It's gotta be true...

...'cause it is exactly the kind of conversation you would hear there:

Yankee fan #1: What do you like better -- hot dogs or hamburgers?

Yankee fan #2: I like 'em both, man.

Yankee fan #1: You can't like 'em both! Hot dogs and hamburgers are mortal enemies, asshole. Everyone knows that!

--Yankee Stadium

And while we are in New York, tell me this guy isn't thinking about a CAIR lawsuit:

MTA announcer: ... And if you see any suspicious packages, please report them to the nearest MTA employee.

MTA guy cleaning platform: No, don't tell me nothin'. I don't wanna know nothin'.

--7 train platform, Woodside

Oh, Lord....

Polls, Research Projects...

...they're all useless. The automakers have already learned the hard way; they kept trying to build the small, fuel-efficient car we always told them we wanted to drive; yet somehow folks always pulled out of the dealership with a new pickup, SUV, or tuner vehicle with a nitrous-capable engine. But Detroit (and Japan - hello, Toyota Tundra!) eventually understood, and adapted....

Anyway. Here's another cautionary tale about what happens when you lay your money with the poll results -from the Radio Equalizer:

If a listener research project's results recommended jumping off a cliff, would you do it?

In a way, that's the mistake made by Baltimore's WBAL- AM, which foolishly purged Rush Limbaugh from its schedule just over a year ago. Outright handing the talk titan to 'BAL's competitor, the longtime market leader immediately began a ratings slide that shows no signs of easing up.Instead of first place, where it previously resided, the station has fallen to sixth in new ratings released on Friday.

Why did WBAL give 'ol Rush the boot? From the mouth of fools:

As experienced broadcasters, with over 50-years of collective experience, our instincts have been moving us to change. But, rather than just make such an important decision on “a gut feeling,” we recently commissioned a major research project. Considerable time and effort went into researching what radio listeners in our area want.

And you believed it. Suckers.

Hey! I have that compact little gas-miser you've always been pining away for...ready to trade in your Land Rovers for it?

Hello?

Who's the Puppet, and Who Pulls the Strings?

I'm refering to Senator Schmuckie Schumer's declaration that he intends to abandon the U.S. Constitution's mandate that the Senate "advise and consent" the President on Supreme Court nominees, and just vote willy-nilly against anyone that Beezlebub - oops, sorry, George W. Bush - would dare to nominate:

New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush “except in extraordinary circumstances.”

“We should reverse the presumption of confirmation,” Schumer told the American Constitution Society convention in Washington. “The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another Alito.”

Schumer’s assertion comes as Democrats and liberal advocacy groups are increasingly complaining that the Supreme Court with Bush’s nominees – Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito – has moved quicker than expected to overturn legal precedents...

Geez, get the shredder ready for the Constitution should the Democrats really regain power...but skipping for a moment Schumer's call for a beer-hall putsch, the line in the story above about the complaints of "Democrats and liberal advocacy groups" takes on added meaning when looking at this banner headline at the Washington Post:

Fewer See Balance in High Court Decisions
Growing number of Americans say court has become "too conservative" in the two years since President Bush began nominating justices.

Really? Let's get past the lead and dig in:

About half of the public thinks the Supreme Court is generally balanced in its decisions, but a growing number of Americans say the court has become "too conservative" in the two years since President Bush began nominating justices, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Nearly a third of the public -- 31 percent -- thinks the court is too far to the right, a noticeable jump since the question was last asked in July 2005.

The public seems to have noticed the shift. The percentage who said the court is "too conservative" grew from 19 percent to 31 percent in the past two years, while those who said it is "generally balanced in its decisions" declined from 55 percent to 47 percent.

So, in a nation that is about 33% hard-left anti-Bush, about 31% feel the Court is too far right. Not quite even a third, and if you include in the 3% margin of error, that number may be as low as 28% - just over a quarter of those surveyed. Look closer at the poll data, you can see that 15% of the people who answered this questionnaire aren't even registered voters. Take them out, do you even have 25%?

Given the numerous poll questions asked, why hammer away at the Supreme Court, with its questionable 31% "disapproval" (in the eyes of the WaPost) rating? Is it the editor's way of backing Schmuck Schumer and his wild-eyed dreams of subverting the Constitution? Or is the Washington Post one of the aforementioned "liberal advocacy groups" that are "increasingly complaining" about the makeup of the Supreme Court? And finally, is it possible that Schumer and The Post could be in cahoots here; with the print media actually running a news campaign on the Senator's behalf?

Looks even more suspicious when one realizes the article doesn't even comment on Bush's 33% approval rating, or get around to mentioning the Democratic Congress' new low point in disapproval ratings, a whopping 60%. Guess the WaPost doesn't want their readers distracted from their anti-constitutional jihad...

Troubles in Telluride !

To the shock of the liberal denizens of ski mecca Telluride, people actually hold different opinions than they do, and are willing to act upon them:

A backlash quickly emerged after the Telluride Town Council adopted a resolution last week calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

“It’s huge, unbelievable,” said Telluride Mayor John Pryor. “Ski groups are canceling for the winter. Hundreds of people are bailing. The (town) Web site is flooded with people saying they’re canceling their vacations here.”

Pryor called it a “silly initiative.” The council, he told The Telluride Watch, is too busy to weigh in on national global politics.

If this was a silly initiative, why did he vote for it?

The answer would seem to lie in the fact that the council routinely adopts resolutions, on matters both big and small, with nary a further word. Further, such a resolution would be hardly controversial in Telluride, where only 17 percent of voters in the 2004 election cast ballots for Bush.

While the council chamber was full, virtually all people were there for resolution of a parking issue. The council had virtually no discussion before adopting the resolution.

But with Internet speed, e-mail protests and cancellations began rolling in, including that of a Florida ski club...

Love the spinelessnesss and backflipping of Mayor Pryor...guess he's learning the hard way - liberals talk and pass resolutions, while conservatives, you know, actually apply their beliefs to their lives...

The nerve!

Bold !

Lots of in-your-face sentiment out there tonight; and I love it...The Baron, posting at Gates Of Vienna, speaks out:

Islam is a political ideology with the trappings of a religion, and adherents who are zealous in their practice of Islam are engaging in political activism, often of the most radical and violent form.

For that reason we right-wing extremists regard vigorously practicing Muslims as a potential fifth column in their adopted countries in the West. As a result we are considered “racists” and “Islamophobes”.

But there is no secret about the lack of loyalty among Muslims in the West. Sedition is routinely recorded in opinion polls, proclaimed from the pulpit, broadcast over the airwaves, posted on the internet, and distributed in newspapers. One has to be willingly blind, stupid, or dead in order to ignore it.

Just like the mainstream media! But lest you think the Baron exaggerates, look who just got a jihad called down upon him:

The Council on American Islamic Relations, the Saudi-funded radical Islamic front group named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial, has put out one of their infamous “Action Alerts” on Rudy Giuliani—because he used the words “Islamic terrorism”.....

But it's not a politcal ideology; it's a religion of peace!

And speaking of deadly ideology, let's segue into the Cult of Global Warming. From today's Wall Street Journal, we see how the fear of the Cult is already beginning to wreak havoc with the grid:

As recently as May, U.S. power companies had announced intentions to build as many as 150 new generating plants fueled by coal, which currently supplies about half the nation's electricity....

But as plans for this fleet of new coal-powered plants move forward, an increasing number are being canceled or development slowed. Coal plants have come under fire because coal is a big source of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming, in a time when climate change has become a hot-button political issue.

Glenn Reynolds comments thusly:

Just remember, the electricity has to come from somewhere. And when the brownouts and blackouts start, will people blame the environmentalists, or the power companies -- and politicians?

Like all cults, the Prophets of Global Warming want us to go back to a "simpler time", and we will - with rolling blackouts elongating workdays, stifiling apartments killing the weak, sick and elderly, and an economy that will no longer be able to depend upon that which we most take for granted, motive power. At least we'll be able to enjoy air that is 1% cleaner and cooler, that is, if we can stay alive to breathe it....

And speaking of the Prophet:

“Al Gore’s lovely daughter Sarah got married over the weekend,” and “critics are now bashing Al Gore for serving Chilean sea bass at his daughter’s wedding because it’s an endangered species. But in his defense, "whenever Al Gore picks up a knife and fork, any species is endangered.”

Including humans, apparently....

"Global Warming" Destroys New Jersey!

Well the myth of it does, anyway...the New Jersey Real Estate Report ties Corzine's recent imposition of Kyoto-esque enviornmental standards on New Jersey and the state's horrific job losses together quite nicely:

This is all about symbolism, of course, and Corzine and Gore hope to set an example for other states and countries, they say. Unfortunately, that symbolism will cost many New Jersey workers and entrepreneurs their livelihood. New Jersey has lost 8,000 private sector jobs in seven years, and this “politically correct” feel-good nonsense will accelerate that sorry trend.

New Jersey is a major petroleum refining state and is one of the primary suppliers of petroleum products to the Northeast. It’s also one reason why gasoline prices are low in our state. This law will cripple that industry, costing the state one of its few remaining engines of growth, and it will serve as a hidden gasoline tax on every motorist in New Jersey.

The law broadly provides for state supervision and regulation of emissions, but it contains no specific proposals to lower emissions. That makes it difficult to determine exactly how much implementation will cost, which means the Legislature and governor enacted the law without even the possibility of a cost-benefit analysis. Assemblyman Joseph Pennacchio, R-Morris, noted the discussion of the ends but not the means was reminiscent of the Highlands Act, which took away local zoning powers and gave them to the state.

With one of the highest state and local tax burdens in the country and the third worst business climate, according to the Tax Foundation, New Jersey’s future looks more bleak every day.

Notice how "high tax burdens" and "worst business climate" seem to always go hand-in-hand? Corzine doesn't care, he's got his extremist social agenda to pay for, and if our billionaire governor needs to destroy the minimal wealth and livelihoods of New Jersey's middle class to do it, why, that's a price he's willing to pay.

He can afford it, of course....

Jersey Drowns; Corzine Holds Our Heads Under...

The sorry economic state of New Jersey somehow gets sorrier– from Red Generation:

The Rutgers Economic Advisory Service released a very unnerving report last week. Only 34,600 jobs were added in New Jersey in 2006. This represents a growth rate of just 0.9%, which is a full half point slower than that of the Nation whose employment based increased by 1.4%. Further compounding this problem is the fact that nearly a quarter of the new jobs in New Jersey were created in the public sector. This is especially troubling considering the size of the already bloated State Budget.

The 9,000 jobs that were added to the state payroll should actually be considered a negative; with the insanely sweet pension, benefits, and generous salaries these employees will garner, they are a net loss to the state, costing far more than any tax revenue they might generate.

And how many of the remaining 25,000 jobs were in the “service industry” ? On average, every three $36,000- jobs that leaves New Jersey are replaced by two $23,000- jobs. How can you sustain an economy based upon expelling the highest earners?

And what do you think that does to the housing market in New Jersey, where most of the middle class has their monies invested? With no one earning enough to afford anything more than next month’s rent, home valuations will soon plummet, property taxation will need to rise in order to cover loss of income due to foreclosures and bankruptcies, and the rape of the middle class by New Jersey Democrats will continue apace….

Republican State Senator Kyrillos, who actually has a clue about the serious trouble we are in, speaks out:

“This bleak report should send a chill down the spine of everyone in New Jersey...The report states that “The New Jersey economy has stalled; our growth rate right now is a third to a half of the national rate.” The past five years of anti-business polices have been bad for New Jersey’s economy. The report continues that the current rate of job creation “may well be a chronic condition.”

And what is Jon Corzine doing to rectify this horrific downward spiral? Why, he’s harassing and threatening companies that do business in New Jersey for failing to comply with his extreme left-wing social agenda:

Gov. Jon Corzine urged the international shipping company United Parcel Service yesterday to recognize New Jersey's new civil union law and provide health benefits to employees' partners or risk violating the law.

The letter follows a story in the July 8 edition of The Star-Ledger reporting UPS had denied a Toms River employee's partner health coverage because state law does not describe same-sex couples as "married." The company pays benefits to same-sex partners in Massachusetts, where it is legal for gay couples to marry.

UPS spokesman Norman Black said Eskew had "no ability to comment on the letter because the Governor's office decided to release it to the press" before it was sent to the company's Atlanta headquarters.

We are drowning, drowning, and Jon Corzine is adding more water to the tub while forcing our heads under as we struggle for air....when he’s left with nothing but a state full of illegal immigrants, state employees, and radicalized homosexuals, who will he have left to pay their bills?

Philosophical Differences

An apocryphal tale, to be sure, but one firmly grounded in reality nevertheless - here it is, in case you have been neglecting Gates of Vienna:

Fred Thompson and Hillary were walking down the street when they came to a homeless person.The Republican, Fred Thompson, gave the homeless person his business card and told him to come to his office for a job. He then took $20 out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless person.

Hillary was very impressed, so when they came to another homeless person, she decided to help. She walked over to the homeless person and gave him directions to the welfare office. She then reached into Thompson’s pocket and got out $20. She kept $15 for her administrative fees and gave the homeless person $5.

Now, do you understand the difference?

Yup, and this is why there is no government program in any sector - health/business/retirement - that functions as well as a similar program in the free market.

And all the more reason to fight against future Democratic boondoggles like expanded national health care, additional funding into failed anti-poverty programs, etc. They'll take a ton of taxpayer money and produce nothing, except for perhaps a new recession, a growing dependent underclass, and a bunch of cushy bureaucratic jobs for program administrators (also at taxpayer expense).

And what of the nation's productive middle class, who would foot the majority of the bill for such tomfoolery? Why, they would simply have less to spend on their own needs -such as health care for their own families - but why should any productive person enjoy the fruits of their virtues if someone, somewhere, still lacks something they feel entitled to?
Go ask Hillary, she's rummaging through your wallet as we speak....

Democratic/Terrorist Alliance at Work in Congress

Islamists looking to strike at this nation can breathe a bit easier tonight; the Democratic Party has just given them another weapon to wield against the American people:

Congressional Democrats today failed to include a provision in homeland security legislation that would protect the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior that may lead to a terrorist attack, according to House Republican leaders.
“This is a slap in the face of good citizens who do their patriotic duty and come forward, and it caves in to radical Islamists,” said Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. King and Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican, sponsored the provision after a group of Muslim imams filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against US Airways and unknown “John Doe” passengers. The imams were removed from US Airways Flight 300 on Nov. 20 after fellow passengers on the Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight complained about the imams’ suspicious behavior.

King sounds dazed, as well he should:

“Democrats are trying to find any technical excuse to keep immunity out of the language of the bill to protect citizens, who in good faith, report suspicious activity to police or law enforcement,” Mr. King said. “I don’t see how you can have a homeland security bill without protecting people who come forward to report suspicious activity.”

Sounds like your questioning the Democrats' patroitism, Pete! Easy there, tiger!

Michelle Malkin has a rollcall of how the Senators voted on this bill...Obama didn't vote (tough guy that he is), Hillary voted with the Republicans on this one (in an election cycle to boot!), and how did New Jersey's elected representatives vote?

YEAS(57):
No New Jersey Representatives

NAYs (39):
Lautenberg (D, NJ)
Menendez (D, NJ)

Just enough to tilt a bill that would protect their middle-class constituents in favor of...suspected terrorists.

What's next - will Lautenberg and Menendez don their kaffiyehs and start rounding up New Jersey's Jews? 'Cause they are doing just about everything else they can do to support the cause of radical Islam in America....

"The Ultimate Gimmick"

That is how the Asbury Park Press describes Jon Corzine's financial manuevers in regards to his planned sale of New Jersey toll roads. The editorial board is harsh here, and justifiably so:

Jon S. Corzine spent $60 million of his own money to win a U.S. Senate seat. He spent another $40 million to become governor. Now, he says he will reach into his deep pockets to fund an advertising campaign to win support of his plan to raise money by leveraging the state's toll roads.

Sickening.

If Corzine wants to sell his plan to the public, he should begin by releasing the details about it. He has criticized those who have been wary of the plan for not fully understanding it. How can it be understood when Corzine insists on keeping the specifics under wraps? Now, he says he won't release the plan until after the November elections — clearly out of concern it would hurt Democrats at the polls.

Corzine says he wants to create a nonprofit corporation to manage and maintain the toll roads and issue bonds to bring in money to pay down the state's $30 billion debt and free up money for other needs. But the bonds would be paid back with future toll revenue, which likely would mean regular toll increases.

On its face, Corzine's plan is a bad idea because it is a financial gimmick — something Corzine has said repeatedly he would shun. His obsession with finding new ways to raise revenue to fund his ambitious, costly social agenda has blinded him....

Another rich, liberal dreamer who will wring the life out of the middle class in order to apply a salve to their own empty soul...

And incidentally, he may be a "blinded obsessive", as the Park-Press asserts, but what does the election of Governor Corzine, Senator Menendez, and all the other do-as-I say-not-as-I do Democrats say about the vision, and sanity, of the New Jersey electorate?

South Jersey Snaps

Ah, vacation in the sourthernmost tip of the state...the view from my beachfront terrace:

Mmmm, that South Jersey surf - dolphins came to visit almost daily; couldn't get any photos of the slippery fellas, but can you blame them for belly flopping in this cool water?

Happy gull gets his feet wet while keeping an eye out for struggling crabs:

Hard to believe you can see a sunset like this in New Jersey, right?

Or a sunrise like this?

So I stopped off at Atlantic City on the way home, and this was the view off my room at the Borgota:

I think it looks kinda cool; remember this is the type of wind turbine that fat Teddy Kennedy refuses to allow up in Massachusetts; he derides them as "eyesores". Well, I think utility poles and power plant stacks are eyesores, too, but we live with them as the cost of enjoying electricity. Hopefully we can become equally adjusted to these 'mills; personally, I think there is something majestic about them, and I could live with one on every street corner if necessary if that's what it takes to defund the mullahs of the Middle East...

See? I'm getting on a rant already...it's good to get away, and good to be home...

Vacation !

At last...I'll be in South, South, Jersey - enjoying the sand and surf while knocking back some cold ones and surreptitiously ogling bikini-clad ladies...hope to be back here next weekend with some renewed energy...

Be well! See you soon!

A Crippling Blow To New Jersey...

...has just been delivered by Jon Corzine, hand in hand with psuedo-scientist Al Gore, as a draconian energy plan has been imposed - the "Global Warming Response Act":

Al Gore, the former vice president turned environmental activist, was on hand Friday as Gov. Corzine signed legislation requiring the Garden State to achieve ambitious reductions in emissions of global-warming gases.
New Jersey became the third state, behind California and Hawaii, to pass a comprehensive greenhouse gas reduction law.

So we are modeling ourselves after California? A state that, besides being fiscally insolvent and overrun by illegal immigrants, has the worst air-quality in the nation and is plagued by rolling blackouts? Can liberals be so blind that they see the absolute failure that is California and say, "Yeah baby, I want that " ?

The legislation requires the state to reduce global warming gases to 1990 levels by 2020, and to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions do not exceed 80 percent of 2006 levels by 2050.
New Jersey is the first state to set global warming targets so far into the future, activists said and the first to require that energy imports adhere to New Jersey's standards.

So expect New Jersey to fall behind the rest of the country - and the world - while using inferior energy products. We'll be a third-world state by 2020, no less 2050. Won't Al Gore be proud!

"This is the strictest global warming law in the country for two reasons," said David Pringle, campaign director of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "Because of the mandatory emissions reductions and because of a provision that says out-of-state power producers can't move power through New Jersey without meeting New Jersey standards."

How is this good for anybody, except the liberal elite (like Corzine ,Gore, and the hypocritical millionaires profiled by Gateway Pundit), who can afford the drastically higher prices these misguided policies will involve, and the (usually childless) tree hugging enviornmentalists, whom usually don't have problems like, oh - heating homes, driving around kids, and the sort? These are the only winners under Corzine's/Gore's "Global Warming Response Act"; the rest of us are merely victims...

But here's the kicker:

A study by The Associated Press using 2003 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that in terms of total emissions of carbon dioxide, New Jersey came in 16th in the country with 123.7 million metric tons; per capita, New Jersey was much lower, in 40th position.

So we already 40th out of 50 states in carbon dioxide emissions, and even more stringent requirements are forces down our throats? That's like admonishing a child who scored a "B+" for not getting an "A". Furthermore, it is even more evidence that this law was not enacted out of need, but out of a sheer desire to force New Jersey into lockstep with the most extreme liberal ideology.

One more ominous note:

Critics of the New Jersey law argued that it would hurt the state's energy industry and that the act contained no specific proposals to lower emissions.

"No specific proposals" means that virtually any type of trendy anti-energy law/agenda can be placed into effect and codified under this legislation.

And I can tell you what will be first: The Governor's long-held dream of raising New Jersey's gasoline taxes to a more "liberal" standard. Long held down due to political pressure, the pendulum is starting to swing - state roads are falling apart as the gas tax monies, which were to be set aside for repair/maintanance, have been diverted to every pet project the Democrats need funding for, while Corzine, who promised during his campaign that these taxes would not be raised, has hinted since the moment he was sworn in that he intends to renege on his vow.

In other words, the first to play for the latest liberal guilt scam will be New Jersey's middle class, as their gas prices go up, their home energy bills go up, and the prices of automobiles bought in-state go up. All this, while we are coughing up for the needs of the fourth-largest illegal alien population in the United States, and paying for the pensions and healthcare of the nation's largest per-capita body of state employees.

When the Democrats finish chewing the fat of, and cleaning their teeth with the bones of, the middle class, who will be left to support the People's State of New Jersey?

UPDATE: Who's in bed with whom? From the New York Times:

Public Service Enterprise Group, owner of New Jersey's largest utility, said PSEG supports the law but that it would lead to higher power prices.
"I believe customs are willing to pay for the higher costs associated with the environmental benefits," the company's Chief Executive Ralph Izzo told Reuters at the ceremony where Corzine sighed the bill.

Wonder why PSEG waited until the bill became law to admit that they are going to jack up our prices? Bet if they said something beforehand, there may have been a ruckus...so what promises did Corzine make to Izzo?

And which customers, pray tell, does he believe are willing to pay more for the same product? He didn't poll anyone in my neighborhood...

Independence Day !!

A day to sit back with a cold beer and a hot dog and celebrate the genuis and courage of our founding fathers, 231 years ago this day....would only some of that courage and foresight be present in the leaders of today!

But this is a happy day, a day to lift a toast to the birth of a great nation, and I'll let others make the salient points for me:

"There, I guess King George will be able to read that."
-- John Hancock, after signing the Declaration of Independance

I shall know but one country. The ends I aim at shall be my country’s, my God’s and Truth’s. I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American."
- Daniel Webster

"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be."
- John Wayne

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.”
—Ronald Reagan

The Fourth of July is a special time to celebrate the freedoms we have, hard fought and won at a great cost. Well we all should enjoy this day, and every day we have to live free, for to do less would be to waste the high price paid that we might.
-Robert Stokely, father of Sergeant Michael Stokely who was KIA by IED near Yusufiyah south of Baghdad

My God! how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings that they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy.
- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Monroe, June 17, 1785

Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards. They did not fear political change. They did not exalt order at the cost of Liberty.
- Justice Louis D. Brandeis

"If you are ashamed to stand by your colors, you had better seek another flag."
- Author Unknown

And what would Independence Day be without a good old-fashioned dose of patriotic cheesecake?

Mmmmm...Cheesecake.....

Happy 4th of July to all!

Time to protest "Live Earth!"

This is too funny:

Continued weak demand for the singing saviors of climate change - With the worldwide "Live Earth" concert on July 7, Hamburg wants to protect the climate and take its place next to other metropolitan venues such as London, Tokyo and Sydney. But only half of the tickets have been sold. Hamburg tourist officials are giving away the tickets in promotional packages.

Five days before the concert, just 22,000 of the show's 45,000 available tickets have been sold, Die Welt reports. Frank Erich, spokesman for the Comtent Agency, sees little cause for alarm: "We're assuming that the ticket sales will increase dramatically in the last few days before the concert," he said....

I'm assuming you are incorrect - going to a benefit concert is the easiest way to show loyalty to a cause without, you know, actually doing anything. If you're resorting to palming off tickets on unsuspecting tourist, you've got a problem...

The "global warming" fallacy is dead; long live my gas-sucking SUV's!

Fishing and Hunting in New Jersey? Fugghedaboutit!

Another liberal interest group is about to be satiated, at the expense of every New Jerseyan who enjoys a lazy day of fishing, or a good hunt for buck deep in the Jersey woods...it's all in the details of Assembly Bill A3275 (PDF File here, NRA analysis here and below):

On Thursday, June 14 the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee approved A3275 by a 5-2 vote and it now heads to the full Assembly. This bill seeks to drastically change the membership of the Fish & Game Council from six sportsmen and three farmers -- who represent various geographical regions of the state -- to seven political appointees recommended by the Governor. The current system has served New Jersey and its sportsmen well for over a half-century. There is no justification for this dramatic change of course.

"Animal rights” extremists testifying in support of A3275 derided hunting as a “15th century” means to wildlife management and touted this legislation as a “21st century” tool for wildlife management. They also expressed their desire to rid the Fish & Game Council of anyone with a “hunter driven background.”

Yup - if passed, this is the end of fishing and hunting in the Garden State as we know it. Get all those pesky, knowledgeble, folks out of the way, and replace them with a handful of politcal appointees designed to appease the far-left enviornmental zealots. Locks up a few more votes for the Governor, but harms anyone who might be inclined to pick up a fly-fishing rod on a spring morning.

More from the New Jersey Herald:

....the bill replaces an 11-member council made up of farmers and sportsmen nominated to the governor by farming and sportsmen's groups, with a seven-member body, all appointed by the governor with "advise and consent of the Senate."
The council is charged with going over the rules and regulations of what species may be hunted or fished, and when, based on scientific studies. The council is also charged with oversight of the Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The current make-up requires a balance from across the state, with a farmer and two sportsmen from each of three regions. The other two members include the chair of the Endangered and Nongame Species Council and an expert in land use management and soil conservation.

The only requirement of the proposed new members is that they have "knowledge of and interest in the conservation of fish and wildlife" and not have any direct personal financial interest which might reasonably be expected to impair their judgment on matters before the council.

The biggest changes, however, are in language. Gone are "public recreation and food supply" as reasons for establishing hunts. Instead, the council's code is for the purpose of "providing a properly managed and balanced system."
Added to the duties of the council are provisions to investigate "the use of non-lethal alternatives for dealing with wildlife conflicts, exploring eco-tourism opportunities to promote the State's diverse wildlife; and pursuing opportunities to preserve land for wildlife habitat."

Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Sussex, Morris, said the fact that the bill is coming up now, a year after introduction, is an indication of the political battle lines being drawn. "When you see a bill to make a council a bunch of political appointments, it's a sure sign the governor doesn't like what's happening."
Last year, despite a report from the Fish and Game Council that a bear hunt should be held, Gov. Jon Corzine said he opposed a hunt and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson canceled the hunt.

So there it is. Corzine wants to be able to control recreational sport himself, so he has had a bill introduced to allow him to hand-pick lackeys that will do his bidding, and get rid of those pesky experts whom just happen to have a non-politically based understanding on how to manage the enviornment.

And what happens the first time a hungry bear kills a child in New Jersey? Will Corzine stand up and admit he values the lives of the bears more than that of a human infant? Will he admit that he killed that child in the hopes of getting an endorsement from the Sierra Club, and that the ends justify the means?

What a horrible Governor; more a tinpot dictator than a man who governs for the people. I loathe him as much as I do his bitch-boy Bob Menendez. And yet, as long as the bulk of New Jersyans are held under the sway of the Democratic Party, this kind of legislative power play will continue.

We will wake up, but not until it is way, way, too late...

Bill Comes Due on Britain's Appeasement

OK, true, the Brits are fighting (fairly well, may I add) in Iraq. But let's look at a few other recent events that are helping to define this once-great nation:

-the Iranian abduction of British sailors a few months back exposed that nation's inability to truly project force around the world; this for perhaps for the first time since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire.

-New Prime Minister Gordon Brown's elevation of Mark Malloch Brown to the House of Lords and then to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is, according to Mark Steyn, "one of the most revolting public appointments in modern British history." Brown is the man who -

...argued that the reason the U.N. was so unpopular in America was that the moronic hayseeds in flyover country had fallen for the right-wing blowhards...

and is best friends with conservative-hater and nation looter George Soros as well. You would think these guys would be welcomed by the Islamists based on their bona fides as longtime detractors of the Great Satan, no?

- even the Lockerbie bomber has won the right to a new appeal - Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi has been granted such because he "may have suffered a miscarriage of justice” at his 2001 trial". The dead, meanwhile, have no such recourse...score yet another win for England's Islamists.

So to review - Britain puts America-haters in the cabinet, cowers at the feet of the Iranians, and allows terrorists repeated opportunites to wrangle their way free via the "justice" system. Now certainly, as the American liberals argue, these are the type of steps that need to be taken - non-provocative, concilatory - in order to "defuse" the threat of radical Islam.

Well, let's see the results of this theory as put into practice by Great Britain:

Right.

Appeasement only whets the appetite (see Hitler, Adolf) of the antagonist; theirs is a bill that is never paid in full until the appeaser is wrung dry. So goes Britain; so goes the West....

So what did we say this morning about Senator Menendez's protestations that he might not vote "yes" on the immigration legislation before the Senate today?

Methinks in the end Menendez will vote for it - he's in place to serve the whim of the Hispanic community and pose with Governor Corzine, not to represent the state as a whole ...

Well, even after having declared that there had been an "increasingly right-wing tilt to these proceedings", what did Old Greasy Bob go ahead and do? Let's go straight to the horse's website:

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today voted “Yes” to end debate and proceed to a final vote on the immigration bill, but the bill failed a cloture vote 46-53. Only 24% (12 out of 49) of Republicans voted to proceed on the bill, and two of the Republicans who helped first announce the Grand Bargain even voted against cloture (Sens. Isakson and Chambliss).

Sen. Menendez released the following statement:

“Republican conservatives made demands of the White House and the Grand Bargainers and were able to get a number of those demands in the bill – including $4.4 billion for border security and a more onerous touchback provision...

Seems like Menendez felt he had to vote for the immigration legislation - he does, after all, not serve at the pleasure of the New Jersey middle class, but only the liberal interest groups - but was mighty irked at the Republicans for killing off his attempt yesterday to weaken the bill by allowing even more foriegners to qualify for favored immigration status.

If he were a brave man, and had the courage of even his weak and simpering convictions, he would have voted against the bill, claiming it to be - from his perspective -flawed.

But our cowardly, immature Senator instead throws harsh partisan mud ("Republican conservatives", and their "demands" for "border security", indeed !) that widens the gulf and works against future reconciliation. What a poor, poor representative he is for the state of New Jersey.

Sigh.... and Lautenberg.... No wonder America laughs at us...

Bob Menendez on immigration - the right thing, the wrong reasons...

Ah, only from the leftiest of the left...that's New Jersey's own Senator Bob Menendez, debating out loud whether or not he'll support the immigration bill working its way through Congress, cause, you know, it doesn't leave the border wide open enough:

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was among those disappointed Wednesday. The Senate voted 55-40 to reject his amendment that would have made it easier for some immigrants to obtain visas for family members left behind in their home countries.
"This action does nothing to allay my concerns about the increasingly right-wing tilt to these proceedings, and it makes it more difficult to vote in favor of invoking cloture on the bill," Menendez said, referring to Thursday's crucial vote to limit debate.

This bill is insane ("right wing tilt" ?? So is Menendez...), one of the worst pieces of legislation ever foisted upon a public against their will. (Mark Steyn: They'll teach this one as a textbook definition of "bipartisanship": both parties gang up on the electorate). Methinks in the end Menendez will vote for it - he's in place to serve the whim of the Hispanic community and pose with Governor Corzine, not to represent the state as a whole - and he'll welcome the additional illegals into New Jersey, where they'll get better services and benefits than the middle class citizens who are footing the bill.

I can almost feel Menendez's dirty hands rummaging through my pockets....

Moral Equivalence

This is ridiculous - but not unsurprising, coming from a European:

Tony Blair today launched a passionate defence of Islam as a religion of "moderation and modernity", as he announced a £1m government fund to aid teaching of the religion and train UK imams.

The prime minister, in his final days in Downing Street, placated an audience of more than 200 Muslim scholars by saying that many Christians as well as Muslims disagreed with his foreign policy over Afghanistan and Iraq

But he said the voices of "calm" Islam had been hijacked by extremists, who were no more representative of the true faith than Christians in the Middle Ages who used torture to convert people to their faith.
Now does he really belive this, or is it the words of a nervous man looking to "placate" a hostile audience (rather than, you know - confront them)?

This too, is ridiculous, but it has a touch of malice rather than fear:

Sen. Barack Obama told a church convention Saturday that some right- wing evangelical leaders have exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division.

"Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked," the Democratic presidential candidate said in remarks prepared for delivery before the national meeting of the United Church of Christ.

"Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us," the Illinois senator said.

Interesting that Obama chooses to compare the leaders of the Christian Right - a group trying to get their views represented via the ballot box - to the leaders of the Islamist movement, a group trying to get their views enforced by the worldwide slaughter of the innocent. Are they morally equivalent in his eyes?

He works quite well as a team with Mr. Blair - one praises Islam as "modern", the other denounces Catholicism as "hijacked".

Obama, for all of the fawning media coverage surrounding him, is behind Hillary 33% to 21% percent in the most recent AP polls. No surprise; folks can always spot someone who is "all too eager to exploit what divides us...."

The Washington Post picks up a similar affront (to enviornmentalists - a slur against Christians is of course considered well within acceptable rhetorical parameters), and allows it to be explained off by a less-than- devasted supporter:

"That's a rookie mistake for a presidential candidate, to think you can get in the middle of a controversial issue and no one will notice."

Why doesn't the Post stand outside a few local churches (and no, not the far far left joints like Obama's United Church of Christ) and ask them what they think about his commentary on Christian leadership? Probably because they don't even see it as controversial, as it dovetails with their views....note how a misstep against the enviornmental lobby is worth a front page article, and a slap against Catholics goes unreported.

Blair, Obama, and the Post - all using different techniques, but all fighting the same type of information war. They are losing, of course (Obama's 21% support likely makes him the most popular of the three), but that doesn't mean they won't keep trying...