QUICK READS:

• Transcript of Talk Show host Hugh Hewitt's interview Tuesday with Governor Sarah Palin. Read it here.

• Meat and milk must be rationed to combat Global Warming. Read about it here.

• Consumer confidence UP in September. Read it here.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER DO?

IF YOU LIKE THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS AND MORTGAGE MESS THANK A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER! Community Organizers main purpose is to pressure banks and other lending groups to make risky loans to minorities. This began the viscous cycle which was the genesis of our current crisis. The 'New York Post' recently ran an excellent article on Community Organizers and how they contributed to the crisis. So if you know of any Community Organizers you can thank them for contributing to this housing and financial crisis:

By STANLEY KURTZ

Chutzpah: ACORN's drive to lower mortgage standards paved the way for the meltdown

In the name of fairness to minorities, community organizers occupy private offices, chant inside bank lobbies, and confront executives at their homes - and thereby force financial institutions to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages to low-credit customers.

In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans. And Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it. You can read the entire story here.

Want more? National Review's Bryon York recently wrote a superlative article detailing what Obama specifically did as a Community Organizer. Please read it here.

"AN AMERICAN CAROL" MOVIE TRAILER

This movie looks great! It has an all star cast including: Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, James Woods, Jon Voight, and many others. Grammer and Kevin Farley get most of the screen time, and Grammer does a good job as General George S. Patton in this comedy. If you need a good laugh (and who doesn't), check this out:


I can't wait to see it Friday night!

10 MINUTE TICKER:

The Obama Smoking Gun. Read it here...

Mobile phones will track your movement and carbon footprint. Can you say "Big Brother". Read it here...

Why I boycott Chinese products. China's new Slave Empire. Read it here...

The actual draft of the House's Bailout Bill. We have the PDF version here...

QUICK TAKES:

Remember that bracelet Obama bragged about wearing? The fact is the Family Told Obama NOT To Wear Soldier Son's Bracelet... Where is Media?

Who gets the most money from Fannie May - Freddie Mac? You may be surprised!
Obama's Police State Strategy and assault on the First Amendment.

Hurricane Kyle targets Canada - US border! Get the story here.

FRIDAY NIGHT PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE POLL:

{{DRUDGE POLL}} WHO WON THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?
MCCAIN

68%

259,657

OBAMA

30%

114,599

NEITHER

3%

9,640

Total Votes: 383,896

• AOL straw poll: Who won Friday Night's debate? McCain 67% - Obama 33% (162,224 voters)
• Talk Show host Hugh Hewitt put up a very interesting round by round (question by question) tally of how each man did at the debate. You can look at it here.
• And famous blogger Michelle Malkin has an excellent in-depth debate roundup you can read here.
• Did Obama have a "Looking at his watch moment Friday night?"

THE FINANCIAL CRISIS EXPLAINED IN 10 MINUTES:

This video explains everything you need to know about the financial crisis. Please watch and spread the word:

Investor's Business Daily printed this superlative editorial on the the Housing Crisis today. Read it here.

THE BOOK OF THE YEAR:

If you read only one book this year it should be "Makers and Takers".
The author absolutely blows away many of the stereotypes of liberalism and conservatism. In Makers and Takers you will discover why:

• Seventy-one percent of conservatives say you have an obligation to care for a seriously injured spouse or parent versus less than half (46 %) of liberals.
• Conservatives have a better work ethic and are much less likely to call in sick than their liberal counterparts.
• Liberals are 2½ times more likely to be resentful of others’ success and 50 percent more likely to be jealous of other people’s good luck.
• Liberals are 2 times more likely to say it is okay to cheat the government out of welfare money you don’t deserve.
• Conservatives are more likely than liberals to hug their children and “significantly more likely” to display positive nurturing emotions.
• Liberals are less trusting of family members and much less likely to stay in touch with their parents.
• Do you get satisfaction from putting someone else’s happiness ahead of your own? 55% of conservatives said yes versus only 20 percent of liberals.
• Rush Limbaugh, Ronald Reagan, Bill O’Reilly and Dick Cheney have given large sums of money to people in need, while Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Moore, and Al Gore have not.
• Those who are “very liberal” are 3 times more likely than conservatives to throw things when they get angry.

The American left prides itself on being superior to conservatives: more generous, less materialistic, more tolerant, more intellectual, and more selfless. For years scholars have constructed—and the media has pushed—elaborate theories designed to demonstrate that conservatives suffer from a host of personality defects and character flaws. According to these supposedly unbiased studies, conservatives are mean-spirited, greedy, selfish malcontents with authoritarian tendencies. Far from the belief of a few cranks, prominent liberals from John Kenneth Galbraith to Hillary Clinton have succumbed to these prejudices. But what do the facts show?

Conservatives such as Ronald Reagan and Robert Bork have long argued that liberal policies promote social decay. Schweizer, using the latest data and research, exposes how, in general:

• Liberals are more self-centered than conservatives.
• Conservatives are more generous and charitable than liberals.
• Liberals are more envious and less hardworking than conservatives.
• Conservatives value truth more than liberals, and are less prone to cheating and lying.
• Liberals are more angry than conservatives.
• Conservatives are actually more knowledgeable than liberals.
• Liberals are more dissatisfied and unhappy than conservatives.

QUICK TAKES:

Text of President Bush's address to the nation Wednesday night. Read it here.

Text of Senator McCain's announcement that he is suspending his campaign to return to Washington DC to work on the financial bailout. Read it here.

Tropical Storm Kyle information. Get the latest information here.

The NRA crams Obama's infamous insult of "Bitter American's desperatly clinging to their guns and religion" right down his throat. OPEN WIDE BARRY.

THE BOTTOM LINE ON THE HOUSING MESS:

Fox News broadcast this excellent piece detailing how we got into this mess. This piece should be required viewing for all Americans. See what happens when you give out risky loans to people who are unlikely to pay you back:



Also Bloomberg.com published this excellent editorial which lays it right on the line: How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis: Read it and weep.

OBAMA vs OBAMA

Barack Obama makes his best case for voting for him in these hilarious clips. Be prepared to laugh!

IT'S ALL TIED UP (269 - 269)

Despite a good week for Obama nationally McCain has managed to flip his first Kerry state, that being New Hampshire. George W. Bush won 286 Electoral votes in 2004 which is 16 more than the 270 needed to win. Obama is currently ahead in 3 Bush states (Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico). Thus Election Projection has the race tied. Stay tuned...

TEN MINUTE TICKER:

Governor Sarah Palin draws 60,000 to a rally in Florida!

Text of the speech Governor Palin was to give at the UN.

Cell phone use among children raises risk of cancer fivefold!

'CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE': The worst Senator on Gov't waste is...

GLOBAL COOLING UPDATE: South Africa - Coldest Sept temps in recorded history

Joe Biden says Obama's ad mocking John McCain is "terrible".

RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER:

Today's post will explore the relationship between religious practice and improved health. There is overwhelming evidence that people who are religious live longer, happier and healthier lives than their secular counterparts:

ANALYSIS OF STUDIES SHOWS THAT RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT MAY BE A FACTOR IN LIVING A LONG LIFE- Forty-Two Studies, Nearly 126,000 People Were Examined

Washington - Nearly 96 percent of Americans believe in God or in some universal spirit, according to a 1995 Gallup poll. Maybe people are more health conscious than previously thought. Regular attendance at one's church, synagogue, mosque or Buddhist monastery is related to longer life, according to a meta-analysis of 42 studies that examined 125,826 people which is reported in the current issue of Health Psychology published by the American Psychological Association (APA). "The odds of survival for people who scored higher on measures of public and private religious involvement were 29 percent higher than those people who scored lower on such measures," said psychologist and lead author Michael E. McCullough, Ph.D., of the National Institute for Healthcare Research. Public religious involvement is defined by how frequently a person attends church or temple, whether a person is a member of a religious organization (a religious kibbutz) or how much spare time a person spends in church or temple activities. Private religious involvement includes measures such as self-rated religiousness, frequency of private prayer and use of religion as a coping resource. Follow-up results indicated that involvement in public religious activity was particularly important in predicting mortality, according to the study. This held true for nearly all the studies individually but was certainly true for the entire group of studies as a whole.. "Moreover, results seemed to indicate that those people with a high level of religious involvement were also less obese. Read about it here.

Another study reported by the BBC detailed the relationship between religious people and happiness. Specifically:

Religious people are better able to cope with shocks such as losing a job or divorce, claims the study presented to a Royal Economic Society conference. Data from thousands of Europeans revealed higher levels of "life satisfaction" in believers. However, researcher Professor Andrew Clark said other aspects of a religious upbringing unrelated to belief may influence future happiness. It is not the first study to draw links between religion and happiness, with a belief among many psychologists that some factor in either belief, or its observance, offering benefits.Professor Clark, from the Paris School of Economics, and co-author Dr Orsolya Lelkes from the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, used information from household surveys to analyse the attitudes of Christians - both Catholic and Protestant - not only to their own happiness, but also to issues such as unemployment. Their findings, they said, suggested that religion could offer a "buffer" which protected from life's disappointments. Professor Clark said: "We originally started the research to work out why some European countries had more generous unemployment benefits than others, but our analysis suggested that religious people suffered less psychological harm from unemployment than the non-religious. "They had higher levels of life satisfaction". Read about it here.

Finally this link details over 25 separate studies detailing the practice of religious activity improves health and increases longevity. Read it here.

I B D

Hands down - there is no better editorial page than Investor's Business Daily. Their page should be required reading for anyone who wants to know how the world works and the undeniable benefits of free markets. This weekends' posts are superlative:

(The Right Stuff): President Bush's financial team is now proving its mettle — and its expertise. Led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, it crafted a reasonable, workable response to the subprime meltdown. Read about it here. ... And The Wrong Stuff:

Verbatim: 'Gov't Is Taking Action To Restore Confidence In Financial Markets' Following are remarks President Bush made Friday at the White House about the administration's financial rescue plan. Read it here.

Trumanesque Revisions Await Bush's Underrated Record: For the last 150 years, most American war presidents — most notably Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt — have entered (or re-entered) office knowing war was looming. Not so George Bush. Not so the war on terror. The 9/11 attacks literally came out of the blue. Read Charles Krauthammer's collumn here.

There goes the Sun: Excellent post on Global Cooling. Read it here.

Surge Protector: Arguably the greatest American general since Patton, David Petraeus has taken over Central Command. Obama wants a surge in Afghanistan. We're sending the architect of the victory on Iraq he opposed. Read about it here.

THE HOCKEY MOM LAYS OUT BIDEN

Governor Sarah Palin was at her best Thursday in Iowa. Wasting no time, the hockey mom, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, skated over center ice, and body slammed Slow Joe Biden. She is on fire here and the crowd is barely under control. They changed her stump speech and she is hitting it out of the ballpark. The Biden slam is at about 5:50, but the whole thing (8 minutes) is well worth the watch.

BULLING AWAY!

Friday was a record setting day in the US Stock Markets! The best two day performance in the markets since 2000! Smart investors are fully invested in the markets, always. Tho we aren't yet officially in a Bull Market (10% increase in returns) we will be there sometime next week.

(CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Friday, with the Dow rising 369 points, as the government's plan to help rescue banks from toxic mortgage debt soothed investors at the end of a gut-churning week on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added nearly 369 points, or 3.3%. Including Thursday's big rally, the Dow's two-session advance was 779 points, the biggest since March 2000, according to Dow Jones. On a percentage basis, the two-session advance of 7.3% was the biggest since October 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index jumped 4%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 3.4%.

As Drudge Report has written DOW UP 40 POINTS IN PAST MONTH... UP 18% PAST 5 YEARS... UP 44% PAST 10 YEARS...

UPDATE ON THE EMAIL HACKER:

Two days ago COMMON CENTS posted a story "Felonies and more Felonies" about the Governor Sarah Palin's emails being hacked into.

The good news is that the Feds are zeroing in on the criminal. Remember hacking someone's email is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in jail. HOT AIR has an excellent update of the situation as well as Newsmax.

And blogger extraordinaire Amy Proctor has a superlative post on what is the real and overlooked story in this whole situation. Read it here.

THE BEST OF BIDEN:

Mark Levin calls him the dumbest man in the US Senate. COMMON CENTS compiles a list of some of latest and greatest gaffes:

• On September 28th on Good Morning America Biden said "Paying more taxes is 'Patriotic'"
• The day he was nominated for the VP Nomination he referred to Barack Obama as "Barack America".
• During his first Presidential Campaign "You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."
• On September 10th "Hillary would have been a better VP Pick"
  
• On September 14th Biden commands urged a paraplegic state official to stand up to be recognized "Chuck stand up - let the people see you".
  
• Vice President JFK?
• On how the United States should respond to 9-11 “Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran,”
• Also, at a campaign rally Biden said that "being a city councilman is harder than being a U.S. Senator."
• UPDATE: Biden to reporter: taps his chest and says "You need to work on your pecs."
• Finally, the RNC has a Biden Gaffe Clock where they count down the time between Biden's gaffes.

The list will surely get longer. Don't expect to find many of these discussed in the Mainstream Media because of their left wing bias.

ROCKET MAN!

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rallied the most in six years on prospects the government will formulate a ``permanent'' plan to shore up financial markets, while regulators and pension funds took steps to curb bets against banks and brokerages. Traders erupted into cheers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 617 points from its low of the day. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 4.3 percent as 68 companies in the gauge rose more than 10 percent. Read about it here and here.

FELONIES AND MORE FELONIES:

Today Governor Sarah Palin's personal email was hacked by thugs working for Gawker.com. This act is a crime punishable by up to 5 years in prison. In addition Governor Palin is under protection by the Secret Service and they are reportedly very interested in these crimes. The McCain/Palin campaign release the following statement Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain, released a statement calling the publication a “shocking invasion of the governor’s privacy and a violation of law.” “The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them. We will have no further comment,” This is obviously an egregious personal attack and we hope the perpetrators are persecutated to the full extent of the law. You can read more about it here and here.

McCAIN IN OHIO:

Brilliant speech. He really makes the case. Timely, and right on the money. This will leave a mark:

QUICK READS:

• ABC's Charlie Gibson's interview with Governor Sarah Palin last week had some interesting things edited out what was broadcast. The bold text was edited out of her interview. Read the unedited interview here.

• While in Iraq Barack Obama tried to delay US Service members return.According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July. "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview. Amazing - is there nothing he won't say. Read it here. and here.
  

• Feds to loan AIG $85 Billion and take an 80% stake in the company. Read about it here.
  

National Review's Bryon York writes a fantastic article on the controversial sex ed bill supported (but not sponsored) by Barack Obama. The bill mandated sex education be taught to children in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade.
What, specifically, was the bill designed to do? It appears to have had three major purposes:

The first, was to mandate that information presented in sex-ed classes be “factual,” “medically accurate,” and “objective.”

The second purpose was to increase the number of children receiving sex education. Illinois’ existing law required the teaching of sex education and AIDS prevention in grades six through twelve. The old law read:

Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades 6 through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention, transmission and spread of AIDS.

Senate Bill 99 struck out grade six, changing it to kindergarten, in addition to making a few other changes in wording. It read:

Each class or course in comprehensive sex education in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV.

The bill’s third purpose was to remove value-laden language in the old law. For example, the old law contained passages like this:

Course material and instruction shall teach honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage.
Course material and instruction shall stress that pupils should abstain from sexual intercourse until they are ready for marriage…
[Classes] shall emphasize that abstinence is the expected norm in that abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against unwanted teenage pregnancy [and] sexually transmitted diseases…

The proposed bill eliminated all those passages and replaced them with wording like this:

Course material and instruction shall include a discussion of sexual abstinence as a method to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Course material and instruction shall present the latest medically factual information regarding both the possible side effects and health benefits of all forms of contraception, including the success and failure rates for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV…

The entire text of the bill is here. I will leave it to the reader to do some research into York's National Review's article as well as the text of the actual bill to research the merits of teaching sex-ed to children as young as kindergarten. At a minimum Obama needs to explain this very controversial vote.

IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT - - -

HAPPINESS - This New York Times article explains in simple terms why conservatives are happier than liberals. Conservatives are much more likely than liberals to be religious, be married and have families - all of which unequivocally lead to overall happiness.

• In 2004, 44 percent of respondents who said they were “conservative” or “very conservative” said they were “very happy,” versus just 25 percent of people who called themselves “liberal” or “very liberal.” (Note that this comparison uses unweighted data — when the data are weighted, the gap is 46 percent to 28 percent.)
• Adults on the political right are only half as likely as those on the left to say, “At times, I think I am no good at all.” They are also less likely to say they are dissatisfied with themselves, that they are inclined to feel like a failure, or to be pessimistic about their futures.
• It doesn’t matter who holds political power. The happiness gap between conservatives and liberals has persisted for at least 30 years.

HELP OUT THE HURRICANE VICTIMS:

COMMON CENTS urges you to donate to the relief effort for Hurricane Ike. Over a million people are without power and in need of everything:

• FEED THE CHILDREN:
• AMERICAN RED CROSS:
• THE SALVATION ARMY:

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING CANDIDATE:

Without question recent polls have Barack Obama back on his heels and playing defense. The candidate who once boasted of a 50-state strategy has quietly been pulling back staffers and advertisers from a number of states he once thought he could win. This weekend there were a number of polls released that should keep democratic strategists up at night. Florida now appears to be out of reach with polls showing McCain up as much as 8 points, a larger spread than Bush had over Kerry. Pennsylvania, a must win for Obama with its 21 electoral votes, now shows McCain leading by 5% points according to Zogby.

In addition, the latest Michigan (17 Electoral Votes) poll has McCain up by 1%. And even Ronald Reagan could not win Minnesota when he won 49 states. The latest Star-Tribune has the race tied.
Finally the last Rasmussen Reports poll has Obama only up by 2% in usually reliable Washington State.

If Obama loses either Minnesota, or Michigan, or Pennsylvania or Washington the road to 270 electoral votes gets very hard to map. Stay tuned...

EXPERIENCE: The Obama campaign has recently been playing up the experience card hoping to drive home the point that Palin is too experienced (even tho she is the only of the top 4 candidates with EXECUTIVE experience.) This strategy has backfired magnificiently as the latest poll shows:

The poll suggests that perceived inexperience is more of a problem at the top of the Democratic ticket than in the No. 2 spot for Republicans.
Eighty percent say McCain, with nearly three decades in Congress, has the right experience to be president. Just 46 percent say Obama, now in his fourth year in the Senate, is experienced enough. Fully 47 percent say Obama lacks the proper experience — an even worse reading than the 36 percent who had the same criticism about McCain running mate Sarah Palin, serving her second year as Alaska governor after being a small-town mayor. Read about the poll here.

Iraqi President Thanks Bush for Being ‘Hero of Liberation of Iraq’

Did anyone know he was here this week? You would think such a major development such as this would be all over the MSM. Not a peep.

President Bush Meets with President Talabani of Iraq

September 10, 2008

The White House

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President, welcome. First of all, I am so pleased to see that you’re looking good. The President’s health is strong, and that’s going to be very important for the people of Iraq. After all, there’s been no stronger defender of a free Iraq than President Talabani. I’ve known him for a long time. He cares deeply about the Iraqi people, and he has been a strong defender of human liberty.

Mr. President, thanks for the good conversation we had about the election laws, about the need to get a strategic framework agreement signed. And thank you very much for bringing me up to date on your perspective about life inside of Iraq. It’s — things have changed a lot since we’ve known each other.

PRESIDENT TALABANI: Of course.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And attitudes are completely different now that people realize the security situation has changed and mothers can raise their children in a more normal life. It’s still difficult, but there’s no doubt that the surge has been effective, which has enabled us to take out troops. Iraqis want there to be fewer U.S. troops, the United States wants there to be fewer U.S. troops, but both of us want to realize that vision based upon success.

And so, Mr. President, welcome back. I’m glad you’re feeling good. And thank you for the visit.

PRESIDENT TALABANI: Well, Mr. President, thank you very much for giving me the honor of meeting you again. I think it’s clear that we are in Iraq looking to you as a hero of liberation of Iraq from worst kind of dictatorship. And now we are working with your — with you, Mr. President, for finalizing the strategic framework agreement between United States and Iraq.

And also, we are always getting benefit from your views about how to secure Iraq. I think you know very well that you and we in Iraq achieved very good successes on terrorism. Now I can say all parts of Iraq liberated from terrorist control and activities. It’s true that some groups remain hiding themselves from here or there, but there’s no place, no inch of Iraqi land under the control of terrorist activities. There are some terrorist — still groups working — hiding themself, and thanks to you and sacrifice of your brave army and to Iraqi people, now we can live in peace and security.

And Iraq government started to spend the money which we have for serving the Iraqi people and rebuilding the country, reconstructing the country. Not only we liberated our country from terrorist activities, but also from militias, outlawed militias who are also making troubles and danger for Iraqi people.

And as you have heard, the Basra city, Sadr City, (inaudible), Ninawa, Baqubah — all these cities are now liberated. So we are thankful to you and to your people, your army. We hope that the agreement about this strategy formation will be signed soon.

And as usual, we are working, our parliament is working now for finalizing the draft of a new law for election provinces, and I hope that, as I heard the news yesterday, I hope that today it will be finalized, because the groups — head of groups of parliament are now gathering in parliament to reach — to finalize this.

In our country, we are now busy to reconstruct our country and to rebuild our country. And I am glad to tell you, Mr. President, that our position with our neighbors is improved very well — with Turkey, with Syria, with Iran, with the Arab countries. The relation is notable now and we have no problem with any of these countries. In contrary, many, many new ambassadors are coming —

PRESIDENT BUSH: That’s right.

PRESIDENT TALABANI: — to our country from Arab countries. And our visit of Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr. Tayyip Recep Erdogan, and of the — His Majesty, the King of Jordan, to Baghdad were very successful, and was encouraging to Iraqi people to understand that they have friends outside Iraq.

So I hope that friendship and relation between your great people and the Iraqi people will continue and will be strengthened. And we will never forget what you have done for our people.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, President.

THIS VIDEO SAYS IT ALL:

Army SPC Joe Cook:

QUICK TAKES:

For the week: The Dow up 1.8%; the S&P finished up 0.8%; and the Nasdaq ended up 0.2%.

Gallup Poll - Among Likely Voters GOP leads by 5% in Generic Congressional Poll.

Long lost film shows John Mcain being released from Vietnamese prison

Transcript of Governor Sarah Palin interview with Charles Gibson.

SURVEY - Consumer confidence hits an 8-month high!

Wholesale Inflation DOWN 0.9% - Most in 2 Years

HURRICANE IKE:

Hurricane Ike Tracking Models:

Hurricane Ike Public Advisory:

Hurricane Ike Wire:

Houston Chronicle:

IR Satellite:

SEPTEMBER 11 TRIBUTE

No politics today. Today is dedicated to the memory of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. These videos are all outstanding. It is hard to believe it's been seven years since Islamic Extremists attacked our cites. It's hard to believe we have been spared another attack in that time. We have stayed safe only because we have stayed on offense in war against terrorism. I hope you watch these video and tell a friend to watch them.Be warned: There are some graphic scenes!

"Have you forgotten" - Darryl Worley

Where were you September 11th - Alan Jackson

Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (The Angry American) - Toby Keith

23,000 show up for McCain Palin rally in Fairfax, Virginia

And COMMON CENTS was there. The word that comes to mind immediately is inspiring. The crowd was clearly delighted to see Sarah Palin and Senator McCain here in Northern Virginia. The line to enter the park stretched over a mile through the local neighborhoods and the crowd itself was filed with happy, positive and energetic people. I ran into one middle aged woman who commented to me "I never thought I'd be at a Republican Rally". I said "Good for you" and "We believe in forgiveness of sins!" She laughed. As stated the local fire marshal estimated the crowd at 23,000. National Review writes:

The message of the day, at least the word circulating among people in the crowd, was hope. This was a group of Republicans that — they’ll admit this now — had pretty much given up hope a few months ago. Now, with McCain’s selection of Palin as his running mate, things are different. “I think we really have a chance now,” a woman named Shirley, of Fairfax, told me. “It’s amazing.”

Everybody else seemed to think the same thing. I approached a woman named Carolyn, from Arlington, who told me she helped found the Independent Women’s Forum several years ago. “I am so proud of what she represents,” Carolyn said of Palin. “I wish my friend Barbara Olson were here to see this, because she would be thrilled. This is an incredible moment.”

Channel 7 (Washington DC) aired this report of the rally:

REQUIRED READING:

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY easily has the best editorial page you will read, hands-down. IBD explains the issues of the day in an easy to read and concise manner. We hope you go back regularly. Today's editorials are great:

• Not-So-Slick Oil Bill

• Social (In)security

• Sojourning Socialists

• The Vision Of The Left by THOMAS SOWELL
  

IKE AIMS FOR TEXAS:

Hurricane Ike is making a bee line towards South Central Texas later in the week. These are the current storm tracking models:

9 PERCENT!

The Democratic run US Congress continues to set new records for incompetence and unfavorable rating. These guys give new meaning to the words "incompetent ignoramuses". Their major accomplishment is succeeding in driving up the price of gasoline from $2 to when they were elected to over $4 a gallon in July. They have passed ZERO appropriations bills (out of 13) and just recently came back from a 5-week vacation. These guys would have to improve to get to the level of incompetence. Consider:

A survey of 1,000 likely voters reveals only 9% give Congress good or excellent ratings. The data, released today by Rasmussen, also reveals most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high. This is the first time in the Rasmussen survey's history that the Congressional approval rating has dipped into single digits. Read the story here.

As low as President Bush's approval rating are (34% today) his popularity dwarfs the Democratic Congress. In addition, the Confidence in Congress has reached an all time low also with only 6% of Americans expressing "A great deal of confidence" in Congress - good for last place!


I guess when you do nothing there are consequences.
We do need CHANGE but with the Democratic Congress having failed so badly the change we need is to vote these bums out.

IKE STORM TRACKS

COMMON CENTS will keep you informed as to the current Storm Tracks of Hurricane Ike. Far from there being only one track there are actually over a dozen private and public agencies which publish their own individual storm tracks. These are the current tracks:

GLOBAL WARMING UPDATE (2008 COOLEST IN 5 YEARS)

Somebody email this story to Al Gore...

The Global warming theory is going into the freezer, some climate experts say.

The first half of this year was the coolest in at least five years, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). And the global warming that has taken place during the past 30 years is over, says geologist Don J. Easterbrook, a professor emeritus at Western Washington University.

Easterbrook, who has written eight books and 150 journal publications, predicts that temperatures will cool between 2065 and 2100 and that global temperatures at the end of the century will be less than 1 degree cooler than now. This is in contrast to other theories saying that temperatures will warm by as much as 10 degrees by 2100.

In March, Easterbrook said he was putting his reputation on the line by predicting global cooling. Read the entire story here.

Earlier this year it snowed in Baghdad, Iraq for the first time in 100 years!

POLL DANCE:

ZOGBY: MCCAIN-PALIN UP by 4%...

GALLUP: McCain-Palin UP, 48% to 45%...

LIKELY VOTERS: McCAIN/PALIN 54% - OBAMA/BIDEN 44%

FAVORABILITY: PALIN 58%; McCAIN 57%; OBAMBA 57%; BIDEN 48%

GREAT AMERICANS:

I know the Olympics are over but we wanted to include some overdue recognition of some truly great Americans.

Kobe Bryant "schools" NBC's Brian Collinsworth on the meaning of Patriotism:

Collinsworth: Tell the story when you first got your USA uniform.

Kobe: Well I had goosebumps and I actually just looked at it for awhile. I just held it there and I laid it across my bed and I just stared at it for a few minutes; just because as a kid growing up this is the ultimate, ultimate in basketball.

Collinsworth: Where does the patriotism come from inside of you? Historically, what is it?

Kobe: Well, you know it’s just our country, it’s… we believe is the greatest country in the world. It has given us so many great opportunities, and it’s just a sense of pride that you have; that you say “You know what? Our country is the best!”

Collinsworth: Is that a ‘cool’ thing to say, in this day and age? That you love your country, and that you’re fighting for the red, white and blue? It seems sort of like a day gone by(?)

Kobe: No, it’s a cool thing for me to say. I feel great about it, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I mean, this is a tremendous honor.

And the US Women's Volleyball Champs give a heartfelt "Thank You" to President Bush after winning their Gold Medal:

GIVE A LITTLE - GIVE A LOT:

It's no secret that the Red Cross and other charities are struggling to keep up with recent natural disasters. COMMON CENTS is urging our readers to contribute what they can to help out! The following are a listing of deserving charities.

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

THE SALVATION ARMY

CATHOLIC CHARITIES

RECYCLING AMERICAN FLAGS:

A sanitation worker cleaning up after the Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field found thousands of flags that were in a dumpster ready to be thrown out. The flags were saved and are being used, actually recycled at Saturday's McCain / Palin rally in Colorado Springs. If only there were some US Military personnel and/or Boy Scouts around this might not have happened.

According flag etiquette "When a U.S. flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner. Most American Legion Posts, VFW Chapters and Boy Scout Troops regularly conduct dignified flag burning ceremonies, often on Flag Day, June 14th. Contact your local American Legion Hall, VFW Chapter or Boy Scout Troop to inquire about the availability of this service. NEVER THROW A FLAG IN THE GARBAGE!"

Read the entire story here.

QUICK TAKES:

HURRICANE IKE STORM PATH:

McCAIN SPEECH THURSDAY NIGHT:

• FOXNEWS 9.2 MILLION viewers
  

• NBC 8.7 MILLION viewers
  

• ABC: 6.0 MILLION viewers
  

• CBS: 5.3 MILLION viewers
  

• CNN 4.8 MILLION viewers
  

• MSNBC 2.5 MILLION viewers
  

123 people killed in Chicago this summer - double the number of US Servicemen killed in Iraq.

Nielsen: McCain’s speech draws more viewers than Obama’s — while airing on fewer networks

"FIGHT WITH ME"

“I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.”

I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your president. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank him, that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on Earth. And with hard work -- with hard word, strong faith, and a little courage, great things are always within our reach.

Fight with me. Fight with me.

Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up for each other, for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

Stand up, stand up, stand up, and fight.

Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up.

We never quit.

We never hide from history. We make history.

• The text of Senator McCain's speech

• The text of Cindy McCain's speech

This is a image created with what words John McCain used in his speech. Interesting:

STUNNING AND HISTORIC!

Governor Sarah Palin's GOP Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech:

UK: 'Palin was stunning'...
CHICAGO: 'She has heart of street fighter'...
POST: Sarah Storms St. Paul
And her teleprompter broke!

BASES LOADED HOME RUN!

Governor Sarah Palin just hit a Bases Loaded Home Run in the biggest speech of her political career. With the bar set high she delivered a fantastic speech where she laid out a solid case for voting for the McCain - Palin ticket. She stepped up into the limelight and delivered a historic speech which was interrupted countless times by tremendous applause. Governor Palin deliver this speech with grace, poise and humor. Congratulations Governor Sarah Palin.

You can read the text here.

New York Mayor Rudy Guilliani brought the house down in his keynote address where he drew clear distinctions between John McCain and Barack Obama. Said Mayor Guilliani "

On the one hand, you've got a man who has dedicated his life to the service of his country. He's been tested time and again by crisis. He's passed every test.

Even his adversaries acknowledge that he is a true American hero. He loves America as we all do - but he's sacrificed for it as few do. As a young man, he joined the military...and being a "Top Gun" kind of guy, he became a fighter pilot. He was on a mission over Hanoi when his plane was shot down.

He was tortured in a POW camp, but he refused his captors' offers of early release. Because this is a man who believes in serving a cause greater than self-interest. He came home a national hero.

He had earned a life of peace and quiet, but he was called to public service again, running for Congress and then the Senate as a proud foot-soldier in the Reagan Revolution. His principled independence never wavered. He stood up to special interests, fought for fiscal discipline, ethics reform and a strong national defense.

That's one man.

On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer, and immersed himself in Chicago machine politics. Then he ran for the state legislature - where nearly 130 times he was unable to make a decision yes or no. He simply voted "present."

As Mayor of New York City, I never got a chance to vote "present." And you know, when you're President of the United States, you can't just vote "present." You must make decisions.

A few years later, he ran for the U.S. Senate. He won and has spent most of his time as a "celebrity senator." No leadership or major legislation to speak of. His rise is remarkable in its own right - it's the kind of thing that could happen only in America. But he's never run a city, never run a state, never run a business.

He's never had to lead people in crisis.

You can read the entire speech here.

These are the actual words used by Sarah Palin in her speech:

US says troops could quit Baghdad soon

By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Published: September 3 2008 09:43 | Last updated: September 3 2008 18:21

General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, said declining violence in Baghdad raised the possibility that American combat troops could leave the capital by next summer.

Asked in an interview with the Financial Times whether it was feasible that US combat forces could leave Baghdad by July, he said: “Conditions permitting, yeah.”

His comments come as the US and Iraq hammer out the final details of a long-term security agreement that reportedly outlines a potential timeline for US combat troops to leave Iraqi cities by next summer, and the country by 2011.

“The number of attacks in Baghdad lately has been, gosh, I think it’s probably less than five [a day] on average, and that’s a city of seven million people,” said Gen Petraeus.

Read the entire story here.

STORM TRACKS

Follow Hurricane Hanna's projected path here. And the tracking models here.

Follow Hurricane Ike's projected path here.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

Today was day two of the Republican National Convention and was highlighted by speeches by President George Bush, Senator Fred Thompson and Senator Joe Lieberman (former Democrat). Following are text of those speeches:


President Bush's speech


Senator Fred Thompson's speech


Senator Joe Lieberman's speech

Excellent speeches by all. Joe Lieberman's was excellent. He took apart both of Obama's claims for his Presidential Run (lack of any bi-partisianship and not being an agent of change).



RACE WAR IF McCAIN WINS?

Chilling...