Archive for the ‘General Commentary’ Category
By Alan Caruba
I was suspicious when the Department of the Interior announced it was considering the listing of polar bears as an “endangered species”, particularly since the designation has nothing to do with the current, thriving population, but a computer model projection that in fifty years they might be endangered. Since polar bears have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, the notion they might suddenly go missing in fifty years is questionable.
The fact is polar bears operate in waters around Alaska where geologists believe there are major reserves of undiscovered oil and natural gas. As you may recall, Alaska is also a place where there are vast known reserves of oil in the ANWR area. The refuge is huge. Only the 1.5 million acre or 8% on the northern coast of ANWR is being considered for development. The remaining 17.5 million acres or 92% of ANWR will remain permanently closed to any kind of development. If oil is discovered, less than 2000 acres of the over 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain would be affected. That's less than half of one percent of ANWR that would be affected by production activity.
So my suspicions were aroused when I received a March 26 news release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration saying that NOAA’s Fisheries Service had accepted a petition from “a California environmental group seeking protection under the Endangered Species Act for an ice seal called the ‘ribbon seal’ that inhabits Alaska’s Bering Sea.”
By Robert E. Meyer
Numerous skeptics and modern historians raise an interesting question that has been hotly disputed in recent years; whether or not America was founded as a "Christian Nation."
Generally, secular humanists have tried to refute this claim by contending that certain key Founders believed merely in a deistic God which didn't intervene in human affairs.
They would be on safer ground if they had instead said that there were strains of religious unorthodoxy in the thinking of certain key Framers. The problem is that when those who claim the Founders were deists, define deism, they can't make that definition fit the concept of God expressed by the Framers themselves. It is clear that there was a solid belief in a God who actively manages and intervenes in human affairs.
Thomas Jefferson reflecting of the injustice of slavery stated…
"Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever."
This indicates a God who judges the deeds of humanity.
Benjamin Franklin, considered one of the least religious Founders, made this observation during the constitutional convention…
"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor… Have we now forgotten this powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs his affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, it is probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"
Notice here that as Franklin approached the end of his life he found convincing proof that God was actively involved in human interventions.
Rep. Heath Shuler’s (D-N.C.) introduced last November, H.R. 4088 Bi-Partisan, SAVE Act (Secure America with Verification Enforcement. Presently, this bill has 136 co-sponsors representing 26 states. Shortly thereafter, two versions of H.R. 4088 Bi-Partisan, SAVE Act were introduced in the US Senate. The Pryor/Landrieu bill is S. 2368 and Sen. Vitter's bill is S. 2366.
The following is the November 6, 2007 press release from Rep. Heath Shuler’s office.
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SAVE Act Secures America’s Borders, Provides Employers with Tools to Verify Work Eligibility, and Enforces Current Laws
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler was joined by over eighty other members of Congress today to introduce the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act. The bipartisan group of lawmakers came together to support what they called “commonsense” immigration legislation.
“Today Democrats and Republicans are joining together, putting politics aside and supporting a commonsense bill that is for the good of America,” Rep. Shuler said.
Rep. Shuler’s SAVE Act is 3-part plan to drastically reduce illegal immigration — a strict emphasis on border security, employer verification, and interior enforcement.
“Illegal immigration is one of the most pressing issues facing America today. It is estimated that over 12 million people are currently here illegally, and thousands more are coming in every week,” said Rep. Shuler. “Americans are very upset at their government for not taking action, and they have a right to be. ”
The SAVE Act addresses border security by increasing manpower and making needed technological and infrastructure improvements on America’s northern and southern borders, including 8,000 new Border Patrol Agents and provides the infrastructure they need to be effective.
It expands the E-Verify program to provide all employers with the tools they need to ensure that their employees are here legally. The E-Verify program is a simple, effective, and free program that allows employers to efficiently and quickly ensure that the people they hire are legally allowed to work in the U.S. The program will be phased-in over four years, beginning with the federal government, federal contractors, and employers with over 250 employees. Smaller businesses would begin using the system in a graduated manner.
The SAVE Act also provides the tools, resources and infrastructure necessary to enforce existing federal laws and penalize offenders. It increases the investigative abilities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement with more agents and more training. Additionally, it provides assistance for state and local law enforcement.
“I am introducing this legislation because I have the ability to reach across the aisle and bring both sides together to reach a commonsense solution. This is what the people of Western North Carolina want and what the American people want,” Rep. Shuler concluded.
The SAVE Act has original cosponsors from 26 states.
Source: Numbers USA. Visit their website to get more info on the illegal immigration troubling our country.
By Jim Kouri
In 1990, National Association of Chiefs of Police treasurer, Debbi Chitwood, suggested that a program be put into place where age-appropriate new gifts be selected, wrapped and sent to survivor children at Christmas time and at the time of each child’s birthday in honor of their mother or father who was killed in the line of duty.
Volunteering time on her weekends, a special computer program was devised by the American Police Hall of Fame archival records director to keep track of the ages and birthdays of the children.
Within a decade, the program has grown from a concept to a reality where the kids look forward to their gifts from the American Police Hall of Fame and write notes of thanks back which are shared with members, donors and friends.
Last year alone 833 survivor children were sent Christmas or holiday gifts and in recent years NACOP has added the names of children of disabled and paralyzed officers with the assistance of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. This is a program that warms the hearts of the kids, concerned citizens, and staff alike who have already begun to send out gifts for the 2005 Christmas season.
Sadly, a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty on an average of one every three days. Read the rest of this entry »
By Alan Caruba
I am already quite sick of hearing Democrat candidates say that we have to “improve America’s standing in the world” as if the whole world holds our nation in contempt or disagrees with our actions.
All nations act upon what they believe to be their best interests and those interests are often shaped by their political philosophy. These things are subject to change. For example, there are some 200 sovereign nations in the world. Of these, 120 are multi-party democracies. Compare this with 1970 when there were fewer than 35 nations that were not outright dictatorships or operating under the iron fist of the single party rule of Communism.
One might conclude from this that democracy is catching on around the world and that in this new century most people want some form of representative government for their nation.
This is what inspires Buddhist monks to risk their lives to march against the military dictators in Burma (now Myanmar). This is what provokes outrage in the former Soviet satellite of Georgia when the rule of law is suspended or, most dramatically, when lawyers and judges, along with others, pour into the streets of Pakistan when its president seeks to extend his term in office by declaring an emergency and martial law. It’s thousands of Venezuelans filling the streets to try to stop the dictatorial ambitions of Hugo Chavez.
Where did these nations and people learn about democracy and representative government? For the most part, the United States of America has been both the example and the instrument for the spread of these concepts.
By Alan Caruba
If you want to witness the most blatantly un-Constitutional and un-American laws at work than just take a walk through your local schools. They are currently under the control of the federal government.
Why any town or city bothers to hold an election for members of the local board of education is a mystery to me. Between the U.S. Department of Education and a union, the National Education Association—masquerading as just a group of concerned teachers—local boards have no real power to reverse the subjugation and destruction of the nation’s education system.
Since the Constitution does not even mention education, it is a continuing mystery why the federal government has a department devoted to it. Well, it’s less of a mystery if you consider that its purpose is to indoctrinate the children passing through it to accept a whole range of values and ideas that lots of Americans think are wrong.
From the Head Start program to the International Baccalaureate, the whole purpose of “education” today is to create new generations of Americans who think that the United Nations should govern the entire planet and who uncritically accept politically correct beliefs about gender issues, diversity, multiculturalism, and environmentalism. To insure this occurs, Congress and some States are ready to sign off on programs that would evaluate the mental stability of every child from pre-school on through graduation. That’s Big Brother!
by Jeff Lukens
Imagine a Super Bowl football team quitting the game in the third quarter simply because they were behind. The premise is so absurd it is inconceivable. So too would be our quitting a war to protect our way of life simply because battlefield conditions are not going perfectly.
Football teams continually adjust their tactics and strategy during a game based on playing conditions on the field. And so does a nation at war. Seldom does any country enter a war with a perfect strategy in which to win it. Almost always, shortcomings are found that require a new approach. A victorious nation modifies what needs to be modified, and they go on.
That's what we've done in almost every war since the American Revolution. It did not happen in the first Iraq war in 1991 because it was over so quickly, but it's what we must do now in the second Iraq war. No one ever said things would go perfectly this time. Unlike football, no one knows for sure when a war will end. But we do know that if we don't play to win, we are sure we lose.
by Daniel Clark
"The words in the Constitution are 'cruel and unusual.' Those are the words. It doesn't talk about the death penalty. It's embodying certain values." So says Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, explaining why he thinks capital punishment might be unconstitutional.
That these remarks have not become a national scandal is a testament to the success that Breyer, his liberal colleagues and their predecessors have had in deconstructing the Constitution. Anymore, a direct contradiction of what that document actually says is simply taken to be an alternative school of constitutional theory.
In fact, the Constitution references the death penalty no fewer than three times: twice in the Fifth Amendment, and once in the Fourteenth. Each of these amendments specifically allows for the option of capital punishment when it says that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law. Since the Eighth Amendment, which forbids "cruel and unusual punishments," was ratified concurrently with the Fifth, it cannot reasonably be taken to prohibit the deprivation of life when due process has been given.
by Nancy Salvato
The word that most aptly describes the momentum behind education reform going into 2007 is disenfranchised. This can be applied to students in grades P all the way to 16. It can also be applied to adults who want to go back to school, who never completed school, or who are learning English as a second language. It can be used to describe those who find themselves on the wrong side of the law. This word can be mixed and matched with pretty much any type of person that is deserving of more opportunity; and who isn’t? To be sure, the word disenfranchised will inevitably be used to call for more education funding, to fight for more equitable education and to appeal for universal education. Disenfranchised is the sort of descriptor that can be mixed and matched by any education reformer for any type of reform because it appeals to the conscience; it begs the decent person to look out for those amongst us who might need a little action on their behalf. "It is the right thing to do." But be forewarned; those whose heartstrings are being pushed and pulled in every direction must try and be discerning about the various offerings and work through the maze of rhetoric so that the disenfranchised are truly helped by our efforts. Like it or not, sometimes the solutions can become part of the problem.
by Thomas Lindaman
Ah, December. It’s a month full of joy, fellowship, and good times.
Then we have to go to the mall. That’s when things get dicey. Sure, we may sing "Peace on Earth, good will towards men," but that’s before we have to spend the better part of an hour walking from the car to the front door, sometimes in weather that would make the penguins at Ice Station Zero want to put on a parka over their tuxedos.
I may sound like a Grinch, but I think there are some things that we should do away with around Christmas, and I’m not talking about Aunt Edna’s fruitcake, the one that’s been passed from person to person since the fourth Wise Man, Izzy, got turned away at the manger because he brought it. Here is a list of things that should be first to go.
People who get offended at holiday greetings. I’ve heard people actually get upset if you wish them a Merry Christmas and they’re not Christian. We have Islamic extremist terrorists who want us dead merely because we don’t think Mohammed was all that neato, a situation in Darfur that would make a pessimist out of the best motivational speaker, and a declining situation in Iraq. And you’re upset over Merry Christmas? Listen, if a holiday greeting is the biggest thing on your plate right now, you have a pretty sweet life and no reason to complain about anything.