Mark May 14, 2008 on your calendars because it is a day that will live in infamy. It was the day that the Bush Administration and the Interior Department handed the Sierra Club and other extreme environmentalists the ultimate weapon. They are now in possession of a weapon that will rain fire on the US economy more devastating than any WMD ever devised by man.

Polar Bear Is Named 'Threatened' Species

U.S. Cites Shrinking Arctic Ice

By Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 15, 2008; Page A01

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne listed polar bears as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act yesterday, saying the loss of Arctic sea ice in a warming climate could drive them to the brink of extinction in less than four decades.

Although the Bush administration handed environmentalists a victory they had sought for more than three years, Kempthorne said he would ensure that his decision did not "open the door" for activists to force the adoption of limits on greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

The act "is not the right tool to set U.S. climate-change policy," he said in a news conference. "This has been a difficult decision. But in light of the scientific record and the restraints of the inflexible law that guides me, I believe it was the only decision I could make."

This statement by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has to be the most naive, misguided statement ever uttered by a government official. He says his decision would not "open the door for activists to force the adoption of limits on greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming"? He has to be absolutely brain dead if he thinks his action today isn't going to be used by activists to ram through everything their heart's desires. He has effectively given them, and activist judges, God like powers to regulate every single aspect of human behavior. What he has done is tied a "threatened" species to global warming, and has said that global warming is a direct threat to the Polar Bear. What this means is that anything that is even thought to contribute to global warming will be a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

This has the potential of stopping all economic activity in its bear tracks. Dirk Kempthorne also said

"Kempthorne made clear that the decision would not justify regulating emissions from power plants, vehicles or other human activities."

Oh sir, this is second most naive statement ever uttered by a government official. This decision not only can shut down every carbon emitting factory but it has killed any possibility of drilling in ANWAR and has the potential to stop oil drilling or even oil refining anywhere in the United States or its territories. Don't just stop at oil, he has declared global warming a threat to an endangered species which means All human activity that is thought to contribute to global warming is now a violation of the Endangered Species Act. The very act of starting your car could be ruled a violation.

This is a big day for environmentalist because they have been given the ultimate weapon. Starting today it doesn't matter if global warming is real or a hoax, that argument is completely irrelevant now because extreme environmentalists will move forward boldly in the courts and will only be limited by their own imaginations. The Sierra Club can now hold aloft a huge banner saying "Mission Accomplished" Because the Bush administration has granted them absolute power.



Trackbacks and other links: Michelle Malkin; Hot Air; One Utah; Sciforums; Suitably Flip; Black Bear Blog; Presto Pundit; Reality Check; Say Anything; Hugh Hewitt: ''Polar Bear Decision Day';

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Hillary Clinton won big in the West Virginia race, handing Obama one of his worst defeats yet. Clinton won overwhelmingly with white women and men, exposing one of Barack Obama's main weaknesses and could spell his undoing in November.

Whites, Women Give Hillary Huge Win in W. Virginia

Hillary Rodham Clinton coasted to a large but largely symbolic victory in working-class West Virginia on Tuesday, handing Barack Obama one of his worst defeats of the campaign yet scarcely slowing his march toward the Democratic presidential nomination.
FULL STORY

Obama has lost most all the major states, and after the fiasco with the "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright controversy, he has seen his support among middle class and lower class whites deteriorate. He still enjoys massive support among African Americans and Hispanics, but will that be enough for a victory in the general election? There are surely more controversies to follow and it will be interesting to see how Obama weathers them. He is also going to have to present more specific positions on issues because his penchant for sloganeering and empty rhetoric will only take him so far.

Obama's Achilles Heal isn't white racism because earlier in the campaign he enjoyed wide support from middle and lower class white men and women. The support from this segment of America has dropped since the Wright revelation and other information that has come to light. If it was about racism he never would have had that support in the first place. The truth of the matter is that many white Americans are uncomfortable with electing someone who subscribes to Black Liberation Theology and has at least tangential ties to the Black Panther Party, Nation of Islam, and the Weather Underground. The West Virginia race illustrated how much ground he has lost from white America because of it.

Barack Obama also made a verbal gaff that has some conservative tongues wagging. In a speech he forgot how many states there are. As he fumbling over his words he blurted out that he would like to be President of all 57 states. Hmmm, wonder where he came up with the number 57? Well according the an article at Stoptheaclu.com it may have been a Freudian slip because there happens to be exactly 57 Islamic states in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, with a permanent delegation to the UN.? Maybe, but it's certainly fun to make the connection. Cao from Cao's Blog sent me more information: See this video here. Who knows, It could have been a hidden slight on his wife Michelle who's sometimes outlandish statements are reminiscent of the always irrepressible Theresa Heinz Kerry who is the heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune. Obama's slip could be a veiled reference to her because of Heinz 57, or maybe he plans on some old fashioned imperialism, perhaps annexing Canada or maybe even Mexico? That would solve the illegal immigration problem wouldn't it?






Trackbacks and links: Stop The ACLU; Caos Blog; Michelle Malkin; Hot Air; Slublog; The Moderate Voice; Blogs of War; Andrew Sullivan;

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Just when I thought I could actually hold my nose and vote for John McCain he does something that makes even a begrudging vote very difficult. In order to garner votes by liberals and "green" (green is the new red) moderates, at the expense of the conservative base, he has decided to take on Algore's mantra and called global warming "indisputable".



--Update 5/13 3:05pm MDT--

According to Newsmax Mike Huckabee is on John McCain's short list for his VP choice. He may pick up some evangelicals with this choice but he will completely lose the West and probably the East. Either McCain has decided he can win without conservative backing or he feels conservatives will vote for him regardless because we do not want Barack Obama. He is wrong in both counts. Conservatives are notorious for staying home when they feel ignored or if their principles are being compromised. Without conservative backing or without that base being split with the specter of Mike Huckabee being his running mate, McCain will go the way of losers like John Kerry, AL Gore, Mike Dukakis , Walter Mondale, and George McGovern. Barack Obama must be saying "Please let it be Huckabee".

--End Update--

Well I'm sorry Senator McCain but I reserve the right to dispute global warming any time. He says he wants to use free market principles to stop global warming? I thought it was capitalism and free markets that caused global warming? Besides scientists are now saying that due to a cooling trend global warming will be put on hold for a decade which gives global warming alarmists another ten years to warn with their catastrophic predictions. Notice they are always moving up the date? It's always something in the future but we must act now.

The sad part is this may give political cover to other Republicans that want to push global warming. Many are jumping on the bandwagon because it is politically popular right now. They are trading principles for political expediency which is exactly why the party is struggling right now. Whether we spend billions on global warming using "free market principles", or spending billions on it with socialism, the results will be the same, billions of dollars thrown down a rat hole all based on a hoax. When the jig is up and global warming is exposed as a fraud neither the Republicans nor Democrats will have clean hands and both will be complicit in the biggest scam ever perpetrated in history.

McCain's visit with La Raza (The Race) was also inexcusable. There are many Hispanic groups that he could visit that don't have aims to reclaim the entire South Western United States, including his home state of Arizona, for Mexico.

One thing is for sure if McCain was to name Mike Huckabee as his VP running mate I will be 100% against him even if it means enduring four years with a Democrat President.

So who shall we support? Bob Barr threw his hat in the ring as a Libertarian. I don't think so. there is also Ron Paul, Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Hillary, Obama, or McCain? It's a veritable rogues gallery of choices this election season. How about none of the above? Now that's a candidate I can support.



Trackbacks and Links: Michelle Malkin; Hot Air; The Daily Conservative; Right Wing NutHouse;

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I was going to live blog the convention but UVSC has no public wireless internet connection, so I will just give my report.

I do have a couple of small gripes. First of all I did not like the venue. Nothing against UVCC (Utah Valley Community College), but the arena and surrounding area was too cramped to host such a large event. In past state conventions the candidates mingled more with the delegates prior to the start of the convention. This time it seems like many of them only had staff and supporters manning their booths and answering questions. In 2004, then candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. was very accessible, but this time he was there just long enough to give a speech. My congressmen Rob Bishop took time to talk to me and answer some of my questions. Congressman Rob Bishop personally called me the other day and thanked me for being a delegate, that along with being available at the convention to talk to other delegates while running unopposed was very impressive to me. I thanked him for being so gracious even though he didn't have to. He said he felt bad he was not able to get a hold of all the delegates in his area. Just attempting was a class act in my book. Thank you being for my Congressman Mr. Bishop I was happy to support you even though it was by acclamation. Same to Representative Curtis Oda, my legislator who was also very gracious even though he had already sewn up the nomination at the Davis County Republican Convention. That says a lot about both these fine men's characters.

It was a very uneventful convention until later on. That is when the fireworks started. Jason Chaffetz, who is a former chief of staff to Governor Huntsman, came within 10 votes of unseating Representative Chris Cannon. In the beginning there were three candidates vying for the 3rd Congressional District seat, but lawyer and brother of former Governor Mike Leavitt, David Leavitt had been eliminated earlier and had thrown his support to Cannon. After Leavitt had been eliminated he pulled off a stunt that may have played a part in nearly ousting the incumbent Congressmen. Before the 3rd balloting for the 3rd Congressional district and right after the chair had told the campaigns not to distribute campaign literature inside the arena several lines of young Leavitt supporters entered from all four corners wearing Leavitt t-shirts and holding up Cannon signs. The room erupted in boos and the groups were ordered to put down the signs and leave the arena. Some complied but many kept marching throughout the arena. It took several minutes to get them all out. By then the damage was done. I thought at the time how stupid this was and could easily cause a backlash. I was right. It's not a good idea to upset those that hold your political future in their hands.

Senator Orin Hatch urged the state GOP to throw their support to John McCain. He said we all must be united to beat the Democrats this fall. The delegates chosen to attend the National Republican convention are bound by party rules to vote for Mitt Romney since he won the Presidential Republican primary with 90% of the vote. A resolution that would have released them to vote for McCain was not brought up for a vote. After Hatch's remarks a John McCain video was presented. After the video some delegates yelled "Where's the Ron Paul video?". You have to hand it to the dedication of those Ron Paul supporters.

We also were given a rant by Mike Ridgway He was running for National Republican Committeeman. Not that he thought he could win, but he knew it would give him a platform to since each candidate was given an opportunity to speak. He doesn't believe in the convention system, but thinks there should only be primaries. In Utah regular citizens like myself can attend caucus meetings where we elect each other delegates to the county and state conventions. This year I was elected to both. During the convention we vote on many candidates running for the same office. If one candidate can get 60% of the delegate votes then they are the Republican nominee. If the two highest vote getters do not get 60% then a primary is conducted just for those two candidates. Often times it can take several rounds of voting to come up with those two candidates. It is not a perfect system but I believe it is superior to a general primary. Candidates and the parties do not have to spend massive amounts of money to reach a few hundred delegates like they do when they have to reach the entire population in their areas. This gives people like Jason Chaffetz a chance to possibly unseat a congressman like Chris Cannon. In a general primary it is usually the person who has the largest war chest and can spend the money on TV ads that win. Primaries are also more prone to mischief (just look how successful Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" has been) and favor special interests since so few people vote in primaries, especially in off year elections.

I had a good time at the convention. Hats off to everyone involved. Congratulations to the winners, better luck next time to the losers, and good luck to those who will face off in primaries.


Thanks for the hat tips:

KNVU's For The People: What you get with a Governor with an 85% appproval rating-

Utah Republican Party : Leadership That Delivers, Utah State Convention 2008 official blog

Other links:

Two Guys from Quantico: Utah State Republican Convention

Phil Windley's Technometria: Final, 2008 Utah State Republican Convention

Sausage Grinder

Basically Speaking: Statesmen or Politician?

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Recently the Catholic Church, directly from the Vatican, issued an edict instructing all diocese and parishes to withhold all records from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) including any of its members. The LDS Church has the worlds largest family history library which many in and outside the church rely on to trace their family trees.

Read of Catholic records controversy in the Deseret Morning News

The LDS Church depends on records from civic and various church records To build the family history library. Without this valuable service the average person would find it difficult if not impossible to trace their family lines more than a couple of hundred years. In the middle ages and up to the 18th century most governments did not keep track of individual records except for royalty and nobility. Churches in many cases are the only entities that kept records of individual members and now the Catholic Church has essentially closed the door to family researchers to trace back to that period since prior to the reformation the Christian world was Roman Catholic.

The Catholic Church have done this because they object to the practice of baptism for the dead calling it an "erroneous practice" even though it is mentioned in the New Testament*. What is erroneous is their and many other peoples misconception of baptism for the dead. As LDS we believe everyone ever living must be baptized to live with God in the afterlife. Since God gave that commandment He had to provide a way for everyone to at least have the opportunity because God cannot give a commandment that is only available to some and then hold accountable those who never had the chance. No merciful or loving God worthy of worship would do that. This is what baptism for the dead does, it gives everyone a choice to accept or reject the gospel. It does not make any dead person a Mormon and in no way denies anyone their free agency.

This edict from the Catholic Church is wrong, and has massive repercussions that I don't think the Vatican has fully considered. The LDS church reached an agreement with Jews to not baptize holocaust victims without their direct survivors permission. I'm sure that a similar accommodation could be made for the Catholic Church where their wishes can be respected, the LDS Church can follow their teachings and those of any faith or no faith at all can have access to their family records. It's the Christian thing to do.

*1 Corinthians 15:29 (King James Version)

29:Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

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Conservative and liberal bloggers alike are writing Hillary Clinton's political obituary today, and it does look like Hillary may have lost the nomination this time, but don't look for her to throw in the towel just yet.
The Clinton's are both ruthless and vindictive and will not go quietly. Hillary may not even be running for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination anymore but looking ahead at 2012. She knows 2012 will be her final shot at the presidency because she will be too old come 2016. The only thing standing in her way in 2012 is the same thing standing in her way in 2008, Barack Hussein Obama. She cannot let him win because that would in fact be the final stake through the heart of the Clinton political machine. Her only chance is to damage him during the primary and let McCain finish off the remains in the general election and she may even aid McCain behind the scenes. If Obama does win she may even undermine him to make him vulnerable in 2012. Never underestimate the depths that the Clinton machine will go to accomplish their objectives because to them nothing is off limits.

Look to the Hillary's nuclear option. Florida and Michigan are going to fight hard to get their delegates seated. Hillary has been fighting as well, but Obama has opposed any deal with these states to make their votes count. Democrats can never again say that Republicans disenfranchised voters in 2000 without looking like the hypocrites that they are.

Hillary Campaign:

I'm not dead!

Super-Delegates:

'Ere. She says she's not dead!

Obama Campaign:

Yes, she is.

Hillary Campaign:

I'm not!

Super-Delegates:

she isn't?

Obama Campaign:

Well, she will be soon. her campaign's very ill.

Hillary Campaign:

I'm getting better!

Obama Campaign:

No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.

Super-Delegates:

Oh, I can't take her like that. It's against regulations.

Hillary Campaign:

I don't want to quit the campaign!

Obama Campaign:

Oh, don't be such a baby.

Super-Delegates:

I can't take her.

Hillary Campaign:

I feel fine!

Obama Campaign:

Well, do us a favour.

Super-Delegates:

I can't.

Obama Campaign:

Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? She won't be long.

Obama Campaign:

Well, when's your next round?

Super-Delegates:

2012.

Hillary Campaign:

I think I'll go for a walk.

Obama Campaign:

You're not fooling anyone, you know. Look. Isn't there something you can do?

Hillary Campaign:

I feel happy. I feel happy.

[whop]

Obama Campaign:

Ah, thanks very much.

Super-Delegates:

Not at all. See you in 2012

Trackbacks and links:

1. Michelle Malkin
2. PAXALLES
3. Rhymes With Right
4. Is It All Over for Hillary? : Stop The ACLU
5. Conservatives for Hillary? - updated » Pursuing Holiness
6. Allahpundit: Hillary's game is over [in spite of Operation Chaos?] | The TIW Blog
7. Webloggin - Blog Archive » No Rocky Analogy for Indiana Squeaker, Clock Just About Down to Zero for Hillary Clinton
8. No Runny Eggs » Blog Archive » The Morning Scramble - 5/7/2008
9. Jules Crittenden » Not Dead Yet
10. Hillary Clinton’s Audacity of Denial (Illustrated with Video) - Shallow Nation
11. The Dan Lee Report » Blog Archive » Will Fla. & Michigan Democratic Voters Sue to have their votes counted?
    
12. Hot Air
    
13. Don Surbur

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Celebrities are being criticized for not practicing what they preach concerning global warming. They are flying gas guzzling private jets and require fleets of SUVs for their vast entourages. Algore's carbon footprint is so large it would take a mile long convoy of cement trucks full of Plaster-of-Paris and thousands of Boy Scouts to cast it. He should be called Al "big foot" Gore.

We as non-celebrities need to do more on our part to offset the lifestyles of these invaluable do-gooders. We just aren't sacrificing enough to allow these jet setters to enjoy the high life guilt free. We need to do without heat in our homes. That warm feeling in our hearts knowing we are doing our part to offset the lifestyles of the rich and famous should offset any frost building up on our sofas. Just make sure you are bundled up with parkas and plenty of blankets and you'll do just fine. Do we really need lights? Since turning our TV off is out of the question, since that would adversely effect our favorite celebrities and possibly put a crimp in their lifestyles, we can use the glow of our sets to light our homes so keep your TV on and get rid of all those power guzzling light bulbs. We should limit our driving exclusively to trips to the movie treater or video stores because that too will benefit our favorite celebrities and allow them to take their private jets to Milan, and Paris, and assorted exotic locations. We can walk or ride a bike to work. That twenty mile walk should do a lot to take off those extra pounds accumulated from sitting watching our favorite celebs living it up. So lets all cooperate and do our part to offset their lavish lifestyles. Do it for the stars! Do it for the planet! It's all up to you. If you are a celebrity you will know there are millions of people sacrificing everything so you can fly that private jet 100% carbon neutral.

From the Daily Mail

You hippy-crites! When it comes to saving the planet do celebrities practise what they preach?

Last updated at 10:15am on 6th May 2008

Is the hot air emitted by celebrities when they spout ecological platitudes a greenhouse gas?

If so, then the melting of the polar ice caps just moved a step closer, following calls by Trudie Styler, a leading celebrity ecological hypocrite - call them hippy-crites for short - for the general public to eat more locally grown vegetables.

Campaigning against food miles might seem an unlikely cause for Styler, given that a tribunal last year heard how she ordered her personal chef to travel over 100 miles to make a bowl of pasta for her youngest child and has sold olive oil and honey from her Tuscan estate, Il Palagio, 1,000 or so miles away, in Harrods in London.

So it was hardly surprising that an alert journalist present at the lecture, which was being staged as part of the Earls Court Real Food Festival, had the wit to question the environmental record of Styler and her husband Sting.

The couple's carbon footprint, the impertinent ink-stained wretch pointed out, has been estimated at 30 times greater than the average Briton's. How did Styler and Sting - who have seven homes - square that with their environmental crusading?

Styler conceded that as Sting "has a 750-person crew to bring around the world, it is a difficult challenge".

Her rare moment of ecological candour was shortly replaced by the more familiar self-congratulation and justification, however.

"I would like to think that we both work pretty hard for the rights of indigenous people and for the rights of conservation of the Amazon rainforest, but we do need to get around," she said.

Of course, Sting and Trudie's "do as I say not as I do" approach to the dilemma of environmental pollution is by no means unusual among the carbon-guzzling lifestyle of the celebrity elite.

Here's a roll call of some other startlingly hippy-critical celebrities:

Scroll down for more...

Trackbacks and links: Michelle Malkin; Hillbilly White Trash; Simple Utah Mormon Politics: Aw, Crap! Global Warming Has Stopped!!!;

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Imagine being hewn down by a combine, or having your sex organs removed against your will, or having human children pull parts of your body off one by one while chanting "He loves me, he loves me not?".

This is the horror plants face everyday at the hands of an unthoughtful and uncaring species that view different lifeforms as object to be used for their own self gratification. Oh the indignity a flower has to go through by being separated from their roots and placed in nutrition free environments such as vases or wraps. This surely causes them to wither away to an agonizing and ultimate death only because some human male wants to get something from a human female.

For the sake of vanity we have created an underclass of plant we call weeds. These downtrodden and victim class plants have every right to live as we do, but we have callously declared open chemical warfare upon them just to make our lawns look nicer. We use our weapons of mass destruction to take the life out of these helpless life forms only because they are not pretty to our eyes, oh the shallowness of the human heart. Lawns are immoral anyway because it assumes ownership and no human has the right to own another life form.

Oh if we could only hear the silent scream of a lettuce plant when we unthoughtfully decapitate it and devour it's head in gruesome ghoulish manner reminiscent of some low budget zombie movie.

Vegetarians and especially Vegans are the worst. They decry the bloody slaughter of legged life forms, but hypocritically and cowardly kill millions of the most helpless lifeforms. These poor plants cannot run or defend themselves, but sit in terror watching their love ones be torn from the life giving Earth as they wait their doom to be shredded and sliced, then suffer the ultimate indignity of being placed in an unsanitary mouth and ground to bits by human teeth, to be swallowed and thrust into scalding burning acid where parts of the plant are forced to become part of their murderer or even worse turned to a smelly glob that is defecated out of the killer and flushed down the toilet.

But wait, hope my be on the horizon for our stemmed friends. In Switzerland a movement is growing to stop this carnage and give rights and dignity to plant life.

Photo Courtesy of MichelleMalkin.com

The Silent Scream of the Asparagus
Get ready for 'plant rights.'
by Wesley J. Smith
05/12/2008, Volume 013, Issue 33

You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an ethics panel has weighed in on the "dignity" of plants and opined that the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The concept of what could be called "plant rights" is being seriously debated.

A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.

Enlightened humans must never consume any kind of life form. Sure they keep us alive but how dare we be so arrogant as to assume that our lives our superior to theirs.

Is it ok to eat plants or fruit that is already dead?

Definitely not since that would constitute the desecration of the dead, and if its immoral to eat a dead human then it is equally immoral to eat a dead plant.

What about eating fruit where you are not killing the tree or plant?

Fruit is the sex and reproduction organs of a plant. Would it ok for a being to take your sex organs against your will simply because they feel superior and entitled? I say absolutely not.

What about fruit that has already fallen from the tree?

This is also unacceptable because it is interfering with nature's method of reproducing the species. We do not have the right to interfere in any way in any natural process regarding other species.

What can we eat then?

I guess we could eat each other or just die off entirely which would forever put an end to racism, sexism, homophobia, and species-ism.

Watch this and you may never eat guilt free again...



Trackbacks and other links: Thanks for the hat tip Captain Mark; and Cranky Disposition;
Hot Air » Blog Archive » I blame Veggie-Tales;The DaleyGator » Blog Archive » Leftist stupidity raches new low;No Joke: Flowers Have RIGHTS in Switzerland | The Patriot Room;Sunday Links : Stop The ACLU;Suitably Flip;‘Okie’ on the Lam » Blog Archive » “Plant Rights” — More European Insanity;Win-win « Immanentize the eschaton; Sciforums.com; Dogfight At Bankstown;Maggie's farm - A non-QQQ, the "dignity of plants," and the cruel barbarism of Vegans; Opinipundit;

Pingbacks:

Green Genocide
Excerpt: Will it be 'Crime against Horticulture' to fill your car with Ethanol?
Weblog: Charlie Foxtrot - Green Genocide
Tracked: 05.05.08 - 7:11 am

---

Just in case the Animal Rights movement was not
Excerpt: Elevation of weeds to a status equal with man is a consequence of secularism and the "enlightenment." When this communion with God is broken and when God's plan for man and creation is denied then man is no longer the pinnacle of God's good creation...
Weblog: Palm Sundays
Tracked: 05.07.08 - 8:34 am

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Democrat Super-delegates may have an even harder decision to make if Barack Obama's campaign continues to falter. There are growing signs that Obama may be in real trouble. A new poll shows a decline in support for Obama among white middle class workers. (The very group that traditionally decides who wins the presidency) Only weeks ago Senator Obama enjoyed large support among this group but after the Reverend Wright controversy and Obama's reaction to it as well as his "bitter voter" comments have prompted voters to take a second look and many no longer like what they see.

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer Sat May 3, 10:24 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's problem winning votes from working-class whites is showing no sign of going away, and their impression of him is getting worse.

Those are ominous signals as he hopes for strong performances next week in Indiana and North Carolina primaries that would derail the candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. Those contests come as his candidacy has been rocked by renewed attention to his volatile former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and by his defeat in last month's Pennsylvania primary.

In an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll in April, 53 percent of whites who have not completed college viewed Obama unfavorably, up a dozen percentage points from November. During that period, the numbers viewing Clinton and Republican candidate John McCain negatively have stayed about even.

The April poll — conducted before the Pennsylvania contest — also showed an overwhelming preference for Clinton over Obama among working-class whites. They favored her over him by 39 percentage points, compared to a 10-point Obama lead among white college graduates. Obama also did worse than Clinton among those less-educated voters when matched up against Republican candidate John McCain.

"It's the stuff about his preacher ... and the thing he said about Pennsylvania towns, how they turn to religion," Keith Wolfe, 41, a supermarket food stocker from Parkville, Md., said in a follow-up interview. "I don't think he'd be a really good leader."

Just before the Pennsylvania primary, Obama said many small-town residents are bitter about their lives and turn for solace to religion and guns.

Obama was propped up like a rock star and was given little scrutiny at the beginning of the campaign. Part of his early success was simple charisma as well as being the anti-Hillary which many Democrats faulted for her early support of the Iraq war. Since the war has diminished as a campaign issue and disturbing facts about Obama have surfaced concerning his various associations have made many voters question their initial impression of the Illinois Senator. Democrat voters may not be comfortable with Hillary but at least they know her. The same can not be said about Barack Obama who has not eased the fears of those who question his affiliation with such figures as the Reverend Wright and William Ayers of the 60's domestic terrorist group Weather Underground. They are rightly wondering how much these associations have influenced his world view. Americans are uncomfortable with extremes from either end and so far his denials have not rung true because how could he associate himself with a radical church for 20 years and not be influenced? Super delegates may be between a rock and a hard place because their decision may come down to voting for Obama to keep African Americans from bolting the party even though it may doom their chances in November, or voting for Hillary because in the end she may be the more electable.

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So this is what they do in India when they are not "waiting for your call".




From Breitbart.tv

Muslims in western India have been observing a bizarre ritual - they've been throwing their young children off a tall building to improve their health. The faithful have been observing the ritual at a shrine in Solapur, in western India's Maharastra, for more than five hundred years. They believe it will make their children strong and say no accidents have ever happened.

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