With all the serious problems and issues this country is facing what are our congress critters debating? The use of steroids by a bunch of baseball players. Honestly, who gives a damn? In amateur sports, like the Olympics, I can see why there would be concern about performance enhancing drugs. But here, we are talking about professional athletes. We pay good money to see them perform and we want to see them excel. If they choose to use steroids to improve their professions then so be it. Quit wasting our time.
We’ve got more important things to worry about. You know, like a tanking economy, an endless war in Iraq, outsourcing of American workers jobs, bludgeoning trade deficits and hard working families loosing their homes to greedy banks and crooked mortgage brokers. We have a congress on the take from a myriad of lobbyist, too corrupt to serve the interest of the people in their scramble to rake in special interest money.
We’ve got a field of candidates, hand chosen by the media, who are all unsuitable for the highest office in the land. They all ignore the invasion of criminals crossing our borders, instead locking up our protectors of those borders for doing their job. Ramos and Campean sit in jail while the drug dealing turd they shot in the ass is out free. Free to peddle more drugs across our open borders. The locked up the wrong people, the politically motivated District Attorney and idiot judge that imprisoned these heroes are the ones who belong behind bars.
But, in the meanwhile, the empty suits in congress are grilling a bunch of guys who just play ball, while the country collapses around their ears. Come on guys, for crying out loud, its just a game.
I’m so sick of McCain’s sanctimonious bullshit I can’t even watch him on the tube anymore. Hell, he isn’t even a “native born” American citizen and has no business being on the ballot. He was born in Panama. Maybe it is time to send him back.
His hypocrisy is absolutely breathtaking. He mouths the words that he is a maverick. This from one of the most entrenched Washington insiders ever. He absolutely swears he didn’t have an affair with that woman. You know the one, the lobbyist Vicki Iseman.
According to the New York Times, his close ties with the telecommunications lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, caused concern among his aides.
She accompanied him to fundraising events, visited his offices and travelled with him on a client’s corporate jet, the paper said, leading aides to believe a romantic relationship had formed.
Quoting an anonymous source, the article claimed that Mr McCain’s advisers instructed staff members to block the woman’s access, “privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him”. (Source: BBC)
Yeah, John like we believe that. Not all of us were in diapers when you were in the center of the Keating Banking scandal. You’ve still got some dirty laundry and your holier than thou blather doesn’t carry water.
In early 1987, at the beginning of his first Senate term, McCain attended two meetings with federal banking regulators to discuss an investigation into Lincoln Savings and Loan, an Irvine, Calif., thrift owned by Arizona developer Charles Keating. Federal auditors were investigating Keating’s banking practices, and Keating, fearful that the government would seize his S&L, sought intervention from a number of U.S. senators.
At Keating’s behest, four senators–McCain and Democrats Dennis DeConcini of Arizona, Alan Cranston of California, and John Glenn of Ohio–met with Ed Gray, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, on April 2. Those four senators and Sen. Don Riegle, D-Mich., attended a second meeting at Keating’s behest on April 9 with bank regulators in San Francisco.
Regulators did not seize Lincoln Savings and Loan until two years later. The Lincoln bailout cost taxpayers $2.6 billion, making it the biggest of the S&L scandals. In addition, 17,000 Lincoln investors lost $190 million.
In November 1990, the Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation into the meetings between the senators and the regulators. McCain, Cranston, DeConcini, Glenn, and Riegle became known as the Keating Five. (Source: Slate)
Well John, you might be able to get away with that crap in Panama, but we don’t need you making our country another banana republic. Quite honestly I think America is fed up liars and crooks. Why don’t you pack your bags, don your Panama hat and head south of the border where corruption is an accepted fact of political life.
Sergeant Keeble, Woody to his comrades, was one of the most decorated soldier in North Dakota. He served in both World War II and Korea. Sergeant Keeble joined the North Dakota National Guard in 1942 and soon found himself fighting in Guadalcanal. He experienced some of the heaviest action in the Pacific theater.
“I heard stories from James Fenelon, who served with him there, and he would talk about how the men of the 164th rallied around this full-blooded Sioux Indian whose accuracy with the Brown Automatic Rifle was unparalleled,” Hawkins said. “It was said he would go in front of patrols and kill enemies before his unit would get there.”
The Sioux have a word for that kind of bravery, according to Hawkins – wowaditaka. “It means don’t be afraid of anything, be braver than that which scares you the most.” Keeble personified the word according to fellow Soldiers, and earned the first of four Purple Hearts and his first Bronze Star for his actions on Guadalcanal. (Source: Military.com)
After the war Sergeant Keeble returned to his home in Wahpeton, N.D. But soon the Korean War broke out and the Sioux warrior again answered the call and returned to active duty. It was there that he would distinguish himself again as a warrior. His heroic actions in Korea would lead eventually to his nomination for the Medal of Honor.
“Woody used to tell people he was more concerned about losing his men than about losing his own life,” he added. “He pushed his own life to the limit. He wasn’t willing to put his fellow Soldiers’ lives on the line.”
Armed with grenades and his Browning Automatic Rifle, Keeble crawled to an area 50 yards from the ridgeline, flanked the left pillbox and used grenades and rifle fire to eliminate it, according to Sagami. After returning to the point where 1st Platoon held the company’s first line of defense, Keeble worked his way to the opposite side of the ridgeline and took out the right pillbox with grenades. “Then without hesitation, he lobbed a grenade into the back entrance of the middle pillbox and with additional rifle fire eliminated it,” Sagami added.
Hawkins said one eyewitness told him the enemy directed its entire arsenal at Keeble during his assault. “He said there were so many grenades coming down on Woody, that it looked like a flock of blackbirds.” Even under heavy enemy fire, Keeble was able to complete his objective. Only after he killed the machine gunners did Keeble order his men to advance and secure the hill.
After the action in Korea his commanders submitted his paperwork and recommendations for the Medal of Honor. The paperwork was lost or destroyed and Keeble never got the medal. And he never complained about it either. He said he went to war because it was his duty, not for medals.
March 2, 2008 Sergeant Keeble will be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. It is an honor long overdue.
People need to stop and remember. A Pittance of Time is a reminder of the debt owed our veterans. It only takes a minute to show our gratitude for those who came before us and pray for those now serving. Without our veterans, those brave men and women who lay their lives on the line everyday for our way of life, this country would not exist.
Lets keep our servicemen and women fighting now in our hearts and pray for their safe return to their family, friends and a grateful nation.
Sometimes my non-riding friends ask, “why do you do it?”
Unless you’re a biker it is hard to understand why we ride. There is great solace in a long ride through the countryside. Early mornings in the cool air clears your head and makes everything seem right. The open road is a great place to work out the frustrations that build up coping with the every day grind. The best part about work it the ride getting there.
Joe Janiak, the guy performing this song, really nails it.
Only other bikers, and their dogs understand the joy we get riding in the wind. Why hell, we can ever tell where we are by the taste of the bugs.
Today President Bush recognized Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia. Sounds nice, right? Well it is just another example of the total disconnect between this administration and reality. While Bush embraces the new democracy in Kosovo he completely ignores very old and reliable intelligence. Three of the last four prime ministers of Kosovo have been members of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). The KLA has close ties with Al Qaeda and has been long associated with Osama bin Laden. Duh!
It is difficult to understand why the US under President George W. Bush has seemingly gone out of its way following the 9/11 Islamist/Al Qaeda attacks–the worst-ever attacks on US soil –to alienate post-Soviet-era Russia. Three out of the last four prime ministers elected in Kosovo were senior members of the Al Qaeda-connected Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Hashim Thaci, was the leader of the KLA.
The KLA has been credibly linked to Al Qaeda leader Osama Binladen. In 1998, Fatos Klosi, the head of SHIK (Albania’s intelligence service), told London’s Sunday Times newspaper that Binladen had visited Albania to send units to fight in Kosovo. In 1999, the Washington Times reported that it had obtained intelligence documents that showed a “link” between Binladen and the KLA–including a common staging area in Tropoje, Albania, a center for Islamic terrorists.
The KLA’s terrorist character was no secret. In 1998, Robert Gelbard, the US special envoy for Kosovo, told AFP that “the KLA is, without any questions, a terrorist group.” (Source: China Confidential)
Hashim Traci, the present Prime Minister, has a rather colored past. He has long been a member of the KLA. The same organization with known ties to Al Qaeda and bin Laden. His action brings a Muslim state to Europe and has Russia and other facing Islamofascist extremest radicals wondering if this will become a trend. Who is next, Georgia? Albania? This could destabilize the entire area and introduce terrorist organizations into the breadbasket of Europe.
Thaci has vowed to make the independence declaration “in close co-ordination” with those countries likely to recognise it – the United States and several EU members.
Serbia – supported by Russia – remains implacably opposed to independence for Kosovo, and has threatened unspecified sanctions against anyone who “infringes international law”, as Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica prefers to put it.
Hashim Thaci was formerly political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the guerrilla group that fought against Serb forces in the late 1990s. (Source: BBC)
So who exactly is the KLA? According to Wikipedia they are a dangerous organization.
There have been widespread reports of war crimes committed by the KLA both during and after the conflict. These have been directed against both Serbs, other ethnic minorities (principally Roma) and against ethnic Albanians accused of collaborating with the Serb authorities. According to a 2001 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW):
The KLA was responsible for serious abuses… including abductions and murders of Serbs and ethnic Albanians considered collaborators with the state.
It is also believed that the KLA has played a key role in the ethnic cleansing, kidnappings and murder of Serbs and other ethnic minorities after the end of the war. HRW writes:
Elements of the KLA are also responsible for post-conflict attacks on Serbs, Roma, and other non-Albanians, as well as ethnic Albanian political rivals… widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to Serbs, Roma, and other minorities and the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries… combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities… elements of the KLA are clearly responsible for many of these crimes.
The KLA is also accused of intentionally provoking attacks by Yugoslav security forces against civilian targets by, for example, staging attacks from villages, knowing that the response would create bad publicity for the government forces in the international media:
The KLA… engaged in military tactics in 1998 and 1999 that put civilians at risk. KLA units sometimes staged an ambush or attacked police or army outposts from a village and then retreated, exposing villagers to revenge attacks. Large massacres sometimes ensued, helping publicize the KLA’s cause and internationalize the conflict. (Source: Wikipedia)
Another source describes them as an organized criminal organization. Nothing surprises me anymore. This administration doesn’t seem to get it. You sleep with gangster and thugs and you’re going to be lumped together with them.
Despite its links to organized crime and Al Qaeda, the KLA rebel army had been skillfully heralded by the Western media in the months preceding the 1999 NATO bombings as broadly representative of the interests of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Its leader Hashim Thaci had been “designated” (by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright) as chief negotiator at the Rambouillet peace talks.
The fact of the matter is that the Atlantic Alliance had been supporting a terrorist organization. The KLA was not supporting the rights of ethnic Albanians. Quite the opposite.
The activities of this terrorist organization on the ground, in Kosovo, provided NATO and the US with the pretext to intervene on humanitarian grounds, claiming that the Serb authorities had committed human rights violations against ethnic Albanians, when in fact the NATO sponsored KLA was involved in terrorist acts on behalf of NATO, which triggered a response from the Serb police and military. (Source: Global Research)
So what can we say? Happy Independence Day Kosovo! Now lets see what develops.
It is no secret that GW Bush has been buying land in Paraguay. He has been at it for awhile now. Speculation has been it is because Paraguay has no extradition treaty with the United States. Once Bush is out of the White House and the rest of the world gets around to figuring out what he’s done, he will be out of reach. Or, if you like conspiracy theories, you will find that the present administration has been strong arming the Paraguay government to grant total immunity to any United States troops in their country for any crimes committed. What is that all about? I wasn’t aware we had any troops in Paraguay. But then maybe the administration has plans no one else has been made aware of. Maybe they have Weapons of Mass Deception and pose an imminent threat to the United States.
For more than a year, the US has been exerting economic and diplomatic pressure on South America countries to grant immunity from prosecution to US troops stationed there if any “excesses” are committed such as in Iraq and Afghanistan. US troops are immune from prosecution in Colombia as evidenced by the recent scandal of US military running drugs out of Colombia to the US and not being returned to Colombia to face charges.
The Paraguayan Congress granted immunity to US troops in its territory within the framework of a government to government agreement Military and Bilateral Interchanges and Exercises which was passed on May 5, 2005. THis opened the door to the regionalization of Plan Colombia in the south. This agreement will run from June 1, 2005 to December 31, 2006 and can be extended as was the access of the US military to the Manta base in Ecuador.
Under this agreement US soldiers will virtually hold diplomatic status. They will not be able to be tried for crimes committed in Paraguay and since the US does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, any human rights violations will also go unpunished and extreme cases be dealt with by a “slap on the wrist” in a US military court.
Recently, when Venezuela broke military cooperation ties with the US, a U.S. service woman was apprehended taking photographs of the Libertador air base in Maracay. She was arrested and turned over the US authorities. Chavez then warned that any other US military personnel found committing any other crimes in Venezuela would be tried in a Venezuelan court, and not returned to the US. This was a statement of sovereignty in the face of US intimidation. (Source: Axis of Logic).
What is interesting is the speculation that old George was interested because the area he is buying sits on one of the largest aquifers in the world. That makes some sense. George is a pseudo Texan who couldn’t even find oil in Texas. Maybe he can find water easier. But then now the news comes out that Paraguay is on top of some of the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. You can bet George didn’t find it on his own. See old George is like that post turtle. You see them sitting on the top of a fence post and you wonder. You know he didn’t get up there by himself.
Pantera Petroleum (PTPE) has just revealed the early indicators of a world-record oil / gas discovery in Paraguay’s first Super-Field. These potential reserve numbers – which are included in a 2007 independent geological report by world-renowned Energy Consulting International, Inc. – are the BIGGEST I have ever seen.
Pantera Petroleum Inc. has rights to five concessions in northern Paraguay, covering nearly 16,000 square kilometers, with combined potential reserves of 6.7 TCFE of gas or 1100 million barrels of oil.
So what is old George up to? Is he hedging against the future of this country? You know the one he bankrupt like he did Texas before. Rumor has it Deadeye Dick has already built a bunker to hide in on the Bush estate and the two of them are going to hold up until the country runs dry. Haven’t we heard about this before? Didn’t Georgie remind us, “don’t forget Paraguay!” or was that Poland.
Well Senator Craig is in the news again. You remember him, the politician from Idaho who was arrested for propositioning a police officer in the men’s room at an airport? He said he was guilty, before he said he was not. Well now he’s back. The senate chose to admonish him today, but Larry isn’t taking it laying down.
Craig, 62, was arrested in an airport men’s room in June after an undercover officer in an adjoining stall accused him of soliciting sex. Craig quietly pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge two months after his arrest without consulting a lawyer.
Craig released a statement Wednesday: “While I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the conclusions reached by the Senate Ethics Committee, from the outset I have encouraged the Committee to act in a timely fashion and they have done so. I will continue to serve the people of Idaho.”
An Ethics Committee staff member told CNN that the committee stopped short of full adjudication hearings, which could have been either public or private. The staffer said that the committee also stopped short of recommending any further action to the full Senate, such as censure. (Source: CNN)
The senator now denies it all. He swears he did nothing wrong. In fact he has vehemently defended himself, spending money he got from his campaign funds!
The committee also criticized Craig for using more than $200,000 in campaign funds to pay legal fees related to his case and for flashing his Senate business card at the officer who arrested him. The letter said that move could be seen as an improper attempt to receive “special and favorable treatment.”
But the real laugh is the letter the senate issued. They talk about Craig bringing discredit on the Senate body. What a joke! This senate lacks all credibility even without Larry Craig amongst its numbers. They sure have an inflated opinion of themselves.
Craig, who is married, denies he is gay.
The Ethics Committee criticized his appeal, saying his claims that he was coerced into pleading guilty and that he did not know what he was doing “do not appear credible.”
It called his effort to withdraw the guilty plea “an attempt to evade the legal consequences of an action freely undertaken by you.”
“The conduct to which you pled guilty, together with your related and subsequent conduct as set forth above, constitutes improper conduct reflecting discreditably on the Senate,” the letter states.
It will be interesting to see if Senator “I’m not gay” Craig runs for office again. I’m sure the people of Idaho will have something to say about it.
Florida and the rest of the country lost a national treasure. His name was Harry Landis and he was one of the last surviving World War I vets in America. Mr. Landis lived in Sun City Center, Florida. He was 108 years old and one of only two known WWI veterans living in the United States. Now only one, 107-year-old Frank Buckles of West Virginia remains. Harry Landis was a member of the generation that came before the “greatest generation.” He lived through the Great War, before anyone could imagine the world would a few years later again be enmeshed in an other great world conflict.
He joined the Army in October 1918. The armistice was signed Nov. 11, 1918. He was discharged honorably the next month. “I never actually left my college,” Landis told the Tribune in an interview this past year. “They would send me with a mop and a bucket to clean the hospital floors. … That was my experience in the military. Seriously, it wasn’t much more than that.” (Source: Tampa Bay Online)
Interestingly, our last two survivors of World War I came from the state of Missouri. Frank Buckles, like Harry Landis, left his home state and settled elsewhere.
Buckles – now the only known surviving World War I veteran – also was born into a Missouri farm family, according to his biography with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He did see the war in Europe as an ambulance driver in France. He got there by lying about his age to a recruiter. He was only 16.
Today, he lives on his cattle ranch in Charles Town, W.Va.
“He’s doing great,” said Barbara Norman, Buckles’ caretaker. “I know he went out Saturday with some friends and had lunch, because he turned 107 on Friday.”
Veterans Affairs spokesman Jim Benson said the department did extensive outreach to try to find the last of the nation’s surviving World War I veterans: “We’re pretty confident Mr. Buckles will be the last one. Mr. Landis was the next-to-last. I’m sorry to hear about Mr. Landis.”
LeRoy Collins Jr., executive director of Florida’s Department of Veterans Affairs, expressed sorrow at Landis’ death. “He was the last World War I-era veteran in Florida, and with his passing we say goodbye to a generation,” Collins said in a statement.
Although Landis missed out on action in World War I as a teenager, he tried to enlist for World War II in 1941. The 40-something would-be enlistee was rejected for being “too old,” according to the Veterans’ Affairs biography. (Source: Tampa Bay Online)
Mr Landis was a humble man who never made or thought much about his service. To him is was simply a duty and he did it. Figuring he would be drafted he went ahead and enlisted fully expecting to serve.
Landis doesn’t figure he was particularly patriotic. He was born on Dec. 12, 1899, and enlisted in October 1918, more than a year after America entered the war.He had little choice, he says, because the government started drafting 18-year-olds.
The war ended a month later, and Landis never progressed past drilling and military instruction at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo.
His most arduous duty was hauling water and mopping a makeshift sick bay every day in the fourth-floor dormitory. Recruits reeling from pandemic influenza clogged the hospitals and spilled over to the college. When all but one of the nurses quit, Landis and other healthy recruits helped tend to their brethren. (Source: St. Petersburg Times).
Rest in peace Harry Landis. With your passing we’ve lost a part of our living history.
This happens all the time here in Florida. Someone here illegally, driving on a phony or expired tag hits and kills a citizen then runs rather than render aid. This particular case is heartbreaking. Four year old Joshua Morrow and his great uncle Ronnie Bishop, Jr. were run down by Armando Lopez Cañada and left to die.
In court this morning, after tearful pleas by Andujar and several of Joshua’s relatives, Circuit Judge Mark Wolfe sentenced Cañada to the maximum 30 years in prison. Because Cañada is in the country illegally, federal authorities will likely deport him upon release.(Source: Tampa Bay Online)
These are not the kind of people we wish to have in our community. It is good that Cañada was caught and brought to justice. It is a shame we have to house, feed and care for the dirtbag for the next thirty years. But, if we send him back to Mexico he will be back in the country in nothing flat.
On Dec. 28, 2006, just days after Joshua opened his Christmas presents, he was with his great-uncle, Ronnie Bishop Jr. About 6:50 p.m., Bishop called home to say his truck had broken down. He was going to take Joshua to get dinner.
Bishop, 42, tried to cross the Courtney Campbell parkway on foot. He held Joshua’s hand.
Assistant State Attorney Kim Seace said in court today that a car slowed and motioned for Bishop and Joshua to cross. Behind the car, Cañada didn’t slow down. He passed the car, striking Bishop and Joshua.
Some witnesses, including a nurse, stopped to help. But Bishop and Joshua were dead.
I think the victims families should have the right to sue whoever it was that employed Cañada. It would send a message to those who undermine our economy by hiring illegal aliens instead of legal residents. These employers low ball on contracts and bids because they are paying these people next to nothing. The illegal immigrant then can’t afford to register his vehicle or purchase insurance, yet he has to get to work. It is a vicious cycle that has to be stopped. If not there will be many more families shattered by the likes of Cañada.
