- Reggie Bryant -- John, 13:07:28 06/18/03 Wed (cache-dl03.proxy.aol.com/205.188.209.39)
Reggie Bryant has a bachelor's and master's degree from Temple U. No doctorate. For additional details see the following site. http://www.delleast.org/instructors.html
Reggie is always very antagonistic when people ask him about his credentials and he never corrects them when they call him doctor. I think he's a real phoney. He loves to say "it's not what you know that hurts you, but what you know that just ain't so". What a hypocrite.
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- diabetics with heart problems...now pregnant -- Diane Risher, 13:25:12 06/06/03 Fri (ppp074.ras.irn.centurytel.net/66.112.29.201)
I just found out my daughter is 9 weeks pregnant. She is a diabetic with heart problems. She also has Marfranz sendrom. We live in a small town...not much medical knowledge available...expecially one I would trust with this type of situation. I am going out of my mind with the worry of the risks she may be facing. Is this a more common medical problem than I realize. I need to know some facts as well as advice. Knowing my daughter there is NO way she would concider termination. Please help me with whatever you have on these facts...Thank you
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- Figure it out -- chaka bigaga khan behind you, 18:16:52 04/10/03 Thu (MSCD0206.client.mscd.edu/147.153.53.173)
Shouldn't you consider of maybe getting your name figured out before you start criticizing others? An education would help too. You know what they say about homophobes...the more you're scared of them the more you are one!
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- What is Bronchial pnuemonia ? -- Shante, 15:35:01 04/08/03 Tue (cache-dq01.proxy.aol.com/205.188.209.133)
I have trouble breathing,coughing constantly and flem occurs when i cough ,also vomiting .It feels like i am choking at night and i am gasping for air.Does this mean that I have it and is it contageuos?
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- new message -- Mervate, 18:47:09 04/06/03 Sun (cache-mtc-ah04.proxy.aol.com/64.12.96.169)
I do agree with a couple of points you mentioned , they escaped persecution etc.... i want to make one thing clear ,as a muslim , women do not get beaten by their male(s) , if such a thing happens , that is serious and is a sin and should be reported. But just because muslim women wear a scarf , and dress modestly doesn't mean they're persecuted ! just wanted to make a point. Women in Islam have many rights, Islam was the first religion in this whole universe , who liberated women if you don't beleive me , go ahead and research, once again just wanted to make a point!!!
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- From the "All-Time Great Comebacks" File.... -- Spock, 14:17:01 11/08/02 Fri (user-vc8fm1s.biz.mindspring.com/216.135.216.60)
Oh, to see more of this kind of presence of mind present....
From New York Post, 11/7/02 (live link HERE)
RHETORICAL QUERY
THE stunning election-night success left White House spokesman Ari Fleischer feeling a little bolder in his usual testy briefing with reporters yesterday. When Helen Thomas, the dean of the press corps - who is more outspokenly liberal than her peers - asked Fleischer if George Bush believed the election results gave him a "mandate" for "going to war with Iraq, privatizing Social Security, weakening the Civil Service Commission and so forth?" Fleischer told the ancient reporter: "Helen, you sound like a commercial that didn't work."
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- SIGNS THAT YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES MAY BE A LIBERTARIAN -- Dick, 09:37:40 10/23/02 Wed (pools1-31.adsl.nordnet.fr/195.146.234.31)
•Do they refer to Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich as liberals?
•Did they spend most of their youth shut in their bedrooms sitting on empty boxes of Clearasil in front of a computer?
•Do you consider them loners with no friends to speak of?
•Do they fair poorly with the opposite sex?
•Have the words "statist" and "statism" been added to their right-wing rhetoric?
•Have they reduced the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution to two: The Second and the Tenth?
•Do you ever hear them say "States Rights yesterday, States Rights today and States Rights forever?"
•Are you beginning to see only magazines like Soldier of Fortune, Guns & Ammo, The American Spectator, CATO Institute position papers and travel brochures for Western Montana or Northern Idaho in their rooms?
•Do they seem to have no concern for others, society, or even the planet itself?
•Have you noticed that their rhetoric and writings include at least one of the words, -- I, ME, MY, MINE -- at least twice per sentence?
•Do they rant on often about the ATF, the UN, Black Helicopters, Janet Reno, or any "government conspiracy"?
•Do they spend the major portion of their time talking about or playing with military style weapons?
•Do they speak fondly of David Koresh, Randy Weaver and Timothy McVeigh?
•Do they live at home seemingly stuck in the adolescence rebellion stage of a 14 year old?
•If so, dial 911 and ask for help. A loser is a terrible thing to mind.
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- Oh, look, "Richard" is back! And with a new and improved name! (NT) -- Spock (proud to be an American-Vulcan, card-carrying Republican, and tolerant of those who actually have legitimate points to make), 13:31:50 10/23/02 Wed
- Stereotyping without knowledge is just plain ignorance. The DemocRats are scared that Libertarian philosophy is making some inroads so they re-release this tired old email silliness. Usually they claim Libertarians are anarchists, which is delusionally far from reality. This is left up as an example of sophomoric banality that dispays a total ignorance of the philosophy. When one buys into lies and repeats them, then one becomes a liar themselves by parroting. This post confuses a half-dozen whacko groups with Libertarians. (NT) -- SurveyGuy, 21:49:21 10/23/02 Wed
- When you cannot argue a point with your opponent, then insult him and launch personal, fictitious, fabricated attacks. From the school of mindless morons of the Radical Left and Liberal code of ethics. The Libertarian ethic of personal freedom and responsibility is what built this country and keeps people (relatively) free. (NT) -- William, 02:46:26 10/24/02 Thu
- Hypocrite Alert: Who wrote this? "I find both Daschle and Kennedy to be repugnant, repulsive, convulsive, sickening, self serving, selfish, hateful, vindictive, dishonest, deceptive, uncooperative, disloyal, despicable, delirious, deranged, derailed, decrepit, distorted, demented, devious, delirious, duplicitous, and downright disgusting! And that I am being terse in my assessment and my post! Excuse me while I go and vomit!" (NT) -- Ace, 23:30:31 10/24/02 Thu
- We all have our methods of choosing whom to vote for ... the more I learn about Democrats, the more I want to vote for the other guy. Maybe that explains why Mondale lost. But what about the "Laut?" -- SurveyGuy, 16:21:03 11/06/02 Wed (maxtnt06-170.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.241.170)
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- Rush phrased it this way today on his site: the Republicans were campaigning on issues, whereas the Democrats were largely campaigning against Republicans. Issues (other than that) weren't really an issue for them this year. (Hmmm....kinda sounds like a would-be rabble rouser we know....) (NT) -- Spock, 17:01:10 11/06/02 Wed
- He also said that the Dims have lost their soul and are solely motivated by vengeance. Their own reacquisition of power topped any and all issues. I believe he is correct on this. The people have spoken ... loudly. (NT) -- JL (trying hard to keep that Gloat-o-meter on zero) : ), 17:48:19 11/06/02 Wed
- Bill Kristol, love him or hate him, just opined on Special Report a few minutes ago that the Dims' freefall started when those 2 D'Rat Losers did their 'Live from Iraq' Bush-bash. Works for me. When is the latest batch of America-hating celebrities leaving? Hee Hee. (NT) -- JL (the D'Rats Losers part was mine and not to be attributed to Mr. Kristol), 18:42:59 11/06/02 Wed
- Calling all Dims, serving up a nice helping of crow here on the Leaving America Express. Barb, Rosie, Alec, jump right in! Oh, and the show this evening will feature our guest star, Tom Dashole and his sidekick, Little Dick Gephardt. Come one come all! Or wait till tomorrow when the Klintoons, Begala, Carville and McAuliffe will join us! (NT) -- pat (heehee), 13:07:32 11/07/02 Thu
- They will never leave. They lie about everything else, why shouldn;t they lie about that too? Some Dem voters must be tired of the garbage they're fed and stayed home. Some may even have voted Republican. Still lots of Dim Dems to educated however about how bad their party is for America. Republicans had better not screw around - there's 18 seats up for next election. (NT) -- SurveyGuy, 11:35:03 11/08/02 Fri
- The Hollywood mouths make more money than the peons who spend $8.50 to $15.00 per seat to watch their movies. They can condescend to the peasants and scream about marching down to someone's house (i.e., Henry Hide) and killing their whole family and stoning them to death without so much as an arrest for inciting to riot or terroristic threats. They can shoot off their mouth about whatever they want, including the "threat" of leaving the country (Please do leave! We are tired of hearing your whining and empty threats). (NT) -- William, 12:00:58 11/08/02 Fri
They won't leave for they cannot carry on like this elsewhere. Oh, wait, France would take them and let them badmouth the US but they won't be allowed to bad mouth any politically correct group. That is a no no. The celebrities won't get paid as much working in these other countries, have their mansions, their servants, the cars, and the lavish lifestyle either. No. They won't leave. Their piece of the pie is here and their worshippers are here as well. (NT)
-- William, 12:02:39 11/08/02 Fri
- Here's some scuttlebut: my pacifist/socialist/liberal Democrat boss voted for Fisher -- first person in his family ever to vote Republican, and he was proud of it. He's no friend to Republicans (little does he know!) but voting for Rendell was an even greater evil in his eyes. Note: he has grown significantly more sympathetic to conservative viewpoints and positions ever since 9/11. (NT) -- Spock, 13:19:53 11/08/02 Fri
- Virtual Science -- William, 12:27:48 11/08/02 Fri (cache-rl02.proxy.aol.com/152.163.189.98)
Fellow forum participants and visitors,
You've earned it!
You work hard, fulfill your responsibilities, and have a mind which thirsts for knowledge and enjoys stimulation and a heart which is fascinated with and full of wonder of life.
Time to take a break and take a virtual journey through the world of science and the world we live in, seen and unseen.
If you enjoy nature and science, and if you have two minutes to spare then take some time and go on a mini-vacation/tour of the galaxy and the sub atomic world through the Powers of Ten.
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- Some thoughts for Election Day -- Spock, 10:22:36 11/05/02 Tue (user-vc8fm1s.biz.mindspring.com/216.135.216.60)
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety".
-- Benjamin Franklin
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".
-- Edmund Burke
"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools".
-- Herbert Spencer
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- More lies and anti-Semitism/anti-Jewish propaganda recirculated as fact.
Someone please tell me it is not taking place all over again. -- William, 23:38:06 11/06/02 Wed (cache-mtc-ah04.proxy.aol.com/64.12.96.169)
The Paterson 'Protocols
by Daniel Pipes
New York Post
November 5, 2002
Arab Voice, an Arabic-language newspaper published weekly since 1993 from Main Street in Paterson, N.J., appears to be just another one of America's many ethnic publications.
Its news pages are replete with items about Palestinian travails and possible war with Iraq. Its featured columnist is James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. Its publisher, Walid Rabah, modestly describes himself as "an activist with the Palestinian Writer's Guild in the United States." Its pages are filled with ads hawking Arab-owned restaurants, travel agencies, real-estate offices, retail stores and doctors' offices.
It all appears achingly ordinary. But it is not.
For some weeks now, the Arab Voice has been serializing an Arabic-language version of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in its pages (but not - revealingly - on www.arabvoice.com, its Web site).
And "The Protocols" is no ordinary book.
It purports to be the secret transcription of a Zionist Congress that met in Switzerland in 1897, as taken down by a tsarist spy and first published in St. Petersburg in 1903.
At the meeting, Jewish leaders allegedly discussed their plans to establish Jewish "sovereignty over all the world." "The Protocols" includes their boasts of being "invincible" and plans to establish a "Super-Government Administration" that will "subdue all the nations."
In fact, "The Protocols" is a fabrication forged by the tsarist secret police, the Okhrana, in about 1898-99. This pseudo-document had limited impact until 20 years later, after World War I and the Russian Revolution, when a receptivity had developed for its message about a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world.
"The Protocols" quickly became a best-seller on appearing in German translation in January 1920. The former German royal family helped defray publication costs, and deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II had portions of the book read out loud to dinner guests. Translations into other languages quickly followed. Henry Ford endorsed the book, as did The London Times.
Although the book's forged nature was established by 1921, somewhat reducing its appeal and reach (the Times and Ford both retracted their endorsements), it remained a powerful force. A 1926 study found that "no piece of modern literature has even approximated the circulation of 'The Protocols.' "
The historic importance of "The Protocols" lies in permitting anti-Semites to reach beyond their traditional circles and find a huge international audience. Its vagueness - almost no names, dates or issues are specified - was one key to this success. The purportedly Jewish authorship also helped to make the book more convincing.
Its facile embrace of contradiction - Jews supposedly use all tools available, including capitalism and communism, philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism, democracy and tyranny - made it possible for "The Protocols" to extend its insidious ideas to both rich and poor, Right and Left, Christian and Muslim, American and Japanese.
Its hold on the extreme right prompted a hitherto cautious Adolf Hitler to endorse the book, refer often to it and make it a centerpiece of Nazi Jew-hatred and a key argument in justifying his murder of 6 million Jews. In the words of historian Norman Cohn, "The Protocols" served as the Nazis' "warrant for genocide."
The forgery has since polluted public life wherever it appeared; as Italian novelist Umberto Eco explains, it was "self-generating; a blueprint that migrated from one conspiracy to another."
The process continues; this week, an Egyptian television station begins airing a 41-part blockbuster Ramadan special, "Knight Without a Horse" spreading "The Protocols' " defamation to a vast new audience and creating new legions of anti-Semites.
That a forgery that helped cause the Holocaust is now openly published in New Jersey points to two important realities:
* Arab and Muslim institutional life in the United States remains as radicalized after 9/11 as it was before.
* Arab and Muslim institutions are now the primary advocates of anti-Semitism worldwide, including in the West.
To prevent "The Protocols" from making further inroads in the United States, advertisers, James Zogby and the newspaper's printer must immediately and completely disassociate themselves from the Arab Voice. In addition, Arab and Muslim groups in the United States must explicitly denounce "The Protocols" and condemn all those who forward it, whether the Arab Voice or Egyptian television.
Not to do so makes them complicit in the prejudice and villainy of this foul tract.
Daniel Pipes (www.DanielPipes.org) is director of the Middle East Forum and author of "Militant Islam Reaches America."
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- Praise for the Prez from an unexpected quarter -- Spock, 14:03:23 11/06/02 Wed (user-vc8fm1s.biz.mindspring.com/216.135.216.60)
An article from the "UK Guardian," which is "The Nation" with a British accent:
Tuesday November 5, 2002
"George Bush is a dim-witted cowboy who cheated his way into the White House. Well, that's the popular view on this side of the Atlantic. But as he joins the US President on the campaign trail for tonight's crucial midterm elections, Jonathan Freedland gets a very different impression."
"As Bush himself might put it, we misunderestimate this man at our peril."
Read the article here: The Natural
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- Texas Speed Trap or what happens when you have too much government [humor] -- SurveyGuy, 09:42:21 11/04/02 Mon (maxtnt02-436.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.228.182)
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- Time for some deserved kudos -- SurveyGuy, 15:47:11 11/04/02 Mon (maxtnt05-268.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.100.14)
With so much ado about nothing lately, I looked around at other Voy boards to see what the conversations were like. While we have a core of only about six regular posters (and maybe a dozen occasionals), the quality has been exemplary. Kudos and applause to all of you. Many of the boards I visited haven't had a new post in over a year or have too few posts of content to bother visiting. You can also see there how things left unattended can deteriorate.
I believe that by keeping varying topics and insisting on no personal attacls or arguments, even the lurkers occasionally do contribute. I will continue to monitor but place in unmoderated mode. We can clean up damaging HTML easily. I would rather leave it turned on because those who know how to use it can make the board more interesting by posting graphics and varying typeface for effect. I hope you find that makes the articles easier to read.
Also, we chose a non-compact format to make this different than the old BBS's. This format is sort of a cross between a forum and a guestbook. I have added a few automated fixes for occasional common html errors. Vandalizing posters were doing other things deliberately that I will not detail, lest I give others bad ideas.
If you have any other forums that you like to visit please feel free to post the URLs here. If a Voy board, just the number is enough. We are not listed in any of the Voy topical categories (as far as I know) or we would get more visitors. Frankly, the number doesn't matter to me.
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- Unctuous McAuliffe Blames Wellsone Family. Let's see ... grieving family organizes all of this on their own ... no help from national DNC or Terrance ... polls on it negative ... time to distance party ... blame it on family of deadman .... dumb Democratic votes will believe it ... yeah ... they always do .... -- SurveyGuy (I thought I heard someone spinning in their grave), 09:22:57 11/04/02 Mon (maxtnt02-436.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.228.182)
Sunday, Nov. 3, 2002 9:12 a.m. EST
McAuliffe: Wellstones to Blame for Memorial Debacle, Including Lott Boofest
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe blamed the grieving family of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone on Sunday for turning last Tuesday night's memorial service for the dead senator into a campaign rally, and even suggested it was their fault that Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott was booed during the ceremony.
Asked about a Zogby poll showing that the majority of Minnesotans say politicizing the memorial service was "inappropriate," McAuliffe told NBC's "Meet the Press," "I agree."
"This memorial service was planned by the Wellstone family," he quickly added, after MTP host Tim Russert flashed video of Bill and Hillary Clinton whooping it up along with the rest of the raucous crowd.
"It was not planned by the state party or anyone involved in politics," insisted the DNC chief.
In fact, said McAuliffe, he was as stunned as anybody else that the Wellstones had tried to make political hay over the tragedy.
"I was there. I happened to be there. I went into what was to be a memorial service," complained the DNC chief. "As soon as they put Paul Wellstone's picture up there. 20,000 people - many of them young people I haven't seen active in politics for a long time - were up. Listen, the Wellstone family has apologized as well as Walter Mondale's campaign. It was inappropriate."
McAuliffe even went so far as to suggest that Wellstone's relatives had a hand in the rally's ugliest moment, when Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott was booed by the crowd.
"You never boo anybody," the DNC chief told Russert. "But [as] I say, it was planned by the Wellstone family."
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- I wonder how many will still continue to not "get it." -- SurveyGuy, 11:44:15 11/05/02 Tue (maxtnt05-457.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.100.203)
REALITY-CHECK
Of course, the great majority of Muslims are peaceful -- so what?
By Dennis Prager
Whenever the question of Islam and violence, specifically terror, is raised, we are repeatedly told that "the vast majority of Muslims in the
world are peaceful people" who never engage in terror. This is entirely accurate.
And entirely irrelevant.
http://jewishworldreview.com/1102/prager.html
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- Actual dialogue on matters Islamic - who'd have thunk it? -- H_Bergeron, 02:13:22 11/05/02 Tue (ppp-216-158-59-71.cust.oldcity.dca.net/216.158.59.71)
from townhall.com
URL is hereNovember 1, 2002
Banned in Riyadh
Maggie Gallagher
Everyone knows that in the long run, the war of ideas is what matters. How do we engage with Islam in a way that promotes the ultimate good of both societies? Leaving aside for a moment, the necessities of war, how do we win the peace we hope will come?
Some Americans want to assimilate militant Islam by denying that it exists, or that it has any relationship at all to the authentic Islam. As Daniel Pipes notes in the current issue of Commentary, many in the professoriate simply deny that jihad ever means violence in Islam. Even after Sept. 11. Even after the Bali blowup. Even as a group of Muslim Chechens held 700 people hostage in Allah's name. Many people seem to assume that dialogue with Islam is not really possible without these denials.
By contrast, last February 60-some American intellectuals set out to do something quietly extraordinary: to lay out for the world the moral basis for America's war on terror. "What We're Fighting For," an open letter released by the Institute for American Values (where I am an affiliate scholar), is an effort to revive just war doctrine that has ignited a firestorm of controversy within the Muslim world. A distinguished group of hard-core, powerful Wahhabi scholars fired back a joint letter in response, "How We Can Coexist."
These Saudi scholars blamed American injustice for causing the Sept. 11 attacks, but they emphasized the importance of "dialogue" based on "a tone of respect, clarity and frankness": "(We realize) that there are a number of concepts, moral values, rights and ideas that we share with the West and that can be nurtured to bring about what is best for all of us."
Last week the Institute for American Values released a response to the Saudi scholars, "Can We Coexist?" (interested readers can find all three documents at www.americanvalues.org
The refreshing thing about this intellectual encounter is the premise on which it is based: This is not a mock debate, a mere diplomatic exchange of make-nice noises. The tone of the American reply to the Saudis is frank, collegial, respectful and inviting, but never evasive: "(N)owhere in your letter do you discuss or even acknowledge the role of your society in creating, protecting and spreading the jihadist violence that today threatens the world, including the Muslim world."
What can come of such genuine exchanges of ideas? Who knows? But when oceans no longer protect us from foreign terrorists, neither is it so easy to block utterly at least the trickle of new ideas.
"The whole exchange has had a tremendous impact," says Hassan Mneimneh, co-director of the Iraq Research and Documentation Project at Harvard. "It is actually a catalyst for intra-Islamic debate. It is hard to find an intellectual in the Middle East who is not aware of the exchange of letters."
How influential has the exchange been? Influential enough that Saudi Arabia recently paid it the ultimate consequence: banning a London newspaper that carried the Americans' latest response.
"The Saudi government doesn't like this debate, particularly because the people who wrote the Saudi response are mostly Wahhabi conservatives and fundamentalists," Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that promotes democracy and civil society in Saudi Arabia, told The Washington Post. "They don't want the dialogue, and I think the reason is they don't want nongovernment elements to have a voice internationally."
But if the war of ideas is what matters, then more such civil, respectful, frank exchanges between nongovernments (aka citizens) are going to be key.
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- Another Clinton Legacy? Missles from China to Saudis and then to ....? -- SurveyGuy (Start worrying when the first ICBM is launched from Iraq), 19:28:42 11/01/02 Fri (maxtnt05-8.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.99.8)
Wolfowitz confirms Saudis got Chinese long-range missiles
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Thursday, October 31, 2002
The United States has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia has acquired intermediate-range missile capability.
In an address to a Washington audience on Oct. 24, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Riyad acquired the missiles from China in a development that stunned Washington, Middle East Newsline reported.
"I believe in the 1980s when Saudi Arabia acquired long-range ballistic missiles from the People's Republic of China it took us completely by surprise," Wolfowitz told Frontiers for Freedom. "We think a relatively harmless surprise, but nonetheless a surprise."
Wolfowitz's disclosure comes as Riyad is said to be mulling a new missile purchase from China and Pakistan. Western intelligence sources said Riyad has built new silos and facilities for intermediate-range missiles and has intensified efforts to procure nuclear weapons.
Wolfowitz compared the Saudi acquisition of Chinese missiles to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. He said before the crisis the United States had dismissed the prospect that the Soviet Union would transfer missiles to Cuba.
"I think it is not an inappropriate assumption of planning when you're dealing with countries that have demonstrated their intentions as clearly as the ones we're talking about, to anticipate that they will look for any doors that are open and it's got to be our job to try to close any doors that we can think of," Wolfowitz said.
The Jamestown Foundation, a nonprofit organization that studies strategic issues, said in a report that Pakistan could be serving as an intermediary for Chinese weapons to Saudi Arabia. The report, authored by Thomas Woodrow, a former senior China analyst at the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, said China has reportedly approached Saudi Arabia with an offer to sell intermediate-range missile systems, including the CSS-3, with a range of 5,500 kilometers.
"Saudi Arabia could be buying a nuclear capability from China through a proxy state with Pakistan serving as the cutout," the report said. "If Riyad's influence over Pakistan extends to its nuclear programs, Saudi Arabia could rapidly become a de facto nuclear power through a simple shipment of missiles and warheads."
Wolfowitz's disclosure came on the eve of military cooperation talks between Saudi Arabia and the United States in Riyad. The talks, held earlier this week, were in the framework of the annual military cooperation meeting between the two nations and were headed by the Saudi and U.S. chiefs of staff. Saudi officials stressed that the American delegation did not ask the kingdom for help in any U.S-led war against Iraq.
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- An economics lesson from Prof. Williams. (You don't even have to pay tuition.) -- SurveyGuy, 20:34:06 11/04/02 Mon (maxtnt01-sdf-311.fast.net/209.92.61.57)
Walter Williams
Economic Asininities
Whenever there's a World Trade Organization, Monetary Fund or World Bank meeting, crowds of idealistic, useful idiots show up to riot and protest against what they call globalization and capitalistic exploitation of Third World poor people. They charge Western multinational corporations with exploiting the poor through "slave" wages and child labor. Let's examine this nonsense.
According to The Economist magazine, multinational corporations typically pay wages that are double the local wages in Third World countries but far below those paid in richer countries. That, to protesters, is evidence of exploitation of the poor -- but is it?
For argument's sake, suppose without the presence of a multinational corporation the best job a poor, uneducated Ugandan can land pays $2 a day. A multinational corporation builds a factory and hires that Ugandan for $4 a day, a wage well below what it pays workers in the United States. Plain common sense says that the Ugandan has been made better off by the presence of the multinational corporation and would be made worse off if the multinational corporation were politically pressured to leave. How much sense does it make to characterize an action that makes that Ugandan better off as exploitation?
You say, "OK, Williams, we understand that, but why did you call the demonstrators useful idiots?" Rich-country labor unions and some companies would benefit if higher costs and legal restrictions can be imposed on multinationals. It would mean that fewer jobs would go overseas, thus enabling union workers to demand higher wages. Fewer cheaper goods would permit some companies to charge higher prices for goods domestically produced. The idealistic, uninformed demonstrators are useful tools to achieve wage and profit objectives.
Speaking of jobs, President Bush is being criticized for the weak economy; he's not creating enough jobs. Such a criticism stands at the height of ludicrousness. Politicians cannot create jobs. Or, more accurately put: They can only create one job by destroying another.
Think about it. Suppose Congress and the president spend a million dollars for a "stimulus package." Will it be the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny who gives them the money? Obviously, the money must come from somewhere in the economy.
Since that's true, we must ask what was that money going to be used for if Congress hadn't taxed it away for a "stimulus package"? People would have spent the money purchasing goods that would have created or sustained employment. If Congress borrowed to finance the stimulus package, what activities had to be curtailed because of higher interest rates resulting from government borrowing?
By the way, if you disagree with me and insist that Congress and the president do have job-creation powers, then Williams has identical job creation powers. I can create lots of jobs simply by purchasing several hundred crowbars, distributing them to my George Mason University students and instructing them to go smash automobile windshields.
Think of all the jobs that would be created at auto repair shops. But those jobs would come at the expense of other jobs, because people having to spend a couple hundred dollars getting their windshields replaced wouldn't have the same dollars to take their children to Disneyland, thereby reducing Disneyland jobs.
In general, presidents and congressmen have very limited power to do good for the economy and awesome power to do bad. The best good thing that politicians can do for the economy is to stop doing bad. In part, this can be achieved through reducing taxes and economic regulation, and staying out of our lives.
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- What's your favorite way to celebrate Halloween? -- Spock, 13:07:13 10/31/02 Thu (user-vc8fm1s.biz.mindspring.com/216.135.216.60)
Since we live in an apartment complex, we don't get many trick-or-treaters. So, I make treats for the neighbors we know.
For two years now I've been making a cupcake graveyard....devil's food (naturally) cupcakes with green icing, tombstones stuck in them made from oval sandwich cookies decorated with black icing (RIP, etc), candy pumpkins, and trees made by splitting licorice sticks. Makes a festive montage. Of course, my kitty in a Halloween spook-fest stomped right in the middle of the platter (fortunately it was already covered with plastic) and so the graveyard was a little more disheveled than it should have been...
Happy Halloween all!
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- We will get about 200 youngsters with a sugar craving. (One year we counted how many pieces of candy were handed out and it indicated slightly over 200 ghosts and goblins fed. The little kids are cute and come with parents. The older kids (teenagers) should stay home and buy their own candy to hand out to kids. No politically correct costumes around here -- yet. Let the kids have some fun. (NT) -- SurveyGuy, 15:56:00 10/31/02 Thu
- Oh! And let's not forget watching scary movies....and "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!" Our favorite scary movies are from the classics: "The Haunting" (original, not recent cheesy remake), "The Uninvited," and "Legend of Hell House." More recent good spook is "The Others." (NT) -- Spock, 16:34:43 10/31/02 Thu
- Pretty much only little kids here, as it should be. Not alot, though, and since I get them a well-rounded tooth-destroying selection they make out pretty well. I don't want it hanging around here so they get 1 of each (about 6 bars)...... -- JL (BOO!), 19:54:31 10/31/02 Thu
- Best Costume of the Year: A political rally masquerading as a memorial service. Not a tear in the house. (NT) -- SurveyGuy, 21:53:28 10/31/02 Thu
- Hey -- who's spooking our setup here? (NT) -- Spock (thankful I don't need bifocals yet), 11:24:37 11/01/02 Fri
- Why's everyone so worked up about a few murders? For your comments.... -- Spock, 12:47:22 11/01/02 Fri (user-vc8fm1s.biz.mindspring.com/216.135.216.60)
I caught a few minutes of Glen Beck this AM, discussing the Washington Snipers, and he was reading from a Saudi paper an article about their (disparaging) consternation about how Americans are so coddled by their wealthy lifestyle (beg pardon, uh, BIG OIL GUYS?????) that we were so "freaked out" by a few murders....
Oh, such sissies.....Gee, maybe because we're civilized enough to actually live in a generally peaceful society, where you don't settle your personal vendettas with murder unless you're a psychopathic societal deviant. But of course, adherents to a creed of violence have NO CONCEPT of this way of life.
Since the next installment of "Lord of the Rings" is due out next month (ironically, "The Two Towers"), I will draw in one of its analogies that's relevant here: The fatal flaw of Sauron, LOTR's Big Bad, is that he judges all hearts by his own. That is to say, his own heart is so foul and twisted, he cannot conceive of anyone thinking and behaving any differently. He does not even consider the option that someone would want to destroy the Ring because to him, anyone who gets their hands on it naturally will lust for its power and follow through accordingly, and so he assumes that Frodo and Sam are coming to his territory to spy in order to usurp, not destroy the seat of his power. You know what they say about "assume"....
The Koran teaches a violent faith....perhaps tolerable to the MEN who subscribe to it and the women over whom they hold sway (either voluntarily or out of fear), but ultimately fatal to anyone else.
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- Fifteen different topics always leading to the same conclusion: "(Name the target) sucks, is a (fill the blank with some semi-clever adjective), is ruining our lives, and makes me madder than hell! " Some of us out here would change our tune if you would bend somewhat and be more accpetable to viewpoints you don't like or agree with. And for once, I'd like to see someone dissent posted here without being ganged up upon by this playground of bullies here with one collective mindset. -- Your way or the highway? I should think not!, 23:02:35 11/03/02 Sun (server.sztmargitgimi.sulinet.hu/195.199.4.173)
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- Some pre-Election Day food for thought...... -- H_Bergeron (who watches the watchmen?), 03:43:10 10/30/02 Wed (ppp-216-158-59-116.cust.oldcity.dca.net/216.158.59.116)
Would you buy a used voting machine from these guys?
Voting Machines - A High Tech Ambush
By Lynn Landes 10/29/02
"I'm mad as
hell!" says Charlie Matulka.
It looks like a high-tech ambush.
But Matulka
isn't going down without a fight. The feisty construction worker is running for
Nebraska's U.S. Senate seat against incumbent Republican Senator Chuck
Hagel. Matulka's "war chest" is less than $5000. But campaign financing isn't his biggest concern. Who owns
the voting machines and how easily they can be rigged or "malfunction"
is what's got him all riled up. He's calling press conferences... demanding to be
heard.
That might be difficult. Omaha's largest newspaper
is part of the only company in Nebraska certified to count votes on election day. And Chuck Hagel
has been an intrinsic part of that company for a long time.
In 1996, Hagel was chairman of American Information
Systems (AID), a voting machine company that counted the votes in his election
that year. According to publicist/writer Bev Harris of Talion.com, Hagel omitted
AID on all of his Personal Financial Disclosure Documents. In 1999, AID became Election Systems and Software (ES&S), the largest voting machine company in America. It's
owned by the ultra-conservative Omaha World-Herald Company, the McCarthy Group, and
the former owners of Business Records Corporation. Hagel was president of the McCarthy
Group, and Hagel's own campaign treasurer is Michael
McCarthy (the Group's current chairman). Harris says that Hagel is still a significant investor in the McCarthy
Group.
Guess what voting machine company
is counting Nebraskans votes this election. ES&S.
A call to the Office of
Integrity, Voting Rights Division, Department of
Justice (DOJ) in Washington D.C. regarding this extraordinary conflict-of-interest, earned this writer a terse "no comment." That
makes sense. In over 40 years of voting machine "malfunctions" and
election malfeasance, the DOJ still treats voting machine
companies and their owners with kid gloves.
Charlie Matulka is just the
latest target of America's thoroughly corrupted voting system.
In a groundbreaking effort, Bev
Harris and this writer are compiling extensive information on the voting
machine companies operating in the United States. Voting machine companies are privately held and extremely
secretive. They form a web of overlapping ownership,
financing, staff, and equipment that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to
separate one from the other.
ES&S, the largest voting
machine company, claims to have counted 56% of the vote in the last four presidential elections.
Again, it's owned by the ultra-conservative Omaha
World-Herald Company, the McCarthy Group, and former owners of Business Records Corporation.
ES&S was created from a merger between American Information Systems (AID)
and Business Records Corporation. Bob and Todd Urosevich founded AID in the
1980's. Bob is now president of Diebold-Global, while brother Todd is a vice
president at ES&S. Business Records Corp. was
partially owned by Cronus, a company that seems to have a lot of connections to
the notorious Hunt brothers from Texas, as well as
other individuals and entities, including Rothschild, Inc.. Right wing
Republicans Howard Ahmanson (who financed AID) and Nelson Bunker Hunt
have both heavily contributed to The Chalcedon Institute, an organization that
mandates Christian "dominion" over the world.
Sequoia Voting Systems appears to
be the second largest voting machine company, accounting for about 1/3 of the voting
machine market. As of May 2002, Sequoia was purchased by Great Britain's De La Rue from
Ireland's Jefferson Smurfit Group, who retain a 15% share. Smurfit was just bought
by Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity investment firm. De La Rue owns 20%
of the Great Britain's national lottery. In 1995 the Security and Exchange
Commission filed charges against four employees of Sequoia, alleging that they
inflated revenue and pre-tax profits. In 1999 the Justice Department filed
federal charges against employees of Sequoia alleging that during a 10-year
period $8 million in bribes were paid out. Louisiana's Commissioner of Elections Jerry
Fowler had run up some big gambling debts in
Atlantic City, according to reporter Daniel Hopsicker. In all, 22 people were indicted, 9 plead guilty. Fowler
went to jail, but big fish Pasquale "Rocco" Ricci of New Jersey got one year of home detention.
Advanced Voting Solutions is
the new name of another scandal-ridden voting company, Shoup Voting Solutions.
Their current top management, Howard Van Pelt and Larry Ensminger, were executives for
Diebold-Global until late last year. Officers of Shoup Voting Machine Co. were
indicted for allegedly bribing politicians in Tampa, Florida in 1971, according to
the San Francisco Business Times. Ransom
Shoup was convicted in 1979 of conspiracy and obstruction of justice
related to an FBI inquiry into a lever machine-counted election in Philadelphia.
Shoup got a three-year suspended sentence. Meanwhile, Philadelphia has bought
new voting machines from Danaher-Guardian, which appears to only sell voting
machines formerly known as the "Shouptronic."
Danaher-Guardian is owned by
billionaire brothers Steven
M. and Mitchell
P. Rales, who
were described by columnist Jack Anderson in 1988 as "a pair of corporate
raiders out of Washington DC." Again, Danaher-Guardian appears to only sell
formerly Shouptronic voting machines.
Diebold-Global's current
president, Bob Urosevich, was the co-founder of American Information Systems
which
became ES&S. As mentioned before, Diebold-Global's top managers, Howard Van Pelt and Larry Ensminger,
recently moved to Advanced Voting Solutions-Shoup.
And so it goes. We have an voting
system that appears to be in a constant state of name change and rotating
management, but always under the private control of the rich and infamous. Meanwhile, Congress has just passed
a law that effectively throws hundreds of millions of dollars at voting machine
companies that have a record that includes partisanship, bribery, secrecy, and rampant technical "malfunctions."
Personally, I'll never vote
on a machine again if I can help it. For the next election, I'll vote
"absentee" (i.e., through the mail). In fact, Oregon has wisely
rejected voting machines altogether and handles its entire election through the
mail. The state of Washington offers that option, and Colorado is considering mandatory mail-in
voting.
Maybe those states are like
Charlie Matulka. They know an ambush when they see one.
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- Food for Thought -- Supporter of No Cause but my Own, 14:16:41 10/27/02 Sun (AStrasbourg-201-2-1-26.abo.wanadoo.fr/193.251.1.26)
In a rare moment absent of any self-righteousness and bluster, a fantastically popular conservative talk radio host said this:
"The only way to deal with people with absurd ideas is to employ absurdity. In other words, the only way to handle delusional persons, with persons who refuse to accept reality, is to make fun of them. You can't argue with irrational people, so the best offense is a good sense of humor."
Get it?
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- You have your targets, I have mine -- Dick, 20:35:16 10/24/02 Thu (pools1-31.adsl.nordnet.fr/195.146.234.31)
I have read that this board is devoted to opinionating on people and groups in the news. So I am to proceed to do that very thing. Any attempt to censor would be hypocritical and wrong, because after all, it has been written on this board that censoring opinions is the work of fascists. If Muslims and Democrats are fair gaime for criticism, then so are Libertarians. Thet are not above reproach.
I find Libertarians the most selfish people on this Earth. They care about nothing at all but their money, their guns and their absolute right to their money and their guns. They care not one lick about society or anyone in it, proved conclusively by their incessant screaming not about less taxes but no taxes, yelling not about less gun controls but no gun controls.
No personal income taxes whatsoever is at the top of their party platform. My speech on this issue is real short: If you don't want to pay taxes get out of here pal -- go to Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda or Beirut where your ideas are a reality rather than just pipe dreams.
Second on their platform is the full legalization of all drugs including heroin, cocaine, crack and crank. The numbers of people who would fall into this snow heap would overwhelm every city in this country to an extent never before experienced. Within months there would be literally millions of kids and screwed up nitwits perceiving existence only as where and when their next line or puff came. Ten's of millions more would be buying and trying cocaine within weeks; the hopeless lower class, the bored middle class, college students, the sometime partiers, and horny Dudes using it to get laid. Adding a 10% addiction/dependency rate to the millions of afore mentioned kids and nitwits. This would be the beginning of what the Libertarians are after, the destruction of society and overthrow of the United States Government by handgun and assault rifle.
Third on the platform is an intense overwhelming gun waving that makes the NRA look like a gun control organization. My God, these people are gunloons from Hell. They want full automatic weapons in hand at all times with hand grenades, claymores and rocket launchers strapped to their coveralls and .50 caliber machine guns mounted on their cars.
The leader of the Libertarian Party in the 80's and who was instrumental in making it America's Third Party (also their Presidential candidate at the time) was Ron Paul, a Republican congressman from Freeport, Texas and an unyielding Pro-Lifer. In the Spring of 88' when Pat Robertson lost the Michigan primary and was knocked out of the presidential run, an estimated 200,000 Right-wing Fundamentalist Robertson followers joined the Libertarian Party ranks.
The biggest floor fights in their conventions are over abortion, in the past it was left blank in their platform but now by a narrow margin they include a pro-Choice statement. Watching this particular fight I finally began to understand. That it is not liberty that drives the libertarian mentality, but just the base selfishness of Social Darwinism. After all, besides the death penalty and physical incarceration, there could be no greater government intrusion in this nation than forcing women to have children they do not want.
Also keep in mind that their two greatest heroes today are David Koresh, an insane cop-killing rapist, child molester and arms dealer who said he was God, and Randy Weaver, a cop-killing arms dealer aligned with the Aryan Nations. The attraction to Weaver is not only the guns, but be sure to understand that the Libertarian Party is against all Civil Rights legislation and adheres completely with David Duke, the KKK and the Aryan Nations on legislation concerning race.
A few years back in my cyberspace travels I happened upon the National Libertarian Echo, I asked the question: "How do you rationalize "libertarian" to your leader being Pro Life and the influx of a quarter of your membership from Pro-Life Pat Robertson Fundamentalists?" I received the answer the following day through my local access point who informed me my message had been deleted and I was banned from the system. Banned I might add, faster than I had ever been banned from any system in 10 years (including Christian Fundamentalist and NAZI/Aryan systems).
It was also a real eye opener to watch the most disgusting right-wing bigot, homophobe, racist, anti-Semite, and the person who has left me the most point blank death threats on any network, leave a message in August of ‘92 say that as the Republican Party and conservative ideology were no longer viable with his extreme right-wing views, that he was immediately joining the Libertarian Party and would vote Libertarian from that day forward. That was the final straw. There was no longer any doubt in my mind at all. Libertarians were just what I had assumed they were, anarchists and right-wing lunatics who have fallen so far off the deep end, they deny liberty in the name of liberty even more blatantly than the conservatives.
Take your standard right-wing lunatic, remove the issues of sex and religion, add a double dose of selfish callous disregard, stir in a gun waving madness putting even the NRA to shame, mix in a seething hatred of the Federal government, toss in a few ship containers of legalized crack and crank and you got Looneytarians.
Ideology: The Libertarian mindset stems from an obsessive adolescent hatred of authority in any manner, the inability to speak or write a sentence without a reference to the 2nd Amendment, and of course the gun toting social and economic anarchy they wish upon the land.
Issues: Top four: The elimination of the IRS and income taxes, States Rights, the full legalization of all drugs, and no gun controls at all.
Heroes: Randy "Niggers and Jews should be deported or shot" Weaver, the racist arms dealer and cop killer from Ruby Ridge and David "Give me your wife, a little girl to screw and a baby to beat, for I am God" Koresh, the Branch Davidian cop and child killer.
Support: The NRA, the Posse Comitatis, the American Spectator, the CATO Institute and Right-wingers gone off the deep end.
Abortion: It is estimated that over 40% of Libertarians are Pro life. Keep in mind what the powerless Federal government they advocate will allow the States to do with this issue.
Civil Rights: The civil, equal and human rights women and minorities have gained have been from the Federal Government, without it, many or most would have no vote and would still be bought for dowries or picking cotton as slaves in Alabama. Again, keep in mind what a powerless Federal government will allow the States to do with this issue.
Gay Rights: Where must gays and lesbians go to gain redress for discrimination against them? Libertarians may sound tolerant on specific issues in this matter, but again, think what gun toting anarchy will gain the homosexual community.
Environment: No federal regulations. This alone will decimate America to literally look like Mad Max - Thunder Dome.
Beware: Look what decentralization of federal power has accomplished in Somalia, Lebanon, Rwanda, Bosnia and much of Eastern Europe. Anarchy, religious/ethnic civil war and genocide.
Long ago as an acne faced juvenile without a clue, I read Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) one summer and literally fell apart. The government was all bad, society was all bad, all that mattered was the individual's right to market what they pleased at any price they wished and to make as much money as possible without any government interference. Nothing else mattered, the political parties were all the same, the existing ideologies were no different from one another, left and right, up and down, and white and black were all equal. I even sent for a WHO IS JOHN GALT? bumper sticker. Luckily for me that Teenybooperism dissipated as I read more books, my acne cleared and I grew up. Sadly, Libertarians have not as yet made that transition, squeeze one and most of what you get is pimple puss and gun oil.
If you wish to understand what Libertarians want and are about, just go down to your local movie rental house and grab up a couple MAD MAX movies.
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- I don't care for this Format at All - n/t -- Newbie, 21:48:07 11/01/02 Fri (cache1.pal.ptd.net/204.186.217.34)
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- Have they no shame? Maybe Democrats are too arrogant to stay off light aircraft when weather is bad. Maybe they fly more on other people's money. Yet, I'll bet there are otherwise intelligent people who will believe the innuendo. -- SurveyGuy, 18:05:37 10/28/02 Mon (maxtnt02-198.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.227.198)
Monday, Oct. 28, 2002 12:14 a.m. EST
Dems Grumble Over Wellstone 'Assassination'
It's been just three days since Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, his wife and daughter were killed in a tragic plane crash. But already some Democrats are grumbling that his death was no accident.
Just hours after the man liberals referred to as "the soul of the Senate" perished in the fiery accident, WABC radio's resident Democrat Richard Bey complained that he thought the Wellstone crash defied mere coincidence - then pointed out that the Bush White House had made the Minnesota liberal one of its top political targets.
By the next day Bey had second thoughts, telling his audience he didn't want to encourage such bizarre speculation.
But over at the DemocraticUnderground.com, wild-eyed Wellstone death conspiracy theories spread like wildfire, with a full-blown "Wellstone Assassination" thread attracting some of the most outlandish commentary.
"Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone is the latest victim of this clandestine assassination group, racing to consolidate total power in the hands of George Bush," wrote one poster. "Wellstone was assassinated under the exact same circumstances as Mel Carnahan, two years ago."
"I was shocked when I heard the news of Wellstone’s death," another poster wrote. "I am deeply saddened by this, as well as terrified. Within a few seconds, I began to think about it being an assassination. ... How many people 'in the way' of the Bush family have died over the years?"
Another bizarre commentary began with the headline "Strange How Only Democrats Die in these Freak Plane Crashes."
"It's always an unexplained mechanical failure in the plane's steering," this poster complained. "And it is always opponents to the Bush crime dynasty. I see a pattern here. It looks like sabotage."
Oddly enough, those on the far left now raising eyebrows over Wellstone's demise generally dismissed as "nutty" questions about the untimely deaths of Clinton scandal witnesses like Vince Foster, Ron Brown and James McDougal.
But at least conservative conspiracy theorists waited until some evidence of foul play had emerged in each case.
So far, nothing of the sort has materialized in the Wellstone case.
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- P.S. Shame on Richard Bey (NT) -- SG, 18:08:53 10/28/02 Mon
- Funny how it IS mainly DimRats that die in these freak plane accidents. Maybe Vince "Three Shots to the Head' Foster or Ron "Plane Crashes Cause Bullet Wounds to the Head' Brown could have helped them answer these questions. (NT) -- JL, 22:11:20 10/28/02 Mon
- Wag the friggin' dog. Bastards. (NT) -- Spock, 10:35:50 10/29/02 Tue
- Anybody catch wind of the political rally....I'm sorry, MEMORIAL SERVICE for Paul Wellstone? And how Cheney was uninvited? And I've heard of party loyalty before, but this goes way beyond that, more like party obsession/paranoia. Oh, what an outrage that the Republicans want to set up some debates with the, ahem, NEW CANDIDATE? Uh, hello -- it's a fairly standard practice for candidates to debate one another before election? Get a grip already. (NT) -- Spock, 16:40:05 10/30/02 Wed
- They did the same thing when JFK was assassinated. Someone in Congress (I forget who) insisted on a eulogy and then proceeded to give the most partisam political speech ever heard on the floors of Congress. These people have no shame. The Democratic voters get the government they deserve. Too bad the rest of us don't. (NT) -- SurveyGuy, 19:43:29 10/30/02 Wed
- Wish I'd caught who it was, but on today's Fox morning show they reported on the memorial cum rally and had a spot on one man (the one I don't know who) who expressed disgust at what transpired, that he felt deceived and that it was tasteless. (NT) -- Spock, 16:42:06 10/31/02 Thu
- If he was big and bald with a mustache, it was Gov. Jesse Ventura. Most of those there seemed to be in on it. After all, it is hard to book a place that holds 20,000 without some planning. I am sure a few thought it was really going to be a memorial. However, even those disgusted will still vote DemocRATic. (NT) -- SurveyGuy, 20:06:55 10/31/02 Thu
- Didn't see, only heard from the other room. I know Ventura was pretty PO'd though (from other sources) and wondered if it was him. Putting on my conspiratorial hat, your mention of "planning" is creepy. (NT) -- Spock, 11:40:27 11/01/02 Fri
- The Dems did kill Vince Foster, Ron Brown, Paul Wesltone, and others. They are a sick bunch of puppies who will manipulate, cajole, bribe, fabricate, spin tales, and even resort to rape and murder to get their way! Although I exaggerate a bit here for humor's sake, this is true to some extent! (NT) -- William, 12:24:47 11/01/02 Fri
- I wanna say Mike (?) Mansfield...but I was only 6 yrs old so what do I know. A Rat is a Rat is a Rat. (NT) -- JL, 20:31:43 10/31/02 Thu
- I think Cal Thomas "gets it." Basically too much political correctness covering up might be deadly. -- SurveyGuy (noting we still don't have reinforced cockpit doors.), 21:24:14 10/29/02 Tue (maxtnt01-sdf-444.fast.net/209.92.61.190)
Jewish World Review Oct. 29, 2002
Cal Thomas
It's not over
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com-- The headline in last Friday's (Oct. 25) Washington Times said, "Thank G-d, It's Over." Two suspects in the terror rampage that killed 10 people and wounded three may be in custody, but it's not over. It has only just begun. The Western diplomat murdered in Jordan on Monday is just the latest incident of targeted Americans.
While the Beltway sniper suspects may have acted independently of any known terrorist organization, it is not necessary to be commissioned by a foreign national in order to effectively carry out the wishes of America's enemies.
It is past time to stop worrying about political correctness and the names we might be called - such as intolerant bigoted Islamophobes - and start telling the truth. America's enemies are among us. They are here to kill us. The two men arrested in Maryland are the first wave following the 9/11 airplane hijackings. Surely others will follow, because their religion and history commission them to kill all infidels. Anyone who is a Christian or a Jew, or insufficiently fundamentalist, is fair game. They intend to hunt us down like deer in their scope sights.
How do I know this? Read what they say about themselves and their objectives. In the midst of last week's murderous hostage taking by anti-Russian rebels angry over Moscow's prosecution of the war against Muslim Chechens, a Web site emerged that spelled out the beliefs of those who orchestrated the operation (see www.memri.org/bin/openero latest.cgi?ID=SD43402 for the translation).
Featured are articles about Islam's position on how prisoners are to be treated. In " Guide to the Perplexed about the Permissibility of Killing Prisoners," which appeared in the column "Jihad News from the Land of the Caucasus," the writer offers interpretations of the Koran from Islamic religious scholars:"(1) a polytheist prisoner must be killed. No amnesty may be granted to him, nor can he be ransomed; (2) all infidel polytheists and the People of the Book (i.e. Jews and Christians) are to be killed. They may not be granted amnesty, nor can they be ransomed; (3/4) amnesty and ransom are possible only after killing of a large number of prisoners; (5) the Imam, or someone acting on his behalf, can choose between killing, amnesty, ransom or enslaving the prisoner."
Examples are given regarding the methods the Prophet Muhammad had chosen to kill, grant amnesty or ransom prisoners. He writes that the Prophet Muhammad chose to deal with prisoners in different ways to maximize the benefits to Muslims.
These are the theological precepts apparently practiced by at least some of the people who took hundreds hostage in Moscow last week. Moscow News quoted one of the Chechens as saying, "I swear by G-d that we are more keen on dying than you are on living." That kind of fanaticism is difficult to stop, but we must make the attempt and soon.
In America, some politically active Muslim groups again decry murderous acts done in the name of their religion. How many more of these acts will be tolerated before we wake up and realize our enemies are playing us for fools and that their sole allegiance is to a violent, vengeful deity who demands his followers to kill everyone who disagrees with their interpretation of him? I do not doubt there are peaceful Muslims, but they aren't the ones with the guns and the explosives. How does one tell the difference?
It does not improve the safety of Americans for our leaders to spout bromides about this supposedly "peaceful religion." How would we react if, instead of one or two snipers mowing down people at will in the Washington, D.C., area, a dozen or more simultaneously turned as many towns into killing fields? It wouldn't take much - just a car, a gun, a co-conspirator - and terror would sweep nationwide. The U.S. economy would surely tank, which is a stated goal of Al Qaeda.
A panel on domestic security, headed by former Sens. Warren Rudman and Gary Hart, concludes the country has become complacent about terrorism and is vulnerable to a catastrophic terrorist attack. The White House and Congress are chided in the report for failing to enact measures to defend the nation. Apparently some politicians care more about their political lives than they do about the rest of us who might die.
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- If you can;t believe C.O.R.E. head Roy Innis about these dangers, who can you believe? Mr. Innis has maintained his credibility in my book compared with the NAACP or phony Jesse Jackson. -- SurveyGuy, 23:06:17 10/27/02 Sun (maxtnt04-117.phlpa.fast.net/209.92.96.117)
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2002 2:38 p.m. EDT
Civil Rights Chief Warns White House of Al-Qaeda-U.S. Muslim Threat
The head of one of the nation's most prominent civil rights organizations has warned the White House that the rise of radical Islam within America's black community could provide a breeding ground for the perpetrators of the next wave of terror attacks against the U.S.
In a letter sent to the Bush administration on Friday, Congress of Racial Equality Chairman Roy Innis requested a meeting with Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge, Attorney General John Ashcroft and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to discuss what he sees as the "clear and present danger" posed to U.S. race relations by the rising tide of "non-spiritual" Muslim conversions.
Innis fears that the trend has left too many sympathetic to al-Qaeda and its anti-American agenda, providing a waiting pool of potential terrorist recruits.
"Even before the Beltway sniper attacks," Innis told NewsMax in an exclusive interview, "I anticipated a real problem for our country and for black Americans in particular. And that is the large number of non-spiritually based conversions to Islam - both inside and outside of jail.
"It's not going to take long for al-Qaeda to begin capitalizing on this, if they haven't already," the CORE chief warned.
"Osama bin Laden was able to sneak 19 guys into the country with visas and attack the country on Sept. 11. That won't be so easy to do anymore," Innis noted.
"But the guys coming out of jail, the recent converts, the angry guys floating around the country who are looking for a framework to express their hostility - they don't need visas."
The longtime civil rights leader fears that if the next terrorist attack has black fingerprints on it, it could destroy decades worth of progress in American race relations.
"Al-Qaeda is going to figure this out soon enough and start using it - and there goes all the years of civil rights improvement in America. All the revolutionary gains of Dr. Martin Luther King, of CORE and the NAACP and the others could be washed away overnight if the phenomenon continues unchecked."
Innis pointed to the recent arrest of six al-Qaeda suspects in Oregon, noting, "Already we see this trend being played out. ... Three of them were black Muslims."
The fact that Beltway sniper John Muhammed was also a Muslim convert who was sympathetic to the Sept. 11 attacks only heightens his concern, the CORE chief told NewsMax.
He also zeroed in on Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan, who, Innis said, needs to clean house of people like Mr. Muhammed, who worked as a security guard for the NOI's 1995 Million Man March.
"He needs to clean his own house and examine his own house to make sure that he doesn't have sociopaths and psychopaths and haters of other sorts and al-Qaeda adherents floating into his organization."
He called on Farrakhan to "weed out his non-spiritually based followers" and to take care that "his rhetoric doesn't give aid and comfort and nurture" [to] al-Qaeda sympathizers.
Innis stressed that he is not questioning anybody's genuinely held religious beliefs.
"I'm not challenging a person's right to change from Catholic to Protestant, from Christian to Muslim to Jewish - I'm not challenging that," he told NewsMax. "But I am challenging whether these are in fact spiritually based conversions - or are they just convenient vehicles to express hostilities and sociopathic behavior."
He noted that "it's stranger than usual, the large amount of young black men who go to jail and come out as Muslims," adding, "I don't believe for one moment that they go to jail and then have an epiphany like Paul on the road to Damascus."
Prisoners become Muslims, he said, "Because it is safer to become Muslim in jail. They're able to join the gang."
But beyond protection from physical violence, converting to Islam gives alienated prisoners something else, Innis contended. "They're able to express their hostility using a religious cover. They're able to express their anti-Americanism in a religious framework."
The pressure to convert can be overwhelming, Innis contended, noting that "even a fierce and ferocious boxing champion like Mike Tyson goes to jail and becomes a Muslim."
The civil rights leader said the first item he'd like to discuss with Attorney General Ashcroft is the potential national security threat posed by al-Qaeda sympathizers who will one day be released from prison.
Noting that both confessed al-Qaeda shoe bomber Richard Reid and dirty-bomb suspect Jose Padilla were jailhouse converts to Islam, the CORE chief urged, "That's the prime target to deal with right now. Do something about those prisons."
Innis said it's imperative that the Bush administration send the message to youthful al-Qaeda prospects now in jail: "You don't have to become a Muslim to survive in prison. The government will protect you."
He also wants to win the Bush administration's support for prison-based instruction on the history of the relationship between blacks and Islam, which, he noted, began with the slave trade.
"When these prisoners give up their Christian 'slave name' for a Muslim pre-Christian 'slave name' - if they knew the history, they wouldn't be so inclined," he observed.
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- For a little change of pace... -- Spock, 14:34:23 10/29/02 Tue (user-vc8fm1s.biz.mindspring.com/216.135.216.60)
In the War on Tobacco, Money Goes Up In Smoke
by Dave Barry
In these troubled times, it's nice to know that there is one thing that can always bring a smile to our faces, and maybe even cause us to laugh so hard that we cry.
I am referring, of course to the War On Tobacco. Rarely in the annals of government -- and I do not mean to suggest anything juvenile by the phrase "annals of government" -- will you find a program so consistenly hilarious as the campaign against the Evil Weed.
Before we get to the latest wacky hijinks, let's review how the War On Tobacco works. The underlying principle, of course, is: Tobacco Is Bad. It kills many people, and it causes many others to smell like ashtrays in a poorly-janitored bus station.
So a while ago, Politicians from a bunch of states were scratching their heads, trying to figure out what to do about the tobacco problem. One option, of course, was to say: "Hey, if people want to be stupid, it's none of our business." But of course that was out of the question. Politicians believe EVERYTHING is their business, which is why -- to pick one of many examples -- most states have elaborate regulations governing who may, and who may not, give manicures.
Another option was to simply make selling cigarettes illegal, just like other evil activities, such as selling heroin, or giving unlicensed manicures, or operating lotteries (except, of course, for lotteries operated by states). But the politicians immediately saw a major flaw with this approach: It did not provide any way for money to be funneled to politicians.
And so they went with option three, which was to file lawsuits against the tobacco companies. The underlying moral principle of these lawsuits was: "You are knowingly selling a product that kills tens of thousands of our citizens each year. We want a piece of that action!"
The anti-tobacco lawsuits resulted in a humongous jackpot settlement under which the tobacco industry is paying hundreds of billions of dollars to 46 states (and of course their lawyers). The tobacco companies are raising this money by mowing lawns.
Ha ha! Seriously, they are raising the money by selling cigarettes as fast as they can. So EVERYBODY wins in the War On Tobacco:
- The smokers get to keep smoking tobacco.
- The tobacco companies get to keep selling tobacco.
- The politicians (and of course their lawyers) get a big old ton of money, as physical proof of how much they are opposed to tobacco.
Originally, the states claimed that they would use the tobacco-lawsuit money to...well, to do something about tobacco. But that of course makes no economic sense: To actually stop smokers from smoking would be to kill the goose thah is coughing up the golden loogies.
So the states, according to the General Accounting Office, are using less than a tenth of the tobacco-settlement money on anti-smoking programs. Meanwhile, they are spending bales of it on all kinds of unrelated projects, such as highways, bridges and museums. Officials of Niagara County, New York, spent $700,000 of their anti-tobacco money to buy a sprinkler system for a golf course. Maybe they were thinking that a golfer, while teeing off, would get sprayed in the eyes, causing him to hit the ball into a foursome of tobacco executives. Take that, merchants of death!
But as comical as all this is, it is not the zaniest development in the War On Tobacco. For that, we must look to North Carolina. According to an article by Liz Chandler in the Charlotte Observer, North Carolina officials have so far given $41 million of their tobacco settlement to -- I swear I am not making this up -- tobacco growers. Yes! The state gave this money -- which, you may recall, was taken from tobacco companies to punish them for selling tobacco, which is evil -- to these growers so they can buy machinery that will make them more competitive producers of...tobacco! This is like using War On Terrorism funds to buy flying lessons for al Quaida.
So that's your update on the Wacky, Wonderful War On Tobacco. It is now essentially a partnership between politicians and tobacco companies to make money by selling cigarettes.
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Regarding the candidates I do not vote but who win elections, I like the quote from Shakespear which was already posted below which says: Yet 'tis greater skill ... In a true hate to pray they have their will; ... The very devils cannot plague them better. Cymbeline (Posthumus at II, v) It reminds me of the cliché "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it!". (NT) -- William, 15:08:13 11/05/02 Tue