the Greens have long since conquered Europe.
One thing alone stands against the Greens. The SCIENCE does not support them. Their sense of moral superiority, their contempt for all things modern, their resistance to all forms of energy except the weakest—wind and solar, and at the very heart of the Greens’ message is a contempt and hatred for the human race.
Humans have come to dominate life on Earth because we know how to adapt to the planet. We know how to use its minerals, the riches of its plant life, the domestication of its animals, and its reserves of energy in the form of coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear fission, to fuel the creation of great cities, farms and ranches, and everything that passes for modern civilization.
Long ago humans conquered the continents of the Earth and its great oceans to spread everywhere. Humans now fly between continents in hours. Everywhere on the face of the Earth humans now communicate with one another via the Internet.
By Peter W. Wright – Right Side News (www.rightsidenews.com)
My good friend Jeff Bayard came to town last week to attend the America's Truth/Basics Project Symposium Exposing the Threat of Islamic Terrorism with me. After an illuminating and exhausting day of learning, we saw someone engaged in a heated discussion with Robert Spencer, one of the presenters. Later, my friend Jeff sent me the URL http://muslimmatters.org/2008/02/06/what-would-you-say-to-america’s-leading-islamophobes-if-given-the-opportunity/ of a blog entry by this argumentative attendee. One of the neat things about my friend Jeff Bayard is he's always uncovering interesting things. In this case, he dug up a post from our fellow attendee describing us all as "future converts" to Islam. Jeff and I have a problem with this, as you'll see.
First, let's recap the symposium. Roger Hedgecock kicked the meeting off and proceeded to broadcast his national radio show from a room in the rear of the hall. Dr. Moorthy Muthuswamy, nuclear physicist, described standard Islamic conquests of countries through destruction and the role of mosques in the proselytization of terror against unbelievers. Dr.. Muthuswamy also asserted that Islam is not a religion but is a political movement of conquest with the trappings of a religion.
Dr. Bruce Tefft, founding member of the CIA’s Counter -Terrorism Center, described how important it is to listen to what your enemy is saying. He pointed out that one cannot wage war against a method, terrorism, but must know and name one’s enemy, in this case Islam. Dr. Wafa Sultan exposed the fact that Islam teaches destruction and not creation, and illuminated Saudi Arabia’s funding and fertilization of Islamic terrorism. Dr. Sultan talked briefly of female genital mutilation and told that this barbaric practice is occurring in the United States today in closed Muslim society.
Robert Spencer described the Muslim Brotherhood’s stated goal of destroying Western Civilization from within and the Islamic doctrine of deception. Jeff and I liked Mr. Spencer’s presentation because he presented steps to counter Islamic conquest.
By Jim Kouri
Duncan Hunter, R-Calif, author of the fencing provisions of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, has introduced new legislation in the House of Representatives to require the construction of double-layered fencing along the U.S. border with Mexico within six months, according to a memo sent to the National Association of Chiefs of Police.
As previously reported, the language of an amendment submitted by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, into the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Homeland Security funding bill, H.R. 2638, specifically exempts DHS from having to build any fence at all.
The Hutchison amendment reads, in part, " … nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States, if the Secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location."
"While these lawmakers living in their Ivory Towers in Washington continue to play political games with one another and collude with the Mexican government in repeated incidents of violation of US sovereignty by armed Mexicans, the American people are being victimized by illegal aliens some of whom are using fully-automatic assault rifles and other state-of-the-art weaponry, "claims Lieutenant Steven Rogers, a police commander in New Jersey.
Lt. Rogers heads the board of directors of a police-counterterrorism organization called AmeriCop.com. (http://www.AmeriCop.com)
According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office — an entity that reports to the legislative branch of government rather than the executive and judicial branhes.– the increase in the number of incursions is staggering"
17 documented, illegal border crossings into America by armed Mexican soldiers in 2006
29 documented, illegal border incursions of all kinds by Mexican forces in 2006
253 documented, illegal border crossings by Mexican soldiers and policemen to assist drug and weapons traffickers in the past decade
1000 attacks against US Border Patrol agents in 2007
(WASHINGTON, DC) – “The annual exercise of debating the merits of the President’s proposed budget is flawed,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America, before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “Medical Center directors should not be held in limbo as Congress adjusts this budget and misses, yet again, the start of the fiscal year.
“These public servants can be more effective and efficient managers if they are able to properly plan for the funding needed to care for their patients. We ask that you consider an immediate alternative to the broken system we currently have,” Rowan said.
Rowan characterized as “inadequate” the FY’09 request for $2.34 billion more than the FY’08 appropriation. This “barely keeps up with inflation” and “will not allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue enhancing its physical and mental health care services for returning veterans, restore needed long-term care programs for aging veterans, or allow working-class veterans to return to their health care system.”
To accommodate these goals, Rowan said, VVA recommends an increase of $5.24 billion over FY’08. Of this amount, $1.3 billion should be dedicated to restoring access to Priority 8 veterans who were “temporarily” barred from entering the system five years ago.
Rowan condemned the proposed budget for again attempting to tax “higher income” veterans with an annual fee and for nearly doubling the co-payment for prescription drugs. “This is further evidence,” Rowan said, “of the attempt to rid the system of as many ‘higher income’ veterans as possible.”
Rowan was skeptical that the President’s budget will provide resources “to virtually eliminate the patient waiting list by the end of 2009.” He voiced concern that the budget will provide adequate resources “to deal with the flood of troops and veterans returning to our shores and presenting with a range of mental health issues.”
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA's founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”
By Alan Caruba
The provision of electrical power nationwide has become the chosen battleground for environmental groups laboring night and day to insure there will not be enough of it to meet our needs.
The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that overall energy demand will grow by 45% between now and 2030.
The effort to insure Americans will not have enough electricity is deadly serious. Take, for example, the exultant news release (Jan 17) from the Rainforest Action Network, “Proposed Coal Plants Losing Steam” celebrating “59 coal plants cancelled or shelved in 2007.”
Since coal-fired utilities provide over 50 percent of the electricity generated in America, the need for additional plants would seem obvious. A May 2007 Business Week article about coal noted that, “Today, making electricity from coal can cost half as much as using cleaner-burning natural gas.” Half as much at the plant translates to half as much in the monthly energy bill to homeowners and others.
The Greens, however, using the utterly bogus “global warming” hoax and asserting the false notion that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will transform the climate of the earth, are successfully denying Americans electrical power.
There is no global warming and CO2 constitutes about 0.038% if the earth’s atmosphere. In past eras there was a lot more CO2 and the result was the lush vegetation that kept a lot of dinosaurs munching away for several million years.
Why are George Washington quotes so remarkable? Once in a rare while a great man is born – a man who changes the world for the better and leaves his mark for posterity. George Washington was one of these men and his words are words to live by. As we remember his birthday this month, let these leadership quotes remind us of what's really important.
1. "Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness."
2. "Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."
3. "Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth."
4. "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all."
5. "Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation."
By Warner Todd Huston
Proving once again in good European form that they think nothing American is democratic, good or fair, Reuters gives us a pity party for CAIR who is whining that they "feel left out" of the 2008 presidential elections. With the headline blaring "Some non-Christians feel left out of election," Reuters gives us a tale of woe guaranteed to make Europeans shake their heads knowingly that we Americans are really just Christian nuts out to oppress all minorities. One does wonder, however, how CAIR would like it if Muslims did become a focus of the 2008 elections? In light of current events it is doubtful if such a focus would be favorable to them, so, were I them, I’d be happy no one is paying attention to them!
In a U.S. election campaign where presidential candidates from both major parties have talked openly about their Christian faith, some non-Christians feel shut out or turned off.
Listen, this is a majority Christian nation and anyone wanting to get elected is naturally going to talk as closely as possible to that majority. This country is still over 75% Christian, so it is a logical presumption that citizens whose religion represents only a few percentage points would not be a focus of a politician’s efforts!
But not being a focus does not equate to oppression or their rights being squelched, it must be pointed out.
And here we go with the tsk tsking:
"Non-Christians are concerned that they will be excluded from the process," said Ahmed Rehab, a spokesman with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Naturally, Reuters gives the perpetual whiners in CAIR the upfront chance to let Europe know how disappointed they are that America is so hateful. Where, though, is the American Buddhist organization that is constantly "concerned" that Americans will "exclude" them from the process? Nowhere to be seen. No, it turns out that the "some non-Christians" end up being mostly just CAIR to so many in the MSM.
By Alan Caruba
There always comes a time at some point in the process by which Americans select the next “leader of the free world” that one experiences the nausea incurred by too much political rhetoric. There is an impolite word for this that begins with the word “bull.”
Depending on one’s age, fortitude, gullibility, gender, et cetera, the nausea can set in early or late, but it will arrive and, with it, what is generally called wisdom. There is that quiet voice in the back of your head that says these are the same people that put the nation in the mess we’re in and we’re arguing over which one of them should dig the hole deeper.
How much change will either Sen. Obama, McCain or Clinton bring about when they have all been part of the gang that managed to add 55,000 “earmarks” over Bush’s seven years in office that cost Americans more than $100 billion? When the President sent a $13 trillion dollar budget to Congress this year, not one of them rushed to the microphone to suggest we’re broke. The government keeps itself in business by borrowing millions every day.
By Alan Caruba
The ugly little secret of Election 2008 is that it does not matter which candidate becomes your next President because all of them, Democrat and Republican, have energy policies that will keep America moving down the road to an inevitable lack of electrical energy and the oil, i.e., gasoline and diesel, needed to keep cars and trucks on the road. Throw in the need to heat homes and other structures in the winter and cool them in the summer, and you have a bad choice no matter who your choice may be.
In a recent Washington Times editorial, the energy proposals of the candidates were compared. All subscribe to the hoax of global warming and, with it, the notion that carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, has to be reduced or sequestered. Given that CO2 constitutes 0.038% of the Earth’s atmosphere, this might seem strange to anyone with any sense, but we are talking about politicians here.
John McCain is the biggest believer in global warming among those still running. He has co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Joe Lieberman that would impose an economy-killer in the form of a “cap-and-trade” arrangement on American business and industry that would have them wasting money on emissions “credits” they could use, trade or sell. This plan has been a total failure in Europe and, of course, ignores all the emissions being produced in places like China, India, Russia, the continents of Africa, South America, etc. It is idiotic.
Hillary Clinton hates “Big Oil”, possibly because they may not be among her biggest contributors. She is calling for increased fuel-efficiency standards, but I keep telling people there is just so much energy that can be squeezed out of a gallon of gasoline. It's called the Law of Thermodynamics. Much of the current energy is wasted in the form of heat and the rest keeps your pistons providing power to the wheels. This isn’t rocket science, but there are limits to efficiency, even if there are no limits on stupidity.