“Ireland, thou friend of my country in my country’s most friendless days, much injured, much enduring land, accept this poor tribute from one who esteems thy worth, and mourns thy desolation.” – George Washington, speaking of Ireland’s support for America during the revolution.
Jack, Bruce & Tina wish all of you a merry day…but please don’t drive if your prone to excess celebration!
Did you know that between the years 180 and 2009 about 3 billion people were killed in wars? Given normal growth rates, that would equal about 100 billion more citizens alive today, if the others had not been killed prematurely in war.
Posted by Tina
** There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth. — from the Oregon Petition, signed by over 31,000 scientists *** United by that conviction, over 800 scientists, economists, and policy makers arrived in New York City last Sunday to attend the Heartland Institutes 2nd Annual International Conference on Climate Change. **
Continue reading “International Conference on Climate Change” »
Posted by Tina
Ron Paul argues for earmarks, by Johanna Neuman FOX News
‘It’s like a tax credit,’ the Texas libertarian tells Fox News. ‘If I can give my district any money back, I encourage that.’ *** Reporting from Washington — Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who is the darling of the libertarian right, has more earmarks in the pork-laden $410-billion spending bill than any other Republican. *** Paul, a fiscal watchdog who said he voted against the bill because he believes federal spending is out of control, acknowledged that $73 million in the bill passed by his colleagues “might be” going to his district on Texas’ Gulf Coast for things like the intra-coastal waterway, the Texas City channel and Wallisville Lake. But he was fine with that. *** “The principle of the earmark is our responsibility. We’re supposed to — it’s like a — a tax credit. And I vote for all tax credits, no matter how silly they might seem. If I can give you any of your money back, I vote for it. So if I can give my district any money back, I encourage that. But because the budget is out of control, I haven’t voted for an appropriation in years — if ever. . . . I don’t think the federal government should be doing it. But if they’re going to allot the money, I have a responsibility to represent my people. If they say, Hey, look, put in a highway for the district, I put it in.
So what do you think guys, lame excuse or reasonable position for a representative of the people?
by Jack Lee
The road widening on Bruce Road and Manzanita Avenue is going to add an extra lane in either direction and a new roundabout at Vallombrosa and it will all eventually hook into the 4 lanes on East Avenue. This multi-million dollar shortcut from the Skyway to East Avenue will assure motorists save a good 2 minutes off their cross-town commute. But, just up the road we have this old problem of two signal lights placed too close to each other and it causes traffic to back up into the next intersection creating a hazzard and unecessary delay. (This would be the signal lights just west of Pillsbury on East Ave.) But, that dumbness will remain in place and for what? So someone out for a little exercise on a bicycle won’t have to ride over to the corner to cross, thus adding a one minute delay to all motorized traffic? That’s just brilliant…two steps forward and one back, it’s the way of all government!
Posted by Tina
Re: No More Enemy Combatants at Guantanamo, by Andy McCarthy The Corner, NRO
** What Obama, Holder & Co. have done on “enemy combatants” is a somewhat more elaborate version of what they’ve done on Gitmo, rendition, state-secrets, interrogations, etc. *** Essentially, we’re no longer going to call our captives “enemy combatants” … but we’re still going to detain people without trial, and Obama claims the unilateral authority to decide who gets detained. **
Posted by Tina
Mark Steyn: Welcome, kids, to the Brokest Generation Orange County Register
** Youth is wasted on the young, said Bernard Shaw. So the geezers appropriated it. We love the youthful sense of living in the moment, without a care, without the burdens of responsibility free to go wild and crazy and splash out for Tony Danza in dinner theatre in Florida where we bought the condo we couldn’t afford. But we also love the idealism of youth: We want to help the sick and heal the planet by voting for massive unsustainable government programs. Like the young, we’re still finding ourselves, but when we find ourselves stuck with a medical bill or a foreclosure notice it’s great to be able to call home and say, “Whoops, I got into a bit of a hole this month. Do you think you could advance me a couple of trillion just to tide me over?” And if there’s no one at home but a couple of second-graders, who cares? In supporting the political class in its present behavior, America has gone to the bank and given its kids a massive breach-of-trust fund. **
Read the article people…and if you dont feel at least a twinge of shame or guilt … you arent breathing!
posted by Jack
Maybe we should have politicians wear those jump suits like NASCAR drivers wear so we could see who their corporate sponsors are?
“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.” — John Adams
We wait for the State Supreme Court in California to decide whether Holy Matrimony should be a relic of the past, or uphold the will of the people whove voted TWICE to uphold the sanctity of marriage. It will take the high court ninety days to decide if five thousand years of history and tradition should be trashed.
There are those who say gay marriage is a matter of civil rights. If thats true, then everybody has a right to demand laws be changed if those laws prohibit certain behaviors; polygamists, child sex predators, etc. Others say the Constitution should trump 5,000 years of tradition AND the Bible. After all, doesnt the Constitution say we all have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
The right to life has been trumped by the law known as Roe V Wade. The right to liberty has been trumped by laws which send people to jail for breaking the law. The pursuit of happiness is still in effect provided laws arent broken in pursuit of such happiness.
The bottom line here is..simply put..the LAW! Here in California, a law stating that Only marriage between one man and one woman shall be recognized. That was overturned by the high court. Voters again went to the polls and voted in favor of Proposition 8, which placed the law into our constitution. It passed. Its in there! Its the LAW.
California already affords same-sex couples who register as domestic partners all the rights and benefits of marriage. That means, wed and unwed same-sex couples should not have different experiences when it comes to issues such as hospital visitation rights, filing state income taxes or suing for child support.
So, why the push for homosexual marriage? A church organization has been caught up in a discrimination case brought by two lesbians who wanted get married in the churchs pavilion. They were denied. The two have sued for discrimination. The clash between same-sex unions and religious freedom has arrived.
If the California Supreme court trumps the will of the people, look for the clash to increase with lawsuits filed against any and all churches who refuse to provide Christian Marriage ceremonies to homosexual couples. The term Holy Matrimony will become a thing of the past. Churches will simply quit conducting marriage ceremonies altogether. For now, we simply watch.and wait to see if the high court is willing to open Pandoras Box.
