Actually, I would call this (and the prior Assisi) a grotesque in that they don't disperse water through their mouths (yes, to gargle), but I'm sure someone related to Jack Iraq will disagree.
The Ron Paul Show
Bill Buckley Finds Joe's Tavern Close to Auschwitz
Stick me in a confessional and ask the question: Sir, if you had the authority, would you forbid smoking in America? You'd get a solemn and contrite, Yes. Solemn because I would be violating my secular commitment to the free marketplace. Contrite, because my relative indifference to tobacco poison for so many years puts me in something of the position of the Zyklon B defendants after World War II. These folk manufactured the special gas used in the death camps to genocidal ends. They pleaded, of course, that as far as they were concerned, they were simply technicians, putting together chemicals needed in wartime for fumigation. Some got away with that defense; others, not.
Those who fail to protest the free passage of tobacco smoke in the air come close to the Zyklon defendants in pleading ignorance.
Army Civilians Could Receive Furlough Notices by ChristmasWhy aren't voters up in arms about this? Why isn't the media? Where are more blogs? What will it take for the nation to scream from the roof tops that members of Congress and our government are stabbing our soldiers in the back? Those that say Congress is using funding to get their point across won't admit that our troops are being used as pawns, pawns that get killed so that some in Congress can speak at a leftist rally or raise more campaign money from anti-military and anti-American groups such as:
Some members of Congress have responded by saying the Pentagon has funds to continue operations through March, but a Pentagon spokesman today said furlough notices for Army employees could start going out the middle of this month. The employees would not be furloughed until after Christmas, but some contracts require a 60-day notice if the furlough will be longer than 60 days, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters
at the Pentagon. The department is using fiscal 2008 funds – not part of the supplemental funding needed – to keep operations going in the war on terror, he explained. “Anyone who thinks that this is not a serious situation is simply misinformed or is ignoring the facts. We have tried to be as matter of fact as we can on this, but the reality is that we are using our program budget for FY 08 … to fund our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Whitman said. DoD is using
its readiness funding, or operations and maintenance accounts, which typically pay for training, supplies, and maintenance of weapons and equipment.
It seems Congress wants the military to budget like them which is a day late and a dollar short except Congress won't give the military the right to print money. So, the military has to borrow from next year's budget, in the middle of a war, to pay for this year's budget as punishment for doing their jobs so well.
Warming risks listed by population, costs
Report: 150 million people, $35 trillion in assets vulnerable by 2070
As for the cost of inaction, the report states that "(Hurricane) Katrina and New Orleans demonstrates how significant these consequences might be — 1,500 deaths, evacuation of 700,000 people, with hundreds of thousands still displaced two years on, massive flood damage from which recovery is still ongoing, and the global shock to the oil price.
"New Orleans may never fully recover and another major hurricane landfall could trigger further decline or even total abandonment," the report adds.
[E]conomists at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development blamed obesity in Bermuda on Coco Pops (yes, the breakfast cereal).
Congress Returning for Daunting Agenda
"We're going to continue to try to see if we can't get in place a timetable
for the removal of most of the troops that we have there," said Sen. Carl Levin,
D-Mich., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, on CNN's "Late
Edition.""Congress should be able to state a goal for the removal of most of the
American troops without a veto threat."
CNN: Corrupt News NetworkWOW, that takes some brass ones for the LA Times to actually attempt to stand on that rickety soap box.
A self-serving agenda was set for the Republican presidential debates.
THE United States is at war in the Middle East and Central Asia, the
economy is writhing like a snake with a broken back, oil prices are relentlessly
climbing toward $100 a barrel and an increasing number of Americans just can't
afford to be sick with anything that won't be treated with aspirin and bed
rest.
So, when CNN brought the Republican presidential candidates together this
week for what is loosely termed a "debate," what did the country get but a
discussion of immigration, Biblical inerrancy and the propriety of flying the
Confederate flag?
In fact, this most recent debacle masquerading as a presidential debate
raises serious questions about whether CNN is ethically or professionally
suitable to play the political role the Democratic and Republican parties
recently have conceded it.
In any event, CNN has failed in its responsibilities to the political
process and it's time for the leaders of both the Republican and Democratic
parties to take the network out of our electoral affairs.
U.N. to Cut Estimate Of AIDS Epidemic
Population With Virus Overstated by MillionsThe United Nations' top AIDS scientists plan to acknowledge this week
that they have long overestimated both the size and the course of the epidemic,
which they now believe has been slowing for nearly a decade, according to U.N.
documents prepared for the announcement.
Estimate of AIDS Cases In U.S. Rises
New Test Places the Rate Of Infection 50 Percent Higher
New government estimates of the number of Americans who become infected with the AIDS virus each year are 50 percent higher than previous calculations suggested, sources said yesterday.
Federal lawmakers are considering the broadest effort ever to limit what
children eat: a national ban on selling candy, sugary soda and salty, fatty food
in school snack bars, vending machines and cafeteria lines.
The Irrelevance of Military Victory
by Rep. Ron Paul
January 16, 2007
A military victory in Iraq is unattainable, just as it was in the Vietnam
War.
Losers love this analogy except when you bring up that Congress (Democrats) caused millions to be murdered when they cut funding to the free government of South Vietnam that we had left unprotected.
At the close of the Vietnam War in 1975, a telling conversation took placeIrrelevant? Yes, it was. Colonel Tu knew our government and Congress better than we did because he studied us. If we follow your advice, now we can have millions more murdered in the middle east and Iraq, just like your kind accomplished with the aid of Colonel Tu and his compatriots.
between an NVA colonel named Tu and an American colonel named Harry Summers. Col. Summers reportedly said, "You never beat us on the battlefield." Tu
replied, "That may be so, but it is also irrelevant." It is likewise irrelevant
to seek military victory in Iraq.
As conditions deteriorate in Iraq, the American people are told more blood must
be spilled to achieve just such a military victory. Twenty thousand additional
troops and another $100 billion are needed for a "surge." Yet the people remain
rightfully skeptical.
Though we've been in Iraq nearly four years, the meager goal today simply is to
secure Baghdad. This hardly shows that the mission is even partly
accomplished.
Astonishingly, American taxpayers now will be forced to finance a
multi-billion-dollar jobs program in Iraq. Suddenly the war is about jobs! We
export our manufacturing jobs to Asia, and now we plan to export our welfare
jobs to Iraq – all at the expense of the poor and middle class here at home.
Plans are being made to become more ruthless in achieving stabilityYep, good call. Pacification, negotiation and encouragement is just plain ruthless.
in Iraq. It appears Moqtada al-Sadr will be on the receiving end of our military
efforts, despite his overwhelming support among large segments of the Iraqi
people.
I’m confused here, what election did you see Mr. Paul? When was your election voting the Badr Brigade into power held? We must have missed it. BTW Ron. Do you want troops out of Iraq now leaving those who believed in us in the lurch or do you want better training for Iraqi forces. Make up your mind.It's interesting to note that one excuse given for our failure is leveled at the
Iraqis themselves. They have not done enough, we're told, and are difficult to
train.Yet no one complains that Mahdi or Kurdish militias or the Badr
Brigade (the real Iraq government, not our appointed government) are not
well-trained. Our problems obviously have nothing to do with training Iraqis to
fight, but instead with loyalties and motivations.
We claim to be spreading democracy in Iraq, but Sadr has far more democraticAntipathy? Not on the part of Iraqis, especially not among the 100,000s Iraqis returning to Iraq weekly. Sadr has far more democratic support? Again, which election do you speak of? Was it on a different channel or different plane?
support with the majority Shi'ites than our troops enjoy. The problem is not a
lack of democratic consensus; it is the antipathy toward our presence among most
Iraqis.
In real estate, the three important considerations are location, location,
location In Iraq, the three conditions are occupation, occupation, occupation.
Nothing can improve in Iraq until we understand that our occupation is the
primary source of the chaos and killing. We are a foreign occupying force,
strongly resented by the majority of Iraq's citizens.
Our inability to adapt to the tactics of 4th generation warfare compounds our
military failure. Unless we understand this, even doubling our troop strength
will not solve the problems created by our occupation.
The talk of a troop surge and jobs program in Iraq only distracts Americans from
the very real possibility of an attack on Iran. Our growing naval presence in
the region and our harsh rhetoric toward Iran are unsettling. Securing the Horn
of Africa and sending Ethiopian troops into Somalia do not bode well for world
peace. Yet these developments are almost totally ignored by Congress.
Rumors are flying about when, not if, Iran will be bombed by either Israel or
the U.S. – possibly with nuclear weapons. Our CIA says Iran is 10 years away
from producing a nuclear bomb and has no delivery system, but this does not
impede our plans to keep "everything on the table" when dealing with Iran.
We should remember that Iran, like Iraq, is a third-world nation without a
significant military. Nothing in history hints that she is likely to invade a
neighboring country, let alone do anything to America or Israel. I am concerned,
however, that a contrived Gulf of Tonkin-type incident may occur to gain popular
support for an attack on Iran.
Even if such an attack is carried out by Israel over U.S. objections, we will be
politically and morally culpable since we provided the weapons and dollars to
make it possible.
Let's hope I'm wrong about this one.You were. Get some new tea leaves.
Did yesterday's hostage crisis teach us anything about Hillary Clinton?Hillary does a walk through of the site, a day late and a dollar short, as if she is gonna find a clue that breaks the case wide open. Book'em Danno! Oh, and Danno, don't screw with me, make it snappy!
Is that what you want in a President? Someone who feels extra confusion because she's a mother?
But I don't believe that for one minute. I think that was just what was considered a good script. I don't happen to think it is a good script, because I don't want a President to roil into a mommyesque ball of emotion when a few people are in danger. Yet that's not Hillary. The only question is why she thought a statement like that was a good. She probably wanted to make sure not to confirm the widely held belief that she's unemotional, and, while she was at it, delight all the ladies out there who lap up emotional drivel.
Teacher Hidden As Sudan Mob Urges Death
Chants of "Kill her!" and "No tolerance: Execution!" rang out as hundreds of police in riot gear stood by, keeping the crowd contained but not moving against the rally.
Protesters dismissed Gibbons' claims that she didn't mean to insult the prophet.
"It is a premeditated action, and this unbeliever thinks that she can fool us?" said Yassin
Mubarak, a young dreadlocked man swathed in green and carrying a sword. "What she did requires her life to be taken."
Several hundred protesters marched to Unity High School, where Gibbons worked, and
chanted outside briefly before heading toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks from the embassy. The protest dispersed after an hour.
"I would like to tell the whole world that what happened here from this English teacher is not acceptable to us," said a protester, Sheikh Nasser Abu Shamah.
There was no overt sign that the government organized the protest, but such a public rally could not have taken place without at least official assent.
Gibbons was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in jail and deportation for insulting Islam with the naming of the teddy bear, which was part of a class project for her 7-year-old students at the private school.
CBS Seeking 'Irreverent,' 'Hip' Journalist for Eco-Beat (No Knowledge Required)
Job advertisement seeking 'wicked smart, funny, irreverent and hip, oozing
enthusiasm and creative energy.'
“CBS is expanding its coverage of the environment,” the ad reads. “We
seek a talented reporter/host for Internet video broadcast. We are looking for
smart, creative, hard working up and comers, who can bring great energy,
creativity and a dash of humor to our coverage. A deep interest in the
environment and sustainability issues will serve you well.”
So you would think such a job would require a science background or years of covering environmental news? Not exactly.
Race, gender come to forefront of presidential race"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Murtha finds military progress in trip to Iraq
Warns that Iraqis must do more for their own security
U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing their own security and the Bush administration still must develop an exit strategy.
"I think the 'surge' is working," the Democrat said in a videoconference from his Johnstown office, describing the president's decision to commit more than 20,000 additional combat troops this year. But the Iraqis "have got to take care of themselves."
Murtha even yelled at a reporter during a recent press conference, telling the reporter that the news coming out of the Pentagon regarding Iraq is not believable.
"They don't need to do the things — you're missing the point — because the Pentagon says it, you believe it?," Murtha yelled. "You believe what the Pentagon says? Huh? With all the things that they have told us, you believe what — I mean, go back and look — 'mission accomplished,' Al Qaeda connection, weapons of mass destruction, on and on and on, and you believe the Pentagon?"
The New York City library system is funded by public and private contributions.Right, not a political statement. No Democrats, but not a political statement. These people are so intellectually smug that they think "those people" will believe them.
"This exhibition has no political agenda," the library said in a statement issued Thursday. "The work described in the media has been presented out of context and is not a complete or fair representation of the entire exhibition — which showcases 23 different contemporary printmakers from around the world, featuring a range of subject matters."
The library also said that nothing in the exhibit is reflective of the views of the institution.
"Portions of this exhibition ... should not be viewed as a political statement by the library," it said.
Rodney King shot; wounds not life-threatening
Police said when they arrived at the home, King and others there appeared
drunk and few were cooperative in providing information.
Christmas Tree controversyHow insensitive is it to offend such large numbers of people over a non-religious symbol because the minority might be offended by having religion forced upon them?
Missouri State University took down a20-foot Christmas tree after a diversity official reported a complaint that it was insensitive to other religions.
As a result, Missouri State officials are meeting tomorrow to discuss appropriate holiday decorations.
A Christmas tree that had been removed from the atrium of Strong Hall at Missouri State University will return, along with other religious holiday symbols in that building, school president Michael T. Nietzel said in a news release Thursday morning.A meeting that had been scheduled Friday to discuss appropriate MSU holiday decorations has been canceled, he said.
...
"It's not a big issue," he said. "Some people raised the question about the tree and the best way to approach it was to take it down to discuss it."
President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have signed a declaration of principles on the continued U.S. presence in Iraq. Our President bush stated that the agreement was an excellent agenda with which negotiations between Iraq and The U.S. could begin to form mutually agreeable treaties.
Our esteemed Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, issued a statement which included the pure genius that follows:
“President Bush’s agreement with the Iraqi government confirms his
willingness to leave office with a U.S. Army tied down in Iraq and stretched to
the breaking point, with no clear exit strategy from Iraq.“The President should take responsibility for his Iraq policy rather than
expect the American people or the next Admisitration [sic] to bear the
consequences of his mistakes. The President can do that by working with
Democrats who are fighting every day to bring our troops home responsibly,
honorably, safely and soon.”
If MizzzzzPelosi, as spokespersonage for her party, doesn't believe that any Democrat should have to deal with the consequences of our freeing millions of people and routing al Qaeda in Iraq or if Her Highness believes it might be a little too tough for them to handle then she should bundle up her group of losers, cancel any remaining debates, forego any primaries and go home.
The country will not mind. At all. You may not know it Nance, but this country is stretched to the point of snapping as it tries to put up with your crap and we are also sick of the quagmire that you and el Reido have made of congress.
Lawmakers To Consider Spanking BanSpare the rod, spoil the child? I believe that to be true.
Nurse Wants State To Outlaw Corporal Punishment
BOSTON -- Lawmakers on Beacon Hill are set to consider a
proposed ban on spanking children in the commonwealth.
NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that the issue is set for debate
at a Statehouse hearing Wednesday morning.
The Boston Herald reported that State Rep. Jay Kaufman filed the spanking
ban petition at the request of an Arlington, Mass., nurse who wants
Massachusetts to become the first state in the country to stop corporal
punishment.
Rathergate: much more than meets the EYE
And, somehow, I don’t see Rather settling this case. I believe he’s truly pissed
off at these people for effectively truncating his otherwise stellar career at
the Tiffany network, and rightly so. We all know the fundamental story was true.
The flaws were in its presentation. It was sloppy but I don’t believe for a
moment that Rather deserved to be fired over it. Ultimately, the Bush regime
still wielded considerable power back in 2004, and they got what they
wanted.
Let’s hope the tide has turned.
Impede, impeach and imprison.
Peace
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields itsIn Williams' "modern church", liturgy, politics and morals must all match his church's interpretation of the Bible and theology. It must do so because the "modern church" is more interested of social activism and social justice than the word of God. Its newest mission is secular because, in my opinion, they really do not believe in God anymore than they believe in the Great Pumpkin.
power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday.
Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by
“clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the
worst of all worlds”.
In a wide-ranging interview with a British Muslim magazine, the Anglican
leader linked criticism of the United States to one of his most pessimistic
declarations about the state of western civilisation.
He said the crisis was caused not just by America’s actions but also by
its misguided sense of its own mission. He poured scorn on the “chosen nation
myth of America, meaning that what happens in America is very much at the heart
of God’s purpose for humanity”.
Williams went beyond his previous critique of the conduct of the war on
terror, saying the United States had lost the moral high ground since September
11. He urged it to launch a “generous and intelligent programme of aid directed
to the societies that have been ravaged; a check on the economic exploitation of
defeated territories; a demilitarisation of their presence”.
He went on to suggest that the West was fundamentally adrift:
“Our modern western definition of humanity is clearly not working very well.
There is something about western modernity which really does eat away at the
soul.”
In the interview in Emel, a Muslim lifestyle
magazine, Williams makes only mild criticisms of the Islamic world. He said the
Muslim world must acknowledge that its “political solutions were not the most
impressive”.
He commends the Muslim practice of praying five times a day, which he
says allows the remembrance of God to be “built in deeply in their daily
rhythm”.
But in all seriousness, would Democrats have voted for Marc Dann if they
would have known that, in his first year, he would sell his former Ohio Senate
seat to the mafia, hire a killer as his driver, hire a double-dipping Youngstown
police department employee as Ohio’s “top cop”, swear at a reporter on
camera, lose a major battle in court for his trial lawyer friends who wanted to
sue paint manufacturers, use a public email account to spew bigoted
anti-Christian rhetoric, paint ridiculous flames on his car, and direct elderly
callers who wish to register complaints to a phone sex hotline? Marc Dann is
pathetic, sloppy and undignified.
| Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher Your Result: Mitt Romney Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts, where he was known as a centrist. He reformed the state healthcare system, and would pursue reforms at the national level as well. Romney supports oil drilling in Alaska, but also alternative energy sources. He claims to be conservative on issues like abortion and gay civil unions, and he supports the Iraq war. Romney supports fair trade, as well as a greater focus on math and science in our schools. | |
| Ron Paul | |
| Rudy Guiliani | |
| John McCain | |
| John Edwards | |
| Barack Obama | |
| Hillary Clinton | |
| Dennis Kucinich | |
| Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher Take More Quizzes | |
No Fred Thompson plus it put Ron Paul ahead of other candidates which is not true based on questions asked such as gay unions vs marriage and Iraq.
AP Chief Slams Case Against Photographer
The U.S. military's plan to seek a criminal case against an Associated Press photographer in Iraq without disclosing the charges or evidence against him makes a mockery of American democratic principles, AP President and CEO Tom Curley said Saturday.
"This is a poor example—and not the first of its kind—of the way our government honors the democratic principles and values it says it wants to share with the Iraqi people," Curley said in a column in The Washington Post.
The U.S. military notified the AP last weekend that it intended to submit a complaint against Bilal Hussein that would bring the case into the Iraqi justice system as early as Nov. 29. Military officials have alleged that Hussein, 36, had links to terrorist groups but are refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented.
Previously, the military suggested an array of possible lines of investigation, including claims that Hussein offered to provide false identification to a sniper seeking to evade U.S.-led forces, that he possessed bomb-making equipment, and that he took photographs that were synchronized with insurgent blasts.
