I am the lone voice of reason in a world gone mad with nanny state socialism, enviro-wingnuts and political correctness. Also news and views on the world of SEC football can be found here as well.
As many of you know, I love John Stossel. Not only does he rock the 'stache, he is the only Libertarian on TV. Check out his column on Barry's constant claims about creating "green jobs."
Politicians always promise that their programs will create jobs. It's used to justify building palatial sports stadiums for wealthy team owners. Alaska Rep. Don Young claimed the infamous "bridge to nowhere" would create jobs (http://tinyurl.com/6jq623).
The fallacy is the same in every case: Even if the program creates jobs building bridges or windmills, it necessarily prevents other jobs from being created. This is because government spending merely diverts money from private projects to government projects.
Pure, unadulterated brilliance. Another excerpt is something that I've thought for a long, long time.
One reason decentralized markets are preferable to government central planning is that human beings are fallible. Mistakes are inevitable. Some investments will be errors. Mistakes in the market tend to be on a comparatively small scale. If one company invests in plug-in hybrids and it goes bust, only a relatively few people suffer. The assets of the bankrupt firm pass into more capable hands.
But decisions by government, especially the federal government, affect all of us. When government makes a mistake, the bureaucracy can't go bankrupt. Instead, it will use its failure to justify increased appropriations in the next budget.
That about covers the difference between government control (socialism) and market control (free markets). Nicely done.
The Looney Left is going out of their gourds trying to pile dirt on Sarah Palin, McCain's inspired choice for V.P. When they bring out the heavy artillery, you can smell their fear of a strong woman, a standard bearer for the Rest of Us, not those elites of San Francisco, Seattle and NYC.
They're running scared. Just ask 'em! The Palin bounce has got them shaking in their Birkenstocks.
“My concern is that I see them as totally reactive right now as opposed to getting out there on their own and saying what the hell they are about,” said Leon Panetta, a former chief of staff to Bill Clinton who has advised Mr. Obama. “They seem to be intimidated by the Palin pick. They seem to be intimidated by how the Republicans are coming at them on change. And you cannot win if you are constantly on defense.”
Mr. Panetta added, “As president of the United States you are going to have to learn how to deal with people you may not particularly like, because if you are trying to get things done, you have got to use everything and everybody that you can to get it done. I do think that they absolutely in this race have got to make use of the Clintons in every possible way, because they need them. He has clearly got some problems out there.”
Anybody that the Left is that afraid of is definitely good for America. No doubt about it. Reminds me of the vitriol for another great American, Ronaldus Maximus.
I remember the first day that I arrived in NYC to my post on the CGC Dallas on Governor's Island, where the towers commanded the Manhattan skyline. Walk around the island and you got a great view of Lady Liberty herself.
Then, fast forward, to 9-11-01. I was in my first year at the University of Alabama. I woke up that day, as any other, turned on the TV and saw this:
I was horrified beyond the ability to react. And in that moment, without a doubt, I knew this was NO accident. It was an act of terrorism.
And then the skies, where one could see a jetliner streaking across the contrail belt at any given second, were silent for days afterward.
I still haven't forgotten that day or the dread I felt. I still remember that extremists plotted and are still plotting against us. Don't forgot. Don't take a dip in the River Lethe as our friends on the left have done. Don't forget those lives lost that day. Don't forgot the bravery of Flight 93's passengers who took the first steps in a long war that will be going on long after most of us leave the world.
My sister and I covered 2470 miles on our journey throughout the Midwest. We trekked through three museums in ONE day (Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Adler Planetarium and Art Institute of Chicago). We walked countless miles through the Windy City and ate the world's finest Chicago-style deep dish pizza near the Sears Tower at Giardanos. We saw the Cubbies and Yo-Yo Ma in one day.
Here are some more random thoughts from our journey:
No matter where you are in the country, somewhere, a .38 Special song is playing. Trust me, I know this through experience. Our ipod cable was cut and we had to rely on the radio. Every time we turned on a station it seemed, there was that band from Jacksonville. Who the hell likes .38 Special? What made them part of the classic rock format and its same 150-song boring format? Was there an a great wailing of teeth for "Hold on Loosely?"
St. Louis really must like Huey Lewis and the News. Every station it seemed during rush hour played one of their songs.
Chicago is the bluest of blue states, as judged by the Greenpeace folks and all of the freaking Obama stickers. I even saw a poor child with a t-shirt that said "My mama is for Obama." Gimme a friggin' break!
Speaking of our friend Obama, what a stinker of a choice for his V.P. Joe Biden is a tempermental, ultra-liberal senator who has a penchant for plagiarism. And blowing his top. Guess his flattery got him somewhere!
The lardification of America is stunning to behold. I'm now starting to realize that much of America is too fat and out of shape to fight a great war or any war for that matter. When eating said deep dish pizza (which we walked off a few minutes later), I saw a group of four folks whose combined weight was near a ton. Folks, you're the last people needing to be dining on this horrifically fatty fare! Everywhere I look, I see so many folks grossly overweight. Stop eating all of this junk! Walk rather than ride in your flabby, gas-guzzling SUV. Do something active, anything!
The Air Force Museum is worth a trip unto itself. Going there was like going to Disneyland for me, anyway. To look into the gigantic bomb bays of the world's largest ever bomber, the B-36 (only four are still around) was an experience I'll never forget. I must go back!
I hate the Cubs. I really, really do. I hate their obnoxious, drunk frat boy fans. But the worst is hearing "Go Cubs Go" after every win. God, that song sucks! Long live the Goat!
We visited the Sears Tower, Navy Pier and Giordanos, where we got some deep dish pizza and hiked about 20 miles around the "Magnificent Mile." The pizza was as good as I remember it and the views were awesome from the top of what was the world's tallest building, until those Malays took the crown a few years back.
Navy Pier is mega-touristy and pricy, but the fireworks display is as good as any Independence Day display I've ever seen in my hometown.
Funny, that's exactly what I did with one of my dear friends today as he showed my sister and I around the Gateway of the West. First we walked along the river heading to the Arch (we parked for free, how many big cities can you do that in?) and we spotted a historic ship heading upriver. The chances of spotting this one-of-a-kind floating monument were slim to none, yet there it was, LST-325.
This valiant tank landing ship, sailed across a stormy Atlantic from Greece by an intrepid crew of WWII vets, now sails throughout the Midwest as the last remaining ship of her kind, a class of ships that landed the tanks and vehicles on Normandy's beaches. She was restored in Mobile and now is homeported in Evansville, Ind. Who wouldn't thought we'd spot this floating treasure?
The Arch was as I imagined it: spectacular! You can't imagine how amazing it is, a seemingly thin strand of metal that seems to defy the laws of physics. According to our tour guide, my good friend Kevin, no building in the STL can be any taller than the Arch.
We saw Busch Stadium II and it looked far better in person than on TV, where it is a gem of a baseball park. It's a shame the Cardinals weren't playing on Monday, because a game there would have been nice.
Even if I'm a Braves fan. And yes, they suck right now!
We ended our trip to STL at Union Station, an old train station that has been converted to a great mall and food court. It is gorgeous, the art work, the stained glass, but the coolest part was the whispering arch. Speak into one end of this large arch and you can hear the voice clear as a bell 40 feet away! Gotta love acoustics.
I hated to say goodbye to my good friend, but we're in Chicago now and looking forward to visiting Sears Tower and Navy Pier tomorrow.
My sister and I are in the land of the Arch, the Gateway of the West, St. Louis. It's been a good trip up this way so far. Even if Arkansas off I-55 and southern Missouri are as but ugly as terrain could be.
We're going to tour St. Louis and see the Arch and all that jazz with my friend whom I worked with in Florida. But tomorrow night, we'll be in the Second City, the Windy City, Chi-town!
T-t-t-t-that's all folks! Obama goes into Porky Pig mode again when he was asked a simple question his enormous staff didn't prepare him for.
And yes, he has more paid staffers than McCain. Read it here.
His campaign already has by far the largest full-time paid staff in presidential campaign history, and unlike Republican rival John McCain's, continues to grow by the day.
But back to his meandering answer when asked about the surge...
From Boortz, who transcribed Barak's meandering-in-vain-search-of-a-coherent-thought answer.
No, because keep in mind that question, you wouldn't ... but keep in mind that kind of hypothetical is very difficult to know hindsight is 20-20 ... later ... but I think that what I'm absolutely convinced of is that at that time we had to change the political debate because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with.
Barak Hussein Obama
Reminds me of this pivotal scene from Billy Madison:
We've got the media fawning over Obama on his foreign trip, covering his every move as if he were already president or better yet, the messiah.
But this column by Austin Hill totally distills what Barak Hussein Obama is all about:
Think about it. On both implicit and explicit levels, Obama’s rhetoric suggests that the annoyances, the risks, the hardships and insecurities of your existence are the result of various injustices done to you, and that he alone can correct those injustices.
If a business executive earns exponentially more money than you do, this is an injustice and he will correct it. If you bought a house and are now having difficulty making the payments, this is an injustice and he will correct it. If you do not have “free healthcare,” this is an injustice and he will correct it. The fact that nuclear weapons exist in the world is an injustice, and he will correct it. If you purchased toys imported from China that turned out to be defective, that is an injustice and he will correct it (yes, he actually delivered a speech entitled “Safer Toys For Our Children” in Iowa last December, two days after Christmas). And if you believe, as he apparently does, that “rich people” just simply “have too much already,” well that is most certainly an injustice and he will correct it.
Combine these dynamics of entitlement and “justice” with the reality that we live in an era of historical and constitutional illiteracy, and it’s not difficult to imagine how anything short of an Obama presidency could be viewed by some in America as yet another injustice. And if Obama’s inevitable destiny is disrupted by something so trivial as the American electorate, this could be deemed an injustice that trumps all others.
The Democrats, despite $4 a gallon gas, are STILL dragging their heels on drilling. Guess all that money those bastards get from the Sierra Club and other anti-capitalist, enviro-nut organizations gets them something after all.
"We learned the hard way that oil and water do not mix on our coast," Pelosi told a key committee in 1996 as she made her case for keeping the ban in place before a Congress then controlled by Republicans.
Now, with gas prices soaring, those drilling restrictions are facing their most severe test in years as calls intensify to more aggressively pursue domestic oil. Yet despite increasing pressure from President George W. Bush, a full-bore assault by congressional Republicans and some anxiety among her own rank-and-file Democrats, Pelosi is not budging.
"The president of the United States, with gas at $4 a gallon because of his failed energy policies, is now trying to say that is because I couldn't drill offshore," Pelosi said in an interview. "That is not the cause, and I am not going to let him get away with it."
Her voice carries considerable weight since, as speaker, Pelosi is in a position to prevent a vote on expanded drilling from reaching the floor
And she and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, appear intent on holding the line against calls to approve drilling in areas now off limits. They mount the counterargument that the oil and gas industry is not aggressively exploring large expanses it has already leased on land and offshore. They also have urged Bush to pour some fuel from national reserves into the commercial supply chain in an effort to lower prices.
I'm quite thankful for the Supreme Court's recent decision on District of Columbia v. Heller to reaffirm an individual right to bear arms. It was important because:
It was the first Supreme Court case in United States history to address directly whether the right to keep and bear arms is a right of individuals or a collective right that applies only to state-regulated militias.
Simple logic shows that the first part of the amendment has nothing to do with the National Guard. Why, would such a right for government need to be enumerated in the Constitution anyhow? The militia in colonial times was ALL of the able-bodied men of the community. If you eliminate that historical context, it's easy to see where some would be misled into thinking the Founders wanted an armed National Guard, not an armed citizenry.
So I was flipping through the channels last night and that 30 Days documentary series on FX was on, done by Morgan Spurlock, director of the anti-fast food documentary "Super-Size Me." The episode was an, ahem, interesting take on the gun control debate. This 39 year old aerobics instructor from the People's Republic of Massachusetts, Pia Lalli, is sent to live with this gun enthusiast straight from central casting with his triple-wide mobile home, ridiculously large collection of firearms (you could have a few guns and use the rest of the money to get a REAL house) and son who seemed brainwashed like he was in some sort of religious cult. From the show's description on the FX site:
After Pia learned that her friend had been killed by a schizophrenic man wielding a gun in 1996, she became a gun control advocate who has fought to pass stricter gun laws in the U.S. Pia believes that the world would be free from gun violence only by prohibiting the sale of guns to anyone outside of law enforcement and armed services.
For 30 Days, Pia will live in the heart of gun culture in the rural town of Leesburg, Ohio with gun enthusiast Ken Ekermeyer, 39, and his 15-year-old son Zach. Ken is an avid gun collector and rarely leaves home without his gun strapped to his side. Ken believes carrying a gun is his right guaranteed to every American by the Second Amendment. As Pia struggles to understand the Ekermeyer's beliefs and somewhat isolated way of life, she will work at a local gun store and experience what it is like to carry a gun in public, learn to handle and fire weapons and will introduce Ken to other gun control activists who have lost loved ones to gun violence.
Pia fires a gun and immediately starts bawling. I know why, but it still was tragicomic. She said that every time she heard a gun go off, "she thought of a child dying." Oh Lord.
Also, the two gun control activists tried to browbeat Ekermeyer and put the blame on him and his hobby for the loss of their loved ones.
But the one question these folks, who tried desperately to pawn themselves off as only seeking sensible gun control laws, failed to answer is: who does these laws affect? It certainly isn't Ekermeyer, who follows the laws. It's criminals. It's amazing how this simple bit of logic eludes most liberals.
There was one thing she brought up that I agree with: the honor system on the background check application should not be used. Even though privacy concerns would probably prevent this, I'd like to see an extended stay in a mental institution appear on an FBI background check.
I'd also like to see increased penalties for gun store owners who don't follow the law when it comes to the selling of firearms and for those who purchase guns for others, who then go and commit crimes.
But these people never stop at just that. Reasonable is not what they seek. Pia wants only the government and the military (and by default, criminals) with guns. But in the cities where there is a near-complete ban on firearms, there is a correspondingly high rate of murders and property crime. It's either be a victim or take responsibility for your own self-defense.
No, we don't suppose that's going to happen any time soon. But it should.
The 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is evidence that, while the founding fathers were brilliant men, they could have used an editor.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
If the founders had limited themselves to the final 14 words, the amendment would have been an unambiguous declaration of the right to possess firearms. But they didn't, and it isn't. The amendment was intended to protect the authority of the states to organize militias. The inartful wording has left the amendment open to public debate for more than 200 years. But in its last major decision on gun rights, in 1939, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously found that that was the correct interpretation.
A lot of liberals say that the first part, a well-regulated militia means that the Constitution allows for the forming of a National Guard. Obviously these rocket scientists at the Trib aren't students of history, because the militia was considered all of the able-bodied males. Think I'm kidding? Read on.
The early colonists of America considered the militia an important social structure, necessary to defend their colonies from Indian attacks. "They were a group of citizens who would be ready to fight in any emergency"All able-bodied males were expected to be members of the local militia, though in practice there were many possible exemptions to service including: conscientious objection, attendance at college and engagement in important business. The important and wealthy could avoid service, if they wanted, by paying others to go in their place.
Read the rest here. Doesn't sound like a National Guard (all able-bodied males made up the militia) to me. But if you don't take the militia clause in historical context, I can see where the mistake could be made.
But there's no mistaking what our liberal, gun-fearing friends have in store. In their world, only the government should be responsible for their protection. I've got news for you: it takes at least 5-10 minutes at best for police to respond to an emergency. A perp (pronounced poip if you're from New Yawk) can do a lot to you and your family in 5-10 minutes. Wouldn't it be smarter to be armed and dispatch said criminal?
I celebrate the Supreme Court's decision and I'm glad that they reaffirmed our innate right to self-defense, both against criminals and a tyrannical government (which ours is becoming by the day).
Nothing more I hate in the world than left-lane dawdlers. You know, the granny in a towncar or some idiot in a minivan doing the speed limit in the left lane, barely passing the traffic in the right lane at .5 mph faster, if at all.
Traffic builds up behind them and as we all know from watching the Daytona 500, bad things can happen when traffic is bunched together and one yahoo makes a mistake.
Police in Seattle are ticketing these dumbasses. Finally!
SEATTLE -- Even if you're going the speed limit it might not be enough to prevent you from getting a ticket if you're holding up traffic in the fast lane.
State troopers are on a mission to make sure the left lane on area freeways is used for its intended purpose: passing.
"We're doing 58, 59 miles an hour and they are just sitting there, traffic's passing them on the right hand side," Trooper Keith Leary said while pointing out a car in the left lane of Interstate 5. "That's exactly what we don't want to see happen."
The driver, Brasta Bonifcho, said he was surprised what he was doing was illegal.
"I didn't know that, I really didn't know that," he said. "I am guilty, no question about it."
Leary reminded Bonifcho that drivers need to stay in the right lanes unless they're passing another vehicle.
Everyone pulled over during Leary's patrol said they thought it wasn't a problem as long as they were going the speed limit. But the law says otherwise.
"It is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes the flow of other traffic," the statute reads.
The reason for the law is to help keep traffic moving and to diffuse potential road rage situations.
It's a sad state of affairs in this country that the Supreme Court is out of control. More proof of it happened yesterday as a 5-4 majority overturned a death sentence for a child rapist in Louisiana. How is that cruel and unusual punishment? What about what happened to the child in question?
McCain disagreed with the decision. Even the enlightened messiah Barak Hussein Obama disagreed with it!
That there is a judge anywhere in America who does not believe that the rape of a child represents the most heinous of crimes, which is deserving of the most serious of punishments, is profoundly disturbing. (The decision is) an assault on law enforcement’s efforts to punish these heinous felons for the most despicable crime.
Genesis says it best about our friend Jimmy Johns, headed for...
This type of prison.
Jimmy Johns got busted this morning for selling cocaine. Cocaine! Read the rest here.
TUSCALOOSA | A once-promising University of Alabama football player spent Tuesday behind bars facing serious drug charges.
UA Coach Nick Saban dismissed senior linebacker Jimmy Johns very shortly after narcotics investigators charged him with selling cocaine.
Johns, 21, allegedly sold powdered cocaine to undercover officers five times.
Johns had been selling cocaine to UA students, said Capt. Jeff Snyder, commander of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force. It only took undercover officers about a week and a half to gain his trust and make the purchases, he said.
“We were kind of surprised that we were able to buy the cocaine as quickly and easily as we did,” Snyder said. “And I’m surprised that we didn’t hear that he was selling it before we did.”
Although he is well known around campus, and wasn’t reluctant to sell drugs to new customers, Snyder said, Johns didn’t want his UA teammates to know.
“He did the best he could to ensure that none of them knew,” he said. “We believe his source was an individual outside the University community.”
Investigators with the drug task force found between 9 and 11 grams of cocaine at Johns’ home in the 2100 block of 11 Street East, Snyder said.
Johns had been working out at the UA Athletic Complex early Tuesday and had stopped to get gas when officers made the arrest. He accompanied them back to his house where they executed the search warrant and found more cocaine and eight or nine ecstasy pills.
Johns was charged with five counts of distribution of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance.
If he is found guilty, Johns could face to 2 to 20 years in prison and be fined up to $30,000 for each of the five distribution charges. He could face one to 10 years and a $15,000 fine if he is found guilty of the possession charge.
Now Alabama's linebacking corps is thinner than a hobo's wallet. Way to go Jimmy! A guy who was once a very promising athlete, a former Mr. Football in the state of Mississippi at Brookhaven (up the road from where I worked in McComb). Now what could've been a promising life is now ruined for the want of a few dollars of ill-gotten gains. Unfortunate.
I don't like John McCain. He's a Democrat in Republican clothing who has subverted the First Amendment (the McCain-Feingold monstrosity that bans any remotely campaign-related advertising 60 days before an election), who believes in the global warming fraud and who has absolutely no clue about economics. This statement here is instructive for the latter:
I don't like obscene profits being made anywhere. I'd be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax, that's not what bothers me, but we should look at any incentives that we are giving to people — or industries or corporations — that are distorting the markets.
Total ignorance. His whining about torture is another.
But at least he's giving folks some reason to vote for him besides his tough stances on Iran and the awful Boumediene vs. Bush decision. Here's the reason: he's reversed field on drilling.
Unlike Obama, who believes that a "windfall profits" tax on oil companies is necessary and who wants to distribute the proceeds as pork to various ethanol producers under the guise of bankrolling "alternative" energy sources, McCain believes we actually must explore and develop our OWN sources of energy.
McCain said Obama "says that high oil prices are not the problem, but only that they rose too quickly. He's doesn't support new domestic production. He doesn't support new nuclear plants. He doesn't support more traditional use of coal, either."
Instead, McCain said Obama "wants a windfall profits tax on oil, to go along with the new taxes he also plans for coal and natural gas. If the plan sounds familiar, it's because that was President Jimmy Carter's big idea too — and a lot of good it did us."
Read the rest here. Also, Florida governor Charlie Crist, who sounds like he's angling for a spot as McCain's running mate, has reversed field like his boy McCain and supports lifting the Federal ban on offshore drilling, something that idiotic Floridians have supported for years.
With $4 gas a way of life, the sooner we can drill, the better. Especially seeing that a hurricane in the Gulf, with the present volatility of the market, would drive prices up to the stratosphere. Ten bucks a gallon may be in the future, something that would be beyond disasterous for our economy. As folks have seen, when oil is through the roof, it isn't just those evil white people in the suburbs who drive SUV's and voted for Bush who suffer. It affects everything, from food prices, to airline travel to plastic prices.
Other than corn, which drives up food prices and pads the pockets of wealthy agro-corporations thanks to ridiculous Federal subsidies, Obama has no new sources of energy in his solution. No nukes. No coal. Just solar and wind power. Right...
Just the same old, same old socialistic punish-the-rich tripe that socialist scum like him have tried and retried despite repeated failures. To me, the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In that light, liberals are definitely insane. Change? What kind of change except to the failed policies of the past?
As I like to say about Obama: My name is Barak Obama and my vagina approved this message.
Terrorists held in Gitmo are entitled to trial in civilian courts. You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Now Turn-Em-Loose-Bruce Lefty idiot lawyers will defend them pro bono. Turn-Em-Loose-Bruce Commie Bastard judges will pull more law out of thin air and probably give the terrorist bastards asylum and a pat on the back.
Unbelievable? Have we lost our collective minds? How do these people have constitutional rights in our courts? How?
The NBA is fixed. Been saying it for years. Kind of like pro wrestling.
Now we have the proof. Courtesy of Tim Donaghy, disgraced former NBA ref.
"Referees A, F and G were officiating a playoff series between Teams 5 and 6 in May of 2002. It was the sixth game of a seven-game series, and a Team 5 victory that night would have ended the series. However, Tim learned from Referee A that Referees A and F wanted to extend the series to seven games. Tim knew referees A and F to be "company men," always acting in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series. Referees A and F heavily favored Team 6. Personal fouls [resulting in obviously injured players] were ignored even when they occurred in full view of the referees. Conversely, the referees called made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw opportunities for Team 6. Their foul-calling also led to the ejection of two Team 5 players. The referees' favoring of Team 6 led to that team's victory that night, and Team 6 came back from behind to win that series."
According to Donaghy and his attorney John F. Lauro, two referees in 2002 deliberately ignored fouls that resulted in injuries and called "made-up fouls" to give addition foul shots to one team. Even worse, Donaghy asserts that the referees did all of it because they were "company men" who "always act[ed] in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series."
The NBA has always called games unfairly. Stars get preferential treatment. That's inarguable. But it's when the refs decide games and extend series for the purpose of filling league coffers with ratings and thus advertising dollars, that's when it becomes pro wrestling. You've got the face players (Kobe, KG, LeBron, Dwanye Wade, etc.) and then you've got the heels like Rasheed Wallace and others.
Donaghy and his three blind mice at work: Turns out they weren't so blind after all. The call came from David Stern's office. Extend the series. Or else
These are the biggest bombshells from Donaghy from Sheridan's story:
The document referenced other alleged improprieties that Donaghy disclosed to federal law enforcement officials. Among them:
• "Tim gave information on how top executives of the NBA sought to manipulate games using referees to boost ticket sales and television ratings," the letter reads. "He also described how nepotism played a far greater role than qualifications in a number of referee hirings."
• "Tim explained the league officials would tell referees that they should withhold calling technical fouls on certain star players because doing so would hurt ticket sales and television ratings," the letter adds. "As an example, Tim explained how there were times when a referee supervisor would tell referees that NBA Executive X did not want them to call technical fouls on star players or remove them from the game. In January 2000, Referee D went against these instructions and elected a star player in the first quarter of the game. Referee D later was privately reprimanded by the league for that ejection."
• In addition to game-altering allegations, Donaghy's letter claims that many officials carry on "relationships" with team executives, coaches and players that violate their NBA contracts. For example, it said, referees broke NBA rules by hitting up players for autographs, socializing with coaches and accepting meals and merchandise from teams.
"Tim described one referee's use of a team's practice facility to exercise and another's frequent tennis matches with a team's coach," the letter says.
• The letter also alleges that during a 2005 Rockets-Mavericks playoff series, "Team 3 lost the first two games in the series and Team 3's Owner complained to NBA officials. Team 3's Owner alleged that referees were letting a Team 4 player get away with illegal screens. NBA Executive Y told Referee Supervisor Z that the referees for that game were to enforce the screening rules strictly against that Team 4 player. Referee Supervisor Z informed the referees about his instructions. As an alternate referee for that game, Tim also received these instructions."
I know how David Stern, a master of spin, will play this. He'll attack Donaghy and he'll have a point. Dude is a felon. He did conspire to fix games. He does have an axe to grind since the NBA is trying to bleed a million big ones out of him.
"We welcome scrutiny here. This is something that should be scrutinized," said Stern, who called Donaghy a "singing, cooperating witness" and repeatedly referred to him as a felon as he spoke with reporters for more than eight minutes near the loading dock of the Staples Center as he arrived for Game 3 of the Finals.
But he officiated in 772 regular-season games and 20 playoff games. I think the guy knows something. And the way games are called, as even casual fans see, it definitely lends credence to what he's saying.
Besides, the NBA is gutter basketball anyway. It's a slightly better version of the And1 mix tape tour. Just dunks and 3 pointers. No fundamentals. Rules prevent proper defense.
It's little wonder that our NBA players get their asses kicked in international play on a regular basis. The stars on our U.S. team keep expecting a bailout call from friendly refs every time.
When we elect asshole, anti-capitalist politicians in bed with enviro-nuts, this is what you get.
George Will pulls no punches and calls it like he sees it. Right on target!
One million barrels is what might today be flowing from ANWR if in 1995 President Clinton had not vetoed legislation to permit drilling there. One million barrels produce 27 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel. Seventy-two of today's senators -- including Schumer, of course, and 38 other Democrats, including Barack Obama, and 33 Republicans, including John McCain -- have voted to keep ANWR's estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil off the market.
So Schumer, according to Schumer, is complicit in taking $10 away from every American who buys 20 gallons of gasoline. "Democracy," said H.L. Mencken, "is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." The common people of New York want Schumer to be their senator, so they should pipe down about gasoline prices, which are a predictable consequence of their political choice.
Also disqualified from complaining are all voters who sent to Washington senators and representatives who have voted to keep ANWR's oil in the ground, and who voted to put 85 percent of America's offshore territory off-limits to drilling. The U.S. Minerals Management Service says that restricted area contains perhaps 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas -- 10 times the oil and 20 times the natural gas Americans use in a year.
As for the environmental movement and its latest hobgoblin, global warming, it's all about the destruction of capitalism and the weakening of our country as a result. Why else would they ban us from drilling for OUR OWN OIL? Why else would they whine and cry and sue every time someone wants to build a power plant, an oil refinery (see last post) or dam up a river to produce the energy our economy requires? Why else would they bitch and moan about how Americans use up all the world's resources and how greedy we are when we feed the world and keep it afloat financially. Hurt us economically and the whole world feels it.
This is the only conclusion I can draw here. And there's no compromise with these people. None.
The only thing that will keep them from destroying everything that makes this country great is to beat them. And keep beating them with logical arguments of why their pie-in-the-sky, "solutions" are a dead end.
Apparently three days of debate was enough for what many senators called "the most important issue facing the planet."
With little chance of winning passage of a sweeping 500-page global warming bill, the Senate Democratic leadership is planning to yank the legislation after failing to achieve the 60 vote threshold needed to move the bill to the next stage. After a 48-36 vote on the climate change bill, the Senate is likely to move on to an energy debate next week.
The legislation collapsed for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the poor timing of debating a bill predicted to increase energy costs while much of the country is focused on $4 a gallon gas. On top of that, a number of industrial state Democrats like Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio were uncomfortable with the strong emissions caps that would have created a new regime of regulations for coal, auto and other manufacturing industries. Republicans, for the most part, held firm against a bill they said would cost billions in regulations while pushing the cost of gas higher. Seven Republicans, mostly moderates, voted for the procedural motion on the legislation while four Democrats voted against it.
But they will try. Again. Gotta hand it to these marxist bastards. They don't quit.
Democrats did not go into the debate expecting passage of the legislation, but they did celebrate a marginal increase in support for the cap and trade system for emissions that was the centerpiece of the bill. Similar legislation in previous years did not even come close to getting 50 votes in the Senate, so Friday morning's vote was a moral victory of sorts. Several senators who missed the vote, including John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, would have voted for the bill, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said on the Senate floor this morning.
The debate in many ways was about setting the stage for a more serious climate change effort under the next presidential administration. While President Bush would have vetoed any cap and trade bill this year, both McCain and Obama back some form of mandatory emissions reduction, so this debate will gain serious traction again next year.
Like the gas prices now? Wait until this cap and trade bullshit goes through. BOHICA, BOHICA, BOHICA. Our economy will be in a shambles and the amount of CO2 (not a pollutant!) will decrease just a tiny tad.
Or less.
But there's a fierce argument over how much the bill would affect the economy. According to a study released by the National Association of Manufacturers earlier this year, Lieberman-Warner would cause 1.8 million job losses, as much as a $210 billion gross domestic product reduction and possibly a 33% increase in electricity prices by 2020.
The bill would not have a detectable impact on the climate. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s own analysis, by 2050 Lieberman-Warner would only lower global CO2 concentrations by less than 1.4% without additional international action.
Brave voters in Sioux City, South Dakota voted to allow rezoning for Hyperion to build an oil refinery, the first new one built in the U.S. in 30 years, in their backyard.
ELK POINT, S.D. -- Flashing a smile, Joyce Bortscheller briefly hugged Hyperion Energy Center executive Preston Phillips as she greeted him in the backyard of her home here.
Bortscheller, president of the Elk Point City Council, had invited about 250 supporters to an outdoor barbecue Tuesday to await the returns for arguably the most important election in Union County's history. The big crowd didn't leave disappointed.
As midnight approached, they popped the champagne corks, celebrating a hard-fought victory that keeps alive the county's chances of landing the nation's first all-new oil refinery in 32 years.
By a solid 58 percent to 42 percent margin, county voters approved Hyperion's request to rezone 3,292 acres of farm land for a new classification, Energy Center Planned Development.
But of course our liberal, tree-hugging, soy-milk chugging, vaginal liberal friends of the Earth and all of the tiny creatures except for those evil humans object. And they shall object through their favorite tool of destruction, endless lawsuits.
While conceding defeat, opponents vowed to keep fighting the controversial project on every imaginable front, pressing on with a lawsuit it filed against the county over the zoning procedures and opposing Hyperion as it applies for a bevy of state and federal permits.
"We have strategies in place to slow or delay all the permit processes," Ed Cable, chairman of the anti-Hyperion group Save Union County, said after the vote.
Never mind the fact you lost 58 percent to 42 percent. They still intend to sue!
Ever heard that classic "Bush's policies have alienated our friends around the globe."
Uh, not so much.
Furthermore, the departure of Mr. Bush will hardly leave the nation's foreign relationships in tatters. Despite much American introspection, Euro-liberal sniping and Latin American leftist fantasizing, the quantity and quality of America's formal friendships have endured, if not actually increased, since 2001. Eighty-four governments, out of a world total of some 192, are formally allied with the U.S.
Foreign leaders such as France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel clearly see that their true interest resides in maintaining and renewing their relationships with the U.S. Few governments have prospered by severing such bonds. In Asia as well, nations are looking to strengthen their ties to America. China needs the U.S. market. India is moving toward America, not away.
The number of America's foes hasn't grown under the Bush administration. The actual number of our enemies can be counted on one hand: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela. With the exception of the latter, all these enmities predate Mr. Bush and his successor will inherit them.
Read the rest here. Timothy Lynch and Robert Singh hit the nail right on the head. And if you don't think they're credible, well both are academics at the University of London and are the authors of "After Bush: The Case for Continuity in American Foreign Policy" (Cambridge University Press, 2008.)
So either way, Bush's policies will continue. And I'm believing that this war has turned the corner. Imagine us actually winning! I can.
A lot of folks are out there burning $4 gasoline, driving to the beach, cooking some burgers on the grill and enjoying what is considered widely the opening of summer.
But I want you to think what Memorial Day really means.
Arlington National Cemetery courtesy Ernie Stewart. His site can be found here.
It is a day to honor the fallen who sacrificed all for love of country. It's not just a nice extended weekend, as many think.
USS Yorktown courtesy NAVSOURCE
On this day, I think of those 20-somethings, some younger than that, who had their lives taken away in the cause of freedom. I think the sailors permanently entombed in the USS Yorktown when she sank after Midway, a battle that turned the tide in the Pacific.
I think of the men who died on the USS Gambier Bay, whose crew valiantly fought to the last against a numerically superior foe, the Japanese Center Force, off Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Their sacrifice saved the Phillipine invasion fleet of defenseless transports. I had the pleasure to meet one of the veterans of this battle and hear firsthand about something that I had only read about.
I think of Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon, two Delta operators who went into to save Michael Durant despite knowing that they were likely not coming back. They saved him at the cost of their own lives and earned the Medal of Honor (don't call it the Congressional Medal of Honor) for their sacrifice.
I think of the brave men and women in Iraq fighting a war that many in this country are actively trying to undermine. I think of Ross McGinnis, a 19-year old who jumped on a live grenade and saved the lives of four comrades. For all those who have earned our nation's highest award for valor, go here.
I wonder if an idea, a dream is worth the life of even one man. Like my high school friend Chris Mason, who lost his life in Iraq in 2006. The world without Chris is a darker, more dour one.
Chris in his own words
So when you're munching on your burger, heading to the beach or enjoying the day off, think of those who gave their lives for your freedom. It's the least you can do.
These brave men and women through the ages gave their lives for freedom. Would you be willing to do the same?
I mean this is a guy who thinks it's a wonderful idea to legitimize folks like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by meeting with them. Like Ahmadinejad, a man who talked about wiping Israel off the map and believes that starting a nuclear war will bring back the 12th imam, is a rational actor! If you don't believe me, here it is out of his own foolish mouth:
I'm still trying to figure out Obama. Is he dangerously naive or just plain stupid?
Hugo Chavez swore that Colombia's attack on some FARC terrorists seeking sanctuary in his borders was totally unprovoked.
Uh, no.
It seems that Hugo supplied them with money and arms. Read the rest here. Of course, Hugo is blustering.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is denouncing as "ridiculous" an Interpol report on documents that Colombia says were retrieved from the computers of slain rebels.
Chavez says a "show of clowns" has surrounded the announcement by the international police agency that it found no evidence of tampering with the computers.
Colombia maintains the documents suggest close links between the rebels and the Venezuelan government.
Chavez responded to a question on the matter at a news conference on Thursday denouncing what he called disinformation by a "media dictatorship."
Folks, FARC isn't nice. In fact, they are major league assholes.
These Marxist monsters are detested by Colombians and have the lowest approval rating of any group in the country, something like less than 1%. It's no surprise as to why. They are well known for the inhumanity. They keep hostages tied to trees for years, and demand massive ransoms from innocents. Those who survive come out looking like feral animals. They invented the necklace bomb, grabbing farmers who refused to grow coca for their cocaine operations, putting a sort of ticking mechanical collar around their necks and letting them listen to the ticks until time runs out and they feel their head literally blow off. They invented horse bombs, where horses go into village marketplaces and explode, like random roaming car bombs. They have massacred Colombians in churches during mass, their blazing machine guns firing away on people worshipping God. They have forced children into soldierhood, and turning them into Marxist-indoctrinated automatons, and robbed others of their childhood by blocking all school routes. Some Colombian children have had to attend school through swinging pulleys across the jungle canopy just to avoid the FARC guerrilla activity below and the inevitable kidnapping. They have trafficked drugs to milllions, raining horror and misery on inner cities across America. There is no evil that they will not stoop to in the name of their Marxist 'revolution,' none.
Florida congressman Connie Mack is doing something about it:
Today’s report sheds another bright light on the active efforts of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez and his cronies to promote terror and instability throughout Latin America. He has used his vast oil wealth to fund terrorism in the region and make mischief in order to undermine democratic institutions and principles in Colombia and other countries.
Because of his allegiances to rogue nations like Iran and Syria, and the evidence conclusively tying Chavez to the highest levels of the FARC terrorist organization, I introduced a resolution two months ago calling on the Administration to add Venezuela to the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Read the entire release here. Think he's kidding? See for yourself:
Here's Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave to the crowd of sycophants in Venezuela, the "Chavistas."
Remember Ahmadinejad's cozy little visit to Venezuela? I do. Read about it here. Remember what Hugo said about us? Let me refresh your memory:
Let's save the human race, let's finish off the U.S. empire. This (task) must be assumed with strength by the majority of the peoples of the world.
You'll never catch me at a CITGO gas station, being that CITGO is owned by Venezuela. 7-Eleven stores ended their historic association with CITGO two years ago.
Just to make sure people know, this ain't CITGO!
When are we going to put one of these through his living room window?
Neville Chamberlain waves the useless scrap of paper that he "negotiated" with Hitler that gave the British "peace in our time." Yeah, that worked out well!
Those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. Such is Barak Obama's ridiculous, idealistic pap masquerading as a foreign policy. He actually suggested that he would sit down and meet with our enemies, who plot our destruction. As a typical liberal, he believes that negotiations can be fruitful. In the absence of a genuine desire for peace, this is ridiculous in the least.
The sparring began Monday at the CNN/YouTube debate, in which a viewer asked candidates if they would be willing to meet with leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea -- whom the United States has called rogue leaders.
Obama said he would, adding "it is a disgrace that we have not spoken to them." He added: "The notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous."
Obama cited the diplomacy of late presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, who engaged the Soviet Union even as he called it the "evil empire."
Obama said one of his first orders of diplomacy in the Middle East would be to "send a signal that we need to talk to Iran and Syria because they're going to have responsibilities if Iraq collapses."
Well, Bush called him on it yesterday in a speech to Israel's Knesset or parliament for those educated by the government school monopoly. Brilliantly.
In a speech to Israel's Knesset marking the 60th anniversary of that country's independence, Bush said, "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."
"We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
Of course, this has started a firestorm on the Left. How about this from John F---ing Kerry?
First, it's absolutely shameless that an American President would use a speech in front of a foreign government to launch such a petty political attack. President Bush has abused the dignity of the office in ways that make especially ironic his long ago pledge to "restore dignity and integrity to the Oval office."
Perhaps worse -- he's not even right on the facts, and he knows it. Like Representatives Boehner and Cantor, President Bush just makes up policies to attack. Barack Obama opposes negotiating with terrorists. And always has. This is just another example of the disingenuous habit of this administration to create "some people" whom they can argue against, strawman arguments that they can use in their disgusting political attacks.
Opposes negotiating? That's not what he said in the Youtube debate, Kerry. Last time I checked, Iran and Syria, not to mention Venezuela (see my next post on Hugo Chavez above) are state sponsors of terrorism, making them, ding-ding-ding:
TERRORISTS
Joe Biden continues this ridiculous non-response:
"He is the guy who has weakened us," he said. "He has increased the number of terrorists in the world. It is his policies that have produced this vulnerability that the U.S. has. It's his [own] intelligence community [that] has pointed this out, not me."
Biden noted that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have both suggested that the United States ought to find a way to talk more with its enemies.
"If he thinks this is appeasement, is he going to come back and fire his own cabinet?" Biden asked. "Is he going to fire Condi Rice?"
More pinko-commie, vaginal bastard wailing and nashing of teeth here. I love how they can dish out, but when the heat is directed in their direction, they sure as hell can't take it.
We already know that Obama's campaign is going to be breaking out with the race card. A Washington Post story says that:
Doors have been slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.
We now know that any opposition to Obama is simply, a distraction. Like that bothersome Jeremiah Wright thing. Right wing conspiracy, that was. Or his far-left voting record. Oh, don't call him a liberal. Can't do that now. That's an evil label. Can't call him by his middle name. That's divisive.
Here are the Obama rules in detail: He can't be called a "liberal" ("the same names and labels they pin on everyone," as Obama puts it); his toughness on the war on terror can't be questioned ("attempts to play on our fears"); his extreme positions on social issues can't be exposed ("the same efforts to distract us from the issues that affect our lives" and "turn us against each other"); and his Chicago background too is off-limits ("pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy"). Besides that, it should be a freewheeling and spirited campaign.
Imagine this inexperienced looney burger who has the support of terrorist organization Hamas as your president. Not only is every bit of opposition to his wrong-headed policies to be painted as pure racism, but he loves to snuggle with our Islamofacist buddies aiming to destroy us.
"It's conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, 'This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he's not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush,'" Obama said in an interview with The Atlantic.
Read the rest here. I remember telling someone that I was dating that you are the company you keep. She hung out with a lot of lowbrow, unintelligent folks. So even though she had some book smarts, she was dragged down by her idiotic friend group.
Just like Barak is dragged down by the company he keeps. According to Barak, Israel is a "constant sore."
JG: Do you think that Israel is a drag on America’s reputation overseas?
BO: No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy.
And yet he brings change? You need to ask yourself, is this the kind of change I want? Much higher taxes. Much higher oil prices, thanks to that idiotic windfall profits tax our friend Obama proposes, which ignores every bit of economic wisdom in favor of Pollyanna, illogical, pie-in-the-sky, feel-good, wealth-envious, socialist pap. Much more government regulation, which chokes the free market, which socialists like Obama hate anyway.
Chris Paul has been everything the young Hornets have needed in a floor general.
I hate to admit it, but I've jumped on a bandwagon. The Hornetsbandwagon, that is. People who know me remember that I used to love the New York Knicks back when they had Patrick Ewing (who had a cameo as the Angel of Death in Exorcist III) manning the pivot. I remember the '94 Finals run, the incredible team of '99 with him, Marcus Camby (now a Nugget), Alan Houston (overpaid and out of the NBA), Latrell "Foreclosed Yacht" Sprewell (ditto, the man who said that a three-year, $21 million deal would not feed his family) and of course Larry Johnson (retired with back issues) with his infamous self-congratulatory "LJ" hand gesture.
But the Knicks started to descend into loserland after trading Ewing away for peanuts, actually, Glen Rice, who was already on the downslope of his career. The salary cap continued to engorge like my waistband and the team had the highest payroll, yet one of the worst records. Then they thought it'd be a bright idea to hire Isiah "I Killed The CBA and all I got was this worthless t-shirt" Thomas, a man so boorish he lost a sexual harassment lawsuit, to save the franchise. James Dolan, owner of the Knicks, is responsible for this mess.
And I tuned away. Soon the NBA, which had become must-watch sporting TV for me, was no longer attractive at all. The loud music in the arenas. The gang-banger posturing. The acres of miserably drawn tats. The crime associated with these players, like in Las Vegas during last year's All-Star Weekend, where posses of "g's" shot up the place.
Now the Hornets have given me a reason to watch again. Chris Paul is now this amazing talent who the whole country knows. He's a floor general with his face painted in a perpetual scow of concentration and menace. He always makes the right decision and his assist to turnover ratio is mindblowingly good.
David Lee is a solid rebounder who sets great picks and who gets everything out of his game, especially a sweet stroke from 18 feet.
Tyson Chandler is a rebounding, shot-blocking alley-hoop machine who has made several highlight reel dunks of CP3 lobs.
Peja Stokajovic has a sweet stroke from downtown, even though the Spurs have contained him in the last two games.
The rest of the team is really solid, with a good balance of shooters (like Jannero Pargo) and other role players. Tonight, they blew out the Spurs 101-79 and now lead the series 3-2. One more win and they're going to their first ever Western Conference Finals. They've got two games to get it done.
It's about time you kicked this cancer off the team. And now he has done it.
Perrilloux "didn't fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete," head coach Les Miles said in a written statement Friday. "Ryan was given every opportunity to be a part of this football team."
Miles' decision means Perrilloux, a sophomore, will never fulfill the enormous promise with which he arrived at LSU - at least not for the Tigers and probably not for a major college football program.
Read the rest here. According to some sources, it was for a failed drug test. Duh!
Imagine this: you have the opportunity to make MILLIONS in the NFL if you just follow some relatively simple rules. But he couldn't do it. Miles gave him second, third, fourth, chances in the double digits as John Mayer says, but in the end, he was too stupid to realize that his future fortune was dependent on keeping his nose clean.
Literally!
He should have seen the example of FSU's Xavier Lee, a can't miss QB prospect who, well, missed. Big time. Except against Alabama, damnit!
Now he's a rookie free agent who'll be lucky to get a cup of coffee in rookie minicamp.
Alabama came up SNAKE EYES in the NFL Draft for the first time since 1970. If that isn't proof how far 'Bama has fallen, I don't know what would be.
TUSCALOOSA Without saying a word, the NFL collectively passed clear judgment this weekend on Alabama's 2008 draft class.
The Crimson Tide was not included among the 252 selections in this year's NFL draft. It was the first time Alabama has been shut out since 1970, the year the American Football League officially joined the NFL.
"We're just really confused," offensive lineman Justin Britt said. "I mean, this doesn't make any sense."
Confused? What is there to be confused about, Justin? The simple point is thanks to probation, poor recruiting and poor talent evaluation by former coach Mike Shula, the talent pool is pretty damned shallow up in T-town these days. It's a very embarrassing day to be an Alabama fan, but with a real coach manning the sidelines who can recruit like it's nobody's business, it's only a matter of time.
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!
Mel Gibson's production company has a new documentary out about life on an aircraft carrier. I'd urge all of you to check it out. Read more about it here.
It's amazing what these 18, 19, 20-year old kids do on the flight deck, a land of heat, noise and the constant danger of drowning, being ran over, snapped in half by an arrestor cable, sucked into an intake, burned, asphyxiated, you name it.
Also, I like the warts and all view of the Navy. No sugar-coated "Accelerate Your Life" slick commercials here. They showed this really stupid enlisted female getting busted for having alcohol aboard ship, a BIG no-no. They also showed how the chain of command doesn't always work, especially when it comes to getting ahead and getting out of being the lowest form of life on the enlisted food chain.
The part about the callsigns was hilarious. No Mavericks here. Just ask Dodo how he got his! Great stuff.
The camera work is magnificent and you really get to see a carrier for what it is: a living, breathing warfighting organism rendered in steel, nonskid, composites and flesh. Awesome stuff.
Check it out. It comes on PBS, which is something I haven't watched since Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. To find out when it comes on in your area, go here.
I guess our politicians have nothing else better to do. Never mind the fact Social Security is about to be bankrupt. Never mind that we have terrorists aiming to pop off nukes in Washington. Never mind the fact that we aren't drilling everywhere for oil when pump gas is about to $5 a gallon.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — They're proudly displayed by any self-respecting bull, but dangling big metal ones on the back end of a truck could be banned in Florida.
Metal replicas of bull testicles have become trendy bumper ornaments in some parts of the Sunshine State, but state Sen. Carey Baker is campaigning to ban the orbs.
Baker acknowledged that Florida lawmakers have more pressing issues, including huge revenue shortfalls, but said the state needs to draw a line on what's obscene before more objectionable adornments appear.
State Sen. Steve Geller argued against Baker's bill.
"I find it shocking that we should be telling people that have the metallic bull testicles ... you're now going to have points on your license for this," said Geller.
Geller was in the minority. Baker's bill to fine drivers $60 for displaying the ornaments passed the Senate. It's now up to the House, but there's only a slim chance that members of that chamber would pass the measure before the session ends this coming Friday.
If it were to be passed, Gov. Charlie Crist has not indicated whether he would sign it, although he has not been too critical of this and other not-so-pressing issues.
"It's good to have some things that maybe aren't quite as serious. Got to have a little levity," the governor said.
A similar bill in Virginia, aimed at rubber trailer hitch replicas of human genitalia, died in committee this year.
Read the rest here. Personally, I think they're disgusting, but should they be banned? Nah. If you want to look like a white trash, redneck nimrod with questionable breeding, be my guest. That's one right that should be inalienable in this country - the ability to be as big an idiot as you want to be. It's one exercised by the majority of our population.
Notice something funny? The entry about Hatem El-Hady is missing from Barak's website. Imagine that!
The more and more this guy is unmasked, the easier it will be for John McCain to get in the White House. He's seriously flawed and probably too old, but at least he'll fight the War on Terror.
Jeremiah Wright, the infamous bigoted preacher who hates America, was merely bad for Obama. This is worse.
Two years ago, Hatem El-Hady was the chairman of the Toledo, Ohio-based Islamic charity, Kindhearts, which was closed by the US government in February 2006 for terrorist fundraising and all its assets frozen. Today, El-Hady has redirected his fundraising efforts for his newest cause - Barack Obama for President.
El-Hady has his own dedicated page on Barack Obama's official website, chronicling his fundraising on behalf of the Democratic Party presidential candidate (his Obama profile established on February 19, 2008 - two years to the day after Kindhearts was raided by the feds). Not only that, but he has none other than Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, listed as one of his friends (one of her 224 listed friends).
Whereas Wright was just a blowhard nutjob, El-Hady was actively raising money for the enemies of our nation.
The Department of Justice had a very different version of events. According to the DOJ, Kindhearts assumed the role of lead terrorist fundraising in the US after the government had closed other such Islamic "charities":
"KindHearts is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable giving," said Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
I judge people by the company they keep. And Obama's company isn't the best.
Bill Maher has never been a favorite of mine. He claims to be a conservative, yet, he's to the left of Trotsky. He's never been a big fan of Christianity. Nor this country. Or the military. Or much of anything for that matter.
Now he's gone a bit too far. A week ago, he dared compare Catholicism with the polygamist cult out in Texas. Also, for kicks, he called the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, a Nazi. Read it here.
Now he has apologized. Or what passes for an apology in Bill's sick, twisted world.
Here's his "apology." Not much of one, is it? Bill, it just comes off as mean-spirited and petty. Grow up.
The London congestion charge is a fee for some motorists travelling within those parts of London designated as the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ). The main objectives of this charge are to reduce congestion, and to raise funds for investment in London's transport system.
In other words, another tax under the guise of helping save the precious environment.
New York City's evil mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to do the same in NYC. No dice, thank God.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to charge drivers extra tolls to enter Manhattan's most congested neighborhoods earned him invitations to speak at such gatherings as the U.N. climate conference and raised his profile as he considered a presidential run.
But the plan died Monday when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in Albany announced his chamber wouldn't take up the proposal because of strong opposition within the conference dominated by New York City Democrats.
In a speech Tuesday at Georgetown University in Washington, the mayor shrugged off the defeat and said courage is needed in political leaders to take decisive action on the environment.
"It takes courage to ask people to change—even if it won't really cost them much. It is sad but it is true. Political leaders today are afraid of their constituents," he said in a speech at an environmental conference at Georgetown.
Like all bastard politicians, Bloomberg trots out this little nugget:
In lobbying for his plan, Bloomberg displayed a short fuse with anyone who didn't support the idea, painting opponents as "stupid" people who didn't care about the environment, progress and the health of asthma- afflicted children.
It's for the "children," damn you. And you're stupid if you don't believe that global warming, ahem, "climate change," is destroying the planet and putting us all in imminent danger.
Typical liberal. Bloomberg, you're a bastard. It's amazing that such stupid people like him and Ted Turner can become so rich and be so idiotic.
