Update on May Day 2006

I found a list of planned events for "El Gran Boicot" tomorrow, thanks to a technorati search on my sidebar.

Read More

May Day and El Gran Boicot

I'm sure that by now all but the most oblivious of us are aware of the planned boycott tomorrow. I wonder about the significance of the choice of May 1st.

I will attempt to let others tell you in their own words, just so you know who these people are, and more importantly, the ones behind them.

Be warned, this is a long piece. My normal M.O. is to point you to things I or others have found. I feel this topic is important enough to include larger excerpts so that you may see what I have seen.

---

Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 14:44:31 CDT
Sender: Activists Mailing List
From: NY Transfer News Collective
Subject: L&M: May Day, the workers' day

From: "Workers World"
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 16:34:48 -0400 EDT




May Day, The Workers' Day,

born in the struggle for the eight-hour day
By Andy McInerney, in Liberation & Marxism,
issue no. 27, Spring 1996
In the opening words of "The Communist Manifesto," Karl Marx and Frederick Engles describe the "specter haunting Europe_ the specter of communism." Since those words were written in 1848, this specter_the conscious organization of the working class into a revolutionary force_has haunted the exploiting classes in every corner of the world.

Before the working class seized state power in the Soviet Union, apologists for the bosses and bankers ridiculed communism as utopian and terroristic. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the defenders of capitalist rule tried to use defects in the Soviet Union as proof that communism couldn't work. And after the collapse of the USSR, communism was once again deemed a hopeless utopia.

All of these "refutations" of communism are born from the utmost fear of the working class. Revolutions around the world_in Russia, China, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, and others_ have shown that capitalist rule is not secure. The workers can win.

Every year, the ruling classes around the world are again reminded of their vulnerability and of the power of their gravedig-gers. On May 1, the world working class displays its strength in demonstrations and strikes. May Day_ International Workers' Day_is a reminder to the ruling classes that their days are numbered.

(...History Section deleted for space...Ed)



By May 3,(1886 Ed.) the number of workers on strike in Chicago had soared to 65,000. Alarmed, representatives of industry had decided that decisive action against the workers was necessary.

The battle was joined on the afternoon of May 3. Spies was addressing striking lumber workers, preparing to negotiate with the owners over the eight-hour day.

During the rally, several hundred lumber workers left to join the locked-out workers at the McCormick Harvester Works, about a quarter-mile away. The McCormick workers had been locked out for three months; the plant was being run with scabs, and the lumber workers were joining the locked- out workers to confront the scabs at shift change.

Within 15 minutes, hundreds of cops were on the scene. Spies and the remaining lumber workers, hearing gunshots, headed for McCormick to reinforce their comrades. But a force of police intercepted them, attacking them with clubs and firing into the crowd. At least four workers were killed outright, with many other injured.

Spies immediately issued two leaflets in both English and German. One had the headline, "Revenge! Workingmen, to Arms!" and put responsibility for the atrocity at the hands of the bosses. The other called for a mass rally at Haymarket Square to denounce the police murders.

On the day of the rally, May 4, the police carried out a wave of attacks against striking workers. Despite the attacks, 3,000 gathered for the evening rally_including the mayor, who wanted to insure that the rally remained peaceful.

Spies spoke first, taking up the cop murders the day before. Parsons also spoke, addressing the eight-hour day. After these two leaders left, Samuel Fielden addressed the remaining crowd.

Minutes after the mayor left the rally, while Fielden was speaking, 180 cops closed in on the speakers stand and demanded that the rally disperse. Fielden protested that the rally was peaceful.

Just as the police captain was giving orders to the cops, a bomb was thrown from the crowd into the ranks of the police. Sixty-six cops were wounded; seven later died. The cops turned their guns on the workers, wounding 200 and killing several.

SOLIDARITY VS. WITCH HUNT

The newspapers and the bosses whipped up a witch hunt against militant workers_especially the anarchist leaders. Seven were arrested within days_Spies, Fielden, Michael Schwab, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg, and Oscar Neebe. Parsons evaded a police search until he turned himself in on the day of the trial.

The trial itself was a classical frame-up. The prosecutors produced no evidence that any of the eight men threw the bomb, nor that any of them had conspired to throw the bomb. As prosecuting Attorney Julius Grinnel said in his closing remarks, "Law is upon trial. Anarchy is on trial. These men have been selected, picked out by the grand jury and indicted because they were leaders. They are no more guilty than the thousands that follow them. ... Convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and save our institutions, our society."

All were sentenced to death except Neebe. Fielden and Schwab petitioned for clemency and had their sentences commuted to life in prison; 21-year-old Lingg cheated the hangman by exploding a dynamite tube in his mouth. The rest were hanged on November 11, 1887.

Six years later, Illinois Gov. John Atgeld freed Neebe, Fielden and Schwab and posthumously pardoned the five executed men, revealing that much of the evidence was phony and that the trial was a charade. But the damage had been done, and not just to the Haymarket Eight.

The entire labor movement came under attack in the witch hunt; the eight-hours' strikes by-and-large collapsed, and about a third of the workers who had won the eight-hour day lost it in the month after the Haymarket incident.

In the year between the Haymarket incident and the executions, the worldwide labor movement came to the defense of the accused. While the Knights of Labor officialdom took the opportunity to attack its more militant rivals, many Knights locals_including the Chicago local_championed the clemency campaign. The newly- founded American Federation of Labor, under Gompers, issued a public appeal for clemency.

Outside the United States, workers in England, Holland, Russia, Italy, France and Spain rallied and donated funds for the defendants. Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck of Germany, alarmed by the workers' movement in defense of the Haymarket defendants, outlawed public meetings of workers.

The Haymarket incident placed the U.S. working class_ especially the U.S. movement for the eight-hour day_at center stage of the world workers' movement. So when the AFL convention in 1888 announced that May 1, 1890, would be a day when labor would enforce the eight-hour day with strikes and demonstrations, the world was listening.

MAY DAY SPREADS WORLDWIDE
In 1889, over 400 delegates met in Paris on the 100th anniversary of the French revolution at the Marxist International Socialist Congress_the founding meeting of the Second International. Gompers sent a delegate with word of their call for action on May 1, 1890.

The Congress passed a resolution, introduced by the French delegate Lavigne, calling for a "great international demonstration" to take place for the eight-hour day. The demonstration was to take place on May 1, 1890, "in view of the fact that such a demonstration has already been resolved upon by the American Federation of Labor."

The call was a resounding success. On May 1, 1890, May Day demonstrations took place in the United States and most countries in Europe. Demonstrations were also held in Chile and Peru. In Havana, Cuba, workers marched in the world's first May Day demanding the eight-hour day, equal rights for Blacks and whites, and working-class unity.

Frederick Engels, who joined the half-million workers in Hyde Park in London on May 3, reported:

"As I write these lines, the proletariat of Europe and America is holding a review of its forces; it is mobilized for the first time as one army, under one flag, and fighting for one immediate aim: an eight-hour working day."

While the 1889 resolution called for a one-time demonstration on May 1, the day quickly became an annual event. Around the world, workers in more and more countries marked labor's day on May Day.

May Day was celebrated for the first time in Russia, Brazil and Ireland in 1891. By 1904, the Second International called on all socialists and trade unionists in every country to "demonstrate energetically" each May 1 "for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace."

Chinese workers celebrated their first May Day in 1920, following the Russian socialist revolution. In 1927, workers in India observed May Day with demonstrations in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. By that time, May Day was truly a world workers' day.

While May Day picked up momentum across the world, it lost steam in its country of origin, the United States. The AFL had begun a rightward turn as early as the aftermath of Haymarket; by 1905 it had disavowed May Day altogether, celebrating instead Labor Day on the first Monday of September_sanctioned by the federal government in 1894.

>From that time onward, May Day in the United States was organized by the left wing of the labor movement, against the hostile attitude of the more conservative labor bureaucracy. In 1910, for example, the Socialist Party brought 60,000 into the streets of New York City for May Day, including 10,000 women of the Shirt Waist Makers' Union. Five hundred thousand workers marched on May Day in 1911.

In 1919, following the now-certain victory of the workers and peasants in the Soviet Union, a vicious red scare swept the U.S. May Day rallies were attacked both in the press and physically.

>From 1919 onward, the success of May Day in the United States would depend on the success of the communist movement.

Despite its setbacks in the United States, May Day is embraced by millions of workers in every country of the world as a day to raise its class demands. Its strength has been in raising demands not just of workers in a particular factory or industry, but of the working class as a whole. The demands of May Day_for the eight-hour day, for unity against racism and national chauvinism, against imperialist war_are demands of the working class against the entire capitalist class.

For that reason, May Day_International Workers' Day_haunts the bankers and corporate barons as much as it inspires the millions of workers who observe it. It is the day when workers take their place in the class army that will one day unseat their masters.

Above the clenched fists and red flags of the assembled ranks of workers are the last words of August Spies, chiseled in stone on the monument to the Haymarket martyrs: "The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subscriptions $10/4 issues
Send to: L&M, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor, NY, NY 10011

Copyright Liberation & Marxism. Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact L&M, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10011;
via e-mail: l&m@wwpublish.com. Web: http://www.workers.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

I hope the previous section establishes May Day as a Communist, or, if you prefer, a Socialist holiday. Please note that the marchers are declaring themselves as workers.
You may (no pun intended) find more of the same here.

Another tie-in below:

---

MAY DAY
Immigrant struggle lifts up all workers
By Berta Joubert-Ceci

Published Apr 27, 2006 8:02 AM
A giant has awakened in the heart of imperialism.

The “invisible” workers who for decades have been vilified and exploited in quasi-slavery conditions, who get up at dawn to pick the vegetables and fruits we all eat, who work in the crowded and many times unsafe areas of restaurants, shops and food processing plants, who clean and tidy hotels and homes, who take care of children and toil in so many areas for a meager wage with no benefits—they have awakened to take their rightful place in the history of the working class struggle in the United States.

They are spearheading a revival of working class struggle with a call for a boycott and strike on May Day. Not even a massive roundup by Immigration of more than 1,100 undocumented workers in many areas of the country on April 20, clearly aimed at turning back this movement, has dampened its ardor.

At no time in the recent history of this country, since the courageous African-American movement for civil rights, has a struggle so shaken the very foundations of the imperialist order. Hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers and their allies have been in an almost constant mobilization across the country, sparked by anti-immigrant legislation approved last December by the House of Representatives.

The Sensenbrenner-King bill, which declares itself to be for “Protection of Borders, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control,” represents the most vicious racism of the ultra right in this country. It also attempts to stimulate the vicious xenophobia that was purposely whipped up after 9/11.

Even though other immigration bills are pending in the Senate, not one calls for full rights or amnesty for undocumented workers. Basically, what has been going on there is a debate between the ultra right and the right.

This struggle happens at a crucial time in the U.S. The Bush administration is embroiled in the so-called global “war on terror,”

...

This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php

---

So, I have esdtablished at the very least, the solidarity the Socialists, i.e. Communists, have with the participants of the "El Gran Boicot".

The following is from the World Workers Party website:

---

What is Marxism All About?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. 'Affirmative action' for the world

Email this article
Printer friendly page

Marxists are revolutionary socialists. But what is socialism? Where can it be found?

Karl Marx called it the next, higher stage of society after capitalism--when the workers have taken the power, have taken over the means of production from the capitalists, have banished private profit, and have put production on a planned basis.

But socialism is not the ultimate stage of society.

Socialism, wrote Marx, is a transition to communism. And communism--when the repressive state has "withered away," in Marx's words, and everyone contributes according to their ability and receives according to their needs--is only possible when social equality has finally been achieved, when the antagonisms and struggles among people over wealth and the status it confers are a thing of the past.

Obviously, it will take a lot to undo the injustices and divisions of the present and bring about such a society.

Today there exists a great gulf not only between the classes, but also between the developed, oppressor nations and the oppressed nations. These are the countries, most of them former colonies, which have been deliberately kept underdeveloped except for those industries needed to extract their resources and super-exploit their labor.

Perhaps we could say that socialism is the period in human history when "affirmative action" replaces profits as the driving force of social and material development. That's what the vast majority of the world's people want and need--a global, coordinated effort to erase the terrible inequalities that capitalism and imperialism have created, along with other dangerously destructive legacies like the degradation of the earth's environment.

Capitalism dynamic but destructive...

---

Note the attempt in the article to focus the readers attention on profits, and the "need" to have "affirmative action" in their redistribution. Can you say oil profits? Hmmm...

And finally, I will leave you with those in our government and a foreign government who support the "boicot":

---

<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>
<> LA VOZ DE AZTLAN NEWS BULLETIN <>
<>.<>.<> Los Angeles, Alta California <>.<>.<>
April 27, 2006

Alta California Senate and 12 Mexican State Governors Support Monday's Boycott

The Alta California state senate, by a vote of 24-13, passed a resolution yesterday in support of Monday's boycott by Mexican and other immigrants. The Monday May 1st "Gran Boicot" calls for "No School - No Work - No Purchases" and instead urges people to participate in marches, rallies and demonstrations. The state resolution stresses the importance of educating Americans "on the tremendous contribution immigrants make on a daily basis to our society and economy."

The resolution's author, Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero of Los Angeles said, "Immigrants make up a third of California's labor force and a quarter of its residents". Senator Romero added, "Segregation was ended in part because of the public bus boycott by Blacks in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955." Other state senators of Mexican descent made comparisons between the emerging "Immigrant Human Rights Movement" and the civil rights movement of the 1960s and other major events in American history. Senator Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles compared the immigrant rights movement to the struggle over slavery, women's suffrage, the internment of Japanese during World War II, and the Vietnam War. Senator Richard Alarcon of Van Nuys said, "America wouldn't have been created without illegal action. They dumped a bunch of tea in Boston harbor, illegally. God bless them."

Meanwhile, political support for "El Gran Boicot" has grown tremendously in neighboring Mexico. The governors of the Mexican states of Zacatecas, Michoacán, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Durango, Sonora and San Luis Potosi have already issued formal requests to its immigrants in the USA to support the boycott and to its citizens in their respective states not to purchase products or services from USA owned stores, companies and businesses.

More devastating to the US economy are decrees from Mexican state governors along the US/Mexico border. The governors of Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas have already issued statements to its citizens not to cross the border on May 1st to make purchases. The economic blow to US border cities like San Diego, Mexicali, El Paso, Laredo and others will be huge.

In addition, the Catholic Bishops of the border cities of Ciudad Juarez , Tijuana , Mexicali , Nogales , Reynosa , Nuevo Laredo , and Piedras Negras have all endorsed the May 1 action. The economic losses just along the border region will have a large impact on the US economy . McDonald's and Burger King, for example, have 330 and 155 establishments, respectively, in Mexico. Chihuahua state consumers alone spend approximately $5 billion dollars every year in neighboring Texas.

---

With the Mexican Governor's supporting the marches, my belief that boots on the ground in Mexico may be the only way to stem the flow of illegal aliens into our country. If they continue to call it theirs, then they have declared war on our country.

Keep your head down and your powder dry.

Read More

Collapsing Iran

John Robb says it far better than I can, so read the excerpt, then follow the link and put this guy on your reading list...

---

Collapsing Iran
by John Robb

The confrontation between the US and Iran crossed into dangerous territory when Tehran announced that it had successfully enriched uranium and that it would have 3,000 operational centrifuges by the end of the year. This tension accelerated when Ayatollah Khameni claimed Iran would readily share its nuclear secrets with unstable regimes like Sudan. These events clearly demonstrate that the American diplomatic efforts to contain the Iranian nuclear development program are not working, and the pace of the development gives new urgency to the situation. Even IF Chinese and Russian opposition to sanctions are overcome, sanctions alone would be unlikely to prevent an Iranian bomb. The loss of these “soft” options means that a military confrontation between the US and Iran is now unavoidable.

---

NC Primaries on Tuesday, May 2nd

I've been listening to the candidates on the radio and reading what I could on them, and will post more this weekend on several of the races.

John Armor will be on WGZM by phone sometime between 9am and Noon. Lend Congressman BillyBob you ears, then make your decision.

Read More

Nice Harley

One of the home owners in the subdivision stopped by yesterday before taking a ride.

Read More

Charles Taylor Takes A Stand

Yesterday, I heard the last half-hour of our Congressman, Charles Taylor, on Fox Across America with Spencer Hughes on XM168. He was being interviewed about his blocking the Flight #93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA.

A goodly portion of the callers I heard agreed with Taylor, and our Congress Critter articulated himself well. He even said the magic words I found missing in the debate over the sale of federal land, "The Federal Government already owns too much land."

This leads me to my next comment. Why didn't he Stand Up and articulate these same feelings about returning land back to the private sector? Goodness knows that would help the economies of the far western counties so we can build our tax base and get off the federal teat. Ok, enough ranting, back to the memorial thing.

According to The Fight #93 Memorial Project, this group will receive 10 percent of the proceeds from the Flight #93 movie. Okay, there is your money source. They can buy their own land and, if they invest it wisely, use the interest to maintain the memorial with a nominal entrance admission. Come on guys and gals, do this thing using capitalism, not socialism !!!

Remember the Crescent of Embrace Fiasco last year? Methinks whoever is on the Steering Committee has a serious case of tunnel vision.

If we put up a memorial to every person, or small groups or people, killed in World War Four; we would be giving up a lot of arable land to the dead...seems kinda pagan to me. Like the roadside memorials to those killed on our highways and byways. Good thing these people aren't requesting "buffer zones" for their pagan shrines. The best memorial ANY OF US can build for the heroes of Flight #93 is to go on with our lives and wipe the scourge of Islamofascism from our planet. And our best memorial to those who die on our roads is to drive with a little more concern for safety, ours and those other morons on the road. Maybe even the retards who insist on driving in the left lane.

Read More

Adherents of Religion in America

Link to Larger Maps

Interesting Post

Plastic Bag, Where I recently found it.

Read More

Wang Wenyi on The John Batchelor Show Tonight

Wang Wenyi, a 47 year-old doctor and member of Falun Gong, has been charged with:

Willfully intimidating, coercing, threatening and harassing a foreign official.

---

According to Secret Service translations provided in court documents, she shouted in Chinese:
“Stop oppressing the Falun Gong” and
“Your time is running out” and
“Anything you have done will come back to you in this lifetime.” She also shouted in English:
”President Bush, stop him from killing,” and
“President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong a spiritual movement banned in China.”

---

Source for charges and translation.

I think more of us ought to heckle the Chinese President where ever he appears in our country, and we should tell Bush43 that we do not appreciate him being friendly with the ChiComms. He should recognize Taiwan, establish an embassy there, and tell the ChiComms that Taiwan is under our nuclear umbrella.

Wang Wenyi will be on The John Batchelor Show tonight.

Here are four places you can listen in (six if you count AM Radio):

AM 770 WABC Radio New York City Airing 10pm to 1 am.

AM 630 WMAL Radio Washington, DC Airing 9pm to 1 am.

XM Radio Channel 124 Airing 9 pm to 1 am.

Sirius Radio Channel 143 Airing 9 pm to 1 am.

Read More

Rain Shower on Jonathan Creek

I took this picture on 4/20/2006 around 3 pm.

Read More

New Trek Movie ?

Okay, I admit it, I am a Trekkie. I just hope this guy can keep Paramount from screwing up this movie.

Read More

Terrorists Target Michelle Malkin

---

I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU
By Michelle Malkin · April 19, 2006 08:53 PM
You know who you all are.

And if you think I'm going to stop blogging/writing/making a living because you've plastered my family's private home address, phone numbers, and photos and maps of my neighborhood all over the Internet to further your manufactured outrage and pathetic coddling of a bunch of lying, anti-troops punks at UC Santa Cruz...

...you better think again.

***

---

Read her article
Hat Tip: Junkyard Blog

And all this crap from people who are, in all probability, screaming about being surveilled by the NSA.

Listen up punks. You resort to violence. In this day and age, posting personal info on the web for any sicko to see and act upon is an act of violence. You threaten her and her famliy because you can't meet her on the intellectual playing field. Your ideas and rhetoric are less than empty, and your actions speak more eloquently than your words.

I don't normally resort to name-calling (maybe a little labeling, at times); however, I feel this situation warrants such action: You are all punks.

Read More

Cindy Seehan is a Liar, and the Mother of a Hero

I just can't come to grips with how this woman... except to remember that in Marxist Thought, nothing comes before the struggle for world socialism.
Here is an excerpt:

---

On Tuesday, April 11, 2006, Cindy Sheehan wrote:

* Her son arrived in California in a cardboard box
* Her son was carried over to the dock by a forklift
* Her mortuary refused to pay the cemetery
* Her son was treated as an over-sized piece of luggage

But... Now we know none of this is true!

---

Read the rest...

Read More

I Think I Read That In A G.I. Joe Comic Book...

I'm not joking either...

---

1. PA to Establish New Military Force Headed By Terrorist

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Hamas appointed a wanted terrorist to set up a new military force and direct the PA's interior ministry office. Israel and the U.S. denounced the promotion, and an MK called for targeting him.

Jamal Abu Samhadana, head of the Popular Resistance Committee, was promoted to "colonel" by the interior minister, Said Sayam. A ministry spokesman said that Samhadana, who was behind the lethal 2003 attack on an American convoy in which three were killed, will head a new elite force. It will include "sons from the freedom fighters and the holy warriors and the best men we have. It's going to include members of all the resistance branches

---

Read the rest here...

Read More

Candidates for Press Secretary

As I listened to the radio throuout the day yesterday, I heard some suggestions for who should replace Scott McClellan.
The top name seemed to be Tony Snow, who would be good, but I doubt he'd give up his gig as radio talk show host and Fox News contributer.
There were other names bandied about, none recognized by me until I heard Michael Reagan put forth (in jest) Ann Coulter. I nearly spit out my Mountain Dew and ran off the road. The mental picture I saw was so funny. The Press Corps would go nuts, well, nuttier than they already are!!! Helen Thomas would have a stroke. White House Press Conferences would be worthy of taping for sure then, with my girl (Ann Coulter) giving some great sound bites.

The person I had thought of earlier in the day (also in jest) was Michael Savage. He would certainly be an entertaining choice as well, and probably hated as much, if not more, than Ann Coulter by the leftist media in this country.

While Coulter would deliver zingers that would take thought for these guys and gals to figure out, Savage would dispense with "social niceties" and cut to the core. It would be worth it to hear him say, "Good Morning, Red Diaper Doper Babies. Here is what I have for you today..."!

On the more serious side, Michael Reagan spoke a little about an upcoming op-ed piece he wrote blaming "Jimmah Cahtah" for the Iranian Mullocracy, among other things. I looked for it online, but no dice. I do agree with him that the Carter Administration was possibly the worst presidency ever, even though at the time, I was a democrat (and a minor).
It took Ronald Reagan to pull the wool from over my eyes, and see the world as it is, not as a "social engineering laboratory".

Sorry folks, no links today.

Read More

Breaking News

---

McClellan Leaves White House Press Office
Apr 19 10:19 AM US/Eastern
Email this story

By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON


White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove is giving up his policy portfolio and press secretary Scott McClellan is resigning, continuing a shakeup in President Bush's administration that has already yielded a new chief of staff.

A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president had not yet made the announcement, said Wednesday that Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections.



Just over a year ago, Rove was promoted to deputy chief of staff in charge of most White House policy coordination. That new portfolio came on top of his title as senior adviser and role of chief policy aide to Bush.

But now, the job of deputy chief of staff for policy is being given to Joel Kaplan, now the White House's deputy budget director, said the official.

The move signals a possibly broad effort to rearrange and reinvigorate Bush's staff by new chief of staff Joshua Bolten. Bolten moved into his position last week; Kaplan was his No. 2 person at the Office of Management and Budget.

---

I guess the heads are starting to roll.
Transcript.

Read More

Peace Like A River

I've been meaning to link to this guy forever. Click on the post title to see what I mean. I also have to post a warning about his site before you go over there. This guy posts about the show 24. Dude, that is so wrong!!! I thought there was like a code about revealing plotlines for the currently 24-deprived souls like me, I missed the first part of the season, and downloading the episodes isn't even an option at 28k. So if you're waiting on the DVDs like me, just avert your eyes as you scroll past those posts.

Read More

Tuesday Roundup

Fjordman has issued another report, "The Retreat of the Western World Order".

Joe Katzman posts on the growing blogosphere. I had no idea that it was that big!

However big it grows, there are about 50 or so blogs that I try to read at least once a week, and Milands' blog is one of them. His latest is on The Cuban Missile Crisis and It's Aftermath.

Remember when USATODAY upped its' price to 75 cents? That's when i quit reading nearly daily. Now, I only buy one when the cover story is compelling enough. The story about a post-Roe v. Wade America was one of those rare moments.

That's all for now, maybe we'll get some much-needed rain tomorrow and I can post instead of linking some of what I find intresting. Maybe I'll try to refute this moron, I heard peddling paranoia and his latest book on the radio this morning.

Read More

Batteries recharged.

I did virtually nothing this weekend, and feel better for it...

Winds of War update.

Iran on Disarmament Commission?

Could a Shadow Opec raise the price of petroleum?

Read More

Clean hydrocarbons?

Click on the post-title to take you to an interesting site. Yes, I'm on vacation, but I found a public terminal and could not resist poking around, the addict that I am.

Read More

Screwy Hoolie live-blogs Taylor on radio

Go here to read the post.

I heard some of the interview, as I was in and out of my truck while running errands in Waynesville. I guess the spot didn't change anyone's mind, but may have kept some people from jumping ship and supporting Armor or Shuler. I think most people have already made up their minds on how they are going to vote, especially ones who listen to this program on the radio.

I was glad to hear him respond, because I thought his silence was counter-productive. I disagree with Screwy Hoolies' post on one issue... most of Shuler's money IS coming from out of district, while Taylor's money IS coming from the Asheville area, you can see the figures for yourself if you read my last post.

Related News

The Smoky Mountain News has John Armor and Michael Morgan featured on their cover this week. Do a Google search to see if they are on-line. if you aren't where you can pick up a copy.

Vacation

I will be away from internet access for the next few days as I take time off for Easter weekend.

Have a Happy Easter !!!

Read More

2006 House Race Update

District 11: Money Flows

Here is my feeble attempt to analyze data from the Center for Responsive Politics, using information shamelessly stolen from the website Open Secrets. Any errors in this data are unintentional and will be corrected if you point them out to me before I find them, right now my eyes are crossed from looking back and forth from my hand-written copy as I type them into another machine, then will save to flash drive and uploaded to the internet from a public terminal. I really need a laptop bad, huh?

Update
Oh, it gets worse...Blogger for Word stripped out all my pretty tables and I had to re-type the blasted mess all over. Grrrrr !!!

And please note: This is the first time I’ve used tables in Windows 2003, so I’m not going for style, just data transmission and analysis from my perspective.

I hope all the tables are self-explanatory.


Table I. Donations by Metro Area

Representative Charles H. Taylor (R) Challenger Heath Shuler (D)

Asheville, TN 84,808 Knoxville, TN 103,700
Washington, DC 37,740 Tri-Cities, TN 16,800
Atlanta, GA 6,000 Asheville, NC 16,700
West Palm, FL 5,000 Nashville, TN 9,200
Hickory-Morg&Lenoir, NC 4,900 Jackson, TN 6,700



Table II. Donations by top ten zip codes



Representative Charles H. Taylor (R) Challenger Heath Shuler (D)


28803 Asheville, NC 15,720 28786 Waynesville, NC 16,450
28712 Brevard, NC 14,050 37919 Knoxville, TN 16,350
28804 Asheville, NC 11,293 28713 Bryson City, NC 13,580
20003 Washington, DC 10,750 37922 Knoxville, TN 12,500
28730 Fairview, NC 8,500 37912 Knoxville, TN 12,300
28813 Asheville, NC 7,650 28771 Robbinsville, NC 12,300
28806 Asheville, NC 7,450 37923 Knoxville, TN 9,800
28732 Fletcher, NC 7,350 37662 Kingsport, TN 8,400
28801 Asheville, NC 7,200 38305 Jackson, TN 6,400
28714 Burnsville, NC 6,900 37909 Knoxville, TN 6,200





Commentary

Most of Charles Taylor’s donations are coming from inside the district, while Heath Shuler’s donations are coming from outside the voting district…most of it from where he settled after his stint in the National Football League.


This next section will cover donations from Political Action Committees, or PACs.

Table III. PAC donations by Business, Labor, and Ideological

Representative Charles Taylor (R) Challenger Heath Shuler (D)

Business 173,807 6,500
Labor 3,000 55,500
Ideological 41,607 97,700





Table IV. Top Industries represented by PAC

Representative Charles H. Taylor (R) Challenger Heath Shuler (D)

Misc Business 94,323 Ideology/Single Issue 100,800
Agribusiness 71,386 Labor 55,500
Ideology/Single Issue 41,607 Finance/Insur/R Estate 40,050
Lawyers & Lobbyists 40,678 Construction 32,900
Construction 34,450 Other 25,150
Energy/Nat Resources 22,900 Lawyers & Lobbyists 14,850



Now we will look at the donations by Industry as self-reported by the donor.

Representative Charles Taylor (R) Challenger Heath Shuler (D)

Casinos/Gambling 51,383 Leadership PACs 60,200
Leadership PACs 33,507 Candidate Cmtes 26,500
Lobbyists 26,828 General Contractors 26,100
Retired 25,545 Real Estate 20,500
Forestry & For. Prod. 13,850 Industrial Unions 15,500
Agricult.Svcs/Prod. 13,450 Lawyers/Law Firms 14,850
Real Estate 12,450 Democratic/Liberal 14,100
General Contractors 11,500 Public Sector Unions 12,000


Commentary

On the Taylor side, I have problems with the money from people in the casino/gambling, the lawyers, and the real estate sectors.
On the Shuler side, I have problems with the leadership PACs, candidate committees, real estate, ALL the unions, lawyers, and , of course, the democratic/liberal.

You can go here to sift through the information for yourself. I didn’t include the other two candidates because there was none to be found, which to me, indicates those campaigns are examples of what I would call grassroots…or they have enough of their own money to suit their objectives.

The thing that bothers me most is the influx of money from outside the district, as the Democratic Strategists attempt to gain a seat.

The thing that bothers me secondly is the AmeriPAC support of Heath Shuler. This is a conservative PAC, that has proudly supported George W. Bush, Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Newt Gingrich and John Ashcroft. It has opposed Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Tom Daschle and John Kerry. I suppose that politics makes for strange bedfellows sometimes.

I wonder how Heath Shuler would vote, his conscience, or how those in the liberal leadership voted, if, in the unlikely event he was to be elected? I believe either the current incumbent, or his republican challenger John Armor would be more in line with my beliefs.

Read More

El Gran Boicot

There are supposed to be more marches today by those who support Illegal Aliens gaining Amnesty in our country.

There are those who plan greater actions, some of which are targeted to hurt our economy. I seem to remember a similar attempt to hurt our economy on September 11, 2001. While these attacks probably won't kill any one, they will hurt our nation.

Don't believe me? Go here to find out about the attack planned for May Day, a Communist Holiday.
Then, Visit here, the homepage of the Voice of Aztlan, the name for the nation they hope to establish in the Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico.

Right. Get mad. Call your Elected Critters on all levels of government, not just national, and let them know you want our nation defended against Foreign Agression. Scare them. They need to be scared, because you are keeping track and will vote for or against them based on their handling of this situation. That is all for now

Read More

Less pollution means more warming ?

Air trends 'amplifying' warming
By Richard Black
Environment Correspondent, BBC News website, in Vienna



Only when solar dimming disappeared could we really see what is going on in terms of the greenhouse effect

Martin Wild
Reduced air pollution and increased water evaporation appear to be adding to man-made global warming.

Research presented at a major European science meeting adds to other evidence that cleaner air is letting more solar energy through to the Earth's surface.

Other studies show that increased water vapour in the atmosphere is reinforcing the impact of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists suggest both trends may push temperatures higher than believed.

Commentary

Whatever...

Read More

Weekend Linkagery

Fjordman has issued a report via Gates of Vienna.

For those of you who wish to track Federal Spending, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) has launched a website to help in that task. Check it out. Hat Tip to Joe Katzman of Winds of Change.

Citizens Against Government Waste.

Over at Jihad Watch, Zarqawi's people boast of killing Christians because their so-called prophet was "offended."

And to keep you busy, go here. The article refers to Open Source Warfare.
I will leave you with something of the how the other side sees the use of OSW.

Okay, just one more link from Defense Tech.

Read More

In honor of the Senate Compromise yesterday, I suggest you go here to put this in its proper (I feel) context.

On a lighter note, visit this site to find out about a supposed time traveller named John Titor. This stuff is insane because there are people out there who believe it.

Read More

Disturbing News About Taylor

Is Congressman Charles Taylor vulnerable?
Has he been mishandling funds?

I don't know. Here is an article on NC Conservative by John Armor, who coincidently is running for Taylors' seat.

Can we trust what John Armor has written?
I don't know. I trust that this will shake out in time for the Primary, because if it doesn't, then I am afraid Taylor will lose the race in November to Heath Shuler. Shuler may be okay, What makes me worry is all the far-left support that is behind him.

Anyhow, I have posted an excerpt of Armor's article below, and will comment more on it later as I have time.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Taylor Reports Have Million-Dollar Errors

By John Armor

Every Member of Congress, and every candidate for Congress, is required to file Reports with the House Ethics Committee on their financial holdings and transactions. Apparently, few people take a serious look at these after they are filed. The Reports filed by incumbent 11th District Representative, Charles Taylor, for the last seven years (the ones available on-line) show five errors in excess of $1 million each, plus one unexplained item for about $20 million.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Read More

Participate in a Virtual March !!!

NumbersUSA is calling for a Virtual March on Monday, April 3, 2006.
Visit the local offices of your Senators to express your concern about the Illegal Immigration problem in America.

Right March is also calling for the same.

You can also visit this web page to send free faxes to your legislators. Please do so.

Here is contact info on all Senators.

Here is the same for your Representative, just type in your zip code to find yours.

I will keep this post on top all week, encouraging you to keep the heat up.

If this doesn't work, we may have to take to the streets !!!

Find another Copy and Paste job below (with links):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TAR’s four principles of immigration crime-fighting
Illegal immigration is not a complex issue. It is national suicide.

1.Secure American borders. See the Constitutional charter of the Guard, including Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

2.Enforce American laws. See the Presidential Oath of Office.

3.No more amnesties for illegal aliens - or the criminals who employ them. See the article The McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill, by Rich Lowry, TownHall.com, May 27, 2005.

4.Vote only for candidates, at every level of government, who will make the above their first priority. See the article Immigration could be the hot election issue in 2008.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What are the costs of Illegal Aliens?

Go here to see the price one family paid. Below is a clue.

Read More

Monday Linkfest

No work today due to rain, I will update this post throughout the day with stuff I find.

I found an article over at The Gates of Vienna posted by Dymphna.
I couldn't help but paste a teaser of the article below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, April 02, 2006
Aztlan and al-Andalus: Return to a Mythical Golden Age


Mike Austin has an intriguing take on the immigration marches, the La Raza push, etc. This aspect of the situation has been mentioned before, but he has a more complete report than most.

It’s about Aztlan (Aztec land?) and the fantasy of “taking back” all of the parts of former Mexican territory, both those that were captured in war, and those that were sold by Mexico to the U.S. when Polk was president.

Austin’s blog has good maps and a brief history of the process. But what is most worthy of your attention is his visualizatiion of the Aztlan dream. This map from his main page is the simple version, but you ought to ....Click here for the rest.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I followed some of the links and found this. These guys are serious about their grandiose fantasy of establishing their own nation in our southwest.


Indeed.

14.44 Hrs WW IV Daily has transmorgrified into Lima Charlie. Check it out.

The World Histroy Blog has a link to History Carnival 28.

Read More

Bill Clinton a Dhimmi ???

From Dhimmi Watch:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 02, 2006
Fitzgerald: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Jihad Watch Board Vice President Hugh Fitzgerald discusses Bill Clinton's increasingly enthusiastic plunge into dhimmitude:

Three times in the last month or two Bill Clinton -- when not busy with his Clinton World Initiative (not to be confused with any Initiatives by Jeffery Sachs, or Jimmy Carter, or others intent on Saving All of Humanity All the Time, with themselves at the helm) has displayed a remarkable willingness to stand up for Arab and Muslim interests. He deplored, in front of and for his Arab hosts, those Danish cartoons. He said neither a word about the need to uphold freedom of speech by practicing it, nor a word about the mob violence and economic boycotts and threat to kill Danes -- as he might have done, with no cost and great credit to himself.
And we all know he is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he met his wife. Surely what must have stuck in his mind was not Civil Procedure but Constitutional Law, and not only Constitutional Law, but the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and not only the First and Fourteenth Amendments, but Freedom of Speech, and Holmes and Brandeis, and all that. It didn't matter. He was in Qatar. Was he coming to, or from, Davos or some other World Summit where Earth-Shaking Leaders Shake Hands Only With Each Other? And he was pocketing money from his Arab hosts, and he wanted to give them their money's worth. Others in the region would hear of it, and want him back.

And then there was the news...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read this for the whole article. My only comment is to say my impression of The Hildabeast would bathe in blood, not try to wash it off.

Read More

Blast from the Past !!!

Remember the snow in WNC the weekend before Valentine's Day?

The National Weather Service has issued a report about it.

Here is my Public Photo Album of scenes around my place.

The Old Home Place

Read More