Headlines From the Edge

"I Was The Model For The Great Face Of Mars!"

Ninety-seven year old Sam Terwilliger of Austin, Texas claims that he was the model for the famous great face of Mars, and insists that attempts by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to convince the public that the face is a myth is proof of their colution with a Martian government. He is seeking US$7 million in compensation, citing loss of future royalties from space tourists.


"Two Chia Pets Marry!"

Mary Francis Dean of San Luis Obispo, California has owned the same two Chia Pets for ten years, and since they have, in her words, reached 'maturity', they needed to make a commitment. So she contacted ordained minister Billy Bob Wilder of the Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart located in Los Angeles, and he flew in to wed the happy couple in a quiet ceremony in Mary's beach side home. Mary says that the two plant 'pets'; a man with long hair, and a sheep have grown up together, and have always been the best of friends. But since ten years in Chia Pet years is almost twenty human years, they either needed to 'get hitched or go their separate ways'.


"US Government Announces Plan to Move to China!"

In a stunning announcement, US State Department sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, announced that the White House would reveal plans just before the upcoming congressional elections to move the entire country to China. "In keeping with the intent of Christopher Columbus, who was just looking for trade routes to the Orient, the president will put us where the valiant explorer meant us to be. We're going back to our roots, and the best way is to get back to Chris's route." This is meant to increase Republican's sagging poll numbers.


"Six Year Old Genetic Engineer Creates Own Little Brother!"

Little Danny Unger of Rochester, Indiana has always been a science aficianado, but his parents had no idea what they were getting into when they brought home a "Little Scientist Kit" from the toy store. It seems that Danny has wanted a brother for years, but Mum and Dad weren't providing one. So he started his own project with jar full of goo and a toenail. Six months later, 'Tony' was fully grown and ready for diapers!

Immigration

The immigration problem is not a simple issue. Immigrants built this country, and we'd be stupid to try to keep them out because of where they come from. At the same time, I don't like the idea of granting millions of illegals (and I'm not talking about a race here.... I mean illegals from anywhere) amnesty and citizenship just because they're here. I am a compromise kind of person. I think that these folks contribute immensely to the country, and we need to recognize that, but they have to admit that they broke the law and both sides have to work to a compromise. They need to meet in the middle... sit across a table and talk to each other. There needs to be some kind of documentation for everyone in the country working. For taxes, and benefits and legal representation, so they can't be taken advantage of. I'm not a fan of government, but it does have it's uses, and this is one. The constitution is worthless if you don't have a way of making sure it is followed everywhere, and reaches everyone in the country. Otherwise, undocumented workers are held hostage in a way, because they have no recourse if they're mistreated. So I think they need to put theeir names down somewhere... let them continue working to feed themselves and their families, but require them to start, at the same time, paperwork to at least get work permits. The paperwork needs to be cut so people are willing to finish it... people on the gov't payroll should provide low-cost assistance to get the paperwork done right, and we get all these people on the track to some proper status so they can be protected under the law. But at the same time, we should have a secure border, because not everyone who crosses illegally is innocent. There are criminals and fugitives who cross, and we owe it to the people in the country to know who is coming in. Not as an excuse to stop good people, but as protection. Just like when you lock your doors at night. And I think also that the Mexican government needs to take a hard look at why so many people are leaving a country so rich in oil and agriculture. Why are there so many poor people in so rich a country?

Money money money

Let me say from the start that I believe in capitalism. Not that money is the key to happiness, but competition is, as a rule, a positive thing. It motivates people to work harder, and it fuels the economy. No matter where you are in the free world, a market economy is the best working model. Economics brought down the Soviet Union and is turning Cuba into a backwater. And it's the only reason China is opening up markets to the west. And yet...

Most of the world's problems can be traced to money. Africa is, from an agricultural point of view, one of the richest continents on the planet. They also have heaps and heaps of oil. So why are so many people starving and dying there? It isn't because there's no food. It's because the thugs who run so many African countries are rich and corrupt and can only keep their people under control by starving them. They have food and oil to spare but are not willing to share it. Instead they horde their fortunes. If they didn't control all that, they be on an equal footing. It's all about money.

The Middle East is, without a doubt, one of the most troublesome parts of the world. That is because, religious issues aside, you have essentially a number of competing tribes and kingdoms selling oil to fund ancient hatreds and feuds. Strip away the diplomatic trappings, and that's what you have. I'm not saying anything against Islam. I'm saying that their political systems haven't changed substantially since the crusades. What am I getting at? Just that if the oil they have wasn't so valuable, the western world wouldn't have to worry about them. They could carry on ancient grudges all they want, and the rest of us wouldn't be held hostage to them. I know there are important issues at stake and problems there, and the western world is responsible for some of those problems. I just think we wouldn't be spending half of our pay to fill our gas tanks if it weren't for the effect of money in the region.

Money is even one of the things that fuels terrorism. Terrorists cannot hope to gain power through any honest means. Instead, they build their fortunes through drug running and piracy, and use much of the proceeds to help starving and suffering populations. That in turn gives them a foot in the door to countries looking for anyone to lead them. Anyone who'll feed the people. Hello, Africa. Are you listening?

I'm not saying that money is evil. Only people can be evil. But as long as the world is ruled by money, we're going to suffer because of it.

But how about here at home... in your home? We all shop the specials here and there. Coupons can save you lots of money. But what else could we do? Think about this: one of the most popular things we see for kids is the juice box. You know, the little cardboard or foil/plastic packet filled with sugary 'juice mix' that typically contains no more than five percent juice. Each of these will usually cost at least a dollar or two and contain less than 12 ounces of juice. At the same time, a single packet of kool-aid, costing less than a dollar (30 cents here in expensive Las Vegas) makes two quarts. The juice box is a convenience and a time saver, and with the need for most homes to have two incomes, it's easy to see why we pay a little more to save some time. It's just regrettable that we have to do wasteful things in order to conform to a skewed model of economics. Why do we have it? Because of capitalism? No. Ideally, capitalism should result in lower prices as competition increases. What causes prices to increase while wages fail to keep up? A lack of competition. Prices go up because they can. There's no reason not to, and every excuse to increase the profit margin. And when the government steps in to regulate the market, those companies respond by saving their profits by cutting overhead. Lay-offs and pay cuts protect the profit margin but gut the working class. Capitalism good. Greed bad.

What would you call it?

What would you call an organization that says for the record that it doesn't
care what it has to say, as long as the public comes away believing what
they are supposed to? Call it CNN. CNN says, "The content of the story is
not as important as what the viewer takes away from it." Oh sure, the
government does the same thing, but the press tells you that if you believe
the government, you're stupid, or you're a conservative (and according to
them, the only difference is that stupid means you don't understand them,
and conservative means you're evil). So really, the choice you have if you
don't go along with everything that the liberal elite tells you to believe,
you either need reeducating or you need shutting up. I won't dispute that
far right extremists, be they the christian right, or a home-grown terrorist
like Timothy McVeigh have done their share of evil, and try to silence all
dissent. And it was just plain stupid for the Bush administration (it wasn't
him, by the way. It was one of his idiots) to say that it is unpatriotic to
disagree with them. That was wrong and stupid and it has sure backfired on
them. So you can't say I'm blind to what they're doing. But aside from the
idiots I've mentioned, it is not for the most part the conservatives who
tell you what to think and what to believe and what to hate. (Although some
do). The political philosophy that most often, within its mainstream, tells
you what you can do or not do, or think or not think, or love or hate or
believe or disbelieve or shout down with the most indignant noise is the
liberal. And CNN is a perfect mouthpiece for the liberal machine. They make
no attempt to appear unbiased... otherwise the facts would be more important
than the propoganda value of the story. All you have to remember is who
started it. Ted Turner, who has been a poster boy for the liberals for more
than 25 years, and his ex-wife (how bad must he have been to chase her
off?), who posed on top of a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. Sure, that
was a long time ago, and sure she went on television decades later and
pretended to apologize, but how many American pilots were killed with that
gun? Her 'apology' wasn't heard by them. You know, the last organization
that acted like this began in post World War One Germany. They were known as
the National Socialist Party. The Nazis.

Disagree? That's okay. Let's talk about it.

A friend....

http://www.xanga.com/hipocrisyender is a friend's blog. Anyone reading this... if there's anyone reading this :) Have a look....

Good News... that the networks don't want you to know about....

U.S. Forces Succeed in E. Africa
Associated Press January 03, 2006DJIBOUTI - al-Qaida is active in Somalia, but U.S. counterterrorism forces are succeeding in keeping its influence from spreading in East Africa - using shovels as their weapons, a commander said Monday.
Maj. Gen. Tim Ghormley, who assumed command of the task force in May, said his troops are focusing on humanitarian projects including drilling wells and refurbishing schools and clinics to improve the lives of residents in the region and keep them away from the terror network.
"We know that al-Qaida al-Itihaad is in Somalia," Ghormley told reporters in an interview at his base in the impoverished nation of Djibouti. "They'd like to export that ... if we weren't there they would be."
While the al-Qaida linked group al-Itihaad was largely destroyed or disbanded by Ethiopian troops fighting inside Somalia by 1997, some of its members have regrouped under new guises and have begun to grow in strength, according to an International Crisis Group report released in July.
Somalia, divided into warring fiefdoms and with no central government, remains fertile ground for terrorists.
The Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, set up in this former French colony in June 2002, is responsible for fighting terrorism in nine countries around the Horn of Africa: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia in Africa and Yemen on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
"I believe we're winning," Ghormley said, sitting on a wicker sofa under ceiling fans in a reception hall. "You can't contain them (al-Qaida), but we can take away their recruiting pool and deny them access and that's what we're trying to do."
He singled out a well-drilling project near the eastern Ethiopian hamlet of Gode, which drew the gratitude of the villagers.
But he also acknowledged the threat posed by terrorists taking sanctuary in Somalia and other lawless regions. African governments have historically had a hard time providing security in remote rural areas or patrolling vast borders where nomads frequently cross without detection.
Ghormley spoke after a New Year's pep rally for troops by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace, who is on an eight-nation tour with his wife, Lynne, "American Idol" star Diana DeGarmo and other entertainers.
Pace told the troops their job was important despite the remoteness of the outpost, saying they were the "wave of the future."
The impoverished region, which is home to many Muslims, is a well-established recruiting ground for terrorist groups and U.S. officials describe it as a critical theater in the fight against terrorism.
The region has already suffered four terrorist attacks, all either claimed by - or attributed to - Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. In August 1998, car bombs destroyed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; in October 2000 suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole while it was refueling in Yemen; and in November 2002 attackers tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner minutes before a car bomb destroyed a hotel on Kenya's coast.