Blog Chez Jacq'

The Kansas City Star:

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Newly arrived U.S. Marines are leaving no doubt as to their resolve to defeat militants. Iraqis are awed by the Americans' show of force but remain convinced that they'll fail to stamp out the insurgency in one of the most dangerous cities for American troops.

The fight against the U.S.-led occupation has strong religious undertones in Fallujah, reflecting the Sunni Muslim city's conservative nature, its reputation for piety and deep anti-U.S. sentiments...

dragged through the streets:

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - In a scene reminiscent of Somalia, frenzied crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies of four American contractors through the streets of a town west of Baghdad on Wednesday and strung two of them up from a bridge after rebels ambushed their SUVs.

"Five U.S. soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division also were killed when a bomb exploded under their M-113 armored personnel carrier north of Fallujah, making it the bloodiest day for Americans in Iraq since Jan. 8.

The four contract workers were killed in Fallujah, a Sunni Triangle city about 35 miles west of Baghdad and scene of some of the worst violence on both sides of the conflict since the beginning of the American occupation a year ago."

"War is hell" said Sherman as he destroyed the South.

Don't you wonder how our leaders have become so Godless today considering where they began. Somewhere along the way, the Federal Courts and the Supreme Court have misinterpreted the U. S. Constitution. How could fifty States be wrong? America's founders did not intend for there to be a separation of God and state, as shown by the fact that all 50 states acknowledge God in their state constitutions:

Alabama 1901, Preamble. We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution ...

Alaska 1956, Preamble. We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land ...

Arizona 1911, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...

Arkansas 1874, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...

California 1879, Preamble. We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom…

Colorado 1876, Preamble. We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe.

Connecticut 1818, Preamble. The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy…

Delaware 1897, Preamble. Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences…

Florida 1885, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty . establish this Constitution…

Georgia 1777, Preamble. We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution…

Hawaii 1959, Preamble. We, the people of Hawaii, Grateful for Divine Guidance ... establish this Constitution.

Idaho 1889, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings .

Illinois 1870, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

Indiana 1851, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to chose our form of government.

Iowa 1857, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings ... establish this Constitution

Kansas 1859, Preamble. We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges ... establish this Constitution.

Kentucky 1891, Preamble. We, the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties…

Louisiana 1921, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.

Maine 1820, Preamble. We the People of Maine .. acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of_the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity . and imploring His aid and direction.

Maryland 1776, Preamble. We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God or our civil and religious liberty...

Massachusetts 1780, Preamble. We...the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe ... in the course of His Providence, an opportunity ..and devoutly imploring His direction ...

Michigan 1908, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom ... establish this Constitution

Minnesota 1857, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings.

Mississippi 1890, Preamble. We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.

Missouri 1845, Preamble. We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness ... establish this Constitution ...

Montana 1889, Preamble. We, the people of Montana, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty. establish this Constitution ...

Nebraska 1875, Preamble. We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom .. establish this Constitution .

Nevada 1864, Preamble. We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom establish this Constitution...

New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.

New Jersey 1844, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors ..

New Mexico 1911, Preamble. We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty ..

New York 1846, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.

North Carolina 1868, Preamble. We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those .

North Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain...

Ohio 1852, Preamble. We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common ...

Oklahoma 1907, Preamble. Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty ... establish this ...

Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences..

Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble. We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbl invoking His guidance.

Rhode Island 1842, Preamble. We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing

South Carolina, 1778, Preamble. We, the people of he State of South Carolina, grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

South Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil! and religious liberties ... establish this

Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...

Texas 1845, Preamble. We the People of the Republic of Texas, acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.

Utah 1896, Preamble. Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution .

Vermont 1777, Preamble. Whereas all government ought to ... enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man...

Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI ... Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator ... can be directed only by Reason ... and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other ...

Washington 1889, Preamble. We the People of the State of Washington, grateful! to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution ...

West Virginia 1872, Preamble. Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia .. reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God...

Wisconsin 1848, Preamble. We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility ...

Wyoming 1890, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties . establish this Constitution...


After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, just maybe, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong!

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."
--William Penn


If you found this to be "Food for thought.." send to as many that you think will be touched by it also.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Thanks, Stan.

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down

Finally, the guys' side of the story. (I must admit, it's pretty good.)

We always hear 'the rules' from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note... these are all numbered '1' ON PURPOSE!

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant it the other way.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1 . Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...Really.

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can - to give them a laugh.

Pass this to as many women as you can - to give them a bigger laugh!

Thanks to Steve R. via Bill T.

Texas City, TX

A shelter in place was issued for residents in Texas City after a series of explosions rocked the area. That shelter-in-place has since been lifted.

According to eyewitnesses the blast at the BP Amoco chemical plant occurred around 6:30pm. Some witnesses say there were at least four explosions - the fourth being the loudest. But BP officials say there was only one.

According to B.C. Clawson with the Texas City Emergency Management, the fire occurred in the furnace area. After the explosion, hydrocarbon feed stock was burning off.

It doesn't appear the smoke is toxic, but authorities issued a shelter in place order. That order has since been lifted. However, State Highway 146 near the plant remains closed. City officials say the fire is now contained.

'We're about five miles away where the incident occurred and we were standing out on the porch and saw the explosion and saw a big burst of flames right off the bat,' said eyewitness Steve Letterman.

All workers have been accounted for, and no injuries have been reported.

Homeland security officials say they were monitoring the situation in Texas City, but the FBI tells us agents responded to the scene and they're sure it was simply an industrial accident. Petrochemical plants in the Houston area have been identified as a possible al-Qaida target, but Tuesday night's incident was not terror related.

Petrol at an 87 octane rating was $1.59⁹ today in KC.

John Schroder:

"When is war justified? It may be best to defer to the saints, who were more concerned with the salvation of souls than the salvation of an administration. In short, war is justified only when waged by legitimate authority, as a last resort, and with a reasonable chance for success. It should be waged only in response to a serious wrong, with a sense of proportionality, and in a manner that distinguishes combatants from non-combatants. Finally, peace must be the end aim of war, and that peace must be just. When these conditions are not met, warfare cannot be justified, despite what all the flag waving and speech making may incline one to believe. "

Earlier related posts on this blog
Vision
Hyenas
Elections
Anarchist

A transcript of the 11 March Big Story on FoxNews with John Gibson quotes Clifford May, former Republican National Committee's Communications Director:

"Let me tell you a dirty secret of Washington, John, that you probably know. In any administration, there are people in the bureaucracies, in the State Department, in the Defense Department, who disagree with the policies of the president. Now, sometimes they manage to hang up their politics on the door as they walk in. Sometimes they resign and sometimes they do what she did which is to write anonymous articles and make an effort to undermine the administration for which she was working. And I'm afraid that's what she did. And she wrote for some very, and does, radical associations from Lyndon LaRouche, to Lincoln (ph) Rockwell to Guerrilla News Network, where she was guerrilla of the year, to Liberation News Service, to DangerousCitizen.com."

I challenge Mr. May, the mouthpiece of the neo-cons, to cite any, repeat any, piece Mrs. Kwiatkowski wrote for a Lyndon LaRouche outlet. If he cannot--and he cannot--his mendacity is revealed. Here are links to several viable sources who publish Karen's story:

• LewRockwell.com archives [not Lincoln Rockwell]


• Disinfopedia [A plethora of links]


• MilitaryWeek.com [Her qualifications and CV]


• Salon.com [The New Pentagon Papers] A link to a copy of the Salon.com piece.

...and then there's

• The Weekly Standard's demonization...
[Printable version]

I wonder if Mr. Kerry is reading CNET News.com:

"Information technology workers in India reported double-digit salary growth in 2003, according to recent research, while pay for similar work within U.S. borders has been relatively stagnant if not declining. Although India's salaries generally remain significantly lower than U.S. averages, the narrowing wage gap and other unforeseen factors are leading at least some American companies to reassess the cost savings to be had by sending work offshore.

'Expectations about the benefits of outsourcing are becoming more realistic,' according to a report by DiamondCluster International, a Chicago-based consulting firm, which recently released a survey of more than 180 companies involved in offshore outsourcing. 'Most buyers in the previous study expected gains in efficiency in the range of 50 percent. Today, those expectations have declined to 10 to 20 percent.'"

Will the demagoguery ever cease?

As usual, TIME is confused. Nevertheless, they "report":

"How might the rift between Kerry and the church he calls a 'bedrock of values, of sureness about who I am' affect the election? Catholics are among the narrow slice of the electorate considered truly up for grabs this year, and they constitute a major share of the voters in the Midwestern and Southwestern swing states. Those who are most strongly antiabortion are probably already in Bush's camp. But many Catholics are, like Kerry, struggling with contradictions between the church's teachings and what they practice. Still others say abortion is not the only issue that matters when they vote. 'There are literally millions of American Catholics who struggle with different feelings and different issues at different times,' Kerry says. In the Democratic primaries, Kerry ran particularly strong among Catholics—winning significantly larger shares of their votes in states like New Hampshire, Missouri and Tennessee than he received from Protestants"

As the cliche goes, sometimes the best advertising is word of mouth ... or, sometimes not. At a Palm Beach luncheon this week we were fortunate to sit in the company of an interesting Bostonian woman, who just happens to be a neighbor of John Kerry.

Oh, perhaps we'd better clarify which of Kerry's neighborhoods we mean, as he does have five different ones. This lady is a Beacon Hill neighbor.

Of course, we couldn't help but ask - and we won't mention her name - 'What do you think of John Kerry?'

She told us.

'I think he's the rudest, ugliest, most arrogant man I've ever met,' she replied without a second's hesitation.

She then went on to inform us that Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz had a fire hydrant removed from the street near their home, so they would have an extra place to park.

The last anecdote she gave us was about a visit to the grocery store. It seems the Beacon Hill neighborhood has a popular little market, which is nearly always quite crowded with long lines of shoppers waiting to check out.

On one of this neighbor's shopping trips, she said, Kerry appeared with his groceries and went straight to the front of the line demanding, 'I'm a senator. Take these.'

Gary and de.an at the pro-Dubja "Flip-Flop" rally at Wheeler Field.

A report by Paul Sperry of WorldNetDaily.

The asset, a veteran Iranian intelligence officer stationed in Afghanistan under the shah, did not know details of how or when the attacks would be carried out, sources familiar with the briefings say. At no time did he intimate that planes would be used as missiles.

However, he did relay that the al-Qaida terrorists were already in place in the U.S., and that they would strike very soon, possibly within the next few months.

The two agents took the tip seriously because the asset, who has lived in the U.S. since fleeing Iran in the early '80s, was considered very reliable and had been on the FBI payroll for a decade, working in the Washington area. Also, he had Afghan contacts close to al-Qaida's inner circle. Sources say the case agent filed a report with his squad supervisor, Thomas Frields, but it's not clear if the information was sent by teletype to headquarters, the standard operating procedure.

The intelligence asset is said to have pressed his FBI handlers to follow-up on his tip in the months leading up to 9-11.

Karen Kwiatkowski responds to the calumny directed at her:

"What proof can I offer that a withering away of the neoconservative grip on policy is coming? Certainly our next President, John F. Kerry, is already familiar with the neoconservative domestic and foreign policy playbook, and does not reject it. But there are some promising signs.

Their reaction to criticism is broadening in scope and hideousness. Last summer, neocon contempt for me after my first mainstream commentary was limited to a mild attack by bench-warmer and Center for Security Policy head Frank Gaffney, calling me simply an antiwar activist, likely to be a closet Democrat and uninformed. Later, after the American Conservative series, Richard Perle and others took to telling reporters privately that I was a follower of Lyndon LaRouche. Again, a mild attack, as unfounded as the charges of uninformed Democratic peace-activist. More recently, however, following the Salon.com publicity, I have been named anarchist and dangerous person, according to the nationally televised discussion on March 10th between Foundation for the Defense of Democracies President Clifford May and FOX’s John Gibson. This was followed by a Max Boot declaration of my flakiness and the recent George Will intimation that I am anti-Semitic. Will deserved a response of course, and he got one.

The good news is that neoconservative attacks on truth tellers are becoming so shrill that soon only our dogs will be able to hear them."

Replacing Arguments with Name Calling:
by Tibor R. Machan

March 26, 2004

Rush Limbaugh has claimed that the modern liberalism of Ted Kennedy & Co. is dead in the water as far as arguments are concerned. I am not sure this isn't true also of modern conservatism, a la George W. Bush—are there really any arguments in support of Bush’s bloated big government “compassionate” conservatism?

Limbaugh seems to be right about the demise of arguments for modern liberalism—I still cannot just say "liberalism," given how that label used to be deployed to mean people who loved liberty before the social democrats hijacked it. This is evident from the way the new darling of that political group, Al Franken, goes about propping up the liberal position, namely, with unabashed name calling. Just consider the titles of his recent best selling books Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot and other observations and Lies: and the lying liars who tell them: a fair and balanced look at the Right.

But perhaps you think all this is in jest and as far as Franken’s serious ideas are concerned he relies not on such put downs but on arguments and analysis. Well, there is very little of that in either of these works—mostly they are filled with rehashed calls for more social welfare and reiterations of shopworn ideas such as that the poor are all victims and the rich mainly get rich by being lucky. This stuff is really old and the arguments for it have been met over and over again by people who actually make their case on a variety of fronts such as history, economics, philosophy, psychology and the rest of the fields that teach us a thing or two about human beings and their behavior.

Franken is about to launch a radio talk show program, on a new network that modern liberals are setting up, led, as The New York Times reports, “by Shelley Lewis, a career broadcast news producer, and Lizz Winstead, a former stand up comic who was co-creator of Comedy Central’s ‘Daily Show’.” When referring to the competition Franken will go up against, Winstead talks of “a big ugly white guy giving you the answers.”

I don’t know about you, but such discourse on political topics pretty much proves to me that the people in the limelight have completely abandoned the idea that political issues can be debated rationally, that there may be good arguments to be relied on in order to advance one’s favorite public policies. And this doesn’t really come as a surprise.

Most of those who went to college back in the days Franken and his pals did heard in their classes—in philosophy, sociology, economics, political science and the rest—that one cannot know what is right and wrong. There are only biases about values, never any knowledge.

That idea, in turn, is often (somewhat mistakenly) credited to David Hume, the 18th century Scottish philosopher who defended the idea that there is a logical gap between statements of “is” and statements of “ought.” Whatever the strength of Hume’s view, it caught on big time so that, with the added help of the early 20th century logical positivists, the view became mainstream that value judgments are mere biases, emotional dispositions, feelings of approval or disapproval, nothing more. In philosophy it was called “non-cognitivism,” meaning that what is right and wrong cannot be a matter of cognition—that is, of knowledge.

Now we see the result of this in broad daylight: Some of the major figures of public debate do not even pretend to argue, they just call each other nasty names. They do not even attempt to defend their views as correct but rely on badmouthing their adversaries in the hope of making their name-calling catch on with the citizenry. To achieve this, they add the humor factor, Al Franken’s professional expertise.

Thus we have in the making a rather nihilistic turn, now that few educated people seem to actually believe in the possibility of rationality—and thus, of course, civility—in the field of politics.

Professor Machan’s vision is clear. He is the recent author of Neither Left Nor Right: Selected Columns.

Gary North has made his new book available online for a few days.

With respect to The Passion, to cite the French Revolution’s most famous survivor, Talleyrand, Hollywood had done something worse than committing a crime. It had blundered.

The walls began tumbling down. It had not taken rams’ horns to accomplish this. It had taken money – great wads of money. Millions of Americans had handed to Mel Gibson the tool of conquest in the free market economic system. And that was just the first day’s receipts.

Within three weeks, Sharon Waxman, who had written the original article in the New York Times, “Will ‘Passion’ destroy a career?” wrote a follow-up story, “Hollywood Rethinking Films of Faith After ‘Passion.”

If you wish to grab all 233 pages of the book onto your harddisk, this is your opportunity. In any case, consider a letter to the publisher who rejected the manuscript.

Re: Constitution Posted by Charley Hardman at March 24, 2004 09:45 PM

General Welfare, 'Regulation' of Commerce, Popular election of Senators and President, Bill of 'Rights' . . . If it hadn't been those holes in the dike, others would've been created out of the same nothingness. Governments can only get bigger and then go boom. People get comfortable after liberty is found.

As for the Bill of Rights applying to the states, I've never thought it's that big a deal. Regardless of intent, it was written that way anyway except where noted (e.g., First Amendment), and the jive 'incorporation doctrine' claims it's concerned with the Bill of Rights yet goes far beyond. Cort and I have argued applicability before, but I guess it's one of those agree/disagree things — unless he wants to admit I'm right. Ha!"

March 23, 2004

The First Marine Division recently returned to Iraq. This is a letter from the Commanding General of the Division to the Marines of the First Marine Division.

Letter to all Hands:

We are going back in to the brawl. We will be relieving the magnificent Soldiers fighting under the 82nd Airborne Division, whose hard won successes in the Sunni Triangle have opened opportunities for us to exploit. For the last year, the 82nd Airborne has been operating against the heart of the enemy's resistance. It's appropriate that we relieve them.

When it's time to move a piano, Marines don't pick up the piano bench- we move the piano. So, this is the right place for Marines in this fight, where we can carry on the legacy of Chesty Puller in the Banana Wars in the same sort of complex environment that he knew in his early years. Shoulder to shoulder with our comrades in the Army, Coalition Forces and maturing Iraqi Security Forces, we are going to destroy the enemy with precise firepower while diminishing the conditions that create adversarial relationships between us and the Iraqi people.

This is going to be hard, dangerous work. It is going to require patient, persistent presence. Using our individual initiative, courage, moral judgment and battle skills, we will build on the 82nd Airborne's victories.

Our country is counting on us even as our enemies watch and calculate, hoping that America does not have warriors strong enough to withstand discomfort and danger. You, my fine young men, are going to prove the enemy wrong - dead wrong. You will demonstrate the same uncompromising spirit that has always caused the enemy to fear America's Marines.

The enemy will try to manipulate you into hating all Iraqis. Do not allow the enemy that victory. With strong discipline, solid faith, unwavering alertness, and undiminished chivalry to the innocent, we will carry out this mission. Remember, I have added, "First, do no harm" to our passwords of "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy." Keep your honor clean as we gain information about the enemy from the Iraqi people. Then, armed with that information and working in conjunction with fledging Iraqi Security Forces, we will move precisely against the enemy elements and crush them without harming the innocent.

This is our test - our Guadalcanal, our Chosin Reservoir, our Hue City. Fight with a happy heart and keep faith in your comrades and your unit. We must be under no illusions about the nature of the enemy and the dangers that lie ahead. Stay alert, take it all in stride, remain sturdy, and share your courage with each other and the world. You are going to write history, my fine young Sailors and Marines, so write it well.

Semper Fidelis,

J. M. Mattis
Major General, U. S. Marine Corps

Fred Reed recognizes the Orwellian trends prevalent in clueless bureaucracies:

"The Watchful State isn't really here in force yet, but it is aborning. All the pieces exist. We may find that laws that made sense when they weren't enforced very well become a smothering blanket when backed up by mindless software with police powers. A nation with no slop in the legal gears will be, I suspect, a nation of robots."

Originally published on LewRockwell.com in an almost unreadable tiny font, this column has been mirrored on one of my web sites; made legible for septuagenarians; and is well worth the read.

Semper Fi, Fred.

contained this ditty. No it's a full blown poem by Joy Skilmer on 24 March. Alas, what is happening to the GOP?

Conservatives are giving voice
As to their presidential choice.
They know for kerry they can’t vote,
But Bush to some’s a sinking boat.
What Kerry stands for no one knows.
What e’er the wind that way he blows.
But on the left you’ll find his friends
And toward far left is where he tends.
President Kerry? Help us Lord.
This is one guy we can’t afford.
But what about the president?
Though he’s a man of good intent,
He’s moving leftward with the tide,
Which Reaganites cannot abide.
Deficits climb to record highs,
While spending soars up to the skies.
Illegal Aliens run free,
While Bush proposes amnesty.
Perhaps it was not what he meant
But he’s intruded government
In places it’s not been before
And plans to do it even more.
What Wallace said once now makes sense.
“There’s not a dime’s worth difference.”
Between the Dems and GOP,
As far as Reaganites can see.
Some think that it may be the case
Bush thinks to broaden out his base
By moving left. But he should know
The right does have a place to go.
Now he may find this fact scary--
The choice is not just him or Kerry.
There have been times, he might recall,
When angry folks didn’t vote all.
Or cast their votes for Ross Perot.
They had that year some place to go.
That’s true today. Has the time come
When Reaganites will just stay home?

by Joy Skilmer

Today there is a new flag flying from the new non-furl pole on my porch upright. Thanks to Sean at All Nations Flag Co. in Kansas City for the guidance.

A Brief History of the U.S. Navy Jack
by CDR Michel T. Poirier

In the fall of 1775, as the first ships of the Continental Navy readied in the Delaware River, Commodore Esek Hopkins issued a set of fleet signals. Among these signals was an instruction directing his vessels to fly a striped Jack and Ensign at their proper places. The custom of the jack-type flag had originated with the Royal Navy in the 15th century or earlier; such was the likely source of Hopkins' inspiration. This first U.S. Navy Jack has traditionally been shown as consisting of 13 horizontal alternating red and white stripes with a superimposed rattlesnake and the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The rattlesnake had long been a symbol of resistance to British repressive acts in Colonial America; its display on the new jack of the fledging Continental Navy fit naturally with the fervor of the times.

According to Dr. Whitney Smith of the Flag Research Center, the traditional design of the First Navy Jack has never been accurately determined. Historians inferred the design from Hopkins's message and a color plate depicting a slightly different "Don't Tread Upon Me" flag used as a Navy Ensign in Admiral George Henry Preble's 1880 book, History of the Flag of the United States. Historians' widely copied Preble's rare color plate, thus providing the probable source of the traditional design of the First Navy Jack.

The first U.S. Navy use of the Union Jack (a flag replicating the canton i.e. white stars on a blue field of the U.S. Flag) probably occurred soon after the adoption of the First Stars and Stripes Law on June 14, 1777. The First Stars and Stripes Law stated that the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternating red and white and that the union be 13 white stars in a blue field representing a new constellation. Although the date of introduction of the Union Jack is not precisely known, a 1785 engraving of the frigate USS Philadelphia clearly depicts the Union Jack flying from her jackstaff.

As the number of states increased, the Union Jack was altered to conform to the canton of the national flag. General orders were issued from time to time by the Navy Department when a change in the number of stars was necessary.

Navy Regulations, first promulgated in 1865, prescribed the use of the jack. It is displayed daily from the jackstaff of all U.S. naval vessels in commission, from 8 a.m. to sunset while the ship is at anchor. Additionally it is flown to indicate a court martial is in progress, and as the President's and Secretary of the Navy's personal flag.

There have been two instances were the traditional First Navy Jack has been used in lieu of the Union Jack. In 1975, the Secretary of the Navy directed that the First Navy Jack be flown in lieu of the Union Jack during the United States Bicentennial Year as a colorful and historic reminder of the nation's and the Navy's origin. In 1980, the Secretary of the Navy specified that the ship with the longest total period of active service display the First Navy Jack until decommissioned or transferred to inactive service, at which time the flag shall be passed to the next ship in line with appropriate honors. Since 1998, the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) has proudly flown the First Navy Jack.

On June 3, 1999, the Secretary of the Navy authorized submarines and submarine tenders to fly a special Submarine Centennial Jack throughout the year 2000 in honor of the U. S. Submarine Force's Centennial. This marks the first occasion since 1775 that a specific class of ships has been so honored.

[Note: The U.S. Navy has now ordered all ships to display the First Navy Jack during the War on Terrorism.]

Ce week-end, la France passe à l'heure d'été.

Dimanche 28 Mars, à 2 heures du matin, il faudra avancer votre horloge d'une heure, il sera donc 3 heures !

C'est le printemps. Les fleurs sont arrivées!

Steven LaTulippe, MD:

"...we do not live in a free society.

In America, the FDA sits astride the path between research and clinical usage like the Great Wall of China. New drugs can take years and cost millions of dollars to finally bring to market. Often, these same drugs are available in 'Old Europe' for years before American patients have access to them.

In typical fashion, the media has focused on the persecuted 'little guy' who lost money due to 'greedy insider trading'.

But what about the thousands of cancer patients who died between Oct of 2001 and Feb 2004 waiting for the FDA to approve Erbitux?

Who is responsible for their deaths?

Not Martha Stewart.

And who caused the collapse of ImClone's stock, which bankrupted thousands of 'moms and pops'?

Again, it wasn't Martha Stewart—it was the FDA.

The accusations against Martha Stewart were largely bogus anyway. She was accused of 'insider trading'--a 'crime' which shouldn't even be a crime in a free society (as eloquently noted in Tibor Machan's recent column...). And besides, that charge didn't even stick--so the feds had to resort to even more bogus crimes, like 'lying to the government'. Aside from the fact that she wasn't even under oath when she committed this 'crime', the frequency with which our government lies to us makes this accusation a farce."

Thanks, Doc.

Thomas Sowell:

"Slavery was an ugly, dirty business but people of virtually every race, color, and creed engaged in it on every inhabited continent. And the people they enslaved were also of virtually every race, color, and creed."

Old Thomas finds a Brown University hustler at work.

1. How can you arrange for two people to stand on the same piece of newspaper and yet be unable to touch each other without stepping off the newspaper?

2. How many 3-cent stamps are there in a dozen?

3. A rope ladder hangs over the side of a ship. The rungs are one foot apart and the ladder is 12 feet long. The tide is rising at four inches an hour. How long will it take before the first four rungs of the ladder are underwater?

4. Which would you rather have, a trunk full of nickels or a trunk half full of dimes?

5. Steve has three piles of sand and Mike has four piles of sand. If they put them all together, how many do they have?

6. In which sport are the shoes made entirely of metal?

7. If the Vice President of the United States should die, who would be President?

8. How can you throw a golf ball with all your might and--without hitting a wall or any other obstruction--have the ball stop and come right back to you?

9. Find the English word that can be formed from all these letters: PNLLEEEESSSSS


ANSWERS:

Byron York on National Review Online:

"Kerry seems to be living in another time, playing a movie of Vietnam over and over in his mind.

In fact, he is often playing an actual movie of Vietnam over and over on his television. Consider this scene from a remarkable profile of Kerry published in the Boston Globe in October 1996, when Kerry was in a tough reelection battle:

Kerry told reporter Charles Sennott the oft-repeated story of the February 1969 firefight in which Kerry attacked the Viet Cong who ambushed his Swift boat. Kerry won the Silver Star, as well as a Purple Heart, for his efforts. But the story wasn't just the firefight itself. It was also Kerry's reaction to it.

The future senator was so 'focused on his future ambitions,' Sennott reported, that not long after the fight, he bought a Super-8 movie camera, returned to the scene, and reenacted the skirmish on film. During their interview, Kerry played the tape for Sennott.

'I'll show you where they shot from. See? That's the hole covered up with reeds,' Kerry said as he ran the tape in slow motion.

Kerry told Sennott that his decision to reenact the fight on film was no big deal—'just something I did, no great meaning to it.' But it's clear that the old movie is a huge deal. 'Through hours of watching the films in the den of his newly renovated Beacon Hill mansion, it becomes apparent that these are memories and footage he returns to often,' Sennott wrote.

'Kerry jumps repeatedly from the couch to adjust the Sony large screen TV in his home entertainment center, making sure the picture is clear, the color correct. He fast forwards, rewinds and freeze frames the footage. His running commentary—vivid, sometimes touching, sometimes self-serving—never misses a beat.'

In John Kerry's home-entertainment center, it's always 1969.'"

To quote Cas Gadomski on prn-main:

This guy is a stone narcissist. The very idea of him in the Oval Office makes my flesh crawl.

Indeed.

The folks in Auburn have made this classic tome available to the world. My copy must weight ten pounds. Now at last I can read it online and help ease my hernia. Read the book here

This online edition is Copyright © 2004 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, second edition, Scholar's Edition. Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama 36832. This page is a work in progress. The entire text is available in PDF but text files in html are being uploaded chapter-by-chapter. Eventually, it will include other study tools as well.

Own the book. See the Reviews."

Kangaroos in the Courtroom Here's really what happened...

Jude Wannaski explains disinformation:

"When I was a boy in the 1940`s, the word 'propaganda' showed up in practically every movie involving the Nazis or the Japs. Italy was one of the Axis powers, but I don`t remember anything about Italian propaganda. Mostly it was the Nazis, so the word has a kind of ugliness about it that we don`t associate with 'disinformation.' The term 'disinformation' does not sound so bad, but the dictionary says it is 'false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.' That sounds worse than 'propaganda,' which prior to Hitler and his evil flack, Joseph Goebbels, simply applied to the missionary work of the Catholic Church in 'propagating the faith.'

One of the biggest problems for a journalist trying to do an honest job of covering the 'news' is in spotting 'disinformation.' Propaganda is easy to spot because it is obviously self-serving and can be discounted accordingly. 'Disinformation' is what the intellectuals at the Pentagon proposed as a vehicle for influencing global opinion, in an 'Office of Strategic Influence'. When the New York Times reported on OSI, it quickly became an embarrassment Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not need, so he announced it would be dissolved. The private contractors who were to have staffed the OSI, though, were kept on at some unspecified Pentagon office, obviously doing 'disinformation,' which is their specialty.

Murray Rothbard:

The well-known inefficiencies of government operation are not empirical accidents, resulting perhaps from the lack of a civil-service tradition. They are inherent in all government enterprise, and the excessive demand fomented by free and other underpriced services is just one of the many reasons for this condition.

Thus, free supply not only subsidizes the users at the expense of nonusing taxpayers; it also misallocates resources by failing to supply the service where it is most needed. The same is true, to a lesser extent, wherever the price is under the free-market price. On the free market, consumers can dictate the pricing and thereby assure the best allocation of productive resources to supply their wants. In a government enterprise, this cannot be done. Let us take again the case of the free service. Since there is no pricing, and therefore no exclusion of submarginal uses, there is no way that government, even if it wanted to, could allocate its services to the most important uses and to the most eager buyers. All buyers, all uses, are artificially kept on the same plane. As a result, the most important uses will be slighted, and the government is faced with insuperable allocation problems, which it cannot solve even to its own satisfaction. Thus, the government will be confronted with the problem: Should we build a road in place A or place B? There is no rational way by which it can make this decision. It cannot aid the private consumers of the road in the best way. It can decide only according to the whim of the ruling government official, i.e., only if the government official, not the public, does the 'consuming.' If the government wishes to do what is best for the public, it is faced with an impossible task.

Government can either deliberately subsidize by giving a service away free, or it may genuinely try to find the true market price, i.e., to "operate on a business basis." This is often the cry raised by conservatives—that government enterprise be placed on a "business footing," that deficits be ended, etc. Almost always this means raising the price. Is this a solution, however? It is often stated that a single government enterprise, operating within the sphere of a private market, buying from it, etc., can price its services and allocate its resources efficiently. This, however, is incorrect. There is a fatal flaw that permeates every conceivable scheme of government enterprise and ineluctably prevents it from rational pricing and efficient allocation of resources. Because of this flaw, government enterprise can never be operated on a "business" basis, no matter what the government's intentions.

...and the argument goes on. Read the rest of Rothbard.

Paul Greenberg has insight to an historical view:

"Whatever the reasons for the election results, the comments from Spaniards on the street will have a familiar flavor to students of European history. 'How horrible, how fantastic, how incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas masks because of a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing!' - British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on the eve of the Munich conference in September of 1938."

Ah yes, but he goes on to say...

another English statesman understood all too well what had really happened: "I do not grudge our loyal, brave people . . . the natural, spontaneous outburst of joy and relief when they learned that the hard ordeal would no longer be required of them at the moment; but they should know the truth. They should know that . . . we have sustained a defeat without war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road . . . ." - Winston Churchill in the House of Commons, Oct. 5, 1938.

The entire piece is thought provoking.

dismissed Ron Paul on his Fox program this afternoon saying, "Ron Paul is a crank."

I have no idea what Mr. Hume is thinking. Ron Paul is probably the most principled and honest member of the House of Representatives. He is more articulate is his arguments for Constitutional government than Mr. Hume could be. He invariably votes against any bill that would give the federal government power that is not authorized by the Constitution. Perhaps Dr. Paul could be considered "eccentric." Should that be true, then Jefferson, Washington, Madison, et al. were all eccentrics.

Have you no shame, Mr. Hume?

SignOnSanDiego.com:

Pakistani troops believe they have surrounded al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri in an operation near the Afghan border, officials said Thursday.

While...

...more hotels bombed in the heavily fortified "Green Zone" on the west bank of the Tigris river in Baghdad.

Slashdot:
prostoalex writes 'The Washington Post alerts Windows users about a new peer-to-peer backdoor client that is installed maliciously on broadband-connected computers around Asia and the United States. The client is then used for distributed DOS attacks and sending out large amounts of spam. Phatbot, according to government sources, is installed on hundreds of thousands machines already. Phatbot snoops for passwords on infected computers and tries to disable firewall and antivirus software, albeit it is detectable by antivirus packages.' An anonymous reader submits a link to this description of the beast. "

Reasons To Keep Your Guns Properly Secured:

Please: properly secure your firearms to prevent them from being stolen, from being used against you by a burglar whom you walk in on, or worst of all--a child in your home get distraught and thinks that this is going to be better than the alternatives:

JOYCE, Wash. -- A 13-year-old boy shot and killed himself in front of about 20 classmates in this small Olympic Peninsula (search) town Wednesday, sheriff's officers said.

Clallam County Undersheriff Fred DeFrang (search) told radio station KONP-AM that the boy arrived on campus at about 10 a.m., walked into a portable classroom and shot himself to death. He declined to release the boy's name, saying officers were still trying to contact his relatives.

I don't think much of 'trigger locks' because any reasonably smart kid with access to power tools can defeat them, but even the locking cabinets you can buy at Wal-Mart for $40 will probably deter a suicidal kid enough to help.

Do you have children? Read this checklist of the signs of depression. Print it out. Keep it where you think of it often. Too many adolescents sink into the pit of depression, and the parents don't even notice.

What was causing this kid's depression? It might have been the girl who rejected him; it might have been bullying at school; it could be that he got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing, and thought that there was no point in living. I have very, very painful memories of being 13, 14, and 15. Everything seems so dramatic and permanent at that age--suicide is what is really permanent, but it is so difficult to see that at the time.

Yes, you need to "gun proof your child" to avoid accidents, and to make sure that they understand the seriousness of firearms. But that won't prevent a suicide. Making all the guns go away won't stop the suicides; it just changes the method. Being alert to the signs of depression is what will make the most difference.

Karen Kwiatkowski:

You cannot step twice into the same river.

~ Heraclitus, circa 540 BC

As a conservative who has publicly criticized the current administration in an election year, I am reminded of the above quote from an ancient Greek.

Another version explains that 'No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.'

Some election watchers remember past vicious presidential campaigns and look for signs. Others wonder about third-party effects, or targeted mini-campaigns for a small number of electoral votes in single-issue districts. Still others read the tea leaves of national economic and battlefield woes to determine whether an incumbent will be asked to stay on. Some may wonder how another terrorist attack on us, or another US attack on a third country might affect the election outcome.

But as Heraclitus observed, you can't step into the same river twice. The next major terrorist attack on the US, at home or abroad, will not be 9-11. Even if every aspect of it were identical, it will be a different attack, against a wiser nation, a changed President, and by an evolved group of attackers. This means that the national political reaction to 9-11 won't be duplicated after the next attack, if there is a next attack.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A powerful car bomb destroyed a five-story hotel in central Baghdad on Wednesday night, killing at least 27 people, wounding 41 and leaving a crater 20 feet across. Foreigners were among the hotel guests.
...

The explosion took place behind Firdaus Square, where a bronze statue of Saddam Hussein was felled April 9 with the help of U.S. Marines who had just entered the center of the Iraqi capital.
...

Earlier Wednesday, the Iraqi Governing Council asked the United Nations for help putting together a new government, a council spokesman said.

The council requested that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan send a U.N. team back to Iraq to help organize a government that would take over from the U.S.-led coalition June 30, council spokesman Hamid al-Kafaai told The Associated Press.

The letter sent by council president Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum, a Shiite cleric, also requested technical assistance in preparation for a general election due by the end of January 2005.

"The Governing Council has asked that the United Nations offers advice to Iraq in the field of elections and the formation of a transitional government," al-Kafaai said.

Marriage Wars, Part 1:

'He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.' (Revelation 21: 7-8)

Walter E. Williams:

Sen. John Kerry, Democratic presidential front-runner, said in 2002, 'I will be voting to give the president of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.'

In January 2003, Kerry added, 'Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime. ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction. So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real.'

Yes, Professor Williams, that may be true. However that doesn't get Mr. Kohn, uhn Kerry, elected, eh?

New York Sun:

PARIS — It could be the flawless French he learned while at boarding school in Switzerland. Or that he summered in his youth at a picturesque village on the rocky shores of Brittany.

But that's only part of the story. The French aren't the only Europeans laying claim to a connection with John Kerry.

In the tiny Czech village of Horni Benesov -- the birthplace of Mr. Kerry's paternal grandfather -- residents are hoping to one day host a presidential visit. "I believe he will become the American president. He seems a very reasonable, very likeable person," the town's mayor, Josef Klech, told Reuters recently. "He has said he has an interest in coming here if he visits the Czech Republic. This can put our small town on the world map."

Mr. Kerry's grandfather was Fritz Kohn, an ethnic German Jew born in Horni Benesov, a former mining town near the Polish border. A brewer in a land known for its fine beers, Khon moved to America at the turn of the last century, converted to Catholicism, and changed his name to Frederick Kerry. Mr. Kerry was unaware of his grandfather's roots until a genealogist dug up the news last summer.

Was ist los? Kohn, con, whatever...

Thomas Sowell: "...we may want to consider the question asked by hand-wringers in the West: Why do they hate us? Maybe it is because the alternative to hating us is to hate themselves."

Botox

Newsday:

"WASHINGTON -- Even before the bombings in Madrid, White House officials were worrying that terrorists might strike the United States before the November elections.

Now, with the Socialists' surprise election victory in Spain, analysts believe the ballot box rebuke of one of President Bush's closest allies in the war in Iraq could embolden terrorists to try the same tactics in the United States to create fear and chaos.

'That's an amazing impact of a terrorist event, to change the party in power,' said Jerrold Post, a former CIA profiler who directs the political psychology program at George Washington University.

'The implications of this are fairly staggering,' agreed political psychologist Stanley Renshon of City University of New York. 'This is the first time that a terrorist act has influenced a democratic election. This is a gigantic, loud wakeup call. There's no one they'd like to have out of office more than George W. Bush.'

In political terms, the question is whether an attack would cause Americans to rally around Bush or blame him for the nation's vulnerabilities. "

Allah Akbar...

Dennis Prager: "...the combination of mind, Judeo-Christian values and heart has produced over centuries the unique success known as America. Reliance on the heart will destroy this painstaking achievement in a generation."

The Christ--The Controversy:

... since Foxman is leading this particular jihad against the cross, one wonders whether he does not agree with Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby. Interviewed for Ron Rosenbaum's fascinating book, Explaining Hitler, Maccoby blames Christianity itself, its central doctrine of the divinity of Christ and His sacrificial death, for subsequent anti-Semitism and for the Holocaust. Maccoby asserts in his various writings that the core narrative of Christ's death on the cross led directly and inevitably to Jews being sacrificed, en masse, in Nazi death camps. “Christians say the Holocaust is part of the evil of humanity,” he told Rosenbaum. “It isn’t the evil of humanity. It’s the evil of Christendom.” For this reason, Maccoby considers that the only forms of Christianity that are not intrinsically anti-Semitic are those that reject Christ’s divinity and redemption. On the same page, Maccoby insists that for him, “Christmas is a sinister festival,” since it points ahead to Easter. Does Foxman agree? I don’t know. But his organization provides on its Web site a comprehensive guide for members on how to purge holiday celebrations in public schools and civic spaces of any reference to Jesus, the Nativity, or Christmas.

Although not being anti-semitic (whatever that may signify), I tend to be anti-Foxman.

The New American: "Some of the most spirited defenses of Gibson have come from Jews who see many of his accusers wielding the charges of anti-Semitism for ulterior purposes. Syndicated columnist Don Feder, an Orthodox Jew, has jumped four-square into the fray. 'As a Jew, I take anti-Semitism very seriously,' says Feder. But he does not believe Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite or that The Passion qualifies as Nazi propaganda. One of his recent columns on the subject ran under the title: 'More Power to Mel Gibson: The Passion Is an Act of Faith, Not Bigotry.'

'Jesus isn't part of my religion,' Feder explained. 'With all due respect to my Christian friends -- who are legion -- I do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate. (In the words of The Shema, I believe God is One.) I respect those who believe otherwise, as I hope they respect beliefs of mine with which they disagree.' But with all of the 'raw sewage being pumped out' of Hollywood, he noted 'it's ironic that some have chosen to attack a film that dramatizes sacrifice and redemption.' Far from condemning Gibson, Feder is cheering: 'More power to Mel, say I. It�s rare to see a man with such power and influence willing to stand up for his faith in the face of a hostile culture.'

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, an Orthodox rabbi and popular radio talk-show host, has also repeatedly defended Gibson and The Passion. Rabbi Lapin points out that it is not Gibson�s movie, but the irresponsible and vehement accusations coming from Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League and other self-appointed Jewish leaders that are most likely to cause anti-Semitism.

"From audiences around America, I am encountering bitterness at Jewish organizations insisting that belief in the New Testament is de facto evidence of anti-Semitism," Rabbi Lapin says. "Christians heard Jewish leaders denouncing Gibson for making a movie that follows Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion long before any of them had even seen the movie. Furthermore, Christians are hurt that Jewish groups are presuming to teach them what Christian Scripture ‘really means.’"

But so-called Catholics and Protestants are also presuming to reinterpret, rewrite or even defame the Gospels. Take James Carroll, for example, whom Don Feder pungently describes as "one of those ‘Catholic scholars’ whose stock in trade is denying the essence of Catholicism." Writing in The Boston Globe, Mr. Carroll claimed that "Even a faithful repetition of the Gospel stories of the death of Jesus can do damage exactly because those sacred texts themselves carry the virus of Jew-hatred." If this is true, observed Mr. Feder, it certainly "raises an intriguing question: How can a text both be sacred and carry the seeds of anti-Semitism?"

Conspiracy theories abound: "OKLAHOMA CITY - The rest of the country may have satisfied itself years ago that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, two homegrown anti-government extremists, were the sole perpetrators of the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. But here where the pain of the attack has scarcely dulled even after nine years, many still harbor lingering suspicions that others were involved."

Filled up today at $1.579 per gallon. It required four VISA charges at pump #14, though: 7¢, 9¢, 11¢ and $19.50 after one of the young men at the QuickTrip give the "old man" assistance.

Hey! At least we are not paying Kalifornia prices, which averaged $2.11 per gallon last week, versus the national average of $1.73.

New York Post:

John Kerry boasts how he 'sounded the alarm on terrorism years before 9/ 11,' referring to his 1997 book 'The New War.' Too bad he didn't blast it when it really counted - four months before the hijackings, when he was hand-delivered evidence of serious security breaches at Logan International Airport, with specific warnings that terrorists could exploit them.

Former FAA security officials say the Massachusetts senator had the power to prevent at least the Boston hijackings and save the World Trade Center and thousands of lives, yet he failed to take effective action after they gave him a prophetic warning that his state's main airport was vulnerable to multiple hijackings.

Another truth Mr. Kerry will disclaim.

GA Analyst Bill Shipp writes, The GA GOP primary, which will "probably" decide the successor to Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA), is still "months away," but the intensity of the campaigns between the two perceived main candidates -- Rep. Mac Collins (R-08) and Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-06) – is already picking up steam."

Collins "tears" at Isakson, trying to reduce his poll numbers and "slow his stream" of campaign contributions. In every poll, Isakson leads. He is "way ahead" in the campaign money game -- more than "$4.5 million" at last count. However, in the four-candidate primary race, "no one" is likely to capture the "50 percent-plus-one" needed to avoid a runoff with the No. 2 vote-getter.

Collins "evidently" assumes that he will be the second-place finisher with a chance to win in a runoff. If running to become runner-up is his strategy, Collins may be aiming his ammunition at "the wrong target."

Hermain Cain (R) -- an "ultraconservative black business executive" -- appears a "reasonably good bet" to finish second, ahead of Collins.

(Marietta Daily Journal, 3/7/04)

By Paul Harvey

Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man's family was a handsome son . . .

GACK!

The story ostensibly by Paul Harvey about Mel Gibson is a fraud. One should always check snopes.com first.

Thanks to Dan, Gordon, Rachel and Dick...

The Guardian cites Professor Robert Davis' book:

North African pirates abducted and enslaved more than 1 million Europeans between 1530 and 1780 in a series of raids which depopulated coastal towns from Sicily to Cornwall, according to new research. Thousands of white Christians were seized every year to work as galley slaves, labourers and concubines for Muslim overlords in what is today Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, it is claimed.

Yes, there were millions more Africans enslaved and sold to slave traders by fellow Africans. However...

Villages and towns on the coast of Italy, Spain, Portugal and France were hardest hit but the raiders also seized people in Britain, Ireland and Iceland. According to one account they even captured 130 American seamen from ships that they boarded in the Atlantic and Mediterranean between 1785 and 1793.

Reparations?

FrontPage Magazine:

Hitler once said that if a lie were big enough it would be believed. Obviously the Kerry campaign and MoveOn.org, the anti-Bush group funded by billionaire George Soros, are apostles of this theory.

The article goes on to describe several examples of medacity by Soros, et al. and closes saying:

...one thing is certain - MoveOn.org lied. The fact is MoveOn.org is not a credible organization. They merely spread lies and propaganda.

However, what would one expect from an organization founded to protect a perjurer that is funded by a convicted billionaire fraud. It has been noted that Soros is upset with Bush because he once tried to purchase Bush’s political influence and did not get what he paid for.

The lie and the nefarious motivations of MoveOn.org, Soros, and Kerry are augurs of the corruption that will be rampant in this country if Kerry is elected.

Gosh, all that "negative" advertising, eh?

David Limbaugh:

Human nature being what it is, is it inevitable that beneficiaries of freedom don't cherish it any more than some third-generation pampered bluebloods appreciate their inherited wealth? At least wealth is something tangible; even people who inherit it can recognize if it's slipping away and perhaps adjust their behavior before it's all gone.

But freedom is much more difficult to quantify; it's largely imperceptible to people born into it who often believe it is their natural birthright and requires no sacrifice to maintain.

Read Mr. L's entire piece.

Tibor R. Machan:

All over the country some employees face this situation: Although they have deliberately refused to join a labor union, the federal government is forcing them to pay union dues on the grounds that they are benefiting from high wages unions allegedly have achieved for not just their members but for all the workers where they are employed. How else could they send letters to these non-union workers asserting that they are owed the dues? What if the workers refuse to pay? Why can they be threatened with being forced to leave the jobs they hold?

More Marxism?

Port-au-Prince: "U.S. Marines fought new gunbattles in Haiti as consternation spread on Friday in the poor, strife-torn nation over plans by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to the Caribbean."

Cramer was certainly "on a tear" yesterday and this morning. Some of the most insightful and pertinent posts he's spewed out. Well worth the few minutes necessary to review his blog.

an·ar·chist
Pronunciation: 'a-n&r-kist, -"när-
Function: noun
1 : one who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power
2 : one who believes in, advocates, or promotes anarchism or anarchy; especially : one who uses violent means to overthrow the established order
- anarchist or an·ar·chis·tic /"a-n&r-'kis-tik, -(")när-/ adjective

im·pe·ri·al·ism
Pronunciation: im-'pir-E-&-"li-z&m
Function: noun
1 : imperial government, authority, or system
2 : the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas; broadly : the extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence
- im·pe·ri·al·ist /-list/ noun or adjective
- im·pe·ri·al·is·tic /-"pir-E-&-'lis-tik/ adjective
- im·pe·ri·al·is·ti·cal·ly /-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb

tyr·an·ny
Pronunciation: 'tir-&-nE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -nies
Etymology: Middle English tyrannie, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin tyrannia, from Latin tyrannus tyrant
1 : oppressive power ; especially : oppressive power exerted by government
2 a : a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; especially : one characteristic of an ancient Greek city-state b : the office, authority, and administration of a tyrant
3 : a rigorous condition imposed by some outside agency or force
4 : a tyrannical act

Comments? Posted by Jacq' @ 3/11/2004 10:36:00 AM

Fred Reed hits the "sweet spot" again:

It is possible to become so inured to being told what to do, and how to do it, and who to do it with -- to become so accustomed to being told what we can say, what we may publicly believe, what we must seem to think, how we must manage our affairs -- that we cease to notice just how regimented we are. We are there. We now accept that very nearly everything whatsoever is the proper domain of government. Why?

How I admire ol' curmudgeonly Fred. Semper Fi!"

An email to myword@foxnews.com regarding an appearance on John Gibson's Big Story segment on Fox News today:

Your rude treatment of Mrs. K. is inexcusable, Mr. Gibson. Talking over her responses to your questions reveals your lack of knowledge and awareness and your possession of erroneous preconceptions. Have the "powers that be" demanded she be demonized and discredited?

Your criticism of those who write for LewRockwell.com is appalling. LewRockwell.com writers understand and explain what is happening in today's world. Perhaps you could cure your lack of knowledge by reviewing those articles. Not everyone is logical there. In general many contributors opinions are extremely valuable. I would recommend you read William L. Anderson, Thomas DiLorenzo and Tibor Machan at the very least. Even old Lew Rockwell himself hits the mark from time to time.

My wife has been addicted to your program, Mr. G. However she commented this afternoon, "Gibson needs to take off his blinders. All he's doing lately is parroting old disproved rhetoric while ignoring current revelations."

Respectfully yours,

-Cap'n Jacq'
Jacques Tucker
Kansas City, MO

LtCol K. has been published in Patrick Buchanan's American Conservative magazine. Can you cite any original writings she did for Lyndon LaRouche? Oh, my wife says you didn't make that claim. It was your guest, Cliff. Who exactly is that guy who was demonizing LtCol Kwaitkowski? You seemed to agree with him.

I suggest that one do a Google search for "karen kwaitkowski" and "karen kwiatkowski" to see what she has been saying.

Spent the best part of Tuesday near Harrisonville, Missouri. The Wal-Mart gasoline dispensary sign said $1.559. As I drove across 63rd Street on the way home last night the prices at two stations was $1.619 and $1.639.

The third article by William L. Anderson and Candice Jackson discussing the corruption of our justice system. Here's a snippet of the argument:

Born of political expediency and of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the federal criminal system is nothing less than a mechanism that permits prosecutors to do an end run around the Constitutional protections that the framers of that document believed were the natural rights of individuals. While we know that many readers will disagree with the following statement, we hold that it is true and will demonstrate why we believe such a thing: modern federal criminal laws and policies hold much more in common with Josef Stalin's U.S.S.R. in the 1930s than it does the Constitution of the United States.

Dick Wolf has popularized the corruption and propagandized many PC [Marxist] issues in his millionaire making "Law and Order" TV shows.

More by William L. Anderson and Candice E. Jackson:

The Martha verdict appears quite popular with the political classes and the vaunted 'man on the street,' not to mention the nation's mainstream journalists. The post-trial comments of one juror, Chappell Hartridge (Juror Number Eight), say it all: 'Maybe this is a victory for the little guys who lose money thanks to these kinds of transactions. Maybe it's a message to the big wigs.'

Remember that this was not a trial about 'insider trading.' The judge said so, the prosecutors said so, the pundits said so. Even the New York Times declared that it was not an 'insider trading' charge.

Yep. Long discussion of the control necessary by the journalists and other gov'ment lackeys. It's worth a read.

Too bad Mrs. Stewart was not charged with nor is guilty of any crime.

Timely satire from ScrappleFace:

(2004-03-08) -- Just hours after the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council approved that nation's new interim constitution, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned it on the grounds that it provides 'excessive power to the ignorant masses.'

Thanks LeRoy.

The price at a QuickTrip in Kansas City, MO fell under $1.60 yesterday. It was posted at $1.599 / gallon for regular.

In her Townhall.com column today Diana West takes Mr. Kerry to task:

There may be something purely comic in the anecdote about the Kerry constituent who, in 1991, received two letters from the Massachusetts senator, nine days apart, the first opposing the Gulf War, the second supporting it. But this anecdote is as good a metaphor as any for Kerry's stands on significant issues. In January, for example, he was castigating President Bush for his 'exaggeration' of the terrorist threat -- a point on which John Edwards, his erstwhile rival, saw fit to take him to task. In February, Kerry was still castigating Bush -- but this time for having mustered an inadequate response to the same terrorist threat. 'I do not fault George Bush for doing too much in the war on terror,' Kerry said. 'I believe he's done too little.'

So what's new, Mr. K.?

You have to believe the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

You have to believe that the same 4th grade teacher who can't teach kids to read is qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans is more of a threat than US technology in the hands of communist Chinese.

You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.

You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical, documented changes in the earth's climate,and more affected by yuppies driving SUV's

You have to believe that gender roles are artificial,but being homosexual is natural.

You have to believe that businesses create oppression while governments create prosperity.

You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but loony environmental activists do.

You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

You have to believe that military, not corrupt politicians start wars.

Thanks to Mike C.

William L. Anderson and Candice Jackson argue that our nation of laws is defunct:

Assume, for argument's sake, that [Martha] Stewart did lie about her trade of ImClone stock. Perhaps she might have been better off telling the truth, one says, but it is also imperative from a legal point of view to note that when she told those alleged lies, she was not under oath. Furthermore, 'obstruction of justice' and 'making false statements,' the main charges against her, run only one way. The U.S. Government has official policies in law enforcement about lying, all the way to the F.B.I. Training Manual that instructs agents to lie during criminal investigations.

Thus, we have private individuals subject to criminal charges, but government officials are immune from those same charges. What we are witnessing is nothing short of tyranny.

Yes, the media will crow about Martha 'decorating her jail cell' or something like that, as though it is a big joke. Web star Matt Drudge headlined something about 'summer stripes?' but in reality all of us should weep. The United States inherited the 'Rights of Englishmen' from Great Britain, and it was the basis for forming perhaps the greatest system of law that ever sprang from the human mind.

Instead of building on that system, however, Americans en masse have destroyed the legal foundations of this country and thrown away our heritage of freedom with both hands. The conviction of Martha Stewart is nothing more than yet another way station to that hell known as tyranny. We hope we are not at that point yet, but after this afternoon, it looks as though no barriers are left for the total destruction of law in the United States of Amerika.

A friend mentioned t'other day that the Democrats are Communists while the Republicans are Fascists. I disagree. They are all Marxists. The spirits of our founding fathers must be bitterly weeping. Pray for our salvation.

Mark Alexander: "Just who is John Forbes Kerry, the presumed Democrat presidential nominee? His answer, of course, depends on who is asking. Like so many Leftists, John Kerry is a case study in hypocrisy. "

Larry Kudlow:

...[T]he important unemployment rate -- almost ignored nowadays -- continues to hold at 5.6 percent, a historically low tally. In fact, the Labor Department's household survey -- which counts the number of all Americans who are actually working -- now stands at 138.3 million, an all-time high. The previous peak came way back in January 2001 at 137.8 million. Since the end of 2002, 1.8 million more people have gone back to work. Another impressive number.

Kudlow goes on with stats that mangle media misinformation and demolish Democrat deceptions. He closes today's column saying:

One thing this economic recovery does not need is a spate of new tax hikes coupled with tall protectionist trade barriers, as proposed by Sen. John Kerry and the Democrats. Penalizing consumers who love high-quality, low-cost imports, and punishing successful earners and investors who are accumulating wealth to fuel new business start-ups and new job creation, will surely sink the economic ship.

As the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. No matter what the political spin, this recovery is surely not broken.

Strive to know the truth. See the entire piece here.

The Attorney General is in critical condition due to something called Gall Stone Pancreatitis. It is an infection of the pancreas due to a gall stone. You cannot live without your pancreas but the infection is so bad now that they cannot operate.

Please pray that the infection will end and that the doctors can take care of the problem or just pray for healing.

Jim Combey has been sworn in as the acting Attorney General.

Claire Wolfe rants--accurately:

If you think the 20th century was the century of the state, just wait until we get the national sales tax -- complete with its perpetual War on National Sales Tax Cheats and all the bureaus, auditors, and ninja thugs needed to wage that war upon us.

National Geographic: "'Viking is misused as an ethnic term,' Jansson said. 'The Vikings belonged to the upper class. They were the sea warriors. But most people were just Scandinavians. For them, the normal life was to stay home and be a farmer.' "

A Florida State University study discovers what thinking people have known:

Schools and others jumped on the self-esteem bandwagon after many experts began to espouse self-esteem as the key to success.

'Once schools started self-esteem programs, I think they developed a momentum on their own, partly because the exercises, e.g. going around the room and letting everybody say what is special about himself or herself, feel good to all concerned,' Baumeister said. 'Certainly it is a more enjoyable way to pass some hours in the school day than, say, doing math or spelling drills.'

A better approach, the researchers say, would be to boost self-esteem as a reward for ethical behavior and worthy achievements.

'We think it will require a basic change in many self-esteem programs, which now seek to boost everyone's self-esteem without demanding appropriate behavior first,' they wrote. 'Using self-esteem as a reward rather than an entitlement seems most appropriate to us.'

Is it not amazing what these educators will find when they apply logic? Jacq' sez ... FSU '65

Ron Paul:

With all due respect to Mr. Greenspan and his colleagues, real inflation as measured by an increase in the money supply is not so easy to disguise. As Mr. Corrigan deftly defines it, inflation is ultimately 'A perceived surfeit of money compared to all the other goods (and the other kinds of money) into which it thus becomes ever more eagerly exchanged.' The surfeit of U.S. dollars created by the Fed can only cause consumer prices to rise, no matter what our government officials tell us.

Gasoline is only $1.619 in Kansas City. I'm glad to be in the heartland.

Reuters, as usual, reports a one sided opinion that actually has no basis in fact:

GENEVA - The world's second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, warned on Wednesday that the costs of natural disasters, aggravated by global warming, threatened to spiral out of control, forcing the human race into a catastrophe of its own making.

In a report revealing how climate change is rising on the corporate agenda, Swiss Re said the economic costs of such disasters threatened to double to $150 billion (82 billion pounds) a year in 10 years, hitting insurers with $30-40 billion in claims, or the equivalent of one World Trade Centre attack annually.
'There is a danger that human intervention will accelerate and intensify natural climate changes to such a point that it will become impossible to adapt our socio-economic systems in time,' Swiss Re said in the report.

'The human race can lead itself into this climatic catastrophe -- or it can avert it.'

The report comes as a growing number of policy experts warn that the environment is emerging as the security threat of the 21st century, eclipsing terrorism.
Scientists expect global warming to trigger increasingly frequent and violent storms, heat waves, flooding, tornadoes, and cyclones while other areas slip into cold or drought.

'Sea levels will continue to rise, glaciers retreat and snow cover decline,' the insurer wrote.

The Washington Times reports:

At the trough

During his presidential campaign, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts had missed the Senate's first 22 roll call votes of this year, prior to yesterday's votes, and was absent for 292, or 64 percent, of the votes last year, according to a Boston Herald review of Senate records.

Mr. Kerry is not the only political truant, the Herald noted yesterday. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina also missed every roll call this year and skipped 178, or 39 percent, of the votes last year.

Mr. Kerry is reportedly worth as much as $838 million. Still, he has not been held accountable to an 1850s federal law that requires the Senate to deduct pay from absent lawmakers.

Dominick Ianno of the Massachusetts Republican Party said he finds it 'offensive' that Mr. Kerry is still receiving his full $158,000 yearly salary.

The Marxist fool showed up yesterday to vote on gun control.

Jeff Jacoby:

"Under fire in Vietnam, Kerry was fearless and steadfast. But rarely if ever has he shown comparable bravery on the political battlefields at home. It is difficult to think of any instance in which he has taken a tough stand and stuck with it despite the clear political risk in doing so. Instead, time and time again, he has tried to have it both ways -- from the medals he threw away/didn't throw away to the wars in Iraq he supported/didn't support. At the age of 25, John Kerry's courage was indisputable. Now, at age 60, it is more or less undetectable."

Jacoby at his best.

Read the entire alert by Neal Knox: "The letters going out right now from misled gun owners to their Senators, telling them to vote against S. 1805, were probably drafted in the offices of 'Americans for Gun Safety' and Handgun Control Inc."

---

Have you read the alert? Now call your senators!

Thomas Sowell:

Gay marriage is an issue solely because a few headstrong judges in Massachusetts and an opportunistic mayor in San Francisco decided that they were above the law. Even in two ultra-liberal states like California and Massachusetts, the voters do not want gay marriage.

To those for whom their own goals over-ride everything else, this just means that the voters and the law must be disregarded. But if those on the left feel free to violate the law, why not those on the right? And where does that lead?

After years of tolerating lawlessness and violence by liberal and radical groups, especially since the 1960s, some were shocked when someone on the other end of the spectrum bombed a building in Oklahoma City.

Some blamed it on conservative talk radio -- which neither advocated nor condoned such acts -- while remaining utterly silent about the liberal media's sympathetic treatment of lawlessness and violence by those espousing the causes of the left. The New York Times, for example, ran a sympathetic account of one of the radical domestic bombers of the past on the very day when a more horrendous act of violence occurred -- September 11, 2001.

Sowell's cogent proposed solution:

When voters go to the polls this November, they need to consider not only what particular candidates will do in office but, at the federal level especially, what kinds of judges those candidates will appoint or confirm. There is no point complaining about judges -- or about taxes or any other laws or policies -- if you go into that voting booth on election day and vote on the basis of how candidates look or talk.

Is America listening?

Barbara Simpson:

Mel Gibson's new film, 'The Passion of The Christ,' is clear proof: The critics are full of it.

Nooooo -- not that word! What they are full of is cynicism, anti-Christian bias, liberal politics, hatred of Catholics and their Church, and in many cases, atheism. They hate any religion.

Thomas Sowell:

Some years ago, the distinguished international-trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati was visiting Cornell University, giving a lecture to graduate students during the day and debating Ralph Nader on free trade that evening. During his lecture, Prof. Bhagwati asked how many of the graduate students would be attending that evening's debate. Not one hand went up.

Amazed, he asked why. The answer was that the economics students considered it to be a waste of time. The kind of silly stuff that Ralph Nader was saying had been refuted by economists ages ago. The net result was that the audience for the debate consisted of people largely illiterate in economics and they cheered for Mr. Nader.

The Salt Lake Tribune: "An astronomy team has detected hydrogen peroxide for the first time in the martian atmosphere. Antiseptic and life-killing, the chemical helps explain why the martian atmosphere and surface are void of life. "

Honte: "French cinema chains are refusing to distribute or screen Mel Gibson's controversial film 'The Passion of the Christ' because of fears it will spark a new outbreak of anti-Semitism."