Prop. 75

Here in California we are about to have a special election in November. There are 8 propositions (73-80) on the ballot, I am going to talk about one of them today.

Proposition 75: Public Employee Union Dues. Restrictions on Political Contributions. Employee Consent Requirement

Prohibits using public employee union dues for political contributions without individual employees' prior consent. Excludes contributions benefiting charities or employees. Requires unions to maintain and, upon request, report member political contributions to Fair Political Practices Commission.

My intake on this is that this is a law whose time has come. How dare these unions use employee’s money to fund political agendas other than the employees! I know someone close to me who works for the public school system and I know that this person’s political beliefs aren’t what their unions is. For example the teacher unions in California are leftist Democrats and they encourage their employees to vote the same, but if you are a Republican you still are supporting the Democrat agenda by paying dues into the union with no control where the money goes. That is wrong!

Back in 2002 a man from Pennsylvania sued and won because he was paying dues to an education union that was supporting an agenda that he was against (homosexuality and opposing home schooling). With this law these things should not happen anymore. They will have to get the employees written consent to use their money for that purpose. That is how it should have been from the beginning but was not. I say vote YES on Prop 75.

For more information on this Proposition and others in California's special election you can go to: smartvoter.org

Anti-War Protest In San Diego

Saturday September 24, 2005 about 1,000 anti-war demonstrators congregated at Balboa Park to protest the war in Iraq and our continued presence there even after the end of major combat. Their main message: "Bush is a criminal and bring the troops home NOW!"

But joining them was the San Diego Protest Warriors. We met on the other side of Laurel street to counter demonstrate their message and send a great THANK YOU to our troops for the hard work and sacrifices they have given to their county. While the hippies were spewing their propaganda we were showing what supporting the troops really meant.

I don't know what more to say, it was the same old stuff from both sides. I had a good time so I call it a success. If you like here is an article from the San Diego Union Tribune and what they saw.

San Diego Anti War Protest

An Armed Society Is A Polite Society

CHICAGO, Sept. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (www.isra.org):

A report released this week by the United Nations confirms what law-abiding Americans have known for quite some time. That being that criminals prefer victims who cannot fight back.

Based on a crime survey of the world's top industrialized countries, the U.N. report indicates that a resident of the United Kingdom is nearly 3 times more likely to become a victim of violent assault than is a citizen of the United States. The report reveals that Scotland is the most violent country in the industrialized world with over 2,000 Scots attacked every week, which amounts to about 3 percent of the population on an annual basis. England and Wales are close behind with 2.8 percent of the population falling victim to violent assault. By comparison, Americans are victimized by violent offenders at a rate of 1.2 percent.

These latest crime figures are a snapshot of the upward spiral of violent crime in the United Kingdom. The rate of violent crime in the UK continues to grow despite the passage of successively more restrictive laws governing private firearm ownership. While violent crime in the UK has been ramping up, the rate of similar crimes in the United States has been declining -- thanks in large part to the passage of "concealed carry" laws in over four dozen states.

"Criminals are cowards," commented ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson. "They like nothing better than to come upon prey that is unable to put up much resistance. Here in the United States, over 80 million citizens own firearms - a fact that makes cowardly crooks very nervous. On the other hand, thanks to sweeping gun bans, the average British subject is little more than a sitting duck. With little fear of being shot by potential victims, British thugs are free to run the streets, committing murder and mayhem with near impunity."

"For years we have heard the American gun control movement crow about how the UK is quickly becoming a gun-free utopia," continued Pearson. "To the contrary, these latest UN figures demonstrate that the UK is a place where violence is quickly replacing the rule of law."

"The UN figures illustrate the folly of gun control," said Pearson. "It's time for our political leaders to rise in support of the basic human right of self defense. It's time for Illinois to join the 46 states that allow law-abiding citizens to carry defensive firearms. It's time for Illinois citizens to enjoy the bounties of liberty rather than suffer the indignities of victimization as do their British counterparts."

---

The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. For over a century, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding firearm owners.

God Is Illegal

Wednesday (9/14/05) U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton in San Francisco ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional due to its reference to God. Because of this a few schools in Northern California now are restricted from participating in this traditional morning routine.

Now you may be asking why "Under God" in the pledge so important? Answer: because our rights and powers as citizens and as Man come from our Creator: Jesus Christ, NOT the government! God gave us our basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And we form governments to protect these rights; saying "under God" acknowledges this. That is why our founding fathers drafted our constitution so that our government answers to the people, and the people to God. When the people infringe upon other people's rights then the government steps in and stops it. But when the government infringes upon the people's rights then the people have a right to step in and stop it, through a democratic process or a revolution.

Adding under God does not infringe on anyone's rights. No one is forced to say it, and if you don't believe in God that is your choice. But don't make others stop practicing their believes just cause you don't like it. God is the reason why our nation is so great and prosperous. He has blessed us above any other nation because we are a nation that recognizes Him as the one true God and we worship Him for that. But once we turn our back on Him, he no longer will be able to bless us. What happened in New Orleans and the surrounding areas is a prime example of his judgment; what happened there will be ten fold of His judgment for this decision. If you want for America to be here tomorrow for your children and grandchildren we MUST keep this a nation UDER GOD!

Who To Blame

Before you start blaming our President lets take a look at the chain of responsibility for the protection of the citizens in New Orleans:

1. The Mayor
   
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security (a political appointee of the Governor who reports to the Governor)
   
3. The Governor
   
4. The Head of Homeland Security
   
5. The President
   

What did each do?

1. The mayor, with 5 days advance, waited until 2 days before he announced a mandatory evacuation (at the request of the President). Then he failed to provide transportation for those without transport even though he had hundreds of buses at his disposal which are now under water.

2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security failed to have any plan for a contingency that has been talked about for 50 years. Then he blames the Feds for not doing what he should have done.

3. The Governor, despite a declaration of disaster by the President 2 DAYS BEFORE the storm hit, failed to take advantage of the offer of Federal troops and aid. Until 2 DAYS AFTER the storm hit.

4. The Director of Homeland Security positioned assets in the area to be ready when the Governor called for them

5. The President urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a disaster State of Emergency, freeing up millions of dollars of federal assistance, should the Governor decide to use it.

Oh and by the way, the levees that broke were the responsibility of the local landowners and the local levee board to maintain, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. They were told in 2002 that this EXACT situation would happen. Everyone there just thought “Not on my watch.”

The disaster in New Orleans is what you get after decades of corrupt government going all the way back to Huey Long. Funds for disaster protection and relief have been flowing into this city for decades, and where has it gone, but into the pockets of the politicians and their friends. Decades of socialist government in New Orleans has sapped all self-reliance from the community, and made them dependent upon government for every little thing. Political correctness and a lack of will to fight crime have created the single most corrupt police force in the country, and has permitted gang violence to flourish. The sad thing is that there are many poor folks who have suffered and died needlessly because those that they voted into office failed them.

For those who missed item 5 (where the President's level of accountability is discussed), it is made more clear in a New Orleans Times-Picayune article dated August 28:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin. Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome. The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already canceled all flights. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. The ball was placed in Mayor Nagin's court to carry out the evacuation order. With a 5-day heads-up, he had the authority to use any and all services to evacuate all residents from the city, as documented in a city emergency preparedness plan. By waiting until the last minute, and failing to make full use of resources available within city limits, Nagin and his administration fouled up. Mayor Nagin and his emergency sidekick Terry Ebbert have displayed lethal, mind-boggling incompetence before, during and after Katrina. As for Mayor Nagin, he and his profile in pathetic leadership police chief should resign as well. That city's government is incompetent from one end to the other.

The people of New Orleans deserve better than their incompetent leaders are giving them. If you're keeping track, these elected officials let 569 buses that could have carried 33,350 people out of New Orleans in one trip get ruined in the floods. Whatever plan these guys had, it was a dud. Or it probably would have been if they'd bothered to follow it. As for all the race-baiting rhetoric and Bush-bashing coming from prominent blacks on the left, don't expect Ray Nagin to be called out on the carpet for falling short. You want to know why? Here's why:

It's more convenient to blame a white president for what went wrong than to hold a black mayor and his administration accountable for gross negligence and failing to fully carry out an established emergency preparedness plan.

And as a side note, The Red Cross had trucks with water, food, hygiene equipment and all sorts of things ready to go to the Superdome and Convention Center that Wednesday but the Louisiana's Department of Homeland Security did not want to “create a magnet for more people to come to the Superdome or Convention Center.” And did not permit the distribution of the good.

Special Report: Get Off His Back

*I found this online and it was written by Ben Stein. I did not write this*
-----------------
Special Report
Get Off His Back
By Ben Stein
Published 9/2/2005 11:59:59 PM
A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and care to know the truth:

1.) The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was an astonishing tragedy. The suffering and loss of life and peace of mind of the residents of those areas is acutely horrifying.

2.) George Bush did not cause the hurricane. Hurricanes have been happening for eons. George Bush did not create them or unleash this one.

3.) George Bush did not make this one worse than others. There have been far worse hurricanes than this before George Bush was born.

4.) There is no overwhelming evidence that global warming exists as a man-made phenomenon. There is no clear-cut evidence that global warming even exists. There is no clear evidence that if it does exist it makes hurricanes more powerful or makes them aim at cities with large numbers of poor people. If global warming is a real phenomenon, which it may well be, it started long before George Bush was inaugurated, and would not have been affected at all by the Kyoto treaty, considering that Kyoto does not cover the world's worst polluters -- China, India, and Brazil. In a word, George Bush had zero to do with causing this hurricane. To speculate otherwise is belief in sorcery.

6.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and Louisiana. In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory evacuation. It is in no way at all George Bush's fault that about 20 percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It's not George Bush's fault that there were sick people and old people and people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has good sense, and is mobile.

7.) George Bush did not cause gangsters to shoot at rescue helicopters taking people from rooftops, did not make gang bangers rape young girls in the Superdome, did not make looters steal hundreds of weapons, in short make New Orleans into a living hell.

8.) George Bush is the least racist President in mind and soul there has ever been and this is shown in his appointments over and over. To say otherwise is scandalously untrue.

9.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can. He is not a magician. It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization.

10.) There is not the slightest evidence at all that the war in Iraq has diminished the response of the government to the emergency. To say otherwise is pure slander.

11.) If the energy the news media puts into blaming Bush for an Act of God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city authorities and the malevolence of the criminals of the city were directed to helping the morale of the nation, we would all be a lot better off.

12.) New Orleans is a great city with many great people. It will recover and be greater than ever. Sticking pins into an effigy of George Bush that does not resemble him in the slightest will not speed the process by one day.

13.) The entire episode is a dramatic lesson in the breathtaking callousness of government officials at the ground level. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had gotten her way and they were in charge of your health care.

God bless all of those dear people who are suffering so much, and God bless those helping them, starting with George Bush.


Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He also writes "Ben Stein's Diary" in every issue of The American Spectator.

Human Nature At Its Worst

The following is a post from a person in a forum that I belong to. I did not write this nor do I know who did. I have no way of verifying the authenticity of this but I want to post it anyways. It was posted on the forum on September 1st but I do not know if it was up to date at the time of the original posting. I am just sharing with you what is or now has happened in New Orleans.

=================================================

This just in from a fellow SCOF from another forum... No wonder they closed the town down... NOT because of the water!


Well last night I was watching the 6pm news when they announced the 17th street canal pumps failed as well as another break in the levee. My house is right off St. Charles Ave. and up to 6pm yesterday is was the only part of the city that was dry. Since the pumps failed and the new break St. Charles Ave. would be under 9ft of water in the next 12-15hrs. My brother and I felt if we wanted to save anything we had to leave NOW. We loaded up flashlights, rope, our medical ID's, both our .45 Glocks, 2 shotguns and rode out. En-route we listened to the radio which broad casted all the news about the looters and what not, in hindsight it was a mistake. My mother didn't want us to go but dad, who is a Vietnam vet, told us to be safe and "shoot to kill" if it ever comes to that.

One the way we had to pass 5-6 checkpoints to allow entry into the city. We stated we were medical personnel who were activated, showed our ID and off we went. On the radio reports were coming in about the officer who was shot in the head, the 2 gunman who opened fired on the NOPD station, and how looters were carjacking cars to get out of the city. This started making my brother nervous and giving seconds thoughts.

Anyway we get to the city and it looks like a freaking war zone. The best visual I can give is the movie "Blackhawk Down" when all the Somalians are rushing the city. They are people EVERYWHERE, they are p***ed off, and all have weapons, 2X4's, Axes, and guns. If this wasn't bad enough we are 2 white boys in a truck in a sea several hundred armed p***ed off blacks. There wasn't a white person to be found. I couldn't get over the little 8-10yr old kids with weapons, I ever saw one carry a claw hammer!

These people were absolutely nuts rammed trucks(stolen I'm sure) in to jewelry stores stealing items, they were tearing apart Wal-Mart carrying out TV's, Playstations, DVD players, etc. One lady was wheeling out an entire rack of merchandise, not sure what it was but sure wasn't clothes for food. They were all laughing and carrying on like it's freaking Christmas.

We got stuck in traffic when we see the group of guys walking down the street w/ AK-47's, at that point the "pucker factor" kicked in, a couple Glocks and shotguns were no match for that. We haul azz trying to get to Uptown when we see these people chopping down the front door w/ an axe of this $4-5 million dollar mansion on ST. Charles Ave. I was just in total awe because it was so surreal. Making matters worse it's 11pm at night there is no electricity and you really can see anything or anyone until they are right up on you.

Our plan was to be in and out in 30min, this included putting his Harley on the trailer. It would have taken me 5-10min tops to get my stuff, all I wanted was my pictures from college, my clothes/shoes, and my computer tower. Well he got scared saying we are going to get jumped while putting the bike on the trailer. Keep in mind this is the only area in the city that is dry. So just like rats who move to higher ground these people were doing the same. Word must have gotten out that Uptown was dry so there started to be a large influx of people.

Needless to say he wanted to go home rather than take our chances. While it was the smart thing to do I was beyond infuriated w/ him because we made it this far. He just kept saying our lives aren't worth it. So we turned around, our next challenge was getting out of the city while not getting jacked. Reports came out that people were jumping in the back of truck holding the drivers at gunpoint. Traffic started to slow so I just nailed it got out as fast as I could.

Even though he was the voice of reason I'm still p***ed. All I have is my life and the clothes on my back. I lost my house(which is now 9ft underwater) ALL my clothes, TV, computer, furniture, and photo albums and videos from childhood and
college. What makes this worse is my brother owned the house and I was a tenant
and I didn't have renters insurance, hindsight is 20/20.

I also hope everyone of the ****ing looters get Tetanus, E-Coli and F*(KING drown. I'm serious I really hope the all die for what they were doing to the city, killing people, and destroying homes. Never in my life have I ever seen people act like savages, it was truly sicking."

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

In light of recent events I would like to take time to ask you all to stop what you are doing and say a prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ for the victims of Hurricane Katrina that he will bless those who are suffering right now. This is a terrible time with no hope in sight other than the GRACE of GOD! I know some may say, “Why Lord, how could you do this or allow this to happen?!” God allows these things to happen for reasons we cannot understand. But I PROMISE you all that by our faith in Him he will bless all those hurt and His glorious plan will be shown. It’s very hard right now; for the people in the hurricanes destruction and those watching it on TV, but I tell you all not to lose faith, our prayers will be answered in a way we could never imagine. God WILL BLESS AMERICA!