Blog Heap o'Links for July 2011

Links in this view: 365
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Liberty and Justice

The FBI today revealed that it believes it has America's most elusive fugitive finally in its sights 40 years after famed hijacker DB Cooper disappeared when he jumped out of a plane over Washington. Investigators said that they are testing the fingerprints of a new suspect after what they said is the 'most promising' lead to date in its bid to crack America's only unsolved hijacking.

7:35pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 31 :MW
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Obamanation

Just so we all know what happened, in the middle of the debt talks, in the middle of the markets dropping, in the middle of credit rating companies looking to downgrade the US bond rating, Obama gleefully enacts a standard that is twice the standard of today. As of yet, no major car company has shown the ability to meet the 2016 mandated standard of 35 mpg so why not push for an even higher standard? [h/t Doug Brady at Conservatives4Palin]

6:18pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

President Barack Obama's speech to the nation Monday night was highly disturbing. Because read carefully, it reveals a president wildly divorced from the fundamental realities of the nation he is supposed to be leading.

3:22pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Surprise, surprise! The DNC's first ad out of the election 2012 gate, is a wink, wink…nudge, nudge to illegal aliens and their supporters. Why just the other day Obama told LaRaza how tempted he was to "bypass congress" and "change laws" on his own.

3:16pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

President Obama specifically asked Eric Holder to do a "complete review" of "current gun enforcement operations," in April 2009, yet Eric Holder and President Obama deny they authorized or knew anything specific about Operation Fast and Furious until 2011? It seems too "coincidental" that the President of the United States was talking about "ballistics and gun tracing" in April 2009, when Operation Fast and Furious started in Fall 2009, especially when the agencies he listed in the 2009 press conference, DHS, DOJ, ATF, "everybody involved," match up with Newell's admission about which agencies came up with the idea for Fast and Furious in the first place, which included, as stated above, DEA, IRS, ATF, DHS, and the Obama DOJ.

3:08pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Playing Politics

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann's failure to address a disturbing trend of teen suicides within her own congressional district does not reflect well on her White House ambitions, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi told The Advocate Thursday. ... At least four suicide victims, as Mother Jones noted in a feature published Monday, had been reported victims of bullying because they were LGBT or perceived to be LGBT. ... There are several things wrong with this: Getting attacked by Nancy Pelosi is good for Republicans. To say "X got bullied" and "X committed suicide" shows correlation, not causation. What about all of the gay people who didn't commit suicide? But this is just more "Republicans are homophobes" propaganda.

6:22pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Wars and Rumors

As drug smugglers from the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico sent a never-ending stream of cocaine across the border and into a vast U.S. distribution web in Los Angeles, DEA agents were watching and listening.

6:46pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Iran's escalating activity on the territory of its western neighbor, Iraq, could end up becoming the real catalyst for a U.S.-Iranian conflict. That was the message conveyed by General Martin Dempsey, the incoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his July 26th confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. ... Iran has been allowed to wage irregular warfare against the United States and its Coalition allies for years with virtual impunity. Policymakers in Washington and European capitals, fearful of a drift into even greater regional conflict, have chosen largely to ignore Iran's provocations and keep the peace with the Islamic Republic. And as a result, Iran's leaders have become convinced that their extensive interference in Iraq is by and large a cost-free exercise. But all this could soon change. "[T]here is a high potential that Iran will make a serious miscalculation of US resolve," Gen. Dempsey told lawmakers in Congress. "As long as we've got those soldiers there, we're going to do whatever we have to do to protect them." Doing so could lead inexorably to conflict with the Islamic Republic.

6:43pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

The security situation in Iraq is more dangerous than it was a year ago, according to a government watchdog report issued Saturday that cites more attacks on U.S. troops, a continuing wave of assassinations targeting Iraqi officials and a growing number of indirect rocket strikes on Baghdad's Green Zone. ... The findings contrast with public statements by U.S. diplomatic and military officials in Iraq and come as Washington awaits a final decision by Iraqi leaders on whether they want U.S. troops to stay in the country beyond the expiration of a three-year security agreement in December. U.S. officials have said they are willing to extend the American military presence into 2012 only after receiving a formal request from Iraqi leaders.

6:41pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Big Brother

Iarpa, the intelligence community's way-out research shop, wants to know where you took that vacation picture over the Fourth of July. It wants to know where you took that snapshot with your friends when you were at that New Year's Eve party. Oh yeah, and if you happen to be a terrorist and you took a photo with some of your buddies while prepping for a raid, the agency definitely wants to know where you took that picture — and it's looking for ideas to help figure it out. In an announcement for its new "Finder" program, the agency says that it is looking for ways to geolocate (a fancy word for "locate" that implies having coordinates for a place) images by extracting data from the images themselves and using this to make guesses about where they were taken. ... And you better believe that it's not just spooks who want to know where images were taken. Google, Facebook, Apple and all the other internet and social media giants are probably looking to do the same thing so that they can better understand where their users are and what they are doing there. So before long your Facebook or Google+ account will be automatically tagging who is in your pictures and where they were taken… …and spooks might be, too.

6:41pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee voted 19-10 for H.R. 1981, a data-retention bill that will require your ISP to spy on everything you do online and save records of it for 12 months. California Rep Zoe Lofgren, one of the Democrats who opposed the bill, called it a "data bank of every digital act by every American" that would "let us find out where every single American visited Web sites."

3:08pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW
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Art of

Likely inspired by the Chinese art of paper-cutting, these highly-detailed false lashes by Taiwanese designer Ting yu Wang incorporates designs, animals, and sometimes even a whole scene that will fit atop your eyelids.
3:17pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Man and Woman

Feminism is better termed femisogyny because it is an ideology which hates all things feminine in women
12:06pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Educating Ourselves

Below I've highlighted seven key questions that should be asked of our education system. Interestingly, all of the problems they touch on have one common culprit: mass standardization. While left-liberals love to espouse the virtues of diversity, their actions do not follow their words. Real diversity is achieved by respecting the liberties of individuals, not by forcing conformity on them. Real educational diversity requires the freedom to define and pursue education according to one's values, interests, and aptitude. Education will be revolutionized once these liberties are afforded. [h/t to Cuz BD]

2:50pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

I found this blog awhile back and haven't missed a Daily Grudge since. Keep on doing what you are doing, because it is working. For so long, I thought I was alone, now I know I have patriot brothers and sisters all over the nation…it has inspired me and strengthened me to do things I never imagined. [Commenter blessed2beme3]

12:58pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW
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US Military

Two weeks after a Texas congressman tried force a House vote on his bill mandating that servicemembers be paid first in the event of a government shutdown, only nine representatives have signed on. The so-called discharge petition requires 218 signatures.

2:56pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Sarah Palin 2012

ObamaMake no mistake: that's what happened over the past weekend. We have been through a mercilessly condensed version of a presidential campaign, lasting only hours, in which Barack Obama ran against his own image, demonstrated himself unworthy of office, and threw away any chance of victory in next year's contest.

2:54pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45Gallup Shows Governor Palin's Favorable Rating Among GOP/GOP-Leaning Indies to Be Back Over 70%. That's what my math shows when you multiply the percentage of Republican/Republican-leaning indies who recognize the candidate by the percentage of Republican/Republican-leaning indies who have an overall favorable opinion of the candidate.

2:54pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

ObamaIn every reputable battleground state poll conducted over the past month, Obama's support is weak. In most of them, he trails Republican front-runner Mitt Romney. For all the talk of a closely fought 2012 election, if Obama can't turn around his fortunes in states such as Michigan and New Hampshire, next year's presidential election could end up being a GOP landslide.

2:53pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

ObamaPresident Obama's job approval rating is at a new low, averaging 40% in July 26-28 Gallup Daily tracking.

2:53pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Romney has a financial stake in the success of climate change legislation. [h/t to The Pagan Temple, commenter on Sister Toldjah]

1:37pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Liberty Works

Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson wrote an awesome book that chronicled his "awakening," if you will, titled, From Rage to Responsibility . The book reminds me of David Mamet's book, The Secret Knowledge, in that he and Peterson simply stopped taking Leftist ideology as unquestionable truth. Because they saw first hand the misery and havoc Leftist policies wreak on American culture and the destruction of the individual, as well as the high the cost to people when they play the "blame game." These two men know the price paid for even daring to question "Liberal Orthodoxy." Hmm... no wonder Leftisits and Islamists get along so well. [Commenter Victora Hernandez]

11:31am CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Governing Ourselves

US FlagWhile President Obama, Senate Democrats and inside the beltway Republicans remain addicted to spending more money they do not have, a brave bloc of Congressional Members have stood up and said, "no". These 22 brave members of Congress bucked their party leadership and voted against Speaker Boehner's debt ceiling bill. These lawmakers understand full well that they were elected to represent the American People and to reject the Washington D.C. wheeling and dealing that got us in this mess in the first place.

6:13pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW

Rush Limbaugh: The Republican leadership is operating out of fear. I want you to think, to transfer that to your personal life, and I want to ask you to consider: Whenever you do anything out of fear, how does it turn out? Doing anything from the perspective of fear is disastrous, or potentially so. And that has been the position of the Republican leadership and the inside-the-Beltway so-called conservative media. Fear. Fear of being blamed, primarily. But fear of other things. The age-old fears, the fears rooted in the mentality of being consistent, constant losers. ... Winners do not compromise. Winners do not compromise with themselves. The winners who do compromise are winners who still don't believe in themselves as winners, who still think of themselves as losers. And you and I are finished with supporting people who think of themselves as losers, or in the minority, or we don't have the power, or we don't control all three branches, or what have you. ... The Tea Party is putting country before party. They can't be bought off with committee assignments or with campaign re-election funds. They can't be bought, and Washington can't understand this.

6:11pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 30 :MW
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Obamanation

US officials thought they would catch Mexican criminals in a bold gun-running sting called 'Fast and Furious.' Instead, they inadvertently armed drug cartels as the operation spiraled out of control, a congressional report finds. ... According to whistleblowers and key witnesses, however, the real lesson behind Fast and Furious, a two-year operation that ended in January 2011, is how "groupthink" clouded decision-making at the highest levels of government, causing an agency to go against its basic instincts — which is to not allow arms to be trafficked illegally — and consequently contribute, not detract, from border violence. "These guns weren't going for a positive cause, they were going for a negative cause," ATF attaché Carlos Canino told the congressional oversight committee. "The ATF armed the [Sinaloa] cartel. It's disgusting."

1:30pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Whatever his critics may say, Obama does know how to lead. He understands exactly where he is taking us. What strikes many as policy confusion or timidity is really just the tension between Obama's pragmatist cover and his deeply ideological long-term goals. Oddly, Obama's apparently quirky and confused Libya policy may now be the most effective example of how his seemingly reluctant leadership-style dovetails with his long-term transformative aspirations, foreign and domestic. ... up to now, Obama's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan have been pragmatic concessions to political reality. They also show how Obama's sometimes conventional-sounding foreign policy pronouncements mask goals that are far more "novel and grand," the displacement of national interest as the core guide to American foreign policy and its replacement with an effort to bring about equality among nations.

1:29pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Let me give you some small idea of how screwed up Washington math is, and how much it favors those who are in power over those of us who foot the bill with our blood and treasure: If we JUST CAPPED SPENDING-- spent the same amount next FY as we did this FY, the CBO would score that as a $9.5 trillion dollar cut. So before anyone can claim we're "cutting" anything, the number they are talking about has to exceed $9.5 trillion. The Boehner plan, with all its actuarial tomfoolery, claims to cut something in the neighborhood of $850 billion. And only $20 billion of that is this year. So John Boehner is saying to you that spending $20 billion less than Obama's opening offer is worth giving him a blank check for a trillion and more.

12:49pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Playing Politics

Why is it that liberals always think in terms of 'shared sacrifice' and conservatives think in terms of 'shared prosperity'? [Commenter Greg at Sister Toldjah]

12:16pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Sex can be Dangerous

Marie Claire tells the story of Frank Rodriguez, a Texas carpenter who is listed on his state's sex offender registry because he pleaded guilty to "sexual assault of a child." That "child" was his high school girlfriend, Nikki Prescott, who was nearly 16 at the time; today she is his wife and the mother of his two daughters. The state of Texas treated their relationship as a crime, and they have been living with the consequences ever since: Rodriguez had to move out of his parents' home because his 12-year-old sister lived there, and even living in the same house with his wife and daughters was illegal until he completed seven years of probation. His sentence completed, he and his family were still dogged by the stigma of his lifetime registration, which disrupted his education plans, impaired his job prospects, and scared away neighbors. Now he is petitioning for removal from the registry under a new law that loosened the requirements for the state's "Romeo and Juliet" exception...

1:26pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Disturbing Family Patterns

21 percent of white fathers, 44 percent of black fathers, and 35 percent of Hispanic fathers live apart from their children. Twenty-seven percent of absent fathers say they have not seen their children even once in the past year. ... 26-year longitudinal study which says that the strongest factor indicating whether children practiced high levels of empathic concern for others in their adult years was whether they had an involved father in their life.
h/t: Cuz BD
12:28pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Criminally Stupid

In the wake of Abdo's arrest, Courage to Resist removed a page on their website that detailed Abdo's plight, but it was preserved through Google cache. Reached by Raw Story, Jeff Paterson, the group's project director, acknowledged that they had tried to cover up their involvement with the soldier and said they would be issuing a statement in the coming hours. He added that his impression of Abdo was a young man with "mental health issues" who was "very difficult to work with." ... Abdo was the first Muslim soldier to seek CO status due to his faith. In televised interviews, he claimed that his beliefs would not permit him to kill other Muslims. In spite of this claim, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy said last year that he should not be granted CO status and instead face a military tribunal for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. [h/t to Ed Morrissey at Hot Air linked to by Joy McCann at Conservative Commune

10:35am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

I just wanted to highlight the detail that was the most fun for me: the guy went into a gun store, and started talking about explosives. ... "(We) felt uncomfortable with his overall demeanor and the fact he didn't know what the hell he was buying," Ebert said. "I thought it prudent to contact the local authorities, which I did."

10:30am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Mass Murdering Monsters

Anders Behring Breivik is now commonly referred to as "deranged", "insane", "crazy", a "madman", a "lunatic", etc. These descriptives are an attempt to put last week's events in Norway into a context that makes sense to the rest of us, but they are misnomers: based on the available evidence, he is a psychopath. A psychopath is not clinically insane. He is quite rational, often more rational and lucid than most people. He is able to stay calmly focused on his goals over a long period of time. His behavior is not erratic or capricious. His reasoning and methodology are not impaired, but that does not mean he is not mentally ill. What makes the psychopath abnormal are his goals, which are to varying degrees violent, destructive, depraved, monstrous, and inhuman. His focused lucidity is directed towards deeds that lie beyond the pale of our common humanity. The psychopath's world contains nothing but himself, and all his actions are informed by a grandiosity that culminates in massive, murderous, bloodthirsty deeds that will glorify him forever in history, as presented on the stage of his own mind. (video)

12:54pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

But no one is talking about the Dexter Factor, which is this: "Andrew Berwick" liked the Dexter cable series about a ruthless and completely deceptive serial killer.

12:54pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Know the Enemy

But there has been one incident, more than any other, that illustrates the brutality of this 10-year-old war, and the depths of the violence that still exists in Helmand today, despite the hopes of transition and the continuing presence of international troops. Last Friday a boy was kidnapped from his home in Gereshk by a group of insurgents. His name was Ibrahim. Officials said he was just eight years old, though his family say he had just turned 12. Either way he was an innocent bystander in this conflict. The insurgents told Ibrahim his father had been injured in a car accident and promised to take him to the local hospital. In reality they wanted Ibrahim to blackmail his dad, a local police officer called Daoud. While they held Ibrahim the insurgents rang Daoud saying he would have to handover his green police pick-up truck, for the safe return of his son. At first Daoud thought it was a joke. When the voice on his phone started swearing, he simply refused. The gang of insurgents were deadly serious. Days later Ibrahim's body was found dumped in a ditch. He had been strangled. The Taliban have denied responsibility, but Daoud is certain they were behind his son's murder. He asks who else would have wanted a truck with police markings?

1:39pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

All-Buddhist militias in southern Thailand must defend themselves against Islamic militants. Their temples have become fortresses ringed with razor wire. [h/t to War News Updates]

1:36pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a classified report late last year that Russia's military intelligence was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September. [h/t to War News Updates

1:35pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a classified report late last year that Russia's military intelligence was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September. ... Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona... "It seems incongruous for the administration to pursue a cooperative missile-defense agreement if, at pretty high levels, the GRU and their government is authorizing the bombing of our embassy...."

1:34pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Federal officials have charged several men with planning to use money from sales of heroin on U.S. streets to buy missiles to help arm Hezbollah. The suspects were allegedly trying to purchase military-grade weapons, like Stinger missiles, with profits from drug sales in the U.S., including in New York. But DEA agents posed as weapons dealers in the sting operations and arrested the men with the help of Romanian authorities. Two others were arrested in the Maldives.

1:27pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW
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Climate Changes

NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted.... study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.... "There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans." ... data show the atmosphere begins shedding heat into space long before United Nations computer models predicted.

10:40am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Just five years ago, Charles Monnett was one of the scientists whose observation that several polar bears had drowned in the Arctic Ocean helped galvanize the global warming movement. Now, the wildlife biologist is on administrative leave and facing accusations of scientific misconduct. ... pending the results of an investigation into "integrity issues." A watchdog group believes it has to do with the 2006 journal article about the bear, but a source familiar with the investigation said late Thursday that placing Monnett on leave had nothing to with scientific integrity or the article.

10:38am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Repeal! Repeal! Repeal!

ObamaA graduate student asked him about replacing "the war on drugs" with "a more sophisticated and cost-effective program of rehabilitation such as the one in Portugal." Here is Obama's response: I have stated repeatedly—and it's actually reflected in our most recent statement by our office of drug policy—that we need to have an approach that emphasizes prevention, treatment, a public health model for reducing drug use in our country. We've got to put more resources into that. We can't simply focus on interdiction because, frankly, no matter how good of a job we're doing when it comes to an interdiction approach, if there is high demand in this country for drugs, we are going to continue to see not only drug use but also the violence associated with the drug trade.... Just to make sure that I'm actually answering your question, am I willing to pursue a decriminalization strategy as an approach? No.

1:25pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

HempIn Arizona, meanwhile, the Medical Marijuana Act approved by voters last November remains on hold thanks to Gov. Jan Brewer, who worries that it conflicts with the federal Controlled Substances Act. Brewer, a Republican who proudly advocates a "new federalism" that "protects the States and [their] citizens against an over-reaching federal government," in this case seems happy to let the Obama administration override the will of Arizona's voters.

1:25pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Today the NAACP has taken a major step towards equity, justice and effective law enforcement. These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African American communities must be stopped and replaced with evidenced-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America. ... So far, so good, although I'm not quite sure what policy the NAACP is endorsing.

1:23pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW
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Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45Upon originally hearing about The Undefeated, Youth for Palin wanted to be involved in promoting the film because of the message that the film would share with the public. So Youth for Palin contacted Victory Film Group, offering to bring awareness to The Undefeated. ... Within 24 hours this video attracted at least 10 comments that advocated the beheading, killing and/or violent gang rape of Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughters.

12:52pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Liberty Works

There's no way to appreciate fully the contributions of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006), who would have turned 99 years old this weekend, to the growth of libertarian ideas and a free society. (Video)

12:50pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Securing Our Borders

U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors returned 33 Mexican soldiers on Tuesday who inadvertently crossed over the Rio Grande river into Texas, authorities said. The soldiers, packed into four Humvees, crossed over the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge into south Texas ... In a statement late Tuesday, the Mexican military said the troops "unintentionally" crossed over the bridge while they were carrying out reconnaissance on the border. After clarifying the error with U.S. authorities, they returned to Mexico and continued their "routine activities," it said. ...

1:36pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW

Defending Ourselves

Police say a man who robbed a business in north Houston is dead after apparently being run over by the person he robbed. Kenneth Kobobel Sr., a 72-year-old Marine veteran chased down his attacker in his car pinning him against a fence. The assailant attempted to shoot Mr. Kobobel, but his injuries from being hit by 4000 lbs of car ended his life before he was able to commit any additional crimes. [h/t to Smitty at The Other McCain]

1:09pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 29 :MW
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Obamanation

The only thing I'm sure of is that what I saw today is a broken process and a sham. We all want a decent environment in which to live, but when various people at a public meeting — including federal officials and community members — talk about "environmental justice" and make it clear that their intent is to make it harder for businesses to operate, well, I can see why a businessman would decide to quit. I consider myself an environmentalist — because I want to live in a safe, secure, clean world — but what I saw isn't reasonable concern for the environment as much as it's an ideological agenda.

7:18pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 28 :MW

The ATF manager of the Phoenix office notified a White House official of Operation Fast and Furious as an update on the overall Project Gunrunner effort, connecting the controversial operation directly to the White House for the first time

7:12pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 28 :MW
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Art of

Fantastic 4
I discovered a sort of superheroish first issue from an unnamed company that I associated with monster titles that I generally passed over. … The book was Fantastic Four number one, and as I said, that was fifty years ago. I nearly missed it: a week or two later I fell across Fantastic Four number two; the book was bi-monthly back then and I doubt I would have bothered with it had I not read and loved the first issue. … —Mike Gold
7:54pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 27 :MW
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Obamanation

Barack Obama, once perceived as extraordinary, now just seems extra-ordinary. He has gotten politically boring. And America does not re-elect boring presidents. ... he is tiresome, unpersuasive, divisive, repetitive, predictable, and cynical -- importantly, the opposite of everything advertised himself to be. Somewhere along the way, the once-soaring speeches of The Great Orator degenerated into longwinded clichés delivered in a grating, repetitive cadence. The electric smile morphed into a frequent scowl. Inspiring messages have given way to blaming everyone else for the lack of success of his policies and scolding his subjects for not "stepping up their game." His every word seems politically calculated rather than anchored by principle. He's shown little ability to electrify, motivate, persuade or unify anyone-except his political opposition. The country seems tired of him. ... Somewhere along the way, the once-soaring speeches of The Great Orator degenerated into longwinded clichés delivered in a grating, repetitive cadence. The electric smile morphed into a frequent scowl. Inspiring messages have given way to blaming everyone else for the lack of success of his policies and scolding his subjects for not "stepping up their game." His every word seems politically calculated rather than anchored by principle. He's shown little ability to electrify, motivate, persuade or unify anyone-except his political opposition. The country seems tired of him.

7:47pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

"The idea of doing things on my own is very tempting, I promise you, not just on immigration reform. But that's not how our system works. That's not how our democracy functions," Obama told the National Council of La Raza. Speaking at the organization's annual conference in Washington, Obama said passing immigration reform measures will require support from both sides of the aisle in Congress. "Let's be honest, I need a dance partner here, and the floor is empty," he said. ... "Feel free to keep the heat on me and the heat on Democrats. But here's the thing you should know, the Democrats and your president are with you, don't get confused about that," he said Monday. La Raza is the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, and its meetings regularly draw top political leaders.

7:39pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

"I wanted to give you an update on the current situation around the debt ceiling," Mr. Obama said at 6:06 p.m. OK, that wasn't a lie — but just about everything he said after it was, and he knows it.

7:37pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

ObamaIf Obama truly believed we all can pay a little more, he could put his money where his mouth is. Mr. President, save $12 billion by abolishing the IRS and instituting a national sales tax of 26% on our $15.2-trillion economy to raise the $4 trillion to run your federal social justice program. Everybody would pay their fair share of the ever-escalating costs of government entitlement programs. Add in the local sales tax, and one third of every dollar goes to government costs! In about a week, everybody would be willing to cut government spending.

7:37pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

The failed federal anti-gunrunning program known as Operation Fast and Furious got so out of control in November 2009, it appeared the U.S. government was single-handedly "arming for war" the Sinaloa Cartel, documents show, even as U.S. officials kept lying to fellow agents in Mexico about the volume of guns it helped send south of the border. Those shocking allegations are revealed in the latest congressional report investigating the operation. ... "How long are you going to let this go on?" Steve Martin, an assistant director of intelligence operations asked the ATF top brass at meeting Jan. 5, 2010, according to a transcript of the meeting contained in the congressional report. None of the men responded and several quickly left the room ...

6:11pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

ObamaThe known leaders of the Libyan rebel forces on the ground are all former LIFG fighters, some with documented personal connections to al-Qaeda.

6:09pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Playing Politics

Every other suggestion was some variant of Boost Workers' Pay! And Stop The War On Workers! Stop the waste of wars and invest the money in peace-building. Tax speculation. Get corporations to pay. Robin Hood tax -- tax Wall Street speculation. Tax "dirty energy" -- in which they include oil, gas, coal, and nuclear. Leaving...ummm?

7:36pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Wars and Rumors

Top US officer Admiral Michael Mullen on Monday acknowledged NATO was in a "stalemate" in its Libya campaign but still voiced optimism the strategy would lead to the departure of Moamer Kadhafi.

6:16pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Criminally Stupid

The officers approached the man who was walking down the middle of the street with the child in his hands when he turned and threw the baby in the direction of one officer who caught the baby.... As the officer gave the baby to the mother, the suspect then began punching the officer's partner and a struggle ensued with the three, lasting several minutes

7:41pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Sharia Sucks

Islam does not require second wives, so Muslims in the West must "follow the laws," Badawi wrote in a May 2005 Islam Online fatwa. Yet he claims that Western prohibition of second wives for Muslims denies "a particular right according to [our] own sharia." Western democracies should "reciprocate" what Badawi considers Islamic tolerance of religious minority worship, teachings, family law, and estate division with equal "autonomy in [Islamic] issues ... , including marriage." They should except their own laws to legalize Muslim sharia, making Islamic polygamy "quiet [sic] legitimate," and superior to Western secular laws allowing homosexual marriage. Often, he claims, no "solution would be better than polygamy" -- for men with barren wives "instinctively aspir[ing] to have children or heirs," for example, or whose "chronically ill" wives they must divorce or forever "suppress ... instinctive sexual needs" and secretly take "one or more illicit sex partners." Forget women's wants or needs. Polygamy is an "optional solution," Badawi claims.

7:43pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Mass Murdering Monsters

Cultural Marxism is holding hands with the most malignant elements of radical Islam. What we saw last week was pure barbarism. I don't care how much this ruthless maniac claims to stand for European civilization, his actions make him a barbarian.

7:27pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

9/11 - still with us

The iconic World Trade Center cross -- two intersecting steel beams that held up when the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001 -- was moved Saturday to its new home at the nearby 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

6:16pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Transport Disaster

At least 32 people died when a high-speed train smashed into a stalled train in China's eastern Zhejiang province Saturday, state media said, raising new questions about the safety of the fast-growing rail network. The accident occurred on a bridge near the city of Wenzhou after the first train lost power due to a lightning strike and a bullet train following behind crashed into it.... The total power failure rendered useless an electronic safety system designed to warn following trains of stalled trains on the tracks up ahead, and automatically halt them before a collision can occur.... The flagship Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line has been plagued by power outages, leaving passengers stranded on stuffy trains for hours at least three times since opening a month ago.

7:29pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW
2

Art of

Smiley Bone
When you first began Bone, did you ever expect the comic to become as big as it is? Oh no, my big hope was just that I'd be able to pay for my print run. When I first started, my best hope was just to make it through the first year because I had promised my wife that if it didn't work out in the first year — if I didn't have some reason to believe it would make money — I would actually give it up and go back to my day job as an animator. So I'm very grateful it worked out.
12:51pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Life and Death

21 hours after his family called in an undertaker who sent him to the morgue after an asthma attack. Kupelo says the man started yelling, prompting morgue workers to run away in fear. They eventually returned and removed him from the fridge. He was then taken to a nearby hospital and later discharged by doctors who deemed him stable.

7:42pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Spiritual Matters

Be near them, Lord Jesus, in the midst of this great horror. Gently touch their wounds and gather together the pieces of their shattered hearts, for they will need every fractured piece of it in the days, weeks and years to come.
6:10pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

It's All in Your Mind

ut in the first direct comparison of humans to chimpanzees, a brain-scanning team led by George Washington University anthropologist Chet Sherwood found that chimpanzees don't experience such brain loss. From that, researchers concluded that only people are afflicted by this oddity of longevity. "We are very weird animals," said Emory University anthropologist Todd Preuss at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, who wasn't involved in the study. "Among neuroscientists, the assumption has been that species are all the same, but this shows there is something really unusual about the late-life biology of the human species."

2:19pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Language Culture

Our recent piece on Americanisms entering the language in the UK prompted thousands of you to e-mail examples. Here are 50 of the most e-mailed. What kind of word is "gotten"? It makes me shudder.

6:18pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

ObamaWith all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said: "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition." This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election.... Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble. ... Obama's overall job approval on the economy has slid below 40% for the first time, with 57% disapproving. And strong disapprovers outnumber approvers by better than two-to-one.

8:06pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

We need to become a little tougher-minded, and cease believing things simply because we saw them on the Net. The left has this stuff scoped out. They know exactly what kind of effect they want, and exactly how to create it. We are well aware that a considerable amount of cash, time, and effort goes into monitoring our sites, including our comment boards. We know full well -- having dealt with them endlessly -- that there are individuals, very likely on the payroll of a certain gentleman from Hungary, who are always available to throw a wrench into things when called for. These people are out to create uncertainty, hopelessness, and paranoia by whatever means they can. They will be doing this on the grand scale during the upcoming election. From here on in, we need to at least consider the possibility that the people promoting visions of chaos and disaster on conservative websites and elsewhere may well be out to push an agenda utterly opposed to our own. Our response must be to think hard and don't jump to conclusions.

7:58pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Governing Ourselves

Two rounds of QE have now been completed and, as a result, the Fed owns approximately $1.7 Trillion of US Treasuries or around 12% of the US debt. In fact, the amount held by the Fed far exceeds that held by China, Japan or any other foreign government. ... So, what if the Fed... unilaterally decided to cancel those debts? ...wipe all or part of the $1.7T US obligation from their books and notify the US Treasury that they are canceling the debt? ... The US would then be seen as just another banana republic, able to do whatever it wanted in the fiscal monetary arena. This view would place us on the same paths taken by Weimar Germany, Zimbabwe and innumerable other countries who deliberately destroyed their currencies.

8:04pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

US FlagNothing Democrats did helped; everything they did hurt. Everything. Min wage. TARP. Stimulus. ObamaCare. The Gulf oil spill. Every budget they ever proposed, written or not. Every little czar they put in place to spend other people's money and to bully the only productive people still toiling away at the thankless tasks of making stuff and providing jobs. At every point, the Tea Party and its sympathizers tried to stop these idiocies, only to be called ignorant racists. You might want to ask yourself why so many people talk of the "Tea Party," whatever that is, the way Lenin and Stalin talked of kulaks and saboteurs, whoever they were.

8:00pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

United States of America

US FlagBig Government never really was a part of the American ethos and culture. The proper role of government...now that is a story that needs retelling in every generation, and it seems that it is going to happen again very shortly.

7:53pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW

Free Expression

Gardens of Southgate filed the suit this month against Timothy and Jodi Burr, who have lived in the subdivision since 2006. The Burrs placed a large multicolored banner with a picture of their 20-year-old son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Corey Burr, and the phrase "Our son defends our freedom" in January after Corey Burr was deployed to Afghanistan. Jodi Burr says her family will fight the suit and do not intend to remove the sign.... Burrs contend signs supporting a school or team are visible throughout the neighborhood.

7:38pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 26 :MW
1

Obamanation

Obama has lost the youth vote — he just isn't trendy any more. Which is good news for Republicans: President Untrendy gives us a better chance to win. As a generation of media-encouraged Obama idealists has turned economic realists, Republicans can appeal to this age bracket to take the prize next year. [h/t to Cuz BD]

6:42pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 25 :MW

Playing Politics

AntOLD VERSION ... The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. ... MODERN VERSION ... Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving. ...

5:56pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 25 :MW

Theory of Education

So what happens when, using Khan Academy, you wind up with a kid in fifth grade who has mastered high school trigonometry and physics—but is still functioning like a regular 10-year-old when it comes to writing, history, and social studies? Khan's programmer, Ben Kamens, has heard from teachers who've seen Khan Academy presentations and loved the idea but wondered whether they could modify it "to stop students from becoming this advanced." This attitude is a natural outgrowth of our decision to operate education as a monopoly. [h/t to Cuz BD]

5:54pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 25 :MW
2

Raising Ourselves

Early childhood "education"? There's no such thing. Content is everything. The question is, what content are we going to transmit?

5:49pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 25 :MW

Science Marches Onnnnnn

Robert Ettinger, who died on July 23 aged 92, was the intellectual father of the cryonics movement, whose members have themselves frozen at death pending scientific resurrection. ... Robert Ettinger will be shipped back to Michigan to join his two wives and his mother in cold storage. He is survived by a son and a daughter from his first marriage, both of whom are active immortalists.

5:52pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 25 :MW

Educating Ourselves

"It's a real catch-22 at the moment: if you decide to go to university and don't work, you leave with qualifications but no work experience and lots of debt. If you opt out of university and concentrate on work, you get plenty of work experience but no qualifications...." "Everything is done online and if I want to do three lectures in a day, I can. I set my own timetable, that's one of the good things about long distance learning."

6:55pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 25 :MW
3

Defending Ourselves

she chased Vaughn Matthews, a career criminal with a dozen arrests going back 19 years, down a stairwell, but when she tried to get her bag from him, he lashed out, breaking her wrist and punching her in the stomach. That's when O'Brien says she drew on her 3.5 years of kick-box training, leveling a kick at the suspect's shin, shattering it in two places. Officers say they found Matthews, screaming in pain, lying on the street.

5:31pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 25 :MW
1

Obamanation

"It's the President who walked away from his agreement and demanded more money. At the last minute. And the only way to get that extra revenue was to raise taxes."

11:29am CDT Sun 2011 Jul 24 :MW

Mass Murdering Monsters

One of the first, and one of the most disgusting events that occured after the January shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was that many in the press and the internet blamed Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for the shooting. Not even 24 hours has passed since the tragic events in Norway, and people on the net are already pushing the link between suspect Anders Breivik and Sarah Palin.

5:37pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 24 :MW

The 3 Big Questions About Anders Behring Breivik's Facebook Profile 1: Why is there a version of Anders Behring Breivik's Facebook profile not showing Christian / Conservative? Even Google's cache of the Facebook profile retrieved on Jul 22, 2011 23:52:36 GMT supports this factor. 2: How was Christian / Conservative added prior to the profile being removed from Facebook? If our PDF was printed out/saved at Jul 23 01:39 GMT, and the profile was deleted soon afterwards by Facebook, how was a detained Anders Behring Breivik able to change it? 3: Which then needs to be asked, Who had access to in changing the Profile before it was removed?

11:34am CDT Sun 2011 Jul 24 :MW

who altered the [Norway] murderer's Facebook page? ... Did he have two different Facebook pages, one in Norwegian and one in English, and he only identified himself as a Christian and a conservative on the English one? Or did he pause from his murder spree to add "Christian" and "conservative" to his Facebook profile? Or maybe the whole page is a fake, as has been reported ... if this was faked, can we trust any of the material that is now being released about Breivik being anti-jihad?

11:32am CDT Sun 2011 Jul 24 :MW

Know the Enemy

ObamaRather than authorize a commission trial, Obama released al-Qaeda terrorist Binyam Mohammed to Britain, where he is free. There was nary a peep, even though Mohammed had plotted with convicted terrorist Jose Padilla to carry out a second wave of post-9/11 attacks. Similarly, the Qazali brothers, two of the top Iraqi terrorists trained by Daqduq, were released, even though they were complicit in the Karbala massacre. ... little is reported about the Obama Justice Department's efforts to cut the 23-year sentence of Abdurrahman Alamoudi, a Hezbollah and Hamas supporter who financed terrorist organizations and plotted with the Qaddafi regime to kill Crown Prince (now King) Abdullah of Saudi Arabia ... The plan was to transfer [Ali Mussa Daqduq] to the Iraqi regime as early as yesterday — without fanfare, the administration hoped.... But the Associated Press got wind of the transfer, and its brief report provoked outrage. Senate Republicans, joined by independent Joe Lieberman, fired off a letter to secretary of defense Leon Panetta, ballistic at the notion that the United States would surrender "the highest ranking Hezbollah operative currently in our custody." Inevitably, the senators observed, Daqduq would return to the jihad "to harm and kill more American servicemen and women" when Iraq releases him, as these new "allies" of ours have done with other terrorists.

7:42pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 24 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45This is the same president who proposed an absurdly irresponsible budget that would increase our debt by trillions of dollars, and whose party failed to even put forward a budget in over 800 days! ... pushing our country to the brink because of his reckless spending ... ignored his own debt commission's recommendations and demonized the voices of fiscal sanity ... wanted to push through an increase in the debt ceiling that didn't include any cuts in government spending ... wants to slam Americans with tax hikes to cover his reckless spending ... hasn't put forward a responsible plan himself, but has rejected reasonable proposals that would tackle our debt. ... still refuses to understand that the American electorate rejected his big government agenda last November. ... [Sarah Palin]

11:29am CDT Sun 2011 Jul 24 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

Police arrived at an island massacre about an hour and a half after a gunman first opened fire, slowed because they didn't have quick access to a helicopter and then couldn't find a boat to make their way to the scene just several hundred yards (meters) offshore. The assailant surrendered when police finally reached him, but 82 people died before that. ... The shooting came on the heels of what police told The Associated Press was an "Oklahoma city-type" bombing in Oslo's downtown: It targeted a government building, was allegedly perpetrated by a homegrown assailant and used the same mix of fertilizer and fuel that blew up a federal building in the U.S. in 1995. In all, at least 92 people were killed in the twin attacks that police are blaming on the same suspect, 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik.

3:59pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 23 :MW

Animals can be Dangerous

SharkA three-metre great white shark breached into a vessel carrying marine researchers yesterday. While none were injured, they said it gave them "the fright of our lives".

12:14pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 23 :MW

Disinformation Propaganda and Spin

SunThe BBC was criticised by climate change sceptics yesterday after it emerged that their views will get less coverage because they differ from mainline scientific opinion. In a report by its governing body, the BBC Trust, the corporation was urged to focus less on opponents of the "majority consensus" in its programmes. It said coverage should not be tailored to represent a "false balance" of opinion if one side came from a minority group.

12:16pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 23 :MW

Know the Enemy

a 20-year-old Norwegian girl raped by a 15-year-old North African asylum-seeker in downtown Oslo... on the steps of the Norwegian parliament, facing the Castle. To make matters even worse, as the young culture-enricher worked his will on the victim, he was being observed live via a video surveillance camera by security guards inside the parliament building — who did not leave the building to help the young woman. It seems that interrupting a rape on the front steps was not part of their job description — that task rightly belonged to the police, who unfortunately arrived too late to interrupt the crime. ...

6:32pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 23 :MW
2

Science Marches Onnnnnn

Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 'admixed' embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilisation Embryology Act. This legalised the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilised by a human sperm; 'cybrids', in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and 'chimeras', in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos.

4:22pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 23 :MW
3

Free Expression

ObamaA La Mesa man who posted racial epithets and a call to "shoot" Barack Obama on an Internet chat site was engaging in constitutionally protected free speech, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in overturning his criminal conviction. Walter Bagdasarian was found guilty two years ago of making threats against a major presidential candidate in comments he posted on a Yahoo.com financial website after 1 a.m. on Oct. 22, 2008, as Obama's impending victory in the race for the White House was becoming apparent. Bagdasarian told investigators he was drunk at the time.

12:15pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 23 :MW
1

Obamanation

A close examination of the state registrar's stamp on the Obama birth certificate released by the White House indicates the document is forged, according to the preponderance of Adobe experts consulting with WND. ... The registrar stamps appear to be external objects that were imported into the document. The stamps were not impressions copied whole, the experts believe, but were created uniquely for the Obama document by a cut-and-paste process. ...

10:24am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Playing Politics

Obama may be very dangerous but, at the moment, he is not the most dangerous man in America. That distinction belongs to House Speaker John Boehner. The biggest long-term threat facing America is its precarious financial predicament. If our nation's fiscal health was a prize fight then the referee would be readying himself to call it. The U.S. needs immediate attention focused on its finances and Boehner is content to kick the can down the road. Sadly, he doesn't want to upset the apple cart and inconvenience those members of the Republican conference who engage in generational theft.

10:51am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Big Brother

Civil libertarians are raising the alarm over the state's plans to create a Big Brother database that could map drivers' whereabouts with police cruiser-mounted scanners that capture thousands of license plates per hour — storing that information indefinitely where local cops, staties, feds and prosecutors could access it as they choose.

4:29pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Mass Murdering Monsters

At least seven people are dead Friday after an explosion rocked a government building in Oslo, Norway and a man dressed as a police officer opened fire at a youth camp outside the capital. Al-Qaida-linked terrorists have taken responsibility for Friday's attacks

4:55pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Disinformation Propaganda and Spin

A new promotional video released by the Department of Homeland Security characterizes white middle class Americans as the most likely terrorists, as Big Sis continues its relentless drive to cement the myth that mad bombers are hiding around every corner, when in reality Americans are just as likely to be killed by lightning strikes or peanut allergies. ... Despite encouraging viewers not to pay attention to a person's race in determining whether or not they may be a terrorist, almost all of the scenarios in the clip proceed to portray white people as the most likely terrorists. Bizarrely, nearly every single one of the "patriotic" Americans who reports on their fellow citizen is either black, Asian or Arab.... Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the DHS' own internal documents list predominantly white conservative groups as the most likely terrorists, such as Ron Paul supporters, gun owners, gold bullion enthusiasts, and a myriad of other comparatively banal political interests that are largely the domain of white middle class Americans. ...

10:16am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Know the Enemy

I am open-mouthed. The BBC Trust is recommending that its journalists ditch balance for propaganda. A report being published today has apparently decided that the BBC no longer needs to interview man-made global warming sceptics because there is a consensus on this issue that the theory is true. Its conclusions are said to be based in part on recommendations by the geneticist Professor Steve Jones. Astonishingly, he is said not only to have found no evidence of bias in the BBC's output on climate change, but suggests that on issues like this where he says there is a 'scientific consensus' — also including the MMR vaccination and genetically modified crops — there should be no need for the BBC to find opponents of the mainstream view.

4:31pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Bad Parents

An Indianapolis mother has been arrested, accused of leaving her children in a hot car and then beating a woman who stepped in to help

6:28pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW
2

Art of

Alex Steinweiss, the man who invented the album cover in 1939, has died at the age of 94.
2:45pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Liberty and Justice

in the NE corner of Texas. A court in the county of Bowie, has approved a motion to remove the Pledge of Allegiance and the opening Prayer from the records of the court. The County Clerk has refused, spoke out against it, and now has been threatened with legal action.

3:59pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW

Oh! The Irony!

What began as a simple study of the online image posted on June 12, 2008 by the Daily Kos blog and the Obama Campaign had mushroomed into a full-blown research project consuming more than 4,000 man-hours of work into what was nothing less than a well-orchestrated conspiracy to subvert the Constitution and the free election process. The maxim, "One thing leads to another," is the best way to describe how Dr. Polland used his 30+ years of doctoral-level research skills to follow the trails wherever they led him.

9:39am CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Cain showed so much promise, he was good on the stump and was even better during the first debate, but now his campaign is dead, he may not know it yet but all that's left is for it to fall over. The cause of death is the same as so many presidential campaigns before him, known in the Latin as Bardus Superstitiosus Orationes (stupid bigoted statements). ... We are supposed to be protecting religion from government. Despite his protestations Herman Cain is saying the Mosque is not allowed to be built because it is a Muslim place of prayer. If Murfreesboro wants to ban the building of the Mosque, could a different community be allowed to ban the building of a Synagogue, Catholic Church? That is simply not allowed in the American Constitutional system.

3:33pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 22 :MW
1

Obamanation

Among the donors to the Obama reelection campaign: Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, and former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine all raised more than half a million dollars. National Journal reports Katzenberg and Wintour each raised more than $500,000 for the president in 2008.

11:08pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Wayne La Pierre, Executive Vice President and the long-time major force at the National Rifle Association, gave the presentation to the United Nations yesterday. He spoke before a committee that has made pretty nakedly obvious their desire to remove handguns from the possession of all government subjects, so that only governments have guns. [I AGREE! Of course, in America, WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT!] "Our Founding Fathers long ago rejected that notion and forged our great nation on the principle of freedom for the individual citizen — not for the government."

11:06pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Obama finally solved the budget crisis the White House really cares about yesterday when he announced that he hauled in $86 million in campaign contributions for the three months ended June 30th. The budget crisis facing the rest of us? Obama's really mad at the rest of us because we are all acting very immaturely by withholding a blank check for the bills he's run up. ... It's one thing to try to act like an adult in the room, but when you try to act like the only adult in the room by holding your breath and stomping your feet, your cover's been blown.

8:38pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Well, I knew all this passing the buck was unhealthy for the president. It appears that Obama has had Bush on the brain for so long that that he now has Bush on the head too. If you look closely at this photo I took at Monday's press conference, you can see that a W has formed on the far left side of Obama's forehead.

7:36pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Congress cannot even impeach him because, not being the actual President, he cannot be "removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" ... Despite all the noise out there by Obama's supporters, it is crystal clear the putative president was born with dual citizenship and is forever ineligible to be president. ... To impeach would also accomplish this: Every piece of legislation he's signed into law would remain on the books. ... Will he ever be indicted for his crimes? With enough public pressure, it can happen because his handlers would simply throw him under the bus as a liability.

7:36pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

As a matter of fact, according to their own records, the social security number in question was never issued. So even if we were willing to believe that it was issued, we see this number associated with an individual born in 1890 who would have been 121 years old now and presumably deceased at this time. Obama started using this number around 1980, and he's been using it for most of his life, but there is no information showing that he is the lawful holder of this number. As a matter of fact, all the information that we have shows that he is illegally using this number.

7:32pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Ryan says that he is very frustrated with how President Obama has handled the negotiations, especially in how he has painted Republicans as intransigent. Recent presidential press conferences, Ryan says, have notably soured the White House's relationship with the House GOP, perhaps to the point of no return. Such a development, he sighs, is unfortunate for the country, which wants the president to work with Congress. ... "[Obama] has made it harder to establish trust, which will make it harder to find compromise," Ryan says. "As much as he wants to come off as a leader, every time he talks about Republicans holding out to save fat-cat corporate-jet loopholes — which he knows is false — or leaks alleged spending cuts to the press, he reduces his leadership. He knows how that damages his credibility up here. Yet he continues to spin." Indeed, in almost every sense, Ryan says, Obama has been "fundamentally un-presidential" throughout the summer, "dragging his feet, failing to address the looming debt crisis — which he knows is coming — because he remains committed to his ideology." "This is, unfortunately, the way he operates," Ryan says. "This is his pattern of behavior, this is his personality. For the next 18 months, it will probably be like this. It'll be in-your-face class warfare, with bitter appeals to envy, fear, and anxiety, plus the demonization of the other side's motives." ... "Whenever I hear him speak now, I just shake my head and think, there he goes again," Ryan says. "When it comes to actually governing, leading and fixing fiscal problems, he is not in the game."

6:53pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

The Obama Administration has something of a decision to make. Will it respond to Iranian aggression and enforce Iraq's internationally recognized borders, or will it allow the Iranian thugs to use military force against an American ally with impunity?

6:48pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Allen West: "I must confess, when I see anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool."

5:16pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Playing Politics

This time round, the frenzied mob consists not of the public but members of Parliament, the BBC and the left-wing media baying for the blood of Rupert Murdoch. That difference aside, the similarities with the Great Diana Derangement are very striking. It's not just the hysterical delirium, the loss of proportion and rationality in depicting Murdoch as a figure of diabolical power — of which Gordon Brown's speech to Parliament, as deludedly selective as it was viciously enraged, was an all-too apt encapsulation rather than the weird aberration that it has been painted. No, the really striking similarity with Diana Derangement is the toxic combination of the cult of the victim, mass credulity and pathological projection and displacement neurosis that is fuelling the frenzy.

6:56pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Big Nanny

By now, you likely have heard of Dr. David Ludwig, Harvard professor and child obesity specialist at Children's Hospital in Boston. He and attorney and research partner Lindsey Murtagh authored a piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggesting that severely obese children might require the government to remove them from custody of their parents. If this doesn't convince you that liberals support a nanny state, nothing will. As a child psychologist with over 20 years of experience, I can say with supreme confidence that taking a child from his or her parents is almost always traumatic. Sometimes it is justified, of course; in cases of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, the child is sometimes far better off living without the offending parent. Similarly, when a parent evidences a profound inability to provide the basic needs of a child, the child might be safer with a relative or, rarely, with a foster parent. But removing a child from the home because the parent doesn't adequately assist the child in losing weight? This is nothing short of ridiculous.

7:16pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

The government's ability to make us buy light bulbs we don't want is crucial, he says, because "if we take away government and society's tools to even attempt to respond to a world of limits in a collective fashion, I'm not sure how we'll survive." Let me try to unpack that argument as charitably as I can.

6:10pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Fluorescent lighting makes me feel like I'm dead, and am just haunting whatever room I happen to be in. It makes me feel like the top of my head has been replaced with something clammy and toxic. It makes me feel like filling up my 15-passenger van with overpriced gas and barreling nonstop to Al Gore's house and smacking his silly, fat face around until he admits that his main goal is and always has been to make each and every day for the entire human race a little less bearable.

5:43pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Disturbing Family Patterns

Lamb and Lynx Gaede, the dimpled tween rockers whose Nazi-themed pop band, Prussian Blue, sparked an exuberant media firestorm several years back have grown up — and had a change of heart. "I'm not a white nationalist anymore. My sister and I are pretty liberal now." "Personally, I love diversity," Lynx seconded. "I'm stoked that we have so many different cultures. I think it's amazing and it makes me proud of humanity every day that we have so many different places and people."
5:09pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Sharia Sucks

"After [9/11]… Over 35,000 Americans Embraced Islam"

6:50pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Islamic extremism is indeed a serious global problem today, to a degree unmatched by the radical fringes of other major religions. ... All around the country, right-of-center activists and politicians are trying to use government force to limit the property rights of Muslims and repel the alleged menace of Shariah law. Islamophobia has crossed the line from fringe rhetorical hysteria to active discrimination against U.S. citizens of the Islamic faith.

6:12pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Big Brother

Those Algorithms That Govern Our Lives (video)

6:46pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Know the Enemy

Even in the West, in places like England, France, and now parts of the USA (and many other western countries) there are islamic enclaves, or "no go zones", where they ban music (and booze, and gays, and women outdoors without being buried under cloth, and pretty much all things representing freedom and beauty). I say, screw that crap! Let's rock, anti-jihad fatwa-worthy style!

7:04pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

"The jihadists seem to be having a problem ... finding people who can master the terrorist tradecraft" and travel freely to the West. They've been reduced to urging potential sympathizers who already live here to stock up at gun shows and shoot some infidels at the mall. But, as Stratfor observes, "the very call to leaderless resistance is an admission of defeat." We may be winning, but don't dare imagine that "victory" will take the form of a restoration of lost liberties. That's "defeatist" thinking. I suppose that's why, shortly after SEAL Team 6 killed bin Laden, Congress and the president's autopen got together to reauthorize the Patriot Act. The threat recedes, but the surveillance state must live on.

5:22pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW
2

Art of

It's no secret that comics sales are declining. The numbers of readers are declining, the numbers of stores are declining, the amount of cash being made is declining. It happened once before when comics were sold only on the newsstand, back in the Neolithic Era for you who are too young to remember. What saved it then was the Direct Market but that's now killing it; the market is constricting and the numbers of readers are finite. What may save it this time is going digital — comics here on the web. The reason is this is where the eyeballs are. — John Ostrander
6:46pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Liberty and Justice

Adam Mueller, aka Ademo Freeman, stood inside the Keene District Courthouse in New Hampshire, waiting for Judge Edward Burke to step inside so he could ask him a question. Less than two minutes later, he was arrested for threatening the judge, a felony charge called "improper influence."

11:07pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Transport Future

Scientists in Israel say they have invented a way of turning traffic into electricity. ... a road that generates power when vehicles pass over it. ... 'piezo' electricity

6:54pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

A flying car retailing for $227,000 could be on roads in a matter of months -- and customers are already lining up to be the first to get their hands on one, its maker claims. Just over a week ago, the Terrafugia Transition passed a significant milestone when it was cleared for takeoff by the U.S. National Highway Safety Administration. It's taken Terrafugia founder Carl Dietrich just five years to realize his dream, with some media outlets reporting that the Transition could now be on U.S. roads by the end of next year.

6:50pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Bartlesville - prairie frontier town

Police arrested a Bartlesville woman Saturday evening after the residents of a house on Seminole Avenue came home to find the pink pajama-clad woman in their house destroying their possessions... asked by the residents what she was doing in their house replied, " I don't know!" ... had broken a few "very expensive" porcelain Indian collectables and had poured "an entire case of water" on a flat screen television ... said she went into the house and "tore (expletive) up" because she was angry from all the voices.

6:45pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Marriage Today

When it comes to sexual relationships and cohabitation among consenting adults, Utah takes a permissive approach. If a guy wants to shack up with a lady, that's fine. If he wants to shack up with several, no problem. He can father children by different roommates, with no fear of the law. But if he marries one woman and represents three others as his "spiritual wives," like Kody Brown? Then he's committed a felony. Not because of the stuff that goes on behind closed doors. It's the public act of claiming to be part of a lifelong "plural marriage" that raises the specter of jail. … Brown went to court claiming that his constitutional rights have been violated in various ways. Though it may come as a surprise to hear, he's got a perfectly reasonable argument. … Brown isn't asking the state to officially accommodate his chosen form of matrimony. He's just asking to be let the hell alone. … Other people, after all, are exempt from such control. Turley says Brown and his women "would not be prosecuted if they claimed no religious obligation and merely had casual or purely sexual associations." He notes, "Monogamists are allowed an infinite number of sexual partners, and consequently have the right to bear children with multiple partners, so long as they do not claim to be committed to such partners in a union or family."
6:34pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Climate Changes

CERN Director General Rolf-Dieter Heuer told Welt Online that the scientists should refrain from drawing conclusions from the latest experiment [which] examines the role that energetic particles from deep space play in cloud formation. ... Why? Because, Heuer says, "That would go immediately into the highly political arena of the climate change debate. One has to make clear that cosmic radiation is only one of many parameters." Oh … "only one of many parameters", eh? So nice to see him admit that. Does he mean like that big yellow thing that hangs in the sky each day?

5:57pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Star Trek - still with us

Star Trek Enterprise
Oh Scotty, Montgomery Scott, Master of Transporter Controls. How we loved you. They didn't let you command the ship very often, but we know that's because Kirk knew you were the fuckin' balls and so he bitch-rapped you like McCartney did to Pete Best who was too good-looking and so he got Ringo Starr who was not. Although he did bang Barbara Bach. …
6:47pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Energy

Thune and Klobuchar's bill takes the tax revenue gained from ending the VEETC (which, again, doesn't help ethanol producers), and dedicates most of the money to other ethanol subsidies, such as tax credits for small ethanol producers and for ethanol blender pumps to be installed at gas stations. The bill, of course, leaves in place the mandate, which is by far the biggest ethanol subsidy. Lobbyists for the American Coalition for Ethanol and the Renewable Fuels Association applaud the bill -- which tells you just about all you need to know.

6:16pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Repeal! Repeal! Repeal!

HempPeople who supply drugs must appear reluctant and pious; people who use drugs must appear reluctant and ashamed; and the medical pot business must embody this paradigm. Everybody has to pretend not to want it. This is the key to being a goverment-approved drug dealer in America.

6:08pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Policing Ourselves

Victoria Brice Magnum has brought a $1 million suit against three deputies and former Sheriff Weldon Tucker for forcing her to abandon her child during a roadside arrest. ... [Officer] was reportedly monitoring Magnum's car from his patrol unit until Magnum's mother arrived. According to reports, the urgency to leave the scene was to avoid a jurisdictional conflict with Pct. 3 Constable Don Walters, who was in a relationship with Magnum's mother and en route. "They were arresting her for an expired driver's license, this wasn't criminal murder," Cortez said in a previous interview. "They did leave the kid unattended. Saying it was reasonable to leave the kid sitting there is ludicrous...in order to avoid an argument, [the deputy] decided to abandon a 2-year-old." Cortez said when Magnum's mother and brother arrived, the child was awake and trying to get out of her car seat.

6:32pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Transport Business

A Salinas car manufacturing company that was expected to build environmentally friendly electric cars and create new jobs folded before almost any vehicles could run off the assembly line. The city of Salinas had invested more than half a million dollars in Green Vehicles, an electric car start-up company. All of that money is now gone

6:51pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Belief and State

Stop worrying about Shariah. Christian fanatics are the ones using the government to restrict individual liberty. [Uh, yeah, flying planes into our buildings, massing troops on and infiltrating through our unsecured Southern border, beating gays and mutilating women and using cultural terrorism. Those darned Baptists!]
5:20pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Educating Ourselves

My name is Angela. I am 28 years old, an Army wife, the mother of a darling little boy, and a recovering Useful Idiot for the Left. ... I went about my life, comfortable in my second- and third-hand assumptions; smug in my supposed intellectual superiority. And then something happened that I did not expect. ...

5:35pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

"Online learning means fewer teachers (and union members) per student," Terry Moe points out in The Wall Street Journal. And Greg Forster reminds the techno-innovators that "only school choice can prevent the blob from neutralizing any reform you throw at it."

5:27pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW
3

US Military

A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.

6:44pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45Palin doesn't think the candidate that can beat Obama has emerged. She does not think any of the current or potential candidates are the strongest to beat Obama. Her family seems to be on board. And she told Hannity that her timetable for an announcement was August or September. Based on this evidence, Palin will announce for the presidency in August or September.

7:38pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45Ben Howe, a contributor at Redstate.com, has penned a review of Stephen Bannon's film, The Undefeated, which is being released nationwide today (ticket information here). As many of us know, Redstate has not been the most Palin-friendly blog in the conservative sphere. If Howe's review is any indication, however, that may be about to change. At least for Howe. ... "...what had me and my wife blown away by the time it was over, was the avalanche of information and perspectives that had been hidden from us over the years. ... about how we had handled our vetting of Mrs. Palin, shame was the word that best described it."

7:17pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Sen. John McCain, the very model of a progressive Rockefeller Republican, lambasted a surging GOP presidential hopeful, Rep. Michele Bachmann, for her uncompromising stance on the debt ceiling. By McCain's Big Gummint lights, Bachmann is an extremist for refusing to indulge the notion that we should inflate by $2,500,000,000,000 (that's not a typo) the credit line of a bankrupt nation that is officially $14,300,000,000,000 in the hole. (The true debt is more like $130,000,000,000,000 if we look beyond Uncle Sam's Enronesque accounting practices.) And mind you, the $2.5 tril is just what's necessary to get us through President Obama's reelection

6:51pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Republican presidential primary candidate Herman Cain says front-runner Mitt Romney cannot win the party's White House nomination next year because of his religion. "Romney would be a good choice, but I don't believe he can win,"

6:42pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

'The primary process is more likely to produce a loser in November 2012 than a conservative who can unite the country and win'

6:40pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45Political leaders who stand up against the media mob deserve a badge of courage. That goes especially for Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Herman Cain -- because in some perverse way the left reserves special abuse for the women and blacks it tries to control. It's the slavemaster's rage at liberated slaves.

5:47pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW

Governing Ourselves

Several long-time Republicans dissatisfied with the crop of candidates running for president have developed an unorthodox plan to upend what they consider a flawed GOP nomination process. The other half of Garlington's troubles: Because his missing driver's license is still valid, the DMV won't issue an alternative photo ID to use at the polls. "If they had an election today, I couldn't vote," said Garlington, 59. Garlington was among more than 40 people who appeared at an NAACP town hall meeting Monday where opponents said they would do everything in their power to see that the state's new voter ID law never gets used. Many said it is no more than an attempt to rekindle Jim Crow through a modern-day poll tax. [GREAT BLUBBERING BOO HOOS! What a bunch of nonsense!]

6:42pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 21 :MW
1

Disturbing Family Patterns

[She's not his daughter. He knows she's not his daughter. He has a record of sex with a minor and of domestic abuse. She has lived with her grandmother since her birth. Judge gave him custody.]
9:12pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 18 :MW
1

Obamanation

Laura Ingraham presented a remix, of sorts, juxtaposing portions of former President Jimmy Carter's 1979 "Malaise Speech" (also known as his "Crisis of Confidence Speech" or, perhaps, his "Generally Terrible Stuff Speech") with recent comments made by President Barack Obama.

4:29pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

First up is Eric Holder. He is gonna fall. Watch for Holder news — it's coming. They are gonna fight hard to keep him in there. He's done a hell of a job keeping the lid on so much sh-t. But that's about to change. I ain't saying I trust Issa, but it's been explained to me that he knows that he's doing and it's getting done. So ok…I'll see if that's the case. Then it's on to 2012 with the information in hand that will be the result of Holder stepping down from the DOJ. It's gonna be a race to get it out there before the election, but we sure as hell are gonna try. And even if Obama manages to get his re-election, we will cripple him politically…we will trip him up enough, that his second term will be nowhere near the threat to the country that this one has been. And he may not be able to complete that second term. The information that will be forced into the hands of the media, the people, the party leaders, the donors…the man thinks he's under political pressure now? Just wait. They made a big mistake, and we got them. We got them…

4:29pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Sean Hannity completely pwned Juan Williams last night on Hannity. Sean asked Williams to respond to Eric Cantor's comments on raising the debt ceiling. When Juan got through trashing Cantor, Hannity told him that actually those were Obama's comments from 2006. Watch Juan Williams' expression when he finds out he got totally pwned.

1:56pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Oh, don't worry, says Barack Obluffer. To demonstrate how serious he is, he's offered to put on the table for fiscal year 2012 spending cuts of (stand well back now) $2 billion. That would be a lot in, say, Iceland or even Australia. Once upon a time it would have been a lot even in Washington. But today $2 billion is what the Brokest Nation in History borrows every 10 hours. In other words, in less time than he spends sitting across the table negotiating his $2 billion cut, he's already borrowed it all back. A negotiation with Obama is literally not worth the time.

1:30pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Obama strode sternly into the White House and broke his own tacit rule of never mixing the nation's business with his own political strategy. "Whoever the Republican nominee is," he declared, " we're going to have a big serious debate about what we believe is the right way to guide American forward and to win the future." [Never mixes the nation's business with his own political strategy??? When has he ever done ANYTHING ELSE??] "And I'm confident that I will win that debate because ... we've got the better approach," he added. This came minutes after he accused Republicans of playing the same old "Washington" political games. [Another round of Alinsky, anyone?]

12:01pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

"With respect to senator McConnell's plan, as I said, I think it is a -- it is constructive to say that if Washington operates as usual and can't get anything done, let's at least avert armageddon. That's -- I'm glad that people are serious about the consequences of default." [President eloquence invokes religion, badly, again.]

11:58am CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Wars and Rumors

Iran's intelligence minister said Friday that his country has found a way to block the so-called "Internet in a suitcase," a program reportedly developed by the U.S. to bring online access to dissidents around the world. The minister, Heidar Moslehi, told Muslim worshippers that Iran was aware of the program from the start. "We prepared a solution for it,"

12:12pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Viet Nam War - still with us

Jane Fonda's scheduled appearance on QVC to promote her new memoir was canceled after the cable shopping channel got calls threatening boycotts over her Vietnam War protests, the actress wrote Saturday on her blog. ... Fonda blamed the cancellation on the "far right."

4:44pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Big Nanny

The House on Friday morning moved to block federal light bulb efficiency standards without even a roll call vote. ... forbids the Department of Energy from enforcing the standards in the next budget year. ... only fixes the problem through September 2012.

3:36pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Lawmakers passed on a voice vote an amendment to energy-spending legislation for fiscal year 2012 barring the Energy Department from implementing or enforcing lighting-efficiency standards set by 2007 legislation.

1:19pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Despite the fact that city authorities have temporarily dropped a case against Oak Park resident Julie Bass for growing a vegetable garden in her front yard after the story received nationwide attention, Bass has now been hit with a new criminal charge for owning unlicensed dogs, clear evidence says Bass that she's the victim of a vendetta.

12:06pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Know the Enemy

Prior to the rise of the Taliban, women in Afghanistan were protected under law and increasingly afforded rights in Afghan society. Women received the right to vote in the 1920s; and as early as the 1960s, the Afghan constitution provided for equality for women. There was a mood of tolerance and openness as the country began moving toward democracy. ... [Afghanistan under the Taliban] Women are imprisoned in their homes, and are denied access to basic health care and education. Food sent to help starving people is stolen by their leaders. The religious monuments of other faiths are destroyed. Children are forbidden to fly kites, or sing songs... A girl of seven is beaten for wearing white shoes. ...The burqa is not only a physical and psychological burden on some Afghan women, it is a significant economic burden as well. Many women cannot afford the cost of one. In some cases, whole neighborhoods share a single garment, and women must wait days for their turn to go out. For disabled women who need a prosthesis or other aid to walk, the required wearing of the burqa makes them virtually homebound... [And now the punchline:] The Taliban claimed it was trying to ensure a society in which women had a safe and dignified role.

12:03pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Light Pollution

When asked "what sort of pollution worries you the most", I said "light pollution from all the rural living city hipsters too scared to turn their fucking lights off". When I go out into the "country", I expect to see stars, not your fucking stadium lights because you're too big of a pussy to just by a gun and leave the porchlight on.

12:26pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW
2

Liberty and Justice

Gladney trial: SEIU's "surprise witness" who said he started it can be seen walking up 12 seconds into the video, which started late. She must have been over 50 yards from the fight when it started — at night in the dark.

5:01pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Life and Death

LightningJust before he was hit, Rooney downplayed concerns about the lightning. "He had just said that lightning doesn't strike two people in one family right before it happened, not long before it happened, he said that," ... Steve Rooney's father George was also killed by lightning 48 years ago when Steve was just a 5-year-old boy.

11:59am CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Bartlesville - prairie frontier town

Old Phillips 66 sign
ConocoPhillips spokesman John Roper said he anticipates "most people will keep their jobs" through the split into a company that produces oil and another that refines it into gasoline and other fuels, although he couldn't address specifics. He said there will "have to be a wall" between the new companies, but that "they will co-exist." "Oklahoma is part of our history and it's key to ConocoPhillips," Roper said. [Until it's not.]
11:48am CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Only Natural

Following a series of moderate earthquakes that struck the country Tuesday, residents around the Guacalito River in Costa Rica discovered that the river had disappeared. ... It was not immediately known if the waters of the river had disappeared due to sinkhole activity that can occur after earthquakes or if the earth shaking caused damming that dried up the river ...

12:12pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

FEC reports released Friday show that former Speaker Newt Gingrich's campaign has $1,030,627.82 in debt. ... nearly half of the debt comes from charting [sic -- must mean "chartering"] private airplanes....

3:28pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Governing Ourselves

After a decade in which spending increased by more than 60 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars and the debt limit was raised no fewer than 10 times, the government is about to max out its $14.3 trillion credit line, leading to fears that Washington is going to default on its bonds, stop cutting Social Security checks, and destroy the economy more than it already has. But the current debate over the debt ceiling is full of malarkey for at least three reasons. [video]

12:51pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

An Oklahoma lawmaker is pushing to make sure welfare recipients aren't abusing the system. Sen. Randy Brogdon wants anyone who applies for help under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program would have to be tested for drug and alcohol use. "If the state government is going to offer welfare assistance to anyone, it is a very reasonable expectation to make sure none of those taxpayer dollars are being spent on drugs and alcohol," Brogdon said. ... The Department of Human Services is expressing concern about the cost of Brogdon's plan, saying it would set the agency back about $3 million every year. [And SAVE how much at the same time? Oh, never mind.]

h/t: Cuz BD
11:32am CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

Transport Rights

D.C. Circuit ... This morning, the federal court ruled that the "naked scans" of air travelers do not violate Americans' constitutional rights. ... Judge Douglas Ginsburg writes that the advance imaging technology is not unreasonable given the security concerns on airplanes, and that people have the option to opt out for a pleasurable patdown. The court notes that some "have complained that the resulting patdown was unnecessarily aggressive," but the judges don't seem overly concerned about that. ... Good news for body scanner manufacturers Rapiscan and L-3. Bad news for those who don't like having to choose between digital nudity and frisking.

12:09pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW

a Colorado woman is accused of putting her hands on a TSA agent at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. ... grabbed the left breast of the female agent ... squeezed and twisted the agent's breast with both hands ... There's no word why she touched the agent. [No, can't imagine!] now faces a felony count of sexual abuse. [Oh, goodj! Oh, wait, they don't mean TSA....]

11:58am CDT Sat 2011 Jul 16 :MW
1

Obamanation

They are addicted to big taxes, big spending and big government, and none of it- NONE. OF. IT. - has a darn thing to do with what's best for the public and the economy. All of it- ALL. OF. IT. - has to do with funneling money into Democrat Party coffers. And it's sitting like a wet blanket over our economy. And Daley's right. Democrat leaders can't solve it. They couldn't solve it when they ran the tax scam in Chicago and they can't solve it now.

8:59pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Tyrannosaurus RexThirty months into his term as president, the evidence is overwhelming and America is horrified. Americans en masse have awakened to a president drunk with the wine of presidential power. Lawless, unaccountable, and unwilling to be restrained, Barack Obama has broken trust with America and he is being judged just as Dr. King had dreamed. Not by the color of his skin, but by the delinquent content of his character. Barack Obama has many names. A new one is offered here for America to consider. "Tyrannus Obama Rex." Obama, the Tyrant King.

8:59pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Obama is convinced that raising taxes is a job creator and blames Republicans for being unwilling to burden the taxpayer to create jobs. ... So, in a roundabout way, both Obama and Pelosi agree that the higher the unemployment the more job creation, because taxes can be obtained from the unemployed - which, according to some liberals, could get people back to work. [Uh... WTF?] Besides raising taxes, as a way to get people working again apparently Obama believes career opportunities can be created by sharing Second Amendment rights with Mexican drug cartels. [Heh]

8:57pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

"I continue to push congressional leaders for the largest possible deal," he said from the White House. "It is possible for us to construct a package that would be balanced, would share sacrifice [and] would involve both parties taking on their sacred cows." ... "I've been hearing from my Republican friends for some time it is a moral imperative to tackle our debt and deficits in a serious way," Mr. Obama said. "What I've said to them is, let's go." The president said today he would not accept a smaller, short-term deal. "We might as well do it now," he said. "Pull off the band aid. Eat our peas."

8:55pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Obama chafes at the time-honored practice of answering questions shouted at him during pooled, non-press conference events — and his staff has often opted for "stills sprays," excluding print reporters or TV cameras who might capture Obama in the less than flattering non-act of snubbing a query. ... When asked today why TV crews and print reporters were barred from the pool covering the White House meeting with congressional leaders on the deficit ... "People shouted questions at him," Carney said. He then added, "The purpose of the meeting is not to create a circus, but to negotiate, so today we're doing stills only."

8:50pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

"Dealing with them the last couple months has been like dealing with Jell-o," Boehner said. "Some days it's firmer than others. Sometimes it's like they've left it out over night." Boehner explained that talks broke down over the weekend because, he said, the president backed off entitlement reforms so much from Friday to Saturday, "It was Jell-o; it was damn near liquid." "By Saturday, they'd spent the previous day and a half just going backwards" on reforming entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. "The only thing they've been firm on is these damn tax increases," the Speaker said.

8:49pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

"He shoved back and said 'I'll see you tomorrow' and walked out," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told reporters in the Capitol after the meeting. ... "Eric, don't call my bluff," the president said, warning Cantor that he would take his case "to the American people." [Er... WTF?]

8:49pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

On "The Ed Show" July 12, Schultz claimed he knew why Fox pundits such as Bill O'Reilly oppose President Obama's call for higher taxes on the wealthy ... "Tax profits" that quickly turned to tax payments, Schultz told his audience last night, perhaps after an exchange of clarifying phone calls between lawyers at News Corp. and MSNBC ... absent from both segments was any mention of General Electric, parent company of MSNBC -- in other words, your boss prior to Comcast acquiring NBC Universal in January 2011 -- paying no federal taxes in 2010. And by the way, $4.8 billion in taxes on $10.4 billion in profit is a tax rate of 46 percent -- 11 points higher than the corporate tax rate of 35 percent.

8:40pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Allen West, referring to how this administration spins language to push their agenda, said that Goebbels would be proud to see the kind of people in the Obama administration... "all of a sudden, instead of 'redistribution of wealth' they call it 'shared sacrifice'. Instead of 'government spending' they call it 'investment'. These guys are masters and Goebbels would be very pleased...."

8:35pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Writers know that to use the same word over and over again demonstrates a limited vocabulary, and to repeat it in the same sentence is even worse. How about when a writer — or speaker — uses it first as a point of sarcasm and later in the same sentence as a measure of earnestness? ...

And it is possible for us to construct a package that would be balanced, would share sacrifice, would involve both parties taking on their sacred cows, would involved some meaningful changes to Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid that would preserve the integrity of the programs and keep our sacred trust with our seniors…
8:31pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

James Zogby, the anti-Israel pollster who released these findings today, blames the drop in support for Obama in the Arab world on Obama's failure to put the amount of pressure on Israel the Arab world wanted and expected. But according to the poll, the Arab world doesn't seem to be happy with any of America's foreign policy positions. Respondents rated Obama's policies as the least popular, when compared with other leaders, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ... Obama's approval ratings are even lower than President Bush's before he left office in 2008. [Maybe it's time for O' to go on another apology tour!]

8:30pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Yesterday, I heard something that I have never — NEVER — heard an American politician admit on national TV: that the American government has been lying to her people for the past 75+ years. ... Obama: I cannot guarantee those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it. ... this American president admitted what many people have been saying for decades: not only is the American government stealing money from the people, but the entire Social Security scheme is a lie.

8:25pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

American aid to the Palestinians is in jeopardy over their ties to the terrorist group Hamas, unwillingness to restart negotiations with Israel and push for statehood ... The Obama administration forcefully pushed back Tuesday against threats from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to cut off aid to the Palestinian government because of its ties to the Hamas terror group.

8:20pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Barack Hussein Obama promised before the election that he would bankrupt the coal industry that provides us with 57% of our electricity. In an appalling testimony to the suicidal stupidity of 53% of the population, he was elected anyway. He's using the malignant EPA to make good on his promise: Utility giant American Electric Power said Thursday that it will shut down five coal-fired power plants and spend billions of dollars to comply with a series of pending Environmental Protection Agency regulations. …

8:16pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Wars and Rumors

Three suspected US missile strikes in north-western Pakistan in less than 12 hours have killed at least 38 alleged militants, an unusually heavy barrage at a time when relations between the two countries are badly strained

8:53pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Islamic terrorist groups are setting up shop in Mexico and forming alarming ties with the country's brutal drug cartels, according to a 2010 internal memo from the Tucson Police Department. The memo, leaked by the hacker group LulzSec as part of its Arizona Department of Public Safety hack, warns that Hezbollah has established operations — and a large arms stockpile — in Mexico. ... could be disastrous for Mexico's drug war, given Hezbollah's advanced weapons capabilities — specifically their expertise with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants. Partnerships between Mexican organized crime and Islamic militants are mutually beneficial — and therefore terrifying. The cartels are able to gain smuggling and weapons expertise, as well as access to cheap heroin from Afghanistan and Iran. The terrorists benefit from Mexico's drug war lawlessness and its porous border with their primary target: The United States.

8:27pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Iran is moving its nuclear program into a mountain facility able to withstand air and missile strikes ... Experts fear that Tehran's decision to begin moving some 3,000 centrifuges to Fowdrow could signal its final push for a nuclear weapon. ... [Gee, y'think?]

8:23pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Digital Threat

The Pentagon has admitted a foreign power hacked and stole 24,000 files from the United States this year forcing them to treat the internet as a warzone. The audacious theft was announced as Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn launched a new online security strategy, which now classes cyberspace as an 'operational domain' like the sea, air and land. ... He said as part of its active defences, the Pentagon would introduce new operating concepts and capabilities on its networks, such as sensors, software and signatures to detect and stop malicious code before it affects U.S. operations. [And even though the whole herd of horses has been stolen, we are doubling the locks on the barn door!]

8:41pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Big Nanny

Even when a mother is literally killing her children with deep-fried, chocolate-covered kindness, it is counter-intuitive for her to listen to criticism of the way she is performing that most basic of womanly tasks: bringing up baby. I do, in fact, have a sneaking sympathy for some among such misguided parents — although plenty of people don't. Take Tam Fry, chairman of Britain's Child Growth Foundation, who doesn't mince his words at all; he calls the stuffing of children's already fat faces 'a form of child abuse'.

8:30pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Modern Medicine can be Dangerous

A study of babies in intensive care suggests that doctors are getting better at recognizing situations where infants are sure to die or have severe brain damage -- and are often holding back on life support when that's the case. The findings "reflect increasing awareness by the medical community of the need to limit interventions of minimal or very questionable benefit, and particularly if those interventions potentially include significant pain or suffering to the patient," said Dr. Renee Boss, a neonatologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, who wasn't part of the new research.

8:58pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Sharia Sucks

a women's protest on the streets of Kabul on Thursday was the first of its kind. On a hot, muggy day, about 30 women of all ages mustered up the courage to speak up against the age-old indignity of sexual harassment by men. ...

8:32pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Hillary ClintonU.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she's hopeful that a religious tolerance agreement between the West and Islamic countries will end efforts to criminalize blasphemy that threaten freedom of expression. At an interfaith conference in Turkey, Clinton said an initiative by the U.S., the European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference will promote religious freedom without compromising free speech. [Yes, because, as was pointed out by someone on the web, Islam, which means "submit" and FREEDOM are so compatible!]

8:17pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Transport Threat

A cellphone-size stun gun found aboard a JetBlue plane arriving from Boston did not appear intended to be used in an attack

8:56pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Know the Enemy

Italy: Muslim destroys statue of the patron saint of Agrigento ... He took it and threw it violently against the wall, destroying it completely. ... A Greek immigrant who lived in the city in the 5th century, Saint Calogero has been considered "an example of integration between people".

8:36pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

It's the scene every Friday at the cafeteria of Valley Park Middle School in Toronto. That's not a private academy, it's a public school funded by taxpayers. And yet, oddly enough, what's going on is a prayer service — oh, relax, it's not Anglican or anything improper like that; it's Muslim Friday prayers, and the Toronto District School Board says don't worry, it's just for convenience: They put the cafeteria at the local imams' disposal because otherwise the kids would have to troop off to the local mosque and then they'd be late for Lesbian History class or whatever subject is scheduled for Friday afternoon. ... Some Canadians will look at this picture and react as Miss Shaidle did, or Tasha Kheiriddin in The National Post: Is this the Middle Ages? Have I stumbled into a time warp, where "unclean" women must be prevented from "defiling" other persons?

8:19pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Osama bin Laden killed

The CIA organised a fake vaccination programme in the town where it believed Osama bin Laden was hiding in an elaborate attempt to obtain DNA from the fugitive al-Qaida leader's family... CIA agents recruited a senior Pakistani doctor to organise the vaccine drive in Abbottabad, even starting the "project" in a poorer part of town to make it look more authentic... The doctor, Shakil Afridi, has since been arrested by the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) for co-operating with American intelligence agents. [And given a medal?? Oh...]

8:55pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Untied States

Meet John Rolczynski: The Grand Forks, N.D., resident has been trying to tell his legislators that an error in the state's founding document means that technically, North Dakota is not a state. Sounds like the ravings of a grumpy old man, but as it turns out, Rolczynski was right. News of uncertain statehood has put North Dakota in the spotlight and garnered big buzz. Here's the story: Back in 1889, North Dakota was carved out of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union at the same time as South Dakota. Or so everyone thought. But the state founders who drafted the constitution left out the key requirement that the governor and other top officials take an oath of office, putting the state constitution in conflict with the federal one. So Rolczynski has been arguing for the last 16 years that the omission made the state illegitimate.

8:21pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Transport Disaster

Russia said there was little hope of finding any more people alive on Monday after an overloaded tourist boat sank in the Volga River, killing as many as 128 people in Russia's worst river accident in three decades.

8:56pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW
2

Life and Death

Witnesses who watched a Northern California man get sucked into a Maui blow hole to his apparent death say that the tourist was dancing around and frolicking in the sprays of water moments before a wave knocked him down.

8:47pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Bartlesville - prairie frontier town

Old Phillips 66 sign
Consistent with ConocoPhillips previously stated strategies and focus on value creation for its shareholders, ConocoPhillips board of directors has approved pursuing the separation of the companys Refining & Marketing and Exploration & Production businesses into two stand-alone, publicly traded corporations via a tax-free spin of the refining and marketing business to ConocoPhillips (COP) shareholders. ... Consistent with our strategy to create industry-leading shareholder value, we have concluded that two independent companies focused on their respective industries will be better positioned to pursue their individually focused business strategies, said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer. Both companies will continue to benefit from the size and scale of their significant high-quality asset bases and free cash flow generation, allowing them to invest and create shareholder value in a changing environment. [Ummmmm....]
9:01pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Spiritual Matters

An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear". Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago after reading that headgear was allowed in official pictures only for confessional reasons. Mr Alm said the sieve was a requirement of his religion, pastafarianism.
9:02pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Housing Ourselves

Behrokh Khoshnevis (USC Engineering) has been perfecting his contour crafter. The material used is a semi-liquid quick-setting, concrete-like compound. The system is able to make calls to onsite experts for insertion of plumbing and wiring as the construction effort proceeds. "The goal is to be able to completely construct a one-story, 2000-square foot home on site, in one day and without using human hands."

8:14pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

What's In a Name?

Poor dude. For forthy-three years no one gives you sh*t about your name. Then some chick in Florida goes a screws everything up for you. Now you can't answer the phone or get on Facebook without some d-bag thinking you're that Casey Anthony

8:26pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Transport Business

Transportation Ray LaHood visited Europe to check out HSR there in person and came back proclaiming, "High speed rail is coming to America." The $8 billion, we were told, was a down payment, and that in little more than two decades, America's largest cities would be linked by a web of high speed trains. But as it turns out, a series of snafus and reversals has left Obama's HSR agenda on life support. ... But beyond those philosophically opposed to HSR, some high speed rail advocates have done themselves no favors either. They've resolutely backed pretty much any and every rail project regardless of whether it is potentially useful or an outright boondoggle.

8:17pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Budget Battles

President Obama unleashed his inner Alinskyite on Wednesday, storming out of a meeting with Congressional leaders and White House staff after threatening the GOP House Leader Eric Cantor with a parting "Eric, don't call my bluff." Presidential it wasn't, and loyalists in the MSM immediately began to spread covering smoke from Obama allies like Harry Reid blaming the GOP Leader for refusing to be filibustered or bullied in the long series of pointless meetings arranged by a desperate president to try and change a political dynamic that sees his approval rating plummeting in poll after poll. [h/t to Cuz BD http://twitter.com/#!/brandondutcher/statuses/91917856811393024]

9:36pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

The US is holding the entire world hostage, and it's the Republicans that are playing with fire. [????]

8:43pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

The Wall Street Journal by Jim DeMint & Olympia Snowe: Before we consider saddling our children with even more debt, we must enact significant spending cuts and enforceable caps on future spending. For the long term, to prevent both this Congress and its successors from hijacking the promise of American prosperity, we also need a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, like the one we and all 47 Senate Republicans have introduced. ... The last time the Senate considered a balanced budget amendment was on March 4, 1997—and it failed to pass by one vote. On that day 14 years ago, the nation's outstanding debt was $5.36 trillion. Today it is $14.3 trillion, or nearly three times that amount. [Unfortunately, if the balance doesn't include some limits on spending, it really doesn't matter. They'll just keep raising taxes....]

8:43pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW
3

US Military

Members of the U.S. military and their families who were stationed overseas during the 2010 elections were disfranchised at an alarmingly high rate, according to a new report released today by the Military Voter Protection Project. MVPP surveyed 24 states. Of the 2 million military voters covered by the report, 15.8 percent requested absentee ballots, but only 4.6 percent cast absentee ballots that were counted. This is at least partly due to the difficulty and uncertainty of the process. Both numbers were below the 2006 midterm election figures, when 5.5 percent of military and overseas voters cast absentee ballots that were counted. MVPP also found that local election officials in 14 states and the District of Columbia failed to comply with the federal requirement that all absentee ballots must be mailed at least 45 days prior to the election.

8:44pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45"You know, August and September, you do have to start laying out a plan if you are to be one to throw your hat in the ring, so that's basically the time frame," Palin told Sean Hannity during an appearance Wednesday night on Fox News. ... "I'm not wholly confident that we have that field set yet that that one individual is in the field," Palin said. "So I'm still thinking about being one that would offer myself up in the name of service, knowing confidently that I have those common-sense, fiscally conservative, pro-private sector experience and ideas that can be put to good work for this country." ... "We cannot default, but we cannot afford to retreat right now either," Palin said. "Now is not the time to retreat. It's the time to reload. And we reload with reality by giving facts and numbers to the American public so that those of us across the U.S. can start chiming in and letting our representatives know that we will not capitulate. We will not hand over more power, which I believe is unconstitutional, to President Obama to further manipulate our economy."

9:02pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45I don't trust this President… He doesn't know how to make those cuts. He's never had to do this before. He's always just been one to spend other people's money even if that money is just borrowed money or printed out of thin air. He's never had to exercise real executive authority like that.

8:45pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Defending Ourselves

A bill to prohibit people from openly carrying unloaded handguns in California... would make it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a steep fine, to openly carry an unloaded handgun "on one's person or in a vehicle." ... "Existing law prohibits carrying a concealed weapon, loaded or unloaded, unless granted a permit to do so," according to the California Police Chiefs Association. But existing law doesn't prohibit carrying an unconcealed weapon — the source of the conflict. ... Portantino said police regularly receive calls from alarmed residents who see guns carried in plain sight in public venues. Responding to these complaints slows down reaction to other calls or threats. [UNCLEEEAR on the CONCEPT!!!]

8:34pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Transport Pleasures

I'm growing sour on travel. I have always disliked it. When I was a kid my parents took us all over Europe and the Caribbean, and it really exhausted me. Now that I'm a grown up, I am better able to articulate why I think travel is a waste of time. Here are four reasons why I think the benefits of travel are largely delusional

8:47pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

Transport Rights

No one is immune to the probing hands of the TSA ... including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ... who got the pat-down at Chicago's O'Hare airport this afternoon

9:02pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

"It was extremely thorough, almost a violation, "says Jason Steitler as he describes how a TSA official searched him at the Greater Rochester International Airport July 6th. Steitler's disability requires he uses a wheelchair. "They did the hair then did the neck. Then they had me do a pushup in my chair, then got down into my inner thigh around my back side. It's the most thorough search [I've] had done in my life," says Steitler. ... "She's been using the phrase 'search raped' because it was that thorough. She says it was nearly to her crotch," says Steitler. "I feel the chair should have option of either scanner or searches, but automatically we're being thrown to being patted down."

8:52pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW

A 41-year-old Clarksville woman was arrested after Nashville airport authorities say she was belligerent and verbally abusive to security officers, refusing for her daughter to be patted down at a security checkpoint. ... saying she did not want her daughter to be "touched inappropriately or have her "crotch grabbed" ... After the woman refused to calm down, airport police said, she was charged with disorderly conduct and taken to jail. ... At one point, Abbott tried unsuccessfully to take a video with her cellphone. ... TSA says it will instruct screeners how to make repeated attempts to screen young children without invasive pat-downs.

8:51pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 15 :MW
1

Obamanation

the Obama quote that the wire services are trumpeting makes no sense. If, in fact, he is bluffing, the Republicans should by all means call his bluff. Properly, Obama should be warning the GOP that he is not bluffing. Saying "don't call my bluff" is the opposite of what Obama presumably means, sort of like saying that one "could care less"

10:47am CDT Thu 2011 Jul 14 :MW

Big Government and the Washington Examiner have pointed to this speech as evidence that Holder lied when he told the House Oversight Committee in May that he had no knowledge of Fast and Furious while it was being conducted. But Project Gunrunner, which Holder mentioned in his Cuernavaca speech, and Fast and Furious, which led to Terry's death, aren't the same program.

10:03am CDT Thu 2011 Jul 14 :MW
1

Obamanation

In a move that should outrage every freedom-loving American, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has decided that the way to correct the utter failure (and criminality) of Operation "Fast and Furious" is to punish gun store owners. That's right: in response to the growing public outcry over the hundreds upon hundreds of guns which illegally crossed the border into Mexico with the ATF's blessing, the DOJ is requiring gun stores in Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico to report individual purchases of multiple rifles of greater than .22 caliber to the ATF.

5:17pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW

The Justice Department's new policy on requiring all gun shops in four Southwest border states to report frequent buyers of semi-automatic weapons is drawing both praise and criticism. ... the National Rifle Association (NRA) said it plans to sue the administration over the rule. "This is a blatant effort by the Obama administration and ATF to divert focus of Congress and the general public from their gross incompetence in the Fast and Furious scandal," NRA executive director Chris Cox said in a statement. "This scheme will unjustly burden law-abiding retailers in border states," he said. "It will not affect drug cartels and it won't prevent violence along our borders."

4:02pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW

[Issa & Grassley to Eric Holder:] As our investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has progressed, we have learned that senior officials at the Department of Justice... were unquestionably aware of the implementation of this reckless program.

3:41pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW

Allen West says that Obama needs to understand that it's his job to prioritize spending so that Social Security checks will go out and we don't default ... Real leaders don't use intimidation and scare tactics

9:35am CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW

Big Brother

Law enforcement representatives are planning to endorse a proposed federal law that would require Internet service providers to store logs about their customers for 18 months, CNET has learned. The National Sheriffs' Association will say it "strongly supports" mandatory data retention during Tuesday's U.S. House of Representatives hearing on the topic.

4:03pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW
2

Art of

Rob Grill, the longtime lead singer and a very nearly original member of the Grass Roots, the immensely popular rock group of the 1960s and afterward, died on Monday in Tavares, Fla. He was 67. … complications of a head injury he sustained in a fall last month …
5:11pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW

Bartlesville - prairie frontier town

Speaking with individuals inside, police learned there had been a party at the house when a small group of people — one of whom was later identified as Morrow — showed up wearing "fitted" hats, not "snapback" hats as the rest of the party goers in the house wore, according to a witness. He told police it was then, during a fight about their wearing fitted hats, that Morrow pulled out a gun. He said at this point the group was kicked out of the house and that was when he heard the shots and the house was hit with bullets.

2:52pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW

Healing Ourselves

A young man who has had a world-first double leg transplant in Spain cried with joy on seeing his new limbs and might walk in six or seven months, the head surgeon say. ... "I imagine he will be able to walk with crutches. I imagine that in the long term he will even be able to leave the crutches but that depends on how his rehabilitation goes," the doctor said. "If everything goes as we hope we could realistically think that in six or seven months he could be walking."

3:50pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 13 :MW
1

Obamanation

In recent days we've seen a number of left-wing spokesmen ranging from Bill Maher to Frank Rich dismissing Obama as a disappointment -- too centrist, too moderate, not at all the American Lenin they'd ordered. Even Mark Halperin, who would fracture his nose if any Democratic politician ever stopped short, dismissed the messiah as a "dick" on MSNBC. ... The explanation for this is quite simple: Obama has failed, but the ideology must go on.... [OR, the media is learning that if they act like Obama is a centrist, the gullible masses may believe it.]

5:08pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Obama clearly paraphrasing Marx: "I do not want, and I will not accept a deal in which I am asked to do nothing. In fact, I am able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don't need...." "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!" -Karl Marx

5:06pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

ATF Senior Special Agent John Dodson says what he was asked to do was beyond belief. An Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms senior agent assigned to the Phoenix office in 2010, Dodson's job is to stop gun trafficking across the border. Instead, he says he was ordered to sit by and watch it happen. Investigators call the tactic letting guns "walk." In this case, walking into the hands of criminals who would use them in Mexico and the United States.

4:59pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

A group of more than 600 mayors are calling on President Obama to strengthen and increase enforcement of the nation's gun laws in the wake of a controversial gun tracking operation that may have contributed to the death of at least one federal agent. ... New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who chair the group, also pushed for Obama to expand mandatory reporting requirements for gun dealers who sell multiple assault rifles and variants. By increasing the requirements beyond the currently mandated multiple handgun purchase laws, it would cut down on the number of AK-47 and AR-15 variant rifles that flow to Mexican drug cartels, the group said.... [Not as long as the Obama Justice Dept is PUSHING them!] Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have called for a similar strengthening of gun laws in the wake of operation Fast and Furious. [Obama's devious plan to undermine the 2nd Amendment is WORKING -- sort-of.]

4:58pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Digital Threat

The Democrat Congress couldn't pass the energy sector-killing Cap & Trade? No problem, President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just began to implement it as if it did. The Democrat Congress couldn't pass the union-payoff, anti-free choice Employee Free Choice Act? No problem, President Obama's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just began to implement it as if it did. Then there is President Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — and its December 21 illegal Internet power grab executed so as to then impose the absurd Network Neutrality. The Democrat Congress couldn't pass Net Neutrality — and in fact 302 of its members were opposed to the FCC unilaterally force-feeding it to us. Please note: The FCC has zero authority over anything unless and until Congress writes a law that says "Hey FCC, do this." And as FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski readily admits, Congress has never done so with the Internet. ... The Media Marxists — the folks who are working to have the government control all news, media and communications — know this. They have moved past the "Fairness" Doctrine to other, bigger, newer forms of censorship. Mark Lloyd — a Hugo Chavez-loving Media Marxist whom the FCC hired as their inaugural "Chief Diversity Officer" — wrote a piece called "Forget the Fairness Doctrine" in which he details other ways to achieve the same silencing of the Right on the radio. But the Left is thinking long term — and that means Net Neutrality. The Godfather of the Media Marxist movement — Robert McChesney — describes Net Neutrality thusly: "(T)he ultimate goal is to get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control."

5:15pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Sharia Sucks

[O]ne year ago today, July 12, a Fatwa was placed on cartoonist Molly Norris who once wrote for the Seattle Times. Norris had drawn a cartoon in support of South Park after an episode featuring Mohammad was censored, she had suggested an Everybody Draw Mohammad day in protest. She later disavowed and apologized saying she meant no offense but to those who called for her death it didn't matter. Two months later Molly Norris went into hiding under an assumed name for fear of her life. She remains in hiding, somewhere in the US, to this day.

5:12pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Know the Enemy

Haaretz newspaper reported Wednesday, "The UN Security Council plans to discuss in July [on the 26th] the possibility of Palestine becoming a United Nations member state, the Security Council president said on Tuesday. The Arab League has said it would request UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital at the UN General Assembly in September." ... Pro-Israel Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH, pictured right—>) who chairs the Subcommittee for mid-East relations, introduced H.R. 297, which says the United States should withhold "contributions to the regularly assessed biennial budget of the United Nations … if the General Assembly adopts a resolution in favor of recognizing a state of Palestine outside of or prior to a final status agreement negotiated between, and acceptable to, the State of Israel and the Palestinians."

5:01pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Liberal Politics

In June we attended the Printer's Row Literature Festival in Chicago. City blocks were closed off for tents and booths full of all types of literature. We presented a board with a selection of well known book covers and asked visitors of the event if they could choose to ban any of the books on the board, which if any, they would in fact ban. ... Participants overwhelming chose Sarah Palin who received 53 votes putting her at 36% overall, Glenn Beck at 23% and Ann Coulter at 22%. All of the other choices received a very minimal amount of votes, with the next most popular to ban being Adolf Hitler at 0.5%.

5:13pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW
3

US Military

US FlagStaff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry United States Army For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on May 26, 2008.

7:17pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45Martin Bashir Monday falsely accused former Alaska governor Sarah Palin of calling President Obama a sugar daddy. Not only did the MSNBC host badly misinterpret Palin's words, he clearly doesn't understand what a sugar daddy is (video follows with transcript and commentary) ... Palin was calling "hard working taxpayers" that have been footing the bill for others the sugar daddy - NOT Obama.

5:03pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45I take it as a mark of GREATNESS that she was willing to do what everyone considered political suicide and resign for the good of her state and the people she served.

3:18pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45So, why are there not more establishment voices calling for such a visible and pragmatic Palin to toss her hat in the ring? My guess is, because she is more one of us, than any political establishment. If you begin to understand — and accept that — you may be beginning to understand Palin and what she represents to so many. Unfortunately, as shocking as it may seem, the fact is, more than fearing the political opposition in the form of Democrats, or Republicans, what America's political establishment fears most of all is "we the people." That, in large part, is what Ronald Reagan represented leading to such strong opposition to him from the GOP establishment, as well.

2:40pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW

Defending Ourselves

159 >Thank God I live in OKC. We're having a big gun show this weekend and I'm thinking of picking up an auto small enough to hide easily, but has a calibur big enough to knock someone on their ass on the first shot. Soona....take a look at the Walther PPS. Comes in both .40 and 9mm. It is ugly as sin, but feels really good in the hand and is very slim. I've been carrying mine for 18 months and it is a joke to conceal.

8:48pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 12 :MW
1

Obamanation

"The reason you guys are here is because on 9/11 the United States got attacked," Panetta told the troops. ... I always viewed Iraq more about changing the terms of the fight in the Mideast. Al Qaeda was offering a vision for how Muslims should live, not only in accordance with strict Islamic rule but also in confrontation with the West. For the most part the US had been offering support for despots in the region (think Egypt and Saudi Arabia). By getting rid of Saddam we'd be able to create a demonstration project as it were and offer an alternative path for the region. Oh and we'd be getting rid of a monster who also posed a major security threat to a vital part of the world in the process. Whatever Panetta meant, it's fun to see a Democrat on the receiving end of the media's narrative protection effort for a change.

8:58pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 11 :MW
1

Obamanation

Ron Bloom, Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy, is quoted in a 2009 newspaper account and a 2010 book saying of the auto bailouts that he "did this all for the unions." But when Bloom appeared before the committee on June 22, he flatly denied ever saying those words. Other White House officials have reportedly defended Bloom by suggesting that he did indeed say those words but was joking. And that has led committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa to ask what is going on.

9:41pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

I've lived in DC and/or its immediate surroundings for 20 years and I can assure you there were never foot patrol with assault rifles prior to Obama. Something has shifted under Obama. We are in the early stages of becoming a police state, and most of these so-called "safety measures" are just a bullshit excuse to harass and intimidate law-abiding citizens.

3:11pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Wars and Rumors

Iran said on Saturday it test-fired two long-range missiles into the Indian Ocean earlier this year, the first time it has fired missiles into that sea, according to state television.

9:43pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Animals can be Dangerous

Bearhelped the woman escape from the approaching bear Friday at a remote lake in the park. . ... was in a kayak with his young son and his father-in-law ... saw hiker ... coming down toward the lake with the large bear following her"We just thought, 'We've got to save this woman's life,' but then on the other hand I had my son in the kayak,so we were like, 'When do we go get her?' And when the bear got too close we decided we had to take some action.... We were afraid the bear was gonna come after us--and it was about 20 or 30 feet away--and we just real calmly stroked the kayak back," The ordeal played out before a CNN camera, as a news crew was interviewing a park ranger about the deadly grizzly attack days before.

9:49pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Big Nanny

Many who govern in America's capital think that they can wave their legisla tive wands and unleash beauty -- free of costs and complications. Of course, reality rarely cooperates. Consider Washington's ban on the incandescent light bulb. If left unchallenged, Jan. 1 will herald stricter standards that Congress designed in 2007 to electrocute Thomas Edison's invention and dragoon Americans into using more energy-efficient alternatives. Americans are enduring a parade of unforeseen consequences as "the experts" try to extinguish this landmark contribution to humanity. Compact Fluorescent Lamps, which Washington hopes will replace incandescent ones, brighten slowly, function poorly with dimmer knobs and emit a color of light that many find unappealing. Even worse, according to EnergyStar.gov, each CFL contains 4 milligrams of toxic mercury. An average CFL includes enough mercury to pollute 528 gallons of water.

9:53pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Scary Times

Plane"The flight attendant just ran up to me and literally grabbed me by the shirt and said, 'You need to come with me now...." They came upon three men wrestling with another passenger who... had been in the restroom for 20 or 30 minutes and wouldn't come out.... They handcuffed the suspicious passenger and tied up his feet, but he started spitting and swearing.... "So we duct-taped his mouth shut.... He was able to get that off himself. He almost choked himself by swallowing the duct tape." Then they secured a surgical mask over his face "just to get him to kind of shut up and stop spitting all over everybody." man had a boarding pass but wasn't on the passenger list.

9:51pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Transport Tragedy

An Illinois man is being held at the Christian County Jail after a tractor-trailer he was driving hit a horse-drawn buggy, killing a young Amish girl and injuring three members of her family ... being held for murder, operating a vehicle under the influence, criminal mischief and three counts of assault

9:44pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Disinformation Propaganda and Spin

In a western world whose intelligentsia is consumed by irrational and malevolent hatred of America and Israel and is hell-bent on undermining the west and assisting its mortal enemies, Murdoch has provided the one media voice putting forward a pro-America, pro-Israel, pro-defence of the west position -- including support for the Iraq war. That's why the left hate him so much. They display the same kind of frenzied, irrational obsession over Murdoch as they do over America, Israel and Iraq. When you consider the BBC's 'group-think' bent journalism, or the disgusting support the Guardian provides, week in, week out, to anti-Jewish, anti-gay, women-beating hate-mongers, to see the BBC and Guardian scarcely able to contain themselves over Murdoch's disaster is a nauseating spectacle.

2:24pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Know the Enemy

A Kirkland family has filed a complaint claiming their 6-year-old son was singled out by TSA for TWO patdowns. ... "I don't want to go to Disneyland anymore."

9:47pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW
2

Life and Death

An Iraq war veteran who lost both his legs to an IED attack has died after being flung from a roller coaster.

9:41pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Modern Family Life

Many companies already offer domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples. Now that same-sex couples can marry in six states and the District of Columbia, companies must decide if same-sex couples should marry to receive those benefits. Some companies in New York, and elsewhere, have decided to no longer offer domestic partner benefits.
9:51pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Business Culture

Albertsons LLC, which operates 217 stores in seven Western and Southern states, will eliminate all self-checkout lanes in the 100 stores that have them and will replace them with standard or express lanes, a spokeswoman said. "We just want the opportunity to talk to customers more," Albertsons spokeswoman Christine Wilcox said. "That's the driving motivation."

9:40pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Mystery

An 11-year-old boy in Brazil has been dubbed "Magnet Boy" because metal objects apparently stick to his skin. Paulo David Amorim, from Rio Grande do Norte state, can carry spoons, scissors and even casserole pots on his body,

9:45pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45Palin: Barack Obama's big government policies continue to fail. He should put a link to the national debt clock on his BlackBerry. The gears on that clock have nearly exploded during his administration. Yesterday's terrible job numbers should not be a surprise because it all goes back to our debt. Our dangerously unsustainable debt is wiping out our jobs, crippling our economic growth, and jeopardizing our position in the global economy as the leader of the free world.

9:56pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45Sarah Palin hasn't jumped into the race for the White House (yet), but she believes the prize is there for the taking. In a conversation with Peter J. Boyer, Palin warns Boehner not to raise the debt ceiling, proclaims that Obama is beatable—and says the 2012 field is far from settled.

9:56pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

By stating that the payments were a "one-time" payment, Michele Bachmann was dishonest with the audience. She was clearly trying to downplay the issue, perhaps knowing that it hurts her credibility with that large group of grassroots conservatives across the country that she seeks support from. Medicaid payments to her husbands business isn't the only issue the congresswoman is going to face tough questions about. Michele Bachmann waves the Gadsden flag and calls herself an "outsider," yet she hired many DC "insiders" to run her campaign. She came under some heat for hiring Ed Rollins, but most of those criticisms died down when her people had stated that Bachmann forced Rollins to apologize to Palin's staff. I never saw any press accounts one way or the other whether Rollins actually apologized, or if those where just more empty words from Team Bachmann. Perhaps someone in the press will look into that one day.

7:46pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45Newsweek's cover story this week is about Governor Palin. Apparently she did an interview with the magazine in Pella, Iowa. She also reportedly told Newsweek that "I will be very very disappointed if Boehner & the GOP cave on any kind of debt deal in the next couple of months."

7:35pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW

Now that we've disposed with a group no one ever heard of before...what the hell were Bachmann and Rick Santorum thinking in signing this thing?

5:42pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 10 :MW
1

Obamanation

Reporter Bruce Gordon's face said it all as lightning struck behind N.J. Senate President Stephen Sweeney during a live interview Thursday, as Sweeney criticized Chris Christie. [h/t's to Jane Roh @Slightly Politics http://blogs.courierpostonline.com/roh/2011/07/08/this-week-in-symbolism... & Ben Smith @Politico http://blogs.courierpostonline.com/roh/2011/07/08/this-week-in-symbolism... & John @Verum Serum http://www.verumserum.com/?p=26862 (who credits Allahpundit twitter) & Ace of Spaces http://www.verumserum.com/?p=26862 --whew!

7:49pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

The Attorney General has more than the Fast and Furious scandal to worry about. Eric Holder dropped the Justice Department's investigation into the Bill Richardson pay-to-play scandals, but thanks to a civil lawsuit, dots may get connected on the record in court.

7:33pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

The Establishment is in a panic. It has been jolted awake to the realization that the GOP House, if it can summon the courage to use it, is holding a weapon that could enable it to bridle forever the federal monster that consumes 25 percent of gross domestic product. To bully and blackmail the GOP into surrendering the weapon and betraying its principles and signing on to new taxes, that establishment has unleashed rhetoric more befitting a war on terror than a political dispute.

7:19pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Doug Vogt, an expert in document reproduction technologies says the creation of the birth certificate released by the White House is a forgery of a public document that constitutes a felony in Hawaii and multiple violations under U.S. Code, and therefore an impeachable offense. Vogt owns Archive Index Systems which sells all types of document scanners worldwide and he also developed document imaging software (TheRepository). What he presents is evidence against Obama and the creators of the document he released on April 27th

4:53pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

For months the ABC15 Investigators have been searching through police reports and official government documents. We've discovered assault weapons linked to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' controversial "Fast and Furious" case strategy have turned up at crime scenes in Glendale and Phoenix communities.

4:34pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

[U.S. Rep. Allen West ] said that a special prosecutor needs to review the actions of Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the "Fast and Furious" gun scandal ... "This is just another sad chapter in the Eric Holder book of ineptness and incompetence," West said. "Eric Holder needs to be brought before an investigative committee and if those charges are warranted he needs to be held accountable. "At least the president needs to realize that Eric Holder needs to be removed from the Department of Justice … or else it appears President Obama is complicit and in approval of the actions of his attorney general...."

4:34pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

President Obama's senior political adviser David Plouffe said Wednesday that people won't vote in 2012 based on the unemployment rate.

4:00pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Wars and Rumors

The top U.S. military officer accused Iran on Thursday of shipping new supplies of deadly weapons to its militia allies in Iraq, in what he described as Tehran's bid to take credit for forcing American troops to go home. ... "Iran is very directly supporting extremist Shiite groups which are killing our troops," said Adm. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "There is no question they are shipping high-tech weapons in there…that are killing our people. And the forensics prove that."

4:03pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Theory of Education

Illinois will assess only reading and arithmetic now that high school juniors will no longer be tested on their writing skills during standardized exams every spring. [Soon, even reading and math will be gone, and only whether kids feel good about themselves will be tested.]

4:17pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Humans can be Dangerous

A Boulder woman has been arrested for allegedly killing a cat by blowing heroin smoke into its face ... Police say they were responding to a domestic violence call ... boyfriend called police to report that she hit him in the face ... woman admitted hitting her boyfriend with her fist because he wouldn't let her use his phone to call for a ride ... officer noticed the cat lying on the steps ... boyfriend claims she was smoking heroin and blew it in the cat's face, an allegation the woman denies. ...

4:32pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Disinformation Propaganda and Spin

today's high-tech lynch mobsters are no different when they try to destroy the careers, jobs, and reputations of good and decent people -- and even their children, like one-year-old baby Trig Palin. Michele Bachmann was just threatened by one of the media mobsters, because now her 23 foster children are free bait for the media lynchers. This is like mafia thugs walking through your nice family home and telling you what a fire hazard it is, and are you sure you don't want to sell out? They have no decency. None at all. ... We have to understand very clearly how ruthless these people are. Mentally they are prepared to destroy other human beings, something conservatives (by definition) cannot do, because we have decent values. ... The left has told women to hate men. Gays are supposed to hate heterosexuals. Blacks are now more paranoid about whites than they ever were before. Sarah Palin's church was burned down in Wasilla after the 2008 campaign. Where are the media sleuths on that raging mob behavior? They demonstrate how to do it to their brain-dead followers. Then they accuse others of "bullying." ... If you think I'm exaggerating, just watch what the media mobsters are doing to Herman Cain, Rep. Allen West, Governor Palin, and Rep. Michele Bachmann, and ask yourself if there's any difference from the Dixiecrat Kluxers beyond the choice of tools. ...

4:40pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

9/11 - still with us

Even in our darkest hours, we managed to find some light, and some hope. Along with the tales of horror and destruction, the news also started to bring us amazing stories of bravery and heroism which reminded us all of the quality of humanity.

4:51pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Know the Enemy

stole around $50,000 worth of electronics over the past six months ... TSA officer since 2009 -- was caught earlier this week by a Continental Airlines employee taking an iPad out of someone's luggage and stuffing it into his pants ... admitted to stealing computers, GPS devices, video cameras, and other electronic merchandise from luggage he was supposed to be screening. ... would immediately take pictures of his new goods and upload the photos online to sell the stuff. ... would typically sell the stolen goods to people before his shift was even over ... cops are looking for people whose stuff has been stolen, although they say the chances of getting the stuff back are slim.... was released from jail on bond, although police say more charges against him are pending.... no longer works with the TSA.... [Has been hired by the Obama administration to replace Timothy Geitner.] ... joins at least six other sticky-fingered TSA crew members who were also recently caught allegedly lifting things from luggage. [And those are just the ones they've caught!]

4:16pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Chicom FlagChina's Foreign Ministry warned U.S. officials on Thursday not to meet with visiting exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying it hoped Washington "appropriately dealt" with Tibet-related issues. [Sounds like the BEST (if not the only) reason to meet with the crazy old Marxist! F'Off, China!]

4:06pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Bad Parents

A controversial IVF lottery will launch in Britain this month giving prospective parents the chance to win thousands of pounds toward expensive fertility treatments in top clinics. The scheme, which the media have dubbed "win a baby," has already run into trouble on ethical grounds with critics calling it inappropriate and demeaning to human reproduction.

4:02pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW
2

Life and Death

A fan attending a Texas Rangers game died Thursday night after falling out of the stands behind the left-field wall.

4:04pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Spacecraft

Today the Space Shuttle Atlantis took off for the last time, as Obama has scrapped our space program in favor of using NASA to "make muslims feel good" and America will now have to hitch rides with Russia, which will now control the International Space Station. It is a sad day.

4:42pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW

Copy Rights

Consumers who illegally download copyrighted films, music or television shows might see their Internet speed slowed or access restricted under an industry anti-piracy effort announced on Thursday. U.S. Internet service providers, including Verizon Communications Inc, Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cablevision Systems Corp and AT&T Inc agreed to alert customers, up to six times, when it appears their account is used for illegal downloading. Warnings will come as e-mails or pop-up messages. [Just another pretense for the IPs to throttle access]
1:15pm CDT Sat 2011 Jul 9 :MW
1

Obamanation

the official presidential seal fell off the side of US President Barack Obama's limo as it drove down I-76 in Philadelphia last week. While many would think the presidential seal would be embossed on the tank-like limosene, in fact they are magnetic decals "like the cheesy signs real-estate agents slap on the sides of their cars to maintain its tax-deductibility,"

6:33pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

A Prominent Republican is joining a prominent Democrat in predicting that Gov. Cuomo will become President Obama's running mate for vice president next year. Former New York GOP boss William Powers, credited with playing a key role in electing Rudy Giuliani mayor and George Pataki governor, was effusive in his praise of Cuomo's successes in the just-ended legislative session, and in his prediction of the freshman governor's political future. ... "I don't think there's any doubt Obama is going to pick him as his running mate. The president is in trouble and [Vice President Joseph] Biden doesn't bring anything to his ticket."

6:28pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Playing Politics

Senate President Stephen Sweeney... furious... after reviewing the governor's line-item veto of the state budget. ... "I wanted to punch him in his head." [Government at its best.]

6:27pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Wars and Rumors

A spray-painted sign threatening death for U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents was found Friday next to a school in a northern Mexico state capital, officials said. Addressed with profanity to "Gringos (D.E.A.)," the unsigned graffiti warned: "We know where you are and we know who you are and where you go. We are going to chop off your (expletive) heads."

6:17pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Animals can be Dangerous

SnakeA Colorado family has moved out of their house after discovering hundreds of snakes living inside. Their home was in the town of Maybell in northwestern Colorado. Now a bankruptcy court may sue the previous owner and real estate agent for failure to disclose the snakes were there.

6:37pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Viet Nam War - still with us

US FlagHe didn't join the Army willingly, but as Command Sergeant Major Jeff Mellinger prepares to retire, he is grateful he found his calling. Mellinger, 58, was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, and the Army believes he is the last draftee to retire, after 39 years. Most did their two years and left. But Mellinger had found home. "I think I'm pretty good at it, but I like it,'' he said. "That's the bottom line. I love being a soldier and I love being around soldiers.''

6:33pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Transport Threat

Airlines are being warned by the government that terrorists are considering surgically hiding bombs inside humans to evade airport security. As a result, travelers may find themselves subjected to more scrutiny when flying in the heart of summer vacation season, especially to the U.S. from abroad. ... People-scanning machines in airports aren't able to detect explosives hidden inside humans. ... Jimmie C. Oxley, a chemistry professor at the University of Rhode Island and explosives expert, said it would be tough to carry out such an effort successfully. She said there are only so many places to hide a bomb in the body, and a suicide bomber would have to recover enough from the surgery to travel and set off the device. ... [ALL PASSEENGERS SUBJECT TO IMPROMPTU SURGERY BY TSA AGENTS]

6:35pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Transport Tragedy

ONONDAGA, N.Y. — A man riding bareheaded on one of about 550 motorcycles in an anti-helmet law rally lost control of his cycle, went over his handlebars, hit his head on the pavement and died...

6:30pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

OKC Bombing -- still with us

The FBI has not found videotapes from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that are being sought by a Utah lawyer and do not believe another records search is reasonable or will uncover the information, the agency has told a federal judge. FBI officials are "unaware of the existence or likely location of additional tapes" that would fulfill the Freedom of Information Act request filed by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, agency attorneys said in court papers filed last week.

6:38pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Know the Enemy

Al-Qaeda fanatics in Britain are being taught to avoid detection — by pretending to be gay. A new terror training manual tells Islamic extremists to lie about their sexuality if a woman approaches them in case she is a "honeytrap" spy sent by security services.

6:29pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Untied States

Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone... said in a statement late Thursday that Riverside, Imperial, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Kings, Kern, Fresno, Tulare, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa and Mono counties should form the new state of South California. ... would allow officials to focus on securing borders, balancing budgets, improving schools and creating a vibrant economy....

6:23pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW
2

Liberty and Justice

Casey Anthony juror Jennifer Ford said that she and the other jurors cried and were "sick to our stomachs" after voting to acquit Casey Anthony of charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. "I did not say she was innocent," said Ford, who had previously only been identified as juror No. 3. "I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be."

6:37pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Spiritual Matters

A treasure trove of gold and silver jewelry, coins and precious stones said to be worth billions of dollars has been found in a Hindu temple in southern India... estimated preliminary worth of over 500 billion rupees ($11.2 billion)… "We are yet to open one more secret chamber which has not been opened for nearly 140 years…."
6:25pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

Earth Shakes

EarthquakeIt's been one of the mysteries of Japan's ongoing nuclear disaster: How much of the damage did the March 11 earthquake inflict on Fukushima Daiichi's reactors in the 40 minutes before the devastating tsunami arrived? The stakes are high: If the quake alone structurally compromised the plant and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then every other similar reactor in Japan is at risk. "I personally saw pipes that came apart and I assume that there were many more that had been broken throughout the plant. There's no doubt that the earthquake did a lot of damage inside the plant. There were definitely leaking pipes, but we don't know which pipes — that has to be investigated. I also saw that part of the wall of the turbine building for Unit 1 had come away. That crack might have affected the reactor."

6:16pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Herman Cain's Iowa Director, Tina Goff, told TheIowaRepublican.com that she has submitted her resignation and is no longer working for the campaign. In addition to Goff's resignation, TheIowaRepublican.com can confirm that Kevin Hall has also left the campaign. Hall served as Cain's Straw Poll coordinator. Goff and Hall both worked on Fred Thompson's presidential campaign in 2008 and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad's campaign in 2010. Goff stated that she resigned because the Cain campaign refused to make a serious effort in Iowa, the home of the First-in-the-Nation caucuses.

6:10pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW

United States of America

It's William Whipple's turn to be recognized. The New Hampshire merchant is one of the lesser-known signers of the Declaration of Independence. This year, there are plans for Whipple and 11 others to be honored for their place in history with a small bronze plaque at their gravesites or homes, thanks to a group of descendants of the Founding Fathers.

6:31pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 8 :MW
1

Obamanation

If yields on our T-bills hit 9% (which they might; junk bonds, yo!), then our indebtedness explodes as trillions more are added to our growing debt just due to increased interest-service (and as we have no way of paying that, we just add that new debt to the old debt and take out even newer debt to pay for that). A scenario that looks pretty likely is our debt:GDP ratio hitting 250% by 2030. But don't worry; that won't happen. The system will explode before ever permitting such a ludicrous ratio.

9:23pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

The United States and JUSTICE BREYER complain of the grave international consequences that will follow from Leal's execution. Congress evidently did not find these consequences sufficiently grave to prompt its enactment of implementing legislation, and we will follow the law as written by Congress. We have no authority to stay an execution in light of an "appeal of the President," presenting free-ranging assertions of foreign policy consequences, when those assertions come unaccompanied by a persuasive legal claim.

9:22pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

ObamaAmerica needs to know that ACORN is restructuring in time to help re-elect President Obama in 2012. Obama used to work for ACORN and represented the group in court as its lawyer. These radical leftists who use the brutal, in-your-face, pressure tactics of Saul Alinsky want to destroy America as we know it and will use any means to do it.

9:22pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

The presidency of Barack Hussein Obama might very well have begun its sharp and steep descent towards its nadir last week with his ill-advised press conference which alienated his normally steadfast allies in the liberal media.

7:32pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Something unexpected happened along the president's breezy cruise to re-election. "No drama" Obama is suddenly looking about as calm as Jerry Lewis in a French film, about as brave as Ted Kennedy after an evening drive through Chappaquiddick. Witness Team Obama's recent panicky behavior.

7:27pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

In a sane America, it would be called out for the treason that it is. The Obama administration is partnering with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban, hardcore islamic supremacist movements, self declared enemies of the United States, whose sole purpose for existence is jihad against non-muslims (or those deemed 'not muslim enough').

7:04pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Obama"This president is looking to usurp congressional oversight to find a way to get it done without us. My position is that is an impeachable act from my perspective. There are a lot of things people say, 'Are you going to impeach the president over that?' — No. But this? This is catastrophic. This jeopardizes the credibility of our nation if one man can usurp the entire system set up by our founding fathers over something this significant," Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC)

4:16pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Melson's revelations raise even more serious issues not only about the operation itself, but about apparent attempts by the Justice Department to mislead Congress on the details of the operation.

12:38pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Know the Enemy

Getting rid of Melson is a start — but this one move alone ain't gonna cure ATF's problems. It's going to take a bigger bus. Corruptocrat AG Eric Holder knew about the program much earlier than he testified to, Rep. Issa says, and he has been an obstruction to the Gunrunner probe since day one. And then there's the man waiting in the wings to replace Melson — either as acting director or as permanent director. He's Chicago anti-gun radical Andrew Traver and he's scheduled to meet with Holder and DOJ today.

3:21pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

She can leak state secrets. She is closely associated with her Muslim Brotherhood family and even joined Clinton at an event with her mother, Saleha Abedin, at Dar El-Hekma College in Saudi Arabia. Also present was a close associate of Saleha Abedin—Suheir Qureshi. Qureshi's name later appeared in several prominent Arab newspapers when it was revealed that she belonged to a list of 63 members of the secret arm of the Muslim Brotherhood called The Sisterhood. The full list was later revealed—Huma Abedin's mother is on it. Huma's brother—Hassan Abedin—also collaborates with Omar Naseef and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, two of the most influential terror supporters in the world.

3:16pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW
2

Art of

Kevin Dunn, who has starred as Shia LaBeouf's father in all three Transformers films, had trouble watching his hometown take its lumps. "You know you're watching a popcorn movie, but it kind of hurts to see those buildings go," he says. "It was shocking. The Wrigley Building takes a hit. The Jewelers Building gets totally destroyed. Wow, those Decepticons didn't leave any brick unturned." … Says Dunn with a laugh: "I hope it doesn't hurt the Chicago psyche to know that we are becoming the go-to place for movie destruction."
3:37pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Liberty and Justice

Contrary to the Justice Department's denials, according to Melson, ATF agents specifically witnessed transfers of weapons from straw purchasers to third parties without taking any further action. Melson claimed that it was not until the public disclosure of the operation that he personally reviewed the "hundreds of documents" related to the case. He said he became "sick to his stomach" when he learned the full story. Very interesting is the letter to Holder written by Grassley and Issa, accusing the DoJ of obstruction.

11:59am CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly Fort Hood rampage in Texas will be court-martialed and face the death penalty.... Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 shooting spree at the Texas Army post. [And the murdered unborn child who should be #14 just amounts to nothing? Buried in the last paragraph:] ... an American-born Muslim....

11:31am CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Life and Death

Two years later, Miss Dugard is living in northern California with her mother, her half-sister and her two daughters. The two girls are now at school full-time. She writes of her pride at how well her eldest daughter interacted with the other students at her orientation day, and how for the first time she realised they were all going to be OK. Most of all, she writes, she and her daughters are happy to be free - for the first time in 18 years. 'Now I can walk in the next room and see my mom,' she says in the interview. 'Wow. I can decide to jump in the car and go to the beach with the girls. Wow, it's unbelievable, truly.'

12:12pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Animal Culture

ChimpThe primate went to investigate the equipment before becoming fascinated with his own reflection in the lens. And it wasn't long before the crested black macaque hijacked the camera and started snapping away sending award-winning photographer David Slater bananas. ... "The sound got his attention and he kept pressing it. At first it scared the rest of them away but they soon came back - it was amazing to watch. "He must have taken hundreds of pictures by the time I got my camera back, but not very many were in focus. He obviously hadn't worked that out yet.

4:46pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Repeal! Repeal! Repeal!

Hemppot advocates some of the most annoying f'ing people on the planet. [Almost as annoying as this article]

6:32pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45though he will never admit it, Obama would not be tweeting or having Twitter townhalls if it weren't for the way former Alaska Gov. and potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin became Twitter's trailblazer. In fact, I have said Palin should be properly referred to as "The Great CommuniTweeter."

12:51pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

Governing Ourselves

The Far Left wrongly suggests that constitutional conservatism is retrospective. Instead it recognizes that in less than two centuries constitutional conservatism made the United States the most powerful, prosperous, successful, and free nation in world history. This was no accident. Constitutional conservatism is what allows us to achieve such heights, and will reinvigorate America and brighten our future to the extent that we return to those principles. Constitutional conservatism is a unified governmental philosophy. Despite attempts to fracture conservatism into economic, social, and national security factions, constitutional conservatism shows how each of these three builds on the other two in the context of limited government. Flourishing businesses and safe homes are vital to strong families. A vibrant economy and virtuous citizens are essential to fuel national security. And stable families and secure communities are necessary for long-term economic prosperity.

12:29pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW

United States of America

in many respects, we Jews found our promised land when we first stepped foot on American soil (Boston, 1649, Solomon Franco), and later when we came in larger numbers during the 1800s (250,000 Jews by 1880). For the first time, Jews had a home country devoid of a history of Jewish expulsion or systematic Jewish bloodshed. For the first time in history, Jews had a country that — from the beginning — gave de jure acknowledgement to the right to practice to Judaism and the right to be an equal citizen as a Jew. One Jew — Haym Solomon — quickly recognized the opportunities that the liberal values of the American Revolutionaries might afford future Jews. Solomon put his money where his thoughts were and gave $20,000 to George Washington's army, making him the largest financier of the American Revolution.

12:51pm CDT Thu 2011 Jul 7 :MW
2

Geology

Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said on Monday.

4:39pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 6 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45Governor Palin's "intensity index" is up 27% in two weeks while Michele Bachmann's "intensity index" is already falling. It fell by around 17% in just one week. "Intensity index" is a measure that favors candidates like Bachmann and Cain and it certainly isn't a good sign for Bachmann if she's already dropping on a measure that should be highly favorable to her.

1:17pm CDT Wed 2011 Jul 6 :MW
1

Obamanation

Hillary ClintonWhy does the US Secretary of State claim that a movement endorsing and inciting the killing of both Israelis and her own country's soldiers is 'peaceful and committed to non-violence'? Does she not know about the Brotherhood's role in inciting such killings? Does she not care?

6:53pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

More people than I anticipated recognized that our government today has taken on many of the characteristics of the British government that the Founders sought to "dissolve the political bands" of 235 years ago.

4:05pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Lieutenant General John Allen told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the Afghanistan decision President Obama announced last week was not among the range of options the military provided to the commander in chief. Allen's testimony directly contradicts claims from senior Obama administration officials from a background briefing before the president's announcement.

2:42pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

The smoking gun evidence that annuls Obama's presidency is Obama's college transcripts regarding his application for and receiving of foreign student aid. Obama's college transcripts from Occidental College indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as an undergraduate at the school. ... Registration transcript states ~ Name: Barry Soetoro - Religion: Islam - Nationality: Indonesian ... There seems to be no record of Obama legally changing his first name from Barry to Barack. ...

1:52pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

So in Government Motors, we have a car company that makes cars that fall apart — or don't make any money at all. That adds multi-million dollar solar panels to production plants - to save thousands of dollars in energy. That was supposed to turn We the People a profit — but is instead going to end up costing us tens of billions of dollars. On which President Obama is campaigning for reelection — as a "success." Again, you'll have to consult your Government-to-English dictionary.

1:08pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Wars and Rumors

While it appears to be sparsely attended, it isn't because people didn't want to be there. It looks like a ghost town because people couldn't be there. Another enchanting American tradition clobbered by jihad. But let's pretend that it isn't happening.

11:37am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Know the Enemy

There is no end to the stupidity that islam forces people to endure.

1:19pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

aside from the lying and NewAge cultism, what stood out for me is the whoring-your-way-to-the-top ethos, and the men she used (or was used by) to get there

12:25pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

This video has scenes from "Obsession". Please tell all of those you love about the radicalization of Islam. Song: "Sin" - by: Blistur

10:49am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Over the course of the past ten years of covering the global jihad, with a particular interest in how it is assaulting America and Europe, I had amassed so much firsthand, on-the-ground information via my investigations and interviews that I felt I had to sit down and combine it all into one comprehensive volume. My goal in that regard was simple: to wake Americans up before we find ourselves in Europe's predicament. Europe's restive, growing and radicalized Muslim populations are changing the very face of the Old Continent as its governments largely look on impotently, crippled by political correctness and a complete lack of cultural self-confidence. ... 81 percent of U.S. mosques feature literature that advocates violence ... the Iranian regime is the greatest threat to America's — and the world's — security and the most powerful standard bearer for expansionist, anti-Western jihad. So I am deeply concerned about Iran attacking the American homeland through an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack, the likes of which the mullahs have already tested (and which I describe in the book). I'm also concerned that Iran will act through its proxy, Hezbollah, to attack targets in the U.S. and throughout the Western Hemisphere. Lastly, a 2010 Pentagon report warning that Iran may have an intercontinental ballistic missile capability as early as 2015 — meaning the Iranians would be able to hit the East Coast of the United States with missiles that will very likely be nuclear-tipped — was not exactly comforting.

10:39am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW
2

It's All in Your Mind

Because an individual's score may have important consequences for his or her future, and because the potential for harm if the test is used or administered incorrectly is considerable, Hare argues that the test should only be considered valid if administered by a suitably qualified and experienced clinician under controlled and licensed conditions.

2:15pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Obamaa disproportionate number of psychopaths can be found in high places. Over the following months, I spoke to scores of psychologists who all said the same. Everyone in the field seemed to regard psychopaths in this same way: inhuman, relentlessly wicked forces, whirlwinds of malevolence, forever harming society but impossible to identify unless you're trained in the subtle art of spotting them, as I now was.

2:11pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Policing Ourselves

On May 11, 43-year old Allen Kephart died after being tased multiple times by three San Bernardino, California sheriff's deputies during a routine traffic stop. Kephart, a quiet and well-liked member of the tight-knit mountain community around Lake Arrowhead, allegedly ran a stop sign and became "combative" during the stop. But local residents say this claim is wildly out of character for Kephart.... a case study in how law enforcement can lose the support even of citizens who believe strongly in law and order.

6:45pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW
3

Sarah Palin 2012

Sarah Palin 45x45We talked about Erika's upbringing in her father's extremely conservative evangelical church and my own Catholic faith. It was an opportunity to remind her that God called women to service as political leaders in biblical times. We recounted the stories of Deborah, Ruth and Queen Esther. As a little girl my daughter was enamored with the story of Queen Esther. "Mom, Perhaps Sarah Palin has been called to service "For such a time as this".

5:22pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45These 43 assorted Beltway insiders, pundits, columnists, talk show hosts, political television show hosts, religious leaders,"progressive" and other bloggers all agree on one subject (or variations thereof) "Sarah Palin won't run for president in 2012."

5:14pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45Many reviews already have appeared of "The Undefeated," the soon-to-be-released documentary about Sarah Palin's tenure in Alaska. Yet none of them -- even in The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post or Politico.com -- mentions that nearly all of the film's many pro-Palin media talking heads are Jews. The dominant meme that Jews as a group are uncomfortable with Palin or her views seems less than convincing after viewing prominent Members of the Tribe defend her politics and record in elected office. Internet news mogul Andrew Breitbart, nationally syndicated radio talk show host Mark Levin and L.A.'s radio phenom Tammy Bruce, a gay Jewish Palinista with a Tammy's Army of followers, all deliver full-throated tributes to one of America's most conservative political figures. Following a recent Manhattan screening of the director's cut of "The Undefeated," I mentioned this to filmmaker Stephen Bannon. He replied that he had not taken note of their Jewishness in choosing to include them. That in itself is significant: Jews have become so commonplace in the conservative new media that the fact of their Jewish identity fails to garner much notice.

1:16pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

the scrutiny Bachmann receives is way beyond anything Veep Joe knows. They question her very sanity. "Are you hypnotized?" Chris Matthews asked Bachmann last November. Later he would refer to her as a "balloon head." From Andrew Breitbart to Bill Bennett, there has been a gentlemanly rush to defend these political ladies against the onslaught. While Democrats drone on about a "War on Women," one could argue they actually wage one, in more ways than one.

1:13pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Sarah Palin 45x45Ironically, today, both Palin and Perry are considering a presidential run in 2012. And while neither the former Alaskan Governor nor the current Texas Governor is showing their hand at the moment, you can be sure the MSM will be doing all they can to bring down either of them if in fact they declare their candidacy. Because of this, and because I really believe either Palin or Perry would beat Obama handily, I've decided to hope for a Palin/Perry 2012 ticket (and I'd be just fine with a Perry/Palin one as well).

12:52pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Defending Ourselves

SB 93 does indeed make it clear that any private property owner not wanting firearms on their property may post that information. Soglin wants to reverse this provision in Madison and Dane County so that property owners who are willing to have firearms on their property must be the ones to post. The bill's pretty clear. You can't post an entire city, much less reverse the wording of the statute just because you feel like it. But I wish the mayor luck in superseding state law and with all of the inevitable lawsuits that will come rolling his and County Exec Parisi's direction. Of course, in his zeal to keep law-abiding citizens from carrying concealed in Madison and the surrounding area, Soglin simultaneously demonstrates a remarkable amount of trust that criminals would respect his concern for the "safety" of city residents. Criminals, of course, already carry concealed…without a permit…and will likely continue to do so…despite their undoubtedly great respect for Mayor Soglin's wishes. Perhaps they could be convinced only to engage in burglaries and to target places where they're sure everyone's already left the office or no one's home. That seems like a plan…

11:06am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Free Expression

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Starting Friday, Tennessee drivers caught with obscene or patently offensive bumper stickers, window signs or other markings on their vehicle visible to other drivers face an automatic $50 fine.

11:18am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

US FlagTo recap, the Houston National Cemetery Director, Arleen Ocasio, requires grieving families to not use the words "God" or "Jesus" at any personal funeral ceremony without her written approval. ... Ms. Ocasio is not being inclusive of other religions, she is against freedom of religion and against freedom of speech. Her tyranny in treating our veterans and their families as "customers" must no longer be tolerated. ... Houston wants a new Director. Immediately. We demand it. Political correctness is out of hand in our country. Today is Independence Day and here in Houston, Texas, just as what began 235 years ago, we stand with our veterans, their families and friends in declaring our freedom from tyranny again.

10:59am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Independence Day 2011

US FlagNow check out how long it took for slavery to end around the world and which countries held out the longest!

2:18pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

US Flag"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he will fight, nothing that is more important than his own personal safety is a more miserable creature and has no chance of ever being free unless by the efforts of greater men then himself. " -John Stuart Mill I read this quote in the past couple days and it struck me square in the face. The ideology of modern western thought was forged on the American continent from the effort and struggle to survive that imbued us with a fierce sense of independent thought and rugged individualism culminating with the DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE and the birth of a nation. This is what the Declaration of Independence was talking about in the first paragraphs.

10:37am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

Ronald Reagan - still with us

US FlagIn recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history.

1:49pm CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW

US FlagOver the past week, Reagan statues went up in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary. And now, one went up in the gardens outside the American Embassy in London (the embassy will be moving soon, though not the statue of Reagan, nor the ones of FDR and Dwight Eisenhower).

11:02am CDT Tue 2011 Jul 5 :MW
1

Wars and Rumors

The whole mission doesn't stand up to the sniff test; it has no place within the confines of sound American foreign policy. I'll reiterate that personally. There are three things that should be involved in a good policy: a belief in American exceptionalism, a belief in American hegemony, and assurance that American interests are the priority. This mission has struck out on all of them, and the public sees that. To begin quite simply, we have no national interest in what we're pursuing in Libya.

3:25pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 4 :MW

OKC Bombing -- still with us

In a response filed yesterday to a federal judge's order May 11, an FBI official offered no denials about the existence of video images captured by more than 20 surveillance cameras operating prior to 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, in the vicinity of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. Instead, he explained that officials at the bureau merely cannot find the tapes and raised the possibility that they "might have been misfiled and thus could be located somewhere other than in the OKBOMB file (though it would be impossible to know where)."

6:39pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 4 :MW
2

Bartlesville - prairie frontier town

Eastland Shopping Center in Bartlesville celebrated the 4th on Friday evening with a fireworks display that was interrupted by a small grass fire. Officials from the fireworks company in charge of the show say a multi-shot cake malfunctioned and the shot came out the side of the tube instead of being launched into the sky.

6:47pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 4 :MW

US FlagFormer U.S. Marine Lance Corporal William Ely is spending his 4th of July weekend braving the heat - and overcoming injury - to support service men and women back on the front lines. Ely injured his back and legs during training and was unable to follow his unit as they were deployed to Afghanistan. Ely started the morning collecting care packages with the Blue Star Mothers. The care packages will go to support members of his unit. Then if was off and running under the hot July sun. "He had to learn to walk again, so to be able to run and do this is pretty amazing," said Angel Barrows, President of the Bartlesville Blue Star Mothers. Ely then ran through Ochelata along U.S. Highway 75. The Marine was escorted by many veterans and Patriot Guard Riders, finishing up his run in the Ochelata 4th of July parade.

6:35pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 4 :MW
3

Independence Day 2011

US FlagNot only did July 4, 1776 mark American independence from England, it marked a radically different kind of government from the governments that prevailed around the world at the time -- and the kinds of governments that had prevailed for thousands of years before. The American Revolution was not simply a rebellion against the King of England, it was a rebellion against being ruled by kings in general. That is why the opening salvo of the American Revolution was called "the shot heard round the world." Autocratic rulers and their subjects heard that shot -- and things that had not been questioned for millennia were now open to challenge. As the generations went by, more and more autocratic governments around the world proved unable to meet that challenge. Some clever people today ask whether the United States has really been "exceptional." You couldn't be more exceptional in the 18th century than to create your fundamental document -- the Constitution of the United States -- by opening with the momentous words, "We the people..."

6:29pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 4 :MW

US FlagThe Declaration of Independence
8 The most eloquent 'Fu¢k You' note ever written in the history of the world.
26 Remember at some point today to face West, bend over and moon England.
40 Don't forget that today it's every American's sacred duty to call up Buckingham Palace and ask if they've got Prince Albert in the can.

12:55pm CDT Mon 2011 Jul 4 :MW
1

Obamanation

during the president's press conference last week... he mentioned eliminating a tax loophole for corporate jets six different times, pretending it's the GOP's commitment to those loopholes standing in the way of a grand bargain to lower the deficit. Beyond that, Obama spoke about the tax loopholes as if they were fiscally significant, offering us the choice between allowing tax loopholes for corporate jet and gutting student loans, food safety, the weather service, and more. The game Obama was playing was both ludicrous and self-indicting.

9:28pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 3 :MW
2

Spiritual Matters

The fastest way to make God laugh…
10:08pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 3 :MW
3

Free Expression

US FlagHouston National Cemetery.... Cemetery officials ordered volunteers to stop telling families 'God bless you' at funeral and said that the words 'God bless' had to be removed from condolence cards, according to court documents filed this week in federal court.

9:38pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 3 :MW

I am an atheist and appreciate that the Constitution protects my right to be so... First Amendment... Which, I take to mean that the government cannot force you to practice a religion of its choosing nor interfere with your practice of a religion of your choice, or choosing to not practice one at all. So if I'm correct about that…then where, exactly, does the Department of Veterans Affairs get off telling anybody they can't say "God bless you" to the family of a fallen soldier?

9:37pm CDT Sun 2011 Jul 3 :MW
1

Obamanation

ObamaThe Obama administration has a history of sympathizing with evil, betraying our allies, and appeasing our adversaries at America's expense, especially when it comes to coddling islamonazis and throwing Israel under the bus, but his latest actions should leave no doubt in any thinking person's mind that Obama is clearly an advocate for the advancement of islamonazi jihad and not only a ruthless anti-Semite but he is also undeniably anti-American.

3:42pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

ObamaEarlier this week, I wrote about the real world problems with the National Labor Relations Board's new proposed rules to speed up union elections, which would punish small businesses in an attempt to expand union membership. Having written about the rules themselves, it's also worth elaborating on the insane process the NLRB is using to ram them through, which undercuts President Obama's own transparency guidance. [Obama's own transparency guidance -- that was ironic humor, right?]

3:38pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

3 StoogesPresident Barack Obama said Saturday he remained committed to working with Congress to find a solution to the government's debt problem, but the focus could not only be on spending cuts. ... "Of course, there's been a real debate about where to invest and where to cut, and I'm committed to working with members of both parties to cut our deficits and debt. But we can't simply cut our way to prosperity." [MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY, FOO'S!]

3:34pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, former technology executive Bernard Schwartz and banking executive James Staley were among 30 well-connected figures in the business and finance world who met with President Barack Obama at the White House in March for an unusual economic discussion organized by the Democratic National Committee. The White House released the names on Friday under a policy Obama instituted in 2009 to disclose nearly all White House guests approximately three months after they visit. Continue Reading POLITICO 44 The March 7 meeting in the Blue Room of the residence has drawn attention and criticism because most of the attendees were donors or fundraisers and the session was arranged by the DNC. Good-government advocates said hosting the event at the White House was ill-advised. ... In addition to the Wall Street financiers and business executives, the session was attended by Andy Tobias, the DNC treasurer; Patrick Gaspard, the former White House political director and current DNC executive director; and Brad Thompson, a DNC fundraiser who works with high-dollar donors and bundlers in New York.

3:19pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

ObamaNow Obama will establish formal contacts with the genocidal, racist Islamic supremacist group. Now Obama will establish formal contacts with the genocidal, racist Islamic supremacist group.

1:00pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

Israelis will now be subject to extra screening because the country arrests terrorists. That makes sense? ... North Korea was on the list proposed in 2008; it is not on the May 2011 list.

12:58pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

After months of stonewalling by the Obama Department of Justice, Republican Senator Charles Grassley has successfully brokered a deal between himself, Democrat Senator Pat Leahy, and DOJ officials to allow full access to documents pertaining to the Fast and Furious/Gunrunner scandal. The fact Senate Republicans and Democrats are now working together to unblock the Obama administration's refusal to turn over repeatedly requested documents is a significant development that poses potentially great risk to Obama administration officials.

12:51pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

after the speech the president delivered the 13th of April regarding the federal budget, one that was chock full of lies, deceit, and crass fear-mongering, it must be said that Barack Obama is the most dishonest, deceitful, and mendacious person in a position of power I have ever witnessed. ... he may well be the most dishonest and disingenuous occupant of the Oval Office in history, and will do more damage to the nation than all his predecessors combined. ...

12:38pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

Obamaaccording to the President, if only the members of congress could move as fast as a pair of 10 and 13 year old girls, they'd be able to fix the mess he's created. However, if the President is to be believed, they have no intention of doing so. Congress is just too busy taking vacations. Obama lashed out at this practice, claiming that while Senators and Representatives have been in and out of town, vacationing and partying like latter day F. Scott Fitzgeralds, he's been left alone in Washington, doing all the work. "They're in one week. They're out one week," Obama scolded. "And then they're saying Obama's got to step in — you need to be here, I've been here, I've been doing Afghanistan, bin Laden, and the Greek crisis. You stay here." Really? A president who's played more golf in two years that most can squeeze into eight is taking the anti-vacation moral high ground? Is this the same Barack Obama who, in 2009 and 2010 enjoyed frighteningly expensive Martha's Vineyard vacations? Is this the same Barack Obama that is currently planning a third such excursion? Didn't we all watch with rapt attention as the President and first family took multiple vacations to Hawaii, one of which he reluctantly interrupted to deal with a pesky terrorist attack over metro Detroit? Wasn't this the man who once used the hundred thousand dollar per hour Air Force One to whisk his wife away for a Broadway dream date? Evidently, no. This Barack Obama is new.

12:16pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

Wars and Rumors

A U.S. drone aircraft fired on two leaders of a militant Somali organization tied to al-Qaeda, apparently wounding them, a senior U.S. military official familiar with the operation said Wednesday. The strike last week against senior members of al-Shabab comes amid growing concern within the U.S. government that some leaders of the Islamist group are collaborating more closely with al-Qaeda to strike targets beyond Somalia, the military official said.

1:00pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

Know the Enemy

ObamaU.S. Designates Israel as Country That Tends 'To Promote, Produce, or Protect' Terrorists; Also Calls Israel Anti-Terror Partner

3:39pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

New York Times columnist [and crack-head] David Carr responds to Bill Maher implying Alabama and Kansas are not the "smart states." David Carr: "If it's Kansas, Missouri, no big deal. You know, that's the dance of the low-sloping foreheads. The middle places, right? [pause] Did I just say that aloud?" [I'll take GOOD over that kind of SMART any day. A whole show full of a-ho's!]

3:37pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

A Chicago woman who played witness to a beach melee on Memorial Day weekend wants Chicago police and officials to come clean about what happened along the lakefront in May. City officials said they closed North Avenue Beach on May 30 because of excessive heat, but Amy Schwartz says no one is talking about the excessive violence that prompted her to call 911 that day.

1:02pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW
2

Art of

As of today, July 1, the historic United Media is officially shutterinig its Madison Avenue doors. "Peanuts" and "Dilbert" recently took their fortunes to Universal Uclick in Kansas City, and then, early this year, the other shoe dropped: United Media announced that come June, it would outsource its newspaper features to Universal, ceasing to operate as a full-service syndicate and developer of talent. The Madison Avenue castle is dead. Long live the queen.
8:14pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

Policing Ourselves

A veteran officer with a clean record is being investigated by the St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) after he warned the father of a robbery victim about a dangerous part of town.

1:01pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW
3

Governing Ourselves

When Illinois Senator Dick Durbin looks at a crowd of Tea Partying American citizens, he sees extremists and a bunch of fringe wackos who don't speak for America. When he looks at a roomful of illegal aliens he sees the future of America, and maybe even the next US president.... He must also see a constitutional amendment to allow that to happen — but why should Durbin let a little piece of antiquated paper mess up his DREAM?

12:54pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW

Talks imploded Thursday between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders in the final hours before a midnight deadline, and Minnesota began a historic government shutdown.

12:37pm CDT Fri 2011 Jul 1 :MW