SignOnSanDiego.com > News >Federal regulations impede use of military aircraft to fight fires

"Gallegly, working with Colorado's Hefley, has a measure that would allow fire authorities to waive the requirement to try civilian planes before calling on military ones.

But some Senate Republicans are fighting the plan because they believe the government should not interfere in work that private businesses can do.

"There's a lot of opposition to this from senators who've been called by private contractors who don't want to see this happen," said Hunter, who supports the plan."

I hate this special interest crap. People should have enough sense to figure out when military planes are needed. Sure they should let private contractors get first dibs, but if it looks like they need military help, then why not?

I hate bureacracies.

The Bad News Is the Good News Is Irrelevant

Very good article on the looming budget crisis when SS and Medicare go bellyup. It will happen sooner than you think.

Economy Grows at Fastest Pace Since 1984

I've been telling people this was going to happen for a couple of months now.

7.2% is huge.

"Near rock-bottom short-term interest rates, along with President Bush's third round of tax cuts, have helped the economy shift into a higher gear during the summer, economists say.

Democrats, however, argue that the tax cuts contributed to a record budget deficit in the recently ended 2003 fiscal year and have done little to spur significant job growth."

Who are you going to listen to, Economists or Democrats? Come on people.

Zell Miller Endorses Bush

I don't understand why he just doesn't switch to the republican party. If you agree more with the reps then the dems, then aren't you a rep anyway?

I'm glad he's on our side.

Army files charge in combat tactic

Article 128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice describes assault in these terms: "Any person subject to this chapter who attempts or offers with unlawful force or violence to do bodily harm to another person, whether or not the attempt or offer is consummated, is guilty of assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct."

Aren't soldiers upposed to be violent and do bodily harm? I don't think what this guy did was all that wrong. The Iraqi was part of a plot to kill him and his soldiers and he would not talk. Other means of cohersion had to be used. Its not like he actually did what soldiers do, and shoot the guy (even though he may have deserved it).

Schultz planning national talk show

Democratic lawmakers in Washington are asking a North Dakota radio personality to take on Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other conservative talk show hosts.

Ed Schultz, who earlier considered running for governor, has been tapped by national Democratic leaders for a talk show to start in January.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington are raising money for the show, and Democrats have pledged about $1.8 million over two years to get it off the ground, Schultz said Monday. He said a half-dozen stations are looking at whether to carry it.

If the dems think they can have a successful talk show by fiat then they are sadly mistaken. Rush and Hannity are successful because they are talented. If this Schultz guy is talented then maybe he will succeed.

Downing Street 'mystified' by Bill Clinton claim

Clinton caught in another fib.

Amazon.com Search Inside the Book

This reminds me of Google's catalog search utility in a way. They scan in every catalog or somehow get a digital copy and let you search for something you want to buy. I did some landscaping this summer and ordered some free catalogs on gardening from there.

This internet thing is sooo cool.

Subsequent story from Wired.com: The Great Library of Amazonia

ACLU joins husband in battle to stop feeding of brain-damaged woman


AFAIK she never had a living will. They are only going by what her husband said she would have wanted and meanwhile he out boinking another woman. This is sick.

2 Face Penalty in Slave Reparations Case

Pretty ingenious, but they are still defrauding the U.S. government since no reperations law is on the books (and hopefully never will be).

I have never owned a slave, nor did any of my relatives as far back as I can recount. The Henderson's came up to Illinois from Kentucky, which was a border state, but before that my geneology is fuzzy. Both sides of my family have been poor farmers, so I doubt we owned slaves.

I don't think it would be fair to make every tax payer (including black ones) pay for reparations.

Bush official caught in church dragnet

Classic Ann Coulter.

Having driven the Judeo-Christian value system out of the public square, the classrooms and the Alabama Supreme Court, liberals now want to drive it out of church.

A reporter for the Los Angeles Times claimed that Boykin referred to the God of Islam as "an idol." The reporter, of course, was committing a hate crime by assuming that fascist warlords trying to kill Americans are practicing "true Islam." As we have repeatedly been assured, they are not. Apparently, what Boykin should have said is: "Well, you know what? I knew that his remark was a violation of separation of church and state!"

Sen. Kerry said Boykin's remarks were "un-American." The only people you can't call un-American are the ones burning the American flag or demanding an apology from a man who called Osama bin Laden satanic.

Howard Dean said the American flag "does not belong to Gen. Boykin," it belongs to all Americans. Could someone rustle up a liberal who actually owns a flag?

Sometimes Ann is too abrasive, but this time, she's brilliant.

Rummy Defense memo: A grim outlook?

By the title of the article (Defense memo: A grim outlook), you would think that Rumsfeld was going to say how badly we were fighting the War on Terror. But I don't get that out of it at all.

I think he's being realistic and its refreshing to know that the DoD is actually thinking outside of its box on the war. Its only natural for a large organization like the DoD to adapt more slowly than a small group like al-Queda. Rummy realizes this and wants to change things to fight the war better.

On a side note:
I think a lot of people just scan the headlines when the read the news and I think the news people know this and use it to their philosophical/political advantage. Its easier to put a negative spin on a positive story with the headline, thus leading people to believe the president is doing a bad job, than it is to actually convince people through a comparison of philosophies.

Florida legislators move to rescue Terri Schiavo

This is a very sad story. I support the parents efforts to help save Terri's life. Laws like the one allowing her husband (who is living with another woman and has one kid and another on the way with her) to starve her to death are terrible. It just doesn't seem right at all to me.

Michael Moore hammers Rush Limbaugh

"Three days after my book came out, Rush Limbaugh had to check himself into a rehab center,'' Moore said, according to the paper. "I'd like to take credit for that. ... It's painful being an angry white guy. I know I should be more understanding, but not for Rush Limbaugh.''

Where's the liberal compassion? They stand up for "Mary Jane" users but they just can't feel any pain for Rush, who started taking his prescription meds legally to help with back pain after surgery. Maybe I'm a naive, ditto-head who thinks that prescription drug abuse is different than abuse of narcotics and other hard drugs. Or, maybe liberals can't see through the hate they feel for Mr. Limbaugh.

If he commited a crime (and nothing has been proven yet) he should do the time, but at least feel sorry for the guy.

Moore says he agrees with liberal Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich "100 percent," and of Howard Dean, he says, "He's a good man."

Kucinich is a hard-core socialist who has 0% chance of winning anything. My respect for Mr. Moore's ideas just went into negative territory.

Oh yeah, then there's this...

"For the last 20 or so years, Democrats have had to keep moving to the right in order to get elected ... guys like Gray Davis, a Republican pretending he's a Democrat,"

I guess anyone to the right of Dennis Kucinich is a Republican to Mr. Moore?

Jailhouse vote: President Gore?

What does this say about Democrats?

State of the Economy
Although the article is about a rise in interest rates, look at this little gem I found inside:

The estimates of private economists, based on recent consumption and output figures, suggest that the US economy may have grown by up to 7 per cent in the third quarter. Although Mr Snow did not endorse these estimates, he said that growth in the year ahead would be about 4 per cent and would "produce loads of jobs".

Looks like those "Chicken Little" democrats won't even have the economy to help them oust the president.

A Dislike Unlike Any Other?

For some of his friends, Chait says at a corner table in a downtown Starbucks, "just seeing his face or hearing his voice causes a physical reaction -- they have to get away from the TV. My sister-in-law describes Bush's existence as an oppressive force, a constant weight on her shoulder, just knowing that George Bush is president."

Libs shouldn't deny their hatred for Bush. We all know how they feel so just let it all out.

No, no, it won't cause a public backlash. Go ahead.

Americans Are Losing the Victory in Europe

Two incredible Life magazine articles from January 1946. Be astounded by the parallels to Iraq today!

- Courtesy of Jessica's Well

Dean: Big deficit suits GOP's plans

Howard Dean accused Republicans on Thursday of running up the federal budget deficit so they can undermine the fiscal underpinnings of Medicare and Social Security.

"I think their principal motivation is to undo the pillars of the New Deal, particularly Medicare and Social Security, by making the budget deficit so big that those programs can't be sustained," he said.

Is he serious?! These programs are the reason we have huge deficits in the first place! This just shows that he either has no clue how the budget works, or that he will say anything to be president.

So why is the budget so huge? I'll tell ya.

1. The relatively sour economy in the last 2 years has been the major reason we have a deficit now. Less people working, and less businesses making money means less tax revenue.
2. The War on Terrorism has sucked a lot of money out of the budget and Bush is completely justified in using it. He has a duty to protect the country.
3. Increased spending on stuff like Medicare and Social Security. Yes, Virginia, it has increased!

With better economic news coming lately, we should see better than expected budget numbers soon.

Dean is an opportunist like Bill Clinton. He senses Wesley Clark closing in on him and he is striking out at the Republicans to strengthen his base.

Many Troops Dissatisfied, Iraq Poll Finds

"Though not obtained through scientific methods..."

Nuff said.

Clinton warned Bush of bin Laden threat

This is just horse excrement:

"In his campaign, Bush had said he thought the biggest security issue was Iraq and a national missile defence," Clinton said. "I told him that in my opinion, the biggest security problem was Osama bin Laden."

Especially the part about Osama. Also, I think he just threw Iraq in there because the president is catching heat at the moment.

Clinton is a political opportunist of the highest magnitude! He is the "Grand Wizard" of the Democratic Klan. He has no credibility, no honor, and no value system to speak of. I wish he would fade away into obscurity and silence like most other ex-presidents.

Malaysian Urges Muslims to Unite Vs. Jews

It always amazes me that a billion Muslims think that about 4 million Jews can rule over them all from a tiny country that's only about 50 miles across at its widest point. -source

1.3 billion Muslims should unite, using nonviolent means for a "final victory."

"Finaly victory" sounds almost Hitler-esk.

Jews "invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy" to avoid persecution and gain control of the most powerful countries.

Wow, they did all that just to avoid persecution? If they really invented all of those things, then we should be applauding them as great thinkers (except for the socialism and communism part).

The Muslim world is filled with morally, and culturally bankcrupt rulers. Despite what the critics say, I think Bush is on the right track, introducing democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan. But what the heck is this about:

"It is great to hear Prime Minister Mahathir speak so eloquently on the problems of the ummah (Muslim world) and ways to remedy them," Karzai said. "His speech was an eye-opener to a lot of us and that is what the Islamic world should do." - Afghan President Hamid Karzai

What's he thinking??

Marlins Win to Advance to World Series

The curse continues.

The ball hopped up against the brick wall, covered with ivy that has changed colors to orange and red.

This reminds me of a funny thing I heard on WLS last night during the Roe & Gary show. Gary made a comment about the red and orange ivy and how amazed he was that he had never seen that before. (This was the latest game of the season ever played at Wrigley.)

Fittingly, Baker's 4-year-old son Darren added a final word when his dad was done talking.

"The Cubs will win next year," the little boy said.

Wow, the kid learns fast.

Red Star in Orbit

It bugs the heack out of me that we gave them the technology to do this. And we did it willingly!

They still have a long way to go, but thanks to Bill Clinton and his legacy, China is improving its offensive and defensive missle capabilites.

All the more reason for National Missle Defense.

Cubs Fans Blame Heartbreaking Loss on Fan's Blunder



"Ballpark guards escorted the man, who was wearing a Cubs hat, from his seat along the low outfield wall and into a security office as the game ended. He covered his face with a sweater as he walked past fans who pelted him with cups of beer and shouted obscenities. Some chanted 'kill him.'"

I really do feel sorry for Cubs fans, but to blame this guy is not healthy (especially for him). He's probably their #1 fan! See that, he's listening to the game on the radio AND watching at the same time! I bet he even has a little portable TV down by his seat. Crucify him! Crucify him!

This is really Alex Gonzalez's fault. He booted a double-play ball before any runs scored. Then Prior just gave up.

Maybe Wood can win tomorrow, but if not...
"Wait 'til next year!"

IHT: In third world, a chorus of hallelujahs like never before

Very interesting article on the growth of "Christianity" in the so-called Third World.

I have to say, I'm a bit troubled by the "prosperity movement" the article refers to.

More analysis to come, in the meantime, your comments are welcome...

Kicking Rush

Imus is just a royal butthole anyway, so I wouldn't expect anything less from him. And it realy doesn't surprise me about Al Franken either.

Sean Hannity's quote at the end says it all.

Transcript: David Kay on 'FOX News Sunday' Oct. 5th, 2003

This is a must-read for all Americans. Here are some things that stood out to me:

"Well, we certainly found that — have not yet found illicit arms. But that's not the only thing the report says. In fact, I'm sort of amazed at what was powerful information about both their intent and their actual activities that were not known and were hidden from U.N. inspectors seems not to have made it to the press. This is information that, had it been available last year, would have been headline news"

This doesn't surprise me, considering the news we get only comes from a handful of different sources.

"Well, we have found right now — and we're still finding them — over two dozen laboratories that were hidden in the Iraqi intelligence service, the Mukhabarat, were not declared to the U.N., had prohibited equipment, and carried on activities that should have been declared.

Now, at the minimum, they kept alive Iraq's capability to produce both biological and chemical weapons. We found assassination tools. So we know that, in fact, they had a prohibited intent to them."

Prohibited equipment
Activities that should have been declared

"This is typical. We now have three cases in which scientists have come forward with equipment, technology, diagrams, documents and, in this case, actual weapons material, reference strains and Botulinum toxin, that they were told to hide and that the U.N. didn't find.

KAY: It's not a weapon in the sense of it was ready to be fired. It is absolutely the essential element that only time and a little growth media would have produced large amounts of Botulinum toxin.

SNOW: Now, you also talk about new research on biological capable agents, such as Brucella, Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever, Ricin and Naflotoxin (ph).

KAY: That's exactly right, and that's the things I'm surprised no one has paid attention to."

Biological weapon strains

"We've identified 130 ammunition storage points of significant size, some larger than 50 square kilometers. These are sites that contain, the best estimate is, between 600,000 and 650,000 tons of arms. That's about one-third of the entire ammunitions stockpile of the much-larger U.S. military."

Seems like a lot of weapons for Saddam to have in light of 12 years of UN inspections. BTW, Kay's team has only inspected 10 of these sites.

"SNOW: ... and a series of other things. You had rocket propellants, correct?

KAY: Well, the rocket propellants are really an interesting story I'm surprised no one has picked up on. We have Iraqis now telling us that they continued, until 2001 or early 2002, to be capable of mixing and preparing Scud missile fuel.

Scud missile fuel is only useful in Scud missiles, no other class of missiles that Iraq has. And yet Iraq declared that it got rid of all of its Scud missiles in the early 1990s. Why would you continue to produce Scud missile fuel if you didn't have Scuds? We're looking for the Scuds."

Prohibited Scuds (very possible)

"KAY: We have discovered documentary evidence that relates to various terrorist connections..."

Terrorist connections to Saddam

Lieberman Proposes Tax Boost for Wealthy
"Democrat Joe Lieberman, hoping to jump-start his presidential campaign with a fresh attack on White House policy, is promising to ensure that upper-income Americans pay more taxes than they did before President Bush's record-breaking tax cuts. "

Now there's a winning strategy. Go get 'em joe!

"That's class warfare," Lieberman said. "I'm proposing a cease-fire. By leading with integrity, we can restore fairness to the tax code and give some real help to struggling American families."

So fairness now equates to sticking it to the wealthy? Where's the integrity you were talking about Joe?

No Cheers for Columbus, Says Venezuela's Chavez
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged Latin Americans on Saturday not to celebrate Columbus Day, saying the 1492 discovery of the Americas triggered a 150-year 'genocide' of native Indians by foreign conquerors who behaved 'worse than Hitler.'"

Yes, some of the acts perpetrated on the natives were down-right despicable, but it happened 500 years ago. We're here now, it's time to move on. I would hate to see the sorry shape Europe would be in if the Americas were never discovered.

NASA Successfully Flies First Laser-powered Aircraft | SpaceRef

Unfortunately, this won't work on cloudy days! I know, I know, the research makes it worthwhile. But come on, why not look into microwave power or something else that can travel through the atmosphere?

Paris honors Mumia Abu-Jamal

What is with the French?
This is just another slap in the face of Americans.

The guy is a cop killer!

More CA Election Results:

Larry Flynt                    Dem      14,851    0.3

Gary Coleman                   Ind      12,320    0.2

Mary Cook                      Ind       9,582    0.2

Gary Coleman and the porn industry are quite popular in California. :)

CA Secretary of State - Statewide Special - State Ballot Measures - Statewide

No wonder Prop 54 lost in California, look at how its worded:
"CLASSIFICATION BY RACE, ETHNICITY, COLOR, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT."

By the way, I noticed that both props got nearly the same votes. I wonder if most people just voted no because they had no idea what the props were about. Most people probably just voted for the recall.

Hand-eye coordination Test

Check it out.

House GOP Cuts Part of Bush Iraq Request
"From Bush's request for rebuilding Iraq, the House version drops $50 million for traffic police; $300 million out of $509 million Bush wants for prisons; and $153 million that included money to buy garbage trucks for $50,000 apiece."

"Also dropped from Bush's request is $100 million for restoring Iraq's marshlands, systematically emptied and destroyed by deposed President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s government to punish Shiite Muslims who live there; $13 million for ZIP and area codes; $100 million to build seven public housing communities; and $150 million to begin building a new children's hospital in Basra. "

I'm very glad that these things were removed from the bill. Why should we pay for these things anyway? Bush seems to be on a spending spree and somebody needs to steal the wallet from him.

"While Bush proposed $800 million to help rebuild Afghanistan, the House bill increases that total to $1.2 billion."

This is good too. We definitely need to help Afghanistan more.

Maybe the Republican Congress has finally recovered form their punch drunk attitude toward spending. Its about time they stopped acting like Ted Kennedy Democrats.

Editorial: Against Suicide Bombings

A voice of reason in the Arab world?

Black artists take over US top 10

The media can write about this and the liberals can smile and pretend they played a part in bringing this about, but the rest of us will know that these artists acheived this because of their talent, not because we're a more tolerant society.

We don't need the elitist media to tell us who to listen to, or which athletes are the best. We judge them on their abilities. It's too bad when someone points out the bias towards a black athlete in the media and gets lynched by the media for it. It is there! Quit denying it.

What happened to judging someone on the content of their character (or on their abilities as an artist or athlete) rather than the color of their skin? Stories like this deminish their achievments. I guess the media didn't take MLK Jr.'s message to heart.

AlterNet [UNIVERSE]: Defeating the California Republic(an) Coup

"This isn't funny. This is a power play that could wrest control of California away from the man we elected, and hand our state to an egomaniac with no political experience. And it is happening during a time of real crisis. This isn't a circus: it's a coup d'etat."

OK, so 54-56% of Californians polled are all part of a republican coup? What is that, like 20 million people? Sorry, but this had to have been a popular uprising of sorts. Davis had an approval rating hovering around 30% last I heard.

"Arianna Huffington was the sharpest, wittiest, most knowledgeable, and most charming person on the ballot. Camejo is almost as smart, and very principled."

Oh puh-lease! Two wacked out liberals don't make a right.

"If you want to make a statement, buy a bumper sticker. Write a letter to the editor. Get involved in local politics. This week, you are being asked to choose a governor, not voice an opinion."

Voting is voicing your opinion!

"10. Do vote for Bustamante.

It's him or Arnold, and he would do much less damage than Schwarzenegger. Besides, he is clearly the most qualified candidate with a chance of winning."

Voting for Bustamante would be the same as voting to keep Davis. They are the same.

This opinion piece is typical Democrat garbage. Californians have every legal right to oust Davis. This recall has gone by the book. Good luck California.

Yahoo! News - Companies Add Jobs; Unemployment Stable

Unemployment is a lagging indicator. Expect the economy to rebound further in the weeks ahead.

Canadian PM Mulls Smoking Marijuana When He Retires (washingtonpost.com)

Who's government is lead by a moron??

Peete says ESPN should have expected Limbaugh's charged comments: "'You can have your opinion, but there are certain things that are sensitive that you have to adhere to and certain lines that you don't cross. And I think he definitely crossed that line with that particular comment. But that's him. That's what he does. I'm sure he'll find a way to retract those comments and blame it on (former President Bill) Clinton.'"

Nice.

It's obvious this is going to play in the media for a long time. Let's contact every black quarterback and ask him what he thinks of Rush.

What the heck do you expect them to say?!

US panel shocked at Muslim hostility

This is more of an indictment of our lack of effort to quell Mid-Eastern fear of us, than the so called Bush Doctrine.

"A process of unilateral disarmament in the weapons of advocacy over the last decade has contributed to widespread hostility toward Americans and left us vulnerable to lethal threats," it concluded.

Hindsight is 20/20, so we should learn from the mistakes of the past decade and start selling ourselves over there? I don't buy it. Mainly because no matter how much money we invest in trying to "rebut misinformation" they are still going to hate us. Until they live in non-totalitarian, secular regimes, they will keep getting force-fed anti-U.S. propaganda. Our main objective should be to help facilitate freedom in the Middle East.

No liberal bias in the media? Then explain this BLITZ of stories about Rush, Arnold, and Bush happening right now, before the California election.

Arnold Expose
Rush Addicted to Drugs?

Quote of the Day
"Neo-conservatives and religious conservatives have hijacked this administration, and I consider myself on a personal mission to destroy both." - Ambassador Joseph Wilson

White House under attack - The Washington Times: Editorials/OP-ED

Limbaugh stands by McNabb race remarks

These aren't racial remarks that Rush made. He was indicting the media for it's overhyping of McNabb. He simply thinks they are doing it because he's black.

Also, for Wesley Clark to immediately say that ABC should fire Rush is absurd.

Gore close to cable buy

"The former vice president is close to striking a $70 million deal to acquire Newsworld International, a tiny cable network... Gore and his backers want to turn the digital channel into a liberal-leaning network."

My question is why? They already have CNN.