September 2,2010 Thursday
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The Leelanau Conservative A Blog by Ed Hahnenberg Taking the President Seriously? Saturday, July 10, 2010 I think I understand the English language fairly well, having a teaching major in secondary language arts. I understand hyperbole, sarcasm, wit, and several other niceties of the American idiom. What I don’t understand is how the leader of this country can make the kind of statements he has made and do what he has done this past week and give him any credibility. For example…"The other party spent a decade driving the economy into the ditch..now they want the car keys back. They can't have them back. They don't know how to drive," the president told a crowd at a grassroots fundraiser in Missouri for Senate hopeful Robin Carnahan. The same day he blasted Republicans over their attacks on runaway Washington spending, saying that the debt and deficit are one of the things that keeps him up at night. Look in the mirror, Mr. President. That should scare you out of sleep altogether with your wild spending sprees. "It's a little odd getting lectures on sobriety from folks who spent like drunken sailors in the last decade," said the president. How disingenuous. Even his own administration projected the national debt this year to rise to $14-trillion and in 2013 wind up at $17.1-trillion dollars – very close to matching the size of the entire economy as measured by the projected Gross Domestic Product. And taxpayers will be paying hundreds of billions in interest on the debt each year. The President’s current budget, which carries the title "A New Era of Responsibility," shows that at the end of ten years, the national debt will hit $23.1-trillion dollars – exactly matching the GDP that year. In the second fundraiser in Kansas City, the president also sharpened his attacks on the GOP's economic policies "They are peddling that same snake oil that they'v Add new comment Read more The Real Purpose of NASA Monday, July 05, 2010 I grew up in the glorious days of the 60s when President Kennedy set a goal for the U.S…..to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Although NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was established in 1958, its mission clearly stated in 2006 is to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research." Enter President Obama. The present NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world. Huh? Did I miss something in all the scientific achievements of the past fifty years by the men and women at NASA? The spectacular manned and unmanned missions into space is the heritage of NASA, leaving a record of superlative accomplishments achieved nowhere else in the world’s scientific community. Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera, which aired June 20th, that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel. "When I became the NASA administrator -- or before I became the NASA administrator -- he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering," Bolden said in the interview. Bolden has faced criticism this year for o Add new comment Read more The G8/G20 Summits … From a Canadian Point of View Wednesday, June 30, 2010 An article by Paul Willcocks in the Victoria Times Colonist today caught my attention. While we all know our President urged the major hitters in the game of global finance to continue to stimulate the global economy by more money printing and borrowing (from whom now becomes the question), here’s Willcocks’ view of the summits: “The big G8/G20 summits in Ontario look like a ripoff. The three days of meetings cost Canada $1.1 billion. That's about $32 for every one of us; $128 for a family of four. “In return we got mostly bad publicity, thuggery, mass arrests, a sneak violation of citizens' rights and statements of good intentions from the world leaders. “It's useful for the presidents and prime ministers to gather and exchange ideas and concerns. Even better if they come up with agreements on a co-ordinated approach to problems. But it's bizarre that the leaders had to bring 8,000 other people along to talk about the importance of reducing deficits. “Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the ugly scenes in Toronto -- windows smashed, three police cars set on fire -- justified security spending of almost $1 billion. “Among the thousands of protesters, a few hundred were violent. Their actions and locations were predictable. Yet the security measures were inadequate. “What about the results? Look at a couple of issues. The leaders were trying to figure out how to deal with government deficits and debt. “Some wanted dramatic deficit reductions immediately; others feared that would slow -- and maybe halt -- the economic recovery. They agreed to cut their deficits in half from current levels by 2013 and stabilize their debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016. “Or more accurately, they agreed that would be a good idea, with varying degrees of ent Add new comment Read more The Obama House of Cards is Collapsing Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Today the President will meet with the General he appointed to head up the war in Afghanistan after firing the previous general, David McKiernan, in 2008. The reason for the meeting was disparaging remarks made by the General Stanley McChrystal and his staff about the President and White House advisors. The general and his team granted extraordinary access to a reporter for Rolling Stone, including what appeared to be a well-lubricated night at an Irish bar in Paris. That led to some catty comments about the president and other civilians officials that have now gone viral. Relations between the Pentagon and the White House are up in the air, especially when the president is a Democrat without military experience. Obama must assess how soldiers in the field might react to a change in command, and their impression of how McChrystal is being treated. And by the way: Any successor to McChrystal would have to be confirmed by the Senate. Hearings could produce even more distractions for Obama and his Afghanistan team. As if that weren’t enough, the President has taken some heat for his time spent on the golf course and social appearances with one of the Beatles with so many national and international crises facing him. The Gulf catastrophe, Iran’s movement toward nuclear weapons, Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the continuing economic stagnation, his proposal for a carbon tax, immigration reform, his falling approval rate …. the list goes on and on. More bad news for the President happened last evening in primary elections as anti-big government hopefuls won majority votes. Prosecutor Trey Gowdy has just made six-term incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis the fifth congressional incumbent to fall prey to this year's anti-incumbent tide. Gowdy has defeated the vete Add new comment Read more The Curious Case of Alvin Greene Friday, June 18, 2010 It’s got to be one of the greatest mysteries of all time…a case that would tax the likes of Sherlock Holmes or Nero Wolfe. How did Alvin Greene, an unemployed Army veteran who lives with his dad, win the South Carolina Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate without fundraising? I might be tempted to use detective Wolfe’s line in Rex Stout’s novel “Help Wanted: Male”… “I am not interested, not involved, and not curious.” But you’ve got to be curious. No novel has ever been written with such a story line. Democrats all over the country are wondering what went embarrassingly wrong when SC voters chose Greene by a 60-40 vote over Vic Rawl, a seasoned district court judge and eight-year veteran of SC’s House. According to Steven Abrams, a forensic computer expert familiar with the state’s voting machines, the numbers just don’t add up. It’s possible a hacker could have tampered with the votes, he said during testimony, and it would have been fairly easy to do. University of South Carolina computer science professor Duncan Buell, who also studied the machines, agreed. “I believe we should treat those machines with an enormous amount of skepticism,” he said. A handful of voters also presented their case, testifying that when they tried to vote on June 8, Rawl’s name either didn’t appear on the ballot or the machine selected Greene’s name instead. Rawl campaign office manager Anne Owens said she received up to 30 emails from people complaining of similar problems at the voting booth. Greene, who had no campaign website, no yard signs, never made a speech or showed up at any events, still managed to haul in over 100,000 votes in the primary to win. After brief answers to questions by reporters to Greene about his p Add new comment Read more The President’s Blame and Bashing Instincts Sunday, June 13, 2010 There is one trait President Obama exhibits time and again. He almost sounds like the kid in the fifth grade who blames everyone else around him for the trouble he’s in. For his year and a half in office, he has consistently blamed his predecessor for all the ills this country faces, from the economy to Katrina. His latest target is British Petroleum. Obviously as president he has a right to point the finger of blame at those who were responsible for the biggest manmade environmental disaster this country has ever had to contend with. However, as with so many things in life, the tragedy has had a soap opera quality to it. According to the administration, they were on top of the Gulf spill from day one and they pledged to put the boot to the throat of BP. No, BP will pay for every damage claim and the U.S. taxpayer will not pay a dime for clean-up…we’ve got the President’s word on that. The President called for a six-month moratorium on platform oil drilling and wants BP to pay for lost wages of those who will be laid off during the period. This week there will be a meeting of BP’s CEO and the President, and it won’t be nice. No sensible court would ever agree to that nonsense. Consider the relationship of BP to the U.S. taxpayer, not to mention those whose retirement pensions in both the U.S. and the UK are tied to BP’s bottom line. What if BP goes bankrupt? Based on analysis by Godman Sachs, using the Exxon Mobil Valdez spill in today's dollars, they estimate that it will cost BP $40,000 per barrel for the containment, clean-up, litigation and related cost of the spill. So how much is spilling from the well? The best estimates suggest it is 20,000 barrels per day. The spill has been ongoing for over 50 days. This gets you to a Add new comment Read more It's Time, Charlie Monday, June 07, 2010 Maybe it’s the guy’s love of the camera and the perks of being in power that keeps Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-New York) running for re-election. At 80, he’s had 20 successful runs for the House. However, if you mention Rangel’s name today, eyeballs should roll because this man of power is losing his grip on reality. Not only has he been forced to give up his powerful chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee after ethics honchos scolded him for cashing in on Caribbean junkets, but the feds haven't completed their investigation of him, which includes charges of unreported income and tax fraud. "I don't know what they are going to report. Just because they are taking a long time reaching a conclusion doesn't mean I should stop my public service," he said. Just get out of your dream world, Mr. Rangel. Anyone who has followed your career over the past few years knows you should go. Now you’re even taking on the Prez. You likened Obama to former Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview over the weekend with The New York Daily News. You criticized Obama for staying in the Iraq war and for not leveling with the American people that the desire for oil, in his opinion, was driving the U.S. presence there. "The lack of an honest explanation (for the war) is consistent with Bush and Cheney," he told the newspaper. ""We are trying to buy our friends there ... stuff like that makes Cheney look good." "I get a sense the people really don't think I've been treated fairly," said Rangel. But for the first time in 16 years, he faces challengers, including state Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, whose dad held the Harlem seat until he was beaten by Rangel in 1970. Rangel's foes have already said his scandals make him unfit to serve. He dismisses them. Add new comment Read more What's Fair is Fair Saturday, June 05, 2010 This is probably not a topic with sufficient gravitas to deal with as a conservative, but a funny thing happened at the ballpark recently. Maybe it’s not humorous and in the scheme of things of history may not rank even a footnote. But I think it does. Umpire Jim Joyce got the call wrong on what would have been the final out of Detroit Tiger pitcher Amando Galarraga’s perfect game, calling Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe at first. Replays showed an out, and Joyce admitted he blew it. He apologized to Galarraga in person and hugged him after the Tigers’ 3-0 win June 2nd. Galarraga said on CBS’ “Early Show” later he respected the ump’s response, adding, “He couldn’t even talk, he was crying. I understand, nobody’s perfect.” The lords of the league refused to overrule the call, with Commissioner Selig’s promise to look at ways to remedy blown calls in future situations where 30% of all outs are called…at first base. Fast-backward to Barry Bonds. Bonds holds a record-setting seven Most Valuable Player awards, including a record-setting four consecutive MVPs. He is a 14-time All-Star and 8-time Gold Glove-winner. He holds numerous Major League Baseball records, including the all-time Major League Baseball home run record with 762 and the single-season Major League record for home runs with 73 (set in 2001). Bonds has led a controversial career, notably as a central figure in baseball's steroids scandal. In 2007, he was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice concerning the government investigation of BALCO, a case which is still ongoing as of this year. ( BALCO…Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative was a San Francisco Bay Area business accused of supplying steroids to Major League Baseball players.) I think you can see where Add new comment Read more The Sludge Report Sunday, May 30, 2010 None of us likes to hear of disasters, but living in a finite world with imperfections of nature all around us, such things happen. Take, for instance, this year’s infestation of the Eastern caterpillar. Trees stripped of young leaves in what might have been described in the Old Testament as a plague…man’s efforts here in Leelanau and neighboring counties have done little to stop the little chompers from leaving the springtime beauty of nature a mess. Yet when we hear of the catastrophic oil deluge in the Gulf, as humans we like to fix blame on somebody. The three CEOs involved pointed fingers of blame at each other. The President said he would not tolerate any more “fingerpointing” and denounced what he said had been a “cozy relationship” between oil companies and federal government regulators. “I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter,” Obama told reporters “I will not tolerate more fingerpointing or irresponsibility,” he said. “The American people could not have been impressed with that display and I certainly wasn’t.” The drumbeat of blame also continues from the conservative right, claiming that the Administration was covering its tracks for lack of immediate concern about the catastrophe. However, in the weeks that have elapsed since the accident that caused the death of eleven who worked the off-shore drilling platform, Mother Nature continues to do what it does best…follow simple rules of physics. You pop a hole a mile deep into a rich oil field under immense pressure, and oil spews out. The technology of deep-sea drilling is in its infant stages and, sadly, a catastrophic event was unleashed. However, I don’t think anyone is served by Add new comment Read more The Pill and its Effects Sunday, May 23, 2010 In May of this year, the oral contraceptive known as “The Pill” turned 50 years old. The pill first became available at a time when thirty states still banned the promotion of birth control. At first doctors prescribed it for treatment of “female disorders.” As time went on, states dropped their objections, because the reasoning was that women could choose when to get pregnant, and the “pill” was seen as a convenient way to avoid pregnancy when other factors, such as career advancement and no desire to have children were choices women made. However, there were consequences to women who used the “pill.” The National Cancer Institute notes that evidence shows that long-term use of oral contraceptives (5 or more years) may be associated with an increased risk of cancer of the cervix. The NCI also notes that several studies have found that oral contraceptives increase the risk of liver cancer in populations usually considered low risk, such as white women in the United States and Europe who do not have liver disease. In these studies, women who used oral contraceptives for longer periods of time were found to be at increased risk for liver cancer. The risk for other types of cancers, such as breast cancer and cardiovascular disease, depends on a number of variables. However, a woman taking the pill is 1.9 times more likely to die from cerebrovascular disease and 2.5 times more likely to die from cervical cancer. This came from a study that was published in 1999 in a British medical journal. The 25 year follow-up study with 46,000 British women also notes that the enhanced risk of death lasts for 10 years after women have stopped taking the pill. Another study of 1,300 women aged 35 to 55 found that the women who take oral contraceptives may have mor Add new comment Read more It’s Time to Move on From Cherries Friday, May 14, 2010 Leelanau County has at times, over the years, enjoyed the reputation of being the county that produced the most tonnage of tart cherries. There was a fleeting year or two when prices soared to 50 cents a pound, with promises of $1.00 a pound coming soon. That was a couple of decades ago or so. I took over my father’s farm in 1975, so I speak from 35 years of experience in the business. Not that Hahnenberg Farms had skads of acreage or notable tonnage over the years, but at one time we had 40 acres in full production. As a young teacher, planting cherries seemed a good investment for the future. There were bonuses for a good crop beyond target prices for several of those years. Sweet cherries, of which we had about 15 acres, always seemed to be a reliable source of income. There were years, though, that financial disaster help from the government made up for killing frosts and low grades due to brown rot, windwhip, and hail. I don’t think I could have survived those years had it not been for what, essentially, were bailouts. Looking at the tart cherry industry today, I see no profitable future for it. While the U.S. is the second-largest producer of cherries in the world, it accounts for only 10 percent of global production. Turkey is the leading cherry producer in the world. Over the last few decades, total cherry consumption in the United States has remained relatively stable. Peak consumption of cherries occurred in 1987 at 2.2 pounds per person, and reached a low of 1.3 pounds in 1991 and again in 1996. In 2008, per person consumption of all cherries was 1.9 pounds. Any guesses as to per person consumption in this economy for 2010? When the unemployment rate hangs around 10% in this country, and we see a possible scenario of a collapsing Eur Add new comment Read more Incumbents Hold On Wednesday, May 05, 2010 Despite what seemed dissatisfaction with Washington's status quo by Tea partiers, etc., yesterday's (May 4th) primaries showed little movement toward an anti-incumbent movement. Voters in Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio stuck with incumbents in Tuesday's primaries, and an old Capitol Hill hand, Republican Dan Coats, made a comeback. In Indiana this fall, Coats — who was recruited by the National Republican Senatorial Committee — will face Democrat Brad Ellsworth. They are seeking the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh. Coats, 66, retired from the Senate in 1998. He overcame spirited challenges from four others, including state Sen. Marlin Stutzman, a tea party favorite who was endorsed by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, and former Rep. John Hostettler, who had the support of one-time presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson. Turnout was exceptionally light in Ohio and North Carolina, a possible indication that the anger fueling voters across the country over economic woes, persistently high unemployment and the Washington establishment wasn't translating into votes. In Indiana, 14-term Republican Rep. Dan Burton — the state's longest-serving congressman — struggled but managed to fend off six challengers for his seat. In North Carolina, first-term GOP Sen. Richard Burr, whose public approval numbers are lower than expected, won his party's nomination. Republican Rep. Howard Coble, who first won his seat in 1984, easily beat five opponents, and first-term Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell survived a primary challenge from one of his former campaign volunteers. In Ohio, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, a former Ohio attorney general backed by Democrats in Washington, withstood a challenge from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Add new comment Read more Today is Primary Day in Several States Tuesday, May 04, 2010 Is the Tea party movement for real and is there an anti-incumbent mood in the country from Tea partiers, Republicans, independents, and even Democrats? Tonight, May 4th, we should find out. From the AP: Tea party activists haven't liked former Republican Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana from the time he launched a comeback campaign three months ago. Now he'll find out what that means for his bid to retake his old Senate seat. Coats has support from the state and Washington GOP establishment that recruited him, making Indiana's primary election one of three Tuesday that will test whether party backing is enough to secure a nomination and, in some cases, signal the strength of the tea party coalition. Open Senate seats in Indiana and Ohio and the Democratic race for a challenger to North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr top ballots as the states kick off a wave of primaries during the next several months. The stakes are high for Coats, who had been out of office 12 years when he decided in February to challenge Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh. The GOP hoped to capitalize on what was expected to be a bad year for Democrats, but the race was turned upside down just days later when Bayh decided to not seek re-election. Coats has been criticized as an old-guard Washington lobbyist whose time has passed. Many tea party activists — a mix of conservatives and libertarians hungry for fresh blood in Washington — instead are backing state Sen. Marlin Stutzman or former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler for the GOP nomination. "I think most of that is more of the 'let's throw all the rascals out regardless of who they are and where they've been' kind of thing,'" former Indiana Republican chairman Mike McDaniel said. In Ohio, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, a former state attorney general bac Add new comment Read more Florida's Governor Tuesday, April 27, 2010 There will be an announcement Thursday, April 29th, that will change the political landscape in Florida. Gov. Charlie Crist said he hopes to decide whether to run for U.S. Senate as a Republican or as an independent by Thursday. He is to file his formal election papers by Friday at noon, or 12 hours before the legislature has to complete its work. “I’d like to go ahead and get that concluded then look forward to the last day of session,” Crist said. Crist says he hasn’t made up his mind yet. But it looks like he’s likely to abandon the GOP. A concern I have is that the charismatic former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, who will file his election papers today (April 27th) as a Republican, will inherit a split in the conservative movement. Rubio leads Crist in the U.S. Senate race by double digits and is forcing Crist’s hand to look at running as an independent in the November election. If Florida Governor Charlie Crist leaves the Republican Party and enters the U.S. Senate race as an independent candidate, he will begin the campaign in second place. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll of Florida voters finds that 37% would vote for GOP frontrunner Marco Rubio, 30% for Crist and 22% for the likely Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek. That’s much closer than amonth ago when Rubio had a 17-point advantage and Crist was in third place. In a two-way race, both Rubio and Crist hold solid leads over Meek. The 2010 Florida gubernatorial election will take place on November 2, 2010. Governor Crist, despite being eligible to run for a second term, will instead run for the U.S. Senate. This will mean an open race for Governor of Florida. My question for Governor Crist…why not seek a second term as governor? You still have until June 18th to file Add new comment Read more Israel – Forgotten by the U.S.? Tuesday, April 20, 2010 The geographical size of Israel and its cultural place in world history lie on two ends of the spectrum. Israel measures 263 miles from north to south and, at its widest point 71 miles, from east to west. At its narrowest point, however, this is reduced to just 9 miles! Its entire area is 8,019 square miles. Compare Israel’s length (263 miles) with that of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula…277 miles. At its widest, the Lower Peninsula is 195 miles from west to east. Or to see a graphic of Israel superimposed on Lake Michigan, Israel would fit easily in the lake’s boundaries. Imagine, though, if lower Michigan had a width of only 9 miles at its midsection. Such is the case with Israel. The distance between the Mediterranean Sea and the West Bank is just that…under ten miles at its least. Over half of Israel’s population lives in that coastal strip, where the population density is already among the highest in the world with an average of 294 people per square kilometer. Israel’s population was 7,503,800 inhabitants as of December 2009. 75.4% of them were Jewish (about 5,660,700 individuals.) The rest were mainly Palestinians. So much for the geography. Now as to the cultural importance of the country. The Old Testament is the story of a people whom Christians believe God revealed Himself to in a very special way. Israel is the root and trunk of Christianity and the primary source for the thinking of the founders of this country. If we in the United States forget Israel, we are not being true to our existence as a country. Psalm 137 frames the idea poignantly. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither, let my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.” (137, 5-7). Under the Ob Add new comment Read more Einstein vs. Dawkins Sunday, April 18, 2010 I have always been intrigued by the profundity of those great pioneers of science who discover the great laws of physics or economics with blackboards full of unintelligible formulas and equations. Russell Stowe played a convincing role as Nobel prize-winning mathematician and economist, John Forbes Nash, and his struggle with paranoid schizophrenia in “A Beautiful Mind.” We are, as a race, blessed with those who with disabilities struggle on to become great philosophers and theorists. Richard Dawkins is one such person. In a previous post I wrote about this modern Einstein and his struggle with explaining the origin of the universe and his own parapaligia. For many years now Richard Dawkins has been working to discredit belief in God. In his 2006 book “The God Delusion,” Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that faith qualifies as a delusion ? as a fixed false belief. He has now said that he wants to have the Pope arrested when he comes to Britain for later this year for covering up “crimes against humanity”. I wonder how many atheistic leaders have covered up or actually led genocidal murders of millions of people. A few in my generation come to mind. While I make no concessions to anyone in leadership who abuses his or her authority, the jury is still out on Benedict’s real or imagined role in the scandals of some of the ordained. Dawkins’ position reminds me of the leader of the fictional country in the movie “The Mouse that Roared.” Many atheists are sincere, law-abiding people, and are staying true to the truth as they see it. Most also remain open to new possibilities and acknowledge that they are not entirely omniscient, and are respectful to those who think differently to themselves. Da Add new comment Read more Should we rethink tax collection on Tax Day? Wednesday, April 14, 2010 Recently the AP reported that 47 percent of all U.S. households will pay no federal income tax this year. Think about it: If every other American avoids the tax – the federal government's largest single revenue source – why should they care about raising taxes, out-of-control spending or a debt that will burden future generations long after we're dead? To the contrary, they have every reason to demand what would be considered a crime if not done under the color of government: Give us more stuff, they'll say – as long as we never see the bill. I cast myself in neither Republican nor Democrat camp. I am a social and fiscal conservative. In my youth I realized that the Democratic party had a natural advantage over the Republican party because they were the party who garnered support for their election into office by ostensibly looking out for the little guy. A government program here and there to address the needs of those lower on the totem pole of income was a win-win for the Democrats for many years. I am Catholic and most Catholics with large families several decades ago were loyal Democrats because the Democratic party delivered on their promises to care for the less wealthy. On the opposite side of the political aisle, there sat the Republicans…loyal to big business to protect the economy’s engine drivers. Yes, corruption and greed among those CEOs was the antithesis to the hard-working union members who only wanted a piece of the American dream. Before WW I, if it had not been for unions, the steel, auto, and big business barons would have squeezed the little guy for all they could, providing low wages, poor working conditions, and few if any benefits. However, with the election of Obama, the pent-up frustration with the obscenely high salaries Add new comment Read more If you were sick before healthcare…welcome VAT! Thursday, April 08, 2010 Obamacare is now law. Remember Speaker of the House Pelosi’s famous quote at the beginning of March… “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy”? Well, we are finding out, not so much what is in it, but what obviously has to be done to pay for it. Reuters reported yesterday (April 7th): The United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax, White House adviser Paul Volcker said on Tuesday. Volcker, answering a question from the audience at a New York Historical Society event, said the value-added tax "was not as toxic an idea" as it has been in the past and also said a carbon or other energy-related tax may become necessary. Though he acknowledged that both were still unpopular ideas, he said getting entitlement costs and the U.S. budget deficit under control may require such moves. "If at the end of the day we need to raise taxes, we should raise taxes," he said. Now, just what is a value-added tax (VAT)? A value-added tax (VAT) is a fee that is assessed against businesses by a government at various points in the production of goods or services—usually any time a product is resold or value is added to it. For tax purposes, value is added whenever the value of a product increases as a result of the application of a company's factors of production, such as labor and equipment. VAT must be paid by every company that handles a product during its transition from raw materials to finished goods. For example, tax is charged when a manufacturer sells to a wholesaler and again when a wholesaler sells to a retailer. With VAT, the taxable amount is based on the value added at each stage of the proc Add new comment Read more The Date of Easter Wednesday, March 31, 2010 Christmas has a fixed date: December 25th. Not that Jesus Christ was born on that day, but Western Christians first celebrated Christmas on December 25 in 336 AD, after Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the empire’s favored religion. So, why the variable date for Easter every year? Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25. Further, Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different day than Western churches. I was always under the impression that Easter is celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox. It seemed to be a good rule to follow. But, not so fast… This statement was true prior to 325 AD; however, over the course of history, the Western Church decided to establish a more standardized system for determining the date of Easter. Enter Emperor Constantine again. At that time the Roman world used the Julian Calendar. Introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, it came into use in 45 BC. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year, known at least since Hipparchus. It had a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and a leap day was added to February every four years. Sounds rather familiar, doesn’t it? However, there was a problem with the Julian calendar. The Julian year is on average 365.25 days long. By the end of the 16th century, the Julian calendar was found to be 10 days late when compared with the position of the sun. That is, the vernal equinox was not occurring on or about March 20/21, as it should do in a correct solar calendar, but was gradually receding towards the beginning of March. The reason for this error was that the Julian calendar worked on the Add new comment Read more What’s Wrong with These “Educators”? Friday, March 26, 2010 I have been a high school principal and teacher in public and parochial schools for over four decades. An item in the news caught my attention the other day. It concerned the mother of a 15-year old girl who recently discovered that the high school her girl attended helped her daughter get an abortion and never informed the mother beforehand. The high school responsible for this insanity was Ballard High School in Seattle, Washington. As a principal and teacher in Michigan, I could never legally offer even an aspirin nor any medical advice to a student in the school. Parents are required to drive with their children a number of hours before the teen can get a driver’s license. Parents are called upon to chaperone school dances. Parent permission slips are required for school trips. However, for a teen to get an abortion in Washington state without parental notification is apparently legal. But what happened at Ballard doesn’t end there. The school can also send children off campus for mental health care and drug addiction treatment without their parents ever knowing. Supporters say the confidentiality allows teens who are too afraid to tell mom and dad to get necessary treatment. Parents signed consent forms for off-school treatment thinking it was limited to emergency health care when the parents could not be reached. But the teen health clinics at 14 Seattle schools are about much more. They have a full-time registered nurse, counselor and nursing assistant on hand to help kids with more sensitive issues. When the 15-year old girl’s pregnancy was confirmed, they counseled her on the options. The mother says they encouraged her to have an abortion and not tell her parents. She claims her daughter was told that if she informed her parents they wou Add new comment Read more The Man of Principle Caved Tuesday, March 23, 2010 HR Bart Stupak (D-MI), whom I eulogized in my previous post, caved this past weekend in his principled opposition to government-funded abortion. He worked the White House for an executive order banning such funding in the recently passed version of Obamacare. He got what he wanted…the signature from the most pro-choice president we have ever had, guaranteeing, so Stupak announced, that no federal funds for abortion would be used in the new healthcare bill. The problem with Stupak’s position is that the president, with a stroke of the pen, once Obamacare becomes law, can lift the executive order anytime, anywhere, and for any reason. The document is worth little more than the paper it was written on. There will be in the next few days attempts to stop Obamacare in the Senate through parliamentary objections, but the outcome is all but certain. This president, with Pelosi, Reid, and their Democratic congressional allies have, in effect, bought off wavering congressional members with bribes, deceit, cost misrepresentation, and kickbacks of billions of dollars to individual states to change one-sixth of the American economy for generations to come with a debt this country cannot afford now, much less for the future. My hats off to you, Mr. President, as you make an historic signing today of the most corruptly crafted legislation of my lifetime with not one Republican on board with you. When the noble principle of healthcare reform got into your hands stained with the dirty grit of politics, the shine of true reform has been tarnished to an ugly finish. Shame on you, Bart Stupak. You may have, in good conscience, trusted this president, but my trust in your principled judgment has lost its sheen as well. Ed Hahnenberg Add new comment Read more Rep. Stupak…a Man of Principle Friday, March 19, 2010 Unlike HR Dennis Kucinich (D – Ohio) who vowed in writing adamantly he would never support Obamacare without a public option, but who changed his mind after a trip with the President on Air Force One, there is one man …HR Bart Stupak (D-Michigan)…who remains true to his principles in leading a group of his fellow colleagues to oppose the centerpiece of the Obama food fight unless the ban on government funding of abortion is guaranteed. Of course Stupak has not seen the light of a UFO as has Kucinich, but he remains a beacon of light for pro-lifers across the country. Stupak says he's open to a deal but will vote "No" on the health care bill unless changes are made to accommodate his more-stringent language that prevents federal funding for abortion. "There's still no change," Stupak, D-Mich., said on "Good Morning America" today (March 19th) of his "No" vote on the health care bill. "My group is holding firm." "I want to pass health care... but there's a principle that we do not want to cross," Stupak added. But the Michigan Democrat said he is open to a deal on the abortion language if he can get a firm commitment from the Senate. That may be a dubious prospect. "There is renewed interest in that piece of legislation that I and a number of us are ready to introduce. It's prepared, everybody's looking at it right now," Stupak said on "GMA." "That's one way maybe -- but we still have to deal with the Senate. "A lot of promises are made around this town. You got to lock them down, and there has been no lock-down yet," he added. "We're still negotiating." Another anti-abortion Democrat, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, also said Thursday she is open to a separate bill with the House abortion language. Stupak's amendment, which was part of the Ho Add new comment Read more Rights vs. Responsibilities Sunday, March 14, 2010 There has been a lot of talk about the “rights” a human being has. Everyone should remember one of the first lines of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Americans spend a lot of time fighting for, talking, debating and writing about our rights. No matter from which side of the political aisle we come, we love our rights and we love to talk about them. It’s a shame we are not as enthusiastic about the responsibilities that accompany those rights. To be sure, we Americans have more rights than we can shake a stick at. But the one we seem to love most, or at least hang our hat on the most, is our right to freely speak our mind. I’m certainly no exception. Every fight we are engaged in today revolves around some real, perceived or desired right, as human beings, as fellow Americans, or as members of the world community. We fight over gay rights, abortion rights, religious rights, economic rights, artistic rights, gun rights, property rights, racial rights, majority or minority rights and even our right to act as a sovereign nation, in the interest of national security. Nothing will get a good fight going like a fight over rights… In the past year, much has been spoken and written about the “right to health care.” For decades, Americans have spoken and written about the “right to have an abortion.” The list goes on and on and on. My grandfather never thought he had a “right” to Social Security, because he grew up as a young man before the concept became law in 1935. He never thought he had a “right to health Add new comment Read more This is THE Problem Tuesday, March 09, 2010 This is THE problem: Funding of healthcare. No one wants tens of millions to face catastrophic economic devastation because of illness. The Congress and administration refuse to consider buying healthcare insurance from 1600 companies across state lines. WHY? There is no argument with the fact that those 30 million who have no health insurance need at least catastrophic insurance. A creative solution would be to have such a pool that government could take care of...ah yes, we have such a program called Medicaid. Not only is that due for a major upgrade, but so is Medicare and Social Security. Adding another $10 trillion to our national debt of $13 trillion now...and another $20 trillion in the decade following will most certainly blow the financial lid of this country's economic stability. Recently, China has said it doesn't want to be tied to the US dollar. Who do we borrow from then? The administration would have us believe that insurance companies will with greedy intentions raise rates in quantum leaps as in California. Nonsense. As more and more people are unemployed and lose their coverage, premiums paid to these companies dry up, so the insured pool gets smaller and those left are usually of retirement age and are able to afford to continue with increased rates...but these are the people who, as they continue to age, will tap their policies for whatever costly procedures their doctors prescribe. That leads to another fix...tort reform. Doctors are scared spitless that a lawsuit is around the corner, so they order proactive tests that protect themselves. Cap these lawsuits and premiums will go down, but competition for business across state lines is essential. I can buy motorcycle insurance from Progressive dirt cheap...how about $282 per year, yet a Mi Add new comment Read more Pope Pius XII Saturday, March 06, 2010 As a youth, I grew up in the reign of Pope Pius XII. He was head of the Catholic Church from 1939-1958, a turbulent period with two wars…WWII and the Cold War. Much has been written about Pius, both positive and negative. To this day, writers question his alleged silence about the atrocities committed both in Germany under Hitler and in Russia under Stalin. His leadership of the Catholic Church during World War II remains the subject of continued historical controversy. As a pre-school youngster during WWII, I was not aware of world events, but when I graduated from high school a year after Pius’ death, my view of the pope was that he was a saintly man. From the 1960s to 2000, there was little criticism of him for his supposed failures to speak out more to save the Jews from the Holocaust. Instead Pius XII and the Catholic Church received praise for what he and the Church did do for the Jews and others during World War II. Several prominent Jews praised Pius XII, including Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, a prime minister of Israel, Moshe Sharrett, the first foreign minister of Israel, and Rabbi Isaac Herzog, the second chief rabbi of Israel. Pius XII is credited with helping from 700,000 to 800,000 Jews, and for this he has been honored by some Jews as a “Righteous Gentile.” When Pius died in 1958, tributes to him from Jewish organizations had to be printed over three days by the New York Times, and even then limited to the names of individuals and their organizations. However, at the turn of the millennium, as a teacher, I became aware of an anti-Pius XII view taken by several authors At least nine books came out about Pius XII and the Holocaust within a span of three years. Five of them were attacks on him and the Church: Hitler’s Pope (2000), Papal S Add new comment Read more Dancing with the Devil Wednesday, March 03, 2010 It would seem that the Christian message is to love one’s enemies and turn the other cheek when affronted. Yet Christ himself often pointed out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees calling them whitened sepulchers and accused them of binding heavy burdens, hard to bear, and laying them on men’s shoulders… but they themselves will not move them with their finger. We have a recent unsettling situation in Cuba that has gone largely unnoticed because of the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. During the last week in February Mexican President Felipe Calderon wore a broad smile as he warmly greeted Cuba’s Raul Castro at the Rio Group summit on the posh Mexican Riviera last week. At around the same time, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a 42-year-old Afro-Cuban political prisoner, died after an 83-day hunger strike in a Cuban prison. Mr. Tamayo, a construction worker, was one of 75 Cuban dissidents swept up by the regime in March 2003 and sentenced to long prison terms. Initially jailed for three years on charges of public disorder and “disobedience,” he later received a sentence of 36 years because of his acts of defiance while in prison. He launched his hunger strike in December to protest repeated beatings by prison guards. His passing has once more elevated the truth about the lives of 11 million Cubans enslaved for the last 50 years under a totalitarian regime. Born in the province of Holguin in the eastern part of the country, he moved through the Cuban education system as any ordinary citizen. But the requisite Marxist indoctrination didn’t take. Like so many Cuban patriots before him, once his conscience had been awakened no measure of cruelty could stop him from speaking out. Zapata became part of a wave of peaceful resistance that began to Add new comment Read more Drinking Tea Instead of Dumping it Sunday, February 28, 2010 Yesterday (Feb. 28th) was the beginning of the British Tea Party. Remember the European Parliament member from the UK who lectured PM Gordon Brown on spending the UK out of debt? Well, he was back on Neil Cavuto's show Friday. CAVUTO: A tea party there? Well, since we started tea parties protesting you guys, I guess it`s good you return the favor. So, where does this stand? HANNAN: Well, we have got a bigger problem than you. Our debt is higher. Our taxes are rising faster. This government has raised an additional trillion -- additional trillion -- over and above what we would have raised in taxation if taxes had stayed at a previous level since they got in -- in 1997. So, we have got a great deal to protest about, that -- as you say, I mean, this is England, and not the U.S. So, we are going to be drinking tea at our tea party tomorrow, rather than dumping it in the English Channel. CAVUTO: But how much does it register in your country vs. our country, where it`s become a huge populist movement, much bigger than that? I trivialize it just saying that. But, in your country, and among those who are leading these rallies, well, how would you explain the difference? HANNAN: Well, you know, this is right at the beginning. This is the first interview I have given about it. And our inaugural meeting is going to be tomorrow. But I was speaking to your Tea Party patriot people a few moments ago, and they told me that the thing began with a conference call of 22 people, and it had then grown into 1.2 million. Now, I mean, I`m hoping to have more than 22 people there tomorrow, but it won`t be anything like 1.2 million. The argument is the same, though, Neil. It`s the same in Britain, the same in America, the same in everywhere. People want to keep more of Add new comment Read more Cash for Our Clunker Clothes Dryer? Wednesday, February 24, 2010 I feel I’ve been left out of the loop…I put a steel roof on my house and bought a wood-burning fireplace a couple of years ago. If I had waited I could have gotten a tax credit of up to $1500 for 2009. The 2009 Stimulus Package provided substantial tax credits to homeowners who made energy efficient updates to their home. Homeowners installing qualified roofs in 2009 and 2010 are eligible for a tax credit worth up to 30% of the materials cost (materials only) up to $1,500 per home. Cool metal roofing not only looks great and lasts for decades, it has been shown to save up to 40% on energy costs, depending on your regional climate. It turns out I could have gotten at least a $500 tax credit in 2007. But I had to do these energy saving projects in 2008, when no credit was given for nothing. Bummer. Well, this year, old eagle eyes has been looking for a free handout from Obama’s deep pockets. Scanning the news for another “cash for clunker-whatever,” I thought I read house appliances, like washers, refrigerators, and dryers with Star-rating would qualify. Screwed again. We just bought a front-loading washing machine last year…well, at least the State of Michigan gave me a few dollars credit. Maybe I have Secretary of the Treasury’s long lost gene of not doing Turbo-tax correctly, but I didn’t see a tax credit for that item in 2009 on my federal 1040. Hey, but all was not lost, I thought….maybe that old clothes dryer would qualify for 2010. After all, I can’t even remember when I bought it. So I did some research. If, for example, you need a new dishwasher and are planning to take advantage of the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, also called cash for clunkers for appliances or cash for appliances, here's what Add new comment Read more Put it on my tab... Monday, February 22, 2010 There is nothing so convenient as a credit card, and yet there is nothing so insidious as one either. I have always been a fan of those rectangle plastic entities which gave me access to money without making an appointment with a bank official, driving to the bank, and pleading my case for some needed financial help. The process didn’t stop there…I had to have some asset to back up my request for a loan. I never used any of my children as tangible assets, though. Credit cards are to me a miracle of ease of use in a generation that needs things yesterday. Yes, I know, Dave Ramsey takes his scissors out every night and cuts one up to show his disdain for using them. However, Dave is making a good point. Don’t spend what you don’t have. Got it. Thanks, however, to competition in the credit card market before the downturn in the economy, I was able to play one off against another, getting cheaper rates and improving my credit score. Where could one get 2.99% interest on balance owed for the life of the loan? Today, Feb. 22nd, the credit card industry's days of operating in the equivalent of the Wild West are over as new federal legislation takes effect and bans a wide range of industry practices that have long been slammed by consumer rights advocates and helped lead many Americans off of a financial cliff. Card issuers will have to be clearer about how much credit actually costs. Every bill is now required to list the amount of time it would take a customer to pay off his balance if he only made the minimum payment. In addition, card companies will have to make the payment due date the same each month, with the deadline extended if it falls on a holiday. Issuers can no longer charge a fee to customers who pay by phone or online. Another big change wi Add new comment Read more If Congress Won't Do it, I Will Thursday, February 18, 2010 George Washington could have become a one-man show as President. He didn’t. FDR was as close to a benign dictator as we’ve come, with four elections as President. If you look at the Constitution, Congress gets the most coverage in Article 1, the President much less in Article 2, and the Supreme Court…well, it did make it in, in Article 3. This president has pushed the Constitution into the unread section of the Library of Congress, so much so that he is trying to act as the savior of the Union. It doesn’t take a constitutional lawyer to see what his future intentions are, expressed in the State of the Union. He chided the Supreme Court. He told the Senate that he would bypass its recent decision to block a bipartisan budget commission bill by issuing an executive order. Yes, the Constitution does give the President the power of the Executive Order. Further the Constitution does allow for recess appointments. However... The purpose of the Executive Order was partly to allow the President to take action in an era when the carriage ride to Washington would take weeks and mail was carried by horse. During that era, without the ability of the President to make recess appointments, and Executive Orders, the government would not function. With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities. With the rejection of Obama policies in three key off-year elections and the falling by the wayside of several Democrats in Congress who have announced they will not seek reelection, Obama intends to pay lip service to Congress and will use the power of the Executive Order to go ahead with his plans that Add new comment Read more Biden the Bloviator Monday, February 15, 2010 Al Gore invented the internet …(“During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.”) …John Kerry voted for funding the Iraq War before he voted against it (the flipflop which made him famous, or infamous, back in 2004)... Hillary Clinton told a tall tale about "landing under sniper fire" in Bosnia...and VP Biden’s quote: "Number one, you take all the troops out - you better have helicopters ready to take those 3,000 civilians inside the Green Zone, where I have been seven times and shot at.” Well, actually, big Joe had to take that last one back, admitting later that "I was near where a shot landed." The latest whopper to come from our loquacious VP came on Larry King Live recently where he made an astonishing announcement. It seems that victory in Iraq will be listed as one of the greatest achievements of the Obama administration. Biden’s comments: "I am very optimistic about—about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government. It's impressed me. I've been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences." One wonders if big Joe has not been struck with a case of amnesia. As United States senators, both he and the Prez denounced the surge strategy of Bush that subsequently put the terrorists to flight in Iraq and brought about the victory that Biden is now touting and taking credit for. One would think that instead of taking credit for it, perhaps an admission that he and Obama were wrong might be Add new comment Read more The President and the National Prayer Breakfast Wednesday, February 10, 2010 The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., on the first Thursday of February each year since 1953. It is hosted by members of Congress and is organized on their behalf by The Fellowship Foundation, a conservative Christian organization. At first the event was called the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, but the name was changed in 1970 to the National Prayer Breakfast. This tradition, stretching as it does back through five decades of American political life, has included every American president during that period. The event Nov. 4th was host to 3500 guests, including dignitaries from over 100 countries. The National Prayer Breakfast, although very inclusive, does have some framework. The same broad Judeo-Christian values that were recognized early by the Founding Fathers are part of the event. Those values inevitably involve some proscribed actions and beliefs. Atheism, for example, is incompatible with the National Prayer Breakfast. Prayers, after all, are directed at a divine being. Obviously the event is considered a violation of church and state by such organizations as American Atheists. The main event, the Thursday morning breakfast, typically has two special guest speakers: the President and a guest whose identity is kept confidential until that morning. For example, in 1994, Mother Teresa was the second guest speaker. This year’s event, however, was not quite what prior National Prayer Breakfasts have been. According to Bruce Walker of the New American, the president’s remarks seemed to minimize the importance of the traditional religious faith of Christians and of Jews in favor of a sort of Confucian protocol of manners, a society of communal rather than personal good works. The President’s remarks were more Add new comment Read more The Cost of the Super Bowl Sunday, February 07, 2010 I have little interest in today’s Super Bowl 44. For the New Orleans Saints, though, it’s a win-win event. For the Big Easy, hit hard by Katrina, the game is a spirit-lifting event, win or lose…not that it needs any spirit-lifting with the money the non-stop pre-Lenten parties and parades this season of the year brings to the city’s economy. For Peyton Manning of the Colts, he could win another MVP award to twin with the one from his last Miami Super Bowl. Players on the winning team get a $73,000 bonus. With millions unemployed, how’s that going for ya, big guy? The money spent on this year’s Super Bowl, according to RetailNet, will come close to, or exceed $10,000,000,000. Let’s put that in perspective. The massive international response to Haiti's earthquake has brought more than $2 billion in aid to the stricken Caribbean nation, by the United Nations' reckoning. That's a stunning figure, but it comes with a giant asterisk: So far, the vast majority of the aid, more than 85 percent, has been earmarked or promised but not yet delivered or disbursed. The cost of rebuilding Haiti will be enormous, possibly beyond $10 billion. Think of it…one game could rebuild a country. Or look at the money spent on this one game in other ways: According to UNICEF, the full cost of universal primary education by the year 2010 would amount to $7 billion per year. The money spent on this year’s Super Bowl well exceeds this amount. The World Malaria report, produced by the World Health Organization in 2008, sited an estimate of 881,000 malaria deaths in 2006. Children under 5 years of age constituted 85 percent of those. Prevention and treatment of malaria in Africa costs approximately $3.2 billion annually. Cumulative spending on the Super Bowl could Add new comment Read more "He Doesn't Think..." Wednesday, February 03, 2010 Not my words, but the comments of the Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, in reference to remarks the President made in a town hall meeting in New Hampshire Tuesday (Feb. 2nd). "He has to step up right away and say, you know, he wasn't thinking," Goodman said. "Sometimes when he's not using his monitors and reading what he says, he doesn't think. And this is one of those times he didn't think, and he should straighten out the record because he's been here, he knows Las Vegas is a great place." "When times are tough, you tighten your belts," Obama said, according to a White House transcript of his appearance Tuesday at a high school in Nashua, N.H. "You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage," Obama said. "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices." The comments quickly sparked a flurry of reaction in the Silver State, which supported Obama in the 2008 election. Nevada had an unemployment rate of 13 percent in December. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said during a hastily called news conference that Obama is no friend to Las Vegas and would not be welcomed here if he visits."I'll do everything I can to give him the boot," Goodman said. "This president is a real slow learner." "Enough is enough!" Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley said in a statement. "President Obama needs to stop picking on Las Vegas and he needs to let Americans decide for themselves how and where to spend their hard-earned vacation dollars." The President also piqued Nevada’s Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," Reid said. "I would much rather Add new comment Read more The Congress of 2009 Sunday, January 31, 2010 I read the title of a headline by Norman Ornstein in today’s (Jan 31st) Washington Post that forced my attention… “A very productive Congress, despite what the approval ratings say.” Ornstein began with: “When President Obama urged lawmakers during his State of the Union speech to work with him on ‘restoring the public trust,’ he was hardly going out on a limb. The Congress he was addressing is one of the least popular in decades. Barely a quarter of Americans approve of the job it's doing, according to the latest Gallup/USA Today poll, while 58 percent said it was below average or one of the worst ever, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal survey last month. “It's not hard to find reasons why Americans are down on Capitol Hill, and why President Obama's approval rating has dropped below 50 percent in many polls. A year into the 111th Congress, unemployment remains at 10 percent, and many Americans are struggling to get by -- even as they've watched Congress bail out banks and coddle the same bankers now salivating over massive new bonuses. At the same time, the public has had a front-row seat to the always messy legislative process on health care and other issues, and this past year that process has been messier, more rancorous and more partisan than at any point in modern memory. “There seems to be little to endear citizens to their legislature or to the president trying to influence it.” Now there isn’t much to disagree with in Ornstein’s leading paragraphs. As the predominately Democratic Congress and its progressive President live in the bubble of unreality that is Washington, it is amazing how the election of Massachusett’s Republican Scott Brown could turn Washington upside down in virtually stopping Obamacare in its t Add new comment Read more The State of the Union Thursday, January 28, 2010 Last evening I listened to the President’s first State of the Union address in its entirety, curious to see if he had heard the clarion sound of rejection of many of his policies by the voters of the bluest of the blue states, Massachusetts, in the Senate election of Scott Brown days before. On the surface, the lengthy oration by Obama seemed upbeat, somewhat conciliatory, but obviously on message with his first year’s call for change. You had the obligatory cheers and eighty-some standing ovations, on some of which the Republicans joined in. As is typical of many such events, the greatness of America was highlighted and who could not agree with his version of oft-heard platitudes of presidents before him concerning God, country, and apple pie. Two thirds of the speech was about creating jobs and the Bush blame-game was somewhat muted. To Obama’s credit no tax increases have yet hit the fan and there have been modest tax cuts in his one year aimed at creating jobs as he pointed out. What he failed to mention was that his initiatives, if passed, will bankrupt this country. Period. The President pledged to press ahead with health care reform in his State of the Union address Wednesday night. He said he would not "walk away" from the issue and urged Congress to stand with him. "Do not walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close," Obama said. The President urged Congress to take "another look" at the plan on the table, but at the same time offered to hear out new ideas from both parties. I found this offer to be disingenuous, however, because the Republicans have offered two solutions to rising health care costs that he and his fellow Democrats have heard ad infinitum: Tort reform and allowing the 1600 health insurance companie Add new comment Read more Oh My Gosh…The Prez Takes on the Supreme Court! Saturday, January 23, 2010 Really? The President is at odds with the Court? Must be that he’s not the only branch of government…the court's justices on Thursday removed long-standing campaign finance limits and allowed corporations to spend freely in campaigns for president and Congress. In the ruling, the court's conservative majority said the limits had violated corporations' constitutional right to free speech. What a concept…free speech. Not that I have any animus toward the 400 speeches, White House plugs for this or that screwy idea the President has proposed, etc., in his first year in office, but why the attack by the Prez on the Court? The ruling is expected to unleash a flood of money into this year's congressional elections. Obama's fellow Democrats face a struggle to retain control of the U.S. Congress amid voter unhappiness over double-digit unemployment, a record deficit, political gridlock in Washington and other matters. "This ruling opens the floodgates for an unlimited amount of special interest money into our democracy," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "It gives the special interest lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected officials to vote their way -- or to punish those who don't. This ruling strikes at democracy itself," Obama said. Oh, really? Strikes at democracy? What the heck has this administration been doing this past year…browbeating banks and Wall Street with threats of punitive taxation on anyone who has touched bail-out money. The real problem for Obama is that he sees that the corporations and banks he has been critical of will now have their comeuppance in being allowed to throw big money into ads opposing his Democrat buddies right up to the day of this November’s elections. Add new comment Read more The Fall of the House of Obama Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Yesterday, Jan. 19th, was the 201st birthday of Edgar Allen Poe. A tragic figure who died at the age of 40, Poe is famous as the writer of dark poems and short stories such as the Raven and the Fall of the House of Usher. In the latter work, a narrator is relating a story of a knight entering a hermit’s cave to Roderick Usher, who, when clanging noises occur, becomes increasingly hysterical, and eventually exclaims that these sounds are being made by his sister, who was in fact alive when she was entombed and that Roderick knew that she was alive. The bedroom door is then blown open to reveal Roderick’s sister standing there. She falls violently in death upon her brother, who dies of his own terror. The narrator then flees the house, and, as he does so, notices a flash of light causing him to look back upon the House of Usher, in time to watch it break in two. Interestingly, yesterday, Jan. 19th, a Republican Scott Brown defeated the well-known state attorney general of Massachusetts, Democrat Martha Coakley. The race for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy is a win that could grind President Obama's agenda to a halt and portend unexpected losses for Democrats in the November midterms. Brown's victory has powerful ramifications for Obama's agenda. The GOP state senator, once sworn in, will break the Democrats' 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority in Washington. This creates problems for proposed legislation ranging from financial regulatory reform to cap-and-trade. But most immediately the win sends Democrats into a scramble to pass health care reform before Brown arrives in Washington. Democrats were already weighing options for how to fast-track the bill before polls closed Tuesday. What was significant was that Democrats ou Add new comment Read more The Russian Bear Closes in on Ukraine Monday, January 18, 2010 I had the pleasure of having a young Ukranian student in Global Issues class a few years back. I spoke with Olga from time to time about the situation in her country and the ever-present threat from Russia to reincorporate her independent country into its sphere of influence. She responded that, while she didn’t remember the Soviet Union, her parents did. She was glad that the Ukraine was independent and there were freedoms she had never missed. The Ukraine was the Soviet Union’s bread basket. Today, the rich dark soil and the vast fields of wheat and other food products earned Ukraine the nickname "bread basket of Europe." According to the CIA World Factbook, Ukraine produced 25% of all agricultural output in the former Soviet Union. Today, Ukraine exports substantial amounts of grain, vegetables, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, milk and meat. Exports (including non-food exports) go to Russia, 20%; the countries of the European Union, 17%;China, 7%; Turkey, 6%; and the U.S. 4%. In addition, food processing, especially sugar processing, is an important industrial segment. Nearly one out of four workers in Ukraine is employed in agriculture or forestry related endeavors. The recent election in the Ukraine, however, should be of concern to the U.S. Names are confusing, but look at the results. Remember pro-West Mr. Yushchenko, who was poisoned by dioxin during the 2004 race? There was suspicion that Russia’s Putin had a hand in that. Anyway, Yushchenko languished in fifth place with 5% of the preliminary vote tally. Voters said they were fed up with a leadership that failed to function at times, improve living standards or tame corruption. However, another political player the U.S. should watch is Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian politician, wh Add new comment Read more Until Hell Freezes Over... Thursday, January 14, 2010 I spent ten years commuting to Pinckney as an administrator and teacher in its high school. Pinckney was just a few miles from Hell, MI. Every January or February, there would be the annual national coverage when the creek in the little two-store town would freeze over. If the stream in Hell froze, you knew it was exceptionally cold that year. Well, it certainly is not the netherworld, but Massachusetts is cold this week, but not in the Senate race to replace Sen. Ted Kennedy. The pre-election polls have certainly been heating up in the wild and woolly Brown - Coakley race as Massachusetts continues to fight freezing temperatures. Both candidates are breathing fire in a showdown that has the national spotlight as a bellwether special election that may be a precursor to the general election later in November. That Republican Scott Brown could be even or even beating Martha Coakley is dumbfounding political operatives in both parties and exciting the political pundits. Just a month ago she was considered a shoe-in for what is being referred to egotistically in Democratic circles as the Ted Kennedy Seat. Brown challenged that idea directly in the last Coakley - Brown debate by saying it is “not the Ted Kennedy seat. It is the People’s seat.” That great line was said softly, but it sure makes a powerful newspaper headline that makes Scott Brown sound like Reagan. The latest surveys are all over the map, with some showing the race neck and neck, with at least one poll boldly showing Brown ahead. The election is seen as a referendum on the healthcare bill which is going through a tough reconciliation process in both houses of Congress. “Our internal polling shows the race to be a very tight race, that means we must do everything we can to ensure we Add new comment Read more The Woods-Hume Controversy Monday, January 11, 2010 Recently, former anchor of Fox News’ “Special Report,” Brit Hume, had this advice to offer Tiger Woods: “He’s said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.’” Reams have been, and will be, written in response to Hume’s statements, accusing him of proselytizing and inappropriate commentary, unworthy of a news reporter. I make no apologies for my faith as a Catholic Christian blogger. In fact, I have repeatedly stated that the latest teaching on salvation from my faith comes from Section 16 of Vatican II’s document “Lumen Gentium.” "Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God. In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh. On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues. But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohamedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things, and as Savior wills that all men be saved. Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by Add new comment Read more Economic Scars will Continue Thursday, January 07, 2010 In an article by David Lynch of USA Today, he highlights the dismal future faced by this country in getting back to normal after this period of economic downturn. One day soon, writes Lynch, the recession will be officially declared over. That will be welcome news, but it won't end the pain. The aftershocks from deep recessions reverberate for years, even decades, and take an enduring toll on everything from government finances to countless upended individual lives. "People assume once the recession is over, people go back to work. They don't quite get the long-lasting impact," says economist John Irons of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. What Irons calls "economic scarring" will long serve as a reminder of the 2007-09 recession. Millions of workers who've lost their hold on the labor market are seeing their incomes reset to a permanently lower level. Young people who entered the workforce this year can expect to earn substantially less during their careers than those who start work during booms. As state and local governments slash spending, some children will lose educational opportunities, including the chance to attend college. Others will be weakened by untreated physical and mental illnesses. "We live in a big, dynamic economy, so some people will reinvent themselves. But a significant minority will have permanent, lasting earnings loss. They'll have to relocate, and some will see real turmoil," says economist Lori Kletzer, an expert on the labor market at the University of California-Santa Cruz. For millions of Americans, the recession will bend the trajectory of their lives in unexpected ways. Today, 15.4 million workers are jobless, more than twice as many as in December 2007. To get work, many will face unwelc Add new comment Read more Going Back to Religious Roots: Epiphany vs. Theophany Monday, January 04, 2010 William F. Buckley was the ultimate conservative. Although schooled in England, he was unashamedly Catholic in his view of religion. Gifted with mannerisms that kept one's focus, he could in his soft-spoken Socratic method, punctuated with words that had one scrambling for Webster's, draw anyone who debated him into his trap of inescapable logic. Not that the following is at his level of erudition...I think of the founder of National Review from time to time and miss his unspoken words of today. However, he is in a far better place. His book, "Nearer My God to Thee," holds an honored place on my bookshelf. Anyway, William, here is a bit of religious history I know you would have known...about the difference between the feast you would have celebrated yesterday...and a term synonomous with it. There are many commonalities in liturgical practice between Episcopalians, Catholics, and the Orthodox churches. While the terms “Epiphany” and “Theophany” are linked in history, they have different meanings. Breaking each word down, one can see a common noun in “phany” which, from an English transliteration, refers to the Greek noun "phaneia" or “manifestation.” The prefix “epi” in Greek has several meanings: “above, over, on, upon; besides; in addition to; toward; among.” Obviously, “theos” means “god.” The term “theophany” has a much wider meaning than “epiphany.” Interestingly, in early Christianity, the 4th century bishop Eusebius wrote a treatise “Peri theophaneias”, which referred to the Nativity. The observance of the “Epiphany” had its origins in the Eastern Christian Churches, and was a general celebration of the Nativity, but it also included the commemoration of the visit of the Magi as well as a Add new comment Read more Let's Not Just Twiddle Our Thumbs... Tuesday, December 29, 2009 As President Obama vacations in Hawaii, things are happening in Iran that should give him pause about his policy of passive disengagement from world crises. Iranian police opened fire into crowds of protesters on Sunday, killing at least 10 people and setting off a day of chaotic street battles that seemed poised to deepen the country’s civil unrest, as demonstrators flooded the streets in cities across Iran and fiercely fought back against security forces, witnesses and opposition Web sites said. The protests, on the holiday commemorating the death of Hussein, Shiite Islam’s holiest martyr, were the bloodiest and among the largest since the uprisings that followed Iran’s disputed presidential election last June, witnesses said. Hundreds of people were reported wounded. At this time in the Christian world it would be well for the President to reflect on the biblical message in the infancy narrative in the Gospel of Luke: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Or did the King James get that translation correct? Now, if you look back to the KJV translation of the original Greek, there is a definite difference in meaning. In the KJV, everybody gets “peace and good will.” In the original Greek, peace only goes to “men of good will.” One thing is certain, Iran’s leaders are not men of good will. In some parts of Tehran, protesters pushed the police back, hurling rocks and capturing several police cars and motorcycles, which they set on fire. Videos posted to the Internet showed scenes of mayhem, with dumpsters burning and groups of protesters attacking Basij militia volunteers amid a din of screams. One video showed a group of protesters setting an entire police station aflame in Tehran. Another Add new comment Read more Christmas … Why in December? Sunday, December 20, 2009 December 25th every year is a rock-solid holyday and holiday that children and retail stores look to with heightened hopes and expectations. Family and friends gather either the night before or the day of to celebrate gift-giving, time off from the routine of daily life, and, for Christians, the remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ, God and Savior. However, the date at the end of December raises questions about the nativity stories of the Gospels. Only Luke and Matthew of the four Gospels give us birth narratives or stories about the birth of Jesus. Creches, Christmas pageants, and live Nativity scenes in front of churches usually have the full quota of shepherds and wise men. But the truth is, it is only in Luke’s Gospel that we find the angel appearing to Mary and telling her that she was chosen to bear a child born of the Holy Spirit. It is only Luke who gives us Mary’s song of acceptance, the marvelous Magnificat, and it is only Luke who gives us “shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Luke does not give us wise men, rich and wealthy kings from foreign places; Matthew does. Luke gives us shepherds. And who were the shepherds? Romantic, rural fellows in a pastoral setting? Not really. Shepherds were rough, dirty, uncouth fellows for the most part. We are told that more than likely they were out in the fields and not on their way to register because they were not even considered full-fledged citizens, worthy of being counted in the census of Caesar Augustus. They spent all their time driving the sheep across the land of so many different people and provinces that they could not really call any place home. In addition, they probably smelled more like sheep than anything else. There are several questions raised h Add new comment Read more The "Green" Pope Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Every January 1st, the Pope issues a message on Roman Catholics’ World Day of Peace. This year, the Pope’s remarks were issued early in an attempt to influence the high-profile climate talks held in Copenhagen. In his message the Pope called for urgent action to protect the environment, saying in mid-December that climate change and natural catastrophes threaten the rights to life, food, health — and ultimately peace. The 82-year old Pope is no intellectual slouch, and his call for mankind to rethink its way of living is a view that is based on his concern for the future of the planet and its 6 billion-plus inhabitants. If you listen to conservatives in the U.S., the Pope’s message seems more in tune with Al Gore than with the recent climate-gate hubbub. Although I am a conservative, I am not persuaded that climate change is a hoax. I don’t believe that we are headed toward a future Venus, because there are solar cycles and the regular 11,000 year change in tilt in the earth’s axis that have cooled the earth dramatically for eons. Yet, we don’t exactly have thousands of years to wait for such events. We do have to deal with the here and now. Furthermore, an idea that I have always thought was neglected in the debate was touched on by the pontiff. A partial solution to carbon dioxide emissions is to plant more trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs./year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings. Trees also reduce the greenhouse effect by shading our homes and office buildings. This reduces air conditioning needs up to 30%, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce electricity. This combination of CO2 removal from Add new comment Read more Cut Down the Money Tree Tuesday, December 15, 2009 I had three huge clumped maple trees overhanging our house and driveway. Two showed signs of a hollow portion about five feet up. Fortunately, my neighbor had a tree service company doing some work, and I was notified of the condition of my trees. Needless to say, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. Cut the trees down or maybe lose the attic and a couple of cars in the driveway. Today, Dec. 13th, the Senate voted on a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill which, among other things will fund Medicare and Medicaid. Okay, that portion is huge but necessary. The Senate approved the omnibus spending bill which would lift the 13-year-long ban on directly paying for abortions in the nation's capital. The camel's (or donkey's) nose and head of Senate Democrats, with their pro-choice party platform, is under the pro-life tent, even if the funding is only for abortions in DC. The legislation, which President Barack Obama is expected to sign, also contains funding for Planned Parenthood and the UNFPA. As predictable, by a 57-35 vote, the Democrats prevailed. However, there is $447 billion in operating budgets for 10 Cabinet departments. Mixed in are more than 5,000 earmarks totaling $3.9 billion. Well, we’re in the middle of a recession, unemployment is 10%, a trillion-plus dollar healthcare bill will probably become law before Christmas, cap and trade is on the horizon, so what’s $3,900,000,000 for pet congressional projects…chicken feed. Who notices, who cares, and why focus on such miniscule expenditures when our current national debt ceiling has to be raised to $14,000,000,000,000 just to get by for a few more months? And who, in their right mind, would begin funding murder of children in the womb and go on record for such insanity? But, back to the other insanities of t Add new comment Read more Don't think — just do it, right now! Thursday, December 10, 2009 I’m not a chemistry or biology major, but I thought I understood that when the body ‘burns’ food the end products are mainly water and carbon dioxide, together with some nitrogenous chemicals such as urea. The carbon dioxide enters the bloodstream, is carried to the lungs, and is excreted in the expired air of breathing. Yup, six billion people exhaling that awful CO2 non-stop 24/7. What should we do? I know, we should regulate breathing to save the planet. The Obama administration warned Congress this week that if it doesn't move to regulate carbon dioxide, the Environmental Protection Agency will take a "command-and-control" role over the process in a way that could hurt business. The Environmental Protection Agency said it has determined that planet-warming greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and welfare. But it leaves unanswered questions about how the agency will go forward and which industries will be most affected. The EPA reached the decision last month, and earlier this week the agency’s determination cleared White House review. This week’s announcement, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said, will “trigger the beginnings of regulation of CO2 for this country.” Industry groups are wringing their hands about what it will mean to have greenhouse gases regulated under the Clean Air Act, and environmentalists are chomping at the bit for the agency to get to work. While groups across the spectrum would prefer that Congress pass a new climate bill to address the matter, in the absence of that, the EPA is compelled to start regulating with the laws already on books. “There’s no time left to waste,” said David Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate center. “We want the EPA to do w Add new comment Read more New Star for the Nutcracker Monday, December 07, 2009 Clara, her little brother Fritz, and their mother and father are celebrating Christmas Eve with friends and family. Clara's godfather appears at the party and hands out toys to all the children except to Clara. Disappointed, she asks her godfather for her gift. He pulls from his bag a toy soldier in the shape of a nutcracker. Brother Fritz is jealous, and breaks the Nutcracker. The fairy tale continues. Enter Sen. Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, the new healthcare Nutcracker. Fritz takes many forms...mostly Republicans. They break the Nutcracker. Today, Dec. 7th, Broken Nutcracker Reid compared Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago. The Nevada Democrat, in a sweeping set of accusations on the Senate floor, also compared health care foes to those who opposed women's suffrage and the civil rights movement. Senate Republicans on Monday called Reid's comments "offensive" and "unbelievable." But Reid argued that Republicans are using the same stalling tactics employed in the pre-Civil War era. "Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right," Reid said. "When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said 'slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough.'" He continued: "When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn't quite right. "When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of thei Add new comment Read more It's the Economy, Stupid! Friday, December 04, 2009 James Carville, the bald-headed Democratic strategist for both President Clinton and his wife, who looks uncannily like the lead character in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," hung a sign in Bill Clinton's campaign headquarters to keep everybody "on message" in 1992. It read: “It's the economy, Stupid!” Bill got the idea, and, to his credit held down the lid on quantum spending during his eight years in office. Yesterday, Dec. 3rd, the current President apparently is signing on to the idea in form, if not in substance, with his Jobs Summit. The American people, in poll after poll, had been saying that the creation of jobs is the number one issue. Yet, if we look at what Republican Chairman Michael Steele called the dog and pony show that took place at the Capitol yesterday, I doubt much of substance will come of it. Obama listed several of the suggestions that came out of the White House brainstorming session — including tax incentives for job creation, improving the credit markets, and use community colleges as training centers for employees. “Some of them I think we can translate immediately into administration plans and potentially legislation,” Obama said of the ideas. "If there are things that we are doing in Washington that inhibit you, we want to know," he said. “I am not interested in taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to creating jobs,” Obama said. “What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help businesses create jobs right now, in the near term.” I have heard this “gotta do it now” baloney from the Sausage-Maker in Chief many times before. Get everybody focused on the urgency of a problem, call in friendly CEOs, not party-crashers Tariq and Michaele Salahi (although I think they might have contribu Add new comment Read more “No” …. “NOW” Monday, November 30, 2009 Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean has never been at a loss for words when it comes to politics, and many of them ought to be lost forever. However, on Sunday, Nov. 29th, he admitted in an interview with Chris Wallace: “Now, we've got a big problem coming up. That money is going to be spent halfway through the next fiscal year, and states are really going to be on the hook — these huge drops in state revenues as we go through this recession.” Fast-forward to Dubai and California... tonight, Glenn Beck put the problem Democrat Dean forsees in the following monologue: “Dubai World has a GDP of $75 billion a year; California's GDP is $1.8 trillion — the eighth largest in the world, ahead of major countries like Italy. What happens when the truth of what's going on in California becomes apparent to the rest of the country and the world? “When news of the credit risks in Dubai were announced the Dow Jones fell 154 points. Again, California is the eighth largest economy in the world with a GDP of $1.8 trillion. “California is now reportedly up to $130 billion in debt. They're handing out IOUs at tax time. They are proposing new 10 percent taxes, called "forced loans." The energy shuts off every other week. Fires rage because they refuse to clear the underbrush. And now they have just proposed another $11 trillion in debt through a bond issue even though California's state comptroller says they can't afford more debt. “Dubai should have put on brakes. California should put on brakes. All of America should put on brakes, but no one is. “Government spending, incredibly, is set to increase through 2011. Our deficit is $12.2 trillion today and by 2018 it's projected to be over $24 trillion — and that's if everything goes well.” After get Add new comment Read more Over 65? Sorry About that, Pal... Sunday, November 22, 2009 I make no secret about the fact that I'm in that group that the Greeks and many other civilizations looked to as having achieved wisdom, were experienced enough to run governments or large religious organizations (the Pope is 82), or were to be honored for their locks of white hair. However, when it comes to healthcare in this administration's bungled attempt to provide H1N1 flu vaccine for the population, if you're over 65, it's back to the back of the line. No rationed healthcare, right? Well, yeah, I was in my teens when the 1957 epidemic hit and so was I for a week. That qualifies me for antibodies that can fight off the current pandemic. Well, that may be so, but the death rate for those who contract the virus is higher the older one gets. Below is yesterday's summary of the "priorities" list for whatever vaccine might be coming down the pike from Donald G. McNeil Jr. of the NY Times: Who of these four is first in line for a swine flu shot: 1. A great-grandmother in a nursing home with lung problems? 2. A hospital cafeteria worker being treated for AIDS? 3. An overweight department-store Santa with a line of children waiting for his lap? 4. A healthy Wall Street banker whose trophy wife is pushing a new baby in a $600 Bumbleride jogging stroller? Answer: The banker. Normal flu seasons have accustomed Americans to an “old people first” ethic, but swine flu has reversed that. It’s pregnant women and children first, and in the rush for the lifeboats, elbows are beginning to fly. Mostly, as in any panic, confusion has reigned. Older people are still first in line for seasonal flu shots, but all the media attention has been on swine flu. Both kinds of shots are in short supply. More swine vaccine is being made, but slowly. All th Add new comment Read more Trusting Government Statistics.... Tuesday, November 17, 2009 Mark Twain popularized the saying "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Everything I hear from the government nowadays I take with a grain of salt. ABC News did some investigation of the recent statistics the Obama administration provided as proof that the $787 billion dollar stimulus bill has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs. And they want to manage our healthcare system? I quote directly from ABC’s Jonathan Karl Nov. 16th report: Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says. There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts. And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified. Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error. "We report what the recipients submit to us," said Ed Pound, Communications Director for the Board. Pound told ABC News the board receives declarations from the recipients - state governments, federal agencies and universities - of stimulus money about what program is being funded. "Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in, so they appear to be just throwing in any number. We expected all along that recipients would make mistakes on their congressional districts, on jobs numbers, on award amounts, and so on. Human beings make mistakes," Pound said. The issue has raised hackles on C Add new comment Read more Paying for Abortions in Obama-care… Sunday, November 15, 2009 Sen. Majority leader Reid is waiting for the Budget Office to project the costs of a couple of legislative healthcare bills before he tries to get the 60 votes for passage. That should happen this week. Then, whatever Senate version goes to the full chamber for approval will take more time. The “reconciliation” strategy would be a last gasp attempt to cut off debate and pass the Senate’s version with 51 votes. Whatever the outcome, the Senate version will have to go to committee with the recently-passed version in the House. Getting Rep. Stupak’s 40 pro-life Dems to support the House bill was the concession Speaker Pelosi needed to get the 220-215 vote approval in the House. As I mentioned in the previous post, there is talk that the provision that no federal money would be used to fund abortions will be removed in the final version between House and Senate. In 1973 when Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, the technology of ultra-sound images of fetuses in the womb was not available as it is today. I think the more the public sees a picture of a child in the womb at 12 weeks into pregnancy, the more the public is becoming pro-life. A May Gallup poll shows that 51% are pro-life, while only 42% are pro-choice. Abby Johnson, 29, was a Planned Parenthood Director in Bryan, Texas. After witnessing an abortion while watching the baby die on an ultrasound screen, Johnson resigned her position in October and started volunteering for Coalition for Life, a pro-life group located just a block away from the Planned Parenthood clinic where she worked for eight years. There is the common sense conclusion that anyone should come to in seeing how illogical it is to say that a growing fetus is not human, but a three-minute old baby is. Pro-choice advoca Add new comment Read more Future of Obama Health-Care Wednesday, November 11, 2009 Rep. Bart Stupek (D) of Michigan led a coalition of about 40 pro-life Democrats to ensure that no federal money be used for abortion. This was the only way for Speaker Pelosi to get a majority vote on the House version of healthcare reform. I had a face-to-face half hour discussion with Stupek a few months back about this issue and he was confident this could be done. Congratulations, Mr. Supek, on your steadfast pro-life leadership. However, as the Senate version will emerge, and if, in conference between the Senate and House version, I have heard that there is the real possibility that the Stupek amendment will be tossed to appease pro-choice Dems, Supek's efforts will have been in vain. If that will be the case, your tax dollars and mine will go toward funding abortion. I will not spend one thin dime on funding abortion. Caesar may get his due from others, but my tax dollars will go to rendering to God that which is His ... the right to create. Add new comment Read more Hanging on is getting hard to do... Wednesday, November 04, 2009 If you think presidential charm can fool the voters, think again. Last evening’s election results in the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia prove one thing: This Prez has lost his coattails. A glimmer of real “hope” has appeared in his liberal administration…the losses might sink the reelection aspirations of progressive Democrats in 2010. It returns us to the 1993-94 paradigm when the Clinton presidency produced the Republican “Contract with America” which gave control to Republicans in the House. The saying “It’s the economy, stupid,” applies here. People are very wary of uncontrolled spending in a sick economy…and rightly so. However, to credit victories in New Jersey and Virginia only to the ailing economy slights the winners. Perhaps presidential timber in Virginia’s governor-elect Republican Bob McDonnell? A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, McDonnell opposes abortion and supports school vouchers. As a life-long educator and administrator, I was impressed with his campaign agenda that would move $480 million per year from school administration and put it directly into the classroom, establish more specialized high schools to support high-demand industries, increase online learning through virtual schools, and support educational mentoring programs. McDonnell’s double-digit win over Democrat Creigh Deeds was a blow to former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Obama’s hand-picked chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Northern Virginians, who live about as close to the White House as you can get, are not dummies when it comes to political savvy, since the news they are exposed to comes from across the state border. The bigger surprise, though, was in blue state New Jersey. Republican Chris Christie, a former cor Add new comment Read more Obama Money Monday, November 02, 2009 When I was an administrator downstate, I used to listen to WJR in Detroit. Well, on October 7th an interview conducted on the street by WJR’s Ken Rojulski revealed both the desperation of people seeking federal financial assistance as well as the ignorance of those applying for it. The scene was Cobo Hall in Detroit. 35,000 people lined up for a share of $15.2 million in federal stimulus money to help people avoid foreclosure or quickly rebound from homelessness. According to the Detroit Free Press, fights broke out and people were nearly trampled. Some were treated by emergency medical workers on site. According to the Press: “The huge lines were a sobering glimpse into the deep economic trouble in metro Detroit, but they were no surprise to social service agencies struggling to provide food, clothing, utility and housing assistance to people living in the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate -- 15.2% in August -- and a city where joblessness is approaching 30%.” The sad thing is that only about 3,500 of the 65,000 applicants will received the promised $3000 in relief. What may be the only salve for those who have applied is hope…the “hope” that candidate Obama promised. Certainly there was hope, but also a naïve ignorance of where any federal money comes from, in the following interview of two women in line filed by Rojoulski: ROGULSKI: Why are you here? WOMAN #1: To get some money. ROGULSKI: What kind of money? WOMAN #1: Obama money. ROGULSKI: Where's it coming from? WOMAN #1: Obama. ROGULSKI: And where did Obama get it? WOMAN #1: I don't know, his stash. I don't know. (laughter) I don't know where he got it from, but he givin' it to us, to help us. WOMAN #2: And we love him. WOMAN #1: Add new comment Read more The Merry-Go-Round of Spin Thursday, October 29, 2009 As a kid, I loved merry-go-rounds. Speeding around faster and faster, but getting nowhere. As an adult, trying out my youthful delight, maybe it was my sophisticated inner ear, but I wound up with a nauseous stomach and a feeling of dizziness…and this after a minute on the contraption. Whenever I hear how many jobs the $787 billion stimulus program has saved or created, I feel I am on that merry-go-round again. After all, it was the Prez who promised the creation or saving of 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year. Well, the Associated Press alleged that the government had overstated by thousands the number of jobs it has created or saved with federal contracts. No, not the AP screwing up the figures…The White House seized on an initial report from a government oversight board weeks ago that claimed federal contracts awarded to businesses under the recovery plan already had helped pay for more than 30,000 jobs. Gee, that’s really great…30,000 new jobs! The administration said the number was evidence that the stimulus program had exceeded early expectations. Gosh, so far that’s just a bit over $26,000,000 per job! Wish I had one of those jobs! Nah, I'd settle for the money instead. Yeah, but wait, we’ve got till the end of next year, so maybe everything will turn out okay. I’m getting nauseous and dizzy again. The AP review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced. The AP's review identified nearly 600 contracts claiming stimulus money for more than 2,700 jobs that appear to have similar duplicated counts. -- Barbara Moore, exe Add new comment Read more Yes I can, I’m the Chief Inspector… Saturday, October 24, 2009 It had all the trappings of a scene from the movie “Hot Fuzz” wherein Sergeant Nicholas Angel, whose 400% higher arrest record …. tops in London , was told he was being sent to a country town so that he wouldn’t make the rest of the police force look bad. Angel to the Chief Inspector: “ You can’t just make someone disappear…” Chief inspector to Angel: “Uhm, yes I can, I’m the Chief Inspector.” The recent attempt by the administration to freeze out Fox News from the White House press corps pool was an attempt, not seen since the Nixon days, to marginalize media that does not slobber all over the Prez’s policies. The attempt began on recent weekend TV appearances by Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel and senior advisor David Axelrod taking on Fox News as not a legitimate news organization. Psychiatrist turned journalist Charles Krauthammer, whose journalistic savvy and witty analysis has won him a Pulitzer Prize and the 11th annual Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Journalism, had this to say: “Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster…Not very subtle. And not very smart… Patting rival networks on the head for their authenticity (read: docility), senior adviser David Axelrod declared Fox "not really a news station." And Chief of Staff Emanuel told (warned?) the other networks not to "be led (by) and following Fox." “Meaning? If Fox runs a story critical of the administration — from exposing White House czar Van Jones as a loony 9/11 "truther" to exhaustively examining the mathematical chicanery and hidden loopholes in proposed health care legislation — the other news organizations should think twice before following the lead. The signal to corporations is equally clear: You might have dealings with a federal Add new comment Read more Obama’s “Safe Schools” Czar Tuesday, October 20, 2009 The more I learn about the cadre of czar loons that surround the President, the more I am beginning to believe that Obama has an agenda to radically transform America into his socialist view of governance. You won’t find this czar on the front pages of any newspaper, but you really should. His name is Kevin Jennings. Fifty-three House Republicans on Thursday, Oct. 15th, urged the President to fire his "safe schools czar," citing their concerns that Kevin Jennings wants to promote a "homosexual agenda" and that as a schoolteacher years ago he did not report that a young student told him he was romantically involved with an older man. Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, has described in writings and speeches how a high school student confided to him in 1988 that he was having a relationship with an older man. I won’t get into the details of all of this because it just would add accelerant to the smoke and fire surrounding a number of Obama’s closest advisors. However, after the controversy surfaced, Jennings -- the director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools -- admitted late last month that he "should have handled [the] situation differently" when the boy confided in him. House Republicans, operating under the assumption that the student was 15 years old when Jennings spoke with him, accused the safety czar of "ignoring the sexual abuse of a child." They added that Jennings has "played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools," and they criticized Jennings for "his own history of unrepentant drug and alcohol abuse." To which Jennings replies that his past drug use makes him qualified to help students and teachers confronting those issues. Add new comment Read more Is Obama up to the Task of Dealing with the Twelvers and Ahmadinejad? Friday, October 16, 2009 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, has been called many things by the West. “Crazy and looney” might come to mind. However, this leader of over 66 million people, has a strange world view, at least to many in the West. Not only does he deny that the Holocaust occurred, but he has vowed to destroy Israel. Iran’s nuclear ambitions are clear to the U.S. government, and much ado has been made by Israel, Europe, and the U.S. about the need for Iran to stop its pursuit of a nuclear weapon. However, perhaps the strangest element of this leader’s world view is his staunch adherence to the mahdaviat, which is “belief in and efforts to prepare for the Mahdi.” The Mahdi is the twelfth and final imam, and those who believe in the historical succession of the imams are called “The Twelvers.” According to the theology of Twelvers, twelve successors of Islam’s founder, Muhammad, have an infallible gift not only to rule over the Shia branch of Islam with justice, but to be able to keep and interpret the Sharia, or body of Islamic religious law. The prophet and imams' words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree through Muhammad. For the most part, each imam was the son of the previous imam. Being an imam was risky business, because all but one of the first eleven were poisoned. The twelfth imam is still alive, however, and has been alive since 872 AD, ready at the appointed time by Allah to come forth and usher in the end of the world. What is of interest is that the Shia branch of Islam is composed mostly (85%) of Twelvers and most of the Twelvers are found in Iran. If you're interested in “end-times” prophecy, Ahmadinejad has sugg Add new comment Read more Obama and the Nobel Prize Saturday, October 10, 2009 As Americans we should be proud when an American wins the Noble prize for peace. If a President wins the award, all the better for America’s image around the world. Obama has made a deliberate outreach to the rest of the world to change America’s image. I would not be one to raise any serious issue to diminish this honor. President Obama said Friday that he was "surprised and deeply humbled" by the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award him the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. The committee said it honored Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Obama said he viewed the decision less as a recognition of his own accomplishments and more as "a call to action." “To be honest,” he said, “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.” I am in total agreement with this statement of the president. He certainly is no Mother Teresa with her personal care and concern for the world’s most unfortunate, nor does he share her values regarding abortion. He does, however, belong with the likes of other Democrats, President Carter and Vice-President Gore, and their left-leaning vision of the world. The Nobel Prize Committee members (and the years in which they were appointed) are: Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland (2009); Sissel Roenbeck (1994); Aagot Valle (2009); Kaci Kullman Five (2003); and Inger-Marie Ytterhorn (2000). Yesterday, as critics assailed the selection of Mr. Obama as "premature" and "inappropriate," the politics of that five-member group came under scrutiny. The memb Add new comment Read more It's Bush's Fault Wednesday, October 07, 2009 I kid you not. Senator Roland Burris said: “You know who is to blame for us losing the Olympics? Bush.” Senator Rowland Burris of Illinois, the Senator who was appointed to fill President Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, blamed George Bush for Chicago not getting the Olympics in 2016. Burris stated in an interview, shortly after the announcement, that the image of the U. S. has been so tarnished in the last 8 years that, even Barack Obama making an unprecedented pitch for the games could not overcome the hatred the world has for us as a result of George Bush. Yup, there you have it. Even the awesome-charismatic-gifted speaker-messiah come to save us-chief apologizer for the U.S.-mess cleaner upper-rootin’ tootin’ Mr. President Obama himself couldn’t persuade the Euro Olympic Committee that Chicago was the place for the 2016 Olympics. Gosh, he played the game well. Oh well, it’s not about winning or losing, but how you play the game. Now let’s see…Bush was complicit in 9/11 according to loons like Van Jones, former Obama czar. Bush caused Katrina. Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq. Bush caused the recession. Bush stole his own election. Bush loved to listen in on phone conversations of U.S. citizens. Bush had to be responsible for the Tigers losing the Central Division crown. I think if a Democrat accidentally ran over a puppy in their own driveway, they would blame Bush for not requiring a leash law, or for not funding the organizaton to control the pet population. Let’s face it. For the rest of our natural lives, George W. Bush has been, is, and will be the cause of everything bad in America. Get used to it. History revisionists will tell the tale forever. But, as we wait for things to improve under the “Change President,” we are en Add new comment Read more A New Prayer from a Public School Sophomore…Plus an Elementary Hymn to Boot… Tuesday, September 29, 2009 I don’t know how many times I’ve referred to the fact that I served as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools, but over the four decades that I have there have been many changes in our country. The U. S. Supreme Court issued two bans on prayer in public schools. The first ban came in 1962 and the second was issued in 1963, the year I began teaching. The bans were the result of a court case sponsored in part by Madalyn Murray O'Hair. She was but one of the litigants in the lawsuit, but her name became synonymous with the case and the promotion of atheism. The ban not only outlawed prayer in public schools but it also banned Bible reading in public schools. For those old (or, I should say, wise) enough to remember, on March 22, 1966 , it was the unforgettable Senator Everett Dirksen who introduced a constitutional amendment that would have permitted public school administrators to provide for organized prayer by students. It was defeated in the Senate by only 18 votes falling short of the 67 votes required for a constitutional amendment. One can still debate the merits of Dirksen’s proposal, but for all practical purposes, the issue is dead. However, a young sophomore in public school recently wrote the following prayer: If Scripture now the class recites, it violates the Bill of Rights. And anytime my head I bow Becomes a Federal matter now. Our hair can be purple, orange or green, That's no offense; it's a freedom scene. The law is specific, the law is precise. Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice. For praying in a public hall Might offend someone with no faith at all In silence alone we must meditate, God's name is prohibited by the state. We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, Add new comment Read more World Peace Visionary or the U.S.’s Naysayer? Friday, September 25, 2009 This week, as the Senate debated some 600 amendments to the proposed healthcare reform, the President was front and center on the world stage. On Wednesday (Sept. 23rd), the President laid out his four goals for the world in his address to the UN General Assembly: “Today, let me put forward four pillars that I believe are fundamental to the future that we want for our children: non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people.” Sounds like a true visionary, and if that will become the legacy of the President, wonderful. However, he was addressing the UN, seeking its cooperation. In an ideal world, with leaders whose only motivation would be peace and the advancement of opportunity for all, the President’s four goals would be worthy of universal agreement. However, as Steve Hayes, senior writer for "The Weekly Standard" pointed out… “ The United Nations is a broken institution. You have Muammar Qaddafi, a rogue dictator, a crazy man, speaking -- supposed to speak for 15 minutes, ends up speaking for some 90 minutes…The United Nations was never able to enforce its resolutions on Iraq. It is not able to enforce its resolutions on Iran. It is not even able to keep Muammar Qaddafi from talking for more than 15 minutes.” Hayes’ evaluation notwithstanding, Qaddafi did highlight the ineffectiveness of the UN. At one point, Qaddafi grabbed hold of the UN charter and threw it over his shoulder in obvious disdain, and chastised the international body for failing to intervene or prevent some 65 wars since the U.N. was founded in 1945. However, back to the President’s address…as he welcomed the repeated applause of the world communi Add new comment Read more What About Poland? Sunday, September 20, 2009 In August of 2008, the United States and Poland signed a deal to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia, a move followed swiftly by a new warning from Moscow of a possible military response. For many Poles, whose country has been a staunch U.S. ally, the accord represented what they believed would be a guarantee of safety for themselves in the face of a newly assertive Russia. Negotiators sealed the deal against a backdrop of Russian military action in Georgia, a former Soviet republic turned U.S. ally, that has worried former Soviet satellites across eastern Europe. It prompted sharp rhetoric over the system, which it contends is aimed at Russia despite Washington's insistence the site is purely defensive. During the Cold War, Poland was under Soviet rule by a puppet leader controlled by Moscow. Remember his name? President Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski. His presidency last a couple of years before it capitulated to the Solidarity union movement of just before the Solidarity movement headed by Lech Walesa with the moral leadership of the future Pope John Paul II toppled Communist rule in the country in 1990. Walesa went on to become Poland’s president for five years, having earlier won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for founding Solidarity. Poland became a member of NATO in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary. Poles then voted to join the European Union in a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member in May of 2004. So much for the recent history of Poland. However, has Poland been left out to dry by the Obama administration? In February, Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow wou Add new comment Read more Healthcare and the President’s 30th Speech Friday, September 11, 2009 As many Americans did, I watched the President deliver his touted speech to members of Congress and the country Sept. 9th. It was an eloquent and masterful composition of ideas on improving the healthcare system. No one has ever doubted both the need for healthcare reform and the eloquence of the 44th leader of our country. Cleverly drawing from ideas of Sen. McCain, and implying his outreach for compromise with Republicans in Congress, and promising competition in the private health insurance field, was there anything new in his 30th speech on the subject? Sadly, no...just an unusual outburst after Obama stated: "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." "You lie!" Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted from his seat on the Republican side of the chamber. Apology offered and accepted. If you’ve ever watched the non-stop outbursts from MPs when the House of Commons meets with the Prime Minister in Britain, our presidential addresses to both houses of Congress seem like sermons in places of worship…no dialogue allowed. However, was the President totally truthful in his speech? Obama was correct when he said his plan wouldn’t insure illegal immigrants; the House bill expressly forbids giving subsidies to those who are in the country illegally. Conservative critics complain that the bill lacks an enforcement mechanism, but that hardly makes the president a liar. The president said “no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.” But the House bill would permit a “public option” to cover all abortions, and would also permit federal subsidies to be used to purchase private insurance that covers all ab Add new comment Read more The Demise of Van Jones - the Special Advisor for Green Jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality Monday, September 07, 2009 I trust most everyone who has followed the career of Van Jones, President Obama’s Green Jobs “czar,” knows something of his radical past. Born in 1968, he attended the University of Tennessee at Martin where he earned his undergraduate degree in journalism. From there he was accepted at Yale where he earned his J.D. in 1993. However, in 1992, while still a law student at Yale, Jones participated as a volunteer legal monitor for a protest of the Rodney King verdict in San Francisco. His anger over the verdict radicalized him: Jones said he was "a rowdy nationalist" before the King verdict was announced. By August of that year, he said, "I was a communist." When he graduated law school, Jones gave up plans to take a job in Washington, D.C., and moved to San Francisco instead. He got involved with Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement(STORM), a group explicitly committed to revolutionary Marxist politics whose points of unity were revolutionary democracy, revolutionary feminism, revolutionary internationalism, the central role of the working class, urban Marxism, and Third World Communism. In 2008, he wrote "The Green Collar Economy." The book outlines Jones's "substantive and viable plan for solving the biggest issues facing the country--the failing economy and our devastated environment." "The Green Collar Economy" was the first environmental book authored by an African-American to make the New York Times bestseller list. In the book, Jones contended that invention and investment will take us out of a pollution-based gray economy and into a healthy new green economy. Jones wrote: “[W]e are entering an era during which our very survival will demand invention and innovation on a scale never before seen in the history of human civi Add new comment Read more The Many Masks of the President Wednesday, September 02, 2009 Have you ever seen a president that changes the political discussion so often? It was Bush 41 who said “read my lips” regarding no new taxes. He caved to pressure from Congress and this change of promise contributed to his being denied a second term. THIS president changes the focus whenever the political winds change. I have known a leader in a community who, when he would announce a decision that was unpopular or controversial, would leave town for a week or so. By the time he returned, people had either forgotten the issue or did not think it worth the effort to revisit it. Clever and effective, but hardly characteristic of a good leader. Let’s see a few instances where Obama and his administration have done, or have not done, in his first seven months to change one mask for another. After pledging during last year's presidential campaign, and as recently as the spring, not to revisit the past, the Obama administration, in the person of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., has named a special prosecutor to go after CIA interrogators who pried information from terrorist suspects, preventing more deadly assaults on the country. This spring, On April 2lst after addressing about 1,000 CIA staff aimed at restoring CIA morale, Obama, who promised at that time that CIA operatives would not be prosecuted, reiterated that he would stand by them. If t he President claims he is letting Holder do his job, well, the Prez is the chief law-enforcer in the country by reason of the Constitution, and he cannot wash his hands of this obvious reversal of his April cheerleading for the CIA. Coincidentally, this announcement comes as Obama’s healthcare initiative apparently is in trouble. When in trouble, Obama changes the subject. Now the focus is on the past Add new comment Read more The Fairness Doctrine Saturday, August 29, 2009 “In Venezuela, with Chavez, you really had an incredible revolution — democratic revolution — to begin to put in place things that were going to have impact on the people of Venezuela. The property owners and the folks who were then controlling the media in Venezuela rebelled — worked, frankly, with folks here in the US government — worked to oust him. He came back and had another revolution, and Chavez then started to take the media very seriously in his country.” Words of a Chavez supporter? Commentary by pro-Chavez talk radio host in Venezuela? Not really. They are comments by Obama’s new “Diversity Czar,” Mark Lloyd. Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their operations as the private companies do. Huh? Licensing fees equal to their total operating costs? That’s a 100% charge to fund public broadcasting. Who the heck pays 100% of operating costs to the government to fund a competitive corporation in our society? WIAA in Interlochen would benefit, not for broadcasting classical music, but for providing more of public broadcasting. So would CMU’s public broadcasting station in Mt. Pleasant. That is if they were dumb enough to see what’s really going on here: Silence conservative talk radio. Lloyd presented the idea in his 2006 book, “Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America,” published by the University of Illinois Press. Lloyd’s hope is to dramatically upgrade and revamp the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through new funding drawn from private broadcasters. The CPB is a non-pr Add new comment Read more Have You Ever Doubted God's Existence? Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Strange topic for a conservative blog? Maybe, but sometimes I think conservatives are afraid to talk about religion. I'm not. In 1993 Billy Joel released his last pop album “River of Dreams.” The title song of the album is a song, perhaps of self-analysis, of one at a point of questioning what the future holds after death. The song is timeless, both in its lyrical message and in its sound. In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep From the mountains of faith To the river so deep I must be looking for something Something sacred I lost But the river is wide And it's too hard to cross And even though I know the river is wide I walk down every evening and stand on the shore I try to cross to the opposite side So I can finally find what I've been looking for I don't know why I go walking at night But now I'm tired and I don't wanna walk anymore Hope it doesn't take the rest of my life Until I find what it is I've been looking for I'm not sure about a life after this God knows I've never been a spiritual man Baptized by the fire, I wade into the river That is running through the promised land In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep Through the desert of truth To the river so deep we all end in the ocean We all start in the streams We're all carried along By the river of dreams… There have been doubts about God’s existence and the existence of an afterlife in the lives of some of history’s greatest philosophers and saints. Most recently, in the book Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday), consisting primarily of correspondence between Teresa and her confessors and superiors over a period of 66 years, we are provided a profound glimpse into the inner life of the saint. The letters, ma Add new comment Read more Worse than Las Vegas… Saturday, August 22, 2009 Several years ago my wife and I fell for a “three days and two nights” free at Las Vegas in a promotion to sell time-share contracts. After showing a little interest in the idea at the first meeting with our persuasive first contact, we were introduced to another agent who offered a “once-in-lifetime” opportunity and a tour of a luxury suite near the Strip. I made the fatal mistake to ask another question, leading to a third meeting. This came from the “top guy” who offered an $11,000 deal (which had started at double that) on a time-share contract. Back at meeting two, my wife and I had decided we couldn’t afford such an extravagant investment, but maybe it was that question I asked that gave them hope we would ultimately invest. Having failed to lure us into a contract, my wife wanted to sample the night life of Las Vegas. Enjoying a $5 prime rib dinner with all the trimmings, she played the slots to the tune of losing three quarters. Net loss? Less than a dollar. I refused to cough up a quarter…shows how “conservative” we were. The losses we could have incurred if we had taken a wad of cash along and played the tables would have been nothing compared to the crap shoot the Obama administration wants to play with our money. A few hundred billion here…a few trillion there. Who’s counting…. Earlier this week, the White House revealed that it expects a budget deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be nearly $1.6 trillion. The Obama administration expects the federal deficit over the next decade to be $2 trillion bigger than previously estimated, White House officials said Friday, August 21st, a setback for a president already facing a Congress and public wary over spending. The new projection, to be announced on Aug. 25th Add new comment Read more The Coming Tsunami of Medical Care Needs….Don't Even Talk Nationalized Health Care! Wednesday, August 19, 2009 If you think scheduling an appointment with a new doctor is sometimes difficult, consider what the future holds. Longer days, lower pay, less prestige and more administrative headaches have turned doctors away in droves from family medicine, presumed to be the frontline for wellness and preventive-care programs that can help reduce health care costs, according to a report in USA Today. The number of U.S. medical school students going into primary care has dropped 51.8% since 1997, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The AAFP is predicting a shortage of 40,000 family physicians in 2020, when the demand is expected to spike. Today there are about 100,000 family physicians and this country will need 40% more in 10 years…that is, WITHOUT Obama’s nationalized healthcare plan becoming a reality! At the heart of the rising demands on primary-care physicians will be the 78 million Baby Boomers born from 1946 to 1964, who begin to turn 65 in 2011 and will require increasing medical care. The family physician has been held up as the gatekeeper in keeping people out of emergency rooms and controlling health care costs. But medical analysts say giving this limited pool of doctors responsibility for millions more patients is problematic, to say the least. Finding a doctor will get increasingly difficult, waits for appointments will grow longer, and more sick people will turn to crowded emergency rooms. "That tsunami wave (of patients) is going to be huge," says Bruce Bates, interim dean at University of New England's college of osteopathic medicine in Biddeford, Maine. "At the time we need family-care physicians the most, we are producing the least," Epperly says. "The nation's medical schools are failing to produce a workforce that i Add new comment Read more I Hate to See Waste... Sunday, August 16, 2009 The recent brainstorm of Congress to use stimulus money to offer incentives to purchase new, more efficient vehicles and “junk” older ones is another questionable example of government trying to fix things. First of all, as a former tart cherry grower of 35 years, I have seen the muddled attempts to stabilize markets fail again and again. This year, with a bumper crop of tarts, we have, AGAIN, a year when a large portion of the “fruit of paradise” will be left to rot on the ground. Due to a self-imposed marketing order, growers have to live with the choice they made several years ago and will have to divert 42 percent of the nation's estimated 300 million-pound tart cherry harvest from the primary domestic market this year. Some producers are unhappy about the dumping, and Leonard Lion made his feelings known by dumping his 72,000 pounds of diverted cherries along Old Mission Road in Grand Traverse County's Peninsula Township. "All I'm saying to the tourists and joggers and others in this town is that life on the farm is not always profitable, and we're losing our producers," he told the Traverse City Record-Eagle recently. Well, we have some problems with tart cherries this year. Huge national crop. Recession. Cherries are not a necessary item for the grocery list. National advertising non-existent. Farmers keep over-planting new trees. Stricter regulations for fruit quality. Chemicals and fertilizers cost more and more. The list goes on and on. Even though I own a farm market, I have never sold many tart cherries EVER. Tourists love sweet cherries. Tarts, uh, uh. The dumbest thing I ever did was plant new orchards of tart cherries in my youth. The smartest thing I ever did was have them bulldozed out two years ago. I do not want to malign my Add new comment Read more We're Keeping a List.... Friday, August 14, 2009 And checkin’ it twice, to see who all have been naughty or nice… Now, after the criticism taken by President Bush for the Patriot Act, who would have thought government interference in private electronic communications would have again become an issue? Yesterday, Aug. 13, Fox News report Major Garrett got into a heated exchange with White House press secretary Robert Gibbs concerning emails the White House has been sending to persons who never contacted the White House. Strange that this follows a blog the White House posted this month that asked supporters to e-mail any "fishy" information seen on the Web or received electronically to flag@whitehouse.gov. "There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there," the blog said, adding that "since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help." "The White House is in bit of a conundrum because of this privacy statute that prohibits the White House from collecting data and storing it on people who disagree with it," Judge Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News analyst, said Friday. "There's also a statute that requires the White House to retain all communications that it receives. It can't try to rewrite history by pretending it didn't receive anything," he said. "If the White House deletes anything, it violates one statute. If the White House collects data on the free speech, it violates another statute." Napolitano was referring to the Privacy Act of 1974, which was passed after the Nixon administration used federal agencies to illegally investigate individuals for political purposes. Enacted after Richard Nixon's resignation in the Watergate scandal, the statute generally prohibits any federal agency from maintaining records on individuals e Add new comment Read more Stop Talking and Get Out of the Way Tuesday, August 11, 2009 On August 6th, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the world entered the nuclear age. Coincidentally, sixty-four years later to the day, in Virginia, President Obama dropped his own bomb at a rally in support of State Sen. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor. "I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking," he told the crowd. "I want them just to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess." No, I’m not comparing Hiroshima with Virginia, but I am a bit confused. I’d like to know who the “folks who created the mess” are…Republicans? Doctors? Insurance companies? Pharmaceutical companies? What is our President talking about anyway? Is it conservative talk radio personalities? Glenn Beck? Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Fox News? If so, what did THEY do to create "the Mess" which has helped millions over the years? This is inane political babbling, possibly caused by the heat of opposition he is getting from the folks. I thought the President got high marks for his eloquence in public speaking. What he said in Virginia has me wondering if he can formulate meaningful dialogue on healthcare. Does he seriously think it’s within the prerogative of the head of the Executive branch to call for the country to stop doing “a lot of talking” about a controversial and very expensive addition to our list of entitlement programs? What is the Amendment No. 1 all about anyway? The President may be exercising his First Amendment right by such rhetoric, but his blunt challenge to the rest of America to shut up and get out of the way for his vision of health care is using his office inappropriately at best and dictatorial at worst. This kind of talk is not leadership, but undignified ran Add new comment Read more Are We Headed Toward a Form of Eugenics? Sunday, August 09, 2009 The term eugenics comes from the Greek roots for "good" and "generation" or "origin" and was first used to refer to the "science" of heredity and good breeding in about 1883. Within 20 years, the word was widely used by scientists who had rediscovered the work of Gregor Mendel. Mendel had meticulously recorded the results of cross-breeding pea plants, and found a very regular statistical pattern for features like height and color. Local eugenics societies and groups sprang up around the United States after World War I, with names like the Race Betterment Foundation. The war had given many Americans a greater fear of foreigners, and immigration to the United States was still increasing. In 1923, organizers founded the American Eugenics Society, and it quickly grew to 29 chapters around the country. At fairs and exhibitions, eugenicists spread the word and hosted "fitter family" and "better baby" competitions to award blue ribbons to the finest human stock -- not unlike the awards for prize bull and biggest pumpkin. Eugenics was seen as such a great idea that the government got into the act. In 1924, the Immigration Act was passed by majorities in the U.S. House and Senate. It set up strict quotas limiting immigrants from countries believed by eugenicists to have "inferior" stock, particularly Southern Europe and Asia. President Coolidge, who signed the bill into law, had stated when he was vice president, "America should be kept American. . . . Biological laws show that Nordics deteriorate when mixed with other races." Well, folks, it looks like we are back at this idiocy again. Enter our “regulatory czar” Cass R. Sunstein. Mr. Sunstein, who for years was a colleague of Mr. Obama at the University of Chicago, co-authored a book with Richard Thaler, also Add new comment Read more The “Mob” Pushes Back Wednesday, August 05, 2009 Democrats are stepping up their campaign against opponents of health care reforms, depicting town hall audiences protesting a Democratic-sponsored bill as angry mobs duped into hostile actions by special interest groups. The Democratic National Committee released a Web video and e-mail on Wednesday, Aug. 5th, blasting opponents of the Obama-inspired health care plan. Titled "Enough of the Mob," the ad warns that the "right wing extremist base" is back after losing the presidential election. "Now, desperate Republicans and their well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs -- just like they did during the election," the ad says. "Their goal? Destroy President Obama and stop the change Americans voted for overwhelmingly in November." Now, as a teacher of American History, I always thought that the founding fathers opted for a federalist democracy because they didn’t trust the “mob.” The Democratic Party’s founder, Thomas Jefferson, warned, “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” The fear was that the uneducated in the infant country could be swayed by charismatic orators and politicians. So, what do the polls of the American taxpayer “mob” apparently say about the Obama proposal to revamp the present health care system? A Quinnipiac University poll released Aug.5th found greater voter disapproval of Obama’s drive to revamp the medical system. The poll, conducted July 27 to Aug. 3, found that 52 percent of American voters disapprove of the way Obama has dealt with the issue, while 39 percent approve. The White House said Aug. 4th that some of the anger that Democratic lawmakers have encountered at town hall meetings over the past several days is "m Add new comment Read more The International Tragedy of Abortion Friday, July 31, 2009 There has been a steady focus for years on whether a political party or politician supports abortion here in the U.S. The Democratic party’s platform is pro-abortion and the Republican party’s is pro-life. However, as I cited in a previous post, the country is moving more toward a pro-life position, with over half the population expressing disagreement with the practice. However, the abortion scenario abroad is mind-boggling. The BBC reports that in China there are 13 million abortions each year, compared to 20 million births. In many cases women are restricted to just one child, although in rural areas some couples can have two children if the first is a girl. This policy, begun in the 1970s, has forced young women to seek abortions. In its front-page story, the China Daily said the high number of abortions was "cause for concern", adding that many women who have abortions are single and aged between 20 and 29. Women are complaining that they are pressured into terminating their pregnancies. As horrendous as China’s disposal of human life in the womb is, Russia’s abortion rate is worse. There are often more abortions annually in Russia than live births. The latest figures from the UN and the CD for one recent year show that 1.8 million abortions were performed compared to 1.5 million births. Natural family planning, where necessary, is common sense. The massive international slaughter of innocent children in the womb is self-destructive behavior at its unthinkable worse. I wonder how much of this international tragedy can be laid at the feet of the Supreme Court justices who wrote the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade because, even today, America leads the world in setting social mores. What pro-abortion advocates in government do here and now in Add new comment Read more The Credit Card President Sunday, July 26, 2009 The other day I got to thinking about the future of the country under the Obama administration. That we are headed for unsustainable debt for future generations I take for granted. The move is afoot for a socialization of medical care in this country. Not that the poorer among us should not have access to quality care…it is how that should be accomplished. As my twin sons had to leave their parents’ health care program due to graduation from college, we investigated several options. What we came up with was a form of catastrophic health care called “Young Adult Blue.” The plan has an annual deductible of $1000, a co-pay of 30% of BCBSM-approved amount, two other co-pay stipulations, with a 70% coverage after co-pays for medical emergencies, tests, EKGS, etc., plus a $5,000,000 lifetime coverage for under $50 a month. The plan isn’t for everyone, and prescription costs are not covered, nor are doctor visits, but it does provide a safety net for catastrophic events that could otherwise bankrupt a young adult for life. However, Obama’s plan is insidious in that his promotion of it is full of promises which provide little more than his word as a guarantee. Over half of the population, recently polled, are against it. Something will get to his desk for his signature, but even Democrats are finding this overhaul of the finest health care system in the world not the right fit in this economy. It has been estimated that the Obama proposal would increase federal spending by about $1.17 trillion over the 2010-19 period. Following right behind this initiative of the president is his “green energy” plan. The bill, which Obama has said will reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and clean the air, calls for a reduction of carbon emissions by Add new comment Read more The Village Green Preservation Society Thursday, July 23, 2009 Back forty-one years ago, Ray Davies and the Kinks published a song that popped up recently in the British comedy “Hot Fuzz,” starring Simon Pegg as PC Nicholas Angel. Nicholas Angel is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. He’s so good, he makes everyone else look bad. As a result, Angel’s superiors send him to a place where his talents won’t be quite so embarrassing - the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford. Suddenly, however, there is a rash of murders that leads him to believe there is a massive conspiracy to keep the village clean and inoffensive. It’s a hilarious movie, but not a good one for young children. Anyway, the twenty second clip of Davies’ song caught my attention. The lyrics are as follows: We are the Village Green Preservation Society God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties Preserving the old ways from being abused Protecting the new ways for me and for you What more can we do We are the Draught Beer Preservation Society God save Mrs. Mopp and good Old Mother Riley We are the Custard Pie Appreciation Consortium God save the George Cross and all those who were awarded them We are the Sherlock Holmes English Speaking Vernacular Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula We are the Office Block Persecution Affinity God save little shops, china cups and virginity We are the Skyscraper Condemnation Affiliate God save tudor houses, antique tables and billiards Preserving the old ways from being abused Protecting the new ways for me and for you What more can we do God save the Village Green. As a young teacher in the late sixtie Add new comment Read more Peace, Good Will Toward Men…or Peace to Men of Good Will Tuesday, July 21, 2009 As a student of biblical languages, there has always been a certain amount of scrutiny I give to biblical verses, particularly as it pertains to the languages in which the Bible was written. I must explain my educational background for my position on a particular exclamatory quote in Luke 2: 14. I studied Latin in high school for 4 years and in college for 2. I have some familiarity with Greek also…3 years study in high school and 2 in college. In Hebrew, two years study in graduate school. Regarding the angelic Christmas announcement of the angels to the shepherds Luke, the entire verse in the King James Version reads as follows: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” In the original Greek, the translation reads: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to men of good will." Now, if you look back to the KJV translation of the original Greek, there is a definite difference in meaning. In the KJV, everybody gets “peace and good will.” In the original Greek, peace only goes to “men of good will.” Scripture scholars tend to downplay the difference in meaning of the heavenly host of angels exclamation in announcing to the shepherds the birth of the Messiah. Yet, the means ARE different. There has been a lot of commentary lately by my fellow bloggers about Iran. The gamut runs from the Obama administration’s goal to engage the Iranians in talks as spelled out by Secretary of State Clinton in early July, despite the violent suppression of the uprising of many in Iran against the theocratic regime…to those who would continue to sanction Iran to make it behave in the world community. Yet, I wonder how peace comes about in this world. If we trust every country to do the right thing for humanity, we Add new comment Read more One Small Step Friday, July 17, 2009 I was fortunate enough to remember when, on May 25, 1961, President Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. I also kept track of all the Gemini and Apollo launches that ensued until the famous landing of Neil Armstrong on the moon on July 20th of 1969, forty years ago this Monday. Lately there has been renewed interest in returning to our nearest night sky friend. On June 18th, NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter aboard an Atlas V rocket. "Our job is to perform reconnaissance of the moon's surface using a suite of seven powerful instruments," said Craig Tooley, LRO project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "NASA will use the data LRO collects to design the vehicles and systems for returning humans to the moon and selecting the landing sites that will be their destinations." Well, LRO’s camera has been hard at work already in its task of mapping the entire moon to assist selecting future manned landings. One of its first images was taken in a region east of a crater in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium. The camera reveals details down to about 10 feet across. The stunning capability of the new camera to image such detail was not available for Armstrong’s landing. No one knew what Apollo 11 would encounter until, with fuel almost gone, the 1969 lander could have struck a large boulder which would have eliminated any possibility of return to earth. The objective of Apollo 11 was to land safely rather than touch down with precision on a particular spot. Three minutes into the lunar descent burn Armstrong noted that craters were passing about two seconds too early, which meant the Eagl Add new comment Read more The Colosseum..Site of Bread and Circuses Monday, July 13, 2009 On a recent trip to Rome, I visited the Colosseum. Emperor Vespasian began its construction around 70 AD, coincidentally the same year Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Romans. What remains of the Roman amphitheater was, in its heyday until the sixth century, capable of seating 50,000 spectators. It provided entertainment in the form of gladiatorial contests, races, slaughter of Christians, animal hunts, mock naval battles, and a place for the public dole of bread. It was hoped that by appeasing the crowds with bread and circuses, they would not rebel against the emperors. The images of what went on in this, the largest Roman edifice, can only be in the realm of conjecture today, but the movie “The Gladiator” brought the debauched history of Rome’s central attraction to life again. Fast forward to 2009. We have many great stadiums in our country for the entertainment of the public with such benign contests as baseball, football, and soccer. And there are the special nights for free baseball hats and other promotional gimmicks. I once went to a Pistons game at the Palace where pizzas were thrown to the crowd. However, the chief entertainment for the evening was when the helium-filled balloons that were released caught fire in the skylights. Anyway…I digress. There are plenty of opinions around on whether or not rich Americans pay too much, or too little, income tax. But CNN Money’s Jeanne Sahadi talked about the hard numbers April 15th of this year, and wrote: “The U.S. tax code is progressive, meaning that higher-income tax filers pay more in taxes than those lower down the income scale.” But just how much more? The highest earners pay the lion’s share of the dollars Uncle Sam collects. The top fifth of households made 56% of Add new comment Read more Michael Jackson and Our Fallen Troops Friday, July 10, 2009 I am a life-long musician, having played piano concerts at Northwestern Michigan College in my younger days. Naturally, I gravitate toward WIAA radio with its steady stream of classical music. I am not a fan of modern music that continues to attract the young. “Rap” is, in my opinion, not music at all, but rhythmic monotonic rhymes, the lyrics of which are, for the most part, drivel and anti-social. Michael Jackson was never on my “to listen to” list…and not a “rapper” thankfully. His antics as a performer electrified the world, though, and as history would have it, he made and squandered millions. He was also generous with his money to his credit, but with a court trial several years ago on four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor, one count of abduction, and one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at his 2700-acre Neverland Ranch compound, his fortunes began to wane, despite his acquittal. While the official cause of Jackson’s death is still to be announced, there was evidence of huge amounts of prescription drugs in his residence. He recently paid off a pharmacy bill, following a lawsuit, to the tune of over $100,000. While I rarely have any common ground with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she did, on Thursday, abruptly block an effort by Houston Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to have the House of Representatives pass a resolution honoring pop star Michael Jackson as an international humanitarian. During the media blitz of Michael Jackson last week, the news media carried coverage of his funeral that befitted a President. Meanwhile, on the same day of his death, another U.S. citizen died…1st Lt Brian Bradshaw. His funeral was attended by about 2400 people. His aunt, Martha Gillis, who was up Add new comment Read more Doesn’t Anyone Care Anymore? Sunday, July 05, 2009 I don’t know about you, but I have spent all of my adult life in debt. Still am and I’m retired. With eight children through college, at least the mortgage is paid off, but now credit card companies are shaving off credit card limits like prospective Marine’s heads. If you don’t use your cards, you lose your earned limits. Anyway, that’s not my main beef. It’s the national debt … which stands at a staggering $11.4 trillion — equivalent to about $37,000 for each and every American. And it's expanding by over $1 trillion a year. Are we so numb and dumb that this doesn’t give us the heebie-jeebies? Interest payments on the debt alone cost $452 billion last year — the largest federal spending category after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense. It's quickly crowding out all other government spending. And the Treasury is finding it harder to find new lenders. The odometer-style "debt clock" near Times Square — put in place in 1989 when the debt was a mere $2.7 trillion — ran out of numbers and had to be shut down when the debt surged past $10 trillion in 2008. The clock has since been updated so higher numbers fit. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, established by a former commerce secretary and investment banker, argues that the $11.4 trillion debt figures does not take into account roughly $45 trillion in unlisted liabilities and unfunded retirement and health care commitments. That would put the nation's full obligations at $56 trillion, or roughly $184,000 per American, according to this calculation. Reportedly, our President worries at night about the rising debt. Must have been a bad dream, because I don’t see his leadership taking the problem seriously. It would be great if everyone had affordable health care an Add new comment Read more Throwing Away the Disposable Pop Can Thursday, July 02, 2009 CNN is not a conservative-leaning media corporation by any stretch, but credit them with a news report from Leah Ward Sears, an African-American justice of Georgia’ Supreme Court, who, in 1992, became the first woman and youngest person appointed to GA’s highest court. She stepped down from the court this week, but she had some things to say about her brother’s…and her own…divorce that are worth pondering. I’ll let Justice Sears, in her own words, make the point. “My brother was born to be a father, and he grew into a good and loving one. Tommy was tall and handsome, smart, witty and fun. A graduate of the Naval Academy and a Stanford-educated lawyer, he married and fathered a little girl and boy who were the center of his life. “Tommy felt that one of the worst problems in our country today was family breakdown and fatherlessness. He railed against intentional unwed childbearing and the ease with which divorce was possible. “As a judge I have long held a front row seat to the wreckage left behind by our culture of disposable marriage and casual divorce that my brother so despised. The judge goes on to relate that when his brother divorced, a bitter battle over custody of the children ensued. He felt the legal system allowed him to become only a visitor to his children rather than the father he had been. After his divorce Sears’ brother accepted a job as a lawyer with the State Department and went to Iraq, and later, to Dubai. Back to the judge’s own words… “On November 5, 2007, my phone rang before daybreak. A U.S. Foreign Service officer was on the other line. I know I'll never understand fully all that factored into his decision to kill himself. No doubt Tommy was wrestling with more demons than he had ever admitted Add new comment Read more Nah, It Couldn’t Happen Again… Saturday, June 27, 2009 As an American History teacher for a few years, I became aware of significant historical moments that almost changed the governance of our country. One such time was FDR’s Fireside Chat on Reorganization of the Judiciary, March 9, 1937. Like today the country had a very popular President. Like today the country was in a recession. Like today, the Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congress. Like today, the Supreme Court was often split 5-4 on various decisions. I could go on … Fast forward to 2013. Let’s assume President Obama wins re-election the year before. You can substitute our present president’s remarks with those of FDR in 1937. The years and communication technology were different, but… “I am reminded of that evening in March, four years ago, when I made my first radio report to you. We were then in the midst of the great banking crisis. In 1933 you and I knew that we must never let our economic system get completely out of joint again-that we could not afford to take the risk of another Great Depression. “We also became convinced that the only way to avoid a repetition of those dark days was to have a government with power to prevent and to cure the abuses and the inequalities which had thrown that system out of joint. “We then began a program of remedying those abuses and inequalities-to give balance and stability to our economic system, to make it bomb-proof against the causes of 1929. “Today we are only part-way through that program- and recovery is speeding up to a point where the dangers of 1929 are again becoming possible, not this week or month perhaps, but within a year or two. “National laws are needed to complete that program. Individual or local or state effort alone cannot protect us in 1937 any Add new comment Read more Say It Ain't So, Joe Tuesday, June 23, 2009 I would think it rare that a conservative like myself would agree with our VP Joe Biden on much, but remember his famous comment which seemed like a political gaffe...last Oct. 19th? "Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee said in a Seattle fundraiser, "it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy." Well, in the trial of corruption that led to the downfall of Chicago Black Sox back in 1921, on the second day of Shoeless Joe Jackson's testimony, a group of small boys were gathered at the courtroom entrance. One asked, "It isn't true, is it, Joe?" He responded, "Yes, boys, I'm afraid it is." By the time this report reached the west coast, it had become: "Say it ain't so, Joe!" We are not even into month six of the Obama administration, and prophetic Joe who runs off at the mouth like a leaky faucet was not plagiarizing anyone, like he did in his 1988 presidential campaign…forcing Biden to withdraw from the race. Biden’s prophetic prediction back in October is coming true. Not only is his boss being tested by an unexpected recession, but overseas he faces critical mass issues with North Korea’s unabashed “in your face” actions to the U.S. in detonating an underground nuclear device on May 25th. Officials in South Korea said they had detected a tremor consistent with those caused by an underground nuclear explosion. The country's Yonhap news agency reported that the North had test-fired thre Add new comment Read more Could the European Elections Be Telling Us Something? Tuesday, June 16, 2009 Now that the Obama administration and the tail-wagging Dems in Congress have decided to go down the road to European socialism, it is interesting to take a look at the recent European Union’s elections . EU's biggest-ever election concluded June 7th and social democrats got the worst results ever in their election history. The European Parliament election in June 2009 was the biggest trans-national election in history. About 375 million European citizens were eligible to vote. But the voter turnout was a record low in the June elections to the European Parliament (43.09%. In Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic, the center right won the elections. In Britain, Mr. Brown's political fortunes have spiraled downward with the electoral drubbing the ruling Labour party has suffered in recent days, but the party's slide has been years in the making -- rooted in a nasty internal split, divisions over the Iraq war, a deep recession and a steady drip of scandal. Labour finished third in elections for seats in the European Parliament -- behind not just the opposition Conservatives, but also the fringe UK Independence Party, a weak showing for the party that has governed the U.K. since Tony Blair became prime minister in 1997. Labour captured just 15.7% of the vote, its lowest share of a national vote since 1910. The results are widely seen as further evidence that Labour will be ousted by the Conservatives and their leader, David Cameron, in U.K. general elections that must be held within the next year, and have added to pressure on Mr. Brown to step aside sooner than that. Now maybe one could care less about Europe’s politics, and I am not going to give a primer on how the EU was morphing into a U.S. Add new comment Read more Nut Cases and Fruitcakes Friday, June 12, 2009 Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad says that when he delivered his speech at the UN General Assembly in September, he felt there was a light around him and that the attention of the world leaders in the audience was unblinkingly focused upon him. Ahmadinejad said that someone present at the UN told him that a light surrounded him while he was delivering his speech to the General Assembly. The Iranian president added that he also sensed it. "He said when you began with the words 'in the name of God,' I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]," Ahmadinejad appears to say in the video. "I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink." Gosh, I’m sure happy that Iran’s president resides in the halo of sanctity. It makes talking to God so much easier. In the U.S. we have our own leader whom others have suggested has divine qualifications. Newsweek editor Evan Thomas brought adulation over President Obama’s Cairo speech to a whole new level on June 5th, declaring on MSNBC: “I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God.” This drivel from the Iranian leader who has proclaimed that the Holocaust did not occur and who vowed to wipe Israel off the map stretches credibility in the sanity of this walking time bomb. Charles Krauthammer wrote an op-ed piece about Obama for The Washington Post today that says it all: "When President Obama returned from his first European trip, I observed that while over there he had been 'acting the philosopher-king who hovers above the fray mediating' between America and the world. Now that Obama has returned from his Muslim world pilgrimage, Add new comment Read more The Abortion Debate Tuesday, June 09, 2009 Nothing in the history of our country, except perhaps the issue of slavery, has so polarized Americans as the issue of abortion. On January 22, 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Texas interpretation of abortion law and making abortion legal in the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without restriction, and with restrictions in later months. Roe v. Wade was decided primarily on the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights. The Court's decision in this case was that the Ninth Amendment, in stating that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," protected a person's right to privacy. Since then, legal battles have been fought by those who favor abortions and those who do not in every state in the union. It is an issue that has confounded judges and courts to this very day. With the recent murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, in his church in Wichita, Kansas by Scott Roeder, the act has provided some who are pro-choice ammunition to attack pro-life supporters as further evidence that opposing Roe v. Wade leads to such desperate acts. Tiller was one of only a handful of late-term abortionists in the country, having, according to some counts, made millions in the performance of 60,000 abortions. With the advent of enhanced ultra-sound images of fetuses in the womb and efforts by many pro-life organizations, however, the country’s view of abortion has, for the first time since polls were taken on the issue, shifted. A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the Add new comment Read more The Acorn Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree Monday, June 08, 2009 One of the many used clichés is “the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.” A variant of the saying is “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” verifiable on the Hahnenberg farm with its 17 acres of apples. Both clichés have been used to mean a variety of things, chief of which is: A child exhibits the same or very similar traits as his or her parents. As a father of eight children, it’s a scary thought. Fortunately, the better traits of my children come from their mother. On the other hand, teaching has been my life-long profession…and, guess what? All but one of my children earned their undergraduate degrees in education. So, maybe there is some truth to the saying. On a more serious note, there is some discussion on the tube about the organization ACORN, an acronym for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The history of the organization is traceable back to Arkansas. Started in 1970 by Wade Rathke and Gary Delgado, ACORN actually started off as the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now, since that is where it had started. This particular ACORN was first in charge of clothing, food, furniture, and other needs of welfare individuals living in the area. During this time, ACORN grew and started a bigger movement in the area, uniting welfare and other poor individuals around important issues such as education, free school lunches, and emergency health care. In the mid-70s ACORN expanded to the states of Texas and South Dakota, and began focusing not only on local issues, but larger national issues as well. In 1978, ACORN went to the Democratic National convention with an outline called the "People's Platform" listing things such as decreasing unemployment rates, protection of workers' rights, guarantee women Add new comment Read more Do Political Labels Mean Anything? Thursday, June 04, 2009 As editor Alan Campbell pointed out, I will be blogging “from the right.” He made a suggestion to me before my first posting, “I would have started with just an intro, along with an explanation as to your core believes and how you came to hold them…” Actually, upon reflection, I think his suggestion was valid. So, I will do just that, but tie that into the topic of this blog. My conservative ideology goes back to my high school days when Barry Goldwater became the spokesperson for the conservative movement in the U.S. Like Hilary Clinton who was a volunteer for Goldwater in her college days, I was attracted to his philosophy…my path coming from reading his bestseller “Conscience of a Conservative.” Goldwater’s miserable showing in the 1964 presidential race didn’t daunt me, though, and I became a Reagan supporter later, but a reader of William F. Buckley’s National Review throughout my post-college years. I have tended to support most Republican presidential candidates throughout the years, so I suppose my voting record merits me the label “Republican.” However, as I learned early on, our two party system left us little choice in choosing political philosophy. The mantra was, and still is, “Republicans stand for the wealthy and Democrats look out for the poor.” Today, with a complex array of issues, both foreign and domestic, one might argue that there is a new movement titled “Independents,” who are more or less cafeteria-style voters, picking and choosing one side or the other as their political choices leave them uncommitted to either party. I have become interested in British politics, and have been watching their political party headliners lately. A rising star is Conservative Daniel Hannen, who became a You-Tub Add new comment Read more The View of President Obama Abroad… Monday, June 01, 2009 It was the universal drumbeat of the Democratic presidential candidates for the past two years that the Bush administration had alienated the world, especially Europe. While it is true that President Bush was not the darling of the average European throughout his tenure, it is accurate to say that he had, at the end of his administration, the respect of several leaders of Europe. Among them were: Blair and Brown of England; Merkel of Germany; Sarkozy of France; Berlusconi of Italy; Tusk of Poland; and Klaus of the Czech Republic. President Obama campaigned on the promise to bring the U.S. into better relations with Europe and the world. In the G-20 summit in April, hosted by British PM Gordon Brown, Obama achieved a level of public approval that doubtless pleased the new president. However, his apologies for America’s past did not please conservatives here in the U.S. Hungarian-born French President Nicolas Sarkozy was not all that impressed with Obama. The French President was more than critical of Obama in a candid conversation with members of Parliament saying “While US President Barack Obama is very intelligent and charismatic, he is not always at his best when it comes to decisions and efficiency… He has only been elected for two months and has never managed a ministry in his life.” Previous reports including a controversial comment that “Obama is an empty suit.. and has an immature Iranian policy” alledged to have been made by Sarkozy as published in the Israeli publication, Haaretz, were later watered down by diplomatic double speak after the American press jumped on the French President. I would disagree that our President is an empty suit. It's what comes out of that suit that scares me. Mirek Topolanek, who is running the EU presidency Add new comment Read more About the Author Edward J. Hahnenberg is a life-long Leelanau County resident. He has held several teaching and administrative roles in his career as an educator. He holds a BA in philosophy, an MA in theology, and two degrees in education (MA and Ed.S). In 2000, he was honored by the Michigan Education Association for excellence in curriculum writing in the “Debates 2000” project which involved 350 high school students in 36 global issues debates. Besides being an author of eleven books, he and his wife Marlene are parents to nine children. Retired from education, he is currently an orchardist, an amateur astrophotographer, and an avid motorcyclist. |
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Recent Comments
Leelanau's population increase
The View of President Obama Abroad…
Monday, November 30, 2009
ejjhpiano Says:
State-wide the biggest increase in population occured from 1960 to 1970, with an additonal one million people, or 13% increase. Insignificant changes occured between 1970 to 1980 (4%+) and between 1980 and 1990 (less than 1/2%). As to Leelanau, I have no idea because apparently it ran contrary to the state influx. Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
The View of President Obama Abroad…
Monday, November 30, 2009
ejjhpiano Says:
State-wide the biggest increase in population occured from 1960 to 1970, with an additonal one million people, or 13% increase. Insignificant changes occured between 1970 to 1980 (4%+) and between 1980 and 1990 (less than 1/2%). As to Leelanau, I have no idea because apparently it ran contrary to the state influx. Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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