Happy New Year

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Years. May 2007 be even better than 2006, and may you and yours receive the best in all things.

Sincerely
Peter

IWA for Sunday December 31, 2006
"If I Did It,"

Hey folks,

IT’S SUNDAY!! That means that it’s time , for the ,,,,,WAIT A SECOND!! Not only is it Sunday, It’s Sunday the 31st of December, 2006. That means THIS is the last Sunday of 2006. Someone asked me if I was planning on doing a Idiot of the YEAR award. Great Idea.

So here you are. After looking back at all the Idiots of 2006, all the funny, and not so funny, stupidity of these people, I discovered that I left one out. That’s right folks. I missed one. But this one most definitely deserves full recognition for not only being an Idiot, but he has the dubious honor of being the IYA winner.

Oh, I talked about him briefly. I even gave the IWA to a friend of his. I wonder if she is working yet. Maybe getting ready to publish Robert Blake’s new book, "If I Was To Have Shot My Wife, I Would Have Thought of A Better Excuse."

Yes folks, I’m talking about OJ Simpson.

Now here is a guy who killed two people, ran from the Police, and was in the trial that stained Americana. He had money, fame, and race on his side, as well as the best Lawyers money can buy. Then when you add his luck of getting a Prosecutor who really botched the case, you get what we got. He walked.

The whole trial was a shame. The MMD {Mass Media Drones} seemed to be more concerned with Marcia Clark’s hair style and dress, than the evidence in the case. Marcia Clark the former prosecutor. Received $4 million for her book, "Without a Doubt," although sales did not meet expectations. No longer practices and is a regular guest host on the "Rivera Live" show on CNBC. Plans for her own television show fell through.

Yup, one who MANY feel got away with murder walks, and those involved got rich and famous. If you REALLY want to, clink on the link on the bottom, and you can relive the whole mess.

So he get’s away with it. He pledges to "Not rest until the real killer is brought to justice." OK. So? Where is the "real killer?" Oh yeah, he is busy writing a book. It’s called "If I Did It." That’s right, OJ was putting out a book in which he describes what he would have done if he had committed the murders. {Sigh} The public outcry was swift. The families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were outraged. Murdoch stepped in and, despite the millions already sunk in the project, nixed the book the day before it shipped. He also cancelled a taped interview Regan did with Simpson that was to air on the Fox network.

Thankfully Rupert Murdoch came to his senses and said,

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project. We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

But for OJ to actually think that ANYONE would buy this book, makes him stupider than we all thought he was to begin with. But to put it in the terms of an aging Jedi, "Which is greater, the fool, or the fool that follows him?" Ask Judith Regan. She probably has the answer.

Congratulations OJ, you are the Idiot Of the YEAR..
Peter







Sources;
OJ Revisited
CNN -"Where are They Now"

JMT Sunday December 31, 2006

"Love and Marriage"

Hey folks,

OK, I have a problem. Normally, I do not care. Normally it doesn’t matter. But when you are talking about a Wedding Ring, to some it’s a big deal. What am I talking about? Love and marriage, symbolism, ownership, and everything else that goes with it.

An old friend of mine always said, "Marriage is a great institution, as long as you like living in institutions." Well, so far I’m loving this institution. I have a wonderful Wife, friend, lover, one that takes very good care of me. We have a son. We are happy. We know we are married. It’s documented. Everyone I know, knows I’m married.

This does not seem to be enough for some. I’m asked often, "Why do you know where a wedding ring?" I try to explain to them, the simple answer is I can’t. I cannot where ANY jewelry. If I try to wear a watch, I kill it. I literally burn a hole through the back of it, and it, burns me. Necklace? Nope. Gold, silver, ETC, turn on me. They turn my skin green, along with times, blistering occurs. So rings? Just cannot wear them. Has something to do with the acid level in my body.

But this got me curious. Just wondered, where did the Wedding Ring start anyway? Well, I found this interesting.

"As chance has it, the oldest recorded exchange of wedding rings comes from ancient Egypt, about 4800 years ago.

In early Egypt, the ring was linked with the supernatural, a never-ending band linked with eternal love. For the Romans later, the ring's acceptance by a young lady was a binding, legal agreement and the girl was no longer free. Today we accept the ring as part of a religious ceremony when we marry in church.
Modern wedding traditions.

As time passes traditions change and, today, it is not only the brides who wear rings as a symbol of their lasting affection, but the majority of men also choose to wear this badge of fidelity and commitment.

The ring's band does not have to be gold. In early Roman times they used iron, for its symbolic strength. But that has been replaced in the third century with silver and gold because of its beauty while iron rusts. There are attractive alternatives for yellow gold, such as Silver or Electrum. You can also think about the hardness of the metal and the color of your wedding band.

Wear wedding ring left or right hand.

Most people wear the wedding band on the left hand. However, some European women wear the ring on their right hand. Some Scandinavian women wear three rings, one each for

engagement
marriage
Motherhood.

Jewish brides have the ring placed on their index finger, since that is the finger with which they point to the Torah as they read."

Wedding Thimbles.

Puritans refused to wear wedding rings because they considered jewelry frivolous, yet in Colonial times, couples exchanged "wedding thimbles" - a useful and practical gift, and therefore acceptable - but after the wedding they often cut off the bottoms thereby creating rings. Whatever the culture, whatever the century, people have recognized the importance of sealing their unions with rings.

But why the third finger of the left hand?

There are many theories as to why this particular finger came to symbolize marriage. Both the ancient Romans and Egyptians believed that a vein - called the vena amoris in Latin - ran directly from that finger to the heart.

In medieval England, a bridegroom would slide the ring part way up his bride's thumb, index and middle finger, saying "In the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost" as he passed each one. He then put the ring on the next available finger - the third finger of the left hand. This practice was finally formalized in the 1500's when Henry VIII's son authored The Book of Common Prayer, which gives English modern Protestant wedding vows and decrees on which finger our wedding rings should go.

Do men wear wedding rings?

The practice of men wearing wedding rings is relatively new. Up until the middle of the twentieth century, it was mostly only women who wore wedding rings, perhaps a reminder of the days when women were regarded as property, or perhaps a harmless custom akin to women wearing engagement rings that their husbands do not. When World War Two broke out and many young men faced lengthy separations from their wives, men began wearing wedding bands as a symbol of their marriages and a reminder of their wives.

It was pure romance, a gesture of love and affection that has happily survived into modern times. The vast majority of men wear wedding bands these days.

Then I found this,

"It was not until about 860 that the Christians used the ring in marriage ceremonies, and then it was not the plain circlet that we now use, but a highly decorated device, engraved with symbolical figures of doves, lyres and even of two linked hands. Such a "Heathenish" gadget was not given a hearty reception by the Church, and for a long time its use was discouraged, though never completely abandoned."

Now we know that marriage itself has been around for a LONG time. As a matter of fact, God said to Adam,

24 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Genesis 2-24

People use to stand before God and say, "I take you as my Wife, and the woman to the man, my Husband," and they were married. Sometimes the Church was involved in making it "official", but for the most part, people meant what they said, and did what they said. Then from what I can see, it appears that Government got involved in 1754 with the "Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1754"

"The legal and social implications of Hardwicke's Marriage Act, passed in 1753, were of the utmost importance in England. From 1754 onwards a marriage, in order to be recognized as legal, had to be carried out in a very specific, circumscribed manner, ending a period during which "irregular" or clandestine marriages proliferated. Although Lord Hardwicke had been agitating for such legislation for years, it was one case in particular, a Scottish action, which had been appealed to the House of Lords, that precipitated the Act.

The case was heard by the House of Lords in January 1753, after which the Lords went on to order "That the Judges do prepare and bring in a Bill, for the better preventing of Clandestine Marriages." Three recent publications mention this case. According to Outhwaite, "a marriage of thirty years standing, celebrated legally, was challenged on the grounds of a prior secret contract." Stone writes that "after the man's death, his thirty-year marriage had been declared null, leaving his widow penniless and their child bastardised, thanks to the successful claim by another woman of a clandestine pre-contract." Both these writers use the Journal of the House of Lords as source material. Bannet, the third, citing Cobbett's Parliamentary History, writes that "the case which was said to have led to the Marriage Bill of 1753 ... involved a 'clandestine marriage set up after a man's death which was never heard of in his lifetime.' The fact that the woman who thought herself his widow had actually lived with him publicly as his wife for many years was set aside by the true or trumped up evidence of his pre-contract to another woman.""

So basically it was meant as proof and protection of the spouses? As you can see, marriage pretty much from the beginning, rings from about 4800 years ago, and government only since about 1754.

In the 20th century, however, government has intruded upon the marriage contract, among many others. Each state has tended to promulgate a standard, one-size-fits-all formula. Then, in the past generation, legislatures and courts have started unilaterally changing the terms of the marriage contract. Between 1969 and 1985 all the states provided for no-fault divorce. The new arrangements applied not just to couples embarking on matrimony but also to couples who had married under an earlier set of rules. Many people felt a sense of liberation; the changes allowed them to get out of unpleasant marriages without the often contrived allegations of fault previously required for divorce.

Divorce has been on the rise ever since. The sad fact of the matter is this, most people NOW go into marriage thinking that this is their "first." If it doesn’t work out, no big deal, we will just get lawyers and go before a judge and get a divorce.

So for all those that are concerned as to why I or many others, do not wear wedding rings, I ask you this. Which do you feel to be more important, the symbolism, or the actual act of marriage itself?
Peter

Sources,
Atlantisring.com= "History of the Wedding Ring"
Origins of the Wedding Ring
Law and History Review

More On Saddam.

Hey folks,

Yes, so we can now see Saddam about to be hung. The AP Video shows the preparation for this to take place. Now I posed the question last night of how can we really be sure. I have been getting some response to that and so far most of you are saying we need DNA. I agree. But until that happens, if it ever does, I say we accept that this WAS Saddam hung.

Did you notice the reporting on this? Unless you were in a "spider hole," you couldn’t miss it today. The NY Post said,

"The Butcher of Baghdad is no more.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein - clutching a Koran as he was led to the gallows - was hanged today in the city he ruled with an iron fist for decades at 6 a.m. Baghdad time, officials said.

His death was greeted with elation by those present at the execution, which included dancing over Hussein's body, witnesses said."

The headline? "Saddam Is The King Of Swing" Got to love it. So There was dancing in the streets, and at the hanging itself. But as this was taking place, the world leaders were split on the execution.

"In Washington, President Bush said Saddam was executed "after receiving a fair trial — the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime."

"Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain and defend itself, and be an ally in the war on terror," Bush said in a statement."

Then you have others that were not as happy. Some fear that this will increase the violence in Iraq. After telling an interesting story of Saddam turning into a little whinny, whimpering, little coward,

"This nation of 27 million people spent much of the day crowding around television sets to watch mesmerizing replays of a videotape that showed the 69-year-old Mr. Hussein being led to the gallows at dawn by five masked executioners, and having a noose fashioned from a thick rope of yellow hemp lowered around his neck. In the final moments shown on the videotape, he seemed almost unnaturally calm and cooperative.

The message seemed to be that he had lived his final moments with unflinching dignity and courage, reinforcing the legend of himself as the Arab world’s strongman that he cultivated while in power. But the videotape, released by the government, offered only a partial sense of how Mr. Hussein went to his death, according to accounts given later by some of the 25 people who attended the execution, including senior officials of the new Shiite-led government.

In their telling, the ousted ruler, a Sunni, spent much of his last half-hour, after arriving at the execution block at the Khadimiyah prison in northern Baghdad, in querulous and at times irascible exchanges with the Shiite guards and executioners assigned to hang him and with some of the Shiite witnesses."

then the NY "Crimes" said,

"Within hours of the execution, at least 75 people were killed in nine bombing attacks of the kind that Sunni insurgents commonly carry out against Shiites. In the mainly Shiite districts of Hurriyah and Sayidah in Baghdad, separate sequences in which car bombs detonated in close succession caused at least 39 deaths. Two other car bombings hit Baghdad before nightfall, one outside a children’s hospital in the Iskan neighborhood, and another that killed two people outside a mosque in the mainly Sunni district of Adhamiya, the Interior Ministry said.

Another vehicle bomb detonated in a popular fish market in the Shiite holy town of Kufa, 100 miles south of Baghdad, killing 34 people and wounding 38 others, the ministry said. In the Kufa attack, an angry mob set on the suspected bomber and beat him to death, the police said. Five more victims died in a suicide bombing in the northern city of Tal Afar, another center of violence between Sunnis and Shiites."

Clearly they want us to read into this that the execution caused this "increase in violence." But this is NOT due to the execution. But a continuing conflict between the Sunnis and Shiites. The AP put it this way,

"There was no sign of a feared Sunni uprising in retaliation for the execution, and the bloodshed from civil warfare was not far off the daily average — 92 from bombings and death squads."

So basically, so far, it seems that more people are happy that Saddam is gone than there are upset about it.

Now normally at the death of someone in the news, I would say "God Speed." But in Saddam’s case, I say, "Good Riddens." Like it or not, believe it or not, the world is a better place without you.



Peter

Sources;

NYP- "Saddam Is The King Of Swing"
AP Video
USA Today- "World leaders welcome, condemn Saddam's execution"
NYT- "Hussein Video Grips Iraq; Attacks Go On"
AP- "Saddam exchanged taunts with witnesses"

Breaking News- Saddam
Hussein is dead.

Hey folks,

The breaking news is that Saddam has been executed. His body has been shown to Jawad Abdul-Aziz, who lost his father, three brothers and 22 cousins in the reprisal killings that followed a botched 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam in the Shiite town of Dujail.

Jawad Abdul-Aziz said, "Now, he is in the garbage of history."

More on this later....
Peter

How Will We Know Saddam IS Dead?

Hey folks,

I cannot take credit for raising this question. It was a caller of a local radio show here in south Florida. The caller said, how can we know for sure that it really IS Saddam who was hung. He had imposters running all over the place when we were trying to get him.

I thought to myself. He has a VERY valid point. I remembered that even some major news outlets did stories on the imposters. I searched and found this one from CBS back on March 20, 2003. Here it is in it’s entirely

"(CBS) Twice since the shooting started the world has been shown videotape from Baghdad of a man who looks, acts, and talks like Saddam Hussein. But, as CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports there's an ongoing debate within the Bush administration over whether this is actually the man himself or just a darn good imposter.

Several hours after the first cruise missiles struck Baghdad late Wednesday, Iraqi television showed this tape of Hussein allegedly answering the challenge. He even made reference to the date to prove this wasn't an old videotape.

But is it really Saddam? Veteran Hussein watchers were thrown by the thick glasses the heaviness in the face, and the uncharacteristically narrow shoulders.

"My initial reaction was, 'Gee. That does not look like him,'" said Jerrald Post, who created the CIA's psychological profile unit and has studied Hussein intensely.

"Either that was a really quite drawn and stressed out, puffy-faced from not getting enough sleep Saddam, or it represented a double," he said.

Iraqi defectors have long insisted that Hussein uses doubles to throw off his enemies and maintain an air of secrecy. The look-alikes reportedly had plastic surgery and were trained in the dictator's mannerisms, including the way he walks, and even down to his facial tics.

Over the years the CIA has kept careful watch as well, from his first Gulf War days of usually wearing a uniform to the more presidential Hussein usually seen in business suits and matching ties.

A German forensic pathologist studied hundreds of Hussein photos and videotapes, concentrating on his mustache and eyebrow measurements.

Then he used computer software to locate specific points such as the tip of his nose and the cheekbone creating a face print which was compared to the Hussein photographs.

His conclusion: that there are three Hussein impersonators, all with small, distinct differences.

Interestingly, the German pathologist reportedly has carefully examined these latest tapes from Baghdad and concluded that this is the real Hussein. The truth, obviously, is hiding somewhere in Baghdad."

So, as I said to Sam, with the possibility of an imposter taking his place, even eye witness accounts could be called into question. Some of these imposters even had surgery to look more like him. The truth is we really have no way of knowing if Saddam is REALLY the one hung, barring DNA evidence. That only depends on the Iraqis cooperation.

Why would they do this? Believe it or not, there really is a real possibility that there are some that will risk ANYTHING to save his life. Some of these diehards truly believe in Saddam. They worship him. I would not doubt in the LEAST, the possibility of a switch. I do rest assure that even if he was to live, he will not return like Jesus, from the dead, to reign in Iraq. If this was to happen, I have NO doubt that we will do what we SHOULD have done in the beginning. Go there and LEVEL the place. Period. Then rebuild and set up a government. If we had done that in the beginning, we would be home by now.

Either way, it seems that we have, according to the Iraqis, turned over Saddam, and that the hanging will be taking place tomorrow, or today, time difference, in Iraq time. Should be interesting to see what happens. You KNOW that there will be some kind of video, either by the MMD or U Tube or something soon.
Peter

Source;
CBS News-"Saddam Or Imposter?"

Cloned Food. Do You Want To Know?

Hey folks,

Happy Friday. Another week gone. Many of you are looking forward to another three or in my case, four, day Weekend. The big news yesterday was President Ford, Sean Hannity {Or whomever was hosting his show} had an hour long conversation with a terrorist adviser and planner, or whatever. I got a call and told to tune in. I could tell in the first 5 seconds that this was a fake. After the hour they told you that he was some professor, and it was a skit. Other than that, the normal "Global Warming" stupidity, the war is bad, Bush is an idiot, and the Democrats know best. But then there is THIS story.

Cloned animals for dairy and meat? The FDA approved this with no real scientific proof that this is safe? Then you have some that do NOT want you to even know you are eating it? What is this all about? According to the Boston.com

By Libby Quaid, AP Food And Farm Writer December 27, 2006

"WASHINGTON --Federal scientists have concluded there is no difference between food from cloned animals and food from conventional livestock, setting the stage for the government to declare Thursday that cloned animals are safe for the human food supply.

The Food and Drug Administration planned to brief industry groups in advance of an announcement. The agency indicated it would approve cloned livestock in a scientific journal article published online earlier this month.

The agency "concludes that meat and milk from clones and their progeny is as safe to eat as corresponding products derived from animals produced using contemporary agricultural practices," FDA scientists Larisa Rudenko and John C. Matheson wrote in the Jan. 1 issue of Theriogenology."

So you are telling me that there is no difference? What about the sped up growth? What effect will this process have on those consuming the meat? Drinking the milk? Already you can see the difference in our kids maturing faster than ever, some blame the milk and hormones along with other preservatives in food NOW. What happens when they start eating cloned meat?

Not everyone is happy about this,

"Consumers are going to be having a product that has potential safety issues and has a whole load of ethical issues tied to it, without any labeling," said Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety.

Carol Tucker Foreman, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, said the FDA is ignoring research that shows cloning results in more deaths and deformed animals than other reproductive technologies.

The consumer federation will ask food companies and supermarkets to refuse to sell food from clones, she said.

"Meat and milk from cloned animals have no benefit for consumers, and consumers don't want them in their foods," Foreman said.

As both the AP and ABC News points out,

"Meat and milk from cloned animals may not appear in supermarkets for years despite being deemed by the government as safe to eat. But don't be surprised if "clone-free" labels appear sooner. Ben & Jerry's, for one, wants consumers to know that its ice cream comes from regular cows and not clones. The Ben & Jerry's label already says its farmers don't use bovine growth hormone.

"We want to make sure people are confident with what's in our pints," company spokesman Rob Michalak said. "We haven't yet landed on exactly how we want to express that publicly."

For food that does come from clones, the Food and Drug Administration is unlikely to require labels, officials said."

So they do NOT want you to know what you are eating? WHY? I eat Chicken just about every day, but I do enjoy a good steak once in a while. Sometimes burgers. Hey, WAIT A SECOND!! What about this? According to the New York "Crimes" {Times} yesterday in their editorial section, they said,

"When you think about the growth of human population over the last century or so, it is all too easy to imagine it merely as an increase in the number of humans. But as we multiply, so do all the things associated with us, including our livestock. At present, there are about 1.5 billion cattle and domestic buffalo and about 1.7 billion sheep and goats. With pigs and poultry, they form a critical part of our enormous biological footprint upon this planet.

Just how enormous was not really apparent until the publication of a new report, called "Livestock’s Long Shadow," by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Consider these numbers. Global livestock grazing and feed production use "30 percent of the land surface of the planet." Livestock — which consume more food than they yield — also compete directly with humans for water. And the drive to expand grazing land destroys more biologically sensitive terrain, rain forests especially, than anything else.

But what is even more striking, and alarming, is that livestock are responsible for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation’s contribution. The culprits are methane — the natural result of bovine digestion — and the nitrogen emitted by manure. Deforestation of grazing land adds to the effect.

There are no easy trade-offs when it comes to global warming — such as cutting back on cattle to make room for cars. The human passion for meat is certainly not about to end anytime soon. As "Livestock’s Long Shadow" makes clear, our health and the health of the planet depend on pushing livestock production in more sustainable directions."

More sustainable directions? Do you think that cloning MORE is what they had in mind. Think about this. How can this concept of cloning livestock be a good thing to the environmental wackos? Seriously, what’s the point? Where is the NEED? Is not the natural process working just fine? According to the NYT, it seems to be working TOO good.

I’m sorry folks, but there is not enough science in the world to make me feel safe eating cloned meat. Especially since apparently we already have too many natural livestock. They are "killing the planet."

If they do decide that they want to go this route, I don’t know, maybe they can make cows that don’t fart, you had better bet I WANT to know. I’m with Ben and Jerry on this one. I want the choice. If you have no problem with eating cloned meat, dairy, whatever, hey, more power to you. But if you, like me, have a major problem with it, then they NEED to let us know in advance. Label it. Then people can chose which they want to eat.
Peter

Sources;
AP- "FDA's OK may spark 'clone-free' labels"
Boston.com- "FDA set to OK food from cloned animals"
ABC News - "FDA OKs Food From Cloned Animals"
NYT-"Meat and the Planet"

The Soon Departed Saddam

Hey folks,

Well, it’s officially a countdown now. Soon Saddam will no longer be with us. For some, not a second too soon. Some see it as a closing of a chapter. Some see it as a healing. Some vengeance. Any way you look at it, it will be soon. According to the AFP,

"Iraq was preparing for the rapid execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein, with the US-backed government eager to bring his chapter in the country's bloody history to an end.

As another deadly car bomb hit Baghdad Wednesday and the shooting of a Shiite politician triggered anti-American protests, the fate of the ousted tyrant threatened to deepen still further the rift between Sunnis and Shiites.

Justice Minister Hashem al-Shibli said Saddam's death sentence for crimes against humanity -- upheld by an Iraqi appeal court on Tuesday -- would be rubber stamped by the presidency and the prison service would hang him."

I’m glad to see that he received a trial by the Iraqi people. He was found GUILTY by the Iraqi people. THEY sentenced him to death. I DO feel the world is better off without him. But this is not the whole story. This is a perfect example of what we are dealing with in the war on terror. This is a perfect example of who "Little Hitler" is. What they, the enemy, think. How they truly see what they believe to be reality.

Saddam is an evil guy. I’m not saying this as an abstract, but as an absolute. He was evil personified. In the flesh. Here is a excerpt from the Weekly Standard, by Erin Montgomery 12/16/2003 12:00:00 AM,

"MAKIYA DESCRIBED THE FOUNDATION as being based on three tools: "the paper trail of atrocity," which consists of 2.4 million pages of official Iraqi documents captured by the Kurds after the 1991 Gulf War and 725,000 pages of Iraqi documents captured in Kuwait upon its liberation by coalition forces in 1991; films of interviews with survivors and witnesses of Saddam's brutality; and artifacts--works of art, poetry, books, songs, films, and architecture--produced both by members of Saddam's regime and those who protested against it.

The foundation seeks to digitize, index, and classify all recovered documents, many of which describe tortures, executions, mass graves, even rumors about Iraqi citizens collected by Saddam's repressive officers over a span of seven years. "We have documents on the sublime to the mundane to the ridiculous," director of documentation Hassan Mneimneh said, though the foundation has less than 1 percent of the 300 million documents it is seeking for a comprehensive archive. The foundation also plans to archive oral histories and filmed interviews with survivors.

One filmed interview, shown during the presentation, tells the story of Shaoul Sasson, an Iraqi Jew imprisoned by Saddam in 1968. Now 98 years old, Sasson spoke of his year spent in Saddam's Qasr Al-Nihaya, or "Terminal Palace." There, he was blindfolded, brutally beaten, and burned by Saddam's henchmen. The film, just one example of Saddam's cruelty toward Jews, is reminiscent of those shown at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. In fact, the foundation's director of oral history, Mustafa Al-Kadhimiy, is in the United States at the invitation of the Holocaust Museum, where he is learning how the museum acquires and conserves its materials and makes them accessible to the public. Makiya, however, is quick to distinguish his future museum from the former: "Unlike the Holocaust Museum, we are not 50 years removed [from our atrocity]--we are right at the edge.""

From dripping acid on naked prisoners, dripping melted rubber hoses on their bodies and ripping it and their skin off, dismemberments, to electric shock, Saddam enjoyed torturing his own people, as well as others. Now that he has been sentenced to death, is he remorseful? NO. He truly believes he has done nothing wrong. As a matter of fact, he said,

"I sacrifice myself. If God wills it, He will place me among the true men and martyrs," wrote Saddam in the letter, which his lawyer said was penned last month for release if his death sentence was upheld.

And,

"Here I offer myself in sacrifice," Saddam said in a letter obtained from his defense lawyers in Jordan on Wednesday. "If my soul goes down this path (of martyrdom) it will face God in serenity."

Now I’m a little confused. Both AFP and Reuters are talking about this letter. According to Reuters, Saddam said,

"O brave, pious Iraqis in the heroic resistance. O sons of the one nation, direct your enmity toward the invaders. Do not let them divide you ... Long live jihad (holy war) and the mujahideen against the invaders."

But then I see this article from the AP,

"Saddam Hussein urged Iraqis to embrace "brotherly coexistence" and not to hate U.S.-led foreign troops in a goodbye letter posted on a Web site Wednesday, a day after Iraq's highest court upheld his death sentence and ordered him hanged within 30 days."

Accord to them, Saddam said,

"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," said the letter, which was written in Arabic and translated by the AP.

"I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us,"

So, if this is the same letter, you can see that he does not equate torturing and killing what he perceives as his enemy with hatred. Even if it is two different letters, this shows that this guy is just plain nuts. He sees nothing wrong with it. He even believes that he will be rewarded by his god. You cannot negotiate with someone like this.

So you can perhaps get a better understanding of "Little Hitler" as well. Who also thinks he is on a mission from his god. Who also believes that he will be rewarded. Who also is evil.

Yes folks, we are soon rid of Saddam Hussein. He will pay for the crimes he committed. Soon, very soon that chapter will be closed. Now we need to get the Iraqi people ready to take over. Now we need to concentrate on Iran. They {Iran} MUST NOT be allowed to get nuclear weapons. They WILL use them.

Farewell to you Saddam. I truly believe that when you actually meet God. You will not be all that happy.
Peter

Sources;
AFP- "Iraq prepares for rapid Saddam execution"
The Weekly Standard- "Remembering Saddam's Iraq"
Reuters- "Facing gallows, Saddam offers "sacrifice" for Iraq"
AP- "Saddam says don't hate U.S.-led forces"

Gerald Rudolph Ford

God Speed Mr. President.


May his family and all those all over the world that mourn his passing receive the comfort they need in this time of mourning. If you agree with his actions or not, you have to respect what he accomplished in the situation he was given. The country has truly lost one of her sons.

At the age of 93, Gerald Ford had a long and fulfilling life. I say again, God speed Mr. President. May you rest in peace.
Peter

First Muslim Elected, Encouraging Muslims To Do What?

Hey folks,

You know, I saw this news article from the Detroit Free Press yesterday, and I passed by it without much thought. Just the normal scanning through. I saw that the "first Muslim elected" to congress had some sort of rally in Dearborn. OK. Good for him.

I’ll admit my first thought when I read this article was "So? What’s the big deal about this. How many Congressman are Jews? Christians? Mormons? Whatever. Does it really matter?" So he wants to get sworn in using the Quran. Did you realize that you actually do not even HAVE to use ANYTHING? Just rise your hand and promise to uphold the Constitution.

But I found a couple of articles that I thought I may comment on today. However, for some reason this article stuck in my head. I had to find it again this morning and re-read it. Why is this bothering me? I couldn't figure it out at first. So, I re-read it yet again. OK. NOW I have a question. According to the article, Detroit Free Press - "1st Muslim congressman thrills crowd in Dearborn"

BY NIRAJ WARIKOOFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
December 26, 2006

"Speaking in Dearborn late Sunday night, the first Muslim elected to Congress told a cheering crowd of Muslims they should remain steadfast in their faith and push for justice.

"You can't back down. You can't chicken out. You can't be afraid. You got to have faith in Allah, and you've got to stand up and be a real Muslim," Detroit native Keith Ellison said to loud applause.

Many in the crowd replied "Allahu akbar" -- God is great."

WAIT A SECOND! OK this is what got me thinking. He said, "You can't back down. You can't chicken out. You can't be afraid. You got to have faith in Allah, and you've got to stand up and be a real Muslim"

"Push for justice" For and from who?

"You can't back down." From who?

"You can't chicken out." From what?

"You can't be afraid." Of what?

"You got to have faith in Allah, and you've got to stand up and be a real Muslim" What is a REAL Muslim?

Then the article continues,

"But Ellison, speaking at the annual convention of the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America, said that Muslims can help teach America about justice and equal protection."

Muslims can help teach America about justice?

"Muslims, you're up to bat right now," he said. "How do you know that you were not brought right here to this place to learn how to make this world better?"

Translation time. He said, God put you in America to make the world a better place. OK. How? What did he mean by that?

Now this is interesting also.

"Ellison, who converted to Islam during college, made his remarks at the Hyatt Regency, the site of the five-day convention."

So he was converted by? What was it that made him adopt Islam? What is a REAL Muslim?

I’m sorry folks, but I have a hard time buying the fact that his comments were solely about swearing in on the Quran. Before I read HIS words, I couldn’t have cared less about what faith he follows. But NOW?

OK let me break it down for you. We are in a WAR against Islamic Fascists that want us dead. They continue to attack and kill us. So when this guy stands up and says, "On Jan. 4, I will go swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I'll place my hand on the Quran," people start to ask questions.


Let’s leave aside that this country was founded on Jewdaeo-Christian beliefs and the Bible. So when he originally made the statement that he would use the Quran, it offended some just on that bases. But My problem is with his own words. Not which book he wants to use.

When this was a big thing, I though it was much to do about nothing. I also thought that it was normal. If we were at war with Hitler, and a German wanted to get elected to Congress? How far do you think he would get? We are at war with Radicle Muslims. We have a Muslim that GOT elected to Congress. It is NORMAL for some to be a little apprehensive about that. But using HIS words, one has to wonder, just exactly what he truly meant.

Then you have the fact he converted to Islam in College. He was not born into it. He was introduced to it by? What was the message he was told? Was it the Radicle form we are fighting against? Has he come out and denounced the Islamic Fascists that are killing anyone non-Muslim? There are a lot of questions that need to be asked.
Peter

Death Toll Surpasses 9-11. So What?

Hey folks,

Looks like the big news of the day, this, the day after Christmas seems to be the death toll in Iraq. Seems it has now surpassed 9-11. I mean it folks, it’s all over the place. My question is, So what?

Let’s look at the news, shall we?

Reuters
By Ibon Villelabeitia 55 minutes ago

The deaths of six more American soldiers in Iraq pushed the U.S. death toll to at least 2,978 -- five more than the number killed in the September 11 attacks -- as bombs killed more than 20 people in Baghdad on Tuesday.


At least 89 U.S. soldiers have died so far this month, making it the deadliest this year after October's toll of 106, and adding pressure on President George W. Bush to find a strategy to extricate 135,000 U.S. troops from the messy war.


Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died since the invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein, which Bush said was an integral part of the "war on terror" following the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.


U.S. officials say 2,973 people were killed in those attacks, excluding the 19 hijackers."

AFP {French version of the AP}

The number of American fatalities in Iraq have surpassed the death toll for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, shining the spotlight on US policy in the war-wracked country.

Another 20 Iraqis were killed in attacks hammering Baghdad on Tuesday, 15 of them in a triple car bombing, amid unprecedented levels of violence in a conflict that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands.


The macabre US milestone was marked, according to an AFP count, by the deaths of three soldiers in a bomb attack northwest of Baghdad on Tuesday, 24 hours after another four troops were killed on Christmas Day.

Following the latest deaths, the AFP count was 18 higher than the Defence Department's tally, last updated at 1500 GMT Friday. At least seven civilians are included in the toll, according to the military's numbers."

Now the AFP, says,

"The landmark American death toll, emerging over the Christmas holiday season, represents another political blow for Bush, who earlier this month was forced to admit for the first time that the US was not winning in Iraq.

"The problem is the larger issue of US policy in Iraq, and recent polls that show that President Bush has very, very little political capital left on Iraq," said Eric Davis, professor of political science at Middlebury College, Vermont."

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has also instructed the top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, to work out specifics of a plan to help restore security in Baghdad with Iraqis in the lead and US forces in a supporting role."

Now Eric Davis is not only a professor of political science, but also a columnist. From what I see, he is also anti-Bush, and anti-war. So him pointing out that the death toll surpasses 9-11 gives Bush bad poll numbers means NOTHING. Besides, you also have to understand that President Bush doesn’t care about polls, popularity, or anything else besides winning the war.

I understand that this is a hard concept for some of the LWL and the Mass Media to grasp. This is what they ARE all about. They LIVE for popularity. They MUST have good poll numbers. So when they see bad ones for the Republicans, or Bush, they think this is a bad thing. They glory in pointing it out. But all President Bush cares about is protecting this country and winning the war. He doesn’t care if there are some who do not want him too.

Then we go to the AP,

"By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago

At least 36 Iraqis died Tuesday in bombings, officials said, including a coordinated strike that killed 25 in western Baghdad. Separately, the deaths of six U.S. soldiers pushed the American toll beyond the number of victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."

Break,

"The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the deaths of six more American soldiers, pushing the U.S. military death toll since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003 to at least 2,978 — five more than the number killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The milestone came with military announcement that three soldiers had been killed Monday. Three more service members were killed Tuesday in roadside bombings near Baghdad, the military said.

President Bush has said that the Iraq war is part of the United States' post-Sept. 11 approach to threats abroad. Going on offense against enemies before they could harm Americans meant removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, pursuing members of al-Qaida and seeking regime change in Iraq, Bush has said."

Yes. We fight them there, now, or here later. It really IS just that simple.

"We fully expect more attacks on our bases and on Basra stations, but that's nothing out of the ordinary," Maj. Charlie Burbridge, a military spokesman, said Tuesday. "But this is part of a long-term rehabilitation of the Iraqi police service, to make it more effective and more accountable, and ultimately provide better security for the people of Basra."

Uhm, yup. We are in a WAR. The whole point is to kill more of them than they kill of you. As I keep saying. War IS kill people and break stuff.

AFP had this article about the families of 9-11 and how they felt about this milestone.


"by James Hossack1 hour, 15 minutes ago

The families of the September 11 victims gave a mixed reaction to the US military toll in Iraq passing the number of people who died in the attacks on New York and Washington five years ago.

For some, the grim milestone proved that the "war on terror" was a war that needed to be fought and won. Others said the chilling human toll only reopened old wounds, and raised questions about why troops were in Iraq at all.

Families of the 2,973 people killed in the attacks were divided about going to war in the first place and seemed similarly split over the significance of the number of US troops killed in Iraq since the war began in 2003.

STOP!!! WAIT a second. I just read this again. Notice this. They start out saying the families are split. This gives the impression that they will give both sides. But if you read the WHOLE story, you see that they talk to Adele Welty, who’s son was killed on 9-11. Five paragraphs. She said,

"The more carnage that we experience from the standpoint of our military as well as the civilian casualties in Iraq, the more absurd the whole concept of this war appears to me," she said.

"I can't understand anybody supporting it now."


"The more casualties I hear about, the more horrible the entire enterprise appears to me and every time I see pictures on the news of young men and women in the military being killed, my first thought is of their families.

"I lost my son and I know what each mother experiences," she said.

Then for EIGHT paragraphs they talk about and to Eva Rupp, whose stepsister was killed when Flight 93, hijacked by Al-Qaeda members, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania on September 11.

"My stepsister was only 20 years old when she died on one of the hijacked planes and the grief that my parents and I went though was unbearable.


"I can only imagine that the grief experienced by the families of each of our servicemen and women is just as painful and will haunt them for the rest of their lives, just as our loss haunts us," she said.

She said each time she heard of a US death in Iraq, her thoughts turned to her stepsister.

"Most of the young men and women who die overseas are around my stepsister's age, and I can't help but seeing her face in their faces and feeling a great sadness when I think of the pain their loss has caused their loved ones."

She added that focusing only on the US casualties failed to show the true extent of the human losses in Iraq.

"The number of people lost in Iraq greatly exceeds those lost on 9/11 if we count all of the Iraqi civilians who have been killed.

"Having a different religion or nationality certainly does not make a loss less tragic or grief any less significant," she added.

Clearly anti-war rhetoric.

Then they talk to one guy, Tim Sumner, who IS one of the bad guys as far as Liberal go. He’s a former Drill Sergeant. Of COURSE he is for the war. Right? Just seven paragraphs?

"But Tim Sumner, 53, a former US Army drill sergeant whose firefighter brother-in-law was killed in the World Trade Center said that while the cost of fighting the "war on terror" might be high, it was a price worth paying.

"Any one life lost in war is tragic, however it is also noble," he said, adding that the casualties sustained in Iraq were far smaller than those suffered historically.

"What they need to do is finish what they set out to do, otherwise we fall back and lose ground in the war on terror, fail to consolidate democracies and take them off the terrorist strongholds," he added.

Failing in the "war on terror", he said, would mean "those lives would have been given in vain and that would be tragic."

STOP!! I have been saying that exact thing. I cannot find the exact quote, but I have been saying that if we cut and run, all those lives given in the war up to that point will be rendered pointless and meaningless. I also said,

"But again, no matter who is saying it, I still say, if we are no longer in this to win it. Then we need to bring our troops home NOW. Forget about a "phased withdrawal." If we are going to cut and run, and leave them on their own, then let’s just get out." Let’s not "waste" another American life there. Let’s regroup, and wait till they come here. Right?

You would think that out of the 2,973 families, they could have included a little more info. A few more people could have commented. Don’t you think?

It’s simple folks, WHO CARES? So what? Any idea how many Americans were lost in WW2? WW1, Civil War? We have been fighting this war for a long time. We have ONLY lost 2,978? I’d say that’s actually pretty good. But that would not be Politically Correct for me to say. Would it?
Peter

Sources;
Reuters ="U.S. military deaths in Iraq pass 9/11 toll"
AFP = "US fatalities in Iraq top 9/11 toll"
AP = "U.S. toll in Iraq surpasses that of 9/11"
AFP = "September 11 families split over US toll in Iraq"

Iran "Death to America" "Little Hitler," "You Cannot Damage the Iran an Iota,"

Hey folks,

Happy Tuesday to you. Hope you had happy Holidays and now back to reality. For three days at least.

Yes, we are talking about "Little Hitler"again. Why do I keep talking about him, when it seems noone really cares? Because it seems noone really cares. Why am I not talking about North Korea who already has nukes? Because they said, if you mess with us, we will use them. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the other hand, says he WANTS Israel wiped off the map. He wants America dead. He wants a one world Muslim government. He wants world domination. He thinks he is on a mission from his god.

Just this Sunday the AP reported this,

"Iran vowed Sunday to push forward efforts to enrich uranium and to change its relations with the international nuclear watchdog after the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions designed to stop the country's disputed atomic program.

Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Security Council would regret voting in favor of the sanctions, saying he was sorry the West lost its chance to make amends with Iran.

"I am sorry for you who lost the opportunity for friendship with the nation of Iran. You yourself know that you cannot damage the nation of Iran an iota," the state-run news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Ahmadinejad also said the United Nations must accept Iran's nuclear program and warned that sanctions would not harm his country.

"You have to accept that Iran has the technology of producing nuclear fuel. And it will celebrate it in coming anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in February," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying."

Now since U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions, things are about to change. But not the way you think. I told you that "Talks" and sanctions will not work. Now,

"Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Iran would change its relationship with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We are not obliged and it is not expected that cooperation with the IAEA continues at the same former level," Hosseini told reporters. He did not elaborate."

What about those "opponents" of "Little Hitler" that got elected in?

"Iran's parliament on Sunday voted to urge the country's administration to revise its cooperation with the IAEA but did not set a timeline or provide further details. Many legislators chanted "Death to America" after the vote.

"The government should seriously and strongly continue the important issue of peaceful nuclear technology with prudence and foresight. It should never accept such illogical pressures," more than 200 legislators said in a statement read on state-run radio."

So much for the end of Ahmadinejad. So what is going to happen if they do not comply? {Laughing} I’ll just let you read this for yourself.

"If Iran refuses to comply, the council warned it would adopt further nonmilitary sanctions, but the resolution emphasized the importance of diplomacy in seeking guarantees "that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes."

"Further NONMILITARY sanctions." More TALKS. His response?

"Iran insists its nuclear program is intended to produce energy, but the Americans and Europeans suspect its ultimate goal is the production of weapons.

Ahmadinejad also downplayed the resolution, saying it would be the Security Council that regretted it, not Iran.

"This will not damage the nation of Iran, but its issuers will soon regret this superficial and nil act," he said, speaking to a group of war veterans from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran."

Is THIS, "This will not damage the nation of Iran, but its issuers will soon regret this superficial and nil act." NOT a threat? Then, he called this a "superficial and nil act." Meaning pointless, and worthless. Meaning he will not stop because of it. As a matter of fact,

"Earlier Sunday, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said the resolution made his country more "decisive in realizing our nuclear aims."

"From Sunday morning, we will begin activities at Natanz — site of 3,000-centrifuge machines — and we will drive it with full speed. It will be our immediate response to the resolution," Iran's Kayhan newspaper quoted Larijani as saying.

Iran first showed its ability to enrich uranium in February, when it produced a small batch of low-enriched uranium using a first set of 164 centrifuges at its pilot complex in Natanz.

Iran has said it intends to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006, and then expand the program to 54,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material to produce nuclear fuel."

Yes folks, the sanctions are now in place. Threat of more loom. His rise continues. People need to wake up, and realize the reality of this situation. Before it is too late.
Peter

Source;
AP-"Iran vows to continue uranium enrichment"

Merry Christmas

From Joshua, Laura, and of course, me.
Wishing you and yours a very happy and safe Holiday Season! As you can see, I’ll be quite busy. {Smile} See you all tomorrow.
Peter

"JMT" December 24, 2006

"The True Reason for the Season."

Hey folks,

You cannot talk about Christmas, without talking about God. Nor can you truly understand the meaning of the season, without talking about Jesus. So if the Bible, Jesus, God, or anything that could be deemed "religious" offends you. STOP READING THIS NOW. If not, read on.

It’s Christmas Eve. "All through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Well, that’s not exactly true. All the Moms and Dads are stirring, while they play Santa. Getting things ready for the big day. Getting the things ready for the kiddies when they get up. To further the magic that IS Christmas morning.

But is this all that it is about? Is Christmas just a time for family and friends to give gifts? To go into debt trying to out do the year before? Or is there another reason? A more import one. One that MADE Christmas? The REAL reason for the season.

From the beginning of time man’s heart has been evil. From the Garden to Noah’s day, man did and invented many evil things. This made God so discussed that He sought to destroy what he had made. But Noah found favor in the eyes of God. Because of this one man, God spared mankind through him, his wife, their sons and their wives.

After the flood. Noah thanked God for sparing him and his family, and in essence, mankind it self, through burnt offerings.

Gen 8:21

21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

God was so pleased with Noah, that he told him of this, and made a covenant, a promise, to him.

Gen 9:13-16

13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

So every time you look up in the sky, and see a rainbow, you are actually seeing the manifestation and physical evidence of this covenant between God and Noah. So since God cannot lie, will never go back on HIS word, he is BOUND to allow us to exist no matter if we deserve it or not.

But man, being man, continued to be evil, and do wicked things. So God created laws. The were not followed. God sent prophets. They were ignored. God talked to man directly. Few listened. So what was God to do? He cannot destroy us utterly again because of His promise. So,

John 3:16,17

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Hence the beginning of the very first Christmas.

Story of Jesus

Matthew 1:18-25


18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Now to fully understand the importance of His Birth, you MUST fully understand His life, and most importantly, His death, yet rather, His resurrection.

During His life He preached love and humbleness. He healed the sick, gave hearing to the death, and let the blind see. He preached life eternal, and the peace of a one on one relationship with God the Father of all. He was rejected as were all the prophets before Him. As God’s word. He was arrested, beaten, and hung on the Cross. He fulfilled all to bear YOUR sins, sickness, and diseases. He shed His blood for yours. He died so that you may live. Then,

Jesus Risen Matthew 28


1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

4And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

9And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

10Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

11Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.

12And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

13Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

14And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.

15So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

16Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted.

18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."

19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"

20 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Now you can get hung up on the stupidity of this,"Is this the right time of year?", "Could the birth took place some other time." suff if you want to. But this really does not matter. We have set this time aside to remember the greatest gift of all. Sent by God, through His flesh, Jesus, to allow ANYONE who simply receives His gift to be forgiven of Sin, pardoned of death, and to have life everlasting.

So just keep in mind, that while you a battling it out in the stores for the last {Insert the big thing this year here}, while you are depressed because you cannot get much to give, stress out about all the "Holiday" stuff, the REAL reason for the season is just waiting to hear,

"Oh Heavenly Father Lord God. I’m a sinner. I cannot change that. But I know you can. I have heard of Jesus coming to earth and dying for MY sins. I pray that you forgive me Lord. I ask you to come into my life, and set me free. I repent my sins and give myself to you this day. In the name of Jesus, Amen."

If you say this prayer in your own words and by your own belief, you WILL receive the greatest gift of all. Yes folks, it IS just that simple. You have to do nothing. Simply accept. THIS is the reason for the season. The birth of the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. The opportunity for all, that includes you and me, to receive that of which we can NEVER earn. The grace, mercy, and unconditional love of God.

So decorate your tree. Get your gifts. {Try to stay in your budget. Trust me, I speak from experience.} Spend time with your loved ones, and remember, no matter what you hear, how you hear it, what anyone says, if it were NOT for Jesus, there would be no such thing as Christmas

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.
Peter

IWA for Sunday December 24, 2006


Hey folks,


Keeping with the Christmas Eve theme, I found this absolute idiocy of an article by Tony Hendra of the Huffy Post. The Huffington Post- "Tony Hendra: Time Out From Atheists and Evangelicals: Putting the Real Christ back Into Christmas."

First, after reading this whole tripe of an article, it is obvious that he has no clue as to the truth. Second, he wants you to believe that Christians are "racist hate-mongering" people out to get you. Problem is, he is the one spewing hatred for them.

Here is just some examples of this absolute garbage,

"Christmas has really been getting it in the teeth this year. On one side, atheists bashing away at the poor old feast, blaming it for every evil committed in this or any other century; on the other, fundo Evangelicals and Baptists using it as yet another proxy in the racist hate-mongering that is the lifeblood of so-called conservatives."

{Laughing} OK,

"For the abolitionists, Christ is and has been the cause of incalculable bloodshed over the last two thousand years, as well as the oppression of women, the brutalization of the poor, the genocidal enslavement of people of color - any color - and environmental devastation. (The list is a lot longer than that, but it'll do for now) For the atheists it's Blame Christ First.

To do them justice they've got a point. Because that Christ is also the Christ of the fundos. The fundo Christ is only The Man of Mercy, Gentle-Jesus-Meek-and-Mild for the fundos themselves. The rest of us he hates. Anyone from gays to Muslims to feminists to commies to astrophysicists and biologists to you, me, Arianna, Susan Sarandon, George Clooney and especially Jimmy Carter. The fundo Christ will arriving here any day now, to butcher all of us by the billion. A Christ of vigilante justice, vengeance and prejudice: a Christ dedicated to the shedding of blood, oceans of it, the more barbarically the better. In short a non-Christ, a pseudo-Christ, an anti-Christ."

See what I mean folks? You could be blind and STILL see the hatred dribbling from good old Tony. But then it just gets ridiculous.

"But we're talking about something far more compelling than that shadowy thing, historical accuracy. We're talking about a great story and its true meaning and the vast influence they have on people. There's one question about that story which should be asked this Christmas (or Yuletide or Hanukah or Kwanzaa or however you celebrate the winter solstice), a time when so many people - well-intentioned and ill-intentioned - are still talking so blithely of war, killing, self-defense and revenge."

So he thinks HE knows the real Christ. {LOL}

"What according to the story, did the real Christ have to say about war, killing, self-defense and revenge?

As far as I can tell from a close reading of the Gospels (including a couple of the Synoptic Gospels), nothing good. If there was one thing Jesus was adamantly against, it was violence of any kind. Sure he got hot under the robe once in a while; he overturned a few tables in the Temple, he withered a fig-tree, he made some poor old pig-farmer's pigs dive off a cliff. But he never raised a finger to anyone.

In fact he was radical on the matter; in defiance of - or as he put it in fulfillment of - the Jewish tradition in which he was raised of an-eye-for-an-eye, of justifiable revenge, he forbade revenge, even self-defense. We are to turn the other cheek when struck. We are to love our neighbors even our enemies, as ourselves. And he meant it: when the time came and his enemies seized him to lead him away to certain death, he refused to defend himself or even to let his followers defend him.

Here's the uncomfortable truth, one Christians have spent seas of ink and forests of paper, trying to get around: there is no way that someone who calls herself or himself a Christian, who believes in Christ's words and emulates his life and actions, can fight in a war, support a war, carry a weapon, pack heat, shoot back, or take revenge."

He has absolutely NO clue. Jesus NEVER taught that you should just lay down and take it. He NEVER taught war bad or good. He was always more concerned with YOUR one on one relationship with Him and God. He said to love your enemies. Feed your enemies, and do good toward them, for VENGEANCE is mine saith the Lord. By doing this toward your enemy, you are heaping hot coals on their head. You are increasing their punishment.

At least he got the point about Jesus getting mad right. Sounds familiar. Then think about his apparent heros, "Arianna, Susan Sarandon, George Clooney and especially Jimmy Carter." {LOL} But you HAVE to love this absolute stupidity,

"In my book I imagine Christ returning in our time, a poor self-educated Latino man from the Bronx. His messages are as radical as they were the first time around. Towards the end as his Christian enemies close in, he talks to an audience of tired and battered infantrymen recently returned from war, outside the gates of Fort McGuire in New Jersey:

"Love your enemies. I do.

"I have loved every soldier on every side of every war ever fought. I have loved every child of God murdered by another child of God. Because - make no mistake - whenever one of my children kills another intentionally, it's murder. Whether it's from 30,000 feet or 3, it's murder. It's no less murder than creeping into their bedroom while they're asleep and beating them to death with a tire-iron.

"Murder is not a mission or a calling or a career. If you go to West Point or the Air Force Academy to get a degree in it, it's still murder. All the fancy words your superiors come up with: retaliation, extreme prejudice, overwhelming force, collateral damage, smart-this and pin-point-that cannot alter that all these words mean murder.

"Wearing a uniform does not to stop it being murder, doing it for your country does not stop it being murder. Clicking on an icon a thousand miles away does not stop it being murder. Sending a command to a robot does not stop it being murder. If your sergeant tells you to do it it's murder, if you are told by your officer to tell an enlisted man to do it, all three of you commit murder. It's murder if a court absolves you of all wrongdoing. It's murder if a man of God blesses the weapon you murder with. It's murder if you vote for someone who tells others to murder in your name. It's murder if the one you murder has murdered.

"And if you say God told you to murder - I say to you it is not God you are listening to.

"Thou shalt not kill. There are no exceptions." "

That would be "Thou shall not commit MURDER." The taking of an innocent life. We kill things every day. We can kill someone in an accident. What God was referring to is Murder. {Sigh}

Just more anti-war trumpery.

Normally I would not give a halfwit, ignorant , self important twit like this, a second thought. This is why I believe in and will fight for the "Freedom of Speech." So we know who these people are. I know I’m giving him more publicity then he deserves. I understand that. But I felt that this was important to point out to you that just this Friday, going into one of the biggest Christian Holy Days there is, that this poorly informed, hate-mongering writer, gave us yet another example of Christian bashing tripe.

You know my old friend once told me, "It is better to sit silent and be thought of as a fool, then to stand and speak and remove all doubt." Congratulations Tony. For standing and speaking, you ARE the Idiot of the Week. Oh, by the way, Merry Christmas.
Peter

Judicial Watch, Top Ten Corrupt Politicians

Hey folks,

Fresh from the wire last night. This should really make you think. Here it is in it’s entirety. As it appeared on the Wire. Pictures added by me.

"WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2006 list of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians." The list, in alphabetical order, includes:

1. Jack Abramoff, Former Lobbyist: Abramoff is at the center of a massive public corruption investigation by the Department of Justice that, in the end, could involve as many as a dozen members of Congress. Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and a host of other charges on January 3, 2006, and was sent to prison in November to serve a five-year, 10-month sentence for defrauding banks of $23 million in Florida in 2000.


2. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY): In January 2006, Hillary Clinton's fundraising operation was fined $35,000 by the Federal Election Commission for failing to accurately report more than $700,000 in contributions to Clinton's Senate 2000 campaign. New information also surfaced in 2006 raising more questions about Hillary and her brother Anthony Rodham's connection to the Clinton Pardongate scandal, where presidential pardons were allegedly traded in exchange for cash and other favors.


3. Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA): In November 2005, Cunningham pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. He was sentenced to 8 years, four months in prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution in March 2006.




4. Former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX): Tom DeLay, who was forced to step down from his position as House Majority Leader and then resign from Congress, decided in 2006 not to run for re-election. Congressman DeLay has been embroiled in a series of scandals from bribery to influence peddling, and was indicted twice by grand juries in Texas.



5. Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL): Foley left the House in disgrace after news broke that he had been sending predatory homosexual emails to a House page. A recent House Ethics Committee report indicated that Republican leaders knew about Foley's dangerous behavior, but failed to take action. Democrats, meanwhile, shopped the story to the press to influence the elections. Outrageously, the Committee recommended no punishment for those involved.


6. Rep. Denny Hastert (R-IL): In addition to mishandling the Foley scandal, outgoing House Speaker Dennis Hastert allowed House ethics process to ground to a halt on his watch. Gary Condit, Cynthia McKinney, William Jefferson, John Conyers, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, Jim McDermott, Patrick Kennedy are examples of alleged wrongdoers who faced little-to-no ethics enforcement in the House.


7. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL): Hastings is one of only six federal judges to be removed from office through impeachment and has accumulated staggering liabilities ranging from $2,130,006 to $7,350,000. Hastings was "next in line" for Chairmanship of the House Select Committee on Intelligence until a wave of protest forced Nancy Pelosi to select another candidate. Nonetheless, Hastings is expected to continue to serve on the Intelligence Committee.

8. Rep. William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson (D-LA): Jefferson is alleged to have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to help broker high-tech business deals in Nigeria. According to press reports, he was also caught on tape discussing the deals, while an FBI search of his home uncovered $90,000 in cash stuffed in his freezer.



9. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH): Ohio Republican Congressman Bob Ney resigned in early November 2006, three weeks after pleading guilty for accepting bribes from an Indian casino in exchange for legislative favors. Ney was the first congressman to be convicted of a crime in the web of scandals involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and is expected to serve a jail sentence.



10. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): Senator Reid came under fire in 2006 for failing to properly report to Congress a $700,000 land deal. Reid also accepted more than $30,000 of Abramoff-tainted money allegedly in return for his "cooperation" in matters related Nevada Indian gaming.


Dishonorable Mentions include:

1. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): According to complaints released by the House Ethics Committee recently, aides to Representative John Conyers (D-MI) alleged their former boss repeatedly violated House ethics rules, forcing them to serve as his personal servants, valets, and as campaign staff while on the government payroll.



2. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI): In May 2006, Kennedy crashed his car into a Capitol Hill barricade at nearly 3 a.m. in the morning. Kennedy blamed the incident on a reaction to prescription pills, but officers at the scene said he smelled of alcohol. Nonetheless, they escorted him home rather than arresting him.

3. Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA): McKinney assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer in April after refusing to go through a metal detector. While McKinney was never forced to answer in a court of law for her behavior, she lost her bid for re-election in 2006.




4. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA): Iraq war critic John Murtha was incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's first choice for House Majority Leader despite the ethical skeletons in his closet. Murtha is an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1980 "Abscam" scandal, which included the arrest and convictions of a senator and six congressmen. Murtha, whose current ethics continue to be questioned, lost his bid for Majority Leader to Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer.


5. Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL): News reports surfaced in 2006 that Illinois Senator Barak Obama entered into an unusual land deal with a now- indicted political fundraiser, Tony Rezko. The complicated real estate transaction occurred when it was widely known that Rezko was under federal investigation in a political corruption scandal.



6. David Safavian, Former Bush Administration Official: Safavian, the former White House Chief of Procurement and former Chief of Staff for the General Services Administration, was indicted on September 19, 2006 on five counts of lying about his dealings with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and obstructing a Senate investigation of his dealings. Safavian resigned from his White House position three days prior to his arrest. "This list shows public corruption is endemic to our nation's capital and that the anti-corruption work of Judicial Watch is needed more than ever," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "The list could be much longer, as there are far too many politicians who abuse the public trust and place themselves above the law."

Visit http://www.judicialwatch.org for more information."

As far as the new "Superman," "Rockstar," "Messiah," whatever, Sen. Barak Obama, what is it with LWL and illegal land deals? Seems to be a trend. I told you, well, hinted about this Monday.

I do not know about you, but if you look at this list, you have a lot more LWL than you do RWN {Right Wing Nuts} Included in this list are the two that most LWL want on one ticket. Hillary "Amnesia" Clinton, and Barak Hussein Obama.

The more we learn about these people, the more the American people will start to realize just how BIG of a mistake they made by voting without being informed of whom they were voting for.
Peter

Update on Little Hitler

Hey folks,

Well no more news as for who these people are. Just they are not with Little Hitler. The story I quoted this morning said,

"Opponents of Iran's ultra-conservative president won nationwide elections for local councils, final results confirmed Thursday, an embarrassing outcome for the hardline leader that could force him to change his anti-Western tone and focus more on problems at home."

Well, according to Iran Focus, this is NOT the case so far, they reported yesterday,

"The oppressive powers will disappear while the Iranian people will stay. Any power that is close to God will survive while the powers who are far from God will disappear like the pharaohs," he said, according to Iranian news agencies.

"Today, it is the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime which are doomed to disappear as they have moved far away from the teachings of God," he said in a speech in the western town of Javanroud.

"It is a divine promise."

Ahmadinejad's comments were the latest salvo by the deeply religious president against the West and Israel. He has repeatedly predicted that Israel is doomed to disappear.

The remarks come amid mounting efforts by UN Security Council powers to agree a resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.

"They are threatening us with sanctions. But they have to know that nuclear energy is the desire of all the (Iranian) people and the people will insist on their right," Ahmadinejad said.

Then today, The AP reports,

"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called President Bush "the most hated person" in the world on Thursday, keeping up his tirades against the West despite elections that showed Iranians want him to focus on the country's domestic problems.

In final results announced Thursday from local elections last week, moderate conservatives opposed to Ahmadinejad won a majority of seats. They were followed by reformists, making a comeback after being driven out of local councils, parliament and the presidency over the past five years."

Break,

"But Ahmadinejad appeared unbowed. He toured cities in western Iran, telling the crowds that Iran will not be intimidated by Western demands to dismantle its nuclear program, and scolding Bush.

"Oh, the respectful gentleman, get out of the glassy palace and know that you are the most hated person in the eyes of the world's nations and you can't harm the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said, according to the official Iranian Republic News Agency.

He said Iran would continue uranium enrichment even under threat of U.N. sanctions. "A nation that has resisted until today will resist until the last step and will defend its rights," he said."

Now this is interesting,

"Ahmadinejad did not comment on the election results. But his hard-line foreign policy, in the absence of a strong domestic agenda or economic program, is believed to have divided the conservative base that voted him into the presidency last year.

The president has sharply escalated Iran's standoff with the United States and its allies over several issues. Besides uranium enrichment, he has sparked international outrage for his calls to eliminate Israel and for casting doubt on the Nazi Holocaust.

Election results outside Tehran also showed a heavy defeat for Ahmadinejad supporters. None of his candidates won seats on the councils in the cities of Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Sari, Zanjan, Rasht, Ilam, Sanandaj and Kerman, and many councils in other cities were divided like Tehran's.

Similar anti-Ahmadinejad sentiment appeared in final results of a parallel election for the Assembly of Experts, the body of 86 senior clerics that monitors Iran's supreme Islamic leader and chooses his successor."

I think that the AP is making a mistake here though. Even more who read this, run the risk of making the same mistake. Iran is NOT America. Their political system is not the same as ours. Hitler {The original} rose to power through their political system. While the world appeased and ignored, Hitler became bigger than the system. He just took power and control. It then no longer mattered what the Germans "wanted." It was too late.

So far it doesn’t seem that he {Little Hitler} cares what the people want already. Yesterday we will be gone. Today, Bush "the most hated." Still, some here, you know who you are, want to GIVE Iraq to President Ahmadinejad. They want to "talk" to him. They truly think that they can change his mind.

But here’s the problem. His mind is set on world domination. He TRULY believes that he is on a mission from his god. He truly believes that the end is near, and that it is HIS destiny to lead Muslims into the World powers. He TRULY wants you and anyone else non-Muslim, dead. Let’s hope that the people DO have some kind of voice. Sadly, I have my doubts.
Peter

Sources;
AP- "Iran's president says Bush 'most hated'"
Iran Focus- "Ahmadinejad: Britain, Israel, US to 'vanish like the pharaohs'"

Bad News for "Little Hitler"

Hey folks,

This was just posted as I was posting the "Daily Article" here. I am out of time right now, but I wanted to let you know that this has become an interesting situation to watch unfold. According to,

AP- "Ahmadinejad opponents win elections"

Bad news for "Little Hitler."

"Opponents of Iran's ultra-conservative president won nationwide elections for local councils, final results confirmed Thursday, an embarrassing outcome for the hardline leader that could force him to change his anti-Western tone and focus more on problems at home.

Moderate conservatives critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a majority of seats in last week's elections, followed by reformists who were suppressed by hard-liners two years ago. Analysts said the president's allies won less than 20 percent of local council seats across the country.

The vote was widely seen as a sign of public discontent with Ahmadinejad's stances, which have fueled fights with the West and led Iran closer to U.N. sanctions."

Is this a good thing? Like I said, I'm out of time. I need more time to analyze this. I’ll try to get back in later and give you my, always correct, assessment of the situation. {Smile} See you all later. Tomorrow morning without a doubt, if not sooner.
Peter

Sandy Berger Stole, Hid, Attempted to Retrieve.

Hey folks,

Well this is interesting. With all this talk about corruption, rewriting history, and failing to follow ethics rules, we have this report just out. According to the AP,

"President Clinton's national security adviser removed classified documents from the National Archives, hid them under a construction trailer and later tried to find the trash collector to retrieve them, the agency's internal watchdog said Wednesday.

The report was issued more than a year after Sandy Berger pleaded guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents.

Berger took the documents in the fall of 2003 while working to prepare himself and Clinton administration witnesses for testimony to the Sept. 11 commission. Berger was authorized as the Clinton administration's representative to make sure the commission got the correct classified materials.

Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that National Archives employees spotted Berger outside the building, bending down and fiddling with something white around his ankles."

Yes he had the documents in his pants.

"Brachfeld reported that on one visit, Berger took a break to go outside without an escort while it was dark outside.

"He headed toward a construction area. ... Mr. Berger looked up and down the street, up into the windows of the Archives and the DOJ (Department of Justice), and did not see anyone," said notes prepared by the inspector general's office.

He then slid the documents under a construction trailer, according to the inspector general. Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office."

Break,

"In October 2003, the report said, an Archives official called Berger to discuss missing documents from his visit two days earlier. The investigator's notes said, "Mr. Berger panicked because he realized he was caught."

The notes said that Berger had "destroyed, cut into small pieces, three of the four documents. These were put in the trash."

After the trash had been picked up, Berger "tried to find the trash collector but had no luck," the notes said."

So Berger pleaded guilty, was fined $50,000, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and barred from access to classified material for three years. Barred from access to Classified material for THREE YEARS? How about FOREVER. He should NEVER be around anything classified again.

But this is what we are dealing with folks. Just yet another example of it. These Looneys will do ANYTHING. Then they have the MMD to back them. Look at some headlines from yesterday shall we?

Headline "Bush warns of more U.S. losses in Iraq"
What he ACTUALLY said?

"I'm not going to make predictions about what 2007 will look like in Iraq except that it's going to require difficult choices and additional sacrifices because the enemy is merciless and violent," the president said.

Headline "Bush sees setbacks in Iraq, weighs more US troops"
What he ACTUALLY said?

"They can't run us out of the Middle East," he said at a news conference. "They can't intimidate America."

"And over the course of the year they had success," Bush said. "Their success hurt our efforts to help the Iraqis rebuild their country. They set back reconciliation and kept Iraq's unity government and our coalition from establishing security and stability throughout the country."

They set THEMSELVES back. He still says we can win.

This is the best manipulated headline of the day. The honor goes to USA Today,

"Bush: 'We're not winning' in Iraq"

That’s it! He admits it. We’re not winning in Iraq. Time to pull out. Cut and run NOW. The President admits that it’s a failure.

What he ACTUALLY said?

"President Bush said Tuesday that the war in Iraq is in a stalemate and that he wants to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps to help ease problems caused by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We're not winning; we're not losing," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post posted online Tuesday. It was the first time Bush said the U.S. was not winning, as he borrowed the phrase from Gen. Peter Pace. In November, before the elections, Bush had said, "Absolutely, we're winning.""

STALEMATE. WE’RE NOT LOSING. But if you read just the headlines, as a lot of people do, you would believe all is lost. You would believe that the President is worried, and is starting to loose faith in the war. This is NOT true.

Yes, the MMD loves to support the LWL. So when you have them do things and get caught, they can count on the Mass Media to ignore, wish it goes away, {As they even admitted to} and rewrite the situation to put them in a better light.

I looked ALL OVER the place for another version of the Berger story. Couldn’t find any. Not even on the wire. But this IS what you have to look foreword to for the next two years. Another thing to look out for, is their attempt to SILENCE people like me, Rush, or anyone else that disagrees with them. You know, those that like TRUTH. Make no mistake about it. The MMD want THEIR power back as well. The Power to tell you ANYTHING unchallenged.
Peter

Sources;
AP- "Report says Berger hid archive documents"
AP- "Bush warns of more U.S. losses in Iraq"
Reuters-"Bush sees setbacks in Iraq, weighs more US troops"
USA Today- "Bush: 'We're not winning' in Iraq"

Ernest Michel, For Those Who Doubt

Hey folks,

I will not be in the office today, Wednesdays December 20, 2006. I know, I know, I missed two days last week. But that was due to an illness running ramped throughout the family. No today is a better reason. A happy reason. It’s my Wedding Anniversary. Being the man I am, I have to go get something now, I didn’t do it before hand. {Smile}

BUT, for "Little Hitler" and anyone else that denies that the Holocaust happened. Why not ask this guy? Mr. Michel, and all others like him will disagree with you. You see, unlike YOU, he was there.

"When his father told Ernest Michel to learn calligraphy, the Jewish teenager never realized that it would later save his life.

But it was his ability to write that earned him a privileged position in the Auschwitz concentration camp -- filling out death certificates -- and later gave him a front-row seat as a reporter at the war crimes trial of Nazis in Nuremberg.

More than 60 years after the execution of many of those Nazi leaders, Michel, who now lives in New York, has forgotten how to speak his mother tongue.

But his memories of entering Nuremberg's Palace of Justice as a 22-year-old on a cold November morning are branded in his mind."

Read the whole story Reuters-"Auschwitz survivor recalls brush with top Nazi"

See you all tomorrow.
Peter

Affirmative Action, Racism, Plain and Simple.

Hey folks,

I saw this article last night, and it’s just sticking in my head. It’s from the AP, reprinted on Newsmax.com,

Newsmax.com-"Mich. to Delay Affirmative Action Ban"

"Michigan's three top-tier universities can continue using race and gender in admissions and financial aid awards through the current admission cycle, under an agreement proposed Monday.

A ballot measure passed Nov. 7 bars public universities and governments from using affirmative action in admissions and hiring. The law was to take effect Saturday, but the state and a group seeking to throw out the law agreed to delay it."

STOP!! Translation time. It was on the ballot. People VOTED for it. This was not some attempt by some judge or group to further agenda. It may have started this way. But it was put to the people. The people voted. They WANT to do away with Affirmative Action. But the reason for the delay, is understandable,

"The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University had sought more time to implement some of those changes since they're already accepting new students for admission next fall.

The universities want to complete this year's admissions and financial aid cycles using the same standards that have been in place since the process began earlier this year. Those cycles, which end in May 2007 or later, mostly affect students who would enter college in fall 2007."

Now the definition of racism according to Wikipedia

When racism, a belief, is applied in practice, it takes forms such as prejudice, discrimination, segregation or subordination. Racism can more narrowly refer to a system of oppression, such as institutional racism.Institutional racism (or structural racism or systemic racism) is a theoretical form of racism that occurs in institutions such as public bodies and corporations, including universities. The term was coined by black nationalist, pan-Africanist and honorary prime minister of the Black Panther Party Stokely Carmichael. In the late 1960s, he defined the term as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin".[1]

OK, now what is Affirmative Action? Affirmative Action is supposed to be a program designed to end racism, but isn't it really justifying racism by it's own actions. Yet it judges and awards people solely on skin color and gender. That is discrimination in itself. This can not be an affirmative program if there is a form of discrimination involved. Instead of choosing a candidate for a job or for school admission, because of one's color or gender, it should be because of their talents and abilities.

As a great man once said, "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King.

Imagine if you would if three people took a test to get into an University. The White male get’s 60%, the Woman get’s 80%, and the Black male aces it. The White male get’s in. "That is the whole reason for Affirmative Action. That use to happen all the time." Your right. It did. It was wrong and needed to be fixed. So NOW the White male aces it. The Black male get’s a 80, and the Woman get’s a 60. The Black man and the Woman get’s in. This is NOT racism and discrimination? Of course it is.

Everyone has the opportunity to advance in this country, you just have to take the initiative. It SHOULD be the best person for the job, the best qualified to get in to the University, what they can do, NOT what they look like. If you truly want equality, then you have to do away with ANY form of reward or penalty base on race or sex. Let the better person get the job, position in school, ETC. I bet if you put this on a national ballot, you would have the same result. It would be voted to END Affirmative Action. As well it should be.
Peter

The 08 Elections,? Clinton, Obama?

Hey folks,

Well, it’s almost official, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, the people to beat? Sen. Evan Bayh seems to think so. He pulled out. He said he didn’t feel he can compete with them. According to the AP

"Sen. Evan Bayh on Saturday ended his White House bid while 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards finalized plans to get in, fast-paced jockeying in a Democratic race under the shadow of two unannounced candidates.

Bayh decided he could not compete with Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, whose possible candidacies have dominated the positioning almost two years before the actual election.

Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, has decided he can and is planning to announce his campaign in New Orleans between Christmas and New Year's, two Democrats said."

So Bayh out and Edwards in? But all eyes are watching Obama. The Mass Media Guru, and the Mass Media Drones have a new mission. Barack Hussein Obama. Some are even toying with the idea of a Clinton / Obama ticket. This is because they do not feel that Clinton can win on her own, and Obama is not experienced enough yet. So people can vote for Obama, and get Clinton in, four years later, it’s Obama time.

This is flawed thinking though. Think about this. We have come a long way in this country, but we have a long way to go. You really want to try the first Woman, and first minority at the same time?

Let’s say that is not an issue. You have the Clinton baggage. You either hate her, or love her. There is no happy medium. Even SHE is panicking over the MMD complete marketing of Obama. So what about him?

Well, as you all know by now, he hates his name being made fun of. He hates being picked on about his big ears. Now he says he fears for HIS and HIS family’s safety. This guy is going to make a run for President?

When the story broke about his middle name being Hussein, he said, "Well, when you start out with Barack, and Obama, there’s not much you can do." he was named after his Muslim Grandfather.

Then he has this now famous "off mic." conversation.

"OBAMA (off mic): You talked about my ears, and I just want to put you on notice: I'm very sensitive about -- What I told them was, ''I was teased relentlessly when I was a kid about my big ears.'

DOWD: We're trying to toughen you up."

The "Media Matters" put it this way,

"Maureen Dowd wrote that potential Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL) is "intriguingly imperfect," citing as one example the fact that "[h]is ears stick out."

Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet wrote that Obama, following a press conference the previous day in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, "headed toward New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and chided her -- in a kidding way -- for a comment in the 12th of 14 paragraphs in an Oct 21 column. She wrote that Obama's 'ears stick out.' " During the exchange, Obama said: "I just want to put you on notice. I'm very sensitive," adding, "I was teased relentlessly when I was a kid about my big ears.""

Now the spinners are spinning, "Oh he was joking." "They are great friends." Vast Right wing conspiracy." "They are scared of Obama." Blah, blah, blah. I heard the audio. He was NOT kidding. But that’s part of the LWL play book. "A botched joke." "Sloppy." "The Republican’s {Bush} fault." "A misunderstanding on YOUR part, because YOU are stupid." ETC. NEVER their fault. They do not make mistakes.

But if you really want to know if Obama, who has done NOTHING, has what it takes to make a real run for it, all you have to do is think about this. NOW he’s worried about his safety and security. According to the Chicago Sun-Times,

"Sen. Barack Obama is concerned about his personal security --telling the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board Thursday that he and his wife fear there is a potential for violence -- even if he does not run for president
.
"Being shot, obviously, that is the least-attractive option,'' Obama said.

The Illinois Democrat told the Sun-Times he has concluded a 2008 White House bid "would be viable" and he would have "a pretty good chance of winning the nomination.''

For the first time, Obama talked about the downside of his swelling popularity, before his expected presidential announcement in January, after a vacation in his native Hawaii.

Security, Obama said, referring to his wife, is "something that is on Michelle's mind. And the minds of many of my friends.

"I think it is something that will have to be addressed if I ran. You are not assigned Secret Service protection until you are effectively the nominee."

Obama said he "might have to build in" his own security provisions.

"Now I will tell you, this is something, this is one of the least-attractive -- not the part about being shot, obviously, that is the least-attractive option. But even just having a security apparatus around you; one of the things that I have been very proud over the last several years, is, for all the hoopla, I am not an entourage guy.

"...I have been accessible, and Michelle and I have gone out of our way not to change our habits. Even if I am not to run for president, the crush of attention has created a different set of problems."

Obama's family has been nervous for some time for his safety. On Sunday, Obama found himself surrounded by hundreds of people at two stops in New Hampshire. In Nairobi, Kenya, last August, Obama at a stop grabbed a bullhorn to talk to thousands of men stampeding in a street to see him.

During that Kenyan visit, Obama's half sister, Auma, gave an interview to Laurie Abraham of Elle magazine in which she worried about his safety.

"Not to be offensive, there are crazy people in America as well, with crazy ideas. And at the end of the day, what matters is that he's a black man. The history of America is quite violent,'' Auma said in a story in the Elle December issue."

STOP!! You get the point. He wants special treatment. His Sister thinks the "Crazy People" in America will hurt him. The Mass Media Drones feel they have a free ticket now. After all, they got the Left elected on NOTHING. They feel they can get Obama in with no experience, nor plan. Oh, he wants a Canadian style health care system. You know, the FAILED one.

The MMD have turned this guy into a rock star. He is "sexy." People just want to touch him. Yes he is their messiah. The one who will save America from any chance of the Republican taking office in 08. They have even put him over Clinton at this point. He is Superman. But the problem is, he is not. He seems to be turning into a whiney little juvenile that knows nothing. Has done nothing. That wants special treatment. "Don’t pick on me. Protect me. Help me." {Sigh}

What do you think he will do when Hillary REALLY starts to feel threatened and starts to come after him? Can he even handle this? Will he "toughen up"? So far, he is not showing any signs of it. Maybe Rush calling him "Odumbo" and Maureen and others picking on him a little more might do the trick. But he already has a questionable real-estate deal. What is he going to do when his past is REALLY thrown into the light? But then again, he DOES have the MMD and seemingly the LWL on his side.
Peter

Source;
AP- "Edwards set to launch '08 bid; Bayh out"
Chicago Sun-Times- "Trail of fears"
Media Matters- "MSNBC's Carlson joins Limbaugh in taking Obama "big ears" comment seriously"

IWA for Sunday, December 17, 2006

Hey folks,

It’s SUNDAY! Time for the IWA. This week’s winner most definitely deserves it for the complete lack of reason and blind greed. If you ask me, the winner got what they deserve. Actually, they must be having a pretty good Christmas. First, a gift from Rupert Murdock, and now, the Idiot of the Week Award.

Who am I talking about? Rupert Murdoch’s top book publisher, Judith Regan. According to,

ABC-"Canned at Christmas: Murdoch Axes O.J. Publisher"


Dec. 16, 2006 — - Just what does media giant Rupert Murdoch get his top book publisher, Judith Regan, for Christmas?

Apparently, a permanent vacation."

I love this,

"News of Judith Regan's Firing Broke During Company Christmas Party"

So why would he fire his top publisher?

"Regan, who recently made headlines for planning, then pulling, O.J. Simpson's quasi-confession, "If I Did It," was fired Friday by HarperCollins, a subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corp. Word broke during the company's holiday party.


"Judith Regan's employment with HarperCollins has been terminated effective immediately," Jane Friedman, HarperCollins CEO, said in a statement."

Noone saw this coming,

"It's a shock," said David Hauslaib, publisher and editor of the New York media gossip blog, Jossip. "Judith Regan is such an asset to her publishing imprint, to HarperCollins, to News Corp. as a whole. This is really important, because you have this blockbuster personality who is suddenly axed from the publishing house she built, made a name for, and has really delivered for. She does great things for the News Corp. bottom line."

"I hesitate to call Judith a diva, but certainly that's the reputation that's attached to her," Hauslaib said. "She makes and breaks writers."

Break,

"When word broke that Regan was putting out a book in which O.J. describes what he would have done if he had committed the murders, the public outcry was swift. The families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were outraged. Murdoch stepped in and, despite the millions already sunk in the project, nixed the book the day before it shipped. He also cancelled a taped interview Regan did with Simpson that was to air on the Fox network.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," Murdoch said. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

"Rupert Murdoch does not back down," Hauslaib said, "and to have him publicly acknowledge a mistake and apologize to Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman's families is quite out of character."

Hauslaib predicts Regan will bounce back."

Well of course she will. But did she even THINK about how idiotic it was of her to even consider OJ’s book? OJ is an idiot. No doubt about it. But to think that she could make millions on "If I did It" and NOT think of it’s effect on A LOT of people, was indeed just plain stupid.

Congratulations Judith Regan, you ARE the Idiot of the Week. A little advice for you, to "bounce back," stay AWAY from OJ.
Peter

"JMT" Saturday, December 16, 2006

"Santa"

Hey folks,

First, I apologize for my absence the last two days. You do not feel it coming, it just hits you. Just about my whole family got it all at once. For those who are concerned, my Niece is doing a little better today. Hopefully all is well with her soon as well. Thank you for your well wishes and prayers.

So, let’s talk about Santa. This is a concept that I never knew, never even thought would be an issue with me. I grew up like so many others in the fact I believed in Santa. I remember fondly, of the milk and cookies out at night. I remember looking out the window waiting and hoping to catch a glimpse of the jolly red fellow. I remember almost hearing the reindeer walking on the roof. I remember not being able to sleep Christmas eve, and the MAGIC of Christmas morning.

I also remember going to Sunday school, church plays, "The Reason For the Season." {I was Joseph} I remember being taught that this is the day the world has set aside to honor Jesus coming to earth, to die for my sins.

Then I would go home and start the prior routine. Where I watched the Christmas specials from Rudolph, Frosty, to good old Charlie Brown. STILL waiting for Santa.

So I said when I got a little older, I cannot wait until I can be Santa to my kids. But NOW? Now that I have a Son, I am having a conflict in myself as to whether I SHOULD. Since he is only 18 months old, I figured, I got time to figure it out. But then I see this story,

WCBS 2 NY- "Santa Look-A-Like Gets In Trouble At Disney World"

"(CBS) ORLANDO, Fla. A strange case of mistaken identity has left a Florida man shaking his head after the man, who resembles Santa Claus, got into trouble at Walt Disney World, CBS affiliate WFOR-TV reports.

The whole mess began when a group of excited children created a scene at Disney World after they confused 60-year old J.D. Worley with St. Nick himself.

The rotund, white bearded man graciously played along with the dreamy-eyed kids, and that, he says, sparked problems with the Orlando theme park management."

Now do not get me wrong. I think this guy did nothing wrong. He most likely gets this all the time, so what is so bad about making some kids day? But Disney would have NOTHING to do with that. {They cannot make any money with him} so they told him to stop. Now,

"Disney states it's not because he looks like Santa but because Worley said he was Santa to the children who asked him.

Worley claims Disney officials asked him to alter his appearance so he took off his red hat. However, Worley said he can't help looking like the Santa. "I look this way 24/7, 365 days a year," he explained. "This is me.""

STOP!!! DISNEY TOLD HIM TO ALTER HIS APPEARANCE!!!! Are you kidding me? According to this story,

"Worley still loves Disney and Christmas but says he left the happiest place on earth, a little sad.

A Disney spokesman says the park was just trying to protect the magic of Santa."

If you ask me, he was adding to the magic of Santa. Here are kids on vacation, having fun, and all of a sudden, "There’s Santa." What was wrong with him playing along? Nothing.

So this got me thinking about my quandary again. What do I do with Joshua. Now you folks know, for the lack of a better term, I’m a "Christian." I believe in Jesus the Christ, God, and the plan of Salvation. No doubt about it. You can tell by some of the things I write about. As a matter of fact, next weeks "JMT" {Just My Thoughts} will most likely be about the reason of Christmas.

But what about the magic of Santa? Some in the religion sector denounce the whole thing. They will tell you "Oh great, so you want to start off your kids lives by lying to them." Then, you have those outside them saying, "What’s wrong with it? It’s just fun and games." Then you have even more people who ACTUALLY still believe in Santa "The ‘Spirit’ of Santa."

So as you can see, I have some things to think about. Does it have to be one or the other? Do I have to chose? Or is there a balance between the magic of Santa, and the faith of Jesus?
Peter

Just a Quick Check In

Hey folks,

First, I apologize for my absence the last day and a half, along with the rest of today. I have been under the weather, as well as the rest of my family. Joshua is just getting over it. Then just this morning my Niece was rushed to the Hospital. She is home and resting fine now. She has been told she has a respiratory infection. She has Asthma so when she says "I can’t breath," we take her seriously. I just got here today to check in and let you all know that I’m still alive, and apologize for my absence again. I will see you all tomorrow for a double shot Sunday. Maybe even more. See you then.
Peter

Balance Of Senate Vs Man's Life? Sick.

Hey folks,

OK, I’ve been under the weather for the last few days. I haven’t been my usual, ever vigilant, always watchful, all knowing {Smile} self. But I could not miss the big news. On every news outlet this morning, and pretty much all day, the big news was the possibility of the balance of power shifting back to the Republican in the Senate.

You have close to absolute glee by some on the Right. You have absolute PANIC by the LWL, and the mass media drones. Both sides are planing the what if. Am I the only one that finds this SICK? Seriously.

I understand strong feelings when it comes to Politics. I understand hard feeling by the Right. I understand the "joy" of the Left, and MMD. Did I vote the LWL in power? No. Truthfully, they scare me a bit. If they are allowed to simply be who they are, they would tear this country apart, your safety and security gone. War lost. The enemy enabled. I just pointed out this morning some examples of what you have to look forward to in the next two years. But folks, there are just some times when you have to throw politics out the window and all come together. The War SHOULD be, but it’s not. This most definitely should be.

While all this debate, including the ONLY link I am posting on this right now, is going on, a man’s life is on the line.

Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson suffered what some are speculating to be a stroke or some other life threatening bleeding from the brain. Someone sent me the recording of the phone interview he was giving when it happened. No I will not post it here. Although I found it interesting to hear it happen, I also found it to be disturbing. I do not know if Rush, Hannity, CNN, WABC, whatever, aired this recording yet, but I’m sure you can find it on the internet if you are really interested on listening to it.

So what was all the news about today? Was it about this fellow human being collapsing and coming to the point of death? Was it about how his family felt or was dealing with it? Was it a call to prayer for him and his family? No. It was about the balance of power in the Senate.

I'm sorry, but I truly find this sick. Politics are one thing, humanity is another.
Even tonight, I was checking for an update on Senator Johnson and found this article by the AP,

AP- "Sen. Johnson 'recovering' after surgery"

"Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson remained in critical condition but was described as recovering and holding his wife's hand Thursday after emergency overnight surgery to repair bleeding inside his brain."

According to the Doctors,

"The South Dakota lawmaker, 59, was on "an uncomplicated postoperative course," the U.S. Capitol physician said after visiting him Thursday afternoon. Johnson suffered a hemorrhage in his brain caused by a rare and sometimes fatal condition.

"He has been appropriately responsive to both word and touch. No further surgical intervention has been required," said the physician, Adm. John Eisold. He had said earlier, "The senator is recovering without complication."

Johnson was responding to the voice of his wife, Barbara, and following directions after the surgery, the senator's office said in a statement. "He was reaching for and holding her hand.""

I say thank God. I also hope and pray that he and his family have peace in this time of need. Right this second, I couldn’t care less who controls the Senate. It’s such a minute control it makes little difference. But He himself, is of insurmountable importance to his family. His wife, Barbara Johnson, said the family "is encouraged and optimistic." I hope they continue to be.

The thing that really makes me sick is that even after the frenzy all day, after the panic and glee, after all the planning, scheming and plotting, the AP couldn’t even just do an update? The very second paragraph of this very article says,

"His sudden illness had raised questions over whether the Democrats would hold their newly won slim control of the Senate."

That’s an understatement. {Sigh} Let me go on record right now, and say I DO truly wish Mr. Johnson a speedy and full recovery. I hope that his family will receive the peace they need at this time. Politics will take care of itself, and what will be, will be. Right now, can’t we all just come together in the name of humanity and wish the Senator well?
Peter

The Arrogance, Ignorance of The Left.

Hey folks,

Good Thursday morning to you. This is what you should expect, the complete arrogance and ignorance of the Left. Examples like these for the next two years. Make no mistake about it, this is NOT about Iraq. This is NOT about attempting to find a solution to the war, nor is it about, bringing our troops home. This is about 15 minutes of fame. This is about power. This is about the spotlight and politics.

Let me ask you a question. Do you know who Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida is? I do. If you follow politics, you most likely have heard his name. He is a little less obscure then some, but most probably would answer, no. But you will know who he is now.

"In a direct affront to the Bush administration, a Democratic senator spent an hour Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, emerging from the meeting to say Assad was willing to help control the Iraq-Syrian border.

Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, met with Assad after the State Department said that it disapproved of his trip. The United States has limited diplomatic ties with Syria because of its support of Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. deems terrorist organizations, and President Bush has expressed reluctance to seek help from Damascus on Iraq until the Syrians curb that support and reduce their influence in Lebanon."

He said after the ONE HOUR meeting,

""Assad clearly indicated the willingness to cooperate with the Americans and or the Iraqi army to be part of a solution" in Iraq, Nelson told reporters in a conference call following the meeting. The U.S. says foreign fighters often enter Iraq across that boundary.

Syrian officials have indicated a willingness before to engage the U.S. in discussions about Iraq, which the Bush administration has treated with skepticism. Nelson said he viewed Assad's remarks as "a crack in the door for discussions to continue. I approach this with realism not optimism."

Nelson said he reported the information to embassy officials and will brief his congressional committees on the trip. Also expected to visit Syria is Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa..

"We don't think that members of Congress ought to be going there," White House press secretary Tony Snow said, adding that the United States continues to denounce Syria's meddling in Lebanon and its ties to terrorist groups."

So this Idiot, who claims, "I have a constitutional role as a member of Congress," knows better than those who know these people and have been dealing with these people for years? He is smarter than the President, wiser than those on the ground there. Just one hour of "smart talks" with Assad will convince him that we can work together, stop funding those killing our troops and our allies, and bring peace in the nation. Yes folks, just an hour conversation of the brilliance and compassion from these far superior intellectuals will convince them to just get along, and play nice.

"Another Democratic senator announced he too was heading for Syria for a meeting with Assad next week. Connecticut's Chris Dodd said in a statement he originally planned to make the trip in April but at that time heeded a senior administration official's warnings not to go.

This time, he said he was going despite State Department opposition because "it is clear that a policy of isolation has not altered Syria's behavior and the instability in the region is greater, not less, than it was eight months ago."

STOP! Translation time, Dodd said "Yeah I know they are continuing to fund those who are killing our troops. I know they haven't stopped. I even just said that. But since the President will not talk to them, I will. I will be a hero. I will dazzle them with my vast brilliance and they will see that we are the good guys, and they will stop. They will like us. They will help us."

White House spokesman Tony Snow said,

"I think it is a real stretch to think that the Syrians don't know where we stand or what we think. We have made it clear and we will continue to make it clear."

"What has not happened is the appropriate response by the Syrians in terms of their adventurism within the region, especially with regard to Lebanon, their continued support and housing of terrorist organizations."

But wait Tony, these idiots are smarter than you. They are smarter than the President. They do not care if they are meeting with those that are funding the killing of our soldiers. When they are done talking with them, there will be peace and harmony in the region and the world will like us.
Yes folks, this is what you have to look forward to for the next two years. The arrogance, the idiotic attitude and actions, of the LWL. Like this story out of NY,

"A New York state senator (Democrat, Bronx - 31st Senatorial District) stole $423,000 in charity money to pay for indulgences like a Dominican cigar-making company, authorities said on Tuesday as they announced charges against him.

Between 1999 and 2005 Efrain Gonzalez Jr., 58, directed the state legislature to send grant monies to a Bronx charity, where a friend redirected the funds to a shell charity that was the senator's "conduit for paying personal expenses," the U.S. attorney's office said."

Along with Murtha, Reid, Jefferson, Clinton, you have the corrupt who will investigate corruption, the immoral talking about religion and morality, and those who know NOTHING about the situation in the war, talking to those that want us dead. Are you sure this is what America voted for?
Peter

Sources;
AP-"Fla. senator defies Bush, visits Syria"
CNN- "Bush says he won't be rushed on Iraq changes"
Reuters-"Bush criticizes Syria; U.S. senator sees Assad"
Reuters- "NY senator charged with fraud over charity funds"

Ahmadinejad, Holocaust a Myth, Israel Days Numbered.

Hey folks,


I told you this was the plan. They learned well from US. Just like the "Surrender Money" report, I said,

"It’s simple folks. He denied it then. They will deny it again AFTER the conference. They have the SAME goal! THEY want Israel, hold on a second, translation time, THEY WANT JEWS DEAD, wiped of the face of the map. Someone said to me they other day, you can be anti-Israel, and not anti-Jew. No you can’t. Israel is Jew. Plain and simple. So they are now holding this conference?

You know folks, the more I think about this, the more it reminds me of something else. Let’s see, they do not believe it. They want mass consensus that they were trying to understand. They will "find" what they already believe and put it in writing announcing that this is now fact. Sound familiar? Hey, maybe they took the play out of the LWL hand book."

Well, what happened after the conference? According to Reuters-"Iranian president says Israel's days are numbered"

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday told delegates at an international conference questioning the Holocaust that Israel's days were numbered."He said,

"Thanks to people's wishes and God's will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want," he said.

"Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out," he added.

Get this,

"His words received warm applause from delegates at the Holocaust conference, who included ultra-Orthodox anti-Israel Jews and European and American writers who argue the Holocaust was either fabricated or exaggerated."

"ultra-Orthodox anti-Israel Jews and European and American writers who argue the Holocaust was either fabricated or exaggerated." In other words Idiots. Did you realize that Dave Duke was among those there?

Then {Laughing} He said this,

"Iran says it organized the conference to shed light on the reasons behind the formation of the state of Israel after World War Two and to allow researchers from countries where it is a crime to question the Holocaust to speak freely.

"Iran is your home and is the home of all freedom seekers of the world," Ahmadinejad said. "Here you can express your views and exchange opinions in a friendly, brotherly and free atmosphere.""

You see folks, in "Little Hitler’s" warped little mind, he, and others, feel that if there was no Holocaust there is no reason for Israel to exist. But I cannot stop laughing at, "Iran is the home of all freedom seekers of the world." As long as you agree with and fit into "Little Hitler’s" agenda.

"Human rights groups frequently number Iran as one of the world's worst violators of free speech, where scores of newspapers have been closed, journalists jailed, access to Web sites blocked and government critics hounded out of the country."

No folks, I do not care that,

"The head of the new committee, identified as Iranian academic Mohammad Ali Ramin, said its members were "not racist or opposed to any particular group."

"Rather they are just seeking the truth to set humanity truly free," the ISNA students news agency quoted him as saying, without naming the committee members."

I have to mention, doesn’t that sound an AWFUL lot like something the LWL would say? Anyone that believes this Bunk is a fool. I hope that "Little Hitler" is stopped, as it stands right now, we will have to deal with him later rather than sooner, but we will still have to deal with him. How many Jews will have to die this time?
Peter

Protesters, Slow Rise to Power, or Sign or True Hope?

Hey folks,

As you know I have been watching "Little Hitler"{Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad} for a while now. I’ve point out the similarities between him and the original. I’ve let you know what he has been saying his goal is. I’ve pointed out the fact that there were some in this country and around the world, that chose to ignore the original until it was too late. There are some in this country and around the world that feel the same about this version. I keep warning that we should not wait until it’s too late again.

Still no word if they now recognize the Holocaust as fact yet.

Well I have been having a conversation with one of my new found friends Nikolay. Nikolay is attempting to give me a more in-depth view of the situation and the "Surrender Money" report. It has been a very interesting conversation. On this one point, I truly hope Nikolay is right. "Little Hitler" will not be around too long. There are many that do not agree with him, nor will allow him free reign.

Well, according to CNN last night,

"TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian students have staged a rare demonstration against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, setting off firecrackers and burning pictures of him as he delivered a speech at Tehran university, reports said.

Iran's semi-official FARS news agency and a student news Web site reported that a group of students Monday briefly interrupted Ahmadinejad's speech at Amir Kabir University by booing and chanting "Death to the dictator."

A student who attended the speech but did not want to be named confirmed those reports to CNN."

Now of course they are going to downplay this incident,

"But Iran's official state-run news agency, IRNA, said the students "expressed their views in a cordial atmosphere," and chanted "Down with dictators," which was met with agreement by Ahmadinejad, who denounced the "dictatorships" in the United States and Britain.

A spokesman for Ahmadinejad's office downplayed the incident, saying that the students burned some papers but it was not clear if they were pictures of the president, as others reported."

"Little Hitler" continued attacking and placing the blame on the US and Britain. He said,

"A small number of who claim there is suppression here are themselves creating a suppressive atmosphere and will not allow the majority to listen," FARS quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

And,

"In response to the students slogans of 'Down with Dictators', the president said, 'We have been standing up to dictatorship so that no one will dare to establish dictatorship in a millennium even in the name of freedom.'

"'Given the scars inflicted on the Iranian nation by agents of the U.S. and British dictatorship, no one will ever dare to initiate the rise of a dictator,' the president said."

This one paragraph is interesting as well. You have to realize that Iran is not America. They do not have the "First Amendment",

"On its English-language Web site, IRNA said Ahmadinejad held "sincere talks" with the students and "during the three-hour meeting, representatives of various student groups expressed their views in a cordial atmosphere."

That must have been an interesting meeting.

AP puts it this way,

"Iranian students staged a rare demonstration Monday against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, lighting a firecracker and burning his photograph as he delivered a speech at their university, the state news agency reported.

The hard-line leader responded calmly when a small group of students in a crowded hall at Amir Kabir Technical University started chanting "Death to the dictator!" the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

"We have resisted dictatorship for many years — from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution," Ahmadinejad said, according to the agency. "Nobody can bring back a dictatorship even in the name of freedom."

Anti-government protests have been extremely rare since Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005 — even in universities which were once a stronghold of the pro-reform movement. Reformists had already been deeply demoralized before his victory, pushed out of power by hard-liners in Iran's cleric-led government."

So is this a good sign? Could this be proof of the fact that "Little Hitler" is not possible to rise to full power? Or is this just a little hiccup that will be "dealt with." You also have to remember this. A Dictator is not always called a Dictator. Sometimes they are called President. Should be interesting to watch.
Peter

Sources;

CNN- "Students interrupt Iran president"
AP- "Iran students disrupt president's speech"

Iran to Certify, or Reject The Fact of The Holocaust

Hey folks,

Good Monday morning to you. This story is just ridiculous if you want my honest opinion. I do not truly believe that this really warrants too much credibility. It appears that Iran will be hosting a two-day conference exploring the validity of the Nazi Holocaust.

So why does this not deserve credibility? Why should we not be happy and proud that they are taking steps to better understand this dark event in history? Because this conference is a farce. I have a theory why they are doing this, I’ll share later. First, according to CNN,

"TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran on Monday opened a two-day conference exploring the validity of the Nazi Holocaust, a move that has sparked outrage among Jewish groups.

One such group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, planned to counter the event with a teleconference showcasing stories from Holocaust survivors.

Manouchehr Mohammadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for research, told Iran's state-run news agency, IRNA, that Tehran's leaders would accept that the Holocaust occurred if scholars attending the conference could prove that the Nazi regime exterminated 6 million Jews during World War II."

They will accept that it happened if scholars can prove it? I doubt it folks.

""If the Holocaust is a historical event, then is it not warranted to be looked into and researched?" Mohammadi asked rhetorically.

Because of the negative reactions to the nature of the conference, Iran has not announced the names of the participants, but said it would include Jewish scholars and rabbis, IRNA reported.

No one from Israel will attend the conference, which began at 9:30 a.m. (1 a.m. ET), Mohammadi said.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center announced on its Web site that it would convene a videoconference of 70 Holocaust survivors whose personal accounts are intended to counter the Tehran conference.

The center said the conference will be attended by "close to 70 Holocaust revisionists and deniers.""

So it’s going on right now as we speak. But read that last paragraph again.

"The center said the conference will be attended by "close to 70 Holocaust revisionists and deniers.""

Then, just incase you may have forgotten, or just didn’t know, CNN reminded us of an article they printed back on Wednesday, December 14, 2005; Posted: 7:30 p.m. EST (00:30 GMT)

Here are some of the highlights

"TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described the Holocaust as "a myth" and suggested that Israel be moved to Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska."

Break,

"Ahmadinejad sparked widespread international condemnation in October when he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Last week, he also expressed doubt about the killing by the Nazis of six million Jews during World War II, but Wednesday was the first occasion when he said in public that the Holocaust was a myth.

"They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of people in the Iranian city of Zahedan, according to a report on Wednesday from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting."

STOP! He said, "They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred,"

""The West has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets," he said. "(It) deals very severely with those who deny this myth but does not do anything to those who deny God, religion, and the prophet."

"If you have burned the Jews, why don't you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to Israel," Ahmadinejad said.

"Our question is, if you have committed this huge crime, why should the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime?"

Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said: "The combination of a regime with a radical agenda, together with a distorted sense of reality that is clearly indicated by the statements we heard today, put together with nuclear weapons -- I think that's a dangerous combination that no one in the international community can accept."

"What the Iranian president has shown us today is that he is clearly outside the international consensus, he is clearly outside international norms and international legitimacy, and in so doing he has shown the Iranian government for what it is -- a rogue regime opposed to peace and stability and a threat to all its neighboring countries," Regev said."

It goes on to talk about their nuclear program.

It’s simple folks. He denied it then. They will deny it again AFTER the conference. They have the SAME goal! THEY want Israel, hold on a second, translation time, THEY WANT JEWS DEAD, wiped of the face of the map. Someone said to me they other day, you can be anti-Israel, and not anti-Jew. No you can’t. Israel is Jew. Plain and simple. So they are now holding this conference?

You know folks, the more I think about this, the more it reminds me of something else. Let’s see, they do not believe it. They want mass consensus that they were trying to understand. They will "find" what they already believe and put it in writing announcing that this is now fact. Sound familiar? Hey, maybe they took the play out of the LWL hand book.
Peter

Sources;
CNN-"Iran hosts Holocaust conference"
CNN-"Iranian leader: Holocaust a 'myth'"

IWA For Sunday December 10, 2006

Hey folks,

It’s Sunday, time for the IWA. This one is short and sweet. This guy from Portland is most definitely an idiot. No doubt about it.

It has happen to most of us. Myself included, uh, more times than I care to mention. {Smile} There you are, late for work, late going home, or just taking a trip somewhere when you look in the rearview and see flashing lights.

You give the standard, "What’s up Officer, was I doing something wrong?" He gives you the standard, "Do you know how fast you were going?" Of course you do. As soon as you saw him, you looked, tried to slow down without being obvious, and hoped he was eating lunch. But you say, "Uh, no." Then he tells you and asked for your license and registration.

We also know that GREAT feeling when we see the flashing lights as the fly passed us as we slowly pull over. But this guy?

According to KGW.com-"Man Rams Portland Police Upset About Not Being Pulled Over"

"Portland Police Spokesperson Brian Schmautz said shortly after 5:00 p.m. Friday night officers at the Northeast Precinct on NE Emerson St. got a call that someone had just hit one of their patrol cars, then backed up and hit it again.

The officers went outside and saw an abandoned Honda Civic that happened to be right next to the damaged patrol car.

A short time later police found the driver of the Honda, 35-year-old Jason Klopf.

Klopf apparently told officers he was upset because he had been driving around on city streets at over 100 mph and no one ever pulled him over to give him a ticket.

Ramming the police cruiser didn't get him a speeding ticket but Klopf did manage to get himself a trip the Multnomah County Jail on charges of reckless driving and criminal mischief."

Now this report doesn’t say WHY he wanted a ticket. It doesn’t say, why he was driving around 100 miles an hour. But if it was attention from the Portland PD he wanted, he got it. Congratulations Mr. Klopf, you ARE the Idiot of the Week.
Peter

Our Enemies Love The ISG Report

Hey folks,

Yes I know it’s Sunday. Yes the IWA is coming up. But THIS is too important to not comment on. OH how I want so badly to move away from this "Surrender Monkeys" report, but, it is far too important to do that right this second. Turns out Iraq calls it an insult, and our enemies love it. What should that tell you? They are even WRITING our news now?

According to the Christian Science Monitor,

"The Jordan Times - a paper with ties to the state, a US ally - hailed the recent ouster of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the ISG's report as a "return to common sense" in its lead editorial. "All of a sudden Washington appears to be heading towards a less bellicose and more cooperative stand on Middle East issues,'' it wrote, praising the report's recommendations to engage Iran and Syria and start a "gradual pullout of its troops to end the occupation.""

Nabil Amr, a top adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, described the report as "excellent," saying he read it as an acknowledgement of Bush administration failures in Iraq and the region.

"The administration must wake up and see the reality on the ground in the Middle East requires a different policy,'' he says."

Of course. They WANT us to leave. They want us to fail. They WANT Iraq. Get this,

"Zbulun Orlev {That is actually Zvulun Orlev, No pic Avail.} of Israel's right-wing National Religious Party labeled the report "unfriendly" to Israel, particularly in its advocacy for engaging Iran and calling for a "land for peace" approach to the problems in the Palestinian territories, which it says are inflaming regional problems.

"We thought after six years of Bush, the policies which Baker represents had died," Mr. Orlev says, referring to ISG co-chair James Baker, who was the secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush, during which time he pushed for a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a point at a press conference Thursday to say that the report does not necessarily reflect Bush administration policy.

"Israelis know Baker's determination quite well," says Gershon Baskin, co-chair of the Israel-Palestine center for research and information. "If Bush accepts the recommendations, Israelis are going to face pressure they're not used to.""

So the Israelis, our allies, see this report as anti-Semitic, which it is. If we are talking about "talking" to and asking help from someone who said they want to wipe you off the face of the map, that would be fine with YOU?

Then you have this little tidbit,

"One demand has already been articulated. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who makes the final decisions in foreign policy, said US troops must pull out of Iraq before Iran would help reduce the violence: "The occupation of Iraq is not a morsel that the US can swallow," Mr. Khamenei said during a visit by Iraq's president in late November. "The first step to resolve the instability in Iraq is the withdrawal of occupiers from this country and the transfer of security responsibilities to the popular Iraqi government."

The ISG calls for a negotiated settlement with Syria to stop shipping weapons to Hizbullah, the Shiite militant group, and stop allowing Iran to transport weapons across the country to Hizbullah in Lebanon. It calls for Syria's full cooperation in investigating all political assassinations in Lebanon, and to encourage Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist.

In exchange, the ISG recommends that Israel return the Golan Heights to Syria, with an international force on the border that could include US troops, if both countries agree."

I love this following statement. This is the mentality of those that want us to surrender.

"Sure, Iran and Syria may be allowing people to come across their border and providing some arms or money, but the conflict is overwhelmingly about sectarian enmity inside Iraq,'' says Andrew Garfield, a former British military intelligence officer who spent most of last year as an adviser in Iraq and is now a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Washington."

{Laughing} "Sure, Iran and Syria may be allowing people to come across their border and providing some arms or money, but," They are KILLING AMERICAN SOLDIERS!!! Sure but, let’s ask them for help. They say SURE, we’ll help, KILL YOU!! Idiots.

Notice this little note on the bottom of this ridiculous article? Allow me to point it out for you,

"* A stringer in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report."

A "Stinger" =A contestant, player, or other person ranked according to skill. One of "Little Hitler’s" drones helped write this article. Got to love it.

How does Iraq itself feel about this "Surrender Monkeys" report? According to the AP,

"The Iraqi president said Sunday the bipartisan U.S. report calling for a new approach to the war offered dangerous recommendations that would undermine his country's sovereignty and were "an insult to the people of Iraq."

President Jalal Talabani was the most senior government official to take a stand against the Iraq Study Group report, which has come under criticism from leaders of the governing Shiite and Kurdish parties.

He said the report "is not fair, is not just, and it contains some very dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and the constitution.""

He goes on to say,

"I believe that President George Bush is a brave and committed man and he is adamant to support the Iraqi government until they've reached success," he said. He said setting conditions was "an insult to the people of Iraq."

STOP! Wait a second! Now he did it. Someone should tell President Talabani that complimenting President Bush is a sure way to get more people to disagree with him. {Smile}

"If we can agree with the U.S. government to give us the right of organizing, training, arming our armed forces, it will be possible in 2008 (for U.S.-led forces) to start to leave Iraq and to go back home," he said.

"If you read this report, one would think that it is written for a young, small colony that they are imposing these conditions on," Talabani said. "We are a sovereign country."

Then you have this other interesting little tidbit of information in reference to our enemies loving this report,

""Syria's ruling party's Al-Baath newspaper urged Bush to take the Iraq Study Group's report seriously because it would "diminish hatred for the U.S. in region."

STOP AGAIN! That IS the Liberal looney agenda and goal, "have the world love us."

"But if it failed to pick up the positive signals either in the report or in the Syrian welcome of what the report has contained, it (the U.S.) would remain drowned in the quagmire and the situation in the region and the entire world would remain unstable," the newspaper said."

More quotes from President President Jalal Talabani according to the AFP,

"As a whole, I reject this report," he said. "I think that the Baker-Hamilton report is not fair and not just, and it contains dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and its constitution."

"We smell in this report the attitude of James Baker in the aftermath of the war in Kuwait," Talabani said.

So the "Good Guys" see this report as we, the intelligent ones whom chose to see reality, as a worthless piece of garbage, anti-Semitic, and could even possibly constitute AIDING the enemy. The enemy "Bad Guys" LOVES it. So what should that tell you?
Peter

Sources;
AP-"Talabani calls Iraq report 'dangerous'"
AFP-"Talabani blasts 'insulting' US report on Iraq"
Christian Science Monitor-"Arab world welcomes Iraq Study Group report"

December 9, 2006



"Words Have Power"


Hey folks,

This is going to be one of those either you get it, or don’t. This is one of those things that either you believe it or you don’t. But regardless, it is true.

"My Momma always told me, if you ain’t got something nice to say to somebody, don’t say nothing at all." GREAT advice. But do you really understand it? The truth of the matter is this. You can get cut, burned, injured in various ways. It’ll heal. It may leave a scare. But you can go on with life.

But words on the other hand, can cut right to the soul. Destroy one’s spirit. Devastate someone for the rest of their lives. Words have more power than any weapon ever formed.

Have you ever said something to someone that you regret? Something that you would do anything to take back? But the truth is, you can NEVER take it back. You can apologize. You can say your sorry. The recipient may even forgive you. But they may never forget. It may effect them more than either of you will ever know. Until it’s too late.

We all think things sometimes that we probably should never say. Say things under our breath that we should not utter. The worst though, is when we say things out of anger, KNOWING that it will hurt the person you are directing it at. I have said things in my life that are still as crystal clear in my mind as it was when I said it.

Everyone is a person. A real live person. I know this is a simplistic and seemingly a stupidly obvious statement. But do you REALLY understand that? I remember, a while ago, walking down the streets of NYC. If you have never been there, there are nearly always hundreds of people on the street with you. I remember hearing some talking on the phone, talking to each other, about dinner plans, Birthdays, parties, births, deaths, hopes and dreams, ETC. Everyone of them, just like me, you, and everyone else, love, want to be loved, dream dreams, strive for better, fight demons, celebrate victories, laugh, cry, and just want to live.

Here’s the problem. We forget this stupidly obvious fact when these people are not us. In other words, when you look at someone, you know that they are like you, but you do not really think about it. They are NOT you. So you may think things about them like "Man, that person is FAT. Do they REALLY need another donut?" Or "I wonder who ever had sex with that person. Maybe the kid isn’t their’s." Or "What is that person doing in a place like this?" I guess this is normal. I guess this is harmless pondering. But it changes when you actually say it.

You also have to realize that you can say things that you do not mean for it to, nor realize that it did, make an effect on someone. I will never forget this one day back when I was in the Hotel Business. It was a special event for "Give Kids The World." A great organization by the way, that gives kids with Cancer and other life threatening diseases, along with there care givers, a free vacation to Disney World. I asked for volunteers to come and be there on that day. One of my employees agreed and did not show. A kid herself, I understood. But when I saw her I said, "You really let me down." I went on with life not giving it much more thought. I found out some days later that it effected her in a very profound way. I was told by another employee that she was in tears and very devastated at that one comment. Then I learned that I had to be more careful with how I said things. But my intention was not that of which to devastate her. Just pointed out a fact the way I saw it.

I was in a store the other day shopping for something for dinner. I heard a young child say the things kids say. The truth. Unadulterated and unfiltered truth. "Mommy, the lady is really fat." I looked over to see a very nicely dress lady in about her forties. She was wearing makeup that was really not that nice. I think someone should probably offer her tips on how to apply it properly, and she was over weight. The kid was telling the truth, without a thought of consequences of the words coming out of his mouth.

Now I do not know what the lady was dressed up for. Maybe she was going or coming from an event. Maybe she had a date coming over for dinner. I do not know. I also do not know if she has been trying to loose weight her whole life, or a medical condition, or what. I do know that she was going to an effort to look good for someone. Even if it was just herself. Perhaps she really thought she looked good. I also noticed that the lady heard it. I saw the look on her face as she tried to smile at the Mother of the child. I, being the ever so diligent people watcher and observer of human nature, continued to watch this lady. I noticed that as soon as the Mother and child turned the isle, the lady looked down at herself and was noticeably upset. She was just trying to look nice, and with absolutely no malice intended, a child devastated her.

Now I KNOW how this is going to sound. But it is just the truth. I do not know what it’s like to be corpulent. I have been sightly over weight. Since my Son was born, I’m starting to get that little belly back. Time for a home gym, just can’t make it out that much. But I have never been obese. I do not know what it’s like to be looked down upon because I’m below average looking. I was never picked on in school. I had girlfriends, friends, and never felt out of place. Why should I judge someone standing in my view that I cannot relate to? I do know that they are a person with feelings. Who am I to effect those feelings?

Now this works both ways. Remember what I said a while back?

I make it a point, one hundred percent true, to always ask whomever it is that is in front of me, be it at a mini-mart, shopping center, office, even the toll collectors on the Turnpike, "How’s your day going?" Then I actually stop everything I’m doing and wait for the answer. Try this sometime. It can actually be funny. They do not expect this. This throws them completely off. Sometimes they stop what they are doing and stare at you like a deer in headlights. {An old NY reference. I haven’t seen a deer since coming to Florida 6 years ago.}

When they answer you, make eye contact and smile. If they are honest and tell you how bad their day is, give them words of encouragement. Trust me, this changes the whole situation and may even make that person’s entire day. That is showing them respect. In turn, they will go out of their way to respect YOU. They will even remember you the next time.

You may have no idea how much effect you have on someone. You will NEVER know the full effect you have on everyone you come in contact with. But you do have a choice. You can use the power of words for good, or bad. Whichever you chose, just remember, it’s NOT just words.
Peter

Iraq Report done by "Surrender Monkeys"

Hey folks,

I just cannot get away for this report. It IS all over the place. Do not worry, "Just My Thoughts" coming up in a little bit. But I HAVE to comment on this one report I saw yesterday. The New York Post put on their front page, Baker and Hamilton as monkeys, the headline "Surrender Monkeys" Even the LA Times pointed this out.

LATimes- "Iraq report gets mixed reception in Congress"


"At the other end, the New York Post derided Baker and his co-chairman, former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), on its front page as "Surrender Monkeys," and included photo illustrations of two simians wearing the elder statesmen's faces."

{Laughing hard, tear to eye, banging hand on desk} "Surrender Moneys?" Now I said,

"Look folks, it’s really simple. This report is not worth the paper it is written on. It’s the same old stuff. So I’ll let the mass media drones and the Liberals have fun with it. All in all, it really means NOTHING."

I just responded to Sam that I truly believe THIS to be what really went on with this group.

"They have been saying now for years. "This is an un-just war. We cannot win. We need to turn over the situation to someone else.{UN, now Iran and Syria} We need to bring our troops home. ETC." then they said to themselves, "Not enough people in this country believe as we do. We need to create a "consensus." of our view. Let’s go there. Spend some time, interview some people, and come back and put in writing, what we believe. This will show the mass population that we care. We went there, at great risk to ourselves. We studied the situation there. Here is what we ‘found.’ Then we will have the Mass Media report this. That WE know now how devastating the situation is. That Bush failed. And that WE know best."

This is EXACTLY what is happening. The MMD is reporting daily how "dire" the situation is, we cannot win, we must talk to Iran. Bush MUST listen to this report. Problem is, Bush is smarter than that. He is not bound by ANYTHING to do with this report."

But even I have not gone so far as to call them "Surrender Monkeys." {Laughing again} The LA Times said yesterday, that this report is NOT being received the way that it was intended. They pointed out the fact that even a lot of Politicians are trying to distance themselves from it. They also give, unknown if this was intentional, a clear picture of how desperate Baker is to make this report matter. The article by Maura Reynolds and Doyle McManus reads,

"WASHINGTON — The co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group urged Congress on Thursday to build a bipartisan consensus around their recommendations and use it to press President Bush to change course in Iraq.

They didn't get their wish."

{Laughing} I’m sorry folks. This is hilarious.

""I hope we don't treat this like a fruit salad, and say, 'I like this, but I don't like that,' " former Secretary of State James A. Baker III pleaded before the Senate Armed Services Committee as it considered the findings of the report.

The senators promptly ignored his request, picking and choosing among the panel's findings, praising some and condemning others.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) disagreed strongly with the panel's call for a withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008, calling it "a recipe that will lead to our defeat.""

Amen,

"Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) questioned the commission's proposal that the administration approach Iran in search of help in stabilizing Iraq.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) seemed skeptical of Baker's view that Israel could help by returning the occupied Golan Heights to Syria.

And Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) took issue with the panel's suggestion that the United States should consider warning Iraq's government that U.S. troops could be withdrawn unless political reforms accelerate.

All those critiques came on top of earlier negative reactions. At one end of the spectrum, war critic Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) complained that the panel didn't call for a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops."

Murtha is nothing more than a corrupt idiot, and part of the dying LWL.

"At the other end, the New York Post derided Baker and his co-chairman, former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), on its front page as "Surrender Monkeys," and included photo illustrations of two simians wearing the elder statesmen's faces."

Here is one of the biggest understatements of the year,

"It wasn't exactly the reception Baker and Hamilton had in mind."

Now listen to this exchange between Senator John Warner and James Baker,

"Yes, the Congress is very impressed with your report," Warner said. "But … before the Congress rushes in, I'm just hopeful we can have all points."

Baker pressed his case: "Could you say, 'This is good until something better comes along'?"

Warner demurred. "I'll let your question stand unanswered," he said.

"I’ll let your question stand unanswered." It was a desperation and idiotic question. Baker wants so badly to have this report MEAN something. They all risked life and limb to go there and do this in-depth investigation and comeback to let YOU people know, what they "found."

Here is what Hamilton said attempting to help their cause,

"Our work and our ideas have been taken seriously," Hamilton said. "Part of it is just the environment in the country today, which is desperate for a solution in Iraq.

Yes, seriously as a joke. Seriously as something NOT to do. Then you have to get this point. When talking about asking "Little Hitler" for help,

""They are, after all, supporting Hezbollah, which gathers people in the square in Beirut to shout 'Death to America,' " Lieberman said. "Why is there any reasonable belief that the Iranians should do any of the things that you think they should do?"

Baker acknowledged that Iran would probably prefer to see the United States fail in Iraq, but pointed out that they were helpful during military operations in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We suspect they will not come" to regional discussions, Baker said. "But what do we lose by approaching them, in the same way that this same administration has approached them with respect to Afghanistan?""

So he KNOWS Iran wants us to fail in Iraq, yet he STILL wants to talk to them? These guys either just do not get it, or they do not actually care. They see this as a case of, if we lose in Iraq, Bush bad. They are justified. But as I keep warning you about, they are not just playing with our soldiers live’s, they are playing with YOURS. Maybe they really are "Surrender Monkeys."
Peter

Former President Carter Get’s Busted By His Own.

Hey folks,

I find this interesting. It seems that President Carter’s adviser Kenneth W. Stein has found morals. This is not good news for the LWL. At least in this one case, yet another attempt of the LWL to rewrite history is being called on.

What’s this all about, according to the New York "Crimes" {Times},

"An adviser to former President Jimmy Carter and onetime executive director of the Carter Center has publicly parted ways with his former boss, citing concerns with the accuracy and integrity of Mr. Carter’s latest book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid."

Get this,

"In a two-page letter explaining his action, Mr. Stein called the book "replete with factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions and simply invented segments." Mr. Stein said he had used similar language in a private letter he sent to Mr. Carter, but received no reply.

"In the letter to him, I told him, ‘It’s your prerogative to write anything you want when you want,’ " Mr. Stein said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "That’s not why I’m resigning."

Mr. Stein said that he admired the former president’s accomplishments but that felt he had to distance himself from the Carter Center and the book, which was published by Simon & Schuster.

"It’s an issue of how history should be written," Mr. Stein said. "I had to distance myself from something that was coming close to me professionally."

Deanna Congelio, spokeswoman for Mr. Carter, released a statement with his response: "Although Professor Kenneth Stein has not been actively involved with the Carter Center for more than 12 years, I regret his resignation from the titular position as a fellow." It did not address Mr. Stein’s criticism of the book."

"It’s an issue of how history should be written," {Laughing} Yeah, how about writing history, how it ACTUALLY HAPPENED. "replete with factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions and simply invented segments." Translation time again folks, "LIES." "Fabrications." Former President Carter "Just made things up." The only problem is, one who KNOWS the truth, called him on it. We are suppose to trust Former President Carter with current foreign affairs? You’ve got to be kidding.

Where’s Bill’s book? You know the one the omits Monica, Jennifer, ETC. Ignores any blame for ALL the attacks on his watch. The one that shows Clinton in the light that the MMD tried to,,uh,,make that STILL are trying to put him in? Where he did everything right, nothing wrong. Didn’t give North Korea the supplies, knowledge, and fuel, to make the bomb or bombs they have today?

This is truly interesting. But this is WHO the LWL are. From AL Gore inventing the Internet, Carter a great President, Clinton Spotless, to rewriting REALITY. Oh yeah, they have the Mass Media Drones. Remember before the elections? The economy great "Worst in history" According to the LWL. Home ownership highest ever, "Crash coming ANYTIME." Stock Market? Even when gas prices were coming down, Bush’s fault. Racism, censorship, violation of international laws, unjust war, {Side note, just because you do not agree, doesn’t make it unjust} ETC. War still unjust and we are losing. But all of a sudden, everything else is great? Got to love it.

All well, at lease they remain predictable. Sorry President Carter, you just got ratted out by your own guy. I wonder how the MMD as a whole will report this. Or not.
Peter


Sources:
NYT-"Former Aide Parts With Carter Over Book"
Amazon Prime

Just The Who’s Who of This Cut, Run, Surrender, Appeasement, Group

Hey Folks,

Sam Spade left a comment about the fact that these people in this group, have no real knowledge of war or what it actually takes. They went to Iraq, stayed in the "Green Zone," translation time, they sat in a hotel and interview some people, came back and wrote the infamous Cut, Run, Surrender, and Appeasement Report, AKA "The Iraq Study Group Report."

I know I said we would be moving away from this waste of paper. But I thought you may like to know who these people ACTUALLY are.

James A. Baker, III – Co-ChairFormer Secretary of State Honorary Chair, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

James A. Baker, III has served in senior government positions under three United States Presidents. He served as the nation's 61st Secretary of State from January 1989 through August 1992 under President George Bush. During his tenure at the State Department, Mr. Baker traveled to 90 foreign countries as the United States confronted the unprecedented challenges and opportunities of the post Cold War era. In 1995, Mr. Baker published The Politics of Diplomacy, his reflections on those years of revolution, war and peace.

Mr. Baker served as the 67th Secretary of the Treasury from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. As Treasury Secretary, he was also Chairman of the President's Economic Policy Council. From 1981 to 1985, he served as White House Chief of Staff to President Reagan. Mr. Baker's record of public service began in 1975 as Under Secretary of Commerce to President Gerald Ford. It concluded with his service as White House Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to President Bush from August 1992 to January 1993.

Long active in American presidential politics, Mr. Baker led presidential campaigns for Presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush over the course of five consecutive presidential elections from 1976 to 1992.

A native Houstonian, Mr. Baker graduated from Princeton University in 1952. After two years of active duty as a Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, he entered the University of Texas School of Law at Austin. He received his J.D. with honors in 1957, and practiced law with the Houston firm of Andrews and Kurth from 1957 to 1975.

Mr. Baker received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991 and has been the recipient of many other awards for distinguished public service, including Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Award, The American Institute for Public Service's Jefferson Award, Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government Award, The Hans J. Morgenthau Award, The George F. Kennan Award, the Department of the Treasury's Alexander Hamilton Award, the Department of State's Distinguished Service Award, and numerous honorary academic degrees.

Mr. Baker is presently a senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts. He is Honorary Chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and serves on the board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. From 1997 to 2004, Mr. Baker served as the Personal Envoy of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to seek a political solution to the conflict over Western Sahara. In 2003, Mr. Baker was appointed Special Presidential Envoy for President George W. Bush on the issue of Iraqi debt.

Mr. Baker was born in Houston, Texas in 1930. He and his wife, the former Susan Garrett, currently reside in Houston, and have eight children and seventeen grandchildren.

Lee H. Hamilton – Co-ChairFormer Member of Congress Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Lee H. Hamilton became director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in January, 1999. Previously, Hamilton served for thirty-four years as a United States Congressman from Indiana. During his tenure, he served as chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (now the Committee on International Relations) and chaired the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East from the early 1970s until 1993. He was chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, and the October Surprise Task Force. Also a leading figure on economic policy and congressional organization, he served as chair of the Joint Economic Committee as well as the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, and was a member of the House Standards of Official Conduct Committee.

Hamilton remains an important and active voice on matters of international relations and foreign affairs. He served as a commissioner on the United States Commission on National Security in the 21st Century (the Hart-Rudman Commission), co-chair of the Baker-Hamilton Commission to Investigate Certain Security Issues at Los Alamos, commissioner of the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform, and vice-chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9-11 Commission). He is currently a member of the advisory council for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, co-chairman of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future, and of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Hamilton's distinguished service in government has been honored through numerous awards in public service and human rights. He has received over 15 honorary degrees from academic institutions across the United States. Hamilton is a graduate of DePauw University and Indiana University law school, and studied for a year at Goethe University in Germany. Before his election to Congress, he practiced law in Chicago and Columbus, Indiana.

Lawrence S. Eagleburger Former U.S. Secretary of State Chairman, International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.

Lawrence S. Eagleburger served as the 62nd U.S. Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush. A career diplomat, Eagleburger held numerous high-ranking positions in the presidential administrations of both Republicans and Democrats. Eagleburger has received a number of awards for his government service including, in 1992, the Department of State’s Distinguished Service Award -- the department’s highest honor. In 1994, he received an honorary knighthood from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. - MemberFormer Advisor to President ClintonSenior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. is a senior managing director of Lazard Frères & Co. LLC in New York. Prior to joining Lazard, Jordan was a senior executive partner with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, where he remains senior counsel. While there, Jordan practiced general, corporate, legislative and international law in Washington, D.C. He previously held the following positions: president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League, Inc.; executive director of the United Negro College Fund, Inc.; director of the Voter Education Project of the Southern Regional Council; attorney-consultant, U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity; assistant to the executive director of the Southern Regional Council; Georgia field director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and an attorney in private practice in Arkansas and Georgia. Jordan’s presidential appointments include: the President’s Advisory Committee for the Points of Light Initiative Foundation; the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on South Africa; the Advisory Council on Social Security; the Presidential Clemency Board; the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission; the National Advisory Committee on Selective Service; and the Council of the White House Conference "To Fulfill These Rights." He served as chairman of the Clinton Presidential Transition Team in 1992.

Jordan’s corporate and other directorships include: American Express Company; Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.; Dow Jones & Company, Inc.; Howard University (Trustee); J.C. Penney Company, Inc.; Lazard Ltd; Xerox Corporation; International Advisory Board of DaimlerChrysler and Barrick Gold. Jordan is a member of the Bars of Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Georgia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Council on Foreign Relations, and The Bilderberg Meetings, and is president of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Jordan is the author of Vernon Can Read! A Memoir (2001). He is a graduate of DePauw University and the Howard University Law School, and holds honorary degrees from more than sixty colleges and universities.

Edwin Meese III - MemberFormer Attorney GeneralRonald Reagan Chair in Public Policy, The Heritage FoundationDistinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution

Edwin Meese III holds the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy research and education institution. He is also the chairman of Heritage’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California. In addition, Meese lectures, writes, and consults throughout the United States on a variety of subjects.

Meese is the author of With Reagan: The Inside Story, which was published by Regnery Gateway in June 1992; co-editor of Making America Safer, published in 1997 by The Heritage Foundation; and co-author of Leadership, Ethics and Policing, published by Prentice Hall in 2004.

Meese served as the 75th attorney general of the United States from February 1985 to August 1988. As the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, he directed the Department of Justice and led international efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. In 1985 he received the Government Executive magazine’s annual award for excellence in management.

From January 1981 to February 1985, Meese held the position of counsellor to the President, the senior position on the White House staff, where he functioned as the president’s chief policy advisor. As attorney general and as counsellor, Meese was a member of the president’s Cabinet and the National Security Council. He served as chairman of the Domestic Policy Council and of the National Drug Policy Board. Meese headed the President-elect’s transition effort following the November 1980 election. During the Presidential campaign, he served as chief of staff and senior issues advisor for the Reagan-Bush Committee.

Formerly, Meese served as Governor Reagan’s executive assistant and chief of staff in California from 1969 through 1974 and as legal affairs secretary from 1967 through 1968. Before joining Governor Reagan’s staff in 1967, Meese served as deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California. From 1977 to 1981, Meese was a professor of law at the University of San Diego, where he also was director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.

In addition to his background as a lawyer, educator and public official, Meese has been a business executive in the aerospace and transportation industry, serving as vicep resident for administration of Rohr Industries, Inc. in Chula Vista, California. He left Rohr to return to the practice of law, engaging in corporate and general legal work in San Diego County.

Meese is a graduate of Yale University, Class of 1953, and holds a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a retired colonel in the United States Army Reserve. He is active in numerous civic and educational organizations. Meese is married, has two grown children and resides in McLean, Virginia.

Sandra Day O’Connor - MemberAssociate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court (Retired)

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired as an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court. Nominated to the court by President Reagan, she took the oath of office on September 25, 1981. O’Connor was previously appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals by Governor Bruce Babbitt (1979-1981), and served as judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Arizona (1975-1979). She served as Arizona state senator in 1969 and subsequently reelected to two two-year terms (1969-1975) and was assistant attorney general in Arizona (1965-1969).

O’Connor serves as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary, on the board of trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation, the executive board of the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, and the American Bar Association Museum of Law board of directors. She was previously president and member of the board of trustees of The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona; member of the board of directors and secretary of the Arizona Academy; member of the Board of Junior Achievement, Arizona; member of the board of directors of the Phoenix Historical Society; member of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; and member of the Cathedral Chapter of the Washington National Cathedral.

O’Connor is a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Arizona, State Bar of California, Maricopa County Bar Association, Arizona Judges’ Association, National Association of Women Judges, and Arizona Women Lawyers’ Association. She holds a B.A. (with Great Distinction) and an LL.B. (Order of the Coif) from Stanford University, where she was a member of the board of editors of the Stanford Law Review.

Leon E. Panetta - MemberFormer White House Chief of StaffFounder and Director, Panetta Institute

Leon E. Panetta currently co-directs the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay, a non-partisan study center for the advancement of public policy. He serves as distinguished scholar to the chancellor of the California State University system, teaches a Master's in Public Policy course at the Panetta Institute, is a presidential professor at Santa Clara University, and created the Leon Panetta Lecture Series.

Panetta was appointed chief of staff to the president in 1994, and served in that position until 1997. He served as director of the Office of Management and Budget for the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1994. Panetta was a U.S. representative from California's 16th (now 17th) district from 1977 to 1993. He served as chairman of the House Committee on the Budget and chaired the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations and Nutrition; the House Administration Committee's Subcommittee on Personnel and Police; and the Select Committee on Hunger's Task Force on Domestic Hunger. He was vice chairman of the Caucus of Vietnam Era Veterans in Congress and a member of the president's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies. Panetta previously practiced law in the Monterey firm of Panetta, Thompson & Panetta, and was executive assistant to the mayor of New York City, special assistant to the secretary of health, education and welfare, and director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights. He began his career as a legislative assistant to senate minority whip Thomas H. Kuchel of California.

He serves on many public policy and organizational boards including as chair of the Pew Oceans Commission and co-chair of the California Council on Base Support and Retention.

He has received many awards and honors including the John H. Chafee Coastal Stewardship Award, the Julius A. Stratton Award for Coastal Leadership and the Distinguished Public Service Medal from the Center for the Study of the Presidency.

Panetta is the author of Bring Us Together (1971), an account of his experiences at the U.S. Office for Civil Rights. He earned a B.A. magna cum laude and a J.D. from Santa Clara University, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He served as a first lieutenant in the Army from 1964 to 1966 and received the Army Commendation Medal.

William J. Perry - MemberFormer Secretary of DefenseProfessor, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

William J. Perry is the Michael and Barbara Berberian professor at Stanford University, with a joint appointment at FSI and the School of Engineering. He is a senior fellow at FSI and serves as co-director of the Preventive Defense Project, a research collaboration of Stanford and Harvard Universities. He is an expert in U.S. foreign policy, national security and arms control. He was the co-director of CISAC from 1988 to 1993, during which time he was also a professor (half time) at Stanford. He was a part-time lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Santa Clara University from 1971 to 1977.

Perry was the 19th secretary of defense for the United States, serving from February 1994 to January 1997. He previously served as deputy secretary of defense (1993-1994) and as under secretary of defense for research and engineering (1977-1981). He is on the board of directors of several emerging high-tech companies and is chairman of Global Technology Partners. His previous business experience includes serving as a laboratory director for General Telephone and Electronics (1954-1964); founder and president of ESL Inc. (1964-1977); executive vice-president of Hambrecht & Quist Inc. (1981-1985); and founder and chairman of Technology Strategies & Alliances (1985-1993). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

From 1946 to 1947, Perry was an enlisted man in the Army Corps of Engineers, and served in the Army of Occupation in Japan. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1948 and was a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves from 1950 to 1955. He has received a number of awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1997), the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal (1980 and 1981), and Outstanding Civilian Service Medals from the Army (1962 and 1997), the Air Force (1997), the Navy (1997), the Defense Intelligence Agency (1977 and 1997), NASA (1981) and the Coast Guard (1997). He has received decorations from the governments of Albania, Bahrain, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Poland, Slovenia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Charles S. Robb - MemberFormer Governor of VirginiaFormer U.S. SenatorDistinguished Professor of Law & Public Policy, George Mason University School of Law

Charles S. Robb joined the faculty of George Mason University as a distinguished professor of law and public policy in 2001. Previously he served as lieutenant governor of Virginia, from 1978 to 1982, as Virginia’s 64th governor, from 1982 to 1986, and as a United States senator, from 1989 to 2001.

During his tenure in the Senate he became the only member of Congress ever to serve simultaneously on all three national security committees (Intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Relations). He also served on the Finance, Commerce, and Budget Committees, as well as the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs.

Before becoming a member of Congress he chaired: the Southern Governors’ Association, the Democratic Governors’ Association, the Education Commission of the States, the Democratic Leadership Council, Jobs for America’s Graduates, the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors and the Virginia Forum on Education, and was president of the Council of State Governments.

Since leaving the Senate in 2001 he has served as: chairman of the Board of Visitors at the United States Naval Academy, co-chairman (with senior judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit) of the President’s Commission on Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction and co-chairman (with former governor Linwood Holton) of a major landowner’s alliance that created a special tax district to finance the extension of Metrorail to Tyson’s Corner, Reston and Dulles Airport. He has also been a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University and at the Marshall Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary.

He is currently a member of: the president’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the secretary of state’s Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board, the FBI director’s Advisory Board and the MITRE Corporation board of trustees. He also serves on the boards of: the Space Foundation, the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy, the Concord Coalition, Strategic Partnerships LLC and the Center for the Study of the Presidency - and on occasional projects with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Alan K. Simpson - MemberFormer U.S. Senator from Wyoming

Alan K. Simpson served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States senator from Wyoming. Following his first term in the Senate, Simpson was elected by his peers to the position of the assistant majority leader in 1984—and served in that capacity until 1994.

From January of 1997 until June of 2000, Simpson was a Visiting Lecturer. For two years, he was the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. During the Fall of 2000 he returned to his Alma Mater, the University of Wyoming, as a visiting lecturer in the Political Science Department and continues to part time-team teach there with his brother Peter.

He is also a partner in the Cody firm of Simpson, Kepler and Edwards, the Cody division of the Denver firm of Burg Simpson Eldredge, Hersh and Jardine, and also a consultant in the Washington D.C. government relations firm, The Tongour, Simpson, Holsclaw Group. He continues to serve on numerous corporate and non-profit boards and travels the country giving speeches. His book published by William Morrow Company, Right in the Old Gazoo: A Lifetime of Scrapping with the Press, chronicles his personal experiences and views of the Fourth Estate.

Simpson was elected in 1964 to the Wyoming State Legislature as a state representative of his native Park County. He served for the next thirteen years in the Wyoming House of Representatives, holding the offices of majority whip, majority floor leader and speaker pro tempore.

After being admitted to the Wyoming Bar and the United States District Court in 1958, and serving for a short time as a Wyoming assistant attorney general, Simpson joined his father, Milward L. Simpson, and later Charles G. Kepler, in the law firm of Simpson, Kepler and Simpson in his hometown of Cody. He would practice law there for the next eighteen years. During that time, Simpson was very active in all civic, community and state activities. He also served ten years as City Attorney.

I’ll tell you what folks, as Sam said, "in the end it is the people who actually are directly involved that really know what is happening not some group of people who are so far removed from the actual facts that what they say has as much impact as me commenting about the war who is sitting on the side lines just picking up what the Mass Media drones what to spew out."

Let’s say they win. We pull out. We turn Iraq over to "Little Hitler." In 5 years, 1 year, tomorrow, whatever time in the future, if Israel ceases to exist, millions of Jews die, and or we lose a city, I lay the blame at the feet of those in this group, the LWL, and the Mass Media Drones. The blood will be on their hands. The main reason, they have forgotten that not only is this possible, it HAS already happened. They have either forgotten, or their hatred for Bush is causing them to lose reality. Either way, the fault and blame shall be on them.
Peter

Iraq Study Group Report? Who Cares?

Hey folks,

Just really quick. Just because I was asked. "Why did you not comment on the Iraq Study Group Report. You said, "As far as politics go today, nothing really new or unpredictable. No agreement between world powers on Nuclear Sanctions on Iran because of Russia and China. Gates WILL be sworn in as Defense Secretary. We are not leaving Iraq until the job is done." but you left out the most important news of the day. The Report. You have nothing to say about it?"

Not really. But I DID comment on it. I said, as this person pointed out, nothing new or predictable. There isn’t. I’ve been telling you folks for a while, that the Left want to cut run and surrender, they want us to ask "Little Hitler" for help. That Bush will NOT leave until the job is done. Now that they put it in writing, it’s "the most important news of the day?"

First, the report means NOTHING. It’s not legislation. President Bush could throw the whole thing in the garbage, where it most likely belongs, and continue on the way he feels best. He has a choice to make between listening to this group, and listening to those actually on the ground fighting the war. I bet you anything , he will listen to those who KNOW what they are talking about.

I do not even find it interesting how the Mass Media Drones are reporting this report. Here is just ONE example of the complete idiocy,

USA Today-"Bush, Blair meet Thursday at White House to chart new directions in Iraq"

"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush faces urgent pressure to find a fresh strategy in Iraq as a new defense secretary heads to the Pentagon and a scathing bipartisan commission report says his war policies have failed and that "time is running out."

The Iraq Study Group's report said the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating" after nearly four years of bloodshed and more than 2,900 American deaths. The report gave weight to the president's talks on Thursday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his closest ally in the unpopular war.

Bush, possibly with counsel from Blair, could embrace some or all 79 of the Iraq Study Group's recommendations. The president also could ignore them and chart his own new course based on internal reviews being done at the Pentagon, State Department and the White House."

A "scathing bipartisan commission report says his war policies have failed and that "time is running out."" "the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating"" "in the unpopular war." "Bush, possibly with counsel from Blair, could embrace some or all 79 of the Iraq Study Group's recommendations" That’s just the first three paragraphs. You get the point.

Bush has already come out and said. We will not leave until the job is done. We will NOT ask "Little Hitler" for help while he is still trying to build nuclear weapons and is still threatening Israel. He is STILL the Commander and Chief. Period.

I do love this question from reporter, Jonathan Karl, yesterday to Lee H. Hamilton, former member of Congress. He asked,

"I understand you went to Iraq once. With the exception of Senator Robb, none of you made it out of the green zone. Why should he give your recommendations any more weight than what he's hearing from his commanders on the ground in Iraq?"

After around 15 seconds of stunned silence, Hamilton answered,

"The members of the Iraq study group are, I think, public servants of a distinguished record. We don't pretend now, we did not pretend at the start to have expertise. We've put in a very intensive period of time. We recognize that our report is only one. There will be many recommendations. But the report will stand on its own and will be acceptable or rejected on its own, and will at least be a beginning of a consensus. Because without that consensus in the country we do not think ultimately you can succeed in Iraq."

THEY are not the experts? Really? They are not those that know what’s best on the ground? Look folks, it’s really simple. This report is not worth the paper it is written on. It’s the same old stuff. So I’ll let the mass media drones and the Liberals have fun with it. All in all, it really means NOTHING. Here at the OPN, we’ll move on to other things.
Peter

Another Reason To Know Where Your Kids Are Visiting

Hey folks,


Happy "hump" day. As far as politics go today, nothing really new or unpredictable. No agreement between world powers on Nuclear Sanctions on Iran because of Russia and China. Gates WILL be sworn in as Defense Secretary. We are not leaving Iraq until the job is done.




So let’s talk about this. Another reason you NEED to know where your kids are visiting online.




Now for years we have been worried about this. Kids over eating and eating the wrong kinds of food. We are the most overweight nation in the world. The phrase, "Fat lazy Americans" has some truth to it. So it goes to figure that we are in constant search for ways to slim down. However, there is a dark side to this.

We as adults understand that the "perfect body" does not come in a bottle or the shape of a pill. We understand that for all the fads out there, there is STILL only ONE truly proven method. Eat less, and exercise. But our kids?

This is pretty scary if you think about it. According to the AFP,

"Websites are glamorizing anorexia and bulimia and teaching new techniques to youths with the potentially deadly eating disorders, according to a US study published.

Researchers at Stanford University's school of medicine and children's hospital in Silicon Valley found that even websites dedicated to fighting the disorders were mined for ways to reinforce the sickness.

"Parents and physicians need to realize that the Internet is essentially an unmonitored media forum," said Rebecka Peebles, an adolescent eating disorder specialist at Stanford and lead author of the study."

This is why you MUST know where the are going when they log on. She said.

"It's just not possible to completely control the content of an interactive site."

This is really sick folks,

"Pro eating-disorder websites have gained popularity in recent years, despite efforts to shut them down.

Visitors create communities around disorders such as shunning food or binging and purging, sometimes promoting the behavior as a lifestyle choice.

Chat rooms and other interactive forums often refer to anorexia as "Ana" and bulimia as "Mia." Some websites highlight extremely thin models as role models for "thinspiration."

Anorexia, intentional and extreme weight loss, and bulimia, binge eating, are most common in industrial societies among teen girls and young women, affecting between one and two percent of the female population."

According to this article, having a 15 year old Niece, I know this to be true,

"With between 50 and 90 percent of teens accessing the Internet at home on average of five hours per week, the study authors wrote, it is "critical that the impact of these Web sites be better understood.""

I would have to say most likely a lot MORE than 5 hours a week. There are so many great and positive attributes to the Internet. But there are just as many dangers out there. Now we need to worry about our kids being encouraged to be sick? Here is another scary fact.

"Of the 106 parents surveyed for the study, half were aware of pro-eating disorder websites, but only 28 percent had discussed them with their children and even fewer limited time their children spent online."

Is this really a big deal? It can kill your kids.

"Last month, a 21-year-old Brazilian model died of anorexia."

Her name was Ana Carolina Reston. I wonder if her Mother thinks it was worth it? Or if you could ask Ana, what do you think she would say? Being healthy is one thing. Killing yourself to be thin is completely different. Sometimes we forget, our kids are kids. They do not always know what is best. Even for themselves. Know where they are going, and how they are talking to. You have enough to worry about outside the home. At home, you have complete control.

Peter

Sources;
AFP-"Websites teach anorexics, bulimics dangerous methods"
CNN-"Model dies of anorexia complications"
Rader-"Bulimia Nervosa"
Milestones- Anorexia Treatment

Ahmadinejad, "Little Hitler," Bush Ploy?

Hey folks,

I know that this is going to be a little lengthy this morning. But I encourage you to take the time to read the whole thing. Read it two or three times if you have to. You need to know this growing threat before it is too late. Even if the world is not watching, I am.

I’m having a debate at News Times Live about the enemies of America. {I go there as often as I can to discuss news and current events with those there.} I brought up "Little Hitler" and some truly amaze me. One asked if we really need a "Boogie Man?" Another said it is just a Bush ploy. That he is trying to convince America or the need to go to Iran, just like he did with Iraq. The person actually said "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. We won’t be fooled again."

Here is the problem. One.

"Little Hitler" is NOT the Boogie Man. He is VERY real. He doesn’t live in your closet, or under your bed. He lives in the same world you do. His words are not that of childhood tales. They are VERY real. They are not propaganda. They are HIS. He does not come to you, turning your dreams to nightmares. He is preparing to come to you while you are WIDE awake, physically at least, while you go about your daily ignorant routine, BOOM! Your dead!

Two, This is NOT President Bush trying to sell you or anyone else on this. This is a NEW Hitler rising. Plan and simple. If we wait too long playing games, we will have to deal with him AFTER Israel ceases to exist, along with quite possibly one of our own cities. If you think it cannot happen, you are deadly wrong.

So just exactly is Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? "Iran Focus" has an interesting piece from June 25, 2005. "Ahmadinejad? Who’s he?"

"Last week’s surprise was all forgotten by the much bigger shock on Friday, when Ahmadinejad defeated the former President and iconic figure in the ruling theocracy in a landslide victory that consolidated power in the hands of the ruling Islamic clerics."

You ARE watching his rise right before your eyes. You may be watching history in the making. The history books will record various different accounts, depending on how we handle this situation. This whole article is very informative. Please take a second to read the whole thing. Just click the link on the bottom. I’m just highlighting some of the more important information.

"After finishing high school, Ahmadinejad went to Elm-o Sanaat University in 1975 to study engineering. Soon the whirlwind of Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini swept him from the classroom to the mosque and he joined a generation of firebrand Islamic fundamentalists dedicated to the cause of an Islamic world revolution."

Student activists in Elm-o Sanaat University at the time of the Iranian revolution were dominated by ultra-conservative Islamic fundamentalists. Ahmadinejad soon became one of their leaders and founded the Islamic Students Association in that university after the fall of the Shah’s regime.

In 1979, he became the representative of Elm-o Sanaat students in the Office for Strengthening of Unity Between Universities and Theological Seminaries, which later became known as the OSU. The OSU was set up by Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, who was at the time Khomeini’s top confidant and a key figure in the clerical leadership. Beheshti wanted the OSU to organise Islamist students to counter the rapidly rising influence of the opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK) among university students.

The OSU played a central role in the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran in November 1979. Members of the OSU central council, who included Ahmadinejad as well as Ibrahim Asgharzadeh, Mohsen (Mahmoud) Mirdamadi, Mohsen Kadivar, Mohsen Aghajari, and Abbas Abdi, were regularly received by Khomeini himself.

According to other OSU officials, when the idea of storming the U.S. embassy in Tehran was raised in the OSU central committee by Mirdamadi and Abdi, Ahmadinejad suggested storming the Soviet embassy at the same time. A decade later, most OSU leaders re-grouped around Khatami but Ahmadinejad remained loyal to the ultra-conservatives."

A terrorist from the beginning.

"In the early 1980s, Ahmadinejad worked in the "Internal Security" department of the IRGC and earned notoriety as a ruthless interrogator and torturer. According to the state-run website Baztab, allies of outgoing President Mohammad Khatami have revealed that Ahmadinejad worked for some time as an executioner in the notorious Evin Prison, where thousands of political prisoners were executed in the bloody purges of the 1980s.

In 1986, Ahmadinejad became a senior officer in the Special Brigade of the Revolutionary Guards and was stationed in Ramazan Garrison near Kermanshah in western Iran. Ramazan Garrison was the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards’ "extra-territorial operations", a euphemism for terrorist attacks beyond Iran’s borders.

In Kermanshah, Ahmadinejad became involved in the clerical regime’s terrorist operations abroad and led many "extra-territorial operations of the IRGC". With the formation of the elite Qods (Jerusalem) Force of the IRGC, Ahmadinejad became one of its senior commanders. He was the mastermind of a series of assassinations in the Middle East and Europe, including the assassination of Iranian Kurdish leader Abdorrahman Qassemlou, who was shot dead by senior officers of the Revolutionary Guards in a Vienna flat in July 1989. Ahmadinejad was a key planner of the attack, according to sources in the Revolutionary Guards.

Ahmadinejad served for four years as the governor of the towns of Maku and Khoy in northwestern Iran. In 1993, he was appointed by Minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance Ali Larijani, a fellow officer of the Revolutionary Guards, as his cultural adviser. Months later, he was appointed as the governor of the newly-created Ardebil Province.

In 1997, the newly-installed Khatami administration removed Ahmadinejad from his post and he returned to Elm-o Sanaat University to teach, but his principal activity was to organize Ansar-e Hezbollah, a radical gang of violent Islamic vigilantes.

Since becoming mayor of Tehran in April 2003, Ahmadinejad has been using his position to build up a strong network of radical Islamic fundamentalists organised as "Abadgaran-e Iran-e Islami" (literally, Developers of an Islamic Iran). Working in close conjunction with the Revolutionary Guard’s, Abadgaran was able to win the municipal elections in 2003 and the parliamentary election in 2004. They owed their victories as much to low turnouts and general disillusionment with the "moderate" faction of the regime as to their well-oiled political and military machinery.

Abadgaran bills itself as a group of young neo-Islamic fundamentalists who want to revive the ideals and policies of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini. It was one of several ultra-conservative groups that were setup on the orders of Ayatollah Khamenei in order to defeat outgoing President Mohammad Khatami’s faction after the parliamentary elections in February 2000.

Ahmadinejad’s record is typical of the men chosen by Khamenei’s entourage to put a new face on the clerical elite’s ultra-conservative identity. But beyond the shallow façade, few doubt that the Islamic Republic under its new President will move with greater speed and determination along the path of radical policies that include more human rights abuses, continuing sponsorship of terrorism, and the drive to obtain nuclear weapons."

This past Sunday, US World News and Report had an interesting piece by Mortimer B. Zuckerman "The Mullah Menace."

"Question: What's the most dangerous geopolitical development in the 21st century? Answer: Iran's emergence as the Middle East regional superpower. Why? Because it places the center of the world's increasingly stretched energy resources more and more under the influence of an oil-rich, fundamentalist, pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic regime that has not only nuclear ambitions but the means to realize them."

Break

"Look at the nature of the beast. It has hardly been talking peace. It has intensified its murderous anti-Semitic, anti-Israel rhetoric and reiterated its long-held position that the Middle East should be entirely Islamic, stripped of all western influence.

The clock of military danger is superfast digital; the clock of diplomacy is 20th-century analog. All the West's diplomatic efforts have failed to induce Iran to refrain from developing nuclear weapons, which it contends–utterly unconvincingly–that it is not doing. Europe has been supportive, but Russia and China are playing both sides at the United Nations. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, gleefully heaps scorn on the world body: "We are guided by what the Hidden Imam tells us, not by what you dictate in your resolutions.""

Break


"So, clearly, we must stop Iran from going further down the road toward nuclear weapons. It has already secured from North Korea long-range missiles that can cover Europe with a range of 1,600 to 2,200 miles. Ahmadinejad boasts that the Hidden Imam (an Islamic messiah) gave him the presidency to provoke a "clash of civilizations" in which the Muslim world, led by Iran, takes on the "infidel" West, using hundreds of millions of Muslim ghazis, or holy raiders, keen to become martyrs while their opponents love life, fear death, and hate to fight. Hot air? We can hardly count on it. The leading opponent in this epic battle, by the way, would be none other than the United States."

I agree and have been saying this all along. We MUST believe HIM "Little Hitler" himself. He is TELLING you what he plans on doing. He is building his weapons and strength. He is threatening Israel and US. The mirror imagines between him and the original Hitler are absolutely uncanny and undeniable. Zuckerman ends his piece with,

"The West will have to decide what is more dangerous–to attack the infrastructure of the Iranians sooner rather than later or to deal with an Iranian nuclear capability after the fact. The choices are not between good and bad but between bad and worse–and the longer we delay, the more dire those bad and worse choices will become."

Like I said before, Yes folks, "Little Hitler," just like the original, is on the rise. He is arming. He is threatening. Given the opportunity, he will carry it out. Just like the original. Instead of waiting until it was too late, like we did with the original, some here want to HELP him. Unbelievable.

Folks, it is time that America wakes up to this very real and very present danger. No he is not the "Boogie Man." No he is not a "Bush ploy." He is VERY real. He is telling you what he will do. He has shown us he will do it. We need to start believing him.
Peter

Sources,
New Times Live
Iran Focus - "Iran’s new President has a past mired in controversy"
US News & World Report- "The Mullah Menace"

Hillary 08?

Hey folks,

I have said before that I thought it would truly be something to watch if it boils down to being a three way battle in 08. I asked you if you could imagine this. Clinton vs Giuliani vs Lieberman? Talk about one hell of a show.

Well the big news today is Hillary. According to CNN,

"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding discussions about and interviewing potential campaign staff for a White House bid in 2008, sources say.

"She said before the election that after the election she would be considering a presidential run," said Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser. "Part of that process is seeking the advice and counsel of her colleagues in New York.""

They go on to say that they feel the polls show she would be a lock.

"A CNN poll taken two weeks ago showed the New York senator favored by 33 percent of people asked who they were "most likely to support for the Democratic nomination for president in the year 2008."

Clinton was ranked first among 10 potential Democratic candidates. Second place for "likely" support was a statistical tie among Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (15 percent); former Vice President Al Gore (14 percent), who ran for president in 2000; and John Edwards (14 percent), John Kerry's running mate in 2000."

But here’s the thing. Not everyone thinks that she is "electable." I have talked about this before. But some in her own party have even started to talk about this. Then you have a virtual no name come out of nowhere to announce that he is running.

"Last week, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack announced he would seek the Democratic nomination. Indiana Democrat Sen. Evan Bayh announced Sunday he is considering running for the White House."

Now do not be so quick to dismiss these. Remember a lot of people said Bill who? But back to Mrs. Clinton’s "electability." according to the AP

"While Hillary Rodham Clinton tops every national poll of likely 2008 Democratic presidential contenders, the New York senator is dogged by questions of "electability" — political code for whether she can win enough swing states to prevail in a general election.

It's a gauge typically applied to Democrats, as few question the crossover appeal of the GOP front-runner, Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record). And for activists eager to recapture the White House after eight years of George W. Bush, electability remains a crucial yardstick by which Clinton, especially, seems to be measured.

Clinton began discussions last week with fellow New York lawmakers about her White House prospects and met Sunday with the state's Democratic governor-elect — all indications she is stepping up plans to join a growing field of potential contenders for 2008."

People in her own party do not feel she can win. Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party said,

"She's a senator, she'd be the first woman running, and she's Hillary Clinton. All of that is almost insurmountable for a general election.

There are people who would write a check and die for her, but there are plenty of others who wouldn't vote for her if she promised to eliminate the income tax and give free ice cream to everyone. People have made up their minds about her, and that doesn't give her much room to maneuver."

Then you have other negative aspects for her to deal with.

"Despite her centrist six-year Senate voting record, Clinton's reputation remains deeply rooted in her polarizing eight years as first lady. Skeptics say she may still be too liberal for many voters, who recall her husband's scandal-plagued presidency and her own audacious effort to reform the nation's health care system. And no one knows how her status as the first serious female candidate would play out.

"Everyone knows Hillary Clinton can raise the money and that she has a good team, but it's mitigated by all the mumbling that she's not electable," said Joe Trippi, who managed Howard Dean's upstart 2004 presidential campaign."

I’ve asked this question before. Do you folks TRULY believe that this country is ready, when it comes right down to stepping into the voting booth, for the first female President? I’m not so sure that we are. We have come a long way in this country, but the truth is, we have a long way to go. Then as they were talking about, we are not just talking A woman, we are talking about Clinton. That’s a lot of baggage.

Like I said, it would be interesting to watch the race, but the Democrats are not going to give ANYONE the nod, unless they are pretty sure that they will win. Right now? I’m not so sure they think she can.
Peter

Sources:
CNN- "Hillary Clinton discussing presidential bid"

AP-"Clinton dogged by 'electability' questions"

IWA for Sunday December 3, 2006

Hey folks

Happy Sunday to you. First off Did you see THIS story? "Blind man sentenced to library course"

"A blind Turkish pensioner has been sentenced to a 26-day reading and writing course at his local public library after he failed to vote on time in an election for his village cooperative, his son said Friday."

You see folks, the next time that you feel like complaining about OUR electoral process, think about this,

"In Turkey, people are obliged by law to vote in elections."

SO anyway, it’s Sunday and time for the IWA. OK, so this High School kid is an idiot himself. I get that. What he did may even offend YOU. But the fact that we have this little thing called a First Amendment Right to free speech, he has the RIGHT to be an Idiot. However Principal Deborah Morse of the Juneau, Alaska School System crossed the line.

It turns out that,

"Frederick, then a senior, was off school property when he hoisted the banner but was suspended for violating the school's policy of promoting illegal substances at a school-sanctioned event.

Morse suspended Frederick after he displayed the banner, with its reference to marijuana use, when the Olympic torch passed through Juneau in 2002 on its way to the Winter Games in Salt Lake City."

No first name given . So what did his banner read? "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

"Frederick said his motivation for unfurling the banner, at least 14 feet long, was simple: He wanted it seen on television since the torch relay event was being covered by local stations. When Morse saw it, she crossed the street from the school, grabbed the banner and crumpled it. She later suspended Frederick for 10 days."

{Laughing} Now I know that some of you out there may be offended at his banner, or maybe even this picture, also. I get that. But he wasn’t even really making a statement. He was a kid that wanted to get on TV. Then again, you have the afore mentioned "Free Speech" thing.

But this story gets better. The school board is digging up a familiar face to argue their case. Now get ready, if you are like me you are about to cringe.

"The justices agreed to hear the appeal by the, school board and principal Deborah Morse of a lower court ruling that allowed the student's civil rights lawsuit to proceed. The school board hired former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to argue its case to the high court."

Ken STARR???? Anyway, Principal Deborah Morse really stepped in it.

According to this article,

"The court is expected to hear arguments in the case in late February. In addition to the First Amendment issue, the court also will consider whether Morse can be held personally liable for monetary damages.

The appeals panel said she could be held liable because she admitted to being aware of the pertinent case law regarding student rights. The court said the law was clear and Morse was aware of it when she punished Frederick.

The case is Juneau School Board v. Frederick, 06-278."

So not only did she violate his First Amendment Rights, she may have also violated his "Student Rights." This article doesn’t say of what faith she follows, but one does have to wonder. Perhaps she was personally offended by his banner? Even if she was, she does not have the Right to trump his Rights to satisfy her’s.

Congratulations Ms. Morse, you ARE the Idiot of the Week.
Peter

Source:
Houston Chronicle-"Supreme Court takes 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' case"

Just My Thoughts Saturday December 2, 2006

"Modesty?"

Hey folks,


OK I know I’m going to be considered old fashion, a prude, or whatever. But, what ever happened to modesty? Now I’ve talked about this in the past, and I told the story of the two girls that came to my house back when I was single, asking if "there was anything they could do for me? To get money to go to the store." I’ve wondered where the parents were when these two girls left their house. Due to the fact they were, uh, barely dressed, to say the least.

Now I know what the current styles are. I have a 15 year old Niece and 15 year old "Adopted" Daughter. I get it. I’ve seen it. Skin tight painted on pants. Micro miniskirts, more like a band-aid. along with some plunging necklines. A lot of the belly shirts have gone away, but what was short on the bottom is now sort on top. But is there no limits?

I was at someone’s house yesterday, attempting to help them with a situation they were having. We were outside when the phone rang and they went in to answer it. So I’m working away to help them when this very beautiful girl came over to me from nowhere. She asked me the standard, "watchful neighbor" questions. "Hi, who are you and why are you here? What are you doing?" You see, she never seen me before. I give her credit for being a concerned neighbor.

So I explained to her why I was there. She said, "Oh, OK." I’m "so and so." Lets say "Jane."I said hello and told her my name is Pete. I then started to notice her outfit. She was wearing the standard painted on jeans, and a sky blue, partly see through, low cut top. Had some kind of writing on it.

She then proceeded to start talking to me. And talking, and talking. You get the point. So I listened and went back to work with the occasional "Aha, Mmm, OK, Yup." She then tapped me on the shoulder, apparently I wasn’t paying close enough attention to her at that moment, and there was an important point coming. So I looked over at her.

OK folks, I’m on one knee. She is standing to my left, bending over to talk to me. YUP! You got it. I got quite the view. Absolutely no bra. She continued to stand in that position talking. I stood up because I could no longer concentrate. Just then, THANKFULLY, the person I was helping came back out. It was hugs and "heys." The person I was helping then officially introduced us. "I see you met Jane. She’s my neighbor’s Daughter." I proceeded to tell the person that she was a good security person and said how she was watching out . The person said, "Yeah, not bad {Security thing} for a twelve year old. Uh?" Yes you read correctly. TWELVE!

Now I understand it’s not really the kids fault. They are bombarded daily by MTV, VHI, TV, movies. Now we have Brittany running around with no underwear. Wait until Twelve year olds start taking off their underwear in school. Then you have Merchandisers like Abercombie and Fitch, peers, ETC. I understand that instead of teaching modesty, we pass out condoms in schools. I get the fact it’s a different time. It used to be cool to hold hands, now it making out, sitting on laps, grabbing and playing. Oh, thanks Mr. President, oral sex is no longer sex. But WHERE are the PARENTS? They wonder why our kids disappear.

Moments like these, make me happy I have a Son. I have enough to worry about with my Niece and Miss Elizabeth. You DID see Miss Elizabeth at the OPNTALK Photobucket right? Have the tight cloths. Even the low necklines. But could our kids AT LEAST where underwear? Seriously. Modesty is not a dirty word.
Peter

Off Day Friday December 1 2006

Hey folks,

I will not be in the office today, Friday December 1, 2006. I will be taking one of those very few days off. But as always, DO NOT fret. I’ll be back with you on Saturday December 2. Possibly a little later than usual, but I will be here. See you all then.

Remember, no matter what happens today, it’s still FRIDAY..
Peter