Ok... I have been accused already of attacked Giuliani by my fellow republicans. I am not ANTI-Giuliani... However, I am asking questions and so should you as well! I really am not happy with the current field of possible republican nominees, and I will continue to be vocal about it. And to those of you have decided to email me and complain about my negative Giuliani coverage... Get a damn life, this is my take on the former mayor, who seems way too liberal to be in the republican party. And this is coming from me; "a moderate war-hawk".
NEW CASTLE – Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said public confrontations with critics and the breakup of his second marriage at the end of the 1990s did not affect his job cutting taxes, fighting crime and creating jobs as New York’s mayor.
During a wide-ranging interview with The Telegraph on Tuesday, Giuliani said questions about his personal life and temperament come as no surprise in this 2008 campaign and voters should carefully evaluate successes and failures he had in public life during those years.
“The issue about somebody’s personal life and temperament comes down to how do they perform their job. I’ve been an employer for a long time. And that’s how I look at those issues,” Giuliani said after speaking to a packed house of the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce at the Wentworth By The Sea.
“My analysis is, if it’s being fair, is how did it affect their work?”
Giuliani’s tenure as mayor of New York from 1990-2002 was marked by success cracking down on street crime, reducing the welfare caseloads, cutting several city taxes and ultimately helping the city rebound from unforgettable tragedy with the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001.
His critics point during those years to personal struggles, such as the breakup of his second marriage with Donna Hanover.
Giuliani announced a separation the same day in 2000 the New York Daily News reported he was having an extramarital affair with his now-third wife, Judith Nathan.
Throughout his tenure, Giuliani’s strong personality won plenty of enemies.
Former Mayor Ed Koch summed it up after activists questioned Giuliani’s repeated defense of New York Police officers after shooting incidents involving minority residents.
“Blacks and Hispanics . . . would say to me, ‘He’s a racist!’ I said, ‘Absolutely not, he’s nasty to everybody,’ ” Koch said at the time.
Giuliani said with political, and yes, sometimes personal controversy swirling around him, he still did well one of the most difficult jobs in America.
“If they think I had issues in my personal life, did it distract me in any way in reducing the level of crime in New York by 50, 60, 70 percent?” Giuliani asked rhetorically.
“Even as mayor of New York, I made mistakes. When you look at those, you say how many failures and did the successes far outweigh the failures?
“If that suggests the level of success versus failure might be pretty good in a president, maybe I am your candidate.”
Giuliani, a social moderate, denied he’s deliberately refusing to talk about his support for abortion rights, gay rights and limited gun control.
“My position on social issues have been articulated over and over again. On abortion, I oppose abortion, I think it’s wrong. I would counsel people not to have an abortion, but ultimately, I believe that is an individual choice and you can’t put somebody in jail for it,” he said.
On gay rights, Giuliani said he supports marriage as only between a man and a woman but would support laws granting some legal rights to gays and lesbians.
The former mayor and federal prosecutor said he believes the Second Amendment in the Constitution gives individuals the right to bear arms and he would appoint judges who agree with that interpretation.
Giuliani touted his record of cutting city taxes 23 times in New York while Democrats dominated the City Council, a record as a fiscal conservative he claims no GOP primary rival can match.
“I would not make a pledge. I would just ask people to do something more important than take a pledge. Look at my prior record,” Giuliani said.
April 5th Believed to be the date Noah's Arch grounded.... This image claims to be of Noah's Arch after it was found, courtesy of:mmmgroup.altervista.org
April 5th in History 0: Noah's ark grounded, Mt Ararat (acording to scholars' estimate) 1895: Writer Oscar Wylde is arrested for "Gross Behavior" 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sentenced to death for allegedly giving American atomic secrets to the USSR 1955: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigns 1981: The Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev goes to Czechoslovakia to discuss Polish crisis 1982: A British Naval Task Force leaves for the Falkland Islands, which have been invaded by Argentina
April 5th birthdays 1588: Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher 1649: Elihu Yale, Founder of American Yale University 1900: Spencer Tracy, American actor 1908: Bette Davis, American actress 1916: Gregory Peck, American actor 1920: Arthur Halley, British author
The problem is and always has been cowardice and avarice. Our politicians are much more interested in self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment than they are in what's good for the country.
So, while everyone was in a agreement before the war began, the Democrats saw a political opening when Joe Wilson pandered his lies to the media and they dove in, without any regard to the damage it would do to us or to the world. And some Republicans, cowering in fear at the onslaught of lies from the Democrats and the media, caved in and began attacking the President. Again, with no regard to the lasting damage it could do to this country and to the world........... Where would Iraq be indeed? And how many Iraqis would be alive today if America had been united and focused on the mission?
Those days are long gone, however. The best we can hope for is that America can survive the present divisiveness and somehow turn the mess we have now into a victory. The alternative is far too discouraging to even consider.
These forces total about 545,000 personnel. Both fall under the commands of the Ministry's of Defence & Armed Forces Logistics.
* The regular armed forces have an estimated 420,000 personnel: the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, 350,000 personnel; the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, 18,000 sailors and marines; and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, 52,000 airmen.
SPECIFIC SYSTEMS:
Aircraft upgrades and components
* Iran claims to have upgraded its US-made F-4, F-5, and F-14 fighter jets, and produced spare parts including tires, avionics, and engine components.
Missiles
Medium range (MRBM)
Medium range missiles are considered to have a range between 1000 and 3000 kilometers.
* Shahab-3 - strategic MRBM with a range of 2,100 km. copy of DPRK Nodong-1
Short range (SRBM)
Short range missiles are considered to have a range up to 1000 kilometers.
* Shahab-2 - tactical SRBM with a range of 750 km copy of Soviet SS-1d/Scud-C * Shahab-1 - tactical SRBM with a range of 350 km. copy of Soviet SS-1c/Scud-B * Fateh-110 - single-stage solid-propellant SRBM with a range of 200 km * Zelzal-2 - single-stage solid-propellant SRBM with a range of 200 km * Fajr-5 - artillery rocket * Fajr-3 - artillery rocket
Anti-tank missiles
* Raad - copy of Soviet AT-3 Sagger * RPG-7 copy of Soviet RPG-7. Iran is forecast to manufacture 2.88 percent of the worlds RPG-7's by 2014. * Saegheh - improved version of the RPG-7 * Toophan Copy of American TOW missile * Toophan 2 Improved Toophan
Air-Defence
* Misagh-2 - copy of Chinese QW-1 Vanguard with some Chinese upgrades * Misagh-1 - copy of Chinese QW-1 Vanguard * Sayyad-1 - copy of Chinese SA-2 * Fajr-27 - rapid fire cannon
Military branches: Islamic Republic of Iran regular forces (includes Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces), Revolutionary Guards (includes Ground, Air, Navy, Qods, and Basij-mobilization-forces), Law Enforcement Forces
Military manpower - military age: 21 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 18,319,328 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 10,872,407 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 823,040 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $5.787 billion (FY98/99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.9% (FY98/99)
HOW AN ATTACK ON IRAN WOULD BE CONDUCTED..
Current US Order of Battle Hot Documents Countdown Timeline
Military Options # Air Strikes # Blockade # OPLAN 1019 # OPLAN 1002 # OPLAN 1004
Iranian Military Power # Iranian Special Weapons Programs [nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile] # Targets - WMD Facilities # Iranian Intelligence and Security Agencies
# CLOUD COVER # Current Weather - Tehran # Current Weather - Esfahan # Current Weather - Arak
This I aquired courtesy of: http://giulianitime.com/
THE FACTS:
Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor of NYC in 1993, and re-elected in 1997. He served as mayor until December 31, 2001.
ELECTIONS
* Of the 3.3 million registered voters in New York City, Rudolph Giuliani received 930,237 votes in 1993, 28.2% of the total. (Source: NYC Board of Elections) * In one of the lowest turnouts in New York City history, Giuliani received 22% fewer votes in 1997 than in 1993. (Source: NYC Board of Elections) CRIME
* While Giuliani often boasted that his strategies drastically reduced crime in New York City, overall the nation’s violent crime was 27% lower in 1998 than it was in 1993 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Violent and Property Crimes at Lowest Level Since Survey Began," July 18, 1999). * Serious crime fell by 16% from 1990-93, the last three years of the Dinkins administration, the first time it had in 36 years (Source: “RUDY!” by Wayne Barrett, p 341) * In 1992, police arrest 720 people for misdemeanor marijuana-related offenses. In 2000, under the Giuliani administrations “quality of life” strategy they arrested 59,945, an increase of 4,549%. (Source: The Daily News, December 20, 2000, "Quality Crimefighting NYPD crackdown on minor offenses is paying off, by John Marzulli") * From 1991 to 1999 misdemeanor arrests rose by 64 % (Source: The New York Times, 12/26/00, "Police Feel Scorn on Beat And Pressure From Above," By Kevin Flynn) * Over a 10 month period in 1996-1997 DOC strip-searched 50,000 misdemeanor detainees. A $50 million lawsuit is filed and awarded (Source: NYC IBO Office "Inside the Budget" January 30, 2001 Inside the Budget No. 76) * After analyzing 175,000 reports, Eliot Spitzer’s report on NYPD “stop and frisk” practices found that Latinos were stopped 39% more often than whites, and blacks 23% more often. (Source: Spitzer Report, page 178) * Complaints of police abuse jumped 56% in the first four years of the Giuliani administration (Source: New York Civil Liberties Union, A Seventh Anniversary Overview of Civilian Complaint Review Board, July 5, 1993 - July 5, 2000)
POVERTY, WELFARE AND THE WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAM (WEP)
* In 2000 one in four New Yorkers lived in poverty and the City’s poverty rate remained as high as it was during the 1989-1992 recession - 21.8%, a rate of nearly twice the national average. (Source: “One in four New Yorkers Live in Poverty” Winter 2000, Vol. 16, No.1 Community Service Society of NY report.) * In December 2000 the homeless population was at its highest point since 1989. From January 1998 to late 2000 alone, the homeless population grew by 19%. (Source: Coalition for the Homeless “State of the Homeless Address” Feb 8, 2001) * The Giuliani administration reduced capital spending on affordable housing by 44% since the early 90s and has cut back on the creation of apartments for homeless households by 75%. (Source: Coalition for the Homeless “State of the Homeless Address” Feb 8, 2001) * In 1970 there was a surplus of 270,000 affordable apartments in NYC. In 1999 there was a shortage of nearly 390,000 affordable apartments for extremely low-income renter households earning less than $16,100 a year. (Source May 2001 “AlterBudget Agenda: Visions for the Future” By City Project.) * Requests for Emergency Food Assistance grew 24% from January 1997 to Jan 1998, 36% from January 1998 to Jan 1999. In January 1999 alone 74,000 requests for food were denied (Source: “Downside, the Consequences of the Giuliani Administration’s Welfare Caseload Cuts,” November 2000 by Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Inc.) * In NYC, one in every three children lives in poverty. (Source: “Hunger Is No Accident,” a report by the NYC Welfare Reform and Human Rights Documentation Project. July 2000) * The food stamp rolls have dropped 35% in NYC since Welfare Reform was first implemented in 1996. In 1994, 27% of applicants were rejected from welfare. By November 1999 75% of Job Center applicants and 52% of applicants overall were rejected. Of the first 5,300 people to enter the job search program, only 265 people were placed in jobs. (SOURCE: “Hunger Is No Accident,” a report by the NYC Welfare Reform and Human Rights Documentation Project. July 2000) * Less than 6% of workfare participants have been able to get jobs from workfare and less than 4% of welfare recipients are enrolled in education and training programs. (Source: Welfare Law Center, “City’s Poor Don’t Need More Belt Tightening,” by Marc Cohan. Article appeared in 10/12/01 edition of Newsday). * In 1995 28,000 students at CUNY (11% of the entire student body) were on welfare. WEP has forced 13,000 students out of college and into workfare assignments. (SOURCE: April, 1998, Welfare Rights Initiative Newsletter) * Between 1991 and 1999 WEP force grew from 170 to 2,389 in Parks, while Parks Dept. Employees dropped from 4,285 to 2,101. WEP workers for the Parks Department made $1.80 an hour while a Parks employee made $8.65. * Nearly 60% of welfare applicants were rejected in the first three months of 1995, a 20% increase from the same period in 1994. (SOURCE: NYT April 19, 1995 “New Policy Cuts Numbers On Relief in NYC” by David Firestone)
FIRST AMENDMENT
* As of December 2001, in 34 separate cases the New York Civil Liberties Union went to court to challenge First Amendment violations by the Giuliani administration. The Courts rebuffed the Giuliani administration in all but 4 of the 26 cases. (Source: “Giuliani v. The First Amendment: A Final Assessment,” by Donna Lieberman Dec 2001) * While the Giuliani administration limited news conferences on the steps of City Hall to 25 participants in Feb 1998 following World Aids Day (and later extended the ban to events of any type) the city invited 5,000 guests to the steps to commemorate the NY Yankees' World Series Victory. (Source: AP, April 6 2000, "Judge strikes down rules keeping large groups away from City Hall," By Larry Neumeister) * According to estimates from Mark Green's office, the Giuliani administration has spent in excess of $5 million to defend itself against 22 "speech and information" charges. Under Giuliani, spending by the city's law department has increased by 50% from $59.4 million to $89.5 million (Source: Westchester County Weekly, March 30-April 5, 2000, "Rudy's Rap Sheet" by Elissa Lin).
YEARS AS ATTORNEY GENERAL (SOURCE: “Rudy!” by Wayne Barrett, p.173/4)
* Giuliani's office as Attorney General snared an annual average of 830 convictions, while his predecessor, John Martin got 940. * The 10 other largest Attorney General Offices in the US closed an annual average of 34 cases per assistant, 54% higher than Giuliani's office. * Although Giuliani's office in the Southern District of NY commanded a staff 80% larger than the Eastern District's, assistants in the Brooklyn -based district handled an annual average of 169 cases, 118% higher than Rudy's assistants. They closed an annual average of 37 cases, a rate 67% higher than Giuliani's office. * The number of dismissed cases during Giuliani's tenure dropped from an annual average from 5.3% in 1984 to 10.1% in 1988.
image courtesy of theonion.com
I am in no way dissing the former mayor of New York city, I am simply looking for the truth. I am a republican that wants to cast my vote in the end for the right man. To me; Rudy Giuliani is a man built on 9/11, and that to me is something that qualifies him greatly on leadership questions. Still, I need to know what is he going to offer for substance as my president... and on that front ladies and gentleman I am hard-pressed to find cause for optimism.
America, Do We Get Squeemish over War? Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Have we become like many of the nations in western europe? We overwhelmingly support going into combat to fight terrorists and evil dictators like Saddam.. but just a few years later we are sick of it to the point we are willing to forget why we fight.
Many I find on news shows on the television poke fun at the struggle in Iraq and even go as far as to say that our men and women are dying for no reason. The planes struck the twin towers and the pentagon on that Tuesday morning and American flags went up everywhere, on every vehicle beside every home America came together. But day after day following the attacks on our homeland we became more tired of this global war to combat terror. Flags began disappearing off vehicles and houses, democrats began questioning the Bush administration and went as far to make over the wall accusations of conspiracy and deliberate distortion of facts pertaining to the reasons why we went into Iraq. (for more on why the Iraq war is justified refer to my other 2 recent blogs on Saddam).
The media began it's attack; day after day showing carnage in Iraq and deliberately touting any failure on a day to day basis to decry the security situation in the new democratic country of Iraq. More time went by, and Americans, hit by the media's strong propoganda engines such as abc news, cbs and cnn.. began to become demoralized by the idea of keeping our troops in harms way. Americans began to demand change, ignorant of the progress made, they removed the republican party from control in the United States Legislature. Like President Bush said "Democrats care about our security just as much as I do". And I happen to agree with Mr. Bush about the Democrats' patriotism, which I do not question. But I do believe many of them need a dose of reality, realizing that this is a new struggle, a new war and a new enemy. Ever changing tactics and ever changing war strategy. Just remember we needed change in our strategy in Iraq, but as in all wars... changing the party or creating gridlock does not guarantee better security or success on foreign policy.
I like many of the Americans who voted for the democrats believe there are alot of problems in Iraq. But we most always remember the problems do not lie with us. For our troops are the finest, best trained, and most honorable fighters in the history of this world. We face an enemy who cowards in the dark and constantly shifts and we must all know that it is going to take some time to win this war. Just remember if we do pull our troops out, it is not only an insult to our fallen troops and what they fought for, it is in insult upon the very basis of our own democracy. And it would show to the world that America can not stomach the thought of standing up for Freedom, democracy, and Security. If somehow we end up chickening out, we might consider changing our national symbol to something other than an eagle. Like George HW Bush had said when he visited my home state of New Hampshire; "We don't stand there with our head in the sand, Our national symbol is not the Ostrich it's the eagle."
I am so very proud of our country for the high turnout at the polls regardless of the outcome. It shows people are becoming interested again, and realize that they can have a voice in this great country.
The Boston Red Sox blew their opener against the Kansas City Royals, even with their ace Curt Schilling on the mound. I'm still going to remain calm and hold out for something good to happen... Maybe I'll have to wait a month or two.. or maybe all year but hell, it's just life as a Boston Red Sox fan.
SIDE NOTE:Curt Schilling should run for the U.S. Senate in MA. His career as a pitcher certainly isn't lasting as long as he expected it to.
April 3rd in History 1189: The Peace of Strasbourg signed, resolving the differences between Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany and Pope Clement III
1721: Robert Walpole elected as Britains first Prime Minister
1860: In the United States, the Pony Express mail delivery system starts its service
1933: First ever flight over Mount Everest
1944: Supreme Court, in "Smith v Allwright", declares "white primaries" unconstitutional
1948: Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan to restore Europe
April 3rd birthdays 1367: Henry IV, King of England 1783: Washington Irving, American author 1893: Leslie Howard, American actor 1898: Henry Luce, American publisher (founder of Time magazine) 1924: Marlon Brando, American actor 1930: Helmut Kohl, German chancellor (reunited Germany)
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A few days ago when I was viewing the dinner on c-span I was laughing so hard I fell off the beanbag...not. Well it was entertaining to say the least. After all I did end up voting for the guy the second time around. Have a great day everyone, and always stay objective!
While i was checking email on my underground site to encourage Condoleezza Rice to run for president, I found the most intersting message from a lady who seemed stunned by what she had found; here is the exact message as it was sent to me (in quotes)
"Listen, you guys should check out this site, Im pasting at the end of this sentences. They have Ms. Rice toward the end of it. I don't like this site at all!!! can't believe American Born Citizens are doing this to their own country!!!! Ingrid.
http://www.thewe.cc/soldiers_against_the_war.htm
..... after reading her email i ventured onto the site out of curiosity and much to my amazement i found some horrifying accusations and propaganda symbolic of how far to the left some people actually could go (even here in America). The website went so far to say that Israel is the true sponsor of terrorism in the world and so on... please check it out, I'm sure you will be shocked and dismayed: CLICK HERE TO ACCESS www.thewe.cc PAGE A More In Depth Area of Their Site Here Details How the U.S. and Israel are the Terrorists remember.. as some of us want to guard and fight for our freedom others amongst us believe we are the real enemy, and that is sickening, but read their site and see what they are up to THIS IS THE ANTI WAR MOVEMENT? this would make me a neo con for life hahaha have a blessed day yall.
Collected from my friends at http://www.extremetech.com
There's a lot of confusion about Windows Vista these days. Many online discussion forums have a great number of users who express no desire to upgrade to Vista. Sure, we've all seen the screenshots and maybe a video or two of Vista in action, but for many it only seems like new tricks for an old dog. Yeah, it's got some fancy 3D effects in the interface, but OS X has been doing that for years now, and it's still Windows underneath, right? The sentiment seems to be that Vista is another Windows ME—an avoidable upgrade that isn't really going to breathe new life into your computer.
Perhaps part of the problem is that people just don't know what Vista has in store for them. Microsoft has gone big on the very high-level marketing with slogans like "Bringing Clarity to Your World" and has delivered detailed nitty-gritty explanations of the underpinnings to the enthusiast press, but it has done so in a slipshod fashion. We're here to pull it all together and tell you why we're excited about Vista. Here's a list of what's new and improved in Microsoft's next generation OS and why you should care about it. Of course, Vista is far from finished with probably six months of heavy-duty development left, and a lot of things tend to come together at the end (you should have seen Windows XP six months before release). We're not saying Windows Vista will be the greatest OS ever—it's too early for that. But we're excited about its promise, and we think once you know about all the cool stuff going into it, you will be too.... CLICK HERE FOR FULL TEXT OF ORIGINAL ARTICLE ...OR CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE OFFICIAL VISTA PAGE
SLUGGER's VERDICT: 8.1 rating(out of 10) Give it a year and most bugs will be fixed upon release of the first service pack.
Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani says British Prime Minister Tony Blair shouldn't back down on his refusal to negotiate the release of 15 British sailors and marines detained in Iran.
"I urge Tony Blair to stand up to them," Giuliani said after shaking hands and dining at a barbecue restaurant Thursday evening in downtown Oklahoma City.
Ok, Mr Giuliani has no experience on the federal level and is underestimating how sensative this situation is. There are 15-16 members of the British Armed Forces basically held hostige under false justification. Now... Correct me if I am wrong, but the good man and former mayor Giuliani should only step where there is ground for him to stand on. And in this situation, a political maneuver is not warranted nor required by a former mayor from our nation's largest city; especially since there is a delicate diplomatic process the British are trying to put forward to ensure the safety and survival of those brave military men and women held captive. Mr Giuliani, stand back and let the professionals do their work man.
The United States will be ready to launch a missile attack on Iran's nuclear facilities as soon as early this month, perhaps "from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on April 6," according to reports in the Russian media on Saturday.
According to Russian intelligence sources, the reports said, the US has devised a plan to attack several targets in Iran, and an assault could be carried out by launching missiles from fighter jets and warships stationed in the Persian Gulf.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted a security official as saying, "Russian intelligence has information that the US Armed Forces stationed in the Persian Gulf have nearly completed preparations for a missile strike against Iranian territory."
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