Newsweek outs McCain’s choice to manage national convention

Vetting the company we keep

This current Newsweek magazine article has created enough swirl around lobbyist and McCain insider, Doug Goodyear, that the man tapped by the GOP presumptive nominee to run the September Minneapolis/St. Paul convention, stepped down after the story broke. Goodyear’s tenure was short lived.

Obviously, Team McCain had good reasons for concern.

The Global Warming Swindle

Weekend viewing to balance the religion of Al Gore

Sick of Global Warming Propaganda? Skeptical about what you’re hearing? Wish someone would produce some serious balance?

We urge you to watch the most important documentary you will never hear about elsewhere, here it is: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

Each educational segment is ten minutes or less. Watch as scientific authorities challenge what has become the most defining moral debate of our age.

Food for thought…or biofuels

David Freddoso writing for National Review provides the reason for escalating food prices:

Why has the price of food followed the price of oil, upward and rapidly so? A small portion of that is transportation and farming, but most of it is due to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which mandated that we use an incredible amount of the food we produce to create biofuels - for 4 billion gallons of ethanol in 2006, gradually increasing to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. This year, it means that 28 percent of our grain crop will be used for energy and not eaten.

Read his compelling post here.

Government language police: “Jihadist” is out

Muslims might be offended by ‘Islamo-fascism”

The Bush administration has launched a new front in the war on terrorism, this time targeting language. Among the guidelines included in the memo:

“Never use the terms ‘jihadist’ or ‘mujahedeen’ in conversation to describe the terrorists. … Calling our enemies ‘jihadis’ and their movement a global ‘jihad’ unintentionally legitimizes their actions.”

“Use the terms ‘violent extremist’ or ‘terrorist.’ Both are widely understood terms that define our enemies appropriately and simultaneously deny them any level of legitimacy.”

On the other hand, avoid ill-defined and offensive terminology: “We are communicating with, not confronting, our audiences. Don’t insult or confuse them with pejorative terms such as ‘Islamo-fascism,’ which are considered offensive by many Muslims.”

“Regarding ‘jihad,’ even if it is accurate to reference the term, it may not be strategic because it glamorizes terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have and damages relations with Muslims around the world,” the report says.

Jihad Watch covers the revised lexicon.

Earth Day’s real agenda comes to us courtesy of Bolivia’s Prez: Obliterate capitalism

Bolivian President Evo Morales has told a UN forum that capitalism should be abandoned if the planet is to be saved from the effects of climate change.

“If we want to save our planet earth, we have a duty to put an end to the capitalist system,” he said. “Capitalism is the worst enemy of humanity.”

And global warming? Canadian Earth Day festivities were hampered by a blizzard.

The Edmonton Sun reports that vendors and presenters from various eco-friendly groups, crammed into a lone tent after a blizzard forced them to abandon their original locations and planned activities.

Al Gore, busy expending enough energy to crank up his $30,0000 home electric bill, was unavailable for comment. What an Inconvenient Truth.

Unlikely alliances

Worshipping at the Church of Algore

The Revs. Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson have found something in which they both can believe: Al Gore.

Be sure to watch the short and utterly amazing video clip.

The gnarly politics of athletic competition

 

The Catholic League leaps into the swirling waters of whether or not President Bush should attend the opening Olympic ceremony.

Meanwhile, the International Herald Tribune reports the European Parliament has urged European Union leaders to boycott the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics unless China begins talks with the Dalai Lama over the situation in Tibet.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has struck a balance of sorts. He will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. However, he will be at the closing ceremony when the Olympic baton will be passed to London—the 2012 Olympic host.

Is this the time?

House approves $50 Billion global assistance program

The Democrat controlled congress voted Wednesday to triple to more than $10 billion a year U.S. humanitarian spending on fighting AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and other stricken areas of the world.

About $41 billion of the $50 billion over five years would be devoted to AIDS, significantly expanding a program credited with saving more than 1 million lives in Africa alone in the largest U.S. investment ever against a single disease.

“This is irrational generosity,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, (R-CA), arguing that the country doesn’t have enough money to help veterans and the elderly. “This is benevolence gone wild.”

We are a nation at war. The economy is in crisis. Homes across the nation are in foreclosure, and gas prices are wreaking havoc among citizens worried about being able to afford their next fill-up. Health care costs continue to escalate and numerous Americans are still displaced after the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. Our dollar is losing power on the world markets, Wall Street is seeing unprecedented declines and American jobs are being shipped to foreign countries. Meanwhile, costs for power have soared, college tuitions are nearly unaffordable for average families and our foreign aid commitments are relentless. Grocery prices are not immune to the price spirals. The nation’s social security program is unsustainable. And major chain stores anchoring shopping malls are cutting back on merchandise in response to lagging sales.

Is fighting disease and poverty in undeveloped nations solely the moral obligation of the United States?

Individual congressional votes are available here.

The Fish wrapper invites us to join Earth Hour 2008

   

Become part of the “global wave” with Phil Gordon, Al Gore

Never missing an opportunity to extol Phoenix’s “Sanctuary City” mayor, the editorialists went a bit whack-joby on us today, writing: Mayor Phil Gordon made a smart move in putting Phoenix on the Earth Hour list. The city aspires to be a showcase for 21st-century living—being “green” is an essential feature.

Dozens of cities are official participants, including Bangkok, Dubai, Mexico City and Toronto. Phoenix is among four in the United States.

Wonder how that happened?

Phil’s abiding affection for Mexico’s “undocumented” is well documented.  And, he has been traveling to Dubai of late to facilitate global economic interaction between Phoenix and that oil-rich hot spot.

We are invited to turn off our lights and sit in the darkness with the Arizona Republic, this Saturday evening from 8:00 - 9:00 PM. to show our solidarity with the earth and environment.

Do so at your own risk. Liberalism incubates, becoming highly contagious in the dark.

Marking the five year anniversary of Iraq war

Arizona needs a troop surge, too

Addressing an audience of Pentagon officials, soldiers and diplomats, he said: “The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just. And, with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in victory.”

President Bush effectively linked the Iraq war to the global battle against the al Qaida terrorists, invoking the success of last year’s troop surge, which he credited with turning the situation in Iraq around. “Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaida out“, he said. “War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much.”

Although this site has often taken the president to task for his limp border policies which place the United States in harm’s way in a post-9/11 world, we support his vigilance on the global front—and urge the same commitment to national security to protect American citizens here at home.

Arizona has become the gateway for the influx of illegals into the United States. The dollar costs alone, passed on to taxpaying Arizona citizens, are skyrocketing. Four years ago, they were estimated at $1.3 billion annually.

Former Presidential candidate, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R - CA) writing for Human Events, states the threat clearly: Consider that in 2005 alone, 155,000 foreign citizens from countries other than Mexico were apprehended attempting to cross our border with Mexico. These individuals came from countries all around the world, several of which have an adversarial relationship with the United States. If it is accurate to assume that an estimated 4 out of every 10 crossing attempts are successful, as some reports suggest, then we can infer that at least 62,000 individuals from countries like China, Iran and Syria, made it into the United States.

Arizona needs a troop surge, too.