Archive for November 2007
McCain’s Too Liberal For Me
Mike Huckabee is in Orlando tonight. I wished I could have gone to meet with him but I had prior commitments. I’m campaigning and voting for Mike Huckabee. He’s the best conservative we have. I was sent a letter tonight letting me know that Sam Brownback endorsing along with the Catholics for McCain as President. It isn’t going to happen.
McCain is a nice man who is a credit to our country in his military service but I don’t agree with his political policies. He’s a Democrat.
- His torture position is wrong.
- He sided with Democrats against Bush with his Gang of 14
- The ONLY Republican who was Part of the Keating Five – bank and loan scandal where ethics were violated.
- He introduced the McCain-Feingold Act
- He voted AGAINST tax cuts.
- He sponsored an amnesty immigration bill WITH TED KENNEDY!!!!!!
- McCain had his 91 year old mom in an television interview???!!!
I would never vote for John McCain as President. Huckabee is the one man who can beat all of the Democrats if Republicans can resolve their differences. Huckabee’s camp has good news for Florida:
A new Florida Insider’s poll of Florida GOP voters has Mike Huckabee moving up into second place with 17% of the vote. Mayor Giuliani is in first with 26%, Senator McCain is in third with 13%, Gov. Romney in fourth with 12% and Sen. Thompson in fifth at 9%.
Go to Mike Huckabee for President and support his campaign! You can make a difference in our country.
Crybaby Kerry Clock Ticking
Were you as shocked as I was when Kerry took up the invitation from T. Bone Pickens to prove any slander or libel made by the Swift Boat Veterans?
A couple of weeks ago we attended The American Spectator’s annual dinner in Washington, where energy executive T. Boone Pickens issued a challenge. Pickens said he would pay $1 million to anyone who could prove that any of the allegations the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth made about Kerry were false.
Earlier this week it was reported that Kerry was taking Pickens up on his offer. Yesterday Spectator editor Bob Tyrrell sent along the correspondence between Kerry and Pickens (Pickens’s reply comes first, then Kerry’s original letter), and it turns out there’s a lot less to this than meets the eye. Kerry merely asserts that “I am prepared to prove the lie beyond any reasonable doubt” and then demands the moolah:
I would request that your check be made payable to the Paralyzed Veterans of America. . . . My hope is that by sending this money to such a dedicated organization–founded for veterans, by veterans–some good can come out of the ugly smears and lies of the orchestrated campaign you bankrolled in 2004 in an attempt to discredit my military record and the record of the men who served alongside me on the Swift Boats of the Mekong Delta.
I would be more than happy to travel to Dallas with you in a mutually agreed upon public forum, or would invite you to join me in Massachusetts for a public dialogue and then together we could visit the Paralyzed Veterans of America in Norwood and see firsthand how we can put your money to good work for our veterans.
Pickens wasn’t born yesterday, however. He wrote back noting that Kerry actually had to prove it. [T – pardon the emphasized font, my laughing fit made me hit the BOLD key] He asked Kerry to send “the journal you maintained during your service in Vietnam” and “your military record, specifically your service records for the years 1971-1978, and copies of all movies and tapes made during your service.”
Well, it’s been over a week and not a peep from Kerry or any records of his proof disputing the Swift Boat truths. Kerry must be eating crow, I mean turkey.
Pro-Choice For Death Penalty
My belief regarding the death penalty and abortion is that I’m pro-choice. It’s simple logic. We, as adults, have a choice to commit heinous crimes that result in being adjudicated and condemned to the death, unborn babies do not have free choice as to whether they want to die or not.
More studies showing the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, and saves lives.
According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented.
The effect is most pronounced, according to some studies, in Texas and other states that execute condemned inmates relatively often and relatively quickly.
The studies, performed by economists in the past decade, compare the number of executions in different jurisdictions with homicide rates over time — while trying to eliminate the effects of crime rates, conviction rates and other factors — and say that murder rates tend to fall as executions rise. One influential study looked at 3,054 counties over two decades.
“I personally am opposed to the death penalty,” said H. Naci Mocan, an economist at Louisiana State University and an author of a study finding that each execution saves five lives. “But my research shows that there is a deterrent effect.”
The death penalty works, it’s consistancy that is the issue.
Cardinal Kasper: "Ecumenism Is An Obligation."
Catholics have been noticing it for years, so it’s about time that the Catholic Church has finally realized that something is amiss. The cardinals are meeting to talk about the reasons so many Catholics worldwide are leaving the Church for Pentecostal and Protestant religions.
A senior Vatican cardinal told a gathering of the world’s top prelates Friday that the Roman Catholic Church had to examine what it is doing wrong in the battle for souls who are leaving the church to join Pentecostal and other evangelical groups.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the Vatican’s office for relations with other Christians, told a meeting of more than 100 cardinals that the church must undergo a “self-critical pastoral examination of conscience” to confront the “exponential” rise of Pentecostal movements.
“We shouldn’t begin by asking ourselves what is wrong with the Pentecostals, but what our own pastoral shortcomings are,” Kasper told the gathering, noting that such evangelical and charismatic groups count some 400 million faithful around the world.
The Vatican has been increasingly lamenting the rise of Protestant evangelical communities, which the Vatican describes as “sects,” in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere and the resulting flight of Catholics. In Brazil alone, Roman Catholics used to account for about 90 percent of the population in the 1960s; by 2005 it was down to 67 percent.
After being taunted as not being a good Catholic for having thoughts of my own, outside of obligatory Catholic dogma and doctrine, how can common sense and logic not be listened to in real life? It may be easy to be judged by someone who doesn’t live in the real world of financial bills, babies, children, mouths to feed, pay for braces, run to after school practices, deal with spouses moods and intimate close spaces, but that doesn’t mean it’s correct. The Church has had its manifest destiny of civilizing, educating, social rights, uplifting society, caring for the hungry, poor, and weak, but it hasn’t always been right in its societal counsel, i.e. Inquistion, against women having right to vote, baptizing Jewish orphans, handling of its paedophile priests.
Ecumenism is the direction of the future of the Catholic Church.
This year, Kasper briefed the cardinals on the church’s relations with other Christians, focusing on the church’s relations with the Orthodox, Protestants and Pentecostal movements.
Kasper said the rise of independent, often “aggressive” evangelical movements in places such as Africa had complicated the church’s ecumenical task and made it more confused. Nevertheless, Kasper told reporters after the morning session that “ecumenism is not an option but an obligation.”
Kasper opened his remarks by updating the cardinals and cardinal- designates on an important new document approved by a Vatican-Orthodox theological commission that has been working to heal the 1,000-year schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Reducing Carbon Footprints One Person At A Time
Roman Catholic Toni Vernelli is the antithesis of what Catholics should be.
While some might think it strange to celebrate the reversal of nature and denial of motherhood, Toni relishes her decision with an almost religious zeal.
“Having children is selfish. It’s all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet,” says Toni, 35.
“Every person who is born uses more food, more water, more land, more fossil fuels, more trees and produces more rubbish, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, and adds to the problem of over-population.”
While most parents view their children as the ultimate miracle of nature, Toni seems to see them as a sinister threat to the future.
Thankfully, this stupid idea will die with the idiots that dreamt them up.
Then there’s this theory by two brilliant brains who probably got “dropped on their heids” as weans: Mankind shortening universe’s life…
Turkey Leftovers
Another great Thanksgiving! Hope yours was good, too! Now to gobble up all the great news and interesting tidbits that have been happening.
Don’t think Florida has a Fall season? Well, we do! Compare these April spring and November autumn colors in Zellwood, Central Florida.
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Up close shot of above photos. 
Okay, so it’s only a few trees out of hundreds, but it’s something! And we don’t have to shovel sunshine! 
Young Face Of The Homeless Has A Home
And a good life at that. Such a good life that he gives to charities on a regular basis. During National Youth Homeless Month, Zach Bonner is walking from Gainesville 250 miles to Tallahassee to put a face on homelessness. The problem is Zach Bonner has a wonderful home. This is another case in point of liberals exploiting children to reinforce untruths. The Gainesville Sun brings up the facts:
Zach started his walk on Nov. 3 from Seffner and will continue until he gets to Tallahassee on Nov. 26 to raise awareness about youth homelessness. During his journey, he has been sleeping in a donated RV.
“It’s real nice,” said Zach, who walked from Micanopy to Gainesville Tuesday. “It’s like an apartment on wheels.”
Michael Gallant, director of operations for StandUp for Kids Florida, said he has been working with Zach and his family trying to make sure that they have a place to stay each night. He said November is National Youth Homeless Awareness Month, which was just recently created by Congress. [T – Good thing Congress is doing something besides wasting our time and tax dollars]
This walk is not only designed to raise awareness but also to raise money for the cause. Donations are being accepted. [T – of course, it’s liberals exploiting children for financial gains]
“The reason why Zach is so important is because of his age, which is actually the exact age of the average homeless person in America,” Gallant said. “He is the face of homelessness.” [T- my emphasis]
Gallant said there are an estimated 1.3 million to 2.8 million homeless children in America every single day. He said this is his first walk, but doesn’t believe that it will be the last.
Gallant said that Zach has talked about next year’s walk being from Lake City to Atlanta, which is where the future StandUp for Kids national office will be located.
Zach said the idea came to him after seeing a video online about a woman who had walked more than 25,000 miles. After seeing this, he decided that he wanted to walk to raise awareness about the homeless.
He said he originally wanted to walk to Washington, D.C., but his mother, Laurie Bonner, wanted him to go to Tallahassee instead. He decided to do 250 miles because the distance from Seffner to Tallahassee was about that distance, and his family figured they could walk that amount of miles.
Zach spoke to the Student Senate at the Senate meeting Tuesday night. He was a special guest speaker, and after the speech he was given a standing ovation.
“It’s like cleaning your room when it’s messy,” said Zach as he talked about the issue of homelessness. “We can keep shoving stuff in the closet, or we can choose to come together to make a difference.” [T- I wonder how many people Zach gets to help him clean his room?]
He said he started becoming interested in homelessness after looking at the statistics online. He found some interesting statistics and said he was hooked. Things really became clear for him after Hurricane Charlie.
During the storm, Zach went door to door collecting donations to give to victims of the hurricane. In four months, Zach helped to collect 27 truckloads of supplies. He said that he heard about the need for supplies over the radio, and he felt that he needed to act.
“I don’t think that I really understood what volunteerism was,” Zach said. “I just knew that they needed help, though, and I could provide that.”
When Zach was 7, he created a nonprofit organization called The Little Red Wagon Foundation. He said he got the name from the radio announcers. They started to call him “the little red wagon boy” because when he went to his first five houses, he used his red wagon to carry the supplies in.
“Soon it got to be too much, and we had to get a truck,” he said. “People gave us so much.”
It will take him a little less than two weeks from now to reach his Tallahassee goal. Zach is a home-schooler, who is taking classes online. He said he did extra work to be a month ahead on his assignments. He did this to make sure he didn’t get behind on his school work during the walk.
“After I am done with the walk, though, I will probably go home, lie down on the couch and sleep for like three days,” Zach said. “I will then get up and start planning for the holiday party for the Hurricane Katrina victims.”
I wish more homeless were like Zach Bonner, “the face of homelessness.” They wouldn’t be homeless. They would then have enough initiative to go out and get a job, earn money to solve all of the world problems.
Now for those of you who are thinking… “What a grouch, what a cynic, he’s doing a great service – leave the boy alone. How can you be so mean?” Think about it. Zack Bonner is 9 years old. When he was 7 years old – how did he create a nonprofit organization? Who paid for the lawyer, the paperwork? How does he get around? Does he walk everywhere? Would you let your 9 year old walk around town knocking on doors by himself? How does he get into strange homes, offices, and how does he find storage space for 27 truckloads of supplies for hurricane victims? Zack didn’t do it – he was encouraged to do it and adults helped him. His parents, their efforts, their contacts, other adults of charity organizations, other companies that are kind and compassionate about a good cause. It’s not somebody who is homeless. Homeless people don’t sleep in RV’s.
But StandUp For Kids has a “good” rating from Charity Navigator. Which is good. I’ll be watching it over time to see how many it does help. It was difficult to find out how many children they have actually helped over the last 17 years.
I’m just glad it’s a volunteer organization. We need more like this in America.
At The Right Moment
A gallery of great photographs that capture that shot of a lifetime. Check out WFLA’s photographs that are hard to believe. You’re going to see some of these show up on Snopes and Urban Legends but you’ll know they are real.
Democrats Depend On Economic Ignorance To Win
Walter E Williams, author and John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, has an excellent column on who pays taxes and who doesn’t and why the poor don’t have a dog in the tax race. Democrats get away with lying about the economy and taxes because their constituents are ignorant about the facts. President George Bush is not responsible for taxes, good or bad.
An important component of the leftist class warfare agenda is to condemn President Bush’s tax cuts for the rich. This claim is careless, ignorant or dishonest on at least two counts. First there’s the constitutional issue. Article I, Section 8 reads, “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes . . .” That means the president has no taxing authority.
Presidents can propose or veto taxes and Congress can override vetoes. The bottom line is that all taxing authority rests with the U.S. Congress. The next time you hear someone condemn or praise Bush’s tax cuts, ask them whether the Constitution has been amended to give the president taxing authority.
But what about those tax cuts for the rich? Are the rich now sharing a smaller burden of the federal income tax because their fair share of the burden has been shifted to the poor? The most recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) statistics can give us some guidance. In 2005, the top 1 percent of income earners, those with an annual adjusted gross income of $365,000 and higher, paid 39 percent of all federal income taxes; in 1999, they paid 36 percent.
In 2005, the top 5 percent of income earners, those having an adjusted gross income of $145,000 and higher, paid 60 percent of all federal taxes; in 1999, it was 55 percent. The top 10 percent, earning income over $103,000, paid 70 percent. The top 25 percent, with income of over $62,000, paid 86 percent, and the top 50 percent, earning $31,000 and higher, paid 97 percent of all federal taxes.
What about any argument suggesting that the burden of taxes have been shifted to the poor? The bottom 50 percent, earning $30,000 or less, paid 3 percent of total federal income taxes. In 1999, they paid 4 percent. Congressmen know all of this, but they attempt to hoodwink the average American who doesn’t.
The fact that there are so many American earners who have little or no financial stake in our country poses a serious political problem. The Tax Foundation estimates that 41 percent of whites, 56 percent of blacks, 59 percent of American Indian and Aleut Eskimo and 40 percent Asian and Pacific Islanders had no 2004 federal income tax liability. The study concluded, “When all of the dependents of these income-producing households are counted, there are roughly 122 million Americans — 44 percent of the U.S. population — who are outside of the federal income tax system.” These people represent a natural constituency for big-spending politicians. In other words, if you have little or no financial stake in America, what do you care about the cost of massive federal spending programs?
Similarly, what do you care about tax cuts if you’re paying little or no taxes? In fact, you might be openly hostile toward tax cuts out of fear that they might lead to reductions in handout programs from which you benefit. Survey polls have confirmed this. According to The Harris Poll taken in June 2003, 51 percent of Democrats thought the tax cuts enacted by Congress were a bad thing while 16 percent of Republicans thought so. Among Democrats, 67 percent thought the tax cuts were unfair while 32 percent of Republicans thought so. When asked whether the $350 billion tax cut package will help your family finances, 59 percent of those surveyed said no and 35 percent said yes.
Walter E. Williams column is a must read every day especially if you’re a Democrat.
Say It Isn’t Christmas Yet!!!
Is it Christmas yet?
Sma' Talk Wi' T 