American Republic Online

Interesting piece comparing two stadiums filled with people from natural disasters.  One was filled with blood, rapes, and stabbings (which turned out to not have actually happened) and the other is filled with happy people and rock concerts?

Will FEMA and Bush get credit here?  Does it come down to a competent mayor or perhaps the Gov-inator?  Things to ponder…

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Violence continues to go down in Iraq.  Now down another 70% from the already lower rates in July.  The security over the entire country is remarkably improved.  To put things in perspective the civilian deaths amidst a war zone have fallen to 38% BELOW the murder rate in the United States.  That’s right, more people are murdered here than are dying in the war in Iraq.

But don’t worry, the media will ignore most such stories as good news = no news.

“One item from Baghdad today.  The news is… that there is no news.  The police told us that, to their knowledge, there were no major acts of violence.  Attacks are down in Baghdad and today no bombings or roadside explosions were reported.” - Charlie Gibson World News Tonight on ABC Oct 17th.

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Wildfires are raging all across southern California. A quarter of a million people have been evacuated from their homes in San Diego alone. Almost two hundred thousand homes stand vacant. High winds are preventing any real progress against the blaze.

With 13 different wildfires across the state, the causes are abundant, but experts believe that illegal immigrants are to blame in starting at least one of the wildfires. Illegals camping in the desert often leave camp fires unattended or don’t completely put out a fire before moving on. Unfortunately, in such remote areas the fires can spread over quite a large area before being noticed by the authorities.

With the home values in California among the highest in the country, these fires could easily cause billions of dollars in damages. Remember that, the next time someone tries to say that illegals don’t cost our country anything.

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I managed to watch some of the Republican debate last night.  The debates seem to be getting better, but one thing really stuck out to me (and the AP as well): everyone kept talking about Hillary Clinton.  It almost turned into a “vote for me, or else Hillary will win” contest.  For me, it came close to the 2004 election when the only thing all the Democrat hopefuls basically said was “vote for me, I’m not Bush.”  That wasn’t enough to get my vote then, probably won’t be enough in 08 either.
I want to vote for someone, not against someone.  Not trying to walk the Thompson line, but he actually remarked on this very thing last night, saying we need to concentrate on the issues, not on who we think will get the Democrat nomination.  Indeed, saying we need to rally around you as a group and vote for you or else Hillary is going to win the election is not that motivating.  It may inspire a party of collectivists, but probably won’t do much for a party of individuals.

Another year means another cost of living adjustment for those on Social Security. Since inflation has been quite low lately (even including gas gouging by Big Oil) the raise SS recipients will receive is 2.3%. How much was your raise this year?

In any event, here are the numbers behind the increase. There are currently 49,633,000 on Social Security (not including the 4+ Million receiving Supplemental Security Income) as of August 2007 according to the Social Sec. Administration. Taking the average increase of $24 per month and doing the math gives you the following:

$14,294,304,000. That’s just the increase. How much longer can we continue to ignore this problem?

Or look at the problem another way:  In 2008 the average SS check will be for $984.84 and that burden will be split between 4 workers, or $246.21 per worker per month.  As the baby boomers retire the ratio of workers will drop to 3:1.  Even with modest cost of living adjustmentsthe average check will hit $1211.22 in 2015 but only be split to three workers.  That’s right, you can look forward to $403.74 out of each month’s paycheck.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have that money for yourself?

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Is this the new face of vandalism?  When six year old Natalie Shea drew a picture with chalk on her parent’s stoop, a neighbor called in the incident as vandalism.  Good thing too.  We wouldn’t want anyone to be offended would we?

“As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch.”

Yeah, things have gotten a lot better in Iraq: when is the last time we heard about car bombings, etc?  This is the best they can come up with?  It’s like saying social workers are having a hard time because less families are falling apart (if that was really the case).  Talk about accentuating the negative (and trying your hardest to find it).  Is this really the way they are going to start reporting good news?  I didn’t realize journalists could engage in something akin to Fed-Speak, but I guess they have to start some where.

Hillary’s positions are getting harder to follow than a Desperate Housewives episode. In this installment we bring you: Troop Withdrawal.

Late September, the candidates were asked in the most recent Democratic Debate if we would have the troops out by 2013 (the end of the 1st term as President). Hillary, along with the other candidates, conceded that they couldn’t commit to having the troops out of Iraq by that time.

“It is very difficult to know what we’re going to be inheriting,” Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - MSNBC

Then Yesterday at fundraiser luncheon sponsored by group called Eleanor Roosevelt’s Legacy Committee. It was reported that she could commit to withdrawing the troops - immediately.

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Once again, there is another vast difference between the neighboring states of Iran & Iraq. While Iraq anti-war protests often recite the Blood for Oil chant, Hillary mentioned it as the primary reason for a military strike against Iran:

“Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton advocated talks to settle differences with Iran but said Saturday that Tehran would invite U.S. action if it were to disrupt oil supplies.

‘I will make it very clear to the Iranians that there are very serious consequences attached to their actions,’ Clinton said. . . ” - AP

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