I Saw This Photo and Read the Caption and Laughed Till I Cried!

AFP photo
" An elderly Iraqi woman shows two bullets which she said hit her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City."

Here's a link to a blog I saw it on.

I know I risk offending some readers, but just in case it's not obvious to you, the items the woman is holding up appears to be two live rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, the kind our coalition forces use. They haven't been fired.

Repeat: they have not been fired.

The only way they could have hit her house is if someone threw them, or used a slingshot. Some stringer at AFP has a diabolical sense of humor, or they believe their target audience is comprised of stupid and ignorant people who won't know the difference between live unfired ammunition, and bullets that have been fired and have been recovered. In other words, these guys are extremely arrogant and have enormous contempt for their audience!

Hillary Clinton: Optimistic Modern Progressive, or Old School Socialist in Thin Disguise?

AP photo/Mark Hirsch

"Shared Prosperity" is code for Socialism, or redistribution of wealth through higher taxes.

From an AP story in the online Traverse City Eagle Record, Hillary Clinton seems eager to campaign against the Bush administration in her quest for the White House. Actually, it makes sense, because by doing so she forces the Republican nominee, whoever that may turn out to be, to distance themselves from the White House and it’s policies.

Calling herself an optimistic and modern progressive who would help the nation overcome economic disparities, Clinton said the U.S. can "grow" its economy amid global competition "and do it in a way that benefits all Americans."

Clinton said the Bush administration "is working for Americans with incomes at the very top."

"Americans work harder than anyone else in the world, yet we're not getting rewarded," she said. "We're seeing a growing gap between the haves and have-nots that threatens the backbone of our country, the middle class that built our country." [Notice how she cleverly includes herself as a "have-not" middle class American.--ed.]

I have to admit I lack enthusiasm for the senator’s projected platform. Socialist economies, such as France’s and Sweden’s, have stagnated over the years because they’ve been overburdened with the expenses of paying for their burgeoning entitlement programs by overtaxing corporations, businesses and "fat cats". This always has a chilling effect on any economy, no matter how robust.

Capitalism works because corporations, businesses and entrepreneurs are willing to take risks by expanding their businesses, hiring employees and spending capital. The motive, of course, is profit. Cut into that profit with heavier taxes, and capitalists become more risk averse, they cut back on expansion and hiring and spending, and the whole economy suffers as a result. That means the poor get poorer, while the rich stay rich.