Daily Archives: August 24, 2008

2008 Election, Immigration, Politics

aSide Order

Grandma gets her gun. Grandma 1, crook 0.

According to police, a 17-year-old suspect was attempting to burglarize Leda Smith overnight. That’s when Smith grabbed her gun and told the teen that she would shoot him if he moved, police said.

link: Elderly Woman Grabs Gun, Holds Would-Be Burglar At Bay

Babalu Blog has an advanced copy of the Democratic National Convention’s Schedule of Events. This is funny, even if you are a flaming liberal.

For starters:

7:00 pm ~ Opening flag burning.
7:15 pm ~ Pledge of Allegiance to the U. N.
7:20 pm ~ Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
7:25 pm ~ Non-religious prayer and worship with Jesse Jackson.

Get the rest here.

Elian Gonzalez saga could haunt Obama

According to David Paul Kuhn at Politico, it could.

Having two top advisers who played key roles in the episode – Greg Craig, who represented Gonzalez’s father in Cuba, and Eric Holder, then a Clinton administration deputy attorney general when federal agents stormed the Miami home of Gonzalez’s relatives to remove the then-6-year-old and return him to Cuba – Obama now finds himself on the wrong side of an emotional issue in a battleground state.

Thanks to Charles Robinson, Yahoo Sports writer, for bringing us an Olympic story that we never heard. ‘Somalia’s runners provide inspiration‘ is a story that will bring it all home for us all. And, should dam well make you thankful for what you’ve got. And, thanks to Charles Robinson, will have you cheering these two runners for their Olympic-sized human spirit.

And excerpt . . .

It’s about a girl whose Beijing moment lasted a mere 32 seconds – the slowest 200-meter dash time out of the 46 women who competed in the event. Thirty-two seconds that almost nobody saw but that she carries home with her, swelled with joy and wonderment. Back to a decades-long civil war that has flattened much of her city. Back to an Olympic program with few Olympians and no facilities. Back to meals of flat bread, wheat porridge and tap water.

Please read the whole story of the only two competitors representing Somalia here. If you have a heart, you’ll be glad you did.

Politics, Russia, United Nations

Russia Is OK With Missile Defense System, For Syria

But certainly not for Poland. No! Missile defense systems for western aligned nations are not on Vladimir Putin’s approved list. Key phrase is ‘missile defense.’ Considering Russia’s history, and Putin’s history, and Putin’s current invasion and occupation of the sovereign state of Georgia, is it any surprise that they like the idea of selling offensive and defensive weapons systems to Syria?

Officials said Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has approved the sale of rockets, missiles, aircraft and air defense systems to Syria. They said Medvedev, in consultation with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, decided to enable Damascus to select from a range of Russian weapons and systems.

And it doesn’t stop there . . .

Assad, who ended a two-day visit on Aug. 21, has also pledged to consider a Russian request to station the Iskander-E long-range, solid-fuel rocket in Syria. Moscow has asserted that the Iskankder could penetrate Israeli or U.S. missile defense systems.

Putin is really enjoying his opportunity to bully Georgia, Poland, and Europe. And with a seat on the United Nations Security Council, he is almost guaranteed to get what he wants regarding the Georgian invasion. Which is, annexing the disputed areas into Russia, if not just washing away Georgia’s border and occupying those territories permanently. Well, that is, presuming the West will just sit by and watch, and let it happen.

link:Putin, Medvedev offer Syria expanded options for weapons systems