tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post7810876583127444298..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: McCain Best Suited to Stand Against NeoSoviet AggressionDeuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48315584852026766132008-08-19T03:46:00.000-04:002008-08-19T03:46:00.000-04:00(although there would be undeniable benefits in st...(although there would be undeniable benefits in starting over in DC)<BR/><BR/>Like if Mr Rogers swept them up and took them to his neighborhood, and left DC for us to sort out from scratch how to repopulate it.<BR/>Win win.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-81348461938702617332008-08-19T03:43:00.000-04:002008-08-19T03:43:00.000-04:00John Samford:I’m a natural optimist. I figure that...John Samford:<BR/><BR/>I’m a natural optimist. I figure that terrs will get their hands on a nuke in the next few years. <BR/>With only one device, the best place to use it is New York, New York. <BR/>So I see the MSM, Wall Street, Madison Ave. and about a million Democrats gone in a few thousandths of a second. America will be a much better place.<BR/><BR/>Understand, I’m NOT in favor of this, I happen to think it will happen and I’m looking at the positive aspects.<BR/>---<BR/>Makes you wanna invite John over for lunch, don't it?Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-11955729963454363212008-08-19T02:18:00.000-04:002008-08-19T02:18:00.000-04:00Russian peacekeepers. That's a good one.Nite.Russian peacekeepers. That's a good one.<BR/><BR/>Nite.samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-37020239315308632482008-08-19T02:06:00.000-04:002008-08-19T02:06:00.000-04:00Here's How Obama's Tax Shell Game Worksgrrnite<A HREF="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121910303529751345.html?mod=googlenews_wsj" REL="nofollow">Here's How Obama's Tax Shell Game Works</A><BR/><BR/>grrniteBobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-53544901277967578002008-08-19T01:56:00.000-04:002008-08-19T01:56:00.000-04:00Where did the Ossetians come from?The current conf...Where did the Ossetians come from?<BR/><BR/><I>The current conflict dates to the 13th century when Ossetians, a mostly Christian people speaking an Iranian language, fled the Mongol invasion of Russia, migrating south over the Caucasus Mountains. By 1801, Russian manifest destiny absorbed the Caucasus, resulting in annexation of Georgia, including South Ossetia. Georgia has since see-sawed from independence when Russia is weak to suppression when Russia is strong. South Ossetians side with Russians because their North Ossetian kinsmen remained within Russia and Russia uses Ossetians as leverage against Georgians.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/sec_rice_brokers_another_disas.html" REL="nofollow">Secretary Rice Brokers Another Disaster</A><BR/><BR/>I don't really think she did--she didn't have many cards to play. The Russians didn't seem to make much progress getting out today. But, she can at least say they are violating her agreement.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-41601351273715259832008-08-19T00:34:00.000-04:002008-08-19T00:34:00.000-04:00Oleg Deripaska didn't become Russia's richest man ...<I>Oleg Deripaska didn't become Russia's richest man by making mistakes. But an investment in tiny Montenegro got the better of him, proving that even business-savvy oligarchs can stumble.<BR/><BR/>...<BR/><BR/>Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica is not one Mr. Deripaska's finer investments.<BR/><BR/>...<BR/><BR/>But if loyalty was part of the reason for making the KAP investment, it came at a price. Closing the smelter risks political disaster for Mr. Deripaska and might sour relations between Montenegro and Russia.<BR/><BR/>...<BR/><BR/>It looks like Mr. Deripaska will have to endure KAP's losses, and a slight blow to his ego, for some time.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080818.wrmontenegro19/BNStory/Business" REL="nofollow">Montenegro Miasma</A>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-23225500413071132008-08-19T00:22:00.000-04:002008-08-19T00:22:00.000-04:00Allen West for Congress!<A HREF="http://www.allenwestforcongress.com/" REL="nofollow">Allen West for Congress!</A>Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-76927233852275642892008-08-19T00:05:00.000-04:002008-08-19T00:05:00.000-04:00In the heady days after the fall of the Soviet Uni...In the heady days after the fall of the Soviet Union, there <I>was</I> some talk of bringing Russia into NATO, odd as it seems.<BR/><BR/>One day the Russians will look to the west for help with China, dad predicted.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73302679924734513382008-08-19T00:00:00.000-04:002008-08-19T00:00:00.000-04:00Sounds like "The Audacity of Stasis, definition #2...Sounds like "The Audacity of Stasis, definition #2" to me, Doug.<BR/><BR/> - n., pl. sta·ses (stā'sēz, stăs'ēz).<BR/><BR/>1.)A condition of balance among various forces; motionlessness: “Language is a primary element of culture, and stasis in the arts is tantamount to death” (Charles Marsh).<BR/><BR/>2.)Pathology. Stoppage of the normal flow of a body substance, as of blood through an artery or of intestinal contents through the bowels.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-86208110745668545122008-08-18T23:43:00.000-04:002008-08-18T23:43:00.000-04:00The Republican National Committee has touted the c...<I>The Republican National Committee has touted the creation of a site called</I> <A HREF="http://www.barackbook.com/" REL="nofollow"> "BarackBook"</A> <I>that includes profile pages for many of the controversial associates that Sen. Barack Obama's critics claim he is linked to in some way.<BR/><BR/>The front page includes a friend feed much like the actual Facebook does, where additions to the site are added each week, according to the RNC. Also included are links to various press releases from the party, as well as multimedia featuring some of the people mentioned within.<BR/><BR/>Among Barack's "friends" are the already well-known real estate developer and Democratic fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, controversial Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and far-left activist William Ayers. More recently, the RNC has added CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans, Arab activist Ali Abunimah, and Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.betanews.com/article/GOP_uses_Facebooklike_site_to_expose_Obamas_friends/1219081580" REL="nofollow">Obama's 'Friends'</A>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-16983731156884889852008-08-18T23:29:00.000-04:002008-08-18T23:29:00.000-04:00William Ayers, Model Citizen?Amazingly, instead of...<A HREF="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODVlZTZlM2M5NTMxMzllMjJkODVkNzQ3YTFjMTY0NzE=" REL="nofollow">William Ayers, Model Citizen?</A><BR/><BR/>Amazingly, instead of disowning Ayers — which would make a lot more sense — Obama’s rebuttal document defends the man who implicated himself in terror bombings in his own 2001 memoir, Fugitive Days. The document calls it a “lie” that Ayers is an “unrepentant domestic terrorist” and that “the impression of Ayers’s good citizenship is incorrect.” It attempts, with endorsements from Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and two university professors, to make the case that Ayers is really a model citizen.<BR/><BR/>A model citizen — at least if you overlook the sworn congressional testimony that ties Ayers to a murder...<BR/>---<BR/><A HREF="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Y2E1MTFkZTVjZTlkOTBiYWFlYWUyM2RjYTRjNjhkMmM=" REL="nofollow">‘They Wanted More School’</A> <BR/>Obama on education reform.<BR/><BR/>In his book The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama tells of a “youth town hall meeting” he conducted in 2005 at Thornton Township High School, in what he describes as a predominantly black suburb of Chicago. To prepare for the visit by their newly elected and highly popular senator, students there were surveyed about the quality of their education, with the idea that they could present their concerns.<BR/><BR/>Obama writes:<BR/><BR/><EM>"[T]heir number one issue was this: Because the school district couldn’t afford to keep teachers for a full school day, Thornton let out every day at 1:30 in the afternoon. With the abbreviated schedule, there was no time for students to take science lab or foreign language classes.<BR/><BR/>How come we’re getting shortchanged? they asked me. Seems like nobody even expects us to go to college, they said.<BR/><BR/>They wanted more school."</EM><BR/><BR/>Senator Obama probably did not know that <STRONG>the average teacher in Thornton Township District earned an impressive $83,000 that year, short days notwithstanding.</STRONG> (The figure does not include administrators, who made much more.)<BR/>In fact, more than one-quarter of the district’s teachers made <STRONG>more than $100,000 in 2005</STRONG>, according to figures compiled from the Illinois Board of Education by Champion News under the state’s freedom of information laws.<BR/><BR/>But Obama did at least identify the short school day at Thornton as a problem. Unfortunately, he has been less than audacious about the same problem in the nearby City of Chicago — a place where the teachers’ union that strongly supports him has been shortchanging children for decades in precisely this same way.<BR/><BR/>The elementary-school day and year in Chicago proper are the shortest of any major U.S. city. It lasts five hours and 45 minutes, and the schools are open just 174 days per year. This is entirely a result of the intransigence of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), a staunch ally of Barack Obama and an early endorser of his presidential candidacy. <BR/><BR/>The CTU has vigorously resisted all attempts to increase instruction time in Chicago schools. <EM>In 2007, the CTU thwarted Mayor Richard M. Daley’s attempt to make teachers teach for full school days.</EM> They negotiated a new contract that <STRONG>contained no extra hours but significant pay raises for the next four years</STRONG>. <BR/>--- <BR/>David Freddoso - <BR/> <BR/>• <A HREF="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTBkYTYzZDNjNDgyMWJmMzMxYzljYjYxNmEwMTdhYWE=" REL="nofollow">Life Lies</A> - 08/17 <BR/><BR/>• <A HREF="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjIzYzUzMzQ3NTNlNjUyNzZmMjQ1MTNkMTMzZDFhZGE=" REL="nofollow">Dreams From My Farmer</A> - 08/05Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27112285380293536872008-08-18T23:28:00.000-04:002008-08-18T23:28:00.000-04:00• Life with Obama Abortion ChampionStanek says her...• <A HREF="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2NmMGNkMTdkZWJkZWRkMjRkNjY5NjllNzZlYjkyNmY=" REL="nofollow">Life with Obama</A> <BR/>Abortion Champion<BR/><BR/>Stanek says her friend had been told to take this baby and leave him in a soiled utility closet. She offered to take him instead. “I couldn’t let him die alone,” she says. <BR/><BR/>Stanek was horrified by this experience. This was not an abortion — it was something worse. Could it be legal to take a living and breathing person of any size, already born and outside his mother’s womb, and just leave him to die, without any thought of treatment?<BR/><BR/>Stanek’s effort to right this wrong would lead her to testify before various committees. It would lead her to a state senator, Patrick O’Malley, who would propose a bill to stop what was going on at the hospital. <BR/><BR/>Her attempt to change a corrupt medical practice and bring hope to defenseless infants would put her on a collision course with a state senator named Barack Obama...Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-62703973380404111412008-08-18T23:07:00.000-04:002008-08-18T23:07:00.000-04:00Admitting Russia to NATO. Now that would change t...Admitting Russia to NATO. Now that would change the dynamic. Think about that one.samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58408590130778217262008-08-18T23:04:00.000-04:002008-08-18T23:04:00.000-04:00Certainly a military confrontation would be a mist...<I>Certainly a military confrontation would be a mistake. Instead, the European Union especially can emphasize that Russia is acting in ways that will make the EU unwilling to negotiate on any partnership agreements.<BR/><BR/>The EU and the U.S. together can promise to continue to consider NATO membership for those former Soviet republics that apply for it -- even for Russia itself, over time.<BR/><BR/>Whether this will be a blow to Russia isn't clear. It might not be.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2008/08/putin_picks_a_fight.html" REL="nofollow">Putin Picks a Fight</A>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-36813502627983275572008-08-18T22:45:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:45:00.000-04:00goodnight, Ashgoodnight, AshBobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43138887569307598452008-08-18T22:36:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:36:00.000-04:00I like America too!I like America too!Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15797519037020308242008-08-18T22:34:00.001-04:002008-08-18T22:34:00.001-04:00I dunno Bobal, the South Ossetians seem to be pret...I dunno Bobal, the South Ossetians seem to be pretty keen. Careful of US tinted Rose colored glasses. However I shudder at the thought of living under a top down totalitarian government persecuting mouthy folk like me who insist upon spewing my nonsense. Canada's a pretty kewl place all in all.<BR/><BR/>g'nite!Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27639848351777847312008-08-18T22:34:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:34:00.000-04:00Nah, anybody can leave NATO anytime they want, isn...Nah, anybody can leave NATO anytime they want, isn't that so? And in NATO and the EU, boundary disputes, trade disputes and what not are solved through negotiation, litigation or some other civilized means.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18930933157287317472008-08-18T22:31:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:31:00.000-04:00It is instructive though, that nobody but nobody w...It is instructive though, that <I>nobody but nobody wants to be in the Russia sphere of influence.</I>Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27158551146671995242008-08-18T22:29:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:29:00.000-04:00"...not out to conquer the world."Aye, but we are ..."...not out to conquer the world."<BR/><BR/>Aye, but we are laddie, from the Russian POV (NATO designed as a deterrent to the Soviets attempting to ring the southern russian border). Cuba's but a single Island compared to the huge swath of land we're going for.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-68967143847056020012008-08-18T22:27:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:27:00.000-04:00I agree there is a real question about being used....I agree there is a real question about being used.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-65557892474974391782008-08-18T22:26:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:26:00.000-04:00Bobal, I think we are beyond good vs. bad here. I...Bobal, I think we are beyond good vs. bad here. It is not a matter of US bashing but rather the reality of global fights to control scarce resources. This is where I'm a big fan of free trade. Toss it out to the market, let the buyers decide. All this jockeying for control is....problematic. We are sinners in this game too.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-3729391716397194422008-08-18T22:23:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:23:00.000-04:00bobal,I think you want to be very, very careful on...bobal,<BR/><BR/>I think you want to be very, very careful on who you pledge to support, carte blanche, with the US military. Many, many folk want its backing simply because the power that it represents. From the US perspective however, granting our backing through NATO carries the very real possiblity that we will have to go to war under circumstances beyond our control. West Europes and US territorial intergrity seems like a reasonable place to draw a red line. Zionist Israelis desire for Eratz Israel and Georgia's desire for control of Souts Ossetia and Asbekeistaniananaan (whatever that place is called) does not. Europe is quaking at possible further Russian dominance of their oil/gas supplies. Should we go to war to protect their russia free access? Tough question that. Welcome to the modern version of Empire's attempt to expand/exist.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-21130560556391941472008-08-18T22:19:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:19:00.000-04:00"Never let a cook in the boiler"--whatever that me...<I>"Never let a cook in the boiler"</I>--whatever that means.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-85649002374411697972008-08-18T22:17:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:17:00.000-04:00After the Soviet Union fell, for that decade or so...After the Soviet Union fell, for that decade or so, they felt, like we did too, it was kind of over. Let things go to seed. But then 9/11 and now Polonium 210 Putin.<BR/><BR/>I certainly don't see the US or NATO as the villain here. We're not the jihadis, and NATO and the EU are civilized organizations, not out to conquer the world.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.com