Who owns the Moon?

"The Moon belongs to America, and anxiously awaits the arrival of our astro-men. Will you be among them?"

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/081210-who-owns-moon.html

Wait, Illinois is corrupt?

I hope everyone's paying attention to the corruption charges against the Illinois governor. I'm sure I will write more on it later. For the moment, I will bring it to everyone's attention that Obama's campaign said they were meeting with the governor over who to nominate to Obama's old Senate. Now the are saying the previous statement from November was wrong. Hmm...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/questions-arise.html

While I doubt Obama is directly involved with this, I hope I'm proved wrong. Clearly he associated with these people. So is this the change we've all been waiting for?

P.S. Supposedly candidate #5, the one Blago was trying to elicit bribes from for the senate seat, is Jesse Jackson's son. Like father, like son.

The Bailout... A Historical Perspective

This is fascinating. If you adjust all of these historical expenditures they pale in comparison to the Bailout. I personally think this 4.6 number is way too low.

"If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.

People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

TOTAL: $3.92 trillion"

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/11/25/bailout-costs-more-t.html

we hold the world ransom for... One Million Dollars!

First it was just a few billion, then $700 billion, then $1.2 trillion, now experts are estimating that the government will be spending all together 7.4 trillion dollars on this giant boondoggle of a bailout! That is half of the US GDP. http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/out-context/2008/Nov/24/fed-to-commit-74-trillion-in-loans/ How are we supposed to pay for all of this?  Everyone's getting in on the act.  The Big 3 automakers want their peice of the pie.  First it was $25 billion.  Two weeks later, it's $38 billion.  This is a huge amount of money, but compared to $7.4 trillion, what's another $38 billion drop in the bucket? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/02/AR2008120201600_pf.html

The fact that Bush and McCain are largely going along with these bailouts should indicate that they are not a traditional conservatives.  In fact, these bailouts are not a winning issue with the general public, at least not overwhelmingly.  Yet many Republicans support it as well as a majority of the Democrats.  Businesses like GM and AIG support these bailouts because they want to stay afloat without altering the status quo.  Remember, big businesses don't like capitalism and competition: once they are on top, the only way to go is down.

The question is why do Democrats, the party of the people, support these massive bailouts of Big Business?  Simple: it expands the governments power and influence.  The government on a scale not seen since the Great Society or the New Deal.  The Democrats will be essentially nationalizing these industries.  The federal government will be the not so silent partner of these industries.  Do you want to put your money in the First Bank of Nancy Pelosi?  Or how about drive a car that was designed by Barney Frank's staffer?  We are becoming more socialist with every passing day.  We have the most left-wing president in history and he hasn't even taken office yet?

Unbelievable.  The Founding Fathers would be ashamed of us.

P.S.  We have to remember that this $7.4 trillion is only the beginning of government spending: do you think his great new health care system will be free?  Think again.  Trillions more dollars down the tube.

P.P.S. How to pay for it all: the New Obama Tax Plan.  1) How much did you make last year?  2) Send it to the IRS.  3) All hail Obama!

Mummies, The 10 Commandments and the Supreme Court

Just to bring this to everybody's attention. The Supreme Court has taken up a 1st Amendment Case. This should be a slam dunk: the founding law of the Judeo-Christian tradition versus a handful of kooks. But knowing the court, who knows how it will end up. Probably it will depend on how Kennedy is feeling that day. One can only guess how things will be after Obama starts putting people on the court.

By the way, this cult/religion is freaky. They "worship" in a copper pyramid to commune with aliens!

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTTkrm6CpJFGMARRfQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjdmNoOTVjBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=13hd5gvld/EXP=1227635302/**http%3a//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/12/supremecourt-constitutionandcivilliberties-summum

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6292080&page=1

The Legacy of W, Bush the Younger

Jonah Goldberg assesses the current situation within the GOP (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjIxMTJkOTZmMTY0YTExYzRjNWNhNGMzZDZkY2I2ODg=). There are now two camps: the reformers and the traditionalists. In their struggle for dominance within the party, they have to explain/account for 8 years of George W. Bush.

On the one hand, Bush did a lot of good for the conservative movement. He cut taxes, nominated two great Supreme Court justices, toppled a murderous dictator, and prevented another 9/11-type terrorist attack. On the other hand, the federal budget has grown exponentially with laws like No Child Left Behind and the new Medicare benefits, Republicans have lost control of Congress, he tried to pass a disastrous immigration reform bill, and the most left wing president in recent political history has been elected.

Now certainly we can’t lay all this at the feet of Bush. Congressional Republicans did a darn good job of shooting themselves in the foot. McCain was a born loser. The only reason most conservatives voted for him was because he wasn’t the other guy. I would’ve voted for an inanimate carbon rod over Obama.

Right now, the conservative movement has shattered among into its disparate groups: Rockefeller Republicans, big business, social conservatives, and libertarians (aka the tin foil helmet crowd). Is this permanent? Probably not. Just four years ago, people were discussing the decline of the Democrat Party. The fact is, this fracture is partially Bush’s fault.

Bush’s style has been largely one of accommodation. Did you know he let Sen. Ted “I-didn’t-kill-Mary Jo Kopechne” Kennedy write No Child Left Behind? He’s had nothing but praise for Nancy Pelosi when she became Speaker, even though she’ll criticize him all day long. Just recently after meeting with Prez elect Obama (with no aides present), Bush was shocked when details of this private meeting where leaked (http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2008/11/11/20081111_204529_flashbol.htm). Bush never did learn how to deal with his opponents.

About this Blog

So this is the first entry in my blog. We'll see how it goes. I don't know how much time I will have to devote to it. Lately I've felt the need to rant quite a lot and I'm hoping this will be good for venting.

So the name: The Arlington Line was the string of forts and defenses that were built on the Virginia side of the Potomac to defend Washington, DC during the Civil War. I am very interested local and Civil War history and this describes me: a Southerner with Northern sensibilities (or maybe vice versa?)

"You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, 'There is a price we will not pay.' There is a point beyond which they must not advance." -Ronald Reagan