Latest Analysis, Commentary and Opinion*
(The title of each article is linked to the complete article)

Monday, May 17, 2010

At the Heart of American Politics is—the Barbershop!
   The Republic piece by J. D. Longstreet (5/17/10)

In my small North Carolina community, when you really want to know what’s going on, if you really want to take the pulse of local, state and national politics, you go to the local barbershop. 

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Thinking about Mexicans
   Illegal Aliens piece by Alan Caruba (5/16/10)

For some time now friends have been asking me why I haven’t written anything about the Arizona law, amnesty, illegal immigration, and Mexicans.

Light Bulbs Were Just A Warning Sign
   Progressivism piece by J.J. Jackson (5/16/10)

Even after it has passed I still get a lot of emails from readers dumbfounded readers who are in such disbelief that Congress was even trying to pass off on Americans even more socialized medicine than we already have.  They are so shocked that not only had Congress rammed this abridgement of our liberties down our throats, and if you think that forcing Americans to either buy insurance to cover their health care or paying for others to do so is not an infringement of our liberties you haven’t thought too much, but absolutely astonished that the left would even have attempted such an act in the first place.  Yeah, well, I have just two words for you; light bulbs.

What Is Sovereignty and Who Has It
   The Republic piece by Robert R. Owens (5/16/10)

Sovereignty is accepted as absolute uncontested authority.  This definition of the concept of sovereignty emerged along with the nation-state.  The nation-state hasn’t always existed.  Everyone tends to see the circumstances of their own times as the static normality of history.  And contrary to the endless lectures of History teachers tied to politically correct text books and standardized tests, History is not static it’s dynamic, it changes every day.  The concept of the nation-state emerged in the sixteenth century evolving from countries as the private property of monarchs, and however hard to envision the nation-state will someday be replaced by something else.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

We Were Hacked Again About 30 Days Ago (Updated)
   General piece by Editor (5/15/10)

It was subtle but I discovered it this morning…

Durbin’s Walgreens Amendment Hits Credit Card Consumers
   Senate piece by Offsite (5/15/10)

Give Dick Durbin some credit for his chutzpah. It’s not every lawmaker who, in proposing an amendment to a financial reform bill ostensibly aimed at targeting “fat cats,“ would admit that the inspiration for his measure was a Fortune 500 CEO.

It’s Tough Being Enlightened
   Law piece by Guest: Michael R. Shannon (5/15/10)

We haven’t been swapping senior living tips lately, but something tells me Prince William County, VA Jefe de la Policía Charlie Deane won’t be moving to Arizona when he retires. I doubt he’ll even consider a vacation there, considering what’s been happening on the illegal immigration front.

A few questions for climate alarmists
   Climate Change piece by Guest: Paul Driessen (5/15/10)

Kerry, Lieberman and other congressional climate alarmists have some ‘splaining to do - The new Kerry-Lieberman climate bill mandates a 17% reduction in US carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. It first targets power plants that provide reliable, affordable electricity for American homes, schools, hospitals, offices and factories. Six years later, it further hobbles the manufacturing sector itself.

Friday, May 14, 2010

‘What Do They Put in the Water?‘
   Bird-Brain Flu piece by Guest: Larry Pratt (5/14/10)

When a New York City mayor does something goofy, a normal reaction is: “there they go again.“  When another mayor does the same thing years later, an additional thought comes to mind.  Namely, “what do they put in the water there?“

Prophet, pundit or newsman - America’s Confusion
   MSM piece by Rev Bresciani (5/14/10)

A simple scan of current events, a gander at the online or TV news will leave you reeling in disbelief. Never before have newsmen and reporters been so highly lauded for the work they do. Yet in the end it is like the adage; water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

2005 Kid’s Bush/Hitler Art Gets Award, 2010 Kid’s Obama/Commie Art Gets Censored
   ObamaNation piece by Warner Todd Huston (5/14/10)

It is, as we all know, the year 2010 and the era of Obama has fairly begun. Accordingly the commissars of good art taste in our schools have spoken: no kid’s artwork that makes The Obammessiah out to be a commie will be allowed. Interestingly there was another time, another year when things were different. In 2005, as it happened, another kid’s Bush-is-Hitler artwork received a wonderful award for it’s inventiveness. How times have changed, eh?

Obama’s Socialist Government Coming For Your Pension
   Socialism piece by J. D. Longstreet (5/14/10)

Months ago we warned that Obama’s Socialist government would be coming after the American workers/retiree’s savings.  We warned that our new “collectivists” government was going to seek some way of looting America’s retirement funds and simply taking that money for America’s new socialist government to use towards payment of the humongous debt the Obama Regime has run up with their host of socialist/marxist’ programs… including ObamaCare.

Federal Mutual Fund
   Socialism piece by Offsite (5/14/10)

Democrats have obliquely admitted they covet Americans’ pensions. Last week, congressional Republicans told them to stay away. The shame is that they had to do anything at all. - The first rumblings were heard in the 1990s, when Democrats were said to be coming after our retirement accounts. Back then, the warnings were easy to pass off as hyperbole or a cranky conspiracy theory. Today, they pass as prescient.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Off the Cliff we Go!
   Welfare State piece by JB Williams (5/13/10)

Like blind pigs led to slaughter, the entitlement generation in America is staring right down the double barrel of doom and gloom, watching other nations leap off the same cliff they are headed for, and still, they remain unable to connect the dots in order to save themselves.

Government transparency has bright future in Arizona
   Government piece by GoldwaterInstitute: Byron Schlomach (5/13/10)

On Monday, Governor Jan Brewer signed House Bill 2282, which will require most local governments to post on the Internet extensive budget information including individual spending items. In addition, the state will have a website where a street address can be entered and, at the touch of a button, links to every unit of government with authority over that address will pop up. Each of those governments must, in turn, post information about taxes, upcoming elections, and how to contact officials for more information.

Two Educators Labor To Uplift The Homeless and Unemployed
   Employment/Jobs piece by Thomas D. Segel (5/13/10)

Harlingen, Texas, May 13, 2010:  Tommy Martinez and Elsa Almendarez have a daunting mission to accomplish.  They are educators who operate a long established training program at Loaves and Fishes of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.  This multi-service feeding and shelter organization has a training and work placement center that is steadily providing a means for the unskilled, the underemployed and the unemployed to qualify for available work or better positions.

Obama’s Faith-Based Programs Pushing Global Warming, Climate Change, Green Issues
   Progressivism piece by Warner Todd Huston (5/13/10)

Widely reviled by the left, Bush’s faith-based initiatives were claimed to be evidence that Bush was a “religious zealot” trying to destroy America with evil Christianity. Now, two years into the Obama administration, we are seeing what Obama intends to do with his continuation of Bush’s faith-based offices: he wants to use them to push the religion of Greenicanism on America’s churches.

Google hides Obama’s Social Security Number story
   Information Police piece by Offsite (5/13/10)

Internet giant Google today was hushing up the new dispute over President Obama’s strange Social Security number by diverting searches for news reports on the issue to unrelated stories about Elena Kagan, oil, Tampa and the Federal Reserve.

Timing of Health Care Report leads to Charges of Deception
   ObamaCare piece by Kevin Price (5/13/10)

The Department of Health and Human Services has finally released its controversial report on the costs that will surround the recently passed Obamacare legislation and questions are being asked as to why it was not released earlier, when it might have made a difference during the health care debate. The simple answer is that the report would only further damage a bill that passed by the thinnest of margins and with the most questionable of means.

Is There a Socialist Threat to the Supreme Court?
   Socialism piece by J. D. Longstreet (5/13/10)

Obama’s nominee to the US Supreme Court lamented the “decline” of socialism in the United States in her undergraduate thesis at Princeton.

Cinco de Mayo and Flag Shirts
   Political Correctness piece by Doug Edelman (5/13/10)

It’s been a few days since the May 5 incident where students were disciplined for wearing t-shirts bearing the image of an American Flag on Cinco de Mayo.  I have paid close attention to the reports, commentary and punditry in the aftermath, and I am astounded that no one has yet made the points I am about to expound upon.  Once you consider them, you may also find it surprising that such obvious conclusions could be so easily overlooked!

Book On Hitler Youth Warns Of Communitarian Dangers
   Social Engineering piece by Frederick Meekins (5/13/10)

When pondering the evils of Nazism and Adolf Hitler, one’s mind reflexively turns to the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust because of the overwhelming loss of life surrounding these historical events.  However, coming in high on the list of the Third Reich’s atrocities was its use of state power to undermine the most basic of human rights and the subordination of all other social institutions to the prerogatives of the Party.  In “Life In The Hitler Youth” by Jennifer Keeley, the reader learns of the Nazi subversion of the family and realizes the disturbing parallels that can be drawn with developments unfolding in our own nation.

Conservatism On Defense Will Ultimately Lose
   Politics piece by Christopher Adamo (5/13/10)

Seven years ago this month, President George W. Bush made his famed landing on the Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln as it returned from a tour of duty in the Middle East. An event that should have been heralded across the nation as an unparalleled symbol of America’s might and vigor in the War on Terror was then systematically dismembered and undermined by the liberal political establishment, both on Capitol Hill and in the major media.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

OBAMA IS A RADICAL DICTATOR DESTROYING AMERICA!
   ObamaNation piece by Gordon Bishop (5/11/10)

America is now under the control of ACORN and “Czars.“ -  Yes, America is under the control of liberals-socialists-Marxists and, yes, Communists.

America’s Anti-Israel President
   Foreign Policy piece by J. D. Longstreet (5/11/10)

This past March, AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) released a statement in which they took the Obama Administration to task for what they described as “escalated rhetoric” from the Obama Administration.

Most Ethical Administration Evah Waives Ethics Rules… AGAIN!
   ObamaNation piece by Warner Todd Huston (5/11/10)

I am fondly recalling those hoary days on the campaign trail when Mr. Obama was all about “transparency,“ and when he promised to have the “strictest ethics rules”(1) of any president evah! Seemingly hours later the president’s office began to waive hose “strictest” rules to allow his favorite lobbyists and lawyers to take up residence in his administration.

Asian sex slaves: the forgotten immigrants
   Immigration piece by John David Powell (5/11/10)

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in the United States, and a prime opportunity to take a hard look at the stark truth behind the dirty, little secret of our nation’s failed immigration policies.

Accepting Israel as the Jewish State
   Middle East piece by Daniel Pipes (5/11/10)

When a major Arab state would finally sign a peace treaty with Israel, it was long assumed, the Arab-Israeli conflict would end. The Egypt-Israel peace treaty of 1979, however, buried that expectation; it had the perverse effect of making other states and also the Egyptian populace more anti-Zionist.

Memories of Lena Horne: The Calm After Stormy Weather
   History piece by Aaron Goldstein (5/11/10)

Like many youngsters growing up in the mid-1970s I watched Sesame Street.  In addition to Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, Sesame Street provided me with my first glimpse of the likes of Stevie Wonder, Richie Havens, Paul Simon and Madeline Kahn amongst many, many others.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Don’t surrender to high unemployment
   Socialism piece by Offsite (5/10/10)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, just reported for April 2010 that 290,000 private sector new jobs were added (66,000 Census workers), and productivity increased 3.6 percent in the non-farm business sector during the first quarter of 2010. That’s the good news.