And Sometimes Tea: More of This, Please

At least I'm not the only one, with all my rantings...here and here. Like Red Cardigan over at And Sometimes tea, (see link below) I'll admit it could be just politics, but for now I see it as true democracy and I'm proud of them and the dems who have put aside politics for the time being. Now if we can just get them back from vacation. Come on, Mr President, call them back.

And Sometimes Tea: More of This, Please

Gallup Daily: McCain, Obama Remain Tied

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are once again tied in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking presidential trial heat.

7 Tips to Develop the Habit of Daily Exercise

Over at dumblittleman some assistance for, well, people like me who remain somewhat skeptical about the claims below of not being as painful as you think but here ya go...
One life habit that is often neglected is the habit of daily exercise. There are several reasons for this: too hard, too painful or the ever popular, I'll do it later, when I have time.Physical activity is not as hard as you think. In fact, is not as painful as you think either (you should be virtually pain free after about a week. For a short investment of time each week, you will reap a ton of rewards.So, don't put off exercise. Get educated on what you want to accomplish and jump in. I'll even help get you started on developing a plan for daily exercise. (go here for the tips)

Some Dems Won't Even Drill When it Gets to $10 a Gallon

What constitutes an emergency? Drilling is "a phantom solution"? See the video here
Bring them back from vacation, Mr President and make them vote on it!

Obama Aide Concedes 'Dollar Bill' Remark Referred to His Race

Admitting the obvious in the latest "duh" moment..From ABC:
Sen. Barack Obama's chief strategist conceded that the Democratic presidential candidate was referring to his race when he said Republicans were trying to scare voters by suggesting Obama "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

A key strategist for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., says the candidate's reference to faces on the dollar bill was indeed an acknowledgement of race and its role in the presidential campaign.(ABCNews Photo Illustration)
The comment had triggered a charge Thursday from Sen. John McCain's campaign manager that Obama had "played the race card... from the bottom of the deck." (more)

Mofaz sees Iran heading to nuclear breakthrough

From IHT:
WASHINGTON: Iran is heading toward a major breakthrough in its nuclear program, an Israeli official said on Friday, as the White House warned Iran could face new sanctions if it ignores an international freeze offer.
"As soon as 2010 (Iran) will have the option to reach (uranium production) at military levels," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told an audience in Washington, adding that this would be an "unacceptable" development. (more)

GOP Talkathon Part IV: Come on Down

The revolution has begun! March on Washington. If you can't get there then send e-mails, make phone calls! Take back our government! Let them vote, Madam Speaker and let our voices be heard!
Politico:
With the public viewing galleries shutting down for the night, Rep. Kevin Brady has just invited everyone down to the House floor to keep the protest going.
It has been quite the scene on the House floor this afternoon, as GOP staff members have kept the chamber filled with an eclectic assortment of people.
Boy Scouts, members of the German army, stray tourists and even members in shorts and t-shirts have all been spotted on the floor at different times.
While Democrats have privately decried the breakdown in order, Republicans defended the protest.
"You are not witnessing a revolt," said Rep. Mike Pence. "You are witnessing democracy in action." (more)

House Dems turn out the lights but GOP keeps talking

Politico, keeping tabs on history:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House, turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.
Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi's refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m., and they are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.(more)

Bipartisan Rump Groups Seek to Chart Middle Course on Energy Policy

Don't wait for September! Bring them back now!
CQ Congress broke for August recess Friday locked in the same stalemate over energy that has stalled action on gasoline prices for most of the summer.
While leaders failed to reach a deal, two bipartisan groups of rank-and-file members in the House and Senate on Thursday and Friday outlined energy proposals that they hope could chart a way through the logjam when lawmakers return in September.
Both proposals include expanding offshore drilling – the contentious heart of Republican energy policy, which has dominated the recent debate over energy prices and blocked any movement forward. But both also include significant provisions for energy conservation and funding renewable power, which Democrats support.
The 10-member Senate group led by Sen. Kent Conrad , D-N.D., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss , R-Ga., said Friday that they hoped their legislation would serve as a launching point for the energy discussion in September, when the Senate is expected to hold a summit on energy issues.
“Everybody here has seen what’s gone on in the Senate over the last couple of weeks. The well is pretty poisoned out there right now. ... But when we come back in September, we’re very hopeful,” Chambliss said.
In the House, Democrat Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, and Republican John E. Peterson of Pennsylvania unveiled their similar bipartisan proposal Thursday. (more)

Senate 'Gang of 10' Offers Bipartisan Energy Plan

Bring them back from vacation and make them work this out. No leader worth their weight would have allowed Congress to adjourn without at least voting on this. The revolution has begun! Seize the moment and write your senator now!
Fox WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of 10 senators offered an energy plan Friday aimed at producing more domestic oil via offshore drilling, reducing energy prices, and aiding the troubled economy.
The plan also would require automobiles to be more fuel efficient and would provide research money for improved batteries to move away from petroleum-products in cars: the plan calls for 85 percent of vehicles to run on non-petroleum-based fuel in 20 years.
Senators said the bill also would promote more renewable energy sources and nuclear energy, as well as carbon capture techniques to reduce greenhouse gas production through tax and other incentives. (more)

Bipartisan Group Of Lawmakers Unveil Energy Plan As Congress Goes On Recess

Kris Alingod - AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Seeking to break the deadlock among Democrats and Republicans, a bipartisan group of 10 senators introduced an alternative energy proposal on Friday just as Congress began its August recess.
The group, led by Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), proposes a bill to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The measure also gives Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia the option to allow exploration at least 50 miles off their coasts.
The plan, the New Energy Reform Act of 2008, provides $20 billion for improving fuel-efficiency in cars and proposes that 85 percent of vehicles use non-petroleum based fuel in two decades. (more)

Republicans Protest Adjournment, Refuse to Leave House Floor

An historic moment. Call them back Mr President! Make them do their job. It is my understanding that their were democrats who voted against adjournment as well. If your was one of the Representatives who voted against adjournment so that the House could have an up or down vote on the issue of offshore drilling then send them an e-mail or make a phone call to tell them how proud you are of them. If they voted for vacation then they voted against doing what is right for the American people then call them and tell them shame on them-then vote them out in November
Fox WASHINGTON — The last House vote before a vacation usually sparks a stampede toward the doors and waiting planes. Not so Friday, when Republicans occupied the House floor for a rare, and at times bizarre, protest against Democratic energy policies.
The microphones were off, the House had stopped TV feeds to C-Span and the lights dimmed after the pre-noon vote to adjourn for the August recess. That didn't deter Republicans, who one after another rose to demand that Congress stay in session until it does something about high gas prices.
Unlike a normal session where the rules of decorum are strictly enforced, GOP lawmakers and their aides who filled the chamber clapped, chanted, gave standing ovations and booed the Democrats.
"Madame Speaker, where art thou?" shouted out Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, in a glancing rhetorical shot at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Where oh where has Congress gone?" (more)

"Jesus of Nazareth" study guide

I think it sounds cool and I'm not even Catholic...
From Insight Scoop:
On September 15th the paperback edition of Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth (featuring a new index) will be available from Ignatius Press. The Jesus of Nazareth Study Guide will also available on the same date. Here is the description:
This easy-to-use companion study guide helps the readers who approach Joseph Ratinger/Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth without the benefit of extensive theological or biblical training. The goal is not to replace Benedict’s book but to make it more accessible, more fruitful for the average reader—whether lay, religious, priest or deacon...(more)

Former Abortionist Bernard Nathanson Exposes Lies of American Pro-Abortion Movement

We can hope and pray and keep praying, that more people have these "Damascus moments."
"We were guilty of massive deception" says Nathanson about abortion industry
By Tim Waggoner
TORONTO, ON, July 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On July 9, 2008, CFRB talk show host, Spider Jones, interviewed former abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson about his past involvement in the abortion movement and his conversion to the pro-life viewpoint.
At one time Nathanson was deeply entrenched in the American pro-abortion movement, having co-founded the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and overseen 75,000 abortions as director of an abortion clinic. During the CFRB program Nathanson recalled the deceitful and dishonest tactics that he and NARAL relied upon to push for the legalization and acceptance of abortion.
"We claimed that between five and ten thousand women a year died of botched abortions," he said. "The actual figure was closer to 200 to 300 and we also claimed that there were a million illegal abortions a year in the United States and the actual figure was close to 200,000. So, we were guilty of massive deception." "I mean as a founding member and chairman of the medical committee, I accepted the figures which came from a biostatistician named Christopher Tietze and he and his wife passed along these figures to us at NARAL. We were in no position to validate them or not, so we accepted them in the interests of higher standards, or at least higher objectives," he explained.
Nathanson's conversion to the pro-life movement was sparked by the advent of the ultrasound machine in the early 1970s. He related how his heart was moved to realize that a fetus is in fact a human being after he watched an unborn baby recoil from a vacuum abortion device before being sucked from its mother's womb. (more)

Obamanomics Is a Recipe for Recession

WSJ shines some light on the "one we've waited for's" economic disaster in waiting..

...First, taxes. The table nearby demonstrates what could happen to marginal tax rates in an Obama administration. Mr. Obama would raise the top marginal rates on earnings, dividends and capital gains passed in 2001 and 2003, and phase out itemized deductions for high income taxpayers. He would uncap Social Security taxes, which currently are levied on the first $102,000 of earnings. The result is a remarkable reduction in work incentives for our most economically productive citizens.
The top 35% marginal income tax rate rises to 39.6%; adding the state income tax, the Medicare tax, the effect of the deduction phase-out and Mr. Obama's new Social Security tax (of up to 12.4%) increases the total combined marginal tax rate on additional labor earnings (or small business income) from 44.6% to a whopping 62.8%. People respond to what they get to keep after tax, which the Obama plan reduces from 55.4 cents on the dollar to 37.2 cents -- a reduction of one-third in the after-tax wage!
Despite the rhetoric, that's not just on "rich" individuals. It's also on a lot of small businesses and two-earner middle-aged middle-class couples in their peak earnings years in high cost-of-living areas. (His large increase in energy taxes, not documented here, would disproportionately harm low-income Americans. And, while he says he will not raise taxes on the middle class, he'll need many more tax hikes to pay for his big increase in spending.) (more)

The Never-Ending Quest to ‘Hush Rush’

From NRO:
It takes some big numbers to measure Rush Limbaugh’s success — 20 million listeners, a $400 million contract. But the best index of Limbaugh’s effectiveness can be found in a much smaller figure, somewhere between a few dozen and a few hundred, which is the number of Democratic-party officials and liberal advocates who want to use the law to shut him up.Limbaugh, now celebrating his 20th year as a national radio host, is single-handedly responsible for a movement on the part of some Democrats to revive the “Fairness Doctrine.” With origins in the earliest laws regulating radio, the Doctrine became, by the time a young Rush Limbaugh entered radio in the 1970s, a de facto ban on editorializing. Had the Reagan-era Federal Communications Commission not done away with it in the 1980s — it was a patently unconstitutional limit on the First Amendment rights of broadcasters — Limbaugh’s career would never have happened. (more)

Oregon Offers Terminal Patients Doctor-Assisted Suicide Instead of Medical Care

FoxNews. It's really quite a reasonable thing when you start making suicide a legal option. And we all know that the state has our best interests at heart...(sarcasm alert)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Some terminally ill patients in Oregon who turned to their state for health care were denied treatment and offered doctor-assisted suicide instead, a proposal some experts have called a "chilling" corruption of medical ethics.
Since the spread of his prostate cancer, 53-year-old Randy Stroup of Dexter, Ore., has been in a fight for his life. Uninsured and unable to pay for expensive chemotherapy, he applied to Oregon's state-run health plan for help.
Lane Individual Practice Association (LIPA), which administers the Oregon Health Plan in Lane County, responded to Stroup's request with a letter saying the state would not cover Stroup's pricey treatment, but would pay for the cost of physician-assisted suicide.
"It dropped my chin to the floor," Stroup told FOX News. "[How could they] not pay for medication that would help my life, and yet offer to pay to end my life?"
(more)

Ten Principles on Marriage and the Public Good

Mandatory reading. Go and read it. Learn it, understand it and spread the word to your church, your school board. No need to bash your gay neighbor, but it is time to stop the indoctrination of our children, the splitting of our churches, and the destruction of our culture.
From the Princeton Principles:
In recent years, marriage has weakened, with serious negative consequences for society as a whole. Four developments are especially troubling: divorce, illegitimacy, cohabitation, and same-sex marriage...
Marriage protects children, men and women, and the common good. The health of marriage is particularly important in a free society, which depends upon citizens to govern their private lives and rear their children responsibly, so as to limit the scope, size, and power of the state. The nation's retreat from marriage has been particularly consequential for our society's most vulnerable communities: minorities and the poor pay a disproportionately heavy price when marriage declines in their communities. Marriage also offers men and women as spouses a good they can have in no other way: a mutual and complete giving of the self. Thus, marriage understood as the enduring union of husband and wife is both a good in itself and also advances the public interest. ..
We affirm the following ten principles that summarize the value of marriage- a choice that most people want to make, and that society should endorse and support.

Ten Principles on Marriage and the Public Good

1. Marriage is a personal union, intended for the whole of life, of husband and wife.
2. Marriage is a profound human good, elevating and perfecting our social and sexual nature.
3. Ordinarily, both men and women who marry are better off as a result.
4. Marriage protects and promotes the wellbeing of children.
5. Marriage sustains civil society and promotes the common good.
6. Marriage is a wealth-creating institution, increasing human and social capital.
7. When marriage weakens, the equality gap widens, as children suffer from the disadvantages of growing up in homes without committed mothers and fathers.
8. A functioning marriage culture serves to protect political liberty and foster limited government.
9. The laws that govern marriage matter significantly.
10. "Civil marriage" and "religious marriage" cannot be rigidly or completely divorced from one another.

Kuwaiti Daily Reveals: Iran Building Secret Nuclear Reactor

From Memri, hat tip to The Spine:
On July 29, 2008, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa reported that, according to "highly reliable sources," Iranian authorities had begun construction of a secret nuclear reactor in the Al-Zarqan region close to the city of Ahwaz in southwest Iran, on the Iran-Iraq border.
The paper said that according to sources, Iran was working to distance its nuclear installations from international oversight. The English version of the report, published in the Kuwaiti Arab Times, said, "Disclosing [that] Tehran directed international A-bomb inspectors to other places, sources warned [that] the project poses a very serious threat to international security."
Also according to the sources, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) did not know about this site at all, since it was not included in negotiations with Iran in Geneva held in early July.
According to the report, the sources said that during 2000-2003, Iran expropriated the lands and homes of thousands of Arab citizens from the Al-Zarqan region, destroying homes of thousands of Arab citizens from the Al-Zarqan region..(more)

Stealing from Supernaturalism

From InsideCatholic
...Atheism -- and particularly the New Atheism -- is an acid that inevitably corrodes the natural apprehension of the human person as a supernatural being. A New Atheist bravely steals and desecrates the Eucharist and then declares in his Manifesto justifying the deed:

Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanity's knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind.

Nothing Must Be Held Sacred -- except the three-pound piece of meat behind the eye of the New Atheist; reason; intellectual liberty; science; their loved ones; human dignity (for humans they happen to like); and countless other things they don't think about while penning these unthinking dogmas and engaging in these strange sacramental rites of desecration. In short, passionate love of the sacred is what fills the rhetoric of the New Atheists with such fire.

Meanwhile, really truly atheist philosophers like Richard Rorty have the number of the New Atheists and their moral posturing. He writes that there is no universally valid answer to moral questions such as, "Why not be cruel?"

Anybody who thinks that there are well-grounded theoretical answers to this sort of question . . . is still, in his heart, a theologian or a metaphysician. He believes in an order beyond time and change which both determines the point of human existence and establishes a hierarchy of responsibilities. (more)

Canadian woman gives birth to 18th child

No doubt you've heard the story :
ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia - A Romanian immigrant has given birth to her 18th child in British Columbia, making her the province's most prolific mother in 20 years.
Proud dad Alexandru Ionce said Saturday that his 44-year-old wife, Livia, gave birth on July 22. Their daughter Abigail weighed in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces (3.5 kilograms).
"We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the reason we did not stop the life," Alexandru Ionce said.

"Marital love just allowing and producing life" as they said over at Touchstone..

A Week with No US Troop Deaths In Iraq

From Heavy Handed Politics blog and Jeremiah Films:

NewsBusters.org:
On July 16, Andrew Malcolm at the Los Angeles Times's Top of the Ticket Blog wrote the following:When President Bush ordered the surge in January 2007, (Barack) Obama said: "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse," a position he maintained throughout 2007. This year he acknowledged progress, but maintained his position that political progress was lacking.The LAT Blog notes earlier in its entry that "The parts (of Obama's web site) that stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge and his statement that more troops would make no difference in a civil war have somehow disappeared."

Boycott McDonald's

From the Boycott website:
What the boycott of McDonald's IS NOT about
This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals.
It is not about homosexuals eating at McDonald's.
It is not about how homosexual employees are treated.
What the boycott of McDonald's IS about
It is about McDonald's, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture wars. McDonald's has chosen not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage. (more)

Poll: Support for Homosexual "Marriage" Grows in US

July 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A US poll suggests that support for homosexual unions, including homosexual "marriage," is on the increase. Angus Reid found in a survey of 1,783 US voters that 32 percent said they would vote to allow homosexual partners to contract legal marriages. Only 29 percent said they would grant homosexual partnerings no legal recognition. (more)
We are losing the argument because we are not involved in the discussion. We are not doing are part to teach people. We are allowing our children to be indoctrinated in our public schools. We are letting this be framed as a civil rights issue (it's not). Or allowing the claim that science has declared it a fact (science has not made such a statement) and we have failed to explain that marriage (not redefined) forms a strong foundation for society and is important for the health and vigor of the culture itself.

Editorial: Cooling Earth is inconvenient fact

From the Examiner:
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - It’s been unusually chilly in Anchorage this summer. In fact, temperatures in the Alaskan city have reached 70 degrees only twice this year, compared with 49 times in 2004. A National Weather Service meteorologist predicted that 2008 will likely go down “as the summer with the least number of 65-degree days” on record.
But just last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change came to the “unequivocal” conclusion that the Earth is on a dangerous warming trend that, in Al Gore’s words, puts “the survival of the United States of America as we know it ... at risk.” Looks like somebody forgot to send Mother Nature the memo.
Last week, the scientist who wrote the computer model that monitors Australia’s compliance with the Kyoto Protocol cast serious doubts on whether the Earth is getting warmer at all. David Evans was a consultant to the Australian Greenhouse Office from 1999 to 2005, so he’s no ordinary global warming “denier.” But Evans now says the scientific evidence compiled since 1999 has convinced him that he — and what he calls other global warming “alarmists” — were wrong. (more)

Iran main entry route for militants: Afghan paper

KABUL (Reuters) - Iran has become the main transit route for militants trying to join insurgents in Afghanistan, an Afghan government daily said on Sunday.
Some Western nations with troops in Afghanistan have said that Iranian weapons destined for the Taliban have been seized in Afghanistan, although they are unsure whether Tehran knew about the shipments...(more)

Those McFabulous rainbow arches

Whataburger and Wendy's make a better fast food burger anyway. From WND:
I'm always mystified when allegedly intelligent, bottom-line-obsessed corporate types abandon the fiscally secure milieu of political neutrality and take sides, officially, on deeply polarizing, socio-cultural issues of the day.
That's exactly what the formerly family-friendly McDonald's Corporation recently did. In an apparent effort to pierce the hyper-demanding good graces of the radical homosexual lobby, these clowns (pun intended) have thrown the vast majority of potential Mickey D's customers, worldwide, under the bus. Because of this colossal corporate blunder, the hamburger giant is now facing an embarrassing and ever-growing international boycott. (more)

Operation's goal is "to clear al-Qaida in Diyala."

Go get 'em boys!
BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi forces fanned out in the volatile Diyala province Tuesday in a new operation aimed at clearing al-Qaida in Iraq from safe havens in an area considered the last major insurgent belt around the capital.
New checkpoints were erected across the province and authorities ordered a ban on unofficial traffic as search operations got under way in the provincial capital of Baqouba and surrounding areas, according to witnesses. Many residents said they were afraid to leave their houses.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi military is hoping to build on recent security gains from similar offensives against Sunni insurgents in the northern city of Mosul and Shiite militiamen in Baghdad, Basra and Amarah.
The troops were focusing on chasing al-Qaida and other insurgents who sought refuge in Diyala to escape earlier crackdowns, said Gen. Ali Ghaidan, the commander of Iraqi ground forces in the province. (more at Onenews)

Bruni-Sarkozy and the Unbearable Lightness of Nudity

From the proexistence Blog..some good thoughts:
France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy seems to have second thoughts about having "posed for too many nude photos."Good for her, and yet: How is this possible?Is she no longer "proud of my body"? What? She wants something special, private, reserved, unknown to others, with her husband?As if human love between husband and wife is more than the publicly accessible physics and chemistry of firing neurons.Here's what may be bubbling to the surface: Despite the pronouncements of Darwinian and atheistic theory, human beings in fact are more than flesh, skin surfaces, and matter. (more)

Cuban Missile Crisis Redux?

Reported by CBS and 33-minutes:
In a story that broke on Monday, a Russian newspaper reported that a high-placed source in the Russian government said the Kremin may retaliate against the United States if it deployed Ground-based Mid-course Interceptors in Poland or Lithuania. The retaliation? Russia may base its Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan supersonic nuclear bombers in Cuba.
Former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro didn’t confirm or deny the report...(more)

Analysis: US now winning Iraq war that seemed lost

Of course we've known this for some time, General Petraeus has said as much, but it is good to see the press catching up and actually REPORTING it. Of course whether any major outlet actually picks it up...
And Mr. Obama can't bring himself to say the surge had anything to do with it...Just one more example of how politics are more important to the libs than the war or American lives..
From OneNewsNow/AP
BAGHDAD - The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost. Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace - a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago.(see video report)

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.(more)

Court says no to prayers in Jesus' name

A praer to Ceaser is ok- that's comforting... From OneNews Now
RICHMOND, Va. - The Fredericksburg City Council's policy prohibiting a member from opening meetings with a prayer mentioning Jesus does not violate his free-speech rights, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the Rev. Hashmel Turner's lawsuit challenging a nonsectarian prayer policy adopted by the council in 2005. The court said the policy does not violate Turner's rights because the prayer is "government speech," not individual speech.

Turner filed the lawsuit after the mayor refused to recognize him to open the meeting with prayer. Turner, an ordained minister and part-time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Love, had told the mayor he planned to pray in the name of Jesus Christ in keeping with his faith and in defiance of the new policy....(more)

Islamic group claims responsibility for deadly India blasts

Western India, that would be near...ah...Pakistan, yes sir.
AHMADABAD, India - An obscure Islamic group claimed responsibility for a series of synchronized explosions that killed at least 45 people in western India, warning of "the terror of Death" in an e-mail sent to several television stations minutes before the blasts.(see video report)

Another unexploded bomb was found and defused early Sunday, said the city's police commissioner, O.P. Mathur. He said police had detained 30 people."In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!" said an e-mail from the group sent to several Indian television stations minutes before the blasts began.The e-mail's subject line said "Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat," an apparent reference to 2002 riots in the western state which left 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The historic city of Ahmadabad was the scene of much of the 2002 violence. (more)

Change Germans Can’t Believe In

From the NYTimes:
WITH gestures that ranged from a wink to a sneer, most anyone you met here this week volunteered the view that Barack Obama’s visit to Europe caused unprecedented frenzy. But it’s been hard for me to find a European, aside from two Harvard-educated friends in Paris, who confessed to excitement — not just about the visit, but the prospect of an Obama presidency.
It is true that Der Spiegel, the German newsweekly, featured Mr. Obama on its cover, topped by the words “Germany Meets the Superstar” — but the cover was satire, and nasty satire at that. The editors managed to find the ugliest photograph of Mr. Obama ever taken. It caught the senator at a moment that might be exhaustion but looks like conceited smirking. When Der Spiegel featured Mr. Obama on its cover in March, the cover line was “The Messiah Factor.” Must one add that this, too, was not meant to be taken at face value? (more)

Killing for religion is justified, say third of Muslim students

From the UK Telegraph, No surprises here.
A third of Muslim students in Britain believe killing someone in the name of religion is justified, a new poll claims.

By Patrick Sawer Last Updated: 6:29PM BST 26 Jul 2008
The survey found that extreme Islamist ideology has a profound influence on a significant minority of Muslims on campuses across the country.
The findings will concern police chiefs, the security services and ministers, who are struggling with radicalisation among Muslim communities.
The YouGov poll was conducted for the Right-wing think tank, the Centre for Social Cohesion, at 12 universities, including Imperial College and Kings College London. It also found:
40 per cent support the introduction of sharia into British law for Muslims
a third back the notion of a worldwide Islamic caliphate (state) based on sharia law
40 per feel it is unacceptable for Muslim men and women to mix freely
24 per cent do not think men and women are equal in the eyes of Allah (more)

Obama says conditions to dictate final Iraq force

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in an interview published on Saturday the size of a residual U.S. force left in Iraq after the withdrawal of combat troops would be "entirely conditions-based."
In comments seized upon by the campaign of Republican rival John McCain, Obama told Newsweek Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki recognized Iraq was "going to need our help for some time to come."
"We're going to have to provide them with logistical support, intelligence support. We're going to have to have a very capable counterterrorism strike force," Obama told the magazine while approaching Paris during a high-profile foreign tour, which included stops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We're going to have to continue to train their army and police to make them more effective," the Illinois senator added, calling such support consistent with his proposal for a 16-month timetable for withdrawing U.S. combat troops.
Asked if he had a clearer idea after talks with diplomatic and military officials how big a force would need to be left behind for those tasks, Obama replied: "I do think that's entirely conditions-based.
"It's hard to anticipate where we may be six months from now, or a year from now, or a year and a half from now."
The McCain campaign said the comments were the latest shift in Obama's position on Iraq toward his opponent's view that troop withdrawals must be based on security conditions.
"Barack Obama is ultimately articulating a position of sustained troop levels in Iraq based on the conditions on the ground and the security of the country. That is the very same position that John McCain has long held," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.(more)

Cocaine traced to Venezuelan jungles

From WND:
UK estimates 250 tons shipped in just 6 months.
LONDON -- Anti-drug specialists for Britain's MI6 intelligence service are spearheading a deadly new war in the jungles of Venezuela where President Hugo Chavez' revolutionary regime apparently has allowed a key trafficking route for 90 percent of the cocaine sold on Britain’s streets..."We estimate that over 250 tons of cocaine has passed through Venezuela in the past six months. This is five times more than in the past two years," states an MI6 report to Britain's Home Office.
MI6 officers operating in the high-danger steamy jungles of Venezuela have established that senior commanders in the country's security forces are "profiting from the smuggling by actively helping smugglers by allowing them to use military airfields." (more)

McDonald's hears: 'I'm NOT lovin' it!'

I don't typically get involved in boycotts. I don't think they are terribly effective. But when the executives in a company discount my religious beliefs as "hatred" they obviously don't need my money.

From WND:
The corporate headquarters for McDonald's is hearing from store managers in California that customers are upset over the company's pro-homosexual advocacy and they aren't going to take it any longer.
Yuriy Popko, one of several Christians who staged a sign-waving protest at the Golden Arches in Citrus Heights today, said the protest at that location was suspended when store officials agreed to convey protesters' objections to the corporate office.....
...The pro-family groups are encouraging families to do two things: sign, print and distribute a Boycott McDonald's petition at www.boycottmcdonalds.com; and call the local McDonald's to politely tell the manager they are boycotting the chain until it stops promoting the "gay" agenda.
McDonald's officials declined to return a WND call seeking comment on the placement of its executive on the "gay" advocacy organization. But the corporation sent a subsequent e-mail confirming its support for the agenda of the homosexual business lobby.
"McDonald's is indeed a Corporate Partner and Organizational Ally of NGLCC. Our vice president of U.S. communications, Richard Ellis, was recently elected to its board of directors," said the brief statement to WND from Heidi M. Barker, senior director of media relations.
A spokeswoman for NGLCC refused to speak with WND except on "background" when asked about McDonald's financial contribution to the group. But she did confirm the organization would not release information on its sponsors.
But Christians were further angered when a McDonald's executive said the company would continue its campaign against such "hate."
Note: Concerned individuals may e-mail McDonald's corporate headquarters or call 1-800-244-6227. (entire article)

Playing Innocent Abroad

From the NYTimes:
...When I first heard this sort of radically optimistic speech in Iowa, I have to confess my American soul was stirred. It seemed like the overture for a new yet quintessentially American campaign.
But now it is more than half a year on, and the post-partisanship of Iowa has given way to the post-nationalism of Berlin, and it turns out that the vague overture is the entire symphony. The golden rhetoric impresses less, the evasion of hard choices strikes one more.
When John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan went to Berlin, their rhetoric soared, but their optimism was grounded in the reality of politics, conflict and hard choices. Kennedy didn’t dream of the universal brotherhood of man. He drew lines that reflected hard realities: “There are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin.” Reagan didn’t call for a kumbaya moment. He cited tough policies that sparked harsh political disagreements — the deployment of U.S. missiles in response to the Soviet SS-20s — but still worked....(more)

Islamist bombers target Olympics

From the Timesonline:
A MILITANT Islamic group has threatened to attack the Beijing Olympics with suicide bombers and biological weapons and has claimed responsibility for a string of fatal bombings and explosions in China over recent weeks.
In a video released by IntelCenter, a terrorism monitoring group, a bearded man identified as “Commander Seyfullah” is seen reading a declaration of jihad against the Olympics and warns athletes and spectators, “especially Muslims”, to stay away.
It was issued by a group calling itself the Turkestan Islamic party. The group may be allied with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement – designated a terrorist organisation by the US, China and several other countries – which seeks independence for the Muslim Uighur people of China’s far west province of Xinjiang, which Uighur separatists call East Turkestan. (more)

Bad Law, Worse Timing

From the WSJ:

Repeated studies have shown that minimum-wage increases are more likely to slow job creation than reduce poverty. A large share of the costs of these mandates are borne by the same low-income families the wage hike is supposed to help. Employers inevitably pass wage increases onto consumers as higher prices for goods and services, which erodes the spending power of all consumers but especially the poor. Employers also respond by hiring fewer unskilled workers, a disproportionate number of whom are teenagers and minorities. (more)

Baghdad, Berlin, Barack

From WSJ:
For our money, the best line in Barack Obama's speech yesterday in Berlin came in the form of a quote from Ernst Reuter, the city's mayor during the period of the Soviet blockade and the American airlift, in 1948:
"But in the darkest hour," said Sen. Obama, "the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. 'There is only one possibility,' he said. 'For us to stand together united until this battle is won…. The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty'." This, from a U.S. Senator whose consistent message to the people of Baghdad, a similarly besieged city, also dependent on America's protection, has been, in effect, to give up. (more)

What Bush and Batman Have in Common

From the WSJ:
There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.
And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell. (more)