.

[Way late I know, but I'm sick as a dog and still posting - how's that for dedication?
{Rhetorical question; you get what you pay for}

BTW: if you've time for nothing else please scroll down to the Berkeley's Unbearable Whiteness of Science piece to be aware of the extreme to which social engineering can-will-has spread...

bon appetit ]

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image toon cali fnn = hands free phone = on free for bird...

'I Feel Like Right Now in Many Ways, We’re a Very Angry Nation'

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Angry, frustrated, troubled, disappointed, disgust, disrespect - they were words Katie Couric used to describe where she sees the mood of country right now.

Couric, the anchor of the "CBS Evening News," in a live Facebook video chat on Dec. 22, took on illustrating her view of the populace - a not very sunny picture.

"I think more distant - I hate to say that, but I think, I think the economic situation in this country, I think, when people are struggling, that sometimes they need a place to vent their rage and to channel their rage and I think, I feel like right now in many ways, we're a very angry nation,"

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Why the 'Angry Mob' Is Angry

Subject: txt 1st othr vals msm lbrty -

Yes, yes, call us names like "astroturfer," "teabagger," and "angry mob." Such is the motif of our accusers in government who seem to think that we're angry because "our party" isn't in power, all the while neglecting the log within their own eyes that blocks their view of the truth.

This hypocrisy and ignorance exemplify the reality behind why we're angry.

We are not racists who abhor the idea of "a black man in the White House," because in truth, we have wanted to see that bridge crossed for years. We are not "just angry people" -- quite the contrary, which underscores the point. Conservatives are not usually angry, nor are we protesters. That we show up to a protest at all is a huge statement itself and expressive enough of our anger.

When we do protest, we don't vandalize local merchants, topple cars and set them on fire, or require the police to control us or cart us off to jail. We're not violent people -- but we are human, and we do get angry. We're just regular folks who prefer to not protest or make a stink about anything. We just want to live our lives in peace.

What lights our fire is any threat to that peace and the freedom that provides it.

We're trying in every way legally and officially possible to make clear that we don't want the radical meal we're being forced to eat. We fervently do not want to "fundamentally transform" America.

We're justly and increasingly angry because our reps not only refuse to hear us, but they also chastise us for wanting to be heard. How else would they expect us to react when we feel so helpless and hopeless?

But as long as I live in this nightmare, this "angry mobstress" will continue to fight against the radical "remaking" of America so that we can remain America, with liberty and justice for all.

As one of the "regular folks," I really wish I had another choice.

[Recommended > ]

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Glenn Beck Should Be Excluded from Constitutionally Protected Freedom of Speech

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Want to know how the left really feels about free speech? Look no further than Huffington Post editor and co-founder Arianna Huffington.

Huffington appeared on MSNBC's "Countdown" to discuss a report by the Anti-Defamation League that alleges Fox News host Glenn Beck is "the most important mainstream media figure who has repeatedly helped to stoke fires of anti-government anger" and therefore endangering society.

"It would be nice to think of Glenn Beck just as a joke, as fodder for this show and the "Daily Show" and others that point out how stupid some of this stuff is," "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann said. "But this report, you know, suggests something else, this is - fear-monger-in-chief term is frightening."

Huffington agreed with Olbermann's assertion, but she took it a step further;

"It is frightening," We cannot just dismiss him. Because the truth of the matter is that there is a good reason why we have an exemption to the free speech protection by the First Amendment when we say you cannot shout 'fire' in a crowded theater."

Huffington declared that likening Obama's policies to ideologies prominent in Europe during the 20th Century, or anything else with an "-ism" attached to it is "irresponsible."

[Even if accurate? And if so, who decides what's 'accurate'? Don't we need to discus to determine? And how do we do that when one side of a debate is silenced? Hence the criticality of freedom of speech, even for whacko radicals - such as our Founding Fathers were...]

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NY Times Rushes In To Save Obama & Brennan, Confirms Administration Lowered Security Posture

[HT:LDot;
Seems the system did work - - as well as it could after it was "dialed down"

The NY Times comes out with a lengthy article today to try and shore up John Brennan – President Obama’s national security chief. It was just yesterday where I discovered Brennan had hinted in an interview during the presidential campaign that if Obama was elected he planned to "dial back" the trip wire sensitivity on our national security...

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Why shouldn't we waterboard Abdulmutallab? The ticking time bomb scenario is here

Subject: txt gwot nsec -
Picture this hypothetical situation: A member of Al Qaeda boards a transatlantic flight bearing 269 passengers and crew headed for a major American city - let's just say Detroit - with powdered explosives stitched into his undergarments. As the plane makes its final descent, the terrorist (at this point in our narrative, that's what he is, both legally and morally), fails to detonate his illegal carry-on baggage, but he does draw attention to himself by setting his crotch on fire. Thanks to the heroic actions of some passengers, the man is subdued and, when the plane lands, taken into custody by the FBI.

There, he readily admits to his membership in the League of Extraordinarily Evil Men and taunts his captors with the news that, while he might have failed in murdering some 300 civilians, more such attacks are on the way.

Told, however, that he has the right to remain silent and is under no compunction to divulge any information that might incriminate him in a court of law, this wanna-be mass murder quickly secures the services of a top-notch lawyer from a white shoe firm and, under the advice of his attorney, clams up.

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Terrorism's triumphant techniques

[HT:SP]
Our enemies have done what we refuse to do. They've analyzed the problem objectively and engineered ruthless solutions.

And we won't even block their Internet sites.

We make up fairy tales about the power of development projects to deter religious fanatics. We impose rules of engagement on our troops that protect our enemies. We ground our air power.

We grant terrorists "legal" rights with no basis in existing law.

And our enemies do whatever it takes to win.

I want to see every one of those enemies dead. But I have to acknowledge their commitment, their maddened courage and their genius at waging war for peanuts. Our troops in the field know all too well what a self-imposed mess we're in. But the gulf between our grunts and their generals is immense and growing wider.

It's a (literally) bloody disgrace that our ragtag enemies innovate faster and more effectively than our armed forces and the legion of overpaid contractors behind them. They ask themselves, "What works?"

We ask ourselves what the lawyers will say.

The crucial difference? Our enemies believe in victory, even if we don't.

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Muslim threats against Swedish illustrator

Subject: txt islm - Somali
Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who sparked outrage with caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog, has received threats via telephone from Somalia. Police in Helsingborg in southern Sweden are taking seriously the threats made against Vilks, which come just three days after Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard was subjected to an axe attack at his home in Denmark.

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Danish police arrest man trying to kill cartoonist

Subject: txt islm -
Danish police said Saturday they shot and arrested an axe-wielding Somali man who tried to kill a cartoonist whose depictions of the prophet Mohammed infuriated Muslims. The 28-year-old who lives in Denmark but was not identified broke into the home of Kurt Westergaard in the western city of Aarhus late Friday... [snip]

Demonstrators burned Danish flags in protests that culminated in February 2006 with the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut and dozens of deaths in Nigeria, Libya and Pakistan...

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"Don't Say We're Violent, Or We'll Kill You"

Subject: txt islm -
That has been the message of Islamic extremists on a number of occasions, e.g. the Mohammed cartoons. An extreme case occurred recently when the proprietor of the web site Religion of Peace received a death threat from members of the religion of peace: A recent e-mail to a website launched after the 9/11 terror attacks to document the instances of Islamic violence said simply: "We will kill you. Like this ... "

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NCIS Goes the Way of Law and Order with Christian Suicide Bomber, Honor Killer Plots

[Meanwhile, on American TV...]

On NCIS, a young Marine is found murdered. He is found to be a recent convert to Islam (formerly a Christian), and the son of a retired Christian Marine chaplain. As the plot progresses, we find that the widow (also a Christian) has been, shall we say, unfaithful during her husband’s deployment. The father (the chaplain) has been paying his son’s unit members to harass him into quitting the Marines. And the murderer, we find, is the brother of the deceased.

Why did one brother kill the other?

Simply put, the deceased Marine had dishonored his family’s name by converting to Islam – so the Christian brother killed him for it. That’s right: NCIS featured a Christian honor-killing...

Next, CBS ran the Los Angeles-themed spinoff of NCIS. Four wounded Marines (Explosive Ordinance Disposal technicians, essentially the bomb squad) return from Iraq. One of the four is killed by an exploding cell phone, and the other three appear to have been targeted by the bomber. One of the three remaining Marines appears to be the bomber – but which one could it be? The Muslim, who appears to be eluding the NCIS agents, or one of the two Christians?

In an interrogation scene with the NCIS forensic psychologist, we find out that the Muslim is innocent – and that the Bible-quoting Christian is actually a demented bomber, seeking absolution for the things he did in Iraq. ..

Of course, with the rest of CBS being in ratings shambles, I probably should not have underestimated their ability to screw this up too. Political correctness may have just claimed another good show.

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Maj. DuCharme was a captain in his Baghdad days,
helping soldiers who were "always going out
there and putting themselves in harm's way."

When Michael DuCharme decided to join the Army, he was almost too old to make the cut.

It was 2002, just before the Iraq War's start, so he and his wife knew that if he joined, the Army would probably send him to the front.

But they both felt it was God's calling. DuCharme had thought about serving as an Army chaplain since his mid-20s. Now he was 38.

"I got to an age where it was going to be the cutoff to being eligible," ... "So about the time most people are thinking about retirement, I'm getting ready to go in."

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2009 Chickens and Their 2010 Roost

Subject: txt intl bdd - nsec -
Take foreign relations. In 2009, the new administration assumed that George W. Bush was largely responsible for global tensions. As a remedy, we loudly reached out to our foes and those with whom we had uneasy relationships. The administration courted China on a much-heralded Asian tour. President Obama even has said he would be our first "Pacific president."

But so far these leaders -- like Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Russia's Vladimir Putin and even China's Hu-- have only interpreted Barack Obama's serial goodwill gestures as weaknesses to be exploited.

They play the part of the pushy class bully, we the whiny nerd...

[We've president that evidently needs be told that you negotiate from a position of strength. Did anyone with a three digit IQ honestly expect any other outcome?]

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West has a month to accept Iran nuclear proposal

Subject: txt intl iran israel nsec -
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Saturday gave the West a one-month "ultimatum" to accept a uranium swap, warning that if there is no deal it will produce its own nuclear fuel for a Tehran reactor, state television reported.

"The international community has just one month left to decide" whether or not it will accept Iran's conditions, otherwise "Tehran will enrich uranium to a higher level,"

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying.

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Dealing with Russia; The art of backing away

Subject: txt intl russia nsec -
President Obama's recent decision to scrap plans for an anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic was the price Russia demanded for its cooperation with the young, inexperienced president on national security issues.

Mr. Obama ignored the first rule of international diplomacy: Don't give away your bargaining chips unless you get something in return.

He also sent a signal of weakness by appearing to knuckle under to Russian bullying...

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Obama's Lost Face with China

Subject: txt intl 2010 china -
After promising to meet with Obama at 7:00 p.m., Premier Wen stood him up in favor of a meeting with the leaders of India, South Africa, and Brazil. Rather than wait, a no-doubt infuriated Obama stalked into the room in question and demanded,

"Are you ready to see me, Premier Wen?" [snip]

There are a number of reasons why the Chinese might take a cavalier attitude toward an American leader. ... there's the deep aura of unseriousness that Obama has generated around himself. Though essentially incalculable, this factor is undeniable and will grow in importance and impact as time passes.

But there's one event in particular that very likely played a part -- the fact that only a few weeks before, Obama publicly and notoriously bowed to the emperor of Japan...

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Venezuela to Help Iran Overcome US Gasoline Sanctions

Subject: txt gwot intl -
Venezuela is striving hard to export standard-quality gasoline to Iran at a lower price in a bid to help Tehran overcome US sanctions on fuel supplies to Iran.

Noting that Caracas is interested in helping Iran overcome the US sanctions, he reiterated that Venezuela views cooperation with Iran as among its top priorities...

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Factbox - China and ASEAN to launch world's 3rd biggest trade zone

Subject: txt trade china -
JAKARTA - China and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are poised to launch a free trade agreement on Friday, forming an economic bloc of 1.9 billion people with trade worth around $200 billion. China sees the agreement as a way of securing supplies of raw materials...

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[Meanwhile, in our Congress...

The Republic of Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (also known as KORUS FTA) was announced on February 2, 2006 and was concluded on April 1, 2007. The successful completion of the agreement was announced on April 2, 2007 and the treaty was signed on June 30, 2007[1], just before the deadline for President George Bush to use his fast-track authority on trade before it expires mid-year [which still requires Congressional approval but with a 'straight' up or down vote vs. pork-barrel ear-marking].

The agreement followed ten months of hard bargaining, and will immediately lift some 85% of each nation's tariffs on industrial goods.

As of October 2009, it has not been approved by the US Congress

I.e., the unions don't want the competition, so screw everyone else.]

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The Quarter-Percent Solution?

The proposal to charge a ¼% tax on financial transactions doesn't sound like much. But in reality, this little quarter-percent tax would devastate America's financial markets

... The sponsors of HR4191 are either so naïve as to have no conception of the operations of modern-day financial markets -- and of the competitiveness which makes a single basis point a crucial cost advantage -- or, more likely, so callous as not to care...

... Capital would migrate elsewhere -- either to other asset classes or other countries (or it would simply be spent). The result would be the destruction of our financial markets and of our broader economy, which is dependent on the capital needed to grow businesses and hire new workers. Without investment, it would be impossible for businesses to expand or even survive.

The effect of this scenario on our national economy would be equivalent to a nuclear conflagration. If the Democrats in power really wish to devastate our financial markets, put an end to growth in the broader economy, and drive jobs overseas, the financial transactions tax is the way to do it...

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POLL: Most Americans Don't Want Their Health Care 'Reformed'

Subject: txt hcare -
Just 40% of voters nationwide now favor plans in Congress while 55% are opposed. Those figures are essentially unchanged from a week ago.

This is the sixth straight week with support for the legislation between 38% and 41% (see question wording and trends).

One reason for public opposition to the plan is the growing belief that its passage will increase the cost of health care. Sixty-three percent (63%) now believe the legislation will increase costs. That’s up from 58% a week ago.

Only 13% now believe the proposal will achieve its stated goal of reducing the cost of health care.

By a 54% to 24% margin, voters now believe that passage of the plan will make the quality of care worse. Those figures have remained fairly consistent for months.

[It'll cost more and decrease quality - yet they'll pass it.

Its never had anything to do with health 'care'.]

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Reality Check: When 'data' really isn't...

Subject: txt grn -

"We do not hold the original raw data but only the value-added (quality controlled and homogenised) data." Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia.

"This data set contains gridded mean temperature anomalies from the GHCN V2 monthly temperature data sets. GHCN homogeneity adjusted data was the primary source for developing the gridded fields." Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN).

Unadjusted and adjusted temperatures at Hokitika, New Zealand

[Select to enlarge, = blue line = actual data, red line = 'adjusted' data. What would be the overall difference in trend lines drawn through each? Again and again {and again, for the two decades I've been following}, junk science, disproved with the simplest of scientific review - and why an ever increasing number of deceivers simply withhold their study data & methods from legitimate peer review]

Source: AppInSys (Applied Information Systems) using NOAA/GHCN database for Hokitika, New Zealand.

Year of highest recorded temperatures in US states, through 2003:

Colorado: 1888.

Maine: 1911.

New Hampshire: 1911.

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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COLD, COLD, COLDER

[Meanwhile, in the real world...]

• Temps Plunge to Record as Cold Snap Freezes North, East States...

• CHILL MAP...

• Vermont sets 'all-time record for one snowstorm'...

• Iowa temps 'a solid 30 degrees below normal'...

• Power outage halts flights at Washington Reagan National Airport...

• Seoul buried in heaviest snowfall in 70 years...

• Peru's mountain people 'face extinction because of cold conditions'...

• Beijing -- coldest in 40 years...

• World copes with Arctic weather...

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Winter of 2009-2010 Could be Worst in 25 Years

Nearly the entire eastern half of the United States is enduring bitterly cold temperatures not experienced since 1985. New waves of cold air will spread southward from Canada in the coming weeks and could result in this winter rivaling that of 1982 and perhaps 1977-78. Some of the greatest temperature departures from average may be yet to come from the balance of January into February and March. Full Story

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[Agreed, it's weather, not climate. The point, as always...


Hot Weather Convinces Media of Climate Change; Cold Weather Ignored

The news media constantly misuse extreme weather examples to generate fear of global warming, but when record cold or record snow sets in journalists don't mention the possibility of global cooling trends. While climatologists would say weather isn't necessarily an indication of climate, it has been in the media, but only when the weather could be spun as part of global warming.

In Iowa, temperatures are 30 degrees below normal according to the Des Moines Register. That's a near-record low. Beijing is facing the coldest temperatures in decades according to Australia's The Age.

And in Pichccahuasi, Peru, bitter cold may cause the extinction of communities of alpaca farmers suffering from pneumonia and other respiratory problems.

Despite such extreme cold around the world, the three networks are not forecasting a period of global cooling. In fact, in the past three months there has been only one mention of "global cooling" on the networks. That was in an NBC "Today" about geo-engineering (manipulating) the global climate to create global cooling to combat global warming...

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Energy companies face climate action in states

Subject: txt cali engry -
Energy companies that have fought climate legislation in Congress are also facing threats in the states, where governors and legislatures are acting on their own to curb carbon dioxide emissions. The latest example is a move by 11 governors from the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic region to adopt a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) to reduce greenhouse gases from cars and trucks, and possibly home heating systems that use oil products.

[All of which state governments would charge fines for 'violating'.

Why does 'support' of global warming theory among institutions grow while ever-shrinking among the people?

The usual; profit - at the people's expense.]

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Berkeley's Unbearable Whiteness of Science

Subject: txt bdd vals lbrty edu sclm bbro cali -
The racial madness that has left-wing America in its thrall finds its apogee in the Berkeley, California public schools

Berkeley High School is now poised to eliminate science laboratory classes because "science labs were largely classes for white students." Eric Klein writes in The East Bay Express:

The proposal to put the science-lab cuts on the table was approved recently by Berkeley High's School Governance Council, a body of teachers, parents, and students who oversee a plan to change the structure of the high school to address Berkeley's dismal racial achievement gap, where white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse.

Those students who excel will be disfavored, while those who do not will be given more resources. And all Berkeley High students, whatever their race, would lose the opportunity to get a solid grounding in science, opening up the door to achievement in higher education and life via scientific study.

The problem is that science training is one of the elements of educataion least susceptible to the multicultural indoctrination that pervades education in Berekeley... [snip]

Aside from the repulsive racism of this move, the broader issue to be considered is whether society is better-served by cutting down the achievers and investing in the stragglers -- or whether everyone benefits from the achievements of those who apply themselves enough to excel.

How does it benefit anyone to have an America made up of mediocre minds?

[A: It benefits the self-appointed 'leaders' of social justice to have simpleton sheep.

Our country needs universal, unencumbered school vouchers for all.]

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What Bias?

Subject: txt msm bias libs =
WaPo's Liberal Decade: 'We' Went from 'Hell' to 'Hope,' Cheered 'Tantalizing Evolution' Into Obama Era

[None here, just obvious fact - move along...]

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The prospects for revolt in 2010

Subject: txt 2010 reps libs mny -
TEMECULA, Calif.- Where is Nelson Mandela when we need him? In the fine new film "Invictus," South Africa's first black president inspects his first official paycheck. "This is terrible," Mr. Mandela says. He decides he earns too much and subsequently donates a third of his salary to charity.

Mr. Mandela's humility and fiscal restraint would be as exotic in the nation's capital as a giraffe atop the steps of the Lincoln Memorial... [snip]

'Our' Treasury announced on Christmas Eve that it will give blank checks to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the next three years. Estimated cost: Up to $400 billion.

"The United States cannot force foreign governments to increase their holdings of Treasuries,"

warned Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, which kindly pays America's bills these days. As he told Shanghai Daily:

"The world does not have so much money to buy more U.S. Treasuries."

One of 2010's most intriguing questions will be whether the American people's aggregated nausea by the November election triggers the peaceful overthrow of the United States government...

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[Don't underestimate the power of the institutions the left has been subsuming for decades - the media duped enough Americans to give us Obama, and our politicians have successfully made millions dependent on them...]
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California Democrats Select New Assembly Speaker

['Exhibit A': California's a basket case, literally bankrupt and a failure by every conceivable measure {as its departing taxpayers prove} - yet the perennial controlling party, by virtue of the populace sending them back to Sacramento regardless of their failures, does what?...]

Last month the Assembly Democratic Caucus selected a new leader to succeed Speaker Karen Bass. John Pérez, a freshman legislator from Los Angeles, will assume Speaker duties in 2010.

The Flash Report took a look at Pérez’s voting record, along with one of his competitors for the position, and the results indicate voters can expect more status quo, big-government policies from the Speaker’s office for years to come...

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States as laboratories

Subject: txt sclm bbro bdd mny gdd cali othr hstry =

"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."

Louis D. Brandeis, Supreme Court Justice from 1916 to 1939.

[As always, select to enlarge.]

Source: The Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report using data from the 2009 American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) report.

Net domestic migration (among US states), 1998-2007:

New York: -1,936,127.

California: -1,438,480.

Illinois: -735,768.

Texas: +736,903.

Arizona: +817,169.

Florida: +1,579,704.

Source: The 2009 ALEC report.
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[The historic, dependable, predictable correlation between minimal government and growth vs. big government and deterioration - but we've stopped teaching our voting citizens history.]
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Sarah twofer...

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Poll: Palin best reflects GOP core values

Republican voters are split on whether their party's leadership is taking the GOP in the right direction, according to a new national poll. The Washington Post survey released Monday also indicates that Republicans say that Sarah Palin, more than any other leader, best reflects the core values of the party.

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Palin and the Future

No wonder the liberals hate her.

The whole point of public education, of business regulation, or of rampant credentialism is to smother people like her before they have a chance to get anywhere...

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.

[Future 'Palin Republican' {if not Libertarian}.]

.-end 100105 post-