THE HOUSE DEMOCRAT BUDGET The largest tax hike in history!

I said this was coming. Here it is.

The Democrat budget reported Wednesday proposes the largest tax increase in U.S. history – $392.5 billion over 5 years – mainly to finance immense new spending through 2012. Although they try to insist otherwise, the figures in their budget assume these tax increases will occur automatically – and without them they cannot achieve a balanced budget, as they claim.

The largest tax hike in history!

Italy Loses Their Mind

Italy Swapped 5 Jailed Taliban for a Hostage

By IAN FISHER

ROME, March 21 —An Italian journalist who was held hostage for 15 days by the Taliban in lawless southern Afghanistan was ransomed for five Taliban prisoners, the Italian government and Afghan officials confirmed Wednesday.

It appears to be the first time prisoners have been openly exchanged for a hostage in the wars that the United States and its allies are fighting there and in Iraq, and the move drew immediate criticism from Washington and London, and from other European capitals.

“We don’t negotiate with terrorists, and we don’t advise others to do so either,” said the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack.

A senior Bush administration official said the prisoners exchanged had been held by the Afghan government, not by NATO, which is directing the allied military in Afghanistan. The official said he did not believe that NATO officials in Afghanistan had been formally alerted before the exchange.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the Italian foreign minister, Massimo D’Alema, in Washington on Monday, the day the hostage, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, of the leftist newspaper La Repubblica, was released. It was not clear whether they discussed an exchange.

Though it may have saved a life, the ransom has set off a worried debate in Italy and in other countries with soldiers, reporters and aid workers in danger zones.

The exchange sent “the wrong signal to prospective hostage takers,” a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office told Reuters.

More.

This has got to be one of the stupidest things that Italy has ever done. Right up there with electing Musolini.

What a bunch of dumb shits.

Why our troops must stay

Should be required reading for all the moonbats.

Why our troops must stay

John Howard
March 22, 2007

I APPRECIATE Peter Abigail and ASPI giving me the opportunity to address this distinguished group on the situation today in Iraq and the broader security implications.

In one sense, this quiet corner of Parliament House is a long way from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In another sense, it helps bring into focus much of what is at stake.

A hallmark of our free society is the ability to debate issues forcefully and to resolve inevitable differences peacefully. Our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan see this as a sign of weakness. We know it is our greatest strength.

This place is where political differences are aired and resolved in policy. I am well aware of the sharp political differences that exist in Australia today over Iraq, differences that have existed since the Government's initial decision to commit forces four years ago.

More.

Portland hates America

Portland Oregon.
What a shit hole.

















Fuck you too.
You assholes don't deserve the freedom.

FROM THE CHIEF OF CHAPLAINS WRAMC

A letter from the Chief of Chaplains at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

I have had enough and am going to give my perspective on the news about Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Please understand that I am speaking for myself and I am responsible for my thoughts alone. The news media and politicians are making it sound like Walter Reed is a terrible place and the staff here has been abusing our brave wounded soldiers; what a bunch of bull!

I am completing my 24th year of service in the Army next month so you decide for yourself if I have the experience to write about this topic. I have been the senior clinical chaplain at Walter Reed for four years and will leave to go back to the infantry this summer. I supervise the chaplain staff inside Walter Reed that cares for the 200 inpatients, the 650+ daily outpatients from the war who come to us for medical care, the 4000+ staff, and over 3000 soldiers and their families that come for clinical appointments daily.

Walter Reed has cared for over 5500 wounded from the war. I cannot count the number of sick and non-battle injured that have come through over that timeframe. The staff at this facility has done an incredible job at the largest US military medical center with the worst injured of the war. We have cared for over 400 amputees and their families. I am privileged to serve the wounded, their families, and our staff.

When the news about building 18 broke I was on leave. I was in shock when the news broke. We in the chaplains office in Walter Reed, as well as the majority of people at Walter Reed, did not know anyone was in building 18. I didn't even know we had a building 18. How can that happen? Walter Reed is over 100 acres of 66 buildings on two installations. Building 18 is not on the installation of Walter Reed and was believed to be closed years ago by our department.

The fact that some leaders in the medical brigade that is in charge of the outpatients put soldiers in there is terrible. That is why the company commander, first sergeant, and a group of platoon leaders and platoon sergeants were relieved immediately. They failed their soldiers and the Army. The commanding general was later relieved (more about this) and his sergeant major has been told to move on--if he gets to. The brigade sergeant major was relieved and more reliefs are sure to come and need to.

As any leader knows, if you do not take care of soldiers, lie, and then try to cover it up, you are not worthy of the commission you hold and should be sent packing. I have no issue, and am actually proud, that they did relieve the leaders they found who knew of the terrible conditions some of our outpatients were enduring. The media is making it sound like these conditions are rampant at Walter Reed and nothing could be further from the truth. We need improvements and will now get them. I hate it that it took this to make it happen...

NOTE THE TIMELINE HERE

The Army and the media made MG Weightman, our CG, out to be the problem and fired him. This was a great injustice. He was only here for six months, is responsible for military medical care in the 20 Northeast states, wears four "hats" of responsibilities, and relies on his subordinate leaders to know what is happening in their areas of responsibilities. He has a colonel that runs the hospital (my hospital commander), a colonel that runs the medical brigade (where the outpatient wounded are assigned and supposedly cared for), and a colonel that is responsible to run the garrison and installation.

What people don't know is that he was making many changes as he became aware of them and had requested money to fix other places on the installation. The Army did not come through until four months after he asked for the money, remember that he was here only six months, which was only days before they relieved him. His leaders responsible for outpatient care did not tell him about onditions in building 18. He has been an incredible leader who really cares about the wounded, their families, and our staff. I cannot say the same about a former commander, who was my first commander here at Walter Reed, and definitely knew about many problems and is in the position to fix them and he did not.

MG Weightman also should not be held responsible for the military's unjust and inefficient medical board system and the problems in the VA system. We lost a great leader and passionate man who showed he had the guts to make changes and was doing so when he was made the scapegoat for others.

What I am furious about is that the media is making it sound like all of Walter Reed is like building 18. Nothing could be further from the truth. No system is perfect but the medical staff provides great care in this hospital. What needs to be addressed, and finally will, is the bureaucratic garbage that all soldiers are put through going into medical boards and medical retirements. Congress is finally giving the money that people have asked for at Walter Reed for years to fix places on the installations and address shortcomings. What they don't want you to know is Congress caused many problems by the BRAC process saying they were closing Walter Reed.

We cannot keep nor attract all the quality people we need at Walter Reed when they know this place will close in several years and they are not promised a job at the new hospital. Then they did this thing called A76 where they fired many of the workers here for a company of contractors, IAP, to get a contract to provide care outside the hospital proper. The company, which is responsible for maintenance, only hired half the number of people as there were originally assigned to maintenance areas to save money. Walter Reed leadership fought the A76 and BRAC process for years, but lost. Congress instituted the BRAC and A76 process; not the leadership of Walter Reed.

What I wish everyone would also hear is that for every horror story we are now hearing about in the media that truly needs to be addressed, you are not hearing about the hundreds of other wounded and injured soldiers who tell a story of great care they received. You are not hearing about the incredibly high morale of our troops and the fact that most of them want to go back, be with their teammates, and finish the job properly. You should be very proud of the wounded troopers we have at Walter Reed . They make me so proud to be in the Army and I will fight to get their story out.

I want you to hear the whole story because our wounded, their families, our Army, and the nation need to know that many in the media and select politicians have an agenda. Forget agendas and make the changes that have been needed for years to fix problems in every military hospital and the VA system. The poor leaders will be identified and sent packing and good riddance to them. I wish the same could be said for the politicians and media personalities who are also responsible but now want it to look like they are very concerned. Where have they been for the last four years? I am ashamed of what they all did and the pain it has caused many to think that everyone is like that.

Please know that you are not hearing the whole story. Please know that there are thousands of dedicated soldiers and civilian medical staff caring for your soldiers and their families. When I leave here I will end up deploying. When soldiers in my division have to go to Walter Reed from the battlefield, I know they will get great medical care.

I pray that you know the same thing.

God bless all our troops and their families wherever they may be.

God bless you all,

Chaplain John L. Kallerson

Senior Chaplain Clinician

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Shades of the Soviet era

Russia is back at their old parlor tricks.

Shades of the Soviet era
By Bogdan Kipling

WASHINGTON: The communists may have been banished from the Kremlin, but many of the Soviet-era thugs remain. Earlier this month — a year after he ordered his Federal Security to crack down on foreign non-government organisations operating in Russia — the increasingly paranoid Vladimir Putin let it be known that the United States is in the avant garde of the enemies he sees everywhere.
Russia grew rich on oil and gas exports after the United States and Western Europe bailed out its dumpster economy a decade ago. Now, the autocratic former KGB operative is throwing his weight around — price-gouging Western European and former Soviet-bloc nations for the natural gas and petroleum their economies so desperately need.
This is the same man whose eyes and soul President Bush gazed into at the start of his presidency and pronounced them brimming with good will.
Ah, well! Fast-forward six years and Putin appears to be on the verge of a launching a sequel to the long-playing Cold War. Not a comforting thought when you consider that the Kremlin is hording thousands of nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons and its treasury is overflowing with billions of US dollars and euros.

More.

Russia intensifies efforts to rebuild its military machine

Its burgeoning military-industrial complex is increasingly capable of turning out cutting-edge weaponry – and selling it.

By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

MOSCOW - At a major security conference this past weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted the US for its militaristic approach to foreign policy, saying its actions were "nourishing an arms race."

But little noticed amid the sharp US and European response to Mr. Putin's comments is Russia's burgeoning military-industrial complex, generally thought to have collapsed with the Soviet Union.

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Russian Journalist Who Fell to His Death Worked on Weapons Story

MOSCOW A journalist who fell to his death from a fifth-story window had received threats while gathering material for a report claiming Russia planned to provide sophisticated weapons to Syria and Iran, his newspaper said Tuesday.

Prosecutors have opened an inquest into the death of Ivan Safronov, a military affairs writer for the daily Kommersant who died Friday in what some media said could have been murder.

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Russia has fallen off our radar because of terrorism. They need to be brought back into focus.
into focus.

Gay Advocacy Group Wants Apology From Pentagon Top General After Homosexuality Comment

WASHINGTON — A gay advocacy group Tuesday demanded an apology from the Pentagon's top general for calling homosexuality immoral.

In a newspaper interview Monday, Marine Gen. Peter Pace had likened homosexuality to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

"General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces," the advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a statement on its Web site.

The group has represented some service members dismissed from the military for their sexual orientation.

Pace, chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his remarks in an interview Monday with the Chicago Tribune. He was responding to a question about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows gays and lesbians to serve if they keep their sexual orientation private and don't engage in homosexual acts.

Pace said he supports the policy, which prohibits commanders from asking about a person's sexual orientation. Over the years thousands have been dismissed under this policy, signed into law by President Clinton in 1994.

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I agree.

There is no room for immoral behavior in the military, or in society as a whole.

The General is right on!

Scientists threatened for 'climate denial'

Scientists threatened for 'climate denial'

By Tom Harper, Sunday Telegraph

Last Updated: 12:24am GMT 11/03/2007

Scientists who questioned mankind's impact on climate change have received death threats and claim to have been shunned by the scientific community.

They say the debate on global warming has been "hijacked" by a powerful alliance of politicians, scientists and environmentalists who have stifled all questioning about the true environmental impact of carbon dioxide emissions.

Timothy Ball, a former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg in Canada, has received five deaths threats by email since raising concerns about the degree to which man was affecting climate change.

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Proof once again that consensus science is junk science.

Only people with an agenda would threaten someone with a differing opinion. In fact, I think that the proof against global warming that humans are to blame, is what causes the loony left to lose their minds.

Global warming is a natural occurence and has been so since the earth was created. If there were no global warming, the ice age would have never ended, hint, hint...

Scientists threatened for 'climate denial'

Scientists threatened for 'climate denial'

By Tom Harper, Sunday Telegraph

Last Updated: 12:24am GMT 11/03/2007

Scientists who questioned mankind's impact on climate change have received death threats and claim to have been shunned by the scientific community.

They say the debate on global warming has been "hijacked" by a powerful alliance of politicians, scientists and environmentalists who have stifled all questioning about the true environmental impact of carbon dioxide emissions.

Timothy Ball, a former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg in Canada, has received five deaths threats by email since raising concerns about the degree to which man was affecting climate change.

More.

Proof once again that consensus science is junk science.

Only people with an agenda would threaten someone with a differing opinion. In fact, I think that the proof against global warming that humans are to blame, is what causes the loony left to lose their minds.

Global warming is a natural occurence and has been so since the earth was created. If there were no global warming, the ice age would have never ended, hint, hint...

Illegal Aliens More Likely to Commit Crimes: Study

From the NewsMax.com Staff

For the story behind the story...

Monday, March 12, 2007 7:35 a.m. EDT

People who violate immigration laws are more likely to violate other laws, according to an immigration reform group that said the findings differ from previous studies showing that immigrants to the United States commit fewer crimes.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said these previous studies - especially one last month by the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) - "are misleading because they lump legal and illegal immigrants together."

"The use of that [U.S. Census Bureau] data is virtually guaranteed to demonstrate a lower incidence of criminal activity because of the screening process to which legal immigrants and long-term foreign residents are subjected," Jack Martin, special projects director for FAIR, told Cybercast News Service.

Martin noted that legal immigrants are required to submit police reports and records of any criminal convictions that could exclude them from being issued a U.S. visa. Furthermore, non-immigrants planning to visit the U.S. and applying for a visa are also required to disclose any past criminal activity on their part.

More.

Appeals court overturns D.C. gun ban

By BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia's long-standing handgun ban Friday, rejecting the city's argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias.

In a 2-1 decision, the judges held that the activities protected by the Second Amendment "are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued intermittent enrollment in the militia."

The court also ruled the D.C. requirement that registered firearms be kept unloaded, disassembled and under trigger lock was unconstitutional.

In 2004, a lower-court judge had told six city residents that they did not have a constitutional right to own handguns. The plaintiffs include residents of high-crime neighborhoods who wanted the guns for protection.

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I love the smell of cordite in the morning... It smells like, victory.

34th coolest February in 113 years

The average temperature in February 2007 was 32.9 F. This was -1.8 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average, the 34th coolest February in 113 years. The temperature trend for the period of record (1895 to present) is 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.

1.56 inches of precipitation fell in February. This was -0.46 inches less than the 1901-2000 average, the 16th driest such month on record. The precipitation trend for the period of record (1895 to present) is 0.00 inches per decade.


So much for that global warming bullshit.

I keep saying this...

It’s Not Unusual
Iraq war mirrors past.

By Victor Davis Hanson

Given all of this country’s past wars involving intelligence failures, tactical and strategic blunders, congressional fights and popular anger at the president, Iraq and the rising furor over it are hardly unusual.

Imagine if the House of Representatives had debated a resolution to authorize the president’s use of force in Iraq only after the bombs were already falling. And what if after the debate, in the middle of the war, with our troops already in combat, Congress had suddenly denied such approval?

That is precisely what happened to President Clinton during the Serbian war of 1999. Neither the Senate nor the House agreed to sanction the administration’s ongoing preemptive bombing campaign against Serbia. That congressional rebuke prompted liberal commentator Mark Shields to scoff on PBS Newshour that American troops were “putting their life on the line, and (the Congress) are saying, we’re not with you.”

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I keep saying this to anyone that will listen. This war is a victory until we as a people snatch it out from under the troops.