Whose next?

As always, your comments are welcome.

In one word:  impeach

As always …. your comments are welcome.

I spent the past two weeks visiting what has to be the jewel of the Pacific Asian Rim, Taiwan. This independent democracy is something to behold. It’s scenery is as intense as it’s fiercely independent people.

I spent some time in the Kenting National Park. Kenting National Park is situated on Hengchun Peninsula at the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It features a coral reef-type topography and offers the glories of both mountains and seas as well as the beauties of lakes and plains. The unique regional features here include coral reefs, solitary mountains, ponds, sand dunes, and tropical forests, and the area offers topographical scenery of many different types such as the broken-ridge coral topography near the west coast, the stiff winds of the east coast, wind-eroded formations, limestone platforms on the south coast, collapsed cliffs, and sandy beaches. This is a must-see area.

I also toured through Tainan. This southern farm area is quaint and demonstrates the work ethic of the Taiwanese people.

My final stay was in Taipei. This is a world class city. It is also home to the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101. This magnificent building is breathtaking and the view from the top is unbelievable. The cleanliness of the city and the modern architecture is amazing. The shopping malls are exquisite and boast such stores as Christian Dior, Prada, Tiffany and Celine. Just to name a few. The transportation is first rate with bus, subway and rapid trail transit at your beckon call. Taipei must be the motor scooter capital of the world. These gas conserving little devices swarm the streets like little honey bees.

The food of Taiwan is a seafood lover’s delight. Almost every kind of seafood can be found in the restaurants and street food vendors of Taipei. Other traditional Chinese food is also abundant. Virtually every major US food chain is in Taipei: McDonald’s, Burger King, Outback Steak House, TGI Friday’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dunken Doughnuts and of course, Starbucks.

Finally, a word about the people of Taiwan. The Taiwanese are a industrious and proud people. They are very friendly and many can speak English. The official language is Mandarin Chinese. They take their politics very seriously. Indeed, their turnout at the polls is well in excess of 80%.

Taiwan is a great place to visit. If you want to go to Asia, I would suggest you add Taiwan to your must-see itinerary.

Recently I vacationed in Toronto, Ontario Canada. My last trip to Toronto was a few years ago. On this trip I was deeply disappointed. It started with the intensely unfriendly immigration officer at the Canadian border. He made me feel guilty that I was about to spend about $3,000 in Canada.

First of all, let me say that I found Toronto to look a bit more dirty and shabby then when I was last in Toronto. The people of Toronto were far less friendly and often down right rude.

The prices in Toronto were ridiculously outrageous. Much higher than New York City and, in my opinion, unjustifiable. Here’s a sample:

I went to Casa Loma. This is a magnificent mansion atop a hill overlooking Toronto. It took three years to build and cost $3.5 million in 1911 dollars. The cost for admission is $16.00 per adult plus $8.00 for parking.

I also visited the Ontario Science Center. The place was showing it’s age. Maintenance is obviously not up to par as the place was dirty and tattered. I found the exhibitions boring and not very creative. Cost of admission is $17.00 per adult and $8.00 for parking. Definitely not worth it.

The Art Gallery of Ontario was another disappointment. When arriving at the admission desk I was informed that due to a massive reconstruction project, only 12 paintings and 9 sculptures were on display. Admission was $5.00. I declined to enter.

The famous CN Tower admission is $21.49 or $25.99 not including taxes. Since I have already been to the top of the world’s tallest building, the 101 Building in Taipei, Taiwan, I decided to pass on this rip off.

The Royal Ontario Museum admission is $18.00 until May 31st. June 3rd to September 2nd the price jumps to $20.00 for adult admission.

Dinner for two at a Greek diner in the suburbs was $50 for two people.

Overall my stay in Toronto was a disappointment. I will probably never return. In retrospect I would have enjoyed New York City more. And I know I would have received more value for my money.

Last week saw one of the greatest stock market plunges since 2001. The world’s industrial nations have, seemingly, placed all of their eggs in one basket. That basket is China. Last week China’s stock market faltered. Thus, triggering a plummet of the world’s major stock markets. Add to this equation the fact that the world’s largest economic power, the United States, is deeper in debt than at any time in it’s history. One of the US’ largest creditors is, interestingly enough, Communist China.

I think it’s time for US business to take another look at the basket that it has placed all of it’s eggs. What do you think? Your comments are always welcome.

Communist China tested the shoot down of a satellite. They came within firing range of one of our subs. They’re making natural gas deals with Russia. And they own a good chunk of US debt.

It seems that no one, not the Democrats, not the Republicans, not the military and certainly not corporate America, seem to care very much about Communist China’s activities.

Most average citizens don’t have a clue. In fact, most average US citizens don’t even know that China is a communist dictatorship. A repressive dictatorship no less cruel than North Korea or Cuba.

Corporate America’s vision is narrowed by greed while they simply choose to overlook the fact that they are feeding a repressive, dictatorial government. A government that will one day bite us in the neck. Millions of Americans have lost good paying jobs thanks to the narrow minded greed of corporate America. Make no mistake about it, US-based, multinational corporations hold no allegiance to this country. Their allegiance is to their bottom line and the Wall Street analysts.

As long as corporate America is happy then the Democrats and the Republicans are happy. After all, they can’t exist without the big money of the corporate lobbyists. Lobbyists who’s only objective is to satisfy their client’s absolute control of the Congress and the executive branch of our government.

Does anyone care about Communist China’s activities? I know I do. I wish most people did. Do you?

by Chuck Baldwin
Constitution Party 2004 Vice-Presidential Candidate

The very first bill passed by the House of Representatives this year was H.R. 1 named, “Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act.” The vote was 299 Ayes, with 68 Republicans voting with the majority, and 128 Noes.

Drafted by the 9/11 Commission following the terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York City, the report proffered 41 recommendations to the federal government ostensibly for the purpose of making the United States more secure against future terrorist attack. The implementation of this report was new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s first priority for the 110th Congress. She succeeded. The House of Representatives easily passed it. The Senate is expected to do the same, and President Bush will doubtless sign it into law. But what, exactly, does this bill accomplish? Does it make America more secure? And if so, at what cost?

I well remember my father telling me, “A bird in a cage is safe, but it is not free.” That proverb pretty much summarizes H.R. 1. When fully implemented, the new law will create a federal police leviathan that will place the American people into a giant bird cage.

As many have already observed, a close analysis of the 9/11 report reveals the creation of Homeland Security identity checkpoints on America’s roads and highways. Mandatory biometric iris and finger scanning systems at all American airports and seaports. The creation of a national I.D. card. The expansion of “no-fly” and “watch” lists. The implementation of special screening for all airline passengers, which paves the way for invasive body scanners. The federal takeover of publicly owned communications networks and increased government surveillance of Americans’ financial records and activities.

In addition, H.R. 1 mandates that America becomes increasingly meddlesome in the internal affairs of foreign nations, thereby pushing the United States further down the road of international governance. For example, one recommendation requires that the U.S. “defends Muslims against tyrants and criminals . . .”

Of course, nowhere in the 9/11 Commission Report is there a call to defend Christians against tyrants and criminals. And the truth is, the most rampant and bloodthirsty acts of tyranny and criminality are committed against Christians. In The Sudan alone, Marxist and Muslim warriors have tortured, murdered, and enslaved more than two million people, mostly Christians, over the past twenty years. However, their suffering is mostly ignored by the international community and by our own government.

Yet, back to the issue. How many nations must we invade and how many governments must we overthrow in order to “defend Muslims”? Furthermore, are we also obligated to defend Buddhists and Shintoists?

Another recommendation wants the United States to “generously [support] a new International Youth Opportunity Fund” for the purpose of “building and operating primary and secondary schools in . . . Muslim states . . .” How many billions and even trillions of taxpayer dollars will be required to build and operate Muslim schools? Schools that will no doubt teach Muslim doctrine. There is certainly no shrill cry against the separation of Mosque and state heard here, Martha.

Yet another recommendation requires “global border security” using “extensive international cooperation.” What the heck is this all about? What, pray tell, is “global border security”? Does this mean using foreign troops to guard our borders?

Are we supposed to believe that our own National Guard and Border Patrol are unable to protect our borders, and, therefore, we need foreign troops to do the job? Balderdash! The fact is, the Bush administration simply does not allow our forces to protect our borders. Perhaps this recommendation in the 9/11 Commission Report helps explain why.

Still another recommendation requires the federal government to “set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as drivers licenses.” In other words, a national, or maybe even international, I.D. card or computer chip.

One of the most egregiously extreme recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Report is this next one. Without specifically naming it, this recommendation calls for the implementation of President Bill Clinton’s former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott’s brainchild. It is called Continuity of Government (COG). COG has strong support from many notables such as former GOP Senate Whip Alan Simpson, Clinton’s former Secretary of HHS Donna Shalala, former House Speakers Democrat Tom Foley and Republican Newt Gingrich, former GOP Minority Leader Robert Michel, and Kweisi Mfume, President and CEO of the NAACP.

In a nutshell, proponents of COG envision a terrorist attack that would precipitate the suspension of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, COG would authorize Congress to appoint its own members, including those in state legislatures, without a vote of the people. COG even envisions the enactment of such authority for reasons of “incapacitation” (whatever that is) even if no emergency exists.

As one should easily be able to see, the passage of H.R. 1 simply continues the policies of both Democrat and Republican administrations to put the bird in its cage. Of course, the bird is the American people and the cage is a national, even international, curtain of total control.

Aldous Huxley called it a “Brave New World.” George Orwell outlined it in his book “1984.” Bible theologians call it the “Revived Roman Empire.” Whatever one calls it, both George W. Bush and the Democrats in Congress are pushing hard and fast to implement it. And unless the American people offer the strongest resistance quickly and loudly, our children and grandchildren will find the cage locked shut with no chance of escape.

The American people need to heed the warning of Winston Churchill who said, “If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”

America, are you listening?

(c) Chuck Baldwin

Please visit Chuck’s web site at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.

This is a must read article written by Chris Martenson.

Click on this link:Â http://drmss.com/wordpress/?p=17 and see why I wrote my article here titled “Does Communist China Own The USA?”

In the USA, when you want to upgrade to a better cell phone, you must always sign a new contract. The new contract begins a new 1 or 2 year contract. Did you know that in Asia and Europe you can buy a new cell phone without extending your contract with the cell phone company? In Asia you buy the cell phone at your favorite electronics store, pop in your ID chip and you’re ready to go. No signing a new contract.

Did you also know that in Europe and Asia they never pay for minutes on incoming calls?

How long before Americans wake up and see that we have been getting ripped off by greedy cell phone companies?

What do you think? Your comments are always welcome.

The other day I started thinking about the legacy of George W. Bush. I thought about the terrible loss of life in Iraq; over 600,000 Iraq civilians and over 3,000 US military personnel to-date since we toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime. And surely the horrendous unrest and turmoil that very well may continue long after our civilization is gone. Is this the Bush legacy?

The United States has been divided between Red states and Blue states and those who used to be for the Iraq war and those who never were. Our liberties have been eroded more than at any time since the founding of our nation. Secrecy has been developed into a perfect art form by Bush and his administration. Illegal entry into our country by Mexicans was allowed to continue unabated. New Orleans turned to Washington during a time of grave crises. The response from Bush was merely a photo op. The erosion of America’s middle class. Bush has spent over $500 Billion on the Iraq war to-date. Is this the Bush legacy?

As always, your comments are welcome.