October 2010

Capitalism Saves Chilean Miners

Anthony Kang

In joyful images beamed worldwide, rescue operations to save 33 trapped Chilean miners appear to have been hugely successful.


No one in history has survived underground as long as the 33 Chilean miners have in the 69-day ordeal, and over at the Wall Street Journal, a few columnists are quickly declaring it a victory for free-market fundamentals.


"Well at the risk of being too confrontational for people, I would be willing to call this an enormous victory for free-market capitalism," Daniel Henninger told James Freeman and the Opinion Journal.


From the drill bit and fiber-optic cables which were made in Pennsylvania and Japan, respectively, to projectors used on Samsung cell phones from Korea, Henninger praises the incredibly "vibrant" Chilean economy for opening up to the possibility of such miracles. "It all came together out there in that desert to bring these men up from half mile down."


"A lot of this innovation came out of Chile right? And it's the Chileans themselves who have to claim the victory here," Henninger said.


Americas columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady meanwhile, made note of the response, background and leadership of Chilean president Sebastian Piñera, as compared to Barack Obama.


O'Grady stated "What you have in Chile is a president who was once an executive at a very large corporation. He knows how to take charge -- and he knows how to execute."


"He went there, immediately began working on the kinds of things Dan's talking about -- bringing in the expertise needed to try to locate the miners, that took almost two weeks. Then of course once they found out they were alive, they had this enormous task of trying to get them.... He was able to organize and execute that because of his leadership skills."


What's interesting to note is that Sebastian Piñera is the brother of Jose Piñera, the architect of Chile's private pension system and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute.


"That's right, we should contrast the effort to bring in the talent and expertise from all over the world in the United States," said Freeman. "As people looked at the gulf spill, it's good to see it's not as bad as some people feared, but we did have this issue with the Jones Act, basically keeping out foreign ships from possibly cleaning up with the spill."


"Remember we had this huge foreign ship that was being offered that had the incredible capacity to sweep up oil," Henninger reminded. "The Dutch especially are apparently the world's leaders in cleaning up oil spills -- they too were pushed away by the Obama government."


"You know I would even include the disaster of Katrina as well, that was a self-contained thing here. Some of us were writing at the time after this monumental disaster from the hurricane -- why not bring in the private sector and its distribution capabilities -- Staples, Target and so forth? People laughed at that. But that is precisely what the Chileans have done with this rescue is bring the private sector to bear with the best technologies, the best minds available, and save these people. Why the United States keeps the private sector at arms length is a mystery."


Well actually, the ever so destructive and self-serving unions are behind the protectionist Federal statue to keep shipbuilding in the US. Consequently, in all their infinite wisdom, US shipbuilders have hurt consumers, priced themselves out of the international market and build only 1 percent of the world's largest commercial ships -- but that's for another day.


For those on the Left, every disaster leads to an urgent call-to-arms for more government. In the wake of the West Virginia mining disaster earlier this year, Arianna Huffington attributed it, along with virtually every other accident under the sun, as a direct result of small-government and corporate greed. But as I wrote at the time:


Since 1970, approximately 250 coal-mining fatalities have occurred in the U.S. due to accident. In contrast to the centralized, government-controlled utopia of China (where the average coal miner produced about 2.2 percent of a coal miner in the U.S. in 2003) - even when using the highly questionable numbers given by the Chinese government, approximately 4,750 coal miners in China died in 2006...alone.


The moral of the story being: you can cry for bigger government, but all you'll get is more regulation, more corruption, more inefficiency, more disasters - along with an economy crippled by regulation, should progressives have their way.


Fact of the matter is every single disaster cannot be prevented. But a nation can either live in a free and open system to help mitigate these unforeseen disasters - or set itself up for failure with a centralized system of power and exponentially worse consequences. As Henninger reminds the Opinion Journal, the rescue miracle, and "victory," would never have been possible in neighboring states such as Venezuela, Bolivia or Ecuador - where virtually all that thrives is big government.

April 2009

Report on right-wing extremists issued despite civil liberties concerns

WASHINGTON Civil liberties officials at the Homeland Security Department did not agree with some of the language in a controversial report on right-wing extremists, but the agency issued the report anyway.

The intelligence assessment issued to law enforcement last week said some military veterans could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or commit lone acts of violence. That prompted angry reactions from some lawmakers and veterans' groups.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the report was issued before officials resolved problems raised by the agency's civil rights division. Kudwa would not specify what language raised the concerns.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the report Thursday, but she said the definition of right-wing extremism that was included in a footnote should be changed.

In the report, right-wing extremism was defined as hate-motivated groups and movements, such as hatred of certain religions, racial or ethnic groups. "It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration," the report said.

"If there's one part of that report I would rewrite, in the word-smithing, Washington-ese that goes on after the fact, it would be that footnote," Napolitano said Thursday.

The same definition was included in the agency's March 26 report on domestic extremism. Both reports were marked "For Official Use Only."

The report on right-wing extremists cites the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by military veteran Timothy McVeigh as one instance of a veteran becoming a domestic terrorist.

Several lawmakers, the American Legion and Vets for Freedom took offense to the intelligence review. The Veterans of Foreign Wars defended it as an assessment, not an accusation.

Napolitano said, "We do not mean to suggest that veterans as a whole are at risk of becoming violent extremists."

She also said: "I apologize for that offense. It was certainly not intended."

The top Republican on the House intelligence committee, Michigan's Pete Hoekstra, has asked the director of national intelligence's ombudsman to investigate the Homeland Security report for "unsubstantiated conclusions and political bias."

The senior Democrat of the House committee with oversight of the department said the report raises privacy and civil liberty issues. "This report appears to have blurred the line between violent belief, which is constitutionally protected, and violent action, which is not," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wrote in a letter to Napolitano.

The department's definition of left-wing extremism in the March 26 report includes a reference to violence, stating these groups that embrace anti-capitalist, communist or socialist beliefs seek "to bring about change through violent revolution rather than through established political processes."

These reports are part of the department's routine analysis of intelligence information to give to law enforcement agencies guidance on possible security threats.

In February, the department issued a similar warning about possible cyber attacks from left wing extremists. In September, the agency reported that right-wing extremists over the past five years had used the immigration debate as a recruiting tool.

Since September, the agency issued several reports on individual foreign and domestic extremist groups such as al-Qaida and Hammerskin Nation, a skinhead organization. The Hammerskin assessment said many of the group's members received military training and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The latest report has turned into a "political football," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. Harman, who chairs a House subcommittee on intelligence and information sharing, said the report could have been written more artfully, but added that "it was a well-intended effort to describe to law enforcement what things to look for."

"If the result is to dumb down intelligence products that could prevent the next attack to the homeland, we will all lose," she said.

(This version CORRECTS to show that DHS would not specify which language raised concerns.)

April 7: National Socialist Movement distributes materials in Ft. Collins, Colorado

"It makes me concerned about legal and illegal immigrants in our community," Bame said.

"To me it's disgusting," said Fort Collins' Carron Silva, whose neighbor showed her a flier.

"The image suggests an underlying message not just of immigration but keeping pure-whites pure.
"It was not a message of tolerance but of separation, and I found it appalling."

Peace groups such as the Center for Justice, Peace and Environment's Fuerza Latina and Not in Our Town Alliance, or NIOTA, are responding to the incident.

Fuerza Latina held a meeting Sunday to discuss reactions, and the peace groups are working together to create "action steps" in support of Hispanic populations and to prevent any further possible injustices, NIOTA's Cheryl Beckett said.
Beckett did not get a flier on her car.

The 8½-by-11 fliers were handed out just north of Old Town Square on Linden Street and the surrounding area, tucked under vehicles' windshield wipers.

A crew of five NSM members passed out the fliers, including NSM' Denver unit leader, Neal Land.
Land said the fliers were created to spread awareness about illegal immigration, to which the NSM organization stands overtly against.

"As a group, we are dead against it for the first word there: Illegal. Unlawful. Wrong," Land said.
Fort Collins police patrolman Marcus Hopkins said police had been notified, but no charges were filed.

"It's freedom of speech," he said.
Police were notified only to increase awareness about the activity in case more serious incidents occurred.


The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate groups, said the NSM has emerged as the nation's largest neo-Nazi group.

"The NSM promotes its virulently anti-Semitic and racist ideology at rallies throughout the country, particularly in the Midwest, and through the group's Website, Internet-based radio programs, white power music company and videogames," according to the ADL Web site..

A recent Homeland Security news release estimates just more than 14.3 million unauthorized illegal immigrants have entered the United States since January 2000 to work.

Critics say illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans.

"Immigration has always had pros and cons, and I can definitely see the threat to jobs," said Fort Collins' Crystal Benavidez. Still, Benavidez didn't agree with the fliers. "I think they went about this in the wrong way," she said.

March 2009

March 30: Military Eyes Alaska For Synthetic Fuel Project

By Rena Delbridge

JUNEAU — The U.S. military has pegged Alaska as the ideal place to launch a pilot initiative using synthetic fuels to power jets, which could offer an anchor for developers of coal or gas-to-liquids plants.

Department of Defense fuel procurement officials put out feelers in March for interested parties who might contract to provide the fuels, made with a feedstock of natural gas or coal using a Fischer-Tropsch
gasification process.

They estimate needing about 5,000 barrels per day of product, excluding Eielson Air Force Base’s requirements. That’s because an $8 billion coal-to-liquids project proposed by Fairbanks leaders to support Eielson Air Force Base is a separate endeavor that eventually could link up with the broader military
initiative.

The Defense Energy Support Center, which is the Pentagon’s petroleum purchasing arm, hosted a Synthetic Fuels Industry Summit in mid-March in Anchorage. The center is responsible for procuring fuel contracts from suppliers to meet the military’s needs, director Mark Iden said.

The initiative is separate from a plan to create a coal-to-liquids facility at Eielson Air Force Base, Iden said. That project is driven by the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Fairbanks Economic
Development Corporation.

“Our initiative, we haven’t included Eielson in it,” he said. “It’s a similar end result — we want to get this synthetic fuel to our customers. ... They’re doing their thing, and we’re doing ours. We’re not trying to rain on each other’s parade.”

The military is turning to a blend of synthetic and regular aviation fuel in response to a national goal of supplanting half its domestic fuel use with a 50-50 synfuel blend by 2016.

FEDC project manager Jomo Stewart confirmed with the Defense Energy Support Center that, if the Eielson-area plant is built, FEDC could bid into the support center initiative. “That was primarily what we wanted to know,” Stewart said.

Opportunity awaits

Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, saw connections between the Fairbanks proposal, the military’s need and even proposals for a coal-to-liquids plant in Southcentral. He attended the symposium and is eyeing ways to fit together Alaska’s natural gas with military demand.

Such a project could help secure the military’s Alaska presence while offering opportunities to Flint Hills Resources’ North Pole refinery and the Alaska Railroad, where business has dropped as the refinery’s
shipments dwindle.

Neuman urged use of natural gas instead of coal feedstock to decrease emissions issues and said the Legislature could play an important role as it evaluates whether an administration-sanctioned natural gas
pipeline to the Lower 48 is the best course of action.

Shale gas finds, increasing liquefied natural gas supplies world-wide and high transportation costs could negate the value of Alaska’s gas shipped via pipeline, he said. Developing gas-to-liquids facilities
could be more profitable.

“Is it prudent for us, as a Legislature or as a state, to put all our eggs in one basket, to think we can sell our gas cheaper than the gas right under Chicago?” he asked. “I think diversification in our
economy is more prudent.”

Tests and trials

For the last several years, the military has purchased synfuels from foreign countries, mostly Malaysia and South Africa, to test in aircraft in non-hostile environments. Aircraft will have to be
certified to run on synfuels before the fuels can be widely used by the military.

“The unfortunate reason we did that, there were no producers in the U.S. who could provide that volume of fuel,” Iden said. “If we have no production facilities, we’d better start now and get these facilities up and running.”

Alaska is a likely site for such a facility because all defense customers are willing to take part in the initiative, establishing a customer base.

There are a few catches. The military wants a contractor to blend the synthetic supply for them, and the product can’t cost much more than regular fuel. And, per federal regulations, greenhouse gas emissions generated through production can’t be higher than conventionally
produced fuels.

Coal as a feedstock produces more carbon dioxide emissions than natural gas. But there are some benefits, too. On board at the symposium was Alaska Airlines, which is interested in cleaner, more economic fuels
as well. The airline could further anchor a pilot project in Alaska.

“If we don’t have buy-in from the commercial market, it’s not going to be profitable for any particular company,” Iden said.

Eielson plans proceed

Stewart, FEDC’s energy projects manager, also attended the symposium.“From the Fairbanks Fischer-Trospch perspective, it was very good to be invited to this and to get a primer on government contracting and
fuel acquisition,” Stewart said. He remarked on the relatively small volumes of fuel needed by the
military in Alaska, compared to the anticipated 40,000 barrels per day output planned at the Fairbanks facility.

“With the large volumes we would be producing, the possibility of supplying all of Alaska’s military use is well within the realm of reason,” Stewart said. Through Sgt. John Gott at Eielson, Major Ken Hoffman of Headquarters Pacific Air Force confirmed the base is being considered as a site
for a coal-to-liquids facility.

The fiscal year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act authorized $10 million to support the Air Force’s plans for “siting and executing a coal-to-liquids plant” at the base, Hoffman said. The funding includes $5 million for operations and management and $5 million for research, development, testing and evaluation.

Potential impacts to the base are under study. Engineers also are considering how to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions in a sub-arctic environment, Hoffman said. No decision has been made to commit to a coal-to-liquids project, he said. At the same time, Gary Strasburg, chief of environmental public affairs for the Air Force in Washington, D.C., said the Eielson project is a “state-generated initiative and has not reached up to
the Air Force level at this time.”

The Fairbanks plan is moving forward, Stewart said, as managers seek possible funding for the next level of engineering studies, which could cost $7 million to $8 million. Organizers recently met with
Eielson officials to discuss possible sites, Stewart confirmed.

Questions linger

Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, has been skeptical from the start that the FEDC facility will gather momentum. It’s just too big for a pilot project, and too expensive, he said.

At a recent legislative committee hearing, Usibelli Coal Mine spokesman Steve Denton pointed to gasification as “the future of coal,” in part because the process can capture nearly 100 percent of
pollutants, he said. A major hold-up could be the matter of capturing carbon dioxide emitted by a coal or gas-to-liquids plant. New federal rules mandating carbon capture in an attempt to slow climate change are
expected under President Barack Obama’s administration, Ramras said.

One technique being studied involves capturing carbon dioxide output and sequestering it in underground reservoirs formerly full of oil and natural gas. That could work in Alaska on the North Slope or in
Cook Inlet, but likely not near Fairbanks, Denton said.

Unless the proponents of the Fairbanks project can figure out what to do with the CO2, such a plant might not be feasible in the Interior,
Ramras said. “It could be a serious impediment,” Denton agreed.
 

February 2009

Feb. 18: Obama Opposes 'Fairness Doctrine' Claims White House

President Obama opposes any move to bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine, a spokesman said Wednesday. The statement is the first definitive stance the administration has taken since an aide told an industry publication last summer that Obama opposes the doctrine -- a long-abolished policy that would require broadcasters to provide opposing viewpoints on controversial issues. "As the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told the press. 

That was after both senior adviser David Axelrod and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs left open the door on whether Obama would support reinstating the doctrine. "I'm going to leave that issue to Julius Genachowski, our new head of the FCC ... and the president to discuss. So I don't have an answer for you now," Axelrod said Sunday when asked about the president's position.  The debate over the so-called Fairness Doctrine has heated up in recent days as prominent Democratic senators have called for the policies to be reinstated. Conservative talk show hosts, who see the doctrine as an attempt to impose liberal viewpoints on their shows, largely oppose any move to bring it back. 

Fueling discussion, a report in the American Spectator this week said aides to Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, Calif., met last week with staff for the Federal Communications Commission to discuss ways to enact Fairness Doctrine policies. The report said Waxman was also interested in applying those standards to the Internet, which drew ridicule from supporters and opponents of the doctrine. Both the FCC and Waxman's office denied the report. 

Only time will tell if this affront to freedom of speech will be instituted and whether president Obama will approve or veto it when it gets to his desk and it will surely get there. If it does get approved it will bring the United States one step closer to being a socialist  country not unlike that of Venezuela. 

Feb. 13: Many Europeans Blame Jews for World's Troubles

Nearly one-third of all Europeans say the Jews are to blame for the current global economic downturn, according to a new poll conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in seven European countries earlier this year. When asked who was to blame for the financial crisis in Europe and the US, 31 percent of respondents across the continent pointed the finger at high-ranking Jews in the financial industry, reported Ha'aretz.

In Hungary, Spain and Poland, the number of people who blamed Jews for the situation was closer to 50 percent. [Austria, France, Germany and the UK were the other countries in the survey.]

Furthermore, 58 percent of respondents across Europe said their opinion of local Jews had worsened as a result of their feelings toward Israel and its policies. The ADL and other Jewish groups have previously warned that results like these make clear that even in "enlightened" Europe, another Holocaust is possible, and perhaps inevitable.

Feb. 12: The National Capitalist Party is one year old today.

Feb. 11: The National Capitalist Party makes the Rhinoceros its official mascot. click here

November 2008

Nov. 05: The American People Have Voted Barack HUSSEIN President 

• Sept. 23: How We Became the United States of France

Sept 03: Catholics Fighting Washington State Suicide Initiative

Catholic churches in Washington are collecting donations to fight Initiative 1000, the assisted suicide measure on the November ballot.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Seattle, Greg Magnoni, says Alex Brunett and two other bishops have authorized 290 parishes in Washington to take up a collection for the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide.

Also called the "Death with Dignity" initiative, the measure would allow terminally ill people to legally obtain lethal prescription drugs for ending their own lives. It's patterned after Oregon's assisted suicide law.

A spokeswoman for the Yes on 1000 campaign, Anne Martens, told the Tacoma News Tribune that Catholics should not impose their beliefs on the entire state but that it was OK for the 1000 initiative to impose theirs.

March 2008

March 26, Wednesday: Greensboro, N.C. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday sought to quell concerns over anti-American remarks by his former pastor, saying people are paying too much attention to a small number of "stupid" comments. Of course Obama must think the American public is stupid by trying to imply that his former pastor only made a small number of "stupid" comments when in fact over the past 20 years he has made thousands of these "stupid" (a euphemism for hateful) comments. I would not have stayed in a church that espoused such hatred and one has to wonder why Obama listened to it for two decades and stayed. I hope this doesn't get swept under the carpet and forgotten like Obama hopes it will. 

March 21, Friday: Rome: The Vatican on Thursday rejected an audiotaped accusation from Osama bin Laden that Pope Benedict XVI was leading a “new Crusade” against Muslims, but Italian security officials were concerned about the threats included in Mr. bin Laden’s new message. Harrisburg: Pennsylvanians are rushing in record numbers to sign up as Democrats, apparently so they can vote in the presidential primary April 22 between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Many are Republicans who feel that since John McCain already has the GOP nomination they want to vote for Hillary Clinton as a vote against Barack Hussein Obama.

March 20, Thursday: Chinese state media has admitted police shot dead four rioters "in self-defense" in a Tibetan area of southwestern Sichuan province. Days ago China had claimed that they did not shoot on rioters now the truth comes out.

March 19, Wednesday: USA: Contrary to Senator Barack Obama’s claim that he never heard his pastor Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. preach hatred of America, Obama was in the pews last July 22 when the minister blamed the “white arrogance” of America’s Caucasian majority for the world’s suffering, especially the oppression of blacks. Senator Obama has sought to separate himself from his pastor’s incendiary remarks, issuing a statement Friday rejecting them as “inflammatory and appalling” but failing to renounce Wright himself for his venomous and paranoid denunciations of America. In his press release, Obama claimed, “The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity [United Church of Christ] or heard him utter in private conversation.” Appearing on cable news shows this past weekend, Obama claimed when he saw recent videos that have Wright making such comments as “God damn America,” he was “shocked.” Obama implied that the reverend had not used such derogatory language in any of the church services Obama attended over the past two decades. If Obama’s claims are true that he was completely unaware that Wright’s trademark preaching style at the Trinity United Church of Christ has targeted “white” America and Israel, he would have been one of the few people in Chicago to be so uninformed. Wright’s reputation for spewing hate is well known. So for 20 years of attending this church Obama never heard any of these derogatory statements? No wonder so many people feel that politicians are liars.

March 18, Tuesday: China on Monday denounced attacks on its embassies by pro-Tibetan activists hours before a deadline for rioters in Lhasa to turn themselves in and said it would do all in its power to protect its territorial integrity. The announcement by the Foreign Ministry at a hastily called news conference came as about 40 students staged a sit-down protest at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, marking the spread of pro-Tibetan demonstrations to the capital. The problem most Capitalists have is that China seems to be a little confused as to what is their territory and what is other's territory but then again that's a problem with most dictatorships....Kosovo: Hundreds of Serbs in north Kosovo clashed with U.N. police and NATO peacekeepers on Monday in the worst violence in the territory since the Albanian majority declared independence last month creating yet another Muslim state, just what the world needs, right?....El-Arish, Egypt: Egyptian police shot and wounded a Sudanese man on Monday as he tried to cross illegally into Israel, a security official said. The 23-year-old was shot in the chest and hospitalized, the source said, while four of his Sudanese companions made it into Israel. There has been a growing stream of casualties from shooting incidents at the border as the Egyptian police have cracked down on illegal migrants....Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI held a memorial mass Monday for Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul found dead last week 13 days after being abducted. The pope condemned the "horrific kidnapping which perhaps injured him" as well as the "unworthy resting place in which his corpse was found." The pope described the archbishop as a "man of peace and dialogue" and hoped that "his example would give strength and support to all Iraqis of good will, Christians and Muslims, to build a peaceful coexistence." During his Angelus blessing on Sunday, the Pope issued what he called a heartfelt plea for a peace in Iraq. "Stop the slaughter, the violence, the hatred in Iraq," he said. Rahho was kidnapped on February 29 after a shootout in which three of his companions were killed. His body was found in a shallow grave near Mosul last Thursday.

March 17, Monday: Happy Saint Patrick's day. Taiwan: Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in rival political rallies across the country. It was the last chance for big weekend rallies before the island votes for a new president on 22 March. The events - organized by the two main political parties - were also aimed at expressing public opposition to China's anti-secession law. The law, passed in 2005, legalizes the use of force against Taiwan if it formally declares independence. China regards the island as part of its territory. Government officials have warned that the violent events in the past few days in Tibet have implications for Taiwan showing Beijing would not give up the use of force against the island to resolve disputes.

March 16, Sunday: Beijing: Soldiers on foot and in armored carriers swarmed Tibet's capital Saturday, enforcing a strict curfew a day after protesters burned shops and cars to vent their anger against Chinese rule. In another western city, police clashed with hundreds of Buddhist monks leading a sympathy demonstration. The latest unrest began Monday on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Tibet was effectively independent for decades before communist troops entered in 1950....Tehran: Iranian election results on Saturday showed conservatives on course to keep control of parliament, but some were expected to join reformists in flaying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's handling of the economy....
Washington: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama categorically rejected "appalling remarks" by his pastor as aides said the controversial preacher had resigned from a campaign committee. The Illinois senator sought to quell the uproar over Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who said the September 11 attacks were brought on by American "terrorism" and that African-Americans should sing "God Damn America" to protest their treatment. Obama says he rejects the statements but it's what his church believes and he is after all a member of that church and I bet we won't see him changing churches any time soon either.

March 15, Saturday: Sudan: Chinese sales of assault rifles and other small arms to its ally Sudanhave grown rapidly during the Darfur conflict despite a U.N. arms embargo, a human rights group said on Thursday. China sold Sudan $55 million worth of small arms from 2003-2006 and provided 90 percent of Sudan's small arms since 2004 when a U.N. arms embargo took effect. Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifles, grenade launchers and ammunition for rifles and heavy machine guns have all flowed into Darfur, said the report. Did you ever wonder why communists supply Moslems with arms?....Dakar: World Muslim leaders on Friday condemned extremism and terrorism as incompatible with Islam and proposed a high-level international meeting to promote a "dialogue of civilizations" with the Christian world "We continue to strongly condemn all forms of extremism and dogmatism which are incompatible with Islam, a religion of moderation and peaceful coexistence," the declaration said but is in total contradiction to what the Koran dictates meanwhile leaders of the world's Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. I don't see that working, any capitalist country worth its salt is not going to allow any foreign entity dictate what can or cannot be said under freedom of speech.....China said at least 10 people burnt to death in riots in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, the fiercest pro-independence protests to have rocked the region in two decades, scarring China's image months before the Olympics. "The victims are all innocent civilians and they have been burnt to death," an official with the regional government was quoted as saying.

March 14, Friday: U.S.A.: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) issued a draft Thursday of its Statement on Human Sexuality. Seven years in the making, the report does not take a specific stand on gay ordination -- that will come in a position paper expected to be released about a year from now -- but it does lay the groundwork for the impending debate. Mark Chavez, director of the Word Alone Network, which opposes gay ordination, interpreted the wording as an indication that the bishops are going to try to avoid taking a church-wide stand....Dakar: The leaders of the world's Muslim states on Thursday criticized a rising wave of "Islamophobia" in the West and pledged to combat Islamic extremism, which they said was partly to blame. "Ignorance about Islam and calculated animosity with deep historic roots on the part of a minority in the West, as well as our failure to defend the true values of Islam, are the reason for the increasing wave of Islamophobia." Caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad printed by Europen newspapers have sparked anger across the Muslim world. Some western human rights groups have accused the OIC of trying to limit freedom of expression and belief. "Should freedom of expression mean freedom to blaspheme? There is no such thing as limitless freedom," Wade told delegates, while criticizing those who carried out attacks in the name of Islam: "They deserve only our contempt." Yes, freedom of expression does mean freedom to blaspheme and though militant Islamists deserve their contempt the never seem to get it. It also seems that the more non-Muslims learn about true Islam the more Islamophobic they become, I wonder why?....Bogota: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's popularity rose to a record high 82 percent thanks to his handling of a recent diplomatic spat with Ecuador and Venezuela, according to a Gallup poll published on Thursday. The survey fueled speculation that the conservative leader would run again in 2010 if his supporters can get a constitutional amendment passed allowing a third consecutive term. He accused the leftist leaders of Ecuador and Venezuela of not helping in the fight against drug-running communist guerrillas. But he promised no more incursions into neighboring territory if they guaranteed that rebels would not be allowed shelter there.

March 13, Thursday: Thailand: About 800 Thai Muslims protested outside Denmark's embassy Wednesday against Danish newspapers' reprinting of a cartoon perceived as insulting to Islam....Tibet: Chinese police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of Buddhist monks who held a second day of rare protests near Tibet's capital, U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday. The demonstrators, on their way to demand the release of other monks detained in protests Monday, shouted "We want an independent Tibet" and "Free our people or we won't go back." Red China has illegally held control of Tibet since 1951....Turkey: Turkish troops killed 11 Kurdish rebels during clashes in southeastern Turkey near the border with Iraq, a private news agency reported Wednesday.

March 12, Wednesday: San Juan: Luis Fortuno a pro-statehood Republican who represents Puerto Rico in Washington won nearly 60 percent of the New Progressive Party vote. Fortuno, 47, who is both a Republican and a member of the NPP, beat out powerful former Gov. Pedro Rossello for the nomination. Fortuno is a statehood for Puerto Rico backer....Jerusalem: Palestinian militants in Gaza launched a rocket Tuesday at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, Israeli police said, causing no injuries but threatening to upset a recent period of calm. If it were Israeli militants firing rockets into Palestinian territory the world would be screaming bloody murder but not a peep is heard on this latest act of terror....Russia told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that the presence of U.S. Navy warships in the Mediterranean off the coast of Lebanon was not helping resolve the political crisis in Lebanon. The fact that our warships won't affect the situation one way or the other means nothing to Russia, they just want to show our enemies that they don't like the U.S. and that Russia is on their side....Egypt's opposition was blocked from the polls. Mohammed Saad el-Katatni, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc, said police in many areas of the country had blocked its members from entering official buildings to register for the April 8 polling. The Brotherhood advocates implementation of Islamic law but says it wants democratic reforms in Egypt. Islamic law and democratic reforms, isn't that a contradiction of terms?

March 11, Tuesday: The First Korean in Space Is a Woman, South Korea announced today it is replacing the man tapped to be the country's first person in space and is instead sending a woman. Yi So-yeon, a 29-year-old bioengineering student, will fly aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station next month....Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the Israeli army today to halt military operations against Palestinian militants in Gaza as long as there is no rocket fire against Israeli targets....Iraq: The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years. Though we probably shouldn't have went to war with Iraq in the first place it would be totally disastrous if we pulled out before the mission is accomplished. Iraq should be paying us the greater portion of this bill and Iraq has plenty of oil with which to make those payments. A Suicide bomber killed five U.S. soldiers in Baghdad in the deadliest attack in more than eight months.

March 10, Monday: Cuba: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez paid a visit to his close friend Fidel Castro on Saturday, making his first trip to Cuba since the ailing 81-year-old was replaced as president by his younger brother Raul. Let's hope that his next trip to Cuba will be for Fidel's funeral....Spain: The governing Socialist Party of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has claimed victory over the conservative Popular Party in Spain's general elections....France: Early results in local elections put France's opposition socialists ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved a plan to build up to 750 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, it's about time and it's also time Israel starts thinking about taking Gaza back....Iraq: "There was a stranger at the door. He gave me an envelope which had two bullets and a letter that said, 'If you do not close your beauty parlor, we will kill you. Your work is haram [forbidden],'" says Asma Kadhim, 40, one of the thousands of Iraqi women facing the brunt of daily bloodshed....Russia: President Vladimir Putin has warned that relations between Russia and the West will not be any simpler under his successor Dmitry Medvedev because he'll still be pulling the strings....Venezuela says it will immediately normalize diplomatic relations with Colombia, a week after ties were cut. But Ecuador, which accused Colombia of violating its sovereignty, has said it will take some time to restore ties. There was such an outcry when Colombia attacked terrorists hiding in neighboring Ecuador but barely a peep when Turkey went into Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels.

March 09, Sunday: China: A flight crew prevented an apparent attempt to crash a Chinese jetliner last week, an official said today. The incident occurred Friday morning shortly after the China Southern Airlines flight left the far western city of Urumuqi at 10:35 a.m., said Nur Bekri, the governor of the sprawling western Xinjiang region. As is usual with communist governments there are no details yet and all they are saying is that it is under investigation which could mean that the suspect is still being tortured and hasn't talked yet....Washington: Blood-thinning drugs such as aspirin may help fight cancer by denying shelter to wandering tumor cells, U.S. researchers reported on Friday. The study could help support other findings that show people who take aspirin or similar drugs that affect a gene and protein called COX-2, including aspirin, ibuprofen and the COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex, have a lower risk of some cancers....Wyoming: Democrat Barack Hussein Obama beat rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in Wyoming's nominating contest on Saturday, bouncing back from a string of losses that gave Clinton new life in their hotly contested presidential battle. It'll take a miracle for Hillary to win the Democratic nomination....Iraq: Security forces in Iraq have found a mass grave containing about 100 decomposed bodies. Human rights groups believe there are many such mass graves in Iraq where thousands of people killed during the regime of deposed president Saddam Hussein were buried. Hundreds of Iraqis have also died in sectarian fighting since the invasion and more recent mass graves are regularly discovered. The US and Iraqi authorities often blame al-Qaeda for the killings....London: E-mails are circulating, falsely claiming the UK has banned schools from teaching pupils about the Holocaust. The suggestion is that this was done by the government to avoid offending some Moslem communities. In fact the government has reaffirmed that in England, teaching children about the Holocaust is compulsory, and it is not banned elsewhere in the UK....Rome: Pope Benedict XVI will host landmark Catholic-Moslem talks in November to improve ties between the two religions. Hopefully it will help stop the persecution of Catholics in Islamic nations.

March 08, Saturday: Beirut, Lebanon - Israeli warplanes flew over Beirut on Friday, the Lebanese army said, a day after a Palestinian gunman killed eight Jewish seminary students in Jerusalem. Three Israeli reconnaissance planes violated Lebanese airspace in southern Lebanon Thursday, the Lebanese army said in an earlier statement. Israeli warplanes frequently fly over south Lebanon in what Israel says are reconnaissance missions. The overflights have drawn ground fire from Lebanese troops on at least two occasions since an Aug. 14, 2006, cease-fire ended a month long war between Israel and terrorist Hezbollah guerrillas....Washington, Angry Boeing supporters are vowing revenge against Republican presidential candidate John McCain over Chicago-based Boeing's loss of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to the parent company of European plane maker Airbus" Having made sure that Iraq gets new schools, roads, bridges and dams that we deny America, now we are making sure that France gets the jobs that Americans used to have," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. "We are sending the jobs overseas, all because John McCain demanded it." There are other targets for their ire, the Air Force, the defense secretary and even the entire Bush administration. This entire travesty of giving the tanker project to AirBus is anti-national capitalism. National Capitalism believes in competition but giving a military contract to a country who is less than our friend and at the expense of thousands of American jobs is totally unpatriotic to say the least.....President Bush is poised to veto legislation that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding a technique that simulates drowning and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects....Sacramento: A California appeals court ruling clamping down on home schooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution. Soon there will be a knock on their door with California Storm Troopers demanding parents to turn their children over to the State!

March 07, Friday: NY City A small bomb caused minor damage to a landmark military recruiting station in the heart of Times Square before dawn Thursday, and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video pedaling away. The blast left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening its metal frame. No one was hurt, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the device, though unsophisticated, could have caused "injury and even death."....Israel: A Palestinian gunman opened fire in a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem on Thursday, killing at least eight people and wounding about 10 in the most lethal attack in Israel in two years, emergency services said. "It was a slaughterhouse," said Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, head of the Zaka emergency service after surveying the scene at the Merkaz Harav seminary, one of the most prominent Jewish educational centers in the holy city. Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said a lone gunman carried out the attack and was killed by an off-duty Israeli army officer who lives nearby and ran to the school after hearing gunfire, all of the more reason why for every Israeli should not only carry a firearm but sleep with one also.....Nicaragua broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia on Thursday, widening a Latin American crisis over a raid by Colombia on a rebel camp inside Ecuador last Saturday. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, an communist ex-guerrilla whose country is in a territorial dispute with Colombia, said "We are breaking with the terrorist politics that Alvaro Uribe's government is employing" The word terrorist is always thrown at capitalists who defend themselves....

March 06, 2008 Thursday: Cuba: Hints of anger surface as reform appears unlikely. Unrest or mass migration may be coming, analysts say. With little prospect for change in Cuba on the horizon, inklings of discontent have begun to surface on the communist-ruled island that analysts say could spread unrest or incite mass migration....Moscow, Russia has overtaken New York City as home to the most billionaires, according to Forbes magazine, with 74 of the super-rich elite now counting the Russian capital as their home....Phoenix: A new study concludes that law enforcement and criminal prosecutions linked to illegal immigration is costing Arizona border counties millions of dollars a year. The study says the battle over illegal immigration is also diverting money from parks, libraries and other law-enforcement efforts. University of Arizona and San Diego State University researchers say in the four border counties in Arizona, costs increased 39% to $26.6 million in fiscal 2006....Venezuelan President Hugo "Loco" Chavez on Wednesday called a Colombian raid that killed two dozen communist rebels in Ecuador a "war crime," and joined Ecuador's president in demanding international condemnation of the cross-border attack. But interestingly enough when the same communists kill, bomb and kidnap innocent civilians that is not a war crime in the eyes of Chavez. Meanwhile Colombia is worried about a document on the laptop of a slain rebel leader indicating the guerrillas were trying to obtain uranium, but has no evidence they intended to use it as a weapon said vice president Francisco Santos.

March. 05, 2008 Wednesday: President George W. Bush backed Colombia Tuesday in an escalating Andean crisis as Venezuela moved troops to its border and Colombia accused President Hugo Chavez of genocide for supporting rebels. Chavez has warned that war could break out after Colombian forces bombed inside a neighboring South American state, Ecuador, to kill a leading communist rebel. Bush told reporters about a telephone call with President Alvaro Uribe in which he said "America would continue to stand with Colombia." The conservative Uribe, whose government receives billions of dollars in U.S. military aid, threatened to take Chavez to international court for backing Colombian rebels' "genocide." Colombia says the raid unearthed evidence Chavez recently paid the rebels $300 million -- something Venezuela denies. "We are not warmongers, but we are not weak. We cannot allow terrorists who seek refuge in other countries to spill the blood of our countrymen," Uribe said....Freetown: Some 800 women in the Sierra Leone town of Kailahun paraded Tuesday in favor of genital mutilation and told donors opposed to the practice to keep their money. "We have inherited this culture over 100 years ago and it has made us women be responsible housewives to our husbands," one demonstrator in the march said....San Francisco: The national gay marriage debate shifted to California on Tuesday, as the state's highest court heard more than 3½ hours of arguments on the constitutionality of a voter-approved law banning same-sex marriage....Serbia's parliament is likely to adopt a resolution within days calling for the country to reject all formal ties with the European Union until the bloc withdraws its support for Kosovo's independence.....U.S. Elections: Huckabee drops out and endorses McCain as does President Bush thereby ensuring McCain as the GOP candidate. Hillary Rodham Clinton wins Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas, although Barack Hussein Obama wins Vermont a lot of the steam has been knocked out of his electoral blitzkrieg.

Mar. 04, 2008 Tuesday: China will raise its heavily scrutinized defense spending by nearly a fifth this year, a top official said on Tuesday, warning self-ruled Taiwan that Beijing would "tolerate no division." "We are fully prepared to repulse any adventurous activities towards Taiwan independence and to prevent anyone from separating Taiwan from China under any name or by any means."....Russia: President Vladimir Putin fast-tracked the transfer of power to his newly elected protégé Monday and signaled the Kremlin won't back down from its pull-no-punches anti-U.S. foreign policy or ease up on its critics at home. Police, some in riot gear, thwarted an opposition protest of the election in Moscow, grabbing dozens of people and hauling them into buses. Demonstrators chanted "Shame!" and "Down with the police state!" Even after the fall of Communism the Russian government remains an enemy of America....South America looked like it was on the brink of war yesterday as Venezuela and Ecuador amassed troops on the Colombian border in response to the killing of a Marxist rebel leader of FARC a group that has been terrorizing the Colombian country for over 40 years. Leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa also ordered troops to the border, expelled Colombia's ambassador and recalled its ambassador to Bogota. Experts feel that these troop movements are nothing more than a show of force and displeasure....Israel pulled its ground troops out of northern Gaza today after an offensive against Palestinian rocket salvos that has left more than 100 people dead. The Israeli military confirmed that most of the soldiers sent in last week have returned from the rogue territory run by Islamist terror group Hamas. France: Hooded gunmen 'ambush' police in Paris suburb sparking fears of new national riots by Moslem youths. The attack, which happened in the high rise Grigny estate on Sunday night, was described by Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie as an “ambush”. Police said that when the officers arrived they were confronted by "around 30 people whose faces were masked and several of whom were armed.”

Mar. 03, 2008 Monday: The National Capitalist Party is registered with the county of Catawba, NC. and the Internal Revenue Service, a bank account is opened also....The United Nations Security Council is set to vote today to marginally tighten sanctions against Iran over its refusal to freeze sensitive nuclear fuel work. Nothing short of total sanctions though will deter Iran from its nuclear weapons program and even that may fail.... Europe: Leaders around the world condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. EU president Slovenia said on Sunday that Israel's attacks were disproportionate and violated international law. Though in most cases disproportionate actions can end a war like Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki did. The Palestinians knew ahead of time what happens when Israel is pushed too far. The Palestinians brought this on themselves....Baghdad: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday as he began a two-day visit to Iraq that his trip opened a new page in relations between the two former foes. The mentally deranged leader of Iran also used his historic trip to fire a salvo at President George Bush by saying the "Iraqi nation does not want the US." Which is rather confusing seeing that the government of Iraq has asked the U.S. to stay and Ahmadinejad believes for some strange reason he has the authority to speak for the Iraqis....South America: Ecuador has sent 3,200 soldiers to the border province of Sucumbíos after a diplomatic spat with Colombia over a Colombian military raid that killed a rebel leader inside Ecuadorian territory, a military official said on Monday. Will these troops keep the FARC terrorists out of Ecuador? That remains to be seen. Meanwhile president Hugo Chávez yesterday placed Venezuela on a war footing, sending thousands of troops and tanks to the border with Colombia after its neighbor killed a top communist rebel leader inside Ecuadorian territory.

Mar. 02, 2008 Sunday: Thousands of people gathered in Louisiana for the christening of a US warship built in part from steel salvaged from the World Trade Center. The bow contains 7.5 tons of steel taken from Ground Zero. It also bore a shield with two bars to symbolize the towers and a banner with the slogan Never Forget. Friends and families of 9/11 victims were among those at the ceremony for the new amphibious assault ship, the USS New York, in the base of Avondale....Havana: New Cuban leader Raul Castro would consider exchanging dissidents held in Cuban jails for five Cuban intelligence agents imprisoned in the United States as spies, a top Vatican official said in an interview....Hollywood: Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard was facing embarrassment with her new American public last night after it emerged that she doubted the official account of the September 11 attacks. Footage which surfaced on the internet showed her questioning the New York terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the 1969 moon landing, which only goes to show that a person can be a great actress and still be lacking in intelligence....New York: Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a new survey....Caracas: Mentally unstable Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned Colombia a strike against FARC rebels inside Venezuela like that in Ecuador on Saturday could start a war. He was speaking after Colombian air and ground forces killed a senior member of the communist rebels who were hiding just inside Ecuadorian territory. With this statement Chavez is admitting that he is giving refuge to the FARC terrorists.

Mar. 01, 2008 Saturday: Israel killed 41 Palestinians today in its deadliest and deepest incursion into the Gaza Strip since pulling out in 2005, stoking fears of a broader conflict that could derail renewed U.S.-backed peace talks. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed and seven wounded, at least 76 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday....Las Vegas: Police tried to piece together how a rare, deadly poison ended up in a motel for transients, the 57-year-old man who could hold the key lay unconscious in a hospital. Firearms and an "anarchist type textbook" were found in the same room where the ricin was discovered two days later....Bogota: A top Colombian guerrilla commander was killed today in an attack on his jungle camp along the frontier with Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America's oldest insurgency, Raul Reyes was one of the seven members of the leadership secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a cocaine-trafficking communist terrorist organization....Havana: Once known as the "fist" of Cuba's revolution, 76-year-old Raul Castro may be showing a brush of the velvet glove since taking power. Just a week into his job as Cuba's new president, Castro discussed the island's prisoners with a visiting Vatican official and directed his government to sign two international human rights treaties that his older brother, Fidel, had opposed.

February 2008

Feb. 29, 2008 Friday: Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Thursday that any of his backers who also support presidential candidate Barack Obama shouldn't be dissuaded by the senator's denunciation of Farrakhan during a Democratic debate....Jerusalem: A senior Israeli defense official said on Friday that Palestinians firing rockets from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip would bring upon themselves what he termed a "shoah," the Hebrew word for holocaust or disaster. Over the past eight weeks more than 500 rockets have pounded Israel and Israel's patience is wearing thin...Planned Racism: A shocking set of recordings was released this week that could prove disastrous for Planned Parenthood's ties with the African-American community. Lila Rose, a pro-life student and reporter at UCLA, launched an undercover investigation aimed at exposing the racism of the nation's largest abortion merchant. With the help of an actor, she contacted Planned Parenthood clinics in seven states, inquiring if they would be willing to accept a donation earmarked for the abortion of black babies. The results were jaw-dropping. Rose was appalled to discover that every last clinic agreed. Not one employee objected or questioned the request, even when the actor insisted that the purpose was to "lower the number of black people" in America.

Feb. 28, 2008 Thursday: The conviction in London this week of the Moslem fanatic known as "Osama bin London" and five of his followers is a significant blow to Islamist terrorism in the United Kingdom. In one of the biggest anti-terror trials in British history, Mohammed Hamid was found guilty of leading an al-Qaeda inspired terror cell and of running terrorist training camps on British soil with a view to sending recruits on to Afghanistan and East Africa. He is, as a family member described him, "evil personified."

Feb. 26, 2008 Tuesday: The IRS is investigating the United Church of Christ over a speech Barack Obama gave to its national meeting last year after he became a candidate for president. Obama is a member of the church.

Feb. 13, 2008 Wednesday: In reply to the Communist Cuban flag hanging on the wall at a Texas based "Obama for President" campaign office. "This is a volunteer office that is not in any way controlled by the Obama campaign. We were disappointed to see this picture because it is both offensive to many Cuban-Americans -- and Americans of all backgrounds -- and because it does not reflect Senator Obama’s views. Barack Obama has been very clear in putting forward a Cuba policy that is based on one principle: freedom for the Cuban people." -- Obama Campaign. "So who is voting for this man? Communists, Socialists, Anarchists, Radical Islamists, Liberal Leftists and various other anti-American elements. God help this country if this man becomes president of the United States of America!"

Feb. 12, 2008 Tuesday: The National Capitalist Party and Movement was founded today by Patricio Bridges.