Are you a conservative or a Liberal?

O'Leary and Kamber
1) Which of the following do you prefer?
a) An activist government the can provide more services even if it means higher taxes.
b) A smaller, less activist government hat provides fewer services, which means lower taxes.

2) Which national legislation would you prefer? (circle all that apply)
a) Allow voluntary prayer in school
b) Ban the sale of handguns other than to the military and police.
c) Ban flag burning
d) Enact term limits for the legislation

3) If each of these authors had a new novel in the stores, whose would you read?
a) Tom Clancy
b) John Grisham

4) Which of these following t.v. shows do you watch?
a) Walker, Texas Ranger
b) Friends

5) Which Supreme Court Judge has views more aligned with yours?
a) Clarence Thomas
b) Ruth Ginsberg

6) Which would you prefer a flat tax, in which all income is taxed at the same rate and tax forms are simpler, or a graduated tax, in which higher incomes are taxed at a higher rate and lower incomes are taxed at a lower rate?
a) Flat Tax
b) Graduated Tax

7) Should Companies be encouraged through government policies, such as tax breaks, to lay off fewer workers, even if it means lower corporate tax revenues?
a) Yes
b) No

8) If you saw a child watching a wedding between two homosexual individuals on television, would you change the channel?
a) Yes
b) No

9) What should be the primary goal of America's foreign policy?
a) To promote democracy and human rights around the world.
b) To serve U.S. National interests

10) Do you object to religious displays such as nativity scenes at Christmas or menorahs at Hanukkah, on government property?
a) Yes
b) No

11) Who should have the greater voice when deciding what books children read in school?
a) Parents
b) Teachers

12) Should tests for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), be mandatory for professional athletes in contact sports (e.g., boxing, football, wrestling)?
a) Yes
b) No

13) Do you support a voucher system that would allow parents to send their children to the public or private school of their choice?
a) Yes
b) No

14) With whom would you prefer to have lunch?

a) Paul Newman

b) Charlton Heston

15) Which level of government is better able to administer key welfare programs such Medicaid?

a) Federal

b) State

16) Should voter ballots and driver's license tests be available only in English?

a) Yes

b) No

17) Should you be able to carry a concealed handgun to protect yourself?
a) Yes
b) No

18) Which of the following "welfare reform" provisions would you support? (Circle all that apply)

a) A two-year cut off for welfare recipients who do not find jobs.

b) Job training and placement for welfare recipients.

c) No additional benefits for welfare recipients with more than two

children

d) Child care to enable welfare recipients with young children to take jobs.

19) Which of the following would you support in an effort to cut the U.S. deficit? (Circle all that apply.)
a) Cut Growth of Medicare and Medicaid.
b) Cut loan to college students
c) Eliminate subsidies to the arts.
d) Cut defense spending

20) Should illegal immigrants be eligible for welfare benefits for their children?

a) Yes

b) No

21) Do you approve of the "three strikes and your out" policy whereby anyone
convicted of three felonies would be sent to prison for life without parole?

a) Yes

b) No

22) Which statement most closely matches your opinion?

a) I support the Endangered Species Act because it protects habitat systems.

b) I oppose the Endangered Species Act because of threatens timber jobs and impinges on private property rights.

23) Should the minimum wage be raised?

a) Yes

b) No

24) Should high schools distribute condoms to students?

a) Yes

b) No

25) Should sports teams with mascots that offend minority populations change the mascots to more innocuous figures?

a) Yes

b) No

26) Do you support the death penalty?

a) Yes

b) No

27) Should the age at which juveniles are judged as adults in criminal cases be lowered to 13 years?

a) Yes

b) No

28) Should employers be allowed to permanently replace striking workers?

a) Yes

b) No

29) Should there be a cap on the amount juries can award injured parties?

a) Yes

b) No

30) How should abortions be restricted? (Circle all that apply)

a) Notify parents before a girl younger than age 18 years has an abortion

b) No government funding for abortions

c) Allow abortions only in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the
mother

d) All abortions should be illegal

e) Abortions should not be restricted

Scoring

1) a=2 b=0

2) a=0 b=1 c=0 d=0

3) a=0 b=1

4) a=0 b=1

5) a=0 b=1

6) a=0 b=1

7) a=0 b=1

8) a=0 b=1

9) a=2 b=0

10) a=2 b=0

11) a=0 b=1

12) a=0 b=2

13) a=0 b=2

14) a=1 b=0

15) a=2 b=0

16) a=0 b=2

17) a=0 b=1

18) a=0 b=1 c=0 d=1

19) a=0 b=0 c=0 d=1

20) a=1 b=0

21) a=0 b=2

22) a=2 b=0

23) a=1 b=0

24) a=1 b=0

25) a=1 b=0

26) a=0 b=1

27) a=0 b=1

28) a=0 b=1

29) a=0 b=1

30) a=0 b=0 c=0 d=0 e=1

The Results

40- 100% liberal (Jesse Jackson)

35- Very Liberal (Ted Kennedy)

30- Liberal (Hillary Clinton)

25- Moderately Liberal (Bill Clinton)

20- Moderate (Colin Powell)

15- Moderately conservative (Bob Dole)

10- Conservative (Newt Gingrich)

5- Very conservative (Rush Limbaugh)

0- 100% conservative (Jesse Helms)

Rumsfeld in China

In search of a policy.

By William R. Hawkins

On October 18, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld landed in Beijing for a three-day visit, his first trip to China for the Bush administration. Beijing's Communist leaders had long been pushing for a Rumsfeld tour, hoping to have the same effect on the Pentagon boss as they have had on other official visitors.

Treasury Secretary John Snow has just returned from one of his frequent trips to China. He came back again voicing confidence that Beijing was on the verge of major financial reforms, despite having been badly burned over the summer by Chinese claims that they would soon settle their vexing currency-manipulation issue. The much-anticipated shift in July from a dollar peg to a tightly managed float for the yuan — which changed its value by only two percent — has done nothing to change the economic situation. Yet, on the basis of his week in China, Snow has again delayed release of the Treasury's semi-annual report on global-exchange-rate policies. Snow has refused to state the obvious in past Treasury reports, which is that Beijing does control its currency values so as to gain a trade advantage.

The Pentagon's annual report on the Chinese military was also delayed this year because agencies outside the Department of Defense (mainly the State and Commerce departments) tried to water down the perception that Beijing is a rising threat to the United States. The muted tone of the report's early chapters indicates that this vetting process was at least partially successful. However, China's astounding growth in capabilities and confidence could not be ignored.

The Department of Defense emphasis on the changing balance of power between China and Taiwan got considerable attention, but that was the start, not the end, of the story. The report stated, “Although the principal focus of China's military modernization in the near term appears to be preparing for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, some of China’s military planners are surveying the strategic landscape beyond Taiwan. Some Chinese military analysts have expressed the view that control of Taiwan would enable the People's Liberation Army Navy to move its maritime defensive perimeter further seaward and improve Beijing's ability to influence regional sea lines of communication.” General Wen Zongren, political commissar of the elite PLA Academy of Military Science, is quoted as saying that taking control of Taiwan is of “far reaching significance to breaking international forces’ blockade against China's maritime security… Only when we break this blockade shall we be able to talk about China's rise… [T]o rise suddenly, China must pass through oceans and go out of the oceans in its future development.”

Rumsfeld posed the question of Chinese intentions at a security conference in Singapore shortly before the report was to be released. A firestorm of criticism ensued from those who favor an appeasement policy towards Beijing, delaying the report’s publication for another month. This did not stop Rumsfeld returning to this theme at the Central Party School on Oct. 19, telling students that “a growth in China's power projection understandably leads other nations to question China's intentions — and to adjust their behavior in some fashion.”

Rumsfeld's experience dates back to the Cold War, so he is aware of the "Potemkin Village" gambit used by Communist regimes to convey a false impression to visitors. While being whisked around Beijing, he will hopefully note not only the massive growth and sense of energy in the Chinese capital, but also the palpable feeling of ambition that pervades the country. On October 16, two Chinese astronauts landed safely after a five-day earth orbit mission, confirming Beijing's status as only the third country to develop its own manned space program. The program is run by the General Armaments Department of the People's Liberation Army, so its role as an engine of scientific advancement will directly benefit weapons development.

Rumsfeld irked Beijing by including other stops in the region, including Mongolia, South Korea, and Kazhakstan. He cancelled a visit to Japan, however, because of a stalemate in talks on where to relocate a U.S. military base on Okinawa. The change in plans and its reason undoubtedly pleased Beijing, but it does not change the fact that Tokyo shares the Pentagon's growing concerns about Chinese power. Last February, Japan joined with the U.S. in declaring that “peace” in and around Taiwan is a “common security goal.” Tokyo worries that Chinese control of Taiwan would move submarine, air, and missile bases closer to the vital sea lanes just north of the Philippines through which oil and raw materials move to Japan from the south. Tomohiko Taniguchi, a former Brookings Institution fellow, recently told Defense News on October 17, “If Taiwan falls to China, Japan and Korea will find themselves buying insurance policies from Beijing.”

Japanese forces have been redeployed from the north, where they had faced a Soviet threat during the Cold War, to the south and west to face a North Korean or Chinese threat. Tokyo has acquired an air refueling capability to support possible air operations across Korea and parts of China, is building a 13,000-ton fleet command ship for blue-water naval missions, and may soon consider a new constitution which would return Japan to the ranks of "normal" countries capable of closer joint military actions with allies like the United States.

On the day Rumsfeld landed in China, Japan's leading newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun, reported that Japanese officials are leaning toward allowing Washington to deploy an early-warning radar system as part of a defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the United States.

The decisive victory of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party in the September 11 elections to the Diet's Lower House will further strengthen moves by Japan towards military vigilance with respect to China. Seiji Maehara, who was elected leader of the opposition Democratic Party last month, has called in the past for Japan to acquire ballistic missiles, aircraft carriers, and other means of projecting power beyond mere territorial self-defense. Both Koizumi and Maehara favor amending the "pacifist" Article 9 of the present constitution to allow Tokyo more freedom of action.

Working with Japan (and India) the United States can offset China's rising power in Asia. But the Bush administration needs to settle on a Chinese strategy, rather than see different Cabinet officers engaged in their own parochial policies. It makes little sense for the American “business wing” to build up Beijing's capabilities through investment flows and technology transfers, only to require the American “security wing” to redeploy military units and strengthen alliances to contain those new capabilities at the risk of war.

So She’s a Christian?

William F. Buckley

If you say about Alice that she is a practicing Christian, are you saying something on the basis of which someone could reasonably take action? Well yes, in a way. It would mean that the Women’s Christian Temperance Union might send one of their annual appeals to her. What else? You could guess that she would disapprove of an unmarried man and woman sharing a home, although — Alice sighs resignedly — that doesn’t diminish her affection for her son Jobie, who does exactly that. Might it tell us that Alice from time to time listens in on the radio to a talk by Billy Graham? It might. But 54 percent of Protestant Americans don’t go regularly to Sunday services, and many can go years without hearing the word of the Lord. Can we guess that Alice is a Republican? Certainly not: Many practicing Christians are Democrats. So why would a constituent nudge a senator along in favor of confirming Alice for a judicial opening?

Because Christians feel a little upbeat about fellow Christians. Jews feel so about fellow Jews, and nobody doubts that Muslims feel so about fellow Muslims. The excitement on the matter of Harriet Miers’s religious beliefs was taken to hysterical lengths by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. His device was a fancied item from the Iraq News Agency making the acidulous point, through a (fictional) secular Sunni judge, that here we are, in America, hearing political advisers urge the confirmation of Harriet Miers by citing her Christianity. This brings on apoplectic resentment. “After two years of being lectured to by U.S. diplomats in Baghdad about the need to separate ‘mosque from state’ in the new Iraq,” Friedman’s story goes, this Muslim official was “stunned when he heard President Bush telling Republicans that one reason they should support Harriet Miers for the U.S. Supreme Court was because of ‘her religion.’”

Mr. Friedman was carried away. He quoted the sentiments of his Iraqi judge: “How would you feel if you picked up your newspapers next week and read that the president of Iraq justified the appointment of an Iraqi Supreme Court justice by telling Iraqis: ‘Don’t pay attention to his lack of legal expertise. Pay attention to the fact that he is a Muslim fundamentalist and prays at a Saudi-funded Wahhabi mosque.’ Is that the Iraq you sent your sons to build and to die for?”

Well, the first response would reflect the lesson in the Latin aphorism, “Quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi.” What is permitted to Jove is not permitted to your cow. That liberating injunction rescues thought from paralogisms. “If you can love her, why can’t you love me?” “If John is worth $10 per hour, why isn’t Ronnie?”

Fidelity to the Christian faith presupposes an attachment to equality. Muslim fundamentalism does no such thing. A member of the Communist Party would not be thought fit for the Supreme Court, and a Muslim would have to make his case by renouncing what many Muslims kill for, which is their interpretation of the sacred commission of the prophet.

Ms. Miers is now pursued because in 1989 she said that she believed in the right to life, which means, presumably, that she does not believe that Roe v. Wade was persuasively reasoned. Well, neither did Justice White or Chief Justice Rehnquist, both of whom dissented in Roe v. Wade. Is there any evidence that such a dissent contaminated their judgment when serving, as they continued to do for years, as members of the Court? Is there the least suggestion that to have dissented from the reasoning in Roe commits a new member to voting to reverse it?

None whatever, and Ms. Miers will certainly make that point when she is questioned in November. One worries about the quandary she is in — an open invitation to traduce her own thinking, in order to gain favor. That is cause for individual concern. There is reason to fear for the community of critics who seem willing to believe that a Christian justice will pursue Christian doctrine to the point of ignoring the evolved thinking of the Court. And the broad offense is to think of all religions as “equal” in their bearing on judicial conduct. The moment has not come, but it is around the corner, when non-Muslims will reasonably demand to have evidence that the Muslim faith can operate within boundaries in which Christians and Jews (and many non-believers) live and work without unconstitutional distraction.

A Fair Trial For Saddam Hussein

CBS

If we had forgotten what a charmer he is, we were all reminded last week when we saw an unrepentant Saddam Hussein arguing with the judge, insulting the prosecutor and getting into a shoving match with a guard in that Iraqi courtroom. That the trial is being held in an Iraqi courtroom bothered some people, including some human-rights groups that I admire. Can he get a fair trial in Iraq, they ask? If he tried — if he is tried there, isn't it a foregone conclusion that he will get the death penalty?

My answer is yes. I expect he will. But that is no reason to move the trial. A fair trial does not mean structuring it in such a way that he might get off if he says he's sorry. It means laying out the evidence in a truthful, accurate way. Since the evidence is overwhelming, it's difficult to see how he could beat the rap wherever he is tried.

Defining fairness is a lot like defining objectivity in a news story. Objectivity does not mean that when you write a story about Hitler's evils, you are required to say, 'On the other hand, he really did do a lot of good for the German economy.' Objectivity means getting to the overriding truth, and sometimes it has no good side, except that it's true.

Moving Saddam's trial won't change the facts in this case or Saddam. The officials in Baghdad should just get on with this, and then get on to something else. Saddam does deserve fairness, but so, too, do his victims and their families.

Gonzales: Supremes Wrong to Cite Foreign Laws

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday joined critics of the use of foreign law in Supreme Court opinions, calling it anti-democratic and unworkable.

"Foreign judges and legislators are not accountable to the American people. If our courts rely on a foreign judge's opinion or a foreign legislature's enactment, then that foreign judge or legislature binds us on key constitutional issues," Gonzales said in a speech at George Mason University Law School in Arlington, Va.

Gonzales included a passage about citations of foreign opinion in court rulings as part of a lengthy defense of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers and judicial restraint.

He called Miers, like Chief Justice John Roberts before her, "an extraordinary candidate" and cited Roberts' views on the matter.

"If an American judge wants to find a law consistent with his or her personal opinion, it can be found. Chief Justice Roberts in his confirmation hearing compared this to looking over the crowd and picking out one's friends. As a practical matter, it may be impossible for even the most conscientious judge to avoid being arbitrarily selective in the use of foreign law," Gonzales said.

There has been a growing divide on the high court over references to foreign laws to support decisions interpreting the Constitution. Earlier this year, justices ruled 5-4 to outlaw the death penalty for juvenile killers, citing in part foreign sentiment against it.

Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, singled out Justice Anthony Kennedy's work as "incredibly outrageous" and "activist" after Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the death penalty case.

While Roberts criticized the practice during his confirmation hearings, he did not go as far as some conservatives who say judges who look to foreign laws are violating their oaths.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Sandra Day O'Connor have defended looking at foreign sources when a point of law is unclear.

Ginsburg said using foreign sources does not mean giving them superior status in deciding cases.

"I will take enlightenment wherever I can get it," she said last month. "I don't want to stop at a national boundary."

Rumor: Cheney to Resign; Rice as V.P.

After a Washington Post story suggesting that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office is involved in the Plame-CIA investigation, rumors are flying around Washington that Cheney might step aside – and be replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"If that should happen, there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated – another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP,” a White House insider told Paul Bedard of U.S. News & World Report.

Some observers are whispering that the driving force behind the Rice-for-Cheney scenario is political pundit Dick Morris’ new book "Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race.”

In the book, Morris and co-author Eileen McGann warn that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the U.S. unless she can be stopped.

And Condoleezza Rice, they say, is the only Republican who can win the GOP nomination, beat Hillary and hold on to the White House for the GOP.

A move now to elevate Condoleezza to the vice president’s position would better prime her for a run against Hillary in 2008.

Mel Gibson Gives $1M to Mexico's Storm Relief

Actor Mel Gibson, sporting a long beard and no socks, met with Mexican President Vicente Fox on Wednesday and donated $1 million to help Mexico recover from Hurricane Stan.

Fox's office said Gibson asked to meet with Fox because he wanted to help after Hurricane Stan hit the Gulf state of Veracruz, where the actor is filming a movie.

The hurricane and related storms left more than 1,500 dead or missing in Central America and Mexico. Another storm, Hurricane Wilma, was expected to come close to hitting Mexico's Yucatan peninsula late this week.

Gibson is filming the movie "Apocalypto," set 500 years ago in Central America.

Dialogue will be spoken in an obscure Mayan dialect, in the same way Gibson used Aramaic and Latin for his religious blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ."

Joe Scarborough: I Didn't Kill My Intern

MSNBC pundit Joe Scarborough is piping mad at Vanity Fair magazine after it implied he killed a female employee while he was a member of Congress.

The VF article in question, written by James Wolcott, appeared in October 2003.

In a letter to the magazine that has been published in the November 2005 edition, Scarborough writes that Wolcott's "libelous charge, pulled from a hate site on the Internet, led readers to believe that a good woman named Lori Klausutis carried on an adulterous sexual affair with a congressman before being killed in a sleazy sex-scandal cover-up.

"The article suggests that this imaginary sex scandal forced me to leave office. I was painted as the Republican Party's answer to Gary Condit, saved from prosecution by a right-wing media machine."

Scarborough said that in fact, Lori worked at an annex office and he met her no more than three times; he was never alone with her; he announced his retirement from Congress several months BEFORE she died.

Scarborough said he was willing to let the "lie" fade away without taking legal action.

But he's decided to "set the record straight" after a March 2005 Vanity Fair profile of Michael Moore included a Web site domain name that Moore purchased, JoeScarboroughKilledHisIntern.com, which he feared would promote the magazine's "original reckless charge."

In a response to Scarborough's letter in the November issue, Wolcott wrote that he regretted "any emotional distress caused to Mr. Scarborough, his family, and the family and friends of the late Lori Klausutis."

As for Michael Moore, we expect no apologies.

Gore Still Ponders 2008

An old friend may prove a roadblock to Hillary Clinton's plans to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2008 - Al Gore.

Gore says he has no plans of running in 2008.

But Gore's friends view his recent political and business moves as a sign that he's preparing for another run for the White House, U.S. News & World Report column Washington Whispers reports.

In recent speeches Gore has been increasingly airing his views on domestic and international issues.

"And in raising money for his Current TV network, which targets the critical youth market, Big Al has built an issue base and donor network that's competitive with Sen. Hillary Clinton's," U.S. News says.

The columnist said a top aide in the previous Bush administration is planning meetings with the Gore camp to urge an early entry in the 2008 race while Hillary runs for re-election in New York next year.

And Gore's supporters have already handpicked his preferred running mate: Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

One thing is for sure. If Gore doesn't run - he, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Howard Dean (the ?Gang of Four') will be actively working to stop Hillary Clinton.

New species of flying reptile named for fang teeth

Personally, I like the picture


(A handout image released October 18, 2005 shows an artist's impression of a new species of flying pterosaur, the Caulkicephalus trimicrodon, remains of which were discovered three years ago on a beach on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The reptile's name was chosen by University of Portsmouth palaeobiologists in southern England, as Caulkhead is the informal name for natives of the Isle of Wight.)

A new species of flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago has been named for its fang-like teeth, British scientists said on Tuesday.

Palaeobiologists at the University of Portsmouth in southern England dubbed the remains of the pterosaur found on a beach on the Isle of Wight three years ago Caulkicephalus trimicrodon.
Caulkhead is the informal name for natives of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England, and trimicrodon means three small teeth.

"It has massive fang-like front teeth, behind which are three small teeth. Behind those are bigger teeth and then rows of smaller teeth," said Dr David Martill, who described the specimen in the journal Cretaceous Research.

"It was a fish-eater, with a crest on the tip of its snout and a wing span of 5 meters (yards) which would have made it one of the largest flying animals of its time," he added in a statement.
Pterosaurs, or winged lizards, evolved the ability to fly. They lived from about 228 million to 65 million years ago.

Their size ranged from those of a small bird to a creature with a wing-span of up to 18 meters or 60 feet. They had hollow bones, thin bodies, large brains, crests and long beaks.

Flight in pterosaurs evolved separately from birds. Scientists had thought that the creatures used to glide on the wind, but research has shown that large species could fly. Some species had a hair-like covering on their body.

Martill said the flying reptile evolved many different forms and that at least two groups became toothless.

Wilma Sets Barometric Pressure Record

Hurricane Wilma doesn't stop making history: It is the strongest, most intense Atlantic hurricane in terms of barometric pressure and the most rapidly strengthening on record.

A hurricane hunter plane flying through the Category 5 storm's eye found a minimum central pressure of 882 millibars, National Hurricane Center forecasters said Wednesday.

That is lower than the 888 millibars recorded in Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. The lowest pressure at landfall on record is 892 millibars in the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the Florida Keys, which was blamed for more than 400 deaths.

Pressure is often used to compare hurricanes throughout history because there are usually more accurate measurements. Wind gauges are often damaged or destroyed by powerful hurricanes.

Wilma's top sustained winds were measured early Wednesday at 175 mph, the same as Rita and Katrina when they were at sea and 105 mph faster than the wind speed measured 24 hours before when it was a tropical storm. That wind speed increase is the fastest ever recorded, hurricane meteorologist Hugh Cobb said.

Hurricanes Camille (1969) and Allen (1980) were estimated to have winds of 190 mph, the highest ever recorded, but those readings are suspect because of problems with wind gauges, forecasters said.

A hurricane's winds are blown because higher-pressure air rushes toward the lower-pressure eye to equalize the difference. Typically, the lower the pressure, the faster the air speeds in. But because the pressure around each storm is different, lower pressure doesn't always correspond to a specific wind speed.

Wilma dropped from 982 millibars to 882 millibars in 24 hours, or a rate of 4.2 millibars an hour. Gilbert dropped at 3 millibars an hour over 24 hours. Wilma also fell 9.7 millibars an hour over six hours early Wednesday, beating Hurricane Beulah's drop of 6.3 millibars an hour in six hours in 1967.

The lowest pressure ever recorded in a tropical cyclone was 870 millibars in Typhoon Tip in the northwest Pacific Ocean in 1979.

Wife's Slaying Turns Spotlight on Horowitz

The tragic slaying of his wife has put high-profile legal analyst Daniel Horowitz in the spotlight usually reserved for his subjects.

Horowitz rose to public prominence providing commentary last year during the trial of Scott Peterson, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife. He hit headlines last week defending Susan Polk, accused of killing her therapist husband.

But the lens turned after Horowitz returned to his rural hilltop estate in Lafayette on Saturday evening and reported finding the body of his wife, Pamela Vitale, dead from a blow to the head.

"It is a horrible irony," said attorney Steve Mendelson, who shares offices with Horowitz and has known him 24 years.

On Tuesday, Horowitz said he was starting to accept that his wife was not coming back. "Until maybe today, I just couldn't accept that it was real," he told Nancy Grace, an anchor on CNN Headline News and Court TV who frequently sparred with Horowitz on other cases.

Meanwhile, friends such as Mendelson have both grieved their colleague's loss and offered their expertise and speculation on the crime, just as Horowitz has for other homicides.

"As lawyers we often deal with murder cases," said Gloria Allred, a frequent commentator on high-profile trials. "We tend to be in denial that anything like this could ever happen to us. It's just — it's heartbreaking."

Authorities said Tuesday they had no suspects in custody. They questioned several people, including Horowitz and Joseph Lynch, who sold the couple a lot adjoining their estate, about 20 miles east of San Francisco. Lynch had a deal to live for 10 more years in a camper on the four-acre lot.

Horowitz had taken out a restraining order against the 54-year-old Lynch, describing him as a mentally ill drug user who had harassed the couple. But the order was never served because Lynch had started rehabilitation and appeared to be improving, Horowitz said in an interview published Tuesday in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lynch denied having anything to do with the killing, and has not been identified as a suspect.
Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said investigators consider Lynch a "point of interest" but said he has been cooperative and officers were still talking to as many people as possible.

Horowitz told the Chronicle that he discovered his wife's body next to a 65-inch TV set, which had been moved about 2 1/2 feet, indicating a struggle. "She fought like hell," he said.

"When (police) got there, all I wanted was for someone to put their arms around me," Horowitz said. "Instead, I got put in a police car. But I completely understand. They are doing their job and my job is to help them as much as possible so they can find whoever did this."

Horowitz told the Chronicle for a story in Wednesday's editions that he had no motive for killing his wife of nearly 11 years.

"She had no life insurance and only a small pension, which I believed was in her children's names," he said. "My wife really had no assets of her own."
Grace, of CNN, is vouching for Horowitz.

"If an angel came down out of heaven and said 'Horowitz did it,' I believe I'd wrestle him," she said.

Horowitz had been defending Susan Polk in a murder case until a mistrial was declared Monday because of publicity from Vitale's slaying. Horowitz was not in court.

Bill O'Reilly Hires Bodyguards, May Retire

"Now it's so bad that I spend an enormous amount of money protecting myself against evil," declares Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, who says his enemies have become so vicious that he's mulling retiring from his top-rated TV show.

He has also hired bodyguards to protect himself.

The liberal media establishment is mostly behind the rising tide of hatred because "it can't marginalize me," O'Reilly told Newsday's Verne Gay in a rare interview published Tuesday.

Gay writes: "Almost exactly a year since he settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with former Fox News producer Andrea Mackris, the embattled life of O'Reilly has become an increasingly strange and scary one."

O'Reilly told Newsday that he receives death threats and has to hire bodyguards. He can't check into hotels with his family. People on the street take his picture with their cell phones and then post it on the Web.

"Who wants to live like that?" he complains.

As a result of the lawsuit settlement, O'Reilly must have a third person present whenever he conducts an interview or speaks to someone on the phone.

"Anyone can accuse me of anything and it's on a Web site," he said in the interview.
Gay writes: "So little wonder that when Bill O'Reilly is asked about his future after his current contract ends a little more than two years from now, he blurts out one word even as the question is asked: ‘Retirement.'"

But then O'Reilly backpedaled somewhat: "I might. I might. There's only so much aggression you can absorb."

The 56-year-old TV and radio host recently began writing a book, "Culture Warrior," which he says will be his last.

Once touted as a Senatorial or even a third party presidential candidate, cable news's top talker now rules out a future in politics.

Instead, the road ahead "probably leads out of Fox headquarters and away from the scorching spotlight – forever," according to Newsday.

O'Reilly, who's scheduled to appear on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Tuesday night, bemoaned the "debilitating" battles he's had with others in the media.

"I don't need the approval of the press, but I just wish they'd stop the viciousness. It's reached a level of almost comical proportions and it does affect people around me and they do get upset.
"There are some very, very bad people out there and we're dealing with those people."

Recalling an interview he did with sportscaster Howard Cosell years ago, O'Reilly added: "He was very, very bitter. I kept saying to myself, ‘I'm not gonna wind up like that. I'm not going to let them get me.'"

McCain: Bush Backed Down on Court Pick

President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers has split the Republican Party's conservative base, Sen. John McCain concedes.

Chatting with a small group of people before a Burbank, Calif., press conference backing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot initiatives, the Arizona Republican was overheard to say that John Roberts was "perhaps the best choice" for the Court.

But he said that Miers' selection had disappointed the GOP base, which was looking for a fight in support of a more openly conservative pick.

McCain said that conservatives wanted a choice that would energize them for the 2006 elections - a choice like appeals court judge Janice Rogers Brown, who would have guaranteed a fight, according to McCain.

If this had happened, "money would be rolling in," he stated.

McCain smiled as someone said it's obvious that the president has lost his "swagger."

McCain also mentioned that First Lady Laura Bush is very good friends with Miers, and he suspects that Laura was pushing the president strongly to pick not only a woman, but Miers.

And in a conversation about the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, the former POW said as a result of the abuse revelations he'd "hate to be the next American captured by the enemy."

Condi Is Old Pal of Miers

It's been widely reported that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is a longtime close friend of the man who nominated her, President George Bush.

What's less known is that she's also close to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - who likely played a role in her selection.

In fact, in the past five years Miers and Rice have often enjoyed a "girls' night out" along with Ann Veneman, the former agriculture secretary who's now the executive director of Unicef.
The three got together last month at the Bull and Bear steakhouse at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

They've met at the restaurants Olives and Galileo in Washington, listened to concerts together from the president's box at the Kennedy Center, and even sat down to a home-cooked meal at Veneman's house.

Last year, Miers was a guest at a surprise birthday party for Rice at the British Embassy in Washington.

Miers and Rice share an "intense devotion" to President Bush, according to the New York Times, which quoted a friend of the two women as saying it was "reasonable to speculate" that Rice played a role in Miers' selection.

As to what the women discuss on their "girls' night out," a friend said: "There's a lot of girl talk. It's about life, not business."

U.S. Won't Cede Control of the Internet

The United States runs the World Wide Web - and despite some international complaints, it has no plans to relinquish control.

In the late 1990s, the U.S. established the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and promised that the American government would slowly give up control of the servers that underlie the Internet.

"That hasn't happened, and in June the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it won't," the Atlantic Monthly reported.

Some developing countries, including China, India, South Africa and Brazil, want control out of the hands of ICANN and instead placed with an intergovernmental group, possibly under the United Nations.

Several nations with tightly controlled media, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, also want to see the U.S. give up control.

Now critics of the ICANN's dominance have begun efforts to dislodge the U.S. as the sole keeper of Web addresses and give other governments control over their country-code domain names - such as .ca for Canada.

The issue will be discussed at the UN's World Summit on the Information Society, which begins in Tunisia in mid-November.

But the U.S. has made it clear that it will fight any attempt to put the UN or another international body in charge of the Internet.

As NewsMax reported in September, ICANN's president Paul Twomey said his organization doesn't want to see "the Internet's technological future politicized."

French Visual Aids for Children?

In this photo of a poster provided by Unicef on Tuesday Oct. 11, 2005, the cartoon Smurfs and their village are seen being bombed by airplanes. The recent advertising campaign by Unicef, both in print and on television, is intended to teach schoolchildren about the horrors of war. The title in French at left bottom reads 'Don't let war deystroy the world of children'.

Laura Bush: Harriet Miers' Critics Sexist

First Lady Laura Bush said Tuesday that some of the criticism of her husband's Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, could be driven by sexism.

Asked by NBC "Today Show" host Matt Lauer if sexism was behind the attacks on Miers, Mrs. Bush said: "That's possible. I think that's possible."

"I think people are not looking at her accomplishments. They're not realizing that she was the first elected woman to be the head of the Texas Bar Association, for instance. And all the other things. She was the first woman managing partner of a major law firm. She was the first woman hired by her law firm."

Mrs. Bush said her personal interaction with Miers left her very impressed.

"I know Harriet well," she told NBC. "I know how accomplished she is. I know how many times she has broken the glass ceiling. She's a role model for young women around our country. Not only that - she's very deliberate and thoughtful and will bring dignity to wherever she goes - and certainly to the Supreme Court."

Illegal Immigration's Third World Momentum

by Frosty Wooldridge

Writing about America's immigration crisis week after week raises my blood pressure, level of depression and creates maddening frustration levels as I observe inaction by the majority of American citizens. All fifty state governors do nothing to stop it, won't speak against it, and, in many cases encourage it. Governor Bill Owens of Colorado, Baldacci of Maine, Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Richardson from New Mexico assist it. Although, this summer, Napolitano and Richardson issued 'states of emergency' in their states as illegals overran them.

The majority of senators do nothing as well as the majority of the House of Representatives. Major and smaller city majors and city councils harbor illegal aliens with sanctuary policies. Even Los Angeles, with more gangs and crime than you can imagine, continues Special Order 40 that allows killers, rapists, drug distributors, MS-13 members and other human grease to remain protected from arrest.

Have you ever wondered why Third World countries are SO desperate? Why people flee? Why most citizens are illiterate? Why corruption is standard operating procedure? Let's compare the 'Rule of Law' in America to the 'Dis-rule of Law' in countries like Mexico.

In my book, "IMMIGRATION'S UNARMED INVASION: DEADLY CONSEQUENCES"—I wrote about Third World Momentum as seen from the seat of my bicycle as I traveled throughout the world on six continents. I saw first hand all aspects of Third World Momentum. That's why it is SO frustrating that US citizens don't 'get it' or 'see it' and our president and Congress ignore it on purpose as they become a part of the 'Dis-rule of Law' in America. But I'm here to tell you that we're flushing ourselves down the toilet faster than a bullet train. What is happening in America is a 'systemic' or 'endemic' corrupt system from Bush right on down the federal system.

An example of it shows you the incompetence of Michael Brown at FEMA and his horrifically incompetent handling of Katrina. At the height of Rome's decay, emperors appointed unqualified candidates to high office. Caligula appointed his horse to the Senate, where the horse enjoyed the reputation as the wisest and least harmful of that "august" body.

Last week, a reader wrote the exact aspects of Third World Momentum. After his interview, you will be offered a half dozen stories from U.S. citizens that bring it home as to how fast this country is spiraling into Third World status.

Heath Boatwright, Athens, Georgia understands what I have been trying to convey to the American public for years.

"In the last few years, I have found myself in a world where many refuse to discuss openly and honestly the issues that the United States is facing," Boatwright said. "Hearing you on Coast to Coast with George Noory was refreshing to say the least. Although, I will tell you that it did not make me sleep better, and in fact I had to wake up and ponder for a moment all that you had said."

"When you discuss Third World Momentum I know first-hand what you are talking about," Boatwright said. "However, sadly, few Americans can grasp what you are talking about. I attended college at The University of Georgia. I received a BA in history, with a focus on Latin American history and I speak fluent Portuguese. I have traveled to South America many times and visited some of the most destitute and impoverished people there. Unfortunately, when I discuss this issue with most people, they call me a xenophobe, a racist, a bigot, and an ignorant person who does not appreciate other cultures."

"Yet, how can I fit this description if I have ventured out into the world, bothered to learn another language, and reached out an open hand to the poor in far away places?" he said. "Also, how can I be a racist if the very person I chose to marry is not even an American (my wife is from Brazil)? While my love for the people and the region of Latin America runs deep, I would not trade my fate for theirs. I would also not trade my fate for nearly anyone in the Middle East, China, India, and so on."

"Why is it that in the United States, to appreciate a culture you must also want to live like it?" Boatwright said. "I have dedicated much study to that region of the world, and I can tell you flat out that there is another mentality that exists in most Third World nations, and that mentality is manifesting itself here in the United States, daily. Many say that Latin America is "laid back". I have pondered on this observation and realized that you could also put it another way. In Latin America, if it is good enough for today, it is good enough. In Latin America, if you want to get something done, you will have to circumvent law. This is the type of Third World Corruption that you speak of."

"So many in Latin America circumvent the law, that they rarely bother to realize that here, in the US, circumventing the law is the worst way to get things done," he said. "Corruption is so rampant in those regions that it becomes a mechanism by which the society functions. This is why so many illegals come here—reproduce fake Social Security numbers, register their cars from one state to another to avoid mandatory auto insurance, go to the hospital using a fake name, buy items on credit using their brother's name is who now back in Mexico, refuse to learn English, and bear several children with no means of supporting them. They do this because they are modeling what they do in their culture."

Boatwright continues, "Here is another fact about Latin America, and I believe most other Third World nations: those who reside there rarely bother to take accountability for their country's problems. In Latin America, problems are blamed on corruption, foul government, and in certain intellectual circles-"past colonialism". I have yet to encounter one single illegal person in the United States who is willing to admit that he is contributing to the detriment of my nation. In Latin America, you live side by side with abject poverty, illiteracy, hunger, and disease. You do this daily and it simply becomes part of the landscape. Latin America, and again most Third World countries, has a problem of what I call 'mobilization.'"

"This is a situation where thousands mobilize and figure out methods to get things done, either by circumventing the law, or based on the current corrupt system they face, but few ever mobilize to truly resolve the issues they face," Boatwright said. "I do not find it ironic at all that once one illegal alien discovered that he could come here to the US, work illegally, get healthcare, and generally avoid any type of legal prosecution, he later found himself surrounded by millions of his fellow countrymen. Again, this is my point: in Latin America, you have no problem getting people to mobilize in a way that ignores the current law, because people in that region do not live in fear of the law, it generally does not function anyway, and now they have seen that it also does not function in the United States."

"Perhaps I sound harsh in my description, but I know exactly what I am talking about," Boatwright said. "I know that region of the world well, I also know so well the manner of thinking that many bring with them when they enter the United States illegally. This manner of thinking, I believe, is the greatest threat that we face in the future. Finally, I have a deep interest in appreciating and understanding other cultures, but I also have an appreciation for my own. I want to let you know that I understand fully what you are talking about. I would like to ask you if you have ever considered going to our nation's college campuses and discussing this issue. I mention college campuses because I do not know if you are aware that on the American campus it is virtually a universal opinion that illegal immigration is okay. Geography is a required course in most curriculums, and most people grasp the concept of overpopulation, but few can connect that to illegal immigration."

If I could give you Heath Boatwright's or my experiences up close and ugly, every single American today would call the White House, Senators and Congressmen as well as governors and mayors—and DEMAND our immigration laws be enforced and deportations begin immediately for 20 million illegal aliens. But if you don't or won't, part II of this series will show you Americans living with the consequences that reach into every sector of our country. This 'thing' is moving faster than most Americans realize, and once it's imbedded, I fear that large scale civil violence will be the result.

If the signers of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act could see today what they rained down on America 40 years later, not one single senator or congressman would have signed it. But why won't they rescind it? Why won't they stop it? It's their country and their children's future, too.

How does Third World Momentum manifest itself in America? Again, let's review Boatwright's definition: "Corruption is so rampant in South America that it becomes a mechanism by which a society functions."

Look at the corruption at the Federal level in the U.S. today. The majority of senators and congressmen refuse to uphold their oaths of office by aiding, abetting and assisting illegal aliens by the millions. Kennedy and McCain lie through their teeth with their latest guest worker amnesty bill for 20 million illegal aliens. Did Bush not lie about weapons of mass destruction to wage his cowboy war in Iraq? Has he not submitted a totally unqualified lawyer for a supreme court justice in Miers? Didn't he learn from Michael Brown's incompetence with Katrina? Congress supports the corruption of the H-1b, H-2b, L-1 visas affecting over one million American jobs. What about Congress' complicity in corruption of outsourcing, insourcing and offshoring over three million American jobs? How about Bush's blatant disregard for his oath office as he allows millions of illegal aliens to invade and remain in our country? Our own president is in violation of Federal law—USC 8, 1324—274, 275, 276, 277. Bush is not alone because both sides of the aisle assist him against American citizens.

At the state level, we've got governors like Bill Owens of Colorado endorsing a booklet in Spanish helping illegal aliens to imbed themselves into our welfare and workforce systems. All contrary to Federal law! Governor Baldacci of Maine, Napolitano of Arizona and Richardson of New Mexico do everything in their power to help illegals—contrary to their citizens. Most other state governors say nothing! Local mayors in Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Boulder, Detroit, New York, Miami and dozens of other cities support 'sanctuary policies' that allow illegals to work and live in America—CONTRARY TO FEDERAL LAW.

These actions typify Third World Momentum: When laws of a country are not enforced and lawlessness becomes the norm. The United States races toward Third World status because of this ongoing erosion of our once lawful society.

I could give you dozens of examples from my own experiences in Third World countries, but the following constitute American citizens writing letters describing it in their own communities—so you'll see their responses to show you what's happening in the United States.

Dane said, "I used to live in El Paso, Texas and the same thing has happened there. Unchecked border crossings, population uncontrolled, schools trashed and litter everywhere. El Paso used to be a city you could brag on, now it is just the opposite. I left, as many have done and do not intend to return. We are even looked down on if we can't speak Spanish. These people are taking over and crime rules the streets of El Paso. I also foresee a huge water shortage some day. Before long El Paso will hit one million for a population and by then the place should be a complete nightmare."

Dirk of Nevada said, "Even more dangerous than the incoming disease, crime and even terrorism is the fact that most immigrants don't have an appreciation for the freedoms outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Illegals are being taught in public schools with taxpayer money. The fact that Bush supports the illegal invasion; opening our country to possible terrorist attack, and NEVER remarks about the importance of learning the Bill of Rights, proves that he is a traitor."

Guy of LeHigh, OK said, "I am NOT racist, so understand please, I am NOT knocking anyone, but I am stating FACTS.

"I live in southern rural Oklahoma, and I can say that even legal immigration is bad here. Local large scale companies have NO problem hiring illegal aliens at all. We have a plastics producing plant 40 miles from where I live, and they have been busted NUMEROUS times for employing over 50 percent of their workforce, who are illegal aliens from Mexico. The reason they were caught the last time was easy as this: The Social Security Administration noticed that the workers who were illegal were sharing social security numbers of dead residents near where I live.

"Oddly enough, the company (Solo Cup) somehow did NOT notice the 100 illegal aliens had the same social security numbers. You worked four twelve hour shifts a week, sometimes five days a week, and I got paid on the upper scale of a respectable $7.00 an hour. By allowing them to work there, the company kept their payroll wages down. Of course, almost NO ONE WANTS to work there anyway, a job of last resort one might say. Long hours, bad pay, no benefits. But then again, that is true for many Oklahoman communities now.

"For example, did you know that besides Arkansas, we have one of the lowest high school graduation rates? We have a very high teen pregnancy rate. And that in the county I live, we have the HIGHEST unemployment rates in the USA, coupled with the highest welfare rates. Not only that, not one but over five companies locally have left to go overseas because of the cheap labor, and one of the companies (Wrangler Jeans) up and left for Mexico.

"Why pay us $5.00 an hour when you can pay $5.00 a day in Mexico and India?

Mark from Ocean Shores, WA said, "As merchandiser I travel about in the coastal towns of Washington. I have seen first hand an intensification of illegals. They are taking the few jobs we have here in an already depressed economy—those that aren't roaming the streets in gangs. Now, Washington is a long ways from the Mexican border. I see the congress and senate as being totally corrupted. I can't help but feeling the golden era of the USA is over and done. However, we got to give them hell."

George of Sacramento, CA said, "There are so many ways that we're being taken advantage of. When a lot of people come over here and become legal, they send for their parents who come here, haven't worked a day in their lives here, and apply for SSI at $700 per month. So, just because Mom and Dad are seniors they make about $1400 per month together. And they laugh up their sleeves at us all the way to the bank! I know that some of them go back to their country of origin and because of their SSI being deposited directly into their bank accounts, they can spend that money from anywhere. I'm sick of it. Talk about Third World corruption in our own country!"

Shelli of Glendale, CA said, "I'm a payroll auditor who audits a lot of construction companies, ranging from sole proprietor to corporation. I see so much underground economy it makes me want to scream. Contractors are constantly using illegal immigrants for their slave labor. Contractors pocket all the money. For example, it's not unusual to see a business owner's wife on the payroll making more in a week than an illegal employee in their employ makes in a month.

"What angers me is when a business owner hems and haws about the high cost of workers compensation insurance, but then hires illegals and doesn't report their payroll. "They only worked for a day or two" or "They're not a regular employee, they only worked a few weeks." Yeah, a couple weeks like that and a hardworking LEGAL American could've used the money to help support his family. Let's talk about watering down wages! These guys are working for $10/hr in jobs that used to start at $18 — and that was years ago."

George of Fountain Hills, AZ said, "I have been teaching part time at both the Maricopa Community Colleges and Arizona State University for the past five years. The discipline that I teach is mathematics. For the past five years I have been telling students and friends that the United States is the new emerging third world nation. Few people understand what this nation faces. Fewer people care what is happening.

"What I would like to tell you is my experiences in the higher educational system here in Arizona. I can frame the whole attitude by the statement of Chuy Carreon, Mathematics chair of Mesa Community College. Chuy once said that MCCD is NOT here to educate, just here to give out information.

"It should be noted that the remedial courses represent about 50 per cent or more of all the mathematics courses taught at the community colleges here in Arizona.

Jack of Denver, Colorado said, "We have sanctuary cities in Denver and Boulder. Last spring, Officer Don Young was killed by an illegal alien, Raul Gomez, who had been stopped for three traffic violations. He had no license or insurance and was NEVER arrested, before he killed Young with a shot to the back of the officer's head. It shows two levels of law enforcement and one is corrupt. Last month, an illegal alien, Francisco Montero of Boulder, driving on a revoked DUI license and having been arrested nine times with three phony ID cards, killed a Lafayette motorcyclist, Dale Englerth, by turning into the cyclist. Montero should have been deported long ago, but now, he's killed a father and husband."

You can multiply these examples of Third World Momentum by millions of cases of rape, fraud, burglaries, stealing jobs, loss of IRS income taxes, prison costs, judicial costs, schools bankrupting, language chaos, spreading diseases and worse. How can continued illegal alien migration serve this country when it creates so much harm?