- EverVigilant.net - "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." - John Philpot Curran
It looks like negotiating a cease-fire is the next step in our ongoing victory in Iraq:
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. military commanders are talking with Iraqi militants about cease-fires and other arrangements to try to stop the violence, the No. 2 American commander said Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals.
"We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces.," Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.
I can't imagine this is going to sit to well with those pushing for war with Iran.
The neocons hate Ron Paul. No, "hate" isn't the right word. They loathe him. They despise him. In their minds, he is no better than a liberal Democrat or perhaps even a Muslim terrorist -- you know, because only evil people would dare to criticize President Bush's war in Iraq.
Just for fun, go to FreeRepublic.com (a.k.a., Neocon Central) and run a search for "Ron Paul." You won't find too many nice things being said about him among the recent articles and comments. Before 9/11, he was considered to be a heroic defender of the Constitution. Now, he's an America-hating crackpot who wants to surrender and turn the world over to "Islamofascists." They can't debate him on the issues, so their only recourse is to try to silence and discredit him.
A few months ago, Pajamas Media, a pro-Bush, pro-war, pro-big government blog, began a straw poll to see which potential candidates were popular among its readers. On week four, Ron Paul was the winner by a large margin. Naturally, his name was removed from the poll on week five. The official reason given for Paul's exclusion was that he "did not reach one percent on Gallup." The only logical conclusion here is that these so-called "conservative" blogs are allowing the mainstream media -- the "liberal" institution they love to hate so much -- to set the ground rules for political discussion and debate.
Ron Paul demonstrates the difference between "isolationist" -- which is the label pinned on him by his opponents -- and "non-interventionist" -- his actual position on foreign policy.
As many of you know, my wife and I are in the process of adopting a little girl from China. So, you can understand why it breaks my heart to read stories like this:
An intensive campaign to enforce strict population-control measures prompted violent clashes between the police and local residents in southwestern China in recent days, witnesses said, describing the latest incident of rural unrest that has alarmed senior officials in Beijing.
Villagers and visitors to several counties of the Guangxi autonomous region in southwestern China said rioters smashed and burned government offices, overturned official vehicles and clashed with the riot police in a series of confrontations over the past four days.
They gave varying accounts of injuries and deaths, with some asserting that as many as five people were killed, including three officials responsible for population control work. A local government official in one of the counties affected confirmed the rioting in an interview by telephone but denied reports of deaths or serious injuries.
The violence appeared to stem from a two-month-long crackdown in Guangxi to punish people who violated the country's birth control policy. The policy limits the number of children families can have legally.
Pray that America will change its ways before we get to this point. And pray for China. What we are seeing over there now is what happens when the sanctity of life is no longer cherished.
Big surprise. There continues to be controversy in South Carolina surrounding Confederate Memorial Day:
In May 2000, Hodges signed the bill to create the Confederate holiday for state workers on May 10 while also recognizing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a state holiday. The law eliminated the Election Day holiday and a floating holiday for state workers.
With the passage of the bill, South Carolina was the last state in the nation to recognize fully the King holiday as a day off for state workers.
The NAACP, which was seeking to have the Confederate flag removed from the Statehouse dome at the time, wanted Hodges to veto the bill.
Opponents continue to say the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism and slavery, while proponents say the flag is a symbol of Southern heritage.
It's been over 140 years since the end of Lincoln's illegal war, and yet there are still people who seek to reconstruct not only the South, but American history itself.
Slavery existed under the U.S. flag for almost 90 years (1776-1865), but under the Confederate flag for only four (1861-1865). And Old Glory has its own history of being desecrated by the dregs of society:
Can someone please explain to me why the Confederate flag is always the one singled out for demonization? Maybe those who think it is a racist symbol should take a look at this video.
The parents of a baby that died of starvation after being fed a vegan diet have been found guilty of malice murder, felony murder and first degree cruelty to children.
Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31, will get an automatic life sentence for the death of their 6-week-old infant, Crown. After being fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice, he weighed only 3 1/2 pounds when he died.
