Whatever Comes to Mind...

Conservative Blog: The Ten Cannots

2010-11-06T22:28:00.000-06:00

The Ten Cannots

These have been attributed to Abraham Lincoln, when it was a conservative Presbyterian minister, William J. H. Boetcker, who published them in 1916. While they are not the words of Lincoln, the list was read by Ronald Reagan at the 1992 Republican Convention. That’s good enough for me.

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.

You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.

You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.

And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Seems like a nice way to start a blog entitled “Conservative Principles”.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

I don't believe the Official Version: Netanyahu's Personal Security Guards' Guns Stolen Enroute to DC

2010-07-07T21:54:00.006-06:00

There issomething terribly wrong with this story. And yes, I believe thatsomeone in the BO adminstration had a hand in leaking the information on Bibi's itinerary. Something smells to high hell in DC. I do not believe that Netnayahu's guns are "ordinary." The theft was no accident.

There is more to this story. I understand all fingerprints were wiped clean.

Security Beefed Up for Netanyahu after Guards’ Guns Stolen INN

Security for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was tightened shortly after his arrival in Washington early Tuesday morning when it was discovered that four handguns belong to body guards had been stolen.
The pistols were in a suitcase that was supposed to have been transferred from his chartered El Al plane, which landed in New York, to an American Airlines plane to Washington. The Prime Minister arrived in Washington on schedule, but the suitcase did not. It was later discovered in Los Angeles -- without the four handguns.
American Airlines has not commented on the incident and it is not clear whether the guns were stolen in New York or in Los Angeles. The theft was an embarrassment for airport security at JFK airport in New York.
Officialsdid not explain why the plane landed in New York instead of flying directly to Washington.

Thomas Sowell says it best...

2010-02-01T19:35:00.002-06:00

BO's desire to do something "historic" by succeeding, where previous presidents had failed, was perfectly consistent for a man consumed with his own ego satisfaction, rather than the welfare of the country or even of his own political party.

Someone's president is a total disaster. Let's hope that Americans will awaken from the so-called messiah stupor and start using their brains at the ballot box.

BO said...

2009-11-04T22:08:00.003-06:00

BO said that all bills would be shown on the Internet for a week before they would vote on them.

When is this going to happen, or was it yet another lie from the book Rules for Radicals?

In BO's America the people don't need to know that's going on. Much like Mao's China.

That stinks like BO.

CNSNews.com - U.S. Education Secretary Dodges Question on Whether Martin Luther King's Views on God's Law Should Be Taught in Public School

2009-08-27T11:26:00.000-06:00

CNSNews.com - U.S. Education Secretary Dodges Question on Whether Martin Luther King's Views on God's Law Should Be Taught in Public School

CNSNews.com - Despite What Advocates of Illegal Immigration Say, There are No Jobs ‘Americans Won’t Do,’ Says Study

2009-08-27T11:25:00.000-06:00

CNSNews.com - Despite What Advocates of Illegal Immigration Say, There are No Jobs ‘Americans Won’t Do,’ Says Study

CNSNews.com - Inspired by Saul Alinsky, FCC 'Diversity' Chief Calls for ‘Confrontational Movement’ to Give Public Broadcasting Dominant Role in Communications

2009-08-27T11:20:00.000-06:00

CNSNews.com - Inspired by Saul Alinsky, FCC 'Diversity' Chief Calls for ‘Confrontational Movement’ to Give Public Broadcasting Dominant Role in Communications

5 Liberal Myths About Health Care 'Reform'

2009-08-14T12:49:00.002-06:00

This is from Redstate

Posted by Jeff Emanuel (Profile)

Thursday, August 13th at 8:00AM EDT

The debate over health care reform — what constitutes it and what public opinion of such reform really is — has become more polarizing as the summer has gone on. Below are five key liberal talking points about health care “reform” and an accompanying dose of truth their peddlers so desperately need to hear.

1. Republicans, who either believe the health care status quo is perfectly acceptable or are in the pockets of lobbyists who pay them to say so, are opposed to the very idea of reform and want to block any effort to fix our health care system.

This is, of course, entirely untrue. Anybody can look at the American health care system — which is and continues to be the best in the world — and spot areas that are in need of improvement. Left and right differ in their views of what those problems are and how they are best dealt with. Republicans and conservatives only oppose “reform” outright if the term is limited to meaning the government-centric overhaul that the president and congressional Democrats are pushing.

Actual reform — a reduction in the dependence on third-party payers, increase in patient choice, reduction of costs, increase in personal freedom and control of health care dollars, added portability of health coverage, and reduced governmental interference — is almost universally supported on the right.

The two sides also differ in their approach to the other’s ideas. Conservatives look at the left’s proposals for “reform” and argue that — based on simple mathematics and economics, as well as on the physical evidence provided by states and countries who have already implemented the Democrats’ proposed solutions — implementing them will only make things worse. Liberals’ knee-jerk reaction to conservative counterproposals is to discard them out of hand because they do not rely on greater government influence and increased regulation to solve the health care system’s issues.

This is followed by accusations that those on the right either favor the status quo or are being paid by lobbyists and “big insurance” to spread the falsehood that “everything is fine” in American health care. The latter deserves no more attention than the brief moment it takes to point out how insulated a worldview is required to believe, as many on the left do, that their proposals and beliefs simply cannot be honestly opposed, and therefore any who publicly disagree with their policies must be getting paid off to do so.

Of course, the right is not defending the status quo in any way, shape, or form in the health care debate. Rather, conservatives are simply offering alternative, market- and individual freedom-friendly solutions while seeking to prevent a fundamental shift in our nation’s economy from being enacted without the relevant legislation even having been read or carefully considered first.

In fact, it is the left that has a recent history of declaring the status quo sufficient during a period of debate over reform. In 2005, when President Bush was pushing a partial privatization of Social Security in order to provide retirees with more control over their retirement dollars and to stave off the program’s looming bankruptcy (Social Security currently sits $20 trillion in the red), Democrats fought tooth-and-nail against the proposed overhaul, citing their belief that the program was not yet in “crisis” and therefore that no action whatsoever was needed.

2. President Obama’s health reform proposal is vastly popular among the people, representing the “collective will” of the American population.

This may be the number one myth driving the left’s passionate defense of their view of health “reform,” and the one which most reinforces their belief that opponents of President Obama’s proposal are in the pockets of Big Insurance or other special interests who pay them well for their active opposition. However, a simple look at public opinion polls will suffice to burst this bubble.

Support for Obama’s health overhaul proposal, which has been declining for months, is only 44 percent of Americans, according to Rasmussen. This is down from 46 percent who supported it in July, which is itself down from 50 percent in June. Further, 53 percent of Americans are now opposed to the Democrats’ “reform” plan that many liberals think represents the “collective will” of the American population.

The fact is, the more time that passes, and the more Americans learn about the Democrat proposal, the less popular it becomes — a key factor in Obama’s failed effort to rush his “reform” legislation through Congress as quickly as possible.

3. Everybody in America hates their insurance provider and has stories of themselves or someone they know being screwed over by an insurance company.

This assertion is so widely assumed to be true among Democrats that it formed the basis for a significant shift in presidential messaging on health care. Throughout his campaign and the first few months of his presidency, Barack Obama referred almost exclusively to “health care reform.” With fewer Americans supporting the idea of a top-to-bottom overhaul of the health care system, Obama and his fellow Democrats changed tack and went for a target they were certain every American could support fighting: so-called Big Insurance.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a public speech in which she referred to HMOs (which, lest we forget, were created by that now-arch-enemy of Big Insurance, Senator Ted Kennedy) as “villains” (though she has said she will not give back the money insurers have given to her campaign over the years), and President Obama himself has replaced the phrase “health care reform” with “health insurance reform.”

The problem with this assumption by Obama and the Democrats is that the sampling they relied on for this messaging shift is about as representative as that Pauline Kael consulted before her famous 1972 declaration that “everybody [she] knew” voted for George McGovern for president!

Generalizations and assumptions like this are a major reason why rigidly ideological leftists like Obama are genuinely mystified at the failure of their ideas and proposals to sweep through and inflame the populace like wildfire. Were Democrats to listen to those they purport to represent, rather than simply relying on that which they “know” to be true, they would know that going after individuals’ health insurers and providers is a losing proposition in this country.

Simple polling shows this to be the case. A July 1 Quinnipiac poll found that 85 percent of Americans are “satisfied” with their health insurance plan, with almost 58 percent of those being “very satisfied.” A June 20 New York Times/CBS News poll found that 77 percent were satisfied with their health care. Further, that same NYT/CBS poll found that 77 percent of insured Americans found health care “affordable.” At the end of May, a Rasmussen poll found that a comparatively paltry 70 percent of Americans rate their health coverage “good” or “excellent.” Much like the Obama “reform” plan has grown less popular as people have found out more about it, Americans’ opinions of their own coverage and care have improved as they have gotten a better look at the government-run alternative.

Further, not only do fewer people than Democrats expect have stories of being “screwed over” by their insurance company, but there are myriad examples of people being denied treatment and care by government-run health care programs and so-called “public options” of the type Obama and his allies wish to implement here. State governments have even gone to court here in the U.S. in an effort to have bureaucrats ruled more competent arbiters of medical decisions than medical professionals themselves.

Pointing out such facts almost invariably elicits the rebuttal “private insurance rations/denies care, too” — a response that is a complete non-starter as long as the goal posts in the health care reform debate remain where the Democrats laying out the playing field initially put them. The rationale for a government-centric health care overhaul has from the beginning centered on the ability of government to somehow do health care better — more humanely, more fairly, and more universally — than the pseudo-free market we currently have. Sadly, empirical evidence shows that such is not the case.

4. Republicans and “opponents of change” are employing scare tactics and peddling misinformation about the cost or contents of the health reform legislation in Congress and about President Obama’s proposal.

This has been the party line for the Democratic National Committee, MoveOn.org, the SEIU, and the Obama administration since opposition to their health care overhaul proposals began to take root among the general population. However, the actions of those pro-ObamaCare organizations — which amount to employing actual scare tactics and waging a misinformation campaign against those citizens who have turned out at town hall meetings across the country to express their concerns about the proposed health overhaul — have not been those of victimized policy proponents, but of professional agitators whose only experience dealing with people is as part of smear campaigns and astroturfing efforts, and whose knee-jerk reaction to dissent is to declare it “dangerous” and to quash it.

The information being repeated by opponents of President Obama’s health overhaul proposal comes from cost analyses published by the officially non-partisan Congressional Budget Office and from testimony by CBO director (and joint Nancy Pelosi/Robert Byrd appointee) Doug Elmendorf, as well as from ordinary citizens actually reading the health overhaul bills — an exercise many in Congress (and the president himself) have turned up their noses at repeatedly.

Publicly stating the contents of legislation, and asking those who will vote on whether that legislation becomes the law of the land, is neither an illegitimate scare tactic nor a misinformation campaign. On the other hand, sending union thugs to threaten protesters, calling on American citizens to turn their fellow men and women in to the government for questioning the president’s policy proposals online or in “casual conversation,” and rallying Democratic supporters by repeatedly and publicly referring to civic-minded citizens as a “dangerous mob” that must be countered and stopped are examples of both scare tactics and misinformation.

It’s just not coming from Republicans, or from those nefarious “opponents of change.”

5. Republicans are preventing health reform from taking place despite the best efforts of President Obama and Democrats in Congress.

The persistence of this myth speaks to both the lack of civics education in our school systems and the prevalence of partisan finger-pointing in the political discourse. The Democratic Party currently has 60 seats in the U.S. Senate — a filibuster-proof supermajority. If Senate Democrats actually want to pass a health overhaul bill, there is absolutely nothing the few Republicans in that body can do to stop them.

Further, Democrats have a 70-seat advantage in the House of Representatives. As Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) pointed out in July, this means every Republican representative could bring their surviving parents to a House vote and still not have a large enough contingent to defeat the Democrats on any legislation the latter wished to pass.

The Democrats got what they wished for — total control of Washington, D.C., and of the lawmaking and enforcing branches of government. However, liberals traditionally specialize in owning intentions, not results or consequences, meaning many are having difficulty accepting responsibility for enacting those policies they so steadfastly claim to support.

In the end, Democrats’ problems passing a health care overhaul bill are theirs and theirs alone, as are their problems enacting any other aspects of the sweeping liberal agenda so many of them — including the president — campaigned for office on.

10 reasons Obamacare stinks like BO

2009-08-13T10:48:00.001-06:00

1. Millions Will Lose Their Current Insurance: President Obama wants Americans to believe they can keep their insurance if they like. Proposed economic incentives, plus a government-run health plan would cause 88.1 million people to see their current employer-sponsored health plan disappear.

2. Your Health Care Coverage Will Probably Change Anyway: Even if you keep your private insurance, eventually most remaining plans will have to conform to new federal benefit standards. Moreover, the necessary plan “upgrades” will undoubtedly cost you more in premiums.

3. The Umpire Is Also the First Baseman: The main argument for a “public option” is that it would increase competition. However, if the federal government creates a healthcare plan that it controls and also sets the rules for the private plans, there is little doubt that Washington would put its private sector “competitors” out of business sooner or later.

4. The Fed Picks Your Treatment: President Obama said: “They’re going to have to give up paying for things that don’t make them healthier. ... If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half for the thing that’s going to make you well.” Does that sound like a government that will stay out of your healthcare decisions?

5. Individual Mandate Means Less Liberty and More Taxes: President Obama is open to the imposition of an individual mandate that would require all Americans to have federally approved health insurance. This unprecedented federal directive not only takes away your individual freedom but could cost you as well. Lawmakers are considering a penalty or tax for those who don’t buy government-approved health plans.

6. Higher Taxes Than Europe Hurt Small Businesses: A proposed surtax on the wealthy will actually hit hundreds of thousands of small business owners who are dealing with a recession. If it is enacted, America’s top earners and job creators will carry a larger overall tax burden than in France, Italy, Germany, Japan, etc., with a total average tax rate greater than 52%. Is that the right recipe for jobs and wage growth?

7. Who Makes Medical Decisions? While the House and Senate language is vague, amendments offered in House and Senate committees to block government rationing of care were routinely defeated. Cost or a federal health board could be the deciding factor. President Obama himself admitted this when he said, “Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller,” when asked about an elderly woman who needed a pacemaker.

8. Taxpayer-Funded Abortions? Nineteen Democrats recently asked the President to not sign any bill that doesn’t explicitly exclude “abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan” or any bill that allows a federal health board to “recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package.” Currently, these provisions do not exist.

9. It’s Not Paid For: The CBO says the current House plan would increase the deficit by $239 billion over 10 years. And that amount will likely continue to rise over the long term.

10. Rushing It, Not Reading It: We’ve been down this road before -- with the failed stimulus package. Back then, we also heard that we were in a crisis and that we needed to pass a 1,000-plus-page bill in a few hours -- without reading it -- or we would have 8% unemployment. Deception is the only reason to rush through a bill nobody truly understands.

Dick Tracy

2009-07-20T00:21:00.002-06:00

Are there any Dick Tracy fans out there?

I've began a new interest in Chester Gould's "Dick Tracy". I read them off and on from the 60's and recently became attracted to them again.

If you know of any good Dick Tracy sites, let me know. This is too fun.

Is Waterboarding Really Torture?

2009-06-14T22:04:00.004-06:00

This is a very touchy subject with some Congressmen and Representatives. Here's a very informative editorial.

According to many, waterboarding is an exquisite form of torture, in the same category as the thumbscrew, flogging, electric shocks or having to listen to James Carville.

Of the hundreds of suspected terrorists we have captured since 9-11, precisely three have been waterboarded by Central Intelligence Agency operatives who believed that their acts were legal because of written advice given by the Department of Justice in the so-called “torture memos.”
Now there is every sort of controversy surrounding these uses of waterboarding. The President, who ruled out prosecutions of the CIA interrogators, has specifically not ruled out possible prosecutions of the Bush-era Justice Department officials, and others, who were involved in approving the use of waterboarding.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still at odds with the CIA, having denied -- as the CIA contends -- that she was briefed on the use of waterboarding on September 2, 2002. Pelosi said the CIA lies. CIA Director Leon Panetta says his agency told the truth.
But this is more than a high-stakes political game of “he said, she said.” It really matters what happened.

HUMAN EVENTS has written before about the likelihood that the 2002 Justice Department legal opinion advising that waterboarding -- as the CIA did it -- was legal. But there is another side to this issue.

Too many people who insist that the CIA tortured the infamous three are throwing out analogies insisting that the CIA waterboarding was no different from that of the Spanish Inquisition or war criminals of the 1940s.

Let us suspend politics for a moment. Just what are the facts of waterboarding? What did the CIA do? How does it compare to historical waterboarding that we regard as torture?
In an August 1, 2002 legal memorandum for John Rizzo, then General Counsel of the CIA, Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee described waterboarding as one of the 10 “techniques” used to retrieve information from Abu Zubaydah, one of Osama bin Laden’s confidants. According to the report, Zubaydah withheld critical information regarding “terrorist networks in the United States or in Saudi Arabia” and intelligence “regarding plans to conduct attacks within the United States or against our interests overseas.” The waterboarding procedure used on Zubaydah is detailed in the memorandum as follows:

“The individual is bound securely to an inclined bench, which is approximately four feet by seven feet. The individual’s feet are generally elevated. A cloth is placed over the forehead and eyes. Water is then applied to the cloth in a controlled manner. As this is done, the cloth is lowered until it covers both the nose and mouth. Once the cloth is saturated and completely covers the mouth and nose, air flow is slightly restricted for 20 to 40 seconds due to the presence of the cloth. This causes an increase in carbon dioxide level in the individual’s blood. This increase in the carbon dioxide level stimulates increased effort to breathe. This effort plus the cloth produces the perception of ‘suffocation and incipient panic,’ i.e., the perception of drowning. The individual does not breathe any water into his lungs. During those 20 to 40 seconds, water is continuously applied from a height of twelve to twenty-four inches. After this period, the cloth is lifted, and the individual is allowed to breathe unimpeded for three or four full breaths. The sensation of drowning is immediately relieved by the removal of the cloth. The procedure may then be repeated. The water is usually applied from a canteen cup or small watering can with a spout. You have orally informed us that this procedure triggers an automatic physiological sensation of drowning that the individual cannot control even though he may be aware that he is in fact not drowning. You have also orally informed us that it is likely that this procedure would not last more than 20 minutes in any one application. […] We also understand that a medical expert with SERE experience will be present throughout this phase and that the procedures will be stopped if deemed medically necessary to prevent severe mental or physical harm to Zubaydah.”

It is safe to say that the past iterations of waterboarding peppered throughout history -- from Iberia to Holland to Cambodia -- are not uniform and are notably more cruel than what terrorist prisoners, such as Zubaydah, and a few brazen (and self-motivated) reporters have been subjected to since 9-11.

In light of the 2005 amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill which -- though unclear -- inarguably made waterboarding illegal, basic historical analysis can hopefully trace the evolution of waterboarding and give an answer to our basic question.

In response to the pre-2005 amendment definition of torture, Bybee’s CIA memorandum advises that waterboarding cannot be classified as torture:

“The waterboarding, which inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever, does not, in our view inflict ‘severe pain or suffering.’ Even if one were to parse the statute more finely to attempt to treat ‘suffering’ as a distinct concept, the waterboard could not be said to inflict severe suffering. The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering.”

This article is neither a legal analysis nor a comprehensive historical survey: It merely strives to explore the instances of waterboarding over time, to give a bit of contextual weight to the debate and illustrate that the waterboarding practiced during the Spanish Inquisition and beyond is not the same as the waterboarding described in Bybee’s memo.

To begin, in medieval Europe water and fire trials were considered separate from more brutal forms of physical torture. Unlike other forms of abuse -- motivated by desperation to extract confessions or simply punish prisoners -- water torture was primarily used to determine culpability rather than inflict pain. These “trials by ordeal” were not only intrinsic to pre-modern justice systems, but were inherently religious: innocence or guilt was believed to be in the judgment of God, as indicated by the results of these relatively less debilitating and scarring tests.

For instance, an early practice consisted of tying up the accused with rope and dunking him in water. If a knot along the rope far from the victim were wet after the dip, then the accused was deemed innocent. In another ritual, the accused was forced to submerge his hand in heated water. If, in three days, the blisters had begun to heal properly, then he was judged innocent. Such trials were banned by the Pope in 1215 due to corruption --victims began to pay bribes to have the water temperature lowered.

According to the Bybee memo: “A defendant is guilty of torture only if he acts with the express purpose of inflicting severe pain or suffering on a person within his custody or physical control.” Interestingly, the idea of exacting justice, not torturing, is traceable in the medieval rituals as well as in the U.S. government’s legal justification. This is where the similarities end.

Some of the earliest forms of what we now refer to as “waterboarding” are attributed to the practices carried out during the Spanish Inquisition -- a rather broad historical designation roughly covering the period from 1478 to 1834. During the Inquisition, Spain’s population was radically expurgated and subjected to inventive and horrific forms of torture. Waterboarding was one: It was knowingly administered with little or no concern for the long-term wellbeing of the prisoner and to extract false confessions. The Spanish form of waterboarding was an extension of mass hysteria -- there was no inkling of justice or intelligent motive involved.
In Spain, water torture was generally the second stage of the pre-interrogation intimidation process, following “squassation” -- the dislocation of the joints using a strappado, or rope mechanism. Prisoners were forced to swallow great amounts of water and would then have their stomachs pressed -- usually with a large wooden lid -- causing them to vomit. Eventually prisoners would lose consciousness, only to be resuscitated and repeatedly subjected to this sick procedure for days at a time. Organ distension caused terrible pain -- prisoners became bloated and felt as if their insides were aflame. In some instances salt water was used, leading to long-term injury and killing many of the prisoners.

This particular process seems foreign and detached from waterboarding. It may well be. In fact, few characteristics of our modern use of waterboarding were in place. Even those elements that are similar were carried out with significantly more disregard and gusto.

For example, a bostezo (iron bar) was used to hold the victim’s mouth open and toca (strips of linen) were forced down the victim’s throat by the rush of water, speeding up the choking process. More often than not, violently inserting the bostezo into the victim’s mouth would knock out teeth and the toca would emerge bloodied, having roughed the victim’s throat. According to some reports, in particularly brutal trials other much less appealing and hygienic fluids were substituted for water.

While the Spanish spread these crude methods, the Dutch perfected the art. In 1622 the Dutch used water torture to extract information from British merchants who were suspected of plotting to capture the Dutch headquarters in Amboyna, East Indies. Wrote one observer:

“They bound a cloth about his neck and face so close that little or no water could go by. That done, they poured the water softly upon his head until the cloth was full, up to the mouth and nostrils, and somewhat higher; so that he couldn’t draw breath, but he must withal suck-in the water…which being still continued to be poured in softly, forced all his inward parts, came out of his nose, eares and eyes, and often as it were stifling and choaking him, at length took away his breath, and brought him to a to a swounce or fainting.”

Clearly, the Dutch intended to extract a confession, fabricated or honest.

17th century Dutch writer Ernestus Eremundus Frisius provided an eerily detached account in The History of the Low Countries’ Disturbances, which aligns more closely with what is now recognized as “waterboarding”:

“There is a bench, which they call the wooden horse, made hollow like a trough, so as to contain a man lying on his back at full length […] with his feet much higher than his head. […] The torturer throws over his mouth and nostril a thin cloth, so that his is scarcely able to breathe thro’ them, and in the meanwhile a small stream of water like a thread, not drop by drop, falls from on high, upon the mouth of the person lying in this miserable condition, and so easily sinks down the thin cloth to the bottom of his throat, so that there is no possibility of breathing, his mouth being stopped with water and his nostrils with the cloth, so that the poor wretch is in the same agony as persons ready to die, and breathing out their last.”

Obviously, the intention was to cause severe torment, hanging on the brink of death.
In Europe, this period included a flowering of what might be referred to as “horribly enhanced interrogation techniques.” For instance, 16th century Italian lawyer Hippolytus de Marsiliis designed what has since been called “Chinese water torture” as a means of prompting confessions. For Europeans, forms of water trial -- such as the one described by Frisius -- are not comparable to “Chinese water torture”: While some forms of torture were designed to intimidate hostages and extract confessions and information, waterboarding was usually meant to abuse and terrify the prisoner. Generally it was administered rashly and cannot be described as accomplishing anything but flirting with homicide.

Another process known as the “water cure,” which is liberally conflated with other methods, consisted of forcing the prisoner to drink dangerous amounts of water by pouring it directly into the mouth and nostrils, leading to hyper-hydration and death in many cases. To escape death, prisoners would have to drink and inhale all of the water, or else they would be smothered by the deluge. In medieval France, 8 pints of water was the standard amount poured into the prisoner’s mouth. If his offense was especially deplorable this volume was doubled to 16 pints.
During the Thirty Years’ War (1618 to 48), German soldiers relished in administering what they called the “Swedish drink.” Perhaps the most storied examples of the water cure come from its mass use by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. On display at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh are the worn watering cans and wood slates. Of the millions murdered by the Khmer Rouge, we have no way of knowing how many were killed in this manner.

Certainly in the modern era -- from the 1899 to 1901 occupation of the Philippines, to the abuse of le chiffron by French troops during the Algerian War (1954 to 62) to the tortures recorded by detainees in Turkey during the infamous prison expose of 1980 to 85 -- water torture has been used as a cruel, sadistic and often fatal punishment accompanied by other manners of abuse.

In the Philippines, the water cure was more often than not used to kill off suspected and leftover insurrectos. In Algeria, salt water was substituted, killing the victim or causing long-term organ damage. In Turkey, scalding water was forcibly poured into the mouths of political prisoners.
These instances of torture and cruelty took years to uncover. Similarly, when the issue of torture arises in the U.S., a lengthy and indecisive definition process has often followed.

The common practice of locking prisoners in cubicles and showering them with ice-cold water was only abolished in 1882, 26 years after Simon Moore died in a New York state penitentiary after a half-hour session. (Whipping was legal in Delaware until 1935, and was administered legally in Maryland until as recently as 1961.)

Despite investigations, forms of water torture have also been condoned by earlier U.S. administrations. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt defended the “old Filipino method” used by American troops stationed in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He noted that the “water cure” did not “seriously damage” detainees. His permission, or tacit consent, during the War set somewhat of a precedent. Despite Roosevelt’s opinion, however, a few U.S. soldiers were court-martialed for administering the “water cure” during the war.
One of the most publicized cases of waterboarding is its use by the Japanese and Gestapo during World War II and the subsequent trials for “crimes against peace,”

“war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.” This instance illustrates the difference between waterboarding as administered by the CIA and waterboarding as administered by despotic regimes.

At the 1946 to 48 Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, 7 Japanese officials were sentenced to death and 16 given life sentences. It is important to note, however, that waterboarding was far from the sole offense committed by these criminals. Even the method of waterboarding in these cases can be called into question as especially violent and heinous: Prisoners were beaten between sessions, forced to drink large amounts of water and then had their stomachs bashed. Waterboarding was just one knot in a string of concurrent abuses: It was not necessarily applied to extract information or confessions, but as a sort of sadistic activity.

Prisoners of war were subjected to atrocious human experimentation -- often given lengthy operations without anesthesia -- and deadly chemicals were tested on POWs. Prisoners were starved and cannibalized. Countless POWs died performing forced labor, and mass killings and individual executions were pervasive. Severe “waterboarding” was a mere notch on the belt with regard to the mistreatment of prisoners by the Japanese and Gestapo. It was used to excess, with little to no intent to extract information vital to national security.

The historical records of waterboarding shed light on the current debate.

“Waterboarding” has been used throughout history variously; under different circumstances and with different intentions. If anything, considering waterboarding in a historical context illustrates the opaqueness of its categorization and adds a grain of salt to the arguments of those who vehemently defend or deplore it. On the other hand, this analysis clarifies that the differences between the CIA’s use of waterboarding and its historical precedent are very different and share little in common.
The use of waterboarding most like the CIA’s was applied to military members -- pilots and special operations troops -- at the “SERE” (survival, evasion, resistance and escape) School. According to the Bybee memo of August 1, 2002, it was performed in accordance with the description of the CIA method set out above.

Also according to that memo, from 1992 to 2001, 26,829 students were subjected to waterboarding at the SERE School. The Bybee memo found that because so few of the students subjected to it -- only 0.14% -- reportedly suffered lasting psychological harm, (which was the test under the 2002 law for torture) waterboarding by that method wasn’t torture.

To equate the use of waterboarding by the CIA to extract information to its manipulation by rogue regimes to specifically cause lasting harm or death is unreasonable and not historically justifiable.

Abortion Terrorist?

2009-06-08T21:12:00.003-06:00

Why aren't liberals rushing to assure us this time that "most pro-lifers are peaceful"? Unlike Muslims, pro-lifers actually are peaceful.

According to recent polling, a majority of Americans oppose abortion -- which is consistent with liberals' hysterical refusal to allow us to vote on the subject. In a country with approximately 150 million pro-lifers, five abortionists have been killed since Roe v. Wade.

In that same 36 years, more than 49 million babies have been killed by abortionists. Let's recap that halftime score, sports fans: 49 million to five.

Meanwhile, fewer than 2 million Muslims live in America and, while Muslims are less murderous than abortionists, I'm fairly certain they've killed more than five people in the United States in the last 36 years. For some reason, the number "3,000" keeps popping into my head.

So in a country that is more than 50 percent pro-life -- and 80 percent opposed to the late-term abortions of the sort performed by Tiller -- only five abortionists have been killed. And in a country that is less than 0.5 percent Muslim, several dozen Muslims have killed thousands of Americans.

But the killing of about one abortionist per decade leads liberals to condemn the entire pro-life movement as "domestic terrorists." At least liberals have finally found some terrorists they'd like to send to Guantanamo.

A Frightening Event

2009-05-30T09:23:00.003-06:00

SAN DIEGO -- A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, 10News reported.

Attorney Dean Broyles of The Western Center For Law & Policy was shocked with what happened to the pastor and his wife.

Broyles said, "The county asked, 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'"

The county employee notified the couple that the small Bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of County regulations, according to Broyles.

Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed "unlawful use of land" and told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit" -- a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars."

For churches and religious assemblies there's big parking concerns, there's environmental impact concerns when you have hundreds or thousands of people gathering. But this is a different situation, and we believe that the application of the religious assembly principles to this Bible study is certainly misplaced," said Broyles.

News of the case has rapidly spread across Internet blogs and has spurred various reactions.

Broyles said his clients have asked to stay anonymous until they give the county a demand letter that states by enforcing this regulation the county is violating their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.

Broyles also said this case has broader implications.

"If the county thinks they can shut down groups of 10 or 15 Christians meeting in a home, what about people who meet regularly at home for poker night? What about people who meet for Tupperware parties? What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?" Broyles asked.Broyles and his clients plan to give the County their demand letter this week.If the County refuses to release the pastor and his wife from obtaining the permit, they will consider a lawsuit in federal court.

Blah!

2009-04-11T18:29:00.003-06:00

Rick Warren is worthless.

I suggest that everyone stop reading his books and start reading the Bible.

Why?

Anyone who gives credit to man is not of God. The Word of God is the only truth we can rely upon.

Rick Warren wavers. God doesn't.

Period.

What does Rick Warren really believe?

2009-04-10T10:42:00.001-06:00

I'm not a fan of Rick Warren. He's always struck me as a shady used car or insurance salesman.
Yeah, he's said a few good things. So what?

This is from a article by Sandy Rios. I've cut what I believe is irrelevant but you can read the
entire editorial here.

Rick Warren deeply influential, rightly told his congregation “…if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues I come out very clear.”

Until this week … Holy Week.

On the first Holy Week Peter promised Jesus, “Though others may turn away, I will never deny you.” But then in the chill of night in a courtyard just outside the place of Jesus’ trial, as others around the fire began to probe his relationship to Jesus, he quietly denied even knowing him. No one was threatening his life, but the derision increased and with every barb, until Peter’s denial escalated to a curse as he emphatically denied he had ever known Jesus.

Peter was worried about his reputation. He didn’t want to be the odd man out in the courtyard over the fire… it wasn’t a Roman soldier with a sword who challenged him, it was a mere servant girl.

“On moral issues I come out very clear,” declared Rick Warren when writing in the safety of his office. But when confronted by homosexual friends and Larry King this week, he folded just like Peter. Now, to be clear, he did not deny Christ, but he backpedaled so fast from where he previously stood and reinterpreted his previous statements in a way that strains credulity. He went on to describe how he has “apologized” to his homosexual friends for making comments in support of Proposition 8. He “never once gave an endorsement” of the marriage amendment, he declared.

And in one fell swoop, he not only separated himself from the biblical teaching on marriage, but distorted the past in the process. Seduced by the pressure of fame? Driven by the desire to please his friends? Afraid to be seen as bigoted to a national television audience? Whatever the motivation, the behavior is no less significant.

Rick Warren did not deny Christ on Larry King. But every believer who was watching had to question whether Rick was being faithful to the commission Christ left him with: Teaching others to “obey all the things I have commanded you.” And obedient biblical teaching on marriage is not a particularly difficult matter. Unpopular? Yes. Unclear? Hardly.

After Peter executed his betrayal, he went out and wept bitterly. On Larry King, Rick Warren went on to tell about his profuse apologies to his gay friends. In the broad scheme of things, I don’t think Rick Warren needed to apologize to them at all. An apology to Christ? Now that would be entirely in order.

This Holy Week, let’s pray America’s Pastor Rick Warren will not let this story end here.

Lent: Do I Still Practice It?

2009-04-03T18:51:00.002-06:00

A few years ago I began adhering to the practice of Lent. At the time it made sense. However,
when I quit reading what man has to say and began reading what God reveals in His word, I quit
practicing Lent.

Lent is a great idea and I don't condemn anyone for practicing it, but I can't find it as Biblical. It's
true that preachers who read more of what man says than the Bible says and aren't guided by the
Holy Spirit are practicing Lent in their churches. It's a cool thing to do.

Now that I've awaken from a 5 year stupor of listening to the exegesis of man on what man says, I
no longer believe that practicing Lent is necessary.

I'm going to worship the Lord and read the Bible. I'm not going to read what man says what they
want the Bible to say.

Real Solutions for a Real Problem

2009-03-10T21:27:00.002-06:00

12 American Solutions

Payroll Tax Stimulus. With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax,
every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what
they earn.

Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect
establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.

Reduce the Business Tax Rate. Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.

Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they
can keep their homes.

Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget. This begins with eliminating
Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.

No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud. Require state governments to adopt
anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.

More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable
energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.

Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More
investment in America means more jobs in America.

Protect the Rights of American Workers. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by
secret ballot whether to join a union, and the worker’s right to freely negotiate. Forced unionism
will kill jobs in America at a time when we can’t afford to lose them.

Replace Sarbanes-Oxley. This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups. Replace it with
affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.

Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.

Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded
electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air
travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.

Political Compass Printable Graph

2009-03-06T00:55:00.000-06:00

Political Compass Printable Graph

2009-03-02T23:39:00.005-06:00

Re: Earmarks in Spending Bill - $58 million by Inhofe

Conservatives need to run Conservative.

Moving toward the (barf) center is one of the most ridiculous or
deficient things a Conservative can to.

You will never see a hard-lined left-winged extremist knee-jerk
reactionary liberal, like Kennedy, Frank or algore, who want to cram
their dogma of intolerance and hate down our throats, do anything
to attract the so-called (barf) moderate crowd.

I contend that they, the so-called (barf) moderates, don't give a rip about
right or wrong. They want a leader. That's what BO did to attract them. He
did nothing that was (barf) centrist. BO ran on a left-winged extremist
campaign and didn't waver. The (barf) center liked that. He acted like a
leader. Note the word 'acted'. It denotes not being genuine or bona fide. In
other words, make believe.

After all they - the (barf) moderates are the true idiots, or puppets, of the
political spectrum.

JM tried to attract the (barf) center, while pushing the rational right from
him. He was disgusting. He should have paid attention to Sarah Palin. She
was a Conservative and ran on Conservative ideals.

To the Conservatives:
1. Reagan was right.
2. Reagan will always be right.
3. Do what Reagan would have done.

BO Waffles on Mrs. Clinton's Credentials

2008-12-02T14:01:00.001-06:00

President-elect BO has designated the wife of former president Bill Clinton to be his secretary of state. This is quite a waffle considering BO spent much of the previous two years questioning her foreign-policy credentials.

BO claimed that she didn't possess the necessary foreign policy experience to be president. Here's a quote he made during a campaign event last March in Texas:

“What exactly is this foreign policy expertise? Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no.”

Now, BO says his new foreign policy team, which will be led by Mrs. Bill Clinton, would change America’s foreign policy for the better. He told reporters:
“I am confident that this is the team that we need to make a new beginning for American national security,”
BO had said exactly the opposite view of Bill Clinton's wife during the primary campaign.

Quotes of the Day

2008-11-19T11:21:00.003-06:00

"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men." --John Adams

"If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs." --Theodore Roosevelt

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that, too." --W. Somerset Maugham

"He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has." --Epictetus

Useless Words

2008-11-19T01:37:00.004-06:00
Here is a list of useless words that are used in everyday language.

Usually. This stupid word is used as an absolute. Why? Here's an example, "usually we don't do that..." When what they mean is, "we DON'T do that." What is the purpose of 'usually'?

Kinda. Self explanatory. Why is it used as a comparison when it doesn't compare? Talk about STUPID!

Actually. This is the ultimate use of stupidity. If it isn't already ACTUALLY, then what is it? C'mon, what's the purpose of it?

The English language is so abused. Why do we allow these things to continue?

Why?

2008-11-19T01:34:00.001-06:00
Why do people say...

It's Ameeeeezing?

Why can't they say it's amazing?

This is something I will never understand.

THIS JUST IN...

2008-10-28T17:21:00.000-06:00

FROM CNN AND NPR...

THOSE ON THE democrat VOTE PROGRAM (welfare) WILL
RECEIVE EXTRA CREDIT ON THEIR democrat VOTING CARD INCLUDING BEER,
SNACKS AND CIGARETTES IF THEY WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER 5TH TO VOTE.

REMEMBER, VOTE NOVEMBER 5TH!

Bill Ayers is a College Professor

2008-10-22T22:23:00.002-06:00

"Bill Ayers is a professor of education in Chicago; 40 years ago when I was 8 years old he engaged in despicable acts with a domestic group. I have roundly denounced those attacks."

That's BO's story and he's sticking to it. (BO because his policies stink)

BUT, and it's a big but, when BO was 40 Bill Ayers said he didn't regret what he did and that he should have used more dynamite.

Come on, BO, you're in league with an unrepentant terrorist and you know it.

Is Marriage a Right?

2008-10-12T23:49:00.002-06:00
Many people believe that marriage is a right. But is it? Let’s think about this for a moment and look at some of the ramifications if it was a right.

Who’s going to marry the 300 pound slob?
Who’s going to marry the jerk who won’t get a job?
Who’s going to marry the ugly duckling? I mean the ugly duckling!
Who’s going to marry the womanizer? Who’s going to marry the female equivalent?
It doesn’t make sense to say that marriage is a right.

While it certainly makes sense that everybody has the right to TRY to get married it doesn’t make sense that anybody has the right to be married.

Let’s stop calling things rights that aren’t rights.

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are...

The Bail Out

2008-09-30T11:47:00.007-06:00
Any solution should observe three guiding principles.
Restore the stability of the financial system quickly and and at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers.
Address the root causes of this crisis, i.e. the price collapse in the residential real estate market.
Punish those who are responsible for the losses.
Here are some of the problems with the bail out bill.

1. How will the assets be priced? Efforts in the past to establish a price have not been successful. In fact, markets have frozen up largely due to the difficulty of pricing them.
If the Treasury pays to close to par, as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke alluded to at the Senate hearing, it's going to pay too much.
If it pays the current prices, no one will sell due to the impact on their capital.
If it pulls a price out of thin air, it will be acting arbitrarily. The proposal needs to create a price setting process.
2. Are we better served by buying assets or institutions? It's obvious that the purchase of mortgage related assets from struggling or failing financial institutions is necessary. But why should the taxpayer, instead of the shareholders and debt holders, bear this burden of debt
for financial institutions that are solvent? I think not.

3. How much is this really going to cost the taxpayer? $700 billion is a lot of money. But what if it isn't enough? Some economist are saying the price could be over $1 trillion.

Before anything is consummated the solution should respect the rule of law by spelling out the proposal in sufficient detail for the Congress and the voters to pass judgment. It should follow proven precedents.

Sarah Palin

2008-08-29T22:02:00.002-06:00
This is from an article written today by, CNS News senior editor, Susan Jones.

Who is She?

Palin was born Feb. 11, 1964, in Idaho, but her parents moved to Alaska shortly after her birth to teach. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.

The Palins have five children: Track, 19; Bristol 17; Willow 14; Piper, 7, and Trig, who was born in April with Down syndrome. Track enlisted in the Army in 2007 on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and has been assigned to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.

In just two years, Palin has moved from suburban hockey mom and small-town mayor to governor and vice presidential contender, the Associated Press reported.

She is the first woman to appear on a Republican presidential ticket. She is Alaska’s first female governor, and she ran on an anti-corruption, ethics platform.

During her first year in office, Palin distanced herself from the powerful old guard of the state Republican Party, even calling on Sen. Ted Stevens to explain to Alaskans why federal authorities were investigating him, the Associated Press reported.

However, the Alaska Legislature last month voted to hire an independent investigator to look into allegations that Palin abused her office by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper.

Palin has said she welcomes the investigation: "Hold me accountable," she said. She denies allegations that she pulled strings in an attempt to get her sister's ex-husband fired.

She also successfully took on the oil industry, leading to a tax increase on oil company profits that have swelled the state's treasury.

Bumper stickers and blogs have proclaimed Alaska and Palin: "Coldest State, Hottest Governor." Last year, the former beauty queen posed for a photo shoot in Vogue, the Associated Press reported.

She lives in Wasilla, a town of 6,500 about 30 miles north of Anchorage, with her husband, Todd, a North Slope oil worker who competes in the Iron Dog, a 1,900-mile snowmobile race. He is part Yup'ik Eskimo.

Her previous political experience consisted of terms as Wasilla's mayor and councilwoman and a stint as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

She is solidly pro-life, reports say, and is expected to have strong appeal to social conservatives.

This says it All!

2008-08-25T10:42:00.000-06:00

Just a thought...

2008-08-20T14:57:00.002-06:00
I'm sitting here in the rain enjoying the day and I'm also listening to the news.

There's something that's very wrong. The democrat party isn't democratic, in fact, they're against the process. Does anybody remember the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004?

algore hates the process. He did everything he could to avert it. He lied. He cheated. He cried like a baby.

John Kerry, on the other hand, was disgusted with the process. The democrat party did everything they could to make him president. They lied. They cheated. They cried like babies. John Kerry did a noble thing. He walked away knowing the George W. Bush won the election.

Remember these words of wisdom,

DEMOCRATIC IS A PROCESS,
democrat IS WHAT THEY ARE!!!!!

Any questions?

The Classic List Changed... Already?

2008-08-06T11:31:00.002-06:00
That's right.

I had to think hard about Catcher in the Rye. It's not a book I can recommend because of the language.

If it was a movie, I wouldn't watch it.

Classic Literature Must Reads

2008-08-04T17:25:00.003-06:00
This is such a touchy subject. As soon as I post this list I'm going to change it or somebody is going to criticize me for not including their favorite 'Classic Must Reads'.

Let me know what yours' are so they can be included. Don't think I'm so arrogant to suggest that my list is definitive. There are many classics I haven't read, 'A Brave New World' comes to mind, however, I just requested it from the local library. I should start reading it by the end of the week. To tell you the truth I love short stories. My mind rarely allows for novels because I drift and have to start over. These are a list of those which kept my attention from start to finish.

The list I concocted will be revised, and revised, and revised... As indicated, any book that can keep my attention is worth the read.

Here it is.

1884 - a frightening reality of a paperless society (memory holes) and liberal rule.
Tom Sawyer - this and Huck are simply awesome
Shane - the book is better than the movie, duh.
Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane's descriptive writing is remarkable.
Huckleberry Finn - See Tom Sawyer, above.
To Kill a Mockingbird - incredible.
Edgar Allen Poe - A wordsmith with an unbelievable imagination.
Sherlock Holmes - The plots are fascinating.
Agatha Christie - The queen of short stories.
Dairy of a Rat Man aka Willard - WHAT!? You scream in horror. Yeah, I liked it. Summer of '71!

This is it for the moment. The usual Shakespear and Sophocles are givens, however, I really don't care for them that much. Shakespear is great for understanding the King James Bible because you'll use a dictionary. You won't when you read the KJV and that's a shame.

Quotes for Today

2008-08-02T20:15:00.002-06:00

Quotes from Thomas Jefferson.
Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.

[W]hen all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another. He noted correctly, The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.
Jefferson was clear on his disdain for taxes,
To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.
But the Left adheres to a very different group of economic philosophers.

Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev said of Roosevelt’s New Deal paradigm shift,
We can’t expect the American people to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism.

Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas (the grandfather, incidentally, of Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas), echoed that sentiment,
The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.
Don't vote for democrats.

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are

Don

2008-07-25T11:20:00.004-06:00

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are...

Sancutary City

2008-07-23T10:24:00.003-06:00

San Francisco has a "City of Refuge" policy.

Because of this caring (barf) policy Danielle Bologna's husband and two sons were senselessly and brutally murdered last month by Edwin Ramos.

Edwin Ramos is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who has remained in the United States despite two prior convictions for gang-related felonies. He was also arrested on a gun charge in March, but authorities again failed to place an immigration hold on him.

Liberal policies don't work. They never have and they never will.

Don

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are…

A Reminder

2008-07-18T00:00:00.001-06:00

Let's remember a few things about 'big oil'.

1. When 'profits' are reported by the media they don't mean profits. They mean GROSS income.

2. 49% of all so-called profits go to government retirement plans, i.e. teachers, police, firemen, stupid politicians etc...

3. The other 51% goes into research, drilling, losing money drilling, the cost of drilling, the cost of business THEN it goes to salaries.

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are...

There's Justice to be Had!

2008-07-17T21:22:00.001-06:00

This just in...

U.S. District Judge James Robertson on Thursday rejected an effort by Usama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, to postpone his trial. Hamdan argued he would suffer irreparable harm if his was tried before he could challenge the legality of the process.

Robertson's ruling is a victory for the Bush administration, which plans to use the military commission process to prosecute alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others charged in the 2001 attacks.

These terrorists are not citizens of the United States of America and don’t have the same rights and privileges of those who are.###

The hard-lined, left-winged extremist, knee-jerk reactionary liberals, who want to cram their dogma of intolerance and hate down our throats, have be dealt a major blow.

Don

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are…

A Lesson from around the World

2008-07-16T12:51:00.002-06:00

Maybe there's something to learn afterall.

London (CNSNews.com) – London and Berlin may soon join other cities across Europe in hosting memorials to the late President Ronald Reagan.

Since the death of America’s 40th president in June 2004, a handful of parks and streets across the continent have been named after him, and a bust of Reagan was installed in a central Budapest park in 2006.

With plans already underway for memorials in Prague and two cities in Poland, a spokeswoman for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation confirmed Monday that the organization is involved with plans for a proposed statue in the British capital.

Spokeswoman Kirby Hanson said that her foundation is helping a local group with funding and installing a statue in historic Grosvenor Square in central London.

I hope this catches on in the United States of America.

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are...

Thoughts for the Day

2008-07-14T00:57:00.002-06:00

There is more money and votes in prolonging the prolem than in providing a solution. Ancient liberal proverb

If you believe that a nation can tax itself into prosperity you might be a liberal. A wise proverb

Every time I argue with a liberal, I'm reminded of quarrels I used to have with my parents. The battles never seemed fair because my folks decided what the rules were and what was out of bounds. Pat Sajak

Arthur C Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University and a former democrat, has written a book that includes extensive data that proves that liberals are less charitable than conservatives in every way imaginable. From cash donations and volunteer hours to donated blood.

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are...

Where's the Plan?

2008-07-09T13:28:00.001-06:00

In her July 8 letter to Bush, Pelosi insisted that tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is “more than justified” by the “destabilizing impact” that gasoline price increases are having on the economy.

She's admitting that MORE OIL PRODUCTION will lower the cost of fuel.

Republicans note that oil prices have more than doubled since Pelosi herself took over the speaker’s office, promising that “Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices…”

Where's the plan?

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are.

The Jews Understand

2008-07-08T19:22:00.004-06:00

This just in from the Jewish World Review...

Islamists have the West just where they want us
by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

Let's be clear: The Islamists are trying to establish a kind of Catch-22: If you point out that they seek to impose a barbaric, repressive and seditious Shariah Law, you are insulting their faith and engaging in unwarranted, racist and bigoted fear-mongering.

On the other hand, pursuant to Shariah, you must submit to that theo-political-legal program. If you don't, you can legitimately be killed. It is not an irrational fear to find that prospect unappealing. And it is not racist or bigoted to decry and oppose Islamist efforts to bring it about — ask the anti-Islamist Muslims who are frequently accused of being Islamophobes!

Click the title of the blog for the entire story!

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are...

Don

DEAR ABBY...MY BOYFRIEND IS A SEX OFFENDER

2008-07-02T19:15:00.001-06:00

You can't make up a story like this. An Illinois woman is torn between her child and living with her sex offender boyfriend.

Kansas City Star

America has a choice

2008-07-02T14:02:00.003-06:00

Drill here,
Drill now,
Pay less

or vote liberal (left winged extremist knee jerk reactionary liberal that wants to cram a dogma of intolerance and hate down our throats)

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are...

algore Consumes More than Ever

2008-06-19T11:50:00.003-06:00

Energy Guzzled by Al Gore’s Home in Past Year Could Power 232 U.S. Homes for a Month Gore’s personal electricity consumption up 10%, despite “energy-efficient” home renovations. Here's the report from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research...

NASHVILLE - In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

“A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.”

In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month.

In February 2007, An Inconvenient Truth, a film based on a climate change speech developed by Gore, won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research uncovered that Gore’s Nashville home guzzled 20 times more electricity than the average American household. read more...

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are…

Today in History

2008-06-19T10:48:00.002-06:00

1865, Union troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over, and that all slaves were free. (This event is celebrated as "Juneteenth.")

1964, the Senate approved the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by a vote of 73-27, The democrats tried to filibuster the bill but responsible Republicans pushed it through. However, democrats would devise a non-discriminating form of slavery called the Great Society.

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are...

Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less

2008-06-17T21:13:00.001-06:00

Newt Gingrich’s movement,

“Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less,”

has nearly a million signatures in three weeks has lit a fire in America. Republicans on the campaign trail are quoting “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” and separating themselves from presidential candidate, John McCain. Mr. McCain needs to wake up. America needs to

Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less

John McCain has finally realized that based on the success of the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 that he was wrong about across the board tax rate reductions. It's possible that he could realize that drilling in ANWAR and the continental USA is a good, correction, GREAT idea. We can do it.

Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less

What a great slogan.

Democratic is a process,
Democrat is what they are.

Great New Web Site

2008-06-10T22:34:00.003-06:00

http://justsaynodeal.com/

A coalition of millions with
one thing in common: They're
former Helliary supporters that
agree NObama

Check it out today!

Democratic is a process
Democrat is what they are...

Don

David Hitch has it Right!

2008-06-04T14:38:00.002-06:00

Why is it some people just don't get it?

Democratic is a process.
Democrat is what they are.

Don

hel-liar-y is Defeated!

2008-06-03T20:29:00.003-06:00

We can all rest easy tonight. hel-liar-y has been defeated by b. hussein obama bin laden. I know you're not crazy about McCain but he's our only hope.

Let's all join together and put McCain in the White House.

helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary los thelliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost helliary lost

If You Voted for Change, You Got It.

2008-06-03T11:48:00.011-06:00

This is from an email that's been going around. It's accurate. I've added my signature i.e.

Democratic is a process.
Democrat is what they are.
Don

Remember the election in 2006?

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high.
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon.
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democrat controlled Congress in 2006 we have seen:

1) Consumer confidence plummet.
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon.
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase).
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses).
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars.
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America a voted for change" in 2006, and we got it!

The House of Representatives create ALL spending bills and not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

Quote of the Day... "My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it." -- Barack Obama

Taxes.
Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening or amazing.
www.taxfoundation.org/publ ications/show/151.html

Taxes under Clinton 1999 under Bush 2008
Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Both democrat (democratic is a process, democrat is what they are) candidates will return to the higher tax rates

It is amazing how many people who fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people who fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is like the movie The Sting with Paul Newman, you scam somebody out of some money and they don't even know what happened.

Do you think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this:

We have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. Here are 14 facts about spending.

$11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. http://tinyurl.com/zob77

$2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as foodstamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

$2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

$12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

$17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

$3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

$90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

$200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report
http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."
http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration. Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States.
http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

How are you going to vote? As much as I'm not excited about John McCain, it's the only viable option we have.

Democratic is a process.
Democrat is what they are.

Don

Obama and Friends

2008-04-25T14:28:00.001-06:00

William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

They're a sweet couple who were leaders in the inspirational public awareness group known as the Weather Underground. This group insisted that a revolution against the United States and capitalists everywhere should commence immediately. They envisioned a classless society. That means communism.

In 1970 the Weather Underground issued a “Declaration of a State of War” against the United States and commenced a campaign of terror including bombings, jailbreaks, and the instigation of riots. Between 1969 and 1975, they bombed the U.S. Capitol twice, the Pentagon, the Department of State and several federal courthouses. They also attacked state and local government buildings and “capitalist targets” such as banks. The terrorist organization began to disband after the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and the fall of Saigon, though one of their last acts of violence was a Brinks robbery in 1981, in which two police officers and a security guard were murdered during that robbery.

At this point Ayers is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Dohrn is an associate professor of law at Northwestern University. Aren't you glad our college minds are getting the best possible education?

Imagine a country with them on the presidents cabinet...

A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words

2008-04-14T12:54:00.003-06:00

Remember Her Name ...

2008-04-12T22:21:00.000-06:00
Her name is HELL-ary.

If she gets elected that's what it'll be.

Too funny

2008-04-12T22:17:00.004-06:00

A Fishing Story

2008-03-31T23:11:00.004-06:00
Once upon a time...
There was a lodge located in the middle of some of the best fishing in the world. The lakes, rivers and streams were teaming with hungry fish.

The wise men of lodge thought it would be a good idea to go fishing. One of them stood up and asked, "who knows how to fish?" They looked and each other and realized nobody had ever gone fishing. Another wise man stood up and said, "We need to bring someone to the lodge who can teach us about fishing". They all agreed that it was a good idea. They collected their resources and hired a professional fisherman to come and teach them about fishing.

They announced the event to all of the staff and guests. They even gave it a name, "Explore Fishing". Everybody was anxious to hear about fishing.

When the day arrived the Professional Fisherman taught them everything he knew about fishing. There were handouts with photos and everything. He told them about the different types of fish and what they ate. Next came detailed instructions about the rods, reels, different lines and the proper clothing to look like a fisherman. He
went over the best times for fishing and the best places on the lakes, rivers and streams where fish could be found. He even showed them how the primitive people fished 2000 years ago and mentioned some scientific names for various types of fish. There was a great lesson on the problems of fishing and how to handle them. Afterward, the guests and staff asked questions. There was even a time for group
sessions so they could have intellectual discussions about fishing and share their thoughts and, most importantly, their feelings about fishing.

It was a great success. The staff and guests had learned about fishing. Everyone was thrilled that they could do it in the comfort and protection of the lodge.

One lady stood up and asked the wise men what the people were going to do with this information. The chief wise man said, "we'll all know about fishing". She asked again, "what are these people going to do with the information?"" The chief wise man answered, "We have all gained insight on fishing. Didn't you hear the words of the Professional Fisherman?" She finally walked away and was very disturbed.

The wise men decided to have more events like this. "We must tell more people about fishing if we want to be a successful lodge".

They brought in more guest speakers. The lodge was growing and more guests were learning about fishing. They even had special courses for people that wore red shirts and for those who wore blue shirts. The wise men were pleased that everybody could find a comfortable place to learn about fishing.

One day, unbeknownst to the lodge or the wise men, the lady that asked too many questions went fishing. She took her fishing equipment to the lakes, rivers and streams. The fish were jumping everywhere. Bravely, she began fishing. Wouldn't you know it ! She caught a fish. Then another and another. She caught a lot of fish.

Excited about what happened, she went to the lodge and showed everybody the fish she'd caught. "The lakes, rivers and streams are full of hungry fish !", said cried. Everyone was amazed at what she had done. She told them how she did it and everything. The wise men heard about this and were ecstatic about the success of the lady who asked too many questions. "She took the information, used it and caught fish", they cried with joy. They gave her the special position of Resident Fisherman. They made sure that she would be available to tell everybody what she had done.

The lodge opened new lodges. The young lady was very busy going from lodge to lodge telling everybody about her success in catching a fish. So busy, in fact, that she never had time to go fishing again.

THE END

Taking a Stand

2008-03-19T23:50:00.004-06:00
Have you ever noticed how people will take a stand for trivial matters? Arguments about sports, cars, soda, music, etc... can create some serious adverse reactions. Fights have come about because someone's subjective tastes differed from another's.

Has anybody taken a poll to find out why people become so defensive with these things? Has a college received grant money for such a study?

It's very interesting to watch these discussions. It's disturbing to not see a stand when one should be made.

One would think that a position against the profanity and licentiousness in movies would be made by the religious majority. With 84% of the United States population being Christian it's surprising that nothing has be done.

If the Protestants and Catholics were to stop attending movies for 3 months, and voice their concerns, the movie industry would change. Not because of a sudden revelation of their wrong doings but because of the money. When 84% of the people stop doing something it makes an economical impact.

Why won't they do it?

There are churches that have used portions of movies that are rated R as an introduction to a sermon or announcing an event. Using a vehicle that offends the sensibilities of the teachings of Jesus Christ doesn't make sense.

Christians should think hard about what they're allowing to happen and take a stand for something worthwhile. After all, Christians are not called to be entertained. They are called to be Holy.

Division

2008-03-01T00:31:00.002-06:00
If you remember, I wrote a piece about how I think music divides. There are other things that divide. Egos. Opinions. Churches.

Did I say churches? Yes, indeed. Although it isn't a process that's been intentionally thought out, it is a fact that churches divide. Think about this. When you go to church, what happens? The son goes to one part, the daughter to another and, if they're lucky, the mom and dad attend class or worship together. Where are the kids?

In the olden daze, we used to go to church together as family. We sat together in the service. Unfortunately, we'd all be divided for Sunday School.

Why? I have no idea except that maybe the powers that be thought it to be a good idea.

Today the church focuses on specific groups i.e. young, old, black, white, Mexican etc... Why is this.

Today the church is changing the message that Jesus spoke to "come and hear" instead of the incredible "Go and Tell". Why?

Jesus' message is clear, "Go ye therefore unto all nations..." The operative word is "go" not come. The next teaching is this. "And ye shall be witnesses". Not witness that say come and hear but witnesses in Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the world. Clearly that isn't a 'come and hear' message.

Where have we gone wrong?

Think about it.

Hey, I Get It !

2008-02-21T21:49:00.005-06:00

Today is Ash Wednesday

2008-02-06T22:20:00.000-06:00
Today is the beginning of Lent. Lent is the preparation of the believer for the annual celebration of Easter, which is the day which Jesus arose from the dead and left an empty tomb. This period of preparation can be done by prayer, penitence, alms giving and self denial.

The self denial portion is done when the believer gives up something very important during the 40 days of Lent. It can be done in various ways. A favorite food, activity, etc... Each time it comes to mind you're reminded of how Jesus gave up himself for us. He died for our sins. What a small token on our part for such a great sacrifice by our Saviour.

Let's All Pray This Will Be True...

2008-01-22T23:03:00.001-06:00

This story has been going around the Internet quite a bit. It's great and I really hope I can go to the White House in 2009 and hear this.
One sunny day in 2009, 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 Hillary Clinton."

The Marine replied, "Sir, Mrs. Clinton is not the 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 Hillary Clinton".

The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mrs. Clinton is not the 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 Hillary Clinton."

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 Mrs. Clinton. I've told you already several times that Mrs. Clinton is not the President and doesn't reside here. Don't you understand?"

The old man smiled as he replied, "Oh, I understand you fine, I just love hearing your answer!"

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "See you tomorrow, Sir."

Names in the News

2008-01-22T09:41:00.000-06:00
Welcome the latest link on the side bar. It has the names of people in the news and a list of current and former world leaders.

Political Resumes?

2008-01-10T13:56:00.000-06:00

algore Wins Academy Award

2008-01-08T12:25:00.001-06:00

How about algore? "An Inconvenient Truth" has won an Academy Award. algore says It’s all about the environment. Can anybody think of anything better for the environment than an event that features 2,000 stretch limousines?

How many scientist don't believe that global warming is man made? Go to the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine for the answer.

A Trip to the Doctor

2008-01-08T00:11:00.000-06:00
Here's a repeat post from long ago. Although it's written hyperbolically it hits home with all of us. There are few things worse than going to a doctor.
I remember a visit to the doctor's office a while back. Something happened to my back during a weekend with Wifewoman that caused me to look like Quasimodo and feel worse. I called the doctor and made an appointment. The appointment writer downer gave orders to arrive 30 minutes early to fill out paperwork.

Upon arrival I approached a window where the beast was housed. She (it looked female) handed over scads of forms to fill out and at least 5,000 questions to answer in the brief span of 30 minutes. Little did I know that it would be plenty of time.

With the help of Wifewoman we completed everything and I returned it to the beast. She told me to sit down and wait and she'd call when the doctor was ready to see me.

See Don. See Don Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

45 minutes elapsed since feeding the beast 35 pounds of paper and the ink from 3 boxes of Bic pens. Unacceptable, I thought. I approached the window that seemingly provided protection for infirmed humans and told her that the appointment was for 10:15 am and it was 11:00 am. I was informed that the doctor was usually this late and it wasn't a problem. I told her I didn't care about what was 'usually' and that it was a problem. We had words... lots of words...

I waited... and waited...

FINALLY my name was called and we were ushered into the examination room. After a few minutes the door opened. In walked this girl dressed incredibly sloppy with a huge lab coat. Why do they dress like that? This nurse, or tech, started asking the same questions I spent all that time answering 30 minutes before the appointment. I reluctantly answered them. She scribbled on a sheet of paper attached to a clipboard in large illegible balloon letters and left. I guessed that I'd be seeing the doctor next.

WRONG!

In walks this guy that could be mistaken for a doctor...

"Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm the PA"
"Huh?"
"The PA. Physicians Assistant."
"Where's the doctor?"

He started playing doctor and proceeded asking the same 5,000 questions...

"I answered those already. They're on the chart".

He kept asking THEN proceeded to poke and prod my body. I couldn't stand it. Lastly, he scribbled on a pad using illegible hieroglyphics only he could interpret and left.

So far over 45 minutes had been spent in the exam room and no doctor had been sighted.

I WANT TO SEE THE DOCTOR!

When the overbooked and time challenged M.D. finally made his glorious appearance he picked up the chart and began asking the same questions the nurse and PA had previously asked.

DOESN'T ANYBODY LOOK AT THE FORMS I SPENT HALF THE MORNING FILLING OUT?

After asking questions He proceeded to poke and prod my body. Occasionally he'd grunt something in Latin (I think) and ask stupid questions like,

"Does that hurt?"
"Of course it hurts. You just poked me."

The doctors examination, writing of the prescription, and asking the if I had any questions took almost 10 minutes. Why was I there for 2 hours if he was only going to spend 10 minutes?

Seriously, I don't know about you but we pay insurance to see a doctor, NOT a P.A. It gripes me to spend money on something and not get what I paid for, i.e. a doctor and not some wannabe play doctor.

From now on I'm making it a point to tell the receptionist that I will not be seen by the pa. If the doctor won't see me I'll go elsewhere. I'm paying for a doctor and I expect to see a doctor.

Great Quotes

2008-01-05T10:22:00.000-06:00
Here are some outstanding quotes from people with brains.
Apparently the only people who are supposed to be responsible are the taxpayers — and they are increasingly made responsible for other people's irresponsibility. Thomas Sowell

The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. Ronald Reagan

Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality the cost becomes prohibitive. Wm F. Buckley

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' Ronald Reagan

The Green Bay Packers are Shocked

2008-01-03T12:32:00.000-06:00
Hillary Clinton Analogy - (Mrs. Brett Favre)

Today, a shocking announcement by the Green Bay Packers...

Their starting quarterback this Sunday will be Mrs. Brett Favre. The fans in Green Bay were shocked when this announcement was made, but Mrs. Favre assured the fans that she can do just as good, if not better, than her husband Brett Favre has been doing.

"Hey, I know this game," Mrs. Favre said confidently, "I live with Brett. I have taken several road trips on the team plane. I've gone to the pregame meal. I know a lot of the Packers. I've even played and tossed the football around with them in our back yard. I know what a slot right 60-Prevent-Slot-Hook-And-Go is and I know how to avoid a corner blitz."

The people of Green Bay were polled and 50% of Packers fans are excited, motivated, looking forward to the big game.

All right, you think that's ridiculous? Let me reread this.

In a shocking announcement today, Mrs. Hillary Clinton (wife of the impeached president Bill Clinton) announced that she is running for president of the United States. The reason she believes she is a good candidate is because she knows Bill Clinton, has lived with him and was on a lot of trips to China and around the world. She says she has really cared about kids for 35 years. She's fought and she stood up for kids. She's tried to fix (read socialize) health care and knows that fifty percent of the American people are dumb enough to say, "That's good enough for us."

gag... cough...

America is ready for a strong woman president, but she ain't the one.

Don

Suspend the Constitution once and
elect Margaret Thatcher for President

God's Word

2008-01-01T22:26:00.000-06:00
Have you ever thought about how little, if any, of the Bible people memorize ? They memorize about as much as they witness, which is as little as possible.

Here's a good reason to memorize Scripture...
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Ps 119: 9, 11.
Having 200 verses memorized is a lot yet it isn't even 10% of His Word. Here are some interesting facts about the Bible.
There are 66 chapters in the Biblical Canon
31, 031 verses
23,145 are in the OT
7,958 are in the NT
It was writtein over a 1500 year span (from 1400 B.C to A.D. 100)
It was written by over 40 authors from many walks of life (i.e. - kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars)
in different places (i.e. - wilderness, dungeon, palaces)
at different times (i.e. - war, peace)
in different moods (i.e. - heights of joy, depths of despair)
on three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe)
in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek)
Every verse we know can be used to witness or improve our lives. The best sermons we can learn are by simply knowing God's Word. That means memorizing Scripture. What else do we need? God knows better that us and HIS Word will not return void.

If there's a resolution I'd suggest to somebody it would be to learn a verse or passage from God's Word every month. It's not hard and the rewards will be incredible.

A friend once asked, "Why can't it be Spiritual ?" Knowing God's Word is a great place to start.

Happy New Year !

2008-01-01T22:24:00.000-06:00
It's going to be a great year !

Do you make resolutions ? I don't. Not that there's anything wrong with them. It's something I don't do. What resolutions have you made?

Post them on the comments.

Vote for Mike Huckabee?

2007-12-28T22:53:00.001-06:00

Here are some reasons not to vote for Mike Huckabee...

He's on record supporting the Supreme Court's sodomy-is-a-constitutional-right decision. It had been denounced by virtually every conservative and Christian group in America.
Huckabee opposes school choice, earning him the endorsement of the NEA of New Hampshire. This must be some type of political move. (btw- NEA stands for No Educating Allowed)
He promoted giving in-state tuition in Arkansas to illegal immigrants from Mexico — but not to U.S. citizens. "I don't believe you punish the children," he said, "for the crime and sins of the parents."
He also said that illegal immigration gives Americans a chance to make up for slavery.
In a widely quoted remark, Huckabee denounced a Republican bill that would merely require proof of citizenship to vote and receive government benefits as "un-Christian, un-American, irresponsible and anti-life," according to the Arkansas News Bureau.
Huckabee wants to get kids involved in music at an early age because he believes it leads to a more balanced and developed brain. (according to Ann Coulter they'd be balanced like the Jackson's while the Osmond's are voting for Romney)
He supports a nationwide smoking ban anyplace where people work, constitutional protection for sodomy, big government, higher taxes and government benefits for illegal aliens.

Silly Quote

2007-12-27T15:15:00.001-06:00

"Models are like baseball players. We make a lot of money quickly, but all of a sudden we're 30 years old, we don't have a college education, we're qualified for nothing, and we're used to a very nice lifestyle. The best thing is to marry a movie star."
Cindy Crawford, Supermodel
It's frightening to think that she's old enough to vote.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Liberal Strategy to Combat Terrorism without Profiling

2007-12-26T12:16:00.000-06:00
To be heard over the intercom system:
Will anyone who's plotting to commit acts of terror
please pick up one of the white courtesy phones located throughout the terminal?
This should make everyone feel safer.

Ice Storm Hits Oklahoma

2007-12-11T17:47:00.001-06:00
We've been hit with a terrible ice storm. It's similar to the one 5 years ago. Trees have fallen because of the weight of the ice and that's created quite a lot of damage. Also, electricity is out in many parts of the state which means heat is off in many homes. Let's not forget the auto accidents and disrupted phone service.

President Bush declared the state an emergency area and help is on the way.

It's been raining all day and it's going to freeze tonight.

Oy!

The King and King

2007-12-02T13:18:00.000-06:00
Chalk another one up for the extreme left. There's a pro homosexual book called "King and King". A king, a man, marries another man which makes him king, too. This brings up a question. Who's in charge of the country? At least with the realistic approach of king and queen the king is the decision is obvious.

Here's the ringer. It's supposed to be read to second graders. Maybe if the book ended with both of them contracting AIDS and dying a miserable death and the moral of the story was not be homosexual then maybe it would be worth reading.

This isn't a popular stand with my homosexual family members and friends. They still love me and I them.

The Carnivores are Starving

2007-12-01T21:54:00.000-06:00
I've been going to church for a long time. Except for a few years in the 70's it's been about 50 years. Through those years the main course was always meat. What I mean is the preachers would explain things from the Bible that would challenge the congregation. There would be a moving of the Holy Spirit and tugging at the heart to do the right thing. Revivals would bring many people to Jesus or bring Christians to their knees and they'd get back on track. Rotten people would be convicted and their lives would change. Through the Scriptures we would be taught, reproofed, corrected and grounded in doctrine.

Things have changed, and not for the better. It's rare to go to a church and hear sound preaching. These days the preaching, or lecturing, is lame. Bible is used but it's not allowed to work on it's own. Writers have to be quoted ad nauseum. Shaky theology is taught and nobody stands up against it. The wooing of the Holy Spirit used to be the power of sermons. Now it's seemingly cast to the side.

We're given all this information but not taught how to use it or what to do with it. Evangelism is lost to the winds. Jesus' words of go an tell are substituted for come join our party and feel good. We're given a steady diet of vegetable broth. Not even a chunk of tofu. Just clear vegetable broth.

The carnivores are starving. Hey preachers, throw us some meat.

Second Thoughts

2007-11-27T22:50:00.000-06:00
Today I came to the conclusion that it's not a good idea to rehash the 35 inconvenient errors in algore's global warming debacle. You can find evidence all over the internet and there's no reason to spend the time at this moment.

Don

algore Error #2 Pacific Islands Drowning

2007-11-26T23:22:00.001-06:00

Hey, I'm sorry I've been so long. Life has been busy. Here's the next installment of why algore is wrong. Make that very wrong and not even close to being right.

Gore says low-lying inhabited Pacific coral atolls are already being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming, leading to the evacuation of several island populations to New Zealand. However, the atolls are not being inundated, except where dynamiting of reefs or over-extraction of fresh water by local populations has caused damage.

Furthermore, corals can grow at ten times the predicted rate of increase in sea level. It is not by some accident or coincidence that so many atolls reach just a few feet above the ocean surface.

Image Ms. Kreider says, “The IPCC estimates that 150 million environmental refugees could exist by the year 2050, due mainly to the effects of coastal flooding, shoreline erosion and agricultural disruption.” However, the IPCC cannot be basing its estimate on sea-level rise, since even its maximum projected rise of just 30 cm (1 ft) by 2050 would not cause significant coastal flooding or shoreline erosion. There are several coastlines (the east coast of England, for instance) where the land is sinking as a consequence of post-ice-age isostatic recovery, or where (as in Bangladesh) tectonic subduction is similarly causing the land to sink. But such natural causes owe nothing to sea-level rise.

There have been no mass evacuations of populations of islanders as suggested by Gore, though some residents of Tuvalu have asked to be moved to New Zealand, even though the tide-gauges maintained until recently by the National Tidal Facility of Australia show a mean annual sea-level rise over the past half-century equivalent to the thickness of a human hair. The problem with the Carteret Islands, mentioned by Ms. Kreider, arose not because of rising sea levels but because of imprudent dynamiting of the reefs by local fishermen.

In the Maldives, a detailed recent study showed that sea levels were unchanged today compared with 1250 years ago, though they have been higher in much of the intervening period, and have very seldom been lower.

Image A well-established tree very close to the Maldivian shoreline and only inches above sea level was recently uprooted by Australian environmentalists anxious to destroy this visible proof that sea level cannot have risen very far.

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UK Judge Rules algore's Sci-fi Movie Contains Misinformation

2007-11-20T08:47:00.001-06:00

By now you've heard about the judge in the High Court in London ruling that 9 of the 35 factual errors were serious enough to require the United Kingdom's government to pay substantial costs to a plaintiff. That's right, algore's fiction movie has flaws that are serious enough to sue the government for showing it. The judge also ruled that if the movie is to be shown equal time must be given to responsible science.

This will infuriate the lefts dogma of intolerance and hate but it's time that the right thing be done instead of blindly following so called good intentions.

Today I'm going to begin showing the 35 factual errors of algore's fictional depiction of global warming. If you would like to see all of it right now you can go to the Science and Public Policy webpage.

Throughout this report you'll read quotes from Ms. Kalee Kreider. She is algore's spokeswoman and “environment advisor”. She also said the movie presented “thousands and thousands of facts.” It did not: just 2,000 “facts” in 93 minutes would have been one fact every three seconds. The left is hoping you won't use your math skills to verify their blanket statements.

Without any further ado here's the first factual error.

ERROR 1 Sea level "rising 6 m"

Gore says that a sea-level rise of up to 6 m (20 ft) will be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland. Though Gore does not say that the sea-level rise will occur in the near future, the judge found that, in the context, it was clear that this is what he had meant, since he showed expensive graphical representations of the effect of his imagined 6 m (20 ft) sea-level rise on existing populations, and he quantified the numbers who would be displaced by the sea-level rise.

The IPCC says sea-level increases up to 7 m (23 ft) above today’s levels have happened naturally in the past climate, and would only be likely to happen again after several millennia. In the next 100 years, according to calculations based on figures in the IPCC’s 2007 report, these two ice sheets between them will add a little over 6 cm (2.5 inches) to sea level, not 6 m (this figure of 6 cm is 15% of the IPCC’s total central estimate of a 43 cm or 1 ft 5 in sea-level rise over the next century). Gore has accordingly exaggerated the official sea-level estimate by approaching 10,000 per cent.

Ms. Kreider says the IPCC estimates a sea-level rise of “59 cm” by 2100. She fails to point out that this amounts to less than 2 ft, not the 20 ft imagined by Gore. She also fails to point out that this is the IPCC’s upper estimate, on its most extreme scenario. And she fails to state that the IPCC, faced with a stream of peer-reviewed articles stating that sea-level rise is not a threat, has reduced this upper estimate from 3 ft in 2001 to less than 2 ft (i.e. half the mean centennial sea-level rise that has occurred since the end of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago) in 2007.

Ms. Kreider says the IPCC’s 2007 sea-level calculations excluded contributions from Greenland and West Antarctica because they could not be quantified. However, Table SPM1 of the 2007 report quantifies the contributions of these two ice-sheets to sea-level rise as representing about 15% of the total change.

ImageThe report also mentions the possibility that there may be an unquantified further contribution in future from these two ice sheets arising from “dynamical ice flow.” However, the Greenland ice sheet rests in a depression in the bedrock created by its own weight, wherefore “dynamical ice flow” is impossible, and the IPCC says that temperature would have to be sustained at more than 5.5 degrees C above its present level for several millennia before half the Greenland ice sheet could melt, causing sea level to rise by some 3 m (10 ft).

Finally, the IPCC’s 2007 report estimates that the likelihood that humankind is having any influence on sea level at all is little better than 50:50.

The judge was accordingly correct in finding that Gore’s presentation of the imagined imminent threat of a 6 m (20 ft) sea-level rise, with his account of the supposed impact on the present-day populations of Manhattan, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, etc., etc, was not a correct statement of the mainstream science on this question.

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Oscar Wyatt is a democrat? But... but... but...

2007-10-01T13:56:00.001-06:00

According to Reuters some prosecutors promised on Monday that they are going to prove that Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government, earning him a privileged position in Iraq.

Can you believe it? The man guilty in the oil for food scam is a democrat! When did dems become oil producers?

Wyatt, an 83-year-old self-made oil tycoon (tycoons are richer than the Bushes), faces five counts in Manhattan federal court including engaging in prohibited financial transactions with Iraq, deals alleged to have violated the U.N. oil-for-food program designed to provide humanitarian assistance to Iraq while it was under international sanctions.

What's the deal? Have we been duped? I'm totally dumbfounded?

As you know, according to the press, only rich Republicans are involved in oil. With that being the absolute truth, from the NY Times, can somebody explain how Wyatt, a rich, rich, rich democrat, became involved with oil? The man founded Coastal Oil and sold it for 17 Billion!

Oh, he is very vocal about not being a fan of President Bush and his father.

How can a democrat become so successful in big oil without being in cahoots with them? Why didn't Wyatt blow the price gouging whistle on President Bush? Could it be that the President doesn't have the power that the media says he does?

What will we do? Can the Times defend this?

Miller Brewing Pulls Logo From 'Last Supper' Advertisement

2007-09-26T21:08:00.001-06:00

By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
September 26, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - The Miller Brewing Company, a sponsor of this weekend's homosexual "leather" street fair in San Francisco, has asked to have its logo removed from an advertising poster that has offended some Christians.

The advertisement portrays Christ and his disciples as half-naked sado-masochists.

"While Miller has supported the Folsom Street Fair for several years, we take exception to the poster the organizing committee developed this year. We understand some individuals may find the imagery offensive and we have asked the organizers to remove our logo from the poster effective immediately," the company told Cybercast News Service on Tuesday.
(read the whole article at CNSNews)

Don

Notes on the Iranian President Visiting the USA

2007-09-25T09:37:00.001-06:00

As you know, Mahmoud I’m-a-nut-job has arrived in the United States. You know he was issued a visa to come here. Isn’t that amazing? You need a visa to get into the United States? When did they start with that? -- Jay Leno

iran’s president gave a speech today. Lots of people upset about it. New Yorkers said, “If we want to hear a short-tempered Iranian man yell at us, we’ll take a cab.” -- Conan O'Brien

You know the interesting part? After he landed he drove his own cab in from the airport. -- Jay Leno

Note: the word 'actually' was removed because it's a useless word. iran and president were intentionally spelled using lower case so as not to give unnecessary significance to that country or it's leader -- Don

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Division

2007-09-16T22:09:00.000-06:00

There are many topics that cause division. Politics and religion are two common ideas that get us riled up. Outrageous comments spew out of our mouths like lava from a volcano and often they’re just as hot. These two fields alone create a coterie of subtopics as vast as a prairie dog town.

This weekend I realized another thing that divides people like a butcher’s cleaver. It’s music.
WHAT!

That’s right. Those mellifluous tones that bring us calming thoughts or send us to Dreamland can instantly bring disharmony and hostility to another. Think about it for a minute. Put on a Led Zeppelin CD with a room full of country fans. Metal heads would rather die than listen to anything else. Have you ever tried to discuss opera with anybody?

Get the picture?

This morning I was in church and we Baptists play music. It’s an important part of our worship. During the service there was a tune I didn’t care for. To me it was just a monotonous repetition. I was momentarily distracted from worship. But as I looked around there were many people singing from their hearts. I realized it wasn’t about me. I prayed.

Even in church we’ve allowed the music to divide us. Churches have two services not because of a growing congregation but because of the division music has created. It’s one thing to become concerned when the preacher is off base or spends too much time not preaching from the Bible. But to make the type of music we sing become most important is a serious problem. It becomes all about us instead of all about the Savior.

Music divides.

This and That

2007-08-27T20:35:00.001-06:00

Q. How many sopranos (or prima donnas) does it take to change a light bulb?
A. One. She holds up the bulb and the world revolves around her.

Q. How many producers does it take to change a light bulb?
A. I don't know, what do you think?

Q. Do you know the difference between a consultant and a supermarket cart?
A. Well, at least a supermarket cart has a mind of its own. But you can fit more food and wine into a consultant.

Q. Have you heard about the lawyers' word processor?
A. No matter what font you select, everything comes out in fine print.

A horse walks into a bar and orders a beer.
The barman says to him: "Why the long face?"

==========================================================================================

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgery. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said: "I'm so sorry, Cuddles has passed away."

The distressed owner wailed: "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. The duck is dead," he replied.

"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean, you haven't done any testing. He might just be in a coma."

The vet rolled his eyes and left the room, returning a few moments later with a black labrador retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog and took it out and returned with a beautiful cat. The cat jumped up on the table and also sniffed delicately at the bird. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said: "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100 per cent certifiably, a dead duck."

Then the vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman.

The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$350!" she cried. "$350 just to tell me my duck is dead?"

The vet shrugged. "I'm sorry. If you'd taken my word for it, the bill would have been $40, but what with the lab report and the cat scan-"

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Today's Quote

2007-08-22T09:51:00.000-06:00

If this were enforced there would be less need for tort reform.

"Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean verything or nothing at pleasure."

-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823)

Reference: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Memorial Edition, Lipscomb and Bergh, eds., vol. 15 (450)

Is Sex Education Working?

2007-08-21T11:52:00.001-06:00

I just read "Mallard Fillmore" and was reminded of when I was a school kid in the 50' & 60's. Back then the teachers spent their time teaching core subjects such as English, arithmetic, science and history. We never heard any instruction on sex or birth control because that was the parents job.

Today's generations are shown sex education videos. The parents can certainly opt to not have their kid attend but with the super self centered condition of todays parents they're going to let their kids stay. Why should they have to do all the work? (read - talk to their kids when someone else can)

Which generation had less STD's? Unwanted pregancies? Better educated kids?

Although the cartoon is funny it hits home.

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New Drug Now Available

2007-08-19T21:03:00.000-06:00

Latest Poll?

2007-08-19T20:03:00.001-06:00

The latest telephone poll taken by the office of the Governor of Texas asked whether people who live in Texas think illegal immigration is a serious problem.

A) 35% of respondents answered: "Yes, it is a serious problem."

B) 65% of respondents answered: "No es una problema serio."

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"Going Green" not a big deal to consumers

2007-08-15T11:58:00.001-06:00

This just in from CNSNews

By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
August 15, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - Despite unwavering attention from the media, government and business, global warming is only of moderate concern to most consumers, according to a new survey of consumers and their environmental attitudes.

"Consumers are not drinking the Kool-Aid when it comes to green," said J. Walker Smith, president of the Yankelovich, Inc., marketing firm, which released the survey results on Monday.

"While they're highly aware of environmental issues due to the glut of media attention," said Smith, "the simple fact is that 'going green' in their everyday life is simply not a big concern or a high priority."

This is "the first study of its kind to examine how much consumers truly care about green issues," stated the research firm, based in Chapel Hill, N.C., in a news release, which further noted that only 34 percent of consumers feel much more concerned about environmental issues today than a year ago.

These groups largely use "spoke-alarmists whose own wretched excesses expose the movement's hypocrisy and/or lack of seriousness," Horner said. As a result, "the consuming public sees this for what it is: a fashion accessory or statement of fashionability, but not a crisis." (Don sez - algore consumes at least 12 times more energy than the average American)

Telephone calls and e-mails seeking comments from such "green" groups as the Sierra Club, Greenpeace International, the Environmental Defense Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council were not returned by press time. But Smith had some good news for environmental activists. (Don sez - is anybody surprised? They can't refute science.) Read the article...

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Help algore!

2007-08-09T22:36:00.001-06:00

Hey! algore is in trouble and you can help! Science is having a hard time proving humans are responsible for globalwarming (read algorewarming) and he needs real help before he can debate any qualified scientist. Believe it or not, Barbara Streisand and Sean Penn aren't scientists. Yeah, I about fainted, too, when I found that out.

Go to this website and see how you can help!

By the way, if you can help algore you can receive $100,000!!!

Help algore!

Here's what he's up against. Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (17,000 qualified scientists). Hurry! Help algore.

Don

This Just In

2007-08-03T12:09:00.001-06:00

During President Bush's routine cancer scan at Camp David five polyps were found and removed. After tests they were found to be safe.

Democrats want to know who they were and why they were removed.

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We're in trouble. Liberal Strategy for the War on Terror!

2007-08-03T00:03:00.001-06:00
What will we do? This is so brilliant...

maybe you should refer to the previous post on this blog.

Don

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are...

When? Are you sure?

2007-07-31T15:11:00.000-06:00
This is too good to believe. Sit down before watching or you'll laugh yourself into a wall.

I'll take Two!

2007-07-05T10:41:00.001-06:00

Looking around at the curios he noticed a very life-like,
life-size bronze statue of a rat. It had no price tag but it looked
so striking that he decided he must have it.

He took it to the owner and asked,
"How much is the bronze rat?
"Twelve dollars for the rat, and a hundred dollars if you bring it back."
"I'll take the rat and I won't be bringing it back."

As he walked down the street carrying the bronze rat, he noticed
that a few real rats had crawled out of alleys and sewers, and began
following him down the street. This was a bit disconcerting, so he
began to walk a little bit faster. Within a couple of blocks, the group
of rats behind him grew to over a hundred, and they began squealing.

He started to trot towards the Harbor. He took a nervous look
around and saw that the rats numbered in the thousands, maybe in the
millions, and they were all squealing and coming towards him faster and faster.
Terrified, he ran to the edge of the water and threw the bronze rat as
far out into Galveston Bay as he could.
Amazingly, the millions of rats all jumped into the water after
it, and were drowned.

The man walked back to the curio shop. "Aha," said the owner,
You're bringing it back !"
No," said the man. "I came back to see how much you
want for that little bronze Mexican over there?

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Reagan’s Speech at the Brandenburg Gate

2007-07-02T21:16:00.001-06:00

It was on June 12, 1987, that President Ronald Reagan gave his famous “tear down this wall” speech in West Berlin, an event that marked the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union.

Here are some excerpts from that speech:

“Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe. From the Baltic, south, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers. Farther south, there may be no visible, no obvious wall. But there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same -- still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state.

“Yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world. Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar…

“…In the 1950's, Khrushchev predicted: ‘We will bury you.’ But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history.

“In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind-too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

“And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom…

“…There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

(SOURCE: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

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Quote of the Day

2007-06-14T13:21:00.000-06:00
Here's an excellent quote by Thomas Sowell in the National Review. Don't you wish congress could apply his common sense to the immigration problem? Read his article by clicking the title.

People who are pushing for a "guest worker" program show not the slightest interest in what has been happening under guest-worker programs in Europe. Facts are apparently irrelevant. So is logic. Guests are people you invite to your home. Gate crashers are people who come without being invited. Home invaders are people who break in, despite doors that have been shut to keep them out.

Enjoy!
Don

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are...

Where's the Fence?

2007-06-10T14:59:00.000-06:00

Amnesty Bill Fails Senate

2007-06-07T21:34:00.000-06:00
Have the Republicans grown a spine? Did they get the picture? The Amnesty Bill was a massive failure! Hip hip hooray!

Mexicans who have gone through the system and obeyed the immigration laws don't want illegal Mexicans to be awarded citizenship.

Let's hope the fence gets built and illegals are treated as the criminals they are.

Here's a great link for building the fence!

Enjoy,
Don

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are...

Don't Say It!!!

2007-06-04T22:04:00.000-06:00
Are there words or phrases you can't stand to hear? Every generation has it's group of fad or over used words and phrases. Some are very interesting others are STUPID! The interesting words will come another time.

Here's a list of words and phrases I could go years without hearing and never miss them.

Actually - Why use it at all? If it's not already "actually" what is it?

Usually - This word is used too much. It means there is an exception but nowadays it’s used as an absolute. How many times have you wanted to know the policy of something and the answer is "USUALLY we don't do that". I always ask what the exceptions are. You should, too.

Kind of or Kinda - 'Kind of' is a phrase that shows similarities but nobody uses it that way. I kinda think you shouldn't do that. Class, we're kinda going to take a test. And the best for last... I'm kinda pregnant.

These ones - Does this need explaining?

So, but, anyway - How many times have you heard that used? Most of the time the Amway speaker is at a loss of words and regurgitates 'so, but, anyway'. Even a fool is considered wise when he's silent.

Like - For over 50 years it's been used to start sentences. Like, ya know?

I think so - Are people so mindless that they don’t know what they’re doing? Are you wearing glasses? I THINK SO. Did the ball hurt you when it smashed your face? I THINK SO. How about “I THINK we have a doctors appointment. Where are you going? (While seated in an airplane at 33,000 ft) I THINK I'M TAKING A PLANE TRIP. Are you a teacher? I THINK SO. The last one is frightening.

Fundamentalist - It’s mindlessly used to put someone down or to make someone feel superior over another. These same people don’t realize that all forms of rational thought begin with “Fundamentals”. Fundamentals are the foundation of everything we do. Being a Fundamentalist means you have a foundation on which to build.

Have a nice day - It’s fine if someone means it but I can’t tell you the last time that happened. It’s just something people without thinking. It means nothing.

Me and - This is a pet peeve deluxe. Me and Joe are... AKKKKKKKKKKKK! STOP IT!. Never start a sentence with 'me'.

Sorry - It's no longer a feeling of regret. It’s down right rude to knock someone down because you’re not paying attention and then say “sorry, teehee”. It shows contempt when somebody takes some of your Freedom Fries without asking and says, “sorry”. Besides, if you do something on purpose why would you say you're sorry?

Hi Guys - Not necessarily when addressing some friends, but when it comes from the hostess or waitress at a nice restaurant it’s so crude. I don‘t want giggly and bubbly. I want service and I want to be left alone. It should be banned from all eating establishments.

Profanity, anywhere or anytime is never appropriate.

It’s not a big deal - Somebody cuts in line, It’s not a big deal I do it all the time. Someone destroys something of value to you, It’s not a big deal I’m insured.

The Man upstairs - God is not some good ol’ boy. He deserves honor to His name.

It can’t be done - Yes it can. Unless you're kenny g trying to make a soprano sax sound good. Maybe there's an occasional exception, that is, as long as I approve of it.

Hypocrite Hillary

2007-05-25T22:48:00.001-06:00

In 2002 Mrs. Clinton voted for going to war with Iraq. Until recently she said she would never deny funding the troops and would never be in favor of imposing a pull out date.

Well, well, well...

In the past 10 days she's done just that. She was one of the 14 senators to vote against funding the troops and she wants a pull out date.

Democratic is a process
democrat is what they are...

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Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage!

2007-05-09T11:19:00.001-06:00

Here's a great article written by Chris Demorro, staff writer for the Recorder Online at Central Connecticut State University.

The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate ‘green car’ is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer.

Before we delve into the seedy underworld of hybrids, you must first understand how a hybrid works. For this, we will use the most popular hybrid on the market, the Toyota Prius.

The Prius is powered by not one, but two engines: a standard 76 horsepower, 1.5-liter gas engine found in most cars today and a battery- powered engine that deals out 67 horsepower and a whooping 295ft/lbs of torque, below 2000 revolutions per minute. Essentially, the Toyota Synergy Drive system, as it is so called, propels the car from a dead stop to up to 30mph. This is where the largest percent of gas is consumed. As any physics major can tell you, it takes more energy to get an object moving than to keep it moving. The battery is recharged through the braking system, as well as when the gasoline engine takes over anywhere north of 30mph. It seems like a great energy efficient and environmentally sound car, right?

You would be right if you went by the old government EPA estimates, which netted the Prius an incredible 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 miles per gallon on the highway. Unfortunately for Toyota, the government realized how unrealistic their EPA tests were, which consisted of highway speeds limited to 55mph and acceleration of only 3.3 mph per second. The new tests which affect all 2008 models give a much more realistic rating with highway speeds of 80mph and acceleration of 8mph per second. This has dropped the Prius’s EPA down by 25 percent to an average of 45mpg. This now puts the Toyota within spitting distance of cars like the Chevy Aveo, which costs less then half what the Prius costs.

However, if that was the only issue with the Prius, I wouldn’t be writing this article. It gets much worse.

Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that is on the road for three times longer than a Prius. As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.

“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn’t end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ‘nickel foam.’ From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius battery. Are these not sounding less and less like environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?

Wait, I haven’t even got to the best part yet.

When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50 percent more energy than a Hummer - the Prius’s arch nemesis.

Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

So, if you are really an environmentalist - ditch the Prius. Instead, buy one of the most economical cars available - a Toyota Scion xB. The Scion only costs a paltry $0.48 per mile to put on the road. If you are still obsessed over gas mileage - buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot.

One last fun fact for you: it takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses.

Mission Accomplished II

2007-05-01T09:52:00.001-06:00

As one visitor mentioned in the comment section of the last post, the reason the his speech is called Mission Accomplished is because of the sign that's hanging behind the President.

Incidentally, the sign wasn't located in the immediate background. It was placed high on the top of the control tower (aka the island) for all to see as they approached port.

Why was it there?

The sign was signifying the end of the USS Abraham Lincoln's 10 month deployment. One of the longest, if not the longest, on record for a United States Navy ship. It was hanged at the request of the crew members because they had accomplished their mission. That was a proud moment for the crew of the USS Lincoln, which the media snubbed in favor of criticizing the President.

What the mainstream media didn't tell you is that the sign had nothing to do with the operations in Iraq. The President's speech stressed that point when he said in the speech:
"We have difficult work to do in Iraq."

"The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time."

"The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001."
Does anybody really get a sense that a mission had been accomplished.