Hillary Exposed for What She Is at Recent Debate: The Undisputed Queen of Flip-Floppers

Senator Clinton had a disastrous performance at the NBC Presidential Debate on Tuesday; the other candidates zeroed in on her two-minute flip-flops on positions and her non-committal responses to the questions.

A note to Senator Clinton: when one is taking both sides, one does not attempt do in front of the same audience within a two-minute time period. This was ASTONISHING to see. Did she not learn anything from "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" line of John Kerry in 2004?

As much as I don't care for his politics, Tim Russert correctly went after Hillary after she started playing both sides of the issues. Clinton's campaign teams were heard muttering that the moderator needed to be shot in a pathetic attempt at damage control. Perhaps if they did their jobs in preparing their candidate, they wouldn't have to shoot the moderator.

Poor Russert. Clinton wants to shoot him. And we still don't know where she stands; only that she's running against President Bush. Bush was mentioned 40 times during the debate; 25 of those mentions were by Hillary while she was busy dodging questions over what she stood for.

I think she knows Bush's positions better than she knows her own.

Law of the Seas Treaty (LOST) Needs to Get Lost: Both Houses Should Reject Treaty Immediately

The Law of the Seas Treaty (LOST) is an abomination in it's current form and should be rejected by the United States, not ratified.

The only things this treaty should address are piracy, war, salvage rights, emergency protocols on the high seas, and establishment of territorial waters.

If the U.N. wants to have treaties on protecting the oceans, preventing pollution, demilitarization of the high seas, placing all undersea mining operations under U.N. control, taxation, making the U.S. pay for the entire treaty (as the current version does), and giving the U.N. the right of eminent domain to give new technology to enemy countries, then the U.N. should draw up separate treaties and present them to members, not bind them into an over-broad LOST agreement.

And the fact that the world expects the US to pay for the treaty is ludicrous! The Senate needs to throw this treaty out the nearest window without a signature on it.

Here We Go Again: Michigan's Temporary Budget Expires in Five Days With Potential for Another Government Shutdown

Well, here we go again.

Michigan's budget crisis is back in our faces again. Legislators have failed to pass a single part of the seventeen-part budget since they got Governor Granholm to agree to a month-long extension of last year's budget 26 days ago.

And once again, Michigan is looking at the possibility of another government shutdown.

Both sides insist progress is being made and have adjourned until Monday.

They had better be right; because the sooner they pass it the sooner they can get into remedial communications classes to address their problems in talking with one another.

Russian Greed is Fueling Race to Claim North Pole Oil: They're Having Trouble Getting Oil Produced in Oil Fields They Already Have, & They Need More?

Russia's claim to the North Pole is being fueled by greed. Nothing else.

They have trouble getting oil out of the ground in their current oil fields, and they need more? That's about as ludicrous as Iran needing nuclear power.

Russia should live up to it's treaty obligations and stop this nonsense. And so should every other power currently jockeying for positions at the top of the world.

S-CHIP Nonsense: Program Doesn't Need to Have Budget Doubled: Just Kick the Adults Off and Into Medicaid and Use the Savings to Help More Kids---DUH!!

I'm getting fed up with this S-CHIP insurance nonsense.

Kick the adults off of it and put them into Medicaid. Then there'll be plenty of money to take care of kids. 700,000 adults are in the S-CHIP program; yet 500,000 eligible children are not.

DUH??!

First Medal Of Honor of Afghan War Awarded to Navy SEAL: Parents Accept Postumous Award

The first Medal of Honor of the Afghan War has been awarded to a deceased Navy SEAL whose team came under heavy Taliban attack in 2005. Lt. Michael P. Murphy died while calling for help for his four-man team that was outnumbered and surrounded by Taliban forces in a remote region of Afghanistan.

Two additional SEALs in his team died in the battle, and the chopper sent to rescue them was also shot down, killing all sixteen commandos and crew aboard. It was a disastrous day for U.S. Special Forces, but the nation chose to honor Lt. Murphy's courage and valor under enemy fire.

President Bush awarded the Medal to Lt. Murphy's parents in the White House on Monday.

The citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005.

While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged, enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy's team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team.

Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of his team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into an open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team.

In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

"No" to Fred Thompson Too: Part-Time Campaign Won't Be Enough to Beat His Republican Rivals Now or Hillary in the General Election

Fred Thompson is not the man that conservatives were waiting for.

His part-time campaign is a joke at best. He's putting minimal preparation time in to campaigning, minimal appearances, and when Thompson chooses to appear, he delivers a five minute speech on what his vision of the country's direction will be. Five minutes??! His INTRODUCTION by a master of ceremonies takes five minutes, and Thompson's making five-minute speeches about his vision for America? A Boy Scout working on Communications Merit Badge can do THAT.

Where's the beef, Fred?

His GOP rivals are going to eat him alive if he keeps that up. And that's to say nothing of Hillary's well-oiled campaign machine waiting in the wings for whomever the GOP candidate will be. But I don't think it's going to be Fred.

The Sign that Says It All

Letter to Limbaugh from Senate Condemning Him Up to $800,000+ on E-Bay; Profits to be Donated to Charity

Rush Limbaugh is maximizing the splash from the Senate's "phony soldier" maxi-screw up by putting the letter that the Senate sent to his employer on E-Bay.

To recap, here's a partial write-up of an earlier post:

...Limbaugh was commenting on a soldier who had reported seeing/participating in atrocities in Iraq on a recently completed tour. The problem was that this "soldier" wasn't a soldier at all, and had never been in Iraq. Limbaugh referred to him--truthfully I might add--as a "phony soldier," and was immediately attacked by Media Matters and the usual crowd--as being an anti-military commentator who was going after soldiers who were opposed to the Iraq War. Again, several of the networks picked up the story and ran with it as their lead story for several days. Then the Senate Democrats got involved, demanding that Limbaugh and the company that syndicates his national radio show, Clear Channel Communications Inc., retract the "phony soldier" comment immediately. Senate Majority Leader Reid made a speech on the floor of the Senate, as did several of his colleagues. They even went so far as to sidetrack their already-sidetracked agenda and put together a letter that condemned Limbaugh and demanded the retraction. Forty-one Democratic Senators signed the letter.

The letter is up to over $800,000 on E-Bay. Profits are to be donated to a fund for the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which sees to the education children of Marines and law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

This letter is somewhat historical, as it is a very public attack (based on blatant lies) on a private citizen by part of the U.S. Congress. I hope it is bought by someone who will see to it that this document is displayed publicly and prominently as an example of politics run amok in Washington.

Sex Offenders Told Not to Participate in Trick or Treat Festivities: This is a Smart Move on Part of Law Enforcement Officials

Communities in many areas of the country are telling sex offenders to stay away from young people who are out trick or treating on Halloween.

This is a smart play on the part of law enforcement officials in those communities to help protect kids. They are also calling on parents to go with their kids. This is in response to recent child abduction cases that have captured national headlines.

At least ten states have "No Candy" regulations in place for Halloween; why don't all fifty states have them?

Iraq Orders Blackwater To Pack Up and Leave: U.S. Investigation Continuing

The Iraqi government has ordered mercenary outfit Blackwater USA out of the country over the shooting of nearly two dozen Iraqi non-combatants last month.

Their current contract will expire in May, though the Iraqis seem ready to demand that they leave much sooner than that. The State Department investigation is still ongoing, and SecState Rice will decide what happens next.

It's time for the mercenaries to find work elsewhere and not at U.S. taxpayer expense.

Nation Welcomes Dalai Lama to Washington: Religion-Banning Communist Heathens in Beijing Protest Visit

The White House and Congress welcomed the Dalai Lama to Washington and awarded him a Congressional Gold Medal, while the communist government in Beijing demanded that he not be awarded the medal, which is the highest civilian honor in this country.

China ought to get over it and engage the Dalai Lama in conversation, not try to control him.

And they can begin by returning the right of self-rule to Tibet and pulling it's troops out of there, immediately and forever.

And perhaps they ought to allow their own people to practice religion instead of suppressing it.

Get with the program, China.

Current Primary System Should Be Abolished in Favor of One National Primary Day: System is Over-Generous to Four States at the Expense of 46 Others

I'm in favor of abolishing the current primary system and establishing a single national primary day, where all states vote on the same day. No special consideration will be given to Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire, or Nevada.

The current system is unfair to the other 46 states that have issues of their own and will vote their own way regardless of what happens in the four favored states. Get rid of this system!

And the parties (the Democrats) ought to quit punishing Michigan and Florida for challenging the status quo. Shame on them for disenfranchising voters after CRYING about having all those disenfranchised voters in Florida in 2000, who they've turned on, by the way.

Hypocrites!

Nation Cannot Afford Hillary's Plan to Buy Off the Middle Class for Votes: We Need Someone Who Will Make CUTS to Spending, Not Shift It Around

Senator Clinton's statement "I have a million ideas. The country can't afford them all" is a major problem for the health of the country's budget.

She's already proposed $763 billion in new spending for her first term if she's elected. What's she going to cut to keep the budget in balance? Or is she simply going to move spending around from old programs to her new ones?

Recall Efforts Begin Against Members of Michigan's Legislature Who Voted for Tax Increases

An anti-tax group has launched recall efforts against five Democrats and five Republicans for their support of an increased income tax as part of Michigan's continuing budget crisis.

The governor has also not been formally targeted for recall yet, but at least two web sites are calling for it. Should be interesting to watch.

Presidential Candidates Who Boycott Michigan's Primary Shouldn't Be Accepting Michigan Campaign Money Either: They Should Return Money Given to Them

I don't think that any candidate who has pulled out of Michigan's primary should be accepting Michigan campaign donations either. They should return all monies donated to them by now-disenfranchised Michigan voters.

That includes the campaigns of Obama, Edwards, Richardson, and Biden.

A note to Michigan voters: vote for the other party or 3rd party if any of these people win the Democratic nomination. They're not worthy of your vote.

Parents Need to Monitor the Myspace Profiles of their Kids: They Put Phone Numbers, Addresses and Other Information in Plain Site for All to See

Myspace needs to do more to protect kids from themselves, and parents need to WATCH WATCH WATCH what their kids are putting up there.

I think Myspace should set the profiles of anyone under the age of 16 to "private" for starters. If a profile is set to private, a user has to have the profile owner's permission to view all the information contained there. If it's set to public, anyone on the planet can see the information at will.

Parents need to know that kids put their phone numbers and whatever else on their profiles for all to see, including predators. Once someone has a phone number, they can get an address through the Internet. It can be done in moments.

The amount of personal contact information given away on some public profiles is astonishing. Kids are more vulnerable, and parents need to get a handle on this problem. And Myspace and other social networking sites need to help them do it.

Michigan Advertising Company Hunts Bloggers Who Blogged Against It: First Amendment Rights vs. Slander vs. Privacy Issues Case Taking Shape

A Michigan advertising company has sued thirty unknown bloggers for going after it on their blogs, in forums, and on YouTube.

They've also gone after Internet Service Providers (ISP's) to provide them with identities of all thirty "John Does" and to help them identify who posted things about them on YouTube.

The company believes that it is part of a smear campaign by former distributors of theirs whose contracts were terminated by the company some time before. They've already beaten a lawsuit by former businesses that associated with them who claim that the Michigan company is part of some kind of pyramid and is illegal.

This is shaping up to be an interesting case that pits free speech vs. a possible slander against the company vs. privacy rights in general.

Some thoughts:

If this is a smear campaign on the part of some of their former or current employees, I don't care what the company does.

If they're wrong, and the bloggers are people who simply don't like their company or their products, then they should be left alone, which the company has said it would do. We'll see.

Should be interesting to see what happens.

Democratic Memo to Staffers on Getting Innoculations Before Going to NASCAR Races Has to Be a Joke: It Can't Be Real

This is one of those stories that are almost unbelievable.

Almost.

A staffer with the House Committee on Homeland Security sent out a memo to fellow staffers advising them to get inoculated before attending NASCAR races in Alabama and in North Carolina. Among the innoculations needed: Hepatitus A & B, tetanus, diphtheria, influenza, and others.

NASCAR fans responded by suggesting that NASCAR fans get inoculated against Congressional visits.

At first I thought it was a private e-mail/joke that became public, but apparently it's real. And the Republicans are sniping at the Democrats over it too. Both sides are going after NASCAR fans for support in the elections, but this error could cost the Democrats some potential undecided voters.

It's been interesting watching this unfold.

iBrick/iPhone Controversy: Some Observations

It's been nearly three months since the roll out of the overpriced Apple iPhone and a lot of things have happened since then. When the phone was made available for sale, people waited in lines for hours to spend hundreds of dollars on these phones, and the level of hype was nearly unparalleled.

Along with the iPhone, customers had to sign a two-year deal with AT&T in order to activate it. There was no small amount of grumbling on this point.

Then someone discovered a way to get around the Apple/AT&T alliance and altered their iPhone so that it could be used on other networks, such as Sprint. This is referred to as "unlocking the iPhone." Tens of thousands of iPhone owners followed suit, and the customer revolt was on. Third-party applications began appearing on the unlocked iPhones as the owners began installing software that Apple didn't approve of, and that a locked iPhone would prevent from being installed in the first place.

Apple fired back and released an update (Version 1.1.1) which disabled all altered iPhones that downloaded the update and turned the iPhones in question into "iBricks" which is a nickname for a disabled iPhone.

Within a week, hackers had figured out how to reverse Upgrade 1.1.1 and re-unlock the iPhones.

Some observations: I am of the opinion that Apple users and Apple Inc. think that they're smarter than one another. This point is playing out before our very eyes.

Think about it: Apple worked for years on the iPhone project, and then released it. iPhone owners figured out how to unlock the iPhone so it works on other networks and can use third-party software; Apple engineers figured out how to shut the altered iPhones down for their owners violating their user agreements (under the guise of improving stability of the iPhone and to offer more features), and hackers rolled back Upgrade 1.1.1 to re-enable their altered iPhones. The level of sheer brainpower being deployed by both sides is simply amazing to behold.

While the chess match taking place between iPhone owners and engineers at Apple is fascinating to watch, a lot of questions have been raised by this controversy.

Questions such as:

• Does Apple have a right to pick the cell phone network for the person who's spending hundreds of dollars buying the iPhone?
  
  
• Do iPhone users have the right to violate an agreement that they agree to simply by opening the box? And does Apple have the right to enforce an agreement that doesn't require the signature of the owner on a contract at the time of purchase?
  
  
• Does Apple have the right to disable the private property of their customers? Once money changes hands, an iPhone becomes a person's property. Doesn't it? My experience in retail tells me "yes it does."
  
  
• What do iPhone users end up with if they sign a two-year agreement with AT&T and then decide to unlock their iPhone? Monthly payments for 24 months, whether or not they're using the network. I know of one person who's in this very situation. They are now graced with two cell phone bills a month, and an iPhone that is no longer operational. I've used the term "idiot" in conversations with him when he moans about paying for nothing.

I'm officially neutral on this entire issue, but will watch the developments in the coming months with great interest.

Murtha Needs to Apologize to Exonerated Marines in Haditha Case: Former Marine or Not, He's Made a Mockery of Our System of Justice

For those that don't remember, United States Marines were accused by Time magazine and local Iraqis of slaughtering a family in the vicinity of Haditha, Iraq, back in 2005. The Marine Corps launched an investigation after the story broke, and Representative Jack Murtha took to the floor of the House and said the following:

"It's much worse than reported in Time magazine. There was no fire fight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. And that's what the report is going to tell.

Now, you can imagine the impact this is going to have on those troops for the rest of their lives and for the United States in our war and our effort in trying to win the hearts and minds."

Note: the Marines had just launched their investigation, and no report was going to be made for months. The Marines decided that there was enough evidence to bring charges against eight of their fellows who were in the vicinity at the time. Almost immediately, the case began to fall apart.

It was alleged that the Marines invaded a house and began murdering people inside of it following an IED attack on their Marine unit, which resulted in the death of one of their squad members.

As the investigation progressed, investigators did blood tests to see if everyone was related. As it turned out, they were not. They also discovered that several people in the house were killed elsewhere, and at different times. Iraqi citizens contradicted their original statements and began changing their stories. Charges have been subsequently dropped or modified to lesser ones.

One of the accused Marines, the leader of the squad, accused and now exonerated, has sued Rep. Murtha for invasion of privacy, and for libel. No one's sure where that will end up.

At the very least, Murtha needs to apologize for trying the Marines in the court of public opinion just to score political points on President Bush. Murtha clearly jumped the gun in accusing the Marines, and he should be held accountable for that. And the sooner he does apologize for his blatant political rhetoric in this instance, the better. He's made a mockery of our criminal justice system, where the accused is innocent until PROVEN guilty, and that definitely hasn't happened.

Shame on Murtha!

U.S. Hiring of Mercenaries Needs to End: Blackwater Situation is Tip of Iceberg

There has been an ongoing debate as to whether or not security companies like Blackwater USA are, in fact, mercenary outfits.

Under the definitions adopted by UN Resolution 44/34, a mercenary is defined as this:

1. A mercenary is any person who:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;

(b) Is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party;

(c) Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict;

(d) Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and

(e) Has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

2. A mercenary is also any person who, in any other situation:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad for the purpose of participating in a concerted act of violence aimed at:

(i) Overthrowing a Government or otherwise undermining the constitutional order of a State; or

(ii) Undermining the territorial integrity of a State;

(b) Is motivated to take part therein essentially by the desire for significant private gain and is prompted by the promise or payment of material compensation;

(c) Is neither a national nor a resident of the State against which such an act is directed;

(d) Has not been sent by a State on official duty; and

(e) Is not a member of the armed forces of the State on whose territory the act is undertaken.

Private Military Companies (PMCs) like Blackwater fit several of these descriptions. Note item #s 1b, 1d, 1e, 2b, 2c, and 2e. Part of 1c also applies. Item 2a(ii) is occurring unintentionally as Iraq is already unstable and deteriorating.


Some points:

• These security companies that are being used in Iraq ARE mercenaries under international law as outlined above. "Security contractors" is merely window dressing in PC talk.
  
• We don't pay our soldiers enough. They're good enough to be shot at, but not good enough to be paid well for their trouble? That's DISGRACEFUL.
  
• We pay soldiers for hire way too much. Period. The State Department should be using it's own people to protect their diplomats in Iraq, or work with the military to assign active duty troops to do it.
  
• The United States is not a party to the treaty that Resolution 44/34 establishes--the U.N. Mercenary Convention. That needs to change as this conflict begins to wind down and more troops begin to come home in 2008. The U.S. needs to sign this treaty.
• Iraq is trying to establish the rule of law in it's own territory, and having a mercenary army of 48,000 men not under their control or their laws firing indiscriminately at people isn't making matters any easier. It's fueling the insurgency and making matters worse.
  

In short, employing mercenaries isn't something that our government should be engaging in. And making them exempt from Iraqi laws while Iraq was under the direct control of the Coalition Provisional Authority has only added to the problems.

I think there's enough work around the world for these security companies to find and profit off of without getting entangled in parts of the world where the U.S. military is in action.

Ultra-Left Launches Two-Pronged Smear Campaigns Against Conservative Commentators; Senate Democrats Foolishly Get Involved

The ultra-left has gone after Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh with smear campaigns in the last few weeks that Senate Democrats found irresistible to avoid. They're on the wrong side--again.

Some background...Bill O'Reilly was on his radio show and was expressing his surprise at a recent visit to a Harlem-area diner, in which he saw that minority-population customers acted like everyone else. The Democratic organization Media Matters posted a clip of the clip on their web site and CNN and MSNBC jumped on the story a few days later, running it as their lead stories last week, making suggestions that O'Reilly was a racist.

O'Reilly fired back hard and other Conservative commentators--Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity--came to his defense.

Then this week, Limbaugh was commenting on a soldier who had reported seeing/participating in atrocities in Iraq on a recently completed tour. The problem was that this "soldier" wasn't a soldier at all, and had never been in Iraq. Limbaugh referred to him--truthfully I might add--as a "phony soldier," and was immediately attacked by Media Matters and the usual crowd--as being an anti-military commentator who was going after soldiers who were opposed to the Iraq War. Again, several of the networks picked up the story and ran with it as their lead story for several days.

Then the Senate Democrats got involved, demanding that Limbaugh and the company that syndicates his national radio show, Clear Channel Communications Inc., retract the "phony soldier" comment immediately. Senate Majority Leader Reid made a speech on the floor of the Senate, as did several of his colleagues. They even went so far as to sidetrack their already-sidetracked agenda and put together a letter that condemned Limbaugh and demanded the retraction. Forty-one Democratic Senators signed the letter.

I have a few things to say about that.

O'Reilly kind of screwed up by using words that had double-meanings. He should have thought twice about revealing his apparent ignorance, but the clip of the clip used by the media and Media Matters was unfair. They didn't bother playing what O'Reilly said before and after the comment in question.

Limbaugh didn't screw up. It's the Senate Democrats who royally screwed up by going on with such a blatant lie. Their condemnation of Rush (a private citizen--not an elected official) during Senate working hours is further testimony to Reid's failed leadership, the derailed Democratic agenda, and the ineptitude of the Democratic majority to recover their lost momentum. Furthermore, the Democrats who signed Reid's letter are accomplices of the lies told by one man who is a "phony soldier." The words "swindlers" and "liars" fit in here somewhere.

The smart Democrats were the ones who didn't sign Reid's letter.

I object to taxpayer resources and time being used in the manner that the Senate Democrats have displayed in the last couple of days. It's the Democrats who should apologize to Limbaugh and to their constituents for participating in this utter farce.

Michigan Government Shuts Down, Then Opens for Business After Budget Deal Reached

Michigan shut down for a few hours early on Monday morning before a budget deal was reached at around 4am this morning.

It's about time!

Under the deal, the income tax will be increased, and some services will be required to charge a 6% state sales tax.

Now, then, I think that every member of the state house and senate should not run for re-election. Their utter stupidity and failure to communicate brought us to the brink of not having a government running the day-to-day operations of the state. Posturing for brownie points for MONTHS, blaming the other side, accepting no blame for their own actions--it's a political problem that requires action.

They should redeem themselves by not running for office again. The current officeholders are unworthy of the authority that the voters have bestowed on them. This should have been agreed to weeks or months ago, not four hours into a SHUTDOWN OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT.

Shame on ALL OF THEM!