Christmas message from Holy Land: Plight of Iraq Christians dire

Holy Land prelate: Plight of Iraq Christians dire

Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch condemns violence against Iraqi Christians, says it is pity to empty Iraq of them:

Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal offered his solidarity and support to Christians in Iraq after a bloody October hostage-taking at a Baghdad cathedral that killed 44 worshipers, two priests and seven security force personnel. ...

Earlier this month, Pope Benedict XVI called for "Christ's followers" to be defended in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and warned governments not to allow "anti-religious fanaticism."

Twal also used his traditional address ahead of Christmas to lament the failure of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and called on Europe to take a more active role in pushing for a solution.

Israel and the Palestinians began direct peace talks on September 2 after a hiatus of nearly two years, but the negotiations ground to a halt just three weeks later with the expiry of 10 months of Israeli restrictions on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

As for the breakdown in talks, there were some rockets fired into Israel, too. But I guess that's standard news. There were also the repeated refusals by Hamas leaders in Gaza to EVER recognize Israel.

- jR
Enhanced by Zemanta

Mike Moore on Assange rape, he and Keith Olbermann put it in quotes

O-blubber-man Suspends His Own Twitter Account

Julian Assange: the Wikileaks leader encourages a military member's crime, flaunts himself as a hero for freedom of speech, when he is more accurately an anarchist or an all-points agitator. And there's this:
Assange is accused of using his body weight to hold [one woman, Miss A,] down in a sexual manner." ... Here are the charges as reported by the UKPA:
The court heard Assange is accused of using his body weight to hold her down in a sexual manner.

The second charge alleged Assange "sexually molested" Miss A by having sex with her without a condom when it was her "express wish" one should be used.

The third charge claimed Assange "deliberately molested" Miss A on August 18 "in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity". The fourth charge accused Assange of having sex with a second woman, Miss W, on August 17 without a condom while she was asleep at her Stockholm home.
Since I cannot watch Olbermann and not shower afterward, via The Blaze, I learned that filmmaker -- and often crass, far left mouthpiece -- Mike Moore was an Assange apologist on Keith's show, for the rape charges. Olbermann was not against the view. He then suspends his own Twitter account due to people twee-ttacking him for agreeing with Moore.

This time Moore, and months earlier it was Whoopie Goldberg soft-talking the underage rape charges against the Polish Holocaust survivor turned director turned pervert turned cowardly runaway.

What's wrong with some allegedly intelligent, logical, rational, and talented lefty loons -- and others? -- excusing the act of rape?! I was getting tired of Goldberg's presence on "The View" long ago, but I've written her off as an unnecessary distraction since her "it's not rape-rape" comment. Clue?! And Moore, never-Moore -- not even on my Netflix cue any more.



- jR

Enhanced by Zemanta

Hamas vows to never be tolerant, essentially

Flag of Hamas with Shahada calligraphy.Hamas flag. Image via Wikipedia
Hamas leader vows his group will never recognize Israel.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, whose group runs the Gaza Strip, said the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headed by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas had made a "historic mistake" by recognizing Israel.
"We said it five years ago and we say it now ... we will never, we will never, we will never recognize Israel," Haniyeh told the gathering which some organizers said was attended by around 250,000 people.
The article from Reuters explains that the Islamist extremist also "voiced confidence that Hamas, which defeated Abbas's long-dominant Fatah movement in a 2006 election and seized the Gaza Strip in 2007 from forces loyal to the Palestinian leader, would win any future ballot."
And why, again, is it that Israel is treated as the aggressor, again? Because they won against multitudes of enemies 43 years ago? Time to admit defeat and get to the dealing table. For rational Palestinians not devoted to death as a bargaining chip.

- jR
Enhanced by Zemanta

Amid the Schwartz/Soros furor, a major Jewish group defends Beck

The wacky hedge fund, god-fantasizing, ethically two-faced Hungarian rambler George Soros doesn't have every Jewish group, and human rights group, adoringly -- half-blind, politically correct and sheepishly, in my view -- at his side.

I did not see Glenn Beck's series about Soros, and I am sure something he said has been taken out of context by knee-jerk liberal groups, Jewish groups and missing-the-point apologists for Soros. I am also sure that Beck probably upset some people for being blunt in his characterization of Soros' actions during the Nazi regime's control of his homeland, and his activity today. Well, suck it up, people. Soros is not your local charity group. He's a bit melted in the head, loaded with cash and awfully eager to shut up his opponents through his funded groups -- like any good god-fantasizing autocrat would be.

Beck may be some things, but in pursuit of world power he is not. That's the other guy, Soros. So, right there, Soros must prove that concern wrong. And I don't think he will. So, Beck has the handicap in this battle of public personalities. People seem to spend a lot of time shooting down Beck, while getting many facts wrong. Is he ever incorrect? Duh, yeah. Not so often as those who attack him by habit wish he were. And he's hardly dangerous. Also, take whatever you want away from him, but at least Beck's books are coherent, unlike the Soros drivel I have tried to read.

I have educated myself and seen enough, often through personal experience, half-twisted people with some good intentions but very bad traits (Soros, I mean, not Beck, dammit), the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, Hitler, anti-Semitism, world parity groups, utopian fantasies, and other stuff. That Soros does not regret doing what he did to his fellow citizens -- helping to turn Jews over to the Nazis -- is a step too far in the direction of amoral to meet acceptable criteria in the survival game. Survival is a solid instinct. To not regret what was done is akin to the rest of the placation and apathy that allowed the Nazis to flourish for a while.

Major Jewish Group Defends Beck Amid Soros Furor | The Blaze :
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/major-jewish-group-slams-attacks-on-beck-over-soros-programs/
In a three-part series on Beck's Fox program last week, Beck portrayed Soros as the "puppet master" behind, among other things, world financial collapses. While describing Soros, Beck told how, during the Holocaust, the 14-year-old Hungarian Jew "used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews and confiscate their property and then ship them off."

The "anti-Semite" was Soros's fake grandfather, who was paid off by his real father in an effort to conceal the young Soros's Jewish identity. He has not shown remorse or regret for those actions.

"A number of American Jewish leaders condemned Mr. Beck for these remarks," ZOA's statement says, "yet a 1998 interview with Soros conducted by Steve Kroft on '60 Minutes' shows that Beck did not misstate the facts."

The group goes on to detail a litany of "anti-Israel, anti-American" remarks made by Soros over the years....
George Soros is what is wrong with making money off of other people making products and services while we bet against them. He creates influence with his cash the way some James Bond antagonist holds the world hostage with satellite-born death lasers.

Investment success is not wrong -- I am not against informed investing, just the opposite -- but an apparent underlying kookiness, which Soros seems to have (ever tried to read one of his rambling, poorly edited books?), no matter the person's success, or half of his stated goals, is not to be lauded. How anyone could have faked their way through the Holocaust in the manner that Soros -- originally Schwartz -- did and not feel remorse is a sign of very distorted emotional/ethical wiring. It does not deserve reward, as some Canadian group (Canadian International Council) bestowed upon Soros (see this link) nor some absolutist appreciation. It needs to be looked at carefully, not set aside. I am glad Beck and ZOA, among others, can see that.

It is shameful that some Canadian blind mice chose to reward Soros for one thing while overlooking a glaring problem: he has an obviously autocratic, anti-liberty intent in his approach to economics, politics and media. He wants to control the money and the message. Seems like a kind of thinking ripe for regret down the line. Not the regret of Soros, but of the Canadians.

I can only imagine -- for lack of understanding it -- that the Canadian group and the many others who adore Soros on the one hand care nothing of -- excuse or don't even understand -- his other hand. Hopefully the other hand will slap them in the face some day. In the process, I hope some complete sense of his grand scheme will sink in. (Not only the money-making, anti-Communist influence-peddling part, but the part that madly craves what I suspect as a benevolent autocracy of his doing, a worldview of his making.) Fortunately, mad geniuses don't tend to hang onto real power for long. Not against truly free societies, at least. Let's hope Soros run out of time before anyone, in economic desperation, appoints him the chancellor, or god, of anything.

- jR
Enhanced by Zemanta

A reason to be afraid of most Democrats in the House

Heath ShulerHeath Shuler. Image via Wikipedia
If you needed a reason to be concered about the mindset of elected Democrats, you only need to look so far. The following suggests, perhaps, that the only way to snap the House Democrats -- the most so-called "liberal" among them, certainly -- out of their view that things are running just fine, thanks to them, is to replace them. At least, to bump out about 3/4 of them in 2012 (or 150 of them).
House Democrats Re-Elect Pelosi as Their Leader (via The Caucus, a NY Times blog)
Officials said that [Nancy] Pelosi defeated Representative Heath Shuler of North Carolina in an internal party vote, 150 to 43. Mr. Shuler acknowledged before the vote that he had no chance to win, but he wanted to give disgruntled Democrats a chance to register their opposition to Ms. Pelosi's leadership anyway.
...
Mr. Shuler, the former college quarterback who won his third term representing North Carolina's 11th District, publicly called on her not to run. After the vote, Mr. Shuler said the vote showed that concerns about Ms. Pelosi's leadership went beyond a few conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats.
"It came out pretty much as we expected," he told reporters, adding that "it wasn't about winning the race, but it was about having a voice within our caucus."
Ms. Pelosi became the first female Speaker after Democrats gained a majority in the House in 2006. She has been a prolific fundraiser, collecting more than $200 million for the party since joining the leadership in the House in 2002. 
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/house-democrats-re-elect-pelosi-as-their-leader/?partner=rss&emc=rss
I guess we'll see by this time next year whether or not it will be as regrettable to have John Boerner as Speaker as it has been a dippy rich chick from the ether of the snobby side of San Francisco.
- jR
Enhanced by Zemanta

On Being God, from the Mouth of George (Schwartz) Soros


George Soros is the primary funder of the crass, childish activism-peddling group, MoveOn.org, and other extremely liberal org.'s, and is considered a man who funds anti-communist efforts worldwide (against ideals any farther left than those steeply liberal groups he funds, it seems). The right doesn't like him, while the left is at times seemingly financially dependent on him. He is not just a man with lots of money earned mostly from betting against the success of companies (hedge funds), and even his several unreadable books are not the most notable thing beyond his cash activism. This, to me, is more notable: 

It seems that Soros believes he was anointed by God. "I fancied myself as some kind of god …" he once wrote. "If truth be known, I carried some rather potent messianic fantasies with me from childhood, which I felt I had to control, otherwise they might get me in trouble."

When asked by Britain's Independent newspaper to elaborate on that passage, Soros said, "It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out."

Since I began to live it out. Those unfamiliar with Soros would probably dismiss the statement out of hand. But for those who have followed his career and sociopolitical endeavors, it cannot be taken quite so lightly.


He's creepy. Juuuust creepy. At least he's only intent on destroying free society as we know it, and not the planet. Something to be grateful for. When did we start liking people with god complexes? I didn't get that memo. Oh! It's a leftist thing! That explains it! 

- jR

From a site that is no fan of bad advertising, or foul political attitudes


This is just snide. Sad. Repugnant in its sheer bully, childish meanness.

Congratulations, Democrats. Now that we've seen this ad, nominations for Most Offensive Ad of the Year are closed and you have officially been declared the winners.

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (that's what the Democrat Party calls itself in Minnesota) sent out this remarkably offensive "Ignore the Poor" anti-Catholic mailer.

How loud would they squeal if someone – anyone – would have run an ad this offensive about Muslims?


- jR

Enhanced by Zemanta

Guy hassled over refusing pat-down at San Diego airport - Drudge Report

TSA security measures hit home for one traveller who didn't want to be body scanned or groped (via Drudge Report)....

http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http://johnnyedge.blogspot.com/2010/11/these-events-took-place-roughly-between.html

He refused the full body scan, the pat down was explained and he refused, he then dealt with TSA supervisor's supervisor, and that led him to seeking his ticket refund. But leaving the airport? Not yet:

... At this point, I thought it was all over. I began to make my way to the stairs to exit the airport, when I was approached by another man in slacks and a sport coat. He was accompanied by the officer that had escorted me to the ticketing area and Mr. Silva. He informed me that I could not leave the airport. He said that once I start the screening in the secure area, I could not leave until it was completed. Having left the area, he stated, I would be subject to a civil suit and a $10,000 fine. I asked him if he was also going to fine the 6 TSA agents and the local police officer who escorted me from the secure area. After all, I did exactly what I was told. He said that they didn't know the rules, and that he would deal with them later. They would not be subject to civil penalties. I then pointed to Mr. Silva and asked if he would be subject to any penalties. He is the agents' supervisor, and he directed them to escort me out. The man informed me that Mr. Silva was new and he would not be subject to penalties, either. He again asserted the necessity that I return to the screening area. When I asked why, he explained that I may have an incendiary device and whether or not that was true needed to be determined. I told him that I would submit to a walk through the metal detector, but that was it; I would not be groped. He told me that their procedures are on their website, and therefore, I was fully informed before I entered the airport; I had implicitly agreed to whatever screening they deemed appropriate. I told him that San Diego was not listed on the TSA's website as an airport using Advanced Imaging Technology, and I believed that I would only be subject to the metal detector. He replied that he was not a webmaster, and I asked then why he was referring me to the TSA's website if he didn't know anything about it.

HIT THE LINK to read more of this amazing mess that is the TSA. 

(Sent using mobile app by SmartestApple.com)


- jR (aka AirFarceOne in Twitter)

The 'Worst Person in the World' guy is put on hold - msnbc.com

MSNBC NYC HQ StudioMSNBC Studios - Image via Wikipedia
KEITH OLBERMANN is suspended, indefinitely, for making campaign donations made in the fall: http://bit.ly/bR4A3g
Olbermann acknowledged the donations in a statement to Politico, saying he gave the maximum legal donation of $2,400 to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who waged an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate against Tea Party standard-bearer Rand Paul.
Like most news organizations, NBC News, parent of msnbc TV, prohibits political contributions by its journalists without prior approval of the president. (Msnbc.com, a joint venture of NBC Universal and Microsoft, also has a policy against its journalists contributing to political campaigns.)

Ha! ... Ha ha! ...  Ahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa! 

Sorry, I'm still laughing at something I read earlier: I read that he is MSNBC's biggest (highest rated) star. Not sure if I'm more stunned by his continued status on MSNBC, or that the network suspended him despite that. I mean, it's not that he never has anything of note to say, but he's such a BABY! Who grew the nerves to act on this? I guess they had to, since Politico already published the facts.

I wonder if this is just a publicity stunt, in essence, and will be for a week? Or just a few days? 

I hope his hair can stand being out of the studio makeup (and hair) chair and fending for itself for a while.

- jR (AirFarceOne on Twitter)
Enhanced by Zemanta

Respectfulness beats crassness: Dan Webster beats Alan Grayson in a landslide

If caring means being a vicious attention hound, then Grayson is a saint
"Most of the time, negative campaigning works, and a lot of people cringed when I said I would run a positive campaign. We just felt like it was the right thing to do," Webster said. "I'm not going there to change places with the Democrats. We've got to do things differently. We've got to change the process."
 
Grayson called Webster to congratulate him. In a concession speech to supporters at a downtown nightclub, Grayson said he also asked Webster focus on the downtrodden.
 
"I asked Dan Webster to spend the next two years in office fulfilling that 3,000-year-old promise to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to shelter the homeless, to reach out to the people who are less fortunate than others, and remember that we are all judged by the least of us," Grayson said. "That's what we tried to do during our time in office. We tried to show people what it was like to have a congressman who cares."
Apparently, what he cared most about was making Republicans, all foes, and especially Dan Webster, look like the sons and daughters of Satan. That, when he wasn't busy requesting that U.S. Attorney General Holder to bring charges up against the operators of mycongressmanisnuts.com . Thanks for caring, Mr. Grayson! We'll, uh, miss your, uh... oh, why even try? Hey Ailing Grayskull, move to Cuba, you creep!
 
Read the whole Orlando Sentinel piece here.
 
- jR

Officials: Yemeni terrorist group was doing test run last month sending luggage with no passenger

Getting into the minds of terrorists: Those looking into earlier, unattended luggage (sent with no tied passenger headed with them to the same location) that headed to Chicago from Yemen said they thought those items might have been test runs for a terror effort. Now, they think they were right.
American intelligence officials in September intercepted several packages containing books, papers, CDs and other household items shipped to Chicago from Yemen and considered the possibility that the parcels might be a test run for a terrorist attack, two officials said Monday night.
Now the intelligence officials believe that the shipments, whose hour-by-hour locations could be tracked by the sender on the shippers' Web sites, may have been used to plan the route and timing for two printer cartridges packed with explosives that were sent from Yemen and intercepted in Britain and Dubai on Friday.
In September, after American counterterrorism agencies received information linking the packages to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror network's branch in Yemen, intelligence officers stopped the shipments in transit and searched them, said the officials. ...
- jR
Enhanced by Zemanta

AOPA eBrief: Brazil's Embraer opening jet factory in Melbourne, Fla.

Just when you thought U.S. manufacturing was on a straight path downwards -- if you really thought that -- there's this, from the aviation industry.

A twist on the usually reversed cost problem of manufacturing in the U.S.: Embraer's new facility in Melbourne, Florida is expected to cut costs due to its proximity to the jet maker's suppliers in the U.S. and Canada.

Managing director named for Embraer's first U.S. business jet plant
Aerospace manufacturing veteran Phil Krull will be at the helm when the new Embraer business jet assembly plant opens at Melbourne International Airport in Florida. The 150,000-square-foot facility is expected to build eight business jets a year at a cost that could be lower than planes made in Brazil due to the new plant's proximity to its U.S. and Canadian parts manufacturers.
AviationWeek.com (Nov 01, 2010)

(AviationWeek via AOPA eBrief)
- jR  (corrected the title, some fixes)

Stewart-Colbert Rally Mixes Sober Message with Silly People - Newsmax (AP)

BAGHDAD, IRAQ, JUNE 7:  In this handout image ...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was ... a success? Yeah, sure. Why not. Proved a lawn full of mostly liberal types can be rational. This is part of the AP article from Newsmax.com (look up title to the read complete article, they don't do links well, at least not for mobile devices).

Stewart-Colbert Rally Mixes Fun with Sober Message

Saturday, 30, October 2010 07:06:50

NEW YORK (AP)Jon Stewart was right. As promised, his rally was fun.

Then, at the end, he took a few moments for "some sincerity." For some viewers, those clearly heartfelt remarks on the innate goodness of Americans may have upstaged everything that went before.

Fun was about as specific as Stewart had gotten in the weeks leading up to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which he hosted and produced with fellow Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert.

Exactly what the rally would be, and what big names might show up for it, had been a guessing game for fans of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," as well as the media, for weeks beforehand — at least until Wednesday, when a few names leaked.

On Saturday, viewers of Comedy Central's live telecast — and online streaming — of the three-hour shindig saw a dandy music-and-comedy concert with an inarguable social message. It was staged on Washington's National Mall, with the U.S. Capitol as the glorious backdrop.

The overarching theme was to redeclare Americans' ability to get along and work together, regardless of their ideological differences. And to chastise the media and politicians for promoting polarization.

To put this message across comedically, the rally harnessed the familiar on-air personalities of Stewart, who, as anchor of the "Daily Show" satirical newscast, radiates bemused reasonableness, and Colbert, who inhabits a bloviating right-wing pundit on "The Colbert Report."

Their make-believe clashing in comic bits during the rally was exemplified when Colbert defended the value of unreasonable fear, as in the Garden of Eden.

"If Eve had just had a healthy phobia of snakes, she would not have eaten that apple and cursed us all with original sin," he blustered. "Then I'd be able to walk around naked everywhere."

"You're just creating bogeymen," Stewart protested.

"Bogeymen?" Colbert erupted in alarm. "Where?"

Later, Stewart introduced Yosef (once known as pop star Cat Stevens), who sang his gentle 1970s anti-war anthem, "Peace Train," until Colbert brought out Ozzy Osbourne, who ripped into his classic hit with lyrics including, "I'm going off the rails on a crazy train."

These dueling songs led to a standoff, which was settled when the O'Jays arrived to perform "Love Train."

Other musical guests included the Roots, John Legend, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples and Tony Bennett, who sang "America the Beautiful."

But the proceedings never strayed too far from funny business, however pointed.

Addressing a crowd in the tens of thousands, Stewart reminded them: "It doesn't matter what we say or do here today. It matters what is reported about what we said or did here today."

Demonstrating how the media could slant a given event in wildly different ways, he let two of his "Daily Show" correspondents take a whack.

... Stewart took time for some closing remarks and, playing it serious, attempted to explain the rally's purpose — in his mind, at least. ...

Americans, he said, do "impossible things every day that are only made possible through the little, reasonable compromises we all make."

But these are compromises the current crop of politicians are unwilling to make and the media are unwilling to recognize.

"The image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false. It is us through a fun house mirror," he said.

Americans work together to get things done every day, he said.

"The only place we don't is here," he said, pointing behind him at the Capitol building, "or on cable TV."

As a stirring pep talk and reality check, Stewart's remarks were the sanest moments on TV in memory — and the surprise many viewers were seeking from the rally.

Comedy Central is owned by Viacom.

Online: http://www.rallytorestoresanityandorfear.com

EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org

Newsmax Home

Points go to the dueling fakes for being sane, though typically more harsh on the right than against the left. The rally was less crass, from what I have read, than the sloppy words and piles of signs from OneNation. The inherent theme was, as the shows' overtones also convey, that modern liberalism maintains the majority and 'sane' view, since that is where the two comics' views sit, clearly. But it was less crass than many town halls and rallies and political campaign speeches within the last three years.


- jR (AirFarceOne on Twitter)
Enhanced by Zemanta

Vote: Stop raising taxes so we can start raising raises!

On Tuesday, November 2, 2010: VOTE for those who will:

STOP RAISING TAXES - SO WE CAN START RAISING RAISES. 

Or: STOP EXPANDING AMERICAN GOVERNMENT SO PEOPLE CAN AGAIN AIM FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM!

Does this make sense? Yes, of course it does, except to those who are convinced that government is the solution to all or most problems. Ronald Reagan famously said: in "today's crisis," government is not the solution to the problem, it is the problem. His actual quote has been streamlined to "Government is not the solution, it is the problem."

That quote has been turned, stunningly, on its head by spiteful, poorly educated (on politics and civic history) left-wingers. They even go so far as to suggest that somehow conservatives think the best government would be nearly no government. Or, so little government that the greedy, violent, criminal, depraved, and any ne'er do wells could ultimately be the insane running the asylum. 

Outside of a sense that the crazies are already running society, the turning of those words of Reagan, and the broad sentiment he conveyed, into something flatly "anti-government" is unproductive to the point of being cruel. 

Saying that a small government sentiment is "anti-government" is akin to saying that those who believe in watching what they eat actually would prefer not eating, and that both will allow you to safely get into better shape. It's not just playing with words, it's wacky. Animaniacs kind of wacky.

Vermont has a senator with this bizarre, seemingly all-or-nothing political rhetoric, by the name of Bernie Sanders. And MSNBC has at least one vocal comrade of Sanders, in Ed Schultz. Both are an embarrassment to anyone seeking a rational discussion on the size of government versus the scale of people's opportunities and liberties.

Excellence and progress comes from the private sector, from R&D and science, and from not bureaucrats, pork projects, and wildly imbalanced pension plans for gov't employees. Don't be fooled by pie-in-the-sky promises. The only reason gov't spending and size gets continually larger is because the ones with the purse strings forgot they work for people, not the other way around. Time to change that. 

Government is not the enemy of the people, but only until it proves to be the enemy. It is hurting us, but only some are truly outraged by it, most notably in recent years, the tea party movement. 

It's hard to live on what was not long ago a good income level, and there's no sign of improvement coming. Better to stop the march toward government dominance now than to weep for the extinction of the American Dream later. One by one it is happening, for a variety of reasons, high among them the high cost of living versus honest, usual incomes. Remember when most middle class families could survive on one full-time income? No? It used to be so. 

Now, and always, vote for the goal of smaller government and, thus, greater opportunity. The issues beyond the question of expanding government are indeed important, but they won't be your concern as a citizen if you're struggling to SUPPORT the government rather than CARING FOR yourself, your family, you business, and your community. It is getting harder every year for most people, and not only because of the recession. It's the trend going back decades, sadly.

It is time to stop raising taxes and to start allowing raises -- for those NOT working for Congress or on Wall Street -- to happen. It is through better family earnings that we get improved tax bases, not through larger and larger government. Doesn't that make honest sense to these so-called leaders?! 

Don't wait for their answers, give them yours on November 2. 

- jR, aka AirFarceOne (Twitter)  
Enhanced by Zemanta

Alan Grayson: sophomoric, Harvard-educated moron of the Left

America's Worst Politician: The short, ugly career of Alan Grayson

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/24/america-s-worst-politician.html

by George Will

... Grayson sliced and spliced a videotape of Webster's words to depict Webster as saying, "She should submit to me. That's in the Bible." When asked about his lie-by-editing, Grayson blithely said, "These were his words." Grayson's ad says: "Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom in Afghanistan, in Iran, and right here in central Florida…Daniel Webster wants to impose his radical fundamentalism on us." Hence "Taliban Dan."

In another ad, titled "Draft Dodger," Grayson, who never served in the military, falsely says that during the Vietnam War Webster "refused the call to service" and "doesn't love this country." The truth is that Webster, after receiving routine student deferments, reported for his draft physical but was classified as medically unfit for service.

If anyone deserves to be removed from Florida's ranks of House members, There are a few others who are longtime members who offer little to leadership, true. But I think it would be good to assure that Grayson is removed, not simply for his ideas but for his very character. I am looking forward to hearing about his departure -- in January -- on the morning of November 3. I can only hope I'll learn of it even sooner, on the evening of November 2.
 
 
- jR

NPR's Schiller Active in Crafting New Journalism Roadmap : FOX News

A general look at what she is up to, a snapshot of her career, and some quotes about journalism, from the boss who fired Juan Williams basically for daring to be on Fox News: NPR Executive Schiller Active in Crafting New Journalism Roadmap. (From FOX News)

Schiller may not be a blatant biased leftist, but she surely didn't have balance or objectivism on her mind when she canned Williams for expressing an opinion during an opinion piece on Fox News. She was perfectly able to can him, it's just a shame that she handled it with such a shrill, glib demeanor (if all reports about the actual firing are to be believed).

-  jR 

NPR Fires Juan Williams Over Muslim Comments | The Blaze


The point is being inflammatory versus being honest, that MUSLIMS were the ones who perpetrated 9/11. This implicates all Muslims? Only if you're a knee-jerk, PC, apologist, cowardly, pandering modern American LIBERAL. 

I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.

Mr. Williams also referenced the Pakistani who pleaded guilty earlier this month to attempting to detonate a car bomb in Times Square. "He said the war with Muslims, America's war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts," Williams said.

A well-known national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization Wednesday called on National Public Radio (NPR) to address Williams' comments.

In a statement released Wednesday night, NPR said that it gave Mr. Williams notice of his termination on Wednesday evening.  Williams' remarks were "inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR," the statement said.

Update: Good point worth noting, from conservative columnist Michelle Malkin

NPR affiliate employee Sarah Spitz at public radio station KCRW wishes death on Rush Limbaugh…not a firing offense.


- jR

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac bailouts could hit $363 billion, report says

This story was sent to you by: J Ruse

7 million good salaries will be psosibly going into bailing out the government-private hybrid. And Democrat believers think heavy gov't regulation works?!! Please explain, or shaddup, better.

--------------------
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac bailouts could hit $363 billion, report says
--------------------

That figure, projected through 2013, represents a worst-case scenario that assumes a double-dip recession, the Federal Housing Finance Agency says. The finance giants have so far received about $148 billion in taxpayer funds.

By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times

October 21 2010, 8:27 AM PDT

Reporting from Washington -- The taxpayer bailouts of housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost as much as $363 billion through 2013, according to government projections released Thursday.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fannie-freddie-bailouts-20101022,0,5250999.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

NPR Ends Juan Williams' Contract After Muslim Remarks

NPR executives have joined "The View" liberal goofballs, and the gaggle of tight-britches, politically correct liberals in seeking punishment for those who insist in pointing out that certain crazy Muslims committed the murders of Sept. 11, 2001. 

The apparent lesson for our times, liberal politically speaking: you can bash Bush, despise conservatives, reject the Tea Party movement as moronic and racist and disingenuous, ignore the abuse of non-Muslims by Muslim regimes all over the world, but don't even hint at referring to the Muslim-based ideology of the extremist, fundamentalist Muslim terrorists who committed 9-11 and a host of other killings and attempted killings for many decades. Williams even specified that all Muslims were not to blame for extremism. But that was not enough for NPR's weak-kneed, government, foundation and nonprofit-sponsored executives. 

Why was this appearance one too far? Well, in their own story about it, NPR gave no actual reason, so one can only assume it was a PC reaction. An excuse to rid of him, as it does seem NPR executives resented Williams' appearances in Fox News shows (see NPR article, quoted below). Was it because he is an impressive speaker and not always taking cover behind a closed-minded ideology of the far left? Was it a, God forbid, "black thing"?! 

So, which NPR employee is next? Or will it be NBC next? CNN? 


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130712737&sc=17&f=1001

NPR Ends Juan Williams' Contract After Muslim Remarks
by David Folkenflik

- October 21, 2010

NPR News has terminated the contract of longtime news analyst Juan Williams after remarks he made on the Fox News Channel about Muslims.

Williams appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor," Monday and host Bill O'Reilly asked him to comment on the idea that the nation was facing a dilemma with Muslims.

O'Reilly has been looking for support for his own remarks on a recent episode of ABC's "The View," in which he directly blamed Muslims for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Co-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the set in the middle of his appearance.

Williams responded: "Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Williams also warned O'Reilly against blaming all Muslims for "extremists," saying Christians shouldn't be blamed for Tim McVeigh

But strong criticism followed Williams' comments.

Late Wednesday night, NPR issued a statement praising Williams as a valuable contributor but saying it had given him notice that it was severing his contract. "His remarks on "The O'Reilly Factor" this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR," the statement read.

Williams' presence on the largely conservative and often contentious prime time talk shows of Fox News has long been a sore point with NPR News executives.

His status was earlier shifted from staff correspondent to an analyst after he took clear-cut positions about public policy on television and in newspaper opinion pieces.

[Copyright 2010 National Public Radio]



- jR 

Raw info: Percent of Nations' GDP that goes to military expenditures

"... most of the top 20 military spenders are Arab nations and Muslim-dominated nations." 


The CIA World Factbook provides many bits of information about the world we live in, such as the discernible numbers for a variety of subjects, such as population, average income and GDP - gross domestic product. (Just think of GDP as similar to household annual income, from all sources, but for a whole country. Before expenses. That's not exactly right, but you can read up on GDP on your own.)  


An interesting thing gleaned from the information provided on military expenditures is that most of the top 20 military spenders are Arab nations and Muslim-dominated nations. In there among them is Israel. In the top, I caught 15 predominantly Muslim countries in the first 20.

So are those nations insulating themselves from the non-Muslim world, mostly concerned about their safety from enemies who would come at them from the outside, or more worried about internal enemies? 

The world average is 2% of GDP, which the US more than doubles, at 4.06%. The UK is matched with India and Iran, at a mere 2.50%.

The US commitment is massive, of course.  So is its GDP. US production output is about three times that of China, our closest competitor. China's military outlay is 4.60% of GDP. 

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/rawdata_2034.text

1    Oman        11.40
2    Qatar        10.00
3    Saudi Arabia        10.00
4    Iraq         8.60
5    Jordan         8.60
6    Israel         7.30
7    Yemen         6.60
8    Armenia         6.50
9    Eritrea         6.30
10    Macedonia         6.00
11    Burundi         5.90
12    Syria         5.90
13    Maldives         5.50
14    Mauritania         5.50
15    Kuwait         5.30
16    Turkey         5.30
17    Morocco         5.00
18    Singapore         4.90
19    Swaziland         4.70
20    Bahrain         4.50
21    Bosnia & Herzegovina         4.50
22    Brunei         4.50
23    China         4.30
24    Greece         4.30
25    United States         4.06
26    Libya         3.90
27    Russia         3.90
28    Tajikistan         3.90
29    Cuba         3.80
30    Zimbabwe         3.80
31    Djibouti         3.80
32    Cyprus         3.80
33    Namibia         3.70
34    Angola         3.60
35    Colombia         3.40
36    Turkmenistan         3.40
37    Egypt         3.40
38    Algeria         3.30
39    Botswana         3.30
40    Guinea-Bissau         3.10
41    Lebanon         3.10
42    United Arab Emirates         3.10
43    Australia         3.00
44    Sudan         3.00
45    Solomon Islands         3.00
46    Pakistan         3.00
47    Indonesia         3.00
48    Cambodia         3.00
49    Rwanda         2.90
50    Comoros         2.80
51    Kenya         2.80
52    Chile         2.70
53    Korea, South         2.70
54    Azerbaijan         2.60
55    Sri Lanka         2.60
56    Lesotho         2.60
57    France         2.60
58    Bulgaria         2.60
59    Congo, Democratic 

        Republic of the         2.50
60    Iran         2.50
61    Vietnam         2.50
62    India         2.50
63    United Kingdom         2.40
64    Croatia         2.39
65    Portugal         2.30
66    Sierra Leone         2.30
67    Uganda         2.20
68    Taiwan         2.20
69    Burma         2.10
70    Malaysia         2.03
71    World         2.00
72    Seychelles         2.00
73    Uzbekistan         2.00
74    Estonia         2.00
75    Finland         2.00
76    Afghanistan         1.90
77    Mali         1.90
78    Norway         1.90
79    Romania         1.90
80    Fiji         1.90
81    Slovakia         1.87
82    Guyana         1.80
83    Zambia         1.80
84    Thailand         1.80
85    Italy         1.80
86    Hungary         1.75
87    Poland         1.71
88    Brazil         1.70
89    Chad         1.70
90    Ghana         1.70
91    Slovenia         1.70
92    South Africa         1.70
93    Nepal         1.60
94    Netherlands         1.60
95    Uruguay         1.60
96    Togo         1.60
97    Cote d'Ivoire         1.50
98    Sweden         1.50
99    Peru         1.50
100    Nigeria         1.50
101    Germany         1.50
102    Albania         1.49
103    Czech Republic         1.46
104    Belarus         1.40
105    Belize         1.40
106    Kyrgyzstan         1.40
107    Papua New Guinea         1.40
108    Tunisia         1.40
109    Ukraine         1.40
110    Senegal         1.40
111    Mongolia         1.40
112    Bangladesh         1.30
113    Cameroon         1.30
114    Denmark         1.30
115    Liberia         1.30
116    Niger         1.30
117    Malawi         1.30
118    Bolivia         1.30
119    Belgium         1.30
120    Burkina Faso         1.20
121    Spain         1.20
122    Venezuela         1.20
123    Ethiopia         1.20
124    Lithuania         1.20
125    Latvia         1.20
126    Canada         1.10
127    Guinea         1.10
128    Benin         1.00
129    Switzerland         1.00
130    Paraguay         1.00
131    Panama         1.00
132    New Zealand         1.00
133    Madagascar         1.00
134    Bhutan         1.00
135    Central African Republic         0.90
136    Congo, Republic of the         0.90
137    Ecuador         0.90
138    Gambia, The         0.90
139    Ireland         0.90
140    Luxembourg         0.90
141    Tonga         0.90
142    Somalia         0.90
143    Philippines         0.90
144    Kazakhstan         0.90
145    Gabon         0.90
146    Argentina         0.80
147    Sao Tome and Principe         0.80
148    Mozambique         0.80
149    Japan         0.80
150    Austria         0.80
151    Barbados         0.80
152    Bahamas, The         0.70
153    Malta         0.70
154    Dominican Republic         0.70
155    Costa Rica         0.60
156    Honduras         0.60
157    Suriname         0.60
158    Nicaragua         0.60
159    Jamaica         0.60
160    El Salvador         0.60
161    Georgia         0.59
162    Antigua & Barbuda         0.50
163    Mexico         0.50
164    Laos         0.50
165    Cape Verde         0.50
166    Guatemala         0.40
167    Haiti         0.40
168    Moldova         0.40
169    Mauritius         0.30
170    Trinidad & Tobago         0.30
171    Tanzania         0.20
172    Bermuda         0.11
173    Equatorial Guinea         0.10
174    Iceland         0.00



-jR (AirFarceOne)

The shame: Trashing the National Mall, that's the "hopey changey" way, it seems!

There's a video I saw in September of the WW II Memorial in Washington, DC, of OneNation's supposed grass-roots, caring, free-thinking Americans leaving their one-sign-fits-all signs all over the memorial.

I was very disheartened to see that these people don't even have an awareness to complacently respect their own great-grandparents or any others who served in Europe and Asia, etc., and respect the WW II installation. It was not unbelievable, but despicable, that the apparently concerned citizens didn't even have the decency to find a trash can. It was a if they were a group of junior high students forced to go on a field trip because that was what the teachers and parents agreed on for that day. In a casual, apathetic act of rebellion, they dropped the "dumb signs" that they were handed when they had arrived and stepped off of the busses for yet another day of unpleasantness in their directed lives. And perhaps that characterization isn't far from the truth.

I heard many participants were told by their unions that they had to go, and many were corralled for the event, ad if they were just warm bodies needing to go because regular school wasn't in that day. The point being that they cared as much as junior high kids who'd have much rather been doing something else that day.

The way they left the National Mall, including the WW II Memorial, was shameful. It seemed to me to suggest that the event was a lazy, feckless, cardboard display of numbers.

To what end? The event opened with a fellow named Ed Schultz, a radio and TV talk show host who is often seemingly unprepared, and whenever I've caught his show is factually wanting. It was billed as a nonpartisan event, but Schultz, from MSNBC, proved that wrong at the outset: he said they needed to fight "the evil... conservatives". Uh-huh. That's uplifting, positive, understanding speech.

The carelessly tossed signs, and ridiculous claims of extravagant head counts, showed me that this was a cynical effort: It was a leftist attempt to try to one-up the many Tea Party rallies and especially conservative radio and TV talk show host Glenn Beck's "Restore Honor" event which had been held in August at the same location.

The thrown-down signs were shameful, but the real proof of the organizers' cardboard intent was the blatant vitriol coming from many of the speakers that day.

If the crass, complete words from that day of Ed Schultz, Harry Belafonte and others, the booths of socialist, communist, and other far left groups, and thousands of careless, disinterested, bussed-in union workers are the pinnacle of the American political left's idea of the goodness of this "one nation", then OneNation is not a promising movement for this nation's future.

I'll stick with the folks who were inspired by an act of rebellion from 1774, in Boston Harbor.


- jR

Chicago's Real Crime Story - Failure of Leaders

Something to look at, showing a less favorable side to Obama's intent, from early on in his pie-eyed activist "career" of community organizing and playing Chicago-version politics, versus the realities of statist, collectivist thinking.

Is it all bad? No, and it is not evil. But it is clouded by wishes rather than clarified by evidence of great success. Supporting the weak does not involve making them feel like they are one if those they envy, but to teach them to not envy. And to teach them how to succeed.

Below is a piece of a lengthy article looking at Obama's, and Chicago's, failure to succeed at community organizing to achieve civility in needy communities. It is perhaps tragic in p
international and local scales that Bush wanted to bring democracy to the Afghans and the long-abused Iraqis, and Obama attempted to bring what I would suppose is civility to south Chicago, and they both could not achieve it in their time in office.

http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_1_chicago-crime.html

By Heather Mac Donald
in City Journal, Winter 2010
from the Manhattan Institute

...A year after these widely publicized killings, and on the eve of Obama's first political campaign, the aspiring state senator gave an interview to the Chicago Reader that epitomized the uselessness of Alinskyism in addressing black urban pathology—and that inaugurated the trope of community organizer as visionary politician. Obama attacks the Christian Right and the Republican Congress for "hijack[ing] the higher moral ground with this language of family values and moral responsibility." Yeah, sure, family values are fine, he says, but what about "collective action . . . collective institutions and organizations"? Let's take "these same values that are encouraged within our families," he urges, "and apply them to a larger society."

-----

Why do people who poo-poo detractors of the presumptuous claims by Obama and powerful liberals not take a harder look at his early politicking, as this article does?

They invented his greatness, as apparently another cardboard-quality effort of how they want the poor, and non-whites and non-Asians, to feel good and believe in themselves, magically. Or some such hopeful, but unrealistic mission that made some feel good, propped up his ego, and accomplished nothing, it would seem.


- jR