Anti-life, Anti-reason Al-Qaeda Assassins

“We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen,” so said Al-Qaeda’s commander and main spokesperson Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid.

Adnkronos International reported that the decision to murder Ms. Bhutto was made by the assassin Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's No. 2 man. Apparently multiple death squads were formed and so one of these cells succeeded in killing Bhutto the woman who wanted to bring her country and countrymen forward into the 21st century.

Evil has succeeded in quelling a voice for moderation and liberty. But what these low-life killers have to know deep down in their bellies is that they will be annhilated as have other anti-reason, anti-life groups in the past. These people are a pathetic group of men that have taken death as their supreme value. Ultimately they will not defeat the vast majority of people of the earth who love life and want to live it and find happiness here and now not in some made-up world of after life. They will be defeated. They will be defeated.

Yes Bhutto was a precious American asset in the sense that she was one of the few voices of reason to come out of the hell-hole of the Middle East. People who use reason as their means of knowledge will finally get fed up with these monsters who use faith and worship death and defeat them as we defeated the Nazis and the suicide Imperial Japanese army in WWII. These are mosquitos compared to what we had to face 60 years ago. Let's get down to business and do it.

The SCHIP SCAM

Watch this video presenting the SCHIP via sarcasm. It's true our politicians are craven, power lusters who have lost any sense of shame and have not a shred of honor left. To present this as a health care system via using a tax on cigarettes to fund this scheme is beyond incompetence and enters the sphere of the absurd.

Where is it in the Constitution that says that the government's job is to meddle in the health care of an entire nation? Hands off on my health care! We do not want to be another Canada!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qcypRnDcCo

The Real MAN OF THE YEAR

Yup - it is official. The "idiots" at Time hate Bush so much that they ignore the most important man of the year David Petraeus in favor of another creep dictator Putin. Time - you are disgusting...Robert Tracinski, editor and publisher of the INTELLECTUAL ACTIVIST says it best:

"The idiots at Time selected Vladimir Putin as their "Person of the Year," demonstrating a complete inability to gauge the scale, size, and significance of world events—and a desperate need to evade the story of the real Man of the Year: General David Petraeus, the architect of the strategy that reversed America's fortunes in Iraq." (Read).

Our Politicians Have Outgrown Their Own Boots

With the war still going on and perhaps continuing far into the future one must not forget the war we are fighting right here in America - the war against an ever growing bloated government and corruption based on pork spending. A trillion dollars of Washington spending looks like it will be a reality fairly soon and with it will come all the waste of American citizen's hard earned money.

Will we as a people be willing to fight to get back to smaller, more responsible government? Our founding fathers intention was to invent a government that would be responsible for safety of its citizens from foreign aggression and from internal criminals and the courts. They never intended for Alaska to get a bridge to nowhere or for farmers (the wealthiest in the world) to get subsidized by other Americans. Yet that's where we are now with our young starting their working lives encumbered by the Social Security retirees of the present. It is insane. Our politicians have outgrown their own boots. Americans need to really think about the who they will vote for in these elections. We must get America back on track - the track to individual freedom from political Washington shenanigans. Maybe Rudi Giuliani is our best hope.

"With economic uncertainty weighing on the minds of many Americans, Congress is preparing to recess after another year of profligate spending, protectionist talk and promises of higher taxes. No wonder some people feel like we're moving in the wrong direction. But I'm optimistic as I look to the future. It's not our country that's moving in the wrong direction -- it's Congress, and Washington's culture of wasteful spending."

"Over the last decade, nondefense spending has increased by 65% -- the federal government currently spends $24,000 per household -- while the number of earmarked pork projects rocketed from close to 1,000 to a height of nearly 14,000. This year, with only one appropriations bill enacted, earmarks already number 2,161.

"A return to fiscal conservative principles can put America back on the right track, while giving Washington a much-needed dose of discipline.

"Fiscal conservatism is based on two fundamental principles -- cutting taxes and controlling spending. In recent years, the Republican Party has successfully cut taxes, but we have fallen short when it comes to controlling spending. The next president will need to strengthen both sides of the fiscal conservative equation, while reforming the culture of wasteful government spending with transparency and accountability. I believe I can do it because I've done it, and in a place that might even be more difficult than Washington.

"We need to keep taxes low for our economy to grow. It's not just a theory for me. I cut taxes 23 times as mayor of New York City with a Democratic City Council and State Assembly, and saw that lower taxes can result in higher revenue. Amid fears of an economic slowdown, now is the time to cut taxes, not raise them. But the Democratic presidential candidates all seem determined to impose an unprecedented $3 trillion tax hike on the American people.

Hitler's Evil Averted in Budapest in WWII

During this holiday time it is inspiring to learn something new regarding the horrible aggression against the Jews during World War II and that sometimes the action of a few men is enough to thwart evil. Just as the West was resolute with the Nazi's of 60 years ago so the West must be resolute with Terrorist states defending a religion gone mad. We must be resolute to fight evil and call it like it is in order to save the good.

Reaching out with an act of courage (Pasadena Star News)
By Randy Jurado Ertll

DECEMBER 16 marks the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, where the Allied forces turned the tide against Hitler's evil forces in 1944.

Unfortunately, millions of Jews had already been murdered throughout Europe by then.
As we remember the valiant battle against Hitler, we also should note an amazing act of courage that has not received the attention it deserves: The government of El Salvador saved the lives of more than 40,000 Hungarian Jews that same year.

Working through its consular office in Geneva, Switzerland, the Salvadoran government came up with a creative plan. It decided to issue Salvadoran citizenship papers to Hungarian Jews who would otherwise have been sent to Nazi death camps.

The authors of this plan were Salvadoran Consul Colonel Jose Arturo Castellanos and First Secretary/Honorary Consul George Mantello, who was of Jewish ancestry.

Mantello, whose original name was Mandl, spoke no Spanish and never set foot in El Salvador. But he had assisted Castellanos in business, and Castellanos more than returned the favor.
He gave Mantello his honorary position at the embassy. Mantello used it to publicize Nazi atrocities and then came up with the idea of offering citizenship to Hungarian Jews.

Castellanos embraced Mantello's efforts, and Castellanos convinced the the Salvadoran government to give citizenship papers to Hungarian Jews. The Salvadoran government then formally asked the Swiss government to accept this agreement and to obtain approval from the Hungarian government, which it did.

In Budapest, tens of thousands of Hungarians Jews were able to obtain Salvadoran citizenship papers free of charge. These were crucial for escaping the Nazi concentration camps and certain death.

Thanks to Castellanos and Mantello, El Salvador was the only country that offered nationality rights to Hungarian Jews on a massive scale during World War II.

Castellanos and Mantello deserve to be remembered as heroes.

Let us follow their example by assisting those within our own country who face deportation or oppression.

Of course, immigrants in the United States facing deportation are not nearly in the same kind of situation that Jews were in during World War II.

But the example of reaching across nationalities and across religions to assist fellow human beings in need is one that we all can take to heart.

randyertll@yahoo.com
Randy Jurado Ertll is the executive director
of El Centro de Accion Social in Pasadena.

The Mixed Up World of Black and White

The following is attributed to Andy Rooney from "60 Minutes" a few weeks back:

"I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers.. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door."

"People, think!...Search for Your Dreams Under the Rubble..."

It seems that at least the students in Iran are fed up with Ahmadinejad and authoritarianism. Students at Tehran University broke out in protest, crashing down the main gate chanting slogans for freedom including freedom for women.

"Students defied a clampdown on protests in Iran yesterday by tearing down the gates of Tehran university. "

"They chanted slogans against President Ahmadinejad and carried placards saying "Live free or die", "No war, no fascism" and "Women must decide their fate, not the state."

"They wrecked the iron-barred gates and threw stones at police, according to Iranian state radio, which said the protest ended peacefully.

"Tehran University is the largest and one of the oldest universities in Iran." (Daily Mail).

For pictures of the students and their banners go to Gateway Pundit. The following are some of their chants and statements on placards:

"People, think! We were once some of the luckiest people in the world; what happened to us? Search for your dreams under the rubble and do not sit for death to come."

"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!"

"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!"

"The University is the last bastion of freedom!"

All I can say is - IT´S ABOUT TIME THAT THESE PEOPLE DEMANDED FREEDOM!
We´ll see how long this desire for freedom lasts and what they are willing to do to get it. (See Michael Ledeen´s The Corner for video of the protests).

The Hyprocrisy in Our Congress is Stunning

In the Wall Street Journal today in their Review and Outlook section there is an article called "Waterboarding: Congress Knew". (Surprise, surprise!) The orginal article is in the Post Web site.

"One certainly may hold as abhorrent the idea of aggressively interrogating any terrorists ever, either for fear of what they might do to our people, as John McCain does, or because one thinks this violates our values. What one may not do -- at least not if one wants the system to function -- is assent to such a policy in 2002 and then, when the policy is made public, put up the pretense that one is "shocked" and appalled to learn of it."

"This is bad faith. Worse, it risks setting in motion the ruin or eventual criminal prosecution of CIA employees who in 2002 did what the Bush Administration, Congress and indeed the nation wanted them to do to protect the American people from another September 11.

"It has been widely reported by now that waterboarding was used on only three individuals... If Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues want the handling of such terrorists conformed to what they call "our values," then she should define that and put it in an explicit piece of legislation. Then let the Members vote yea or nay, in public, on the record.

"But don't sign off on such a sensitive policy at a moment when the nation's "values" support it, then later feign revulsion when you can't take the heat from the loudest in your political constituency. There was a time when politics at least assumed more backbone than that."

It is beyond understanding how morally corrupt our Washington politicians are. For people like Pelosi to say yes to waterboarding then pretend that they are revolted by it a few years later to fit some political scheme is beyond belief. What kind of people are we sending to Washington to lead this nation? That´s what we should all be asking ourselves. Another question is why can´t we find better.

"Human Caused" Global Warming Scam is Falling Apart

Another report showing that global warming IS NOT caused by human activity has been published in the prestigious scientific journal International Journal of Climatology. Their conclusion is that any attempt to control CO2 levels is totally pointless, costly and counterproductive. The question is are we going to continue to be duped by people who are only seeking a way to cash in on the gullible? I think we are smarter than that. You can read the article at Newsmax.com then go to the Journal itself and other sources online such as Heartland.org.

New Study Explodes Human-Global Warming Story by Philip V. Brennan

"As much of the U.S. is being blasted by vicious ice storms, a blockbuster report published in a prestigious scientific journal insists that the evidence shows that climate warming is both natural and unstoppable and that carbon dioxide (CO2) is not a pollutant"

"Writing in the International Journal of Climatology of the Royal Meteorological Society, professor David H. Douglass (of the University of Rochester), professor John R. Christy (of the University of Alabama), Benjamin D. Pearson and professor S. Fred Singer (of the University of Virginia) report that observed patterns of temperature changes ("fingerprints") over the last 30 years disagree with what greenhouse models predict and can better be explained by natural factors, such as solar variability.

"The conclusion is that climate change is "unstoppable" and cannot be affected or modified by controlling the emission of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, as is proposed in current legislation.

According to Dr. Douglass: “The observed pattern of warming, comparing surface and atmospheric temperature trends, does not show the characteristic fingerprint associated with greenhouse warming. The inescapable conclusion is that the human contribution is not significant and that observed increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases make only a negligible contribution to climate warming.” "

" "Our research demonstrates that the ongoing rise of atmospheric CO2 has only a minor influence on climate change. We must conclude, therefore, that attempts to control CO2 emissions are ineffective and pointless — but very costly." "

American Conservatism´s Lost Compass of Individual Rights

If you ever wondered why the Republicans look more and more like the Democrats you should read C. Bradley Thompson´s scrutinizing analysis of American Conservatism, both the Neoconservative and the Compassionate Conservative strains. In an article entitled ¨The Decline and Fall of American Conservatism" he explains the history of both strains and how the Republicans have moved so far to the left by basically hijacking the left´s premise of self-sacrifice for others but with the religious motif. It is a must read for anyone concerned about today´s political trend to ever bigger and bigger government with all the intrusions in our lives and loss of liberty which it implies. The conservatives have lost their compass, the compass of individual rights.

"Given the moral premises and methodologies of compassionate conservatism and neoconservatism, and given their prevalence today, it comes as no surprise that a Republican-dominated government has ushered in a new era of big government. Let us now take a closer look at just how big our government has become since Republicans took control of the federal government..."

"Americans must remember what conservatives have forgotten (or never fully understood): that the United States was founded on the idea that individuals have unalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are valid only if individuals morally own themselves and are the proper beneficiaries of their own efforts. Each man is a morally sovereign entity. This is why no person is legitimately the master or the slave of another. But this principle, the principle of man’s rights, is the morality of egoism applied to a social-political context. Those who refuse to recognize and embrace egoism refuse to recognize and embrace man’s rights…

"The recognition of individual rights implies three things: first, that each man must accept full responsibility for governing his own life; second, that no man should be coerced into sacrificing his liberty or property in order to satisfy someone else’s needs or wants; and third, that man’s only reciprocal social obligation is a negative obligation—to not violate the rights of others. This is what it means to live in a free and civilized society…

"Conservatives use the notion of “obligation” or “duty” as a moral counterbalance to the individualism connected with the idea of rights. For conservatives, the obligations imposed by rights represent the “duties” we owe to others, to “society,” to the “public interest,” to the “common good.” This means that the individual has an obligation to sacrifice, to give up some part of his life, for others. But to say that “rights impose obligations” is the moral equivalent of saying that food requires poison in order to be nutritious.

"Because of their fear of challenging the morality of self-sacrifice and championing the morality of self-interest, conservatives—more so than liberals—have obliterated the concept of rights in the minds of Americans…

"Capitalism is the only social system that upholds the principle of rights; it is the only system in which individuals are fully free to act on their own best judgment. At the heart of capitalism, then, is the politics of individualism (i.e., the individual free of government coercion, free to pursue his values) and, at the heart of individualism, is egoism.

"Communists, socialists, fascists, and liberals have always understood the integral relationship between egoism and capitalism. They have always known that by demonizing egoism (the ethics of self-interest), they could discredit capitalism (the politics of self-interest). Conservatives, by running from the former, have abandoned the latter…

"Because they refuse to defend capitalism morally, on the basis of egoism, conservatives have compromised and sold-out the rights of the American people. They have ceded the principled high ground to the Left by accepting the moral rationale for the welfare state—altruism and its attendant notion that “need” is a legitimate moral claim.

"Those who value freedom and capitalism must abandon altruism and the fantasy philosophies that support it (including religion). They must embrace egoism and the factual foundation for individual rights. They must defend capitalism—not only because it works better than any other social system—but also, and more fundamentally, because it is the only moral social system." (READ)

The Objective Standard: A journal of culture and politics

A Dangerous World Needs Politicians With Principles and Courage

Dan Henninger has a lucid and important article ¨Still a Dangerous Place¨ in the Wall Street Journal that is a must read for all Americans planning to vote for our next President. Regardless of the "National Intelligence Estimate" and whether you believe what it says or not the reality is that we have politicians who are not guided by a set of principles aimed at protecting our country. They are all pragmatists and in part of my brain I almost think that there are those politicians that really hate America and what she stands for historically and that some even are just plain power-lusters.

As Mr. Henninger alludes to in his article, we in the West live in a hostile world whose goal is our annhialation. No amount of diplomacy and pretending can erase that fact. What we need are politicians who love their life so much that they are willing to make the hard and maybe unpopular decisions that will save us from our destroyers. This is essentially a war to defend reason in a world full of mystical unreason -a war of good versus bad, the individual versus the state.

If we as Americans hold anything dear it must be love of our country and our freedoms and consequently we must resolve to fight for it. For this we need politicians who are honest and can think in principles. This is not the time for diplomacy with maniacal religious martyrs from the 11th century.

"The most disturbing thing about the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran wasn't the news itself, but how the episode displayed the wild and manic swings that now characterize American politics. A regular watcher of our politics could be forgiven for feeling that one isn't watching a serious country but a place that conducts its internal affairs like a Saturday morning cartoon show. Thunk! Boooinng!...

"With or without the NIE's opinion of Iran's nuclear program, that world is still a dangerous place."

Henninger next lists all of the military buildup that has happened since 2003 the year that Iran supposedly stopped it´s nuke program:

*2006 Iran performs test flights of the Shabab-2 and Shabab-3 ballistic missiles

*This week the a 1,200 mile missle was built and in September a 1,100 mile'ange Ghadr-1 missile.

*North Korea in July 2006 tested the long-range Taepodong-2, a nuclear payload-capable ballistic missile. North Korea has exported its missile technology to Iran and Pakistan. And of course Hezbollah, in the same month North Korea was testing the Taepodong-2, fired thousands of Katyusha rockets at Israel, re-establishing the operational viability of short-range bombardment.

*China is developing three strategic, long-range missiles --

*In January, after much effort to do so, China successfully used a kinetic-kill vehicle launched from a ballistic missile to destroy a satellite orbiting at 500 miles altitude.

*Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, indeed virtually all the nations of the Middle East are seeking nuclear-power capability.

"One would like more on this than we're getting from the candidates in both parties. But the Democrats especially have tied themselves to the word "diplomacy," giving the impression that the U.S. can literally talk its way out of any bad outcomes that Iran, Syria, North Korea or free-agent terrorists have planned for us.

"Put it this way: Would they, like Israel, have bombed that factory in Syria without pre-discussing it with Bashar Assad or Kim Jong-Il? No candidate's answer to that will make everyone happy. But the more than 100 million Americans who'll vote next year need a better idea than they've got of how the next president plans to deal with the world. Not the cartoon world, but the real world." (READ)

The Creeping Putin Dictatorship

It is amazing how Russia just cannot shrug off tyranny for long. But so long as the thinkers and doers in Russia go about their business acting as if liberty is not worth defending, i.e. the Atlases don't care to shrug, Putin has a wide open road to dictatorship. Gary Kasparov, the former world chess Champion is battling against tyranny with the odds against him for his is a fight to which the world has not tuned in to. It's disheartening that this man cannot get his fellow russian citizens let alone the world to pay attention to the creeping Putin dictatorship. The following is an excerpt of his recent article in The Wall Street Journal.

"First off, the penalty is not the point; the principle is. Are we to have the rule of law in Russia or not? Second, I have no intention of becoming a martyr, or in leading an opposition movement from prison. I had no illusions and now I can confirm it is not a pleasant place to be. And this is not chess, with its cold-blooded calculations. This is about honor and morality. I cannot ask people to protest in the streets if I am not there with them. At the rally on Saturday, I said our slogan must be "We must overcome our fear," and I am obliged to stand by these words."

"It is also essential to point out that these arrests are only the tip of the iceberg. Such things are taking place all over Russia on a daily basis. Opposition activists -- or just those who happen to be in the way of the administration -- are harassed and arrested on false charges of drug possession, extremism, or the latest trend, for owning illegal software.

"There is little doubt tomorrow's parliamentary elections will be as fixed as my trial. The presidential elections on March 2 will be a different sort of performance, more improvised, since even now Mr. Putin and his gang are not sure how to resolve their dilemma. The loss of power could mean the loss of fortune and freedom. Outright dictatorship would endanger their lucrative ties with the West.

"The campaign rhetoric of Mr. Putin and his supporters is genuinely frightening. Here we have an allegedly popular president who dominates the media, the parliament and the judiciary. He and his closest allies are in total control of the nation's wealth. And yet his recent speeches are hysterical rants about "enemies within" and "foreign antagonists" trying to weaken Russia -- language characteristic of totalitarian states.

"So why is Mr. Putin so scared if things are going so well? He is a rational and pragmatic person, not prone to melodrama. He knows the numbers, so why the heavy and heavy-handed campaigning if he knows he and United Russia are going to win? The answer is that he is very aware of how brittle his power structure has become. ..

"So demagoguery it is and demagoguery it will be. A violent pro-Putin youth group, Nashi, has already released a poster celebrating Mr. Putin's "crushing victory" on December 2. It also warns against the "enemies of the people of Russia," myself included, attempting to disqualify the results. These terms jibe nicely with Mr. Putin's own rhetoric of threats and fear. The ground is being prepared for greater oppression.

"The Other Russia will continue our activities because, simply, some things are worth fighting for and will not come without being fought for. All of the "minor differences" between Mr. Putin's Russia and the nations of the free world add up to one very large difference: that between democracy and tyranny."