What does the Phantom stand for? Well, it would be pretty hard for anyone to miss it who has read these pages over the past few years, but one of us has asked.

OK, here it is.

First, as background.

I think for myself and I mostly respect those who try to do likewise. Anyone who always takes the dominant Democratic / Republican / Left of Center / Right of Center position on all or nearly all subjects is a mumble machine, an unthinking drone. I may be right, and I will sometimes be wrong, but these words are my own.

Defense and National Security

A strong national defense and a strong anti-terrorism policy are the most important planks in my platform.

Specifics:

• Continued emphasis on special forces. We have the best in the world, but we need more of them. The SEALs and similar forces are particularly well suited for the post 9/11 world.
• Continue to take the offense against terrorism, as per the Bush / Obama doctrine.
• We need to push our allies to increase defense spending to the same level of GDP as that of the US. No more free rides.
• The US should, in cooperation with any friend and foe, organize or help organize an anti piracy task force off Somalia. All vessels passing through the area will be assessed a voluntary tax to fund it. If they pay, we throw every imaginable resource to protect a threatened vessel. If they don’t they are asked to have fun with the pirates.
• Profile at airports, and don’t be shy about it. But any passenger can be a knowing or unknowing bearer of a bomb, which has been known for some time – so continue to act accordingly.
• Keep Guantanemo Bay open. It’s the least bad option.
• We need relentless pursuit of defense waste. There is plenty to be found.

Diplomacy

• Give overt support to the democratic opposition in Iran and Syria.
• Lift the economic embargo against Cuba, and encourage the democratic forces there.
• Continue the exit strategy in Iraq
• Pressure Pakistan to abandon the Taliban and stop its two faced game
• Consider a limited pullback from Afghanistan with use of special forces to deal with trouble spots. If we don’t have a true partner, recognize the reality.
• Cut aid to Israel 25%. They are a rich country, and no one gets to stand in my welfare line forever
• Try to build a stronger relationship with Russia. We face many of the same problems, and we should be more allies than opponents.
• Continue to nurture our relationship with Japan, who will be deeply wounded for some time due the nuclear and tsunami disasters. This is their hour of need. We’ve been friends in need, and should continue to be such.
• Watch China
• Continue building the good relationship with Vietnam, which threatens no one not bent on imperial aggression ( China )

The Border

Remove the magnets and the issue solves itself

• mandatory ( not voluntary, as at present ) citizenship ID check requirement on the part of all employers via the E Verify program. Extremely severe sanctions on any employer who knowingly hires an illegal alien.
• No more automatic citizenship for children of illegals born here.

Energy Policy / Environment

• Encourage alternative technology and extremely efficient energy technology with tax and other policy
• Encourage modern nuclear energy plants.
• Allow expanded drilling in Alaska, the Gulf and in other areas where the local population supports it – they don’t support it in Florida or California
• Implement the Pickens Plan to encourage the expanded use of natural gas in large vehicles.
• Fund national high speed rail projects where it makes sense. It makes a whole lot of sense in the Boston – Virginia corridor, but not in most other places.
• Phase out the unsound ethanol subsidy program

Tax Policy / Economy

• Remove more than 90% of deductions from the individual Federal Income Tax code, in consideration for lower tax brackets. Seek flatter brackets. Seek a 10% higher tax take overall, to be used to reduce the debt
• As per above, remove all deduction for state and local income taxes from the Federal Income Tax. Put the heat on high tax meccas like NY and CA.
• Eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax ( AMT )
• Lower corporate tax rates and encourage US based corporations to repatriate foreign assets in this country
• A ten year waiting period before immigrants can access any federal benefits and a five year waiting period before immigrants can access any federally subsidized benefits.

Health Care

• Implement a simpler national health care system based on the Swiss model
• Remove the corrupt deals Obama struck to implement his corrupt model ( ie Louisiana )
• Give serious consideration to the Ryan proposals for Medicare and Medicaid reform

Legal

• Implement tort reform and stop litigation abuse, which will be strongly opposed by most Democrat and Republican politicians, who are mostly lawyers and who are part of the same club, though the Republican ones pretend otherwise. This one step will help reduce costs for Products Liability and Physician/Hospital Liability.
• Outlaw ” punitive damages ” a weird concept pretty much unique to the US
• Outlaw law firm ads on TV and radio.

Political

• Impose strict limits on political contributions by unions and rich individuals.
• Ban all political contributions by corporations.

Education

• Outlaw bilingual education, except for six month immersion / transition programs for those who need it
• Encourage patriotic displays, such as the Pledge of Allegiance in all elementary and high schools
• Emphasize math, science, and technology classes, of the highest international standard
• Emphasize foreign language study, esp German, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish
• Teach individual financial responsibility in elementary and high schools.

Thank you for your consideration. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few things, but will backfill as necessary.

From the New York Times:

“By lifting the heavy hand of the Mubarak police state, the revolution unleashed long-suppressed sectarian animosities that have burst out with increasing ferocity, threatening the recovery of Egypt’s tourist economy and the stability of its hoped-for transition to democracy…

“Egypt has already become a nation in danger,” Justice Minister Abdel Aziz al-Gindi said after the cabinet meeting, vowing to strike “with an iron hand” to preserve national security.”

Here at ATW, those of us who did not blindly cheer on the Egyptian “revolution” were mocked and ridiculed but, unfortunately, we were right.  The Egyptian “freedom revolution” is not exactly working out as advertised by the Western MSM. Those of us who feared the worst when crowds begin to chant for the end of the Mubarak regime were correct to fear the worst; we were correct to cite polls showing most Egyptians approving of Sharia Law, and to point out the influence and reach of the radical group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Is freedom in Egypt on the march? WIll minorities be protected? Will individual freedoms be guaranteed? No, no and no.  An Islamic state looks inevitable.

Think this sums it up…..no further comment.

Worth a listen…

When living in peace process land, it is bad form to ever mention the truth. And so…

Ulster Unionist Tom Elliott will spend the next 48 hours fighting for his political life following his controversial comments about Sinn Fein being “scum”. The UUP leader caused a storm of controversy on Saturday when he lashed out at people waving Irish flags at Omagh Leisure Centre calling them the “scum of Sinn Fein”. Some party sources described Mr Elliott’s position as “untenable”. The brother of murdered police constable Ronan Kerr described the comments as “prejudiced” and “prehistoric”. Cathair Kerr is reported to have said: “People need to move forward. Would his voters still vote for him now?”

With all due respect to Cathair Kerr, and assuming he said what is reported, who is HE to tell Unionist voters what to do?

The IRA is a barbaric terrorist infestation and those within it who commanded the terror are scum. How else to describe the people who bombed a cenotaph, who blew up a bus station, machine gunned workers on their way home from work, shot police officers dead in front of their families, kidnapped and tortured women – and delighted in it all.

So, I am sure all civilised people agree the IRA are scum. Genocidal savages would be an alternative summary.

That, of course, begs the question as to whether Sinn Fein members are also scum. Well, I have an easy solution to that. Will those who support Sinn Fein now say without hint of equivocation that they agree that the IRA were savages, that they would like to distance themselves from all the killing it engaged in, and that they would like to apologise unreservedly to the thousands of victims of IRA killing.

Perhaps Mr Kerr, so vocal in his defence of Sinn Fein, would also like to confirm that he views those who murdered 306 RUC officers as scum?

Then, we can all move on….

Here’s an odd little story;

“Irish church officials have been left red-faced after announcing plans for an Osama bin Laden memorial Mass. Howth parish in Dublin yesterday hastily withdrew an online newsletter advertising plans to dedicate a Mass to the man credited with masterminding the 9/11 attacks on New York’s twin towers. The newsletter had stated the Mass would be held at 10am this Thursday in the Church of the Assumption in memory of “Osama bin Laden (recently deceased)”.

I note that this has been dismissed “as a mistake or a hoax”. I can understand how it may have been a hoax but a mistake?

The new Irish Government really are as cowardly a  lot as the previous one. Here is their latest scare story to ensure the Republic remains mired in debt, a little sacrifice to EU/IMF mendacity.

PENSIONS, child benefit and the wages of 300,000 public sector workers would be slashed by 33pc if we abandoned the EU-IMF bailout deal, the Government warned last night. The Department of Finance issued the stark forecast in response to a prediction by leading economist Morgan Kelly that we face bankruptcy unless we pull out of the deal.

The Government insisted it would continue with the bailout plan and hopes to negotiate a 1pc cut in the interest rate next week, as it seeks better terms to match those of Portugal and Greece. Finance officials graphically outlined the consequences of walking away from the EU and IMF. If we reneged on the deal, the Government would have to immediately slash €18bn off public spending to be able to fund itself because it would no longer have financial support from the EU/IMF. This would, for example, knock the jobseekers’ allowance from €188 to €126 a week, child benefit from €140 to €94 and the old-age pension from €219 to €146. And public sector workers earning €40,000 a year would face cuts of more than €13,000 in their annual salary…

This is the Irish Government making sure it continues to pledge fealty to the EU overlords. Rather than assert economic sovereignty prefers to frighten the electorate – an utter disgrace. Notice how it is the STATE workers whose rights and conditions are the primary concern of Government. It seems that it is better for Ireland to be mired in transgenerational debt rather than cut the State sector now and assert it’s own independence.

First, reflect on one fundamental economic FACT. The private sector funds the public sector. Now read on…

“Pay in the public sector in the UK has risen faster than in the private sector, a report for a think tank says. The Policy Exchange said public sector wages were rising while many in companies were seeing “drastic cuts” in their standard of living. It said the gap between equivalent workers in both sectors was more than 30% when based on hourly pay.”

Instantly, the Trade Unions have attacked this research as “divisive” but then again they WOULD say that, wouldn’t they? In the UK, Trade Unions represent State workers, not Private Sector workers.

The reality is that we cannot afford such a dysfunctional financial entity yet this is common across western democracies. The Public Sector has grown bloated on the riches created by the Private sector and even in recession, it appears public sector wages are still growing. Here in Northern Ireland, to even make the mild suggestion that the State sector will have to adjust to economic reality is akin to admitting one is a cannibal.  Better salaries, better pensions, longer holidays, greater job security….these are the benefits of the Public Sector and the only problem is that they are unaffordable in the medium-term. But no political party is prepared to deal with this effectively and so the Ponzi scheme continues until the day the money runs out.

I don’t like gossip. So when there is media speculation about who is having an affair with such and such, it passes me by. I don’t have any interest in “celebrity lifestyle” and could not care less what they get up to in their private lives. If married men/women are being unfaithful, that is surely their business, not mine. But there is an emerging story in the totality of the issue;

The social networking site Twitter today made a mockery of the celebrity trend for using privacy injunctions to hide their identity. A single user, who quickly attracted a following of 20,000, set up an account claiming to ‘out’ those behind the legal gagging orders – but riddled with errors. So many Twitter users began exchanging messages supposedly naming high-profile figures who have hidden their secrets that part of the site crashed.

Getting what is called a “Superinjunction” to prevent the MSM from publishing details of sordid little affairs and the like has become all the rage for those with ££££cash. The cost of these legal protections is high – only for wealthy liberals in the main. UK judges have dreamed up this concept and THAT is my problem with it. You see on this one I agree with David Cameron when he says Parliament, not the Judiciary, decide on the law.  Another aspect of this is whether those who live by the media should also die by the media, metaphorically speaking? Can they court good PR but then complain when it goes turtle on them?

Superinjunctions obviously restrict the MSM but the Twitterati seem to think that they can publish and be damned. Is this the final bastion of the free press or the recklessness of the internet?

Marvellous song from one of the greatest song-writers around..