Clinton, Soros, and Friends…Oh My!

Found a fascinating article, at Accuracy In Media, that is very thorough in connecting the leftard beasts in the title, with their many demonic friends.
Previously, Soros and his tentacles have been discussed here, and the above link provides even more critical linkage to his unholy cabal.

What this means is that Americans opposed to amnesty are up against not only politicians from both parties and the White House but many of the major newspapers in the U.S.

For her part, Senator Clinton is counting on her support for “comprehensive immigration reform” to propel her directly into the White House. A memo from her campaign strategist, Mark Penn, and pollster, Sergio Bendixen, declares that immigrants will be critical to her winning the Democratic presidential nomination.
———————-
The heavy involvement of the major media in this Hillary campaign apparatus is a virtual guarantee that there will be no significant coverage of the media’s role in any of this.

Need I say, read the whole danged thing?

Soldier’s Child Needs Our Help!

I read this post at Gateway Pundit over the weekend, and he has bumped it to the top for more attention.

Paul Brooks is a guardsman fighting in Iraq. His newborn baby has a hole in his heart between his two bottom ventricles and needs surgery.
The family and community is asking for help.

I realize some people have had bad experiences with donating to a worthy cause, so please read this story, check-out the parties involved, and if you decide you can help, request a receipt or other documentation, to insure your funds go to the aid of this innocent child.

I can’t imagine what must be going through Paul Brooks’ mind, as he is facing danger everyday, while worrying about the well-being of his family, and of Baby Denver’s tiny heart.

Once more unto the breach

This is an open letter to Trent Lott, from my bro-in-law, on duty somewhere in the Atlantic…

Dear Senator Lott:

As a native Mississippian, and an excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which you have endorsed in the Senate. If my understanding of this bill’s provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.

Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I’m excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as “in-state” tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.

Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver’s license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you for your assistance.

Update:  Protestors at Trent Lott’s Jackson office.   Protestors?  Dang, Republicans protesting?  Who’d a thunk it?

Mid-week Guitar Lessons

from SRV.   Enjoy!

Moral equivalency at UPI

I ran across this article on the UPI site…

How much difference is there really, then, between members of the Christian Right who justify the bombing of abortion clinics and Islamic extremists who are ready to justify suicide bombing?

Oh, give me a break.

So, tell us UPI, is there really any difference between members of the Western Press and Soviet-era media organs like Pravda, or contemporary agenda journalism as practiced by al-Jazeera?

Devout belief of any kind is a two-edged sword. It offers believers a sense of identity and community and gives them meaning and purpose in what is unquestionably a chaotic and overwhelming world. Yet throughout history, religion has also been a major source of human conflict. How many more lives will the “virtuous” claim as they do what they consider God’s work?

The sad truth is that the author of this wretched piece of moral equivalency probably “feels” like he is taking an unbiased look at both Christianity and Islam.

It is useless to confront him with facts — because facts conflict with his world view. But, if the Pravda or al-Jazeera comparisons fail to get his attention, perhaps comparing the Unibomber, modern-day eco-terrorism, or the writings of Al Gore with the suicide/homocide extremism of the Islamic supremists might serve the purpose.

related, Doug Ross: If it bleeds, it leads, except when it comes to alQaeda

Trackposted to   Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Perri Nelson’s Website, Mark My Words, Right Truth, Big Dog’s Weblog, Shadowscope, DragonLady’s World, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Here’s looking at . . . me!, Pursuing Holiness, , The HILL Chronicles, Right Celebrity, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, Stageleft, , stikNstein… has no mercy, The Right Nation, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Committees of Correspondence, A Blog For All, The Random Yak, DeMediacratic Nation, Maggie’s Notebook, Adam’s Blog, On the Horizon, the so called me, , Webloggin, Phastidio.net, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Colloquium, , Conservative Cat, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Blue Collar Muse, Allie Is Wired, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, CORSARI D’ITALIA, High Desert Wanderer, The Yankee Sailor, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe, also TB’d to: Den of Hydralisks (thanks for the mention)

You are what you bleat.

Did you get this email?

I did, too. — You Have Recieved A Hallmark E-card

Something about it was suspicious. Probably it was the mis-spelling of “received” that tipped me off. I before e except after c, and all.

I deleted it, along with several dozen others that managed to slip by the spam filter.

Tim Fehlman did some investigating. The results are found in his post at DCoT: “Anatomy of a Virus.”

This file gave all of the users under the [users] section elevated privileges on the system. It also automatically connected to several different servers and joined some channels.

While I was not able to completely determine what this would have done due to time constraints, I firmly believe that this would have given certain people the ability to remotely execute some commands on my machine.

Great work. Thanks, Tim.

Patrick Lynn Blair:Not Just A Name On The Wall!

The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.
Calvin Coolidge

There are 58,245 names listed on the Vietnam Memorial. Let that thought sink in for a moment. The Wall isn’t just an artistic expression with names engraved in it for visual effect, these were men and women, mostly young, that had mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends. I mention this man, to give a glimpse into the flesh and blood, the spirit, and the quality of man he was.

Patrick Lynn Blair.
We met for the first time, on the playground of David Crockett Elementary school. Pat was bigger than me, which made us the two of the biggest kids in the schoolyard. Being the new kid he was quickly introduced to me by other schoolmates and he had been forewarned of my proclivity for losing my temper and going into a rage. In actuality, that only happened a few times and I was working on controlling my temper. When we met, surrounded by other kids, we exchanged pleasantries while checking each other out. I could tell from his eyes he didn’t want any part of me and I tried to disguise that I felt the same way.

Throughout our years, growing up in Marshall, Texas, we were always friends, yet for such a small town, we never did that much together and hung out with different people. Pat was even more of a country boy than I was and he was also more serious and worked when he wasn’t in school. We played on different baseball teams in Little League and Babe Ruth League. While Pat didn’t play football, which is generally expected of young men in East Texas, especially for a big guy like Pat, he truly loved baseball. One day I ran into his older brother, who was more outgoing than Pat, and I mentioned to his brother that Pat’s team and mine were playing that night. His brother’s eyes got big and he said “Ohhh, that explains why Pat was heat treating his new bat over the kitchen stove this morning.” Pat was competitive, in a gentlemanly way.

The last time I saw Pat was on the occasion of our “All Night Party” after our high school graduation, 1 Jun 68. Pat had actually graduated at mid-term our Senior year and enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly thereafter. He was one of several young men from Marshall that were serving and more would soon follow, as events in Vietnam would require more men.

It was good to see Pat that night and he was still the serious, looming presence he had always been, but he was different. His formerly boyish looks had now transformed into a lean, fit young man. He wore his Class A uniform with pride and he looked fantastic; an example for his still carefree classmates.

As we stood on the stone bridge over a creek, and having a cold beer, we talked. Not just about silly teenage things, but we talked as two men, thoughtfully, seriously and with emotion. We talked as we never had and I thought how little I actually knew about Pat and wished we had talked like this all the years we had known each other.

Pat informed me that he was on leave before shipping out to Vietnam, that he really wanted to be home to receive his diploma and see his old friends again. He had missed the simple life of a small town, his Momma’s doting love for him and her home cooking. I remember not knowing what to say about his deployment, I was young and still didn’t quite understand how deadly serious war was. I didn’t have the words, as I didn’t have the understanding.

It was at that time, that Pat looked at me and asked if I remembered the first day we met and I said that I did. He gulped on his beer, looked out over the creek and said, “I was really afraid of you, that you would beat me up.” I was shocked and in the spirit of the moment, I admitted that I had been afraid of him too. We looked at each other in stunned silence, then cracked up laughing. As we finished our beers and headed back inside to the dance, Pat turned his back to the creek, yelled ‘Geronimo’ and threw his beer bottle over his head, in a lazy arcing pattern. There was only one spot which wasn’t cement and was a mudpile, and his beer bottle hit there without breaking. We laughed so hard we had to hold each other. We went inside, never to visit again.

I called his house a few days later, to see if he wanted to go fishing with me,and his sweet Momma answered the phone. She informed me he had already gone back to his base and she didn’t try to conceal her concern for her baby boy. She did mention that he had told her about the great conversation we had.

Months went by and I was attending a local college and working at a local grocery store/deli, hanging out with my friends and girlfriend. Life was still simple, but the news from Vietnam was constant, like a dull headache. Then one day, I received a phone call from a friend, Pat had been killed in action. The information I got from others about how he died was conflicting and confusing, and I was informed it would be a closed casket funeral.

I couldn’t go to his funeral.

Oh, I could have rescheduled the dentist appointment and gotten off of work, but I didn’t try. I couldn’t go because I was afraid. Afraid of how I would feel, afraid to face my own mortality and the fragility of life, and I was afraid that the fond memory of our last meeting would be replaced with that of a funeral for a childhood friend. A good man, a good son and a good friend.

I have not, nor will I ever forget, Pat. He was my friend.

Not just a name on a wall.

*UPDATE*-Received an email from a friend of Pat, that served with him in Viet Nam.  The following is from his email.

“Pat and I often shared the same bunker.In fact, we shared the same bunker on LZ White, the site of his death. I would be out on missions for 4-8 days at a time. When we returned to the rear these spartan bunkers were home. On March 20, we returned from a mission, and the company commander instructed me that it was time for me to have a break, and to return to the rear area with the supply chopper, and to get a shower, fresh cloths and to get drunk. I did so, and was awakened in the early morning hours and advised that LZ White had been hit by special sapper units.

Before catching the first chopper out, I knew that we had casualties, but had no names. Upon arrival, I learned that Pat was among the dead. He was killed in the bunker we usually occupied together. While he did not die rushing to the mortar pits, it does not detract from his courage. I learned that the enemy rocket fire was so intense, that few people were able to leave the safety of their bunkers.

The sappers who infiltrated the perimeter not only directed rocket fire into the perimeter with devastating effect, but also was comprised of individuals who ran from bunker to bunker hurling satchel charges inside. This is what happened to Pat. The satchel charge produced an intense concussion which claimed his life.”

I am glad to know, finally, what happened to my friend Pat, as painful as it is.  A decent and good man.

The SYM And His 7-Fitty!

The story of the SYM’s Fi-Fitty has already been told. If you recall, one of the last things that was mentioned was that the SYM needed a bigger bike.

He had heard from some friends that the Japanese government had just passed a law banning the ownership of any bike larger than five hundred cc’s and that bike shops had a plethora of bikes they were willing to sell for incredibly cheap prices, or else sell them for scrap.

So the SYM thought about it for a little while, then decided that’s what he needed to do, sell his Fi-Fitty and go to Japan and find a bike.

As it happened, another Sgt. he knew had been bugging him to buy his bike, as it was the last of its color. The Sgt. agreed to pay an amount that exceeded the original cost of the bike, but less than the cost of one of the new models. Everyone was happy!

The SYM was now able to make plans for his trip to Japan, but needed some friendly advice as to where to look, how to get it back to the Philippines and help in reassembling it, as he had never disassembled and reassembled a bike before. He checked around and was introduced to his soon to be new friend Bob, of the Night of the Wild Sabong.

Until you got to know Bob, he came across as a rough character and didn’t mince words. Bob informed the SYM that if he wanted him to assemble his bike for him, he couldn’t afford his price. However, if he would come over to his house everyday and work on the bike, Bob would show him what to do and what not to do, at no cost. This was the deal of a lifetime and the SYM quickly extended his hand in acceptance of his generous offer. Bob also armed him with knowledge which would help in selecting the best bike possible, which bike shop to go to first and how best to get it back home.

It was a pleasant day in March when the SYM boarded the military hop bound for Yokota Air Force Base. At that time, in 1974, the Yen to Dollar exchange rate was much different than today, as this photo from the Chase-Manhatten Bank at Yokota AB can attest.

The SYM proceeded to a bike shop called “Curly’s,” which was owned and operated by the Japanese gentleman it was named after. Curly was a delightfully pleasant man with very limited English skills and he employed a cheerful young man of high school age as his translator. His shop was packed full with bikes over five hundred cc’s, including the Suzuki 1000cc police bikes, which the SYM had no interest in; he was looking for a Honda CB750K of which he found one that met his criteria, except for being a butt-ugly Olive Drab green. After looking at all that was available, he decided the OD green bike was the best of the bunch and Curly even threw in a set of brand new carburetors at no cost. (What was he going to do with them?) The grand total, including having them completely disassemble the bike, bag the parts, cut the frame in half and box everything for mailing, came to just over $300 U.S., including tips. The SYM hired a taxi and took the seventeen boxes to the base post office and mailed them back to the Clark AB post office, in the Philippines. A few days later, he went to check his mail and the boxes had arrived…all seventeen, of which he had doubts that they would. His relief and renewed faith in the system was invigorating. Now for the assembly.

The SYM took the boxes to Bob’s house and they began unpacking and sorting the bags and cartons. When another of his friends showed up on his candy apple red Honda 750, he went straight to the frame and started looking at the cut ends. This was the guy who was going to weld it back together, as he worked in the Precision Instruments shop on the flightline and he did a superb job, taking measurements before and after the weld and delivered it with a guarantee that the frame was perfectly straight.
It took about two weeks to complete the assembly, as he only had a few hours each day after work and days off, but finally the bike was complete, it was roadworthy and ready to be registered. This photo was taken after getting the bike registered and just prior to it’s first road test.

Shortly after this photo he asked a friend to come with, as they took it out for a spin North on MacArthur Highway, north of Mabalacat and back. When the road opened up a little the SYM rolled the throttle back and was soon going 105mph…in third gear. He shut it down and cruised…he was pleased! After going past Mabalacat they turned around and started rolling through the gears again, when suddenly a disturbing grinding sound emanated from the right side of the engine case, but only when he activated the clutch. The SYM saw a Sari-Sari store coming up on the right side of the road, so he quickly slipped the bike into neutral and coasted to a stop. With only limited tools in a kit under the seat and still not quite certain what the problem was, he asked his friend if he would go back to Angeles City and bring Bob with tools. The SYM handed him a wad of Filipino Pesos and hailed a jeepney for him. All the SYM could do now was wait and hope that help came before the sun went down and the Hukbalahap started prowling around and took a liking to the SYM and his new bike.

As he sat at the counter of the Sari-Sari store, some of the local villagers began approaching out of curiosity. The children wanted money, but the older gentlemen wanted to talk about politics and the SYM wanted to know about the Japanese occupation. It was a pleasant day, as was the conversation. The SYM had a deep affection for the Filipino people. After a while, a tour bus pulled up and stopped, and about thirty Japanese tourists got off. The tour director gave them instructions and then carefully escorted them in single file across the busy highway to a field on the other side of the road. The SYM hadn’t noticed the path leading into the sugar cane field, with a swath cut out surrounding a memorial. He asked one of the gentlemen he had been talking with what the monument was and he informed the SYM it was a memorial to the first Kamikaze Squadron of WWII. The SYM was shocked, as he had always thought the Kamikazes didn’t begin until Okinawa, so as soon as the tourist had left he crossed the highway to see for himself, and the proof is here and here.

It wasn’t long after that, that a roar could be heard in the distance and soon a pack of motorcycles could be seen flying towards the stranded SYM. It was the whole gang from Bob’s house, with Bob leading the way with his friend riding with Bob. Of course the obligatory ragging and leg-pulling came first, then the business of determining what was wrong came next and it was soon discovered that the clutch housing bolts had come loose and were grinding against the clutch cover. The SYM had failed to torque the bolts properly, and more ragging and razzing followed. The repair was made and the band of merry bikers soon were forming a flying V, headed south and home.

The very next day the SYM went to a paint shop to remedy the awful paint color on his new bike. He sat down with the owner and discussed his idea, at which time the owner called his artist into the office. He explained what he wanted and the artist’s eyes soon lit up, as he really liked the idea, which was to paint the tank Mediterranean blue and then paint a gold metallic comet streak with a Tiger’s head at the end, with it’s mouth opening and roaring the word Honda. The artist asked if he wanted his helmet painted with the same scheme. The SYM hadn’t even thought of it and when the artist stated it would be easy and his eyes showed a genuine enthusiasm for the project, the SYM smiled and agreed. The deal was made and the project was finished in only a few days.

After assembling the bike, the SYM developed an affection for this bike and it was more than just a thing or a possession, it was a part of his life, of his discovering what he could accomplish and he had found some wonderful new friends and artisans that he otherwise would have never known. This bike was special to him and as he knew every bolt, wire and spoke on it, he had a great deal of confidence when he rode it and always treated it with respect.

After a few months of cleaning, polishing and buffing, the patina on the engine case was gone and now it was shiny again. He kept the engine in peak tune, as he knew the abundance of reserve power was more important to his survival than the brakes, which he also took care of. This became very important, one overcast day at dusk.

After getting off of work, the SYM headed home to hook-up with his bud and their girlfriends, for a night out of dinner and dancing. There was a slight drizzle as the SYM was cruising the main drag, looking for his companions. Looking at the road ahead, it was clear for quite a safe distance of vehicles and pedestrians when he noticed an attractive young lady wearing a short skirt walking down the side of the road. Instead of glancing, the SYM was completely distracted and lost concentration on the road and instead focused on the young ladies attributes. It was at that time, that everything that he thought was happening on the road ahead had changed.

When the SYM did look ahead he found that a jeepney had pulled off of the same side of the road as he and was trying to merge into traffic which had stopped and another jeepney was crossing the street and turning left in front of the SYM and the other jeepney. The SYM had, at best, two nanoseconds to make a decision; either get off of the bike and let it slide into the jeepneys, or try and save it, which could mean a lot of pain. The SYM, being immortal, decided on the latter.

He instantly factored in the position of the vehicles and saw a gap between them. He also factored in that the roads were slightly wet and sandy, so traction wouldn’t be the best. The SYM then, almost instinctively or with Divine Intervention, jammed the bike into first gear, rolled hard on the throttle, while simultaneously locking the rear brake so the bike’s rear wheel slid slightly to the left. As he approached the gap between the two jeepneys, which was at about a 52 degree angle, the bike slid on the rear tire and the bike was now aligned with the opening. He released the rear brake and shot through the opening and was soon on the sandy area just off of the roadway. As the SYM passed between the two jeepneys everything was in an adrenaline induced slow motion mode and the SYM could see many peripheral aspects of the scene. He saw the shocked men and women on the jeepney directly in front of him as they were preparing for his impact into their broadside. He could also see the jagged, rusty steel bumper of the jeepney on his right as his leg passed by it, only inches away from a permanent injury.

As the SYM was now clear of the conflagration, he poured the coal to his Honda and got home as quickly as he could. Arriving home he parked his bike inside the front porch area, sat in a chair and alternately vomited and cried for several minutes, until the adrenaline overdose had subsided.

After processing what had just happened, the SYM had some new perspectives. He was angry at himself for losing concentration, as he knew that bike riding is an exercise in concentration and to not know this is a recipe for disaster. He also knew that his bike had performed superbly, a testament to it’s design and the aggressive maintenance program he followed for it.
Finally, he realized he had handled the situation with a skill he did not know he possessed and was proud of the decision he had made and the manner in which he had handled it.

Nevertheless, he decided he had to punish himself for his foolishness, so he decided to park his bike for a few days and just work on it without riding it and to think of what he had done and what could have been. So for three days, when he came home he would work on it. One night he pulled the plugs and checked the gap and how they were burning. Adjusted the valves, synchronized the carburetors, adjusted the cam chain tension and changed the oil and filter. The next night he washed it, compounded it, waxed and polished it. The next night, he polished all of the chrome on the bike, from the mirrors to the spokes on the wheels. On the fourth night, after much reflection and self-admonition, the SYM got ready to ride.

Sitting on the saddle, the SYM inserted the key into the ignition, pulled the choke control out, turned the key to the on position and gently tapped the electric starter. The engine fired effortlessly and immediately. Allowing the engine to warm, the throaty sound of the inline four cylinder SOHC engine was inviting. Pushing the choke control back in, the engine signaled it was ready. The SYM rocked the bike forward, releasing the center stand and the wheels were now touching the pavement. Engaging the clutch, he clicked the shift lever to first gear and the bike made a pleasant sound of engagement and the SYM gently rolled on the throttle, while letting the clutch out… he was rolling.

As he eased onto the roadway, the wonderful and familiar sounds of his bike were present and as he increased his speed and shifted gears, he could feel the wonderful mechanical actions, sounds, and the smells.

Not only was the SYM pleased to be riding his 7-Fitty again, but his 7-Fitty was also very happy.

*7-Fitty Slideshow*

Unreservedly! a Democrat definition.

ition

“Bagpipes Cryin'”…And So Am I!

The full story on this song, can be found on this hyperlink to BlackFive.
This is, in my opinion, the finest tribute video I’ve ever seen, and is perfect for the occasion of Memorial Day weekend.
I can’t help but think about all the young men and women who are serving our great nation, and of all the men and women who have done so in our history, some of whom I knew. My parents knew those people in WWII, and my grandparents knew them in WWI. We have one thing in common, from the different Wars and conflicts, and that is some of our friends are forever young.
Watching this video, for the tenth time, I’m reminded how selfless men behave, and their sense of duty, and the honor with which they serve. May God Bless them all.
May God Bless those who disrespect them, as well. Perhaps just one, who believes the worst about our nation and our military, will see this video and come to understand what our selfless young men and women in the military mean to so many.

Greatest of all warriors on earth, the American soldier is capable of fighting fiercely, loving gently, living nobly, and forgiving totally. These are not the war-mongers that feminists and Hollywood have tried desperately to portray; these are gentle, loving creatures who want nothing more than to be free to go on living and loving. It is this desire that enables our brothers to choose to step out of their own selfish tendencies on behalf of another.

From an earlier post.

*Viewing tip:To see this in full-screen mode, click here, then click the button on the bottom right*

Second Ever Missing Person Thread!

Where’s Robert D?
I hope the rumors aren’t true.

She knows how to use it

A woman called 911 Thursday to report seeing a man enter the Chestnut Professional Building with what appeared to be an assault rifle, leading to a major police action that included several blocks being barricaded, the Bellingham Herald reported Friday.

The building was evacuated and the woman who phoned the police was called in when no suspect was found. She identified the office worker she had seen carrying the object into the building and the object was revealed to be a prosthetic leg, the newspaper said. source UPI

This is your combination Memorial Day Weekend — — World Famous Friday Open Thread.

Your comments are welcome here, as are your links, videos, snark, rants, raves, tributes, news flashes and brain farts.

Carbon Credit FREE!

DHS approved Sanctuary Thread!

Update:  I got a hat tip at The Six Meat Buffet!

I’m Loving This

Last week’s under-the-radar report from the St.Pete Times sparked my curiosity.

I looked around the polling sites to see if Hillary might be in trouble, speculating that Howard the Dean might be trying to curry favor with the Clintons by scuttling the Florida primary — even before the voting started. But, the only results I found showed Hillary with a double digit lead, so I slapped myself on the wrists for doubting the electoral veracity of the donks, and moved on to the next story.

Guess what? RCP has a new poll showing the Silky Pony leading in Florida. I kid you not.

Hat tip OpiniPundit

Hillary Medal by The People’s Cube

The French Watergate

Welcome readers from “The News Is NowPublic”

On June 16, the former President of France will no longer have his Presidential immunity. He is subject to a number of corruption investigations dating back through 12 years of his Presidency, all the way back to his days as Mayor of Paris, and he is certain to be asked about a secret £30 million account in Japan. Recently seized files at the home of a senior spy confirm the existence of the account.

The Scotsman has the story:

The alleged evidence was discovered by judges Jean-Marie d’Huy and Henri Pons after they seized 112 bound files and numerous other documents from the home of Gen Rondot in connection with their inquiry into an alleged smear campaign. Dubbed “The French Watergate”, it centred on whether Dominique de Villepin, the then prime minister, had asked Gen Rondot to dig up dirt on Mr Sarkozy, then interior minister, who had been wrongly accused of receiving kickbacks from the £1.4 billion sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991.

Claims of Mr Chirac’s secret nest egg first came to the attention of the French authorities in 1996 when his friend Shoichi Osada, a Japanese banker, decided to invest £500 million in France, so triggering a routine investigation by the DGSE, which is said to have stumbled upon the then president’s Japanese account.

Thrown into a panic, Mr Chirac is said to have summoned Gen Rondot in 2001 and ordered him to destroy all DGSE evidence of the account. Unfortunately for the president, the spy simply removed the notes and memos about the affair to his home, where they were seized in March last year by Mr d’Huy and Mr Pons. Since then, the judges have been discreetly pursuing an investigation, interviewing 20 intelligence officers about the affair.

Mr Chirac is reported to have struck a deal with Mr Sarkozy, whereby the latter will push through judicial reforms ensuring the ex-president escapes prosecution. However, the magistrates are expected to move before the reforms are passed this summer.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Virtuous Republic, The Random Yak, DeMediacratic Nation, The Amboy Times, Colloquium, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, , Diary of the Mad Pigeon, stikNstein… has no mercy, Here’s looking at . . .me!, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, High Desert Wanderer, Right Voices, The Virtuous Republic, Perri Nelson’s Website, DeMediacratic Nation, Adam’s Blog, Maggie’s Notebook, Webloggin, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Colloquium, Conservative Cat, The HILL Chronicles, Woman Honor Thyself, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, and Dumb Ox Daily News, Gone Hollywood, Right Celebrity, The Bullwinkle Blog, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Kennedy-McCain amnesty bill

Just a thought while watching GWB’s press conference…

“This is not amnesty”, he said.  “Amnesty means forgiveness without penalty.”

Ummkay.  thanks for ‘splainin’ that, Mr. President.

Now, if I was at that presser, here’s what I would aks him:

“Mr. President, yesterday Mike Chertoff and Tony Snow were critical of opponents of the immigration bill who “haven’t read it.”  My question to you, Sir, is have you read this bill in its entirety?”

Lott does 180 on amnesty bill

Less than one year after declaring “Security First, Amnesty Never”¹ , MS Sen Trent Lott is set to do a complete 180 on passage of the Kennedy-McCain Amnesty Bill.

“Is the current situation in America with legal and illegal immigration intolerable and unacceptable?” Mr. Lott asked. “Yes. Everybody would agree. Is this bill better than the current law? Without a doubt, yes. Are we going to have another opportunity to do this better next year or the next year? The answer is no. We’ve got to do it. We’ve got to do it as good as we can. We’ve got to do it right now.“The only thing that’s unacceptable is to do nothing,” said Mr. Lott, the Senate minority whip. source

Yet, barely seven months after passing the Secure Fence Bill of 2006, “doing nothing” is exactly what the US government has done with respects to border security.

Only two miles of the promised fence have been built. The Secure Fence Bill stipulates:

Within 18 months of the bill’s enactment, the Homeland Security Secretary must achieve “operational control” of our border. The target is stopping all illegal entries of people, weapons, and contraband. That’s certainly an ambitious goal, given the number of illegal aliens entering America from Mexico, but we must achieve it. Our national security depends on it, and to that end, Congress will require the Homeland Security Secretary to report regularly as we strive to attain full control of our border. ²

By my calculation, DHS has 11 months to get the remaining 696 miles built.

The public is quickly reaching the point of complete distrust of the government with respect to illegal immigration. If the same opinion is reached regarding national security, the results could be armed insurrection.

Links from Trent’s website:

1. “Security First, Amnesty Never” (6/1/06)

2. Border Fence Bill (9/22/06)

Protestors at Trent’s Office

Gunowners alert

If you need another reason to oppose the Immigration bill, gunowners.org has issued an alert regarding some little-publicized information in Section 205.

Senator Ted Kennedy and the anti-gun zealots who wrote the bill just couldn’t resist the temptation to get their hands on our guns. They have included language that GOA has been able to defeat in the past.

When Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced these anti-gun provisions in 1998, the GOA grassroots were able to convince seven senator cosponsors to pull their names from Hatch’s bill.

At the time, The Hill newspaper credited GOA with having “generated a significant number of postcards” into Senate offices. “The defecting [seven] senators, echoing the concerns of the GOA, are apprehensive about the violation of Second Amendment rights,” reported The Hill.

The current language in the amnesty bill is only slightly different from Hatch’s original language almost 10 years ago, but it would essentially do the same thing — threaten every gun store in America.

Read it all

Kate B-slaps duelling spokesholes

How ’bout that title folks? I figured I better do something creative, because there is absolutely no way I can compete with Kate O’Beirne’s response to Messers Snow and Chertoff after another day of silly spin aimed at selling the immigration bill to the conservative base. This is priceless…

At a couple of meetings with conservatives today, Tony Snow and Secretary Chertoff defended the immigration bill. General points included a frustration with critics “who haven’t read the bill” and a caution that criticizing President Bush on the issue is not constructive. Secretary Chertoff argues that the bill is essentially conservative if you don’t take into account the amnesty (my word) in Title VI. The point here is that the beefed up enforcement and the promised eventual end of current chain migration system is a worthy trade for the mass legalization. He also made the case that the bill enhances national security because he can’t be chasing nannies and dishwashers and terrorists at the same time – though it seems they have been doing precious little of the former. Why not give “enforcement only” about five years to work, given the past 21 years of lax enforcement? Because (six years after 9/11?) we dare not wait five years to be able to identify everyone in the country. Based on the reports I got, some criticisms of the bill are clearly not getting through. For example, Secretary Chertoff stated that illegal aliens are currently helping to keep the Social Security system afloat, apparently unaware of the big net costs for this population. Mr. Secretary, meet Robert Rector.

Nice job, Kate. I’m loving this.

Link to NRO

Al qaeda undermines useful idiots

All that “death to america” stuff really gets in the way, doesn’t it Sean Penn?

Everybody knows, “there is no war on terror”, right John Edwards?

For some reason, al qaeda keeps undermining their 5th column….

“Recall that in January 2006, Osama Bin Laden said that plans for attacks in the U.S. were in progress,” says Laura Mansfield, an Arabic expert. “It may be that this new imagery is designed to motivate terrorist activity in the U.S., but it is certainly intended as a recruiting tool and perhaps intended to reassure al Qaeda’s jihadi followers they haven’t forgotten their goal of an al Qaeda attack on Washington, D.C.,” she said.

read more at ABC Blotter

Coming Home: USS Kitty Hawk

The USS Kitty Hawk, the U.S. Navy’s oldest ship in full active service, embarked on its last major maneuvers Wednesday before being decommissioned next year. The 46-year-old vessel—the only American aircraft carrier permanently deployed abroad—eased out of its berth at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo, escorted by a carrier strike group of cruisers and guided missile destroyers, Naval spokesman John Nylander said.

The voyage, to last several months in the western and central Pacific Ocean, was expected to be the last major mission for the ship before it is replaced next year by the USS George Washington and sent back to the United States for decommissioning, said Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren, commander of the Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group.

“This is the last trip for USS Kitty Hawk,” Wren told reporters.

The Kitty Hawk, with a crew of more than 5,500, was commissioned in 1961 and has served in Vietnam and Iraq.

The diesel-powered ship was deployed to Yokosuka in 1998, and will be replaced with the nuclear-powered George Washington as part of the U.S. military’s effort to modernize its forces in East Asia—an area of potential flashpoints with North Korea or China. source: Breitbart

Thank you to the thousands of brave Americans who have served aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. Well done.

Go Navy.

“The Father of the Science of Modern Climatology” Should Be Listened To!

Professor Reid Bryson, was the 30th PhD in Meteorology granted in the history of American education, and he is on the U.N.’s Global 500 honor roll. He has also written five books and more than two hundred scientific publications, among many, many accomplishments, and contributions, in his 86 years of living.
A few quotes from an article on him:

“All this argument is the temperature going up or not, it’s absurd,” Bryson continues. “Of course it’s going up. It has gone up since the early 1800s, before the Industrial Revolution, because we’re coming out of the Little Ice Age, not because we’re putting more carbon dioxide into the air.”
————————–
Bryson mentions the retreat of Alpine glaciers, common grist for current headlines. “What do they find when the ice sheets retreat, in the Alps?”
(snip)
“A silver mine! The guys had stacked up their tools because they were going to be back the next spring to mine more silver, only the snow never went,” he says. “There used to be less ice than now. It’s just getting back to normal.”
———————————————
Q: Eighty percent of the heat radiated back from the surface is absorbed in the first 30 feet by water vapor…

A: And how much is absorbed by carbon dioxide? Eight hundredths of one percent. One one-thousandth as important as water vapor. You can go outside and spit and have the same effect as doubling carbon dioxide.

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh this afternoon, which is where I heard about this accomplished individual, some one we all should know, and couldn’t wait to get home, so I could look it up, and read the whole thing.

If any of the scientists, that are supposedly peer reviewed(I assume by each other), are given voice on the issue of gorebal warming, then this gentleman should be allowed to proceed to the front of the line.

Doing the math

The PEW Research folks have release their “first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.”

That’s the good news.

And, the not-so-good? Laura at Pursuing Holiness takes a closer look at the numbers, and has this to say…

Of approximately 2.35 million Muslims in the U.S., 5% (there’s that five percent again!) expressed a favorable opinion of al Qaeda. That’s 117,500 people, already in the U.S., agreeing with our enemies that we should be subjugated or killed.

60% do not believe that Arab men carried out the 9/11 attacks. That’s 1,410,000 people, living among us (and remember that doesn’t count the non-Muslim, leftist lunatics like Rosie O’Donnell) who believe in a conspiracy theory of some sort.

13% say that suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam are justified. That’s 305,500 residents of the United States who think it’s okay to strap on a bomb and kill people who are going about their daily business.

Let’s see, that was 19 people on 9/11, and four on 7/7. Hair raising, indeed.

PEW Research Center

Huckabee withdraws from Carter confab

Q: What do former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Senators Lindsay Graham (S.C.) and Charles Grassley (Iowa), former President Jimmy Carter,former President Bill Clinton, former vice president Al Gore, and journalist and author Bill Moyers all have in common?

A: They are all scheduled to speak at the New Baptist Covenant, Jan. 30-Feb. 1 pan-Baptist gathering, organized by Jimmy Carter and Mercer University President Bill Underwood to promote unity among the North American Baptists.

Or, perhaps I should say, “were scheduled to speak.” That was before former President Jimmy Carter’s anti-Bush rant in the weekend edition of the Arkansas Gazette. As you know, the worst President in US history said, “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.” Although he has since backed off his criticism, it’s important to remind liberals that words mean things.

Mike Huckabee has decided to cancel his plans to speak at the Carter-sponsored conference.

“I’m deeply disappointed by the unusually harsh comments made in my state this past weekend regarding President Bush and feel that it represents an unprecedented personal attack on a sitting president by a former president, which is unbecoming the office as well as unbecoming to one whose conference is supposed to be about civility and bringing people together,” Huckabee said yesterday.

Bravo!

Graham and Grassley should join him.

Religion and Spirituality.com has the story.

Trackposted to Perri Nelson’s Website, Rightlinx, Right Celebrity, Big Dog’s Weblog, stikNstein… has no mercy, Adam’s Blog, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Webloggin, CORSARI D’ITALIA, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

The toon where Jahman gets a sting from Pelosi.