Monthly Archives: January 2012

Who Is Paying For This ?

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The Contra Costa Times reported on Friday that Solyndra has asked its bankruptcy judge to pay remaining employees up to $500,000 in bonuses.

The article points out:

Senior executives at Solyndra collected hefty quarterly bonuses — ranging from $37,000 to $60,000 apiece, with some executives receiving both rounds of bonuses — within six months of the company’s closure last August, when about 1,100 workers were laid off without severance.

According to the article, the bonuses requested would “go to workers lower on the food chain than the sizable bonuses handed out to key executives in the months before the company’s bankruptcy — 13 of the 21 possible recipients the Associated Press listed were equipment engineers and facilities workers.”

There are a few things at work here. What kind of responsible executive takes a huge bonus as the company is going under? What about taking the bonus and then laying off workers without severance? I am all in favor of people making money–I just think we need to bring the concept of ethics back into our business model.

The kind of abuses we have seen in the financial sector of our economy will not be fixed by increased regulation–they are indications of a lack of morality and accountability that is currently running rampant in our society. Until we get back to our national roots as a Judeo-Christian country, we are not going to solve our problems–financial or otherwise. The reason the Ten Commandments were posted in our schools was to let students know that at some point in their lives they would have to answer to a higher authority. When we removed the concept of a higher authority, we opened the door for the financial collapse that we have seen. When our financial moguls do not realize that they are accountable for their behavior, they don’t bother to play by the rules.

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Thursday Night In Stoughton, MA

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ATC Speakers Forum Presents:
 
“”A Perspective on Islam, Christians and Israel“
 
With
 
Dr. Mark Durie
 
 
 
Thursday, January 19, 2012
7:30 p.m. ~ 9:00 p.m.
Ahavath Torah Congregation
1179 Central St., Stoughton, MA
  
Dr. Mark Durie is a theologian, human rights activist and pastor of an Anglican church. He has published many articles and books on the language and culture of the Acehnese, Christian-Muslim relations and religious freedom. A graduate of the Australian National University and the Australian College of Theology, he has held visiting appointments at the University of Leiden, MIT, UCLA and Stanford, and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1992.
 
 
This lecture by an Australian scholar of Islam discusses the contradistinctive intersection of Islam’s doctrine, Israel as the independent sovereign project of the Jewish people and Christian support of Israel’s right to exist.
 
There is no charge for the this event. Donation of $5 suggested.
 
This event is co-sponsored by Christians and Jews United for Israel (CJUI), Rabbis and Ministers for Israel (RMI), ACT Boston, ACT Framingham
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Whatever The Cause, Follow The Money

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Yesterday the U.K. Daily Mail reported that Kerry Kennedy stands to make $40 million dollars from her support of the Ecuadorian rain forests.

The article reports:

Local courts recently ordered Chevron to pay $18 billion in damages-which the company is now appealing- and if the decision is upheld, $40 million of that money could go straight to Ms Kennedy.  

The New York Post reports that Ms Kennedy, 52, was hired to put a well-known face on the issue, and she has publicly campaigned for the cause by appearing on CNN and writing an op-ed piece for The Huffington Post.

In the 2009 Huffington Post piece, Ms Kennedy told of her trip to the northern area of the country where Texaco- an oil company later bought and now represented by Chevron- drilled about 350 oil wells throughout the rain forest.

I don’t know if Chevron did $18 billion in damages to the Ecuadorian rain forest. I have no idea how you measure that sort of thing. But I do know that paying Kerry Kennedy $40 million dollars is not going to help the Ecuadorian rain forests in any way. How much of the $18 billion sought in the lawsuit will go to the people impacted by whatever damage was done to the rain forest? Who actually pays the $18 billion if the people asking for it win the case? Who actually benefits from this whole legal exercise? This is the sort of thing that makes me question the motives of many of the people who claim to be out to save the planet.

 

 

 

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When Is A Recess Not A Recess ?

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One of the reasons I love Power Line Blog is that John Hinderaker, its main writer, is a lawyer and explains everything in a logical, lawyerly way. I don’t always understand what he is saying, but I appreciate the logical approach.

Today Mr. Hinderaker posted an opinion by Michael McConnell on the Justice Department’s statement that President Obama’s recess appointments, made when Congress was not really in recess, are legal.

The Opinion places enormous weight on the fact that the Senate’s resolution providing for pro forma sessions declared that there would be “no business conducted.” There are two problems with this, as a legal matter. First, as the Opinion concedes, the important question is whether at these sessions the Senate is “capable” of exercising its constitutional functions – not whether, on any particular occasion, it has chosen not to do so. Second, in actual fact the Senate has conducted major business during these sessions, including passing the payroll tax holiday extension during a pro forma session on December 23. The Opinion weakly responds that, notwithstanding this evidence of actual practice, the President “may properly rely on the public pronouncements of the Senate that it will not conduct business.” It is hard to see why the Senate’s stated intention not to do business takes legal and constitutional precedence over its manifest ability to do so. The President is well aware the Senate is doing business on these days, because he has signed two pieces of legislation passed during them.

Please follow the above link to the article to read the entire opinion. The article concludes with the following statement:

Given the extent to which Barack Obama and Eric Holder have politicized the Department of Justice, it is really not too surprising that in the view of Obama’s DOJ, the law really does depend on which party occupies the White House.

These appointments showed a total disregard for the Constitution and the separation of powers. The Republicans need to make a big deal of this. We don’t have a king–we have a President whose appointments are subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. The Senate needs to object to being ignored in this process. I have a feeling that if George W. Bush had done this, we might have heard a lot more about it.

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The Real Cost Of President Obama’s Not Approving the Keystone Pipeline

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Yesterday Hot Air posted an article about the repercussions of President Obama’s delay in approving the Keystone Pipeline. It looks as if the delay may result in the pipeline not only not being built now–if the delay continues, it may not be built at all.

The article reports:

 Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to China next month to discuss selling Canada’s bounty to the rapidly growing nation.

The preferred initial plan was to build the $7 billion Keystone pipeline to deliver Alberta’s oilsands crude to refineries in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico.

Harper reasoned that the U.S. government would prefer to deal with a friendly neighbor to help meet its energy needs while creating thousands of jobs.

With widespread opposition by U.S. environmentalists, the Obama administration has delayed its decision on whether to approve the project proposed by energy giant TransCanada Pipelines.

The new plan would market to China and Asian countries through the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline that would transport Alberta’s oil and natural gas to British Columbia for shipment by tankers.

From a strategic point of view, this is a nightmare. We are depriving ourselves of a friendly source of oil and sending that oil to someone who is building a strong military and who is not a friend. Congress needs to make sure that when the ‘Payroll Tax Cut’ comes up for debate again before February (when it is due to expire) that a significant amount of pressure is put on the President to approve this pipeline. One of the ways that pressure could be applied would be to make sure all Americans paying more at the gas pump understood that the pipeline would eventually give us cheaper gasoline. The Republicans (and the unions) need to be more effective in getting the message out that we need this pipeline.

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The Index Of Economic Freedom

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John Hinderaker at Power Line reported on Saturday that the Heritage Foundation has released its annual Index of Economic Freedom. This is the chart of Economic Freedom in the United States in recent years:

This is not a good thing. The United States has slipped to tenth place in the world ranking of economic freedom. We can probably stop the decline by electing different people to Congress and the White House. Please keep this chart in mind when you decide how you are going to vote.

 

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Iran Is Ramping It Up–Is Anyone Listening ?

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My Way posted a story today about Iran’s warning to the other oil-producing countries in the Gulf not to boost their oil production if Iran’s oil production is reduced because of western sanctions. Iran’s OPEC governor made the threats just as Saudi Arabia announced that it would increase its oil production if Iran’s oil production decreased.

The article states:

Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, is widely seen as the main counterweight to Iran in the region. Any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which a sixth of the world’s oil flows, would also affect the export abilities of the major Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.

While momentum appears to be building for the sanctions by the West, China, another major buyer of Iranian oil, has come out against the measures.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for meeting with officials in which the two countries “pledged to work together to further expand all-around exchanges and cooperation,” according to China’s Xinhua news agency

Wen said the two sides “should expand trade of crude oil and natural gas and energy-related cooperation as to deepen their energy partnership,” Xinhua reported.

There are a couple of things going on here. First of all, America is vulnerable to this sort of garbage from Iran because we have not developed our own energy resources. Second of all, young Iranians (who make up more than half of the country) do not support the current government of Iran. A war against the Americans would allow the rulers to unite the country against a common enemy (us) in order to stay in power and continue their nuclear program. Third, Russia and China will support any action by any country that creates a problem for America. The weaker we become, the stronger they have a chance to become. Fourth, can you imagine the bully Iran will become when it completes its nuclear program?

Part of the problem here is America’s failure to become energy independent and part of the problem here is that the Iranians see President Obama as a weak President that they can push around. Neither one of these things is good for the future of America. If the voters are smart, we will have a new President in 2013.

 

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The Need For New Immigration Policies

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Yesterday Fox News in Boston reported that a five-year-old child is recovering after being injured in a crash involving and illegal alien who was driving drunk.

The article reports:

Officers arrested Luis Parraga, 37, of Roxbury and charged him with OUIL, leaving the scene of a crash causing injury, and operating without a license. An ICE detainer has been requested for Parraga as authorities claim he is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

The male passenger, 25-year-old William Gomez, is charged with allowing through wanton or reckless conduct, substantial bodily injury to a child, and allowing an improper person to operate a motor vehicle.

Gomez is identified as the owner of the vehicle and legal guardian of the child.

This is one more reason we need to keep track of who is in the country and who is on our roads.

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A Welcome Perspective

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Today the North County Times posted a very thoughtful editorial by Susan Estrich. The editorial deals with her recent trip to France that included Normandy. She talks about the driver who drove her out to Normandy. He commented that he felt France had been wise to stay out of the war. He felt that it was unfair that Marshal Petain was prosecuted for treason after the war because he made peace with Hitler. When asked about the Jews, the driver said he didn’t know.

Ms. Estrich reminds us:

There were many righteous men and women in France who tried to save their Jewish countrymen and -women. Clearly, that did not include my driver’s family. Nor the Vichy government. All told, 76,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps in France. Refugees were among the first to be rounded up. Pity those who thought they would find refuge from Hitler in France. They were as much in the dark as I was. They paid with their lives. All but 2,500 of those sent to the camps in France died.

Ms. Estrich then points out that because it was January, most of the places she wanted to visit near Normandy were closed, but the American cemetery and the small museum next to it were open. She then comments on the beauty of Omaha Beach, reminding us that it was not beautiful on June 6, 1944.

She tells us:

Omaha Beach is quiet. Even on a rainy day, it is beautiful. But it was not beautiful on D-Day. The ocean was dyed red with the blood of brave Americans who waded from their boats into enemy fire —- kids who gave their lives to save each other, to liberate the French, to defeat evil.

On that day, as the tape in the museum says, they carried the fate of the free world —- “the entire free world” —- on their young shoulders.

They saved the world.

My father was one of the people who landed on the shores of France on June 6, 1944. He was one of the lucky ones who landed on Utah Beach instead of Normandy Beach. He was one of the lucky ones who came home safely. His generation paid a tremendous price so that Europe and America would remain free.

Ms. Estrich concludes:

My friend Annie was the one who told me to go to Normandy. She is the child of survivors, born in Munich after the war. She said that standing in that cemetery, she was overcome with pride to be an immigrant to this country.

For all our problems, we are still the luckiest people on the face of the globe. And one of the reasons for that is because of those young soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom —- and for the freedom of people like my driver and his family. He may not know enough to appreciate that. But I do. God bless America.

Sometimes it is good to reflect on the challenges and accomplishments of the American past. I feel that some day in the future we may be called to meet similar challenges. I hope we are still up to the task.

 

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Something I Hadn’t Noticed

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 When I heard President Obama say that he wanted to cut some government agencies, I thought that was good news. Washington, D.C., is one of the few areas of the country that has experienced job growth since President Obama took office; the government does need to shrink. However, CNS News posted an article yesterday the curbed my enthusiasm somewhat.

Yesterday on his show, Rush Limbaugh pointed out that all of the agencies the President wants to shrink or cut are ‘pro business.’

The article points out:

Let’s look at the types of agencies Obama wants to the authority to shrink, Limbaugh said:

“The Commerce Department, The Small Business Administration, The Office of the U.S Trade Representative, The Export/Import Bank, The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, The Trade and Development Agency.

“Now what do these agencies all have in common?”

“They’re all pro-business…and this is where Obama wants to shrink.  You can even say those agencies might lean to being pro-Republican or pro-Conservative.”

Rush is right. I guess I should have been paying closer attention. Please follow the link to the article at CNS News. The comments are as informative as the article!

 

 

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The Lack Of Logic In The American Educational System

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 A letter from a friend:
Why California Schools are the pits
 
We moved out here 2.5 years ago as a military family.  We don’t have a choice as to where we are sent, so we just go.  Our main concern was the California schools and unfortunately, they have not proved themselves to be anything but ……”messed up.”
1.  During our first year here, in order to deal with budget cuts, the schools were forced to layoff new teachers.  Their definition of a new teacher follows the” last in, first let go.”  This, however, included many teachers with 10+ years experience IN the district.  Mind you, there are teachers who are way past their teaching prime and are not adequately preparing their students for upward movement.  (This is not only an opinion shared by parents, but also by teachers.)
2.  During our second year here, we were sent a teacher who was cut from her school.  While that is not an uncommon practice, what is sad  is that she was” Teacher of the Year” in the school she was cut from.  It was definitely our gain, but is it logical?  She was once again cut from our school at the end of the second year.
3.  During our third year here, once again faced with huge budget cuts, the PTO has been asked to pay for BASIC educational tools – art, walkie talkies for our playground duties, busing for having High School students come over as teacher’s aides, Success Maker programs, field trips and a host of other literary companions to give a rounded education to our students.
In addition, the new principal noted that the 1980s decor in our front office was neither inviting or pleasing to anyone.  She took money out of her OWN pocket and proceeded to paint, add chair rail, and also refinish the countertops and cabinets.  She also plans to have the floor redone and purchase a new desk.  All from her funds!  Yesterday she was called to the School District office to be reprimanded for using her own money and volunteers to redo the office.  They stated she was taking away jobs from their maintenance employees and that she needed to apologize and discontinue the work that was being done for free and instead pay $90 an hour in labor, plus materials, to finish any and all work. 
Does this make sense?  We don’t have enough money for educational items for our students, BUT we are being forced to spend additional money on items that would have been DONATED by parents and staff at our school. 
Yes, California, your logic is a tad “illogical.”
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Some Chilling Quotes From A Canadian Murder Trial

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A website called Atlas Shrugged posted an article on Wednesday about a murder trial being held in Canada.

The article reports:

Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, is accused of conspiring with her husband, Mohammad Shafia, 58, and their eldest son, Hamed, 21, of running one of their family cars into a canal with their four relatives inside.

This was an honor killing. Some of the comments from the family members accused of the killings (I apologize for the language):

“May the devil s**t on their graves. Is that what a daughter should be? Would a daughter be such a whore?” — Muslim dad who honor killed his three daughters and wife.

“God’s curse on them for generations.  … They betrayed Islam.”

“I would do it again 100 times,” said Mohammad Shafia, who murdered his THREE daughters in honour killing for dating the wrong boys.

What kind of god leads people to kill members of their family and believe that they are doing something good?

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The Supreme Court Rules On Lutheran School Teacher Firing

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On Wednesday, Christianity Today posted an article about the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the firing of a school teacher in a Lutheran School. The court ruled that the teacher was a ‘minister’ and could not sue the church after she was fired in 2005.

The article reports:

“The First Amendment provides, in part, that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,'” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the unanimous opinion. “We have said that these two Clauses ‘often exert conflicting pressures,’ and that there can be ‘internal tension … between the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.’ Not so here. Both Religion Clauses bar the government from interfering with the decision of a religious group to fire one of its ministers.”

This is an important ruling. The article points out how this ruling may impact some recent decisions regarding religious groups on college campuses:

If the government can’t tell a church or religious group to accept or reject a minister, he asks, “How then it can be constitutional for a public university to tell religious student groups what criteria they can and cannot use in selecting their leaders? Does this decision have a penumbra that strengthens the freedom of religious organizations more broadly? That remains to be seen–yet the language and the unanimity of the decision are encouraging.”

Kim Colby, senior counsel for the Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom, was similarly encouraged. “This decision should help religious groups that are being charged with ‘religious discrimination’ when they require their leaders to agree with their statement of faith,” she said. “In a conflict between nondiscrimination laws and religious liberty, religious liberty prevailed. Nondiscrimination laws serve vital and good purposes in our society. But they have been increasingly misused to harm religious liberty in a number of contexts over the past decade.”

The CLS lost a Supreme Court battle last year when the justices ruled 5-4 that a California law school can bar groups that require leaders to sign a statement of faith.

The battle for freedom to allow religious groups to be religious is just beginning. If I started a bridge club, I would want the people joining to be interested in playing or learning to play bridge. It makes no sense to allow someone to join a bridge club if they are only interested in playing hearts or poker (or even volleyball). That is not discrimination–it is common sense. Sometimes you have to discriminate–not because you are being unfair, but because you are protecting a common interest. A bridge club that plays hearts or poker (or volleyball) really does not make a lot of sense. 

 

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Thursday, January 19th

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On Thursday, January 19th, Dr. Mark Durie will be speaking at the Ahavath Torah Congregation – 1179 Central Street, Stoughton, MA, at 7:30 pm.
 
Dr. Mark Durie is a theologian, human rights activist and pastor of an Anglican church. He has published many articles and books on the language and culture of the Acehnese, Christian-Muslim relations and religious freedom. A graduate of the Australian National University and the Australian College of Theology, he has held visiting appointments at the University of Leiden, MIT, UCLA and Stanford, and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1992.
This lecture by an Australian scholar of Islam discusses the position of non-Muslims – Jews, Christians and others – under sharia law.
There are two stories about non-Muslims living under Islam, who Muslims call dhimmis. One is that dhimmis were the fortunate recipients of Islamic benevolence. The other is that non-Muslims had to buy their heads back each year in a legal system designed to degrade and belittle them, and to ensure their decline. The story of the dhimmis, and their centuries of subjugation under Islamic law, raises troubling questions about the spiritual trajectory of western societies, and their seemingly inexorable drift towards the psychology of surrender.
 
I have heard him speak in the past. He is interesting and informative and well worth listening to. Don’t miss this!
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At Least He Is Being Tried

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The Boston Herald reported today on some of the tactics being used by President Obama’s half-uncle Onyango Obama, who was arrested on a drunk driving charge.

The article reports:

Obama’s lawyers, P. Scott Bratton and William L. Harvey III, requested the records after learning Krishtal had totaled his cruiser in November, smashing into a stone wall en route to a report of shots being fired. They say the patrolman may have been driving too fast just before the Obama stop, in which the president’s uncle turned into traffic, cut the officer off and forced him to slam on his brakes.

It really doesn’t matter what the officer’s record was, Onyango Obama had a blood alcohol level of  0.14. Evidently Mr. Obama’s lawyers intend to challenge the blood alcohol test as well as the driving record of the arresting officer.

The article further reports:

“It’s sort of discouraging” said James Machado, a Fall River police sergeant and executive director of the Massachusetts Police Association. “I understand defense attorneys taking tacks and questioning police officers’ integrity, but to bring someone else’s record out there? What influence would that have on him doing his job? If you have motor vehicle violations, you can’t give out citations?”

The sort of defense planned by Mr. Obama’s legal team shows a basic disrespect for the law. Mr. Obama needs to accept the charges against him and face the consequences of his actions.

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This Kind Of Thing Makes My Head Hurt

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Earlier today I posted an article about the James O’Keefe and Project Veritas video showing how easy it is for dead people to vote in New Hampshire. I would think that after watching the video, the people who monitor elections would be hanging their heads in shame. I guess shame is something of a lost emotion.

The Blaze reported today that the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office is investigating James O’Keefe and Project Veritas. What?! How about investigating election procedures in New Hampshire and figuring out what actions can be taken to prevent dead people from voting? This is a true instance of shoot the messenger.

James O’Keefe exposed a problem in the New Hampshire voting procedures. Rather than fix the problem, the Attorney General has decided to attack the person who exposed it. The Attorney General should be fired.

Has our political system in America become so corrupt that we won’t even attempt to protect the integrity of the vote?

 

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Someone Had A Very Bad Night Wednesday Night

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This is not a linked story. It came to me from a very reliable source, and I know that it is true:

On Wednesday, January 11, due to a sudden change in plans, I had a three-hour layover at Philadelphia’s airport. I headed to Gate C31 to wait for my connection. There was a seat right next to the window that looked directly out on to the tarmac, and I sat there and watched the airport conduct their business. I was sitting between two airplane parking places and facing a roadway used to transport food, luggage, and people. As I watched, a luggage transportation cart pulled out with a load of luggage. A huge, red-orange suitcase fell off of the back of the cart. The driver was unaware of the loss and continued on his way. The suitcase sat there on the tarmac. A little while later, an airport employee came up the the suitcase and checked the tag on it. He then walked away. In the next two hours, I watched numerous airport people come up to the suitcase, look at the tags and walk away. At one point I saw a man driving a luggage ramp drive up, circle the suitcase, stop his luggage ramp, and place two orange cones next to the luggage ramp and the suitcase. After two hours, my flight boarded, so I have no idea what eventually happened to the red-orange suitcase. I was, however, a little concerned that no one who looked at the tags on the suitcase seemed very concerned with getting the suitcase anywhere. I finally concluded that someone who had a U.S. Airways connection through Philadelphia on Wednesday might have had a very bad night wondering where their suitcase was. Hopefully, at some time the suitcase found its way to its correct destination. Before then, it provided two hours of entertainment for an otherwise bored traveler.

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Why We Need Voter ID Laws Before 2012

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Yesterday John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article about the dead people who attempted to vote in the New Hampshire primary. Yes, you read that correctly. None of them actually did vote (that would be a felony), but in most cases they would have been able to vote.

Here is the story. James O’Keefe of Project Veritas wanted to show that voter fraud is easy:

On January 10th, Project Veritas reporters walked into New Hampshire Polling Locations during the Presidential Primaries, saying dead people’s names. We stated the name of a dead person we got from the NH obituaries. The names of the deceased were both Registered Republican and Democrats And in almost every case, saying a dead person’s name, we were handed a ballot to cast a vote. We used no misrepresentation and no false pretenses. in fact, in almost every case, we insisted we show ID and they insisted that we vote without showing ID.

There is a video at Power Line showing a number of these encounters.

John Hinderaker concludes at the end of his article:

How much does this kind of fraud go on for real? I think the best evidence that it is widespread is the Democrats’ hysterical reaction to every effort to protect ballot integrity–including, now, threats by Obama’s Department of Justice to persecute states that try to prevent voter fraud.

It sounds as if we need to demand voter ID if we want an honest election in 2012. Otherwise we are taking another step in the direction of becoming a banana republic.

 

 

 

 

 

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This is a graph from the Cato Institute posted by John Hinderaker at Power Line yesterday.

The article includes the following comments:

The following numbers come from the Economic Freedom of the World, which looks at all facets of economic policy, including regulation, trade policy, monetary policy, fiscal policy, rule of law, and property rights.

* Chile’s score jumped from 5.6 in 1980 to 8.0 in 2008, and the country now ranks as the world’s 4th-freest economy (ahead of the United States!).

* Argentina’s ranking has improved a bit, rising from 4.4 to 6.0 between 1980 and 2008, but that still only puts them in 94th-place in the world rankings.

* Venezuela, by contrast, is embarrassingly bad. The nation’s score has dropped from 6.3 to 4.4, and its ranking has plunged from 22nd-place in 1980 to 121st-place in 2006.

We have a choice in 2012. Which way do we want to go?

 

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The Experts Talk About New Hampshire

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Congressman Poe and Governor Mitt Romney

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National Review Online posted an article today by a number of its political pundits on the meaning of the results of the New Hampshire Primary. I will try to summarize, but please follow the link to the article–it is very informative.

Hunter Baker stated that Mitt Romney benefited by the winner in New Hampshire being declared early–more people saw him give his victory speech, and the speech was very effective.

Mona Charen pointed out that both Iowa and New Hampshire chose Romney. She also noted that the attacks on capitalism from Newt Gingrich may have helped shore up Mitt Romney’s conservative credentials. Regardless of how you feel about Mitt Romney, you have to admit that he is a capitalist!

Jim Geraghty points out that after the Romney win in New Hampshire, the only viable opponent to Mitt Romney is Rick Santorum. Mr. Geraghty wonders if Senator Sentorum will be able to overcome the Romney momentum.

Hugh Hewitt also agrees that Santorum is the only other candidate who could possibly beat Mitt Romney. He states that Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich ended their campaigns when they went after Romney and Bain Capital. Mr. Hewitt ends his comments with the question, “So who does Jim DeMint endorse?” Interesting question.

Kathryn Jean Lopez also comments that the attacks by Newt Gingrich helped Mitt Romney from his candidacy as a defense of capitalism. This is the beginning of the narrative Mitt Romney will use in his run against President Obama.

Grover Norquist takes a different approach. He has three suggestions for Mitt Romney–who to choose for a running mate, who to choose for a chief-of-staff, and to convince Ron Paul to speak at the Republican convention. He believes the Romney needs to include Ron Paul in order to insure that Ron Paul does not run as a third-party candidate.

Henry Olsen stated that the strong victory in New Hampshire almost assures that Mitt Romney will be the candidate. He makes an interesting observation though:

Jon Huntsman? He carried only four groups — those who consider themselves Democrats, those who strongly oppose the Tea Party, those who are satisfied with Obama, and those who are dissatisfied with the GOP candidates. ’Nuff said.

Great comment.

John J. Pitney commented on the morphing of Newt Gingrich into Michael Moore. Mr. Pitney states that he hopes Newt will go back to being the Newt we saw early in the campaign–focusing more on attacking President Obama than attacking fellow Republicans.

Cal Thomas notes that Mitt Romney is well on his way to being the Republican nominee for President. Although he is not universally loved, the other candidates will be running out of money and organization soon. Mr. Thomas notes that it is still a long way to the White House.

Now, my comments. I live in Massachusetts. Governor Romney was a good governor. He did not move the state in a conservative direction (it’s Massachusetts, I am not sure that is possible, we are one of two states that voted for George McGovern for President!) He is an honest, hard-working man. If he is elected, I am sure he will do everything in his power to rescue the American economy, and I believe that he has the knowledge and work ethic to do that. He is not my first choice, but I believe that he is a good choice.

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Things To Watch In The 2012 Campaign

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President Obama had two powerful weapons in the 2008 campaign–one was the fact that the country was war-weary and the constant attacks on George W. Bush and the Republicans were beginning to bear fruit. The other was the fact that the country knew very little about Barack Obama and the news media made sure it stayed that way. One pesky little fact that kept on coming up on conservative talk radio shows was President Obama’s 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ pastored by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Big Government posted a story today about a recent speech by David Axelrod in which “Axelrod described the initial news reports in 2008 on Obama’s long-time family pastor and mentor as “ninety seconds of vitriol plucked from thirty years of sermons by some enterprising opposition researcher.””

Please follow the link above to see the video of some of the preaching of the Reverend Wright.

The article at Big Government concludes:

Clearly, Axelrod’s purpose was not to inform, but to inspire. He suggested that Obama would reiterate the “hope and change” message of his 2008 campaign in 2012, and would emphasize economic equality as well as economic growth.

Axelrod’s defense of Jeremiah Wright, however, is a sign that the Obama camp is still resisting and obscuring the degree to which Obama’s own inspirations and ideas remain outside the political mainstream.

There will be a lot of lies told on the campaign trail. We need to learn to sort the lies and the spin from the actual truth.

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One Of The Reasons Our Students Are Not Doing Well

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Yesterday’s Daily Caller posted an article called, “What my seventh-grade daughter learned during her school’s “sustainability day.” The students watched a video called “The Story of Stuff.” The basic premise of the video is that we are destroying the planet because of our consumerism. The article lists a few of the points made in the video and then explains how the basic facts (thus the conclusions) are wrong. Please follow the link to the article to see the details. The video is by Annie Leonard and is also on YouTube. This is all a part of the brainwashing needed to get America ready for UN Agenda 21. I have done articles on Agenda 21 in the past (rightwinggranny.com). We need to make sure our children hear the truth at home–they are not hearing it in the classroom.

It has always been interesting to me that those who are criticizing us average people for consumerism seem to have more stuff than the rest of us. There was a dust-up this week about a very exclusive Halloween party at the White House as the American economy was rapidly heading south. Al Gore talks about carbon footprints, but maintains a lifestyle that creates a larger carbon footprint in a day than most of us do in a year. Mucky-mucks travel to conferences on carbon emissions in private jets. I might be inclined to take some of this talk much more seriously if the people talking followed their own advice.

 

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Why We All Need To Pay Attention To The People Around Us

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Unfortunately, terrorism isn’t someone else’s problem–it’s ours. According to Fox News in Tampa Bay, Florida, Sami Osmakac has been arrested in Florida and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Mr. Osmakac is a naturalized American citizen from Kosovo.

CBN News reports that:

The U.S. Department of Justice said Osmakac recorded an eight-minute video shortly before his arrest, saying he wanted to bring terror to his “victims’ hearts” and get “payback” for the wrongs he felt were done to Muslims.

The irony here is that the United States intervened in the former Yugoslavia to stop the killing of Muslims.

Fox News reports:

Among Osmakac’s alleged bomb targets were nightclubs in the Ybor City area of Tampa, the operations center of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Ybor City, and a business in the South Tampa area.

As part of the second portion of his planned attack, Osmakac allegedly told the undercover FBI employee that, after the car bomb was detonated, he wanted to wear an explosive belt and “get in somewhere where there’s a lot of people” and take hostages.

I simply don’t understand the need to kill innocent people in the name of Allah.

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We Need To Stop Screaming About Wall Street Greed And Start Screaming About College Greed

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The Texas Tech University College of Education...

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Yesterday The Daily posted an article about the rising cost of a college education. The numbers are startling. The class of 2034 faces a college bill for a top college of $422,320 in today’s dollars.

The article reports:

The Daily analyzed historical, inflation-adjusted price data from the College Board to see what a bachelor’s degree might cost the class of 2034 in 2011 dollars. The result: Total tuition and fees would top $232,000 for an average-priced four-year private college and nearly $81,000 at an average-priced public university — up 111 percent and 167 percent, respectively, from the average class of 2012 tuition.

Room and board brings the average price of a four-year college education up to a projected $288,000 in 2011 dollars for four years beginning in 2030 at an average private school and $123,000 at an average public school. The class of 2012 paid about $149,195 for a private school and $64,591 at a public university, according to College Board data.

The solution to this problem is NOT government regulation or intervention. This is a case where the free market will actually correct itself (if allowed to). The government has intervened with financial aid programs and loan programs that have allowed tuition and costs to be raised, but as the Occupy Wall Street people complained, it has also caused many students to graduate from college with crippling debt. The free market correction, if it is allowed to occur, will be fewer students going to the more expensive colleges and those colleges being forced to cut their budgets and their tuition. Unfortunately, the student loan and grant programs, as much as they allowed lower-income students to attend college (a good thing), also resulted in inflated tuition costs. It’s time to let the free market bring balance back to the cost of a college education. 

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In Egypt Nobody Is Above The Law

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No one is above the law in the new Egypt; however, we might want to take a close look at what the law says.

Today’s U.K. Telegraph reports that Naguib Sawiris, Egypt’s richest man, is to be tried for retweeting a cartoon showing Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie Mouse wearing a black face-veil (as worn by the Salafis).

The article reports:

The case against Mr Sawiris, owner of the Orascom business empire and the country’s most prominent Christian, was filed originally by a group of lawyers affiliated to the radical Salafi Islamist movement. Few expected it to be taken up by the prosecuting authorities.

But the Salafis have become a powerful force in the new Egypt after sweeping to second place behind the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Freedom and Justice Party in elections. They are pushing for tighter implementation if not a rewriting of Egypt’s constitution, which is supposed to be based on the principles of Sharia law.

The fact that Mr. Sawiris is actually going to be tried is a result of the “Arab Spring” in Egypt. It really doesn’t sound as if democracy and freedom are taking root.

The article quotes Mamdouh Ismail, a member of the once-banned Gamaa Islamiya, who commented that he didn’t really expect the case to actually move forward. He also stated, “This shows that after the revolution nobody is above the law.”

Frankly, it is a little disconcerting to watch that law evolve.

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