We can't wait to hear how Members of Congress explain their vote this week for the new $300 billion farm bill. At a time when Americans are squeezed at the grocery store, they will now see more of their taxes flow to the very farmers profiting from these high food prices. This year farm income is expected to reach an all-time high of $92.3 billion, an increase of 56% in two years, making growers perhaps the most undeserving welfare recipients in American history. But that won't stop this bill from passing the House and Senate by wide margins. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was once a farm subsidy skeptic, but she now has some 30 freshman Democrats from battleground rural districts to protect. So more than $10 billion a year in giveaways to agribusiness is a necessary taxpayer sacrifice to keep her majority. Ms. Pelosi calls the bill "real reform," which is like calling Lindsay Lohan born again. For example: The bill perpetuates the so-called Hurricane Katrina gambit that allows farmers to lock in price-support payments at the lowest possible market price, and then sell their crops later at the highest possible price, and then pocket the high price and a payment from the government for the difference between the two. They in effect get paid twice for the same bushel of wheat. A bigger scam is the new income limit to qualify for subsidies. Mr. Bush sought a $200,000 annual income cap, but Congress can't bring itself to go below $750,000.Read the Wall St Journal editorial here.

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Here is the direct quote from Barack Obama. "It is wonderful to be back in Oregon," Obama said. "Over the last 15 months, we�ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I�ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."
And do you remember this gem from our Fearful Leader??
�In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died � an entire town destroyed,� Obama said in a 27-minute speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering art studio for a fundraiser.
READ IT HERE
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Read the whole story here
The average temperature in April 2008 was 51.0 F. This was -1.0 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average, the 29th coolest April in 114 years. The temperature trend for the period of record (1895 to present) is 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. 2.39 inches of precipitation fell in April. This was -0.04 inches less than the 1901-2000 average, the 54th driest such month on record. The precipitation trend for the period of record (1895 to present) is 0.01 inches per decade. Read the story here.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - In a sign of weaker global growth, both imports and exports fell sharply in March, driving the U.S. trade deficit down to $58.2 billion, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Nominal imports fell 2.9% to $206.7 billion, the largest decline in more than six years, despite record oil prices. Nominal exports dropped 1.7% to $148.5 billion, the biggest drop in nearly three years, despite higher prices for U.S. farm products. After adjusting for inflation, the real trade gap was the lowest since November 2003. Real imports of goods fell 5.4% to the lowest level since November 2005 after adjusting for the 2.8% rise in import prices. Real exports of goods fell 5.5% to the lowest level since June after adjusting for the 1.5% rise in export prices. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were looking for the trade gap to narrow to $61 billion in March, although some noted an unusual spike in imports in February that would likely be unwound in March. The trade gap was about $3 billion smaller than estimated by the Commerce Department in its first report on gross domestic product. Along with the slight downward revision to February's deficit to $61.7 billion, Friday's report implies an upward revision to the 0.6% annualized estimate for GDP in the first quarter. Americans bought fewer automobiles and less crude oil, furniture and communications equipment from overseas as the economy grew at the slowest pace since 2001. Read the entire story here.
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MAY 7, 2008
LIAR - LIAR
The homepage MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE has a fascinating post detailing some of Barack Obama's lies. Read on, he may not even be eligible to be President...
With so many lies our dear friend Barak Hussein Obama cannot keep them straight. Let us start with one so many people have heard. Obama's Mother was on Food Stamps. In an interview with Joe Klein in 2006, Obama said the following: "I was going to a fancy prep school, and my mother was on food stamps while she was getting her Ph.D."
Let us look at the truth:
The USDA Food Stamp program started in 1961 in a few pilot cities (Honolulu was not one of them). It was expanded nationwide in 1974 and the program as it is today was implemented in 1977. From Sweetness and LightNow we learn that Obama�s destitute mother was on food stamps. But I would like to know when.
There is a possibility that if she was, she was scamming the system.
[Barack Obama] was born in 1961 but his mother could not get food stamps then because a) she was married and b) they were not available then.
Then [Barack Senior] moved to a foreign country. I don�t think that we were sending food stamps to foreign nations.
When she moved back in 1965, food stamps were not available in Hawaii in 1965.
Now for the biggest lie of all: Where was Obama born?
His biography and web page says he was born on 4 August 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. But there is a problem here. NOBODY CAN FIND HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE!!!! I have looked for it. Others have looked for it. Hawaii has temporarily closed their site on Birth records, the State Department will not do a search of their database, and the Kenyans have removed the pages from their records for that day.
So where was he born? If he was born in Hawaii, he is eligible to become President. But if he was born in Kenya, then he is ineligible to become President.
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MAY 6, 2008
WHY ARE CONSERVATIVES HAPPIER THAN LIBERALS?
As a corollary to the May 5 post comes this article from "US News and World Report". The author did a lot of research to find out why generally conservatives are happy and liberals are bitter.
What's the key to happiness? Liberals might tell you a hot latte, vivid expressions of diversity, and a copy of the New York Times. That doesn't sound too bad, but in data mined for his new book, Gross National Happiness, Arthur Brooks, a professor of business and government at Syracuse University, finds that conservatives are twice as likely as liberals to say they're happy. That's not necessarily because of their politics but because they are statistically more likely to be married, go to church, and be optimistic about their future�boosting personal happiness. For liberals, the rates are lower. The author suggests that while the liberal equity agenda may be honorable, it exacts a personal toll. Indeed, happiness is full of surprises: Political ideologues are positively joyful�by making others miserable. Brooks explains to U.S. News the quirks and politics of happiness.
Read it article here.
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MAY 5, 2008
REPUBLICANS ARE MORE SANE - (seriously)
The caricature of the angry liberal is actually quite true. A recent Gallup Poll details the Mental Health of Liberals, Moderates and Conservatives. It is very telling:
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Read all about it here.
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MAY 4, 2008
WHAT IF THEY THREW A RECESSION AND NO ONE SHOWED UP??
A Recession is defined as two consecutive quarters with negative economic growth. Thus, for the economy to be in recession it must be receding for AT LEAST six months straight. Last week the 2nd quarter growth numbers were released:
The American economy remained stuck in the slow lane over the first three months of the year, expanding by a modest 0.6 percent annualized rate, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday morning. The weak performance reflected the increasingly thrifty inclinations of American consumers in the face of plummeting real estate prices, tightening credit and a deteriorating job market. Economic growth was also hampered by a continued pullback in construction and business investment. The very fact that economic activity expanded as opposed to shrinking challenged the broad assumption that the economy is ensnared in a recession. A government-appointed panel of economists ultimately decides whether a particular patch of trouble qualifies as a recession, which is defined as a �significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months.� Read about it here.
LET'S MAKE SOME MONEY!
With the US Markets up now for three straight weeks you need to be getting back in the market! Fortune Magazine ranks the 20 highest returning stocks. How does a one-year return of 341.7% sound to you? Get the list here
MAY 1, 2008
HILLARY vs. THE COFFEE MACHINE!!
Democratic Presidential Candidate and former First Lady Hillary Clinton bravely attempts to get herself a cup of coffee out of the machine. The result is hilarious. If this were a Republican the media would play this clip for months...
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APRIL 29, 2008
WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT THE POOR?
Newsweek columnist George Will recently wrote a fascinating column where he puts to rest several falsehoods about conservatism and liberalism. Specifically he lays out how conservatives are more compassionate and giving across a broad spectrum of social contributions. Specifically:
-- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).Read the entire column here.
-- Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.
-- Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.
-- Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.
-- In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.
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APRIL 27, 2008
QUICK QUIPS:
Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently at a 4-month high! NEW YORK (CNN Money.com) -- Blue chips gained Friday, with the Dow closing at a nearly 4-month high, as investors set aside worries about rising oil and gas prices and Microsoft's forecast, and scooped up a variety of financial shares. Read about it here.
Florida legislators are debating whether to issue a Christian License Plate.
YAHOO NEWS - An inmate awaiting trial on a murder charge is suing the county, complaining he has lost more than 100 pounds because of the jailhouse menu. Broderick Lloyd Laswell says he isn't happy that he's down to 308 pounds after eight months in the Benton County jail. He has filed a federal lawsuit complaining the jail doesn't provide inmates with enough food. Read more here. |
APRIL 25, 2008
"STEP RIGHT UP - GET YOUR SCORECARD HERE!"
It is so hard sometimes to remember which terrorist support which Democratic Presidential candidate. In 2006 Al Qaeda took credit for the Democratic Congressional takeover an in 2008 the world's terrorists are split over which candidate they support. Michelle Malkin has an outstanding post where she published the scorecard originaly. Be sure to copy and pass on to help the public remember which terrorist organization supports Hillary and which one supports Barack.
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APRIL 22, 2008
HERE'S TO YOU DAD
There is a good reason I haven't been posting as much lately. Yesterday we buried my father. It was an emotional wake and funeral and tho I know he is in a better place I miss him dearly. I am proud to have known him and will remember him everyday of my life. This video is a tribute to his memory. As I said in my eulogy "I think we are all better for having known him".
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APRIL 21, 2008
"WHY I LEFT GREENPEACE"
Tomorrow is Earth Day. Big Deal. This is a phony holiday designed to make us feel guilty for being prosperous and free. Ironically, the dirtiest places on earth are where there are no free market, capitalist forces to run things. Places such as China, where many countries will keep their athletes out of until the last minute before flying them for the Olympics, the former Eastern Block countries and other places where communism reigned are largely the dirties places on Earth.
One of the origninal members of Greenpeace Patrick Moore wrote an outstanding editorial in The Wall St Journal where he denounces the group as radical and dangerous:Read it all here. |
In 1971 an environmental and antiwar ethic was taking root in Canada, and I chose to participate. As I completed a Ph.D. in ecology, I combined my science background with the strong media skills of my colleagues. In keeping with our pacifist views, we started Greenpeace. But I later learned that the environmental movement is not always guided by science. As we celebrate Earth Day today, this is a good lesson to keep in mind. At first, many of the causes we championed, such as opposition to nuclear testing and protection of whales, stemmed from our scientific knowledge of nuclear physics and marine biology. But after six years as one of five directors of Greenpeace International, I observed that none of my fellow directors had any formal science education. They were either political activists or environmental entrepreneurs. Ultimately, a trend toward abandoning scientific objectivity in favor of political agendas forced me to leave Greenpeace in 1986. The breaking point was a Greenpeace decision to support a world-wide ban on chlorine. Science shows that adding chlorine to drinking water was the biggest advance in the history of public health, virtually eradicating water-borne diseases such as cholera. And the majority of our pharmaceuticals are based on chlorine chemistry. Simply put, chlorine is essential for our health. My former colleagues ignored science and supported the ban, forcing my departure. Despite science concluding no known health risks � and ample benefits � from chlorine in drinking water, Greenpeace and other environmental groups have opposed its use for more than 20 years.
APRIL 16, 2008
THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL MOVIE OF THE YEAR:
Ben Stein has a fantastic new movie out "Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed" where he clearly shows the outright bias and discrimination of any scientist who dares question anything about The Theory of Evolution. The movie premiers on Friday and the Super Trailer here is superlative! The homepage for the movie is here.
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APRIL 15, 2008
COMMON CENTS WRITES BARACK OBAMA'S NEXT SPEECH
Back by popular demand COMMON CENTS is writing Barack Obama's next speech:
"Good evening my friends! I come to you today as an agent of the future. Now for far far too long now politicians have feared the future - they have dreaded the future. I come to you with a new message "Do not fear the future"! I can say this because I humbly believe that the FUTURE LIES IN OUR FUTURE NOT IN OUR PAST. The cynic may say the future is not in our future but I can say to you without equivocation and with complete confidence that the future lies not in our past - not in the present but in the future. The past is clearly past and the present is clear in the present but the future is what lies ahead not as the cynics say in the past. Now as the future comes it slowly becomes the present and then eventually becomes the past. But the future will not come before the past but after it thus we look forward to the future, not the past, because the past has passed and the future lies before us, until it becomes the present and eventually the past (LOUD APPLAUSE). So I ask you to join with me as we look forward to the future and with great anticipation because the future is what we all will have to face! The cynics may say that we fear the future and dread the present but this campaign is rooted in the philosophy that the future is the only thing that exists beyond the present.|
- Now I also come to you as an agent of Hope. Hope is what we hope for not what is not hoped for. Although in the past hope was based on things not hoped for I say to you in our campaign we will only hope for hopeful things. Without hope is hopelessness which is defined by the absence of hope. Those unfortunate souls without hope need only hope to attain hope and become hopeful. So if we only hope we can replace hopelessness with hope and become filled with hope. Is it this simple - I believe so - if only the hopeless begin to hope they will become hopeful once the hopelessness leaves. Hope implies a certain amount of despair, wanting, wishing and anguish. But in this campaign I pledge to you to replace all absence of hope with hope and to work tirelessly, night and day to bring hope to those without hope so that the hopeless can become transformed, even transfigured, to hopeful without leaving their hope behind. How can they leave their hope behind if they have no hope and thus are hopeful. I believe that every human being in God's creation has hope even those who the cynics and the critics say are hopeless have some vestige of hope innate in them and we will lift up that hope, we will nourish and nuture that hope until they become hopeful and filled with hope! (LOUD APPLAUSE) Some may say this has been tried in the past, to lift up those without hope, to to install hope to those without hope but this campaign is different. This campaign is founded on hope and literally injecting hope into the hopeless, to root out all vestiges of hopeless until all are hopeful and full of hope - because those without hope are the ones most in need of hope. The hopeful already have hope, my friend it is the hopeless who need the hope that we so clearly bring!
- And additionally this grass roots campaign is about the future and obviously about hope but ultimately this campaign is routed in change. Now change is not possible without changing, without changing we have not changed and we are unchanged. (APPLAUSE> The change may or may not be easy but more likely than not it is hard because the easy change may have already occurred. Thus if we are left with a choice between easy and hard change in the past only the easy change occurred but I pledge to you - I make a solemn vow to be an agent not only of easy change but also of hard change. If we only change the easy and neglect to change the hard what good is that because the hard change remains unchanged until we change it. Now if we change the hard but do not change the easy we fall into that trap where the hard change becomes the easy and the easy change becomes hard and visa-versa. Now in the past the cynics and critics have said that the hard change is hard to change while the easy change is easy to change. Now that may sound good until you dig deep and really examine what that means, now everyone here is smart enough to realize that if we do not change the hard change it will be unchanged until we change it. (LOUD APPLAUSE) Now my friends, I pledge to you on this day to not rest - to work tirelessly - to change both the easy change and the hard change, unless the hard change is too hard to change!!
- This campaign is about all the above The Future, Hope and Change. We can hope for change but we must do more than hope. As I stated hopelessness is the absence of hope and the future lies not in our past but in our future. This campaign began and continues as a campaign of hope and change so as not to avoid the future but to embrace the future. We can hope to change the change but we must remember to change both the easy and the hard change. Hopefully. So in conclusion, I give you my solemn vow, my solemn pledge to work day and night to work toward the future, to change both the hard and easy change not only in the future but in the present, until the present becomes the past at which time it will become impossible to change, as has happened in the past! For until we change the present it will be impossible to change the past because the present becomes the unchanged past if not changed. My fellow Americans - I have been very specific about the change and hope which I propose. The cynic will say it is to much to hope for all this change. I say we are Americans, One Country and the I will be there to enact this change and hope in the future, once it becomes the present and before it becomes the past!!! THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE - FEMALES FAINT
APRIL 10, 2008
BIBLE IS STILL NUMBER 1
Regardless of which demographic group they belong to – male-female, Republican-Democrat or old-young – Americans named the Bible as their favorite book of all time, according to a recent nationwide poll. In addition to being the number one book overall, the Holy Book also came in first across the board when comparing different demographic groups – gender, race/ethnicity, generation, political party, region, education – according to the Harris Poll released on Monday. The results may come as no surprise considering statistics that reflect how plentiful Bibles are in the nation. An estimated 92 percent of Americans own a Bible and the average household owns three, a 1993 Barna Research study found. More recent research puts Bible ownership at an average of four per household, which suggest that Bible publishers sell twenty-five million copies a year, according to The New Yorker.
- 1. The Bible
- 2. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
- 3. Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien
- 4. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
- 5. The Stand, by Stephen King
- 6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
- 7. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- 8. Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown
- 9. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
- 10. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger You can read about it here.
APRIL 9, 2008
IRAQ 'BY THE NUMBERS'
The graph below is one of the graphs briefed to Congress by General Petraeus on April 8. You can clearly see the reduction of violence that took place as the 'surge' kicked took effect. It is ludicrous to suggest, as many on the left do, that the surge has produced no results.
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