Catholic Gossip: February 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

Union Sexual Vulgarity and Assaultery

Here are two angles showing a union thug assaulting a Tea Party protester. Then, the policemen lets the union thug get away. I hope the policeman is reprimanded for dereliction of duty.

Now, we have a video showing a union thug making a 'tea bag' threat against a Tea Partier.

These children need to be given a time out for all their tantrums. They need to be taught a lesson in responsibility.

H/T Breitbart

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Thank God - Eric Graff is alive and well - Dang hackers

God is so good!! Eric Graff of Pathetically Incorrect is alive and well!! His blog has been hacked into. Now, he's on a mission, doing some detective work to figure out who hacked into his account. He's can't even get into his blog account at this point. That hacker is friggin cruel. Eric is alive!! This is wonderful news!!! Yea!!! How great is our God!

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS -- 2-27-11 - In Remembrance of Eric Graff Rest in Peace

I have some very sad news to inform everyone. It is very sad and shocking news since he posted a comment on my blog and about 4-6 hours or so before I saw this post on Eric Graff's blog saying this: Eric W. Graff born Dec. 14th 1959, died Feb. 24th 2011. I knew that he had been having some health troubles this past year but did not realize it was this serious. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. God rest his soul. Here is a link to his site if you would like to leave a thought or two to his family - http://eric-graff.blogspot.com/2011/02/eric-w-graff-born-dec-14th-1959-died.html

American Perspective posted Kanye Complains abortion mommy bribes can cost up to 100K

Sig94 says its Time to grow a pair

A Conservative Teacher posts on His conversation with Karl Rove

A Patriotic Rottweiler posts Moron of the day = doctors from Madison Wisconsin

Adrienne's Corner says Gov. Walker has displayed admirable restraint

LOYAL TO LIBERTY posts Bipartisan Spending Junkies

Allied Liberty News posts The value of "stuff"

Anonymous Political Scientist posts his Take on young Obama's Marxism

Another Black Conservative posts Democrats propose "lockbox" for social security again.

Barking Spider shows us Gaddafi Duck

BBCW posts that Pelosi edits DNC praise of Nancy Pelosi through her daughter

Beers, Bicycles, and VRWC posts that one governor thinks Our Children's Future depends on irresponsible spending.

Blowing San #1 asks us to Please Pray for this family

Bluegrass Pundit posts Global Warming scam: follow the money

Bluepitbull posts 9 million and counting

Bread Upon Waters posts Troops machine gun Libyan children, Obama parties; Newt says "pink slip Eric Holder"

Can We Keep Our Republic? posts The shores of Tripoli

Catholic Fire posts Thrilla in Manila: Fighting the culture of death in the Philippines

Common Cents shows us More liberal hatred: racist leftists attack black Tea Party member

Conservative Hideout asks Who are the parents, and who are the children?

Conservative Perspective asks Your camel breakdown? Time for an Arabic hybrid, plus - 'daily show' tortures a camel

Conservative Scalawag posts on The new age of civility, or not.

Creative Minority Report says Dear Mr. Boehner: We're not here for moral victories.

Crime, Guns, and Videotape posts on Cops suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome

Deacon for Life posts International Committee gives award to Chile for successful protection of mothers and unborn babies

Diary of a Right Wing Loving Pussycat posts on Hillary Clinton, communist loving libtard

Economy Politics posts Pimco sees real possibility of much higher inflation as the commodities runup gets passed onto customers

Eye of Polyphemus posts A more perfect dis-union

Generational Dysfunction posts that Rush Limbaugh nails the double standard

Greg Mankiw's Blog gives the Tax fact of the day

Hack Wilson posts that Political correctness has made its way into the US military

Innominatus posts The 'how much random junk I can put in one post?' post

Jo-Joe Politico says Isn't that just ducky?

Just a Conservative Girl posts The Acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

Just a Man With His Thoughts posts A Beauty to ride with, a beauty to fight with

Just an Artists shows us Fun in Big D

Left Coast Rebel asks Was America founded as a Christian nation?

Let The Truth Be Known posts Angina News wake up America

Libertarian Republican posts Missouri: Right to work would spur job creation says one legislator

Lone Star Parson shows us Amazonian guard

Lonely is the Night posts Why Arabs throw rocks

Maggie's Notebook posts Gingrich: Obama didn't understand his action was unconstitutional

Mind Numbed Robot posts Democrats lust for power at any cost

Motivation Truth posts Governor Palin: Here's to Libya's freedom

Musings of a Vast Right-Winger shows us More hate from union thug protesters

My Daily Trek posts Obama says he will no longer defend marriage law

New Zeal posts Stop Obama's union bosses

Nikon Sniper shows us the Surfers obstacle course

No Sheeples Here posts Pouring Money and fury into the fight

Obama Cartoons shows us the Biggest welfare recipient

Patrick Madrid posts 144,000: What's in a number? not you, for one thing

Patriot's Corner says Get ready for the new Muslim invasion

Political Realities posts on An examination of right to work

Prolife Defender posts Presidential candidate Randall Terry supports Sean Hannity's call for counter rally at WH

Proof posts "Move On" whistles by the graveyard - "Wow"

Pundit and Pundette posts Saturday reads

Quickwit posts Let me see your papers....

Randy's Roundtable posts A real man steps up

Rational Nation USA posts SPLC slanders Pamela Geller

Republican Redefined posts on Shape-shifting John McCain: 2010's most "Conservative" senator

Robbing America posts The Economist: Obama's budget proposal a "cop-out"

The Reaganite Republican posts Nervous Dictators from Ryadh to Havana rushing out populist concessions while quietly preparing for the worst

Right Klik posts I am Mitch Daniels, hear me purr!

Sentry Journal shows us that It takes a village of useful idiots to fundamentally transform America

Self Evident Truths shows us Andrew Klavan: Multiculturalism explained

Standing on my Head posts Bad Catholics guide

Stop Marxism posts on Inhumane treatment of elderly patients on UK health care

The Audacity of Logic posts Planned Parenthood poised to take a very hard fall - and it should

The Blog posts on a Motown Par-Tay

The Camp of the Saints posts Today's moment of irony

The Catholic Key Blog posts Carrie Nation, Kathleen Sebelius, and hating Phill Kline

The Conservative Lady posts that The Obama admin blocking 103 Gulf drilling permits

The Guy in the Window posts that Egyptian armed forced fired at monasteries, 19 injured

The Libertarian Patriot says The sides have been chosen

The Other McCain posts a Texas Terror update

The Malcontent posts Saudi man arrested in Texas on WMD charge, targeted President Bush

The Observatorium posts Social Justice Christianity

The Scottcarp Dream posts The Warrior bard: the pleasure police move in

TheBlogProf posts Awesome video: One guest absolutely destroys entire MSNBC panel on Obama's incompetence on foreign policy

Trestin Meacham posts on Hunger and socialist policies

Virtual Mirage asks Is Gadhafi a dead duck?

We The People .... shows us Things we won't see on MSNBC: number 1

WDTPRS posts on Creepy homosexual demonstration at Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral

Woman Honor Thyself suggests to BUY Geert Wilders book

Woodsterman says It's time to start caring about husbands

Amusing Bunni's Musings posts Secrets of Foamy the squirrel's cult

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Rule 5 Swimsuit Edition - Irina Shayk

She is the first Russian cover model for the magazine

Rule 5 links:

Maggie has posted A New Zealand Conservative - Rachel Hunter

Opus #6 has posted a Marilyn Monroe Fantasy . She says that Marilyn Monroe "drips breathless sensuality"

Bob Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints has posted some pics of Sabrina Ferilli

Teachers Unions Destroying Education in this Country? This is a Job for Superman

I recently viewed the education documentary "Waiting for Superman". The film makes one thing crystal clear: that the main problem with our public school education system is the teachers unions. It is self-evident that throwing more and more money into the Department of Education over the years has not solved the issues in relation to our educational system. Our educational system is broken.

One person who is trying to change our broken education system is Michelle Rhee. She is trying to pick up those shattered pieces, to repair them, and stand up for the kids so they are taught the skills to have a chance at being successful in their adult life. But unfortunately the system and unions bucked her efforts. For decades the unions have been creating generations of children who will be dependent on the government because of the teachers having no clear incentive to teach well. Maybe this is because the Democrats' are in the teachers unions pockets and they believe in Big Government and want to create an atmosphere where multitudes of adults are dependent on the government they put on a pedestal?

One of the main problems with the teachers unions is that the teachers have a total lack of accountability. It doesn't matter to the unions if there are teachers who are incompetent and not meeting certain standards because as the head of of the NTA stated they are "against proposals that divide people". This statement is bizarre! She wants both good and bad teachers to be treated the same. This type of thinking is exactly why our education system is so screwed up. There are no incentives for being a good teacher. I mean one would think that all teachers are duty bound to teach their kids properly. But, I guess both the lackadaisical attitude and this I-am-owed-something attitude has spread so rampantly amongst all Democratically controlled sectors of employment that it has become quite infectious to the detriment of both past and present generations. These teachers unions want all teachers to be treated like robots who were all programmed the same. Couldn't they at least be all programmed to be good teachers instead of a preponderance of them sucking so bad I wonder how the heck they passed tests to become teachers in the first place?

Michelle Rhee founded an organization called Students First. Here is the website. Their mission statement is:

Our mission is to build a national movement to defend the interests of children in public education and pursue transformative reform, so that America has the best education system in the world.

Students First has put together some statistics which are quite alarming.

"The literacy rates among fourth grade students in America are sobering. In a recent report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, one out of three students scored "below basic" on the 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Reading Test. Among these low performing students, 49 percent come from low-income families. Even more alarming is the fact that more than 67 percent of all US fourth graders scored "below proficient," meaning they are not reading at grade level.

"Reading proficiency among middle and high school students isn't much better. On the 2009 NAEP Reading Test, about 26 percent of eighth graders and 27 percent of twelfth graders scored below the "basic" level, and only 32 percent of eighth graders and 38 percent of twelfth graders are at or above grade level."

It is going to be hard for our kids to compete in the global market for jobs such engineers, scientists, physicians, and creative entrepreneurs when according to an assesment by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development finds that 15-year-olds in the U.S. placed 25th out of 30 countries in math performance and 21st in science performance.

Test scores have not improved in decades. "In April 2009, Education Week reported that average math and reading scores for 17-year-olds in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests have remained stagnant since the 1970s. And according to The Journal, fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores "have barely budged since 1992," despite policy and investment focused on improving overall student achievement."

This is a serious problem which must be addressed and cannot be kicked down the road because of unions demands. And, let me take a huge leap here and say that our public education system's priority is supposed to be about the kids, teaching them the skills to excel and succeed in life and NOT about the adults. Teachers need to be held accountable for their job performance, like other jobs. We cannot afford to drop the ball on this as we have done in the past because if we do the United States will no longer be a global leader of innovation for our children won't even have a clue what that word means let alone understand the concepts of hard work and responsibility.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Remembering Dr. Bernard Nathanson: An Unlikely Hero of Human Dignity

There have been quite a few defections from the pro-abort side but no convert to the pro-life side comes near in prominence or influence as Dr. Bernard Nathanson. He was a doctor who once performed thousands of abortions but ended up being an unlikely hero of human dignity. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, R.I.P.

Here is the article from Mercatornet:

During four decades of the abortion wars in the United States there has been much traffic across the battle lines. Many who should have been on the pro-life side positioned themselves in the opposite ranks -- the deceptively named Catholics for a Free Choice is the prime example. This was the easy path, a case of going with the cultural flow under the influence of leading institutions in the media and political life.

Defections from the pro-abortion side, however, have been much more significant, not to mention heroic. Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” plaintiff of the 1973 Supreme Court case which issued in the legalising of abortion throughout the US, became a high profile opponent of abortion and eventually petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn its Roe v Wade decision. Many others have followed her in the public renunciation of the killing of unborn children, most recently Abby Johnson, a young Planned Parenthood clinic operator from Texas, whose story was published last month.

But no convert to the pro-life cause comes near in prominence or influence to Dr Bernard Nathanson, one of the original abortion rights campaigners, who died on Monday at the age of 84. Dr Nathanson, did as much as anyone to launch abortion as a regular means of birth control, but for that very reason he also did more to discredit it once he faced the truth about this “procedure” and began to write and speak against it.

Culture wars -- those that matter -- are always about truth. As an obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Nathanson knew that there was a living human being in the womb of a pregnant woman but he turned his face against this scientific fact -- in the first instance, perhaps, because abortion assisted his own lifestyle. At college in the 1940s he got his girlfriend pregnant and used money from his father to pay for her (illegal) abortion. “It served as my introduction into the satanic world of abortion,” he later wrote. After settling in New York he got another girlfriend pregnant and decided to abort the child -- his child too -- himself. How often denial of the truth is motivated by one’s own misdeeds!

The fact that many people were doing botched illegal abortions provided another excuse for the legalisation campaign that Dr Nathanson became caught up in during the late 1960s. “Illegal abortion was in 1967 the number one killer of pregnant women,” he wrote. Justifications paved the way for lies. In Aborting America (1979) he admitted:

We aroused enough sympathy to sell our program of permissive abortion by fabricating the number of illegal abortions done annually in the U.S. The actual figure was approaching 100,000 but the figure we gave to the media repeatedly was 1,000,000. Repeating the big lie often enough convinces the public. The number of women dying from illegal abortions was around 200-250 annually. The figure we constantly fed to the media was 10,000. These false figures took root in the consciousness of Americans convincing many that we needed to crack the [anti] abortion law.

Another lie -- one that is told wherever abortion is promoted -- was perpetrated by the name, Centre for Reproductive and Sexual Health, given to the New York abortion clinic where, from 1970 to 1972, Dr Nathanson, as director and by his own account, “presided over 60,000 deaths”. The “health” claim in the now numbingly familiar phrase, “sexual and reproductive health”, presumably is based on providing abortions which don’t kill women, but it is entirely cancelled out by the 100 per cent death rate for unborn children.

What brought the abortion “rights” crusader to change his mind -- and, more importantly, his heart? Partly it was peer pressure: because of his public profile as an abortionist he began to be treated as a pariah in legitimate medical circles and received fewer obstetrical referrals. Surely, even at that early stage, it was also the fervour of the right-to-life movement that sprang up in opposition to the abortion campaign -- although he deplored the “blind polarity” and “screaming placards” of both groups in an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1974.

In that article, however, Dr Nathanson expressed his misgivings about abortion and the “cry” used to justify it: “that nothing can be human life that cannot exist independently”. There was no longer, he said, “serious doubt in my mind that human life exists within the womb from the very onset of pregnancy…” Why? Because technology was making liars of everyone who held otherwise:

Electrocardiographic evidence of heart function has been established in embryos as early as six weeks. Electroencephalographic recordings of human brain activity have been noted in embryos at eight weeks. Our capacity to measure signs of life is daily becoming more sophisticated, and as time goes by, we will doubtless be able to isolate life signs at earlier and earlier stages in fetal development.

He performed his last abortion in 1979. CONTINUED

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

CAIR Individual PWNED by Rep. Allen West

Monday, February 21, 2011

So, Candy Crowley thinks Obama is "quite popular overseas" ... Really???

Candy Crowley thinks that Obama is "quite popular overseas" and that "the streets aren't full of people burning him in effigy." Cough. Hmmmm.... She thinks that other countries like the U.S. better because of Obama. What's not to like when these other countries have Obama bending over backwards for them? literally. This liberal loon is given the award of the day for complete unadulterated ignorance. Candy Crowley must be blind as a bat! Or maybe she's been stuck in a cave with her head in the sand singing Kumbaya for the past 2 or more years? Oh That's right, liberals or liberalism and reality don't mix.

INDIA

AFGHANISTAN

IRAN

INDONESIA

PAKISTAN

H/T goes to Andrew Malcolm @ Top of the Ticket for all of the photos.

If she thinks that this is what it means to be liked I sure wouldn't want to see what she thinks hate looks like.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Jack Benny vs Groucho

Friday, February 18, 2011

Pittsburgh Union Thuggery: If You Thought Chicago Was Bad...

On Wednesday I was listening to the Quinn & Rose Show and what I heard had me in shock. If you thought that Union thuggery in Chicago was bad - You ain't seen nothing yet. Pittsburgh is much worse because it is Right Out in the Open with threats and intimidation toward businesses.

There are only three businesses in an area of Pittsburgh called Rankin. One of these businesses just happens to be a non-unionized steel company, called W&K Steel. W&K Steel has been targeted by the local union for years because its employees refused to join the local iron workers union. They don't need the unions. The W&K Steel workers are already very well paid and have excellent benefits. The company gives legal refugees and immigrants the opportunity to learn a new trade as well as learning english as a second language. But these are LEGAL REFUGEES, which is not a "protected" class.

Because all of the attempts by the union to force the company to unionize failed, they resorted to below gutter low and voted that the company be labeled a "sweatshop". There are eight criteria which must be met in order to be considered a "sweatshop", and W&K Steel does not meet any of these criteria. Since W&K Steel has always had a superb record with OSHA one would think it would be impossible for the company to be considered a sweatshop, but because of underhanded tactics, the impossible did happen.

Two disgruntled former employees got into bed with the local union to make this successful non-union business pay. Rich Fitzgerald, a Democrat running for Allegheny County Executive and other Democrats on the County Council held meetings on whether the company would be labelled a sweatshop without notifying the company. Then, at the last minute, the company was notified on about the remaining council meeting that would take place before the final vote would take place. Every current W&K employee showed up at the meeting in support of the company and waited the entire time to be able to testify, but the County Council refused to allow them to offer testimony in that meeting, nor during the sunsequent meeting in which the resolution would be passed. W&K President Ed Wilhelm has understandably characterized the council's action as a "kangaroo court". All eleven Democrats voted to label the non-union steel fabrication firm a "sweatshop" on account of the opportunities it afforded to legal immigrants. All four Republican abstained from the vote, and the motion passed on Tuesday.

As a result of calls from outraged listeners to the Warroom, the Quinn and Rose morning show on WPGB Newstalk 104.7, County Executive Dan Onorato released a statement vowing to veto the County Council's action. He gave three reasons for his decision to veto the council's action, and promised more details supporting his reasons will given in his veto letter. Onorato will have seven days from the time he officially receives the decision of the council in writing to veto it. Unfortunately, all it will take for the council to override Onorato's veto is if ten out of the eleven Democrats who voted for the original motion vote continue to support it.

Please be aware, this isn't just a local issue. Wherever you live, this is your problem, too. These tactics are going to be implemented by unions everywhere.

Note to the Reader: You will hear phone numbers to call during the second youtube clip. Keep in mind that if you call Dan Onorato, it should be to offer moral support for his decision to veto the council's action. He doesn't need to be berated. He got that already and has decided to do the right thing. But if you want to call the County Council number and give them hell, I will not discourage you.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

New Job: Light Blogging

On Monday I started my new job. For the next two weeks I will be training for my new job. Life has been kinda crazy and exhausting for me since Monday so I probably won't be able to post and visit blogs as much for the next couple of weeks. After training I will start working my regular schedule and will be start to be in a routine so hopefully starting then it be easier for me to post and visit all my blogging buddies blogs. I might even have that wonderful guest blogger Kevin fill-in for me on occasion the next couple of weeks. Wish I could visit everyone's blogs more often but life calls.... for now....

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Falling.... Falling... Whose Next?

First Tunisia, then Egypt, which domino is next in line to fall?

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Laura Ingraham Interviews Donald Trump on immigration, cutting spending, & abortion

I gotta say that the more I hear from "The Donald" the more I like him. I hope he decides to throw his hat in the ring for the 2012 presidential election.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Rule 5 - Diane Lane

I enjoyed a couple of movies which Diane Lane stars in. The first movie trailer is for the movie Untraceable which has been out at least a year. If you like seeing action-packed movies with a bit of true crime suspense this will be a great movie for you to see. The second movie is Secretariat. This is probably the best horse racing movie I have ever seen. This was an amazing, positive, and inspirational movie. This is a movie the whole family will enjoy.

American Perspective is featuring Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman for her rule 5 posting.

Maggie's Notebook turns to Jennifer Lopez.

Eye of Polyphemus looks to Scarlett Johansson.

What's Next For Egypt?

The crowd in Cairo is jubilant!! But, as much as they are wishing for democracy and freedom is this a be careful what you wish for moment? The Egyptians have ousted Mubarak so what exactly lies in their future? Does Egypt have the structure in place to be able to start a democracy? Or is a Khumeini-like individual going to emerge to the forefront and misrepresent himself as being for the people like Khumeini did in Iran? While I do see some signs of hope for the Egyptians' future I find it eerily similar due to the fact that this revolution and ousting of Mubarak the dictator happened on exactly the 32nd anniversary of the Shah falling in Iran. Plus, we had a pro-Big Government president in 1979, named Jimmy Carter who royally screwed up our relations with the Middle East and now we have Obama who is an Ultra pro-Big Government president who is royally screwing up our Middle East relations again. In addition, the way that both Carter interacted with the Middle East's leaders in the past and how Obama is interacting with Middle East leaders today, in screwing our allies while appeasing our enemies I wonder whose interests he's really looking out for? It certainly doesn't look like Obama is looking out for America's best interests today.

I think that this is a momentous occasion which gives the people of Egypt the possibility of following the model of freedom and democracy, following in Iraq's footsteps. As I was watching the news coverage of people shouting in the streets cheering in the streets shouting the word freedom in celebration of Mubarak having stepped down I saw in particular one person who said that he wanted democracy, that he wanted to follow the model of deomcracy in Iraq and I couldn't help but wonder whether Geroge W. Bush had a hand in today's events. Without George Bush having the courage to stand up for freedom, not merely spouting words like other politicians, would Iraq have become a beacon of democracy of freedom in the Middle East? He was willing to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk and he toppled a ruthless dictator. Without Bush having initiated a democracy in Iraq would any of these uprisings in the Middle East and Africa have occurred? Would they have had any hope to topple their leader who was oppressing them? Hopefully, terrorist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist sympathizers won't take advantage of this chaotic situation and fill the vacuum. Now the military holds the keys and the future of Egypt is in the palm of the military's hand.

I thought it would be a good idea to look up Egypt's background on history, government makeup, demographics, and resources so here is a brief summary from the CIA World Factbook:

Background:

The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and who ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub, but also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty with the overthrow of the British-backed monarchy in 1952. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to meet the demands of Egypt's growing population through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure.

Natural Resources:

Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, rare earth elements, zinc

Population:

80,471,869 (July 2010 est.)

Religions:

Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90%, Coptic 9%, other Christian 1%

Independence:

28 February 1922 (from UK protectorate status; the revolution that began 23 July 1952 led to a republic being declared on 18 June 1953 and all British troops withdrawn 18 June 1956); note - it was in ca. 3200 B.C. that the Two Lands of Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Egypt were first united politically

Constitution:

11 September 1971; amended 22 May 1980, 25 May 2005, and 26 March 2007

Legal system:

Based on Islamic and civil law (particularly Napoleonic codes); judicial review by Supreme Court and Council of State (oversees validity of administrative decisions); accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Executive branch:

Chief of state: President Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK (since 14 October 1981); Vice President Omar SOLIMAN (since 31 January 2011) This has changed.

Head of government: Prime Minister Ahmed SHAFIK (since 31 January 2011);Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein TANTAWI (since 1 February 2011) I believe he is the person in power now.

Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - a new cabinet was sworn in on 31 January 2011

Elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term (no term limits); note - a national referendum in May 2005 approved a constitutional amendment that changed the presidential election to a multicandidate popular vote; previously the president was nominated by the People's Assembly and the nomination was validated by a national, popular referendum; last referendum held on 26 September 1999; first election under terms of the constitutional amendment held on 7 September 2005 (next scheduled for 2011)
election results: Hosni MUBARAK reelected president; percent of vote - Hosni MUBARAK 88.6%, Ayman NOUR 7.6%, Noman GOMAA 2.9%

Legislative branch:

Bicameral system consists of the Advisory Council or Majlis al-Shura (Shura Council) that traditionally functions only in a consultative role (264 seats; 176 members elected by popular vote, 88 appointed by the president; members serve six-year terms; mid-term elections for half of the elected members) and the People's Assembly or Majlis al-Sha'b (518 seats; 508 members elected by popular vote, 64 seats reserved for women, 10 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)

elections: Advisory Council - last held in June 2007 (next to be held in 2013); People's Assembly - last held in November-December 2010 in one round of voting and one run-off election (next to be held in 2015)

election results: Advisory Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NDP 80, Al-Geel 1, Nasserist 1, NWP 1, Tagammu 1, Tomorrow Party 1, independents 3; People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NDP 419, NWP 6, Tagammu 5, Democratic Peace Party 1, Social Justice Party 1, Tomorrow Party 1, independents 71, seats undecided 4, seats appointed by president 10

Judicial branch:

Supreme Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders:

Al-Geel; Democratic Peace Party; Nasserist Party [Ahmed HASSAN]; National Democratic Party or NDP (governing party) [Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK]; National Progressive Unionist Grouping or Tagammu [Rifaat EL-SAID]; New Wafd Party or NWP [Sayed EL-BEDAWY]; Social Justice Party [Mohamed Abdel Al HASAN]; Tomorrow Party [Ayman NOURI]
note: formation of political parties must be approved by the government; only parties with representation in elected bodies are listed

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Muslim Brotherhood (technically illegal)
note: despite a constitutional ban against religious-based parties and political activity, the technically illegal Muslim Brotherhood constitutes Egypt's most potentially significant political opposition; President MUBARAK has alternated between tolerating limited political activity by the Brotherhood and blocking its influence (its members compete as independents in elections but do not currently hold any seats in the legislature); civic society groups are sanctioned, but constrained in practical terms; only trade unions and professional associations affiliated with the government are officially sanctioned; Internet social networking groups and bloggers.

In my next post on Egypt I will focus on why the Muslim Brotherhood must not be allowed to have a place in Egypt's government and expose just how dangerous the organization really is.

This is a tumultuous situation which calls for our thoughts and prayers.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Humor and Music: Loco Motion

From the site Hope n' Change:

To make every single aspect of American life better and turn the economy around, Barack Obama is asking taxpayers for another 53 billion dollars to build really, really fast trains.

The plan was officially announced by Joe Biden, wearing an adorable engineer's cap, who explained that high speed rail is vital to our national interests because it will play a key role in "seizing the future."

And go "woo-woo!"

The proposed trains will be capable of carrying thousands of passengers, all of whom will need their junk checked...but any security delays will be more than made up for by the trains' ability to rocket along at speeds up to 240 mph in complete safety, as long as Al Qaeda doesn't think to put any pennies on the tracks.

Moreover, constructing this exciting and tremendously expensive new rail system is expected to give the economy a much-needed jolt by creating thousands jobs for high speed train builders, just as soon as they can get here from Japan.

Best of all, the president's high speed rail proposal has given him the chance to float another possible campaign slogan, after "Winning The Future" (WTF?) failed to take off:

"Obama 2012 - Going Nowhere Fast!"

The title reminded me of the dance-song The Locomotion:

Thursday, February 10, 2011

You Can Watch the Movie Iranium for Free!

Is Diet Soda Unhealthy, & Even Harmful?

A study shows that people who drank diet sodas daily had a 61% increased risk of cardiovascular mishaps compared to those who had drank no soda. This study shows this risk even when factoring in smoking, physical activity, and alcohol consumption, and calories consumed each day.

"This study suggests that diet soda is not an optimal substitute for sugar-sweetened beverages, and may be associated with a greater risk of stroke,"Hannah Gardener of the University of Miami and her colleagues reported at the conference.

"But the questionnaire-based study garnered criticism by experts in diet, nutrition and vascular disease."

"This study has major flaws and should not change anyone's diet soda consumption," said ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser. It has been pointed out that many people who drink diet sodas also have poor dietary habits as well.

It looks like this study is flawed. I think most of us already knew that it is much healthier to drink water and other juices rather than diet or regular sodas. As for me, I still drink regular sodas but in the past 8 months I have added drinking water to my diet on a daily basis. Its sad but I do have to say I became partial to drinking sodas (yes, maybe even slightly addicted) because in high school we had a snack break session where we could buy all sorts of candy, other goodies, and sodas to benefit the juniors in planning for prom. I have been hooked onto sodas ever since.