Crossposted from Flopping Aces

and

I Was For Giving Drivers Licenses To Illegals Before I Was Against It

The spirit of John Kerry was present at the Halloween Democrat debate last night, and he couldn’t of taken down a better person. Hillary Clinton’s campaign was moderately derailed because of a illegal drivers license program that she supported, then didn’t support, then does support:

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Crossposted from Red Maryland

As the start of his campaign to convince Marylanders that the only way to balance the state’s miserable budget was through a combination of tax increases and changes to the tax code, Governor Martin O’Malley made some pretty bold assertions, that he could increase revenues and still be able to cover the budget shortfall and still cut property taxes. I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

That siesmic thump you just heard is a shoe so big is makes Shaq’s foot look positively infantile in size.

Today the the Baltimore Sun reports that the Governor is going to tie his proposed property tax cut to passage of the slots referendum.

If the General Assembly places a slots referendum on the November ballot next year and voters approve it, the state would get enough revenue to offset a proposed 3-cent property tax cut for homeowners from fiscal year 2010 through 2012 – and also hundreds of millions more for health care and higher education, Joseph C. Bryce, O’Malley’s legislative director, told lawmakers yesterday.
But if voters reject the slots constitutional amendment, then the state won’t be able to reduce its property tax rate, Bryce said at a joint session of three legislative committees reviewing O’Malley’s budget plan.
What’s next?
Defeat of the slots referendum also would prevent the state from pouring an additional $300 million into school construction, Bryce said.

And the state would not be able to use 50 percent of the revenue generated from the proposed increase in the corporate income tax rate for holding down college tuition, completing capital projects at two-year and four-year colleges and funding work force investment, according to the governor’s office.

That money would be needed to balance the general fund, Bryce said.
At a news conference, O’Malled said that he had to tie his tax plan and the slots referendum together to “make sure this all fits together.” I don’t recall first, the mention of a referendum on slots and certainly don’t recall hearing about the slots referendum passing in order to do all these other things.

Yesterday, I called putting the slot matter to a referendum was political cowardice. Well that move is like comparing a penny ante poker game to the World Series of Poker. By announcing all of the danger to all of these other matters if a referendum isn’t passed is an even greater political CYA and a massive blunder. (more…)

By Brujo Blanco

If Thomas Paine was alive today and living in Chicago he would probably end up rubbing the law the wrong way. Considering his position when he authored patriotic documents during the American Revolution he probably would have done so on purpose. It has been part of our country’s history that people be allowed the freedom to write and distribute their writings. This has been challenged in Chicago with an actual statute regarding the distribution of free publications.

Title 10 Chapter 8 of the Chicago Municipal Code was allegedly written into law to solve the problem of litter. This statute renders it unlawful in the city limits of the windy city to distribute free literature that could become litter. The theory is that since many in Chicago complain about litter the solution is to ban the distribution of free literature that is likely to become litter. Excellent example of liberal think. Who is going to decide what literature would likely become litter.

When this legal nightmare was crafted it was interesting that the law was voted in by 50 to 1. Apparently the hue and cry regarding this law may have an effect.

When I first read this I had to go back a read it again. Of course no self respecting liberal would ever consider misusing a law such as this to stifle the free flow of information. Right! This law has rendered it unlawful to distribute such publications on private property, public property, or anywhere else. Also, it is likely that a city government agency in Chicago can now evaluate the content of “free” literature and determine if it is litter or not. How about passing out free handbills advertising a get-together with Rush Limbaugh.

When the 1st Amendment is under fire anywhere in our country it is under fire in the entire country. Now some might say that it is only a city ordinance and I would agree with that, however, this is the type of law that should not be tolerated. Free publications, regardless of value should be protected by the constitution.

There is good news about Maryland in that we actually have a law in the liberal haven of Maryland that protects free publications from theft. At least there is a statute that actually protects a right and not go against the constitutional grain.

“In 1994, Maryland was the first state to pass a law outlawing newspaper theft. The law was introduced after a number of newspaper thefts occurred in Maryland, including thefts at the University of Maryland at College Park, John Hopkins University and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, as well as commercial publications in the state. Many state publications lobbied for the law’s approval.

The Maryland law applies to the theft of both free and commercial newspapers and does not specify the number of stolen papers that constitute a theft under the law. The law states that a crime is committed when a person takes “newspapers with the intent to prevent other individuals from reading the newspapers.” A person convicted of newspaper theft in Maryland could face a $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail or both.” (STUDENT PRESS LAW CENTER, Spring 2004)

I believe that the founding fathers had a reason for making the Amendment regarding free speech, press, and religion the first one. It is extremely important that we be allowed free expression and that disagreement be not only tolerated but protected. This law enacted in Chicago is an example of runaway totalitarian government.

Crossposted from Flopping Aces

I read this piece and I had to doublecheck to see if it didn’t come from The Onion.  I find it hard to believe that this can be happening in the United States.  What will come next?  Hauling students off to the gulag who refuse to be “re-educated?”

The University of Delaware subjects students in its residence halls to a shocking program of ideological reeducation that is referred to in the university’s own materials as a “treatment” for students’ incorrect attitudes and beliefs. The Orwellian program requires the approximately 7,000 students in Delaware’s residence halls to adopt highly specific university-approved views on issues ranging from politics to race, sexuality, sociology, moral philosophy, and environmentalism. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is calling for the total dismantling of the program, which is a flagrant violation of students’ rights to freedom of conscience and freedom from compelled speech…

The university’s views are forced on students through a comprehensive manipulation of the residence hall environment, from mandatory training sessions to “sustainability” door decorations. Students living in the university’s eight housing complexes are required to attend training sessions, floor meetings, and one-on-one meetings with their Resident Assistants (RAs). The RAs who facilitate these meetings have received their own intensive training from the university, including a “diversity facilitation training” session at which RAs were taught, among other things, that “[a] racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality.”

The university suggests that at one-on-one sessions with students, RAs should ask intrusive personal questions such as “When did you discover your sexual identity?” Students who express discomfort with this type of questioning often meet with disapproval from their RAs, who write reports on these one-on-one sessions and deliver these reports to their superiors. One student identified in a write-up as an RA’s “worst” one-on-one session was a young woman who stated that she was tired of having “diversity shoved down her throat.”

This is it.  This is the liberals wet dream.  A perfect world of Socialism/Communism gripping the throats of all who enter their domain.  You must submit and believe what we believe. 

Some students have written about their experiences:

We are told to “embrace diversity.” The way this has played out on my floor is performing multiple childish activities, “teaching” us how to handle situations involving racial, sexual, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity. In each of these meetings, the underlying theme seems to be to make us feel guilty about the privileges we have, and to convince us our part in white supremacy. Most questions we are asked must be answered one hundred percent in one direction or the other; there is no room for indecision, or holding a neutral view on any issue. This adds to the feeling of guilt imposed on us. For me specifically, it seems that I’m being told it’s wrong to be a middle-class white male. The whole system being used seems to be trying to change the students into all holding the same views—the views the school, Residence Life specifically, wants us to hold. This is in no way diversity, and it is in no way right to attempt to brainwash the students.

University President Patrick Harker

Office of the President
University of Delaware
104 Hullihen Hall
Newark, DE 19716-0101
(302) 831-2111 FAX: (302) 831-1297
E-mail: harker@udel.edu

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by Haider Ajina

The following is my translation of a headline and article from Iraq ’s Nahrain of October 29 2007.

Karbala receiving security responsibility for its province.

Iraqi Prime Minster (PM) Noori Almaliki said in a speech delivered at the hand-over ceremonies of Karbala ’s security to the provincial government, ‘Receiving security responsibility of Karbala is a big development and a large step towards Iraq ’s full security responsibility’.

Ceremonies of the hand-over of security responsibilities of Karbala to its provincial government were held today Monday October 29 at the Karbala Soccer stadium.

The PM then pointed out that security for Basra province will be handed over to the Basra provincial government in mid December. Almaliki then called on the Iraqi national security forces to double their security efforts so the rest of the provinces can be handed over to their provincial governments. He then criticized those who think of a one party system or of loyalty solely to the tribe. Countries are not built on ignorance, bigotry and killings, quite the opposite countries are built on dialogue, respect of others, understanding and abilities. The political system has an immediate effect on security, and political problems translate to security problems, waste of effort and preoccupation with differences and deviation from rebuilding efforts’.

Almaliki then addressed the economy by saying. ‘On the economic front we have much to be proud of, unemployment has declined from 50% to 20% and inflation has gone down from 60% to 16%, these are tremendous achievements. Almaliki then went on to speak about developments in national reconciliation. He said that reconciliation does not mean dividing the country like a piece of pie or giving position to the nonqualified. Reconciliation is built on national sublime foundations. He warned that not all who fly the reconciliation banner want reconciliation. Some still have the mentality of tribalism and totalitarianism and want to turn the clocks back, while they appear in the media calling for reconciliation. Of those we need to be careful. Reconciliation is in the hands of those who want to see prosperity for Iraq .

On Monday October 29th security for Karbala province was transferred from the MNF to Iraqi security in the province. Celebrations for this event were held at the Karbala soccer stadium and were attended by Iraq ’s PM Noori Alamliki and several Iraqi and American civilian and military dignitaries and a number of Iraqi MPs and Karbala province officials.

Karbala is the eighth Iraqi province to receive responsibility for its security. Samawah was the first, then followed by Maisan, Muthenah (Neseriah) and Nejaf all of which are south of Baghdad , and the three Kurdish provinces in the North.,

My comments,
Karbala province is home to many of Shiite shrines and of historical significance to Muslims in general and Iraqis in particular. Hussein a grand Son of the prophet Mohamed PBH is berried their. Shiia Muslims consider Karbala to be one of their holiest cities after Mecca , Medina , Jerusalem and Najaf. In the early 1800 Wahabis attacked Karbala , looted the shrines and killed over 4000 inhabitants. This event has strong meaning to what we are suffering from today due to the Wahabi Takfiri intolerance and violence.

Karbala (about 60 miles south of Baghdad ) has almost 600,000 inhabitants this is 2.5% of the Population of Iraq and 1944 sq.mi or 1.2% of Iraq ’s territory. The provinces of Maysan, Nejaf, Muthena & Dhi Qar are already under Iraqi provincial control, in the south. In the north Kurdistan in its three provinces of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Dehuck are also under Iraqi control. Now eight out of eighteen Iraqi provinces will be under provincial control. The provinces under full Iraqi control will be a total of 36.6% of Iraq ’s territory and 31.5% of the population. All this has been achieved, in a country with little experience in democracy and the rule of law in its recent history and after 30 years of tyrannical rule, and only 4 short years since the liberation, and combating terrorist trying to destabilize an elected government.

Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Congressional Dodo bird Dems can’t get a budget passed. Can’t pass a children’s health bill, can’t do much but bash Bush! Time for the grownups to come in and clean the House?

U.S. President George W. Bush (C) makes a statement while flanked by (L-R) Minority Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Chairman of the Republican Conference Adam Putnam (R-FL) on the North Portico of the White House October 30, 2007

President Bush Urges Congress to Pass Appropriations Bills
White House transcript
October 30, 2007

THE PRESIDENT: …Congress is not getting its work done. We’re near the end of the year, and there really isn’t much to show for it. The House of Representatives has wasted valuable time on a constant stream of investigations, and the Senate has wasted valuable time on an endless series of failed votes to pull our troops out of Iraq. And yet there’s important work to be done on behalf of the American people.

They have not been able to send a single annual appropriations bill to my desk, and that’s the worst record for a Congress in 20 years. One of the important responsibilities of the Congress is to pass appropriations bills. And yet the leadership that’s on the Hill now cannot get that job done.

They’ve also passed an endless series of tax increases. You know, they proposed tax increases in the farm bill, the energy bill, the small business bill, and of course, the SCHIP bill. They haven’t seen a bill they could not solve without shoving a tax hike into it. In other words, they believe in raising taxes, and we don’t.

Spending is skyrocketing under their leadership — at least proposed spending is skyrocketing under their leadership. After all, they’re trying to spend an additional $205 billion over the next five years. Some have said, well, that doesn’t matter much; it’s not that much money. Well, $205 billion over the next five years in the real world amounts to this: $4.7 million per hour, every hour, for every day, for the next five years. That’s a lot of money.

And that doesn’t even include spending that would actually pay for 2 million people to move from private health insurance to an inefficient, lower-quality, government-run program. Despite knowing it does not have a chance of becoming law, the Senate will now take up the second SCHIP bill the House passed last week. I believe the Senate is wasting valuable time. This bill, remarkably, manages to spend more money over five years than the first bill did.

After going alone and going nowhere, Congress should instead work with the administration on a bill that puts poor children first; a bill that will take care of the poor children that the initial bill said we got to do; a bill that would stop diverting money to adults. You realize some major states in the United States spend more money on adults than they do on children? We want a bill that enrolls the more than 500,000 poor children currently eligible for the program who are not a part of the program.
…
[A]gain ask Congress to send me a clean Veterans funding bill that we have already agreed to by Veterans Day, so we can keep America’s promise to those who have defended our freedom and are recovering from injury. I again urge them to pass a clean Defense appropriations bill, and a war supplemental bill to fund our troops in combat.

I know some on the Democrat side didn’t agree with my decision to send troops in, but it seems like we ought to be able to agree that we’re going to support our troops who are in harm’s way. I know the members feel that way, standing with me. I hope the leadership feels that way, and they ought to give me a bill that funds, among other things, bullets, and body armor, and protection against IEDs, and mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles. It would be irresponsible to not give our troops the resources they need to get their job done because Congress was unable to get its job done.

Dems Would Rather Fight than Work Together with GOP

New Congress at war over everything
By: Patrick O’Connor
The Politico
Oct 30, 2007

In a closed-door meeting before the last vote on the children’s health care bill, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer appealed for the support of about 30 wavering Republican lawmakers. What he got instead was a tongue-lashing, participants said.

The GOP lawmakers, all of whom had expressed interest in a bipartisan deal on the SCHIP legislation, were furious that the Democratic leader from Maryland had not reached out to them in a more serious way early on. They also criticized him and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois for failing to stop his allies outside Congress from running attack ads in their districts, while they were discussing a bipartisan deal.

The result was a predictable one for this bitterly divided Congress. The House vote for a second SCHIP bill was a healthy majority, but not the two-thirds needed to override another veto vowed by President Bush. Only one Republican switched his vote — to oppose the measure.

Democrats accused Republicans of hurting kids. Republicans howled about a heavy-handed, uncompromising Democratic majority. And another chance at bipartisan consensus slipped away.

“They spent $1.5 million through their various shill outreach groups attacking me and a handful of my colleagues,” Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.) said before the Hoyer meeting, “but they did not spend five minutes to approach me to ask for my vote.”

This us-against-them mentality has been an ongoing storyline of the new Democratic­-controlled Congress. On the big items — Iraq, health care and spending — party leaders have shunned compromise.

Meanwhile, Congress Approval Rating Sinks LOWER!

Rush Limbaugh has a higher approval rating in Nevada than Democrat Majority Reader Senator Harry Reid. In California, even Senator Dianne Feinstein (a responsible legislator by comparison to Sen. Barbara Boxer and Pelosi) is tanking along with Pelosi and Boxer (full size poll graphic here).

Needed: An Aggressive GOP Campaign for 2008

By now, the damage of a do nothing but investigate, spend and raise taxes Congress should be clear to even the most “principled” conservative voter.

What’s needed is a long term, coordinated campaign at every level of political discourse to highlight the weaknesses of Democrats. It wouldn’t hurt to put forward a renewed version of the 1994 “Contract with America” based on conservative values.

One thing we learned in 2006: A weak response invites defeat. And the costs are too high to permit that mistake to remain uncorrected!

by Regina Sztajer

Recently my husband and I attended a class at a Maryland University and the subject was Maryland Campaign Politics. Our teacher was a Democrat and he said the reason he is in politics for “power and glory.” What happened to being in politics to be of service to the citizens of your state not just for your own glory? He taught us the system of winning a campaign by not only defeating your opponent but by destroying him or her as well. He dubbed it “negative campaigning.” He brought in a quest speaker who did his public relations including radio ads as well as television spots. They use every trick in the book to spin publicity to their favor while systematically destroying the opposition with no sense of conscious.

Our teacher showed us brochures he had printed for his campaign and one in particular was a bold face lie and he ignored the students when they brought out discrepancies in the content. It is criminal that our children throughout the state in universities and colleges are being indoctrinated to liberal and biased politics which bends the truth in order to destroy an opponent with no mercy.

In national politics we have seen this with George W. Bush being constantly called a liar by a Democratic opponent that does not know what the truth is. Was it not shameful that an ad by Moveon.org in the New York times tried to destroy the credibility of the commander of our forces in Iraq, General David Petraus, by saying he is “betraying us.” Senator Harry Reid (D Nev.) said “the war is lost”but is quiet now that the surge is working in Iraq..

Governor Martin O’Malley is given a free pass by the Sunpapers which is very biased in its reporting of his activities. He has already broken his campaign promises and the Sunpapers ignores that fact. A special session of the legislature is meeting starting today to consider about 10 new taxes and 1500 slot machines in the state. His idea for cutting the budget is by frightening citizens that he will cut necessary funding if his budget plans are not passed. Can Maryland sustain four more years of O’Malley? If this is Democratic politics at it’s best we the people of Maryland are in real trouble.

crossposted from Conservative Thoughts

In the last few weeks, I’ve read numerous accounts of many Taliban dying at the hands of coalition forces, 20 here, 50 there, they’re really catching it, and yet they’re still coming back for more. Looks like they have noticed what’s happening over in Iraq, Muslims turning on their scumbag allies AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq), so they’re probably getting desperate to hold on and turn things around with more violence and murdering.

Telegraph.co.uk – An Afghan tribal leader is in talks to defect from the Taliban and take thousands of armed tribesmen with him to fight alongside British forces in southern Afghanistan. The Daily Telegraph has learned that the Afghan government hopes to seal the deal this week with Mullah Abdul Salaam and his Alizai tribe, which has been fighting alongside the Taliban in Helmand province.

Diplomats confirmed yesterday that Mullah Salaam was expected to change sides within days. He is a former Taliban corps commander and governor of Herat province under the government that fell in 2001. Military sources said British forces in the province are “observing with interest” the potential deal in north Helmand, which echoes the efforts of US commanders in Iraq’s western province to split Sunni tribal leaders from their al-Qa’eda allies.

As it is, when they take on the infidels, chances are high that fire and pestilence will be heading their way in minutes, if their own start defecting and switching sides, they’ll be torn to pieces, much like what’s happening to AQI. I’m sure the scumbags are desperately holding out for a Democrat victory in 2008, it couldn’t come any sooner for them, let’s pray and hope this Afghan stays alive and joins our troops, the good guys, and finish off these bastards once and for all.

Crossposted from Red Maryland

Last night Governor O’Malley intoned that a “storm is upon us” as he addressed the General Assembly and kicked off a special session intended to address a looming $1.7 billion budget deficit. O’Malley’s fix includes a number of tax increases, with some increases in rates and other hikes coming in the way of additional methods of taxation. The governor also wants to hike spending on health care while he’s at it.

For the average citizen of Maryland, the increases will manifest themselves in a number of ways. They’ll pay more at the gas pump, more at the shopping mall, more for electricity as companies pass on their tax increase, more at the dry cleaners, more if they have an average sized house, and a whole lot more if they happen to smoke cigarettes. All this because no one wants to make tough decisions about where cuts need to be made.

Of course, there are some who feel government needs our money. Count Progressive Maryland head Sean Dobson among that group, as he noted in the Sun:

“So far, I have seen too many lawmakers missing the forest for the trees, squabbling over this and that element of the governor’s plan, and missing the forest of gigantic cuts in a government that is too lean to begin with.”

This is the body of people who seem to inhabit Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Baltimore City – reliably liberal voters who have seized Maryland’s reins and are determined to run a good state into the ground by taxing those who can afford to leave out of the state. They also were represented in a counter-rally that took place immediately after yesterday’s anti-tax rally, claiming that the increased taxes were needed to increase state services and give health insurance to thousands of Free Staters. (It’s interesting to note that the unions and Progressive Maryland could only muster 100 or so supporters while the taxation foes had some 300.)

But most of us will stay and take it in the shorts for awhile because we have settled into the state and would rather fight the rear-guard action necessary than turn tail and run. And I’m confident that every Delegate on the Eastern Shore will, at the very least, realize that an increase in the sales tax will hurt us more than any others in the state and vote no on it. If they choose to say yes, well, it’ll definitely not be forgotten in 3 years.

Did I drop enough of a hint there, Norman, Rudy, and Jim?
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Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Of course you won’t find this kind of information in our MSM but we all know damn well that if the numbers were reversed it would be front page news.

Kinda revealing eh?

Also:

Did We Do That? Why Yes Tom….Arson Is A Manmade Event

Tom Friedman writes an editorial today in which he doesn’t come right out and blame global warming for the Southern California fires, but he sure does suggest it may be one of the reasons behind it:

One should never extrapolate about climate change from any single weather event or season, but it does seem that we keep having more and more weather events and seasons that are modified with the words “since records have been kept” — as in the Los Angeles Times fire report on Monday, which noted that forecasters from the National Weather Service “couldn’t recall such intense winds in Southern California,” a region that meteorologists said was “already dealing with the driest year on record.”

So a question has started gnawing at us as we observe events like Katrina and the California wildfires. I asked my friend Nate Lewis, an energy chemist at the California Institute of Technology, what is that question? He thought for a moment and answered: “Did we do that?”

Is man’s cumulative impact on the climate now as responsible for the weather as Mother Nature herself? “That is the question Katrina really introduced for the first time — the sense that soon, if not already, what we used to call acts of God are really acts of man,” Professor Lewis said.

We may have introduced enough of man’s economic activities — enough CO2 emissions — into Mother Nature’s operating system that we cannot determine anymore where she stopped and we started. As Professor Lewis would say: Did we make it hot or did she make it hot? Did we make that drought or did she make that drought? We don’t know anymore.

He goes on to interview one of those good Doctors who believe fervently in man-made global warming from The Weather Channel, Dr. Heidi Cullen.  She has daily segments on the channel warning about global warming if your interested, never allowing any information out that may dispute man-made global warming.  But what do you expect, it pays her bills.

In the editorial she says:

“One thing people always loved about the Weather Channel was that it was nobody’s fault,” Ms. Cullen explained. “We didn’t point fingers. Our news was not political. And then Katrina came along, and suddenly the weather wasn’t the weather anymore. It was something else. Suddenly the weather was potentially our fault.”

Nevermind the fact that hurricanes occurs in cycles of 20 to 45 years. The 2004-2005 hurricane season was quite full but was no worse then the 1900-1905 season, and the 1926-1935 season was actually worse.  The 2006 season was predicted to have 9 hurricanes, it only had five and none hit our shores.

But I will agree the good Doctor a bit on the fires.  It was our fault.  Our meaning the human race, seeing as how many of the fires were actually set by human beings, on purpose.  Houses being built by human beings in areas that have not been cleared of fire dangers (thanks environazi’s) is one more reason I suspect.

But to blame a drought on global warming, which is today’s meme, seems a bit silly.  Global warming would actually increase the amount of water going into the sky as the temperatures in the air and in our oceans rise…causing more rain.  Not less.

Steven Malloy on the drought conditions:

During the period 1900-2005, precipitation seems to have actually increased in areas above 30 degrees north latitude — including California and the rest of the U.S. — according to the most recent assessment from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

This does not mean, of course, that droughts haven’t occurred in North America over the last 100 years, but it doesn’t support a link between rising global temperature and increased drought.

Examining the occurrence of drought in southern California since 1900 is also illuminating.

According to data maintained by the federal National Climatic Data Center, drought conditions are no stranger to southern California.

During the period 1900 to 2005, moderate-to-severe drought conditions occurred in Southern California during 34 of those 106 years — that is, about one-third of the time.

Comparing the southern California drought record against the global temperature record reveals the following:

— During the period 1900-1940, when most of the 20th century’s one-degree Fahrenheit temperature increase occurred, there were 7 years of moderate-to-severe drought.

— During the period 1941-1975, when global temperatures cooled, giving rise to concerns of a looming ice age, there were 11 years of moderate-to-severe drought.

— During the period 1976 to 1990, when global temperatures rose back to the 1940 level, there were 8 years of moderate-to-severe drought.

— Since 1991, when global temperatures rose slightly past the 1940 levels, there have been 7 years of drought.

Warren Meyer put together a few graphs that reveal how silly the man-made global warming caused the drought conditions argument is.  He also put together this 50+ minutes film that is a must see:

By Robert Farrow

So, anyone think Christianity is not under attack?

Through thousands of military burials, Memorial Honor Detail volunteers at Riverside National Cemetery in California have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors of those being laid to rest.

The first fold, a narrator tells relatives, represents life, the second a belief in eternal life.
The 11th fold celebrates Jewish war veterans and glorifies the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
A single complaint lodged against the words for the 11th fold recently prompted the National Cemetery Administration to ban the entire recital at all 125 national cemeteries.

A spokesman in Washington said the complaint originated from someone who witnessed the ceremony at Riverside National but would provide no other details and declined to release the directive banning the flag-folding recital, saying it was “an internal working document not meant for public distribution.”

Veterans are furious.

“That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage,” said Rees Lloyd, 59, a Vietnam-era veteran and Memorial Honor Detail volunteer. “This is another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God.”

World War II Navy sailor Bobby Castillo, 85, another member of Memorial Honor Detail 12, called the federal decision “a slap in the face to every veteran.”

“When we got back from the war, we didn’t ask for a whole lot,” said Castillo, who was wounded in 1944 as he supported the Allied landings in France. “We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don’t understand.”

The pair, part of a team that has performed military honors at more than 1,400 services, said they were preparing to read the flag-folding remarks when workers in a staff car came up to them and stopped them.

Charlie Waters, parliamentarian for the American Legion of California, said he’s advising memorial-honor details to ignore the edict, even if it means being kicked out of cemeteries.

“This is nuts,” Waters, a Korean War veteran, said in a telephone interview from Fresno. “There are 26 million veterans in this country and they’re not going to take us all to prison.”

Mike Nacincik, a spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, said the new policy, which was outlined in a Sept. 27 memo, is aimed at creating uniform services throughout the military graveyard system.

He said the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government-approved. After the complaint made its way through government channels, Steve Muro, director of field operations, wrote the new policy.

Nacincik said that while the flag-folding narrative includes references to God that the government does not endorse, the main reason for the new rules is uniformity.

“We are looking at consistency,” Nacincik said. “We think that’s important.”

As for comments that the edict is an attack on religious beliefs, Nacincik said, “People are going to have their own views on that.”

Rabbi Yitzhak Miller, of Temple Beth El in Riverside, said he understands the government’s decision to ban the recitation but believes it is a quick solution to a complex issue.

“It is a perfect example of government choosing to ignore religion in order to avoid offending some religions,” Miller said. “To me, ignoring religion in general is just as problematic as endorsing any one religion.”

“We’re going to fight this tooth and nail, hammer and boot,” he said.

The link is here.

Here’s the banned recital: from Michelle Malkin

Flag folds

These meanings, not part of the U.S. Flag Code, have been ascribed to the 13 folds of American flags at veterans burial services:

1. Symbol of life.
2. Symbol of our belief in the eternal life.
3. In honor and remembrance of the veteran departing our ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of our country to attain a peace throughout the world.
4. Represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.
5. A tribute to our country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, “Our country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong.”
6. Represents where our hearts lie. It is with our heart that we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
7. A tribute to our armed forces.
8. A tribute to the one who entered in to the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day, and to honor mother, for whom it flies on Mother’s Day.
9. A tribute to womanhood.
10. A tribute to father.
11. In the eyes of a Hebrew citizen, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
12. In the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.
13. When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, “In God We Trust.”

Fellow blogger Brujo Blanco reports:

The last government organization I would have expected to take a shot at Christianity is the Veterans Administration. However, it is a government agency and subject to the typical brain cramps of the politically correct.

There have been thousands of military burials that have included a flag-folding ceremony. Each time the flag is folded there is a religious recitation. Now because of a complaint this is no longer permitted which has been so ordered by the National Cemetery Association. They have prohibited employees and volunteers from conducting such ceremonies. The complaint regarding this ceremony is the religious content.

For those liberals that have not lost a family member or close friend to combat or simply a friend that died on activity duty let me clue you in. When a military man is buried in a national cemetery or elsewhere they generally have a religious ceremony. Now the rule is that this one ceremony can be performed at any graveyard, except for one owned by the U.S. Government. Wishes of the family or maybe even the dead soldier be damned. We must maintain the fictitious wall of separation between church and state.

According to Action Alert, this action has the force of making anti-Christian bigotry the law of the land. The U.S. Government has surrendered to the demand of one anti-Christian secularist. From my perspective this can not be allowed to stand. I personally devoted 22 years of my life to my country and when I die I want my family and friends to talk to God even in the presence of an offended atheist. It’s my funeral and that’s the way that I want it. In fact if given the opportunity I will defy this law. The American Legion has made a decision to do so that that is the way that I like it. The Legion’s official stance is that if the family of a fallen warrior wants the ceremony they will get it regardless of what the Veterans Administration has to say about it.

I have reason to identify this situation as anti-Christian and that is because if a Muslim cleric was denied the right to recite a religious ceremony the left would go nuts. Recent history has more than suggested that Christians and their organizations have been taking it in the shorts and other religions have not. There are a number of government run organizations are installing foot washing facilities and other such facilities for Muslims. The U.S. Marines at Quantico for example are building a Mosque. Other religions have to share the chapel but not the Muslims. They are getting what amounts to special treatment.

This latest action by the U.S. Government has demonstrated that they are folding to the anti-God squad. Little by little the existence of religion is being erased one inch at a time. The Christians should stand fast on this issue and not settle for any type of compromise. They should defy this action and pray and force the issue. Our constitution guarantees a right to freely practice religion. However, the courts are allowing religion, Christianity in particular, to be slowly removed from public view. The apparent goal is to get to a point wherein government cannot officially recognize or even acknowledge the existence of religion. If government cannot acknowledge the existence of religion then government cannot protect the right to worship.

And if you are angry enough, here is the link to the National Cemetery Administration.

Remember to ask for Mike Nacincik.

Crossposted from Red Maryland

“I know it is somewhat of a regressive tax,”
- Speaker Mike Busch talking about the sales tax

Yes, and hiking and expanding the scope of the sales tax is going to put the screws to the people the Democrats allegedly are looking after…

Annapolis’ long-awaited version of budgetary Armageddon comes to town tomorrow. And let’s face it: other than the fact that taxpayers are about to get hosed, we don’t really know what is going to happen. If legislative Democrats reverse four-years of precedent under the Ehrlich Administration and decide to support a slots package, the entire session could be over relatively quickly. Mike Miller will likely allow most of the O’Malley tax package through the Senate. In that case, we will see slots, and we will see higher income and sales taxes, to say nothing of the expansion of services and items covered by the sales tax.

But if the slots bill is a no go, the General Assembly will likely go the full thirty-day distance. I see no way that the legislative leadership and the O’Malley Administration will be able to come together on a deal. The O’Malley folks want there to be a consensus on the issue with the leadership, but the O’Malley idea of consensus is everybody agreeing to do what the Governor wants. Given the fact that this leadership style is even more defiant of legislative wishes than even the Ehrlich Administration, O’Malley is risking a lot of political capital on something that is nowhere close to being a sure thing.

My prediction for the session? Nothing gets done, O’Malley’s position is seriously compromised, and he finds himself incredibly vulnerable to a primary challenge in 2010, to say nothing of increasing the likelihood of a Republican victory in the 2010 gubernatorial election.

“Every child a wanted child” The motto of the pro-baby killing crowd.

So, lib, would you prefer being wanted or dead?

(Nice how they warp a selfish and evil act into some sick act of supposed kindness.)

John Edwards attempts to kill story filed by a journalism student at UNC.

A UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor said John Edwards’ presidential campaign tried to kill a student’s video story about his campaign headquarters.Associate Professor C.A. Tuggle said two top staffers for the former North Carolina senator demanded that the school drop the segment from the student-run television program “Carolina Week.” They also asked to have the video removed from the YouTube Web site.

Tuggle said they threatened to cut off access to Edwards for UNC student reporters and other student groups if the piece aired.

“My gosh, what are they thinking?” Tuggle said. “They’re spending this much time and effort on a student newscast that has about 2,000 viewers? They’re turning a molehill into a mountain.”

They sure did! Here’s the mountain!

Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Quote of the Week:

This is How Democrats Support Our Troops

Readers will recall when John Kerry made that joke about making good grades in school or you get sent to Iraq (Dem quotes slamming our troops here). Kerry’s “joke” is just the tip of a very large iceberg. And of course those insults from top Democrat leaders create a culture of indifference, even hostility, towards our troop’s achievements and their abilities. For instance, take this cartoon from the infamous troop hater Ted Rall:

No matter how many times we show troop hating lefties this study from the Heritage Foundation which demonstrates higher socioeconomic status among our troops than the average popultion they persist in their insults. No matter how much anecdotal evidence there is of soldiers who are working on advanced graduate degrees, or are graduates of West Point, all serving in Iraq. No matter what the facts are, like so much disinformation in lefty land, truth is the first casualty.

No Surprise: Presidential Candiate John Edwards Would Cut Pentagon Funding!

Considering how Democrats despise the military and denigrate the troops it’s no wonder that Dem presidential candidate John Edwards is adapting that mindset to his presidential campaign.

He is proposing across the board cuts in defense spending including the Missile Defense technology which has shown to be working and desperately needed to deter missile threats from nation’s like Iran and North Korea. He would cut or cancel new advanced weapons systems like the F-22 that may protect us from future threats and he would cut weapons and training and supplies that keep our troops safe and help us fight with less risk to civilians.

Here’s the video of his plan.
Here’s the text.

Edward’s would instead take the money and spend it on health care, education and the usual laundry list of rat hole social spending that still leaves us with the problem, but we feel better knowing we spent trillions. But what good will that feeling be if America is seen to be weak? What good is health care or education spending if America’s children aren’t alive? And aren’t we doing this “for the children?”

Government Sudsidized Health Care for All
So it’s not just “for the children?”

Bonnie Frost, the mother of 12-year-old Graeme Frost who was so vilely used in a transparent Democrat effort to lie about the need for massive new spending on “children’s” health care has now come out of the closet and is actively campaigning for government subsidized adult health care.

Apparently, the Frosts, who live quite well by all reasonable standards choose not to buy health insurance. And why should they when they think they can shame the government into providing it for free.

This reminds me of the line by P.J. O’Rourke cited by Mitt Romney in the Florida Debate: “If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”

Thank God for Joe Wilson!
no, not THAT Joe Wilson… the other one!

it’s a great thing when you have an elected official, a man for whom YOU actually voted that performs his duties in office the way you want him to and the way you would if you were there instead of him.

I’m very pleased to say that Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) is my Congressman. Every time I see him interviewed on television or speaking on the House floor I applaud!

Last week he went to the House Floor to assail the smear against Rush Limbaugh by elected Democrats and to praise Rush for turning this nasty episode into a huge positive by auctioning the letter Senate Democrats sent condemning him as “unpatriotic” for $2.1 million and donating it along with another $2.1 million of his own money to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.

Joe: I’m glad I voted for you. I’m glad I donated to your first campaign. I’m glad you are my congressman!

Backfire on the Big Lie!
How Democrat’s latest politicization of tragedy blew back in their faces!

Here’s how the big lie works: Whenever there is a tragedy like the California Wildfires you’ll see Democrats knock each other over in a rush to the nearest microphone to say “It’s Bush’s fault.”

That’s exactly what they did when the wildfires broke out in California by making the false claim that if we weren’t in Iraq California National Guard units would be available to help.

Usually, that kind of story line gets some legs and as the quote of the week reminds us, it’s late when the truth catches up, if at all. But by the time President Bush visited the afflicted area it had become clear to all but the most deranged Bush hater that the effort to combat the fires and aid those left homeless was being managed superbly!

This time the big lie failed to work. But that won’t stop Dems from trying again. What else have they got?

Reflect on the Sublime, the Beautiful, the Innocent

With so much violence, anger and hatred in the world it’s sometimes easy to forget why we daily struggle to bring light, peace and justice to the world.

This video I found by way of Sunlit Uplands is a reminder. Do yourself a favor: Watch, Listen:

Crossposted from Red Maryland

Just a reminder (the first of many) about the anti-tax rally Monday Oct. 29 at Lawyers Mall in Annapolis. The MDGOP site has all the details. My Red Maryland colleague Brian Gill has more info, especially a list of key Democratic senators to pressure to vote against the tax increases.

Stop by SmartGov.net and sign up to be a part of the movement.

O’Malley Watch is keeping a a legislative score card for all GA members.

The key committees that will deal with O’Malley’s tax proposals are:
House Appropriations Committee
House Ways and Means Committee
Senate Budget and Taxation Committee
Senate Finance Committee

My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from the beginning,and, when I confront him, he denies everything. What’s worse, everyone knows that he cheats on me. It is so humiliating. Also, since he lost his job six years ago, he hasn’t even looked for a new one. All he does all day is smoke cigars, cruise around and B S with his buddies while I have to work to pay the bills. Since our daughter went away to college he doesn’t even pretend to like me and hints that I may be a lesbian. What should I do?

Signed: Clueless

Dear Clueless:

Grow up and dump him. Good grief, woman. You don’t need him anymore! You’re a United States Senator from New York running for President of the United States . Act like one.

By Blair Lee

Maryland’s governor, a former Baltimore city mayor, proposes small income tax cuts for most families while raising rates for upper income taxpayers. But it’s not a revenue-neutral ‘‘reform” plan. Upper income earners will pay for everyone else’s tax cuts with $163 million left over for the state.

And because Montgomery County is the home of 41 percent of Maryland’s families with incomes over $250,000, Montgomery will generate 81 percent of the new state revenues. That’s right, Montgomery County — with 16.5 percent of the state’s population — will pay 81 percent of the state’s $163 million income tax increase. Baltimore City and Prince George’s County taxpayers will actually pay less than they’re currently paying.

Horrified at the prospect of exporting yet another $132 million per year to Annapolis on top of the $1.2 billion of state income taxes Montgomery already pays annually, County Executive Ike Leggett deems the governor’s proposal ‘‘unacceptable.”

Leggett understands that Montgomery is trapped in a losing game. None of Maryland’s 24 local subdivisions sends more money to the state and gets back less. And every dollar that Montgomery sends to Annapolis is a dollar less for much-needed services back home. The more Maryland takes from Montgomery, the more Leggett’s local tax capacity — the willingness of county residents to accept higher property taxes — is eroded. How long can ‘‘wealthy” Montgomery subsidize the rest of the state and pay its own bills as well?

Fortunately, Montgomery’s 32 state lawmakers can be counted on to follow Leggett’s lead, to remind the governor that in the last election Montgomery supplied his victory margin and to fight the proposal tooth and nail in the General Assembly, right? Wrong. The vast majority of Montgomery’s state lawmakers not only support the governor’s plan, they insist on it and, if necessary, will fight to pass it.

Welcome to Kamikaze County, home of idealism run amok. Shielded by the benefits of endless federal spending, Montgomery Countians can afford to view the world as it should be, not as it is. We’re so earnest, so principled, so progressive and so set on transforming the rest of mankind into our vision of virtue and brotherhood. Why can’t the rest of the world share our enlightenment? Next to taxes, Montgomery’s greatest export is moral superiority.

We believe that government is the best way to solve problems and the more government the better. But most of all we believe in fairness. That’s why grubbing for money in Annapolis is beneath us. Instead of bringing home the bacon, we supply it.

In this year’s legislative session, Montgomery asked for $40.5 million for community college projects. We got $1.2 million. We requested $65 million for a new courthouse and got nothing. We got $52 million for school construction but so did Baltimore city with 40 percent fewer students. And once again we didn’t get the $30 million of Thornton school aid we bargained for back in 2002 because, somehow, our money was made discretionary instead of mandatory. So, with 17 percent of the state’s school kids, we get 8.6 percent of the Thornton money. Thanks to Thornton, Baltimore now spends more per pupil than Montgomery yet Baltimore taxpayers pay only 19 percent of the city’s school budget while Montgomery taxpayers pay 80 percent of theirs. All in the name of fairness. (more…)

crossposted from Conservative Thoughts

Could it be true? Google is a tool for the liberal left?

Documents show direct linkage between rejected ads by GOP candidate critical of Moveon.org. From the Examiner (Dallas):

WASHINGTON -Internal documents obtained by The Examiner shine new light on MoveOn.org’s “General Betray Us” ad and raise fresh questions about the far-left advocacy group’s misleading statements on the issue and its relationship with Google, a major donor to its political action committee.

The documents show how MoveOn.org used dubious claims of trademark infringement and threats of litigation to silence critics of its recent controversial full-page ad in The New York Times attacking Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq, which appeared the day he was testifying before Congress on the war effort. Among those critics was Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is seeking a third term.

After The Examiner exclusively reported Oct. 11 that Google had banned four anti-MoveOn.org ads placed by the Collins campaign, Google and MoveOn.org each sought to portray the ban as unrelated to the Petraeus ad controversy. The documents obtained by The Examiner, however, show a direct link between the two events.

Google’s policy counsel in Washington, D.C., Pablo Chavez, claimed Oct. 12 that the Collins ads were “rejected by our system because of our trademark policy,” and he described MoveOn.org’s trademark complaint as having been filed “some time ago.”

Crossposted from Flopping Aces