Relax! Only 1 in 4 Want to Kill You

Gotta love this post from Ace of Spades regarding a recent poll by the Pew Research group.

If the Pew group surveyed white people in the south and found than only 10% were prejudiced against blacks, would the headlines say "Most US Whites Reject Prejudice"? Nah, they would be saying "One in Ten Hate Blacks".

A Sane Rocker

Who would have thought that a voice of at least partial reason would come from someone in the entertainment industry, a rocker, no less?

Follow that with this. (From the Timaru Herald)

Climate change will be considered a joke in five years time, meteorologist Augie Auer told the annual meeting of Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers in Ashburton this week.
Man's contribution to the greenhouse gases was so small we couldn't change the climate if we tried, he maintained.
"We're all going to survive this. It's all going to be a joke in five years," he said.

I just hope I live long enough to see this whole charade exposed for the anti-capitalist, anti-American, scam that it is. Unfortuately, it takes advantage of the gullible who truly think they are making the world a better place. Better than what, is the real question.

More here.

Pet Food Scare - New Concerns for Human Food

After the recent pet food scare involving unscrupulous Chinese food producers adding melamine to increase the protein count in what flour used in pet foods, one must stop and think about the potential consequences of similar occurences happening in the production of food meant for human consumption.

An article from the Wall Street Journal Online by Nicolas Zamiska, May 9, 2007, exposes the daring and dangerous behavior of some food vendors in Asia.

One can only hope that this type of activity isn't shared by those exporting ingredients to US food producers. The FDA is ill-prepared to deal testing of the vast quantity of imported ingredients. Only a sampling can and ever will be examined for purity.

HONG KONG -- Formaldehyde, which has been linked to cancer, has legitimate uses in adhesives and embalming. But in Indonesia, Sutikno, a 35-year-old tofu maker in south Jakarta who goes by one name, uses it to keep the tofu he sells fresh.

"Formaldehyde is magic. There is no comparison," he said on a recent afternoon at the market. Last year, he switched briefly to a legal preservative, but his bean curd went bad in less than 24 hours. As for his customers, he doesn't tell them he uses formaldehyde. "There is no complaint," Mr. Sutikno said.

Across Asia, small-scale food manufacturers and street vendors often boost profits by using cheap but toxic chemicals as sweeteners, dyes and preservatives. While the most egregious examples generally involve food for local consumption, dangerous additives occasionally end up in foods exported to the U.S. and other Western countries, highlighting the scope of the problems regulators face. A January rally in Jakarta protested the use of formaldehyde in foods.

"Human ignorance as well as greed knows no bounds," says Gerald Moy, manager of the World Health Organization's office that monitors chemicals in the global food supply.

The pet-food contamination that killed and sickened cats and dogs in the U.S. has called into question the safety of imports from China. Yesterday China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Web site that Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. exported the toxic ingredients which contained melamine, a chemical used in fire retardants. The companies weren't available to comment this morning.

Separately, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials yesterday said they found melamine in Canadian-manufactured fish meal containing what was labeled as wheat gluten imported from China. The officials said they are looking at fish meal imported not only from China but also from other countries. Melamine-contaminated ingredients found in pet foods were actually wheat flour, rather than wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate as labels indicated, the officials added.

The FDA has the authority to inspect food shipments, but because of the sheer volume of imports, only a fraction of food entering the country is inspected. "Our focus is based on where we know the risks are," David Acheson, the FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection, said in an interview. "It's not a strategy to test everything that arrives at the ports." But the FDA says it is rethinking its strategic approach to targeting potential risks and allocating resources. It is also working with the Chinese watchdog group to search for long-term solutions, Mr. Acheson said.

With the discovery of melamine in animal food, the agency is considering a new safety system for animal feed that would go beyond the current focus on preventing mad-cow disease and salmonella.

In Asia, unsafe additives in foods for human consumption have long been a problem. Some street vendors use an industrial dye for textiles called Sudan Red to make their coconut and sugar-cane drinks look more attractive. "You could just see the beverages, they sort of glow, because these dyes are really quite intense," says the WHO's Mr. Moy. Last November, Chinese authorities discovered that poultry farmers in Hebei province had been using one of the Sudan Red dyes, believed to cause cancer, to color the feed of their ducks and redden the yolks of the eggs, which sell at a premium price.


In 2003, Sudan Red was found in hot-chili products imported from India to the U.K. Products containing the dye were also recalled in Canada and South Africa. Over the next two years, the contamination snowballed. By March 2005, 580 products had been withdrawn in the U.K.

In March this year, the FDA stopped 215 shipments from mainland China for a variety of problems. One shipment of dried dates was considered filthy; plums contained unsafe sweeteners; and oranges had pesticide residues. A few dozen also had unsafe color additives. But there is often a disconnect between what regulators charge and companies respond. One of the shipments the FDA refused was apple chips from Hebei Dongfang Green Tree Food Co. in China, which may have contained unsafe color additives.

Pan Yanjun, the company's vice president, confirmed in a telephone interview yesterday that his company shipped some apple chips to the U.S. in March for a natural food show, but said that the FDA approved the shipment. "We never dye the apple chips," he said.

There is little evidence that foods contaminated by unsafe preservatives are being shipped abroad. But unauthorized use is widespread in Asia.

Formaldehyde, for instance, is often used as a preservative in Asia and other parts of the world where refrigeration is scarce. In late 2005, the Indonesian National Agency for Drug and Food Control tested 161 samples of fish, shrimp, squid, tofu, and noodles produced and sold across six cities and found that 64 of the samples tested positive for formaldehyde.

Another problem is a group of chemicals called borates, including boric acid. Borates were widely used in food products in the U.S. and other countries a century ago to improve the texture of food as well as preserve it. Most countries today prohibit its use as a food additive because it is toxic at high levels. Now, the chemical is mainly used in insecticides, flame retardants and cleaning products.

In March and April of 2006, the Malaysian Health Ministry tested 387 samples of rice noodles, 20 of which were found to contain boric acid, according to Dr. Abdul Rahim Mohamad, the director of the food safety and quality division within Malaysia's Health Ministry.

In Thailand, Peerapong Suksaweng, an official with the country's Food and Drug Administration, runs spot checks on street vendors, supermarkets and farmers' markets. Each day, his mobile inspection unit -- one of 26 throughout the country -- checks produce for insecticides and chemical additives such as borates and formaldehyde.

He has found street vendors who have added borates to minced pork and meatballs to keep them fresh. In high quantities, Mr. Peerapong says, "people who eat [that] could vomit blood or die."

Al Qaeda in Iraq??? Nah....

This NY Post article lends credence to the fact, oft declared by President Bush and others on both sides of the aisle, that Al Qaeda is operating in Iraq. It's own declaration about holding the missing US troops proves the point.

However, I take exception to the paragraph that states

"Every death in service to America is a tragedy, but - as the president has said many times in the past - it is better to be fighting al Qaeda in the alleyways of Baghdad than the streets of New York."

We will, initially at least, be fighting them in the shopping malls, hospitals, school, office buildings, anywhere they want to ply their terrorist tactics for the most impact. That should scare the bejeesus out of every one of us. It does me.

Al Qaeda knows full well it cannot militarily defeat the United States. They will wage their battles one by one in the hometowns of America, preying on civilians in the most gruesome ways possible. They will also wage war with their willing accomplices in the Democrat party and the media.

Ah, the media. Ask yourself why you never see videos of the World Trade Center attacks. How often did you see photos of Abu Grab prisoners being "tortured"? Why is so little attention given to the beheadings of civilians as well as the military? Why so little mention of Saddam's mass murders?



Pulling the troops out of Iraq too soon could only have one consequence according to this report from Reuters.

A U.S. troop pullout from Iraq would leave the country as a potent launchpad for international terrorism and Washington would be forced to go back in within a couple of years, a leading al Qaeda expert said on Tuesday.

Rohan Gunaratna told a security conference at Lloyd's of London insurance market that Iraq, like Afghanistan in the 1990s, would become a "terrorist Disneyland" where al Qaeda could build up its strength unchallenged.

If U.S., British and other coalition troops withdrew from Iraq in the next year, he said, "certainly the scale of attacks that would be mounted inside Iraq, and using Iraq as a launching pad to strike other Western countries -- countries in Europe, North America - would become such that after two or three years, the U.S. forces will have to go back to Iraq...

A former head of Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6 described Gunaratna's analysis as convincing.

"Clearly al Qaeda are focusing on Iraq now, and focusing on some sort of propaganda victory over the United States," Sir Richard Dearlove told reporters.

"Fort Dix Six"

In about 7 years, when the "Fort Dix Six" come to trial what will their leagal team use for a defense? It will probably be entrapment, or maybe excessive profiling. I can see it now - the poor Circuit City guy who was asked by the "FDS" to transfer a recording of their target practice and "Allah Akbaring" to DVD will be labeled as a government agent, free lancing to abuse the civil rights of the struggling minority immigrants. They wereonly just making a home movie. They didn't really mean to do any harm.

Yeah. Yeah.

The FBI informant who joined the group will be accused of leading these poor Muslims on a merry goose chase. He's the one who forced them to "pretend" to go along with his plans for destruction and death. He's the one who organized the purchase of weapons.

Just watch. The Democrats will decry such "Bushitler" tactics in the non-existent global war on terror and wind up defending all Muslim terrorists trapped in such a way.

By the way, did you notice how quickly the Democrats in the MSM all called these guys "homegrown"? Look again at their nationality and immigration status. No one can convince me that they were homegrown. Three of them were here illegally, smuggled in from Mexico. Four were Yugoslavian and one was from Jordan and one from Turkey.

Now, if they mean that the plot was hatched here in the US, O.K. We don't know yet whether or not these guys took marching orders from anybody. But this ragtag group, according to some, were not of "homegrown" fidelity or allegiance. Their allegiance was to violence, whether or not inspired by Islam. One at least was fond of calling Osama Bin Laden "Uncle Bennie."

How fortunate for the Fort Dix community, and others in New Jersey, as well as for the United States that these six terror suspects were stopped before they plied their terrible trade.

They Can't Let an Opportunity Go By...

The New York Times can't resist a shot at President Bush and his Texas heritage even when it is so far-fetched as to be ridiculous. See this article.

Here's a sample:

How does George W. Bush, a towel-snapping Texan who puts his feet on the coffee table, drinks water straight from the bottle and was once caught on tape talking with food in his mouth prepare for a state dinner with the queen?

Has the author of the above never snapped a towel at anyone? Had his/her feet on a coffee table, never drunk bottled water from a bottle? Probably few of us have ever had the opportunity to have been caught on tape talking with food in our mouths, but I know I am "guilty" of all of the above. I like to think that I would know how to behave in the company of the queen, the President, or even a New York Times columnist. What arrogance! What condescension! What obvious evidence of the press' fever-pitched determination to do all it can to belittle George W. Bush.

The Anchoress is another clear thinker who sees through this juvenile behavior on the part of the press. She asks the question, "...were Bill Clinton about to meet with Queen Elizabeth II, would we be reading the following in the NY Times?"

“How does William Jefferson Clinton - a pizza-box strewing Arkansas boy who puts his penis into interns mouths, invites “trailer park trash” to “kiss it,” and was once caught on tape laughing as he exited a funeral, only to quickly turn on the tears when he saw the press, prepare for a state dinner with the queen?”

Good question, but we would never see it. We would instead have been treated to glowing reports on the cosmopolitan behavior and exquisite manners of the most wonderful, intelligent man to have ever "graced" the White House.

The MSM has let the Bush Derangement Syndrome affect every aspect of their coverage of anything having the slightest bit to do with GWB's presidency. It is a sad commentary on what was once a respected industry. Readership is declining for almost every newspaper in the country. Why do the "powers that be" controlling the editorial bent of political articles fail to see that the half of the population that voted for GWB in 2000 and 2004 might possibly be sick and tired of reading such obviously biased, and cruelly so at that, articles on a daily basis? They are signing their own death warrant, the death warrant for the newspaper industry.

Dirty Pool in Political Polls

Ken Falkenstein sent me the following this morning. Another example, roughly #2,748,295, of media bias, and I'm not talking about conservative bias.

Ken says:

"It's no surprise that the lapdog liberal news media are campaigning for the Democrats like they always do, but "Newsweak" is going pretty far out of their way to do it. Their latest poll, in which Bush had a 28% approval rating and every top-tier Democrat presidential candidate outpolled every top-tier Republican, was a fix. "Newsweak" polled 50% more Democrats than Republicans. And the margin of error was over 7%! It stretches credulity to think that they didn't know how lopsided and lacking in credibility their poll was. Given that they featured it in their magazine and plastered it all over the news, the only plausible explanation is that they did it on purpose."

From Captain's Quarter blog:

Newsweek Practicing Early For Poll Follies

Newsweek publishes a breathless account of how George Bush's approval rating has dropped to 28%, and how leading Democrat contenders now outpoll the Republicans across the board for the 2008 presidential race. Coincidence, Newsweek asks? They should have asked that question of their pollsters:

It’s hard to say which is worse news for Republicans: that George W. Bush now has the worst approval rating of an American president in a generation, or that he seems to be dragging every ’08 Republican presidential candidate down with him. But According to the new NEWSWEEK Poll, the public’s approval of Bush has sunk to 28 percent, an all-time low for this president in our poll, and a point lower than Gallup recorded for his father at Bush Sr.’s nadir. The last president to be this unpopular was Jimmy Carter who also scored a 28 percent approval in 1979. This remarkably low rating seems to be casting a dark shadow over the GOP’s chances for victory in ’08. The NEWSWEEK Poll finds each of the leading Democratic contenders beating the Republican frontrunners in head-to-head matchups. ...
Like Obama, Edwards defeats the Republicans by larger margins than Clinton does: the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee outdistances Giuliani by six points, McCain by 10 and Romney by 37, the largest lead in any of the head-to-head matchups. Meanwhile, Sen. Clinton wins 49 percent to 46 percent against Giuliani, well within the poll’s margin of error; 50 to 44 against McCain; and 57 to 35 against Romney.

Yes, this would be a devastating poll, if one could rely on it. It contradicts nearly every other poll, which has consistently shown Giuliani beating Obama, Clinton, and Edwards. How could Newsweek get the results they have published?

Well, for one thing, it helps when you poll 50% more Democrats than Republicans. If one reads the actual poll results all the way to the end, the penultimate question shows that the sample has 24% Republicans to 36% Democrats. Compare that to the information given by Newsweek's NBC partners in February, which showed that party affiliation had shifted from a difference of less than a percentage point to a gap of 3.9 points -- 34.3% to 30.4%, with 33.9% independents.

Does it really surprise Newsweek that a sample where half again as many Democrats as Republicans were polled tend to prefer Democrats for President? Do they find it all that surprising that George Bush isn't terribly popular when surveys oversample Democrats? They knew that the poll had to have some problems; the margins of error for the poll were 7% for the Democrats and 8% for the Republicans, quite high for these kinds of polls.

Newsweek apparently doesn't employ people like editors and fact checkers before rushing their analyses to print. Thankfully, the blogosphere can take the time and effort to have these layers of correction so that we can provide the best possible information to our readership."

Thanks to Ken for this article.Yes, the blogosphere will be on full alert the next year and a half. But unless what is uncovered is printed or broadcast in the MSM, it is just more preaching to the choir. With the lefts willing accomplices at their beck and call, the Dhimmicrats seem to have it well in hand. I don't see any knight in shining armor coming in to rescue the floundering (and foundering) Republican party.

I don't know why polls are seen to be so important. I guess the nation is full of sheep who can't be bothered to find out details for themselves and so take whatever conventional wisdom they can glean from idiotic polls as God's truth. As ignorant as a lot of them are, thanks to government schools and teachers from government schools, they wouldn't know how to decipher the finer points of poll questions anyway.

Michael Moore's New Movie

Michael Moore has a new movie about the "wondrous, amazing, first-rate," free Cuban health care system thanks to Fidel Castro's paternalistic love for the Cuban people. You can read an article by Fred Thompson about it here. I posted an article about this very subject earlier.

Thompon asks, "What is it that leads people to value theoretically "free" health care, even when it's lousy or nonexistent, over a free society that actually delivers health care? You might have to deal with creditors after you go to the emergency ward in America, but no one is denied medical care here. I guarantee even the poorest Americans are getting far better medical services than many Cubans."

If Cuba's "state of the art" medical care is so doggone great why did Castro have to fly in a surgeon and equipment from Spain during his illness in 2006?