August 2008 Archives

Gustav

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Just a short note on Gustav.  The best source of information on what is happening in New Orleans is The New Orleans Times Picayune at nola.com.  During Katrina, the paper listed neightborhood by neighborhood reports and blogs to lead rescuers to trapped people and aided in the rescue of people and pets.  Their home page currently has evacuation guides and a place for parish by parish reports and updates. If you have friends or relatives in New Orleans, pray for them and keep informed at the Times Picayune. 

I just watched Bobby Jindal hold a press conference to prepare the city for what is to come and what is planned to recover from the storm.  I was totally impressed by his planning and foresight into the situation.

The Nasties Come Out

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Hugh Hewitt has a post at Townhall.com this morning talking about the attacks on Sarah Palin by the fringe (and not so fringe) left.  It is unbelievable.  He also talks about her record on reforming government.  If (according to the Democrat talking points) she has no experience, how come she has accomplishments?  If Barack Obama has experience, where are his accomplishments?

Also, on the RedState blog, there is the joking comment by the former Democrat Party Chairman Don Fowler that the hurricane headed for New Orleans demonstrates that 'God is on our side'.  When millions of people's lives and livelihoods are at stake, joking is not appropriate.  Michael Moore sees the hurricane as a sign that there is a God in heaven (see Business and Media Institute).  I believe Americans have more class than to put up with that kind of trash talk and stupidity. 

Let's talk about the issues and changes that we need to make to strenghthen our economy.  Let's talk about energy independence in an achievable way.  Let's talk about pork-barrel spending and government waste (under Republicans and Democrats).  Let's talk about the money "borrowed" every year from the Social Security Fund and spent on other things (Congress opted out of Social Security in the 1960's-- so they don't really have a personal reason to save it).  Let's look at how Barack Obama spent the money in the Annenberg Challenge.  Let's look at what John McCain did with earmarks over his years in the Senate (he NEVER sponsored one).  Let's look at how Sarah Palin governed in Alaska.  Let's look at Joe Biden on spending.  These are the questions we need to be discussing.  Let's look at the record--not make silly statements and attack people for no reason.

GIVE ALASKA THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE--SUPPORT DRILLING IN ANWR!!!!!

"Nuff Said

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Gustav

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Just a few comments on the hurricane that is heading for the Gulf Coast.  One of my children and her husband own a house in New Orleans.  They lived there from 2003 until last July (they are military, so they don't get to chose where they live).  They love New Orleans and hope to get back there when they retire. 

Anyway, just a few memories of Katrina.  The military ordered my daughter and son-in-law out of New Orleans on the Saturday before Katrina hit, and they left with a two-year old, a five-month old, and two cats.  They were relocated to Kansas City with about seventy-five other military families.  A local church 'adopted' all the dislocated families, gave the children backpacks filled with beanie babies, and helped individuals in so many ways it would take days to list them.  They were able to return to their house two days before Thanksgiving.  They were extremely fortunate--they lost some siding, some roof shingles, a swimming pool, and a refrigerator.  Their next door neighbors were able to get into their house the following May; they lost nearly everything.  When it was time for my daughter and her husband to be transferred out of New Orleans (last year) their then four-year old said to them in a very worried voice, "Will I be able to bring my stuff this time when we move?"  Their story is nothing compared to the destruction that happened around them, but even what they went through had a strong impact on their children.  We need to pray for all the people who live on the Gulf Coast--for their safety and for the unseen impact that this storm will have on their lives.

Mark Steyn has a commentary at The Corner on National Review Online about Sarah Palin that is wonderful.  I won't even try to paraphrase it.  It makes great reading.

Sarah Palin

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There is a little more information out there this morning on Sarah Palin.  Power Line has a few entries on her by John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson, and The Wall Street Journal Online has an article by Fred Barnes about some of her accomplishments in Alaska in the area of reform.  From what I have been reading, her nomination will bring the conservatives back to John McCain at a time when he was in danger of losing them.  She is definitely a 'Washington outsider' and as much of a maverick as he is.  They seem to be the penny pinchers we could use in Washington right now!  It's nice that he chose a woman, but frankly, I am more impressed by the fact that she is a reformer who does not back down.  This lady looks very sweet and gentle, but in terms of dealing with corruption, she shows how she earned her high school basketball name "Sarah the barracuda".  She also has no qualms about going after corruption in either party.   That's fine with me.

Sarah Palin

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Wow!  This is an interesting choice.  I haven't finished my homework, so I don't have a lot to say, but (as usual) I have a few observations.  This lady looks like a lady.  She is obviously successful--in Alaska she has a reputation for being a reformer and coming against special interests--even when they are Republican.  She has a record of accomplishment, so the charge of inexperience is a little ridiculous.  How many people have been able to list concrete accomplishments of either Barack Obama or Joe Biden?  I am also concerned about how nasty this campaign is going to be and the fact that it got there quickly.  John Roberts at CNN has already posed the question of whether or not she is neglecting her special needs child in order to run for or be Vice-President.  That is beyond tacky.  She is also a lady who has had to work her way up to where she is.  I'm impressed.

I have to admit I like the idea of two people in the White House who have a history of fighting against earmarks and excess spending.  McCain and Palin are the type of people who will hang unto the government dollar until the eagle grins. They just don't like government spending!!!

David Brooks has an op-ed piece in The New York Times today that is wonderful.  It lightly captures the essence of this whole presidentail race (from the democrat side), and makes great reading.  I never thought I would cite something from the New York Times.
Charles Krauthammer has a great editorial in Investor's Business Daily regarding the lack of people standing up at the Democratic convention talking about having seen Barack Obams's ability and listing his actual accomplishments.  It makes for interesting reading.  Barack has a hugh fan club, but it seems as if none of the members of the club can explain why they are fans!
Stanley Kurtz was interviewed tonight on Hugh Hewitt on the subject of the Annenberg Challenge.  If you missed it, you can go to Townhall.com podcasts and hear the interview.  The basic points are 1) Obama has evidently not been truthful about the closeness of his working relationship with William Ayers, 2) there are questions of how a large amount of money was poured into the community for education and no visible results were seen, 3) there are questions as to the administrative decisions made about where the money was directed.  I'm sure we will be reading more of this as Stanley Kurtz continues his search through the seventy linear feet of files.
I have the feeling that some people in the Obama camp have taken on the persona of the old Mafia Dons.  According to ABC News one of their reporters was arrested in Denver for standing on the sidewalk taking pictures of big Democratic corporate donors and lobbyists.  The reporter was on a public sidewalk and was not treated well by the police.
Subject: Biker and the lion


The biker and the lion

A biker is riding by the zoo, when he sees a little girl leaning into
the lion's cage.

Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull
her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.
The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage and hits the lion square
on the nose with a powerful punch.


Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and
the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.
A New York Times reporter has watched the whole event. The reporter
says, 'Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I saw a man do in
my whole life.'


The biker replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind
bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right.'
The reporter says, 'Well, I'm a journalist from the New York Times, and
tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page.. So, what do
you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have? '
The biker replies, 'I'm a U. S. Marine and a Republican.'


The following morning the biker buys The New York Times to see if it
indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on front page:

'U. S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH'

I don't know if you are as tired as I am of hearing the media tell us what an awful president George Bush has been, but I've had enough.  Evidently I am not alone.  There is an article in The American Thinker which gives a brief, but honest, chronology of the Bush years.  When you see it all spelled out, it is impressive.
The transcript from Meet the Press page 3 is linked here.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated that the Catholic Church's position on abortion has not been consistent over the years.  She describes herself as a devout Roman Catholic who believes strongly in the right to abortion.  The Archbishop of Denver has issued a reply.  Fox News has the story.  I'm not sure how much of the mainstream media has carried it, but the whole dust up is interesting reading.
Jim Geraghty at National Review Online has a gerat summation of the treatment of the Clintons at the Democratic Convention.  It's interesting reading.  This could come back to haunt the Democrats in 2012.
I love it.  Townhall.com has a picture of a pro-life message on a hillside in Denver.  Pro-lifers are attempting to erect the Guiness Books of World Record's largest protest sign in Denver this week.  Follow this link Jill Stanek for pictures and story of the message.
There are a few pictures on Power Line showing some of the protesters in Denver.  These are scary people.  I do not dispute their right to protest, but I do wonder what they actually want.

Question...

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Over the past month of so, I have been hearing stories about China drilling for oil off the coast of Cuba (therefore off the coast of Florida).  While I have not been able to totally substantiate these stories, I have come up with some information. At factcheck.org there is an article on this subject.  This is what is stated: 

"Cuba has leased exploration blocks to foreign companies for areas as close as 60 miles off Florida's southern coast. A 2006 New York Times article said China was one of the countries that had negotiated an offshore lease. But experts quoted recently by The Associated Press say none of the companies involved are Chinese and all are only allowed to explore for now, not drill in the region. Another exploration deal was announced between Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras, and Cuba. The deal would allow Petrobras to explore in Cuba's offshore territories in the Gulf of Mexico, with a potential drilling start-date in two years."

 

I have two questions.  First, if other countries are doing the preliminary work for drilling off our coasts, why aren't we?  Second, who is likely to be more environmentally responsible in drilling off America's coast, Americans or other countries (who has the best environmental record on drilling?)?

 

One of the problems with news and information on the web is that it is very easy to change.  History and comments can be erased with a simple highlighting and tap of the delete key.  For example,  Newsbusters is showing a Friday evening version of Joe Biden's Wikipedia entry compared to its Sunday morning 11 am version.  Somehow the year 2004 has disappeared.  What happened in 2004?  Joe Biden suggested John McCain as a running mate for John Kerry.  Now when you think about it, I'm not sure which party is more damaged by that information, but to me, the interesting thing is that it has disappeared from the website.  Thank goodness that someone had the thought to copy the website before it was deleted.  This sort of selective information editing really worries me.
We all live very busy, fast-paced lives, and because of this, it is easy to miss substance in our news and grab the soundbite (Oreo Cookie) instead.  One example of this is the often repeated "Bush lied, people died."  Well, it's catchy, and some people believe it, but what is the truth?  There is an article in The American Thinker that takes us back to that time in history when the decision was made to go into Iraq.  It is a rather long article, but worth the read.  There is a lot of information that has gotten lost in the soundbite.   But I will admit, I LIKE Oreo Cookies!!!

OK.  Barack Obama named Joe Biden as his VP.  Let's look at a small portion of the record.  Joe Biden is the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  He was opposed to the troop surge that has given us victory in Iraq.  "I totally oppose the surging of additional troops into Baghdad, and I think it is contrary to the overwhelming body of informed opinion, both people inside the administration and outside the administration," Biden told reporters Tuesday. He said he plans to hold hearings for his panel next month in a bid to influence the president's decision.  This quote is from a Washington Post article on December 27, 2006. 

When I mentioned the choice of Biden for VP to one of my houseguests this weekend, she commented that he was on the ticket so that Obama would not have to get his hands dirty in the campaign.  Watch for some nasty attacks on John McCain coming from Joe Biden with Obama saying "it wasn't me--you'll have to talk to the VP candidate about that remark".

There are some other pretty high negatives for Joe Biden, but I will post more after I do some homework!!!

ANNENBERG RECORDS

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According to the Power Line Blog the records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge will be made public Tuesday.  There is no way to tell if the records have been sanitized, but Stanley Kurtz is on it, and I am sure we will hear more about this.  To me there are a few observations--a lot of money was spent and the quality of education did not improve.  Hmm.  Maybe we should look at what the welfare state has done to families in the inner cities and what the welfare state has done to the concept of personal responsibility (oops, the lack of personal responsibility actually permeates a lot of our society at this point).  We need more of Bill Cosby and less of Al Sharpton.  We also need to know what organizations received money from the group.  If we are ever going to get our state, federal, and city budgets under control, we need to spend--but spend wisely.

I know that this is the silly season as far as politics is concerned, but it seems to me that we have forgotten how to debate issues and to treat people with respect.  I heard a pro-Obama add today criticizing McCain for the number of houses he owns.  What has that got to do with anything?  Where was the criticism of the number of houses that John Kerry owns?  It is fair to expose past actions of the candidates that expose character traits, but why are the people running the campaigns focusing on trivia?  Both of these men have policies and votes on past issues, we need to see those votes, not trivial pursuit.  The house issue may have been brought up because the Chicago press has raised many questions about the purchase of the Obama's house.  The best defense is a good offense, but I really think the whole ad was dumb.
There is an article in The American Thinker by Thomas Lifson that further opens up the Annenberg controversy.  There seem to be many unanswered questions in Barack Obama's tenure with the group.  A lot of money was spent to improve education, and education was not improved.  It seems upon initial research that much of the money wound up going to radical groups that had no relationship to educating children.  As of now, the records are still being kept from public view with no real explanation given for the secrecy

Georgia Side Effects

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There is an article at Breitbart.com detailing Russia's response to our putting a missle shield in Poland.  Generally we have learned a few things from the Russian invasion of Georgia.  NATO has no stomach for anything stronger than diplomacy--they wouldn't even support kicking Russia out of the G8, the UN will not act because Russia is on the Security Council and can veto any action, and generally speaking Russia got away with pretty much anything it chose to do.  These are very bad things for Russia to learn, and they set up a whole new set of dangers regarding China and Taiwan.  If we didn't defend Georgia, do you think we will defend Taiwan?  The other thing that showed up was the difference between 'Old Europe' and 'New Europe'.  Old Europe has gotten complacent--the overall spending is on socialistic programs with very little for defense.  New Europe understands the value of freedom because they were under Soviet rule for so long.  The invasion (and the way the west did not deal with it) was one act that will probably have many unexpected  consequences in the months and years to come
There is an op-ed piece in The Washington Times by Rep. John Boehner, Ohio Republican, minority leader of the House of Representatives.   The Republicans protest of high gasoline prices is now in its third week.  Have you seen any coverage of it in the national media?  Read the article to see what is happening.  To keep up with the protest and what is going on you can go to John Boehner's website.  If you support an energy policy that will bring our gasoline prices down, you can go to grassfire.org to sign a petition demanding a vote on energy.  The danger is that when the House reconvenes, the enegy policy will be put in a bill that is so pork-laden, the Republicans can't support it or that they will use the procedures that do not allow amendments to a bill, but need a two-thirds majority to pass it.  Either way, the spin will be that the Republicans obstructed the Democrats enegy plan.  That is not true--so watch for the spin.
Stanley Kurtz of the National Review OnLine has written an article on his quest for information regarding the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a foundation where William Ayers was a founder and guiding force and Barack Obama was chairman on the board for a time.  As Mr. Kurtz states in his article, a large cache of documents housed in the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) would shed light on the role William Ayers played in launching Barack Obams's political career.  As Mr. Kurtz has attempted to view these documents, he has encountered various roadblocks.  Please see the above link to see what has occurred and what you can do to help expose whatever is being covered up.
Just two observations on the interviews at Saddleback.  First of all, on the charge that McCain was so relaxed, he must have known the questions.  Stop Whining!!!!!  McCain was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1982, so he has been on the campaign trail in some form for more than twenty five years.  If he can't answer questions confortably by now, he needs to find another line of work.  This was a place where Barack Obama's lack of political experience showed.  The second had to do with Barack Obama's answer on abortion.  Although the President has no direct impact on abortion, he does have the 'bully pulpit'.  During President Bush's terms in office, the abortion rate has gone down 9 per cent, annually there have been 100,000 less abortions.  This is according to FactCheck.org.

There is so much to the Georgia situation I really don't know where to start, so this entry will be a little disjointed.

1.  The country of Georgia proclained its independence from the USSR on April 6, 1991.  In 1992 Eduard Shevardnadze, the Soviet Unions's foreign minister under Gorbachev, became president.  Due to unemployment, corruption and other issues, he was an unpopular president who won reelection with 80% of the vote (in the true style of Russian elections).  The international observers determined that the election was marred by irregularities.  After the 2003 parliamentary elections, there were three weeks of protests resulting in the resignation of Shevardnadze.  In January 2004, presidential elections were held and Mikhail Saakashvili won in a landslide.  The pipeline from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey opened in July 2006.  One statistic I saw stated that the pipeline carries 40 per cent of the oil the western world uses.

 

2.  The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed in 1949.  Its goal is stated as safeguarding the freedom and security of its members by way of political and military means.  Although Georgia is not actually a member of NATO, since NATO was actually set up to curb Russian aggression, it seems that it would take an interest.  The problem here is that Europe has never really spent any money on its defense--the majority of the budgets of European nations go to social welfare programs and with an aging population demographic, that is only going to get worse.  America is the majority of military might in NATO, and we are busy.

3.  There is no easy solution to the invasion of Georgia.  If we do nothing, we are giving Russia a green light and the Ukraine will be next.  Meanwhile Russia's population is aging and not replacing itself.  There is rampant poverty and corruption in the country.  The only reason they can even support an army is the current price of oil.  Again we are back to the issue of American energy independence and the amount of money we are giving to people who do not like us very much.

Just a side note, I came across this in The Washington Times " Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he considers Georgia's leader a "puppet" of Washington and is backing Russia in its conflict with the former Soviet republic.

Chavez said Sunday on his weekly broadcast show that the Russians "did what they had to do" in response to what he called a military provocation in the Georgian province of South Ossetia.

Chavez accused Washington of sparking the conflict, saying Georgia's troops were armed and trained by the United States. He did not elaborate, but added that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is "nothing but a puppet of the U.S. empire."

U.S. President George W. Bush has demanded that Russia respect Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity."  The world gets curioser and curioser

 

 

I just watched the broadcast from Saddleback Church of the two interviews with John McCain and Barack Obama.  I have a few casual observations.  If I were not aware of how Barack Obama had voted in the past, I would have thought that he was a candidate I could support.  However, all this talk about bringing people together doesn't hold up--he has one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate--always strickly the party line, and I can't really say that his former friend Reverend Wright was a very conciliatory person.  His other comment that struck me was the idea of 'raising taxes on the rich'--anyone who makes more than $200,000 or $250,000 a year.  With the way income is reported for tax purposes right now, any small business with that much gross income would be included in that category.  Raising taxes on those small businesses would increase unemployment and have a chilling effect on entrepreneurship.

As I have mentioned before, I am not a big fan of John McCain, but he also conducted himself very well in response to the questions asked.  He seemed a little more in charge of the interview (although he was polite about it) and spoke in a way that showed how his life experience had impacted his views.  The stories he told about his prisoner of war days were very touching.  I also enjoyed hearing about how he adopted his daughter.  He came across as a much warmer man than he appears to be on the campaign trail.

I believe the choice is substance versus style and the voters will have to make that choice.

 

 

The Waushakum Live Steamers are having their 38th annual meet this coming weekend.  They meet at the end of Arthur St. in Holliston, Massachusetts.  This is a great place to take children of all ages (0-90).  The admission is free, the train rides are free, and the food is reasonably priced.  See the above linked website for further information.  There is nothing like riding through the woods of Massachusetts on a miniature steam train!

In the arguments against drilling off the California coastline some things have been left out.  For instance--seepage.   The US Department of Interior has a website which talks about this phenomenon in the link above.  The article cited is by James M. Galloway, Geologist, Pacific OCS Region.  In the article he states, "Two small underwater containment structures positioned near Goleta Point, placed to collect natural seepage, have alone captured over 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas since 1982: enough natural gas to supply the needs of over 25,000 residential natural gas users each year."

I am one of the least scientific people I know, but it seems to me that if the oil and gas are already seeping into the ocean and "Today, especially on a warm summer day, a person driving through Santa Paula will smell petroleum fumes and notice thick, black crude oil running down the side of the road" the logical thing to do is put in some sort of oil well that will not only prevent seepage by giving the oil and gas a place to go, but help power America and help the state of California deal with its massive budget problems.  It would seem to me that it is better for the envirnment not to be smelling gas and oil fumes as you drive along.

By the time I moved to Massachusetts in the late 70's, I was walking away from the liberal political philosophy of my youth.  I walked into the voting booth on election day and found out that someone was running against Ted Kennedy.  I was not a big fan of Ted Kennedy's, so I voted for that person.  I was a person who watched the network news, and had no idea Ted Kennedy even had someone running against him.

I find myself in a similar situation now (the liberal philosophy is a little more distant now, and I no longer depend on the major networks as my news source).  I received a letter informing me that Jeff Beatty is running for Senator against John Kerry.  After reading the letter and looking at Jeff Beatty's resume, I am inclined to vote for him and to make a small donation to his campaign.  I strongly suggest you click on the link to his website and take a look.

I am the wife of a Vietnam-era Navy veteran, and I resent what John Kerry did to the reputation of the American Soldier when he returned from Vietnam.  A lot of the things the "Winter Soldiers" said were later proved false, and somehow that was not reported.  A lot of our veterans paid a heavy price when they returned from the war because of the political ambitions of John Kerry.  Because the term "Swift Boating" has morphed into referring to a political smear campaign, it has been forgotten that the majority of the claims of the "Swift Boat" people turned out to be true.

 

 

John McCain

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I am not one of John McCain's biggest fans, but I do have a few positive thoughts about him lately.  One of the reasons the federal deficit is out of control is 'earmarks'.  These porkbarrel projects have gotten totally out of control both in Republican and Democratic congresses.  In all his years as a senator, John McCain has never put forth an earmark.  I am totally impressed by that.  The other thing that impressed me this week was his response to the situation in Georgia.  He knows the president of the Georgia and immediately talked with him.  He was instantly on it.  I'm impressed.  He went to the heart of the situation and got his information first hand. 
The Broadcaster Freedom Act would ensure that no future president could bring back the 'Fairness Doctrine' without an act of Congress.  The Fairness Doctrine would do anything but bring fairness to broadcasting.  It would put the government in charge of monitoring the airwaves (and possibly eventually the internet) and would put a total chill on talk radio.  Regardless of whether or not you listen to talk radio, do you want to see a form of broadcasting silenced by the government?  The marketplace is perfectly capable of eliminating bad radio, we don't need the government to do it for us!  For more information on this bill, see the house conservatives website.  The website also will help you keep up to date on the other issues that will impact our freedoms and our lives.
For those who want to take action as well as complain, there is a website called grassfire.org that makes taking action easy.  The website lists current issues before Congress and gives a brief capsule of the website's take on the issue.  If you want to do something as well as complain, this is the place to go.

I.O.U.S.A.

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There is a movie out called  I.O.U.S.A. One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt. which addresses the subject of the national debt.  Warren Buffet is one of the people involved in the promotion of the movie and evidently supports the ideas in it.  It's worth a visit to the website.

I recently finished Michael Yon's book Moment of 'Truth in Iraq.  It is a fantastic book.  Michael is a former Green Beret who has spent more time embedded with US combat troops in Iraq  than any any journalist in the world.  The book offers a lot of insight into the war in Iraq and deals with the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

The part of the book which totally impressed me is the part which shows why America is special.  On page 143, Michael talks about what happened when the Amercan soldiers began to move into the Iraqi buildings.  The buildings began to improve, because that's what Americans do.  The American 'gift' that we have (that is so ingrained in us that we take it for granted) is the "can-do-mentality."  The belief that problems are made to be solved.  The America that says "What can I do to solve this problem?"  will be much more successful than the America that says "What can the government do to solve this problem?".

Energy Independence

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The need for energy independence is becoming more apparent with Ahmadinejad threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz (40% of the world's oil passes through that Strait) and the Soviets invading Georgia (coincidentally the location of a major pipeline supplying oil to western countries).  The Energy Information Administration's website has the statistics on America's energy use and production since the 1950's.  I was surprised that we get 49% of our oil from the Western Hemisphere.  The site is interesting reading.

 

I'm not going to comment directly on what is happening in Georgia other that to note two things.  First, if the UN were capable of acting in support of a democratic republic, this would not be an issue, and second, for anyone into conspiracy theories, with attention on the Olympics and the Russian attack on George, watch Iran (Hezbollah) for some sort of sleight of hand.  That is a prediction strictly due to my suspicious nature.

Global Warming

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Just a note on global warming.  There is a website showing where some of the temperature sensors are placed.  Although many of the sensors are well placed, there are a number of them that are next to air conditioner exhausts, parked cars, and blacktop.  If you have followed the debate on global warming, this is an interesting website.  There is also another website which shows the side of the debate you may not have heard.  It's interesting.  I'm not sure the science is there yet to prove exactly what (if anything new) is happening or how much man is responsible for any climate change.

The following is taken from the bulletin of St. Anthony's Mission Chapel on Gault Road in West Wareham, Massachusetts.

 

The following is a reflection on grandmothers written by a third-grader.

 

What is a Grandmother?

 

A grandmother is a lady who has no children of her own.   She likes other people's.  A grandfather is a man grandmother.

 

Grandmothers don't have to do anything except be there.  They are old, so they shouldn't play hard or run.  It is enough if they drive us to the market and have a lot of dimes ready.  When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.  They never say "hurry up."  Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes.  They wear glasses and funny underwear.  They can take their teeth out.  Grandmothers don't have to be smart, they only have to answer questions like, "Why isn't God married?" and "How come dogs chase cats?"  When they read to us, they don't skip lines or mind if we ask for the same story over again.

 

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have a TV, because they are the only grown-ups who have time.

George McGovern wrote on op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, August 8, 2008 about the Employee Free Choice Act.  Despite the fact that this is a Democratic Party sponsored bill, former Senator McGovern opposes it.  The bill provides for a change in the way unions are formed and recognized in companies.  Essentially, the 'card check' system the bill supports would take away the secret ballot for a worker deciding whether or not to unionize.  This totally goes against the purpose and generally positive history of the unions.  Unions originally provided a voice for workers at a time when workers had no voice.  Their purpose was to protect individuals from being treated unfairly.  To take away the secret ballot from the average worker goes against all the good the unions have done over the years.  Please be aware that this is going on and send a quick email to your Congressman (or Congresswoman) asking that this bill not be passed.

What Gang of 10?

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There was an article in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, August 8, 2008 about the "Republican Energy Fumble".  Compromise is not always a good idea.  For a week now, a group of Republican Congressmen have been meeting in the House of Representatives after Nancy Pelosi turned off the microphones and the CSPAN cameras.  The Republicans were scheduled to make the usual five minute speaches when Speaker of the House Pelosi chose to adjourn and not allow the speaches.  The Republican Congressmen are demanding an up or down vote on drilling, which Mrs. Pelosi says she will never allow.

The compromise includes $84 billion in tax credits and other government money (since when does any money actually belong to the government?) raised in part by additional taxes on oil companies.  Who do they think will eventually pay those taxes?  Look for even higher prices at the pump.   Additional drilling will be allowed, but under tremendous restriction.  Drilling will be allowed only in four coastal states, and the regulations will totally discourage it.  Great solution.

One of the people who has taken the time to do her homework on this matter is Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota who has actually taken the time to visit offshore oil rigs and ANWR.  You can visit her website for a very balanced view of energy solutions.

Amercian Solutions also has information on energy production on their website.

The bottom line for me is drill everywhere (safely--there has not been on offshore leak since the 70's--we have improved the technology), wind power, solar, electric, and anything else you can invent.  Let the private sector loose!!  Unleash the corporations to make money in energy by bringing our costs down and they will.


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