Senator McCain has lost a lot of support in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, it’s not for the right reasons. Or is there more here than meets the eye?

As Mitt, Hillary, Barack and a dozen others jump into the presidential stampede, something interesting is happening in New Hampshire.

For seven years, conventional wisdom has said that the state’s pivotal independent voters would line up behind maverick Sen. John McCain, as they did so famously in the 2000 GOP primary. But new polling data, to be released later this week, will suggest that might no longer be the case.

Manchester, N.H.-based American Research Group finds that McCain’s popularity among New Hampshire’s independent voters has collapsed.

“John McCain is tanking,” says ARG president Dick Bennett. “That’s the big thing [we’re finding]. In New Hampshire a year ago he got 49 percent among independent voters. That number’s way down, to 29 percent now.”

American Research Group, which is New Hampshire’s leading polling company and has been operating in the state since 1976, polled 1,200 likely Granite State voters in the survey.

So what’s happened?

The main reason isn’t hard to find: His hawkish stance on the Iraq war, which is tying him ever more closely to an unpopular president. “Independent support for McCain is evaporating because they view him as tied to Bush,” says Bennett.

I’m not so sure of this. Not at all. I have heard many discussions about McCain’s temper; his attacks on free speech and similar things. Sure, people talk about his hawkish Iraq thoughts, but not as often as they speak to other things. Either way, he’s not as popular here anymore.

The Generals speak. Retired Generals. Those who once said that we didn’t have enough troops in Iraq.

A panel of retired generals told a United States Senate committee today that sending 21,500 additional troops to Iraq will do little to solve the underlying political problems in the country.

“Too little and too late,” is the way Gen. Joseph P. Hoar, a former chief of the Central Command, described the effort to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The additional troops are intended to help pacify Baghdad and a restive province, but General Hoar said American leaders had failed to understand the political forces at work in the country. “The solution is political, not military,” he said.

“A fool’s errand,” was the judgment of Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who commanded troops in the first Gulf War. He said other countries had concluded that the effort in Iraq was not succeeding, noting that “our allies are leaving us and will be gone by summer.”

Describing the situation in Iraq as “desperate but not terminal,” he said Iraqis had to try to make political deals domestically and negotiate for stability with neighboring nations, particularly Syria and Iran.

The American effort in Iraq has gone badly because the United States did not understand the consequences of deposing Saddam Hussein, said Lt. Gen. William E. Odom, a former director of the National Security Agency. He said the principal beneficiary of the war was Iran and Al Qaeda, not the United States.

“There is no way to win a war that is not in your interests,” he said.

Every one of these men has a political agenda. Every one of them. It’s pretty bad when our Senate must seek the opinions of retired military men on subjects like this- when they could, and should in fact listen to the currently serving Military. Too much to ask for.

For the lonely, the uncreative people of the world:

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 16 — In the world of on-demand viewing of sexually explicit material, the next step could be the ability to watch live performers from the privacy of a hotel room.

That was one topic during a panel discussion here at Internext, an annual trade show for sex entertainment industry producers, marketers and payment processors.

Gregory Clayman, the owner of the live-action company Video Secrets, predicted that the industry would soon be selling not just videos on demand in mainstream hotels, but images of people having sex live over the hotels’ entertainment systems.

“We feel that live, right now, is coming of age,” Mr. Clayman said. “We are planning to make the jump to hotel rooms.”

We shouldn’t wonder why society is losing it’s moral ground.

They’re concerned because this represents THEM.

The plot of the hit Fox drama “24” may make for exciting television, but Muslim groups fear their representation as terrorists does more than entertain - it vilifies an entire religious group.

“I think that TV has quite an effect on how people think,” said Nadeem Mazen, past president of the MIT Muslim Association. “So much of what we hear on Muslims is hearsay - an expert opinion by people with a personal agenda and not necessarily motivated by truth. And then a show like this comes along that perpetuates the ‘them’ factor.”

About nursing homes:

Few elderly people or their families make a deliberate, considered decision to move to a nursing home. More often, institutionalization follows an accident or sudden illness. The broken hip is a typical trigger. First the patient goes to the hospital, and then to the nursing home for rehab. A nursing home works well for short-term recovery. But for long-term care, couldn’t we imagine a better way to spend that $75,000?

What about simply staying home and paying for the needed medical services à la carte? That would be expensive. The average charge for a health aide is $19 per hour. So to keep someone with you around the clock for a year would cost at least $166,000, more than double your $75,000.

But three frail elderly people could share an apartment and a 24-hour aide and, by pooling the cost, have more than $58,000 left over among them for food, clothing, shelter, physical therapy and even fun and frolic.

Will the House ever clean it’s act up?

At least half a dozen congressional spouses have jobs as registered lobbyists and several more are connected with lobbying firms, but reining in the practice to prevent potential conflicts or the appearance of them has not been a priority among congressional leaders. Even modest proposals such as banning wives and husbands from lobbying their spouses or using their spouses’ floor privileges for lobbying have gone nowhere.

Democrats made ethics reform a major issue in last fall’s congressional elections, but the ethics package the House approved earlier this month didn’t address the issue and neither did the one proposed by Senate Democrats. Last week, however, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) proposed banning spouses of senators from lobbying any part of the chamber. The lone exception is for spouses who were lobbying at least one year before their husband or wife was elected.

I used to respect Mr. Webb. Not anymore. He is the most disrespectful man in Washington. While he huffs and puffs and threatens to blow your house down, he represents what the Democrats are really about. Total disregard for the time honored institutions of American politics. I cannot stand the man, he is no distinguished gentleman.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Freshman Sen. Jim Webb, a Vietnam War veteran, will deliver the official Democratic response to President Bush’s State of the Union Address, where the war in Iraq is expected to be a central topic.

As a combat veteran, Webb, D-Va., “understands personally how crucial it is to find a new direction in Iraq and begin to bring the war to a close,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday in announcing their choice of Webb to respond to Bush’s Jan. 23 address to Congress.

I doubt it will make a difference. Criminals, illegal ones at that, have more pull in this country than do citizens, especially those who are just doing their job.

Two Texas Border Patrol agents who shot a Mexican drug runner in the backside on the U.S. side of the border are hoping a last-ditch pardon from President Bush will save them from serving more than a decade in prison.

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean are scheduled to turn themselves in to authorities Wednesday to begin serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, for the February 2005 non-fatal shooting.

Several groups, including Friends of the Border Patrol, The Minutemen and Grassfire.org, have been trying through petitions to keep the agents out of prison — through either a motion to U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone to allow them to remain free on bond during an appeal or through a presidential pardon from Bush. About a dozen rallies took place across the country in support of the agents last week.

“Grassroots support for these gentlemen is just through the roof,” said Grassfire.org spokesman Ron De Jong. He said people signing the petitions are saying to themselves, “’something just doesn’t add up’ and they’re starting to make great waves.”
[...]
In exchange for his testimony against the two agents, Davila was granted immunity from prosecution by the U.S. government for attempting to smuggle nearly 750 pounds of marijuana — which had a street value of over $1 million — into the United States on the day he was shot.

Several lawmakers, including Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.; Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.; and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. last week sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him to allow Ramos and Compean to remain free on bond pending the appeal of their convictions.

Why have border control agents? It’s a patsy job. They’re there to make things look good and nothing else. The job they have is a farce. Keeping illegal drug smugglers out of country is not a part of this job. President Bush should be ashamed.

I have twin sons. I don’t want them to be together all the time. Though they look alike, they are each individual people with their own distinct personalities and quirks and temper. I certainly do not think it is up to the state to mandate parental rights for twins be together in school…many parents of non-twins have concerns that have always been disregarded. Parents of twins should not have more “rights”.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Some school districts have a policy to separate twins in school.

But the fear of being shut out of that decision has prompted parents of multiples to lobby for laws that would mandate that they have a say in their children’s classroom placement.

In New Hampshire, 436 people have signed a petition asking for such a law. Seven lawmakers are registered to sponsor what’s called the ”twin bill.”

Sponsors say it would direct schools to consider parents’ wishes when deciding whether to place multiples in the same classroom or in separate classrooms.

Studies show that separating twins in kindergarten can cause problems for them academically and emotionally. Some educators, however, say that placing twins in the same classroom can foster unhealthy competition between the two or, conversely, can make the twins too codependent.

Give me your poor, your tired…just not in my neighborhood. The hypocrisy of the people of Massachusetts never ceases to amaze me.

CHAPPAQUIDDICK — The young couple were struggling to get by on Martha’s Vineyard, living in a tent with their 2-year-old daughter, when they got the life-changing news: Through an affordable housing program, Andrea Dello Russo and Lucas Riordon had qualified to buy a small house on an acre of land — at a price far below the island’s soaring real estate values.

“It felt like winning the lottery,” said Riordon, who works as a carpenter and a fisherman .

A year and a half later, the couple’s dream of homeownership seems as far away as ever, blocked by 10 Chappaquiddick property owners, most of them seasonal residents of a neighborhood where three affordable homes are planned. Opponents of the new housing have gone to court, and have also taken a more direct tack: One couple, Cheryl and Robert Finkelstein , paid $287,900 last fall for an acre of land where one of the homes would have stood — seven times the $40,000 price a moderate-income family had agreed to pay for the lot.

Vineyard property owners who are fighting the new housing have come under intense criticism. On Saturday, a neighbor found a sign in the Finkelsteins’ driveway with the slogan, “Finkelstein Hall of Shame.”

Affordable-housing advocates and some town officials on the Vineyard, who have strived in recent years to add housing for working-class families, say they fear the lot purchase could start a trend, spurring other property owners to head off affordable housing by offering large sums.

“It’s clear this is an exercise of economic leverage, intended to squeeze out people who don’t have the finances to fight,” said Edgartown town counsel Ron Rappaport , who is fighting the court appeal. “We’re talking about small, modest houses for people who already live here.”

Homeowners who oppose the affordable housing on Chappaquiddick, a small island linked to Edgartown by a ferry, say they have been unfairly villainized. They say they treasure the wild, woodsy character of their neighborhood, and object to the density and location of the development, not its affordable nature. From the start, they said, they have tried to work out a compromise with the families who sought to live there, by finding lots elsewhere where their homes could be built.

The rich and comfortable folk of MA want to provide affordable housing and other entitlement programs- so long as the people receiving these entitlements don’t step into their back yards. Elitism at it’s best.

Has winter finally arrived in New Hampshire?

An ice storm that swept across the state Monday took its toll on Greater Nashua. Freezing rain weighted down tree branches, snapped power lines, and started fires, while sleet made roads slick and travel hazardous.

At one point Monday night, more than 13,000 homes and businesses in the Nashua and Milford area lost power, making it a focal point for power and emergency crews.

By 7 p.m., 24,000 homes and businesses in the state were without power, according to Martin Murray, a spokesman for Public Service of New Hampshire. An hour later, that number had been reduced to 19,700 customers, Murray said.

“It’s all a product of the weather,” Murray said of the power failures.

Yes, winter is here.

The House of Ethics once again has failed to move towards anything even remotely ethical. Harry Reid is working to strong arm his fellow Senators into voting against a bill designed to show where the money is wasted.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate’s new Democratic leaders, the fragility of their thin majority on display for the first time, were set back Thursday when nine Democrats joined with Republicans in support of stricter House-passed rules on lawmakers’ pet projects

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was forced to delay a final vote on a measure he opposes after losing 51-46 a parliamentary attempt to kill it.

Earmarks waste more money than anything else in Washington. Why should my tax dollars fund street lights in some city a thousand miles away? And why should my tax dollars pay for a Senator of another state to fly to Timbuktoo for his vacation?

The measure, an amendment to an ethics and lobbying bill, would have adopted a wider definition of “earmarks,” specific projects inserted in bills, to include Corps of Engineer water projects, Pentagon weapon systems and items from other federal entities.

The language favored by Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would require disclosure of only targeted funds directed to nonfederal entities such as a city park, state universities or private contractors.

They write these laws to be so difficult to understand, it takes a lawyer to do so. That’s not fair to Americans, who just want to know their money is being wisely spent on needed programs.

“If we’re going to go through all this process, if we’re going to change the laws and try to tell the American people that now you can see what we’re doing, let’s don’t try to pull the wool over their eyes,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., sponsor of the amendment.

Among the Democrats siding with DeMint were possible presidential candidates Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John Kerry, D-Mass., freshmen Jim Webb of Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who faces a tough reelection bid in 2008.

DeMint insisted that the Senate definition would catch only about 5 percent of earmarks, saying that in most instances lawmakers insert their pet projects not into the bill itself but into the explanatory report language that accompanies the bill and is not subject to a vote.

Rep. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said that of some 12,852 earmarks found in bills last year, only 534 would be subject to Senate disclosure rules.

The conservative DeMint praised new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for backing the more comprehensive earmark rules that the House approved last week. “I’m here to defend her language on behalf of the Democrat colleagues on the House side.”

I wouldn’t go so far as to praise Ms. Pelosi, who herself has benefited from earmarks. It’s a sad state of afairs here. Americans should be demanding a clear list of where our money is going. For all the complaints about lack of funds for various programs and national concerns, this is by far the worst of them all.

After the move to kill the DeMint language failed, Democrats refused to allow the amendment to be approved by voice, a normal procedure, and an hour later Reid called the entire Senate to the floor to beseech them to reconsider. He did not set a time for a final vote.

“It’s important that the Senate rules be amended slowly and with careful bipartisan deliberation,” Reid said, stressing that the House didn’t spend much time on their version and the Senate approach was “so much better.”

In other words, Dirty Harry wants to do some strong arm tactics here to change the vote. He wants his cake and he thinks it’s none of OUR business who bakes it. Or who supplies the flour and sugar for it. It will be interesting to see how Ms. Pelosi deals with this issue. She has a chance to show she can lead here and do the right thing for America.

Jimmy Carter should be pretty embarrassed right about now. I sure would be if I were in his shoes.

Fourteen members of a Carter Center advisory board – including a former U.S. ambassador – quit today in protest of Jimmy Carter’s latest book, which they view as being critical of Israel.

In a letter to Carter, the members of the Board of Councilors wrote that the former president had “clearly abandoned your historic role of broker, in favor of becoming an advocate for one side.”

“I wish the Carter Center continued success, but they they also have to traffic in truth and fact,” said developer Steve Berman, one of the 14.

Carter’s latest book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” has drawn fire from Jewish groups because of its pro-Palestinian stance and the blame Carter places on Israel for the ongoing conflict.

Carter Center Executive Director John Hardman said Thursday in a written statement that the board’s members “are not engaged in implementing work of the Center.”

Nonetheless, 14 people resigning in one statement is very meaningful. Glancing at the names of these people, Carter has infuriated some really good folks. His blatant bias against Israel shines clearly in his latest book. The old saying, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND, is true. Prominent people like those who quit this advisory board should be enough to shame the old coot. But he’s not capable of feeling shame.

Berman, who is Jewish, said all of the members of the board agonized before resigning, but added that Carter helped them make their decision with his subsequent reactions to the book’s criticism.

“The comments you have made the past few weeks insinuating that there is a monolith of Jewish power in America are most disturbing and must be addressed by us,” the letter stated. “In our great country where freedom of expression is basic bedrock you have suddenly proclaimed that Americans cannot express their opinion on matters in the Middle East for fear of retribution from the ‘Jewish Lobby.’”

Carter, who was unavailable for comment, has said in the past that the “ultimate purpose” of his book was to “present facts about the Middle East that are largely unknown in America, to precipitate discussion, and to help restart peace talks.”

Carter won’t say a thing. He will continue on his little old ways, trying to re-write history as he wants the future to see it. His days should be over. He should do the world a favor and go into full retirement.

Read the rest of this and tell me what you think. I agree with this assessment of where society is heading. We make more work for ourselves; we create needless laws and regulation, and criminals, I say.

Unbelievable. And only in Europe.

A MAN died after two ambulance crews could not be sent to his aid — because they were on EU-enforced lunch breaks.

The victim collapsed in a betting shop, five minutes from his local ambulance station.

But under the barmy European Working Time Directive, exposed by The Sun last month, crews couldn’t be disturbed.

A paramedic was sent in a car and realised the unnamed man was having a heart attack.

He dialled 999 but an ambulance did not arrive for half an hour.

By then, the patient had died on the floor in Edmonton, North London.

Last night London Ambulance Service chiefs ordered a full probe.

The EU rules — which have angered staff — mean crews in the capital can be called out only in the last ten minutes of their 30-minute breaks.

Otherwise, they are banned from helping, even if there is a road crash outside their building.

Other UK ambulance services have chosen to opt out of the rules.

A London spokesperson said last night: “We can confirm crews were on a rest break at the time.

“Our sympathies are with the patient’s family.”

Opt out of the rules? Yes, they have a duty to do so. Some people’s hearts won’t wait until EMS workers are off break times.
Other people might get into an accident during a lunch period. Health care needs cannot be scheduled around EU rules and laws and regulation.

Rep. Duncan Hunter was in New Hampshire, and he had much appeal to a lot of people here.

MANCHESTER – Wrapping up a weekend visit to the first-in-the-nation primary state, likely Presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California yesterday called himself the most conservative Republican in the Presidential sweepstakes.

That, he said, “gives me a chance,” despite his low name recognition.

Hunter, 58, is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and was first elected to the House from his San Diego-area district in 1980.

He said his formal Presidential announcement will be made later this month.

A sampling of where he stands on issues:

* Voted YES on continuing intelligence gathering without civil oversight.
* Voted YES on federalizing rules for driver licenses to hinder terrorists.
* Voted YES on continuing military recruitment on college campuses.
* Voted YES on supporting new position of Director of National Intelligence.
* Voted YES on adopting the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
* Voted YES on emergency $78B for war in Iraq & Afghanistan.
* Voted YES on permitting commercial airline pilots to carry guns.
* Voted YES on $266 billion Defense Appropriations bill.
* Voted YES on deploying SDI.
* No US troops under UN command; more defense spending.
* Voted YES on preventing tipping off Mexicans about Minuteman Project.
* Voted YES on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment.
* Voted NO on extending Immigrant Residency rules.
* Voted NO on more immigrant visas for skilled workers.
* Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers.
* Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse.
* Voted YES on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1.
* Voted YES on restricting independent grassroots political committees.
* Voted YES on prohibiting lawsuits about obesity against food providers.
* Voted YES on limiting attorney’s fees in class action lawsuits.
* Voted YES on restricting frivolous lawsuits.
* Voted NO on campaign finance reform banning soft-money contributions.
* Voted YES on banning soft money donations to national political parties.
* Voted NO on banning soft money and issue ads.
* Limit punitive damages; term limits on Congress.

Source
Impressive. I could get behind him.

Expect more regulation and the costs associated with it, and thank it for what will be an increase in the cost of all our food.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — In light of food poisoning outbreaks involving spinach and lettuce, the government and the produce industry are scrambling to make leafy greens safer before the spring planting season.

New guidelines from the industry are due in April on how to prevent contamination throughout the food chain, from before greens are planted until they reach the dinner table.

Members of Congress are asking federal agencies to report on what went wrong and how to fix the problem. Some lawmakers want to replace the patchwork system of federal food regulation with a single agency in charge of what people eat.

It’s not necessary. More regulation will lead to lower quality food. Regulatory practices have proven to be ineffective in most industries, but have proven to be very expensive. Businesses will drop entire lines of production because it will no longer be worth the money. While food borne illness is nasty, it’s no where near as bad as it once was. I believe it would more effective to set guild lines and ask businesses to follow them. Ask them to be a part of the solution and inform the public of this. People can then decide where to buy their food, at competitive prices. Don’t regulate what we eat. Once we start going down that road, our choices will become more and more limited.

More tests for pregnant women, to weed out less than perfect babies and children.

WASHINGTON (AP) - There’s a big change coming for pregnant women: Down syndrome testing no longer hinges on whether they’re older or younger than 35. This week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists begins recommending that every pregnant woman, regardless of age, be offered a choice of tests for this common birth defect.

The main reason: Tests far less invasive than the long-used amniocentesis are now widely available, some that can tell in the first trimester the risk of a fetus having Down syndrome or other chromosomal defects.

It’s a change that promises to decrease unnecessary amnios - giving mothers-to-be peace of mind without the ordeal - while also detecting Down syndrome in moms who otherwise would have gone unchecked.

Expect more abortions now. Moms-to-be will have the option of getting rid of yet another set of babies who can and do live outstanding and happy AND productive lives. Women will be encouraged to abort the children who have flawed genes and POSSIBLE disability. Designer babies are happening.