Give it a rest, Mr. President
NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush is building his legacy, adding another unfortunate line of hollow bravado to his rhetorical repertoire. To "Mission accomplished," "Bring it on," "Wanted: Dead or alive," and of course, "I earned ... political capital, and now I intend to spend it," he has added "I'll see you at the bill signing," referring to his own ill-considered push for so-called comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
.......
USA TODAY
May 23, 2002
American Idol exacerbates social dilemma
America was already celebrity-obsessed before American Idol came along and shifted the hysteria into hyper-drive. And as if that wasn't enough enticement for people's hopes and aspirations to be famous, even for a limited time, television networks leaped into the lazy and shallow, high profit business of reality shows for people who seek fame for anything.
****
Los Angeles Times
May 26, 2007
Re: 'Smoking's sinful sensuality in movies' Meghan Daum 5-19-07
Meghan Daum's half-hearted attempt to defend smoking in movies for the sake of history in the art of movie-making doesn't address what is going on in real life. Indeed, in the end, she gives-in to the inevitability of surrender to the tyranny of anti-smoking zealots. ****
Major transformations are shaping political, economic and world events.
By HERBERT MEYER
Herb Meyer served during the Reagan administration as special assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA's National Intelligence Council. In these positions, he managed production of the U.S. National Intelligence Estimates and other top-secret projections for the President and his national security advisers.
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Following are letters published in the Victor Valley Daily Press: a letter debate between local residents and Daniel B. Jeffs, founder DDC:
March 2, 2007
Rants about Gore's Oscar denial of reality
When the Oscar went to "An Inconvenient Truth," I knew that the right-wingers would throw a fit even though none of them had actually seen the movie. However, even I was amazed at how quickly the Daily Press dedicated its Opinion page to the rants of those insisting that the whole thing was some kind of massive conspiracy by left-leaning Hollywood elitists to push the "myth" of global warming on an unsuspecting public and to blame President Bush for hurricanes and earthquakes.
These people don't want a reasoned debate on the issues. They refuse to even look at the sound and solid scientific evidence behind the warnings of the threat of global warming (over 1,000 American scientists signed a letter stating that climate changes we are currently seeing are not part of a natural cycle but largely the result of burning fossil fuels). All they offer is the same thing they usually offer - denial of reality and attacks on anyone providing facts that undermine what they believe.
And for the record, the last time Al Gore ran for president the American people elected him by over 500,000 votes. It was the Supreme Court, in a decision split down party lines, that made George W. Bush president and we have been suffering the consequences ever since.
Rick Benefield
Apple Valley
****
March 2, 2007
A Convenient Deception
Former Vice President Al Gore's self-aggrandizing academy reward documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," is not only rife with lies regarding his so-called "moral issue" of global warming, it is simply further evidence of the entertainment industry's blatant moral relativism and their convenient deceptions and distortions of the truth.
The truth is, Al Gore is holding himself up as the savior of the world, while he and other "Lords of Liberalism," from the news media, the education establishment, and government are in fact waging a social, political and economic war of indoctrination to control our behavior and our lives. It is painfully clear that it's time to say, "No more!" to left-wing tyrants before it's too late save our American culture.
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley
****
March 4, 2007
Gore just the narrator, not the perpetrator
The rant of Apple Valley resident Daniel B. Jeffs about the Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," was typical right-wing tactics; attack the messenger but do not acknowledge the message he brings. In this case, Jeffs decides Al Gore is the messenger, but Gore was just the narrator. The film crew, Gore and 400 scientists world-wide bring the message.
I suppose Jeffs thinks there is a debate about global warming. Ninety-nine per cent of scientists say it is here and one per cent say it is merely a weather cycle. This is a debate? Would it help Jeffs to know that the one per cent reside in this country and receive checks from oil companies? With air pollution staying at the same rate it is now New York City, Washington D.C. New Orleans, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle will be under water in a few decades.
The documentary won another Oscar for Original Song, "I Need to Wake Up" to global warming. They want Jeffs and others to wake up and smell the bacon; rise and shine, and get with the program. It is going to take a Manhattan Project in each of the world's industrialized countries to put the brakes on global warming.
Tom Freeman
Pinon Hills
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Re: "Rants about Gore's Oscar denial of reality (Letters, March 2) and "Gore just the narrator, not the perpetrator" (March 4)
Rick Benefield's and Tom Freeman's letters defending Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" comes as no surprise, since they are obviously among millions of people who have simply accepted decades of left-wing propaganda as truth. Indeed, when the indoctrination comes from most of the education establishment, entertainment industry, news media and government, the infection is understandable. It is, however, surprising that they incessantly beat the drums of truth when they redundantly believe and teach that there is no truth.
Contrary to Mr. Benefield's assumption, prior to writing my letter of criticism, I did watch Al Gore's so-called documentary to see why the film industry crowd was so enamored by it. Considering the industry's closed society and disturbing roots of socialist political bias -- along with an ongoing decline in quality of product -- the Gore award came as no surprise to me.
Mr. Freeman's assertion that Gore was merely the narrator, not the messenger, is simple being naive about just how narcissistic and hypocritical Gore and other "limousine liberals" really are. To dismiss challenge, disagreement, criticism and common sense as conservative or right-wing rants is typical arrogance from the Left, wherein anyone who disagrees with them is evil, is nothing less than another tyranny of a radical mindset. And as for suggesting that we "wake up and smell the bacon," and to nuke "each of the world's industrialized countries to put the brakes on global warming" with "Manhattan Projects," Mr. Freeman's rant is a little frightening and crosses dangerous left-wing lines in their current war against fat people and their long term war against anything nuclear.
Mr. Benefield and Mr. Freeman, and other mindless Democrat and Republican fear merchants, seem to overlook the fact that growing numbers of mindful nonpartisan voters and other independent thinkers are deeply concerned about how much liberal progressives and the two-party system have steadily increased uncertainty about our national security, the cost of living and control of our lives. They should also understand that independent voters are increasing, that we decide most elections, that we are fed-up with politics as usual, and that when the majority -- regardless of their political persuasion -- is pushed so far that it really hurts, changes will certainly come. Hopefully, in this era of terrorism, it won't be too late...
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley
Published in the Daily Press
February 13, 2007
The Freak Show of Anna Nicole Smith
It's a relief to see that our local newspaper, the Daily Press, has chosen not to cover the Anna Nicole Smith freak show that is consuming television news and other programming.
Re: Malaria: The Sting of Death
A historic opportunity
L.A. Times editorial
November 13, 2005
Spending $billions to combat malaria is almost meaningless unless mosquito-borne killer is controlled by DDT.
Re: Blame it on the boomers
by Gregory Rodriguez
and: Political switch hitters
by Jonathan Chait
Los Angeles Times Current
November 13, 2005
The boomer generation may be America's undoing
NEWSWEEK
October 3, 2005 issue
Re: How Bush Blew it
By Evan Thomas
Newsweek September 19, 2005 issue
Katrina and the Blame Game
Founder's letter published in the
Washington Times
July 7, 2005
Rock concerts and President Bush's proposed $1.2 billion plan to fight malaria in Africa over the next five years are almost meaningless, not because the money is sure to be misspent, but because there has been, is and will be only one way to really combat and control the mosquito-borne killer: with DDT ("Live 8 concerts rock the globe for Africa," Page 1, Sunday).
Reject Environmentalism, Not DDT
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
By: Keith Lockitch
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?news_iv_ctrl=-1&page=NewsArticle&id=10773
Keith Lockitch has a Ph.D. in physics, and he is a junior fellow at the Ayn Rand
Institute in Irvine, CA.
THE EMPTY VESSEL OF THE AMORAL GENERATION
IS REALLY A TIME BOMB
February 4, 2005
While disgruntled left-wing Democrats (regressives calling themselves progressives), their unwitting choir -- and liberal elite journalists from what could now be called the "drystream media"