December 2008 Archives

One of my favorite websites in the Power Line Blog.  Yesterday, they posted the IDF videos Israel released as their entry into the propaganda war that is being fought along with the regular war in Gaza.  You Tube had posted the videos but then took them down.  I am told they are back up, but only for registered viewers over 18.  Anyway, yesterday Power Line Blog was attacked by what is called a 'denial-of-service attack'.  I have no idea exactly what this is, but I do know that every time I tried to link to Power Line yesterday, my computer acted like it forget how to load anything.  The bloggers at Power Line Blog know the attack on their website came from six places in the U.S., but that's all.   They have taken steps to prevent future instances.

This story make me think.  I don't know if we will see the 'fairness doctrine' or its less evil cousin 'local programming act' under Barack Obama.  If either one of those is enacted, conservative talk radio will in all likelihood be driven to satellite radio or internet radio.  I guess if conservative talk is driven to the internet, there will have to be steps taken to prevent 'denial-of-service attacks'.  It will also be interesting to see how much of any opposition to Obama comes from the right and how much comes from the left.

You Tube has a wonderful video to end the year if 2008 hasn;t been all that you hoped it would be.  It is both educational and funny.  Enjoy!

The Wall Street Journal has an opinoin piece about the Minnesota Senate election recount.  The Minnesota recount can be compared to the Washington state governor's race of a few years ago.  It took two recounts to steal it, but the Democrats (with the help of union and far left money) managed to walk away with a victory.  It involved 'enhancing' votes to allow machines to read them.  It involved counting votes that mysteriously appeared after never having been secured.  Ballot reconcilliation reports were falsified (election workers were disciplined), and generally the whole process became fraudulent.  We are watching a replay in Minnesota.  The only way to avoid this is to avoid close elections.  I do wonder how many people in Minnesota wanted to be represented by Al Franken in the Senate.

When Israel was declared a nation in 1948, the first thing her neighbors did was attack her.  Things have not changed a whole lot since then.  The war in the Middle East (and the war on terror--both are related) is a propaganda war as well as a ground and air war.  When Palestine was actually given to the Jewish people after the San Remo Conference in 1920, the amount of land they were given was about three times what it is now.  About two thirds of that land was later taken from the Jews and given to Trans-Jordan.  The Jewish people have never really occupied all of the land they were given by the League of Nations after World War I.  Since the British left Israel, the neighboring countries have waged an unending military and propaganda war against Israel to rid her of the land she does hold. 

Palestinian children are taught that the Jews are occupiers of Palestinian land and need to be killed.  I hate to be a pessimist, but the two-state solution will not work if one of the states wants to destroy the other one.  The only way to establish peace between Israel and Hamas is to destroy Hamas before they destroy Israel.

Speaking of the propaganda war, the Israeli Defense Forces are opening up a new front in that war.  There are a number of videos on YouTube that have been blocked at various times today.  Commentary Magazine has a link to one of the videos, plus the stories about the videos being blocked on YouTube.

According to Breitbart.com Senators Harry Reid and Dick Durbin have released a statement saying that they would not seat Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris as Barack Obama's Senate replacement.  They have stated that they feel that the taint of scandal would follow any appointment made by Governor Blagojevich and would not be acceptable.

Governor Blagojevich has denied the charges against him and has been unwilling to resign as Governor of Illinois.

Technically, Senators Reid and Durbin do have the right to refuse to seat Attorney General Burris and politically it is probably a very smart move--it shows that they are taking a stand against corruption.  However, Governor Blagojevich has not been convicted of any crimes, and the charges against him have not really been detailed.  His 'selling' of a Senate seat may have crossed the line, but as far as we know, he never actually sold it.  Chicago (or Illinois) politics is not know for its openness and honesty, I do wonder about the timing of this whole dust up and why Blagojevich seems to be singled out.  I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop!

I have a feeling we will still be reading about this in July.  Anyway, there is a rather lenghtly article in today's Minnesota Star Tribune today concerning the ongoing recount.  Remember, when the voting ended and the machines were tallied, Norm Coleman led by 200+ votes.  Now Al Franken is in the lead, although the amount of that lead varies according to who is reporting it.  I would like to point out that the change in the lead has to do with the interpretation of 'voter intent'.  Fox News ran pictures on their website of some of the ballots that had been counted by county officials trying to interpret 'voter intent'.  The interpretations of these ballots was not consistent--there were not standards--and some of the counting was totally amazing.  If there was an "x" next to Norm Coleman's name, the ballot was counted for Al Franken.  Nevermind that there were more than two names on the ballot.  If they were unwilling to count the vote for Coleman, why did they think it belonged to Franken?  When the process moved from machines to people, it lost its objectivity.  I wish Minnesota luck in getting honest elections back.

Yahoo News posted an article listing "The Worst Predictions About 2008".  Some of the predictions included were:

"AIG (NYSE:AIG - News) "could have huge gains in the second quarter." -- Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008

I think this is a case where Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News) and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM - News) are fundamentally sound. They're not in danger of going under I think they are in good shape going forward." -- Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008

"No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble." -- Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Mar. 11, 2008

 "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." -- Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007

A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win, the title of a book by conservative commentator Shelby Steele, published on Dec. 4, 2007."

Keep the accuracy of these predictions in mind as you listen to the predictions for 2009!!!

The American Thinker has published the second part of an article by Randall Hoven on the War in Iraq.  This section details the alternatives we faced, the choices we made, and the consequences of those choices.  He reminds us of the amazing amount of corruption in Iraq's military and police forces under the rule of Saddam Hussein.  One of the problems we faced according to the article:

The American Thinker blog has an article on what went right in Iraq written by Randall Hoven, who is an adjunct professor in the Engineering School of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.  He will have an article on what went wrong in tomorrow's blog.  But he brings up some interesting points that sometimes go unnoticed in the debate.

For example, there have been civilian casualties in the war in Iraq, and that is unfortunate, but the rate of civilian casualties in the war is lower than the number of civilian casualties caused by Saddam's wars on his neighbors.  During Saddam's rule and his  twenty years of war on his neighbors, he killed an average of 70,000 people a year including his own people.  Many of his own people he buried in mass graves.  During the five years of the war in Iraq, the civilian death count is listed as approximately 95,000.  That's a lot less than during the reign of Saddam.

The article cites the statistics of the economic recovery that Iraq is making and the growth of its economy.  It also points out that the majority of the provinces of Iraq have been stable for quite some time.  The growth of a wide variety of news media rather than just Baghdad Bob is also mentioned.  In some ways, they may be doing better than we are!

Anyway, the article is interesting to read in that it reminds us of the big picture.  I am looking forward to reading the other half of the story tomorrow.

In the past, when Israel was involved in any military action to defend itself or respond to  attacks from its Arab neighbors, it was totally condemned by all the Arab nations around it.  This time it's a little different--and not because Israel was justified in its attack on Hamas (which it was). 

The biggest threat to peace in the Middle East right now is Iran--not only because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons, but also because of the terrorism it is sponsoring in the region through control and funding of Hamas and other terrorist organizations.  Iran is not an Arab nation--its people are Persians.  Iran is a Shiite Muslim nation--most of the countries around Iran are Sunni Muslims.  The damage to countries in the region caused by Iranian-backed terror has not gone unnoticed by Iran's neighbors.  Thus, according to Power Line Blog, the response to the Israeli attack in Gaza has not followed past patterns.

According to the article:

"Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit held a press conference in Cairo yesterday for the Arabic press in which he extended condolences to the Palestinians killed in the attacks but blamed Hamas for ignoring warnings that Israel would attack if rocket fire from Gaza didn't cease. Aboul Gheit's comments follow last Thursday's report in al Quds al Arabi, in which Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman reportedly told Israeli officials that Egypt would not oppose a short operation to topple Hamas."

"Mohammad Abdallah Al Zulfa, member of the Saudi Shoura Council said on the Alhurra Arabic TV news program on December 17 that "Iran is the big threat in today's world, supporting all the terrorists from Hamas to Hezbollah to some other terrorists that we don't know their names yet" and "Iran destabilized the region by supporting all the illegal activities and activists such as Hamas.""

And finally:

"Ironically, the Iranian regime's "New Middle East" -- not the version that had earned President Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat a Nobel Prize -- could leave Israel in a stronger regional position if it beats Hamas into the ground, and uproots its terror infrastructure. It would be called a humiliating defeat for Hamas' leadership and its Iranian overlords and it would lever up Israel's position with Arab neighbors who have been paralyzed from acting against the same Iran that threatens their very existence.

If Israel continues to avoid Palestinian civilan causalites and uproot Hamas, the Arab states will honor Israeli power and Israel's will to use it, that in this case protects their future too."

The denial of Iraq to Iran as a terrorist staging ground, along with the gradual recognition by Iran's Arab neighbors that Iran is not a 'team player', should make for serious positive changes in the Middle East this year.

 

 

The 'Global Warming' debate continues.  It was a bit awkward just before Christmas when temperatures across the country hit record lows, but things have temporarily warmed up, so the facts are not currently too much out of line with what we are being told. 

Power Line Blog is reporting on some correspondence between William Katz of Urgent Agenda and physicist and mathematician Frank Tipler at Tulane University.  Urgent Agenda    posted his letter on December 22 of this year. Professor Tipler points out that the debate isn't over--scientific debate never really ends--there are new things discovered every day.  He also points out the lack of logic in the claim that cooling temperatures also prove global warming.  This is a serious case of 'the emporer's new clothes'--no one seems to be able to explain how global cooling is the result of global warming--it's just something we are supposed to understand.  He also points out that the relationship between sunspot activity and global temperatures is supported by past climate information and future predictions based on this have generally proven accurate.

Professor Tipler also points out the politics and government involvement in the 'science' of global warming.  Professional tenure and study grants have been denied to people who do not agree with the concept of global warming. 

It's time to take a look at who will profit if all of us buy into the concept of drastic global warming.  Let's see.  Global warming allows the government to regulate commerce and industries to a greater degree--to tell car companies what they can manufacture--to tell energy companies how much and what kind of fuel they can produce and use.  There have been suggestions that household thermostats would have a sending unit on them to tell the utility company how warm you are keeping your house.  If you are using too much energy, the power company will turn your thermostat down.  Generally speaking, global warming theory carried to its natural end will limit the amount of freedom we have as Americans to make decisions about our own cars, house temperatures, travel, eating habits, and general well being.  Global warming believers will limit our economic freedom while increasing their own wealth through corporations collecting money for 'carbon credits' and other such enterprises.  This is a dangerous junk science.

I'm not really sure we have the comments working on this site, so I have set up an e-mail account for anyone who wants to make a comment or suggestion.  I can be reached at rightwinggranny@live.com.  I'd love to hear from anyone with a comment or a suggestion.

I have always been very partial to Walter Williams--he was the speaker at the college graduation of one of my daughters, and I was impressed.  He is a logical, down to earth, practical thinker.

Walter Williams has an article in today's Washington Times about the myth that is being taught to the American people on global warming.  There is still a lot of disagreement on whether global warming is happening and what is responsible for it if it is happening.  Mostly it is being used as a justification for more government control in our everyday lives--the cars we drive, eventually the temperatures we keep our houses at, and the use of America's own energy resources.  The best site I have found with actual scientific data on what is happening with worldwide climates is whatsupwiththat.com which also shows you where some of the temperature sensing devices are located.

Walter Williams points out in the article that more scientists are beginning to be aware of the possibility of 'global cooling'.  For me, the bottom line is the fact that the jury is still out on exactly what is happening, and thus, what we should do about it.  There have been articles written on the lack of sunspot activity in recent years that would account for a cooling trend.  This makes sense, but it also points out to us that we are not in control of the climate.  To think that we are is just extreme pride on our part.  I am all for being good stewards of the earth, but I don't think paying 'carbon credits' or not using our own energy resources falls into that category.  I will believe the 'global warming' alarmists when their lifestyles reflect the panic they are trying to create.  At the last global warming conference, most of the attendees arrived in private jets.  I'm not impressed.

Charles Krauthammer has written an article in January's edition of The Weekly Standard suggesting an increase in the gasoline tax and a decrease in the payroll tax.  Charles Krauthammer is a much more intelligent person than I am, and normally I am amazed by the brilliance of his ideas.  This time I think he is out to lunch.

First of all, never allow the government to raise any tax, regardless of what they promise in return!  I live in Massachusetts.  We still pay a 'temporary' income tax that was instituted at least ten years ago (only for a year or two).  The citizens of this state were too timid to vote to abolish the state income tax last year because they were told it would devastate their state.

Does anyone remember George H.W. Bush raising taxes on luxury items (the Democrats praised his bi-partisan spirit at the time, then used it against him in the next election)?  When people stopped buying luxury items, the people making them lost their jobs.  When the people making luxury items lost their jobs, they stopped buying things and going out to dinner.  It caused a recession.

Most Americans live at least two miles from a grocery store or a department store of some kind (or a shopping mall these days).  We are not going to walk, and we are not going to ride our bicycles.  Some of the 'green' cars would not be in good shape after a collision with a truck or SUV.  Some of the 'green' cars require a hazmat team if they are in an accident.  Charles, I love you, but I think you are wrong on this one.

According to the Washington Times Pakistan has pulled some 20,000 troops away from the Afghanistan border and moved them to the Indian border.  This is in response to the attack on Mumbai last month.  The U. S. had been pressuring Pakistan to increase troops in the tribal regions along the Afghanistan border in order to help with the war on terror.  It is believed that Bin Laden is hiding in the area, and dealing with him would help weaken terrorism around the world. 

Both India and Pakistan have said that they do not want war, but India wants Pakistan to crack down on the areas along the Indian border where terrorism flourishes.  It seems as if Pakistan has problems with terrorists in areas near both borders.  It also seems as if the government of the country has never been truly serious about paying the price to end terrorism.  Actually, it may not be the government, some of the military people in Pakistan have ties to Bin Laden and his people.  Until all of that is sorted out, Pakistan is caught in the middle between two countries that are attempting to curb terrorism within their borders and blaming Pakistan for its leaky borders.

According to Power Line Blog the Minnesota Supreme Court did not rule on the issue of counting votes twice because they felt that the issue would be better decided in a longer hearing which would include evidence and fact-finding.  Evidently, they felt that the 'abbreviated proceeding' did not allow the issue to be resolved.  The question they are trying to resolve has to do with machine malfunctions and handwritten ballots--some handwritten ballots were cast when the machines did not work properly.  These ballots need to be matched up so that one person's vote is not counted twice.  The other issue in this recount is that the standards of 'voter intent' vary a great deal with each voting district, and two ballots with identical markings may be counted differently depending on the district and the counters.  However, I go back to my original statement--if it hadn't been close, this fiasco would not be happening.  Minnesota, if you wind up with Senator Al Franken, it's because you have earned him.

Christmas has many different aspects, and people seem to pick and choose which aspects they celebrate.  That's OK--we're all individuals, but I found one article on Christmas that had a very unique and insightful way of looking at the season.

On Christmas Eve, in The Daily Beast, there is an article entitled, Jesus Made Me a Better Jew by Benyamin Cohen.  If you follow the link, please read the whole article--the ending is a bit of a twist.  There is some real insight here about the children of religious leaders of any faith.

Despite some Jewish ancestry, I am almost totally ignorant of the celebration of Chanukkah.  So I did the obvious thing--I googled it.  I found a website called Judaism 101: Chanukkah.  According to the website:

"According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud, at the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah (candelabrum) in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night. There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. Note that the holiday commemorates the miracle of the oil, not the military victory: Jews do not glorify war."

I make no claim of understanding all there is to know about the celebration, but I know enough to say:

 

Happy Chanukkah!!

As you finish your last-minute preparations for Christmas, has it occurred to you that sometime between 5 am and 11 am tomorrow (depending on the ages of your children), the majority of the chaos will be over?  It seems like a lot us rush around like crazy from Thanksgiving to Christmas with a list of never-ending errands.  Then by Christmas afternoon, most of the fuss is over.  It seems like an awful lot of effort for one morning--but wait a minute-this is the day that splits history.

According to David Harper, Ph.D., F.R.A.S., in A Brief History Of The Calendar, a monk named Dionysius Exiguus in Russia was calculating the dates of Easter.  In the process, he referred to the years in his calculations Anni Domini Jesu Christi.  That was the beginning of the concept of A.D.  Our history is split according to the birth of Jesus.  As long as we are dividing time with the abbreviations A.D. of B.C., we are acknowledging the fact that Jesus' birth was the most significant event in hisory.  So as you go about your errands and last minute chores, remember that even though it seems as if all the effort will be for a few hours, the reality is that we are celebrating the day that split history.

Merry Christmas! 

One of the challenges of being a news consumer (or a political junkie in my case) is trying to decide if what you are reading is the real story or someone's made-up story.  This issue has come up in a recent (December 5, 2008) op-ed piece in The New York Times by William Ayers.  Even reading the editorial as someone who doesn't remember all the details of the 1960's, it doesn't quite ring true.  Larry Grathwohl, who was an FBI informant during those times. submitted a rebuttal letter to the Times, which was rejected.  That letter is posted at Pajamas Media.  It tells a very different story than the Times op-ed piece.  The problem is not as much with the fact that there are two sides to the story--but with the fact that the Times was unwilling to publish the other side of the story.  Read both, and draw your own conclusion.

The person who generally handles a lot of the holiday preparation is Mom.  Remember to say "Thank You".  If you have forgotten what Mom does, please watch this video on You Tube.  She is the unsung hero of all generations!!!

Sunday's New York Times ran an article pretty much blaming the mortgage crisis on the Bush Administration--failing to mention Chris Dodd or Barnery Frank.  Today's New York Post has the rebuttal article pointing out all the facts the Times conveniently left out.  The best and most understandable history of the current mess can be found at You Tube in a video called "Burning Down The House."  The video has footage of the House and Senate hearings where Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were discussed and anyone can see for themselves who said what.  I strongly recommend the New York Post article and the You Tube video.

Where did the bailout money go?  To the bank executives of course!  I don't begrudge anyone wages paid for a job well done, but this is ridiculous.  I am reminded of a previous post citing a Swiss bank that paid its executives in illiquid paper--if the paper regained its value, they would get nice bonuses.  Little Green Footballs has more details on the money that went to executives and the banks that were not willing to account for the money they received.

According to the article:

"The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest?

None of the banks provided specific answers."

It's time to take a good look at all the people who are supposed to represent us in Washington and to throw a majority of them out.

Fox News has an article on the Minnesota Senate race recount showing pictures of disputed ballots along with the decision regarding the ballot.  It becomes very obvious very quickly that an equal standard is not being used.   Al Franken has taken the lead in what was once a 700+ vote victory for Norm Coleman.  This election is about to be stolen due to the group of people evaluating challenged ballots who have chosen to change their standards with each ballot.  I hope the people of Minnesota will find a way to protest this.

The New York Post has an article today on the conviction of the men who intended to enter Fort Dix in New Jersey to kill American soldiers.  According to the article:

"The government said after the men's arrest in 2007 that an attack was imminent and that the case underscored the dangers of terrorist plots hatched on U.S. soil. Although investigators said the men were inspired by Osama bin Laden, they were not accused of any ties to foreign terror groups."

The fact that they were not accused of any ties to foreign terror groups is both scary and reassuring.  It's scary to know that people who voluntarily came to this country can hate America so much as to want to kill its soldiers.  Wouldn't is be easier just to go home?  It's reassuring to know that these men acted on their own.  They obviously did things that brought them to the attention of the authorities and allowed them to be caught.  Had they had foreign assistance, they might have avoided the clumsiness that resulted in their discovery.

The article in the Post details how they were caught and how the evidence against the men was gathered.  Even though the evidence seemed obvious, the jury took 38 hours to reach a verdict. 

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, as of Friday, Al Franken now has about a 250 vote lead over Norm Coleman.  According to the article, one of the problems with the recount is:

"the State Canvassing Board sidestepped the Coleman team's proposal to prevent as many as 150 ballots from being counted twice. Talking about instances when a ballot couldn't be run through a voting machine, requiring a duplicate to be made, the Coleman camp said that such ballots should be counted only if an original could be matched with its copy."

It sounds as if Franken is the recipient of duplicate voting.  This sounds like an unbelievable mess.  I just hope more rational heads rule, and the recount is handled evenly.  I would hate to see Al Franken in the Senate.  I think more of our elected officials than that.

According to the J Street website"

"J Street is the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.

J Street was founded to promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israel conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. We support a new direction for American policy in the Middle East and a broad public and policy debate about the U.S. role in the region."

I'm always a little suspicious about people trying to bring peace betwen Palestine and Israel.  I guess my question is this:  Right now, Israel has nukes and Palestine doesn't, and two countries exist.  If Palestine had nukes and Israel didn't, how many countries would exist?

According to the American Thinker J Street now has a number of people close to George Soros in key positions.  Morton Haleprin is on the advisory council of J Street.  He is described as a former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department.  His current employment is not mentioned.  He is also George Soros's top aide and now serves as the Director of US Advocacy at the Open Society Institute: George Soros multi-billion dollar activists group.

The article at American Thinker also mentions other groups that are coming into prominence as the Obama Administration forms.  Much has been made about the 'wonderful' middle of the road choices Obama has made to fill various positions in his administration.  My concern is the people in the second and third tier appointments that may be hired under the radar.  I believe that America's continued support of Israel is an important positive part of our foreign policy.  To undermine that support would be a mistake on multiple levels. 

According to Time Magazine the charge of selling a Senate seat is a very small piece of the evidence against Rod Blagojevich.  According to the article:

"Evidence of misuse of political clout, fixed contracts and illegal campaign fundraising -- the basic staples of corruption in Illinois -- proved persuasive with the jury at influence peddler Tony Rezko's fraud trial. He was convicted and awaits sentencing.

That same evidence is now coming back to bite Blagojevich. This time around it could be even stronger because Rezko -- the political fundraiser who helped to bankroll the campaigns of both Blagojevich and Obama -- may take the stand to point the finger at the governor.

Rezko, for example, was on hand while Blagojevich talked to a campaign donor about putting him on the state payroll with the donor's $25,000 check on the table, according to testimony at Rezko's trial."

The idea of ending political corruption in the circus that is Chicago politics is wonderful, but I'm not sure it is realistic.  I don't mean to be cynical about this, but the Chicago machine has been in power since the 1960's or before (I wasn't around enough 'before' to have any idea of what was going on!).  The classic example is Major Daley coming up with the votes to elect John Kennedy president.  Who knows what the alternative reality would have been.  The only way Chicago and Illinois are going to be cleaned up is for the people of Illinois to vote out all parts of the political machine.  That won't happen unless the people themselves get tired of being ruled by the machine.  Political machines do not remain in power unless someone is benefitting from their presence.  I have no idea who is gaining from this situation, but until that stops, the machine will rule.

I realize that Patrick Fitzgerald went public because a newspaper was threatening to run with the story, but I wonder what the consequences of this will be.  The actual selling of a Senate seat was prevented and any role the incoming Presidential administration might have had in the transaction was stopped.  I do, however, wonder what will be revealed about the contacts between Blagojevich and the incoming White House.

Just a side comment.  The coarsening of the culture is a concern to me.  There is language being used in offices now that would make a sailor blush.  Evidently, the tapes that are going to be used as evidence against Blagojevich have a lot of 'salty' language.  How are parents supposed to bring up responsible and respectable children when this is the example set forth by our elected officials?  The morality and the language do not set a good example for anyone aspiring to public office. 

Power Line Blog featured an "ecodriving" contest in a cube ad for a week or so.  The Power Line readers scored very well in the contest, and Power Line received 13,000 pounds of carbon offsets, courtesy of TerraPass!  See the article to decipher exactly what that means, but here is John at Power Line's interpretation:

1. You give Terrapass a bunch of cash.
2. Terrapass invests in technology companies.
3. Terrapass sends you bumper sticker.
4. Terrapass enjoys dividends and capital gains on your investment.
5. Terrapass uses these to fund the printing of more bumper stickers.
6. Which are purchased by even greater saps that yourself.

Wait a minute?  Doesn't printing bumper stickers use trees?  Doesn't manufacturing create greenhouse gases?  Might this be evil capitalism?

This is the bumper sticker:

 

Unfortunately, this is all coming to us soon.  Actually, it's already here.

 

What you are about to read is taken directly from Smart Girl Politics.  I realize it does not seem to reflect the joy of the Christmas season, but it reminds us that reality is not always joyful.  Please read the following carefully and if possible, send a card.

"I would not normally put this story on the front of the site, but this is a true story. It is a friend of one of my friends. Please help SGP make this little girl's Christmas wish come true.

Many of you may remember my dear friend, Chris Garman, who lost her battle with breast cancer 2 years ago. When she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, she was pregnant with her third child. Her doctors didn't think
Chris would live through her pregnancy without treatment, so they took a chance & gave her chemo while shewas pregnant. Chris survived her pregnancy & had a beautiful, healthy little girl named Hannah Faith.
Chris died when Hannah was three.

Hannah is now five, and this breaks my heart all over again, but In October, Hannah has been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a rare and incurable brain tumor.

She was given about 12 weeks to live. She was going to be the flower girl in a wedding in May, but was diagnosed A week after she was asked.

Right now she has lost most of her motor skills. She is confined to bed
And cannot really do anything or play with the gifts she is getting from
people, but she LOVES getting cards - she has gotten so many from people she does not know and jus t loves to have grandma read about the people who send Them and see their pictures and is so proud of all her cards. Her room is just filled with cards.

When asked what she wants for Christmas she said she wants to see how
Many Christmas cards she can get. Many people have passed this wish along to their churches, prayer groups, friends and family. There are school groups
where children are making her cards. People are including pictures so she
can see who it i s that i s sending her the card.

If you would like to help with her wish, please send her a card at:

Hannah Garman
704 Orchard Rd
Lititz, PA 17543

THANKS! Feel free to pass this along to your own prayer group, church,
school, etc. Let's see if we can have the cards coming in big postal bags
for her this Christmas, since it will be her last holiday.

Please pray for her family. Her older brother & sister watched their mom go through This just two short years ago and now they are watching their baby sister.

P.S. You can also send my email to anyone you forward this to, if they
Have questions. sheripie@hotmail.com read more about Hannah, see pics, & stay updated on her progress at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahgarman. 

According to The Hill Congress will be getting a significant pay raise next year--a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries.  Aren't these the same people who asked the auto execs to cut their salary to $1 a year.  It seems to me that if salary is based on performance, Congress should not be getting a raise.  This represents approximately a $400 a month raise.  How many ordinary people in America are getting a raise like that this year?

According to the article:

"Rep. Harry Mitchell, a first-term Democrat from Arizona, sponsored legislation earlier this year that would have prevented the automatic pay adjustments from kicking in for members next year. But the bill, which attracted 34 cosponsors, failed to make it out of committee." 

Keeping a bill in committee is a way of avoiding having any congressman actually have to take a stand and actually vote on an issue.  It really is time for term limits.  Representatives should be allowed to serve three terms and Senators one term.

According to Power Line Blog Norm Coleman's lead in the Minnesota Senate race is down to two votes.  The counting continues, but the prospects for a Coleman victory do not look good.

I tend to think that Al Franken will be able to steal this election.  I do not think he has honestly won it, but I don't think that will matter.  My only comment to the people of Minnesota is that enough of you voted for Al Franken to make it close.  I don't think you will be happy with the results if Al Franken claims victory.  The man does not have the demeanor to be a Senator (admittedly the level of that demeanor has reached some serious lows lately).

Power Line Blog is reporting that Credit Suisse announced today that bonuses for its top executives would be made in illiquid, mortgage-backed securities.  These executives are responsible for the acquisition of these things and the company is returning them as bonuses.  If the paper goes up in value, the bonuses will actually be worth something.

John at Power Line Blog adds this comment:

"I'd like to see this idea spread. Maybe Congressmen could be paid in Freddie Mac paper and union officials in GM stock. The possibilities are endless!"

Wednesday's Wall Street Journal had an article by John Fund on the Caroline Kennedy quest for the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton.  He points out the difference between the way the candidacy of Caroline Kennedy is being treated and the way that Sarah Palin was treated while running for Vice-President.  This is a case of an unelected governor appointing someone to a normally elected position.  John Fund points out that Governor Paterson would be better off appointing New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, as Andrew Cuomo might challenge him in the next New York governor's race.

Personally, considering the people New York has sent to Washington over past years, Caroline Kennedy would not be an awful appointment.  She is actually a New Yorker.  That's a plus (she might even be a Yankees fan!).  She is also an intelligent, classy lady (why in the world would she want to go to Washington?).  Admittedly, there are probably people who have paid their dues who would do a good job, but I suspect she will work hard and try to represent the people of state of New York.  There will be an election for that senate seat in 2012, and then the people of New York will be able to judge the performance of whoever is appointed.  Until then, they could do worse than Caroline Kennedy.

If God lived on earth, people would break his windows.   That is an old Jewish proverb that came to my mind recently when an Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at President Bush.

 

As was pointed out in The New York Post yesterday:

"Even if shoe-thrower Muntadar al-Zaidi (who works for an Egypt-based media outfit) walks out in his stocking feet and becomes a hero to dead-enders, he unwittingly showed what a great thing has been accomplished in Iraq.

Other than Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, what Arab head of government holds free-wheeling press conferences? "President" Mubarak of Egypt? Assad of Syria? The Saudi king? Qaddafi? If an Arab reporter had "shoed" any other leading Arab ruler during one of their staged events, he would've been fortunate to escape with his life."

The media have been having a ball with the video of the Great Baghdad Shoe Toss. But they've missed the point completely. Our sacrifices let that pathetic reporter muster the courage to hurl his shoes at our president: He knew he could get away with it."

I have read on the internet that the man who threw the shoe was a Sunni Arab upset at the overthrow of Saddam Hussien who had now associated himself with the al Sadr militias.  The familiy had had run ins with the police in the past, and I suspect will have more in the future.   Anyway, the shoe-throwing incident probably could not happen in the US--the Secret Service would have gone after the man as soon as he raised him arm and asked questions later--but certainly the American press has treated President Bush no less rudely. 

 

FaceYourStorm.com is a new website started by radio-TV personality Glenn Beck to share responses to his book THE CHRISTMAS SWEATER.  The book is about new beginnings and starting again when the situation is hopeless (due to your own mistakes).  The website allows people to share their stories of how they came through awful storms in their lives and made it out the other side.  The website tells hard honest stories of people who are trying to get to the other side of the storm or who have made it through already.  It's not an easy website to read, but I strongly recommend it.

Michael Sneed at The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Rahm Emanuel is on 21 diffferent tapes discussing the vacant Senate seat in Illinois with Governor Blagoyevich.  Now wait a minute.  Wouldn't it be very natural for a President-elect who was vacating a Senate seat to discuss that Senate seat with the governor of that state who was a member of the same political party.  It would be unusual if some discussions were not held.  The question is not whether the discussions were held--they should have been (other than the slime that is Illinois politics), but whether anything was offered for placing someone in particular in the seat.  I really feel that this is whole discussion is marginal.  Unless you are willing to jump in the swamp and try to clean up Illinois politics (which no one is crazy enough to do), this is just idle chatter.

Just a reminder that according to a The Chicago Sun Times blog focusing on the Tony Rezko case, his sentencing will be January 6, 2009.  There is now a second case against Rezko and his business partner, which will go to trial next year.  Meanwhile, Rezko has been sharing a lot of information with the government.  That may be much more important to Barack Obama than anything Ron Blagojevich has to say. 

The Minnesota Star Tribune has the most up to date information on the Minnesota recount.  Power Line Blog has the best analysis.  The problem with the recount lies in the fact that there are no uniform standards for judging questionable ballots.  Unfortunately, this election could be stolen.  It is also unfortunate that whichever candidate comes out on top, there will be some people who believe the election was stolen--whichever way it goes.  My only message to the people of Minnesota is--if that many of you voted for Al Franken, you deserve what you get.  The man has a mouth that would make a sailor blush (I say that as a former Navy wife), and totally lacks the demeanor one would hope to find in a US Senator (notice I said hope).

This link was forwarded to me by my daughter who just finished her master's degree in marketing.  It's a rather long and complex article, but is worth reading, both because of where it is published and what it says.

The New York Times has published an article showing how Charles Schumer blocked regulatory legislation in the financial industry on a number of occasions.   He supported the bank bailout and received at one point $135,000 in campaign donations from financial executives when he promised that the Democrats would guide the country through the financial crises.  During his time in the Senate, he succeeded in limiting efforts to regulate credit-rating agencies, sponsored legislation that cut fees paid by Wall Street firms to finance government oversight, pushed to allow banks to have lower capital reserves and called for the revision of regulations to make corporations' balance sheets more transparent.

According to the article:

""He is serving the parochial interest of a very small group of financial people, bankers, investment bankers, fund managers, private equity firms, rather than serving the general public," said John C. Bogle, the founder and former chairman of the Vanguard Group, the giant mutual fund house. "It has hurt the American investor first and the average American taxpayer.""

It's a little late to worry about who is to blame for this mess, but we need to remember not to let the people who caused it try to fix it.  They will probably make the same mistakes and make a bigger mess!

There is an article at Power Line Blog posted yesterday with the real scientific data on global warming.  Nevermind the fact that those of us in the Northeastern part of the country are recovering from a major ice storm that has left many people without power for four days so far.  Since 1998, the climate has been cooling.  According to the article, "The world is now colder than in 1940, when the Post-WWII Industrial Revolution started spewing lots of man-made CO 2 in the first place."  The article goes on to comment on the Associated Press article that we have to solve the problem of global warming immediately if not sooner:

"This displays a remarkable level of ignorance on the part of the Associated Press. Global temperature records are nowhere near accurate enough to rank years, over a period of centuries, with any confidence. For the recent past, though, we have the world's best data set here in the U.S. And it's true that at one time, it was widely believed that the 1990s were the warmest recent decade. But that was before it was discovered that NASA's James Hansen, Al Gore's chief scientific ally, had been fudging the data, either accidentally or on purpose. NASA was forced to correct its data, with the result that the ten warmest years on record here in the US are as follows: 1934, 1998, 1921, 2006, 1931, 1999, 1953, 1990, 1938, 1939."

I'm not sure how many cars were on the road in the 1930's or how much electricity we were using at the time, but I think the fact that the 1930's were as warm as the 1990's tells us that we really don't understand climate change or its causes.  To cripple to major economies of the world to prevent something that may not actually be happening would be a foolish and dangerous mistake.

The article further states:

"When we talk about "global warming" it is important to ask the right questions. Is the earth continuing to warm up from the "Little Ice Age"? Yes, it has been, at least until recently. Fortunately. Is the earth continuing to warm up from the last real Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, when the spot where I am now typing was buried under ice a half mile thick? Yes, thankfully! Is the earth warming up compared to where it was five or ten years ago? No.

Many scientists believe that we are entering an era of global cooling. That may or may not be true; climate science is in its infancy and we cannot predict with any confidence what the weather will be 10, 20, or 50 years hence. What we can say for certain is that the way in which the weather "issue" is covered by the Associated Press and other media outlets is a disgrace."

It's worth it to read the whole article and see the graph included.  There is one theory that the lack of sunspot activity may lead us into a prolonged period of global cooling.  Meanwhile, I hope everyone gets their power back quickly in the Northeast.

Michael Totten wrote an article in the City Journal chronicling the successful democracy that has arisen in Kosovo.  The Muslims in Kosovo are not only pro-American, pro-democracy, and pro-Israel, they are also free to choose whatever religion they will follow.  In February 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia and became a nation.  No Arab country has recognized this nation, but Saudi Arabia says it is planning to do so.  The article tells the story of the genocide that was directed at the country by Slobodan Milošević during the time he was dictator of Yugoslavia.  The tiny country has survived that and is now a nation.

According to the article:

"There is, however, a small group of radicals inside Kosovo who would like to transform moderate Balkan Islam into the much sterner Wahhabi variety practiced in Saudi Arabia. Several well-funded Saudis and other Gulf Arabs moved to Kosovo after the 1999 war to rebuild destroyed mosques and to impose Wahhabism on the decadent locals. Most ethnic Albanians across the political and religious spectrum in Kosovo resent these intrusions, partly because ornate Ottoman-style mosques destroyed by the Serbian military are being replaced with severe Wahhabi-style monstrosities, but also because hardly any Albanians seek guidance from the backward and authoritarian Arab world. "We don't call them Wahhabis here," a well-connected Albanian woman tells me. "We call them Binladensa, the people of bin Laden." In Kosovo, that isn't a compliment."

The above paragraph shows me that education and democracy are the keys to peace in the middle east.  People who are free to choose their religion and who go to work everyday are less likely to become terrorists.  We need to find a way to show the radical Muslims that they can live in peace and follow their religion.

 

Good Grief!  He's at it again.  What is the attraction between Jimmy Carter and terrorists?  Doesn't he remember what the 'wonderful' new government of Iran did to the US Diplomats as soon as the mullahs took charge.  Wikipedia defines The Logan Act as follows:

"The Logan Act is a United States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. It was passed in 1799 and last amended in 1994. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years."

According to Power Line Blog, Jimmy Carter met with Bashar Assad of Syria on Saturday.  He is quoted as saying:

"I don't have any doubt that the situation will improve between the United States and Syria after we have a new president.  It's my hope that we can also see full diplomatic relations and friendship restored between Damascus and Washington at an early day in the new year."

He also stated, "You can't expect genuine peace between Israel and any of its neighbors until it has peace with all of its neighbors."

Does this man not realize that many of Israel's neighbors want to destroy the country and drive its people into the sea?  The prediction at Power Line is that once Jimmy Carter's stupid statements are embarrassing a Democrat administration rather than a Republican one, the Democrats will find a way to get him off the stage.

The work the Carters have done for Habitat for Humanity is admirable, but Jimmy Carter's freelance diplomacy since leaving the White House is an embarrassment to himself and his country.  The man is either totally naive or incredibly stupid.  He is also totally blind to his own prejudice against the nation of Israel. 

This is NOT my question.  According to Jim Geraghty at National Review Online the question was asked during a commercial for NBC Nightly News run during Meet The Press.  It's interesting to me to notice when these questions come up.  I don't recall hearing anything like that during the past eight years.  The article at National Review lists all the benefits of being first lady, plus a breakdown of presidential expense accounts and salary.  The concept of paying the first lady is an odd idea.  Do corporate executives' wives get paid?  It almost sounds as if you want to pay the wife for being married to the man.  I realize that being first lady has a lot of responsibility, but I also realize that it comes with a lot of people who help with that responsibility.  It seems as if there are some people in the press and in government who stay up at night just to think of ways to spend more money!

There have been some new developments in the Minnesota Senate race recount that are reported at Power Line Blog.  The events surrounding the 133 missing paper ballots seem to indicate a lot of communication between the Franken campaign and the Minnesota Secretary of State who is in charge of the recount.  The Secretary of State in Minnesota has ties to ACORN, and it is unclear exactly what backdoor antics are going on here.  We should keep in mind that within the last ten years there has been a George Soros funded campaign effort to place Democrats in Secretary of State positions in key states.  The Secretary of State of a state is in charge of the recount process if one occurs.  It seems that some of the events in Minnesota are not taking place according to the legal statutes that are supposed to control recounts.  Hopefully, the people of Minnesota are paying attention.  The two best sources of information on the recount in Minnesota are Power Line Blog (two of its writers are lawyers who live in Minnesota) and the Minnesota Star Tribune which has a link to election recount news on its homepage.

There is an article in today's New York Post written by Sam Fox, the president of City Cadillac Hummer Saab in Long Island City.  He is frustrated about what he sees as the bias in reporting the plight of the American car companies.  He refers to the fact that GM has been improving its gas mileage standards and is making cars Americans want.  The Toyota Prius and the smart car, according the Mr. Fox, are not practical cars for American families.  It's interesting that Europe has moved to smaller cars because their gas prices have always been high due to government taxes, but at the same time the birth rate in Europe has dropped below replacement levels.  Generally, the Europeans do not have families that need larger cars.  I personally can relate to what he is saying about the cars Americans buy--I was recently blessed with my eighth grandchild (two of which are local) and there is no way I can fit a second child seat in my car (which is not a compact car).  I will have to drive my husband's van on days I want to take the grandchildren anywhere.  The problem is not the cars GM is making (although I am willing to bet a 'Car Czar' will try to pressure them to make tiny little cars that are unsafe and impractical), but the problem is in the business model and something called 'legacy costs.'  If you manufacture a product similar to the product a competitor manufactures and you costs are $2,000 per unit higher, your business is eventually going to struggle.  I sincerely hope that the American auto companies are forced into a structured bankruptcy (without Congress telling them what to manufacture) that forces them to deal with their operating costs--not their product.

There is an article posted at Little Green Footballs today about the lack of a clear response from the President-elect Obama team about the selling of Obama's Senate seat.  This is ugly, but somewhat irrelevant.  If Obama had a fairly close relationship with the Governor of Illinois (which as a Senator of the same party from the state would have been very natural), it would be expected that there would have been some conversation about his open Senate seat.  As long as he (or his representatives) were not engaged in bribery, I don't see this as a problem.  However, considering the way politics is played in Illinois, I really would not be willing to guess what actually happened.  We'll have to wait for the transcripts to be released, if they ever are.  To be making a big deal of this at this point may be a strategic mistake on the part of any politician trying to gain from the situation.  An attack now makes anyone look petty because there really is no concrete information.  However, to paraphrase Rush Limbaugh, it does remind me of the situation in the movie Casablanca where the gendarme is "shocked" that gambling is going on at Rick's Place!

Senator Jim DeMint has asked bloggers to talk about proposed card check legislation today.  There is an article on Power Line Blog explaining the intricacies of the currently proposed legislation.  The people who write Power Line are lawyers, and they give a very clear explanation of what this legislation would do not only to the unionization process, but to the power of government in contract negotiations.  This is a really bad idea.  The bill would pave the way for the successful companies (particularly in the auto industry) to be forced to follow the model of the unsuccessful companies.  The goal here is not to legislate in a way to help the country--but to pay back the major source of funds for the Democrat Party--the unions.

The National Taxpayer's Union has put out a list of those Congressmen who have been convicted of felonies and continue to collect their congressional pensions.  The list (and some commentary) can be found at the American Thinker.  As you might have suspected, there are 16 Democrats on the list and 4 Republicans.  I think we need some real government reform.

Remember Nancy Pelosi promising that if the Democrat party were elected to a majority in Congress, they would be 'much more ethical' than those horrible Republicans.  Michelle Malkin at the New York Post reminds us of that claim, and fills us in on the actual facts.  Corruption (unfortunately) will always be a part of politics--the question is not whether or not it exists, the question is what you do about it.

I'm one of the people who thinks that a controlled Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for the auto industry is what is needed.  It would force them to fix their flawed business plan.  When something is failing, you don't just pour money into it, you fix it.  For example, during 2007, Toyota and GM sold approximately the same number of cars (9.3 million cars and trucks), but according to Hoovers.com, Toyota made a profit of $17,146 million dollars and GM lost $4,390 million.  It seems to me that the problem is not the recession--it is the business plan.

I have one brief comment on Governor Blagojevich and his political trials.  The people of Illinois vote.  They have chosen to keep the Daley machine in power in Chicago for more than forty years.  They are certainly aware of the corruption around the Daley machine and in the rest of the state.  They vote.  I realize that Illinois may not have the most honest elections, but, to quote Hugh Hewitt. "If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat."  The Patrick Fitzgerald investigation needs to take its course and go where it needs to go, but the answer is to be found in the ballot box.  The people of Illinois need to remove corrupt officials wherever they find them, and then they will see a change for the better in their state.

According to Little Green Footballs Hezbollah has refused the meeting that Jimmy Carter had requested with them.  Hezbollah would not comment on the refusal, but according to the article--

""Hezbollah does not meet with anyone from a US administration which supports Zionist terrorism," said Mohamed Raad, head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc."

Is there anyone out there that truly believes that there can be peace in the Middle East when numerous groups of people (such as Hezbollah) are determined to destroy Israel?  Why does Jimmy Carter believe that he can overcome centuries of hatred by talking to the people who are teaching hatred to their children in their schools?

The American Eagle Foundation has placed a beautiful video on You Tube showing the American Eagle named Challenger.  He was rescued as a baby in Louisiana after a storm and was inadvertently human-imprinted for life.  He flies during the national anthem at major sports events in order to raise awareness of these wonderful birds.  The video (and the music behind it) are beautiful.

The Tulsa World is reporting that Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Sheldon Robinson was honored for saving lives at a local Burger King.  He had just dropped off his wife and children when his cell phone rang.  It was his wife telling him that there was someone inside the restaurant holding a gun and threatening to kill everyone.  The Trooper turned his truck around, subdued the man, and controlled the situation.  No one was shot.  There is more of the story at the Tulsa World.  However, there is a lot not mentioned.  If you read the comments, you find that the man arrested was praying to allah.  There are articles around the internet at reliable places talking about this as a miniature terrorist attack.  For whatever reason, the newspaper does not emphasize that.  Again, if we deny that there are people out there who want to do us harm, we will not protect ourselves from them.  This is September 10th blindness!  Thank God for the courage of Trooper Sheldon Robinson.

According to The Hill's Blog Briefing Room Al Franken's campaign claims to have found another twelve uncounted ballots in the Minnesota Senate election.  The ballots come from uniformed and overseas voters and were previously unopened and counted, Franken officials said.  The Coleman campaign pointed out that the ballots were unsecured and that the chain of custody was not followed.  Different sources are giving different vote counts--the Minnesota Star Tribune currently shows Coleman with a 192 vote lead; the Franken campaign is claiming to lead Coleman by four votes.  It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

The New York Daily News is reporting a story about a three year old boy who wandered away from his babysitter and was lost for 21 hours in sub-freezing temperatures and was found safe Sunday.  Two of the family puppies wandered off with the child and are credited with snuggling up to him and keeping him warm in the freezing temperatures.  Every boy should have a dog or two to get him through tough situations.  I'm also sure there were many prayers involved which were answered.

The American Thinker has a link today to an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that is truly amazing.  The premise of the article is that the successful auto plants in the southern US states should be forced to follow the business model of the failed auto plants in Michigan.  After all, that would be only fair (stupid, but fair). 

This is my prediction for the auto bailout.  Congress will give the auto companies some money before January (with heavy oversight).  When the new Congress convenes in January, they will give a lot of money to the auto companies and essentially nationalize them.  The auto companies will be forced to manufacture 'green' cars which no one seems to be interested in buying (they will be more expensive and less practical for family use).  When the auto companies in Michigan continue to lose large amounts of money (the 'legacy' cost of a Detroit car is $2000 per car--making these cars less competitive), then Congress will pass 'card check' legislation.  Card check legislation takes away the secret ballot in union votes among workers.  Then unions (which the Democrats owe because a large percentage of their campaign contributions come from union dues) can unionize the southern US car manufactures so that they will become less competitive.  At this point, some of those companies will stop manufacturing in the US and more jobs will be lost.  This will deepen the recession (which Congress will then blame on George Bush).  I wish I were joking, but I'm not.

The Times Picayune in New Orleans reported yesterday that the Republicans are sending two Republicans to the House of Representatives from Louisiana.  The election had been delayed because of Hurricane Gustav and was held Saturday.  Anh "Joseph" Cao defeated William Jefferson (whose trial on corruption charges will probably begin in January 2009).  Joseph Cao is the first Vietnamese-American to serve in Congress--he came to America when he was eight.

Also, in Louisiana's 4th Congressional District, Republican John Fleming, a physician from Minden, was elected.  He will replace retiring Congressman Jim McCrery, a Republican from Shreveport.

This is a net pick-up of one seat for the Republicans.  That's good, but there's another story here.  Look at the accomplishments of these men--they are successful in fields other than politics and hopefully will bring that perspective to Washington.

Cao received a bachelor's degree in physics from Baylor University and a master's degree in philosophy from Fordham University. After a stint as a Catholic seminarian, he earned a law degree from Loyola University in 2000.

As mentioned earlier, John Fleming is a doctor.

Congratulations, Louisiana for sending these men to Washington.  Hopefully they will represent you well. 

 

According to Wikipedia, "First They Came..." is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

National Review Online has an article by Mark Steyn on the Mumbai massacre asking why the terrorists devoted 20 per cent of their forces to attack the one Jewish center in the town.  He points out that Rabbi Holtzberg was not murdered because of a territorial dispute over Kashmir or because of Bush's foreign policy.  He was murdered because he was a Jew.

According to the article, Mark Steyn wrote in his book, America Alone

"that "reforming" Islam is something only Muslims can do. But they show very little sign of being interested in doing it, and the rest of us are inclined to accept that. Spread a rumor that a Koran got flushed down the can at Gitmo, and there'll be rioting throughout the Muslim world. Publish some dull cartoons in a minor Danish newspaper, and there'll be protests around the planet. But slaughter the young pregnant wife of a rabbi in Bombay in the name of Allah, and that's just business as usual. And, if it is somehow "understandable" that for the first time in history it's no longer safe for a Jew to live in India, then we are greasing the skids for a very slippery slope. Muslims, the AP headline informs us, "worry about image." Not enough."

If the killing of Jews in an indication of the rise of evil in the world (the canary in the coal mine, so to speak), we really need to pay attention to what is going on around us.

 

The Independent, an eastern Long Island newspaper runs a column by Jerry Della Femina.  One of his recent columns was very insightful.  Here it is.

IT'S TIME TO WITHDRAW

This was just sent to me by a friend, Andrew Benjamin, and it makes a great deal of sense.

Regardless of how you feel about the subject, you will find value in thinking carefully about this:

Every day there are news reports about more deaths. Every night on TV there are photos of death and destruction. Why are we still there?

We occupied this land, which we had to take by force, but it causes us nothing but trouble. Many of our children go there and never come back.

Why are we still there? Their government is unstable, and they have sporadic leadership.

Many of their people are uncivilized. Why are we still there?

The place is subject to natural disasters, from which we are supposed to bail them out.

There are more than 1000 religious sects, which we do not understand.

Their folkways, foods, and fads are unfathomable to ordinary Americans. Why are we still there?

We can't even secure the borders.

They are billions of dollars in debt, and it will cost billions more to rebuild, which we cannot afford. Why are we still there?

It is becoming clear...

WE MUST PULL OUT OF CALIFORNIA.

The thing to remember as Barack Obama prepares to take over as the President of the United States is that he has been schooled in Community Organizing in Chicago.  The handbook for the Chicago Community Organizers was Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.  These are the rules taken from the book.  As you read them, think about how Barack Obama won the election.

1.  Power is not only what you have, but what your opponent thinks you have.  If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.

2.  Never go outside the experience of your people.  The result is confusion, fear, and retreat.

3.  Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent.  Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.

4.  Make opponents live up to their own book of rules.  "You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."

5.  Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.  It's hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

6.  A good tactic is one your people enjoy.  "If your people aren't having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic."

7.  A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag.  Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.

8.  Keep the pressure on.  Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose.  "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.  It is this that will cause the opposiiton to react to your advantage.

9.  The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.  When Alinsky leaked word that large numbers of poor people were going to tie up the washrooms of O'Hare Airport, Chicago city authorities quickly agreed to act on a longstanding commitment to a ghetto organization.  They imagined the mayhem as thousands of passengers poured off airplanes to discover every washroom occupied.  Then they imagined the international embarrassment and the damage to the city's reputation.

10.  The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.  Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, "Okay, what would you do?"

11.  Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.  Don't try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies.  Identify a responsible individual.  Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

According to Alinsky, the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting.  "The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength."

Alinksy was a communist who was interested in seeing America become a communist country.  He was about power--not improvement.  I believe the important events taking place in the Obama administration will not be the ones we see--they will be the behind-the-scenes deals with the UN, Iran, and other foreign countries.  Obama wants to be reelected, and he will move very carefully in areas that are visible.  I do believe, however, that his presidency will not be a positive thing for this country.  His community organization work in Chicago was not a positive thing for that city.  Chicago schools were not improved (the Annenberg Challenge funneled most of its money to radical organizations), and Chicago has one of the highest murder rates in the nation.

According to Political Radar, ABC news is reporting that the Democrats in Cogress are putting pressure on the Bush Administration to release some of the original $700 billion credit market bailout to the auto industry.  The Democrats are looking for an answer by today.

According to the article, Democrat leaders in Congress sent a letter Thursday night, telling President Bush he must commit funds from either the TARP or the federal reserve or they will be unable to pass anything in Congress.

I have my own ideas on the bailout--DON"T DO IT!  Detroit pays its auto workers twice as much as the auto workers in the states that are not unionized.  Their union contracts for retirees and workers add $2000 to the cost of every car.  This is a bad business plan.  They don't need to be bailed out--they need Chapter 11 protection while they restructure.  Anything else is throwing good money (our money as taxpayers) after bad.  I drive a Ford--I love my Ford--but I don't support a bailout.

Bloomberg.com has an article this morning about a Danish warship that answered a distress call in the Gulf of Yemen, rescued what are probably Somali pirates, and then sank their ship.  OK.  According to international law, ships are required to help people who are 'distressed' at sea.  These pirates could not be directly connected to any criminal act, so they were rescued and turned over to Yemeni officials.  (I have no idea how helpful Yemeni officials are in dealing with piracy.)  Because of weather conditions, it was impossible to tow the distressed vessel, so they sank it. 

According to TV reports, the Danish warship confiscated the weapons aboard the pirates ship.  The weapons included anti-tank rockets and machine guns,  (It's obvious that they were only out for a Sunday sail).  The pirates had been adrift at sea for seven days, the last three days without food or water,

Charles Krauthammer has an article at National Review Online today about the significance of the agreement between Iraq and America which has just been ratified by the Iraqi government.  He points out that the only Iraqis opposed to the agreement were the followers of Moktada al Sadr (al Sadr himself is still hiding out in Iran).  The Sadrists represent 30 seats in the Iraqi Parliament out of 275.  The Sunnis were also concerned about the agreement--fearing that the US would leave too soon and leave them vulnerable to some sort of political retribution (not unheard of in Iraqi politics).

The agreement does have flexibility to it--if conditions on the ground change and US troops need to stay longer than the agreement, the Iraqi Parliament can authorize that.  Hopefully, that will not happen, but it's good to know it is an option.

According the Charles Krauthammer, there are two main reasons that this agreement is a landmark.  First, it is a major defeat for Iran, who had hoped to destabilize Iraq in order to take it over.  Iran and Iraq have been arch enemies for a long time, and the Shiites in Iraq were considered to be influenced by Iran.  Well, the Shiites have signed the agreement.  Second, the emergence of Iraq as a democracy (with all its flaws and imperfections) is something that many experts thought impossible.  This is a step towards fighting terrorism generationally--as Iraq gains its strength and the people in it prosper, terrorism will become something they have no use for.  Countries that have stable governments, stable economies and free markets are generally too busy doing constructive things to want to tear down their societies.  Terrorism is a death cult--people who are successful are generally not interested in dying--they are more interested in accomplishing things.

This is the link to the recount page at the Minnesota Star Tribune.  It is constantly updated and has the latest recount information and county information.  The recount was supposed to be ended by today, but I am not sure that will happen.  The Franken campaign is claiming that there are 133 votes missing in Minneapolis.  The goal here (in my opinion) of the Franken campaign is to take the matter to the Senate (where a Democrat-controlled Senate) will rule in his favor.  If he does that, I suspect there will be some angry voters in Minnesota.  It will be interesting to see if the recount is declared over today.

One of the things that bothers me in the current political climate is the tendency to attack people rather than to debate issues.  For instance, one of the tenants of the left over the past eight years is that George Bush is stupid.  There is no actual basis for this attack--the man has a stellar education and the ability to fly fighter planes.  I don't think someone who is stupid could accomplish either one of those things--yet that is what we hear.  This issues are not discussed--and it's interesting that based on his appointments, Barack Obama may continue some of the policies of the 'stupid' George Bush.

I watched two videos on the internet today which illustrate the way that opinion can be swayed without actual facts or issues (or with false information).  The first video was put together by some Hollywood types to mock those who supported Proposition 8 in California.  Jack Black plays Jesus Christ, and the video is essentially a mocking of those who support traditional marriage due to religious beliefs.  The fact that same-sex couples in California already have the same rights as married couples through civil union laws is not discussed.  The battle is about the name, and that is never mentioned--instead the video is just a mockery of religion.

The second video is found at Road 90.  It was put together by PBS and WGBH to chronicle to birth of the state of Israel and the events surrounding it.  This video deals with Deir Yassin and the myths surrounding the 'massacre' there.  According to the article--

"Following in the footsteps of Palestinian historians such as Walid Khalidi of Harvard University and Shairf Kana'ana of Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, West Bank, they show that the massacre of Deir Yasin in 1948 was exaggerated by the Arab side. Rather than encourage resistance, this precipitated the flight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into neighbouring Arab countries.

As a result of this propaganda, Arab civilians panicked and fled by the tens of thousands. This was confirmed in the PBS documentary called The Fifty Years of War in which Deir Yassin survivors were interviewed"

This massacre has been used to stir up hatred for Israel since 1948.  It is an example of how an exaggerated reporting of an incident can be used to incite violence for generations.  It is the responsibility of all voting citizens in this country (and every other country in the world) to be aware of manipulation by political forces and do their own research.

Her name is Lillian Grace, and she is coming home from the hospital today.  We are all thrilled that she is doing so well.  See previous entry for an explanation of this comment!

Over the next day or two, blogging on this site will be somewhat sporadic--this morning at approximately 3:15 am, my husband and I welcomed our eighth grandchild into the world.  She was born about four weeks early and weighed in at 5 pounds 6 ounces, 17 inches long.  She is beautiful, but because she was four weeks early, at this point she is nameless.  We are referring to her as 'a player to be named later.'  She was introduced to her big sister this afternoon in the hospital.  Mother and daughter (and big sister) are doing well and hope to be out of the hospital together on Thursday.  The new baby is small, but she is healthy, eating, and generally doing well.  This evens up the grandchildren--four boys and four girls--the boys are all handsome and the girls are all beautiful!

The stories are beginning to come out about the heroism displayed during the terror attacks in Mumbai.  Time has an article about a South African security consultant sized up the situation, reacted quickly, and saved 150 lives.  Bob Nicholls, who runs the South Africa-based security agency Nicholls, Steyn and Associates, was having dinner with five of his team on the top floor of the Taj when they were told by other South African diners that friends intending to join them for dinner hadn't turned up because gunfire had broken out inside the hotel.   He decided that one of the conference rooms would be the safest place, so he organized the people around him, they barricaded themselves into a conference room and waited.  They stayed put until a loud blast nearby and visible smoke and fire.  At that point they escaped by way of the fire escape.  Thanks to Bob Nicholls, these people are still alive. 

William Kristol has an article in The New York Times today talking about the commentary on the terror attacks in Mumbai and how our vocabulary in describing and analyzing these attacks matters.  Islamic terror has to be identified as Islamic terror.  Not all muslims are terrorists, but when the terrorists are muslims who believe they are attaining some sort of religious goal, they have to be dealt with.  These terrorists were evidently part of a militant group protesting India's role in Kasmir.  Their gripe had nothing to do with Americans, Brits, or Jews.  Why then were those groups their primary targets?  According to the article--

Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani terrorist group that seems to be responsible for the terrorism in Mumbai, Haqqani explains, is a jihadi group of Wahhabi persuasion, "backed by Saudi money and protected by Pakistani intelligence services." He notes that "Lashkar-e-Taiba has adopted a maximalist agenda for global jihad." Indeed, the political arm of the group has conveniently published a pamphlet, "Why Are We Waging Jihad?," that lays out all kinds of reasons why the United States, Israel and India are "existential enemies of Islam."

I really am beginning to wonder if the terrorists are simply unhappy youth trained to love violence and chaos.  I wish we could find an island somewhere that we could use as an island prison (not Cuba) where the terrorists could be left to set up their own society which would not interact at all with those of us who choose to be civilized.  We could periodically drop off food and medicine, but never land, because there would have to be no way off.  Terrorism is a crime against humanity, and until we recognize it as such, we will never be able to deal with it.  If the governments harboring terrorists will not deal with them, other governments have to.