Quote from a speech by Obama on Jul 2:

Just as we teach math and writing, arts and athletics, we need to teach young Americans to take citizenship seriously. Study after study shows that students who serve do better in school, are more likely to go to college, and more likely to maintain that service as adults. So when I’m President, I will set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year. This means that by the time you graduate college, you’ll have done 17 weeks of service.

I would ask that you comtemplate what the Media and the Democrats would have said, if John McCain had made this speech.  The cries of “Fascist” would have been drowned out only by the references to creating a new “Hitler Youth”.

Considering the continued failure of our schools in teaching basic skills, I would think the last thing we need to burden them with is creating a new compulsory public service program.  But thats just me.

—>From the UK Telegraph:

Toddlers who dislike spicy food ‘racist’

The National Children’s Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care.

This could include a child of as young as three who says “yuk” in response to being served unfamiliar foreign food.

The guidance by the NCB is designed to draw attention to potentially-racist attitudes in youngsters from a young age.

So now, in the UK, a dislike of Curry means you are a bigot - even if you are still potty training.

Considering the other foolishness going on in England today - Muslims in Britain should be able to live under sharia, says top judge, and Apology over ‘offensive’ puppy police advert after Muslim complaints, you begin to wonder how long it will be before there is a mass exodus of brits from the soon to be dhimmi island.

(hat tip to Jonah Goldberg on the top two items)

—>Larry Kudlow has a great piece in the NRO:

America First should be the rallying cry. We have the natural resources to become the Saudi Arabia of coal and the Saudi Arabia of oil. Lift the moratoriums. Stop attacking our own businesses. Put technology to work. Put venture capital to work, with rock-bottom capital-gains and corporate tax rates. Stop being mau-maued by the extremist greenies who have prevented energy production for over three decades. America First. Unleash our free-enterprise energy sector: 2 trillion barrels worth of shale; 90 billion barrels of offshore oil; at least 10 billion barrels up in ANWR and more throughout Alaska, both onshore and off.

The John McCain campaign should be hammering - absolutely HAMMERING - this point home.  The Democrat party and its candidate CANNOT embrace this position without alienating their base.  But as the summer and fall drag on, with fuel and energy prices increasing, pulling the cost of food, goods, and services up with it, the American people will vote for the man - and the party - that will DO SOMETHING NOW to fix it.  In the end, if it means fundamentally changing their lifestyle, or upsetting the mating of Caribou in ANWR…well, from experience, I can tell you that Caribou make tasty sausage.

—>Democrats working with FARC (thats the Columbian Marxist rebels, and Drug Smugglers, for the uninformed).  Courtesy of Gateway Pundit:

Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba (left) is currently under investigation by the Colombian attorney general for ties to the FARC. Cordoba claims that Speaker Nancy Pelosi was sending messages to the FARC terrorists. Cordoba also claimed during FARC negotiations that Pelosi had assigned Rep. Jim McGovern, as the point man. Captured FARC documents confirmed in March that Mr. McGovern had been working with an American go-between, who had been offering the rebels help in undermining Colombia’s elected and popular government.

But DON’T YOU DARE question Pelosi’s patriotism!  And just think - this woman is 3rd in line from the presidency…  I wonder if anyone has the guts to bring Treason charges against Pelosi and McGovern?

I am not alone, by any stretch of the imagination.  There are many others out here.  We can see each other, and even converse with each other, commiserating in our sad new existence.

We find the basic tenants of the Democrat Party politically repugnant. Some of us even find Democrat stands on certain issues immoral, naive, reckless, or even suicidal, on a national level.  The Democrat party has been, for most of it’s history and to this day, the party of Racism and Separation.  It is a party that sees the Constitution as blunt instrument (when it can be twisted to fit their agenda), and a malleable “living” document when they can use the Judiciary to redefine it’s passages. Or, when all else fails, they simply ignore it.  They are what we fought the Cold War against - a party run by a privileged elite (Super-delegates, in current parlance), dedicated to retaining and reinforcing racial separation (now known as Diversity), protectionism (under the guise of human rights, and “fair-trade”), appeasement and surrender to our enemies (far too many example to cite).  They are, in short, a Party dedicated to remaking America into a third world banana republic, with a Democrat Politburo in charge.  They are not Democrats, in any true sense of the word.

The GOP (who should be forced to renounce the name Republican, as they no longer deserve it, or adhere to the principals the party was founded on), the party that championed emancipation of the slaves, women’s suffrage, and the civil right act (despite Democrat opposition to all of the above), has become corrupted by power, and is now attempting to move to the left, to court the less fervent fellow travellers of the Democrat party.  The ultimate expression of this is the elevation of a man who has opposed many Conservative - no REPUBLICAN - principals, as our nominee for the highest office in the land, and along with it, leadership of the party.

I used to be a Libertarian, once upon a time, when I thought that some of their stands might soften with time.  Unfortunately, the Libertarians have done the ONE thing that the Republican Party has not - stayed true and locked in to their core principals.  While that includes many things that I do support, including a firm grasp of the Constitution (what is now known as strict constructionism), and personal liberty, they also take many stands that are logically cohesive to their philosophy, but are naive at beast, and suicidal at worst.  Among these are their stands on unfettered and uncontrolled immigration, and their policy of “military protectionism” - that the US Military is and should only be a self-defense force.  These are wonderful ideas, and lofty goals, but in the real world, they are very likely to get you killed.

There is also the Constitution Party, which is part Libertarian, and equal parts Protectionist and Isolationist, with some Christian philosophy on the side.

I am sure there are many other parties out there, many of which I am not familiar with.

But I, and the others out here in Right Field, see none of these as a new home for us.

What are we looking for?  I can’t answer for everyone, only for myself.  If I could invent a party, it would have the following stands:

1) The Constitution should be interpreted with the original intent of the framers.  Specifically the Bill of Rights should be enforced as intended, with emphasis on the 9th and 10th amendments.

2) Immigration is a positive force, and necessary to the future growth and prosperity of the nation, but our borders must be controlled, and we must have a single official language for the business of the nation, to bind us together.

3) The United States must remain strong enough militarily to defeat any enemy that would attempt to harm our citizens, either directly, or by attacks on our economic or strategic interests. 

4) We must help nurture democracy and freedom around the world, using all tools at our disposal.

5) We must support and promote free trade.

6) In support of all of the above, we must be engaged with other nations, but we must never forget that diplomacy is only credible when backed up by the threat (or promise) of force - be it economic or military.

I am sure there are other planks that would be important, but these seem to cover it.

If anyone knows what party may meet these criteria, please let me know.  I think I have a lot of friends who would be interested, as well.

UPDATE:

A commenter asked for some support to my allegation as the historical racism of the Democrat party.

Trail of Tears & Indian Removal Act- Supported by Andrew Jackson, President, Democrat

The Republican Partywas formed in 1854, primarily as an Abolitionist (anti-slavery) party, to oppose the Democrat Party.  Indeed, many anti-slavery Democrats joined the Republicans.  See also the Kansas-Nebraska act.

The Copperheadswere anti-civil war Democrats, some of whose action went over the line into treason.  Think about today’s House and Senate leadership, when you read about them.

The Ku Klux Klan formed in 1865, had, by 1868 become a virtual military arm of the Democrat party in the south. Indeed the Klan became synonymous with the Democrats.  They were such a powerful force in that party, that the 1924 convention was referred to as the “Klanbake Convention”.  Even today, a former Klansman is an Elder Statesman of the Democrats in the US Senate - Robert Byrd of W. Virginia.

The Internment(and confiscation of property) of Japanese (and other asian) Americans during World War II was performed under Executive Orders (#9066 and 9095 respectively), issued by Franklin Roosevelt, President, Democrat.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964was passed with support of 82% of Republican Senators, and 80% of Republican Representatives.  Only 69% of Democrat Senators, and 63% of Democrat Representatives voted for it.

After this, the Democrat party began to shift to more subtle forms or racism.

Entire Bureaucratic industries have risen up, ostensibly to help the poor, the economically disadvantaged, the immigrant.  What they have done, is to ensure the failure of anyone that becomes entangled in their web.  Welfare (and WIC) were instrumental in destroying the African-American nuclear family.  Bi-Lingual education (and indeed, in many places, multi-lingual government services) have ensured that many immigrants are kept isolated in their cultural “ghettos”, and do not fully integrate into American society. 

The crown jewel of todays Racism from the Left (which, there can be no argument, means the Democrat Party, for all intents and purposes), is the concept of Diversity.  The very term “Diversity” is meant to be warm and fuzzy, inviting, even welcoming.  In truth it’s basic underlying theme is DIFFERENCE and SPERATION, keeping every little Ethnic, Racial, and Religious groups in their own little space, separate, distinct (but EQUAL) to all others.  It is the ultimate expression of Racism and Separatism.

The nemesis of the great evil of Diversity is a concept that reigned in America previously - the Melting Pot.  It is in the melting pot, that all races, creeds, and colors combine, bringing along much of the good, less of the bad, and making a new and better whole.  Diversity can never deliver an integrated society (look at Canada).  It can only deliver an equal society, where all values, and morals, and ethics are equally valid, and therefore, equally invalid.  Through Integration, and the Melting Pot, the many join to become one, not by forgetting who they were, but by adding that to the mix.

The ultimate expression of Diversity is the proposed menu requirements for the Democrat National Convention this year:

…caterers must provide foods in “at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white,” garnishes not included, according to a Request for Proposals, or RFP, distributed last week.

I think I would rather have a good Stew…

Senate lawmakers in Florida have voted to ban the fake bull testicles that dangle from the trailer hitches of many trucks and cars throughout the state.

Yes, you read that right: Fake Bull Testicles. But why?

Republican Sen. Cary Baker, a gun shop owner from Eustis, Florida, called the adornments offensive and proposed the ban.

First of all, I don’t understand what Sen. Baker being a gun shop owner has to do with this, unless it’s to A) prove that he’s REALLY a Republican (i.e. gun nut, and unstable in general), B) denigrate all gun shop owners by tarring them by association with this legislator.

My personal issue with Sen. Baker is that he wants to ban something just because HE finds it “offensive”. In particular, I find the misuse of government time and resources even debating such an issue as offensive.

And what fate does Sen. Baker suggest for transgressors?

Motorists would be fined $60 for displaying the novelty items, which are known by brand names like “Truck Nutz” and resemble the south end of a bull moving north.

But it seems that there is some common sense among Sen. Bakers fellow legislators:

In a spirited debate laced with double entendre, Senate lawmakers questioned whether the state should curtail freedom of expression in vehicle accessories.

Because, in the end, ones sense of Taste and Propriety in such issues in ultimately dictated by a higher power:

Critics of the ban included the Senate Rules Chairman, Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican whose truck sported a pair until his wife protested.

The House Republican Conference released a video last week titled “The Pelosi Premium” contrasting then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) 2006 promise to pass a “commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices” with the steep rise in gas prices since she took the gavel. According to the video, the price of a gallon of gas has risen from $2.33 in January 2007 to $3.40 in April 2008.

But let’s say that, as an environmentalist, you want to both 1) drastically reduce carbon emissions; but 2) want to pay as little a political price as possible for causing the requisite economic damage a reduction in carbon emissions would bring. How could you accomplish both of the goals? Well you might just pass a an energy bill that: 1) imposes huge new alternative fuel mandates; 2) allows for no development of new energy sources, and 3) raises taxes that discourage energy exploration and production.

It is not like the House wasn’t repeatedly warned that their policies would lead to higher gas prices. So we must entertain the possibility that that is what they meant to do all along.

Remember that out of any one gallon of gas, the Oil Companies make 8 or 9 Cents profit, and the TAXES on that same gallon run about 42 Cents!

Courtesy of See-Dubya at Michelle Malkin.

Recent headlines have focused on the “cargo of death” shipped from China to Zimbabwe last week, but in an even more sinister development, Chinese troops have been seen on the streets of a Zimbabwe town… (Daily Mail)  Chinese and North Korean troops were also in evidence alongside Mugabe’s own troops when he attended a rally in Harare recently.  I believe the Chinese and North Korean troops are now needed to stiffen Zimbabwean military support for Mugabe.  There are increasing signs that not all the police, or the military, are still willing to enforce Mugabe’s murderous rule. 

More from the Daily Mail:

Zimbabwe and China have close military ties involving equipment and training.

 Three years ago, Mugabe signed extensive trade pacts with the Chinese as part of his Look East policy - forced on him after he was ostracised by western governments over alleged humans abuses.

The deal gave the Chinese mineral and trade concessions in exchange for economic help - mirroring other deals Beijing has signed with regimes all over Africa.

Yes, this is the same China that just sent a cargo ship full of military hardware to Mugabe that includes:

…nearly 3 million rounds of ammunition for small arms and AK-47s, about 3,500 mortars and mortar launchers, as well as 1,500 rockets for rocket-propelled grenades.

Mr. Davies sums it up nicely:

A Zimbabwean newspaper publisher, Trevor Ncube, (now living in South Africa) was quoted as saying “If the British were our masters yesterday, the Chinese have come and taken their place.” 

Hope they are nicer to the Zimbabweans that they have been to the Tibetans. 

But this shouldn’t have any effect on he Olympics in Beijing, which is all the Chinese Government really cares about - publicly.

Many others have noted that as the population increases, along with standards of living in the developing world, that the most basic resources will become scarce, including the two most basic: Food and Water.

I will leave speculation on the coming water wars for another time, as shortages of food are far more pressing today.

I had not given much thought to food shortages in the past, as, like most Americans, I was content that the Breadbasket of the World (in which I include the US and Canada) could easily produce enough to feed not only the North America, but the world. 

I began to reevaluate this stand when the ethanol craze began to kick in, and perfectly good food crops, and wonderfully arable land, began to be dedicated to the production of an absolutely horrible alternative energy source.

Then, in December, I read a piece in the Economist (excepts below):

Rising incomes in Asia and ethanol subsidies in America have put an end to a long era of falling food prices.

The Economist’s food-price index is now at its highest since it began in 1845, having risen by one-third in the past year.

The overall rise in the price of Cereals (grains, including Corn), was due to to major factors:

One is increasing wealth in China and India. This is stoking demand for meat in those countries, in turn boosting the demand for cereals to feed to animals. The use of grains for bread, tortillas and chapattis is linked to the growth of the world’s population. It has been flat for decades, reflecting the slowing of population growth. But demand for meat is tied to economic growth… and global GDP is now in its fifth successive year of expansion at a rate of 4%-plus.

Not surprisingly, farmers are switching, too: they now feed about 200m-250m more tonnes of grain to their animals than they did 20 years ago. That increase alone accounts for a significant share of the world’s total cereals crop. Calorie for calorie, you need more grain if you eat it transformed into meat than if you eat it as bread: it takes three kilograms of cereals to produce a kilo of pork, eight for a kilo of beef. So a shift in diet is multiplied many times over in the grain markets. Since the late 1980s an inexorable annual increase of 1-2% in the demand for feed-grains has ratcheted up the overall demand for cereals and pushed up prices.

Because this change in diet has been slow and incremental, it cannot explain the dramatic price movements of the past year. The second change can: the rampant demand for ethanol as fuel for American cars. In 2000 around 15m tonnes of America’s maize crop was turned into ethanol; this year the quantity is likely to be around 85m tonnes. America is easily the world’s largest maize exporter—and it now uses more of its maize crop for ethanol than it sells abroad.

Ethanol is the dominant reason for this year’s increase in grain prices. It accounts for the rise in the price of maize because the federal government has in practice waded into the market to mop up about one-third of America’s corn harvest. A big expansion of the ethanol programme in 2005 explains why maize prices started rising in the first place.

With the twin gravities of Ethanol production, and increased Meat (and Cereal) consumption by the developing nations, we find ourselves in a food crunch.  Supplies are short, and the modern “just in time” replenishment model used in the industrialized world, is having a hard time coping:

From the New York Sun:

Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply.

Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of a new contract for foreign rice sales.

“I’m surprised the Bush administration hasn’t slapped export controls on wheat,” Mr. Rawles said. “The Asian countries are here buying every kind of wheat.” Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging against future price hikes or a total lack of product.

“There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don’t realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short,” Mr. Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. “Even if people increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out.”

Now, this is far from the doomsday scenario painted by the Club of Rome in The Limits of Growth(or the Charlton Heston classic film Soylent Green), but it is certainly a foreshadowing of the coming wars for resources on this planet.  However, this is, by no means a certain result.  There are action which can avert the food crisis, at least.  One of these is the use of Genetically Modified (GM, aka Biotech) foods.

Courtesy of the International Herald Tribune:

Soaring food prices and global grain shortages are bringing new pressures on governments, food companies and consumers to relax their longstanding resistance to genetically engineered crops.

In Japan and South Korea, some manufacturers for the first time have begun buying genetically engineered corn for use in soft drinks, snacks and other foods. Until now, to avoid consumer backlash, the companies have paid extra to buy conventionally grown corn. But with prices having tripled in two years, it has become too expensive to be so finicky.

In the United States, wheat growers and marketers, once hesitant about adopting biotechnology because they feared losing export sales, are now warming to it as a way to bolster supplies. Genetically modified crops contain genes from other organisms to make the plants resistance to insects, herbicides or disease.

In Britain, the National Beef Association, which represents cattle farmers, issued a statement this month demanding that “all resistance” to such crops “be abandoned immediately in response to shifts in world demand for food, the growing danger of global food shortages and the prospect of declining domestic animal production.”

The chairman of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee, Neil Parish, said that as prices rise, Europeans “may be more realistic” about genetically modified crops: “Their hearts may be on the left, but their pockets are on the right.”

Of course, the Ludditesstill oppose GM/Biotech foods:

Opponents continue to worry that such crops have not been studied enough and that they might pose risks to health and the environment.

Biotechnology still certainly faces obstacles. Polls in Europe do not yet show a decisive shift in consumer sentiment, and the industry has had some recent setbacks. Since the beginning of the year France has banned the planting of genetically modified corn while Germany has enacted a law allowing for foods to be labeled as “GM free.”

In the end, however, this resistance will give way to public acceptance, and continuing development.  Or people will go hungry (best case) or starve (worst case - which is actually happening now in less developed places).  People are already rioting in places where food is scare, or growing too expensive for average people to buy.

Another part of the rise in food prices, is the cost of production and transportation.  As the price of Oil increases, the price of nearly everything else increases with it.  Oil, and Petroleum products, are used in nearly ever phase of food production, in some capacity or another, up to, and including, running the trucks that take the produce to the market.  The ripple effects of sharp increases in fuel prices are large and sweeping.

And many of the same factors that contribute to the spiraling food costs are also helping to spike the price of Oil:  Increased demand from developing nations, with burgeoning middle-classes, and all the things to go into making and supporting the lifestyle that we North Americans, and (to a slightly lesser degree) Europeans have enjoyed for many years.

And the REAL fun hasn’t even started yet.  Along with Climate Change (always has, always will - man has little or nothing to do about it) will come changes to the availability of fresh water supplies.  That’s when things will start to get really nasty.

Not that they have too… For much of the world, water conservation, and Desalination can alleviate the worst of this problem, if not eliminate it entirely.  But for regions, this will be the greatest threat they will face.

None of the problem that will cause the Resource Wars are inevitable, or unsolvable.  Indeed, many of the answers are at hand today.  We just need the courage to move ahead. 

We must try new things, and new technologies, if we are to save lives, and ensure everyone a decent lifestyle.  We must be willing to try GM/Biotech foods.  We must be willing to exploit existing fuel reserves, while working on ways to exploit new ones.  We must stretch beyond the confines of this single planet, to the veritable cornucopia of resources that awaits us on the moon (including Hydrogen 3, which can be used for Fusion power) and other bodies (every type of metal we need, in enough quantity that it is virtually limitless).

Or we can play it safe.  Cut back, economize, refuse to use GM foods, refuse to install Solar Power farms (because they would displace some desert tortoises) or Wind-farms (because the ruin the view from Hyannisport), or drill for oil off the coast (not that we can stop our neighbors from doing so) and keep converting food into fuel…

UPDATE:  Just ran across an intersting, and related editorial at USA Today, by Oliver Thomas.  While I find his faith in the IPCC and antropogenic Global Warming distrubing, though not surprising from a man of Faith, he has some very good points to make.

UPDATE 2:  Japan’s hunger becomes a dire warning for other nations

Not a starnge sound, as Frederickson is near Thun Field, McChord AFB, and Fort Lewis.

Then I realized that it was TWO helicopters.  As I squinted up into the sky (this is at 6:30am; pre-coffee) it took me a few seconds to realize that they were News Copters.

When I got back to the ranch, after making sure the young one actually go onto the bus, and was not kidnapped, run over, or otherwise dealt injury, I saw the wonderous footage from the sky cams, showing the remains of a house, just a few blocks away.

Seems that a young man with (at the least) anger management problems had detonated a bomb, most likely killing himself, as well as leveling about 80% of the house.

Many sources on this, including KATU (courtesy of Orbusmax!)

The back story seems to be that this young man was renting a room in the house (which he found when the residents advertised on Craig’s List - not a web site that has seen happy news reports lately).  The roomates had been on vacation, and when they returned, they found him playing with bomb making materials.  They left and called the Pierce County Sheriff’s dept., who were on scene when said young man blew his top - and the hosue along with it.

The first thing that ran through my mind was, “Geez, I would hate to have to make the call to the homeowners insurace company.  Not sure policies cover roomates exploding bombs in the house”.

The second thing was “That is even better than when the Meth Lab up the block burned down a few years back.”.

In retrospect, my main concern with the issue is that NO ONE that I can find properly defined the area of the occurrance as Frederickson.  Most (like KATU) said Puyallup (not true, Puyallup ends at 128th street), and one or two simply referenced it as “Pierce County”, which is technically correct, in a general way, as Frederickson is still unincorporated, but still mildly insulting to my pride as a Fredericksonian (Fredericksonite? Fredericksoninni?)…

Heck of a way to start the day…

A statement from the family is available here.

The BBC (curiously) seems to have the best, and most respectful obituary of this screen legend:

Charlton Heston’s life story reads like a film script. From the backwoods of Michigan, he became one of the world’s most famous faces, a high-profile campaigner for Civil Rights and an unapologetic president of America’s National Rifle Association.

Of course, while the Hate-mongers and smear merchants to the left of the political spectrum in the US will never forgive Heston for his term as president of the NRA, this WWII Army Air Force veteran was a very public and vocal supporter for Civil Rights, at a time when most Democrats (including Al Gore’s father) were opposed.

In New York City on January 15, Charlton Heston received the “2001 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Award” from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a leading U.S. civil rights organization. CORE chairman Roy Innis praised Heston: “He’s been a civil rights fighter most of his career.” Yoko Ono, a member of the Awards Committee, said: “I respect Mr. Heston for lending his name to the cause of racial equality.” (Chuck led the Arts Contingent at the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech……

 Heston was, throughout his life, and in the end, an American Original.  He was one of the best of us.

No further comment required.