Chavez might be a little chapped...

Oh wow.

Pick any read....

The Pentagon Protests Chinese Decision Blocking U.S. Navy Ships Port Entry

Woo hoo! Go Pentagon! dm
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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon issued a formal protest to China on Wednesday over its refusal to permit U.S. Navy ships to enter the port of Hong Kong on two occasions last week.

"We are expressing officially our displeasure with the incident," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters. He said a Chinese military officer who is Beijing's defense attache in Washington was called to the Pentagon to accept the protest from a Pentagon Asia policy official. Morrell called it an "a formal protest, an official protest, complaint," for refusing port entry for two U.S. Navy minesweepers and, later, for the USS Kitty Hawk and its accompanying battle group.

Also, the Chinese foreign minister met with President Bush on Wednesday and blamed the incident on "a misunderstanding." READ ARTICLE HERE.

China....

U.S. Aircraft Carrier Refused Entry to Hong Kong for Scheduled Thanksgiving Visit

Thursday, November 22, 2007

HONG KONG — A flotilla of U.S. warships carrying as many as 8,000 American sailors heading for a four-day Thanksgiving holiday visit to China's port of Hong Kong has been refused entry, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

It was not immediately clear why the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and its support vessels were barred Wednesday. Port officials said they had not been notified of the previously scheduled visit. But the incident added an unusual twist to China-U.S. relations, strained in recent months by disputes over trade and Iran's nuclear program.

In the past, China has banned all U.S. ships from the former British colony during times of tense relations. But current relations are not too bad, said David Zweig, a professor of China relations at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said.

"This is a surprise," Zweig said. "I haven't heard of ships being turned away like this before. I'm also disappointed and saddened for the families who have flown here expecting to see their relatives and are not now going to have their reunions."

The Kitty Hawk and five support vessels including a nuclear fast attack submarine were expected to dock in Hong Kong's deep water port Wednesday morning.

More on FOXNews.com

11/22/07: Click here for update

Virgie Bell's View: On Kuchi Baby....

That dashing debonair Dennis Kucinich has finally spoken out about how he would get this world in order. How he would take care of the war and obviously get rid of future wars. The trick is to get rid of the warriors and do that first. He was on hand for the 18th annual protest at Fort Benning that trains Latin American soldiers, government officials, and police. His take on this brilliant deduction is that this and other training facilities like it are what caused the war in Iraq. You don't get to hear very much out of this presidential candidate unless you are into attacking our military. If I was still as gung ho about voting a strict Democratic ticket as I used to be, I would have deep misgivings about my party with this little toad running on that ticket to start with. I finally have some grist for the mill now. Can anyone in their right mind believe something as ridiculous as that statement? Training at Fort Benning and other facilities like it caused the war. This is beyond stupid. It is down right one of the biggest insults to our troops that I have heard from anyone. Not that old Dennis has that much of a following. No one that I know would vote for this despicable little man. I cannot for the life of me figure out what he is doing upon the stage of a debate between candidates for president for either party.

When I was on my roll voting for the Democratic candidate it used to bother me that we had the goofiest political pundits one could imagine. Michael Kinsley was one. If you traced his lineage I am sure he would be kin to the kin of Hillary Clinton. The eyes and the wild look have to be a family trait. Not everyone is familiar with Mr. Kingsley and I used to wish that he didn't represent my party on Crossfire because, well, look at him. He still does an article for Time magazine now and then. I would always wish that Crossfire on CNN could find someone else to do my speaking as far as the goals and accomplishments that were at the heart of my party. Come to think of it, I was forever amazed that Arafat was the leader of the Palestinian people. Here is the difference I am referring to. You know some guys are just hunks. We just love to see them in any form or fashion. Tony Romo could make a speech about any issue and I would set there in rapt attention. Or Terrell Owens or just about any of these big league ball players. I know I am a little old and way past being a looker, but that doesn't mean I am past looking at a looker. They are inspiring just being alive on the same planet where I reside. It is different for old Dennis, or Arafat, and way different for someone like Ahmadinejad. I find them utterly repulsive. An eyesore if you will. Now Bill Gates is no Tony Romo but he has accomplished so very much. He is a geek that has accomplished what a geek was put here to do. That is to be smart enough and inventive enough to have played a significant roll in making my life a little more interesting. If you have enough brains, you can fulfill a place that society desperately needs. Now there is still the recent argument about who really came up with the internet. Al Gore has made that particular claim but I think that is just so much Hollywood clap-trap. I really think that Bill Gates did that stuff but what do I know? I could be wrong.

We are hearing on a daily basis about the leader or dictator of Venezuela. He now has made a demand that the US dollar not be the current choice of world trade standards. He said that the USA currency just does not have any lasting value. The currency of Venezuela would be his choice I would assume. That currency needs to be the world standard as far as this little tin pan leadership is concerned. No one in their right mind will be trading with his country. He was calling Spain a fascist while making one of his speeches and the leader of Spain finally told him to shut up. Well, in retaliation for Carlos of Spain's insubordination, Hugo Chavez is taking over Spain's different investments in that country. He has taken over everything else. Here is the man who is the leader of a once great country and his ideal man, his role model is Fidel Castro. People in Cuba are starving. The infrastructure of Cuba lies in shambles. The people of Cuba will try to come across to the USA on an inner tube in shark infested waters. If a Cuban refugee put as much as one foot on North American shores, then he is under protection of our government. Cubans flee just like those of Jewish descent fled from Germany. Hugo Chavez wants to be just like Fidel Castro. The great leader of the poorest and most desperate population in the world is what he aspires to. That is just the same thing as me firing up my cigarette and setting before my computer envying those who stare into space into a world we do not ever understand and hope never to be able to understand. A leader? Are you kidding me? And here comes John Kerry closing in on the back stretch. UNBELIEVABLE!

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Virgie Bell's View: Sending Santa and his Ho Home. What??

Well, may I say that I believe political correctness has gone over the top? Like way over the top. Seems Australia is trying to get rid of the Ho Ho Ho as in Santa’s laugh. They say it is racist. Do you believe that? Last week some organization is in a tizzy because of, now, get this: calling a Hispanic male on a wanted list a Hispanic male. You know, the descriptions! Sucha and so tall, hair, no hair, color of eyes. etc. but then they messed it up because they called him Hispanic. The thing is he is a Hispanic Male. They are outraged that we are calling a fugitive from the law by a term they consider to be racial profiling. I absolutely give up on this. I am convinced that I will never get it. Alright, you can put White Male or Black Male on a Wanted Poster all day long, but what do we say about those of Mexican descent?

I am Just Female White. Plain old vanilla. Now I don't know where the Name Hispanic originated. The Mexican race is from a mixture of Indian and Spanish. Boys being boys and girls being girls, mixtures happen. I am just a plain old duke’s mixture. A little this and a little that thrown in the mix and I am getting a little tired, come to think of it, that I am known as just a white female. You would think someone somewhere would come up with something catchy for white. Female is sexist in nature and white is racial profiling. But back to Santa Clause. Now Santa had a lock on ho before a rapper was ever born, or a hip hopper or whatever, but they get to use the n word and the b word and get a funny little statue as the top dog in the entertainment business, so leave Santa Claus alone. What about the Jolly Ho Ho Ho Green Giant? Take a hammer and smash that TV in. Here is the thing about all of this confusion. I’m ignorant and I know it. I am the first to admit it, but I also taught my kids to be ignorant. They are just liable to slip up in front of someone sometime and call them Hispanic. The horror of it all.

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Oh, wow!

Forgotten WWII-Era American Fighter Plane Found on Beach in Wales

Wednesday, November 14, 2007


NEW YORK — Sixty-five years after it ran out of gas and crash-landed on a beach in Wales, an American P-38 fighter plane has emerged from the surf and sand where it lay buried — a World War II relic long forgotten by the U.S. government and unknown to the British public.


During those decades, beach strollers, sunbathers and swimmers were often within a few yards of the aircraft, utterly unaware of its existence just under the sand. Only this past summer did it suddenly reappear due to unusual conditions that caused the sands to shift and erode.


The startling revelation of the Lockheed "Lightning" fighter, with its distinctive twin-boom design, has stirred considerable interest in British aviation circles and among officials of the country's aircraft museums, ready to reclaim yet another artifact from history's greatest armed conflict..... MORE from FOXNews.com

Manuscript Shows Isaac Newton Calculated Date of Apocalypse

What Goes Up Must Come Down
Famed scientist's biblical calculations placed end of the world in 2060 — or maybe later.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

JERUSALEM — Three-century-old manuscripts by Isaac Newton calculating the exact date of the apocalypse, detailing the precise dimensions of the ancient temple in Jerusalem and interpreting passages of the Bible — exhibited this week for the first time — lay bare the little-known religious intensity of a man many consider history's greatest scientist.

Newton, who died 280 years ago, is known for laying much of the groundwork for modern physics, astronomy, math and optics. But in a new Jerusalem exhibit, he appears as a scholar of deep faith who also found time to write on Jewish law — even penning a few phrases in careful Hebrew letters — and combing the Old Testament's Book of Daniel for clues about the world's end.

The documents, purchased by a Jewish scholar at a Sotheby's auction in London in 1936, have been kept in safes at Israel's national library in Jerusalem since 1969. Available for decades only to a small number of scholars, they have never before been shown to the public.

In one manuscript from the early 1700s, Newton used the cryptic Book of Daniel to calculate the date for the apocalypse, reaching the conclusion that the world would end no earlier than 2060.

"It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner," Newton wrote. However, he added, "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail."

In another document, Newton interpreted biblical prophecies to mean that the Jews would return to the Holy Land before the world ends. The end of days will see "the ruin of the wicked nations, the end of weeping and of all troubles, the return of the Jews captivity and their setting up a flourishing and everlasting Kingdom," he posited.

The exhibit also includes treatises on daily practice in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In one document, Newton discussed the exact dimensions of the temple — its plans mirrored the arrangement of the cosmos, he believed — and sketched it. Another paper contains words in Hebrew, including a sentence taken from the Jewish prayerbook.

Yemima Ben-Menahem, one of the exhibit's curators, said the papers show Newton's conviction that important knowledge was hiding in ancient texts.

"He believed there was wisdom in the world that got lost. He thought it was coded, and that by studying things like the dimensions of the temple, he could decode it," she said.

The Newton papers, Ben-Menahem said, also complicate the idea that science is diametrically opposed to religion. "These documents show a scientist guided by religious fervor, by a desire to see God's actions in the world," she said.

More prosaic documents on display show Newton keeping track of his income and expenses while a scholar at Cambridge and later, as master of the Royal Mint, negotiating with a group of miners from Devon and Cornwall about the price of the tin they supplied to Queen Anne.

The archives of Hebrew University in Jerusalem include a 1940 letter from Albert Einstein to Abraham Shalom Yahuda, the collector who purchased the papers a year earlier.

Newton's religious writings, Einstein wrote, provide "a variety of sketches and ongoing changes that give us a most interesting look into the mental laboratory of this unique thinker."

FOXNews.com

More news from Afghanistan

Over 100 Militants, Civilians and Police Killed In Massive Afghan Battle
Monday, June 18, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan — A massive three-day battle in southern Afghanistan between NATO and Taliban militants has killed more than 100 people, including insurgents, civilians and police, Afghan officials said Monday.

Lt. Col. Maria Carl, a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said there is "definitely a large engagement that has been going on there," but she could not confirm casualty figures. The Netherlands defense chief said hundreds of Taliban fighters have launched attacks in Uruzgan province, particularly against police posts.

Afghan officials said Taliban fighters sought shelter in civilian homes and that NATO bombers later targeted them. Because of the continued fighting in the province, precise casualty figures were difficult to confirm. Doctors at the province's main hospital were treating at least 30 civilians.

Story continues here

USNS Comfort goes South

Sunday, June 17, 2007

070615-N-8933S-127 NORFOLK, Va. (June 15, 2007) - Friends and family members wave goodbye as Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) gets underway to take part in a multi-month humanitarian assistance deployment to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. During the deployment, Comfort expects to provide medical treatment to approximately 85,000 patients in more than a dozen countries. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Robert J. Stratchko (RELEASED)


USNS Comfort Heads South for Humanitarian Mission NORFOLK (NNS) -- The USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) departed Norfolk June 15 on its first large-scale humanitarian assistance deployment to Central America, South America and the Caribbean, where it will provide medical care to an estimated 85,000 patients from communities with limited health care access.President Bush announced in March that the Comfort would deploy to U.S. Southern Command's area of focus to provide humanitarian aid alongside health care providers from the region and non-governmental organizations.

You might see something about this again! :)

Mourners Honor Memory of Ruth Graham

MONTREAT, N.C. — Ruth Graham retained her beauty even in death and surely "had a great reception in heaven," an ailing Billy Graham told mourners who gathered Saturday to remember his beloved wife.

"I wish you could look in that casket because she's so beautiful," said Graham, clinging to his walker. "She was a wonderful woman."

Ruth Graham died Thursday at age 87 following a lengthy illness. Her husband's closest confidant, she was remembered as a spiritual stalwart and modest mentor who provided a solid foundation — both biblically and geographically — for her globe-trotting husband.

"The mama that we saw at home was the mama that the world saw," said their son, Franklin, who is now the head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He recalled his mother's headstrong and quirky nature, telling the crowd about the time she overcame a locked bedroom door by crawling on the roof, throwing a cup of cold water through his window to wake him.

"I thank you mama for your example, for your love, for your wit, for your humor, for your craziness," he said. "I love you for all of it and I'm going to miss you terribly."

After preaching to more than 210 million people around the world during a six-decade career, Billy Graham, 88, is largely confined to the couple's home in Montreat by several ailments, including prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease. He wasn't expected to speak Saturday but surprised the crowd with his words, perhaps spurred by the sight of his 19 grandchildren.

"God bless all these grandchildren. Some of them I haven't seen in a long time. Some of them I've never seen," he said, drawing laughter from the audience. "Lots of love to everyone, and thank you."

He wiped a tear away a before leaving the auditorium. Family spokesman Larry Ross said later that "the sense of loss is beginning to settle in on him." Family members will hold a private burial ceremony Sunday at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.

Born in 1920 to medical missionaries in China, and after spending some of her high school years in what is now North Korea, Ruth Graham vowed to never marry and dreamed of working as a missionary in Tibet.

That changed after she met Billy Graham at Wheaton College in Illinois. They were married in 1943 at Montreat Presbyterian Church, where she attended services for the rest of her life.

As Billy Graham took his crusades and traveling ministry around the country and the world, Ruth Graham usually remained in the small North Carolina mountain town of Montreat, raising their five children while writing poetry, books and counseling college-age youth.

Her sister, Rosa Montgomery, said Graham had charged ahead with her spiritual mindset even as a young girl — once praying that God would soon make her a martyr. She was a devout and lifelong Presbyterian, declining to undergo baptism by immersion even though she was married to a famous Baptist preacher.

Ruth Graham was bedridden for months with degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck, and fell into a coma on Wednesday following a recent bout with pneumonia. A spokesman said she died peacefully with her husband and all five of her children at her bedside.

"Though our hearts are heavy with loss, we dare rejoice, for Ruth is home with you," said Rev. Richard White, Graham's pastor at Montreat Presbyterian. "Her sorrows are ended."

Her simple coffin, adorned with flowers, was chosen after son Franklin noticed inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary building the caskets for themselves and others who could not afford to purchase regular coffins.

from FOXNews.com

Virgie Bell's View: Price of Pork Rises

The immigration bill has been put back on the agenda and this time it comes equipped with 4.4 billion in funds in order to shore up our security at the border. It remains to be seen if the money will actually be appropriated to the bill or if it will just be something else promised on paper. No one in the general population gives much credit to the talk coming out of our nation’s capital. I am sure the immigration bill and greenhouse gas issue will be something that we will all regret by the time it is over. It means government growth is going to spiral up through the stratosphere. The movers and shakers are busy right now lining up with friends and relatives who will benefit. All anyone has to do is recite Greenhouse Gas and we (the ignorant public they surely believe us to be!) had better smile and pick up the tab.

We all know the truth. Here is the deal on all the pork you will see brought home to each district. A project in the works need only come up with the money for such, and then the federal government kicks in with matching funds. That means that I have contributed actual money for the famous bridge to nowhere. We are the money and we are going to have to dig deeper and work longer hours just to stay even. Bush is in the final limit of his term and this is how politics plays out. Bill Richardson was in Las Vegas, Nevada and has promised to use the funding for the War on Terror that is wasted on our troops, and use it to see that every child is guaranteed a college education—free. Doesn't mean a blame thing about what all is promised, but clearly the present powers that be see these lucrative deals coming that are just waiting for them to jump on. It was never money for the troops that bothered the Democratic Party. It was the cost of the war. It was not the bloodshed. It was never about the civil war in Iraq. I’ve never seen anything that is government run that didn't cave under corruption from within. If we didn't have a cap on time between votes every two years and every four years, we could not last. Our democracy would crumble.

If I didn't believe in God and His ultimate control over all things that involve our civilization, I would just about give up. If I really had to depend on our representation to fix anything, I would be up salt creek without a paddle. If the Bible is correct, and I believe it is, then we are viewing something pretty historic in the Middle East. Bible prophecy tells us that Israel will be encompassed round about and when we see this, we know the end is near. The Jewish race finally reoccupied Israel after more than 2000 years. This fulfills the prophecy they believed in. They believe it is the Divine Will that this has happened. If it is indeed the fulfillment from God's promise, then it will be up to God to protect it or lay it low. So while all of this is going on, I am supposed to spend every dime I can come up with to protect our planet from us and pay the various lawmakers to see that we do. We have second hand smoke down so far. What about gas for a power mower? What about motorcycles? Now that I have cheered everyone up, guess it is time to …

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Breaking News

Kidnapped BBC Journalist Alan Johnston Handed Over to Hamas
Friday, June 15, 2007


GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — BREAKING NEWS: Hamas said Friday it is taking "serious and practical steps" to win the release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeideh told reporters in a midnight news conference that Hamas, which seized control of Gaza a day before, "will not allow anyone to attack journalists or foreigners, because they are helping our people."

Earlier, A Hamas source told FOX News that the kidnappers of BBC journalist Alan Johnston have handed him over to Hamas members.

The BBC's bureau in Jerusalem said, "We would love for this to be true."

Earlier, a person involved in the negotiations for Johnston's release said the captors promised to free him within 24 hours.

In seeking Johnston's release, Hamas is sending a signal to other armed groups that it intends to impose order in chaotic Gaza.

Johnston, 45, was snatched in Gaza three months ago by a group believed to have some links to Hamas, and a message purporting to be from his captors has demanded the release of Islamic prisoners, including a cleric being held in Britain.

Hamas has been negotiating with the captors through a mediator. An official involved in the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the captors pledged Friday to release Johnston within 24 hours.

In London, a BBC spokeswoman said, "We are aware of the reports, but have not received any firm confirmation of Alan's situation." She added: "We continue to work with everyone involved to try to effect Alan's safe release." She spoke on condition of anonymity under BBC guidelines.

Early Friday, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida demanded that those holding Johnston free him at once.

"We will not allow his continued detention," he said. "We warn against not releasing him."

Johnston was seen for the first since his abduction in a video posted two weeks ago on a Web site used by Islamic militants. He appeared calm and said he was being well-treated and was in good health.

His disappearance is the longest of any Western journalist abducted in Gaza and has sparked numerous protests and solidarity marches in London and the Palestinian territories.

Palestinian officials have said they know where to find Johnston, but have held back on raiding the hideout at Britain's request, for fear of harming him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FoxNews.com

China Attempting Cyberspace Dominance

Military.com By Christian Lowe June 14, 2007

The Air Force has been tracking aggressive cyber incursions by computer technicians in China, primarily focused toward gathering information on military network infrastructure and American trade secrets, the Air Force's cyber warfare commander said Wednesday.

"China has put a lot of resources into this business," said Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of Air Force Cyberspace Command. "China, at this point, is not interested so much in attack as they are in using the Internet to pull [industrial] data."

"They're interested in doing this in a way that they can be dominant without even having a fight," he added.

A recently-released Pentagon report on Chinese military development said Beijing is crafting an aggressive computer network operations strategy that the People's Liberation Army "sees as critical to achieving 'electromagnetic dominance' early in a conflict."

Click here for rest of story

Virgie Bell's View: The Color of Greenhou$e Ga$

They are off and running. We knew there would be unification with our illustreous lawmakers. I felt that it would be about greenhouse gas. I no longer had to trouble myself about the question did we nor did we not. No longer did I agonize as to where I could turn to get the truth from the horse’s mouth. Gushy Poo announced that she saw it first hand in Greenland. She is going to fix it. John Kerry announced that in the shadow of the nation’s capital (whatever that means) something had to be done. Get those checkbooks out because here comes the bill that is fixing to cost you the taxpayer out the wahzoo. Can you imagine how they are salivating as they rush around to get on the ground floor of this new booming business? Government can grow at an alarming rate. Committees formed and hearings held. What a new and exciting chapter in our history. My heart goes out to all of those who came before Al Gore got this money making truth going. The majority of this will be solved with a clean energy bill using corn. As everyone knows, corn is easy to grow. Plant it, pitch a goldfish between each row and then keep it alive with water. Better keep those pictures of the cracked earth from severe drought conditions. What if we come to the conclusion that water is exhausted and might not be available? If you get a new economy friendly car, better hold on to the old one that uses fossil fuel. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush was never truer.

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Virgie Bell's View: Dust Storms

There comes a time when we must decide that we have lost the battle of illegal immigration. With 12,000,000 here and counting, there is just no way around it. We do not have the funds or the manpower to do anything about it. We need to concentrate now and do something positive to stop this from happening again.

You cannot tell me that a country that can build a highway system across the USA cannot put up something substantial across our border. It is an insult to say that a fence less than three hundred miles in length will solve a border problem that is over two thousand miles long. If you doubt that, then go out to your yard and fence just one or two sides and see what you get. Nothing. Zilch, nada. I can't see discussing any sort of legalization until the border has been secure. It can be done. The question is, will it get done? No. We have the politicians to thank for that. Nothing gets done, not ever. Most times if we can keep them busy just fighting among themselves then we, who they represent, are better off.

I cannot see why it is urgent to legalize the illegal right off the bat. Why not build a restraint first? One that really works. I know it can be done. If we can land someone on the moon, we can control our borders. We have got to do that. We cannot be made to decide by our elected enemies who use our votes against us while lining their pockets with dough and bringing the pork home to their district. So if it is all coming up again with 80% of the American public against it, we still have been beaten. Let’s leave the legalization of the illegals then as a stalemate. Let’s close up the border at whatever the cost and with no more nonsense. Doesn't matter who you are and what your affiliation is. Just do the first thing that makes sense. Close the frigging borders first, and then let’s talk amnesty, then 80% of the American public might be a little more in tune with the concept. Otherwise, the deal is off, because it is just stupid. Yes, we have to close the gate after the horse gets out, but look in the distance and you will see a giant cloud of dust. That my dear, is another herd on its way. Get it?

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Virgie Bell's View: Fire and Numbers

You would think that with 80% of the population against the immigration bill, it would finally die a natural death, but it seems it won't go away. In the paper yesterday, it seemed that all over the world, countries are having trouble with the same problem. We are not the only ones giving it a second look. The ICE (immigration officials) has conducted a raid on 10,000 child molesters and it turns out that 85% percent of those apprehended are illegal. A stunning revelation. Something has got to be done about border control, but lots of luck on that. I have said before and will repeat, if it takes something like the Great Wall of China being built on our borders, then let’s do it.

Being from an agriculture background, I know that there will always be those that are here illegally. I think the President is for this bill because it would require registration of the 12,000,000 that are here already, but that is not going to happen. I know one woman who helped with my housekeeping who had a sister from old Mexico who received free health care for cancer in Albuquerque while a member of our own family was refused the same care in Lubbock, which is just a couple of hours away. She had to travel to Albuquerque, which is several hours away. This made it impossible for her children to administer the love and concern they felt for her in her time of need. These are the things that have put the American public against this bill.

It is all about votes and that is all it is. Votes and growing government programs that fill the politicians’ pockets with the programs that they head. It is really quite sickening. I have no regard for the elected officials that dupe us in this way. It matters not to me which party they belong to. I do not like what the Democratic Party stands for anymore. Abortions, gay marriage, and anti-war activists who do not consider that when we were attacked on 9/11 the public was awakened to something we had never even dreamed of. There will be another attack on our shores. If anyone doubts that, they are insane. We have thwarted two attacks just recently, but we won't be able to do that 100% percent of the time. When that happens, we will finally have a battleground within our borders and it will be something we will never overcome.

Seems the young Muslims in our own country think that it is the right thing to do, to kill us in the name of Allah. Will we never learn or will we finally learn when it is too late, we best be very careful who we elect as Commander in Chief. The lives of our children and grandchildren are at stake. I feel we are so divided about things and yet I know that deep down we all love our families and our country, so why is this? I think it is a crying shame and my heart breaks because of it. As long as we listen to the likes of Rosie O'Donnell, who is just about as ignorant as anyone can be, who says that we have lost the battle. Ratings on TV rule, and hacks like her bring in the ratings. She screams to the American public, “For the first time in history, fire melts steel." How does she think steel is made in the first place? In a smelter which is fire you perfectly idiotic blabber mouth. I wish she would take her beloved Kelly and get lost in another country, but one of the main TV stations is foaming at the mouth to get her on. As De'on said, “It is ignorance, Mom," and so it is.

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His eyes are as cold and dead as they can be...

Putin: U.S. Missile Defense Plans Would Force Russia to Target Europe
Sunday, June 03, 2007

Russian President Vladimir Putin
ROME — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe would force Moscow to target its weapons against Europe.

The threat, in an interview published Sunday in Italy's Corriere della Sera and other foreign media, marked one of Putin's most strident statements to date against the U.S. plans and came just days before he is to join President Bush and other leaders at a Group of Eight summit in Germany.

In the interview, Putin was asked whether the proposed missile defense shield would compel Moscow to direct its own missiles at locations and U.S. military sites in Europe, as during the Cold War.

"If the American nuclear potential grows in European territory, we have to give ourselves new targets in Europe," Putin said, according to Corriere. "It is up to our military to define these targets, in addition to defining the choice between ballistic and cruise missiles."

Russia has not overtly targeted Europe since agreeing after the fall of the Soviet Union not to direct missiles against specific countries, according to Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst based in Moscow. He added however, that that was simple technical matter, since a missile can be given a target within minutes.

Click here for continued story.

Virgie Bell's View: 'Til Death Do We Part or "Gather up your crystal, Bush admin, The Clinton's want to move back in!"

I am truly so very sick of every time we turn around we have been had by the United Nations. It is not just small things. Oh no, it seems we have been helping North Korea with humanitarian funding. My God. Are we totally insane? He has built up a military almost unequaled in the world while he let his people starve and so we feed them.... BUT ... turns out we do not have anyway to verify that any of this went to anyone except to Kim Jung IL, so he can add on to the nuclear capabilities that President Clinton provided for him to blow us to smithereens.

No, it was not supposed to be that way. He asked Kim Jung IL to promise that he would not use nuclear enrichment faculties for other than peaceful purposes. Al Sharpton would have made a better call than that. Crap, my four year old great-grandson could beat it. When are we going to realize we can not stand anymore of the Clintons? If anyone thought they were going to embarrass the old girl with any talk about her marriage, nothing on the top side of this earth will embarrass her. Nothing. The twenty year plan they put in place for them to both to become president is looking more real all the time. I guess I should just give up this subject, but man I hate this kind of stuff. I will hereby apologize to the whole world that I ever voted for him. I hang my head in shame that I did twice. I am so very sorry and I was so very wrong. I am now awake. I hope those that joined me in this treason are awake too, if not, we are in really serious trouble.

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Virgie Bell's View: The freedom of: I Vote Against Everything You Stand For

It is the hardest thing for me to take seriously someone as inept and insane as Hugo Chavez. He now is blaming Washington for the criticism he is receiving for closing down the TV station, something that took his country a step into obscurity when he pulled the plug on it and closed it down. Today our government is issuing a warning to caution travelers who might get caught up in the turmoil. I have no idea how much tourism had to do with Venezuela's economy. If it did exist, then it is over.

Venezuela had all things to become a real force in the world globally, agriculture, gold, diamonds, iron ore, petroleum products … the list goes on and on, and yet the history of this country has never been able to pull itself up by the boot straps and become a true force in world power. History teaches us that the decline we will see is in the lack of technology experts. All fields that Chavez has seized will be the tools that bring it down. Hopefully all oilfield executives and technicians have pulled out of there by now. Venezuela had one of the greatest oil reserves in the world and now it is gone. Oh, the wells are there, the pipes, the amenities are still in place, but that is all. The heart and soul of the country has vanished. Break downs in equipment and the failing of the entire infrastructure will now occur. To cut to the root cause of this is that Hugo Chavez is a bully and a sociopath. The people fell for it hook, line and sinker when he told them to build a little lean-to and the land it was on was theirs for the taking. They labor for him now. Just as well try to find some satisfaction in a lost cause.

In one her many speeches, Hillary Clinton told the audience that we will take from you and give to others for the greater good. We, dear reader, are those she speaks of. Take from us and give to those she called the true face of America, which she called the vast march of the illegal immigrants with various flags wrapped around their shoulders and hoisted above their heads. Not Old Glory, not the red, white and blue. Nope, in the land of the Stars and Stripes but they waved other flags, some flags that were from enemies of our country and who shed American blood, yet she called them the real face of America. Has anyone noticed that the Democratic Party is boycotting FOX News? Doing the same thing as Hugo Chavez. Controlling the media as far as they are able. That is what government control is and the liberal press allows it. I am going to tell you why I started watching FOX News. It was after 9/11 and I had been on CNN 24/7 for as long as it existed. Well my son threw a fit. He said I was listening to a bunch of propaganda. I finally told Karen that my life was too short to always be in an argument with my son. She agreed that it wasn't earning her much in the way of brownie points either. Well, out of the mouths of babes, as the old saying goes. If I ever doubted he was wrong at one time, the boycott by the Democratic Party of FOX News station is proof enough for me. De'on made the remark lately that all of this is just ignorance and she is right. I would not watch a bunch of contenders for president of that party if my life depended on it now. I don't care what you promise. Your actions speak for you. I and others just like me are not worth talking to. Fine with me, I don't need to hear you either. I would vote for anyone but you. Rest assured I will vote. If I have to crawl on my knees to do it. Democratic contenders are now for all the people except those that watch FOX News. We've been tossed aside. You dear reader, had better heed the sign that the people in Venezuela failed to heed. Freedom is not free, and now it is even less so....

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More terrorist tragedy

Five U.S. Soldiers Killed When Taliban Apparently Downs NATO Helicopter in Afghanistan

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Five U.S. soldiers were among seven people killed when a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down Wednesday evening in Afghanistan's most volatile province, a U.S. military official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Initial reports suggested the helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, the U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because the crash was being investigated.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said seven ISAF soldiers were killed after the CH-47 Chinook went down in Helmand province near Kajaki, the site of a major hydroelectric damn and scene of fierce battles in recent months.

The crew of five and two military passengers died, NATO said. It did not release nationalities, but a U.S. official said the two passengers were not American. There were no survivors.

A battalion of U.S. forces from the 82nd Airborne Division, fighting under the ISAF flag, has been engaged in heavy fighting in recent weeks in Helmand — the world's largest poppy-growing region. More Taliban militants have massed in Helmand than in any other province.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, claimed in a phone call to The Associated Press that militants had shot the helicopter down near Kajaki. He did not offer any proof of the claim, but Ahmadi did specify that the helicopter went down in Kajaki hours before NATO released that information.

(Story continues here)