LEAVWORLD: GRAFFITI POLITTI

These are a few of the links posted at My Newz 'N Ideas , with a huge "tip of the hat" to Rosemary. She has posted extensively on the atrocious ongoing genocide, alerting me to a rally in NYC that I was unable to make. I'm posting links to some of the stories, but I recommend you read her site (linked HERE and above) for the full scope and context of what's going on there. She posts about 9 links, including a great Washington Post piece , and reports from the BBC and Reuters . These, and the others, are dismaying stories, but well worth reading. We in the U.S. need to know more about what's going on in the rest of the world, and remember our pledge at the end of WW II: "NEVER AGAIN." We have not followed through on that pledge for not only the Sudanese, but many peoples under the worst oppression seen since Hitler around the world. Hopefully the Bush Doctorine will change the course of history all over the world. It's a race of time to save th...

I recently posted a comment on La Shawn Barber's blog , in response to a post about her being called an "uncle tom" and worse by some commenters. When I returned home and checked the comments, I got a taste of what she puts up with. Notice how the commenter (someone calling themselves HiRez) equates the shunning of a Black Republican (for more than his position on reparations) with the ACTUAL KILLING going on in the Palestinian areas. As for Israelis being killed for supporting the Palestinians, it doesn't happen. Israel has Arab legislators who openly support the Palestinians. The assasination of the Prime Minister was a rare attack by an Israeli terrorist, not a daily occurence."HiRez" also takes issue with my use of the term "race baiting", but what is calling someone an "uncle tom", if not race baiting? For the record, calling anyone who justly criticizes a Black person a racist, without addressing the criticism, is also "race b...

I've posted 3 pieces of my "political art" over at LEAVART. One is a rough political cartoon about Sen. Kerry from the election season. The second is more of a political statement: I'm a Republican, not a racist!" -with a trippy space background. The third is a combination of the Cross, Crescent, and Star of David all filled in by the U.S. flag. It still needs work, but the idea was strong enough to put out there. I've recieved a comment already criticizing my inclusion of the Crescent, and I'm sure the Star of David being in the back will bother some. My thoughts are to overlap them in a surreal way, but I don't know when I'll get the time to work on it. It's not easy to force this stuff. That's why I'm not a political cartoonist, though I enjoy both writing about politics and drawing. It's never too late to start, though, so I'll keep posting whatever I come up with; writing, drawing, or a combination! PS: I posted the lin...

On the personal side: See artwork (from before I was born) of my mother (Jo Hurt 1924 - 1997) and listen to a clip of her singing at this NEXTLEAV post . She was great, and many people miss her.

I oppose the Federal Elections Commission's proposed regulation of blogs. To paraphrase Charleton Heston: "If the FEC wants to take away my blog, they'll have to pry the computer from my cold, dead hands!" 'Nuff Said!

Read JJ Monicelli's commment, and my original NEXTLEAV post HERE . My response, which was emailed to him, follows: Dear JJ, I am glad to appear as devoted to my beliefs as hopefully you are. I must question your point about "the ideology surrounding this administration and the political Right." If I am a devoted "Right Winger," why is it that I care about the air, earth and water around me just as much as you do? I believe that Pres. Bush is balancing the demands of the economy with progress far in excess of anything that the Left has come up with, especially unrealistic overregulation. Pres. Bush's trip to Europe, and Condi's worldwide diplomatic offensive have actually been great successes! Far from "jamming our politics and religion down other people's faces," apparently Europe now thinks that Pres. Bush was right in liberating Iraq, and is willing to halt the proposed arms sales to China as well. This doesn't sound like "divisi...

It looks as if my suspicions were correct. While I have seen some wider reporting on the successful attack on the terrorists, it has already been eclipsed by the latest terrorist bombing in Iraq, which claimed 19 lives. I even caught the end of a report that said the veracity of the numbers killed last week is in question. It seems that only 7 Iraqi soldiers died, and somehow this ratio is unbelievable. Again, I only caught the end of the report from (I think?) BBC, and don't know who is "investigating" this. BBC doesn't mention this at all on the website , but reports about 70 MORE terrorists arrested separately in Mosul. I could have been watching Le Journal, or some other foreign news outlet. Regarding the attack in which the majority of the terrorists were killed, Fox News reported that the local people tipped off the Iraqi army to the terrorist camp (though it's not in the partial transcript linked above). It looks to me like a situation where we caught thes...

With the awful saga of Terri Schiavo unfolding, I thought I'd write about some deaths that we CAN celebrate. This, from the AP: "BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a suspected guerrilla training camp and killed 85 fighters, the single biggest one-day death toll for militants in months and the latest in a series of blows to the insurgency, Iraqi officials said Wednesday. The U.S. military announced late Tuesday that its air and ground forces backed Iraqi commandos during a noontime raid on the suspected training camp near Lake Tharthar in central Iraq. Seven commandos died in fighting, the U.S. military said. It did not give a death toll for the militants. Iraqi officials said Wednesday 85 insurgents died in the clash _ the largest number killed in a single battle since the U.S. Marine-led November attack on the former militant stronghold of Fallujah left more than 1,000 dead. On Sunday, U.S. forces killed 26 attackers after an ambush south of Baghdad." Whil...

Star Parker has a brilliant piece on Townhall today. She contrasts Pres. Bush's vision of an "ownership society" with what she calls the Democrats "plantation society... characterized by a wealthy class of owners who want to limit the choices, opportunities and freedom of working-class Americans. " I agree with her entirely, and am glad that she's put it out there in such blunt language. She makes several good points in support of this view, so please read the piece. It's linked above, as is her bio.

An interesting post on the Blogger Alliance wesite notes that the NY TIMES worries about the 15 percent of people who will not "maximize" their returns on their investments. I'm willing to bet that the lowest returns will be larger than what they would have gotten under Social Security. Further, our society will not let any senior starve if they don't build the same nest egg as their neighbor. Means testing is the solution that no-one wants to talk about yet. Anyway, here's the whole post, which I assume I can republish as a member of the "Alliance": NY Times to Workers: “You’re Just Too Stupid to Manage Your Own Money!” Did you see that the know-it-alls at the NY Times ran an article this morning headlined, “When It Comes to Managing Retirement, Many People Simply Can’t”? While Ed Porter’s article actually does point out that most people who have invested in 401(k)’s or IRAs have done very well for themselves, the focus is on the fact that some people —...

Regarding the so-called Nuclear Option coming to the US Senate, where the Republicans will be able to stop a filibuster of Pres. Bush's judicial nominees with 51 votes instead of the current number of 60, I had asked my buddy Rosemary from My Newz 'n Ideas if I could use this excerpt from a piece she posted: "I also learned that it used to be 67 votes needed to break a filibuster. Apparently, one of our Democrat Senators was getting very frustrated because he couldn't get his bills passed, so he threatened to change the rules! He would settle for 60 votes if the Republicans agreed. Otherwise, he would change it to 50+1. Who was this, you ask? None other than Sen. Robert Byrd. This happened in the 70's." As usual, her info was right on the money! Byrd was not alone among Dems when it came to threatening the same rule change they are now calling a "nuclear option." I received this from Townhall.com , written by Jeff Mazzella of the Center for Individ...

So I'm watching the NEWSHOUR on PBS again, and they're debating the new mercury regulations: a 70 percent reduction over the next 12 years of airborn emissions. One industry guy, one environmentalist. The enviro guy opens with how many babies will be at risk of "severe brain damage" if we don't do it sooner. The industry guy responds that while the companies that sell the "environmental" technology claim to be able to meet the goal now, they won't guarantee it on paper. He points out that if the technology isn't ready, as is his belief, that industry will have to cut production to meet the standards if enforced sooner. Here's what cracked me up: the enviro guy accuses the industry guy of using "scare tactics", then goes on about how a kid born today might not be able to develop a normal brain by the time the proposed standards take effect! To be fair to the NEWSHOUR, their moderator poked some holes in the enviro guy's logic, su...

This week's round-up of 130 members of the gang MS 13 is encouraging, but it only scratches the surface of the problem. This gang has infiltrated communities throughtout the country, often ignored by law enforcement. As Bill O'Reilly points out, many cities have rules against even asking a suspect if he is an illegal immigrant, though this contravenes federal law. Here on Long Island, 15 members were caught in Suffolk county, and they needed a joint task force with the feds to do that much. I didn't hear of any arrests in Nassau, where I live. Ask any local school teacher if MS 13 is active in this county, and you will hear the truth: this gang, and other "wannabe's" are experiencing a resurgence greater than anything seen before. A man who lives two blocks from me was shot dead in an MS 13 gang initiation while walking home from the train station. It turned out that they had assaulted several others that same night, but ended up shooting this man in front of...

YEAH, GREAT!

Dr. Walter E. Williams, guest hosting on the Rush Limbaugh show, made his usual great impact on me today with some comments on slavery as it exists today, in Niger, Sudan and other countries of North Africa. What sinks in the most is that I have to listen to the "right wing media" to hear about this abomination. The MSM has the occasional story about it, but this latest, the aborted "release" of 7,000 slaves, hasn't been out there. Luckily he links to the story on Mr. Limbaugh's website. Here are the relevant quotes: "Timidria, a local human rights group, blamed government threats against local leaders for the absence of any slaves for liberation." ; "The government denied the charge. 'We're a state of rights, the government hasn't threatened anyone,' said Mallam Ari Boukar, an interior ministry official. A spokesman for the government's human rights commission, which had helped to organise the event, said the cancellation ...

Editor & Publisher reports on the departure of the NY PRESS editor Jeff Koyen. He apparently quit after not accepting a two week suspension "in the aftermath of the paper’s controversial '52 Funniest Things About the Upcoming Death of the Pope' cover story." The piece, by the "E&P Staff," continues: "A comment from the publisher of New York Press, Chris Rohland, is included in a separate story on E&P Online. In it, he says that he vetted the Pope story before publication, and that the actual reason for the suspension stemmed from Koyen, against orders, running a parody of a New York Post cover (on the death of the Pope) on an inside page." So let's get this straight: This guy Koyen got in trouble for running a parody of the NY Post, but NOT for allowing something that can only be described as "hate speech" dircted at the Pope. This is almost too easy a target, but the fact that he faced a suspension at all shows that s...

The following is a letter I wrote to my elected representative, a Democrat: Dear Connresswoman McCarthy, Living on L.I, you must know how hard it is for young adults to start a family here compared to a generation ago. I am one of those caught in the crunch. Both of my parents are deceased, and I lost what money they left when my small business went under in 1992. I make around 30-40K a year now, but still can't put a dime away for retirement. When I look at the paltry amount contributed over my working years on my Social Security statement, I can only wish that it had been put into an interest generating account over those years. Can you understand how I can think of this as a crisis? Will you help me? Please allow me to have something more than what I have now, and let me reduce the future burden I would put on the government. I'm talking about private accounts. I know this is a hard sell to a Democrat representative, but I truly think this is the most progressive idea to hel...

I don't like to jump on too many bandwagons, but I joined the Blog Alliance for Social Security Reform. This is a heated battle, and the Main Stream Media is pounding away daily against the idea of private accounts. You can hear people try to call it "giving money to Wall street fat cats" and other total rubbish. Another thing to watch is the call for increased Soc Sec taxes. If the current SS tax surplus gets spent on other things already, how will a tax increase save any money for the future debts we know are coming? The extra revenue will just be "loaned" to the government, mounting the debt even further. I pledge to keep posting about this until it either flies or dies. Meanwhile, go to the Blogger Alliance website and see some other good info on Social Security reform, and why we need it. PS: I found them through Amy Ridenour's National Center Blog, a helluva blog! Check it out at http://www.nationalcenter.org/Blog.html

If the Dems keep painting some of Pres. Bush's judicial appointees as "extremist", the response ought to be "yeah, so?" Enough Americans know that the Judicial branch is already extremist, and needs some radical change. It's time for Republicans to stand up not only for the beliefs of the majority of their own party, but for the protection all Americans against judicial overreaching. Why can't we come out and say that yes, we want judges that think radically different than the majority of the current judiciary does? We have allowed the Dems to portray these judges as "extremist conservative activists," when the real judicial activism has come totally from the liberal side. I would go so far as to impeach any judge that cites any foreign law in their decision other than the British laws that preceded the Constitution as the law of this land. I also like Mark Levin's suggestion that a supermajority (2/3) vote of Congress should be able to ove...

The rise of the Wahhabi sect of Islam over the last decades is proving to be the largest threat facing the world today. It resembles both the Nazi and Communist threats in some ways, but differs signifigantly because it is a religious sect. This has disarmed traditional countermeasures in a society with religious protections such as ours. Townhall.com has just published a piece by Kamal Nawash called "Wake up call for my fellow Muslims," which shines a ray of hope toward this end. Most US citizens don't speak Arabic, and how many media outlets actually pay people to translate sermons themselves, or are too scared to look "anti-Muslim" to report what they find? Mr. Nawash makes a compelling argument for Muslims throughout the world to reject the Wahhabi teachings and other "extremist" beliefs. I've linked to the story in the title, and his Free Muslim Coalition website ( www.freemuslims.org ) is excellent. This is a different conflict than anything ...