CBS Veteran Suicide Numbers Bogus?

-By Warner Todd Huston

On the CBS “Early Show” on Nov. 13th, co-host Julie Chen claimed that there was “an alarming suicide rate among veterans” of the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts. CBS then aired a report that went on to claim that the suicide rate for our troops had wildly climbed. Our friend at Newsbusters, Kyle Drennen, had his doubts about the report when the show originally aired and now comes an editorial by oftentime military reporter Michael Fumento further casting large amounts of skepticism on the CBS report.

The CBS show specifically wanted to make it seem like Iraq war vets are the ones that have seen these outrageously rising suicide rates. Reporter Armen Keteyian included in his report this opener:

Staff Sergeant Justin Reyes spent a violent year serving in Iraq…Medical records show Justin suffered severe psychological trauma after witnessing “multiple dead” and having to “sort through badly mutilated bodies.” Earlier this year, one month after separating from the Army, Justin hanged himself with a cord in his apartment, at just 26…families recently sat down to talk about losing loved ones, all veterans of Iraq, to suicide…Mia Sagahon’s boyfriend, Walter, shot himself at age 27 about a year and a half after he came back from Iraq.

Clearly CBS is pinning these so-called high numbers on the war on terror.

But, Fumento comes out now to throw some cold water on CBS’s inflamed claims and give us some much needed facts to ponder. Initially remarking that the statistics that CBS arrived at were had by their own reckoning, not that of any third party agency that might be less biased than CBS, Fumento wonders how those numbers were arrived at?

Continue reading “CBS Veteran Suicide Numbers Bogus?”

BREAKING NEWS: Trent Lott to Retire

-By Warner Todd Huston

To keep my integrity, I must say when it is good to see one of our own go. Actually, I use “one of our own” guardedly for Trent Lott, who was a life long Democrat until he changed parties in the early 1970s, was never really one of our own. He changed parties not because he was a real Republican, but because he thought it might afford him a win to office. In that he was right… and that was the last time there was much “right” about him.

Ever since he entered Congress he acted like a center left Democrat. His tenure as Senate Majority leader in the early part of the 2000’s was a disaster for the Republican agenda as he constantly allowed the Dems to win issue after issue while he stymied the GOP agenda.

It should be noted, he is also a supporter of the wretched and misnamed “Fairness Doctrine.”

Fox News is reporting this one:

Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, will announce his resignation effective this year, FOX News has learned.

Lott, 66, was re-elected in 2006 amid speculation that he would retire. Instead, against his wife Tricia’s wishes, he ran again, regaining a Senate leadership position after being forced from the top Republican seat in 2002, following remarks he made that were seen as racially insensitive.

He won’t be missed as far as any conservative feels!
Continue reading “BREAKING NEWS: Trent Lott to Retire”

US Media Distorts Falling Dollar Story

-By Warner Todd Huston

What is it with the MSM and their fetish with worrying so much about everyone but Americans? For the L.A.Times, for instance, even the weakness of our dollar is cause for worrying over how bad it is for… wait for it… foreign companies. While our dollar weakens and could perhaps bring us major economic trouble, the L.A.Times shows serious concern and laments that the soft currency crisis is hurting European companies who are finding their prices rising because of our falling dollar. The Times is all upset that foreigners are losing profits, but there isn’t a word in its story about what it might do to Americans, befitting its general disinterest in America and perfectly reflecting its heightened concern for foreigners. Worse, the tone of this article serves only to make America look like the bad guy once again, like it’s our fault that the falling dollar is hurting those poor, innocent Europeans.

Amusingly, the Times starts out by giving us the worries of high fashion industry leader Yves Saint Laurent as the company tries to figure out how many pockets to remove from its next line of clothing so that the company can save materials and bring down costs. As if this sort of worrying over haute couture is something that will alarm its readers, the Times sonorously reports the fashion giant’s worries.

PARIS — At Yves Saint Laurent, the storied French design house that manufactures exclusively in Europe, the plunging value of the U.S. dollar has Chief Executive Valerie Hermann thinking about the number of pockets on a skirt and the price of embroidery on a dress.

Yeah, I’m cryin’ over their troubles. And so is every average American… all broken up that a company that caters to the nouveau riche has to remove a pocket from their latest frock that only a tiny segment of the world can afford in the first place. Way to connect with the readers, L.A. Times!

After that clueless opener, the Times goes on to worry over the rising worth of the euro in comparison to the falling dollar.

Continue reading “US Media Distorts Falling Dollar Story”

Barnyard Justice and the Animal’s Court

-By Warner Todd Huston

Tuck yourselves in, children, for tonight I’m going to bring you a nice bedtime story. It’s all about our nice friends in the animal kingdom and how they dealt with their nemesis, the wily and ravenous wolf.

Barnyard Justice and the Animal’s Court

The forest is aflame with terror. Animals were being eaten at a voracious rate by the wily wolf and his carnivorous henchmen. For a time, the barnyard watched from a distance barely noticing. Eventually they became uneasy, yet they were still secure that they were safe inside their fences. But, soon enough, the terror was visited upon the barnyard animals, too. It came to pass that all involved decided that it was time that both communities did something about wily wolf’s reign of terror so the accused was brought before the animal court.

Wise judge Owl banged the gavel and called the court to order.

The stalwart Cow brought the accused into the courtroom to face justice.

The sly Weasel, representing the accused, took his place beside his client and winked his weasely wink.

The accused, the wily Wolf, stood proudly unrepentant and faced the court. He glanced at the jury with a slight snarling smile and nodded his head self assuredly. He unconsciously licked his lips and stared hungrily at the animals in the jury box making the Hens and Ducks there feel somewhat uncomfortable though they didn’t know why.

“A whoo-whooo, I bring this court of the Animal Kingdom to order”, said wise judge Owl as he banged the gavel.

“Yer honor”, interjected the sly Weasel, “I move fer a dismissal for the reason dat dis here pillar of the community, my client the wily Wolf, is being maliciously maligned by the court of public opinion and that these jurors could not possibly be unbiased seein as how they have been brainwashed by the powers that be against my innocent and shy client, the wily Wolf.” With that the sly Weasel sat down confident of his perspicacity.

“Motion denied,” Said the wise owl. “The court will now take opening statements.”
Continue reading “Barnyard Justice and the Animal’s Court”

Hotel Workers’ Union’s ‘Interference Tactics’

-By Warner Todd Huston

OK, we here at the UnionLabel blog are all about being fair. Here we have a report that the folks at the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City have filed a complaint against the good ‘ol folks of Local 54 (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Hotel & Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO) for unsavory and, perhaps, illegal union tactics. But, far be it for us to automatically accept the word of a casino.

But here is what the casino’s General Manager said:

“Not only are the tactics in direct violation of our agreement, but this is a classic case of the union’s leadership trying to further its own agenda with callous disregard for employees who must suffer the consequences, both financial and job-related, when we cannot maintain certain levels of business,” Tropicana General Manager Mark Giannantonio said. “These kinds of tactics go beyond advocacy and it’s high time that someone stood up for the interests of the 3,700 people working on our property who are being hurt by the union’s destructive intent.”

So, a casino guy. OK. But let’s consider this. We ARE talking about a union here! So, who do we believe? Well, as America’s Founding Fathers said during the debates over the ratification of the Constitution, “let history be our guide.” And a perusal of history finds us unable to be too overawed by the innocence, truth and peacefulness of Local 54.

Speaking of “peace”, these fine peaceful union folks have been photographed carrying signs that proclaim “No Contract, No Peace!,” so their peaceful intentions are certainly above question.

Of course, it should go without saying that since the 1990s this particular local has been mixed up with the mob and had various officials accused and convicted of embezzlement… but then, seemingly what union hasn’t? Even as late as this month The New York Times reported that claims of unsavory tactics of Local 54.

In announcing a civil suit aimed at taking over Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Attorney General Dick Thornburgh said the Philadelphia-based Bruno/Scarfo crime family had used violence and intimidation to control Local 54 for 20 years and to systematically loot its health and welfare funds.

Hmmm. So, who do we believe?

I’ll leave that you, our faithful readers.
Continue reading “Hotel Workers’ Union’s ‘Interference Tactics’”

Exporting Inflation to OPEC

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Upward pressure on oil prices intensifies.

Profligate spending at the Federal level, funded by the Federal Reserve’s creation of money out of thin air, in excess of the underlying increase in production of real, useful goods and services, is destabilizing worldwide currency exchange rates.

The dollar, since World War II, has by default been the world monetary standard. A responsible central bank in that circumstance has a duty to maintain a sound currency to prevent disruptions and dislocations in world commerce. The Federal Reserve has signally failed to fulfill that role.

The fault is not entirely the Fed’s. It can be traced to the Employment Act of 1946, which enshrined John Maynard Keynes’s socialistic economic doctrines as the official policy of the United States. The Fed was directed, among other missions, to manage the economy via currency manipulation in order to maintain full employment. Keynesian orthodoxy, which is the ideology of the Democratic Party, dictates that every economic glitch can be cured by increased Federal spending.

The Fed’s ever-ready response to the spurs of Federal spending has made it a poor steward of a sound currency for the rest of the world.
Continue reading “Exporting Inflation to OPEC”

Google’s wireless folly? or hubris?

-By Scott Cleland

The WSJ article, “Google has even bigger plans for mobile phones,” appropriately addresses the big “open” question of whether Google is serious about becoming a wireless carrier, because if it is, it will need to bid and win substantial spectrum in the upcoming FCC 700 MHz spectrum auction.

The WSJ article states: “the behind-the-scenes moves illustrate just how serious the Internet giant is about trying to reshape the wireless world.” The evidence in favor of Google’s serious entry into wireless is significant, as Google:

  • Successfully extracted unprecedented FCC auction rules that would favor Google’s advertising business model over the existing wireless subscription model, and that would likely depress the business utility of the spectrum so Google could acquire it at below market value;
  • (Google understands it broke a lot of china at the FCC and in Washington this summer in order to win the “Google spectrum concessions.” Hopefully, Google also understands it would be more than bad form to slap the hand that tries to feed you, by not bidding on the band specially tailored for Google’s model.)
  • Has repeatedly pledged it would bid almost $5B in the auction;
  • Acquired a test wireless license, built towers and is operating a wireless service at its headquarters using “googley” phones;
  • Has hired game theorists to game out its strategy;
  • “Discovered Wall Street was enthusiastic about the company’s ability to raise any needed cash;”
  • (Truly amazing that Wall Street bankers would in fact loan a company money that already has ~$10B in cash in the bank and the number one brand in the world. Good for Google for clearing up that big uncertainty…) and
  • Had discussions with a variety of potential partners like Clearwire, but is reportedly likely to go it alone to maximize its bidding flexibility.

Let me add another reason that the Googlers may bid: EGO. Googlers believe they are the smartest of the smart, and they must be drawn to the challenge and complexity of this “high-level chess game” in auction game theory. What better forum to showcase their intellectual, algorithmic, and business acumen superiority?
Continue reading “Google’s wireless folly? or hubris?”

Big Labor’s Shakedown

-By Warner Todd Huston

The WaTimes has an interesting story today about the newest scare and strong-arm tactics that unions are using to force their will on employers and employees who do not want them around.

Everything from hiring faux protesters at less than union scale to picket a business to using the internet to attack companies that refuse their representation is being used by this newest crop of union thugs. And they are getting a nice rap sheet from the government because of it!

Welcome to the modern world of labor warfare. Call it RICO 2.0. For the second time in as many weeks, an employer has filed a civil-racketeering case against a major union, opening a new battleground in the fight over how unions get (and keep) members.

For decades, employers, government officials and honest union members used RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuits to fight mob influence in the labor movement. It was “On the Waterfront” in real life. Some people got killed, some things fell off the back of trucks, and some businessmen were muscled into toeing the union line.

But as times have changed, so has the style of union extortion.

Continue reading “Big Labor’s Shakedown”

City of Chicago Stealing Private Property

Here is another case of a government misusing Eminent Domain laws to enrich themselves and their developer buddies. This time Richie “King” Daley is trying to destroy the privately held property in Lincoln Square, Chicago so that he and his mob infested pals can build new buildings to make cash.

Help save these property owners’ private property. Go to http://www.savelincolnsquare.com/ and find out about the illicit actions of the money grubbers and corrupt, mob infested Chicago Aldermen and their leader Richie “King” Daley.

The Pilgrims, Thanksgiving and the common good

-By Michael M. Bates

The notion of a common good has traditionally been popular in this democratic Republic. In recent years and among certain public figures, however, the expression has taken on a more collectivist connotation.

When Senator Clinton said, “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good,” we knew she meant the government would do the taking as well as the determining of what is defined as the common good. Decision making by individuals would be replaced with state edict.

Last year Mrs. Clinton’s husband gave a speech on the common good. Using the term no fewer than two dozen times, he said it means a covenant for equal opportunity, shared responsibility and an inclusive community.

He went on: “We believe in mutual responsibility. They believe that in large measure people make or break their own lives, and you’re on your own.”

Other deep thinkers such as John Edwards and Barack Obama have hailed the concept of a common good. We know from their track records that they, like the Clintons, view this primarily in terms of forced economic redistribution.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we’re reminded that the Plymouth Colony’s Pilgrims gave their own form of the liberal common good theory a try. It failed miserably.
Continue reading “The Pilgrims, Thanksgiving and the common good”

David Horowitz’s ‘Restoration Weekend’ Gets 5 Stars

-By Nancy Morgan

I was surrounded by sartorial splendor at the magnificent Breakers hotel in Palm Beach last weekend as world class experts expounded on some truly frightening topics – our government’s handling of the war on terror, the pitiable state of Muslim women unfortunate enough to be born under Sharia law, and the consequences of a Hillary victory in 2008.

The Restoration Weekend, hosted by David Horowitz’s Freedom Center, is my all time favorite conservative gathering. Unlike CPAC or other well known conservative conferences, attendees have three days to hobnob with true conservative luminaries. To hold actual conversations with the likes of Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, Bill Sammon, David Horowitz, Robert Spencer, Fred Barnes, Michael Barone, Tom DeLay, James Woolsey, John O’Neill, etc. To get the inside scoop on the issues of the day in relaxed and elegant surroundings.

Pricey? You bet. Worth it? Absolutely.
Continue reading “David Horowitz’s ‘Restoration Weekend’ Gets 5 Stars”

Don’t You Hate it When SUVs Kill People? The AP Sure Does

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is the kind of lapse in logic that drives me crazy (no pun intended). The AP today has a story headline that just makes me cringe: “SUV plunges into canal, killing 7 people inside.” Now here is the problem, HOW did an SUV go about killing these poor people? Did it unpark itself, drive across town, slam open its doors and gobble up some folks waiting at a bus stop and then drive them into a canal? Should we be wary of every SUV on the street for fear that it may kidnap us only to drive us off cliffs or into canals? Or is it more likely, AP, that a driver was responsible for killing the passengers INSIDE the SUV? Isn’t it a tad more likely that the SUV did not kill anyone, but that the actions of the human at its wheel was the culprit?

Here is the entire AP report as it appears on MSNBC:

SUV plunges into canal, killing 7 people inside

Four children, baby among dead in Central California; 2 passengers survive

KETTLEMAN CITY, Calif. – A sport utility vehicle ran off a Central California road and landed upside down in a canal, killing seven people inside, including four children and a baby, authorities said Sunday.

The SUV was going more than 55 mph Saturday night near Kettleman City, about 50 miles south of Fresno, when the driver, Sergia Olvera, 31, lost control, said Officer Joseph Miller of the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle ran up a dirt embankment, rolled and landed upside down in the canal with 5 feet of water, Miller said.

“There were no child seats in the vehicle, and there was no evidence that any seat belts were used,” Miller said.

Survivor Dalia Olvera, 23, had moderate injuries, and 10-year-old Esmerelda Pompa was not injured, Miller said.

All of the victims were from Earlimart, about 50 miles from the site of the accident.

One wonders if the AP has a good hate on against SUVs with this sort of silly headline? But, whatever the case, it is an illogical way to write a story. However, it fits with their other often employed phraseology when talking about “gun violence,” doesn’t it? Where it seems that guns themselves are to blame for the killing instead of the hands holding it?

Anyway, it is just another example of the lapse in logic so often seen among the denizens of the MSM.

But, one thing I have to say. I will look askance at every SUV I pass from now on. I’d hate to be driven into a canal to my death!

Bad SUV…. BAD, BAD SUV!

Continue reading “Don’t You Hate it When SUVs Kill People? The AP Sure Does”

Be the One to Thank God

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Occasionally people are aware that there is more to Thanksgiving than stuffing a turkey and themselves at the dinner table.

In Sunday’s sermon at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut), Pastor Steve Treash’s text was Luke 17:11-19:

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, each of us should follow the example of the leper and be the one to give thanks, praising God.

Reflect upon our many blessings, instead of lamenting what we don’t have.
Continue reading “Be the One to Thank God”

Because She’s a Woman

By Selwyn Duke

It’s very easy to fall behind the times. It is for this reason that you find parents who never seem to really know what the younger generation is involved in, older folks who still act as if a hot dog should be 10 cents, and people who fight yesterday’s social battles. As to the last thing, there are those who ask if a woman can be elected president.

The real question is, can a man running against a woman be elected president?

With androgyny being the order of the day, it has often been lamented that men no longer know what is expected of them. Is being chivalrous courteous or condescending? Do I hold the door or let her roar? A similar quandary is apparent when watching the men who must run against Hillary Rodham Clinton.

When Clinton stumbled in the second to last Democrat debate, her opponents’ immediate political instincts were to attack the front-runner’s now exposed weak flank. This is what office-seekers do; it’s why the military term “campaign” is applied to political contests.

Yet almost as soon as the post-debate analysis began we heard the inevitable accusation that all and sundry were conspiring against the lone girl. The moderator, the other candidates, the butcher, baker, candlestick-maker and probably even male chauvinists beyond the grave were experiencing testosterone boil-over.
Continue reading “Because She’s a Woman”

Newspapers Are Guardians of Truth, so say ‘Journalists’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last Sunday, from the pen of editorial page editor of the Seattle Times James Vesely, we got a pretty good indication of why the new media of the Internet is so swiftly taking over the traditional role of the old, dead tree media. One word describes it; arrogance. It is an arrogance of the assumed supremacy of the old media and the air of entitlement that it holds dear. It is the presumption that what they write is “truth,” that newspapers are the arbiters of that truth, and that journalists are “democracy” personified and that without them we are naught but a “banana republic.” And it is the sneering, discountenance with which they look upon the reading public as the great unwashed that has finally caught up with them. However, some are beginning to notice it and unless the dead tree media realizes this truth staring them in the face, they truly are a doomed industry.

Mr. Vesely wrongly imagines that Americans are not abandoning his beloved, old media in favor of the Internet because of the failed content of the old media. Vesely imagines that people are not “willingly turning from fiber to cyber” as a “replacement of … the methodology of reporting and editing” of the old media. Vesely thinks people are only turning to the Internet because it is faster and more “modern.” He imagines that newspapers are “carefully edited” and that they speak truth and, that being true, people can’t possibly be turning away from his fellows because of content.

Here is is deluding himself. People are leaving the dead tree media in droves because they simply do not trust them anymore, their “methodology” has become corrupt and self-serving as well as ideologically homogenized all across the industry offering few avenues for differing opinion.

So, why are newspapers in decline? Amazingly, Vesley seems to imagine that the only reason newspapers are declining in circulation is because they are delivered by “a 13-year-old on a bicycle working after school.” He thinks the method of delivery is the only reason the old media is in decline.

But what about that Internet, doohickey, anyway? What does Vesely think of it? It turns out he feels it is all just “opinions” that would “befuddle the finest espionage organization” to figure out. Vesely imagines that the Internet is nothing but “rumor.”

Continue reading “Newspapers Are Guardians of Truth, so say ‘Journalists’”

NY Anchorman Resigns After Calling Live Show Under False Name

-By Warner Todd Huston

Gary Anthony Ramsay, an anchorman for NY1 News, has resigned this week over his efforts to damage Rudy Giuliani’s bid for the White House by commenting on the Bernard Kerik situation under a false name on the air. It appears that Ramsay called into an episode of the station’s call-in show “The Call” and claimed his name was “Dalton from the Upper East Side” before going off on his rant against Giuliani associate Kerik. Looks like Mr. Ramsay couldn’t keep his journalistic integrity in force long enough to give his own name and stand by his own opinion and it has cost him his TV job.

Labeling his Nov. 19th call-in segment “a flash moment of frustration,” Ramsay let his emotions get the better of him.

Mr. Ramsay phoned “The Call,” an evening call-in show, and identified himself as Dalton, from the Upper East Side. The topic was Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner facing a 16-count federal indictment, and the indictment’s effect on the presidential campaign of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

“So which is the real Bernie Kerik?” Mr. Ramsay asked on the show. “Is it the one who pleads not guilty before or is it the one who pleads guilty after he cuts a deal that he’s comfortable with?”

Ramsay told reporters that he was sitting at home watching the show and got “frustrated” with the callers’ comments. What struck him the most was that some callers thought this Kerik mess was instigated by Hillary Clinton operatives.

Of his lack of journalistic ethics here, Ramsay said:

Continue reading “NY Anchorman Resigns After Calling Live Show Under False Name”

Mobster Removed from Union Job Hired by New Jersey City Government

-By Warner Todd Huston

Tony Soprano would be proud of his old home state, New Jersey. Apparently the Council members of Paramus Borough, New Jersey hired as their new borough administrator a mobster who was once cast out of his union job by the Feds.

Anthony Iacono was removed from his union job in 1996:

The monitor in 1996 removed Agathos as president of Local 69 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union in Secaucus, asserting that he maintained mob ties and embezzled funds.

Yet the Paramus Borough Council said that they would hire Iacono for the $135,000 a year job even if they had bothered to look into his past.

So, you see, crime DOES pay… at least in the Soprano’s New Jersey.
Continue reading “Mobster Removed from Union Job Hired by New Jersey City Government”

Al Taqiyya: The Islamist Terrorist Weapon of Deception

-By Frank Salvato

Western civilization’s delinquent knowledge of the Islamic faith leaves us naïve to many of its tenets. Many among us would be hard pressed to explain the differences between the Sunni and the Shi’ite, let alone the reasons why they have remained in conflict for almost the entire existence of the Islamic faith. This delinquency in understanding Islamic culture and doctrine makes those they consider non-believers – or kafirs – vulnerable both individually and collectively. This is especially true when we examine the Islamic concept of taqiyya.

Taqiyya is defined literally as:

“Concealing or disguising one’s beliefs, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of eminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury.”

In essence, taqiyya can be generally defined as the legitimization of deception in times of danger.

Taqiyya is alluded to in the following Quranic verse:

“Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, (they) shall have no relation left with Allah except by way of precaution (“tat-taqooh”), that ye may guard yourselves (“tooqatan”) from them…” [3:28]”

In his book, al-Durr al-Manthoor Fi al-Tafsir al-Ma’athor, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti conveys these words by one of Sunni Islam’s most respected voices, Ibn Abbas:

“al-Taqiyya is with the tongue only; he who has been coerced into saying that which angers Allah (SWT), and his heart is comfortable (i.e., his true faith has not been shaken), then (saying that which he has been coerced to say) will not harm him (at all); (because) al-Taqiyya is with the tongue only, (not the heart).”

In most every reference to taqiyya in Islam it is held that there are only a very few times when it is permissible:
Continue reading “Al Taqiyya: The Islamist Terrorist Weapon of Deception”

Obama’s State Government Records Missing

-By Warner Todd Huston

The media has been on a low buzz about the fact that Hillary and Bill Clinton have made efforts to slow the release of millions of pages of documents that pertain Hillary’s actions during Bill’s White House years. What, these critics wonder, are the Clintons hiding with their reticence to release these documents? It is a good question, indeed. But, flying low under this Clinton document-gate radar is the stonewalling of a release of documents by another candidate for the Democrat Party nomination for president; Barack Obama.

While in State government here in Illinois, Barack was known as a “nice guy,” but has little to show for his years in state government. He was never particularly known by the public at large as a vocal leader and was rarely out in front of any issue. In fact, few Illinoisans even knew his name at all until he ran for the Senate seat against Alan Keyes. He was an unknown, a non-entity as far as state politics was concerned.

Yet, the Obama camp has made no effort to assist investigators to look into his state records. In fact, Senator Obama has blithely claimed that his records have been “thrown out.” Chicago columnist Lynn Sweet reports that Obama, who has called for “transparency in government” from his rivals, is not much interested in revealing his own documents.

“I was in the state Senate for eight years,” Obama said. “I had one staff person, that was what was allocated. I don’t have archivists in the state Senate. I don’t have the Barack Obama state Senate library available to me, so we had a bunch of file cabinets. I do not have a whole bunch of records from those years. Now, if there are particular documents that you are interested in, then you should let us know.” … “As I said, I didn’t have the resources to ensure that all this stuff was archived in some way . . . it could have been thrown out.”

But, the Chicago Tribune has been trying for months to get the Senator’s state papers and has met with no response from either the state of Illinois or the Obama camp. Even Tim Russert brought up the candidate’s state archives to an evasive Obama.

On the November 11th episode of Meet the Press, Russert brought up the records question.

You talked about Senator Clinton having records released from the Clinton Library regarding her experience as first lady, and yet when you were asked about, “What about eight years in the state senate of Illinois,” you said, “I don’t know.” Where, where are the—where are your records?

Obama replied that “every single piece of information, every document related to state government was kept by the state of Illinois,” but that other records do not exist.

That is a pretty convenient situation when questions of his dealings with shady businessman Tony Rezco comes into play. In fact, it is pretty convenient all around when it comes to who Obama met with and who he dealt with while in state government.

What ever the case, Obama’s own document-gate is not getting near the attention that the Clinton’s stonewalling is getting but it should get at least as much. Obama is right, of course, to say that the Clinton’s are defeating transparency in government by trying to slow or stymie investigators from looking into past records. After all, he should know from experience.

Continue reading “Obama’s State Government Records Missing”

A Simple Reflection of God

-By Lee Culpepper

As our day of Thanksgiving approaches, I’ve been wondering why we all possess the tendency to become so dazzled with ourselves whenever we encounter a little bit of success. Perhaps the wisdom we need to understand such foolishness lies in the biblical story about Lucifer. According to the Bible, God covered Lucifer with all sorts of precious gems and stones. He was God’s most magnificent angel. He is said to have ministered in God’s presence. As the anointed Cherub, he was the angel closest to God. Nevertheless, Lucifer’s own brilliance was simply a reflection of God’s glory. Yet, it was also Lucifer’s magnificence that led him to the pride and ambition that caused his fall.

If you are fortunate enough to have been born with natural good looks, consider how much you had to do with your appearance. Your parents and God created you. Consequently, you probably just resemble your mother and father. In addition, you likely depend on other people’s talents to design and to make the nice clothes you like to wear, which compliment whatever body type and good features you might have.

If you ever endured braces to improve your smile, did your parents or someone else pay for them? Even if you paid for them yourself, didn’t you need the orthodontist’s skill and knowledge to ensure that you were not stuck with teeth you didn’t like?

Attractive actors and entertainers often serve as the prime examples of the shallow self-importance that one’s physical appearance can inspire. How many of them have inflated images of themselves? So many entertainers manage to get involved in one crusade or the other, pontificating about social causes and usually oozing hypocritical self-righteousness. But what possesses them to feel so qualified?

Ironically, their fame and notoriety is a result of the ultimate deception. By pretending to be someone else through the roles they portray, attractive actors and actresses achieve their glory. They essentially live in a world of make believe. Furthermore, they generally rely on the talents and skills of other people to produce the scripts and characters that they, the actors, play. They also depend on other professionals to accentuate their physical appearances with make-up or cosmetic surgery. That so many entertainers have become completely deceived and smitten by the flattery and adoration of a limitless supply of naive people is a sad reality.
Continue reading “A Simple Reflection of God”

Swag Bought With Embezzled Funds Goes on Auction

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, it won’t be too much like “getting yours” in the true sense of getting something for free like most imagine of the union ethos (or lack thereof, as the case may be), but at least here is an opportunity to get for yourself some fine furs, purses and other expensive luxury items bought with union money.

Barbara Bullock of the Washington Teachers’ Union is now serving 9 years for embezzling union funds, and the $800,000 worth of brick-a-brack she bought with those ill-gotten gains are going up on the auction block to help the union recoup some of those stolen funds.

As the Washington Post reports:

The purse-obsessed Bullock spent tens of thousands on Chanel, Hermès and Judith Leiber handbags, which are estimated to sell for $500 to $800 at auction. (That’s about a quarter of their original price; ditto for the minks and jewelry.) The top lot: a 288-piece Tiffany sterling silver flatware service (Chrysanthemum pattern) purchased for $100,000-plus and estimated to sell for $25,000 to $35,000. Too much? Well, the Buccellati sterling wine cooler is expected to bring just $3,000 to $5,000. The feds also seized electronics that will sell at another auction — except for the TV that union officials kept for headquarters.

If ya want some neat-o stuff, check them out on Ebay.

If you want to get some of this stuff for free, why just run for the head position in some union or another. Apparently, it’s all the rage for union heads to steal the union blind. In fact, it may just be expected of you.
Continue reading “Swag Bought With Embezzled Funds Goes on Auction”

Is Chivalry Dead in Hollywood? MSNBC Makes Fun of a Gentleman

-By Warner Todd Huston

On its Tabloid Tidbits blog page, MSNBC is taking potshots at both one time pinup boy Fabio and current left-wing, heartthrob George Clooney in a Hollywood smack ’em up two fer. Now, I’m as unconcerned over the entertainment media beating up the denizens of Hollywierd as anyone else — especially when one of them is the uncouth, surly, leftist Clooney — but this one strikes me as interesting for the reason they are attacking Fabio; because of his act of chivalry. I guess entertainment reporters think it is odd, funny or execrable when a man sticks up for the virtue of a woman, now ‘a days? Sadly, it appears that acts of chivalry opens one up for ridicule in today’s Hollywood. They just can’t stand any exhibition of traditional manhood out there on the left coast.

The Tabloid Tidbits section goes for Fabio’s throat with its very first line

Nearly forgotten Fabio recently got the better of Hollywood heavyweight George Clooney, and he’s not about to let the world forget it.

“Nearly forgotten?” That was pretty uncalled for, wasn’t it? What’s more, he is obviously not “nearly forgotten” because this whole story is set against the backdrop (a little acting lingo there) of the charity work that Fabio was engaged in at the time. Obviously someone was remembering him if his fame was being lent to a charity.

So here is the story.

Continue reading “Is Chivalry Dead in Hollywood? MSNBC Makes Fun of a Gentleman”

HEY KID!

-By Vince Johnson


If you are under the age of 18, listen up!

Are you aware that Congress has been borrowing vast sums of money from your future since the day you were born? In the Fall of 2007 your share of the federal debt exceeded $29,000 dollars! Your share of this debt is getting bigger every day. In September 2007 the debt ceiling was increased by $850 billion dollars and it is now at $9.8 trillion!

A huge amount of this money is being spent on questionable things like a $981 million “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska and $280 million for an indoor rainforest in Coralville, Iowa. The list of wasteful spending is unbelievably huge and you will be paying for highly questionable things like these as long as you live!

Don’t ever forget that all of this money has been borrowed from your future without your approval or consent. You will be making payments on it as soon as you get a job or have any kind of taxable income. If you do not make these payments (by paying your taxes) congress has enacted laws that allow the courts to levy large fines or have you sent to prison, or both!

Now get this straight. The act of forcing you to make payments on an debt as large as this, and incurred without your approval or consent, could be unconstitutional. It is urgent for you to find out how this matter can be brought before the Supreme Court. Ask your parents. Ask your teachers. Ask your principal. Ask a lawyer. Ask your Senators or Representative in Washington, D.C. There is nothing unreasonable about asking if it is constitutional to be forced to make payments on a horrendously excessive debt incurred without your knowledge, approval or consent.
Continue reading “HEY KID!”

Mitt Romeny’s Many Flip flops on Abortion

-By Warner Todd Huston

I am going to say it straight out. I cannot support Mitt Romney for President. He is not a conservative in any way whatsoever. In fact, he’s not really a Republican. He’s not a Democrat. He’s not an independent or Green. He isn’t anything. He’s a businessman. And that is the beginning and end of his “ideology.”

Mitt Romney is certainly a get-it-done type of fellow, that is beyond dispute. It is also beyond dispute that he is generally a center right kid of guy. But he has no principle that he won’t subordinate for the task at hand. He has no ideals that he won’t bend, ignore or “change his mind” on to win.

Sadly, Mitt Romney has no principles at all.

This abortion issue is the perfect example of his unprincipled desire to win. Watch this video and see how he flips and flops on the abortion issue all depending upon what he has to say to win and depending upon who he is talking to at the moment.

Like I said, Romney is certainly a guy who can get things done. No one can deny that fact. His record shows an able executive. But his is a record of building consensus on whatever is the prevailing opinion on the issue of the day, not one of leading from his own internal principles.

If this were an era in the US when we didn’t face some of the most dangerous times our country ever faced, Romney would be a fine caretaker president. If Romney should have presided over the era that Clinton did, for instance, he might have been just fine. But we are not in such a carefree era. We face some of the toughest decisions that a president will ever have to make and if we have a flip flopper like Romney, if we have a president who will preside by sticking his finger in the air for every major issue and then deciding that he, too, feels that way (just like Clinton did, by the way), well we will be in a world of hurt.

Romney is not the man for the White House in 2008. He will endanger this country just as bad as any Democrat would.

I urge any reader of this site NOT to vote for Mitt Romney. Thompson is good, Hunter is good… even Giuliani would be better than Romney (though I don’t support Rudy, either). But Romney would be a disaster for this country as well as the GOP itself.

Romney cannot be believed in anything he says as his many abortion stances prove and it isn’t just his abortion flip flops at issue. He has floated back and forth on most of the key Republican principles all his life never coming firmly and finally down on any one side. Our ideal president has been a man of strong character and leadership, not one who is led by everyone else. Romney has no character nor is he a leader, a man with strong ideas.

Vote against Mitt Romney in the GOP primary in your state.

Continue reading “Mitt Romeny’s Many Flip flops on Abortion”

The Dangers of DNA Research

-By Warner Todd Huston

The fields of DNA and gene manipulation research are incredibly exciting for the good that it can offer mankind. Imagine a day when the results of such research can assist mankind to treat previously untreatable diseases, maybe even prevent them? Wouldn’t it be tremendous to be able to alter the DNA of an unborn fetus to prevent its developing spina bifida or Down’s syndrome? Wouldn’t it be a Godsend if we could manipulate our genes in order to shut off the cancer cells that ravage us or rebuild broken spinal chords? Who would stand against such worthwhile gains in health, medicine and science? Of course, no caring human could oppose such work.

But that same work has its dark side and this is a subject that medical science is doing its level best to pretend does not exist. That dark side is not getting its due in the debate of the future of mankind through science. Unfortunately, it is not merely something to scoff at as unlikely because, for all our scientific knowledge, we are still, after all, men. Evil, selfishness, hatred and ignorance will remain with us whether we are free of cancer or know our full DNA sequence or not and those innate flaws inherent in man has, can and will corrupt the good that his science can do. The potential for evil is there no matter how wondrous that science can be.

The New York Times recently published a story about this very topic. Naturally, to further their own agenda, they only discussed a small portion of the potential evil that could result in the misuse of DNA research and left an awful lot of the debate unaddressed. In a story by Amy Harmon, the Times worried only abut racial prejudices being revived by DNA research (“In DNA Era, Worries About Revival of Prejudice”) as that research begins to decode the small differences that accounts for skin color or other things that denote racial groups. From physical characteristics to propensity for race specific disease, DNA research is beginning to map these differences giving hope that, at least in the case of disease, those differences might lead to treatments and prevention. But, the Times worries that this research might also revive discrimination based on those differences. “The notion that race is more than skin deep,” the Times reports, “could undermine principles of equal treatment and opportunity that have relied on the presumption that we are all fundamentally equal.”

Sadly, The Times also used its piece as an excuse to attack conservatives and push for more welfare spending. Claiming that conservatives would use DNA research to discriminate against blacks and, conversely, claiming that liberals could use that same research to demand more spending to “close the achievement gap,” the Times crudely used its article as an effort to demonize opponents instead of to truly address the real problems that the future could bring.
Continue reading “The Dangers of DNA Research”

National School Choice Drive Launched

-By Israel Teitelbaum

Parents for Free Choice in Education has launched a grass roots drive for school choice. Advocates are being asked to sign a letter being sent to U.S. Senators and Congressmen requesting they sponsor the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity. This would require states to end discrimination in the funding of education.

The Act completes what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 left unfinished when it required equal opportunity in housing, employment, travel, entertainment and other public accommodations. Only education was specifically excluded by limiting it to only public education. The new legislation would remove the word “public” and require equal educational opportunity for every child, including those attending private and religious schools.

Religious groups, schools and all concerned organizations are being asked to sign a letter being sent to U.S. Congressmen and Senators requesting they sponsor this legislation. This letter will be sent once 100 organizations are signed on. Subsequent letters are planned each time an additional 100 organizations sign on.

Individuals are being asked to email this letter directly to their U.S. Congressmen and Senator and to follow up with a phone call.
Continue reading “National School Choice Drive Launched”

The LATimes Caught in Blatant Anti-Fred Thompson Spin

-By Warner Todd Huston

Thompson’s Prosecutorial Record Explained

A while back, the L.A. Times tried to make Fred Thompson’s record as a Prosecutor in Tennessee look bad. They wanted the public to get the impression that he was incompetent or that he had a bad record. Since that time, I was doubtful, but since I could not prove things one way or the other, I had to live with my doubts.

Well, someone finally took the time and looked into Fred’s record to see how his record really stacked up and determined that he was actually quite successful as a prosecutor. My suspicions on the accuracy of the MSM report is justified, after all.

A blogger called Anwyn did some research and actually contacted the L.A. Times writer who basically called Thompson a hack lawyer and Anwyn found that Thompson’s record actually showed a very competent man.

After describing how hard it was to come by the info, Anwyn contacted the L.A. Times guy to see if he had more than he let on in his report:

But Joe Mathews of the L.A. Times does have the numbers at his fingertips, after two weeks of digging 35-year-old files out of their boxes in Georgia for his article. And to my surprise and gratitude, he was willing to share them.

He broke them down by numbers of defendants, so there are more than 88 defendants because there were multiple defendants in various individual cases. In total, 88 cases covered 115 defendants, 34 of whom were moonshiners, 21 of whom were counterfeiters, and 17 of whom were bank robbers. The remainder (43) were various other crimes.

Out of 115, nine never stood in Thompson’s district either because they were never captured, were found dead, or were transferred to a different federal district. So we’ll subtract those nine. That leaves 106.

Out of 106, 12 found the charges against them dropped, 66 defendants pleaded guilty or no contest without going to trial, and 28 went to trial. Of the 28 who went to trial, 22 were found guilty, leaving six who were not convicted.

These numbers suggest that Thompson was a completely solid, if not shining, prosecutor. Of course, you could also draw that conclusion by the very fact of his having served as a prosecutor for three years–incompetence is not encouraged at that level by continued employment, one would suppose and hope. Of the 12 cases thrown out, at least two were the direct result of an error of Thompson’s. Joe Mathews:

Well, now, that is a whole different kettle of fish than the “he’s incompetent” claim, eh?

Once again, a little time taken to really investigate the facts … you know, the what, who, when, and where that the MSM claims is their sacred duty to report… proves that an MSM story is filled with spin, lies, and agenda journalism.

Obviously these so-called journalists assume that no one will be able to take the time to follow up on the facts so they imagine that they can pass off their political agenda as “news.” Only, this time they were caught. But, isn’t that why the Internet so threatens the traditional, dead tree media?

Continue reading “The LATimes Caught in Blatant Anti-Fred Thompson Spin”

The Arizona Republic: Warming Skeptic is ‘On the Fringe’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Apparently, the Arizona Republic cannot discuss the work of globaloney skeptic Robert Balling of Arizona State University without constantly pointing out that his “peers” think he is an idiot that has been bought off by “industries.” The paper cannot write a story about his career without constantly pointing out that he is a “fringe” scientist and that he is “criticized” by those who imagine global warming is the biggest threat humanity faces today. What’s more, the Republic finds his personal life filled with “surprising contradictions” because this climatologist has a green lifestyle, as if any global warming critic must automatically believe in poisoning our waters and polluting our skies. Apparently the Az Republic thinks it’s impossible that a man can be interested in safeguarding the environment but also believe that global warming is a sham. And, even worse, the Az Republic seems aghast that Rush Limbaugh has quoted from the man’s work.

In “Outspoken ASU prof draws ire”, Az Republic writer Corinne Purtill just doesn’t get Robert Balling. He seems such a mystery to her that one can imagine that she feels he should be placed in a zoo where all can come view him as the odd creature he surely must be. In short, clipped sentences sure to be written so even the dumbest of Arizonans can follow her tale, Purtill tells us the odd story of a man who “attended the premiere of Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth” and who “bikes to work and eats organic food,” but who is hated by environmentalists. Why do they hate him?

Balling, 54, has spoken and written extensively against the widely held scientific view that the documented rise in global temperatures is the result of human activity and that serious consequences will result.

HERASY, I tells you!
Continue reading “The Arizona Republic: Warming Skeptic is ‘On the Fringe’”