The secret is out: Prince Harry has been serving on the front line with his British army unit in one of Afghanistan's most lawless and barren provinces.
Harry is the first royal to serve in a combat zone since his uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters during Britain's war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982.
British officials had hoped to keep the 23-year-old's deployment secret until he had safely returned, but they released video of Harry serving in Helmand Province after a leak appeared on the U.S. Web site the Drudge Report.
READ MORE
Friday, February 29, 2008
Britain's Prince Harry in Afghanistan
Fewer U.S. Dead = Less TV Coverage of Iraq
One year ago, liberal journalists depicted the surge of U.S. troops to Iraq as a certain failure. “A lot of people are going to go to bed tonight terrified,” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews opined just minutes after President Bush announced the policy on January 10, 2007. Other journalists were only slightly more subtle. “Many experts warn, it’s too little, too late,” NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski argued on the January 8, 2007 Nightly News. The next morning on NBC’s Today, the network’s graphic describing Iraq was “Lost Cause?”
One year later, the President’s surge strategy is well on its way to succeeding. The Iraqi parliament has passed several laws meeting required political reconciliation benchmarks. Yet this good news seems to have diminished the media elite’s interest in broadcasting any news from Iraq.
While the amount of coverage has shriveled, the tone remains more negative than positive. So far this month, the three evening newscasts have aired just 41 items on Iraq, most (23) just brief items read by the anchor. A mere seven stories were field reports from Iraq. Only ABC’s World News (February 13) noted the passage of key legislation by the Iraqi parliament, followed by a unique story the next evening on the success of the surge. The CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News offered no such stories.
READ MORE
Reid: Anti-war fight to continue
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pledged on Thursday to continue trying to end the Iraq war even though he lacks the votes to force a troop withdrawal. The Senate was on track to wrap up its first round of debate on the war this year with little fanfare. After two days of discussion, Republicans refused to continue. As a result, Democrats were forced to shelve proposals by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., that would have cut off money for combat and demanded a new strategy for defeating al-Qaida.[?]
[First the war was unwinnable - already lost as a matter of fact - when that turned around it no longer mattered: we were stuck in a civil war and had to get out - then the sectarian strife diminished to nearly nothing, so it no longer mattered: it was a failure anyway because the political benchmarks weren't happening - now two of three of those have been done, with the 3rd pending, so they no longer matter: it's now the cost of the war that's unacceptable - we need to get out now.
IGNORING that the 9B$/month cost of the war pales in comparison to the quarter Trillion in new spending being proposed by either democratic candidate, and contrary to Obama's 'plan' to leave Iraq and return if al-Qaida does {?!?} - IF money's {now} the issue, how smart do you have to be to realize that the most cost effective option at this point in time is to stay until victory is achieved and Iraq can stand on its own?
I.E., these folks are so vested in our failure in Iraq they're now incapable of thinking rationally on the subject - and how dangerous is that? In a presidential candidate?? ]
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153ap_us_iraq.html
Senate Report: Over 400 Scientists Dispute Manmade Global Warming
According to a report just published at the United States Senate Committee on Environment, over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC.
[snip]
Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists. In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics "appear to be expanding rather than shrinking." Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears "bite the dust." (LINK)
[snip]
This report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation. It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007. Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.
Though lengthy, readers are strongly encouraged to review this entire document to learn the truth about what real scientists - those not receiving Oscars, Emmys, and Nobel Peace Prizes [or grants] - think about this controversial issue.
[reminder: alarmists are in a hurry to get their laws on the books because time will increasingly prove prior predictions and scientific methods false - hence they're becoming shriller and shriller in demanding legislation now-right-now, for as we all know, a law that brings the government money and power once enacted is forever...]
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport
Bill would require California's science curriculum to cover climate change
[meanwhile, in California...]
Reading, writing and . . . global warming?
A Silicon Valley lawmaker is gaining momentum with a bill that would 'require' climate change to be among the science topics that all California public school students are taught. The measure, by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would mandate that future science textbooks approved for California public schools include climate change.
"You can't have a science curriculum that is relevant and current if it doesn't deal with the science behind climate change," Simitian said. "This is a phenomenon of global importance and our kids ought to understand the science behind that phenomenon."
The state Senate approved the bill, SB 908, Jan. 30 by a 26-13 vote. It heads now to the state Assembly. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken numerous actions to reduce global warming, but he has yet to weigh in on Simitian's bill. Other Republicans in the Capitol, however, are not happy, believing the bill's intention is to inject environmental propaganda into classrooms.
"I find it disturbing that this mandate to teach this theory is not accompanied by a requirement that the discussion be science-based and include a critical analysis of all sides of the subject," said Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, during the Senate debate.
the Governator: 916-445-2841, email: http://gov.ca.gov/interact
your state Assemblyman email: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/
then your friends and fellow parents...
READ MORE
RUSSIA'S FLAT TAX
In 2001, Russia enacted a flat tax rate of 13 percent; a reform so popular it has since been adopted by countries such as Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Slovakia and Macedonia. But is the flat tax a good thing? According to the authors of a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it is:
> Studying Russia, the authors found that the flat tax lead to a significant decrease in tax evasion.
> This is likely due to the fact that lower marginal tax rates decreases the incentive to avoid reporting income.
> Further, if there is a decrease in tax evasion, policy makers can lower the marginal tax rate further while still collecting the same amount of revenue.
Overall, it seems that the flat tax is not only attractive according to economic theory, but may also work well in reality -- at least in terms of reducing tax evasion.
[it would also make all citizens - in perfect proportion - taxpayers, and so counter the class-warfare tactic of wealth redistribution through our nonsensical tax code]
READ MORE
OBAMA'S 'PATRIOT' ACT
[instead, we get...]
Last year, along with Democratic co-sponsors Sherrod Brown and Dick Durbin, Sen. Barack Obama laid out a plan for favoring "patriotic" companies. Unfortunately, if elected to the presidency, he'd bring the program to the White House, says the Wall Street Journal.
The legislation takes four pages to define "patriotic" companies as those that:
> Pay at least 60 percent of each employee's health care premiums and have a position of neutrality in employee union organizing drives.
> Maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in the United States relative to the number of full-time workers outside of the United States.
>Pay a salary to each employee not less than an amount equal to the federal poverty level and provide a pension plan.
In other words, a "patriotic employer" is one which fulfills the fondest Big Labor agenda, regardless of the competitive implications, says the Journal. The proposal ignores the marketplace reality that businesses hire a work force they can afford to pay and still make money. Coercing companies into raising wages and benefits above market rates may only lead to fewer workers getting hired in the first place.
Put another way, U.S. companies would suddenly have to pay a higher tax rate than their Chinese, Japanese and European competitors, says the Journal. According to research by Peter Merrill, an international tax expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers, this change would "raise the cost of capital of U.S. multinationals and cause them to lose market share to foreign rivals." Apparently Obama believes that by making U.S. companies less profitable and less competitive world-wide, they will somehow be able to create more jobs in America.
READ MORE
GOVERNMENT'S NEW MINIMALIST MISSION
[what we need...]
With the unsustainable growth of government, there is an immediate need to rebuild from the ground up -- on a much smaller scale and with a new mission: Keep us safe and leave us alone, say Ernest S. Christian and Gary A. Robbins, former Treasury Department officials.
A set of minimalist guidelines may be useful:
> Tell voters the truth about the high cost of taxes weighed against the often low benefit of spending and force Congress to adhere to a cost-benefit budget procedure, conducted in the open with full public notice and voter participation.
> Give everyone a "tax cut dividend" when spending reduction targets are met -- and send them a bill for additional taxes when spending goes up; government will shrink, the economy will grow and, with a large base of prosperity, America will always have plenty of money with which to meet any crisis.
READ MORE
Americans feel better about future: Reuters poll
Growing confidence in the future and slightly warmer views of President George W. Bush and Congress put Americans in a better mood this month, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday. The Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures the mood of the country, rose sharply to 99.3 in February from last month's 94.2, putting it at the highest level since August. Approval ratings for Bush climbed to 34 percent from 31 percent last month, and positive ratings for Congress inched up from 14 percent to a still-low 17 percent...
[it's only when asked about distant events on which folks rely on media reporting that attitudes turn sour. Wonder why...]
READ MORE
SPECIAL-LONG:
[HT:GC - too good to cut up...]
Becoming Illegal
(Actual letter from an Iowa resident and sent to his senator)
The Honorable Tom Harkin
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Phone (202) 224 3254
Washington DC , 20510
Dear Senator Harkin,
As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue
Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the
Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for
becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.
My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen
to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate
and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's provisions is
accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five
years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and
income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see
one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it
out.
Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay
taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of
taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can
apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for
me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.
Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local
emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped
paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save
almost $10,000 a year.
Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter
would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school
applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges
throughout the United States for my son.
Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the
burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car
insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have
college age children driving my car.
If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become
illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I
would be most appreciative.
Thank you for your assistance.
Your Loyal Constituent,
Donald Ruppert
Burlington , IA
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Heroes: Sergeant Faces New ‘Normal’ After Injury
“They were waiting for us, (We) had an RPG, a rocket-propelled grenade, hit our Bradley (fighting vehicle). “I lost my right leg, and my lieutenant lost his left leg, Nobody was killed, except the insurgents.”
[snip]
“I threw the cane away and started walking without it,” ...“I guess it’s just the way I was raised, it was just something else for me to learn how to do. I just kind of took it in stride, no pun intended,” he chuckled.
READ MORE
Whose Side Are They On?
From the beginning of the War on Terror, the mainstream media has been working to bring home the bad news on the war, virtually to the exclusion of any good news. Even if they've had to fabricate it on occasion. Surely this is an exaggeration, isn't it?
Do you remember the "Mai Lai Massacre of the Iraq War?"
It was a Time Magazine cover story in June of 2006. Christopher Matthews interviewed Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA) on national television, and Murtha said that Marines, "in cold blood", had executed more 20 innocent civilians in Haditha, Iraq.
The media's story has been falling apart ever since.
"No Murder Charges Filed In Haditha Case"
"The Haditha Libels Require Investigation"
"Is the Haditha Story Falling Apart?"
"Time Magazine Massacres the Truth"
"Tim McGirk Re-Invents Haditha Video Source"
Starting in mid 2007 things have been going our way a little more in Iraq. Because of this, the war has largely disappeared from the front pages of the nation's newspapers. In place of disaster stories from Iraq, we find stories about profound problems within the military or we read about our hapless soldiers/veterans caricatured as victims, a favorite theme of the MSM. These stories have covered such topics as the spike-up in suicide rates among our soldiers, to the Army being forced to lower recruitment standards in order to meet manpower goals; from the (by now notorious and utterly discredited) multipart New York Times series on our murderous Iraq War veterans to the Army's inability to retain its captains.
Each of these stories is at best highly misleading. At worst they're utter fabrications. Let's take a look at what passes for "journalism"...
[long, precise, damning - recommended to anyone who thinks the opening statement to be an exaggeration]
READ MORE
Rocket Attack on Sderot Kills Israeli College Student
Jerusalem - Hamas claimed responsibility for another rocket barrage on southern Israel on Wednesday. At least one person died this time, and that has some Israelis wondering if Israel's response will be stronger than it has been...
[just another day in Israel...]
READ MORE
Bolton: Israel May Have to Strike Iran Soon
"Certainly in Teheran you can bet that they took careful notice of what the Israeli Defense Force did. Penetrating Russian supplied radars very similar to the air defenses that Teheran has; using techniques that could be very useful for a long range strike against Iran; this is the kind of operation that the Iranians need to continue to worry about. Because I think with the collapse of American policy, the Israeli strike against the Syrian / North Korea facility is the harbinger of what may be – absent regime change in Teheran – the last resort… Unless you are prepared to see Iran proceed unmolested toward a nuclear weapons capability, which this NIE has given them free rein to do in my judgment, you are coming very close to a decision point in this country of whether you will use military force to stop Iran."
READ MORE
Mullahs in Space
AS the world continues to hem and haw about Iran's "peaceful" nuclear program, Tehran continues, slowly but surely, to present clues as to its likely true intentions. The latest piece in the puzzle? Iran's space program - an effort that could feed its ability to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear weapon. Indeed, on Feb. 5, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the launch of a ballistic missile described as a "space launch vehicle," or SLV.
READ MORE
Obesity 'requires climate plan'
Obesity needs to be tackled in the same way as climate change, a top nutritional scientist has said. The chairman of the International Obesity Taskforce wants world leaders to agree a global pact to ensure that everyone is fed healthy food.
[I don't know were to begin. Maybe at the end: these we-know-what's-best-for-you (wether you like it or not) types will never stop their progressive march toward Utopian perfection until stopped by the rest of us. Are we ready yet?]
READ MORE
Which part of this Scientific paper did Government Advisors Not read?
Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
After a careful study of the claims made by James Hansen in his testimony to the Select Committee of Energy Independence and Global Warming of the US House of Representatives, we find that much of what he contends is contradicted by real-world observations.
Although Hansen speaks of a sea level rise this century measured in meters, due to “the likely demise of the West Antarctic ice sheet,” the most recent and comprehensive review of potential sea level rise due to contributions arising from the wastage of both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets suggests a century-long rise of only 35 millimeters, based on the results of 14 satellite-derived estimates of imbalances of the polar ice sheets that have been obtained since 1998. In addition, whereas Hansen claims that the rate of sea level rise is accelerating, century-scale data sets indicate that the mean rate-of-rise of the global ocean has either not accelerated at all over the latter part of the 20th century or has actually slowed.
[and so it goes; opinion after opinion refuted by objective evidence to the contrary, including 137 specific source references for every contention - long, boring, scientific, and concluding...][snip]
As a result of our analysis of Hansen’s testimony, we find very little evidence to justify his policy prescriptions for dealing with what he calls a “dangerous climate change,” but we find significant evidence for an impending world food supply-and-demand problem that may well prove even more devastating to the biosphere - including both humanity and “wild nature” - than what Hansen contends will occur in response to business-as-usual anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
[highly recommended > the single-paragraph Introductory Remarks concerning the state of scientific inquiry on this topic if nothing else... ]
READ MORE
TWOFER:
DENIAL AND DELAY
Several states are facing some tough fiscal times, says Byron Schlomach, director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Goldwater Institute.
[snip]
> California's overspending problem amounts to more than $14 billion for the 2009 fiscal year.READ MORE
> [others...]
> California's gap is 14 percent of its budget.
[Now the REST of the story - heard Newt Gingrich mention this on Fox and went looking for it:
California exodus turns to stampede
High taxes drive jobs, people from one state to another
California, which once lured Americans from near and far, is now driving out millions of the most productive residents – including high percentages of the most affluent.
"As California faces a Mount Everest-sized $14 billion deficit, one of the major causes for the red ink is the stampede of millionaire households from the state," says a report called "Rich States, Poor States" by economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. "Out of the 25,000 or so seven-figure-income families, more than 5,000 left in the early 2000s, and the loss of their tax payments accounts for about half the budget hole."
[there's much data, but it all boils down to (what should be) common sense: CA is in competition with other states for people and businesses, and its been working overtime to drive away both - with the predictable results. Moral? our choices have consequences - we can't continue to do dumb things and expect nothing bad to happen. I.e., we can't afford to keep sending the same lame brains back to Sacramento time and again and not pay the price]READ MORE
Obama’s Big-Government Vision
Senator Barack Obama is very gloomy about America, and he’s aligning himself with the liberal wing of the Democratic party in hopes of coming to the nation’s rescue. His proposal? Big-government planning, spending, and taxing -- exactly what the nation and the stock market doesn’t want to hear. Obama unveiled much of his economic strategy in Wisconsin this week: He wants to spend $150 billion on a green-energy plan...
The Obama spend-o-meter is now up around $800 billion. And tax hikes on the rich won’t pay for it. It’s the middle class that will ultimately shoulder this fiscal burden in terms of higher taxes and lower growth.
READ MORE
Congress to ask for investigation into Clemens' statement
[meanwhile, in Washington...]
Congress has asked the Justice Department to launch an investigation into whether embattled pitcher Roger Clemens lied under oath regarding his alleged use of steroids and human growth hormone.(Snip) “We believe that his testimony warrants further investigation...
[am I the only one who thinks this an abhorrent use of Congress' time? Last time I looked, they've ample other things to be doing {I don't know, re-authorizing the expired terrorist surveillance system might qualify}]
READ MORE
Sleeper awakes with freight train on top
A man had a miraculous escape yesterday, sustaining only minor injuries when a freight train rolled over the top of him while he slept between the tracks. The Bendigo man, 20, whose name has not been released, was sleeping at a level crossing in Port Augusta, 300km northwest of Adelaide, when the train approached about 3.40am. (Snip) The train rolled over the man, still lying between the tracks, and stopped just ahead of him. It is believed the man hit his head on the train while trying to sit up. It is understood he may have been intoxicated.
[may]
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23035691-29677,00.html
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Heroes: Squad Leader’s Idea Helps Afghan Police
Police and other law enforcement officers in the United States are regarded as well-trained professionals and role models by the public. Army Sgt. Ronald K. Burke sought the same respect for the Afghan National Police in the Nawa district of Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.
With the approval of his platoon leader, Burke came up with a training program to increase tactical and technical competence in the Afghan police by incorporating reading and writing courses with essential police training.
“Being able to read and write will increase these guys’ ability in so many ways,” ... "We are teaching both English and Pashto, so they are better able to communicate with villagers and us.”
“I’m over here pretty much all day trying to teach them when I need to be training my guys,” Burke said. “As a solution, I started involving my guys in the training."
“Burke has always been someone willing to take that extra step to help someone else,” Sorkin said. “He understands that education is one of the keys to prosperity in this country and took the initiative to do his part here in Nawa.”
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Local Governance Center Opens South of Baghdad
ORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Dec. 31, 2007 – The Arab Jabour Governance Center officially opened Dec. 27 with a large ceremony on the grounds of the center. More than 250 people were in attendance.
[snip]
“This is where people can get problems solved,” Adgie said, adding that this also is a step forward in political progress in Arab Jabour.
[snip]
Local Iraqis in attendance praised the opening of the center and the overall improved security in Arab Jabour. “Today is a great day for our region and for all of Baghdad,” said Majid Hamad Yasien al Jabouri. “This is a great day for all of the Iraqi people.”
READ MORE
Hooray (for some in) Hollywood!
[credit where due]
To help the traumatized and physically injured residents of Sderot, Israel, a small town in southern Israel up against the Gaza Strip where terrorists daily pound the town with rockets, some prominent Hollywood personalities including Paula Abdul, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight, will be participating Tuesday in a charity and solidarity concert for the rocket-battered town of Sderot in Beverly Hills.
The concert, entitled "Live for Sderot", which will include a performance by Israeli singer Ninet Tayeb and will be attended by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, will also launch the celebrations of the State of Israel's 60th anniversary in the city. Guests of honor at this special concert will be a delegation of 10 teenagers from Sderot which were flown to visit Los Angeles and share their experiences of life in Sderot with local American youths.
And what is daily life like in Sderot? Terror and horror combined with the strength, courage and resiliency of the victims as their government ponders the best way to respond. And meanwhile the Gazans demand an end to an Israeli blockade, claiming it is creating a humanitarian crisis; however they seem to have no problem obtaining all the materials for deadly rockets which they value.
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Bush Lobbies Again for Surveillance Law
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday lobbied again for an intelligence law allowing government eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails, as the tone of the dispute between the White House and Congress over terrorist surveillance grew increasingly sharp. "To put it bluntly, if the enemy is calling into America, we really need to know what they're saying, and we need to know what they're thinking, and we need to know who they're talking to," Bush said at the start of his annual meeting with the nation's governors at the White House.
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Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts
Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernization of the religion.
The country's powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.
The Hadith is a collection of thousands of sayings reputed to come from the Prophet Muhammad. As such, it is the principal guide for Muslims in interpreting the Koran and the source of the vast majority of Islamic law, or Sharia. But the Turkish state has come to see the Hadith as having an often negative influence on a society it is in a hurry to modernise, and believes it responsible for obscuring the original values of Islam.
[snip] "This is kind of akin to the Christian Reformation. Not exactly the same, but... it's changing the theological foundations of [the] religion..."
[snip]
According to Fadi Hakura, an expert on Turkey from Chatham House in London, Turkey is doing nothing less than recreating Islam - changing it from a religion whose rules must be obeyed, to one designed to serve the needs of people in a modern secular democracy...
[reads like the real deal - exactly what I've been hoping for but frankly didn't believe I'd see in my life time - how it actually plays out will be 'interesting' to say the least; you don't have to be a rocket biologists to know this will represent the greatest of all threats to the extremists...]
READ MORE
The Culture of Tyranny
[meanwhile, from the 'West'...]
The ancient city of Damascus received another mark of recognition last week: UNESCO last week designated Damascus as the Arab Capital of Culture for 2008.
Damascus serves as the headquarters of a long list of designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), and an alphabet soup of smaller organizations similarly committed to the practice of violence against civilians. Syria has successfully defended its position at the top of the USA's list of "countries supporting terrorism" since 1979.
The new Capital of Culture and Resistance also, according to U.S. defense and intelligence reports, maintains an active chemical weapons program. Other reports suggest that Syria was clandestinely working on a nuclear program when these efforts were halted by a successful Israeli attack in September, 2007. [a few months ago]
Thus, the 'culture of resistance' means acts of terror against civilians, the deliberate subversion of the governments of neighboring countries, the assassination of political opponents and the apparent attempt to stockpile weapons of mass destruction. One wonders if this is what UNESCO -- which describes its own goal as 'to build peace in the minds of men' had in mind.
The title of 'Arab capital of culture' is currently held by the capital of one of the most brutal and lawless regimes in the world. Arab culture - which has given so much of lasting beauty and value to humanity - surely deserves a better representative.
[UNsalvageable]
READ MORE
US sounds sour notes on North Korea
Seoul, South Korea -- Despite a symbolic symphonic thaw with North Korea, the only music the Bush administration is making here is with South Korea's new, pro-U.S. president who has vowed a tougher line on his Stalinist neighbor. (Snip) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was next door in Seoul on Monday lauding President Lee Myung-bak and his intent to hold North Korea to its pledge to abandon nuclear weapons.
[keep its pledge?!! How unfair! - oh, the inhumanity - more cowboy diplomacy ... {ad infinitum}. Another country that's never kept a pledge in its history - while receiving American tax dollars year in and year out.]
READ MORE
Bad Blood in Canada
You would think that a massive malfunction of Canada's health care system, involving an incompetently run blood banking system, thousands of HIV and hepatitis C infections and deaths caused by negligence, and criminal prosecutions, would be found newsworthy by the US media. Incredibly, aside from brief reports of dismissals of the criminal indictments given with no explanation of the underlying disaster, the whole affair has been virtually blacked by our media. Such a screw up in a health care system which has been portrayed as a desirable alternative to our own certainly deserves closer scrutiny. Read about it at Hot Medical News.
[the root cause? the bane of all government run health'care' systems: once it's government, it's open to the full gamut of politically correct insanity - in this case, not excluding homosexual men from donating blood in the early '80 when screening techniques were rudimentary. obviously nothing newsworthy there.]
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WAL-MART CAN BE GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH
Self-interested doctors need to get over their archaic ways of doing business, says Rahul K. Parikh, M.D. In our current system, costs keep rising and being shifted to consumers while access to care is unpredictable for almost any practice:
> According to a 2004 report by the Government Accountability Office about Medicare preventive services, 30 percent of people over age 65 did not receive a flu vaccine and 37 percent had never had a pneumonia vaccine.On the other hand, retail clinics are thriving, in large part because they provide excellent access. After all, what's more convenient than showing up any day, night or weekend without telephone time spent on hold trying to make an appointment, only to shuffling your personal schedule to theirs? Then there's cost:
> Another example: In 2000, Medicare estimated that 6.6 million beneficiaries were never told by their doctor that they had high blood pressure.
> Retail clinics operate on a fee-for-service basis and don't accept insurance. [nor endure the costs of its processing]Overall, the growth of clinics, and the desire to pay out of pocket, is a not-so-subtle sign that consumers are asserting their purchasing power in the health sector, just as they would with other goods and services, says Parikh.
> Most charge a maximum of $50, which is significantly cheaper than the $100-plus your insurance company will pay when see your doctor.
READ MORE
End of Global Warming?
Dr. David Whitehouse, the British astronomer and former science editor of the BBC, tells us:
"The fact is that the global temperature of 2007 is statistically the same as 2006 and every year since 2001'Whatever warming trend was going on has flattened out in the last seven years. Which is an odd thing, because China and India have been pumping out more CO2 from cars and industry. And an ever increasing avalanche of ugly facts are nailing the biggest scare story in history.
[snip]
"The fact is that the global temperature of 2007 is statistically the same as 2006 as well as every year since 2001. Global warming has, temporarily or permanently, ceased. Temperatures across the world are not increasing as they should according to the fundamental theory behind global warming - the greenhouse effect."
Dr. Whitehouse's wonderful news will make a lot of people angry. They don't want to believe good things about Mother Earth. They've put their money on Bad News for Momma. Which makes you wonder what they really want.
[NYT and BBC - oh my!]
READ MORE
Mercury leaks found as new bulbs break
California
Compact fluorescent lamps - those spiral, energy-efficient bulbs popular as a device to 'combat' global warming - can pose a small risk of mercury poisoning to infants, young children, and pregnant women if they break, two reports concluded yesterday.
[snip]
The US Environmental Protection Agency and the states of Massachusetts and Vermont said yesterday that, based on the Maine study, they are revising their recommendations for where to use compact fluorescents in a home and how to clean up when one breaks ... recommended that if a compact fluorescent breaks, get children and pets out of the room. Ventilate the room. Never use a vacuum, even on a rug, to clean up a broken compact fluorescent lamps. Instead, use stiff paper such as index cards and tape to pick up pieces, and then wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel. If there are young children or pregnant woman in the house, consider cutting out the piece of carpet where the lamp broke as a precaution. Place the shards and cleanup debris in a glass jar with a screw top and remove the jar from the house.
[snip]
Disposal regulations vary from state to state, with some requiring broken compact fluorescent light bulbs, to be disposed of as household hazardous waste. Most states allow intact compact fluorescents to be thrown away, but some - such as Vermont, Minnesota, and California - ban disposal in trash...
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Sacked for sheep sex prank
Two British oil workers have been sacked after simulating sex with sheep due to be slaughtered for a Muslim festival. The animals were being killed for 30 foreign workers to celebrate Eid Al Adhha in the Algerian oil town Hassi Messaoud. The men, who have not been named, were reported by stunned restaurant workers and guards — then sacked by their employer, US industrial giant Schlumberger. They were accused of ''sheep violation''...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article639408.ece
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Heroes: Wounded in Iraq, National Guardsman Wants to Return
For an Arkansas Army National Guardsman, the war in Iraq came to an abrupt end in the alley of a Baghdad neighborhood on June 13, 2004. [snip] it was eight days before Pannell awoke at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here to find doctors had amputated his right leg below the knee and his left leg above the knee.
Two prosthetic legs and plenty of physical therapy have Pannell up and walking again, and despite all he’s been through, he wants to return to the country where his life was turned upside-down.
“I think it would be vitally important for those dudes to realize that once we get hurt, we don’t forget about them,” Pannell said. “That’s something a lot of people can’t understand, but it’s impossible. It’s impossible to forget your guys.”
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Big News from Baghdad
[there...]
If you’re looking for one measure of the impact of last year’s troop surge in Iraq, look at Gen. David Petraeus as he walks through a Baghdad neighborhood, with no body armor, and no helmet. It’s been one year since the beginning of what’s known here as Operation Fardh Al Qadnoon.
“A big part of the effort, over the last year, has been to determine who is reconcilable, who, literally, is willing to put down his rifle and talk, who is willing to shout, instead of shoot.” Petraeus said.
Petraeus now expresses cautious optimism. “I have to tell you that, having been here for a number of years, this is very encouraging, actually. I mean, this is, this is potentially a big moment.” he said.
[poor delusional idiot - didn't he hear the Speaker of the House just inform us that "there's been no progress" in Iraq? shell shocked I guess]
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Our Unilateral Disarmament - Lawyers Before Safety
[here...]
It's hard to think of an action that has put as many lives at risk as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D.-Calif.) declaration of unilateral disarmament in the War on Terror last week. By refusing to renew our ability to monitor terrorist communications overseas, Speaker Pelosi has put Americans at risk. She has blinded our counterterrorism capability and shut down America's most sophisticated defenses against the irreconcilable wing of Islam. As of midnight Feb. 16 the law governing America's defense has reverted to a state inadequate to stop terrorists. Why? Because the Democratic left believes lining the pockets of trial lawyers is more important than stopping terrorists.
As Robert Novak reported Monday, the trial lawyers -- the Democrats' most important source of political contributions -- have filed dozens of lawsuits seeking millions of dollars against phone companies for helping keep us safe by responding to the request of intelligence agencies to provide critical information about suspected terrorist communications without a warrant. The continued cooperation of the telecom companies in monitoring terrorist communications is crucial to America's defense, which is why the Senate bill contained the immunity provision...
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War? What War?
A pertinent question for 2008 might be: How many 9/11's does it take to wake a sleeping giant and keep him alert at the helm? More than one, it would seem. How quickly America has been lulled back to sleep. With a heap of help from our watchful media.
For more than four years, every news outlet in the Country was stirring its anti-American pot and blasting news of the carnage from Iraq 24/7. They were counting the bodies and inflating the count. They were giving more coverage to the paltry numbers of paid anti-war protesters than they were to our military heroes and their families. We heard about the horrors of the Iraq War day in and day out.
[snip]But suddenly, we are winning the war that was lost, and you could hear a pin drop in the abandoned echo chamber of war coverage. And just as predictably, the 2008 Presidential election, according to our media elites, isn't about the war at all. It's about the economy.
And before you vote, ask yourself just one question: If we aren't safe in our homes and workplaces from another catastrophe like 9/11, will the price of your bread really matter?
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Our Balkans Error
Demonstrations and riots on Serbia's border with northern Kosovo — which Serbs consider to be their nation's heartland — have caused NATO forces in the area to seal off the border. Fearing violence, the EU has withdrawn 2,000 officials there. This leaves NATO facing a very ugly decision, and soon: Use force to prevent an escalation of the rioting and anger by Serbs, who feel betrayed by Europe and the U.S., or stand back and let it happen.
The removal of European Union officials from Kosovo, the newly independent former Serbian province, is bad news. Trouble is on the way, and once again the U.S. may be asked to clean up the mess. Supporting a Muslim separatist movement within Europe strikes us as a fool's errand, one that could lead to similar uprisings around the world from aggrieved minorities...
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Russia assures Serbia of its support on Kosovo
[to say nothing of these guys...]
Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian first deputy prime minister and the presumptive successor to President Vladimir Putin, committed the Kremlin on Monday to long-term support in backing Serbia against an independent Kosovo.
"We proceed from the understanding that Serbia is a single state with its jurisdiction spanning its entire territory, and we will stick to this principled stance in the future," he said, in remarks reported widely on news broadcasts in Russia. "Serbia," he added, faces "conditions of illegitimate actions to unilaterally recognize Kosovo."
The United States reacted quickly to Medvedev's statements and restated its own support for Kosovo. It made clear that, in Washington's view, Kosovo's break from Serbia was final.
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Pentagon Chief Says NATO's Very Survival is at Stake in Afghanistan Mission
Survival of the NATO alliance, a cornerstone of American security policy for six decades, is at stake in the debate over how the United States and Europe should share the burden of fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.
"We must not -- we cannot -- become a two-tiered alliance of those willing to fight and those who are not," "Such a development, with all its implications for collective security, would effectively destroy the alliance,"Washington has had innumerable disputes with its NATO allies in the 59 years since it was founded as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union. But today's debate over the importance of the mission in Afghanistan and how to accomplish it was portrayed by Gates as among the most difficult ever.
A central theme of Gates' speech was his assertion that al-Qaida extremists, either in Afghanistan or elsewhere, pose a greater threat to Europe than many Europeans realize.
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MORE PRIVATE HEALTH CARE IN CANADA URGED
The architect of Quebec's now-overburdened public health care system is proposing further privatization and user fees of up to $98 for people to see their family doctor. Former provincial Liberal health minister Claude Castonguay concluded that Quebec can no longer sustain the annual growth in health care costs. The province currently spends about $23.6 billion annually on health care, or about 40 per cent of its budget. Recommendations include:
> An additional tax based on income and the number of visits made to a doctor's office or hospital in a calendar year. Low-income families and children would be exempt."If nothing is done, at one point we will reach a crisis point ... this is why we say it is urgent to act," Castonguay said. "There's no miracle solution, there is no simple solution."
> Encouraging private-sector involvement in the management of hospitals and medical clinics.
> Lifting a ban that prevents doctors from practicing both in the public system and privately.
> Raising the provincial sales tax by up to one percentage point.
[au contraire; personal medical savings accounts, established when young, tax deferred and appreciating like 401k's, but immediately available for medical reasons, with unused funds eventually returned, even if only in part, to the contributors after retirement would work miracles. It would be our money that's being spent - and free market principles could finally be brought to bear]
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Global Warming? New Data Shows Ice Is Back
according to reports from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that reveal that almost all the allegedly “lost” ice has come back. A NOAA report shows that ice levels which had shrunk from 5 million square miles in January 2007 to just 1.5 million square miles in October, are almost back to their original levels.
Moreover, a Feb. 18 report in the London Daily Express showed that there is nearly a third more ice in Antarctica than usual, challenging the global warming crusaders and buttressing arguments of skeptics who deny that the world is undergoing global warming.
Around the world, vast areas have been buried under some of the heaviest snowfalls in decades... If global warming gets any worse we'll all freeze to death.
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Illegal Immigration and Low Wage Labor
In recent years, ripening crops regularly are accompanied by stories suggesting we need illegal immigrant labor to bring in the harvest. [snip] Visions of crops rotting in the fields make for vivid journalism. But in September, 2007 a Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report for Congress entitled "Farm Labor Shortages and Immigration Policy," found little cause to worry about crops ripening and spoiling, stating that,
"Trends in the agricultural labor market do not suggest the existence of a nationwide shortage of domestically available farm workers..."A 2007 study written by Philip Martin, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis, for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) entitled "Farm Labor shortages: How Real? What Response" further substantiated the conclusions of the CRS Report.
Busting The Myth Across Industries
A March 2006 CIS study of the top 22 occupations in 2005 indicated that in no occupational category did immigrant employees outnumber native employees. In other words, native-born U.S. workers are already doing all jobs - and in majority numbers - where high concentrations of illegal immigrant are also employed.
[snip]
Here's one example of that wage-leveraging impact from the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR):
"In Los Angeles, unionized black janitors had been earning $12 an hour, with benefits. But with the advent of subcontractors who compose roaming crews of Mexican and El Salvadoran laborers, the pay dropped to the minimum wage of $3.35 per hour. "The myth only approaches truth if amended to read: Illegal immigrants accept jobs that American workers won't do for poverty level wages and no benefits (including healthcare).
[whenever we're told about jobs Americans won't do it's a lie; natives hold the majority of all (legal) jobs - and that despite the above referenced wage-suppression. What say we exclude illegals {as you'd think the name would require} with prohibitive consequences for employers who knowingly hire them, and let market forces re-level to natural levels? Yeah, radical]
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Police hunt little old lady
Police are hunting an armed robber who tried to hold up a Post Office - described as a little old lady in her 60s. The pensioner, believed to be aged between 65 and 70, entered the shop in Northenden, Manchester, armed with the blade and threatened the cashier demanding money. Staff activated the store's alarms and the woman shuffled off empty handed.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=99830&in_page_id=2
Monday, February 25, 2008
Face of Defense: Soldier Returns to Service After Two-Decade Break
In a room lit only by sunlight streaming in, a soldier bites through the plastic wrapper of a package of pencils. With children waiting excitedly in the adjoining rooms, there is not time to waste pulling out a knife. ...
Wilkerson decided to re-enlist after the Army raised its maximum enlistment age to 42 [he's 43].
“I’ve got a 21-year-old son, and there are kids (serving) who are younger than him,” he said. “I’m still in shape and capable of doing a good job. Maybe my service will mean that another young guy his age will be able to return to his family.”
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Al-Qaeda Leaders: 'We are in Crisis'
Two captured letters released by the US military show Al-Qaeda in Iraq in desperate shape while local leaders complain bitterly about the success of "The Awakening" that has brought 80,000 Sunnis into an alliance with the Americans:
Al-Qaeda in Iraq faces an “extraordinary crisis”. Last year's mass defection of ordinary Sunnis from al-Qaeda to the US military “created panic, fear and the unwillingness to fight”. The terrorist group's security structure suffered “total collapse”.
These are the words not of al-Qaeda's enemies but of one of its own leaders in Anbar province — once the group's stronghold. They were set down last summer in a 39-page letter seized during a US raid on an al-Qaeda base near Samarra in November.
--
That second document is a bitter 16-page testament written last October by a local al-Qaeda leader near Balad, north of Baghdad. “I am Abu-Tariq, emir of the al-Layin and al-Mashahdah sector,” the author begins. He goes on to describe how his force of 600 shrank to fewer than 20...
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Arms & The Manpower
Analysts predict that equipment shortages in the military may become a source for debate in the upcoming 2008 Presidential election.
As America enters its fifth year in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a growing need to replace “worn out” equipment. Both the need for new equipment and calls to expand the number of military personnel have led to increased projected spending in the Department of Defense budget for 2008.
While promises for a stronger military abound, finding the money to fund equipment and training will not be easy, especially if the economy goes into recession. The future President will have to make tough decisions in the contest for funds between military and domestic welfare programs.
“The question is going to be—Where is the money going to come from?”Already, new weapons programs for the Air Force and Navy have been put on hold in order to ensure that the Army and Marines are well-equipped first. The deferment comes despite President Bush’s original budget request to pump $38.7 billion into shipbuilding and $33.8 billion into new aircraft equipment.
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Iran plans to launch two more rockets into space
Iran is to launch two more rockets into space in the next few months, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Monday, after a firing of a rocket earlier this month sparked international concern. "Two other rockets will be launched so that we can then send a satellite into space," Ahmadinejad said at a rally in Tehran broadcast live on state television.
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Proposed Treaty Threatens Operations with NATO Allies
A proposed arms-control treaty banning use of cluster munitions and aiding countries that use them could affect U.S. operations with NATO allies, a Defense Department official said. A draft treaty to enforce the ban is now circulating among Oslo Convention nations, and it prohibits any form of assistance to countries that use cluster munitions...“A complete ban would put at risk the lives of our soldiers and those of our coalition partners, and make it more difficult to fulfill our security guarantees to others,” he explained. “And for certain types of targets, use of cluster munitions could, in fact, result in fewer civilian casualties and less damage of civilian infrastructure than would be the case if conventional unitary warheads were used against the same target.”
The Oslo process risks producing a “feel-good” arms-control outcome where nations without imminent need for cluster munitions produce a ban that has very little effect on their national security, but does have an impact on the security needs of the United States and its NATO allies. A NATO ally that signs the Olso Treaty would not be able to operate with U.S. forces in a NATO operation...
[a despicable sham designed to give our gutless 'allies' an excuse to never contribute to anything - while putting our sons and daughters at greater risk while they sit on the sidelines]
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China warns U.S. against plan to destroy spy satellite
Beijing - In response to a U.S. plan to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite, China has warned against threats to security in outer space, without mentioning its own successful anti-satellite missile test last year. The Chinese government also stopped short of linking the planned U.S. strike with Beijing's repeated calls for a complete ban on space weapons.
[China has never honored a treaty its signed. It uses them as a weapon against democracies who sign in good faith.]
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LINES FOR SWEDISH CARE GROW LONGER
If universal coverage can work anywhere, it should be Sweden, a small, homogenous nation where poverty is virtually unknown. Yet according to European think tank Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP) in its Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index 2008:
> Waiting times for care, long a problem in Sweden and too often deadly wherever they're found, are now the longest on the Continent.Long waits are a hallmark of government health care anywhere it's employed. When the perception exists that treatment is free (it is not; Swedes pay more than half their gross income in taxes to support the welfare state), system overuse is inevitable. People can think of no reason to self-ration care.
> While Sweden excels at medical outcomes, its accessibility to and quality of service are bad and worsening.
Swedes are accustomed to cradle-to-grave care provided by the state. But rather than deal with long waits, they're opting for private care, which got a boost from limited reform in the 1990s. In private care, patients self-regulate and put less stress on the system.
Thanks to the profit motive, private health care providers have an incentive to cut waiting times, lest they lose customers to the competition. Government providers have no such motivation.
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Saying No to CoerciveCare
Whether it's Mitt, Hillary, or Arnold doing the sales job
...Yet many California unions argued that a mandate would force uninsured, middle-income working families to divert money from more pressing needs toward coverage whose price and quality they cannot control.
The unions are correct: This is exactly what is happening in Massachusetts, where Mitt Romney enacted a similar plan two years ago as governor. (And Mr. Romney's plan is the inspiration for both the Schwarzenegger and Clinton plans.) The experience in the Bay State deserves a lot more scrutiny than it has been getting.
...All this has inflated demand, which, combined with onerous regulations on insurance suppliers, has triggered premium increases of 12 percent for this year—double last year's national average. No one is escaping the financial sting. The state health-care bill for fiscal 2008-2009 is expected to be $400 million more than originally projected—an 85 percent increase.
...The government response to rising premiums is, unsurprisingly, price controls...
...Forcing people to buy substandard care they cannot afford is not universal care, she says. "It is a hoax." And so Massachusetts is marching toward a system of two-tiered medicine—the alleged market inequity that universal care is supposed to cure...
http://www.reason.com/news/show/124783.html
NYT Takes on Al Gore and Climate Alarmists
Moments after Investor's Business Daily presaged that "2008 just might be the year the so-called scientific consensus that man is causing the Earth to warm begins to crack," the New York Times of all entities published a rather shocking piece pointing fingers at folks like Nobel Laureate Al Gore for being part of a group of "activists, journalists and publicity-savvy scientists who selectively monitor the globe looking for newsworthy evidence of a new form of sinfulness, burning fossil fuels."
This from the New York Times? Hold on tightly to your seats, folks, for the shocks in this piece came early and often (emphasis added throughout):
A year ago, British meteorologists made headlines predicting that the buildup of greenhouse gases would help make 2007 the hottest year on record. At year's end, even though the British scientists reported the global temperature average was not a new record - it was actually lower than any year since 2001 - the BBC confidently proclaimed, "2007 Data Confirms Warming Trend."Checking that link to make sure it really goes to a Times piece? I understand - and there's {much} more...
When the Arctic sea ice last year hit the lowest level ever recorded by satellites, it was big news and heralded as a sign that the whole planet was warming. When the Antarctic sea ice last year reached the highest level ever recorded by satellites, it was pretty much ignored. A large part of Antarctica has been cooling recently, but most coverage of that continent has focused on one small part that has warmed.
When Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans in 2005, it was supposed to be a harbinger of the stormier world predicted by some climate modelers. When the next two hurricane seasons were fairly calm - by some measures, last season in the Northern Hemisphere was the calmest in three decades - the availability entrepreneurs changed the subject. Droughts in California and Australia became the new harbingers of climate change (never mind that a warmer planet is projected to have more, not less, precipitation over all).
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Border crossings cut by Texas crackdown
A strict policy to arrest, prosecute and jail illegal aliens who cross into the U.S. has shown significant success in reducing crossings and crime along the Texas border, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials said this month. The first 45 days of Operation Streamline — a collaborative effort of local, state and federal agencies in Texas — has resulted in decreased illegal border crossings and crime...
[who would have guessed? and note the inclusion of crime in the decreases]
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Grading Teachers: Kids' Test Scores Must Count
If you want good teachers in the schools, the first step is obvious: Figure out who they are. And not by relying solely on water-cooler chat and subjective judgments but by also looking at rock-hard data on teacher performance. Such common-sense thinking has led Chancellor Joel Klein & Co. to undertake a pilot project to measure and track teachers' results - based on their students' test scores. (Snip) Imagine teachers treated like other professionals - having their performance monitored and quantified, as is routinely done in other fields...
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The Ghosts of 2004...
California
The Sacramento Bee reports today that Prop. 58, the measure sponsored by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2004 as the so-called “California Balanced Budget Act” isn’t all it was cracked up to be. Schwarzenegger made a dizzying array of promises to skeptical voters in order to win passage of the measure. He said,
“California faces unprecedented budget deficits. Overspending has led to serious shortfalls which threatens the state’s ability to pay its bills and access financial markets. This proposition is a safeguard against this EVER HAPPENING AGAIN. Proposition 58 will prevent the Legislature from ENACTING BUDGETS THAT SPEND MORE MONEY THAN WE HAVE.”As I told the Senate when it placed Prop. 58 on the ballot in December of 2003, the so-called “safeguards” were nothing more than an artful window-dressing of existing law – with one critical exception:
“Since statehood, the constitution has prevented one generation from passing on its day-to-day expenses to the next. This measure temporarily removes that provision so that you can do what no generation before you has ever dared to do: steal from the future.”Four years later those warnings have borne out. While Proposition 58 is now being proven in practice to be a toothless watchdog, the Governor has just ordered another $3.3 billion of borrowing to finance his deficit spending – borrowing that Prop. 58 made possible with the promise it would only be used to retire Davis’ deficit and prevent it from “ever happening again.”
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Sunday, February 17, 2008
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