The Daily Diss“0 Comments”

WilliamHale | 4:29 pm | August 27, 2008 | Politics, comedy, satire, topical

I DO NOT RECALL
In a recent interview, John McCain said he didn’t remember how many houses he owned. He was however, able to recall the exact number of bottles of Benefiber and Metamucil he owns.

PUFF PUFF PROSECUTE
Democratic National Convention officials said pot smokers will be prosecuted during the convention. And here I thought the Democrats were the ones who were all for going

GREEN.OLYMPICS ARE HISTORIC
The Olympics pulled in a total of 214 million viewers making it the most watched tv show in U.S. TV history. The main reason for this…pedophiles all over the country tuned into watch the Chinese Women’s Gymnastics Team.

IS THERE A PROBLEM HERE?
The “Wall Street Journal” reports more and more employees are “creating” problems, only to solve them, in hopes of looking good to the boss. Now if they can’t SOLVE the problem they created, then this is classified as “Congressitis.”

MLB OK’S REPLAY
Major League Baseball signed an agreement Wednesday that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field. In light of this, The Chicago Cubs have asked MLB if they could replay the last 100 years.

GOLD FOR THE U.S.A.
The US Men’s Basketball Team, dubbed “The Re-Deem Team,” walked away with the gold medal by beating Spain in the championship game. Now, Kobe has another piece of jewelry he can give to his wife after he cheats on her.

Obama Equals More Debt“0 Comments”

Andrew Moran | 8:36 am | August 20, 2008 | Politics, current events, news

Recently another move to make the United States part of a one-world government occurred in the United State Senate when the bill “Global Poverty Act” passed, which was sponsored and or created by Sen. Obama, Sen. Hagel and Sen. Cantwell.

This bill would do the following:

• Declares it official U.S. policy to promote the reduction of global
poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme
global poverty in half by 2015.

• Requires the President to develop and implement a comprehensive
strategy to carry out that policy.

• Includes guidelines for what the strategy should include - from aid,
trade, and debt relief, to working with the international community,
businesses and NGOs, to ensuring environmental sustainability.

• Requires that the President’s strategy include specific and
measurable goals, efforts to be undertaken, benchmarks, and
timetables.

• Requires the President to report back to Congress on progress
made in the implementation of the global poverty strategy.

Another reason why Sen. Obama is not fit to be president, nor any other candidate for that matter, are because bills like these are introduced that destroy the United States of America from within and destroy the nation’s sovereignty.

From the Global Poverty Act website Sen. Obama had this to say:

“We can – and must – make it a priority of our foreign policy to commit to eliminating extreme poverty and ensuring every child has food, shelter, and clean drinking water. As we strive to rebuild America’s standing in the world, this legislation will not only commit to reducing global poverty, but will also demonstrate our promise and support to those in the developing world.”

Both sides of the aisle are saying we should stop our foreign commitments, yet bills like these are passed and just do the opposite of what we’re saying. Gradual steps are being taken towards a one-world government and no one is paying attention. First it’s the United Nations, then it’s the NAFTA superhighways, then it’s the continental unions and then it’s a one-world government with different branches of unions.

It’s absurd that people want to support candidates who want to have socialist governments that keep on taking control of individual’s lives and continue to take drastic actions to make permanent one-world government decisions.

Did I mention that this bill will cost Americans $854 billion over eleven years? This is mind-numbing to me. Constantly, with every presidency, we go into even higher debt, whether it’s more wars, expansion of Government, foreign aid, etc. It reminds me of an old Groucho Marx joke, “A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.”

Another War Propaganda Bill to be Passed“0 Comments”

Andrew Moran | 8:38 am | August 14, 2008 | Iran, Iraq, Politics, current events, news

Another War Propaganda Bill to be passed
H. CON. RES. 362 is once again another war propaganda bill that will be passed by the Senate most likely after the Fourth of July holiday. The bill has twenty nine cosponsors and most of them are Democrats.

The bill goes into detailed terror specifics, as did previous bills for ten years before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. This bill states the following:
 Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain a nuclear weapons capability would pose a grave threat to international peace and security.
 Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain nuclear weapons capability would fundamentally alter and destabilize the strategic balance of power in the Middle East.
 Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain a nuclear weapons capability would directly threaten Europe and ultimately the United States because Iran already has missiles that can reach parts of Europe and is seeking to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.
 Whereas the Government of Iran has advocated that the United States withdraw its presence from the Middle East.
 Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain a nuclear weapons capability would severely undermine the global nuclear nonproliferation regime that, for more than 4 decades, has contained the spread of nuclear weapons.

In September 2007, the Kyl-Lieberman was similar and was passed in a strong majority by both Democrats and Republicans (76 YEAs, 22 NAYs, 2 not voting). The bill stated the following observations:
 Iran plays a harmful role in Iraq. While claiming to support Iraq in its transition, Iran has actively undermined it by providing lethal capabilities to the enemies of the Iraqi state.
 Iran has been intensifying aspects of its lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants, particularly the JAM [Jaysh al-Mahdi], since at least the beginning of 2006. Explosively formed penetrator (EFP) attacks have risen dramatically.
 [T]he political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly. Soon we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course we are prepared to fill the gap’.
 [T]he Iranian involvement in Iraq–its support for extremist militias, training, connections to Lebanese Hezbollah, provision of munitions that are used against our force as well as the Iraqis–are all, in my view, a pretty clear demonstration that Ahmedinejad means what he says, and is already trying to implement it to the best of his ability.
 [M]ost of the explosives and ammunition used by these groups are provided by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. . . For the period of June through the end of August, [explosively formed penetrator] events are projected to rise by 39 percent over the period of March through May.

The mainstream media has not covered either of these bills. Unlike the Iraq war, this war will be a bit more secretive with everyday a new bill being passed that will lead to a war with Iran. There is no anti-war party, only pro-war, based on the votes being held in support of a military strike in Iran.

When this war occurs, all prices will go up especially the energy sector. The reason why it is so high right now is due to the threats of war with Iran. The market reacts to this and when a war breaks out, prices will be double and no one benefits.

President of Iran, Mahmud Ahmedinejad, recently made comments at an OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting, “At a time when the growth of consumption is lower than the growth of production and the market is full of oil, prices are rising, and this trend is completely fake and imposed.” He went on further to suggest, “The dollar is being manipulated weaker, too.” As Jerry Mazza, reporter for Online Journal, said, in a recent Infowars.com article, “Like a good economist,” suggesting that President Ahmedinejad knew economics.

Right now the world is isolating Iran in the name of peaceful purposes. Similar to the 1990s when President Clinton had killed 500,000 Iraqis due to his and the United Nations’ sanctions, Iran will experience the same thing.

Susan Rice on Hardball“0 Comments”

Mark Haverty | 6:46 pm | August 13, 2008 | Europe

Senior foreign policy advisor to Senator Barack Obama, Susan Rice, was on Hardball yesterday and is making a lot of noise around the net for her comments on Senator John McCain:

The End of Soft Power“0 Comments”

Mark Haverty | 5:22 pm | | Europe, Israel

In Georgia, the redrawing of map lines is occurring while I am typing this, and the ceasefire has been all words and no action, with Russian forces continuing to roll in to Tbilisi. Talk continues to flow from the United States, from the White House, from the campaign of Senator John McCain, and from the campaign of Senator Barack Obama. That is all it has been, and, more importantly, all it can be.

Talk once worked.

Our talking does not matter anymore.

Sure, the United States is the world’s most powerful superpower. Sure, the United States has the most firepower. Sure, the United States still has a nuclear arsenal.

Our strength though was once in the ability to make our words matter.

President George W. Bush has made sure though that those words simply have little meaning anymore. Throughout the 1990s, the world turned to the United States as a world leader, as someone to be trusted to do the right thing by those in need of aid. Sometimes it failed, but often it worked. Beyond force, though, our words carried weight then, with the greater fear being what might be behind those words. Simply talking could be enough to convince those that we needed to back down to simply do so.

Our soft power was never greater than on September 12, 2001. The world rallied to the side of the United States. The world’s melting pot, everyone knew someone in New York, with unfortunately too many knowing ones at the World Trade Center, and as we wept, the world wept. As we responded, the world responded.

Now, after Iraq, Guantanamo, and a foreign policy designed around belligerence rather than accommodation, few seem to care what we have to say anymore. Russia has simply told the United States to back off while they continue to what they want, where they want, within Georgia. Talks between Georgia and Russia have occurred, without the United States – it was France that brought them to the table.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, we threaten Iran over and over and over again, only to see them test fire missiles. Israel, according to a report that The Guardian featured on their front page earlier today only to later remove, not only is readying plans for a strike on Iran, and has gone so far as to ask for material assistance from the United States for such an invasion. The US has asked Israel to hold off, and has refused aid, but will that stop Israel? The US asking Iran to cease what they were doing did not work and asking Russia to cease is not working, so why should it work with Israel, or anyone else for that matter?

This is the problem when you cede moral high ground and act in a unitary manner – soft power erodes, and when you really need it, it is too late.

Georgia, Russia, and War“0 Comments”

Mark Haverty | 1:15 pm | August 11, 2008 | Europe, Politics

The South Ossetian front largely no longer exists, as Russia has essentially taken full control over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. While the region has still faced attacks from Georgia, it is clear at this point who is in charge now.

While Russia was able to argue with some conviction that they were provoked into the first attack due to hostilities occurring within South Ossetia, the continued advance from the Russians cannot be. Georgians have claimed that the Georgian city of Gori, near the South Ossetian border, is now under the control of Russia, but the Russians dispute that claim.

Meanwhile, Abkhazia is quickly falling out of what little control Georgia had over it. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had vowed that he would bring Abkhazia and South Ossetia in line with the rest of the country, despite having been an autonomous region since 1994. This despite a cease-fire agreement in place that allowed for up to 3,000 Russian peacekeepers within Abkhazia if need be. The focus of the conflict there now is on the Kodori Gorge, the only area of Abkhazia under Georgian control.

American reaction has largely been muted, with the initial invasion by Russia met with calls for talks and a cessation of violence. Much of this was due to the view that while Russia might have crossed an international border, one could make the argument that they were provoked by Georgia and that they were acting in the defense of the Ossetian peoples, who held autonomy and considered themselves Russian citizens, as shown by their passports. Senator John McCain quite quickly condemned Russia, distancing himself from the administration, and also from the language used by Senator Barack Obama. With the further escalation of violence, Senator McCain’s camp is attempting to portray themselves as prescient while Senator Obama in their eyes is naive. At the same time, Senator McCain has called for near-immediate entry of Georgia in to NATO, a move that the Russians would see as provocation for further war. As Ben Smith reports,

McCain is pushing for a (sure-to-be-vetoed, and already in the works) Security Council condemnation of Russia; an emergency session of NATO’s North Atlantic Council — a more anti-Russia international institution than others; to increase security of a regional pipeline; offer to help rebuilt Georgia; and to weaken NATO’s formal ties to Russia while offering Georgia membership.

McCain also floats the notion of a non-Russian peacekeeping force in South Ossetia; but it’s had to see how they’d get into a Russian-occupied country without Russian permission.

The most dramatic suggestion is that NATO move toward offering Georgia membership.

"NATO’s decision to withhold a Membership Action Plan for Georgia might have been viewed as a green light by Russia for its attacks on Georgia, and I urge the NATO allies to revisit the decision," McCain argues.

The treaty organization’s Article 5 states that an attack on any member is an attack against all, and commits all members all members to defend any member that’s attacked; so Georgian membership would, in theory, commit the U.S. to war with Russia in a future conflict. The argument in favor of membership is that Russia wouldn’t dare test whether that’s a bluff.

As for Senator Obama, the New York Times reports that he has said,

"I condemn Russia’s aggressive actions and reiterate my call for an immediate cease-fire," he said Saturday, adding: "Russia must stop its bombing campaign, cease flights of Russian aircraft in Georgian airspace and withdraw its ground forces from Georgia." He also called for "aggressive diplomatic action" involving the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations and the deployment of "genuine international peacekeeping forces" in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Senator Obama: UN. Senator McCain: NATO. One formed for peace, one for war – this should tell you much about where the two are coming from in their world-views.

As for who truly has the better knowledge of the area, one only needs to change all references of Tskhinvali to Walt Disney World on South Ossetia’s Wikipedia page and see what Senator McCain says next. Why is that? Well, Senator McCain cribbed his speech from Wikipedia – thank goodness for Creative Commons rights, eh?

The Fighting Continues…“0 Comments”

Mark Haverty | 1:07 pm | August 10, 2008 | Europe

With Russian forces claiming control now over South Ossetia, the question becomes where they stop. Or, rather, do they ever stop? Abkhazia clearly looks next, with the Russian Navy readying to help them and the de facto Abkhazian government is making preparations for war.

Any maps you have of Georgia - throw them out. They will not matter in a week.

The Next Front“0 Comments”

Mark Haverty | 7:55 am | | Europe

The conflict in Georgia continues to spill out from South Ossetia, and Abkhazia is the next to fall.

On Georgia, Russia, and South Ossetia“0 Comments”

Mark Haverty | 7:53 am | | Politics

My feature on the conflict in Georgia today can be found here, and part two, updating on the latest escalation, along with the American involvement in this, will be posted this evening.

Let’s just say that Senator John McCain has reasons why he so forcefully came out in favor of the Georgians, and they are not good.

We Do Not Have High Gas Prices“0 Comments”

Andrew Moran | 9:40 am | August 6, 2008 | Iran, Iraq, Politics, current events, news

That is right. You read correctly. We do not have high gas prices.

Over the last decade the price of oil has gone up in an astronomical fashion. Last month, a barrel of oil had cost just under $150. Since then, it has gone down to $120 but the American people are still suffering as the gas tank from high gas prices.

So with the oil going down why is the price of gas still expensive? Well, quite simple actually. It all relates to our monetary system that we have and have had for many decades now.

Most people believe inflation is the rising of prices but that is conventional wisdom, which is a fallacy. High prices are the effect of inflation, which is better known as the inflation tax. Everyone suffers, except for the people in, as Henry Hazlitt called it, Group A.

In terms of Dollars, oil has gone up. In terms of Euros, oil has gone up. In terms of Gold, oil has stayed flat. It all has to do with inflation. When the Government and the Federal Reserve collude to print all these dollars and affect the money supply, prices will go up and the value of the dollar goes down.

With Gold, inflation is very low, little to none actually. If you compare the price of oil between the Dollar and Gold, there is no comparison. Right now Oil costs around $120 in Dollars, which is fiat currency. If you would have a Gold Standard, oil would cost around $3.65 per barrel.

An ounce of Gold is worth around $950, which means it has a very high purchasing power. Many discuss then the deflation that would occur in a society, like ours, with a Gold Standard. But once again, that is a fallacy.

The Wall Street Journal published a terrific article, which studied the comparisons between Dollars and Gold and the price of oil and it had come to the conclusion, indirectly, that gas prices are not high.

A lot of people discuss that prices are too high but it is our PPP that is so low. A dollar buys a nickel’s worth (as I have discussed in articles with Crucial Politics) and this will continue to happen as long as the Federal Reserve/Central Bank prints all the money.

Right now, foreign nations take our Dollars like it’s backed by a commodity such as Gold. Once other countries deny our Dollars, which many have already, like Iran, who accept Euros instead of Dollars now, the United States Dollar will collapse and we will have the Great Depression all over again.

Subsidies, bail-outs, wars, international relief and printing of more money will destroy the United States economy and is already doing so. According to the Congressional Budget Office, we borrow two billion dollars from Japan, Saudi Arabia and China per day, our national debt is rising to numbers you can’t even begin to imagine and our dollar is worth so little.

The American public believe the oil tycoons purposely raise the gas prices but that is false because that is what the mainstream media and these politicians want you to believe.

Senator Barack Obama talks about change ad nauseam but never discusses this crucial issue at hand. That goes for Senator John McCain as well, who is too busy preparing for a “100-year involvement in Iraq.”

All we ever hear from these two Presidential Candidates are more goodies from the Government but, once again, that is the last thing the United States needs. As Mr. Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital, said in a Dutch documentary on the United States economy, “We need a hard line recession. Not the current, supposed one we have now. People need to stop spending and start saving and producing something.”

In a Fox Interview a little over a month ago, Mr. Schiff projected that an ounce of Gold will be worth $5,000 and an ounce will buy the entire DOW, which means the DOW will be down to $5,000 as well.

This has happened before in the past. It has happened in twice in the United States’ history. The first time was during the Great Depression with both gold and the Dow around 35, and once was more recent, in 1980, around the 850 level.

A letter written by Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) to Chairman Barney Frank of the House Financial Services Committee calling for a hearing on the relationship between the falling value of the dollar and the recent rise of oil prices, noting:

“The price of oil is currently among the most pressing issues to American workers. Congress should be examining all factors contributing to the high cost of oil, and monetary policy is one of the key factors in the run-up in price.”

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