May Posterity Forget You Were Our Countrymen

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There is something about D.C. that saps the will and dulls the intellect of conservatives. Prolonged exposure makes them fretful and risk-averse, even timid with controversial issues. Rather than standing on the fundamental values that define American conservativism such as fiscal restraint, limited government, low taxes and free markets, they sidestep and tap-dance, befuddled by the "bi-partisan" opiates peddled by Socialist Democrats.

Socialist calls for "bipartisanship" are a trick conservatives fall for again and again, a tool they use to undermine us; they do not pretend to follow it. So why do we listen to political traitors like Colin Powell or fence-sitting bureaucrats like Tom Ridge? Why do we give the advice of "big tent" moderates any credence? Because our opponents tell us to, and, like fools, we listen.

It is fashionable in elite Republican circles to turn up your nose when Limbaugh is mentioned, he is so embarrassingly proletarian, so annoyingly common, and he has no Ivy League pedigree. He is "divisive," he is "offensive," he is "polarizing;" in short; he is a hell of a lot more effective than the gang in charge that let the opposition define the issues and the debate.

When you don't fight back, you lose.

Either you believe in your principles or you do not. If not, you might as well go the way of the wretched Arlen Specter. You fight honorably, but you fight to win, because the alternative is a failed America. There is not much time, 2010 is our last chance.

Once the trillions in stimulus fill the Democrat party coffers and cement their cronies into government, the nation is theirs, and just like the title on James Carville's newest book proclaims, ‘40 More Years, How The Democrats will Rule the Next Generation,' we will be powerless to stop the destruction of our institutions.

And yes, Carville used the word Rule. Not serve the nation, not govern, not lead, but rule... [snip]

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!"
Samuel Adams

[Highly Recommended > ]

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Liberal Blogs/Radio Quickly Link Doctor’s Murder to Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck

"A so-called Pro-Life activist took, cowardly, the life of doctor George Tiller, this sunday, while he was attending to a church service. I bet Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the other will praise the killer since "he only killed a liberullllllll" according to them..."

The incredible leap from the death of George Tiller, to three leading conservative talk show hosts is shocking to people who make their home here on Earth.

More stunning is that this posting was allowed to present the statement - "he only killed a liberullllllll" according to them - as if it is a quote drawn from one of their shows.

I would challenge the author, Lauren Monica, or anyone at the Daily Kos to present an audio copy of any of these conservative talk show hosts in which they heap praise upon a killer because, "he only killed a liberullllllll".

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Oppression Liberators Need not Apply

This is a job announcement from the website of one of America’s top inner-city public charter schools located in Oakland, California (no kidding):

“AIPCS is always in search of teachers and staff who are smart, ambitious, and
motivated to teach inner-city youth. We are looking for hard working people who
believe in free market capitalism to join our family at AIPCS.

“AIPCS believes in setting a high standard for ALL students regardless of race, ethnicity, language, economic standing, etc.”

“Multi-cultural specialists, ultra liberal zealots, and college-tainted oppression liberators need not apply.”

“If you believe ‘hard work’ is the key to academic success for minority students, poor students, and all other students, we encourage you to submit the following documents by fax or email.”

Let me get this straight. An inner-city public charter school job announcement specifically discriminates against the following applicants: socialists, multiculturalists, “ultra liberal zealots, and college-tainted oppression liberators.”

Takes your breath away doesn’t it? In a time when white conservatives have been viciously abused for merely thinking along these lines, the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland openly and courageously protects its young students from America’s mostly harmful liberal educrats. The result is a flourishing academic environment that produces some of California’s top scores and manages to send its students to places like MIT and Cornell.

Although AIPCS started out in the late 90’s with a multicultural and Native American motif its lagging performance changed when the school was taken over in 2000 by Ben Chavis, a Lumbee Indian who tossed out the “basket weaving” in his words and decided to go traditional. In a recent Los Angeles Times story, Chavis demonstrates little patience for teachers who make the classroom an ideological bully pulpit instead of a place where the kids come first:

"You think the Jews and the Chinese are dumb enough to ask the public school to teach them their culture?"

Chavis, in other words, has exposed a nasty little secret the liberal educrats would like to keep well-hidden. Here it is: compassionate teachers are those who are hard on their students and who train the kids to be independent and successful. Selfish teachers are those who arrest the development of young minds by using the classroom to affirm their own political beliefs. In short, one group thinks about others and the other group thinks about power.

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Family Axes Wedding Plans, Egyptian Cuts Off Penis
[Only under blue-humor because I've no idea where else to put it...]

A 25-year-old Egyptian man cut off his own penis to spite his family after he was refused permission to marry a girl from a lower class family, police reported Sunday. After unsuccessfully petitioning his father for two years to marry the girl, the man heated up a knife and sliced off his reproductive organ, said a police official.

[I pride myself in being in a minority (these days) in standing on principle even when it costs me something - but, but --- damn. Death before dishonor but --- damn. {that's about as eloquent as I can be - sorry.} --- {damn}]

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[HT:GC]

U.S. occupation leaves cultural legacy in Iraq

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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Across the street from the tidy rows of tombstones in the British cemetery, mute testimony to the soldiers of an earlier occupation, Mustafa Muwaffaq bears witness to the quieter side of the United States' six-year-old presence in Iraq.

In wraparound sunglasses, shorts and shoes without socks, the burly 20-year-old student waxes eloquent about his love for heavy metal of all kinds: death, thrash, black. But none of it compares, he says, to the honky-tonk of Alan Jackson, whose tunes he strums on his acoustic guitar at night, pining for a life as far away as a passport will take him.

"You know, I wanna go to Texas and be a country boy," ... "I wanna be a cowboy, and I wanna sing like one."

[game, set, match]

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image toon - bbro legal vals = Sotomayor's dream = not character but race + empathy

Media Ignores Obama's SCOTUS Nominee's Membership In Radical La Raza Organization

Back in the 2006 nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court , Barack Obama criticized the philosphy on confirming Supreme Court Justices stating "Meaningful advice and consent includes an examination of a judge's philosophy, ideology, and record."

I agree with his objection, and find it very curious as to why Obama now has focused on his nominee's empathy and "personal story" . As Obama advises, we need get beyond personal character and examine the judge's "philosphies, ideologies, and record." [snip]

One statement made by Sotomayor is very disturbing in the realm of judicial philosophy. This month…a video surfaced of Judge Sotomayor asserting in 2005 [during a panel discussion for law students] that a ‘court of appeals is where policy is made.’

This statement has been largely ignored by the main stream media yet the need for clarification is extremely important if the Senate is to approve this woman to one of the most powerful positions in America. If we are to look at judge Sotomayor's personal ideologies it would be reckless to ignore her feelings on race and sex... [snip]

However, the most disturbing reflection of Sotomayor's character is the company she keeps. According the American Bar Association, Sotomayor is a member of the NCLR, otherwise known as "La Raza".

La Raza is a known radical pro-illegal immigration group that should be bringing up many, many questions. However, the media hasn't reported a peep on Sotomayor's association with the group. Don't expect much either.

In summary, I advise the Senate to take the Presiden't advice. Look past the personal stories and look at the nominee's beliefs, philosophies, and record.

We know the media won't.

[La Raza: "The Race", and we're to have a supreme court justice as a member. Think about it. Highly Recommended > ]

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image toon 1st bbro legal = Sotomayor taking blindfold off

Washington Times Cites Media’s Promotion of Sotomayor

(Friday’s) Washington Times picks up on a recent report from the Media Research Center (you can read it here) documenting the outpouring of positive coverage for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The piece, by reporter Jennifer Harper, included a quote from Democratic operative Dan Gerstein claiming,

“If President Bush had appointed someone with the same background — working class, an up-by-the-bootstraps story — the coverage would have been exactly the same.”

As TimesWatch editor Clay Waters pointed out yesterday, the press had a far more cynical reaction to the “up-by-the-bootstraps” story of Clarence Thomas, elevated to the Supreme Court by the first President Bush back in 1991...

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image toon - 1st bbro legal vals = Sotomayor to Oby = how president w/o quota?

The Axis of Evil

As the US and Asian neighbors of North Korea mull a united response to block the communist nation's nuclear program following a recent test, Israel is bracing for the fallout.

The chief concern is that Pyongyang's defiance of the international community will serve as a case-study for how Iran also might side-step diplomacy, acquire nuclear weapons, and fuel a regional arms race. If North Korea can get away with becoming a nuclear nation with little punishment and despite US diplomatic efforts, Israeli analysts say that may embolden Iran to flout international pressure, too.

"If the Americans can't show credibility on North Korea, then they won't be able to go far. It's a thermometer,"

says Gerald Steinberg, a political science professor at Bar Ilan University.

"The US has been threatening to take action against North Korea since the 1990s and the North Korea has been able to buy time. The Israeli concern is that's exactly what will happen with Iran."

N. KOREAN TIES TO IRAN
North Korea's history of supplying missile equipment to Iran, Syria, and Egypt stretches back at least a decade.

According to a technical report published earlier this month by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Theodore Postol, Iran's ballistic missile program "relies very heavily" on North Korean components, which it began importing as early as the 1980s. Three of its four known missile systems have flight characteristics "essentially identical" to those of North Korean missiles, the report says.

US intelligence officials believe North Korea and Syria, which have a longstanding military relationship, began cooperating on nuclear issues as early as 1997...

[So that UN resolutions plan - working out well?]

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image toon - nsec intl owg - UN to NKorea = bad little bomb badder big bomb

National Security Is More Important to Voters This Month

The economy remains the top issue for most Americans, but national security and the War on Terror are considered very important by 70% of voters nationwide, the highest level found since September 2007.

That’s up from 64% in April and 60% in February, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Separate Rasmussen polling shows that voter confidence in the U.S. involvement in the War on Terror is at its lowest level since last summer.

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of voters also are now at least somewhat concerned about the security of nuclear weapons in Pakistan as the radical Islamic Taliban continues to make gains there.

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image toon - gwot nsec intl = NKorea missle at WH = reconsider BMD?

UK Journalists Strike Back at WH Press Secretary's 'Sneering and Condescending Remarks'

There is little argument that the British press is doing a better job than its U.S. counterparts covering the Obama administration's less than perfect performance.

If the reactions of Nile Gardiner and James Delingpole at the UK Telegraph to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs's blanket criticism of British journalism is any indication, UK reporters are also more willing to stand up for themselves instead of letting veiled threats go by without blowback.

Gibbs's response to Loven, also at Kurtz's report, as "Nice business you got here, little lady. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to it."

["Chicago politics": a euphemism for strong-arm thugs - in our White House]

Gardiner passed on the traditional British stiff upper lip and ripped into Gibbs and his boss:

I cannot recall an instance like this where the President's official spokesman has blasted the press of a key ally - in this case America's closest friend, Great Britain.

This kind of attack would normally be made against the likes of the North Korean or Iranian state media, but in the current climate of "engagement" with America's enemies the White House is far more likely to attack its own allies. Gibbs' remarks have echoes of a senior State Department official's anti-British statements to The Sunday Telegraph after the appalling handling of the Prime Minister's visit in March.

..... The British press, especially the Telegraph, has been singled out because they frequently publish articles critical of the Obama administration and are not afraid to take on the status quo in Washington. Increasingly, millions of Americans are turning to online UK news websites for cutting edge reports on American politics and U.S. foreign policy that [their] mainstream media refuses to cover in the States, especially if it is unflattering to the Obama White House.

Oh, to have a U.S. press corps with more Gardiners and Delingpoles...

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image toon - 1st fnn msm - Press yells Oby enchanged...

Anti-Putin protesters detained

Moscow - Russian police have detained a prominent Kremlin critic and several other people who tried to hold a protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

National-Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov was among at least 10 people seen being detained as they tried to protest in central Moscow's Triumph Square on Sunday. Police grabbed protesters and dragged them roughly into buses...

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Obama, Incorporated

The interlocking directorate is anathema to trustbusters and corporate watchdogs. It occurs when a board member or top executive of one company sits on the board of another company, accumulating undue power over a given industry. When it reduces competition, the arrangement is forbidden by the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.

If Henry De Lamar Clayton, the Alabama congressman who introduced the aforementioned act, were still with us, he'd presumably be shocked at the creation of the most far-reaching interlocking directorate in U.S. history. Obama Inc. has effectively won a seat on the board of companies at the heart of the nation's industrial production and its financial system. The robber barons of old would marvel at the tentacles of influence of Barack Obama, a CEO whose power would overawe J. P. Morgan.

In difficult negotiations with business, Obama now has the advantage of sitting at both sides of the table. This makes the art of the deal considerably simpler than when Donald Trump wrote about it years ago. Consider the matter of CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy), the mileage standards that have been resisted by automakers for decades in a multifaceted regulatory and legal battle featuring enviros, the state of California, and industrial-state lawmakers:

The other day, Obama snipped the Gordian knot in an offhand swipe with his fingernail clippers - he gathered Detroit's CEOs in the Rose Garden and decreed that they had to meet a drastic increase in the standards, to 39 mpg for cars in 2016.

He needn't bother with the traditional "jawboning" of an industry, the tiresome work of a Harry Truman or Lyndon Johnson - not when both General Motors and Chrysler continue to exist on the basis of Obama's good will. After their ['structured', by the White House] bankruptcies, the companies will give a 72 percent and 8 percent ownership stake, respectively, to the federal government...

[This is how tyrannies are established, one step at a time. It can happen here. It may be happening now.]

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image toon - auto sclm bbro engry = Oby at CAFE telling customers what they'll be ordering

When Pravda Calls Us Communists

There was an embarrassing editorial (embarrassing for Americans, at least) on a recent online edition of Pravda – the Russian newspaper. When the leading publication of the former Soviet Union starts to editorialize the downfall of the United States, maybe someone, somewhere, should pay attention.

Here are some excerpts from the opinion piece:

American capitalism gone with a whimper

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a Burger King burger than for their constitutional rights.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

You can read the full editorial (and weep) here.

[What will it take for most Americans to realize what's happening to their country?
A: Those Americans that do talking to them about it. As always, silence will be interpreted as consent.

Sadly, Recommended > ]

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image toon c-art - bddbdd 1st lbrty bbro sclm - Constitution Under New Management

Ford’s The Favorite Among Big Three

With Chrysler in a government-supervised bankruptcy and General Motors expected to follow suit any day now, Ford is stretching its lead as the most highly regarded of the Big Three automakers.

Among investors, 69% have a favorable regard for Ford, nearly 30 points higher than their view of GM and Chrysler. But then most voters say GM or Chrysler is likely to go out of business over the next few years anyway.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of Americans say Ford is the Big Three auto company which has the best chance of surviving and becoming profitable again.

[A real/honest bankruptcy could be half way to real solvency by now had the government not interfered. Instead we'll now have a government-run state car companies to the benefit of their labor unions.

Does anyone really think they'll be permitted to fail? Think Amtrak: we'll be subsidizing them forever.]

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image toon - sclm auto mny - Kids pay for Government Motors

Arctic may hold twice the oil previously found there

(CNN) -- Continental shelves beneath the retreating polar ice caps of the Arctic may hold almost double the amount of oil previously found in the region, scientists

A team of scientists at the USGS collaborated with international researchers to conduct the first-ever comprehensive assessment of undiscovered oil and gas reserves within the Arctic Circle.

"We tried to put some boundaries on the range of possibilities and resources available in the Arctic," said geologist Donald Gautier, lead author of the survey, which is published this week in the journal Science.

Using geological analysis and probability modeling, researchers mapped out sedimentary rock deposits to estimate the amount of undiscovered oil and gas beneath undersea continental shelves.

This survey, the first of its kind*, could help oil and gas companies locate new troves of fossil fuels.

[I guarantee there's more than double the amount 'previously found': a) evidently this is the only comprehensive survey that's ever done, and b) They're only talking about 'conventional' reserves, our technology is way past that now, and c) We always find more.

Again: the history of oil use has been one of constantly expanding excess reserves discovered above and beyond consumption. The claim of 'peak oil' is a canard completely contrary to all empirical facts. Despite our every increasing appetite for oil & gas are discovery of new reserves - when we bother to look - has consistently outstripped demand and resulted in an ever expanding surplus of reserves.

FLASHBACK > Abundant energy will power future growth

Bottom line for the world: an incredible 36% increase in oil reserves [excess] during the two decades that saw the greatest globalization-spurred oil consumption in the history of mankind. And that doesn't include the 152 billion barrels in proven oil reserves obtainable from Canada's tar sands. Is there any reason to doubt that the next two decades won't build on the steady growth of the last two?

But this is still not the end of it. Unconventional oil reserves are now in play. In 2005, the Rand Corporation estimated that the oil shale in America's Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, contains as much as 1.1 trillion barrels of oil recoverable, an amount comparable to the reserves of four Saudi Arabias.

Then there's Canada's tar sands, with its even greater potential--estimates of the total reserves that may be available top two trillion barrels, or eight Saudi Arabias.

This is still not the end to it. Most of the oil we know about lies in the well traveled portions of the globe. But most of the world remains unexplored...

Highly Recommended > ]

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The Next Oil Shock

Energy Policy: A top expert tells Congress that oil will be around for a long time and high inventories and low prices are no excuse not to find more.

Energy prices have fallen — but only as part of the global decline in economic activity.

The current recession has wiped out demand growth for the last four years. Oil prices have tumbled $100 a barrel or more from their high point. Spare production capacity is expected to be 6.5 million barrels per day through 2009.

This has been used as an excuse to further discourage exploration for and development of domestic oil resources.

Anticipating a robust future, other countries such as China and Brazil have continued to look for oil while we continue to research . . . switch grass.

When the economy does recover, our energy 'policy' alone will provoke a follow on recession where we drive to the unemployment office in our government-designed clown cars...

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image toon - engry - PLMA of 09 = Keep Out of Oil drills

c-art oil petition

Patients forced to wait hours in ambulances parked outside A&E departments

Ambulance chiefs have warned that lives are being put at risk ''on a daily basis'' by long delays allowing patients into Accident and Emergency units.

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has found that thousands of 999 patients are being left to wait in ambulances in car parks and holding bays, or in hospital corridors – in some cases for more than five hours – before they can even join the queue for 'urgent' treatment...

[The unavoidable evolution of government run health care. Don't believe, ask someone from Britain or Canada....]

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Obama Lifts Ban on Lobbyists! Back to Business as Usual

Roll Call is reporting that during the typical Friday afternoon document dump -- a practice used to hide actions that might prove somewhat embarrassing to the White House -- the administration quietly announced that some of the former restrictions on lobbying ballyhooed about during the late campaign have been lifted.

And now, we have to wonder: will the media notice this sudden change? I mean, a whole day has gone by and so far only Roll Call has even mentioned it.

In any case, let special interests ring, baby!

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County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies

[HT:DT]
SAN DIEGO -- A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, 10News reported.

Broyles said, "The county asked, 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'"

"For churches and religious assemblies there's environmental impact concerns when you have hundreds or thousands of people gathering. But this is a different situation, and we believe that the application of the religious assembly principles to this Bible study is certainly misplaced,"

Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed "unlawful use of land" and told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit" -- a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars... [snip]

"If the county thinks they can shut down groups of 10 or 15 Christians meeting in a home, what about people who meet regularly at home for poker night? What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?"

[Again, the new green religion is a path toward the government(s) controlling all activity...]

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ACORN, Soros and the Census

Just as ACORN happily accepted millions of dollars from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in its campaign to attain general acceptability and political power as well as to use all that money, ACORN hopes to participate in the upcoming census to promote interests beyond helping to conduct the next census:

obtaining general acceptability, power AND confidential information...

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image toon - othr fnn - Dept of Commerce taken leave of Census

ABC Offers Skeptical Take on Obama's Stimulus Claims; CBS, NBC Uncritical

ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper provided a skeptical, challenging analysis of the Obama administration's claims about the economic stimulus bill. After playing a clip of Obama claiming 150,000 jobs have been created by the stimulus bill, Tapper called that

"a number based on theory, not fact."

University of Maryland economist Peter Morici appeared briefly to point out,

"It's simply an implausible statement to say that some 150,000 jobs were created by direct spending, indirect spending and so forth."

NBC's "Today" and CBS's "Early Show" on Thursday simply regurgitated White House statements that the "economy is looking much healthier these days" and that the President is "taking credit for writing the prescription." [Audio available here]

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Name That Party: Dem Cincy Councilwoman In Controversial Traffic Stop Not Id'd; GOP Critic Is

The station did not mention Cole's Democratic Party affiliation in its report, or in its follow-up when Cole called to defend herself. The Cincinnati Democratic Committee endorsed Cole's reelection bid this November on April 8. The Cincinnati Enquirer's report on the incident also doesn't name Cole's party.

That's bad enough, but when Hamilton County Republican Party chairman Alex Triantafilou issued a press release denouncing Cole's apparent attempts at obtaining favoritism, the Enquirer only identified Triantafilou's party, and not Cole's...

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Lost in the Labyrinth of Race

One of the unexpected results of the Sotomayor nomination is a refocusing on the politics of racial identity and the fossilized institutions of affirmative action-or the belief that the U.S. government should use its vast power to ensure an equality of result rather than a fairness of opportunity....

[We certainly need that to counter the nation's systemic racism - as evidenced by its black president.

The victim industry: too big to fail regardless of the facts to the contrary.

As always, VDH is Highly Recommended > ]

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The dream of limitless energy suppllies


This is unlikely to pay off quickly, but perhaps in a decade or two we will have ramped up a significant energy source from this new technology.

From TG Daily:

Livermore, CA - A fusion ignition facility which uses the power of lasers to turn tiny hydrogen pellets into thermonuclear energy is to open in California today.

The device is expected to be the first to create more energy than it uses, releasing ten to 100 times more energy than the amount of laser energy required to initiate the fusion reaction.

It is hoped that the $3.5 billion National Ignition Facility (NIF) will pave the way for commercial laser fusion power stations - potentially providing clean, almost limitless energy.

Could this be the beginning of the end of the power of the oil despots?

What is Putin without oil? What is Chavez without oil? What is Iran without oil? What is Saudi Arabia without oil?

[But if they're so bad, why not develop our own vast reserves in the interim?]

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Highlights from New Show that Mocks Left-Wing, PC, Environmental Family

'The Goode Family,' a new half-hour animated comedy show which spoofs the politically-correct and environmental do-good thinking of a liberal family which considers its lifestyle superior to “abstinence people” who “wear flag pins,” debuted this past Wednesday night on ABC. The opening scene showed a “Support Our Troops ... And Their Opponents” bumper sticker on the family's hybrid.

When the 16-year-old son who the parents adopted from Africa and presumed he'd be black, but to their surprise was a white South African, wants to start driving, the father cautions: “With greater emissions, comes greater responsibility.” In another scene, the mother declares “nothing brings a mother and daughter closer together than shopping at a high-end, organic grocery store.” And inside the store an intercom announcement alerts shoppers: “Check out the big board to see how you can limit the impact of your existence.”

I won't give away all that's in the accompanying video in which I cobbled together a little under three minutes of what I thought were the funnier and most-damning parodies of liberal thinking...

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image toon - 1st cali mny fnn - Arnie re back in time

image toon - 1st legal bbro = Sotomayor's gavel = Identy Politics

Sotomayor, Ricci and White Male Privilege

It is now asked whether Sonia Sotomayor has empathy for Frank Ricci. It's a question larger than the first Latina nominated to the Supreme Court, larger than the first black president who selected her and larger than the case before the high court of a firefighter who did not get a promotion because he was white and male.

The first Latina nominee is now not the discriminated but the discriminator...

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NYT: Sonia Sotomayor Has a 'Compelling Life Story' -- Clarence Thomas Didn't

Sotomayor's rise from a housing project in the East Bronx to Supreme Court nominee was "a compelling life story" in Thursday's lead article by Peter Baker and Adam Nagourney.

And Scott Shane and Manny Fernandez even celebrated the life history of Sotomayor's mother, in Thursday's "A Judge's Own Story Highlights Her Mother's -- A Tale of Rising Out of Hardship."

And Sheryl Gay Stolberg's gushing 5,000-word "Woman in the News" profile of Sotomayor Wednesday positioned the judge's rise as "Her up-by-the-bootstraps tale, an only-in-America story...."

By contrast, the lead July 2, 1991 story by Maureen Dowd, then a White House reporter, was rather curt when it came to extolling the conservative Thomas's riveting life history. Dowd dispensed with Thomas's inspiring rise from poverty in Pin Point, Ga., where he was raised by his grandparents, in two and a half paragraphs, and suggested a cynical political motivation on the part of President George H.W. Bush. Thomas's life wasn't necessarily inspiring but was merely "offered as inspiring" by the president:

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image toon - bbro legal msm = Sotomayor's humble roots v C Thomas'

Sotomayor Ruled That States Do Not Have to Obey Second Amendment

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor ruled in January 2009 that states do not have to obey the Second Amendment’s commandment that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

In Maloney v. Cuomo, Sotomayor signed an opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that said the Second Amendment does not protect individuals from having their right to keep and bear arms restricted by state governments....

[Just like states can add restrictions to federal abortion laws? Inane. Activist. Wrong.]

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image toon 1st othr reps crpt bbro legal = Oby = treat Sotomayor like Roberts = racist

Gibbs on 'burgeoning...controversy'

The issue didn’t go away with the campaign, and now it’s found its way into the West Wing. At Robert Gibbs’ Wednesday briefing, radio host Lester Kinsolving asked whether the White House would satisfy several hundred thousand petitioners by releasing “a certified copy of [Obama’s] long-form birth certificate.”

Gibbs appeared incredulous."It’s on the Internet, Lester.”

“Long-form, listing his hospital and physician,” Kinsolving clarified...

[This entire 'controversy', 100% of it, is due to Obama's abject refusal to release his full {many say 'actual', with some cause} birth certificate to the people that hired him on condition he was a US citizen.

Why?]

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Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid of the Obama Administration’s Scary Trial Balloon

In yesterday's Washington Post, the White House floats a really scary trial balloon—a new national Value-Added Tax (VAT) to pay for out-of-control spending and a Washington take over of health care.

We need to draw a clear line in the sand that no new national taxes will be put in place without eliminating—not cutting, but permanently eliminating—our existing income tax...

[Correct, and actually preferable as it puts all consumers on the same side of the tax table vs. the class warfare being waged now, and allows citizens to choose to save their money tax free (by not consuming) rather than having it taken from us by force.

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Then>



"VAT -OR- INCOME TAX - NOT BOTH"


Whitehouse: mailto:president@whitehouse.gov
Senate-Reid: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
House-Pelosi: http://speaker.house.gov/contact/
YOUR Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
YOUR Congressman: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

or: Speed Message them with your personal distribution list...

and as always, pass it on...

..

image toon - mny bbro - Bail in Government on tax payer

The Silence of MoveOn

The most powerful grassroots organization of the peace movement, MoveOn, remains silent as the American wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan simmer or escalate

What was MoveOn's explanation for abandoning the peace movement in a meeting with a president the peace movement was key to electing? According to Ruben and MoveOn, it was the preference of its millions of members, as ascertained by house meetings and polls.

But on none of these 'polls' were Afghanistan and Pakistan even listed as options which members could vote on. Nor was Guantánamo nor the administration's torture policies. ("Investigate the Bush Administration" was the first option.)

MoveOn is supposed to be an Internet version of participatory democracy, but the organization's decision-making structure apparently assures that the membership is voiceless on the question of these long wars - at least not while a Democrat is President...

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Hamas funder jailed in Texas

A founding member of what was once the biggest Muslim funding organization in the US has been given a 65-year jail sentence. Shukri Abu Baker, 50, was convicted of assisting the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which the US lists as a terrorist organisation. He is the first of five people from the Holy Land Foundation to be sentenced.

[GWOT]

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AP Calls Terrorism Financier a 'Muslim Charity Member'

If you saw the headline "Muslim Charity Member Gets 65 Years In Prison," would you assume his crime was funding terrorist activities, or possibly something totally unrelated?


Given that this "charity member" was convicted last November on 108 charges surrounding the transfer of more than $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas, one would think a stronger, more direct and informative headline would be in order.

Apparently not to the Associated Press...

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CBS Reports Islamic Extremism in U.S. Prisons, No Mention of Gitmo Detainees

At the top of Friday’s CBS Early Show co-host Julie Chen declared: "New details about that foiled terrorist plot in New York. Are American jails becoming breeding grounds for home-grown terrorists?"

In the report that followed, correspondent Kelly Wallace explained:

"Three of the suspects are U.S. citizens, all are Muslim. Three of the four are said to be jailhouse converts...One study estimates that as many as 175,000 inmates of American prisons converted to Islam since September 11th."

Despite such a shocking statistic, from a 2007 Indiana State University study, Wallace made no mention of President Obama’s plan to release Islamic fundamentalists from Guantanamo into American prisons...

[Oh c'mon; a simple oversight - it's not like a professional journalist can be expected to connect (the-most-glaringly-obvious) of dots...]

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image toon - gwot nsec = Oby hyptomizes to forget last 7.5 years w/o attack

Pelosi appeals for China's help on climate change

BEIJING — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Beijing on Thursday to cooperate on climate change, calling a safe environment a basic human right.

"We have so much room for improvement," ... "Every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory ... of how we are taking responsibility."

[Scarier and scarier.]

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New U.N. Climate Treaty Expected to Restrict U.S. While Exempting United Arab Emirates and China

A new United Nation's global warming treaty is expected to give some of the world's worst polluters--such as the communist People's Republic of China--and some of the world's wealthiest nations--such as the oil-rich United Arab Emirates--a license to continue freely pumping carbon into the atmosphere while restricting the emissions of the United States

Countries categorized by the United Nations as Annex 1 Parties, including the United States and much of the industrialized world, are considered developed nations that will not be harmed by controlling carbon emissions. Non-annex I Parties, on the other hand, are countries considered to be “developing” or have “economies in transition.”

These Non-annex 1 countries such as China – which emits the most carbon emissions of any country in the world, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Top 20 Countries for CO2 Emissions--will be able “sign on” to the treaty but will not be legally bound by it. And some of the world’s wealthiest nations, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are on the Non-annex 1 Parties list.

"It's very political. ... It has as much to do with what nations are willing to accept than per capita wealth or per capita usage of fossil fuels"

said Ben Lieberman, senior policy analyst on energy and the environment at the Heritage Foundation.

Lieberman said allowing some countries to sign the treaty gives it clout without requiring those countries to actually cut emissions. He also said without some of the worst polluters being held accountable--like China (No. 1), India, (No. 4), South Korea (No. 9), Mexico (No. 13) and Saudi Arabia (No. 14)--an international treaty will not have any impact...

[a) it's not really about the enviornment (and never was), b) no harm or impact are untrue: it will have severe impact on America's global competitivness - and ability to keep companies here...]

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As Dollars Pile Up, Uneasy Traders Lower the Currency’s Value

The dollar was on a roll just a few months ago, bounding higher against foreign currencies as investors sought a safe hiding place for their money amid a global downturn.

But now, many are rethinking their decision to buy American. The dollar skidded to its lowest point in five months this week, battered by creeping fears that Washington’s costly efforts to stimulate the economy are growing harder to finance...

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image c-art = Oby 100,000 dollar bill gif

Demand doesn’t justify oil runup, Exxon chief says

DALLAS— The recent run-up in crude prices to $60-plus from under $40 earlier this year isn’t necessarily evidence that the economy is recovering, Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said Wednesday. Oil demand remains down while supply is robust amid the lingering global recession, so those fundamentals don’t support crude’s slow uptick.

No, it's more a function of OPEC communications and our weakening dollar...

[I.e., spending like drunken sailors on everything but our own oil reserves.]

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image toon = mny - The shrinking dollar

Banks find ways to boost fees; checking accounts latest target

For the past year, banks have raised credit card rates to levels that sparked consumer outcry, regulatory scrutiny and congressional action. (snip) For example, banks are making it easier and more punitive for consumers to spend more than they have in their checking accounts, just as they allow consumers to spend past their card limits and charge them a steep fee for doing so.

[SHEEPLE. Vote with your feet like a responsible consumer and they won't do anything we don't let them do.]

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What Happened to the Right of the Patient to Choose?

The parents of a 13 year old Minnesota boy, Daniel Hauser, who with their support refused chemotherapy for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, have now told Judge John Rodenberg that they will agree to the treatment. Previously, they had missed a court date and fled the state in order to avoid judicially imposed chemotherapy.

Their recent reversal came after they were given a choice; agree to chemotherapy for their son or lose custody of him...

[A: it was stripped from us years ago, and will require sustained action at the poles to reverse.]

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The new GM: Government Motors?

A new name for Detroit's weakened auto giant GM is making the rounds, sometimes with irony, sometimes with dread, suggested by the deepest Washington industrial intervention in a half-century.

The Obama administration is planting itself at the wheel of General Motors with a major ownership stake -- and all that goes with it for the U.S. taxpayer...

[That's right, when we complain about the costs of union benefits, we'll now be talking about your money whether you ever bought a chevy or not.]

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The Guideline of Law

The President mentioned the Rule of Law in a speech last week. At the National Archives about his policies on terrorism, he said:

"From Europe to the Pacific, we've been the nation that has shut down torture chambers and replaced tyranny with the rule of law."

But the previous week the administration blew off the Rule of Law in the Chrysler bankruptcy.

It stiffed the senior secured creditors in favor of a junior creditor, a labor union. That's probably unconstitutional, because the US Constitution calls for "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." You can see why the founding fathers might think uniform bankruptcy laws were a good thing. It would provide protection for creditors, never the most popular people in society, against a politically favored special interest like a labor union.

If you are not going to favor secured creditors over a politically powerful interest, why bother having laws, or a Rule of Law at all? Just let the unpopular people go to the wall. Tell them to hire a politician next time.

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image toon - mny sclm bbro auto = GM restructuring puts bond holders last

Stimulus Overhype?

The Obama administration on Wednesday issued a booklet heralding the accomplishments of the $787 billion stimulus act 100 days after it was signed into law. Without question the book lists many projects that are having an impact of one way or another on the economy.

But the first one of the projects featured in "100 Days, 100 Projects" doesn't seem to withstand the scrutiny of its description. The project is described by the Obama administration this way:

"Using $27 million of Recovery Act funding, a public housing development in Washington, D.C., the Regency House, has undergone a green retrofit. As part of this upgrade, the building installed solar panels, a 'green' roof, a rainwater collection system, energy-efficient lighting as well as water conserving toilets, showerheads, and faucets. The greening of this building will allow the Regency House to save money in energy costs, while lessening their impact on the environment."

In reality, the work done on the Regency House that was funded by the stimulus package amounted to $59,000 in parts and labor, according to Dena Michaelson, director of public affairs for the Washington DC Housing Authority... [snip]

The response of the White House to questions about the claim in the book evoked a critique of journalists...

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WHAT IS NOT WRONG WITH U.S. HEALTH CARE

Barack Obama says he wants to make reforming health care one of his administration's top priorities. Change in health care is certainly needed. There is a danger, though, that the new president will be unduly influenced by political advocates peddling the same tired myths that have dogged the health care debate since the Clinton years.

These myths are founded on selective data, doubtful sources and faulty science. For anyone with an open mind and a passion for accuracy, they are easily dispelled, says Dr. Roger Stark, a health care policy analyst at Washington Policy Center.

We hear a lot about how terrible the infant mortality rate is in the United States, supposedly the worst in the civilized world. Is this true? Not really:

• U.S. health officials count all live births, while many other countries only count full-term births or infants who live at least 28 days.
• Obviously, premature infants, who are counted in the United States but not in other countries, have a much higher risk of mortality.

We are told that each year in the United States there are nearly 100,000 unnecessary hospital deaths:

• A panel of doctors reviewed the hospital data and found the great majority of these deaths occur at the end of the patient's natural life, when the outcome would have been the same regardless of what hospital staff did or did not do.
• In other countries, these older, desperately ill people often are not even sent to a hospital, dying at home instead, and are not included in national medical statistics.
• A comparable, population-adjusted study in Canada found 200,000 "unnecessary" hospital deaths, even though political activists regularly push Canadian-style health care as the model for the United States.

We are told the United States ranks a dismal 37th in health care worldwide. The figure comes from the U.N.'s World Health Organization:

• Three of the five criteria used to rate nations were biased in a favor of nationalized, single-payer systems, and U.N. officials admit they have an 80 percent uncertainty level in their data.
• Amazingly, none of the five criteria included actual health outcomes, such as cancer or heart attack survival rates.
• The United States tops all countries in favorable health outcomes.

Source: Roger Stark, "What is Not Wrong with U.S. Health Care," Washington Policy Center, February 5, 2009.

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image toon - mny hcare - Hole-istic medicine

Obama says health care this year _ or never

[Finally a policy I can support.]

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The New PC Buzzword for Diversity: It Brings 'Integrity'

.
[First, control the language.]

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The era of state-controlled media commeth

Another line has been crossed by the Obama administration: state-controlled television reports only of a news event at the White House. ABC's invaluable Jake Tapper writes at the Political Punch:

On April 27, President Obama welcomed the University of Connecticut Lady Huskies, who had just won the NCAA women's basketball championship.

After the event, President Obama went to the White House basketball court to shoot hoop with the Lady Huskies. The White House press corps was not allowed to attend.

Instead of a pesky free press, who photograph whatever they want and ask whatever they want, the American people will see only what the President wishes them to see. Should his vaunted reputation as a basketball whiz not be supported by his shooting with the ladies, he will have no embarrassing bowling moments.

It is true that in the past some events have been kept private, with only White House photographers present. But, as Tapper notes, this new video production operation has its own broadcast TV-like logo and other accessories of a major media operation.

Starting out with a sports team visit makes the whole enterprise seem non-threatening. But make no mistake, a line has been crossed.

Even the nearly universal adulation of the press is not enough for The One. Keep a sharp eye open for other events excluding the press, but open only to state-controlled media.

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Voters Triumph in California; Nets Cover Protesters

Nobody can accuse the broadcast networks of objectivity when it comes to gay "rights."

ABC, CBS and NBC combined devoted nearly 11 minutes of air time during their evening and morning news shows to the May 26 California Supreme Court ruling that upheld Proposition 8, the 2008 state constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage.

The networks gave gay rights activists more than seven minutes of air time, through interviews and footage of their protests, while they gave Prop 8 supporters less than one minute to talk about their victory.

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Palin Campaign Clothes Complaint Dismissed: Little Coverage in Old Media

Remember how everyone in the Old Media delighted in lambasting Governor Sarah Palin when the GOP bought all those clothes for her use during the McCain campaign? Remember how it was reported as nearly a foregone conclusion that these purchases must have somehow been illegal? It was even bigger news when the left-wing group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the GOP. The whole thing was the talk of the Old Media, as you may recall.

Well, as of May 15, the FEC ruled that there was no ethics violation and the clothing spending was deemed legal. One would think that this news concluding the story would make as big of a splash with the Old Media as the beginning of the tale did. Naturally, crickets have been heard throughout the media establishment as little notice has been paid to this story.

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Rahm's threat

New York's City Hall News reports that President Obama's request that Steve Israel stand down from a New York Senate primary was accompanied by blunter words from Rahm:

According to several sources familiar with the conversation, the White House chief of staff made it very clear to Israel that the administration didn't want him to run and that they would use their considerable political might to ensure his defeat if he did...

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The Polls Show That Reaganism Is Not Dead

Barack Obama won the White House by campaigning against an unpopular incumbent in a time of economic anxiety and lingering foreign policy concerns. He offered voters an upbeat message, praised the nation as a land of opportunity, promised tax cuts to just about everyone, and overcame doubts about his experience with a strong performance in the presidential debates.

Does this sound familiar?

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So Where Are the NCOs in Star Trek?

I just cannot get behind this Star Trek rebirth. The whole thing is just so unrealistic. Not the warp speed or phasers or beaming about the universe - those are at least remotely plausible. I am talking about the fact that the starship Enterprise is composed entirely of officers and yet it still seems to function. Where are the non-commissioned officers (NCO), the petty officers and sergeants who actually make any military organization run? No, I can suspend disbelief over Klingons and tribbles, and I actively support the notion of green alien hotties.

But the idea of a functioning military unit without sergeants is just a wormhole too far...

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image photo - fnn - House with no steps