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Sandy Berger and the Real Hillary Clinton

2007-10-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

So, what does it say that Hillary Clinton chose Mr. Berger as one of her advisers, and that she will rely on the advice of a convicted criminal who is barred from access to the sort of national security information a party's candidate for President is routinely briefed on during a campaign?

She selected a key adviser she knows has scandalously flouted the law, lied to deflect blame onto others, and subverted the democratic processes that provide accountability for officials' conduct. She selected someone who has destroyed documents that could be crucial to America's security to be a trusted councilor on national security matters - documents that could have contained hand-written notes by her husband or information that would have called his judgment into question.

Hillary has had to renounce associates before. She's had numerous fund-raising scandals involving criminal wrong-doing by people she should have known to be criminals, Norman Hsu being the most recent and notorious. But in all of those instances, she has had the plausible excuse that she didn't know what they had done wrong.

In Sandy Berger's case, there is no excuse. Hillary's inclusion of Sandy Berger in her circle of advisers demonstrates that, notwithstanding her law license, she really doesn't care about the law. She doesn't care whether someone violates the law if they're on her team, if the violation in some way helps the Clintons. Hillary's indifference to criminal wrong-doing suggests that she sees herself as above the law, breezily ignoring law when it's an impediment to something she wants.

Sandy Berger didn't lie about sex or do something ordinary that isn't strictly in keeping with law - like speeding on a road where citizens regard the posted limits as advisory rather than mandatory. Sandy Berger committed a serious crime, intentionally, and lied about it, intentionally, and put his nation at risk. Hillary isn't bothered by any of that. Whatever she says about the rule of law - which limits official power to safeguard all of us - she evidently doesn't believe it was intended to place limits on her.

I was thoroughly surprised that Hillary picked Sandy Berger as an adviser. I'm also a little surprised of such little media attention so far. I wonder if Mr. Berger garners enough attention, will she drop him? Are the republicans not brining attention to Mr. Berger in the hopes that she will keep him long enough to cause her damage closer to the election when they finally make an issue out of him?

How to reduce the abortion rate

2007-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

The Hillster has just described a proposed program where the US government would provide $5,000 to each child born in the US. Read more here. I say, why not offer $5,000 to every child born in India and China so that they could use the money to determine how to clean up their own environmnetal problems. Oh, wait, we've already been tasked to give them money to solve their own problems. Drat.

Republicans

2007-09-18T10:55:00.001-07:00

"Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes, less regulations - they had the resources to do it, they had the knowlege to do it, they had the political majorities to do it. And they didn't." - Alan Greenspan

Never a Dale Moment

2007-09-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

I used to be a big fan of NASCAR. A BIG fan; but not so since their push towards mega-marketing. But I still follow the news, and occasionally flip to the race on Sundays if I’m not preoccupied. One story, though, that caught my attention today was an AP wire story claiming that a conspiracy has erupted in the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. camp.

You see, Dale Jr., the son of the late racing legend of the same name, is leaving the team that his father started (and which is now run by his step-mother, Teresa). The split is less than amicable, and reports are that the two haven’t spoken since last December. The controversy is over whether or not Theresa sabotaged Junior’s cars in a few races this year by ordering his crew to install sub-standard engines, and thereby keep him from contending for the NASCAR championship.

I find those claims to be ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as another controversy that arose years back after Dale Sr. died in a wreck at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500. This controversy (unsubstantiated, of course) had to do with NASCAR “fixing” races at the superspeedways (Talladega and Daytona) in order to give Junior wins and please the legion of Earnhardt fans and the legacy of his father, who dominated at those tracks.

How could NASCAR “fix” races, you ask? Simple; at superspeedways (2.5 mile tri-ovals), the cars are equipped with restrictor plates. These plates are placed over the carburetors, and restrict the air flow that goes into the engine, thereby decreasing the air/fuel/combustion mix and limiting the speeds at which the cars travel. NASCAR manufactures and distributes the plates before the races, so the conspiracy was that the governing body “gave” Junior restrictor plates with larger openings, which would give him the extra horsepower necessary to get out and stay out in front. The claims were never founded, and the controversy died down.

Controversy always makes for good NASCAR news; from the days of the bootleggers outrunning the revenuers in rural North Carolina to the multi-billion dollar mega-corporations that operate in the sport today. Count on a good conspiracy theory to keep this “fan on the bubble” interested.

A tale of two houses

2007-09-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

I received this e-mail from my cousin:

House #1
A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.

House #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American Southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of
the "environmentalist," Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence the of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

From a friend in Iraq:

2007-08-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

From a friend in Iraq:

This is my last email update from the Iraqi Theater of Operations (ITO) as it is known out here. It has been an extremely eventful year, and thanks be to God, if my luck holds out, a safe one for me at least, not counting a few near misses. For many more, however, it has not been a safe year, and many Coalition Forces and Iraqi people have paid the ultimate price for an Iraq free of extremists. It is in their memory, especially my many countrymen, including the 20 or so from my base in southern Iraq, who have died in this effort, that I dedicate this email.

I am sitting at the terminal at the Baghdad Airport. The C-130 leaves in a few hours. After that, I take my chances like anybody else on the commercial flight outta Kuwait to DC tonight. Since they (the airlines anyway) say that airline travel is safer than driving, and without wanting to tempt fate or in anyway jinx myself, I am betting I will be seeing you folks Stateside.

Actually because of the time difference, by the time you get this email, I should be peacefully picking my teeth at the D-FAC (see below) on Ali As-Saleem AB in Kuwait (definitely a rear area - no worries there).

If you do not support the war over here, just ask yourself if you would want to live in a country run by the ideas of such visionaries as Moqtada Al-Sadr (whom we just call "Mookie" over here) or Usama bin Laden (whom we call many things over here, none of which can I relate to this mixed audience). Whatever got us here, the mission is critical now to our country's safety, and we owe this to the Iraqi people who have suffered so much under Hussein, and continue to suffer as it struggles to emerge from the chaos and repression of the previous regime, hampered by neighbors who will willingly supply weapons and men to instigate a civil war for the sole reason of embarrassing the United States. In this respect they are using the Iraqis and turning them on themselves as pawns in their own sick game.

When I arrived into the ITO, the battle was very much in the balance. The best we could do was hold the line, and our enemies seemed to be able to penetrate us at will. Thanks to the Surge, which we all wish was bigger than it was, and to the better strategy of the Coalition, we have been able to make significant progress. For the first time we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Probably the most significant change is that more and more, extremists are being marginalized, and the Iraqi Government is being seen as the legitimate solution by the Iraqi people themselves. Also, there are just more Iraqi Security Forces available to put down the bad guys.

There are still many problem areas, Baghdad is better, but still not secure. A few weeks ago the brave souls at the Embassy had to endure a barrage of mortars - about 35 total. Basrah is a total mess being run by the militias fighting over stolen oil. In the west and south though, despite some recent setbacks, the trend is definitely good.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Despite the obvious drawbacks of service here, it has actually been a rewarding year. One thing that is funny out here is that this mission has forced so many totally dis-similar USG agencies, with totally different cultures to work together.

I thought that the State Department was bad for acronyms. I found out that we can't hold a candle to the military that has an acronym for EVERYTHING. They can't even eat without using an acronym - the mess hall, or chow hall for a Marine is called the D-FAC here, short for dining facility. I have used that one so much this past year that I am afraid of asking a friend to lunch at the State Department cafeteria and saying "let's meet at the D-FAC!" Combat rations are called "C-RATs" (how in the world the military expects you to eat something with the word "rat" in it is beyond me), gym clothes are called "PTs," a simple uniform is called a "DCU;" The list is endless! My personal favorite, one that actually makes sense is the acronym for the Point Of Origin site for a mortar or rocket attack. It is called a "POO" site. No comment. ;)

Getting to ride around in Blackhawks speeding at break-neck speed doing wild maneuvers with the wind rushing through your hair is definitely pretty cool The blacked-out midnight runs are the best. The novelty of riding like cargo, or better still, cattle in a C-130 got old 30 minutes into my first flight, but I am still glad I got the chance to do it. I won't miss the corkscrew landings, but the two times I got to see those landings from the cockpit was definitely worth the ride.

I will miss the Italian Army I originally deployed with, and their nightly pizza parties - home made pizza in brick ovens - the real McCoy. I will miss their D-FAC more with its un-impressive, but nevertheless very welcome under the circumstances, wine list (no kidding!). They "TOA"ed out (I will leave you to figure that acronym out) in November and we were left trying to bootleg inferior Lebanese wine from Baghdad. Hell of a way to fight a war with inferior wine.

I will definitely miss the wonderful colleagues with whom I worked in Iraq, Richard my boss and dear friend, and Ken the USAID guy, and now dear friend who persevered through so much and managed to actually accomplish a lot together. My grief at our parting is much consoled by the fact that we will all be in DC together in a few weeks, and plan to get together as soon as possible. Huge kudos to both of you guys, and I will see you soon!

That's all for now. Thank you all for your support with the emails, letters, and especially your prayers.

God bless,
Patrick

Lafayette, Louisiana Radio Hosts' On-Air Fight. 'Get the F*** Out!'

2007-08-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Radio call
Uploaded by dollarsandsense123

Reagan Gahagan Report: Georgia Says It Fired on Russian Plane#links#links

2007-08-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Reagan Gahagan Report: Georgia Says It Fired on Russian Plane#links#links

Ohio State Professors Go “Truther” - OSU Professors Speak at a Forum Sponsored by a 9/11 Denial Group

2007-08-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Ohio State Profs Go “Truther”
By Patrick PooleFrontPageMagazine.com 8/17/2007
Two of The Ohio State University’s most prominent scholars demonstrated how low higher education has sunk by appearing at a panel on “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter” co-sponsored by a local group that promotes the view that the World Trade Center towers were not brought down by two terrorist-controlled planes on 9/11, but through a nefarious US government-controlled conspiracy.
One of the Ohio State scholars, John Mueller, the Woody Hayes Chair for National Security Studies, might be familiar to readers from a FrontPage article last year, “Ohio State Prof: What Terrorist Threat?”, and for his book published last November, Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them, where he argues that al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist organizations pose no danger to America because the odds of being killed in a terrorist attack are greater than being struck by a meteoroid.
The other Ohio State scholar on this panel, John Quigley, is currently the Presidents’ Club Professor of Law at the Moritz College of Law. A Harvard-educated scholar on the Soviet Union and comparative law, he has now adopted the Palestinian cause as a focus of his studies and identifies Western intervention as the cause of the present troubles in the Middle East. In a 2006 Florida Law Review article, he finds that Osama bin Laden is really an anti-colonial fellow traveler:
“Bin Laden framed his anti-United States arguments in the language of Islam, but he was voicing the same anti-colonialist sentiments that had been directed against France and Britain in the early 20th Century.”
And in a 2005 Hastings International and Comparative Law Review article, Quigley argues that negotiation and diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians is outmoded, and that a solution should be imposed on the Israelis in accordance with his interpretation of international law:
“The displaced Palestinians should not have to lobby for their right of return vis-à-vis Israel or vis-à-vis the Palestinian leadership. The right is guaranteed by human rights norms. Just as a state that tortures is obliged to desist without being cajoled and without negotiation, so a state that refuses to repatriate is obliged to desist, namely, by repatriating.”
The panel held at Ohio State was co-sponsored by Columbus 9/11 Truth, an organization that also recently sponsored the all-day Truth Film Festival, which screened several 9/11-related documentaries, culminating in previews of 9/11 Press for Truth and Improbable Collapse: The Demolition of Our Republic, films described by a local paper with the following premises:
These pictures have been cannily selected to lay the groundwork for the more controversial claims in the festival’s last two entries: 9/11 Press for Truth, which suggests a government cover-up after the World Trade Center disaster, and Improbable Collapse: The Demolition of Our Republic, which tries to scientifically prove that the buildings could not have been brought down by two jet planes alone.
The other primary co-sponsor for the Ohio State panel was the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which provided the two additional panel participants: Ahmad Al-Akhras, the CAIR national vice chairman, who moderated the event; and Abukar Arman, CAIR-OH board member who joined Mueller and Quigley on the discussion panel. Both men have been the subjects of recent FrontPage profiles: Al-Akhras for his vocal support of convicted and deported terrorists (“Hometown Jihad: Getting By with a Little Help From His (Terrorist) Friends”); and Arman, for his published support of terrorist organizations (“Hometown Jihad: The Somali Terror Apologist Next Door”), which resulted in his removal from a Central Ohio Homeland Security oversight board (“Terrorist Sympathizer Tossed from Homeland Security Panel”).
A subsequent CAIR press release stated that 90 people attended the event.
When examining the writings of both Mueller and Quigley, it is easy to see why they would find common cause with fringe groups like Columbus 9/11 Truth and CAIR-OH. That both men hold prominent endowed positions at Ohio State (my alma mater) gives proof that academic freedom is alive and well on our college campuses. And so is academic extremism.

Reagan Gahagan Report: China threatens to trigger US dollar crash#links

2007-08-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

Reagan Gahagan Report: China threatens to trigger US dollar crash#links

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales
By Ambrose Evans-PritchardLast Updated: 9:54am BST 08/08/2007The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation.Fistful of dollars - China's trade surplus reached $26.9bn in JuneTwo officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress.Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies.Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels.It would also cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession. It is estimated that China holds over $900bn in a mix of US bonds.Xia Bin, finance chief at the Development Research Centre (which has cabinet rank), kicked off what now appears to be government policy with a comment last week that Beijing's foreign reserves should be used as a "bargaining chip" in talks with the US."Of course, China doesn't want any undesirable phenomenon in the global financial order," he added.He Fan, an official at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, went even further today, letting it be known that Beijing had the power to set off a dollar collapse if it choose to do so."China has accumulated a large sum of US dollars. Such a big sum, of which a considerable portion is in US treasury bonds, contributes a great deal to maintaining the position of the dollar as a reserve currency. Russia, Switzerland, and several other countries have reduced the their dollar holdings."China is unlikely to follow suit as long as the yuan's exchange rate is stable against the dollar. The Chinese central bank will be forced to sell dollars once the yuan appreciated dramatically, which might lead to a mass depreciation of the dollar," he told China Daily.The threats play into the presidential electoral campaign of Hillary Clinton, who has called for restrictive legislation to prevent America being "held hostage to economic decicions being made in Beijing, Shanghai, or Tokyo".She said foreign control over 44pc of the US national debt had left America acutely vulnerable.Simon Derrick, a currency strategist at the Bank of New York Mellon, said the comments were a message to the US Senate as Capitol Hill prepares legislation for the Autumn session."The words are alarming and unambiguous. This carries a clear political threat and could have very serious consequences at a time when the credit markets are already afraid of contagion from the subprime troubles," he said.A bill drafted by a group of US senators, and backed by the Senate Finance Committee, calls for trade tariffs against Chinese goods as retaliation for alleged currency manipulation.The yuan has appreciated 9pc against the dollar over the last two years under a crawling peg but it has failed to halt the rise of China's trade surplus, which reached $26.9bn in June.Henry Paulson, the US Tresury Secretary, said any such sanctions would undermine American authority and "could trigger a global cycle of protectionist legislation".Mr Paulson is a China expert from his days as head of Goldman Sachs. He has opted for a softer form of diplomacy, but appeared to win few concession from Beijing on a unscheduled trip to China last week aimed at calming the waters.

Reagan Gahagan Report: New Flashlight Weapon Makes Targets Throw Up (The Puke-Saber)#links

2007-08-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

Flashlight Weapon Makes Targets Throw Up

Monday, August 06, 2007

It looks like a big flashlight — but it's really a nonlethal weapon designed to make you sick.Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., of Torrance, Calif., has been granted a contract by the Department of Homeland Security to develop what it calls the "LED Incapacitator," according to a DHS online newsletter.The handheld device using light-emitting diodes to emit super-bright pulses of light at rapidly changing wavelengths, causing disorientation, nausea and even vomiting in whomever it's pointed at."There's one wavelength that gets everybody," says IOS President Bob Lieberman. "Vlad [IOS top scientist Vladimir Rubtsov] calls it 'the evil color.'"Phase 1 of the contract — creating a working prototype — has already been completed, and Phase 2 will begin this fall as researchers at Penn State's Institute of Nonlethal Defense Technology put the puke-saber through its paces."Phase 3 will be our shrink phase," Lieberman said, admitting that the prototype, 15 inches long with a 4-inch lens, is too large and heavy to be comfortably carried on a belt.DHS hopes to equip police, Border Patrol agents and National Guardsmen with the barf-beamers by 2010.

Reagan Gahagan Report: New Flashlight Weapon Makes Targets Throw Up (The Puke-Saber)#links

Follow the Money

2007-08-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

"Follow the money" was a typical response in recent political conversation. To me the response is an easy out, almost a deflection that, if not kept in check, allows for someone not to discuss the issue at hand. Sure it's interesting where the money comes from, but how do you really feel about an issue?

Anyway, there are many sites on the net that follow the money. Opensecrects.org and Center for Responsive Politics in particular was pretty interesting.

The numbers combine all PAC, soft money, and large ($200+) individual contributions made by the organization, its employees, officers and their immediate families. Subsidiaries and affiliates are also included in the totals. Not included is money spent independently on issue ads or donations to political party conventions, legal defense funds, presidential inaugurations or post-election recount funds.

Of those orgs who leaned predominantly Democratic (greater than 90% of total contributions) were the usual suspects: Unions, Universities, Law Practices, and an Activist Organization dedicated to elect women to political office.
Of those orgs who leaned predominantly Republican (again greater than 90% of total contributions) were two investment/financial companies, a building and contractors association and an Economic Activist Organization.

Those "on the fence" (relatively little difference between Dem or Rep contributions) are as follows:

National Association of Realtors
JP Morgan Chase & Co
Citigroup Inc
Bank of America
General Electric
American Hospital Assn
Credit Suisse First Boston
Boeing Co
Bear Stearns
Comcast Corp

Montgomery County Public Schools Say Yes to Anal Sex, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, and Transvestitism

2007-08-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Montgomery County Public Schools Say Yes to Anal Sex, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, and Transvestitism
ANN ARBOR, MI – A public school district’s program promoting anal sex, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transvestitism as normal sexual variations was recently approved by the Maryland State Board of Education despite strenuous opposition from several pro-family groups. Montgomery County Public School’s controversial sexuality curriculum for eighth and tenth grade students is the result of pressure by homosexual advocacy groups.

In response, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it will assist the pro-family groups in their appeal of the Education Board’s decision to the Montgomery County Circuit Court. The Law Center will be assisted by Maryland attorney John R. Garza who has been involved in the curriculum fight for several years. The Thomas More Law Center and John Garza represent Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and the Family Leader Network.

According to Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, “I’m impressed with the principled and steadfast opposition by these pro-family groups to this outrageously hedonistic and life-threatening sexuality curriculum. The Law Center will do everything we can to assist them in their fight.” The pro-family groups oppose the sex program on several grounds: (1) it teaches students that homosexuality is “innate,” which is an unproven theory; (2) it teaches students that anal sex is just another sexual option without warning students of the increased HIV/AIDS risk of anal sex, even with a condom; (3) it labels as “homophobic” children who hold traditional religious or moral beliefs about homosexuality; and (4) it teaches students that transgenderism is just another “sexual orientation,” even though transgenderism has been classified as a mental disorder.

The Montgomery County Circuit Court may overturn the decision of the State Board of Education. The court may also stay the application of the sexuality curriculum while the appeal is pending. If the court affirms the decision of the State Board of Education, the case will be appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals. Edward L. White III, trial counsel with the Law Center, who is handling the case, commented: “This curriculum is full of factual inaccuracies and runs counter to sound educational policy. It should not be taught in the public school.”

The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life through education, litigation, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org.

NASA Reports Sabotage of Flight Computer

2007-07-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

NASA Reports Sabotage of Flight Computer
Jul 26, 4:44 PM (ET)By MARCIA DUNN
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A space program worker deliberately damaged a computer that is supposed to fly aboard shuttle Endeavour in less than two weeks, an act of sabotage that was caught before the equipment was loaded onto the spaceship, NASA said Thursday.
The unidentified employee, who works for a NASA subcontractor, cut wires inside the computer that is supposed to be delivered to the international space station by Endeavour, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief. The worker also damaged a similar computer that was not meant to fly to space.
The sabotage occurred outside Florida. Gerstenmaier did not identify the subcontractor or where the damage took place.
NASA's inspector general office is investigating.
NASA hopes to fix the computer and launch it Aug. 7 as planned aboard Endeavour. The computer is designed for use aboard the space station, not the shuttle, and the damage would have posed no danger to either shuttle or station astronauts, Gerstenmaier said.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070726/D8QKGG200.html

Checkers is Sexist?

2007-07-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

Apparently the University of California Berkeley thinks so. Check out this story I read on Brainterminal.com.

An actual Computer Science course requires students to program a game of Checkers. Remember when your checkers piece reached the other side and you yelled, "King Me!"? The assignment describes this as a no-no:

If a piece reaches the opposite side, it becomes an AAP (Additionally Abled Piece -- actually, it's called a "king", but we decided to eschew sexist and monarchist nomenclature) and can move both backwards and forwards along the diagonals.

I can't wait to teach my son Checkers. When his checker piece reaches the other side, we'll teach him to exclaim, "ADDITIONALLY ABLE ME!!!", but maybe not so loud so as not to effect a lowered self esteem in his opponent.

Reagan Gahagan Report: Man Snoozes During John Edwards's ABC Town Hall...Then Vanishes

2007-07-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Reagan Gahagan Report: Man Snoozes During John Edwards's ABC Town Hall...Then Vanishes

The Happy President and other relevant news...

2007-07-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

It appears that Clemson has tested the 5-second rule!

Never thought that this was a relevant research topic, but what do I know? Apparently, the president's happiness is a matter of concern.

That Dropped Doughnut: How Soon, and How Often, Will It Come Back Up? - washingtonpost.com

Report: Al-Qaida bakes little boys

2007-07-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Report: Al-Qaida bakes little boys

Iraqi official provides account of atrocity to embedded writer
Posted: July 13, 20071:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A reporter embedded with the U.S. military in Iraq reports a government official has recounted a new atrocity by al-Qaida: several instances in which terrorists baked a young boy, then invited his family to lunch with the victim as the main course.
The report is from Michael Yon, a Special Forces soldier who returned to Iraq to report on the successes there, inspired, he told radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt, by a "news cycle that seems to pander toward the terrorists."
Yon was in Baqubah listening to the statements of an Iraqi official who asked that his name not be reported. Yon said the Iraqi told him al-Qaida arrived in Baqubah and united a number of criminal gangs, leaving death and destruction behind. ...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56643

China--Story within a story?

2007-07-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a story about China controlling the weather; one of the benefits would be a sunny summer Olympics. Oddly enough, it's not controlling the weather that sparked my interest. Reading further we have the following:

China's more than 30 provinces and province-level municipalities today boast a weather-modification base, employing more than 32,000 people, 7,100 anti-aircraft guns, 4,991 special rocket launchers and 30-odd aircraft across the country...

"Ours is the largest artificial weather program in the world in terms of equipment, size and budget," Wang said, adding that the annual nationwide budget for weather modification is between US$60 million and $90 million.

Let’s recap: 32,000 people employed on a $90M budget? Let’s assume that there are no capital expenditures, no anti-aircraft guns, no rocket launcher, no need for chemicals (let’s assume these are all military surplus, of which China has a huge supply), no maintenance costs (we’re just going to let the equipment rust until it disintegrates), no overhead or anything….And, let’s be conservative and say that each person is working half time. That gives us 16,000 full time equivalents (FTEs).

That would be approx $5600 per year per full time equivalent (compare this with $2800 per year per FTE, which assumes all are working full time). According to US Standards, all employed under this system would be in poverty. By World Bank standards these workers are not considered poor (remember, no costs other than salaries). Anything strange here?

Asia Times Online :: China News - Ready, aim, fire and rain

What About the Troops?

2007-07-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today, the US Senate voted to continue debate on (and thereby kill) an amendment offered by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) that would have helped set a reasonable rotation schedule for troops currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sen. Webb's amendment would have made dwell periods (the time spent at home between deployments) twice as long as the previous deployment for regular military (2:1), and 5:1 for deployed members of the reserves and National Guard. Also, the amendment would have limited deployments of units and/or members if they or their units had been deployed within 3 years of the date of their next deployment.

56 senators voted for cloture (including Sen. Warner), 4 short of the 60 necessary; 40 Republicans and independent Joe Lieberman voted against cloture. Do those 41 senators not care about the health and families of the troops?

15-month deployments with a less than 12-month dwell time before the next deployment takes a toll on the mental well-being of these soldiers and their families. Upwards of 3 to 4 tours in 4 1/2 years takes a toll on both the mental and physical well-being of the soldiers and their families.

As a military veteran, I am ashamed of the Senators who voted against the troops today. I applaud Sen. Webb (and 55 other Senators) for attempting to speak for the voiceless soldiers who put their lives on the line every day for this country.

13 Years of DC Madam Telephone Records Online

2007-07-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

http://reagangahagan.blogspot.com/2007/07/dc-madam-telephone-records-now-online.html

Exploding Myths of Islamic Terrorism

2007-07-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

http://reagangahagan.blogspot.com/2007/07/exploding-myths-of-islamic-terrorism.html

Oldest DNA ever recovered shows warmer planet: report

2007-07-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

http://reagangahagan.blogspot.com/2007/07/oldest-dna-ever-recovered-shows-warmer.html

LIFE IMITATES ART

2007-07-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

You remember browsing through the ultra-B movies in your local video store as a kids and seeing titles like "Blacula" and "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS"? A sub-genre of these exploitation films pertained to women in prison, which I imagine never had any entertainment value and serve only the purpose of satisfying bizarre fantasies of some peculiar men. I couldn't help but think of that when reading this article called "Lesbian Gangs Raping Young Girls."

While any forcible sex is condemnable, the subtext, which links rape with homosexuality, is deplorable but predictable. In other words, gangs are gangs, but lesbian gangs? Lock your daughter in her room and load your guns! You might agree that it makes as much sense as linking rape and pedophilia with Catholicism.

This response to the initial report of widespread lesbian gang violence, made by none other than Bill O'Reilly, reveals that once again it was O'Reilly generating paranoia and fear with "bad information." On O'Reilly, and this is mentioned in the above linked article, a guest purports that in Baltimore a man was beaten by six women. The actual report from a Baltimore news station exposes two young women and four young men as the attackers. Bad information. What was O'Reilly's guest thinking? Moreover, what was O'Reilly thinking? Probably about a falafel.

Politically Correct, the Ultimate Storybook: Politically Correct Bedtime Stories

2007-07-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Keeping to the children's book theme, we recently received Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner from a friend of the family. It is a very funny and, depending upon political tendencies, very enlightening. One of my favorites is The Three Little Pigs. While the original (non-politically correct) tale ends with a “They live happily ever after,” in this book the un-enlightened wolf huffs and puffs his way to a fatal heart attack (all of that damn pork!) and…

“The three little pigs rejoiced that justice had triumphed and did a little dance around the corpse of the wolf. Their next step was to liberate their homeland. They gathered together a band of other pigs who had been forced off of their lands. Their new brigade of porcinistas attacked the resort complex with machine guns and rocket launchers and slaughtered the cruel wolf oppressors, sending a clear signal to the rest of the hemisphere not to meddle in their internal affairs. Then the pigs set up a model socialist democracy with free education, universal healthcare, and affordable housing for everyone.”

The only tale with an alternate title is The Three Codependent Goats Gruff. Gotta love it!

Politically Correct, the Ultimate Storybook, by James Finn Garner