…are doomed to repeat it

(H/T): The Corner (National Review Online)

From JoshuaPundit:

Once, there was a small nation created by international consensus from the ashes of a world war. It included two main nationalities and it was the only free nation in the region, surrounded by larger neighbors who resented it and coveted its land, which they felt rightfully belonged to them. In spite of that, it was a prosperous and free republic, and its citizens enjoyed one of the highest living standards in that part of the world.

[snip]

The peace plan involved a trade of land for peace, with the former nationals of the larger nation to have an independent state on a large part of the small country`s land.

No one in the Quartet would have considered repatriating the natives of the larger nation back to their original home country, or giving them some of the larger nation`s territory to live on.

When the leaders and diplomats of the small nation protested at this one-sided settlement, they were bullied into acceptance with threats of withdrawal of all aid and military assistance by the very western allies they had counted on for support in preserving their freedom. Instead, they were offered guarantees for the security of their remaining territory.

They were likewise abandoned by the international body that had brought them into existence in the first place. They reluctantly accepted the Quartet`s diktat, counting on the guarantees they were given for their security and territorial integrity. Certain politicians in the small country were even happy at the settlement, since the "occupation" was ended and peace preserved. And the international community congratulated them on making sacrifices and bold moves for peace.

Things are not always what they seem, and history does repeat itself.  Are we willing to put aside Political Correctness, the ability to put aside the equivalence of "stability" for the word "peace"?  

Are we willing to stand up to extortion and blackmail?  I urge you to read the rest….more commentary will happen in a while….. 

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He really thinks OUR taxes are going to fund Mexican development?

Update 2: (7/26/06)

Well, since Carl decided to comment, I needed to do a little more homework… see the comments.  However, I decided to look at the Bill a little bit closer, and indeed, I found two things that allow politicians get off scot-free. See if you can spot them:

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of the Fund shall be–
    (1) to increase the economic competitiveness of North America in a global economy;
    (2) to reduce the income gap between Mexico and Canada, and between Mexico and the United States; and
    (3) to promote economic development in Mexico in the areas of infrastructure, education, technology, and job training.

and

SEC. 7. REPORT.

    Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Government of Mexico complies with the criteria described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 5(b), and once every 180 days after such date of compliance and before the finalization of the agreement described in section 2, the President shall submit a report to Congress detailing the progress made by the Government of the United States to establish the Fund in accordance with this Act.

Notice what is missing?  Accountability. 

This is a project – the Fund is supposed to straighten out Mexico (something it doesn’t seem to be able to do for itself).  But how is that to be measured?  Any project manager worth their salt knows that in order to be successful, you need deliverables on a milestone basis.

What this is setting up is that it can do anything, or nothing.  Sure, there is reporting – looks good on paper, doesn’t it?  The only accountability is setting the stupid thing up in the first place.  

Then what?  If the US gov’t, because of its size and special interests,  cannot get things right in a lot of areas, what gives anyone the idea that three countries (one of which is failing) will succeed?  Yes, NATO succeeds only because its mission is singular.  NO if you look at the UN, and the EU ain’t such a hot place economically or from a democratic standpoint either (ever notice that most of the EU ministers and minions are, for the most part, unelected?).

 

 

 

UPDATE 1: (7/26/06)

The Senate bill can be found here .

 ====================================

Sorry, I am in a real snarky mood today….and now Senator Cornyn (R-Texas) has the gall to try this:

Cornyn wants US taxpayers to fund Mexican development – North American Investment Fund" 

How would this be done?  Listen to his pitch:

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has quietly introduced a bill to create a "North American Investment Fund" that would tap U.S. and Canadian taxpayers for the development of public works projects in Mexico.

Has all the oxygen gone out of the air in Washington!?!?!?!

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“Dope of the Week” Nominee: John Kerry

The July 23rd Detroit News is reporting via its online Detnews.com website on a recent utterance of Sen. John "Loathesome" Kerry. This time, he’s pontificating on the recent events of the Middle East.:
"If I was president, this wouldn’t have happened."
.
"The president has been so absent on diplomacy when it comes to issues affecting the Middle East…We’re going to have a lot of ground to make up (in 2008) because of it."
The story further tells us that Loathesome John’s statements were made during a stop at a Detroit bar ironically named Honest John’s bar & grill. He also remarked that
This is about American security and Bush has failed. He has made it so much worse because of his lack of reality in going into Iraq.…We have to destroy Hezbollah,"
Now how does Sen. Kerry propose to "destroy Hezbollah?" Being the consummate liberal, he despises the military. How would a Kerry administration have dealt with these terrorists? Bore them to death with his snotty "Boston brahmin" pseudo- intellectual dialect?

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How often does this happen in YOUR town?

Foster’s Online reports on the use of taxpayer funds to promote voting one way or another. One such case has reached the NH Supreme Court. Attorney Charles Douglas, who represented the organization in court, said taxpayers should not be funding government-produced newsletters urging support for a particular viewpoint. He said the town spent $1,300 to … Read more

NH’s “Governor Do-Nothing”

For the past year and a half, it has been an inside joke between me and my wife: whenever New Hampshire’s Democrat governor John Lynch appears on TV, we each do our best Howdy-Doody imitations, wildly waving to some imaginary crowd with the dumbest, blankest looks we can muster, complete with exaggerated smile. Of course … Read more

The changing nature of war, or is the West only just starting to catch up?

The kind of war that most of us remember, and that most history books contain, are wars against nations. Armies, navies, air forces – all are the forces of nation-states use to either conquer other nations (re: Iraq taking over Kuwait) or to protect its citizenry (e.g., America after being attacked by Japan in WW II). This is familiar and wars of these nature are “normal”.

The attack by Hamas on Israeli forces, citizens, and land (after evacuating from the Gaza strip in a failed show of trading land for Peace) and then by Hezbullah in the north shows a different type of war…one that the West is almost helpless to wage. It is not the case that the West lacks the military forces; rather, it is the lack of a legal or ethical foundation on which to wage war effectively when at least one side refuses to fight “by the rules”. We are ill equipped to handle a conflict where the other side embeds its forces and logistics within the civilian population. Why is this? There are two reasons.

Let us discuss the first.  How do you wage war by rules that the other side not only ignores, but glorifies in breaking those rules?  How do you fight when hamstrung by guidelines that seem to be no longer valued by both sides (for without both sides honoring them, they aren’t worth the paper on which they are written) ?

An example is this: we hear so much that we must abide by the Geneva Convention so that when our prisoners are captured, they will be well treated.  Can someone tell me, with a straight face, when our folks were treated well?  Seems to me that the Islamofacists seem to enjoy separating heads from necks with long knives (no matter if their captive is military or civilian).  They flaunt their disregard for conventions.  Our response?  The Supreme Court (the Hamdan decision): makes it encumbent upon our military and legal systems to treat these non-state combantants as if they were members of a nation-state that was a signatory to the Conventions when no such agreement with that Convention exists. 

Gee, do we have to continue to make it harder to effectively defend ourselves? 

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Yes, it is all about the children

Red State has a little something that shows what the NEA is doing to enhance the education of our children: Thanks to Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal, who noted in the Political Diary last Friday the NEA’s Legislative Program for the next (110th) Congress. As we noted a few days ago, according to … Read more

Here’s the difference

Sure, I can pile on!  From CNN this morning, the Bush Administration announces a new push for school vouchers: Congressional Republicans on Tuesday proposed a $100 million plan to let poor children leave struggling schools and attend private schools at public expense.  Face it, there are schools, mostly in poor areas (or simply poorly managed … Read more

Praying to be overturned

I really hope this is brought to the Supremes and is overturned quickly, for if it is not, we are ALL in big trouble.  Right now, the Ninth Circuit Court has handed down a ruling that will start / allow affirmative action in terms of limiting free speech.  From TCS Daily is this:

Recently, in a 2-1 decision, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision which may provide a foundation for applying preferential treatment to freedom of speech. If allowed to stand, the decision could authorize local governments to set varying limits to free expression, depending on the race, religion, or sexual orientation of the listener. Preferential treatment has proved one of the most divisive policies of modern America. The Ninth Circuit’s decision could radically expand its scope.

Big, big mistake.  Where in the First Amendment are these criteria listed?  You think the PC crowd gets their knickers in a knot about those of us who, while trying to be polite, don’t care if we tick off our listeners or readers?  This could shut us bloggers down rather quickly. 

 Harper v. Poway Unified School District grew out of a decision by a San Diego area high school to hold a "Day of Silence" to "teach tolerance of others, particularly those of a different sexual orientation" (in the words of its Assistant Principal). Participating students wore duct tape over their mouths to symbolize the silencing effect of intolerance. Others wore black T-shirts bearing a purple square and a yellow equal sign. The Gay-Straight Alliance, with the school’s permission, put posters "promoting awareness of harassment on the basis of sexual orientation."

No, this is not teaching tolerance – this avenue leads to demanding acceptance. 

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Notable Quotes: Benjamin Franklin

In this day and age, we often see the quote as: "Those who give up liberties for safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." when the real quote is:  "Those who give up essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." – Benjamin Franklin My question is: what are these essential liberties as far … Read more

A case for theology

In the NRO Online forum, Kathryn Jean Lopez made this observation:

Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor earlier today: “There is a group of people in America of deep faith. I respect that faith. I’ve been in enough inner city black churches, working-class Catholic parishes, rural Methodist houses of worship, small Jewish synagogues to understand that faith is a gift. The trouble with this group, which I call the theocrats, is they want their faith to dictate what the government does. That, in a word, Mr. President, is un-American. This exactly what the founding fathers put down their plows and took up muskets to fight.”

As usual, the liberal Sr. Senator (D-NY) is wrong.  Isn’t it just lovely how he insults people of faith that he first says have a gift, and then turns around and calls them un-American?  And he’s wrong as to the founding fathers as well. 

Regardless of what his definitions are, a theocrat (a ruler of a theocracy) can only exist where there is a theocracy which is either (1: a political unit governed by a deity (or by officials thought to be divinely guided) 2: the belief in government by divine guidance – Wikipedia).  In fact, the Founding Fathers all pretty much thanked God for what they were about to do and thanked Him for the strength to do so.  As far as I am concerned, this is another case of another person trying to make political points by redefining words and mangling history.  Yet Senator Schumer prattles along, knowing that no on is going to challenge him on his grasp (or lack thereof) of American history.  After all, who are we to correct him?
 

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So much for so little

And for the general consumer, there is now this for hard disk space….2 terabytes (2,000 gigabytes).  Not so long ago, only huge corporations could afford the purchase and maintenance costs.  Now, a regular guy who is into movies could get one of these.   I go back a ways – I started with computers with … Read more

This looks encouraging

From TreeHugger comes this report: Thanks to a merger, a New Jersey company hopes to be able to provide solar power at prices competitive with traditional electricity without relying on rebates. WorldWater & Power intends to acquire Entech, a manufacturer of concentrating solar photovoltaic technology. Entech has developed concentrator solar power systems, supplied solar power … Read more

CCAGW 2005 Congressional Ratings

Press Release
Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released its 2005 Congressional Ratings.  For 17 years, CCAGW has examined roll-call votes to separate the taxpayer advocates in Congress from those who favor wasteful programs and pork-barrel spending. 
The 2005 Congressional Ratings cover the voting year 2005, or the first session of the 109th Congress.  CCAGW rated 34 key votes in the House and 24 key votes in the Senate.  Votes included a budget reconciliation bill that will save a $39.7 billion over five years in mandatory programs, a tax reconciliation bill that would protect the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, reforms in class action lawsuits, the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and affirming the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommendations. 
The entire House had an average of 45 percent a six point increase over 2004.   House Republicans averaged 73 percent; House Democrats averaged 13 percent.  The entire Senate had an average of 46 percent also a six point increase over 2004.  Senate Republicans averaged 68 percent; Senate Democrats averaged 18 percent. 
There were two Taxpayer Super Heroes with a score of 100 percent:  Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) in the Senate and Ed Royce (R-Calif.) in the House.  Taxpayer Heroes are members who scored between 80 and 99 percent.  The total number of Heroes and Super Heroes in the House dropped from 59 in 2004 to 52 in 2005.  The number of Heroes and Super Heroes in the Senate remained the same at 10. 
.
“Talk is cheap,” CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “The voting record is the best way to measure a member’s commitment to fiscal discipline.  Unlike the Taxpayer Super Heroes and Heroes, too many members of Congress demonstrate little regard for the harmfull effects of a large and cumbersome federal government.”
CCAGW’s website features the complete 2005 Congressional Ratings, including vote descriptions, scorecards for the House and Senate, personalized scorecards for each member of Congress, historical comparisons, and averages by chamber, party, and state delegation.  Visit www.cagw.org 
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

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Democrat Vision: “A New Era of Braveness Internationally”

Consider the nightmare vision, as presented by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi as she addressed the 97th annual NAACP convention July 18th: Democrats are proposing a New Direction to take our country forward for all Americans, not just the privileged few. And when we do take back the Congress, the Congressional Black Caucus will lead … Read more

Those pesky American Engineers…..

Three guys – a farmer, Osama bin Laden, and an American engineer are together one day.  They come across a lantern and a genie pops out of it. "I will give each of you one wish, which is three wishes total" says the genie. The farmer says, "I am a farmer, my dad was a … Read more

The Vatican has it wrong

Update 1:

The Pope has spoken out on the situation (from Reuters again):

July 17, 2006 — INTROD, Italy – Pope Benedict yesterday condemned Hezbollah’s "terrorist acts" and Israel’s "reprisals," calling the cross-border violence unjustifiable.

In his first public comments on the crisis, he said the violations at its root cannot be used to sanction bloodshed. He called for a resumption of dialogue.

"The causes of such fierce confrontation are, unfortunately, objective situations of violation of law and justice," the pope said from his holiday retreat in the Aosta Valley.

 In my eyes, this is still only 1/2 right.  Hezbollah (or however one wishes to spell it) started this current instance.  Israel, in the past, has ignored most of the past infractions, but has finally (and rightfully) decided to protect its citizens.

There are a number of commenters out in the ‘Sphere that has said the same thing so I will apply it here.  What if it was the case that Italy had entered the Vatican and kidnapped a couple of the Swiss Guards?  What if Italy was lobbing shells or rockets into the Vatican proper?

And if the Vatican had been been under attack for the last 60 years?

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Then what are all those blue helmets doing that are already there?

UN chief  appeals to Israel and Hexbollah to focus their targets narrowly, to spare civilian lives.

Does anyone else see what’s wrong with this picture?  Isn’t Hezbollah known for shooting off records heading into Israeli civilian area? 

Now the UN is trying to get into the act over at the Israeli – Lebanon border.  From this report (H/T: Lucienne.com) at the Middle East Online, Secretary General Annan is trying to get a peace keeping force in there:

UN chief Kofi Annan called Monday for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in order to buy time to put a well-armed "stabilisation force" along the Lebanon-Israel border.

Problem is, they are already there.  So what have they done to help "calm the waters" so far?

The United Nations has a monitoring force on the Lebanese-Israeli border known as UNIFIL, which was set up in March 1978 to oversee an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon that finally only took place 22 years later.

It is made up of 2,000 soldiers and 500 civilians mandated to supervise a ceasefire on the border but is largely powerless. Its mandate, renewed every six months by the Security Council, next expires on July 31

Nothing.  But wait, there’s more!

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I thought I was working for my family….

From the American Spectator: Americans finally have stopped working for government. Many people are familiar with "Tax Freedom Day" — April 26th this year — when they effectively finish paying their taxes. But with government running huge deficits and imposing massive regulatory requirements, we all spend a lot more time working for government. Cost of … Read more

Jump for Global Warming

I realize that Doug and I posted two jokes today (without knowing what the other was doing).  I give you this – not a joke, but humorous (I hope).

Folks, I can’t make this up….and perhaps we should have a Ridiculous / Scratch Head catagory…but someone is dead serious about it.  From ABC News:

July 17, 2006 — Hans Peter Niesward, from the Department of Gravitationsphysik at the ISA in Munich, says we can stop global warming in one fell swoop — or, more accurately, in one big jump.

The slightly disheveled professor states his case on WorldJumpDay.org, an Internet site created to recruit 600,000,000 people to jump simultaneously on July 20 at 11:39:13 GMT in an effort to shift Earth’s position.

I don’t even know how or what to say about this…..for once, I’m speechless.  So, let’s let the trainwreck continue….

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