It’s time to get out of
Back in my UU days I wrote a piece on the reasons for going into
1. Saddam was a tyrant and a threat to
2. The American public was behind it.
3. The terrain in
4. Arabs historically have been pathetic warriors. They quit rather that fight.
5. Iraqis were a relatively well-educated population with a history that had included visions of democratic rule.
6.
7. Fight them over there and we wouldn’t have to fight them here. Or, at least, it would be less likely that we would fight them here.
I can’t remember if those were exactly the same things I listed in those days before Facebook but it’s pretty close. At any rate, let’s apply this list to
My Pa spent a Christmas or two of my childhood away from home on a submarine dropping frogmen off on the shores of
What makes this worse? The Obama government is quite simply incapable of dealing with
We can’t fight this war half-way and expect to succeed. I don't think we even have a vision of success. A request for more troops is not the same as the request by some Ivy League professor for tenure. A tenure request requires months of meetings and “input”. Deliberation. Contemplation. White House politicos sit around holding meetings and deliberating and studying whether or not they think the Karzai government deserves our support—as if war strategy were some sort of trifling academic exercise. All this as American kids are dying. That reality ought not be taken so lightly. What a waste. And for what?
The will is not there to do what it takes to win.
So get out.
This is classic. In a sickening sad sort of way. At Friday prayers, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, said, "Iran's laws do not allow vote-rigging." Since it's not allowed, I guess it doesn't take place.So Maryland is $206 million behind in estimated revenue from the special millionaire tax. Of course, correlation does not mean causation. Some of the 1,000 in that bracket may only have been in that bracket temporarily because of one time capital gains and many probably have dropped out of that bracket due to the economy.Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. . . .One year later . . . one-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000. . . . On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.
Mujahideen fighters then ate the deer and rabbits and shot dead the zoo's sole elephant. Shells shattered the aquarium.One fighter climbed into the lion enclosure but was immediately killed by Marjan, the zoo's most famous inhabitant. The man's brother returned the next day and lobbed a hand grenade at the lion leaving him toothless and blind.
Savages. (Tho, I would like to think that one of my brothers would grenade any zoo animal that ate me.)
I got the picture here where there is also a good definition of Mujahideen.
To get a real sense of just how little is being asked of his Cabinet, consider:We forget how big a billion is, can't comprehend the size of a trillion. A hundred million is actually quite a lot of money to most of us. But it's really nothing on a relative scale.• If Obama were your dietician, you'd only have to give up an apple a year to abide by his diet plan.
• If he wanted you to cut your gasoline consumption, you'd have to drive just one-third of a mile less in a year.
• And if he wanted you to waste less water, you'd only have to reduce the time you spend in the shower on one day of the year by 30 seconds.
My guess? No matter what the plastic surgeon says, to close a crater that big, my brow will look like this for the rest of my life. 
This cracks me up. Came in an email--a mystery Mardis Gras reveler. 
In the next five years alone, Obama's budget adds $5.7 trillion to the U.S. debt. That's $48,000 per household. Put in perspective, servicing that debt each year will cost as much as the annual defense budget by the end of the decade.So we'll be spending as much on debt service as on defense? Ouch. (My prediction is that we'll be spending more bc. the Dems will cut defense as soon as they get the opportunity.)
Gotta love Mother Goose. Timeless. Here's a modern day version to ponder:For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of the horse, the rider was lost;
For want of the rider, the battle was lost;
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Good news in the news in the last couple days.
The Sunday morning chat shows were full of powerful Dems this morning raving about Barry O’B’s approval ratings--NY Sen. Schumer, VA Gov. and DNC Chairman Kaine, Meet the Press host David Gregory. It’s true: the President is very popular. But ya know what?
So are french fries.
Just because something's popular doesn't mean it's good for you.
Don't get me wrong, it's good, it's refreshing to have a popular figure in the White House once again. But being popular doesn't create one new job or save one single "victim" of "predatory" lending. So while I would still say that the President is a pretty good guy, the debt that he and the Congress are running up and the energy, health care, and tax policies that he bandies about are, in the long run, about as helpful for our economy as french fries are for our arteries.
Ahh, but it makes for good politics.
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains/The chains are a debt so large it can't be paid back. Spending more will not free us from those chains. In fact, the key to unlocking those chains is to spend less.
And we never even know we have the key.
Rich Westerners, says Tata Motors boss Ravi Kant, “ask about congestion and pollution and global warming. I ask them, ‘Sir, will you stop using your car and take the bus?’”
Forty-four percent (44%) voters also think a group of people selected at random from the phone book would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than the current Congress.That, according to Rasmussen. Only 37% disagreed.
The Obama administration’s position, as staked out by Biden, is that the United States is prepared to speak directly to Iran provided that the Iranians do two things. First, Tehran must end its nuclear weapons program. Second, Tehran must stop supporting terrorists, by which Biden meant Hamas and Hezbollah. Once the Iranians do that, the Americans will talk to them. The Bush administration was equally prepared to talk to Iran given those preconditions. The Iranians make the point that such concessions come after talks, not before, and that the United States must change its attitude toward Iran before there can be talks, something Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani emphasized after the meeting. Apart from the emphasis on a willingness to talk, the terms Biden laid out for such talks are identical to the terms under the Bush administration.The question is: what will Tehran do? They have "elections" coming up soon.
John Trever at the Albuquerque Journal had it spot on with this cartoon.A fraudulent investing scam that promises high rates of return at little risk to investors. The scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors. This scam actually yields the promised returns to earlier investors, as long as there are more new investors.That seems to describe Social Security exactly. SS promises a return with little risk--it's "security" after all. The older investors are paid from the receipts of new investors. As long as the new investors keep paying, the older investors get their checks.
America is proving the regenerative power of democracy. Do not listen to those who say that great country is finished - it is still the global centre of gravity. Yes, we tuned in in our millions to watch the rather sinister opening ceremony of the Olympics in China. But if you want something life affirming rooted in a belief in human dignity, give me America and an event such as the inauguration every time.And here I thought everyone around the world despised us. Isn't "regenerative" the perfect word?
This is the most beautiful church I've ever visited. Located in Grand Teton National Park south of Yellowstone, I pulled in on a week day and poked my head in. That's not a picture or HD screen but a window looking out at the mountains. Absolutely magnificent. How would you like to look out at that every Sunday morn?
