Monday, February 28, 2005

Two More MAJOR Bush Policy Victories

Syria has long been a major impediment to peace in the Mid East. The Syrian Baathist regime funds terrorist organizations such as Hizbullah, and has occupied Lebanon for nearly 30 years. In 1976, Syria troops entered Lebanon during Lebanon's civil war, and over 15,000 troops remain to this day.

Syria's influence over Lebanon extends throughout the Lebanese government. In 2004, Lebanese President Lahoud's term expired. Syria, who initially selected Lahoud for the post, insisted that Lahoud's term be extended for 3 more years, despite the fact that he had served the 6 year maximum term allowed by Lebanon's constitution.

Syria has also been a key supporter of the insurgency in Iraq, and is widely believed to be responsible for the murder of former Lebanese president Rafiq Hariri.

The Bush administration has consistently delivered strong and uncompromising messages to Syria. But given our involvement in two conflicts in the region, Syria recognizes that an attack from the US is highly unlikely. As long as US military crosshairs are fixed on Iraq and Afghanistan, the Syrian government has been content listening to Bush administration bark, realizing that we aren't in a position to bite.

Apparently, Syria is coming to recognize that they are losing the war in Iraq. The Iraqi road to democracy was recently paved by 8 million Iraqis who voted in recent elections. Insurgents are being captured or killed by the dozens. Iraqi security forces are being trained by the hundreds. More importantly, the United States military becomes better positioned for their next endeavor with every new trained Iraqi soldier.

As a result, the Syrian regime recognizes that now is the time to save themselves, and in what might be their first goodwill gesture towards the United States, the Syrians handed over 30 terrorists operating out of Syria. The biggest catch in the Syrian stringer was Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, who has been funding and organizing the insurgency from Syria. It stands to reason that these 30 men could have been arrested one or even two years ago, but Syria has come to realize that they have reached a fork in the road: continue supporting the Iraqi insurgency and risk a US military response, or begin cooperating in the hopes of maintaining their hold on power at home.

Compounding the woes of the Syrian regime, citizens throughout the middle east have now seen the power of freedom, and they want a taste for themselves. Recent elections in Afghanistan and Iraq have put democracy front and center in every day political dialogue. In the wake of the Hariri assasination, Lebanese citizens demonstrated by the thousands, despite the fact that demonstrations are outlawed by the puppet regime in Lebanon. Today, the Lebanese Parliament had planned a no-confidence vote against the pro-Syrian Lebanese government. In a stunning development before the vote took place, the Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami announced the resignation of the entire government. We have reached the point-of-no-return where full Syrian political and military withdrawal from Lebanon is inevitable.

It is doubtful that even the most ardent Bush opponent would fail to recognize these astounding Bush policy successes. Let's hope and pray that other "insurmountable" obstacles to peace come tumbling down, including Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights, and Saudi Arabia's failure to recognize a sovereign Israel.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Prayers for Pope John Paul II

Please pray for the comfort of Pope John Paul II, who has been admitted to a Rome hospital for a tracheotomy. We are all well aware of his declining health over the past 5 years, and he's physically not the man he used to be during the first 20 years of his pontificate.

So here's a quick reminder of this great man in his younger years.






More on Ward Churchill

USANow recently addressed the behavior of Ward Churchill's minions at a University of Colorado Board of Regents meeting. Rather than simply offer words of protest, Churchill's henchman became violent to the point that two of them were arrested. How did a university professor come to have such a disturbed cadre of lemmings watching his back? Granted, his comments about World Trade Center victims were tasteless and misguided, but how did this culture of violence arise within the Ward Churchill cult?

Michelle Malkin's blog is reporting today about audio tapes which have been released from a Ward Churchill Q&A session. Take a quick look, and you'll see that it's Churchill himself who is promoting civil disobedience, violence, and even murder. This man should not only lose is job, he should be behind bars.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Give the Man an Asterisk

Avid baseball fans need not read Jose Canseco's new book to realize that there is a major steroid problem in major league baseball. Players like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds have recently performed at levels never-before-seen in major league baseball history. Across the league, balls are leaving the park in record fashion.

For some perspective on the matter, let's compare 1990 with 2000. In 1990, Detroit's Cecil Fielder made major headlines by cracking 51 home runs. As a team, the Tigers led the major leagues with 172 home runs. All teams combined for 3,317 home runs that year, or 128 per team.

In the late 1990's, players like Sosa and McGwire were routinely breaking the 50 home run barrier, and both managed to best Roger Maris' previous all-time record of 61 homers in a season. In 2000, 21 teams finished with more than 172 home runs. All teams combined for 5693 home runs, or 190 per team! This is nearly a 50% increase in home runs between 1990 and 2000.

Can there be any doubt that performance enhancing drugs are rampant in major league baseball? For further evidence, let's take a closer look at Mark McGwire's career. Between 1991 and 1996, McGwire was never healthy enough to manage 500 at bats. Year after year was shortened by nagging injuries. But in the years 1997, 1998, and 1999, McGwire managed > 500 at bats every year. His home run totals those years? 58, 70, and 65 which represent 3 of the top 12 single seasons of all time! In fact, the top 6 single season home run totals were all recorded in the years between 1998 and 2001. In 2001, Luis Gonzales, who had averaged 16 home runs in 10 previous major league seasons, hit 57 home runs!

In what may be the biggest travesty of this scandal, Barry Bonds is approaching Hank Aaron's all time home run record. In Bonds' first 12 seasons, he averaged 31 home runs. In his most recent 4 years, (years 16 - 19 of his career), he's averaged over 52!

Yesterday Bonds spoke to the media for the first time since the release of Canseco's book, and Bonds was as surly and combative as ever. Asked whether records broken by players who've abused steroids should have an asterisk next to them, Bonds replied “All of you guys have lied, should you have an asterisk behind your name? ... Yeah, I lied to my parents when I was growing up. Lied to my friends. Have I lied about baseball? Yeah, I told a couple of stories that I hit a couple of balls places that I really didn’t.”

This was indeed a pathetic display, watching Bonds trying to discredit reporters' integrity in the hopes of justifying his own behavior. Furthermore, watching Bonds take comfort in the fact that he's always been a liar, so violating baseball's substance abuse policy is no big deal, is indeed sickening to this life long baseball fan.

To top this off, Bonds once again played the race card, crying poor victim in his press conference Said Bonds: "Because Babe Ruth is one of the greatest baseball players ever, and Babe Ruth ain’t black, either,” he said. "I’m black. Blacks, we go through a little more. ... I’m not a racist though, but I live in the real world. I’m fine with that."

He sure doesn't sound "fine with that". Barry, how about providing some real evidence of how you've been the victim of racism? Otherwise, file away your race card with the rest of your pack of lies. On another note, Bonds should wake up to the fact that Hank Aaron holds the all time record, not Babe Ruth. We can only thank God that Aaron is black, otherwise we'd have to listen to Bonds cry "racism" for the rest of his life if he hits #756 and anybody questioned the legitimacy of his record.

Should Bonds break Aaron's record, let's hope the record shows:

  • *^Barry Bonds - 756
  • Hank Aaron - 755
  • Babe Ruth - 714

    * Achieved with the help of steroids.
    ^ Achieved with a huge racist chip on the shoulder.
  • Friday, February 18, 2005

    Capital Punishment: A Biblical Perspective

    As a radical, right-wing, Christian neocon, I've long been in support of capital punishment. My belief is that the death penalty serves as a great deterrent for certain crimes, such as the murder of a police officer. In addition, some criminals remain unrepentant until their last breath, and no amount of incarceration is going to "rehabilitate" them. Some of my liberal friends have questioned my double standard since I'm also pro-life. Although it's curious that they fail to see the hypocrisy in their own pro-abortion, anti-capital punishment platform, I am left to wonder whether my position is indeed inconsistent.

    After stripping out the radical, right-wing, and neocon from my tongue-in-cheek label, I'm left with Christian, more specifically a Catholic Christian. Turning to the teaching of the Catholic Church, I am left uncertain as to whether capital punishment is right or wrong. Some will say the Church is strictly opposed to capital punishment, others will say the Church allows for capital punishment. After a quick review of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is clear that capital punishment is allowed only in the most extreme situations. The Catechism states in paragraph 2267:
      The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.


    For non-Catholic Christians and Jews, the Old Testament provides clear teaching on the matter (Ezekial 18):
      Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?


    Perhaps those of us who are pro-capital punishment should reflect on these teachings, and pray for a change of heart.

    Monday, February 14, 2005

    Randall Kallinen: Big Man in Houston Atheist Community

    USANow's most recent post summarized the efforts of the Houston ACLU, led by Randall Kallinen, in bringing back Jenna Jameson's autobiography to Houston library bookshelves. Kallinen was quoted as saying that nude pictures of Jameson do not constitute pornography by any standard.

    After a little research, USANow has learned that Kallinen is the attorney for Houston Atheist Society's "Activist of the Year", Kay Staley. Staley is the Real Estate professional who sued the Harris County to remove the Bible display in front of the Civil Courts building. During their awards ceremony on December 12th of last year, Staley stated: "That display had been bothering me since I first started law school in 1970. I just never could find an attorney who would take the case. Then I happened to sit near Randall Kallinen at a dinner event, and he was looking for a plaintiff for this very thing. It's Randall who really deserves the award. He did such a tremendous job."

    Given his track record on the Jameson case, and his role in the ACLU, it is little surprise that Kallinen is a big man in the Houston area atheist social circuit. This fact provides further evidence that the ACLU agenda is driven by radical atheism.

    As for the 2005 Houston Atheist Society's awards, Kallinen's work taking the Bible away and bringing pornography back to Harris County citizens will surely give him the inside track for some type of lifetime achievement award.

    Porn for the Public: Courtesy of the ACLU

    The Houston Public Library system recently placed copies of porn actress Jenna Jameson's autobiography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star, in their closed stacks which made the book only available upon request. Houston Mayor Bill White and the City Council were instrumental in the library's decision.

    The Houston library made a wise decision in taking this book, which contains nude photos of Jameson, off the shelves. Many Houston Independent School District students visit the library, and it is a safe bet that 99% of parents would not want their children to peruse the pages of Jameson's book.

    Unfortunately, the local chapter of the ACLU wedged themselves into the issue, stating in a letter to the city that the removal of the book violated the First Amendment. Said Randall Kallinen, the president of the Houston ACLU, "This book has a lot of literary merit. This is about the biography of a woman in a certain industry, it is the porn industry, and it is not a pornographic book by any standards." Hmmmm, naked photos of a porn star do not constitute pornography "by any standards"? One is left to wonder what constitutes pornography in the eyes of Kallinen and the ACLU. After another review of the book by the library committee, the book has been returned to the open shelves in the "Fine Arts" section.

    Has any other society in our world's history considered pornagraphic images, or the autobiography of a woman who was paid to have sex with dozens of men, to be "fine arts"? Does any other entity, outside of the ACLU, consider this book appropriate for the general public of all ages?

    UPDATE: The Houston chapter of the ACLU has a page where you can send your comments: Contact Houston ACLU You will notice 2 problems with this page: 1) The comment field is about 15 characters long. 2) There is no button to send your comments. Is the Houston chapter of the ACLU incompetent, or are they uninterested in public comments on their activities? I suspect it's a little of both.

    Thursday, February 10, 2005

    Great News on the Economy

    The Labor Department announced today that new jobless claims fell to 303,000 for the week ending Feb 5th. This is the lowest jobless claims total in over 4 years. A key driver behind this good news is that layoffs have declined 13% over the prior year.

    In other economic news, the trade deficit declined by roughly 5% in December to $56.4 billion dollars. While this is good news, the fact that we import $56 billion more than we export every month is quite sobering. How do we solve this problem? BUY AMERICAN.

    Wednesday, February 09, 2005

    So You Want to be a Palestinian Apologist?

    There can be little doubt that common Palestinians are living a life of suffering, tragedy, and limited opportunity. Their territories are occupied by the Jews, and real Arab support for Palestinian people is limited. Of course, organizations like Hamas receive millions of dollars annually from various Muslim "charities", but it comes as little surprise that very little funding trickles down to every day needs, like education, infrastructure, and health care.

    So while it's easy to sympathize with the common Palestinian, and it's easy to condemn terrorists in Hamas, where can we draw the line between innocence and guilt? How pervasive are anti-Semitism and terrorist ideals in Palestinian culture? Most importantly, can we bundle the Palestinian Authority with the common Palestinian, or with the likes of Hamas? For answers, let's turn to the Palestinian Media Watch which makes its living monitoring official media and propaganda of the Palestinian Authority. Take a look at the summary of their latest report, Kill a Jew, Go to Heaven, and you'll see that the Palestinian Authority is no friend of peace.

    For a sneak peak, here's a quote from a Muslim scholar which was broadcast on Palestinian Authority TV last month:
    “…and the rock and the tree will say: Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!”

    Here is another quote from September, 2004:
    “We are waging this cruel war with the brothers of the monkeys and pigs, the Jews and the sons of Zion.”

    Let's hope and pray that Mahmoud Abbas will address the pervasive anti-Zionist propaganda being fed to all Palestinians by their government. Otherwise, worldwide efforts towards bringing peace and stability to the Middle East will remain a futile waste of time and money.

    Tuesday, February 08, 2005

    Hey Rumsfeld, Get Some More of Them Drones!

    Hmmm, we have a $400+ billion defense budget. Perhaps we should build and deploy more of these. With all due respect to "shock and awe", the advancement of U.S. drone aircraft has been the big military story of this war.

    Having a few hundred of these bad boys roaming the skies might make Iraqi terrorists think twice before they plant a roadside bomb. You might be thinking that General Atomics, the manufacturer of the Predator drone aircraft, would be a great addition to your stock portfolio. But the company, a spinoff of General Dynamics, is private.

    Friday, February 04, 2005

    Neoliberal Message: Delivered Best Through Anarchy

    As we've witnessed on many occasions over the past year, the radical left is ill-equipped to engage in public discourse purely on the merits of their arguments. For the most part, their agenda is one that promotes immorality, promiscuity, atheism, and complete wealth redistribution within the United States. Picture Stalin as a porn peddler, and you have the radical left incarnate.

    Because their platform is anathema to the majority of clear-thinking Americans, the neoliberal minions resort to demonstrations and violence. Witness attacks on Republican party offices, and tire slashing of RNC vehicles during our last election cycle. Witness the violence perpetrated by the radical left who demonstrated during last year's Republican National Convention.

    What is becoming clear is that the radical left-wing agenda is kept on life support by a few out-of-touch academics, the socialist and communist parties, and a core group of adolescent thugs who flock to any event which even smells of anarchy.

    In the most recent episode, the University of Colorado Board of Regents convened a meeting to discuss disciplinary action to be taken against Ward Churchill. Recall that Churchill is the man who compared the victims of 9/11 to a murderous Nazi, calling them "little Eichmanns", after Nazi death merchant Adolf Eichmann. Clearly, the pinhead Churchill has no business interjecting his views in the realm of public discourse, much less teaching at a major university. The UC Board of Regents actions are long overdue. However, it should come as little surprise that Churchill has his little band of henchmen who attended the Board of Regents meeting. So how do the neoliberal anarchists respond to a civil Board of Regents meeting? They were so loud and disruptive that 2 were arrested, and another was led away in handcuffs! How do you get arrested at a meeting of university Board of Regents? These dimwits clearly had no logical or moral ground on which to defend Churchill, so they simply started a mini-riot at the Board of Regents meeting.

    The bottom line is that the radical left message is one of immoral socialism. This message is so abhorrent to the majority of Americans that very few will give the neolib deviants the time of day, so they're forced to rely on a bevy of uninformed adolescent thugs to get the word out. What a proud group the neoliberals must be!

    Wednesday, February 02, 2005

    "New Theory" Reported by Newsweek is 3,500 Years Old

    The MSNBC website today is reporting this shocking story about a new theory on the origin of human life.

    Apparently, radical scientists are claiming that all life can be characterized by an "intelligent design". That is to say that life was created by a higher level being, and our complex nature is evidence of our divine creation.

    Interestingly enough, this theory has been previously proposed and can be found here.

    All sarcasm aside, modern theories related to intelligent design have been promoted for many years. For an excellent synopsis of the theory, read Darwin's Black Box by Lehigh University biochemist Michael Behe.