McCain's latest faux paus (or just poor judgment?)

According to Mark Tapscott, Sen. John McCain believes that a "clean government" is more important that the First Amendment. Here's the quote:

"He [Michael Graham] also mentioned my abridgment of First Amendment rights, i.e. talking about campaign finance reform....I know that money corrupts....I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."

Is this how he expects to win the presidency, by trashing the Constitution?

By the way, how can you have a "clean government" without the first amendment?

Rush's Settlement

I was listening to a tape delay broadcast of Hannity when ABC News (almost happily) announced that Rush had been arrested on drug charges...details at the bottom of the hour. It didn't quite happen that way. No perp walk, no hand cuffs; ok the libs may have gotten a mug shot, but he was smiling. Good pic, too!

Go to DRUDGE for the press release.

Here's my take: This is a face saving deal for the Florida Prosecuting Attorney after a years long investigation that came up with nothing, zero, nada. Limbaugh agreed to pay $30,000.00 to help pay for the investigation. Huh? Quite frankly I don't understand the terms of the agreement which will be signed on Monday, after which we'll hear much more. Mark Levin promises to fill in some details on Monday.

The bottom line is Rush is not guilty after what must be an embarrassing defeat for the State Attorney. And instead of throwing out the case he had to come up with what amounts to a slap on the wrist for not having anything that could be found by the prosecutor.

In other words, "we can't find anything but you better not do this again and we're going to fine you $3ooo.oo today and $30,000.00 to help with the investigation and $30.00/month just to show you who's in charge. And after you do as we demand, we'll expunge the sole charge of doctor shopping after 18 months, if you don't get in trouble with the law between now and then."

In other words, not guilty! Case closed!

UPDATE: Atty Roy Black's Press Conference

"Big Awl and Gasbags"

When I finished my last post I visited some of my regular haunts to see what was going on in the blogosphere and I came upon David Limbaugh's new column. What he so reasonably penned is what I was attempting to say in my crude, vein throbbing way. If you happened to read my preceding post and realized I was beginning to lose it, you'll need to read David's rational piece to see what I was trying to say.

Thanks for straightening me out and calming me down, David!

Lawmakers Scramble to buy votes

In an obvious effort to appeal to voters outraged by high gas prices caused by 30 years of leftist energy policies, shameless lawmakers are offering meaningless solutions to a growing oil and gas problem:

Senate Republicans proposed a $100 rebate check for millions of taxpayers Thursday to counter high gasoline costs, but linked the assistance to drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, assuring the measure would face stiff opposition from most Democrats.

Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee called the proposal "a bold package that will give consumers some relief" from gasoline prices that have passed $3 a gallon in many parts of the country.

"We are going to ease the burden," added Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., at a GOP news conference unveiling the measures. Frist said he hoped for a Senate vote next Tuesday.

Let me get this straight! They're going to "altruistically" hand out our $100 bills, to ease our financial burden in this present gas crisis, while they should be passing emergency allowances to drill in the desolate frozen tundra of the Alaskan nether regions where no one goes, or at the very least, drop the federal gas tax immediately. The $1oo bill pay off to selected voters is insulting. By the way, rebates are taxible, so the $1oo giveaway will be taxed as income. They tax us, waste most of it, give some back and tax us on what they give back...and we're supposed to be pissed off at Big Oil??? Wake up, boys and girls!

How about making some bold decisions aimed to fix the problem instead of shamefully buying a few votes with our tax dollars! It's not yours to give away!

There's more Congressional shamefulness:

The Senate Finance Committee also scrambled to respond. In a rare move, the panel requested tax returns from the country's major oil and gas companies as part of an investigation into industry profits and soaring gasoline costs.

Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), R-Iowa, the committee's chairman, said senators were concerned about the "record profits and significant executive compensation in the oil and gas industry."

"I want to make sure the oil companies aren't taking a speed pass by the tax man," Grassley said in a statement.

These are so-called republicans, boys and girls. How dare they call the oil companies to task when Congress is to blame for this entire matter.

Congressional ineptitude or corruption, the end result is the same; America gets screwed by the very people we entrust to take care of the nation's business.

Is the Term "Illegal Alien" a Racial Slur?

The Conservative Voice is reporting that atty. Domingo Garcia claims the term "illegal alien" is a racial slur:

Appearing on KLIF Radio’s Gregg Knapp show, attorney Domingo Garcia said that using the terms illegal alien or illegal immigrant is a “racial slur”. Garcia said that those who use it, in reference to Hispanics, are racist.

Knapp advised Garcia that using the term “illegal aliens” or “illegal immigrants” is an accurate term applied to [their] legal vs. illegal status in the country and a true depiction of the fact that they are illegal. Garcia said: “Using words like illegal alien is like calling people derogatory names…like calling people nigger!”

I wonder how this plays in the Black Community.

Quote of the Day

By President Bush when announcing Tony Snow as the next Press Secretary:

"Tony already knows most of you and he's agreed to take the job anyway."

"Gas Fumes"

Cox & Forkum capture the emotions of many who forget that "Big Oil" isn't the only business in business to make a profit. Politicians have been quick to blame, NO, insistent on blaming "Big Oil" instead of taking responsibility for their own ineptitude and failed policies which have caused short supplies and high prices.

Today's Best Paragraph

From an OpinionJournal piece today:

"Few things are less becoming in a political party than desperation, as Republicans are now demonstrating as they panic over rising oil and gas prices. If blaming private industry for Congress's own energy mistakes is the best the GOP can do, no wonder its voters may sit out the November election."

The rest of the piece is pretty good, too!

Has the Left Won?

Talking about our failed energy policy, Mark Levin, said today on his talk show that the "left has won." Sadly, I agree. Disenchanted conservatives across the fruited plain have been asking themselves for quite some time now, just what the hell is going on in the republican party? Why is there zero leadership and why do leftist policies of the last 30 years prevail when republicans are in the majority?

Once again we heard the president opine that we are "addicted to oil" and there needs to be a "probe." What nonsense! He knows better. It's a commodity, like food, not a drug (but speaking of drugs and outrageous profit taking, maybe we should probe "Big Pharma," but I digress...).

Republican Congressional leaders were showing their democrat tendencies today too, seeking probes and pointing fingers at "Big Oil." What a disgrace!

How could anyone conclude anything other than the left has won?

This is what happens when one party swerves so far to the left that it leaves a centrist void. When republicans should be seeking favor with the conservatives who put them in office, by moving to the right, they are rushing to the left almost as quickly as the dems have. The republicans are already at the point of being left of center when it comes to spending, border control, illegal immigration, ever expanding government, and energy policy. Ronaldus Magnus is spinning in his grave!

Conservatives were delighted when the dems cozied up to the Michael Moore's, Algore's and Al Franken's of the world; after all, we reasoned, that only makes it easier to romance the more conservative dems away from their far left leaning party and make republicans out of them. Instead, the republicans have romanced them by becoming more like them while flipping off the conservatives. Wonder if they've thought this all the way out?

Bush Orders Probe Into Gas Price (Will Gov't Probe itself?)

According to an AP piece at BREITBART, President Bush is ordering a probe into gas prices.

Isn't that special. Can you possibly imagine why such a probe is taking place? Here's a clue:

Republicans who control Congress have become concerned that the high cost of filling up could become a problem for them in the November elections. Polls suggest that voters favor Democrats over Republicans on the issue, and Bush gets low marks for handling gasoline prices.

There you have it! This is nothing more than an opportunistic feel good ploy to attack the effect and ignore the cause, "and by the way, don't forget to vote us back into office for feeling your pain."

What a crock! I wonder if the "probe" will discover the principle of supply and demand that controls world markets more than anything. Do you think the "probe" will discover that Big Oil makes on average a 7% profit and the national average is 6.8%, making it in line with the national average? I wonder if the "probe" will discover that a refinery hasn't been built in this country for 28 years which has suppressed gasoline production. I wonder if the "probe" will tell us why Big Oil isn't allowed to drill wherever there are huge deposits. We don't have an oil shortage. Do you think the "probe" will disclose how much local, state and federal taxes are collected per gallon of gas? In Dallas it's around 38 cents/gallon and from what I understand, it's as high as 70 cents in some states. Hmmm, I wonder if the "probe" will reveal that! I wonder if the "probe" will reveal that the summer gas recipe changeover is causing shortages. The myriad of recipes themselves contributes to the high prices, but Big Government demands they exist even though at least one of the additives does irreparable damage to water supplies. Thanks, EPA! I wonder if the "probe" will delineate how much Big Government regulations impose on each gallon of gas.

So, what if the "probe" shows that the high prices and short supplies of gas fall squarely on the shoulders of the hypocrites and charlatans in Congress? Will that be disclosed to the voting public? I don't think so. Something tells me the fall guy or guys will be way far away from the Big Government apparatchik.

That's right, boys and girls, the politicians play us as fools and unfortunately, way too many may be foolishly appeased by the "probe," which, heaven forbid, could call for Big Government to act which could really screw things up. Those who see the solution to our problems with Big Government haven't yet realized that it's Big Government who has gotten us to where we are. If they would butt out and let the market take over, miracles could happen.

UPDATE: Here's a corroborating must read by Henry Payne Mad about gas prices? Blame government, not Big Oil. Here are a couple paragraphs:

Uncle Sam's double whammy

Congress first mandated the production of 4 billion gallons of ethanol this year (increasing to 7.5 billion in 2012). This arbitrary number is to help wean America from its "oil addiction," as President Bush puts it. In reality, it is a sop to the powerful farm lobby that makes corn-based ethanol.

Second, the energy bill required that ethanol replace MTBE as an additive in gasoline to meet smog rules in urban areas. Because smog is heaviest in summer, oil companies are refining their "summer blends" now. Already struggling to meet the initial 4 billion gallon mandate, the ethanol industry cannot keep up with the additional demand from the MTBE mandate, resulting in shortages and price spikes.

"We asked for a more orderly, two-year transition from MTBE to ethanol. But we didn't get it," Gilligan laments.

An easier transition would have required offending another powerful group: the Democrat-allied trial lawyers. They await the potential windfall from lawsuits alleging MTBE has leaked from gas tanks and tainted groundwater. As long as MTBE was federally mandated, oil firms had legal cover. But the energy bill set a May 5 deadline for the transition -- without any continuing liability protection for MTBE.

Michigan's proximity to ethanol production and its own corn crop means it has never depended on MTBE. But that hasn't spared us from the gas spike. America's coasts most need the smog-compliant gasoline, taxing ethanol supplies and driving up prices everywhere.

Ethanol's shipping cost

Another reason coastal states opted for MTBE: Ethanol, which attracts water, is expensive to ship because it can't go by pipeline. It is hauled to coastal cities by truck or rail, causing delays and storage problems for distributors.

"Someone has to pay for all this," a Texas fuel distributor spokesman told the Wall Street Journal, "and the consumer is always the one that gets to pay eventually."

Foreign-made ethanol might help supplies, but Congress has protected farmers and gouged consumers by slapping a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imports.

This situation "will all clear up by June," says Mark Griffin, president of the Michigan Petroleum Association, as the summer blend deadline passes and the refineries still off-line from Hurricane Katrina begin producing again.

But now that the GOP and Democrats have recommitted government to intervening in fuel markets, price hikes will become more likely. Republicans have strayed from free-market principles and created a mother of all fuel mandates that is draining their popularity and credibility.

In short, if you're upset over high gas prices, don't look at Big Oil -- look at Big Government.

(Henry Payne is The News' editorial cartoonist. E-mail him at hpayne@detnews.com.)

Hot Air: It's what's new!

The hardest working woman in the media has debuted a hot new site...Hot Air, which features video clips and all things cutting edge in the blogosphere. Go there!

Almost enough to make a grown man cry

Last Thursday afternoon we drove through the Hill Country town of Johnson City, TX on our way to Fredricksburg. The sky was pretty dark and we knew we were in for some bad weather, but we didn't have any idea how bad. We were about 10 minutes west of town when golf ball size hail began to pummel us. I've seen big hail before, but not while driving in the countryside.

Visibility was just a few feet, but we were able to get off the road and finally get under a tree which offered limited protection. I wish I'd gotten some pics afterward of the ice covered ground, but I really wasn't in a picture taking mood. I don't mind telling you that we prayed aloud for God's protection because it really could have been life threatening or a major inconvenience at the very least.

The deafening barrage of hail had to have lasted for ten minutes, but it seemed much longer. Fortunately and miraculously, none of our windows cracked or were shattered, which would have stranded us out in the country waiting for a tow truck and then waiting for window repair in a small town.

We were able to continue on down the road, and we were very thankful to do so, but that sick feeling of wrecking a new car is almost inconsolable. I didn't get out of the truck to survey the damage for another hour or so and this pic doesn't really show the extent of the damage. The roof and hood got it the worst, but the side panels have substantial damage on both sides too. It's not pretty!

When we arrived home, my neighbor reminded me that this would take the newness away. Thanks, I needed that!

Still, no one was hurt and we made it back to Dallas after spending a good weekend in San Antonio.

On the road again....

We're taking off for the weekend sans computer...DOH! Be sure to re-read ALL my posts....there will be a quiz when I get back! Toodles.

Carnival of Homeschooling

It's Week 16 of the Carnival of Homeschooling, which is being hosted this week by the good folks at About Homeschooling. The focus this week is, "Practical Solutions for Homeschool Struggles." This is an outstanding resource page. Check them out!

Cat Blogging...because I can!

Who am I kidding...I was minding my own businsess blogging away about the really important things in life when our uncommonly common gray tabby beckoned me to post some of his most compelling images. Not later, but NOW!

Little Joe has appeared here before and will again whenever he wishes. Don't let that laid back demeanor fool you. He rules the roost around here!

Tax Day...What do you hate more...taxes or big oil?

A not asked enough question: Who is more oppressive...Big Government or Big Oil? Surely you don't come down on the side of Big Oil. It's tax day after all; is your memory that short or are you one of the foolish ones, yes foolish, who got a tax refund?

Foolish? Must I explain? No I mustn't because I have more respect for my readership than patronize you with explanations. Suffice it to say that you should visit Nealz Nuze for some important things to ponder on this most heinous of days (and it is heinous!):

First: How much time did you spend fixing up your tax return and getting it ready to file? The average individual taxpayer spent an average of 57 hours for their 2004 return. Was 2005 better or worse? Fifty-seven hours. That's over 7 working days. What else could you have done with those days? Could you have added an additional week of vacation for your family? Could you have spent that time with your children, visiting a sick relative, or just sitting on a fishing boat somewhere? Sorry 'bout that, but there's tax returns to be filled out ... and you either do it yourself or you pay someone else to do it.

Oh ... and that "paying someone else to do it" thing. Just how much money do you think is spent every year by individuals and businesses just complying with our tax code? Well, if history is our guide, the tax return for General Motors will be over 50 feet high. Just what do you think GM is paying for tax compliance and return preparation? There are many estimates here, but they seem to start at about $300 billion a year and go up to $500 billion. That's money that isn't being spent to expand businesses, create jobs, or investigate new technologies. Eliminate our tax code and you'll see an immediate infusion of $300 billion, or more, into our economy.

Another question: Just how much did you pay in taxes for 2005? Come on now, don't look at your tax return. Just say it out loud. "I paid $______________ in federal income taxes last year." You don't know? Well, don't feel pregnant. Most people don't They know how much they "got back," or how much extra they had to pay with their return, but few can tell you how much they actually paid without having to look it up. Politicians love it this way. With their withholding program your money just vanishes. It disappears before you ever even get your hands on it. You can't miss what you never had .. so we now have this lovely situation where people not only don't know how much they paid in taxes, but they don't even know how much they made! Go ahead! Ask someone what they make! If you get an answer at all it will be something like "I take home ......" You didn't ask what they took home, you asked what they made! They don't know, and the free-spending politicians smile.

Happy Tax Day, Y'all! (NOT!)

Religion of Death scores 9 in Israel

What kind of god (note the small "g") would want a 17 year old boy, with his entire future ahead of him, to wrap himself in a vest armed with explosives so that he could take out as many innocent bystanders as possible while killing himself in the process? My God would only condemn such an act, (heaven forbid that He should encourage it) but then my God is loving, merciful, generous, forgiving and omnipotent.

Today, in Israel, a member of the radical Islamist Jihad, blew himself up outside a crowded falafel bar in Tel Aviv yesterday, killing at least nine civilians and wounding about 50.

My God weeps when atrocities like this happen. The evil god of radical Islamo-facists is jubilant. Tell me, is it all that difficult to discern which is the REAL God and which is the counterfeit god?

There is a real God who rules the universe and is the personification of love. And there are impersonators who promise virgins to murderers. This isn't rocket science, boys and girls, choose the right God, stand up for Him and with Him and never be embarrassed or ashamed of Him. He'll be there if and when you want Him to be, but He won't be there if you put Him out of your life.

Would you let your kid go to this school?

This is just one more reason to yank your kid out of government schools...at least this one:

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A principal trying to prevent walkouts during immigration rallies inadvertently introduced a lockdown so strict that children weren't allowed to go to the bathroom, and instead had to use buckets in the classroom, an official said.

Worthington Elementary School Principal Angie Marquez imposed the lockdown March 27 as nearly 40,000 students across Southern California left classes that morning to attend immigrants' rights demonstrations. The lockdown continued into the following morning.

Marquez apparently misread the district handbook and ordered a lockdown designed for nuclear attacks.

Tim Brown, the district's director of operations, confirmed some students used buckets but said the principal's order to impose the most severe type of lockdown was an "honest mistake."

"When there's a nuclear attack, that's when buckets are used," Brown told the Los Angeles Times. The principal "followed procedure. She made a decision to follow the handbook. She just misread it."

What is it with all these public school "lockdowns?" Prisons have lockdowns. Mental health facilities have lockdowns. But elementary schools?

No inflation?

Leave it to DRUDGE to report the way things really are! Drudge doesn't have a "permalink" as he appears to disdain the blogospere, (where such things are taken for granted) so the headline that appears there now, won't be up for long. He's reporting that oil is at $70, gold at $604 and silver is at $13. No inflation? Come, now!

What about all the prices going up everywhere because of outrageous gas and diesel prices? Everything we use is there because of a truck whose owner is paying $2.75/gallon for diesel and even more in some parts of the country. No inflation?

Last week I paid $84 for two (2) gallons of Benjamin Moore exterior latex paint. Oil-based paint would have been even more. No inflation?

It's a given that consumers are going to start complaining big time over daily price increases at the gas pump. Isn't it about time to start complaining about confiscatory taxes at the pump that need to be slashed.

Here in Dallas, taxes at the pump are in the vicinity of 31 cents/gallon for state and federal taxes. Why can't big gov't make cuts? Everyone else has to!

While we're on the subject of outrageous gas and diesel prices, how many new refineries have been approved to be built in the last 20 years? Have we started drilling in the frozen tundra of Alaska yet?

And why the hell not?

Are politicians so in the pockets of those who profit from gas and oil shortages that they refuse to sanction new exploration and new refinery construction? So what's the problem and why aren't those projects underway?

Summer's coming on and prices will continue to rise. Prices will probably ease down a bit as we near the fall mid-term elections, thanks to the opportunistic incumbants, most of whom care not for the long term good of this country and are only interested in re-election.

From Passover to Easter

If you're into history, religion, or both, you'll be fascinated to know how the celebration of Passover in early Christianity became Easter. My friend, Ronald L. Dart, has been doing an interesting series on Christian Holidays, which you can find on the Born To Win Audio Page. Register and log in...it's free with no hassles.

You can read From Passover to Easter right here. Whether you hear the audio or read the text, you'll find them interesting and informative.

Occasionally, when I have said that “Easter” is nowhere mentioned in Bible, someone reminds me of the incident where Herod has arrested Peter, and put him in prison, “intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people” (Acts 12:4). The problem is that the Greek word translated “Easter” is the Greek Pascha, which, everywhere else it is used in the New Testament, is translated, “Passover.” So why, 1600 years later, did the King James translators use Easter instead of Passover here?

As early as the third century, the entire church had begun to confuse Easter and Passover. How did it happen that the early church stopped observing the Passover and began observing Easter?

First, realize that at the beginning, this was not a Passover/Easter controversy. It was a calendar controversy. It was a question of when the church would observe Pascha, which is the Greek and Latin word for Passover. The issue is confusing, because even modern English works, when citing early Greek and Latin documents, translate Pascha as “Easter.” When discussing the Jewish observance, they render Pascha as “Passover.”

Good reading for the Holy Week.

Iran Leader: "Israel Will Be Annihilated"

According to an AP story at Breitbart, the Iranian President is saying that "Israel is heading toward annihilation."

The president of Iran again lashed out at Israel on Friday and said it was "heading toward annihilation," just days after Tehran raised fears about its nuclear activities by saying it successfully enriched uranium for the first time.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a "permanent threat" to the Middle East that will "soon" be liberated. He also appeared to again question whether the Holocaust really happened.

"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation," Ahmadinejad said at the opening of a conference in support of the Palestinians. "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."

Ahmadinejad provoked a world outcry in October when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

On Friday, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: "If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?"

The land of Palestine, he said, referring to the British mandated territory that includes all of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, "will be freed soon."

He did not say how this would be achieved, but insisted to the audience of at least 900 people: "Believe that Palestine will be freed soon."

"The existence of this (Israeli) regime is a permanent threat" to the Middle East, he added. "Its existence has harmed the dignity of Islamic nations."

It will be interesting to see the reaction of the United Nations over this comment. One can only imagine the outcry if Israel would say this about some Islam nation.

If Iran did nuke Israel, wouldn't the esteemed Palestinians be wiped out as well?

Can you find the bad guy in this pic?

Another "spot on" editorial from Cox & Forkum. The peaceniks and appeasers either don't get it or don't want to offend the real meanies in this world. Instead, the good ol' USA, the most benevolent, altruistic nation in history is continually portrayed as the bad guy. Go figure!

Protests backfire!

Two polls are showing vast majorities are not sympathetic to illegal immigration. Be sure to go here and here to see the not so surprising results.

I wonder if 60-65% is enough to give the politicians "courage" to stand up for the rule of law.

Stacy Harp challenges Google

Stacy L. Harp, over at Writing Right has been doing Yeoman's duty battling Google in an effort to take down a blog site which promotes "man-boy love." Read her post titled, Reasons Why Everyone Needs to Contact Google.

Yesterday, WorldNetDaily did a piece on Harp's battle with Google.

Kudos to Stacy L. Harp for taking this on. This is one of those unfathomable topics that you wish never had to be mentioned, much less nastying up the blogosphere.

Ms. Harp has some suggestions on what we can do to help, but mainly she asks that "we call Google and ask them to remove that blog - 650-253-0000 . Thanks!"

"They want to be treated fairly"

So how are the pussilanymous politicians going to deal with this? Is the nation finally overwhelmed after 20 years of political inaction? So now what?

What will the wisemen in Washington do now? Do they kiss up to this illegal constituency out of fear of reprisal, or do the right thing and uphold the constitution, to which they gave an oath to uphold. Will anyone hold them to it? And who's reprisal is more worrisome to them?

Some of the protesters are saying they want to be treated fairly.

They're being treated unfairly? They're here illegally; they are working, many of them within the underground economy and not paying taxes. They are receiving free medical treatment in our hospitals and emergency rooms. They are on our welfare rolls and collecting social security benefits and sending billions of dollars back to Mexico.Their children are being educated bi-lingually in our schools. Spineless politicians want to grant them amnesty and they are being treated UNFAIRLY? Huh?

Here in Dallas, and maybe across the fruited plain, the Mexican leaders are instructing the demonstrators not to spend ONE DIME tomorrow. Fine! Maybe savvy employers should give them the day off without pay or fire them for being illegal. Better yet, maybe they could be turned in, arrested and sent back to their homeland. How about that?

HOW DARE THEM! How dare our politicians for not honoring their oath to uphold, honor and obey the constitution of these United States. We already have laws on the books to deal with these problems. Are we no longer a nation under the rule of law?

It's not looking good, boys and girls, especially with the caliber of politicians in Washington. I hate to sound so negative, but there were half a million pro-illegal immigration demonstrators in Dallas today and probably less than a hundred demonstrators to counter that. (Include me in the group who stayed home and watched the demonstration on TV. I apologize, but I would have gotten lost in the crowd).

So I ask again, now what? The politicians have two weeks to spin this. Let's hope the majority will have the intellectual honesty, honor and cahones, to confront the problem head on and do the lawful thing...the current law, not a new one!

Make it a point to go to Michelle Malkin's site for some illuminating pics.

Write your Congressmen

Here and here is contact information for our elected officials. If you oppose illegal immigration and amnesty for the illegal immigrants, which would only encourage a new wave of even more illegals for future amnesty programs, then let your Congressmen hear from you now.

Hold their feet to the fire and remind them about the oath they took to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States.

It's imperative that they hear from as many of us as possible because most of them are cowering at the sight of massive demonstrations. Will they stand up for the law of the land or will they capitulate to mobs of illegals who can't even vote for them...yet.

Christians are beginning to fight back!

Just when you thought Christians willingly took it on the chin from just about everybody, we hear that there are some who are actually fighting back.

In what seemed like a policy to silence Christians and other politically incorrect factions, the "tolerance" movement came about which made it illegal to speak about homosexuality as aberrant behavior. Sounds more like intolerance to me!

The LA Times has a piece about a group of Christians who are suing for the 'Right Not to Tolerate Policies.'

ATLANTA — Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.

Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.

Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she's demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.

With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.

The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. "Christians," he said, "are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian."

In that spirit, the Christian Legal Society, an association of judges and lawyers, has formed a national group to challenge tolerance policies in federal court. Several nonprofit law firms — backed by major ministries such as Focus on the Family and Campus Crusade for Christ — already take on such cases for free.

The legal argument is straightforward: Policies intended to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination end up discriminating against conservative Christians. Evangelicals have been suspended for wearing anti-gay T-shirts to high school, fired for denouncing Gay Pride Month at work, reprimanded for refusing to attend diversity training. When they protest tolerance codes, they're labeled intolerant.

It's about time! People have every right to think and believe whatever they wish and the so-called 'tolerant' programs in academia are exactly the opposite. These programs are anything but tolerant!

If Christians cower and refuse to get involved in politics and fight for what's right, how do they expect to maintain their constitutional right to speak freely and practice religion in public. What good is a Christian who doesn't stand up for what's right and boldly speak about what's right and what's wrong?

These folks deserve our support. Be sure to read the whole story.

Karl Marx is Yukking it Up

Weren't you reassured years ago after the Soviet Union collapsed, and we were all convinced that communism was dead? We wouldn't have to worry about being buried by the likes of dead communist dictators. We wouldn't have to worry about selling them the rope to hang us, right?

If you were a skeptic like me, you realized that the communist agenda was alive and well and never died or was killed. The Chi-coms are still around and growing stronger militarily every year. Are we to ignore them?

What about the leftists within our own country who, more often than not, side with our enemies and are successfully growing the bureaucracy ever larger, each and every year in order to abscond from "those who are able in order to give to those in need?"

The Daily Inter Lake has an interesting piece about Karl Marx's philosophy in its simplest form:

From each according to their ability; to each according to their need.

Sound familiar?

Familiar? It's become a way of life in Amerika, er, America.

That is the simplest statement of Marxist philosophy that exists, and if it doesn't set off alarm bells when you hear it, then you haven't been paying attention to the political debate in our country recently. More and more, it looks like our country and our people are supposed to feel guilty for being successful, and we are supposed to make up for it by throwing money at people who haven't earned it. In the old days, they called that begging; now they call it 'entitlement.'

The United States has jobs, and Mexicans need them, so therefore Mexicans are entitled to those jobs.

Hospitals have health services, and poor people need them, so therefore poor people are entitled to those health services.

Bill Gates has billions of dollars, and the government needs billions, so therefore he should fork over as much as the government wants -- no questions asked.

(Oh yes, and because he has so much money, the government is going to want more of his than yours. Heck, they're entitled to it, right? From each according to their ability; to each according to their need.)

Disturbing, isn't it? What have we come to in this country?

Whereas, socialism has failed everywhere it's been tried, it continues to be foisted up on us as if it is the salvation for all mankind, when just the opposite is true:

Likewise, when you enable the chronically unsuccessful to avoid the consequences of their lack of education, resourcefulness or toil, you are just speeding them on the way to a life of dependency and despair, and if you don't think people on welfare resent the hand that feeds them, visit the inner city in a major urban area for a day. You will not discover an attitude of gratitude.

Maybe Karl Marx should have said it this way: 'From everyone else because they've got it; to me, because I damn well want it.'

Rebellious Kids getting religion...For spite!

"If you have liberal parents, getting religion is the only way to go."

That's the way Kira Cochrane sees it.

Kids rebel in the strangest ways. For example, my wife and I hate tomatoes and our kids rebelled by liking tomatoes (but then we homeschooled and family life was pretty tame).

I guess you can count on things going full circle, given enough time and the right circumstances.

In England, according to a piece in Sunday Times Online, an interesting phenomenon is taking place among kids with liberal parents. No kidding!

'When I look back, I suppose that Ben's conversion to Christianity was quite gradual really, but he's definitely fallen hook, line and sinker now,' says Ellen Parker, a teacher from Surrey and a lifelong agnostic. Her son Ben is in his mid-twenties and has been a devout evangelical Christian for a few years. It is a situation about which Parker feels deeply ambivalent.
'On the one hand,' she says, 'he was quite aimless when he joined the church and I can see that it's given him a real sense of purpose: he went from being someone who had literally never read a book for pleasure, to studying the Bible for hours each day. But it also makes me sad because none of the rest of the family shares his beliefs and it excludes us from a massive part of his life. Sometimes I think that the gulf between the values of his church and my own liberal values might be impossible to bridge.

That might be unsettling for liberal, unbelieving parents, but even so, what's the worst thing your Christian kid is going to do...try to convert you?

There's more to the story. It's not just Christianity kids are converting to:

In the past few years at least 15,000 Britons are estimated to have made the shahadah (the formal declaration of faith in Allah and the prophet Muhammad), although many believe that this is an underestimation, given the numbers who convert in secret.

Now that could be a problem, at least for Christian parents. In this case the worst thing that could happen is he might try to convert you, or else! But maybe that's just the radical Islamo-facists with whom we are at war.

This could become a serious problem in secular families and secular countries. The old adage that goes, "when you don't believe in something, you'll fall for anything" is true. Many of these newly converted kids were taught nothing about religion and when they see that the ideals their parents stood for don't work or aren't working, they seek other philosophies or religions.

If kids aren't given a strong foundation of well founded ideals when they are young, they are more apt to be rudderless in their search for meaning. What makes secularism even more problematic is that all philosophies, religions and beliefs are equal (except for Christianity which is disdained above all beliefs and religions in secular parlance). Therefore, in secular societies, if and when their children convert to Islam, they may have less a problem with it than if the children became Christians.

However, some in Europe, especially in France and Holland, may be rethinking this strict egalitarian philosophy in light of the recent riots and anti-semitism.

Be sure to read the piece. It might be exposing a trend.

Pride goes before a fall

Victor Davis Hanson has an interesting column today at RealClearPolitics comparing Congresswoman McKinney with Admiral Naughton. Both of them let their haughty arrogance get the best of them.

On New Year's Eve 2002, while I was a visiting professor at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, the superintendent - the distinguished three-star Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton - tried to enter the academy without wearing the photo ID required of all military and civilian personnel.

Naturally expecting that the young Marine sentry on duty would recognize his all-important superintendent, Naughton boldly tried to pass. But instead, the Marine asked him to produce identification. Angry words and some sort of altercation ensued between the admiral and the enlisted man.

Later, Naughton claimed he couldn't "remember" whether he had "touched" the guard, but he did concede he "might" have done so.

After a lengthy, ultimately damming investigation, Naughton resigned - first from his post as academy superintendent and then subsequently from the Navy altogether. During the investigation, some skeptics at Annapolis had doubted whether Naughton would pay any price. But his exalted rank, along with his race and gender, won no exemption.

I mention the Naughton case to illustrate that such mix-ups at government checkpoints are not unusual - and that eventually public pressure catches up with aristocratic arrogance and even the powerful are held to account.

Arrogance is one of those unsavory characteristics that seem to be evident in people who don't have a sense of gratitude or graciousness. Is that overstating the obvious? They seem to think that their power or position is deserved and not a blessing from God and then they make the mistake of "lording it over others."

There's a running theme in the Bible that can be paraphrased something like this; he that humbles himself will be glorified and the proud will be brought low..

Mat 23:12 And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he who shall humble himself shall be exalted.

We're told to esteem others higher than ourselves. That's a pretty good definition of humility. It's a quality we don't often see in politicians.

When you observe foolish pride in someone it's just a matter of time before they fall ignominiously. Not that we should take pleasure in that sort of thing when it happens, but sometimes people are so despicable that their humiliation evokes a smile in even the best of us

Amigo de Mexico

Not sure who to give credit to for this brilliant graphic...I saw it at Michelle Malkin's place and she made referrence to the JunkYardBlog (who attributes it to Sacred Cow Burgers). It's a fine piece of work and says a mouthful.

With due respect to President Bush, I don't think his meeting with Vicente Fox last week was in any way productive for those of us north of the border...hence the graphic.

The electorate doesn't want girly men

The Maha Rushie referred to this study yesterday and spoke about it further today. It's a study that comes out of the University of Texas at Austin; not known for its conservatism. The study examined speech patterns on the campaign trail:

"Specifically, they rated each candidate's use of language along six dimensions: cognitive complexity (marked by sophisticated sentence structure and word choice); femininity (use of words and speech patterns favored by women); depression (use of words that are markers for depression or known "indicators of suicidality"); age (preference for words favored by young or old people); presidentiality (speech patterns and frequently occurring words favored by presidents since FDR in their speeches); and honesty (based on analyses of samples of truthful and deceptive language).

Surely the republican candidates emerged as being especially loathsome, stupid and dishonest:

Cheney easily sounded the smartest of the four, while Edwards and Bush favored the least sophisticated language patterns, Slatcher and his colleagues report in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Research in Personality. When it came to sounding presidential, both Bush and his running mate scored considerably higher than Kerry or Edwards. Bush was the oldest-sounding candidate. Edwards also was the most likely to use feminine speech patterns and "female" words (Bush was a close second), while Cheney sounded most like a man's man.


The vice president sounded the most honest of the four, and Kerry the least. Kerry's language also was most like that of a depressed person, followed by Edwards. Perhaps that's inevitable; after all, challengers must sound gloomy and doomy about their opponents' records, though in doing so they run clear risks.

So what can we take away from this study?

"Voters are most favorable toward those candidates who are the most optimistic," Slatcher said. "The depressive language that Kerry and Edwards used during the campaign may have contributed negatively to the way in which they were perceived by the public."

Voters favor optimistic candidates? Whoa...who woulda thought? I guess we can expect the dems to make a 180 in their campaign modus operandi and start sounding really optimistic, right?

They couldn't if they wanted to. It's just not in them.

J.D. Hayworth on the Senate's Compromise

J.D. Hayworth, one of the more sane fellows in Congress had a press release on the Senate "Immigration" Compromise:

Washington, D.C. - Congressman J.D. Hayworth today released the following statement on the Senate immigration reform compromise:

"The Senate compromise is so convoluted, so complicated, and so unworkable that it surely must have been the work of Senators Rube and Goldberg.

"This is deja vu all over again. The 1986 amnesty law had a similar approach, and that was a catastrophe. It said if you could prove you did agricultural work for just 90 days a year for the previous three years, you would qualify for a green card. The number of those applying for this benefit was three times higher than expected, largely because of fraud, which was rampant. The Senate bill would likewise be vulnerable to fraud on a grand scale and be a nightmare to administer. It is amnesty wrapped in bureaucracy surrounded by fraud."

It's Take your American Flag to work day!

H/T to Michelle Malkin for reminding us that it's TAKE AN AMERICAN FLAG TO WORK DAY today. If you can't take it to work, fly it at home or post your favorite photo of Old Glory online. I like the magnitude of the World's Largest Flag flying over Hoover Dam.

Gene Pitney...gone, but never forgotten

Gene Pitney died last night in his sleep while on tour in Wales. We haven't heard much from him lately, at least I haven't. But I grew up listening to his tunes. His biggest hit was Only Love Can Break A Heart, but two of my faves were Town Without Pity and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, inspired by the great John Wayne/Jimmy Stewart western movie with the same name.

He wasn't just a singer, but he wrote some big songs for Rick Nelson (Hello Mary Lou), Bobby Vee (Rubber Ball) and the Crystals (He's a Rebel).

Here's a list of songs and a short bio.

Melrose Larry Green: "Why the Clintons Belong in Prison"

Years ago, maybe even when the Clintons were still in the Whitehouse, I predicted to anyone who would listen, that the full damage the Clintons, and their ilk, did to this country wouldn't be known for years to come. That reality has been oozing like an infected wound since they've been out of the Whitehouse.

There's a good interview with Melrose Larry Green, author of Why the Clintons Belong in Prison, (now out in paperback), over at FrontPage Magazine.

Here are a couple of select Q & A's:

FP: Ok, well it’s good to see you are reading the right books. So what made you write your book?

Green: I was on a trip to New York City about 8 years ago, when a friend handed me some articles about the death of Ron Brown. The author was a fellow named Christopher Ruddy, whom we all know from Newsmax.com. Well, one thing led to another, and I became obsessed with the many crimes committed by the Clintons. But the greatest crime of all is that they are not now behind bars. Mind you, I am a former Democrat, and I admit that I voted for Bill Clinton in 1992. I wrote the book because there is a myth that Bill Clinton was a great President, and I must set the record straight. Furthermore, Hillary Clinton is right now on a direct path to the White House, and I want to do my part to keep her out of the White House in 2008.

Regarding Chinagate:

FP: What exactly was the Chinagate scandal?

Green: Chinagate was one of the most serious scandals of the Clinton Administration. It involved treason, in my opinion, on the part of Bill Clinton. Clinton sold military secrets and technology to the Chinese, in exchange for political contributions from the Chinese to his campaign. There were so many other scandals associated with the Clintons, that Chinagate received very little coverage from the "mainstream" media. My book "Why the Clintons Belong in Prison" goes into great detail to explain Chinagate.

FP: Clinton sold military secrets and technology to the Chinese communists and nothing has been done about it? Why?

Green: Good question. I have very little faith in the prosecutorial abilities of the Dept. of Justice under the present or former Attorneys General. They should have done their homework and done some of the research that Chris Ruddy of Newsmax has done. Check out his book "Bitter Legacy".

On Hillary:

FP: You state that Hillary is probably the "dirtiest person" in the history of American politics. Why do you say this?

Green: Hillary is all about herself and the acquisition of power by destroying anyone who gets in her way. To say that she has ice in her veins is an understatement. There are countless incidents in my book which document her contemptuous attitude toward the Secret Service, the military, and the Arkansas State Police. She would often use the vilest form of profanity while addressing her co-workers. And Hillary loves to use dirty tricks in politics. She makes the Nixon Watergate team look like choirboys. Hillary is more of a man than Bill ever was.

FP: When you say that Hillary is all about the acquisition of power, then can we presume that that is what her marriage to Clinton is all about? Is that why she never really cared about all his affairs? In other words, she was only concerned if he got caught but didn’t really care about the matters of the heart?

Green: The Clinton marriage was just a business deal. I believe that Hillary has had her eyes set on the White House ever since Bill first became Governor of Arkansas- back in 1978.

More at FrontPage Magazine.

Quote of the Day

From the wit and wisdom of Mark Levin (paraphrased):

...so Katie Couric is going to the anchor chair at CBS...she might as well have gone to the Witness Protection Program...no one is going to see her over there!

Once in a lifetime post

On Wednesday morning, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 A.M., the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

Cool!

"Mr. President, I'm Headed to Mexico"

H/T to my friend, Doc Crisman for bringing this to my attention. If you're heading to Mexico anytime soon, you should consider writing a similar letter to Present Bush. You can use this as a model letter:

David M. Bresnahan
April 1, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

Dear President Bush:

I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here.

So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. All government forms need to be printed in English.
4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.
5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down.
7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don’t enforce any labor laws or tax laws.
13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

Sincerely,

David M. Bresnahan

Commendation in order for the Capitol Police Department

Thanks to Curt over at Flopping Aces for this ditty about the Cynthia McKinney brouhaha...Emphasis on "ha ha" (heh heh!). The Washington Times is reporting that:

Two House members will introduce tomorrow a resolution to commend the U.S. Capitol Police department, which Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney accused last week of racial profiling.
'The 1,700 officers of the Capitol Police force risk their lives every day protecting constituents, staff and members of Congress," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican. "The right thing to do is to commend these men and women. They deserve a pat on the back, which is more appropriate than what they've gotten lately."
The resolution, by Mr. McHenry and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican, which could be voted on this week, comes after increasingly harsh accusations by Mrs. McKinney, the Georgia Democrat who was stopped by Capitol Police last week for bypassing a metal detector.

Any fool can see through this laughable escapade. Representative McKinney is doing more damage to her constituents and fellow leftists than she can even imagine. How stupid she and her race bating apologists look. Is anyone on either side of the isle really taking her seriously?And when will her constituents and fellow dems wake up to see what she has wrought on them?

While the republicans and conservatives are enormously amused by the antics of Rep. McKinney and her flown in supporters, a pall of embarrassment envelopes the Capitol as long as people of this low stature continue to be voted into office.

The Apple doesn't fall far from the Tree

My son, Justin, wrote this letter to Tom Stumpf, the principal of Skyline High School in Longmont, CO. If you recall, Principal Stumpf is the guy who banned American flags (as well as all other flags) from the school grounds of Skyline High School. I have to share it with you.

Dear Sir,

You do not know me, but I am a 23 year-old full time college student from Arlington, Texas, finishing up a degree in Mechanical Engineering and getting ready to begin one in Law. In surfing the internet, I came across a story where I learned that you have banned all flags from your school, whether Mexican, American, or any other. I am writing you this email because I feel so strongly compelled to do so.

Let me begin by saying that I really do appreciate your obligation to promote respect among the students at your school. That seems like an excellent goal.

But with that said, how dare you deem our American flag as inflammatory or as a symbol of bigotry!!! Even if your students used it (or other less important flags) immaturely or inappropriately, have you forgotten that our flag is the very symbol of our nation? If it has no place in our schools (which should be primary points of assimilation for legal ethnics into our American culture), then it has no place anywhere. Ban the guilty students, not the flag.

These days people take offense to everything. Our constitution guards many of our rights here, but one thing it does not protect is any right to not be offended. This is AMERICA where our flag is supposed to fly high above the land, and we should rightfully be proud of it.

In trying to find a politically correct answer to your school's problem, you have blundered upon the ultimate example of non-sequitur logic. It's like taking away someone's socks for cursing! Guess what... even minus the flag, the underlying problem is still there! You should instead concentrate your efforts on attempting to create a better atmosphere in your school. Forget sensitivity training... How about a course in common sense?

You may have to bring in outside faculty for that.

What would our founding fathers and the many men and women who have died for our nation have to say if they heard about you and the injustice you have done to your rightfully patriotic students?

I hope you will consider this, as well as consider giving your patriotic students, their families, your flag-waving community, and the people of America a much-needed apology.

Please bring our flag back into your school.

Sincerely,

Justin Glasgow

PS Please make proper amends for what you have done, or I will be forced to wave my much bigger and better state flag at you. Inevitably, this would create animosity between our states and the national government would have to get involved. Thankfully, though, (before things got too ugly) they would confiscate our flags for an undetermined amount of time, and we would then be utterly defenseless. But with our symbols of hatred out of the way, we would certainly grow to have respect for each other and live happily ever after, because, after all, it was the flags that made us fight in the first place.

Heh heh...that's my boy!

The "Immigration" Debate

An excellent piece is in today's The American Thinker along the lines of Peggy Noonan's outstanding column last week. It postulates that Americans are sick of this raging "immigration" debate. Why? Because it's not about immigration like the cunning liguists on Capitol Hill and the media want everyone to think.

Americans don't have a problem with immigration. How many ways and how many times do we have to say that? Virtually all of us were born of immigrants! We don't have a problem with immigrants. We have a problem with illegal immigrants and specifically the ones who don't want to become Americans like we are Americans.

We just want people who immigrate (legally) to want to be like us....American! If you're going to come here (legally) then leave your country behind and become proud Americans. Wave our flag. Speak our language. Obey our laws. Pay our taxes. Assimilate! Acclulturate! Leave your fatherland behind. You want to be here? Become an AMERICAN!

More and more each day, we're seeing firsthand what is dangerously divisive about the "feel good" multi-cultural programs that pervade government schools. For way too many years learned educrats have thought and taught that we must encourage (illegal and legal) immigrants, as well as minorities, that they should maintain and capitalize upon their homeland customs and traditions.

This is antithetical to the very motto of our country which, if you recall is "E Pluribus Unum" which means "out of many, one." That philosophy has worked well and made us the greatest melting pot that has ever existed. Throughout our history, immigrants came here to become Americans, not Norwegian-Americans, Italian-Americans or African-Americans...just Americans. Hyphenated America doesn't work and I believe the authors of that concept knew that to be true and are happy to see the disunity.

If you emigrate to Japan, you don't become Japanese. If you emigrate to Italy, you don't become Italian. You can emigrate to Viet Nam, but you won't become Vietnamese. But when you immigrate to America, you become an American. That's the way it's been and that's the way it should be.

Leftists hate the American way of life and everything on which this country is founded. Is it any wonder that many of them would attempt to destroy Americana by stressing the importance of "diversity" and "multi-culturalism."

Remember the old idiom, "a house divided cannot stand?" That's exactly what is happening!.

The Minuteman Project - An Important new link!

Being a huge fan of the The Minuteman Project, I was pleased to be made aware of their website by my Ace in the Hole buddy, Texas Fred. I've linked them and all you have to do is scroll down until you see the Uncle Sam poster shown above. Click on it to visit their site to see what's happening regarding border issues. This will be the "go to" site on illegal immigration information and updates.

These guys are doing the work of the American people that Congress won't do. They deserve our support.

Check them out and go there often!

The good stuff is always in the back room

Cox & Forkum's latest commentary on Borders and Walden's policy to not stock the April-May issue of Free Inquiry magazine because it contains photographs of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons which spawned riots around the world.

No prob! Go to Amazon.

What's up with those surveys?

I hear complaints all the time from people who are never surveyed. They wonder why they are never asked to give their "what for!"

For a couple of years now I've been participating in Zogby polls and if you'd like to participate you can sign up right here. They're always looking for more volunteers. Give it a shot and let them know what you think.

They have a different poll each week or so and it's kind of interesting to participate. Check 'em out!

McCain Praises Pro-illegal Protests

Newsmax is reporting that John McCain is Praising Pro-illegal Protests. He must be betting there will be more illegals than conservatives when he runs for president.

"Sen. John McCain is praising the recent wave of pro-illegal immigration demonstrations, saying that if the protesters hang tough they will succeed in forcing Congress to liberalize immigration laws.

"If such demonstrations continue, I think we will have a bill for the President to sign soon," the Arizona Republican told a New York City gathering on Friday sponsored by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.

"The more debate, the more demonstrations, the more likely we will prevail," McCain added, in quotes picked up by the New York Daily News.

The Irish group backs the McCain-Kennedy bill that would allow illegal aliens already in the U.S. to stay and work toward citizenship.

McCain offered the comments as the city girded for its first major pro-illegal rally - a march across the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday that ended in lower Manhattan.

Despite the Arizona Republican's support, marchers on Saturday sounded decidedly anti-GOP.

"We are fed up," said Humberto Suarezmotta, a former professor from Colombia, told the News.

"Since the Mayflower, immigrants have been coming here and now we have Republicans who are against minorities."

"The people united will never be defeated!" other demonstrators chanted in Spanish. "We're not going, but Bush can leave!"

Once again, the problem is not with immigration. The problem is ILLEGAL immigration. What part of ILLEGAL don't they get?

And they think Evangelicals are whacked out!?

Remember when Pat Robertson was running for president and the secular world denounced his candidacy because he was (gasp!) an evangelical Christian? What was the big fear? It was the supposition that any evangelical in the office of the presidency would have access to our Nukes and wouldn't hesitate to use them in order to facilitate the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Of course, Pat Robertson never even suggested such policy and no doubt denied it vociferously. Still, that disturbing supposition was indelibly ingrained into those who decry Christians in leadership positions.

With that in mind, what are some of the hopes and dreams of some esteemed Environmental Scientists on the future of our planet?

In a piece linked on DRUDGE, in the The Citizen Scientist, Professor Forrest Mims III, who is a member of the Texas Academy and chairs its Environmental Science Section, describes a speech he heard given by Dr. Eric R. Pianka. Here's a portion of Mims' description of the speech:

Saving the Earth with Ebola

Professor Pianka said the Earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures . Then, and without presenting any data to justify this number, he asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the Earth is to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number.

He then showed solutions for reducing the world's population in the form of a slide depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . War and famine would not do, he explained. Instead, disease offered the most efficient and fastest way to kill the billions that must soon die if the population crisis is to be solved.

Pianka then displayed a slide showing rows of human skulls, one of which had red lights flashing from its eye sockets.

AIDS is not an efficient killer, he explained, because it is too slow. His favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world's population is airborne Ebola ( Ebola Reston ), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days, instead of years. However, Professor Pianka did not mention that Ebola victims die a slow and torturous death as the virus initiates a cascade of biological calamities inside the victim that eventually liquefy the internal organs.

After praising the Ebola virus for its efficiency at killing, Pianka paused, leaned over the lectern, looked at us and carefully said, 'We've got airborne 90 percent mortality in humans. Killing humans. Think about that.'

With his slide of human skulls towering on the screen behind him, Professor Pianka was deadly serious. The audience that had been applauding some of his statements now sat silent.

After a dramatic pause, Pianka returned to politics and environmentalism. But he revisited his call for mass death when he reflected on the oil situation.

'And the fossil fuels are running out,' he said, 'so I think we may have to cut back to two billion, which would be about one-third as many people.' So the oil crisis alone may require eliminating a third of the world's population.

How soon must the mass dying begin if Earth is to be saved? Apparently fairly soon, for Pianka suggested he might be around when the killer disease goes to work. He was born in 1939, and his lengthy obituary appears on his web site .

When Pianka finished his remarks, the audience applauded. It wasn't merely a smattering of polite clapping that audiences diplomatically reserve for poor or boring speakers. It was a loud, vigorous and enthusiastic applause.

Let's see now, Dr. Pianka actually thinks Ebola is the best solution to saving the revered Mother Earth and he actually looks forward to that time? Has any Christian ever eagarly anticipated anything this self-destructive or diabolical (aside from some whacked out despot who therefore wouldn't be a Christian)?

Pianka also "spoke glowingly of the police state in China that enforces their one-child policy."

Professor Mims speculates about Pianka and others like him:

Let me now remove my reporter's hat for a moment and tell you what I think. We live in dangerous times. The national security of many countries is at risk. Science has become tainted by highly publicized cases of misconduct and fraud.

Must now we worry that a Pianka-worshipping former student might someday become a professional biologist or physician with access to the most deadly strains of viruses and bacteria? I believe that airborne Ebola is unlikely to threaten the world outside of Central Africa. But scientists have regenerated the 1918 Spanish flu virus that killed 50 million people. There is concern that small pox might someday return. And what other terrible plagues are waiting out there in the natural world to cross the species barrier and to which scientists will one day have access?

Meanwhile, I still can't get out of my mind the pleasant spring day in Texas when a few hundred scientists of the Texas Academy of Science gave a standing ovation for a speaker who they heard advocate for the slow and torturous death of over five billion human beings.

Dangerous times, indeed!

American Flags confiscated at Colorado high school

In the PC world of "Big Education," wisdom and common sense have been tossed out the window. Now it's all about not offending anyone at any cost (unless you're a patriotic, white heterosexual Christian).

This kind of logic has brought about the zero tolerance phenomenon; you know, where all weapons are absolutely banned from school grounds, including drawings, toys or military recruiting posters. And of course schools are now "drug free," which means you can no longer take an aspirin, midol or use an asthma respirator if you need to (however it may be OK for your daughter to be taken to an abortion clinic without your permission for a surreptitious abortion).

Using the stupendous logic of political correctness, if a flag or group of flags is causing a problem, then all flags must be banned. Even when the flag is Old Glory! That's what happened last week at Skyline High School in Longmont, CO.:

More than two dozen students walked out of Skyline High School Friday morning to protest what they say is a ban that doesn't allow the American flag to be flown on school grounds.

The principal said that the ban isn't just on American flags -- it's on all flags.

Several students who walked out of class Friday said that they were upset that Mexican flags can be waved around but that American flags couldn't. They said that school officials confiscated their American flags because they have become inflammatory because of recent immigration issues.

"When the immigration laws came out we noticed that a lot of Hispanics were waving Mexican flags and what we were thinking to ourselves is like, isn't the immigration law to stay in the country? You want to stay in America, correct? So I said, for every Mexican flag, you should have an American flag right next to it. So a few people went out and started waving American flags, and that's where everything bridged out," said Skyline student R.J. Fogal. "That's when they started telling us that we can't wave American flags, there's going to be no flags today, or everyone is going to be suspended -- whoever carries a flag."

"What we want to know is since when was it against the rules to have an American flag on a car, in a car, in your hands in a school?" said student William Cassity.

Skyline Principal Tom Stumpf said that the school enacted a ban this week that prohibits students to display, wear or fly any flag -- American or Mexican.

Remember, the goal here is not what's right or what's wrong or who's right and who's wrong, it's a matter of not offending anyone ( unless, of course, you happen to be patriotic flag waving, freedom loving Americans).

Political Correctness is a complete sham and total failure wherever its enforced. It exemplifies the vacuous ineptitude of moral relativism where there are no absolutes, no right and wrong and no good or evil. Everyone's opinion counts and needs to be taken seriously (that is, unless you are ....well, you know the drill).

We need to take our schools back. Or maybe reduce their population and federal per diem by getting Johnny and Janey out of there.

Be sure to read the rest of the article.

Oldy but Goody

According to Truthorfiction.com, the following is a true story. Maybe you've gotten it from your email buddies as well, but I thought it was worth posting. This occurred on September 1, 2000, and it's made the rounds. It can't hurt to keep it going.

This is an announcement that was read over the PA system at a football game at Roane County High School, Kingston, Tennessee, by school Principal, Jody McLoud.

"It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games, to say a prayer and play the National Anthem, to honor God and Country.

Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a Prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law. As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it "an alternate lifestyle," and if someone is offended, that's OK.

I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity, by dispensing condoms and calling it, "safe sex." If someone is offended, that's OK.

I can even use this public facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby as a "viable means of birth control." If someone is offended, no problem...

I can designate a school day as "Earth Day" and involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the goddess "Mother Earth" and call it "ecology."

I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depict people with strong, traditional Christian convictions as "simple minded" and "ignorant" and call it "enlightenment."

However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God and to ask Him to bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship, then Federal Case law is violated.

This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical. Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone, except God and His Commandments.

Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently ask staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not necessarily agree.

For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst, hypocritical... I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally.

I certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression. for this reason, I shall "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," and refrain from praying at this time.

However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank God and ask Him, in the name of Jesus, to bless this event, please feel free to do so.

As far as I know, that's not against the law----yet."

One by one, the people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with one another and began to pray.

They prayed in the stands. They prayed in the team huddles. They prayed at the concession stand and they prayed in the Announcer's Box!

The only place they didn't pray was in the Supreme Court of the United States of America - the Seat of "Justice" in the "one nation, under God."

Somehow, Kingston, Tennessee, remembered what so many have forgotten.

We are given the Freedom OF Religion, not the Freedom FROM Religion.