Mood:  d'oh

Fidel Doesn't Trust Great Cuban Health Care

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: "Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in 'very grave' condition after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection known as diverticulitis, a Spanish newspaper said Tuesday. The newspaper El Pais cited two unnamed sources from the Gregorio Marañon hospital in the Spanish capital of Madrid. The facility employs a surgeon ... who flew to Cuba in December to treat ... Castro." Apparently what happened there is Castro had diverticulitis. Diverticulitis is not life-threatening. It's life changing, but it's not life-threatening. What they did is they had three famed operations to deal with this. They took out part of the large intestine and they had to rewire the plumbing, and it broke, and there was flooding of waste matter and all kinds of infections set in. The point is, he's in very grave condition now and may not survive this -- if all this is true. He had three surgeries, and all done by Spanish doctors. The question is: I keep hearing about what a great health care system Cuba has.

The Cuban health care system, we keep hearing about it from the American left, "Why, why, everybody has free health care, and it's really good," and so forth. I've never noticed any leftists going to Havana for their own medical care, or sending their kids there, and I guess when it came time to save his own life, Fidel decided he didn't want access to the Cuban health care system as well.

END TRANSCRIPT

Read the Background Material...
(AP: Spanish paper: Castro in grave condition after 3 failed operations)
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
Rush Limbaugh.com ** Fidel Doesn't Trust Great Cuban Health Care

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EST

Updated: Wednesday, 17 January 2007 4:28 PM EST

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California Freeze Threatens Citrus Crop

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

As you know, the Al Gore movie, an Inconvenient... Well, lie, truth, they're trying to show it in as many schools across the country as possible. In Seattle, some parents have finally said, "Wait a minute! This is propaganda! If you're going to show this, show the alternative point of view on this. This is by no means concluded science." It's "scientific consensus," which is not science. Again, I say, folks: if there is consensus in science, there's no science.

"What do you mean Rush? We all have to agree and get along."

It's very simple. I'll be happy to explain this. Consensus is nothing more than a bunch of wusses getting together and coming up with a proposition they can all agree on for whatever reasons. Usually they have political biases or some other thing and just want to avoid controversy. Let's say that a bunch of scientists got together and said, "You know what? We have formed a scientific consensus that the earth is flat." Would the consensus make it right? No, because science has told us we now know the earth is round. Science is what it is. It's not the result of consensus, and the only reason people think that there's global warming is because a whole bunch of scientists are have agreed and they come up with a consensus. So this movie's all over the place, and finally some people are stepping up, like parents, of all places in Seattle, to try to stop this. Well, in the midst of all this global warming we keep hearing about all the mild temperatures in the Northeast and so forth:

"Three nights of freezing temperatures have cost California up to three-quarters of its billion-dollar citrus crop, according to an industry estimate given Monday as forecasters warned that the cold weather could batter groves through midweek. Other crops, including avocados and strawberries, also have suffered damage in the cold snap," as well. "'This is one of those freezes that, unfortunately, we'll all remember,' California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura said. Damages from the latest freeze will likely surpass those caused by a three-day freeze in December 1998 that destroyed 85 percent of California's citrus crop, a loss valued at $700 million..." Now, the global warming advocates can say, "See? It is warming because in '98 when they had the freeze 85% of the crop was destroyed. This time only 75% of the crop will be destroyed. So it is getting warmer."

They'll twist it and turn it however they choose, but the fact is if we have global warming (sigh). I just get tired of trying to make this case. "Citrus growers already have lost between 50 and 75 percent of their crops to the cold snap, said Philip LoBue, a Tulare County farmer and chairman of California Citrus Mutual, a 2,000-member trade organization. 'When you're already cutting ice within the oranges, you know those are gone,' LoBue said. While growers hastened to pick as much of the $960 million in fruit still hanging on trees before the cold hit Friday, an industry labor shortage meant much of the crop went unharvested," and yes, there is in association with this freeze, in the California citrus industry, a desire for more "undocumented workers" to do the picking. They just don't have enough, despite all of the illegal immigrants in town and in the state, the citrus growers are still saying, "We could have gotten to save a lot more of the crop if they'd have just had some more undocumented workers!"

Read the Background Material...
(Warning! Rising levels of science abuse)
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
Rush Limbaugh.com ** California Freeze Threatens Citrus Crop
Related: WINTER KILLS ---- 5 die in car wrecks across Texas
300-mile stretch of I-10 still closed ---- Ice plays havoc with power grid
Cold Ruins Nearly $1B of Calif. Citrus; Schwarzenegger Seeks Disaster Aid
NOW IT IS SNOW IN MALIBU

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EST

Updated: Wednesday, 17 January 2007 10:17 PM EST

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Oil drops 3.4 percent, Saudi says don't panic

NEW YORK -- Oil prices plunged more than 3 percent on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia said OPEC production cuts were working well and there was no need for an emergency meeting of the producer group.

U.S. crude <CLc1> settled down $1.78 to $51.21 per barrel after touching $50.53, the lowest level since May 26, 2005, in earlier activity. Brent futures <LCOc1> shed 86 cents to $52.26.

The price has fallen around 16 percent since the end of last year, in part due to warm weather in the U.S. Northeast, the world's top heating oil market, in early January.

"We took measures in October in Doha and measures in Abuja (in December) and I believe these measures are working well. Inventories in the fourth quarter have come down ... which puts the market closer to balance," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in New Delhi.

"Do not panic. Actually there is no reason for a meeting."

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of output from November 1 and then to cut another 500,000 bpd from February 1.

There has been speculation OPEC could hold an emergency meeting before its next scheduled conference on March 15.

Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez has said oil prices had fallen "too much" and that he would favor an extra meeting.

Other commodities have also faced a rocky start to the year and base metals fell in early trading on Tuesday before stabilizing around midsession.

"We should not underestimate the global mood on commodities," said Frederic Lasserre of SG CIB in Paris. "There is not as much appetite for commodities anymore."

He predicted oil prices would test $50 in the near term, but then fresh buying interest could emerge.

Analysts said OPEC would also brake the slide and deeper price falls could drive the cartel to implement further cuts.

"We don't really see a collapse in prices. The further it goes down, the more hesitant the market will be about going even further," said Eoin O'Callaghan of BNP Paribas. "OPEC still has an impact on the market."

(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Sydney, Mayank Bhardwaj and Unni Krishnan in New Dehli, Barbara Lewis in London)
Reuters ~ Matthew Robinson ** Oil drops 3.4 percent, Saudi says don't panic
Related: Oil falls to 20-month low, eyes key $50 mark

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EST

Updated: Wednesday, 17 January 2007 4:16 PM EST

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Kucinich: Congress To Take On FCC

Over the weekend, the National Conference for Media Reform was held in Memphis, TN, with a number of notable speakers on hand for the event. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) made an surprise appearance at the convention to announce that he would be heading up a new House subcommittee which will focus on issues surrounding the Federal Communications Commission.

The Presidential candidate said that the committee would be holding "hearings to push media reform right at the center of Washington.” The Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee was to be officially announced this week in Washington, D.C., but Kucinich opted to make the news public early.

In addition to media ownership, the committee is expected to focus its attention on issues such as net neutrality and major telecommunications mergers. Also in consideration is the "Fairness Doctrine," which required broadcasters to present controversial topics in a fair and honest manner. It was enforced until it was eliminated in 1987.

Kucinich said in his speech that "We know the media has become the servant of a very narrow corporate agenda" and added "we are now in a position to move a progressive agenda to where it is visible."

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps was also on hand at the conference and took broadcasters to task for their current content, speaking of "too little news, too much baloney passed off as news. Too little quality entertainment, too many people eating bugs on reality TV. Too little local and regional music, too much brain-numbing national play-lists." Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein also spoke at the event.

Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report ** Kucinich: Congress To Take On FCC

Funny, I don't remember Demented-crats campaigning for the suppression of speech they don't like. Now the libiot moonbats think they have a mandate for this. Someone should've taught this "intellectual, smarter than everyone else" libtard (in the third grade) that the right to free speech doesn't extend to any constitutional right to be listened to.

UPDATE: El Rushbo himself chimes in on the latest libtard attempt to enact the Fairness Doctrine: "This is just the Stalinist left's latest attempt to muzzle this program..."

"All you supporters of the Fairness Doctrine who think this show needs to be 'balanced,' let me tell you something: The truth does not need balance. And the truth is what we do on this program." More Quotes

Kucinich Revives "Hush Rush" Movement

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Posted by yaahoo_ at 10:13 PM EST

Updated: Wednesday, 17 January 2007 7:41 PM EST

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Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos

By Winnie Hu

WHITNEY POINT, N.Y. -- Thirty girls signed up for the cheerleading squad this winter at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York. But upon learning they would be waving their pompoms for the girls’ basketball team as well as the boys’, more than half of the aspiring cheerleaders dropped out.

The eight remaining cheerleaders now awkwardly adjust their routines for whichever team is playing here on the home court -- “Hands Up You Guys” becomes “Hands Up You Girls”-- to comply with a new ruling from federal education officials interpreting Title IX, the law intended to guarantee gender equality in student sports.

“It feels funny when we do it,” said Amanda Cummings, 15, the cheerleading co-captain, who forgot the name of a female basketball player mid-cheer last month.

Whitney Point is one of 14 high schools in the Binghamton area that began sending cheerleaders to girls’ games in late November, after the mother of a female basketball player in Johnson City, N.Y., filed a discrimination complaint with the United States Department of Education. She said the lack of official sideline support made the girls seem like second-string, and violated Title IX’s promise of equal playing fields for both sexes.

But the ruling has left many people here and across the New York region booing, as dozens of schools have chosen to stop sending cheerleaders to away games, as part of an effort to squeeze all the home girls’ games into the cheerleading schedule.

Boys’ basketball boosters say something is missing in the stands at away games, cheerleaders resent not being able to meet their rivals on the road, and even female basketball players being hurrahed are unhappy.

In Johnson City, students and parents say they have accepted the change even as they question the need for it.

Several cheerleaders there recalled a game two years ago, long before the complaint, when the squad decided at the last minute to cheer for the girls’ team because a boys’ game was canceled.

The cheers drowned out directions from the girls’ coach, frustrated the players, and created so much tension that the cheerleaders left before halftime.

“They asked, ‘Why are you here?’ ” recalled Joquina Spence, 18, a senior cheerleader. “We told them, ‘We’re here to support you,’ and it was a problem because they kept yelling at us.”

But, as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association warned in a letter to its 768 members in November, the education department determined that cheerleaders should be provided “regardless of whether the girls’ basketball teams wanted and/or asked for” them.

The ruling followed a similar one in September in the Philadelphia suburbs, and comes as high schools nationwide are redefining the role of cheerleaders in response to parental and legal pressures as well as growing sensitivity to sexism among athletic directors, especially as more women step into those roles.

Federal education officials would not specify how many Title IX complaints concerning cheerleading the Office for Civil Rights is investigating. But a spokesman said the department received 64 complaints nationwide last year concerning unequal levels of publicity given to girls’ and boys’ teams -- which includes the issue of cheerleading -- most from New York state. That compares with a total of 28 such complaints over the previous four years.

In September, the Prince George’s County, Md., public schools agreed to provide publicity equally for its male and female athletes, including cheerleaders at competitive events, as part of a lengthy list of changes after the National Women’s Law Center raised Title IX complaints against the 134,000-student district.

Last February, a statewide group of physical education teachers in California called for cheerleaders to attend girls’ and boys’ games “in the same number, and with equal enthusiasm” as part of its five-year goals.

And for the first time this fall at Westborough High school in the Boston suburbs, cheerleaders were provided for all the varsity athletic teams, including girls’ field hockey and volleyball. “In our minds, there’s no major or minor sports,” said Brian Callaghan, Westborough’s athletic director.

Here in the Binghamton area, three schools named in the original complaint -- two in Elmira, N.Y., and one in Horseheads -- are rebelling against the ruling, in the latest in a series of arguments over fulfilling the requirements of Title IX, which has been a source of contention among educators, athletes and feminists alike since its adoption in 1972.

James Young, a lawyer for the Horseheads Central School District, said cheerleaders there compete in their own tournaments and are not seen as support players. He noted that the “Rowdy Raiders” pep group is already dispatched to cheer for boys’ and girls’ teams alike.

“We regard our cheerleaders as athletes, while they are working on a 1970s stereotype that cheerleaders are here to support the boys,” Mr. Young said of the education department’s ruling. “We have a really solid women’s athletics program and we support it our way.”

Richard T. Stank, president of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference, which represents the 17 schools in the Binghamton area named in the complaint, said even some of the school officials and coaches complying with the ruling question its validity. “I don’t see how cheerleaders having to be at boys’ and girls’ games is what Title IX was set up to do,” he said.

Under Title IX, all schools and colleges that receive federal money are prohibited from gender discrimination in any area, from academics to athletics. The education department has interpreted that mandate to mean, among other things, that girls’ and boys’ teams must receive equal treatment, from the salaries of their coaches to the condition of their locker rooms.

Intended to expand opportunities for female athletes, Title IX essentially requires schools and colleges to spend equivalent amounts on men’s and women’s sports programs. But some Title IX supporters complain that some schools have twisted the letter of the law to skirt its spirit, cutting lower-profile men’s sports like wrestling or swimming to offset the costs of football rather than adding women’s teams. But others complain that the law has expanded women’s teams of limited interest at the expense of more popular boys’ teams.

Cheerleading has long been a source of contention. Some women’s sports advocates complain that schools count it as a varsity sport as a sneaky way to increase the numbers of the female side of the athletic department balance sheet without changing historic disparities. Others see the varsity letters as a mark of respect for the athletic and acrobatic feats the squads perform.

So while the complaint that originated here was based on whether the boys and girls basketball players were being treated equally, the ruling has renewed questions about cheerleaders’ status.

Rosie Pudish, the parent who filed the original complaint, said she did so even though her own daughter, Keri, a varsity basketball player at Johnson City High School, did not particularly want cheerleaders at her games.

Ms. Pudish said that as many as 60 cheerleaders, along with their friends and parents, would attend the boys’ games, injecting a level of excitement and spirit that was missing from the girls’ contests.

“It sends the wrong message that girls are second-class athletes and don’t deserve the school spirit, that they’re just little girls playing silly games and the real athletes are the boys,” said Ms. Pudish, an accountant who works for the federal government.

At most high schools, including those in New York City and its suburbs, cheerleaders traditionally follow the boys’ basketball and football games, and only occasionally root for other teams -- like girls’ basketball -- if a playoff berth or a championship is at stake.

So far, no one here has suggested that football cheerleaders have to show up for field hockey games next fall. But the education department ruled that if the Binghamton-area schools provided cheerleaders for boys’ basketball games, then they must provide them on the same terms for girls’ basketball.

To comply, nearly all of the schools have decided to send cheerleaders to an equal number of boys’ and girls’ games, and only at home to avoid overloading the cheerleaders’ schedules. That drew complaints from cheerleaders who liked traveling to away games -- and from boys’ basketball players and fans who were left cheer-less half the time.

“It’s probably toughest on some of the parents,” said John Allen, athletic director of the Chenango Valley Central School District, just northeast of Binghamton. “All of a sudden they’re at games, and there are no cheerleaders.”

At a small school like Whitney Point, with 525 students, the ruling has devastated a cheerleading program that had just begun to rebound after being eliminated in budget cuts in 2002. Some of the girls who dropped out just did not want to cheer for other girls, while others said the team was not as fun without traveling to away games and being able to check out routines by rival cheerleading teams. (Since most schools in the league are complying with the ruling by keeping cheerleaders on their home courts, the squads are now left to rah-rah without response.)

The girls’ basketball players complained about the change, too; the coach asked cheerleaders to stay on the bench at crucial moments during the first few games so as not to distract his players. But after an awkward start, the girls have settled into a routine of sorts, and have posed together for post-game pictures.

Katelin Maxson, 17, a senior who is the cheerleading captain, said that while she does not mind cheering for the girls, it has doubled her workload: She has continued the tradition here of decorating the lockers of the basketball players on game days and bringing them treats.

“We joined sports to have fun, but they’re basically taking the fun away and giving us more work,” she said. “The interest is down so much, and it’s going to keep dropping, until there’s no cheerleading anymore.”

NY Times (Jihad Journal) ~ Winnie Hu ** Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:35 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 15 January 2007 4:27 PM EST

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Abortion, gay studies considered

A residents advisory committee is preparing studies on abortion and sexual orientation to be used in classes required for early teens in Alexandria public schools.

Proposed additions to the curriculum include studies about why women seek abortions and about homosexuality, heterosexuality and sexual discrimination.

The Alexandria Board of Education must approve any additions.

The Family Life Education Advisory Committee began preparing the studies in September and submitted them to school system staff for revisions in December. The committee next meets Jan. 24.

If the school board approves the additional classwork, students will begin the studies in the 2007-08 school year.

One instruction would be to answer "yes" or "no" to 10 instances in which somebody might consider an abortion. These instances include rape, being an unmarried teen, being a college student pregnant as the result of broken condom, and being an unmarried 20-year-old for whom the father is one of four sexual partners.

Officials said the answers would be private but provide basis for teachers to explain the differences in philosophies between pro-life and pro-choice groups without using "insulting, attacking or prejudicial language."

One lesson would include a history of abortions, beginning in the Colonial era when the practice was permitted under English law and continuing through 1997 when Virginia legislators passed a parental-notification law.

The sexual-orientation study plan, which also would prohibit offensive language, would give 10 theories for sexual differences, leading to discussions about sexual development.

The new lessons would include a video titled, "What If I'm Gay?" which has been a part of Alexandria school lessons for about a decade, said Kenneth J. Wolfe, a 10-year member of the advisory committee who does not support the proposed changes.

"I'm in the slim majority opposing it on the committee," he said.

He said parents of band members might object to schedule conflicts with their children's practices and performances.

Students need written approval from parents to miss the abortion-orientation classes. To graduate, they would have to take credited elective classes.

Last week, Montgomery County's school board approved a revised curriculum that teaches middle and high school students about homosexuality and condom use. The new curriculum is scheduled to be tested in six schools this spring.

Alexandria and Montgomery County schools teach boys and girls together. In October, the National School Boards Association recommended separating boys and girls. "Recognizing that some students learn better in a single-sex class or school, the regulations give educators more flexibility," the association said.

Washington Times ~ Arlo Wagner ** Abortion, gay studies considered

They mention teaching about abortion, homosexuality, condoms, the effects on band, but nothing about taking time from science, math and other courses that might actually do someone some good in the real world. Then the last paragraph is basically the start of Sharia in shcools...
"In October, the National School Boards Association recommended separating boys and girls. "Recognizing that some students learn better in a single-sex class or school, the regulations give educators more flexibility," the association said."
No wonder half the kids can't even fill out an application or do basic math in their heads.

Laura Ingraham had an interview with someone who is on the advisory committee to the School Board who stated that this curriculum has already been inserted into the teaching plans. He also stated that the abortion history portion of these studies were taken word for word from a Planned Parenthood document.
Demented-crat libtards and socialists are death freaks.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 1:48 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 15 January 2007 1:55 PM EST

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Vt. group pushing for Bush impeachment

Emboldened by votes in five towns a year ago, a grass-roots group is working to turn Town Meeting Day 2007 in Vermont into a statewide referendum on whether Congress should impeach President George W. Bush.

The group, led by Newfane selectboard member Dan DeWalt, says it has people in 50 communities circulating petitions seeking to place impeachment resolutions on town warnings. Last week, the group unveiled its own Web site, vtimpeach.com.

"We will be barnstorming the state on this," DeWalt said. "In towns where we do not get it on the warning, we will try to have it taken up under other business."

DeWalt, a musician and woodworker, was the author of an impeachment resolution approved by his town at its 2006 annual meeting. Four other communities passed similar measures, and the votes became the subject of both praise and criticism nationwide.

"What we did last year became a clarion call for towns all across the country where people were despairing of the war and the state of the Constitution," DeWalt said. "Now, there's a real possibility Vermont can get the nation's attention focused on impeachment."

He said his group has enlisted the support of anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq, and former Rep. Elizabeth Holzman, D-N.Y., who was on the House Judiciary Committee that impeached President Nixon and is the author of "The Impeachment of George W. Bush."

Both women plan to visit Vermont to express support for the group's impeachment efforts, he said.

The impeachment push was blasted by Anne McClaughry, the interim chairwoman of the Vermont Republican Party. She said Bush has not done anything to warrant impeachment and that the Vermont group was engaged in a vendetta against the president.

"These people hate Bush and want to bash him," she said. "Hate and contempt are bogus grounds for impeachment, and I trust Vermonters will think it through and ultimately decide for themselves that voting 'yes' on a resolution to impeach the president is unworthy."

DeWalt said Bush deserves to face impeachment for misleading the nation about the reason for invading Iraq and for abusing civil liberties under the guise of fighting global terrorism.

"This actually isn't about Bush and Cheney," he said, referring to the president and vice president. "It's about restoring the balance of power under the Constitution. ... If we don't put pressure on Congress to do its duty, we deserve to have a king."

Besides the impeachment resolution, DeWalt's group is supporting a companion resolution calling on Bush, Congress and state leaders to withdraw all American soldiers from Iraq and "take good care of them when they get home." The group also wants the Legislature to pass a resolution asking Congress to investigate impeaching the president.

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., the state's lone House member, said through spokesman Andrew Savage that Welch "wholeheartedly supports" the right of groups like DeWalt's to express their views but stopped short of saying he wants Bush impeached.

Welch has been an ardent critic of the war and last week joined other members of Vermont's congressional delegation in opposing Bush's decision to deploy 21,500 more troops to Iraq to end sectarian violence in areas around Baghdad.

"He believes Congress needs to look forward, focusing its efforts on changing the direction of the country, including ending the war, raising the minimum wage and ending subsidies to oil companies and the pharmaceutical industry," Savage said of Welch.

Under the Constitution, the House has the task of deciding whether to impeach a president. If the House votes for impeachment, the Senate has to decide whether to remove the president from office.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were unavailable for comment late last week but have voiced fierce opposition to Bush's handling of the war.

Last year, as a congressman, Sanders signed on as a co-sponsor to legislation calling for an investigation into whether Bush should be impeached, but also expressed reservations about the idea, which he called "impractical."

Eric Davis, a Middlebury College political scientist, said if the impeachment movement catches on this year, it could cause a schism between liberal Democrats and the party's more mainstream members.

"It will be interesting to see how this plays out once the presidential campaign season gets going," Davis said.

Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.
Burlington Free Press ~ Sam Hemingway ** Vt. group pushing for Bush impeachment

DeWalt, and all the members of his group, should be tried for Aiding & Abeting the Enemies of the United States of America, during a Time of War.

This is the same state of libtardation that had Coward Deanpeace as governor, and is now represented by SOCIALIST Senator Bernie Sanders. Ten years from now these libiots will still be trying to impeach bush, these losers need to get a life. This one of the reasons why some towns in VT want to be a part of NH.

I hope they do start impeachment hearings, I would love to see the Dimocrats go down in flames.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:07 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 15 January 2007 12:21 PM EST

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Border fence gets go-ahead in Arizona

Chertoff waives environmental regulations to allow immediate action

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Friday waived environmental regulations and laws restricting immediate construction of border fencing along southwestern Arizona's Barry M. Goldwater Range.

The action was taken to circumvent a series of laws, from the Endangered Species Act to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Doing so -- under authority that Congress gave the Homeland Security secretary in 2005 -- will clear the way for construction in southwestern Arizona of 37 miles of traditional and virtual fencing, radar and other infrastructure, lighting, all-weather and drag roads, expected to cost in the neighborhood of $64 million.

Chertoff voided "environmental requirements and other legalities that have impeded the department's ability to construct fencing and deploy detection technology on the range," spokesman Russell Knocke said in Washington.

The construction will be part of the Bush administration's overall Secure Border Initiative that calls for adding a mix of fencing, cameras and high-tech surveillance and communications, vehicle barriers and other features to diminish and deter illegal crossings along the Mexican border.

Another 28 miles mixing high-tech virtual fencing and a traditional physical barrier was announced last year.

For several years, Arizona has been the epicenter for crossings by illegal immigrants, often led by smugglers, though the number of Border Patrol apprehensions dropped more than 11 percent last year compared to 2005.

A similar dip was reflected in known entries and apprehensions on the Goldwater Range over the same period.

With the waiver authorities taken care of, the team planning the border initiative will begin its work on determining the precise types of fencing and technology and border infrastructure that's going to be required in the 37-mile stretch.

The 2.8 million-acre range is used by the Air Force and Marines for bombing and aviation training.

The planned fencing will take in five miles to the west of the Goldwater range. It will not include the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, which is immediately east of the range, Knocke said.

Dr. Robin Silver, board chair of the environmental organization Center for Biological Diversity, called Chertoff's move "a historic travesty."

"Because they refuse to deal head-on with the economics of the immigration challenge, they're now taking a step to destroy the integrity of the central part of southern Arizona's desert," Silver added. "There's not a wall on earth that's going to stop a human in search of a minimum-wage job to feed his hungry family."

Knocke said an exception will be made to accommodate the flat-tailed horned lizard, a species previously taken off proposed listing for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Small openings will be make in fencing that is constructed to allow the lizard to continue crossing into Mexico.

Knocke said it was determined that the endangered Sonoran pronghorn "would not present any major issues."

Chertoff's waivers will be published midweek in the Federal Register, but Knocke said it's not immediately clear when construction could begin.

Authorities said there were more than 17,000 known attempts by people trying to illegally enter the country on the Goldwater Range and 9,600 apprehensions in 2005, while the numbers dropped to 15,200 attempted entries and nearly 8,600 apprehensions last year.

Some of the decreases are attributable to use of National Guard troops assisting the Border Patrol as well as more agents and technology, Knocke said.

There are more than 6 miles of fencing currently on the range with some vehicle barriers and Defense Department communications facilities also in place.

Dallas Morning News ~ Associated Press ** Border fence gets go-ahead in Arizona

Related: Reuters **
U.S. Border Patrol Agent Shoots Dead Mexican Migrant
Latino Advocate:
America to Blame for Illegal Aliens Turning to Crime

Osama Bin laden could create a US citizen simply by impregnating a muslim woman and having her visit the US. She doesn't even need to be a citizen, just be on US soil when she drops. And then the little terrorist will be a citizen. This is so insane.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EST

Updated: Monday, 15 January 2007 1:58 PM EST

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Speaker Pelosi to Monitor Your Church

Nancy Pelosi hasn’t been Speaker of the House for two weeks yet and there is already proposed legislation which would be the most significant encroachment ever into the affairs and ability of churches and other organizations to communicate. Under the guise of lobbying reform, Speaker Pelosi and others have proposed legislation greatly expanding the scope of lobbying regulation which would have a significant impact on churches, pastors, religious denominations, public interest organizations, civic organizations and other nonprofit groups. Even private individuals who voluntarily pay for media to distribute important messages to the general public on political matters would be impacted.

So draconian is the proposed Lobbying Reform Bill that it would actually impose registration and reporting requirements on churches and other nonprofit organizations. This is because the definition of “lobbyist” and “lobbying firms” includes specifically grassroots-organizing efforts. Under this broad-based regulatory scheme that Nancy Pelosi is advocating, many churches, especially larger churches with TV and radio ministries, would be subject to registration as a lobbying organization. Failure to comply with these lobbying requirements could result in fines and even criminal sanctions. Churches and their pastors who address the social issues of the day and encourage members and non-members alike to mobilize for action, including communications with Congress, would be required to make certain initial and quarterly disclosures to the United States Congress about their activities.

Under the House version of the Bill, a church or organization would be considered a “grassroots lobbying firm” subject to this law if the group attempted to influence the general public to voluntarily contact federal officials in order to express their own views on a federal issue. Furthermore, many large churches and ministries utilize mass media to communicate their message. Under this House Bill by Nancy Pelosi, these communications, as long as they are directed to at least one person who is not a member of the church, would fall under this new Bill. Finally, if the church spends an aggregate of only $50,000 or more for such efforts in a quarterly period, they are now required to register as lobbyists. Many ministries spend $50,000 or more a month for air time.

This attempt to slip in this onerous requirement on churches and other organizations must be stopped. The rationale behind Speaker Pelosi and others’ desire to silence churches is obvious. Pastors addressing the moral issues of the day have been able to mobilize tens of thousands of individuals to speak out on various issues. But under this proposed legislation, if a church or denomination spent $50,000 of its own resources on air time to encourage people to support the confirmation of federal judicial nominees or to lend its support to a federal marriage amendment, then that church or denomination would be classified as a grassroots lobbying firm. This is one of the most significant violations of free exercise of religion and the freedom of political speech in our Nation’s history. Some have said that this plan is the most comprehensive regulation of political speech that has ever been put forward by Congress.

As one of the lawyers who argued against the campaign finance law at the Supreme Court of the United States, I can tell you that this increased government regulation of churches is not only unwarranted but also unwise. In my argument before the Court, I asserted that a prohibition on minors contributing to a political campaign was unconstitutional, and that students have fundamental rights of freedom of speech and freedom of association. A unanimous Supreme Court agreed with me. The same is true here. Lobbying reform can be put forward without impacting the ability of pastors and churches to speak out on the moral issues of the day, which is part of their prophetic responsibilities. The First Amendment of the Constitution provides for the right of the citizens to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Previous lobbying legislation recognized this right to petition the government and specifically carved out exceptions in the law. Unfortunately and not surprisingly, Speaker Pelosi’s proposals have no such protection for the ability of our citizens to petition the government. In essence, this proposed legislation attempts to override the United States Constitution.

This is not the way our Republic is structured. Congress has no authority to amend our United States Constitution on its own accord. If the Freedom of Speech and the Free Exercise of Religion Clauses mean anything, they mean that church leaders and other citizens have the right to address the moral issues of the day and encourage participation of the citizenry in support of or opposition to legislative initiatives. Nancy Pelosi’s proposed legislation would have stopped Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from gathering support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In fact, as he addressed the social issues from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, he might well have had to register as a lobbyist.

What we need to do now is exercise our existing First Amendment rights of freedom of speech, freedom of association and the ability to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Our grievance is simple: Congress cannot silence churches and other organizations from grassroots involvement in critical issues of our day. Let us now petition the government aggressively and support an amendment to this proposed legislation by Senators Bennett, McConnell, Kyl, and Cornyn that would eliminate the provisions of this lobbying reform dealing with grassroots efforts. This way we can ensure that churches and many other public interest organizations would not have to register as lobbyists.

Jay Alan Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice.
Townhall.com ~ Jay Sekulow ** Speaker Pelosi to Monitor Your Church

What happened to the libtard's vaunted seperation of church and state? I guess the libiots want to keep the church out of the state but keep the church under the thumb of the state. Or maybe it would really separate the church from the state, because the church would have no influence on the state... Kind of a reverse Bill of Rights thing.

I wonder which way the Black Caucus is going to go on this one, given that most of their constituents are churchgoing Baptists and those churches get out the vote down south. This is just another step in the Demented-crats' assault on the First Amendment. What a bunch of hypocrits; the libtards seem to believe in free speech only for themselves.

Grass roots usually apply to the conservative movement because the liberal machine is well oiled with money. That's what Puglosi and the other socialists are seeking to stem.

Does this mean we will finally get serious about monitoring the terrorist recruiting activities at the mosques in America? Don't count on it... When black churches and mosques pontificate, that's just cultural diversity!

Posted by yaahoo_ at 4:03 PM EST

Updated: Saturday, 13 January 2007 4:12 PM EST

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Mood:  loud

Liberals' attempts to silence me

By Melanie Morgan -- Archive

The week that was provided interesting examples of how desperate and pathetic liberals have become.

Their lust for political power, after having suffered one election defeat after another, has become so great that they don't seem to be trying too hard to hide the ugly aspects of liberalism. Now that they've won control of Congress, liberals feel emboldened to reveal their true selves.

Protesting the peanut farmer
Not that it should surprise anyone, but 14 advisory board members at the Carter Center resigned in protest yesterday, no longer able to tolerate the pro-Palestinian bias of the disgraced former president.

In their letter of resignation, the board members wrote of Carter, "You have clearly abandoned your historic role of broker in favor of becoming an advocate for one side."

No kidding.

The question then remains, how can honest journalists and political leaders in the free world continue to legitimize Jimmy Carter after he has proven time and again that he is on the wrong side in the struggle for freedom and liberty.

In Iran, Carter chose the wrong side. In North Korea, Carter chose wrong. In Iraq, Carter chose wrong. In Cuba, Carter chose wrong. In Israel and the Palestinian territories, Carter chose wrong.

Are there any terrorists, despots or dictators that Jimmy Carter has met that he wouldn't embrace? Can you think of one? Just one brutal, murderous tyrant who Jimmy Carter stood up to and said, "You are no friend of mine"?

Liberal hot air
On another front, reaction continues to pour in from my column last week, which exposed the blatant move by The Weather Channel to advocate a liberal stand on global warming.

Environmental activists are furious that I mocked the failed prediction by climatologists and weather forecasters about the 2006 hurricane season. The global warming crowd promised a devastating year of powerful cyclones fueled by the warming of the earth. As it was, not one single hurricane struck the United States during the entire hurricane season.

I pointed out that this was just one example of why listening to people who have been proven wrong about forecasts time and again, and letting them dictate how we lived our lives, was insane.

I suggest everyone read this copy of the June 24, 1974, article in Time magazine where the junk science crowd in climatology beat their chests about the coming ice age. The article is literally titled, "Another Ice Age." Now, just 30 years (and no ice age) later, they say the earth is heating up and the ice caps are melting.

How many times will these people be proven wrong about global warming before brave politicians stand up and confront those who are trying to engage in social engineering?

Liberal activists have been organizing online campaigns to flood The Weather Channel with letters denouncing me. In copies of the e-mails and letters sent to me, environmental activists have noted that this winter has been unseasonably warm and that this serves
as further proof of global warming.

Have I got bad news for the junk science crowd. AccuWeather has just issued a report called "Winter to Come With a Vengeance" announcing that "those who think that winter 2006-2007 is going to remain mild are in for a shock." Read the report for yourself.

By the way, this upcoming cold snap (which is already being felt today in the West) is a short-term weather variation, just as the recent warm temperatures along the East Coast have been. But arm yourself with this information the next time someone tries to use a warm spell as evidence for the junk science behind the global warming propaganda.

Silencing conservatives on the airwaves
A final thought for this week is a personal one.

I've been the target, as have a number of other conservative talk-radio hosts, of an effort by liberal bloggers to get me fired for engaging in what these far-left activists are calling "hate speech."

The move by liberal activists to silence conservative radio hosts comes after the failure of the left-wing Air America radio network. Given that liberalism couldn't compete and win in the marketplace of ideas, liberals now want to silence conservative radio hosts.

One anonymous online blogger compiled audio clips edited to make it look like I was calling for the murder of Nancy Pelosi, when I did no such thing. (You can listen for yourself and understand how they are now trying to impugn my credibility by misrepresenting my words).

One blogger called for fining me and my station $325,000 for each "offense" so as to shut down our station. Another liberal blogger is lining up activists to do a drill to get Congress to pass a new Fairness Doctrine. Another blogger said they were going to work until they got me "off the air."

I've been on the air for 12 years at KSFO radio in San Francisco -- one of the highest-rated talk-radio stations in the nation.

Every day for four hours I sit behind a radio microphone, fighting for a better America that promotes freedom, liberty, security, honesty and integrity. That calculates to be about 1,200 minutes every week. That's a total of more than 60,000 minutes each year for 12 years.

Over the course of all these years, I have of course said things I regretted, or worded things in a way I wished I hadn't. When that happens I've retracted the statement and made a public apology, such as I did concerning comments made about Sen. Barrack Obama. You should read my statement on this matter here.

Despite the efforts by liberal censors to silence me, I will never back away from what I believe in: a strong national defense, respect for the men and women of the United States military, a secure border and enforcement of our nation's immigration laws, lower taxes, less government regulation in our lives and in business, respect for the values of decency, honesty and morality.

Any efforts to silence me are just further proof of how desperate and pathetic liberals have become.

Get Melanie's brand new book, "American Mourning: A Story of Two Families" – the whole truth about Cindy Sheehan

Melanie Morgan is chairman of the conservative, pro-troop non-profit organization Move America Forward and is co-host of the "Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Show" on KSFO 560 AM in San Francisco. Morgan is co-author of "American Mourning," which reveals shocking new revelations about anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.
World Net Daily.com ~ Melanie Morgan ** Liberals' attempts to silence me

Posted by yaahoo_ at 1:14 AM EST

Updated: Saturday, 13 January 2007 1:29 AM EST

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