Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Arrogant AND out of touch!

This may remind some of the energy crisis we encountered during Jimmy Carter’s Administration. His solution? Put on a sweater and turn down the thermostat in winter.

Did you hear the laughter in the background? Obama’s own voters don’t take this preening, overreaching former community organizer seriously!

Also:

Obama and McCain Selling Same Iraq Strategy: Anti-War Left Continues Silence

The Iraq Equation

Over the last few weeks, Barack Obama and John McCain have seemed to get perilously close to agreeing on what to do in Iraq. Obama continues to talk about a 16-month withdrawal but would let military commanders determine the pace of the withdrawal. McCain is also now in favor of a 16-month timeline—as long as the commanders determine the pace of the withdrawal.

Reuters: “Obama says conditions to dictate final Iraq force”

Gosh that sounds familiar

Meanwhile….the opposition to the war in Iraq (soon to be…perhaps…President Obama’s War) is as quiet as the wind

Is Barack Obama a neoconservative bent on controlling Iraqi oil, or could it be that Operation Iraqi Freedom continues not for oil primarily, but for….um…Iraqi Freedom?

UN RESOLUTION 1483. May 2003
Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

1. Appeals to Member States and concerned organizations to assist the people of Iraq in their efforts to reform their institutions and rebuild their country, and to contribute to conditio ns of stability and security in Iraq in accordance with this resolution;

2. Calls upon all Member States in a position to do so to respond immediately to the humanitarian appeals of the United Nations and other international organizations for Iraq and to help meet the humanitarian and other needs of the Iraqi people by providing food, medical supplies, and resources necessary for reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq’s economic infrastructure;

3. Appeals to Member States to deny safe haven to those me mbers of the previous Iraqi regime who are alleged to be responsible for crimes and atrocities and to support actions to bring them to justice;

4. Calls upon the Authority, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and other relevant international law, to promote the welfare of the Iraqi people through the effective administration of the territory, including in particular working towards the restoration of conditions of security and stability and the creation of conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future; [emphasis added-sm]

Crossposted from Red Maryland

Governor O’Malley is convening a panel, headed by former Attorney General Stephen Sachs, to review the Maryland State Police surveillance of anti-war and anti-death penalty groups in 2005-2006.

I think we can all agree that this is a good thing. However, something else in the Examiner story jumped off the page at me.

O’Malley also said no information from surveillance was shared with him when he was mayor of Baltimore, even though Baltimore police were regularly made aware of public demonstrations.

Ok, I can buy that, as executives do not involve themselves in the operations of their police intelligence agencies. However, O’Malley goes further:

“But the insinuation that somehow the city police were involved in this in an undercover capacity, there’s no evidence of that,” O’Malley said.

Sorry Governor, the evidence proves you wrong on that point. Perhaps you need to have Rick Abbruzzese go back and read the December 21, 2005 report, which clearly states:

On December 3, 2005 [redacted] also attended an anti-death penalty protest outside Supermax Prison in Baltimore City. [Redacted] attended in a covert capacity and were covered by two covert officers from Baltimore City Police’s Intelligence Division.

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by Dr. Frederick Meekins

As a discipline, archaeology examines the artistic and technological remains of various cultures in the attempt to learn more about them. Often from these objects, students learn about more than the subject’s material nature but also insight into the beliefs and paradigms important to the human species at a particular time.

Probably the most prominent representative of the discipline in public culture is none other than Indiana Jones, with Stargate’s Dr. Daniel Jackson coming in at second. As a narrative itself created at a particular point in time, the Indiana Jones movies themselves can be placed under investigation to unearth what our own culture has believed at various points in recent history as well as the ideas shaping those having such influence over our own society.

Through comparing ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ and the other films of the Indiana Jones saga, especially with ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade’, one can detect the shifts taking place all around us as to what the broader and popular culture perceives as foundational truth. For example, though the films should not be seen as a systematic theology upon which to base one’s faith, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘Last Crusade’ had at their base Judeo-Christian assumption in that artifacts connected with this tradition, namely the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail (the cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper) were actual historic objects and, since these objects in legend exude a power that cannot be explained by conventional science, one assumes they are connected to the divine.

In the latest film of the series, ‘Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull’, ultimate wisdom and power is not seen as originating in a traditional conception of God as in ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark’ or ‘Last Crusade’ or even in spirits as in ‘Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom’. Rather in the latest installment, the source of enlightenment happens to be those entities with the bulbous heads and lanky limbs we have come to know as extraterrestrials whose crystalline skulls in this story can serve as powerful tools through which to augur the future, communicate with these beings, and to gain control of the world. Though an entertaining story, it may have considerable basis in reality — or at least in the worldviews of its high level producers.

For example, the opening scene with Indy trouncing through the military hanger is set in none other than Area 51 and the top secret project he alludes to working on 10 years prior to the events of the story is none other than the Roswell crash. Some might flippantly dismiss these as urban legends that have taken on lives of their own beyond the significance of any incidents that may have occurred in these locations that now fire the imagination. However, it is pretty hard to ignore the Nazca lines which were not discovered by modern man until the discovery of flight and the existence of a tribe of Indians that mutilated the shape of their skulls to make themselves appear as if they were from beyond this earth.
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ByDick Morris

In fact, the gap between male and female voting preference in this election is far lower than it normally is. Among people under 40, men back Obama by eight points and women support him by 13. Among those in their 40s, men back McCain by 11 points and women support him by four. And for those over 50, men vote for the Republican by a nine-point margin while women prefer him by three points.
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Crossposted from Flopping Aces

It would seem Obama isn’t the only messianic loon in the Democrat Party!

Trying to explain away the reason the House of Representatives has been so ineffective in getting anything done Speaker Nancy Pelosi got defensive:

With fewer than 20 legislative days before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, the entire appropriations process has largely ground to a halt because of the ham-handed fighting that followed Republican attempts to lift the moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration. And after promising fairness and open debate, Pelosi has resorted to hard-nosed parliamentary devices that effectively bar any chance for Republicans to offer policy alternatives.

“I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she says impatiently when questioned. “I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy.”

[editor's note: Here's an audio interpretation of Pelosi's remarks.]

“I respect the office that I hold,” she says. “And when you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone.”

Pelosi insists that she is in charge and things are going to be done her way. Will she also accept that she is responsible for not getting anything done?

We all know the answer to that. Democrats daily demand a high standard of accountability for Republicans but never for themselves. It will be up to the voters to decide whether paying $4 a gallon for gas is the kind of “change” they voted for in 2006.

also:

Scott McClellan Wilts Like A Flower Under Cross Examination From Bill O’

Scott McClellan told Keith Olbermann recently that the White House sent talking points to Fox News which Fox would use in their broadcasts. As you would expect the uberdouche was absolutely salivating at the mere thought of this happening but under cross examination by Bill O’Reilly Mr. McClellan folds like a lawn chair:

I still find it incredibly amusing that the left disbelieved everything out of this guys mouth when he was Press Secretary, but as soon as he started dissing the Administration he was a truthteller. One lefty has the guts to say the guy is a bit off the deep end however. Joan Walsh, editor of Salon.com, said the following: (via Newsbusters)

This story, for liberals, was too good not to be true. It sort of conformed to all of our stereotypes. We enjoyed it for awhile. But, you know, from the minute Scott was talking with Chris he started backpedaling. You saw him say “well, I didn’t do it. It wasn’t the news guys. It wasn’t Brit Hume. I’m not sure who, exactly.”

And so, you know, it’s rare that I would ever come to Bill O’Reilly’s defense, but I don’t see any evidence at this point that they were officially disseminating points one through nine, and they were then being parroted on Fox News.

On the other hand, you know, you have this network that bills itself as fair and balanced. It seems anything but, especially in its commentary segments. So, you know, it’s understandable why people wanted to believe it. But, you know, Scott’s looking a little bit worse for the wear today.

Being a rabid lefty she had to put a few digs into Fox News but overall she was quite fair. There is no evidence of any truth to this accusation from Scott and the fact that he wilted like a flower under Bill O’Reilly’s questioning, even to the point of apologizing to Bill, speaks volumes about the mans veracity.

More here.

Crossposted from Red Maryland

The Hollywood left always like to rally around the flag of somebody who stands up to Republicans or, more specifically, stand up to the Bush Administration. They are “saying truth to power” as the kids like to say.

Well, actor Jon Voight wrote a column in fact stating truth to power, at least the truth to the powers that be in the Democratic Party:

The Democratic Party, in its quest for power, has managed a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way. It seems to me that if Mr. Obama wins the presidential election, then Messrs. Farrakhan, Wright, Ayers and Pfleger will gain power for their need to demoralize this country and help create a socialist America.

The Democrats have targeted young people, knowing how easy it is to bring forth whatever is needed to program their minds. I know this process well. I was caught up in the hysteria during the Vietnam era, which was brought about through Marxist propaganda underlying the so-called peace movement. The radicals of that era were successful in giving the communists power to bring forth the killing fields and slaughter 2.5 million people in Cambodia and South Vietnam. Did they stop the war, or did they bring the war to those innocent people? In the end, they turned their backs on all the horror and suffering they helped create and walked away.

A very much needed slap to the face of the Hollywood left.
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by Dr. Frederick Meekins

According to the China Aid Association, Pastor Zhang Zhongxin has been sentenced to two years in a Chinese labor camp by Shandong Province authorities for participation in cultic activities. To American ears, such allegations bring to mind images of passing around poisoned Kool-Aid or of adolescent brides forced to wed lecherous old men; however, in this case this pastor engaged in religious exercises most of us take for granted as harmless as organizing a Sunday school.

Since freedom of religion is listed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it is a duty of the United States to stand for this liberty in any way proper or possible around the world.

Radical multiculturalists will respond that it is not the place of the United States to be spreading American notions around the world as this could be construed as imposing Western values on other societies. However, another axiom of the economic age in which we live posits that the customer is always right.

If the government of the People’s Republic of China wishes to continue to benefit from the financial patronage and cooperation of the United States, it is only reasonable for authorities over there to respect certain inalienable rights held by all individuals irrespective of what regime they happen to live under.

After all, firms here seeking to do business with the government in terms of being granted contracts are expected to honor any number of obligations that go beyond basic human rights such as minority quotas and prevailing union wages.

It is the prayer and hope of believers in Christ around the world that Pastor Zhongxin’s sentence would be commuted or suspended because in the contemporary world citizens embracing Christianity bring stability to a nation rather than disruption. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ assists both individuals and communities in balancing the seemingly conflicting tendencies towards order and liberty, and in so doing actually makes a nation stronger.
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Read the rest here.

SMH [Miranda Devine] -Take the British Channel 4 documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle, which aired on the ABC last year with an extraordinary post-show panel of debunkers assembled to denounce it. The one program which actually questioned the consensus on man’s contribution to climate change, it has been singled out for condemnation and forensic dissection in a way no other program has, least of all Al Gore’s error-riddled An Inconvenient Truth.

This week, the British communications regulator, Ofcom, published a long report dealing with 265 complaints about perceived inaccuracy and unfairness in Swindle. Despite crowing from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the ABC and others, Ofcom does not vindicate Swindle’s attackers. In fact, while it declared itself unable to adjudicate on the finer points of climate science, it found the program did not mislead audiences “so as to cause harm or offence”.
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Crossposted from Flopping Aces

The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine – an organization poo poo’ed by AGW proponents as insignificant, ties to “big oil”… the usual mantra – has released the results of their petition drive to American scientists. 31,072 of them who reject the assertation that global warming is a crisis, or that it is caused by human activity.

The release of the list has managed to elude most MSM outlets, but can be found reported in Heartland Organization’s July 2008 newsletter, Environment & Climate News.

Tho SourceWatch has a less than complimentary review of both the OISM and it’s head, Arthur Robinson, the petition has garnered the support of credible scholars.

The current list of 31,072 petition signers includes 9,021 PhD; 6,961 MS; 2,240 MD and DVM; and 12,850 BS or equivalent academic degrees. Most of the MD and DVM signers also have underlying degrees in basic science.

All of the listed signers have formal educations in fields of specialization that suitably qualify them to evaluate the research data related to the petition statement. Many of the signers currently work in climatological, meteorological, atmospheric, environmental, geophysical, astronomical, and biological fields directly involved in the climate change controversy.

~~~

Outlined below are the numbers of Petition Project signatories, subdivided by educational specialties. These have been combined, as indicated, into seven categories.

1. Atmospheric, environmental, and Earth sciences includes 3,697 scientists trained in specialties directly related to the physical environment of the Earth and the past and current phenomena that affect that environment.

2. Computer and mathematical sciences includes 903 scientists trained in computer and mathematical methods. Since the human-caused global warming hypothesis rests entirely upon mathematical computer projections and not upon experimental observations, these sciences are especially important in evaluating this hypothesis.

3. Physics and aerospace sciences include 5,691 scientists trained in the fundamental physical and molecular properties of gases, liquids, and solids, which are essential to understanding the physical properties of the atmosphere and Earth.

4. Chemistry includes 4,796 scientists trained in the molecular interactions and behaviors of the substances of which the atmosphere and Earth are composed.

5. Biology and agriculture includes 2,924 scientists trained in the functional and environmental requirements of living things on the Earth.

6. Medicine includes 3,069 scientists trained in the functional and environmental requirements of human beings on the Earth.

7. Engineering and general science includes 9,992 scientists trained primarily in the many engineering specialties required to maintain modern civilization and the prosperity required for all human actions, including environmental programs.

The following outline gives a more detailed analysis of the signers’ educations.

(continue reading the qualifications here…)

The Salem-News weighed in on the petition’s progress back in June, saying:

As the Senate prepares for floor debate on global warming legislation, the list of scientist signatories to the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine’s petition against global warming alarmism is growing by about 35 signatures every day, announced OISM’s Art Robinson.

~~~

Signatories include such luminaries as theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson, MIT’s atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen and first National Academy of Sciences president Frederick Seitz. More than 40 signatories are members of the prestigious national Academy of Sciences.

The purpose of the Petition Project is to demonstrate that the claim of “settled science” and an overwhelming “consensus” in favor of the hypothesis of human-caused global warming and consequent climatological damage is wrong. No such consensus or settled science exists. As indicated by the petition text and signatory list, a very large number of American scientists reject this hypothesis.

The petition was mailed out, along with a cover letter from Professor Frederick Seitz – former President of the Nat’l Academy of Sciences.

Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1951, Seitz served as president on a part-time basis for three years before assuming full-time responsibilities in 1965. Among his numerous honors and awards, Seitz received the Franklin Medal in 1965; Stanford University’s Herbert Hoover Medal in 1968; the United States Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award in 1968; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Distinguished Public Service Award in 1969 and 1979; the Compton Award, the highest award of the American Institute of Physics, in 1970; and the James Madison Medal of Princeton University in 1978. Rockefeller University awarded him an honorary doctor of science degree in 1981 and the David Rockefeller Award for Extraordinary Service to The Rockefeller University in 2000. In addition to Rockefeller, 31 universities in the United States and abroad awarded him honorary degrees.

Seitz was a member of numerous scientific organizations, including the American Physical Society (president, 1961), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Society for Metals, the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Engineers, the American Crystallographic Society, the Optical Society of America, the Washington Academy of Science and a number of European scientific academies. From 1978 to 1983 he served as vice chairman of the board of trustees of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Robinson, himself a biochemist specialist, is described by SourceWatch as an eccentric scientist who has a long history of controversial entanglements with figures on the fringe of accepted research. OISM also markets a home-schooling kit for “parents concerned about socialism in the public schools” and publishes books on how to survive nuclear war. The entire history by the site offers the usual progressive “snear” in flavor, but provides a career overview that reveals a man with a more than interesting past.

SourceWatch’s dated commentary on the petition, states:

When questioned in 1998, OISM’s Arthur Robinson admitted that only 2,100 signers of the Oregon Petition had identified themselves as physicists, geophysicists, climatologists, or meteorologists, “and of those the greatest number are physicists.” This grouping of fields concealed the fact that only a few dozen, at most, of the signatories were drawn from the core disciplines of climate science – such as meteorology, oceanography, and glaciology – and almost none were climate specialists. The names of the signers are available on the OISM’s website, but without listing any institutional affiliations or even city of residence, making it very difficult to determine their credentials or even whether they exist at all.

What a difference a decade makes, along with the AGW religion shoved down the world’s throats. A settled science and consensus? Not by a long shot. And as time marches on, the temperatures fall, the JPL’s Auru satellite measuring systems start filling in stratosphere data not previously measured, the numbers of skeptics grow.

Also:

What Does Obama Stand For?

Richard Cohen, a man not known for his conservative beliefs, asks a important question in his editorial today at The WaPo:

“Just tell me one thing Barack Obama has done that you admire,” I asked a prominent Democrat. He paused and then said that he admired Obama’s speech to the Democratic convention in 2004. I agreed. It was a hell of a speech, but it was just a speech.

We’ve heard this kind of question before and each time its quite amusing to listen as the Obamamites hem and haw. Great speaker they utter. He’s a uniter they sputter. Nevermind the man has no experience other then being a community organizer. Nevermind the poor judgement he has shown in befriending terrorists, racists, and corrupt politicos. Nevermind his oft stated beliefs that are just an inch or two away from Marxism on the political philospophy dial. (more…)

Crossposted from Red Maryland

A Pulitzer Prize winning Baltimore Sun reporter was a Soviet dupe and a source of information for the KGB.

Researching the history for my Examiner.com series on the MSP story, I came across some interesting historical nuggets. In Christopher Andrew’s The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, I came across this passage:

..The KGB reported that a journalist from the Baltimore Sun “…said in a private conversation in early December that on assignment from a group of Texas financiers and industrialists headed by millionaire [H.L.] Hunt, Jack Ruby, who is now under arrest, proposed a large sum of money to Oswald for the murder of Kennedy.”

Cue the needle scratching off the record. What in the hell is a Baltimore Sun reporter doing having a private conversation with the KGB!

Checking the footnote, Andrew sources the statement to an appendix in Boris Yeltsin’s book A View from the Kremlin. The appendix recreates old KGB memorandums. In this case, the memos dealt with the KGB’s reaction to and ascertainment of the political ramifications the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Typical of the KGB mindset, its governing body, the First Chief Directorate, interpreted the event as a capitalist conspiracy. The KGB used its own delusions in its political warfare against the United States. The KGB fabricated a fake letter from Lee Harvey Oswald to then CIA agent E. Howard Hunt, later of Watergate infamy, which said asked for more information “’before any steps are taken by me or anyone else.” The KGB forged the letter—dated two weeks before Kennedy’s assassination—in the 1970s, after Hunt surfaced in Watergate investigation. This was part of a disinformation campaign by the KGB to link the CIA to Kennedy’s murder. To the extent that many people still believe that a conspiracy among the CIA/Mafia/Military Industrial Complex conspired to murder Kennedy, the trick worked. It definitely fooled Oliver Stone.

However, for our purposes here, the KGB memo gives a clue to who the reporter is. The full text of that portion of the memo before Andrew’s ellipsis reads “Ward, a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, who covers foreign diplomacy, said in a private conversation…”

The Baltimore Sun reporter in question is Paul W. Ward, who won the Pulitzer in 1947 for his series Life in the Soviet Union.

It turns out Ward had been an unwitting KGB/NKVD source for at least 20 years. A September 9, 1944 NKVD cable from New York to Moscow, informs NKVD intelligence chief, Pavel Fitin (codename Viktor) that:
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by Brujo Blanco

Christianity is at a point in US history wherein it has to keep up with the complicated legal system to keep their right to the free practice of religion intact. There are those in our great nation that are waging a war against Christianity despite the denials of many on the left.

My rant today is about the Bible in the American Christian’s life. Since our Christian forefathers came to this country they have been worshiping God and basing their beliefs and the formation of criminal and civil law on the Bible and the Torah. This is a fact that one probably will not find in any of the textbooks.

There are organizations that are telling churches that they better get used to frivolous lawsuits directed against the free practice of religion. A homosexual activist in Michigan named Bradley LaShawn Fowler has filed a lawsuit against two Bible publishers claiming that there is disparaging information in the Bibles regarding homosexuality. There are individuals and organizations that are attempting to force the rewriting of the Bible regarding the religious stance on homosexuality. They claim that the Bible really does not say what it does say about homosexuality. To put it in a nutshell they are attempting to force churches to change religious doctrine. It is expected that these types of lawsuits will increase exponentially.

One might comment that just because this one individual and several organizations are pushing this anti-Christian agenda this does not mean that this will be a really serious problem. It is not expected that the Michigan case will go very far but it is being heard in a court of law.

We should seriously consider that the state of Colorado has in fact criminalized certain teachings based on the Bible. This law has literally forced to teach condemnation of homosexuality within the walls of the church. In other words to do so outside the church is now literally illegal. Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado recently signed this law into law. It is obviously unconstitutional, however, if there is any real court action resulting in compromise that compromise will be a victory. It is also necessary that someone break this law resulting in being brought before the bar of justice before it is struck down. My concern is that there are activist judges that may give the anti-God squad a hearing and really consider their side of the argument.
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ByDick Morris

Before the US election, on the other hand, Obama might be reluctant to take a position – and the Israelis need feel no compulsion to conform to any advice from a man who isn’t yet be president-elect.
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Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Good news. We got one of the big guys in al-Qaeda today during a missile strike in Pakistan:

Al-Qaeda chemical weapons expert Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar was believed to have been killed Monday in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan, security officials told AFP.

“We believe he was killed in this strike,” a senior intelligence official based in the northwestern city of Peshawar told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“It was his hide-out and information that has been shared with us says he was targeted in this strike,” the official said.

The Egyptian, 54, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, had a five-million-US-dollar bounty on his head and allegedly ran terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

Ed Morrissey notes how a video of Khabab doing chemical weapon tests on dogs shocked the world:

Khabab may be most remembered for his experiments with chemical weapons. In video that shocked a world grown somewhat used to terrorism, the AQ terrorist exposed dogs to chemicals used for weapons and watched them die horrible deaths.

Which is a bit perplexing to me. Show pictures of Kurds being gassed, mass graves, rape rooms and acid baths and we got shrugs from the left. But dogs being hurt? Damn them!

But whatever, the five million dollar man is now dead and we have one less terrorist to deal with.

also:

When enforcement of “the legal thing to do” is not the same as “the right thing to do”

“They know we’re going to fight for their freedom and they don’t want to try and help us at all with the situation.” – Chessa Horvath

While the government poises to bail out those “homeowners” who made bad decisions, here we have a Texas couple who have been called up by the Texas National Guard to serve a second tours of duty in Iraq. So how are they being treated for the noble act of serving their country? They were forced to pay for breaking their apartment lease. They shipped out last Saturday.
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Crossposted from Red Maryland

The Sun again realizes something that has existed for quite some time:

Maryland’s rural areas are likely to have a serious shortage of doctors in coming years, the state’s medical establishment has warned.

Two government panels that are preparing recommendations on the problem for the governor and the 2009 General Assembly are studying the conclusions of a report by the Maryland Hospital Association and MedChi, the Maryland state medical society.

The report, known as the Maryland Physician Workforce Study, concludes that a shortage of doctors in rural Maryland is likely to worsen significantly by 2015 as older physicians retire and new ones choose to practice elsewhere.

Of course this is almost identical to an article they wrote in January that said the same thing.

But more troubling is the fact that, like the January article, the Sun provides political cover for the Democrats. What remains unsaid is that t was the Democrats, remember, who objected to Governor Ehrlich’s medical malpractice reform during the 2004 Special Session. It was the Democrats who wanted to allow for unlimited caps on lawsuits against doctors and medical practitioners. And it was the Democrats whose obsequiousness to the trial lawyer lobby led them to create a situation like this one, that encourages doctors to pack up and leave the state.
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by Regina Sztajer

Thursday, July 24, 2008, Democratic Presidential Candidate Obama made a speech in Berlin Germany to over 200,000 people. He congratulated them for standing up to the Soviet Union during the blockade in 1948. He emphasized the fact the people of Berlin would not give up. But did he give the American military credit for flying transport after transport planes, defying the soviets, to bring food and coal to hungry, cold citizens of Berlin until Stalin finally gave in? This man finds it very hard to credit our brave men and women in the military for any accomplishments, now and in the past.

Obama should have given Baghdad the same support he gave Berlin!!! Traveling earlier this week in the Middle East he was asked by ABC’s Terry Moran, ” knowing what you know whether-he would reconsider his opposition to last year’s surge of U.S. troops in Iraq. “Well, no,” Obama replied ( The Wall Street Journal July 25 opinion page.) The surge he opposed saved Iraq just as President Harry Truman’s airlift saved Berlin during the Cold War. The surge saved American lives with combat fatalities down to an all time low. Obama did not have to wear body armor during a helicopter tour with Gen. David Petraeus because attacks on aircraft are down also. Obama knows Petraeus opposes a timetable for withdrawal of American troops. But Obama still insists on a 16 month withdrawal schedule. Military advice is ignored by Obama and the press has indicated Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki seems to have endorsed Obama’s 2010 date for withdrawal. The debate goes on and while Obama insisted we must fight terrorism he is willing to give up Iraq.

In June 1987, Ronald Reagan gave an open-air speech in Berlin with his message being, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” (Wall St. Journal July 25) There were 10,000 police using tear gas to repel 100,000 violent protestors in the old capital of Bonn and the Soviet’s called it war-mongering!!! Two years later to the relief of the free world the wall fell. Reagan’s speech was statesmanship while Obama’s popularity. The new Messiah rock star Obama has gone to great lengths this week to reassure the American people he is capable of foreign policy!! But is he? (more…)

ByDick Morris

Obama went to Europe as a steak seeking to recover his sizzle. The absence of weekly teleprompter victory speeches in primary contests has sapped some of the enthusiasm his candidacy generated all spring. But, for a more sustained bounce, he went abroad to hype his ratings as a potential commander-in-chief and his standing as a foreign policy expert.
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Crossposted from Flopping Aces

If you wanted us out of Iraq a few years ago, if you wanted us to run like cowards because the going was a bit tough, if you uttered the words “not in my name” while speaking about Iraq, then you cannot claim the victory that pretty much everyone has now come to the conclusion Iraq is. When the AP, the news organization that did its best to spin and misinform any news on the war to prevent anyone from saying Bush was right, writes that we have won in Iraq….then you can be pretty sure that the left has no where else to run to except their echo chambers at DummiesU and KOS.

The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost.

Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace — a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago.

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.

That does not mean the war has ended or that U.S. troops have no role in Iraq. It means the combat phase finally is ending, years past the time when President Bush optimistically declared it had (ed. they still can’t help themselves….spin spin and more spin). The new phase focuses on training the Iraqi army and police, restraining the flow of illicit weaponry from Iran, supporting closer links between Baghdad and local governments, pushing the integration of former insurgents into legitimate government jobs and assisting in rebuilding the economy.

I think a section of Senator McCain’s recent speech is worth putting up here right about now:

If Senator Obama had prevailed, American forces would have had to retreat under fire. The Iraqi Army would have collapsed. Civilian casualties would have increased dramatically. Al Qaeda would have killed the Sunni sheikhs who had begun to cooperate with us, and the “Sunni Awakening” would have been strangled at birth. Al Qaeda fighters would have safe havens, from where they could train Iraqis and foreigners, and turn Iraq into a base for launching attacks on Americans elsewhere. Civil war, genocide and wider conflict would have been likely.

Above all, America would have been humiliated and weakened. Our military, strained by years of sacrifice, would have suffered a demoralizing defeat. Our enemies around the globe would have been emboldened. Terrorists would have seen our defeat as evidence America lacked the resolve to defeat them. As Iraq descended into chaos, other countries in the Middle East would have come to the aid of their favored factions, and the entire region might have erupted in war. Every American diplomat, American military commander, and American leader would have been forced to speak and act from a position of weakness.

Senator Obama told the American people what he thought you wanted to hear. I told you the truth.

And his latest ad:

Its going to be quite amusing to watch as the left backpedals on this war and tries to tell us they were for victory all along. Everyone just misunderstood them you see. Just watch as Obama spins his prior statements on the surge to get an example of what we will be hearing for years to come.

The Iraqi people should be very happy that the left in this country lost in their attempt to make us a lose this war.

More here.

also:

Do you know where your kids cyber surf?
Muslim Brotherhood launches forum on Facebook

Jails and universities aren’t enough of a breeding ground for the serious Caliphate agenda driven…. A group of youth from the Muslim Brotherhood has gotten permission from from the Brotherhood’s second-in-command, Muhammad Habib to spread their message via the Internet. Their message?

The creators of the project decided to call themselves an “electronic student cell of the Muslim Brotherhood” and their aim to to push for the return of an Islamic Caliphate [a Muslim state].”

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Their political activity is also not limited to Egypt either but is aimed at Muslims all around the world.

The new discussion forum on Facebook is based on five points.

The first is the organisation of protests in all Muslim countries for the salvation of Islam and issues of the Islamic nation.

The second issue refers to the spread of the stories of the Prophet Mohammad with regards to the caliphate and the third point is a request to all imams to talk about this issue in their sermons.

The fourth and fifth points are spreading of leaflets to remind Muslims of the importance of the caliphate and to sensitize all Islamic parties and organisations to support this initiative.

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Crossposted from Red Maryland

Unfree State

Maryland Republican leadership is calling for Prince George’s County Sen. Ulysses Currie to step down from his powerful position as chairman of the state’s Budget & Taxation Committee while he being investigated by the FBI for alleged corruption.

“While Currie has not yet been charged with a federal crime, he has clearly violated state ethics laws by hiding his employment as a lobbyist for a large supermarket chain,” Republican Party Chairman James Pelura said in a prepared statement.

Pelura also commended Democratic Sen. President Mike Miller for pushing for Currie to stand down until this investigation is resolved.

In light of the litany of investigations and ethical lapses (Mayor Dixon, Senator Currie, County Executive Johnson, and Senator Nathaniel Exum), Pelura also recommended a serious review of Maryland’s ethics laws.

We couldn’t agree more with Pelura on both counts!
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Mr. Obama in Iraq: Did he really find support for his withdrawal plan?

THE INITIAL MEDIA coverage of Barack Obama’s visit to Iraq suggested that the Democratic candidate found agreement with his plan to withdraw all U.S. combat forces on a 16-month timetable. So it seems worthwhile to point out that, by Mr. Obama’s own account, neither U.S. commanders nor Iraq ‘s principal political leaders actually support his strategy.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the architect of the dramatic turnaround in U.S. fortunes, “does not want a timetable,” Mr. Obama reported with welcome candor during a news conference yesterday. In an interview with ABC, he explained that “there are deep concerns about . . . a timetable that doesn’t take into account what [American commanders] anticipate might be some sort of change in conditions.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has a history of tailoring his public statements for political purposes, made headlines by saying he would support a withdrawal of American forces by 2010. But an Iraqi government statement made clear that Mr. Maliki’s timetable would extend at least seven months beyond Mr. Obama’s. More significant, it would be “a timetable which Iraqis set” — not the Washington-imposed schedule that Mr. Obama has in mind. It would also be conditioned on the readiness of Iraqi forces, the same linkage that Gen. Petraeus seeks. As Mr. Obama put it, Mr. Maliki “wants some flexibility in terms of how that’s carried out.”

Other Iraqi leaders were more directly critical. As Mr. Obama acknowledged, Sunni leaders in Anbar province told him that American troops are essential to maintaining the peace among Iraq ‘s rival sects and said they were worried about a rapid drawdown.

Mr. Obama’s response is that, as president, he would have to weigh Iraq ‘s needs against those of Afghanistan and the U.S. economy. He says that because Iraq is “a distraction” from more important problems, U.S. resources devoted to it must be curtailed. Yet he also says his aim is to “succeed in leaving Iraq to a sovereign government that can take responsibility for its own future.” What if Gen. Petraeus and Iraqi leaders are right that this goal is not consistent with a 16-month timetable? Will Iraq be written off because Mr. Obama does not consider it important enough — or will the strategy be altered?
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By Blair Lee

When I was in school during the late 1960s, I was a big-time Vietnam War protester. I marched in almost every local anti-war demonstration and even helped organize a few. We were regularly videotaped by police and probably infiltrated. And one anti-war group I joined, the War Registers League, turned up on the U.S. Attorney General’s list of Communist Party front groups. With all that in my dossier, I kissed-off my chances of ever being confirmed for the Supreme Court.

But, seriously, last week’s revelations of Maryland State Police surveillance and infiltration of peace groups and anti-death penalty organizations should alarm every Marylander. A basic American freedom is our right to assemble and protest without becoming targets of police investigation — no ifs, ands or buts. End of discussion. But equally despicable is Gov. Martin O’Malley’s willingness to play politics with this grave matter. When the ‘‘spygate” story broke in last Friday’s media, Governor O’Malley issued a statement that opened, ‘‘While these events happened in 2005 and 2006 under the previous administration…,” seeking to hang ‘‘spygate” around the neck of his political nemesis, former Gov. Bob Ehrlich.

O’Malley pulled this shoddy ‘‘blame Bob” scam despite a public statement by former State Police Superintendent Tim Hutchins that Ehrlich didn’t authorize and never knew about the police spying. Nevertheless, O’Malley got what he wanted — all the attack dogs lit off after Ehrlich. ‘‘It is very troublesome that law enforcement would brand as a ‘security threat group’ law-abiding people whose only offense was dissenting from Governor Ehrlich’s views …” railed Maryland Common Cause.

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