Pelosi on right, meets the US taxpayer on left.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Because somebody has to say it
I wasn't going to be political anymore. Well after this post, I won't be political anymore. Also I will start my diet after this post.
This and more at the above link:
This terrific news came out in this past week on the security developments in Iraq but failed to garner any attention from the mainstream media.
The Multi-National Forces reported:
Iraqi security forces continue to develop into a capable force and continue to take the lead. On Tuesday in Ramadi, the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Brigade of the 7th Iraqi Army Division assumed responsibility in its area of operations.
This now makes 90 Iraq army battalions in the lead. In total today, there are six of 10 Iraqi army divisions in the lead, 30 of 36 Iraqi brigades, and 90 of 112 Iraqi battalions in the lead. And we operate in support of them. All across Iraq, we continue to see an increasingly capable Iraqi security force continuing to take the lead.
This and more at the above link:
This terrific news came out in this past week on the security developments in Iraq but failed to garner any attention from the mainstream media.
The Multi-National Forces reported:
Iraqi security forces continue to develop into a capable force and continue to take the lead. On Tuesday in Ramadi, the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Brigade of the 7th Iraqi Army Division assumed responsibility in its area of operations.
This now makes 90 Iraq army battalions in the lead. In total today, there are six of 10 Iraqi army divisions in the lead, 30 of 36 Iraqi brigades, and 90 of 112 Iraqi battalions in the lead. And we operate in support of them. All across Iraq, we continue to see an increasingly capable Iraqi security force continuing to take the lead.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Had to share this one......
> Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that
> when you discover me in your house, you insist that
> I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and
> washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the
> floors; I've done all the things you don't like to
> do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I
> broke into your hou se).
>
> According to the protesters, not only must you let
> me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance
> plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits to
> me and to my family (my husband will do your yard
> work because he too is hard-working and honest,
> except for that breaking-in part). If you try to
> call the police or force me out, I will call my
> friends who will picket your house carrying signs
> that proclaim my right to be there.
>
> It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer
> house than I do, and I'm just trying to better
> myself. I'm a hard-working and honest, person,
> except for . well, you know.
>
> And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house,
> contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep,
> a nd there is nothing you can do about it without
> being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being an
> anti-housebreaker. Oh yeah, I want you to learn my
> language so you can communicate with me.
>
> Why can't people see how ridicu lous this is?! Only
> in America ... if you agree, pass it on (in
> English). Share it if you see the value of it as a
> good smile. If not blow it off along with your
> future Social Security funds, and a lot of other
> things.
> when you discover me in your house, you insist that
> I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and
> washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the
> floors; I've done all the things you don't like to
> do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I
> broke into your hou se).
>
> According to the protesters, not only must you let
> me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance
> plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits to
> me and to my family (my husband will do your yard
> work because he too is hard-working and honest,
> except for that breaking-in part). If you try to
> call the police or force me out, I will call my
> friends who will picket your house carrying signs
> that proclaim my right to be there.
>
> It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer
> house than I do, and I'm just trying to better
> myself. I'm a hard-working and honest, person,
> except for . well, you know.
>
> And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house,
> contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep,
> a nd there is nothing you can do about it without
> being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being an
> anti-housebreaker. Oh yeah, I want you to learn my
> language so you can communicate with me.
>
> Why can't people see how ridicu lous this is?! Only
> in America ... if you agree, pass it on (in
> English). Share it if you see the value of it as a
> good smile. If not blow it off along with your
> future Social Security funds, and a lot of other
> things.
Monday, October 16, 2006
I've Moved
I just moved into town and was checking out the sites. It is the central park of East Longmeadow. It’s called Heritage Park. Located on North Main Street across from the Heritage complex office buildings, the pond is quiet oasis amidst the bustle of this bedroom community. It is a great place to sit and have lunch (which is what I did) and enjoy the many geese, ducks and two swans that inhabit (what else) Heritage Pond.
A new Skating shed was being built on my recent visit. They had torn down an old bus stop type shelter on the same spot. This new shed will house a snack bar and have benches and a handicap ramp (a handicap ramp for ice skating??).
There is also a playground for the kids and a little league ball field.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
I said I wouldn't rant, but
What a country......................................... 5 million of our older Americans have not signed up yet for their Medicare, Part D, drug plan------they are old and confused. We are not going to grant them an extension. However, 12 million illegal aliens are in our country and we are going to allow them to stay, protest, procreate, receive support monies, attend schools, avoid paying income taxes, have our teachers take 300 hours of ESL (English as a Second Language) training at our expense, etc. WE MUST REALLY DISLIKE OUR OLD PEOPLE. If it upsets you, pass it on, if it doesn't, shame on you.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
A long dark night
So, I am getting away from why I started this blog. Was it for therapy? Yea, that’s it, that’s the ticket. It was for my random mind meanderings. As a way just to get my frustrations out.
Oh, that explains my daily rants. Ok, now we are getting somewhere. I had thought my thinking would have gotten more coherent by now, but obviously it hasn’t. My concentration last about half a second.
I read my original post tonight and realized I have not really made much improvement. If anything I think I have slipped further into the abyss. By that I mean the meds I have taken for this thing I have (Hep C) may have made me worse in some ways. I am still very anxious, can’t sleep. It is now 1:46 am. I have slept about 2 hours and will try soon to get more. George Noory and Art Bell have become my friends.
My Mental self has gone all miss wired. My thinking has not been the same since Nov 25, 1998. That’s the day I went into the hospital for meningitis. I should tell that story sometime, before I forget it. I don’t remember the whole episode anyway. I forced myself to go back to work too soon, and I think it hindered my full recovery. That’s when the anxiety began. Long story short, the Effexor seems to be working, on some days at least. I don’t think I will ever stop trembling.
I will occasionally feel like I want to break out and run off to the mountains and go hiking, but I soon realize I don’t have the Physical capacity to do so. I can only walk a block or so on level ground. Any kind of incline and will immediately start to grow weary, as if my legs can no longer support me. Of course my weight is a part of the problem. Since my transplant (oh, didn’t I mention I had a Liver Transplant in October 2004) I have gained back a lot of weight that I put on just before the transplant. I have not been able to lose any, even though I cut out sugar, salt, and anything that tastes good. L I am finally off the predisone, but even that has not seemed to have any good effect on my weight. Sure it helped when I was gaining, but now that I am off it, I still can’t lose the weight. I feel doomed to be heavy forever unless I can get enough strength to go hiking. But who am I kidding. Walks seem to be out of the question. I go for a walk and I feel like my legs are going to give out from under me.
I am tired all the time, but I can’t sleep. Ahhhh, so that’s why I am here, typing. My therapist and psychiatrist think I should be keeping a daily journal. Well maybe this will be it. I will try to stay away from my conservative rants, but it is hard living in Massachusetts as a conservative, in one of, if not the most liberal states in the country. I also feel very duplicitous because I am now living on disability which a no no to my own right wing beliefs. I am such a hypocrite (see Webster: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings). What’s a person to do?
That’s enough for tonight. I am thirsty and tired and sleepy, maybe I can get some sleep. I’ll take some lorazapam and hope for some relief.
Oh, that explains my daily rants. Ok, now we are getting somewhere. I had thought my thinking would have gotten more coherent by now, but obviously it hasn’t. My concentration last about half a second.
I read my original post tonight and realized I have not really made much improvement. If anything I think I have slipped further into the abyss. By that I mean the meds I have taken for this thing I have (Hep C) may have made me worse in some ways. I am still very anxious, can’t sleep. It is now 1:46 am. I have slept about 2 hours and will try soon to get more. George Noory and Art Bell have become my friends.
My Mental self has gone all miss wired. My thinking has not been the same since Nov 25, 1998. That’s the day I went into the hospital for meningitis. I should tell that story sometime, before I forget it. I don’t remember the whole episode anyway. I forced myself to go back to work too soon, and I think it hindered my full recovery. That’s when the anxiety began. Long story short, the Effexor seems to be working, on some days at least. I don’t think I will ever stop trembling.
I will occasionally feel like I want to break out and run off to the mountains and go hiking, but I soon realize I don’t have the Physical capacity to do so. I can only walk a block or so on level ground. Any kind of incline and will immediately start to grow weary, as if my legs can no longer support me. Of course my weight is a part of the problem. Since my transplant (oh, didn’t I mention I had a Liver Transplant in October 2004) I have gained back a lot of weight that I put on just before the transplant. I have not been able to lose any, even though I cut out sugar, salt, and anything that tastes good. L I am finally off the predisone, but even that has not seemed to have any good effect on my weight. Sure it helped when I was gaining, but now that I am off it, I still can’t lose the weight. I feel doomed to be heavy forever unless I can get enough strength to go hiking. But who am I kidding. Walks seem to be out of the question. I go for a walk and I feel like my legs are going to give out from under me.
I am tired all the time, but I can’t sleep. Ahhhh, so that’s why I am here, typing. My therapist and psychiatrist think I should be keeping a daily journal. Well maybe this will be it. I will try to stay away from my conservative rants, but it is hard living in Massachusetts as a conservative, in one of, if not the most liberal states in the country. I also feel very duplicitous because I am now living on disability which a no no to my own right wing beliefs. I am such a hypocrite (see Webster: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings). What’s a person to do?
That’s enough for tonight. I am thirsty and tired and sleepy, maybe I can get some sleep. I’ll take some lorazapam and hope for some relief.
Social Security
Which Party Helped Social Security
More basic to the point, when Social Security was launched by FDR, the average life expectancy of an American was 62 years.
Sooooooo, you had money deducted from your earnings every month under the assumption that it would fund a pension that would begin-----you guessed it----when you reached the age when you would die.
Unlike private investment accounts, all of your "investment" is kept by the government when you die. What a neat scam.
SOCIAL SECURITY: Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the federal government to "put away," you may be interested in the following:
Q: Which party took Social Security from an independent fund and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic- controlled House and Senate.
Q: Which party put a tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic party.
Q: Which party increased the tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic Party with Al Gore casting the deciding vote.
Q: Which party decided to give money to immigrants?
A: That's right, immigrants moved into this country and at 65 got SSI Social Security. The Democratic Party gave that to them although they never paid a dime into it. Then, after doing all this, the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security. And the worst part about it is, people believe it!
Pass This On
More basic to the point, when Social Security was launched by FDR, the average life expectancy of an American was 62 years.
Sooooooo, you had money deducted from your earnings every month under the assumption that it would fund a pension that would begin-----you guessed it----when you reached the age when you would die.
Unlike private investment accounts, all of your "investment" is kept by the government when you die. What a neat scam.
SOCIAL SECURITY: Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the federal government to "put away," you may be interested in the following:
Q: Which party took Social Security from an independent fund and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic- controlled House and Senate.
Q: Which party put a tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic party.
Q: Which party increased the tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic Party with Al Gore casting the deciding vote.
Q: Which party decided to give money to immigrants?
A: That's right, immigrants moved into this country and at 65 got SSI Social Security. The Democratic Party gave that to them although they never paid a dime into it. Then, after doing all this, the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security. And the worst part about it is, people believe it!
Pass This On
Friday, September 15, 2006
Political Correctness and the ACLU
I can't believe this...
I think we don't have a chance against our biggest enemy Political Correctness
and the ACLU
the Al-Qaeda Civil Liberties Union.
From the New York Post
A DEADLY KINDNESS
by RICHARD MINITER
September 15, 2006 -- GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA
ON the military plane back from America's most famous terrorist holding pen, the in-flight film was "V for Vendetta," a screed that tries to justify terrorism. It was a fitting end to a surreal, military-sponsored trip.
The Pentagon seemed to be hoping to disarm its critics by showing them how well it cares for captured terrorists. The trip was more alarming than disarming. I spent several hours with Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., who heads the joint task force that houses and interrogates the detainees. (The military isn't allowed to call them "prisoners.")
Harris, a distinguished Navy veteran who was born in Japan and educated at Annapolis and Harvard, is a serious man trying to do a politically impossible job. I spoke with him at length, and with a dozen other officers and guards, and visited three different detention blocks.
The high-minded critics who complain about torture are wrong. We are far too soft on these guys - and, as a result, aren't getting the valuable intelligence we need to save American lives.
The politically correct regulations are unbelievable. Detainees are entitled to a full eight hours sleep and can't be woken up for interrogations. They enjoy three meals and five prayers per day, without interruption. They are entitled to a minimum of two hours of outdoor recreation per day.
Interrogations are limited to four hours, usually running two - and (of course) are interrupted for prayers. One interrogator actually bakes cookies for detainees, while another serves them Subway or McDonald's sandwiches. Both are available on base. (Filet o' Fish is an al Qaeda favorite.)
Interrogations are not video or audio taped, perhaps to preserve detainee privacy.
Call it excessive compassion by a nation devoted to therapy, but it's dangerous. Adm. Harris admitted to me that a multi-cell al Qaeda network has developed in the camp. Military intelligence can't yet identify their leaders, but notes that they have cells for monitoring the movements and identities of guards and doctors, cells dedicated to training, others for making weapons and so on.
And they can make weapons from almost anything. Guards have been attacked with springs taken from inside faucets, broken fluorescent light bulbs and fan blades. Some are more elaborate. "These folks are MacGyvers," Harris said.
Other cells pass messages from leaders in one camp to followers in others. How? Detainees use the envelopes sent to them by their attorneys to pass messages. (Some 1,000 lawyers represent 440 prisoners, all on a pro bono basis, with more than 18,500 letters in and out of Gitmo in the past year.) Guards are not allowed to look inside these envelopes because of "attorney-client privilege" - even if they know the document inside is an Arabic-language note written by a prisoner to another prisoner and not a letter to or from a lawyer.
That's right: Accidentally or not, American lawyers are helping al Qaeda prisoners continue to plot.
There is little doubt what this note-passing and weapons-making is used for. The military recorded 3,232 incidents of detainee misconduct from July 2005 to August 2006 - an average of more than eight incidents per day. Some are nonviolent, but the tally includes coordinated attacks involving everything from throwing bodily fluids on guards (432 times) to 90 stabbings with homemade knives.
One detainee slashed a doctor who was trying to save his life; the doctors wear body armor to treat their patients.
The kinder we are to terrorists, the harsher we are to their potential victims.
Striking the balance between these two goods (humane treatment, foreknowledge of deadly attacks) is difficult, but the Bush administration seems to lean too far in the direction of the detainees. No expense spared for al Qaeda health care: Some 5,000 dental operations (including teeth cleanings) and 5,000 vaccinations on a total of 550 detainees have been performed since 2002 - all at taxpayer expense. Eyeglasses? 174 pairs handed out. Twenty two detainees have taxpayer-paid prosthetic limbs. And so on.
What if a detainee confesses a weakness (like fear of the dark) to a doctor that might be useful to interrogators, I asked the doctor in charge, would he share that information with them? "My job is not to make interrogations more efficient," he said firmly. He cited doctor-patient privacy. (He also asked that his name not be printed, citing the potential for al Qaeda retaliation.)
Food is strictly halal and averages 4,200 calories per day. (The guards eat the same chow as the detainees, unless they venture to one of the on-base fast-food joints.) Most prisoners have gained weight.
Much has been written about the elaborate and unprecedented appeal process. Detainees have their cases reviewed once a year and get rights roughly equivalent to criminals held in domestic prisons. I asked a military legal adviser: In what previous war were captured enemy combatants eligible for review before the war ended? None, he said.
America has never faced an enemy who has so ruthlessly broken all of the rules of war - yet never has an enemy been treated so well.
Of Gitmo's several camps, military records show that the one with the most lenient rules is the one with the most incidents and vice versa. There is a lesson in this: We should worry less about detainee safety and more about our own.
Some 20 current detainees have direct personal knowledge of the 9/11 attacks and nearly everyone of the current 440 say they would honored to attack America again. Let's take them at their word.
Richard Miniter (richardminiter.com) is a bestselling author and adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Richard Miniter (richardminiter.com) is a bestselling author and adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute
I think we don't have a chance against our biggest enemy Political Correctness
and the ACLU
the Al-Qaeda Civil Liberties Union.
From the New York Post
A DEADLY KINDNESS
by RICHARD MINITER
September 15, 2006 -- GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA
ON the military plane back from America's most famous terrorist holding pen, the in-flight film was "V for Vendetta," a screed that tries to justify terrorism. It was a fitting end to a surreal, military-sponsored trip.
The Pentagon seemed to be hoping to disarm its critics by showing them how well it cares for captured terrorists. The trip was more alarming than disarming. I spent several hours with Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., who heads the joint task force that houses and interrogates the detainees. (The military isn't allowed to call them "prisoners.")
Harris, a distinguished Navy veteran who was born in Japan and educated at Annapolis and Harvard, is a serious man trying to do a politically impossible job. I spoke with him at length, and with a dozen other officers and guards, and visited three different detention blocks.
The high-minded critics who complain about torture are wrong. We are far too soft on these guys - and, as a result, aren't getting the valuable intelligence we need to save American lives.
The politically correct regulations are unbelievable. Detainees are entitled to a full eight hours sleep and can't be woken up for interrogations. They enjoy three meals and five prayers per day, without interruption. They are entitled to a minimum of two hours of outdoor recreation per day.
Interrogations are limited to four hours, usually running two - and (of course) are interrupted for prayers. One interrogator actually bakes cookies for detainees, while another serves them Subway or McDonald's sandwiches. Both are available on base. (Filet o' Fish is an al Qaeda favorite.)
Interrogations are not video or audio taped, perhaps to preserve detainee privacy.
Call it excessive compassion by a nation devoted to therapy, but it's dangerous. Adm. Harris admitted to me that a multi-cell al Qaeda network has developed in the camp. Military intelligence can't yet identify their leaders, but notes that they have cells for monitoring the movements and identities of guards and doctors, cells dedicated to training, others for making weapons and so on.
And they can make weapons from almost anything. Guards have been attacked with springs taken from inside faucets, broken fluorescent light bulbs and fan blades. Some are more elaborate. "These folks are MacGyvers," Harris said.
Other cells pass messages from leaders in one camp to followers in others. How? Detainees use the envelopes sent to them by their attorneys to pass messages. (Some 1,000 lawyers represent 440 prisoners, all on a pro bono basis, with more than 18,500 letters in and out of Gitmo in the past year.) Guards are not allowed to look inside these envelopes because of "attorney-client privilege" - even if they know the document inside is an Arabic-language note written by a prisoner to another prisoner and not a letter to or from a lawyer.
That's right: Accidentally or not, American lawyers are helping al Qaeda prisoners continue to plot.
There is little doubt what this note-passing and weapons-making is used for. The military recorded 3,232 incidents of detainee misconduct from July 2005 to August 2006 - an average of more than eight incidents per day. Some are nonviolent, but the tally includes coordinated attacks involving everything from throwing bodily fluids on guards (432 times) to 90 stabbings with homemade knives.
One detainee slashed a doctor who was trying to save his life; the doctors wear body armor to treat their patients.
The kinder we are to terrorists, the harsher we are to their potential victims.
Striking the balance between these two goods (humane treatment, foreknowledge of deadly attacks) is difficult, but the Bush administration seems to lean too far in the direction of the detainees. No expense spared for al Qaeda health care: Some 5,000 dental operations (including teeth cleanings) and 5,000 vaccinations on a total of 550 detainees have been performed since 2002 - all at taxpayer expense. Eyeglasses? 174 pairs handed out. Twenty two detainees have taxpayer-paid prosthetic limbs. And so on.
What if a detainee confesses a weakness (like fear of the dark) to a doctor that might be useful to interrogators, I asked the doctor in charge, would he share that information with them? "My job is not to make interrogations more efficient," he said firmly. He cited doctor-patient privacy. (He also asked that his name not be printed, citing the potential for al Qaeda retaliation.)
Food is strictly halal and averages 4,200 calories per day. (The guards eat the same chow as the detainees, unless they venture to one of the on-base fast-food joints.) Most prisoners have gained weight.
Much has been written about the elaborate and unprecedented appeal process. Detainees have their cases reviewed once a year and get rights roughly equivalent to criminals held in domestic prisons. I asked a military legal adviser: In what previous war were captured enemy combatants eligible for review before the war ended? None, he said.
America has never faced an enemy who has so ruthlessly broken all of the rules of war - yet never has an enemy been treated so well.
Of Gitmo's several camps, military records show that the one with the most lenient rules is the one with the most incidents and vice versa. There is a lesson in this: We should worry less about detainee safety and more about our own.
Some 20 current detainees have direct personal knowledge of the 9/11 attacks and nearly everyone of the current 440 say they would honored to attack America again. Let's take them at their word.
Richard Miniter (richardminiter.com) is a bestselling author and adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Richard Miniter (richardminiter.com) is a bestselling author and adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute
Sunday, September 10, 2006
ACLU -- what we already knew
On January 17, 1931, the Special House (of Representatives) Committee to Investigate Communist Activities in the United States issued a report which stated the following: "The American Civil Liberties Union is closely affiliated with the communist movement in the United States, and fully 90% of its efforts are on behalf of Communists who have come into conflict with the law.
It claims to stand for free speech, free press, and free assembly; but it is quite apparent that the main function of the ACLU is to attempt to protect the communists in their advocacy of force and violence to overthrow the Government, replacing the American flag with a red flag and erecting a Soviet Government in place of the republican form of government guaranteed to each State by the Federal Constitution...
Roger N. Baldwin, its guiding spirit, makes no attempt to hide his friendship for the communists and their principles" In 1935, Baldwin (FOUNDER OF THE ACLU) wrote the following in his college yearbook: "I have been to Europe several times, mostly in connection with international radical activities...and have traveled in the United States to areas of conflict over workers rights to strike and organize.
My chief aversion is the system of greed, private profit, privilege and violence which makes up the control of the world today, and which has brought it to the tragic crisis of unprecedented hunger and unemployment...Therefore, I am for Socialism, disarmament and ultimately, for the abolishing of the State itself...I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dude, I couldn't care less if it was 1935 or yesterday. HE SAID IT!!! Just look at the things they do. They removed the Pledge of Allegiance from schools and inserted Muslim Sensitivity courses in CA and VA for school children. They're a menace, but have so much damn money that nobody can fight them. They stand up for NAMBLA (if you don't know what that is, google it) and all kinds of other aberration. There are plenty of books out there exposing the fights they have fought as of late. The terrorists they defend, the little 8 year old girl and her family they tried to sue for wanting to sing a song that had the word "God" in it at her 3rd grade talent show. Yet the other 8 year olds were singing songs about pimps and hoe-slappin' and nobody seemed concerned. There's the face of today's ACLU.
It claims to stand for free speech, free press, and free assembly; but it is quite apparent that the main function of the ACLU is to attempt to protect the communists in their advocacy of force and violence to overthrow the Government, replacing the American flag with a red flag and erecting a Soviet Government in place of the republican form of government guaranteed to each State by the Federal Constitution...
Roger N. Baldwin, its guiding spirit, makes no attempt to hide his friendship for the communists and their principles" In 1935, Baldwin (FOUNDER OF THE ACLU) wrote the following in his college yearbook: "I have been to Europe several times, mostly in connection with international radical activities...and have traveled in the United States to areas of conflict over workers rights to strike and organize.
My chief aversion is the system of greed, private profit, privilege and violence which makes up the control of the world today, and which has brought it to the tragic crisis of unprecedented hunger and unemployment...Therefore, I am for Socialism, disarmament and ultimately, for the abolishing of the State itself...I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dude, I couldn't care less if it was 1935 or yesterday. HE SAID IT!!! Just look at the things they do. They removed the Pledge of Allegiance from schools and inserted Muslim Sensitivity courses in CA and VA for school children. They're a menace, but have so much damn money that nobody can fight them. They stand up for NAMBLA (if you don't know what that is, google it) and all kinds of other aberration. There are plenty of books out there exposing the fights they have fought as of late. The terrorists they defend, the little 8 year old girl and her family they tried to sue for wanting to sing a song that had the word "God" in it at her 3rd grade talent show. Yet the other 8 year olds were singing songs about pimps and hoe-slappin' and nobody seemed concerned. There's the face of today's ACLU.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Duck Tours
I went on a trip to Boston. Here is a picture of a Duck boat as it passes by me. I was in Boston for a viewing of the exibit of Body Worlds 2 on display at the Museum of Fine Arts.The above link will take you to the web page for the Duck RTours which were sold out for the day, by the time I checked it out. So, if you plan on going, check availability before you go.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
NBC10.com - Local News - Ohio Man Claims Right To Have Sex With Boys
NBC10.com - Local News - Ohio Man Claims Right To Have Sex With Boys
CLEVELAND -- It was probably not a defense the court had heard before.
A suburban Cleveland man accused of sexually assaulting nine disabled boys told a judge Wednesday that his apartment was a religious sanctuary where smoking marijuana and having sex with children are sacred rituals protected by civil rights laws.
The admitted pedophile offered a surprising defense Wednesday to 74 charges of rape, drugs and pandering obscenity to minors.
Appearing in an Ohio court for a pretrial hearing, Phillip Distasio, 34, of Rocky River, Ohio, said he was a pedophile.
He told the judge, "I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years. The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms."
Distasio, a self-professed pagan friar, is representing himself on 74 charges. He said he's the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, and that some of his congregants are among the victims in his case.
The judge told Distasio to confine his arguments to secular laws at his trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 11.
"If you want to challenge the law, that's your right to do so," Judge Kathleen Sutula said. "But we're going to follow the laws of Ohio in this courtroom."
Cuyahoga County Bill Mason said Distasio was arrested after he wanted to write a blog for the Lakewood Library. Officials noticed something was wrong and notified Rocky River police.
Distasio was arrested on charges he molested two disabled boys he was tutoring at his home. He's also accused of raping seven other autistic children at a Cleveland school for special-needs students, The Plain Dealer reported. All but one of the boys was under 13, which carries a mandatory life-in-prison sentence if he is convicted, the paper reported.
Police said they found journals at Distasio's apartment in which he described his illegal activities, along with child pornography and videotapes of him engaged in sex with boys, The Plain Dealer reported
"Not all pedophilia is bad, and sex [with boys] can be healthy," Distasio told the court.
According to the journals, two of Distasio's victims were so helpless they could never tell anyone what happened.
"The defendant describes acts in which he had autistic children and he did what I would call sadistic sexual acts with these children," said Mason.
The school he ran from his apartment was called Class Cutters. According to Distasio's Web site, students and parents chose the curriculum in the school for unique children.
But prosecutors said it was little more than a trap that snared one victim and then another.
"Like all predators, he used this one child to bring other children to him and that's what was happening, and that's how he got his second victim," said Mason.
And prosecutors believe there may be more victims.
Distasio has a history of working with children dating back 10 years.
Prosecutors said he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Check out the story below also... Ned I say more.
CLEVELAND -- It was probably not a defense the court had heard before.
A suburban Cleveland man accused of sexually assaulting nine disabled boys told a judge Wednesday that his apartment was a religious sanctuary where smoking marijuana and having sex with children are sacred rituals protected by civil rights laws.
The admitted pedophile offered a surprising defense Wednesday to 74 charges of rape, drugs and pandering obscenity to minors.
Appearing in an Ohio court for a pretrial hearing, Phillip Distasio, 34, of Rocky River, Ohio, said he was a pedophile.
He told the judge, "I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years. The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms."
Distasio, a self-professed pagan friar, is representing himself on 74 charges. He said he's the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, and that some of his congregants are among the victims in his case.
The judge told Distasio to confine his arguments to secular laws at his trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 11.
"If you want to challenge the law, that's your right to do so," Judge Kathleen Sutula said. "But we're going to follow the laws of Ohio in this courtroom."
Cuyahoga County Bill Mason said Distasio was arrested after he wanted to write a blog for the Lakewood Library. Officials noticed something was wrong and notified Rocky River police.
Distasio was arrested on charges he molested two disabled boys he was tutoring at his home. He's also accused of raping seven other autistic children at a Cleveland school for special-needs students, The Plain Dealer reported. All but one of the boys was under 13, which carries a mandatory life-in-prison sentence if he is convicted, the paper reported.
Police said they found journals at Distasio's apartment in which he described his illegal activities, along with child pornography and videotapes of him engaged in sex with boys, The Plain Dealer reported
"Not all pedophilia is bad, and sex [with boys] can be healthy," Distasio told the court.
According to the journals, two of Distasio's victims were so helpless they could never tell anyone what happened.
"The defendant describes acts in which he had autistic children and he did what I would call sadistic sexual acts with these children," said Mason.
The school he ran from his apartment was called Class Cutters. According to Distasio's Web site, students and parents chose the curriculum in the school for unique children.
But prosecutors said it was little more than a trap that snared one victim and then another.
"Like all predators, he used this one child to bring other children to him and that's what was happening, and that's how he got his second victim," said Mason.
And prosecutors believe there may be more victims.
Distasio has a history of working with children dating back 10 years.
Prosecutors said he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Check out the story below also... Ned I say more.
Anti-porn effort criticized
Anti-porn effort criticized
Thursday, August 03, 2006
By FRED mailto:CONTRADAfcontrada@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON - A local couple who have been campaigning against a proposal to locate an adult-theme store on King Street were told last night that their rhetoric could damage the gay community.
Adam R. Cohen and Jendi Reiter, who live on North Street, formed NoPornNorthampton after Capital Video Corp. of Cranston, R.I., filed plans with the city's Building Department in June.
The company wants to renovate a former Kia car dealership at 135 King St. into an adult-theme store that sells videotapes, DVDs and magazines depicting sex acts.
Although Building Commissioner Anthony L. Patillo denied a building permit, Cohen and Reiter, who are the only two members of NoPornNorthampton, have campaigned relentlessly to regulate adult businesses in the city.
In addition to setting up a Web site, they have gathered more than 500 signatures for proposed zoning changes that would restrict such businesses.
At a meeting set up by Cohen and Reiter at the ServiceNet offices on King Street last night, several members of the public complained that their rhetoric was "over the top" and urged them to be more specific about their concerns.
In particular, some people said that repeated references to men having sex with each other in their literature feeds into negative stereotypes about gay men.
Mark Carmien, who owns Pride and Joy, a store that caters to gay clientele on Crafts Avenue, said he is worried that the ordinances proposed by NoPornNorthampton could be used against his store.
"Pride and Joy could fall under 'adult enterprise' because of the way this is worded," Carmien said. "There are lots of people out there who would like to come after Pride and Joy, and they have let us know that."
Carmien maintained that many, if not most, of the customers of these stores are straight men and deplored the references to sex between men and to pedophilia.
"Look at how you're perpetuating stereotypes and feeding the radical right," he said.
Cohen and Reiter, who traveled to Kittery, Me., last month to observe another store owned by Capital Video and talk with local officials about its ramifications for the community, said it is not their intention to target gay men or even to ban all adult stores from the city.
They said they plan to speak with Mayor Mary Clare Higgins today to get her input on the matter.
What has the world come to. It is now improper to oppose porn! What!!
The Lefties are afraid that anything hinting at saying perversion is a bad thing could be construed as truth. They can't accept the reality of their twisted ideas are beyond the norm of morality. I can't find the words to express how this sickens me.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
By FRED mailto:CONTRADAfcontrada@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON - A local couple who have been campaigning against a proposal to locate an adult-theme store on King Street were told last night that their rhetoric could damage the gay community.
Adam R. Cohen and Jendi Reiter, who live on North Street, formed NoPornNorthampton after Capital Video Corp. of Cranston, R.I., filed plans with the city's Building Department in June.
The company wants to renovate a former Kia car dealership at 135 King St. into an adult-theme store that sells videotapes, DVDs and magazines depicting sex acts.
Although Building Commissioner Anthony L. Patillo denied a building permit, Cohen and Reiter, who are the only two members of NoPornNorthampton, have campaigned relentlessly to regulate adult businesses in the city.
In addition to setting up a Web site, they have gathered more than 500 signatures for proposed zoning changes that would restrict such businesses.
At a meeting set up by Cohen and Reiter at the ServiceNet offices on King Street last night, several members of the public complained that their rhetoric was "over the top" and urged them to be more specific about their concerns.
In particular, some people said that repeated references to men having sex with each other in their literature feeds into negative stereotypes about gay men.
Mark Carmien, who owns Pride and Joy, a store that caters to gay clientele on Crafts Avenue, said he is worried that the ordinances proposed by NoPornNorthampton could be used against his store.
"Pride and Joy could fall under 'adult enterprise' because of the way this is worded," Carmien said. "There are lots of people out there who would like to come after Pride and Joy, and they have let us know that."
Carmien maintained that many, if not most, of the customers of these stores are straight men and deplored the references to sex between men and to pedophilia.
"Look at how you're perpetuating stereotypes and feeding the radical right," he said.
Cohen and Reiter, who traveled to Kittery, Me., last month to observe another store owned by Capital Video and talk with local officials about its ramifications for the community, said it is not their intention to target gay men or even to ban all adult stores from the city.
They said they plan to speak with Mayor Mary Clare Higgins today to get her input on the matter.
What has the world come to. It is now improper to oppose porn! What!!
The Lefties are afraid that anything hinting at saying perversion is a bad thing could be construed as truth. They can't accept the reality of their twisted ideas are beyond the norm of morality. I can't find the words to express how this sickens me.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Now this just makes sense
States stepping up to tackle immigration laws-Nation/Politics - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper
State lawmakers are offering more than 500 bills this year targeting state-mandated services, illegal aliens and the employers who hire them, responding to a growing chorus of public opinion nationwide calling for stricter enforcement of immigration laws. Led by Georgia, where benefits for illegal aliens were cut and stiff sanctions placed on employers who hire illegals, and by Colorado, which banned nonemergency services to those in the country illegally, at least 39 states have either proposed or passed similar legislation. Lawmakers have focused on constituency concerns regarding an estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens now in the country, resulting in rising costs for education and medical care, higher crime rates and exploitation by employers. Georgia lawmakers passed and Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, signed legislation this year requiring adults seeking benefits to prove their U.S. citizenship, sanctioning employers who hire illegals and requiring companies with state contracts to check employees' legal status. The Georgia laws also require police to check the legal status of people they arrest. The bill's author, state Sen. Chip Rogers, called it "the strongest single bill in America dealing with illegal immigration -- bar none." He told The Washington Times that it was intended to send a message that "while the federal government is not enforcing its immigration laws, the state of Georgia takes those laws seriously." In Colorado, new legislation requires employers to show that new hires are in the country legally and makes it a felony for an illegal to vote. It also put two measures on the November ballot: one barring employers from receiving state tax assistance if they hire illegals and another allowing the state attorney general to sue the U.S. government to force compliance with immigration laws. "If they've been taking benefits illegally, that's wrong," said Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican who worked with House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, both Democrats, to pass the legislation. With federal immigration reform stalled on Capitol Hill, several states are proposing their own laws. More than 500 bills have been introduced this year covering a variety of topics, including employment, access to public benefits and voting rights, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The conference said 57 bills were passed this year, while others were vetoed and several more are awaiting gubernatorial action. Other bills were passed in Arizona and Illinois, where U.S. citizenship or legal immigrant status is required to receive health benefits. Kansas will only provide unemployment benefits to citizens and those with legal immigration status, Wyoming bars noncitizens and nonlegal permanent residents from state scholarships, and New Hampshire requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. In Louisiana, a new law allows any state agency to investigate a contractor's hiring policies if the employment of illegal aliens is suspected and says prosecutors can issue an order to fire the illegals and fine those employers who do not comply. Other bills were passed in Pennsylvania, which prohibits illegal aliens on projects financed by grants or loans from the state; Tennessee, which bars companies from state contracts for a year after they hired illegal aliens; Missouri, which prohibits learner's permits, driver's licenses or renewal licenses to people illegally in the country; and Virginia, where students with temporary or student visa status are ineligible for in-state tuition. Several bills also were vetoed, including in Arizona, where lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Legislature sought to criminalize illegal entry and allow trespassers to be prosecuted. They were vetoed by Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. Federal law requires states to provide some services to illegal aliens, including education and emergency medical care, but not other services, including continued health care and unemployment benefits.
State lawmakers are offering more than 500 bills this year targeting state-mandated services, illegal aliens and the employers who hire them, responding to a growing chorus of public opinion nationwide calling for stricter enforcement of immigration laws. Led by Georgia, where benefits for illegal aliens were cut and stiff sanctions placed on employers who hire illegals, and by Colorado, which banned nonemergency services to those in the country illegally, at least 39 states have either proposed or passed similar legislation. Lawmakers have focused on constituency concerns regarding an estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens now in the country, resulting in rising costs for education and medical care, higher crime rates and exploitation by employers. Georgia lawmakers passed and Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, signed legislation this year requiring adults seeking benefits to prove their U.S. citizenship, sanctioning employers who hire illegals and requiring companies with state contracts to check employees' legal status. The Georgia laws also require police to check the legal status of people they arrest. The bill's author, state Sen. Chip Rogers, called it "the strongest single bill in America dealing with illegal immigration -- bar none." He told The Washington Times that it was intended to send a message that "while the federal government is not enforcing its immigration laws, the state of Georgia takes those laws seriously." In Colorado, new legislation requires employers to show that new hires are in the country legally and makes it a felony for an illegal to vote. It also put two measures on the November ballot: one barring employers from receiving state tax assistance if they hire illegals and another allowing the state attorney general to sue the U.S. government to force compliance with immigration laws. "If they've been taking benefits illegally, that's wrong," said Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican who worked with House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, both Democrats, to pass the legislation. With federal immigration reform stalled on Capitol Hill, several states are proposing their own laws. More than 500 bills have been introduced this year covering a variety of topics, including employment, access to public benefits and voting rights, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The conference said 57 bills were passed this year, while others were vetoed and several more are awaiting gubernatorial action. Other bills were passed in Arizona and Illinois, where U.S. citizenship or legal immigrant status is required to receive health benefits. Kansas will only provide unemployment benefits to citizens and those with legal immigration status, Wyoming bars noncitizens and nonlegal permanent residents from state scholarships, and New Hampshire requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. In Louisiana, a new law allows any state agency to investigate a contractor's hiring policies if the employment of illegal aliens is suspected and says prosecutors can issue an order to fire the illegals and fine those employers who do not comply. Other bills were passed in Pennsylvania, which prohibits illegal aliens on projects financed by grants or loans from the state; Tennessee, which bars companies from state contracts for a year after they hired illegal aliens; Missouri, which prohibits learner's permits, driver's licenses or renewal licenses to people illegally in the country; and Virginia, where students with temporary or student visa status are ineligible for in-state tuition. Several bills also were vetoed, including in Arizona, where lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Legislature sought to criminalize illegal entry and allow trespassers to be prosecuted. They were vetoed by Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. Federal law requires states to provide some services to illegal aliens, including education and emergency medical care, but not other services, including continued health care and unemployment benefits.
Friday, June 30, 2006
NYT hates America
Welcome to AnnCoulter.com
Good thing the NYT felt it okay not to give the peoples right to know more credence before June 6, 1944.
More Articles showing how the NYT is out to hurt America.
"But Then the Enemy Would Adapt"
In an interview with Israel Air Force chief Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedy. "I would love to be able to tell the people of Israel what we are doing new to protect them. They'd be proud to hear it. But the moment I make something public, the other side will adapt. So telling the public actually harms my efforts to protect the public."
A word from Lt. Cotton
Lt. Tom Cotton writes this morning from Baghdad with a word for the New York Times:
Good thing the NYT felt it okay not to give the peoples right to know more credence before June 6, 1944.
More Articles showing how the NYT is out to hurt America.
"But Then the Enemy Would Adapt"
In an interview with Israel Air Force chief Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedy. "I would love to be able to tell the people of Israel what we are doing new to protect them. They'd be proud to hear it. But the moment I make something public, the other side will adapt. So telling the public actually harms my efforts to protect the public."
A word from Lt. Cotton
Lt. Tom Cotton writes this morning from Baghdad with a word for the New York Times:
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
High School Sports- Not about glory
High School Sports are not about GLORY
No, High school sports are not about WINNING and bringing GLORY to your school.
Or at least they should not be. They should be about:
Learning teamwork
Learning not to quit when things get tough
Perseverance
Dedication to a cause or a goal
Doing the best you can possibly do
By making it only about WINNING and GLORY, you cheapen the process. You eliminate all but the strong and the swift and the agile. I’m not saying everyone should be allowed to play; there must be a process of trying out for the team and inevitably some will be cut.
Of the thousands of students participating in High School sports, only a small percentage will win in their division. Less will win in their state. Does that mean that all the students have not learned anything, have not benefited from the experience?
I played High School sports, many, many moons ago. Sometimes I was on a winning team. (Lost in the State Championship.) Sometimes on losing teams. (Did not even make playoffs) But, every time good life lessons were learned. That’s what High School sports are about.
No, High school sports are not about WINNING and bringing GLORY to your school.
Or at least they should not be. They should be about:
Learning teamwork
Learning not to quit when things get tough
Perseverance
Dedication to a cause or a goal
Doing the best you can possibly do
By making it only about WINNING and GLORY, you cheapen the process. You eliminate all but the strong and the swift and the agile. I’m not saying everyone should be allowed to play; there must be a process of trying out for the team and inevitably some will be cut.
Of the thousands of students participating in High School sports, only a small percentage will win in their division. Less will win in their state. Does that mean that all the students have not learned anything, have not benefited from the experience?
I played High School sports, many, many moons ago. Sometimes I was on a winning team. (Lost in the State Championship.) Sometimes on losing teams. (Did not even make playoffs) But, every time good life lessons were learned. That’s what High School sports are about.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Scientists respond to Gore's warnings of climate catastrophe
Scientists respond to Gore's warnings of climate catastrophe
Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."
Of Course you won't see this opinion in any US Media outlets.
Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."
Of Course you won't see this opinion in any US Media outlets.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Sox Farm Produce
Sox Farm Produce
The Boston RedSox farm system has long been a source for trade bait. Just as a prospect would begin to mature and be ready for the bigs, the RedSox management would see fit to trade him for a much older but known quantity. These older players usually would play for the team for just a year or two and then retire or bolt for greener pastures through free agency. This would leave the Sox with no prospects and the veterans gone. This was a time-honored routine, a regressive system to say the least.
Trot Nixon, and Kevin Youkalis, have both shown their worth. Each has proven to be a solid major leaguer, with Youkalis being versatile as well, playing several positions and able to bat well from any spot in the lineup. But the big payoff with the new managements youth movement seems to be in the pitching department. An old axiom of baseball is “you can never have enough good pitching”, with that in mind; the Sox seem poised for a bonanza of talent to soon join the staff. Lest we forget though, past performance is no guarantee of future per results. They are an “unknown quantity” after all, but their upside is more than promising.
Take Jonathan Papelbon for instance. Projected as a starter, he has taken to the role of reliever as if he were born to it. The results as of this date: 20 saves and an ERA of .30 is more than the team could have anticipated going into the season.
David Pauley pitched extremely well against two very tough teams (Toronto and New York).
It will be interesting to see how Jon Lester performs today in the opener of a double header. Sox manager Terry Francona expressed his rookies start this way, “If he has a tough game, it doesn’t mean he’s not going to be a good pitcher, and if he throws seven shutout innings, it doesn’t mean he’s going to the Hall of Fame. I would opt for the seven innings, but this is a long, long deal. Hopefully this kid’s is going to be pitching for a lot of years.”
Other pitching prospects about to mature are, Lenny DiNardi, Manny Delcarmen, and Craig Hansen. More on them later.
The Boston RedSox farm system has long been a source for trade bait. Just as a prospect would begin to mature and be ready for the bigs, the RedSox management would see fit to trade him for a much older but known quantity. These older players usually would play for the team for just a year or two and then retire or bolt for greener pastures through free agency. This would leave the Sox with no prospects and the veterans gone. This was a time-honored routine, a regressive system to say the least.
Trot Nixon, and Kevin Youkalis, have both shown their worth. Each has proven to be a solid major leaguer, with Youkalis being versatile as well, playing several positions and able to bat well from any spot in the lineup. But the big payoff with the new managements youth movement seems to be in the pitching department. An old axiom of baseball is “you can never have enough good pitching”, with that in mind; the Sox seem poised for a bonanza of talent to soon join the staff. Lest we forget though, past performance is no guarantee of future per results. They are an “unknown quantity” after all, but their upside is more than promising.
Take Jonathan Papelbon for instance. Projected as a starter, he has taken to the role of reliever as if he were born to it. The results as of this date: 20 saves and an ERA of .30 is more than the team could have anticipated going into the season.
David Pauley pitched extremely well against two very tough teams (Toronto and New York).
It will be interesting to see how Jon Lester performs today in the opener of a double header. Sox manager Terry Francona expressed his rookies start this way, “If he has a tough game, it doesn’t mean he’s not going to be a good pitcher, and if he throws seven shutout innings, it doesn’t mean he’s going to the Hall of Fame. I would opt for the seven innings, but this is a long, long deal. Hopefully this kid’s is going to be pitching for a lot of years.”
Other pitching prospects about to mature are, Lenny DiNardi, Manny Delcarmen, and Craig Hansen. More on them later.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Remember United Flight 93
OpinionJournal - Taste
Hollywood Goes to War "United 93" reminds us what we're fighting for.
Friday, April 28, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
People who have seen "United 93" tend to use similar words to describe the difficult experience of watching a movie about the 9/11 plane that crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against their hijackers: "fear," "dread," and "painful," "anguishing." But viewers, whether they are relatives of those who perished or professional movie critics, were also affected by depictions of "resolution, "heroism" and "courage," in the course of what a review today by The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern calls "great filmmaking."
So when the movie formally opens today, it is not likely to be seen anywhere as an exploitative attempt by Hollywood to turn a tragedy into entertainment, as some had feared. Which brings us to the other concern raised repeatedly in the last few weeks: Is it too soon to open and prod the wounds of 9/11?
If that question is intended to suggest that "United 93" might not be a box-office success, it is impossible to know the answer. What is certain, though, is that there is no such thing as "too soon" when it comes to acknowledging the threat of terrorism. It is already upon us, and the country is at war, both abroad and at home.
Writing in the Journal yesterday, David Beamer, whose son Todd died aboard United 93, noted correctly that "this enemy is on a fanatical mission to take away our lives and liberty. . . . The passengers and crew of United 93 had the blessed opportunity to understand the nature of the attack and to launch a counterattack against the enemy. This was our first successful counterattack in our homeland in this new global war."
Mr. Beamer's broader point is that even if some are reluctant to endure the pain of "United 93," there is no escaping the reality it depicts. It is not only the comfortably distant "nation" that is in danger, but each of us, personally.
The writer and director of "United 93," Paul Greengrass, has said nothing to suggest that he made this film for any purpose broader than honoring the memory of the innocents who died on September 11. In the war on terror, there is no Frank Capra to make "Why We Fight," the Academy-Award winning series of 1943 documentary films that explained the origins of World War II and Hitler's machinations to the American people. So far, there is no "Mrs. Miniver," the 1942 feature movie that Winston Churchill said was worth more than a flotilla of battleships for boosting morale during England's darkest days.
So far, in fact, even those of us who understand that Iraq is a grim yet crucial front in the war against terrorism are hoping against hope that the fight never comes to our shores again, let alone to harm us personally.
That's a natural reaction. Through all the films made during World War II, people watching them surely were frightened too, and none could take comfort in the certain knowledge of eventual victory.
Undoubtedly, there are some who will see films like "United 93" or the forthcoming "World Trade Center" mainly as tales of suffering and heroism, detached from any larger significance. By now, we should know better. As Mr. Beamer already knows too well, "our very way of life" depends on it.
Hollywood Goes to War "United 93" reminds us what we're fighting for.
Friday, April 28, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
People who have seen "United 93" tend to use similar words to describe the difficult experience of watching a movie about the 9/11 plane that crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against their hijackers: "fear," "dread," and "painful," "anguishing." But viewers, whether they are relatives of those who perished or professional movie critics, were also affected by depictions of "resolution, "heroism" and "courage," in the course of what a review today by The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern calls "great filmmaking."
So when the movie formally opens today, it is not likely to be seen anywhere as an exploitative attempt by Hollywood to turn a tragedy into entertainment, as some had feared. Which brings us to the other concern raised repeatedly in the last few weeks: Is it too soon to open and prod the wounds of 9/11?
If that question is intended to suggest that "United 93" might not be a box-office success, it is impossible to know the answer. What is certain, though, is that there is no such thing as "too soon" when it comes to acknowledging the threat of terrorism. It is already upon us, and the country is at war, both abroad and at home.
Writing in the Journal yesterday, David Beamer, whose son Todd died aboard United 93, noted correctly that "this enemy is on a fanatical mission to take away our lives and liberty. . . . The passengers and crew of United 93 had the blessed opportunity to understand the nature of the attack and to launch a counterattack against the enemy. This was our first successful counterattack in our homeland in this new global war."
Mr. Beamer's broader point is that even if some are reluctant to endure the pain of "United 93," there is no escaping the reality it depicts. It is not only the comfortably distant "nation" that is in danger, but each of us, personally.
The writer and director of "United 93," Paul Greengrass, has said nothing to suggest that he made this film for any purpose broader than honoring the memory of the innocents who died on September 11. In the war on terror, there is no Frank Capra to make "Why We Fight," the Academy-Award winning series of 1943 documentary films that explained the origins of World War II and Hitler's machinations to the American people. So far, there is no "Mrs. Miniver," the 1942 feature movie that Winston Churchill said was worth more than a flotilla of battleships for boosting morale during England's darkest days.
So far, in fact, even those of us who understand that Iraq is a grim yet crucial front in the war against terrorism are hoping against hope that the fight never comes to our shores again, let alone to harm us personally.
That's a natural reaction. Through all the films made during World War II, people watching them surely were frightened too, and none could take comfort in the certain knowledge of eventual victory.
Undoubtedly, there are some who will see films like "United 93" or the forthcoming "World Trade Center" mainly as tales of suffering and heroism, detached from any larger significance. By now, we should know better. As Mr. Beamer already knows too well, "our very way of life" depends on it.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Big Brother and Crime
Big Brother cleans up crime in New Jersey town
Mon Apr 3, 2006 11:21 AM ET
Maybe Springfield with it's crime and gang related problems should look into a system like this. The one time cost of the equipment will be offset over the years by a lower crime rate and economic development as a result.
The city of Holyoke installed cameras at a high crime intersection of their city and the result were more arrests then less crime in the area.
Kudos to the Police Chief of Holyoke for being proactive in the use of technology to fight crime.
Mon Apr 3, 2006 11:21 AM ET
Maybe Springfield with it's crime and gang related problems should look into a system like this. The one time cost of the equipment will be offset over the years by a lower crime rate and economic development as a result.
The city of Holyoke installed cameras at a high crime intersection of their city and the result were more arrests then less crime in the area.
Kudos to the Police Chief of Holyoke for being proactive in the use of technology to fight crime.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
The Times shows their bias again.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Times said on Saturday it had identified the wrong man as the hooded prisoner standing on a box in a photograph that came to symbolize U.S. military abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
The newspaper's March 11 profile about Ali Shalal Qaissi was challenged by online magazine Salon.com, which said an Army investigation had concluded the prisoner was a different man.
"The Times did not adequately research Mr. Qaissi's insistence that he was the man in the photograph," The Times said in an editor's note accompanying a front page story on the misidentification.
"A more thorough examination of previous articles in The Times and other newspapers would have shown that in 2004 military investigators named another man as the one on the box, raising suspicions about Mr. Qaissi's claim," it said.
The Times, one of the most respected U.S. newspapers, was stung in 2003 when former reporter Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated and plagiarized dozens of articles. Last year, the resignation of star reporter Judith Miller amid questions about her reporting in the run-up to the Iraq war further damaged the paper's standing.
Of course they didn't check into it. The story was too good. They just ran with it like they do with anything that can be construed as anti Bush. Too bad this paper has turned into such a rag.
The newspaper's March 11 profile about Ali Shalal Qaissi was challenged by online magazine Salon.com, which said an Army investigation had concluded the prisoner was a different man.
"The Times did not adequately research Mr. Qaissi's insistence that he was the man in the photograph," The Times said in an editor's note accompanying a front page story on the misidentification.
"A more thorough examination of previous articles in The Times and other newspapers would have shown that in 2004 military investigators named another man as the one on the box, raising suspicions about Mr. Qaissi's claim," it said.
The Times, one of the most respected U.S. newspapers, was stung in 2003 when former reporter Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated and plagiarized dozens of articles. Last year, the resignation of star reporter Judith Miller amid questions about her reporting in the run-up to the Iraq war further damaged the paper's standing.
Of course they didn't check into it. The story was too good. They just ran with it like they do with anything that can be construed as anti Bush. Too bad this paper has turned into such a rag.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Things that make you go hmm...
Hillary Clinton Endorsed Communist Control Of U.S. Ports
During a cross country tour to blast the controversial port management deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and announce her plan to introduce legislation to block it, Hillary Clinton has failed to mention a few important details.
First, is that her fear of port security in the hands of a foreign government--in this case the Arabs—should not stop the flow of money to her husband, who happens to be in the UAE creating a scholarship program for the Bill Clinton Foundation. The Dubai government is said to be donating big bucks.
Secondly, the New York senator has left out how, despite objections from the intelligence community, her husband pushed for deals with communist China after he received campaign contributions from renowned Chinese lobbyist Johnny Chung.
This includes a deal Bill Clinton made with Chinese company, Hutchinson Whampoa, to run the Panama Canal and its ports as well as the administration’s endorsement of another Chinese company, China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), to run the Long Beach Naval base in California.
Now Hillary is singing a different tune, saying that "Port security is national security and national security is port security."
Red State Son believes Hillary and her liberal pals are using the port deal as an opportunity to flex their fantasy muscle and that the rabid yowling has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with taking full advantage of a political opening.
Posted by Irene at March 2, 2006 09:43 AM @ http://judicialwatch.org/
This is just another case of 'do as I say and not as I do'.
During a cross country tour to blast the controversial port management deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and announce her plan to introduce legislation to block it, Hillary Clinton has failed to mention a few important details.
First, is that her fear of port security in the hands of a foreign government--in this case the Arabs—should not stop the flow of money to her husband, who happens to be in the UAE creating a scholarship program for the Bill Clinton Foundation. The Dubai government is said to be donating big bucks.
Secondly, the New York senator has left out how, despite objections from the intelligence community, her husband pushed for deals with communist China after he received campaign contributions from renowned Chinese lobbyist Johnny Chung.
This includes a deal Bill Clinton made with Chinese company, Hutchinson Whampoa, to run the Panama Canal and its ports as well as the administration’s endorsement of another Chinese company, China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), to run the Long Beach Naval base in California.
Now Hillary is singing a different tune, saying that "Port security is national security and national security is port security."
Red State Son believes Hillary and her liberal pals are using the port deal as an opportunity to flex their fantasy muscle and that the rabid yowling has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with taking full advantage of a political opening.
Posted by Irene at March 2, 2006 09:43 AM @ http://judicialwatch.org/
This is just another case of 'do as I say and not as I do'.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Official Website of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame+
Official Website of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame+
The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships are coming to Springfield, MA!!
Hoop time in the city where Basketball was born.
Too bad more interest cannot be generated for this event. It is a great tournament featuring excellent basketball. These teams are playing for their National Championship.
Except for a cpi[le of billboards and some paint on the downtown streets, you would never know there was agame to be played, much less a tournament of this caliber.
The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships are coming to Springfield, MA!!
Hoop time in the city where Basketball was born.
Too bad more interest cannot be generated for this event. It is a great tournament featuring excellent basketball. These teams are playing for their National Championship.
Except for a cpi[le of billboards and some paint on the downtown streets, you would never know there was agame to be played, much less a tournament of this caliber.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Why Unions are bad
OpinionJournal - Featured Article
Teachers' Pets The NEA gave $65 million in its members' dues to left-liberal groups last year. Tuesday, January 3, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
If we told you that an organization gave away more than $65 million last year to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International, AIDS Walk Washington and dozens of other such advocacy groups, you'd probably assume we were describing a liberal philanthropy. In fact, those expenditures have all turned up on the financial disclosure report of the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union.
Under new federal rules pushed through by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, large unions must now disclose in much more detail how they spend members' dues money. Big Labor fought hard (if unsuccessfully) against the new accountability standards, and even a cursory glance at the NEA's recent filings--the first under the new rules--helps explain why. They expose the union as a honey pot for left-wing political causes that have nothing to do with teachers, much less students.
We already knew that the NEA's top brass lives large. Reg Weaver, the union's president, makes $439,000 a year. The NEA has a $58 million payroll for just over 600 employees, more than half of whom draw six-figure salaries. Last year the average teacher made only $48,000, so it seems you're better off working as a union rep than in the classroom.
From The Barking Moonbat Blog
Unbelievable! Simply unbelievable! The union that represents the nation’s teachers has been exposed for the leftist crooks they are. The NEA union officials pay themselves roughly ten times what the people they represent earn and to top it off they spend $65 million funding leftist organizations of all kinds. Two questions: (1) how does this money they give to these groups help teachers? and (2) what business does a teacher’s union have spending union dues on these blatantly political movements? Is it any wonder your average twelfth grader can’t read, spell or do real math but has a head full of liberal propaganda?
Where I live the teachers are about to bankrupt the city in their demands for more pay, while the city is out of funds. The teachers should look to their own leadership for help. They should drop their union dues until the union represents them responsibly. I wonder how many conservative teachers are forced to fund these organizations by proxy.
Teachers' Pets The NEA gave $65 million in its members' dues to left-liberal groups last year. Tuesday, January 3, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
If we told you that an organization gave away more than $65 million last year to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International, AIDS Walk Washington and dozens of other such advocacy groups, you'd probably assume we were describing a liberal philanthropy. In fact, those expenditures have all turned up on the financial disclosure report of the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union.
Under new federal rules pushed through by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, large unions must now disclose in much more detail how they spend members' dues money. Big Labor fought hard (if unsuccessfully) against the new accountability standards, and even a cursory glance at the NEA's recent filings--the first under the new rules--helps explain why. They expose the union as a honey pot for left-wing political causes that have nothing to do with teachers, much less students.
We already knew that the NEA's top brass lives large. Reg Weaver, the union's president, makes $439,000 a year. The NEA has a $58 million payroll for just over 600 employees, more than half of whom draw six-figure salaries. Last year the average teacher made only $48,000, so it seems you're better off working as a union rep than in the classroom.
From The Barking Moonbat Blog
Unbelievable! Simply unbelievable! The union that represents the nation’s teachers has been exposed for the leftist crooks they are. The NEA union officials pay themselves roughly ten times what the people they represent earn and to top it off they spend $65 million funding leftist organizations of all kinds. Two questions: (1) how does this money they give to these groups help teachers? and (2) what business does a teacher’s union have spending union dues on these blatantly political movements? Is it any wonder your average twelfth grader can’t read, spell or do real math but has a head full of liberal propaganda?
Where I live the teachers are about to bankrupt the city in their demands for more pay, while the city is out of funds. The teachers should look to their own leadership for help. They should drop their union dues until the union represents them responsibly. I wonder how many conservative teachers are forced to fund these organizations by proxy.
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