Reality Check

Sen. McCain at His Best

2008-07-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to see that Sen. John McCain (R. Arizona) penned a column criticizing federal bailout for mortgage lenders.

Financial Aid for Students in Religious Schools

2008-07-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to see that the 10th Circuit Court struck down a Colorado law that prohibited such funding.

Qatar Will Purchase 2 C-17s

2008-07-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

Currently, the US owns 175 of these military cargo aircraft with another 190 on order. Britain owns 6 and Canada and Australia own 4 each.

Britain Will Improve Its Nuclear Warheads

2008-07-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

Of the British nuclear arsenal, its Trident D-5 SLBMs were designed by the US. The warheads and its Vanguard SSBNs are British.

Vietnamese Inflation at 27.04%

2008-07-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

This is the largest annual increase since 1991.

Effectiveness of HIV Drugs

2008-07-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

People who were diagnosed early in 1996-9 can live for another 36 years. Those diagnosed in 2000-2 can live for another 41 years. Those diagnosed in 2003-5 can live for another 49 years.

More Clintonites Against Obama

2008-07-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

A group of Sen. Clinton's (D. New York) supporters are campaigning for an open vote on her nomination during the Democratic National Convention at Denver.

Democratic Attempt to Abuse Strategic Petroleum Reserve Stymied

2008-07-24T16:29:00.001-07:00

I am pleased to report that a Democratic proposal to sell off 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was defeated in the House of Representatives. The vote was 268-157. The reason why this vote required a 2/3 majority in the first place was because the Democrats wanted to suspend the House's rules of procedure and the reason why they made that decision is because they wanted to prevent Republicans from amending the legislation to allow more offshore drilling, a proposal that is very popular among the American people and has strong majority support in the House.

Turkey Will Purchase 6 German Submarines

2008-07-24T16:26:00.001-07:00

The deal is worth $4 billion and the first boat will be delivered in 2015.

Pet Rabbit Saved Its Owners from Fire

2008-07-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

It's rather cute, too.

14-Million-Year-Old Fossil in Antarctica

2008-07-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

The fossils (ostracods) were discovered in the Dry Valleys of the East Antarctic region.

PUMAs Against Obama

2008-07-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

Die-hard Clinton supporters against Obama.

Iraq Calm as US Military Surge Ends

2008-07-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

US troop level in Iraq has fallen from a high of 170,000 in 2007 to 147,000. Meanwhile, Basra remains at peace.

Supply and Demand in Afghanistan

2008-07-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

Afghan farmers are switching from growing poppies to wheat in light of the latter's current high price.

Arctic Oil

2008-07-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

[T]he Arctic may hold as much as 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil reserves, and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This would amount to 13 percent of the world’s total undiscovered oil and about 30 percent of the undiscovered natural gas.

.....

The world currently holds 1.24 trillion barrels of proven oil reserves and 6,263 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves.

Britain's Sickness

2008-07-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

A British city council initially refused to support a military charity event on the ground that it might offend ethnic minorities.

Illegal Immigrant Murderer

2008-07-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Bush: "[Illegals] do work in America that Americans won't do."

Illegal immigrant committed murder in Arkansas.

Race and HIV

2008-07-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

Though Hispanics make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population, they represented 22 percent of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses tallied by federal officials in 2006....

...[I]n major U.S. cities, as many as 1 in 4 gay Hispanic men has HIV, a rate on par with sub-Saharan Africa.

Blacks still have the highest HIV rates in the country....

Oh Brave New World, With What Perverts in It!

2008-07-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World comes to life in Britain.

Poland Honors the Late President Reagan

2008-07-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

The Polish city of Wroclaw built a monument to honor the late US president.

House Voted to Nationalize Housing Market

2008-07-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

I regret to note that the House of Representatives voted 272-152 in favor of government intervention in the housing market. It is remarkable to see how government intervention can abuse the best of intentions. It started with the ideal that Americans should be homeowners. It is now ending with ever more aggressive government interventions in the housing market.

Obama's Tautology of Hope

2008-07-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

First, a spoof.

Now, see how that spoof manifests itself in his foreign policy views:

"Let me be absolutely clear," Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, said today at a press conference in Amman, Jordan. "Israel is a strong friend of Israel's.

I certainly hope so.

Fancy That, an Honest Climate Scientist

2008-07-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

A climate scientist who once claimed that global warming exacerbates hurricanes has now recanted.

Mine-Clearance in Afghanistan

2008-07-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

Nearly a million mines and unexploded munitions were destroyed in the past 6 months.

Improving Security in Iraq

2008-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Through June 2008, there were only 93 attacks on about 6,100 logistics convoys carrying supplies ranging from building materials for schools, hospitals and public utilities to weapons for local police, Pentagon data obtained by USA TODAY show.

That's a convoy-attack rate of about 1.5%. During some months in late 2006 and early 2007, attack rates were up to 20%.

The 6,100 convoy missions during the first six months of this year also represent a substantial increase over previous years. In all of 2007, the Pentagon ran fewer than 6,900 convoys.