Blog - Kyle Pratt --A Northwest Conservative's Journal of Politics, Economy & Culture.

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Briefings

Updated March 9, 2010 – News either ignored or under reported by the mainstream liberal media that impacts the United States. Particular attention is given to news from the home state of RuminationsBlog, Washington. News stories are added at the top. Click on the headline to read the entire story.

Washington State House: $680 Million in Tax Hikes
The state House has approved a $680 million tax package that would shrink tax exemptions, collect more money from smokers and service businesses, and extend the sales tax to new types of purchases.

Bills to restrict initiative process really aimed at Eyman
RuminationsBlog Comment: In Washington State Tim Eyman has enraged big-spending Democrats by using the initiative process to rein-in state spending.

Top 10 Media Attacks on Conservative Women
March is Women's History Month, in which we acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of women in history and in society today. But for a select group of women - conservative women - their accomplishments and contributions are rarely celebrated but often demeaned and mocked in sexist - and crassly sexual - ways.

The Big-Spender Scorecard
RuminationsBlog Comment: Find out how your congress member wasted the money that belonged to the ones who paid taxes.

Seattle Councilman Approves Crackdown on Girl Scouts
Tim Burgess wants to rid Seattle of "aggressive panhandling." A move that would make it illegal for Girl Scouts to sell boxes of cookies on city streets. RuminationsBlog Comment: It’s okay Tim, I think I can handle those pushy Girl Scouts on my own. Thanks anyway.

Budget deficit grows to $2.8 billion
The state's budget outlook worsened today with news that the revenue forecast is being downgraded by $118 million. Combined with a $96 million increase in caseloads, the state's new budget deficit is projected to be $2.8 billion.

Feds Admit They Wronged Pro-Lifers
Pro-life Wisconsin is raising serious questions about information gathered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since information was inappropriately shared with a Wisconsin Police Department.

Seattle Metro Tunnel Security Problems
Investigators expose even more trouble in the Metro bus tunnel after the brutal beating of a teenage girl and uncover a picture of a guard sleeping on the job. RuminationsBlog Comment: Why do we spend millions on security personnel who can’t do anything but watch people get beaten?

Crisis-Pregnancy Centers to be Gagged?
Two hot-button issues – abortion and free speech – are clashing in Washington state, as lawmakers attempt to regulate what is said in crisis pregnancy centers. RuminationsBlog Comment: See our blogpost, Wasting Time and Possibly Lives.

Muslim Student Adviser: Death Penalty for 'Gays'
Vanderbilt University is distancing itself from a Muslim chaplain after he told a gathering of students homosexuality is punishable by death under Islam. RuminationsBlog Comment: Christians are expelled for saying homosexuality is wrong, but university regents pander to Muslim radicals.

Integrity - An Issue for Climate Change Proponents
A leading climatologist says the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has an uphill battle to regain credibility. RuminationsBlog Comment: After climategate and word that the Himalayan glaciers are not melting not only is the science in doubt, but also the integrity of the scientists.

Courtroom Cirque du Jihad
Imagine this nightmare courtroom scenario: Unhinged Jew-bashing, open mockery of American soldiers, juror intimidation and coldly calculated exploitation of U.S. constitutional protections by a suspected al-Qaida defendant. Well, there’s no need to wait for the Gitmo terror trial circuses. New York City is already getting a glimpse of the future. RuminationsBlog Comment: I hope that the Obama administration does not allow are courts to become a farce, but I fear they are stumbling into the hands of radical Muslims.

Green light for tax increases? Gregoire Praises Oregon Vote
In a closely watched test of Northwest voter sentiment on taxes, Oregon decided yesterday to raise taxes on the wealthy to stave off more cuts to government services. RuminationsBlog Comment: Watch your wallet. Governor Gregoire will see this as justification to raise taxes.

States' Rights Rebellion over National Guard
A new push is being launched for states to adopt laws limiting the use of their respective National Guard units unless there is an invasion, insurrection or a few other limited circumstances.

Rifqa Bary May Still be Target
Bary ran away saying she feared her father would harm or kill her for leaving the Islam faith. Now the ministry that helped the Sri Lanka native when she was in the Sunshine State, hopes federal authorities will take another step.

Beware Political Chameleons
Washington is beginning to crawl with chameleons doing their best to jump on the bandwagon and swim with the rising tide of liberty-minded Americans.

ACORN Filmmakers Sued in Federal Court
Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III, the independent filmmakers behind the series of videos which exposed the ACORN internal corruption and illegality were sued today in federal court in Philadelphia by an ACORN employee featured in one of the pair’s films. RuminationsBlog Comment: To paraphrase Dickens, if the law allows this, then the law is an ass.

State Furloughs Pass Senate
The state Senate voted Friday to require state agencies to place workers on mandatory furloughs one day a month or offer alternative plans saving $69 million. RuminationsBlog Comment: The Democrat controlled legislature will never pass such a measure. Mark my words—this is all for show.

More Bankrupt Banks
Regulators have shut down banks in Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, bringing to nine the number of bank failures so far in 2010, following 140 closures last year in the toughest economic environment since the Great Depression.

Univ. of Wash. President Endorses College for Illegals
University of Washington president Mark Emmert says he supports allowing illegal immigrant students to attend college as a pathway to permanent residency and U.S. citizenship. RuminationsBlog Comment: All students receive taxpayer support and the tax money of citizens should not go to support those who enter our country illegally.

Media Largely Ignores U.N. Error on Himalayan Glaciers
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently issued a statement retracting its’ claim that Himalayan glaciers would soon disappear. According to LexisNexis, not one other national television news outlet covered this announcement.

Seattle’s Sound Transit: Art for Plywood Walls
One percent of all Sound Transit project funds must go to public art projects. RuminationsBlog Comment: A near total waste of taxpayer money.

TSA Nominee Steps Down
Erroll Southers, President Obama's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the position. RuminationsBlog Comment: Another extreme left-wing nominee forced to step aside because of their own words.

Interpol no longer subject to U.S. Constitution
The head of a civil liberties organization is concerned about an executive order signed by President Obama last month which allows an international law enforcement agency to have jurisdiction in the United States without being subject to the U.S. Constitution.

MSNBC “Cheat to keep these b******* out”
MSNBC television and syndicated radio host Ed Schultz declared that he would stuff the ballot box in Massachusetts if he could to prevent Republican Scott Brown from upsetting Democrat Martha Coakley in the race to fill the state's Senate seat formerly held by Edward M. Kennedy. RuminationsBlog Comment: Could there be a better demonstration of the liberal elitist attitude and there complete disregard for democracy?

Treasurer Warns State Will Go Broke
Washington state government is in danger of running out of money if the Legislature fails to act quickly, state Treasurer Jim McIntire says. RuminationsBlog Comment: The state is spending more than it brings in and needs to cut expenses, not increase taxes or create new taxes, such as a state income tax.

Is a U.S. Default Inevitable?
There were those who warned a housing bubble was being created like the dot-com bubble; others who predicted the Empire of Debt was coming down. As, today, there are those warning that the United States, with consecutive deficits running 10 percent of gross domestic product, is risking an eventual default on its national debt.

Seattle Parks Want to Ban Smoking, Spitting and Sex
A proposed ban on spitting in parks — one of 13 behaviors Seattle Parks and Recreation wants to regulate, including a ban on smoking on its grounds — already is generating heated public comment.

Carbon Footprint Hypocrisy
A leading global-warming skeptic says a recent congressional junket to a United Nations global-warming summit in Denmark illustrated once again that many lawmakers urging Americans to cut back on their carbon footprint are not living up to their own expectations "for the masses." RuminationsBlog Comment: With he liberal elites there is often one standard for them and another, stricter, standard they seek to impose upon the rest of us.

Man honored by Obama: God 'sinful, homophobic bigot'
A man honored by President Obama as a "civil rights pioneer" has told a Christian ministry leader the God of the Bible is a "sinful, homophobic bigot" who needs to repent and "seek forgiveness for the pain and suffering which his sinful homophobia has needlessly inflicted upon gay people for the past 4,000 years."

IRS Commissioner uses Tax Preparer
IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman does not file his own taxes in part because he believes the tax code is complex. RuminationsBlog Comment: I laughed when I read this, but the more I think about the more I just shake my head in frustration.

Washington State Income Tax
Senators Rosa Franklin and Joe McDermott have introduced SB 6250 and SJR 8219 to proposing a state income tax.

Washington Senate Bill Would Ban Terms
Nine Democratic senators have filed a bill that would remove from state law any references to school kids that are considered negative. Instead, all such references – such as at-risk, in-poverty and disadvantaged – would be replaced with the phrase "kids at-hope." RuminationsBlog Comment: See our blogpost, A Legislative Waste of Time.

Taxpayers Footing Bill for 'Tool' to Aid Illegals
A border-enforcement advocate says members of the faculty at the University of California, San Diego, are clearly misusing taxpayers' funds in providing GPS-enabled cell phones to individuals trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

Higher Taxes for Washington State
Washington's ruling Democrats are set on raising taxes to avoid deep cuts in state spending. So who gets to pay?

Seattle has record low temperatures.
RuminationsBlog Comment: The global warming priesthood changed their mantra to “global climate change,” because even while lying about the data they couldn’t explain things like this.

Sunday

28Feb2010

Grand Old Party, Come Back Home

Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 10:10PM

Glenn Beck recently stated in USA Weekend magazine that, “Republicans sold the American people out.” I couldn’t agree more. Liberals often wag a finger at me and the first words out of their mouths are, “You Republicans…” To which I reply, “I’m not a Republican. They’re too liberal.”

Beck’s believes, and I agree, that the Republicans under Bush spent money as fast as the Democrats did in the past. Now, under Obama, the liberals are setting new records with deficit spending. I will not vote for the lesser of two evils or, in the case of spending, for the politician that bankrupts the country at a slower pace. The party the gets my support will need to balance the budget.

There are two ways to balance the budget, raise taxes or lower spending. Both Republicans and Democrats have a habit of trying to solve all the ills in the world with my money. The proper role of government is to provide the services and functions that cannot be performed by private individuals or business. These functions are mainly, national defense, police and courts. Imagine for a moment the taxes that would not be needed if government returned to something even close to its original functions. Here the Republicans have a better record than the Democrats, who love to raise taxes, but the party that gets my support must also stop, and reverse, the growth of government.

The Hollywood and Northeastern liberals who now control the Democrat party have been pushing social reforms for several generations. Urban African-Americans have grown up dependent upon government handouts and these programs have destroyed what once were strong family-orientated communities. Now the same liberals that gave us abortion on demand and no-fault divorce want to redefine marriage and allow gays in the military. The party that I join must support traditional American values.

Ronald Reagan once said, “"I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me." That is how I feel about the Republican Party. Today I consider myself a member of the Constitution Party, not because I want to be a member of a minor party, but because I am been deserted by the party I long supported. Grand Old Party, come back home.

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Saturday

13Feb2010

What’s the Big Deal?

Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 6:40PM

Okay, I’ve seen the Tim Tebow commercial during the Super Bowl and am asking myself, why did Focus on the Family pay millions to air it and why did Planned Parenthood care?

Even though I had heard of Tim Tebow I’m not much of a football fan. I knew he was a Christian and an outstanding player, but not much more. A quick Internet search revealed that about 23 years ago Tim’s mother, Pam, was pregnant with her fifth child when she went on a mission trip to the Philippines. While there, she contracted amoebic dysentery. The doctors were afraid that the medicines used to treat her might have harmed the unborn child and advised that she have an abortion. She refused.

The child Pam Tebow declined to destroy has grown into the young man we know as Tim, the first sophomore in history to win a Heisman trophy and the first college quarterback to both rush and pass for 20 touchdowns in a season.

Tim Tebow’s story is a powerful pro-life message. Focus on the Family is right to proclaim his story to all, but, in my humble opinion, the commercial did not work. I’ve talked with perhaps a dozen people who watched the ad that day and the response is the same. If they knew the story of Tim Tebow and his birth before they viewed the commercial they liked the positive message. If they were unfamiliar with his background, they found it confusing.

Day after day, Focus on the Family does their work efficiently and effectively with little outside notice. This commercial did get the ministry noticed, but it cost over two million dollars to air. If the average person watching the commercial doesn’t know the back-story the impact of the message is lost. Tim Tebow is living proof of both the humanity of the unborn child and the potential cost of abortion to humanity. We should proclaim that message clearly and from the mountaintops.

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Sunday

07Feb2010

One View of TEOTWAWKI

Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 12:12PM

The History Channel recently aired After Armageddon, a chilling dramatization of what could happen during a flu pandemic. The program focuses on a single fictional family living in Los Angles at the outbreak of the illness.

Sprinkled into the drama are comments from experts. As the family makes decisions, some right and others very wrong, these authorities provide context and background.

Included among them are Kathy Harrison, a blogger and author of Just in Case, Kevin Reeve from onPoint Tactical, Michael Bane of DownRange TV, and Dr. Joseph Tainter author of The Collapse of Complex Societies. I have not read Dr. Tainter’s book, but the others were familiar resources to me.

Years ago, I lived in Los Angles and I wondered, as the program unfolded, would I have made better decisions back then? Fortunately, even as a young man I realized that the veneer of civilization was very thin. I got out of the city and this program made me glad, once again, that I did. The family in the program waited too long to leave. When they finally did flee, they were ill prepared to travel across a looted and gang infested land.

One thing I did not like about the program is that Christian faith during the emergency is depicted as fanatical and racist.

If you have contemplated TEOTWAWKI you probably have already begun making preparations and are certainly prepared than the family described in the program. However, if you wondering what all of this is about I strongly recommend you go to the History Channel, find out when the program will be aired next or buy the DVD.

Update on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 9:51PM by

Kyle Pratt

I embedded the first ten minutes of After Armageddon into the blog post for your convenience.

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Sunday

31Jan2010

Wasting Time and Possibly Lives

Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 9:58PM

Instead of solving real problems, our elected officials in Olympia are going to great lengths to craft legislation for segments of their core constituencies. There purpose is to pacify their base and ensure reelection. Now that our lawmakers would do that probably doesn’t surprise anyone reading this blog. If fact, if it were just run-of-the-mill political pandering I probably wouldn’t mention it, but two recently introduced bills, House Bill 2837 and Senate Bill 6452 would, if passed, cause the death of innocents.

Apparently abortion supporters, such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood, have schemed with liberal legislators to limit or prohibit much of the information provided by Pro-Life pregnancy centers while at the same time specifically exempting abortion providers, or as the bill euphemistically calls them, “Comprehensive Birth Control Services” providers. According to LifeNews.com, State Senator Joe Zarelli, a Republican, opposes the legislation saying that it goes against the free speech rights of pregnancy resource centers. I agree.

Despite this legislation, I am encouraged. If we were not winning the debate, the abortion supports would ignore us. Still this inane legislation has a fairly long list of sponsors in both the House and Senate, which shows that only goes to show that we do not need a full-time legislature and, if fact, our representatives spend too much time in session. I urge you to contact your elected officials and persuade them to solve the real problems of the state.

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Wednesday

20Jan2010

Reflections on the Brown Revolution

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 10:06PM

Yes, the voters rejected the GOP in 2006 and 2008. Sure, they wanted change when they elected Obama and gave him a Congress strongly under Democrat control. But, that didn’t mean that America wanted bigger government, higher taxes, nationalized healthcare and multi-billion dollar bailouts for everyone from auto companies to banks, insurance firms and finance companies.Scott Brown

That was the first observation I made as I mulled the victory of Republican Scott Brown in the bluest of blue states. While the Democrats are still gnashing their teeth and the Republicans still patting themselves on the back, what other things could we learn from this clearly momentous election?

Clearly, Martha Coakley felt entitled to the “Kennedy seat.” After winning the Democratic primary, she apparently believed the race was over and went on vacation—for weeks. Brown started off behind, but never went on vacation and like the tortoise and the hare, he kept moving forward and won the race.

Twice in the last six years, the Democrats of Massachusetts changed the rules of Senate succession to forestall the possibility that a Republican might capture the “Kennedy seat.” In 2004, believing that John Kerry might be elected President (silly Democrats); they changed the state constitution to prevent then-governor Mitt Romney from appointing a replacement. Just last year they changed the rule back to allow Governor Deval Patrick to appoint an interim appointee. The irony is, if the Democrats had left things alone they might have held the seat.

The Republicans damaged their brand when, during much of the Bush Administration, they grew government to monstrous proportions and spent money like Democrats. Can the GOP reclaim their limited government heritage? That remains to be seen.

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