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This is my absolute favorite summertime song. While there have been many covers of this, I love the original studio version and the “Philip Steir/Tsuper Tsunami” remix of the original Seals and Crofts vocals (which is in my workout music) even better. Seals & Crofts like it, too. It appears on the cool 2004 Warner Brothers ’70s & ’80s remix compilation album, “What is Hip? Remix Project, Vol. 1” (which I highly recommend). Listen to the remix here.
And FYI, Seals & Crofts are no feminists. Interesting that in the early ’70s, they could get away with lyrics like these (which I happen to like):

And I come home from a hard day’s work, and you’re waiting there, not a care in the world.
See the smile a-waitin’ in the kitchen, food cookin’ and the plates for two.
See the arms that reach out to hold me, in the evening when the day is through.

Somehow, I doubt Gloria Steinem and the rest of the lefty hippie women allowed this one at their rallies.

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My friend Jaz McKay–on whose KNZR-Bakersfield radio show I appear every Thursday at 1:05 p.m. Pacific–sent me this editorial from Human Events:

Top Ten Movies We’d Like to Screen in US Embassies
A June 2 LA Times report says that Rep. Diane Watson (D-La La Land) wants to use your tax dollar to rescue America’s image abroad by stocking the libraries of our embassies abroad with movies about the United States and let the local population have access to them.
According to that report, Rep. Watson wants to ship only wholesome movies to our embassies, such as “Lassie Come Home,” “National Velvet” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.” . . .
Here’s the HUMAN EVENTS Top Ten list of movies we’d like to see US embassies screening. If foreign nations thought of us in terms of the characters portrayed in them, the world would be a better place. And we would like them to be dubbed in the language of the host country. If for no other reason than we’d like to find out who the State Department would hire to dub the voices of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.
1. True Grit
2. 1776
3. The Blues Brothers
4. Smokey and the Bandit
5. Dirty Harry (Sudden Impact)
6. How the West was Won
7. Die Hard
8. Rocky
9. The Right Stuff

As I’ve said time and again, I don’t believe we need to put one second’s thought into worrying what nations around the world think of us. We’ve worried far too much about that. If we’re tough and worry about our country, not our enemies, then other countries will fear and respect us. Right now, they laugh at how we worry about how they will think of us.
I also disagree with Human Events on the State Department hiring Clint Eastwood, since he’s become a complete anti-war lefty and is no longer the guy who once played “Dirty Harry.” And I don’t get why they picked “Smoky” and “Blues Brothers.” But here’s my list (I cheated–because I couldn’t keep it to 10, I have 15 on my list):

1.
2. The Right Stuff
3. 1776
4.
5. Saving Private Ryan
6. The Ritchie Boys
7.
8. Red Dawn
9.
10.
11.
12. Brian’s Song
13. Manchurian Candidate (so they can see that not every democrat–small “d”–is really a democrat)
14. Not Without My Daughter
15. Delta Force (regularly panned, but highly underrated; don’t laugh–it’s a very accurate portrayal of what happened to and the way we should have dealt with it, instead of running out of Lebanon)

Here’s Jaz McKay’s list (he’s different, so he did it in descending order):

10) Red Dawn
9) True Grit
8) How the West was Won
7) We Were Soldiers…
6) Remember the Titans
5) Patton
4) Rocky
3) The Passion of the Christ
2) The Patriot
1) The Pursuit of Happyness

What movies would you pick or add to our lists?

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A lot of readers are sending me this truly outrageous video of a May 15, 2007 seminar held by the law firm of Cohen & Grigsby, training clients and others how to avoid hiring qualified Americans and hire foreign aliens. You’ll note that Cohen lawyer Lawrence M. Lebowitz, a Director and Vice President of the firm, blatantly states:

Our goal is clearly not to find a qualified and interested U.S. worker. And in a sense that sounds funny. But it’s, uh, what were trying to do here.

First of all, WHERE the heck is ICE in investigating this fraudulent “compliance” with the H-1b visa and greencard requirements? This law firm ought to be prosecuted, since they are openly advising people how to get around the law, rather than abiding by the letter of it. And second, these lawyers should be investigated by the Attorney Grievance Commissions in all of the states in which the firm has practices:

The firm is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has offices in Bonita Springs, Florida and Naples, Florida.

Not surprising, under the heading “Our Clients” on the Cohen & Grigsby site, there is no listing of any. Gee, I wonder why.
So, , where are your agents on this one? Attorneys who commit crimes are not covered by the attorney-client privilege in doing so.
As I’ve repeatedly written, there is a lot of fraud in the H-1b Visa biz, whether it’s or or, in this case, less glamorous, but more important jobs for which Americans are qualified but aren’t being hired. And the ads posted in the newspapers are phony. This video just further confirms it.
Kudos to the Programmers Guild (the group’s blog here) for shooting this video and posting it for the public. The Programmers Guild

advocates for the interests of software professionals, including opposing displacement by H-1b workers and the offshoring of U.S. jobs and technologies to countries that have unfair wage and labor standards.

Read more about this video and how and why it was shot in this press release by Mark Cromer of CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization).
Go to the group’s site and its more updated blog to see so much more important info on H-1b fraud taking jobs away from American programmers and how the claims of a shortage of American labor in their profession is a complete lie.
Just doing the job that Americans WANT to do. But are being prevented from doing by sleazebag lawyers like the ones at Cohen & Grigsby.
Thanks to all the loyal, patriotic, and concerned readers who sent this very disturbing tip.

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I really hope he runs. As reader Ari says:

Saved us from Gore in 2000. Maybe he will save us from the Hildebeast this time.

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**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
The Japanese are changing the name of the island of Iwo Jima–site of the monumental World War II Battle of Iwo Jima–back to its prewar name, Iwo To.
Japan claims it is doing so at the urging of the island’s “original inhabitants”–whatever that means, since the island was mostly barren when the famous WWII battle took place. Currently, its only residents consist of 400 Japanese soldiers. The “original inhabitants” are upset that the “identity” of the island has been “hijacked” by high profile movies like the extremely long and boring “” (which made the Japanese look like good people in the battle, and Americans like evil killers of those who’d already surrendered).

Iwo Jima, 1945 by
But since nobody went to see “Letters”–the mostly Japanese movie with English subtitles was a huge bomb at the box office–it’s apparent that’s not the real reason for the name change.
Let’s face it. The real reason the Japanese are changing the name of the island is because the current name–Iwo Jima–is synonymous with what happened there: a huge military defeat for Japan and a point of significant import and pride in U.S. history. We all know the famous photo of the flag being raised on Mount Suribachi (a shining American moment, which Eastwood also tried to sully and attack in “”). And the Japanese know it, too.
But a name change at Iwo Jima won’t change history. It won’t change what happened there. It won’t change the brutal attacks and torture of many of the nearly 7,000 American soldiers who died there. It won’t change their victory over Japan. And it won’t change the fact that American won World War II, and Japan was defeated and humiliated.
Retired Marine Major General Fred Haynes–who was a 24-year-old Captain in the regiment that raised the flag on Mount Suribachi–agrees and is upset by the news. From AP:

“Frankly, I don’t like it. That name is so much a part of our tradition, our legacy,” said Haynes.
Haynes, 85, heads the Combat Veterans of Iwo Jima, a group of about 600 veterans that travels back to the island every year for a reunion. He is currently working on a book about the battle called “We Walk by Faith: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Battle of Iwo Jima.” He doesn’t plan to change the name.
“It was Iwo Jima to us when we took it,” said Haynes. “We’ll recognize whatever the Japanese want to call it but we’ll stick to Iwo Jima.”

Like I said, they can change the name. But they can’t change the history: a tremendous U.S. victory over the enemy (with tremendous sacrifice of American soldiers’ lives to do it).
**** UPDATE: Although I don’t agree with him, Asia Business Intelligence Editor Rich Kuslan has a different take. He writes:

Dear Debbie,
The Iwo Jima/To change is not a big deal. Jima and To are two pronunciations of the same Japanese character for “island”
Japanese borrowed Chinese characters to represent the spoken language for purposes of reading and writing. The traditional Japanese pronunciation for island is “jima.” But Chinese itself pronounced island very differently, something close to its current mandarin pronunciation of “dao.” Japanese took that pronunciation and read it as “To.”
And besides, it’s Japanese territory. Wouldn’t it be nuts if the Dutch were to insist on calling it New Amsterdam?
Sincerely,
Rich Kuslan, Editor
Asia Business Intelligence
www.asiabizblog.com

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. . . And many happy, healthy returns!
Love,
Debbie

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Yet another interesting symptom of the massive illegal alien migration into America: Fewer American males are circumcised. And that’s a health concern.
Even though circumcision has been proven to help prevent the spread of AIDS and lower chances of certain types of cancers (like penile cancer) and urinary tract infections, doctors say that immigration (and liberals) have led to circumcision of American males to drop from a rate of 90% in the ’70s to 57%, today. Males in Latino and Asian countries (including Muslim countries, like Malaysia–even though Muslims are supposed to circumcise) are not circumcised, and they are exporting that trend here as they enter our borders.
AP reports:

In some states, the rate is well below 50 percent.
Experts say immigration patterns play the biggest role in the decline, which is steepest in Western states with big populations from Asian and Latin American countries where circumcision is uncommon. …
Circumcision remains the nation’s most common surgery, and the United States is still one of the few developed countries where a majority of baby boys are circumcised….
About one in three males worldwide is circumcised. In the United States, the rates vary widely by region.
It is most prevalent in the upper Midwest. In 2004, according to data compiled by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, more than 79 percent of newborn boys in the Midwest were circumcised before leaving the hospital. Michigan and Kentucky had the highest rates, at 85 percent.
In the fast-growing West, the rate declined dramatically – from 64 percent in 1979 to just under 32 percent in 2004.
In California, the rate of hospital circumcisions among newborns was 21 percent. California – which has more immigrants than any other state – had the lowest circumcision rate in the study, which had comprehensive data on only 27 states.
The decline coincides with rising immigration from Asia and Latin America….
Circumcision was uncommon in 35-year-old Usha Toland’s family, which has roots in India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Oh, and liberals and their holistic medicine and other psychobabble also contribute to the decline:

The trend has also accompanied a change in Americans’ attitudes toward medicine and their bodies.
“The rates of drug-free labor and breast-feeding all rose during the 1980s, while the initial declines in male circumcision rates began during the 1980s as well,” said Katharine Barrett, an anthropology lecturer at Stanford University. “It may have been part and parcel of the wider effort to reclaim bodies – adult female and infant male – from unnecessary and potentially harmful medical interventions.”

Sad to say, some of the lefties who populate my religion–which mandates circumcision–are contributing to the problem with a “cut-less” bris (Jewish circumcision rite):

On the eighth day of her son’s life, Julia Query welcomed friends and family to celebrate his birth and honor their Jewish heritage.
But there was no crying, no scalpel, no blood, no “mohel” – the person who traditionally performs ritual circumcisions in the Jewish faith. In fact, Elijah Rose’s “bris” differed markedly from the ceremony long used to initiate Jewish boys into a covenant with God: There was no circumcision.
“I knew before I was even pregnant that I would not circumcise,” said Query, 39, a San Francisco filmmaker whose son was born in 2002. “It’s not like you’re just cutting a piece of paper off a pad – there’s no ‘cut here’ line. It’s not made to be cut off, and I would never, ever do that to my baby.”

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There’s something I don’t understand about the new virtual fences being erected to go around the New York area’s four airports. If their virtual fences are so secure, why isn’t the virtual fence on the Southern border as effective? And is there really a virtual fence throughout the Southern border? If not, why? And why isn’t there one on the Northern border?
More on what’s being done at New York airports, inspired by “evil Zionists” in Tel Aviv:

4 main airports getting virtual fences
After the thwarted terror plot at John F. Kennedy International earlier this month, officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey revealed details about an ongoing project to erect virtual fences around its four main airports: JFK, LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and Teterboro.
Designed by Raytheon and modeled after a fence around the Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, it’ll be equipped with sensors, video motion detectors, thermal imagers and closed-circuit television. It will transmit information to a central Port Authority police station and a command post at each airport. The project, begun in 2006, will cost $138 million and be completed next year.

Another question: If there actually is a virtual border completely erected along the ENTIRE Southern border, it’s not working. So how will throwing more money at it–under the Immigration Amnesty Bill–change that?
If it’s not working now. It certainly won’t be working later, with the addition 20-30 million new citizens instantly thrown upon us.

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…* Janet Reno, Bill Clinton’s Attorney General: She’s joined the music business. No lie. She compiled a “Song of America” collection–a three-CD set, featuring 50 songs by artists like John Mellencamp. It’s supposed to tell the history of the U.S. from 1492 to modern times. Someone needs to tell her that the country actually began in 1776. If only she’d been in the music business instead of the jack-booted kidnapping biz when Elian Gonzales came to America.
* Judge Larry Seidlin: Sadly, the embarrassing Anna Nicole Smith Florida judge who cried on TV has been rewarded for his incompetence and annoying nature with a new TV court show. TMZ reports he resigned his judgeship and is finalizing his TV deal. One word: Oy.
Porn star Jenna Jameson drives a $360,000 Rolls Royce Phantom and incompetent judges get multi-million dollar TV show deals.
Something certainly rises to the top in America. But it ain’t the cream.

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We’re going to show the American people that the promises in this bill will be kept.

President George W. Bush on the Illegal Alien Amnesty Bill, whoted in the June 25, 2007 print edition of Newsweek.
Wait a sec. He’s been President for 6.5 years and he hasn’t shown the American people that he can keep the promises in the previous Amnesty bills. Why should we believe him on this one?
Oh, and BTW, that depends on what “promises” he’s referring to. Is this Clintonesque word parsing? If he means that he promises that 20 million people will instantly become citizens and that hundreds of thousands of others can become instant legal workers who will stay indefinitely, then I definitely believe him.

AmnesTea by David Lunde/Lundesigns
But that’s not an argument that makes any reasonable American concerned with national security and our country’s future want to support this dangerous bill.