Tax reform in Georgia

"House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) has filed a long-awaited measure that would completely overhaul Georgia's tax code under a model created by former Reagan economist Arthur Laffer.

"It is time to bring Georgia into the 21st century," Richardson said, "and in order to do that we must change the burdensome, antiquated ad valorem tax system we currently have."

Introduced on the penultimate day of the 2007 legislative session, House Resolution 900 would let Georgians vote in November 2008 to ditch all current state and local:

* property taxes;
* sales taxes;
* income taxes;
* gas taxes;
* estate taxes;
* unemployment and worker's compensation taxes;
* gross receipts taxes;
* insurance premium taxes;
* business and occupation taxes;
* intangible taxes; and
* utilities taxes

In their place, the state would collect a 5.75 percent flat income tax and what amounts to a 5.75 percent sales tax without any of the current exemptions. Georgia's income tax today is 6 percent; the state sales taxes is 4 percent." Read more at the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The Patriot Post reports that "Richardson is optimistic about this plan, which if passed by the legislature will be placed on the November 2008 ballot for voter approval. He says, 'I believe the [Georgia] House tax reform plan will be the talk of the nation.' If it stirs up federal tax reform, all the better."

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

-- John Adams

Can an election change France?

Federal workers taking taxpayers for a ride

Federal employees who sell government-funded transit passes are taking taxpayers for a ride

The government spends about $250 million annually to provide transit passes to 300,000 federal employees nationally. The program is meant to encourage the use of public transportation and to cut down on fuel use, air pollution and traffic congestion. But a congressional report has revealed instances of federal employees who, rather than using the transit passes, have instead illegally sold them over the Internet.¹

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported this week that federal employees have been ripping off the government’s commuter program for millions of dollars—$17 million in Washington, DC, alone. Under the program, federal employees receive benefit vouchers that cover their commuting costs to and from work. However, some federal workers have been overstating the cost of their commute, while others sell their vouchers at a discount on Ebay and then carpool, and still others, who no longer or never did work for the federal government, continue receiving vouchers. Witness the glories of bureaucracy.²

The GAO says that in just three days investigators found 58 online sales offers for the transit passes and confirmed that at least 20 of them had been posted by federal employees. Selling the passes is illegal, the GAO says.³

A Commerce Department employee received transit passes for five years after she quit working for the government. And one federally employed couple netted $6,000 through 61 online sales.⁴

The main problem is that there are no government wide controls for the program and virtually no oversight in the agencies themselves, the GAO says.⁵

This is ridiculous, not to mention outrageous.

Only now are common-sense recommendations being suggested.⁶

Congress should demand that strict fraud controls are enacted across the government, and federal agencies must heed the GAO's findings and refuse to tolerate this illegal practice.⁷

Confirming a worker’s government employment is a good start. Logical next steps include providing individual employees with either free parking or with mass-transit vouchers—not both—and, finally, verifying a worker’s travel expenses.⁸

Is the war on terror over?

By Victor Davis Hanson

"Do we still need to fight a war on terror?

The answer seems to be no for an increasing number in the West who are weary over Afghanistan and Iraq or complacent from the absence of a major attack on the scale of 9/11."

THE DDT PARTY
By Dr. Jack Wheeler

Everyone "knows" that DDT - Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane - is a terrible poison. It isn't, of course (see, for example, the Harvard Nurses Health Study). Yet because everyone is so sure it is, some folks on the Republican National Committee figure it might as well be used to poison the Democrats.

So don't be surprised if you hear the party of Lost Harry Reid and Pelosi Galore, of Shrillary and Barack Hussein being called The DDT Party - the party of Defeat, Death, and Taxes.

Defeat - as in surrender, wanting America to lose, waving a white flag at America's enemies.

Death - as in promoting a culture of death, of the murder of millions of unborn children, of hysterically opposing any attempt to prevent their murder.

Taxes - as in always advocating more and higher taxes as the answer to any problem.
Read more.....

IS PBS ON THE SIDE OF RADICAL ISLAM?
By Frank Gaffney

"Since September 11, 2001, many of us have wondered: Where are the moderate Moslems? If they are out there, why are we not hearing more, and getting more help, from them in the fight against our common foe -- the totalitarian Islamists?

My effort to answer this question took the form of a 52-minute documentary I helped produce for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's "America at a Crossroads" series.

The film, entitled Islam vs. Islamists, features compelling stories of anti-Islamist Moslems who have had the courage to stand up to co-religionists who are using faith to accomplish political ends.

Yet PBS has decided to refuse to air the film. It's a frighening possibility that our taxpayer funded television network is on the side of Radical Islam." Read more...

New York City Educator Gets 'F' in English After Poorly Written Note is Sent to Parents

A New York City educator is in hot water after sending out a scathing note to parents riddled with spelling and grammatical errors.

In the letter, Levy used 'unexcecpable' for 'unacceptable,' 'activates' for 'activities' and 'caferteria' for 'cafeteria.'
More at FOXNews.com.

Activists Want Chimp Declared a 'Person'

"VIENNA, Austria (AP) - In some ways, Hiasl is like any other Viennese: He indulges a weakness for pastry, likes to paint and enjoys chilling out watching TV.

But he doesn't care for coffee, and he isn't actually a person—at least not yet.

In a case that could set a global legal precedent for granting basic rights to apes, animal rights advocates are seeking to get the 26- year-old male chimpanzee legally declared a 'person.'"

I'm shocked I tell ya. Just shocked over this.

New UN Human Rights Body Plagued by Old Problems, Say Experts

"Ahead of the second annual election of members of the U.N. Human Rights Council, human rights experts in Washington, D.C., said Thursday that the new body had proved no more effective than the discredited one it replaced."

Houses Passes 'Hate Crimes' Bill, Religious Leaders Praise Veto Threat

"The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill that would extend 'hate crimes' protection to homosexuals and other specified groups, but religious leaders were already praising the White House for issuing a threat to veto the bill if it passes."

Union Boss Threatens Radio Hosts Over Police Ticket-Writing Blitz

"Two talk-radio hosts in New Jersey say they are worried about their own safety and that of their families after the head of the New Jersey State Police union threatened to make their home addresses and license tags public.

During a profanity-laced tirade on Thursday, State Police Union leader David Jones blasted Craig Carton and Ray Rossi, the hosts of WKXW-FM's 'Jersey Guys' program, for discussing an alleged State Police 'ticket-writing blitz' on the air."

Anti-war or Anti-troop?
Now that they have failed to override President Bush's veto of the Iraq war funding bill, maybe Democrats can quit posturing and get down to the hard business of legislating. Democrats knew when they passed legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops that it would not become law. Now they must negotiate with the White House, a process that began within hours of the president's veto." More by Linda Chavez.

The myths of war

"WASHINGTON -- George Tenet has a very mixed legacy. On the one hand, he presided over the two biggest intelligence failures of this era -- 9/11 and the WMD debacle in Iraq. On the other hand, his CIA did devise and carry out brilliantly an astonishingly bold plan to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan. Tenet might have just left it at that, gone home with his Presidential Medal of Freedom and let history judge him.

Instead, he's decided to do some judging of his own. In his just-released book and in hawking it on television, Tenet presents himself as a pathetic victim and scapegoat of an administration that was hell-bent on going to war, slam dunk or not.

Tenet writes as if ....."

By Charles Krauthammer:

Leftist Thought Control

"The political left, which holds itself as progressive, rational and fact-based, is becoming an enemy of academic inquiry, and a practitioner of thought control on a wide variety of issues. Increasingly, from the left's perspective, there is just one acceptable viewpoint.

Consider the subjects of evolution, global warming, special rights for homosexuals and abstinence education. Consider efforts of the left to silence conservative talk radio. Consider the mainstream media's arrogant denial of its transparent liberal bias, pronouncing itself to be above politics and inherently objective and its critics somehow skewed.

Consider the leftist refrain that ....."

By David Limbaugh

Images of Oppression

"Sometimes, you read or hear something, and an image forms in your mind that just won't go away. For me, one of those images comes from the 2002 news stories about religious police in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, who beat young girls trying to escape a burning school. Because they weren’t wearing headscarves and black robes, 15 innocent girls were locked in a blazing building to burn while firemen watched helplessly.

Not all Saudis support this sort of......"

By Fred Thompson

The race-baiters

By Mike Gallagher: "Nothing is ever enough for race-baiters. They find racism under every stone, in every walk of life." Read on.

The Enemy of My Country Is My Friend

From Opinion Journal

What did Speaker Nancy Pelosi accomplish with her visit to Syria last month? The Washington Times does some man-on-the-street reporting in Damascus:

Many Damascus residents say her private visit with Mr. Assad and senior ministers shattered Washington's attempt to isolate the regime.

"She was enormously popular here, a hero," said one such resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "This is the best thing that has happened here, if it proves [Mr. Assad] was right not to give concessions."

Along with recent visits by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and officials from the European Union, the resident added, Mrs. Pelosi's trip "bolsters the regime with the Syrian people, and it shows that isolating Syria won't work." . . .

Mrs. Pelosi said she raised substantive issues with Syrian leaders, urging them to stop insurgents from entering Iraq, help win the release of Israeli soldiers thought to be held captive by Lebanese and Palestinian militias, and end Syria's support for terrorist groups.

But nobody talks about that now.

Of course Syria is not a free country. Thus man-on-the-street interviews are a gauge not of genuine public opinion but of what Syrians feel constrained to say--that is to say, of the regime's attitude. It appears Pelosi's visit, by presenting an image of America as divided and irresolute, strengthened Syria's determination to defy the U.S.--"not to make concessions," as the unnamed Damascene put it.

Why would Pelosi do such a thing? Perhaps she's merely naive. More likely, as the Hudson Institute's Lee Smith argues in The Weekly Standard, "the Democrats are playing a dirty game in the Middle East, where, just like Arab regimes, they are using proxies to wage war--except their war is against the Bush administration":

Read on.

World Bank rolls: Nearly 1,400 employees make more than Condi Rice.

Bird Feeder

A Sad Parallel...

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.

But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table...everywhere. Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now lets see...our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be a automatic citizen. Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families: you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor: you child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English: Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder. -- Author unknown

THET KNOW HOW TO USE THE MEDIA, DON'T THEY?

Hizballah leader: We won, Olmert should quit
-- Jerusalem Post

Democrats Back Down On Iraq Timetable

Compromise Bill in Works After Veto Override Fails
--Washington Post

Florida moves 2008 presidential primary to January

Syrian Buildup Worries Israel, Says New Envoy -- 05/03/2007

"Syria is developing military capacities on Israel's northern border in potentially dangerous ways at the same time as terrorist organizations are strengthening their positions in the south, Israel's new ambassador to the U.S. said Wednesday."

Defense Official Contradicts Murtha Claim that Petraeus Didn't 'Talk to Any of Us' -- 05/03/2007

"Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) this week criticized Gen. David Petraeus for not meeting with members of Congress during a recent visit to Washington, D.C., to report on the status of operations in Iraq, but not only did the commander of Multinational Force - Iraq meet with hundreds of lawmakers, he personally briefed Murtha himself."

Mitt Romney a Big Hit on Jay Leno Show

"GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney made his debut on America's number one late night show Wednesday night, and made a great impression with 'Tonight Show' host Jay Leno and his NBC audience.

It wasn't all laughs though.

Romney used the opportunity to take a swing at ....... "

VENEZUELA AND SOCIALISM: FULL STEAM AHEAD

Hugo Chavez Threatens to Nationalize Banks

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday threatened to nationalize the country's banks and largest steel producer, accusing them of unscrupulous practices.

'Private banks have to give priority to financing the industrial sectors of Venezuela at low cost,' Chavez said. 'If banks don't agree with this, it's better that they go, that they turn over the banks to me, that we nationalize them and get all the banks to work for the development of the country and not to speculate and produce huge profits.' " Read more.

Glenn Beck Torpedoes 'An Inconvenient Truth'

"In his special program 'Exposed: The Climate of Fear — the Other Side of the Global Warming Debate,” Glenn Beck challenged the conventional wisdom on global warming, firing this salvo at the opening: 'This is not a balanced look at global warming. It is the other side of the climate debate that you don`t hear anywhere. Yes, Al Gore, there is another credible side.'

Beck begins by ......"

Hillary No Longer Inevitable

The sense of Hillary's inevitability as the Democratic nominee is clearly vanishing.

“Senator John McCain, adamantly supporting the current ‘surge’ in Iraq says he would rather lose a presidential campaign than a war. Democrats, all smiles, prefer to lose the war and win the campaign. They’re not alone. In Iraq, Al Qaeda is smiling, too.”

—Jeff Jacoby

“The Defeaticrats are being opportunist: They think they can calibrate the precise degree of U.S. defeat in Mesopotamia that will bring victory for them in Ohio and Florida.”

—Mark Steyn

“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

The Equal Rights Amendment is attempting a comeback

The ERA - It's Baaack...

"1970s Throwback Is Unnecessary and Would Only Invite More Bizarre Litigation

Like a bad 1970s leisure suit or Carter-era stagflation, the Equal Rights Amendment is attempting a comeback.

This month, radical feminists and leading Democrats announced that they're reviving the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) after a twenty-five year dormancy. Despite its benign-sounding title, the ERA is a dangerous idea for two primary reasons.

First, the ERA would provide no ...."

Networks Chip Away at Dow Milestones
How many times does the Dow have to break records before broadcasters admit it’s good news? BMI looked at the Dow’s run from 10,000 to 13,000. All along the way, network news has found reasons to frown.

Army Clamping Down on Soldiers' Blogs

"The U.S. Army is tightening restrictions on soldiers' blogs and other Web site postings to ensure sensitive information about military operations does not make it onto public forums.

Soldiers in war zones are ...."

Hillary, Obama, Rosie, Oprah on 'Most Influential' List

"Heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio and envelope-pushers Rosie O'Donnell and Sacha Baron Cohen are among the entertainment newsmakers on Time magazine's list of 100 people who shape the world.

The list of 100 most influential, on newsstands Friday, also includes Queen Elizabeth II, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, YouTube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, director Martin Scorsese and model Kate Moss. It does not include President Bush.

In a piece she wrote for ......"

Will Obama Lead the Anti-war Left?

Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

"Soon it will be time for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., to face a moment of truth and decide whether he is going to lead the anti-war movement or cave in under administration pressure.

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., move toward ...."

FOLLOW UP: Clashes erupt at immigration rally

A reader has furnished me with a link to a short Reuters video covering the clash of immigrant marchers and L.A. police on their "May Day" march on which I posted and linked yesterday to a news story from the AP via Breitbart news.

hMMMM.... THIS IS QUITE A MYSTERY, INDEED

Joan Baez Banned at Walter Reed Hospital: "WASHINGTON (AP) - Folk singer and anti-war activist Joan Baez says she doesn't know why she was not allowed to perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as she planned."

Police to Review Clash at May Day Rally

"LOS ANGELES (AP) - A day of mostly calm immigration rallies around the nation ended with a clash between police and demonstrators in Los Angeles, and Police Chief William Bratton promised a...."

HIS PROSPECTS DON'T LOOK GOOD

Iran's Ex-Nuclear Negotiator Arrested
"TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The Iranian state news agency reported Wednesday that the country's former nuclear negotiator, Hossein Mousavian, has been arrested on an unspecified security charge.

Citing an 'unofficial informed source,' the reliable IRNA agency said Mousavian was arrested in Tehran on Monday. He was a member of the Iranian nuclear negotiator team until 2005, and also served as Iran's ambassador to Germany in late 1990s and early 2000s"

4,000 U.S. Soldiers Arrive in Baghdad

"BAGHDAD (AP) - Nearly 4,000 American soldiers have arrived in the capital to strengthen the 12-week crackdown aimed at quelling sectarian violence, the U.S. military said Wednesday, as bombings and shootings killed 12 people across the country."

U.S. expands air force base in Qatar

WorldTribune.com

Light bulbs that don't signify ideas

BY MARK STEYN
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Everything's difficult, isn't it? In the Democratic presidential candidates' debate, Sen. Barack Obama was asked what he personally was doing to save the environment, and replied that his family was 'working on' changing their light bulbs.

Is this the new version of the old joke? How many senators does it take to 'work on' changing a light bulb? One to propose a bipartisan commission. One to threaten to de-fund the light bulbs. One to demand the impeachment of Bush and Cheney for keeping us all in the dark. One to vote to pull out the first of the light bulbs by fall of this year with a view to getting them all pulled out by the end of 2008.

In 1914, on the eve of the Great War, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey observed................."

"There is something profoundly wrong when opposition to the war in Iraq seems to inspire greater passion than opposition to Islamist extremism.

There is something profoundly wrong when there is so much distrust of our intelligence community that some Americans doubt the plain and ominous facts about the threat to us posed by Iran.

And there is something profoundly wrong when, in the face of attacks by radical Islam, we think we can find safety and stability by pulling back, by talking to and accommodating our enemies, and abandoning our friends and allies.

Some of this wrong- headed thinking about the world is happening because we're in a political climate where, for many people, when George Bush says "yes," their reflex reaction is to say "no."

That is unacceptable."

— Sen. Joseph Lieberman Washington DC March 12, 2007

America should press Damascus to let go of Lebanon.

BY MICHAEL YOUNG

What About the Barbaric Killers?

By Michael Medved
Townhall.com

The Democrats deliberately distort their intentions in the current debate on the Iraq War. They say their withdrawal timetable will "end the war"--but it's ludicrous to suggest that removal of U.S. troops will suddenly stop the fighting. Concerning so-called insurgents, everyone agrees they are ruthless, barbaric killers.

So what will they do when Americans leave? Will bloodthirsty bad-guys suddenly turn into pacifists--or decide to retire from their murderous ways? Will they abandon sectarian hatreds and suddenly embrace their Iraqi enemies? General Petraeus, U.S. Commander in Iraq, says American withdrawal would lead to an "increase in sectarian violence ... It can get much, much worse."

Islamo-Nazis in Iraq would feel powerfully encouraged, not mollified, by removal of the one force strong enough to contain them: the U.S. military. Democratic surrender timetables won't "end the war"--they'll only make it longer and more bloody, necessitating the ultimate return of American forces at an even higher cost.

STICKS AND STONES

By Fred Thompson

"We're also hopeful that, eventually, our ostrich-headed allies will realize there's a World War going on out there and they need to pick a side -- the choice being between the forces of civilization and the forces of anarchy. Considering the fact that the latter team is growing stronger and bolder daily, while most of our European Union friends continue to dismantle their defenses, that day may not be too long in coming.

In the meantime, let's be realistic about the world we live in. Mexican leaders apparently have an economic policy based on exporting their own citizens, while complaining about US immigration policies that are far less exclusionary than their own. The French jail perfectly nice people for politically incorrect comments, but scold us for holding terrorists at Guantanamo.

Russia, though, takes the cake. Here is a government apparently run by ....."

AFTERMATH OF THE 1960'S?

“Collective guilt is one of the legacies of the 1960s that is still with us. We are still seeing a guilt trip for slavery being laid on people who never owned a slave in their lives, and who would be repelled by the very idea of owning a slave. Back in the 1960s, it was considered Deep Stuff among the intelligentsia to say that American society—all of us collectively—were somehow responsible for the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King. During the 1960s, the idea spread like wildfire that whatever you were lacking was someone else’s fault—society’s fault. If you were poor, whether at home or in some third-world country, you were one of the ‘dispossessed’ —even if you had never possessed anything to dispossess you of... If other people are somehow responsible for whatever is lacking in your life, lashing out at random against individuals who have done nothing to you personally can sound plausible to many people. Whether or not the latest mass killings at Virginia Tech were a result of medically verifiable insanity, there have always been insane people but there have not always been mass killings with the frequency we have seen since 1960... Instead of banning guns, maybe we should rethink 1960s dogmas.” —Thomas Sowell

LOOKING FOR THE DEFENSELESS

“I live in northern New England, which has a very low crime rate, in part because it has a high rate of gun ownership. We do have the occasional murder, however. A few years back, a couple of alienated loser teens from a small Vermont town decided they were going to kill somebody, steal his ATM cards, and go to Australia. So they went to a remote house in the woods a couple of towns away, knocked on the door, and said their car had broken down. The guy thought their story smelled funny so he picked up his Glock and told ‘em to get lost. So they concocted a better story, and pretended to be students doing an environmental survey. Unfortunately, the next old coot in the woods was sick of environmentalists and chased ‘em away. Eventually they figured they could spend months knocking on doors in rural Vermont and New Hampshire and seeing nothing for their pains but cranky guys in plaid leveling both barrels through the screen door. So even these idiots worked it out: Where’s the nearest place around here where you’re most likely to encounter gullible defenseless types who have foresworn all means of resistance? Answer: Dartmouth College. So they drove over the Connecticut River, rang the doorbell, and brutally murdered a couple of well-meaning liberal professors. Two depraved misfits of crushing stupidity (to judge from their diaries) had nevertheless identified precisely the easiest murder victims in the twin-state area. To promote vulnerability as a moral virtue is not merely foolish. Like the new Yale props department policy, it signals to everyone that you’re not in the real world.” —Mark Steyn

SOMETIMES WE FAIL

“Conservatives believe that there is evil in this world, that it will intrude into our lives and that we should be ready and willing to fight against it. We also know that evil lurks in every human heart and that we will not always meet the moral standard we claim to believe in. On some points we will fail (mea culpa, mea maxima culpa), on some we shall succeed, and on some we will never be tested. But we will not abandon our belief in that standard, and will resist all attempts to pretend it doesn’t exist. Courage is real and it is good; cowardice is real and it is bad. And that remains true, and I will believe it, even if I prove to be cowardly and not courageous when the time comes.”
—Nathanael Blake

'WINNING' NOT IN THEIR LEXICON

“How many times have we heard the Dems insist that they support the troops? It’s one of their mantras. If something isn’t ‘for the children’, it’s to ‘support the troops.’ But it’s false, just as their insistence last fall that they wouldn’t cut and run was. All of that pales in comparison to one single fact: Reid and the rest of the Democrats do not condemn defeat. They do not say they would have done better to win, because the words ‘win’ and ‘victory’ never pass their lips. They never propose an idea that might lead to quicker, more decisive victory in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or the Horn of Africa, or Lebanon, or anywhere else. No. The Democratic pathology is the same now as it was forty years ago... What, then, is the import of what Sen. Reid said? First, Reid and his ilk do not support the troops. When Reid says the war is lost, the troops hear. They understand that they are still risking their lives every day for a war the Democrats are content to lose. There can be no more destructive assault on their morale.” —Jed Babbin

Skeptics Score Points in Global Warming Debate

"As the skeptic side is heard, more Americans are beginning to understand that there are legitimate reasons for skepticism. Here are just a few of the latest developments.............."

Where the Nazi 'Big Lie' Endures

" 'If today's Arab anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish propaganda strongly resembles that of the Third Reich, there is a good reason.' So writes Joel Fishman of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in 'The Big Lie and the Media War against Israel,' an insightful piece of historical research.

Fishman begins by noting the topsy-turvy situation whereby Israel is perceived as a dangerous predator as it defends its citizens against terrorism, conventional warfare, and weapons of mass destruction." More of Daniel Pipes.

A MESSAGE ON GUNS

CLICK TO ENLARGE

1 in 2 Mexicans has family in U.S.

"1/3 with relatives in America were sent money in past year"
More....

Protesters demanding 'rights' for illegal aliens

Protesters demanding 'rights' for illegal aliens
'We are indigenous! The ONLY owners of this continent'

Lining up behind slogans such as 'IM A Imigrant' and the diatribe of a convicted murderer, demonstrators at hundreds of sites across the U.S. are using May Day to demand a long list of special accommodations for illegal aliens, and one group advocating for stricter immigration control actually is pleased.

William Gheen, the chief of.........."

Al Qaeda in Iraq leader killed?

Reuters.com

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - "The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was killed on Tuesday in a fight between insurgents north of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry spokesman said, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report.

There has been growing friction between....."

“All of us denounce war—all of us consider it man’s greatest stupidity. And yet wars happen and they involve the most passionate lovers of peace because there are still barbarians in the world who set the price for peace at death or enslavement and the price is too high.”

—Ronald Reagan

“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” —George Washington

Where are the liberal non-Muslims?

By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

"Since 9/11, many of us have wondered: Where are the moderate Muslims? If they are out there, why are we not hearing more, and getting more help, from them in the fight against our common foe -- the totalitarian Islamists?

In recent weeks....."

George Tenet's slam dunk

By Rich Lowry

"George Tenet is a man of passion. One of the things he is most passionate about is never seeing unflattering portrayals of himself in the press. Hence he managed to be the second-longest-serving CIA director in history, despite presiding over massive intelligence failures.

Tenet is livid over...."

More Red Herrings Fall Into Dems' Laps

By David Limbaugh

"Now that former CIA Director George Tenet has begun his pile-on of the beleaguered Bush administration on the very issue (WMD) he helped the administration formulate, be prepared for a new round of 'Bush lied, people died' propaganda. Since Democrats are forcing us to deal with this issue, yet again, couldn't we just once put them on the ropes?

The entire WMD issue has been a Democratic diversion from the get-go. It has allowed Democrats immeasurable cover for their irresponsible absence of policy on Iraq and has provided endless fodder for their libelous claims against the administration.

The Democrats' behavior over....."

Random thoughts

By Thomas Sowell

"Random thoughts on the passing scene:

Sometimes it seems as if everybody is trying to rip off his own little piece of America, until we are all torn apart.

A reader writes: 'Liberals hold us individually responsible for nothing but collectively responsible for everything.'

The last time I saw a Republican express outrage was 1991, when Clarence Thomas told the Senators what he thought of the smear tactics used against him. Before that, it was Ronald Reagan saying, 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!' Before that, it was probably Teddy Roosevelt.

Too many people....."

Even If Entering Iraq Was a Mistake, Leaving Is Worse
By Dennis Prager

"In arriving at their decision that America should withdraw its forces from Iraq, the Democratic Party and the Left around the world regularly make reference to what they regard as America's initial error -- invading Iraq.

Perhaps the Left is correct in its contentions that..."

Notes on a Scandal

How ethical are Paul Wolfowitz's detractors?

BY BRET STEPHENS

"Meet Dennis de Tray. In the summer of 1998, the University of Chicago-trained economist had his 15 minutes of fame when, as director of the World Bank's mission in Indonesia, he was called by The Wall Street Journal to account for the bank's performance amid that country's economic collapse. After 30 years and $25 billion of loans to the Suharto dictatorship, it turned out that 'World Bank officials knew corruption in bank-funded projects was common, but never commissioned any broad reports tracking how much money was lost to it,' according to Journal reporters Marcus Brauchli and Jay Solomon.

Why the relative indifference to the problem? Because, as Mr. de Tray explained at the time, 'there is a trade-off between, shall we say, being pure and helping people,' and also because 'sometimes calling a spade a spade is not the best way' when it comes to confronting corruption.

Had matters rested......."

MAD TV

U.S. taxpayers subsidize terrorist propaganda and Holocaust denial in the Arab world.

BY JOEL MOWBRAY

Testifying under oath recently, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice misled Congress in her strong defense of Al-Hurra, the taxpayer financed Arab TV network. It was unwitting, though. She herself was misled.

During the March 21 House Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee hearing......."

1 in 2 Mexicans has family in U.S.

1/3 with relatives in America were sent money in past year

First debate of Democrats: Hillary loses

By Star Parker: "The first debate of the 2008 presidential campaign was an unimpressive affair."

No longer unbeatable

By Donald Lambro
"Hillary Clinton's negatives keep climbing, raising new questions about her electability and improving the prospects of her chief rivals for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination."

Hamas Will Oppose Israeli-Palestinian Agreements, Spokesman Says -- 04/30/2007

Jerusalem - "Hamas will oppose any agreement reached in negotiations between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Israel, a spokesman for the group said in a recent television interview."

UK Abortion-Rights Groups Worry About Decline in Willing Doctors
More and more young doctors in Britain are choosing not to carry out abortions, and abortion rights groups here say a changing atmosphere is in part the result of pro-life successes in the United States...

Let's See That Immigration Reform Bill, Senate Republicans Say
A group of conservative Republicans has sent a letter to Sen. Harry Reid, asking the majority leader to let Americans see what�s in the Democrats� immigration reform bill before it comes up for debate and a vote...

A BIT OF FOOLISHNESS

On one of my posts from April 9th and in the comments section I said:

Liberals have a real problem with gradations. If they determine some thing or, some situation, is wrong, it cannot be any "more" wrong than some other predetermined injustice.

All inequities or injustices are the same to them regardless of context. With them, one grievous act is the same as another.

A case in point that is quite illustrative and supports my view comes from James Taranto's today's 'Best of the Web' in the Opinion Journal.

Mr. Taranto states that, "Saturday afternoon found us at UCLA for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, where we had been summoned from New York to sit on a panel discussing 'the future of news' with L.A. Times editor Jim O'Shea and ABC-TV's Mark Halperin."

Taranto shines a spotlight on a "bit of foolishness coming from Ian Buruma, who won an award at the book festival. In yesterday's L.A. Times, Buruma opines:

Just as Jews, during some traditional Passover feasts, ask God to bring down his wrath on the Gentiles who "don't know him," and many Christians believe that hell awaits those who don't subscribe to their faith, Muslims are led to believe that killing the enemies of Islam can be justified.

I have to agree with Taranto: "Surely there is a difference between believing or hoping that God will punish unbelievers and taking it upon oneself to do it."

Except ....... to a liberal.