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| Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ liberalviewer ]
|
8:06p |
McCain Right to Claim America Was Founded on Judeo-Christian Principles? When Senators Barack Obama and John McCain both appeared at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency with Pastor Rick Warren last weekend, McCain used a myth about the supposed Judeo-Christian origin of American principles to pander to the evangelical Christian audience in a way I contrast with an Obama appearance at another Baptist church earlier this year in my 2 minute 40 second YouTube video at: McCain Right USA Founded on Judeo-Christian Principles?If you're interested in the sources I used for my video... You can see the full section of the Saddleback Civil Forum interview of John McCain from which I took a short clip for this video from the CNN website at Saddleback Forum segmentI used Marion Doss's picture of Thomas Jefferson in my video under a creative commons license as described on his Flickr page at Jefferson photoYou can find the rest of Thomas Jefferson's 1824 letter to Major John Cartwright, among other places, at Book of Jefferson documentsYou can find the prepared text of Barack Obama's January 20, 2008 speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church from which I took a screen capture at Text of Ebenezer Baptist Church speechYou can find the full video of Barack Obama's January 20, 2008 speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church from which I took a short clip at Video of Ebenezer Baptist Church speechFinally, as always, I appreciate all feedback :-) |
conservatism
[ kellev ]
|
1:12p |
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conservatism
[ malasadas ]
|
10:11a |
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| Monday, August 18th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ l555l ]
|
9:49p |
He Cheated!
Obama loses debate-type forum.
Aids claim his opponent cheated.
Apparently, the chosen one cannot simply lose. He has to be cheated to lose. |
conservatism
[ hey_its_michael ]
|
8:20p |
100 College Presidents sign statement supporting lowering drinking age College presidents from about 100 of the best-known U.S. universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
The movement called the Amethyst Initiative began quietly recruiting presidents more than a year ago to provoke national debate about the U.S. drinking age, which is among the highest in the world...
...The statement the presidents have signed avoids calling explicitly for a younger drinking age. Rather, it seeks "an informed and dispassionate debate" over the issue and the federal highway law that made 21 the de facto national drinking age by denying money to any state that bucks the trend.
But the statement makes clear the signers think the current law isn't working, citing a "culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking," and noting that while adults under 21 can vote and enlist in the military, they "are told they are not mature enough to have a beer." Furthermore, "by choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law."AP story via MSNBCYes...I think this is overdue. The drinking age should never have been increased to begin with. The emotional appeal of MADD aside, there seems little rationality to allowing people to be shipped off in war, which carries a higher risk of death than making the choice to do what most already do -- drink as a 19 or 20 year-old. Seriously -- how many of the people reading this drank when they were under 21? How many who are under 21 now drink? I'm willing to bet well over half. What purpose is this law serving, other than making drinking some off-limits thing that young adults partake in regardless? Current Mood:  pleased |
conservatism
[ madisonmassage ]
|
7:29a |
McCain, georgia and the Ukraine oh my In april NATO decided not to fast track gerogia's bid for NATO membership. Germany and France were the to key opponents to fast track status. The fact that Russia is the EU's primary energy supplier has caused many countries to fear angering russia by increasing the speed of nato expansion. The recent military conflict in georgia has caused germany to rethink their position. Recently the German's have decided to strongly endorse nato membership for georgia. Georgia 'will join NATO': Merkel http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080817/ts_afp/georgiarussiaconflictnatoNATO has called an emergency meeting to reassess their relationship with Russia. "How far NATO goes in curtailing relations with Moscow will depend on the situation on the ground as the doubts remain about Russia's implementation of a EU-brokered peace plan. Russia has promised to start withdrawing forces from positions in Georgia on Monday but has suggested troops could stay in South Ossetia, the breakaway region at the heart of the fighting." http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080818/NEWS01/80818019McCain has taken the position, that both Georgia and The Ukraine should be admitted to NATO as soon as possible. He has also put forward the idea that russia should be barred from the WTO. The fact that one of his advisors is also a lobbyist for the georgian government has both given him more insight into the situation and also proved a political weakness. "In face of Russian aggression, McCain wants Georgia and Ukraine in NATO" http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/in-face-of-russian-aggression.htmlSo what do you think of McCain's position on this issue, and how do you view Obama's statements? |
conservatism
[ jimprofitanon ]
|
1:56a |
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| Sunday, August 17th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ ytterbius ]
|
8:30p |
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conservatism
[ russj ]
|
7:44a |
Beware Charismatic Men Who Preach 'Change' Editor, Times-Dispatch: Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day and on July 4 I celebrate America's. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence. On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress. I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive. When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said "Praise the Lord." And when the young leader said, "I will be for change and I'll bring you change," everyone yelled, "Viva Fidel!" But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner's guns went silent the people's guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I'm back to the beginning of my story. Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America? Would we? Manuel Alvarez Jr. Sandy Hook. Obamaphiles have condemned this letter as an inauthentic “right wing slur.” but the newspaper itself says that the letter came from "a fairly regular correspondent".You can find the original letter on the paper's web site, dated July 7th. |
| Saturday, August 16th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ writerspleasure ]
|
10:41a |
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| Thursday, August 14th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ madisonmassage ]
|
8:34a |
What about the Ukraine and others? Putin has played his hand well. The military action in georgia has shown nato, the u.s. and europe to be impotent in the face of soviet military action. Will this signal a wave of capitulation to russian demands by former republics? Georgia, the Ukraine and others now know for certain that the west will not act to protect them if russia decides to use force, what choice does that leave them? from the guardian Nato stops here For years Russia's leaders have argued: push the line of confrontation eastwards and we'll push back. Last week, they did "Putin warned Nato leaders at their last conference that if Ukraine got Nato membership, it would disintegrate as a country. Was he bullying or telling the truth? Probably, a bit of both. If Ukraine became a battleground of competing 19th century nationalisms as Georgia has become, it could easily become a new Yugoslavia. Does Europe or Nato have the troops to police the new boundaries and enclaves of Ukraine that would emerge as a result? Almost definitely not." http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/12/nato.georgia |
| Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ crackerman ]
|
9:43p |
GW
It's been a long time since Kyoto and a lot of information has been bolstered while a lot has had its foundations removed. Being "green" is fast becoming the cool and many now understand how big their carbon footprint is.
But there are still doubters out there. I bet a lot of you seeth when you see a prius with one passenger zip by you in the carpool lane (if you're in CA, that is). And you think that Obama's proposed "green" economy is BS and that we need to concentrate on what we know works by drilling for more oil.
And although I don't personally consider this a political issue but instead think that it is a matter of science and observation to determine what the reality actually is, I post the following question in this community because what people believe about this issue tends to reflect their political polarity. Bush wants more drilling, Pelosi won't budge. Somehow the issue has divided along party lines.
So here's my question: If you don't believe global warming is happening, why not? Or, if you believe it is happening but that we should not do anything about it, why not? |
conservatism
[ starchaser57 ]
|
2:22p |
Becoming an American Citizen Today I ran into an old friend. After exchanging greetings she told me her most important news. She, a native of South Africa, has become an American citizen. I don’t know how long that process took. I know she has been in Joplin at least seven years. She is very happy to be an American citizen. I asked her about her family; her mother and father. She said that now she had become a citizen, she could sponsor their coming here to begin their citizenship quest. She said this process would take at least a year. A year? “Why don’t you tell them to just come across our border through Mexico”? I asked her. No process needed. No sponsorship needed. No long wait needed. They need only wait until January or so of next year. They’ll get amnesty no matter whom we elect. Why should anyone waste their time pursuing citizenship the legal way? Come across the Mexican border. Find a democrat to hire them as maids or babysitters and they are in, baby. |
conservatism
[ writerspleasure ]
|
9:07a |
a forgotten historical obscenity The Great Gold Robbery of 1933 t's been 75 years since the federal government, on the spurious grounds of fighting the Great Depression, ordered the confiscation of all monetary gold from Americans, permitting trivial amounts for ornamental or industrial use. From the point of view of the typical American classroom, on the other hand, the incident may as well not have occurred. A key piece of legislation in this story is the Emergency Banking Act of 1933, which Congress passed on March 9 without having read it and after almost no debate. - http://mises.org/story/3056[ c/o http://syndicated.livejournal.com/vonmisesblog/1709664.html ] |
| Monday, August 11th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ malasadas ]
|
8:39p |
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conservatism
[ malasadas ]
|
8:55a |
Since the Russian Blogging Brigade is ignoring my previous challenge in favor of continued whining over the Motherland being maligned and continues to spread lies about the history of South Ossetia, I guess I'll do this for them:
First off, let's be clear. South Ossetia is Georgia, and has been for centuries. The Ossetian people migrated to the Caucasus and many of them settled in the Georgian district of Samachablo. The reference for this is: Roger Rosen, History of Caucasus Nations, London, 2006. The Russians claiming South Ossetia was never Georgian are lying.
That does not mean that South Ossetia is culturally or linguistically Georgian in nature. Nor is Russia's role in all of this so innocent. Georgia agreed to Russian protection in the late 18th century and in 1801, Russia annexed them. They were briefly independent after the Revolution and taken over again by the USSR. Upon the break up of the USSR, South Ossetia was under the influence of a significant separatist movement that wanted to break away from Georgia leading to the presence of Russian troops in South Ossetia and the granting of Russian passports. At no point, however, has Georgia relinguished its sovereign claim to this region as theirs.
Now, let's be honest: Georgia's attack on South Ossetia was both dumb and brutal. There has been far too little regard for civilians on either side of the conflict, but Georgia took this to a shooting war without proper regard to how Russia would act. That is no excuse for Russia's response, but it would be dumb to disregard Georgia's actions.
All of which leads to a specific question: The Western powers, specifically those in the NATO alliance, were fine with protecting the Kosovar Albanians from Serbia in 1999 and did so with a bombing campaign against all of Serbia. The West has also been generally happy to recognize Kosovo's declaration of independence earlier this year. All of this was done without regard to Russia's protests. Further, NATO and the EU have been considering expanding their influence right up to Russia's borders. Given the general paranoid nature of Russia's leadership and their taking expansion of American and European influence into their former as an insult, their hostile response was predictable.
With all of that in mind -- the West's support for Kosovar indpendence at the expense of a Russian ally and our disregard for what Russia considers its interests and pride, are the United States and Europe being hypocritical to demand that Putin back off of Georgia? |
| Sunday, August 10th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ malasadas ]
|
9:17p |
For those still scratching their heads over the current influx of Russia's pleading their Motherland's case in Georgia.Short version: No, the Georgian government has not been angelic here. The relationship between Georgia and it's South Ossetia region is complex and thorny. The relationship with Russia doubly so, especially given Russia's historical tendency to just take over Georgia. But it is also clear that South Ossetia has been a part of historic Georgia for a long time and Russia issuing passports to most Ossetians in the wake of the USSR's collapse is an obvious ploy to keep them permanently in the region. Now that the poop has hit the fan, they get to claim all those passport holders as "their" citizens. How convenient. And a direct challenge to our newly resurgent Russian friends: stop trying to fool everyone. Mikheil Saakashvili may have been foolish enough to take the bait, but Putin has been increasing the thumbscrews ever since the Rose Revolution. Embargos. Cutting off land travel. Shutting down natural gas in the dead of winter. You want to pretend that Russia hasn't been trying to make it harder and harder on Georgia because it has had the audacity to cozy up to Western Europe and the United States? Bull and double bull. So Georgia should not have used force to try to regain control over territory it sees as its own. Don't try to fool us into believing that poor, poor Russia is only "defending" the South Ossetians and their right to self determination. Your troops weren't there to pursue a U.N. peacekeeping mission -- they were there to enforce a separation upon Georgia. And, look -- It took Putin less than three days to use ground forces in Georgia outside of Ossetia. And yes, your forces HAVE bombed Georgia outside of Ossetia. This is about your country telling every other former Soviet and Russian sattelite that they had better not DARE look to come out from under their influence. You want to take on other countries in the West for alleged hypocrisy in denouncing that? Fine, go for it. Stop trying to polish your tarnish encrusted halos -- paranoia and expansionism has been ingrained in Russian politics ever since Kiev-Rus. |
conservatism
[ allelhia ]
|
12:31a |
Russia's "invasion" of Georgia and potential US "response" I'm not even going to go into CNN's "coverage" of this conflict - if you'd read those reports, you'd think Russia invaded Georgia proper without provocation and Georgia is just some poor, kicked, post-communist dog that Russia is currently beating with a large stick. There's a lot more involved here, and CNN's coverage is utter shit. That said, I'm surprised by Stratfor's response - I disagree with the cold-war analytical focus that Stratfor is putting out here. I'm rather disappointed, actually, because if I were PAYING for this information from them I'd be highly dismayed at how much this report (and the American media in general, obviously) is glossing over the factual background of this situation. What the American media (and this article) keeps failing to mention is the fact that the region in question was an autonomous region under the Soviet Empire, separate from Georgia, and the majority of the population there supports becoming part of Russia. Imagine if Texas post-independence were then claimed as part of Mexico again but the majority of the people supported being part of the United States, then Mexico were to invade Texas in a bid to enforce it. Keep in mind that in Ossetia, the people who support the contested region being part of Russia are ethnically Ossetian (not Georgian) and historically Russian (3/4ths of the population there carries Russian passports and are Russian citizens), were part of Russia, and grew up as “Russians” – is Russia to abandon their citizens because Georgia has decided the region is theirs even when the majority of the population wants to be Russians and the land was never historically part of Georgia? There have also been reports of genocide against the Ossetians by the Georgians; bombing the cities level in the region in response to the pro-Russian sentiments so their quest for ownership of the contested region is easier to accomplish. Georgia as only gotten cozy with the US to protect itself and have the US run interference on its behalf. It is pure political cold war and international relations 101. I think Georgia is TRYING to provoke foreign involvement on their behalf. Keep in mind that Georgia’s NATO application was recently rejected and the next time they will be up for NATO membership is this coming December – Imagine if they had become part of NATO! We’d (along with the rest of the NATO membership) would be obligated to defend them under NATO! I quite frankly see Russia’s actions as more of a response to the West’s NATO policies and the EU’s expansion into the realm of Russia’s “influence.” I think the time for action was years ago, when we first had the choice between integrating Russia back into the fold or isolating Russia by embracing the newly independent states and excluding Russia from security and economic arrangements. This current conflict is a reflection on that decision, certainly not a revenge-motive for Kosovo. The conflict between Russia and Georgia in this area (and more generally) started way before the Kosovo independence. No one in Russia wants to invade Georgia, they just want the Georgians to stop killing Ossetians and leave them alone. Further, everyone is glossing over the fact that Georgia started this conflict… AND keep in mind that this conflict actually started almost a year ago when Russia began throwing out Georgians from the country due to escalating tension over this region with Georgia attacking peacekeeping forces located in the region since 1992. This was not a surprise overnight thing; they mobilized almost a year ago to the border when this all began (with the Russians throwing Georgians out)… So none of this was incredibly surprising to me. Though I am glad Hubby is longer of draft age in Russia... |
| Friday, August 8th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ badlydrawnjeff ]
|
8:32p |
Okay, Now I'm Creeped Out One of my favorite sociological stories comes from a high school teacher in the 1960s. He was showing his students images of Nazi Germany, and one of the students questioned how the Germans could be so ignorant of the atrocities. So he decided to do an experiment: The Third Wave. Each day, he would introduce a new aspect of the fascistic nature of the Nazi Regime, and topped it all off with a salute of sorts - a way you could recognize those who were part of the Wave in the halls or whatever. Of course, the whole thing snowballed and the guy had nearly the entire school involved in this. I was reminded of that today with this story. What does it detail, you ask:  Yup, that's the new Obama hand sign. Some crafty Los Angeles agency thought it up, saying that it'd be great to "start a movement where even while walking down the street, people would hold up the O and you would know that they were for Obama." Yeah, great. Really. I know full well the Obama campaign isn't involved with this. I'm sure that many Obama fans will be creeped out by this, as I am. But seriously, folks. |
conservatism
[ writerspleasure ]
|
1:12p |
well well well ... what was that about newt? ABC: Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday admitted to an extramarital affair while his wife was battling cancer. - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26095810/ |
conservatism
[ heirtoruin ]
|
2:17p |
The World Trade Center was a perfectly valid military target.
There is no rational way you can draw a distinction between the Israeli military's (or Hezbollah's) imprecise and indiscriminate attacks and al-Qaeda's. If anything, al-Qaeda does a better job of minimizing civilian casualties. All the civilians who died on 9/11 were collateral damage; the real targets were institutions and ideas... which, in a war over ideology, are perfectly valid military targets.
Here we have a great example of a leftist who calls himself "progressive" (and has made statements expressing that the US military turns normal kids into psychotic murderers) is making an excuse for Al-Qaeda's targeting of American civilians on 9/11.
Of course, because the World Trade Center was representative of western economic interests, that makes it a valid 'military' target because this is a war of ideology. So, as long as you're targeting institutions and 'ideas', it's perfectly legitimate to kill civilians in the process.
I guess we have to give him some credit for at least admitting that Al-Qaeda is at war with us. |
conservatism
[ montanaisaleg ]
|
10:54a |
Kilpatrick I admit I don't have any great reason for posting this, other than that it's pretty unique and entertaining: Kilpatrick charged with new felonies moments after jail order is lifted. If you haven't been following this.. Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been in trouble for lying under oath about an affair. He says he wasn't having an affair, but the text messages say otherwise. This in itself (the lying part, not the affair) seems like enough to get him to resign, but he decided to take it a couple steps further by allegedly assaulting a police officer who was serving his friend with a subpoena. Oh, and he also spent some time in jail for bond violations. He was still mayor while in jail. He still hasn't resigned, afaik. Trumped-up charges are one thing, but man, you'd think Kilpatrick would have some sense of decency. I imagine it's hard to effectively be mayor when he's in jail, fighting off the cops, and generally doing everything he can to be convicted of something. Here's hoping he goes the way of Spitzer. Mayors of major US cities don't need to be doing the things he's been doing. |
| Thursday, August 7th, 2008 |
conservatism
[ sinistertim101 ]
|
1:36p |
Turned democrat to republican Basically I wrote this in the Sean Hannity in response to a former democrat who switched to becoming a conservative republican. I am in the same boat. I am still actually a registered democrat in the state of Florida and live in California currently and about to register as a republican. My family is hard core liberal. I was raised by a mom who admires Jimmy Carter and was told as a child the evils of Ronald Reagan and Reaganomics and how the whole world will end seen unless we have someone like Clinton in office … bla bla bla. My views changed when I began to take economics courses. I defended liberal marginal prosperity to consume argument but statistics have shown Reagan is what built the economy to where it is today where growth and personal ambition to move up the ladder. After being disappointed after the democrats took both houses in 2006 and AM radio I turned conservative. I believe in the free market. My views of government spending improving the lives of people has gone away. I think privatization of non public good functions is a good thing. Free trade will bring prosperity to Americans and foreigners who live in third world countries. I wish government paperwork and regulations would vanish. Most of all after working for the government it convinced me that I want to be a republican. This is the school system. It makes me angry how the administrators are all unaccountable yet my wife is. Most of the money goes to free cars $200,000 packages for the superintendents and meanwhile they are laying off teachers. In the private sector this problem wont exist as VP's and CEO's would fire them in a heartbeat. I would miss my friends who are liberal and even my wife is disappointed in me as she leans democrat 60/40. I know my post is shocking to some of my lj colleagues Well This is how I feel and what I believe I am called to do. Its funny that CBU and the University of Dallas where I am going to get my MBA are the most conservative colleges in the country. I want to work for mortgage or hedge fund companies after I graduate. The ones in Dallas are heavily involved in the republican party. It does not make sense for me to remain a democrat. However Clinton was not necessarily too bad but I do not want another Jimmy Carter or President Johnson in the Whitehorse which is what Barack is increasingly looking like. The poor are pretty screwed and I encourage limited programs to help them. Not welfare but things like financial aide for college. People make mistakes and 6 out of 10 poor people believe they got themselves there. Ouch, sorry but learn your lesson. Growing up and being responsible with ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) annelp is what convinced me to become conservative. Being liberal and relying on everyone did not bring me out of my hole I lived by before 2006. I do not believe I am gullible on this for listening to Sean Hannity and others on the radio. Economics and my complete disdain for the failure of this 2006 democratic takeover reminds me of how republicans swept in 1994. They are incompetent and filled with great ideals and are caring. But helping big business is the only way to help others. In CaliforniaThe state increased government funding by 40% and created a huge defecit. Did we see things improve? No. We have the highest 10% tax rate for businesses in the country and the Terminator wants to raise it to %12. Toyota closed its plant in Northern California and moved to Mississippi and many law firms are moving to Las Vegas with 0% tax. My god they are costing jobs to fund these useless programs. In a nutshellI believe equal opportunity for everyone in the race of life. However I believe in economic distortions to force everyone to finish at the same time. Schools need to offer the same assistance in honors programs for those that qualify or have them buses out to compete. Not more funding. This will help those in inner cities get into college by hard work and help themselves later in life. THis is why I am becoming a registered republican. |
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