AN UNUSUAL SURPRISE.

I do not pick up hitchhiking strangers anymore, it just seems too dangerous. But recently I have a memory of this long haired bearded man that reminded me of someone and he looked at me and sort of compelled me to stop and offer him a ride.

We entered into a small conversation and political comments were made. The stranger said he was disappointed that we were not resolving our problems so I questioned him more about some of the problems. First, I asked him what he would do about our border problem.

He told me he would organize the one big problem into several small ones.
The problem the transients have finding work in their home countries.
The desire they have to come to the US and work.
The problem this creates for US workers who will do the work for more money and then are put out of work by those who take their jobs for less money.
The problem with patrolling the border. The disadvantage these visitors make for potential visitors from other countries who do not have the advantage of living near our border. He also mentioned the unfairness of border countries not granting the US citizens the same rights they ask for their citizens coming to the US.

He said we should look at this as a trade project. If we were very dependent on production and sales of a certain product and a foreign country started sending a huge amount of that product to us we would impose a trade tariff to protect our own production. Then he explained that we should do the same with labor by requiring employers pay a minimum wage determined fair and high enough to attract US workers for the same work.

He would require that all workers register with their own government, either before they came or if already here at locations designated by their country. Information about their home and family contacts would be recorded and passed on to the US authorities who would then issue a temporary work permit ID card.

Companies or entities that hired these people would be required to register them with the US authorities and show their permit number and where they were living. The US Government in conjunction with labor groups and manufacturers associations would determine the fair labor price for workers for the job hired for. Changes in labor costs would need time to balance with the market so the increase in labor payments would be spread over a time period, such as 3 years so the employer and the market could adjust. Companies that found difficulties or unfair impact could meet with the labor advisory groups setting the rates and request an adjustment.

With individuals not having to sneak across the border and being allowed to pass back and forth with proper identity the borders would have less traffic and stress and attention could be concentrated on more serious problems of fewer illegal crossings.

Workers would be able to go to visit their families and the need to bring the wife and family would be reduced and to support the practice of giving US citizenship to the child born of a non resident could be logically restricted.

The practice of giving health care to non citizens could be reduced and if the employer or visitor did not have health care insurance, emergency aid could be given and then the visitor would be sent to his home for care. Social services for these workers could be provided for by the home country and the workers should contribute there for health and retirement care.


I liked this plan so then I asked him what he would do about Iraq. He said that Iraq has abandoned the US. We were told by some so called “insiders” that the citizens would rise up and help us take over the country and make it a free nation with our aid.

These patriots have not appeared in sufficient numbers and instead have joined movements by the leading clergy and by neighboring nations. The citizens learned to live by their wits and unusual methods of deception under their past ruler. It would seem they are now using their wits against us and resisting help in hopes we will leave and their own preferential leader will take control. When we finally leave there will be a clash between ethnic groups and at least 3 neighboring countries that will move in and try to take control from the existing groups.
He said there is nothing we can do about it. Our goal is honorable but the patience of these cultures will persist and we might as well give in and leave them to their own demise. We have tried to do the honorable thing but the citizens have made their choice and we might as well leave and let them get on with their own destruction.

I expressed my concern and belief that we should continue trying to succeed, that I did not feel we should admit defeat. His response was that we were not leaving them, they had left us and we would be surprised at what happens when we leave.

The subject seemed to be closed so I asked him about our gas problem. He looked at me and said we do not have a gas problem; we have a transportation management problem. But I objected and I said I was using too much of my resources to purchase gas. He said the solution is very simple. Take the bus or the train. I obviously replied that you know we do not have a bus or a train. He smiled and said it was because my parents had not used them when they available and they stopped running.
He went on to say we had all the resources we needed but we did not manage them well. He commented on the families having 2 or 3 cars and the fuel wasted by this selfish and conspicuous mode of movement. He talked about airplanes and their heavy use of fuel and how one country had harnessed electricity for high speed travel and this travel (magnetic levitation) should be better for moderate distances with slower electric trains for a less costly method and with buses and trolleys for shorter distances. He commented on the need to support mass transportation and teach our children not to have so much awe for cars and for them to teach their parents not to place so much importance on automobiles. He said that when the problem becomes large enough museums would become the center point for teaching families about better ways to manage transportation and distribute the electric fuel to operate them. He also pointed out the ability to use electricity for mass transit could come from many sources.

In the short term he explained we could reduce the price of gasoline by approving more locations for drilling and approve the infrastructure to refine the oil to gas. Just the approval of these items would cause the futures speculators to sell their holdings and the price of oil would drop. It would also cause oil producing nations to make oil less expensive in hopes we would not continue to expand our drilling and refining. He extended his lecture with mentioning the freeways and highways that we are expanding to accommodate the cars we drive. These highways will probably have to be expanded and doubled in size over the next 10 to 15 years. This action will destroy more beautiful land than by drilling with proper mass transportation management. He went on about our buying oil from countries that will not be as restrictive as we would be about drilling so we could do more to help the environment under our control rather than buying from others who do not take as much care. He also commented on our restrictions about drilling so far off our coast when foreign countries like Cuba will drill within 40 miles of our country and with horizontal drilling methods could easily drill into our territory.

Then he asked me to drop him off just around the next curve. He wanted to meet someone there and rest before continuing his journey. I asked if I would be able to see him again and it seemed he looked deep within me and said that if I looked for him I would find him.

The only place I saw around the next turn was a church so I stopped the car.
And then he was gone. I plan to travel that road again, and I will look for him but I believe he will influence others and get his message to us.

If I did not listen and you do not listen it will be like the tree falling and no one hearing it. If you read this message then it exists, if not, it was never there.

Brave Men and Women Serving in Iraq

Should we be at war?

Some of you feel we never should have become involved in this war in Iraq.
Others feel we are just starting and we will be fighting terrorists for many years.

The events affect my thoughts about my own service and possible service of my children and grandchildren. Even our new unborn great grandson.

I worry about the loss of 3000 of our brave young men and women at war.

I also honor the almost one million who have made the sacrifice during all the wars that gave us our coveted freedom and protected us from those who would take it from us.

The very least I can do is honor those who now serve. All are volunteers.
Take a look at some photos of these brave friends and neighbors. They have offered to
give their lives to keep you free.

Please click here: Brave Heroes at Work (Courtesy of uwhunter@earthlink.net)

U.S.OFFICIALS ADMIT DEFEAT

It is truly a very sad day in this veterans home when he has to listen to the about to be confirmed Secretary of Defense state to Congress that we are not winning in Iraq. How dejected the troops must feel when the greatest and strongest nation in the world sends it bravest and often brightest to war and then tell the world they are losing.

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You Our Young Brave Heroes.

Today a bipartisan panel went before Congress and submitted 79 proposals for Iraq, not one of which mentioned victory.
They did mention using diplomacy. Apparently Secretary Rice failed also.
Then one of the members mentioned that the situation was divisive to the country. Most people I know are agreed that we want to win. People like this panel and the press object and they are the ones who have divided themselves from the rest of us.
They did mention asking for help from the enemy. Iran has already offered help to Iraq. They are very willing to help them by not sending more terrorists and then Iran will of course, as they have done before, offer to help protect and run the country. All financed by money received for their oil from the free world.

The coalition of Iran, Venezuela and North Korea is growing and is financed and supported by business dealings with Russia and China. They grew stronger this week by the results of left leaning elections in several other Latin American countries and by Chavez building his relationship with Cuba.

The enemy is coming and he has the support of some of your neighbors.

Pray for your grandchildren.

Research the Military in Iraq then go Blog

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IRAQ?

I wonder if you really have your own opinion. You are being fed distorted information from a biased media and someone asks you how you feel. You do what most people do and that is repeat back the headlines from newspapers or leads from media shows and all are designed to get you to look at their show or buy their paper.

No one really cares what you think or if you are really informed.

If they did care they would tell you all the news and how all sides feel, not just their own input.

If you really care about Iraq read the various viewpoints about Iraq and look at the reports giving the actual happenings in Iraq. A great starting point is to visit Hugh Hewitt’s blog site and read the posting by Dean Barnett. He gives a great easy reading viewpoint of the issues. Check it out at the address below.

Dean talks about the decision of NBC to call the current situation in Iraq a Civil War. Last night on Hannity and Colmes Brent Bozell of Media Research reported that the definition of a civil war would not cover the present situation where members of the existing government are fighting.

Dean says call it what you want. It is still a problem.

Recently Kissinger said we could not win a military victory in Iraq. I think we could argue with this viewpoint. We have a very strong military, Google the military count we have and you will find over 800,000 in the military. As the Godfather pointed out the military is trained to maim and kill. If our military were turned loose in Iraq they could destroy most everything and everyone there in a few days. We could win but we are a compassionate nation. We are fighting for a compassionate peace using a police action. Our killer troops are not trained to do police work so we have to move slower and take more casualties.

Enough of my comments. Read a great article by Dean Barnett.

Missing Gun story changes by newspaper

Example of the Misleading Press:

On Monday, October 30, 2006, about a week before the national election and as early voters in Florida were starting to cast ballots our local newspaper, the liberal Daytona Beach News-Journal ran the following page 1 headline in large bold letters.

GONE: GUNS U.S. gave Iraq

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

Nearly one of every 25 weapons the military bought for Iraq security forces is missing….

Comment: We believe most readers check the headlines and do not read the whole article. Buried on page 11 is that fact the number missing is 4% of the total.

The last paragraph explains that the military inventory includes weapons donated, captured or bought with other funds and not all serial numbers can be registered because some of the weapons are “foreign owned”.

We are left wondering if the weapons that cannot be registered or were captured or donated are the 4% that are missing and what significance that might have.

The Houston Chronicle ran the same article with the headline:
Audit finds many missing U.S. Weapons in Iraq
This article is credited to John Heilprin of the Associated Press and probably indicates the wording of the original article sent by AP (and changed by the News-Journal above.)
The third paragraph quickly indicates the total is only 4% and does not imply that many or all are missing as in the News-Journal headline.
The article ends with general encouragement to improve tracking of materials sent for military, medical professionals and mechanics.
It sounds like an audit was ordered by the government because of items missing (we have seen reports of black market dealings) and an effort is being made by the military to determine why that is happening.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/front/4295769

Newsday.com also carried the article. The headline was:
Weapons for Iraq Missing
Pentagon can’t account for nearly 4% of arms it began giving security forces in 2003, audit finds.
Newsday.com Weapons for Iraq missing

The issue here is that the poor accounting for weapons is not a good thing, it must be corrected and that process has already started. But the lesson is that a couple of words in a headline can alter the perception of the public and helped to shape their thinking. The power of the press is awesome.
A poll held in the Daytona Area would be influenced by this headline. The poll results between Daytona and Houston could be very different because of a subtle change in a story.
We need to alert each other not to be misleading by headlines and a press with an agenda.


Influencing the public perception and then doing a poll to build the shift in perception is fraudulent and not what the 2nd amendment had intended.

Fortunately, the public is smarter and is seeking news elsewhere such as on the internet. Newspapers are losing readership and influence and if they are to flourish they must do what is expected of the press and follow the standards set down years ago by the press editors association.

After reading the Times story I did not have the feeling the Times, in this story, was trying to capitalize on the incident. Maybe I was wrong or maybe I did not find the original story.

I have the feeling there are some in our intelligence community who wish to sandbag our Republican administration. We have seen evidence of this before, we know they were not happy with these papers being released and the work involved in their release. There was an indication of complaints prior to this that some needed to be reviewed more carefully. Maybe someone wanted pay back by dumping obviously sensitive information and then tipped off the Times. Speculation? Sure, but it has happened before.

You can Google these stories and you will see what I mean.

Bush got stuck,Kerry got to go Home

BUSH GOT HIGHER GRADES AT YALE AND GOT STUCK AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF BUT KERRY GOT TO GO HOME.
John Kerry has put on the Dukakis helmet and is driving the tank across our TV screens over and over. I am sure you have all seen the comment.
I went into the Navy a few years before Kerry did. Many of my friends at home were doing that. We had a choice, get drafted and be sent to die crawling through the rice fields of North Korea or enlist in the Navy. In an interview with his college newspaper Kerry indicated the same strategy when he went into the Navy during the Vietnam War.
Kerry was on a ship but heard about the “swift boats” that were to be used near Vietnam to bring out critical personnel. Kerry volunteered and it seemed he was able to imitate his hero, JFK in a safe situation. We all knew that everyone who volunteered was a hero. But if you wanted the glory like he seemed to want, at that time you would join the Marines.
While in training the boats were reassigned to more dangerous duty. Kerry provided his own video camera and managed 3 purple hearts in 3 months in Vietnam (2 have been questioned) and he came home a hero and denounced our troops before congress telling horrendous tales of atrocities he saw in those 3 short months. He is now attacking the troops again and anyone who questions him.
A trial to take place in Pennsylvania in the near future might end his charade or verify his heroism. “The truth will out” and “The evil that man does lives on; the good is oft interred in the bones.” (Or is it the other way around?)
In the meantime, Bush did get a grade point average just above Kerry. But Bush got stuck as the Commander in Chief and Kerry was able to go home.

NORTH KOREA
Let us give thanks to China for its effort to bring North Korea to the discussion table with all parties involved. Now, with any discussion there will be stronger repercussions with more countries to answer to.


OUR PROBLEMS IN IRAQ:
Are the Iraq people any worse than we were?
Frank Waters was a historian and wrote about the lives of our Native American Indians. In his “Book of the Hopi” he recorded the information about how some of our territories would stir up activity of the Native Americans in order to ask the government to send troops. This resulted in increased commercial activity for the territories and it was to their benefit to keep the activity high so that money flowed though the troops to the locals.
Is it the same in Iraq? I have mentioned this before in previous blogs.

The dogs would like you to know that they have lots of friends because they wag their tails and not their tongues.