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November 30, 2005
Four New Hostages in Iraq
A video of the shaken and depressed hostages was immediately broadcast on the pro-terrorist network, Al Jazeera.
Four antiwar activists made the mistake of thinking they would be welcomed with open arms in enemy territory, instead they found themselves taken hostage and being exploited. The hostages were operating under guise of a "Christian Peacemaker Team". The group included 1 British, 1 American and 2 Canadians.
Historically, this group called "Christian Peacemakers" is not as much about peace making as it is about supporting radical leftist causes. Often they are operating in harmony with other anti-American and antiwar groups.
Their name is found on websites linking them with groups such as Peace Action, War Resisters'League, Communist Party, Socialist Party, International Socialist Organization, Feminist Majority, NOW, Feminist Activist Resources on the Net, California Catholics for Free Choice, Anarchist Links and US Alternative Political Parties including The Independent Progressive Politics Network, New Party Democratic Socialists of America, to name but a few.
The four hostages were on a mission to film alleged abuses by Peacekeepers to discredit America and Bush. Now they have become the main characters in another sort of film, sponsored by Islamic terrorists who label them “spies.� Being filmed as hostages and called spies by their ruthless captors is far from the sort of movie they had hoped to create. Norman Kember-74, a retired college professor is shown above with another yet to be unidentified hostage.
I'm restraining myself to say something really blunt right now, but maybe I shouldn't, then again this is the new candid blog form of journalism, right? OK, here goes, I think they got exactly what they deserved! However, I don't wish them harm, I just hope this becomes one of life's unexpected learning experiences and they use it to discover what fools they've been.
A CNN tally indicates 34 people are being held captive in Iraq and three are unaccounted for. 50 captives have been killed and 175 others were either released, rescued or escaped.
Now, if only Michael Moore would go over to Iraq to help free his liberal comrades held captive. Maybe he could make a film about "hostage abuse" and shame the fanatics into withdrawing from Iraq?
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:40 AM | Comments (1)
November 29, 2005
Sen. Lieberman - Good News from Iraq
I was sitting here reading an article about Sen. Joe Lieberman-D, Connecticut and I was stunned to actually hear a democrat say something positive about Iraq. You may remember him as running for president with Gore. Sen. Lieberman has visited Iraq 4 times in the past 17 months, returning from his latest visit yesterday (Nov. 28th).
He concluded that we're winning the war against the Saddamites and thugs directed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In the [AP] story, he said there are "signs life is returning to normal, including a profusion of cell phones and satellite TV dishes on rooftops." And... "About two-thirds of the country is in really pretty good shape," he said, noting most attacks are in the so-called "Sunni Triangle" region. "Overall, I came back encouraged."
Lieberman said withdrawing from Iraq too early would jeopardize virtually everything we've accomplished and everything we've been fighting for. Lieberman was satisfied that our field commanders had learned from their early mistakes and were following a good strategy known as, "clear-hold-build."
Note: Protestors on the American homefront are calling this another Vietnam, but in truth the similarity between Iraq and Vietnam are only found in tactics of the protestors, then and now. They are once again doing everything within their power to undermine our efforts and insure a U.S. defeat, because it serves their narrow agenda to discredit Bush, stall democratic reforms and seize political power from the GOP.
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:11 PM | Comments (1)
Illegal Immigration - Bush Offers Little
Bush's speech from Davis-Monthem AFB on immigration and securing our southern border seems to satisfy very few. Bush began by telling us illegal immigration is a "serious problem." That proclamation of Presidential awareness comes as illegals now number over 11 million and New Mexico, Arizona and California are being drawn into the new map of Mexico.
Bush tossed conservatives a bone when he said he was not going to offer amnesty to illegals, however he jerked it right back as he proposed a 3 year guest worker permit which is tantamount to amnesty. Bush did promise more border detention areas to aid in quicker deportations, however without a secure southern border this becomes just a larger version of the current revolving door.
Rather than changing anything and making appeasement speeches many Americans think enforcing the existing immigration laws should be given a try.
I realize the notion of enforcing existing law seems incredibly bizarre, but it just might work if we're serious about it. The first move ought to be, cut off federal funds for these so-called "Amnesty Cities" such as San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Miami, etc., then let the deportations begin while we do whatever it takes to secure the southern border. When this problem becomes manageable we can discuss a 3 year guest worker program, but until then our current laws regarding migrant workers ought to be strictly enforced.
For additional information may I suggest...
http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/news/104590
http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=77170&category=Local
"MEXICO CITY A spokesman for Mexico's president says the country pins its hopes on the legalization of migrants living in the United States.
That's despite a tough speech by President Bush promising more border enforcement and no amnesty for undocumented migrants.
Bush's speech in Tucson yesterday stressed his support for a temporary guest worker program. But that plan envisions having most workers return home after up to six years working in the United States. Mexico is pushing for more permanent, legal residence.
Ruben Aguilar, spokesman for Mexico's President Vicente Fox, calls for an "integrated vision" of border security. Mexico has rejected in the past unilateral border protection measures like walls." KVOA.com
Posted by Post Scripts at 07:07 AM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2005
A Fall From Honor
ALERT: Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham-R from California, just plead guilty to a charge of bribery. This is disturbing on a number of levels, he was a very popular Congressman, and he was Vietnam War hero, a former Naval Officer and fighter pilot. His air combat exploits made him a role model to youngsters and even among his peers in politics. When a guy like Cunningham falls it's a long drop. His disgrace is almost beyond our ability to imagine because his life has been so completely destroyed. Those national honors that were bestowed on him throughout his otherwise illustrious career have been ground into dust. He has been stripped of his dignity and every great deed he has ever done is for naught. And for what, a few lousy bucks?
So often as a criminal investigator, I had people charged with crimes of theft sitting in my private office at the police station, looking across a big gray steel desk. In their moment of despair and humiliation I would ask them, "What would you sell your reputation for, would you take $100? How about a $1000, $10,000, what’s your price?" Remember your reputation is the most valuable thing you will ever own in your entire life, so it better be worth it.
In almost all cases the answer was the same, "I just wouldn't do it." Then I reminded them that’s exactly what they did when they stole from someone. They were selling their most valuable possession (their reputation) for the value of whatever it was they had stolen or done. That thought often made them sick and added to their humiliation, especially for the younger ones.
I wasn't trying to be cruel, but I was trying to make a point. This was just the first step to making them face what they had done to themselves and their families. If they had only thought about this before they did their crime, who knows, maybe in most cases it wouldn't have happened? But, people do incredibly dumb things when tempted on the spur of the moment don't they?
Someone once said, the test of your character comes not when people are looking at you, but when they're not. Cunningham had a gross lapse of [character] when nobody was looking and he sold his reputation cheaply. There's a lesson in this story for anyone with half a conscience left, especially those who hold the public trust.
Cunningham has resigned from Congress with a tearful apology and now faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Posted by Post Scripts at 12:15 PM | Comments (6)
November 27, 2005
Many More Need to Go...
Prof. John Daly resigned just before a Warren County Community College board could hold an emergency meeting to discuss what to do about his recent attempts to intimidate a conservative 19 year student activist.Earlier this month Daly sent an email to a student, Rebecca Beach, saying he wanted, “to expose her right-wing, anti-people politics until groups like Rebecca’s won’t dare show their face on a college campus.� The professor also said, “Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors!� Daly now joins the ranks of the unemployed, along with another former radical Professor who also went too far... Ward Churchill.
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)
Cindy Sheehan Book Signing
Cindy Sheehan sat motionless in her folding chair with pen-in-hand and a bewildered expression upon her face. Filtered sunlight seeped through the billowing white top of her [revival] size tent as she stared at the rows and rows of empty seats just a few feet away. Nary a sound could be heard save for a few press cameras’ clicking and the occasional chirping of a few Crawford County crickets. So marked the beginning of Sheehan's book signing tour and perhaps the end of her 15 minutes of fame.
Note: Sheehan became an outspoken antiwar critic following the death her 24-year-old son, a veteran Marine killed in Iraq. In a recent attack on Bush Sheehan proclaimed, "America is not worth dying for!" Earlier she said, Bush was the "World's biggest terrorist," that the Insurgents were freedom fighters and the Israeli's masterminded the Iraq war.
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:48 PM | Comments (1)
November 26, 2005
Higher Ground - Good for Coffee, Good for Debates
Dale., writes, "How Flattering! I’ve so offended the fragile sensibilities of a liberal that I am now mentioned by name! Of course the so called “myths� I espouse were conveniently left out of his post. But despite my youth I’m not exactly amazed by a liberal ideologue unable to match their emotional outbursts with facts on the ground.
Perhaps if our friend was interested in debating topics we would have read examples of my elaborate myth-making capabilities, but I’m willing to bet that this was more of the sarcastic hit and run, full of accusations light on examples, that liberals seem to favor. Since most of what I have written about so far is based off of theory rather than sighting specific numbers or dates, it boggles the mind that somehow I attain the rank of grand myth regurgitator.
It is also interesting that liberals seem to think that all conservative thought originates from Rush or Sean. While I enjoy listening to Rush, and agree with most of his positions, I have never read one of his books. Nor have I once quoted any of the people mentioned in JD’s post on this blog. I have borrowed from Reagan, Shakespeare, Churchill (Winston, not Ward for you libs), Sowell, Freidman, Adam Smith, Hamilton, etc. when writing here and other places. I use these people since they are far more intelligent than I, and the view is always much better when standing on the shoulders of giants.
I also draw what I write about from personal experience. I realize that for most libs my age, practical personnel experience is something of a mystery, since they have spent most of their young adult lives living vicariously through the thoughts and theories of their professors. And while higher education is a great thing, I have never seen someone guiltier of regurgitation than a sophomore college student who has elevated their professor to the status of demi-god. Through the wisdom of Chico State students I have learned that:
1. Iraq has 2/3rds of the worlds oil supply (not even close),
2. We get most of our imported oil from the Middle East (about a whopping 17%),
3. That most soldiers don’t support the war (this was especially surprising, since I’m a soldier, and probably have a little more exposure to the guys and gals in uniform then your avg. college student.)
4. That wealth distribution is greater in the Philippines than the US and therefore more fair (another fascinating fact since I have actually been to the Philippines where you can go to the outskirts of Manila and see over 3000 families living in a garbage dump.)
And all this from one conversation! Her frustrated response to me was that I was contradicting all the things that she had learned in her sociology class. I couldn’t help thinking that maybe she should get her parents money back.
But I digress; I would be completely open to evidence suggesting that my “mythology� of conservative ideals is something to be ashamed of. Fire away Drzal. Dazzle my simple right-wing mind with your intellectual prowess." END
_______________________________
Note: I hope our other guest writer, John D., will offer us a reply? We always look forward to a lively debate here. I must request that when two writers with opposing views debate, we limit it to no more than one more post each. This ought to be enough for point and counterpoint. That is, if you both wish to continue? Personally, I hope you do. I think we might learn something about each other's point of view?
Posted by Post Scripts at 02:47 PM | Comments (2)
November 25, 2005
Do You Want Law Enforcement Looking at Your Medical Records?
The following addresses the Limbaugh Case, but as you read it you can see how it could just as well be about any of us. It is an ominous warning of what the future may hold.....
"There are extremely important issues involved in his case - that if allowed to set precedents will horribly affect all pain patients, their families, and their physicians.
Most critical, and at stake, is the ability of patients to safely obtain pain medication for chronic, persistent pain. Medical Boards instruct physicians that “tolerance and physical dependence are normal consequences of sustained use of opioid analgesics and are not synonymous with addiction� But this advice has not penetrated deeply even into the medical community. Much of the general public, and most of the media, still equate physical dependence and addiction, which is completely unfounded. Even many pain patients, lacking factual counseling by their doctors, misperceive themselves as addicted. Mr. Limbaugh was one of them.
They have not been taught that when properly prescribed and taken as prescribed, OxyContin and all the opioids are effective medications for moderate to severe pain. They have only been exposed to the Media, which hyped the dangers (without mentioning that these almost always occur only when the drugs are abused) and caused a hideous stigma to be attached to those who take Opioids, especially OxyContin, legally or illegally. Out of prejudice, Pain patients who take opioids are assumed to be addicts. The stigmatization of OxyContin is even greater. Pain patients have lost jobs simply on the strength of employer awareness that they take OxyContin.
The Limbaugh matter perfectly exemplifies this phenomenon of “pseudoaddiction.� Any person who has untreated or under treated pain will set out to find adequate pain relief. And what we force them to do is then labeled “drug seeking behaviors� - including “doctor shopping� and purchasing on the illegal market (in the same way that both real addicts and drug diverters do.) The difference is that, unlike addicts, when they can find a way to adequately treat their pain, their ability to function and the quality of their life improves dramatically. The Amici (NFTP, APF and AAPS) are confident that Mr. Limbaugh is a pseudoaddict. His obvious ability to function belies true addiction.
Patients are driven to Pseudoaddictive behavior in reaction to the harsh reality of the prescribing climate in Florida and elsewhere in the United States. Under treatment, in turn, is a product of the opiophobic environment and law enforcement mind set.
Faced with real dangers, Doctors are afraid to prescribe opioids to therapeutic levels. Even worse, doctors are now being arrested and jailed when patients lie to them about doctor shopping, or about drug abuse or diversion and selling or injecting their medications, and particularly when someone dies from a drug overdose.
The law-enforcement mind-set works to the great detriment of patients. Doctors are not fools. Rather than risk their professional licenses or personal freedom, doctors routinely refuse to prescribe opioids to patients even when they know they would profoundly benefit from them. And even those who will prescribe frequently self-impose a dose limitation that falls short of therapeutic levels for the individual. These choices are ethically and clinically wrong - but the chances are good that a doctor who puts his patient first may be putting himself in danger.
Legislative and Medical Board actions accepting and encouraging doctors to use opioids for chronic pain are virtually worthless in a context of punitive and ill-informed law enforcement. Physicians can read the papers and the risks are real. Physicians are meant to be healers, but fear their patients’ misdeeds, and now must fear criminal prosecution. Patients are meant to be treated, but relief is rationed out of physicians’ fears. Law enforcement is dogging the heels of both.
The state needs to do everything it can to resolve this issue in the favor of its patients. Doctors should be able to ask freely important questions about a patient’s background and patients should be free to talk without fear that they will be investigated for “doctor-shopping� and worse.
Doctors will ask less and patients will tell less if warrants such as those employed in the Limbaugh case are allowed to stand. PERMITTING LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCESS TO THE MEDICAL RECORDS IN QUESTION IS AN INAPPROPRIATE AND UNPRECEDENTED USE OF THE “LAW ENFORCEMENT� EXCEPTION TO MEDICAL RECORDS PRIVACY."
For more information please refer to....
http://www.paincare.org/mary_baluss/message.php?id=5
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:56 AM | Comments (1)
November 24, 2005
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day is finally here. But, apparently some are confused as to whom we're giving thanks?
As a conservative, you know who it is, God of course. We do that for all His blessing during the earliest Pilgrim times right up to now. However, the guy at my dry cleaners wished me a "happy holiday" and so did the young girl at the supermarket checkout. Apparently they were trying very hard to be politically correct and take God out of it, lest they offend somebody. But, how do you remove God from Thanksgiving and still have Thanksgiving? Who are we thanking then? "Hey, thank you Bart! Ah, contre,' thank you Homer and thank you Marge!" Nah, it just doesn't work for me.
So if you are one of those offended by the term "Thanksgiving" then I say, get over yourself pal, this is America and we were not founded by Muslims, Seiks, Buddhists or even Atheists, we were founded by Christian Pilgrims and "Thanksgiving" was a Pilgrim celebration day to give thanks to God!
Historical revisionists can (and will) portray this as a day of infamy when the white capitalists first exploited the red proletariat (Indians), but they still can't get around the fact Thanksgiving is what it is, a Christian holiday.
“After the first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists in 1621, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring American Indians. In 1623, a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest." N. Carolina records.
The Continental Congress eventually suggested this be a national holiday and starting calling it Thanksgiving Day. In 1817, New York state adopted Thanksgiving Day and within the next 30 years most other states followed, until it became a truly national holiday. So there you have it and now it should be clear to everyone why we call it Thanksgiving...Now please, enjoy this day and have a safe and happy holiday, er, I mean, uh, THANKSGIVING!!!!!
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:36 AM | Comments (2)
November 23, 2005
Royal Quackery Lives On
Raymond Royal Rife, doctor of medicine, man of science. The first man ever to cure cancer virtually single-handed! His great legacy grows despite every attempt by the AMA to discredit him as a fraud. Although Rife died a convicted con and a faker, thousands of true-believers still tout his wacky science as fact and even hold up his phoney creditentials as the real McCoy.
The original "Rife Light Machine" was destroyed about 70 years ago, however many creative versions of it remain in use around the world. Worse yet, there are dozens of internet sites that will either sell you this "do nothing' machine for a few hundred bucks or they adverstise treatment at a Rife Clinic near you, for whatever ails you, from cancer to dandruff, no malady is too much for a Rife Machine.
So who was Royal Rife and what exactly did he invent? Well, for starters, we know Rife was no doctor. Despite his claims of attending Johns Hopkins and the University of Heidelberg, no student records were every found and nobody knew him as a student. Rather, Rife's education was limited to that of a machinist as an optical instrument maker (optician).
Next, his theory for the cause of cancer and it's cure was never proven in any sort of medically supervised, double blind, study and it was rejected at various times by the best medical science as sheer quackery. However, Rife was a clever man with an aptitude for mechanics, which was later displayed in his wonder machine that almost made him rich. He used his gift for promotion time and again to overwhelm his less entertaining, medical critics.
Rife was brought to prominence back in the 1930's, during the depression era, when he was working as a chauffeur for Timken family of the Timken Roller Bearing fortune. He devised a scam that involved faking his education and using the discredited work of another, to obtains thousands of dollars from Mrs. Timken. Allegedly, all the money went into the construction of a special microscope with the ability to focus on heretofore invisible bacterium! Rife claimed "he could see bacterium change over the course of their life. He believed that bacterium goes through 4 phases before they become what he identified as a cancer bacterium."
Rife didn't come up with any evidence and no one since then has been able to see what he claimed he saw, but never mind the facts, we've got a good con to promote! Rife claimed his first machine was mysteriously vandalized just before it could yield results! Until that vandalism, it was on display, viewed by hundreds of people as Rife proclaimed it's wonders. It was considered by all that saw it as quite impressive, just, nobody except Rife ever actually saw it work.
How it worked became another closely guarded secret and another red flag in spotting a con-game, although Rife openly talked about the theory of how it worked. The destruction of the machine should have been one more red flag, but this actually played out fairly well for Rife, because he often found himself dealing people who bought into the great medical conspiracy theory.
Rife's original (albeit naive) benefactor may have provided him with all the money he needed to complete his first grand deception, but, it was Rife's showmanship that won the day over the critics. And it was all done in a manner that would have made P.T. Barnum proud! Prior to his work being actually proven to work, Rife had convinced a fairly large number of investors to give him money to develop his science even further, part two of the big con.
His game went over almost too well, because the notoriety that followed brought a certain amount of unwanted attention on Rife and his unproven medical theories. This scientific oversight ultimately was Rife's undoing, and his pack of lies came tumbling down. Rife was indicted for fraud and convicted. Rife was a broken man and died an alcoholic.
Since Rife's fall from grace many imitators have emerged to champion his work and reap the financial rewards with their own version of a Rife machine....and the testimonials keep on mounting, adding new credibility to an old fraud.
Rife original work said cancer originated from bacteria and further, that all pathogens, including the cancer causing bacteria, emanated a certain frequency. By dialing in on this unique frequency and targeting the pathogen it could be immediately neutralized. Actually this idea was not even Rife's, it was first hypothesized by "Dr. Albert Abrams (1864-1924), an American physician who became a millionaire and was branded by the American Medical Association the dean of gadget quacks".
His research was refined by Royal Rife and a New Mexico chiropractor, James Bare. They drew up tables giving the..."frequency of 30,000 organisms they said caused every condition from dandruff to leprosy, strokes and syphilis. AIDS, for instance, is said to be cured by a frequency of 2,489 kilohertz in as little as three three-minute sessions."
Of course with all that we know today about the causes and cures for various cancers, Rifes medical ignorance was pathetic, but in the 1930's his claims were much more difficult to refute. But, despite this current knowledge, the Rife legacy lives on in con's seeking a quick buck from their willing dupes from around the world....thus fulfilling P.T. Barnum's most famous prophecy!
For more information on this article I suggest the following sites:
http://amr2you.blogspot.com/2005/07/will-that-rife-machine-2005-plus-model.html
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/News/rife.html
http://www.healthwatcher.net/Quackerywatch/Cancer/Cancer-news/smh001230rife-aus.html
http://www.devicewatch.org/reports/aquadetox.shtml
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:34 PM | Comments (5)
More on Air America Radio
Excerpted from John D. "comments" on Air America. John points out that AAR reaches almost 1.3 million people a week on the internet. That's nice John, however just two hosts, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity do 80 million on a slow day! They do it on the air, against real competition, with real sponsors who eagerly stand in long lines just to get a spot on their shows. That 1.3 mil seems kinda puny compared to conservative talk radio numbers.
Liberal Air America would probably be doing great except for one thing, people don't like the radical liberal message. They don't like people constantly speaking against America or siding with the enemy. The vitrial coming from liberal talk-radio has bombed. AAR has few listeners, low ratings and few sponsors because their message has always been about criticizing America, making fun of Republicans, class warfare, defeatism and pessimism. Who wants to listen to that when we have Armstrong & Getty, Rush, Michael Savage, Michael Reagan, Bill O'Reilly, Liddy, Tony Blankley, Tony Snow, etc., to name but a few that are informative, entertaining and who often speak of patriotism and hope?
Posted by Post Scripts at 12:41 PM | Comments (4)
Air America Spiraling Down
The liberal Air America Radio has been around about a year, but it's been a struggle to get anything close to decent Arbitron ratings and there goes the sponsors necessary to support it. Air America isn't dead, but it's on life support!
As an example of AAR's failing performance, "WLIB, its flagship in New York City, has sunk to 24th in the metro area Arbitron ratings -- worse than the all-Caribbean format it replaced," says the "Radio Blogger." It does even worse in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the most left cities on the left coast.
Why isn't the liberal message more popular? Some libs say it's because their message is too lofty for the rubes in radioland to understand. Actually, I think its because listeners do understand.
For more information on this topic I suggest you read:
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_latimes-why_the_liberals.htm
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:04 AM | Comments (1)
November 22, 2005
Paris is Still Burning
A post from Coffeesnob.... "If your of the opinion that the unrest in France had just gone away, you wouldn't be alone. You would be hard pressed to have found any news about the riots in the past week. Even FoxNews.com went dead on the issue until this morning. A school security guard died from a heart attack fighting a car fire.
If you read the story, you find out that it is more than just cars and a few buildings lost to the riots. Turns out more than 9000 cars were burned along with "several hundred buildings." If this were happening in the US, the Democrats would already be holding hearings and the usual suspects would haul out the usual whipping boy's, the world wouldn't hear the end of it for years.
The last I heard on this issue was about a week ago on FNC,it went something like this. Some French official, I think the mayor of Paris, stated with joy that the unrest has subsided and things were getting back to normal. This guy has a funny idea of what "normal" is. The night before he made this statement, 450 cars and 2 schools had been burned.
Now it could be that like me, no one in the US really cares if France burned to the ground. That would be a reason for the lack of news. With the number of gutless chunks of fecal matter (scientific name for liberals) running a muck in the US, I find that scenario implausible. If you have any ideas on this issue feel free to let us all hear them. I have given up on how news becomes and stays news in this Country."
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:04 AM | Comments (1)
Give Iraq a Time for Withdrawl?
I've heard it said many times, if we give a timetable for withdrawal terrorists will just sit back and wait till we're gone, then pow! Ok, let peace take hold during this time and let the defenders get prepared, then we'll see how far the terrorists get. My guess is they won't get very far.
But, I don't believe it would be a very peaceful time. Why would terrorists sit on their IED's and AK47's while the new government grows stronger day by day? I think whether we announce a timetable for phased withdrawal or we don't we're still going to get attacked.
However, what a stated timetable does, that we're now lacking is this: (1) Serves notice to world that we do not intend to be an indefinite occupation force in Iraq and this would neutralize much of the leftist criticism leveled at Bush and America. It's kinda hard to say it was all about oil while we are exiting without the oil! Instead, it adds to our credibility and our long stated goals. (2) A timed withdrawal forces Iraqi's to step-up in their own defense, because they see a time approaching when the country will be either in their hands or the terrorists. The consequences of losing are too severe to be even remotely acceptable by the majority of Iraqi's, which makes our timetable a goal that must be met! (3) A phased withdrawal under a stated timetable greatly reduces many of the key reasons for terrorist acts and recruitment and would no doubt slow down terrorist bombings and save lives. (4) Timing our exit would also improve coalition cooperation because they can see a clearly defined, limited objective, unlike now. (5) Terrorist acts that delay our withdrawal would not be popular with their current support base, nor anywhere else and public opinion would tend to shift our way.
There must come a time when the Iraqi's are either going to stand up for democratic reforms or turn to some form of Islamic theocracy, that's just a given. If Iraqi's haven't found the reasons for democracy after 5-6 years of American help, probably no amount of time may be enough.
I honestly didn't know that as I was writing this story that the 3 major Iraqi coalitions came together to request the United States give them a specific time for departure. One of the factions felt this should begin as early as next year. Pretty much validates what I was saying.
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:14 AM | Comments (1)
November 21, 2005
High School Bans Students From Driving Cars?
With few exceptions, what if students couldn't drive a car to high school?
We know that grades fall when a high school student gets a car, right? We know they are at a greater risk for death or serious injury when they drive. We know parents are more likely to get sued when their kids drive, so what is it about our car-crazy culture that says it's OK for a child to drive a car to school, especially when we have every statistical reason to believe otherwise?
You've seen the parking lots at the local high schools, those costly parking lots, taking up valuable classroom space are now filled to overflowing with everything from seriously impaired junkers that you or I wouldn't drive around the block, to those newer cars, cars that you and I probably couldn't afford!
Too many well meaning, but clueless parents needlessly risk their child's future by sending them off to school lacking the driver skills and the maturity to get there safely. It's a fact that young drivers, kids between 16 and 19 have the highest accident rate of any other group and nearly 1 in 7 will be involved in a serious accident.
This practice of sending a kid off to school in his own car is not good for the student, parents pocket book or for the environment. At the risk of sounding too much like a liberal, it does seems...er, "fuelish"? Well, it's true. We're burning up our limited resources at an alarming rate and this is one of the little niche areas where we could conserve.
Think about it, our streets would be less crowded and therefore safer, if students didn't drive to and from school. It can't be financially good for the family and we know from decades of research that it's not good for the student's education, so why do we allow it and accept it almost as a God-given, American right?
I think it's part of our uniquely American tradition of having a love affair with the automobile and partly because we can afford to do it because we are such an affluent society.
If I am wrong, please tell me the downside here because I'm not seeing it? And no, you can't say the kids need to drive because the bus doesn't go there or they have a part-time job or other serious need. Those are reasonable exceptions. Just tell me why high school kids in general ought to be allowed to skip the bus and drive a potentially lethal weapon (Cars, Trucks and SUV's) to school, that's likely going to hurt them or someone else or at the very least, adversely impact their grades?
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2005
A True Story of Courage and the American Spirit
Once upon a time, not so long ago... there were two very poor twin sisters of Hispanic decent living in a small town in Northern California. For purposes of protecting their identity, I will just call them Juanita and Maria. They were barely 12 years old when their parents were in the midst of an ugly divorced that led them to be living in a single parent household. Their father soon took up with another women and their mother was in a state of emotional meltdown; for them, life couldn't have been worse.
Their peers and other family members were of little or no help, as they had their own serious problems. In fact most of their friends were failing in school and getting into trouble and that seemed where the twins were heading too. Their father had been a long time alcoholic and had serious emotional problems and that caused him to fly into fits of temper often in drunken rages, so his absence was slightly better than him being around. Their mother was married at 15 because she was pregnant with them by their now absent father and was forced at that young age to join her husband, working the crops as a laborer in order to survive. Their first home was in a migrant camp and it was only years later that the twins actually moved into a low income home. Their mother loved them and did the best she could for her girls, but she had overwhelming problems of her own. The mother - daughter relationship was strained almost to the breaking point, many times.
What happened from this point forward is a remarkable story of overcoming adversity to rise up above the chaos of a family in severe crisis and how these two young girls evolved into caring, charming and successful adults, living out the American dream.
At 13, Maria and Juanita left that dysfunctional environment and started life anew with someone who simply allowed them to be all they could be. It was an odd sort of adopted family arrangement, but it worked! This part came together more by accident or fate, whatever you want to call it, but that's a whole other story in itself. Perhaps I should sum it up like this, the girls were loved and appreciated and for the first time in their young lives they had strong parental guidance on a consistent basis. It's amazing how kids can thrive when their emotional needs are met and given some guidance, even when life has dealt them a terrible hand, as in this case.
Both girls had been struggling in school, but in time and with the most modest of encouragement coupled to their own determined struggle and some long evenings with lots of homework, their grades improved! 3 years later this great personal effort culminated when both Maria and Juanita graduated from high school, on the honor roll!
Both girls went on to Junior College because they still couldn't afford to go to a University. Juanita took on part-time jobs and with a small grant, she was accepted at San Jose State where she graduated with a BA degree in business.
Juanita excelled in school and athletics and following her passion, she went on to own and manage a successful fitness center in the bay area. She now has several nationally known motivational speakers on her staff of employees. Juanita is currently involved in her latest business endeavor for a national fitness program via the internet. She is also actively marketing her own unique sports fitness program through retail athletic stores. A total success story, but it sure wasn't easy! Then again, what things worthwhile are easy?
Next, Maria obtained an AA degree and was drawn in another direction because of her love of the sea. She found work in Hawaii on a daytime cruise boat and for a time this was perfect for her. The money was ok and the crew became like her family, but she wanted more out of life than being a hostess on a tour boat. Then one day she read about jobs for deckhands in the Florida yachting business. This got her thinking and she decided to try to land a job on luxury yacht. After saving up some money she flew to Florida not really knowing what to expect, but her drive and determination paid off once again. Within two weeks of her arrival and after some serious job hunting, she was hired as a stewardess on 160' motor yacht.
Maria changed boats several times as she slowly rose up threw the rank's, taking specialized maritime classes in her off duty hours to make herself more promotable. Among the many maritime certificates she has earned are two coveted licenses, one from the U.S. Coast Guard and one from the British Admiralty...for ship's Captain!
Although she is yet to work as a full time captain, she is still young and she's confident it will eventually happen, but she's in no hurry as her job as a ship's officer is challenging enough at the moment. In the past decade she has crewed for several of the worlds largest, multi-million dollar yachts, cruising the Caribbean, meeting famous people and seeing exotic ports of call, as well as doing freelance yacht delivery along the entire eastern seaboard.
This fantastic story of adversity and triumph had many twists and turns, any one of which could have derailed this future. How it was that they survived to overcome every obsticle thrown at them might be summed up in quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and this is a great message for all young kids struggling to overcome their own adversities: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."
Oh, how it is that I came to know this story? Well, I just celebrated a birthday yesterday for two very special young ladies, their names are Maria and Juanita...and I'm their step-dad and as Paul Harvey would say, "Now you know the rest of the story."
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:24 AM | Comments (2)
November 17, 2005
Punish the Parents of Gang-bangers?
Chico PD has arrested and charged two teens for the murder of an Oroville man and the stabbing of his friend. As reported in today's E-R, "Police said witnesses reported hearing one of the two brothers shouting gang slogans at (victims) Semore and Caffey. During the fight, the younger of the two brothers allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed Semore multiple times, then turned the attack on Caffey. It's believed the older brother participated in the fight and at some point tried to come to his younger brother's aid." But, the case is far from over.
Not only should the suspects be held accountable, but I think the "people" deserve some sort of accountability from the parents. I wish this was standard proceedure for any serious incident involving the criminal actions of a dependant in their care, but it rarely is. The reality of this situation says police have their hands full just trying to get a conviction on the suspects. It's highly unlikely the parents will be even investigated, let alone charged, despite the appearance of a severe lack of parental supervision that directly contributed to this tragedy. However, if the police did take a look at the parents and circumstances warranted a charge, it would send a message to other such parents...."If you are not a responsible parent and your child commits a serious crime, then you're going to be charged with a crime!"
Posted by Post Scripts at 04:35 PM | Comments (1)
Ambulance Abuse Costs $$$
A trip to the hospital in L.A. by ambulance costs $825, plus $13 a mile and $96 for Code 3, waiting time for the ambulance crew runs $38 every 15 minutes. One area drunk racked up over 115 ambulance trips last year. Everytime this guy got a little lonely or wanted some fun he called 911 for an ambulance ride to the hospital. Per LAFD policy the fire rescue also shows up for code 3 ambulance calls, thus compounding the costs for his frivilous abuse.
And the worst part is he's still doing it! We can't stop him and he doesn't care what it costs or how it ties up emergency services, he doesn't pay a dime because this is covered under Medi-Cal. Sadly, this is not an isolated case, too many people abuse the ambulance service with non-emergency calls, just like that drunk. For instance people will take an ambulance ride to the ER for the flu or something equally minor because it saves a taxi ride and there's no waiting when you arrive in an ambulance.
Your government has empowered them to abuse the system and we have no recourse except to cover their costs because your DEMOCRATIC legislators refuse to take any action. Might cost them votes!
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:28 PM | Comments (1)
November 16, 2005
A Must See Video
If you haven't seen the video of Democrats reporting on WMD's, you owe it to yourself to check it out! It stars Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, et al.
Dems retort to being caught on tape is too lame to be credible. "We were all duped, we didn't have all the information, Bush lied...(cry, whine, sniffle)." Yeah right, do you believe that?
If Democrats have a shred of evidence that Bush lied or witheld critical intel on WMD's, then where is it? There's only one responsible response to this leftist propaganda, that is, prove it or sit down and shut up! But, my bet is they won't do either, because they are content to continue this phoney propaganda campaign because it fits their narrow agenda for political advantage. That makes them the liars and something much worse, ruthless partisan hacks that will do or say anything to achieve their ends!
Here is what y-o-u can do: Whenever you hear some wacko saying, "Dude Bush lied!" Try something like this, (in your own words of course) ask him, "If any of this was remotely true, then why isn't anyone with any credibility stepping forward with the evidence and doing something about it? C'mon, where's the evidence? Bring it on and you can destroy the GOP and Bush in one fell swoop." The silence that will follow will put a smile on your face.
Thanks to Dale., who made me aware of this video at GOP.COM
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:34 AM | Comments (2)
November 15, 2005
Universal Health Care
Maybe I should have titled this "Liberal myth debunked?" The other day I met a couple of RN's from Enloe while I was waiting for good ol' Arnold to arrive at the Cozy Diner for his NorCal tour.
As you might have guessed, they were all for government run healthcare and they were also very pro-union. I questioned them if they knew how the Canadian universal healthcare system work's? Neither really had any idea. I said, "The first thing you loose is your good pay and you won't be needing your union either." That gave em' pause!
I explained, in Canada it's easy enough to get small things taken care of fairly quickly like a cut, a sprain or a broken bone and that's the best part about their system. But, for serious problems, like heart disease or kidney transplant, you could be put on a long waiting list and that could be fatal.
Since the government has limited funds available they must prioritize who gets what and when. It's a case of triage by accounting and your life may be in the hands of some pencil pusher. Example, if you are over 55 and it's very serious, you could be totally written off for a major procedure because saving you doesn't make good financial sense.
By the way, Canada loses many of its top doctors to the US because salaries are so much better here. So, the medical care you may receive in Canada for "free" isn't quite the high quality you've come to expect here in the U.S. of A.
Like I said, the expenditures from taxes on healthcare are tightly controlled and major medical procedures are not always open to everyone. Those that qualify often wait months, while their situation becomes acute, lessening their chances for survival. "....Canada's system is riddled with problems, many stemming from inadequate funding. As a result, delays of several months are common before seeing a specialist or getting nonemergency surgery." Barry Brown, S.F. Chronical
Our medical system is far from perfect, but we still have the best care, best doctors and fastest service anywhere in the world. The Democrats would like to change this for a Canadian style universal healthcare system..go figure?
For more on this I suggest you read...
http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/001313.html
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/14/BUGR28JFEN59.DTL
UPDATE:
Cont- Universal Health Care... one of the major problems, as I see it, are those people who make too much to be on Medical and too little to afford health insurance and too young for Medicare. They are in this limbo area.
Low income families who fall into this gap do have an option, California has a limited insurance plan for them (see http://www.medi-cal.ca.gov/), but, if it's a single person or a married couple without a child, no help.
If we were going to do a reasonable fix for health care right now with something we could handle without breaking the bank, we ought to find a way to include those people in this uninsured gap. Their numbers are rising and sooner or later we are going to have to deal with it. According to the Census Bureau's findings that the number of uninsured Americans rose to 43.6 million during 2002.
That high number makes me suspicious, because many of those people who are technically uninsured would qualify for some sort of subsidized health care, if they applied for it. Many simply don't. I know from personal experience the hospital Emergency Room is often the first place where a new patient finally gets around to filling out a request for subsidized assistance so the hospital can get paid. However, even if the patient refuses to cooperate and they have no money, Congress mandates the hospital must provide service anyway. Unfortunately, they don't mandate the patient must pay or provide the hospital with ways they can effectively collect on such debts.
"A study made by the U.S.- Mexico Border Counties Coalition, an American lobbying group, found that U.S. hospitals in border states provide at least $200 million a year in uncompensated emergency care to illegal aliens. In the four border states, 77 hospitals now face a medical emergency." Our brilliant solution, take 200,000,000 from the taxpayers and pay those border hospitals...yep, you are now funding treatment for illegals!
Aren't you glad you have ever informative column?
For more information on this subject I suggest you read...
http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2003/feb03/psrfeb03.shtml
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:31 AM | Comments (1)
Hal Needs Perspective!
A post from Hurrican Hillary...
"Dear Hal:
You need to get some perspective. When we look at numbers here in Washington, we round off a billion dollars to zero, assuming it was just a minor accounting error."
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:28 AM | Comments (1)
November 14, 2005
The Hampster Dance!
Ready for a little break from the serious world?
Try the Hamster Dance website (G Rated)
http://www.koreus.com/media/hampton-the-hamster-the-hampsterdance-song.html
~A
by the way Hal sent this to us.......
"The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" casually, think about whether you want the politician spending your tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising
agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases.
a.. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
b.. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
c.. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone
Age.
d.. A billion days ago no-one walked on two feet on earth.
e.. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the
rate our federal government spends it. Then you need to factor in State government and local governments."
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:00 PM | Comments (1)
Debating with Liberals
Dale. writes...."If you have ever had the privilege of debating with a liberal, it no doubt took you approximately 2 minutes to learn that for the liberal, history began 5 minutes ago. Or however long ago they received their talking points in the mail. Past that, most of them seem to be unaware of human history.
If they were informed, then statements like “Bush lied, people died� would seem not only absurd, but rather embarrassing. Since this latest business with the outing of a “covert� agent, libs are back on the attack that we were all lied to, so Bush’s oil buddies could get rich on a war in Iraq. In order to trick us Bush got together the following cronies to make these false statements to lead us to this unjust war.
"Iraq made commitments after the Gulf War to completely dismantle all weapons of mass destruction, and unfortunately, Iraq has not lived up to its agreement." -- Barbara Boxer, November 8, 2002
"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security." -- Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -- Ted Kennedy, September 27, 2002
“Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998
Boy, quotes like these would be a real B---h for those of us with some intellectual honesty, but not for libs! Like other leftist movements, they have managed to do away with things like honesty, fair play, or any thing else that gets in the way of world revolution…..I mean greater liberal understanding."
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:39 AM | Comments (1)
Conservative thinking...
When I hear liberals defining what the GOP is or what conservatives think, I almost choke! I know they are just repeating the mantra from their circle of liberal friends and what they really know about conservatives is next to nothing.
Let me give you an example of just a few basic conservative principles and see if they meet with your approval?
Conservative believes in limited government and lower taxes. They believe in the philosophy of the foundering fathers and the Constitution. They have a great respect for the sanctity of life (abortion is a last resort) and they like government when it generates more freedom, not more safety nets. Conservatives think it ought to be more up to the individual, than government to determine your future success. Conservatives think equal opportunity means an equal right to succeed or fail. Conservatives also think it's better to give a hand up, instead of a handout and things done in the private sector are generally faster, better and cheaper than things done in government...so we are very cautious about letting the government DO things for us!
"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
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:07 AM | Comments (2)
November 12, 2005
First We Kill all the Wealthy
Dale wrote, "“First, kill all the wealthy.�
Perhaps this famous Shakespeare quotation would have read something like that, had he been a modern-day liberal. Every time I hear a politician talk about having the rich pay their fair share I start to fume. I was recently involved in a discussion with a well meaning liberal acquaintance on the topic of taxation. The subject of the flat tax came up, and I astonished him by revealing that such a tax, while preferable to our current system, is still unfair to the rich. That’s right, the rich. It is a simple question of logic. If we are afforded the same opportunity by our government, than why is it that one individual must pay more than another?
My friend, who by the way, makes a fair bit more than myself, went on to argue that the wealthy have an obligation to pay more because they can. I was delighted by this argument, and suggested that he pay for a portion of my lunch since he was more able than I.
I asked him why he thought he owed the government more than me. We were both afforded opportunities to succeed; we both wore the uniform of our nation, and were thus both serving our country, so why is it that he felt he needed to pay more? He kept going back to this concept that because he could, he therefore should. This is a completely foreign, and I might add condescending position to someone like myself.
As a conservative I generally assume that if someone is wealthy, the have done something to earn it. Even if they haven’t, as is the case with inheritance, as long as they have not done anything illegal to gain it, I do not believe it is within my rights to take it from them. But like I said, I am a conservative. I believe that the only thing separating me from wealth is time. As Ronald Reagan once said (paraphrasing) “we live in a time when we cannot see a fat man standing next to a skinny one on the corner without thinking that the fat one got that way by taking advantage of the skinny one.�
Let’s face it; the wealthy generally do more for the country, just by the virtue of what you have to do to generate wealth in a capitalist society. Adam Smith (An 18th century economist for you sociology majors at Chico state) referred to such phenomena as the “invisible hand�. Simply put if you own a business, and are employing people, you are already doing more for the country than someone who isn’t. So, say we all paid the same amount in taxes. One tax at the end of the year, we’ll say $2,000 each, that small business owner or oil conglomerate would still be contributing more than the average tax payer. Libs cannot understand this concept.
They are living in a pre-capitalist world where there is only so much wealth to be had. And if one person is wealthy, that’s less wealth for the rest of us. This is the fundamental misnomer that drives liberal economic thinking. The concept that wealth is unlimited, and that there is always room for growth in a capitalist system, baffles them. That is why my acquaintance who makes more than I do is content with paying more than me, and demands that those who make more then him pay even more. I on the other hand think more of my economic capabilities. And therefore do not want to be put upon by those that think I owe them something.
Let me leave you with one last thought. If your child informed you that there was a test to be taken on a Friday. And all through the week you watched your child study, only to see them come home on Friday with a C grade. Not because that is what he or she scored. But because the teacher thought it was unfair for one student to score so high while others scored lower. So instead of merit based testing, they just added up the class average and gave that score to everyone. How quick would one of your self-righteous liberal friends be on the phone with a principal?
Jack's reply: Well said, and by the way happy belated Veteran's Day.
Posted by Post Scripts at 01:22 PM | Comments (2)
November 11, 2005
Invasion of Limbaugh's Privacy an Outrage
A post from CoffeeSnob...
"Liberalism should be called Hypocriticalism!
Prosecutors argued in court Tuesday that they should be allowed to speak with Rush Limbaugh's doctors as part of the investigation into whether the conservative talk show commentator illegally purchased painkillers.
If a prosecutor dared to pull this on a liberal there would be screams of bloody murder from the rooftops. All the usual suspects would be lined up to stand up for the accused. When it is a conservative who's rights are being trashed all you hear from the Left are crickets. Liberalism is a cancer that eats away at the fundamentals of America. It was bad enough when it only afflicted democrats but now its spread to republicans. In democrats it eats away at the moral center of the brain, granted there wasn't much of that to start with. In republicans it strikes a crippling blow to the spine of the weakened politician. It makes standing up for the party impossible without huge amounts of cash and pork for support. In the case of good republicans gone bad I am all for extra late term abortions. If liberals can be for killing babies, I see nothing wrong with offing people who actually do harm to this Country. Elected official who sell out the people who elected them are about as low as terrorists and should be treated no better. I seem to have gotten away from my basic point about Rush. Rush will be fine, he has no need for help from the ACLU or any other worthless liberal organization. It would be nice if just once the ACLU would stand up for any American who is being abused and not just liberals and terrorists."
I agree.
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)
Taxing the Rich
An excerpt from Hal's comments ..." Tax the rich, is more a mantra than an idea if you are of the liberal ideology. If I were to start up a new business today I would look overseas for many reasons beside cheap labor and tax breaks..." for the complete story see Hal's comments under,"Taxing the Rich to Build up the Poor"
Posted by Post Scripts at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)
Taxing the rich to build up the Poor
I was "debating" over at the Progressive blog sight and this argument on taxes was almost too good to not address here too! John D was basically trying to tell us the rich needed to be taxed more and here is my response:"...the rich are already carrying most of the tax burden for the nation and if you push them more you are going to cause worse problems.
In case you missed it in my last post, the IRS reports, "The top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.3 percent) of all individual income taxes." That's a huge load and I'm concerned if we add more to that already unfair burden, we are going to force the wealthy to take their money elsewhere or find ways to beat the system. You can only push people so far, that's just human nature.
Ever hear of this old saying, "You cannot build up the poor by tearing down the rich?"
Do democrats want to tear down the rich? I think they do, which is wrong, it's also pure hypocrisy since there are more multi-millionaires in the DNC than the GOP! The Hollywood elite are almost all Dems, lots of trust fund babies are too. They have had this big money virtually handed to them on a silver platter and therefore they lack the understanding of how most of us have to actually earn it through hard work and personal sacrifices.
If you want to do something real smart, take a look at why we have so many poor on welfare in a wealthy nation full of opportunities. I can give you a hint why; in many, many cases, the poor are kept down and on welfare because of democratic policies that offer no incentive to get off welfare!
Those people have lost sight of what hard work and education can do for a person here. New immigrants to America, people that were not victimized by welfare, often blaze a trail to top wages because they are still highly motivated and they see the opportunities those other's on welfare don't!
In closing, taxing the rich at even higher rates would mean less tax revenues because they will resist, in long run that means less opportunities for the working class.
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:51 AM | Comments (3)
November 10, 2005
Failing Propositions
You didn't think I was going to let this slip by without comment did you? lol
The voters fell prey to the union ads and they voted wrong in almost all cases, because they were deceived and misled by a slick "anti-props" campaign. For months the voters were beseiged by the attack ads from unions, "Arnold lied...Arnold stole money from the schools, Arnold took special interest money, Arnold this, Arnold that and what DID Arnold do? Not much. He waited until the last 10 minutes of the election for his big counter attack. Who is advising this governor???!!!
He should have responded to those attack ads from day one. He could have pointed out numerous deceptions, but he let the ads run without opposition until they dominated the airwaves and that was a terrible mistake. It was a lopsided campaign from the begining thanks to this and the fact it was poorly run by conservatives who were outspent 2 to 1. And you know what happens when you outspend your opponent? You win. Issues mean far less than money and the unions knew that and used it to their best advantage.
I hope Californian's don't get the government they deserve, because if they do we are back to bankruptsy.
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:03 AM | Comments (2)
Paris is Burning
Starting decades back, the French brought in low-wage workers from North Africa to do the jobs their citizens didn't want. In the bargain they granted the immigrants citizenship. But, they apparently did not grant them equal access to better paying jobs, thus another glass ceiling, ala Francaise'!
The French are trying to resolve this inequity by looking at how the USA employed affirmative action, and that's a start. The other problem is more difficult to fix. The immigrant-workers number over 5 million strong and that's a sizable force for change. They generally do not see themselves as French, French-Algerian, French-Moroccan or any other hyphenated connection to a previous homeland. They are Muslims first, citizens of Islam and they are challenging the French authority over them as well as their more justified social grievances. Their identity as Muslims has made them a society within a society that pits them against France's tradition drive to assimilate cultures into the French mold. This culture war is a growing concern, not just in France, but over many parts of Europe where tens of millions more Muslims reside.
The rioters also see themselves as "Jihadists" seeking redress for their religious humiliations, as well as for social justice. Therefore, many of their demands are not negotiable. To accommodate them it will require a major shift in the traditional French culture. The French are perplexed and further divided by a mix of empathy and compassion to find a middle ground and those who are strict nationalists.
As new Mosques are springing up around France, radical French Nationalism has been gaining ground, led by Jean-Marie LePen. This conflict is far from being over... even when the current fighting subsides.
For more information, I suggest...:
http://financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp? cnd=11/11/2005§ion_id=4&newsid=6348&spcl=no
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=5682
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1110/p01s01-woeu.html
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:25 AM | Comments (1)
Soft Response to Extremism Not the Answer
"The French in my opinion have just experienced the hard reality that a soft position on extremist thought is not the answer."
A message from Hal continues....
"Could this rioting in France be more then just civil unrest? We have had attacks prior in Spain and England that just seem to test the resolve of any country's Leadership to either prevent terrorism or just roll over and meet the demands of a very aggressive and dangerous cancer. We as a targeted people need to begin to realize that we can not turn our heads as simply as we did during the Vietnam war, and let the so called peace spewing spineless guide us to ruin. This enemy will attack whenever the opportunity exists, and any seemingly friendly relationships have no meaning in who they wish to destroy. The really upsetting part in dealing with this enemy here in the United States is that even the peaceful among the Muslims' do not speak out or help eliminate the terrorist cells that already have proliferated in the USA. So as they grow embolden on our own soil we sit and wait until......."
Posted by Post Scripts at 07:58 AM | Comments (1)
November 09, 2005
What's Wrong with the Republican Party
Lilly writes, "Will somebody please tell me what is wrong with the Republican Party? Even Fox News can't seem to put a positive spin on any of this CIA fiasco and the resulting barrage of attacks from the liberal left. Have they changed the political rules of engagement? Why aren't the GOP's vocal political leaders speaking up, initiating some form of determined defense, and, dare I say, cross over into the bare-knuckle offensive posture? Who was it who said, "The best defense is an offense"?
We, as a country, fought back when we were attacked on 9/11. Why can't the GOP take lessons from their own history of determined resolve and enter into this bloodless, political Civil War that is ripping away at their own conservative foundation? How long will the Republicans allow the Democratic leaders like Harry Reed, call the shots?
Truth be told, Reed's party, with the help of the liberal medias bias, has already convicted, tried, and condemned practically all the members of the Bush Administration, including the President, himself! Where is the outrage? The GOP needs to get over their personal agendas, come together, and face off this liberal bully, which, up to this point in time, is delivering a fair amount of political black eyes, and feeling very good about it! If you're wrong, take your medicine, but don't go down silently, without a fight and allow our country to become fertile political ground for an aspiring President Hillary Clinton!"
Jack's reply: Somebody once said, "When you lose your partisanship it's like losing your virginity, you can't get it back." The GOP is suffering from a division amongst it's partisan's for sure; so I hope this saying isn't a prediction! Actually, I think things can still be mended before the democrats gain the advantage, but time is not on our side and Bush and the GOP have to get tough and make some decisive moves...now!
Among the key issues confronting Bush and the GOP is a failure to address pork barrel spending and Bush's apparent disconnect with the American people over illegal aliens and the border problems with Mexico. Iraq would be the next problem and the views on this are many and varied, but I might sum it saying, Bush just appears weak and ineffective. Worse, he appears weak on the world stage. He was duped by Russia's Putin, who turns out to be a hardliner and more recently he's failed to respond to the slams by Venezuelan Presidente' Hugo Chávez, a crackpot leftist, despite Bush's advantage as a spanish speaking American President looking for trade deals with South American partners. On domestic issues, he's seen as kissing up to the left, much to the consternation of his rightwing base. Too often conservatives have had to ask, "What is he thinking?" as Bush pandered to the left for no identifiable reason.
As to the GOP; when they accomplish their most immediate goals the party appears to suffer from a lack of identity or should I say, an inability to define itself beyond the last mission? That's where the GOP is right now and it better come up with a good plan because the democratic party is nipping at its heels and they are all about identity! Their identity is a party of demographics. They are best known for representing black, Hispanic and women issues. Their voters seem oblivious to the fact that many of these DNC issues were resolved decades back. The fact that such issues are not relevant has not stopped the DNC from using them to fan the fires of racial division for political gain, this ties in with the DNC's rhetoric wrapped around Bush hating. {Which seems to be approaching near hysterical proportions.) Sadly, all this comes at a time when this rabid hatred and open political divisions serve the destructive goals of Islamofacists even better than the democrat's objectives for power.
How does the GOP rehabilitate it's tarnished reputation for strong leadership? It may be as simple as fulfilling campaign promises. They were all elected (including Bush) because voters liked their "talk" but when they made it to office, they fell short on the "walk," if you get me?
The GOP needs to re-energized itself and it's voter base and the only way they can do that is to take on the most difficult problems now troubling America and prove they are worthy of their office! They do that by doing what they promised and controlling the border, reducing the size of big government, controlling spending, eliminating the deficit and keeping America safe and secure. These are subjects near and dear to the majority of American's hearts and places where the Democratic Party fears to tread.
By the way Lilly, the quote was "The best defense is a good offense."
Posted by Post Scripts at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2005
Chico's Worst Street
Dave was right. I shouldn't have made that knee jerk sort of sterotype about one street and neighborhood, it wasn't fair. My bad and I'll try harder in the future. As a result, I'm penalizing myself and just withdrawing that post.
See how powerful words are?
Words can change attitudes and influence opinions...so we should choose our words carefully. Kudos to Dave for that lil reminder.
That's what this column is all about, we share ideas, information and opinions. Sometimes we're wrong (sometimes I'm wrong) and we get corrected and sometimes we're right and we still get corrected! lol But, whatever the case I'll try to give you equal time whether you agree with me or not.
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
Paris Is Burning...Nous E'pargner!
11 days after continuous violence, thousands of cars set ablaze, whole neighborhoods looted, their police force totally exhausted and unable to control the mobs of Muslims, prompts French officials to declare a state of emergency today. They must be graduates of the, "Ray C. Nagin School of Disaster Management".
The Parisian officials also said today they are becoming concerned that the tens of thousands young Muslims rampaging through the streets of Paris and destroying everything in sight may possibly impact tourism. Oh, I don't know, would that really bother you? I bet those of us living in Richmond or Oakland wouldn't even notice.
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)
Quotes by Democrats on WMD's
(See Comments in Jimmy Carter and WMD's)
There are some great quotes from some very well known and high ranking Democrats about WMD's and Saddam pre-war in "comments" under the Jimmy Carter post. Humorus, if not enlightening, especially when the left's mantra..."Bush Lied!".
If you are one of those wacko extremist types who truly feel Bush lied to us, then this proves that most of your own party leadership must have been lying too. So, you going to protest them? lol
Example: "Senator Bob Graham, December 8, 2002
"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has and has had for a number of years a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
Thanks go to Toby for this quote submission.
Posted by Post Scripts at 07:46 AM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2005
Religious Violence Continues in Paris
As reported in the Wall Street Journal today, "gangs of disaffected youths, mostly from Muslim families, continue to rampage, burning thousands of cars and ransacking entire neighborhoods....the government has been unable to restore order."
The Muslims rioting are identifying themselves more with their religion than as French citizens, the article says and "effectively, they are promoting a separate society within society and that brand of Islamist philosophy is seeping into many parts of Western Europe."
When a large group like this turns violent, pushed on by a religion prone to fanaticism, it's almost impossible to predict how far it will go. The snobbish French liberals who brought these people in by the tens of thousands may well be wondering, "what have we done?"
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:12 PM | Comments (1)
Hello Future
Post from CoffeeSnob:
"This is laughable! The French are letting thugs run rough shod over their Country. The riots they have ignored, needed to be put down with extreme force in the first few hours not talked about 10 days later. Now the French have two choices. They can do what they always do, just bend over and take it. Or they can take their Country back.
By not acting decisively early on, any action they take now will be infinitely more costly in all aspects. I am betting on the former, the latter runs the risk of making them look bad to the ACLU, the UN, liberal media, all the usual suspects. Keep in mind these will be actual Africans being beat down by the French. You think Jessie and company will sit by and let that happen? Not without a huge check made out to Jessie's favorite charity they wont. HXX, as far as a French military reaction, I am not even sure if France has a military. They may need to contact Hussien or some other terrorist and buy back some of the weapons they sold to them. Maybe not the WMD's but the "little stuff" like a dozen Mirage 1 fighters and a hundred exocet missiles. I know those are anti-ship weapons but they will still go La BOOM! Let me be the first to call on the UN to send in troops to make sure the French do not violate the human rights of those dear unfortunate, misunderstood, mistreated, underprivileged, immigrant rioter (terrorists itching for action). I do love it when liberalism takes one in slow motion right on the kisser!"
Reply...I read something about a year ago on France and the new wave of Muslims entering. The Muslim population was getting large and they were making many demands on the government to adopt certain Muslim customs. The writer said the Muslims were clashing with French traditions and causing many previously unexpected problems as a result of their huge Muslim population.... Hellooo future!
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
Breakfast with Arnold
Yesterday my friend Mike reminded me, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was coming to town (Cozy Diner, 9 a.m.) to pitch his Propositions. So this morning, my daughter, Mike and myself went out for an early breakfast and hopefully to find some good seats at the diner. But, by the time we arrived the place was nearly full. In fact there were probably about 100 people outside trying to get in, but couldn't.
We were fortunately recognized by one of the officials for the governor and we were whisked inside just as the last seats were being filled. It was still nearly an hour before the Gov. was scheduled to arrive and this place, including the parking lot was packed.
The rally was closed to the general public, which surprised and disappointed many people who came just to see Arnold, however closing such events is a fairly common practice for security and to prevent protesters from causing disruptions. The GOP was paying the bill and this gave them the right to invite or to exclude, whoever they wanted. One protester managed to slip in, despite the security, and upon the Gov's arrival he shouted out his message and was quickly removed by security.
Arnold made a quick trip through the restaurant, glad-handing his enthusiastic supporters, but there was no speech on the Proposition. Although, he did pause briefly to meet with local reporters and he presumably said something about them for the media. The whole thing was over in about 15 minutes and Arnie was off to his next town.
As Arnold moved ever closer to the exit door, my friend Mike yelled out to him, "Thank you Mr. Governor for having the courage to do this for us!" Referring to Arnold's slate of propositions. The crowd broke out in cheers as Arnie waved and then he was out the door and gone. A great Hollywood style exit!
When we tried to pay for our meals, we found out Arnie had picked up the check! Don't worry, this wasn't from your tax dollars. It was out of his own pocket. Heck, if I had known he was going to do that, I might have ordered the steak and eggs!
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:54 AM | Comments (1)
More on War
A reply to Dale. post, "Thank God for War. Without war America would be drinking tea, speaking "English", answering to the Queen, and could never complain about war.
Without war Germany would have twice fallen to the most ruthless dictators Earth has ever seen, Jews would be a memory in Europe, Asia would simply be Japan, and none of those people could complain about war.
Without war France would would be forced to have a backbone, would eat more sausage, speak German, and could never complain about war.
Without war millions of south Vietnamese would never have had the opportunity to escape Vietnam, instead they would have been slaughtered as most of their countrymen who stayed were. Instead they are able to live in the peace and security of a nation where they can safely complain about war.
The loss of human life during war in disheartening at least. The destruction of pristine landscapes makes grown men weep. The loss that is felt can never be adequately replaced. But freedom is priceless, and as such it has to be bought occasionally at the dear cost of the blood of young men and women, and the tears of mothers and fathers. Jordan F."
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)
November 06, 2005
Save your Money on Jarhead
I just saw the movie "Jarhead." Wasn't what I expected and that would be a huge understatement, given the trailers that teased you about this being an accurate war movie. It was more like the gay version of Full Metal jacket, sans 99% of all action scenes.
We never saw them fire a shot in anger. Way too much graphic sex talk and young men in nude scenes..I think the director was obsessed with this part. Like, the scene where a platoon of Marines chases off a female reporter by simulating a gay orgy or the scene where Swofford (the star) dances naked with a Santa Clause hat over his wang when he should have been standing fire watch or the scene where the war is over and some idiot is dancing with his trousers down to his ankles around a camp fire like another surreal scene from Apocalypse.
The theater was packed to see a good war movie. Guess we will have to wait for that one, for this movie was far short of good and far short of war. The movie tag line was "Welcome to the Suck" and that about summed it up!
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:00 PM | Comments (1)
God Save us from the Intellectuals
God save us from the intellectuals. I find Ronald Reagan’s quote that "it isn’t that our liberal friends are ignorant, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so." to be appropriate when discussing the trend amongst the intellectual, and especially the young intellectual community concerning the war on terror.
First of all, I doubt that any of these young protestors could tell you much about Iraq, counter-insurgency, the history of guerrilla warfare etc. Theirs is an argument above reason or facts. It exists in the realm of feelings and emotion. If, for a moment, they were able to trade blind rage and fanaticism for reasoned debate, they would be faced with the inevitable truth that the type of civil unrest that they espouse is exactly what terrorists are betting on in Iraq. When we speak of the “battle for hearts and minds� we are referring to the most valuable asset in confronting an insurgency. And it goes both ways.
It is obvious to me that there is a very small, yet vocal and well organized group of people in this country that are always willing to have their heart and especially their mind won over, if the cause is anti-American. Reasonable people can argue about the strategy of going into Iraq, but there should be no debate between our enemies as to our resolve. As we speak men and women are desperately trying to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis for democracy, unfortunately there is a powerful minority in this country that refused to be won over. And as a result they provide the support which the Iraqi population is inclined to deny the insurgency.
As support for the war diminishes in the US support for the coalition forces in country is diminished amongst the local population. This is purely natural for them. Their very lives could depend on who they choose to support. If it appears that the US will pull out without leaving the Iraqi government in a position to support and defend its population, they will be forced to side with the insurgents at worst or remain unsupportive of the coalition at best. In short, the current tone of the anti-war movement is helping to accomplish what the terrorist insurgents could not possibly hope to achieve through force of arms.
This tone eventually contributed to a dishonorable withdraw that led to the massacre of over 2 million South Vietnamese in the name of Marxist, Leninist socialism. I sincerely hope that it will not result in the massacre and enslavement of the Iraqi people in the name of radical Islam. Dale."
Posted by Post Scripts at 02:54 PM | Comments (1)
November 04, 2005
Oshima Controversy Continues
Excerpted from Letters to the Editor, "...The last time I checked, the American flag doesn't represent George Bush and his administration of idiots. If it did, I would shred and burn the stars and stripes every day. But they don't. They represent freedom. Freedom from oppression.
Wendy Oshima's little daughter had an art project. So what if she picked the American flag. The last time I checked, peace signs and smiley faces weren't offensive.
I would like to say hooray for Wendy Oshima and her little daughter. You two make America worth living in.
— Tyler Bradford, Chico"
Tyler, you are right, our flag doesn't represent the President, but our President does represent the flag. That simple concept has profound implications and it tends to separate us from many other lesser nations, especially dictatorships. Consequently, we rightly have high expectations from our President. Our political pursuasion defines our expectations and creates some division, but ultimately we tend to be reunited in our mutual goal for a better America. This is democracy at it's best.
When those expectations and divisions are drawn along radicalized, ideological lines, that mutual goal for a better America gets lost in the fighting. This is democracy at it's worst and when this happens, we all suffer to some extent and our divisions become more polarized. We become a nation divided.
As an example of this radical division, those caught up in this sort of thing tend to suffer from being over emotional, filled with frustration and blinded by hate. The enemy of their enemy becomes their friend. Case in point is this protestor Oshima who was flying 3 enemy flags over a descecrated American flag..those countries hated Bush and that makes them ok with Oshima. Wendy O was playing it up for the headlines, just to push her own agenda, without regard to how it might affect others. Oshima selected these 3 nations flags because they are known for their anti-American views and claimed she just showing solidarity for these people oppressed by America.
All three of these countries are known for their cheering crowds that turned out on 9/11 to celebrate the murders of thousands of Americans...where was their solidarity with OUR people? Wendy's flags of choice represented that extremism that pushes us ever more towards a nation divided and and how that has escaped your attention is troubling, because it must be done deliberately.
Wendy Oshima was playing it up for the headlines, just to push her own agenda, without regard to how it might affect others. Oshima selected these 3 nations flags because they are known for their anti-American views. That anti-American sentiment has been around for decades, long before any Bush was in office, yet to hear the left, the world was near perfect before Bush came along. Well, obviously that's not quite true. Bush critic,Nobel Peace Prize winner and democrat, ex-President Jimmy Carter, was the focus of many staged "Hate America" protests in the mideast, especially in Iran. And he's the epitomy of a successful liberal, but he scored no points for his peaceful nature, rather terrorists capitolized on it.
Now fast foward from the Carter years to Chico and here we have Wendy Oshima flying the flags of enemy nations. A display of her contempt for America and hatred for Bush. A display, as she puts it for solidarity with the people of those evil nations. People that openly hate us and regularly decry "Death to America"! It's bizzare. However, that flag display as repugnant as it may be, is almost mild compared to the new wave of "radical ideology" that is tearing this nation apart.
Your "hooray" for Oshima tells me you haven't fully recognized where your patriotism belongs and you have some growing up to do. "I think patriotism is like charity -- it begins at home." ~ Henry James
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:56 PM | Comments (1)
Welcome to the Blog
Whether you are a new vistor or a returning one, I thought this might be helpful to restate. "Post Script's" is an interactive opinion column, it's what the techies call blogging. At times, I will post and then sit on the sidelines, waiting to see what follows in "comments", this a link at the bottom of each editorial. Other times, you have the floor. I want to keep this column open and balanced, so new threads and opposing opinions are always welcome.
So, this blog is sometimes just for fun, sometimes it's serious and sometimes more for information. If there's one part of blog that stands out, I guess it's the part that we're free to explore just about anything you want, within the limits of decency of course!
Regarding decency, please help me keep this site free from threats, profanity, plagiarism (quotes are ok) and (deliberately) false statements about anything or any one.
Now a few tips: For your best impact, keep it original, pithy and succinct.
Ok, that's it...now, lets hear whats on your mind!
Posted by Post Scripts at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2005
Congressional Investigation - WMDs
MacArthur asks: "Wasn't there a full Congressional investigation with hearings, witnesses under oath, reports, and so on, all on that one very issue of whether intelligence was manipulated by the White House to falsely make the case for war? And didn't the investigation determine that there was no such manipulation? The intelliegence may have been wrong or at least slightly wrong on the WMD issue, but it was the consensus of the intelligence community, both in the US and abroad. Why are some people now going back to a rumor that was put to rest over a year ago? The invasion of Iraq may have been a bad idea. I think we should have just bombed all their military facilities and let it go at that. But it was not based on false information, much less deliberately falsified information. That is the looney tune of the Michael Moore set."
Jack's reply: I believe there were three independant investigations and none have concluded anything except possible flawed intel.
One thing that bothers me more than the dems attempting to rehash an old, unfounded scandal, is this lingering question...What was the 500 tons of refined yellow cake uranium still doing at the nuclear research center of Al-Tuwaitha in Iraq when the war ended?
This stuff could have been further refined for use in a weapon or it could have been used in medical research. Since Saddam was not known for being a champion of "medical research" one might think there was a fair chance he was still working on the other possibility, a weapon. And that would be a "WMD", wouldn't it?
Posted by Post Scripts at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)
Jimmy Carter speaks on WMD's
Toby S. writes, "The Bush Administration's prewar claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction were "manipulated, at least" to mislead the American people, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday. I understand why a liberal would want to believe something like this but how can they actually say it? Does 10 years of UN resolutions mean anything to that moron? Why do Clinton and Kerry always get a pass on this issue? They both stated in the late 90's that Hussein was a direct danger to the US. Kerry said, Hussein has to be removed from power even if we (the US) have to act alone. I am paraphrasing because I don't have the two speeches in hand to give exact quotes. Kerry's speech was in 1997. Clinton's 1998 state of the union speech was the other. Does Carter recall, Hussein kicking the UN weapons inspectors out of Iraq? It boggles the mind that all of this needs to be rehashed.
I can just picture the clowns on the Today Show feeding Carter softballs while at the same time pretending that what is being said isn't total bull manure. Who are the bigger fools, the liberals that spew this garbage as if it were fact or the media for reporting it as fact? The first sentence of this post is from NewsMax.com."
Thanks for your post Toby!
Posted by Post Scripts at 06:51 PM | Comments (2)
A step beyond "peace"
Jordan F. writes, "Iraqi war protestors desire that we become an isolatinist nation, minding our own business, being self sufficient, and leaving the rest of the world to fend for itself. This is a fine idea, and in theory I'm all for it, but it doesn't work. History has shown this.
After WWI we tried to stay out of world affairs only to be bombed by Japan. Additionally the same people who want us to stay away from world affairs are those who think that we should stay away from Middle East oil interests. This, again, is a good idea but is contradictory in its own argument. By staying away from Middle Eastern oil we are forced to use our own, but alas that might disturb the habitat of a beetle or fungus so we can't do that. Perhaps I could take a rickshaw pulled by Environmentalists and Liberals to work. Hey, I like that idea."
Thanks Jordan!
Posted by Post Scripts at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)
History Repeats Itself - War Protesting
"Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to old age." Cicero.
That about sums up my opinion about the war protestors yesterday. Those student protestors were behaving in a manner that can only lead to more deaths. Their actions threaten peace and the lives of our soldiers. These young people are playing into the hands of our enemies!
A few decades back, our determined leftwing protestors brought peace to Vietnam and nearly 3 million people were systematically murdered; far more than died as a result the war. Yet, you don't hear much about that do you? The left was content to criticize only America and therefore they were silent when communists murdered off the opposition.
Now 30 years later, a new enemy threatens humanity by waging war to exterminate those who do not devoutly believe as they do. American's are number 1 on their hit list. And guess who is on the side of the radicals? Of course, our radicals! The "useful fools" rise up once again. Their meddling actions for so-called "Peace" is already leading to more deaths in Iraq. The terrorists in that country are fighting relentlessly for the same headlines that our protestors seek and the leftwing media is only too happy to supply. Their mutual goal is to cause America to become war weary and run. If all works as planned, the emerging Iraqi democracy will fall and a fanatical anti-American Islamic theocracy will emerge.
If our caring protestors were truly "pro-peace" and "anti-war" then they ought to protest all acts of war and violence. But do they? No. They are completely one-sided in their criticism, it's so obvious. What is less obvious is the leftist agenda. This agenda is to destroy the America we know, then rebuild it into this sort of radical's version of a socialist utopia. This would be absent a military, guns or conservatives. And to do that they need our enemies as much as our enemies need them. This is the absurd evil that belies the altruism of what they ironically call "peace" protesting, for they surely are protesting... peace!
Posted by Post Scripts at 11:09 AM | Comments (1)
November 02, 2005
Prop 76 - Controlling Spending
If you take in $20, you shouldn’t spend $25. Families can’t do it, individuals can't do it, so why should liberals in the state legislature do it? That's the premise for Prop 76.
Our state spending increased 96% in the past decade, this is unacceptable and it's almost double the increases in population and inflation. It speaks of a tax and spend mentality and you can thank the democrats that controlled the legislature and the governors office for that! When Arnold Schwarzenegger took over from Gray Davis the state deficit was over $22 billion and this virtually bankrupted the state.
One of the promises Arnold made to us was to remove this red ink from the state's budget. He gave Democrats a chance to pass the legislation, but they repeatedly resisted his lobbying. Arnold was forced to take it to the people who elected him and endorsed his platform. Now, (if you can believe the polls) it looks like the voters have done a 180 and are ready to side with the spenders that bankrupted the state under Davis! Somethings wrong with this picture. I hope common sense prevails and we force the legislature to control their spending. We do it with our budgets, why can't they?
Posted by Post Scripts at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)
from comments...re Unions and big money
"The sad thing about the unions and politics is not just that they represent the largest special interest group in the nation or that they spend the most money trying to influence elections, almost always going to the Democrats and in favor of liberal proposals..." Ron Acevedo
For more on this great post and others, be sure and check out the comments sections in, "It's the Money Stupid".
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)
It's the Money Stupid - Suggestion!
One suggestion I've come across for reforming our election system seems to be a pretty good one. I thought I would share it with you now and see what you think about it?
Limit the time period when politicians can engage in fund raising to the time they are not in regular session.
This would allow them to focus on their job as a legislator, not as a candidate out to raise money. Politicians have frequently told me they resent being forced to go on the campaign trail looking for contributions their whole career and they would appreciate the break.
This might help scale back some of the massive spending we see at election time. Speaking of the cost of running, you know it has become so expensive, most people can't afford it. We've forced our candidates to start out beholding to certain special interest groups over their financial support and that at the very least, opens up the perception of corruption. How dumb are we to allow that one?
The ONLY obligation politicians ought to have is to the voters; not unions, not PACs, nor even the party's. But, the reality is, special interest money is 75% or more of the total contributions. Then it's hard for politicians to not give "ear time" to them for their issues. This is really an open door policy for the special interests, while the little voter can take a number and sit in the waiting room!
This system is broke folks, we need to fix it.
Posted by Post Scripts at 07:23 AM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2005
It's the Money Stupid
Special interest groups exist for many good and some not so good reasons. That's just politics as usual. But, whether they are good or bad, is not the issue. I have some reasonable concerns about the influence these "special interest" groups weild, like the C.T.A. Union who is spending tens of millions to defeat certain propositions. Their single source of "big money" can overwhelm and dominate an election, as we are now witnessing. Once again, we have "deep pockets" big money, special interest groups, deciding the outcome of an election, not the issues as it should be.
This is a problem; how we solve it is apparently an even bigger problem, because neither Dems or the GOP have come up with any meaningful ideas.
Posted by Post Scripts at 04:07 PM | Comments (4)
Keep Trying
"So anyone who opposes you is a special interest and groups that spend a bunch of money "reforming" are patriots? I get it Jack."
No, actually you don't.
Posted by Post Scripts at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)
It's the Money Stupid
Currently teachers spend about $75 bucks a month for their CTA dues, (Calif. Teacher's Assoc.) The 325,000 members generally walk lock-step with whatever the union does, but lately more and more teachers are asking hard questions about how the CTA is spending their dues. Some didn't like the union spending tens of millions to defeat Props 74 and 75, but when the union assessed them another $180, without a vote, a class action lawsuit followed!
As to the election the CTA is fighting, union money will likely defeat all propositions. "He who spends the most on elections... wins!" It's that simple and that ugly. The California FPPC says you have a 93% chance of winning an election if you can outspend your opposition. That makes issues secondary to the money.
Money is buying votes here and it's easy, we've not had any meaningful campaign finance reform in over 40 years. Any attempt to clean it up gets crushed by the special interests, consequently, California is a wide-open state for corrupt election practices. Gray Davis was the mere tip of the ice berg...we needed to dump about 200 more lousy polticians who benefit from these powerful special interests, to make any sort of meaningful gains.
Voters are manipulated, deceived and pursuaded by slick campaign ads running day and night for weeks before the election! These election ads are not restrained by the truth in advertising laws and it's so obvious if you ever stop to examine them closely. Look at who is sponsoring them and you'll get closer to the truth. I just heard a California Prison Guard Union ad on the radio saying, "Say NO to the powerful deep pockets, those special interests, those..." Huh? They are the special interests! They are asking you to vote NO and that is supporting the big money and special interest groups.
How we will ever turn this pathetic situation around is probably the single greatest challenge to the voters of this state. Every attempt gets crushed (last time it was Prop 208. Popular with voters, but it was sued to death.) The fat cats, like the big unions, who feed off this corruption seem to have all the power they need to keep it "status quo".
Posted by Post Scripts at 08:13 AM | Comments (1)