THE JUNGLE REPORT

Now that Romney has dropped out, Mccain has all but wrapped up the Republican nomination.  The questions many conservatives are asking is “do I support McCain, or stay home?”

An interesting fight has broke out.  Many conservative talk radio pundits are not supporting McCain ouright.  People like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingrahm are speaking out against McCain.  Bloggers and writers like Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter are also writing against McCain and his liberal record.  This is becomming very interesting.  We haven’t had a fight like this in the Republican party  for a while.  At least I don’t remember it in my generation.  I don’t follow Ann as much any more ever since she called John Edwards “gay”, but she still carries a lot of weight in the conservative circles.  She has gone as far as to say that she’ll vote for Hillary over McCain.

To be honest, I haven’t made up my mind yet either.

Well, now that we have Iowa and New Hampshire out of the way, it’s still not clear, who the front runner is. And, as expected, they are all posturing themselves to be closest to conservatives and proclaim to be Reaganistas. It seems, the base is not going to get their ideal candidate out of this field. Lots of compromises are going to be made in selecting any of the candidates running. Let’s look at the top 4.

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Out of nowhere, Mike Huckabee has emerged as the new leader in polls, putting him ahead of Romney, Rudy, and others. A few months ago he as a total unknown. Now, everyone is talking about him. Reporters can’t get enough of him. Is he peaking too soon? We’ll find out.

The thing about him is that he’s been mostly unknown. And his record hasn’t been scrutinized as deeply as others. Now that he’s a front-runner, that may change soon. To be honest, I was starting to like what I was hearing from him in speeches and debates. I thought maybe, we’ve found the real conservative in the pack.

But hold on a minute. Facts are starting to emerge. We’ll cover that next time. Suffice it to say, he has the momentum now to win Iowa. After that, who knows.

Apologies for not posting in the past few weeks.   We got real busy with the move back to USA from India.  We are still getting settled down.  House is full of boxes, mostly opened, with some still packed.    Hope to get back to normality very soon.

Will pick up the activity here on the blog in the next few days.

It was a great 2 years in India.  But it’s good to be home

Looking at the current crop of GOP candidates, I just can’t seem to get myself enthused. The question keeps popping in my mind is “Where’s the Beef?” None of the top candidates, really, look that impressive, when it comes to conservative principles. And that may be the real problem here. The party itself is in disarray.

Much of the blame goes to George W. himself. He has single handedly managed to take the party platform and cut it into pieces. In short, he has not only weakened, but in some cases, reversed the stance of the core principles that bind the party together. Now, the rest of the field is left to pick up the pieces and the electorates are trying to determine the electability of this weak field.

On key issues like illegal immigration, pork barrel spending, budget deficits, taxes, and judges, Bush has managed to anger the GOP base. On fighting terrorism, arguably, his record is not so great. I’ll explain that a little later.

Needless to say, his muddled vision has led to fracturing of the Republican party from the senate, to the house, all the way down to the grass roots. Grudgingly, I say, that as a leader, he has failed. And that failure and the mish mash of blunders has culminated in this years GOP Presidential field.

Let’s take the top candidates.

McCain is a no go. Actually he should be running from the Democrat side. Enough said. Giuliani’s record on social issues is abysmal. Anyone who turned a city into a illegal sanctuary is a non-starter. Romney looks like a flip flopper. Not knowing how many times he’s flipped and flopped, who know’s what he’ll do once elected.

That leaves the non-candidate candidate Thompson. Frankly, his record doesn’t look that impressive. Although he seems to be saying the right things now to appease the base, my feeling is that he may not be the heavyweight everyone thinks he is. It’s more of a case of wishful thinking, since no one with a good record has really emerged as a strong contender.

Part of the problem, also, is that some of the strong potential candidates got entangled in corruption and essentially caused their own stars to dim. People like Gingrich, and Tom DeLay are the prime examples here.

What this boils down to is that no matter who finally gets the nod from the GOP side, he will not be able to galvanize the electorate to the degree needed to win the general election. Although there is still some time left for a strong leader to emerge, the current field is lacking in horsepower, even before the real race starts against a Dem.

Police in Bengal, India caught the thief red handed. Well sort of. Somebody saw him swallow the chain. They did the x-ray to confirm, and sure enough, the chain is in the stomach.

Well, they went to the books to see what has worked in the past. First they tried vomiting. That only brought out his lunch. Next, they are now trying another method. Feeding. Bananas?

Wouldn’t ex-lax work faster? I suppose they’ll draw straws for who gets to pick it out once it does come. Hey it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it. And who said police work is easy?

Well folks, we are now back from our vacation in Northern India. This being our final tour in India before our return to Michigan. I will be trying to catch on the blog now. Also, I will be adding the photos in the gallery section.

Among the places visited were the magnificent Taj Mahal in Agra, Agra Fort, Nawab palaces in Lucknow, Sangam in Allahabad, and Simla hill station.

Sangam is where the two rivers Ganga and Jamuna meet, and is considered the holy place by Hindus. This has become an annual pilgrimage where millions come to take a dip and wash away all the bad karma, etc…

Surprisingly, I found Agra Fort to be a better monument then Taj Mahal. Not made of marbe, as Taj, but still magnificently built with red stone, and a much bigger and intricate palace like structure.

Simla is a beautiful luscious green mountain range. However, as in typical Indian style, it is not made for family visits. Except for one main shopping area, there are no sidewalks or footpaths. Roads are not walkable as one needs to dodge all kinds of various traffic, such as rickshaws, motorcyles, cows, monkeys, stray dogs, dirt, filth, etc…

Overall, we enjoyed our tour, keeping in mind, one needs to take India for what it is, and not what you wish for.

Lots of stories everyday now on the Bangalore link to the terror cells uncovered in UK and Australia. Highly qualified sons of doctor family are implicated in the terror attacks. More arrests are continuing.

Kafeel Ahmed, the older brother of Sabeel Ahmed, was the man driving the Jeep into Glasgow Airport. Their parents are both doctors living in Bangalore. Of course earlier, Dr. Haneef was caught in Australia. It turns out that Haneef is their cousin.

It has also been revealed that these families have lived abroad in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia before returning to India, and getting their medical degrees.

Seems this may not be the end of this trail . I think we’ll learn about a lot more connections to local Al Qaeda than what the government admits to.

Cops are in the process of grilling the families of these perpetrators.

Meanwhile the state police are now frantically going through their databases for links to other cells, and their shelter areas.

Sad to report that the investigations of the UK terror plot are starting to show a strong Bangalore connection. What’s worse is that it’s a cell of doctors as Michelle Malkin has reported. One held in Britain, and another being held in Australia. Dr. Mohammed Haneef, 27 years old, is being held and questioned by the Australian police. British authorities will be arriving shortly to investigate further.

Dr. Haneef graduated from Bangalore based Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College before moving to UK. Times of India (TOI) page shows the house in Bangalore Mudigere, Chikmagalur district where he was born and grew up. His parents, living in Bangalore, and his wife (a new mother) are all denying that he had anything to do with terrorism.

Although Haneef was in Australia, Scotland Yard investigators found Haneef’s cell phone and other belongings with the man they caught with the car bomb. This person happens to be a former colleague of Haneef, and possibly even a relative. Sketchy reports are starting to surface about their connections to each other.

Although Bangalore has been and continues to be a target for the terrorists due to it’s symbols of wealth and major IT corporations, this is the first time where it’s proving to be a breeding ground for terror cells. Of course Indian government continues to deny any links to Al Qaeda from India. This investigation, however, may prove to them otherwise.

What is truly disheartening is that it turns out to be a cell of doctors. Same professionals who are sworn to save lives are now taking away innocents.

What is not surprising is that this element is coming once again from the same religion that claims to be peaceful, yet continues to foster and nurture the extremists.

Seems genuine. Here is the full confession.

Exactly the same things that conservatives have been saying for a long time, but no one is listening. Here is former British jihadist now confessing the exact same things about the extremists and their justifications for violence. Here is some of what he says in the article:

Formal Islamic theology, unlike Christian theology, does not allow for the separation of state and religion: they are considered to be one and the same.

Well there you go. This doesn’t surprise anyone. Here is some more: [Read more →]

Did Apple discover the cure for cancer? From all the hype in the media and technology gurus, you’d think that this has to be the next best invention since sliced bread.

Come to find out, it’s just a phone that plays music, called iPhone.

Well, for your information, I already have a [Read more →]

I believe we finally got the amnesty bill to RIP. At least for now. Hopefully. But I know, Bush, and amnesty lobby will not rest until they have their way. The open border lobby is determined to get what they want. How else do you explain that both parties were trying so desperately to pass this in the middle of the night without having full hearings.

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Looks like some courageous Republicans left in Congress wound up blocking this bill. At least for now. Kennedy doesn’t get to gloat after all. How long has this guy been in the Senate? A prime example of why there should be term limits in Congress as well. If it’s good for the Presidency, then it’s good for Congress.

Welcome everyone. I have recently updated my blog with a fresh new look and feel.
Also I have added a tab for Photo Gallery on top. I am getting a lot of interest for my photos I have taken around the world, especially in India, so I have added a separate area for that. I will be adding interesting pictures I have taken.

I have now added

• Bangalore Photo Gallery
• India Photo Gallery

I will be adding other galleries in India, like Mysore, Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa, Kerala, and many more.

I have also added a Bangalore Companies photo gallery page to show a small sample of the concrete jungle created by the gold rush of outsourcing and offshoring from the global multi-national corporations.

Hope you all enjoy.

I expected this from the Democrats. But the Republicans and the Bush administration is really insulting the intelligence of all immigrants, including me. This is not an immigration bill, it’s an amnesty bill for all illegals here.

There are already laws on the books for immigration. These people are here illegally. I have nothing against Hispanics, or any other groups or nationalities that want to come to America. But, illegals are illegal. That means they broke the law, by sneaking here in the middle of the night, or whatever method they used.

This has nothing to do with immigration. The powers to be keep calling the law abiding citizens bigots, right wing nuts, etc… All trying to skirt the real issue of illegality.

We don’t need more laws. We already have laws. We need more enforcement of the existing laws. The rhetoric is really ridiculous, and the name calling is demeaning. Anyone see the size of this bill? It looks bigger than the IRS books.

No wonder the Republican party is losing its base and funding. The party is in shambles and will take years to re-build. Meanwhile the Lib Dems can enjoy the glory days for the next decade.

An Iraqi man was caught at LAX during screening process after triggering alarms. Flight was diverted with his luggage due to supposed threat. Eventually, an electronic device with wires was found and removed by the bomb squad from the body cavity. Full story is here. And here.

Man said he was trying to “relieve stress”. More from the story:

Al-Maliki told investigators the objects he had in his body were there for therapeutic purposes, and that he had forgotten to remove them before reaching the security checkpoint. …

“I believe we’re about as confused as you until we finish the investigation,” said Ethel McGuire, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office.

This is turning into a daily barrage. The Indian media, especially Times of India, continue to do hit jobs on America and the military.

This time it’s a show piece on American military crimes that have already been well documented by the world media over the past 4 years. Sub title is “US forces Book of Shame”

Of course there is no shame in obvious bias and hypocrisy. There is no other point to this reporting, except to fuel the anti-American feelings and brainwashing the locals.

Is this really news? Worth repeating over and over again? Where is the balance? Are there no crimes ever being committed by Indian military? or the Russians? Or Iranians? …

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Some politician organized a protest rally against the hanging of Saddam. Sure enough things got ugly fast, and it turned into a riot. Buses, auto-rickshaws, cars, and shops were set ablaze. Residences and other properties also damaged or destroyed by the unruly. City is now left wondering why this keeps happening to the IT capital of the world.

Some people are still upset over what happened to Saddam and can’t get any sleep. And yet no-one is crying about the innocents dying from the suicide bombers. This is really amazing. Even Delhi politicians are all upset and complaining about Saddam hanging.

Times of India media campaign for “India poised”, is a little ironic. Poised for what? is the question they haven’t quite answered yet, as these riots keeps happening every month or so in and around Bangalore. This un-civil element is large enough where the police can’t do anything to keep it under control.

1. Osama be gone (good riddance to Saddam)
2. Air travel to be fun again (security checks made quick and easy, ….)
3. Full electric (or solar) cars (no more gasoline)
4. Real broadband availability in India (and elsewhere; higher than 256Kbs)
5. Global warming just enough to make Michigan winter only 1 month instead of 6
6. A real conservative candidate (I haven’t seen one emerge yet)
7. Non-corrupt politicians
8. Simplified tax code (1 page tax return; or just sales tax, no income tax)
9. Quota system abolished
10. Liberals to admit (and see the light) failed policies of the past 50 years

Happy New Year to all. We’ll explore some of these topics more extensively in the near future.

The Futurist is a new great blog I have discovered recently. I have added it to my blog roll, in the right column.

It offers a look at “The Jungle” on a much higher intellectual plane. There is no information on the author of this blog, but he/she has certainly provided something valuable in terms of intellectual thought provocation.

On the one hand, I am envious of it, on the other hand, I’m in awe of it. As this offers me something to strive towards here at The Jungle Report. I would encourage you all to pay a visit, and give it a read. Be warned, it is not for the politically correct herd.

In its latest column, The Futurist analyzes the successful societies and compares them to the non-successful societies on the earth. [Read more →]