The following has been brought to my attention by a friend, who happens to be a Republican…

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former president Bill Clinton have operated a family charity since 2001, but she failed to list it on annual Senate financial disclosure reports on five occasions.The Ethics in Government Act requires members of Congress to disclose positions they hold with any outside entity, including nonprofit foundations. Hillary Clinton has served her family foundation as treasurer and secretary since it was established in December 2001, but none of her ethics reports since then have disclosed that fact.

The foundation has enabled the Clintons to write off more than $5 million from their taxable personal income since 2001, while dispensing $1.25 million in charitable contributions over that period. Clinton’s spokesman said her failure to report the existence of the family foundation and the senator’s position as an officer was an oversight. Her office immediately amended her Senate ethics reports to add that information late yesterday after receiving inquiries from The Washington Post.

He told me:
“Fair enough, but had Dick Cheney or any other Republican done the same thing…what would the outcry in the press be? Think this will even make the evening news tonight ? I doubt it. There’s more important matters at hand … Anna Nicole Smith, etc….. and the Market Crash will come to her rescue and be the lead story. If it were GWB’s finances, they’d be blaming him for causing the stock tumble as a cover-up.”

 This was my response to him:

“Sir, I am sorry, your ethical barometer is in distress. 

If this has been going on since 2001 why didn’t the Republican Party criticize her for it, they were in control of the ethics committee, in both houses of congress.  Oh that’s right, they took all the power away from the ethics committee’s while they were busy lining their own pockets and war profiteering (Halliburton – Dick Cheyney, CEO).  Taking monet and gifts from lobbyists while infringing on our constitutional rights and giving the president a free ride to cripple the economy and bankrupt the military. Too bad the Clinton’s used the  Republican Party tax policies to take a right off.  If there is no penalty for their behavior, it is only evidence that the Republican Party’s tax laws are pro-rich!

I can see how you would be upset by this behavior because you’re a Republican that apparently is personally affected by the Clinton family fortune (built from the ground up because Bill Clinton started with nothing).  Perhaps Republicans should ask Tom Delay for tax advice, or one of the other Republican Party moral authorities under indictment, if not already in jail.  At least the Clinton right-off is due to giving money away and not profiting from other’s misery and the misfortune of not being born rich, white, with friends in high places.

The current Clinton phenomena is a result of Republican Party excesses and absolutism.  If the Republican Party had been a good stweard of the country and the economy, the country wouldn’t be running into the arms of the Clintons to relive the good old days of peace, a booming economy, and a world that welcomed Americans into their countries.  That’s what the Clintons represent to most people; whether they deserve it or not.

The press is not the arbiter of our leadership, we are.  No matter what the press reports, or fails to report, doesn’t excuse the people’s responsibility to choose.  We chose GWB – twice – with or without the presses’ help.  The press stood by and reported nothing while the Republican Party went to town, spending like drunken sailors, lying to us all and taking us to war against a country that didn’t attack us.  At what price?  In dollars and human misery.

 People get the government they deserve, that’s how we got Dubya, a corrupt Congress, a right-wing Supreme Court, and a backwards Justice Department.  Maybe haveing a President in the White House that gets called to task for giving their personal money away to charity instead of the top 1% of the nations richest people (Bush’s base) won’t be the worst thing that could happen.  I don’t know, another eight years of peace, a booming economy, low gas prices, and being able to travel without fear…I could go for that!

Where has the Republican’s outrage been for the past six years?

Filed under: Uncategorized

What is Bush going to do now?

The last ally to a “failed war” has announced its plan to leave Iraq. The British Prime Minister Tony Blair will began to pull the British troops out of Iraq. According to the BBC report, the first 1,500 of 7,100 British troops will leave Iraq in several week. By Christmas, there will be about 3,000 soldiers left in Iraq.

What is President Bush going to do now? Blair’s decision has sent the message to Bush that the war in Iraq is going no where. To me, it seems that this war is no longer about fighting against terrorism and prevent terrorists from hurting the United States. Now, it is more about how to stabilize Iraq from being taken away by violent groups. Is Bush planning to pull out? At this time, no body wants to have anything to do with our president anymore. The Congress is going against him. Blair is walking out. Clearly, everybody is frustrateded with the war that has no ending. I expect the President to make a press conference to reassure Americans that “we are winning.” I’m sorry but, how does he define winning?

I want to see how he is dealing with this. I don’t think he take it very well because it just proves to everybody that he is an incompetent leader.

Filed under: American Politics, Iraq, News, Politics, Thoughts

Is Tim Hardaway going to follow the rehab trend?

If someone asks you, do you know anyone who hates gay people? Don’t forget to answer “Yes, I know. It’s Tim Hardaway.”

Last night, Hardaway, the former NBA basketball superstar, publicly announced to the world that he hates gay people. He had no fear to letting the world know how homophobic he is. Today, he regets it. Now, Hardaway’s comment on gay people has backfired on him. The NBA commissioner David Stern doesn’t even want to include Hardway in any NBA related appearances. 

What is Hardaway going to do now? Is he going to a rehab like other celebrities in order to fix his image? I think so. It doesn’t matter if Hardaway was being honest or not. He should not have said such thing to the public. This kind of comment should be kept in private. I know that it’s a personal opinion. However, when you say such a comment on a radio, television, and other kinds of medium. You are basically putting yourself  jeopardy. In the end, you may lose your job. 

For him to get his job back, I think he will go to the rehab to fix his image. I do appreciate his honestly. But, to say that he hates something, in this case gay people, on the radio? That’a little too much.  

Filed under: Random, Sports, Thoughts

Sorry, North Korea is not going to…

This morning, every newspaper web site announced  North Korea has agreed to nuclear disarmament. In return, according to the Boston Globe, North Korea will get 300 U.S million dollars worth of aid. On the other hand, the United States will unfreeze North Korean’s Macau’s Banco Delta Asia bank account within 30 days. However, if North Korea refuse to follow the agreement, it may face another possible international sanction. Japan said that it will not contribute to an aid to the North Korea because of past abductions by the Pyongyang’s agents, Boston Globe reported.

Some may say that this is a good news. However, I don’t think that North Koreais going to do what the U.S and other nations want it to do. Kim Jong-il may first agree to the Six-party talk, then he may go against it. Remember that in this new agreement, North Korea will also get the 1,000,000 tons of fuel.  The North will get the initial 50,000 tons of fuel. When the nation starts to take further step in dismantle its nuclear capabilities, it will  receive another 950,000 tonnes of fuel oil. This deal is completely nonsense. Overall, the big winner of this deal is not the United States. Clearly, it’s the North Korea.

What I don’t get is this, why is the international community willing to give up so much just make North Korea to close down its nuclear facility? I know how powerful the nuclear weapon is. To me, it seems that everybody is doing and giving what North Korea want. What does the world get? A closed nuclear facility. Like I said earlier, the North is going to do what the agreement said for awhile then it will go back right to where it was.  

Filed under: International Politics, News, North Korea, Politics

John Howard is out of his mind

For those of you who don’t know John Howard is, he is the current Prime Minister of Australia. Lately, he’s been making headlines in the U.S media. Howard slamed Barack Obama on Iraq policy. On February 10th, Obama announced his Iraq policy that he plans to bring the U.S troops back by March 2008. A day after, the Australia prime minister Howard came out to the public and said that Obama’s plan “encourages terrorists and threatens to destabilize the Middle East.” I have to say the Obama did a great job in shutting up Howard. He told Howard to add more 20,000 Australian troops into the conflict region. Since then, Howard has not replied to Obama’s comment.

Mr. Howard, next time please think before you say something out of your mouth. The Australian voters are not going to reelect you again. The prime minister is out of his mind. I don’t know if Howard said things against Obama and the Democratic party in order to impress President Bush.  If he is, then he’s a loser. The Australians aren’t happy with the way he handles Iraq. They want their troops out just like the Americans. Howard’s statement against Obama just proves to his citizens that he is planning to stay in Iraq and support President Bush’s open-ended-like commitment. Overall, he doesn’t want to be the leader of his country. So, Aussies don’t vote for Howard.

Filed under: News, Politics, Thoughts

Is it too late to fight against Global Warming?

I have a great news for you! We, humans, caused the climate change. I never knew that it would take scientists this long to figure that homo sapiens created global warming.

I am not a scientist nor an expert on this issue. I have to say that the world is slow to act on the climate changing. It is 2007, we just realized that global warming is real and it is going to impact on the way we function on daily basis. How are we dealing with it so far? Well, MTV is promoting “Break the Addiction” campaign in hopes to make young viewers to be aware about the environment. This move by MTV is great. However, it fails to show how to prevent our environment from deteriorating. Politicians are finding ways to deal with it. Richard Branson, the head of Virgin company, is offering 25 million dollars to the first person who can figure it out how to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This notion is ridiculous. It seems that Branson is making a competition and award to a person who can stop the climate change first. The fight against global warming is a collective action. It’s not about one person trying to save the world. Politicans, businessmen (especially the oil companies), and scientists must work together to find the best solution to this crisis as soon as possible.

Is it too late to fight against global warming? No, it is never too late. However, if we don’t take actions now, half of the world may be under water.

Filed under: Thoughts

What needs to happen in Iraq

Today, America finds itself at the spot in Iraq that we never shoulda have been forced into – an occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with an undetermined outcome in the midst of a country torn by civil war.

Americans have waited and we have been patient, and we have watched with horror and grief at the tragic loss of thousands of brave young Americans.  The time for waiting in Iraq is over. The days of our open-ended commitment must come to a close. And the need to bring this war to an end is here. The redeployment of troops to the United States, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the region should begin no later than May of this year.  In a civil war where there is no military solution, a redeployment of troops remains our strongest leverage to pressure the Iraqi government to achieve the political settlement between its warring factions.No amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else’s civil war, nor settle the grievances in the hearts of the combatants.When it comes to the war in Iraq, the time for promises and assurances, for waiting and patience, is over. Too many lives have been lost and too many billions have been spent for us to trust the President on another tried and failed policy opposed by Generals and experts, Democrats and Republicans, Americans and the Iraqis themselves. It is time to change our policy, it is time to give Iraqis their country back, and it is time to refocus America’s efforts on the challenges we face at home and the wider struggle against terror yet to be won.

Many people criticize the Democrat’s, saying that they are yelling for us to pull out, but are offering no solutions.  Well, I agree with the bill that Barack Obama proposed today, the Iraq War De-escalation Act of 2007, which calls for all US troops to be pulled out of Iraq by March of 2008, and re-deployed to the United States, Afghanistan, and to our allies in the Middle East to defend our homeland, defeat a re-surging Taliban, and to prevent a regional conflict due to chaos in Iraq.

Filed under: American Politics, International Politics, Iraq, Politics