Friday, July 29, 2005

Still Not Sold on the US Economy?

The United States GDP grew 3.4% during the second quarter of this year. This is the 13th quarter in a row that US GDP growth exceeded 3%. How far back do you have to go to find such a streak? Surely we saw such economic expansion during the Clinton years, right? Wrong.

The last time we experienced 13 consecutive quarters in excess of 3% growth was the first quarter of 1983 through the first quarter of 1986, during the Reagan years. The stock market might not show it, but there's no denying the strong performance of the US economy over the past 3 years.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Gay Pride?

Why is the gay lifestyle being shoved in our faces as just an alternative lifestyle? And why are people mystified about the spread of HIV within the gay community?

Minority Politicians Say: "Give us the Money!"

Last week the Houston Chronicle published an editorial from Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, U.S. Representative Al Green, and the Reverand Bill Lawson. The message? We suspect Houston Metro won't give a fair share of contracts to minority owned businesses, so they better get their act together and make sure they dole out enough dollars our way.

The editorial stated: "We are concerned that recent actions by Metro signal a retreat from allowing minority businesses equality of opportunity....it is imperative that everyone, especially those that have traditionally been excluded from economic benefits, be included."

The authors fail to provide any description of these "recent actions". Apparently in today's political correct environment, all it takes is for a black or Hispanic to state "we suspect you guys want to discriminate against us, so you better funnel money our way", and Wham!, your opinion is published in the nation's 8th biggest newspaper.

The editorial simply states that minorities are "traditionally excluded" from opportunities, ignoring the fact that billions of dollars flow to minority owned businesses every year, simply because they are....minority owned. Perhaps the authors haven't heard of minority business set-asides. Perhaps they've missed the fact that a federal agency exists called the Minority Business Development Agency, whose sole purpose is to ensure dollars flow to minority owned businesses. There can be no denying that in today's world, minorities have a great advantage with respect to education and federal contracting, yet the authors have the nerve to state that minorities are excluded.

More importantly, have these activists ever heard of free markets? Do they honestly believe they need to preemptively cry victim in Houston's newspapers, and help their consituents win contracts just because of the color of their skin? We don't need a scolding from minority politicians to perpetuate institutionalized racism, we need to develop competitive businesses that earn public and private sector dollars based on performance, not pigment.

If these facts aren't concerning enough, consider the following:
  • Metro is designed to serve the inner city (presumably minority) populace with low cost transportation. So Metro's entire charter is geared towards serving minorities.
  • The proportion of black employees with Metro far exceeds the proportion of blacks in Metro's jurisdiction, so Metro is in fact going overboard to serve the minority community.
  • Metro recently announced that one of the new light rail lines will serve the Houston Gallery area. Even though the Gallery is a major resident and tourist destination, this has angered minority politicians because this rail line doesn't do enough to serve the minority community. Apparently, Metro must serve minorities at the exclusion of whites in order for these politicians to be happy.

    Of course, maybe I have this all wrong. Hispanics are now the majority race in Houston Metro's market. Perhaps Sylvia Garcia is really concerned about Metro money flowing to black and white owned businesses. And if you believe that...
  • Monday, July 18, 2005

    Forget Math & Science, How do I Become a Martyr?

    I previously discussed the Islamic indoctrination received by the 7/7 London terrorists. In spite of half-wit media hacks who are putting a laser-like focus on the fact that the murderers were born in Britain, it is clear that Islamic indoctrination is what led them to murder.

    In Pakistan today, there are waiting lists for the most extreme "schools", which have long abandoned mathematics and science in favor of a 24X7 Islamic brain washing curriculum. Education includes audio tapes by radical Imams, memorization of all 74,000+ words of the Koran, and weapons training. For more insight into what is being taught in Pakistani schools, read this from UK's Times Online.

    As the article points out, less than 2% of Pakistan's GDP is directed towards education. Perhaps Pervez Musharraf should wake up to the fact that families need legitimate alternatives to these brain washing camps.

    Wednesday, July 13, 2005

    What a Coincidence!

    Here is an excerpt about Habib Hussain, one of the London terrorists, from the Daily Mail: "According to one neighbour, Hussain "went off the rails" as a young teenager but became a reformed character when he "suddenly became devoutly religious" two years ago."

    Here is some background about Shehzad Tanweer, one of the London terrorists, also from the Daily Mail. According to Shehzad's uncle, Bashir Ahmed, his nephew went to Pakistan for two months earlier this year to study religion.

    What a coincidence, two of the London murderers recently became more devout in their religion. What religion could possibly lead devout adherents to commit mass murder? Truly one of the world's great mysteries....

    Say What? America Can't Win this War?

    It's always interesting to read the results of CNN polls to gauge just how left of center the casual CNN reader sits. During the 2004 election cycle, CNN polls consistently showed John Kerry with a substantial lead over George Bush. When various political topics are presented, the results always portray a left-of-center bias. Consequently, every CNN poll must be viewed with this understanding, and with a recognition that poll results are best viewed with a liberal lens.

    But even with the benefit of this knowledge, today's poll results are shocking, disappointing, and frightening all in one. The poll asks the simple question: "Can the war on terrorism be won?" Amazingly, only 43% believe that this war can be won. I always knew that the left of center crowd was soft on crime, weak on defense, and slow to take up arms in defense of our country. They would prefer to verbally attack America than physically protect America. But today we learn that they are a defeatist bunch as well. Consider this: Would any previous American generation state that a war is "unwinnable"? Would any previous American generation, be they Democrat or Republican, state that America is unable to defeat an enemy? I can only imagine the contempt that Patton and Eisenhower would have for the spineless CNN voters who admitted defeat in the midst of this war.

    May God help us all. If the average CNN reader (nearly 20,000 voters so far) sincerely believes that this war cannot be won, than we as a nation will be fighting the war with one hand tied behind our back. Liberals and Conservatives must unite in this cause, for the future of our nation is at stake.

    To see the latest, check it out here..

    Tuesday, July 12, 2005

    Random Thoughts

  • Does anybody remember a recent presidential candidate so crass as Hillary Clinton? Perhaps my memory is fading, but I don't remember any Republican politicians comparing Bill Clinton to a moronic cartoon character while he was in office, as did Hillary this week.

  • The mainstream media is doing their best to put Islam's best foot forward in the wake of the London bombings. But if you read a few paragraphs into a typical article, you come across quotes like this (from a July 11 Chicago Tribune article):
      "When [Prime Minister] Tony Blair talked about Islam and then Islamist terrorists, who is he talking about?" asked Ahmed Salim, 26. "Osama bin Laden is not representative of Islam. . . . The way [Blair] spoke, it was ridiculous."
    Gee, Ahmed, I can't believe Tony Blair had the nerve to speak out against Muslim extremists after they butchered 50 of his fellow citizens. The nerve! Another Londoner stated "It's gruesome, it's awful, it's against whatever mainstream Muslims think," said Omar Chikhi, 36, who emigrated from Algeria 18 years ago. "Are we scared of some kind of backlash? I don't think so. I don't think people are scared--and I don't think it [a backlash against Muslims] would be tolerated." Omar is right on - the west will continue to fight this fight with one arm tied behind our backs and the PC police watching our every move.

  • Despite the efforts of the media and the PC Police to caste Islam in a positive light, Muslim clerics continue to perpetuate the myth that Muslims had nothing to do with September 11. Melbourne Imam, Sheikh Mohammed Omran, stated on Australian TV this week that Osama Bin Laden had been unfairly blamed for terrorist activity. "I dispute any evil action linked to Bin Laden, again I don't believe that even September 11 from the beginning, I [don't] believe it [was] done by any Muslim at all," he said. The murderous ways of radical Muslims will never change until clerics like Omran step back into reality, and work towards cultural change within Islam. As we all learned in Psych 101, the first step in making a positive change is recognizing the problem.
  • Thursday, July 07, 2005

    Which Islamic Group Did It?

    This morning, 30+ civilians in London were murdered on their way to work, the result of four separate bombings. Who could have done such a thing? In a big surprise, it turns out that some Islamic Jihadist Murderous Lunatic group is claiming responsibility.

    In future terrorist attacks of innocent civilians, the question will not be "Who did this?". The question will be, "Which lunatic Islamic group did this?".

    If blood thirsty Muslims continue their jihad against civilization, it would seem the G8 leaders should clamp down hard. Our enemy has no borders, no national flag, but they have a common religion. We certainly cannot conduct a witch hunt for every Muslim in the free world, but we can restrict their ability to gather, and we can stop all immigration of Muslims into the civilized world. Here are some suggestions:

    • Seize all property of every Islamic mosque and "charity"
    • Freeze all financial assets of every Islamic entity
    • Remove the tax exemption status of all Islamic organizations
    • Deny visas to all Muslims. This might be difficult in practice, but perhaps some sort of personal testimony denying the authenticity of Islam could be required. The question then becomes whether or not would-be murderers would deny their faith to get the chance to kill civilians.


    Once these measures were taken, one would hope that the long-overdue call for peaceful Muslims to rise up against their terrorist brethren would be heard. The Islamic war vs. civilization will never end until jihadists are scorned, arrested, or perhaps even killed by fellow Muslims.