blog de peony4

New Jersey: One would think that being an incumbent Senator would convey electoral advantages. One could say the same thing about being the

son of a former popular governor. Yet neither Democratic Senator Bob Menendez nor his GOP challenger Tom Kean, Jr. can seem to build a

consistent lead. Although the latest polls show Kean with a 4-to-5 point lead, the state is heavily blue and it is likely to be a good

Democrat year. Leans Democrat.

Ohio: After years of lousy governance the Ohio GOP appears headed for an implosion, taking Senator Mike DeWine with it. Congressman Sherrod

Brown has led in the last seven polls. Leans Democrat.

Pennsylvania: This is quickly becoming the most difficult race to handicap. Although Democratic State Treasurer Bob Casey has led in all the

polls since February, in recent weeks Senator Rick Santorum has narrowed his lead to single digits. That combined with a devastating

performance in his debate with Casey on Meet The Press, and everything seemed to be going Santorum's way. So what to make of the new

USAToday/Gallup poll showing Casey with an 18 point lead? I'm inclined to dismiss it as a fluke, but it is still enough for me to put this in

the Leans Democrat column for now.

br> Re: Doug Bandow's Liberalism Unbound and Siobhan Kolar's letter "Return Engagement" in Reader Mail's Foreign Disengagement : /p>

It is not a stretch of the imagination to sense that NARAL, Ms. Magazine, Planned Parenthood want all women to experience an abortion. This

is how guilt/shame can be shared, and thus watered down. The more women who chose abortion, the more it affirms the decisions of others to do

the same.

If "choice" is the "catch-all" word that defines freedom in America , then the choice of the abortion industry is between life or death.

Obviously they choose death. We are given so few opportunities in life to make a "life-and-death" decision. Those decisions shape our present

and guide us into the future. For example, I heard an interview with a teenage girl about how glad she was to be alive, and how grateful she

was to her mother for not killing her by aborting her. This girl was conceived during a rape. What courage the mother had by choosing life (

with all the uncertainty and fear that it entails) instead of death (with all the uncertainty and fear it entails).

I believe it was Martin Luther who said, "The greatest trick of the Devil is to convince you that he doesn't exist." If the devil is indeed

the prince of evil, then he is nourished by the silent screams of the aborted unborn.

If there is such a thing as reincarnation and karma (where our actions in this life determine our status in the next life), then the mystical

consequences of aborting your flesh-and-blood are to disturbing to think about. Thus the guilt needs to be shared, collectively. More

abortions mean a diluted guilt...making it easier to justify such a big decision, death instead of life.

In Germany they have a much lower rate of abortion than we do in the USA. This can be linked to the requirement of mandatory counseling, a

waiting period, and enhanced ultrasound (which clearly shows a woman that life, a baby, is inside her).

p>I believe this is what the pro-life agenda can accomplish, requiring counseling, a waiting period, and enhanced ultrasound. This is

reasonable, and the majority of Americans would affirm this. br> -- Fred Edwards /p> p> NOT BUYING br> Re: Patrick Skurka's letter in Reader

Mail's Foreign Disengagement : /p> p>What planet did Patrick Skurka come from? Evidently, his idea of why we fought WWII is really out there.

My father fought in that island-hopping campaign he talks about. He served under MacArthur all the way to the Philippines. He and the other

veterans had a completely different idea of why we were there. The Japanese attacked us not because we were fronting for imperialistic powers

in Pacific (the Japs certainly were imperialistic) but because we were a threat to their plans to conquer their half of the world. The

ignorance mouthed by this person is so deep as be unbelievable and not worth debating because no one can reason with a fool. br> -- Pete

Chagnon /p> p> GO FISH br> Re: Jay D. Homnick's Marlin the Magician : Rhode Island: Senator Lincoln Chafee and former Democrat Attorney

General Sheldon Whitehouse are polling very close. But Chafee first has to fend off former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey, who is challenging

Chafee in the GOP primary. Chafee may be the first incumbent Senator to go down to a Club for Growth-backed primary challenger, as a recent

Rhode Island College poll shows Laffey leading 51-37%! Given that Chafee has done nothing to make the GOP base in Rhode Island happy (his

flip-flop on U.N. Ambassador John Bolton being the latest such incident), I'm betting that Laffey wins the primary today. For the general

election, this state Leans Democrat.

New Jersey: One would think that being an incumbent Senator would convey electoral advantages. One could say the same thing about being the

son of a former popular governor. Yet neither Democratic Senator Bob Menendez nor his GOP challenger Tom Kean, Jr. can seem to build a

consistent lead. Although the latest polls show Kean with a 4-to-5 point lead, the state is heavily blue and it is likely to be a good

Democrat year. Leans Democrat.

Ohio: After years of lousy governance the Ohio GOP appears headed for an implosion, taking Senator Mike DeWine with it. Congressman Sherrod

Brown has led in the last seven polls. Leans Democrat.

Pennsylvania: This is quickly becoming the most difficult race to handicap. Although Democratic State Treasurer Bob Casey has led in all the

polls since February, in recent weeks Senator Rick Santorum has narrowed his lead to single digits. That combined with a devastating

performance in his debate with Casey on Meet The Press, and everything seemed to be going Santorum's way. So what to make of the new

USAToday/Gallup poll showing Casey with an 18 point lead? I'm inclined to dismiss it as a fluke, but it is still enough for me to put this in

the Leans Democrat column for now.

br> Re: Doug Bandow's Liberalism Unbound and Siobhan Kolar's letter "Return Engagement" in Reader Mail's Foreign Disengagement : /p>

It is not a stretch of the imagination to sense that NARAL, Ms. Magazine, Planned Parenthood want all women to experience an abortion. This

is how guilt/shame can be shared, and thus watered down. The more women who chose abortion, the more it affirms the decisions of others to do

the same.

If "choice" is the "catch-all" word that defines freedom in America , then the choice of the abortion industry is between life or death.

Obviously they choose death. We are given so few opportunities in life to make a "life-and-death" decision. Those decisions shape our present

and guide us into the future. For example, I heard an interview with a teenage girl about how glad she was to be alive, and how grateful she

was to her mother for not killing her by aborting her. This girl was conceived during a rape. What courage the mother had by choosing life (

with all the uncertainty and fear that it entails) instead of death (with all the uncertainty and fear it entails).

I believe it was Martin Luther who said, "The greatest trick of the Devil is to convince you that he doesn't exist." If the devil is indeed

the prince of evil, then he is nourished by the silent screams of the aborted unborn.

If there is such a thing as reincarnation and karma (where our actions in this life determine our status in the next life), then the mystical

consequences of aborting your flesh-and-blood are to disturbing to think about. Thus the guilt needs to be shared, collectively. More

abortions mean a diluted guilt...making it easier to justify such a big decision, death instead of life.

In Germany they have a much lower rate of abortion than we do in the USA. This can be linked to the requirement of mandatory counseling, a

waiting period, and enhanced ultrasound (which clearly shows a woman that life, a baby, is inside her).

p>I believe this is what the pro-life agenda can accomplish, requiring counseling, a waiting period, and enhanced ultrasound. This is

reasonable, and the majority of Americans would affirm this. br> -- Fred Edwards /p> p> NOT BUYING br> Re: Patrick Skurka's letter in Reader

Mail's Foreign Disengagement : /p> p>What planet did Patrick Skurka come from? Evidently, his idea of why we fought WWII is really out there.

My father fought in that island-hopping campaign he talks about. He served under MacArthur all the way to the Philippines. He and the other

veterans had a completely different idea of why we were there. The Japanese attacked us not because we were fronting for imperialistic powers

in Pacific (the Japs certainly were imperialistic) but because we were a threat to their plans to conquer their half of the world. The

ignorance mouthed by this person is so deep as be unbelievable and not worth debating because no one can reason with a fool. br> -- Pete

Chagnon /p> p> GO FISH br> Re: Jay D. Homnick's Marlin the Magician : Rhode Island: Senator Lincoln Chafee and former Democrat Attorney

General Sheldon Whitehouse are polling very close. But Chafee first has to fend off former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey, who is challenging

Chafee in the GOP primary. Chafee may be the first incumbent Senator to go down to a Club for Growth-backed primary challenger, as a recent

Rhode Island College poll shows Laffey leading 51-37%! Given that Chafee has done nothing to make the GOP base in Rhode Island happy (his

flip-flop on U.N. Ambassador John Bolton being the latest such incident), I'm betting that Laffey wins the primary today. For the general

election, this state Leans Democrat.

The extensive negative press coverage of the Iraq War, prisoner abuse, etc tends casts a bad light on those serving in the military. Military

life is not easy for these young men and women and I know the press coverage impacts on their morale

I truly believe that the kids serving in our Armed Forces are doing us all a great service and no matter what they do with the rest of their

lives will have made a difference. I am very grateful for Mr. Stein's words and will share them with all of my team.

p>Very Respectfully br> -- Steve Archer /p> p> Just wanted to thank you for publishing a truth and a wonderful and gracious thanks from Mr.

Stein. br> -- Jeffory C. Gabrelcik , SMSgt, USAF br> Pentagon, Washington DC /p> p> Thanks, Ben. We appreciate you, too! br> -- Patrick G.

Dreer, Sr. , CMSgt, USAF br> Chief, Force Requirements Policy br> Directorate of Air Force Reserve Personnel br> Pentagon, Washington DC

20330-1150 /p> p> NEWTERED br> Re: "The Speaker, Reconsidered" letters in Reader Mail's Advisor in Chief and the "Newtsayers" letters and

Kendall Eskew's letter ("Remember the Contract Fondly") in Reader Mail's Good as Gold : /p> p>Your correspondents are unfairly critical of

Newt Gingrich. The guy not only never had to meet a payroll, he was never on a private business payroll, being an employee of government for

his entire working life. It's unkind and, worse, absurd to expect him to understand the business world. To learn from experience it is more

necessary to pay more attention to our defeats than our successes. That is why I thought it necessary to consider why the brilliant Newt

failed. Not only may it help us see notice that he does not seem to have learned the correct lessons, it may also stimulate thought by those

who would aspire to follow him. Judging by the two responses I received, I succeeded.

First I want to thank Mr. DiPentima ("Newt Naysayers") for reminding us of Newt's "wonkishness," which is a great summation of one of his

main problems. Newt loved to go on the talk shows and analyze his own political calculations for everyone. When the magician explains to his

audience exactly how he does the trick before performing it, he destroys his own magic. Newt never seemed to learn, perhaps because he was

more interested in flaunting his intelligence than using it, unlike Reagan and GW Bush, who were quite happy to be taken for fools by those

about to be outsmarted. Newt got so wrapped up in his Poly Sci exercises that he forgot his real purpose was governance.

And I thank Mr. Kendall Eskew ("Remember the Contract Fondly") for reminding us of the score on the Contract, and thereby helping me make my

point. Seven of the items may have been approved by the House within the first 100 days, but only two or three of those ever became law, and

as soon as an item was stymied, Newt pushed it away like a stale hors-d-'oeuvre instead of fighting for it. We ignorant yokels from the

provinces had the strange idea that getting the laws passed was the idea, not diddling some wonkish legislative win-loss tally, and making

token gestures to appease a restive base. If Newt really believed those ten Contractual items were important, he could have continued to

hammer them during the succeeding 630 days of the congressional term. When the Democrats lost a vote during the Great Society and Civil

Rights crusades, their response was to demonize the individuals in opposition and to return to the issue again and again till they won, all

the while emphasizing the moral urgency of their cause rather than its "wedge issue" qualities. Instead it seems all was just "boob bait for

the bubbas".

1) The value of gold isn't fixed. As with paper money, an increase in the supply of gold relative to goods and services will cause prices to

rise, a decrease will cause prices to fall, even when gold is the only money. Excess gold production partly explains the low price of gold

during the 1990s. The recent increase is due partly to decreased production and partly to increased demand in India and China. So the

relationship of gold to the dollar and inflation is fuzzy at best.

2) Inflation isn't the only driver of long term interest rates. According to the Austrian school, the two major factors are the time

preferences of savers and business profits. Time preferences change slowly, if at all, but businesses will only borrow money at rates that

their expected profits will cover. If businesses have low profit expectations, they will borrow only at low rates. So the low long term rates

could be caused by a savings glut, but more likely the cause is that businesses aren't borrowing due to pessimism.

p>3) Productivity increases can hide inflation. During the last decade of the 20th century, productivity increased in the US at blistering

rates. When that happens, the fed can inflate at horrendous rates and we'll not see increases in the indexes. br> -- Roger D. McKinney br>

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma /p>

Mr. Bethell wrote: "The Fed's job is to keep the dollar on an even keel; neither diminishing nor increasing its value by expanding or

contracting the money supply too rapidly."

p>An inflation calculator set to 1913 and 2005 will estimate that inflation has caused the value of a dollar to be 1/19 of the 1913 value. It

seems to me that this is evidence that the Fed has no power to control inflation in any meaningful way. br> -- Danny L. Newton br>

Cookeville, Tennessee /p> p> RETURNED SALUTES br> Re: Ben Stein's Greetings From Rancho Mirage : /p>

First of all Mr. Stein, I think you're prejudiced, Oprah has done more her millions than you ever will. Second, I do not think it's our place

to police the world. The same people that our young sons and daughters are dying for will elect some [bleep] just as bad as Hussein or

however you spell his name and kill us in a heartbeat just because we're Christians, ten years from now.

p>I DO NOT believe you have to put on a uniform to be a hero, BOTH my sons are heroes, one is in the military and one is not. Yet they are

both heroes, they are good Christian husbands and Dads. They get up every day and go to work, even days they really don't feel like it

because they have bills to pay and mouths to feed. I could go on and on about what it takes to be a real hero but what's the use you just

don't get it. br> -- Rose Woods br> P.S. My wonderful husband is a retired fire fighter and fire chief but my Dad, God rest his soul, was a

hero too. He went to work 6 days a week at 1 a.m. to work at a bakery. /p> p> Thank you, sir, for those kind words. Wish more Americans would

show their appreciations instead of bothering loved ones at funerals, upsetting families in their time of grief when they are trying to say

their last goodbyes to their fallen heroes and heroines. I hope that they all could understand the sacrifices that those brave men and women,

including myself, make every waking moment to do an unpleasant and unrewarding job. Again, thank you very much. br> -- SFC O'Neil O. Jr. br>

United States Army /p> I am the OIC of a Fleet Surgical Team (sea based medical/surgical unit that supports Marines at sea and sailors of a 6

ship expeditionary strike group) returning from a 6 month deployment to CENTCOM. My previous Chief, Stacy Terry, now retired, emailed me a

copy of Mr. Stein's article "Greetings from Rancho Mirage" with the subject: Ben Stein gets it right.