Demented North At It Again

Once again, North Korea is provoking the South. This time they decided to lob a couple of hundred artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. This is an island occupied mostly by civilians ... yes there are military troops there ... but they are there to protect the civilians.

This ... let's call it like it is ... ACT OF WAR, resulted in the deaths of 2 Korean Marines, 2 Civilians and the injury of 18 other civilians. And what was the response? Nada ... zilch ... zip. Counter-battery fire should have been immediate and overwhelming. The US has 28,000 troops in South Korea (most of them on the DMZ) that are for lack of a better word, "hostages" to the vagaries of Korean diplomacy. We cannot allow these troops to continue to be caught in the middle of two 1,000,000 man armies.

We need to withdraw our troops from the DMZ and protect South Korea from the sea and the air. These troops are just a symbol of our support ... they should not be hung out to dry.

A scary development seems to be unfolding. It seems that South Korean military that have been examining some 20 unexploded rounds have determined that these are vacuum bombs. These bombs ... also known as fuel-air bombs, thermobaric bombs and aerosol bombs ... are particularly nasty. They consist of two explosives and fuel. The first explosive spreads the fuel through the air and the second, detonates the fuel. This results in an enormous blast wave that disintegrates whatever is below. The over-pressures resulting from this type of bomb are very similar to a nuclear weapon. These are of course very small bombs (they have to fit on the rockets launched from the Norths' MLRS's, but the technology is pretty much the same to construct a larger weapon.

Something must be done to reign in the madman Kim Jong Il. I'm just not sure what it is ... and I definitely don't trust the current administration to solve this problem. I wouldn't put it past the administration to get us into another messy war to distract us from the US economy and Obama care.

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It's Time To Trim The Fat

As we prepare to carve up the turkey on Thanksgiving ... I suggest that lawmakers start thinking about ways to carve up our bloated budget. Being the ever helpful soul that I am ... I will give them some suggestions.

Let's start with TARP. It seems that most of this money has been paid back ... but as is the M.O. of the Beltway ... this repaid money has been used again. All money paid back from TARP (usually with interest) needs to be used to pay down our national debt.

The General Motors IPO. This money that is being paid back by GM (and any that comes in from Chrysler) should also go directly to paying down the debt.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This is the parent company of NPR and PBS. This entity should be dissolved, saving us $422 million a year. With all the competition in media, there is no longer any need for this entity. This program was set up back when most of the country only got 3 TV channels and a couple of radio stations. Can we sell the rights to ELMO? That would take a big chunk out of our National Debt.

The National Endowment For The Arts. I can't see a better way to save $161 million a year than to bury this office ... and I can't say I'll miss the urine-soaked crucifixes and dung-encrusted sculptures of Christ that this office pays for.

Government Workers. Freeze the salaries of civilian government employees for this coming year (we can decide whether to continue the freeze next year). This will save us $5.2 billion dollars for every year that it is in effect.

Government Workers. Slash the federal civilian workforce by 10% ... saving us $26 Billion dollars a year, and by leaving out the military and arms of Homeland Security, will still keep us safe.

We need to systematically look at every single line item in the budget and cut it to the bone. Austerity measures are never popular ... Let's see if this new Congress can walk the walk ... we already know that they can bloviate ... can they execute?

Let's get some feed-back on other programs you think should be cut.

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Do Not Hire Pelosi

Republicans are celebrating the pending election of Nancy Pelosi to the House Minority Leader post. They reason that Ms Pelosi has overseen the destruction of the Democratic Party in the House ... and besides, who wouldn't want to see her face as the leader of the Democrats. They figure that with her in charge, it increases Republican chances to take the Senate and the Presidency in 2012 ... I do NOT agree.

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Nancy Pelosi has been one of the most effective Speakers in recent memory. She took the President's agenda and through arm-twisting, back-room deals and various levels of bribery and cohersion, forced President Obama's agenda down the throats of every American. Nancy Pelosi was able to pass Obamacare, Cap and Tax, and Financial Reform through the House ... often getting her caucus to vote on these items, even when they knew it was political suicide. She is a formidable woman ... who knows how the game is played.

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I, like many Americans, are sick of the gamesmanship in Washington. I would have liked to see a minority leader that could work with the majority to solve some of the problems we are having now ... I do not want to have to wait 2 years to start getting results. Can the country survive till 2012? Sure it can, but the trip back will be harder. Just like saving for retirement ... It's better to start now.

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~ Speaking of starting now ... let's start trimming the budget. We can start by eliminating the 32 "czars" that the President has appointed (not counting the new "cyber-security czar"). I double-checked my copy of the Constitution and there was no mention of czars in it ... Maybe the President has a different edition (that would explain a lot). Each czar has a salary of around $150K+, but when you figure in staff, benefits, pension, travel ... you get a cost of $2.2mil a year per czar. I know $70 million is a drop in the bucket ... but it's a start. The last Czar died in 1918 ... let's keep it that way.

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The Week In Review

The Republicans won back the House of Representatives on Tuesday picking up over 60 seats. Some pundits likened it to a "Red Tide", sweeping across the country. Though I like the symbolism of it, a red tide is actually an algae that multiplies at such a rate that it eats up all the oxygen ... killing all life in the area. The only things that got chewed up in this tide were Democrats and RINOs.

Republicans fell short of winning back the Senate. They needed to pick-up 10 seats and only got 6. It's very sad that Harry Reid and Patty Murray held on to their seats. But then again, it seemed like the entire Democratic Party apparatus was mobilized to help them. And let's not forget the Unions. I've always felt that if you are unsure of who to vote for in a particular race, ask a union member who the union supports ... then vote against that person. It's a technique that has never failed me.

President Obama has left on a 10 day trip to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. There are reports out there that the trip is costing us $200 million dollars a day ... $2 billion dollars for the whole trip. I find this a little hard to believe and may be a bit of sensationalism (the source for this information was credited as ... some guy in India). This has been billed as a trip to open up trade with these countries, and I am all for more trade (especially exports), but why is the President just going on this trip now. Why has he waited 22 months to try to open up trade and get US manufacturing jobs going? Couldn't he have done this sooner? Like maybe instead of one of the countless vacations he took?

The United Nations Human Rights Council has sat in judgement of the United States. We have been found wanting in the Human Rights arena. Hundreds of suggestions have been offered to address these grievances. This help, in the form of the suggestions (and accusations) has come from our friends across the globe. Mexico says we need to fix our immigration laws ... I agree, we should make them more like Mexico, then we can imprison illegals just for being here. Iran says we violate the rights of women ... Hey Iran ... are you still planning on stoning that woman for adultery? Also chiming in with accusations were Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and of course, that bastion of human rights, Libya. This would actually be hysterically funny except for the fact that the Obama Administration signed us up for it, thinking it would be a good exercise in transparency.

All in all ... it's been a good week. I can't wait to see what happens next.

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The Biggest Teaparty

On November 2nd, Nearly 237 years after the original Tea Party, Americans will be celebrating our biggest Tea Party ever. Not in Boston harbour, but in countless polling stations across the nation. The Tea Party in 1773 had 60 colonial celebrants ... the 2010 version will have millions. It's funny how anger over taxes was the fuel for both events, and unimaginable how both the British government and current Liberals wouldn't be able to fathom the concept that Americans would sheepishly continue to allow the government to take their hard-earned money and re-distribute it to those that are too lazy to work.

Hopefully, our modern-day Tea Party culminates in the same results as the original one did ... Independence Day!

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The Original Fall Guy

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Since moving to El Paso, TX 16 years ago, I have become interested in the rich history of this little corner of Texas. I recently visited the Fall House in the downtown historical area and wanted to do a little research on Albert Fall.

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Albert Fall was born in Kentucky in 1861. He became a lawyer and made his way out west. He became one of the first Senators when New Mexico became a state in 1912. He was later picked by his poker buddy, President Warren Harding to be Secretary of the Interior in 1921. Here is where it starts to get interesting.

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There were several tracks of government land that had been set aside as oil reserves, to ensure the Department of the Navy would have a source of oil if needed. One of these reserves was called "Teapot Dome". To make a long story short (many books have been written about this scandal ... so I will make it really short) ... Albert Fall secured a loan for $100,000.00 (which apparently didn't need to be paid back) in exchange for leasing this government land to Mammoth Oil and Pan American Petroleum Co.

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This would seem an open and shut bribery case ... except for one thing. President Harding defended Fall, saying that this leasing policy had been presented to him by the Navy and Interior Secretaries prior to the leases being executed, and that he had, as President, approved them.

Congress opened an investigation into this and both Fall and Naval Secretary Edwin Denby were forced to resign. Fall was later convicted of Fraud and Corruption and served 1 year in prison and paid a $100,000.00 fine. He later moved to El Paso and died here in 1944.

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Questions remain regarding President Harding's involvement with the scandal and whether Albert Fall took the blame to protect him. If so, Albert Fall was the first "Fall Guy".

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In this vitriolic election season, who will be the "Fall Guy" if the Republicans don't do as well as expected? And what if the Democrats lose both houses? Whatever happens, one thing can be assured, there will always be a "Fall Guy".

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Mexican Journalists Surrender

Luis Carlos Santiago Orozco, a photographer for "El Diario", the Juarez, Mexico daily newspaper became the 11th journalist murdered this year in the Mexican drug war. He was gunned down in his car on September 17th by cartel members that didn't like the stories he was writing. He was just one of over 2200 people murdered so far this year in Juarez, the murder capital of the world.

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But this is not a story about Mr. Orozco. Journalists have been putting themselves in harms way for decades. Some in search of the truth, some for self-aggrandizement, always to get the story to their readers. This is a story about the pusillanimous publication that employed him. El Diario is the major daily newspaper in Juarez, and is well circulated in El Paso, just across the border. This newspaper with a paid circulation of over 120,000 and a readership of over 600,000 is the major source of news for this war-torn city in Northern Mexico.

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The day after the shooting of Mr. Orozco, El Diario ran a front page headline story ... Was it a tribute to a brave journalist? ... Was it a scathing rebuke of the cartel's tactics? ... NO. The story was an open letter to the cartels, asking what they could do to avoid further attacks (Mr Orozco was the second reporter from the newspaper in the past 2 years). Translated, the letter stated, "We do not want more deaths. We do not want more injuries or even more intimidation. It is impossible to exercise our role in these conditions. Therefore, tell us what you expect of us as a medium." The letter also referred to the cartels as "the de facto authorities in this city".

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So I guess now the cartels are controlling the news in Juarez. The total capitulation by El Diario is indeed an ignominious eulogy for a brave man ... trying to bring the truth to the people of his beleaguered city. And the citizens of Juarez, are faced with yet another example of the establishment abandoning them. They no longer trust their government, police, army ... and now their news sources.

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