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Welcome
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Dec. 31st, 2008 @ 11:11 am
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No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life. II Tim 2:4
( Bio )
My comments in the posts below are [blue] and bracketed.
Fair Use Notice*..*..* ..Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Saddleback Bloopers
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Aug. 19th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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Obama makes misleading claims about ethics legislation and abortion at a church-sponsored forum. McCain exaggerates his tax-cut proposals. Read more
Vol 4, No 1082 |
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Flip Flop Competition
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Aug. 19th, 2008 @ 08:00 pm
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Vol 4, No 1081 |
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No Contest
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Aug. 19th, 2008 @ 05:00 pm
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It was only in May that Sen. Barack Obama cockily proclaimed he would debate Sen. John McCain "anywhere, anytime." But in June, Obama said no to McCain's challenge to have 10 one-on-one town hall meetings.
After what happened at Lake Forest, Calif.'s evangelical Saddleback megachurch Saturday evening, we may have found that debating is Obama's Achilles' heel. Whether or not you like the idea of such events being held in religious venues, the plain-and-simple method of questioning used by Saddleback pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren revealed fundamental differences between these two men.
"It's one of those situations where the devil is in the details," Obama said at one point. He could have been referring to his own oratorical shortcomings when a teleprompter is unavailable. We learned a lot more about the real Obama at Saddleback than we will next week as he delivers his acceptance speech in Denver before a massive stadium crowd. Read more
Vol 4, No 1080 |
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McCain, the "no-shot" candidate
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Aug. 19th, 2008 @ 01:00 pm
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A few weeks back, Time magazine was musing that John McCain was in danger of sliding from “a long shot” to a “no-shot.” Around the same time, a hard-nosed former Hillary Clinton insider declared the race “effectively over” thanks to the McCain campaign’s ineptitude, the tanking U.S. economy and Obama’s advantages in cash, charisma and hope. And Obama, up by three to six points nationally, was about to leverage a much-anticipated trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and Europe into a pre-convention poll surge.
Instead . . . More here
[There are many “intelligent” people unable to discern which candidate will cause the least damage to our nation. As much as I disapprove of a McCain Feingold presidency, I fear a Post Turtle (see 1074 below) president. Keep your eyes and ears open, “think” a lost art) and pray.]
Vol 4, No 1079
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Saddleback presidential forum: How did they respond?
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Aug. 19th, 2008 @ 11:00 am
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Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain were tested about their views on a wide range of topics last night during a forum hosted by well known author and pastor, Rick Warren. Here's a summary of how they responded.
Hour 1: Obama
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says America's greatest moral failure is not abiding by the command of Jesus in the book of Matthew to care for "the least of these."
"That basic principle applies to poverty it applies to racism and sexism, it applies to not having, not thinking about providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class," said Obama. "There's a pervasive sense I think that this country as wealthy and powerful as we are, still don't spend enough time thinking about the least of these."
Obama said the greatest personal moral failure was his use of drugs and alcohol during his teenage years.
On abortion:
Obama says he is not sure when an unborn baby should be considered a human life worth protecting. He also could not provide an instance where he voted for legislation designed to limit abortions.
When asked by Pastor Warren when he believes a baby receives human rights, Obama did not provide a specific response. "I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade," says Obama.
Obama says he believes in Roe v. Wade not because he's pro-abortion, but because women don't make decisions about abortion "casually." He suggested Americans can find common ground on ways to reduce abortions.
On marriage:
Obama said he believes marriage should be defined as a sacred union between a man and a woman, but says he would not support a constitutional amendment with such language.
"Historically we have not defined marriage in our Constitution," he explained. "It's been a matter of state law that has been our tradition. Now, let's break it down. The reason that people that think there needs to be a constitutional amendment some people believe is because of the concern about same-sex marriage."
Obama says while he is not someone who promotes same-sex marriage, he does back civil unions for homosexuals.
Hour 2: McCain
On energy:
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain says the most significant position he held 10-years ago, that he no longer holds today, was his onetime opposition to offshore oil drilling. According to the GOP White House hopeful, "We've got to drill here, we've got to drill now and we've got to become independent of foreign oil.
McCain contends it is a national security issue. "We're sending seven hundred billion-dollars a year to countries that don't like us very much," said McCain. "[A]nd some of that money is ending up in the hands of terrorist organizations. We cannot allow this greatest transfer of wealth in history and for our national security to be threatened."
McCain argues the U.S. needs wind, tide, solar, and nuclear power, as well as hydrogen cars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save on energy costs.
On abortion:
Unlike his rival Barack Obama, McCain declared strongly that he believes a baby is entitled to human rights at the moment of conception.
"I have a twenty-five year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate and as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president and this presidency will have pro-life policies. That's my commitment. That's my commitment to you," said McCain.
McCain says the issue of embryonic stem cell research has been a "great struggle and a terrible dilemma" for the pro-life movement. He acknowledged his support for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, but said he was "wildly optimistic" that skin cell research "will make this debate an academic one."
On marriage:
McCain reaffirmed his belief that the California Supreme Court was wrong to legalize same-sex marriage.
Like his Democratic opponent, McCain stated that marriage should be defined as between one man and one woman. "I'm a federalist. I believe that states should make those decisions. In my state I hope we will make that decision. In other states they have -- to recognize the unique status of marriage between man and woman," he contends. "...that doesn't mean that people can't enter into legal agreements, that they don't have the rights of all citizens."
If a federal court decided that Arizona must abide by the Massachusetts court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, McCain said he would support a federal marriage amendment.
On religious persecution:
According to McCain, he would use the most important asset of a president – "the bully pulpit" – to call on oppressive countries like China to end religious persecution.
He invoked Ronald Reagan, who the Arizona Senator says stood for and said what he believed. "He said to those people who were then captive nations: The day will come when you will know freedom and democracy and the fundamental rights of man," McCain noted. "Our Judeo-Christian principles dictate that we do what we can to help people who are oppressed throughout the world. And I'd like to tell you that I still think that even in the worst places in the world today and the darkest corners, little countries like Belarus, they still harbor this hope and dream someday to be like us." Source
Vol 4, No 1078
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Danny Donkey
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Aug. 18th, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
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[Danny Donkey and I have too many common preferences.]
Vol 4, No 1077 |
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Politicians are covering up the size of the federal deficit
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Aug. 18th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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by Richard A. Viguerie
According to CBO, the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30, will end up with a deficit of $400 Billion. While this figure is shockingly high, the truth is that the actually deficit is a lot higher.
The $400 Billion deficit is based on an accounting fraud called the Unified Budget, in which money borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund and which is added to the National Debt, is counted as income for the annual budget.
This kind of trickery by Republicans and Democrats would land officers of publicly held companies in prison.
When you take the $186 Billion that is being borrowed from Social Security and add it to the $400 Billion deficit that is being acknowledged, you get the real deficit of $586 Billion. Read more
Vol 4, No 1076 |
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Obama Lucky People Watched Phelps, Not Saddleback
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Aug. 18th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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by Mark Finkelstein | August 18, 2008 - 21:38
Not that there was any doubt that McCain walked away the winner from Rick Warren's forum, but when David Shuster cracks that Obama was lucky not too many people were watching . . .
Subbing for Chris Matthews on this evening's Hardball, Shuster kibitzed Saddleback with Dem Steve McMahon and Republican Todd Harris. Shuster made his surprising remark at segment end.
DAVID SHUSTER: I think it also revealed that John McCain's going to be a much better debater than a lot of people think. And maybe also in some sense, Barack Obama is lucky in a way that Saturday night was Michael Phelps' night and not a night when a lot of people were paying attention to politics. Source
Vol 4, No 1075
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Post turtle
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Aug. 18th, 2008 @ 08:00 pm
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After suturing a cut on a 75 year old Texas rancher, whose hand had been caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the rancher. Eventually the topic got around to presidential candidates - specifically Obama and his bid to be our president. The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Obama is a ‘post turtle.’"
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was. The old rancher explained it like this: “When y’all are driving down a country road and ya come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.” Then the old rancher noticed a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to expound.
"Y’all know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, and he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and ya have to just wonder what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place."
Thanks to Garland Carlson
Vol 4, No 1074 |
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Today’s Verse
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Aug. 17th, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
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The punishment for iniquity of God's people is greater than the punishment for the sin of Sodom. - Lamentations 4:6
Vol 4, No 1073 |
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McCain considers pro-choice Ridge
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Aug. 17th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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John McCain is floating the prospect of picking a running mate who supports abortion and cited former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as someone worth considering.
 [Is McCain serious?]
McCain said in an interview with The Weekly Standard: "I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party."
McCain had been asked about comments he made to several reporters during the Republican primary season about the prospect of picking New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for vice president.
McCain told the magazine [that Ridge] would be more palatable to social conservatives who make up the base of the Republican Party.
"You know, Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don't think that that would necessarily would rule Tom Ridge out.
"I think it's a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice," McCain said. More here
Vol 4, No 1072
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Is Obama beyond liberal or just ignorant?
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Aug. 17th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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by William Murray
Being a Washington insider, I hear politicians say a lot of dumb things every day. At an event in Titusville, Florida this week Barack Obama said that Exxon made a profit of $1,500 a second. He then said that the "record profits" should be taxed for the purpose of putting a "$1,000 emergency energy rebate in the pockets of working families.”
Currently Exxon pays $4,000 a second in taxes or almost three times as much as its profit. Exxon's cost of doing business is $15,000 a second. Exxon employs hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. Those "profits" that Obama wants to take for taxes are mostly paid out as dividends into IRA's and other retirement accounts that own the stock.
We have to keep in mind that Senator Obama has never held a job in the private sector.
Vol 4, No 1071
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What's the question?
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Aug. 17th, 2008 @ 08:00 pm
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Here is my answer:
2002.01 - $1.11 -- $3250
2003.01 - $1.39 -- $3800
2004.01 - $1.49 -- $3600
2005.01 - $1.76 -- $4440
2006.01 - $2.10 -- $3940
2007.01 - $2.30 -- $4370
2008.01 - $3.03 -- $3300 through July
Vol 4, No 1070 |
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Don't ask about immigration status
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Aug. 16th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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(CNSNews.com) - The city council of Hartford, Conn., has unanimously approved an ordinance that prohibits police and city employees from asking people about their immigration status.
The ordinance would bar police from arresting or detaining any person on the sole grounds that immigration authorities had issued an administrative warrant for them. More here
Vol 4, No 1069 |
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Boxer Bullies Senate's Baby Doctor
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Aug. 16th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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By Debra Saunders
n July, federal authorities indicted Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, on corruption charges on the grounds that Alaska's Prince of Earmarks concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars of gifts and improvements to his Alaska home provided by a powerful oil services company. Also this summer, amid the mortgage meltdown, newspapers reported that a number of senators – including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D.-Conn.; Kent Conrad, D.-N.D.; and Barack Obama, D.-Ill. – were the beneficiaries of sweetheart home loans.
In June, the Senate Ethics Committee began an initial look into Dodd's and Conrad's discounted Countrywide Financial VIP loans, as is fitting. Meanwhile, with all of the ethics stink bombs lurking in Washington, the committee, chaired by California Democrat Barbara Boxer, is aiming its guns at Sen. Tom Coburn, R -Okla., for "a serious violation of Senate rules."
Coburn's bad? An obstetrician by profession, Coburn won't heed the committee's threat to reprimand him for delivering babies back home in Oklahoma – for free.
"On my own time, I'm taking care of women who have a need, and I'm going to continue to deliver babies," Coburn told Politico.com.
And, bully for him: "I'm not going to stop." When a member of the House, Coburn delivered 400 babies under an agreement with ethics meisters that allowed him to do so – if he charged only enough to cover his expenses.
When elected to the Senate, which was first run by Republicans and now Democrats, Ethics Committee members told Coburn that if he wants to treat patients – largely poor and "at risk" mothers – he could not charge them, and thus would have to eat the costs of his practice.
The Senate Ethics Committee allows big-buck book deals for U.S. senators, but in a May memorandum, it told Coburn, "you are allowed to practice medicine if you provide such services for free." So he started working for nothing.
Even free wasn't good enough. Read more here
Vol 4, No 1068
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The police have done their job
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Aug. 15th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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[The police have done their job. I hope the judge executes justice.]
Someone was attacking women in Fairfax County and Alexandria, grabbing them from behind and sometimes punching and molesting them before running away. After logging 11 cases in six months, police finally identified a suspect.
David Lee Foltz Jr., who had served 17 years in prison for rape, lived near the crime scenes. To figure out if Foltz was the assailant, police pulled out their secret weapon: They put a Global Positioning System device on Foltz's van, which allowed them to track his movements.
Police said they soon caught Foltz dragging a woman into a wooded area in Falls Church. After his arrest on Feb. 6, the string of assaults suddenly stopped. The break in the case relied largely on a crime-fighting tool they would rather not discuss.
"We don't really want to give any info on how we use it as an investigative tool to help the bad guys," said Officer Shelley Broderick, a Fairfax police spokeswoman. "It is an investigative tool for us, and it is a very new investigative tool."
Across the country, police are using GPS devices to snare thieves, drug dealers, sexual predators and killers, often without a warrant or court order. Privacy advocates said tracking suspects electronically constitutes illegal search and seizure, violating Fourth Amendment rights of protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and is another step toward George Orwell's Big Brother society. Law enforcement officials, when they discuss the issue at all, said GPS is essentially the same as having an officer trail someone, just cheaper and more accurate. Most of the time, as was done in the Foltz case, judges have sided with police. Washington Post Source
[The same people that cry “Fourth Amendment” cry, “No death penalty” for convicted murders. May he spend the rest of his life in jail.]
Vol 4, No 1067 |
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Woman delivers baby on lawn
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Aug. 15th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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Alone and in labor, Jessica Higgins found the first place she could to give birth – her front lawn.
The 36-year-old was driving home from the mall when little Mary Claire gave her the shock of a lifetime by deciding to arrive six weeks early.
Higgins – with her 2-year-old son sleeping in the back seat – called 911 as she arrived at her Fullerton home, but she had already pushed her daughter out when police arrived.
"She was just standing in the driveway rocking the newborn, who was still attached to the placenta," Officer Manny Ramos said. Source
[I’m surprised the woman wasn’t arrested for having a home birth.]
Vol 4, No 1066 |
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Dems pushing sodomite issues
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Aug. 14th, 2008 @ 11:30 pm
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(CNSNews.com) - The national platform approved at a Democratic Platform Committee meeting in Pittsburgh on Saturday includes language that calls for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy implemented by Democratic President Bill Clinton and for allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. Source
Vol 4, No 1065 |
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Who is this guy?
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Aug. 14th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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by Patrick Buchanan
With 68 percent of Americans believing George Bush has done a poor job, and 82 percent saying the country is on the wrong track, the election of 2008 will turn on one issue: Barack Obama.
If Sen. Obama can convince the people he is "one of us," and not some snooty radical liberal from Chicago's Hyde Park, who looks down upon white America as a fever swamp of racism and reaction, a la the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the senator will be the next president.
The election of 2008 thus mirrors the election of 1980.
Then, the country wanted Jimmy Carter gone. Americans had had enough of 21 percent interest rates, 13 percent inflation and 7 percent unemployment. They wanted the Iranian hostage crisis ended, violently if necessary. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, America wanted a leader who would not kiss Leonid Brezhnev on the cheek but reassert American power.
The issue then was Ronald Reagan. Portrayed as some Al Capp cartoon of a crazed right-winger and B-Grade Hollywood actor given to spouting Reader's Digest bromides, Reagan was regarded as ridiculous by much of the media and too big a risk by much of the nation. Source
Vol 4, No 1064
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30 Years of ultra-right rule?
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Aug. 14th, 2008 @ 07:00 am
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Barack Obama is not a left candidate. This fact has seemingly surprised a number of progressive people who are bemoaning Obama’s “shift to the center.” (Right-wingers are happy to join them, suggesting Obama is a “flip-flopper.”) It’s sad that some who seek progressive change are missing the forest for the trees. But they will not dampen the wide and deep enthusiasm for blocking a third Bush term represented by John McCain, or for bringing Obama by a landslide into the White House with a large Democratic congressional majority.
A broad multiclass, multiracial movement is converging around Obama’s “Hope, change and unity” campaign because they see in it the thrilling opportunity to end 30 years of ultra-right rule and move our nation forward with a broadly progressive agenda.
This diverse movement combines a variety of political currents and aims in a working coalition that is crucial to social progress at this point. At the core are America’s working families, of all hues and ethnicities, whose determination to move forward does not depend on, and will not be diverted by, the daily twists and turns of this watershed presidential campaign. They are taking the long view.
Notably, the labor movement has stepped up its independent mobilization for this election. It is leading an unprecedented campaign to educate and unify its ranks to elect the nation’s first African American president. Last week, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told the Steelworkers convention that there is “no evil that’s inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism — and it’s something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge.”
If Obama’s candidacy represented nothing more than the spark for this profound initiative to unite the working class and defeat the pernicious influence of racism, it would be a transformative candidacy that would advance progressive politics for the long term.
The struggle to defeat the ultra-right and turn our country on a positive path will not end with Obama’s election. But that step will shift the ground for successful struggles going forward. Source
Vol 4, No 1063 |
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Voters Should Pass A Minimal Civics Test
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Aug. 14th, 2008 @ 06:00 am
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by Doug Patton
I have never been an advocate of the popular notion that "everyone should vote." Some people look at me as if I am somehow un-American when I say that I am not in favor of encouraging people to vote who would otherwise never darken the door of a polling place. I really don't want someone on the streets of Hollywood, who just failed to identify the vice president of the United States on one of Jay Leno's "Jay-Walking" segments, helping to select the person who will lead my government for the next four years.
So here is a basic, common-sense test that every American wishing to exercise the right to vote should answer (I'm sure in this dumbed-down era in which we live we will have to come up with multiple choice answers to make it easier, but here are some preliminary questions):
1. Name the three branches of the federal government.
2. Name the current president and vice president of the United States.
3. How long have they served?
4. How long are the president and vice president allowed to serve?
5. How many members are there in the U.S. House of Representatives?
6. How are House Members chosen?
7. How long is their term in office?
8. How long are they allowed to serve?
9. Name the current speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
10. Which party currently holds the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives?
11. How many members are there in the U.S. Senate?
12. How are U.S. Senators normally chosen?
13. How long is a U.S. Senator's term in office?
14. How long are they allowed to serve?
15. Name the current majority leader of the U.S. Senate.
16. Which party currently holds the majority in the U.S. Senate?
17. How many individuals currently sit on the United States Supreme Court?
18. Name three of them.
19. How are members of the U.S. Supreme Court selected?
20. How long can Supreme Court Justices serve?
21. What is an electoral vote?
22. How many electoral votes are currently required in order to elect the president and vice president?
23. How is the president selected if he/she fails to receive the required number of electoral votes?
24. How is the vice president selected if he/she fails to receive the required number of electoral votes?
25. What is an executive order?
26. How is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed?
27. How many constitutional conventions has the United States had? Source
How did you do? The answers are here.
Vol 4, No 1062 |
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The Big O (that’s zero)
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Aug. 13th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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by Gerard Harbison
A scattering of local Democrats dribbled in to the cavernous blackness of an abandoned movie theater in downtown Lincoln (NE) for an Obama rally yesterday. Pro-Democrat Don Walton estimated the 'crowd' as 'more than 100', which probably means 'just barely more than 100'. Subtract the Senator, Mayor, local Lancaster County Democrat Party officials, and other dignitaries, and you're probably down to 50, out of a city of nearly 250,000. This was despite the fact that in at least one instance, the local Dems illegally used a University of Nebraska mailing list to try to advertize their event.
Ben Nelson then told the tiny gathering they had a chance of winning not one but two electoral votes in Nebraska. It is not recorded whether this line earned him a hollow laugh.
I almost feel sorry for them. It's hard to get that Obama mob groove thang going when you're a few dozen lonely souls huddled in the middle of a large amphitheater. I just hope they had some drugs to help the mood. Source
Vol 4, No 1061 |
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An inside job
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Aug. 13th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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Investigators looking into a vast international credit card theft ring extending from Ukraine and Belarus to China and victimizing nine of the largest U.S. retailers faced a central mystery: Who was orchestrating the crimes on the ground in the United States?
It turned out, investigators now say, that he was right under their noses. And it was a reference to a character in the popular U.S. comedy "Seinfeld" – the Soup Nazi – that helped break the case.
Albert Gonzalez, 27, a second-generation Cuban-American from Miami, was a seemingly reformed hacker turned U.S. Secret Service informant, helping agents identify his former cohorts in the shady online underworld where stolen credit and debit card numbers are bought and sold. More here
Vol 4, No 1060 |
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The Stupid Party is Killing Energy Issue for Republicans and America
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Aug. 13th, 2008 @ 08:00 pm
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by Bobby Eberle
Last week, I wrote on efforts by House GOP members to draw attention to the fact that Nancy Pelosi sent House members home for the summer without a vote on domestic oil drilling. The American people want it, and the GOP House members are fighting for it. I also wrote on how big the energy issue is. It could be THE issue of the upcoming elections... an issue upon which Republicans could run AND win.
However, this is a new week, and whenever too much time passes, there is bound to be a new effort by the GOP to stall momentum and stab conservatives right in the heart. Who needs Democrats when so many GOP "leaders" act just like them? Now, we have the "Gang of 10." This group of senators (5 Republicans and 5 Democrats) claims to have forged a "bi-partisan energy compromise." In reality, we have a group of five GOP senators who are set on taking the winning issues of drilling and energy off the table and selling out to the liberals.
A report in Investor's Business Daily (IBD) sums up the situation perfectly: "If you thought Republicans were no longer 'The Stupid Party,' then you haven't met the senators who may have just destroyed the GOP's biggest hope this election year: the drilling issue.”
Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Thune of South Dakota — remember their names if things go badly for the GOP this November.
 Click to enlarge
The drilling issue is a winning issue for Republicans. In order to reduce prices, we need more supply. To get more supply, we need more drilling. The American people are calling for more drilling, and with Democrats in opposition, this issue could help tremendously in November. Increasing domestic oil production is the conservative approach. We don't need more taxes or government controls. We don't need to leave our security in the hands of Middle Eastern governments. We need more oil supply at home as America continues its trend of conservation and seeking out more fuel efficient vehicles. More here
Vol 4, No 1059 |
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Olympic Update
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Aug. 12th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
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This facelilft made in China
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Vol 4, No 1058 |
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Survivor' contestant shares insights
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Aug. 12th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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by Shannon Baker
(BP) Just five minutes into Survivor China, Leslie Nease discovered there was one thing that meant more to her than realizing her dream of being on the popular television show.
Nease learned cast members were expected to bow before a statue of the Buddha in a traditional welcoming ceremony. Convinced that bowing before the idol would have constituted worship, Nease decided she would put her face on the ground only before God. Feeling the discomfort, she walked away quietly in tears. She knew an alternate player was waiting in the wings. Would she be put out of the game because of this decision?
Nease wasn't replaced by the alternate. Instead, her decision to not bow gave her an identity for the show – "Sister Christian." All the other players knew where she stood, as did the entire worldwide television audience.
Now, weeks after her once-in-a-lifetime experience, Nease has compiled a lit of the top 10 things she learned from being on one of TV's most celebrated reality shows.
10. Never give up on a God-given dream and trust His timing.
9. Holy huddles are great but you can't stay there.
8. First impressions aren't always accurate.
7. We are "crazy blessed" to be able to own and read God's Word in our country.
6. Know what it means to "dig deep for Jesus."
5. A good reputation means more than a million bucks.
4. Forming relationships with people opens doors to share one's faith.
3. Others' opinions do not define you.
2. Man's rejection is God's protection.
1. Nothing is more important than a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Nease had promised God: "If you allow this dream to come true, not only will I tell them my story, but I'll tell them Yours." "Jesus is not just your Savior, but also your Lord," she says. "He doesn't want just part of your life. He wants all of your life."
She said that Christians should have "symptoms of Christianity" (life change, sensitivity to sin and evangelism, a love for God's Word). "If you don't have the symptoms, then you don't have it," she said, admitting that for years she was a "Sunday Christian" only. But her life dramatically changed when she relaxed and let God do the work in her.
"Many people told me they were sorry when I didn't win Survivor, but I did win," she said. "Jesus just doesn't work the way we do." Source
( If the link is closed, the unedited version is here. )
Vol 4, No 1057 |
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Glenn Beck Poll
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Aug. 12th, 2008 @ 08:30 pm
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With conservatives half heartedly supporting John McCain, mostly because they are deathly afraid of having a Marxist president, it's interesting to see how other candidates would do when included in polls. For example, if the election were today, who would you vote for– John McCain, Barack Obama or Dick Cheney? I voted here.
As of 21:15 the results:
Obama – 2.3%
McCain – 30.6%
Cheney – 67.1%
Vol 4, No 1056 |
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"Make me a Christian " TV program
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Aug. 12th, 2008 @ 08:00 pm
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A new television program broadcast this month follows a group of 13 non-Christian volunteers, who, on camera, attempt to "live by the teachings of the Bible for three weeks."
"Make Me a Christian," broadcast in a three-part series, asks the participants to be mentored by four pastors from a variety of backgrounds – Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal – as they attempt to live like Christians, an effort that runs in stark contrast to many of the participants' backgrounds.
The 13 volunteers who will make the effort include a tattooed militant atheist biker, a man who converted from Christianity to Islam, a lesbian schoolteacher, a lap-dancing witch with a lust for expensive shoes, a middle-class yuppie couple that can't find time to spend with their children and a party animal who claims he's slept with over 150 women.
Whether people can be made into Christians by a three-week crash course in discipleship, however, remains a matter of debate. [That is, without question, an understatement. There are countless pew warmers in every “church” on Sunday, comfortable in their Christless “Christianity.”
The Christian faith is not a “Let’s Make a Deal” faith. Television is a medium of entertainment, to use the word loosely. While there is joy in living for Christ, it is not entertaining.
I would go so far as to dare question the salvation of the four “mentors,” whoever they might be. Yet the Lord, in His grace, may use this mockery to save some.] Read more
Vol 4, No 1055 |
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Babies harm economy
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Aug. 11th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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Australia's fertility rate is at its highest in 25 years, but the nation's Productivity Commission warned last week that more babies may harm the economy.
Nearly 300,000 babies were born last year, and the commission said new mothers leaving the workforce will weaken the economy, aggravate the aging-population problem and deplete the taxation base. More here
[It’s the economy, stupid. The economy takes precedence over life.]
Vol 4, No 1054 |
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The joke is finally on Barack Obama
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Aug. 11th, 2008 @ 07:00 pm
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Have you heard the one about the presidential candidate who was once so popular that comedians were frightened to make jokes about him?
The punchline is this: the more seriously he took himself, the more Barack Obama has become a laughing matter.
Only a month ago American comedians and satirists were complaining that they found it hard to get people to laugh at the first black presidential nominee. A New Yorker cover cartoon showing him as a Muslim extremist was roundly denounced.
But growing Obama fatigue among voters after his pseudo-presidential visit to Europe and the Middle East has unleashed a wave of satirical fire, mocking Mr Obama for his apparent belief that he has the election in the bag.
Jon Stewart, host of the satirical news program “The Daily Show,” made comedic hay during the Illinois Senator's international trip, mocking his progress through the Holy Land, where he said the candidate stopped "in Bethlehem to see the manger where he was born." More here
Thanks to Allen O’Donnell
Vol 4, No 1053 |
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Congress has its own rules
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Aug. 11th, 2008 @ 05:00 pm
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[I must give CBS credit for running this. People need to send a note to their Congressman protesting this immoral, illegal, reprehensible behavior. Use the “Contact Congress” link at the top of this page to contact your Congressman. I did.]
(CBS) This tale begins in the small town of Nanticoke, Penn., population 9,500, where hometown Rep. Paul Kanjorski got more than $3 million federal tax dollars to build the "Kanjorski Center," an office building to attract business and help the local economy.
"I'm used to getting a great deal of money for my district," Kanjorski said.
But things haven't quite gone according to plan. The Kanjorski Center's main tenant moved out in 2005, and the building's been empty ever since.
"How much is the city paying for the building while it's empty?" Attkisson asked Pennsylvania state Rep. John Yudichak.
"The city's been paying about $15,000 a month while the building has been empty," he said.
Yudichak says the Kanjorski Center was ill-thought-out, and has become an albatross.
Now Kanjorski has a new plan. It involves millions more tax dollars to build a parking garage for the Kanjorski Center, in hopes of convincing a local community college to move in.
It'll cost taxpayers $5.6 million - money Kanjorski earmarked for the parking garage project. An earmark is a grant of money without the normal public review.
But there's one big problem: federal aid can only be used for parking garages that serve mass transit ... it's not intended for office parking in a congressman's hometown. When Kanjorski was notififed his project is contrary to federal rules, he said it didn't matter.
"I don't think the rule should be there," Kanjorski said. "I don't think the rule should have any attention paid to it. Because in Congress we have our own rules." More here
Thanks to Floyd Zabel
Vol 4, No 1052 |
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Dave Barry reporting from China
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Aug. 11th, 2008 @ 01:00 pm
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. . . Now you are in Beijing traffic, which is like an exciting video game with the bonus element of potential death. You have fast-moving cars, trucks and buses; you have a wide variety of mutant two-and-three-wheeled motorbike-contraptions putting along at minus two miles per hour; you have many bicycles, sometimes with an entire family on the one bicycle, dad pedaling, mom balanced behind him, holding a baby; and you have the occasional pushcart, stacked high with what appears to be trash. All of these vehicles are competing for the same packed road space, and nobody ever yields to anybody. Left turns routinely produce dramatic oncoming-bus moments that cause you to very nearly void your clueless western bladder. Read more
Vol 4, No 1051 |
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Chinese insult President Bush
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Aug. 10th, 2008 @ 05:00 pm
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by William J. Murray
Chinese officials insulted President Bush when he arrived in China by refusing to allow the press corps traveling with him to deplane for three hours. The President thought going to the Olympics and championing human rights would change the hearts of the Communist leaders of China. Since they have no hearts, this is not possible Mr. President. The Chinese Foreign Minister said of Bush's remarks on freedom, "We firmly oppose any words or acts that interfere in other countries' internal affairs, using human rights and religion and other issues." Don't expect to see this information on the front page of your newspaper. Big business and the liberal media are as much in love with the Chinese communists as they are with Barack Obama. Source
Vol 4, No 1050 |
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The Psychology Behind Suicide Bombings
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Aug. 10th, 2008 @ 03:00 pm
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by Pierre Rehov, French Documentary Filmmaker, September 12, 2005
MSNBC's "Connected" program discussed the 7/7 London attacks. One of the guests was Pierre Rehov, a French filmmaker who has filmed six documentaries on the intifada by going undercover in the Palestinian areas.
Pierre's upcoming film, "Suicide Killers," is based on interviews that he conducted with the families of suicide bombers and would-be bombers in an attempt to find out why they do it. Pierre agreed to a request for a Q&A interview here about his work on the new film.
What inspired you to produce "Suicide Killers," your seventh film?
I started working with victims of suicide attacks to make a film on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) when I became fascinated with the personalities of those who had committed those crimes, as they were described again and again by their victims. Especially the fact that suicide bombers are all smiling one second before they blow themselves up.
Why is this film especially important?
People don't understand the devastating culture behind this unbelievable phenomenon. My film is not politically correct because it addresses the real problem-showing the real face of Islam. It points the finger against a culture of hatred in which the uneducated are brainwashed to a level where their only solution in life becomes to kill themselves and kill others in the name of a God whose word, as transmitted by other men, has became their
only certitude.
What insights did you gain from making this film? What do you know that other experts do not know?
I came to the conclusion that we are facing a neurosis at the level of an entire civilization. Most neuroses have in common a dramatic event, generally linked to an unacceptable sexual behavior. In this case, we are talking of kids living all their lives in pure frustration, with no opportunity to experience sex, love, tenderness or even understanding from the opposite sex. The separation between men and women in Islam is absolute. So is contempt toward women, who are totally dominated by men. This leads to a situation of pure anxiety, in which normal behavior is not possible. It is no coincidence that suicide killers are mostly young men dominated subconsciously by an overwhelming libido that they not only cannot satisfy but are afraid of, as if it is the work of the devil. Since Islam describes heaven as a place where everything on earth will finally be allowed, and promises 72 virgins to those frustrated kids, killing others and killing themselves to reach this redemption becomes their only solution.
What was it like to interview would-be suicide bombers, their families and survivors of suicide bombings?
It was a fascinating and a terrifying experience. You are dealing with seemingly normal people with very nice manners who have their own logic, which to a certain extent can make sense since they are so convinced that what they say is true. It is like dealing with pure craziness, like interviewing people in an asylum, since what they say, is for them, the absolute truth. I hear a mother saying "Thank God, my son is dead." Her son had became a shaheed, a martyr, which for her was a greater source of pride than if he had became an engineer, a doctor or a winner of the Nobel Prize. This system of values works completely backwards since their interpretation of Islam worships death much more than life. You are facing people whose only dream, only achievement is to fulfill what they believe to be their destiny, namely to be a shaheed or the family of a shaheed.
They don't see the innocent being killed, they only see the impure that they have to destroy.
Do all Muslims interpret jihad and martyrdom in the same way?
All Muslim believers believe that, ultimately, Islam will prevail on earth. They believe this is the only true religion and their is no room, in their mind, for interpretation. The main difference between moderate Muslims and extremists is that moderate Muslims don't think they will see the absolute victory of Islam during their life time, therefore they respect other beliefs. The extremists believe that the fulfillment of the Prophecy of Islam and ruling the entire world as described in the Koran, is for today. Each victory of Bin Laden convinces 20 million moderate Muslims to become extremists. Source
Thanks to June Kliewer
Vol 4, No 1049 |
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Dead Skunk?
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Aug. 10th, 2008 @ 02:00 pm
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July 29th I posted a picture of the work of a highway road worker. This week I saw a road crew painting road stripes. It was obvious that once the paint machine starts, it is not going to stop for any object in the road.
Imagine my surprise when I later traversed the road to note that the painter had painted over an expired raccoon.
As one man said, “The animal is now a skunk.”
Vol 4, No 1048 |
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What’s the matter with Alaska?
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Aug. 10th, 2008 @ 07:00 am
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by Jonah Goldberg
The spirit of something for nothing suffuses the 49th state. The U.S. government bought it for next to nothing — a mere two cents an acre. And ever since the territory became a state, Alaska’s politicians have been trying to up the price through the back door.
Ted Stevens, the recently indicted senior senator from the Last Frontier, has been shipping anything not nailed down in Washington back home for years. Citizens Against Government Waste calculates that between 1995 and 2008, Stevens alone brought home some $3.4 billion in pork barrel projects.
Stevens has a worthwhile protégé in Don Young, famed champion of the Bridge to Nowhere. Talk to Alaskans and they’ll explain that the difference between Ted Stevens and Don Young is that Young is a dimwitted, corrupt, belligerent, bullying, vindictive taxpayer goody-grabber; Stevens isn’t dimwitted. Source
Vol 4, No 1047 |
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Moslem censorship
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Aug. 10th, 2008 @ 06:00 am
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Starting in 2002, Spokane, Wash., journalist Sherry Jones toiled weekends on a racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Ms. Jones learned Arabic, studied scholarly works about Aisha's life, and came to admire her protagonist as a woman of courage. When Random House bought her novel last year in a $100,000, two-book deal, she was ecstatic. This past spring, she began plans for an eight-city book tour after the Aug. 12 publication date of "The Jewel of Medina" -- a tale of lust, love and intrigue in the prophet's harem.
It's not going to happen: In May, Random House abruptly called off publication of the book. The series of events that torpedoed this novel are a window into how quickly fear stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim world.
Random House feared the book would become a new "Satanic Verses," the Salman Rushdie novel of 1988 that led to death threats, riots and the murder of the book's Japanese translator, among other horrors. In an interview about Ms. Jones's novel, Thomas Perry, deputy publisher at Random House Publishing Group, said that it "disturbs us that we feel we cannot publish it right now." He said that after sending out advance copies of the novel, the company received "from credible* and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment." WSJ Source
*The “credible” source was one Denise Spellberg, a University of Texas academic who, on receipt of Jones’ galleys, started tattling like a six-year old to Muslims Spellberg felt would be angry with the work. Perry and his cronies simply caved in. That the publishers reference the “Satanic Verses” in their defence is yet more despicable. In the early 1990s, when I was president of West Coast Branch of PEN, we did everything in our power to defend Rushdie against the attempts to suppress his freedom of speech. Random House does nothing for its own authors. The natural conclusion of their behavior in this instance is that nothing critical of Islam could ever be written.
If America is destroyed, it may be by Americans who salute the flag, sing the national anthem, march in patriotic parades, cheer Fourth of July speakers – normally good Americans, but Americans who fail to comprehend what is required to keep our country strong and free, Americans who have been lulled away into a false security. – Ezra Taft Benson
Thanks to Allen O’Donnell
Vol 4, No 1046 |
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Immigration raid brings Somali replacements
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Aug. 9th, 2008 @ 08:00 pm
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Nearly three months after a federal immigration raid uprooted almost 400 employees at a meatpacking plant in northeastern Iowa, dozens of Somali immigrants are slowly but steadily filling the depleted ranks left by the arrested workers.
One man, a Muslim, said he saw no difficulty working in a kosher meatpacking plant where most of his bosses are rabbis.
"Work is work," he said. "They are nice and they teach me how to do my work." Source
Vol 4, No 1045 |
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Justice, finally
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Aug. 9th, 2008 @ 07:00 am
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Over international objections, a foreign-born killer of American citizens is executed in Texas. Would this be allowed to happen in the administration of "citizen of the world" Barack Obama?
It took 15 years, but Mexican-born Jose Medellin, who confessed to and was convicted of participating in the rape and murder of two Houston teenagers in 1993, was executed. Read more
Vol 4, No 1044 |
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Road Rage
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Aug. 9th, 2008 @ 06:00 am
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Road rage made suspect kill agent. [The man is considered a “suspect” even though he confessed to the killing.] The “suspect” in the shooting death of a federal agent admitted becoming enraged over a traffic dispute, police said. Source
Vol 4, No 1043 |
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California permits home schooling
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Aug. 8th, 2008 @ 08:00 pm
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In a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District today ruled that “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education.”
Today’s decision stands in stark contrast to the opinion this same three-judge panel issued in February, which would have made California the only state in the union to outlaw home education had it remained in effect.
“It is unusual for an appellate court to grant a petition for rehearing as this court did in March,” said HSLDA Chairman Mike Farris, “but it is truly remarkable for a court to completely reverse its own earlier opinion. We thank you for your prayers and give God the glory for this great victory.” Source
Vol 4, No 1042 |
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Doubting Helen Thomas
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Aug. 8th, 2008 @ 07:00 pm
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by Brent Bozell
At a screening of a forthcoming HBO documentary honoring liberal journalist Helen Thomas in Washington, Thomas was asked whether most White House reporters are liberal. "Hell, no!" she thundered. I'm dying to find another liberal to open their mouths [sic]. Where are they?"
Is this Grande Dame of Journalism serious? The answer, of course, is yes. Since Ms. Thomas is dying to find vocal liberals in the news media, the least we can do is point her in the right direction.
Let's see ...
ABC's Claire Shipman says the taxpayers, not the politicians, should sacrifice to close the budget deficit: "If every American were to pitch in $2,000, we could pay off this year's deficit. ... Or, if we handed over, each of us, 500 gallons of gasoline or, in terms we could all really understand, if every American gave up 666 lattes for a year, we could pay off this year's deficit."
Dan Rather predicts Big Oil will try to manipulate the election for John McCain: "The people who can affect the price of oil would prefer a Republican presidential candidate. Watch the price of oil. If it goes down, which it may very well, it could help John McCain quite a bit."
The Associated Press swoons: "It's not only Obama's youth, eloquence and energy that have stolen hearts across the Atlantic. Obama has raised expectations of a chance for the nation to redeem itself in the role that Europe has loved, respected and relied upon."
CBS's Mark Phillips melts in Berlin: "The 200,000-plus crowd confirmed his rock star status, and his more cooperative sounding rhetoric was what the crowd wanted to hear."
Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times rejects charges of pro-Obama bias with this doozy: "Mr. Obama's weeklong tour of war zones and foreign capitals is noteworthy because it is so unusual to see a presidential candidate act so presidential overseas."
But Helen Thomas, the so-called Dean of the White House press corps, doesn't know any liberals in the news media. Source
[“Dean Thomas” deserves no honor. I read an AP story in the paper today about the documentary – rather harmless. Leave it to the internet to get “the Rest-of-the-Story.”]
Vol 4, No 1041 |
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Readers write
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Aug. 8th, 2008 @ 05:00 pm
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[A response to 4-1035.]
Here are some interesting related stories that show two extremes:
West Virginia started a pilot project Friday to keep driver's license photos out of a computer database to accommodate members of a small religious group, who believe digital storage is a "mark of the beast" that evokes biblical prophecy. Source
Rep. Sam Rohrer:
"Exactly two years ago, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania entered into a $45 million contract with Viisage Technology, self-described as 'the industry leader in instant issue digital driver's licenses.' Viisage, later renamed L-1 Identity Solutions, became responsible for issuing Pennsylvania driver's licenses.
Under the authority of Governor Rendell, Viisage and PennDOT launched a new program in June 2006 known as FaceEXPLORER to be used in conjunction with the issuing of driver's licenses. This program uses an upgraded, high-definition photograph taken at a driver's license center to create a facial recognition template, or 'faceprint,' similar in purpose and uniqueness to a fingerprint. This faceprint is a form of biometrics based on the measurements of a person's unique, personal facial geometry. The faceprint goes beyond such easily recognizable physical features as haircut, glasses or facial hair and into an analysis of one's unique facial structure. Once this personally unique faceprint has been created, it is stored in a database to be used to compare against the faceprint of others. By these means, PennDOT and Viisage hoped to reduce identity fraud and theft. In reality, FaceEXPLORER has been a 'back-door' means to implement the REAL ID Act of 2005 without the consent or knowledge of either the legislature or the people." Source
Vol 4, No 1040 |
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Obama will “make” volunteers
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Aug. 8th, 2008 @ 07:00 am
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Barack Obama calls it "Universal Voluntary Public Service." We call it a plan for national involuntary servitude. Kennedy asked us what we could do for our country. Obama has ways to make us volunteer.
The Audacity Of Socialism
Sen. Obama's call to public service is quite different from JFK's. JFK knew America was already a nation of givers and volunteers, perhaps the most charitable and altruistic nation on Earth. Entities such as the Peace Corps would give Americans an outlet for their kindness and generosity, an opportunity to share what the freest nation on Earth had given them. Obama will force you to share.
Obama's Orwellian use of the words "universal" and "voluntary" together is an indicator of an antithesis to capitalist society deeply rooted in his socialist associations, education and training. Indeed, in 1996, when he ran for an Illinois state Senate seat, one of his first endorsements was from the Chicago branch of the Democratic Socialists of America.
On the surface, his plan looks just like typical bureaucratic program growth. He wants to expand Americorps to 250,000 slots and double the size of the Peace Corps. He'll create a Clean Energy Corps to plant trees and otherwise save the Earth. It's how Obama plans to fill those slots that's worrisome.
Announcing his plan July 2 at the University of Colorado, he said: "We will ask Americans to serve. We will create new opportunities to serve. And we will direct that service to our most pressing national challenges." He will make us an offer we can't refuse.
Obama says that as president he will "set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year." What he doesn't say is that he'll make such voluntarism compulsory by attaching strings to federal education dollars. The schools will make the kids volunteer. It's called plausible deniability.
In a commencement speech at Wesleyan University, Obama advised graduates not to pursue the American dream of success, but to serve others [as slaves to the government].
"You can take your diploma, walk off this stage and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should," he told the graduates. "But I hope you don't." Source
Vol 4, No 1039 |
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Reasons to refute a fairy tale
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Aug. 8th, 2008 @ 06:00 am
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What the liberal whiners say:
1. ‘Scientific consensus...everyone now knows we're experiencing catastrophic climate change...except the "flat-earthers"'
2. 'Just keep denying it, and we'll keep get hotter temperatures, our crops will burn up, all our water will evaporate and the boiling oceans will cause stronger, more frequent hurricanes'
3. 'What's the harm in believing in global warming? The worst that can happen is, we'll have a cleaner planet'
You can respond with these winning, logical, reasoned arguments:
If by consensus you mean-there's totally NOT a consensus, you're exactly right. The list of scientists who've signed a petition stating their opposition to the ‘consensus’ is now 31,000 strong and growing...9000 of whom are PHD's. Visit the site here.
Well, it's interesting then, that in the last 10 years, the temperature has remained steady, and in fact last year, declined. It almost seems like that 2 million degree burning ORB in the sky called... THE SUN...had something to do with the temperature on this planet!?!?! During the warmer '90's, solar flares were at their peak...over the past decade, solar activity has returned to normal. Let's talk about crops for a minute. Don't they grow BETTER in warmth? It seems to me there's not a lot of food growing in Antarctica. Source
Vol 4, No 1038 |
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If Obama loses
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Aug. 7th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm
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“Here's an email I received,” MelissaClouthier writes.
It's hillarious (sic)how terrified all you right wingnuts are of an intelligent, black man!” I am so sick of this mindless generalization. Here's a warning now, again: If Obama loses, it's not because he espouses socialist policy and couldn't find the red button if a nuke was sitting on his enormous head courtesy our "friends" in Iran, it's because he's black and Americans, especially, wingnuts, are racist.
She responds: It's hilarious how sensitive leftists are when black men are criticized for the content of their beliefs, ideology, and character. Why, when they're given the same treatment as white men, they seem to wither under the assault-"they" being the leftists.
I'm friends with and support intelligent, black men and white men and women. Look at my Flickr photos. You'll find me enthusiastically hugging Michael Steele and he's really, really black. But you know what? His color or gender doesn't matter to me. It's his ideas that I agree with.
When liberals stop whining about skin color and start coming up with worthwhile policy solutions, maybe they'll get more respect. In the meantime, cling to the notion that wingnuts are racists. It will make you feel better, but it won't win you elections. (Source)
Vol 4, No 1037
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Who put the fun in funeral?
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Aug. 7th, 2008 @ 07:00 pm
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The funeral was scheduled for 10:30. I was three weeks behind on a project and was only hours from completion. My wife and daughters volunteer at the County Fair and were scheduled to work the day of the funeral.
My plan was to go to work an hour early to finish the project, then to the funeral home and save my wife a seat.
My assignment was completed sooner than expected and I realized that I was the first to arrive. I sat in the parking lot thinking – something that I need to do more often.
After a ten minute wait I entered the funeral home. In hindsight, once I stepped through the door, I entered the Twilight Zone.
I have been to several funerals and was familiar with the building, but they had done some remodeling. In a split-second I turned my head to the right to see if they had moved the entryway. Much to my surprise I saw a man sitting in a chair. In less than a second I looked back and saw the television in the corner.
I had entered the house next to the funeral home. Fortunately, I knew the man, and, after apologizing, I walked next door.
After exchanging formalities with the Director, I told him about my adventure. He laughed and said, “You wouldn’t believe how many people do that.”
I’m thankful the neighbor was not lounging in his underwear.
Vol 4, No 1036 |
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Monatana’s Governor needs to grow up?
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Aug. 7th, 2008 @ 01:00 pm
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by Tom Deweese
The Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer should receive a freedom’s hero award. This one man stood up to the Homeland Security Department’s juggernaut that is determined to enslave us all with a national ID card. And he has scored a huge victory.
Governor Schweitzer wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to inform him that the state of Montana has no intention of complying with the Real ID Act or to share his state’s residents’ data with the federal government, as it requires.
To the media, the Governor then asked questions you rarely hear from an elected official these days. He asked: “Do you want our government to have the ability to track where you went, how you went, how you got there and when you got home?”
He went on to say, “it would be naïve for someone to think this information will not be abused in the future. Virtually every decade these kinds of files have been used to violate people’s privacy.”
Schweitzer then issued a challenge to other governors to do the same thing. And many are joining him. Secretary Chertoff countered by saying states which are resisting Real ID need to “grow up.” He then threatened that any state not complying would find their citizens barred from boarding airplanes and essentially shut out of society, unable to get access to government services. (Source).
Thanks to Klaus Becker
Vol 4, No 1035 |
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Readers write
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Aug. 7th, 2008 @ 07:00 am
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[The following comment was made in response to this post (Vol 4, No 993 (July 26, 2008)): “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. – Jeremiah 17:5.”]
The missing element in every human 'solution' is an accurate definition of the creature.
The way we define 'human' determines our view of self, others, relationships, institutions, life, and future. Many problems in human experience are the result of false and inaccurate definitions of humankind premised in man-made religions and humanistic philosophies.
Human knowledge is a fraction of the whole universe. The balance is a vast void of human ignorance. Human reason cannot fully function in such a void; thus, the intellect can rise no higher than the criteria by which it perceives and measures values.
Humanism makes man his own standard of measure. However, as with all measuring systems, a standard must be greater than the value measured. Based on preponderant ignorance and an egocentric carnal nature, humanism demotes reason to the simpleton task of excuse-making in behalf of the rule of appetites, desires, feelings, emotions, and glands.
Because man, hobbled in an ego-centric predicament, cannot invent criteria greater than himself, the humanist lacks a predictive capability. Without instinct or transcendent criteria, humanism cannot evaluate options with foresight and vision for progression and survival. Lacking foresight, man is blind to potential consequence and is unwittingly committed to mediocrity, collectivism, averages, and regression – and worse. Humanism is an unworthy worship.
The void of human ignorance can easily be filled with a functional faith while not-so-patiently awaiting the foot-dragging growth of human knowledge and behavior. Faith, initiated by the Creator and revealed and validated in His Word, the Bible, brings a transcendent standard to man the choice-maker. Other philosophies and religions are man-made, humanism, and thereby lack what only the Bible has:
1.Transcendent Criteria and
2.Fulfilled Prophetic Validation.
The vision of faith in God and His Word is survival equipment for today and the future. Only the Creator, who made us in His own image, is qualified to define us accurately.
Human is earth's Choicemaker. Psalm 25:12 He is by nature and nature's God a creature of Choice - and of Criteria. Psalm 119:30,173 His unique and definitive characteristic is, and of Right ought to be, the natural foundation of his environments, institutions, and respectful relations to his fellow-man. Thus, he is oriented to a Freedom whose roots are in the Order of the universe.
Vol 4, No 1034 |
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