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October 26, 2011

FBI Warns Criminal Gangs Infiltrating U.S. Military

By Selwyn Duke

A troubling FBI assessment has found that criminal gangs are not only expanding in U.S. cities and towns, but also where they could perhaps undermine national security most: the U.S. military. Reporting on the matter, ABC News writes:

While FBI and law enforcement officials do not have estimates on the number of gang members in the military[,] officials have seen gangs in 100 jurisdictions in the U.S. and overseas with 53 different gangs who are in every branch of the military.

“Gang recruitment of active duty military personnel constitutes a significant criminal threat to the U.S. military,” the threat assessment noted. “NGIC [National Gang Intelligence Center] reporting indicates that law enforcement officials in at least 100 jurisdictions have come into contact with, detained, or arrested an active duty or former military gang member within the past three years.”

Read the rest here.
October 26, 2011

Herman Cain Gets into Trouble on Abortion

By Selwyn Duke

In an interview this past Wednesday with CNN’s Piers Morgan, presidential contender Herman Cain was asked about abortion — and his answer got him in hot water. Cain said that he believes life begins at conception and, consistent with that reality, that he considers abortion wrong in all situations, including rape and incest. So far, so good. But then, upon being challenged on the rape-and-incest point by Morgan, he had the following to say about the government’s role in the matter:

No, it comes down to is, it’s not the government’s role — or anybody else’s role — to make that decision [about abortion]. Secondly, if you look at the statistical incidents, you’re not talking about that big a number. So what I’m saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make. Not me as president. Not some politician. Not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn’t try to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive decision.

… The government shouldn’t be trying to tell people everything to do, especially when it comes to a social decision that they need to make.

Read the rest here.
October 24, 2011

Clinton’s Cackling at Cain Takes the Cake

By Selwyn Duke

Upon watching footage of Hillary Clinton mocking Herman Cain in Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s presence, one could wonder: would she really want to stack her accomplishments up against Cain’s?

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October 22, 2011

Forget the Wall Street Protesters: Why We Should Hate “Capitalism”

By Selwyn Duke

Okay, you can lift your lower jaw off the floor. I haven’t joined the dark side: My problem isn’t economic but lexical. I do hate capitalism — the term.

As you know, in the eyes of many, “capitalism” has become both a four-letter word and the target of such. For example, New York Magazine questioned a group of Wall Street protesters on October 2 and found that 37 percent believed capitalism was “inherently immoral.” If you find this unremarkable for Woodstock-meets-Wall Street rabble, consider a 2009 Rasmussen poll showing that “only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.” Yes, our schools have done their job magnificently. Unfortunately, it’s a job that doesn’t exactly align with the interests of America.

Yet the problem isn’t entirely substance — it’s also style. Proving that there really is something in a word, another 2009 Rasmussen poll found that “just 35% of American voters believe that a free market economy is the same as a capitalist economy.” What this indicates is that if Americans were asked if a “free market’ were better than socialism, more than 53 percent would say yes. Clearly, “capitalism” needs a good marketing team and a rebranding.

Read the rest here.
October 22, 2011

Political Persecution in Maricopa County

By Selwyn Duke

When we think of political persecution, places such as Tiananmen Square may come to mind. Increasingly, however, this tool of tyranny is coming to our shores – and it is not made in China. It is, in the case I’ll discuss today, made in Maricopa County.

Every avid news reader knows about the battles between Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the federal government; Leviathan has targeted him because of his principled stand against illegal immigration. What is not quite as well known, however, is that the sheriff and his supporters – most notably, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas – have long been battling a corrupt local political machine bent on thwarting the rule of law and benefitting itself. Not surprisingly, as in the film Walking Tall, Arpaio’s and Thomas’ attempt to end local corruption has come at a price: The State Bar of Arizona (SBA) has begun prosecuting Thomas and two of his deputies in a move that reeks of political retaliation.

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October 17, 2011

Destroying the Republic “for the Children”

By Selwyn Duke

We’ve all heard about the tactic of using children as human shields, as practiced by Saddam Hussein, the Taliban and others. The idea is that you place civilians — preferably women and children — at military targets to reduce the chances that your enemy will attack and so that, if he does, he’ll look like a heartless miscreant who targets the least among us. Morally, it’s the least of tactics.

Yet while we Westerners have made the practice illegal under the Geneva Convention, it’s not unknown in the United States — in our political battles. In the 1990s especially, it became common to claim that all and sundry must support a given statist policy “for the children.” As an example, when Republican-backed welfare reform was instituted, Ted Kennedy called it “legislative child abuse.” And when President G.W. Bush threatened to veto an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 2007, Democrats brought children to a press conference on the matter and later had a 12-year-old SCHIP recipient read a heartstring-tugging Democrat radio address about the program.

The latest use of this tactic was by Texas Governor Rick Perry in the Florida Republican debate when he invoked the welfare of the children to justify his granting in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. And while imprudently using the word “heartless” to describe the idea’s opponents didn’t help his presidential fortunes, the tactic certainly helps the cause of illegality. Why, virtually every measure proposed to combat invasion U.S.A. is supposedly off limits because it hurts children, who are innocents and here through no fault of their own.

Read the rest here.
October 17, 2011

“The Black US Attorney Has Common Cause with the Black Criminal”

By Selwyn Duke

According to Department of Justice whistleblower J. Christian Adams, AG Eric Holder has a certain something in his wallet. It is a quotation – and he has carried it for decades. It essentially says, to quote Adams, “Blackness is more important than anything, and the black US attorney has common cause with the black criminal.” It’s not surprising that Holder would feel this way about black lawyers and criminals.

Because in his case they’re one and the same.

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October 9, 2011

How Conservative Candidates Can Give Us a RINO Nominee

By Selwyn Duke

While I certainly understand the frustration of those who complain of RINO primary rise, it’s important to accept the reality of how it happens. It is not, as some would say, a matter of the “Republican Party giving us another John McCain.” Nominees aren’t appointed; they’re elected. It is not the result of a New World Order conspiracy bent on keeping the Ron Pauls of the world from power. Voters may sometimes have chips on their shoulders; there are no controlling chips in their brains. Of course, the media can and do shape public opinion, but they only truly sing in unison when their candidate (read: any Democrat) has his hide on the line during the general election.

To truly understand why a RINO (Republican in Name Only) will likely win the nomination, we only have to consider the following poll numbers: Mitt Romney, 25 percent; Rick Perry, 16; Herman Cain, 16; Ron Paul, 11; Newt Gingrich, 7; and Michele Bachmann, 7. What is notable about this list? Romney, widely viewed as the most liberal of the major contenders, leads the pack. Is this because the Republican base now reflects the Massachusetts GOP?

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October 9, 2011

“Why do Women always….?”: Generalizations and the Building Blocks of Reality

By Selwyn Duke

Recently I wrote an article about women’s tendency to support statist candidates. As my emails attest, it was met with quite a positive response. Yet, not surprisingly, there was also a very predictable one: complaints about generalizations. For instance, one respondent wrote that she was tired of the “all men are this and all women are that” tripe.

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October 2, 2011

I’ll Eat What I Want; You Eat Your Heart Out, Bloomberg

By Selwyn Duke

Although I’ve never been one to demonize the rich, there is something particularly irritating about a busybody billionaire who confuses his bankroll with his I.Q. And the busiest of this species seems to be NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose latest patrician effort involves convincing governments worldwide to control what the peons eat.

Reporting on the story, CNSNews.com writes:

During a United Nations General Assembly summit on non-communicable diseases — a discussion that included diet and eating habits — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said “governments at all levels must make healthy solutions the default social option.…There are powers only governments can exercise, policies only governments can mandate and enforce and results only governments can achieve. To halt the worldwide epidemic of non-communicable diseases, governments at all levels must make healthy solutions the default social option. That is ultimately government’s highest duty.”

“Government’s highest duty…” My, that sounds almost … religious, Bloomie. But this billionaire really does care — far and wide and everywhere. This is the man who hired private investigators to conduct firearm sting operations in Arizona and other states in an effort to buttress his anti-gun agenda. He did this on behalf of the people — using their taxes. It’s rumored that his money was all tied up in cash.

Read the rest here.