Don't know if you have ever heard about China's 2,000 year old terracotta warriors, but this is a fascinating story. It's the story of over 7,000 life-size warriors, built out of terracotta. My thanks to my good friend River West.
Byron York of National Review Online has a good interview with Fred Thompson. Senator Thompson talks about a variety of issues, including Harriet Miers, the surge, Iran, tax cuts and more.
Nancy Pelosi has promised Minority Leader John Boehner an investigation into the "stolen vote." Now, she is seeking to limit the time and money spent on the investigation. It looks like a big fight is brewing.
Oprah Winfrey held a fundraiser for Barack Obama and expected it to raise three million dollars for Obama's campaign. Not a bad sum of money. Wonder who Hillary has to compete with Oprah? Maybe Bill.
British Commander General Sir Mike Jackson, who has been very critical of Rumsfeld, said we can't pack up and leave Iraq before the conditions are right. See the full article at Captains Quarter.
Powerline has a post saying that the Islamist terrorists who were planning an attack on U.S. installations in Germany had orders to act by September 15. Why that date? Well, evidently that was the date they thought General Petraeus was going to deliver his report to Congress. Of course, that's not the correct date, but be sure to read the Powerline post, paying particular attention to how the German authorities found out about the attack.
Another Republican Senator is going to announce his retirement from the United States Senate. Chuck Hagel is reportedly going to announce on Monday that he will not run for re-election, nor will he run for any other office. I know a lot of people will be happy with this announcement. But, I think we are just losing Republican Senators at a time when we can't afford to.
Dave Littlefield has been the Pirates General Manager since July 31, 2001. Today the Pirates fired him, replacing him on an interim basis by Brian Graham, the team's director of player development. All I can say is, "It's about Time!!!"
General David Petraeus has sent a letter to our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Read the entire letter here.
Now, how is that for a headline. I've heard it on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. I don't know about the rest of you, but Osama Bin Laden has nothing to say that I want to hear. I just wish we would capture this guy. Supposedly, the video of Bin Laden, fake or dyed beard and all, will be released prior to the September 11 anniversary. Experts are guessing that the tape will include references to attacks that are to come. Well, that has been happening since the attacks on the World Trade Center, and thanks largely to the efforts of our government, they haven't been successful. Let's hope that they won't be successful again.
Ok, all you supporters of the fair tax. Bruce Bartlett, the guy who attacked the Fair Tax a few weeks ago with his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal is at it again. As you may recall, I asked all of you to vote on whether you favored the fair tax or not. Almost 250 of you responded, which is pretty good for my new blog just getting started. Now Mr. Bartlett has a another article, this time in the New Republic. He starts out really attacking the Church of Scientology, then toward the end of the op-ed he again attacks the Fair Tax. What I would like for all of you to do is read his op-ed in the New Republic, and then leave a comment here. I will wait a few days, then forward those comments directly to Mr. Bartlett or a publication that will do so.
Bill Frist has long been my political hero, and for reasons just like this. Over the years Senator Frist has done so much work like the Survive to 5 Campaign, that no one knows about. He is a remarkable human being, and someone for whom I have the utmost respect. According to Save the Children more than 10 million children die each year before reaching age 5, and three in five deaths are considered preventable through low-cost medical intervention. Save the Children will announce tonight at their 75th anniversary benefit in New York that Senator Frist will head the Survive to 5 Campaign.
The Washington Times has an article that basically calls the General Accounting Office on what the Times refers to as its "disinformation." The Times makes several valid points about the GAO "progress report". First, it forgets to mention the fact that Sunni Arabs in Anbar province have turned against al Qaeda; second, the GAO forgets to mention the fact that as many as 30,000 former insurgents have joined the Iraqi government and coalition forces in fighting al Qaeda. But the most bizarre thing the Times found about the GAO report was their assertion "that there is no clear and reliable evidence that the level of sectarian violence was reduced." It sounds like the GAO is doing it's usual partisan job here.
Chuck Todd of NBC News has an analysis of last night's Republican debate. According to him there were three clear winners tonight, Giuliani, Huckabee and Thompson. And there was one big loser - Romney. Interesting.
Powerline has a good article on the Democrats treading water on Iraq. According to Powerline different sources are reporting that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and their cronies are no willing to work with Republicans if they can get them to vote for even a minor troop withdrawal. According to the Politico "Democrats are also worried that they may be losing their political edge on the war, especially as a few congressional Democrats have publicly noted the signs of progress after returning from trips to Iraq.
My friend Sean sent this letter to his local newspaper. I think he has it just right, and wanted to share it with all of you (with Sean's permission, of course)
With his entry into the presidential race today, Sen. Fred Thompson provides GOP primary voters with a chance to return the party back to its core principles of limited governmental power. Early in his career, Thompson served as Minority counsel on the Senate's Watergate committee that helped to expose the abuses of the Nixon administration. Later on, he helped expose corruption in a parole/bribery case in Tennessee that brought down Governor Ray Blanton. In his announcement speech, he said that "a government that can do anything for you, can do anything to you". These are apt words in a time where our retirement system is, due to congressional "borrowing", in deep trouble, where a plan for a simplified tax code is buried in committee while special interests continually vie for breaks, and where in just a few years federal
government spending has doubled, to no apparent benefit. His advocacy of Federalism, the principle of returning Federal power to the states seems to be the best solution.
Sen. Thompson also believes that our National Security is in need of reevaluation. While the Islamic Terrorist threat is of primary concern, Sen. Thompson chaired hearings that dealt into Chinese influence in US elections, and served as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute studying the Far East and China's growing aggressive posture.The recent Chinese cyber-attack on Pentagon computers illustrates Sen. Thompson's foresight on China.
Sen. Thompson is right when he said that "borders security is national security". Not only are leaky borders begging terrorists to enter, but the expense of illegal immigrants to our federal, state, and local budgets help to jeopardize our countries prosperity.
Perhaps these times will fit this man, I urge GOP voters to support this honest, plain speaking man in these trying times.
Sean
Well, the Republican debate has finally ended. Who was the big winner? Try none of the above. Most of the candidates tried their best to skirt the issues. The biggest loser of the night? Definitely Ron Paul. His answers were so out of touch with the American people. As near as I can figure, Mr. Paul wants to do away with 99.9% of the Federal government. Now that may not be a bad idea, but I don't think he will get too many votes with that.
Tom Tancredo made absolutely no headway. He proved again tonight that he is a one issue candidate and while that issue - immigration - is important, it will not get him the nomination. I think that Mr. Tancredo will drop out of the race soon. Duncan Hunter scored a few points with his pledge to build all of the fence within the first six months. But again, he comes across as not having much substance.
Sam Brownback added nothing to the debate. He continues to argue for morality, but that issue, while important, pales in comparison to threats of terrorism and the War in Iraq. Frankly, Brownback preaches morality, but it is an empty message. Mike Huckabee sure won the argument with Ron Paul, but I have a feeling that his glib comments are not going to resonate very well with the American people.
Mitt Romney seemed to be really off of his game. I have seen him much sharper than he was tonight. Rudy Giuliani just simply talked too much like the Mayor of New York, rather than a Prsidential candidate.
John McCain did better than any of those on stage tonight, but the biggest winner was the man who wasn't there - Fred Thompson.
River West has written another very interesting blog at Senator Bill Frist's site Volpac. As always, River gives us a lot of things to think about.
“HUMAN-ANIMAL” EMBRYO RESEARCH
acceptable or no?
Agreeing in principle at least Regulators have decided to allow human-animal embryos to be created and used for research. I am wondering how citizens feel about these new developments.
Scientists wanting to use hybrids would still need to make individual applications with the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HEFA) it says. 2 teams from England’s Kings College London and Newcastle University have already applied to the HFEA to use hybrid embryos.
An HFEA consultation shows a wider majority of the public favoring the idea when told it could pave the way for therapies for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease than those opposing the idea. Opponents have said many people still would be quite horrified by such a plan.
Scientists want to create hybrid embryos by merging human cells with animal eggs in a bid to extract stem cells. The cells form the basic building blocks of the body and have the potential to become any tissue making them essential for research. The embryos would then be destroyed within 14 days.
At the moment scientists have to rely on human eggs left over from fertility treatment but they are not always good quality and now in short supply. Here is a look at what a few other countries around the world have legislated.
USA - Federal funds can only be used for research involving pre-existing embryos - such as those left over from fertility treatment - and there is a ban on hybrid embryos
Australia - Embryos allowed to be created for research, but human-animal hybrids banned. The only exception is to test the quality of sperm
Canada - Legislation bans the creation of human-animal embryos
Elsewhere - Other countries do not specifically legislate on hybrid embryos. But Italy and Germany only allow the use of pre-existing embryos and many others including Austria, Norway and Tunisia do not allow embryo research at all.
As Liberals say they will bring stem cell and human animal embryo research up for a vote again I think we all want to stay apprised of their intentions. You can by clicking below (or copy/paste to your browser) and selecting Health Care updates to be sent directly to you via email.
Written by river west, iFrist Volunteer Leader
To sign up for Senator Frist's healthcare e-mail updates, click here
My good friend John LeBoutillier takes a look at the Republican and Democratic field for President in a Newsmax article entitled "Fred Thompson Bursts Onto the Scene With a Yawn" Ouch!! You may not agree with John on every issue, but he sure makes you think. Right now John thinks the race for the White House will be Romney vs. Clinton. Won't that be an ugly contest?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has suggested to government agencies "when in doubt, tilt toward the veteran." The Court went on to note that the issues in the case of Jose D. Hernandez and its approach to the issues was "consistent with the canon that veterans' benefits statutes are liberally construed in favor of the veteran." The Hernandez case stemmed from a charge by Mr. Hernandez that he had been wrongfully charged military leave from 1980 to 2001, therefore causing him to use vacation time, sick leave and leave without pay to perform some of his reserve duties.
The Court also said "It also helps to ensure that veterans are appropriately given the benefit of the doubt and fully enjoy the presumption that veterans' benefits statutes are to be resolved in their favor". Good opinion and about time.
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