I was wondering if gas in the US is hovering around $4.00 per gallon, what must be happening in the rest of the world. I checked and the price for gas now in Europe is $9-10 per gallon. So if we think things are hard here in the US, can you imagine diesel trucks at $10 per gallon. This is a global problem, and if it does not get fixed real soon, it won;t be just the US economy that will be going into the tank.
Words of Wisdom
“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” Samuel Adams, 1780
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
“God forbid that we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.” Thomas Jefferson
“The time is near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own…The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army…Let us therefore rely on the goodness of the cause and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.” George Washington
“In our age there is no such thing as keeping out of politics. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.” George Orwell
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
“What experience and history teach is this -- that people and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles.” George Hegel
“The citizen can bring our political and governmental institutions back to life, make them responsive and accountable, and keep them honest. No one else can.” John Gardner
“But to expend millions … is unworthy the charge, and is using posterity with the utmost cruelty; because it is leaving them the great work to do, and a debt upon their backs from which they derive no advantage. Such a thought is unworthy a man of honor, and is the true characteristic of a narrow heart and a peddling politician.” Thomas Paine
“The scope of government must be limited, and the power dispersed.” Milton Friedman
“The function of government must be to favor no small group at the expense of its duty to protect the rights of personal freedom and of private property of all its citizens.” Franklin Roosevelt
“That government is best which governs least.” Henry David Thoreau
“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.” James Madison
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” Thomas Paine
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” Thomas Jefferson
“Those who came before us risked all of their property, their reputations, their freedom, and their lives to push the boundaries of democracy for us… What are you doing that is more worthy of your efforts than trying to establish the moral principles of fairness, justice, and equality for all in our America?.” Jim Hightower
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch." Benjamin Franklin
“Let us heed the voice of the people and recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the common ties that bind all Americans..” Barbara Jordan
“All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke
“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning.” Frederick Douglass
“It is a common defect of men in fair weather to take no thought of storms.” Machiavelli
“The people need only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they choose, they could blow the Party to pieces by tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it.” George Orwell
“In the beginning of change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated, and scorned.” Mark Twain
“The electorate is the source of strength for a revolutionary idea, because the people, en masse, will support an idea that makes sense, although unconventional, while the elites will support it only when they see they have no choice.” Jude Waniski
“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” William Jennings Bryan
“The inside operation of Congress -- the deals, the compromises, the selling out, the co-opting, the unprincipled manipulating, the self-serving career-building -- is a story of such monumental decadence that I believe if people find out about it they will demand an end to it.” Bella Abzug
“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” Thomas Paine
'Get Out of Our House'
Mission
GOOOH stands for 'Get Out of Our House' and is pronounced like the word 'go'. It is a NON-PARTISAN plan to evict the 435 career politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives and replace them with everyday Americans just like you.
GOOOH enables you to do four things you can't do today:
1. Run for Congress without raising millions of dollars
2. Truly participate in the selection of your Congressman
3. Replace career politicians with true representatives who will be held accountable
4. Eliminate the influence of special interest groups in the election process
The GOOOH process allows Americans of every political leaning to nominate themselves or someone they know to run for Congress. Through GOOOH's Candidate Selection Sessions you and your peers will select the candidate in your district who best represents your district's views. Even if you do not wish to become your district's representative you will want to participate in the process and have a direct say in who is chosen to represent your district. GOOOH will fund a national campaign for the 435 candidates (one from each district) who will run against the party politicians. Because GOOOH is a process for selecting representatives (not an agenda-based party platform) we expect a very liberal candidate to be selected in San Francisco and a very conservative one in Colorado Springs -- but it will be up to the GOOOH members in each district to decide.
For GOOOH to succeed we will need at least 500,000 participants. We will continue to build our base of supporters until we have the participation we need, at which time we will begin our effort to have the GOOOH party added to the ballot in the 50 states and to select our 435 nominees. There are many variables involved in reaching this level of support, and we hope you appreciate it will take time to do so, but we believe it is only a matter of time.
The most controversial part of GOOOH is that the founder, Tim Cox, has proposed excluding politicians, actively prosecuting attorneys, and individuals with family assets over $11.5 million (250 times the median income) from the process. They are excluded not because they are bad people, but because they are overly represented in government today and, generally speaking, no longer seem to represent the common man. It is not proposed that they be excluded from the two parties or from running as independents, just that they not be allowed to participate in this system initially, while we try to restore more balance to our House. Mr. Cox understands his view may be incorrect, and that excluding anyone may be the wrong approach, but he felt compelled to start with what he thought was the best way to effect the needed change, not what was politically correct. With this in mind, the members of GOOOH will soon be asked to vote and decide if anyone should be excluded or if we should allow each pool of ten to determine for themselves how they want to vote. There is a great debate going on in our forums on this topic, and you are invited to weigh in.
We hope you will join GOOOH today and help us take our House back from the politicians!
Why Oil Shale and not Coal? I have a hard time understanding why our Utah Federal Elected Officials seem hell bent on extracting Oil from Oil Shale (rock), when we could be generating liquid fuel directly from coal right now. The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal. We have 300-500 years of known reserves and the technology for converting coal directly to liquid fuel has been known since the Germans developed the technology 60 years ago. If the United states were to go on a war footing crash program and shift all diesel and jet fuel for truckers, transportation and airlines etc and fix the price for the next 10 years so that these folks would have a known energy price, just watch the price of OIL and gasoline drop like a rock. All it would take would be an executive order from the President and a directive to the Military and the department of Energy.
| Obama Campaign Tightens Control of Access Posted: 19 Jun 2008 04:54 AM CDT New York Times |
| Obama: U.S. Should Avoid Making bin Laden a Martyr Posted: 19 Jun 2008 04:54 AM CDT Reuters |
Change? Obama's Foreign Policy Team is Clinton's Old Hands
Posted: 19 Jun 2008 04:52 AM CDT
A group hired by the Democratic Party to register voters is in trouble for vote fraud in Louisiana: State probes voter registration drive - Baton Rouge, LA.
Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said Tuesday he will meet today with a Democrat-affiliated group responsible for a voter registration effort that is inundating East Baton Rouge and other parish registrars with bogus and incomplete applications.
Dardenne said his investigators are trying to determine if any state election laws have been violated as thousands of voter registration cards have been dumped on registrars offices through the efforts of VIP. "We have some very real concerns about the data we are getting from them," Dardenne said.
VIP is a Washington, D.C., group hired by national Democrats to register some 70,000 new voters in advance of the presidential and other federal elections this fall.
"With an effort this big there's always going to be glitches and problems along these lines," said Brian Welsh, communications director for the Democrats' Louisiana Victory 2008.
So who is "VIP?"
VIP is an operation run by the Muslim American Society, a front group for the jihad movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood. But don't take my word for it; here's a detailed report on the Muslim American Society from the Investigative Project.
Are the Democrats so desperate to get Barack Obama elected that they'll climb into bed with one of the most notorious radical Islamic groups in the world-a group that is openly dedicated to destroying Western civilization and establishing a global caliphate?
It would seem so.
Here's an LGF search with much more information about the Muslim American Society, their support for suicide bombings and jihad, and their connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
| Nelson bill would abolish Electoral College |
| Posted: 06/06/08 05:18 PM [ET] | |
| Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College on Friday, less than a week after the Democrats settled on how to handle delegates from Florida at their national convention.  Nelson had announced he would offer the legislation in an address to his state’s senate in March. Nelson said his principal argument for making the change is that the Electoral College permits a candidate with fewer votes nationally to win the presidency by capturing narrow victories in big states. In 2000, then-Vice President Al Gore won the popular votes but George W. Bush won the Electoral College. Nelson cited that election along with this year’s contentious Democratic primary in Florida as reasons for his legislation. He sued the DNC last fall for initially refusing to recognize Florida’s full delegation at the Democratic National Convention. Democrats on Friday decided to give each of Florida’s delegates a half-vote as a penalty for moving their primary ahead on the calendar without party approval. The move created a mess for the party after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), whom Nelson supported, won the primary. The result was disputed because candidates had avoided campaigning in the state. Legislation to abolish the Electoral College is not entirely foreign to the 110 Congress. Reps. Gene Green (D-Texas) and Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) introduced similar amendments in the House in early 2007. The second part of the initiative would establish rotating, interregional primaries between March and June during a presidential election year as an alternative to the current primary and caucus system. The third portion would permit early presidential voting nationwide, require voting machines to produce a verifiable paper record, and encourage voting by mail, among other things. |
Having come from Alaska where you gatta be tough just to survive, and in order for McCain to be considered in my house for our vote he simply must choose a female for his running mate. Condi Rice would solve this but I think she would rather be the Commissioner of the NFL. So where does McCain go after Condi?, how about up North where the air is cold, and the women can be tough as nails, drop dead gorgeous, and Ivy league smart. Governor Sarah Palin is a gal who while 8 months pregnant honored a commitment to speak at a event in Texas, went into labor, finished her speech, jumped on a jet with a doctor, flew back to Anchorage, then was driven out to her home in Wasilla, had the State troopers drop her off at the local Hospital and punched out her 5th kid, now that takes chops. My daughter who still lives in Eagle River absolutely loves her as does the entire State of Alaska. She has kicked butt and taken names, and virtually eliminated the remotest aroma of corruption. She has seen to it that even long term GOP elected officials were investigated, tried and convicted and now sit in Alaska prisons. Like "Sarah Connor" of the terminator, she has taken on the establishment including the Federal Government trying to get oil fields open and the new Natural Gas pipeline built to help reduce US dependence on foreign oil. And finally given her age, she will be the first female president of the United States.
June 04, 2008
Who? When?
Republicans including, I imagine, Sen. McCain himself are asking these questions about his selection of a vice presidential candidate.
Ideally, a presidential candidate wants a running mate who will help him or her win the election, and (maybe) to govern afterwards. But most will settle for a veep who isn't a drag on the ticket, as Dan Quayle was for the first President Bush.
Traditionally, a presidential nominee has chosen a running mate to balance the ticket geographically, or to appease a faction of the party. The most successful example of this was when John F. Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson, though neither liked the other, and LBJ joined the ticket only because he thought Kennedy would lose.
Bill Clinton broke with this tradition when he chose another young (purported) moderate from a neighboring southern state. By picking Al Gore, he hoped to reinforce his campaign theme of generational change.
Which way will Sen. McCain go? The potential running mates most often discussed have downsides nearly as great as their upsides. Gov. Tim Pawlenty helps only in Minnesota, and not enough, according to current polls, to make a difference there. Sen. McCain's friend Sen. Joe Lieberman would bring in some moderate Democrats, but could further antagonize conservatives already suspicious of Sen. McCain. Gov. Romney would have little appeal to working class whites unhappy with Sen. Obama, and evangelicals fret about that Mormon thing. A Huckabee nomination would irritate economic and foreign policy conservatives as much as it would please evangelicals.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a rising star. But he's only 36, and he's been governor for less than a year.
There is one potential running mate who has virtually no down side. Those conservatives who've heard of her were delighted to learn that McCain advance man Arthur Culvahouse was in Alaska recently, because they surmised he could only be there to discuss the vice presidential nomination with Gov. Sarah Palin.
At 44, Sarah Louise Heath Palin is both the youngest and the first female governor in Alaska's relatively brief history as a state. She's also the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating that has bounced around 90 percent.
This is due partly to her personal qualities. When she was leading her underdog Wasilla high school basketball team to the state championship in 1982, her teammates called her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her fierce competitiveness.
Two years later, when she won the "Miss Wasilla" beauty pageant, she was also voted "Miss Congeniality" by the other contestants.
Sarah Barracuda. Miss Congeniality. Fire and nice. A happily married mother of five who is still drop dead gorgeous. And smart to boot.
But it's mostly because she's been a crackerjack governor, a strong fiscal conservative and a ferocious fighter of corruption, especially in her own party.
Ms. Palin touches other conservative bases, some of which Sen. McCain has been accused of rounding. Track, her eldest son, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11. She's a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who hunts, fishes and runs marathons. A regular churchgoer, she's staunchly pro-life.
Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal said Sen. McCain should run against a corrupt, do-nothing Congress, a la Harry Truman. If he should choose to do so, Gov. Palin would make an excellent partner "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who have crossed Sarah," pollster Dave Dittman told the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes.
Sen. Barack Obama's support has plunged recently among white women. Many Hillary Clinton supporters accuse him -- I think unfairly -- of being sexist. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket could help Sen. McCain appeal to these disgruntled Democrats.
Running mates usually aren't named until the convention. But if Sen. McCain should name Gov. Palin earlier, it would give America more time to get to know this extraordinary woman. And because she's at least a dozen feature stories waiting to be written, she could help him dominate the news between now and the conventions.
Another reason for selecting Sarah Palin early would be to force Barack Obama to make a mistake. He'd have to rule out choosing someone like Virginia Sen. Jim Webb as his running mate, for fear of exacerbating charges of sexism. And if he chose a woman other than Hillary, the impression Democrats are wimpy would be intensified.
Texas Dems Optimistic Heading to State Convention
Posted: 03 Jun 2008 04:42 AM CDT
| Written by George Landrith | |
| Thursday, 29 May 2008 | |
| United States Congress U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20002 May 28, 2008 Dear Senator or Representative: We are writing to respectfully urge Congress to exercise rigorous oversight the Defense Department’s decision to award a $40 billion refueling tanker contract to the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). Our many concerns about the wisdom of this contract are based on grave questions about the mission capability, survivability, and excessive cost of the EADS aircraft. The Airbus 330 is able to land on only about half as many airfields as the American-made Boeing KC-767, is a bigger target with an excessively large footprint, and is unable to refuel the V-22 Osprey, along with other commercial and military aircraft. EADS has never manufactured a functioning boom or a fully operational tanker. EADS has made claims about the capabilities, costs, and suitability of its Airbus platform that do not stand up to close scrutiny. According to reports, the EADS tanker, based on the Airbus 330 jetliner, is significantly larger and weighs far more than the KC-767. While the EADS tanker can hold more fuel, it appears that its increased size and capacity offer few real-world benefits, and may actually make the Airbus platform less suited to the missions for which it will be deployed. First, the larger, heavier Airbus 330 tanker is unable to land on as many airfields as the smaller, lighter Boeing 767. This is true owing to many factors, including weight restrictions on certain runways, and the inability of the larger Airbus jet to take off on bases with shorter runways. Second, the Airbus 330’s significantly larger “footprint” (the area it takes up on the ground) means that fewer of them can be housed or staged for deployment at any given airfield at any given time. The larger footprint also means that the Airbus 330 would displace other aircraft, such as the fighter, cargo and reconnaissance planes that also require runway, ramp, and hangar space, and that are also necessary to complete war fighting missions. Additionally, if the Air Force has decided to accommodate the larger, heavier Airbus 330 on additional airbases, then the Air Force will need to upgrade existing airfields or build new ones at a cost estimated at between $12 and $47 billion. Were these considerations taken into account during the bidding process? Getting a bargain on a new vehicle is hardly a financial benefit if one is forced to build a new garage in which to park it. Third, bigger size means bigger target. The EADS aircraft has inferior armor and radar systems to detect the enemy. The Air Force rated the Boeing aircraft as having five times the strengths in combat as the EADS aircraft. On the ground or in the air, having more, smaller tankers can be a better tactical approach than having fewer, larger tankers. Fourth, the Airbus 330’s ability to hold more fuel does not necessarily translate into its being able to fuel more planes. Although the Boeing 767 tanker has a smaller overall fuel load, it has plenty of fuel to accommodate what history has demonstrated are real-world refueling conditions. The excess capacity of the Airbus plane may turn out to be just that – excess. Fifth, the EADS boom – the airborne fuel line and nozzle that actually delivers the tanker’s fuel to awaiting aircraft – remains in development. EADS has never built a mission-ready midair refueling boom, while Boeing has built 2,000 tankers over seven decades and is now rolling out its fifth-generation operational boom. Boeing’s tanker is operational, and two have already been delivered to Japan. Australia’s order for the EADS tanker has yet to be filled with a tanker that actually works. Finally, the Airbus taker is not able to fuel the new V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft which will be increasingly important in deploying U.S. troops. The Boeing tanker can. Is the Air Force relegating the V-22 only to short-range missions, and thereby telling our potential enemies that the V-22’s range -- and our ability to project power with it -- will be unnecessarily limited? These credible and very troubling reports that the Airbus platform is overly large, is unable to operate on as many airfields, is unable to fuel the V-22, and is both incomplete and unproven compel us to urge your attention to these matters. We respectfully ask that you investigate the decision making process by which the Air Force awarded the tanker contract to EADS, and require the Air Force purchase a tanker that best fits the needs of America’s war fighters. Signed, Rear Adm. Paul W. Rohrer (Ret.), McLean, Virginia Allan E Hesters, LTC, U.S. Army (Ret.), Randleman, North Carolina COL Richard H. Black (USA Ret.), Loudoun County, Virginia Colin Hanna, U.S. Navy veteran, West Chester, Pennsylvania Captain Brian Hennaman, West Point Class of ’95, Midlothian, Virginia Ivory White, MSG-E8, Army retired, West Valley City, Utah Lieutenant Jeb Wilkinson, U.S. Navy veteran, Woodbridge, Virginia Sergeant Jim Martin, USMC veteran, Washington D.C. David Castillo, U.S. Navy veteran, Seattle, Washington Captain Ben Nelsen, Air Force (Ret.), Brighton, Colorado James R Fagersten, LTC (Ret), Duck, North Carolina LTC A.J. Scott, Colorado Springs, Colorado Richard E. Edelman, LTC (Ret), Army Aviator, McLean, Virginia Dr. Kent B. Davis, Captain US Air Force, Lehi, Utah Colonel Jackie Jackson (USMC Ret.), Wildwood, Missouri SGT Gary Wark, Army (Retired), Pleasanton, California Retired Air Force J. White, Abeline Texas (Ret) Don Robinson, Army, Salt Lake, Utah (Ret) Ronald Haertel, Chief Master Sgt., Air Force (Retired), Farmington, Utah Charles R Warren, Air Force, E-5, (Retired), Las Vegas, Nevada William Pizza, Navy (Retired), Holladay, Utah Edward McCormick, Captain, Marines, Former Pilot (Retired), Sonoma, California Cpl Nelson M. Brown Army Veteran, Ogden, Utah Don Smith, Army, Captain, Salt Lake, Utah (Ret) Sam Abeldeez, Army, Salt Lake, Utah Keith Newberry, Army, 1st Sgt., Charleston, South Carolina (Ret) |
Campaign Reax to DNC Rules Meeting
Posted: 01 Jun 2008 08:27 AM CDT
Obama's Press Avail on Trinity United
Posted: 01 Jun 2008 08:49 AM CDT
