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.

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.

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?”.

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.

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.

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.