2007 - 08 Archives

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Buy one, get the rest of Chicago’s pols free

JANUARY 2 – Now that the presidential electoral version of “American Idol”  is over, the hype of the Obama campaign, as spread by the compliant “progressive” media, is being exposed for the myths and cover-ups that have reduced our elections to money-mad sweepstakes.
    In winning the sweepstakes grand prize with $740.6 million, Barack Hussein Obama and his entourage claimed Throughout, that the bulk of this obscene cache of cash was coming from a history-making tidal wave of small donors.
    Obama used this outright lie to avoid criticism and attacks on his breaking his initial pledge to uce public financing, and posing as a man of the people, who was being backed by the little guy and not big money.
    A recent Cybercast News Service  report, however, blew that fable to bits when it showed a summary from the Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) revealing only 26 percent of the Messiah’s donors gave $200 or less. This compared almost exactly to the 25 percent who gave $200 or less to President Bush’s 2004 campaign.
    According to CFI, Obama received 80 percent more money from large donors (over $1,000) than from those who gave less than $200.
    Former Clinton adviser Dick Morris, who turned to the right, has written, “These stats represent the denouement of a carefully cultivated myth. Obama sold America on the idea that his campaign was animated by hordes of small donors who were attracted online. It now appears that his line was nothing more than a convenient smoke screen to mask his dependence on the traditional forces that have always funded presidential campaigns … his vast outspending of McCain, all based on his chicanery of not taking public financing, pus his victory into a sharply negative light.
    Of course, like Clinton’s Red Chinese cash connections, we’ll probably never know how much of that $740.6 million came illegally from Mid-East Muslim enemies of the U.S., as well as communist nations that love his objectives of redistribution of wealth, socialized medicine and sharp reductions in our nuclear defense budget.
    Another media promoted myth that gave the Obama campaign huge assistance and his endorsement by many crossover RINOs (Republicans In Name Only), such as Colin Powell, was Obama’s sweeping of America’s young voters.
    On Election Day, however, young voters did what the have always done; they stayed home, as the Fox News/Opinion exit poll detailed. On V-Day, people under 30 cast a normal vote at 11 percent of the total.
    Of course, anyone who has been around as an adult for the last 40-50 years didn’t fall for all the false promotion and liberal media hype (worth at least another $300 million to the Obama campaign) and saw reality come home when Obama’s vote came in pretty normal at 52 percent and McCain’s 47 percent seemed almost miraculous. If you factor in the 2 percent for the Independents and ACORN’s illegal millions of votes , it was a dead heat.
    If you consider the media’s shameful promotion of Obama, while backstabbing McCain and Palin non-stop, any thought of a mandate is out of the question.
    It didn’t take long for Obama to come back from the galaxies, when the Democrat Illinois Governor Rod Blagojewich topped the Dems scandal list for 2008. He even makes Charlie Rangel look like and angel. But. hey! That’s Illinois.
    As a resident of Illinois for a couple of years a few decades back, and a frequent business traveler to Chicago through the 60s and 70s, it was common knowledge that no one got a Democrat office at any level in Illinois without the OK from Chicago’s Mayor Daley the Elder and, since his demise, Mayor Daley the Younger.
    According to syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, “ Chicago’s Fox affiliate reports the Obama Chief of Staff and Chicago hometown heavy Rahm Emmanuel was the catalyst for the ‘Blago”  takedown and suggests ‘Rahm-bo”  tipped off the Feds. Needless to say, if it were the Republican Bush administration tied to the Blago bust, the white House press corps would be frothing at the mouth like a pack of Michael Vick’s pit bulls.”
    A few year’s back. I was a guest at a friend’s wedding in Chicago, held at the very private Chicago Yacht Club on the shore of Lake Michigan. We were in the upper level with floor to ceiling glass overlooking the lower member dining room, where, at a table set apart, Mayor Daley and Gov. Blagojewich were lunching together.
As we were leaving the yacht club, an army of reporters and TV cameras besieged us with questions about where the two were meeting , and if we had overheard anything, and if we had any comments, blah, blah, blah.
Anyone who thinks that Obama, in 20 years, went from Daley’s neighborhood organizer (ward boss), to state senator, to do-nothing first-term, two years in office U.S Senator, to presidential candidate, supplied with $740.6 million in campaign funds, without Daley’s OK all the way, needs a reality check. Can you imagine the file he’s got on our president-elect
So, guess who picked Rahm Emmanuel as Obama’s chief of staff. Here’s a hint. His last name begins with a capital D, and I hope he knows how to run this country.

“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth  the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.” Proverbs 17: 1

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‘Warmers’ bask in Bali while ‘Eskimo Summer’ hits U.S.

   DECEMBER 28 – Used to be our northern and western states would be blessed with what they called “Indian Summer” in the late fall. After several weeks of chilly fall air, I can remember a return to the 60s and low 70s in New England in late November and early December.
            When this occurred, we knew the autumnal equinox on December 21 was about to usher in the winter months. We’re still getting the Indian Summer, only since global warming supposedly began, these Indians are now Eskimos from above the Arctic Circle.
            Since early December, blizzards, ice storms, freezing temperatures and hurricane force winds have blown across the plains, the Midwest and the Northeast, leaving a trail of havoc in blackouts, road fatalities and suffering for hundreds of thousands without power and heat. And, it wasn’t even winter yet.
            On Thursday, December 20, (still fall) my daughter in Salem, Mass., told me that they already had more snow accumulation than all of last winter.
            Meanwhile, over in the South Pacificat the same time, basking in the sun and living it up at five-star luxury hotels in Bali, 10,000 global warmers, led by their hottie guru al-Gore, spend the week blasting the millions of frozen ones in the U.S. for creating misery for the world, especially the polar bears.
            Typical of their brilliant thinking was the choice of Bali as a meeting spot for this large mob. Virtually isolated from the world, and with an airport that can only store 15 aircraft, the hundreds of private jets had to deposit their loonies, then fly off to another island or Australia to park.
            Between that insanity, the accumulation of waste and rubbish, and conference hot air, it was estimated that the carbon footprint the conference created was larger than most of the smaller African nations create in a year.
            The high light of the “hate America” demonstration was al-Gore’s phony accusations of our selfishness and uncaring attitude toward the rest of the world’s people.
            This from a guy who flunked out of ministerial school, couldn’t cut it at law school, and whose wealth came from a deceased U.S. Senator father who got rich from fronting oil deals for J. Paul Getty and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. It’s obvious that al-Gore learned at his father’s knee, that supporting our enemies could be highly profitable.
            He took it a step or two beyond support into actual accusations of U.S. diabolical greed and indifference to the poor and suffering. Then, it was back to his beach chair on the Bali beach. These accusations, of course, were what got him more riches from Hollywood and the socialists in charge of Nobel Prize monies
While half of our country was freezing to death in the “Eskimo Summer”  al and pals were basking in Bali and planning their next conference in – take one guess! Hawaii, where else? .
             Knowing their love of remote places, I thought it might possibly be in Outer Mongolia among the poor and downtrodden. Well, at least this time, they’ll be plenty of room to park all those hundreds of private and charter jets.
            What al-Gore never got over was , after attending the meeting in 1994 as vice president and signing the Kyoto Accords, it was rejected by the U.S. Senate (he and his father’s former domain) by a vote of 98-0.
Couple that smackdown with his fund-raising scandals in California Buddhist temples and an electoral college defeat of his 2000 presidential bid, and you’ve got a pretty angry, sore loser ready to lead a socialist attack on this nation at the drop of a Hollywood hoax (An Inconvenient Truth).
           As you probably are aware, I like to use the 1880-2997 historical weather record of Central Florida to follow global warming and the global cooling that the loonies were warning about in the 1970s. Central Florida, with its mix of temperate and tropical climates, has always been a prime model of climate stability over the long haul.
            Indian Summer-wise, Nov. 21, 1948, was a winner with 87F, duplicated by Nov. 23 1957, but both beaten by Nov. 28, 1948 with an 89F. While this year’s pre-winter preview has been an Eskimo Summer for our northern and western states, on December 7,8 and 9 of 1978 (16 years before Kyoto) temperatures ran 90 (WOW), 88 and 87 respectively. This was in the decade of scientific (?) prediction of global cooling.
Interestingly, while this year’s wintry blasts of Eskimo Summer were taking their toll, it got scant coverage locally compared to the two-page spread in The Orlando Sentinel’s Dec. 9 edition, with five major AP articles on global warming and the Bali Bamboozle.
           As the wintry blasts of late fall intensified, The Sentinel ran a front page article headlined, “Accelerated Ice Melt Stuns, Scares Experts.”
           The article featured the quote. “’The Arctic is screaming,’ said mark Sereze, senior scientist at the government’s snow and ice data center in Boulder, Colo.”
           What sleaze Sereze should have noted that, in Colorado and dozens of other states, people were losing their lives and “screaming”  for power, heat, food and normal lives, while this guy is getting grants and other goodies for propaganda pay.
           On the “accelerated ice melt”, I checked with the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the Sunshine State and the water hasn’t risen one iota.
           I hope Hawaii hasn’t submerged before al-Gore and his global gang  get there.

And God said to Noah, “ And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.”  Genesis 9:11.  

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Interview of Bethlehem shepherds has ring of truth

DECEMBER 21 – Columnist note: this a repeat of a column from the Christmas season of last year. I hope it is a blessing to our new readers and longtime readers as well.
            Some years ago, my wife and I obtained a book titled The Archko Volume or The Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrin and Talmud of the Jews.  
            In essence, these are represented to be the official documents made in these courts in the days of Jesus Christ. It is claimed that these accounts were discovered in Constant- inople (Istanbul) and the Records of the Senatorial Docket taken from the Vatican at Rome, as translated by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman of the Antiquarian Lodge. Genoa, Italy.
            Frankly, I don’t know whether these documents covering the birth, life and death of Jesus tell the entire truth or not, but in this season of celebration, the Archko chapter on his birth is quite beautiful and, like most of these accounts, is in close agreement with Scripture.
           Published by Keats Publishing of New Canaan, Conn., the documents include a detailed account of how they were discovered and their origins. In celebration of the Christmas season, I am reproducing here a portion of Chapter IV, which is titled Jonathan’s Interview with the Bethlehem Shepherds. 
           “Jonathan, son of Helziel, to the Masters of Israel, Servants of the True God. In obedience to your order, I met with two men, who said they were shepherds, and were watching their flocks near Bethlehem. They told me that while attending to their sheep, the night being cold and chilly, some had made fires to warm themselves, and some of them had laid down and were asleep; that they were awakened by those who were keeping watch with the question, “What does it all mean? Behold how light it is;’ that when they were aroused, it was light as day.
            But they knew it was not daylight, for it was only the third watch. All at once the air seemed to be filled with human voices, saying, ‘Glory! Glory! Glory to the most high God! And ‘Happy art thou, Bethlehem, for God hath fulfilled his promises to the fathers; for in thy chambers is born the King that shall rule in righteousness.’
Their shoutings would rise up to the heavens and then would sink down in mellow strains, and roll along at the foot of the mountains, and die away in the most soft and musical manner they had ever heard. Then, it would begin again high up in the heavens, in the very vaults of the sky, and descend in sweet and melodious strains, so that they could not refrain from shouting and weeping at the same time.
           The light would seem to burst forth high up in the heavens, and then descend in softer rays and light up the hills and valleys, making everything more visible than the light of the sun, though it was not so brilliant, but clearer, like the brightest moon.
           I asked them how they felt – if they were not afraid. They said at first they were, but after awhile it seemed to calm their spirits and so fill their hearts with love and tranquility that they felt more like giving thanks than anything else.
           They said it was around the whole city, and some of the people were almost scared to death. Some said the world was on fire, some that the gods were coming down to destroy them; others said a star had fallen; until Melker the priest came out shouting and clapping his hands, seeming to be frantic with joy.
The people all came crowding around him, and he told them that it the sign that God was coming to fulfill His promise made to their father Abraham. He told us that God had appeared to Abraham and told him to put all Israel under bonds – sacred bonds of obedience, and if they would be faithful, he would give them a Saviour to redeem them from sin, and that he would give them eternal life, and they should hunger no more, that the time of their suffering should cease forever.
            And that the sign of his coming would be that light would shine from on high, and the angels would announce his coming, and their voices should be heard in the city, and the people should rejoice, and a virgin that was pure should travail in pain and bring forth her firstborn, and he should rule all flesh by sanctifying it and making it obedient.
              After Melker had addressed the people in a loud voice, he and all the old Jews went into the synagogue and remained there praising God and giving thanks.
            ‘I went to see Melker, who related to me much the same as the shepherds reported,’ wrote Jonathan.”
            From a strict journalistic point of view, this account of the shepherds of this most Holy Night is an inspiring description of the most important night in world history. Adding to or subtracting from it would only detract from its simplicity and uplifting power.
            From that standpoint alone, its authenticity, at least for me, is firmly established. Each of you will have to decide this for yourselves.   

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them: and they were sore afraid.”  Luke 2: 8-9.  

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It’s only a matter of time before Jehovah steps in

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Revelation 21: 2

Columnist note: To receive free FLAME updates, go to www.fsctsandlogic.org

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Good cowboys always lose to bad guys until final scenes

NOVEMBER 30 – Back in 1999, things surely looked grim for the immediate
future. The aftermath of eight years of a finagling, sex-crazed, money-mad bungler from
Arkansas as president, had resulted in a series of terrorist attacks on the United States
here and abroad, such as the U.S.S. Cole, the World Trade Center, TWA 800, and our
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. I won’t even mention bungling in the Balkans.

Observing the impeached “Slick Willie” allowing Saddam Hussein to rebuild his
power while stiff-arming U.N. weapons inspectors, you knew it was going to hit the fan
for the next president.

God must have heard the prayers of aware Americans when he raised just the man
we needed: a Texas cowboy with a Harvard Master of Business Administration, a highly
successful businessman, a good father and husband, a man of Faith, a trained jet fighter
pilot, and one of the best two-term governors of our second-most-populated state with a
land area and economy bigger than most countries. The Dems’ definition of a moron.
When “Slinkin’ Willie” turned down the Sudan’s offer to turn over Osama bin
Laden, the 9/11 scale of tragedy was a virtual guaranteed inheritance to George W., and
our troop actions in the Mid-east were a given from that point, as the war on terror began
in earnest.

Thanks to a Democrat opposition and desire for a defeat that would return them to
congressional power, the war overseas was hampered and assailed in constant negative
light by them, their lunatic fringe and their leftist media cohorts.

In spite of all this vitriolic smoke screen , “W” brilliantly prevented any further
homeland attacks while keeping our overseas battle deaths in a five year span, to slightly
more than the 3000 number killed on 9/11 and about the same as perished in a half-day
on D-Day at Omaha Beach.

Simultaneously, he guided the economy to its greatest success in modern history,
led by tax cuts that have produced record government revenues and reduced the national
debt from $200 billion a year to $160 billion; all while funding the war on terror and a
flawless domestic security. If this isn’t a case study for the Harvard “B” School, it
certainly ought to be.

Incidentally, that $160 billion only represents one percent of our annual Gross
Domestic Product (GNP).

My favorite economist, Larry Kudlow, recently extolled the American economy,
stating that the third quarter growth came in at a “breathtaking” 3.9 percent annual rate,
which, following a 3.8 percent second quarter growth rate, gave the U.S. economy its
strongest six month growth rate in four years.

Kudlow also noted that the inflation rate is slowing down, with a 2.1 percent
deflator over the past year, compared to over three percent six quarters ago.
Most important for the average citizen is the terrific job situation. The Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported 110,000 new jobs created in September. But, the real story is
that since August 2003, the Bush economy plan has created more than 8.1 million new
jobs in 49 consecutive months of job growth. Can anyone say, “Great Balls of Fire”?
According to syndicated columnist Larry Elder, since Bush II took office, “real
after tax per capita income has increased more than 12.5 percent – an average of $3,750
per person.” This is much higher than the average income growth rate during the Clinton
years. Hillary fans take note.

“Exports have increased over 14.8 percent during the 12 months ending July
2007,” Elder continued, “and the Federal deficit declined by $250 billion in the last three
years.”

If we’re headed for a recession, I wonder if anyone except Harry Reid, Nancy
Pelosi and The New York Times will notice it.

Worst of all for this tricky trio, we’re winning in the Mid-east war on terror and
the public is becoming aware of it. According to the Department of Defense, the U.S
military turned over the province of Karbala to Iraq security forces in late October. This
leaves 10 out of 18 provinces under U.S. control, but Iraqi forces are either in control or
taking leadership roles in 16 of 18 provinces.

As our battle casualties drop dramatically and bomb attacks on civilians plummet,
the proof of the surge success is making the American public aware of the Democrat’s
surrender strategy and its main purpose of blackening the Bush administration and the
Republican party, strictly as an electioneering ploy.

Best of all, security is improving rapidly as the Department of Defense states that
over 65,000 Iraqi citizens are volunteering to help U.S. and Iraqi forces secure neighbor
hoods by setting up checkpoints and patrolling roads. Purple thumbs up, anyone? You
won’t find this in The Times or the local metropolitan daily.

This week, President Bush secured another victory over the leftist, lapdog media
on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday. Against press predictions (hope?) of poor
sales due to gas prices and the real estate situation, the American people went out and
spent 8.3 percent more than last year for a new Black Friday record.

The “Bad News Bearers’” reaction was to attribute this strictly to bargain hunters.
Duh! It has always been thus. Can anyone remember a Black Friday strictly of list price
lovers?

Uppermost in most citizens’ presidential pick rationale are domestic security and
a healthy, job-creating, low inflation economy. By Tuesday, November 4, 2008, I don’t
think there will be any doubt as to what party’s presidential nominee can be trusted in
that job. I think it’s been proven many times over.

“Envy not the oppressor, and choose not his ways.
For the froward (false,crooked) is abomination to the LORD:
but his secret is with the righteous.”

Proverbs 3:31 and 32 

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Simple answer to Chavez, Castro and Co. – do the math

NOVEMBER 23 – Finally, someone of stature and impeccable credentials stood
firm in a highly public setting and told the idiot communist dictator of Venezuela, Hugo
Chavez, “to shut up.”

It took place in Santiago, Chile at the Iberio-American summit of Spain, Portugal
and their former colonies in the Americas.

After throwing insults at the host country and overstaying his allotted five minutes
of microphone time by 22 minutes, keeping up his blather even after his mike was
disconnected, Spain’s King Juan Carlos finally told Chavez “to shut up”.
What could have been more perfect than the man who was offered absolute power
as Spain’s dictator Franco faded away, but turned it to a constitutional monarchy similar
to Great Britain.

As Fidel Castro neared his 40-year-rule mark in 1998, the free world was grateful
that his attempt to spread communism in South America and Africa had died with his
worshipper Che Guevera and finally been entombed with the fall of the Soviet Union.
Even in 1998 Venezuela, the newly elected Chavez promised to pursue a “third
way” ; a way between socialism and unbridled capitalism. What we were actually seeing
was the birth of another Castro, but this one had control over 70 billion barrels of crude
oil reserves.

Fortunately, Fidel had to depend on sugar for his communist path to the people’s
poverty. In Chavez, we have Castro’s return, but this time not a dependent of the Soviets.
Fidel’s brother, Raul, who is inheriting the Cuban poorhouse, may be able to
follow the Chavez path and shake the sugar dependency, as Cuba has the Chinese drilling
for Texas Tea in the Straits of Florida for them, just 50 miles off Key West.

Our looney, liberal “Greenies” won’t allow our drilling for proven oil reserves
100 miles off Florida’s Gulf coast, but the Cuban/Chinese drilling project is 50 miles
closer. Just as non-sensical is the Greenies prevention of drilling in the “Lost World” of
Alaska’s ANWAR reserve, in a few hundred acres out of millions. Don’t blame President
Bush for gasoline prices.

If someone in the U.S. admits to being a liberal or progressive, you know they’re
socialists from the get-go. Hillary, call your office. When Chavez or his Bolivian stooge,
Evo Morales, claim to be socialists, you can bet the farm they are Castro-Communists
and their people are headed for the same poorhouse that Fidel designed for his beloved
people.

One only has to study the recent history of these “leaders” and their effect on the
nation’s Gross National Product (GNP) to know exactly what these promises to the poor
and downtrodden actually result in. “BS” walks, but money talks!

Beginning with Cuba, no GNP is recorded for 1989, but it is estimated in 1995 at
$14.7 billion and $33.9 billion in 2004. What that meant per capita was $1,300 (’95) and
$3,000 (’04).

Hugo’s nation had a GNP of $195 billion in 1995, three years before his taking
control, with a per capita of $9,300. Six year after his “third way” began, it was down
$50 billion to $145 billion in 2004 and the per capita had plunged to $5,800.
Spain’s King Juan Carlos was the perfect one to pose the question, “why don’t
you shut up?” By contrast to Venezuela’s GNP dive, Spain’s GNP, under Juan Carlos,
has gone from $358 billion in 1989 to $937 billion in 2004; per capita from $9,150 to
$23,300. And, all without any huge oil reserves.

Population in Spain is only 15 million more than Venezuela’s 26 million, but
Chavez has twice the land area plus obvious dominance over his stooge Evo’s Bolivia.
So, where’s someone like Chile’s late General Augusto Pinochet when you need
him in Venezuela. As much as the leftist, including our media, tried to crucify Pinochet,
in my estimation, he ranks with Simon Bolivar as a true emancipator in Latin American
history.

After communist dictator Salvador Allende took over Chile in 1970, posing as a
socialist, it only took him three years to ruin the country before Pinochet kicked him out
and concentrated Chile on capitalism.

He willingly left office in 1988 after 15 years of tremendous progress, and spent
the rest of his life being castigated because a purported 3,100 communists had been killed
during the return to freedom and prosperity. The communists slaughtered over 100
million people worldwide during the 20th century by comparison to Pinochet’s alleged
crime. As Stalin said and acted out, “One death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is just a
statistic.”

Chile, with only some 11 million people. had a GNP of $169 billion (per capita $10,700) in 2004, with no oil reserves of economic consequences.

Contrast that to Hugo Heaven’s $145 billion (per capita $5,800 and falling) with
26 million people and huge oil reserves. Additionally, Reuters reported last week that
Venezuelan workers were having to miss work or take time off to search for food in
stores that are starting to run on empty.

So, where is all the money going? Can anyone say, Swiss bank accounts? , a la
third world leader standard practice.

Whenever Chavez and his ilk shoot off their mouths, just look at the GNP and
per capita records of these murderous robbers.

Then, think of Chile, Spain and the United States. Sure, the U.S. has eleven times
Venezuela’s population, but our 2004 GNP of $11.75 trillion (per capita $40,100)
certainly justifies , even demands, our own, “Why don’t you shut up, Hugo? You might
get beyond your ABCs.”

“Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the
substance of the wicked.” Proverbs 10: 2 and 3 

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Joseph Goebbels alive and well, working at ABC News

NOVEMBER 9 – A recent ABC radio news flash, a la Joseph Goebbels motif, stated that according to a recent ABC poll, President Bush’s approval ratings were the lowest of his presidency at 33 percent and that 75 percent of the “people”  wanted a change in government direction. The statement was brief and in that order.

This flash is, of course, the perfect model of contrived propaganda, which tells one absolutely nothing while inferring that Democrats are a virtual shoo-in for 2008.

What should have been included to give any iota of legitimacy was the fact that Bush’s 33 percent approval rating (if this is true) is still almost 200 percent higher than the Do Nothing Democrat-controlled Congress’ 13 percent as led by Pelosi and Reid – the lowest in our history.

But, beyond that, no poll results reach any level of truth, unless they are accompanied by (1) the number of people polled (2); the number of each political party or independents polled; and (3) most importantly, the exact phrasing of the questions asked. The last can be crucial to determine whether or not push-polling for pre-desired results was employed.

Additionally, in the recent history of polling, especially by historically, liberal biased TV networks such as ABC and print media, the day and hours of the poll can be meaningful. It has been found, for instance, that Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings are not good times to reach Christian conservatives, as they will be at church services in large numbers.

All that aside, however, that recent ABC blurb over the radio airwaves relative to 75 percent of the”people wanting change”, not only lacked the three foundational elements of poll viability, it was completely void of what change was supposedly desired. And, being linked with the Bush approval numbers, it strongly suggested that the direction change desired by this huge segment of the population was every policy of this administration.

Examining this premise closely, of course, number one would be a retreat from the war on terror front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, and allowing Muslim terrorists to use Iraq oil money and lowered pressure to mount attacks on our homeland with suitcase nukes, biological weapons, etc.

Another “change of direction” would be the elimination of tax cuts, which have produced record high government revenue and the greatest economic and stock boom in our history, including near full employment as illustrated by the 160,000 new jobs added in September.
Perhaps, this 75 percent of the population wants to grant outright amnesty to the 12 million plus illegal aliens and abandon building a security barrier on the U.S./Mexico border, producing a destructive finale to our education, Medicaid and entitlement funds, and driving our taxes even higher than Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D.-N.Y.) proposed $trillion tax hike for more freebies.

Many of you probably don’t remember Fidel Castro’s last visit to the U.N. some 30 plus years ago, when he stayed in Harlem --  part of Rangel’s district. Charlie was there constantly, hugging the Cuban communist-killer for the cameras. Obviously, Charlie, now in his 19th term, admires leaders of countries where people earn 50 bucks a month – except him of course.
Another change of direction would be Charlie’s proposal that we reinstate the draft for the military. It’s plain that 19 terms in Congress produces acute dementia.

Then, there’s the Hillary, Obama  Edwards plans to morph the best medical care on the planet into a replica of the socialized medicine frauds of most of the rest of the world,, where millions grow sicker or die waiting for appointments for tests, treatment or surgery.

In a recent X-ray of the Canadian nightmare by Branch College economists David and June O’Neill, “Health Status, Health Care and Inequality: Canada vs. the U.S., its summary states:
“When no one is faced with any charge for services, demand is unrestrained and costs surge. It is not surprising that shortages developed and explicit rationing (of services) became widespread.”

I find it hard, if not impossible to believe that 75 percent of voters would want to sail in this direction with or without Hillary at the helm or her fellow attorneys Barack Hussein Obama and John “Breck Girl” Edwards.

A strong stance of the G.O.P. and the Bush administration is, of course, against homosexual marriage. The most recent polls with any validity, show that 75 percent of Americans are opposed as well.

This is substantiated by the expanding schisms in denominations which have approved the appointment of practicing homosexuals as pastors and the sanctioning of homosexual unions by those churches. A change of direction here would require a complete flip of present stances, resulting in absolute destructive turmoil in U.S. churches, as well as the ranks of unaffiliated conservatives.

So, where are we, ABC?  How about approval of the Fairness Doctrine that would destroy conservative talk radio led by Rush Limbaugh? Forget it!

Diplomatic talks as the only action against a nuclear bomb-equipped Iran? I don’t think so!

Finally, complete acceptance of the leftist global warming hoax by way of steering our industrial and economic growth i8nto the depression path that the Kyoto Treaty demands? That dog will never hunt!

The major thing to be learned from polls, is that you’re way ahead if you just ignore them.

“A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.”
Ecclesiastes 10: 2. 

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Louisiana’s latest hurricane sure to overcome media blackout

NOVEMBER 2 - I just got a preview glimpse of who could be our first president of color in the not so distant future. And, no, I am not referring to Barack Hussein Obama or any other liberal masquerading as a “progressive” while promoting socialism or worse.

The almost complete blackout by the leftist media of the recent landslide election of a staunch conservative Republican as governor of the “blue” house that Huey Long built over 75 years ago in Louisiana, attests to the shock waves this will send across the country.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, who is the son of immigrants from India to Baton Rouge, developed such a reputation for brilliance and a resume of accomplishments, that he won the recent election with 54 percent of the vote in a race with twelve candidates for the office. The two leading Democrat contenders had 18 and 13 percent each.

This, on top of the fact that half of the 2.8 million registered voters in the state are Dems, and they outnumber GOP voters by almost two-to-one. Huey “The Kingfish” Long was assassinated at age 42 in 1935 after only three years as governor and four as U.S. Senator. The New American Encyclopedia describes his reign as follows:

“He put through economic and social reforms, but virtually suspended the democratic process and ruthlessly used his powers of patronage to create what some saw as a semi-fascist system of state government. As U.S. Senator from 1931, he attacked president Roosevelt’s “New Deal” policies, advocating his own “share the wealth” programs and openly proclaiming his own presidential ambitions.”

Unfortunately, until Jindal’s election, the gubernatorial aspects of Louisiana have been colored with varying aspects of Long’s legacy of corruption, including contempt for the law and the common good. This was most recently reflected in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, lighting up the selfish stupidity of Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Hagins.

While they were ducking decisions and people were dying, Congressman Jindal and his staff were getting food for distribution, vehicles from Ford, medical supplies for hospitals, even ammunition for law officers and a plane and helicopter from a friend in Michigan for rescue work.

When I saw the hundreds of potential evacuation vehicles (school buses) underwater in New Orleans and the resultant death of thousands, I couldn’t help but think of Long’s legacy of segregation and the use of the poor for power and personal gain.

Jindal was narrowly defeated for the governorship by Blanco four tears ago, but with her besmirched Katrina legacy, she did not run for re-election. So, who is this guy, described by many as a “wunderkind”, who, at age 25, served as the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, a huge operation, and single-handedly rescued the state’s Medicaid plan from bankrupting the state budget, saving the state a billion dollars A graduate of Brown University, Jindal was also a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He was accepted to both the law schools and medical schools at Harvard and Yale., but decided on public service.

Between Brown and Oxford, he served congressional internships for both U.S. reps. Jim McCrery and Bob Livingston, Louisiana Republicans, dazzling both with his brilliance..

In a recent pre-election interview with Quin Hillyer, a senior editor for The American Spectator magazine, Rep, Jindal said he was convinced by his early medical studies that bureaucrats shouldn’t run healthcare – Hillary, take note!

He also stated that in “the Louisiana of flamboyantly corrupt Democrat Gov. Edwin Edwards, it was the Republican party that represented reform and transparency of government.”

Bobby Jindal is only 36 years old, and rebounded from his pre-Katrina loss to Blanco four years ago, to win the vacated congressional seat of Rep. Livingston a year later.

According to T.A.S., he had a perfect rating of 100 percent from the American Conservative Union in 2005, when the liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave him a 10.

Another 100 came from National Right to Life, 96 from the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, 92 from Family Research Council and 100 from the National Federation of Independent Business.

The Dems all over the country must be looking at the Louisiana governor’s race results with absolute terror. Consider that a first generation son of immigrants from India, and a Republican, aced more than half the votes in a field of 12 to become the first Indian-American governor in our nation’s history – in a dark blue state!

“The Kingfish” must have spun in his grave and I could swear I heard Democrat National Chairman Howard Dean in one of his ear-piercing screams. Only this time, not in a rallying cry, but in sheer terror of Dems everywhere not voting in lockstep out of blind allegiance or for promised handouts, but voting for a competent, corruption-free government.

What a place to start the turnaround for intelligent, patriotic, people-first government. And, with a guy whose immigrant father, day after day, “was drilling into my head how lucky we were to have the opportunities around us. Not everyone in the world had the freedom that we did.”

As the T.A.S. headline read, “Hope Floats on the Bayou”.

“Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is
written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and he that thresheth in hope
should be partaker of his hope.” 1 Corinthians 9: 10.

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“Silver Tsunami” minimizes all other campaign issues

OCTOBER 26 – Earlier this month, the first baby boomer, Kathleen Casey
Kirschling of New Jersey, born in Philadelphia, Pa. shortly after midnight on January 1,
1946, signed up for her Social Security and Medicare benefits. She is the first of the army
of hundreds of millions to come in the next 20 years at the rate of 10,000 per day. This
flood, known as the “Silver Tsunami”, is expected to bankrupt our country unless some
changes are made in the immediate future.

The SS program initiated by President Roosevelt, back in the mid-1930s, to help
widows and orphans has, of course, morphed into an array of entitlements and freebies
for everyone, and is claiming some 40 percent of the federal budget.

Three factors, added to the benefits explosion, are assuring the coming doomsday
appointment – the multiple decades of life expectancy added since the 1930s, the decline
of the ratio of active worker to SS recipient from over 20-to-1, to two-to-one and falling -
- and the government’s free spending of all SS trust fund (?) monies, replacing them with
paper IOUs, called bonds.

To me, this is the most critical domestic issue for voters under 55 who think their
SS contributions will be there for them when they retire. And yet, no candidate from
either party is addressing this critical issue with a simple solution.

On the contrary, Hillary is leading her Dem competitors with more pile-ons in the
health care and welfare areas, and the GOP runners are not bringing any dramatic,
convincing attention to the looming disaster. Coupled with the war on terror costs over
the next ten years, the existing, growing national debt,, and the “Silver Tsunami”, the
main issue of this campaign should be a source of new revenue.

In May 2000, I put forth the answer to these problems and the rest of our “phony
money crises”. It was headlined, “Social Security, national debt, taxes are phony issues,
easily solved”. Candidates, take note!

MAY 5, 2000 – “The tragic part of this national debt, taxation and federal
tyranny over the economy through posturing pols is that it’s all completely unnecessary.
Consider the proposition of a median income family who owes $100,000 to banks
and creditors because of decades of reckless overspending beyond their means. The same
family owns 100 acres of land worth $$20,000 an acre and it’s tax free.

Obviously, rather than pay $7,000 or $8,000 a year in interest plus principal out of
a limited income, they should sell off five acres and pay off the debt. Incidentally, the
land didn’t cost them anything in the first place.

In reality, that is the case with the people of the United States (the real
government}, who have been placed needlessly in over $8 trillion of debt by their elected
representatives, and who not only are being bled white by the interest on it, but can’t
seem to stop the runaway spending and irresponsibility.

According to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, the federal government is to
“exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such Districts (not
exceeding ten Miles square) as may by Cession of particular States and the acceptance of
Congress, become the seat of government of the United States (the District of Columbia
didn’t exist at this time), and to exercise like authority over all Places purchased by the
Consent of the Legislature of the State which the same shall be, for the erection of Forts,
Magazines, Arsenals, dock Yards and other needful buildings.”

That, my fellow Americans, is a far cry from more than one-third of all land in 50
states now held by the federal government and grabbing more every year. Of our
3,675,031 (that’s millions) square miles, the federal leviathan has unconstitutionally
gobbled up more than 1,225,500 square miles of it, and growing.

Consider that they have usurped an area equal to four states of Texas, or two
Alaskas, or more than all the land east of the Mississippi River; much of it supremely rich
in minerals, timber, oil, coal, uranium and other natural resources, as well as having high
potential for development.

Even placing a ridiculously low estimate of $1,000,000 per square mile, the
market value of the land would be in the “$gazillions”. Selling off just 10 to 20 percent of
“our land” to private interests would not only retire the debt and fund Social Security
forever, but also eliminate income tax for decades, producing the greatest economics
boom and wave of freedom in history.

It is more than clear from the Constitution that its framers would have abhorred a
central government which grabbed a third of the original 13 states. Their disdain for
individuals who looted us of one third of land in 50 states would be beyond calculation.
What type of persons would sit on a mountain of gold gouging money from their
hardworking neighbors? … all while using those looted funds to enrich and empower
themselves to enlarge the mountain of gold.”

That’s the only question that needs to be asked in the presidential debates or of
current representatives. Forget the fictitious, future rising waters of Global Warming
twits, the Silver Tsunami is here!

“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust
in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.”
Psalm 118: 8 and 9.

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Queen of Sheba reaches New Guinea after 2,900-mile journey

OCTOBER 19 – Now, it’s approximately 9,000 air-miles from Papua, New
Guinea, directly north of eastern Australia, to Jerusalem, Israel. And, the air-miles from
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Jerusalem are about 1,800. But, by camel over land, it’s a lot
further and longer in time.

The latter trip from Ethiopia was that of the Queen of Sheba some 2,900 years
ago, described in the Bible in I Kings 10:1 and 2 as follows.

“And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the
name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

“And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices,
and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she
communed with him of all that was in her heart.”

I was quite overcome on Monday, October 15, when my wife and I received an
email from Israel that mirrored the caravan from the past with a modern aerial one from
New Guinea.

For the past two years, we have been helping to support a young Jewish woman
from Russia living in Israel. Vaya Plashkow is in Christian ministry work through
Campus Crusade for Christ, helping to spread the good news throughout the Holy Land.
Her email was a transmission of Ynet news dated October 7.

“ A delegation of 34 people from Papua, New Guinea visited the Western Wall
last week and donated a kilo of gold (2.2046 pounds) and several thousand dollars to the
Temple Mount Institute, an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Temple in Israel.
“The delegation’s participants, who define themselves as members of ‘The Bible
Circle’, told the institute’s workers that they study the Bible on a regular basis.
“Recently, they read the prophesy of Zechariah, where it says: ‘And they that are
far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the
LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you,’ and decided to follow the verse and come to
Israel.

“The Papuans explained that since their country was rich in gold mines, their
donation was ‘nothing out of the ordinary’, but added that in the future, they hoped they
would be able to send valuable wood for the new temple’s construction.
“ ‘They pulled gold bullion out of their bags, and even started to take off their
jewelry, apologizing it was too little,’ head of the institute, Yahuda Glick told Y net.
“there was even a married couple who gave me their wedding rings and said they wanted
to marry God.’

“The scene reminded me of the legends of King Solomon I read when I was
young, and pictures of the Queen of Sheba bringing gold and precious gems to the
Temple. The vision is literally coming to life before our eyes.’ “

It is interesting to note that the Book of Revelation prophesies the rebuilding of
the Temple (chapter 11) on the Temple Mount, now in hot dispute (as to control thereof)
between Israel and Muslims. This rebuilding is scheduled to take place during the great
tribulation and precede the return of Jesus Christ.

Ever since the retaking of Jerusalem by Israel in the1967 War, certain
organizations have planned the rebuilding of the Temple. One of them, The Temple
Mount Faithful, headed up by a former Israeli Defense Force officer Gershon Salomon,
has even prepared and transported the huge corner stone to the foot of the Mount, and
attempt to move it to the top once a year; so far, unsuccessfully.

The amount of air-miles between Jerusalem and Annapolis, Maryland, are close
to those of the Papua distance, but unfortunately, no blessing will come from the site of
next month’s latest “peace conference” farce between Israel and Palestinian gang leaders.
This U.S. sponsored “peace conference” will again call for Israel to give up the
West Bank and the old section of Jerusalem to be the Palestinian capital and to include
complete control of the Temple Mount by Muslims.

As usual, in return, the Fatah, Hamas and other terrorist gangs will only be
required to stop murdering Israelis and recognize their “right to exist” —the ultimate
oxymoron! Yeah, that will work – just like the dozens of times before.
If this madness comes to pass, the Israelis’ present, minimally defensible nation
will become completely indefensible.

It has been postulated that former leader Ariel Sharon , an IDF general, gave up
Gaza only to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that nothing would satisfy Israel’s
enemies and that the hatred and assaults would only escalate.

He was right,, of course, but, unfortunately, he fell into a coma (still under) before
he could follow up on this indisputable proof.

Fortunately, the real leader of Israel, JEHOVAH, has plans of His own for the
Holy Land and the Temple Mount, and I’ll put my faith in a small band of messengers
from Papua, and not a band of fools in Annapolis.

“And there was given me (John) a reed like unto a rod: and an angel stood saying,
Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But
the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not: for it is given unto
the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”
Revelation 11: 1 and 2.

Columnist note: If you would like to be a messenger like the Papuans (gold ingots not required), send your donations to Gershon Salomon, Temple Mount Faithful, 4 Yochanan Horkanos, P.O. Box 18325, 91182 Jerusalem, Israel.

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False accusation exposed – you’re not reponsible for global warming

OCTOBER 5 – So, since weather records-keeping began in 1880, when did the 10
hottest years occur?

Well, up to two months ago, the propaganda supported by NASA’s Goddard
Institute for Space Studies claimed that the top ten have occurred since 1995 – the
warmest of all being 1998.

Because of the discovery of an error by a Canadian statistician, Stephen McIntyre,
and his report on Climate Audit blog, Goddard and NASA have re-issued their list of 10
warmest years, showing that four years are from the 1930s, with the warmest of all being
1934, not 1998.

In the final analysis, only three years in the past decade were in the warmest
category. The 1930s still wins the “warmest”, 4 to 3. NASA also had to take back 2000,
2002, 2003 and 2004, as four years previous to the year 1900 were warmer. That was in
the 19th century. For those of you from Rio Linda, that’s over 100 years ago.
Now, some global warming may well be occurring , as there have been cycles of
warming and cooling periodically throughout history from changes in solar activity.
Recently, as I documented earlier this year, there have been scientific reports that
planets in our solar system, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn are warming from solar activity.
They have one thing in common – no human, animal, plant life or water.

The recasting of record hottest years to the 1930s and pre-1900, however, prove
beyond the shadow of a doubt, that MAN’S ACTIVITIES HAVE NOTHING TO DO
WITH GLOBAL WARMING!

For Gov. Crist, Orange County Mayor Crotty. Gov. “Terminator” Scharzenegger
and any other seemingly sane Republican to have joined this madness can only be
attributed to the relentless pounding of the liberal, leftist media and their 24/7 coverage of
loonies a la al-Gore and “Warming Willie.”

To refresh your memories, all this nonsense started with the Kyoto Treaty of
1994, which blamed man’s activities, i.e., breathing, autos, manufacturing industry, food
animal flatulence, power production, jet aircraft, building, etc., for creating a coming,
calamitous warming of the Earth.

The treaty was a direct attempt by envious, socialist nations to cripple the U.S.
economy and, thereby, military strength by requiring a reduction of carbon dioxide
emissions produced by all of the aforementioned activities; to five percent below 1990
levels by 2010.

Beside the U.S., some 30 other primarily advanced Western powers were
targeted, but the Kyoto Kaper left giant populations like India and China off the hit list.
Just consider what attempting to do this over a 20-year period of record growth
would have done to our economy and the lives of our people. Can anyone say
“communism wins?”

Please note how soon Kyoto followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Also,
please note that Kyoto was in 1994 and the Goddard claim was that the warmest 10 years
occurred since 1995.

Naturally, “Warming Willie” was 100 percent in favor of this attack on us by the
Greenies (formerly the Reds), but 90 members of the Senate quashed the treaty in 1995,
and we continue to prosper as trees, plants, and crops eagerly suck up to their true love—
carbon dioxide (the primary greenhouse gas).

Consider that The New York Times recently reported that fighting global warming
would take enormous amounts of money. Obviously, the “newspaper of record” missed
the news of the warmest four yeas on “record” being in the 1930s.

What was also missing in the 1930s was about half of today’s population, 95
percent of our trucks and cars, 90 percent of our industrial plants, 90 percent of our power
plants, 100 percent of our jet aircraft and only God knows how fewer cattle, sheep, hogschickens, wild animals, etc., etc.

So, what caused those warmest years on record in the 1930a, since it was
obviously not human activity? That leaves only the sun’s activities, just as it has always
been and will be to the end of time.

Contrary to media and self-interest by certain pols, the scientific community is
completely at odds on warming, as reported on August 18 by syndicated columnist Jeff
Jacoby of The Boston Globe.

He writes: “In 2003, environmental scientists Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch
surveyed 536 of their peers in 27 countries on topics related to global warming. One
question asked: ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree that climate change is mostly
the result of anthropogenic (human activity) causes?’ On a scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 7
(strongly disagree), the average score was 3.62, reflecting no clear consensus.

“Another question asked was: ‘To what degree might global warming prove
beneficial for some societies?’ A striking 34 percent of the scientists answered 1 or 2 (a
great degree of benefit); just 8.3 percent answered 6 or 7 (very little or no benefit).”
On that last point, those who believe in the constant oversight of a loving Creator
can see clearly that an exponentially exploding world population means a crucial need for
more crops to feed them.

If we can see it now, it’s obvious that He saw it coming from the beginning. The
answer – turn up the sun for global warming and longer growing seasons.

“And of Joseph he (Moses) said, Blessed of the LORD be his land,
for theprecious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious
things brought forth by the moon.”

Deuteronomy 33: 13 and 14.

---

False Accusation Exposed – You’re Not Responsible for Global Warming          

OCTOBER 5 – So, since weather records-keeping began in 1880, when did the 10
hottest years occur?
            Well, up to two months ago, the propaganda supported by NASA’s Goddard
Institute for Space Studies claimed that the top ten have occurred since 1995 – the
warmest of all being 1998.
            Because of the discovery of an error by a Canadian statistician, Stephen McIntyre,
and his report on Climate Audit blog, Goddard and NASA have re-issued their list of 10
warmest years, showing that four years are from the 1930s, with the warmest of all being
1934, not 1998.
            In the final analysis, only three years in the past decade were in the warmest
category. The 1930s still wins the “warmest,” 4 to 3. NASA also had to take back 2000,
2002, 2003 and 2004, as four years previous to the year 1900 were warmer. That was in
the 19th century. For those of you from Rio Linda, that’s over 100 years ago.
            Now, some global warming may well be occurring, as there have been cycles of
warming and cooling periodically throughout history from changes in solar activity.
            Recently, as I documented earlier this year, there have been scientific reports that
planets in our solar system--Jupiter, Mars and Saturn--are warming from solar activity.
They have one thing in common – no human, animal, plant life or water.
            The recasting of record hottest years to the 1930s and pre-1900, however, prove
beyond the shadow of a doubt, that MAN’S ACTIVITIES HAVE NOTHING TO DO
WITH GLOBAL WARMING!
            For Gov. Crist, Orange County Mayor Crotty,  Gov. “Terminator” Scharzenegger
and any other seemingly sane Republican to have joined this madness can only be
attributed to the relentless pounding of the liberal, leftist media and their 24/7 coverage of
loonies a la al-Gore and “Warming Willie.”
            To refresh your memories, all this nonsense started with the Kyoto Treaty of
1994, which blamed man’s activities, i.e., breathing, autos, manufacturing industry,
food-animal flatulence, power production, jet aircraft, building, etc., for creating a coming,
calamitous warming of the Earth.
            The treaty was a direct attempt by envious, socialist nations to cripple the U.S.
economy and, thereby, military strength by requiring a reduction of carbon dioxide
emissions produced by all of the aforementioned activities--to five percent below 1990
levels by 2010.
            Beside the U.S., some 30 other primarily advanced Western powers were
targeted, but the Kyoto Kaper left giant populations like India and China off the hit list.
            Just consider what attempting to do this over a 20-year period of record growth
would have done to our economy and the lives of our people. Can anyone say
“communism wins?”
            Please note how soon Kyoto followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Also,
please note that Kyoto was in 1994 and the Goddard claim was that the warmest 10 years
occurred since 1995.
            Naturally, “Warming Willie” was 100 percent in favor of this attack on us by the
Greenies (formerly the Reds), but 90 members of the Senate quashed the treaty in 1995,
and we continue to prosper as trees, plants, and crops eagerly suck up to their true love—
carbon dioxide (the primary greenhouse gas).
            Consider that The New York Times recently reported that fighting global warming
would take enormous amounts of money. Obviously, the “newspaper of record” missed
the news of the warmest four yeas on “record” being in the 1930s.
            What was also missing in the 1930s was about half of today’s population, 95
percent of our trucks and cars, 90 percent of our industrial plants, 90 percent of our power
plants, 100 percent of our jet aircraft and only God knows how fewer cattle, sheep, hogs
chickens, wild animals, etc., etc.
            So, what caused those warmest years on record in the 1930a, since it was
obviously not human activity? That leaves only the sun’s activities, just as it has always
been and will be to the end of time.
            Contrary to media and self-interest by certain pols, the scientific community is
completely at odds on warming, as reported on August 18 by syndicated columnist Jeff
Jacoby of The Boston Globe.
            He writes: “In 2003, environmental scientists Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch
surveyed 536 of their peers in 27 countries on topics related to global warming. One
question asked: ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree that climate change is mostly
the result of anthropogenic (human activity) causes?’ On a scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 7
(strongly disagree), the average score was 3.62, reflecting no clear consensus.
            “Another question asked was: ‘To what degree might global warming prove
beneficial for some societies?’ A striking 34 percent of the scientists answered 1 or 2 (a
great degree of benefit); just 8.3 percent answered 6 or 7 (very little or no benefit).”
            On that last point, those who believe in the constant oversight of a loving Creator
can see clearly that an exponentially exploding world population means a crucial need for
more crops to feed them.
            If we can see it now, it’s obvious that He saw it coming from the beginning. The
answer – turn up the sun for global warming and longer growing seasons.

“And of Joseph he (Moses) said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the
precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath.
And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things
brought forth by the moon.”
Deuteronomy 33: 13 and 14. .

---

And, You Thought That Only “Slick Willie” Hated the Military

           SEPTEMBER 28 – Two weeks ago, General David Petraeus delivered his report
on the U.S. troop surge results to date in the war on terror in Iraq. In a very true sense, he
had to fight his way to the hearing table through months of liberal barrages on his honesty, ability and the independence of his assessment. Once at the table, he still remained the target of character assassination and sniping by treasonous Democrat politicians.
            When he was finally allowed to “report,” it was too obvious what had frightened
the left and their media hacks into their wild behavior and cheap shots.
            Last year, The Washington Post reported that, essentially, we had lost the major
western province of Anbar to al-Qaeda. Gen. Petraeus stated at the Senate hearing that in
the provincial capital of Ramadi, 30-35 attacks a day at the beginning of this year had been reduced to zero in 102 of the days since April 1.
            In June of 2006 in Anbar, U.S. forces came under attack 450 times. June 2007
saw under 25 attacks – a reduction of 94 percent!
            The report notes that the surge of three additional battalions to Anbar encouraged
the tribal revolts against al-Qaeda, and it has spread to five other provinces and sections of the Iraq capital, Baghdad.
            According to the September 14 edition of National Review, the surge “has created
the equivalent of neighborhood watch groups at the local level, but we are not creating
Sunni militias.
            “We are logging everyone we newly integrate into the security forces with
fingerprints and retinal scans, and we are taking down the serial numbers of their
weapons. That means we know whom we are working with.”
            Additionally, the Petraeus report reveals that sectarian killings in Baghdad this
past August were one quarter of their peak period before the surge. Also, the general
reported that the number of discovered weapons caches more than doubled from 1,977 in
January to 4,141 in August.
            It is not surprising that Gen. Petraeus’ major detractor is the Dems’ leading
candidate for president, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the junior senator from New York. She
has a sizeable poll lead over another Democrat Patraeus detractor, Barack Hussein
Obama.
            At 60, she’s six years older than the general, but in terms of wisdom,
accomplishments, patriotism and contributions toward our freedom, he’s Methuselah to
her Jezebel.
            It’s no surprise that he attended West Point, having been born and raised at nearby
Cornwall, New York. His father was the captain of a “Liberty” supply ship during World
War II. Loyalty and courage are in the genes.
            After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy, he served with NATO in
Europe, then returned to earn a master’s and a doctorate’s degree from Princeton’s
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, becoming a true
soldier/scholar.
            During this time, Hillary was cavorting with Bill at Yale, then defending Black
Panthers in California with leading leftist lawyers.
            Tours of duty for him in Bosnia and Haiti with the 101st Airborne followed Bill’s
and Hillary’s desecration of Arkansas and the White House with Whitewatergate,
Paulagate, Travelgate, Troopergate, Filegate, Flowersgate, Interngate, and dozens of
other “gates.”  This after leaving Dogpatch with some of the nation’s lowest ratings in
education, healthcare and incomes.
            Of course, before her assault on the White House, her nibs, the Patraeus detractor,
was too busy using the paper shredder at Little Rock’s Rose Law Firm to tend to anything
else, unless it was cattle futures and crooked land deals.
            During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Petraeus commanded the 18,000 soldiers of the
101st, supporting the Third Infantry Division, finally securing the city of Mosul, Iraq’s
third largest. Once in control, his division completed some 5,000 rebuilding projects in
Mosul, even establishing a television network.
            From May of 2004 to September of 2006, Gen Petraeus was in charge of rebuilding Iraq’s army and police forces throughout the country. Some 197,000 soldiers
have gone through basic training and been equipped with weapons, body armor and
vehicles.
            Watching the Licentious Left assail this outstanding, brilliant military leader
directly and indirectly, even months before the surge report was due, was a disgrace to
this country. Challenging the independence of the general and his report were Dems’
leaders Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein among many
others.
            One of the worst name callings came from Rep. Tom Lantos (D.-Calif.), who
accused him of being a “political shill” for the administration. This biggest of political
shills ranted, “No amount of charts or statistics will improve the administration’s
credibility.”
            As the leading Democrat candidate for commander-in-chief, however, it’s
Hillary’s comments in the hearings of having “to suspend our disbelief” in order to
accept Petraeus’ report that was an insult to all our military forces past, present and
future.
            And, her refusal to condemn Moveon.org’s ad in The New York Times (worded “Is it Gen. Petraeus or Gen Betray us?”) firmly establishes her as being in full agreement with Bill’s written statement of “I hate the military” in their pre-political office past.
            If the public can’t recognize traitorous behavior in the façade of these hearings
and treatment of a dedicated, brilliant general, for strictly political gain, we can expect
the last line of our National Anthem to become, “O’er the land of the enslaved and the
home of the cowardly.”

“A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth
worketh ruin.” Proverbs 26: 28.

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Your Grandparents’ Schools May Soon Belong To Al-Qaeda

            SEPTEMBER 14 – Now, get ready for the biggest idiotic thinking since Karl
Marx conceived Communism as the answer to all the world’s problems and the way to
peace and love on earth.
            There is now a group of overseers who think their charges work too hard and
don’t have enough recreation and hang-around time because of homework. The overseers
are parents and the charges are their school children.
            According to a recent major article in the local metropolitan daily, there is a
growing pack of parents, psychologists and teachers who, like Marx’s deliriums, are
promoting a path to destruction out of self-interest, laziness and sheer ignorance of what
children need.
            Consider that the group for which they want more recreation and playtime and
little or no homework, have 104 days of each year as weekends. In addition, they have 27
days off during the school year for fall breaks, spring breaks and Christmas vacations.
            Then there are about another 10 days for holidays, teachers’ work-days, etc., and
finally about two-and-a-half months, some 50 days, for summer vacation, deducting
weekends. That’s about 187 days out of 365 each year (more than half) for playing and
recreation, and the “growing” ranks of homework foes think (?) this is insufficient.
            One anti-homework mother stated, ”I think (?) we’re pushing them so hard to do
so much. I don’t have a problem with homework if they need extra help with something
or they need to study for a test. But, homework just for homework – it leaves them no
time to be kids.”
            No time to be kids!!? They’ve got187 days out of 365 each year, off from school,
and they have no time to be kids?!
            I’ve seen telecast of Muslim elementary-age children in Mid-East countries being
schooled in hate speech against Jews and the Great Satan America, and parading about
with small arms while wearing suicide bomber mockup belts And, the generation of
Americans who will have to face this deadly threat is, according to their parents, headed
for a breakdown from the stress of homework.
            The major complaint from some of these parents seems to be the fact that they
have to use some of their time to lend a little homework help or make sure the work is
done--known as supervision. Apparently, in today’s Ipod, lap-top, plasma screen world,
this group feels that once the kids are out of disposable diapers and can use a knife and
fork, parental duties and responsibilities fall mainly on the backs of teachers, and
television shows take priority in the adult evening hours.
            One parent postulated, “I think it’s tough to get to concentrate on the homework
at night when they haven’t had a break all day.”
            With all their 187 plus days of “break time” yearly, kids who are living normal
lives, i.e. not being sexually abused, not working in third-world sweatshops, not living in
homes that are marital battlefields, and not expected to win full scholarships to Harvard,
don’t need a mental break on school nights until bedtime.
            I’m sure many of us can remember elementary school as a place of learning, study
and discipline. Homework was a natural after-supper effort following a couple hours of
after-school pick-up baseball, touch football, or, in winter, ice hockey at a nearby frozen
pond.
            Other after-school, pre-supper activities would entail listening to radio serials like
“Jack Armstrong” and ” Captain Midnight,” or reading books like Treasure Island,
Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Kidnapped, etc..
            In the 5th grade, as today, we had primarily a single teacher, so homework was
controlled to about 90 minutes a night.
            I got a shock in the sixth grade when my folks sent me and two older brothers to a
prep. school (St. John’s Prep.) run by Xaverian brothers. This is the order that ran the
orphanage in Baltimore that raised Babe Ruth.0-p
            The school, founded in 1907, celebrated its 100th Anniversary last week. When I
attended, it had a 6th through 12th grade and each course had a different brother-teacher,
and they didn’t consult with each other about homework. Additionally, your English,
math, Latin teachers etc., would leave your 6th grade class and, in the next few hours, be
teaching at 10th, 11th and 12th grade levels or vice-versa.
            Suddenly, it was 3-4 hours of homework a night and a sound sleep from 11 p.m.
to 6 a.m. Did I mention there was a full athletic program for all grade levels; or that my
brothers and I had to put in janitorial and soda jerk time in my Dad’s corner drug store?
            Most of my buddies were going to public schools at that time and I know, though
they had it a little easier, they were still heavily challenged.
            The juniors and seniors were our heroes and would soon prove it on the bulletswept
beaches of the South Pacific, North Africa, Anzio and Normandy. Their homework
preparation guaranteed that my high school homework wasn’t in German or Japanese.
            And, unless these liberal parents pick up the pace on their “overburdened” kids in
today’s schools, their grandchildren will be doing their homework in Arabic.

           
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old,
he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22: 6

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Who’s the greatest hitter in the game – I say “Teddy Ballgame”

AUGUST 24 – Ever since Barry Bonds claimed the major league home run
record over Hank Aaron’s 755 base cleaners, the controversy has raged about Bonds
alleged use of steroids for performance enhancement. When the smoke clears, it will all
come down to whether or not to place an asterisk after Bonds’ feat.
And, of course, the asterisk’s use may depend on the outcome of the investigation
led by former U.S. Senate Leader George Mitchell, who obviously is not breaking any
records himself for getting this thing done.

As far as I’m concerned, based on revelations and evidence to date, Aaron’s
record still stands with me, as it does, I’m sure, with the vast majority of baseball fans.
He certainly is one of the great hitters in baseball history. The question I have is; Who is
the greatest hitter of them all?

Now, when I say Ted Williams is my choice, it’s not because I was born and grew
up 15 miles from Fenway Park as the crow flies, and saw him play in the days before
television and many times on television through most of his career, except for the pre-
World War II years.

“The Kid”, or “Teddy Ballgame”, or “The Splendid Splinter”, or whatever, started
with the Red Sox at the age of 21 in 1939 and retired in 1960 at 42. He was the American
League batting champ six times, beginning in 1941 with a .406 average – the last time
that a major leaguer hit .400 or more. After 66 years, that record still stands.
He followed that up with another batting championship in 1942 with .356 and
garnering the first of two triple crowns with 36 homers and 137 runs batted in. Then, it
was off to war as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in the Pacific for three years.

He got his second triple crown, two years after returning from his WWII service
in 1947, batting .343, with 114 runs batted in and 32 home runs. With Asia heating up
again under communist aggression, he got another batting crown in 1948 with a .369
average, and then the home run crown in 1949 with 43 four-baggers.
In 1951, “The Kid’s” baseball career was again put on hold when he was recalled
to the Corps for service in the Korean War. This time, to fly fighter jets and lose another
three years in the prime years of his hitting abilities.

When news came of his being shot down, we all prayed and held our breath until
his rescue was announced. After losing three more seasons, returned to face another
obstacle in Cleveland Indians’ player-manager Lou Boudreau’s Ted Williams shift,
which put three infielders between second and first bases and the 3rd baseman in the
shortstop slot. Additionally, the outfield moved to the right to put the left fielder in
centerfield.

As most other Sox opponents adopted the Williams defensive shift, “Teddy
Ballgame” developed a quick forward step in the batter’s box to meet the ball early and
send it to left for doubles and triples galore off the Green Monster. Only his fantastic
vision and quickness allowed this prowess against major league pitching.
Boudreau was to regret inventing this Williams defense when he got the job as
Red Sox manager. There’s no doubt it robbed “The Splendid Splinter” of an untold
amount of hits in his final years in Boston, several under Boudreau.

Despite the lost war years and the “shift”, Ted captured batting championships
again in 1957 with an amazing .388 at 39 tears of age and 1958 with .328 when he was
40. Other tremendous accomplishments by him despite his military-shortened career,
include being in the top ten (6th place) in overall lifetime batting average at .344, with a
minimum of 4,000 at bats. Ty Cobb was first with .367 and The Babe” was 8th at .342.
In career slugging percentage (total bases divided by a minimum of 400 at bats),
Ruth is first at .690 and Williams is second at .634.

Ted’s 516 home runs with six prime years “missing in action”, is really an
amazing accomplishment from any viewpoint. For the 15 years he put in, his average
yearly total was 31. Those missing prime years would certainly have produced a much
higher average and total.

Whether it would have equaled Aaron’s total doesn’t matter when you consider
the rest of Ted’s hitting records versus anyone.

Today’s multi-millionaire players should thank Williams for being the first to
break the six-figure barrier in an era when virtually every player was selling cars or
insurance in the off-season.

When Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey raised Ted’s salary to $100,000, the Boston
papers headlined it with the type size used in announcing the end of World War II: “Ted
gets $100,000”. A season later, Williams was not satisfied with his performance and
offered to give $30,000 back.

Can you imagine that kind of integrity in Barry Bonds or some of those other
“free agent” fence jumpers! He was also one of the original founders of the Jimmy Fund
for seriously ill children.

Hot War Warrior; Cold War Warrior; Baseball Warrior – The Kid was truly the
greatest. He died five years ago last month at 84. R.I.P.

“”Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck;
write them upon the table of thine heart. So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.”

Proverbs 3: 3 and 4.

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Present Day Threats Have Familiar Ring From the Past

AUGUST 17 – “Islam has gone on the offensive worldwide. They believe that if they can take England, they can take the world. England will never be the same. Churches are closing everywhere, and mosques are popping up like mushrooms … The U.S. is also a major target and this force must be stopped.”
     A quote from the latest issue of National Review?  An excerpt from the speech of former Prime Minister Tony Blair following the Muslims’ deadly attack on the London subway in July 2005?
     Actually, the statement was written, prophetically, in the spring of 1994 by the publisher of a bi-monthly publication called Battle Cry. The writer, Jack T. Chick of Chick Publications was warning his readers of the building wave of terrorism that was being observed by Christian missionaries under attack throughout Europe, the Mid-East and the Far East.
     Chick is one of the leading producers and distributors of tracts that introduce Christianity to recipients by utilizing a wide assortment of cartoon scenarios in small booklet format.
     My wife was looking for another document in an old file when this March-April 1994, issue of Battle Cry “popped up like a mushroom.”  Before noticing Chick’s letter to readers, an article on Muslim states’ persecution of other faiths, especially Christians, caught my eye.
     The article stated: “Reports from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia all speak of severe hardship or death to those who dare speak against Islam with the gospel.
     “In Iran, the head of the Assemblies of God churches there disappeared January 19 (1994). Eleven days later, government officials summoned family members to identify his body from a photograph. His body had already been buried in a Muslim cemetery.
     “Prior to his death, Haik Hovspian-Mehr had been an increasingly outspoken critic of religious repression in Iran.”
     The article goes on to predict the massacres of Christians in Darfur by the Sudanese-Islamic government and to describe persecutions in Egypt, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.
     Consider that this was written in the early days of the Clinton administration’s blind eye toward the coming storm warnings and seven plus years before 9/11. The terms “terrorists” and “Islamic”  had yet to be wed and eventually to be banned by leftist wire services and the liberal media – replaced with “insurgents,”  “militants,” and other such insipid camouflage terms.
     So, 13 years after the Chick warnings, we have a Democrat Congress that is still ignoring the unmitigated threats of Islamic religious and political leaders (actually, there’s no difference), who vow to conquer and convert the world to an Islamic caliphate under sharia law.
     Meanwhile following the blueprint for England, the U.S. Muslim population is growing fast and “mosques are popping up like mushroom clouds,” to paraphrase Chick.
     During the last two weeks, the world has seen the reality of Chick’s 1994 prophetic writing; Taliban killers in Afghanistan have held 23 South Korean Christian missionary workers in cruel and abusive captivity, murdering two and holding 21 (17 women) for ransom and troop withdrawal demands.
     The missionaries were primarily nurses or providers of other humanitarian services, but for the most part, the U.S. liberal media and leftist human rights crowd have taken the attitude of blaming the captive victims for getting themselves in trouble.
     Yea, sure; I’ve met a lot of Christian missionaries and none used the Muslim “missionary” method of “convert, infidel, or die!”
     Most Christian missionaries bring medical, material or bodily sustenance initially to the poor, sick or needy before ministering to their spiritual needs. Typical of this are my good friends and fellow Apopkans, Jim and Barbara Neff, with the ministry they founded as Operation Provision.
     Beginning simply by delivering boxes of food to the needy in South Apopka, it has now spread through Africa, Central and South America and areas of the U.S. When it comes to the war on terror, these unarmed combatants, are truly on the front lines.
     The war on Western civilization as prophesied by Chick in 1994, is now entering phase 2 with the beginning of huge demonstrations calling for creation of the caliphate worldwide. The Associated Press reported this week on 90,000 followers of a hard-line  Muslim group, Hizb-ur-Tahrir, who packed out a stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia – a country of 250 million that’s 88 percent Muslim.
     Said the AP: “Speeches called for the return of the caliphate, or Islamic statehood, across the Muslim world. The crowd, divided into sections for women and men, roared in support.”
     I am reminded of similar, huge,  “peaceful”  stadium-like demonstrations with the crowds roaring support. They took place in Munich, Germany during the mid-1930s, and in Moscow and Peking during the second half of the 20th century.
     They also sought world domination with “roaring support,”  and it cost 200 million lives before they were stopped.

“He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and
he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.” 

Proverbs 17:19.

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Red Sox Nation’s model no inspiration to Boston pols’ thinking

AUGUST 10 – After a very active nine days in the Boston area, I can say without equivocation, Orlando commuters don’t know what rush hour traffic is, and thank the Lord that our politicians are rank amateurs when it comes to conjuring up projects the costs of which exceed the gross domestic product of most countries.

After a few days golfing and gorging on seafood in the Salem-North Shore area, my son-in-law Jack Driscoll (five-time qualifier for the Massachusetts Open) arranged a round of golf on Cape Cod at Cranberry Meadows Golf Club in Harwich. This required a rush hour departure from Salem to get to a 10:16 a.m. tee time.

I had never driven through the Ted Williams Tunnel and the “Big Dig” (Tip O’Neill Tunnel), so between the commuter traffic and the Big Dig’s notoriety for falling debris and being the world’s biggest carwash, it held all the possibilities of a thrill ride at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

Setting me up were two articles from The Boston Herald four days earlier, dealing with the Big Dig fiasco. The first I read detailed a concrete supplier for the tunnel who has agreed to pay a $50 million settlement to end a civil and criminal action for the delivery to the gigantic project of more than 5,700 truck loads of substandard concrete.

Aggregate Industries NE Inc. is the largest asphalt and concrete supply company in the New England states., and six employees are still awaiting trial on charges of falsifying records to hide the substandard quality of the concrete.

A column in the same issue of the Herald by J. Douglas Hunter refreshed my memory in two paragraphs.

“The Big Dig is years late and what began as a $2.5 billion project (putting Boston’s north-south skyway underground) may well reach $15 billion. Even before Milena Del Valle was killed last year by a falling ceiling panel, shoddy work plagued the project. (Can anyone say, “Interstate 35 W bridge, Minneapolis?)

“In 2004, water burst through the Tip O’Neill Tunnel, temporarily shutting down the highway. The tunnel is riddled with leaks, requiring almost 2 million gallons of water to be pumped out each month.”

These thoughts were in my mind as we drove toward Boston to get to the South Shore and Cape Cod. Fortunately, commuters from the northern suburbs have three or four major arteries to pick from, and although, the traffic is very heavy and occasionally “crawley”, it is nowhere near the three lane parking lot of the southern suburbs commuters coming in on a single artery.

Leaving Salem at 7:15 a.m., we did clear the Big Dig without incident by 8:15, and by 8:30 we were 10 miles south of “Beantown” looking with disbelief at the northbound side still packed with virtually standstill traffic. At fifteen miles out, it was still almost the same, and didn’t change to regular heavy moving traffic until 20 miles out.

For you who think commuter rail is the answer, there is commuter rail from the southern suburbs, but I don’t know who uses it. There is also a fourth center lane for car- poolers. Coming back from the Cape that night, circa 6:30 p.m., we saw the same nightmare in reverse.

The following day, the golf clubs and car got stowed as the Red Sox played a rare afternoon game at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles, and topping it off was the 60th anniversary of legendary 2nd baseman Bobby Doerr’s retirement, with him traveling from Oregon for the ceremony. At 89, he still looked fit and spoke with a surprisingly strong voice. Joining him were the late “Joltin’” Joe’s brother, Dom DiMaggio, 40’s pitcher Dave “Boo” Ferris, and Fenway’s oldest tenant, Johnny Pesky.

That day, we made it to downtown Boston in 35 minutes. Actually, we took the ferry from Salem, which departs from the docks near Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famed House of Seven Gables and lands you at the pier near the Boston Aquarium and the Fanueil Hall Market.

From there, it was the underground rail to Kenmore Square and Fenway. After a great game (Sox won,7-4), it was back to the underground to North Station and the 20-minute train ride to Salem. That’s what I call a Grande Prix tour – all sans auto.

Of course, the best miracle was getting seven tickets in the shade on the first base line for the 368th sold-out home game in a row for the Red Sox Nation. How we do it? I’ll never tell.

The last time at Fenway, two years ago, it was eight of us 12 rows up behind home plate, as former Lake Brantley Patriots star Jason Varitek, now Red Sox catcher and captain, hit his first and, up to now, only major league grand slam home run against Kansas City.

I have one suggestion for the citizens of my former native state. The next time you start a project of Big Dig dimensions, let the Red Sox management group oversee it.

“Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.”
Proverbs 10:14.

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When Parents, Press and Police Abandon 14-Year Olds, the End Is Near

AUGUST 3 – Columnist note: I am on vacation this week, and in view of the rise in juvenile violence and crime both locally and nationally, I have selected a column from almost exactly seven years ago, July 21, 2000, that speaks directly, if not prophetically, to the problem. The headline above is the original one.

Quite regularly, I will scan some of the “advice” columns just to keep up with the Licentious Left’s concept of “conventional wisdom.” Most importantly, it reveals the depth of accommodation and surrender to evil that is washing this nation back to third world status by the use of a simple device: incrementalism.

As accustomed as I am to the almost complete abandonment of morality by the liberal media and those who have filled its pages over the last 40 years, I must state that a letter to and reply from Ann Landers in the local metropolitan daily on Friday, July 14, ratcheted the bar of incremental soul destruction several notches in one fell swoop.

To quote Nancy in Portland, Ore., “Our 14-year-old son received from his girl friend a collage of pictures of naked women. These include cutout photos of girlie magazines with front, side and rear views. I was shocked that his girl friend would have the nerve to do this and even more stunned that my son would hang this thing up on his bedroom wall.

“He does not like me to criticize anything his girl friend does. He thinks she is wonderful. Should I approach the girl and ask her where her head was? Has the world changed that much? Please tell me how to deal with this.”

Obviously, Numb and Number Nancy has no husband (no mention of him), or his name is Cowardly Cal. But, hold those thoughts until you read America’s Counselor, Amoral Ann’s reply.

“It’s your son’s room, and he should be permitted to hang whatever ‘art’ he chooses to display, although, cutouts of naked women is a bit over the top for a 14-year-old boy to be receiving from his girl friend.

“Say nothing to the girl, but suggest to your son that he should consider replacing some of the ‘art’ with a picture of Tiger Woods (nude?) or a team photo of the Portland Trail Blazers (tail blazers?). You should not force him to do so, but the suggestion will at least let him know you aren’t giving him 100 percent approval of his girl friend’s decorating (arousal?) concepts.”

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT?! HOW ABOUT ZERO, NADA, NOTHING?!

It is evident that these two 14-year-olds have moved from playing doctors and nurses to being lover and mistress; and Numb, Amoral and maybe Cowardly are afraid of disciplining and instructing two kids who are headed for destroyed lives and early deaths.

Oregon may be a little spacey, but I’m sure that “contributing to the delinquency of minors” by custodians is still a crime there as it is here.

I don’t know who is the worst perpetrator is here – Numb Nancy who won’t take responsibility for her child, Amoral Ann for not reporting this to Portland’s Child Welfare Agency or the police, Creators Syndicate for circulating this sick incident and even sicker advice, or the metropolitan daily for exposing youngsters and young parents to this corrupt trash without condemnation.

Numb and Number Nancy is obviously not qualified to raise a dog, never mind a son. Should she “ask the girl where her head was ?” … and “has the world changed that much?” The answer to both questions is, “foster homes for the boy and girl friend.”

Amoral Ann’s statement that “it’s your son’s room and he should be permitted to hang whatever ‘art’ he chooses” has got to be the epitome of stupid, slavish servility to children who need direction and not deviant diddling.

Try and imagine any portion of this discussion and exposure of it 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

Incrementalism!

Dear Ann Landers: My 14-year-old daughter was given a collage of naked men from her boyfriend.

Should I speak to him and her about it? Duh!

Dear Ann Landers: My 14-year-old son has hung pictures of Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Speck on his bedroom walls.

Do you think I should talk to him about this or respect the fact that it’s his room?

Duh!

Dear Duh!: Although pictures of Bundy et al may be a bit over the top for a 14-year-old boy, it is his room and he should be permitted to corrupt himself in whatever manner he sees fit. Amoral Ann.

Dear Amoral: My 17-year-old son has hung pictures of Hitler, Himmler and Goering on his bedroom walls and he and his friend attend school (Columbine High) in long black trench coats.

Should I try and screw up my courage and talk to his friend and see if I can find out what they are thinking or planning? Duh!

Dear World: “And I will give the children to be their princes, and babes shall
rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another,
and every one by his neighbor; the child shall behave himself proudly against
the ancient, and the base against the honourable.”

Isaiah 3:4 and 5.

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Letting Leaders Redefine “War” Is Our Greatest Danger

JULY 27 – The liberal politicians and their stooges in the media keep attributing the president’s low approval numbers primarily to the “unpopular” war in Iraq.

Of course, while he is in the high 20s to low 30s, the Democrat-controlled Congress is in the teens, with Senate Leader Harry Reid’s (Dem.- Nev.) approval rating at a record low of 14 percent, according to Gallup and Zogby poll.

No congressional leader has ever polled so low.

In terms of popularity, I have lived through World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and over four decades of the Cold War, and I can’t recall any of these conflicts ever being cited as popular or unpopular.

The bloodiest of these, World War II, with over 100 million killed across the world, was certainly not “popular” with any sane person. The difference between the present war on terror and the previous wars mentioned above, is the motivation spurring the oppressors then and today’s Islamic terrorists.

WW II was a battle against fascism’s attempt to control (not own) the assets of the world via government dominion over the people. Korea and Vietnam were pressure relief valve blowouts and feelers for a stymied communist expansion in Europe and Asia, as NATO, a then non-global oriented United Nations of some 50 members, and a new independent India restricted the Soviet Union to guerrilla warfare in Africa and South America..

Except for Fidel Castro’s turnabout in Cuba, after posing as a liberator, the eight-year administration of President Dwight Eisenhower contained most communist forays, confining them primarily to the poorest of third world countries.

After a frustrating nine-year war with Iran, Saddam Hussein went after Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia and Israel, and got smacked in Desert Storm. Anyone who believes that Hussein was not involved in 9/11, after that bloody nose, needs a lesson in history.

In the present global war on terror, our strategy is being severely hampered by the lack of a physical location as a primary target objective and a visible enemy population to demoralize with destruction – the real description of war since time began.

In our greatest victory in modern history, we had Berlin and Tokyo as the ultimate objectives with the nations containing them as visible targets. The firebombing of Tokyo and other cities in Japan killed tens of thousands of civilians, as did the leveling of Berlin and other cities of the Third Reich. The atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki actually saved millions of Japanese civilians’ lives.

When front line troops know their families are under the same pounding as they are, the aggressive will begins to dwindle.

This is not the situation in this war against an unseen enemy and no visible nation, with supposed non-combatants becoming human bombs and car-bomb chauffeurs. Their leader, rather than occupying a headquarters or presidential palace within the enemy country, is hiding in a cave out in a virtually trackless, mountain wilderness.

Essentially, we have no targets with which to formulate a strategic offensive as in every other war we have fought. Even the Cold War Soviets then, as does President Putin today, knew that in a change from a Cold War to a Hot War, Moscow and other major cities would be vaporized.

As a result of this absence of a war front and an identifiable, uniformed enemy, we are constantly under the verbal threats of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda homicidal maniacs of a dirty nuclear bomb attack on one of our cities. Under these circumstances, our leaders say, “We have to be right 100 percent of the time, and they only have to get it right once.”

These are unacceptable conditions in any war, and it’s time to change them. To claim justification of mass murder in the name of religion and classification of all non-Muslims as infidels, provides the perfect shield for any evil action one desires to perform.

The claims of the Koran that justify conquest and forced conversion or death to infidels for some 14 centuries is beyond the pale of modern civilization and these tenets of the Dark Ages must end.

To Americans and most citizens of free countries, each city and town within their nation is as sacred to them as Mecca is to Muslims. This comes from the spirit of equality, freedom of worship and recognition of God’s gift of precious life.

It has become imperative in this war that a savage, unrestricted enemy feel the same level of threat and danger to their sacred, revered places, as we are feeling.

It is time for our leaders to rise to the courage level of our Cold War warriors and, as in the case of Moscow, place Mecca as ransom for Minneapolis, Miami or Manhattan.

Osama’s cave just won’t cut it!

“Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the LORD GOD, As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.”

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Latest Take On Global Warming – Great Big Snow Job

JULY 20 – Recent events around the world should lessen the fears of those who feel threatened by al-Gore’s ominous global warning predictions. With seas rising by 20 feet, will there be any of today’s coastal areas left, or will we all have to live in Kansas with Dorothy and Toto?

Well, it now seems we will have some choices as good news comes out of the Mediterranean from the city of Athens, Greece. At first, I wondered why the story was buried in the gutter of an inside page of the local metropolitan daily, since it is a big supporter of warmers and since the release dealt with nine heat stroke deaths as Athens’ temperatures hit 115 degrees on Tuesday, June 26.

But, then, I read the last line and all was revealed: “The temperature hit 115 degrees, the highest for a day in June since 1889 (emphasis mine), according to government records.”

Let’s see now—Eastern Mediterranean area circa 1889: automobiles 0; trucks 0; airplanes 0; oil refineries 0; shopping centers 0; manufacturing plants compared to today 0; carbon dioxide production 0; greenhouse gases production 0; and the population of Greece equal to about 10 percent of today’s paltry 11 million occupying a peninsula of 51,000 square miles, which is about the size of Alabama.

And yet, it was hotter, or as hot, 118 years ago as it was June 26, 2007. O.K., so Greek cuisine and Zorba-type dancing isn’t your thing, hang on. Actually, I grew up in Peabody, Mass., which has a large Greek-American population, and I am partial to the cooking. Can anyone say, “lamb shishkabob or feta cheese dressing?”

Another back-pages gutter squiblet details a snowfall on the other side of the world from Athens and on the opposite side of the equator. So, if you like the rumba, samba, tango, cha-cha-cha, and a good steak, you’ll probably pick the global warming refuge on the coast of a south Atlantic nation. Yup, it snowed in Buenos Aires on July 9, for the first time since 1918.

For you al-Gore warmer devotees, that’s 89 years ago, when Argentina’s entire population was 9 million, occupying 1,068,298 square miles. That’s about one-third the square miles of the United States.

Like Athens, the city of Buenos Aires is located on a major body of water, but with a population of 13 million. Argentina has 40 million people and all the supposed greenhouse gasses producers, including enormous herds of cattle. Meat packing for export is major industry, and warmers consider cattle and cows a major producer of methane gas – a source of greenhouse gas.

But, it snowed last week in coastal Argentina, so let Evita serenade al-Gore: “Don’t cry for me, Argentina.”

Buenos Aries, in the Southern Hemisphere, is close to the same parallel with Sydney Australia and Cape Town, South Africa--geographical locations where reports such as this are not supposed to originate. “Wet snow fell for hours in the Argentine capital, accumulating in a mushy, but thin, white layer Monday.”

Which brings us to the latest comedy, but not to a desired warming refuge. This from Antarctica in a series by William Mullen of the Chicago Tribune, who laments the warming effect on Adelie penguins. He describes the death of several flocks in a certain 50-square-mile area because the ice no longer reaches their winter feeding ground.

Reading closer, one finds they are citing the death of a few thousand Adelie penguins out of a population of 8 to 10 million. Researcher David Ainley states that “the penguins will ultimately go extinct, though it might take hundreds of years.” As long as we’re speculating, David, how about thousands of years? How about, who cares?

The following day, in the same series, the subject is rotting artifacts in the huts of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, which he abandoned in 1919, Supposedly, because of warming, the previously preserved frozen artifacts such as food in tins and boxes, and the huts themselves are starting to rot and disintegrate.

Then we read, "For the past six years, Cape Evans has gotten tons of snow, far more than in the past. Last November, during the Antarctic spring, conservators discovered the roof of that hut sagging under 84 tons of snow and ice, a third more than they had ever seen accumulate.”

Well, that eliminates Cape Evans as a warming refuge, since one more spring like that will certainly flatten those huts. And, just imagine the winter preceding it.

With the recent observations that the other planets in our solar system, such as Jupiter, Mars and Saturn, are warming from solar activity, without any input from mankind or other forms of life (they have none), odds are certain that this is a normal cycle for Earth, and will have little or no effect until the far distant future, if ever.

To paraphrase presidential candidate John “The Breck Girl” Edwards’s comment on the global war on terror – “The Issue of Global Warming is Just a Bumper Sticker.”

“Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”

Psalm 115: 15 and 16.

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Dems’ encouragement of wrong “surge” promises disaster

JULY 13 – If you think the Congressional head-in-the-ground, ostrich viewpoint on illegal immigration was a prime example of self-interest, the growing bandwagon against the Iraqi war on terror is another misread on the extent of the citizens’ concern for safety and national security.

As Republican Senators and Representatives continue to cave toward a date certain for troop withdrawal a la  Reid/Pelosi gang’s desires, we are two months away from the sixth anniversary of 9/11; a period that has been completely free of domestic terrorist attacks and resultant mass murders.

While the liberals are insanely agitated by the miraculously low U.S. casualty rate on the Iraq front, the relatively normal lives of our home front, along with our record- setting economy and employment pace, has prompted partisan politics of unprecedented proportions. If this were 60 years ago, half of Congress would be locked up for encouraging and rendering assistance to the enemy.

In a recent column by former House press aide Tony Blankley, he discussed a nrw book by Professor Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistani high commissioner to Britain and member of the faculties of Harvard, Princeton and, Cambridge, and current chair of Islamic Studies at American University.

Blankley describes Ahmed as a moderate and a trained anthropologist who took three of his graduate students on a six-month trip across the Muslim world to determine what the thinking was out there.

The book, Journey Into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization  concludes that the poisons of hate and opposite thinking are rampart worldwide in Muslim countries.
The most disturbing thing to Dr. Ahned was his findings in Indonesia, where a more moderate form of Islam is ostensibly practiced and where he and his three students “met with presidents to cab drivers.”

Shockingly, they found that 50 percent want Sharia law, support the Bali terrorist bombings, oppose women in politics and support stoning adulterers to death. Among those interviewed were also college professors and students from modest schools.

The left wing media slant since 9/11 has been that only some ten percent of the Muslim world is comprised of terrorists, Islamofascist or extremists. Based on a 1.3 billion Muslim population, this would still amount to a staggering 130 million anti-Western civilization fanatics.

Dr, Ahmed’s six-month Muslim world study, however, puts the figure at some five times that, at 650 million. Worse still, if “moderate”  Indonesia is 50 percent, what’s the real percentage count in the Mid-East. Consider that the 10 percent figure is roughly equivalent to the combined populations of World War II Germany, Japan and Italy: the Axis powers. And, it took us almost four years and 234,874 U.S. battle deaths to overcome them.

The Democrat assault on our Commander-in-Chief’s strategies to protect us and the rest of Western civilization from at least 650 million antagonists, begun in 2004 strictly for election purposes, is almost beyond comprehension. It certainly ranks at the bottom of the cheapest, political hack, power-seeking ploys.

Part of that assault has been the incessant calls for investigative committees on the Bush administration’s people. These have escalated into the hundreds since 2004 and even more rapidly since the Dems seized Congressional control in 2006. That number is now estimated at close to 300 committees in the “ Do Nothing”  Dem Congress, wasting time and money while hampering the fight against domestic terrorism and seriously raising the risk factor for our troops.

I remember after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt was allowed virtual dictatorial powers to assure domestic safety and final victory. Just ask one of the surviving Japanese-American citizens of the thousands who were imprisoned in California internment camps.

Certainly, the 3,500 Iraq battle deaths in four years of the war on terror are to be mourned and revered, but please consider that this amounted to about three weeks fatalities to our forces in WW II, and three months in the Korean War. We lost twice that in a month at Iwo Jima alone.
The present presidential campaign is not only shameful for beginning two years before the election and over a year ahead of any primary, but using the war as an issue when we face global terrorism, goes beyond disgraceful.

Can you imagine 1944 Republican candidate Thomas Dewey using troop withdrawal dates certain and “cut and run” in Europe and the Pacific against Roosevelt’s running for a fourth term. Even with then battle deaths over 175,000, it was unthinkable.

The big issues of that campaign? – New Deal social legislation and an international organization to maintain post war peace. Roosevelt won with 53.39 percent of the vote. Shortly after that election, the Germans launched the counter offensive known as Battle of the Bulge.

Evidence of Dr. Ahmed’s findings is all around us: the capture of suicide bombers planning U.K. to U.S. airline assaults over the Atlantic; the planned attack on Fort Dix, N.J.; the intercepted bombing scheme against Kennedy International on Long Island; the British Muslim doctors’ insane car bombing attempts in London and at Glasgow International and attempts to get some of these “medical”  madmen into our country.

If the Dems keep handing encouragement to our enemy, our post-2008 election Battle of the Bulge will be on American soil, and will make 9/11 a forgetful incident by comparison.

“Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed
of the righteous shall be delivered.”  ~ Proverbs 11: 21.                        

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If I had to pick Israel’s prime problem, it would be the Saudis

JULY 6 – Our government should not be distracted by sword-waving from Iran and Syria, or their stooges such as Fatah, Hamas, al-Qaida, etc. The real shot caller in the Mid-East Muslim world is Saudi Arabia.

While President Bush and Secretary of State Rice have been calling for two states “living side by side”, the Saudis have been working toward their one state “final solution” without letup.

While Israel’s Prime Minister Olmert is at the White House recently, caving in to more demands and concessions, a vastly outnumbered Hamas kicks the Fatah portion of the Gaza government into the West Bank, and we suddenly have a three-state solution.

Consider that in 2002, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah advanced a three-point “Peace Initiative” that, if implemented, would have ended Israel’s existence.

A recent report by FLAME (Facts and Logic About the Middle East) summarized their initiatives three main proposals.

The first was full Israeli withdrawal from all territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian-claimed Golan Heights.

Since 1967, Israel has given back the Sinai to Egypt, Gaza to killer madmen beginning with Yasser Arafat, and large parts of the West Bank to Jordan to which they have now added the Gaza-ejected Fatah. In return, the Muslim world has slaughtered thousands of Israeli women, children, men and the soldiers trying to protect them.

Additionally, Olmert has also started to give $millions to Fatah to help them establish their government outside Gaza in the West Bank. Financing your sworn enemy is right up there with giving the Golan Heights to Syria. This would return Israel to the shooting gallery status it used to have, only this time, Syrian artillery would be supplemented with missiles.

Prince Abdullah’s second initiative would be even more destructive. He called for a “just solution” to the Palestinian refugee problem, by which he meant that descendants of the original 650,000 refugees of the 1948 War of Independence would be allowed to return to Israel.

FLAME states that virtually all of these originals are dead, tens of thousands of them of them by the Syrians and Jordanians. But, the descendants who have been purposefully kept in “camps”(usually the slums of Mid-eastern cities and not tents), would now number over five million.

That influx would destroy Israel as a Jewish state; a state, FLAME points out, mandated as Jewish by, ”the League of Nations, the Balfour Declaration and by decision of the United Nations.”

Incidentally, these Saudis, who are being so generous with other people’s land, have 756,982 square miles being occupied by a slim 25 million people. Israel has 6.5 million people on 8,019 square miles remaining, as of yesterday. Obviously, you have to park your brains somewhere before addressing Israel’s rights in this world.

Which thought leads directly into Saudi Arabia’s third peace initiative: Acceptance on Israel’s part of a sovereign independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. Certainly, a better place for this “state” would be in the vast reaches of western Saudi Arabia, most of which has never been seen by the country’s royal family. Park your brain, anyone?

With the first two being virtual instantaneous vaporizing of the Jewish state, this third one would just take slightly longer if applied by itself. Taken simultaneously, the Saudis’ three-pronged pitchfork is straight out of hell. Incredibly, one or more of these “initiatives” has been accepted by several in U.S. leadership, and all three are basic United Nations policy objectives.

It’s absolutely amazing to me how the international attitude toward Israel has gone from admiration and respect to one of virtual contempt and almost a death wish now upon them.

It’s been only 30 years this past Tuesday, July 3, when the awe-inspiring “Rescue at Entebbe” grabbed the world’s attention, as Israeli airborne commandos freed 103 hostages from Idi Amman’s hell hole of Uganda; hostages taken in a skyjacking by Palestinian and German terrorists. Amazingly, one of the officers in this miraculous rescue would later become Israel’s premier – Benjamin Netanyahu. His older brother, who was killed leading the mission, was the only Israeli casualty in the brilliant action.

Several years later, another Israeli airlift would inspire the world, as El Al passenger jets brought over 25,000 black Ethiopian Jews to Israel for resettlement, in a few days of non-stop flying

Unfortunately, the world, including our leaders, are being distracted , misdirected or bought off by oil interests about the myth of Palestinian refugees and who is responsible for their being used as pawns in the war against Israel since 1948.

It is said, that if you don’t believe in miracles, don’t go to Israel, because the whole nation is one big miracle. And, the miracle maker has a few “peace initiatives” of His own.

“Let them be confounded and troubled forever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”
~ Psalm 83:17 and 18.

Columnist note: To receive free FLAME updates: www.factsandlogic.org

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Solutions to illegals, border control lie in the Far East 

JUNE 29 -  According to the 2006 New York Times Almanac, “In 1998, total immigration hit a 10-year low of 660,477. Many demographers (demagogues?) argue that if the immigration rate continues to fall, the effect could be severe.” With this type of propaganda, any wonder why Congress refuses to see the obvious?

A few pages before that ridiculous statement, a population chart shows the U.S. at 281.5 million in 2000 and reaching 300 million by 2010. We went by that four years early and I assume they were only counting a legal, documented population.

They also predicted a population of over 403 million by 2050 – hardly a severe falling rate, especially if the proposed “shamnesty” bill produces the stampede of illegal hordes projected at an estimated 50 million total by that year and grants them an easy path to citizenship.

The actual legal immigration figure is just under one million a year , which is about all our country can process and assimilate without burdening our citizens and economy with damaging tax increases for more entitlements participants.

Virtually, every poll shows that over 70 percent of Americans want complete Mexican border control before any other aspects of immigration are even considered. Second on the demand list is a crack down on those who employ undocumented workers with big fines and jail sentences.   A third crackdown is wanted on those who provide housing for these interlopers, many of whom are repeat criminals and serial border jumpers.

For a nation that closed down immigration twice in the early 20th century - once for five years – the complete lack of rationality on the factor of border control as the prime issue, is a definite signpost of corruption and ulterior motives. Motives that are certainly not in the best interests of Americans. A prime one may be the massive cross-border drug traffic.

Of Congress’ promise of several hundred miles of fence over a year ago, about three miles have been completed. Even if the present bill promise of 700 miles were started immediately, it would take several years and still leave hundreds of miles unfenced.

Perhaps, like everything else we’re outsourcing, the fence project should go to India, where they have already completed 1,550 miles of a 2050-mile double fence on their border with Bangladesh. Apparently, the poorer Bangladesh has been doing the illegals “thingee”  and India knows what to do better then our pols. According to the Associated Press, the barrier crosses hundreds of rivers and long stretches of forests.

Or, maybe we should turn it over to the Israelis, whose barrier building has reduced the number of suicide bombers to a fraction of what they were six years ago.

Another possibility would be scouring up some Eastern European Cold War types who built an Iron Curtain across thousands of miles of Europe. Granted, it was to keep people in rather than out, but what’s the difference. And, considering their technology then compared to now, it was a fantastic feat for its day.

What I’m trying to say is, this is not rocket science.

The only immediate answer is boots on the ground with troops guarding the farce that is our present front lines against the invaders.

We’ve probably had the most border security experience of recent history, having had some 35,000 troops on the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) between North and South Korea for some 54 years.

When you consider that South Korea is about the size of Indiana and the border is only about 100 miles long, it’s obvious that our troops are simply hostages to the armistice cease-fire of 1953 as well as martyr set-ups in the unlikely event of another invasion by North Korean hordes.

Moving these troops to the U.S./ Mexico border would solve all the security problems there and save enough money to finance a wall from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico; about the same length as the India/Bangladesh border.

South Korea is a big boy now, and North Korea’s former sidekicks, China and Vietnam, are more interested in selling to Wal-Mart then shedding U.S. consumers’ blood. And, if Kim Jong Il wants to change the landscape, America’s Pacific fleet and Far East-stationed air power could level Pyongyang in minutes.

It’s time the Hoosier-size country took care of itself and our forces were released from this ancient duty. After all, they have a population of 49 million compared to North Korea’s 23 million starving wretches.
Their gross domestic product  of $950 billion is more than 20 times North Korea’s $40 billion. Per capita, that’s $19,500 versus $1,800.

South Korea is a modern industrial miracle of success and world trade and certainly can afford to defend itself -- especially, with our aid in armaments, training and technology.
Future citizens and historians would certainly regard the president who finally brought our ground forces back from Korea and sealed our southern border with them, as deserving of a special legacy.
He certainly doesn’t want to be remembered with Senator Ted Kennedy, the prime instigator of our illegal alien woes of the past 40 years, now ready to give us the coup de grace.
 
I mean, who wants to be associated with the immortal words of the Chappaquiddick Chauffeur: ”Legalizing 12 million unlawful immigrants is worth the fight.”

“The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.”
Proverbs 10: 7

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When pols pander, confusion and complication prevail

JUNE 22 – A few months ago, just prior to t the beginning of this year’s Florida Legislative Session, I and many others were in great hopes that our representatives would assure us solid economic futures and growth with a simple real estate tax roll back and revenue plan.

At that time, several plans were under consideration, ranging from complete elimination of the real estate tax with replacement by a two-and-a-half percent increase in the sales tax, to an increase in the homestead exemption to $50,000, coupled with a smaller increase in the sales tax.

Coming from the Peoples’ Republic of Taxachusetts in 1984, I loved the ground zero plan of House Leader Marco Rubio with its simplicity and equal treatment of every Florida resident. I hate tax brackets and the bashing of home buyers who are penalized for buying their home more recently than someone in the recent or distant past.

Naturally, the politicians immediately jumped in on Rep. Rubio to confuse the issue, set various groups of citizens at each others’ throats, incite renters to label themselves victims and bring the session to an end without resolving the issue.

Whenever, I inquired whether the two-and-a-half percent sales tax increase would offset the revenue that would be eliminated with the real estate tax demise, I was told that it would.

Consider, that for every $10,000 in taxable purchases, the increase in cost to the consumer would be a paltry $250; for $20,000, it would be $500. If your real estate tax was in the $2,000- $4,000 range, the savings for homeowners would be substantial.

Even an even swap of real estate and sales taxes would have been tremendous with the guarantee of never again having to look real estate tax hikes in the face

Some opponents of Rubio’s plan tried to push renters into the victims role when, actually, the benefits to renters would have been ssubstantial. Obviously, with the owners’ relief from real estate taxes, the possibility of a rent freeze or competitive rollback to attract more tenants, would have been created. Certainly, enough apartment owners would have used the tax elimination to initiate a rent competition in the best spirit of free enterprise.

Recent media stories have specified the spike in insurance rates as an obstacle to first-time homebuyers being able to qualify for and meet monthly home payments. Imagine the hundreds of thousands of renters who would now qualify for mortgage payments  reduced by the present amount of property taxes.

Prior to the Special Session in June, I attended a forum in Apopka with some 200 other homeowners, Even after an hour of explanations and questions, most of the audience was still confused about the plan which was later approved in the Special Session.

Obviously, the attempts to compromise the Homestead Exemption with Save Our Homes, with school tax revenues, with new home buyers, with owners of second homes, with cities’ and counties’ revenue requirements, etc., etc., has produced new classes of discrimination : those whose homes are assessed for $200,000 or less and those assessed above the magic marker.

Our District 38 Rep. Bryan Nelson and his staff did an excellent job of presenting a complex plan, but even Einstein would have had it tough explaining the Theory of Relativity to the top scientist of his era a week after he concocted it.

When all is said and done, I would say that the average annual saving of $174, as announced last week, will have all the impact on our sagging real estate market as a hurricane aftermath.

The ones who made out like bandits are the illegal aliens and the tourist hordes who saved themselves $2.50 on every $100 they spend here.

The Save our Homes and Homestead changes have to be approved by at least 60 percent of the voters on January 29, 2008, as part of the presidential primary voting. To do so for a scant $174 would be the lousiest swap I can imagine.

The Legislature’s plan will do little except create new tax classes of contention and move us along on the path of taxpayer confusion and future increases for sure. A good compromise for the squeamish in Tallahassee would have been a 50 percent cut in the real estate tax with a one-and-a-quarter increase in the sales tax as a simple trial run.  

Remember, the Federal Income Tax code enacted in 1914, was only a couple of percentage points for the few then earning over $10,000. Today, it’s over 40,000 pages of darkness and confusion, understood by nobody. I’ve heard some rumblings (planted?) that we would be better off with a state income tax, rather than this crazy plan!

The Legislature had a chance to assure our solid debt-free growth with a foundation of absolute equality. They refused to provide it – preferring to pander to the unattached.

In the early days of our Republic, only property owners could vote. Were our Founding Fathers less intelligent than those that followed behind them?

Maybe we can’t go back, but how about lightening the burden a little?

            “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure,
and whether it be right.”  Proverbs 20:11.   

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Liberals are way overdue for lessons in paving materials

JUNE 15 - Whenever a liberal program produces just the opposite of promised results, there is always a standard announcement that you can bet the farm will be forthcoming.

Whether it’s the failed welfare programs that re-ghettoized the U.S., the tax brackets up to 76 percent that retarded federal revenues for decades, or the decades of restricted oil drilling, refinery building and nuclear plant production resulting in $3.00 plus gasoline, the liberal line never changes.

Imagine my glee when an editorial in the local metropolitan daily last week was headed, “Salvaging the sea. Our position: The artificial tire reef in South Florida was built on good intentions.”

There it is: “good intentions”, and the dumping of 700,000 tires into the ocean to form an artificial reef 30 years ago “seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Naturally, 30 years ago, circa 1977, both Florida and the U.S. legislatures were completely dominated by liberal Democrats and the stupidity of creating an artificial reef with something as chemically volatile as tires in salt water, certainly had to be the utmost in moronic good intentions or a moneymaker for someone.

One of man’s oldest and most proven proverbs is, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” and the liberals prove it time and time again. And now, the tires which have been washing up on shore, damaging real reefs, killing corals and who knows how many fish and sea creatures, have to be removed from some 34 acres of sea bottom.

I was still a resident internee of the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts, the “Cradle of Good Intentions”, when I read of this “Rubber Baron” assault on South Florida waters. Having been one of the early SCUBA divers off Marathon in the early 1950s, I could only imagine what hundreds of thousands of tires would eventually inflict on those indescribable reefs and sea life.

At that time, the SCUBA was called the “Aqualung” as invented by Jacques Cousteau, and was only available through Abercrombie and Fitch in New York City, who had the exclusive U.S. sales rights.

A former U.S. Army B-17 bomber wing commander in World War II, Col. Matt Ferguson, a true soldier of fortune, had relocated to Marathon with a dozen “lungs” , air compressors, spear guns and diving accessories, and was leading daily diving parties of six people in a small open boat to the reef, some eight miles out.

My good friend from Harvard, Pete Stern (now deceased) and I took our spring break in Marathon. Pete later became a Navy frogman, now known as “Seals”. The formal name back then was U.D.T. (Underwater Demolition Team). I’m sure Pete would have regarded the tire dump near those special waters in the same light as I did, and still do.

Back then, the entire population of Monroe County was slightly over 31,000, with Key West and its submarine base dominating with 27,600. That left about 4,000 scattered across the rest of the Keys and the southern Everglades.

Our room (no A.C.) in Marathon was seven dollars apiece a week (outside shower and toilet facilities) and our suitcases had to go under the double bed we shared. Col. Ferguson charged five dollars a day, supplied all the equipment, plus a sandwich and cokes for our lunches al fresco.

Of course, we had to play chess with him and drink beer every night to the wee hours in the bar of the Overseas Lodge on U.S.1 , which doubled as his office. We brought fresh speared grouper and conches to a local restaurant and they fed us anything we wanted on the menu for supper.

Now, I’ve said all that to say this. There’s nothing like experiencing history to know when good intentions won’t cut it as an out for responsibility in paving the road to you know where.

Anybody with an ounce of horse sense knows that somebody profited from the tire dump and now, from the present “salvage” operation – a joint effort of the military (all three branches), The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, The Broward County Dept. of E.P., Port Everglades and Nova Southern University. Did I miss anyone? Then, of course, when you bring the tires back to shore, who gets paid to dispose of them “safely”?

Having lived prior to the welfare programs good intentions, the damage to millions of lives for votes and political power is just as obvious as the tire reefs. Ditto for affirmative action in higher education. The black students at Harvard in the early 1950s were there based on their intellectual ability, entrance test scores and future potential, not on their race. Good intentions based on faulty criteria had nothing to do with it.

Consequently, they didn’t eat at separate tables or room exclusively with other black students in today’s mode of black-only dorms or clubs. There was no resentment for favored treatment. I didn’t need a crystal ball to see what affirmative action in higher education would end up birthing on both sides of the ball.

The tire recovery editorial reported that “the officials are simply trying to make the best of a bad situation.”

Obviously, for liberals, good intentions gone awry can be repaved with oxymorons.

“For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12

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You’ll be surprised at where and how global warming has spread

JUNE 8 – It seems that the more evidence forthcoming that any climate change is from solar cycles and not man’s industrial activities, the more hysterical the warmers and greenies become.

Practically speaking, not a day goes by without some silly call for worldwide conferences to reduce greenhouse gasses, always framed in actions against the economic activities and miraculous growth of the United States.

A recent article in The American Spectator by one of its senior editor, Tom Bethell, uncovered many reports by the scientific community citing present-day occurrences of warming from solar activity on our planetary neighbors.

Bethell quotes a headline from Environment News which read, “Mars is Warming, NASA Scientists Report Data Coincides With Increasing Solar Output.”

In April of this year, National Geographic News headlined a story with, “Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human Cause, For Warming, Scientists Say.”

And, a press release in February 2005 from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii was headed with, “Saturn’s Strange Hot Spot.”

Bethell quotes a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif. on a thermal hot spot at the tip of Saturn’s South Pole – “we’ve been seeing hints of it in our data for at least two years.”

Another release headline from M.I.T. in 1998 stated, “M.I.T Researcher Finds Evidence of Global Warming on Neptune’s Largest Moon.” This evidence was gathered from a Voyager space probe fly-by of Neptune in 1989. (This was six years before the Kyoto Kaper farce.)

Bethell continues with a report from Space.com with an article of October 2002 stating – “Global Warming on Pluto Puzzles Scientists.” The article leads with, “Astronomers today said Pluto is undergoing global warming in its thin atmosphere even as it moves further away from the sun on its long, odd-shaped orbit.”

He saves the “big one” for the last planet on a headline from USA Today in May 2006. “New Storm On Jupiter Hints at Climate Change.” The main thrust of the article states, “The latest images could provide evidence that Jupiter is in the midst of global change that can modify temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit on different parts of the globe.”

In addition to orbiting the sun at various distances as the earth does, these planets all share one characteristic that they don’t have in common with our planet. None of them have any human presence or activity; especially green house gas emissions from industrial activity or SUVs. al-Gore, call your office!

To put it plainly, so even al-Gore can understand, the only possible source of their simultaneously occurring global warming activity is change in solar activity, to which the earth is also subject.

Coming even closer to home, Florida, “The Sunshine State”, is probably the closest thing to perfection as a proving ground for solar activity as the cause of global warming, if it is actually occurring. Surrounded by water on three sides, with a combination of tropical, semi-tropical and temperate areas, its enormous population growth in the last few decades, with accompanying carbon dioxide emissions, would certainly make us a leader in warming indicators; especially in temperatures.

Personally, I have been amazed at the lovely, cool (emphasis mine) month of May in Central Florida this year, with not one day going over 89 degrees, the coolest May 3 ever recorded at 54 degrees, and perfect humidity all month.

The highest temperatures ever recorded in May in Central Florida occurred on May 30 (100 degrees) and May 31 (102 degrees) in 1945. June of that year started with 100 degrees on the first day of the month for that day’s historical record. That’s three consecutive record days 62 years ago, when the population of Orange County was under 100,000, led by Orlando with 49,000 and Winter Park with 7,200.

The entire state had a population under 2.5 million. Most of the record high May days occurred decades ago, and, in fact, only five occurred within the last 10 years, with none going over the 100-degree marks of 1945. The only other May 100-degree record mark was set on May 27, 1962.

Bethell cites a new book, Useless Arithmetic: Why Environmentalists Can’t Predict the Future, “which illustrates the failure of mathematical models to predict changes in coastal geology. (Especially with Florida and its 8,421 miles of tidal coastline.) The modelers too freely apply fixed values to quantities that vary all the time.

If they didn’t, the equations would become excessively complex. They wouldn’t be able to predict anything and they wouldn’t attract media attention.”

Just this week, as the G8 Summit pushed their global warming agenda aimed at creating falling economies and the resulting unarmed peasantry, China, of all people, stated that they would not go along with anything that would slow or reverse the growth of their economy.

With 1.4 billion people and growing, they don’t have any choice. They’re hooked on the road to capitalism and can’t turn back without national disaster. If it’s true for China, it’s even more so for the United States: “The Cradle of Liberty” and capitalism.

To paraphrase Admiral Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay, “Damn the greenhouse gasses, full speed ahead!”

“The LORD is thy keeper; the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun
shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.” Psalm 121:5 and 6.

Columnist Note: Donations can be mailed to Orange County Jail Ministry, Inc., P.O. Box 568561, Orlando, FL. 32856-8521. For information on volunteering call (407) 836-3330 or –3320.

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Unique Mother’s Day Eve Was a Night to Remember

           MAY 18 -  On Saturday, May 12, my wife and I enjoyed one of our favorite nights of the year at the Annual Banquet of the Orange County Jail Ministry, held at the Faith Hall of the First Baptist Church of Orlando.
            This year, the night before Mother’s Day, was a unique experience for the more than 400 attendees, supporters and volunteers of this irreplaceable organization. A prime example is Board Member Jack Norman, who has been an OCJM volunteer for 31 years.
            The uniqueness of this Mother’s Day Eve gathering was reflected in the scheduled presentation of the Volunteer of the Year award for Adeline Brandt, another long-tenured volunteer of 23 years and one of the first women to serve at the OCJM.
            Brandt’s funeral took place earlier that day and her daughter and son were at the banquet to accept the award in her name from Board Chairman George Joseph of Windermere. One of Adeline’s many labors of dedication to the jailed women she shone the Lord’s love on  was the thousands of letters she wrote to them after their release, encouraging them in their walk with the Savior. She was truly a mother to those fallen women in every sense – to many of them, the only mother they ever knew.
            One of my favorite parts of the evening is the testimonies of the ex-prisoners who have received salvation and now have spiritual freedom and purpose driven lives.
            Sean Robinson recounted how he had lived a life of drug addiction and crime for 33 years, and with his 15th incarceration in 2003, had finally lost everything – family, home and income. Sitting in the Orange County Jail crying, he was asking God if it was possible to get his life back, when he heard a voice say, “All things are possible with me.”
            Still doubtful and trapped in his flesh, he was literally dragged into a praise and worship session after signing up for it, then wavering outside the door upon hearing the praise. But, the guards, not wanting to change the paperwork on his whereabouts, made him go in and there he surrendered to Jesus at the end of the service.
            Today, he is free of addiction, gainfully employed and ministering wherever the Lord directs him.
            Susan Weiss works as an advocate and case worker and says that if it were not for the OCJM she would not be alive today. Up to 1981, her whole life was prostitution and  drug abuse and she went to jail more times then she can ever remember. Miraculously, she has lived with AIDS for over 22 years!
            She gives credit to Adeline Brandt who became her spiritual mother and who handled the AIDS ministry at the jail single-handedly.
            Weiss stated that she was one of the first woman in jail to test positive for HIV and through Brandt, the chaplains and volunteers, God saved her from death. Today, she works for The Shepherd’s Promise Ministry and is a living-miracle testimony of overcoming and faith.
            The OCJM was founded in 1980 by Lawson Lamar and “the late, great Frank Constantino,” said Board Member Len Wroten as he detailed the past year’s accomplishments within a jail system with seven jails; the fourth largest in Florida and the 22nd largest in the U.S.  It is a jail and not a prison, with 65 percent of the average  3,700 prisoner population awaiting trial and 35 percent serving sentences of one year or less.
            The jail budget was $135 million last year, but OCJM is completely funded by private donations from individuals, churches and businesses. There are eight staff chaplains led by senior chaplains Joseph McGahey and Peg de Alminana, an administrative secretary and over 300 volunteers.
            Attending 1,800 preaching service / Bible studies last year were 46,268 inmates, of whom 9,021 had one-on-one counseling or contacts.  Accepting Jesus as Savior were 4,500 inmates and 3,400 renewed their relation to Jesus.
            Free Bibles given to inmates totaled 7,250 with 10,200 Bible correspondence lessons completed. Reading glasses given to inmates totaled 1,504.
            All this was accomplished with a 100 percent donated budget of $221,000.
            Statistics show that 80 percent of those who accept Jesus at OCJM do not ever return to jail. The normal recidivism rate shows just the opposite, with 80 percent of non-born again inmates returning to jail over and over again, as evidenced by the testimonies of Sean Robinson and Susan Weiss above.
            The amount of money that the OCJM saves Orange County taxpayers in law enforcement, trials and incarceration costs is almost beyond calculation.
            Their budget for 2007 will have a tiny $4,000 increase to $225,000, and I’m sure several thousand more lost souls will move away from a life of arrests and jail terms to lives of fulfillment and peace.
            Perhaps you or your church would like to participate in theses miracles.  Nothing could be simpler.

And Jesus said, ”I was naked and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” Matthew 25:36.

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If ‘The Natural’ becomes ‘The Candidate’, we win

MAY 11 – It looks almost certain that a re-make of “The Candidate” is on the docket, only this time, it’s for real. Instead of starring ultra-liberal Robert Redford, former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson (R.-Tenn.) will be cast in the leading role and I couldn’t be more pleased.

Way back in 1997, when he chaired the Senate Committee investigating campaign on finance abuse in the 1996 elections, even the left admired him for his non-partisan approach.

U.S. News and World Report’s Kent Jenkins Jr., hardly a conservative publication or writer, wrote then, “This 6-foot-6, glamorous, baritone-voiced, movie star Tennessean is in many ways a political version of “The Natural” , so overloaded with talent that even the presidency seems within his reach.”

Coincidentally, “The Natural” also starred Robert Redford.

Everyone knows Thompson as an actor, most recently as District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s “Law and Order”.

Before his Senate tenure in the 1990s, most voters thought of him in terms of Hollywood films and strong leadership roles in movies such as an admiral in “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), a chief air traffic controller in “Die Hard 2” (1990), a senator in “Born Yesterday” (1993), White House chief of staff in “The Line of Fire” (1993) and an FBI agent in “Baby’s Day Out” (1994).

While it’s true the late President Ronald Reagan used his film and television fame to pave the way to politics, leading to California’s governorship and the presidency, Thompson, conversely, used an early political career as the stepping stone to solid film performances that led to the U.S. Senate.

Growing up in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., grandson of a sharecropper and son of a used car salesman, Thompson worked his way (10 jobs) through Memphis State and to an eventual law degree from Vanderbilt. He became Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1969 and, at 30, was appointed as Minority Counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee.

If he runs against Hillary, this will be another re-make, as she served as a counsel on the Majority side of Watergate Committee. But, showing his honesty and evenhandedness, it was his questioning of witnesses that unearthed the Nixon Administration’s extensive taping system that eventually led to the notorious 15-minute gap.

Reagan and Thompson share several qualities that evolved from their grass roots upbringing and the basic morality of their youthful environment. Obviously, their prefilm experiences gave them the communication skill that enhanced their value to Hollywood and later appeal to the electorate—Thompson in the legal field with a salesman father and Reagan as a sports announcer, also with a salesman father.

They were both in a profusion of good guy, leadership film roles, and just grew from there to be great communicators.

If, during the Cold War era of the 1950s to the 1970s, one would have publicly postulated that a Hollywood actor would bring down the Soviet Union, commitment to a loony bin would not have been unthinkable.

During this “war on terror” era, it is not unthinkable that a highly trained attorney, dynamic, former U.S. Senator and convincing actor would be in our best interest as a leader. Communication and sincerity would not be a problem within our nation or to the outside world.

In a recent interview with The American Spectator’s political columnist John Fund, Thompson stated it exactly. “The power of the bully pulpit is greater than ever.

Reagan proved just how much you can accomplish if you can look the American people in the eye and tell them he needs their help to make choices that will make the future of themselves and their children brighter.”

Thompson agrees with the tax cuts of Kennedy, Reagan and Bush. He says, “It’s time millionaires serving in the Senate learned not to overly tax people trying to get wealthy.”

Can he do it? Well, in his first run for the Senate he started out 30 points behind a Democrat opponent who was an incumbent in the U.S. House of Representatives and won by 20 in an astounding 50 point swing. As he reminded Fund, “I am serious about what I believe in, committed to communicating that with the people, and I’ve proven I can convince them. Remember, I won every one of my races by more than 20 points in a state that Clinton carried twice.”

While in the Senate, Thompson, who strongly believes in term limits, sponsored the first legislation in 50 years to limit Senators and Representatives to 12 years. The bill failed to get a majority, but he still believes in “citizen legislators” and not “career politicians.”

His concern for our national security continues to dominate his thinking and though not in an elected office, he serves as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board, a high-level group who evaluate long-term threats to our security. Fred Thompson, physically and politically, is head and shoulders above the crowd of candidates on both sides of the spectrum.

No supporting role this time; I’m looking forward to his starring role in “The Hunt for Red November”. In 2008, that is!

“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.”
Psalm 37:37.

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You won’t believe who should be our world-relations model

APRIL 20 – One of the silliest of the liberal propositions of the past three decades, even more childishly silly than global warming, is their constant wailing for alternate sources of energy to replace fossil fuels, particularly oil.
        The leftist in our nation are trying to couple fossil fuel with global warming, creating a double-dorky-deal to reduce our economy to ashes and pave the way for socialism and the resurfacing of communism.
If they were really serious about utilizing an alternate source of energy, they would direct our attention to one of our former friends in Europe, like our biggest critic, France.
        Consider that France has about five percent or the U.S. land area of 3.6 million square miles and 20 percent of our population. Now, are they solving their energy problems with huge oil imports, windmills, ethanol or electric cars? After all, 10 years ago their crude oil reserves were estimated at a paltry 152 million barrels – non-existent reserves by world standards. At that time, our reserves were estimated at 22.4 billion barrels.
        So, how has France become the largest exporter of electricity in the European Union? Quite simple, really. Some 50 years ago, they decided to utilize a great American invention of the 1940s and went nuclear. Since then, 59 French nuclear plants are generating 78 percent of the country’s electricity plus the tremendous surplus for export.
        What France did is being duplicated across Europe and Asia as well as serving for cover in Iran’s nuclear pursuits despite their crude oil reserves of more than 80 billion barrels.
        China and India are building nuclear power plants like they were McDonald’s, as they race toward full blown industrialization and capitalism with a combined 40 percent of the world’s population. Their crude oil reserves are virtually nil in relation to their size and numbers of people. In 1996, China had 22 billion barrels and India was virtually dry with 4.5 billion barrels.
        The real joke on the American people is Russia with half our population and twice our oil reserves who have, despite disasters like Chernobyl, been going to nuclear energy for decades.
        If you really searched hard this past Monday (April 16) in the local metropolitan daily, you would have unearthed a 2.3 inch by one column squib announcing that another Putin plot had hatched, believe it or not, with the “beginning of construction of its first floating nuclear-power plant” (Emphasis, mine) … and said, “it plans to build at least six more despite longstanding environmental concerns that they are vulnerable to accidents at sea.”
        And our “greenies” and liberal wackos go ballistic about oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico a hundred miles out from shore.
        Russian news agencies also reported that “Russia justifies the program as a way of bringing power to some of the country’s most remote areas, also saying that some of the plants could be sold to other nations.”
        How about the U.S.? Can we buy some?
        If we continue on our present non-nuclear-power course, we’re going to end up surrounded by a world full of nuclear-power plants, paying $10 gallon for gasoline and buying electricity from our neighbors and probably replacing our oil rigs in the gulf with the Russians’ ocean nuclear platforms.       
        We haven’t built a nuclear-power plant in decades, letting the propagandist rule over us with the Three-Mile-Island incident, which compares to Chernobyl like a flea bite versus a tiger attack.
        The ban on U.S. nuclear-power plants has been accompanied by an equivalent ban on new oil refineries for about the same time frame, despite the tremendous leap in our population and energy needs.
        Now, of course, the leftist conspiracy has begun its attack on coal-fired electrical plants as producers of greenhouse gasses and contributors to man-generated global warming and earth’s doomsday. Incidentally, when did greenhouse stop being a positive place where beautiful things happened.
        Our leftist, such as Sen. Jean Francois Kerry (Dem.-Mass.) wants us to emulate his model of civilized society and global caring, the Republic of France.
        Then, based on population difference, we should have at least 295 nuclear-power plants, and considering our 3.6 million square miles versus their 210,000 (about 80 percent of the size of Texas), we could safely and easily put in 10 times that amount in our vast stretches of unoccupied land mass. Recent estimates are that 90 percent of the U.S. is undeveloped.
        Quite frankly, we could supply the electricity needs of both North and South America and more.
        Believe it or not, I’m with Kerry on following France’s lead on nuclear-power plants and getting back on the good side of world opinion.

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Global warming strikes out in Cleveland – out-of-bounds at Masters

APRIL 13 – This past weekend, a home double-header scheduled for the Cleveland Indians, was cancelled because of SNOW!? – not rain: snow, and more than a foot of it. Their games had to be relocated to Milwaukee’s covered dome.

Heavy snow fell across the northern U.S. from Chicago to Boston accompanied by freezing temperatures. Maybe, the Indians should have hired al-Gore to umpire and he could have brought his hot air with him.

Actually, the cold permeated the entire nation most of the week, turning the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia into a cold-weather fashion show that hampered the long bombers and evened the playing field for the more normal pros and little guys like eventual green jacket modeler, Iowan Zach Johnson. A local, 31-year-old resident of Sanford, who plays at Heathrow C.C., he only has one previous win on the regular P.G.A. tour.
           
While all this was transpiring well into the third week of spring, the leftist, liberal media kept printing and broadcasting their stepped-up, apocalyptic predictions on global warming, almost on a daily basis.
      
Interestingly, the warmest recorded days in Central Florida of the last 100 years or more for the first eight days of April, were all decades ago, except for one eight years ago in 1999 – April 5 at 91F.
           
The records in Central Florida are on April 1, 1970 at 92F; April 2, 1975 at 92F.; April 3, 1974 at 91F.; April 4, 1974 at 92F.; April 6, 1956 at 91F.; April 7, 1947 at 91F.; and April 8, 1978 at 91F.
           
In examining the main claim of the global warming gang, their unsubstantiated accusation that greenhouse gasses, primarily man-caused carbon dioxide, are the primary cause of earth’s atmosphere heating up, are a little dipsy in the face of the most basic evidence.
      
Consider that on April 7, 1947, the earth had about half of today’s population. Even before the destruction of most of the world’s industrial production in WWII, just a few years earlier, it was still just a fraction of today’s global industries.
      
Commercial aircraft and trucks and autos were in their infant stages, and yet, the warmest April 7 ever recorded occurred in that year, 60 years ago.
           
From an astronomical viewpoint, the supposed global warming dependence on man-made carbon dioxide is total foolishness. Scientist have always maintained that sun warming increases the infinitely tiny amount of carbon dioxide generated into our atmosphere, not vice-versa.
           
The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, one percent water and 0.93 percent argon. We are 93 million miles from the sun with an average surface temperature of 59 degrees F.
           
Mars’ atmosphere, on the other hand, is 95 percent carbon dioxide (emphasis mine), three percent nitrogen and two percent argon. The average surface temperature is 89 degree below zero F.—some 143 degrees colder than Earth.
      
Granted, Mars is 48.6 million miles further from the sun, but that atmosphere is virtually total carbon dioxide, the element that isn’t even considered part of Earth’s atmosphere and, supposedly, the tiniest presence of which incites the sun to dial up the thermostat. Certainly that much carbon dioxide would drive the sun into a fiery frenzy.
           
A further question would be, why have all these scientist been pursuing, at great expense, clues of life or drops of water on Mars, with that temperature and a 95 percent carbon dioxide atmosphere?
      
According to syndicated columnist Professor Walter Williams, “Britain’s Channel 4 Television has just produced “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, a documentary that devastates most of the claims made by the environmentalist movement.”
      
Williams states that leading climatologists from MIT and other top universities around the world are interviewed, and show the pure nonsense of global warming advocates. Not shown in the U.S., it was available on the Internet for a short time, but removed because of a copyright dispute. 
           
Rich Lowry, editor of National Review has noted that any attack on our economy with claims of “man-made” global warming, will create jobs in India and China which are not subject to any greenhouse gasses restrictions. He writes, “Indeed, the Kyoto treaty functions as if it were hatched in an evil conspiracy between the Beijing and New Delhi chambers of commerce – we get cleaner and poorer, they get dirtier and richer.”
           
What the “warmers” always leave out is that carbon dioxide is absolute manna to trees and foliage. They can’t get enough of it, as you can note when driving along tree lined roads. The trees closest to the road suck it up from autos and trucks and are usually twice the size of trees in back of them. On many roads and streets, they bend forward to form tunnels of green.
           
Which brings us back to Augusta National and the Masters. As I watched the Hummers, Rolls, Caddies, limos, etc., go up the tree-lined drive toward Bobby Jones’ masterpiece, you could almost see the arbor tunnel hungrily breathe in some of the world’s finest, most expensive carbon dioxide.
           
There’s no doubt that the trees on the drive look forward to this spectacular week more than anyone. Too bad, it was so unseasonably cold.

                                                                                                        

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No peace solution for Israel in going back to the past

APRIL 6 – For some reason, I could never get through New York Times’ columnist Thomas Friedman’s pieces. Not because of his liberal stance most of the time, so much, but more on the lack of depth in his facts.

This past weekend, he faulted the Bush administration for six-years of non-existence of a peace plan for the Israeli/Palestinian problem, characterizing it as simply “scattershot visits by his secretaries of state, and minimalist stopgap measures to engineer cease fires or talks about talks.” Interesting prose, but hardly truthful.

The killer is his numbing nomination of the “Clinton Plan” of seven years ago that laid out a “fair deal” between the parties. This deal, described by Friedman as the “only realistic framework for peace”, only called for Israel to give up 95 percent of the West Bank, all of Gaza and East Jerusalem.

What a plan! Surrounded by maniacs all vowing to wipe you off the earth, you shrink yourself from the size of New Jersey to about the size of Delaware, enabling your avowed executioners to finish you off with mortars and artillery instead of missiles and rockets.

Somehow, “Shalom Willie” convinced Israel to make the offer, but a shocked Yasser Arafat turned it down at the White House. Some speculated that he would have had to remove the “destroy Israel” from the lead-in spot on the PLO charter and that would have made him a target of Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah and the endless list of bloodthirsty terrorist groups backed by Syria, Iran , and , at that time, Iraq.

Friedman’s convenient memory deletes the Bush administration’s pressure on original hard-liner Ariel Sharon in 2004 that caused him to pull Israel out of Gaza, believing that, with Arafat now at room temperature, some sort of peace would reward this most daring and generous action. This was hardly a Bush “minimalist stopgap measure.”

What Israel got was a combined Hamas and Hezbollah attack on Israel from Gaza and Lebanon with the killing and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, all out war and a blizzard of missiles on The Promised Land.
Sharon got his just desserts, going into a coma and missing all the fun as the United Nations fiddled as usual. He’s still under. The situation continues to escalate and Friedman obviously missed the news story by his colleague Steven Erlanger at the Times, which came out three days prior to his column.

Erlanger reported that Hamas is “building its military capacity in the Gaza Strip, constructing tunnels and smuggling in ground-to-air missiles and military grade explosives”; this according to Israeli senior officials including a top military commander.

Hey, Tom, Erlanger reports that the commander gave the briefing at the request of, are you ready? – The New York Times! The top commander also stated that Hamas is aping Hezbollah’s tactics in southern Lebanon before last summer’s war with Israel.

It is obvious that had the “Clinton Plan” been accepted by Arafat, an indefensible, downsized Israel would have had to go nuclear by now. In spite of the horrendous, unceasing terrorist attacks on Israel since Arafat rejected the Clinton Plan, retarded leftist critics continue to criticize Bush for not solving an unsolvable problem.

Compounding the problem astronomically, and completely ignored by Friedman’s diatribe, is the effect of 9/11 and its aftermath in the Mid-East. Also ignored is the ascension to power of Iran’s madman president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cast himself in the role of a Muslim prophet calling for the destruction of Israel and all Jews.

His rise to power in 2005 from Mayor of Tehran to head up the major spoke in the “Axis of Evil” moved Israel’s danger of annihilation to the top of the meter and its “Doomsday Clock” to one minute before midnight.

One of Friedman’s most hilarious claims was, “Had the Bush-Rice team stuck with the Clinton Plan, today, at a minimum, it would have been locked in as the only acceptable formula for peace, and, at a maximum, we might have gotten there.”

He, of course, pretends that Arafat just said no and went back to Gaza, pouting and counting up his Swiss bank accounts. What the “Butcher of Beirut” (50,000 victims) actually did was launch his suicide bomb squad in conjunction with $25,000 payoffs to bomber families from Saddam Hussein and Saudi wahabi Muslim leaders.

These peace pursuits, later combined with the intense gratitude shown by the Palestinians for the Gaza turnover, has made the Israelis a little suspicious of the benefits to them by returning to “Clinton’s Folly.”

Friedman’s headline looks at the Clinton solution in terms of “Back to the past in the Mid-East”. How far back, Tom? – Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans, Mohammed, Ottoman Empire, Nazis, United Nations, etc., etc.?

I think I’ll stick with the future, and I pray that Israel will also.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war … And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Revelation 19:11 and 16

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Florida’s solid growth assured if we keep it simple

MARCH 30 – The biggest debate in Tallahassee and everywhere else in The Sunshine State, is the future direction on real estate and sales taxes.

There is a number of plans under scrutiny; everything from a complete elimination of the real estate tax coupled with a two-and-a-half percent increase in the sales tax for offset, to an increase in the homestead exemption to $50,000, coupled with a smaller increase in the sales tax.

As one examines the other various plans on assessment rollbacks to the years 2000 and 2001 and various increments of sales tax increase, one thing comes to the forefront. In most of the plans, certain groups will benefit more than others.

Coming, as I did, from Massachusetts, I know that a plethora of taxes, especially those that have real estate taxes as part of the package, will always be more detrimental to people than to corporations or business.

If taxes are increased to a business, it has several options; raise prices to offset, freeze wages, lay off workers, or, as many do, move to a state with low taxes and other perks as an inducement.

For the homeowner, options are limited to tightening the belt or selling.

I just received information from one of my sources in Taxachusetts (my brother, actually) that some 20,000 homeowners are being foreclosed: 2,000 in Boston proper.

One element that can’t be blamed would be mortgage interest rates, which are still low, but real estate taxes are astronomical. Thirty years ago, our four bedroom ranch in Peabody had a tax of over$2,000.

Additionally, the Bay State’s taxes on consumers includes an income tax, a sales tax, an excise tax on vehicles, and inheritance (death) tax, etc. etc., all evolved from a highly inflated year-round state government and countless numbers of state workers who represent a sizeable part of the electorate.

It is obvious that the more complex and difficult it is to comprehend a tax system and its bureaucracy, the more it will result in corruption and impossibility to apply the brakes. Consider that the state’s population numbers (around 6 million) have remained virtually static in the last 20 years, while the pols spent $15 billion on the “Big Dig” submerging Boston’s elevated highway underground and underwater.

Now called the world’s “biggest carwash” (it leaks), the Big Dig was originally budgeted at $2.5 billion in 1994 and scheduled to be completed in five years. It took eleven at 600 percent over budget.

Florida’s population has grown dramatically, and without debt, to become the fourth most populated state, with over 16 million residents. When, I first visited Florida in 1953, there were slightly over 3 million resident here. By 1960, that had doubled.

The secret of Florida’s growth, besides the weather, has been simplicity – low real estate taxes augmented by homestead exemptions, no income tax and a limited state government: in session once a year for six weeks.

My belief is that Florida can continue to grow solidly and be a haven to old and young alike, if it retains systematic simplicity and basic fairness in its methods of revenue collections, and not create a wall of complication for deviousness and cheating to hide behind.

For these reasons, I am in favor of the complete elimination of the real estate tax and increasing the sales tax to cover the shortage. This is simplicity with a capital “S” and brings everyone into the game.

In addition to creating a permanent real estate boom, the entire population, with no exceptions, would have a role in tax revenue production. Renters with children would be participating fully in school budgets. Illegals and green-carders would be contributing fully to the cost of government and social assistance programs, diminishing the amount they could send out of the country, and the criminal hidden cash society’s share would rise dramatically.

Low income retirees would be assured that their homes would remain in their ownership, and the greatly lowered monthly payments would open home ownership doors to vast numbers of people. Florida would become a top destination for companies to locate and competition for workers would stimulate wages.

Before you get exercised about the two-and-a –half percent sales tax increase, realize that this would amount to a mere additional $250 per $10,000 in purchases -- $500 on $20,000.

To put this in some sort of perspective, in 1965 (42 years ago), Florida had a three percent sales and use tax and a homestead exemption up to $5,000, except for special assessments such as paving and sewers. In addition, the head of household was entitled to an exemption of $1,000 on household goods. The state constitution prohibits an income tax.

Needless to say, we’ve come a long way, baby, in governmental services and programs. To swap soaring, no ceiling real estate taxes for an eight-and-a-half or nine-and-a-half percent sales tax is really a no-brainer.

See it big! Keep it simple!

“A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is his delight.”
Proverbs 11:1.

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When ex-presidents start religious cult, it’s time to pray

MARCH 16 – So, when your complete incompetence as president comes back to threaten the U.S. with violence a generation later, what’s your next target of opportunistic greed and hate?

Well, if you are Jimmy “The Wimp” Carter, assailing the Christian faith, upon which this nation was founded, becomes irresistible for pandering to the Licentious Left and the global America haters who are now your providers of wealth and fame.

During the last year, The Wimp has moved even further from the professed Southern Baptist Convention faith of his early years, which he left to join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship after the conservative wing took the SBC back from the liberals in the 1980s.

This time, joining with another former ultra-liberal president, Slick Willie, “the man from Plains” and “the man from Hope” have formed a “rope-a-dope” entity called “A New Baptist Covenant”.

According to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, the dynamic duo’s plan is to unite liberal Baptists and potential converts around policies in line with the Democrat Party.

I’m assuming these shared policies include abortion on demand, homosexual marriage, socialized medicine, high taxes, global warming attacks on our economy and surrender to Islamofascism; all according to their take on Scripture.

The Baptist Press and The Good Word newsletter report that our two former residents of D.C. are planning a 2008 convention as an adjunct to the primary activity and the presidential campaign.

As expected from a pseudo-Christian scenario, the BP and TGW state that the Carter Clinton Convention’s (my designation) main thrust will be on inclusiveness, poverty, the environmental movement and world peace. As Karl Marx would say, “Nuts of the world, unite! Throw off your chains!”

What will NOT be a goal of the “CCC” is the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus. “Go ye forth into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15.

Most of us can remember the shenanigans of Clinton’s years in Arkansas and Washington, but to today’s younger set, The Wimp is primarily some international player building homes occasionally for Habitat, supervising (?) third world elections and posing as someone who “earned” a Nobel Peace Prize.

To those of us, however, who lived through the Carter Catastrophe of 1976-80, our rescue by Ronald Reagan had to be an act of God in answer to prayer. Picture a healthy economy and strong international stature handed down from President Ford, transformed, virtually overnight, into double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment, a plunging stock market and first mortgage interest rates over 20 percent.

On top of that, 62 Americans at our embassy in Iran were taken hostage and held for 18 months, painting our nation as a weakling and undoubtedly emboldening and starting the terrorists on the road to 9/11 some two decades later.

It has been established that the present, U.S.-hating president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was the leader of the hostage takers against our embassy in 1979. Now, we face a nuclear threat from the thug who only remembers The Wimp’s wobbly knees.

Another legacy from the co-founder of A New Baptist Covenant is derived from his only display of forcefulness in those four years. Naturally, the forcefulness was against Israel, forcing them to return the Sinai to Egypt and setting up today’s pinched-down, terrorist-surrounded Israel – all at the heart of the Mid-East maelstrom, constant confrontations with Gaza and Lebanon, and the gathering storm with Iran.

Anyone requiring evidence of this, need only read The Wimp’s latest travesty against the only democracy in the Mid-East, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. This self-absorbed student of altered history states therein that Israel’s behavior is on the same level as the treatment of blacks under apartheid in South Africa, which ended in 1996.

As a pair of co-conspirators, Carter and Clinton are, undoubtedly, the two worst behaving ex-presidents in our history, greedily gathering fortunes by bad-mouthing their successors and former denomination, and acting in behalf of foreign forces; many of whom are our enemies. “Speechifying Willie” garnered $40 million last year alone, bustin’ our chops all over the globe.

The Wimp’s latest lies in his book have prompted the resignation of 15 directors from the Carter Center at Emory University, in protest over his dishonesty and unabashed pro-Palestinian, anti Israel stance, wherein he goes so far as to endorse Palestinian terrorism as justified until Israel grants all their demands.

Clinton’s years of compliance with mass murderer Yasser Arafat’s intafada assault on Israeli civilians makes him the perfect companion for this new wing of the Democrat Party. As these two false prophets couple up to assault our nation’s second largest denomination, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Hillary emerge as some sort of cult goddess.

With the majority of black churches getting a pass on pulpit permits for liberal politicians, in spite of tax laws prohibiting such candidate promotion, it was inevitable that the two biggest hypocrites of recent history would erect their own pulpits for political propaganda.

After all, didn’t liberals label Bill Clinton as this country’s first black president?

“The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of the fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves; as in the days of Gibeah; therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.” Hosea 9:8 and 9.

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If scientific method is used, global warming ended at Kyoto

MARCH 9 – As al-Gore would say, “Used to be, I couldn’t even spell ‘climatologist’. Now, I are one!”

Thanks to the local metropolitan daily’s weather page, I have been able to study the warmest days on record, going back a century or more.

Now, it has always been the criteria of the scientific method that observation of repeat occurrences is the key to scientific law and truth. Anything that can’t be observed in the same exact manner, in repetition, remains a theory, i.e., the Theory of Evolution versus the Law of Gravity.

I can remember when the evolution proponents claimed for over a century after Darwin, that it was happening too slowly for scientific observation. Then, when that got old and tired, the claim was switched to, “It’s happening too fast for observation”.

Fortunately, I had the scientific record on temperatures in Central Florida to “observe” in my ascent to the rank of climatologist. (At least, in al-Gore’s training mode.)

I selected February, since it is the middle-of-winter month and this year, when the global warming crowd has gone hysterical, February has seen record-setting winter blasts across our nation, with week-long 14 foot snow storms in parts of the northeast.

Central Florida is especially fitting since it has two coastlines and has been designated by “warmers” as one of the “to-be-submerged” states when the polar caps melt over the next century.

Certainly, with the emerging of the Kyoto Accords in 1994, one would expect a series of ever-warming Februaries in the 13 years since then. But, actually, only four February days have been the warmest since Kyoto: Feb. 14, 1997 (88)- Feb.16, 2001 (87)- Feb. 22, 2003 (88)- and Feb. 6, 2004 (85). Please note that the most recent was the coolest.

The record holder of the warmest February days occurred almost a half-century ago in 1962, with the two highest at 90 on Feb. 24 and 25, and three others that same year of 1962: Feb.19 (88)- Feb. 23 (88)- and Feb.27 (89).

The furthest back was in 1945, when it hit 87 on Feb. 13. Second furthest back was on Feb. 8 and 9, 1949, when it hit 85 and 86 respectively.

If al-Gore and his fellow travelers can use a one degree rise over a century (that’s one one-hundreth of a degree per year), I can certainly use the February warmest days record in a key area like Central Florida for my “Convenient Rebuke”.

The Floridians along the coasts should be feeling a lot better after the recent report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Syndicated columnist William Rusher reported that British analyst Christopher Munckton “points out that the new summary from the IPCC more than halved its previous high-end estimate of the rise in sea level by 2100 from 3 feet to just 17 inches.” Rusher notes that Gore predicts 20 to 30 feet.

You can bet your oceanfront property that the next IPCC warming report in five or six years will state 8 or 9 inches of sea rise, and then lower as the ruse gets less attention. What rise al-Gore will bloviate in “An Inconvenient Truth II” will certainly depend on whether the liberal elites have moved on to another source of hysteria, as has been their history.

Managing Editor Jay Nordlinger of the National Review made some interesting observations after noting the warming hysteria at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this year.

“I grew up during the coming ice age,” he said to a taunting Forum official, “when we were in for a terrible freeze. There would be cross-country skiing in Miami.

“We also had a population scare. Remember population? It was the global warming of its time. Our planet was being choked off because there were too many people –too many mouths to feed – too many bodies to care for. The phrase “population control” was on everybody’s lips.

“Then sometime in the 1990s, I began hearing about a ‘birth dearth’. And – come to think of it – I haven’t heard the phrase ‘population control’ in years.”

Like Nordlinger, I remember all this nonsense in the years since World War II.

And, don’t forget the bomb shelter building in the early Cold War years and the DDT elimination in the wake of Rachael Carson’s Silent Spring drivel, that led to the deaths by malaria of tens of innocent millions worldwide.

Add on to all this, avian flu, mad cow disease, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, overweight, etc., etc., and the real mass threats, like the AIDS plague, can’t get any leverage or meaningful space.

Floridians should know better, and undoubtedly, al-Gore’s defeat in 2000, because of the Sunshine State, was truly poetic justice and Divine intervention.

I remember driving down to spring breaks in the early 1950s. Crossing the Florida line was synonymous with “All the orange juice you can drink for 25 cents.,” in grove stand after grove stand.

At that time the “Citrus Line” was well north of Orlando, with some groves as far north as south Georgia. Because of freezes, especially in ’83, ’85 and ’89, that line is now estimated to be below Lakeland, well over 100 miles further south.

The only question I have now is, “Can al-Gore really spell climatologist?”

“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.”

Psalm 24: 1 - 2

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If a Dem were president, Iraq’s progress would dominate the news

MARCH 2 – The Democrat surrender brigade in the U.S. Congress went through the bottom of the barrel this week, attacking our Constitution once more with a concentrated effort against the authority of the commander-in-chief as granted by that document.

Article II, Section 2 states, “The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”

Although, the Dems’ leaders, presidential hopefuls and their stooges in the drive-by media pretend that their concern is for the lives of our troops in Iraq, their main fear is of a successful occupation and the establishment of a stable government.

I say occupation because, despite their constant use of the term “war”, it is a misnomer employed for propagandas purposes only, in a shameless attempt to wrest complete political power by fooling a U.S. Population, who are denied information of the many successes our commander-in-chief and his brave, dedicated troops have accomplished despite the Dems’ backstabbing and flip-flopping.

According to Webster’s Unabridged, war cannot exist between two nations unless, each has its own government. Obviously, Osama bin-Laden hiding in some cave is not a government.

What the Dems and their media flaks don’t want you to know are any of the following.Forty-seven countries have reestablished their embassies in Iraq.

Some 3,100 schools have been renovated, 364 are under rehabilitation, 263 new ones are under construction and 38 new ones are completed.

At a higher level, 20 universities, 46 institutes or colleges and four research centers are all currently operating.

The Iraqi Navy is operational with five 100-foot patrol boats, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment. The Iraqi Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, which include 9 reconnaissance and three C-130 transports. Being added are 16 UH-1 helicopters and four Bell Jet Rangers.Iraq has a counter-terrorism unit and Commando Battalion.

The police service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers with five police academies producing 3,500 new officers every eight weeks.

By mid-October, 2006, 4.3 million children were enrolled in Iraqi primary schools; nearly 20 percent of the nation’s 26 million total population. More than 1100 building projects are underway, including the above mentioned schools, 67 public clinics, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.

Iraq has 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers and phone use has risen 158 percent. The Iraqi independent media consists of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 TV stations.The Baghdad Stock Exchange will be three years old in June.

Comparing the list above with our media’s daily fixation on car bombings and isolated violence in a country the size of California could not have been scripted any closer to terrorist strategy; even by bin-Laden himself.

It is obvious from the list of accomplishments and present projects, that Saddam Hussein’s building of scores of extravagant palaces, torture chambers, Kurd gassings, mass grave digging and wars against his neighbors, didn’t leave much for Iraq’s public needs. But, the continuing betrayal of our nation and our armed forces by the left is loud and clear and certainly responsible for many of our battle deaths and wounded.

What would be our reaction if The London Times and other foreign newspapers and television outlets only reported stories our horrific homicides (17,000 plus a year) with a running daily account, or our traffic deaths (45,000 plus) and ignored our roaring economy, massive higher education development, the wonder that is our national infrastructure and the positive paths we pursue daily in the face of terrorists threats and the treasonous actions of Democrats in Congress.

I’m sure we have as many murderers in our country as there are dedicated killers in Iraq, whether they be religious zealots, outside invaders or just resident Iraqi maniacs. That doesn’t mean we abandon our society to them or the mission called “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

Even to suggest deserting theses survivors of three decades of Hussein’s horrors, when they are so far advanced on the road to freedom, makes World War II’s “Greatest Generation” look like suckers for their sacrifices in Europe, Asia and around the world.

If the Dems keep it up, we’ll go down as the “Sorriest Generation.”

“I have heard them that regard lying vanities, but I trust in the LORD.
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble;
thou hast known my soul in adversities;”
Psalm 31: 6 and 7.

Columnist note: Facts on Iraq’s projects and progress are verifiable on the
Department of Defense web site. http://www.defenselink.mil/

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The real ‘Inconvenient Truth’ on al-Gore written in 1993

FEBRUARY 23 – Did you ever wonder how the collapse of the Soviet Union and the worldwide Red Menace in the early 1990s was followed so quickly by the appearance of the “Green Movement”, global warming and the Kyoto Treaty of 1994?
Only 20 years earlier, global cooling was the dire threat with massive crop failures and worldwide starvation predicted for just about Kyoto time. And, a very mediocre journalist and homebuilder from Tennessee, who inherited his father’s U.S. Senate seat, had become vice president of our nation under a president who had expressed hatred for our military forces; a president who had spent a mysterious six-week winter sabbatical from Oxford University behind the Iron Curtain, at the height of the Cold War.
Looking in the rear view mirror some 14 years later, and seeing today’s galloping green madness of our Licentious Left, the U.N. and worldwide mass media, it is now a certainty that the column I wrote in May of 1993 was much more than informed speculation. The headline was, “Green as in Global, Gorby, Gore, Godless.”
MAY 7, 1993 – I always admire people who can make a call years in advance, then have it come off exactly as predicted and yet, so off the wall in its details that you are flabbergasted.

One such instance involves a man named David Smith who is head of the Church of God Evangelistic Association and the editor of Newswatch magazine. The secular world and some segments of the religious world dismiss him as a “conspiracy nut.”

Smith happens to have a weekly program on Christian TV and in June of 1991, he was making some comments regarding the recent economic crash of the iron curtain countries and the obvious upheaval approaching in what was then the Soviet Union. The coup against Mikhail Gorbachev was still two months away.

Noting that communism and socialism were now in disgrace as a failed political and philosophical systems, Smith predicted that the elaborate, sophisticated apparatus they had assembled throughout the free world, would move into the environmental movement and continue toward the goal of world domination through crippling regulations on industry and societies.
Being a “conspiracy nut” myself, I sat up as he said, “what was red will now be green.”

Now, when a person who is a media darling with international stature does something with global consequences, it should appear on network news. If it doesn’t, it’s a journalistic oversight, maybe. When, however, three such people participate in such an activity and receive this degree of non-coverage, then it’s a conspiracy, hands down.

A miniscule three-inch story on page 25 of the May 3 issue of TIME magazine had a small headline that stopped me cold: “From Red To Green.” Smith’s words of 23 months ago were now a reality.
Apparently, almost completely wrecking the environment of Eastern Europe and the USSR qualifies a person to be put in charge of an entity called the International Green Cross. Our old friend Gorbachev was made president of this “new environmental organization that hopes to do for man-made disasters what the Red Cross does for the natural kind.” I guess wars are now considered natural disasters.

The installation took place in Kyoto, Japan last week and included former United Nations’ Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar (Peru) and Mother Theresa as Green Cross directors. Dan Rather, call your office!

Naturally, the support organization of all this is something called the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, based in the Sodom on the Hudson, a.k.a. New York City.
A phone call there got me a voluminous fax with a lot of New Age proposals and stated goals of wiping out consumerism and getting the human race to radically “change its values.”

A funding statement included the U.N., the governments of Canada, Finland, Holland, Norway and Sweden, and the Ford, McArthur and Rockefeller foundations (autos, insurance, oil and other such non-consumerism industries). Japan’s Center for Global Action was also listed. I thought World War II was over.

Gorby’s speech in Kyoto was pure socialism wrapped in environmental Newspeak. A good example was, “Traditional forms of ideology (read democracy) including religious ideology (read Christianity) have not been able to unite the masses (Mark’s and Lenin’s favorite word) of people in order to find a way out of the (environmental) crisis. Too often, modern nations (read United States), satisfying their selfish, narrow aims, undermine the global conditions of life on earth.”

Another release from the Kyoto Global Forum reads like the Wicca Handbook for Witches in Training, concluding with, “We need the traditional arts (read sorcery) to root us in enduring values and to connect us back to nature, the source of all our values.”

Now that Gorby is ensconced as Big Brother of all these “Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders”, why do I feel so wary of all the greenhouse gasses coming from Kyoto and enveloping the tattered remains of the U.S. Constitution.

Not surprisingly, at the bottom of a long list of Global Forum socialist big wigs is executive committee member and Mr. Greenjeans himself, the honorable Vice President Al Gore, in happy servitude as Big Red becomes Big Green for the Big Showdown.

David Smith, call my office!

“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood,
and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up,
and all green grass was burnt up.”
Revelation 8:7.

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Rich liberal pols into socialism give me the “Willies”

FEBRUARY 16 – Don’t you just love people who say, “If I knew then, what I know now, I would have done things completely different.”

I am, of course, referring to that fount of wisdom, that sage of the Senate, and superstar of surrealism and socialism, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Imagine listening to this pap for four or eight years, every time one of her presidential policy moves ends up in disaster.

On this basis, every Congressman in D.C. on December 8, 1941 would be justified in recanting their war vote in August of 1945 after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked.

“If we knew the nukes were coming, we could have just held the line at Hawaii and waited for the atomic bomb. We would have saved over 200,000 Americans from dying in battle on Pacific islands.”

One of those who voted for total war against Japan, after “the day of infamy” in 1941, was Harry Truman. If he had only known then, what he knew in 1945. Yeah, sure.

Hillary’s main competition now looks like the “wunderkind” from Illinois, Barack Obama, who is a socialist in everything except personal income pursuits. I still wonder how a guy who was just taking a seat in the U.S. Senate in January of 2005, gets a $1.9 million book deal at that time.

Remember when Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was offered a $4 million book deal in 1995 after 18 years in the House, the drive-by media went ballistic and forced him to not only give up the deal, but eventually to resign his office.

Yet, here’s Obama, with all of 18 days in the Senate, getting a $1.9 million book deal and he’s running for president two years later. Tom DeLay, call your former office!

I’m hoping one of these two socialists gets the Dems’ nod for their 2008 candidate, but I really think that Hillary will self-destruct in spite of her historic war chest. (no pun intended).

The latest silly skit from Osama (oops) Obama was his alignment with Abraham Lincoln in announcing his candidacy for president in front of the Old State House in Springfield, Illinois. Don’t tell me. Next, we’ll see him lying in front of a fireplace reading the Koran by firelight. Nobody will convince me that this guy is a Christian with his endorsement of unborn baby slaughter with public financing and embryonic stem cell homicide. Let’s not forget his Islamic grammar schooling in Indonesia.

How ridiculous can he get in trying to meld with a president who sacrificed over 600,000 American lives to preserve the Union, while he opposes a present day effort against Islamofascists that want to destroy that Union; an effort that has cost less than one-half-of-one-percent of Civil War battle deaths in about the same period of time.

On that score, The New York Times stated that Obama points out in almost every speech he gives, that he “opposed the war from the start.”

Since, he didn’t come into the Senate until 2005, I’m sure there’s a record somewhere of that opposition way back in 2002 when he was in the Illinois Legislature. Or, is there? Did the Illinois Legislature vote on Operation Iraqi Freedom in 1992, or did Osama (oops) Obama catch “Murtha Madness” in 2005.

Somehow, I got a deep down feeling that this opposition “from the start” (that’s right after 9/11) is linked to the to the middle name that the Licentious Left and their media cohorts have dropped completely; that being Barack “Hussein” Obama Jr.

If the Republicans have any sense of strategy left at all, the middle name, Hussein, will be included on each and every occasion of referring to him.

Please note that the press and Dems had no problem extolling Franklin Delano Roosevelt, James Earl Carter, Lyndon Baines Johnson, William Jefferson Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, etc., etc.

I think Barack Hussein Obama has a nice ring and reflects perfectly on a presidential hopeful who wants to surrender the Middle East to terrorists and expose all of us to violent death and destruction as domestic defenses become the front line.

Of course, Hillary is not known for her gentleness when it comes to opponents. Her death squads may preempt GOP reluctance to do a job on “Hussein” and his premature ambitions to be president.

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, and specifically the U.S., President Bush’s strategy on taking the war to the terrorists in their own backyard continues to work brilliantly with no domestic attacks or casualties after five-and-a-half years, and the economy breaking all records.

According to economist Michael Darda, as reported by financial columnist Larry Kudlow, real wages over the first five years of the Bush expansion are growing more rapidly than over the first five years of the Papa Bush/Clinton boom.

Further, unemployment remains low at only 4-5 percent, and federal, state and local tax revenues are soaring through the roof, with budget deficits plunging.

“Family wealth stands at a record of slightly over $54 trillion,” writes Kudlow. “and total employment is at a record 146 million.”

Just the thought of “Slick Hilly” or “Hussein” manhandling our national security and economy with their socialism solutions is enough to give me the “Willies”.

“An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge
shall the just be delivered.” Proverbs 11:9.

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Footwear fashion, flip-flop, now prime political strategy

FEBRUARY 2 – Normally, when U.S. Senator Chuck “Where’s the Cameras” Schumer (D.- N.Y.) starts talking on TV, I switch channels or turn the set off. But, this week, I stayed with it for a few minutes on Fox and Friends’ early morning show, primarily, because I was getting dressed and couldn’t get to the remote quickly.

It was fortunate, because he made a few comments that I found somewhat interesting. One of them – “People need choice. They make mistakes and need a way to correct them.”

He followed this bromide with a declaration that the majority of the middle class was anti-choice and that the Democrats would have to overcome this, because without the middle class’ future support, the 2006 vote would just be an aberration (a one time thing).

It made me wonder if “Chuckie” is signaling a possible turn of the Democrat party to a pro-life stance in order to regain the presidency in 2008 and cement their hold on the Congress far into the 21st century.

Before you start laughing, it’s not too hard to imagine this 180 degree shift when you consider the complete lack of integrity displayed by Chuck and his peers in their treasonous, lying reversal of their 2003 declarations and support of Operation Iraqi Freedom – all for strictly political purposes.

I can hear them now. “We have been tricked by the “Choice” crowd and the National Organization of Women (NOW). Mistakes occur when you’re not aware of what’s the right or wrong thing to do. Certainly these women knew they weren’t skiing or horseback riding when they were conceiving these children. And, those who helped murder 45 million kids in the womb, certainly didn’t do that by mistake.”

I’m sure they’ll cite the late Ronald Reagan who, as governor of California in 1967, signed a very liberal abortion law. When that law resulted in more deaths, prior to Roe v. Wade, than in any other state, Reagan repented and became intently pro-life for the rest of his political and retirement years.

In an article for the January 29 issue of National Review, Kate O’Beirne, as part of a piece on Mitt Romney, cites this reversal as well as Bush I and Bush II, who were both on the pro-choice side initially, but later changed their position – Bush I in the presidential campaign of 1980 running with Reagan. Bush II changed from pro-choice in his 1978 campaign for Congress to pro-life in the run for Texas governor in 1992 and has remained so ever since.

The latest national switch for an upcoming presidential campaign would be former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney. O’beirne quotes Romney in his 1994 race for the Senate against Ted “The Swimmer” Kennedy, as he assured Planned Parenthood and NARAL on his support of the Roe v. Wade decision.

“Women,” he stated then, “should be free to choose based on their beliefs, not mine and not the governments.” I’m sure Ted Bundy et.al, would agree heartily with this philosophy.

Today, Bundy (Oops), Romney says, “I had this issue wrong in the past.”

Of course, flip plops in recent political history are common practice and being utilized by office seekers with reckless abandon. The prime example, so far, would be Senator John F. Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign would certainly be the flip flop blueprint of the modern era – the most famous line of many being, “I voted for the war in Iraq, before I voted against it.”

Of course, practically all of the Democrat politicians of the past three decades were abortion flip floppers, first being vehemently against and then passionately for the murder of the unborn.

Most famous would be Bill Clinton, Al “Global Warmer” Gore, Harry Reid, “Lalapelosi”, and, of course, Ted “The Swimmer.”

Right now, it’s finally starting to sink in on the American public that, while the Dems are crying and mooning over 3,000 American battle deaths in the last four years, they are supporting and cheering on the slaughter of 45 million babies in the last 35.

As scientific advances in viewing the vibrancy and humanity of the unborn in their mothers’ wombs have become more spectacular, now almost standard fare on TV, the public is becoming more appalled at its own apathy up until now.

There’s no doubt that the Dems are petrified at the thought of President Bush succeeding in the establishment of a true democracy in a Muslim nation. This would send their party into the backbenches for decades.

With this potential disaster as a strong possibility (Remember the 15 million purple thumbs?), “Chuckie” could be signaling the only major flip the Dems would be left with in 2008.

Certainly, the minimum wage, Social Security, healthcare or global warming could not compete with the U.S.I. (United States of Iraq).

Would their mea culpa on abortion offset the party that delivered on national security? I don’t think so.

“Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill (emphasis mine); though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.”
Jeremiah 49:16.

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Scientist, statistician, supercomputer stamp Scripture "sound scenario"

JANUARY 26 - Columnist's Note: While other pundits and newspapers selected various events of 2006 as the most consequential, meaningful and world changing, I have waited until the smoke (and mirrors) cleared for my selection. Following is a repeat of my column of July 7, detailing the confirmation and dependability of God's Word and its direct effect not only on our immediate future, but for all eternity.

JULY 7 - In a recent revelation. A computer scientist, using the God-inspired supercomputer, established with "mathematical certainty, that about 5,000 to 7,000 years ago - everybody living today has exactly the same set of ancestors.

"In other words, every person who was alive at that time is either an ancestor to all 6 billion people living today, or their line has died out and they have no remaining descendants."

The report by Matt Crenson of the Associated Press covers the recent findings of scientist Steve Olsen, author of Mapping Human History. Olsen, working with a statistician, a computer scientist and the supercomputer, not surpisingly, arrived at a timeline in human history that coincides exactly with that of the Bible.

The one point on which I disagree with Olsen is the unsubstantiated evolution preface where "he traces the history of the human species since its origins in Africa more than 100,000 years ago." Despite a century-and-a-half of digging and moving billions of tons of dirt, sand and rocks, etc., no transitional fossil of animal to human has been found, although a number of them have been faked, beginning with the "Peking Man" early in the 20th century.

Coincidentally (?!), in the July/August issue of The American Spectator, senior editor Tom Bethell details the 50-year failure of the scientific community in developing an "artificial intelligence" that comes anywhere near that of man.

Despite the predictions of leading computer scientists at a Dartmouth conference 50 years ago, there has been no progress as to machines forming abstractions of their own.

A prospectus for another similar conference in Switzerland this summer states: "Not only is natural intelligence far from being understood and artificial intelligence still so much more primitive than natural ones, but seemingly simple tasks like object manipulation and recognition, which a 3-year-old can do, have not been recognized artificially - the capabilities of current robots fall far short of the intelligence of even very simple animals."

If one combines Olsen's 5,000-to-7,000-year timeline on the common ancestors of our present 6 billion population with the totally unique, non-reproducible mind and intelligence of mankind, what springs forth is the Bible's book of Genesis, with the fall of our two original "created" ancestors circa 7,000 B.C.; the flood circa 5,000 B.C.,

leaving Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, Japeth and their four wives the only survivors.
Some 4,000 years later, when David and others of that era wrote the Book of Psalms, Egypt is referred to as the "Land of Ham" in three separate verses (see Psalms 105 and 106).
This would back up Olsen's unequivocal statement - "That means everybody on Earth descends from somebody who was around as recently as the reign of Tutankhamen, maybe even during the Golden Age of Greece."

Similarly, Bethell's account of the chasms of disparity between human, animal and artificial intelligence essentially confirms the impossibility of human intelligence, or man himself, as having evolved.

Anyone desiring to read the most beautiful, introspective and humble prose ever written, simply has to read King David's Psalms. According to Olsen, this mind involved in some five thousand years following a giant leap out of Africa. He gets halfway to the truth, but then falls back into the preposterous primeval ooze of evolution.

If artificial intelligence designers ever even get to a 10-year-old human level, the Tower of Babel would have to reach to the moon.

For the secularists among you who consider the Song of Solomon or Proverbs to be counterfeit, or don't like their God-driven overtones, try Homer's Iliad or Odyssey, or the works of Socrates. To think that our mental capacity or intelligence has improved (evolved further) over that early time in civilization is foolishness.

Knowledge has increased surely, but mental capacity is as God created it to receive his "inspiration".

This is exemplified, Bethell writes, in the fact that feeding common sense into computers has turned out to be extraordinarily difficult.

He states that even small children know millions of things, and they learn them in the first two or three years of life without having them taught or realizing they are learning anything.
What these two articles demonstrate is that the more mankind tries to claim independence from the Creator, the more he is inspired to return to the biblical truth.

"Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die,
and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created;
and thou renewest the face of the earth."

Psalm 104: 29 and 30.

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Boxer's blow below belt, shows utter disdain of Amlerican way

JANUARY 19 - United States Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice took one below the belt during a Senate hearing last week from another California immigrant from the Eastern liberal establishment, appropriaately named "Boxer."

House Speaker "Lalapelosi" has Baltimore roots, but Sen. Barbara Boxer (D.-Calif.), with a Brooklyn origin, can be quite a bit more offensive, even when addressing a member of the president's cabinet.

Noting that Sec. Rice was single without children, "Bebe" stated the she (Rice) would pay no personal price for the policy in Iraq.

In essence, the sage from Brooklyn has postulated that people without sons, daughters, husbands, wives, siblings, etc., who could become battle casualties, cannot partake of policymaking, governance, opinion holding or even voting for presidents and political representation.

Boxer could not have displayed more ignorance of the basic foundation of our nation, or the sheer depth of her devotion to partisan politics, than in the shallowness of her remarks to Rice.

Every citizen, during every war in our history, has faced the loss of freedom and the loss of their own lives.

If those serving in the fields of battle are undermined, denied support and lose, then, we are all lost; either to be killed or enslaved.

This has never been more true since the end of the Cold War, as we face the Islamofascist, estimated at 10 percent of the worldwide Muslim population. That would be a mass of 130 million hate-filled killers ­minimum.

The typical Dem and media labeling of this globally based threat as "The War in Iraq," is an attempt to spread confusion and dissent among, our citizens, solely for the acquisition of power. The war being waged is a global one and Iraqi Afghanistan are only two of the fronts.

I can remember in 1948, when West Germany was still in turmoil three years after the "official" cessation, many U.S. newspapers, led by The New York Times, were advocating a withdrawal of our occupation forces. Those forces, like the ones now in Iraqi Afghanistan, three years after the war ended, were assisting in the establishment of a democracy.

Can you imagine what Europe would look like today if we had followed the call to "cut and run?"

The millions that would have been added to the war casualties would have mirrored those that came later in Vietnam and Pol Pot's Cambodia from the "Cronkite Doctrine."

Unfortunately, the rationale of Joseph Stalin is still controlling the world view of liberals pols, who profess concern for life, but limit that concern to immediate, potential voters.

Stalin stated that, "The loss of one human life is a tragedy, but the loss of a million lives is just a statistic."

This philosophy is perfectly reflected in Boxer's virtually inhuman accusation of Rice's lack of genuine concern or qualifications for policy making that will bear directly on human safety, since she has "no immediate family."

Rice is now on her seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East in the past nine months, and I'm sure her motivavation isn't that she likes bagels or Mediterranean sunsets.

Ostensibly, the purpose of the mission is to push Israel forward on resolving some of the smaller issues that are obstructing the so-called road map to peace.

My feeling is that the trip was initiated by Iran's latest nuclear push and its madman Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadenejad's escalating calls to obliterate Israel.

In the January 7 London Sunday Times, it was reported that the Israeli Air Force was preparing to carry out a nuclear attack. According to the report, IAF pilots had been undergoing special training in Gibraltar and three flight paths to target sites in Iran were finalized.

The plan calls for bunker busting bombs to open tunnels through the steel and concrete shields at the Natanz plant, followed by small tactical nuclear bombs into the facility. Conventional bombs are planned for the other two sites at Isfahan and Arak.

The IAF destroyed Iraq's nuclear facility in 1983, following threats by Saddam Hussein. Ahmadenejad's threats have been much more strident and direct than Hussein's were 23 years ago.

Sec. Rice, unfortunately, has to enter this lions' den with the insulting sendoff of Boxer as her main accompaniment and support.

It's really damaging to our nation when disordered liberals fail or refuse to understand that, to loyal Americans, all service people are our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives, and when they fall in the, fight to preserve our freedom and safety, we all mourn for them.

From 1775 to 2007, it's the American way!

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13

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Get it right - Shakespeare didn't say, 'To flee or not to flee'

JANUARY 5 - I've been reading columnist Joseph Sobran for some 15 years, not because I like his writing, but it's always interesting to watch a liberal posing as a conservative transition slowly into the RlNO (Republican In Name Only) stage. Inevitably, they can't stop the exposure of liberalism from their own mouth; in this case from the pen.

I fIrst noticed his writing in conservative publications, because he had (and still has) a fixation on William Shakespeare as not being the author of all those brilliant plays. He has offered a few substitutes such as Christopher Marlowe, with highly debatable evidence.

I was attracted by the columns because I majored in English at Harvard and enjoyed a two semester lecture series on The Bard by one of the leading scholars on him at the time. Professor Levine always began his lecture series with the admonition that certain individuals were always suspect about the plays' real authorship.

But, he concluded, "I am convinced that if Shakespeare didn't write them, some other guy named Shakespeare did."

It was, therefore, astounding to me that Sobran, who claims familiarity with the details of history in the 16th century, could write the following in his Dec. 14, 2006 column. To wit - "Bush has been a worse calamity for this country than 9/11 itself. The 2008 election, like this year's, will be a repudiation of the worst president by far, in most Americans' memory." Alec Baldwin, call your office.

Here's a man whose memory can't reach back more than six years obviously, making accusations against one of the most successful presidents in the memory of vast numbers of Americans, and who knows how many tens of thousands of those saved from repeats of 9/11 style attacks; saved by superb security strategies including attacking the terrorists on their own ground.

If we grade worst presidents on the basis of U.S. Military battle deaths, let's see the math: Roosevelt - WWII, 291,557; Truman - Korea, 33,746; Johnson - Vietnam, 47,355; Bush - 41 - Desert Storm, 147; Bush - 43 - Operation Iraqi Freedom, 3,000.

In case good old Joe missed it, the stock market's Dow Jones Average closed for the year at a record high of 12,463 plus, the U.S economy is booming with little inflation, low interest rates, virtually no unemployment, record job creation, and low taxes coupled with a great increase in federal revenues for defIcit reduction. That's a mouthful, "unsayable" since the Reagan years.

I don't have to strain my memory to remember Jimmie "the Wimp" Carter's late 1970s near depression economy, with over 12 percent inflation, over 10 percent unemployment and home mortgage interest topping 20 percent. Commies rolled it up on the Wimp's watch and the desecration of our embassy and personnel in Iran was one of the worst blotches on our historical record.

But, Joe, let's just go back a few years without memory strain to the Clintonistas and an administration that began with the fIrst terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and ended with presidential impeachment for lying under oath and being disbarred for same.

In between was the attack on the USS Cole, three American embassies destroyed in Africa with hundreds killed, refusal to take possession of bin Laden when offered at least twice
By Sudan and a general laxness on security that paved the way for the terrorists' success on 9/11.

The last is substantiated by the traitorous actions of former Clinton security adviser Sandy "Burglar" Berger who fIlched top secret fIles from the National Archives and shredded them to protect the Clintonista regime from further disgrace in the hearings of the 9/11 Commission. "Burglar's" $50,000 fIne and probation sentence were a disgrace to fallen Americans, both civilian and military.

Also interspersed through eight years of "scumbaggerry" were Whitewatergate, Filegate, Cattlegate, Shreddergate, Paulagate, Travelgate, Pardongate, Monicagate, Blackhawkdowngate, etc., etc. Apparently, to get on Sobran's list of successful presidents, treason, terrorist successes, corruption and economic collapse are the criteria that count.

For someone who prides himself on Shakespearian knowledge, Sobran's criteria for a successful leader are more in line with The Bard's deceivers than those who fought for justice against evil, even if it meant their lives.

Apropos to our brave troops, would be Shakespeare's most famous lines from Hamlet. "To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?"

What has been the worst calamity for this country since 9/11, and the worst citizens, by far, in most Americans' memory, are people like Joseph Sobran, who are determined to pull us down, and who obviously despise a truly God-fearing president.

"Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth
not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies."

Psalm 40: 4.

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The Russians are coming, but this time, in Allah's name

DECEMBER 29 - As we start another year with our government, military and media fixated upon the Middle East as being the source or solution to our foreign relations future and homeland security, I can't avoid an accumulative perspective that keeps me looking back to that part of the globe from which most of the world's darkness flowed in the 20th century.

I refer, of course, to that nine time-zone monstrosity known as Russia, "The Cradle of Communism, Leninism, Stalinism," etc.

As one who lived through both ends of the Cold War and near fatal thrust of the "Red Menace," I really can't dismiss the threat of this enslavement philosophy that was spread by soulless criminals in every major continent for most of that century.

To a large part of our nation's and the world's population names like Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Aleksei Kosygin, Yuri Andopov, and even Mikhail Gorbachev, are not recalled for their oppression, in the Soviet Union and satellite nations.

For myself, however, they are still real in their godless pursuit of power through the impoverished hopelessness of Marxist-Leninist masses.

In the December 31 issue of National Review, my favorite columnist, Mark Steyn, reignited my, shall we say, wariness of the Russian Bear's continuing presence as he factually projects the Muslim metamorphosis in the world's largest geographical country. Steyn, a former Brit, now a U.S. citizen and resident of New Hampshire, has the unique perspective of both European and American vision.

Try this Steyn grabber: "Just as the export of Russia's ideology was the biggest destabilizing factor in the last century, so the implosion of that ideology could be one of the biggest ones in this century.

"That's to say, what's left of the Soviet Union has hit the apocalyptic jackpot.

"The Middle East has Islarnists, Africa has AIDS and North Korea has nukes, but only Russia has the lot - a diseased riddled Slav population jostling atop a colossal nuclear arsenal."

I've been skittish about the "Bear" ever since Boris Yeltsin decided he loved vodka more than a democratic republic and Vladimir Putin became the fifth prime minister in 18 months and the third in a row drawn from the KGB secret police. I think we have to agree that the "third time never fails" to reveal the true source of Russia's political power and eventual regression.

Other reminders from Steyn are that of Moscow's 10-million population, 25 percent (2.5 million) of which are Muslims and that of the national Russian population, Muslims have increased 40 percent in the last 15 years, while Russian men record rates of heart and liver disease, drug addiction and AIDS.

Moreover, predictions are that by 2015 (just nine years from now), the Russian army will be made up of a Muslim majority, controlling one of the world's biggest nuclear and conventional arms stockpile.

Putin's war on private enterprise, free press and former Soviet agents critical of him, has produced a sinking economy and living standard reminiscent of the Soviet era.

Last year (2005), Russia's per capita domestic product was below one-third of Slovenia's and half of Hungary's. Remember1956 and the Soviet oppression of that slave state's rebellion - "This is Hungary calling."

When you consider a country almost twice the size of the United States, with unlimited natural resources, but only half our population, it's obvious that the return to the gangster ideology is turning back the clock.

This would not be completely bad for the world except for the surge of Muslim numbers now turning into a flood. With seven of ten ethnic Russian pregnancies ending in abortion, and some Muslim communities
reporting a fertility rate of 10 pregnancies per woman, just do the math.

I thought, formerly, that the biblical account of the armies of the north of Gog and Magog, that invade Israel, with five-sixths of them being annihilated by God on the mountains of Israel, would be a hired mercenary army from a cash-strapped Russia, paid for with Arab oil riches.

It now looks like the Muslims are on the brink of doing to the Putin Gang what the Leninists did to the Czar of Russia in 1918.

At best, it appears that the Western powers have less than nine years before the Russian military goes Islamofascist. The flood of Muslim immigrants into Western Europe, however, will surely speed up the clock as our "allies'" present weaseling turns into outright animosity against the U.S.

If Americans are being cowed by the present extremely low number of battle casualties, after almost five years in Iraq, just wait until the Red Bear raises the Red Crescent over the Kremlin.

Hopefully, they'll head for the mountains of Israel on their initial foray.

"Therefore thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; behold, I am against thee, a Gog, the chief prince of Mesech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains ofIsrael:" Ezekiel 39:1-2.

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NEW HOUSE SPEAKER'S MAIN TALENT IS A 'LALAPELOSI'

NOVEMBER 17 - First let me say that the leftist media claim of a smashing defeat for the Republican Congress is, to quote Mark Twain, "greatly exaggerated."

Actually, the number of Democrats who assumed control of the House is right on the average swing number in such midterm elections of the past 50 years, and the Senate majority by one seat really boiled down to less than 8,000 votes out of more than 2 million in Senator Allen's Virginia race. Please note, that in the leftist media, when the GOP wins, they "seize" control, but with the Dems, it's a stunning victory.

In this same regard to opposing majorities, the late President Reagan had more Dems in Congress during his two terms than are facing President Bush for his final half-term.

And, contrary to their preelection talk of a new course to victory in iraq, Pelosi, Reid and company are already pushing "cut-and-run'' surrender and also backing down from their amnesty for illegal immigrants stance.

Of course, nothing about Nancy Pelosi could surprise me. As a person who has nothing but politics as background qualificatlon or experience since childhood, this woman brings a narrow vision to the leadership table, both in education and political philosophy.

Born in Baltimore, she is the daughter of a three-term (12 years) mayor of that city beginning when she was seven. He also served five terms in Congress.

According to an intel-view with the "National Catholic Reporter,s"Joe Feuerherd, her mother hoped she might become a Roman Catholic nun. Pelosi, however, stated that she knew from an early age that convent life was not for her. "But," she told Feuerherd, "I thought I might want to be a priest. There seemed to be a little more power there, a little more discretion over what was going on in the Parish.''

That's all a parish would need, of course; a priest who pushes abortion, homosexual unions and marriage, big spending and bowing down to murderous terrorists who want to behead the parishioners. Good thing she couldn't qualify for priesthood.

"New York Times'" writer David Firestone reported that Pelosi's friends say that, Elsie has the ability to make merry while reaching for the jugula.'' According to Firestone, these same "friends'' say she learned this from her father, Thomas "Big Boy'' J. D'Alesandro Jr.

Considering that as House Speaker, she will be just two heartbeats away from being president, this jugular talent is something we don't need in public servants.

I am always fascinated with President Reagan, whom I consider one of our greatest presidents, for his growth from staunch Hollywood Democrat, into a tax-cutting Republican governor of Califorma and U.S. president who won the Cold war.

The parallels between him and another great Cold War warrior, President Eisenhower, are striking for their accomplishments while hobbled to a Democrat-controlled Congress. With the Korean War at an impasse, "lke'' provided the military head-of-state presence that ended the war and brought Soviet expansion to a standstill for eight years, while we built toward their eventual defeat with MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) holding the line.

As unrest grew in the Soviet satellite empire, the converted Democrat, Ronald Reagan, outfoxed the lifelong communists, Gorbachev and Company, and the Iron Curtain fell down.

In essence, Pelosi and Company, with the backing of the leftist media are trying to run our foreign policy by lies and remaking merry, while going for the jugular.''

Picture, if you can, her style of attacks on President Bush directed against Eisenhower or Reagan in those times of extreme peril for our nation; times that are being replicated by hidden armies of terrorists, who daily express approval of the Democrat election victory.

It is obvious that soon-tobe-speaker Pelosi learned more than jugular technique at the feet of her father in Baltimore; namely, power and politics come before the people and the general welfare. Please note, that less the a week after the elections, she is betraying her own party with the selection of two of the most corrupt House members for vital posts - Murtha to House Majority Leader and Hastings to Chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

It's also why she constantly opposed the Bush tax cuts which have, as historically proven, produced a record-breaking economy, and she is ready to stimulate terrorists' actions within our borders by removing pressure from them in iraq.

The one four-letter word missing in all this election victory crowing by the Dems and their media flunkeys is the word "veto."

No matter what insanity Pelosi and Reid bring forward, the president can exercise his constitutional veto power. It would then require a two-thirds vote of both congressional bodies to overcome the veto. The chances of this are impossible to none.

Meanwhile, for the next two years, forget the Fair Tax and keep your jugular covered.

"I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be founded." Psalm 37: 35 and 36.

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Who is Obama?

DECEMBER I5 - A recent survey showed that trial lawyers, as a group, were very pleased with the recent congressional elections and Democrat victory.

Do you suppose that this elation is based upon the ongoing tidal wave of riches that has swept over them from Democrat appointed liberal appeals courts and "creative" decisions by the "Supremes" in the last half-century?

Now, the liberal media, virtually right after the mid-term elections, are already trying to foist the ultimate doomsday instrument on us in the persona of a Harvard Law liberal posing as a moderate; promoting him as presidential material.

The individual is, of course, Barak H. Obama, the two-year U.S. senator from Illinois whom the Dems are setting up as an ace in the hole, should Hillary Rodham's poll figures fail to promise victory in 2008.

Obama, half-black and half-white, has naturally been classified by them and himself as a black-American or African American in consideration of his deceased father's Kenyan origin and citizenship. His white
Kansas-born mother doesn't count in liberal circles.

Obama portrays himself as a moderate, but in actuality, his positions, both on monetary and social (moral) issues are hard left.

He endorses abortion, high taxation, $billions on the failed pre-K education program, big spending on the phony global warming trap, and the use of private property as "social" property.

If the last one sounds like communism, it's probably because it is. These guys never really go away. (See South America.)

Of the four biographical sketches on him that I perused, three list his middle initial as 'A' and one lists it as 'H'. I would venture that, knowing his middle name is "Hussein," it looks a bit like a conspiracy to hide the Islamic connection. And, the fact that Ted Kennedy, after a few martinis, refers to Obama as Osama hasn't been helpful.

Obama claims to have been raised as a Christian, in spite of his present legislative acceptance of 45 million pre-born children being murdered, with more to come with his blessing, and a liberal voting record equal to Ted's.

Speaking of blessing, one bio-sketch states that he was named Barak after his father, and claims that it means "blessing" in his father's native Swahili.

However, in discussing Obama with my wife, we considered the aspects of his being Christian, Muslim, black, white, American, African, liberal, moderate; ie., all things to all people, except, of course, the appeal to the predominant Democrat bloc of Jewish voters.

Later, it dawned on me that Barak might have a Swahili connotation phonetically, but, essentially, it is documented as a Hebrew name in the Book of Judges going back some 3,200 years.

Barak was the Hebrew general who served Judge Deborah in defeating Jabin, the King of Hazor. (See Judges 4).

A more recent individual would be the Israel Defense Force General Ehud Barak who was prime minister 1999-2001. And, contrary to the questionable "blessing" assignment, Barak in Hebrew means "lightning or flashing sword" - as it now is, at the throat of basic American values, freedom and conservatism.

The question is, who is this composite being thrust on the American political scene? At the time of his "dazzling" speech at the Dems' 2004 convention in Boston, he wasn't even a U.S. Senator yet; just a state senator from Illinois. And yet he's got the party in a frenzy, with some liberal pundits calling his speech the greatest speech ever given at a convention. Say what!? "One of the best in convention history," TIME.

Considering his name, Barak, Luke 10:18 might have a possible answer. "And he (Jesus) said unto them, 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.'''

Most troubling is his slick stance as a Christian while enumerating anti-Christian views in his latest book The Audacity of Hope. (Didn't some liberal politician use "Hope" in a slogan while running for president
as a moderate?)

At any rate, Obama implies in his book that homosexuality is tolerated biblically and writes, "For many practicing Christians, the same inability to compromise may apply to gay marriage. I find such a position troublesome, particularly in a society in which Christian men and women have been known to engage in adultery or other violations of their faith without civil penalty."

What I find troublesome is his compromising of Scripture coupled with the blind desire of CINOs (Christians In Name Only) to bask in a lightning bolt of fame and potential power.

This occurred recently when Obama was somehow invited to speak at Rick Warren's mega-church in Texas and received a standing ovation from a packed house. Essentially, his message condoned
immorality if it might prevent the death of others.

I prefer the Apostle Paul's take on this rather than the composite's, Barak Hussein Obama.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." II Timothy 4: 3 and 4.