Gary Player is 72 years young. A fitness fiend and one of golfs 3 senior gentlemen. He is the lesser known of Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer, but of the 3 he is the only one still actively competing in the Masters. When he launched his tee shot Thursday he broke Arnold Palmer’s record of 50 Masters tournaments. Although Arnold had 50 consecutive appearances. Player started his professional career in 1957 at the age of 25 and is a 3 time Masters Champion winning in 1961, 1974 and 1978.

I watched a replay of the first two rounds and was both amused and amazed at the physically fit 72 year old as he methodically approached the most treacherous golf course in the majors. His second round score of 83 is only 11 strokes more then his age, but unfortunately left him outside of the cut to participate in the weekend rounds.

 ”Ive always said the thing about second [is] only your wife and your dog know about it,” he said, adding, “that’s if you’ve got a good wife and a good dog.”

Player also holds the record for most British Open events - 46.

The wins represent a large part of the success for a player who won nine career majors and is one of only five to have earned the career Grand Slam.

Watching him made me realize how special he, Jack and Arnold are to the game and as reminders of our own mortality. I remember growing up watching them, never considering what it will be like to not have them around to watch and enjoy. Today there are one or two guys on tour that help fill the void, but it is unlikely that I will be alive to see them retire into the winter of their careers as I have Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.

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An article in this morning’s Seattle Times discusses more about the problem concerning previously reported disappearance of honey bees and the affect on the human food chain.

 Bee keepers in Washington were relieved last year when they were spared the initial wave of the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). However this year they are reporting more than a 30% attrition rate of their stock of hives due to a new pathegon called nosema ceranae, that causes a more aggressive and more persistent disease. The fungus attacks the bee’s gut, making it impossible to process food. The bees finally starve to death.

 Washington State crops impacted by this phenomonen account for about $1.8 billion dollars annually. In particular the apple crop is highly dependent on the pollination work done by the bees.

 This problem if not solved could have wide sweeping and deeply cutting consequences across the globe. It will cause food prices to sky rocket, major agricultural markets to be damaged or possible collapse and very possibly require that humans change dietary habits simply because certain types of foods aren’t available or simply cost to much.

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Juan McCain has an uphill battle trying to convince the conservative base that he will represent them on fundamental issues of long term or permanent tax cuts, enforcement of immigration laws, gun ownership, right to life, appointment of conservative judges and business friendly policies. He can not stand on his record while making those promises. Here is a review of McCain’s record.

For starters, there was McCain-Feingold. This bill was well intended. The purpose was to regulate the way in which corporations, and phony non profits funded by special interest groups, advertise within 30 days of an election. The intended affect was to prevent lobbyist groups with deep pockets from literally buying an election simply because they had more financial backing to advertise. However, some argue that the bill injected more government intervention into what should be a free process. What is inarguable is that America now has what amounts to a federal speech code, enforced with jail terms of up to five years. Not to mention McCain’s association with another liberal senator.

McCain-Kennedy was perhaps one of the biggest political blunders of his career. This was a failed attempt to undermine an already poorly administrated immigration enforcement policy. As they say, you can tell a lot about someone, based on who they associate with. Enough said.

McCain-Lieberman requires reduced emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, beginning in 2010. Some view this as an attack on American industry that will result in a huge economic impact.

According to a study by Charles River Associates, if implemented:

• would cost the average U.S. household at least $1,300 per year by 2010, rising to at least $2,300 per year by 2020;
  • would cost the U.S. economy at least 250,000 jobs in 2010, and at least 610,000 jobs by 2020;
  • would force at least a 31 percent rise in electricity prices by 2010, and at least a 43 percent rise in electricity prices by 2020; and
  • would force at least a 23 percent rise in gasoline prices by 2010, and at least a 37 percent rise in gasoline prices by 2020.

  Under the plan, the federal government would lose at least $18.8 billion per year in tax revenue by 2010, with the states suffering similar, proportional losses.

  The new Charles River study is especially informative for state legislators because it breaks down costs on a state-by-state basis reflecting local economic factors.

  For example, the study reports Illinoisans would suffer even more under McCain-Lieberman 2004 than the national average. McCain-Lieberman 2004 would cost the average Illinois household at least $700 per year by 2010 and at least $1,100 per year by 2020. Similarly, the New England governors’ plan would disproportionately affect Illinoisans by forcing at least a $1,400 decline in average household income by 2010, and at least a $2,400 decline in average household income by 2020.

McCain was the leader of the Gang of 14. The Gang of 14 successfully stopped the Republican Senatorial leadership from changing Senate rules that would have ended filibusters to prevent majority approval of judicial nominees.

So, what is a conservative to do? The way I see it McCain is by far the lesser of evils given the choices we have. In fact, you could make the argument that out of all the Republican candidates McCain may be the only one to have a legitimate chance of winning the election. He can argue to the independents and those abandoning Hillary that his record speaks to them. He will have to do that quietly so as not to ignite another firestorm within conservative supporters.

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“For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.” David Rockefeller, Memoirs, 2002

I previously posted on this subject that the Federal Reserve System is a privately held corporation made up of world wide banking interests. The Federal Reserve controls the nations economy and monetary system, yet it is accountable to no one. It has no budget, it is not subject to audit, and has no congressional oversight capable of supervising its operations.

If you recall, one of the member banks of the Fed is JP Morgan Chase. You may also recall the Fed recently agreed to bail out failing financial super giant Bear Stearns by ‘lending’ $30,000,000,000.00 (billion) dollars to JP Morgan Chase for the bailout purchase. Think about that a moment. A privately held corporation with a mandate from Congress to print money, has agreed to ‘lend’ money to one of it’s members for the purpose of bailing out a publicly traded company on Wall Street. Who do you think is paying the interest on that ‘loan’? We are, the American tax payer. In the end, JP Morgan will own whatever might remain of the 89 year old Bear Stearns and We The People will pick up the tab. It gets even better. The way in which this deal was structured, the Federal Reserve will acquire any residual value or equity remaining in Bear Stearns over the $30,000,000,000.00 (billion) purchase. It is actually a little more convoluted then that. There is a third party Delaware corporation being formed to funnel the money through. The purpose of the corporation is to manage the sale and liquidate assets.

 If the United States were a third world country I suspect we would be on the verge of a revolution or coupe.

“All the perplexities, confusion and distresses in America arise not from defects in the constitution or confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, as much from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.”  John Adams

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Memo

To: Pentagon Shipping and Receiving Dept.

From: American People

Re: Measure Twice, Cut Once

Dear Procurement Guy,

 I am writing to you on behalf of the American people. When I was just a young boy I learned that it was always best to double check my work, particularly if it was a really important task, before making final decisions. My Nonno was a wood carver and I remember as a boy watching him measure his templates a couple of times before actually placing them on the wood to make a cut. I also remember my dad making me mow the lawn a second time because I missed spots. It would take me twice as long. Those were simple lessons learned as a pre-teen.

 I am reminded of those lessons as I read the report that you mistakenly shipped 4 nuclear fuses to Taiwan instead of helicopter batteries. I am no expert on military weaponry but I don’t believe nuclear fuses and helicopter batteries look anything alike.

If by chance they share similar geometric shapes that could cause confusion when packaging and shipping, please mark them appropriately. We would like to be confident that when you are handling items that can trigger nuclear warheads, potentially causing Armageddon, that you would keep them in a separate location, if not a locked and secure area. Just a thought.

Kind Regards,

 America

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 The IRS will spend $42,000,000.00  to send out notices of the tax stimulus to tax payers. There are people in this country who are homeless, hungry and without jobs. How can any government agency justify such reckless and disrespectful stewardship of our money? This isn’t a republican or democrat issue. This is simply stooopid people in jobs they don’t deserve and clearly don’t have the judgement to be in decision making roles. If anyone in the private sector spent stockholder money in this way they would be subject to immediate termination. Unless of course you are one of the CEO’s with the golden parachute compensation packages that reward bad management and even worse results with huge salaries and bonuses. Hmmmm…VOTE THE RASCALS OUT!

 Former top executives from Countrywide have launched a new financial services firm, Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company LLC. According to information posted on their website, the core guiding principle is to create value for investors and consumers while preserving home ownership. We will support an environment of the highest standards, fostering ethical personal and business practices.

This is a little curious if not questionable since key executives of the new company bailed from Countrywide amid FBI investigations for securities fraud and regulatory questions. Countrywide currently has a $1.7 trillion dollar servicing arm with a default rate of 7.42% and a foreclosure rate of 1.48% in year over year statistics as of January 31st, 2008.  Hmmmm…

 Hillary Clinton ‘misspoke’ about the events of her trip to Bosnia in 1996. In the good ole’ days we just called this a lie. Hmmmm…

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I have previously posted on the subject of English as our national language. An article in yesterdays Los Angeles Times describes three instances in which immigrants, each from different countries were unable to communicate with medical staff at local hospitals because they did not know how to speak, write or understand English.

Federal law requires that healthcare providers who receive federal funding offer language assistance to patients if needed. Because federal law also requires that emergency services be available to patients regardless of immigration status or ability to pay, most hospitals and healthcare providers depend on the federal subsidies to offset a portion of the loss. Consequently they are forced to provide a language translator. Government mandated programs and services are passing these costs on to tax payers.

According to a recent study by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, one in three Los Angeles County residents do not speak English. The most common languages spoken are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalof, Korean, Armenian, Vietnamese, Persian, Japanese and Russian. In a recent study by the Journal of Internal Medicine, 1 in 15 or about 20 million people nationwide have no or limited English speaking and writing skills.

In order to comply with federal laws, healthcare providers and legal service agencies rely on dozens of non-profit organizations, funded by the federal government, who offer language translation services contracts. According to the National Language Services Network the number of those who speak a language other than English in their home is staggering. 46 million people or 17% of the entire US population are either non English speaking or have limited English skills.

Lian Zhen Li, one of the patients unable to communicate with doctors interviewed for the Los Angeles Times story said (presumably through an interpreter) that she never needed to learn English because she lived in an ethnic enclave in the Alhambra community. When she arrived at the hospital she was unable to communicate her problem. She was later diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

This problem is self inflicted and deeply systemic. We have laws that offer no incentive for immigrants or illegal aliens to learn English. We advertise free medical, free education, free welfare, free food stamps, free language translation services, free housing assistance, jobs and the promises of freedom and liberty.

I can’t imagine moving to a foreign country without learning to speak the native tongue well enough to live safely and comfortably. It is disappointing to me that our national immigration policy doesn’t require minimum English skills and that our laws are setup to protect and serve those who won’t take the time or make the effort to learn our national language. The promises of freedom and liberty are available to all that come here, it seems to me requiring English language skills of those that do come here, is reasonable.

Theodore Roosevelt is rolling in his grave and grinding his teeth at what we have become.

We should insist that the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.  Theodore Roosevelt 1907

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“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

These twenty seven words and 3 commas will be argued and disected among the Supreme Court Justices, with a ruling expected sometime in June 2008.

This Supreme Court case stems from a 30 year old Washington DC law that prohibits the possession of hand guns, even in an individuals home. The transcripts from the hearing earlier this week indicate a majority of the Justices are likely to strike down the Washington DC law as unconstitutional, in favor of the interpretation that it is the right of individuals to own hand guns.

 There are 3 questions in front of the Justices.

• Was it the intent of the framers for individual citizens to keep and bear arms?
• Are State regulation and permit requirements considered infringements?
• Is the current Washington DC law unconstitutional?

None of us can claim to be able to explore the mind of James Madison, the author of the second amendment, or any of the rest of the founders, but we can try to put into context the words used, within a frame of reference consistent with events of the era.

But first, a disclaimer. I own hand guns and I want to be able to own them without threat of government infringement. I believe the second amendment was intended to protect individuals from government infringement on gun ownership. With that disclosure, here is my argument.

The opening words of the second amendment ”a well regulated militia”, refers to the citizen colonists who voluntarily enlisted under George Washington by vote of the Continental Congress to battle the British during the American Revolutionary War. The reference to ‘militia’ was a term used to describe the uprising of colonists in self defense against the British military in the absence of a formally organized military. The founding fathers understood from experience that without arms to defend against the British military they would have been subjected to unjustified taxes and the oppressive rule of the British Monarchy. 

The next stanza of the second amendment “being necessary to the security of a free state” is simply the acknowledgement that a formal military is necessary to defend, protect and secure the homeland. It can be debated what was intended by ’state’. Was this literally meant as individual states or was the intention a Federal organization. In the context of answering the 3 questions before the Justices in this case, that analysis is irrelevant. What is relevant is the framers recognized in order to be a credible government, independent of British rule and the incursions of others, they must have a citizen based militia with some semblance of structure and formality, capable of defending itself against internal and external threats.

‘The right of the people to keep and bear arms”.  Without the colonists and their personal weapons (rifles and hand guns) the American Revolutionary War would not have been possible. The founding fathers were aware of this significance and chose to specifically protect the individual citizens from government infringement. “Shall not be infringed”. In other words the amendment does not grant the right to keep and bear arms, that right is assumed. The amendment protects people from the infringement of government on gun ownership. If gun ownership is unreasonably restricted or out lawed the only people with guns will be government and criminals. Sometimes the two are indistinguishable.

 My .02

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Pat Condell is an unapologetic atheist. He was raised Catholic in the suburbs of London England. I don’t subscribe to his anti-religious rants, but his straight talk about the cultural mutation of Europe due to the Islamic indoctrination of some countries is eye opening. For those who believe multiculturalism in America is a good thing, here is a short clip for you to review. 

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If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks…will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered… The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. President, Thomas Jefferson

Have you ever wondered how the Federal Reserve works, who runs it and what function it serves? Did you know that the Federal Reserve is not a government agency, but a privately held company? Do you know who owns the Federal Reserve?

Brief History

Prior to the creation of the current version of the Federal Reserve System in 1913, banks were largely unregulated and unchartered. Private bankers controlled the economy of local communities because there were no regulations or policy in regards to loan terms, usury laws or reserve requirements. Banks were a patch work of unaffiliated institutions scattered across the country with no central policy. The creation of a central banking system had failed twice before. In 1791 Congress established the First Bank of The United States. After the initial 20 year charter expired Congress failed to reinstate the central bank, reverting to the ‘free banking’ system that left banks unregulated and its lending provisions subject only to market forces (supply and demand).  In 1816 a second central reserve bank was mandated by Congress. When Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828 he vowed to abolish the institution and succeeded in doing so in 1836.

Private Banking Cartel 

The creation of the ’Fed’ in 1913 during the Woodrow Wilson administration was very controversial. Wilson was under enormous political pressure. The banking monopolies publically pretended to be opposed to the act, while spending millions of dollars to promote the new system politically behind the scenes. Wilson signed the legislation on December 22nd, 1913 during the Christmas break period for Congress.

The act created the Federal Reserve System, a name purposely selected by the banking cartel and bank rolled politicians. Choosing a name that led people to believe that this was a government regulated agency misrepresented the facts to the American people and provided credibility to the new system. In reality the act created a private, for profit banking corporation that is controlled by an international banking cartel. Here is a list of the families that own the Federal Reserve System:

• Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin
• Lazard Brothers Bank of Paris
• Israel Moses Sieff Banks of Italy
• Warburg Bank of Hamburg, Germany and Amsterdam
• Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York
• Lehman Brothers Bank of New York
• JP Morgan
• Goldman Sachs Bank of New York
• Chase Manhattan Bank of New York (Controlled By the Rockefeller Family) 

The stated purpose of creating the Federal Reserve was to unify and supervise the entire banking system, control the expansion or contraction of currency, and regulate the flow of money to the commercial banks through the establishment of 12 Federal Reserve Banks supervised by the Federal Reserve System.  

The Federal Reserve System (corporation) or banking cartel creates money out of nothing, lends it to the Federal Government and commercial banks, then charges interest on those ‘loans’.  The US Treasury only prints money when the ‘Fed’ (bank cartel) tells it to print. Taxpayers repay the government loans (national debt) and consumers repay lenders (loans) in the form of principal and interest payments, a large portion of which goes to the members of the banking cartel that still exists today. Money created from nothing!!!

“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. The one aim of these financiers is world control by the creati0n of inextinguishable debts”.  Henry Ford

Stay tuned for part 2.

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Reports that Barack Obama’s campaign had surreptitiously contacted the Canadian government to reassure them that the tough talk about renegotiating NAFTA was not to be taken seriously, surfaced immediately following last weeks Democratic Presidential debate.

Both Obama and Clinton rebuked the current version of the NAFTA agreement during the debate and committed to either forcing Canada and Mexico back to the bargaining table or threatening to completely renege on the deal. Clinton attempted to distance herself from her record of supporting the NAFTA agreement implemented under her husbands administration.

What is particularly interesting about this story is the Clinton campaign had attacked Obama for several days for saying one thing at the debate and then having “a wink and nod” meeting with Canada. Hillary has been on the attack and has used this in stump speeches in Wyoming and Pennsylvania, two states holding primaries over the next couple of weeks. Now it is being reported that her campaign had a similar meeting or discussion with the same official at the Canadian embassy in Washington.

Neither of these candidates are being honest with the American people. They both appeared on national television and told us how serious they were about fixing the mess  Hillary’s husband created during his Presidency, with her support and admiration. Now it turns out they both have a back door message to Canada that it is ‘only words’, not to worry.

I have previously posted about the Clintons arrogance and lack of honesty. Now we have another Democratic Presidential candidate who doesn’t know the difference between the truth and lies.

Both Clinton and Obama reassured Canada on trade: reports

(AFP) — US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s campaign, while rapping rival Barack Obama for telling US voters he is anti-NAFTA and saying otherwise to Canada, tried to reassure Canada too, local media said Thursday.

See full text of story here at the Democratic Underground

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 Bob Hope - 1940 Ghost Breakers

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