Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

OUR DAILY SNIPPETS ARE HERE.

Our great readers are reminded that it is not a crime, nor a violation of any federal or Arizona statute, to subscribe to Urgent Agenda between subscription drives, or to make a donation to our noble and peerless efforts. 

We'll have another subscription drive in the fall, but we would certainly welcome some new subscribers and donators now.  Go to the right-hand column under SUBSCRIPTIONS.  No one will think ill of you.

Great benefits, no health plan. 

(And a thank you to those who are currently joining the Crusade.)

SATURDAY,  JULY 10,  2010

COMEBACK NEWS – AT 9:32 P.M. ET:  What a month for Eliot Spitzer.  The resigned, disgraced former governor of New York, outed during his term for being a paying client of certain ladies, just got a gig at CNN co-hosting a show.  Now he has even bigger dreams:

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer—who resigned after getting caught soliciting prostitute Ashley Dupré and violating interstate-trafficking laws—wants to be the mayor of New York City. When asked for comment about his mayoral ambitions, Spitzer’s spokesperson declined to comment.

"His plan is to run for mayor when Mike Bloomberg's third term ends in 2013," a source told the New York Post.

New York City has had some colorful, and corrupt, figures before in the mayor's chair, especially Gentleman Jimmy Walker in the 1920s.  But if Spitzer gets to be mayor – and in New York politics anything can happen – you can be sure he'll want his old job as governor back. 

His dream was to be president.  Given the gradual slippage in American politics – we forgave Clinton for his Oval Office civics lessons to a young intern – Spitzer's ambition might still burn.

We used to have an Abe Lincoln.

July 10, 2010      Permalink

REAL ESTATE NEWS – AT 6:39 P.M. ET:  There are reports that Bill and Hillary Clinton, with Chelsea soon to be out of the house, will be moving.  From the New York Post:

Looks like Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton are moving on up -- to a deluxe mansion away from prying eyes.

Sources told The Post the Clintons are planning to trade their almost-modest suburban Chappaqua home for a sprawling $10.9 million estate in the bucolic Westchester town of Bedford Hills, complete with 20 acres of gorgeous land surrounded by New York's elite.

The massive compound -- sweetly named Clover Hill Farm -- comes with high fences, two guesthouses and a mansion fit for Bubba's millionaire lifestyle.

The home -- found only after a long cruise down a private road -- is 7,000 square feet with a large foyer, wood paneled library with fireplace, chef's kitchen with fireplace, five bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two half bathrooms.

That means plenty of room for grandkids and the Secret Service.

Although it was built only 10 years ago, the entire mansion retains a rustic feel with exposed wooden support beams. The master bedroom has its own fireplace, along with his-and-hers dressing rooms and bathrooms. The "hers" room is two stories tall.

The house also features a wine cellar with a custom wet bar, an outdoor fireplace, a heated pool, artist studio and stable.

COMMENT:  And you may be sure they won't be hiring U-Haul to move.

May I ask a coarse, impertinent question, improper for a mere subject when we're talking about royalty?

Where is all this money coming from?  Hillary Clinton is the secretary of state, representing this country's interests abroad.  Yet, there have been a number of news stories suggesting that the family income, which is clearly fabulous, is coming largely from "fees" paid by foreign sources, especially in Dubai.  I cannot confirm those stories, but I do think there should be a thorough journalistic vetting of the income of a family that heavily influences our foreign policy.

We don't want another Jimmah Carter situation.  It is no secret that much of the funding for the Carter Center in Atlanta comes from Arab sources, and that Carter's peanut business was bailed out by an Arab bank.  These things were done out of goodness of heart.  Carter toes the Arab line pretty closely.

I want facts.

July 10, 2010    Permalink

YIKES.  AM I IN HEAVEN, OR WHAT? – AT 5:23 A.M. ET:  A new poll by the pro-Democrat Democracy Corps reveals the extent of the disillusionment with the Age of Obama.  From RealClearPolitics:

Democratic Polling firm Democracy Corps (D) has a new survey out that should send chills up the spines of Democrats. Like the recent NPR survey, there's really no good news there for Democrats. Among the findings of the poll of likely voters:

62% believe the country is on the wrong track, and its rising. This is similar to 2006.

Republicans have a higher "thermometer" rating than Democrats.

Republicans lead by 6 in the generic ballot, 48%-42%.

On the issues, Democrats lead on the environment and (barely) raising middle class living standards.

President Obama's approval is under water, 45%-51%.

The health care bill still appears to be a net drag.

The President's personal attribute ratings (strong leader, etc.) have all slid.

55% think the label "socialist" describes the President well.

A plurality believe he's done nothing to help end the economic crisis.

A narrow majority believes that the best way to improve the economy is to cut taxes, rather than spend.

About the only good news for Democrats is that former President Bush is still viewed as being mostly responsible for the state of the economy, though that too has narrowed. Expect to see his face in a lot of Democratic ads this fall.

COMMENT:  The Dems will run against Bush, just the way they once ran against Herbert Hoover...for decades.   It may get them some votes, just as Hoover did.

The poll is encouraging, but the election is four months away.  A month is ten lifetimes in politics.  You do the math.  This election is not won.

I'm amused that 55% of the respondents think Obama is a socialist.  I doubt if that was said as a compliment.  Despite all the efforts of the "respectable" press, an increasing number of Americans seem to be "on" to Mr. Obama.  They've figured it out.  But Republicans have no obvious candidate for 2012 to run against him.  And 2012 is only two years away.

July 10, 2010      Permalink

MORE BRITISH NEWS – AT 5:19 A.M. ET:  Since we're on the subject of Britain (see post just below), we note a sharp warning issued to the UK by a major executive:

HSBC's Hong Kong-based chief executive has launched an attack on the growth of the public sector in the UK as he called on politicians to re-establish Britain's credentials as a business friendly country.

Speaking at a Chatham House meeting on Friday, Michael Geoghegan, chief executive of HSBC, said much of the growth in public sector employment relative to private was down to the move of jobs overseas to more attractive countries in Asia, such as India.

"The reality is that it may be good to have full employment, but if that employment is driven by public employment it's telling you something very clearly... something is not functioning in your society," said Mr Geoghegan.

COMMENT:  Now, what other country do you think needs a warning like that?  I'll give you a hint.  Its president was seen as godlike only a year ago, and goatlike today.  You guessed it.

The dramatic growth in public-sector jobs in the U.S., and the fact that a public employee here is now paid more than his private-sector equivalent, are causes of extreme worry.  Each day we become more and more like the nanny states of Europe.  And states like California, Illinois and New York, symbolic of liberal government, are on the verge of bankruptcy.

The problem, of course, is that much of the Obama class and its journalistic syncophants think Europe is just fine.  A message must be sent.

July 10, 2010      Permalink

BRITAIN ZIPS UP AN AMBASSADOR – AT 5:16 A.M. ET:  I love it when the Brits do something well, because they do it with such style.  Apparently, one of their Mideast ambassadors was caught, as was a CNN producer, writing a post expressing grief for a Hezbollah icon with a sordid past.  That was too much for even the Foreign Office:

The British government removed a blog post by its ambassador to Lebanon praising recently deceased Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah on Friday, Reuters reported.

Ambassador Frances Guy had expressed her sadness at the death of the early Hizbullah spiritual mentor in a blog post titled "The passing of decent men."

"When you visited him you could be sure of a real debate, a respectful argument and you knew you would leave his presence feeling a better person," Guy wrote.

Fadlallah was a Shi'ite cleric who was a known supporter of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and suicide bombings against Israel.

A British Foreign Office spokesman told Reuters that Guy's blog had been removed "after mature consideration."

COMMENT:  I love it, I love it, I love it.  "Mature consideration."  Only the Brits would use a phrase like that.  Clearly, the passionate and adolescent ambassador is out of favor with those with a bit more seasoning.

Of course, if Ms. Guy were an American, she could get out of trouble simply by saying that she wrote it "for the children."

July 10, 2010     Permalink

FRIDAY,  JULY 9,  2010

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THIS GOES ON IN THE 21ST CENTURY...BUT WE MUST NOT QUESTION OTHER CULTURES – AT 7:34 P.M. ET:  Heroic Argentinian journalist Susana Kohan, who supplies me with some of the best material available, alerts us to this stunning story from Pakistan:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 8 (CDN) — A Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges, according to area Muslim and Christian sources.

Jamshed Masih, a police officer who was transferred 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Gujrat to Jhelum, Punjab Province, said a mob led by Muslim religious leader Maulana Mahfooz Khan killed his family on June 21 after Khan called him to the local mosque and told him to leave the predominantly Muslim colony. Jhelum is 85 kilometers (53 miles) south of Islamabad.

“You must leave with your family, no non-Muslim has ever been allowed to live in this colony – we want to keep our colony safe from scum,” Khan told Masih, the bereaved Christian told Compass.

COMMENT:  Where is the outrage among "human rights activists"?  Where is the outrage among the bleeding hearts at the National Council of Churches?  How about the Obamans? 

We are living in 2010.  But you'd never know it from some of the stories that come out of "other cultures."  Disgraceful.

July 9, 2010     Permalink 

THE WAY "BIG SCIENCE" WORKS.  OR SHOULD WE CALL IT POLITICAL SCIENCE? – AT 7:17 P.M. ET:   Reader Sam Indorante alerts us to this Pajamas Media column by Professor of Mathematical Physics Frank Tipler of Tulane, who has written for the Urgent Agenda Forum.  The professor has apparently upset some of the self-appointed gods of the scientific establishment.  Good for him:

The National Academy of Sciences, in its official journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has just published a list of scientists whom it claims should not be believed on the subject of global warming. I am number 38 on the list. The list of 496 is in descending order of scientific credentials.

Professor Freeman Dyson of the Institute for Advanced Study, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Royal Society, is number 3 on the list. Dyson is a friend of mine and is one of the creators of relativistic quantum field theory; most physicists think he should have shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Richard Feynman. MIT professor Richard Lindzen, a meteorologist who is also a member of the National Academy, is number 4. Princeton physics professor William Happer, once again a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is number 6.

I’m in good company.

Yes you are, Professor.   And...

The list is actually available only online. The published article, which links to the list, argues that the skeptical scientists — the article calls us “climate deniers,” trying to equate us with Holocaust deniers — have published less in climate “science” than believers in anthropogenic global warming (AGW).

True.

But if the entire field of climate “science” is suspect, if the leaders of the field of climate “science” are suspected of faking their results and are accused of arranging for their critics’ papers to be rejected by “peer-reviewed” journals, then lack of publication in climate “science” is an argument for taking us more seriously than the leaders of the climate “science.”

COMMENT:  Absolutely correct.  Americans have been sold the bill of goods that when "scientists" speak we must absolutely accept what they say, without question.  In fact, the history of science is an ongoing debate, and is filled with questions and doubts, as I learned from an excellent young instructor at the University of Chicago. 

We wish Professor Tipler the best in his struggle to keep science honest, and non-political.

July 9, 2010     Permalink

THERE IS COMMON SENSE, AND IT SOMETIMES PREVAILS – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:  Reader Joseph J. Gallick alerts us to a court decision that restores some sanity to the offshore drilling situation:

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the federal government’s effort to restore an offshore deep-water drilling moratorium, opening the door to resumed drilling in the Gulf of Mexico while the legal fight continues.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled soon after an afternoon hearing in a lawsuit filed by companies that oppose the drilling ban. The moratorium was struck down June 22 by U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman.

The Interior Department argued the moratorium was necessary while it studied deep-water drilling risks in the wake of the BP oil spill. Government lawyers asked the appeals court to let the temporary drilling ban stand until the 5th Circuit ruled on their appeal of the lower-court ruling.

A spokeswoman for the Interior Department did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

COMMENT:  This is not the judiciary's final say, but it's progress.  The moratorium is a joke, designed to advance the radical agenda of the Obama administration, rather than to protect anything. 

No one delights in the BP oil spill, and no one is defending what apparently was BP's recklessness and cavalier attitude toward safety.  But if there's an air crash and an airline was shown to be negligent, we don't ban flying.  We fix the problem. 

We need oil and will need oil for many decades to come.  Maybe some environmental smartasses think that seven-dollar-a-gallon gasoline is good for our souls, but Americans politely disagree.  Let drilling, under strong safeguards, continue.  Let's be rational about this.

July 9, 2010      Permalink

BOXER BOXED IN – AT 8:40 A.M. ET:  In recent years California has become a heavily Democratic state.  It's also essentially bankrupt, as are blue state audience favorites like Illinois and my New York.  Hmm.  Any connection with Democratic policies there?  Oh, never mind.

Now, though, a California Dem icon, the intellectually challenged Barbara Boxer, is running into trouble:

(Reuters) - Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer's edge over Republican challenger Carly Fiorina has dwindled to 3 points as she seeks re-election in November, with more Californians now holding an unfavorable view of the three-term senator, a poll released on Thursday showed.

Boxer, who once held a 30-point lead over Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard and a political novice, is now ahead by a margin of only 47 percent to 44 percent, the Field Poll found.

One of President Barack Obama's staunchest allies who has become a powerful liberal voice in the Senate since she was first elected in 1992, Boxer is facing her toughest challenge yet, as a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment sweeps the nation.

California, normally a reliably Democratic state suffering from double-digit unemployment and a budget deficit running into tens of billions of dollars, is considered a potential bellwether in the coming congressional elections.

The Field Poll found that since January more Californians have become disgruntled with Boxer, with 52 percent of likely voters holding an unfavorable view of her, compared with just 41 percent who regard her favorably.

COMMENT:  We will cheer on Carly.  But a note of caution:  The Dems will play the fear game, which may have quite an impact on California's minority communities.  It is still very much an uphill battle for Republicans.  Wait 'til the whispers start, linking Fiorina to tea party "racism" or Arizona's illegal-immigration law.

In the California gubernatorial race, Republican Meg Whitman is deadlocked with Democratic former Governor Jerry Brown. 

You'll see plenty of Obama in California this fall.  Don't count out his impact, deceptive as it is.

July 9, 2010     Permalink

BACK TO THE SIXTIES – AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  While the Obamans yap about "racism" in Arizona, they're giving us a good dose of reverse racism in the strangest places.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Who would have guessed that the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, scheduled for a vote in the Senate when it returns from recess, imposes race and gender employment quotas on the financial industry -- at a time the job market is stalling and economic growth is slowing?

Dodd-Frank's Section 342 states that race and gender employment ratios must be observed by all government agencies that regulate the financial sector, as well as private financial institutions that do business with the government.

And...

According to American Enterprise Institute expert Christina Hoff Sommers, "This is going on everywhere. There are several bills pending in Congress such as Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Science and Engineering, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and now Section 342 of Dodd-Frank, that will empower a network of gender apparatchiks -- but weaken critical national institutions."

And...

With its new Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion, Dodd-Frank is radically changing existing law from anti-discrimination, namely equality of opportunity, to quotas, namely equality of outcome. Ultimately, the only way that financial firms will be able to comply is by showing that a certain percentage of their work force is female or minority.

COMMENT:  Weren't we told that Obama would be a "post-racial" president?  I think I heard that.  It's anything but true.  We heard powerful testimony this week from a disgusted former Justice Department lawyer that Eric Holder's Justice Department will not pursue discrimination cases if they are brought by whites.

And why is it that these affirmative-action offices only boost the fortunes of certain groups – those groups popular on the political left?

All discrimination is bad, including the reverse discrimination inherent in Dodd-Frank.  The sixties are back, complete with quota systems and anti-military fervor in the correct political circles.  Don't you see the improvement?

July 9, 2010     Permalink

THE PUBLIC SPEAKS; ANYONE LISTENING? – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  As the Obamans get set to sue Arizona over its illegal-immigration law, the American people have different ideas, as Scott Rasmussen reports:

Voters by a two-to-one margin oppose the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law in federal court. Sixty-one percent (61%), in fact, favor passage of a law like Arizona’s in their own state, up six points from two months ago.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 28% of voters agree that the Justice Department should challenge the state law. Fifty-six percent (56%) disagree and another 16% are not sure.

But get this:

On the other hand, the nation’s Political Class thinks the legal challenge is a great idea. Seventy-three percent (73%) of Political Class voters agree with the Justice Department decision to challenge the Arizona law, while 67% of Mainstream voters disagree and oppose that challenge.

COMMENT:  Ah, the political class.  Completely out of touch with the people.  And yet, it's the political class that the Obama crowd listens to.  They're the ones with the right degrees and the gold-plated jobs.  And they sound so nice.

It is our sacred mission to make sure that the power of the political class is curtailed.  They ain't us.  Oh, excuse me.  That's not good political class language.  Let's say that they adhere to an alternative narrative.

July 9, 2010      Permalink