California Conservative

This morning’s job report proves yet again the folly of President Bush’s economic policies, especially his tax cuts:

Employers boosted payrolls by a better-than-expected 132,000 jobs in June, enough to keep the unemployment rate at a relatively low 4.5 percent. It was another sign that the economy is snapping out of a nearly yearlong sluggish spell.

The latest picture of the nation’s employment climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, also showed that workers saw solid gains in their wages last month.

If that isn’t enough good news, check this out:

The tally of 132,000 new jobs was stronger than the 125,000 that economists were forecasting. They did, however, predict that job growth would be sufficient to hold the unemployment rate at 4.5 percent, where it has stood for three straight months.

“The economy seems poised to return to its full potential,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank. “Employers are seeking opportunities to add to their talent pools. The demand for labor is being driven by very solid demand for goods and services.” (more…)

In Honor of Capt. Brian Freeman, U.S. Army

Do you live in Riverside County, California? Then you may be aware of the radio station Q103.3 Classic Rock. Each year they hold a Charity Golf Tournament. This year Q103.3 is pleased donate the proceeds from our 5th annual Golf Tournament to the surviving wife and children of a Temecula soldier who was killed in action while serving his country in Iraq. Capt. Brian S. Freeman, a resident of Temecula, Calif. He first entered the Army Aug. 21, 1995, at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Upon graduation in spring of 1999, he joined the active-duty Army for a five-year tour. He completed his tour in spring of 2004 and transferred to the Inactive Ready Reserve. Freeman’s military awardsincluded two Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” device, Army Service Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Ribbon, Combat Action Badge, Air Assault Badge, Parachutist Badge and the Marksmanship Qualification Badge. He was a former member of the Army World Class Athlete Program who competed in bobsled and skeleton with the U.S. national team in 2003.

He won a bronze medal as a four-man sled brakeman at a 2002 America’s Cup race. On a personal note, he was a kind, loving husband and a wonderful father. He worked for KB Homes out of the Temecula office. In September 2005, he began mobilizing in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was assigned to the 412th CA Battalion during the spring of 2006 and deployed to Iraq shortly thereafter. In the spring of 2006, he was deployed to Iraq to act as a liaison between the military and local Iraqis to help rebuild civic institutions in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. He quickly established strong relationships with the governor and citizens of the area. Not only did he help obtain more equipment and training for the Iraqi security forces and additional funding for renovation projects, but he developed personal bonds with those he worked with. When his interpreter died in the line of duty, Freeman helped secure death benefits for the family, and condolence payments that had been previously turned down. He also made arrangements for a Karbala police officer’s son to travel to the United States for heart surgery. Capt. Freeman, was captured and killed in Iraq, Jan. 20th 2007.

He left behind a wife, Charlotte, and two children Gunnar, age 3, and Ingrid age 1.

Q103.3 will donate the proceeds from this year’s golf tournament to Charlotte Freeman, through the non-profit organization “All from the heart.”

This is one of those rare events in life where you can come out; have a great time golfing with on-air personality Jeff Gonzer, advertise for your business, and help one of Temecula’s own families through their time of crisis.

Call KTMQ at 951-296-9050 for information regarding sponsorships. (Website)

Date: June 15th, 2007
Registration and Lunch: 12 noon
Putting Contest: 1:00PM | Shotgun Start: 2 PM

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Cross-posted at Rightfielder

Author’s note: Capt. Freeman did have concerns about the Iraq War. He met with John Kerry and discussed troop levels, funding, etc. Though he had reservations, he reported for duty, served faithfully, and died a hero’s death for his country. He was in the process of enlisting with the United States Coast Guard. I have met his widow personally and she is very grateful for support during this time of hardship. This is where we conservatives can put teeth into President Bush’s slogan “Compassionate Conservatism.”

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Rudy Giuliani sat down with Sean Hannity Monday night and revealed what we’ve all expected: that Rudy’s running for president in 2008. Follow these links to view the interview.

One of the things that I took note of was this exchange:

HANNITY: Let me ask about Iraq. You have been very supportive of the president and the Iraq war. Is there anything you would have done differently? Do you think there’s been any mistakes made?
GIULIANI: Sure. The president has explained mistakes made.
HANNITY: If were you the president.
GIULIANI: I think he could go back and as we develop positions and explain things i think it’s quite appropriate to explain well I might have done it this way or more troops, I might have done it some other way. But here’s reality. We’re at war. And when we’re at war because they’re at war with us. I mean sometimes when you listen to these debates in congress and listen to politicians debating you get the impression the they we’re in control of whether we’re at war or not. it doesn’t matter what we think. They want to come here and kill us. And they did on September 11th. And they did a long time before September 11th. Way back in 1993 they came to this city and killed people. So we’ve got to put Iraq in the context of a much broader picture than just Iraq. And getting Iraq correctly, in other words, getting stability there is real important. (more…)

When famous computer scientist Jim Gray went missing a few days ago, the coast guard launched a large scale search that found absolutely nothing. On Thursday, they gave up.

Then Amazon stepped in. They arranged for a satellite sweep of the area and stored the images on their S3 storage service. They then created a task on their Mechanical Turk service to allow volunteers to scan the images to look for the boat. It’s a tough task - the boat would only be about six pixels in size in an image, and there was a lot of cloud cover obscuring large parts of the area scanned. But volunteers are pouring in to help out.

If you’d like to help, go to this task on Mechanical Turk. You’ll be asked to view five satellite images and note any that should be looked at more closely.

(via TechCrunch)

You say you want a revolution…

With press and pundits currently obsessing over “Hillary vs. Obama,” there’s another story flying under the MSM radar that deserves greater coverage. It’s about a new force entering the political arena, one that really promises to shake things up.

As the battle for 2008’s Presidential Election gets underway, the footsoldiers of liberal activism are being rallied, both on the ground and online.

Four years ago, when Howard Dean ran for President, MoveOn.org drew significant media attention as a major player in the emerging practice of campaign fundraising via the Internet. With the backing of George Soros and other millionaires on the Left, the online group continued to make news through their activist support of all things anti-Bush, anti-war and, quite often, anti-American efforts. Conservatives could only grit their teeth because there was no competing organization online — and on the Right. Until now.

“Founded by some of Silicon Valley’s most successful conservatives, TheVanguard.Org is here to take the battle to the enemy,” declares the organization’s website. “Read more about how we’re going to fix the Republicans and beat the Democrats in 2008, and be part of our Plan for Victory.”

Them’s definitely fighting words. A welcome breath of fresh air.

And the latest news suggests that liberal Democrats and activists have plenty to worry about.

Last week, TheVanguard.org proudly announced that Jerome Corsi is joining their efforts. If his name sounds familiar, that’s because he elevated two words into the political lexicon: “swift boat.” Widely credited for helping sink John Kerry’s presidential ambitions, Mr. Corsi is the author of “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry” (along with John O’Neill), among several others.

Corsi is a force to be reckoned with. But TheVanguard.org has no shortage of brainpower and moxie.

Conservative journal Human Events recently published an article asking the question, “The Next Moveon.org?”

From the looks of it, the answer is “Yes!”

The piece gives us an introduction to the man behind the movement: TheVanguard’s founder, Rod Martin.
(more…)

After four long difficult years for the March family, Armando Garcia was finally handed over this morning to US authorities. Better late than never I guess.

For those who don’t know, Armando Garcia is an illegal alien that killed Deputy March during a routine traffic stop (is there ever such a thing as a “routine stop” for a police officer??). Here’s the LA Times story link. John, Barbara, and Teri March will finally be able to get some justice for the cold blooded killing of their son & husband, David March.

This is a poignant day for me too because I got to know John & Barbara March while working on Jim Gilchrist’s campaign for Congress a year and half ago. They are the best. They have been through hell and back trying to get our stupid elected officials to put pressure on Mexico to extradite Garcia. It was like trying to pull teeth. We had Congressmen like David Dreier constantly working against us and coddling Mexico at every turn. John March came within a whisker of actually deciding to run against David Dreier. In the end he decided not to run. David Dreier was shaking in his boots.

So this is a day to be happy about. I have full confidence in Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley being able to get a life in prison without parole verdict against Garcia, but it will be a long and I’m afraid painful trial. A lot of bad memories are going to come back from that horrible day of April 29, 2002. Nonetheless I am happy for John, Barbara, and Teri today. Garcia will be handcuffed with Deputy March’s handcuffs Thursday for his arraignment.

Cross-posted at Powder Blue Report

On December 7th, 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor drawing the United States into World War II. [More]

Others paying tribute:
Riehl World View
Political Pitbull
Hyscience
Rightwing Nuthouse
Michelle Malkin
Captain’s Quarters
StopTheACLU

This image from television shows fire and smoke after a small plane crashed into a high-rise on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, police said Wednesday Oct. 11, 2006. (AP Photo/Courtesy WCBS-TV) MANDATORY CREDIT

AP reports: “A small plane crashed into an Upper East Side high-rise Wednesday, shooting flames out the windows, raining debris on the sidewalks below and rattling New Yorkers’ nerves exactly one month after the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. Police confirmed 2 people are dead.”

“The initial indication is that there is a terrible accident,” said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.

Nevertheless, fighter jets were scrambled over U.S. cities as a precaution, the Pentagon said.

UPDATE:
Yankee Pitcher Cory Lidle presumed dead –
was he piloting the aircraft? (developing)

(Image via Fear & Loathing)

“The war on terror is more than a military conflict — it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. And we’re only in its opening stages […] It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st Century. And this is only the beginning.” The President reiterated: “We will stay. We will fight. And we will win in Iraq.”

What can be said that hasn’t already been written, on this blog and millions of others, all of us mourning the massacre that happened on this day, 5 years ago.

We pray that it’ll never happen again. And, collectively, we must do whatever it takes to defend against it; taking serious actions to prevent attacks, on our soil and elsewhere.

The fight against global terrorism is something that should unite all of us, those who live in freedom and believe in democracy, around the world. Unfortunately, competing interests and partisan politics usually prevents unification — until terror strikes at the door.

For one day, if only for one minute, may we all agree that the thousands of lives lost on September 11, 2001 shall remain one of the greatest tragedies — and greatest crimes — in our modern history. Never forget. Semper vigilo.*

God bless America!

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Poster exhibit of 9/11 victims via Moussaoui trial exhibits

(click photo twice for hi-res larger image)

Who are you remembering today?

Others remembering:
Michelle Malkin, HotAir, Gateway Pundit, The Anchoress, SisterToldjah, FloppingAces, Gina Cobb, Fausta, StopTheACLU, Wizbang, Atlas Shrugs (must see photos), Jawa Report, LaShawn Barber, Joust the Facts, Ed Driscoll, Outside The Beltway, Patterico, RightWing News, Amy Proctor

UPDATE:
AP: “Moments of silence mark 9/11 crashes”
Salena Zito: “Officials Remember The Day…”
AP: “On anniversary, Bush to tour 9/11 sites”

“President Bush is abandoning the quiet approach he has adopted in recent years to mark the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

On this, the tragedy’s fifth anniversary, he’ll take a grim but high-profile journey to weep with relatives of the fallen at each of the three scenes of devastation.”

And, fortunately, Democrats can’t accuse President Bush of doing it as a “re-election stunt.” But what’s Hillary up to?

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See 9/11 memorial photos: Here and here
Yahoo! has full news coverage

RELATED:
The Arab & Iranian Reaction to 9/11

Technorati Tags: 9/11, In Memoriam, Terrorism, President Bush

We’ll let the pictures tell the story…

CaliforniaConservative.org is proud to support this new initiative on behalf of our brave men and women in military.