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July 31, 2006

Ravenous Wolves

by Tina Grazier

I've been bugged about this one for years...and then last week I stumbled across the perfect opportunity to vent in a book review by Mark Steyn. The book, "Before the Dawn" by Nicholas Wade, apparently exposes as bunk the myth that primitive civilizations lived in perfect peace and harmony with nature and each other. The books experts, Professor Lawrence Keeley of the University of Illinois and Steven LeBlanc of Harvard agree that archeologists
and anthropologists have "seriously underreported the prevalence of warfare among primitive societies". Keeley. . .

asserts that "87 percent of primitives were at war more than once a year and 65 percent were at war continuously." The Mayan elite have been portrayed as high spiritual priests yet new translations of Mayan records reveal a warring community heavily into sacrifice. This information certainly counters the PC crowd's new mythology and notion of ancient tribal superiority.

Says Mr. Steyn,

"We've grown used to the biases of popular culture. If a British officer meets a native -- African, Indian, whatever -- in any movie, play or novel of the last 30 years, the Englishman will be a sneering supercilious sadist and the native will be a dignified man of peace in perfect harmony with his environment in whose tribal language there is not even a word for 'war' or 'killing' or 'weapons of mass destruction.'"

In the movie "Dances with Wolves" Kevin Costner sought to paint a more truthful portrait of American Indians than those in earlier movies. The movie was beautifully done. The tribe was seen with both the beauty and blemish that makes all human beings real but the movie also depicted most of the white men as stupid, angry, thoughtless, humorless, and brutal. It wasn't terribly offensive since the focus of the film was the soldier's relationship
with the tribe and there was a degree of balance. But, as Mark points out in his book review, by the time Hollywood made the children's movie Pocahontas, John Smith and his men were despicable people who "prowl the earth like
ravenous wolves" and Chief Powhatan just wanted people to be "guided to a place of peace."

Whether this attitude toward the white male is fueled by personal guilt, a deep need to blame the world's evils on someone who looks like dad or some other twisted notion, it is totally absurd...but it inspires a question. Is this PC notion that certain white males are inherently evil fueling attitudes about the war and could it explain the hatred for George Bush, Carl Rove, Dick Cheney, and Rummy...those ravenous wolves!

Posted by Post Scripts at 07:38 AM | Comments (4)

July 30, 2006

GOP in a Race to the Bottom as Economy Turns

THE GROWING DIVIDE IN RICH AND POOR: The Feds June inflation data said professional salaries are growing at far greater rates than blue collar labor, increasing the already great divide between the have and have nots. Labor has seen an average wage increase of barely 3% and this is less than the producer price index that came in at 4.9 percent year to date.

REALITY - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE: Between 1973 and 2003, real GDP per capita in the United States increased 73 percent, while real median hourly compensation rose only 13 percent. If you read the future look at business (below), then you know blue-collar types are also

under siege from foreign labor and outsourcing. Wages are not keeping up with inflation and couple that to the job losses and its a double whammy on the little guy. Life is going to be pretty tough for a lot of Americans as our low skilled and displaced workers transition into something else.

ECONOMY HURT: This is already impacting our economy too, we have a new word for it, "moderating". The economy is moderating, corporation profits are moderation, job growth is moderating, home sales are moderating and that "moderating" means slowing and to exacerbate this slowing, we see prices for "core intermediate goods -- a key gauge of pipeline inflationary pressures -- have risen 7.3 percent in the past year, the most in 15 months", says the Dept. of Labor. Thats another double whammy, consumers have less money and things cost more. Doesn't take an economist to tell us things are not looking too rosy for 07 does it? Remember, we are still in a cyclical bear stock market too and we've got years to go before we pull out of that one.

THE HAVES AND HAVE NOTS: Meanwhile the great Exxon Mobile money machine is earning $4.7 million per hour, according to their latest filing for April-June. Climbing oil prices and higher output boosted Exxon's cash flow by a whopping 36 percent from a year ago, to all time record profits. Exxon did $10.4 billion in the last quarter and this was the second-best quarterly performance ever for a publicly traded company. Royal Dutch accelerated its profits even more, up 40% and similar results were seen in other oil companies. The high cost of crude has certainly not impacted their bottom lines, but it has taken a toll on the average American family budget (the have nots grow larger).

THE DENIAL: Republican leaders generally defend huge oil company profits under the pretext of just good capitalism, saying everybody is entitled to make decent profit, citing gasoline costs haven't risen all that much compared to other goods. They ad, besides oil companies employ a lot of American workers and they pay big salaries, so quit your whining ..all is as it should be. On the flip side, they argue that tax increases are a real bad thing. They say, tax increases take away capital investment, costs jobs and cut into the family budget! Well, folks, the soaring cost of gasoline has exactly the same effect on the economy as a tax hike, but the GOP is in total denial of the obvious. (Bob Brinker said precisely this on his weekend radio show. He's a widely acclaimed financial consultant and is strongly in the Republican camp)

DE FACTO TAX: The high cost of energy is a "de facto tax" because it works just like government reaching into your family budget to remove your money. But, worse than the fed tax, which is spent on entitlements and such, 60% of your gasoline money goes out of the country to support the OPEC Kings. And this tax reaches into the pockets of everyone who has to buy gas, which means the very poorest of us are hurt the most by this de facto tax.

THE WAGES OF SIN: There is a reason why there is record profits at Exxon, et al, its called price gouging. It comes from charging record prices to get record profits. Energy effects everything we do and when energy costs go up our economy suffers. Most Republican leaders have failed to admit this let alone do anything about it. This and Bush's soft policy on illegal immigration and border security is a large part of the reason why the GOP is falling from favor with the frustrated and angry voter. The November election will tell us how much the GOP has fallen, but I fear the "policy of denial" and the GOPs failure on many levels from not effectively communicating, illegal immigration, to bureaucratic boondoggles in Iraq is really going to hurt. This is going to give the far left a whole new beginning as democrats regain seats in Congress.

If all this is left unchecked and the GOP leadership continues to operate as they have been doing, they can kiss the presidential election good-by too; it's like the GOP is in a race to the bottom.

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:33 AM | Comments (16)

July 28, 2006

Quote of the week: "It's not a war on terrorism anymore than World War Two was a war on blitzkreig. Terrorism is just a tactic, lets tell like it is, we at war with Muslim radicals!" Bill O'Reily

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

ACLU (and Islamic terrorists) LOSE

You may have missed this in the news because the left never likes to publish a victory for the right... ACLU loses lawsuit. "The court is persuaded that requiring AT&T to confirm or deny whether it has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government could give adversaries of this country valuable insight into the . . .

government's intelligence activities," U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said, thus the suit which would have given Al Qaeda the right to know... appears to be over!

The last embarrassing ACLU loss came when they sued the Minutemen for allegedly detaining and abusing an illegal alien trying to cross our border. A home video revealed there was no abuse and no detention. The illegal was simply given a souvenir tee shirt and a glass of water as the border patrol arrived to take him back to his own country.

Elsewhere the ACLU is trying to get another monument torn down, known as the Soledad Cross that has stood overlooking the veterans cemetery in San Diego since 1954. Despite huge community support to save the monument, the ACLU has been suing to get it destroyed for over 15 years. Let's hope they lose this one too, because we have a historic cross in upper park that could be next. And what about those crosses in Arlington, could they be ACLU targets too?

Posted by Post Scripts at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2006

A Future Look at Business in America

NOTE: For the visually impared please hold the CTRL key down and then use the scroll wheel on your mouse to increase (or decrease) type size for ease of reading. Isn't that clever?.

by Jack Lee

{ What I'm about to say is probably more appropriate in Fortune or Business Week than our blog, but I think our audience is pretty versitile and I hope you will find this interesting, I sure had fun researching it. As always, if you don't agree with some of the points, feel free to blast away! lol ).

For years we have relied on our superior craftsmanship and our mass production to dominate the competition from around the world and export more than we import. Life was good back

then. However, more recently it has become a necessity to increase productivity to offset the costly gains made by our unions. That salary and benefit package has significantly added to the company overhead. In the past years, the increase cost in wages (or any overhead increase) was traditionally incorporated into the end price and passed along to the consumers and this worked ok (even thought it added to inflation) until there were cheaper and sometimes even better products showing up from foreign manufacturers.

For decades "made in America" meant quality at the best price, but does it still have the same consumer appeal or are consumers inclined to buy based on what they perceive as value, no matter who makes it? Well, you need only look at the number of Hondas on the road to answer that one!

Its exciting that we are well into a new era of global affluence, reflected most dramatically in emerging nations like India, China, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea to name but a few, all joining the new global market place. This represents tremendous opportunity for exporting and tremendous competition for the traditional "made in America" product.

Those of us who were not paying real close attention for the last decade may now be awakening to discover an assembly line in Jakarta, Bali or Turkuk can crank out widgets with the best in West, including the USA. And that's a big problem for the home team. The foreign competition is turning out low cost products and slowly, but steadily winning the "value" war with the American consumers and some of our long time overseas customers . That fact is reflected in last year's record 618 billion dollar trade deficit.

If we can't out produce them and we can't make a better widget for less cost than over seas competition because our labor cost can't compete, then what do we do to hold the line and preserve our economy?

Well, for about the last 15 years "outsourcing" has been the growing mantra for many innovative American CEO's. By the way, outsourcing is when American companies send some of their more menial to countries that can do it cheaper and are happy to have the opportunity to do it! These are the emerging nations and they are desperate for an opportunity to do business with American companies. Granted, this has resulted in some unfortunate situations by a few unscrupulous US businesses that ran sweatshops. But on the whole, most of our US companies have been very fair with their new business associates and vice versa.

The left has called this practice of using cheap labor “exploiting�, but is it exploiting to hire someone who desperately wants to work and is thrilled to work for the wage you offer? Let’s say a refrigeration plant in the US relocated it’s assembly plant to Mexico and is paying employees $3.75 an hour. In this region of Guadalajara it represents a 150% wage increase from previous years, is that exploiting? The workers are thrilled to get it and they will have more disposable money to buy products, including this American product. This raises the whole economic status of that local area, the company out sourcing has allowed them to reach more customers than ever before with more affordable products. But, what about the assembly jobs that were lost in the US? Just wait, I will explain, so please read on.

It’s an inescapable conclusion that more outsourcing will happen as US corporations look for ways to maintain their bottom line against the encroachment from overseas competitors. Outsourcing is just another tool, a way of networking and it will cause us to rely on each other and develop closer bonds on a global level. That can't be a bad thing, can it?

"Capital flows to where companies can make a profit, with the best companies outsourcing to win, not just to survive.... In so doing, a company can innovate faster, gain market share, and thereby hire more people in the company that does it best. While that sounds good, it is also a painful process for displaced workers." Jeff Lukens, speaking on the globalization of the American economy.

As the world changes US industries must evolve to meet the competition. An example where a US business sector has been slow to adapt to globalization and has suffered the consequences, is the once dominant American auto industry. Detroit is bleeding red ink under a tidal wave of foreign competition. Consider that Detroit once manufactured 80% of the worlds autos after WWII and now that has been reduced to a fractional share of just over 20%. New names like Nissan, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai are the new titans of the auto industry and they are seeing record profits as Detroit's racks up record losses.

There was an old saying, "So goes General Motors, so goes America". But, that old saying doesn't have to become a truism. Many of America's companies that went global are now employing more people than ever and winning over more customers too. They are developing strategic bonds around the world in a way that is best suited to their particular business model.

We are in a transition phase and there will definitely be a few bumps ahead, especially for unions. The autoworker that once made $65 an hour in wages and benefits at the Ford plant in St. Louis is being replaced by a Mexican worker in Hermosillo for $6 and hour. St. Louis will suffer from the loss of thousands of jobs until those auto workers can transition into something else that fills a local need and pays them a fair wage for their service. Workers are going to have increase their skills and knowledge to meet this new challenge, but it can be done.

How about price control and tariffs as a way out of this overseas competition? Yes, that works for a time and I support it in limited amounts to stop certain unethical trade practices. However, we can't stay protected and isolated for everything and this also leads to tariffs on American products...and we really don't want a trade war.

An obstical to progress: There are still many unenlightened people in powerhere who think the wealth in America is some infinite well from which all persons can draw their "fair share". They tell us even the entry level worker should have a comfortable lifestyle that includes buying a home and owning a nice car, etc., as if such things were an entitlement that came along with just being an American citizens!

This is the "livable wage" myth as pushed by a lot of socialist leaning liberals who don't have a clue how capitalism works. Two basic laws of economics are violated when we raise minimum wage to this so-called livable wage. First, an employer in a capitalistic society can only afford to pay an employee for the value of his labor, anything more must be subsidized. Next, raising minimum wage forces employers to fire the least productive. This would be the least educated, the least experience and likely the youngest and poorest workers. Entry level jobs are just that, a job to bring people along and allow them to learn and grow. Knocking out the lowest and poorest from this wonderful opportunity doesn't help anybody, yet here the left is saying they are the protectors of the little guy! This would be funny if the results were not so tragic.

If we continue down this socialists road to a "livable wage" replete with all its entitlements, then it follows that wage earners (tax payers) must absorb more and more of that cost. Entitlements often represent 50% of the wages and if it can't be born by business, then it is born by the government and that means you the taxpayers! This takes us into high taxes and ramps up inflation. Inflation then eats away at wages and wages must be increased and then the cycle repeats itself.

As taxes reach 60% for the average worker, this has a grave psychological effect and productivity will suffer. Eventually, the ratio of wage earners vs. wage takers will reach a very unhealthy imbalance and we will be pushed closer to brink of national economic catastrophy, as government revenues dwindle and funding shortfalls in the welfare safetynet arise.

The only way forward is through this new frictionless, integrated, global business model that allows Americans to maintain their economic might through leadership in the creation and development phase, while other nations pick up those manual labor tasks that they can do better and cheaper. For more on this subject I recommend reading the book or getting the tapes on the, "The World Is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman

Posted by Post Scripts at 03:07 PM | Comments (4)

July 26, 2006

dem dreams

The following is the Democratic Vision that is being put out by the Democratic National Committee.

1) "Honest Leadership and Open Government": We will end the Republican "culture of corruption� and restore a government as good as the people it serves.

2) "Real Security": We will protect Americans at home and lead the world by telling the truth to our troops, our citizens and our allies.

3) "Energy Independence": We will create a cleaner and stronger America by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

4) "Economic Prosperity & Educational Excellence": We will create jobs that "will stay in America" by restoring opportunity and driving innovation.

5) "A Healthcare System that Works for Everyone": We will join 36 other industrialized nations by making sure everyone has access to affordable healthcare.

6) "Retirement Security": We will ensure that a retirement with dignity is the right and expectation of every single American.

Together, America Can Do Better!! From www.Democrats.org [1]

Well, let’s see if I’ve got this straight. The Democrats are going to “end the culture of corruption�…I’ll just wait till you finish giggling and pull yourselves up off the floor…next they will “protect Americans and lead the world by telling the truth� …I know, you’re right, I should have put those first two together, this one is equally hilarious.

But lets “move on…number 3, they will make America “cleaner and stronger� by reducing our dependence on foreign oil… do they think non-foreign oil is cleaner? …or, are they going to install millions of wind machines all over the pristine land they love to "protect"... or maybe build nuclear power plants, an idea that Republicans have
favored for decades…Hmmm? Moving on…

They will create jobs that “will stay in America� by “restoring opportunity and driving innovation.�…How will you do it, please, intentions just don’t cut it! And now to the twin towers…the two real objects of their affection:

They will make sure that “everyone has access to affordable healthcare� . But do they understand what makes health care affordable and can they actually produce that or are they STILL blowin’ political smoke? And finally…They promise to make sure that “retirement with dignity� is your right and expectation!

Horse feathers! The bottom line here is that the only thing these folks actually promise is that more money will be taken from some Americans to give to other Americans in raised taxes. Same old empty promises.

Democrats dream…and as usual, it's really just an ugly nightmare.

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2006

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:29 AM | Comments (0)

"The rights of neutrality will only be respected when they are defended by an adequate power. A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral." --Alexander Hamilton

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)

"LEST WE FORGET"

by Tina Grazier

After WWII there was speculation and fear that the world would forget what happened to Jews, Christians, and others at the hands of Hitler and his henchmen. We were reminded from time to time through movies and documentaries of the horrible, unspeakable things that happened, particularly to Jews, in places like Dachau, Bergen- Belsen, and Auschwitz. Thanks to movie makers, books and the Simon Wiesenthal Center the memory of Hitler's ugly aggression, destruction, hate, torture, fear and death was kept alive. And yet, at this distant juncture an attitude of denial is creeping into the worlds consciousness.

It seems the world has embraced a "new vision" with "tolerance" featured prominently. This attitude is accom-panied by a naïve, almost megalomaniacal notion that committed terrorists will respond positively to good intentions, reasoned arguments and pleas for peace. There are those among us now who would no doubt argue that Hitler could have been appeased through diplomatic means. They seem honestly to believe these things even though the enemy repeatedly tells us differently. And so here we are in the year 2006 facing a growing and dangerous threat just as other people of the world were back in the 1930's.

Will we awaken to this menace and act before the threat grows or will we needlessly suffer another long and dreadful World War of even greater devastating proportions? Time is running short for speculation.

An article by Newt Gingrich titled "Winning The Argument About The Third World War" carefully lays out recent events that demonstrate the focus of Islamic terrorists around the world. Newt also refers us to this article that lists events of the past week in Afghanistan, Romania, Syria, India, Thailand, Venezuela, Bosnia, United Kingdom, Canada, Kashmir, Indonesia, Sweden, Argentina and Russia and goes on to inform us that the Canadian Council on American Islamic Activities "is urging Muslims not to cooperate in terrorism investigations".

Acts of terrorism can be traced back to the 1970's and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Such attacks have accelerated both in instance and severity since then and it's clear that our enemies are dedicated and unmovable in their resolve. It is also clear that too many of us haven't the grit to face the reality of that threat. When good people deny the presence of evil we give it place. It is a mistake we will pay for one way or another.

Mr. Gingrich holds out hope that America and her allies around the world will rally and, as in WWII, defeat this monstrous threat: "In the meantime, I will continue my efforts to define the nature and scale of the conflict that we confront...you should know that I do so fully aware that many Americans are understandably less-than-ready to believe that we face such fundamental threats to our nation and our freedom. The whole situation seems so depressing, they tell me. And they ask: Is there any hope? And my answer, which is firmly grounded in our nation's history and in my own unshakable belief in America's greatness, is yes, there is hope -- great hope. As mericans, we have been in this spot before. The beginning of World War II was tough. The beginning of the Civil War was tough. But there is no doubt that Americans, once we come to understand the nature and scale of the challenge we face, can and will mobilize the will, the creativity and the energy necessary for victory. As I told Bill O'Reilly last week on Fox News, "We can drown these guys." And we will."

I certainly hope Newt is right and I share his positive approach. I can't help but wonder though, if once again we will be forced to learn the hard way.

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:11 AM | Comments (10)

July 24, 2006

On Killing Americans

This from Bill B....

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper ad a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. Here it is:

"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or

Pakistani or Afghan. An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, she welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung,
and other blood-thirsty tyrantsin the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American."

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:22 PM | Comments (1)

STONE'S THROW TO GOLDEN AGE

by Tina Grazier

Oliver Stone's new movie, "World Trade Center" received very positive reviews from conservatives following a recent private screening. A taste of their right wing commentary has me curious enough to want to go see it.

From Cal Thomas-"Whatever one thinks of Oliver Stone, the man knows how to make movies. This is one of his best. It deserves an Oscar in so many categories. It also deserves the thanks of a grateful nation. Go and see it beginning Aug 9 and bring him a large profit so he might consider inspiring us once again, as his predecessors so often did during Hollywood's Golden Age." Cal Thomas does not mince words and he's no pussycat...

so he's managed to peak my curiosity. National Review's Ken Fouler said Cal Thomas was "dead on" and his colleague at NRO, Kathryn Jean Lopez said,

"Oliver Stone, in recreating what happened that day in the lives of two resilient men, has done more than any politician's speech could ever do as we approach the fifth anniversary of the attacks."

"In World Trade Center we see how Americans react to evil. It's an evil we should not forget -- and it's an evil we should call by name. Thank God there are people willing to run into burning towers and Marines willing to report for duty. Thank God there is goodness to prevail in the world."

This is high praise no matter which way you look at it. But my favorite review came from a conservative blogger, Jack Yoest who revealed what the movie is not about:

"It was not a conspiracy movie It did not bash Bush
It was not sappy
It was not about stupid, church-going nuts
It did not mock marriage
It did not blame America
It did not support radical Islam
It did not mock marines
It did not mock Jesus
It did not mock cops..."

"...It did not mock family, faith or freedom...This is a movie you will see in a few weeks and you'll be glad you did."

About now a few of our friends on the left are asking what this movie could possibly have in it that would be of any interest to them! I guess you have to be a fan of the "Golden Age" and of this amazing country we live in
to understand.

(Source material: Michelle Malkin.com and National Review Online)

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:24 AM | Comments (3)

July 21, 2006

What Happened to our Grit?

If people don't know about our history, then they can't understand it. If they don't understand it, they can't appreciate it. If they don't appreciate it, they won't defend and preserve it. It's just that simple. Don't believe me? Then ask one of the 50 million illegals here to name a signer on the Declaration of Independance or ask an inner city drop out to explain the Bill of Rights. They won't know the answers because they don't care, it means nothing to them This is why some Americans are wondering what happened to our grit?

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:39 AM | Comments (1)

Posted by Post Scripts at 09:03 AM | Comments (1)

Touching Story of Kindness and Innocence

This is a story of one man's innocence and trust, submitted by, Bill B. Thanks Bill. I'm sure there's a moral to the story, but haven't quite got a handle on it yet...

A young man was on holiday in Kenya to commune with nature. While he was walking through the bush, he came across an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed so the man approached

it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot. There was a large thorn deeply embedded in the bottom of the foot.

As carefully and as gently as he could he removed the thorn and the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and, with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For a good ten minutes the man stood frozen - thinking of not hing else but being trampled.

Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

For years after, the man remembered the elephant and the events of that day.

One day the man was walking through the zoo with his son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to where they were standing at the rail. It stared at him and the man couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.

After a while it trumpeted loudly; then it continued to stare at him. The man summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.

Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again... wrapped its trunk around one of the man's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, tearing off his clothes before he flung the man back across the fence, all bruised and bloody...

uh, probably wasn't the same elephant.

(Wait a sec...I think I have the moral of this story now, it was a Ronald Reagan quote...does this fit "Trust but verify?" )

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:27 AM | Comments (1)

July 20, 2006

American's in Lebanon - why?

Who are these candidates for a "Darwin Award" that decided to go to Lebanon to live and now they're making demands that America come to their rescue? (Update: Now some are suing the US government for not moving civillians out as fast as we move our military)

Cont-

I know some of those (Americans) said in news interviews they think Israel ought to be wiped off the face of the earth and that groups like Hezbollah are great. So far, about all I've heard coming from these ingrates is negative, "The cruise ship didn't get there fast enough, it was too crowded, the food was poor ...yadda yadda"

I just wish there was some litmus test that could be applied to decide who gets rescued and who stays....like a fool proof polygraph test with one question "Do you promise to bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America?" A wrong answer would get them tossed over the side and they can swim back to Lebanon.

I remember an old saying in my Dad's shop, "P-ss poor planning on your part does not constitute a crisis on my part." I think that ought to be the policy for the US government arranging for their costly evacuations.

__________________________

Now this from ZEINA KARAM and GEORGE PSYLLIDES, AP Wire Story, "Europeans and Lebanese with foreign passports fled Lebanon by the thousands, while Americans expressed frustration at the

....slow pace of U.S. evacuation efforts Tuesday as a cruise ship chugged toward the country to pick them up.

A Greek cruise ship carrying about 700 French citizens and others _ many women and children _ out of Lebanon arrived in Cyprus' port of Larnaca, while scores of people waited to board the Hual Transporter, a Swedish chartered ship docked at Beirut's port.

Haakon Svane, an official with the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, said the ship was expected to carry about 1,000 passengers, including Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and a few Americans.

An American man and his wife boarding the Swedish chartered ship expressed anger at how long the process to evacuate U.S. citizens was taking as fighting between the Israelis and Hezbollah guerrillas entered its seventh day.

"I can't wait any more. I'm sorry it's taking them too long," he said. The man, who said he was from Pennsylvania, said he was too distraught to be interviewed and declined to give his name.

Jonathan Chakhtoura, a 19-year-old Lebanese-American fashion design student in Boston, said he registered with the U.S. Embassy electronically to be evacuated three days ago, but he has not heard from the embassy except for an e-mail acknowledging his registration.

Chakhtoura, who would like to be back in the U.S. before classes start on Sept. 6, said he was disappointed with the way the embassy has handled the evacuation.

"Every time I call to see what's going on the lines are busy. When they answer, they say they don't know," he complained. "I am extremely disappointed. A lot of people don't know what is going on. There is so much confusion. If it's security they are worried about, then I think we will be more secure if we know what is going on."

The U.S. Navy said the cruise ship Orient Queen left Cyprus's port of Limassol for Beirut. Escorted by a U.S. destroyer, it was to join U.S. military helicopters that have ferried a few dozen U.S. citizens to a British base on Cyprus. Officials said the Orient Queen can carry 750 people at a time and it was expected to be full. A U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Gonzales, will be available to escort the Orient Queen, the Pentagon said, although officials declined to provide times for the ship's arrival or departure from Beirut.

U.S. military helicopters have ferried about 20 U.S. citizens to a British base on the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus, and more took off on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy said, but it did not give a number.

Israel instituted a sea blockade three miles off shore as part of its campaign of retribution after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12 in a cross-border raid, but it was allowing evacuation ships through. Lebanon's only international airport has been shut since Thursday when Israeli jets bombed all three runways.

"I am extremely sad for Lebanon and for all my new friends here," said Tara Olsson, a 19-year-old Swedish student who was leaving just two weeks after she arrived in Lebanon to study Arabic. "I actually didn't want to leave, but when I heard foreign embassies were organizing evacuations I got worried."

Leila Issa, a 45-year-old Swedish woman of Lebanese origin who had come to spend the summer in Lebanon, said she would never return. "I have learned my lesson, this country is hopeless," the teacher said as she helped her 75-year-old mother board the ship.

Ali Khreiss, a 46-year-old man said he wamted to stay behind and fight with Hezbollah but his wife begged him to leave.

"I want to be part of this. This is the first time an Arab country bombs Haifa," he said, referring to the Israel's third-largest city targeted by Hezbollah rockets for the first time this week. "I will drop them off in Sweden and return," he added.

The Canadian government said Tuesday it has arranged for sea vessels to assist Canadians wishing to depart Lebanon beginning Wednesday.

A Turkish ship, the "Su," left northern Cyprus on Tuesday to evacuate Swedish and other EU citizens stranded in Beirut, according to the Turkish Cypriot news agency, TAK. The ship was to reach Lebanon later Tuesday and take some 450 Europeans to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Mersin, it said.

France, which ruled Lebanon as a colony until 1943, has more than 20,000 citizens in Lebanon. Most of those who left Monday were of Lebanese origin. Many of the French passengers were reportedly to be flown to France aboard chartered jumbo jets.

The Greek cruise ship Ierapetra arrived just after dawn at Cyprus port of Larnaca, and some of the evacuees expressed regret about having to leave.

The passengers included many children, including one who was taken off on a stretcher, and 34 Americans _ many students.

Ryan Furhu, 20, from Baltimore was studying Arabic during a summer session at the American University of Beirut. "In last few days we were waiting to get out," he said. "We were studying Arabic at summer school but obviously that ended."

Renee Codsi, a 29-year-old teacher from California, said she had been living in Beirut for the past four years.

"Lebanon has become my home. I'm worried about the people I left behind. I wasn't really worried about myself," she said.

A teacher of environmental science at the American Community School in Beirut, Codsi said she had a 73-year-old Lebanese father whom she left behind.

The Ierapetra arrived in Larnaca a few hours after an Italian warship brought more than 300 Italians and other Westerners to Cyprus. "

Posted by Post Scripts at 03:56 PM | Comments (2)

Terrorism and Peace

by Jack Lee

It can’t be easy to be an Islamic terrorist in today's world, their so-called life is fraught with failures, losses and destruction…thats some job and some future. Yet, given what a total failure Islamic terrorism has been, we still have the Jihadist-wannabes popping up, even in our own secular society. Of course, most of them wouldn't know an Al Qaeda from an Al Franken. Those are the crazies and I guess we will always have the crazies. Now look at the real problem people, those devoted Islamic Jihadists bent on destroying America and changing the world for Allah. Most, but not all, are driven by their passion and misconceptions and misunderstandings of the modern world, which made them easily seduced by their religion of hate. That religion has also helped keep them isolated from the truth and a better better way.

In the strict world of the Muslim fundamentalist, the road to heaven is paved with rules, rules how to eat, rules how to sleep, rules how to go to the bathroom, so many rules it takes a fulltime Imam to keep the righteous on the path. Enter the “ying and yang� of Islamic facisim: Control by religious leaders and surrender of will by their religious followers. This has never worked out well in history and sadly, it plays right into the hands of those crackpot Imams they trust.

CONT- from page one

To be a good Islamofacist you can’t ask too many questions or interact with moderates, just ask their spiritual leader the good Imam, he will tell you, "It's Allah's will!" (I think it's the will of the crackpots) It's really hard for western minds to comprehend how anybody could buy into this and allow himself or herself to be chained to that fanaticism until death, yet here it is and we see the results in thousands of evil plots and murders all labeled… JIHAD!

Unfortunately for humankind, this Jihad business is nothing new. Europe was almost ruined by it in the medieval times, but fortunately, at least for most of us, we learned from our mistakes and we evolved beyond chopping off heads everytime a cleric said, "God wills it!" But, today only the weapons of the Jihadists have evolved, their minds are still in the 7th century. That's why they still think it's ok to stone a women to death for an alleged marital infidelity. The closer you look at what passes for fundamentalist justice, the more bizzare it gets!

In contrast, Israeli's seem to have done pretty well in their democratic society, even though it exists right along side this fanatical non-sense. Palestinians on the other hand were caught up in a cause they could not win and theyrefuse to see what they were doing was only bringing them more death, destruction and ruin. The differences between the two and the results couldn't be more apparent.

Progress happens when a society is enlightened, people get to find their own truth and they engage others freely in cross cultural understanding. This sort of progress is a great threat to the Muslim terrorist movement because they lose control of their people! It's exactly why we see Hezbollah attacking Israel now, just rs to keep the hatred alive. They wanted to draw Israel into yet another war for the same tired old reasons that cost them so much in the past 3 wars. Only this time, there is a new twist. Hezbollah in cooperation with Iran, hoped that Lebanese civilians caught in the crossfire would become a new rallying point. They needed more victims just so they could point at Israel and say, "See what the Jews have done!" This is their delusional, self-righteous world and it gets them absolutely nowhere.

The destructon that followed Hezbollah's attacks has set them back decades and worse, it has cost them support from former allies that now try to distance themselves from this insanity. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have come to terms with Israel and they are better off for it. They have begun a new era of peaceful coexistence and that has led to prosperity at a time when terrorism has only been keeping their people miserable and broke.

Terrorism is a lost cause because the hate that feeds and motivates it, eventually consumes itself, like a raging fire with no forest left to burn. The course of action should be obvious, peace...it's the way forward, but then I live in the west and I can think for myself...and that’s a big advantage over those who want to convert or kill me. I doubt any of them will ever read what I have just written, but if they ever do, they will at least know peace is not just another option...IT IS THE ANSWER.

Posted by Post Scripts at 01:44 PM | Comments (1)

July 19, 2006

FIRST DO NO HARM

by Tina Grazier

The president of the American Medical Association, Dr. William G. Plested, announced yesterday that medical professionals should not participate in executions of prisoners. Said the good doctor:

“The American Medical Association is troubled by continuous refusal by many state courts and legislatures to acknowledge the ethical obligations of physicians, which strictly prohibit physician involvement in a legally authorized execution.�

Hmmmmm…apparently guidelines in the ethical code,

“...explicitly prohibits selecting injection sites for executions by lethal injection, starting intravenous lines, prescribing, administering, or supervising the use of lethal drugs, monitoring vital signs, on site or remotely, and declaring death.�

Read on, his statements get even more interesting…

“A physician is a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so. The use of a physician’s skill and judgment for purposes other than to promote an individuals health and welfare undermines a basic ethical foundation of medicine-first do no harm�

OK, OK, the guy is talking about executing prisoners by lethal injection. Still, the life of a baby growing in its mother’s womb would seem to be of concern under the same ethical obligation. So when do you suppose the AMA will wag its finger at the courts regarding abortion? If they are so terribly “troubled� by the courts’ and legislatures’ failures to recognize the ethical obligations of physicians, shouldn’t they share the same concern when it comes to the life of an unborn child? The medical procedures associated with abortions are far more invasive than anything mentioned regarding lethal injection and both involve ending life.

The following statement on the AMA website refers to the ethics related to abortion:

The Principles of Medical Ethics of the AMA do not prohibit a physician from performing an abortion in accordance with good medical practice and under circumstances that do not violate the law.

Posted by Post Scripts at 07:07 AM | Comments (10)

July 17, 2006

Arabs Must Choose

By Tina Grazier

(Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)

The war between good and evil began in earnest for most Americans following the destruction and tragedy of 911. Our collective attention has been focused mainly on defeating terrorists and assisting the Afghan and Iraqi people in establishing democratic forms of government. But what of the region as a whole? What are the choices that face the nations and peoples caught up in regional struggles and warfare? Rich Lowry, writing for National Review Online, poses an interesting question:

"The choice around the Middle East now is between governance and warfare -- do the Arabs want to pour their energies into governing themselves decently or waging jihad?"

Hamas and Hezbollah have chosen jihad. Their aggressive move against Israel was a decision they most likely considered as bold in a region that continually refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. Today for the first time, however, Arab countries have chosen to condemn Hezbollah. A story in Reuters, "Saudi Blames Hezbollah, Hamas for Israeli attacks" reveals a subtle shift in their position and support:

"U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on Monday stepped up it's criticism of Lebanese and Palestinian militants, saying their actions had allowed Israel to wage war against their people."

Arabs still manage to place blame with Israel, but they have also Openly condemned the actions of terrorists within the greater Arab community. This might signal a growing desire to put an end to regional conflicts; a desire to live in peace and prosperity.

Wouldn't that be a blessing?

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:59 PM | Comments (5)

THE AMERICAN WAY - FOUR FREEDOMS

by Tina Grazier

On January 6, 1941 Franklin Roosevelt, in his Message to Congress, spoke of conditions in the world and his resolve to defend freedom and democracy. His words echo across the decades to find a place in the remarkably similar events of our time.

“Every realist knows that the democratic way of life is at this moment being directly assailed in every part of the world—assailed either by arms, or by secret spreading of poisonous propaganda by those who
seek to destroy unity and promote discord in nations that are still at peace.�

Recent developments in Israel serve to highlight once again the nature and scope of the enemies of freedom. This is not an enemy that has chosen war as an expression of physical or technological superiority. It is not one that merely seeks to expand territories and lands. It is an enemy that has assumed a fanatical religious superiority that claims as its right the total and complete subjugation of others and the annihilation of any who dare to refuse conversion.

“Their only interest is in a new one-way international law, which lacks mutuality in its observance, and, therefore, becomes an instrument of oppression.�

Our national history is one of freedom and of fighting for freedom, not only for ourselves, but also for others around the world. It stems from a shared and profound belief that every human being longs to live free and deserves the dignity that freedom ensures. In 1941 President Roosevelt called on the nation to stand up for freedom in a world peppered by tyrannical assault.

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression…
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own
way…
The third is freedom from want…
The fourth is freedom from fear�

Sixty years later President Bush asked that we, the benefactors and guardians of freedom, join together with others around the world to take a stand for liberty. We have witnessed a great effort put forth by the brave and young who stepped forward to answer the call with service and sacrifice.

Unfortunately, some among us have denied the threat and others have wavered in their support. Many others have used their voices for political ends and self promotion. The truly despicable have worked to undermine our efforts. These would do well to carefully consider the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941:

-We must have the courage to stand together to fight this ugly and vicious evil-FDR

“This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its
millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance
of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our
support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our
strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end
save victory.�

President Bush, like President Roosevelt, is keenly aware of the threat we face. It’s time for us to face up to our responsibilities as free people. We must have the courage to stand together to fight this ugly and vicious evil; an evil that moves against freedom with terror, spreading fear and dread and leaving only pain and death in it’s path. It's the American way:

“As a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted; but we cannot
afford to be soft-headed.�

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2006

Global Warming... Sun's Effects

by Anthony Watts

And for some background on the sun and climate change, try reading about the Maunder Minimum.

or (Cont- page 2)

________________________________________

The Little Ice Age

Many folks conveniently ignore one basic fact: Our sun is variable. Just look at this graph of solar activity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Solar_Activity_Proxies.png

Then compare it to the measured temperature record:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Instrumental_Temperature_Record.png

For more on Dr. Lindzen see this:

Global Warming: The Origin and Nature of the Alleged Scientific Consensus

See any correlation or am I just some heretic weatherman with wild and dangerous ideas?

One of the things cited by Gore in his movie and by advocates of CO2 induced global warming is a graph that has come to be known as the "hockey stick". It has become the "smoking gun" for those who believe man-made CO2 is the source of global warming.

see it here in a BBC news article:

Climate legacy of the 'hockey stick'

It is important to note that the hockey stick graph is composed of two types of data: Measured temperatures since about 1850, and extrapolated temperature data going back hundreds of years.

Now here is an article from MIT's Technology Review from two years ago that says the math used to graph the temperature data is seriously flawed.

Global Warming Bombshell...A prime piece of evidence linking human activity to climate change turns out to be an artifact of poor mathematics.

Now what I find as the most interesting is the "hockey stick" in the Solar Proxies Graph above. A more active sun results in lower Beryllium-10 concentrations (note inverted scale on graph). Beryllium-10 is a cosmogenic isotope created in the atmosphere by galactic cosmic rays. Because the flux of such cosmic rays is affected by the intensity of the interplanetary magnetic field carried by the solar wind, the rate at which Beryllium-10 is created reflects changes in solar activity./a

The graph of Beryillium-10 has its own "hockey stick" that began just before 1900. Now since the Be-10 isotope is not something produced by man or man-made pollution, and this is well proven, its clear that the Be-10 data is free of any human bias and therefore can only be linked to extra-terrestial processes. a/

Yet this data, which so clearly shows an increased solar output, is conveniently ignored because the facts don't fit the well funded theories that abound.

Gore doesn't mention the sun's variability at all in his movie. Nor does he mention the flawed computer program that generates the famous global warming "hockey stick".

This from the MIT article says it all:
"Now comes the real shocker. This improper normalization procedure tends to emphasize any data that do have the hockey stick shape, and to suppress all data that do not. To demonstrate this effect, McIntyre and McKitrick created some meaningless test data that had, on average, no trends. This method of generating random data is called Monte Carlo analysis, after the famous casino, and it is widely used in statistical analysis to test procedures. When McIntyre and McKitrick fed these random data into the Mann procedure, out popped a hockey stick shape!

That discovery hit me like a bombshell, and I suspect it is having the same effect on many others. Suddenly the hockey stick, the poster-child of the global warming community, turns out to be an artifact of poor mathematics. How could it happen? What is going on? Let me digress into a short technical discussion of how this incredible error took place. "

Now there's an inconvenient truth indeed.

Posted by Post Scripts at 11:20 AM | Comments (3)

July 14, 2006

UPDATE - MIDDLEAST

10/14/06 1521 hours: While on a visit to Germany about 15 hours ago, President Bush blamed Syria and Iran for new Middle East violence, saying Hezbollah was just a contracting agent doing Iran's dirty work. There is growing evidence that members of the Iranian military have been directly assisting Hezbollah in launching missile strikes on Israel.

They don't want Israelis to defend themselves: Russian President Vladimir Putin said, ``No hostage-takings are acceptable, but neither is the use of full-scale force in response to these, even if unlawful, actions. We will demand that all sides involved in the conflict immediately stop the bloodshed.'' French President Jacques Chirac accused Israel of going too far. Chirac quipped, ``One could ask if today there is not a sort of will to destroy Lebanon, its equipment, its roads, its communications.' He said Israels response was totally "disproportionate". ( Sure, its not like the terrorists in Hezbollah that totally intimidate the weak government of Lebanon were shooting hundreds of missiles at your cities or invading your sovereign territory and killing your soldiers. )

Leftists Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain, who took over after the train bombings to appease the terrorists, warned Israel it was "making a mistake" to attack Lebanon. ( I am sure you are aware taht Spain is very much afraid of terrorists since the train bombing and they are prepare to make any concession necessary in the name of peace! )

The Vatican echoed that remark.

"In fact, the right to defense on the part of a country does not exempt it from respecting norms of international law above all for that which concerns the safety of the civilian population," said a statement by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's No. 2 official.

Bush next heads to Moscow for a meeting with Putin. It's doubtful that will be helpful as Putin has turned away from democratic reforms in favor of an old hardline Communists startegy and Russia has a vested interest in Iranian oil and other trade agreements, including providing nuclear reactor assistance for Irans nuclear weapon program.

Posted by Post Scripts at 03:03 PM | Comments (1)

Middleast Fighting Continues

7/14/06, 1005 hrs: Saudi's have just condemned Hezbollah, saying their intrusion was unwelcomed and they provoked an Israeli response in Lebanon. The Saudi's called on Hezbollah to return the Israeli soldiers. (I'm stunned...the Saudi's aparently have come to realize terrorists groups are a threat to everyone, including them!) Meanwhile, the leftist government that arrived years ago with the great humanitarian, Nelson Mandella, has blamed Israel for overreacting to missile attacks on 6 of their cities and the Hezbollah border invasion that killed 8 of their soldiers and kidnapped two more.

Isreal responded to their South African critic by saying and I paraphrase, "You really have no part in this and you couldn't do anything helpful if you did...so shut up and back off before you get hurt!"

Posted by Post Scripts at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)

CHINESE REFORM CAPITOL PUNISHMENT!

Shown here is the new Jinguan justice van, it is fully air conditioned, can reach speeds up to 80 mph and has the ability to travel long distances to remote areas of China, coming to the rescue of inmates facing immediate execution by firing squad.

The prison guard at Xiang province turned to prisoner 14674 "Looks like this Is your lucky day #1-4, you not getting shot, your bus is here!" The relief on 1-4's face was short lived as the guard proudly announced, "This is our new death bus just for you!" 1-4 nervously responded, "I get run over by bus now!?" "No, no, (chuckle) you not run over by the bus, this good news.... you goin inside bus to be injected with poison... this is brand new portable death chamber!"

It's the new Blue bus era: The condemned can now be virtually hustled out of the courtroom and into the big blue bus where they are given a quick injection and tossed to a smaller bus waiting for good used body parts. People upset with US capital punishment, can hail this as a great step forward for the Chinese since they are abandoning the old firing squad in favor of something more productive and efficient. Remember: Important body parts can now be recycled! Gee, I wonder what psychological impact the arrival of the big "Blue Bus" might have on problem neighborhoods in the US? Or at certain prisons..."hellooooooo Nightstalker, your bus has arrived."

Posted by Post Scripts at 08:18 AM | Comments (2)

July 13, 2006

WAR AND TERRORISM

Is another war about to break out in the middle east?War fears and fears of oil supply disruption sent stocks down 166 points today as oil climbed to over $76 a barrel.

To make matters more complicated Hamas and Fatah in Palestine are at each other’s throats in a grim power struggle. Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier as a bargaining chip. Hezbollah, which has been known as a sub-contractor in terror for both Syria and Iran, has just joined the fray when their special agents attacked Israeli soldiers inside Israeli borders, killing 8 and capturing two. Allegedly this attack was done

Cont- page 2

to support Palestinian interests, upping the stakes to force the Israeli to release Muslim terrorists prisoners, privately many think this is really Iran trying to start an open war.

Israel immediately responded with military force, attempting to cut off the escape routes for the kidnapping team, however an Imam claiming to speak for Hezbollah says the kidnapped Israeli soldiers are now far from the reach of the Israeli military.

Most recent: Late last night and early this morning Hezbollah fires over 100 long range Katyusha Missiles into Israel, striking targets in Tzfat, Rosh Pina, Hatzor, Nahariya and Haifa. Scores injured. Israel then responded with more military strikes on a number of Hezbollah (also spelled Hezbollah and Hizbullah) targets, destroying bridges, military positions, suspected warehouses where arms might be stored, damaging roads and blasting fixed gun/missile emplacements. Hezbollah's stronghold is in the city of Baalbek, Lebanon, which is about 90 miles from Israel and that has been the subject of several Israeli airstrikes. The latest from Hezbollah is they are attempting to send their two Israeli prisoners to Iran for safekeeping.

"Iran is definitely pulling the strings. Hizballah wouldn't do anything without permission or an order from Iran," said Yoash Tsiddon-Chatto, an analyst with the Ariel Center for Policy Research

The world's reaction to all this has been mixed, but not unpredictable. Despite the kidnappings, and now the barrage of Katyusha missiles launched at civilian targets in numerous Israeli cities, Russia, France and Greece have condemned the retaliatory strikes by Israel! America's reply has been to lift our policy that has Israel not to attack inside Palestine. The USA also blocked a UN security council resolution, that was a 10-1vote. That resolution would have pressured Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory and cease miltary action as well as for the captive soldiers to be released by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Personally, I hope Israel launches as much force as necessary to inflict maximum damage on their enemy. This is how the war is won, this is how you deal with terrorists.

Posted by Post Scripts at 01:45 PM | Comments (10)

What is life?

Anonymous contributor....

Life is a challenge - meet it
Life is a gift - accept it
Life is an adventure - dare it
Life is a sorrow - overcome it
Life is a tragedy - face it
Life is a duty - perform it
Life is a game - play it
Life is a mystery - unfold it
Life is a song - sing it
Life is an opportunity - take it
Life is a journey - complete it
Life is a promise - fulfill it
Life is beauty - praise it
Life is a struggle - fight it
Life is a goal - achieve it
Life is a puzzle - solve it
Life is Love - LOVE IT!!

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

GLOBAL WARMING

by Jack Lee

In 1994 when Al Gore was trying to rack up political points with global warming, climatologist, John M. Wallace tried to temper Gores rhetoric on the subject by suggesting..." in a polite way, to tell him he was coming on too strong about global warming, because the evidence was just not in yet." A lot has happened since then and the newest evidence is fairly conclusive, IF the models are correct....there's that "IF" word again, always popping up to spoil a good theory! And as for Al Gore, he's still at it, exploiting the situation for all its worth in his movie "An Inconvenient Truth" which is more about the history of Al, than global warming.

Like many of his peers, Wallace, and many other climatologist wasn't convinced greenhouse gases were altering the world's climate. However, this is not to say Wallace doesn't believe the earth is getting warmer, he does, the question is why is it warming? As an article in the Seattle Times notes, "1995 was the hottest year on record until it was eclipsed by 1997 — then 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Melting ice has driven Alaska Natives from seal-hunting areas used for generations. Glaciers around the globe are shrinking so rapidly many could disappear before the middle of the century."

This is a compelling topic and it’s been the stuff of debates for years with a lot of exaggeration on both sides; maybe that is why we have such a huge credibility gap between science and the public? Science historian Naomi Oreskes from UC San Diego found a huge disconnect between the scientific community and people's perceptions of what may be happening to our climate. Can't blame the people really, after all 40 years ago the scientists were warning us of global cooling! That said, Ms Oreskes also found that in a review of 1000 randomly selected scientific papers on global warming, none omitted the possibility that green house gasses were causing a climate change.

More evidence: A 100-nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that began reporting on this warming phenomena for the United Nations since 1988 has evolved from hedgey conclusions to an unequivocal onel..."There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities."

However, we can also point to huge changes in the earth's temperature over the past 1,000,000 years where man wasn't involved in the slightest. Naturally occurring forces often change our climate, such as volcanoes, ocean releases of carbon dioxide, mountain uplifting, continental drift, as well as occasional deviations in the planet's orbit. This is just nature at work, and the latest trend could be part of that, however none of the current models have included nature as a key factor, except for one and this is the very latest buzz, some scientists that suggest the sun is burning slightly hotter than it has in the past 1000 years... and just when we thought global warming could be completely blamed on big business and big SUV's! (cont-)

_______________________________________________

For balance, and we're all for balance here at Post Scripts, you might want to read this article by Fred Singer, known as the "the godfather of global warming denial". Singer rejects most of the hypotheses currently presented because the he feels the input data is flawed. Let me give you an example of where Singer is coming from, and keep in mind he is no quack, he is a scientist with impeccable credentials. From a recent a Mother Jones article, Q. "There is overwhelming scientific consensus that greenhouse gases emitted by human activity are causing global average temperatures to rise." Is that true? A: It’s completely unsupported by any observation, but it’s supported by computer climate models. In other words, the computer models would indicate this. The observations do not." Does that have your attention? You can read more of Singers comments if you follow this link.

If there is a bottom line here its this: We probably have about 70-100 years before we see truly serious effects of global warming, IF the models are right, this would mean we are in for some extreme weather patterns and possibly global food shortages. However, even if we accept global warming as a fact (and we all don't) we still can't do much about it, because we lack the technology to alter our environment. That is the really inconvenient truth and we likely can't alter the direction we are going for the foreseeable future...even if the USA becomes a nation of all hybrid cars, it really won't matter much, except to local air quality problem areas like the LA basin where the smog often hangs there for days and weeks.

Some suedo-invironmentalists have tried to turn this into a unilateral moral crusade, where the United States if the main party responsible for all this and therefore its incumbent upon us to fix it, but even if the United States completely stopped producing any green house gasses tomorrow the rest of the world won't! And what the rest of the world is doing is more than enough to keep global warming right on schedule, plus or minus a few degrees.

Here's what’s driving much of that future green house gas production: The worlds population is projected to grow from 6.4 billion people to 9.1 billion by 2050 and this is not coming from the United States.
Those new people hooking up with all the GLOBAL progress and their new energy demands in places like China, India and Africa, means those places will greatly contribute to the CO2 problem.

Is there reason to be alarmed..yes, but there is no reason to panic and we will just have to adapt to the changes as they come. Can we do something about global warming now and change the future? Yes, we can always improve what we do, but how much impact that will have in the final analysis is suspect and even our most drastic efforts will still not hold back the economic changes and population growth coming from emerging nations that is now behind the bulk of our future problem.

Posted by Post Scripts at 06:16 PM | Comments (1)

TERROR BY THE NUMBERS

by Tina Grazier

7/11- Shown on the left is a survivor of the train blast that has now injured over 190 person.

In case there was any doubt about the war being global or that that terrorists are deadly serious about their stated goals and intent, the world experienced yet another vicious and senseless attack “by the numbers� today. Will we soon begin to dread every day that falls on a date containing the numbers seven and eleven? A full report on the latest terrorists act can be found here.:

__________

Multiple Bombs Detonated on Bombay Rail System (Updated)
By Bill Roggio

…An anonymous intelligence source told the Times of India the attacks were "carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba and local Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists and was designed to trigger communal conflagration in the country’s financial capital." MSNBC reports Indian intelligence view Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian terrorist and underground crime boss with links to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, as the prime suspect in today's bombings. Dawood was designated as a terrorist by the U.S.Treasury Department on October 16, 2003:

Dawood Ibrahim: An Indian crime lord, has found common cause with Al Qaida, sharing his smuggling routes with the terror syndicate and funding attacks by Islamic extremists aimed at destabilizing the Indian government. He is wanted in India for the 1993 Bombay Exchange bombings and is known to have financed the activities of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (Army of the Righteous), a group designated by the United States in October 2001 and banned by the Pakistani Government -- who also froze their assets -- in January 2002

Posted by Post Scripts at 06:50 AM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

___________________________________________

Teachers Listen Up!

by Tina Grazier

I don’t think it takes a genius to realize that tax dollars aren’t getting the job done when it comes to educating the children of America. It frustrates me that calls for reform of the current system, calls to consider a voucher program, or to at least engage in honest discussion often ends in name calling and hurt feelings with nothing accomplished in the end. Understandably, teachers often feel targeted and unappreciated and that’s a real shame, because they would benefit greatly from a more fiscally responsible system. A short paragraph from an article by Newt Gingrich, “Time to Face Our Education Crisis�, illustrates the need for teachers and educators to join with others in the call for reform. As Newt says, the fate of our children and of the nation depend on it.

“One of the favorite talking points of the left-liberal is that more money will cure what is wrong with our education system. But here is just one of the facts that exposes this for the lie that it is. Nationally, our education bureaucracy is receiving more than $440 billion a year of our tax dollars to fund our schools, but only about 61% of this is actually spent in classrooms. …The rest goes to the bureaucracy for undefined, unaccountable “overhead�. It cannot be overstated, that unless and until we make it a priority to put the welfare of our children over the welfare of the education bureaucracy, our education bureaucracy will continue to consign our children to future poverty and our nation to future failure�

Education dollars should first and foremost reach the children and teachers in the classroom. If every school district received only 20% more of those dollars what might come of it? In fact if there are any educators out there I’d like to ask the question directly. What would you do, what might you accomplish, with extra money in your classroom?

Posted by Post Scripts at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2006

4th of July in Our California Assembly

by John Campbell - R, Assemblyman

4th of July: In each of the 4 years that I have been a member of the state Assembly, we have had many "celebrations" on the Assembly floor. These "celebrations" are orchestrated by the Democrats who control the House and often involve singing and dancing. Every one of my 4 years have seen substantial celebrations of Cinco de Mayo (which Commemorates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla ), St. Patrick's

Day (for the patron Saint of Ireland ), and Chinese New Year's Day, among others. But never once have we celebrated America 's Independence Day, the 4th of July.

So, this year, Republican Assemblyman Jay LaSuer of San Diego arranged for Vietnam war hero Admiral Jeremiah Denton to come to California to be a part of a 4th of July ceremony. As you may know, Admiral Denton was a Navy pilot in Vietnam who was shot down and spent 8 years in a Vietnamese prison. In 1966 while in prison, he was interviewed by North Vietnamese television in Hanoi after torture to get him to "respond properly." During this interview, he blinked his eyes in Morse code to spell out the word "torture." He was asked about his support for the war in Vietnam to which he replied "I don't know what is happening now in Vietnam , because the only news sources I have are Vietnamese. But whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it, I support it, and I will support it as long as I live." Four of his 8 years in prison were spent in solitary confinement. He later wrote the book "When Hell was in Session" chronicling his experience in Vietnam.

When he stepped off the plane after being released from prison in 1973, he said "We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country in difficult circumstances. We are profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-Chief for this day. God bless America." He was later elected to the U.S. Senate from his home state of Alabama , becoming the first retired Admiral ever elected to that body. I could go on and on about his accomplishments.

Suffice it to say, Jeremiah Denton is unquestionably an American hero.

The Democrat leadership refused to allow him on the Assembly floor, and there was no 4th of July celebration. A memo from the Democrat speaker's office said "problems have arisen both with regards to the spirit, content, and participation of various individuals with regard to the ceremony." Apparently, they said that he did not believe in the "separation of church and state" and they didn't like the policies he supported as a United States Senator and therefore they would not allow him to be on the Assembly floor or to speak.

Upon hearing about this, Governor Schwarzenegger offered his meeting room for a ceremony with Admiral Denton. The room was overflowing with people. Only one elected Democrat was in attendance. A number of veterans of the last 4 wars were present. Admiral Denton gave a very moving speech about the 4th of July and about the undeniable commitment of our founding fathers' to their faith in God. He talked about how the war on terrorism may be the most difficult war we have yet fought. And he went on to say that he fears that partisan attacks on our mission and our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan sound too familiar to what he experienced in Vietnam. Following his speech, The Governor came out to personally spend time with him.

Then this American hero, whose debt from us all can never be repaid, flew home to Alabama .

The Assembly did meet on that day. And we did have a ceremony that lasted nearly 20 minutes. That ceremony was to celebrate the career of a reporter from the LA Times on the occasion of his retirement. Democrats universally praised him as being "balanced." He was allowed to speak for about 10 minutes. Admiral Denton was no longer in the building.

Four years of Cinco De Mayo and not one recognition of the 4th of July. An LA Times reporter praised, and the very person whose sacrifice allows him to express his opinion is banned. It is perverse. It is wrong. And it is disrespectful to all the men and women in uniform who have stared death in the face and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the American people.

Admiral Jeremiah Denton is a hero not because he was politician, but like all the other men and women of the Armed Forces, because he defended the ideals set forth with America's independence.

Democrats are always railing about intolerance and discrimination. But yet in practice, it is they who engage in regular state-sanctioned discrimination and who are intolerant of the presentation of other views. Maybe they are worried that people will listen.

I do not send you this to bash Democrats. I send you this to demonstrate the huge chasm that exists between registered, voting Democrats, and elected Democrat leadership. I hope those of you who are not Democrats, will send this to your friends who are. If you are a Democrat, don't be ashamed. Be angry. Straighten out your party and your leadership, or leave it.

Fortunately, we do not need the approval of the Speaker of the Assembly to celebrate our nation's independence. Nor do we need his permission to thank those who fought to give us and to maintain our freedoms. On the 4th of July, as the burgers cook and the fireworks fly, let us always remember......and give thanks.

As a final offering, I give you a poem that Admiral Denton read to us, through eyes clouded with tears:

"It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag."
Amen. God bless America .

Posted by Post Scripts at 11:26 AM | Comments (2)

JUST ASK THE WIFE

By Tina Grazier

Comments posted on the internet by wives of the recently arrested Canadian terrorist plotters reveal the long held beliefs and evil intent of radical Muslims.

Quotes from Human Events article, "Why Jihadists Hate Us" by Robert Spencer.

"All muslim politicians are corrupt. There's no one out there willing to rule the country by the laws of Allah, rather they fight to rule the country by the laws of democracy."

"Are you accepting a system that separates religion and state? Are you gonna give your pledge of allegiance to a party that puts secular laws above the laws of Allah? Are you gonna worship that which they worship? Are you going to throw away the most important thing that makes you a Muslim?

Political correctness has made the West vulnerable and we need to get over it. These women have no desire to include you and me in their worldview. They have no desire to assimilate to our culture and the laws of democracy. They honor and follow the words of men like Syed Abu Ala Maududi (1903-1979) who said that non-Muslims, "have absolutely no right to seize the reins of power in any part of God's earth nor to direct the collective affairs of human beings according to their own misconceived doctrines" and that, "...believers would be under an obligation to do their utmost to dislodge them from political power and make them live in subservience to the Islamic way of life."

Tolerance for others is just not in their vocabulary, but don't take my word for it, just ask wifey-poo Nada Farooq who when asked what she thought was unique about Canada, said, "Who cares? We hate Canada." And there you have it.

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:52 AM | Comments (18)

July 09, 2006

THE MEETING (Freedom Fest 2006)

by Jack Lee

It would be easy to point out what went wrong at the first annual Libertarian "Freedom Fest" (3 of the main speakers failed to show up) or to poke fun at their low turn out (less than 50), but that would be a great disservice to what was right about this meeting.

What was right, was this small but passion filled group, composed from a variety of educational, ethnic and economic backgrounds, was their unwavering belief in personal freedom and idealism that can be traced back to another small, but passion filled group that first gathered on 15th day of May at the Colonial Capital in Williamsburg, the year was 1776. What was set in motion that day was beyond the wildest expectations of the world’s greatest visionaries. The creative spirit of that historic meeting for liberty, still echoes in the hearts and minds of these modern day patriots.

The philosophy of the Libertarians was inspired by the writings of two newspapermen in the early 1700's, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. They wrote a series of articles in London called the "Cato Letters". Here is a short excerpt from Cato: "Human history is a record of irrepressible conflict between Power and Liberty, with Power (government) always standing ready to increase its scope by invading people's rights and encroaching upon their liberties. Therefore, power must be kept small and faced with eternal vigilance and hostility on the part of the public to make sure that it always stays within its narrow bounds."

Today’s meeting occurred on July 8th, which was a symbolic gesture to reflect the Libertarian’s deep and abiding respect for our nations history and for their love of country, for it was on July 8th, 1776 that the Liberty Bell first rang.

The Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 and stands as America's largest third party, but they are still eons away from the power and wealth found in our two main parties, but that seems ok by them. They look on this as a virtue, not a deficit.

They endorse, individual liberty as reflected by their pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-home schooling, anti-gun control and total economic freedom. Their radical idealism causes them to reject welfare and big government. They have no use for a minimum wage and most oppose the income tax, although they seem to be reaching a compromise with their growing interest in the new "fair tax" plan. They are the ideological epitome of "laissez faire" or more freedom - less government and lower taxes.

It was a refreshing pleasure to attend this gathering where faithful adherance to their idealism was valued over pragmatism and winning by any means. Every LP candidate I spoke to, said they realized they would likely not gather more than 3% or 4% of the vote, but the message they carried into this election, even though in the face of certain defeat, made their sacrifices all worthwhile. That my friends is what elections used to be about, long before it became common place that a presidential election was a vote for the lesser of two evils and long before half the nation just gave up voting completely.

When it comes to steadfast idealism, honor, integrity and patriotic selfsacrific, the Republicans and Democrats could both learn a lot from this often belittled 3rd party of throwbacks to a time gone by.

Posted by Post Scripts at 11:46 AM | Comments (10)

July 08, 2006

LEAP Advocate James Anthony, Esq., in Chico

by Jack Lee

James Anthony, pictured on the left, was the featured speaker today at the Freedom Fest, an event sponsored by the north state Libertarians.

In addition to being a Counselor and Attorney at Law in the City of Oakland, he is also a spokesman for LEAP or Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. According to Anthony and LEAP pamphlets, that

after nearly 4 decades of fighting the war on drugs at a cost of more than a trillion dollars, and the incarceration of 9 million persons in just the last 6 years, that drugs have become more available, cheaper and more potent than we started the war in 1970. He said its time for a change, because this clearly isn't working.

LEAP advocates a radical change to the US drug policy... end drug prohibition in favor of a government system of regulation and control. LEAP believes that by reducing the profit motive under a controlled system that it would be more ethical and effective than the current model of complete drug prohibition.

During my interview, Anthony admitted that no country in the world currently has legalized drugs, although at least two countries, Switzerland and Holland, have greatly reduced drug laws and drug enforcement. Further, England has a supervised drug distribution system in place for heroin that allows addicts to receive up to 3 doses per day at a local hospital. He said Mexico nearly legalized drugs this year, but the United States stepped in and ended it.

Anthony notes the anti-tobacco coalition has made great strides in limiting the number of smokers, despite the addictive properties of tobacco, and he believes a similar results can be obtained if drugs are legalized and an aggressive educational campaign is employed to reduce temptation through awareness. In the coming year, LEAP hopes to introduce a proposition directly to the voters for legalizing drugs in California and several other states. For more information on LEAP click this link.

According to a BBC News Story, 28 March, 2002 the legalized heroin distribution program was a failure. The study concluded there are now 500 times as many drug addicts in Britain as there were in the 1960s, and it is in the top five countries worldwide in terms of heroin consumption. The article said the UK program failed to address the causes of addiction that were basically poverty and lack of opportunity to join in mainstream society. In a study done in Holland, it was found that since the Dutch have decriminalized drugs and tried harm reduction or softening of drug policy, shootings have increased 40%, robberies 62% and violent crime in Amsterdam reached an all time high in 2001, despite a slight slowing in the rate of addiction. END

Posted by Post Scripts at 05:28 PM | Comments (3)

July 07, 2006

North Korea and Iran Problems - A question

by Jack Lee

TODAY'S QUESTION:

Ok, so now North Korea says, "Any economic sanctions against us will be considered an act of war."

Question to the readers: If you were suddenly to become the President of the United States, what would be your next move? Diplomacy, take out the ICBM once it leaves Korean airspace or hit it on the launch pad? How about calling their bluff and announcing economic sanctions and daring Kim to do something about it? There are a lot of moves that could be made and I've only mentioned a few....now what would you do?

A little of my perspective......We know Iran is watching this situation intently. In the past, they've seen us frequently insulted by Kim Jung IL, and then we turn right around and we play nice?

We gave North Korea assistance in the nuclear energy program (Clinton years) based on an agreement to not pursue nuclear weapons. Iran was watching as North Koreans broke that agreement almost before the ink was dry. For years since then, the North Koreans have been thumbing their nose at the USA and saying the most provocative and outrageous things. All that rough talk has been met very diplomatically by us.

Now we have these recent ICBM test firings, made on the 4th of July, presumably to send us a message and I believe it goes something like this: "We don't care what you think - we hate you - we're not afraid of you and we now insult you with this grand gesture... an ICBM missile launch, aimed at your state of Hawaii and on your nation's birthday!" (I added in the Hawaii part, that is only speculation given the course of the missile, but the rest is probably pretty close).

This launch, as you know, was done despite many diplomatic appeals from many countries. Absent from these appeals were two major players, China and Russia, but then they supplied the rocket fuel and guidance system and continue to supply North Korea with many things.

Consider now that for a short time after 9/11, the world shuddered as the United States declared war on Islamic terrorism and anyone who was their ally in terror. We backed it up by force as Afghanistan and Iraq had a sudden change in government.

During this time, the Iranian's were suddenly without much to to say and we didn't hear much out of North Korea at this time either. That was then, this is now. And it must appear to these two nations that the USA has resumed its roll as the "paper tiger". Afterall, Bush is weak in the polls, Iraq has been weighing on the American people and we look overall much weaker and less decisive than we did around 9/11. And for good reason, I think its true and that reality is reflected in these words when Bush stressed the importance of the "six-party talks" and UN action to send off more resolutions to North Korea. He said, "I won’t get caught in the trap of sitting alone at a table with North Korea. " And said diplomacy takes longer, but its the way to go.

Posted by Post Scripts at 06:34 PM | Comments (11)

July 06, 2006

New Orion Blog

Excerted from the Orion blog...
By Zuri Berry @ 7:27 pm on May 30, 2006

Cocaine? Marijuana? Really!?

As a student and representative of this university I have to be conscious of my public actions - and in some cases private actions as well. There’s no way to convey my dissappointment with the actions of the few students at our university when their “party school� nature makes the news. The latest incident of our debate team’s fall season being canceled for drug use during tournament trips and off campus parties just adds to the long list of dissappointments this university has endured in the last two years. See the story the Chico Enterprise-Record wrote.

My fellow students are learning the hard way that their actions, while believing them private, are a representation of this institution and are being disciplined as such. But when is it really going to hit home? If you don’t remember, let me help you out.

Porno Stains Greek image, 3/30/05 - A ridiculous incident that could’ve been entirely avoided.

Matthew Carrington’s death, 2/09/05 - The worst tragedy the school has endured, becoming the lightning rod for President Paul Zingg’s initiatives for Greek clean up.

Softball season canceled, 3/29/06 - Another alcohol related incident that forced the team’s season to be canceled.

The Orion’s newspapers being stolen, 4/14/06 -This was a seemingly small story compared to other campus issues. The Orion’s theft gained national media attention because of the first amendment implications.

For more on this story please use link above.

Posted by Post Scripts at 02:18 PM | Comments (1)

Chico State Events

Ongoing Events...

Gifts from the Earth: Ethnobotany, An Exploration of people and Plant Relations.
Ending Date: 07/21/2006
Location: 3rd Floor, Langdon Hall
Description: The Museum of Anthropology at CSU, Chico presents Gifts from the Earth: Ethnobotany, An Exploration of people and Plant Relations. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-3pm, free admission. For reservations or more information call 530.898.5397, Funded in part by Student Instructionally Related Activity Fees.

Thursday, July 6, 2006
2006 Court Theatre Season: Some Enchanted Evening
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Wismer Theatre (PAC 135)
Description: CSU, Chico’s School of the Arts and Department of Theatre Arts presents Court Theatre’s 2006 Season June 23-July 29 at CSU, Chico’s Performing Arts Center For ticket information, please call the University Box Office, 898-6333. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.; matinees are at 2 p.m. Some Enchanted Evening 7:30 p.m. performances: June 23, 24 & 30, July 1, 5, 6, 28 & 29 2 p.m. performance: July 2 Wismer Theatre (PAC 135) CONTACT: For more information please contact Joel P. Rogers at 898-5571

Posted by Post Scripts at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)

Iraq How-to Manual Directed Arab Military Operatives In Afghanistan

This just in, brought to us by our friend Toby....

Thursday, July 06, 2006, by Ray Robison, FoxNews, "An Arab regime, possibly Iraq, supplied how-to manuals for Arab operatives working throughout Afghanistan before 9/11, and provided military assistance to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. That's the most likely conclusion drawn from an apparent training manual unearthed in captured Iraqi government computer files translated and analyzed exclusively for Fox News, and made public for the first time."

Kinda throws water on the liberal's theory that Saddam had absolutely nothing to do with terrorism.

Posted by Post Scripts at 07:55 AM | Comments (7)

July 05, 2006

Democrats Threaten to Bankrupt the State

by Jack Lee

In New Jersey the Governor is a democrat and both state houses are controlled by democrats. Now, some of you might instantly think, "This is a recipe for disaster!" And for good reason! We've seen in our state's recent past, that once the democrats are in total control of a state's budget, it's like giving Michael Jackson a no-limit credit card.

Check this out:

New Jersey democrats have broke the state and overspent by hundreds of millions that has led to the sudden shutdown of many state services. Governor Corsine has proposed a $31 billion budget, but that huge budget would entail 661 million in spending cuts. Budget cutting is something that 90% of democrats in the legislature can't tolerate! The easy fix has always been to raise taxes whenever faced with a shortfall, raise taxes and that is exactly what the New Jersey Assembly wants to do. But, Corsine knows a heavy tax hike will have serious repercussions for his political future. So, Corsine favors cuts to balance the budget and the legislators favor the tax hike. There they are, polar opposites, and neither side is willing to move.

New Jersey has been forced to layoff all non-essential personnel and this includes the people who oversee gaming, which is big business in this state. Without the gaming officials in place Atlantic City Casino's can't operate and this is adding to the state's budge crisis with the loss of about 4 million a day in tax revenue from gambling operations, not to mention the heavy impact it is having on tourism which could result in the loss of hundreds of millions of visitor dollars. The democrats have indeed created their own worst nightmare...again.

Considering the voters of New Jersey freely elected these democrats that have all but ruined their state, I would like to quote a popular phrase from a cartoon character known as "Nelson" on the Simpsons: Ha Ha...

Posted by Post Scripts at 03:25 PM | Comments (2)

National Guard Moves to the Border

by Jack lee

From Military.com: "The Bush administration has been unable to muster even half the 2,500 National Guardsmen it planned to have on the Mexican border by the end of June, officials in the border states said. The head of the National Guard Bureau disputed that tally and said the goal would be met by Friday. While touring outside the beltway, President Bush had this to say on immigration, "I will not deport people who have been here for awhile." Well said George, that ought to help the GOP win elections in November! Thus the President has reaffirmed his position on illegal immigration while hinting at his resolved to secure our wide-open border with Mexico.

"As of Thursday, the next-to-last day of the month, fewer than 1,000 troops were in place, according to military officials in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona. President Bush's plan called for all 50 states to send troops. But only 10 states - including the four border states - have signed commitments."

Meanwhile millions of illegals are seeking citizenship in hopes of joining the powerful leftwing voting block that has one overriding task...to remove from office all elected officials who stand in their way on immigration. They need only influence a few key elections to have their presence felt throughout the United States. The entire political landscape of the U.S. could be changing in the coming 10 years with the addition of up to another 30 million new hispanic immigrants.

In some regions near our southern border, this has already happened. By their sheer numbers (illlegal or not) they are an effective lobbying force already and this has had a dramatic influence on dictating changes to policies and laws. The City of Los Angeles is the largest city to be co-opted by illegals and their leftist mentors. L.A. has become a "sanctuary city" that refuses cooperation with federal immigration laws or even welfare laws that demand recipients be citizens. This city policy has hurt LAPD that used citizenship status as a tool to take down a number of really bad gang members. These are the guys that were committing robbery, murder and drug trafficking until they were deported, but thanks to the sanctuary policy they're back and doing business as usual.

Dozens of other major cities across America have teamed up with this latest "sanctuary movement" to aid illegals at taxpayer expense. Somewhat surprisingly, not one angry mob with torches and pitchforks has undertaken the lynching of a city official...yet. Note: This writer does not advocate lynchings as a way to solve city government problems, tar and feathering should be adequate, thank you.

Posted by Post Scripts at 01:22 PM | Comments (1)

Brits and the EU, Terrorism is a Real And Present Threat

by Tina Grazier

Over at COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG, http://counterterrorismblog.org/ Two quotes from this article, “Europeans More Puzzled than Concerned by SWIFT Monitoring Revelations� by Victor Comras. “European reaction to the New York Times revelations concerning US monitoring ofswift has been quite muted. There has been no public outcry…�

“…EU Commission also indicated that the arrangements between SWIFT and the US government did not violate any law. EU Data Protection regulations do not extend to data transfers from private entities. EU officials also indicated that there was a specific exemption for data transfers related to national security.�

FIND SWIFT REGS

And also from the site, COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG, a link to Independent Online Addition
http://www.independent.co.uk/ quotes from two separate articles:

“Terror activity is growing, police say� By Terry Kirby, Chief Reporter

“…police had disrupted "three or four" potential plots and were involved in more than 70 separate investigations. More than 60 individuals are awaiting trial. ‘This is unprecedented and the flow of new cases shows no sign of abating - if anything it is accelerating,'’ Peter Clarke, the head of counter terrorism for the Metropolitan Police,
said� “…Some of the intelligence examined by police was ‘very sinister’�

“M15 conducts secret inquiry into 8,000 al-Qai’ida ‘sympsthisers’� by Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent

“Up to 8,000 suspected al-Qa'ida sympathisers are being investigated by MI5 and the police in an operation to identify future terrorists…Undercover officers are gathering information from all over the country, including at colleges, mosques and internet websites where extremists may try to "groom" or radicalize those sympathetic to the aims of al-Qa'ida.�

GET SERIOUS NYT-THEY AREN’T GOING AWAY

Posted by Post Scripts at 01:10 PM | Comments (3)

July 04, 2006

BREAKING NEWS N. Korean Missiles Launched...but not far

by Jack Lee
On America's birthday, Kim Jong IL, the Supreme Idiot of North Korea, choose to strut his military might for the world by launching a mix of both long and short range missiles. Some so-called experts in the U.S. feared the long range missile had enough range to reach anywhere in the US. However, the new missile, called the Type O Dong 2 (Taep'o-dong-2), proved to be anything but long range. All three exploded in the air mere seconds after launching. The leader of North Korea set out to prove to the world what a technologically advanced powerhouse Korea is, and now we know. (Side note: Maybe the O Dong missile should have been called "Oh Dung?")

Despite the world growing richer, North Korea's annual income is a dismall $22 billion. Their gross national product works out to be about $1,000 per person. This makes the hardline communist country rank right up there with Moritania and Botswanaland.

The one thing this 5' 2", potbellied dictator is good at is staying in power and lavishing himself with cash. The North Korean people actually love this idiot, which doesn't say much about them except that they have been severly brainwashed. They see this man as a God-King and women swoon in his presence. His bowling score is national news! Everything about Kim Jung IL is big news in NK. Kim tours a factory and shows the workers how to make shovels faster, Kim advises rice farmers how to grow rice better, he is all things to all people, uh, I wonder if Kim advised his scientists how to build rocket motors?

The point is, Kim is everywhere and if he isn't, then there is a billboard nearby with his face on it, outshining the sun! And does Kimbo loves to drink and par-tay! He's known for throwing huge banquets, despite the fact North Korea has lost about 1.2 million people to starvation in the past few years. Yet, his people still idolize him and they are absolutely dedicated to serving him and meeting his every need, no matter what personal cost to them. Some day they may wake up and discover thier King has no clothes or then again maybe one of those big Dong's will fall out of the sky and land on him! One can only hope.

Posted by Post Scripts at 04:06 PM | Comments (6)

THEY TELL THE WAR STORY BEST

By Tina Grazier

I was looking on the web for stories about our military and I happened upon "Vets For Freedom", a webpage dedicated to bringing the voices of the men and women serving our country in the fight against terrorism to you, me, and the nation. We are the folks back home that can make a difference in shaping attitudes. A quote from an open letter by the founders of @ "Vets For Freedom":

"We ask you to join this effort to form a block that will educate the American public and American decision makers on national security decisions in a war that is a long way from being won. Veterans and their families long ago earned the right to be heard. It is time to mobilize."

Celebrate this 4th of July by visiting this great site:

http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/default.aspx Home Page

And if you are feeling particularly patriotic, consider joining in their grassroots mission by making a donation or by
becoming a member...or both!! Thank you.

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

*DUKE AND THE GIPPER - 4th of July Thoughts*

*******************************************************************

"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be." John Wayne

" The day of our nation's birth in that little hall in Philadelphia, [was] a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words 'treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe,' and the issue remained in doubt.

[On that day] 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor...In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history. Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But, those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should."

Ronald Reagan

from Jack and Tina.... We Wish Everyone a Happy 4th of July!

Posted by Post Scripts at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2006

A Rose by Any Other Name...

By Tina Grazier

The following quote is from David Horowitz:

"...(During WWII, the Japanese)...gave their psychological warfare script to their famous broadcaster 'Tokyo Rose' and every day she would broadcast this same message packaged in different ways, hoping it would have a negative impact on American GI's morale. What was the demoralizing message?

It had three main points:

1.Your president is lying to you,
2.This War is illegal,
3.You cannot win the war."

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

Tokyo Rose was recognized by Americans as a traitor to her country.

The same three distinct points of communication used by the Japanese were echoed very successfully during the Vietnam War by leftist activists on campuses and in the media. The division that exists in the country today is, in part, a remnant of that propaganda war.