Masculinity in the 'Hood

Although I'm not a big football fan (the Bengals have cured me of that) I do have some thoughts about the NFL - Michael Vick controversey, concerning whether or not he should ever play football again. I'm sure the NFL, its lawyers, the Falcons, their lawyers, the team's owner, his lawyers, and Vick and his lawyers will figure all that out after criminal justice system is through with him. At the very least, the Falcons' fans, whether or not they have lawyers, will miss Vick's participation in the 2007-2008 season.

If you've been living in a cave the past few weeks, you may not know that Michael Vick, erstwhile black quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, has been suspended indefinitely from the NFL, due to his pleading guilty to organizing a dog fighting "league". He will probably spend the next year or more in prison. Dogfighting is illegal in nearly all states and is a federal felony if there has been any interstate activity. It is possible for him to be sentenced to a maximum of five years on federal charges. That could put paid to his football career. If it is proved that Vick was also involved in gambling on the outcomes of dogfights, there could be even more charges against him, and he could face a lifetime ban from football according to the NFL's policy for personal conduct.

Obviously, dogfighting is a repulsive "sport" to most people, doglovers or not. The most heinous of his actions, however, were his methods of killing the underperforming animals.* According to the indictment, Vick "...executed approximately eight dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions by various methods, including hanging, drowning and/or slamming at least one dog's body to the ground." Reasonable people would judge Vick a candidate for a severe sentence.

The larger question, however, is whether or not he should be deprived of his livelihood for the remainder of his productive football career. He has declared that he is sorry for his actions. Sorry he got caught, maybe. His apology rings a little hollow, too reminiscent of Paris Hilton's repentance of her multiple DUI's and finding solace in the Bible. It remains to be seen how Vick will attempt his own redemption. It takes more than an apology and admitting that he used "bad judgment and made bad decisions." After being heavily involved in dogfighting, he now says that it is "a terrible thing and I do reject it." Riiiiight.

What also concerns me is the developing debate on whether or not Vick is being vilified due to his race more than a white man involved in the same behavior would be. I know no one who would be satisfied with a less severe punishment for a guilty party not of Vick's race. However, there are few who could have lost as much as Vick has already lost. As one of the highest paid NFL players, along with his highly successful product endorsements, he was a much admired Falcon whose jerseys were immensely popular. Certainly Vick will lose his $20 million salary for the next season and possibly more. He may also have to pay back a good portion, supposedly $22 million, of his $40 million signing bonus. He recently lost his position as company spokesman for AirTran Airways and Nike has cancelled his shoe contract.

Future endorsements have flown out the window, unless his successful redemption would make him eligible for something other than a Purina commercial. Whatever criminal punishment he receives, he has already paid a dear price for his "bad judgment and bad decisions." He was ranked 33 among Forbes' Top 100 Celebrities in 2005. However, various antics even before the dogfighting accusations caused him to lose some luster and several endorsement contracts were not renewed.

Critics have been suggesting that this all is a case of "piling on" and that this incident should not cause Vick to lose his livelihood. In the case of his former endorsments as well as with the NFL and his former team, time will tell. A year or two in prison, with the exercise facilities that will be available to him, won't harm his chances to maintain the physicality necessary to return to the game. Another year or two after he is released, Vick can prove his dedication to "growing up" by avoiding the tempations that led to his downfall. The opportunities in the 'hood to stray will remain.

As another young black man who grew up in the projects has said, "If you can't change the people you're with, you have to change the people you're with." This young man, Farrah Gray, was a millionaire at fourteen, the money earned by hardwork, his entrepreneurial spirit, and his dedication to following the values given him by his family, pride, respect, hardwork, preparation, inspriation, the desire to give back and the strength to never give up. His book "Realliionaire" should be in Vick's jail cell.

Our current culture stripped away a black man's main role in providing for his family - in many ways, not just monetarily. The Great Society's generous but ill-conceived welfare programs made keeping the father at home with the family unnecessary. The advent of the Black is Beautiful movement of the late sixties and seventies was supposed to enable blacks to enhance their lives with pride at being black, not define their lives. Suddenly, the unspoken message went across the nation for black youth to not act like "whitey", to reject the white man's standards in education, especially and most tragically. Young boys interested in learning were often ridiculed for doing well in school. The entertainment industry, with the rise of cable television in the 70's and 80's, showed young black men and women where it was "at" for their success - in the NBA, or the NFL. The sexual revolution in the 70's added to the downfall of the family, both white and black, but it hit far harder among blacks. Birth control was available, and soon legal abortions were there to provide for the birth control of last resort. For far too many, the stigma of unwed motherhood became obsolete, replaced with a badge of self-worth.

From rolling out:

Middle-class black women with children fail to see marriage as an option due to their dissatisfaction with the low numbers of black men they view as marriageable material. The social castration of the black male has almost been secured with soaring high school drop out rates, unemployment, drug abuse, and incarceration.

Midnight basketball programs, the good intentions of keeping youngsters off the streets, reinforced the stereotype. Midnight homework programs would have been a better alternative, but rejected as too white. No one bothered to mention to the millions of young athletic "wannabe's" that only a minute percentage of people, either white or black, makes it to the big show. Millions are left behind with nothing but a good jump shot to show for all their years practicing. Without education to give them an alternative, they go back to the streets and look for other ways to prove their manhood. Then you find the development of men with the attitude "My dog is badder than your dog" and spontaneous dogfights in an alley, either for a few bucks, or the prestige of having such a bad-ass dog.



* I'm sure there are quite a number of athletes who are glad they aren't treated the way Vick's dogs were treated after an underperforming season. However, if Beckham doesn't get his act together soon, there might be some people willing to give him a "slight correction."

What Nerve!

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a labor group he would ask Americans to make a big sacrifice: their sport utility vehicles.

The former North Carolina senator told a forum by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, yesterday he thinks Americans are willing to sacrifice.

Edwards says Americans should be asked to drive more fuel efficient vehicles. He says he would ask them to give up SUVs.

John Edwards proudly says he drives a an energy-efficient Ford Escape and says he uses his Chrysler Pacifica (a "crossover" vehicle more like a station wagon than an SUV) when he needs more than two seat belts in the back. He also admits to having a pickup truck for when he needs to "move furniture or haul something". When was the last time he and Elizabeth moved any furniture?

He lives in a huge monstrosity of a house, to the tune of 28,000 square feet, over 10 times the size of the average single-family home in the US*. He declares that in addition to energy saving methods used at home, he's going to purchase carbon credits in order to ensure that his home is operated in a carbon-neutral way, and at the same time, his guilt at using so much energy is assuaged. Maybe Al Gore can advise him on how to purchase some of his available credits. It looks like Edwards needs to purchase a lot. It appears that a great number of trees had to be felled in order for his house to be built to his specifications.

He is wealthy enough to have an attached recreation building which, according to his county tax officials, "has a basketball court, a squash court, two stages, a bedroom, kitchen, bathrooms, sqwimming pool, a four-story tower, and a room designated 'John's Lounge'." Imagine the energy expended just to keep pipes from freezing and enough lights on to get around the 10,400 square foot "main house".

Don't get me wrong. The man has worked hard for his money, even if it was at the expense of medical doctors' insurance premiums. He should be allowed to spend it however he wishes. I care not a whit about how he spends his money. What I do care about is how he tries to tell the rest of us how to spend our money and live our lives.

Edwards is a great one to be bloviating about "two Americas". Maybe he has inhaled too much hairspray.



*according to census figures.

Global Burning!

The photos spotted on the internet showing smoke emanating from the numerous fires plaguing Greece caused me to wonder what effect these fires have on global warming. Supposedly, the most damage in terms of heating our immediate atmospere comes from active volcanoes. It is difficult to discount the apparent damage from such massive wildfires.

A check with the National Interagency Fire Center gives startling information concerning current large fires in the United States. As of August 27, There were 40 active large* fires, burning 1,780,254 acres. That's over one million acres. We are accustomed to hearing about fires in California, especially in drought years. This year we have heard about massive fires in Oklahoma as well.




The map directly above shows all fires in the US in 2007. Pretty amazing. One interesting thing to me, in evidence especially in the following photo showing smoke from fires in the Santa Barbara area of California, is the visible pollution in the form of smoke from those fires. The pollution from automobiles is different in chemical composition than that in smoke from forest fires. I see no evidence of automobile pollution, however. Perhaps someone will inform me of the reason why. The Earth Observatory website provides satellite photos from wildfires around the world. It's hard to understand why there is no mention of the effects of such fires on global warming. The large fires currently featured are those in California, Greece, Sicily, the Amazon, Montana and Idaho, South Africa, the Canary Islands, Southern Europe, Italy and Manitoba, Canada.

* In wildland fire terminology, a "large fire" is one burning more than a specified area of land, e.g.,300 acres.

No Reincarnation Zone

Living in Tibet? Planning to reincarnate soon? Better check with the Official Reincarnation Permit Bureau to see if you qualify for a license. China has declared through the State's Administration for Religious Affairs no one shall reincarnate without permission. This is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

At first this seems mad. Of course, the atheist leaders of the Chinese government have a method to their madness. (The People's Republic of China invaded Tibet in 1950.) This ruling is aimed more at Tibet, and Tibetan Buddhism, than to people in China. It is an effort to maintain and even increase control of deeply religious Tibetan Buddhists, and to limit the influence of Tibet's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama who is 72 years old. It is natural to expect another incarnation of the Dalai Lama within the next decade or two. It is believed that reincarnated lamas, important buddhist leaders, can be identified as young boys. Preventing the the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist monks from recognizing their own candidates for this position, will give the government greater control over the future of the traditional and mystical system currently used for the recognition of the living Buddha who is to become the next Dalai Lama.

This is just the latest assault on Tibet's Buddhist heritage. Not only has the Dalai Lama been exiled in India and any images of him banned, but also religious and political websites with any reference to Tibet. Many Tibetans are even afraid to mention the Dalai Lama's name in public out of fear of retribution.

The Dalai Lama, who teaches peace and compassion, said recently in Germany that resistance to Chinese rule in Tibet must remain peaceful. He is optimistic that he will one day return to Tibet and believes that an evolving China that is no longer isolated will be able eventually to resolve issues with Tibet and help to develop it "while at the same time preserving our (sic ) own unique culture, including spirituality...." It may be some time, however, if the Chinese opt to stick with the hardline approach disallowing the Tibetan Buddhists the time-honored tradition of selecting the next Dalai Lama.

Made in China

(UPDATE: 8/22/07, 11:00am - Now it's blankets.)

(UPDATE: 8/22/07, 3:35pm - And now it's chopsticks! Recycled without benefit of sanitizing by a Chinese company. Think about that next time you order General Tso's chicken.)

(ORIGINAL ARTICLE) -I suppose it was just a matter of time before the bubble of inexpensive, imported items from China burst. The first indication was last spring's pet food scare wherein an unknown number of cats and dogs sickened and died after eating contaminated food. This triggered a massive recall of pet food from retailers around the world. Unscrupulous Chinese suppliers used wheat gluten "enhanced" with melamine and other compounds to inflate its apparent protein value. It soon was revealed that similar practices occur in the production of food for humans as well, at least in China and other parts of Asia.



Soon came the warnings of toothpaste and cough syrup from China containing a deadly chemical, diethylene glycol (DEG), used in antifreeze and brake fluid. DEG is a thickening agent which replaced the more costly glycerin, commonly used in the manufacture drugs. In Panama in 2006 at least 51 people died after ingesting cough syrup laced with DEG. The FDA is now blocking the importation of Chinese toothpaste, and one would hope, cough syrup. Also, the FDA has warned drug companier, suppliers and pharmacists to make sure that any glycerin used is free of contamination.



Chinese tires also made the recall list. almost a half-million tires were defective due to the lack of a key safety feature. Many of these were sold in the US.



This was recently followed by several toy recalls. Due to excessive amounts of lead,Fisher-Price recalled 83 types of toys made, at least in part, in China, Big Birds, Elmos, Doras to name a few. This was followed by Mattel Inc. issuing on August 14, 2007, a a recall for 9 million Chinese-made toys, some with small magnets, some also with potentially dangerous levels of lead paint. *
Now we have to watch out for items of clothing. New Zealand is inspecting Chinese-made clothing supposedly containing high levels of formaldehyde which can cause skin irritations and possibly cancer. Several parents have reported problems with their childrens' nightclothes causing rashes.

What to make of all this? What seems to be a coincidence at this point must cause manufacturers and governments to be taking a closer look at Chinese and other imports. They must ramping up investigatory agencies to prevent similar dangerous items from entering the marketplace. One hopes that any deviations from safety standards will be spotted among the items examined. But what of the items not examined? Let's face it. It is impossible to thoroughly or even cursorily examine each shipment of goods from China or anywhere else for that matter.

In the final analysis, it is up to each consumer to protect himself from unsafe imports, just as it is in every other aspect of his life. Since food items don't list countries of origin for each nutritional component, it makes sense to buy only from trusted food manufacturers, if one must buy prepared food. Although growing one's own food may be the best protection against poisoning, due to accident, neglect, or criminal intent, that is no longer possible for the vast majority of people. Careful selection of foods is possible. Buying locally grown produce, when in season, careful investigation of meat and dairy producers, as well as scrupulously clean kitchen practices, should take care of most food threats. We must rely on our government agencies to do the investigations for us. Governmental representatives must be reminded of their obligation to
ensure that these agencies are well-funded and well-managed to protect the country from unscrupulous or just careless suppliers of food and other consumer goods.

Even with adequate governmental inspections, some items one has to take on trust. Because no one can make his own car tires, trusted manufacturers will have to do. (Remember the Firestone tire recall in 2006 when at least 6 1/2 million tires were recalled?) Few people make their own clothing, much less weave their own fabric, or grow their own cotton. At the very least, purchasing items from trusted manufacturers can lend one some sense of safety. Unfortunately for all, the recent experiences with "Made in China" items has lent some more credence to the old saw "you get what you pay for."



(Remember playing with toy soldiers made of lead? We probably chewed on them also. My father had a collection of magnets that I played with quite often. It never occurred to me to eat them.)

Clueless in Iowa

From Lex:

"The more he talks, the more painfully obvious it is that he's clueless."

From George Will:

"Sen. Barack Obama recently told some Iowa farmers that prices of their crops are not high enough, considering what grocers are charging for other stuff: "Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?" Living near the University of Chicago, Obama has perhaps experienced this outrage, but Iowans, who have no Whole Foods stores, might remember 1987, when Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis urged Iowa farmers to diversify by raising endive. Said a farmer to a Boston reporter, "Your governor scared me just a hair."

From Sloan:

"Arugula? Will all the Iowa farmers go out and plant arugula next Spring? Cows like grass and corn. Do they like arugula? What would their milk or beef taste like? Not to mention that if very many farmers start growing arugula, what happens to the price? Economics must not have been his strong suit. Jeesh!"

Next we'll see him with an army helmet peeking out of a gun turret.

Cowardy Lions

Last night, the Senate passed the McConnell-Bond bill (S. 1927) adjusting laws pertaining to the Foreighn Intelligence Surveillance Act(FISA). This intent of this legislation is to clear up debate concerning laws currently on the books regarding monitoring terrorists who are on foreign soil. This will allow the administration to look into intelligence situations without the delays associated with waiting for judicial review.

However one feels about this, it is dismaying to find that the final vote was 60-22 for passage. Some Senators didn't find it necessary to vote one way or the other, preferring to straddle the fence and avoid being shunned by those on either side of the issue. Such moral cowardice has no place in government, especially in a time of war and terrorism.

Shame on them.

UPDATE:
The House of Representatives followed suit with a 227-183 vote to allow warrantless eavesdropping on foreigners when the communications pass through equipment located in the United States.

A Dog's Life - Part 2

In March, I wrote about the death of our beloved Kirby. We heard from many of you who, after expressing their condolences, related stories about their dogs. It seems that "dog people" love to tell and hear stories about dogs, and most of them have experienced the heartbreak and grief when one of these special animals passes away.

After much thought and consideration of all the pros and cons, we have taken the step of adopting another little bundle of energy into our lives. This past Sunday, we bought a cockapoo, black with a few white markings, a male named Knuckles. Such a macho name for this little guy. Our other dog, Miss Dixie, is not so sure we did the right thing. She tries to ignore and avoid him as much as possible, even when he is inviting her to play in his coy puppy way. He stalks her, lies in the grass and watches her. Then he moves up a few feet, lies down again, and watches some more. Eventually, he gets up and starts running in circles around her, yipping at her. She just watches him and then gets up and moves a few feet away. Sooner or later they will be chasing each other around the backyard and playing tug of war and all the puppy games.

It's been four years since we had a puppy. We tend to forget just how much work they are initially. For relatively painless housetraining, I always take puppies outside whenever they do anything new, right after they wake up, after a play time, after they eat or drink; it's straight outside, saying "Go potty" over and over until they do what they are supposed to do, and then it's high praise and cuddles. We keep our puppies in kennels indoors for most of the time to take advantage of their natural instinct to keep their "bedrooms" clean. Consequently, I am taking Knuckles outside every half hour when he is awake, rain or shine. We also have sleigh bells hanging on our back door. Each time we go outside the bells ring. In a few weeks, he will start ringing the bells himself to have us open the door for him. The bells are loud enough to be heard throughout the house. It is great (also a free burglar alarm) and the older dog helps teach the new one.

It's been in the 90's this week and so I am frequently sweaty and dirty (who can resist getting down on all fours to play with a puppy?) and unable to keep my hair in any decent condition. My clothes are covered with little puppy footprints. This is going to be my life for the next few weeks until he starts to get the idea.

The initial cost of the puppy is just the beginning of the outlay of cash. We had all the puppy accoutrements, small kennel, bowls, leashes, collars, etc. I did get a new cushion for the kennel and a few new toys along with a puppy harness. Trips to the vet will add an expense. In a few months, Knuckles will join the ranks of neutered males and with luck we will be spared some of the more obnoxious male dog habits.

He's a cutie, for sure, and is already worming his way into our hearts. He will never replace our Kirby, just as Dixie didn't replace Jesse, who didn't replace Tasha, who didn't replace Pumpkin, or Zephyr, or Pooh-Bear. I could go on, and on, but I won't. Each dog is loved for his or her own personality quirks and lovability. Our hearts have enough love to go around for all of them.

Something Lighter for a Summer Friday

Our town has been reviving its entrepreneurial spirit lately with some new activities to bring more people into the center of town and to enhance the feeling of "community" and boost the local economy at the same time.

The past few years have seen an "Artisans' and Antiques Fair" one Saturday each June. This year we had the biggest turnout with more booths than ever before showcasing a wide variety of antiques and handcrafted items, from pottery to woven goods,from iron scultures to paintings. This coincided with two other events held in close proximity, a cruise-in, and the grand opening of the Tippecanoe Farmer's Market.

Streets were closed to traffic and two and a half blocks were dedicated to the Farmers' Market, a few to the cruise-in, and several more to the Fair. Luckily, Mother Nature smiled on the endeavor and gave us a magnificent day, with bright sunshine and mild temperatures. People flocked to town for all the events and, along with the items at the Fair, found at the market a delightful display of fruits and vegetables freshly picked by our local growers.

Each week as the summer progresses, the produce, artfully displayed in each booth, entices one to purchase more of this nutritious goodness than one expects to buy. People return home with arms full of delicious food items. There are booths with baked goods, ice cream, sandwiches, smoked turkey products (from a locan free-range turkey farm), fresh-cut flower arrangements from Spring Hill Nursery, pots of flowers for gardeners from another local grower, Springrun Farms, and even a young girl with a face painting booth to keep the little ones happy.

All in all, it is a great addition to our already great town, albeit a smaller one of approximately 9,000 people. The hard working volunteers who conceived and carried out this idea are to be congratulated. Their hard work, sacrificing every Saturday, has brought more smiling faces into town each week than I have seen in a long time.

Is it Hotter or Colder? The Boy is Crying Wolf Again

I noticed two diametrically opposed things today. One is a report from PIRG (Public Interest Research Group, a noble sounding name for a leftist organization founded in the 1960's by Ralph Nader) that claims that "Nevada is among the states with the most dramatic increase in average temperatures the last 30 years, according to a new study that examines the impact of global warming across the country."

The other is a graph from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospoheric Administration, part of the US Department of Commerce, the "weather people", that shows the average temperature in Las Vegas for the past six decades. Specificallly, the average in the 1940"s was 81.3 degrees, and in the 1990's, 79.9 degrees. Yes, in 1960's it was 79.2, the 1970's 79.7, but for the past two decades, it has remained static, at 79.9.



At about the same time, I noticed a news report by hurricane forecasters revising downward their prediction for the current hurricane season.

Forecaster reduces 2007 hurricane prediction
Published on Thursday, July 26, 2007
By Kelly Riddell

WASHINGTON, USA (Bloomberg): WSI Corp., a weather-forecasting company, has reduced the number of hurricanes it's predicting this year because of cooler-than-expected water temperatures in the North Atlantic.

The 2007 season is expected to deliver a total of six hurricanes, instead of the eight previously forecast, Andover, Massachusetts-based WSI said. An average season yields six. The 2005 season, which brought Katrina, Rita and billions of dollars in damage, generated a record 15 hurricanes.

"Sea-surface temperatures really haven't warmed like they normally do this time of year," WSI senior meteorologist Jim Klein said in an interview. "We can't pinpoint any specific reason, but we're not seeing the tropical development like we've anticipated."

This is in start contrast to the advisory given in April predicting a "very active" 2007 Hurricane Season.

By Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 03 April 2007 10:07 am ET

The Atlantic basin will likely see a very active hurricane season this year, though not as active as in 2004 and 2005, according to a well-known Colorado State University forecasting team.

"The activity of these two years was unusual, but within the natural bounds of hurricane variation," said hurricane forecasting guru William Gray, who issued his first seasonal forecast 24 years ago.

The latest forecast upgrades the team's earlier predictions for the 2007 hurricane season. The team now expects 17 named storms to form in the Atlantic, with nine of those storms becoming hurricanes. Five of the hurricanes are expected to develop into major storms (Categories 3, 4, and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) with wind speeds of 111 mph or greater.

The earlier 2007 forecast estimated 14 named storms and 3 hurricanes.

Now, what is the average person supposed to think after continually reading such contradictory information in the MSM? Are there no experts? Are the "experts" just guessing? Does politics play a part in predictions and press releases? No Sh&* Sherlock.

The unfortunate result of this "crying wolf" is that the public is turning a deaf ear to the science community. The entire global warming "debate" is a case in point. Scientist with axes to grind and jobs to keep will suck up to whatever political entity seems to be gaining the upper hand. No ordinary citizen with a smattering of science education and no access to the lastest technological analysis will be able to make heads or tales of any scientific situation that faces him.

One of the worst developments of the last few decades has been the politicization of science. Theories have replaced fact. Computer models have been taken as gospel. Few people in the MSM acknowledge the fact that the nature of climate is a composite of so many variables, both within and without our humble atmosphere, and far beyond our "poor power to add or detract" that an accurate computer model is a figment of some scientist's and his political agenda's imagination.

It is so very disheartening.

No New Persimmons!

I am giving up persimmons. Since they are not a fruit locally grown, and have to be flown, and trucked to Ohio, I am going to do my part to ease global warming and the energy crisis by giving them up. Read my lips - no new persimmons.

Actually, I am taking my cue from Elizabeth Edwards (Mrs. John), first lady-wannabe. She has announced that she is giving up tangerines since they are not grown in the local orchards of North Carolina and the environs. I guess she means to include oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit as well. And bananas. And lettuce in the winter. Anyway, she has discovered the virtues of fighting global warming by buying locally grown produce. Why, local tomatoes taste better that the cardboard ones from the grocery store anyway. (That makes it less than a sacrifice, but I won't tell her.)

Of course, her palatial estate is large enough for a greenhouse where she could grow her own citrus fruits.

Maybe she should check where her clothes are made. She may find that her silk blouse is made in Sri Lanks, the buttons from Guam, the zipper from Japan, etc. She'll have trouble finding clothes made locally. With the exception of wool, (I assume there are some local sheep) most, if not all, of the fabrics in North Carolina are imported.

I think she opened a can of worms. Those you can get in her neighborhood.

Back from Vacation

Two weeks is a long time to try to avoid the news and keep away from all the blogs and news sources. I needed a break from the daily immersion in the nonsense into which our political system has evolved, thanks in large part to the main stream media (MSM) and their self-important spinning and censoring the news. By censoring, I mean the choices the MSM makes every day about what to report and what not to report. Their spins are obvious. I can listen to a speech or comment made by a politician or government official and then hear something quite different from the media's description of what I myself had just heard. Oh well. By the time they figure out what's going on, no one will be reading the newspapers or watching the news. I guess the MSM will have to be re-invented.

Some thoughts since I last posted:

(1) On Hillary - This week I heard on the radios that some people think Hillary is not acting enough like a woman, John Edwards is not acting enough like a man, and Barak Obama isn't black enough. Bizarre. However, it must have bothered the Hillary camp somewhat because they sent out their big gun Bill Clinton who defended Hill by saying that he didn't think she was acting like a man, just like a leader. Then two days later she shows up on CSPAN or someplace wearing a low-cut shirt and showing some cleavage (GASP!). I guess she set out to prove that she IS a woman after all. I question the timing. You rarely see her in anything the slightlest bit revealing. Her handlers choose her wardrobe very carefully and she has Hollywood's best and brightest to assist her presentations. I know, it is a bit catty of me to even mention this.

(2) On the immigration bill - Now is the time for Republicans and other concerned Americans to jump on the good ideas that abound concerning immigration, legal and illegal. First, secure the borders. Then enforce the laws that are on the books and that are being ignored. Deal with each part of the problem individually without an omnibus bill that is too comprehensive to pass. Don't let nothing get done at all. Make the presidential candidates deal with it, debate it and present their ideas.

(3) On Huffington Post, Penelope Trunk has an article titled "It Doesn't Matter that Journalists Misquote Everyone." In it she complains that she's tired of people saying that so-and-so has been misquoted. In her mind, one can misquote with wild abandon because no two people see the same thing the same way. Ok, if you're a fiction writer, I can go along with that. Reporters, however, have a different purpose. Whatever they may feel about it, reporters are supposed to stick to the "who, what, when, where, and how" of a story. Editorialists, or OP-ED writers as they are called now, have the leeway to present their own bird's eye view. She can forget the rationalization, in my opinion. No one should pay any attention to anything she writes from now on. 'Nuff said.

(4) "The Fancy Food Show hit New York last week, and we spotted a welcome trend amid the countless aisles of confections and high-end preserves: Cane sugar is making a comeback. Since the 1970s, high-fructose corn syrup has dominated the sweetener market—its low cost has made it difficult for manufacturers to resist. But ethanol has changed the equation, and customer demand has sparked a return to a classic." This is from a weekly online email from Ruth Reichl at Gourmet Magazine. What is it they say about the road to Hell? Paved with good intentions, I believe. All those ethanol instead of oil pushers who complain about $3/gallon gasoline are going to be complaining about $3/can of corn soon. And anything else that will be used for ethanol. Carrots, $3 each. Looking for green peppers? Sorry, that field is growing corn now. Hamburger? $3 each at McDonalds. Cow's have to be fed and pastures are growing corn for ethanol. Sorry.

Let's just drill for oil, off-shore, on-shore, Arctic, Texas, wherever. Stop feeding the sheiks and start feeding the United States cheaper corn. If we don't, food prices will soar. Maybe that will solve the obesity problem, at least.

The Three "R's"

Some thoughts on a busy Friday, all on topics starting with the letter R.



1st R - Rushdie - The British have seen fit to honor Salman Rushdie by bestowing a knighthood upon him. He is now Sir Rushdie, I guess, so named for his contribution to literature. He is now on the same level with the Islamists as the infamous Danish cartoons in that there are renewed cries for the fatwa calling for his assassination. He has a bountry of several million dollars on his head. Gotta love that religion of peace.



2nd R - Reporters - The MSNBC website had a report the other day from one of their Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, Bill Dedman, that consisted of his research into the political donations made by journalists. Does it surprise anyone that there is a definite tilt to the left among the sensitivities of the MSM reporters? 125 journalists gave to the Democrats, 16 to Republicans. Two, in the interest of being fair and balanced, I guess, gave to both. However, most reporters were too busy, writing checks perhaps, to report on this fact.



3rd R - Russians - The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! God, I loved that movie! Anyway, The Russians have just discovered the North Pole and have planted their figurative flag right smack dab on the pole itself, claiming the land, the oil, the diamonds, and the snow, I guess, for Mother Russia. Santa Claus, forever after to be referred to only as Saint Nicholas, will not have to move. Oh, Canada.... Look out.

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That's all, folks. I'll be taking a holiday the next week or so. Family will be visiting and I must keep my nose away from the computer screen at least some of the time. Posts may be few and skimpy. However, if I get really fired up, I'll find a way to express my humble opinions, one way or the other.

A Victory for the American People

After hundreds of thousands, probably millions, of phone calls, faxes, and emails to the Senate offices, the powers that be heard the protest that stretched across party lines and closed off any consideration of the Senate bill 1639. The final tally on the closure vote was 46 to 53, 14 short of the 60 needed "Yea" votes. It was even 5 short of a simple majority. I sent a heartfelt "Thank You" to those senators who voted "Nay" today.

When Congress and the President decide to enforce the current immigration laws, secure our borders, and prevent the wholesale looting of our social systems by illegal immigrants and their familial "chain" to follow, then they can once again address the other pressing problems such as:

1. How to deal with the current illegal immigrant population
2. How to streamline immigration requirements for both skilled and unskilled workers
3. Whether or not granting amnesty to illegals is fair to those who aspire to legal immigration and citizenship
4. How to justify to US citizens the continued granting of free medical care to illegal immigrants, free education to their
children, and other costly social services and privileges
5. How to further seal off the Mexican and Canadian borders to prevent the entrance of terrorists and other criminals
6. How to encourage the assimilation of immigrants, including learning the English language.

I have faith that these issues can be dealt with by reasonable leaders of our country and that solutions that are more fair to our citizens can be found. The inclusion in our society of legal immigrants can continue to make our country strong, vibrant and secure. The priority, however, should be for the citizens of the United States, not for the citizens of other countries who do not wish to follow the legal avenues available for those who wish to share in the American Dream. We welcome those who demonstrate their willingness to follow our laws by adhering to those that currently control immigration.

Open Letter to Sen. Lott and Others

(This is the content of the letter I sent today to Sen. Trent Lott. Variations were sent to the Senators and Congressmen from my state and others.)


Dear Senator Lott,

I urge you and your fellow Senators to vote against the outrageous immigration bill that is due to be reconsidered in the Senate and House of Representatives. I have never seen Congressmen turn their backs on such a vast majority of American people and their wishes as they have on this issue.

Nearly 80% of the population of the United States is against most of the provisions of this bill and yet you and your cohorts continue to support it, disregarding the opinions of the electorate. I understand that the populace will not agree with its representatives in Congress 100% of the time, but on an issue so crucial to the future of the United States there must be some consideration of the will of the people.

By the way, I am not a bigot, nor am I influenced by the talk radio that you disparaged recently. I hear no complaints from you about the one-sidedness of the other media, the press, and broadcast television, as well as many of the cable TV networks. If talk radio has any presence worth noting, it is because it stands alone to provide an outlet for conservative thought.

Thank you for your attention to this extremely important matter. Do not let down your State and your Country.


Sincerely,

Sloan Morganstern

Hillary Barack Ticket?

Had a discussion with my neighbor yesterday about the possibilty of a Hillary and Barack ticket for '08 presidential election. He said he didn't think Hillary would go for it, but Barack might if he were to get the nod for the top spot.

I don't think that's posible for '08, Barack in the #1 position, that is. He's too new, too much a shooting star that has already reached it's peak and now is going to cruise more or less downward for a while. Remember how infatuated Hollywood was, with all its fundraisers and spouting about Obama this and Obama that. Well, now the King has spoken. Bill Clinton and his cronies must have had a good long talk with Spielberg and made him an offer he couldn't refuse because now he proclaims his supports for Mrs. Clinton. Well, well. What a surprise.

Now that Hillary can be assured of the best and brightest Hollywood has to offer for her campaign ads (the Soprano's knock-off last week was a toe in the water) Obama had better be scrambling for some pros to help him along.

I think that the Top Democrats would be afraid to scare off some of the more conservative Democrat voters with a ticket headed by a woman and having a black man for the Veep position. Obama would have nothing to lose and everything to gain by adding Hillary as his Veep candidate.

What do you think?

Lake Inferior?

"Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake, has dropped to its lowest level in 81 years. The water is 20 inches below average and a foot lower than just a year ago."

The above quote is from USA Today.

If that is true, and it falls in line with what the climate change scare-mongers are telling us about anthropogenic global warming, my only question is:

WHAT CAUSED LAKE SUPERIOR TO BE AS LOW AS IT WAS 81 YEARS AGO?

Too Much to Hope For

Drudge found this article about the BBC commissioning a report on its content which criticized the BBC for its liberal bias. Plenty of examples are given in the article supporting this claim, including instances of overt campaigning for liberal causes within television comedies and dramas, a series of shows resembling propaganda, and "America-bashing."

Additional findings report the "BBC's failure to reflect the broader views of British people", a devotion to political correctness, and antipathy toward the more conservative values held by millions of British citizens. Paul Dacre, editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers, which published the Daily Mail, commented that "The BBC is consumed by the kind of political correctness that is actually patronisingly contemptuous of what it describes as ordinary people."

I have often read of the liberal leanings of the BBC. The US televised BBC programs that I have seen often show a subtle slant to the left, even in period shows of earlier eras. That is one reason that I no longer support PBS which is the vehicle for televising most of the BBC productions in the US. PBS is guilty of the same prejudice in much of its programming, from the multicultural preachings of Sesame Street to the ugly motivation of Bill Moyer's liberal productions.

It would be nice to see a similar impartial survey of PBS and other mainstream television programming in the United States. Never happen.

A Parallel?

Back in the spring, at the height of the French presidential campaign, there was excited talk among the left about the possibility of both France and the United States being led by women, namely Segolene Royal and Hillary Clinton. If only Great Brittain had groomed a liberal Thatcher, preferably one more chic, what a triumvirate that would be, if one can use that word referring to women.


Royal, "Sego" as she is known, was certainly the darling of the media, which had been proclaiming a good chance of her victory months in advance. A poor showing in the debate with conservative candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, and other instances of "style over subtstance" led to her defeat to Sarkozy, May 6, 2007.

Segolene Royal was the amorous "partner" of Francois Hollande, head of the French Socialist party. In fact, they have four children together, in spite of never marrying. The handsome couple was often seen on the covers of magazines, often frolicking on the beach, Sego clad in a skimpy bikini. Rumors had surfaced of non-marital discord, which was denied by the power couple on the far side of the Atlantic. Perhaps the rumors were part of a vast right-wing conspriacy. The campaign continued with Hollande's full support. Now, however, it seems the rumors are true. Sego has kicked Hollande out of the "family home" to "live out his love story" elsewhere, as she puts it in an announcement to the press which itself has drawn criticism for taking attention from the fact that the Socialist party fared better than feared in the Sunday's elections for the National Assembly.

Now the question becomes how far does the parallel go between Royal and Clinton? Both are the female side of a liberal power couple, both have campaigned for the presidency of their country. Both have philandering "husbands". Both have denied the evidence of such philandering. If Hillary is not the Democrat's nominee or if she is and loses the election, will she tell Bill to "live out his love story elsewhere?"

It's pretty much agreed by political junkies that the Clinton's have stayed married for political reasons, first for his and now for hers. Their's has been a partnership of convenience in spite of the inconvenience of it at times. They are apart much more than together, with Bill Clinton travelling worldwide raking in the dough from speaking engagements. Who knows whether or not his sessions with Jesse Jackson and the other religious advisors were able to convince Bill of the error of his ways? The MSM media is not interested in pursuing him 'round the world to see with whom he might rendezvous. Perhaps he can visit France and console Segolene Royal.

Letter to Sen. Lott

Dear Senator Lott,

Although not a Mississippi resident, I respect your long service to our country and wanted to contact you regarding your stand on the current discussion on immigration reforms. I was disappointed in your statements regarding talk radio being a problem. I assume your remarks were made hastily and upon reflection you will issue an apology to talk radio hosts and listeners who have the best interests of the Unites States at heart and believe in their right to exercise their free speech on the airwaves. Your comment smacks of a desire to curb their influence on the current political situation regarding immigration. I feel that an informed electorate with pros and cons of each issue freely discussed in an open marketplace is a valuable contribution to the continuation of our democratic republic. I am sure that in your heart of hearts you feel the same way as I. Please let the American people know that this is true.

Also consider the gross unfairness of the current immigration bill about to be reopened for debate next week. This bill is unfair to those who are complying with current laws and facing long waits, financial hardships, just to enter the US legally. It is also unfair to American citizens who, looking ahead to the possibility of few if any social security funds, medicare funds, education funds, etc., to be told that these dwindling resources will be bestowed on illegal immigrants and their family members. It is unfair to the border guards who try to enforce the law and have the knowlege that in the future and very illegals they are trying to prevent from entering the US will be legalized. How demoralizing for them!

The American people are smart enough to recognize what a shoddy scheme this bill is, pure pandering to minorities, an unfair proposal to those obeying the current laws, and a drain on resources supplied by hard working legal Americans.

Stop this bill in its tracks. Enforce current laws first and take more time to develop workable, fair solutions to the situation at hand.

This is especially important when considering the needs of national security in this time of Islamic terror plans.

Thank you for your time.

Sloan

Jolie and Pelosi

Here's a joke: What do Angelina Jolie and Nancy Pelosi have in common? They're both hypocrites. OK, I know it's not funny but it is a joke. These two beauts are gifts that just keep giving. First, Ms Jolie

I try to stay away from the celebrity crap but every now and then one of these self-important hypocrites just lays one right in front of me there and I can't help but try to hit it out of the park.

Angelina Jolie was trying to ban certain news outlets (namely Fox and affiliates) from interviewing her and lining the red carpet at the premiere of her movie "A Mighty Heart", a movie supposed to support "Reporters without Borders". I guess that excludes the borders of the red carpet, since she felt that she was entitled to prevent Fox news people (if you can call entertainment reporters "news people") from experiencing her sainted grace-filled presence.

In fact, all reporters were at first required to sign contracts stipulating what could be asked of Ms Jolie and what would happen if the reporters reneged on their promise. Enough reporters had the gumption to refuse to sign and the studio was perturbed as well . Jolie then cancelled all print interviews.

See this from fox news online

Now, for Ms Pelosi. It seems that she has forgotten her campaign pledge to clean up the House (remember? "sometimes it takes a woman to clean the house") and its members tendency to play fast and loose with gifts received and travel expenditures being reimbursed. The Hill reports that she sees no problem with a lawmakers' adult children accompanying them on junkets without having to reimburse the government. So much for her pledge.

Neptune Rising

It seems that yet another planet is rife with gas-guzzling SUV's that little green men are using to cruise "Big Blue". Yes, Neptune is suffering the same fate as Earth, and Mars, and who knows how many other orbiting orbs out there in the sky, with temperatures rising, rising, and threatening the health and well-being of who or whatever lives on them.

But wait, wait. If there are no little green men and little green SUV's on Neptune, what in the world, or out of the world could be causing this crisis? Theory No. 1: you and me and our anthropogenic ways. Theory No. 2: the sun.

Now, Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and a long, long, long way from Earth. We must be emitting some mighty powerful carbon dioxide to go that far and affect a planet that is about four times as large in diameter as the Earth. I'll wager that Old Sol has something to do with it. A few other people agree with me and are willing to come forward and confess it. Investor's Business Daily names a few experts who dare to swim against the tide of politically correct science. Look for them on the unemployment line in the near future. They shall be grant-less until science kicks politics out of the equation.



Photo Credit

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?