New York Representative Maurice Hinchey is delusional

New York Representative Maurice Hinchey has an unusually idiotic conspiracy theory. He believes that George W. Bush intentionally prevented U.S. soldiers from capturing Osama Bin Laden in December, 2001. Here is Congressman Hinchey’s twisted logic:

“Look what happened with regard to our invasion into Afghanistan, how we apparently intentionally let bin Laden get away,” Hinchey said during an interview on MSNBC.

“That was done by the previous administration because they knew very well that if they would capture al Qaeda, there would be no justification for an invasion in Iraq,” the Democratic congressman continued. “There’s no question that the leader of the military operations of the U.S. called back our military, called them back from going after the head of al Qaeda.”

When host David Shuster followed up to ask if Hinchey really thought Bush “deliberately let Osama bin Laden get away,” the congressman responded: “Yes, I do.” » read more

Warning signs should have prevented the murder of four police officers

Four Lakewood, WA police officers were murdered in a coffee shop while preparing to begin their shift. The suspect, Maurice Clemmons, walked in and allegedly shot all four officers and left. Police are currently searching for Clemmons.

When violent crimes of this nature occur locally, I normally check out the suspect’s criminal record. More often than not, there is a list of previous offenses with lengthy sentences that were never served. Unfortunately, this case is no different. Clemmons has a long criminal history in both Arkansas and Washington. Clemmons was recently released on bail for a pending charge of child rape, and he is also facing another 7 felony accounts. In addition to these charges, he had a lengthy criminal history in Arkansas. Here’s a summary: » read more

Illegal aliens and the road to health care

When Representative Joe Wilson called President Barack Obama a “liar” for insisting illegal immigrants wouldn’t be eligible for insurance under any of the health care plans, he was on to something. Barack Obama and the Democrats have insisted that illegal immigrants will not receive government subsidized benefits, but this is only partially true.

Many workers would be required to obtain health insurance from their employers. Illegal aliens wouldn’t be eligible for subsidies if they’re honest about their status, but those who provide false documents and lie about their status will be eligible. Maybe I’m wrong, but if someone will break U.S. laws by coming here illegally, then why wouldn’t they break more laws to get free or reduced cost benefits? Then they can get free benefits and have legal residents and citizens foot the bill. » read more

Michael Moore warns Barack Obama about ‘the haters’

One of the most annoying, nauseating people around is director Michael Moore. On the day before Barack Obama is set to announce his plans for Afghanistan, we have Michael Moore encouraging the President to ignore “the haters.”

According to Michael Moore, Obama is trying to satisfy the “tea baggers,” and will essentially be betraying the trust placed in him by those who voted for him. I’m not sure if Michael Moore realizes this, but does he know that Osama Bin Laden was operating from Afghanistan? Does he know that if the U.S. were to depart, the country would become even more chaotic and controlled by terrorists? » read more

Michael Bloomberg’s expensive purchase

You often hear politicians say they want to win because of their desire to serve the public. There are a lot of ways someone can serve their community and make a huge difference. Political office is certainly one of them, or at least it can be, but helping in this capacity requires a tremendous amount of time and money. At some point, even the most dedicated public servant has to wonder if the resources spent on a campaign are actually worth it. After all, if your purpose in life is to truly serve the public, then isn’t it possible that the time and money spent to obtain office could be put to better use? Of course it can, but I’ll assume that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg disagrees.

After spending $74 million on his first mayoral campaign and $85 million on his second, Bloomberg went ahead and spent $102 million to win this years mayoral race. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s a whopping $183 for each vote. What would possess someone to do such a thing? » read more

Carl Levin is partially correct about Afghanistan

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has released a report detailing the United State’s failure to capture Osama Bin Laden in December of 2001. At the time, Bin Laden was reportedly in Tora Bora, and the U.S. had a good chance of capturing him. It’s certainly disappointing to know the U.S. was that close to capturing Bin Laden, but failed. Senator Cal Levin said there was a“good chance we would not have forces or need to have forces there (Afghanistan)” if Bin Laden was captured.

Senator Levin is right about the opportunity that was missed. If Osama Bin Laden had been captured, we might have had most of our soldiers out of Afghanistan. What I find interesting is that Carl Levin and his colleagues in the Democratic party are seizing on this report, yet they seem to conveniently ignore some missed opportunities that were even more damaging. » read more

The Hamed Haddadi controversy: Are you kidding me?

I was checking out the headlines on Yahoo, when I saw a link to a story about two Los Angeles Clippers announcers who made some offensive remarks about Vancouver Grizzlies Center Hamed Haddadi. I hadn’t heard about this controversy, so I read the article to see what it was about. The story went on at length about how sorry announcers Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith were over their offensive remarks, how they apologized on-air, and directly to Hamed Haddadi before a Vancouver/L.A. game in the presence of three members of the Alliance of Iranian Americans.

It seemed like a serious situation, and as I read on, a transcript of the offensive exchange was at the end. Here it is:

Smith: “Look who’s in.”

Lawler: “Hamed Haddadi. Where’s he from?”

Smith: “He’s the first Iranian to play in the NBA.” (Smith pronounced Iranian as “Eye-ranian,” a pronunciation that offended a viewer who complained.)

Lawler: “There aren’t any Iranian players in the NBA,” repeating Smith’s mispronunciation.

» read more

Questions about Tiger Woods’ car accident

By now, you’ve probably heard about Tiger Woods single-car accident. Woods has issued a short press release, but has otherwise been silent. This leaves a lot of unanswered questions, such as:

1. Where was Tiger Woods going at 2am in the morning?

2. Did his wife, Elin Nordegren, cause his injuries?

3. Is Tiger Woods Woods cheating on his wife? » read more

Iran to build 10 more Uranium enrichment plants

It looks like Iran is planning on building 10 more uranium enrichment plants that will equal the size of its largest facility in Natanz. Iran wants their rights as a sovereign nation respected, which is understandable, but they should realize that a certain level of responsibility (and sanity) is expected from their leaders.

Iran’s lawmakers claim that their supposedly unfair treatment is politically motivated. Isn’t this the same country that allegedly sent weapons to Iraq that were used against U.S. soldiers, threatened to “wipe Israel off the map,” and denied that the Holocaust occurred?

For Republicans, common ground is necessary

When I heard that some in the G.O.P. were trying to establish a “purity” test, I was concerned. According to what I read, candidates failing to agree with at least 8 of the 10 points in the test would not be eligible for money or endorsements from the party. My concern was based on a tendency by some to narrow the party’s base, thus hurting our overall chances in the 2010 elections. After reading the ten resolutions, I’m not concerned.

Fiscally, I’m about as conservative as you get, and I favor limited government. The stimulus bill, bank bailouts, cap-and-trade, and socialized medicine all nauseate me, I oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants, and I’m a strong proponent of 2nd Amendment rights. That seems fairly common for a Republican, doesn’t it? It is, until you consider that I support gay marriage, I’m prochoice, and support the decriminalization of marijuana. Some would find these positions inconsistent with the Republican party, but I don’t. If someone truly believes in limited government, then they should stay out of its citizen’s private lives. » read more

Black Friday shopping is better online

I have never been shopping on Black Friday. I always say I want to, but the idea of having to take time out of work, wake up ridiculously early, sit in traffic, fight for the items I’m looking for, then risk them not being there, usually convinces me it’s better to just stay home. Of course, staying home doesn’t mean I don’t shop, it just means I’m a little smarter about how I shop.

For the most part, online shopping beats brick and mortar stores hands-down. It’s convenient, you can read about the product, check out online reviews, and you can often save money. Plus, you can easily check out several stores in just a few minutes to get the best price, and often get free shipping and no sales tax. There’s just one problem: Retailers don’t properly utilize online shopping. » read more

Coke and Pepsi increase their lobbying

In an effort to prevent the United States government from harming their business, Coke and Pepsi have substantially increased their lobbying effort. The increased lobbying is a result of House and Senate proposals which would add a 3 cent tax to each 12 ounces of soda. The result would be an additional $24 billion that could be used to subsidize Americans who either don’t want of “can’t afford” health insurance.

Why would the government be so focused on taxing sugary drinks? Here’s Barack Obama’s reasoning:

“There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda,” he said. “If you wanted to make a big impact on people’s health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful.”

» read more

Ralph Nader consider challenging Chris Dodd in Connecticut

It looks like Ralph Nader is considering a run against Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd in 2010. Nader would likely run as an independent in a race that would include Dodd, and possibly Republican Representative Rob Simmons. How long will it be until Democrats start to complain about Nader’s candidacy?

You will undoubtedly hear Democrats complain would Nader taking votes away from Dodd, and giving the Republican candidate an advantage. There’s no doubt that many of Nader’s supporters lean toward the Democratic party, but this criticism is narrow-minded. Nader’s views are close to those of the Democrats. Here’s a suggestion: Why don’t Democrats actually give Nader a shot, since they share many of his views, rather than blindly voting for an incumbent who needs to go? » read more

Take your pick: Buy an XBox 360 or flush your money down the toilet

If you’re in the market for an XBox 360, Playstation 3, or a Nintendo Wii, you might want to check out this video first. A recent survey found that almost 60% of XBox 360 owners have reported problems with their consoles, compared to just 16% for Playstation 3 and 6% for Nintendo Wii. Microsoft’s problems are so well-know, that the “red ring of death” and other technical problems, are the subject of their own Wikipedia article.

The XBox might be a great system to play, and I know it has its fans, but who wants to spend hundreds on a console that is likely to break in less than a year? Consumer electronics tend to have a failure rate of 15% over their first 3 to 4 years of use. This is understandable, since regular use can take its toll on any item. However, when a company’s product tends to fail more often than not over a relatively short period of time, it should probably be avoided.

Couple crashes state dinner at White House

Let’s hope the Obama administration is better at national security than State Dinner security. At a recent State dinner, a Virginia couple was able to crash the party, then have several photos taken with celebrities and administration officials. During the Bush administration, a member of the White House social office was usually at the initial check point to prevent unwanted guests from attending, but the Obama administration does not take such precautions.

The couple, Tareq Salahi and Michaele Salahi of Virginia obviously meant no harm. They were likely looking for a fun night out and some publicity for their attempt to be on the TV show “The Real Housewives of D.C..” Despite this, it does raise concerns. What if someone with bad intentions had crashed the party? As one security expert said:

“While the couple did pass through a magnetometer to detect weapons, they could have assassinated the president or vice president using other means — anthrax, for example. The additional security checks referred to by the Secret Service spokesman screen for such items as radiological contamination but would not detect secreted biological weapons.”

As for the Salahi’s, here is a link to one of Michaele Salahi’s Facebook pages, along with some pictures of the special evening. Again, these pictures show the unfettered access the couple received, and should lead to some major changes in security.

Tareq Salahi, Joe Biden, and Michaele Salahi pose for pictures at a recent State dinner

Michaele Slahi with marines

Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel with Michaele Salahi and Tareq Salahi

CBS anchor Katie Couric and Michaele Salahi

California Congressman Ed Royce with Michaele Salahi

Vice President Joe Biden and Michaele Salahi

Can a bill to cap interest rates result in higher interest rates?

Congress has a new idea: Pass a law that would force credit card companies to cap their rates at 16%. I have little doubt this will will get lots of attention, and will probably pass. On one side you have the big, evil, bail-out accepting banks, and on the other, the hard-working American who is struggling to make ends meet in this tough economy. That’s the way it will be presented, but it’s far from the truth.

Interest rates are determined by several factors, which equate to the borrowers risk profile. Those with excellent credit pay less than those with poor credit. It’s a fair system, since those with poor credit are more likely to default. For example, someone with excellent credit might pay 12%, while someone with poor credit would pay 20%. The difference might not seem fair at first, but let’s not forget that based on their payment histories, each deserves the rate they received. » read more

Barbie celebrates the burka

Mattel's newest Barbie dolls comes complete with a burka.

Barbie dolls have been around for 50 years. Over that time, there have been a lot of variations, but the strangest one is the Burka Barbie, which has the iconic doll wearing a traditional Islamic Burka.

I know some people will love this idea, but I find it strange. Aren’t many Islamic women forced to wear Burkas? Is it really appropriate for a symbol of oppression to be celebrated as just another cultural difference?

The danger of political correctness

13 people were killed because of our political correctness. Obvious warning signs were ignored, and once again, innocent Americans were killed by terrorism. It’s not popular to say, but profiling and paying attention to the warning signs could have prevented this attack. Will the United States learn from Fort Hood, or will we continue to make the same mistakes?

Barack Obama’s unprecedented vocabulary

Here’s a great article about Barack Obama’s unprecedented use of “unprecedented.” If you ever had any doubt about how full of himself he is, or how willing his administration is to twist the truth, this unprecedented article will clear things up.

Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, and a nauseating Christmas special

Do you have any plans on December 13th at 10pm? If you have nothing better to do, you can watch Oprah Winfrey’s Christmas Special. It will include a tour of the White House, a conversation with Barack and Michelle Obama, and an interview with the President. I’m sure the interview will be filled with hard-hitting questions.

The celebrity President will probably be right at home, since there will likely be several teleprompters around. At any rate, I wonder why the special is aring on ABC rather than Fox News? I think Glenn Beck would have done a great job hosting.