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************************************ Happy Washington's Birthday...Sort Of "Americans might better appreciate our nation's greatest virtue - the moral vision that has kept us free - if we returned to celebrating George Washington's birthday as George Washington's birthday. "Washington was born Feb. 22, 1732. In 1885, Congress made his birthday a national holiday. In 1968, however, to create a three-day weekend, Congress passed another law (that took effect in 1971) moving this holiday to the third Monday in February - a day that never falls on Washington's actual birthday." - Columnist Terence Jeffrey *********************************** Go Forth and e-Multiply If you know someone who might like to receive News & Views, you can sign 'em up at: http://www.chuckmuth.com. *********************************** War Casualties Pile Up Associated Press reports that three Americans are believed "kidnapped by a rebel group after their airplane crashed...while on a spy mission." Rebels "shot and killed a fourth American." Search parties have been dispatched to... Afghanistan? Iraq? North Korea? Nope. Columbia. Yet more American casualties in the nation's failed war on drugs. *********************************** Principally Plastered "Forty-one-year-old Evelyn Peralta-Tessitore had a run-in with police in the Bronx on Tuesday. "(The New York Daily News reports): 'Cops said they spotted Peralta-Tessitore squatting and urinating beside the open door of her 2003 Mercedes-Benz about 2:40 p.m. Tuesday. Her car was stopped at a red light at 254th St. and Broadway. Peralta-Tessitore admitted she had been drinking, according to the criminal complaint. Cops said she reeked of liquor and her speech was slurred. She refused to get out of her car and started flailing her arms at officers when they tried to arrest her, police said. "Peralta-Tessitore's occupation? She's the principal of a public school in Harlem." - James Taranto's "Best of the Web," 2/14/03 *********************************** Big Talk, Little Walk Some 35 years after capturing the USS Pueblo, North Koreans are still gloating and rubbing Uncle Sam's nose in it. The Pueblo is now a museum on the Taedong River from which tour guide Kim Migyong huffs and puffs over what awaits Americans should another dust up with Pyongyang commence over their development of nuclear weapons. Migyong tells Reuters that, "We will defeat the U.S. and their forces under the wise leadership of our General Kim Jong-il. We have nothing to be afraid of. If the U.S. aggressors start the war again on the peninsula, we will never, ever lose this opportunity and we will wipe out all the U.S. imperialists - all of them - from this earth and we will unify our fatherland." Upon hearing Migyhong's bold talk on Friday, France surrendered. *********************************** Car Exec Apologizes to Conservatives "A DaimlerChrysler official who called conservative critics of Jesse Jackson 'myopic' in January has apologized for his comments. In a handwritten letter dated Feb. 13, DaimlerChrysler Senior Vice President Frank Fountain wrote that he wished 'to express my deepest regret' for the slur against conservatives." - CNSNews.com, 2/14/03 *********************************** Not Dumb Enough for D's "Clearly, (Bush judicial nominee Miguel) Estrada isn't just one of the best Latino lawyers in the country - he is one of the best lawyers in the country. Period. Mr. Estrada is unquestionably qualified for the post. But Democrats like their minorities dumb and malleable, and Mr. Estrada clearly fails this test. So for almost two years, Senate Democrats have blocked his confirmation." - Columnist Jennifer Braceras ************************************ Long Savings on Long Distance Just 4.97 cents/minute (5.97 cents for some non-regional bell companies) * All state-to-state calls in the continental U.S. * Residential or commercial * 6-second billing increments after the first 18 seconds * 24 hours/day * 7 days/week * No access codes * No minimums * No activation fees * No monthly service charge unless your bill is less than $20.00 a month (then a $2.50 service charge will apply) * No need to change your local phone company * No hassles * Easy sign-up. *And a small portion of each bill goes to help continue publishing our FREE Chuck Muth's News & Views e-newsletter. go to <http://www.GOPLongDistance.com> today. *********************************** Oink, Oink "In an effort to finally set federal spending levels for fiscal year 2003, the Congress has fallen back on that tried and true approach, the Omnibus spending bill. And, as is usually the case, the bill, which passed Thursday night, was loaded up with pork barrel spending. Among the more outrageous items, Amtrak, the national passenger rail corporation, got $1 billion "...Also included in the bill are thousands of 'earmarks,' spending approved for specific projects that usually have more to do with a lawmakers re-election needs or personal proclivities rather than anything else. Among the more notable earmarks are: $750,000 for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.; $90,000 for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas; $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio; and $725,000 for the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia." - Peter Roff, UPI's Capital Comment, 2/14/03 *********************************** That Ol' Double Standard "North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who as a Democratic presidential candidate has vowed to honor the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People's take-down-the-Confederate-flag boycott of South Carolina, held a campaign event last weekend 'in a Charleston house that once belonged to the South's largest slaveholder,' Eric Fettmann writes in the New York Post. . . . 'What do you suppose would have been the reaction had Trent Lott, or any other Republican, done the same thing?'" - Greg Pierce's "Inside Politics," 2/14/03 *********************************** Oh, We Feel MUCH Safer Now "I've started flying again for work, after successfully avoiding it for a while. You're right-on in saying the current 'security' process is targeting airlines, not criminals. My hobby now at the airport is to spot the sky marshal (or whatever the fancy name for 'fed with a gun' is). Look for the pair of 30-something guys who walk past security, flash shiny TSA badges at the exit-minder, then sign in with the State Trooper. They also get on the plane before everybody else. Very subtle. A big tip-off whether your plane is covered or not." - News & Views reader Tom Glaab *********************************** Illegal Aliens Assault Border Agent "A group of suspected illegal immigrants trying to sneak across the Mexican border attacked a U.S. Border Patrol agent and knocked him unconscious. . . . (T)he agent was running after a group of people suspected of illegally crossing the border Tuesday night when six immigrants attacked him in a remote desert area about two miles north of the border. He was hit several times with a rock but managed to radio for help." - "American Scene," Washington Times, 2/14/03 ************************************ Social Insecurity ".(S)imply comparing returns understates how bad a deal Social Security is. When an investor dies, his or her kids get the estate. When a Social Security recipient dies, the family gets nothing." - Columnist Doug Bandow *********************************** Move Over Big Brother, Here Comes Big Mother "Democratic state legislators in Maine this week are introducing the nation's 'first comprehensive legislative package to combat obesity.' The bill would require nutrition labeling on menus in large chain restaurants, ban soft drinks and junk food in schools, promote transportation policies that encourage walking and create a commission to study the causes of obesity." - Washington Times, 2/14/03 *********************************** The Goldwater Doctrine "I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' interests, I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can." - Barry Goldwater, "The Conscience of a Conservative" To help promote the "Goldwater Doctrine" in public policy and government, join the Goldwater Project by going to: http://chuckmuth.com/goldwater.htm ********************************* ********************************* Published by Citizen Outreach Chuck Muth Editor/Publisher P.O. Box 15307 Middle River, MD 21220 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Citizen Outreach is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public policy organization and does not endorse candidates or specific legislation. The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. To be REMOVED, go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/ and complete the removal request instructions you'll find there. Or send your request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # #
