Did America's Have-Nots Double in 20 Years?

By Larry Elder

Thirty-four percent of Americans say they belong to the "have-nots." Twenty years ago, only 17 percent of Americans defined themselves this way. What happened?

Apparently party affiliation, race and self-perception play a greater role than one's actual economic condition. The Pew Research Center, the organization conducting the poll, writes that one arrives at this belief, " . . . whether grounded in objective facts or not. . . . Analysis of polling data over the years," writes Pew, "also strongly suggests that the growing perception of societal divide is driven as much by political factors as by economic ones." Read on.

Until proven innocent

By Thomas Sowell

Some of the most depressing e-mails received over the past year and a half have been those that asked why I was worrying myself about three rich white guys at Duke University.

Read on.

Selling Out Israel on the Installment Plan

By Cal Thomas

Name one concession Israel has made in recent years that has been reciprocated by its sworn enemies. This is not a trick question. There are none. Read on.

Profits, Not Unions, Save Jobs

By Linda Chavez:

It's hard for unions to grasp is that there is no such thing as job security. Sure, a company can foolishly promise never to lay off workers, but it can't keep its promise if it doesn't make a profit.
Read on.

Income Redistribution: ‘Chronically undertaxed’

In exchange for millions in political donations to liberal lawmakers, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now says his party’s latest tax-the-rich scheme to double the taxes on what The Washington Post called “chronically undertaxed” hedge funds and private-equity firms will not be considered by the Senate. Apparently, $6 million in congressional campaign donations assuaged liberal notions regarding this industry’s “chronic under taxation.” A bribe by any other name...

The Wall Street Journal reports Hillary Clinton, who is, coincidentally, a Democrat presidential candidate, received the largest share of the $6 million in campaign donations. Lobbying firms also benefited from the tax-hike proposal by raking in fees reported to be at least $5.5 million. As there are no reports of liberals claiming anyone was ever chronically over taxed, we may expect the pay-to-play campaign-donations scheme to ward off claims of chronic under taxation will spread to other industries and income levels. Demos must have forgotten last fall’s campaign promises to clean up Congress. What they really meant is that they are going to clean up in Congress.1

A CONUNDRUM: Faith and Family; Legal dispute in Rhode Island

Two Rhode Island married women have filed for divorce—from each other. The couple “married” in Massachusetts in 2004 after the state’s Supreme Judicial Court demanded that the legislature legalize same-sex marriage. However, like far too many truly married couples, the two women did not find marital bliss. The problem is, Massachusetts will not allow non-residents to divorce in the state (though same-sex marriage is no problem for non-residents), and Rhode Island does not recognize same-sex marriage, making divorce a bit of a non sequitur. The case is most likely the design of the homosexual-rights movement, crafted to take on the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. If Rhode Island rules against the two, the solution might be for one or both women to move to Massachusetts, which is all of about two or three miles from Providence, where they currently reside.1

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"It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key."

--Winston Churchill --

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“One of the most ridiculous arguments for LOST is to protect us against Russia’s claim to the North Pole and its oil riches. If we ratify LOST, we would have to accept the LOST tribunal’s decision. Even though the United States already has valid claims to the North Pole region under the Doctrine of Discovery, the chances of the LOST bureaucrats ruling for us against Russia are about 1 in 155.”

-- Phyllis Schlafly --

Permission Slip for the Sea

By Oliver North

WASHINGTON — In his 2004 State of the Union Address, President Bush said, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." Members of both parties and both houses of Congress applauded. But if the Senate votes to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea — known as the Law of the Sea Treaty — or its appropriate acronym — LOST — he and his successors are going to need lots of permission slips.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan, concerned about the treaty's implications for our sovereignty and national security, formally rejected LOST because it did "not satisfy the objectives sought by the United States." In 1994, William Jefferson Clinton, eager to appease One World Government advocates in his own party and at the United Nations, negotiated a parallel "agreement" that purported to address Mr. Reagan's concerns — and urged ratification. Since then, LOST has gathered dust in the bowels of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. All that may be about to change. The deeply flawed, Soviet-era agreement giving unelected, unaccountable international bureaucrats control over 71 percent of the Earth's surface is now on a fast track to ratification.

Before casting a vote to ratify LOST, all 100 senators should read Article 314 of this onerous treaty and Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The U.N.-crafted document specifies that amendments to the treaty can be adopted — and therefore enforced — without the consent of any signatory. Yet our Constitution requires that two-thirds of our Senate concur in any treaty. Do 67 members of this Senate now want to surrender that authority to foreign governments?

Read more of Colonel Ollie North.

Vincente Fox criticizes Irving, Texas mayor

Ex-Mexico President Fox criticizes the city of Irving's immigration policy.

Fox, who is on a whirlwind tour promoting his new book (and to criticize U. S. immigration policies), gave speeches in Dallas/Fort Worth before the World Affairs Council, and before a group of editors and reporters at The Dallas Morning News, as well as before a crowd of 520 at the Fairmont Hotel Dallas.

Some of his notable quotes:
1.) "The Irving authorities have to reconsider what they are doing. I think they are violating human rights." (Irving, Texas has a pop. of almost 200,000 with approx 1/3 of its' residents foreign born and have decided to engage themselves with the federal immigration authorities. Nearly 1600 people in the last 12 mos. have landed in jail and turned over to federal immigration officers.)

2.) Noting that Mexico's economy had stabilized and its' population growth is less than 1%, this led him to say: "Mexico needs those people, and we want all of them back as soon as possible to build a great nation."

(Hat tip to Stone Cold Button at Texas Swimming.)

Me thinks you're speaking out of both sides of your mouth.

THE SENATE MUST SINK THE TREATY THAT WILL SINK THE US NAVY

Frank Gaffney

Irony of ironies: The principal champion of the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) is the United States Navy. Yet predictably few organizations would suffer more than America's naval forces from a supranational government of the oceans empowered by U.S. accession to that treaty.

The absurdity of this situation was on display last week as the Navy's former senior officer, retired Chief of Naval Operations Vernon Clark, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Adm. Clark waxed on about LOST as "a Magna Carta for the oceans that guarantees navigation freedoms throughout the world's largest maneuver space." The committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, declared in about as many words that, if the Navy wants the treaty, the Senate should give it to them. Period.

Fortunately, a necessary corrective was offered the next day by another distinguished retired four-star, Adm. James "Ace" Lyons. Read more ....

POLAND VS. THE EUROCRATS

"At a conference on the future of the European Union held in Brussels last week and co-sponsored by George Soros, it was advocated that the EU expel member states that are "not European enough." One country in particular which Europe should throw out because it hampers the EU's aim of transforming itself into a federal superstate is Poland.

What have the Poles done to antagonize the Eurocrats? Today (October 10) is the "European Day Against the Death Penalty." The EU wanted to inaugurate the event with a common European declaration against capital punishment. Poland thwarted this by refusing to sign the declaration because the EU did not condemn abortion and euthanasia as well.

Last month, during an EU meeting on the death penalty, the Polish justice minister confronted his Danish colleague with Denmark's annual 15,000 abortions and the latter got so angry that she left the room, slamming the door."

Other countries, such as Belgium and Portugal, accuse Poland of "immoral and unworthy behavior" by daring to compare abortion and euthanasia to the death penalty. Richard Howitt, a British Labor politician and the vice president of the European Parliament's human rights subcommittee, said that Poland's refusal to reject the death penalty brings into question its commitment to European values."

-- Paul Belien

Eurocrats Target Poland

Last Thursday, Viscount Etienne Davignon, a Belgian who is the chairman of the secretive Bilderberg Group, celebrated his 75th birthday. Mr. Davignon is a former vice president of the European Commission and the author of the 1970 "Davignon Report" that laid the foundations for a common European foreign policy. In the Viscount's honor a conference about the future of the European Union was held in the prestigious Egmont Palace in Brussels. One of the speakers was the wealthy anti-Bush activist George Soros, another was Daniel Cohn-Bendit, an erstwhile campus revolutionary during the 1968 Paris student riots, who is currently a German member of the European Parliament for the Green Party.

Mr. Soros opined that the EU incarnates the "open society." Mr. Cohn-Bendit advocated that the EU expel member states that are "not European enough." Countries which Europe should throw out because they hamper the EU's aim of transforming itself into a federal superstate are the United Kingdom and Poland. Mr. Davignon reiterated Mr. Cohn-Bendit's position, albeit in a more diplomatic way. Europe should debate its future "without shunning taboos" by pondering "whether countries that systematically thwart European integration should not be ousted."

The so-called Eurocrats dislike the British because ....... Continue on reading.

Crazy Norwegians: Appoint Women, or Be Dissolved

From The Brussels Journal

"Norway's center-left government has issued a warning to 140 companies that still don't have enough women on their boards of directors: Appoint more, or be dissolved. […]

Equality minister Karita Bekkemellem told newspaper Aftenposten on Friday that those companies failing to meet the quota will face involuntary dissolution from January 1. Many are within traditionally male-oriented branches like the offshore oil industry, shipping and finance. […] “My advice to them is that they take responsibility and find the women they need,” she said. She called the law “historic and radical,” and said it will be enforced."

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Texan mayors threaten court to stop border fence

LAREDO, Texas (Reuters) - Texan mayors on the border with Mexico are threatening to take the U.S. government to court and are encouraging ranchers to do the same to block construction of a fence to keep out illegal immigrants.

Six mayors fear the planned fence, part of Washington's crackdown on illegal immigration, will.....

Read on.

Reid Backs Decision to Block Immigration Enforcement Rule

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he supports a decision by a district court judge that halts new Department of Homeland Security rules designed to make businesses accountable for employing illegal immigrants - but the senator seemed confused over the court decision itself. Full Story

Congressional vote could trigger Turkey's invasion of Iraq

ANKARA — Turkey is finalizing plans to invade Iraq in an effort to destroy the Kurdish Workers Party.

Turkey concluded two days of high-level discussions that focused on plans for a major military incursion of northern Iraq, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said the General Staff has presented plans for an invasion by thousands of Turkish troops, backed by attack helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and armored vehicles, of Iraq's Kandil mountains, the stronghold of the PKK.
Read more.

RELATED: Turkey preparing for November invasion, longterm stay

Dysfunctional Palestinian government seen pressing for more Israeli concessions

TEL AVIV — The Israeli intelligence community has reported to the government that the Middle East peace conference hosted by the United States in November was doomed to failure.

Sources said all of the agencies in the Israeli intelligence community have concluded that the Palestinian Authority would refuse to make any concessions or gestures that would ensure a successful summit in Annapolis, Md. Instead, the sources said the Israeli community has assessed that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas regarded the summit as a means to bring massive international pressure on Israel to agree to a unilateral withdrawal from virtually the entire West Bank. Read more.

U.S. reports record number of tips from Sunnis in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military said Iraqi civilians have been relaying information on Al Qaida and Shi'ite insurgents and weapons caches.

Officials reported a significant increase in tips to authorities, which they said have been translated into an improvement in security in Baghdad.

"We've seen a large increase in tips that have led to the seizure of caches in the areas where concerned citizen groups are formed," Maj. Rhett Griner, coordinator of the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said. Read more.

McCain's Medicine

The Arizona Senator gets back in the reform business.

"Riding low in the polls, it seems, has allowed John McCain to take some policy risks. At Tuesday's Republican primary debate, he talked about the need to junk the tax code to make it fairer and flatter. Then Mr. McCain followed up with a health-care reform announced in Iowa yesterday, perhaps recapturing the aura of political creativity that animated his Presidential bid in 2000.

The Senator's views are panoramic, and he's looking at a health-care landscape grounded in free-market principles. His major proposal would change the tax treatment of insurance. To rehearse: Today's tax code allows businesses to deduct the costs of providing health insurance to their employees, but it doesn't allow the same for individuals. That creates third-party payer problems for the insured and makes coverage less affordable for everyone else. Mr. McCain would offer a refundable tax credit of $2,500 for individuals, and $5,000 for families."

Read more at Opinion Journal.

The AP's Anti-Christian Bigotry

By Michael Medved

An October 6th story from Associated Press began with a lead paragraph that proclaimed: "Alexandria, Louisiana--A 63-year-old Baptist deacon shot five people in a law office here on Thursday, killing two, before being killed by police officers."

The report later suggests, "anger over a divorce settlement may have prompted the shooting," and notes the killer was a "retired city maintenance worker." Why, then, did AP decide to stress his status as a "Baptist deacon"--not a professional position, but a volunteer activity? Wouldn't it seem odd if they began their story by describing the murderer as a golfer or a Rotarian?

If Associated Press began their account by identifying the perpetrator as African American, decent people would protest--recognizing bigotry in a choice to stress race over professional background, family status, or anything else.

Doesn?t the choice to spotlight a killer?s participation in a Baptist church demonstrate the same sort of bigotry?

“Realize that the doctor’s fight against socialized medicine is your fight. You can’t socialize the doctors without socializing the patients.”

-- Ronald Reagan --

HILLARYISMS :

Hillary Clinton said that her childhood dream was to be an Olympic athlete. But she was not athletic enough. She said she wanted to be an astronaut, but at the time they didn't take women. She said she wanted to go into medicine, but hospitals made her woozy. Should she be telling people this story? I mean she's basically saying she wants to be president because she can't do anything else." --- Jay Leno

"Well, the big story -- - Hillary Clinton will be running for president in 2008. You know why I think she's running? I think she finally wants to see what it's like to sleep in the president's bed." --- Jay Leno

"Top Democrats have mixed feelings about Sen. Hillary Clinton running for president. Apparently, some Democrats don't like the idea, while others hate it." --- Conan O'Brien

"In a fiery speech this weekend, Hillary Clinton wondered why President Bush can't find the tallest man in Afghanistan . Probably for the same reason she couldn't find the fattest intern under the desk." --- Jay Leno

"Former President Bill Clinton said that if his wife, Hillary, is elected president, he will do whatever she wants. You know Bill Clinton --- when he makes a vow to Hillary, you can take that to the bank." --- Jay Leno

"Did you know Bill and Hillary Clinton were born under the same sign? Know what sign? 'For Sale ' " --- Jay Leno

"A student from the University of Washington has sold his soul on eBay for $400. He's a law student, so he probably doesn't need it, but still, that's not very much. Today, Hillary Clinton said, 'Hey, at least I got some furniture and a Senate seat for mine.' " -- - Jay Leno

"Hillary Clinton said today that she wants legislation to allow all ex-felons to vote. See, this way all the Clinton 's former business partners can vote for her in 2008." --- Jay Leno

"Hillary Clinton's 506-page memoirs have come out. So much of her personality shines through, that in the end, you, too, will want to sleep with an intern." --- Craig Kilborn

In Hillary Clinton's new book 'Living History,' Hillary details what it was like meeting Bill Clinton , falling in love with him, getting married, and living a passionate, wonderful life as husband and wife. Then on page two, the trouble starts." --- Jay Leno

"In the book, she says when Bill told her he was having an affair, she said, 'I could hardly breathe, I was gulping for air.' No, I'm sorry, that's what Monica said." --- David Letterman

"Hillary Clinton, our junior senator from New York , announced that she has no intentions of ever, ever running for office of the President of the United States . Her husband, Bill Clinton, is bitterly disappointed. He is crushed. There go his dreams of becoming a t wo-impeachment family." --- David Letterman

"Last night, Senator Hillary Clinton hosted her first party in her new home in Washington. People said it was a lot like the parties she used to host at the White House. In fact, even the furniture was the same." --- Jay Leno

"Senator Hillary Clinton is attacking President Bush for breaking his campaign promise to cut carbon dioxide emissions, saying a promise made, a promise broken. And then out of habit, she demanded that Bush spend the night on the couch." --- Craig Kilborn

"CNN found that Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America . Women admire her because she's strong and successful. Men admire her because she allows her husband to cheat and get away with it." -- - Jay Leno

"Hillary Clinton is the junior senator from the great state of New York . When they swore her in, she used the Clinton family Bi ble, the one with only seven commandments." --- David Letterman

POSSIBLE NEW WORDS FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are my favorites:

1. Cashtration : The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an a**hole.

3. Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

7. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

8. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease.

9. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

10. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

McCain health plan includes $2,500 tax credit

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain outlined a proposal on Thursday to revamp the U.S. health care system by providing Americans with a refundable $2,500 tax credit as an incentive to buy insurance.

McCain's plan offers voluntary solutions to fixing health care in the country, where the high cost of care has meant millions of Americans are unable to pay for health insurance.

READ MORE.

"God" Back on Flag Documents

WASHINGTON (AP) - A 17-year-old Eagle scout wanting to honor his grandfather's "love of God, country and family" with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol has helped remove a ban on the word "God" in certificates that accompany these flags.

READ ON.

Attacking Talk Radio

By Walter E. Williams

The major news media no longer have the monopoly they once enjoyed. The way millions of Americans get their news and news analysis is through talk radio.

The Rush Limbaugh Show stands at the very top of talk radio, carried on more than 650 radio stations and listened to by an estimated 20 million people each week. As an occasional fill-in for Rush, and being a professor, I see the show as being my big classroom, but I learn a lot as well.

READ MORE.

Waxman Denies Investigation of Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Wednesday denied that he is conducting or ever planned to conduct a congressional investigation of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin and called on a conservative magazine to retract its report that he asked investigators to compile information on the popular conservative talk radio hosts.

"The American Spectator report about a congressional investigation into talk radio is completely false," Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement to Cybercast News Service. "There is no investigation."

READ MORE.

Not True That Thousands Died for Lack of Health Insurance, Critics Say

By Pete Winn

Last month, when she announced her $110-billion health-care reform plan, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), said, "Each year, 18,000 people die in America because they don't have health care. Let me repeat that. Here in America people are dying because they couldn't get the care they needed when they were sick."

Former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey, a principal critic of Clinton's ill-fated health care reform proposal in the 90s, takes issue with the way the statistics are being utilized to suggest there is a health care insurance crisis.

McCaughey, chairwoman of RID - the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths -- put the numbers in perspective. Relative to the 18,000 deaths, "five times that many people die from hospital infections each year -- and most of them do have coverage," she said.

READ MORE HERE.

NO, OF COURSE SHE WOULDN'T

Would Mrs. Clinton defend Rush Limbaugh's speech rights against the left?
BY DANIEL HENNINGER

“Florida Democrats filed suit against the national Democratic party... to force the party to recognize their convention delegates. We know how this will end. No matter who wins the lawsuit, John Edwards gets 40 percent of the settlement.”

-- Argus Hamilton --

“A bilingual nation can’t and won’t cut it. Language enshrines and perpetuates cultural division, of which surely we have enough right now.”

—William Murchison

“The president and his party would be easier to pity, even to shower with a little compassionate conservatism, if they had not abandoned their promises and principles six years ago to give the Democrats lessons in how to blow through billions of dollars in search of a bridge to nowhere.”

-- Wesley Pruden

Charlie Tuna says, "See, I told ya' so."

Scientific Establishment Smacks Down Mercury-In-Fish Fear Mongers
From: Center for Consumer Freedom

"We hate to say we told you so, but…well, we told you so. Today, a coalition of some of the nation’s most prominent women’s health experts publicized its recommendations for maternal seafood consumption."

"A lot of the concern about mercury or consuming mercury in fish products is unfounded. To date, there’s not a single case of fetal toxicity linked directly to fish intake."

Beware of Following Michigan's Steps Down the Road to Serfdom

Economically troubled state ironically turned to tax increases - a move that won't help its financial standing any time soon. Read more.

Senate Could Vote Soon on Return of U.N. Sea Treaty Reagan Opposed

Senate Could Vote Soon on Return of U.N. Sea Treaty Reagan Opposed You’ve heard about the “race for oil” that global warming is supposed to bring to the Arctic. But you probably haven’t heard about the Law of the Sea Treaty, which governs offshore territory. After all, isn’t everyone on board with signing it? The truth is, they’re not – because it could enter the U.S. into massive international regulations.

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Stop the Terror in Burma

President Bush is preparing further U.S. sanctions against the dictatorship.


BY LAURA BUSH

It is 2 a.m. in Rangoon, Burma. In the middle of the tropical night, army troops pour into the neighborhood surrounding a peaceful Buddhist monastery. The soldiers occupy nearby homes, so that residents will not peek through their windows or go outside to witness the raid. Troops then storm the monastery, brutalizing, terrorizing and arresting the monks inside.

Eventually the monks are imprisoned inside Rangoon's former Government Technical Institute. According to one eyewitness, hundreds are crammed into each room. They have no access to toilets or sanitary facilities. Many of the monks refuse food from their military jailers. There is no space to lie down and sleep.

These are the stories of Burma's "Saffron Revolution." The protests that started a few weeks ago with a 500% spike in regime-controlled gas prices have now unleashed 19 years of pent-up national anger. As the demonstrations play out on front pages, computer monitors, and TV screens across the globe, millions of people have been inspired by the sea of orange-robed Buddhist monks standing up to the military dictatorship.

Millions have also been stunned by the junta's shameful response: nonviolent demonstrators struck down with batons, tear gas, smoke grenades and bullets; civilians, including children, seized at random; innocent men and women slain.

Will Putin Ever Retire?

By David Aikman

When will he ever retire?

Vladimir Putin by next March will have completed two terms as Russia's elected president. He's constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term--but this won't stop him from continuing to rule Russia.

At a gathering of almost fawning supporters of his political party--Unified Russia--Putin announced he'd be standing for the Russian parliament and would be available to become prime minister. That is, in his words, if "a decent, capable, efficient, modern person" be elected president. Translation: if Putin chooses the presidential candidate and that man wins, then he will gracefully accept the prime minister's slot.

If this should happen, count on the hapless president retreating to figurehead status. An energetic Prime Minister Putin would leave no one in doubt, at home or abroad, where real power lay.

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Partisan differences in trusting, and not trusting, the media

Interesting timing of this post at TigerHawk on a personal level. This past Sunday I told a brother of mine over a cup of coffee and bagel at Panera's that I wondered if it was worth my time anymore reading the newspaper because you have spend so much time deciphering, and reading between the lines, and questioning the reported "facts." I have zero confidence in their "reporting."

Here is his post:
This morning's Gallup poll reviews a huge gulf between Republicans and Democrats in trust of the media -- twice as many Democrats as Republicans trust the mainstream media to report news "fully, accurately, and fairly." This is a sharp departure from the 1970s, when Republicans and Democrats trusted the media almost identically (notwithstanding Spiro Agnew's "nattering nabobs" declaration).

What might be the causes of this divergence? Without being able to prove a damn thing, I believe that at least two things have happened.

First, the Republican Party has moved substantially to the right since the Ford Administration. The average Republican -- and therefore the center in American politics -- may have moved away from the mainstream media as much as the media itself has become liberal. Of course, that invites another question: Why has the political tone of the mainstream media failed to move to to the right at roughly the same pace as one of the two main political parties?

Second, perhaps the average reporter, editor, or producer in the mainstream media has moved relatively to the left since 1976. In 1976 there were still a great many journalists who had served in the military. Veterans of World War II and Korea were only then in their forties and fifties, and many of them were working for major newspapers and broadcasters. Also, journalism was not neary as professionalized in the seventies as it is today. I am given to understand that there were still editors around who had worked their way up from fairly humble beginnings, rather than recruited directly from Princeton and Yale or the Columbia Journalism School as they increasingly are today. Not only does an elite education tend to push one to the left, but it broadens a person's horizons -- Ivy Leaguers and their ilk are much more likely to "think globally," which means they care what substantially more left-wing foreigners think about American policy. How many times have you read that we are the "only developed country in the world with capital punishment," as if that were an even remotely relevant consideration? Have these two developments -- journalism's disconnection from the military and its greater credentialism -- made it more difficult for the mainstream media to reflect the sensibilities of a country that has moved signficantly to the right?

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It's official: Terrorists endorse Hillary in '08

On the record, Mideast jihadi leaders say she's best hope for victory in Iraq

WASHINGTON – With presidential primaries approaching and the race for the White House heating up, Muslim terrorist leaders in the Middle East have offered their endorsement for America's highest office, stating in a new book they hope Sen. Hillary Clinton is victorious in 2008.

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Bush backs Mexico, rapist-murderer

International court seeks to block death penalty in Texas

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case Wednesday in which the Bush administration will seek to overturn the death penalty of a convicted rapist-murderer at the behest of the International Court of Justice.

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PREMEDITATED MERGER

Ex-Mexican prez: Regional currency coming

Vicente Fox confirms long-term plan worked out with President Bush

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed the existence of a plan conceived with President Bush to create a new regional currency in the Americas, in an interview last night on CNN's "Larry King Live."

It possibly was the first time a leader of Mexico, Canada or the U.S. openly confirmed a plan for a regional currency. Fox explained the current regional trade agreement that encompasses the Western Hemisphere is intended to evolve into other previously hidden aspects of integration. Read more.

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Kerry pushes for nuclear Iran

Parliament shouts 'Death to America' in vote to enrich uranium

On the eve of the U.S. presidential election, Sen. John Kerry's campaign continues to advocate normalizing relations and providing nuclear fuel to Tehran's radical mullah-led regime despite the Iranian parliament's defiant, anti-American vote to proceed with uranium enrichment, a key process in development of atomic weapons.

Shouting "Death to America," and "Death to Israel," Iranian lawmakers decided unanimously Sunday to back the outline of a bill that would require the Islamic government to resume uranium enrichment. "An activist in the Iranian democracy movement believes the American mainstream media is ignoring the.....

Read more.

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This is pure rubbish

Obama calls for cap-and-trade program

"WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Monday said that if elected he would establish an economy-wide cap-and-trade program that would sharply cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.

In a speech prepared for delivery in Portsmouth, N.H., the Illinois senator said the cap-and-trade plan would be the centerpiece of a wide-ranging set of measures designed to cut emissions of gases tied to global warming and weaning the United States off of dependence on oil."

We don't need another stinkin' governmental boondoggle - to suck our money away - to waste our money on - to further empower them to control our lives.

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Phyllis Schlafly: Scholars Explain President's Plan for A North American Union

Those who seek to understand what's behind the chatter about President George W. Bush's Security and Prosperity Partnership as a possible prelude to a North American Union, similar to the European Union, should read the 35-page White Paper published recently by the Hudson Institute called "Negotiating North America: The Security and Prosperity Partnership."

Thomas Sowell: Clarence Thomas
It would be hard to think of anyone whose portrayal in the media differs more radically from the reality than that of Justice Clarence Thomas. Read on.

Dennis Prager: Colorado State University Shames Itself
On Sept. 21, 2007, the editorial board of the Colorado State University student newspaper decided to publish a four-word editorial. Apparently finding the traditional mode of expressing ideas -- arguing a case in a few hundred words -- too demanding, they instead wrote four words: "Taser this ? F--- Bush."

Read more.

I know many "out there" will consider this to a "racist" view. Of course, it is not.

Bill Murchison:

A Tale Of Two Tongues

The more we condone -- not to mention encourage -- the routine speaking of Spanish in schools and in the workplace, the slighter and slimmer grow opportunities for that thoroughgoing cultural assimilation all should desire -- Spanish speakers as well as English speakers.

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Bill Steigerwald: Welcome to the Nanny State-- An Interview

With his book "Nanny State," Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi has thrown a conservative-libertarian rope around a disturbing political and cultural trend -- the nannification of America by moral busybodies and nitpicking maternalists who use government power to micromanage our personal lives and protect us from ourselves.

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Tiananmen Redux

By David Aikman

The Burmese Army's crackdown on the country's brave young monks, who protested in the capital's streets, is becoming really horrible. The government admits ten people have been killed. But literally thousands of monks and civilians have been taken away from monasteries and homes, and foreign diplomats in Burma, not wanting to be identified, have speculated that those killed by the regime could run into the hundreds. British ambassador Mark Canning speaks of the international community's "revulsion" at what has happened.

Ironically, the only country that seems to be in a position to influence the generals away from violence is China, which supports Burma wholeheartedly and cracked down on its own democratic movement 18 years ago. But China's interest is mainly in avoiding instability on its southern border, not in brokering a transition to democracy.

China set the precedent for this type of military suppression nearly two decades ago.

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Tortured arguments: Giving al Qaeda an interrogation-resistance manual.

"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition."

-- Thomas Jefferson --

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When all is not as it appears to be

American Thinker Blog:
By Rick Moran

Do you remember 12 year old Graeme Frost from Maryland? He's the young man who gave the Democratic radio response to President Bush following the veto of the chidren's health care program SCHIP.

In that heart tugging speech, Graeme pleaded with Congress to pass SCHIP and extend coverage to the middle class because without that program, he and his family would have been in a lot of trouble following a car accident the young man was in last year.

Following up on the story, the Baltimore Sun reported that the two income family could not afford health insurance on their own and didn't receive any through their employment - the mother working in a medical publishing firm and the father as a "woodworker."

It turns out, that's not entirely accurate...... Read more.

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Hillary's poisoned poster child

Jewish World Review

Florida is home to an ill-fated child whose life was ruined upon becoming a political pawn. No, this is not another lamentation about Elian Gonzalez.

This is the tragic tale of Jennifer Bush.

Do you remember Jennifer? Probably not. First Lady Hillary Clinton, who helped turn Jennifer into a national political prop for health care reform in 1994, must be very grateful that we've all forgotten the poor little girl from Coral Springs. Jennifer's story, which took a shocking but largely unnoticed twist last week, is not merely a case of legislation-by-anecdote run amok.

It's poster child abuse.

Six years ago, Jennifer's mother wrote a widely-publicized letter to the White House. "Do you know what it is like to choose between purchasing groceries for the week to feed your family or buying needed medications for your chronically ill child?" Kathleen Bush asked.

Pale and wan, young Jennifer suffered from unidentified chronic digestive problems and ....

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Barack Obama Promotes Abortion, Slams Abstinence in Iowa Speech

Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) -- Campaigning in Iowa over the weekend, pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama attempted to moderate his views on abortion and abstinence education. However, he made it clear he has no interest in limiting or reducing abortions and his pro-abstinence stance is tempered by his backing of sexual education.

Speaking in the northeast town of New Hampton late Friday, Obama responded to a question in a forum from a Denver resident in the first primary state for a family reunion.

The questioner asked Obama to reconcile how society gets upset at someone like Michael Vick, the football player who caused a furor by betting on dog fights, and seems unconcerned by the tremendous loss of human life from abortions.

"What would you do about that and what's happening in our society when people can’t seem to see this contradiction?” the questioner asked.

According to a New York Times report, Obama told the audience that the issue abortion isn't ever going to go away and said people wrestle with the debate between acknowledging the humanity of the unborn child and wanting to help women.

However, ultimately, Obama said abortion must remain legal despite the loss of human life........... Read more

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Iraq insurgency: People rise against al-Qa'eda - Telegraph

Damien McElroy spent a week in the heart of the insurgency in Anbar province in Iraq. In the second of seven exclusive reports he describes how peace and prosperity have returned to a town formerly riven by sectarian killings.

In a town tucked tight against the Syrian border, US Marines pass softly along a darkened street as the crack of contact rings out. Instead of a panicked rush for cover, the leader of the patrol turns to cheer.

The familiar sound was not from the barrel of gun but the baize of an upstairs pool hall.

A transformation has swept western Iraq that allows Marines to walk through areas that a year ago were judged lost to radical Islam control and hear nothing more aggressive than a late-night game of pool.......

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A Dutch Retreat on Speech?

Anne Applebaum
Washingtonpost

And now we come to what may be a truly fundamental test, maybe even a turning point, for that part of the world generally known as the West.

The test is this: Are prominent, articulate critics of radical Islam, critics who happen to be citizens of European countries or the United States, entitled to the same free speech rights enjoyed by other citizens of European countries and the United States?

Legally, of course they are. In practice, they can say what they want -- and then they can be murdered for doing so. That means that Western governments have a special and unusual responsibility to them, as many..............

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For U.S. military families, Iraq war can't end short of victory

Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON — Michael Anderson can recount his son's last moments on earth down to the second.

He knows that the night before his son, Marine Cpl. Michael Anderson Jr. , died in the battle for Fallujah he slept in a 17-degree room on a piece of cardboard and that he shared his blanket and iPod with a friend. He knows that on Dec. 14, 2004 , his son and comrades shimmied down a rooftop to ambush a group of insurgents, opened the roof's hatch, threw in a grenade and listened for screams before heading inside.

And he knows that the bullet that hit his son pierced his fourth and fifth ribs and killed him instantly.

The Modesto, Calif. , resident said he also knew that the Iraq war was working and that it must work or the deaths of his son and the more than 3,800 other members of the U.S. military would have been in vain.

"The surge is working," he said. "I sat through some briefings and investigated for myself. I've talked to the boots on the ground. My opinion is that the leaders who are trying to run this war from the comfort of their well-decorated and comfortable offices are wrong................

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SCHIP-pery Slope
By Rich Galen

The House and Senate sent a hugely expanded version of the SCHIP program to the President and the President, as promised, vetoed the bill. The idea behind this program is a worthy one: To provide health insurance to children whose families are too poor to afford the premiums on their own, but make too much to qualify for coverage under Medicaid. But the Democrats' re-do has upped the income level for a child to qualify -- an stretching the definition of "poverty" to the breaking point. Not only that, but the Democrats' bill redefines a "child" as someone up to age 25, stretching the definition of "child" as well...

New Film Exposes Apparent Lack of Academic Freedom in US
Although most of America’s institutions of higher learning were designed to foster debate and mold students into critical thinkers, a two-and-a-half-year investigation shows that a repressive political climate has taken hold in recent years – a climate where dissent is silenced and free speech is jeopardized, according to a new documentary called “Indoctrinate U.”

Air America Launches Nationwide Atheism Program
The liberal talk radio network Air America announced it will launch a nationwide show focusing on atheism. The first national show will feature Christopher Hitchens, author of “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”

“[The State Children’s Heath Insurance Program (SCHIP)] without a doubt makes it easier for illegal aliens to get taxpayer-funded healthcare. The legislation wipes away the current requirement for multiple sources of identification and requires merely a name and a Social Security number to apply for benefits. The only safeguard is a single statement that says no illegal aliens can get benefits. That’s like opening the door to the chicken coop, but saying its okay because we put up a sign that says ‘No Foxes Allowed’.”

--Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)--

LOST - LAW OF THE SEA TREATY

Steven Foley writes:

THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS IS SOON LIKELY TO APPROVE, WITHOUT ADEQUATE PUBLIC DEBATE, RATIFICATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS LAW OF THE SEA CONVENTION (UNCLOS), THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY TREATY EVER CONCEIVED BY MANKIND.

Quote:

"I know no safe depositary of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power." --Thomas Jefferson to William C. Jarvis, 1820. ME 15:278

THE UNCLOS WILL PROVIDE THE UNITED NATIONS AND FUTURE U.S. GOVERNMENTS WITH LEGAL JUSTIFICATION TO INVEST THEMSELVES WITH EXPANSIVE NEW POWERS TO IMPOSE COSTLY AND BURDENSOME NON-SCIENCE AND NON-ECONOMICS-BASED EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS (HIDDEN TAXES) UPON ALL AMERICANS THAT WILL SEVERELY IMPAIR THE USE & VALUE OF THEIR PRIVATE PROPERTY.

WHAT HAVE YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES BEEN DOING TO ENSURE THAT YOUR CONSTITUTIONALLY-GUARANTEED PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS, AMERICA’S NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND AMERICA’S MILITARY CAPABILITY TO DEFEND ITSELF WILL BE PROTECTED, AND NOT DELEGATED TO AN INTERNATIONAL UNELECTED INSTITUTION IN WHICH THE U.S. HAS ONLY ONE VOTE?

Republicans AWOL From U.N. Sea Treaty Debate

By Cliff Kincaid

One of the disappointing spectacles during the two Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Treaty has been the complete absence of key Republicans such as Senators Norm Coleman and John Sununu. These members of the Foreign Relations Committee simply didn’t show up.

Coleman, who used to rail against U.N. corruption in the oil-for-food scandal, didn’t attend last Thursday’s hearing but did show up at the Heritage Foundation that same day at 11:00 am to give a speech on the Fairness Doctrine. I think the Fairness Doctrine is a big threat to free speech and have covered the issue extensively at www.aim.org Coleman is promoting the Broadcaster Freedom Act to counter this threat. But this issue will continue far beyond the debate and vote on the U.N.’s Sea Treaty. He didn’t show up for the October 4 or September 27 hearings on the treaty. Why? Read more...

"The only antidote to the Big Lie is, the Big Truth, yelled just as loud, and just as long."

--Dennis Prager--

“The man who knows the truth and has the opportunity to tell it, but who nonetheless refuses to, is among the most shameful of all creatures. God forbid that we should ever become so lax as that.”

--Theodore Roosevelt--

“There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily.”

--George Washington--

The New Push for States' Rights

By David Davenport

"After decades when power moved from state and local governments to Washington, suddenly states are asserting more control on everything from global warming to gay marriage.

Now California not only has its own auto emission standards, but also a global warming policy, which Governor Schwarzenegger recently promoted at the United Nations.

Republicans debate whether there should be a federal Constitutional amendment about marriage or whether, as Fred Thompson and John McCain have said, that should be a matter of state policy.

Can we have 50 state global warming policies, or 50 approaches to marriage? That's one of the big issues in next year's election. My vote would be that we need national regulation of our national economy, but we should allow wider state variation on social issues.

But that's your choice to make since the candidates have staked out very different positions on the new states' rights."

WINSTON CHURCHILL QUOTES

"If you have 10,000 regulations, you destroy all respect for the law."


"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."


"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."


"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery."


"You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer."


“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”


"The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong."

"That's man's one privilege over all creation.
Through error you come to the truth."

--Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist--

Star Parker:
Perspectives on Jena

At this point, there seems little doubt about the ugliness that has simmered, and then boiled, in a little town in Louisiana called Jena. But I want to address another aspect of this sad incident, and that is the message that is being sent to black youth across this country. From what I see and read, it is the wrong message......

Liberals: A Puzzlement
By Burt Prelutsky

I’ll come right out and admit that I understand Islamic terrorists far better than I do American liberals. After all, once you realize that young Muslims are taught by their religious leaders that our nation is militarily powerful and technologically advanced because we cut a deal with Satan, you can see where they’d be upset with us. But what is the deal with liberals? How to explain their mushy heads? Was it something weird in their baby formula? Were they potty-trained when they were too young or, more likely, too old? Or is it simply something in their DNA? Are their chromosomes slightly out of whack, the way it is with homosexuals and the transgender crowd?

I’m serious. Why else would.......

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Thaddeus McCotter:
S-CHIP and the Politics of Principle

Democrats and like-witted pundits claim the S-CHIP reauthorization is a defining issue which will seal the GOP's electoral fate next fall. Unscrupulously using children as props in a soulless script replete with ironic appeals to an apparently socialist Almighty, these Denizens of Governmental Dependence gleefully assert the "politics" of S-CHIP will mask their policy's fiscal irresponsibility and trump Republicans' foundational principles.

Alan Sears:
"Hate Crimes" Legislation: A License To Kill The First Amendment

Is Congress protecting the wrong victims, or pursuing the wrong enemy? Maybe both, with the so-called "hate crimes" bill passed this week by the U.S. Senate, under the vigorous urging of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy (D).

Ben Shapiro:
Rewriting The Constitution

Few would dispute that American politics is in disarray. Our national politicians spend like drunken sailors on shore leave while uttering high-flown rhetorical platitudes that would make con men blush.

Walter E. Williams:
Betrayal of the Civil Rights Struggle

School violence, including assaults on teachers and staff, is not restricted to inner city schools but occurs also in suburban and rural schools. However, the bulk of the violence is at schools with large black populations.

“The pen is not mightier than the sword if your enemy is confident you will never use anything other than your pen. Sometimes it’s not about ‘freedom of speech,’ but about freedom. Ask an Iranian homosexual. If you can find one.”
—Mark Steyn

“I just want everyone to understand that this dialogue is not about, ‘Can we vote our way out of a war?’ We have an enemy who has declared war on us. We are in a war. They want to stop us from living the way we want to live our lives... We will prevail; there’s no doubt about that.”

— outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Peter Pace

Congressman Thomas Price:
The Left?s Push to Silence Free Speech

Shockingly, Americans today face a Democrat Congress seeking to deteriorate our freedom under the guise of "fairness." Our First Amendment rights are being threatened by Congressional Democrats who seek the revival of the Fairness Doctrine, a law to drastically increase government regulation of free speech on television and radio......

Is the fix in?

Immigration front: Judge bans ‘no-match’ letters

The Social Security Administration, in conjunction with Homeland Security, plans to send “no-match” letters to companies with employees whose names don’t match the Social Security numbers on the cards used to apply for jobs. Those who don’t act on the letters within 90 days would face criminal charges and civil sanctions. Seems innocuous to us citizens, but in extending his temporary restraining order on the letters, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer (D-SF) claimed “the planned federal crackdown would cause serious irreparable harm to immigration and labor groups,” according to the Los Angeles Times. One such “group” is the ACLU, naturally.

“No-match” letters are nothing new. According to the SSA, they began sending them to workers in 1979 and to employers in 1994. Suddenly, Judge Breyer finds grievous fault with them. They harm groups. With the way immigration-control measures keep getting spiked, a person just might get the idea that the system’s fixed. -- The Patriot Post

(Bold emphasis added - HH)

Profiles of valor

Profiles of valor: Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg

"On the night of 27 January 2007, Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg of the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 34th Infantry Division was leading a convoy of five gun trucks and 20 logistical vehicles south of Baghdad when insurgents attacked. Malmberg immediately advanced his vehicle and engaged the enemy, using a rocket to eliminate a jihadi position. With his 15-man unit outnumbered by more than two to one and under heavy fire from small arms and RPGs, Malmberg got out of his truck to clear an exit path for his convoy. When enemy fire precluded that option, Malmberg and his team entered a battle that would last for nearly an hour.

Moving to the convoy’s rear, which had come under heavy attack, Malmberg again dismounted his vehicle and, under direct fire, used an AT-4 to engage the enemy and successfully neutralize the problem position. After 40 minutes of fighting, the remaining insurgents had moved within about 20 yards of the convoy’s rear gunner. Again placing himself directly in the line of fire, Malmberg threw a hand grenade into the enemy position, effectively eliminating the immediate threat.

Because of Malmberg’s courageous and selfless actions under fire, not one of the 35 troops or civilians under his care was killed or wounded in the ambush. Malmberg became the first Minnesota National Guard member since World War II to be awarded the Silver Star."
(The Patriot Post)

Homeland Security front: Missile defense is go

"The United States’ missile-defense system, a project begun during the Reagan administration, is finally ready. After another successful test last week, Gen. Victor E. Renuart, Jr. , commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command U.S. Northern Command, declared the system ready for action. “I’m fully confident that we have all of the pieces in place that, if the nation needed to, we could respond,” the Air Force general said. The defense system creates a virtual shield against a missile attack from Asia that, though imperfect, is critical for national defense. The Bush administration is still working toward setting up similar defenses in Eastern Europe, but Russia remains an obstacle to that goal." -- The Patriot Post --

David Limbaugh:
Actual Malice

My brother Rush has nothing for which to apologize concerning the left's maliciously manufactured "phony soldier" scandal. He said nothing wrong and his accusers know it. There is no gray area here........

Kathryn Jean Lopez:
Dems turn backs on truth to further agenda

Is the truth necessary only when it suits your political agenda? No.

Rich Tucker:
We're the Answer, Not the Problem

It really may be impossible to mock liberals. No matter how absurd a proposal seems, a liberal can always pretend it's serious and even take it one step further......

UAW, Chrysler Return to Bargaining Table

DETROIT (AP) - Negotiators with the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler LLC have made progress on efforts to reach a new four-year labor contract, but a person briefed on the talks said Sunday that much work remains.

"There are a bunch of committees" that have to reach agreement before a deal can be signed, said the person, who requested anonymity because the talks are private.

Negotiators bargained Saturday and returned to the table Sunday, Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson said, adding that the two sides were making progress.

"We remain optimistic," she said.

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Dick Morris and Eileen McGann:
Rudy Giuliani's Attacks on Hillary Clinton Hit Home

Rudy Giuliani has found his groove in attacking Hillary Clinton. Whether his barbs will help him beat her in the general election, we don?t know yet. But they will help him to win the Republican primary.