There's no end to the number of articles written demanding that Israel's response to Hezbollah is improper. Yet in all of those blogs, only one offers a solution, and, ironically that solution is one that opponents of Israel's foreign policy would even find appalling. That solution is, of course, Emp's solution of the complete extermination of all Israelis. Not surprisingly, Emp's solution is also Hezbollah's solution. The lack of real, viable solutions for Israel is part of what is making th...
I deliver newspapers to the low income housing projects in the community near us. These are not the slums of the larger cities, but are, in fact, fairly nicely kept, and the people in these projects are usually polite and well mannered. These housing projects sit about 300 feet from the local community college. Those who are wheelchair bound would find it about twice as long, but still far less than the trips they routinely take to the store, to McDonald's, Long John Silver's, Taco Bell and ...
There's been a lot of discussion centering on whether or not Israel's response to Palestine has been disproportionate. I think it's really silly, because anyone who would even ASK the question misunderstands the very nature of war. My response: Hell, yeah, it's disproportionate! And it better be, if Israel intends to survive. You see, Israel is quickly proving what has been said by "extremists" of Islamic fundamentalists all along: they don't want their own nation, they want the exterminat...
In my younger years, when I was new to Christianity, I was often startled by inconsistencies in my newly embraced faith. Conservative ministers would decry the sin of abortion, yet point a crooked finger at the pregnant "pouches" of young, unmarried women in their congregation. Many of these women would then compound the mistakes that led to their current condition with the greater mistake of abortion, feeling that if they hid their actions, they could escape judgment. I resolved early on that I...
OK, it's been quite awhile since the whole flap about the New York Time's "outing" of the NSA's oversight of banking transactions in America. While I don't think the Times acted responsibly, I am still puzzled as to why there's a story there. See, I know (as does every red blooded American who uses banks) that banking oversight has increased greatly since 9/11. In fact, there's a sign on the wall of our credit union stating the government's need to have information such as our social security...
As November nears, and I familiarize myself with the five candidates for governor in the state of Texas, I can't say that I'm overly pleased with the choices. It appears that "more of the same" will win the day, and it is increasingly possible that the incredibly incompetent Rick Perry may win the day, something that means only that Texans will lose. I haven't spoken with Democratic candidate Chris Bell, but I'm hoping to catch his ear when he makes a campaign stop in Amarillo this weekend (h...
Link Looks like the fears of a Supreme Court composed of Bush cheerleaders are greatly exaggerated. In a 5-3 decision (With Chief Justice John Roberts sidelined over a conflict of interest), the court ruled that the detention of combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the proposed military tribunals are unConstitutional. This means the "have it both ways" policy of an administration that wants to treat these detainees as neither citizens of Iraq deserving of a fair trial nor prisoners of w...
This is an interesting link. Might want to follow it if you have the time: Link According to opensecrets.org, John Kerry raised over $326 million for his 2004 Presidential campaign, of which $310 million was spent. $74,620,000 of that came from federal funds. California was the top state contributor, contributing over $31 million, and lawyers/law firms were the top industry contributing, contributing over $22 million. The top contributors were the University of California at $627,000,...
Picture this scenario: Little Katie comes home with a piece of paper from school. According to the note, on last month's mandatory mental health evaluations, Katie was found to be bipolar, and she is to see a psychiatrist immediately. The note contains the name and numbers of several school appointed psychiatrists. You snicker. Katie's been moping around the house, sure, but there's nothing about her that's atypical for that age. You ignore the letter and put it in the round file, thinking no...
When Ann Coulter mentioned the fact that the liberal organizations have paraded victims about to advance their agenda, insisting those victims are above criticism, she only scratched the surface. In my writings about my Libertarian philosophies, I have found that liberals are just as hostile towards attacks on any of their pet programs. They will attack with venom and force anytime these pet programs are even QUESTIONED, and the character of the individual will be called into question. They will...
Note: This article is written as a companion piece for the one to follow. In 2004, US Democrats were presented with a very winnable election. A less than popular president, associated with a less than popular war was presiding over an economy that, while improving, was not what we remembered from the 1990's. The Democrats could do no better than John Kerry, whose lack of charisma and a consistent, coherent platform (he should have just made his campaign slogan "Bush sucks!" It probably would ...
Link In the most recent news about Tom Delay, Texas state Democrats have wn an injunction to keep the state Republican Party from naming a replacement for Delay in the Texas election, arguing that Delay's move to Washington was a sham designed to allow the GOP to skirt election rules. Frankly, I don't like what Delay did. In fact, I believe it IS a sham, basically. But, laws are laws, and Delay and his advisers apparently did what they had to to stay within the law and allow the GOP to ...
In the wake of the William Jefferson scandal, Nancy Pelosi has led the charge against the way the FBI executed a search warrant on Congressman Jefferson's office. And the problems she has with the investigation are quite legitimate problems. She is correct in demanding that Jefferson's rights as a citizen be preserved in the investigation. Now if we can just get her to extend the same rights to American citizens, we'd be fine. She and many others in Congress have been quite reluctant to allow...
George Clooney tops my list of interesting celebrities. While I don't hold the same political views as him much of the time, I respect the fact that he takes the opportunity to actually LEARN about something before speaking off the cuff about it (much of the time, anyway). And, to my own surprise, I am agreeing with him on the need for US involvement in Darfur. But Clooney has missed something. You see, the reasons we should get involved in Darfur are the same reasons we were right to get inv...
With the climb in gas prices at the pump, it is only common sense that we need a vast change in our way of living to bring them back down, or at least, check their double digit inflation. But it's not a "Republican" issue, as some would have you believe. While Democratic spinsters have successfully spun the blame to Bush, just as GOP spinsters successfully spun the blame for the 2000 spike to Clinton, the truth is, it is ALL of our policymakers, of both parties, but notably among the democrats w...