Free Republic

Savage's support of Shays-Meehan is a case of him buying into the ruse to assuage the restless slumber of the American electorate. No incumbent will be hurt in any way by it's enactment. Sellers of advertising will be affected, and that's where the cries of pain are arising. Rush says it's a constitutional issue, but that's simply because it's his ox being gored.

Meaningful CFR would be a damn good idea, but I don't want to stop anyone's excercize of speech. I would simply make it illegal for any PAC, corporation, union, or "special interest group" of any kind to hide their contribution behind an acronym. Any American citizen should be able to support his candidate in whatever fashion he sees fit as long as he is willing to put his own name on the contribution. And as long as he can prove that he was personally responsible for whatever cost his contribution incurred.

Shays-Meehan is nothing but a ruse to assuage the restless slumber of the American electorate. No incumbent will be hurt in any way by it's enactment. Sellers of advertising will be affected, and that's where the cries of pain are arising. Rush says it's a constitutional issue, but that's simply because it's his ox being gored.

Meaningful CFR would be a damn good idea, but I don't want to stop anyone's excercize of speech. I would simply make it illegal for any PAC, corporation, union, or "group" of any kind to hide their contribution behind an acronym. Any American citizen should be able to support his candidate in whatever fashion he sees fit as long as he is willing to put his own name on the contribution. And as long as he can prove that he was personally responsible for whatever cost his contribution incurred.

Ditto to your commentary. I often disagree with Savage, or think he presses the point too far, but he is an independent conservative thinker. Too bad he still thinks 3rd parties are a waste of time.

I agree with him that campaign finance reform is necessary, but this law will hurt no incumbents. It's just a way for them to fool the sheeple again.

I didn't click on your source, but it sounds like an introduction to the book, The Shadow of Blooming Grove, the definitive biography of Harding. The "Shadow" referred to in the title is the suspicion that Harding was partly black. Harding, indeed, may have been our "first black president."

I wouldn't feel morally compromised by not volunteering my organs...

Nor should one (or one's soon-to-be survivors) feel morally compromised at insisting on payment for one.

It's hard to read more than a few responses on most of the threads. . .

The thread entitled, The Surrender Option..., has some reasonable discussion.

bump

Thanks for the bump. Seems to be lots of confusion about the monitors. Or maybe the few articles I get around to reading are the sort of thing that attracts their attention, as well.

This is an insightful piece and damn fine thinking.

When the Barbary Pirates caused us problems, we attacked and destroyed them...

On the Imus program this morning, Congressman JD Hayworth (name?) said the Barbary Pirate problem was the last similar situation faced by this country. That sent me looking for more information, but I didn't find much in a quick search. Anyone know a good source? At any rate, here's an excerpt from Arabnet - History of Algeria. It wasn't a quickly solved problem then either, but reading between the lines here should suggest some of the necessary steps.

The rise and fall of piracy (1400-1830)

The demise of the Almohad empire created a power vacuum which led to the rise of piracy along what became known as the Barbary Coast. Coastal cities hired corsairs to seize merchant vessels and gain an advantage in the fierce competition for trade on the high seas.

North African piracy compelled the Spanish to occupy and blockade several ports known to be pirate enclaves, including Algiers which was forced to pay tribute. This Christian occupation of North African ports forced Muslims to seek help from the Ottoman Khalif. The Barbarossas, two sibling pirates, petitioned the Ottoman Sultan for aid against the infidels. In response the Khalif sent a naval fleet which drove the Spanish out of most of the North African ports they were occupying.

In 1518 Khayrad'din Barbarossa became the sultan's official representative in Algeria and Algerian corsairs dominated the Mediterranean with Ottoman protection for centuries. It was not until late in the 18th century that Europeans were able to challenge the Barbary pirates of Algeria with superior naval power and artillery. In 1815 a US naval squadron under Captain Stephen Decatur attacked Algiers and forced its governor to sign a treaty banning piracy against US ships.

Persistent attacks on European shipping caused the British and Dutch to combine their forces against the Algerians and almost totally destroy their fleet in 1816.

This was the beginning of the end. In 1830 the French army invaded Algiers and the French occupation of Algeria continued for 132 years.

Give 'em hell, Bro. While having foreign agents enter our borders and wreak destruction is distasteful -- I can't fault their targets, the global trade organizations and their lackey interventionist foreign policy enforcers.

Haven't been around much lately. I see that the problem of dumbbells posting articles without checking to see if someone else has already done it has not been solved.

From the Albuquerque Journal.

September 11, 2001

Explosives Planted In Towers, N.M. Tech Expert Says
By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Journal Staff Writer

   Televised images of the attacks on the World Trade Center suggest that explosives devices caused the collapse of both towers, a New Mexico Tech explosion expert said Tuesday.    

The collapse of the buildings appears "too methodical" to be a chance result of airplanes colliding with the structures, said Van Romero, vice president for research at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.    

"My opinion is, based on the videotapes, that after the airplanes hit the World Trade Center there were some explosive devices inside the buildings that caused the towers to collapse," Romero said.    

Romero is a former director of the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center at Tech, which studies explosive materials and the effects of explosions on buildings, aircraft and other structures.    

Romero said he based his opinion on video aired on national television broadcasts.    Romero said the collapse of the structures resembled those of controlled implosions used to demolish old structures.    

"It would be difficult for something from the plane to trigger an event like that," Romero said in a phone interview from Washington, D.C.    

Romero said he and another Tech administrator were on a Washington-area subway when an airplane struck the Pentagon.    

He said he and Denny Peterson, vice president for administration and finance, were en route to an office building near the Pentagon to discuss defense-funded research programs at Tech.    

If explosions did cause the towers to collapse, the detonations could have been caused by a small amount of explosive, he said.    

"It could have been a relatively small amount of explosives placed in strategic points," Romero said. The explosives likely would have been put in more than two points in each of the towers, he said.    

The detonation of bombs within the towers is consistent with a common terrorist strategy, Romero said.    

"One of the things terrorist events are noted for is a diversionary attack and secondary device," Romero said.    

Attackers detonate an initial, diversionary explosion that attracts emergency personnel to the scene, then detonate a second explosion, he said.    

Romero said that if his scenario is correct, the diversionary attack would have been the collision of the planes into the towers.

Tech President Dan Lopez said Tuesday that Tech had not been asked to take part in the investigation into the attacks. Tech often assists in forensic investigations into terrorist attacks, often by setting off similar explosions and studying the effects.

From the Albuquerque Journal.

September 11, 2001

Explosives Planted In Towers, N.M. Tech Expert Says
By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Journal Staff Writer

   Televised images of the attacks on the World Trade Center suggest that explosives devices caused the collapse of both towers, a New Mexico Tech explosion expert said Tuesday.    

The collapse of the buildings appears "too methodical" to be a chance result of airplanes colliding with the structures, said Van Romero, vice president for research at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.    

"My opinion is, based on the videotapes, that after the airplanes hit the World Trade Center there were some explosive devices inside the buildings that caused the towers to collapse," Romero said.    

Romero is a former director of the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center at Tech, which studies explosive materials and the effects of explosions on buildings, aircraft and other structures.    

Romero said he based his opinion on video aired on national television broadcasts.    Romero said the collapse of the structures resembled those of controlled implosions used to demolish old structures.    

"It would be difficult for something from the plane to trigger an event like that," Romero said in a phone interview from Washington, D.C.    

Romero said he and another Tech administrator were on a Washington-area subway when an airplane struck the Pentagon.    

He said he and Denny Peterson, vice president for administration and finance, were en route to an office building near the Pentagon to discuss defense-funded research programs at Tech.    

If explosions did cause the towers to collapse, the detonations could have been caused by a small amount of explosive, he said.    

"It could have been a relatively small amount of explosives placed in strategic points," Romero said. The explosives likely would have been put in more than two points in each of the towers, he said.    

The detonation of bombs within the towers is consistent with a common terrorist strategy, Romero said.    

"One of the things terrorist events are noted for is a diversionary attack and secondary device," Romero said.    

Attackers detonate an initial, diversionary explosion that attracts emergency personnel to the scene, then detonate a second explosion, he said.    

Romero said that if his scenario is correct, the diversionary attack would have been the collision of the planes into the towers.

Tech President Dan Lopez said Tuesday that Tech had not been asked to take part in the investigation into the attacks. Tech often assists in forensic investigations into terrorist attacks, often by setting off similar explosions and studying the effects.