12/3/07 Monday Conservatively Speaking

China blocked two U. S. minesweepers from entering Hong Kong to shelter from a typhoon and to resupply. This was before it blocked the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and its task force from docking over the Thanksgiving holiday.

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he Iowa caucuses are 31 days away. Obama leads in Iowa; Clinton is second and Edwards third among Democrats. Iowa Democrats don’t want to “get it wrong again” as they did last time with John Kerry, and they worry Hillary has too much baggage. Obama is surging in New Hampshire and things are nearly tied up in South Carolina but with a remarkable 49% undecided. Oprah Winfrey dives in this next week for Obama and could become the change agent.

Republican Huckabee leads in Iowa ahead of Romney and trailed by Giuliani followed by Thompson who is barely in sight. In New Hampshire it’s Romney, Giuliani, McCain and Huckabee. Sunday the critically important Manchester Union Leader endorsed McCain. In South Carolina the race is nearly knotted up..

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) meets this Thursday in California and John McCain will lead a program on transforming government. McCain believes States must lead while Congress is gridlocked.

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he Politico.com disclosed on Wednesday that then Mayor Rudy Giuliani billed obscure New York City agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in so-called ‘tryst funds’ for security costs while they were “guarding” him during an extramarital affair with Judith Nathan at her out-of-the-city condo in the Hamptons on Long Island. Those costs were billed to obscure city agencies to try to cover them up and prevent his fornication with Nathan – now his wife – from coming to light. That the fiscal fornication or for that matter their fornication took place is not debated. Giuliani’s camp lamely explains it was done because the NYPD paid its bills so slowly. City officials have called that excuse the product from the southern end of a north bound horse. Many believe Hillary Clinton planted the story because she is convinced she has the Democrat nomination sewed up and keeping with the genital nature of the story she wants Giuliani politically emasculated.

Disgraced NYC Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik came to Giuliani’s defense the other day testifying that the billing was fine – just what Giuliani did not need.

Next week’s NEWSWEEK raises questions about Rudy’s connection with Qatar, homebase for the U.S. Central Command. Michael Isikoff implies he entered into “an unusual arrangement” to provide the Qatari government with “strategic advice” on counterterror issues and protection of the country’s oil and gas pipelines, ports and other facilities. Giuliani it says earned $4.1 million from his management consulting firm in that year. It can not point to anything wrong but says, “… he has never disclosed all of his clients, raising inevitable questions about financial ties that face all presidential candidates.” In sum this is a lot of snot and boogers being flung Rudy’s way. Did Hillary plant this story – one wonders.

“Leaving no stone unturned” is a phrase meaning having made all possible efforts to complete a task. It dates from 477 BC when the Greek Polycrates defeated Persian King Mardonius and failing to find his treasure consulted the oracle at Delphi who advised “leave no stone unturned.” Polycrates’ intensified his search finding the treasure. In 410 BC Aristophanes called the phrase “an old proverb” making it perhaps our oldest surviving idiom.

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ikhail Gorbachev has recently been effusive in his praise of current Russian President Vladimir Putin in the run-up to yesterday’s Russian Parliamentary election and was rewarded with a free pass from his political purgatory in the form of a nominal, non-legislative appointment. His support appears contradictory to his role two decades ago with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan to reshape the world by ending the Cold War, disassembling the Soviet Union, freeing Eastern Europe and installing democracy in the former autocratic communist state. Mikhail’s endorsement of Putin, a man seemingly determined to pivot Russia and scamper back to the good or bad old days as your perception may allow feels like Gorbachev is hoping to return to his ethos of working from within to make change. In this case Mikhail’s role may be more of a bottle stopper preventing what he accomplished from being poured down the drain to feed a weakened but still dangerous Russian bear.

As yesterday’s ballots are counted it looks like the idea of a return to Russian hegemony – even as a shadow of its former giant bear self – is something a prideful nation craves. Putin’s United Russia party appears heaed for a 60% plus majority in the Duma (Russia’s ‘Congress). How (Ras)Putin sets about achieving that, and whether moderating forces – like Gorbachev – can steer it out of a deep muddy ditch is the real issue.

Russia is a disorganized, crime and graft ridden shambles. For instance, last week three men were apprehended trying to smuggle and sell for $1 million a pound of what is believed to be weapons grade enriched Uranium 235 from a former Soviet province. Where and how they got something as rare and supposedly guarded is a mystery. It takes more than 25 times that amount to achieve a critical mass and all sorts of electronics and conventional explosives to trigger a high order nuclear explosion but it would be plenty to make a “dirty bomb”. Such a “dirty” device could spread radioactivity over several square blocks of a city – shutting down Wall Street for instance and requiring costly, time consuming decontamination. Of course that would create panic largely pumped up by disinformation from media hysterics even though casualties would likely be limited to any caused by the conventional explosive charge used to disperse the radioactive particles.

Last February killjoy Congressman John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would proudly introduce legislation to stop the U. S. troop surge in Iraq. Last week he grinchingly admitted the surge was in fact working. That prompted reports that Nancy Pelosi was having a fit – her staff said she wasn’t but others say she and Senate Leader Reid, America’s designated boobs, are mad as hornets. In February the crotchety Congressman vilified Bush’s plan to send more troops to Baghdad and al Anbar province and predicted it simply could not and would not work. Sunday’s Washington Post acknowledged the military progress in Iraq also Sunday Sen. Chuck Webb (D) Va. grimly hewed the party line pooh-poohed that but posturing his national aspirations – which Webb glibly denied.

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enezuelans defeated Chavez’s Constitutional amendments that would have allowed him its presidency for life. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated pro and con in Venezuela on the eve of elections to change its Constitution to allow radical Communist President Hugo Chavez unlimited terms as President and make other drastic changes. Human Rights Watch warned the changes would threaten fundamental rights, citing one revision allowing the president to declare indefinite states of emergency during which the government could detain citizens without charge and censor the media. Chavez’s close friend, ally, fellow paranoid, and reprobate Fidel Castro said Friday he has warned the Venezuelan leader to watch out for assassination attempts. Chavez is vilely anti-U. S. and has accused it of plotting and backing a unsuccessful assassination plot against him in 2002.

Chavez barred election observers from the Organization of American States and European Union which were present in the past. Last election most observers believed Chavez stole it. Ironically or sadly the doddering former U. S. President Jimmy Carter certified that it was fair and Chavez prevailed leading directly to this situation. Wgat Cahvez will do now is uncertain.

Russian Chess wizard Garry Kasparov called yesterday’s Russian elections a farce predicting his country is moving toward a dictatorship and complained vigorously about what he sees as election fraud. He just got out of jail last week for speaking similar things.

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cCain looks like a soothsayer for calling CNN the “Clinton News Network” two weeks ago. Last week CNN was found to have invited and paid for the travel of Hillary advisor Retired Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr who is openly homosexual and who asked a question about homosexuals in the military at last week’s Republican debate. At least three others participating in the YouTube debate segment have been revealed to be Democrat operatives or at least supporters. CNN said they didn’t know. Skeptics asked why the news network didn’t vet the questioners despite carefully screening those who participated in the prior Democrat debate and received only a incoherent answer.

Roman soldiers were partly paid in salt, a valuable commodity. That portion of their pay was called salarium from the Latin “sal” meaning salt. Our modern word “salary” derives from the practice. Also it is the source of the idiom “not worth his salt” meaning one who does not or can not do their job.

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he NEW YORK POST said Friday conservative Americans are seeing Rudy Giuliani as the “gun-grabbing, abortion-supporting philanderer” they don’t like, and inferred that is part of the reason for his drop in the polls. Giuliani has reversed course of his strategy to ignore Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and win Florida as his own unique way to get to the Republican nomination and hopefully the White House, and he’s now fighting back in all three. Rudy now trails in all three of those “first states.” The POST concludes by saying “his Florida strategy might still work, especially since just one week later a host of other big states - including New York, New Jersey and California, all where he fares well - will decide who the GOP nominee will be.”

If you counted one number per second, it would take you 31,000 years to reach ONE TRILLION. Take a deep breath and begin – NOW.

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n Saturday, conservative Sen. Tom McClintock attended no less than three events for GOP presidential hopeful Fred Thompson in Southern California. McClintock says he is “head over heels” for Fred after being disappointed by the other GOP candidates. McClintock is one of those who would benefit from passage of Proposition 93 the so-called “term limit reform” measure placed by the current legislature on the February ballot. Ironically McClintock is said to be carefully considering establishing a think tank in Sacramento in preparation of another bid for Governor in 2010 and his likely opponent will be billionaire Insurance Commissioner Poisner who is bankrolling the defeat of 93.

The U. S. ARMY met its recruiting goal in October for the first time in 2008. About one fifth are high school drop outs and many more have “waivers” for police records. The other branches continue to meet and exceed their goals and without lowered standards. The Navy and Marines continue to exceed their recruitment targets while sticking to tough requirements. A smart aleck retired Navy buddy, still working at the Pentagon, emailed me these stats saying it is a good thing we got in when we did or the Navy wouldn’t have us now. A Marine reminded me that ARMY means AREN’T READY (to be) MARINES YET.

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he U.S. military is experiencing a “suicide epidemic” with veterans killing themselves at the rate of 120 a week. At least 6,256 U.S. veterans committed suicide in 2005 — an average of 17 a day — with veterans overall more than twice as likely to take their own lives as the rest of the general population. The national rate is between 18.7 and 20.8 per 100,000. That rate rose to 22.9 to 31.9 suicides per 100,000 among veterans aged 20 to 24 — almost four times the non-veteran average for the age group. But, the CBS NEWS research fails to take into account that veterans are overwhelmingly male and young males tend to suicide more but, nevertheless the suicide rate among vets is still greater. There are 25 million veterans in the United States.

“Not everyone comes home from the war wounded, but the bottom line is nobody comes home unchanged,” says Paul Rieckhoff, a former Marine and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America. For better or worse the military is not now nor has it ever been a place to resolve personal troubles. Its job is such that it molds for conformity rather than reforms. The Department of Veterans Affairs spends some three billion dollars a year on mental health services. As a psychiatrist once told me, “if you are crazy when you come in you’ll be crazy when you get out.”

Another disturbing report says that 9 of 1,000 U. S. service personnel are classified as deserters an increase from 7 of 1,000 a year before. Most deserters are from the ranks of the U. S. Army, and during first enlistments. This is the highest dissertation rate since Vietnam. The Canadian Supreme Court has closed down sanctuary for deserters there which they enjoyed during the Vietnam era.

The so-called epidemic is at least partly due to lowered standards that tend to attract more troubled and less stable recruits.

Paris Hilton’s trash is being sold on eBay where an empty Coke can got $51; a used toothbrush $305; an empty can of Party Animal dog food $305 and two envelopes addressed to her in jail $510. Even though P. T. Barnum never said it, “There is a sucker born every minute.”

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he famous “sucker born every minute” phrase resulted from the infamous Cardiff Giant hoax of the 1860-70s when an erstwhile paleontologist / anthropologist had a giant carved from stone, treated it with ink and acid and buried it on a Cardiff, NY farm. The petrified creature was “discovered” a year later and the hoaxer charged thousands .50 cents each to see it. A banker named Hannum bought the hoax and exhibited it to tens of thousands for $1 a peek. When P. T. Barnum’s $60,000 3-month lease offer was rejected he made his own giant claiming Hannum’s was a fake. Hannum sued Barnum but the whole rumpus was tossed from court when it was found both were frauds. At that Hannum philosophically said, (Well) “there’s a sucker born every minute” going on to something else just as circus – side showman P. T. Barnum did. The Cardiff Giant is on display today at the Farmer’s museum in Cooperstown, New York

 

Not bizarre enough? Paris Hilton is resurrecting her grubby image by highlighting the problem of drunk elephants in northeastern India. The pachyderms get drunk on farmers’ homemade rice beer and go on a rampage. In one of her more vacuous pronouncements the 26-year-old said, “We need to stop making alcohol available to elephants.” Earthshaking.

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orking the graveyard shift, as I did for 5 years while in college, will soon be listed as a “probable” cause of cancer. Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen. The American Cancer Society says it will likely follow. Up to now, the U.S. organization has considered the work-cancer link to be “uncertain, controversial or unproven.” Scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm, the body’s biological clock. The hormone melatonin, which can suppress tumor development, is normally produced at night.

Personally I’m more concerned about having drunk several thousand gallons of the world’s worst coffee at the L & J Truck Stop in Morristown, Ohio between 3 and 5AM – it was warmer and overall better than standing on Interstate 70 in a snow storm all night.

A feral cat in Tennessee survived 19 –days with its head stuck inside a peanut butter jar despite numerous people’s best effort to catch and dislodge its head. Finally when the cat was too weak to flee it was freed and is being nursed back to health proving once again that cats do indeed have nine lives.

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