For the record

Democrats in the new leadership of the House said they would work 5 days a week now that they were in control. Well, so far, they have done so on six of the 21 weeks. Better than I would have thought when one considers the usual promise record of politicians.

Integration Outrage

The liberals are just outraged that the Supreme Court took a tiny step toward agreeing with the law of the land that you can't discriminate on the basis of race. This is very confusing to me. The Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP and all their loony left newspapers seem to feel that little black kids can't learn anything unless they are forced into a classroom with little white kids. This is in spite of several decades of evidence that forced integration has not resulted in any great educational benefit. My gut feeling is no kid learns a whole lot in a modern day classroom vis a vis "the old days", but I am almost certain they don't learn anything riding in a bus.

What makes this situation all the more puzzling is how the races segregate themselves when given an opportunity. I saw one of those shows on prisons in the U.S. the other day and the minute prisoners get locked up they group up into racial packs. Blacks with blacks, Asians with Asians, Latinos and whites in their separate groups. Now I am reading that blacks out in California are demanding and getting separate graduation ceremonies from universities. Seems like integration is only really important in public schools. It is all very strange.

Air Safety

Reading about the terrorists activity in Europe today reminded me of a recent transatlantic flight we made on British Air. We were in a 767 seated in a cabin just behind first class. This was called something like enhanced economy and we did have larger seats and more room. There were about 12 rows of us in this cabin and our rest room was toward the rear of the plane, just behind a curtain in front of another cabin which was regular economy. Just outside the rest room was an exit door and thus a little area where you can stand and stretch or just wait for the rest room to be vacated. I get antsy on long flights, so I often like to stand and stretch and since I am an old man I probably use the facilities more than younger males. At any rate, I was standing in this area and found myself looking back over the cabin. The interior lights were dimmed and as I looked over the cabin, most people were either asleep, reading or watching their little entertainment screen. Everyone, that is, but one man sitting on an isle seat about mid-way back in the cabin. He was interested in one thing and one thing only. That was me standing by that exit door. I think he was working on that flight and I was glad to see him doing what I imagine good air marshalls do.

Spending your money

Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, Mark Rey, was in Corning Wednesday morning at the Big Flats Plant Materials Center to annouce the award of nearly $20 million in Conservation Innovation Grants to fund 51 research projects across the country designed to refine new technologies helping dairy and other agricultural producers cut back on their greenhouse emissions and cash in on governmental incentives for the research.

One million dollars of those grants will come to New York State.

The U.S.D.A. is now taking applications from large dairy farms across the state who want to participate.

The agency reports that cow and hog manure produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas.

The main focus of the grant-funded research in New York State would be to tarp off areas where farmers dump cow manure, commonly called manure lagoons. Researchers would then prevent those gases from entering the atmosphere, measure how many units are produced, and farmers would receive cash incentives, called "Carbon Credits," for each unit produced. They would also receive annual payments for use of their properties.

You can read the whole article here, but it gives new meaning to the term "hog-wash".

Political Lesson

The boondoggle immigration bill is dead and it is a great day for America. Voters shut down the Senate phone system, but they got the message anyway.

Ridiculous enough for you yet?

Scientist Implicates Worms in Global Warming

Jim Frederickson, the research director at the Composting Association has called for data on worms and composting to be re-examined after a German study found that worms produce greenhouse gases 290 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Worms are being used commercially to compost organic material and is in preference to putting it into the landfill. The German government wants 45% of all waste to be composted by 2015. "Everybody... thinks they can do no harm but they contribute to global warming. People are looking into alternative waste treatments but we have to make sure that we are not jumping from the frying pan into the fire," said Frederickson.

Need Cash?

I was just watching a program on my DVR and a commercial came on offering to lend you money with a phone call. Then as I quickly raced through the commercial as I always do, the small print disclosure which always goes past too fast to actually read caught my eye and I backed up and paused to read it. The company is Cash Call and it says if you borrow a typical $2600 and pay them back with 42 monthly payments of $216.55, the APR for the loan is 99.25%. That is accurate.

If you want to get in on this great deal, call 877-890-CASH or call me and I will only charge you $200/month.

Another Iraq Report from Michael Yon

These reports from the front lines in Iraq are unique. I just sent him a contribution since that is his only source of support.

Gay Pride?

I just saw on the news that this is "Gay Pride " month. Every month has to be something, I guess, but I am confused by this one. I thought one took pride in something accomplished, usually through admirable effort and/or perseverence. Since one is supposedly gay by accident of birth and gene assortment, it seems strange to be proud of sexuality. That seems no more a feat than being red headed.

CNN finds al Qaeda

I just ran across this little story from CNN. Before long the loony leftists in the Dem party are going to have to drop their call for us to get out of Iraq because we need to go where the terrorists are.

Iraq war being waged----at last

Here is a timely report on the war in Iraq.

Another Boring Interview?

A Contrary View

For those who are interested in the religion which is known as "global warming", here is a scientifically based article which summarizes a contrary view and warns of global cooling by 2020.

No surprise

When D.A. Nifong charged the 3 Duke athletes with rape the New York Times had their pictures on the front page and a damning editorial at the ready. When Nifong was disbarred for unethical behavior the article was on page 16.

Delayed Gratification

The older I get the more often I see that what passes for life's success and failures or deficiencies is ultimately based on choices, but many times the choice is between doing something now or some better time in the future. There are lots of examples. Sex at the wrong time and with the wrong person, for example. Getting an education through applied studying and due diligence can obviously affect how successful one is. Having fun in college is great unless it prevents you from accomplishing what you should be there for. You can have a lot of fun later if you have a good job and money coming in every month. Family timing is important. Have a family too soon and there can be a profound and lingering effect on subsequent financial health. Retirement is just a whole lot more fun and a lot less stressful if you have delayed some gratification by saving enough money to spend later in life. These are the big examples, but there are a lot of smaller ones as well. Some big time athletes get huge contracts and lots of money to go with minimal common sense and risk it all by deciding for example that despite contracts to the contrary they have to buy a motorcycle. Ben Rothlisberger, for example. Several professional golfers have lost irreplaceable productive months and years from injuries while skiing and snow-boarding. Ernie Els and Chris DiMarco come to mind here.

I guess the other side of the argument is one should have it all now because tomorrow may not come. If wrong, however, you wind up repenting in leisure.

Energy Legislation

The Alaska pipeline started sending oil down to the lower 48 on June 20, 1977. This pipeline from Prudhoe Bay was criticized by the looney left in the Democrat party at the time as a boondoggle which would bring us just 6 months of oil and devastate our planet for all time with its ecological damage. This is the same drivel that they are offering us now with regard to Anwar oil. The truth, however, is that we have realized 15 billion gallons of oil from the pipeline and there has been no ecological damage whatsoever. The liberal line never changes, however, as can easily be seen by the current legislation being debated in the Senate. There is no provision for new production, no way to encourage new refineries to be built, no encouragement for nuclear power production, but there is a proposal for new taxes on the energy companies which they restrict from meeting our energy demand. As a result, there will be no energy bill this year.

Interesting Statistic

I just ran across an interesting statistic in a Wall Street Journal article this morning. There are currently over 632,000 known fugitive aliens in the U.S. These are persons who have illegally come into the U.S., committed a crime, been found guilty and been released pending appeal of an order that they be deported.

Another one. Of the 15,000 illegal immigrants arrested last year for some criminal infraction, 10,000 were fugitives from deportation orders as described above.

What are we doing about this situation? Well, according to the article, since last October the feds have captured and deported 537 of these fugitives. Here is the math. The number has been reduced to 632,189 from 632,726. That probably doesn't convince you that the promised attention to the illegal fugitive matter in the proposed legislation being promulgated by Bush and Teddy Kennedy will be delivered in fact.

Take your pick

I am reading in the news today that Mike Bloomberg, the liberal mayor of New York City has renounced his voter affilliation and is now unaffiliated rather than a Republican. There is growing expectations that the billionaire may decide to spend some of that money to run for President. This could give us the once in a lifetime opportunity to choose which New York liberal we want to vote for. Take your pick: Clinton, Guiliani, or Bloomberg. Beam me up, Scottie.

Another snippet from Mark Steyn

This is just a small part of another great essay by Mark Steyn. Read it all.

There are immigration laws on the books right now, aren't there? Why not try enforcing them? The same people who say that government is a mighty power for good that can extinguish every cigarette butt and detoxify every cheeseburger and even change the very climate of the planet back to some Edenic state so that the water that falleth from heaven will land as ice and snow, and polar bears on distant continents will frolic as they did in days of yore, the very same people say: Building a border fence? Enforcing deportation orders? Can't be done, old boy. Pie-in-the-sky.

The proper intellectual level

I just read that some 4th graders have now issued a global warming report.

That is about the same level of scientific sophistication that I have seen in similar analyses of the subject.

Homework

Here is a research project for the coming weeks. As you read the reports from the Mid-east and the civil war involving Hamas and Fatah, pay attention to the way it is described by the looney left in the nation's largest newspapers and wire services. If you pay close attention you will notice the casualties are described as "people". Once you have established that nobody in specific terms is affected by the war, go back and read the recent reports from the Israel incursion into Lebanon. There, you will find, the casualties are babies, civilians, women and children, non-combatants and the buildings affected were schools and hospitals as well as the houses of poor peasants.

If your results are as I suspect, you will find there are no innocent victims of the carnage being wrought by Iran's surrogates in Gaza and the West Bank as they fight Fatah. If Israel decides it doesn't want and can't tolerate an enemy state on its border in Gaza and takes retaliatory measures to counter rocket fire into its cities, the result will be reported as a form of genocide by the heartless Jews.

Trust me

1. Of course I will respect you in the morning.

2. The check is in the mail.

3. Islam is a religion of peace.

4. We will really enforce border security this time.

I thought mine was the worst

I just ran across an article which purports to list the 10 worst jobs in science. After checking to see if Microbiology Professor in a medical school was listed, I read about some which really do seem to be pretty sorry. Here is the worst according to the article which you can read here.

“The worst was at a factory pig farm,” says Steven M. Barsky, the author of Diving in High-Risk Environments, the industry bible for hazardous-materials divers. “A guy had driven his truck into the waste lagoon and drowned. Not only was it full of urine and liquid pig feces, the farmer had dumped all the needles used to inject the pigs with antibiotics and hormones in there.” Someone had to recover the body, and the task fell to commercial hazmat divers.

The Coburn Solution

When the Dems were campaigning last Fall in congressional races across the country, they rightly pointed to the corruption by Republicans in Congress and the need to clean up practices such as earmarks which allowed funding for "bridges to nowhere" in Alaska. Nancy Pelosi pledged to "make this the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history." Well, after only 6 months that seems to be an empty promise--- similar to the pledge to work 5 days a week. With regard to earmarks, David Obey, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee has decided that the membership has no need to actually know about and vote on those special little projects inserted into spending bills. He will now take all 32,000 of them and decide later which ones will be funded. As we consider this, we should remember that the crooked Republicans were thrown out for funding 14,000 of these earmarks. Anyway, congressional spending practices seem to be the same or worse than when the Dems were elected last Fall. While we wait for Nancy Pelosi to decide whether she wants to honor her word or impose discipline on her legislative body, we can watch Tom Coburn in the Senate. Senator Coburn says that unless something is done about earmarks we should remember that any one member of the Senate can prevent spending bills from going to conference to resolve differences in the House and Senate. If there is anyone in America who doesn't think that there is one member who will excercise his perogative in this regard, they don't know Senator Coburn. This should be fun.

In a related development, there is a paper pledge in the House with enough Republicans signed on to sustain any veto by President Bush of a spending bill which exceeds his budget. This is a shaky proposition since the Republicans could go wobbly if one of their pet boondoggles is threatened, but it may help some.

Trust Me

Bush, McCain, and Kennedy want us to let them pass amnesty in the current farce called an immigration bill and trust them to enforce border security even though they haven't done so despite current law for over 20 years. How about this. Secure the border and we promise to revisit the amnesty question in a few years if you actually do it.

Wish I had thought of it

I just heard those tatoos on a woman's lower back called "tramp stamps". Hard to argue with that.

The dem view

Again from Mark Steyn:

A few days ago, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, declared:

"This week we will vote on cloture and final passage of a comprehensive bill that will strengthen border security, bring the 12 million undocumented Americans out of the shadows, and keep our economy strong."

So, according to Reid, they are already Americans and now we just need to get the documents in order.

More on immigration

From Mark Steyn:

Back in the real world, far from those senators living in the nonshadows of their boundless self-admiration, the truth is that America's immigration bureaucracy cannot cope with its existing caseload, and thus will certainly be unable to cope with millions of additional teeming hordes tossed into its waiting room.

Currently, the time in which an immigration adjudicator is expected to approve or reject an application is six minutes. That's not enough time to read the basic form, never mind any supporting documentation. Under political pressure to "bring the 12 million undocumented Americans out of the shadows," the immigration bureaucracy will rubber-stamp gazillions of applications for open-ended probationary legal status within 24 hours and with no more supporting documentation than a utility bill or an affidavit from a friend. There's never been a better time for Mullah Omar to apply for U.S. residency.

Remember the 1986 amnesty? Mahmoud abu Halima applied for it and went on to bomb the World Trade Center seven years later. His colleague, Mohammad Salameh, was rejected but carried on living here anyway. John Lee Malvo was detained and released by U.S. immigration in breach of its own procedures and re-emerged as the Washington sniper. The young Muslim men who availed themselves of the U.S. government's "visa express" system for Saudi Arabia filled in joke applications – "Address in the United States: HOTEL, AMERICA" – that octogenarian snowbirds from Toronto who've been wintering at their Florida condos since 1953 wouldn't try to get away with. The late Mohammed Atta received his flight-school student visa on March 11, 2002, six months to the day after famously flying his first and last commercial airliner.

All the above passed through the legal immigration system. Whether they were detained, rejected, approved or posthumously approved, in the end it made no difference. Because U.S. immigration had no real idea who these men were.

But, don't worry, they'll be able to handle another "12 million undocumented Americans" tossed in for express processing.

The real "immigration fraud" is not Mahmoud abu Halima's or John Lee Malvo's or Mohammed Atta's, but that of the politicians who attempted to foist this sham bill on the nation.

Enforcement Now

Since the Bush administration thinks we are all as dumb as a sack of hammers, they keep trying to convince us that the border enforcement in the current bill is so solid and we can rely on its implementation so firmly that the amnesty aspects which start immediately should be accepted. That is hogwash and we all know it.

1. If all these enforcement measures are so wonderful, why not enact just them and drop the questionable legalization part? Bush is holding the parts of the bill everyone says they want hostage to the parts he wants.

2. If we tried the enforcement parts first, then we wouldn't have to trust the federal government. We could make sure the measures work before we go ahead with legalization (and attract a new wave of legalization-seeking illegals).

We need more money

Anytime someone criticizes the abject failure of the educational establishment in the U.S. there is an inevitable reply that we just need to spend more money and everything will get better. This is, of course, utter nonsense and now and then there is a report which makes this painfully obvious. Today's comes in the form of an article in the Washington Post which makes the point again that the schools in Washington, D.C. are the worst in the nation. This is actually common knowledge and the following paragraph from the column speaks to the money issue. Read the whole thing here.

The District spends $12,979 per pupil each year, ranking it third-highest among the 100 largest districts in the nation. But most of that money does not get to the classroom. D.C. schools rank first in the share of the budget spent on administration, last in spending on teachers and instruction.

Background Check on Speed

I just learned the bill before the Senate provides for a background check on illegal immigrants before they can be given the stamp of approval for entering the path to citizenship. The bill provides that it be given when the background check is concluded or the next business day--whichever comes first. As Tammy Bruce points out, it takes longer for her vet to check her cats fecal sample.

Buffett on Corn

Here is another opinion of Warren Buffett at his most recent investor's meting.

"I think the idea of running vehicles on corn is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Governments, under pressure, do crazy things, but this is among the dumbest. Raise the cost of food so you can run these autos about? You use up justa bout as much hydrocarbons making ethanol as it produces, and its cost doesn't even factor in the loss of topsoil. "

Legislative Records

I am getting fed up with liberal columnists analyzing Fred Thompson's record in the Senate and never failing to make the point that there is no legislation bearing his name. That is true, but where is a similar admission that the same can be said of Hillary Clinton?

Sewage Problem in Gaza

This is an informative analysis of the sewage problems in the Gaza strip as provided by Opinion Journal.

"Further deadly sewage floods are feared after a wave of stinking waste and mud from a collapsed septic pool inundated a Gaza village, killing five people, including two babies," the Associated Press reports:

The collapse has been blamed on residents stealing sand from an embankment.

It highlighted the desperate need to upgrade Gaza's overloaded, outdated infrastructure--but aid officials say construction of a modern sewage treatment plant has been held up by constant Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

The report gets a bit more specific as to the meaning of "constant Israeli-Palestinian fighting":

Umm Naser is about 300 metres [300 million microns] from the border with Israel, in an area where Palestinians have frequently launched rockets into Israel and Israeli artillery and aircraft have fired back. The situation worsened after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier last June in a cross-border raid, and Israel responded by invading northern Gaza.

The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this month that metal provided by Israel had been used in the construction of those terrorist rockets. And why was Israel selling the Palestinians metal? "For the construction of a sewage system in Gaza."

Palestinian babies drown in sewage because of the bloodlust of Palestinian grown-ups. What a fetid political culture.

Buffett's Analysis

He is a hopeless liberal, but he is also the most accomplished investor of all time. Warren Buffett, the famous head of Berkshire holds a meeting of his investors each year in Omaha, Nebraska. During this meeting, he answers all relevant questions regarding the fund he and Charlie Munger manage. One question he always gets since he is getting up near 80, is who is going to be his successor. His answer was longer, but within the answer he said Mozart was approached by a young man who said he wanted to write symphonies also and Mozart told him he was too young. "But you were young when you started." Mozart agreed, but pointed out that, "Yes, but I was not asking anyone for advice on how to do it".

Sigheh

I just learned about the Shia Muslim tradition of temporary marriage, or sigheh, which allows a man and a woman in Iran to marry for a set period of time, ranging from an hour to 99 years. This is evidently a common thing in Iran where the young men have a hard time finding sufficient work to support a wife and needs to relieve sexual tension. My source did not reveal the average time period requested for sigheh, but I suspect there aren't many 99 year arrangements.

More Bush idiocy

Continuing with the Bush is an idiot theme I recently adopted, I just read that Bush recommended a 3% across the board increase in military pay and the dems in Congress raised that to 3.5%. The White House is now fighting that instead of making it 4% with a firm resolve to keep moving the number to a point where the liberals cave. Surely Bush is not going to choose military pay to make a stand on spending.

Catching Up 2

It was fun to see the so-called global warming situation from the European point of view. As has been most apparent, the European politicians have their panties in a wad because Bush won't destroy our economy by adopting policies which reduce carbon dioxide release here when India and China and others would not be required to participate. The goal, of course, is not to reduce pollution which we should all embrace, or to reduce our dependence on unreliable sources of oil, which is also desirable. The loony socialists in Europe want to prevent the globe from getting warmer even though there is no good scientific evidence which supports the proposition that this would be necessary or even possible. There is not even evidence that our carbon output is more important in this regard than cow farts.

At any rate, we had a young guide in London who was lamenting the fact that the summers in London had been hotter in the past few years. She said we had to do something about her resulting discomfort. Much of this concern could be related to the lack of air conditioning in much of London and she was 50 pounds overweight. On the other hand, a much different perspective was noted in Lithuania. There the guide observed that the winters in that country had been much less severe than in the past and she was not at all upset by this.

So, as BestView has noted in several rantings in the past, there could well be a warming similar to that has occurred at previous times and the consequence of this is not something which can be categorically described in positive and negative terms.

Catching Up 1

Just back from a couple of weeks in Europe and find the political situation has turned most interesting. First, it seems that Bush is now exceeding his misadventures with the Farm Program, the expanded involvement by the feds in education, a new Medicare entitlement program, the Harriet Meirs nomination, the incompetence of the FEMA after Katrina, and is now calling his last few remaining supporters (his base) names and denigrating their opposition to the Immigration legislation drafted with Ted Kennedy. One can only conclude that Bush's long-standing critics were right and he really is an idiot. My two votes for Bush can still be supported by a firm conclusion that Gore and Kerry would have been worse.

Properly British

We are about to conclude a tour of London and it has been fun. The British are really quite proper and we enjoyed the experience. They use words like "whilst" and "way out" instead of while and exit, but that is sort of quaint. We were much impressed that the young people over here have more sense than ours and have avoided the tatoos and piercings which are so common in the U.S. If the dollar rallies against the pound one of these days, or we hit the lottery, it would be fun to come back.

Weak dollar? I would say so.

We made it to London and even had lunch at Herrods. I ordered a Reuben and Diet coke which came to 17.5 pounds or $44 Americn. My bride hasn't revived yet.

Just wondering

Before I leave for Europe, where the loony climate change fringe resides en masse, there is a question I hope to ask someone over there who thinks we must change our climate. It goes something like this---"Do you think anyone knows what the temperature of earth should be?"

Off to Europe

BestView is going to several countries in Europe over the next 3 weeks. If the Islamic fanatics don't blow up my airplane or subway car in London, we should resume blogging after June 3.

Maybe it is a mental illness

The following is from an essay by Dr. Sowell: Read it all.

That people on the political left have a certain set of opinions, just as people do in other parts of the ideological spectrum, is not surprising. What is surprising, however, is how often the opinions of those on the left are accompanied by hostility and even hatred.

How often have you seen conservatives or libertarians take to the streets, shouting angry slogans? How often have conservative students on campus shouted down a visiting speaker or rioted to prevent the visitor from speaking at all?

Dream Election

The presidential election news lately has Newt and Mayor Bloomberg considering a run in the wide open 2008 election. Evidently, a Bloomberg and Hagel ticket is being slobbered over in the New York press. We even have polls showing that Bloomberg is considered a better mayor than Guiliani was. If I could ordain a Bloomberg/Hagel ticket as independents, Clinton/Obama for the dem ticket, and Gingrich/Guiliani (or vice versa) for the Republicans, I would say bring 'em on.

Berrnard Lewis on Iraq

Here is a nice summary by a Middle Eastern Studies authority on the Iraq situation. After quickly summarizing the historical events which got Islam and the rest of us to this point, Lewis makes the critical point that our enemy in this conflict--radical Islam--knows this is a generational battle and we have no apparent ability to get focused on anything beyond the next election. Here is a sample:

Having “destroyed the stronger and more deadly superpower,”the Soviet Union, “the effeminate American Empire is not a problem.” Bin Laden attacked U.S. installations in 1998 with impunity. Americans responded with “angry words” followed by “let’s get out of here.” This attitude began in 1983 Beirut after the U.S. Marine compound was destroyed and 241 U.S. Marines were killed, repeated in Somalia in 1994. Bin Laden’s attacks on American interests continued throughout the 1990’s, culminating with September 11, 2001, when Bin Laden opened the third phase - bringing his Jihad to America.

Turning to Iraq, Lewis suggests a number of views - one reflected in the media, which is of a “continuing disaster,” and another which comes to Lewis from his personal friends in Iraq who “report positive developments.” A third view, Lewis claims, is that “most of Iraq is functioning rather well.” As he ended his prepared remarks, Lewis surprised everyone by expressing “cautious optimism” regarding Iraq. Lewis credited President Bush for being “tough and consistent” in Iraq and ridiculed the attitudes of congressional Democrats who oppose the Iraq war and who are saying: “Unless we win the war by next Tuesday, we are done.”

Don't even think it?

Just ran across this little essay on 5 things you can't say in America and it contains some of the same things I have long held to be unfortunate taboos. I could add some to this list, but Hawkins makes a nice start. I am not too sure about Israel running the Arabs off the land, but something needs to be done over there. You can't just keep doing the same thing over and over with the expectation that things will be different next time.
When I get time I will add some items relating to education that should be in this list.

A major injustice

"I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted. I don't deserve this."

So spoke Paris of the Hilton clan after being sentenced to jail for 45 days. I agree with the second sentence. She doesn't deserve 45 days. She should sit in jail until she gets walking around sense. Wear your underwear in there, Paris. What a moron.

Resistant TB strains

From a Washington Post article today. We should keep this in mind when evaluating how many and who is entering the U.S. today.

A virulent strain of tuberculosis resistant to most available drugs is surfacing around the globe, raising fears of a pandemic that could devastate efforts to contain TB and prove deadly to people with immune-deficiency diseases such as HIV-AIDS.

Known formally as extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB, the strain has been detected in 37 countries. It arises when the bacterium that causes TB mutates because antibiotics used to combat it are carelessly administered by poorly trained doctors or patients don't take their full course of medication. Rather than being killed by the drugs, the microbe builds up resistance to them.

At least 50 percent of those who contract this strain of TB will die of it, according to medical experts. In trying to stop the spread of the disease, which can be transmitted through coughing, spitting or even speaking, health officials have imposed sometimes extreme controls on infected people.

Fair and Balanced

BestView is pretty consistent in its opinion that liberals offer very little in the way of improving our life on earth. When something comes up which seems to make more sense than the right wing position, however, it should be mentioned. I have a brother-in-law who just retired as a Republican congressman after 20 years. Over that time, he has voted mostly as one would expect a conservative to vote. However, over that period of time, I have noticed that he has also developed a paternalistic attitude about the role of government in the affairs of citizens which he will not allow one to question. As a former academic, I enjoy debating subjects even if I am not especially well grounded in the area since I at least have a chance of learning something. This brother-in-law and many other people I have met over the years do not enjoy such give and take and I can live with that.
Recently, I asked this relative how he voted on the measure passed in September which banned the use of credit cards to pay for any form of gambling on the internet which involved a "game of chance". His reply was quite vigorous in proclaiming that he had voted for the ban because the internet is addictive and gambling is addictive and it is therefore necessary for the good politicians in Washington to watch out for us and protect us from our lesser inclinations. I knew immediately that there was no sense in taking this any further. For one thing, I am blessed with four brothers-in-law and 2 of them know less about the internet than I know about grand opera. He is one of them. I already knew that I was considerably more libertarian than he, so the subject was dropped. This attitude, by the way, is about the only thing the liberals have in the way of an argument for abortion. They feel that there is no role for the government to interfere with a woman's right to decide when and how to kill her baby. If there weren't a dead baby at the end of the process, they would have a great argument.
Back to gambling on the internet. There is a large and growing body of evidence--scientific-- that poker is not a game of chance, which is what gambling is. It is a game of skill. It should be mentioned here that the exceptions to the use of the internet in gambling are horse racing and stock trading. Poker is at least as much a game of skill as betting on horse races, but that is the kind of idiotic result you get from politicians who try to control human activities.
Barney Frank, the Chair of the House Financial Services has introduced a bill to overturn the ban on internet gambling and add controls. This could be the first thing he and I ever agreed upon. Furthermore, one of the biggest liberals in Congress (and also one of the most irritating) is Robert Wexler of Florida. He is also introducing legislation to declare poker a skill and allow it to be conducted on the internet.
When the liberals are right about something, they deserve to have it pointed out. Unfortunately, I doubt it will be a regular activity here on BestView.

Understanding Islam

If you want to really understand the way it is in the world today with respect to our enemy in what I consider a long war, you need to carefully read the words of Mark Steyn. Here is one of a long list of columns he has published which explain the situation in a way that everyone can learn from. The problem is getting liberals to acknowledge reality. Until they do, we will be doomed to their politically correct world. Read it all here.

Dems hide fairly thin

This is a good editorial discussing some recent criticism leveled by the liberal Washington Post columnist, David Broder, toward Senate Majority Leader Reid.

Guiliani's logic flawed

Rudy was asked recently if he supported the use of public money to fund abortions for the poor. He said that he would if someone would otherwise be deprived of a constitutional right. Aside from the fact that nobody on earth can find anything in the constitution about abortion, there is certainly no implied right to have the public fund the rights that are actually there. For example, if someone says they can't afford a firearm to satisfy their 2nd Amendment right to keep and bare arms, is Rudy going to buy them one?

What you get for $1.6 billion per year

Sheik Ahmad Bahr, acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, declared during a Friday sermon at a Sudan mosque that America and Israel will be annihilated and called upon Allah to kill Jews and Americans "to the very Last One." Read it all here.

More from the phony liberals

First, the whole pack of liberals running for President as dems fly in separate jets to South Carolina to then lecture us about the evils of conservation and pollution. Now the equally blowhard phony Corzine who as Governor of New Jersey decided the laws of the state passed for ordinary taxpayers were not meant for him and so he has his state troopers driving 91 miles per hour on a freeway on the way to a meeting with Don Imus. This was, of course, was without a seatbelt as required by New Jersey law. As he was leaving the hospital following well-deserved medical treatment he apologized for his previous actions and disregard for the law. On the way to the governor's mansion following that apology, his entourage drove about 15 miles over the posted speed limit. Amazing if we weren't expecting such things from them.

A sad situation

Let's assume you have a young daughter with a tumor which has not responded to conventional therapy and the physicians tell you that there is nothing more they do. A small biotechnology company has a compound in developmental research which they hope will treat cancers of this type, but it hasn't been through the required process to get FDA approval and hasn't even been shown to be effective at a given dose or age group.
As a Father you contact the company and beg for the drug to treat your daughter even though you know the outcome may not be positive and the drug itself may be too toxic and could cause an acceleration of her demise. What do you do if you are running the company? The only way you can develop the drug for FDA approval is through controlled studies of appropriate patients. If you give the drug to patients without the study parameters being established, you could forfeit the potential to develop the drug for numerous other patients.
This situation in various forms is facing parents and companies every day and a decision on the best way to handle requests for drugs prior to FDA approval is an ongoing ethical problem.

The devil is named real estate

There seems to be a gathering storm around the activities of several Congressmen in the general area of real estate transactions gone criminal. Most seem to be Republicans like Renzi of Arizona who might join some of their colleagues in jail, but Senator Reid and former Speaker Hastert also have smelly associations which don't seem to be as actively investigated as some of the others. Congressman Jefferson evidently took a bribe for a non-real estate activity and Barack Obama has a slimy association in Chicago which is almost unavoidable for a politician from Illinois, I suppose. I am about ready to conclude that any Congressman involved in a real estate deal while in office or soon thereafter is is probably a crook.

Supreme Court lets phonies down

Thomas Carper, the low-profile junior senator from Delaware, tries to walk the middle of the road on abortion. He was rated at 55 percent pro-choice by NARAL in 2006, but he was one of the 17 Democrats who voted to ban partial birth abortion three years earlier. Carper said after the court upheld the 2003 bill: "I think a number of people who voted for it thought that the court would ultimately strike it down."
There is something very smarmy about voting for a bill that you think is unconstitutional in the hope that you can have your cake and eat it too when the Supreme Court knocks it down. And to be bipartisan, plenty of Republicans, including President Bush, did that with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, commonly known as McCain-Feingold.
This is from a good post by Betsy.

Mike Nifong's Fate

An interesting side issue in the Mike Nifong saga with prosecutorial misconduct is the manner in which the panel now hearing his case decides the matter. Ordinarily, a bunch of lawyers trying to decide if another lawyer did something unethical would be laughable since the likelihood of them doing something as extraordinary as taking away a license to practice would be beyond the pale. (The same situation would apply to physicians, by the way). This case, however, is so public that it might be argued that it is impossible for Mike to get a fair hearing. Obviously, those lawyers on the panel deciding his fate do not want to be the subject of numerous newspaper and television second-guessing. I predict that in this case, the light shining on the case might actually bring about partial justice and Nifong will lose his license, but won't go to prison where he belongs.

Misplaced Concern

Liberals all have their panties in a wad about the Supreme Court decision regarding partial birth abortion. Actually this was an almost meaningless act since women can still go in after the 5th month and have their cervix dilated so scissors can be used to cut the baby into little pieces and then taken out bit by bit. These leftist loonies can therefore continue to dispatch innocent babies while at the same time they object to any method of capital punishment because it is inhumane and could theoretically cause temporary pain to a convicted piece of scum.

A sensible response to Virginia Tech

NASHVILLE — In a surprise move, a House panel voted today to repeal a state law that forbids the carrying of handguns on property and buildings owned by state, county and city governments — including parks and playgrounds.

"I think the recent Virginia disaster — or catastrophe or nightmare or whatever you want to call it — has woken up a lot of people to the need for having guns available to law-abiding citizens," said Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains. "I hope that is what this vote reflects."

The saddest aspect of the Imus affair

We have already had way too much said about the Imus comment and its aftermath, but the most consequential aspect is not that a liberal jerk who provided a national format for liberal politicians and their press shills lost his program. The saddest part is the usage of the term "ho." Imus did not originate the term. Ho is a derivation of whore and it was first used by black men and even today is used primarily to refer to black women, mostly young black women. As has been made obvious in the Imus mess, this is a derogatory way to refer to these young women and all of them do not deserve it. It seems to me, however, that the situation is in some part caused by the extent to which far too many young black women permit black men to use them sexually and then have their babies, sans marriage or subsequent support, without consequence. They may not be whores in the strictest sense, but this situation certainly doesn't allow them to command respect and avoid demeaning references.

The story behind the lost line item veto

In 1996 the Republican party kept its word and gave President Clinton the line item veto. One of the first times he used it, he struck down a special interest provision which allowed New York hospitals a unique right to bilk Medicare out of extra money. The veto saved at least $200 million that year, but this was challenged in court and went all the way to the Supreme Court which put the kibosh on the veto authority in 1998. As Paul Harvey says, and now for the rest of the story. It turns out the guy who helped stall this powerful tool for controlling spending was none other than Rudy Giuliani who is now busy touting his "fiscally conservative" governing background. The Republican campaign should be fun when things like this are pointed out.

My, how the "Times" has changed

In 1909 the New York Times in an editorial opposing the income tax stated the following: "When men get in the habit of helping themselves to the property of others, they cannot be easily cured of it."

Curious speech

I just returned from a week where I was in crowds of people of different racial and cultural backgrounds from those I usually encounter. One thing that struck me during this exposure was the wide-spread use of "ja know what I mean?" in almost every sentence during almost all conversations I overheard. I presume this is an extension of the previous verbal assault "you know" which became a common source of lingual criticism and derision.

My question concerns the origin of this practice. So far I have come up with two possibilities. The first is the individual has no confidence in his or her ability to communicate effectively and just wants some assurance that all the words actually mean something. The second is the person speaking has no confidence that the person being addressed is smart enough to understand the spoken words. In either case, a desire for reassurance by constantly asking "you know what I mean?" makes sense, but the deficiencies implied are not particularly flattering.

Schools take on a new task

Despite proving themselves the biggest failure in modern America our public schools have decided that it now up to them to undertake an effort to assure that our students which they can't educate properly get the proper nutrition and watch their weight. More and more schools are undertaking the job of putting the child's body mass index on the report cards and writing letters to parents of students who they consider too heavy. This comes at a time when these same schools are eliminating activities at what once was called "recess" because things like tag and dodge ball are not politically correct.
Finally, when you question the education establishment about their failure to educate, a common excuse is the teachers have too many distractions like paperwork, reports to the government, mandated testing, etc. The logic of any suggestion that teachers work to improve their primary mission before undertaking new ones is probably not going to be appreciated.

Chirac exits stage left

Jacques Chirac has finally exited the world stage and thus the President of France ends a career as the world's biggest liberal. In this country, we all know that the libs want to raise taxes on everyone that is rich enough to pay them. That is chump change to our man Chirac. His biggest disappointment as President came when he failed in his effort to tax everyone in the world. He wanted every country in the world to put a tax on air fares and give the money to some idiotic organization like the U.N. to improve the environment or some other nonsensical project. The sad aspect of Chirac's leaving is the French will not improve in their next selection.

Unintended consequences

The obvious efforts of Speaker Pelosi to establish her own foreign policy is being criticized by even such liberal rags as the Washington Post and U.S. Today. Despite this response to her Syrian diplomacy, it may be that hubris will not allow her to rein in her concept of her role in the Constitutional process. Should she continue with her anti-Bush end-runs, it just might make the electorate even more reluctant to entrust our government to Hillary. If Ms Rodham comes to a similar conclusion, it will be interesting to watch how this threat is obviated. Watch your back, Nancy.

The Logan Act still on the books

Does this apply to Speaker Pelosi and other members of Congress--Republican or Democrat? Probably, but it doesn't make any difference. Bush has amply demonstrated that he has no intention of enforcing the law. Witness the Sandy Burger case, illegal immigrants, etc. The entire article is here.

The Logan Act makes it a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, "without authority of the United States," to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government's behavior on any "disputes or controversies with the United States."

The British get their troops but lose pride

As mentioned in a previous entry to this enlightened blog, the timidity of the British in their response to the outrageous retention of their military personnel by the Iranians is really sad. The country which once ruled the high seas now cowers and runs to the U.N. in the face of a true assault on their sovereignty.
Jonah Goldberg writes about the sorry state of U.K. affairs here. Read it all.

Coming here next?

The following is from England, but how long before our teachers catch up? Read it all.

Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

A sad state of affairs

Well, the Iranians take British sailors hostage and the response of our once proud ally is to go to the U.N. and ask them to condemn the action. How sad. A land of liberals.

Antibiotic resistant infection treatment

I ran across this article which reports on some research that indicates there is a peptide which can help treat bacterial infections which are resistant to our most effective antibiotics. This is a large and growing problem, but from what I can gather this research is a very long way from being the help we need. The animal experiments which lead to this report were not designed to show infections are actually cured, but rather it appears that if the peptide is given before or shortly after the animals are challenged with bacteria, the enhanced immune system helps prevent infections and affords some protection. Unfortunately, this is a long way from being what we really need.

What a crock!

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack gave Sen. Hillary Clinton his endorsement for her presidential campaign.

The Clinton campaign has promised Vilsack to help pay off a $400,000 campaign debt he built up during his run for the White House. . . .

The campaign said there is no connection between Vilsack's endorsement and their commitment to help pay off his campaign debt.

Global Warming "problem" put elegantly

There have been a number of great comments on the internet lately as a result of Al Gore's appearance before Congress. The position taken by BestView is well established, but sometimes the situation is put so well that it bears wider dissemination. The following is a comment offered by MikeD on Roger Simon's blog As one might suspect when a scientific matter is being considered, a scientist can be expected to offer more than an insane politician.

I think your commenters here have summarized the present argument (and situation) well. As a doctored geoscientist I claim no particular prescience, only an appreciation for the much longer geologic time frame, perhaps a greater appreciation for the variables involved, and a cognition of the number of times throughout history that "science" has gotten it rather wrong. I'm quite certain that the globe has recently "warmed"; it doesn't surprise me. I would even argue that there is probably some anthropogenic contribution. That said, science (and particularly fear-mongering politicians) have no idea of the magnitude or the consequences of such activity. We simply do not know, and more recent scientific insights regarding CO2 being a consequence of temperature increase rather than causative beggers the issue even more.

But Larry J is absolutely correct. There is no global political solution to the problem--it transcends our ability to impact it. Only an egomaniacal fool would posit such a stance. The Goreacle, whether considered the high priest or the emperor of GW, increasingly appears to be wearing increasingly transparent robes--and very likely none at all. Whatever the future climatic/environmental condition, human kind will have to adapt, just like the species has since Lucy scampered around the plains of East Africa. I wouldn't worry about GW if I were you, I would worry about large numbers of imbeciles following Al Gore and Laurie David and telling you how you should live your life.

Interesting Research in Heart Disease

This article describes some current research which I learned about through my interest in investments. A biotech company I invested in this week will report on some research tomorrow involving the injection of stem cells into the hearts of patients with recent heart attacks in a Phase 1 study. The results, I understand, were very positive and I expect the stock to do quite well, but the benefits to attack victims down the road may be even better. The company is Osiris Therapeutics Inc., stock symbol OSIR.

An eye on Iran

There is an interesting analysis of the present situation in Iran this morning in the American Thinker. Here is an snippet, but the whole thing is worth reading.

Chances are that the decision to stop Mahmoud's trip to New York was made by the Supreme Guide, with the support of the pragmatists.

At the same time the Russians are beginning to pull their technicians out of the Bushehr nuclear plant in a dispute with the Mullocracy that is said to be about money, but is more likely to be about nukes. The Russians can't be thrilled with an out-of-control jihadist nuclear power on their Southern border.

When the Israeli Air Force bombed Saddam's nuclear reactor in 1981, the French had withdrawn all of their technicians. The Israelis worked with French intelligence to avoid casualties, and destroyed Saddam's nuclear program in essentially one strike. That is not going to happen with Iran's dispersed nuke effort, with more than 1000 sites. But if the Russians withdraw their people, the Iranians know perfectly well that the Bushehr plant can be hit with immediate multiple attacks from US and Israeli forces.

Liberals will never learn

Michigan has a problem. Actually they have a number of them, but one big one is a $940 million short fall in its budget. What to do? Well, Governor Granholm has a proposal to just raise taxes and cut a little from the budget. Granholm has proposed a 2% tax on services, a new tax on businesses to replace the Single Business Tax which expires Dec. 31, and smaller increases in cigarette, liquor and estate taxes. Granholm's executive order included $171.5 million actual cuts to state programs, the rest was accounting changes to state programs such as reduced payments to state employee retirement funds. House Appropriations Committee chairman George Cushingberry, D-Detroit, said he will look at other options such as increasing the income tax or expanding the 6% sales tax to a limited number of services. One example, he said, is country club greens fees.

So there you have it. Businesses and people are leaving in droves, unemployment is the highest in the nation, the housing foreclosures and decrease in home values is also tops in the nation. How do we deal with this? Let's raise taxes and exacerbate the problem. The real fun will be when the great state of Michigan is unable to fund employee pensions. How much will taxes go up then?

Too extreme????

As indicated in this news item, the legislature in South Carolina is considering legislation to require an ultrasound prior to an abortion. The objection of the pro-abortion legislator is interesting---it would be too extreme. So, by this reasoning a harmless, non-invasive imaging procedure is an extreme prelude to a surgical procedure which kills a baby.

(Columbia) - Getting an ultrasound is a normal part of most pregnant women's journey into motherhood. Now, some state representatives want women considering abortions to view images of their fetuses before a decision is made.

Rep. Greg Delleney (R-Chester and York Counties), said, "I'm just trying to save lives and protect people from regret and inform women with the most accurate non-judgemental information that can be provided."

Delleney is the main sponsor of the amendment. Currently, there is already a South Carolina law requiring women to pass prerequisites before abortions, including reviewing abortion information and undergoing a waiting period. Still, Delleney says women need more information to make a final decision.

"From the calls I've gotten, I think some people wished there was an ultrasound requirement at the time they underwent the abortion procedure," he said.

But Delleney's ideas are meeting a lot of opposition from several organizations, as well as other lawmakers, such as Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg County). She says it's too extreme.

Gonzalez should go

Our current Attorney General is so pathetic that he can't leave soon enough. Either he didn't know what was going on in his department or he did. Either way he demonstrated his incompetence and this friend of Bush should go. He probably will this week. Maybe his replacement will take another look at the crimes committed by Sandy Berger and clean up that mess.

Gore won't show up

A Englishman by the name of Lord Monckton has challenged Al Gore to a debate to be televised worldwide on the subject of man-made global warming. Of course, if old Al is really interested in convincing the world that the future of mankind is being threatened as he claims, he will readily accept the challenge to broaden his views to a audience measured in the billions. Since Lord Monckton would counter with scientific facts, I am sure that Al will find a way to be somewhere else.

Don't worry your pretty head.

I just saw the following story and for some reason, the attempts to allay my concerns were not successful.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Suspected members of extremist groups have signed up as school bus drivers in the United States, counterterror officials said Friday, in a cautionary bulletin to police. An FBI spokesman said, "Parents and children have nothing to fear."

Asked about the alert notice, the FBI's Rich Kolko said, "There are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern," although law enforcement agencies around the country were asked to watch out for kids' safety.

The bulletin, parts of which were read to The Associated Press, did not say how often foreign extremists have sought to acquire licenses to drive school buses, or where. It was sent Friday as part of what officials said was a routine FBI and Homeland Security Department advisory to local law enforcement.

It noted "recent suspicious activity" by foreigners who either drive school buses or are licensed to drive them, according to a counterterror official.

Foreigners under recent investigation include "some with ties to extremist groups" who have been able to "purchase buses and acquire licenses," the bulletin says.

But Homeland Security and the FBI "have no information indicating these individuals are involved in a terrorist plot against the homeland," it says. The memo also notes: "Most attempts by foreign nationals in the United States to acquire school bus licenses to drive them are legitimate."

I want to see the follow-up on the ones which are not legitimate.

Inclusion long overdue

From Sand in the Gears.

The University of California at Berkeley is looking to hire its first Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, and I think it's about darn time. I'm heartened to know that with this renewed focus on recruiting students and faculty from underrepresented groups, Berkeley's agents will soon be scouring Iowa for devout homeschooled virgin boys. Young men returning from service in Iraq, likewise, may find a warmer reception than they would have received in years past. And no doubt many young parents, as well as retired executives, will soon be submitting their applications to the more equitable and inclusive Cal-Berkeley. Observant pro-war Jews, aspiring Christian filmmakers, chaste young pro-life activists — all are welcome under Berkeley's big tent, right.

Got a million? Not rich enough.

Hedge funds are the investment vehicles which have more flexibility and clout than ordinary mutual funds most people put their retirement money in. Since the risk is greater, the government has set up standards of wealth for someone who wishes to turn over his money to a hedge fund. Currently, one should have a net worth of $1 million including the value of a primary residence or an annual income of $200,000 for the previous two years ($300,000 for a couple) in order to "qualify" for a hedge fund investment.

Well, now it seems like the government has decided millionaires are no longer financially savvy enough to make these types of investments. The logic is that there are too many millionaires now. According to the 2004 statistics, 8% of the population is now eligible under current rules. So, let's change the rules. The SEC is now proposing that an individual have investible assets of at least $2.5 million excluding equity in a primary residence to be eligible to sign up for a hedge fund.

We should all feel better now that the government is looking out for the millionaires.

The price of fame

In last Saturday's Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition, veteran food reporter Raymond Sokolov bestowed the grand title on an eight-stool restaurant called Ann's Snack Bar. It serves the "World Famous Ghetto Burger". After eating dozens of hamburgers coast to coast and everywhere in between, Ann was declared the best. Since then, owner Ann Price has been besieged with business at her ramshackle, blink-and-you'll-miss-it, 35-year-old joint in Atlanta.

"It's driving me nuts down here!" Price, 63, bellowed from behind the counter where a dozen or more of her iconic double-pattie creations sizzled on the flattop grill, reddened with seasoning salt and draped in yellow cheese. "I don't have the space!"

"Miss Ann," as loyal regulars call her, prefers to work less like a short-order cook and more like an itamae-san at a sushi counter — crafting each burger sequentially, starting with a mound of loose meat cupped in her palm. She carves slivers from a whole onion over the burger as if she were peeling a potato. She crisps bacon in the deep-fat fryer, toasts the bun on the griddle and hand-spreads thin veneers of every known condiment. Sokolov termed the results a "masterpiece" and "the next level of burgerhood."

General Pace's Comment

In a newspaper interview Monday, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had likened homosexual acts to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces. This, of course, caused an uproar which started out as a misrepresentation of his actual words. Most news accounts jumped directly to state that he said homosexuals are immoral. There was no attempt to differentiate between homosexuality and homosexual acts. This was despite his clear statement that heterosexuals were also capable of immoral acts in his opinion. Once again, one is not entitled to opinions that run contrary to the PC crowd that buys ink by the barrel. The fact remains that the men and women in the armed forces don't want fags in their midst if it is obvious.

Too far left? Too loony!!!

Another example of the kook extremism going too far is given in the New York Times today. Readers of BestView know the screeches of Al Gore are absurd, but now the liberals are beginning to realize it and this article pointing out some of the global warming "facts" are anything but. Read it here.

Too far left?

If you are a loony liberal and have the slightest interest in deciding when you have gone too far off the ledge, what guide do you use? Well, as Lyndon Johnson once said with regard to Viet Nam, when you have lost Cronkite, you have lost the American people. Well, one thing the kooks like Nancy Pelosi might use is the liberal press. As shown by this editorial, even the Washington Post recognizes the falacy inherent in the attempt by the Pelosi crowd to micromanage the Iraq situation. Read it here.

House Schedule

House Schedule for Week of March 12

First Vote of the Week: Monday 6:30 p.m. Last Vote Predicted: Thursday p.m.

So, once again the dems will not be able to keep their pledge to work a full week.

Bush upsets the spirits

Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits". Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders said the "spirit guides of the Mayan community" decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace. He also said the rites — which entail chanting and burning incense, herbs and candles — would prepare the site for the third summit of Latin American Indians March 26-30.

Everyone should hear this

This is an excellent reminder of where we were once and how different it is now.

Hillary is hilarious

O.K. here is the famous clip of Hillary and her newly found black, southern accent which she delivered to the black church in Selma, Alabama. Now the question is whether her pandering is sadder than the fact that her audience didn't seem to take umbrage.

Even More on Gore

My feeble efforts to describe the Al Gore hypocrisy have been vastly exceeded by the man himself. Mark Steyn offers this as an opening paragraph, but the whole thing should be read here.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the other day the Rev. Al Gore declared that "climate change" was "the most important moral, ethical, spiritual and political issue humankind has ever faced.'' Ever. I believe that was the same day it was revealed that George W. Bush's ranch in Texas is more environmentally friendly than the Gore mansion in Tennessee. According to the Nashville Electric Service, the Eco-Messiah's house uses 20 times more electricity than the average American home. The average household consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours. In 2006, the Gores wolfed down nearly 221,000 kilowatt-hours.

Abortion and Sex Selection

"At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are ‘missing’ from various populations as a result of sex-selective abortions or neglect." This sentence was part of an article I read recently and seemed to me a really big number until I realized that most of these abortions were conducted in China and India and therefore not the subject of discussion here in the U.S. This situation reminds me of the intellectual trap in which liberals find themselves with other issues. Liberals find all manner of reasons why our slavery hundreds of years ago is harming blacks in the U.S. today, but say not a word about those being held in slavery today in other countries. The problem the left has with abortion rights--a woman's right to choose death for her fetus--is clearly revealed by their complete silence on the practice of abortion to choose the sex of the new-born. It is hard enough to feign a moral stance when advocating abortion for any reason, but the cognitive dissonance required to support a womans right to choose while opposing abortion for sex selection is so obvious that the liberals choose to simply ignore the situation. Can't really blame them.

Dem Dilemma

The poor dems in Congress are at odds on the best way to surrender. Read about it here.

School Choice

There is a really good Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal today pointing out once again how phony liberals are when it comes to school choice. The only choice they favor is one for their own children. The examples are well known to those of us whose blood boils when faced with such hypocrisy. The Clintons put Chelsea in Sidwell Friends rather than any of the public schools available to her and then vetoed a bill which would have given some inner-city parents the same option. John Edwards? He campaigns with the complaint that America has two schools-one for the affluent and one for everyone else. He sent his children to a religious school because D.C. schools are "deeply troubled". He has no problem with the logic that school choice for other kids would drain resources from public schools, but his choice didn't. Al Gore, of course, is the biggest phony on this subject as on most others. He sent his children to elite schools in the nation's capitol like the one he went to when growing up, but opposes school choice for low-income families. He once said, "If I was the parent of a child who went to an inner-city school that was failing, I might be for vouchers, too." But, as Clint Bolick, the author of this piece points out, he isn't so he doesn't.

The teachers have selfish motives for opposing choice since it would expose their failures and most of them are very liberal in opposing something which doesn't guarantee everyone an equal outcome. It is far better to keep all children in a failing school than allow some of them to escape. To a liberal, that is just as unfair as recognizing that some student might excel at soccer, or some other activity, and thereby deserve an award superior to others.

All of this is very discouraging to those who actually want a better education for our kids, but the saddest aspect of the whole situation is the parents of the inner-city kids are not perceptive and knowledgeable enough to help themselves using their political clout. Instead, they follow the same failed leadership in the largely black community.

More on Gore

Once it was made public that Al Gore uses more energy in a month than the rest of us use in a year, some serious damage control was called for. So, here is what the Gore camp says:"Gore buys "carbon offsets". What are these? Well, the loony left has invented these for rich extremists who use a lot of energy. What they do is send money to some outfit which will supposedly plant a couple of trees or put up some solar panels to assuage the donors excessive depletion of resources. Gore buys his offsets from a company called Generation Investment Management. Gore is chairman of the firm and either draws money from the organization or at least would prosper if his investment prospers. In other words, this phony buys credits from himself. He is not buying carbon offsets, he buys stock in his own company.

Labors Woes

Most folks aren't paying any attention to the liberal Dems efforts to placate their union backers, who take money from coerced workers and give it to them. In sum, the unions want to do away with secret ballots when workers decide whether or not to form a union. This has been the case for many decades, but now it seems workers are not voting right, so the opportunity to do a little arm twisting as only unions can twist arms seems to be just the medicine for this situation. Years ago when the Wagner Act was passed, it was widely argued that neither companies nor unions should be able to influence unionization elections, so they should be done in secret. It has been working all this time. Now we need to back-track, but in only one direction. When the Republicans offered an amendment in the Senate which would allow companies to use the check-off procedure to decertify a union (rather than a secret ballot), the dems quickly rejected this offer. Surprise, surprise.

Jefferson Roll Call

This should be interesting. Republicans plan to force a floor vote on Rep. William Jefferson's move to the Homeland Security Committee in an unprecedented maneuver to force Democrats to go on the record supporting their embattled colleague who is the target of a federal bribery investigation.

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) pledged to call for a recorded vote on the House floor when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) introduces a resolution to make the Jefferson move official.

Jefferson Roll Call

This should be interesting. Republicans plan to force a floor vote on Rep. William Jefferson's move to the Homeland Security Committee in an unprecedented maneuver to force Democrats to go on the record supporting their embattled colleague who is the target of a federal bribery investigation.

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) pledged to call for a recorded vote on the House floor when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) introduces a resolution to make the Jefferson move official.