Remembering Those Who Gave Their Lives for us

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well; Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh.

Uh, Oh, Those ****** In Massachusetts Passed Anti-Illegal-Immigrant Legislation

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/mass_senate_pas.html

This legislation toughens penalties on companies employing illegal aliens and on those using or making illegal documents, as well as prohibiting in-state college tuition for illegals.

Apparently over 80% of voters in Massachusetts supported stricter immigration laws that would prohibit state services to illegal aliens.

******Nazis

Just, Oh, Wow--The Administration's Take on Terrorism--or Man-Made Disasters--or Whatever

The mouth-hanging-open-edition of the White House's take on terrorism:
violent terrorists are just "victims".

Or so says Mr. John Brennan, President Obama's top advisor on counterterrorism--excuse me, advisor on man-made disasters.

Parsing his words carefully, Mr. Brennan said "terrorism" is not the enemy, because terrorism (or whatever it is) is merely a tactic, and "terror" is just a state of mind.
What!?!?!?

Furthermore, "jihad" is a legitimate tenet of Islam, according to Mr. Brennan, as the term merely means "holy struggle". Thus we can't describe terrorists (or whoever they are) as "jihadists".
Of course, al-Qaeda and bin Laden would agree with Mr. Brennan, as they refer to their terror activities as "jihad" and see "jihad" as a legitimate part of Islam.

Mr. Brennan moreover doesn't want the "false perception" that the terrorists are terrorizing (or doing something or another) in the name of a "holy cause".

I cannot resist this editorial comment:
H.O.W. C.A.N. Y.O.U. B.E. S.O. S.T.U.P.I.D.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/27/counterterror-adviser-defends-jihad-legitimate-tenet-islam/

Sestak: What's Up Here?

Representative Joe Sestak has stated at least 3 times that the White House offered him "a job" if he would drop out of the Senate race against Senator Arlen Specter.

Of course, Rep. Sestak did not accept the offer and last week won the primary against Specter.

The White House denies the allegation; in fact, today President Obama asserted that nothing "improper" happened and that a statement would be issued soon. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/27/obama-improper-alleged-sestak-job-offer-official-explanation-come/

And Mr. Gibbs, White House press secretary, assured reporters that White House lawyers have looked into the allegations and have found nothing "innappropriate".

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/05/obama-joe-sestak-white-house-job-robert-gibbs.html

Why is this important?

Well, this could amount to three felony charges of bribery.

As Representative Issa (R-CA), on the Oversight and Reform Committee, said, "If he's (Sestak) telling the truth, an investigation must take place and justice must be served. If he's lying, then he should immediately resign the race for Senate."

Death Panels...Remember Those?

Well, the idea of health care rationing seems to have a new life.
President Obama has chosen Dr. Donald Berwick as director for Medicare and Medicaid. States Dr. Berwick, "It's not a question of whether we ration health care, it's whether we will ration health care with our eyes open."
In fact, Dr. Berwick is a great admirer of the British health care system, especially of the rationing body within that system, NICE. He compares the British health care system, "a global treasure", to the US health care system which he describes as the "darkness of private enterprise".
Let's review the British health care system.
The official goal for diagnostic testing is that patients wait no more than EIGHTEEN WEEKS for their medical tests. In fact, more than half of patients wait more than 18 weeks for their medical tests.
Only 30 to 50 percent of patients overall are seen and treated within 18 weeks. If you need trauma or orthopedic care, only 20 percent of patients are seen within 18 weeks.
Currently, about 750,000 patients in England are awaiting their turn for hospitalization. Every year, about 50,000 patients waiting for surgery are taken off the waiting list because they become too sick for surgery.
Rationing, anyone?

US Debt Reaches New Levels; Congress Continues to Spend

Gross US debt is projected to reach 90% of gross domestic product this year.

This is the level at which economic growth slows markedly; obviously, this isn't needed at a time when our economy is not faring well.

The gross debt is all the money that the federal government owes everyone.

The public debt is the measure that the CBO uses to gauge the economy. However, even the public debt (a lower number) is expected to hit 90% by 2020 due to health care reform costs.

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/99973-us-debt-reaches-level-at-which-economic-growth-begins-to-slow

And yet--YET--Congress continues to spend.

Current legislation (over $150 billion) includes $40 billion to extend unemployment yet again, $24 billion to save state Medicaid programs (I thought that the federal government had all these medical programs all worked out ?!?), and $2.5 billion to increase welfare.

House Speaker Pelosi promised to abide by the PAYGO rules when she took over. As of now, her Congress has spent about a trillion dollars more than the revenues it receives.

And now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Louisiana Wants to Try Out Something New to Control Oil Spill

As the oil spreads into Louisiana wetland, Louisiana Govenor Jindal wants to try and build sand booms to protect the coast. However, he cannot get federal approval to do this.

http://www.necn.com/05/23/10/Jindal-tired-of-waiting-for-approval-to-/landing.html?blockID=240006&feedID=4215

Obama's Judicial Nominees and Judicial Empathy? Warning: Sickening Content

President Obama has stated that "empathy" is important in a judicial nominee for Supreme Court--Elena Kagan, for example, is touted as a great potential Supreme Court judge because she is "empathetic".

So, is the following court nominee a good example of Mr. Obama's idea of empathy?

Judge Robert Chatigny has been tapped as the President's nominee for the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Currently, Judge Chatigny is a US District Court judge who several years ago presided over the appeal of convicted rapist and murderer Michael Ross. Actually, it wasn't Mr. Ross that appealed--after the death sentence for murdering eight women, Mr. Ross eventually refused further appeal and was resigned to his sentence. So it was actually his family & friends that appealed to Judge Chatigny.

Whereupon Judge Chatigny proceeded to act exceedingl unethically, including to forget to recuse himself for having previously been part of the defense for Mr. Ross.

But even more dastardly and sickening is Judge Chatigny's argument that Mr. Ross's sexual sadism is a mitigating factor in reversing the death sentence.

To get a complete picture of this fiasco, see this (but be warned, Mr. Ross speaks and gives some explicit details) where Senate Republicans question Judge Chatigny.

http://blog.eyeblast.tv/2010/05/obama-nominee-judge-chatignys-empathy-for-a-serial-rapist-and-killer/

More Thoughts About Arizona's New Law

So many are having thoughts about how horrible the Arizona law is--it almost seems that some folks are incensed that illegal immigrants should be stopped.

One of the favorites is to compare Arizona to Nazis--just like political conservatives and Tea Party members are compared to Nazis.

So, let's look at the Nazi laws regarding their own German citizens of Jewish heritage.

---Jews were not allowed to marry "Aryans"

---Jews had to pay special taxes

---Jews could not seek redress through the civil courts

---Jewish synogogues were destroyed

---Jews were segregated from "Aryans"

---Jews were not allowed to go to school

The Arizona law attempts to stop illegal aliens from entering the United States.

It prohibits human smuggling.

It prohibits hiring of illegal aliens (which is already federal law).

It prohibits racial profiling.

Anyone stopped by a law enforcement officer is considered a legal citizen if he/she has a US driver's license, US identification card, US tribal identification card, or any other US issued identification.

And, BTW, in 42 states, you are required to carry identification on you when you are out and about.

And legal residents are required to carry their ID (i.e. green cards) with them at all times by federal law.

So, does this Arizona law sound like Nazi Germany?

No, not in the least.

And it's not right to cheapen the sacrifices of so many people--Jews and anyone else considered "undesirable" who were murdured by the Nazis, plus all those who fought against Nazi Germany in so many ways (our brave armed forces, and those who risked their lives hiding and helping Jewish people throughout the war)--by glibly and ridiculously making this comparison.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/nazis_in_arizona.html

The Governmentization of Income

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-05-24-income-shifts-from-private-sector_N.htm

Even as the US is losing millions of private-sector based jobs, personal income from government sources is outstripping personal income from jobs this year.

As mentioned in the article, this doesn't work economically.

The federal government depends on taxes--taxes FROM those private-sector jobs--that it turns around and pays out in the form of Social Security and unemployment and other welfare-type programs.

Obama Administration reaching out....to Terrorists

Mr. John Brennan describes the Administration's wish to reach out to the "moderate elements" of the terrorist organization of Hezbollah, which is officially a "foreign terrorist organization" according to US officials:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100519/pl_nm/us_lebanon_usa_hezbollah

A little history of Hezbollah:

It is responsible for suicide bombings in 1983 in Beirut that killed 241 US Marines.

It has been supported militarily by Iran.

It has fought against Israel (our ally, don't forget) and is committed to the destruction of Israel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1908671.stm

It's the Economy!

The index of leading economic indicators fell in April.

This index is a compilation of factors that is supposed to help foresee the economy in the next 3 to 6 months.

Problems include the drop-off in construction, which was previously artificially boosted by the federal government's tax incentives on housing construction; and the increase in joblessness--the largest increase in claims for unemployment in 3 months.

Also problematic is the rise in deliquencies in mortgage payments and in foreclosures, which could translate into a real problem for economic recovery due to devaluation of home prices.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/20/new-weekly-jobless-claims-rise/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/ap_on_bi_ge/us_leading_indicators

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37232151/ns/business-real_estate/

Arizona Continued....Oh, the Irony of It All....

A few more tidbits about the Arizona immigration law:

1. It's very similar to California's immigration law (who'd have thunk it?) which also provides for verifying the legal status of anyone who is arrested and subsequently suspected of being an illegal alien:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2010/may/15/audio-interview-la-city-councilman-attacks-ariz-la/

2. Current federal policy supports the Arizona immigration law, allowing local law enforcers to unhold federal immigration laws:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/17/AR2010051702175.html

3. Moreover, federal officials just might NOT enforce federal immigration laws for illegal immigrants caught in Arizona (so says the assistant secretary for Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement):

http://www.kpho.com/news/23640361/detail.html

but it's okay to step up enforcement of the immigration laws in Illinois:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-immigration-laws-chicago-20100519,0,6582417.story

4. Lastly, immigration laws were used to arrest suspects thought to have helped in the attempted Times Square bombing:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64C34520100514

Weighing in on Arizona, Continued

Okay, let's move on---from our American leaders uninformed comments on the Arizona immigration law---to a few other comments on the Arizona law from----

1. Our own State Department---while talking to the Chinese about human rights, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner brought up America's problems with discrimination, including the new Arizona illegal immigration law. Mr. Posner "brought it [the Arizona law] up early and often....as a troubling trend in our society..."

So, Mr. Posner himself brought up the Arizona law to the Chinese as an example of America's human rights problems, while talking to the Chinese on issues of freedom of religion and labor rights.

Mr. Posner, however, forgot to mention China's enforced abortion policy, participation in human trafficking and slave labor, history of political executions, oppressive censorship, and discrimination against minority groups within China.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/annualreport.php?id=ar&yr=2008&c=CHN

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100515/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_china_human_rights

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

2. Next, comments from Mexico's president, President Calderon, who castigated the Arizona law (two different times) as racial profiling.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0520/Felipe-Calderon-calls-Arizona-immigration-law-racial-profiling

But what about Mexico's failure to protect its poorest and minority citizens in their justice system?

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=engamr410022007

Or Mr. Calderon's failure to mention Mexico's draconian immigration laws?

http://gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com/left-wing-magazine-slams-mexico-for-human-rightsimmigration-issues/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/20/calderon-criticism-arizona-law-overlooks-mexicos-tough-immigration-policy/

Oh, and by the way, many Democrats in Congress applauded Mr. Calderon's statements during his speech to both houses:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/20/mexicos-calderon-takes-case-congress/

3. Last but not least, don't forget the opposition to the Arizona law from Fidel Castro, who characterizes the Arizona law as "racist and xenophobic". Of course, little needs to be said about Cuba's poor civil rights record.

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1296375&nid=46

Time to Weigh in on Arizona

Since everyone else already has.
Including those who haven't even read the Arizona law--

1. Such as United States Attorney General Eric Holder, who has questioned the constitutionality of the Arizona law and has criticized it for possibly leading to racial profiling. Mr. Holder stated that his information on the law was from television and newspaper accounts:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/13/holder-hasnt-read-ariz-law-he-criticized/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/14/transcript-holder-hot-seat-arizona-immigration-law/

2. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano claims that the Arizona law is a bad law, as it would be difficult for law enforcement agencies. However, she has not read the law either:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/05/17/napolitano_admits_she_hasnt_read_arizona_law_but_says_she_wouldnt_sign_it.html
3. The State Department's official spokesman has also failed to read the Arizona law--but has defended Assistant Secretary of State Posner's unfavorable comments on the law to the Chinese: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/18/state-department-defends-official-expressed-regret-chinese-arizona-law/?test=latestnews

Perhaps you will want to read the Arizona bill for yourself--to be truly informed--a novel concept, to be sure:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/05/full-text-arizona-illegal-immigration-law-jan-brewer.html
To Be Continued......

Economics 101

In Greece, thousands are protesting the government, which is bankrupt and is forced to cut government benefits and to raise taxes in order to survive financially. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100505/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_greece_financial_crisis

Violent protests, to the point that FOUR people died from smoke inhalation inside a bank that had been set afire by protesters, who then obstructed firefighters trying to save the three, which included a pregnant mother (thus, a fourth victim).

How did this all come about? Well, in a nutshell, Greece spent way too much money providing all sorts of benefits for its citizens--so, basically, the Greek people are demanding that their government continue to spend--money it doesn't have--on them.

Could this be the US' future? Well, let's see....
First, our economy is not growing well. Unemployment went up to 9.9%, which despite what the White House is saying, is Not A Good Thing. President Obama is touting the fact that 290,000 jobs were created last month. Unfortunately, most of the jobs are government jobs, including 66,000 temporary census jobs. http://www.gallup.com/poll/127628/Federal-Government-Outpaces-Private-Sector-Job-Creation.aspx

Well, isn't our economy better than that of Greece? Let's see: Greece is having problems because it has a budget deficit of 13% of its Gross Domestic Product, and its national debt is 113% of its GDP.

How does the US stack up to this? Well, last year under President Obama, the budget deficit reached a peacetime high of 9.9%. Under his 2011 budget, the deficit will reach 10.6% of our GDP. Now, our national debt is about 90% of our GDP--under President Obama's leadership, the national debt is projected to rise to 110% of our GDP by 2015.

Not too far from Greece's economic numbers.

Kagan: An Important Addendum

Something of import: When Elena Kagan, as dean of Harvard, threw out military recruiters, she did so illegally--as in against the law.

At the time she did this, au contraire to Vice-President Biden's statements today, the act was against the law. It was After The Fact that the law was appealed at the appellate court level.

Attorney General Holder and his Wish to Trash Miranda Rights

Mr. Holder and Mr. Obama are having some trouble with the idea of Miranda rights.

Miranda rights are those sentences you always hear rattled off on television police shows---"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be held against you, you have the right to an attorney...."

These rights were set in place by the Supreme Court in 1966 to prevent the state (in the form of police, etc.) from forcing a confession from a suspect before the suspect knows his legal rights. Miranda rights apply to criminal cases.

There is one case where police can ask questions before lawyers are called and all that---it's called the "public safety exception". If there is an immediate threat to others, officers can ask questions in order to ensure the "public safety".

Here's the problem: Mr. Holder wants to try terrorists in federal court. To do so, he must mirandize the suspects. In almost all cases, the "public safety exception" doesn't apply because the threat isn't imminent enough, even when officers need to know if terrorist threats are present.

Thus, Mr. Holder wants to expand the definition of the "public safety" exception in order to try terrorists in our court system.

But, these strict guidelines apply to protect American citizens. You really don't want to mess with them.

Basically, our courts are NOT made for terrorists.

We have means and methods to try terrorists. Already in place. Ready to go. It's called a "military tribunal" and specifically set up to deal with enemies of war and terrorists.

Instead of infringing on American rights, the Obama Administration needs to use those methods already in place for enemies of war.

And as for the recent would-be bomber who is a naturalized American citizen?

Well, there's already methods in place for that too. It's called "treason".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/09/AR2010050902062.html

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/05/10/obama-administration-to-consider-miranda-reform/

Judicial Matters

Today, President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

Her resume includes dean of Harvard Law School--which means she raised money.

She is not a judge and, before the last year as Solicitor General, had never argued a case in appelate court. Her legal proficiency has been spotty and uneven.

Her most outstanding effort has been to throw military recruiters off of the Harvard University campus because she was opposed to President Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for the military. decrying it as a "moral injustice". Her amicus brief to the Supreme Court was rejected unanimously by the justices.

http://judicialnetwork.com/news/get-exclusive-insider-memo-real-elena-kagan

The Huge Mess of Government Run Healthcare

#1) It's going to raise your premiums (despite the promises of President Obama) http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=36651

#2) Companies are already looking at discontinuing their health care benefits to employees--because it's cheaper to pay the government's penalties than to pay for health car insurance under the new health care laws (again, despite the promises that everyone could keep their health care, and the dismissive attitude toward fears that companies would dump their employees' health care onto the government)http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/23/eveningnews/main6326955.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea

#3) Medical device companies, who are facing a new tax on medical goods, are already thinking about cutting costs by laying off workers and decreasing other expenses (again, costing you, the consumer, more for health care products---as well as loss of research into new and better products)

http://www.bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1252494

#4) As for Medicare for our seniors, the half-a-trillion dollar cuts in the health care bill http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2010/May/04/Doc-Pay-Fix.aspx

is discouraging doctors from seeing older patients. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/01/politics/main6256385.shtml

#5) Individual mandates forcing Americans to buy health care insurance, with the hope that young healthy Americans will support government-run health care costs, will not work. Healthy folks will just pay the fines (it's cheaper!) until they need health care--at which time they will cost the system money rather than support the system. http://www.heartland.org/healthpolicy-news.org/article/27540/Obamacare_Individual_Mandate_Unlikely_to_Work_.html

#6) And what about health insurance for those with pre-existing conditions--that the first edition of the health care bill forgot to put into effect until 2014. Well, many states are refusing to participate in the program--because Congress hasn't allocated enough money for it and they don't want to be stuck with this huge expense--

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/03/AR2010050304072.html?wprss=rss_nation&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wp-dyn/rss/nation/index_xml+(washingtonpost.com+-+Nation)&utm_content=Google+Reader

and because Congress doesn't have any idea how much this program will truly cost. http://www.breitbart.tv/obamacare-sebelius-admits-admin-has-no-clue-how-much-high-risk-pools-will-cost/

#6) And still, millions will be left without health care coverage.

Terrorists....or, um, Man-Caused Disaster People

The tale of the Times Square would-be terrorist continues....
A few thoughts:
1. The ONLY reason that the wanna-be underwear bomber and Time Square bomber failed was because of vigilant civilians and some dumb luck.
Not because of any federal government anti-terrorist (excuse me, man-caused disaster) work.

Basically, the no-fly list failed again. Despite the claims of Secretary Napolitano that the newest no-fly rules enacted by the Obama Administration helped capture this terrorist
(see: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100504/NATION/5040408/1361/Napolitano--New-security-measures-helped-to-capture-Times-Square-bomb-suspect )-- reality shows that the no-fly list did not help in the least.
Despite the history of this terrorist being on a "watch" list for his multiple trips to Pakistan and for bringing over $80,000 into the US, he was not stopped or questioned even though he bought a one-way ticket with cash only minutes before take-off.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20004263-10391695.html
He was placed on the "no-fly" list; however, Emirates Air states that the "no-fly" had not been updated at the time the would-be bomber made his plane reservation (it takes about 12 hours for the list to be updated so that no-fly names automatically show up on airline computers). US authorities blame the airline for not checking manually for the emails that they sent out to all airlines--but my question is, why didn't someone just telephone the airlines? Apparently, someone decided to trust only in emails to get the "no-fly" message out: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100506/ap_on_bi_ge/us_no_fly_airlines/
Emails aren't a great way to communicate emergency messages, IMHO.

2. The federal government and President Obama are not performing one of their primary duties: to protect America from its enemies.

First of all, officials don't seem to be taking this seriously. Secretary Napolitano initially dismissed the possibility of a terrorist, stating that this was the work of a single individual http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/napolitano-on-ny-bomb-no-evidence-anything-other-than-a-oneoff.html
And Attorney General Holder was "never in any fear that we were in any danger of losing him"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_go_ot/us_times_square_probe
And President Obama is freezing funds on a program designed to keep terrorists from obtaining US visas:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/65333
And his Administration is continuing to bypass the House Intelligence Committee on terrorist attacks, which is part of their responsibility:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/GOP-lawmakers-Obama-is-stonewalling-on-terror-cases-92983514.html#ixzz0nBzrBvWV

Secondly, applying "band-aid" solutions after-the-fact does not help. Homeland Security needs to be pro-active against terrorist activity. We are under attack--ignoring this reality isn't the way to keep America safe.
For more information:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-05-07-editorial07_ST1_N.htm

I Survived!

And now, on to blogging!