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					  <title><![CDATA[California&#39;s Proposition 8 Revisited]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1682/Californias-Proposition-8-Revisited.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Was Judge Vaughn Walker guilty of a conflict of interest when he accepted the Proposition 8 litigation in his court and subsequently ruled in case?&#160; Without even a judicial review of his decision, should his ruling be overturned on that basis alone?
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Conflict of interest is defined as being involved in a situation where a person has more than one interest, one of which could possibly influence their decision.&#160; Given the fact that the judge openly acknowledged that he is gay, should he have been required to recues himself from hearing the case, that is, declared that he was not eligible to hear the matter?
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The problem in cases where there is a conflict of interest is that it is impossible for anyone to know if a judge&#8217;s ultimate decision is truly impartial or if it is influenced by the judge's personal situation.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;In the Proposition 8 case, Judge Walker&#8217;s ruling opens a host of legal, ethical, and moral issues beyond the question of his ethical lapse in deciding to handle the case.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Dennis Prager, writing in World Jewish Review, &#8220;Same-Sex Marriage and the Insignificance of Men and Women, noted: &#8220;Marriage is the building block of society.&#160; Changing its nature will therefore change society&#8230;But the price paid for eliminating this unfairness is&#8230;the end of any significance to gender.&#160; Men and women are now declared interchangeable&#8230;Gender doesn&#8217;t matter&#8230;Ask anyone who supports same-sex marriage this: Do you believe that a mother has something unique to give a child that no father can give and that a father has something unique to give a child that no mother can give?...And if mothers and fathers are interchangeable, men as men and women as women lose their significance.&#8221;
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Dr. Jim Garlow pointed out in his commentary, ''Losses and Consequences,&#8221; that Judge Walker not only robbed the people of &#8220;the essence of legitimate government, the consent of the governed,&#8221;&#160;but that his decision essentially declared that he &#8220;knows more than millions of Californians and all the cumulative history of all federal courts.&#8221;
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Garlow also observed that, according to Walker, &#8220;only bigotry caused people to come to the conclusion that marriage is between one man and one woman.&#8221;&#160; In short, he ignored the fact that every culture for the past 5,000 years has also defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Unfortunately, Judge Walker&#8217;s decision also affects more than just California.&#160; Thirty one states have &#8220;affirmed traditional, natural marriage&#8221; and approximately 294 million people out of a total of 330 million in 44 states have one man, one woman marriage laws.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Furthermore, Judge Walker has also placed certain other groups on a collision course with the Constitution, such as doctors who will not artificially inseminate a woman who is not married, based on their religious beliefs.&#160; A case in point involved two medical doctors in San Diego, who were sued by a lesbian woman whom they would not inseminate on religious grounds.&#160; They lost, but did not pursue the case to the Supreme Court because the one million dollar cost of an appeal was prohibitive, which in effect prevented them from exercising their First Amendment rights (freedom of religion).
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Another aspect of the effect that a judge&#8217;s decision can have on individual rights involved two parents, in Lexington, Massachusetts, both chemists, who asked to have their child opt out of discussions of homosexuality in school after the state legalized gay &#8220;marriage.&#8221;&#160; The school&#8217;s rationale for denying their request was: &#8220;This is not sexuality, it&#8217;s homosexuality.&#160; Therefore, you cannot opt your child out.&#160; Besides that, it&#8217;s state law now.&#160; Gay marriage is legal in the state.&#160; Therefore you cannot opt your child out.&#8221;
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The judge in this case did not have the teachers testify as to what they were teaching about the subject, but told the Parkers that they should &#8220;segregate themselves from the school system.&#160; It was OK for them to pay taxes to support the school system, but they had no rights when it came to what their children were taught.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;In Ocean Grove, New Jersey, two lesbians demanded to have an &#8220;affirmation ceremony&#8221; on the Methodist Church&#8217;s beachfront property at the church&#8217;s independent holiness Methodist campground.&#160; When church officials denied their request, the women turned to the state, which sued the church on the grounds that their property extended to the beach, which had received some state funding. 
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Thus, when same-sex marriage becomes legal, it has the effect of either limiting and/or overturning our Constitutional rights in matters of religion and education.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;As Dr. Garlow noted, &#8220;If, as Judge Walker says on page 115 of his decision, &#8220;Marriage is simply the union of equals, one might ask, &#8216;how many equals?&#8217;&#160; Historically, marriage has been defined by a number and by gender: one man and one woman.&#160; That definition is gender specific and numeric specific.&#8221;]]></description>
					  <author>Harris Sherline</author>
					  <pubDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[The Islands of Lost Boys]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1681/The-Islands-of-Lost-Boys.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The haunting song, &#34;Bali Hai' from Rogers and Hammerstein's &#34;South Pacific,&#34; begins:
&#160;
Most people live on a lonely island, Lost in the middle of a foggy sea.Most people long for another island,One where they know they will like to be.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The song tells of fulfilling one's inner hopes and dreams on a faraway island called &#8220;Bali Hai.&#8221; In the 1958 movie version of the show, the beauty of the number is nearly ruined by the cloying colored filters used by director Josh Logan, which gave the disturbing impression that paradise might need embellishment.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; But in a way, this is a tale of our own time and place. For there is a large segment of our population who live their lives--and insist that the rest of us live ours--in a kind of fairytale land where wishing will make it so. These folks live on their island constantly, and they so surround themselves with their fellow dreamers, that they are insulated from seeing the world as it really is. 
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; In past ages, it was mostly starry-eyed young people who inhabited these utopian climes; those who have not yet been exposed to the real world with all its scabs.&#160; But most of the denizens today are Peter Pan-ian liberals who declared in the 1960's that they had no intention of growing up.&#160; And, as long as they are in power, they don&#8217;t have to. They write the history books, and they report the news as they would have it portrayed and they teach our kids that, as in Never-Never-Land, they don&#8217;t need to fret about responsibility as long as there are evil, rich grownups to be taxed to care for them. And if life really isn&#8217;t that way, it should be; and that&#8217;s the point.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; This is what enables them to act with such certainty in matters where their positions have either been proved wrong or are mere theories. That is why they can believe wholeheartedly that man can cause changes in the climate; that taxing the rich will stimulate the economy; that the way to foster equality between the races is to favor one over the other; or that the murder of unborn children is somehow liberating to women: because in the islands of their minds, that's the way it should be.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The people who populate this island culture have as their anthem, the song &#8220;Imagine,&#8221; written by another lost boy who counsels them to believe in &#8220;no religion,&#8221; &#8220;no country,&#8221; and &#8220;no heaven.&#8221;&#160; Given these high moral strictures, it&#8217;s not difficult to see why they are having trouble in the grownup world, where the Captain Hooks have become distressingly more real in the last couple of years. 
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; This is why not only the policies of George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan must be derided, but the men themselves turned into vicious monsters.&#160; Because these men have intruded on their fantasy that if they don&#8217;t love and fight to defend their religion and country, others, like Communists or Islamists, won&#8217;t either.&#160; Given the horrific reality of the lengths to which our enemies will go to annihilate us, it&#8217;s not hard to see why the islanders have drawn some good people to their side. After all, who wouldn&#8217;t want to live on Bali Hai? As the 2008 presidential election proved, many folks thought they&#8217;d like to dwell there; but as the last two years have graphically demonstrated, real life must intrude into every Never-Land or Camelot.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; During Republican administrations, we are often told by our betters in the media that a Bush or a Reagan is ''out of touch'' with the American people, that they are so sequestered away behind closed doors and away for the common folk that they are unfit to lead the country.&#160; How infinitely much more true is this of those who live their entire lives on the islands of lost boys and girls?
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; This question will become even more vital the nearer we get to November; do we want representatives of the real world, or those who dwell in fantasy land?&#160; Of course, in the world of fiction, there is another island which may provide a more helpful example of our current plight: remember, on Gilligan&#8217;s Island--where paradise was not all it seemed--the supreme goal of the castaways was to go home.]]></description>
					  <author>Lisa Fabrizio</author>
					  <pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[Are We Estranged From Our Leaders?  You Bet]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1680/Are-We-Estranged-From-Our-Leaders--You-Bet.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; Glenn Beck bent over backwards last weekend to make his huge &#8220;Restore Honor&#8221; rally non-political, as if there were anything left in our culture that could be non-political. &#160;He tried--but if he and all those people had done nothing more than to join hands and sing &#8220;Kumbaya,&#8221; the useful idiots serving our country&#8217;s ruling class still would have vilified him as a second Mussolini.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;That night I listened to a pair of self-anointed intellectuals on the radio, whom the rally had very much upset. &#160;What they really agonized over was the question, &#8220;How in the world can the American people be so estranged from their leaders?&#160; What&#8217;s the matter with those people?&#8221;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;They decided it was only Glenn Beck stirring up the peasants. &#160;Poor, ignorant clodhoppers--what do they know?&#160; Beck is putting ideas into their muddled heads; otherwise they would never snarl at their betters.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Guys, you&#8217;ve got to get out more often. &#160;We don&#8217;t need Glenn Beck to get us riled up. It&#8217;s our so-called leaders who are riling us up.&#160; Let me tell you how they do it.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;They run up staggering deficits, creating a national debt that threatens to impoverish our children and grandchildren--not to mention us, too, if we live long enough.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;In the midst of very trying economic times, the &#8220;president&#8221; and Worst Lady take one vacation after another, spending millions of taxpayer dollars on their own amusement.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Hey, what&#8217;s not to like?
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Once they&#8217;ve grabbed our money, our leaders shamelessly play favorites, doling it out to their political clients--&#8220;community organizers,&#8221; teachers&#8217; unions, the United Auto Workers, illegal aliens, and welfare drones.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;They wrecked the housing market by forcing banks to grant mortgages to people who&#8217;d never be able to pay them off. &#160;The officials who engineered that disaster walked off with tens of millions of dollars of our money in their personal bank accounts--and no punishment.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Whenever we actually do catch a congressman stealing our money, he or she calls a press conference and blames it all on us for being racists. &#160;I mean, come on--how could that possibly estrange us from our leaders? &#160;It&#8217;s obvious that Glenn Beck is hypnotizing us.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;From time to time our leaders go to foreign countries and make speeches about the incorrigible badness of America, and how sorry they are for it. &#160;Why should we resent being called stinkers by our own elected poobahs, in front of an audience of foreigners who already hate us for being richer and more successful than they are?
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Our congressmen use every dirty trick in the book to ram through legislation--government-owned healthcare, for instance--that the vast majority of us don&#8217;t want, that&#8217;ll cost us trillions of dollars that we don&#8217;t have, and that takes away our freedoms. &#160;And once they&#8217;ve done it, they stage a triumphal parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, just daring us to make something of it.&#160; But, of course, that wouldn&#8217;t bother us unless Glenn Beck told us that it should.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Meanwhile, the federal judges appointed by our leaders abandon all pretense of ruling on the law, and take it upon themselves to declare our fundamental social institutions, and our sacred religious beliefs, &#8220;outmoded,&#8221; &#8220;irrational,&#8221; &#8220;hateful,&#8221; and just plain wrong--to be overthrown and wiped out because some judge doesn&#8217;t like them. &#160;Marriage and the family? &#160;Away with them!&#160; And just to make sure we get the message that our Bible is wrong and that sodomy is a virtue to be celebrated, the &#8220;president&#8221; declares June National Gay-Lesbian-What-Have-You Month.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;At the same time that&#160;they&#160;are tryhing&#160;to trample out the Christian religion, our leaders are, for some inscrutable reason, hot to trot for the erection of a mosque practically on the lip of the yawning hole where the World Trade Center once stood--where thousands of Americans were murdered by Muslim terrorists.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Again, what&#8217;s not to like?
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It&#8217;s bad enough that our leaders abuse us and mock us every day, in every way that they can think of.&#160; Maybe they think it&#8217;ll break our spirit.&#160; Maybe they think that if they drive us like cattle long enough, and hard enough, they&#8217;ll turn us into cattle.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Maybe they can mock us with impunity. &#160;But they have also mocked God, and there will be a price to pay for that. &#160;Psalm 2 is not just whistling Dixie:
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#8220;Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#8220;He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure&#8230;&#8221;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;To conclude in language that any congressman, judge, czar, or intellectual might be expected to understand:
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#8220;Do you feel lucky, punk?&#8221;]]></description>
					  <author>Lee Duigon</author>
					  <pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[Muslim Soldier in U.S. Army Refuses Deployment]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1678/Muslim-Soldier-in-US-Army-Refuses-Deployment.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; This soldier volunteered for service but won't be part of any war that &#34;U.S. Army would conceivably participate in.&#34;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; Twenty-year-old Naser Abdo joined the U.S. Army more than a year ago.&#160; Now that it&#8217;s time to be sent to Afghanistan, however, he&#8217;s having second thoughts.&#160; He is refusing deployment, claiming conscientious-objector status.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Has Pfc. Abdo suddenly developed an aversion to all war?&#160; Hardly.&#160; Here are his reasons, as reported by WSMV Nashville:
He said he now believes Islamic standards would prohibit his service in the U.S. Army in any war.
According to documents provided to the Associated Press, Abdo cited Islamic scholars and verses from the Quran as reasons for his decision to ask for separation from the Army.
&#34;I realized through further reflection that God did not give legitimacy to the war in Afghanistan, Iraq, or any war the U.S. Army would conceivably participate in,&#34; he wrote.
. . . &#34;This is not about proving a point; it's about maintaining true to my Islamic faith and maintaining true to the American values,&#34; said Abdo.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Now, I would have a bit of a problem with any soldier who, after enlisting in the military, using resources during the course of his training and collecting a salary, suddenly has pangs of conscience when it&#8217;s time to do the job for which he voluntarily signed up.&#160; But, as Fort Campbell (where Abdo has been assigned) representatives have said, they &#8220;recognize that even in our all-volunteer force, a soldier&#8217;s moral, ethical, and religious beliefs are subject to change over time.&#8221;&#160; Thus, if Abdo had become an across-the-board pacifist, I might be able to manage a smidgeon of sympathy.&#160; (I would, however, still expect him to be required to pay back every cent the army expended during the course of his training.)&#160; But a change to a mindset that &#8220;would prohibit his service in the U.S. Army in any war&#8221; is a different matter altogether.&#160; And, although it&#8217;s hardly necessary, let&#8217;s place this in further perspective.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Since Muslims have been known to war against and kill one another, it doesn&#8217;t seem that the problem is simply a matter of fighting other Muslims.&#160; Rather, it appears it&#8217;s a matter of fighting Muslims on behalf of America, our little corner of Dar al-Harb.&#160; It seems that Abdo is taking the typical Islamist position that he won&#8217;t participate in a war waged by infidel America--only one declared by Allah.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;This is a treasonous attitude, as Abdo has served notice that his allegiance doesn&#8217;t lie with our nation.&#160; And we have to wonder, if he believed that Allah declared a war against the U.S., would he become a domestic terrorist?&#160; 
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Common sense dictates that Abdo should not be deployed to a war zone, as someone harboring his beliefs would be a danger to fellow soldiers, if only because he cannot be relied upon to execute his duties.&#160; But he doesn&#8217;t qualify for conscientious-objector status, either.&#160; Note that the Department of Defense (DOD) instruction on conscientious objection states that to qualify for the status an individual must sincerely object &#8220;to participation as a combatant in war in any form.&#8221;&#160; The DOD then elaborates:
3.5. War in Any Form. The clause &#34;war in any form&#34; should be interpreted in the following manner: 
3.5.1. An individual who desires to choose the war in which he or she will participate is not a Conscientious Objector under the law. The individual's objection must be to all wars rather than a specific war.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Obviously, Abdo doesn&#8217;t object to &#8220;war in any form&#8221;--just the American form.&#160; As for the unstated &#8220;American values&#8221; he mentioned, I hope we resurrect the almost lost American value of accountability in his case.&#160; This would mean forcing him to repay the Army its investment in him and giving him a nice long stretch in a very American prison. ]]></description>
					  <author>Selwyn Duke</author>
					  <pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[Citizens Give Advice for Those Running for Office]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1677/Citizens-Give-Advice-for-Those-Running-for-Office.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The request went out to just over 7,000 readers.&#160; They were asked what they want to see from the next officials they place in office.&#160; Surprisingly, 752 people have answered.&#160; Now that is well over a ten percent response rate, and most statisticians will tell you that anything over a 3% response is considered good.&#160; My thought would be that those who took the time to reply will also be the most likely voters to cast ballots reflecting their concerns in November.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Be it the Congress of the USA or those who will fill legislative seats in state houses, all should be very much aware of the fact that the American public is very angry and has noticed&#160;politicians are not&#160;listening to their concerns.&#160; In&#160;the&#160;order of their responses, here is the list of actions these readers want to see set into motion. 
1.&#160;&#160;&#160; Term Limits
2.&#160;&#160;&#160; Balanced Budget
3.&#160;&#160;&#160; Reduced Spending
4.&#160;&#160;&#160; Secured Borders
5.&#160;&#160;&#160; Repeal of Mandated Healthcare
6.&#160;&#160;&#160; End Earmarks
7.&#160;&#160;&#160; Congress Must Live by All Laws Passed
8.&#160;&#160;&#160; Reduce the Size of Government
9.&#160;&#160;&#160; All Laws Must Have Constitutional Applicability
10. Reaffirm States Rights
11. Develop&#160;a Strong Energy Bill Using All National Resources
12. Stop Lying to Citizens and Keep Promises
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;
The dozen desired actions listed here are the consensus of those who responded to the request for reader input.&#160; There was also a multitude of single-issue wishes on the part of voters.&#160; Of course, there were a few who demanded no amnesty for illegal aliens.&#160; There were those who wanted a cessation to the practice of denying veteran disability claims.&#160; There was the demand to impeach all activist judges ,and a law to stop officials from apologizing about America.]]></description>
					  <author>Thomas Segel</author>
					  <pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[Reviewing the Atomic Weapon Situation]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1676/Reviewing-the-Atomic-Weapon-Situation.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[

Atomic Weapons&#160;in Today's World


&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; As a child in the 1950s, I learned how to &#8220;duck and cover&#8221; in order to protect myself from an atomic bomb explosion.&#160; But, fortunately,&#160;that was a precaution that I&#160;have never had to use.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviets wanted to put nuclear-tipped long range missiles there, led to a confrontation between President John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev that had both sides&#160;heaving signs of relief&#160;after it was over.&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; What do the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea in common? They all have nuclear weapons and, of course, Iran has been working toward that goal and is now very close to achieving it.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Some will argue that Israel should not be on the list because it has never acknowledged its nuclear capabilities, but everyone knows&#160;the country has&#160;them. Presumably the Iranian mullahs do as well, but they are a bunch of nuts waiting for the mythical Twelfth Imam to come out of a well and smite the enemies of Islam.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It is instructive that both Pakistan and India acquired their nuclear weapons without anyone being aware of it until after the fact. At CIA headquarters, when India announced its successful test, it came as a very big surprise. These days, the U.S. is busy reassuring Israel that Iran is &#8220;at least a year away&#8221; from nuclear status and you can imagine how relieved they are to hear that.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;North Korea is a wild card and, given the lack of success that the U.S. and anyone else has had to get&#160;the North Koreans&#160;to abandon their nukes, the same can be assumed for the Iranians when they make their announcement. Meanwhile they have to content themselves with announcing new missiles, the latest of which they dubbed &#8220;the ambassador of death.&#8221;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization has designated Sunday, August 29, as &#8220;The International Day Against Nuclear Tests.&#8221; Given the total lack of success in thwarting any nation that wants a nuke, my confidence in the United Nations&#8217; treaty is zero.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The International Atomic Energy Agency, a U.N. component, has been kicked out of North Korea, Iraq, and Iran on several occasions, so one might rationally assume that it is useless when it comes to stopping the manufacture of A-bombs.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Olli Heinonen, the former chief of U.N. nuclear inspections worldwide, told Le Monde, a French newspaper, that Iran has stockpiled enough low-enriched uranium for 1-2 nuclear arms, but he thought doing so made no sense.&#160; Betting on the rationality of the Iranian ayatollahs is not a good idea.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Who doesn&#8217;t want a ban on nuclear weapons testing? The United States Senate for one.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;While the U.S. has &#8220;signed&#8221; a number of the test ban treaties that have been around since the 1960s, the Senate has not ratified any of them, thus avoiding having to commit the nation to no longer testing new nuclear weapons. &#160;For some reason, the U.S. Senate does not trust Russia or the other nuke nations.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;In April, our ever-hopeful President Barack Obama journeyed to Russia to sign a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Dmitry Medvedev dubbed &#8220;New Start.&#8221;&#160; For Obama it was another empty photo opportunity on a par with accepting the Nobel Peace Prize (soon to be available everywhere in boxes of Cracker Jack). For the Russians it was a reason to break out the vodka.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Robert R. Monroe, a retired vice admiral in the U.S. Navy and former director of the Defense Nuclear Agency from 1977-1980 explains why. &#8220;The treaty has many problems from being unverifiable to giving Russia virtual veto power over U.S. missile defense, and more.&#8221; That&#8217;s bad enough, but it&#8217;s worse than that.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Two days before meeting with the Russians, the Obama administration released its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). &#160;Monroe says, &#8220;The NPR is joined at the hip with New Start, and together they take this country down a dangerous path. &#160;For 65 years, the very existence of our nation has depended upon a strong nuclear deterrent.&#160; The new NPR wipes out this proven policy, substituting one of weakness in its place.&#8221;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Liberals love test ban treaties.&#160; They love the idea of unilaterally disarming the United States in a world where there are nations who may not love us.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Not surprisingly, the nations with nukes have not signed onto anything that would take away their deterrent factor and, of course, Iran is hell-bent on getting them for itself.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Not a single conflict has involved&#160;nuclear weapons, since the U.S. dropped two A-bombs on Japan in 1945 to end a war&#160;that Japan&#160;started.&#160; Rational people, even if they have nuclear weapons know that using them is probably suicidal.&#160; Irrational people like the Iranian ayatollahs are probably the exception.]]></description>
					  <author>Alan Caruba</author>
					  <pubDate>Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[You Wouldn&#39;t Take a Dog to That Clinic]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1675/You-Wouldnt-Take-a-Dog-to-That-Clinic.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; Fetuses all across Virginia are smiling on their sonograms this week in the wake of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli&#8217;s opinion that concludes the Commonwealth can legally resume oversight over &#8220;clinics&#8221; that abort the unborn.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Now Missy--on the way to abort her child--will be comforted by the knowledge that she will soon enjoy service and thoughtful attention from the same type of competent, licensed professionals she encounters at the veterinary hospital when she takes Fifi in to be spayed.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Curiously enough, the thought of a safer abortion outrages the unborn death lobby. They are so angry it makes you thankful that they are opposed to personal ownership of handguns.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro&#8211;Choice Virginia, complains that meeting the as-yet unwritten, potential regulations would be &#8220;financially prohibitive&#8221; for abortion mills.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;This puts me at a loss. &#160;I thought when the &#8220;choose death&#8221; activists&#8217; assured us their only goal was to save women from &#8220;dangerous back alley abortions&#8221; they were worried about safety.&#160; Evidently the objection was to geography and market share.&#160; There appears to be no problem if dangerous abortions take place in a strip shopping center facility operated by Planned &#8220;Parenthood.&#8221;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Ms. Keene would have you believe that Cuccinelli has authorized jack-booted Baptist deacons to storm abortion factories, flinging their tracts into the face of would-be ex-mothers and Molotov cocktails into the offices.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Reality is somewhat less dramatic.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for the Attorney General&#8217;s office explains: &#8220;The state has long regulated outpatient surgical facilities and personnel to ensure a certain level of protection for patients.&#160; There is no reason to hold facilities providing abortion services to any lesser standard for their patients.&#34;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Today we have &#8220;medical facilities&#8221; where the survival rate is zero and the enterprise is viewed as hands off when it comes to regulation? &#160;Maybe NARAL would prefer abortion factories be treated like a funeral home.&#160; Nobody gets out of there alive either.&#160; But wait, funeral homes ARE regulated in Virginia.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Hmmm.&#160; What about classifying abortion &#8220;clinics&#8221; as slaughterhouses? &#160;Nope, the state has inspectors and regulations there, too. &#160;Possibly butcher shops? &#160;Or death row?&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Democrats routinely saddle pro-life pregnancy centers with laws and regulations expressly designed to force them to close, yet it is somehow unfair for Planned &#8220;Parenthood&#8221; to measure up to the regulatory standards of the Bark &#38; Purr Animal Hospital.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The reality is that Cuccinelli&#8217;s opinion concludes that the state Board of Health has the authority to require &#8220;doctors&#8221; who perform abortions to use proper care in diagnosing the age of a fetus, hold hospital privileges, and follow requirements for the use of general anesthesia in non-hospital settings.&#160; Abortion &#8220;counselors&#8221; are to receive professional training and the buildings may have to undergo structural changes that would allow women to be quickly transported to a hospital in the event of life-threatening complications.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Hardly a draconian regulatory regime--although it is possible that when a woman is informed that her &#8220;doctor&#8221; is not considered competent enough to perform surgery in a hospital and today&#8217;s anesthetic will be a shot of whiskey, it could reduce her enthusiasm for an abortion.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Cuccincelli is also very clear that any new regulations and oversight must conform to the Penumbra of Death established by the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision in Roe vs. Wade.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Del. Adam Ebbin (D-People&#8217;s Republic of Alexandria), a man who is easily startled, whined, &#34;It is frightening to think of what Cuccinelli will do next&#8230; He is not working on what is important to Virginia consumers.&#8221;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Setting aside Ebbin&#8217;s fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the attorney general (Cuccinelli is not manager of the Customer Service Department at MEGLOMART), just what is the AG about these days?&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Let&#8217;s see, Cuccinelli is fighting ObamaCare and its unconstitutional mandates, illegal immigration&#8217;s costs to taxpayers and crime victims, and he is working to expose the &#8220;global warming&#8221; scam that threatens to impose ruinous taxes on consumers and business.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Alexandria residents could well be more concerned with unlicensed arugula farmers, but a majority of Virginia residents care strongly about all those issues.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Meanwhile, back at the controversy, the AG&#8217;s opinion does not break new legal ground, from 1981 to 1984 abortion &#8220;clinics&#8221; were regulated and I don&#8217;t recall a crippling shortage of dead babies.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It wasn&#8217;t until the election of Gov. Charles Robb (D-Hot Tub) that abortion &#8220;clinics&#8221; were allowed to run as wild as mortgage bankers.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Finally, this week&#8217;s controversy has revealed something that I thought I would never see.&#160; After a decades-long search we&#8217;ve at last found a business that Democrats believe should be spared &#8220;burdensome regulations!&#8221;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It just happens to be a multi-million dollar enterprise that kills babies.]]></description>
					  <author>Michael R. Shannon</author>
					  <pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[Madame Pelosi Is Right: I Am Surrendering]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1674/Madame-Pelosi-Is-Right-I-Am-Surrendering.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; &#160;I searched my heart after Madame Pelosi stated that those who oppose the building of the mosque at Ground Hero&#160;should be investigated for the source of their funding.&#160; She is correct, and I am going to begin with myself. &#160;I simply want to ensure that unlike the Health Care Bill, that had to be passed in order that we could find out what was in it, that I won&#8217;t be found guilty, before being able to read about the charges with which I was charged! &#160;Why don&#8217;t I make it easy for Madame. Here is my confession.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Since my recent illness, friends have been very supportive and sent me small financial gifts.&#160; At first, I thought it was because they felt sympathy for me in my illness, and my relative scarcity of funds.&#160; Now I know the real reason.&#160; They were sending these amounts, not to keep me from starving, but for a purely nefarious purpose.&#160; They wanted me to regain my strength so that I could be penning articles condemning the &#8220;wisdom,&#8221; to quote President Obama, of building the mosque at that particular location.&#160; I am so guilty. 
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; While I am confessing to my &#8220;crimes,&#8221; I may as well confess that I am also a black racist.&#160; Madame, before your intervention, I misguidedly came out on the side of some of those white folks, and some blacks, who were criticizing our president for his incompetence in handling just about everything. &#160;I admit it.&#160; I dared to criticize him for his handling of this same mosque situation, with his stance of &#8220;first I was for it, then I wasn&#8217;t, now I am in limbo, waiting for the weather vane to let me know which direction the wind is blowing!&#8221;&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;I also criticized him for the monstrosity, I mean the health care plan.&#160; I wrote back then that I was prepared to be imprisoned, rather than purchase health insurance. &#160;If you carry through with your plan, it will be like killing one bird with two stones!
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;I recant my confession on the racist charge. Some of my best friends are white. However, I am a bigot.&#160; I am utterly intolerant of anyone who thinks that a fine specimen such as I am, could have evolved merely from a single cell.&#160; I am fanatically intolerant of any adult who satiates his depraved desire to rob children of their childhood by sexual abuse, and marrying girls as young as six years young. &#160;I can also be accused of openly demonstrating intolerance towards those who practice elder abuse.&#160; I cannot tolerate abuse of the defenseless.&#160; Speaking of the defenseless, this article and this article , sent my intolerance meter off the charts!
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;In my defense, I became deeply entrapped by the stories that came pouring out from the media, about all of the death and suffering from the slaughter of 9/11. &#160;This gallery of photo images&#160;bears some responsibility for my failure to develop tolerance to the murder of fellow citizens.&#160; Image #5 really brought out a sense of intolerance and vengeance in me. I wanted to rip the hearts out of the surviving planners of the massacre.&#160; I made the mistake of checking out this site , especially the ad where a few surviving family members discussed their loss.&#160; Their suffering so broke my heart that again, I wanted to seek vengeance.&#160; 
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Madame Pelosi, I am a lost cause. &#160;If I am going down, I am taking down this fellow , and the other &#8220;perps,&#8221; whom he named in his column! &#160;If I were you, I would take a look and a listen to this ditty.&#160; I almost forgot.&#160; While you are busy investigating me and the other opponents of the mosque at Ground Hero, you may want to take a look at this Website , identified by the headline of the story as a &#8220;Muslim Extremist&#8217;s Web Site.&#8221; &#160;Here is an interesting article about the mosque builder, and an enlightening statement.&#160; This article is even more interesting. &#160;The wife of the mosque builder, as part of her efforts at &#8220;outreach,&#8221; overreached in labeling Americans as practicing &#8220;metastasized anti-Semitism.&#8221;&#160; Isn&#8217;t it ironic how &#8220;anti-Semitism,&#8221; a term used to describe the suffering inflicted on Jews can be hijacked into the conversation, when the stated desire of many of Ms. Khan&#8217;s religionists, is to push Israel into the sea? 
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;As for &#8220;hate of Muslims,&#8221; she has me pegged incorrectly.&#160; &#8220;Hate&#8221; is a very potent emotion.&#160; No one on this earth is worthy of my hate. &#160;I love my God, the One True God with unabashed fervor, but He does not expect me to express my love for Him by hating anyone or going out and slitting the throats of fellow human beings, even those who malign Him. However, should I be found guilty, I just came up with a great suggestion for my &#8220;rehabilitation.&#8221; &#160;May I become an &#8220;outreach ambassador,&#8221; with all of its perks, like these two? 
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Madame, in closing, may I address a potential jury of my peers? &#160;I proudly stand with all who are protesting the erection of the Ground Hero mosque. &#160;I am unrepentant in my beliefs as outlined above.&#160; I proudly stand with my God, my country, my family, friends, with Israel, and all Muslims who want to treat me as a fellow American. &#160;I will never be ruled by political correctness to deny the national significance of the slaughter of 9/11.&#160; I will never forget the suffering and deaths of the murdered, or the ongoing experience of loss of the surviving family members. &#160;I will never acquiesce to the idea that a mosque is an appropriate structure to be built at, near, around the area where Muslim terrorists murdered almost 3, 000 innocent human beings.&#160; Send the &#8220;ginned up firing squad&#8221; for me. &#160;I still will not submit. 
]]></description>
					  <author>Ercille I. Christmas</author>
					  <pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[Advice From the Ledge]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1673/Advice-From-the-Ledge.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; &#160;It&#8217;s really not a great time to be a Democrat. The economy remains, for the most part, as depressed as the millions of Americans who cannot find work, while scandal has engulfed the party, with key, ranking members under indictment. 
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Taking fire from both friend and foe, the president is mired in trouble, primarily of his own making.&#160; And probably most distressing of all, the latest Rasmussen Generic Congressional Ballot poll has&#160;Democrats nine points behind their rivals. &#160;Things are so glum that they&#8217;re even begging George W. Bush--noted liar and warmonger --to come to the aid of his successor and make peace. &#160;No, things are not looking good for Barack Obama and friends.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;So, faced with all of this adversity, what is the donkey party to do, you ask?&#160; Well, unless you have been in a cave for the last two decades or so, you know that the game plan of the Democrats calls for them to go on offense. &#160;Now in the past, ''Friends of Bill'' gathered in the War Room to plot their forays; sometimes vicious character assassination against mild-mannered targets like Henry Hyde or Ken Starr, while other events caused the bimbo eruption squad to swing into action to defame historical figures, pointing out that ''everybody does it.''&#160; More often than not, though, the playbook called for a few simple talking-point salvos aimed at the ''Vast Right Wing Conspiracy'' to do the trick.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;But since the last election cycle, a new device has made its way into the&#160;arsenal of the leftists.&#160; They give advice to the enemy. &#160;Yes, out of the goodness of their socialist little hearts, they seek to help us poor conservatives who have so lost our way that we may soon control Congress again.&#160; To be fair, this worked so well for them in 2008 that they somehow managed to select for us the only candidate who could be defeated by the teleprompter-reading empty suit who has become our 44th president.&#160; And so they continue.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Over at Time, Mark Halperin, the notoriously fair and balanced political analyst, kindly advised the GOP not to use &#8220;President Obama's measured words&#8221; in support of the Ground Zero mosque against him and his party. &#160;Why? &#160;Because--I&#8217;m not making this up--if they do, the terrorists will have won. &#160;If all of this sounds familiar, that&#8217;s because it is.&#160; The Democrats&#8217; continued confusion of religious tolerance with a declaration of war by violent ideologues is not an invitation to make peace, but a suicide pact. &#160;My advice to Halperin: try and sell the Islamists on the concept of separation of church and state.
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Another little ditty, from Steve Benen in the New York Daily News, nearly made me choke on my ham and eggs at a diner the other day. &#160;It most clearly demonstrates the twisted way in which the left views the rest of the country.&#160; The gist of the piece suggests that after losses in 2006 and 2008, Republicans--much to the dismay and bewilderment of liberals--have moved &#8220;aggressively to the hard right, while catering exclusively to a reactionary, right-wing base.&#8221; &#160;Translated from Columbia J-School speak, this means that the GOP&#160;leaders have&#160;finally decided to run on their platform, one that&#160; aligns itself with the views of a more and more conservative nation. &#160;More of the piece, with interjectory comments by yours truly:
&#160;
It wasn't supposed to be this way. Parties seeking comebacks after devastating failures invariably follow a model with a strong track record: push the ideological envelope, lose, tack back to the middle, reap the rewards. [This only works when moving from the left to the middle, as when Democrats successfully ran ''conservative'' candidates like Bob Casey and Heath Schuler.]
&#160;
To wash off the stench of failure, the GOP would have to distance itself from a discredited agenda and reconsider the value of the mainstream. [The value of the mainstream media I suppose, from which wafts a considerable stench of its own.] Republicans chose to do the opposite. &#160;Ideas and tactics that have long been considered beyond the pale, even for Republicans, are suddenly an integral part of the party's election-year message.&#160; [Woe be to those whose tactics include reflecting the values and desires of the electorate, and telling the truth.]
&#160;
On areas of public policy, the approach has been even more dramatic. &#160;Many GOP leaders have inexplicably vowed not to deviate from the failures of the Bush-Cheney era.&#160; [Here he must be referring to five per cent unemployment and no post/9-11 terror attacks on our shores.] 
If that happens--if their bad behavior is rewarded--Republicans will interpret the results as exoneration.&#160; [As did the Democrats in 2008.] Winning by backing away from the ideological cliff will be seen as a quaint, antiquated ideal. &#160;[Hopefully, the demolition of this quaint idea will send a few more folks over the edge.]]]></description>
					  <author>Lisa Fabrizio</author>
					  <pubDate>Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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					  <title><![CDATA[Remembering Guy Gabaldon: Marine Hero]]></title>
					  <link>http://www.chronwatch-america.com/blogs/1672/Remembering-Guy-Gabaldon-Marine-Hero.html</link>
					  <description><![CDATA[&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; It happens every time a few grey-haired members of the warrior clan assemble for casual conversation.&#160; Veterans of the Navy and Marine Corps call them &#8220;Sea Stories.&#8221;&#160; The Army and Air Force crowd refer to them as &#8220;War Stories.&#8221;&#160; Regardless of their exact title, these tales are told time and time again--and with each telling the details become more enhanced and the actions more thrilling. 
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;As the pages on the calendar turn rapidly toward August 31,&#160;I am finding myself taking one of those mental trips back in time.&#160; Some of you may equate this to just another Sea Story, but I can assure you the reported exploits are true.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Guy Gabaldon was my friend.&#160; He left this world and reported for duty with what Marines call ''Sky 6'' and others will say went to his final reward on August 31, 2006.&#160; He was with us for 80 years.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Outside the Marine Corps family, the name Guy Gabaldon may not be well remembered, but during an age when the slaying of human beings seems to be as routine as stopping at the corner street light, it wouldn&#8217;t hurt to revisit the accomplishments of this unique individual.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Guy was a product&#160;of the Los Angeles streets.&#160; He was taken in by a Japanese-American family at the age of 12 and by the time he was 17 had absorbed many of their customs, traditions, and a good understanding of the Japanese language.&#160; When the nation went to war, 5&#8217;4&#8221; Hispanic-American Guy Gabaldon enlisted in the Marine Corps.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;He landed with his unit on Saipan and found himself deeply inserted into the battle for that island.&#160; Touching him the most was seeing wave after wave of Japanese soldiers making suicide charges at the Marine lines, and entire families of civilians were leaping to their deaths from island cliffs rather than be captured.&#160; In one of our long conversations he told me he thought this was such a sad waste of life.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Early in the battle, Guy decided to take some individual action.&#160; He slipped into the jungle in advance of his company&#8217;s line and moved within voice of a Japanese position.&#160; Using his functional, but limited Japanese, he convinced the soldiers they were surrounded by Marines and that if they surrendered everyone would be treated well and returned to Japan after the war.&#160; The small unit surrendered.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;He kept up his nightly infiltrations obtaining much needed intelligence and while so engaged even entered caves and buildings in search of more people he could talk into laying down their arms.&#160; He continued to call out and talk to the Japanese in their language convincing many of them to surrender.&#160; At one point, he talked a group of more than 800 soldiers and civilians to follow him back to the Marine lines.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;In the final days of the battle for the island, this &#8220;Pied Piper of Saigon,&#8221; as he was called, ran out of his magic.&#160; He was seriously wounded by machine-gun fire and was evacuated from the island.&#160; 
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;He was awarded the nation&#8217;s second highest decoration for valor, The Navy Cross.&#160; In part, his citation read &#8220;Working alone in front of the lines he daringly entered enemy caves, pillboxes, buildings, and jungle brush, frequently in the face of hostile fire, and succeeded not only in obtaining vital military information but also in capturing well over 1,000 enemy civilians and troops.&#8221;&#160; 
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;In talking to me, Guy said that number was actually well over 1,500 people.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;After the war, Guy returned to Saipan and lived on the island for several&#160;years.&#160; In addition to a number of business ventures he continued to have a deep interest in bettering the lives of people around him.&#160; On a small island near Saipan he started a youth camp for young people who really had no other home to call their own.&#160; He financed much of that work by raising sheep and goats on that island and selling the products of that effort.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The motion picture, &#8220;Hell To Eternity&#8221; starring Jeffery Hunter in the role of Gabaldon, told the story of Guy&#8217;s exploits.&#160; He told more of his story in two books that he authored, &#8220;Saipan--Suicide Island&#8221; and &#8220;America Betrayed.&#8221;&#160; A documentary film titled &#8220;East LA Marine&#8221; also told his story.
&#160;
&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Guy Gabaldon was nominated for the Medal of Honor but never lived to see that award presented, though time and time again leading political figures did plead his case.&#160; In a telephone conversation just before his death, Guy told me that Newt Gingrich had visited him and that the Speaker was attempting to have the Medal of Honor finally awarded.&#160; &#8220;But, I never did that for a medal,&#8221; he said.&#160; &#8220;I just wanted to save some lives.&#8221;&#160; ]]></description>
					  <author>Thomas Segel</author>
					  <pubDate>Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate>
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