Well, another successful Earth Hour. For those of you that participated, I’m sure the glow from knowing you did your part to save the planet lasted all weekend. Today, you’ll have to restart your computers, reset clocks and get back to your real life. I’ll bet you can hardly wait to do it again next year!

For those of you in the dark about why the lights went out for an hour on the Golden Gate Bridge and many buildings Saturday night, it was the second annual grand gesture to raise awareness of global warming climate change. Our office building was one of those that went dark for an hour to demonstrate support, and we turned off everything in our office except the AS/400 which I suspect would have burned more power to restart than letting it idle for the hour. I’m sure you saw it on the news and wished you’d participated. You’ll have to wait until next year to get that “green all over” feeling.

Or will you? What if you turn everything off for an hour tonight? Oh, you won’t get any recognition from your peers for “caring” but you’ll know, deep in your heart of hearts, that you, too, helped save the world from global warming climate change.

What’s that? It only counts if your fellow greenies know you were on the front lines? Oh, yeah. Well, next year, right? See ya’ there.

In the wake of the pop psychology gabfest spawned by the ever-evolving sex scandals of the New York governor’s office, and with every other conversation having something to do with hookers or managing to incorporate cheesy innuendo about “Client 9,” Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum writes that she’s “still not entirely clear as to what we’re supposed to take away from this.” She concludes in her well written March 22 article, “No wonder we keep searching for meaning in a story whose real meaning is something we don’t exactly want to know.”

I disagree. I think we not only want to know, we want to clean up the mess and elect a better, more morally grounded class of officials. Trouble is, we feel helpless to stem the polluted tide of politicians from which we are allowed to choose. In our frustration, we sooth our disappointment with humor. We lick our wounds and try to laugh about the elephant in the room we feel powerless to get to leave.

It’s refreshing to see a major news source take issue with the way the Clintons are twisting the words of Barack Obama, their primary political foe in the primaries. It’s certainly not a new tactic for the Clinton camp, but it seems as though most mainstream news media rarely call them on it, not wanting, it would appear, to rain on their parade. It helped get Bill elected and it’s probably helped Hillary to this point in time.

I’m not surprised that Obama told South Carolina’s The State newspaper that former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, are lying about him and his record purposefully. “There is a concrete strategy by the Clintons,” Obama said.

What surprised me was the response by ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper. In the article, he writes, “Any objective review of how Bill and Hillary Clinton have been twisting comments Obama made about Ronald Reagan and the Republican party would concur.”

Tapper provides a link to the interview of Obama by the Reno Gazette-Journal that, though lengthy, is well worth viewing. Listen to what Obama said. Contrast that to what the Clintons claim he said. It leaves little room for doubt that Hillary (and Bill) will say anything to win.

My favorite illustrator, John Cox, came up with this illustration that echoes, I think, public sentiment. Many believe we are abandoning our nation’s manufacturing roots in favor of becoming a country that makes nothing and buys everything from abroad but likes to think we’ll be dominant in the development of technology (with any related manufacturing, of course, being outsourced offshore.) Whew! Long sentence!

I think we’re deluding ourselves. We could regain our dominance in manufacturer if we simply uncoupled ourselves from trade unions. Why can’t we compete in auto manufacturing, even against Japanese auto makers who manufacture cars right here in the U.S.A.? Because the Japanese car makers are exempt from our trade unions. Not a level playing field, is it. But what are we doing about it? Nothing.

Anyway, I thought John’s illustration was particularly poignant at this time of year when we’re concerned about unsafe toys from China. Fisher-Price, Mattel - many of this country’s major toy manufacturers - have outsourced the manufacturing of their toys to China, and quality and safety have suffered. Not too many years ago, Americans wouldn’t have accepted poor quality. But we’ve become “sheeple,” too lazy to control our own government. I hope we come to our senses.

I’m sure you all followed the story of British school teacher Gillian Gibbons who was recently imprisoned in Sudan for “inciting religious hatred” by allowing her 1st grade (equivalent) students at a private Sudanese school to name a class teddy bear “Muhammad.” Sudanese Muslims filled the streets demanding she be killed and beheaded.

So afraid were authorities that harm would befall her before her trial that she had to be whisked to a secret location for her own protection. After eight days in custody, she was convicted and sentenced to fifteen days in prison, a much lighter sentence than she could have received, and one that further inflamed Muslims, some of whom said they would kill her themselves if they saw her on the streets.

Two British Muslim members of Parliament hurried to Sudan to beg — yes, beg — for her pardon and release which were ultimately granted. She appeared on Good Morning America this morning and said she hopes no one will be angry with the people of Sudan, the ones who wanted her beheaded, over the incident for which she deeply apologizes.

In order to understand the issues involved, you first need to realize that Muhammad is a very common name in Muslim countries, including Sudan, and boys are often so named by their families. In fact, Gibbons’ young students voted to name the teddy bear after a boy in their class!

So why all the fuss? My take is that Muslims are so brainwashed that they can be easily incited by clerics who tell them that a crime against Islam has been perpetrated and that they must seek vengeance, usually by killing someone. And Britain, in fact most of Europe, has allowed such fanaticism to fester for so long under the guise of religious tolerance that it will be all but impossible to ever correct. Indeed, the Europe we once knew is no more.

Watch the video (excuse the advertisement) that accompanies this news link. Note the “religion of peace” marching in the streets and demanding death to the infidel teacher. This is what liberals want us to be “tolerant” of. This is what will happen in the U.S. if we continue along the present primrose path of misdirected “tolerance.”

I’m sorry, but I have to say something about this insanity. It falls squarely in the “dumb, idiotic, fool-hardy” category. Here are the first four paragraphs, enough to demonstrate the raging stupidity of this so-called “movement,” but you should read the entire article.

In a campaign that has spread like wildfire across the Internet, a group of Israeli environmentalists is encouraging Jews around the world to light at least one less candle this Hanukka to help the environment.

The founders of the Green Hanukkia campaign found that every candle that burns completely produces 15 grams of carbon dioxide. If an estimated one million Israeli households light for eight days, they said, it would do significant damage to the atmosphere.

“The campaign calls for Jews around the world to save the last candle and save the planet, so we won’t need another miracle,” said Liad Ortar, the campaign’s cofounder, who runs the Arkada environmental consulting firm and the Ynet Web site’s environmental forum. “Global warming is a milestone in human evolution that requires us to rethink how we live our lives, and one of the main paradigms of that is religion and how it fits into the current situation.”

Cofounder Tom Wegner, who heads the public relations firm Update Marketing Media, spread the campaign via mass e-mails and through social interaction Web sites like Facebook and Hook.co.il. He said no money had been invested in the campaign, but it had already raised awareness around the world and made people realize that they have to consider the environment this Hanukka. …

Environmentalists have been weirding out at an alarming rate these last few years, but this proves they’ve now gone completely around the reality bend. Gather them all up in a gunny sack and drag them off to the nearest looney bin! Aargh!

My mother-in-law sent this with the caption, “Ask the American Indians what happens when you don’t control your borders.”

The graphic has been in use for a few years, at least since 2005, and is usually found on t-shirts or bumper stickers. I was surprised to learn, though, just how many opinion pieces had been written about it and what writers believe it means.

Some, it turns out, see it as an affront to native Americans or believe that those who display the graphic are America haters. Joseph Farah’s article is an example. I thought he had completely missed the point, but it got me thinking. So I looked again at the graphic, this time without the caption that had accompanied it, and decided that he just might have a point or two.

But when I view the graphic in the context of the accompanying caption, I see it the way I suspect it was originally intended, to illustrate the importance of border security by implying (with tongue in cheek) that, had native Americans protected their borders against the invading European terrorists, the complexion of America might today be quite different.

I think as a society we need to develop a collective thicker skin and stop looking for things to find offensive. What do you think?

Today marks the start of the Christmas shopping season with what retailers see as one of their busiest shopping days of the year and what many shoppers see as their best shot all year of snagging one of a handful of $400 laptops and other teaser bargains. It’s such a phenomenon, it’s been dubbed “Black Friday,” the day retailers say they expect to move from being “in the red” to being “in the black” for the first time all year.

But from where I stand, Black Friday should more accurately be called “Black and Blue Friday” as Americans across the fruited plain have been stampeding and, in many cases, fighting each other in the rush for  — “seasonal bargains.” And to be honest, there are some bargains to be had. Unfortunately, most shoppers lose perspective and become part of the feeding frenzy to grab anything and everything that seems cheap. Never mind whether or not they need it - it’s a bargain!

And that’s the biggest problem I see with the whole fiasco. Shoppers scour  myriad ads touting ridiculously cheap stuff — like the $400 laptop — and rush to grab one only to find that all eleven of them are already gone. But now they’re primed to get whatever bargains remain, often leaving the stores with carts filled to overflowing with crap they don’t need. 

Is this what Christmas has become? Who are these people? Have they completely forgotten what Christmas is about? Have they no common decency, courtesy, manners? Were they raised in a cave by wolves?

It’s sad on so many levels I don’t know in which direction to scream first. So, like many, most I suspect, I refuse to play. Sure, I’ll probably pay a little more for some gifts, but I won’t subject myself or anyone I care about to such lunacy. These folks may get some great bargains, but they’ll show who they really are in the process. And how they were brought up. And how they lack manners. And how the real meaning of Christmas has completely eluded them.

Do retailers really need this to make their annual nut? I doubt it. Folks would still shop — even these folks — if retailers simply agreed to quit feeding this annual frenzy. But retailers won’t…

While the madness continues, I should remind you that it’s also Buy Nothing Day. What’s that, you ask? Well, about fifteen years ago, Vancouver artist Ted Dave founded a movement, now celebrated on the Friday after Thanksgiving, to protest rampant over-consumerism. Since then, the movement has spread to some sixty-five nations. Has it had a major effect? That’s debateable, but if it’s done nothing more than cause shoppers to re-examine their spending habits, it’s served its purpose.

So were you one of the many who stood in line awaiting the 4 a.m. Target and other store openings? Did you elbow your way through the herd and grab one of the prize widgets on sale for half off? And, having made the big score, did you turn around and leave? I doubt it. Like most, you probably came home with a car full of crap you don’t need. Happy holidays.

This column has made the rounds over the years since it was first penned in 1993 by Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko (1932-1997), but it’s just as poignant today. And while I didn’t always agree with him, I think Mike was right on target here.

I just phoned six friends and asked them what they will be doing on Monday.

They all said the same thing: working.

Me, too.

There is something else we share. We are all military veterans.

And there is a third thing we have in common. We are not employees of the federal government, state government, county government, municipal government, the Postal Service, the courts, banks, or S & Ls, and we don’t teach school.

If we did, we would be among the many millions of people who will spend Monday goofing off.

Which is why it is about time Congress revised the ridiculous terms of Veterans Day as a national holiday.

The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor all veterans.

So how does this country honor them?

By letting the veterans, the majority of whom work in the private sector, spend the day at their jobs so they can pay taxes that permit millions of non-veterans to get paid for doing nothing.

As my friend Harry put it:

“First I went through basic training. Then infantry school. Then I got on a crowded, stinking troop ship that took 23 days to get from San Francisco to Japan. We went through a storm that had 90 percent of the guys on the ship throwing up for a week.

“Then I rode a beat-up transport plane from Japan to Korea, and it almost went down in the drink. I think the pilot was drunk.

“When I got to Korea, I was lucky. The war ended seven months after I got there, and I didn’t kill anybody and nobody killed me.

“But it was still a miserable experience. Then when my tour was over, I got on another troop ship and it took 21 stinking days to cross the Pacific.

“When I got home on leave, one of the older guys at the neighborhood bar — he was a World War II vet — told me I was a ——head because we didn’t win, we only got a tie.

“So now on Veterans Day I get up in the morning and go down to the office and work.

“You know what my nephew does? He sleeps in. That’s because he works for the state.

“And do you know what he did during the Vietnam War? He ducked the draft by getting a job teaching at an inner-city school.

“Now, is that a raw deal or what?”

Of course that’s a raw deal. So I propose that the members of Congress revise Veterans Day to provide the following:

- All veterans — and only veterans — should have the day off from work. It doesn’t matter if they were combat heroes or stateside clerk-typists.

- Anybody who went through basic training and was awakened before dawn by a red-neck drill sergeant who bellowed: “Drop your whatsis and grab your socks and fall out on the road,” is entitled.

- Those veterans who wish to march in parades, make speeches or listen to speeches can do so. But for those who don’t, all local gambling laws should be suspended for the day to permit vets to gather in taverns, pull a couple of tables together and spend the day playing poker, blackjack, craps, drinking and telling lewd lies about lewd experiences with lewd women. All bar prices should be rolled back to enlisted men’s club prices, Officers can pay the going rate, the stiffs.

- All anti-smoking laws will be suspended for Veterans Day. The same hold for all misdemeanor laws pertaining to disorderly conduct, non-felonious brawling, leering, gawking and any other gross and disgusting public behavior that does not harm another individual.

- It will be a treasonable offense for any spouse or live-in girlfriend (or boyfriend, if it applies) to utter the dreaded words: “What time will you be home tonight?”

- Anyone caught posing as a veteran will be required to eat a triple portion of chipped beef on toast, with Spam on the side, and spend the day watching a chaplain present a color-slide presentation on the horrors of VD.

- Regardless of how high his office, no politician who had the opportunity to serve in the military, but didn’t, will be allowed to make a patriotic speech, appear on TV, or poke his nose out of his office for the entire day.

Any politician who defies this ban will be required to spend 12 hours wearing headphones and listening to tapes of President Clinton explaining his deferments.

Now, deal the cards and pass the tequila.

Mike Royko

Amen, Mike. And for the record, just about every veteran I know is working today, too!

Whether or not you have today off, I hope you take a minute to thank the veterans you know for their service. And if you’re a veteran yourself: Thank you.

I have to say that I find this more than a little disconcerting:

Militant Palestinian groups who have been launching rockets into the western Negev from the Gaza Strip have been using Google’s popular satellite imagery program “Google Earth” to reconnoiter areas in Israel to be targeted for attack, according to a report in the British daily The Guardian.

A leading figure in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades told the paper that his organization scans military and civilian sites, including the town of Sderot, through Google Earth. […]

The Palestinians are not the first to employ Google Earth for military gains. According to the report, British authorities expressed concerns that Iraqi insurgents were using aerial images from Google Earth to target British bases near the southern Iraqi town of Basra.

And Google’s somewhat cavalier response does little to make me feel any better about the situation:

When queried about the use of Google Earth by militants, Google issued a statement saying “we have paid close attention to concerns that Google Earth creates new security risks. The imagery visible on Google Earth and Google Maps is not unique; commercial high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery of every country in the world is widely available from numerous sources. Indeed, anyone who flies above or drives by a piece of property can obtain similar information.’” […]

Read the entire article. If the Palestinians are using Google Earth against Israel, are our enemies using the service to check out our military positions in Iraq and Afghanistan (or here in the U.S.)? Or are they just using satellite data supplied by unfriendly foreign governments? Am I being overly concerned?

Contrary to what you might have heard from our mainstream media, the “global warming” debate rages on. And while there’s no contesting there have been slight increases in global temperature in its relative recent history, it should be noted that there have been similar temperature fluctuations, both hot and cold, throughout Earth’s longer history.

I’ve considered as much global warming “science” as I’ve been able to digest and concluded that what we’re experiencing, this phenomenon that’s made more than a few careers and become a darling of our mainstream media, is no more than a natural occurrence. And mass marketing at its finest.

I’m certainly not alone in my semi-scientific conclusions. John Stossel’s recent “Give Me a Break” segment about global warming asserts that much, if not most, “scientific” data we’ve been fed comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of “2000 scientists who agree” that global warming is being caused by humans. Included in that group are members of Greenpeace and other activist groups as well as governments that have supported the Kyoto treaty.

Now, I’m no scientist. But when you scrutinize the supporting data proffered by global warming activists, it becomes abundantly clear that it’s being manipulated to support a preconceived theory rather than reach a scientific conclusion based on historical data. Why? Because there are careers now being supported by a segment of the public’s belief that, if we stop driving SUVs, we can affect the relationship between the planet and the sun. Have our egos gotten the better of our senses? We’re being scammed!

And the scam is being supported by any number of Hollywood elitists (read, actors who crave media face time) and other hangers-on who want to feel relevant by association. And our liberal media, let’s not forget its roll. It loves any excuse to report things controversial or, at the least, alarming.

Understand that I’m not holding Stossel up as an expert, and I certainly don’t always agree with him, but he does try to clear away the hype and give us a view through the prism of logic and common sense. And sometimes, when presented with the simple basics, the smoke and mirrors fall away. Give the video below a watch and see if you don’t come away with, at the very least, a better understanding of the relevant issues and the key players. The debate is by no means over.

You may have read a few months ago that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is mulling over the idea of opening smaller stores — as small as 20,000 sf or about one tenth the size of its supercenters, to be called “Neighborhood Markets” — as a means of penetrating urban markets and jump-starting growth. (Article)

No surprise, since big-box stores have reached a point of saturation, encountering greater resistance from smaller communities who see them as eyesores that squash competition and force neighborhood stores out of business. Many communities have become increasingly aggressive in their fight against megastores and some, as shown in the photo below, have taken creative steps to express their anger when one is built in their neighborhood…

“You can’t send me to prison. Who’ll look for the ‘real killer’?”O.J. Simpson walked free yesterday after posting $125,000 bond on armed robbery and kidnapping charges. He left the lockup a few hours after a Las Vegas judge set bail during a nine-minute hearing. Which begs the question: How does a guy with no visible income and no ability to pay the Goldman family any of the $33.5 Million he owes them for the wrongful death civil judgment awarded them for the death of Ron Goldman, come up with $125,000?

Anyway, he’s out and apparently returned to Miami pending his arraignment. Personally, I hope he gets the maximum sentence which I’ve heard could be life (I doubt it’ll go that way, but wouldn’t that be sweet justice?) I’ve heard thirty years, too, so it’s anyone’s guess at this point.

An interesting side note; It seems Marcia Clark, the prosecutor who tried Simpson’s double-murder case in 1995, sat in the front row of the courtroom. This time her hair was bleached blond and her role was a reporter for a tabloid TV show. Funny how things work out sometimes, isn’t it? But a bleach blonde? Go figure!   More

Not likely in today’s political morass. In fact, I doubt he’d be able to do anything that helped make us the great nation we are today. Why? Because we’ve become hamstrung by lawyers, corrupt politicians and commie organizations like the ACLU and, without realizing it, we’ve become a nation of veal calves. We’re too fat and lazy to do the dirty work, make the tough decisions, carry the heavy loads. We’d rather let politicians, our so called “elected officials,” do it for us. After all, isn’t that why we elected them?

No, it isn’t, but I won’t get into that now. I just wanted readers to see this political cartoon that’s been sitting on my desktop for so long I’ve forgotten who sent it to me (sorry.)

Why can’t we fix the mess that plagues our republic today? Because every boat has at least one of these guys sitting in the back and saying we “can’t do that.” Not rowing, mind you, just getting in the way of real patriots who want to roll up their sleeves and fix the problems.

Know what I say? Throw the bums out of the boat!

We Americans often manage to put a humorous spin on events completely lacking in humor. And while I’m the first to laugh at good satirical humor, let’s not lose sight of the issue currently involving Michael Vick. Ever see a “professional” dog fight? “Gypsy” has. Click on the photo on the right for a closer look. And some people still think dog fighting is no big deal?

I’ve been following the Michael Vick story - so have you if you’ve read a paper or watched TV - and had decided not to comment, at least until the dust settles. But with his recent confession, I feel obliged to speculate on where the case might end up.

Let me first say that I abhor animal cruelty in any form and especially the so-called “sport” of training dogs to try to kill one another on command for the enjoyment of betting spectators. It’s a felony and Vick has finally admitted to his involvement in it. Everyone, with the possible exception of some die-hard Falcons fans, agrees that he should be punished. But we appear to be a divided camp, with one side contending that his not insignificant loss of income from endorsements is adequate punishment, and the other believing that he should face formal sanctions like anyone else similarly charged, that the courtroom should be a place that considers only the facts of the case with sentences based on that alone. I stand squarely in the latter camp.

So now that Vick has “confessed” and shown “contrition,” what’s next? Well, we’ll likely endure the usual public teary “apologies” followed by an obligatory appearance on Oprah where Vick will blubber how sorry he is, how he’s now found Jesus, and how he hopes people will forgive him for his “mistake.” Perhaps a probing interview by Larry King will follow, and maybe a book about how he followed the wrong path, found salvation and enlightenment, and established a foundation or two to help “under privileged” children learn to do the right thing. Eventually, folks will forget about Michael Vick’s evil deeds and, if he’s still young enough to play football after serving his sentence, another team will pick him up.

Some apparently feel he should be banned from the NFL. Sorry, but that’s going too far in my opinion. I don’t believe in taking away a man’s millstone. If he serves his time and if anyone will hire him to play or offer him endorsement contracts (pretty big “ifs” right now), then fine. Neuter him? Ban him from the NFL? That would be unreasonable punishment.

As a side note, I’m often amazed and sometimes appalled at how some people manage to find ways to make a quick buck off other folk’s troubles. To wit: The Official “Vick’s” Dog Chew Toy and chewed up Michael Vick memorabilia being offered on eBay. Only in America.