It's “Free John Kerry's 180” Tuesday

Questions still remain with John Kerry's 180. Yes, Kerry did file the 180, but only authorized three people to receive the files, Glen Johnson (the AP), Steve Braun (the LA Times), and Michael Kranish (the Boston Globe). Powerline has copies of the 180s, thanks to one of their readers who obtained them through a Freedom of Information Act request. And Powerline raises some interesting questions:

Did the reporters discuss their role with Kerry or his representative before they were designated to receive the records? Were they required to agree not to make the records public, but only to report on them? What other discussions did they have with Kerry or his representatives? Are they willing to release the records, or at a minimum give us an inventory of what they received so that we can assess the completeness of the disclosure?

As always, Cao's Blog has an interesting take on John Kerry's 180:

We understand that this French-looking Taxachusetts native might be a wee leary of distributing more information from his records, given that little, um, factoid that slipped out about his sub-presidential academic achievements at Yale. But, really, we simply want the truth, dear Senator. That to which even Boy Scouts aspire.

Sorry Nevada, no beach front property yet

A tsunami warning was issued ,then lifted, after a 7.0-magnitude quake hit 80 miles off the coast of northern California tonight.

It's “Free John Kerry's 180” Tuesday

Yes, John Kerry did sign the 180, but how much did he allow to be released? Many bloggers, including myself, are asking “where's the rest of it?” Form 180 gives you the option to get a “deleted” copy, which leaves out the reasons for separation and reenlistment eligibility code.

From Cao's blog:

For those of you who keep wondering why we’re pursuing this, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect someone who’s been a Senator for 20 years to tell the truth, and especially someone who ran for president on the platform that he is a war hero so he was “reporting for doody”. Even General Eisenhower didn’t do that.

I urge you all, write to Kerry, fax to kerry, protest his faux “release” and keep blogging away and use the “OHB” standard to beat the hell out of press and media outlets for shirking their responsibilities and thus further erode what little trust remains of an otherwise noble craft called journalism. I, for one, am not going to let this go. Civil servants own the public trust and should be worthy of it–they’re getting paid with our tax dollars. Traits like honesty should be the least of what we get from this–and we shouldn’t allow him to get away with this without a lot of noise in the blogosphere.

Check out Cao's blog for more information about Kerry's 180, why this is an issue and how to get involved.

My political profile?

What's my political profile? No surprise here.

Your Political Profile

Overall: 90% Conservative, 10% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Take the test! Its fun, fast and easy and see where you land.

No death penalty for cop killer

Cop killer Raul Gomez-Garcia was charged with one account of murder in the second degree for the death of police officer Detective Donald Young, that will land him in prison from 32 to 96 years, but with the possibility of parole.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey is presenting the Mexican government with this bargain to extradite Garcia after talking with Detective John Bishop, who survived the shooting, and the wife of the late Detective Young.

Mexican Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca Hernandez told Colorado U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar that “those behind the extradition of Garcia-Gomez should consider Mexico's laws and not seek capital punishment or life in prison without parole,” according to a Rocky Mountain News article.

Hernandez has got to be joking! Garcia-Gomez held himself accountable to US laws when he entered this country. Every person here, beit they enter legally or illegally, is held to the standards of US law. Gomez and other killers that flee this country have to be held accountable just like everyone else in this country according to federal and state laws.

"(The crime is) upon your people, your court, your authority," Mexican Consul General Juan Marcos Gutierrez-Gonzalez, in another Rocky Mountain News article. "We want justice to be done."

Justice? Only if it fits your laws where the offense did not even take place. That's what you want, right?

Yes, we all want justice to be done! But let us do it with accordance to our laws and punishments. Let our people, our courts, and our authority find the appropriate punishment for cop killer Garcia.

Mexico does not support the death penalty and does not want any Mexican national in the US to be given the death penalty.

If Garcia is given the maximum sentence, 96 years, he will be required to serve 75 percent of that time before being eligible for parole. Lets hope that Morrissey tacks on every possible offense to keep this killer in prison even longer. This is possible, as long as none of them carry a life sentence or the death penalty, part of the bargain.

Its terrible that we are made to bargain with other countries in order to uphold our laws to their greatest extent, which we aren't able to do in this case.

I have traveled around the world several times. I even lived in Mexico City, Mexico for a couple years. It doesn't matter where I go, I know that I am bound by the laws of the country that I am visiting.

Problems with policies in Mexico

It doesn't seem likely that Mexico will extradite cop killer, Raul-Garcia Gomez. In May, Denver police officer Detective Donald Young, was shot and killed while working off duty. After a month long search, the killer was found, but found in Mexico. He fled the Colorado, then the country to Mexico.

Mexico opposes capital punishment, which is what Gomez deserves and would get if he were caught before he crossed the US-Mexico boarder. Mexico even passed a law to protect Mexican nationals in Mexican prisons from being extradited to other countries where they might receive a life sentence.

Unfortunately, Mexico is also having major police protection problems of there own. A police chief in Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey, Mexico was gunned down just nine hours after he took office. And thats not the only police officer to be killed in Nuevo Laredo this year. The city is having a problem with two of Mexico's largest drug gangs who have killed over 60 people since January.

Earlier this year, Mexico's President Vicente Fox sent 700 soldiers and federal agents to try to restore law and order in this boarder town...700 soldiers and federal agents and a police chief still gets killed 3 months later. Maybe they should re-think their policies. But hey, if their president Fox gets his way, they will just send these problems north with open boarders, but we still won't be able to prosecute those “problems” to the fullest extent of our law.

With Mexico's own police problems and their policies, don't expect any miracles in the Donald Young case.

Here's a very interesting read about a former ACLU lawyer, Mr. Reese Lloyd, about how he became employed with them and why he eventually disassociated himself with them. Here are several colorful quotes from the interview. Check it out, it is well worth the time.

"The ACLU has become a fanatical anti-faith Taliban of American religious secularism."

"The ACLU is an elitist organization bent on the social engineering of our Country in defiance of both the legislative and executive branches."

"The ACLU want to deny America the knowledge of their Christian heritage...This is a Christian Nation! And we ought to be damn proud it is! Because it is only in Christian Nations where you will find freedom of religion."

“The ACLU crossed the damn line when they denied the Boyscouts charter on U.S. Military Bases."

Colorado's commemorative quarter revealed

My current home state of Colorado chose a design for our state commemorative quarter and it looks great! But I would have chosen the “Birthplace of the 10th Mountain Division” design to honor the men of the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, who trained during World War II at Camp Hale, Colorado. Anything to honor our soldiers.

The final design was one out of five that Governor Bill Owens chose from. Actually, over 1500 ideas were submitted, but they were shortly narrowed down to five. "It is difficult to condense the heritage and beauty of a 104,000-square mile state into something the size of a quarter," said Owens. "All of the final five designs were worthy of being minted. In the end, I made my selection based on what most people think of when they think of Colorado - our majestic Rocky Mountains."

The Colorado mountains are amazing. We have 53 peaks that exceed 14,000 feet in height, the Colorado 14ers. If I were going to be here in Colorado longer, I would think about climbing all of them. That's right, there are climbers that have conquered all 14ers.

Great job Owens on the state quarter. Although, it looks like you have created a bit of controversy with it too. Owens spoke on the Hugh Hewitt radio show yesterday about the new state quarter and gave some friendly criticism to Minnesota's state quarter:

The Great Quarters War broke out on the Hugh Hewitt Show today, when Governor Bill Owens brought me up to speed on the fact that my mountains --Mts. Harvard, Princeton, and Yale-- grace the back of Colorado's new state quarter. (Governor Owens named me Warden of the Collegiate Peaks in February of 2004, and Mt. Harvard is among my peaks.) Perhaps the governor was swept up in the enthusiasm of the new design, Governor Owens then went on to unfavorably contrast Minnesota's state quarter with the new Colorado quarter. Word reached Minnesota Governor Pawlenty --we called him and played the Ownes' comments-- and, well, it got a little ugly. Governor Pawlenty suggested some sort of honor duel, and though I think an exhibition game between University of Denver and University of Minnesota hockey teams would be great --perhaps even a fundraiser for Young Life with youth camps in both states?-- the thinking is a combined downhill-cross country face-off between the two governors, with one event in each state.

Setting the record straight, "Guantanamo fog"

I could not believe that Amnesty International compared the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to the Soviet Gulag camps. This is absolutely absurd! Gulags were forced labor camps were millions of people died. Around 18 million dead. Prisoners worked on Russian railroads and highways and mined for gold uranium and lead. They worked long hours and were given inadequate clothing, shelter and food. Many Gulag prisoners died from exhaustion and disease.

There are many accounts from Gulag survivors available on the internet. Do a quick search at Google.com for “soviet gulag” and read up. Something that Amnesty International should have done before making their ignorant remarks.

But what has been going on at Guantanamo Bay? I must point you to columnist Michelle Malkin and her piece titled “Guantanamo Fog...” at The Washington Times.

Several detainees indicated they had not experienced any mistreatment. Others complained about lack of privacy, lack of bedsheets, being unwillingly photographed, guards' use of profanity and bad food. If this is unacceptable, "gulag"-style "torture," then every inmate in America is a victim of human-rights violations. (Oh, never mind, there are civil liberties Chicken Littles who actually believe that.)

Erik Saar, an army sergeant at Gitmo for six months and co- author of a negative, tell-all book titled "Inside the Wire," inadvertently provides us more firsthand details showing just how restrained, and sensitive to Islam -- to a fault, I believe -- detention facility officials have been.
Each detainee's cell has a sink installed low to the ground, "to make it easier for the detainees to wash their feet" before Muslim prayer, Mr. Saar reports. Detainees get "two hot halal, or religiously correct, meals" a day in addition to an MRE (meal ready to eat). Loudspeakers broadcast the Muslims' call to prayer five times daily.

Every detainee gets a prayer mat, cap and Koran. Every cell has a stenciled arrow pointing toward Mecca. Moreover, Gitmo's library -- yes, library -- is stocked with Jihadi books. "I was surprised that we'd be making that concession to the religious zealotry of the terrorists," Mr. Saar admits. "It seemed to me that the camp command was helping to facilitate the terrorists' religious devotion." Mr. Saar notes one FBI special agent involved in interrogations even grew a beard like the detainees "as a sort of show of respect for their faith."

I thank God everyday that there are people out their like Michelle Malkin who can set the record straight. Lets not forget our history and the history of others around the world.

It's National Doughnut Day!

It's National Doughnut Day! And Krispy Kreme is offering customers a free doughnut of their choice (participating stores only). "National Doughnut Day is a perfect time for us to give a little something back to our loyal customers throughout the country," said Stan Parker, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Krispy Kreme.

"National Doughnut Day was established in 1938 by the Chicago Salvation Army to raise much-needed funds during the Great Depression and to honor the work of World War I Salvation Army volunteers who prepared doughnuts for thousands of soldiers," according to Krispy Kreme. "National Doughnut Day is celebrated annually on the first Friday in June."

So go right ahead and blow that diet that we all started as "new years resolutions" and indulge yourself with a free Krispy Kreme doughnut!

Opportunities missed! Maybe next time...

BusinessForSale.com recently compiled a list of the 10 Most Memorable Businesses for sale on their site since 2000. A very interesting list. Looks like I missed out on some real winners! If only I had had that kind of cash and the URL to this site!

Here are some of my favorites:

“Hawaii Prison Ship: Fancied a life on the ocean wave? And it means life! In 2000 a Russian ship was converted into a floating prison, moored in Hawaii and advertised for US$1.75m. It was unclear as to whether inmates were included in the sale price.”

“Chinese Toll Road: A Chinese toll road appeared for US$28 million in 2002. The road was 100Km long and the toll charges were between US$3 - US$5 per car. With China expecting to have 140 million automobiles plying its roads by 2020 there seemed plenty of opportunity to recoup the initial investment.”

“Thailand Crocodile Farm: This appeared in 2005 for US$450,000. Located 100km north of Bangkok, the farm was used as a breeding centre for crocodiles and a zoo. In addition to breeding over 2,000 crocodiles a year, there were ostriches, bears and monkeys included in the sale.”

“Quintessential British Pier: In 2005, Lowestoft's historic Claremont Pier appeared for sale for GBP2.8m. No historical icon is complete without its resident ghost and the successful purchaser of the Claremont Pier also acquired their own spirit - in the form a woman in a long fur coat and hat.”

Looks like I missed out on these real winners. I could have really gone for that prison ship. Maybe next time. Maybe I can talk my wife into Thailand Crocodile Farm. I have no idea what I would do with it or how to run it, for that matter. But think about it, I could brag about owning over 2000 crocodiles. How many people can say that?

Who knew Trash was a hot topic

I had no idea that garbage, local trash pickup, could be such a hot topic. You see, I am a district delegate in my community association. Yeah, I'm in politics, local politics, as an elected volunteer. My community association is the biggest HOA (home owners association) in the USA, which is split up into delegates who report to the board of directors.

Anyways, there are a lot of topics that come up in our meetings. Police enforcement issues, where to place new stop lights, spending millions on a new recreation center, and a lot of other topics that would take too long to talk about. Among all of the issues, the most heated discussions are about garbage! Who knew?

My city is serviced by several different garbage companies. We wanted competition in our trash pickup services, giving residents the choice of several providers. Competition is great...isn't it? I always thought so. But several residents have complained that, "there are too many garbage trucks on the road!"

What happens is that several garbage trucks, one from each company, can be seen on the roads two days a week (garbage pickup is limited to Mondays and Thursdays only). In communities that have one garbage company, only one garbage truck goes down the streets. See what those residents are getting at? They don't want the competition, all they want is less trucks on the road. Maybe because my daughter isn't old enough to play street hockey I haven't ever noticed the trucks. Well, that's not true. When I skip work and sleep in, which is more often than I want my employer to know, I have been woken up several times in the morning by several noisy garbage trucks.

So what issues are involved in this? Hopefully with the competition we are getting the best prices possible, but have to put up with more trucks. If we limit the service, the price could go up, but there would be less trucks. Seems like it should be an easy decision. But in the meetings, one of the questions that keeps coming up is, "what do you guys (us elected officials) get out of this?" Nothing! How many times do we have to tell the residents this, "this is not a conspiracy. We aren't going to be driving luxury cars after we make the decision." But it keeps coming up. We only started researching this topic because several residents complained about too many trucks, but now they think is some sort of conspiracy for us to get a Lexus or something. Give me a break! At the end of the meeting the head of the research committee shouted, "If you want conspiracy, go see an Oliver Stone movie!"

Well, that's politics. I should have known things like this were bound to come up. Does anyone care that we are spending millions of dollars to build a state-of-the-art recreation center? Or that we just voted to spend $50,000 to update less than ten pieces of exercise equipment at one of our other recreation centers? Of course not, we have to spend six months researching the garbage issue. Oh well.

Ten most popular majors

I regret picking English as my major. I switched several times during my college years. I started out in nutrition, then moved on to Family and Human Development, but quickly switched to Journalism, then I made that final change to English. I ended up with a BA in English and a minor in Spanish. After college I started working as a technical writer...what a bore! My job was exactly like that movie "Office Space." And it still is. At least I am now developing websites and applications using .Net.

Anyways, an article today at MSN shows that English is the second most popular major for students! Get real kids! Why??? It's not what you think. “You'll find English majors in countless types of jobs. Many of these jobs are the communications-based careers you'd expect--author, reporter, journalist, editor, radio broadcaster, advertising, and public relations executives--but plenty of them aren't quite so obvious. English majors also become teachers, lawyers (after law school, of course), film directors, politicians, actors, you name it." Yeah right. Don't expect to find all of those jobs with that degree, not in this market.

What would I recommend? If I had to do it again, I would have picked Public Relations, Business, or Computer Science. English just won't get you anywhere. I have applied for numerous jobs branching out into different areas, but the application process doesn't get that far as soon as they realize I have a degree in English. Yes, English does touch a lot of areas, but companies want a focused study.

The top ten are: Psychology, English, Math, Business Administration and Management, Biology, Chemistry, History, Political Science, Accounting, and Sociology.

Come on, of those I can see Math, Business, Bio, Chem, and Accounting as the majors that would actually account to something. Get serious when you pick your major!

So what's next? Well, I will be started an MBA program later this year. It's my only way out.