TEN REASONS TO OPPOSE THE IMMIGRATION BILL

Ten things your President and Congress hope you don’t know about the immigration bill currently on the table (Remember, we’re talking about the fate of 12-20 million current illegal aliens and countless aliens sure to follow). This “Top Ten” was excerpted from a compilation by Kris W. Kobach and Matthew Spalding of the Heritage Foundation.

1. To qualify for a Z visa, an illegal alien only needs to have a job (or be the parent, spouse, or child of someone with a job) and present two documents “suggesting” that he or she was in the country before January 1, 2007. These documents could be something as simple as a bank statement, pay stub or other easily forged items. The cost is $3,000, or $5,000 for a family of five.

2. The Z visa is called a “temporary” visa, though it can be renewed every four years until the visa holder dies. It’s also a “super-visa,” allowing the holder to work, attend college, travel abroad and reenter. A lot of legal immigrants would love to have this type of visa but, unfortunately, only illegal aliens qualify. Illegal aliens don’t have to return to their country of origin for a Z visa, either.

3. The government only has one day to conduct a background check. This despite the fact that a lot of information on aliens is in paper form and some is held in other countries. If the government can’t find a reason to not grant the visa by the end of the next business day, the illegal will be granted a probationary Z visa good for six months, allowing him to roam throughout the country and work legally.

4. Fugitives who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge, but chose to ignore the order (absconders), are extended amnesty. They can apply for a Z visa if they can demonstrate departure from the U.S. “would result in extreme hardship to the alien or the alien’s spouse, parent or child.”

5. If an alien is in the process of immigration proceedings, a judge must shut down all proceedings and offer the illegal alien an opportunity to apply for amnesty.

6. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would transform from a law-enforcement agency to an amnesty distribution center. If an ICE agent apprehends aliens who appear to be eligible for Z visas, he cannot detain them. He must, instead, provide them an opportunity to apply for a Z visa.

7. Gang members will be eligible for amnesty. If the 30,000 illegal alien gang members (MS – 13) who traffic in drugs, arms and people want amnesty, they only need to note gang membership and sign a “renunciation of gang affiliation.”

8. The Senate bill effectively repeals a 1996 federal law that prohibits any state from offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens.

9. The new bill would allow millions of illegal aliens who work in agriculture to receive free legal services. Every illegal alien in the agriculture sector would have access to an immigration attorney.

10. Allows probationary Z visas to be issued immediately and prevents the government from waiting more than 180 days after enactment to issue them.

JD.



Anonymous said...
Hey JD...not a comment on your immigration piece...looking for your thoughts on the following tidbit:

Planned Parenthood pocketed $305 million of taxpayers' money in its last fiscal year, but did not refer a single girl to adoption services. In fact, "adoption" didn’t even appear in the abortion giant’s annual report.

In the 2004 fiscal year, Planned Parenthood reported that it referred nearly 1,500 clients to adoption agencies. But in its latest annual report, covering fiscal year 2005-2006, Planned Parenthood reported nearly 300,000 abortions, yet no adoption referrals.

June 14, 2007 6:58 PM


JD's Page said...
Planned Perenthood is all about the abortion industry. If you look at their Web site and click on Heath Information/Abortion, you'll see they site 15-40% of all pregnancies ends in "spontanious" abortion. 15-40% is a huge range to not be sure of. They're happy to tell us there are 1.5 million "induced" abortions a year. They also say abortion was "common" among Native Americans. How do they know that's true and what is the definition of "common?" There is no shortage of abortion info for women and girls of all ages. They're also quite indignant (according to their own site) that some agencies would try and talk a woman out of an abortion. We could go on and on, but PP speaks for itself.

Thanks,
JD

June 14, 2007 9:50 PM

SO MUCH ENERGY TO BURN, SO LITTLE TIME

Live Earth. Just what we need, another rock concert to save the world! In case you haven’t bought your $99 ticket yet, the Live Earth concerts, which will take place at nine venues across the globe, will play on July 7 to raise awareness of global warming.

Apparently, not too many people are aware of global warming yet. I’m sure there is a tribe somewhere deep in the Amazon Basin that is not quite up to speed on the crisis of the day and will surely tune in their TV sets to watch the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That, of course, will depend on whether evil Western industrialists have managed to decimate that rainforest by July 7. Maybe if we keep their power lines intact…well, just a thought.

So much energy to burn, so little time. The massive concert will feature over 150 acts on six continents. Organizers – The lead organizer being Al gore – have promised an event in Antarctica also (someone has a big penguin following, I suppose). The individual venues will be in New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Hamburg and Istanbul.

One act that won’t be there is The Who. The Who’s Roger Daltry has declined an invitation to participate saying “The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert…I can’t believe it. Let’s burn even more fuel.” Daltry went on to say “We have problems with global warming, but the questions and the answers are so huge I don’t know what a rock concert’s ever going to do to help.”

Rocker Sir Bob Geldof, who has performed at Band Aid and who organized Live Aid and Live 8, doesn’t seem to think too highly of the idea either. According to “theage.com,” Geldof is apparently “furious” at being linked to Al Gore’s Live Earth, calling it a “waste of time.”

The usual “feel good crowd” of entertainers will use nearly immeasurable amounts of energy to lure at least half a million concertgoers to another self promoting ego-fest to accomplish absolutely nothing.

Imagine the amount of fuel burned for the hundreds of private aircraft that will be used to transport these eco-minded, yet gluttonous and conspicuously consuming egos. Not to mention the transportation of hundreds of thousands of fans. They will no doubt have to use a very large amount of energy for building elaborate stages, lights, cameras and all the other stuff it takes for another self promotion of Cold Play, Keane, Madonna, etc.

Then think of the hoards of celebrities who will be making the trek in order to get their mugs on Television or in a magazine shot.

Throw in the endless stream of politicians from all around the world who will be at the events glad handing and sucking up for votes and campaign contributions. Lots and lots of private jets, motorcades, air conditioning, trailers, trucks, and entourages…add to that these people’s families and friends (groupies). Now pour on the endless stream of media that will be there for basically two reasons; for the self righteousness of it (feel good aspect), and the idol worship. They will actually think they’ve made a difference. More jets, cars, trucks, helicopters, motor homes, etc.

Michelle Griffin, editor of M, points to the obvious saying “That’s not only a waste of time but a gross indulgence. It’s just a green rubber bracelet to string on your arm next to the white rubber band that will magically make poverty history, and the yellow one that cures cancer.” I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

It’s also true when Ms. Griffin tells us that pop stars have just about exhausted their credibility, telling us to “cancel Third World debt, adopt Africans and feed the world, while leading lives of conspicuous consumption.” (the adoption of Africans is my personal favorite fad these days)

According to Ms. Griffin, Dr. Keith Tovey, a climate change researcher from the University of East Anglia, estimated that the Wembley (England) concert alone could churn out 3000 tons of carbon.

These people are going to be producing a tremendous amount of greenhouse gasses to tell us we produce too much greenhouse gas.

Why not just write a check and do some genuine good for someone? The answer is all too clear!

JD.

GOP DEBATES CNN

I finally got around to watching the Republican Presidential Candidates’ debate on CNN. It was another horribly scripted meeting of the ten current “contestants” who faced a lot of very stupid questions from the likes of Wolf Blitzer. Here’s how it generally went down:

First of all, so few people are interested in this circus at this early stage of the contest, with so many contestants, that the exercise seems nearly unproductive.

As in the Democrats’ debate, there were several dozen ordinary “undecided” voters in the audience to question the contestants after the stupid barrage of queries from Blitzer and Co. The people in the audience may or may not have been the same type of BB brains that were sitting in the Democratic debate audience. This group’s questions certainly weren’t as emotional, therefore allowing them to be more substantive and educated. But we got to hear from a couple of people who’s level of knowledge about what goes on in our Country appeared a little low, to the point that maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Yikes!

The only female Republican Candidate, Sen. Ron Paul, made my teeth hurt with his whiny answers. Gov. Mike Huckabee invoked Ronald Reagan four times in one answer. Rep. Tom Tancredo, who said he would be delusional to think he could win the presidency, still insisted on helping to clutter up the stage. He invoked Benjamin Franklin. Now that’s reaching a long way back to find someone who agrees with your point.

Dumb question of the night: Blitzer asked several candidates if they believed in Creationism. I can’t imagine for a millisecond, a moderator asking for an answer to an irrelevant question like that from a Democrat. This kind of stuff is meant to belittle religion and undermine the candidates’ credibility by its sheer divisive intent. To his credit, Huckabee was quick to point out the obvious irrelevancy to Blitzer’s question, and I think he did it well enough to turn it into an embarrassment for CNN and Blitzer. Blitzer then asked Sen. Brownback “where do you stand on evolution?” The Senator handled the question respectably when he certainly could have excused himself from having to answer it at all.

Blitzer pushed the issue by asking McCain if Creationism should be taught in schools. Reaching back to Huchabee’s answer, McCain pointed out these people aren’t running for a seat on the School Board.
Gov. Romney of course had to answer the inevitable Mormon question which he handled with ease and class. He shouldn’t have even been asked.

When the questioning got to global warming, it was apparent Mayor Giuliani buys into it all, at least for the votes. But if you’re buying into something for the votes, you just compounded any problem you may have with credibility.

There wasn’t as much armchair quarterbacking as there was with the Dems’ debate. The GOP candidates accepted responsibility for the woes they’ve wrought upon themselves and the Country. They were apologists for the war and generally stood by their decisions. I’ll give them kudos for that.

Blitzer accused the Republican Party of being too close to “big oil.” He said there appeared to be too much of an alliance and that that accounts for higher prices. What??!!? Romney tried to be a crowd pleaser by harping on oil company profits but then shifted some blame to the countries selling it to us. Then he and Sen. McCain started sucking up to the ethanol industry. Big, big, suck-ups. Sad.

Overall, they came across as a serious and informed bunch, although I caught Sen. Brownback skirting questions. Gov. Romney looked and sounded presidential. He came off as knowledgeable and articulate. All in all, a crowd pleaser -- relaxed and authoritative. I’d give him the night.

That was pretty much it, at least all I care to think about it for now. I want to move onto something more interesting now that I’ve got that off my chest.

JD.

Anonymous said...
Whimpy answers? He's the most conservative member of Congress!

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RonPaul2008dotcom

June 11, 2007 12:48 AM

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN PARIS SUCCUMED?

I was going to write about the Republican debate today, but got sidetracked by breaking news the whole world has been waiting for. I picked on the Democrats and their pitiful love fest with the CNN crew the other night, and even picked on the (carefully selected) audience and their reactions. In fairness, I will get to the Republicans and my thoughts about those geniuses…Just not today.

Now with that out of the way, here goes:

For the rest of our lives, we undoubtedly will remember what we were doing when we heard that Paris Hilton was being sent back to jail!

As I write this: In the background a talk show is airing on my television set where five people are literally shouting a so-called debate on the philosophical ramifications of the Paris Hilton saga.

I’m sure the Nation is a safer place tonight with Paris Hilton behind bars. I know what some of you are thinking….how can a heinous criminal like Ms. Hilton almost escape the long arm of the law and its crack L.A. justice system? This judicial network, after all, is the same one that saw justice through for the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman. The same justice system that made sure O. J. Simpson was not wrongfully accused of murder (sic).

I don’t know about you, but I’m having a ball with this Paris Hilton stuff. Don’t care, never did, never will care about Paris. But damn, the pundits, most of whom purport to care very little about the story, are tripping all over themselves, and clearly don’t have enough air time to play the story ad nauseam.

Still, I have to confess, after being subjected to this bimbo’s clearly empty and messed up, dopy life (and the lives of her ilk), I finally get to see something worth seeing. It was the picture of her crying uncontrollably in the back of a Sheriff’s transport vehicle.

She’s 26 years old and this woman (girl?) could be taught about life by my 15 and 18 year old children. They could do a job raising her that would make “The Nanny” ask for lessons. My 30 year old daughter could teach Paris’s Mother how to be a respectable human being.

Best of all, this is the second time in a week that public outrage has actually appeared to have made a difference in the behavior of public officials. I am referring to this story and the defeat of the Immigration Bill in the Senate this week. Both victories for the American voice. Congratulations, America!

In yet more celebrity news, one of my favorite intellectuals, George Clooney, has voiced his support for B. Hussein Obama. His obvious deep and thorough insight, not to mention educated summation of the candidates, was revealed in his statements in support of Senator Obama. According to Time Magazine he said, “I like Barack Obama a lot. I’ve spent some time with him.” Then he divulged that he “actually had a conversation with him.” Then he said, “I’ll give you whatever support you need – including staying completely away from you.” That’s it. That says it all, I guess. You form your own conclusion!

Then Matt Damon chimed in. “I’m an Obama guy too…I haven’t ever met him or talked to him, but he’s the first person in a long time who I’ve been inspired by.” Makes you proud to be a fellow American, doesn’t it?

If it weren’t for the Hollywood crowd, there would be no easily accessible bar for measuring idiocy.

JD.

Comment from Anonymous:
I was walking in the house after work when I found out Paris was back in jail. lol
Anonymous

ONCE AGAIN, AMERICA LOSES THE DEBATE

If you missed the Democratic presidential love-fest…er, debate last night on CNN, I don’t blame you. It was like watching North Korean chefs interviewing for a stint as night watchman at the Humane Society. Scarrrrrryyy! What a pandering, childishly naïve looking, slobbering bunch of stooges. And they were speaking to a live, unwitting and clueless crowd, who were hanging onto every word and promise, without one challenge. I say that quite uncomfortably because it’s true. These are the words a liberal focus group, which attended the debate, used to sum up the candidate they liked: "Looks," "passion," "mannerisms," "energy," "voice," "makes people feel he’s confidant." How about that for a keen and substantive bunch of voters?

I’ll say this for the Dems, as I did for the GOP, there are so many of them it’s hard to refer to them as candidates. Contestant seems to be a more appropriate word.

Here’s how the night played out.

First question went to B. Hussein Obama. The moderator asked “In light of the fact we have not had a terrorist incident in this country since 9/11, and just yesterday the FBI arrested three men involved in a terror plot involving JFK Airport, could it be that the Bush Administration’s efforts to thwart terror could be a success?” Obama’s answer, without hesitation, was a resounding “NO”! I couldn’t comment on that any further and accomplish saying anything more than that answer did. Then this hypocrite Obama started telling me about the “moral dilemma” of executive pay.

Hillary, to her credit, answered that yes, we are safer today than we were then.

Then Edwards was stupid enough to say “This global war on terror ‘bumper sticker, political slogan,’ that’s all it is, that’s all it’s ever been…” And he wonders why he can’t hold on in the polls.

Bill Richardson said we need a President who will ask Americans to sacrifice. Doesn’t look like he’s sacrificing too much. Joe Biden said we need to eliminate about 6 billion dollars (his number) in subsidies to oil companies. And give it to ethanol companies, Joe? He also said we need to significantly raise auto gas mileage by mandating it. So much for free markets and affordable autos. Not to mention, I’m sure automakers around the world have never thought of that.

Kucinich said that the military is for peace, and that we should use them as a peacekeeping force only. If we’re not going to protect ourselves, Dennis, than why have a military? He then said he was going to “create millions of new jobs” by making (yes, making) people spend on alternative energy.

At one point the contestants were asked if, as President, they would veto all bills that contained earmarks (pork). Senator Dodd was asked first and I thought he was going to faint. He embarrassingly had to squirm as he lied and then as the topic sank in, I could see something phenomenal happening to the contestants. While the idea of pork was sinking into their collective brains, I swear I could see them getting fatter and fatter. Just thinking about pork was making them pool saliva all over the stage and Biden started to eat his chair. At one point, a prying camera angle revealed a shot of old Chris Dodd with one of Obama’s shoes sticking out of his mouth. It was gross. I laughed like hell!

I also thought last night that maybe Hillary was changing her name. Her answers kept beginning with “mihusbinbil…” I kept hearing her say mihusbinbil, whenever she was called on. What the hell is mihusbinbil, I wondered?! After about half an hour it dawned on me. My-husband-Bill. She wasn’t answering questions as to how she would handle things, she was answering them as to how she suspects Bill would handle things. Apparently she is already ceding the Presidency to husband Bill. So her answers would start, “Well, my husband, Bill would,” or “What my husband, Bill did.”

John Edwards said he’ll make college free for anyone who graduates from high school and works ten hours a week. And not one challenge from the room. Wow!

What a night from the “Okay, I’ll give you that too” bunch.

The one promise I’m absolutely sure they will keep, if one of them wins the office, is that they will raise taxes.

On another note:
We shouldn’t be surprised that the New York Times ran the terrorist plot story on page 37 Sunday. The front page was devoted to poor people in India making bricks. No shit!!!!

JD.

I LOVE IRAN (and other CBS bumper stickers)

I watched a love fest tonight. Some could call it a sensitive moment. Seeing two people experiencing such soft passion with hardly any touching could make the hair stand up on the back of the necks of most liberals and even some conservative wimps. I think I’ve seen this interview on the Today Show. Or was it The View (pre-Rosie)? Or maybe Oprah. There was so much affection it bordered on soft porn. But, no, it was a “60 Minutes” episode featuring Mike Wallace interviewing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.

Wallace made him come across as such a likeable, nice, regular kind of guy. Oh, how Mike wishes we could have a president like Mahmoud.

Sadly, Mahmoud looked much more media savvy than Wallace, the former looking relaxed and assured and the latter looking nervous and out of control, exhibiting horrible body language.

They laughed and giggled together like girls. Wallace was destroyed… out foxed, taken. Wallace was a pawn for Mahmoud’s propaganda machine. Mahmoud straight-up told Wallace what they were going to take about and when.

One of Mike’s idiotic softball questions was: “What do you think of George W. Bush?”

Ahmadinejad answered by reciting some statistics. He said one percent of the total population of the U.S. is in prison (although Bureau of Justice statistics say less than that), 20 percent are illiterate(U.S. Department of Education says 14 percent of adults are illiterate, though in Ahmadinejad’s part of the world there is an illiteracy rate of 19.8 percent for men and over 41 percent for women), 45 million without health insurance coverage. “That is very sad,” he said. His statistics went unchallenged by Wallace, a supposed journalist. No mention of, or questions by, Wallace about rights in Iran. Human rights abuses. Women stoned to death for immoral behavior. Death squads. Couples having their hands tied behind their back and thrown into pools to drown for holding hands in public. Nothing!

He was tougher earlier in the program with Vanessa Redgrave for her alleged anti-Semitism, than he was on Ahmadinejad, who says the holocaust was a fabrication and has repeatedly said that “Israel must be wiped off the face the map.” Wallace at times looked and sounded like he held contempt for Ms. Redgrave. Contempt most Americans would reserve for guys like the good president of Iran.

All and all it was a very pitiful (and embarrassing) moment in U.S. journalism.

JD.

CANDIDATES WILL RIGHT ALL WRONGS (and some that aren't)

Anyone following this ridiculously early presidential campaign has not even begun to hear how rosy and utopian life will be after the 2008 election. Especially if a Democrat wins!

Listening to Hillary, Obama and Edwards this past couple of days I’ve heard amazing things. Read on, you’re sure to agree all the following promises make this crew seem very attractive. Here are a few of the promises I’ve heard lately to fix things that are apparently broken or lacking. And beneath each item is what I think is a little more of what it means:


- “WE ARE GOING TO REVITALIZE THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY.”

JD - Free healthcare for anyone who doesn’t want to get a job and pay for it. Paid for by the people who want to work and take care of themselves and their families.

- “AVOID DISASTERS LIKE HURRICANE KATRINA, ETC.”

JD - Call off the hurricanes. If that doesn’t work, then pray the press don’t insight riots over the government not taking care of every citizen’s personal needs. Why should folks take care of themselves?

- “TWENTIETH CENTURY SCHOOLS. “

JD - Personally, I’d rather see twenty-first century schools. Let’s start by rewarding teachers who want to teach, administrators who have a mission, and reduce the number of boards of education.

- “CLEAN AND EFFICIENT ENERGY USE.”

JD - Steal your money and give it to corn producers for a very inefficient process of refining a very economically inefficient fuel. But it sounds good and it gets the candidates’ votes. Not to mention tons of money into their campaign coffers from anyone to do with corn.

- “MORE AND BETTER TRAINED POLICE.”

JD - Do nothing.

- “FIX THE MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM. “

- JD - Do nothing. I don’t even know what this means. But I’ll bet, on the fly, not one of them could give me an intelligent answer with a straight face.

- “OVERHAUL THE DISASTER RESPONSE SYSTEM.”

JD - They’ll do nothing of the sort. FEMA and Co. is a big fat government cow that no one has the guts to touch other than to feed it.

- “GIVE US CLEAN BUILDINGS.”

JD - Neither they, I or you have any idea what they’re talking about here.

- “REIGN IN ‘BIG OIL’ PROFITS.”
JD - Raise taxes on oil, gas and refinery profits. Taxes that will get passed on to you so you can pay even more for gasoline and other end-products of crude oil…like anything made from plastic.

- “FREE PRE-KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION. “

JD - “Free” daycare. That’s what pre-school is. This is where the folks who don’t have kids in pre-school, or any other kind of school for that matter, pay for the parents who don’t want to pay for their own child care.

- “FIX IMMIGRATION.”

JD - Depends on which party the candidate belongs to. Republicans want the workers but they do not want them to be voting Americans, because this class tends to vote Democrat. On the other hand, the Democrats want the voters but don’t want the workers to be legal and competing for union jobs, which is a protected Democrat class. Hmmm!



Mayor Ray Nagin is still blaming President Bush for all the mismanagement of just about everything in New Orleans. Mr. Nagin has been widely criticized for his failures during and after this tragedy. Day before yesterday he stood there with a straight face and announced to a city who was amazingly ignorant enough to reelect him, how Bush was to blame. This guy has done nothing right regarding the hurricane and its aftermath and has blamed Bush and the federal government for everything that has gone wrong.

Oh, the entitlement mentality! The whole country buys into the victimization rather than the mess the people of New Orleans created of their own lives, it’s always someone else’s fault.

JD.

EDWARDS - CREEPY, BUT ONLY ONE IN A BUNCH

I’d like to say I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t like John Edwards, but I’d be lying. I don’t like Edwards and am not the least bit ashamed of shouting it from the tree tops. For a couple of takes on why, see my April 26 blog, “And the Winner Is....” You could also reference: May 8, “Waiting to Exhale,” May 21, “School Funding,..” and May 24, “Tidbits” for starters. Here’s more on the phony among phonies…

Edwards told a Google “town hall” yesterday that he had read the October, 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, the summary of evidence leading up to the war. According to his staff, that’s not true. Today, Edwards spokesman Mark Kornblau said Edwards had “misunderstood” the question and that he had not read the report.

Busted.

When Kerry interviewed Edwards for the first time for the VP job prior to the 2004 presidential campaign, Edwards told Kerry that he was going to tell him a story that he had never told anyone before. According to Robert Shrumm, advisor to the Kerry-Edwards campaign, the story went like this; “That after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he’d do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade’s ideals of service.” According to Shrumm, Kerry was stunned. Not at the story, but because Edwards had told him the exact same story, almost verbatim, a year earlier, saying at that time also, that he had never shared the memory with anyone else.

Creepy.

Before Kerry eventually tagged Edwards as his running mate, he asked him as a condition that he give his assurance that should they lose in 2004, that Edwards would not run against Kerry in 2008. Edwards agreed. That promise lasted until Edwards decided to run for president against Kerry last year.

True friend. Man of his word.

According to Shrumm’s forthcoming book “No Excuses,” Kerry has said that he wished he’d never picked Edwards. That he should have gone with his gut.

As these candidates have demonstrated with their recent views on the war…hindsight is 20/20.

Post script on Edwards: When you see Geoffrey Fieger hawking John Edwards’ virtues in campaign commercials, you know that SOB is, well, a SOB!

JD.

CHAVEZ DRAFTS BIG BIRD

Hugo Chavez, the loveable President of Venezuela, has decided to shut down the only remaining nationally broadcast and oldest privately owned television station in the country, accusing the station of “subversive” activities. You remember ole Hugo, Jimmy Carter’s friend? Jimmy loaned a hand in helping to ensure Chavez’s very questionable election was “legitimate.”

Maybe you remember Hugo’s tirades at the United Nations last year, calling President Bush Satan and the devil, before a full assembly. He got a few nervous laughs with his comments, which made more than a few world leaders uncomfortable. He hates the United States, telling the UN General Assembly that the U.S. Government was the “first enemy” of its people. He says this as he systematically strips Venezuelans of their freedom.

He launched a new channel, TVES, with artists singing pro-Chavez songs over the airways. You can call this a first step toward imposing a gag on news media in Venezuela.

Hugo says he is just giving the airwaves back to the people by turning them over to public use. He calls this “democratizing” the airwaves. You know, kind of like PBS. Actually, exactly like PBS!

Early Sunday, according to the Associated Press, police broke up an opposition protest using water cannons and tear gas. Is anyone else having flashbacks of some of the shameful uses of force by some U.S. authorities during the civil rights struggle of the ‘60s…anyone?

The AP says “The government promises TVES will be more diverse, buying 70 percent of its content from independent Venezuelan producers. It will carry sports, news and an educational program for children emphasizing socialist values, as well as foreign-made programs such as National Geographic documentaries.” He must have stolen our playbook for PBS.

Someone tell me, why do my tax dollars pay for government TV in the U.S.A? I’ve had this discussion with many people and it always seems to boil down to the same answer, at least for me. All you have to do is watch it for a day and you’ll plainly see it keeps a lot of Democrats in this Country employed. It’s a 24 hour a day campaign commercial for everything government. It relies on government, it promotes government as your friend, is a voice for its very liberal-minded management and, if you watch the “children’s programming,” it indoctrinates our kids. All while putting a great face on the Democrat Party and scowling at anything pro-tradition or conservative. Much, much like TVES, I suspect! And this isn’t an attack on Democrats or a pro-Republican view I have…it’s simply anti-Public Broadcasting Service!

PBS is also a vehicle to get crummy programming aired that private stations would not purchase for viewing because there is no commercial interest. So let’s force the junk onto the people using the people’s own money. There is absolutely nothing democratic or capitalistic about that.

JD.

Ps. Please support this blog by sharing the URL with some of your friends and family. Who else untangles a lot of these little nuggets for you and puts them into plain-speak? Thanks.

NEPTUNE JOINS GLOBAL WARMING CLUB and THE NEW YORK TIMES SUCKS

To bring yourself up to speed on today’s item, you may want to see my April 29 blog “’An Inconvenient Truth’ Plays on…Mars?” to see how global warming has caught up to the red planet.

If the Martians had Laurie David on their side, they just may stand a chance. Without Leonardo DiCaprio to save them, the poor Martians, like us hapless humans, will surely become extinct.

Now we have it on serious authority that Neptunians are screwed also! Scientists at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona have been measuring visible light from Neptune and the measurements indicate Neptune has been getting brighter since about 1980. Infrared measurements show the planet has been warming since about the same time.

Researchers have learned that the correlation between solar irradiance, Neptune’s brightness and changes on Earth is nearly perfect.

Seems it kinda goes like this, folks: When the sun’s energy increases, Neptune seems to warm up…as do Mars and Earth. At least that’s the poop appearing on World Climate Report, a climate change blog.

That news, like so much other news contradicting how humans are causing a global warming "crisis" will never make it to the Williams, Couric or Gibson nightly circuses, though. They have way too much invested in convincing us, on a daily basis, that the human species has singlehandedly wiped out an entire planet circling the Sun, the core of an entire solar system, buzzing about in the entire Milky Way galaxy in our little corner of the entire Universe. Wow, we’re powerful!

And there’s so much money to be made on global warming! In this country alone, over a quarter of a trillion dollars has gone from our purses and wallets to global warming research. That’s trillion with a “T”! One more time, that’s 250,000,000,000 dollars from U.S. taxpayers alone!

That quarter of a trillion dollars goes to anyone supporting the global warming agenda by virtually any and all means. If your company says it will research building cogs to be more “environmentally friendly,” then your Congressman will be happy to steal the money and give it to them…In return for a few votes and a campaign contribution, of course.

If your local university has a department dedicated to global warming research, in rolls the grant money. Grants being money taken from us and other possibly productive government projects and given to the school. More votes for your local, selfless Congressman.

Or how about this scenario: The community of Demersville, its governing authority being a responsible, global warming sympathetic group of citizens, paid for by your tax dollars, hires a lobbyist. Said lobbyist is paid for with your tax dollars. Lobbyist goes to the State or Federal government , funded by your tax dollars, to lobby for money, pulled from your pocket, for a project in Demersville that, though unneeded, will go for an environmentally friendly project, funded by you, of course.

So we’re paying a local government (no doubt extremely smart and hard working public servants) paid for by you, to hire a lobbyist, paid for by you, to go to the next level of governments, paid for by you, to get funding, paid for by you, for a project, paid for by you, that obviously isn’t necessary, or it wouldn’t require a lobbyist, paid for by you. Think about it for a minute. You just paid a lot of money to secure several people and things that need to be paid for by a lot more of your money.

And the benefactors? The local government officials who just bought your vote with your money by bringing your money in from the State or Federal government you are funding to pay some contractors for building the “project,” who, in return will send a few bucks to the campaign coffers of your locally elected officials.

Think more than twice when voting for that next new little millage and those tiny increases in the existing millages that populate virtually every election ballot with fuzzy words like Green, Parks, Conservation, Wildlife, Elderly, Education, Rights, Human, Clean, etc.


In a fashion that is actually easily predicted, the New York Times will publish a story on Memorial Day dealing with the dissatisfaction of some troops fighting in Iraq. These stories are legitimate to report and fair game, but in what context? In a piece that tries to paint a picture of discontent among most of the soldiers of Delta Company, The Times goes out of its way to give the impression that most of our troops have doubts about their mission. I could go on and on, but I won’t. I hope most of the public understand the New York Times’ agenda. The Times never seems to appreciate the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform except to exploit them for their own readership. And to choose Memorial Day for this piece…? Unabashedly self serving. It’s easier and easier to understand why their readership is tanking.

How many spirits will they kill today?

I pray all our men and women in arms will have a safe Memorial Day.

JD.