A Hundred Angry M&M’s

To dumb it all down. The Federal govt. has the authority to regulate inter-state commerce. Makes complete sense. And that is the government’s basis for federal firearms laws, which is what this debate is over. That being said, this debate wojn’t end with gun laws, its just the catalyst event at this point.

The states have the supreme right to regulate all intrastate commerce. What does that mean. Well, Federal law says you can’t own a grenade launcher. The catch is, if the gun and the ammo are all manufactured in Montana, then there is no interstate commerce. Everything took place within Montana, and the Federal govt. thus has no authority to regulate the weapon. If Montana chose to make it legal, then they could, so long as it all remains in Montana. Since Montana passed and signed into law a bill declaring that the federal govt has no authority to enforce firearms laws in Montana if there is no interstate commerce there have been a slew of other states drumming up similiar bills.

Likely, it won’t go too far, as it’ll have to end up in the Supreme court pretty quickly. If the Supreme court overturns the previous intrepretation of the landmark decisons on interstate commerce then the Federal govt. could effectively be castrated to pre-20th century levels. Will it happen? Who knows, but Montana has already passed and signed their bill into law. The battle is brewing.

Utah and Texas are dreaming up their own versions as I write this.

Read it here

The Durban II conference on racism which has been boycotted by over a dozen countries, and which saw a walkout by 23 European countries as the Iranian President launched into a racist anti-semetic tyrade against Israel. Same thing happened at the previous conference, with the US and other nations walking out over the amount of overt anti-semetic statements made by Islamic nations (surprising, I know).

So, what does the UN chief commissioner for Human Rights have to say? Well, the conference was a success of course. Practically the entirety of the Western Democratic bloc walked out, yet the conference was still a success.  There was much discussion on Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, yet no real discussion of the situation in Darfur. To think, there are actually those out there that under the guise of Human Rights, claim this conference was a success. Maybe the UN should stick to its current plans such as promoting peace in Darfur or stability in Somalia instead of bringing together tyrants for planned photo ops and anti-semetic discussions. On secondhand, maybe they shouldn’t stick with their current plans either.

UN rights chief slams critics of racism meeting

By FRANK JORDANS – 9 hours ago

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights official hailed the global body’s second racism conference as a success Friday, despite what she called a disinformation campaign that almost derailed the meeting.

Navi Pillay, who spoke as the five-day conference wound down, said countries managed to go beyond issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to discuss broader problems of discrimination and intolerance in many parts of the world.

The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights said some campaign groups had tried before the meeting to brand it a forum for hate and urged governments to stay away. She did not identify the groups.

“We have had some rough moments in the process, but a hate-fest? I’m sorry, but this is hyperbole,” Pillay said. She said there was a “highly organized and widespread campaign of disinformation.”

Pro-Israel groups warned before the conference that it could see a repeat of the anti-Semitic outbursts that marred the first global racism meeting in Durban, South Africa, eight years ago.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech on the opening day backed the critics’ argument that the global body is unable to tackle the problem of racism in an acceptable manner. The Iranian leader accused the West of using the Holocaust as a “pretext” to harm the Palestinians, and branded Israel a “repressive racist regime,” prompting protests from Jewish groups and a walkout by 23 European countries.

Raphael Haddad, president of the French Union of Jewish Students, said the presence of Ahmadinejad at an anti-racism conference called into question the whole purpose of the event.

“For anybody involved in fighting against racism, this conference was just a big circus,” he said. The group made its point by dressing in multicolored wigs and throwing red clown noses at the Iranian leader during his speech.

Pillay said the meeting was “a strange, rough and tumble affair full of smoke and mirrors, I must admit, yet very definitely a success story with plenty of goodwill.”

Ahmadinejad’s speech largely overshadowed the swift agreement by over 100 countries Tuesday of a broad declaration against racism and discrimination of minorities.

The 143-point declaration reaffirmed principles agreed on at the 2001 Durban meeting, when the U.S. and Israel walked out because some participants had taken the Jewish state to task over its treatment of Palestinians.

“The fact that the outcome document was agreed just one day after Mr. Ahmadinejad’s appearance was a clear rejection of the intolerance contained in his speech,” said Philippe Dam of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Countries who have signed up to the declaration now have a clear agenda to improve their record in the fight against racism, he said. Dam cited the mention of the plight of domestic migrant workers and unaccompanied migrant children as two concrete issues that were addressed for the first time in a global forum of this kind.

Others expressed concern that the conference had failed to address issues ranging from bonded labor in the developing world to ethnic conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region and caste discrimination.

On the Net:

• U.N. racism conference: http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/

The gentleman over at The Right Student had a test on their site that would predict what UK political party you’d most likely vote for. So, I figured, what the hell, lets take it and find out what party I would be having crumpets with if I were British.

Apparently, I would be quite the conservative Brit.

MSNBC continues to ooze with unprofessionalism. Who remembers the left rallying against the accusation that protesting the war is unamerican. They likened it to the communist witch hunts of the 1950’s. And they did have a point. But now that Obama is in office and has instituted radical new economic policies including the bailout and new tax laws, the left has become the witchhunters. MSNBC has taken to shoting speakers that openly call Americans who partake in the new “Tea party protests” against Obama’s new economic policies as racists who hate blacks. Nevermind the tough and scary economic times we are in, if you oppose Obama, MSNBC holds the view that you are a racist. If you’re white and you don’t support Obama then you’re a racist. No two ways about it. The left has spoken, and what right do we have to question them? Apparently, none. The only racist I see on the video is Janeane Garofalo classifying thousands of people who happen to disagree with her merely due to the color of their skin.

Watch the video and make sure to take a look at the title at the bottom of the screen entitled “Capitalist Tools.”

I’ll admit, I was shocked when I read this. Alot of Americans think that the crisis is limited to  the US. Even history in American schools has failed us somewhat. Most Americans don’t realize that the Great Depression of the 1930’s was worldwide. I knew there were countries all over suffering, but to be honest I didn’t care. I have only been concerned with the US economy. Don’t mean to be arrogant or insensitive, but there is that old saying, “All politics are local.” Thus, I hadn’t been following too strongly the situation in other countries. I knew the world as a whole was getting slammed pretty hard, but I was somewhat taken aback when I read this BBC headline…

Spain has never struck as the nation with the hardest working people. I don’t know if I am just being stereotypical, but I always got the impression that they were more in the business of enjoying life and having more relaxed attitudes while at work. Not a lazy country by any means, after all they are in the G8. Yet, I can’t help but disagree with their intended response, which is that more regulation is needed. It seems to be the fail safe phrase of the decade. If in doubt, continue to regulate!

Spain’s unemployment rate hit 17.4% at the end of March, figures have shown, with the jobless total now having doubled over the past 12 months.

In the past year, two million people have lost their jobs taking the total out of work to just over four million.

The Bank of Spain recently predicted the jobless rate would reach 19.4% in 2010, as the recession took hold.

“It is a terrible figure,” Octavio Granado, secretary of state for social security told state television.

He said the first quarter of any year was traditionally bad for employment in Spain.

Mr Granado also said that 2009 was expected to be the worst part of the economic downturn.

“So we are in the epicentre of the crisis. We are in the eye of the perfect storm,” he said.

The National Statistics Institute said Spain’s jobless rate at the end of the first quarter was up 3.45 percentage points from the end of 2008.

The BBC’s Steve Kingstone in Madrid says the country has become used to grim unemployment data, but Friday’s figures are especially shocking.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will hope that the government’s 70bn-euro ($92bn; £63bn) stimulus package will now create new jobs – above all in public works projects due to begin this month, our correspondent says.

But critics say deeper reforms of the labour market are needed – to eliminate red tape, and reduce the costs of hiring and firing permanent staff, he adds.

Under the current rules, many employers prefer to offer temporary contracts to staff who are then let go at the first sign of trouble

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8016364.stm

courtesy of the BBC

I’m glad that this is not happening in the US as all hell would undoubtedly break loose. I’m interested to see how the British react. To me, this seems outrageous. The more successful and harder working citizens are now being forced to give up even more of their hard-earned money to support the rest of the population.  With an immigration problem that seems out of control and members of lets just say certain minority groups sucking up govt. welfare, it seems unfair to say the least that the blame is in effect being laid on the wealthy. 50% is surely too high.

Alistair Darling has said the UK will have to borrow a record £175bn as he admitted the economy faces its worst year since the Second World War.

The chancellor tore up a key New Labour election pledge by unveiling a new 50p tax rate for earnings over £150,000.

He also cut future spending plans in a Budget which added 2p on fuel, 1p on a pint of beer and 7p on cigarettes.

The package would steer the UK through to recovery, he said. The Tories said the economy was in an “utter mess”.

Leader David Cameron said not enough had been done to get spending under control and “Britain simply cannot afford another five years of Labour”.

Total government debt will double to 79% of GDP by 2013 – the highest level since the Second World War. The annual budget deficit will rise sharply to £175bn for the next two years.

The Budget received a cool reception in the City with the pound down – and the Confederation of British Industry said it did not set out a “credible and rigorous” path to recovery.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the government “have condemned us to years of unemployment and decades of debt” and claimed Labour had been “desperately rushing around picking up half-baked ideas to save the skin of this failing government”.

The new top rate of tax is a change of plan from the pre-Budget report last year in which Mr Darling had proposed a new tax rate of 45%.

It is also being brought in a year earlier than planned “to pay for additional support for people now”.

Mr Darling also scrapped tax relief on top earners’ pensions.

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said Labour had ditched its manifesto pledge not to raise income tax before the next election in an effort to “wrongfoot” its opponents and cheer its core supporters, as well as raising money.

In other Budget measures, fuel duty will increase by 2p per litre in September and then by 1p a litre above inflation each April for the next four years.

Alcohol duties will go up by 2% – about 4p on a bottle of wine and 13p on a bottle of spirits – from midnight.

Mr Darling said the various tax raising measures would raise more than £6bn by 2012.

That would help pay for a real terms boost in pensioners’ income – including new pension recognition for grandparents who care for their grandchildren – and help for savers with ISAs.

There will also be a “car scrappage” scheme under which people trading in cars older than 10 years for new ones will get £2,000 to boost the ailing motor industry.

Jobs

And there will be more help to get people back into work quickly and support businesses and homeowners facing problems.

Everyone under the age of 25 out of work for 12 months or more will be offered a job or a place on a training scheme. In addition, the government will create or support up to 250,000 jobs in deprived areas.

Another widely trailed measure confirmed was the extension of the Stamp Duty holiday on properties sold for less than £175,000 until the end of the year as part of a £1bn package aimed at boosting house sales and building.

In his speech, Mr Darling confirmed the economy would shrink by 3.5% in 2009 – far worse than his pre-Budget forecasts.

Public borrowing will also soar to record levels as the Treasury wrestles with a combination of falling tax receipts, higher spending and the cost of bank bail-outs.

But Mr Darling insisted other major countries were suffering a worse downturn.

Spending squeeze

He said the Budget would “build on the strength of the British economy”.

The government had been “guided by our core values of fairness and opportunity – and our determination to invest and grow our way out of recession”.

But he also made clear his recovery plans depended on a rapid economic bounce-back – with a forecast of 1.25% growth next year rising to 3.5% in 2011.

The Treasury will also bid to close the gap between dwindling tax receipts and soaring spending by selling £220bn in gilts, or government-backed debt – a new record.

BUDGET FORECASTS

And he admitted that the economy would first face a period of deepening deflation with the Retail Price Index falling to a low of minus 3% by September.

The chancellor is also squeezing public spending in the future by saying it will grow by only 0.7% per year from 2011 – a lower growth rate than when Mrs Thatcher was in power.

Despite this the public finances will only balance by 2018 – two years later than previously forecast.

There was also grim news on the jobs front ahead of the Budget, with unemployment figures showing the number of people looking for work has reached 2.1 million – its highest level since Labour came to power in 1997.

The government claimed Scotland would get an extra £104m from the Budget but the SNP said it would mean “a real terms cut in Scottish spending” of £500m that would cost 9,000 jobs.

The Welsh Assembly Government says it is facing a cut of more than £400m in its funding for next year. Opposition parties have called it “a huge blow” and warned that it will have have a major impact on frontline services.

Congrats Europe. Tens of millions of dollars wasted. Soldiers lives needlessly put at risk. And all to prop up a joke government that doesn’t even control all of own capital city. What a joke. Europeans are so scared of being accused of not caring for others, that they act downright ridiculous. Why aren’t your soldiers in the Sudan where there is a genocide going on? Atleast there they would make a difference. Somalia is screwed. They need to solve their own problems. The UN has been there for decades and the situation has only gotten worse.

The European Union says it will pledge at least 60m euros ($78m) towards boosting security in Somalia at a donors meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

The international donor conference aims to raise 200m euros ($260m) for the African Union peacekeeping effort and to create national security forces.

Those forces could include a 6,000-strong national security force and police force of 10,000 officers.

Correspondents say such forces might contain pirates off Somalia’s coast.

The world’s attention has largely focused on Somali piracy recently, especially since the high seas drama in which US Navy Seals killed three pirates rescuing Richard Phillips – the abducted US captain of a cargo ship.

Benchmark

One of the aid agencies operating in Somalia, the International Rescue Committee, has urged donors not to allow the piracy to divert attention from the humanitarian crisis which, the agency said, was affecting hundreds of thousands of Somalis.

The EU hopes the announcement of its financial pledge will be a benchmark for other donors at a time when the situation could hardly be more critical, says the BBC’s world affairs correspondent, Mike Wooldridge.

The EU, which is hosting the conference with the United Nations, considers Somalia now has its first credible government in many years, though in reality it currently controls little beyond a few areas of the capital, Mogadishu.

from the BBC

French authorities have said they plan to close a migrant squatter camp outside Calais by the end of this year.

Immigration Minister Eric Besson said the camp, known as “the jungle”, would be replaced by a temporary centre offering migrants food and shelter.

There are estimated to be about 1,000 migrants in makeshift camps in Calais, most hoping to enter Britain illegally.

The British government said they had been “locked out” of the UK by the country’s tough border controls.

In remarks made to businesses during a visit to Calais and broadcast on France radio, Mr Besson said: “I’m telling you in advance that we won’t allow this situation to deteriorate, that the jungle will not exist any more.”

“To maintain and develop the jungle would be an obstacle to economic interests and employment.”

He added: “The law of the jungle will not rule either here in Calais or anywhere else in France”.

Benefit system

The camps sprang up after France closed the Sangatte Red Cross refugee centre in 2002.

Since then, charities have provided donations of food and clothing to migrants, but business owners in Calais say their presence is having a detrimental effect on the town.

Mr Besson said a new centre to replace “the jungle” would offer food, shelter and advice for those seeking asylum in Britain, but would not be permanent or provide overnight accommodation.

The illegal migrants in Calais are not queuing to get into Britain Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas

Some in France, including the mayor of Calais Natasha Bouchart, have blamed Britain’s attractive benefit system for the influx.

Mr Besson also called on the British government to do more.

“Britain should step up its controls and take on more of this burden,” he said. “Britain should also question why migrants and the traffickers in migrants believe that the British illegal job market is a golden opportunity.”

But Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the UK only offered benefits to those “who play by the rules, work hard, pay taxes and learn to speak English”.

“The illegal migrants in Calais are not queuing to get into Britain – they have been locked out by one of the toughest border crossings in the world,” he said.

“I have made it clear that those trying to cheat our system will not be tolerated, which is why last year UK Border Agency staff worked tirelessly at our French and Belgium controls – stopping more than 28,000 attempts to cross the Channel illegally.”

Last week, French police carried out an early morning raid at the camp and detained 150 people, many of them from Afghanistan.

During a visit to Calais in January, Mr Besson vowed to deal with the growing problems in the area.

The French and British governments are currently discussing the creation of a new immigrant holding centre within the British-controlled zone of the Calais docks.

Finally. France has let its immigration problem get out of control. One needs only remember the disastrous riots that rocked France for weeks. Good to see them shutting down these immigrant camps. I’ve heard of areas like this in Sweden, but god knows they aren’t likely to grow a pair of balls anytime soon. I hope this isn’t just one for the headlines, and the French authorities plan to continue with these raids.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8014940.stm

check out this article on JihadWatch.com

Who speaks for Islam? How Esposito and Mogahed cooked their data to increase the number of Muslim “moderates”

In “Just Like Us! Really?: Gallup says only 7 percent of the world’s Muslims are political radicals. Yet 23 percent think the 9/11 attacks were in some way justified” in The Weekly Standard, Robert Satloff exposes yet more that is wrong with the Saudi-funded Islamic apologist John Esposito’s soothing “No Extremists Here” survey of the Islamic world:

Mogahed publicly admitted they knew certain people weren’t moderates but they still termed them so. She and Esposito cooked the books and dumbed down the text. Apparently, by the authors’ own test, there are not 91 million radicals in Muslim societies but almost twice that number. They must have shrieked in horror to find their original estimate on the high side of assessments made by scholars, such as Daniel Pipes, whom Esposito routinely denounces as Islamophobes. To paraphrase Mogahed, maybe it wasn’t the most technically accurate way of doing this, but their neat solution seems to have been to redefine 78 million people off the rolls of radicals.The cover-up is even worse. The full data from the 9/11 question show that, in addition to the 13.5 percent, there is another 23.1 percent of respondents–300 million Muslims–who told pollsters the attacks were in some way justified. Esposito and Mogahed don’t utter a word about the vast sea of intolerance in which the radicals operate.

And then there is the more fundamental fraud of using the 9/11 question as the measure of “who is a radical.” Amazing as it sounds, according to Esposito and Mogahed, the proper term for a Muslim who hates America, wants to impose Sharia law, supports suicide bombing, and opposes equal rights for women but does not “completely” justify 9/11 is .  .  . “moderate.”

Fabulous, just fabulous.

So, what was the result of this…

Oh, Obama invited her to be an advisor.

Muslim who called for engagement with Muslim Brotherhood to advise White House

Mogahed, along with John Esposito, cooked the results of a Gallup survey of Muslims to increase the number of “moderates.”

Mogahed was also a member of U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project, which called for engagement with Muslim Brotherhood. (Thanks to Jeffrey Imm for both links.)

The Muslim Brotherhood is dedicated, in its own words, to “a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ’sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

Dialogue!

“Egyptian-born US Muslim to advise White House,” by Marwa Awad for Al-Arabiya, April 21 (thanks again to Jeffrey Imm):

CAIRO – The first Muslim woman appointed to a position in President Barack Obama’s administration met with lawmakers Monday and discussed her role on an interfaith advisory board the new administration hopes will broaden dialogue and understanding.Dalia Mogahed’s dimpled smile shined from under her hijab, the Muslim headscarf, as she addressed senate staff and think tanks at a meeting organized by the Congressional Muslims Staffers Association to discuss American Muslim public opinion in the wake of a recent survey.

“The key idea of the council is to tap into the energy and wisdom of religious organisations and leaders who focus on faith groups to solve common problems “
Dalia Mogahed, White House advisor

The Egyptian-born American who heads the Gallup American Center for Muslim Studies a non-governmental research center providing data-driven analysis on the views of Muslim populations around the world, became the first Muslim veiled woman to be appointed to a position in the White House.

“I am very honored to be given this opportunity to serve my country in this way,” Mogahed, who will be Obama’s window into the Muslim American community, told AlArabiya.net….

Courtesy of JihadWatch.com

Reminder: The Muslim Brotherhood is where Hamas originated out of.  Enough said.

Illegal Immigration. Its apparently, not nice to call people who are in this country illegally  Illegal immigrants or tonks or wetbacks or illegals those names that I just mentioned. Its apparently dehumanizing. My response: Who the fuck cares. They’re fucking leeches. They come here, pop babies out so that they can have a tie to the US in case we ever try to deport them, refuse to learn English, and suck up welfare. Of course, this isn’t true of all of them, but it is true of the vast majority.

My opinion on illegal immigration of this. If some liberal University Professor tells you how the problem can be solved, do the opposite. We gave illegals amnesty in the 1980’s with the promise of getting tough on border security! Yeah! Sounds good, right? So, why are we now eyeballs deep in another 10-12 million more wets that we need another amnesty? And listen to the immigration activists talk about how after this amnesyty we will really really get tough on border security. We’d all be fools to fall for their lies again.

And of the illegals dieing in the desert. Too fucking bad. Are they that stupid to not look at a map and realize that one gallong of water is not enough to sustain a 4 day hike through the desert in 100+ degree weather. Well, activists will tell you that they are lied too and the immigrants don’t really know how far the walk is. Fair enough. Human smugglers are scum. No arguments there.  But again, LOOK AT A FUCKING MAP!!!!!!! Illegals buy brand new backpacks, and stock up on supplies before crossing. Its not as if they can’t afford a map, or take the time to atleast glance at one. You can’t blame the human smuggling groups for all of this. There is a degree of personal responsibility here.

Oh, and here is the best one. Illegal immigrants try to climb the border fence where there is razor wire. Big strands of it. They cut themselves, get tangled up in it, and have to be rescued. What do immigration activists do? Yeah, they sue the government for causing the suffering of the wet who got stuck in the wire. As if he didn’t know what it was when he tried ot climb over it.

When I was in college I was more supportive of left leaning solutions. You know, give everyone a path to citizenship and hand out work visas like candy. Well, I’ve since changed my mind. They will always enter illegally. Tehy have no respect for the US, and activists will never be happy until the US has given more support to citizens of other countries than they give to US Citizens. Give them 100%, and they’ll ask for 110%.

Oh, and if you don’t support illegals then you’re a racist. And ICE, whose job it is to enforece federal immigration laws. Yeah, they’ve been stopped from conducting high profile workplace raids because it is apparently too scary for illegals to handle.

here is a good article on why freedom of speech isn’t allowed on university campuses unless you agree with left-wing professors and agree to drink their koolaid. And yes, its the cherry koolaid.

Rowdy student protest shuts down anti-immigration speech

The Taliban are well on their way to seizing control of Pakistan. So much so that our fearless Secretary of State Mr. Hillary Clinton proclaimed that Pakistan has become a Mortal Threat to the world. Dare I say that I agree with her. I may have even blogged on how Pakistan is the greatest threat to the world right now (in terms of nations). Every move the Pakistani government has made to stop them has failed, or ended in a truce that gratiously favors the Taliban. Nice to see Clinton doesn’t have her face in the sound like the UK does. Sorry, but I have to call out the British government here. No government in the world has their face further in the sand about the realities of Islamic extremism than the UK. Just keep on appeasing them and watering down your culture and freedoms so that you can capitulate to a foreign segment who wants nothing to do with you way of life, but loves to take your welfare money. Hopefully the Brits can do away with their PC obsessed Labour government soon.

So, what of Pakistan’s nukes? Well, Mr, Obama may finally get that international crisis that everyone has been talking about. You know, they one that will show whether he is a pussy or a leader. He’s done alot of intersting things lately, such as cozying up to Cuba and Chavez, but we don’t yet know his playbook. The word is still out on our new President.

Check out this article about the Taliban advance inside of Pakistan.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/04/taliban_advance_east.php

-with colorful goodness!

Mexico, which is now suffering the result of decades of government corruption and incompetence is claiming that the US is to blame for the drug wars. After all, cartels grossing billions of dollars a year in profit couldn’t possibly get weapons if the US didn’t have such liberal gun laws.

As someone who has a gun in the house and who carries a sidearm with him whenever he is in public, I decry the fact that there are actually in those in the US government that think its okay to shred the Bill of Rights because of what Mexico says.  I respect Mexico’s President because Calderon is doing more to tackle the cartels than anyone else who has ever sat in his seat. Mexican soldiers and law enforcement are dieing daily to take back their country and their sacrifice shouldn’t be looked down upon. Yet, we are in America, not Mexico, and our rights are our own.

Good news is, the assault weapons ban, is not likely to be reinstated. So, to hell with Mexico’s whining and the left’s attempts at gun control. And now a picture for your amusement…

No, we haven’t suddenly become English overnight. In fact I’m not even sure there was any tea present at these rallies. I expect the BBC, or perhaps the Guardian newspaper to decry the use of the words “Tea Parties” and slander the events, but thats what they do best.

I for one was happy to see people protesting in such a large, and peaceful manner. Something that you won’t find too often on the left. No one was burned in effigy, flags weren’t lit on fire, and counter protesters weren’t assaulted. One things for sure. Conservatives have class, while liberals do not. While I won’t get all worked up and predict a global apocalypse like Glenn Beck, I am concerned that the government is trying to do to much with WAY too much money while we’re in an economic crisis. People are being laid off all over while jobs are still being outsourced. Illegal immigration still continues unabted while the government puts more restrictions on Federal immigration officers.  I’ll stop here, but there is so much more that could be said.  Its good to see the American public passionate about something again. An active democracy is a healthy democracy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30227452/

I want it to be clear that I won’t be 100% against anyone. If tehy do a good job then soemone needs to say so. And Obama did an awesome job with the pirate incident. While the real credit belongs to the SEALS and the captain of the USS Bainbridge, and of course Capt. Phillips, Obama handed the situation without overreacting or caving into the Pirates’ demands. Well done, sir.

It looks like he did. And if he did, then all I have to say is this.

Since when does the leader of the most poerful nation in the world, a democracy that allows its people to live freely bow down to a tyrant who denies his people basic freedoms. No freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, and lets not even get into the whole oppressing women thing. On that day, Obama made a mockery of his office.

In my opinion the US Department of Homeland Security is a terrible waste. ICE (immigration and customs enforcement), whose job it is to among other things, enforce immigration law in the interior of the US (The US Border Patrol handles border areas) has effectively been castrated. The Spearker of the House, Nancy Pelosi stated that worksite enforcement of the US immigration laws, which the founders gave the government the authority to create and ENFORCE is wait for it….wait for it….its really really good, but you still have to wait…..UNAMERICAN. Yup, enforcing Federal law is not unamerican. If a US citizen gets fired, no one important cares. But, if an illegal immigrant aka Tonk gets fire for being in the US  illegally, its a public outrage and congress has to make statements. It makes your blood boil.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/18/pelosi-tells-illegal-immigrants-work-site-raids-american/

Brilliant video by the Canadian author/humorist Mark Steyn

Spacewar article… Even after being caught with a secret plant used for enriching Uranium and sharing nuclear technology with Syria, the report will be private because North Korea doesn’t want to be embarrassed. Yes, you read that right. A truly rogue nation that has been secretly producing nuclear weapons and proliferating that technology doesn’t want to be embarrassed about being caught red-handed. Lunacy.

NKorea to quietly acknowledge US nuke charges: report

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TOKYO, April 11 (AFP) Apr 11, 2008
North Korea has agreed with the United States to resolve a months-old standoff through a face-saving private acknowledgement of US allegations over its nuclear programmes, a report said Friday.Pyongyang missed a deadline in a six-nation disarmament deal to declare all nuclear programmes by the end of last year. But the chief US and North Korean negotiators reported progress at a meeting Tuesday in Singapore.

Japan’s Kyodo News, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources, said the two sides struck a tentative deal under which North Korea would privately acknowledge two US allegations — that it has a secret uranium programme and shared nuclear technology with Syria.

North Korea would submit a document to the other nations in the six-way talks that it “acknowledges” and takes “seriously” the two US assertions, which have been key sticking points, Kyodo News said.

But the document would not be made public, avoiding embarrassment for the communist state, which has steadfastly denied that it has proliferated or secretly enriched uranium.

North Korea has an acknowlegded plutonium programme, which it used to detonate an atom bomb in October 2006.

US President George W. Bush’s administration is seen as considering the North Korea disarmament deal a key diplomatic success in its final months in office.

Kyodo News said the agreement reached in Singapore was a first step in jump-starting the dormant six-nation talks, but quoted an unnamed Asian diplomat stressing it was “not a final deal.”

“While there is movement in the process compared to the time when it was completely stalled, we have yet to reach a point where we can say when we could hold the next six-party talks,” the diplomat was quoted as saying.

Kyodo News also said the United States had reiterated to North Korea it would remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism if the process moves forward.

A delisting would allow the impoverished state to seek multinational loans. But the move is steadfastly opposed by Japan, which has tense relations with Pyongyang due in part to the regime’s past kidnappings of Japanese civilians.

The six-nation talks involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

http://www.spacewar.com/2006/080411131607.lq8cqwcy.html

Yes, you read that right. Former President Jimmy Carter is going to be traveling to Syria to meed with Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshal. Why is he in exile? He had to feel the territories because Israel wants very badly to kill him.

Carter will also be visiting Israel and Saudi Arabia. its not all that bad that he will be visiting Syria too, but meeting with Hamas is downright wrong. They are recognized as a terrorist organization by the US and EU, and to this very day refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Carter’s aides have said that he will be conducting the visit as a private citizen who is the head of his own organization. Only one thing comes to mind after having read that statement…

BULLSHIT!

It doesn’t matter what Carter says. He is a not seen as a private citizen. He is a former President of the United States. No matter what he says or does, that is how the world will view him. To pretend that he doesn’t represent the United States when he acts is ridiculous.

As FoxNews pointed out, he will be the first Western leader of his stature to meet with the head of Hamas. Its disgraceful. And its a bit disappointing to think that someone of his stature and intelligence honestly believes that peace can be made with Hamas. We’re talking about a radical Islamist group that intentionally puts bomb-making factories in densely populated areas and then dares Israel to bomb them. Not to mention Hamas fighters hide behind women and children when fighting the Israelis.

The debate over the US missile shield that is being placed in Europe has been going on for a few years now. Am I the only American that wants to know we are spending billions of dollars to build a missile shield on another continent? Let alone the countless man hours spent negotiating with the Europeans and Russians?

This is just another example of the US having to protect Europe, because either Europe is too lazy/incapable of doing it themselves, or more likely, they don’t feel that it is necessary. Either way, surely the US can find something better to spend the money on. The list of things I could think of is too long to even list and I’m sure everyone else can think of something that they would like to see an increase in funding in.

Iran will likely having nuclear weapons and already has missiles capable of reaching much of Europe. Seems to me this is a European problem, and the Europeans should solve it. I’m not saying that the US shouldn’t help its NATO allies but building and funding the whole project is ridiculous. If Europe is either too lazy or too incapable to deal with the threat from Iran than they should be left to their own misfortunes. I am aware of the geo-political value that such a move gives to the US. I mean lets face it. The only reason the US gives a damn about European security is because it allows the US to have influence in Europe and that Euro-US trade is very important. Hence the Marshall Plan at the end of WW2. The missile shield gives the US a whole new level of clout over Europe because as the threat from Iran grows, Europe will have to pay attention to what the US says because after all the US controls the on-off switch to the missile shield. Severely pissing off the US may result in the US dropping security support fro Europe and flipping off the missile shield. This is smart thinking on the part of the US for sure, but is it really necessary? Does the US really need to protect Europe to such a degree? I think not, and if anything the Europeans abuse the security protection from the US anyways. Hell, half of the NATO membership roster is countries with no military worth mentioning and who piss their pants when they are so much as scowled at.

I’m a bit of a pragmatist when it comes to world affairs. If Europe refuses to defend itself than Europe has only itself to blame when they become the victim of a foreign aggressor. The whole of human history has shown that much. Are we really that naive to believe we are in some new “Golden Age” of humanity where if you try really really hard not to hurt someone’s feelings than no one will be mean to you? Sometimes I think thats how people think the world is, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. Thus, I have little sympathy for any country who refuses to develop an sufficient defense deterrent and then cries when it becomes the victim of a foreign aggressor.

And before someone says, “You forgot to discuss Russia!” I will simply say that Russia has a long history of being one of the most paranoid countries in the world. They have always been overly suspicious. Even before the Cold War. Apart from the paranoia, Russia is starting to recoup some of its old military and economic power. Russia wants desperately to be considered a major power on the world stage again. What better way to do so than interfere with the plans of the worlds only Superpower? There have been enough reports that state that the missile shield is no direct threat to Russia, as it is hardly capable of stopping the hundreds of ICBMs that Russia could launch at Europe. The Missile shield is designed to stop only a few missiles at a time. And remember, Russia has thousands of Nukes. Not even Jack Bauer and John McLain could stop Russia from destroying Europe if they were to team up.

Read about the missile shield…

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_sees_US_missile_shield_as_inevitable_report_999.html