Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

So George is going to make a major address on (illegal) immigration on Tueday evening. He's asked for prime time on all of the nation's television stations.
Why now?
The illegal immigration issue didn't pop-up overnight. States have been declaring state of emergencies on it and their cries have gone unheeded by Bush.
It has taken major demonstrations, the minute men, and grassroots efforts to get something done about it.
The reported "plan" is to deploy national guardsmen at our borders. The catch is they won't apprehend anyone since their role is limited to one of "support" for the border patrol. Certainly, more eyes and ears on the border will help but this merely sets the stage for Bush to push his guest worker program.
So Bush has now set his stage for his horse and pony show on prime time. He will appear strong, resolute and determined to right the ship(his own). This is nothing more than a veiled political charade to boost his sorry approval ratings, which, according to Karl Rove, are low because of the war in Iraq.
We will see how many will be duped into believing Bush is doing something about the problem since it will "appear" that he is. In reality, don't expect much to change, other than his ratings...

With increased supplies of gasoline as per a recent government report and lower oil prices as well, we have increased gasoline prices, in anticipation of the memorial day holiday and "fears" of increasing consumption. I know, I know, "market forces" explains it all and enron never happened and energy suppliers were just foolin when they said how much they liked to "screw" California a couple of years ago.
So, market forces and the new buzz word of 2006, "geopolitical concerns" explains it all. There's China, for example, and all of the concern about their appetite for oil. Fortunately,(for them), they've seen the light and don't want to be dependent on unstable countries for their supply of oil so they're negotiating with Russia and stressing hybrid technology and motor vehicles with high mpgs. All of the latter should help them reduce their oil needs but the fear remains anyway so...
You guys win the argument, there's no profiteering, gouging, or any wrong doing of any kind. Silly me for even thinking about it in the first place.
There is one thing that STILL bothers me though and we have yet to discuss it. It's the reported story, and one that I've experienced personally, that the QUALITY of some of our gasoline supplies sucks! I've seen it again and again on the news, mechanics stating they are seeing more and more cases of clogged fuel injectors and poor "driveability" of automobiles on a scale that they have not previously experienced. The main culprit, in their opinion, is bad gasoline.
My mechanic shares in that opinion. My wife's chevy malibu will run on just about anything except bad gas. Her car began to run poorly with an obvious misfire with a "check engine light" on. My mechanic checked it with a diagnostic scanner and the code came up as "random cylinder misfire." The cause: bad gasoline. A tankfull of a can of fuel system cleaner took care of the problem. My toyota highlander that I bought new last year began to run poorly after only 15,000 miles. A can of fuel system cleaner took care of the problem.
Now I add the fuel cleaner to my vehicles every 10,000 miles.
So not only do we pay through the nozzle for the gas, we now pay to clean it as well...

Bush is milkin it for all its worth. A new CBS poll shows 62% support his position on deploying the Guard and his approval rating has now increased to 35%. Bush appeared today at a hotbed of illegal immigration at Yuma, AZ. He had his sleeves rolled up, all business, ready for action!
What do the locals think about it?
"It's a joke", "It's a drop in the bucket" Etc, etc...
Fast forward to Laredo Texas for another interview with Sheriff Rick Flores on illegal immigration and drug smuggling. He and his deputies routinely come across smugglers with AK47s and now .50 caliber weapons and others with RPGs. As the interview was being filmed, his deputies pursued a border crosser dressed in a Mexican army uniform evading his men as a soldier would be trained to do.
So reality meets the hype of a Bush proposal. Unfortunately, the only world many Americans see is the world that ends at the tip of their own nose so they think Bush's proposal will actually accomplish something and his popularity rises accordingly.
I suppose it will take another year or two before they figure out they've been taken again but by then Bush will be out of office or nearly so and it won't make any difference...

That's what congressman John Murtha is alleging in stating US marines killed 30 innocent Iraqis, including women and children. US marines had claimed the Iraqi civilians were caught in a firefight but Murtha is claiming an investigation will conclude the marines executed Iraqi civilians in apparent retribution for the death of one of their fellow marines during an IED explosion.
Sounds like a repeat of a similar episode in Viet Nam...

The general of the army, Peter Schoomaker, was asked a question during a Capitol Hill briefing: "Are we winning the war in Iraq?"
The general, known for his bluntness, hesitated for more than ten seconds with his lips reportedly pursed and brow furrowed and responded, "I think I would answer that by telling you I don't think we're losing." The general continued,"The challenge is becoming more complex...we're closer to the beginning than we are to the end of all of this."
The Army's top man in Iraq, Gen. George Casey Jr is now considering INCREASING the number of troops in Iraq rather than implementing a plan to bring the troops home. The change in plans is primarily due to the INCREASE in sectarian violence, ie the defacto civil war that is rapidly escalating in cities throughout Iraq.
Fast forward to president Bush who has met with president Putin of Russia yesterday and has told Putin Russia should model their democracy after the one in Iraq! They must still be laughing at Bush! Putin responded that in all honesty, Russia wouldn't be modeling their democracy after the one in Iraq anytime soon... Duh!!!
After reading that, one has to wonder how far removed from reality Bush must truly be in order for him to make such a statement. Delusional might be the correct term for his "thinking" on the issue.
Such thinking appears to be in line with what I overheard in a restaurant during a recent Sunday morning breakfast. The usual Sunday morning church-going crowd shuffled into the restaurant and it seems the morning sermon championed the theme of president Bush as a modern day Moses leading the Iraqi people out of the wilderness and onto the promised land.
I'm glad I overheard it before I had breakfast, otherwise I think I would have lost it...

Mosey on over to the CNN website and hear for yourself a summary of the mideast crisis as described by our commander in chief, George W Bush, as related to prime minster Tony Blair of Britain.
Let us note that such a statement appearing in the astromart would bring immediate reprisals in the form of an annihilated post or a nuked thread.
Ya 'll come back now, ya hear!

For Americans trying to flee Lebanon, the optimal way appears to be any government that will take them but their own.
French and Italians are rescuing thousands of their own citizens including Americans.
US citizens are being told to stay inside and listen to the television or read the newspapers for instructions from the US state department but no such instructions have been forthcoming.
To add insult to inaction, the only instructions US citizens have received is to be informed they will have to sign a BLANK promisory note to cover the cost of rescuing them from a warzone!
Hey Bush it's a WARZONE, get them the heck out of there ASAP!
It's about time a few US warships show up to begin the rescue. I guess they had to wait for the French and Italians to leave before they can figure out what they're supposed to do...

The American Bar Association issued a report claiming Bush is violating the Constitution by his practice of writing exceptions to laws he has just signed. The writings, known as bill-signing statements, say Bush reserves a right to revise, interpret or disregard measures on national security and consitutional grounds.
The ABA's president, Michael Greco, states," This report raises serious concerns crucial to the survival of our democracy." "If left unchecked, the president's practice does grave harm to the separation of powers doctrine, and the system of checks and balances that have sustained our democracy for more than two centuries."
My impression of Bush's probable response to the ABA report, "Oh, S---!"

A news program recently followed one man's travels from the US to China for a liver transplant. It seems that the Chinese, via their governmental officials, have the procedure down to a science and a business.
The cost is $200,000 per procedure and the patient is placed in a first class hotel for two weeks. The poor sap that unwillingly donates the organ is either shot for a crime of varying degrees(violent crimes, drug-running or petty crimes)or remains alive while the organ is harvested.
I won't buy items made in China if I can avoid it, due to the above and the fact that China condones animal abuses by butchering dogs and cats alive for their fur for coats sold to the international community.

2,500 marines who have already served their duty are being recalled and redeployed in Iraq, as approved recently by Bush. The number is described as a minimum number with no limit specified on how many can be recalled, as per a marine officer who also stated it was necessary because "this is going to be a long war."
It's already been a long war. Whatever happened to: "As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down". Just how long are we supposed to wait?
I had hoped for some good news while I was away shooting white water rapids and touring Arizona during my vacation. Instead, I've returned to more of the same...