I still like this

Delaware Senator Biden discussing needing an Indian accent to shop at 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts.

Terrorism Memo

There has been a lot of talk in the media after Bill Clinton’s interview on Fox News Sunday about a “comprehensive anti-terror strategy” his administration left for the Bush administration outlining a set of recommendations to deal with Al Qaeda and Bin Laden. The Bush administration was in possession of this memo for more than 8 months prior to 9-11 and it is former President Clinton’s assertion that the Bush administration had the memo and did not follow the recommendations laid out by Clinton.
I would be willing to bet that Clinton is 100% on the money with this assertion. I have no doubt that he and his national security advisors and others left a comprehensive plan on how to deal with Islamic terrorists, and I think we all know the Bush administration did not follow through on the recommendations left by Clinton.
But, there is one flaw in all this finger pointing. I doubt it took one day for the Clinton administration to devise a “comprehensive anti-terror strategy,” or even one week. I doubt it was even one month. How long was the Clinton administration sitting on this “strategy” and not acting on it and instead waiting to pass it along?
I think we can fault the Bush team for not following up on the recommendations, but I also think we should fault the Clinton administration for coming up with a plan but never working to implement it.

Iran

It is time for the administration to stop treating Iran like some dominant world power. Our government is making Iran a bigger and scarier enemy than it actually is, and in doing so we are making Iran more powerful. I saw on the news tonight that our government is now spending $8 billion a month in Iraq and with that kind of money going there, there is no way to do anything meaningful to limit the control and power in Iran.
I think there are few people who disagree that Iran is controlled by mullahs who limit the freedom of a country with a very young population and a population that would otherwise choose more freedom than to live under their current society. The US government doesn’t need to topple the Iranian government, the young people there will do it themselves if we let them. But making them the great enemy and in doing so every Iranian, it is a battle of us vs. them, and it will remain a standoff that has the potential to get violent. Instead, let’s look at history. Look at the European countries behind the Iron Curtain. The US government did not treat Czechoslovakia as the enemy or Hungary as the enemy; instead the people there knew the US government was against the communists who were making the people miserable. So instead of going after them we offered aid and just as importantly, Radio Free Europe that was broadcast into the Iron Curtain. We brought these people America and a sense of freedom that they thirsted for. Go to France and they have forgotten the US’s help in two world wars, but I have been to the Czech Republic and to Hungary and they still appreciate America, even if not our President.
So let me humbly offer a solution. Put a US Naval battleship in the Persian Gulf and put three giant broadcast towers on it, or build them in Kuwait, and broadcast music into Iran. But, don’t bring them the Top 40 music on the radio now, but the Beatles, the Stones, Dylan, CCR, and any number of other classic rocks groups you can find and give them something else to listen to. No, they might not like the music but they will listen because they are young and they are not supposed to. During the broadcasts they can broadcast some American propaganda as well mixed in with the music that lets the people of Iran know that America is not the Great Satan, and instead they care about the people of Iran and want them to be free from the oppressive mullah regime. A message of, “We stand with you against those who oppress you,” so they don’t only hear, “The Great Satan is against you, and only the Iranian government can protect you.”
Next, broadcast sports into Iran, especially soccer, using satellite television, and give the young people something to do other than hear about the Great Satan. And when there is no sports playing let them watch Nick at Nite. We as Americans are good, honest, decent, and generous people, and if we can deliver that message to the people of Iran, if nothing else it may cause them to challenge the Great Satan notion that they are being spoon fed. If you question authority then you realize its faults, and once you realize the faults in authority then you can change it. And even better the US can smuggle in radios and satellite TVs into Iran for the people there to watch and listen. People want freedom, but when the government takes away the opportunities for freedom they will take whatever they can get, however little it is.
I know, it is naive, and never going to happen, but why couldn’t the government try? It helped once, why not again?
Better to give an Iranian teenager a radio and a television and see if they will topple the Iranian government then to give an American teenager a gun and see if they will topple the Iranian government.

Glenn Beck

I am sorry to admit that I once listened to Glenn Beck’s radio program. I worked in an area that did not have O’Reilly and the other people in the office would only let me listen to Rush once a week.
I happened upon his show tonight as I was flipping through channels and stopped on his show on CNN Headline News. I am not sure what the story was or who he was talking to when he made the admission of something like, I was an alcoholic and addicted to drugs and used cocaine.
Why is it that so many conservative commentators get divorced and do drugs? I am no perfect conservative myself, but the whole do as I say, don’t do as I do thing is a bit hypocritical. And why are all “conservative leaders” with the exceptions of Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter all old white mostly bald guys?
I mean I like Pat Buchanan and Bill O’Reilly, they are both conservative Irishmen, but can’t they find someone under the age of 50? If anyone saw Buchanan on The Daily Show this week, you saw someone who is passionate about a subject, illegal immigration, but his message was lost because he just can not relate to the under 30 crowd. And when he made a good point about being concerned about coyotes along the border, and smuggling illegals across, you could tell Stewart thought he meant the animal and not the person. Stewart laughed because he thought the comment was ridiculous and then Buchanan laughed because he thought Stewart found him funny.
Conservative commentators really are an old boys club, but they better start letting in some new members or their club is going to close for lack of membership.

Crazy Christians

Is it just me or does this remind anyone of the Crusades when Europe sent an army of Children to retake Jerusalem?
Yeah, it didn’t end so well that time either.

Thanks you Mykiss for bringing this little gem to my attention.

Help

Can someone please explain to me how the hell you make a Youtube video post? I have made one, and I can’t seem to do it again.
Do you upload a photo with the URL, and if so which tag from YouTube do you use, or do you use the html option?
I know some of you use YouTube videos so I know someone must know how to do it.

Are you an environmentalist? Then you too should be against illegal immigration

The environmental load of 300 million: How heavy?

From The Christian Science Monitor : September 26 , 2006.

…In many ways, Americans have mitigated the impact of their increasing presence on the land. Since reaching the 200 million mark back in 1967, they have cut emissions of major air pollutants, banned certain harmful pesticides, and overseen the rebound of several endangered species. Despite using more resources and creating more waste, they've become more energy efficient.

The danger, experts say, is that the US may simply have postponed the day of reckoning. Major environmental problems remain, and some are getting worse - all of them in one way or another connected to US population growth, which is expected to hit 400 million around mid-century. Some experts put the average American's "ecological footprint" - the amount of land and water needed to support an individual and absorb his or her waste - at 24 acres. By that calculation, the long-term "carrying capacity" of the US would sustain less than half of the nation's current population.

"The US is the only industrialized nation in the world experiencing significant population growth," says Vicky Markham, of the Center for Environment and Population, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization in New Canaan, Conn. "That, combined with America's high rates of resource consumption, results in the largest ... environmental impact [of any nation] in the world."

The boomer challenge

The changing nature of the population also has environmental consequences.

"Today's baby boomers - 26 percent of the population - are the largest, wealthiest, highest resource-consuming of that age group ever in the nation's history, and they have unprecedented environmental impact," says Ms. Markham.

The generation's preference for bigger houses and bigger cars - and the proliferation of them - are gobbling up more resources and creating more pollution, according to a recent study by the Center for Environment and Population. For example:

Land is being converted for development at about twice the rate of population growth. When housing, shopping, schools, roads, and other uses are added up, each American effectively occupies 20 percent more developed land than he or she did 20 years ago.

Nearly 3,000 acres of farmland are converted to nonagricultural uses daily.

Each American produces about five pounds of trash daily, up from less than three pounds in 1960.

While the US is noted for its wide open spaces, more than half of all Americans live within 50 miles of the coasts where population density and its environmental impact are increasing….

It's no coincidence, for example, that the modern environmental movement began about the same time that US population ticked past the 200 million mark 39 years ago.

Stanford University professor Paul Ehrlich's controversial book "The Population Bomb" had predicted that humanity's numbers around the globe would overwhelm natural resources, especially food production, in a Malthusian catastrophe…

What this article says is that by the time the Baby Boomer generation came around this country had reached a population of 200 million. So, after the the two large waves of European immigration of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and then the largest growth rate period in America by the Greatest Generation of their Baby Boomer children, this country had 200 million people. But, the baby boomers had a growth rate of just over a 2 children per household which is enough to sustain the population with a small growth. However, this growth rate of 100 million people in 30 years is not caused by an aging population or large numbers of Generation X and Y children. Instead, this growth rate is caused by the US allowing more than 1 million new immigrants to come to this country each year to become citizens. That is 1 million legal immigrants who become citizens. The US allows more legal immigration than every other country in the world combined. By comparison, Mexico allows 3,000 immigrants to become citizens each year.
The Statue of Liberty had stood these past 30 years and we have taken the world’s tired and poor, and those yearning to be free. But with projections that the US population will increase by another 100 million over the next 50 years, it is time to say, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
We as Americans use too much, we waste too much, and we have reached the point where we will go from a net-exporting food country to a net-importing food country to sustain the population.
So for those of you who are still against immigration enforcement, here is some more information to think about.

Senator Barack Obama

Can someone explain to me this fascination with Barack Obama. I saw his speech two years ago at the Democratic National Convention before he was elected for Senator, and I understand he is a great public speaker. But, why is anyone seriously talking about him running for President in two years before he even serves one full term as a Senator? I know he is a graduate of Harvard Law, and don’t get me wrong, I would like to see another Irish Senator become President. But, shouldn’t someone have more political experience on a national level than four years as a Senator?

Duke stripper sentenced to house arrest

Roberts violated probation, is prosecution witness in rape investigation

The Associated Press, Sept 25, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. - A stripper who performed at a Duke lacrosse team party where another dancer said she was raped was sentenced to four months of house arrest Monday for an unrelated probation violation.
Kim Roberts was arrested nine days after the March 13 party, and charged with violating the terms of a probation agreement stemming from her 2001 conviction for embezzling $25,000 from a photo finishing company where she worked as a payroll specialist.
Roberts was with a woman, a student at nearby North Carolina Central, who told police she was raped in a bathroom by three men at the off-campus party.
According to arguments filed by defense attorneys, Roberts said during her initial interview with police that the rape allegations were a “crock” and that she was with the accuser the entire time they were at the party. In an April interview with The Associated Press, Roberts said she was not in the bathroom and therefore could not say for certain the accuser was not raped.
A grand jury indicted three lacrosse players…(I am not going to include their names even if they were in the AP Story)… on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. Defense attorneys have strongly proclaimed their innocence. They have not been arraigned.
Mark Simeon, Roberts’ attorney, said his client will begin the house arrest on Oct. 9 and will be allowed to leave her home to work. The period of house arrest will be cut to two months if she catches up on her back restitution payments. Her probation will run through December 2009.

So what happened with the Duke lacrosse rape story? The media went out of their way to destroy the lives of three kids by accusing them of rape, and printed their names, photos and family histories all while protecting the identity of the accuser. There were marches, protests, boycotts, a coach was forced to resign, an entire team had to forfeit their season, and the three who were accused all had to leave school. Now months and months later, nothing.
I said from the beginning that these three were innocent and that the stripper was lying. They had credibility on their side while the two strippers did not and it was obvious the strippers were out to make a buck by destroying the lives of these “three rich white kids.” Well the strippers accomplished their second goal. I think the media owes these three kids an apology, and right behind them should be everyone else who almost seemed to want to them to be guilty. Those who acted as judge, jury, and executioner for these three boys in the face of overwhelming evidence that they were innocent should be ashamed.

Mexican Leader Knocks U.S. Crime Rates

Associated Press, Sat Sep 23, 2006

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Mexican President Vicente Fox said Friday that violence was a problem on both sides of the border and that U.S. officials need to work on their own rising crime rates.
U.S. officials have criticized the high murder and kidnapping rates in Mexican border cities and the danger they pose to Americans. The U.S. ambassador recently advised U.S. citizens to exercise extreme caution when traveling in Mexico.
"There is work to be done on both sides. As we've always said, it's a shared responsibility," Fox said while traveling in Puerto Penasco, a tourist destination in the northern state border of Sonora that's referred to in Arizona as Rocky Point.
"I saw that crime rates in the United States increased 3.5 percent so far this year. So they have their own problems," Fox said. "And with numbers of homicides, it's better we don't speak about them, because, even though they show up on the front pages every day, there are many fewer here than there."
On Thursday, high-level Mexican and U.S. officials agreed to redouble efforts to crack down on drug-related violence and kidnappings plaguing the border. They met in Laredo, Texas, across the Rio Grande from the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo.
Scores of U.S. citizens have been abducted in Nuevo Laredo in recent years and more than two dozen cases remain unresolved.

Uh yes Vicente, there is a crime problem here in the US, but we are talking about US citizens who get kidnapped and killed in your country, not the Mexican citizens who break the law by illegally coming to the US and then committing crimes here that have led to the 3.5% increase in crime in the US.
A report I saw on TV the other night said that 1 in every 12 illegal immigrants has some sort of criminal record, and with a MINIMUM of 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, that means our government has allowed 1 Million criminals to come to this country who are now walking our streets, living in our communities and committing violent crimes against us.
I simply can not understand how anyone, and I mean anyone, can be so ignorant and out of touch to not be against illegal immigration.

Swiss Asylum, Immigration Laws Ratified

Poster reads: Stop Misusage. Asylum and foreigner law 2 x yes


Associated Press, September 24, 2006

GENEVA - Swiss voters ratified new asylum and immigration laws Sunday making it more difficult for refugees to receive assistance and effectively blocking non-European unskilled workers from entering the country.
More than 67 percent voted in favor of the stricter rules on asylum, originally approved by the Swiss government in December. The proposal was overwhelmingly accepted in all of Switzerland's 26 cantons, according to results released by the federal government.
The government says the law is designed to prevent abuses in the system caused by non-refugees finding ways to stay indefinitely in Switzerland. It makes it easier to send home people whose asylum requests have been rejected, which the government says will allow it to devote more resources to real refugees.
Those refusing to leave despite a rejected application can now be denied social welfare. Adults deemed to be only posing as refugees can be imprisoned for up to two years, and children can be kept in state custody for one year even if they are never charged with a crime…
There were 10,061 asylum applications in Switzerland last year, a 30 percent drop from 2004, according to the U.N. refugee agency. People from Serbia, Turkey, Iraq and Russia were the most frequent to seek refugee status in the country.
Numbers have continued to fall this year, though Switzerland still remains one of the world's top destinations for asylum seekers in proportion to its population of 7.4 million people.
More than 20 percent of all people living in Switzerland are foreign nationals, one of the highest rates in the world. More than half of all foreigners come from non-European countries…
Sixty-eight percent of voters also approved new immigration rules that effectively cut off legal immigration routes for unskilled workers coming from non-European countries. Supporters of the law say it will alleviate unemployment, which has risen to an estimated 5.5 percent…

I thought it was going to be the Germans who would take the first step in preventing a Muslim takeover of Europe, but it seems the neutral Swiss made the fist step. For the sake or Europe, I hope it will only be the first of many steps to come.

Osama

So is Osama really dead from typhoid? Or have the French issued this false report just to give us another reason to dislike them?
I mean we have been talking about North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and Venezuela, did the French get upset that we have not been talking about them, and just want to give Congress another reason to name fried potatoes Freedom Fries again?

Can you be Jewish and a racist?

The big news story in the Virginia Senate Race, is that incumbent Senator George Allen is Jewish. Last month the Jewish newspaper the Forward outed Allen for having a Jewish mother, only Allen didn’t know there was reason to be outed because he didn’t know he was even in. When he asked his 83-year-old mother if she was Jewish she admitted that she was, but made him promise not to tell anyone. Why did Senator Allen’s mother make him promise not to tell? Well as it turns out, “Allen’s maternal grandfather, Felix Lumbroso, was imprisoned by the Nazis when the Germans took over Tunis during World War II, and his mom, Henrietta “Etty” Allen, has said she was always fearful that her children might go through what she experienced” (Washington Post, September 22, 2006, C7).
To add to this story is the fact that although Allen’s mother who was raised in French-speaking Tunisia and converted to the Anglican faith, “Orthodox rabbis will tell you that Jewish identity is passed through the mother…(so) Allen could move to Israel and become a citizen” (Washington Post, September 22, 2006, C7).

So with all the questions surrounding Allen about his macaca comment, his Confederate flag lapel pin in college, and a noose once displayed in his office, I have to ask, Can a kid from California, with a Jewish/African-American mother whose grandfather was put in a concentration camp be a racist?

Hugo Chavez

So Hugo comes to New York to speak in front of the UN, and because The US/Iran/Iraq were getting all the headlines, he proceeds to bless himself at the podium, describe how the podium smells like sulfur still, and refers to President Bush as the devil. This is a world leader, and although he is a world leader of a relatively insignificant country in terms of world prestige, Venezuela’s oil makes him a grander figure than he should otherwise be. He is like Kim in North Korea but with taller and with better fashion sense – you all remember his red sweatshirt he wore for almost a month straight.

Now, I don’t care that much about Chavez. I don’t think you should rattle your sword when all you have is a butter knife, but that was not what caught my eye on this story. Instead, I thought about how Chavez referred to Bush as the Devil, and how Democrats who don’t agree with President Bush on almost anything, were the first to come to his defense. It seems that when it is an outsider who makes an ignorant and ridiculous comment about Bush, then they disagree. But, how many liberals, or liberal bloggers have called Bush the devil, or a baby killer, a Nazi, or Satan? It is just as stupid and ignorant when someone in this country says it as when some third world leader, of a country most High School students couldn’t find on a map if you spotted them South America, says it.

So

As it turns out, Major League Baseball might either be in the playoffs right now or at least close, and I saw some hockey highlights on SportsCenter which means that I guess the hockey season has started too. As you may have guessed, I am not a fan of either sport. I think it is safe to say that football is now America’s sport in terms of television viewers, values of franchises, and fan passion.
If I ask someone here in DC if they know the Nationals score from their last game, most likely 99% will not, and probably about 98% wouldn’t even be able to name a player; I have attended a Nationals game and I could not even name you a player. I can do better with the DC United players and I have never even watched any of their games. And as for hockey, did they even play last season, or was that the season before that? I can’t remember, and most people don’t care.
But, if I ask someone the score from the Skins-Cowboys game the other night not only can most people give me the score, but most of them would be able to tell me what the Skins needed to do to win, why they lost, and how the coaches worked on those mistakes this week in practice.
Thank goodness for the NFL and college football, because March Madness is months away.

The Good and the Bad

I was a little happy but mostly disappointed in an article in today’s Washington Post Metro section. The article was about a priest from Colombia who back in the early 1990s “began demonstrating at the Capitol and asking politicians to pardon illegal immigrants,” even though he did not become a citizen himself until 1995 (Washington Post, September 20, 2006, B6).
What made me happy about the article, was that even though the rally September 7th in DC was originally expected to me a protest of nearly one million who support illegal immigration, according to the article, “fewer than 4,000 people turned out…(and) demonstrations in Los Angeles and other cities produced even smaller crowds” (Washington Post, September 20, 2006, B6).
What disappointed me was that the priest, Father Jose Hoyos, was appointed, last summer, to direct the Spanish Apostolate for the Arlington Diocese. He has now become a spokesperson and advocate for amnesty. Father Hoyos counts as a success the “temporary protected status for Salvadorians – a program that gives some immigrants from disaster- or war-torn countries renewable one-year U.S. work and residency permit, which he lobbied for” (Washington Post, September 20, 2006, B6). But, more than 10,000 “immigrants” from El Salvador who trained in paramilitary activities during the Salvadorian civil war, are members of the violent gang MS-13 and now living here in the US.
The article even goes on to say that it is Father Hoyos’s “dream of seeing North, South, and Central America united into ‘one America’” (Washington Post, September 20, 2006, B6).
I, of course, am not someone who believes there is a great evil in mixing politics and religion, but I am against priests or any religious figures being advocates for illegal activities.

Bad Spinach

The Washington Post reports that the Food and Drug Administration and the state of California “searched nine California farms for evidence of spinach-borne E. coli…as the number of confirmed illnesses rose by 17 to 131” (Washington Post, September 20, 2006, D1). Of the “131 cases, 66 people have been hospitalized, 20 have experienced kidney failure, and one person has died” (Washington Post, September 20, 2006, D3). The search will cover more than 10,000 acres.

Now, I don’t think this is some sort of biological warfare by the Taliban, but I think it does call into question who is handling our food supply. I think we can all agree that those picking the spinach are doing “jobs Americans won’t do,” especially since they are searching in California. The article made no mention illegal workers, but we don’t know who is handling our foods but maybe it is time we began to find out.

Liberals, Hillary Clinton, and Teddy Kennedy

No, this is not the punch line to the joke, “Who will you meet in hell?” But it is a list of people I disagree with on many issues. But there is one thing that we all have in common, and that is we want the best for America and for Americans.
I think the problem is that when we discuss our political differences, we start with those differences, instead of our similarities. And the same is true for all conservatives, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, etc. We all just have a different vision of what is best for America and for Americans. But, the ultimate goal is the same for all us, a better, stronger America where no child goes hungry, where we all have an opportunity to achieve and succeed, and where we can all go about our day safe and secure knowing those in charge are doing everything they can to keep us safe and make our lives easier.
So when we discuss our different opinions, let’s make sure we all remember that though our opinions are different, our hopes are the same.
So if you can not explain your vision without attacking the other person’s vision, then stop and think about why, and ask yourself if maybe they have a point. In many respects I am lucky with this blog, because we all have disagreements, but it never gets nasty and you all keep coming back even if you disagree with me or others, because we all want what is best for America, but we are all trying to decide as a group what that is.

Take Action

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., (R-TN) has announced that the Senate will likely vote on H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act THIS WEEK. Debate is expected to begin Wednesday (September 20) with a vote likely Thursday (September 21).
Earlier this week Leader Frist said, "Border security is the essential first step of any effort to enact immigration reform."

BACKGROUND:
H.R. 6061 was introduced September 13 by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY). The House of Representatives passed the Secure Fence Act September 14 by a vote of 283-138-1.
The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to:
Construct 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, right now there are only 70 miles of fencing along the border;
Provide for the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in five specified lengths (encompassing approximately 700 miles) along the United States’ southwestern border;
Require DHS to study the necessity, feasibility, and economic impact of constructing a similar barrier along the U.S.-Canada border;
Enhance border infrastructure, including checkpoints, roads, and vehicle barriers; and
Direct DHS to achieve and maintain “operational control” of our borders within 18 months of enactment and require reports on the progress toward this goal;

If you want to be a part of convincing your Senator to vote for this bill, you can either call or email them, or you can still check out the website www.Numbersusa.com
where you can find out more about illegal immigration including how much or how little your representatives are doing in the House and Senate, and you can find out all the contact information for your Representative and Senators. Also, should you join their organization, which is free, you have the opportunity to send your Representative and Senators free faxes to express your opinion even if you do not have a fax machine.

This is as close as we have come to our government doing anything real against illegal immigration, so if you care about this issue, you have today and tomorrow to do something.

A question posed

Recently Betmo asked me my opinion on “detaining people indefinitely without charge? Muslim or not.”

I think the question is whether or not I support detaining suspected terrorists without some form of trial. I will say my original stance on this issue was, “Let them rot.” If we don’t detain them and let them go back to their home countries they will most likely try again.
But my opinion has changed somewhat. I do not think they should have a trial by jury because they are not American citizens and I am unaware of how you could assemble a “jury of their peers.” I also do not think the terrorists are subject to the Geneva Convention because they are not captured soldiers. Soldiers wear uniforms and fight in battles, they do not pass themselves off as part of the populace and attack actual soldiers with terror methods. However, I am also against some sort of secret trial where we do not know the results, what these people did, and what the outcome of their trial was. My opinion changed after reading an op-ed piece in Newsweek. I think they should be brought up on trial, but in a separately created system where decisions are made by a judge only and not by jury or tribunal. We should show the world that in this country the rule of Law still stands and that people are not convicted or detained without a trial. Those found guilty of terrorism should be executed and those found not-guilty should be released back to the government of their home country.
I am not a lawyer and I have not studied law, so I am unsure of what, if any, legal ramifications or procedures would be necessary to accomplish this. But those found guilty of terrorists acts should be executed and the non-guilty should be returned.

The more we learn the scarier it gets

Iranian Leader Urges More Papal Protests

Associated Press, September 18, 2006.

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Iraq warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that its war against Christianity and the West will go on until Islam takes over the world, and Iran's supreme leader called for more protests over the pontiff's remarks on Islam.
Protests broke out in South Asia and Indonesia, with angry Muslims saying Benedict's statement of regret a day earlier did not go far enough. In southern Iraq, demonstrators carrying black flags burned an effigy of the pope…
Al-Qaida in Iraq and its allies said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross," saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose the 'jizya' tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (being killed by) the sword."
Islam forbids drinking alcohol and requires non-Muslims to pay the "jizya" tax, though those who convert are exempt. The tax, sometimes called a head tax, has not been imposed in Muslim nations in about 100 years, though Islamic militant groups have tried to force non-Muslims to pay it on a local level in some countries.
"You infidels and despots, we will continue our jihad (holy war) and never stop until God avails us to chop your necks and raise the fluttering banner of monotheism, when God's rule is established governing all people and nations," said the statement by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups in Iraq.
Another Iraqi extremist group, Ansar al-Sunna, challenged "sleeping Muslims" to prove their manhood by doing something other than "issuing statements or holding demonstrations."
"If the stupid pig is prancing with his blasphemies in his house," the group said in a Web statement, referring to the pope, "then let him wait for the day coming soon when the armies of the religion of right knock on the walls of Rome."…

Not that it is a violent religion mind you. They just want to break the symbol of Christianity, the cross, and then either force us to convert or pay a tax for not following their religion. But, I guess the tax isn’t really going to be an option either because they want to “chop our necks.”

Now they are going after my Pope

Last week in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about Islam and quoted a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "by the sword" (AP, September 17, 2006).

So what was the response from the Islamic world? Seven Christian Churches were firebombed in the West Bank, in Somalia an Italian nun was shot 4 times in the back and killed which was just hours after a Somali cleric condemned the remarks by Pope Benedict, in Pakistan angry Islamic protestors burned an effigy of the Pope, and police were ordered to step up security around Italy to protect Roman Catholic sites from possible terrorist attacks.

The absolutely ridiculous thing is that the media is calling on the Pope to do more than retract his comment, which he has done, but to apologize for his comments to prevent further violence by Muslims. Doesn’t the reaction to his comments prove his original point?

Question

About a year ago, before the House bill on illegal immigration, the pro-illegal immigration marches, the Senate bill to grant amnesty, and the macaca quote, I was feeling pretty good about the Presidential Election in ’08, and I was still a big supporter of President Bush.
When Bush did not stand up for America and come out against illegal immigration and instead supported amnesty and when McCain voted for the Senate amnesty bill, suddenly I was left without a choice for President in ’08 (I thought Allen would be the VP choice). Now I am left with no one unless Rudy runs. But I also deep down question if someone who has only been a mayor of a city, even if that city is New York, can run the most powerful country ever.
Is there anyone hoping for someone to be President in 2008? And by this I mean someone with a realistic chance of winning. I still will not have hit the age requirement of 35, so you will have to wait a few more years for me to be eligible, but is there anyone else?

Guess who is winning?

This all came from www.NumbersUSA.com

On Thursday, September 14th, the House of Representatives passed H.R.6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006 by a vote of 283-138. The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to:

- Construct 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border;
- Provide for the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in five specified lengths (encompassing approximately 700 miles) along the United States’ southwestern border;
- Require DHS to study the feasibility of constructing a similar barrier along the U.S.-Canada border;
- Enhance border infrastructure, including checkpoints, roads, and vehicle barriers; and
-Direct DHS to achieve and maintain “operational control” of our borders within 18 months of enactment and require reports on the progress toward this goal;

BACKGROUND:

H.R. 6061 was introduced just this week (as a result of the special hearings) by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY).

As a reminder, the House voted in favor of a border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border in December, 2005 as part of H.R. 4437. However, H.R. 6061, the stand-alone fence bill, passed by a bigger margin than the amendment on the fence did last December. The Senate also included a fence provision in its immigration bill passed earlier this year, S. 2061, however the Senate bill only provides for 370 miles of fencing.

VOTING YES
GOP----219
DEM-----64
Total----283

VOTING NO
GOP------6
DEM----131
IND------1
Total----138

Quote

“Our educational system has been affected by 150 years of secular thought and has raised thousands of people who hold PhDs. Changing this system is not easy, and we have to do it together.” (Time, September 18, 2006)

We don’t need to raise taxes after all

We just need to collect them.
Time Magazine reports that in 2001 there was an estimated $345 billion worth of unpaid federal taxes (Time, September 18, 2006). It also says that 2001 was the last year for which this data is available, so who knows how much in unpaid taxes the federal government was unable to collect in 2005.
Who are these idiots in control of the IRS?

Do you want the terrorists to win?

I love this

Your 'Do You Want the Terrorists to Win' Score: 28%

Fairly well done, fellow patriotic citizen. You have taken a decisive stand behind our dear leader and against the terrorists. However you do not march completely in lockstep conformity, and that is troubling. Steel your commitment to the defeat of evil! Bow in unquestioning loyalty to George Bush! Afterall you don't want to be a liberal, do you?

Do You Want the Terrorists to Win?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

It is of course pretty idiotic but still funny.

September 11th

Monday was the fifth anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001. I made no posts, no comments, and said nothing. I didn’t believe the day or the anniversary was a time to discuss politics or issues. Monday was simply a day to remember, remember where we were and remember those we lost on that day five years ago. I don’t want to remember the day as a tragedy, instead I want to remember it as a day that we all as Americans came together to help one another.
May God bless you and may God bless America.

I thought we don’t like Brown People?

An article the other day in the Washington Post about illegal immigration discussed exactly what many people who are against illegal immigration have been saying for awhile now, only this time it was pro-illegal immigration organizations that provided the proof.
Organizers of last week’s pro-illegal immigration rally on The Mall in DC “initially predicted a turnout of 1 million, but they now are projecting a crown similar to the one at a rally on the National Mall on April 10. A police official estimated that the demonstration drew at least 100,000; organizers pegged attendance about 500,000” (Washington Post, Thursday, September 7, 2006, B9). And although the story received a lot of press as a build up to the rally, when the protest only drew a few thousand, the story was forgotten.
But what was interesting about the article was that organizers from such groups as Mexicans Without Borders, “printed fliers in Arabic, Swahili, Korean, Amharic, French, and Chinese” (Washington Post, Thursday, September 7, 2006, B9). The fliers which were also printed in “African and Asian…local ethnic media” emphasized “that the effect of immigration reform would stretch beyond Latinos, by potentially cracking down on the 200,000 estimated illegal Korean immigrants” (Washington Post, Thursday, September 7, 2006, B9).

And that right there supports the argument that many who are against illegal immigration have been saying for awhile now. Being against illegal immigration does not mean being against Mexicans or Hispanics, instead it means being against those who knowingly broke our laws by coming to this country illegally and staying here illegally. If Mexicans get emphasized more than other groups it is because of the 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants in this country, more than 60% of them are from Mexico while there are only an estimated 200,000 Korean illegal immigrants. If my house is flooding, I am more worried about the giant whole in my roof than a leaky faucet.

But at least local governments are trying to do something about the whole in my roof. “The National Conference of State Legislators counted 550 new pieces of legislation concerning immigrants in state legislatures this year, covering topics such as employment, public benefits, education and law enforcement. Seventy-nine bills have been enacted, mostly after the massive pro-immigrant marches in March, April, and May.” (Washington Post, Thursday, September 7, 2006, B9).

But this is not an issue about “Brown People” or even Mexicans, this is an issue about what is right and wrong, and whether our country will enforce our laws.

More from white people

A study by University of Minnesota sociologists shows that 77% of whites say their race has a distinct culture that should be preserved (Time, September 11, 2006).
Who are these 23% of white people who do not think their culture should be preserved? I am going to make a guess here and say that most of the people who read this blog are white, so I wanted to know if any of you fit into the 23% category? And believe me if you make a response of something along the lines of, “there is nothing about white culture worth preserving,” then you better be prepared to explain.

Immigration rallies

If you didn’t hear that was a huge pro-illegal immigrant rally yesterday in DC. Organizers hoped for hundreds of thousands to protest similar to the protests earlier this year. The only problem was that only a few thousand showed even though pro-illegal immigration supporters were bused in from up and down the east coast. Even with the help of Teddy “Ask not what you can do for your country, but demand what the country you have illegally entered will do for you” Kennedy was there.
The pro-illegal immigration movement is losing steam, and although those against illegal immigration can rarely produce a protest of more than a few hundred, the talk in Washington is that many of the House’s resolutions to combat illegal immigration will be tacked on to other appropriations bills. Sorry Teddy, but it looks like those who respect the laws just might win in the end.

Death Tax

I am 100% against the Death Tax. When my grandmother dies and leaves what ever she has saved over the years to her 3 children, 2 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren, the government should not be allowed to take a single penny of it. Most likely this will mean maybe $2000 or less per person. But, she has saved for years to put that money aside to leave it to her family and in doing so has purposely not spent the money on leisure activities that she could be enjoying right now.
But,
I am 100% FOR the Estate Tax. Billionaires who have made their money off the backs of the working people, and have paid high prices accountants to find every loophole in the tax laws possible to prevent these fat cats from keeping money from the government should not be allowed to pass along all this accumulated wealth without having to give back to the government and the poor.
But it looks like no one is listening.

From Time:
The House in June passed a steep reduction of the estate tax (so as to apply only to couples leaving more than $10 million to their heirs) that would cost the Treasury three quarters of a trillion dollars over the next decade…Senate Republicans tried to push it through by linking the bill to an increase in the minimum wage, which has not been raised in nine years (Time, September 4, 2006).

Now of course the estate tax and the death tax are the same thing. But how can Republicans consciously try to pass a bill that would reduce the estate tax only on those who leave more than 10 million dollars to their heirs? If anything these are the people who should pay more. Anyone who leaves more than a million should be taxed with an Estate Tax, while those who leave less than 1 million would be covered under a Death Tax and be able to leave any money tax free. Now, I am sure there are still ways to get around such an Estate Tax by say giving your money to your family members before you die, but if my Shawshank Redemption is right, you can only make a 1 time gift of up to $50,000 to your spouse tax free. So even here, unless the laws have been changed, the government would get the money owed to them. But, I doubt this will be proposed either.

I hate to say it, but thank goodness the Democrats stopped this from happening. I have always said I am a conservative not a Republican, which often leaves me not wanting for either party, and this is just another example. We have Pro-Choice and pro-gay marriage Republicans, but you show me an old-school, God-fearing, Southern Democrat who will stand up against terrorists, and I will show you someone I would vote for every time.

And the Truth shall…

Materazzi Insulted Zidane's Sister

By Associated Press, Tue Sep 5, 2006

ROME - Italy's Marco Materazzi said he insulted Zinedine Zidane's sister, revealing nearly two months after the World Cup final what provoked the French star to head-butt him in the chest.
In Tuesday's interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport, Materazzi disclosed that after he held his opponent's shirt, Zidane said: "If you want, I'll give you the jersey later."
"I responded that I preferred his sister, it's true," Materazzi said. "It wasn't something nice, true. But luckily there have been dozens of players who have confirmed that a lot worse things are said on the field."
Zidane was sent off after receiving a red card for the head-butt. Italy went on to win on penalty kicks.
Materazzi received a two-game ban for the July 9 incident and will miss Wednesday's rematch of the final, a 2008 European Championship qualifier. Zidane received a three-match suspension, but he retired after the World Cup…
Asked if the two could make peace, Materazzi said: "You sign a peace (agreement) after terrible wars, so why can't Zidane and I make peace?
"A peace among men, without a lot of publicity. The door to my house will always be open for that. And if Zidane wants, he knows where to find my address."…

Miller; Always a Bad Call!

Why this immigrant rights march is brought to you by Miller

Chicago Tribune, September 1, 2006

Marchers had to duck into fast-food restaurants for water when they first took to Chicago's streets in support of illegal immigrants five months ago. At the next two marches, family-owned grocery stores offered free bottled water from trucks emblazoned with their names.
This time, as demonstrators march from Chinatown to House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) Batavia office this weekend, they will have Miller Brewing Co., as a sponsor. The brewer has paid more than $30,000 for a planning convention, materials and newspaper ads publicizing the event.
The support of a major corporation for a controversial political cause shows how fierce the competition has become to woo the growing market of Latino consumers.
For Miller, the march offered a special chance to catch up. This spring the brewer drew the ire of pro-immigrant forces over contributions to U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who sponsored legislation that would crack down on illegal immigrants. That prompted a short-lived boycott by some Latino groups.
Now, march advertisements feature not just the organizing committee's trademark blue globe but Miller's logo and a Spanish translation of its "Live Responsibly" slogan, a company effort to build goodwill among Latinos.
But this march is no Cinco de Mayo parade. The politically charged event will promote a controversial plan to end deportations and offer legal status for all 11 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants. That creates potential pitfalls for any businesses lending support, experts say.
At the same time business sponsorships have forced activists to confront whispers that they are commercializing their movement when they accept much-needed donations.
"We would love to have 20 corporate logos. It doesn't mean we are selling the movement out," said Jorge Mujica, a member of the March 10 Committee. "The principles and demands remain the same. They are helping out this movement and we are happy with that."
Labor unions remain the movement's backbone with four major unions bringing at least 600 marchers on buses from throughout Chicago. Religious groups have been key too. Some marchers will bed down in churches and a mosque.
But businesses have become vital to this weekend's Immigrant Workers Justice Walk, which will cover 45 miles to Hastert's district office. Hundreds of marchers plan to cover the entire span from Friday through Monday, and organizers need food and water for them.
Sometimes political and commercial messages are mingled…
But the presence of Miller at a welcoming reception the day before the Aug. 12-13 planning convention raised eyebrows.
The convention brought together labor unions, anti-war groups, immigrant service organizations and even socialist political candidates.
Hours before bashing NAFTA and U.S. foreign policy, participants at the Aug. 11 reception mingled with the Miller Girls, the company's public relations ambassadors, amid a display of Miller logos.
That Miller was involved in the first place is one measure of the growing power of immigrants. After the boycott announcement, the company approached march organizers to try to find common ground, and agreed to back the march organizers' efforts.
Miller is also bankrolling informational ads in Voces Migrantes, or Migrant Voices, a community newspaper in Chicago, and has promised scholarships for area Latinos.
Mathew Romero, the company's local market development manager, said Miller felt it was important to speak out against Sensenbrenner's legislation, though his campaign was one of many the company supported.
Romero noted that company founder Frederick Miller was a German immigrant and many current executives are foreign nationals. Miller is now part of London-based SABMiller…
March organizers say they have not made any full-fledged sales pitches to major corporations and are having internal discussions about whether they should make a real push. That can be a tough decision, according to march organizer Gabe Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said he represents those in the movement--maybe half the total, he thinks -- who don't even consider themselves capitalists. Many have been involved with labor campaigns targeting specific companies.
March organizers shot down a suggestion that they approach Coca-Cola, for example, because of what they perceive as the company's labor abuses in the developing world, a cause celebre among liberal activists…

Don’t like Miller Decision? Then you make the call and complain, and here’s how:

Milwaukee: 414.931.2000 Miller corporate headquarters) [takes you to a recording; callers should press “0” to talk to operator>
Eden, NC: 336.627.2100 (Miller regional brewery)
Trenton, OH: 513.896.9200 (regional brewery) [get recorded list of departments {e.g., plant mgr., brewing, etc.}
Albany, GA: 229.420.5000 (regional brewery) [takes you to a recording; callers should press “0” to talk to operator>
Ft. Worth, TX: 817.551.3300 (regional brewery) [press “1” to get list of departments>
Irwindale, CA: 626.969.6811 (regional brewery) [get recorded list of departments>

Worth it?

NATO: 200 Taliban Killed in Offensive

Associated Press, September 3, 2006

PASHMUL, Afghanistan - Warplanes and artillery pounded Taliban fighters hiding in orchards Sunday during a big Afghan-NATO offensive that the alliance said killed more than 200 militants in its first two days. Four Canadian soldiers also were killed.
If the estimate is confirmed, the battle would be one of the deadliest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime five years ago. Reporters could not reach all the combat zone because officials barred traffic from all but one road in this part of southern Kandahar province.
An Associated Press reporter who traveled to Pashmul saw warplanes drop five bombs within about 20 minutes on orchards where militants were believed hiding. The reporter was about 300 yards away.
Explosions echoed across grape and pomegranate fields and clouds of dust rose amid the greenery and dried-mud houses of the Panjwayi district, which is about 12 miles from Kandahar city.
Operation Medusa was launched Saturday to flush out Taliban fighters from Panjwayi and neighboring Zhari district. NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy said alliance and Afghan troops had gained ground and disrupted the militants' command system so guerrillas were moving in confusion.
Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said Taliban casualties were high, but could not confirm the NATO report of more than 200 dead.
A NATO statement said its figure was derived from "surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, as well as information reported by various Afghan officials and citizens living nearby."
About 80 other suspected Taliban were arrested by Afghan police and a further 180 fled the area, it said.
The alliance said it had no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy weight of fire being used. But a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Gen. Zahir Azimi, said earlier that an undetermined number of civilians were killed…
Ikram Ullah, an Afghan soldier at the roadblock, said he had heard that 60 or 70 Taliban had been killed by warplanes and helicopter gunships since Saturday morning.
He said most of the families in the area fled after they were told to evacuate _ although some civilians were nearby. A few children watched the bombing from the road.
"Only the Taliban are in the village," Ullah said, pointing toward the orchards, where clusters of homes were scattered among trees and vines.

I would assume that most of us agree that the Taliban are evil and need to be eradicated. If this is the means to do so while allowing the smallest chance of coalition causalities, is it worth it? Are the lives of 4 Canadian soldiers worth it to eliminate 60 to 200 Taliban? If not, do you have any other options?

Bye-Bye Baldy

From the Associated Press, Wed Aug 30, 12:20 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - In a finding that could help treat an inherited form of baldness, a research team in Manchester claims to have discovered a protein "code" that instructs cells to sprout hair.
By sending the code to more cells than usual, the scientists at the University of Manchester say they were able to breed mice with more fur -- a feat that could potentially be replicated in humans.
"During human development, skin cells have the ability to turn into other types of cells to form hair follicles, sweat glands, teeth and nails," explained Denis Headon, who led the research.
"Which cells are transformed into hair follicles is determined by three proteins that are produced by our genes," he said.
"Our research has identified how one of these proteins working outside of the cell interacts at a molecular level to determine an individual's hair pattern as the embryonic skin spatially organises itself."
The research was targeted at helping people with ectodermal dysplasia, an inherited condition that is characterised by the abnormal development of hair, skin, nails, teeth and sweat glands.

Thank You

I wanted to thank you all who participated in my previous post which I considered a small social experiment. Knowing full well that most of the posts that I was going to receive were not going to be from conservatives but still knowing who reads this little site, I wanted to see what the reaction to the story would be, I will explain in a second.

First, good job to those of you who said they would join some group if Islam was not available. From the article: “And for Western youths, taking up Islam can also serve as an outlet for rebellion. A majority of converts, especially in Western Europe, are in their late teens or 20s” (Time, August 28, 2006, p.37). And from “Farhad Khosrokhavar, a Paris professor and the author of several books on Muslim extremism. ‘Previously – say, 20 years ago – they may have chosen communism or gone to leftist ideologies. Now Islam is the religion of those who fight against imperialism, who are treated unjustly by the arrogant Western societies and so on’” (Time, August 28, 2006, p.37). Another reason given is because of the relative ease to convert to Islam as compared to Judaism or Catholicism which can take years of study and preparation. “In Islam, the process is called reversion (because islam literally means “submission to God,”
Believers hold that everyone is born Muslim), and it’s mainly a matter of uttering a two-line declaration of faith, the Shahadah. Say the Shahadah aloud in Arabic, and the conversion is complete” (Time, August 28, 2006, p.37).
So you all were correct that these converts would have most likely joined some radical group if Islam was not available, but that it is and because it is so easy to convert, there are some who have made the religious conversion.

And now for the reaction that the post received. If you read again, Time magazine says the most common reason for conversion to Islam as the “increasingly secular world in which society’s rules get looser by the day” (Time, August 28, 2006, p.37). There are two parts to this, both a more “secular world” and a society where the “rules get looser by the day.” Everyone who commented on me saying “So for those of you against “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, or against school prayer, or against nativity scenes, or against posting the 10 Commandments in schools or public buildings, or against Christmas Trees in public areas,” jumped on this as some sort of radical Christian ideology that could be equated to a radical Islamic ideology. But, how many of you are really against “Under God” and want it removed from the Pledge of Allegiance? How many of you are against the freedom of expression of school prayer if not required by the schools and instead prevented by after school clubs, by sports teams before games, or at graduations? How many of you would protest a nativity scene? How many of you believe there is no value in teaching the morality included in the 10 Commandments? Yes, you may disagree with teaching the first 3 Commandments, but what about the rest? And how many of you are offended by an evergreen tree raised in a public area in December, covered in lights and decorations, and than called a Christmas tree?

But more importantly, you all ignored “or for those of you for legalizing drugs and prostitution, or for those of you for easing restrictions on pornography, think about what you are doing.” This is where I attacked a society where the “rules get looser by the day.” How many of you are for any of these activities? And yet, it was as if you forgot about this part, or ignored it, or only saw what you wanted to see.

The problem here, and it is something that I am guilty of as well, was that you threw the baby out with the bathwater. By finding one part you disagreed with you dismissed the entire argument.

And for the examples:
Rogue Mariner said... So by not falling rank and file with Christianity, I'm letting the terrorists win. That's great. So when do we just go ahead and throw Freedom of Religion out?
quakerdave said... So, if I'm not with you, I'm with "the terrorists"? Well, smack me down and call me Ali-Akbar, I guess. Fundamentalism, no matter in whose name it's practiced, is inherently wrong.
Alec said...
Sooooooo...from your post, I retain the following: 4) Therefore, we should adopt the practices of our enemy, albeit with a slightly different creed and a slightly better PR job, to beat our enemy. Or, you know, we could just realize that the core of the problem is religious fundamentalism, and work to stamp it out wherever it rears its ugly head. And yes, even when it is guised in the clothing of Marxism or similar "comprehensive" worldviews.

Brooke was the only one who seemed to find meaning in the post rather than dismiss it:

Brooke said... I think these guys would've found something nasty to get into no matter what.... But Islam DID afford them the opportunity to do evil in this case!

Thank you for taking part. I hope you see the intentions of both posts. I was hoping for more input for more views, but I guess I am just not all that popular. The purpose of this was to show that just because you might disagree with part of something does not mean it is all wrong. An anything goes society is just as dangerous and just as much of a breeding ground for terrorists, rebellious youths, and radical fundamentalism regardless of ideology.