SecDef Christmas message

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday sent out a holiday message urging all Pentagon and military workers "to remember our many blessings as Americans — perhaps chief among them are the dedicated soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who protect our nation."

The troop surge in Iraq reduced violence sharply and Afghanistan operations "inflicted heavy losses on the Taliban, launched a comprehensive, nationwide reconstruction effort, and strengthened civic institutions," he said.

"We are in our seventh year of war — the first sustained combat with an all-volunteer force since our nation's inception," Mr. Gates said.

"Our troops and their families — active, guard, and reserve — are giving so much. This holiday season, many of those in uniform are on repeat deployments or have had their tours extended. Many will miss midnight Mass or have already missed Hanukkah's Festival of Lights. Many will not hear the squeals of delight from their children on Christmas morning. Many will sing neither carols nor hymns. Instead, they serve halfway around the world to honor a pledge they made to the country they love. Please keep our troops in your thoughts and may God forever bless them and this wonderful nation we call home."

 

Scientists doubt climate change

by S.A. Miller
December 21, 2007

 

More than 400 scientists challenge claims by former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations about the threat of man-made global warming, a new Senate minority report says.  The scientists — many of whom are current or former members of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr. Gore for publicizing a climate crisis — cast doubt on the "scientific consensus" that man-made global warming imperils the planet. [more]

 

Seasons Greetings

To  My Democratic Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes  for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress,  non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice  holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious  persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with  respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of  others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions  at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and  medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally  accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the  calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society  have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily  greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western  Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed,  color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of  the wish.

To My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Huckaboo

"American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out," Huckabee said. "The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognize that the United States' main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists." [link]

I disagree with Bush on lots of things, but it takes a special kind of arrogance for a Monday morning quarterback in Little Rock to second guess war decisions made five years ago. Bush-bashing is a Dimocrat sport.  I was already having serious doubts about him, and now Mike Huckabee has lost any possibility of my support.

The Trouble with Celebrity Endorsements

Oprah and Obama combine forces to destroy us all.
by Mark Hemingway, at www.nationalreview.com

Oprah [has given] high-profile support of The Secret, a pernicious self-help phenomenon that tells people they can physically realize their dreams by merely wishing for them...Naturally, like most everything else Oprah touches, The Secret is nothing more than one big marketing scheme. Except unlike her other marketing schemes, instead of squeezing cash out of a desire to lose weight or improve one’s marriage — this one actually sucks her audience’s bank accounts dry by exploiting the actual process of hoping and dreaming, leaving a consumerist sack of meat where a person with a soul once was.

Perhaps you doubt my doubt about the power of The Secret. So I propose an experiment. Obama supporters should follow Oprah’s advice and spend the rest of the election cycle doing nothing else but wishing Obama into the Oval Office. Don’t write any checks, don’t volunteer, and for heaven’s sake don’t vote.   [link to full article]

Pope condemns climate change prophets of doom

by SIMON CALDWELL - updated at 14:48pm on 12th December 2007

Attack: Pope Benedict criticised climate-change prophets of doom

Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.

The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering. [link]

 

Good movies

We saw two really good movies this weekend, and what's most unusual is that both are great for kids, too! Enchanted is a tongue-firmly-embedded-in-cheek fairy tale, and the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. The presence of Susan Sarandon is the only downer in the film, but even she couldn't ruin it (though she tries).

If you love music--and can suspend your disbelief long enough to forgive a whole series of impossible coincidences--August Rush is a wonderful tribute to the power of music. It's gotten mixed reviews, but I think the bad ones are from those who don't hear the music.

It's about time Hollywood started making good movies again.

It's "selfish" to have babies

Meet the women who won't have babies - because they're not eco friendly

.....At the age of 27 this young woman at the height of her reproductive years was sterilised to "protect the planet".

 

Now isn't this the best idea since zippers!  I'm beginning to think maybe Darwin was right...these folks are naturally selecting themselves right out of the gene pool.  Fantastic!!!

editor generals

"We made a great mistake...in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. In the beginning we appointed all our worst generals to command the armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers. As you know, I have planned some campaigns and quite a number of battles. I have given the work all the care and thought I could, and sometimes, when my plans were completed, as far as I could see, they seemed to be perfect. But when I have fought them through, I have discovered defects and occasionally wondered I did not see some of the defects in advance. When it was all over, I found by reading a newspaper that these best editor generals saw all the defects plainly from the start. Unfortunately, they did not communicate their knowledge to me until it was too late."

attributed to Gen. Robert E. Lee

Global warming scam

It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. ……I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct. There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril. I am incensed by the incredible media glamour, the politically correct silliness and rude dismissal of counter arguments by the high priest of Global Warming. [Link]

--John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel

Jailed Terrorist: "I Want My Walkman"

Convicted al-Qaeda murderer complains about life in federal prison

NOVEMBER 6--An al-Qaeda operative serving life in prison for his role in the bombing of American embassies in Africa contends that his rights are being violated by U.S. jailers who have denied him access to Arabic publications and religious books, limited his mail privileges, and no longer allow him to use a Walkman.

The Osama bin Laden disciple and three codefendants were convicted in 2001 for their roles in simultaneous car bomb attacks at U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Tanzania. Those blasts killed a total of 224 people and injured thousands of other victims. [Link]

 

Philadelphia punishes Boy Scouts

The city of Philadelphia has decided to punish the Boy Scouts of America because it will not allow homosexuals to serve as Scout Leaders. City officials said they will charge the Cradle of Liberty Scouts Council $200,000 a year to use the city-owned headquarters. The Council was paying $1 per year (since 1928). The city owns the land on which the Council's 1928 Beaux Arts building sits.

Chernobyl gorenobel

...one of the world's foremost meteorologists called the theory that helped Al Gore win a share of the Nobel prize the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works".

Dr William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, spoke to a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina and said humans were not responsible for global warming.

"We're brainwashing our children," said Gray, 78, a longtime professor at Colorado State University. "They're going to the Gore movie and being fed all this. It's ridiculous."

Nation's top Democrat defends banning God

The nation’s number one Democrat, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, is defending the banning of religious references on certificates issued by the Architect of the Capitol.

An Eagle Scout asked that a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol be sent to his grandfather, along with a certificate bearing the message: “In honor of my grandfather Marcel Larochelle, and his dedication and love of God, country, and family.”

Stephen Ayers, the Architect of the Capitol, banned the use of the word “God” in the certificate issued for the Eagle Scout. Ayers, serving in a low-level, non-elected position, claims he has the authority to ban the word “God” from the certificate. This is the first time ever for the Architect of the Capitol to ban religious references. Ayers said he banned the word “God” because someone might be offended.

Pelosi defended Ayers’ decision to ban all religious references. Several legislators signed a letter to Pelosi asking that Ayers’ censorship be stopped. “The Architect’s policy is in direct conflict with his charge, as well as the scope of his office and brings into question his ability to preserve a building containing many national religious symbols,” the legislators said in the letter.

Instead of stopping the censorship, Pelosi defended it. “It’s not about being anti-religion,” Pelosi said. “It is just about what the Architect thought was appropriate for him to proclaim in a certificate.” By saying such, Pelosi approved the banning of religious references by Ayers.

Eagle Scout!!!

The Soros Threat To Democracy

by INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, September 24, 2007 4:20 PM PT

Democracy: George Soros is known for funding groups such as MoveOn.org that seek to manipulate public opinion. So why is the billionaire's backing of what he believes in problematic? In a word: transparency.

How many people, for instance, know that James Hansen, a man billed as a lonely "NASA whistleblower" standing up to the mighty U.S. government, was really funded by Soros' Open Society Institute, which gave him "legal and media advice"?

That's right, Hansen was packaged for the media by Soros' flagship "philanthropy," by as much as $720,000, most likely under the OSI's "politicization of science" program.

That may have meant that Hansen had media flacks help him get on the evening news to push his agenda and lawyers pressuring officials to let him spout his supposedly "censored" spiel for weeks in the name of advancing the global warming agenda.

 

I found these comments on the ABC News website. I love their signatures!

Rudy Giuliani blasted his Democratic presidential rival, accusing her of spewing "political venom" in the Iraq war debate.

Come on now, Rudy, give Hitlery a break. She's got a lot on her plate right now trying to launder $850,000 of corrupt Hsu cash.
Posted by: Life ain't easy for a boy named Hsu Sep 12, 2007 2:59:02 PM

She's very busy trying to keep a campaign of 350 people from flying apart...
But she is able to know everything going in in Iraq with our 165,000 soldiers...
Sure Hillary... keep checking those donors for dirty money...
Posted by: Waiting for the other Hsu to drop... Sep 12, 2007 4:07:20 PM

Global Warming Consensus

Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming: Analysis Finds Hundreds of Scientists Have Published Evidence Countering Man-Made Global Warming Fears

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals that more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming is linked strongly to variations in the sun's irradiance. "This data and the list of scientists make a mockery of recent claims that a scientific consensus blames humans as the primary cause of global temperature increases since 1850," said Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery. [Link]

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Revelation 2:7

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:7