Sunday, January 30, 2005

CONGRATULATIONS IRAQ

With polls due to close shortly, preliminary figures indicate approximately
SEVENTY PER CENT turnout. I kept the TV on all night with the reporting from Iraq.
Although this should help wake up the American electorate, it seems too many find voting a chore and defending our nation to be wrong. May God bless Iraq with good and faithful leaders who truly love their nation and the Iraqi people. May God continue to bless our troops as they continue to assist in this brand new democracy.

Friday, January 28, 2005

IRAQ THE MODEL

Mohammad writes:

"We're standing before a historic moment and I won't be exaggerating if I said that it's an important moment for the whole world; we're standing before a crossroads and everyone should watch and learn from the rebirth of Iraq."

On Sunday, the sun will rise on the land of Mesopotamia. I can't wait, the dream is becoming true and I will stand in front of the box to put my heart in it."

Another Kerry Letter

The Republican leadership will try to prevent this essential legislation from ever seeing the light of day. Help me gather one million co-signers for the Kids Come First Act, and we'll force them to act or to admit that they just don't care enough to act. Here's why it's so important to do something now:

1/4 of children are not fully up to date on their basic immunizations.
1/3 with chronic asthma do not get a prescription for medications they need.
1/2 of uninsured children have not had a well child visit in the past year.
1 in 6 has delayed or unmet medical needs.
1 in 5 has trouble accessing health care.
1 in 4 does not see a dentist annually.
1 in 3 had no health insurance during 2002 and 2003.
In the Senate, I am working hard to convince my colleagues to co-sponsor this vitally important bill. But, the most important co-sponsors - the ones who can help push this legislation through a Republican Congress and the Bush White House - are the hundreds of thousands of grassroots activists in the johnkerry.com community."

It seems to me that our taxes are paying for Medicaid that covers the children of the truly impoverished children who are citizens of the USA. We have public health clinics that offer sliding scale payment for well baby and child care. Minor illnesses are also treated in the public clinics. If hospital care is needed, there are grants that help or pay for the entire cost.

Those families who are not eligible for Medicaid, need some education in how to establish priorities for their budgets. My family, although low income much of my life, managed to meet our health needs. I cannot feel sorry for the parents who choose to have their liquor, their meals out and vacations. When expensive sneakers, the movies and cable TV seem more important for the parents' quality of life than health care for their children, it is not the taxpayers fault. Help with catastrohic medical bills will show compassion without another entitlement programs merely leadimg to more dependence.

The Case For Profiling

>They actually happened!!!
>Do you remember?
>
>1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by
> a. Superman
> b. Jay Lenno
> c. Harry Potter
> d. Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40
>
> 2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and
>massacred by
> a. Olga Corbett
> b. Sitting Bull
> c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
> a. Lost Norwegians
> b. Elvis
> c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
> 4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in
> Lebanon by:
> a. John Dillinger
> b. The King of Sweden
> c. The Boy Scouts
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
> a. A pizza delivery boy
> b. Pee Wee Herman
> c. Geraldo Rivera
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
> 6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year
>old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his
>wheelchair by:
> a. The Smurfs
> b. Davy Jones
> c. The Little Mermaid
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
> 7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy
> diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
> a. Captain Kidd
> b. Charles Lindberg
> c. Mother Teresa
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
> a. Scooby Doo
> b. The Tooth Fairy
> c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
> a. Richard Simmons
> b. Grandma Moses
> c. Michael Jordan
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
> a. Mr. Rogers
> b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill' s women problems
> c. The World Wrestling Federation
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
> 11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles
>to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one
>crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the
>passengers.Thousands of people were killed by:
> a. Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
> b. The Supreme Court of Florida
> c. Mr. Bean
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
> a. Enron
> b. The Lutheran Church
> c. The NFL
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
> a. Bonnie and Clyde
> b. Captain Kangaroo
> c. Billy Graham
> d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
>
>Nope, .....I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?

Thursday, January 27, 2005

HE DOESN'T RESIDE HERE

One sunny day in 2005, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench.

He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry."

The Marine replied, "Sir, Mr. Kerry is not President and doesn't
reside here."

The old man said, "Okay," and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry"

The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Kerry
is not President and doesn't reside here."

The man thanked him and again walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry."

The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Kerry. I've told you already that Mr. Kerry is not the President and doesn't reside here. Don't you understand?"

The old man answered, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it."

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said,

"Sir, yes Sir, see you tomorrow, Sir."


ORIGIN UNKNOWN- I have held this as a draft since early September. I will finally post it since I have been unable to blog due to the cable broadband being down. Now I am far behind in my reading so will take this quick way to post today.

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

EagleSpeak: Asymmetric Warfare: Terrorists, Small Boats, Explosives and Unarmed, Unescorted Ships

"Friday, January 21, 2005
Asymmetric Warfare: Terrorists, Small Boats, Explosives and Unarmed, Unescorted Ships
In a recent posting Worrisome Pattern? I pointed out a couple of unusual and very similar reports set out on the ICCCS Weekly Piracy Report. Both incidents involved groups of small speedboats with masked 'pirates' approaching commercial shipping at or near major ocean 'choke points.' As I wrote after the first incident in the Strait of Hormuz:
The number of boats, the arms and the attire suggests an organization that has both assets and the ability to coordinate the operation of several boats. The location, one of the world's most important shipping chokepoints for oil flowing from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq and other sources of is troubling."
Read his post LINK

Monday, January 24, 2005

A Reasonable View On Immigration

The Daily Demarche has some interesting thoughts and potential solutions to the problems of illegal Mexican immigrants. I encourage you to read it.

"I propose the following five-step plan. This is a necessarily simplified version to fit the blog, but you'll get the idea. Like any plan to conquer an addiction some of the steps may be tough to swallow at first- especially when it comes to admitting that the problem lies with us to begin with. Here are the Big 5 steps, with details following:

1. Establish a more secure employment document- the Social Security card does not work.
2. Punish American firms that hire illegal workers- this is the most important step.
3. Revise and expand the H2 visa category- not just for Mexicans, but for all, and require that issuance only occur in the country of origin of the alien.
4. Require legal workers to pay into Medicaid, and deny public benefits to illegal aliens found in America.
5. Reduce the amount of foreign aid granted to any country by a set or variable amount based on the costs associated with each illegal immigrant detained/treated/deported" LINK

Pentagon Has Spies

"The Pentagon has created battlefield intelligence units to work on tasks that had been largely the province of the C.I.A."LINK

Some want to make this out to be a major turf war between the CIA and the DOD while others want to make it a political battle. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said that "the Senate Armed Services Committee would hold hearings on the intelligence units." The Senate does have an oversight role and the key members of the committee should discuss this in closed session. As an American, who lived through WWII, I am concerned with all of the public discussion of measures taken to assure the safety of and proper functioning of our military. As a citizen, I feel I have a right to know the how, what, why and when our government has taken actions, BUT I have no need to know all of the details prior to
specific goals having been met. I well recall the WWII phrase that "loose lips sink ships." The American public found out a lot of details after specific actions had taken place. Workers in the defense industry did not talk about their work. Our media did not investigate and seek out those who might leak information. We, as a nation, were in this effort together. We had elected leaders that bore the responsibility for making the decisions needed for us to be successful. Many mistakes were made, thousands of lives were lost, but we did not have the constant media challenging every decision made. Our news came from the print media and filmed updates of news shown in movie theatres. Today, with the global reach of all news reported within our country, I am concerned that too much information is being discussed for the safety of our nation and more importantly, our military in harm's way.

I have never been a member of the military or the intelligence committee, but think it would be absurd if the military did not have some intelligence functions. How would the military plan any type of action without some reliable intelligence. There has been much reforming of the intelligence agencies which failed the nation in regard to 9/11 and the WMD question in Iraq. It would seem that the CIA will become more efficient and more accurate in the future. I do believe the military needs on the ground intelligence for rapid response that can only be hindered if the CIA, Senate oversight committee and the media keep trying to micromanage the military efforts. Surely any additional commitments of troops or preemptive actions should be discussed by the congressional and executive branch of our government. Declaration of war should require congressional approval.
However, when we are engaged militarily, the troops need every advantage of on the ground intelligence in order to plan actions and to take actions against any identified dangers. Without such intelligence, all of our actions would become retaliatory after the enemy has launched it's actions. Congress must not get in the way of this.

A DOD spokesman said, "These front-line teams can be deployed more often, and closer to front lines, than other D.I.A. units called national intelligence support teams, which are groups of technical experts sent to commanders' wartime headquarters to provide analytical advice."
This makes sense to me.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Johnny Carson

It is a sad fact of a seniors life to learn of one more person who provided a lot of pleasure in our lives has passed on. Thank you Johnny for the laughter and generally good clean fun.

Saturday, January 22, 2005

Are We Seeing A Positive Change In KSA?

Fahd, Abdullah Blast Terrorism, Urge Muslims to Follow Moderate Path
Arab News

"MINA, 22 January 2005 -- Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, in a joint speech yesterday, urged Muslims to shun terrorism which they said meant 'warring against God and His Prophet', to follow Islam's teachings of moderation and forgiveness and to unite.


“Terrorism is a result of a sick mentality and of a deviant methodology,” King Fahd and Prince Abdullah said in the speech addressed to the pilgrims on the occasion of this year’s Haj season. “Terrorism is corruption on earth and aims at destruction and fighting God, His Prophet and Muslims ... and God promised the harshest punishment for corruptors,” they said in the speech carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
LINK: "

Fatal Quiz (aka Death Test)

Wx Plotter Fun Tests - Fatal Quiz (aka Death Test): "
I am going to die at 64. When are you? Click here to find out! This quiz is guaranteed accurate (that is if you take the word of a dead woman)

Friday, January 21, 2005

How Is Your Day Going?

*A true report of an incident in Wisconsin

*A guy buys a brand new Lincoln Navigator truck for $42,500 and has $560 monthly payments. He and a friend go duck hunting in winter, and of course all the lakes are frozen. These two guys go out on the lake with their guns, a dog, and of course the new Vehicle.

They drive out onto the lake ice and get ready. Now, they want to make some kind of a natural landing area for the ducks, something for the decoys to float on. In order to make a hole large enough to look like something a wandering duck would fly down and land on, it's going to take a little more effort than an ice hole drill.

So, out of the back of the new Navigator truck comes a stick of dynamite with a short, 40-second fuse. Now these two Rocket Scientists do take into consideration that they want to place the stick of dynamite on the ice at a location far from where they are standing (and the new Navigator truck) , because they don't want to take the risk of slipping on the ice when they run from the burning fuse and possibly go up in smoke with the resulting blast.

They light the 40-second fuse and throw the dynamite. Remember a couple of paragraphs back when I mentioned the vehicle, the guns, and the dog??

Let's talk about the dog: A highly trained Black Lab used for RETRIEVING. Especially things thrown by the owner. You guessed it, the dog takes off at a high rate of doggy speed on the ice and captures the stick of dynamite with the burning 40-second fuse about the time it hits the ice. The two men yell, scream, wave their arms and wonder what to do now. The dog, cheered on, keeps coming.

One of the guys grabs the shotgun and shoots the dog. The shotgun is loaded with #8 buckshot, hardly big enough to stop a Black Lab. The dog stops for a moment, slightly confused, but continues on. Another shot and this time the dog, still standing, becomes really confused and of course terrified, thinking these two geniuses have gone insane. The dog takes off to find cover, under the brand new Navigator truck.

The men continue to yell as they run. The exhaust pipe under the truck is still hot, so the dog yelps and drops the dynamite under the truck, and takes off after his master. Then --BOOM-- the truck is blown to bits and sinks to the bottom of the lake in a very large hole, leaving the two idiots standing there with this "I can't believe this happened" look on their faces. The insurance company says that sinking a vehicle in a lake by illegal use of explosives is NOT COVERED. He still had yet to make even the first of those $560.00 a month payments!!!

And you thought your day was not going well. I felt better after reading this email,
hope you do too!

Media's coverage has distorted world's view of Iraqi reality

I checked my Email this morning and found a link to the following, Thanks Thomas R Mcintyre I believe this is the article which Blackfive posted.
LINK

According to the Email, over 600,00- have read this and he is hoping it will be seen by more than a million.

World press electrified by Bush vision

"World press electrified by Bush vision

'Hold on to your hats, this may be the most ambitious presidency ever.' That's the message from one Israeli paper after President George W Bush's inauguration - a message echoed across the world's press.
For China's press his speech raises the question whether Washington will head further down a 'unilateral' path in foreign relations.
One Polish paper heralds the speech as the dawn of a conservative revolution, while in Germany and Turkey there's a bleak forecast for the new Bush era."

This compilation from the newsmedia around the world show different views from almost wishing President Bush success to absolute fear that what President Bush said indicates many invasions and demanding all governments are copies of ours. Is it that English is a second language and therefore President Bush is totally misunderstood or is it that they are simply fearful that they may be asked to somehow assist others in gaining freedom
from oppression?

Read more BBC NEWS | World | Americas |LINK:

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Inauguration Day


A Good Day For America Posted by Hello

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

"Christians to Begin Inauguration Day Thanking God for Bush ReElection"

LINK: "Faith and Action, a Christian mission to elected and appointed officials, will host a one-hour prayer service at its Capitol Hill headquarters, just across the street from the US Supreme Court and a block from the US Capitol, where Mr. Bush will be sworn in for a second term.
'No president is perfect,' said Rev. Rob Schenck, president of Faith and Action, 'but George Bush has done more than any recent president to champion what is important to serious Christians of every tradition: The Sanctity of Human Life, the Sanctity of Marriage and the public acknowledgement of God.We're thankful that God heard our cries and gave us four more years of a Bush administration.'"

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Kerry "Fire Rumsfeld"

I got another letter from John Kerry. "I knew our soldiers were still facing hold ups getting the equipment they need, but I wanted to see it for myself. American troops deserve the best gear and equipment we can provide. But adequate vehicle armor remains in short supply.

A soldier who spoke up about these problems was told by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, "you have to go to war with the army you have, not the army you want."1 Well, it's been over two years since Rumsfeld planned this war. And whether he has the army he wants or not, he should at least have basic armor for army vehicles."


Not only was the Rumsfeld statement lifted out of the middle of a lengthy explanation
Rumsfeld gave in response to the question raised about up armoring vehicles but this is the man who voted against thd $87 billion after voting for it. I forgot how long it has been since that statement was made but Kerry's visit to Iraq evidently didn't give him any other quotes from the military he could drag out to smear President Bush and Sec. Rumsfeld. He is calling all of his "supporters" to sign a petition to fire
Sec. Rumsfeld.

Roe Vs. Wade Revisited

Norma McCorvey, aka Roe as in Roe vs, Wade returns to the Supreme Court to have the ruling set aside. She appeared on Fox last night with her lawyer. She stated that with the advent of 3-D. ultrasound, the emotional trauma experienced by women who have abortions has shown her that abortion in not in the best interest of women. McCorvey does not want this procedure to criminalize women but states that the decision between a woman and her doctors does not occur. Most women do not see a doctor until they are positioned and prepped for the procedure. McCorvey wants to offer hope and assistance to pregnant women. I do not know how the Supreme Court will react to this plea. but I congratulate McCorvey for taking this issue back to court.

U.N. Proposes Doubling of Aid to Cut Poverty

"

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 17 - An international team sponsored by the United Nations proposed a detailed, ambitious plan on Monday that it says could halve extreme poverty and save the lives of millions of children and hundreds of thousands of mothers each year by 2015."The New York Times > International > U.N. Proposes Doubling of Aid to Cut Poverty

I can certainly approve the goal of helping cut poverty around the world. I cannot trust the UN to manage or deliver such aid. If the US makes a pledge, it should be for direct aid to the impoverished countries. Feeding more money into the corrupt UN to increase it's budget and fund more high paid bureaucrats is no way to help.

Monday, January 17, 2005

What A Patriot!!!

I have been listening to Fox news while perusing blogs. It seems that Seymour Hersh has written about clandestine forays into Iran by the U.S. The fact that we may be covertly trying to find out more about Iran's nuclear capabilities or identify the manner in which Iran is assisting the terrorists in Iraq is unimportant. Hersh may have a journalistic scoop and as any patriotic American must realize, that is far more important than any intelligence gathering that may help protect our troops in harms way. This must be announced to the world and specifically Iran so that they may have a level playing field in seeking out and killing anyone who seeks to help the current administration make sound decisions in the war on terror.

Judicial Nominations

This week's "Purveyor of Partisanship" Award: "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee has indicated that he intends to use his enhanced majority to try to cut off Democratic [sic] filibusters of the President's judicial nominees by whatever means necessary, a threat that if carried out could reignite partisan warfare." --New York Times reporter Carl Hulse **"Reignite partisan warfare"?


"It is worth recalling that Mr. Bush campaigned throughout 2004 against the Democrats' obstructionism in the Senate, which was most clearly epitomized by the unprecedented filibuster campaign the minority party waged against 10 judicial nominees to the nation's circuit courts of appeal. Indeed, the president's coattails played an indispensable role in ousting Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the leader of the filibuster campaign whose judicial obstructionism played a major role in his electoral defeat. ... During the 108th Congress, in a campaign of unprecedented scope and breadth, Democrat senators successfully voted 20 times to deny cloture on judicial nominees. Invoking cloture would have ended the Democrat filibusters being waged to prevent an up or down vote for the 10 nominees to the appellate courts. ... A review of Senate history illustrates just how unprecedented the Democrats' filibustering campaign against judicial appellate nominees has been. ... From 1949 through 2000, cloture was sought on only 13 judicial nominations, including twice for William Rehnquist, whose nominations as both associate justice and chief justice of the Supreme Court were filibustered. ... During President Bush's first term, however, cloture has been sought on 14 judicial nominations. ... Democrats have successfully filibustered 10 of the 45 circuit court nominations by President Bush that have made it to the Senate floor. That's more than 20 percent. It is a campaign that has been as unprecedented as it has been outrageous." --The Washington Times

This week's "Periplaneta Americana" Award: "I was extremely disappointed to learn today that the president intends to begin the new Congress by resubmitting extremist judicial nominees." --Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Stalingrad)

This week's "Propagandum Magnum" Award: "The Bush administration is ending the year as they began it, choosing confrontation over compromise, ideology over moderation, and defiance over cooperation. On some of their controversial nominees, they may prevail because of their monopoly of power. The big loser, however, will be the independence of our judicial branch of government." --Senator Pat Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee ++ "In this opening shot, the White House is making it clear that they are not interested in bipartisanship when it comes to nominating judges." --Senator Charles Schumer, Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Source: Federalist Patriot No. 05-01 Wednesday Chronicle

Ongoing Tsunami

"Another intense Asian tsunami may be a century away, but the abortion tsunami occurs every year. An overall constitutional amendment would be great, but in this meantime many lives can be saved through a compassionate conservative approach that features ultrasound machines, waiting periods, involvement of boyfriend or husband and both sets of parents, information about post-abortion syndrome and pro-adoption counseling." LINK

I don't know that Roe vs. Wade will ever be overturned. Change in this law would not be my first priority. I do agree that the use of ultrasound with the mother viewing her baby would go a long way in making a woman/girl realize that this is an actual living being that she is thinking of destroying. Involvement of the father and the potential grandparents also viewing the living baby they wish to kill may help change some minds and allow more babies to live. A waiting period with counseling about alternatives such as adoption and social services available to her during the pregnacy as well as the incidence of emotional distress, physical problems post abortion and the research data implicating the interruption of the normal hormone cycle throughout pregnancy and delivery to the incidence of breast cancer should be discussed.

As a Christian, I believe abortion is wrong. As an American, I accept that others with differing views must be allowed to express and act on their own beliefs. I recognize the need for tolerance of others values and become upset with the Newdow and ACLU types trying to repress my rights. As a former healthcare professional I highly value thorough patient education to allow the individual to make a truly informed decision. It is my belief that a woman/girl who is fully informed regarding the implications of her decision will be more likely to choose life.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Is It Cold Enough?

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with 16 round indentations.
However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys." Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey." (All this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't you.)

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Daffynitions for A Little Weekend Humor

1. ARBITRATOR: A cook that leaves Arby's to work at McDonalds

2. AVOIDABLE: What a bullfighter tried to do

3. BERNADETTE: The act of torching a mortgage

4. BURGLARIZE: What a crook sees with

5. CONTROL: A short, ugly inmate

6. COUNTERFEITERS: Workers who put together kitchen cabinets

7. ECLIPSE: What an English barber does for a living

8. EYEDROPPER: A clumsy ophthalmologist

9. HEROES: What a guy in a boat does

10. LEFTBANK: What the robber did when his bag was full of money

11. MISTY: How golfers create divots

12. PARADOX: Two physicians

13. PARASITES: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower

14. PHARMACIST: A helper on the farm

15. POLARIZE: What penguins see with

16. PRIMATE: Removing your spouse from in front of the TV

17. RELIEF: What trees do in the Spring

18. RUBBERNECK: What you do to relax your wife

19. SELFISH: What the owner of a seafood store does

20. SUDAFED: Brought litigation against a government official

Update on Cobb Stickers--Posted 1/13

"'The district brought in extra psychologists to deal with the crisis, but the damage had already been done,' said a spokesman for the ACLU. 'The faith that these innocent children once had in a beautiful world created spontaneously by fortunate accidents has been shattered by the brutal, bigoted language of the stickers. The establishment clause of the First Amendment specifically prohibits this kind of government meddling in the free exercise of their faith.'"ScrappleFace: New Science Book Stickers Evolve After Court Ruling

United Nations Grants National Abortion Federation NGO Status

NEW YORK, January 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – "The United Nations Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) recommended 22 new NGOs for consultative status last week, including the US National Abortion Federation (NAF).The new status means that NAF will have a greater voice at the UN: organizations that have consultative status can attend meetings of the Council, circulate statements, speak at meetings and propose items for the Council’s agenda.

The NAF revealed its low level of morality with its 1994 “soap campaign”. At a NAF conference that year, a woman stood up to introduce the "campaign," explaining to the assembled pro-abortion women that "when you sleep with your senators and your congressmen, you take a bar of soap... and when it comes time for him to vote, you mail him the soap from that hotel and you remind him of where his vote needs to be.

Meanwhile, Feminists for Life of America, a national organization trying to secure, through non-violent means, the basic human right to life for all people from conception until natural death, was also granted NGO status.

Germany and Cuba voiced objections to the Feminists for Life inclusion as an NGO, arguing that there should be a “level playing field” in the Committee regarding applications from organizations that dealt with reproductive rights.

Considering the large number of pro-abortion NGOs and the UN’s general strong support for abortion and population control, there is anything but a “level playing field” at the UN when it comes to life issues."

Friday, January 14, 2005

BLACKFIVE

Blackfive has and essay written by a LT Col in Iraq about the media aiding and abetting the terrorists. I encourage you to read it.

BLACKFIVE

Results - News Release Generator

"January 14, 2005
Release Number: 05-01-62


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


IRAQI MAN HELPS THWART IED ATTACK SOUTH OF BAGHDAD

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq � A local Iraqi man helped Marines and Iraqi National Guardsmen (ING) foil an insurgent attack south of Baghdad on Jan. 14.

The man observed three militants placing an improvised explosive device (IED) near a bridge over Highway 8, a key north-south corridor connecting Baghdad and Najaf. The man went to the nearest ING checkpoint to report the incident, and the ING informed Marines passing through the checkpoint.

A Marine patrol sent to investigate the area found an antenna protruding from the ground near a pile of dirt and bricks. The Marines cordoned off the area and called in an explosive ordnance disposal team to defuse the bomb, a 122-millimeter projectile encased in cement.

There was no sign of the men who emplaced the IED.

Information provided by local citizens has proved instrumental in joint efforts by U.S. and Iraqi forces to root out insurgents in northern Babil province."Results - News Release Generator:

State Department Studies Regarding Religion Phobias

"WASHINGTON, January 14 (IslamOnline.net) - The largest US Muslim civil liberties called on the State Department to issue a report on Islamophobia across the world, as American Muslims have complained of more anti-Islam TV rants.

Anti-Semitism

The meeting came after the State Department released its first report on global anti-Semitism January 5, taking a country-by-country survey of anti-Semitism worldwide from July 2003, to December 15, 2004."LINK

Anti-Christian

I am quite certain that there are many instances where negative reporting or negative depictions of Muslims and Jews occur. However, as a Christian I am not as adept at picking up sterotypical portrayal of Muslims and Jews as I am in picking up the bias against Christians. Perhaps we need a State Departmanet study involving all instances in the USA where violations of "free exercise clause" of the first amendment occur. To highlight just one religious group such as Muslims or Jews would seem preferential given the many recent attacks on Christians who celebrate Christ's birthday in December, the Christians arrested in Philadelphia for exercising their right to proclaim their faith, and the intimidation of Christians voicing their belief in Biblical teaching against homosexuality as being a "hate crime" rather than the free exercise of faith. The study could include the number of reports in the media about the stupidity of Christians who voted for President Bush and mocked our values. A wider, global study could tally up all of the times the Arabic news and media refer to Christians and Jews as infidels who deserve death.

The Budget Deficit

"Here's one story you won't find in tomorrow's front pages: The US budget deficit is shrinking rapidly. Today's Treasury report on the nation's finances for December shows a fiscal 2005 year-to-date deficit that is already $11 billion less than last year's. After the first three months of the fiscal year beginning last October, cash outlays increased by 6.1% overall, while tax collections grew by 10.5%. Consequently, the 2005 deficit is on track to drop to $355 billion from $413 billion in FY 2004. At this pace the new year deficit as a fraction of projected GDP will descend to 2.9% compared to last year's deficit share of 3.6%. "PatrickRuffini.com

The growing economy is beginning to shrink the deficit. Now if Congress will only eliminate the "pork barrel" spending, we may make even more progress.

Thursday, January 13, 2005


UN relief supplies arrive to feed the hungry and provide needed medical care-not! Posted by Hello

Cobb evolution stickers declared unconstitutional

"The disclaimers read: 'This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered.'LINK
The lawsuit challenging the disclaimers, which call evolution a "theory, not a fact," was brought by six parents who believed the disclaimers violated the principle of separation between church and state. Cooper heard three days of testimony, plus closing arguments, last November."

In other words, the law says evolution theory is an absolute truth while Intelligent Design is bunk. The school board planned to fulfill the laws demand to teach evolution theory but wanted to give the students the understanding that they could debate this and remain comfortable with the values taught in their families. The stickers were designed after 2,300 signatures were obtained on a petition led by Marjorie Rogers, a creationist.
Most parents in the county did not complain, but 6 parents brought suit to have the stickers removed. The ration of 6:2300 really makes you wonder when the strident minority got the upper hand.

The wording of the sticker seems to me to be fairly innocuous and definitely does not put forth any specific religious theory. Although this law flies in the face of the "free exercise" clause of the First Amendment, the school board is not funded to take on lengthy lawsuits and appeals. Therefore once again, those who want no theories taught that are in keeping with the Biblical origin of man have again won.

German School Official Declares 'Homeschooling Illegal'

LifeSiteNews.com, January 12, 2005

PADERBORN COUNTY, Germany "A German school official has ordered seven families homeschooling their children in Northwest Germany to enroll their children in public schools immediately, or the children will be forcibly removed by police and taken to school. Any resistance on the part of the parents will result in the children being removed from their homes, according to a Home School Legal Defense Association report.

The families argued that, as Christians, they wanted to protect their children from the godless and humanistic values being taught in public schools. They also assured officials that they were providing an adequate education through a German correspondence school.

County education director Heinz Kohler dismissed the families' beliefs, stating, 'you and your children are not living in isolation on some island but rather in an environment posing intra- and extracurricular situations where you'll have to accept that your world view will be curtailed.'

Kohler further explained that homeschooling could not be allowed as 'children should not be encapsulated or kept apart from the outside world. In these cases, the parents' rights to personally educate their children would prevent the children from growing up to be responsible individuals within society'."

The Home School Legal Defense Association is calling all those concerned to contact their German embassy to voice disapproval of the measure:

Wolfgang Ischinger, Ambassador
German Embassy - US
4645 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC

The US embassy can also be e-mailed from its website: http://www.globescope.biz/germany/reg/index.cfm

Christian Pauls, Ambassador
German Embassy – Canada
1 Waverley Street, Ottawa, ON, K2P 0T8
Tel.: 613-232-1101 Fax: 613-594-9330
Email: germanembassyottawa@on.aibn.com

You may also contact the local German officials involved in the case:

Mr. Manfred Mueller landrat@kreis-paderborn.de (county official)"

A Basic Right?

Life Site News January 12, 2005

"Abortion crusader and New York Senator Hillary Clinton condemned US President George W. Bush Tuesday, claiming his withdrawal of funding from organizations that commit or promote abortions is harming women.

Speaking at an International Women's Health Coalition-sponsored dinner, Clinton claimed that 'reproductive health care and family planning service is a basic right,' and said this was based on decisions reached at the 1994 U.N. Population Conference in Cairo, as well as the 1995 U.N. women's conference in Beijing, where Clinton gave a keynote address.

She argued that the Bush administration has failed to uphold the so-called reproductive rights of women, by withdrawing funding from abortion-supporting organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)."

Hillary is surely alienating the basic value voters who do not want their tax money supporting the murder of babies. Someone really should tell her that this is not a winning strategy. It may gain her the nomination as the Democratic nominee, but it will not help them recover the votes of the "values people" in 2008. The UN is the moral leader and they reached this decision so we in America should
just give more funds to the UN? I don't think so!

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Kerry as Statesman Traitor, Again

First Kerry met with the communists during the Vietnam war. Now he has met with the leader in Syria who just happens to be providing sanctuary to Iraqi Baathists and terrorists. His public pronouncements while in the mideast again show what a turncoat he is. As an American Senator he has the right to his little junkets to fact find. He has the right to come back to the USA and speak with fellow senators and representatives. He should not in my humble opinion be criticizing the policies of the US while on foreign soil. He forgot his mother's admonition again regarding integrity. What moral code does this man have that again, in a time of war, he is on foreign soil spewing his hatefulness toward our nations foreign policy. President Bush was elected for the second time to determine policy by the majority of the voters. We may not all agree 100% with all policy decisions, but as an American, I do think I have a little more class than Kerry shows. My mother taught me to not spread my dirty linen in public. There is a time and a place for honest and open debate, but Kerry does not choose that venue. What foreign leaders come to the USA to vent their hostility toward their own governments?

CAIRO - Middle East countries are frustrated by US policy in Iraq and feel too little is being done to end violence there, US Senator John Kerry said on Wednesday on a visit to the region.
Kerry repeatedly criticised the Bush administration"s Iraq policy during his failed bid to win the US presidency from George W. Bush, who led the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
"All of the countries of the region have a significant stake in the outcome and yet they are frustrated," Kerry said in Cairo after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
"They are frustrated because they don"t feel that the steps necessary to be able to advance the stability of Iraq are really being taken," he said.
Kerry, who will also met officials in Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Israel, said Washington should do more to build up Iraqi security forces, which are often attacked by rebels fighting US-led forces and the interim Iraqi government.
"We could be and we should be doing a very significant amount more military training," he said. "LINK: "

Kerry had seen fit while in Iraq to make pronouncements regarding the blunders and wrong planning while the military were acting as escorts if not members of the audience. I am certain, his complaints did not boost the morale of our troops. Kerry seems to be totally unaware that the leaders of Iraq have a large say in how the military pursues it's mission. We are not dictators and we are there at the request of Iraq's leaders. Is Kerry so unaware that wars are full of mistakes and plans are constantly being changed according to the situation day by day? Thank God he LOST the election.

Bush Picks Ex-Prosecutor for Homeland Post

"WASHINGTON -- President Bush nominated federal judge Michael Chertoff as the new homeland security chief Tuesday, completing the second-term Cabinet with a former prosecutor who recently called for a new look at the tough terrorist detainee laws that he helped craft after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday that as an architect of the act, Chertoff seemed to view the Bill of Rights "as an obstacle to national security rather than a guidebook for how to do security properly.

Former Solicitor General Ted Olson, a friend of the nominee. "I know he believes the act was necessary and was working well and has not been abused, but there's nothing wrong with looking at it," Olson said.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said he doubted Chertoff's role in crafting the Patriot Act "will be, in itself, a disqualification." More pressing, Lieberman said, are Chertoff's plans to manage a sprawling bureaucracy prone to infighting and competition with outside law enforcement and intelligence agencies.


Several Democrats also quickly offered praise for Chertoff's credentials. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Chertoff has "the resume to be an excellent Homeland Security secretary."
LINK

It would seem that the President has selected a man who is respected on both sides of the aisle. The opposition of the ACLU is an added plus as far as I can see. The Patriot Act will no doubt be revisited, but that discussion should happen so that the reasoning behind the provisions of the act are debated.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

We Reap What We Sow

Dear God:

Why didn't you save the school children at?

Moses Lake, Washington 2/2/96

Bethel, Alaska 2/19/97

Pearl, Mississippi 10/1/97

West Paducah, Kentucky 12/1/97

Stamps, Arkansas 12/15/97

Jonesboro, Arkansas 3/24/98

Edinboro, Pennsylvania 4/24/98

Fayetteville, Tennessee 5/19/98

Springfield, Oregon 5/21/98

Richmond, Virginia 6/15/98

Littleton, Colorado 4/20/99

Taber, Alberta, Canada 5/28/99

Conyers, Georgia 5/20/99

Deming, New Mexico 11/19/99

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99

Santee, California 3/5/01 and

El Cajon, California 3/22/01?

Sincerely,

Concerned Student

-----------------------------------------------------

Reply:

Dear Concerned Student:

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely,

God

----------------------------------------------------------

How did this get started?...

-----------------

Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools.

And we said, OK...

------------------

Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school, the Bible that says "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbors as yourself,"

And we said, OK...

-----------------

Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave
because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem.

And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't spank them anymore.

------------------

Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children
when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued.

And we accepted their reasoning...

------------------

Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents.

And we said, that's a grand idea...

------------------

Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're
going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school.
And we said, that's another great idea...

------------------

Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs.

And we said, it doesn't matter what anybody, including the President, does in private as long as we have jobs and the economy is good...

------------------

And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the Internet.

And we said, everyone's entitled to free speech....

------------------

And the entertainment industry said , let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex... And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes...

And we said, it's just entertainment and it has no adverse effect and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead...

------------------

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.

------------------

Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure it out. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...

"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"

Author unknown

Monday, January 10, 2005

What's wrong with this picture?


What's wrong with this picture? Posted by Hello

If you look closely at the picture above, you will note that all the Marines pictured are bowing their heads. That's because they're praying.

This incident took place at a recent ceremony honoring the birthday of the corps. This picture is being circulated via Email and indicates the ACLU up in arms.

What's wrong with the picture? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

What is wrong with the Email is it is a hoax. I am no fan of the Anti Christian Libel Union, but it does not help Christians when untruths are circulated.

I kept the picture because I am pleased to see our marines pray. It indicates to me that they do rely on God. This indicates an ability to be subordinate to the ultimate
power.

GOD Bless Our Warriors.
May God Bless America, One Nation Under God!

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Philadelphia Christians--Update

Ogre has a post on the Christians in Philadelphia that I posted about in December and again yesterday. He also has a link to a video taken before and at the time the Christians were arrested.LINK: "If you have seen this story, take a look at the video."

Just prior to this post, Ogre also has a link to a new method of cleaniing your monitor screen. Be sure to check that out as well.

"Iraq Elections Questions and Answers"

Kat has written another excellent blog explaining the upcoming Iraqi elections. If you are not familiar with her blog, Kat has done extensive research on a number of subjects including the myth that the war has been waged to give the US control of Iraqi oil, the broken window theory and other assorted topics.I recommend that you take a look at the various topics she has researched via her archives.The Middle Ground: "Iraq Elections Questions and Answers"

Saturday, January 08, 2005

The Free Exercise Clause

On December 18,2004 I posted about Christians who were arrested on October 10 for praying, singing, and reading scripture during an annual 'gay pride' event known as 'Outfest' in Philadelphia. The members of the group were charged with three felony (criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation, and riot) and five misdemeanor charges.
According to a letter I received from the American Family Association, "they are part of Repent America. Along with founder Michael Marcavage, members of Repent America—with police approval--were preaching near Outfest, a homosexual event, handing out Gospel literature and carrying banners with Biblical messages.

When they tried to speak, they were surrounded by a group of radical homosexual activists dubbed the Pink Angels. A videotape of the incident shows the Pink Angels interfering with the Christians’ movement on the street, holding up large pink symbols of angels to cover up the Christians' messages and blowing high pitched whistles to drown out their preaching."


UPDATE


TUPELO, Mi., January 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A source from the U.S. Justice Department reported to WorldNetDaily that homosexual attorneys from the U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division attended a homosexual event called "OutFest" in Philadelphia last October and advised police who arrested 11 Christians at the event.

After a judge saw video footage of four of the Christians quoting Bible verses, they were bound for trial and now face up to 47 years in prison. They were charged with three felony (criminal conspiracy, ethnic intimidation, and riot) and five misdemeanor charges while the city of Philadelphia has labeled the Bible as hate speech.

According to the WorldNetDaily report, the DOJ attorneys may have recommended to police that the Christians be charged with "ethnic intimidation" under Pennsylvania's new "hate crimes" law. The DOJ employee who spoke to WorldNetDaily on condition of anonymity says that, due to the homosexual U.S. attorneys' involvement, it is unlikely the DOJ will take up the cause of those now facing criminal charges.

Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the AFA Center for Law & Policy, defends the arrested Christians and says the report of DOJ attorneys' involvement on the scene should trouble all who are following the case.

"This case is historic for all the wrong reasons, and now it turns out that Department of Justice attorneys attended 'Outfest' and may have advised the city on what charges to bring," Fahling said. "I am stunned."

"It has been made abundantly clear that my clients will never get justice from Philadelphia, and now it looks like they won't get it out of Washington, D.C. either. This is not an erosion of our rights under the Constitution; it is an earthquake that has swallowed them whole."

Fahling is asking the DOJ to open a criminal probe into the case.

"I believe the only way to overcome that possible bias is to get a public outcry on such a scale that it cannot be ignored by those higher up in the Department," Fahling said."

A petition to the DOJ is available at LINK

World Net Daily posts an article written by David Kupelian regarding the so called separation of church and state, the congressional record regarding the phrasing and intended interpretation of the "Establishment clause" as well as the "Free Exercise clause".
LINK








National Day of Prayer for Michael Newdow

Chris has a good idea for Christians to pray for Michael Newdow on the day the Inaugural Prayer Censorship Case is to be heard. If you haven't already read his post, I encourage you to do so.Pattishub: "I urge my fellow Christians to do the same. In fact, the Inauguration Prayer Censorship Case is currently scheduled for January 14. I think praying Christians across the nation should make that day a National Day of Prayer for Michael Newdow."

Friday, January 07, 2005

Baghdad Poll from Iraq The Model

"Saturday, January 08, 2005

A translated report about an election poll from Al-sabah.

Thanks to Ladybird for the translation.
Actually I've heard about this poll few days ago but couldn't have the time to translate it.
The headlines of this poll were:

1-The poll was of 4974 Iraqis living in and around Baghdad.


2-Will the security problems cause you to?
Not come out and vote the day of elections = 18.3%
Come out and vote the day of elections = 78.3%
No opinion = 3.4%

3-Do you support military action against the terrorists?Yes = 87.7 %No = 11.1%
Don’t Know = 1.2%

If these were the results that appeared after taking samples from in and around Baghdad which is considered to be the most dangerous area in the country (and inhabited by lots of Sunni Iraqis by the way!), then what would the results look like if the samples were taken from Basra or Erbil??"

This is the latest post from Omar

U.N. takes charge of effort to help tsunami victims / The Washington Times INSIDER

In today's Washington Times, David Sands writes in an article about the relief efforts in S. Asia:
"U.S. officials emphasized that the United States and other major donors would retain control of how their money would be spent, with the United Nations limited to a coordinating role. The Bush administration has pledged at least $350 million, a figure that does not include millions of dollars being spent each day to deploy the U.S. military on relief operations in the region.
Australia, which made the largest single pledge of more than $800 million, said yesterday it prefers to deal directly with Indonesia and other affected countries in disbursing its aid.
Mr. Powell said the United Nations would play "a lead role, but not the only lead role" in coordinating relief.
He pointedly noted that U.S. military personnel and private aid organizations have done virtually all of the relief work to date around Indonesia's Aceh province, with U.N. humanitarian organizations still struggling to establish a major presence.
He also said a regional U.S. relief center at the military base in Utapao, Thailand, will remain in operation, and may even expand cooperation with foreign military and civilian relief groups." LINK

I have been hearing news reports on TV that the UN would be organizing the relief effort in the next phase and had images of more UN corruption
misusing the billions of pledged dollars with the victims left with minimal help. The above plans indicate that I am not the only one with those concerns and am happy to see Australia and the US will continue to have a large role in the use of the donated funds.

"Where Are the Free-Speech Squealers?

Best of the Web Today - January 6, 2005
By JAMES TARANTO

On Dec. 2, 2003, the Tucson Citizen published a letter to the editor that harshly criticized America's conduct of the war in Iraq. The following month, a group of local residents, offended by the letter, filed a lawsuit against the paper alleging 'intentional infliction of emotional distress.' The newspaper asked a local judge, Leslie Miller, to throw out the suit on First Amendment grounds, but she refused. Now, the Associated Press reports, the Arizona Supreme Court is considering whether to overturn Judge Miller's ruling.
OK, so here's the question: Where are all the free-speech alarmists? You remember, the folks who cried 'Censorship!' when supporters of America had the temerity to criticize the Dixie Chicks, or when Ari Fleischer suggested, in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, that people might want to choose their words carefully? Here we have a case in which a newspaper is actually getting hauled into court for publishing a critical letter to the editor, and we've heard little but silence from the free-speech crowd.
Maybe the content of the letter explains why. The AP reports the letter 'suggested American soldiers in Iraq respond to attacks on them by killing Muslims at nearby mosques.' The plaintiffs in the suit are 'fearful Tucson Muslims' who said they decided 'to keep their children home from religious schools' because they were intimidated by the letter. The judge ruled that, in her words, 'reasonable minds could differ in determining whether the publication of the letter rose to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct.'
Well, maybe. The newspaper's editor"

2Slick's Forum

2Slick's ForumIf you have not read this hopefully 'semi' final post of a Blackhawk pilot in Iraq, I encourage you to read his post from January 1,2005. His entry. "Hang Your Head in Shame" expresses his views about the political posturing regarding America in response to the tragedy of the tsunami.

Terrorism is 'kidnapping' Islam

"Tunis, Tunisia, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Jordanian Interior Minister Samir Habashneh has urged Arab and Muslim states to join efforts in combating terrorism, which he said is tarnishing Islam. He stressed that in order to abort the "kidnapping operation" by terrorists, Arabs and Muslims should join efforts "to restore the true image of Islam, which is that of tolerance and love." LINK

I do not know if this man has any influence to sway the opinions of leaders in the middle east, but it would be great if he does. My interaction with Muslims via blogs, has convinced me that the ordinary person of the Islamic faith is a good and decent person. It is those who are indoctrinated into the terrorists hate filled vision of imposing Sharia law on the world who are the threat. If the good people, who love their faith and humanity can regain control of Islam, this will be a safer world for people of all faiths.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Inaugural Parade Controversy

"Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian Defense Coalition, contends the Secret Service has 'trampled the First Amendment and crushed religious freedom in the public square.'
'Simply put, it is religious bigotry and censorship,' he said. 'It is even more troubling when one realizes that it is only Christian symbols that have been excluded from the inauguration parade.' "

A spokesman for the Secret Service explained,"The reference to the cross is strictly in regard to structure, certainly not the symbol," he said. "There is no prohibition based on content, only structure or materials that could be used in a potentially harmful or threatening manner."
The prohibition was issued in a Dec. 17 memo to the National Park Service that the Christian Defense Coalition received along with its approved demonstration permit. The Secret Service memo says, in part:

"With respect to signs and placards, the Secret Service would ask that these items be limited to items made of cardboard, poster board or cloth and have dimensions no greater than three feet in width, twenty feet in length and one-quarter inch thickness. As noted above, we are asking that supports for signs and placards be prohibited as these items may be used as a means of concealing weapons or as weapons themselves."
Additionally, the prohibition on structures includes props, folding chairs, bicycles, displays such as puppets papier mache objects, coffins, crates, crosses, theaters, cages and statues.

Mahoney told WND his group plans to be at the Jan. 20 event for a prayer vigil and "to challenge President Bush to remember the innocent children who have been lost through abortion and to appoint pro-life justices." LINK

As a Christian, this vigil to challenge President Bush's memory, strikes me as being inappropriate. The campaign is over, the President is well aware that he had strong support from Christians and pro-life voters. This is a ceremony to inaugurate the President, not some campaign rally. The Democrats have lost and are being made aware that Christian, pro-life views played a large role in their defeat. Do we really have to rub their noses in their loss? Have we all not been angered by the mindless criticism of Christian, pro-life people by the left? Do we really want to emulate their behavior in crying censorship and violation of individual rights?

The first amendment rights are not being trampled. This group may use crosses on placards that fit the other requirements. The Secret Service has the primary goal of assuring weapons are not hidden in some way in items carried by the people. With all the suggestions of assassination in the media, you would think that any pro Bush group would want to follow all guidelines for protecting the physical safety of the President. In reading the article, It seems to support the view that we Christians are none to bright. There is an appropriate time and place to stand up for our beliefs. This is not it.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Agreeing with John Kerry--Surprised?, Me Too!

Since I am one of the privileged to have my Email address known to the Democrats, John Kerry still writes to me. Today's letter dealt with the fraud in elections, votes not counted etc. which is the same old "stolen election" rhetoric. He did admit that the teams of lawyers could not come up with sufficient proof to invalidate the results and requested I join him in calling Sen.. Frist and Rep. Hastert to demand the following:
"I urge you to join me in using this occasion to highlight our demand that Congress commit itself this year to reforming the electoral system. A Presidential election is a national federal election but we have different standards in different states for casting and counting votes. We need a national federal standard to solve the problems that occurred in the 2004 election. I will propose legislation to help achieve this."

What I agree with is the need for standards nationwide that will not allow for voting without proper registration, some recognized identification as proof of eligibility to register, voting in district registered, issuing absentee ballots in ample time to reach their destination and be returned by our military serving overseas and a method for time extension, if needed, to allow military votes to be counted. Early voting as allowed in NC allowed me to pick the day and the time I voted. I personally would vote for the paper ballot, completed in ink and counted by scanner. This allows for recounts if needed. I think that each voting area be supervised by a Democrat and
a Republican who both certify the status of scanners before the count starts and at specified intervals during the voting and at the completion of the scanning operation. These simple steps would allow people voting in both major parties to have some assurance that fraud is not occurring.

Kerry is going to propose legislation which in itself is unique considering his record during twenty years in the Senate (perhaps he has a ghost writer) but it will at least be discussed which is needed.

Can Anybody Relate To This?

Cleaning Poem

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess?
He asked if I'd been 'puting,
And I had to answer "yes"
He told me to get off my butt
And tidy up the house
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.
I wiped and shined the topside
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work...
I didn't mean to 'click'
But click, I did, and LOL I found
A real absorbing site
That I got SO way into...
I was into it all night
<>
Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny
I guess my house will stay a mess...
While I sit here on my hiney

Author unknown

Free Exercise Of Religion

"New York state has already made it illegal for hospitals to refuse the morning-after pill to rape victims, regardless of religious affiliation. One hospital has already been fined $46,000 for failing to administer the abortifacient." This information comes from LifeSiteNews.com.

Seems to me this flies in the face of the establishment clause that states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Although this is state law, it surely should not supercede Constitutional law. This is prohibiting the free
exercise of the freedom for churches which have a long history of establishing hospitals to sustain life and improve health. By state law they are now to stock and dispense medication that instead causes death of a beginning life despite their religious convictions. Not only does this undermine the mission of the church supported hospitals, it forces the health care providers such as Christian doctors, pharmacists and nurses to performi a task which is against their religious principles.

I realize that all people are not against abortion by the use of the morning-after pill and that is their right to make their personal decision.
There are many physicians, pharmacists and nurses who personally support the use of such medication so that a rape victim does not suffer the added trauma of being pregnant. While I sympathize with rape victims, I am thankful that I was not put in a position of administering such a pill.

I began my nursing education in the early 1950s and was taught in my Christian hospital school that I had a legal right to refuse to participate in abortions. Seems these rights are no longer intact. The ability of church run institutions to perform health services in keeping with their faith based principles is no longer protected. Hospitals which are faith based have long refused to have abortions performed in their institutions. and thus we saw the establishment of clinics which were dedicated to abortion. Some politicians have recommended changing this and forcing hospitals to perform abortions and force the citizens of our nation to underwrite the cost of abortions for women in low income situations.

I respect the diversity of people in our nation. I am not on a crusade to overturn "Roe" or to make everyone follow the mandates of my faith.
I am against the steady erosion of religious freedoms by laws that force everyone to follow the secular humanism that is on a constant march to undermine the moral fabric of my country.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Letters for Our Troops

Slaglerock is once again collecting letters and messages for our troops at
LINK Take few minutes and send a letter or brief message of support and appreciation for our troops. They read this blog and read all the letters/messages in the comment section.

If someone would be kind enough to explain trackback and the mechanics of doing it, I will appreciate it. I noted in the comments section that I am not the only one who does
not use trackback. If you do, you can also post a letter and trackback to the Link above.

Thanks

Cows, Constitution and Ten Commandments

COWS

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington. And they tracked her calves to their stalls too. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.???

CONSTITUTION

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

TEN COMMANDMENTS

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse! You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians! It creates a hostile work environment!

From an Email, author unknown but it tickled my funnybone.

AARP Is Not Speaking For Me

Although no specific details of the plan for changes in Social Secuity are yet to be debated in Congress, the President's plan for privatising a portion of the
current deduction for younger persons has had a fair amount of debate. I posted on October 18, 2004 noting that President Bush promised that current retirees and those approaching retirement would not experience a change in their benefits. I also noted that Sen. Kerry voted to tax my SS benefits. Much is written in the MSM decrying any tampering with the current program and blaming the Bush administration of having looted the fund. The fund has been looted for years and is replaced by government securities that pay low dividends. The AARP does not speak for me in it's efforts to forestall any change in current SS law.
The following excerpt of articles from the National Review Online LINKsupport my feelings and introduce information which is new to me such as the Thrift Savings Plan for government employees. I was aware for many years that Congress has voted itself a retirement program whose benefits vastly exceed what is available to ordinary citizens since the SS program did not provide sufficiently for those who are or were in power. I knew of many pre-redtirement deaths but never considered the degree to which ethnicity plays a role in many never collecting any benefits because of death at an early age. If they have children under age 18 there is a survivor's benefit as well as a survivor's benefit to a spouse if married 10 years or longer to the deceased. If survivor's do not qualify, the deceased person's entire contribution remains in government control.

As a senior citizen, I am concerned about the integrity of Social Security and wonder how our younger workers will survive if the system is bankrupt at the time they retire. The ratio of workers paying into the system compared to retirees drawing benefits will ultimately have one of two outcomes, the retirees will not get benefits or the taxation of all citizens will continue to rise in an effort to meet the obligations to SS beneficiearies. I believe that this problem deserves serious consideration on the part of Congress to take the steps needed to help future retirees some degree of economic security. Ownership of one's money seems to be a good goal so long as safeguard's against early withdrawal and guidelines by those with true investment expertise assist ordinary citizens in this process.

According to Donald Luskin's article of December 27, 2004,"The critics never mention that there’s already a government-administered retirement system that has shown for over 15 years that personal accounts are prudent, inexpensive, and simple. It’s the Thrift Savings Plan of the United States federal government, currently serving 3.3 million government employees.

The years since Thrift was first offered in 1987 couldn’t make for a better laboratory to crash-test a personal-account system. During this period there have been both bull and bear markets that were among the most severe in history. Through year-end 2003, investments in Thrift personal accounts have earned $44.4 billion in profits for system participants — an average of more than $13,000 per participant."

Tom Nugent writes onJanuary 04, 2005, "Let’s also understand that the so-called “money” that is “saved” in the Social Security trust fund is bogus. The fund holds government securities that pay low market rates to the trust fund. Even if the fund is fully “funded,” it will still hold only government paper. When payment to beneficiaries comes due because current contributions are exceeded by claims, the government has to sell those bonds to get the money to pay beneficiaries.

History demonstrates that private investments fluctuate in value in the short-term. However, if properly diversified, history tells us that a retirement plan’s probability of losing money is near zero. And let’s not forget that, in the short term, government bonds lost half their value back in the 1970s — so don’t just lay the blame on the short-term volatility of private markets."

Rich Lowry writes in the article dated 1/04/04,"According to Social Security expert David John of the Heritage Foundation, one-fifth of white males die between the ages of 50 and 70. But one-third of black males die between those ages. If you die before you reach the age of 62, you have no chance of collecting benefits, and if you die shortly thereafter, you will not recoup the payroll taxes you paid into the system.

Under most reform plans, a private account will fund the same spousal benefit as in the current system, but the remaining balance will go directly to the deceased's family. In the current system, if someone dies and has no wife or children, the money he has paid in simply disappears. Under reform, the beneficiary would be able to designate who receives the assets in his account, whether it is a niece or a church. The money stays in the community.

Monday, January 03, 2005

UN Rescue Update-- Eight Days After Disaster

Diplomad offers another update on the UN team which finally arrived.
Read his full post.

" The team has spent the day and will likely spend a few more setting up their 'coordination and opcenter' at a local five-star hotel. And their number one concern, even before phones, fax and copy machines? Arranging for the hotel to provide 24hr catering service."The Diplomad

Once again, the UN shows just how efficiently run this world body is.
Isn't it great that the US pays so much of it's support. Thankfully
President Bush has engaged former Presidents Bush and Clinton to
continue seeking donations from private citizens and businesses. I trust this money will not be under UN control.

The Judiciary

"Although most of the Framers of the Constitution anticipated that the Federal judiciary would be the weakest branch of Government, the U.S. Supreme Court has come to wield enormous power with decisions that have reached into the lives of every citizen and resolved some of the most dramatic confrontations in U.S. history. The word of the Supreme Court is final. Overturning its decisions often requires an amendment to the Constitution or a revision of Federal law.

The power of the Supreme Court has evolved over time, through a series of milestone court cases. One of the Court's most fundamental powers is judicial review–the power to judge the constitutionality of any act or law of the executive or legislative branch. Some of the Framers expected the Supreme Court to take on the role of determining the constitutionality of Congress's laws, but the Constitution did not explicitly assign it to the Court. Marbury v. Madison, the 1803 landmark Supreme Court case, established the power of judicial review."
LINK

In my previous post, I stated that unless the people, through their elected congress and executive branch have some means of dealing with judges who act beyond the scope of what is acceptable by the people, we have a judicial dictatorship. If decisions made by judges are not adhering to the Constitution of The United States as it was written, including the amendments, the courts are free to decide that their own opinions outweigh the opinions of the people. We lost the ability to utilize prayer in government schools. The ACLU has won many cases, upheld by the courts, that are in direct opposition to what the majority support. We therefore, via the inability to hold judges accountable for decisions contrary to what the majority would decide, are seeing the tyranny of the bench manifest itself. Rights of the majority have been eliminated in efforts to protect the viewpoints of a few. Congress and the executive branch are weakened by the ability of the courts to interpret legislation as unconstitutional even when there is no clear-cut support for their views. The people have lost their voice.

Successes in Iraq

For anyone imnterested in what good things are happening in Iraq read the past two days posts from the Mudville Gaszette. Greyhawk links to a WSJ article written by Arthur Chrenkoff and reports the military successes within the hostilities reported by the MSM.
Mudville Gazette

Sunday, January 02, 2005

Tracking Down Immigrant Fugitives

Homeland Security Department has 18 fugitive squads trying to track down 370,000 'absconders' -- illegal immigrants who have disobeyed orders to leave the country.

"At the top of the list were 6,000 absconders from Muslim and Middle Eastern countries, officials announced.

But by early 2003, authorities had resolved only 38 percent of those cases, either by detaining the immigrants or by confirming that they had left the country or gotten legal status, according to the 9/11 Commission. In a report on terrorist travel, the commission concluded: "It is very difficult to find alien absconders without extraordinary effort or pure luck."

"People feel they can get away with running . . . because the immigration law isn't enforced..."

Electronic ankle bracelets and ordering periodic call ins have been tried because of the lack of detention beds but these methods have allowed those ordered deported to abscond.

Currently the agency is making plans for 30 more teams which according to the article have four men and a supervisor involved in the search for one individual. When the leads fail, they move on to another absconder and eventually find one. Whether or not funding will be available to form these teams is uncertain.

It is difficult to accept that people who are ordered to leave the country are expected to "call in" and let officials know where they are. Why are these illegals allowed back into our population so they may disappear? How long does it take to arrange transportation back to the countries they came from? It would seem more economical to keep them in custody, get them to the airport and escort them to their home country. This would eliminate the need to build more detention facilities and the need to develop teams of fugitive squads to search them out after they have absconded.
LINK

Saturday, January 01, 2005

Rehnquist defends lifetime tenures

"WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, ailing from thyroid cancer, defended lifetime appointments for judges as necessary to insulate them from pressures as they deal with politically sensitive issues.
Rehnquist's year-end report, to be released today, addresses concerns about so-called activist judges and Congress' move to strip judges of some of their authority."

Rehnquist said that judges should not be punished by Congress because of their decisions and that their lifetime tenure protects their independence.

``It is not a perfect system -- vacancies do not occur on regular schedules, and judges do not always decide cases the way their appointers might have anticipated. But for over 200 years it has served our democracy well and ensured a commitment to the rule of law,'' Rehnquist said.LINK

I have to agree that this is not a perfect system in that tenure protects a person from being accountable for abuse of their position. This can hold true for teachers, legislators as well as judges. Years ago, the solemn charge that came with accepting the position seemed enough to keep most persons in lifetime positions accountable to the highest standard of conduct in their professional role and to leave their personal politics or agendas outside the realm of their work. This no longer appears to be the case.

In the United States there is a separation of powers. If the executive branch extends it's powers, there is a remedy. Congress may impeach, people will not re-elect and the Supreme Court can rule against the executive branch. The same holds true for congressional members in that the individual vote of one or of a minority of members can not mandate a congressional vote, they may be censured and kept out of leadership positions within congress and the people can vote them out of office. Truly illegal activity of a representative or senator may be and has been handled by the courts, thereby forcing resignation from the position held. Unless the people, through their elected congress and executive branch have some means of dealing with judges who act beyond the scope of what is acceptable by the people, we have a judicial dictatorship. Our republic ceases to be for the people and by the people since we do not have a direct voice in the appointment of judges to the Federal and Supreme Courts.

Our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution with a system of checks and balances. Legislation is the function of Congress and not of activist judges
who bring their own personal bias into their rulings. One of the reasons that I, as an Independent voter, voted for Republicans was my hope that this judicial misuse of their powers would be reigned in. Something as significant as gay marriage should not be based on the opinion of a few but rather voted on by referendum to do the will of the majority of the people.

"Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks-no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea, if there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them." --James Madison
"'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free Government." --George Washington

The recent election and the power of "values" plus the number of states who passed law against non traditional marriage should indicate what the majority of people in this nation support. The courts who consistently favor the minority opinion, the offense to one or a few individuals sensitivity to anything that represents the moral and faith values of our founding fathers is the reason people are upset with the courts. If and when judges hold their interpretations in light of constitutional origins, we the people will not accept tenure for life as a given for anyone in public office.


UPDATE
For other opinions read Patterico

The Diplomad Describes UN Response To Disaster

Read the Diplomad's take on UN efforts in SE Asia. Those paid UN workers really need the comforts of home before they do anything

The Diplomad