Friday, November 02, 2007
Police report sheds new light on Curtis encounter
I guess he really might be gay.
State Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center, admitted to having sex with a man he met at an adult video store in Spokane last week, according to a police report released Tuesday afternoon.
The police report offers a damning and far different version of events from the brief account Curtis gave to The Columbian Monday, one that seems likely to threaten Curtis’ political future.
The report is filled with graphic details of an encounter that began at a porn store on a Spokane Valley strip and concluded miles away in Curtis’ room at the city’s poshest hotel.
The police report contains an account of how Curtis allegedly donned women’s clothing, red stockings and a black sequined lingerie top before engaging in a sex act at the store. He continued to wear them throughout the night under his clothing.
The funny thing is, if he came out and said "I had an affair with a man, I am gay, and he tried to extort money from it", I don't think it would have blown up in his face as much as it has.
But because he lied about it first, then tried to cover it up a little bit, now the spotlight's on him and it's gotten WAY uglier.
What's worse, is that the entire incident is his own fault:
The entire incident might have never come to light if Curtis hadn’t contacted Sgt. Roy Rhine of the Washington State Patrol. Rhine, who works out of the patrol’s Southwest Washington office, is a fellow Republican who has run for the state Legislature.
According to a Madsen’s report, Curtis contacted a friend in the Washington State Patrol and wanted the agency to investigate “because the local police would talk and it would get out to the press.” The WSP referred the case back to local officials.
And now it gets better:
After the two men apparently had sex, Castagna allegedly left the hotel room with Curtis’ wallet, the report says. Curtis agreed to give the man $200, which he left at his hotel’s desk, only to be confronted with a demand for an additional $800, the report says.
The witnesses. Look, you've been caught, do what you'd like, but don't lie to the police, it makes things WAY worse.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
U.N. may impose new Iran sanctions - Focus on Iran - MSNBC.com
Is this a turn around that we've all been hoping for?
The Foreign Office said the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France agreed, along with Germany, to come up with a new sanctions resolution with the aim of voting on it if November reports by the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency did not show improved Iranian cooperation.
Russia and China did not confirm that there had been an agreement, which would mark a surprising turnaround in the two countries’ strong resistance to fresh sanctions against Iran.
If true, this would mean a great deal in the matter of Iran's nuclear program. There are still several unanswered questions about their program such as the weaponization experiments and the radiological contamination at Tehran University.
I think the evidence is starting to grow to the point where Russia and China simply cannot ignore it anymore. It's the proverbial "elephant in the room".
Of course, if this report is actually true.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
'USAF struck Syrian nuclear site' | Jerusalem Post
Now it appears that Al-Jazeera has turned to misleading or outright lying about the news these days.
The September 6 raid over Syria was carried out by the US Air Force, the Al-Jazeera Web site reported Friday. The Web site quoted Israeli and Arab sources as saying that two US jets armed with tactical nuclear weapons carried out an attack on a suspected nuclear site under construction.
The sources were quoted as saying that Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets provided cover for the US planes.
The sources added that each US plane carried one tactical nuclear weapon and that the site was hit by one bomb and was totally destroyed.
Ok, let's analyze that for a minute. If American planes did conduct this raid, Syria would be super pissed about it. Plus, they would have every right to take it up with the UN. If they hit that site with a tactical nuclear weapon, radiation would show up in satellite's scans within minutes.
The fact that they didn't, or anyone else didn't for that matter, speaks volumes. Al-Jazeera's "source" is either lying, or Al-Jazeera is. Either way, this story is full of crap and Al-Jazeera needs to bone up on Journalism 101.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Man angry with son-in-law fingers him as terrorist to FBI - Yahoo! News
A man in Sweden who was angry with his daughter's husband has been charged with libel for telling the FBI that the son-in-law had links to al-Qaeda, Swedish media reported on Friday.
The man, who admitted sending the email, said he did not think the US authorities would stupid enough to believe him.
He has admitted sending the email, but said he didn't think "the authorities were so stupid that they would believe anything. But apparently they are."
He said he "couldn't help the US authorities' paranoid reaction".
No of course not, he couldn't possibly foresee that if we get a tip about someone's involvement in terrorism that we might actually check it out.
Fuck him! If he was a member of Al-Qaeda and we did nothing about it, people would scream about "why we didn't connect the dots!" and other crap like that. So screw him for insulting us and being vigilant. And screw the AFP for trying to make it look like we're the bad guys in this situation.
This guy knowingly did something illegal and he's trying to deflect blame. Would any of you have the same reaction if you called the police and said someone had warrants out for their arrest and the police looked into it? Of course not, and this is no different.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Licenses-for-Illegals Faces Court Challenge in New York -- 11/02/2007
God, I swear politicians sometimes need to take a random drug test for their idiotic ideas.
Recently NY Governor Spitzer pushed for the idea that illegal immigrants should be given driver's license's.
Pushing aside the argument that they would then be safer drivers, let's think a minute about what having a driver's license would mean. It currently is one of the easiest forms of ID out there to use to gain access to just about anything else in our society. Rental cars, credit cards, social security cards, etc. You can literally build yourself a life in America with one of these things.
And now this moron wants illegal immigrants to be able to get one.
How's this for a policy on illegal immigrants: The only thing they are allowed to have is emergency medical care and a trip back to where they came from. That means Cubans who come here and make it to the shore don't get to stay. That means everyone, regardless of skin color or nationality, has to go through the same legal proceedings that everyone else had to go through to come to our country as citizens. We simply cannot afford to be the piggy bank for the world's citizens.
And it's about time we started acting like it.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Oh this is just sad - Off Topic
Everyone know's I'm a fat guy. At one point in time I weighed in at 275 pounds. I got tired of being fat, so I started hitting the gym. 5 nights a week, mainly to get in shape and avoid traffic. I started eating a lot better, and I've dropped about 25 pounds in a little more then 3 months. Nothing spectacular, but progress nonetheless.
I haven't done any kind of miracle diet, some fad exercise equipment, or anything like that. I go to the gym, I work on weights and the treadmill, and I eat decently. I have my moments of weakness where the wife wants to go out to dinner and I eat badly, but those are few and far between.
That being said, there's a new way of doing liposuction that I just have to laugh at. Instead of sucking out the fat entirely, they suck out strips so it APPEARS that you have a six pack. It's creepy to look at, but check it out here.
Just get your ass on a treadmill and put down the KFC and you'll be fine. Stop looking for easy ways out of your predicament and go with what works every single time: Diet and exercise.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Report: Somali pirates want U.S. Navy to back off - CNN.com
Pirates who hijacked a Japanese tanker off Somalia earlier this week are demanding a U.S. warship shadowing the vessel back off, the wife of the tanker's foreman said Friday.
"Apparently the navy ship was getting closer to them," Tess Villanueva, wife of the crew's foreman, Laureano, told The Associated Press in the Philippines. "The good news would be if they (pirates) leave the ship."
No shit eh? You mean to tell me they don't like having a ship from the worlds most advanced Navy following them and making sure they don't get away? Say it ain't so! Pretty soon you'll start seeing Al-Qaeda members asking US soldiers to back off because they don't like it when the fight comes to their front door.
If they don't like the US Navy following them, then perhaps they should have thought about that before they tried to hijack the Japanese ship.
"You'll always find our Navy prepared to help any ship in distress and certainly any ship that is confronting pirates," said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top American envoy to six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament.
We aim to please.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Rice tries to quell staff dissent over forced duty in Iraq - CNN.com
Here's a thought: How about those that are complaining actually do their job? If you're job calls for you to do something, either do it or quit. It's really that simple.
And what disturbs me most is the comments made by Duncan Hunter:
McCormack rejected comments by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, that State Department employees are "nervous Nellies" and that wounded U.S. military veterans should be asked to fill the Iraq vacancies.
I don't mind him calling out State Department employees as "nervous nellies", but I do mind him wanting to ask wounded US vets to fill in those positions. They busted their asses over there and they deserve to go home. Don't ask them anything other then "what would you like for your in flight movie on the way home".
If you have to serve in Iraq, then serve in Iraq. Don't dishonor people who've given their lives in making Iraq a safer place by saying "it's a potential death sentence". You could get hit by a bus in Washington DC, it doesn't mean a damned thing.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
YouTube - Firing mortars from school
Concrete proof that Palestinian terrorists hide behind women and children. They know damned good and well that Israel won't fire upon a school and even if they did, the international reaction would be severe.
And yet, they still want their own Palestinian state. Do you think they deserve it with this kind of behavior?
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Keith Overreacting Again
Keith Olbermann has accused Rudy Guiliani of saying that Democrats would invite Osama Bin Laden to the White House for negotiations. The only problem with it, is that HE DIDN'T SAY IT. What's better, is that the proof is in the video that Olbermann shows. Rudy says "Assad", in reference to the Syrian leader, not "Osama" as he really wanted to hear.
What's better is that Guiliani NEVER said that Democrats would invite these people to the White House. He said that Democrats want to believe in this fantasy world where everything was happy go lucky land, which is true. Of course, you don't have to believe me, most times some of you don't without concrete evidence pointed directly at your face (I get a lot of liberals on my site just waiting to point out my mistakes)
So, without further ado, here's your evidence:
I guess they can't be bothered with all that "fact checking" and "searching for the truth" in a story now can they? If you can't be bothered to look at the video that you're presenting, that's called bias. If your guest doesn't know what was said in the video, they are unprepared. Either way, it's petty and pathetic.
Thanks Keith. Keep it up, I can always use the material.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
When you're right, you're right.
Or so says Hillary. But the rebuke is something that should be paid attention to:
"History teaches that underestimating the words of evil, ambitious men is a terrible mistake," Bush said. "In the early 1900s, the world ignored the words of Lenin, as he laid out his plans to launch a Communist revolution in Russia — and the world paid a terrible price.
“In the 1920s, the world ignored the words of Hitler, as he explained his intention to build an Aryan super-state in Germany, take revenge on Europe, and eradicate the Jews — and the world paid a terrible price," Bush continued. "Bin Laden and his terrorist allies have made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them. And the question is: Will we listen?"
Doesn't sound like he's playing politics to me. It just sounds like it's telling everyone to wake up to the threats we face as a nation. But the next sentence is where the President sticks a knife into Democrats and twists it:
"When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground," Bush said, "and less time responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and Code Pink protesters."
And he's exactly right. Democrats are so wrapped around the fingers of various interests groups, something they deride Republicans for, that they aren't necessarily interested in doing what's right for America. If Democrats did spend more time paying attention to what's going on around the world and doing something about it, Iran wouldn't be as far as they are in their nuclear program, Iraq would be better off, and Osama would have been captured or killed before 9/11 even happened.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Gates: Iran assured Iraq on weapons
"It is my understanding that they have provided such assurances," Gates told a Pentagon news conference. "I don't know whether to believe them. I'll wait and see." He said he did not know who in Tehran made the promise.
In other words, they've just admitted that Iranian arms have been going from them to the insurgents in Iraq.
Let's not beat around the bush here, they are basically admitting that they have been supporting the murders of US troops, an act of war in of itself.
Yet, what do you hear from liberals? "Bush is lying about Iran! His lies are going to lead to war!"
Not once do you hear them say "wait a minute, I do support the troops and they are getting shot at by Iranian supplied weapons. Iran should do something about it or pay a heavy price for their involvement" Why? Because they believe that it's all rainbow and sunshine land and if only they could see how we're all nice people, we'd get along and sing songs by the campfire.
Or, they'd say America is evil to the core and deserves to have it's soldiers blown up and shot at by a third party and shouldn't fight back in any way.
Take your pick, but that about covers 90% of liberals thinking.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Pilot of plane that bombed Hiroshima dies
Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died Thursday. He was 92 and insisted almost to his dying day that he had no regrets about the mission and slept just fine at night.
I must admit, I'd probably sleep just fine at night myself. Maybe I'm cruel, but when you're fighting a war, you use whatever you have at your disposal to win, and win quickly. Maybe there were better alternatives then using the bomb, but we had asked Japan to surrender dozens of times and were always met with a big "screw off".
So, do we invade Japan and kill many times more people in the process? Many of you out there wouldn't be alive today if we didn't drop the bomb. Your grandfathers might have died in the ensuing battles and your parents might never have been born.
But of course, there's always people who want to second guess everything. God knows how many people would truly have been killed had we invaded rather than dropped the bomb. Maybe it would be more then the 200,000 people killed by the bomb, maybe not.
But one thing is certain, Japan's surrender a few days later certainly made it clear they weren't going to fight someone who was killing 10's of thousands of people in one swipe. Thus, the war ended quickly, and everyone went home and raised families.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Pelosi Is Disappointed In Congress
Not surprisingly, Pelosi said President Bush and his Republican allies are mostly to blame. She noted that Bush has vetoed Democratic-led efforts to wind down the war, expand a children's health program and broaden stem cell research.
We're not going to leave the Iraqi's hanging when they need our help the most. Doing so would make them enemies if they were overrun and slaughtered by the thousands.
Bush had said that he was willing to give the SCHIP program a 20% raise in budget instead of Democrat's 140% raise that they were looking for, but instead they decided to make a scene about it and not bother to negotiate.
A 20% increase in any budget is massive, to ask for almost 1 1/2 times a budget increase is bordering on idiocy. But Democrats wanted to use this as a "see! I told you Bush was evil!" and a lot of dumb people fell for it.
Pelosi is simply trying to deflect from her own failings as a leader in Congress. Real leaders negotiate and try to come up with a compromise that benefits both sides of the argument. Instead, they tried to dig in their heels and say "my way or no way" and they got neither.
Grow up Pelosi, you're just as much to blame for Congress' complete failure as anyone else. In fact, I'd blame you more simply because of all the political campaign promises you made that you have failed to achieve. Even promises that are completely within your control such as Congress' 5 day work week and the "most open and honest Congress in history", as well as getting rid of the "culture of corruption" while promoting a suspected corrupt member of your own party have placed the failure of this Congress squarely in your lap.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Obama's Starting To Grow A Pair
Back in August, I asked why Hillary's records about her years in the White House weren't being released until after the 2008 election. Sounded awfully fishy to me.
Now, all of a sudden, Barack is going on the offensive and asking the same questions:
Obama said he was especially concerned by Clinton's response when asked if she would release her papers from her years as first lady.
"Her big answer on whether she would release the papers from her White House years was particularly troubling because she is running on her record as first lady as much as on her record as a senator," he said. "How can people fully judge that record if the documents from those years remain locked away?"
Why thank you Mr. Obama for pointing out something that I pointed out months ago and giving validity to my argument. I'm flattered, honestly.It's almost as if they scan the political blogosphere and find a nugget and run with it. I've had this happen on a couple of other times. I've already been contacted about my OPEC story from some people in the media.
Sometimes it's all about paying attention and remembering past things that people have said. Apparently, some politicians can't be bothered to do that unless they are trailing in the polls and smell blood in the water.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Russia And China On Iran
Take a look here:
China seems to be having a fuel problem. Russia simply wants the price of oil to go up because of financial prosperity and China is trying to keep it's economy going as much as possible.
Of course Ahmadinejad is out there running his mouth, but Iran's top banking guy is warning about Iran's economic health.
If you don't think this isn't about oil and financial success, take a thought on this: China lead the negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program. Russia was "concerned" about North Korea's nuclear program. Yet, both seem indifferent to the exact same situation over in Iran.
Why? Because Iran wants to be financial partners with both and all three want to poke a stick in the eye of the US.
The wild card here of course is Israel. Ahmadinejad can talk about making any attack "worse then the quagmire in Iraq" all he wants, but Israel is extremely ruthless when it comes to defending itself.
With it's own nuclear weapons, it's not inconceivable for Israel to use a tactical nuclear weapon against Iran's facilities. Israel is also know for it's extremely sophisticated and accurate intelligence gathering abilities. If it's concerned over a nuclear program, my bet is they have solid proof of the Iranian's intentions.
What's troubling about all this though is Russia and China's complete lack of global responsibility here. They talk about "regional stability", yet they don't seem to mind it that a nutjob in Iran wants nuclear energy. With that being said, all other Arab nations in the region are thinking "We don't want Iran to have nuclear technology. Take care of it or we'll start programs of our own".
And who can blame them? If Iran's blatant support of Hezbollah doesn't scare the shit out of people in the region, then perhaps it's theocratic nutjobs that are in power that should.
No one is suggesting that we invade Iran. I'm not suggesting it either. That's what a lot of people seem to think. If we attack, we have to invade. We don't have to do that. We can run airstrikes all day long and own the skies over Iran within hours. We wouldn't be morally obligated to help them rebuild jack like we are in Iraq.
People talk about the "quagmire in Iraq", yet they don't realize we beat the snot out of them inside of months. Now it's simply rebuilding under fire.
But then you have Russia pulling this standard statement:
Russia says dialogue rather than punishment or talk of military action offers the best way to ease tension over Iran.
When you have the leader of Iran saying that they have no interest in negotiations, it remains difficult to believe what Russia is talking about.
Hopefully, there's more to this story going on behind the scenes that we are being publicly told about. Hopefully Russia and China are talking with Iran saying "look, you got to stop enrichment. We'll help you out in other areas, but enrichment's got to stop", but the evidence certainly points towards the opposite.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
When In Doubt
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) top advisers, doing damage control after the candidate’s debate performance Tuesday, told supporters on a conference call Wednesday that the campaign needed more money to fight back.
Mark Penn, Clinton’s senior strategist and pollster, and Jonathan Mantz, the campaign’s finance director, told the supporters on the call, which The Hill listened to in its entirety, that they expect attacks from Clinton’s rivals to continue, and she will need the financial resources to deflect their attacks.
Funny, haven't I been saying that Hillary is a ruthless so and so forever now? Haven't I been telling you that she'll say one thing and when the wind blows differently, she'll say another? Haven't I told you all about her sneaky ways of helping out old friends even though they've committed serious felonies?
It seems only now that Democratic candidates are just finding this out. They are going on the offensive because Hillary has such a commanding lead. Hillary is now asking for more money to deflect these attacks. Why does she need the money? You're telling me she can't get on Larry King or some other major news program and answer these questions?
It's one thing when someone changes their mind on an issue, but Hillary misleads people from one direction to another within a space of 2 minutes on the issue of driver's licences for illegal immigrants. You can check out the video in my previous post to see how much she'll say or do to keep or gain power.
And then they openly wonder why over 50% of America has said that they would not vote for Hillary, regardless of their political affiliation.
Of course even her supporters are starting to lose their grip:
One caller from Oklahoma City said that “the questions … were designed to incite a brawl,” and that Russert’s and Brian Williams’s moderating was “an abdication of journalistic responsibility.”
Another said Russert “should be shot,” before quickly adding that she shouldn’t say that on a conference call.
So because the guy asked tough questions that made Hillary look like the sneaky, ruthless
Let's cut the crap here people, chinks in Hillary's armor are starting to be found and exploited, and it's not going to get any prettier in the coming months.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Advertisements
With the costs of bandwidth rising, I have had to look for sources of revenue. For the past year, I have been paying for the costs of the site out of my own pocket. I normally wouldn't mind, as costs were minimal, but with adding media and other bandwidth intensive features, I have had to look for sources of revenue.
I have played around with ideas of paid subscriptions, advertisements, and just plain Paypal begging. I feel that unobtrusive advertisements are probably the best way to go in this area.
I get several thousand people a month on this site and with the radio show, pictures, and hosted media, my bandwidth has tripled in the past several months.
If this upsets you, I apologize, but I simply cannot continue to keep paying out of pocket as much as I have been. If it does upset you and you have a solution, I'm all ears.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Yemen's handling of Cole bomber stuns Bush antiterror chief
You know, I wrote about this before, and there is an easy way to fix it. Simply find them and kill them all. When the Israeli's started hunting down members of Black September after the 1972 Olympic massacre, those responsible were terrified. They thought that any moment, they'd surely be killed. That's the same goal here. Keep them on edge at all times so they can't kill again, and then once found, put a bullet in the back of their heads.
It sounds extreme to some, but this guy is directly responsible for the deaths of 17 American sailors who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. So, if Yemen won't cover our backs when it comes to dealing with terrorists, then maybe we should take a tougher approach to the matter.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Protests Come At A Price
Privacy at such things does mean something and if you invade someone's privacy like that, it can cost you dearly.
That being said, if they were protesting on public property, I really have a hard time seeing that this won't get overturned on appeal. As much as I despise them, they do have a right to protest. Of course, certain key facts are left out of the story, such as where they were, what was said, and other critical facts about the case.
If they were on public property and they weren't interfering with anyone going to or from the funeral (very unlikely, as I've seen video of them purposefully invading people's privacy), then they would have a strong argument.
Personally, if it was my family member's funeral and they were protesting, I don't know how I'd react. Maybe I'd say some angry words, maybe someone would eat a fist. But I at least know enough about myself to tell someone "What you are doing is endangering your safety. I could snap and bad things might happen".
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Kucinich Questions Bush's Mental Health
This is from the same guy who said he wouldn't order the death of Osama Bin Laden and has seen UFO's.
In response, Republican National Committee spokesman Dan Ronayne said it was hard to take Kucinich seriously.
And who can blame him? Kucinich wants the everyone to get rid of their nuclear weapons, has said that if Al-Qaeda got a hold of a nuclear weapon, he'd go with "peace through peace", whatever the hell that means, voted against a resolution condemning the Iranian President who called for the destruction of Israel, and tried to cover up for the idiotic resolution condemning Turkey for Nancy Pelosi by saying that "she had her plate full" when support for it dropped out.
So, yes, Kucinich, let's start questioning politicians mental health, starting with yours.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Russians Are Downers
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Hillary Clinton's Performance Last Night
Should illegal immigrants get the ability to get driver's licenses in the state of New York (Where she is a Senator)
Answer to a newspaper: It makes a lot of sense.
But watch the video and watch her squirm.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Happy Halloween!
Make sure you keep your kids safe and have fun trick or treating!
For those of you outside of the US that don't know, Halloween is a time honored tradition that dates back as far as anyone can remember. Children get dressed up in their favorite costumes, such as super heroes, animals, or scary monsters.
They go out with their parents or an older child and go door to door and say "Trick or treat" and then the person at the home usually hands out candy or a small toy.
It's just one of those childhood traditions and it gives memories that last a lifetime.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Earmarks
Sometimes you simply have to wonder what the hell politicians are thinking.
In tiny Bishop, California, five hours north of Los Angeles, Rep. Buck McKeon, R-California, wants to build a museum honoring the mule.
McKeon has requested a $50,000 earmark to explore the possibility of building a museum in the town that every Memorial Day weekend holds the biggest mule celebration in the United States.
That's not $50k for the museum, that's $50k to EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY of a museum.
And Republicans wonder why they are getting their asses kicked when it comes to fiscal responsibility.
New roads? Better schools? I'm all for earmarks like that, but this is $50,000, someone's yearly salary, to simply take a peek to see if a mule museum is feasible. What do we as taxpayers get for that $50k?
And the requests aren't limited to one party. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, often called the "King of Pork" by critics, has asked for $150,000 to restore the W.A. Young and Sons Foundry to a "key historic property," according to the description posted on Murtha's Web site.
Both McKeon and Murtha refused to talk to CNN about their earmark requests.
No surprise there.
Earlier this year CNN asked House members to disclose their earmarks. Of the more than 430 members, only 47 provided earmark requests, 68 said they would not release their requests and six said they had not made any requests. The others did not return CNN's request for a list of their earmarks.
So, politicians don't want to be publicly accountable for their earmarks, but want to hold Bush's feet to the fire over his accountability? It's called hypocrisy, regardless of political party and it needs to stop now.
Earmarks have been a political hot button for years. Commonly derided as "pork," pet projects are tucked into spending bills. In 2006, Congress approved a record $29 billion in earmarks.
$29 billion in earmarks. That's almost as much as Democrats were complaining they needed for insuring 10 million children under the SCHIP program.
So in other words, they want to have their cake and eat it too. If you want something, you have to pay for it. If you can't afford both, then you need to pick one. The Democratically controlled Congress picked their earmarks over the SCHIP program and they now have to live with that decision, even if it means pissed off voters.
Personally, I would LOVE to have a nice Acura NSX-T. I've worked hard all my life and made sure to be a good provider to my family. I could go into extreme debt over it and get one, but it makes no sense to me to spend that kind of money PLUS interest to get something I want now.
Now, I could get myself out of debt and then go for the Acura, but I need to do the debt first. Congress is acting like a spoiled 20-something with an unlimited credit card.
People are rightfully pissed about the federal debt and yet, Democrats complain about Bush vetoing a program that would have added billions of dollars a year to the debt.
McKeon's and Murtha's requests come at a time when Rep. John Boehner, the Republican minority leader, is trying to force reforms in how Congressional members ask for and receive funding for pet projects.
Boehner, of Ohio, is gathering signatures in hopes of forcing a vote to make public every earmark in every bill. Boehner says it would be unreasonable to force a vote on each of the 16,000 expected earmarks Congress will approve in this year's spending bills. But he says some amount of exposure will cut down on the more outrageous requests.
Boehner tries to lead by example. He has never asked for a single earmark. And he recently wrote an editorial urging his fellow Republicans to return to their fiscally conservative roots and stop asking for so many pork-barrel projects.
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. If people are asking for 16,000 earmarks, then Congress should vote on every one. That way the more frivolous ones would get tossed in a hurry. It's not a matter of "we need these 16,000 earmarks", it's "we don't want to waste our time on voting for each one".
That says something significant. They don't readily care about the financial situation of the US. They don't want to actually do their job. They certainly don't want to be publicly ashamed into showing what kind of idiotic earmarks that they are asking for. And if Boehner can get by without asking for earmarks, there's no reason why Murtha can't either.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
I am not gay
Larry Craig - Part 2! Electric boogaloo!
However Curtis says there was no sex and he isn't gay.
Sound familiar?
The alleged late night encounter is in sharp contrast to Curtis' political persona. While in Olympia, Curtis has voted against domestic partnerships for gay couples and opposed a bill that would have outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Yep, sounds REAL familiar.
Late Monday The Columbian newspaper got a hold of Representative Curtis, who said that he did not solicit anyone for sex, that he is not gay and that he got into this mess just trying to help someone out.
Maybe this guy is indeed a victim of a blackmail attempt and he's innocent, but you have to admit that things look awfully familiar to you.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Checkpoint Baghdad : Is Karbala Ready for Handover?
So, a newsweek reporter is best to decide on if certain parts of Iraq can be handed over to Iraqi security forces? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't US and Iraqi forces on the ground, the best ones to decide that?
But is Karbala ready for the big handover? Last week Iraqi security forces shut down the main roads into the city as militia elements shot it out near the city center, and there were reports of a car bomb in the city yesterday. In late August fighting during the Shaabaniya religious festival, which commemorates the birthday of the 12th Shia imam, left dozens of people dead and hundreds wounded.
Yes, these things happen, but why is it so bad that the Iraqi's deal with it instead of US forces? The Iraqi's have been trained and working hard on getting their footing, so if everyone thinks they are ok to start on these problems, why not?
Some of the overeager Iraqi security guards even insisted on disarming American soldiers before letting them near the VIP tent where Maliki was sitting. Still, Gen. Lynch reassured Iraqi officials in his speech. “We’re only a phone call away,” he said.
So the guard was a bit overzealous. No big deal. He was simply doing his job.
So until Newsweek can show a concrete reason why the Iraqi's can't take over, I fail to see why they would put out a sensationalist story when they have no proof to back it up.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Christine Hassler: The 20-Something Life: Your Question On Generation Boomerang Answered - Living Now on The Huffington Post
Dear Christine,
My twenty-two year old daughter moved back home after graduating from college last May. Her father and I are still married and welcomed her back into our home - but we were not planning on it. We love our daughter and understand it's financially challenging out there right now, but we don't want to enable her either. We always thought that after college she'd be on her own, and now I'm back to doing her laundry. Are we doing the right thing? I really do love having her here, but is it appropriate for my grown child to be living at home?
- Wanna be Empty Nester, 49, Chicago
Typical. Here's a thought: How about you kick them in the ass and tell them to either go to college, get a job, or join the military. Happy 18th Birthday, these are your choices. But of course, it's "cruel and hard out there", which is a crock of shit. It's only tough for people who are used to having high speed internet, 3,000 square foot homes, swimming pools, and other amenities that their parents afforded to them.
News flash, those parents built that up from scratch, and so can the kids. They can move into a shitty apartment with 3 other room mates while they work at Burger King and build up a life for themselves.
Stop coddling your children. Let them fall down. Let them make mistakes. Sure, give them advice on what to do, but the decision is ultimately up to them. If you don't pull the tit from their mouth, they'll be suckling for their entire lives.
For example, my aunt on my father's side is 10 years older then I am and STILL lives at home from time to time with her parents. My grandfather, whom I love and respect more then 99% of people in my family, is an enabler. He simply can't say "no" to her. Yet, she continues to take advantage of his good graces. I've even personally seen her pay him back $10 she owes him and 30 minutes later, borrow $50. I swear to God, I've seen it.
As soon as parents start acting like parents, you'll stop seeing this "generation boomerang"
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Please don't blame us for $93 oil: OPEC | Reuters
"Please don't blame us for $93 oil," Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters on the fringes of an international energy conference.
"The market is out of control."
Bullshit. OPEC controls a very large portion of the oil market and can freely bump up production to any level they'd like. However, they don't simply because it makes them more money. If they truly wanted to get prices down, they would bump production up until oil fell back down to the $30-$40 range. Yet, a few people seem to forget one minor problem.
This is the same guy who only 21 days ago said:
"If we take into account inflation from 1972 to the present day, the real and fair price for oil should be more than 100 dollars," Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said in remarks aired by Al-Jazeera television on Tuesday.
So, three weeks ago, we should have been grateful for the $80 we were paying, but now that it's starting to hit it's "real and fair price", they want us to bend over and take it up the ass?
Fuck them. The SECOND a decent car comes out that lets me get my daily commute done without using a drop of oil, such as the Chevy Volt, I'm leaving OPEC a big, fat, "fuck you".
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Iran defiant ahead of nuclear talks with Russia | Reuters
"This nation will not negotiate with anyone over its obvious and legal rights," Ahmadinejad told student members of the Basij religious militia, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Ok, it sounds like Iran has made up it's mind. But yet, Russian President Putin has this to say:
Russia says dialogue, not more penalties or military action as mooted in the United States, is the way to ease an escalating international stand-off over Tehran's atomic ambitions.
Well Russia, Iran seems to have made up it's mind about what it wants and does not want to do about it's nuclear program. I fail to see the point of negotiations if Iran isn't willing to come to the table over those negotiations.
China has already rejected sanctions that Israel is asking for. It's almost as if Russia and China WANT Iran to be attacked over their nuclear program.
We've asked politely for them to stop enrichment. We've been going through the UN for sanctions, and yet, we have foot dragging on the part of Russia and China:
Responding to Livni's message, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman underscored his country's stance that a negotiated settlement was still viable.
"We believe that a peaceful resolution of the Iran issue through negotiation is the best choice," spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference. "China has always maintained that in international relations sanctions should not be rashly applied."
China and Russia both agreed to more sanctions if Iran didn't stop enrichment. Iran has said "no". Therefore, if the Russians and Chinese were men of their words, they'd back tougher sanctions.
And how are sanctions being "rashly applied" since we've had a problem with Iran's nuclear program for YEARS now. Even the IAEA recently said:
"We have information that there has been maybe some studies about possible weaponization," said Mohamed ElBaradei, who leads the International Atomic Energy Agency. "That's why we have said that we cannot give Iran a pass right now, because there is still a lot of question marks. "
Yet, China and Russia are STILL foot dragging. There were experiments with weaponization. Why? If Iran's nuclear program was strictly for "peaceful purposes", why the experiments? What about the radiation contamination found at Tehran University by the IAEA?
There's simply something fishy going on here and Iran needs to be brutally punished for it. If the UN's permanent Security Council members cannot be trusted to fulfill it's duties to clamp down on proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials, then maybe they shouldn't be on the Security Council.
There's a reason why even Europe is backing more sanctions.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Why SCHIP Won't Pass
And you wonder why I'm against such a large increase in the SCHIP program.
"You leave it up to the states to say you can't have an income level over 300 percent (of poverty), but you can deduct $20,000 for a housing allowance or you can deduct $15,000 for shelter or whatever," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. "So, what you've got here is the classic bait and switch."
Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, said that allowing states to exempt some income helps to ensure that low-income families don't have to resort to welfare to get health care for their children.
So in other words, if someone's paying rent or a mortgage, they get to deduct that from their income. WHAT??? Why should they? What would they do if they didn't pay that rent? Where would they live? When you start fudging with who is eligible for your program, it's completely ripe for abuse.
Putting out an increase of $35 billion would mean that people who normally wouldn't need this coverage, would then start getting onto this program. Yet, employer paid healthcare wouldn't get used as much. Why should the government pay for health insurance when employers can cover that? So according to these numbers, some families of four could theoretically earn as much as $97,000 a year and STILL be qualified for this program.
That's $62,000 a year in normal earnings, 20k in housing allowance, and 15k in other expenses as illustrated by Rep. Joe Barton. Just taking our the "other expenses" leaves a family of four with $82k a year in possible earnings that they would be able to be qualified for this program.
Let me put this in perspective for you. I have a friend who he and his wife earn 60k a year with four children. So a family of 6 survives on 60k a year, and all children have health insurance and they all are very healthy. Why? Because the parents get on their kids' butts about getting outside and playing, exercising, and eating healthy.
It's called being a responsible parent. If you feed your kids crap all day long and don't keep an eye on them, they develop health problems.
So if they can survive on 60k a year and STILL manage without the federal government's handouts, then why does someone who makes upwards of 90k a year get a pass?
It's not fair to those who are legitimately working and providing for their families and those who don't.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Cheney hunting trip under fire for Confederate flag - CNN.com
Good Lord everyone wants to get their collective panties in an uproar over something as trivial as a confederate flag in one garage in a separate building where Cheney goes hunting.
Of course, professional "I'm offended" guy Al Sharpton is calling for all sorts of stuff he knows he won't get:
Sharpton demanded Cheney distance himself from the exclusive club where the Stars and Bars was flown, and said he might hold a prayer vigil there.
"This is an outrage - he ought to leave immediately," Sharpton told The News. "He ought to apologize to the American people for being there in the first place."
But here lies the difference:
Cheney spokeswoman Lee Anne McBride said Cheney did not know anything about the controversy.
"The VP did not see the flag and neither did anyone on staff," said McBride.
Why should Cheney apologize for something he didn't know about? Better yet, when is Al Sharpton going to apologize for the entire Tawana Brawley case? Al Sharpton made inflammatory statements about an innocent man calling him a rapist. However, when it was found that the story was concocted, he refused to apologize.
So until that happens, Al Sharpton has zero credibility in asking for apologies from anyone.
Besides, it's not like it was being flown in front of the building. It was probably put up by a mechanic for whatever reason, racist or not, and not officially sanctioned by the management at the club.
You can argue that it's a symbol of racism or not, but to ask the Vice President to apologize for something he has no control or knowledge of is idiocy, and Al Sharpton knows it.
Attention whore.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Official: Blackwater guards offered limited immunity - CNN.com
So which is it? Were they offered blanket immunity from prosecution like one official tells it? Or are they given limited immunity?
Personally, I don't know if I trust what they are saying might be true or not. If they make incriminating statements and those can't be used against them in court, then that would at least give investigators information they might already have and lead towards a heavier way of prosecuting the men involved.
Regardless of what happened, the Iraqi parliament is voting on limiting immunity for US contractors because of this incident.
But before we throw these guys under the bus, I want to know the truth about whether or not they came under fire first. There's conflicting reports about who shot first.
So until we know that, we can't really judge them. However, the immunity deal is significant in that it points towards guilt.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Monday, October 29, 2007
Saudi king chides UK on terrorism
Ok, if I can't post tonight, I at LEAST have to post about the biggest crock of hypocrisy I've seen in a long time. Saudi Arabian King Abdullah accuses Britain of not doing enough to fight terrorism.
This is from the same guy who leads a country where the vast majority of schools teach hatred of Jews and Americans. This is from a country where the majority of the 9/11 hijackers are from. This is from a country where a good portion of the wealthy actively supports terrorism with financial contributions.
This is a country where they think that setting a bomb off inside a restaurant is an acceptable way of "resistance".
Until you deal with your own problems, I would steer VERY clear of the terrorism issue. You know what they say about people who live in glass houses Abdullah.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Day off.....Maybe
If I can't post tonight, I will definitely post tomorrow.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Rules And Policies Of The Forums
Privacy:
Unless I am greeted at the front door with a law enforcement officer, your privacy is strictly confidential. Your email address and other bits of information are not going to be seen by anyone's eyes except mine and anyone else who helps me run the back end of this site.
Since I'm the only one who runs it, that means just me. :)
Your email address will NEVER be sold, traded, shared, or otherwise leave my protection to any spammers, advertisers, or anyone else, except where applicable by law. (such as a crime being committed and the FBI comes to my door with a warrant.)
Warrants: Law enforcement officers MUST have a court ordered warrant in hand to get any information about anyone on this site. You won't be seeing me wilfully sharing your information like telecommunications companies did just a short while ago with the NSA.
If you're that worried about it, when you register on the forums, simply put in a mailinator.com address. I use it for when I'm super paranoid about spammers, but you can have it apply to this situation as well.
Differing political ideology:
Your posts will NEVER be removed for your opinion. If you are a hard core left wing, liberal wingnut, you may feel free to post as often as you'd like, about any topic you'd like, and it will not be removed. I don't work like liberal sites where if a conservative comes on and spits out their opinion, it's immediately removed because it doesn't jive with what everyone else is agreeing with *cough* Daily Kos *cough*.
I don't expect you to be polite. Manners are a nice thing, but occasionally, a debate may turn into a "fuck you". That's the nice thing about America, you have the right to tell someone to fuck off, and you have that right here. I'm not saying that every argument will end that way, but if it does, then so be it.
Of course, if you have any questions or problems, please feel free to contact me and I will address them immediately.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Democrats Plan a Shorter Workweek
However, after only just 10 MONTHS on the job, they can't seem to handle the workload.
The House majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, told fellow Democrats this week that the House would not be in session next year on Fridays, except in June for work on appropriations bills.
Explaining that decision to reporters, Mr. Hoyer said, “I do intend to have more time for members to work in their districts and to be close to their families.”
Hey, how's this, how about their families move to Washington DC? How about they have monthly or quarterly meetings in their districts so they can stay connected to their constituency? How about they set up a website with an email address and other contact information, so they can communicate openly with everyone? Nah, that would be too much wouldn't it?His comments drew snickers from Republicans, who are quite happy to share their view that the American people did not get much value for all the extra time lawmakers spent in Washington.
“Is this a reward for our accomplishments in 2007?” asked Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the Republican whip.
And of course he's right. They promised the world to American voters and now they aren't doing jack for them. They are giving them the "same old same old". And they will have a NASTY surprise in store for them come election time.
And on Friday, President Bush once again hammered Congressional Democrats, accusing them of failing to meet basic responsibilities like approving annual budget bills and confirming his nominee for attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey.
“This is not what Congressional leaders promised when they took control of Congress earlier this year,” Mr. Bush said. “Congress needs to keep their promise, to stop wasting time, and get essential work done on behalf of the American people.”
He's right on target again. Congress made many campaign promises such as ending the Iraq war, universal health care, and more. I can half way understand if they can't get some of these things done because of the way that Congress is set up to work, but for even a basic thing that they have complete control over, the 5 day work week, they can't even get that right.
The Democrats, by contrast, say that after 10 months of putting in longer days and weeks, they have made significant gains. They cited legislation, including an increase in the minimum wage and new ethics and lobbying rules, as well as in the nitty-gritty work of House committees, which they say has provided much-needed oversight of the Bush administration and will also set the stage for an ambitious agenda next year.
Yes, let's talk about that. The increase in minimum wage only went through because they tacked it onto a military spending budget that was desperately needed. The new "ethics and lobbying rules" don't change much of anything. In fact, in some areas, it loosened it up a bit.
And they blame Mr. Bush and Republicans for Congress’s low approval ratings, which they say will only help the Democrats expand their majority in 2008.
So they're blaming Bush for the fact they can't seem to work a 5 day work week? Of course, they are completely delusional in that they quote that this is Bush's fault, but internal memos show that to be factually incorrect:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/internal-dem-memo-faults-party-message-2007-10-26.html“Our message sounds like an audit report on defense logistics,” wrote Dave Helfert, a former Appropriations spokesman who now works for Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii). “Why are we defending [the State Children’s Health Insurance Program] instead of advocating a ‘Healthy Kids’ plan?”
Because Democrats love to raise taxes on the successful to provide nanny state programs for the poor? How's that for a brutally honest answer? You're wanting to spend billions of dollars in making sure kids get health insurance, yet you don't do anything about promoting the health of the children, the core of the problem. Get them to exercise and eat right, most of the time, and these children won't need to see a doctor as often. They won't have a lot of the health problems that we see now.
Don't give them a pill to fix a problem that can be fixed with going outside and playing or riding their bikes. Parents should get on the ball about actually parenting. Give them nutritious foods, turn off the Xbox, get on their ass about homework. These things are what made previous generations great, there's no reason why it won't work the same way now.
“Everybody’s a message expert,” said one Democratic leadership aide. “The fact of the matter is Democrats are working hard to communicate our accomplishments. There is work to be done and that’s why Democrats are working together and mounting an aggressive campaign to discuss the real victories we have won for the American people.”
Ok, you have the floor. Name the accomplishments Democrats have made in the first 10 months of their control over both parts of Congress......that's ok....I'll wait.
As a case in point, he cited Democrats’ frustration over the likely showdown with President Bush over supplemental spending for the Iraq war. Democrats are discussing not sending a supplemental spending bill to the floor until Bush changes course on the war. But that makes many Democrats nervous that Bush will use the tactic to say Democrats aren’t supporting the troops.
“Are we any more prepared to deal with the threats that are going to come about cutting off funds to the troops?” asked the aide.
Violence in Iraq is down 70%. This is an indisputable fact. Yet, they are STILL trying to cut off the funds for soldiers in Iraq. Tell me how that is even fathomable. We've just handed off security of a province to the Iraqi's, are making great strides, yet they want to cut it off now. Then they have the gall to get upset when you call them on their "planning for surrender".
If they can't be bothered to actually read what's going on in Congress, these aides need to be fired. If you aren't doing your job correctly, you shouldn't have your job. I don't do my job right, I'm in the unemployment line, so there should be no reason why they can't read up on these things as well.
Travis
http://forums.rightwinglunatic.com
Kidnapping, bombs going off, but more importantly....
As a side note, my stories will now be copied and pasted into the forums for a more lively discussion. Head on over there and feel free to check it out.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com