Russians Believe U.S. Shoot-Down of Dead Satellite is Test of Anti-Ballistic Missile System: They'll Kill a Bird Next

The Russian Federation has accused the U.S. of testing part of it's anti-ballistic missile capability with the planned shoot-down of a dead U.S. spy satellite. Since China tested an anti-satellite weapon a few months ago, and the U.S. is taking a bird down now, how long can it be before Russia decides to demonstrate the might of it's own weapons?

It's very likely that the Russians will destroy one of their own satellites to prove to the U.S. and China that it's in the ballgame too, and can destroy enemy surveillance and communications satellites at will. And this will in turn raise U.S./Russian tensions even further.

The Bush Administration may want to rethink this planned shoot-down. It's going to provoke the Russians; they're already agitated enough with the placement of U.S. anti-ballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic to threaten to target Russian nuclear missiles on both nations. They've also threatened to target missiles on Ukraine if it joins NATO.

We have a space shuttle up there right now; why can't they re-task the Atlantis to retrieve the satellite and drag it to a higher orbit, or bring it back to Earth? That's what the damned thing is designed for, after all.

President Bush needs to settle down and stop pushing the Russians around. They've returned to a Cold War mentality; we need to as well, and try to avoid taking steps that will blow both countries to kingdom come.

NO New Primary Votes in Michigan or Florida: DNC Needs to Reap What It Sows

Well, well, well.

Look at who's crying about the deadlock in the Democratic Party. Waaah!!

Music to my ears. Because the Democratic National Committee screwed with Michigan and Florida, I am opposed to those two states riding in to save the day. By all means, don't seat those two delegations, Mr. Dean and Mrs. Pelosi. Stick to your guns.

They've REALLY earned this. It's poetic justice.

If they do decide to do a revote, the DNC should pay for the elections in their entirety. The disenfranchised voters in those two states should not have to pay a single penny for the DNC screwup. Maybe next time they'll be more flexible in their response to states standing up to the corrupt system currently in place.

Before that happens, they need to get rid of their top leadership. They're USELESS and CLUELESS!

Danish Newspapers React to Murder Plot by Reprinting Offensive Muhammed Cartoons: How Many Will Die This Time?

Stupid IS as stupid does.

Danish newspapers have signed the death warrants of an as-yet undetermined number of innocent people--again--by reprinting a number of offensive Muhammed cartoons.

This was in response to an extremist plot to murder the cartoonist who drew the cartoons originally. After a number of Western newspapers printed the cartoons, violent protests broke out in January and February 2006 across the Muslim world. Western embassies and Christian churches were set afire, and one hundred people were murdered during the riots.

How many people are going to die this time, once the riots are kicked into high gear again? These newspapers know full well what's going to happen, but they did it anyways, in the name of free speech. And newspapers across Europe are preparing to follow suit.

The protests have already begun; there have been protests in the Danish capitol, in the Gaza Strip, and in unstable Pakistan. Once they get printed again in more papers, the protests will spread.

STUPID!!

Final Post on Clemens Testimony Before Congress: Hearing Made No Difference in Determining Whether Security Bill Vote Was Scheduled or Not

I've been hearing rumblings in the last several days about Congress wasting time on pro baseball while the FISA bill is set to sunset tomorrow. I'm so-so on that point.

FISA is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows for electronic monitoring, physical searches, wiretapping and business record access with the permission of a special federal court. It expires at midnight.

The Senate passed a version with legal protection for phone companies that have cooperated with the U.S. government against dozens of pending lawsuits; the House went on a twelve-day vacation without bringing it up. And the blame game between the White House and the House of Representatives has been in full-swing ever since.

With regards to the baseball hearing, the truth is that the FISA bill was not going to be approved or disapproved in the five-hour span that the nation's attention was focused on Congressman Waxman's committee hearing on baseball. Nor was the presence or absence of the second stringers involved in that committee going to turn the tide of whether the House voted on FISA or not, either.

If a House leader who could schedule a vote on FISA was on that committee questioning Clemens and McNamee, then there would be some hell to pay. But there wasn't a senior member of the House leadership, such as Nancy Pelosi, present.

So the baseball hearing had no impact on the impending expiration of FISA. One had nothing to do with the other. The House leadership decided days ago that they were not going to bring up FISA until after their midwinter break. That's what really happened.

More on Clemens vs. McNamee: Justice Department Needs to Make an Example Out of One or Both of Them

In the case of Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee appearing before Congress to give testimony while under oath, one of them MUST suffer the consequences for decisions that they've made in relation to that testimony.

Because one of them lied while under oath. Either McNamee injected Clemens with illegal substances, or he didn't. There's no in-between possible. McNamee lied, or Clemens lied.

It's obvious that one of these men, by blatantly lying while under oath, has attempted to make a mockery of our legal processes. And the scales of justice need to be brought back into balance.

While it's true that this was no court of law, an oath to tell the truth before Congress carries the same weight as someone testifying in a court of law. The only difference is that a judge can find someone in contempt immediately, while Congress must file a complaint with the Justice Department, which can bring charges using their prosecutors. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's how it will play out in this case.

Justice had representatives at that hearing yesterday, so they don't need to wait for Congress to refer the matter to them.

And all of this is on top of the mistruths that both men have already been caught in. Both should face misdemeanor charges; one should face felony charges. I am sick and tired of celebrities getting off light simply because they're celebrities.

This must STOP.

No Clear Victor in Roger Clemens Testimony on Capitol Hill: Pitcher and Trainer Both Claim to Tell Truth While Under Oath

It's been a while since there's been this kind of spectacle on Capitol Hill.

All-star pitcher Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, had their long-anticipated confrontation in front of the cameras, while testifying under oath. They were responding to the Mitchell Report, which outlined professional baseball's drug and steroid problems and named Clemens and others as users of human growth hormone (HGH) and anabolic steroids.

It was a very strange hearing, with both men telling vastly opposite stories and both claiming to be telling the truth while under oath, which is impossible.

A lesson needs to be taught here on what happens to those who lie under oath. Good luck to the powers that be on sorting out the honest one from the liar. But something has to happen here. Someone has lied under oath and needs to answer to that.

Unbelievable spectacle; I'm not sure this was a good use of Congress's time and efforts.

Pelosi Declares a Surge a Total Failure, Despite Major Progress

Looks like Nancy Pelosi is getting ready to own defeat in Iraq again, pronouncing the highly successful surge a "failure" on high.

The surge did what it was supposed to: give the Iraqi government some breathing room to accomplish their political objectives, which, I might add, were imposed upon them by the U.S. Imperial Congress in another flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

For Speaker Pelosi to try to take success away from our troops is, quite frankly, appalling and disingenuous.

For all this talk from the politicians that there's "no military solution in Iraq, only a political one," I haven't seen any mindboggling political solutions to getting Iraq on it's feet and our troops out of there any faster. All I've seen are political deadlines from American politicians directed at their Iraqi counterparts in Baghdad; to which the Iraqi politicians take great delight in thumbing their nose right back at the U.S. Congress.

I'm not sure what's funnier: America's politicians attempting to tell the Iraqis what to do, or the Iraqi practice of ignoring the American deadlines and doing what they want regardless of political pressure coming from Washington. It's more pathetic than funny.

Pelosi has no legs to stand on; she can't get her own party to listen to her; the Administration isn't listening, and the Iraqis sure aren't either. What's she going to do about it?

It's just more of the same coming from Washington.

Homeland Security Department Clashes with Locals Living Along U.S./Mexico Border Over Placement of Fence: Troubling

A wave of litigation seems to be in progress against landowners living along our southern border facing Mexico.

The problem stems from the fact that the federal government is moving forward with plans to build a fence to stem the tide of illegal immigration taking place along many points of the border.

Unfortunately, the government doesn't own all the land that runs along the 1,969-mile long border. It's in private hands, and the government has ordered private landowners in targeted areas of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to allow federal surveyors onto their land to make plans for extending the fence.

Many are refusing the surveyors access as they don't want the fence running across their lands. Some are ranchers who own livestock and rely on the Rio Grande for their water; a fence would cut off their primary--and sometimes only--source of water. Others don't want a fence ruining the scenery.

In any case, many are being sued for their non-compliance with the Homeland Security order.

I support sealing the border, but I also think that the local landowners need to have some input into how to achieve this. I definitely do not support the use of eminent domain to force the issue either. Are the homeowners lords and masters of their own homes, or aren't they?

Building a piece of a fence here and then one there with no connectivity doesn't make sense either. This is very strange.

Constitution Party Launches Media Campaign to Attract Disaffected Conservatives in GOP: Before Jumping Ship, Conservatives Should Investigate Further

I was listening to the "Big Show" on WJIM-AM out of Lansing the other day and heard Michael Patrick Shields interviewing someone from the Constitution Party on the current state of affairs in the Republican Party.

The interview itself was interesting, but I think that before conservatives consider jumping ship from the Republican Party to the Constitution Party that they investigate things a little more. I looked at the Constitution Party a few months ago as I saw which direction things were going to go in the GOP. And after doing that research, I rejected supporting the Constitution Party for the following reasons:

Their national platform and web site looked great. I think that if it were the standard for the entire party that conservatives could jump ship without reservations. But sadly, that's not how the Constitution Party is organized.

I got to the Michigan part of the site and discovered that the site had been taken over by the Michigan Militia, which I don't recognize or support.

The Michigan site began by identifying it's members as Warrior Christians and that their goal was to have two million men under arms by mid-2008. What in the name of Sam Hill for? Last time I checked, Canada wasn't preparing to invade Michigan; nor is the United Nations preparing to take over. So why do we need a standing army of two million men under arms and not taking orders from either the State of Michigan, or the United States government?

So I decided to ignore this party as it was an obvious front for the Michigan Militia, which I am in agreement with on protecting the Second Amendment, but am in serious disagreement with on just about everything else. I do NOT recognize them as being the "well-regulated militia" spoken of in the U.S. Constitution. That's the National Guard, which evolved from the Revolutionary War militias and elements of the Continental Army.

The problem with the Constitution Party is that they lack national cohesion. They're called different parties in different states. Each chapter has it's own rules, with it's own focus. And that's how the Michigan Militia holds sway over the Michigan chapter.

I won't support the Constitution Party as long as the militias are in charge.

Two million men, my afterburner.

Democrats Worried That They Won't Have a Candidate Until Late August: That Possibility Sets Up a PERFECT General Campaign

Democrats are worried that the ongoing battle between Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama will drag on until it's decided by the Democratic National Convention itself in late August. The Democrats are worried that they will have only a two-month general campaign.

That's the PERFECT amount of time for a general election!

I've been railing on the current primary system for many months, saying that the current primary season ends too early and it leads to a prolonged (and overly expensive) general campaign. I ask the question again: do we want a repeat of Bush vs. Kerry, where Kerry got the required votes by March 11th, 2004, and the following 8 1/2 month nightmare of a campaign between Bush and Kerry?

No, two months is perfect for a general campaign; especially since we're going to be treated to a liberal vs. liberal show anyways. We're going to need buckets to catch all the puke that's going to be flying out of our TV sets. Two months is MORE than adequate.

Romney Withdrawal from Campaign is Disappointing: It's a 3-Way Liberal Race Now

Mitt Romney's decision to withdraw from the Presidential campaign was deeply disappointing. He was the last best hope for a conservative nominee to appear on the GOP ticket against Obama or Clinton.

Huckabee doesn't have enough momentum to catch up at this point; he's got 190 delegates vs. McCain's 703 delegates. A candidate needs 1,191 delegates to secure the GOP nomination. He'd have to win a ton of states.

Romney did, however, decide to hold onto his 293 delegates.

I wonder if he isn't trying to swing a deal with McCain--his delegates in exchange for the VP slot. But if Huckabee does pull off a miracle and gets close to McCain's tally, wouldn't it be something if Huckabee and Romney pooled their delegates to knock McCain out? That would be NUTS!

It looks like we're going to have a liberal Republican on the GOP side of the ticket; I'm going to have a lot of new source material.

The question now is...in the event of a McCain nomination, will conservatives fall in line to defeat Hillary in November, or will they stay home and focus on 2012?

Best Superbowl Ads: Terminator vs. Foxbot

The Super Bowl ads were kind of a downer this year. I got the most entertainment out of these ads:

Wasted Season: 18-0 Patriots Blow Super Bowl and Lose to Giants; Overconfidence?

I was listening to a sports commentator on the radio this morning on the undefeated New England Patriots losing to the New York Giants at the Super Bowl last night. He said the Patriots defeat was inevitable--because they were overconfident going into the game.

The commentator said that once a team starts down that road, it has a corrosive effect on their play on the field. They are more prone to making mistakes, which was what happened.

In the last 45 seconds, the Patriots did seem to shut their defense down in preparation for the celebration that was moments away. And then the Giants scored the game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds left on the clock.

It was a stunning turn of events.

Now, I don't watch a lot of NFL football, and I don't know if the commentator was right or not, but I've seen what overconfidence can do to amateur hockey teams. What should have been wins for elite travel teams turned into defeats.

Should be interesting to see what the late night shows say.

"Super-Duper Tuesday??!" Gag Me With a Spoon!

A lot of interesting nicknames have come up for Tuesday's Super Tuesday primaries, which are taking place in 22 states.

Some "genius" came up with "Super-Duper Tuesday." How teen-ish. If I hear a teenager talking about Super Tuesday as "super-duper", I'd consider that normal. But for an adult to use a term like this in serious political discourse really leads me to doubt their command of the English language.

Yes, it's a big primary day on Tuesday, but "Super-Duper Tuesday?" Ga-ga!

Snipes Catches a Lucky Break and Beats IRS Felony Charges: What Will Be the Fallout?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lost a must-win case against actor Wesley Snipes, who was brought up on a slew of federal charges related to income tax fraud. Instead, he was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failure to file income taxes and will be sentenced soon.

Snipes and his anti-tax compatriots had attempted to use arguments that had already been rejected by the courts in other less high-profile cases against income tax evaders. And the defense apparently worked as the jury found Snipes not guilty on the felony charges but stuck him with the misdemeanors.

The IRS decided to make an example of Snipes so that other rich income tax evaders would be discouraged from doing what Snipes did in failing to file.

What will be the fallout from the IRS failure to convict Snipes on the more serious charges? I think it's entirely possible that others will be more encouraged to go against the IRS, rather than be discouraged. His partners drew the felony convictions, but Snipes got let off. I've known two people who believe as Snipes does; the IRS caught up to both of them.

One, a college professor who I've known most of my life, had his wages garnished until he was caught up. I don't know if he still holds to these beliefs. The other is someone who I've met in the last five years. He got a warning letter from the IRS as he had not filed in several years; he decided not to go against the "revenooers" (as he calls them) and got with a specialist, who negotiated with the IRS to get him caught up. He wrote out a big check to the IRS and has filed taxes on time the last two years. Both are lucky that they weren't sent to jail.

I almost wonder if the tax code will be altered due to the potential ramifications of this loss in court. What would have happened if Snipes had gotten off completely? The fall-out from that would have been unbelievable.

Don't look for me to follow Mr. Snipes' example. I've already filed.

MoveOn.org Endorses Obama: This is No Surprise

MoveOn.org members voted to support the candidacy of Barak Obama over Hillary Clinton, by a margin of 70% to 30%.

Even their vote was a little strange as some members of MoveOn reportedly got their ballots the very day that the announcement was made. Not that I really care about that point.

But the fact that 2007's most liberal senator got the endorsement of the most rabid liberal group in the country is no surprise at all. I think Super Tuesday is going to be very interesting to watch. It'll be interesting to see if MoveOn's maneuver helps or hurts Obama.

"So-Called" Should Be on Next Year's LSSU Banished Words List

In commemoration of my 1,000th posting here, I thought I would go after one of my pet peeves.

"So-called" this. "So-called" that.

So-called sucks.

I've nominated "so-called" for consideration to Lake Superior State University's Banned Words listing. It's the most overused phrase in the news media today and projects something in a negative light that the media itself dislikes. It's also a way for them to insert their opinions into a supposed "neutral" story.

"So-called Star Wars" is already on the banished list, but that doesn't go far enough. "So-called" itself has to go.

Some recent examples of how this phrase is used as an attack adjective:

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune--headline reads: "Our so-called stimulus plan: Help where it's needed least."

From MacDailyNews.com--headline reads: "So-called ‘analyst’ finds his ‘missing’ iPhones"

From the UK's Daily Mail--headline reads: "So-called 'friendly' bacteria may be dangerous, according to new research - so which should you be taking?"

From the Bankok Post--article on "Another government, another war on drugs": "The first war on drugs declared by the government of Mr Thaksin from Feb 1 to April 30, 2003 resulted in the deaths of over 2500 so-called drug suspects..."

From the Manila Standard Today--article on the government of the Philippines taking steps to declaring one of the nation's airports the primary gateway to the country: "That was the big news yesterday. But while EO 500-B effectively abolishes restrictions on budget airlines operating in Clark and Subic, the so-called “Open Skies” policy still has restrictions on Ninoy Aquino International Airport."

There are hundreds of articles online with this phrase. Do a Google search on so-called under the news tab; you'll see exactly what I mean.

Many uses of the phrase were in editorials, but more than a few were in news stories and on blogs. I've used the phrase a few times myself but have gone to great lengths to not use it; even to the point of altering entire articles to make use of other more descriptive terms other than "so-called."

If it's a neutral news story, "so-called" has no place in it. The phrase conveys bias under cover of neutrality. That's my opinion on the matter.

Giuliani Leaving the GOP Race is a Step in the Right Direction: He Was Too Socially Liberal

Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the GOP race. This is a positive development and not a negative one, in my opinion.

His liberal views on social issues made my voting for him impossible. I also objected to his calling himself a Reagan Conservative, when he definitely was not. We haven't seen the last of him, though. Odds are that if McCain wins the nomination, Rudy will be his running mate.

McCain's a pretend conservative too. He's not a conservative, and he's in the wrong party.

What a strange situation. Not one of the GOP contenders are who they claim to be. Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama have them beat in terms of stating who they are and what they stand for.

The GOP candidates have to shift gears, FAST.

Bush Goes After Congressional Earmarks: FINALLY!

President Bush is set to sign an Executive Order, directing federal agencies to ignore funding projects that have not been debated or voted on by the Congress.

This is a step in the right direction. Congressional irresponsibility on funding is a major problem that was long overdue for a fix. Promises made by Congress to reign in pork barrel spending have been broken, and the time is right to force the issue.

In addition, President Bush has promised to veto any funding bills that do not reduce under-the-radar additions by half. I suspect that if he holds his ground, there will be some bills being volleyed back and forth between Capitol Hill and the White House.

We'll see if this plan holds water or not. I do wish he had started this at the beginning of his second term, not the end.

This Should be Required Viewing for All Professional Wrestlers

This should be required viewing for ALL professional wrestlers.

It's an interview with longtime wrestling manager Jim Cornette on the downfall of the Von Erich wrestling family and the Texas-based World Class Championship Wresting (WCCW) organization, which the Von Erich family owned.




You may have to turn up the volume to hear the questions.

For those who do not know the story of the Von Erichs, they were a dynasty in the wrestling world through the late 1950s (when Fritz Von Erich got into wrestling) until 1993. Fritz had five wrestling sons: David, Kevin, Kerry, Mike and Chris Von Erich. Their popularity in the Dallas/Fort Worth area was even higher than that of Hulk Hogan in those days.

Things started happening in 1984, when David died at age 25 under highly suspicious circumstances while wrestling in Japan. Wrestler Ric Flair said that it was an accidental drug overdose. Then Mike committed suicide via drug overdose at age 33 in 1987. Chris killed himself at age 21 in 1991. Then Kerry, age 33, the most well known of the Von Erichs, killed himself in 1993 after being busted for drug possession. Four of the five sons were dead; Fritz's wife blamed him for not doing more to save his family (many fans agreed with her) and left him; he died in 1997. Kevin retired from wrestling and never returned to it.

WCCW collapsed in 1990, which was the main point of this interview with Jim Cornette.

The deaths of the Von Erich brothers is considered a turning point in "wrestling world" history and the starting point of all the premature wrestler deaths due to drugs, though there were other deaths prior to the downfall of the Von Erichs. But due to their popularity and the impact this had on the wrestling world, it is widely considered to be the start of the drug problem of wrestling.

You'll notice that many in the media start their wrestler death counts in 1984, when David Von Erich died.

According to Cornette, WCCW died because the Von Erichs were considered superheroes; when their personal issues and drug abuse problems made headlines, people began deserting the organization. When Kerry Von Erich beat Ric Flair in Texas Stadium in 1985 for the NWA world title, some 40,000 fans packed the stadium. Shortly before it went under in 1990, it was drawing under 500 people to some venues.

Cornette gives some great advice to wrestlers of today.

Some Aspects of Heath Ledger's Death Are Very Troubling: Why Was 911 Fifth on the Call List and Not First?

More aspects of how Heath Ledger died have emerged in the last couple of days, and some of the details are deeply disturbing.

According to the police, the masseuse kept trying to call one of the actor's friends at least four times after she discovered Ledger unconscious. 911 was the fifth call made. Of all the idiotic STUPID blunders!

What does one do after determining that a victim is unconscious?

CALL 911!! Not Mary-Kate Olson. DUH!!

We teach that to fifth graders; surely a mature responsible adult knows how to dial 9-1-1. Someone needs to scream at the masseuse. And the housekeeper.

He may have been already dead; he may have been warm and dead, or in a deep coma. We'll never know.

One friggin' disaster after another.

If McCain and Clinton are to be the Choices in November, How Much Change Can We Realistically Expect?

Little to none. It'll be business as usual except that there will either be a pure liberal living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or a liberal-minded "conservative" there.

That's why I think that one of the people running from outside Washington would be a better agent of change, if the candidates are serious about changing the tone of politics there. Insiders like McCain and Clinton are too involved there to be effective at changing the nasty tone in Washington.

And since both are the preferred choices of the liberal news media, that's another major reason to be concerned about this hypothetical John McCain vs. Hillary Clinton match-up.

I don't like the idea at all.

Fred Thompson Drops Out of GOP Race: Ho Hum

Fred Thompson ended his half-campaign for the Republican nomination for President.

I don't think he ever started a real campaign. He slept through most of it, and seemed to expect victory to be handed to him. It didn't happen. It couldn't.

All of the other campaigns are campaigning full-time and are making major inroads with voters. Against that type of effort, a part-time campaign has virtually no chance of success.

I wanted to support him at first, but he became unsupportable due to his lack of a viable campaign. Five minute speeches won't cut it in a Presidential campaign. A Boy Scout doing a five minute speech to complete a merit badge would make the grade, but someone outlining his vision of the future as the next President of the United States definitely doesn't.

I also think people saw that Thompson the political candidate didn't live up to his various on-screen personas. People couldn't separate Thompson from his awesome presidential characters, which was something that Thompson really didn't try to combat. And to make matters worse, his relaxed approach to waging a campaign made people think he wasn't serious about running for President. The media pounced on that perception to great effect.

I wish that Thompson had waged an all-out aggressive campaign for core conservative values. If he had, he would have been a viable candidate who could have really gone after closet liberals McCain and Giuliani for their wrong stands. He also could have challenged Huckabee and Romney on their actual records and accomplishments while serving as governors of their respective states. At the moment, both are making claims that are overinflated and need to be poked full of holes to bring the Romney and Huckabee hype under control.

Thompson's withdrawal is more than a lost opportunity for him; it means that this dangerous cycle that has taken root in the remaining campaigns will continue to flourish unchallenged. I'm disappointed that he didn't take the other contenders to task more than he did.

Heath Ledger Dies at Age 28: Coverage of Death is Vastly Different Than Coverage of Last Week's Death of Brad Renfro

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment yesterday.

And I couldn't help but notice the difference in coverage between his death and the death of Brad Renfro last week. All of the news networks devoted a great deal of time to Ledger's death--often simultaneously. They've largely ignored the Renfro story.

But both stories pale in comparison to the death one year ago of Anna Nicole Smith and the subsequent legal proceedings pertaining to Smith's baby daughter and the courtroom antics of the crybaby judge.

It's hard to predict how/how much the media's going to cover the loss of celebrities.

If Someone Like Edwards is Elected President, Will U.S. Military Be Able to Pull Troops and Equipment Out in First Year of New Administration?

Democrat John Edwards has promised to pull the U.S. military completely out of Iraq in the first year of his Presidency as part of his campaign platform. A question: if an anti-war candidate like Edwards is elected in November, can the military fulfill that wish in one year, assuming that the current administration keeps troop levels around 130,000?

The answer is: probably not. It's simple physics and logistics. The military brass say that they can move one combat brigade out of Iraq per month. There are between nineteen and twenty combat and support brigades and their equipment currently deployed. That's a minimum of twenty months, if all the ships and transport aircraft stay available and don't have maintenance issues.

The military pace is more realistic than the political pace.

The only way that a promise like Edwards' can be fulfilled is if President Bush starts withdrawing troops on a large scale in 2008, which is doubtful.

Edwards and the others shouldn't make promises that they can't keep. A more realistic promise is to withdraw troops by the end of their first term. The politicians are really going to mess things up if they have their way.

Michigan's Primary May be Over, But the Fight Between Michigan and Both National Committees Sure Isn't

Michigan's primary--such as it was--is said and done, but there's still major trouble between Michigan and both national committees. This primary (and Florida's) will throw some big wrenches into the works if the Presidential Election in November turns out to be close.

I am of the opinion that the Republican and Democratic National Committees (dis-respectfully) needs new leadership. That's aimed more at the DNC more than the RNC. The RNC only docked half of Michigan's delegates and voting power, while the DNC completely stripped Michigan's represenatition at the Democratic National Convention. The Democrats even canceled hotel reservations for the Michigan delegation.

Further, the RNC punished every state that has a primary before Super Tuesday. That was, in my opinion, a more measured response than the Democratic one.

Under the current leadership, the DNC disenfranchised seven million registered voters in Michigan and ten million registered voters in Florida. They whined and bitched about thousands of disenfranchised Florida voters in 2000, and fought for every vote. Yet now, they deliberately did to their own voters what they accused election officials and the Republican Party of doing in 2000. Is this a violation of the same equal protection clause cited by the Supreme Court in 2000 in Gore vs. Bush?

The replacement for Howard Dean should be from Michigan or Florida, and there should be no one on the DNC who favors keeping the current primary system. The system is so rife with favoritism toward particular states that it should be scrapped if it isn't changed.

I also think that the RNC needs a housecleaning too. They need to back off of the current system as well. It's broken and needs to be fixed. They should get with the program, or get out of the way and have more open-minded people take their places.

Shame on both committees, and double shame on the DNC.

Nomination for TIME Magazine's Person of the Year

I would like to make a nomination for the editors of TIME Magazine's Person of the Year.

"Uncommitted."

Though losing to Hillary Clinton in Michigan's useless Democratic primary election, "Uncommitted" spells big trouble for Senator Clinton in Michigan if she wins the Democratic nomination.

That's noteworthy all by itself.

Selling Cloned Red Meat is a Bad Idea: More Research Needs to be Done

The FDA is claiming that meat from cloned cows is safe to eat. I think they're being way too hasty in even talking about it right now. They have to do much more research.

It's bad enough that they've allowed bio-engineered products into the U.S. food markets. I disagreed with that decision too. How do we know that those products aren't contributing to the obesity epidemic that has been underway?

They rushed that decision too, without taking the time to fully research what happens to people who eat these products compared to what happens to people who don't.

I will go vegetarian before I eat cloned animal meat.

Actor Brad Renfro Dead at Age 25: Another Life Cut Short by Drugs and Alcohol

Actor Brad Renfro was found dead in his home yesterday. He was 25 and had been on the rebound from his drug addictions.

He'd been in trouble with the law for years; his acting career was on hold after he was busted on Skid Row for attempting to buy heroin in 2006. He was ordered by the judge to go through extensive rehab as a condition of his probation, which he did.

I have no doubt that drugs or the consequences of doing them were involved in his death. The kinds of drugs he admitted to using cause major damage to vital organs and can cause problems years later--even after the person using the drugs has stopped.

Sad story.

Romney Wins Michigan Primary, Hillary Beats Nobody

Well, Michigan's not-primary is over and Mitt Romney carried the state. And Hillary Clinton managed to beat someone called "Uncommitted." I'm not sure that's anything to brag about.

I could beat nobody too. So could you.

I also couldn't help but notice how quickly McCain and the other candidates who did not fare as well quickly dismissed Romney's victory as Michigan voting for it's native son. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Michigan has rejected other members of the Romney family in other elections in the past; Mitt won because of his business credentials and his coming here and addressing Michigan's economy head-on. In Michigan, the economy was the #1 concern of voters. And Mitt was more positive about rebuilding Michigan's reeling economy than all of the others.

McCain's pessimism about putting Michigan's work force back to work cost him the election. That's why Romney won, not because he's a native son.

Britney Spears Shows Up at Mercedes-Benz Dealer Wearing a....Wedding Dress (??!) and Looking to Replace Her Car

Stranger and stranger.

Britney Spears showed up at an LA-area Mercedes-Benz dealer wearing a partial wedding dress that she wore in 2004. Strange way to celebrate losing her kids.

Republicans Finally Spend Some Time in Michigan: Election is Tomorrow

Republican presidential hopefuls are spending a great deal of time in Michigan, courting voters for their half-powered votes ahead of tomorrow's primary vote.

It's nice to see, but I see that they're ignoring the U.P. again. There was little to no mention of the primary in U.P. news web sites today.

I hope that the eventual winner of the GOP nomination pushes the Democrats to hold at least one of the debates in Michigan. And if the Democratic nomination turns out to be anyone other than Kucinich, then they should pack the hall with P.O.'ed (and disenfranchised) voters to ask "Where were you during the primary season? And why should we vote for you now?"

It'd be fun to watch the candidate squirm.

I mentioned Kucinich because he alone campaigned in the state on the Democratic side. Good for him.

Britney Spears Abandons Her $150,000 Car on California Highway, Leaving it to be Impounded: What Was She Thinking?

If you had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank, and were the proud owner of a $150,000 Mercedes, you'd probably be very protective of your investment, taking care of it, and making sure it would be safe from car thieves and other unsavory characters, right?

Not if your name is Britney Spears, apparently.

After the authorities let her go from the hospital (a very bad decision) a few days ago, she quickly returned to the party scene and driving without a license. She took her Mercedes (which was already on it's spare tire) and headed out. Somewhere along the line, she got up on a road and blew out another tire.

She then asked for a lift from one of the paparazzo trailing her and got a ride home. She borrowed a run-down Toyota and headed to her parties, leaving the police to impound her car.

Considering she doesn't have a drivers license, and spends money like it grows on trees, one would think she'd take the time to send her assistant to get new tires put on her luxury car. DUH!!

If I had that kind of money and that kind of expensive car, I would have said "screw the parties, I'm dealing with my car situation right now." And a tow truck would have been called, and that car would not have been let out of my sight. This would be the attitude of most.

Not Britney. She had to go to her parties, at any cost.

ANY cost.

By letting her go, the powers that be are allowing this young woman's self-destruction to continue on. What's it going to take to get her some help? Britney ramming into a school bus full of kids in her $150,000 car? Her overdosing or hanging herself?

Letting her out of that hospital was a HUGE blunder. She's clearly not well and not thinking straight.

When Pollsters Are Wrong, Dems Scream About Voter Fraud: Yet When They Get Democratic Primary in NH Wrong, Dems are Silent

Limbaugh made some good points about Hillary's "comeback" in New Hampshire on his radio show today, saying that in recent elections, whenever the pollsters really get their data screwed up and the election results are opposite of what their polling data shows, the Democratic Party starts screaming about voter fraud and stolen elections. Rush noted the pollsters had it about as wrong as humanly possibly and wondered aloud when the screaming would begin.

It won't.

The polls are an excuse for the Democrats to protest when they've lost an election. The New Hampshire primary election results prove it. If this was a Democrat vs. Republican election, there would have been screaming before the polls closed and a court case. But since it's a Democrat vs. Democrat election, they remain silent. Hypocrites.

The next time the Democrats lose an election AND the pollsters get their results wrong again, I don't want to hear ANYTHING about voter fraud or stolen elections.

Hillary Clinton Looks Poised to Lose New Hampshire Tomorrow: Her Campaign is in Trouble

If polling data coming out of New Hampshire is accurate, Hillary Clinton may lose the Democratic primary election there tomorrow.

Her campaign is already in a tailspin from her disastrous third-place finish in Iowa last week; another high profile loss before Super Tuesday may be a portent of how her campaign will finish up. Look for a radically different race on the "Wednesday after Super Tuesday."

I'm enjoying this, in spite of my continued anger over Michigan's disenfranchisement by the Democrats and Michigan's GOP delegate problem.

Polling starts in some New Hampshire communities beginning at midnight tonight.

Government Investigating Rampant Fraud in Carbon Offset Market: Man-Made Nonsense Market Preys on Those with a Guilty Conscience

A blind man could have seen this one coming from miles away.

A while back I railed against carbon "credits" and the emerging market as being under the control of unknown persons or corporations--some of whom are sworn enemies of the global warming crowd. It's now called the "carbon offset market" and did about $100 million in business last year. This market is expected to become a lot bigger in coming years.

Here's how it works in the simplest terms. The actual way that this works is much more complex, which is part of the problem. There is also a huge difference in the way that this is done between nations, between corporations, and between people (which I am focusing on).

A standard is established by law, or by some other means. Say for a person, it's a 50, which represents an "ideal" level for someone to minimize their "carbon footprint" (another piece of nonsense, but I digress).

Johnny Citizen discovers his number is a 65, and feels terrible about how he's contributing to global warming, and arranges to purchase 15 carbon credits from someone who has achieved a lower number than he has. In this way, Johnny achieves parity with the benchmark and the person who is doing a good job with minimizing their carbon footprint (%$@!) is rewarded monetarily.

See the problem?

Dishonest persons have managed to enter the market to engage in fraud and are now preying on those who have a guilty conscience. It's reached a level that the government is investigating the entire mess.

Because of lax verification of whether a trader is actually doing as well as he/she says they are, they can come in, and say "I scored a 35; I'll sell my available credits for, oh, say, $1,000 each." And people are paying at the rate that is proposed by the trader. Johnny would be better off taking his money and investing in solar panels, or a fuel-efficient hybrid car, or doing his stupid light bulb thing or planting trees to ease his impact on the environment and his guilty conscience. Or all of the above.

A man-made solution to a man-made problem that may or may not not exist. Sounds like trouble to me. And now the government is wasting more money investigating the entire thing to see if this unregulated market needs to be regulated.

If someone is bound and determined to use this market to accomplish their goal, then they have a responsibility to protect their own investment--by verifying that the trader they're doing business with isn't a flim-flam man or a Johnny-Come-Lately looking to make money and then depart the scene with someone else's money.

Stupid is as stupid does.

CIA Plays It Safe With Intelligence Estimate of Iran's Nuclear Program: They Didn't Want War Hawks in White House to Get Us Into Another War

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recently released a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program and concluded that the Iranians had stopped their nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003 under international pressure.

This effectively took several options off the table for the Bush Administration, left the Israelis fuming, had the European Union both cheering and shaking their heads in confusion, and the Iranians crowing "See, we told you so." And Iran's neighbors are now very nervous too.

I think the CIA didn't want another statement coming out of its ranks that would be seized by the war hawks in Washington as George Tenet's "slam dunk" comment was in 2003, with regards to Saddam Hussein's possessing banned biochem weapons in the lead-up to the Iraq War. CIA definitely didn't want this Administration to launch another war based on incomplete or faulty information.

That's already happened once; and CIA was roasted alive. Now they're playing it safe when they should be aggressively pushing to get more people on the ground inside Iran. "We're kind of sure" WON'T cut it.

More Reaction to the Iowa Caucus: Ho Hum

"Stunner" and "shocker" were two adjectives used to describe Iowa's caucus results in the news media. I couldn't disagree more. It was mostly a ho-hum event.

Mostly. Clinton coming in 3rd place did make my day, but the knowledge that an inexperienced "new" liberal beat her makes it a break-even event at most. That's too bad. I'd normally be celebrating something like Hillary Clinton coming in 3rd place.

I don't have anything to say about the GOP race, other than to say that it's nice to see that money doesn't always buy an election successfully; even in the GOP.

Paparazzi Conduct in Britany Spears Business Last Night was DISGRACEFUL: Story is Bad Enough Without Them Making It Worse

Britney Spears melted down last night at her home in Beverly Hills, refusing to turn her kids over to her ex-husband's bodyguard as ordered by the court. The police were summoned, and things went from bad to worse. She ended up being handcuffed to a gurney and being loaded into an ambulance, where the paparazzi pounced.

"Pounced" doesn't give the description of their reaction justice. It was DISGRACEFUL. They momentarily blocked the ambulance, hopped up onto the back fender and were trying to take Britney's photo through the ambulance window. If they could have they would have pried the back doors open. Were any laws broken by the paparazzi?



Britney's meltdown appears to be complete. She's being given a mental evaluation; if drastic action is not taken by her family or the court, I don't see her living for much longer. That's a terrible thing to say, and I hope she straightens her life out, but she's self-destructing right before our very eyes.

She's clearly not up to taking care of two very young children; she can't even take care of herself. She keeps leaving her children at home or at a hotel while she goes out and parties, also in violation of court orders.

The system has to do SOMETHING to save her life.

Last Night Was a Good Night; Hillary Finished 3rd

I may not be too happy with the current primary system and the fact that Michigan is being screwed by both National Committees, but one good thing that happened was that Hillary Clinton finished in 3rd place. That's worth throwing a party over, all by itself.

I'm still thinking things through.

Congressional Earmarks Continue to be a Major Problem: It's Going to Bankrupt the Nation

Time to fasten our seat belts; Congress is taking us on another pork ride.

The new omnibus bill that President Bush has just signed contains close to 9,800 earmarks, which add up to about $10 billion. Add the earmarks from the recently passed defense bill, and that number jumps up to 12,000 earmarks. It's being said that it took six hours to print out the omnibus bill, and when finished stood two feet high.

Super-massive omnibus spending bills have to be ended, and the bill broken into it's constituent parts. The smaller the spending bills in terms of what's being funded, the greater chance we'll have to see the pork that has been slipped into the various parts.

$10 billion more to the piggies!!

Pakistan's Government is Wrong About How Bhutto Died: New Video Clearly Shows Her Slumping Immediately After Gunshots Began

Pakistan's government is not helping it's own cause by insisting that Bhutto died from hitting the sunroof of her armored car and that there was no bullet damage or bomb blast damage that contributed to her death.

New video shows that Bhutto's head scarf was flapping wildly immediately after the gunshots began and just before she slumped forward. The scarf was clearly flapping in the opposite direction of where the gunmen opened fire.

It looks like Pakistan's government is engaged in a cover-up and that they got caught red-handed. This does not bode well for their attempts to be transparent in this situation.

Assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a Major Setback: Pakistan in Chaos

Yesterday was a very bad day for all of Pakistan, and for the U.S. as well.

The assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at the hands of terrorists in Pakistan was a major blow to U.S. counter-terrorism efforts in the region, and a major setback for efforts to reform Pakistan into a democratic state.

Pakistan was already volatile; with the death of Bhutto, rioting has broken out all over the nation; her followers blamed the government of Pakistan for having a hand in the assassination; close to thirty people have died in the violence. Troops are on the streets, with orders to shoot to kill.

I think there's a very real danger of the government of Pakistan collapsing; the time may soon come where U.S. forces will have to swoop in and seize Pakistan's nuclear arsenal to keep them out of the hands of the extremists who will take over and have possession of the launch codes. I can't see India sitting idly by either if the nukes fall into the hands of terrorists. This could be very bad.

It would be better if President Musharraf resigned immediately and turned the power over to a caretaker government. He's causing more problems than he's solving by staying in office. And the U.S. government has to make a choice in either supporting the people of Pakistan, or supporting the troublesome Musharraf at the expense of the Pakistani people.

What a mess.

Michigan Voters Told Their Vote is Worthless in One Party's Primary and Only Worth Half A Vote in the Other: Tell Me Again Why We Should Vote on 1/15?

The Michigan primary is coming up on January 15th, and the ballot is still a mess.

One party has completely disenfranchised Michigan's voters, while the other has stripped Michigan of half of its delegates to the party's national convention, effectively turning every vote into a half-vote.

The Democratic Party added insult to injury when most of the Democratic candidates decided to withdraw their names from the ballot and announced that they were boycotting Michigan's primary. Not one of them had the guts to come into the state and announce it in person.

As far as I'm concerned, the candidates that withdrew their names shouldn't be able to fundraise here for their primary campaigns either. They should be writing refund checks out to every Michigan voter who has contributed money to their campaigns from the time that they announced their candidacy to today.

They can go to the Federal Election Commission web site to figure out who to write the checks to. In the meantime, they can go play in traffic.

On the GOP side, the Republican National Convention stripped Michigan of half of it's delegates to their convention, along with all the other January primary states. Following that same formula, the GOP candidates should also return 1/2 of the money raised here. They can take my half-vote and stick it where the sun don't shine.

So, since our votes are worthless in the Democratic Party, and worth a half-vote in the GOP, why exactly should Michigan voters show up on January 15th?

I'm not voting on the 15th; and I'm voting 3rd party in the fall. And all because the two National Committees chose to defend the current system and punished states that dared to buck the system to protest the inherent unfairness of the current primary system. There should be one national primary day, with all states being treated equally, not four of the states being elevated at the expense of all others.

It would be poetic justice if there was a tie in the electoral college in November, and it all fell to Michigan to cast the deciding vote. That won't happen, of course, but then, who figured that it would all boil down to Florida in 2000, which both parties have chosen to disenfranchise as well as Michigan? They really ought to think about that.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Vacation

Getting caught up on my posts. Will take a little while to get everything updated.

Fistfight on the House Floor: Not the Lawmakers...the PAGES??!

The congressional page saga continues to go from odd to outright weird. One year after a Florida congressman resigned and went home in disgrace because of his sexually explicit text messages to male pages, other pages are getting into the act.

Five pages have been sent home in the last three months for everything from oral sex in an elevator at the page dorm to shoplifting to fistfighting on the House floor.

What the??!

These kids are supposed to be the cream of the crop from across the country. What is happening with the House page program? I thought this stuff was being addressed in the wake of the scandal involving the congressman mentioned above. Instead, two Republican House members have resigned over how the program is being administered.

Can't Congress get ANYTHING right?

Oprah Joins Obama Campaign: Is This a Smart Move on Obama's Part?

The news media is making a big deal about the fact that Oprah Winfrey is joining the Barak Obama campaign for part of a tour through Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire.

Does Obama really want the distraction that someone like Oprah will bring with her? Who's the media going to be more interested in talking to: Obama or Oprah?

Can Obama really afford this, with the race being as tight as it is?

While I compliment Oprah for becoming involved in the campaign as actively as she has, I don't think that celebrities should be sharing the stage with the candidates. It takes the focus off the candidate. Part of the public's imagination will be captured by the Obama/Oprah alliance, but who will the media pay more attention to?

Mark my words, they'll tune in to Oprah, every single time.

Reid Proposes Doing Cartwheels Down Aisles of Senate to Draw Attention to GOP Blocks of Democratic Legislation: Poor Baby

Senate Majority Leader Reid is growing more frustrated with his inability to get the Senate to pass Democratic bills and stooped to proposing that legislators do cartwheels on the floor of the Senate to draw attention to President Bush's "49 puppets" who are in his way.

Poor Senator Reid. Perhaps he should resign and turn the leadership of the Senate over to someone who is more capable of working with the puppets to pass needed legislation.

But first, I'd like to see him try to do a cartwheel, along with some of his associates. The fat ones can stay in their seats. No need to break a hip or anything else and cause more of a farce in the Senate above and beyond what's happening right now under Senator Reid's outstanding leadership.

Cartwheels, my afterburner!

Venezuela's Collapsing Economy Should Be Watched Carefully in This Country: There's a Valuable Lesson for the U.S. Government to be Found Here

Venezuela's out-of-control spending increased their inflation by an amazing 4.4% last month to 18.6%, according to international economists. And it looks to get much worse unless it's government reigns in it's own spending. If it keeps up at that rate, Venezuela's oil profits will not be enough to keep it above water.

And now there are reports of shortages of basic goods and food in Venezuela, which could seriously destabilize the communist wanna-be government of Hugo Chavez. Food costs in Venezuela have gone up 33% in spite of government attempts to influence prices of major domestic commodities.

People in our own government should be watching what's happening to prices in Venezuela's economy and declining currency, as the same thing could happen here if Congress and the White House don't get a handle on OUR out-of-control government spending.

As it is, the U.S. debt is somewhere near $10 trillion. Venezuela's debt is a fraction of ours, but Venezuela doesn't have the economic power that our nation does and so is much more vulnerable to economic chaos than we are. When our economy declines, it's a gradual event. But in a smaller nation like Venezuela, it's like someone's hit the fast forward button. Changes are quite sudden and get real bad, real fast.

Are the decision-makers in this country paying attention?

Romney Shouldn't Have to Make a Speech on His Religious Views to Appease Religious Right

It seems to me that religious Conservatives shouldn't be criticizing Mitt Romney over his religious views. If he adheres to his religious beliefs, which at it's base professes a belief in God and in Jesus Christ, then there really shouldn't be an issue.

This all sounds familiar. The arguments being made against Romney's Mormon faith are similar to what fundamentalists have made against Catholic candidates ever since the country was founded. "That religion isn't even Christian" is nothing but 18th and 19th Century Protestant propaganda. Yet it shares some of the beliefs of both Protestant and Catholic churches, despite having some major differences.

People have a narrow view of history. Since our country was started, there have been four Baptists, one Catholic, one Congregationalist, three Disciples of Christ, two Dutch Reformed, twelve Episcopals, one Jehovah's Witness (later a Presbyterian), four Methodists, five Presbyterians, two Quakers, four Unitarians, and four people who did not belong to a religious denomination (including Abraham Lincoln) or didn't have a belief in God at all, who have served as President of the United States.

People use the JFK speech on his Catholic beliefs to justify what Romney is doing now. I don't think it's necessary. Haven't we, as a nation and as an electorate, evolved beyond this?

What should be worrisome should be where Romney stands on abortion now, where he stands on seeking an eventual end to the ground war in Iraq, what kind of judges he will nominate, and where he stands on protecting the Constitution vs. "National Security."

There are aspects of the Mormon faith that I do find very troubling, but I've known enough Mormons to know that there's two sides to an issue when discussing this religion. And it seems that those who are criticizing Romney are focusing on one side exclusively (their issues with Romney's religion) versus how the man has lived his life, which is quite a bit better than some of the others on the GOP ticket that the fundamentalists themselves are supporting.

Personally, I think Huckabee and Romney would be a great GOP ticket against the eventual Democratic nominee and his/her VP choice.

Latest Iraq War Film Bombs at Box Office: More Proof That Hollywood Needs to Shift Gears

The latest Iraq War film, "Redacted", utterly bombed at the box office, taking in a paltry $25,628 across the country in it's opening weekend. It's a portent of things to come when (IF at this point) it goes into wide release.

It's more proof that Iraq War films are not appealing the the American viewing public, and that Hollywood needs to get out of Iraq War films until after the war is over. It joins "Lions for Lambs", "Rendition" and "In the Valley of Elah" in the trash can for box office performances.

Anti-war films at this juncture are boring, depressing and a waste of money for the studios.

Are the Hollywood elites getting it yet?

Democrats Are Using Back Door to De-Fund Iraq War: $50 Billion Funding Bill Stalls in Senate Until January

It appears that the anticipated de-funding of the Iraq War by the Democrats is currently underway. But they're not taking the direct approach as was predicted by analysts.

Instead, they're guaranteeing that their legislation on war funding either doesn't make it to the President's desk, or if it does that he is certain to veto it. All the Democrats have to do is insert a clause that calls for withdrawal from Iraq to doom the legislation.

They have effectively de-funded the war, without drawing attention to the fact that this is/was their goal. They can publicly claim that they won't de-fund the Iraq War and will continue to put forth bills with terms and conditions that the Republicans find indigestible and will move to block.

The other tactic being employed is that the Democrats are ignoring the President's war funding requests for months at a time. Congress has already passed the Pentagon's $471 billion budget but stripped war funding from that bill. President Bush asked for $192 billion more in supplemental spending for the wars since mid-February; Congress is getting around to that request now, in mid-November.

The war bill passed by the House and rejected by the Senate would have provided $50 billion for the wars, and set the end of 2008 as a withdrawal date of troops from Iraq.

There's a time-crunch in play here; the current war funding will run out in February, and the military will have to divert money out of it's new $471 billion budget--money needed for repairing battle-damaged equipment or replacing it, beefing up V.A. hospitals, building mine-resistant vehicles, providing care for our wounded warriors, and purchasing new weapons platforms--to pay for the wars.

They've already signaled that they're diverting $4 billion immediately.

And the military is planning to make deep cuts when the designated war-fighting funding runs out in February. And it probably will; the only war funding bill on the table and on the horizon has been KO'ed.

Another mess.

Columnist Novak Says Clinton Campaign Has Dirt on Obama But Has Chosen Not to Use It: What's Really Going On Here?

Columnist Robert Novak is claiming that Hillary Clinton's campaign has dirt on rival Barak Obama, but is not using it as it makes her look like she's taking the high road.

Does Clinton have dirt on Obama? Possibly. It's in her nature to utterly destroy her opponents, regardless of what she says.

Since she's gone through the trouble of having her people dig up dirt on Obama, why is she holding back their findings now? Friendship? A friend doesn't look for scandalous information on a friend in the first place. Especially if that dirt is meant to be publicly released to publicly harm that friend.

It should be noted that Hillary's and Bill's friends end up in jail. Remember the Whitewater fiasco?

That's what Hillary does to people she calls friends. Her reputation on this point is pretty solid, so any claims of friendship that Hillary makes to Obama with regards to the current situation should be taken by Obama as a stark warning of what she'll pull on him if he starts winning Democratic primaries left and right.

If she does have information, someone in her campaign will leak it to prevent Obama from gaining the nomination.

Michael Savage Clashes With Council on American-Islamic Relations and Media Matters: Savage Nation Targeted in Advertisement Boycott

Michael Savage is well-known as a far-right winger with very strong ideas on immigration, Islam, the Democrats, the degradation of American culture and other conservative topics that he talks about on his nationally syndicated radio program, the Savage Nation.

There are times that he's a rabid wolverine, going after a subject and not letting it go until his target is destroyed.

On his October 29th show, he lit up and went after Islam, which caused the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to began a campaign to get advertisers to stop supporting the Savage Nation. One company has pulled it's advertising so far; others are considering their courses of action. NOTE: the link above goes to his rant. You have to hit the play button; adjust your volume accordingly. He's quite an expert at screaming at the top of his lungs.

His Wikipedia entry is quite interesting too. I hadn't realized that he founded the Paul Revere Society. I do think that Savage goes too far sometimes. His criticisms are at times unfair, while other valid points that he makes are lost by how he presents it. He's his own worst enemy.

I think he needs to breathe a little bit.

But I'm also concerned about the line between free speech and bigotry/hatred, which sometimes gets blurred. Savage hasn't helped matters in this regard. In exercising his Constitutionally-guaranteed free speech in this particular way, he's helped to make it possible for groups like CAIN and Media Matters to target those with a right-wing bend in their views, with free speech suffering major collateral damage in the process. This is not good.

Here's an example of Savage's using a sledgehammer to kill a mosquito: during his brief tenure with MSNBC in 2003, someone called Savage's program (a prank caller) and commented on Savage's teeth. The conversation went thus (this is also in Savage's Wikipedia entry):

Savage then asked if the caller was a sodomite, to which the caller answered, "Yes."

Savage then said to the caller, "Oh, so you're one of those sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig; how's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better to do than to put me down, you piece of garbage? You got nothing to do today? Go eat a sausage, and choke on it. Get trichinosis. Now do we have another nice caller here who's busy because he didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today? Put another, put another sodomite on....no more calls?...I don't care about these bums; they mean nothing to me. They're all sausages."

Savage can say what he wants on his radio program; but I think his delivery of his content can be greatly improved and polished. And he can keep anti-conservative groups like CAIN and Media Matters at bay.

I'm not going to comment on his rant against Islam. I think he did raise some valid points, but his points were lost at about 120 decimals.

Hollywood is Learning a Lesson on Anti-Iraq War Films: Movie After Movie Flops at the Box Office

The latest and the not-so-greatest thing coming out of Hollywood has been a slew of anti-Iraq War films. And every one of them has been a box office failure. People don't want to go to a negative movie when events in reality are already so negative.

Here's the latest takes:

"Rendition" with Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal---$10 million domestically--a "disastrous" performance. It's been in theaters since October 19th.

"The Kingdom" with Jamie Lee Fox--$47 million domestically--budget was $70 million, so this one didn't fare as well as expected either. It's been in theaters since September 28th.

"In the Valley of Elah"--an independent film with Tommy Lee Jones, made $7 million. It was said to be a good film, but the subject--a father investigating the death of his son in Iraq--was too much for a war-weary U.S. public to stomach.

"Home of the Brave" with Samuel L. Jackson made a paltry $43,753 domestically. This was released in December of 2006, then widely released in May of 2007 before being pulled. Somehow "disaster" doesn't even begin to cover it.

And most recently, Robert Redford's film "Lions for Lambs" with Tom Cruise made $2 million on opening. This is much weaker than anticipated and may be a sign of things to come for this film.

Hollywood ought to be reluctant to put out multi-million dollar films based on the Iraq War right now. They should be waiting for a few years after the war ends to start producing this stuff; it might attract more people.

All they have to do is look to the past: Vietnam-era films produced in the 1980s did well: "Full Metal Jacket" made $46 million on a $30 million budget; "Platoon" made $138 million on a $6 million budget. "Good Morning, Vietnam" made close to $124 million. "Apocalypse Now", made in 1979, just six years after American troops were pulled from Vietnam, made $83 million. "Rambo: First Blood" made $47 million on a $15 million budget.

With a war in progress, Hollywood needs to pay closer attention to the mood of the viewing public when they produce Iraq War-era films.

Spanish King Tells Loudmouth Venezuelan President Chavez to Shut Up

There's been a conference going on in Chile the last couple of days, which is supposed to bring together Spanish and Portugese-speaking nations to promote unity and goodwill. Spain and Venezuela are two of the nations that are there.

Venezuelan President Chavez turned his wrath on a former Spanish prime minister, accusing him of being a fascist and a snake before the King of Spain angrily told him to shut up.

The BBC was there to record it all.

Leave it to the "Mouth of the South" to offend the King of Spain.

Retailers Are in for a Disastrous Holiday Season: Recalls Due to Lead Paint Will Be the Reason

Retailers are going to have a very bad holiday season this year. With the economy already in bad shape, the list of recalled toy products from China is growing longer and longer. The #1 reason for the recalls is lead paint.

There's a good bet that there will be a huge recall just before the holiday shopping season really starts, which will put the retailers into a tailspin.

The retail sector is in big trouble. This is what happens when manufacturing is shipped overseas in the name of more profits when the finished product hits the market. Eventually it comes around and bites everybody HARD.

Welcome to the dark side of globalization.

The Place Where the "Save the Planet" People Won't Go: Take the Emotionalism Out of the Global Warming Debate, and Then Look at What's Left

One of the most infuriating things about the global warming debate is all the emotionalism that the "Save the Planet" side uses to get people to buy in to the global warming debate. It's getting in the way of an examination of the pure, unblemished facts that have been suppressed.

There's a place that the global warning panic-mongers refuse to acknowledge or go to, because it turns their arguments into pure folly that is similar to the "global cooling" debate of the 1970s.

This place is located at the very heart of the global warming debate. Here's how you find it:

Strip away all the emotionalism and the hype involved in the debate. Once it's gone, ask yourself: what is left? That answer is where the "Save the Planet" people utterly refuse to look or acknowledge, because it's inconvenient to their side.

Here's what's left:

• A science that is deeply conflicted about global warming. There is no mainstream science community on global warming; mainstream science remains conflicted, despite the claims of the alarmists in the scientific community that they are the mainstream.
  

• Four billion years worth of cycles between global warming and global cooling, not just 500,000 or 500 million years that some are focusing all their attention on. And the long view shows global warming in the distant past, when the surface of Earth is much warmer than it is today; and it shows global cooling as well. And we're not talking about once or twice either; there's evidence of this happening over and over.
  

• Scientific evidence that shows a continuing trend of rising sea levels over the last 120,000 years and projections that show more of the same far into the future, whether we were here or not. And sea levels may have been over a hundred meters higher in the distant past than they are today, according to the same story linked above.

• The misconception that melting sea ice will raise sea levels. You want proof of this nonsense? Here's a quote from the link above: "Place some ice in a cup of water, and make a mark at the waterline. Wait for the ice to melt. Check the new water level. It won't change!" Ice melting over land and then running into the water WILL affect the sea level as it's new water being added to the mix.

• The true contribution of the sun to the global warming process as well as global cooling, and that these processes also take place on other planets as well as on Earth.

• The true contribution of forest fires and volcanoes to global warming. It's definitely understated, due to the difficulty in figuring how much carbon that burned plants and trees had in them before they were burned by fire, or how many plants actually went up. And they don't exactly put a meter on top of an erupting volcano to get an exact figure on how much greenhouse gas is being released. So if a data report doesn't openly say that the figures are estimates, that they're exact, they're not being truthful. It's rare to find statements like this, but they have been known to try to slip in the back door.

• The real estimate of man's contribution to what is primarily a naturally occurring phenomenon. There's no doubt that we've made the situation worse, but global warming is NOT man-made---a fact that seems to be denied by the "Save the Planet" folks. The simple fact is that we don't really know how much damage has been done. But global warming has been around a lot longer than we have.
  

• Mother Nature also doesn't punch a clock. For people to say that we only have ten years left to save the planet is utter nonsense. It's political rhetoric and emotionalism.
  

• What needs to be saved? The planet? NOT!! Our civilization is what needs to be saved. The planet will continue long after we've killed ourselves off, or left the cradle permanently.
  

• Global warming has happened; it will happen again, no matter what steps we take. As sure as the sun will rise and set this day, global warming will happen. We should try to take steps to reduce our impact on this naturally occurring phenomenon.

• Remember, this group of people was wrong about global cooling in the 1970s.
  

• Reducing pollution is a good goal, but the use of carbon "credits", a man-made folly, won't do it. That system is another way of putting money into someone else's pocket, in the name of reducing one's "carbon footprint," another money-grabbing invention. And whose pockets are the proceeds going into, might I ask? Those that are into this really need to follow the money trail and see which major polluters they're supporting with their green efforts.
  

I do think we need to reverse some patterns that we've gotten into.

The way we use fossil fuels should be altered, and then discontinued as it definitely affects the quality of the air that we breathe. And on a practical note, there's not enough supply to match the worldwide demand. This fact alone should demand that we develop technology and alternative fuels.

I also think we need to look at the global warming issue in a sane manner, not in this reckless fashion that politicians and some scientists are pushing us into. What if they're wrong again? How many trillions of dollars will have been wasted in combating a problem that either doesn't happen, or does happen--regardless of the steps that we take to "save the planet?"

This debate is much more complex than saving polar bears; the environment does need help. No one wants to live in a world where the air we breathe is poisoned, our water supplies are contaminated, and our food supply is threatened to the point where millions of people starve to death.

We ARE stewards of our world, and it's our responsibility to leave it cleaner than we found it. Each generation must make it better for the generation that follows it.

But let's do it without the fear-mongering that is present in today's debate.

NBC Unable to Strike a Deal With Rosie: This is Not a Bad Thing

Liberal network NBC/MSNBC/NBC Universal was unable to strike a deal with super-liberal Rosie O'Donnell on a new talk show that would have gone head-to-head with CNN's Larry King Live and the higher-rated Fox News shows. Some are sad; I am not.

Though I would have enjoyed Rosie vs. Trump III, I don't think that those back-and-forth insults between the two egomaniacs are worth giving her a platform to spew her venom again. Her tenure at The View (which I don't watch) required a "suspension of belief" (to quote a friend of hers) in some of the things that she said. The recaps of her outrageous statements and outright lies were bad enough, and I'm glad that she got out of the news.

The management team at NBC would be smart to keep Rosie out of the mix; NBC is screwed up enough as it is, without her help.

We Should Break Diplomatic Relations With Pakistan; Musharraf is No Friend of Democracy

It's time for the U.S. to break diplomatic relations with Pakistan until President/dictator Pervez Musharraf leaves office entirely.

His emergency rule decree is getting far worse: not only has he suspended Pakistan's constitution, and jailed lawyers and judges who oppose his unconstitutional moves, but now he's arrested former Prime Minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and about 5,000 of her supporters to prevent a massive march scheduled for today.

President Bush needs to stop defending Musharraf; this guy is running the risk of turning Pakistan into another Iran, which we don't need. Today's situation inside Pakistan looks a lot like Iran in 1979, just before the Shah was thrown out. We have an unpopular dictator who is supported by the United States, and our President is supporting this dictator because he does what we want him to do.

It's going to backfire on us, big time, if we don't support the quest of Pakistan's people to restore democratic rule to the country.

State Requires Photo ID for Voting Now: This is a Good System, Despite Initial Problems

Michigan now requires voters to produce photo ID before voting in elections. It's a wonder that this step wasn't taken years ago. It's so common sense that it's ridiculous.

With all the reports of election irregularities over the last eight years, producing photo ID is a minor inconvenience. The election officials don't know who everyone is on sight and where they live, and for anyone to expect that is ridiculous.

And there are government issued IDs that the poor can acquire that are acceptable forms of identification as well. And if they don't want to obtain identification, they simply sign the form that says they are eligible to vote and they are who they say they are. So the argument that it's a discriminatory practice designed to suppress the economically downtrodden doesn't hold water.

The biggest problem lies with the training of poll workers, who did different things in the various precincts. There was some variance in the types of ballots that were issued: regular ballots should have been used for voters who signed the forms, but some provisional ballots were issued instead, which are treated differently and require further validation. Other poll workers rejected acceptable forms of ID, such as military-issued ID cards and Michigan driver's licenses, which is unfathomable.

Uniformity was present yesterday, but not in all the precincts.

There are definitely glitches to work out of the new system, but when they are worked out, it will make Michigan's voting system much stronger and more secure.

Marvel Comics Unveils New Captain America: New Superhero Carries a GUN??!

After Marvel Comics killed off Captain America in their Civil War series, it was thought that they might somehow bring the star-spangled hero back to life.

They did so, but the original Captain America will remain buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Marvel has decided to introduce a new Captain America, with a new uniform, new attitude, and new armaments. This version of Captain America will carry a knife, guns, as well as the customary indestructible shield that was a staple item of the Captain America series since March of 1941, when the series began.

The original Captain America rarely had weapons other than his shield; this is not a welcome change.

The new series is a direct spin-off of the events of Civil War, and the new Captain America may be a clone of his original superhero sidekick, Bucky, who was reported killed fighting the Red Skull during World War II.

We'll see what happens.

Justice Prevails: Court Denies Convicted Murderer's Request to Receive His Slain Wife's Life Insurance Money

Scott Peterson, the man convicted of killing his wife and unborn child, was denied the proceeds from his wife's life insurance policy by a court in California.

The policy, which is worth a quarter million dollars, will go to Laci Peterson's mom.

Who wanted the money more--Scott Peterson, or his attorneys? If he had won the case, it would have been a HUGE miscarriage of justice.

Justice and victim's rights have taken a few steps forward in California.

"Dog" is IN the Doghouse: Racial Tirade Leads to Network Suspending Production of His "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Show

This has not been a very good couple of years for Duane "Dog" Chapman, the TV bounty hunter who has a popular TV show on the A&E network ("Dog the Bounty Hunter").

Mexico arranged for Dog to be arrested due to his hunting down a wanted criminal on Mexican soil in 2003, in violation of Mexican law. With days to go before a statute of limitations expired in the case, U.S. federal marshals arrested Dog in Hawaii in 2006, and a court battle ensued for the extradition of Dog to Mexico.

The Mexican government eventually changed it's mind about prosecuting Dog in 2007, and settled for an assurance that Dog wouldn't engage in bounty hunting on Mexican territory ever again.

Dog had numerous appearances on CNN, Fox News and other media outlets over the last year, following his arrest. Life seemed to be back on track.

Then, a couple of days ago, the National Enquirer posted an audio of a racially charged tirade (WARNING: OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE) by Dog against the African-American girlfriend of his son. Dog has started the apology "process" while A&E has stopped production of Dog's bounty hunting reality show, pending an investigation.

What is it with these celebrities self-destructing like this??!

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?