Faultline USA

Man's Future Is In The STARS!

2009-07-18T00:02:00.000-06:00

Man’s Future is in the Stars!
A commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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This Monday, July 20th, marks the fortieth anniversary of Americans planting the American flag on the surface of the moon and beginning what, for many of us, has become a huge disappointment.

July 20th, 1969. I stayed up all night, that night, and celebrated. I leapt up and down. I wept. I shouted with joy. I was one of the proudest Americans on the planet that day, 40 years ago. I KNEW we were headed for the planets (and the stars) where, I felt (and still do) God intended us to go.

I had followed the American space program from its days of infancy up to that seminal moment of singular importance. Yes, I was one of those “star-struck” people who pulled his truck off the road and turned the volume of the radio up, got out of the vehicle and stood on the shoulder of the highway, not far from Monroe, North Carolina, looking up, unconscious that I was searching the skies for a fireball when John Glenn’s heat shield failed upon re-entry and, for a few anxious moments, planet earth did not know if we had killed that brave Marine Astronaut. When, at last, we heard his voice we understood, perhaps for the first time, the true meaning of Mission Control’s farewell to Glenn: “God Speed, John Glenn!” as his rocket ship blasted a hole in the roof of the earth as he began his mission as a “pathfinder” for those who would follow in search of man’s destiny in the stars.

Over the years since, my heart has slowly sunk as it became obvious, while remaining unofficial for as long as the government dared, until finally one dark day, it DID become official that we were curbing our space program and our exploration of the neighboring planets and concentrating on a space station in orbit around the earth. Like America’s space program the space station continues to go round and round, sort of running in place.

I quickly became bored with that flying breadbox and by NASA’s repeated trips to the flying piece of hi-tech junk we laughingly call a “space station.” Are you as bored as I am that the space truck, “The Shuttle” is way past its prime and, apparently, seems to be falling apart!

So… what happened? I mean, what happened to our great plans to explore space?

The cost? Nah! That’s not it. We placed men on the moon while bearing the expense of losing a war in Southeast Asia, which our government would not allow our military to win. The real cost is in not getting off this planet and finding a new home! Man’s destiny lies out there, among the stars, among the planets. I am solidly convinced of that.

I had hoped before my days on THIS planet were over I would live to witness the first Mars colony. I had assumed we would already have a colony on the moon. But, no… we are still fiddling around with that metal can circling the earth… the Space Station.

The space station, as I recall, was originally planned to be a construction site. (We have, what, maybe two generations of Americans who do not know the original space station was to be the point of embarkation for space ships, and/or star ships as they searched space for the next home to be colonized for the human race.) Parts for a huge star ship (space exploration vehicle) were to be flown up to the station by the shuttles and the humongous star ship was to be built, in space, with the workmen living in the space station until the ship was completed. None of that has happened. That program was cut back and cut back until, for all I know may have been “cut OUT” altogether. It’s as though the entire program has been put on hold and NASA is just running “in place.”

We must get off this rock! Our lack of curiosity about what lies “out there” is troublesome to me. I worry that we have lost our desire to explore. Our horizons have become much too close. We, as a race, have turned inward and that is never good. It seems as though we have decided to “settle” for what we have here. We have lost our “vision”. We are withering on the vine.
I worry, too much, I know, that we have become so preoccupied with our little hovel, earth, that we are missing the really big picture and so much is passing us by. I cannot accept that this is all there is. My God would not have created us and plopped us down on this “dirtball” with no hope of getting off it! We are stifling ourselves. Man needs new worlds to discover. We need to stretch out, and extend our wings, and fly as high, and as far, as we can! Even if we, too, melt our wings… it would be worth the trip!

The exploration of space has been a dream of mine as far back as I care to recall. It bothers me, mightily, that my generation threw away our chance to make it happen. From my perspective that is massive shortsightedness on the part of my generation. Of course, I’m jealous of the generation that WILL make it happen, because I won’t see it and I won’t have a chance to take part in it. What a screwed-up world we live in!

America was a great country when she did not place limits on herself. She could do ANYTHING!

Today, sadly, we have self-imposed limits. It has become politically incorrect to spend the money necessary for the space program and not give it to the poor. I have to tell you… that is wrong! Even Christ himself said: “The poor you have with you always!” Poverty is a fact of life. As Christ said, we are always going to have poor people living among us. No matter what we do! We cannot allow the poverty of a few in this nation to drag down the entire nation. That way lies national suicide!

Look, if man does not get off this tiny blue ball, we are going to exterminate ourselves. The fighting will eventually kill us all. Our differences are never going to be settled, so some of us need to leave. Much as our forefathers left the old country and settled this one, we have to strike out and find that new home. It’s out there. We just have to go find it. And we have to go soon!

J. D. Longstreet
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Conservative+Space+Planets+Stars+Exploration"

A Global Race War? A Second Look

2009-07-17T18:00:00.000-06:00

Some interesting precedents

In their ultimately thwarted attempt at achieving a South Pacific hegemony, from approximately 1895 until the end of WWII, Japanese leaders used the "Co-Prosperity Sphere" in its propaganda for the people both in Japan and in other Asian countries. To this end Japan held itself up to the Asian world as liberators from the oppressive yoke of the white colonialists. However, as more and more of these former colonies came under harsh Japanese rule they quickly became disillusioned with the bitter realities of the so-called Co-Prosperity Sphere. They soon discovered that they had merely switched masters, and their new overlords conducted themselves with great haughtiness and disdain to the local population and imposed a program of "Japanization" on the people with little or no regard for local customs and beliefs.

Similarly, in June of 1941, when Germany first invaded the Ukraine, the Wehrmacht were met with flowers from the local Ukrainian peasantry, being seen as prospective liberators from the scourge of Stalin's iron rule. Here, once again, it didn't take long for the true nature of Nazism to show its ugly face, and for the people to realize their tragic mistake. In both instances, tyrannical ideological regimes cynically allied themselves with troubled peoples, posing as allies and liberators. And in both instances they failed.

Historically, the Communist Party has of course attempted to align itself with the suffering and downtrodden peoples of this world in their crusade against the ruthless powers of capitalism, cynically manipulating the, often very real, grievances of the people to their own advantage.

Considering these precedents, it quickly becomes apparent that, regardless of the particular isms involved, these various tyrannies are only interested in achieving power. Raw, naked, political power.

Today, this same deadly scenario is playing itself out on the world's stage. Once again, another ruthless regime -- this time, in the guise of a religion -- is cynically manipulating the under-privileged peoples of this world, rallying them to their banner in their ongoing battle against the Judeo/Christian, capitalist West. And, once again, the results will be disastrous. - rg

A note from Radarsite. The following Radarsite article was written over a year ago, and necessarily contains some obvious anomalies. However, the questions it raises are, I believe, still powerful and pertinent.

-----------------------------------------------

A Global Race War?

Warning: This article has a PC rating of "X"

Are we in the beginning stages of a global race war?

Not yet, thank God. But consider this.

Islam, through the obvious successes of Al Qaeda and its affiliates in intimidating and embarrassing the West, has touched the heartstrings of many of the colored peoples of this world, and re enforced that seething undercurrent of post-colonial victimization that runs at varying depths throughout the Third World. Thus, thanks to the cynical machinations of the Islamists, our world is in danger of being divided once again -- as Japan and Germany both attempted to divide it in their own special ways, for their own special purposes -- between those supposedly exploited peoples of this world and their purported oppressors, who, they have once again convinced themselves, are the cause of all of their troubles -- past, present and future.

By ingeniously tapping into this latent but persistent strain of reverse racism, Islam has presented itself as a champion of the Third World in its never-ending battle to break free from the cruel shackles of white suppression. This is how this very real Clash of Civilizations is beginning to play itself out -- even here in America with the recently uncovered Wright/Obama anti-white crusade.

Unfortunately, the great and undeniable flaw in this seductive paradigm is that, with a few notable exceptions, whenever and wherever the black man, or, if you prefer, the man of color, has broken away from the yoke of overbearing white political oppression and achieved self-governance the consequences of this new found freedom have almost invariably been bloody and chaotic. Whether we look to post-colonial Africa, or those sordid post-colonial kingdoms and ruthless dictatorships of the Middle East -- or even our own American cities where the black majority has taken hold of the reins of government, the results are invariably the same: society self-destructs and the crime rate soars. Outside investments quickly dry up and corruption runs rampant. Whether the example is Haiti, Philadelphia, Rhodesia, Algeria or New Orleans, the same bloody post-colonial, post-white governance downward-spiralling scenario plays itself out.

This is such an explosive subject. It has become almost impossible to talk about it without creating a huge furor, or nowadays, without actually breaking some new multiculturalist law. Yet somehow to deal with the truths of our world, to even attempt to solve some of its most critical problems, we must find the courage to discuss these issues openly, honestly, and without malice.

What, then, is my point? Am I merely trying to prove that whites are somehow innately superior to the colored peoples of this world?
No.
But it is undeniable to all but the most committed ideologues that by almost any standard Western civilization has proven itself superior to a lot of other civilizations. What, then, is the proper message to those people in some of those other civilizations who feel disenfranchised and betrayed by history? Give up? Accept the inevitability of the white yoke forever? Learn to live with the fact that you were somehow born naturally inferior? Hell no! I repeat -- Hell no! This is the hopeless and deadly message of our enemies. This is the negative message of inverted racism. This is the darkness of Islam.

Our message is simply this: Cut out the crap. Start being truthful with yourselves and quit blaming others for all of your troubles -- the Crusaders, the white colonialists, the Christians, the Jews, the WASPS -- The victimization card only gives you a losing hand. If you attach yourself to the victim's cause, the cause of hatred and resentment and revenge, you will lose your God-given chance to succeed. Look at history and try to be honest. Did the victimization card ever really work? It certainly doesn't look that way to me. The victimization card has given us endless strife, a lot of wars and a few Indian casinos, but has seldom if ever helped a suffering people.

No, the way out of the darkness is to follow the light of truth. If your way hasn't proven successful, then dump it. Attach yourself to those other ways of thinking and acting that have proven to be successful. Go with the winners. The winners don't have colors, they have civilizations. Don't lay back and sulk with the losers. Are you listening, Palestinians? Don't plot revenge, plot success.

This whole volatile subject has nothing whatsoever to do with race or color, but everything to do with civilizations, and everything to do with truth.

Of course, this whole earth-shaking subject is to be considered taboo. We are forbidden to even broach this subject .[e.g. the latest Hate Crimes bill] We are all, we are being admonished every day, equal. All peoples are equal, all religions are equal, all races are equal. If one group of people gets ahead of another group of people in terms of its civilizational development it must have been perpetrated through some kind of trickery or malfeasance. Not by hard work or merit. Not by finding a system that works.

Damn it. Just as with the Japanese, Islam is succeeding by suppressing the truth of its real tyrannical and totally intolerant nature and presenting itself as the rallying banner of global victimization. And we, in the Judeo-Christian West, have yet to find a viable method to counter the deceitful foundations of this growing movement. All of the unsuccessful or disgruntled people of this world are now to become united under Islam in their struggle against all of the successful people of this world. In fact, in this new-fangled version of religious Marxism, individual success itself is now to be considered the ultimate evil. The price for this apparent unity demanded by Islam of all of its subjects and converts is the same price that all tyrants have demanded throughout the course of human history -- submission, or in another word, "Islam".

Are we, then, in the beginning stages of a global race war?

Not yet. But, take heed -- if Islam continues to seduce converts into their bleak world vision, it could soon become one. And then, God help us all, no matter what color.

Missing GI in Afghanistan: Afghan villages WarneV

2009-07-17T17:57:00.000-06:00

by Maggie at Maggie’s Notebook

An unnamed U.S. soldier is missing in Afghanistan and is known to be the victim of kidnapping. The U.S. Military wants the missing soldier back and has sent a sobering message to the residents in at least two villages in suspect areas. The leaflets contained a message and a warning to return our missing soldier.

Afghan Villages Warned

The graphic above shows the front side a leaflet produced at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan with this message on one side:

The papers show on one side an image of a soldier with his head bowed so that his face is not visible (above). A message in the local Pashtun language over the image says, “If you do not free the American soldier, then…”

Afghan Villages Warned (photo backside)

The second graphic above is the backside of the first and says:

…you will be targeted”.

The military says the leaflet says “…you will be hunted,” but some translators say the word also means “targeted.”

Sources are inconclusive about how the leaflets got to the villagers: some reports say they were dropped from aircraft with the warnings seen in trees and on rooftops. A Military spokeswoman says they were delivered by hand, but says an aircraft leaflet-drop was made earlier to these villages notifying the people that a U.S. Soldier is missing and asking for information on his whereabouts:

U.S. Soldier Missing

The above graphic is not an actual picture the missing soldier. On the front it reads:

One of our American guests is missing.

The backside says:

Return the guest to his home. Call us at…,

Heart-wrenching appeals to the people who live among untold cruelty at the hands of those who are in possession of one of our own.

A Taliban militant said the U.S. Military has made three previous attempts to find the GI, but failed. He said the soldier is in a safe and secure place in a Taliban-controlled area. This spokesman said ransom demands, or an offer for a prisoner swap may be made, but warned that any attempts by foreigners to rescue him will lead to the soldier’s death.

Reuters reports that Mawlavi Sangin, a Taliban commander, issued warnings to the U.S. that continued “harassment” of the villagers in the area may also lead to the soldier’s death.

Reportedly, the U.S. Infantry soldier had just completed a shift and was off-duty when he walked off the U.S. base and left his body armor and weapon behind on June 30th. An anonymous U.S. military source said that communications by insurgents had been intercepted and it was believed that Taliban had the GI. Three Afghan nationals were abducted at the same time.

The Taliban commander, who spoke to Yousafzai [CBS correspondent] via satellite telephone from the region, said a group of militants cornered the American soldier and his Afghan counterparts near a U.S. military base and took them hostage.

But CBS News has learned that not long after the soldier disappeared, U.S. intelligence picked up radio chatter that he had been kidnapped. U.S. officials know he’s already been sold to another group of Afghans - but no direct contact has been made with the kidnappers.

This is believed to be the first abduction of a member of the U.S. Military in the almost-8-years since the War on Terror began. While leaflet-drops are ‘business as usual’ in these areas, those targeted have been the insurgents. This time villagers are warned. It’s a different ballgame. Read the entire article here.

U.S. Department of Defense Graphic credit: CBS News

Youtube Rendition of Manufactured Crisis Strategy

2009-07-17T09:30:00.001-06:00

Pretty creative! Someone in McCain/Palin was thinking. Too bad no one saw it.

Cure For Radiation Sickness

2009-07-17T00:34:00.001-06:00

by Findalis

What started out as a cure for radiation sickness resulting from cancer therapy, could become a weapon against the effects of a dirty bomb or nuclear weapon detonated by a terrorist group.

Medication that can protect humans against nuclear radiation has been developed by Jewish-American scientists in cooperation with a researcher and investors from Israel. The full story behind the dramatic discovery will be published in Yedioth Ahronoth's weekend edition.

The ground-breaking medication, developed by Professor Andrei Gudkov – Chief Scientific Officer at Cleveland BioLabs - may have far-reaching implications on the balance of power in the world, as states capable of providing their citizens with protection against radiation will enjoy a significant strategic advantage vis-à-vis their rivals.

For Israel, the discovery marks a particularly dramatic development that could deeply affect the main issue on the defense establishment's agenda: Protection against a nuclear attack by Iran or against "dirty bomb" attacks by terror groups.

Gudkov's discovery may also have immense implications for cancer patients by enabling doctors to better protect patients against radiation. Should the new medication enable cancer patients to be treated with more powerful radiation, our ability to fight the disease could greatly improve.

Read the full story here.

The implications for the world are enormous. Victims of a Radiological attack could be effectively treated for the effects of Radiation Sickness, thus the terror effect of such an attack would be minimized.

Countries that don't have access to this drug would be at a disadvantage. Countries that threaten nations with nuclear attack who have this drug in their possession are neutralized. In effect, this drug silences Kim Jong Il of North Korea. For although he has a nuclear weapon, with this drug available, the short and long term effects upon the human body is no longer a major worry.

The FDA is expected to approve this drug within a few years. Hope for cancer patients and for the rest of us who worry not if but when some nutcase or terror group gets a hold of nuclear material and tries to destroy a city with it.

Congress Exempts Itself From Government-Run Socialized Medicine!

2009-07-17T00:05:00.000-06:00

Congress Exempts Itself From Government-Run Socialized Medicine!
J. D. Longstreet

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It would seem the hypocrisy of our government knows no bounds! Now they have gone to great lengths to exempt themselves from this wonderful government-run healthcare system they are trying to foist upon the unsuspecting American people.

This socialized medicine, apparently, is not good enough for them but it is damn sure all you and I rate. While we wait in lines and for weeks and months to see a doctor or have a medical procedure of some kind performed they will be enjoying first class, number one, healthcare with the doctor of their choice, where, and when they choose.

But those of us in “The Great Unwashed” of America will have to settle for whatever scraps they throw our way.

For more on this story go HERE.

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) has introduced a bill that urges members of Congress who vote to create a government-run health insurance agency to give up their own comprehensive health insurance plans and join the new the public option they advocate for all the rest of us. It is House Resolution 615. Here’s the text of the bill:

“That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Members who vote in favor of the establishment of a public, federal government run health insurance option are urged to forgo their right to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and agree to enroll under that public option,”

On his Website Congressman Fleming states the following: “Over the past few weeks, members of Congress and the American people have come to know the details of the Administration's proposed health care plan. Call it whatever you like, I believe this proposal is nothing more than government-run health care. As a physician, I am amazed at the number of bureaucrats in this House who are quick to claim a government-run health care plan is the reform this country needs. In response to this, I have offered a resolution that will offer members of Congress an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is, and urge their colleagues who vote for legislation creating a government-run health care plan to lead by example and enroll themselves in the same public plan.

Under the current draft of the Democrat healthcare legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, keeping their existing health plans and services on Capitol Hill. If Members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them lead the way. Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating, and I challenge the American people to demand this from their representatives.” You may read the Congressman’s entire statement HERE.
Wake up, America, they’re about to do it to you again!

If this seems the least bit familiar to those of you around before the old Soviet Union went belly-up, you may recall this is exactly the kind of behavior the communist politburo was famous, or infamous, for. They had the best while the average soviet citizen had to make-do standing in long lines - not only for health care but just to buy a roll of toilet tissue. Now, America is headed in the same direction deeper and deeper into socialism. This government-run healthcare Obama and the democrat/socialists are peddling is pure socialism.

If this ObamaCare passes the Congress and is signed into law by the president the government will be even more intrusive in our everyday affairs, and our business, and deeper into what up, to now, at least, have been our personal and private health matters. Is this what you want? Are you sure… because, if we don’t stop them, this bill is going to pass.

Did you know this bill would fund state vaccine teams to conduct ‘Interventions’ in private homes? Then you need to read the article at CNSNews.com. You'll find it HERE.

Seems to me it is time to contact our Congressperson and senators and ask them why they are not the first to sign up to ObamaCare if this government-run healthcare program is so good, and is, in fact, the answer to America’s healthcare problems. But, then, you already know the answer. It is not about your health, or your healthcare. It is ALL about POWER. It always has been. This government-run healthcare will give the politicians power and, eventually, control over everything you do, your entire life, from the time you arise in the mornings until you retire at night.

ObamaCare, a national government-run healthcare system, is NOT the AMERICAN WAY! It is the SOCIALIST WAY! Washington is going to tell you that I am WRONG and they will try to sell you the idea that a government run healthcare system is not socialism. If you take a few minutes, and do a tiny bit of research on the Internet, you will quickly learn who is telling you the truth.

Now that you know this socialized medicine the Congress is proposing for America is so bad they will not even sign onto it themselves, are you going to allow them to get away with this subterfuge? Surely, you will not lie down and roll over and let them have their way AGAIN! Surely not, America!

Are we Americans so bereft of pride that we will allow that bunch of elitist socialists to continue to do this to us over and over again without demanding enough! Well, ARE WE?
What you are seeing in this display of elitist behavior is the best examples of what living in a socialist state is like - one system for the elite and another for everybody else. And you thought you were going to be equal, right? Equal to WHAT, pray tell?

J. D. Longstreet

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Conservative+Socialism+Healthcare+ObamaCare

Amnesty for Illegal Aliens... Again!

2009-07-16T00:02:00.000-06:00

Amnesty for Illegal Aliens Back Soon? You Bet!

J. D. Longstreet
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Time to get the e-mail humming to your Senators again. Phone calls work well, too. Faxes are also important. Even a telegram to your senator’s office would be helpful

We were fairly sure it was premature to declare the death of the Immigration Bill, the last time it was defeated in the Senate. And sure enough, here it comes again. We have no choice but to man the barricades once again.

Isn’t there something very sad (and very telling) when the people of a country have to “force” their own government to respond to the wishes of their people? Isn’t it telling as to how far we have traveled down the road toward “totalitarian government”? Have we learned anything??? I doubt it!

Oh, and there is this: When we say “totalitarian” government these days we mean one of two distinct types of governance: Islamofacist or communist.

“Once more, into the breach,” conservatives!!!

So, here’s what’s going on:

A few days ago, President Obama played host for a White House meeting to re-launch the legislative process for “comprehensive” immigration reform. Then, a few days afterwards, several big city police chiefs went public and urged Congress to bring illegal immigrants “out from the shadows.” If you are asking yourself why you haven’t heard about this, you probably HAVE heard about it but since it just isn’t very important to YOU, you probably shuffled it off to some dark corner of your mind until you have the time - and the inclination to deal with it. Anyway, the pollsters seem to think that, or something very like that, is what has happened to Amnesty for illegal aliens in the US. Well, my dear fellow Americans, we’d better GET INTERESTED again… and quickly. If I am correct, Obama is about to ram the old Amnesty Bill right through Congress and sign it into law before we even know what hit us! And the Mainstream Media, in league with The Obama Legions, are playing along with Obama in an attempt to keep us distracted with all the many and varied crises sucking up all the ink from their publications and all the air time from their broadcasts.

And… to make matters even worse for those of us who oppose Amnesty, there is a huge disconnect between the citizens of America and their representatives in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. Read the full story HERE.

According to Rasmussen Reports Sixty-six percent (66%) of likely voters nationwide say it is Very Important for the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration. Now, consider THIS: Just 32% of America’s Political Class agrees. Surprised? Neither am I! We have said all along the problem with illegal immigration across our southern border could be fixed, almost immediately, if the government wanted it fixed. Now we know for certain that they do not want the southern border sealed. See, those are democratic voters coming across that invisible line headed north into the land of milk and honey and along side them on their northward trek is cheap labor!

Basically, Americans STILL want the border closed and sealed FIRST! It is common sense to stop the leak before bailing. Once the border is closed and sealed then taking care of those aliens here illegally can begin and mass deportations can begin.

Like you, I have heard all the arguments from the government that they cannot find all those 12 million, or so, illegal aliens who have integrated into our society in order to deport them. I don’t buy it, not for one second. If the government was serious about finding them all they’d have to do is enlist the help of American citizens and you would have convoys of school buses, filled to capacity with illegal aliens, headed south to the border to be deported. Maybe the government doesn’t know where they are, but you can bet your bottom dollar American citizens know where they are - or can find them - post haste.

Yes, Americans ARE angry with the illegal alien mess and the numerous attempts by our government to offer them amnesty, which would, in time, offer them citizenship. But, as Rasmussen learned when doing their survey, Americans are not mad at the illegal aliens. No! They/we are mad at our government for allowing this to happen in the first place!

Those of you who support open borders do not, I repeat, do not try to beat us about the head and shoulders with the old saw that says America is a nation of immigrants. See, we already know that because our ancestors were immigrants, too. Mine came into the country, legally, in 1789 through what was then Charles Town Harbor and were assigned a place in the 96th precinct of the state of South Carolina. Notice - they came into this country LEGALLY! That is all we expect of any who want to immigrate to America. Do it legally and we will welcome you with open arms. Do it illegally and we want you caught and deported forthwith!

It is becoming ever more clear, everyday, that America’s biggest problem with illegal immigration is not with those who illegally break into our country and help to bleed it dry, but with our government which refuses to uphold the laws already on the books. Had those laws been enforced we would not be in the situation we find ourselves today. Plus, the problem of what to do with these 12-plus million illegal aliens would not be a problem, at all, if the government would simply follow the laws on the books today.

The bottom line for Americans to ponder is… what do we do with a government that refuses to uphold/enforce the nation’s laws? Well, let me ask you - suppose you had a business and an employee consistently refused to follow the rules of the workplace. What would you do to that employee? See? The answer is simple. The ONLY way we are ever going to get relief from this problem is to clean the house in Washington.

My friend and fellow blogger, Alan Caruba, recently said in his piece entitled “A Crisis of Governors”: “What, in fact, Americans are witnessing is a failure of government at both the state and federal level. The nation has managed to elect too many people to public office that are so clearly inept, incompetent, and untrustworthy, it poses a threat to the republic.” Alan, as usual, is spot on. America’s most dangerous enemy, at the moment, is its own government! I would add that, in my opinion, America’s second worst enemy, at the moment, is its own ignorance. It was through the ignorance of the American electorate that these pitifully inept politicians were elected to office to begin with.

Maybe a third party working hard over decades could turn it around, but frankly, I doubt it. Americans are so woefully ignorant of how a representative republic is supposed to work that I have serious doubts we are capable of doing that which is necessary to save our country. Then there is the opposition from the politicians themselves. If we know anything, we know the two parties in power today watch each other’s backs when it comes to Americans forming a powerful third party. They make sure it is almost impossible for that to happen.

Until we can come up with a solution to the problem of an unresponsive government we are stuck standing on the sidelines observing the largest land invasion and take-over of a country in the history of the world.

J. D. Longstreet

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Conservative+Amnesty+Illegal+Aliens+Obama+Socialist

Now I've Seen Everything!

2009-07-14T17:15:00.001-06:00

by Findalis

This one has to go into the record books for one of the dumbest criminals ever. There is no other term to use.

A high-ranking white supremacist on the run from US federal authorities was arrested on Monday night in a south Tel Aviv hideout.

33-year-old Micky Louis Mayon, one of America's 100 Most Wanted criminals, and a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested in a Florentine apartment by the National Immigration Authority's newly formed Oz enforcement unit.

Mayon is wanted in the US on charges of racist assaults, setting fire to vehicles belonging to federal agents, and a host of violence incidents.

The Oz unit was acting on intelligence relayed by Interpol, which informed authorities here that Mayon had entered Israel illegally.

He is said to have moved apartments often in order to evade police, but his efforts proved fruitless on Monday when a delicate operation by the Oz unit saw officers break into his hideout and arrest him.

Oz unit members have the powers of a police officer but can only use them in cases of illegal entry into the country.

Mayon was the subject of an American arrest operation in November 2007, but officers soon realized he had flown to Israel on a one-way ticket. Earlier that year, he reportedly fired his gun in the air repeatedly after being involved in an argument with an African-American. US authorities have described him as a dangerous fugitive.

Oz Unit head Tziki Sela said Mayon was surprised to be arrested, but cooperated with the officers. He has been transferred to a Holon jail facility, where he underwent an immigration hearing. He was then taken to an Israel Prison Authority jail facility.

Did he really believe he could pass in Tel Aviv as a Jew or a Zionist? What made him think that he would be safe and secure in Israel?

Maybe Israel will become the new haven for criminals and their like. One day the Israel Oz unit could be apprehending such notables as Osama bin Ladan, the heads of Hamas and Hizbollah, and Ahmadinejad when the people of Iran finally kick him out.

Pickens' project failure demonstrates futility of rushing "green energy"

2009-07-14T07:09:00.002-06:00

The CBS News headline proclaimed “Pickens Plan for Huge Wind Farm Blows Away,” as Texas oilman and billionaire financier T. Boone Pickens latest venture to build a huge wind farm to demonstrate the viability of alternative energy has instead become a demonstration of why such ideas are not viable.

His plan was unveiled last year in the face of highest-ever oil and natural gas prices, when oil prices peaked at more than $145 a barrel and wholesale natural gas reached $47.61 per cubic meter, making his plan for a 4,000 megawatt wind power project in Pampa, Texas look very appealing. Had the project been completed, it would have produced electricity equivalent to four nuclear-power plants and would have powered 1.3 million homes. But, alas, it won’t be completed.

Mr. Pickens has a goal of reducing oil imports by 30 percent in ten years by replacing oil with natural gas in cars and trucks and using wind power to replace natural gas as a source of electricity.

Among the reasons for the decision to abandon the wind project were "the collapse of the capital markets" and "the steep downturn of natural gas prices,” a spokesman for Mr. Pickens' company told The Washington Post. Lower natural-gas prices, down to $27.86 last weekend, made the more expensive wind power less desirable as an alternative to gas-fired electric plants. Another problem is the lack of transmission lines to get power from the wind turbines into the electricity grid.

This project is the poster child for the futility of trying too hard to implement green energy. It is dramatic evidence that while the Congress and the Obama administration, the environmental lobby and the global warming/global cooling/climate change faction all want to move away from fossil fuels as fast as possible, the new technologies, the nation's electrical infrastructure and the existing energy system quite plainly are not ready for this transition.

“It was a little more complicated than we thought,” Mr. Pickens told The Dallas Morning News, a bit of understatement that supports a point made here more than a couple of times. His comment surprises a lot of folks who expected a savvy businessman like T. Boone Pickens not to make an error characteristic of rookies.

But shortsighted decisions like this one are part and parcel of the rabid green movement, which attempts to implement immature technologies at virtually any cost without having taken a long, sober look at the problems that must be conquered first. To his credit, and unlike so many others in the green energy lobby, Mr. Pickens recognized the futility of this plan, and sensibly abandoned the project.

Someday the United States will be ready for this transformation, and sensible people will wait until then to make the move. What the Congress, the administration, the environmentalist fringe and the greenies must do is adopt a position of thoughtful analysis, and move as quickly as possible, but as deliberately as necessary, to get to that point.

In watching Barack Obama work to enact his agenda one gets the idea that he either is unaware of the obstacles these measures face, or he just doesn’t care. But even if all the changes he wants to bring about are good ideas – and they definitely aren’t – it’s just not prudent, or possible, to do everything so quickly and all at the same time in this economic environment without making a series of critical and costly mistakes.

Fortunately, as time passes and more of the details of the President’s radical plans become known, resistance grows.

As the United States government tries to force-feed green energy to the American people and jam it into a market that is unprepared to accept it, our President is trying to get the world’s developing nations – among which are China and India, two of the fastest growing users of fossil fuels – to clean up their high-polluting factories. They are saying, however, “No way. It will wreck our economy.” Those nations understand what Mr. Obama apparently does not understand: That implementing an energy policy for ideological reasons, and against market forces, is foolish and dangerous.

As for Mr. Pickens’ goal of reducing oil imports, it doesn’t take building wind farms for which the supporting infrastructure is non-existent to accomplish that goal. All that is required is to ease government restrictions and remove obstacles to drilling where domestic oil and gas reserves lie, and allow American energy companies to do what they do best.

This simple solution would increase domestic oil and gas supplies and the oil and gas industry would continue efforts to clean up oil and gas emissions, it would allow the technologies for alternative energy sources to develop naturally along with the infrastructure to support them.

This approach not only has the advantage of making a lot of sense, but also has the support of the energy industry, which is the leading investor in developing new, less polluting ways to use existing fossil fuels, and also in developing alternative energy sources.

But the doctrinaire Left is in charge, driving full speed ahead, looking neither left nor right, nor much past the hood ornament up front.

Cross-posted from Observations

US Economy in the Tank – Dems Push For Massive INCOME TAX INCREASE!

2009-07-14T00:04:00.001-06:00

US Economy in the Tank – Dems Push For Massive INCOME TAX INCREASE!

Massive Tax hike to pay for Obama’s Socialized Medicine
J. D. Longstreet
***************************

Again, we TOLD YOU SO!

We told you this would happen! Here it is. The democrats will seek a massive increase in federal income taxes to help pay for the national health-care reform proposal that President Obama is urging Congress to enact this summer.

With unemployment on the rise and the economy sinking like a stone, the Democrat/Socialists are going to demand more of your hard earned money to finance a pie in the sky healthcare scheme, or should we say “scam” that will take over what little remains of your private life. Read about it HERE.

How in the world did Americans become so utterly naïve as to fall for the “Utopian” dreams the Democrat/socialists peddled during the campaign, when there were so many of us screaming our heads off and proclaiming, for all the world to hear, that it would do nothing but destroy the American healthcare system and introduce rationing of healthcare and raise your taxes through the roof… and enough of you FELL for it, anyway, yes, I said FELL for it (because you DID - and you allowed yourselves to be duped) to elect Obama and hand that crowd of Democrat/socialists the power to absolutely ruin this nation. They have set out to do just that. In six months time, they have managed to drag America down to, roughly, where she was in the 1930’s.

You will notice the Dems used the old tactic of releasing unpleasant news late on Fridays because Americans pay very little attention to news over the weekends. They are playing the American public like the fools they believe us to be. And I have to tell you - it sure looks to me as if they have us pegged. I mean how bright did the American electorate have to be to elect this bunch in the first place? Just look around you. Six months… and America is practically on her knees! They have raped and pillaged our treasury and now they are going to dig into your pockets and take what little you have left to support your families. Oh, and they have the gall to ask you to believe the old lie about taxing the rich. And you are going to swallow that lie too, aren’t you? That is, until one of your more lucid moments when you suddenly remember - it is the rich folks who provide the jobs you go to each morning, if, that is, you are fortunate enough to STILL HAVE A JOB!

And you still don’t see what’s coming down the road aways, do you? I mean the tsunami of inflation that is already building just over the horizon, inexorably making its way toward us. In a few months it is going to wash over us. With the added burden of this huge tax increase, surviving it will be like trying to swim against the current with a 200-pound anvil tied around our collective necks. Businesses are going to shut their doors denying Americans much needed jobs. Those businesses, that are able, are going to move off shore taking those jobs with them. Thousands of small businesses will founder, and go under, tossing more American workers onto the streets. Oh, it hasn’t gotten bad yet. But it’s coming. You can bet on it. It’s coming!

I suppose the most frustrating thing about watching the demise of America is to behold how willingly the American electorate is accepting this disgraceful end. What you have done, America is accept slavery. You have sold your birthright, and my birthright, of freedom, to the low bidder, socialism. Now you are marching placidly into servitude to the state.

The only people in America today to show any spark of fight left in them are the conservatives. And we have been bottled up and shut out. We have no voice in the national legislature, certainly no voice in the executive branch, and, after this week we will have so little voice on the national judiciary as to be totally ineffective. The Supreme Court will be able to do whatever they want to do with your constitutional rights. And they will. They are going to take your guns. Believe it! It is the next logical step.

Face it America! The revolution is over… and YOU LOST! Socialism won - because you didn’t even show up to fight!

J. D. Longstreet

*******************

Conservative+Socialism+America

Small Market Broadcasters Soon To Be Under Siege By Obama’s FCC

2009-07-13T00:05:00.000-06:00

Small Market Broadcasters Soon To Be Under Siege By Obama’s FCC

Broadcasters Beware! The Obama FCC Is Coming For You!
By J. D. Longstreet
*******************************

For those of you who may have stumbled across this site and have NEVER heard of J. D. Longstreet… then you are to be commended and you should, thank your lucky stars that you have been able to avoid my rants up to now.

On the other hand, those of you familiar with my work probably already know that I spent nearly thirty years of my life behind a microphone doing pretty much the same thing as I do at the keyboard here today – and that is expressing my opinions about just about everything that happens to draw my attention. The point of this preamble is to make sure that you understand that I have a special affinity towards broadcasters because - I was one of them for a very long time.

Hey, I’m so old I was actually working in the broadcast industry when the original Fairness Doctrine was still on the books and was still enforced. Yep! Lucky me. Right?

So, when the probability of the re-instatement the Fairness Doctrine, under another and different name, of course, comes up - so does my back. I tend to get my hackles up when the federal government begins to talk about that infringement of free speech, for that is in my opinion, what it is.

There are a couple of things I want to make clear. Our friends on the left, and some on the right, actually seem to think that people listen to the radio to get all that educational, intellectual, informative programming they are bound and determined to ram down the listeners throats on the commercial broadcast septum in America. I’m here to tell you, it ain’t so. Sure, they DO listen for that, but NOT ONLY THAT!

When this ole broadcaster was still in the business we had a heck of a time trying to get a sponsor for any kind of program other than entertainment or sports. Rolling a snowball completely across Hades, in the middle of August, had a better chance at success than finding sponsors for a “public affairs” program. The prospective sponsors would run away if they saw you approaching and knew that you were going to pitch them on how great it would be for them to sponsor something as innocuous as the Monday Night Concert, for instance. (Yeah, I did MC a Monday Night Concert program, consisting of high-brow classical music - for a while. A mercifully short while, I might add. Not that I don’t appreciate classical music, I do. But it was a royal pain trying to sell sponsorships.)

The other reason was - they knew we had, oh, maybe two or three listeners, besides myself!

It got worse if you strayed away from music and began to actually air informative programs, For instance, I once did a thirteen-week series on drug abuse in our city and county. Couldn’t sell it. NOBODY wanted to sponsor it, NOBODY. We aired it, anyway, because of its importance. I had a death threat or two as a result of the content of that series and the local cops put a tail me because I was digging up dope dealers and interviewing them out in the swamps after dark. The next day I had detectives pumping me for information. So, I had the police coming at me from one side and the crooks coming at me from the other side and NOBODY wanted to sponsor that program!

So, we wound up doing shows on the local mental health clinics, community policing, crime watch, and offerings from the local community college, local garden club activities, etc. It was the kind of material that would get the station in - just under the wire - come license renewal time. I must tell you that public affairs programming, on the radio, runs a close second to “Dead AIR” for listenership! It is pitiful!

For a broadcast station to do serious public affairs broadcasting that station must have personnel capable of doing the investigative work – and - it is necessary for those people to understand the subject about which they are going to produce a program.

Back in the ‘80’s, for a small market station to have a stable of on the air personnel qualified to do that sort of work would have been, itself, some sort of miracle! Ask them anything you can think of about Rock and Roll, Beach Music, R & B, C & W, Pop, Standards, … any kind of music - and they had/have the answer: dates, times, places, who played lead guitar, etc. Ask them ONE question about the possible effects of a nearby nuclear power plant on the aquatic life in the nearby lake - and they went mute! Nary a sound would emanate past their golden tonsils. They hadn’t a clue. Understand… that was NOT the exception to the rule - that WAS the rule!

Let us say that a station manager WAS able to put together a team capable of actually producing a passable Public Affairs program. Now, let us say that said person DID produce a program on some topic that was of passing interest to a handful of people in the station’s coverage area. Under the Fairness Doctrine, the station then had to produce a second program (oh, yes, it ain’t over yet!), which would explore the topic of the original program from the opposite viewpoint! Time in the broadcast day had to be made available for that program to be broadcast, as well. If there happened to be a third view of the topic, one which differed from the first two, and time was requested to broadcast that viewpoint, then valuable broadcast time had to be made available for that viewpoint to be broadcast as well, and on ad infinitum. It was a royal pain in the “you know what” for ANY station, but for small stations, in small markets, it was the nightmare from hell!

Understand: There is only so much air time available for sale. I recall when 18 minutes out of a broadcast hour was the maximum for commercial time. When you used it up, you stopped airing commercials if you were lucky enough to have them to run! Every program you run with no sponsors, or only a few sponsors, eats into that broadcast hour. If you lose money as a result of airing the “required” public affairs program… tough! The FCC doesn’t care if a station never makes a dime.

The so-called Equal Time Rule was never really understood by broadcasters nor by listeners, either, it seems to me. The equal time rule meant, simply, that time had to be made available for opposing viewpoints. It DID NOT MEAN that an amount of airtime equal to the amount of airtime of the original program had to be made available. For instance: if the original program was 15 minutes, the opposing viewpoint was not entitled to fifteen minutes - if that program only took, say, ten minutes to complete. I have had that argument a number of times.

Look, a small market radio station MIGHT have a staff of eight or ten persons, including the on air personnel, sales staff, engineering staff, and office staff. It might SOUND as if they have 50 people working there, but believe me, they don’t.

Most small market radio stations are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Only their bankers know just how bad their finances are. Borrowing money to meet the payroll is one thing all small market radio station managers know a thing or two about. It is a daily life or death struggle - and that was BEFORE the economy went south! For the FCC to even consider bringing back the Fairness Doctrine in any form, under any NEW name, will spell doom for a huge number of small market broadcasters. (The AM band will be decimated -gutted.) They have all the staff they can pay for and that staff is stretched to the limit, and beyond, with the workload they are already carrying. To ask them to do more guarantees two things: The quality of their work is going to suffer, and very soon, that station will be one more staff member short. And did I mention the quality of their work would go south, as well. I believe I did.

Let us be clear on something. You may not like it, but it is fact, nevertheless. I once heard a preacher say: “You may not believe in hell, and that’s alright. But is still there, and you are still going!” The same holds true for what I am about to say. Right wing, conservative, talk shows saved the AM Broadcast Band in America. That is a fact whether you believe it, or not. I was there. I saw it. The AM band was done for. It had nowhere to go. It had tried everything, including “AM Stereo”, and nothing worked. The broadcast quality of the FM band was so far superior to AM that AM was a relic. AM stations were shutting down. They were being sold for a song. In some cases they were actually being given away! I’m serious. If, say, a company had an AM/FM Combo for sale, they’d sometimes sweeten the deal by GIVING the AM station to the buyer of the FM station! In some cases, some owners simply switched off the transmitter, locked he doors, and mailed their licenses back to Washington - and walked away. It was THAT bad. As I said, I was there. I saw it.

Then along comes Conservative Talk Radio. Listeners began switching back to AM stations just to listen to those shows. They were switching back in trickles and finally a tsunami of listeners were switching, daily, to the AM band to hear the right wing talkers - then switching right back to FM as soon as that particular show was ended. More conservative talk shows were needed, and they were fast in coming. AM radio climbed out of it’s grave and became a vital part of the broadcast industry once more.

The problem the politicians have with talk radio is the not so simple fact that radio listeners will listen to conservative talk radio and switch off, or tune away from, left wing talk radio. The problem, we think, is because left wingers are either at your feet or at your throat. They are either whining, or gloating in your face; neither of which, generally speaking, the American radio listener can stand! Right-wingers, on the other hand, are almost always upbeat, optimistic and motivating Americans to do their best, try their best, and never give up.

In any event, the plain truth is, and the numbers support it, given a choice American radio listeners will choose right wing conservative radio over left wing liberal radio every time. And the left wing politicians cannot stand that – and - as they are in control of the US government today, they intend to force the broadcast media to change their way of doing things (profits be damned). Coming soon in some not so subtle ways will be the message: “Left wing propaganda will be broadcast on your stations or you will lose your licenses.”

The left wing politicians have found some interesting and creative ways of making that happen, too. To learn more about this go HERE.

In the days and weeks ahead look for such things as: regulations to redistribute station ownership to minorities; rules for “Local Content” requirements, to force radio coverage of left wing views; new legislation taxing the radio spectrum to pay for Obama’s socialized medicine program, and watch for the end of “Talk Radio” on the broadcast spectrum in America.

All of this recently prompted Congressman John Boehner) House Minority Leader, to say the following: Under the rubric of “broadcast localism” it is clear the Commission [FCC] is proposing no less than a sweeping takeover by Washington bureaucrats of broadcast media ... adding more restrictions and Washington mandates is retrograde considering the constant technology evolution of the media market. I urge the Commission to rescind these proposed rules. "

You must understand: The FCC is God to the broadcaster. At least, LIKE God. The FCC hands down the commandments from on high and the broadcaster obeys them or his station dies – at least his license to operate his station dies. You will NEVER hear much complaining coming from broadcasters because they live in constant fear that their licenses are in jeopardy. And they are!

Broadcasters always seem to fair better under conservative governments than liberal governments. Many, many, if not a majority, of small market station owners and managers are conservatives themselves. It has something to do with capitalism and entrepreneurship, methinks – something right-wingers and conservatives seem to excel at. That, too, irks the left side of the political spectrum.

I’d urge you to write your Congressperson and your Senators and demand that they stop the FCC from destroying the Broadcast Industry in America, for that is what is about to happen.

The small market broadcaster is at a great disadvantage anytime they deal with the FCC. They know their license is at stake. You won’t be hearing much from them in their own defense, because, frankly they are hesitant to open their mouths and say anything the FCC can use as a reason to slap them with a heavy fine, revoke their license, or refuse to renew their license at renewal time. They NEED your help. If you enjoy having the community service of a LOCAL radio station in your community now is the time to step up and defend them. Speaking only as a long time veteran of the broadcast industry, now retired, I can tell you they will appreciate your efforts on their behalf.

J. D. Longstreet

********************

Conservative+Liberal+Broadcasting+FCC+Socialism+Censorship

After The Smoke Has Gone

2009-07-12T10:30:00.000-06:00

Oh my God! That's what they all say. Oh my God! Oh my God! After a lifetime of denial or indifference suddenly one finds faith. Oh my God! Confronted with the enormity of evil and the certainty of death, when no one else will answer, when no one else will do, we make our final desperate plea to our mysterious disregarded father. We are experiencing an epiphany, a sudden suspension of disbelief. And we all say the same thing, don't we? Sooner or later we all say the same thing.

Last night I watched them fall again. I watched the buildings fall. Why now, why, when confronted with the certainty of my own demise am I drawn once again to pay homage to this ghastly funeral pyre? Why resurrect the pain? The awful deed has been done. The smoke has cleared. Why do I feel this almost sacred need to relive it? Perhaps it is because of that dramatic and unequivocal title, which I suspect is somehow false and inappropriate: "102 Minutes That Changed America". Perhaps it is because I fear that America has not really changed. Not really. Not enough. The awful deed has been done. The smoke has cleared. And we have moved on. Life must go on, we tell ourselves. Once again we have withdrawn into the convenient comfort of our intellectual hubris. We have assigned the great event to history, where it sits unobtrusively on the shelf with all of those other omnipotent but disregarded historical events. And we have moved on.

But have our enemies moved on? Have our enemies forgotten us? Abandoned their murderous mission? Or are they patiently waiting for us to forget them? Counting on our notoriously short attention span? Do they know us better than we know them? Than we know ourselves? Has our anger and our fear dissipated with the smoke?

Here, once again, for those who doubt our mortal peril, we revisit the awful event. Can we still cry? Can we still call out, Oh my God!? - rg

-----------------------------------------------

A Candle For The Darkness

by Roger W. Gardner

I acknowledge my deep appreciation to all of those photographers whose work I have used for this essay. I can only hope that they would approve.
Note: Best viewed on IE in full screen.

Something is happening...

Something is happening here...

something bad is happening...

people are running...

running for their lives...

they're falling from the sky...

the buildings are falling...

the buildings are gone.

Everything gone.

All those people.

Gone.

Where are you?

What do I do
without you?

Why me?
Why us?
Why now?

Why us?

We must all come together now as one.
We must embrace one another in our mourning.

We must search our souls for answers.
But first we must mourn...

Of course...

not everyone is in mourning...

in fact...

some people...

seem pretty happy...

about the whole thing,
don't they?

Then again...
there are those who say...

that we deserved it.

That we had it coming.

They say, that by fighting back,
by going to war...

we're just making everything...

worse.

And sometimes it does seem...

as though every day...

more and more people...

hate us.

Maybe if we just...

kind of...

ignored it...

or...

maybe if we..

just lit a candle...

if we lit a whole bunch of candles...

we could drive away the darkness.

My friends...

this is the darkness.

And this is the candle.

voted by Gop Hub

Making The Truth Known At The UN

2009-07-11T13:45:00.000-06:00

By Findalis

The United Nations ~~Human Rights~~ Condemn Jews for All The Evils In the World Council set up a Commission headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone (an attempt on their part to give the illusion of impartiality) held hearings last week in Geneva. A delgation from Israel attended to give voice to the victims of Hamas' violence.

Bearing Witness to the UN in Geneva: Noam Bedein Presents Sderot’s Case to UN Judges

by Noam Bedein

On July 6th, I traveled to Geneva to testify before the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. Participating in the delegations were Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin, Dr Alan Marcus the director strategic planning branch in Ashkelon, Ophir Shinhar of Sapir College, and Dr. Mirelda Sidrer who was injured during a rocket attack on a medical facility at the Ashkelon mall.

*From left to right: Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin, Dr. Mirelda Sidrer, Hillel Neuer and Dr. Alan Marcus.

The Israeli delegation also included Noam Shalit, who impassionedly spoke on behalf of his son, Gilad, who was abducted three years ago by Palestinian terrorists and has since been held by Hamas.

The Israeli government officially refused to cooperate with the UN mission, since the UN investigation had already formulated conclusions asserting that Israel had committed war crimes during the December-January war.

At the same time, however, the head of the UN fact finding mission, South African Judge Richard Goldstone, told the Israeli media that he would like to hear both sides of the conflict. "The aim of the public hearings was to let the face of human suffering be seen and to let the voices of the victims be heard."

In preparation for the Geneva hearing, the UN mission invited the Sderot Media Center , a Sderot NGO, to prepare material, footage and information regarding the impact of the Gaza bombardment of the Israeli civilian population in the Negev during the Gaza war. The UN Mission aimed to at obtain an unofficial Israeli perspective.

Before the UN hearing in Geneva, the Israeli delegation received a briefing from Hillel Neuer, head of NGO 'UN Watch.' Neuer provided background on the UN fact finding mission and the agenda of each judge on the UN investigating board.

During the days leading up to the testimony, it was not easy to sleep - as the only resident of Sderot and the western Negev in this delegation, knowing that there would be only 30 minutes to convey how aerial terror has devastatingly impacted the civilian population of Sderot.

At the same time, the UN afforded an opportunity for Sderot Media Center, which specializes in communicating the human story of Sderot and life under continuous rocket terror to decision makers around the world , to finally reach the UN.

While the delegation got ready to testify in the “lion’s den,” it was less than sobering to know that one of the UN judges included Professor Christine Chinkin from London. In a Sunday Times article published on January 11th , Judge Chinkin supported the allegation that “Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self defense, it’s a war crime.”

Israeli reporters in Geneva asked hard questions:

Why testify before a such a ‘neutral’ judge who claims that Israel does not have the right to defend her citizens and whose actions “ amount to aggression violating international law and human rights law?"

Why testify when the government of Israel itself has boycotted the investigation which already formulated it allegations against Israel before the investigation commenced?

However, the presence of a UN invited delegation from Israel created a precedent.

Hillel Neuer of UN Watch noted that never in the 16 years of operating in Geneva had there ever been a time when the UN invited and even sponsored a delegation from Israel to give testimony - until now.

This time, the UN provided an opportunity for ordinary people from Israel to make their voices heard across the world. It was an honor as a resident of Sderot to partake in such an event.

Yet the long road to peace and justice for Sderot and Negev residents does not end before a panel of UN judges or a commissioned report.

Residents of Israel who act as witnesses to terror against the Jewish people, are obligated to speak up and convey the experience of what it is like to live under sustained rocket attacks-defined as a terror act and crime against humanity.

*Noam Bedein in the main hall of the UN Headquarters before testifying.

After screening two short videos in front of the panel of UN judges, which depicted the 15 seconds that Sderot residents and their children have to run for their lives when the rocket alarm is activated by impending Gaza rockets, I concluded my presentation with the following thoughts and questions.

“I do not have enough fingers, to count on my hands the amount of times rockets exploded just a few meters from a kindergarten--would any other western democracy in the world tolerate even one rocket being fired towards their territory? Why is it that we must wait, until a kindergarten or classroom packed with children, is struck directly by a rocket in order for Israel to gain international support, to protect and do what is right for our own people?"

US President Barack Obama put it best when he visited a devastated home in Sderot during the 2008 campaign:

"If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same think."

There were no questions or reactions from the UN judges. We will all have to wait, along with all the residents of southern Israel, to peruse the Geneva verdict on the war when the UN Mission report will be released in September.

*For more news coverage on the Israeli delegation in the UN and SMC's presentation, click on the news sites below:

Ha'aretz: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1098377.html

Israel National News: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132246

Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443732048&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

This Kangaroo court that the UN set up came to their conclusion that Israel had no right attacking Gaza and had committed hundreds of War Crimes. But is that the truth? Let us see:

More facts or more blame?

by Anav Silverman

The UN Fact Finding Mission will likely heap more blame against Israel

The three-week Gaza war has been keeping the UN obsessively busy with months of inquiries and a fact-finding mission into supposed Israeli war crime violations.

In May, the UN came out with a report accusing Israel of “negligence or recklessness” in the Gaza war. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would seek compensation from Israel for damages amounting to $11 million to UN facilities. Led by Ian Martin, former head of human rights group Amnesty International, the UN inquiry said Israel was at fault for nine incidents where UN property was damaged.

The 184-page report blamed Hamas for one case of damage, stating that a Palestinian rocket fired at a UN warehouse had caused $29,000 in damages, while attributing all other damages to Israel.

Indeed, the report apparently did not point out the millions of dollars in damages that Hamas rockets caused in the southern region of Israel or call for an investigation into the nine Israeli schools that Gaza missiles struck during the war.

Israel’s deputy UN ambassador Daniel Carmon told Reuters that the report was one-sided. “We were really shocked to see a report where the board is limiting itself to the facts of damages only, ignoring the context, ignoring that there is war against terrorism.

According to The Australian, the UN inquiry apparently made no mention of the UN’s initial accusation that Israeli shells directly hit a UN school in Jabaliya, killing more than 40 civilians.

UN officials accused the IDF of firing a mortar rocket at an UNRWA school on January 6, killing 43 people. CNN, France24, China Daily, Indian, Express BBC World, and the Israeli Haaretz all ran headlines stating that an Israeli strike Killed 40 people at UN School. The New York Times added the word “reportedly” in its headline.

Only one international newspaper, the Canadian Globe and Mail came out three weeks later with a follow-up story to the UN allegation, entitled Account of Israeli Attack Doesn’t Hold up to Scrutiny.

Reporter Patrick Martin found that physical evidence and interviews with several eyewitnesses including a teacher in the UNRWA school yard at the time of the shelling revealed that no one inside the compound had been killed. "Those who died were all outside on a street where the mortar shells landed."

According to the Globe and Mail article, the teacher who was interviewed refused to give his name because he said UNRWA staff told him not to talk to news media.

Furthermore, the article points out that John Ging, UNRWA’s operations director in Gaza, blamed Israel for the confusion over where the victims were killed. “Look at my statements...I never said anyone was killed in the school. Our officials never made such allegations.”

‘Clerical error’

Indeed, in the European Observer (Jan. 7), Ging condemned the attack as “horrific” and suggested that Israel knew it was targeting a UN facility. “We have provided the GPS co-ordinates of every single one of our locations,” he told the BBC in response to the alleged Israeli attack on the school. “It’s very clear that these are UN installations.”

Only on February 2, 2009, did the United Nations finally admit that it had made a mistake - calling the misleading statements “a clerical error.” According to Haaretz, Maxwell Gaylord, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Jerusalem, admitted that IDF mortar shells fell in the street near the compound and not in the compound itself. “We would like to clarify that the shelling and all of the fatalities took place outside and not inside the school," said Gaylord.

Meanwhile, the damage had been done. The misleading UN statements and media coverage had led to international outrage with strong condemnations against Israel popping up everywhere.

Not surprisingly, a clerical error of such significance was simply not deemed newsworthy by much of the international press. Except for the Canadian Globe and Mail, and Israeli newspapers including Haaretz, little international media coverage was given to Gaylord’s statements.

By June, the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict was spearheading another investigation. Led by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, the UN investigation has focused its investigation in Gaza, interviewing Hamas along with Palestinians. Israel has refused to cooperate in the investigation, citing anti-Israel bias by the investigation's sponsor, the UN Human Rights Council, who has issued numerous reports on Israeli treatment of Palestinians but little on the Palestinian rocket terror impacting southern Israelis.

The UN fact finding team includes Christine Chinkin, a law professor at the London School of Economics who signed an editorial published in the Sunday Times in January calling the Israeli offensive a war crime.

Come September, when the UN report is due, can one really expect an impartial, objective examination of the Gaza war? The recent comments of a Hamas official perhaps summed it best. In an AP news article (June 9), Ahmed Yousef said that he hoped the UN report would be "like ammunition in the hands of the people who are willing to sue Israeli war criminals."

These are dark days for Israel. Hamas can attack Israeli cities with impunity and the world says nothing, does nothing. But let Israel strike back and the world screams bloody murder. Hamas purposely uses schools, hospitals and mosques as rocket firing bases, training centers and ammo dumps, the media and the world give them a pass on it. Yet International Law is very clear on this issue:

Hamas exploits schools, mosques, hospitals and cultural centers to carry out its attacks in flagrant violation of article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. This factor is minimized or ignored by numerous NGOs, and the emphasis is placed on Israel to avoid civilian casualties. But international law is clear: in cases of human shields, civilian deaths that result are clearly the responsibility of Hamas and not Israel.

Like usual Hamas will be looked upon as a victim of terror while the true victims will be condemned and vilified. Why? Because they are Jews. Because the world (especially those on the left) are upset that they stopped Hitler from destroying the Jews. Because the world would like to finish the job the great Muslim Savior: Adolph Hitler started, but never got to finish.

You can help change this trend. You can write, call or e-mail your Congressman, your Senator, the President, your local newspaper. Tell someone how you feel about this! Remind them that Israel left Gaza in 2005 with the promise that it will bring peace, and that it was the Palestinians who kept attacking Israel, bring upon themselves the destruction that happened in Gaza.

And if you are able to, you can support the Sderot Media Center. The few dollars you donate goes a long way. Just click here and follow the instructions.

And please, remember the people of Sderot in your prayers. Pray for the peace of Israel.

Government To Control American’s Lives by September First!

2009-07-10T00:05:00.000-06:00

Government To Control American’s Lives by September First!
By: J. D. Longstreet

********************
“Folks, reform is coming. It is on track. It is coming, “We have tried for decades--for decades--to fix a broken system, and we have never, in my entire tenure in public life, been this close. We have never been as close as we are today, and things remain on track. We must enact this reform this year. We must--and we will--enact reform by the end of August, and we can't wait.” Those are the words of Vice President Biden assuring Americans that Healthcare Overhaul (We all know it as “ObamaCare”) is on track to be passed by the end of next month, August (2009). Read the entire article HERE.

The charge by the democrats to set up a "National Health Insurance" program in America officially began with Obama signing the new CHIP bill, which extended health care coverage to 4 million uninsured children. The President was not the least bit bashful in announcing that his action in signing the bill was the first step in fulfilling his promise made during the campaign to provide universal health insurance for all Americans. To quote Obama he said: "As I think everybody here will agree, this is only the first step. Because the way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American."

Now, YOU may think this is just swell. WE don't! In fact we are pledged to work as hard as we can to see that universal health insurance (Socialized medicine) does not come to America.

Why? There are many reasons for Americans to demand the government take it’s hands off the American healthcare system and two, which are critically important. First, we are against “ObamaCare” because it is out and out Socialism. That is why, dear reader, it is referred to as socialized medicine! The second reason, and just as important as the first, is the fact that socialized medicine will utterly destroy what is arguably, the best healthcare system on the planet!

Some of you will disagree with me, I'm sure. That is your right. But bear with me for a moment or two, and we will try to change your mind.

A few months ago I wrote the following, which is every bit as pertinent today as it was then, so I'm going to repeat it. Back then I wrote this:

"We are continuing to lose our privacy, here in America, at an ever-increasing speed. There is hardly a place in America one can go, these days, without being seen by someone’s security cameras. I recently stood in a parking lot of one of the Big Box stores and counted 22 cameras zeroed in on the parking area, and entrances, and exits, to the store. And that was just on the OUTSIDE, at the front, of the store!

If you think Big Brother’s snooping is bad now… just wait… it will get worse, a LOT worse, if we allow it.

Weigh too much? Lose weight… or the government won’t pay for your medical bills.

Drive too fast? Slow down or the government won’t pay for your medical bills if you’re in an accident.

Smoke? The government won’t pay for your medical bills, period.

Have more than (two) kids? Your medical bills will not be paid if you exceed the allowable limit on babies.

Pregnant with a third child and the government insists that you have an abortion, but you really want this third child? Well, either have an abortion, or that third child will have no medical coverage and the cost of the pregnancy, and delivery, will not be covered, either.

Didn’t finish High School? Your medical bills will not be covered if you do not get a High School Diploma.

Take the wrong courses in college? Well, if you didn’t check before you signed up for a course, and you signed-up for a course the government thinks is uncalled for, or that you do not need for your chosen occupation… then your medical bills will not be picked up by the National Healthcare.

Own a gun? Why, everyone knows there is an epidemic of deaths due to handguns in America. So it is a health issue. National Healthcare will not pay for your medical bills until you turn in your guns to the government!

Choose the wrong career, and you are on your own! No medical help from the government.

Get the picture? Almost total control. And you, and I, will have given that power to the government! (Or your employer) After a while, there won’t be much difference, anyway.

So, next time you hear someone calling for National Healthcare/Universal Healthcare/ObamaCare (Socialized Medicine), remind them of all the freedom they will give up for that "cradle to the grave" care. The Founders of the United States of America wanted us to live free... healthy, if we could manage it, but free in any event. Today, it seems we are prepared to give up our freedom for a modern day form of Marxism... Socialized Medicine!

We have taken a look at a fraction of what ObamaCare will cost America in the loss of freedom and liberty, but what will it cost us in dollars and cents? If the truth were to be told… nobody knows. Those who are in a position to actually make a decent “guesstimate” are scared witless to make any pronouncement on the cost of ObamaCare because they know the cost will be astronomical, out of sight, and will bring on tax increases the likes of which Americans have never known. Some say that right now, if the economy doesn't get any worse, and I think we can agree that the economy is certainly going to get worse under the policies Obama is trying so desperately to set in place... the Universal Healthcare program will cost us around 150 BILLION per year! The possible ten-year cost-out might be expected to exceed 3 TRILLION dollars. Now, if you know anything, at all, about government programs you know they always cost more than they are projected to cost by those who are promoting them. I fear it is the same with this ObamaCare program. There is an excellent article over at the Washington Times we recommend. You'll find it HERE.

To make it even worse, it is expected the bill, when passed through the Congress, most likely will create a government owned Health Insurance Company. Common sense will tell you that private for-profit Insurance companies will not be able to compete in the market place with the government owned company which will not have to worry about profit and loss and, eventually, there will be NO PRIVATE HEALTH INSURTANCE COMPANIES still open for business in America. The democrats understand that to make the Universal Healthcare System work, at all, nobody can be allowed to have any form of insurance that is superior to the National Healthcare Program.

What about clandestine healthcare? You know... sneaking around to find a doctor who will treat you for a fee, off the books, and out of sight of the government. Well, if you seek out a doctor, and have an examination, and pay the doc in cash, you and the doctor could both go to jail!

And how long before the doctor shortage REALLY begins to bite? Do you really think youngsters are going to spend eight or ten years in school and pile up a stack of loans just to get a medical degree and go to work for the government as a “civil servant”? Well, DO you? Surely, you are not THAT deluded? On the other hand, how do you like the idea of being treated by a government doctor? Hey, that’s something to think about while standing in line at the Post Office to buy a few stamps or mail a package, right? The very idea gives me nightmares!

If you think it’s bad now, wait until we actually have ObamaCare. Our every move will be monitored, and the government will direct us in every facet of our lives. If you think the government is intrusive now... just wait... you ain't seen nothing yet!

There is just so much to understand about how a national healthcare system would work that most Americans will never understand it... until it is too late and we are saddled with this horror from hell!

It is time, actually it is past time, for all Americans who love freedom, to write, call, fax, telegram, or e-mail their Congressperson and Senators and urge them to fight against a National Healthcare Program bill that will suffocate the remaining freedom we have as Americans. There is not a minute to lose. The democrats are planning to make an attempt at ramming this thing through Congress at a record-breaking speed so as to defy any chance you may have of acquainting yourself with what is in the actual bill itself.

There is an Online Petition you may wish to consider signing. It is the Free Our Healthcare Now Petition. You’ll find it HERE.

Don't be suckered again, America! Universal healthcare is not democracy. It is socialism. Universal healthcare is not about healthcare. It is about power for the ruling class. The very fact that the idea, itself, springs from Socialism/Marxism is more than enough for me to be against it - completely and absolutely. It is impossible for democracy to ever compromise with Socialism, Marxism, and Communism. Like cancer left untreated any one of the three will kill democracy.

It is time to get your back up and act as an American. Playing the part of a wimp is Un-American! And lying down and rolling over for a Congress and a President whose intention is to acquire all the power possible for themselves at the expense of the common, everyday, American is skullduggery at the lowest level. And THAT, dear reader is exactly what is going on in Washington today!

It is time to reclaim that which is rightfully ours... our freedom!

J. D. Longstreet

*********************

Conservative+Socialism+Healthcare+ObamaCare

The Zimbabwean Trillion Dollar Campaign: Celebrating the Freedom of Speech

2009-07-09T12:20:00.000-06:00

By Findalis

Hat tip to Crusader Rabbit

Imagine living in a country where the currency is so worthless that a trillion dollars doesn't even buy a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, or even a piece of bubble gum.

Imagine living in that country and the press being silenced. Forced to follow the Party line or face punishment.

Imagine a courageous Newspaper publisher with limited funds and the advertising agency that takes on such a dictator.

This is the life for millions of citizens in Zimbabwe. Hyper-Inflation, loss of civil rights, and a dictator more concerned with his own self than his people.

The Zimbabwean Titanium Trillion Dollar Campaign

View at YouTube

The Zimbabwean Trillion Dollar Campaign celebrates the freedom of speech – and after winning the Grand Prix in the 2009 Disruption Awards the jury at the 2009 Cannes Lions honored the South African campaign with an unseen amount of Cannes Lions: so far three Gold, one Silver and one Grand Prix.

The campaign was designed to raise awareness regarding the plight of The Zimbabwean newspaper and consisted of various creative elements, including a billboard, all made up entirely of Zimbabwean Dollar bank notes. The newspaper, the brainchild of journalists driven into exile, is committed to providing independent and fair comment on Zimbabwe to Zimbabweans, and has had a ‘luxury’ import duty of over 55% added to it by the Mugabe government, thus making it unaffordable to the average Zimbabwean citizen.

Read the full story here.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe is a tyrant. Ruling the nation of Zimbabwe with an Iron Fist, squandering its resources on frivolities, his wife believes that the national treasury is her personal spending account and her shopping trips to Paris, London, Rome, and New York are infamous.

The Mugabes and their cronies live in splendor while their nation suffers. Drought, Cholera, Hunger stalk the nation.

How much longer does the people of Zimbabwe have to suffer at the hands of this tyrant before the International Community cries enough? How much longer do we have to wait before President Barack Obama says something? Or will Mugabe become just another dictator in a line of dictators around the world that Obama will embrace?

The people of Zimbabwe need our voices to be raised, for theirs have been silenced by their tyrant.

If you wish to read the truth from Zimbabwe, you have the opportunity and ability to read The Zimbabwean. It is on-line and free to you. Unlike the millions living in Zimbabwe, you are fortunate to have access to the internet.

Return the Confederate Battle Flag to the Dome of SC's Capitol Building

2009-07-09T00:05:00.001-06:00

ReturnReturn the Confederate Battle Flag to the Capitol's Dome in South Carolina!
J. D. Longstreet
***********************

To catch up on the latest antics of the politically correct crowd and their permanently offended allies you need to read this article titled: Flag fallout: ACC reverses S.C. baseball bid". You will find it HERE.

It would appear the deal to remove the Confederate Battle Flag from the dome of the Capitol Building in Columbia South Carolina has finally, and irrefutably, fallen through. For anyone who had even the remotest hope the deal was holding, the latest antics of “The Offended” should remove any, and all, doubt. So, what I am advocating is simply tossing the “agreement” (Obviously, it never REALLY existed!) and returning to the way things were before the – ahem -“agreement.” That means - returning the Confederate Battle flag to its place atop the SC Capitol Dome in Columbia, South Carolina!

No, I am NOT kidding. It would be a rare thing, indeed, to find a time in my life when I have been more serious about this subject. Now that the “deal” turns out to be no deal, at all, the Confederate Battle Flag should immediately be run back up the flag pole, on top of the capital dome, and flown daily as a reminder to anyone and everyone that South Carolina will not the cowed and will not bend their knee to those who would dictate how "The Sandlappers" live their lives and how they honor their ancestors.I'm a native South Carolinian- and damned proud of it! My home state was the first state to secede from the union. It was the only Confederate state whose legislature voted unanimously to secede and it was the only Confederate state that did not send recruits to fight in Union forces against their brothers - the Confederates. In other words, South Carolina stood its ground in the face of all adversity. Every few years, it seems, we have to fight the battle all over again. It is not enough that the history of the United States has been re-written multiple times in an attempt to erase all vestiges of the truth behind The War for Southern Independence, or The War of Northern Aggression, whichever you choose... both are correct.

Before we go any further, all Americans need to understand this: The so-called Civil War was not a civil war! It was not a rebellion! The South broke away and formed a new country complete with a constitution, a President and vice-President, a Congress, an Army, a Navy, and a Marine corp, AND it was much larger, in land area, than the original 13 colonies when they broke away from Great Britain. A civil war and/or a rebellion require(s) that one side, or the other, attempt to overthrow the government of the original country. The South never did that. That was not what they were about. They wanted their independence just the same as their grandfathers wanted theirs from Great Britain. All they ever wanted from the United States of America was, in the words of President, Jefferson Davis, was to be "left alone!" That hardly defines a rebellion!)In any event, recent developments, here in the Carolinas, have some Sandlappers and Tarheels blistering mad and others doubled over in laughter at the antics of powerful organizations apparently afraid of a piece of cloth with the Christian symbol, the Saint Andrew's Cross, on it. Of course, I refer to the Confederate Battle flag. OK, so it is not the flag itself they despise. It is us, the Southerner with roots and DNA that runs deep into the past where dwell the most honored soldier ever to walk the face of the earth, the Confederate soldier. That flag, the Confederate Battle Flag, was their emblem, their battlefield ensign. It never flew over the nation of the Confederacy as a national flag, ever, which means: it never flew over slavery. The Confederate Battle Flag as a National flag of the Confederacy is pure Hollywood, pure fiction.

The Confederate Battle Flag was a battlefield standard. On the battlefield, it flew over white and black Confederate troops. The flag that flew over the Union Forces, however, DID fly over slavery, and yet it gets a pass while the Confederate Battle Flag is dishonored by the revisionists of history and the priest, priestesses, and acolytes of Political Correctness who continue to heap lies upon it in an all-out attempt to strike at the people who are the proud descendants of the men who fought, bled, and died beneath the ruffles, snaps, and flourishes of that grand old standard.If it sounds as if I take the slanderous attacks against the Confederate Battle Flag personally, you're damned right I do! I had ancestors who fought, bled, and yes - died beneath it. I carry their genes and their DNA in my wretched old body. They were heroes and people who are not worthy to even stand in their shadow are disgracing them!

Did you know that around three-quarters of a million Confederate troops held off 2 and a half million Union troops for four of the bloodiest years in the history of this continent? Did you know that? A rag tag bunch of southerners almost, almost, gained a resounding victory over the forces of a fledgling world superpower! Yeah, they were, absolutely, heroes. Their battle tactics are still taught in military academies the world over. The First World War reflects the tactics of trench warfare the Confederates introduced in defense of the Confederate capital.

To say that I am angry about the decision to halt plans to hold a conference baseball tournament in Myrtle Beach, SC, and moving that tournament to North Carolina while citing failure to reach an agreement on the Confederate Battle Flag issue – is putting it mildly! In my opinion, it is an insult to every southerner in this country… not just the Carolinas. (And you wonder why this country can’t “come together” and be as one???) These are the kinds of actions that bring back memories of the “Reconstruction Period” in the South that wreaked more pain, devastation, and destruction on the South than the war itself.

Do not tell southerners to put it behind us and move on! We can’t. We live it every day. To us, in our collective memories, the war was just yesterday. All around us are reminders of the destruction and the cost in lives each southern family suffers to this day. This state, North Carolina, lost 40,000 men to that war. In four years, 40,000 men, from North Carolina, alone, gave their lives in a war for Southern Independence! Think about that. In roughly ten years the entire United States of America lost 58,000 men in the Vietnam War. That’s 58,000 dead Americans spread over 50 states. You know the impact that had on the country as a whole. Just think what the loss of 40,000 men, in four years, had on a single state, North Carolina. How do you forget something like that – even if you wanted to?

There are many very angry southerners over this insult. It will not be forgotten.

Today, while America is ripped and torn by a government as inept as any we have ever had in our nation’s history, along comes something as arguably unimportant as a sporting event, which quickly becomes a tool for adding fuel to the fires of dissension and discord in a country which is already dangerously balkanized and at the extreme limits of it’s comity for fellow Americans holding different political opinions.

These are, indeed, times that try men’s souls. Tread lightly, ever so lightly.

J. D. Longstreet
*********************

Conservative+Confederate+Battle+Flag+Baseball+Sports

Michael Jackson Super Star

2009-07-07T17:04:00.001-06:00

By Barbara Sowell

Death takes us all, and most often not by surprise. Today it’s best just to say a prayer for his departed soul as we are not in a position to judge. But I wonder if in death Super Stars are forever bound to this earth by the gravity of fame and the perils of fortune; living on in memory as long as money flows into the hands that weave the myths. Those greedy hands that now heap praise will tomorrow leak sordid details, true or not, with no aim beyond financial gain.

There will be time enough to dissect his life and the post mortem will go on for what seems like an eternity until another generation has lost the memory and no one sings the songs, and no one knows the dance.

Glorified, mummified, vilified, novelized, categorized, and then forgotten – it’s the long road from memorial to oblivion.

Visions of the forever youthful Peter Pan merged with the dying and disfigured Dorian Gray are too painfully real; too complex.

Those Faustian tempters, vultures of industry and media, sealed the deal long ago and now present us with that pristine portrait. The Picture of Dorian Gray is forever beautiful, enticing, and so very comforting.

And we will keep hiding his tortured existence and dusty end from the puppets, from the pretenders, and from the dreamers, until another idol comes to take his place.

Technorati Tags: Michael Jackson,Dorian Gray,Super Stars,poetry,poem,novels,music,media,Thriller

Obama's Real Connections to Venezuela's Chavez

2009-07-07T09:06:00.003-06:00

Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media has provided an in-depth look at Obama's real connections to Venezuela's communist thug, Chavez. This is a stunning, horrifying read, and reveals the true danger posed by our Leftist lunatic "President," aka "The One."

What we are really dealing with in Obama and his cabal is nothing less than a communist coup, brought to us through a stolen election, aided and abetted by a complicit press and a Corrupt, fellow-traveling Congress. Believe it. Something MUST be done, and there is precious little time left. The cartoon below should give you a cynical chuckle, if you can still laugh after reading Cliff's piece.

Palin continues to confuse her enemies

2009-07-07T07:17:00.005-06:00

By James H. Shott

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin continues to confound political observers. The woman whose sudden entrance onto the national political stage so badly confused the liberal machine last fall has just as suddenly announced her departure, unexpectedly announcing her resignation as Governor last Friday, less than three years into her term.

You can evaluate Mrs. Palin’s political effectiveness by looking at how people reacted to her. The barrage of gutter-level personal attacks after Sen. John McCain chose her as his running mate was swift and vicious. So badly flummoxed was the opposition that they stooped to personal attacks that targeted the Palin children, which successfully demonstrated the lack of class and civility of the attackers, and actually helped Gov. Palin.

This strategy found a new low when comic David Letterman suggested that Mrs. Palin’s 14 year-old daughter had had a sexual encounter with a baseball player during a game at Yankee Stadium. He then made disparaging remarks about the Governor’s appearance.

Is this the best the left can do?

This behavior epitomizes the undisciplined mind of fringe liberals, who are so hypnotically linked to their ideology that they cannot accept the idea that everyone doesn’t agree with them, and when people don’t agree with them, they lose control.

Gov. Palin’s enemies in Alaska pursued ethics charges against her that lacked merit, but were expensive to defend, and proved to be a substantial distraction. Politics can often be a dirty game.

The Democratic National Committee committed an unforced error with this reaction: "Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can't handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down. Either way – her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today."

Even if every slam against Mrs. Palin in that statement was true, you’d think the DNC would be happy that its enemy is stepping down. Message to the DNC: Sometimes it’s better to just keep quiet.

What millions of Americans like about Mrs. Palin is her basic “normalness”: She is one of us. An attractive wife and mother, college educated, a church-goer, a person with a simple lifestyle, a woman who willingly gave birth to a Down syndrome child instead of aborting it … she could be our next door neighbor. And that is what freaked out the opposition so effectively. Her broad, “normal American” appeal presented an image contrary to everything the radicals believe in, and the only way they could neutralize that appeal was to attack her personally and try to belittle her. But that tactic failed.

Would Sarah Palin have been a good Vice President? Like everyone else, she has weaknesses, and despite her natural appeal didn’t always come across as someone that could run a country. She isn’t a polished and eloquent speaker, but then, consider Joe Biden’s frequent gaffs. She doesn’t have foreign policy experience, but then neither does Barack Obama. However, unlike Mr. Obama, Mr. Biden and Sen. McCain, she does have executive experience as a mayor, the head of a state commission, and a governor. And she has proven that she will take on entrenched political factions and win.

So the jury is still out on that question. But the opposition must have been worried, given its frenzied attack strategy.

Suddenly stepping down as governor in mid-term, however, has everyone wondering what is going on, including her supporters. Even the most positive evaluations say this move is risky if Mrs. Palin hopes to have a future in politics. With the decision to walk away, she has branded herself a “quitter,” despite whatever good reasons she may have for stepping down. And, predictably, her enemies are having a field day playing guessing games.

She’s fed up with the pettiness of her opposition and with the nastiness of politics, and the toll her sudden prominence has taken on her children, who are supposed to be off limits from the normal sewer-tactics of the political game. In her statement last Friday, she said: “Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I’ve been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions. Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed.” But there are still hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills to pay. Who could blame her for wanting to escape that?

But maybe there is something ugly lying beneath the surface yet to be discovered, an actual scandal, instead of a made-up scandal. Right now, nobody knows for sure, and until something substantive actually comes to light, everyone would be well advised to keep quiet, behave themselves, and make an honest effort to be mature, responsible adults.

There is a strong feeling that those expectations are too high.

Cross-Posted from Observations

Half of America is Roiling with Anger!

2009-07-07T00:06:00.000-06:00

Is Hate Growing in America?
By: J. D. Longstreet

***************************

From Rasmussen Reports: “Fifty percent (50%) of Americans believe hate is growing in America in the wake of the murders of a doctor who performed late-term abortions and a military recruiter and a shooting incident at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in which a guard was killed. … Since much of the criticism after the shooting incidents was directed at conservative talk radio and television, it’s not surprising that 52% of Democrats blame radio, TV and Internet rhetoric for increased hatred, while a plurality of Republicans (44%) feel the opposite way. Adults not affiliated with either party are almost evenly divided on the question.”
You may read the entire article HERE.

So far no surprises. It was, OF COURSE, those mean ole CONSERVATIVES stirring people up over such paltry things as the hijacking of our democracy and replacing it with a socialist form of government. The wanton disregard of the constitution by the left, and conservatives having the temerity to actually speak aloud about such things as our religion which tells us, flat-out, that certain behaviors are unacceptable in the eyes of God and are heinous sins and blasphemous crimes against God. So, yes, I suppose conservatives did upset some people.

It is always upsetting when someone holds a mirror up to a society and allows the members of that society to see the evil rampant in one’s own society and yes, even in one’s own life. Yeah, it can be expected that will cause some uncomfortable moments for our friends on the left side of the political spectrum.

Raised as an evangelical I was taught to ”Love the sinner and hate the sin.” But, I have to tell you, it is getting far more difficult these days to not carry that hate for the sin over to the sinner, as well- especially when the sinner is constantly in your face, flaunting his crime against God in the face of a society he knows does not approve of his acts. It has also become uncommonly trying on those conservatives when they know they are being deliberately singled out in an attempt to cause them to break and react in a manner which may reflect hate rather than love.

Now, let’s understand one other very important thing, too. Not ALL conservatives are church going, bible reading, Christians. It is not required that a conservative to be a Christian.

One other thing we need to be clear on. There is a double standard in America for Conservatives and Leftists. Things the left routinely gets away with, a conservative would be crucified for. Just as an example - adultery is one of the biggies.

According to the same Rasmussen Report: “Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans said the United States should refrain from banning so-called “hate speech” in a survey a year ago. Twenty-eight percent (28%) favored banning hate speech, which is loosely defined as comments intended to put down or incite violence against people on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and other legally protected categories.” Am I the only commentator out here who sees this as what it is – a clear violation of the First Amendment?

I am convinced the sole purpose of the Hate Speech Ban is to silence Conservatives. There is absolutely no other acceptable explanation for it. Conservatives who spout the truth are a real and present danger to the political left. I mean, the left cannot allow conservatives to refer to as them socialists! That’s what they are, but they don’t want to hear you actually SAY IT! And – they fear you hearing it. They fear that if you do come to suspect that the current government in the United States is controlled by socialists you just might take the time to do a little light research and learn what a socialist REALLY is - and that would scare you to death! Conservatives, of course, WANT you to do that research and learn for yourself who is actually pulling the strings in your nation’s capital.

According to Rasmussen: “seventy-four percent (74%) of voters believe that with the Internet, cable networks, satellite radio, newspapers, radio and TV, it is possible for just about any political view to be heard in today’s media.” So, what’s wrong wit that? Nothing I can think of. Where the problem arises is when one side or the other tries to shut everybody else up! And THAT is exactly what leftist the world over, and especially in America, tries to do every time they come to power. As an example, I offer the Fairness Doctrine. The left in Congress has not given up their goal of the reinstitution of that hellish piece of legislation. Oh, they will title it something else, but it will BE “the Fairness Doctrine.”

To answer the question in the title to this commentary, I’d reply that no, I do not believe hate in America is getting any worse. However, when you stifle a once free people, it has the same effect as screwing the valve down tight on a pressure cooker. Sooner or later, something is going to explode.

Today America is that pressure cooker. Our leftist/socialist leadership is screwing the valve closed at an ever-increasing speed and the pressure within is building to dangerous levels. They are doing exactly what we predicted they WOULD DO once in power. They are over-reaching. They do it every time! It seems they simply cannot help themselves. They become inebriated on power, and their drunkenness affects their judgment – or so it seems.

No, in my opinion, hate is not growing - but flat out, old fashioned, country style ANGER IS GROWING!

I don’t know about you – but I am mad as hell! I’m mad at what has been done to my country! I’m mad as hell at the folks who have done it and continue doing it! I’m mad as hell at the folks who sit on the sidelines and bitch and moan and won’t get in the arena and fight for what they KNOW is right! I’m mad as hell at the political party that KNOWS what it takes to win and throw the Socialist and Marxists out of Washington, and still refuse to do it! That is utter insanity and the GOP is as mad as a hatter!

America is becoming an armed camp. If our public education system was worth anything at all, Americans would know what is happening. To get a grasp of it, all that is required is a look at what happened in this same country from about 1820 until April of 1861. We are repeating the same mistakes we made then. May God have mercy on us if we do not wake up and get hold of ourselves and stop the insanity in our government before half of this country decides it no longer wishes to be associated with the other half.

One thing is certain. We cannot continue on the course we have set. If we do, the United States of America will cease to exist in a very short time.

J. D. Longstreet

*********************

Conservative+Socialism+Marxism+Anger+American+War

Americans Continue Stocking Up On Firearms And Ammo.

2009-07-06T00:08:00.001-06:00

Americans Continue to Arm Themselves
A commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*************************

Here’s some information I picked up from Rasmussen the other day:

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans say gun sales are up in the United States because of a fear of increased government restriction on gun ownership.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 23% say gun sales have risen because of a fear of increased crime. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of men say the threat of more gun control is behind increased sales, compared to 51% of women. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of whites agree, while African-Americans are more closely divided on the question.

You may read the entire article from Rasmussen Here.

It is good to know that 75% of Americans believe the constitution guarantees the right to own a gun. A whopping 92% of Republicans say the Constitution guarantees their right to own a gun, compared to 64% of Democrats and 71% of adults not affiliated with either of the major political parties.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The amendment is part of the Bill of Rights.

Gun control advocates have argued that the Second Amendment refers to the arming of a militia for the common defense and is not a guarantee of an individual’s right to own a gun. The National Rifle Association and numerous political leaders, both Democrat and Republican, among others, disagree.

Now we have Judge Sonia Sotomayor, nominated for the US Supreme Court by President Obama, with a record on the 2nd Amendment which is troublesome to gun owners – and that is putting it mildly. US Senators are being urged by their constituents to carefully question Judge Sotomayor about her position and her rulings on cases having to do with the second amendment.
Take a look a portion of Sotomayor’s record on gun rights:

Sotomayor ruled in United States v. Sanchez-Villar (2004) that "the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right."

She was part of a three-judge panel earlier this year which ruled in Maloney v. Cuomo that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states.

Fox News reported back in May that in her senior thesis at Princeton University, Sotomayor wrote that America has a "deadly obsession" with guns and that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an individual right to firearms ownership.

I ran across an interesting article on a site called “The Patriot’s Mind” a few days ago. The title of the piece is: “What the Media won’t tell you about Judge Sotomayor.” You will find it HERE.

And we must not forget the new Obama Attorney General, Eric Holder, who is reportedly not, shall we say, a keen supporter of gun rights.

Americans continue to practically run to gun shops to purchase weapons. They are buying ammunition, semiautomatic sport-utility rifles, and handguns, and shotguns. (Shotguns are a bit easier to employ for the beginner. You just point it in the general direction of your target and pull the trigger. There’s a pretty good chance you’ll get a piece of your intended target.)

The plain truth - is Americans are afraid this new government is going to disregard the constitution and take away their guns and/or make it nearly impossible for them to purchase ammunition for their weapons. That is one reason Americans are buying guns. The other is, or should be, self-explanatory.

From the mouth of, quite likely, the 20th century’s worst dictator, Adolph Hitler, is the most important reason Americans should never give up their 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Here is what Hitler said: "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing."-- Adolph Hitler, Hitler's Secret Conversations 403 (Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens trans., 1961)

Now compare that to what Thomas Jefferson said to John Cartwright in 1824. Jefferson said: "The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."

When Americans survey the political landscape in Washington DC today one cannot escape the feeling that powers are gathering to strip Americans of a cherished right - the right to keep and bear arms.

Americans have almost instinctively understood that it was the gun that secured our freedom from Great Britain and it was the gun that has kept us free ever since.

James Madison had this to say in The Federalist Papers, No. 46 about American’s gun rights:

“The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”

And finally, Patrick Henry, that fiery Founding Father had some strong words about the people resisting the abuse of power by their government. Henry said this:

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.”

Through lips curled into a sneer Patrick Henry said this:

“O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms, wherewith you could defend yourselves, are gone...Did you ever read of any revolution in a nation...inflicted by those who had no power at all?”

Americans must, must, remember, that without the right guaranteed us by our Founding Fathers in the 2nd Amendment, we would have NO WAY to secure all the other rights. Somewhere along the way, over the past 233 years we seem to have forgotten that.

With our guns we are citizens. Without them, we will fairly quickly become slaves.

J. D. Longstreet

********************

Conservative<+Gun+Rights+Constitution+Sotomayor+Obama

“…Men Shall Cry: Peace! Peace! But There Will Be No Peace.”

2009-07-05T01:01:00.004-06:00

"…Men shall cry: Peace! Peace! But there will be no peace.”

A commentary by J. D. Longstreet

*************************************

It bothers me when I hear politicians, and former politicians, call for a lasting peace in the Middle East… especially a Southern politician, a Baptist, at that, and… a former President of the US.

I am referring, among others, to former “horrible” President Jimmy Carter of Plains, Georgia.

Now, let me see if I can explain this a bit:

It is always difficult to “unmix” politics and religion; at least it is for me. I really like to keep them separate, as much as I can… with the knowledge that each will, most certainly, intrude on the other… and there is no way to stop that. Not in a free society, anyway.

I was raised Southern Baptist. I left the Baptist church when I was in my mid-twenties and became a Lutheran. I felt the Lutheran church offered me something I could not find in my former denomination. Today that offering has been revoked and I find myself a “non-practicing” Lutheran.

Experience in the Baptist church taught me many things. One is that the policy Mr. Carter is suggesting, a “Lasting Peace in the Middle East”, is certainly not what the Baptist church teaches... at least they didn’t when I was a Baptist. In fact, it taught just the opposite… that there would be no peace, whatsoever, in the Middle East, until the return of Christ and the great battle of Armageddon.

So, you can imagine how my jaw dropped when I read Carter’s article in the Washington Post. You can find it HERE.

What’s going on here? Has “Jimma” finally gone round that bend he has been approaching, rather rapidly, of late? Or, has the Baptist church changed its stance on Peace in the Middle East? I simply don’t know. But, knowing the Baptists, as I do, (there are a number of my family, including my brother, who are Baptist ministers) I cannot believe the church has changed its teachings to reflect modern, secular, politics (I expect I’ll hear from a Baptist, or two, about this! Fine people, those Baptists!! How’s that for “sucking-up?”).

The last I heard, (and I have some friends who travel to Georgia, fairly often, and attend church at Carter’s church… and even attend the Sunday School class he teaches, or did teach.) the Baptist Church had not changed it’s teaching on “End Times”, Armageddon, or the Rapture. So, I have to wonder how other Baptists, members of one of the most conservative denominations on the earth, feel about this prominent Baptist misrepresenting their belief.

Carter’s association with the Baptists and his obvious break with them concerning Israel, and the Middle East, is a puzzlement. But then, politicians, who wear their religion on their sleeves, have always raised my eyebrows.

There is a distinct difference between wearing one’s religion on one’s sleeve, and practicing one’s religion, as that worthy adversary, Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman, does. I do not question his faith. He lives it.

Seems to me America would be a much better place if our politicians would LIVE their religion rather than publicly touting it as so many do.

Am I guilty of judging others by going against the biblical precept, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”? Of course I am! Christ himself said: “Ye shall know a tree by the fruit it bears.” I’m just examining the fruit! I’m kind of a “fruit inspector”, if you will.

I suggest we ALL begin examining the fruit we’re being offered much more closely than we have in the past. All the evidence we need to convince those among us who STILL need convincing has been splattered all over the media lately.

J. D. Longstreet

********************

Conservative+Religion+Politics+America

A Republic… IF We Can Keep It!

2009-07-03T00:17:00.000-06:00

A Republic… IF We Can Keep It!
A commentary by J. D. Longstreet

************************************

The story is told that when Ben Franklin emerged from the Constitutional Convention an anxious lady asked him what kind of government they had given us. His famous reply was: “A republic, Madam… if you can keep it.” And, for the most part, we Americans have been trying to keep it. But “change” is in the air.

Have you noticed how the Democratic Party has stopped denying its socialist tendencies?

Months ago, as I began to write about the dangers of socialism to America, (and how the Democratic Party has become a sort of Democratic/Socialist party) I was stunned when they, the democrats, did not refute it! See, I had expected democrats to deny any connection to socialism. But they didn’t. It was then that it struck me… they don’t deny it because they can’t. Apparently, they have embraced socialism.

You must forgive me if I get a bit wound-up when socialism is the topic. I have watched that “destroyer of nations” reap its harvest for many, many, decades. It is, in my opinion, the greatest threat to democracy on the planet. I see socialism as presenting an even greater threat than the Islamofacist terrorists! I will never be comfortable with a socialist government in America. We can argue “degrees” of socialism all day and it won’t matter. As the expression goes: “a little leaven leavens the whole loaf.”

As Independence Day rushes toward us, I think it is pure irony that now, as a “near” socialist nation, America can celebrate an event named “Independence Day” with a straight face!

As I write, in the year of our Lord 2009, Americans are anything but independent! We are fat, and lazy, and dependent on our new “near” socialist government for far too much and we are begging them to take on more of our care through a National Healthcare System that at least some of us recognize as socialized medicine and which has been dubbed “ObamaCare.” There is very little “independent” about Americans today. In less than six short months of the Obama regime we have gone from “King of the Hill” to just another member of the “mediocrity pack” of nations.

I know this is difficult to swallow. You can’t know how much pain it cause me to write these words. I have stood on the ground where the Wright brothers took their first flight launching America into the space age. They had no idea that their short flight would end up taking man to the stars, but of course, it did. I have trod the ground from which our astronauts blasted off to land and walk upon the surface of the moon. I have witnessed America claw her way to the top through sheer willpower and determination to be the best. And now, as I approach the autumn of my life, I am watching the decline and fall of that same America. Do you really think I don’t feel a copious amount of pain? I think I must now know what the ancient Romans felt as they watched the greatest civilization in history, to that day, decline, crumble, and fall in ruins around them.

“Oh,” but you say, “… socialism is the only way to go. Everyone will be equal! No class, no class warfare…” and such.

Well, let us see if we can break it down so that even those of you in love with the “cancer of nations,” socialism, can understand it.

The story is told of an economics professor at a small college who made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan.” All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride, too, so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Socialism will brung the end to private enterprise. Just think: under socialism there would be no small businesses, none of those Mom and Pop stores we are so fami,liar with in America. There would be no entrepreneurs. Socialism calls for the redistribution of wealth. Broken down, that simply means taking the money you earned and giving it to those you feel did not earn it. Socialism demands that all wealth in a nation, and that includes yours, will be controlled by the government. In other words, you will own nothing --- not even your own money. The government owns everything and everyone is given only what it takes for that person to survive. Socialism celebrates the lack of an upper class and a lower class. Under socialism there is only one class. And in THAT class all people suffer equally.

Americans have made an awful decision. They have decided to give up. Freedom is just too hard. It requires entirely too much work and effort on the part of the individual. It is much easier to sit back, relax, and allow the government to take care of us. Look, folks, birds locked in a golden cage are just as much a prisoner as those locked in a rusty old quarter-inch mesh wire cage. A prison is a prison and man is quite capable of creating his own.

Americans remind me today of the little granddaughter of a friend. He tells me she just recently went through the stage all parents are familiar with called…”potty training.” When she finished her business she would sit patiently on the porcelain throne, and yell her head off, until someone appeared to take care of that most important chore – the hygienic cleansing of the recently employed lower sphincter. (The vernacular is much more colorful and maybe a bit more descriptive, but, at the risk of creating a pun here, I wanted to keep it clean!) The child’s actions sound so much like what Americans are doing today, sitting on the porcelain throne yelling our heads off while waiting for someone to come take care of the last, but important, chore. The government will take care of it, but there is a price to be extracted from each of us. The price is the loss of our freedom.

They say that Satan’s greatest trick is convincing mankind that he doesn’t exist. It may be his best trick but it doesn’t hold a candle to the trick socialism has played on America.

J. D. Longstreet

**********************

Conservative+Socialism+Republic+Government+America

I Miss America! ... J. D. Longstreet

2009-07-02T00:06:00.000-06:00

I Miss America, Already!
By: J. D. Longstreet

*****************************

With the 4th of July, celebrated as Independence Day in the United States, fast approaching, scribes all over the nation are dutifully dipping their quills into their inkpots to scribble the obligatory few lines on the topic: “What America Means to me”, again this year, as in every year since, well, since there has been an America, I suppose.

But, I must confess, I am having difficulty this year. Each time I pull up to the keyboard, and type those few words, my eyes want to tear up and I get that lump in the throat that I used to associate with singing the national anthem and watching the flag march by, proudly held aloft by a veteran of the US Armed Forces. It is a common trait among those of us who have worn our nation’s uniform.

Ah, but this year, this year, the would-be tears are not only for those who have paid the price of our freedom with their body and blood - and sometimes even their sanity, it is for what we, as Americans, have lost in just the first five short months of the new presidential administration’s reign.

Near the top of my list of things we Americans have lost is PRIDE. Pride at being an American. Pride that was earned - that was paid for by the men and women who went before me into the jaws of hell and back to free a people in a country the name of which some of them could not even pronounce. It was pride earned because Americans were a people who would lend a hand to their fellow man, far away, who yearned to be free from a brutal dictator.

America used to be thought of as a “can-do” nation. It didn’t make a lot of difference what needed doing, America could, and would, do it. It never occurred to us we could fail. I mean, after all, we were AMERICANS! We DON’T FAIL!

It was confidence. Self-confidence, if you will. We were a nation of rugged individualists who did not rely on government for a damned thing. As a matter of fact, the less government we had - the better.

The nation, itself, was founded largely by the outcasts of other nations. Occasionally, other nations would send their criminals here as punishment. I know that is difficult to believe but it happened! They were people who had nothing to lose, with their backs against the wall they had one way to go and that was straight ahead - and the devil take the hind most! Those were the people who formed the bedrock foundation of the people the world would come to know simply as “AMERICANS.” Unique in the history of the planet - there had never been a nation made of people like those Americans. They were different. They knew it and they loved it.

They were a people who wanted their freedom - and so they took it – and they took it from a world superpower, no less. They created an experimental system of government called a representative republic and made it work! Some 80 years later they fell out, over state’s rights, and split into two separate countries and went to war against each other. The War for Southern Independence was unlike anything the world had seen before and since. They went at killing each other with workman like precision. On more than one occasion soldiers would cheer and applaud the other side’s bravery in the midst of the battle! More Americans died in that war than in all the wars America has been involved in added together. Some say the way that war ended has much to do with where America finds herself today. I cannot disagree with that. As a result of that war’s ending we stand today as one nation containing two countries made up of 50 separate and sovereign states. At some point it is bound to unravel.

America’s downfall came quickly once it began in the early 1990’s.

I have concluded ignorance is the cause of America’s downfall. We Americans are, as a whole, stupid. We are the least educated, dumbest, society on earth. How else can you account for the people we elected to lead the nation? I mean… just LOOK at that bunch! Now… look at what they have done to the country in less than six months! There is no easy way to say this – the election of Obama was a huge triumph for ignorance in America. If you STILL do not believe me, stick around for oh, a year, maybe eighteen months, or so, and watch what is going to happen and THEN tell me I am wrong.

Come on folks! Look at the fare on your TV. Most of it is insulting to anyone with a slightly above average IQ. You must understand the comprehension level of the average adult American today is around that of a third grader, or below. The people who produce the garbage on TV have to dumb it down so the average American can understand it! How else are they going to be able to sell it to the networks as vehicles for their commercials?

Our public school system (the government schools, as many now refer to them) is absolutely pathetic. It is a colossal failure. The curriculum has been dumbed down so that we are graduating kids who can barely function in a world that will surely pass them by. We know what is wrong with our schools and we know how to fix them - but we won’t. You must understand that for the government (we now have in America) to continue to control the reins of power they need MORE dumb Americans - not less. Our cookie-cutter schools are turning them out by the millions every year.

So, if you say America has passed her zenith, I certainly would not argue with you. Today’s America is but a caricature of the real America. And I really, really, miss America!

J. D. Longstreet

*****************

Conservative+America+Education+government+Dumb

Whatever Happened to the Kang Nam?

2009-07-01T17:10:00.001-06:00

A note from Radarsite: Despite its being at least as dangerous, in its global implications, as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and despite the fact that, according the rather ambiguous Korea Herald report quoted below, this looming maritime crisis still remains factually unresolved, we hear no more about it. Did the Kang Nam really turn around and head back home without discharging it deadly cargo? Did Kim Jong Ill really blink? Or as one skeptic suggests, did it already offload at some unknown port? Either way, thanks to the overwhelming event of Michael Jackson's demise, and various other more important stories, it seems that the Kang Nam crisis is no longer deemed newsworthy. It's off the front page. But it's not off our radar screen. Did the world just avert a major catastrophe? Or has the world just decided to look the other way?

We will follow up on this. - rg

------------------------------------------------

From the Korea Herald

Kang Nam may be heading back home

The Kang Nam, a North Korean ship suspected to be carrying illicit weapons or related material, may be headed back home, according to diplomatic sources here.

"The ship is near our waters. That is about all I can say," said one diplomatic source on the condition of anonymity.

Experts said this could mean that the ship is on its way back to North Korea, indicating that the latest United Nations Security Council sanctions are taking a toll on the reclusive communist state.

"If the ship is on its way back, it would mean that Resolution 1874 is taking effect and causing the North to retreat," said Kim Tae-woo, vice president of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

It has been almost two weeks since the Kang Nam set sail on June 17, but Seoul has claimed it has no information on the whereabouts of the ship.

The Kang Nam is the first North Korean ship to come under international scrutiny since the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1874 that strongly recommends member states to help search and ground North Korean ships suspected of carrying illicit weapons or related material.

Some observers said the Kang Nam may have already unloaded such items, but others said the North would wait until the last minute, as the weapons and materials constitute a vital source of funds for the impoverished regime.

Myanmar, the alleged destination of the Kang Nam, has recently told the foreign press that it would not allow the ship to disembark if it is found to be indeed carrying such items.

The government of Myanmar already has an idea of the items on the ship as the Kang Nam must declare them in advance, according to Foreign Ministry officials.

"The fact that the Myanmarese government has spoken out, if it has as some of the news reports claim, it indicates that the resolution is working," said one Foreign Ministry official.

The Myanmar Embassy here said it had no comment.

A United States destroyer - USS John McCain led by Capt. Jeffrey Kim - is reportedly close on the Kang Nam's tail. But the destroyer is not authorized to forcefully search the North Korean ship.

Due to these limits, critics have said the resolution needs to plug the loopholes by allowing such actions by the member states.

(jemmie@heraldm.com)

By Kim Ji-hyun