A new arms race

Make no mistake, we're locked into a deadly arms race with China and it's happening in Cyber Space. There were 79,000 attempts to break into American computers in 2005, including the Army's 101st Airborn and 82nd Airborn Division, and the 4th Infantry Division. This year those attempts have increased.

Beiijing is trying to achieve "electronic dominance" over it's global rivals by 2050, particularly the US, England, Russia, and South Korea. What's really alarming is that the Chinese military manuals say the US is the country they are most likely to go to war against!

Our "chimp-in-charge," President Bush, has said that he was going to talk with the Chinese about this while he was at the Olympic Games. So far, I haven't heard a word about it.

                                                                              TODAY'S THREAD:

How dangerous do you think these cyber attacks are and what do you think we (as a country) should do about them?

More Mudslinging with new book

It looks like Jerome R. Corsi,PH.D. is back to his dirty tricks with a new book called "Obama Nation," in which he frankly said he wrote to attack Obama (and damn the facts) and make sure he doesn't get elected. Critics are already pointing out factual errors, but Corsi who was the co-author of "Unfit for Command" another attack book on a presidential hopeful John Kerry, really doesn't care. Mere facts don't bother this man. See Swift Boat For Veterans for further proof of his low-road attack philosophy.

THREAD: How do you feel about this kind of low-down journalism?

A link for readers

For those readers who didn't see my last column on animal activists.

Political mudslinging reaches new low

Hillary Rodham Clinton may not have gone with all of Mark Penn's suggestions during the primaries, but she did use one of them. Penn, a longtime pollster and strategist for Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination for President, wanted Clinton to make an issue of Obama's "diverse, multicultural" upbringing.

He suggested, in a memo titled "Lack of American Roots" that Obama's, "roots to basic American values and culture are at best limited."

Fast forward to today and look at the Campaign that McCain's handlers are running. They have taken a cue from Penn's notebook, and are attacking Obama on nothing more than "he's different." McCain's campaign is taking the low road where Clinton left off, and he's trying to portray Obama as some sort of star - like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears - who is only an air-headed entertainer/speaker.

Forget about real issues like the economy and the two wars we're embroiled in, the McCain campaign would rather run a mudslinging contest and to rely on Jingoism to carry him to the White House.

 

TODAY's THREAD:

Is McCain's strategy going to be his key to the Oval Office?  

Presidential pardons are a bad idea

 

For our commander-in-thief, bumbling along in the final days of his occupancy in the White House, there is one last perk that he'll get this December.

Every lame duck president has taken advantage of this blanket pardon  idea since Washington pardoned the men who started the so-called whiskey rebellion in 1794.

Some past examples are; Nixon pardoned Jimmy Hoffa, President Ford pardoned Nixon, Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam war draft dodgers in 1977, President H.W. Bush pardoned Casper Weinberger, and President Clinton pardoned his buddy Marc Rich after getting hefty donations from his wife Denise.

My point? Abuse of power. There's been times, as in President Carter's case, that the pardon really was warranted. But there also has been numerous cases of really bad people getting a pardon like Marc Rich (who by the way fled the country and was pardoned while living overseas.)

Here's more information about presidential handouts.

TODAY'S THREAD:

Should the practice of presidential pardons be stopped? 

Monkeying around...

These guys are wondering when the next As It Stands column is coming out in the Mack Press?

The answer? August 19th

The subject is: economical pets...hmmmmm

Recycle Or Else!

Another week is underway blogger buddies and today's topic is about forced recycling.

Apparently San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom thinks that "enforced" recycling is the answer to the city's trash problems.

He floated the idea of having mandatory recycling, like some other cities do, and went one step further, creating the first composting law in the country.

Customers will get colored bins and God help them if the coffee grounds are found drizzling through the wrong colored bin! Gavin is proposing a $1,000 fine for violators. I suppose they will also have to create "trash police" to enforce such a draconian law!

TODAY'S THREAD:

Should people be forced to compost - even if it means enforcing the law with big fines?
.......................................................................................................................................................................

If it's Sunday...

...then it's time for As It Stands! Today's column deals with animal activists who go too far in their zeal to stop animal research.

They throw fire bombs at people's houses and cars. What's the difference between them and any other terrorists? None, in my opinion. I'm kinda funny about things like that.

When someone physically attacks others in the name of some ideology they are taking the wrong approach to solving their difference. Might does not make right. Terror does nothing but set the table for death.

I did not pick on all animal groups that are actively seeking better lives for animals. I picked out ALF (Animal Liberation Front) to highlight how some can be so negative. I offer the reader their full view by providing a link to their press office. I think some people are going to be surprised at what they read there.

TODAY'S THREAD

"Do you think groups like ALF are really helping the cause for animals?"

The rise and fall of a politician

Greetings to you all! Have you heard the latest? Once presidential candidate John Edwards has been a bad boy! The National Enquirer has been dogging him for a year now ever since they got a hot tip that he was cheating on his wife who is battling cancer. In a scene right out of the movies, Edwards ran from the reporter from the National Enquirer when he was caught trying to slip out of the motel where his girlfriend (and possibly new daughter) were staying at 2 a.m. in the morning.
He ran right into a men's bathroom and blocked the door! Can you imagine what a scene that was?
So, the next day he had to fess up to the mainstream press (who by the way felt sheepish about getting scooped on such a big story by a "rag" publication) and tell them he had an affair (as in past tense). The problem with that is why was he visiting her then at that time of night? There's something rotten (and not in Denmark) about his claims that the baby girl is not his.
If Obama had him down as a possible veep, that thought has vanished with all of Edward's credability with voters. Just last year some national organization gave him the Daddy-of-the-Year award! Talk about irony. The guy even admitted that he was in love with himself!
.........................................................................................................................................................................
TODAY'S THREAD:
Why is it that so many politicians cheat on their spouses?

A passing of the torch?

Greetings blog buddies! As you know today marks the opening day of the Olympics. Our chimp look-alike Commander-in-Thief started things off real swell by knocking China's Human Rights record. If it wasn't for the fact that the Bush regime totally ignores human rights I wouldn't have had a problem with W's speech. But propaganda is all he knows. His timing on the world scene has been consistently horrid. He knows just what to say to tick off the rest of the world.
I find it ironic that Bush is trying to take the high road when in fact all he travels are the low roads!
The Chinese are going all out to impress the world with their architectual wonders, i.e., The Bird's Nest and The Ice Cube.
What's really going on is a passing of the torch. But not the Olympic torch. America and the rest of the world are being shown that China's military and economic power deserves to carry the torch of the world leader.
America has been building up to this economic change of the guard for year's by importing everything China makes. Forget about the quality of the stuff they turn out. It's cheap and the masses can usually afford it.
So when they light that big Olympic cauldron in The Bird's nest the symbolic ceremony will be hailing the world's competition in sports and China's economic power in the world.

TODAY'S THREAD:

Are you going to watch the Olympics or have they become too political?