Why Won't He Listen?

I was overcome with the desire to steal this cartoon from http://irritableelephant.wordpress.com

Now that confession time is over ... have you heard the latest stupidity to come out of Hugo Chavez's mouth? El Presidente is accusing CNN of instigating his murder. Chavez has called for a probe by the Venezuela State Prosecutor and is considering a civil case against the company.

This all began when, during a CNN news broadcast, a picture of Chavez was shown with the caption "Who killed him?" written below. The caption was supposed to go with a picture of a dead football star, but during a production error (or as a result of a production assistant with a great sense of humor), the captions apparently got switched. The picture was taken down after a few seconds when the news anchor realized the error.

Well, at least we now know where Hugo Chavez gets his news. Besides El Presidente's insanity, why would he make such an idiotic claim? Well, it seems that the US government has been ignoring his statements recently, and his attacks on the King of Spain have back-fired ... so he needs somebody new to attack. An election battle is fast approaching on a referendum to allow Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely, and polls have the race at a dead heat. History has shown that whenever an election is approaching ... Chavez attacks someone to distract voters from what he is doing burnish his Nationalistic credentials.

In a related subject, the most popular ring-tone in Spain is now a recording of Spanish King, Juan Carlos yelling at Chavez, "Porque no te callas?" or "Why don't you shut up?" So far the ring-tone has made 1.5 million euros ($2.2 million), and coffee cups and t-shirt sales with the saying are really taking off.

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When Passion and Common Sense Clash...

With all the things that are going on around the world today ... I am writing about a teddy bear. After all, the newest round in the Mid-east peace talks is starting up ... In Pakistan, President Musharref is stepping down as head of the Army ... Iran has just announced it has a new missile with a range of 1200 miles ... and in the world of higher education, Montclair State University has made it mandatory for students to carry "school issued" cell phones with GPS tracking devices (costing the students $500.00 a year). So, with all this news (most of which pisses me off), why would a teddy bear win the honor of being the most screwed-up news in the world today? Well folks, it's a tale of stupidity on the part of ALL of the parties involved, and just contributes to increased animosity and downright hatred between the Muslim and Western worlds. Here is the story:

A British primary school teacher has been arrested in Sudan for insulting the Prophet Mohammed. Gillian Gibbons a 54 year old teacher from Liverpool is facing a maximum punishment of 40 lashes, 6 months in jail and a fine for naming a teddy bear Mohammed. Gibbons was following a British national curriculum designed to teach children about animals and their natural habitats. This year the animal was the bear. A student brought in a teddy bear as part of the project and Ms Gibbons allowed the 7-yr olds in her class to vote for their favorite name for the bear. Twenty out of the twenty-three kids voted for the name Mohammed. Some parents took offense and the result was her arrest.

Here is the shared stupidity portion of this story. The British government, as well as the administration of the Unity school should have briefed Ms Gibbons on local customs before she was ever allowed to teach in a school in an Islamic country. The Koran has many references to what is considered idolatry and insult to Islam, and both entities were derelict in their duties to inform this teacher about what could get her into trouble. Ms Gibbons is an idiot for not making sure she knew about local customs before she even went to the Sudan. Most intelligent people research things before they travel to a foreign land ... especially one like Sudan. The parents of these kids need to get a life. If something offends you, what ever happened to complaining to the teacher or the school? I'm sure if they had come to Ms Gibbons she would have apologized and re-named the stupid bear. Finally, the Sudanese government needs to grow up. I realize that ignorance of the law (in this case article 125 of their criminal law) is no excuse, but their is a difference between law and justice. Sudan needs to drop this and either expel the teacher or let her apologize and keep teaching.

Meanwhile, Unity School is currently closed until at least January because they fear riots and retaliation from the community. Can anyone tell me how a little bit of stupidity can cause all this hullabaloo?

Or is the real reason because ... She taught them how to vote???

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We Are Winning In Iraq

Wow, it has been 10 days since I last posted. I can't remember not being pissed off for this long in quite a while. Guess I was thinking about all the things I was thankful for this past Thanksgiving week (that and figuring out how we were going to cram 58 friends and family members into my house for dinner ... we managed, good thing we are a close family). While I was mulling over my blessings, I started thinking about the news from Iraq, and in particular, the lack of bad news. Liberals, cover your ears, but I think we have turned the corner and are actually winning the war in Iraq. This may be hard to digest for the portion of our elected officials that have made losing the war a priority, but for most of this nation, as well as most of the free world, this is indeed another blessing. But how did this miracle come about? Was the simple act of dumping an additional 60,000 troops into Baghdad enough to bring about this complete turn-around?

Well folks, the surge alone did not change our fortunes in Iraq, though without the additional man-power, we could not have brought about this new posture. Back in the mid-90's, New York City went back to a police policy that was in force when I was growing up in the 60's. This policy was called neighborhood policing and basically it was having dedicated neighborhood "beat-cops" walking around the community. Everyone knew the neighborhood cop. The officer that walked the beat in my neighborhood was known by all the kids as "George the Cop", and parents would introduce George to their kids and let the kids know if they ever had a problem they should go to George and he would help them. George knew all the merchants and most of the people in the neighborhood and would know if something was out of place or if there were suspicious people or events happening. Prior to this change, NYPD officers would zip around town in squad cars and only get out to write tickets or if on a call. With this change, NYC went from one of the most dangerous cities to one of the safest big cities in the world.

When General David Petraeus took over in Iraq, US soldiers would patrol during the day, zipping around in their Hummers and returning to several large bases at night. With the help of the additional "surge" forces, the General started a policy in which the soldiers set up joint forward operating bases in the communities in Baghdad. Now, the soldiers were available ... day or night ... to the Iraqi populace. It has had a calming effect on sectarian strife and the citizens of the communities are interacting with the soldiers on a daily basis. No longer is gathering intelligence an almost impossible task, the intelligence is now being communicated by civilians during the course of their daily interactions with our troops. Where in the past a concerned Iraqi, with information about a terrorist or criminal did not know where to go to pass on the information (the Iraqi police were ... and to a lesser extent still are infiltrated by sectarian extremists), now they can go to "George the GI", and let him know the information in the same way that we used to go the "George the Cop" when we were kids.

Outside of Baghdad, much the same has also taken place ... so when al-Qaeda in Iraq was driven out of Baghdad and tried to ensconce itself in the outer provinces, the local sheiks rose up against them (and that would not have happened or even been possible if the US forces had been holed up in their base camps). President al-Maliki (a Shia), has taken to walking the streets of Sunni Ramadi recently, meeting and greeting the people and finally acting like the leader we had all hoped for when he was first elected. The meaning to these Sunnis is immense. By him doing this (and let's face it ... what he is doing is risking his life), it shows them that they are a valued part of the Iraqi people ... It shows them some respect from the Shite controlled government. Now all we need is for the rest of the government to start acting like leaders and start compromising and passing much needed legislation so that Iraq can take its' place as a productive member of the global society (Unfortunately this last sentence can also be applied to the American Congress).

Yes, it looks like we are actually winning!

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New President ... Same France

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy was elected with the mandate to bring change to the French labor laws. He told his countrymen what he was going to do to make France more competitive with other countries in the World. Among these things was a longer work week, the ability to fire newly hired employees if they were not "up to snuff" and the dissolution of "special pensions". The French signaled they were ready to change when they swept him into office by a wide margin. Now it seems that some French Unions are saying, "Ralentir (Not so fast)".

At issue are the "special pensions" enjoyed by some, but not all public sector workers. Currently, those working in jobs with these "special pensions" are able to retire at full benefits at the age of 50. President Sarkozy is pushing for a new retirement age for these workers of 52.5 years. This will bring their retirement age closer to that of the rest of the State workers. To put this in perspective, the retirement age for the US military can be as low as 37 with a 50% pension or 47 with a 75% pension. 20 and 30 year retirements are also offered in any federal law enforcement job. These are people with high-stress jobs where they put their lives on the line ... not rail workers and opera singers and actors like in France.

The good news is that most of the French populace is backing Sarkozy on this and 80% think that Sarkozy will stick to his guns and force the Union to capitulate. I hope he does, it will be good for the French people, and that is what they voted for during the last election.

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More Carter Shenanigans ...

As promised, the second installment of my, "I hate Jimmy" post has arrived. In my prior installment, I accused Mr. Peanut of being an evil, vindictive SOB that screwed up the world. In this piece, I hope to show you that he is also an anti-Semitic commie that would sell the United States down the river for a chance at power.

According to Peter Schweizer, author of the best-seller, "Reagan's War", Jimmy Carter sought the assistance of the Soviet Union in both his 1976 Presidential bid and 1980 re-election campaign. These allegations are a result of interviews with former Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin and First Deputy Foreign Minister Georgii Kornienko. In September of 1976, Carter assured the Soviets that if elected, he would take steps to rapidly conclude and sign the SALT II treaty, and would continue to negotiate an agreement on substantial reductions in strategic weapons. During his 1980 re-election campaign, he sent pro-Soviet industrialist, Armand Hammer to the Soviet embassy for a secret meeting with Ambassador Dobrynin. He asked for Soviet help with issues that would help him get re-elected, such as an increase in Jewish emigration. For their help, Carter promised that the Soviet help would not be forgotten. The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office even thought that Carter might be a Russian mole. They dispatched about 200 observers to monitor Carter's 1980 campaign against Reagan to see if the Soviets would try to buy the election for Carter. In 1984, while campaigning for Walter Mondale, Carter again asked for Soviet assistance. Carter warned the Soviets that in Reagan were re-elected there would not be another agreement on arms control as long as Reagan was in power. At least he was right on that note ... The arms race forced the collapse of the Soviet Union. With all these election shenanigans, isn't it amazing that Carter trots down to South America to monitor elections in Venezuela, giving Hugo Chavez a clean bill of health?

The previous writings are all facts. There are also unproven suspicions surrounding the Carter Presidency. These revolve around the Panama Canal, shutting off a spy satellite over Cuba as well as actually planning the takeover of the US Embassy in Iran. The Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga still receives a lot of money from the Arab World.

According to Jimmy Carter, Israel treats the Palestinians like South Africa treated blacks during Apartheid. You don't have to believe me on this, he wrote it in his own words in his book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid". Then again, the man from Plains never was a big supporter of the Jewish State ... or Jews for that matter. In 1987, the US deported a man named Martin Bartesch to Austria. Seems that this animal had volunteered to be guard at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. The US had proof that he had participated in the executions of Jewish prisoners. The adult children of this fiend went on a letter-writing campaign, trying to get special consideration for their father. One of these letters made it to Carter who scribbled a note on the upper corner of the letter, stating that he wanted "special consideration for the family for humanitarian reasons". This letter was forwarded to Neal Sher of the US Justice Department's Office of Special Investigation, the man who worked so hard to deport these pieces of crap in the first place. A copy of the letter was posted on the Internet by the New York Sun (well you just knew that it wouldn't be the New York Times), and you can see it here http://www.nysun.com/pics/blog_8373_1.jpg so where is the special consideration for the families of the millions of Jews that were gassed, burnt or worked to death by the Nazis?

Once again, how can people call George Bush the worst president ever when we have this character in our POTUS lineage?

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The Reason Why The Mid-East Is Screwed ...

I am really tired of hearing how our 43rd President, George W Bush is the worst president in history. To find the worst one, we would only have to look back to number 39. That's right, our lovable peanut farmer from Georgia, Jimmy Carter. Folks on the left like to dwell on his intelligence and his current good works with Habitat for Humanity. Here at the Blogway Boys, we want to reveal a more sinister side of "Saint Jimmy". Yes folks, Jimmy Carter was a sneaky, conniving, vindictive S.O.B. But just don't take my word for it, let me lay out the facts.

Let's start back in 1977. The Mid-East, though never completely quiet, was a much more peaceful area than it is now. This was due to the policing efforts of the country of Iran, and seated upon the Peacock Throne was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. The Shah was not a perfect man, but he was westernizing his country, women did not have to wear a hideous burkha, and the education of his people was of extreme importance. Yes, he did have the SAVAK (Iranian Secret Police) that operated in much the same way as the East German STASI. But the people that the SAVAK mostly made disappear were communist agents and spies. Iran was second only to Israel in its' pro-American stance. The Shah was also busy building infrastructure.

One of the projects that the Shah was building was a huge multi-billion dollar Bandar Mahshahr port complex. The contract for this project had been awarded to Root & Brown (a subsidiary of the evil Haliburton). President Carter arranged for an audience for some of his Georgia cronies with the Shah. Carter asked the Shah as a personal favor to cancel the contract with Brown & Root and award it with a 10% mark-up to his cronies. These cronies would then charge that 10% as a management fee and have Brown & Root do the work. The Shah was informed that without their management, the project would face untold difficulties at the US end. He was told that in these perilous political times, he should appreciate the favor which Carter was doing for him. Now, this is something that I can see the leader of a Mafia family doing ... but the leader of the free world?

The Shah declined this arrangement, and Jimmy Carter began to plot. Carter subsequently refused to allow tear gas and rubber bullets to be shipped to Iran (anti-riot gear), as well as halted the shipment of water cannon vehicles. Without these "humane" methods of crowd control, the only way the government could stop riots was to fire real bullets into the crowd. The Shah made a moral decision not to order his troops to do this. His mistake was in telling the Iranian people of his decision. In a heartfelt speech to the people, he told them that he would not force his soldiers to fire into the crowds that could be their brothers, cousins and friends. The Islamists were given a get out of jail free card.

Jimmy Carter went on a one man (plus the CIA) mission to remove the Shah from power and replace him with the insane Grand Ayatollah Khomeini. Carter went so far as to say that because the Ayatollah was a religious man, and since he was also a religious man, that he knew how a man of God thinks (I personally don't think either of them worship the same God that I do). So, Carter (with the help of the Pentagon) convinced 150 of the Shah's top military men to surrender the country to the Ayatollah Khomeini. The Ayatollah then killed all 150 of them as one of his first acts in power.

The fall of the Shah completely destabilized the Middle-East and led to the Iraqi military build-up and later wars between those two countries ... and eventually to our current situation in the Mid-East.

Thank You Jimmy Carter!!!

I think I will continue this on Saturday, because there is lots more dirt on the peanut man.

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Social Dangerousness???

Everyone is familiar with those little yellow rubber bracelets that a lot of people wear to support cancer research. Many people wear them as a fashion statement, and a multitude of colors have arrived. Olive green ones show support for our men and women in uniform, pink ones are for breast cancer awareness, black ones are for our POWs and MIAs, and multicolored ones are for autism. Well there is a new craze sweeping the island Paradise of Cuba and it is a white bracelet with the word "cambio" written on it. Cambio is Spanish for change. These are being worn by dissidents and have recently become a fashion statement for teenagers.

The bracelets were sent to Cuba by a Miami-based initiative to foster dissent, but appear to have become the "must have" fashion accessory in high schools. But probably not for much longer ...

It seems the Cuban dictatorship government really hates these bracelets. Last week, about 60 young people that were sporting these bracelets were rounded up and thrown in jail. They were released a couple of days later (minus the bracelets), and warned that authorities were preparing files and would later charge them with "social dangerousness".

I guess Raul Castro, like his brother is afraid of words like change (or freedom, democracy, etc.). The bracelets had to be confiscated because they were "dangerous". I guess in the wrong hands they could be used as a slingshot and put someones eyes out.

Have you ever really thought about how lucky we are to live in a free society? One that tolerates Iranian despots coming to our University and delivering tirades against our government? One that permits miscreants to protest funerals and burn flags? How fortunate that we don't live in Cuba ... and how fitting that this country supports dissent in Cuba.

VIVA EL CAMBIO

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It's About Time ...

It seems that the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas finally got what's coming to them. A Maryland jury just awarded one of the victims of this gang of fundamentalist wackos $11,000,000.00.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa sued the church for unspecified damages after members protested at his son's funeral in March of 2006. His son, Marine Lance Cpl. Mathew Snyder was killed in Iraq.

The Church said it would appeal the decision and continue to protest at military funerals.

Unfortunately, this decision probably won't stand an appeal. Snyder's lawyer, Craig Trebilcock urged jurors to place an amount, "that says don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of hate to Maryland again."

If the verdict is sustained on appeal, the monetary award is sure to be reduced (not that this sicko church could scrape up $11 million anyway), but protest, no matter how abhorrent is protected under the first amendment "free speech" rights.

The only chance the verdict has to be upheld is if we take into account the willful causing of emotional distress on the parents of the fallen Marine. $2 million of this judgement is for causing emotional distress. Hopefully this part will be upheld. It is undeniable that the founding fathers intended freedom of speech to be used to harm other people.

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