| . |
True
North Archives - November 10, 2009
Radio
| Editorial | News & Views
Radio
Archives
Radio
archives are here! Use the controls on our radio archive page to
listen to past shows of note (archived shows are available for a limited
time only). True North Radio airs daily on WDEV AM & WDEV FM from 11
am to noon.
Featured
Articles
 Unborn
Twins Killed In Bennington Car Crash
Mary Beerworth
On August 11, 2009, six-month
old pre-born twins Kaleb Michael Blair and Harley Olivia Blair, lost their
lives as a result of a head-on car crash in Bennington, Vermont. The driver
of the car that collided with the Blair family minivan is expected to be
cited with responsibility for the accident - but she will not stand trial
for the deaths of the six-month old pre-born twins because Vermont statutes
do not recognize them as human persons.
"No one will be charged with
killing my babies," Mrs. Blair said in an interview with Vermont Catholic
Magazine,. "In Vermont, it doesn’t matter."
Vermont’s
Economy: What Could Be
By Robert Maynard
Other cutting edge companies
choose IBM for its patented copper wiring technology. The point is that
we have a world-class technology leader right here in Vermont and we seen
to be doing everything in our power to drive it away. Numerous promising
companies have already beat feet for the exits. We lost out on a chance
to land IBM’s big next generation 300mm plant FAB 2000 because of our crippling
tax and regulatory policies. There is no indication that we have learned
a lesson from that loss, as these policies are on the verge of getting
even worse. Add to that the problems with an aging and archaic transportation
infrastructure and the very real possibility that we are about ready to
make the most idiotic decision one could imagine and shut down our most
reliable source of electricity in Vermont Yankee. Are we now on the verge
of losing out in the reemergence of 200mm plants as suppliers of the microelectronic
devices that power a new generation of digital electronic end user devices?
Vermont still has the potential
to be a key player in the coming technology boom in spite of its political
ineptitude. To do so, we need to change course and remove the shackles
that kill off growth and innovation.
It
Ain’t Our Job
By Martin Harris
 It’s
said, in both criticism and defense of the American legal system, that
anyone can sue anyone else. There are exceptions; one is "sovereign immunity",
the modern description of the feudal rule that "the king can do no wrong",
which has been adopted for political safety and legal shelter by all levels
of contemporary government (look at the recent events in Berkshire for
an example). Another arises when a court declines to hear the case, which
has just happened in a suit against the Feds by a handful of States (proudly
led by Vermont, and in Vermont proudly led by now-retired Brandon school
superintendent William Mathis) demanding and arguing on behalf of public
education for –no surprise here-- more money.
# # #
Quotable
"We are trying
on every front to increase the role of government."
-- Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
replies to an accusation by Ralph Nader that the Democrats were not doing
enough to regulate the financial industry.
# # #
Vermont
Weekly News Round-Up
Greenpeace
Founder Supports Nuclear Power
From WCAX-TV, November 6,
2009
A co-founder of the environmental
activist group Greenpeace argued in favor of nuclear power during Vermont
appearances Friday. To many environmentalists, Patrick Moore is a heretic.
But Moore urged a classroom of students to think critically about environmental
issues -- and not to dismiss nuclear power out of hand.
Bankrupting
Employers To Protect The Unemployed
Caledonia Record Editorial,
November 4, 2009
The current maximum Vermont
unemployment benefit is $425 a week and ranks among the states that offer
higher benefits. These days Vermont is paying out more money in unemployment
benefits than it has collected from employers. By all accounts, the fund
will be drained soon after the 2010 legislative session opens for business.
In the short term, Vermont will have to borrow money from the federal government
and pay interest on the loan.
RFaxis
Selects IBM Microelectronics to Manufacture Its RF Front-End Integrated
Circuits
From
Marketwire, October 27, 2009
RFaxis,
a fabless semiconductor company focused on innovative, next-generation
RF solutions for the wireless and connectivity markets, today announced
that it has selected IBM Microelectronics to manufacture its fully integrated,
single-chip, single-die RFeICs
(RF Front-end Integrated Circuits). The RFeICs will be manufactured using
IBM Microelectronics' BiCMOS process technology, at its semiconductor facility
in Burlington, Vermont.
Vermont’s
Take on Maine Vote
Gay marriage defeat
a setback for some, victory for others
By Terri Hallenbeck, Free
Press Staff Writer, November 05, 2009
Steve Cable, meanwhile, found
reassurance in Maine’s vote and contends that together with 30 others states
that have had public votes on marriage, "the people of America have spoken."
Going
Solar
The Wrong Way to Choose
Suppliers.
From Valley News, November
4, 2009
Someone should turn a light
bulb on in Montpelier, where state officials recently used a random lottery
-- rather than careful evaluation -- to move Vermont toward generating
more electricity through solar power.
Attack
Of The Culture Snobs
Caledonia Record Editorial,
November 7, 2009
The Vermont Legislature has,
in recent years, given itself unprecedented jurisdiction over everything
that happens in Vermont. The legislators' ravenous appetite for control
led to a confrontation this week with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
# # #
Freedom
Under Fire:
The
Global War on Terrorism
Fort
Hood: The Largest ‘Terror Act’ Since 9/11
By Dr. Walid Phares, Family
Security Matters, November 6, 2009
The Fort Hood killings, perpetrated
by Major Malik Nadal Hasan, a psychiatric doctor by training, no matter
what the judiciary reports will conclude is, for now, the largest single
Terror act in America since 9/11. This quantitative finding will take into
consideration dramatic change in the data released by authorities. However
the most important matter now is not to fail in our analysis of the motives.
This is not an issue of sheer frustration because of foreign policy or
revenge for racist slurs, nor this is an issue of simply being a Muslim
American or a member of any faith. This is an issue of radicalization of
individuals by an extremist ideology, Jjhadism, which fuels acts of terror.
And the main question should be, when did Hasan radicalize and who indoctrinated
him? Everything else will fall in place once we have these answers. Moreover,
this would allow us to detect other potential terror acts that may be in
the making.
Confidence
in War on Terror PLUMMETS With Obama's Vacillation
The Lid, November 3, 2009
President Obama's lack of
leadership is beginning to effect morale in the United States. Its
been three months since General McCrystal sent his report on next
steps for the War In Afghanistan. Since the President has been sitting
on his military assets, confidence in the War on Terror has plummeted,
and now the confidence is falling for both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jihadi
Training Compounds, U.S.A.
By Ryan Mauro, Front
Page Magazine, November 3, 2009
A battle in the war against
radical Islam in Detroit was briefly waged on October 28 when the FBI engaged
in a deadly shootout
with an extremist imam refusing to be arrested. The imam was a leader in
"Ummah," meaning "the brotherhood," a group said to consist of mostly African-Americans,
many of whom converted in prison. This group isn’t the only one trying
to create an Islamic state within the borders of the U.S., and this shoot-out
should be expected, unfortunately, to be a sign of more violent conflict
coming down the line in this country with Islamic militant groups.
It's
Radical Islam, Stupid
By Steven Emerson, The Hudson
Institute, November 2, 2009
In 1993, a secret meeting
of the Muslim Brotherhood Palestine Committee—mostly senior Hamas leaders--was
held in a Philadelphia Marriott. The group discussed new ways to secretly
funnel money to Hamas and of creating a new public relations organization
to deceive the American about their true objectives of helping Hamas.
Less than a year later, the
Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) was created to serve as a
front group for Hamas. Since that time, it has morphed into a quasi legitimate
"Islamic civil rights" group portrayed in some circles as the equivalent
of the NAACP. For 14 years, CAIR got away with the lying to us about who
they are, justifying Islamic terrorist attacks, legitimizing suicide bombings,
presenting speakers who had been Holocaust deniers, making incendiary presentations
about the United States and urging Muslims not to talk to the FBI. CAIR
claims that that there is no such thing as radical Islam, but rather a
secret cabal to attack all of Islam, while secretly receiving millions
of dollars from Saudi financiers and attacking terrorist prosecutions
as somehow an "attack on Islam."
Five
Years After Van Gogh's Murder, Free Speech Is Under Attack
By David J. Rusin, Islamist
Watch, November 2, 2009
On November 2, 2004, Dutch
columnist, filmmaker, and all-around provocateur Theo
van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death as he biked to work
on an Amsterdam street. The killer, Mohammed
Bouyeri, insisted that Islam "compels me to chop off the
head of anyone who insults Allah and the prophet." He targeted the anti-Islam
van Gogh because of his movie Submission,
which graphically highlights Koranic verses often used to justify the mistreatment
of women.
A half decade later, Islamists
still answer free speech with violence. Two Chicago-area Muslims were charged
last week with plotting
attacks against those involved in publishing the Danish
Muhammad cartoons. Shortly before that, Dutch MP Geert
Wilders was welcomed to the UK by Islamist thugs who warned
him — and everyone else — to "take lessons from people like
Theo van Gogh," because "whoever insults the prophet, kill him."
Our
Brain Dead Country
By David Horowitz, November
6, 2009
A
Muslim fanatic with an Internet site praising Islamic suicide
bombers as defenders of their comrades is a Major in the U.S. Army with
access to military intelligence and lethal weaponry. And it’s not as though
the army didn’t know that he was a Muslim fanatic and supporter of the
Islamic
jihad against the West. He was under investigation for six months
because of his anti-American,
jihadist rantings. He did not want to be deployed. He wanted to be discharged.
But despite his identification
with America’s enemies, the army kept him in its officer corps. How in
God’s name was this possible? But it was. And so, after calling America
the "aggressor" in Afghanistan and Iraq this Muslim jihadist traitor army
officer picks up his semi-automatic weapons and heads for the center at
Ft. Hood where soldiers are being deployed to fight the jihadists in Afghanistan
to conduct his massacre. Yet this morning the Fox News Channel chiron says
"Investigators search for a motive in the Ft. Hood killings." Is everybody
out of their mind?
# # #
|
From
Elsewhere
Will
the Entrepreneur Boom Miss the U.S.?
By Rich Karlgaard, Forbes
Magazine, November, 2009
Will entrepreneurs and innovation
bail us out again? They're already doing so. The rub is that most of this
entrepreneurship and innovation is occurring outside the U.S. Americans--the
mainstream media and the political class, especially--are terribly parochial
regarding this. For example:
--How many Americans have
heard of Huawei, the Chinese rival of mighty Cisco
( CSCO
- news
-
people
)?
Huawei was started in 1988 and will sell $30 billion in telecom gear in
2009. Cisco was started in 1984 and will do $40 billion in sales. But Huawei's
recent sales trajectory is steeper. It's possible Huawei could pass Cisco
during the next few years.
--Did you know that Korean
automaker Hyundai achieved record sales numbers in the lousy month of August?
The J.D. Power quality ratings put Hyundai solidly in the top half, which
belies the image of junky Korean cars.
--Did you know that Brazil's
aircraftmaker Embraer
( ERJ
- news
-
people
)
has taken the airplane press by storm with its innovative light jets, the
Phenom 100 and 300? In my Oct. 5 column I quoted Cessna's CEO, Jack Pelton,
as saying he's "scared to death" of Embraer.
--Are you aware that outcomes
of heart bypass surgeries are as good in India as anywhere else in the
world?
--Or that Singapore is willing
to pay U.S. research stars in biotechnology about $715,000 in annual salary?
Mutiny
in Scrutiny?
By Jeffrey H. Anderson,
National Review, November 8, 2009
It was always clear that
the real health-care battle would be in the Senate. But what would
have been shocking eight months ago is to hear that it would take until
November for the Democrats to pass a bill even in the House. It would
have been even more shocking to have heard that, even after a full-court-press
by the White
House, the bill would pass by only five votes — meaning that
if just three of the 435 members had changed their minds, it would have
changed the bill's fate. And it would have been shocking to have
heard that 39 Democrats would jump ship.??
The House
bill has passed — barely and belatedly — and it is now dead. Nothing
like it will ever pass the Senate. The question now is whether anything
will, now that the voters have spoken in New Jersey and Virginia — and
now that the exceedingly narrow margin in the House will likely invite
even greater scrutiny of that which is being proposed.
Climate
Change Belief Given Same Legal Status as Religion
By Stephen Adams & Louise
Gray, Telegraph (UK), November 3, 2009
An executive has won the
right to sue his employer on the basis that he was unfairly dismissed for
his green views after a judge ruled that environmentalism had the same
weight in law as religious and philosophical beliefs.
Uncivil
War: Conservatives to Challenge a Dozen GOP Candidates
By
Charles Mahtesian & Alex Isenstadt, The Politico, November 3, 2009
In
what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican
Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge
leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House
and Senate
races in 2010.
Conservatives
and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s
top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov.
Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep.
Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep.
Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others.
Anti-Beck,
Dobbs Efforts Dropped by Church Coalition
By Jeffrey Lord, American
Spectator, November 3, 2009
The petition to the FCC citing
Rush Limbaugh for hate speech has lost yet another supposed religious sponsor
from So We Might See following the revelations here in this space,
making this the third church in a row to reject the petition in as many
weeks.
And still more news.
It turns out two of the funders
for the Media Democracy Fund campaign targeting Fox News and talk radio
personalities are -- wait for it -- ACORN money pots.
And yes, more news still.
The Catholic Bishops are
unhappy. The Methodists are out. The Disciples of Christ just said no.
The United Church of Christ is furious.
GOP
Gains Edge on Economy
By John D. McKinnon The
Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2009
If it’s the economy, stupid,
Republicans have the edge, at least for now. And that message isn’t coming
from the GOP.
New research from Democracy
Corps says Republicans are getting the better of the debate on the economy
in 60 battleground congressional districts – a problem for Democrats as
the 2010 midterm elections begin to come into focus.
Media
Coverage of Communism, 20 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall
By Rich Noyes & Scott
Whitlock, The Media Research Center, November 2009
What follows is the record
of the media’s communism coverage, as compiled by the Media Research Center
over the past 22 years. Before, during and after those momentous events
two decades ago, the liberal media too often whitewashed the true nature
of communism, or suggested capitalism was somehow worse.
Related: Berlin
to Mark the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
# # #
|
