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As a history teacher, I sometimes get the questions “how do we really know this happened?” and “how do we know this person existed?”

Things have gone the next step in Great Britain, where the public now is not sure whether folks like Winston Churchill and Gandhi existed – but are reasonably confident that Sherlock Holmes was a real person.

Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

The scary thing is that there are adults alive today who actually saw Churchill in person, and we have an ample video and photographic record of his actions. But I would guess that we have reached the point where the line between fact and fiction has blurred so completely – consider the ability to use computers to manufacture documents and photos – that people just are not sure any more what is real.

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If an abortion in the UK doesnÂ’t produce a dead baby, the living baby is ignored until it dies.

Botched abortions mean that scores of babies are being born alive and left to die, an official report has revealed.

A total of 66 infants survived NHS termination attempts in one year alone, it emerged.

Rather than dying at birth as was intended, they were able to breathe unaided. About half were alive for an hour, while one survived ten hours.

I guess the thought is that a woman is entitled to a dead baby, no matter what it takes. In this country, we have laws requiring medical care for such newborns – but they are not often enforced.

I guess that we have become so accustomed to the notion of “choice” that we do not, as a society, give any value to the lives that someone else has chosen to end.

Posted by: Greg at 12:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK -- I blogged about the Super Bowl last night and celebrated the Giant upset.

But what about the OTHER story -- the Super Bowl ads?

Many commercials that appeared during Super Bowl XLII took a satiric tack, spoofing movies, television shows, video clips, celebrity misbehavior and more. A typical though entertaining cast of characters — animals, babies, pop stars — all made their appearances, lending a lighthearted spirit to the annual festivities.

For the most part, it worked. The tone was a welcome contrast to the angry, off-putting tenor of too many spots in last year’s Super Bowl, which were filled with crude and cartoonish violence. Although some sponsors decided to play it straight — with decidedly mixed results — the pervasive atmosphere was one of good-natured humor, of a type that seemed to elevate the night’s proceedings.

There were some top notch ads., such as this one.

One spot-on satire Sunday came from the Audi division of Volkswagen of America, which drolly spoofed “The Godfather,” complete with a cast member, Alex Rocco, from the original. The spot, by Venables Bell & Partners, replaced the horse’s head in the mogul’s bed with — gasp! — a grille severed from the front end of a Brand X luxury sports car.

I really enjoyed that one, though my wife was a little less enthralled by it. Perhaps it is just the difference between men and women when it comes to "The Godfather".

But we both agreed on this ad, which elicited jokes between us all night AND set the standard for comparisons for the rest of the game.

Anheuser-Busch parodied another 1970s film, “Rocky,” with a Clydesdale as Sylvester Stallone and a Dalmatian in the Burgess Meredith role. The spot, among the best of the night, was created by DDB Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group.

Set aside the fact that any commercial involving the Clydesdales will be an automatic favorite -- this one was clever and well-done. And on a night when much of America was rooting for the underdog, how on earth could this one miss with viewers, including those of us who do not drink?

But the one that stole our hearts as the game approached it end was from the NFL itself, and elicited few comments in the press.

Yeah, maybe it is the fact that we are there in section 541 every game, cheering for both Chester Pitts and Ephraim Salaam, and that Pitts is a particular fan favorite at Reliant Stadium. Or maybe it is that we Texans fans, buoyed by an 8-8 season, are dreaming that next year we will actually see these guys on the field as the Houston Texans play in their first Super Bowl. Then again, maybe it was just fun to see Chester Pitts playing the oboe(!) on national television.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with this year's crop of ads -- but I am thankful for these.

Posted by: Greg at 11:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Identity theft seems to be something of an epidemic in America – and one that is getting worse, not better. Everyday people have their identities stolen. As a result, they may end up owing companies thousands of dollars for purchases they never made. There is a solution to the problem – a way of protecting yourself from the scheming identity thieves. With Lifelock you can post your social security number on the internet and not have to worry about being a victim. Imagine that -- not having to worry about what happens if you lose a credit card, or someone steals credit card offers from the mail or garbage. Lifelock gives you peace of mind about such things.

Posted by: Greg at 11:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Details are sketchy in this incident -- but it illustrates teh difference between the US and the terrorists quite nicely.

The U.S. military said Monday that it accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians during an operation targeting al-Qaida in Iraq south of Baghdad.

The civilians were killed Saturday near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of the Iraqi capital, U.S. Navy Lt. Patrick Evans told The Associated Press. Three more civilians were wounded and taken to U.S. military hospitals nearby, he said.

The incident and the events surrounding it are under investigation, Evans said.

The killings occurred as U.S. forces pursued suspected al-Qaida in Iraq militants in the area. Shortly after the incident, American officers met with a Muslim sheik representing citizens in the area, he said.

"We offer our condolences to the families of those who were killed in this incident, and we mourn the loss of innocent civilian life," Evans said in a statement e-mailed to the AP.

Saturday's strike was the deadliest known case of mistaken identity in recent months.

Let's look at those differences.

1) Civilian casualties caused by the US are accidental; those caused by the terrorists are intentional.

2) The US apologizes for such casualties; the terrorists proclaim them as a sign of their success.

3) The US treats the wounded; the terrorists leave them to die as a part of their terror campaign.

4) The US investigates such casualties with an eye towards avoiding them; the terrorists seek to maximize them.

It will, of course, be important to discover exactly what happened and how this tragedy occurred. And it will be educational to see how the "moral equivalence" crowd responds.

Posted by: Greg at 10:51 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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A lot of my students come from immigrant families, and still have lots of family back in their (or their patentsÂ’) homeland. I know that they and their families work hard to stay in contact with those relatives back home, and that there are times when they really need to talk to them. IÂ’ve found out that rather than use a home phone, that international phone cards are often their preferred option.

If you are looking for cheap phone cards, take a look at the rates over pinshark.com. They have really good rates for international phone calls and you should at least see if you can save with their affordable prices!

Posted by: Greg at 10:45 PM | Comments (41) | Add Comment
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And pay for it with tax increases on every taxpayer -- and on some who currently pay no taxes.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton inched closer Sunday to explaining how she would enforce her proposal that everyone have health insurance, but declined to specify — as she has throughout the campaign — how she would penalize those who refuse.

Mrs. Clinton, who did not answer Senator Barack Obama’s question on the topic in a debate last Thursday, was pressed repeatedly to do so Sunday by George Stephanopoulos on the ABC program “This Week.” When Mr. Stephanopoulos asked a third time whether she would garnish people’s wages, Mrs. Clinton responded, “George, we will have an enforcement mechanism, whether it’s that or it’s some other mechanism through the tax system or automatic enrollments.”

She then added that the focus on enforcement clouded a more important point, that her proposal to cover the uninsured was superior to Mr. ObamaÂ’s because she would mandate coverage for all, while he would require it only for children.

But let's ignore the anti-freedom, and potentially anti-poor, approach of fining folks who cannot afford Clinton's plan -- she is also proposing a huge tax increase to fund this program.

Mrs. Clinton argues that she can make premiums affordable for low-income workers by spending $110 billion on subsidies and cost-saving devices. Like Mr. Obama, she would pay for her plan primarily by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest Americans. She would not allow exemptions from the insurance mandate, as Massachusetts does for those who cannot afford even subsidized premiums.

That's right -- your tax bill will increase to pay for HillaryCare II. and since the Bush tax cuts took some low-income Americans completely off the income tax rolls, that means that there are Americans currently exempt from the income tax who will suddenly be required to pay, in addition to needing to scrape together the cash to pay for their health insurance.

Sounds to me like Hillary's health care "plan", details of which she refuses to disclose to the American public before the election, is bad medicine for America.

Posted by: Greg at 10:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Four weeks. Only four weeks a mere 28 days until the rodeo begins here in Houston! But exciting as it is to contemplate the beginning of the three weeks of cowboys and livestock that is big-time rodeo here in the countryÂ’s fourth largest city, there is one I want to see even more -- the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo , which comes around every December. After all, the NFR features the best of the best in every event, each capping off a spectacular year.

The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is held each year in Las Vegas Nevada over a ten-day period of great rodeo and great entertainment. The top money earners every year from each rodeo event come to compete for the title of world champion. These events are bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping, barrel racing, and bull riding. The competition is incredibly intense, and the animal athletes are also tops in their class, just like the cowboys and cowgirls.

My wife and I enjoy watching the National Finals Rodeo on television, however, one year we would really like to see it in person. IÂ’m told that Wrangler National Finals Rodeo tickets can be a challenge to get at the last minute, and that you need to reserve them long before the rodeo actually starts. IÂ’m also told, however, that tickets can be found through different ticket agencies if you canÂ’t make plans to attend early enough to order tickets for yourself.

Posted by: Greg at 06:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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New York Giants: 17 New England Patriots: 14

My wife and I are big fans of the Manning brothers. Las year we saw Peyton Manning get the Super Bowl ring that their father Archie never did. Tonight we saw younger brother Eli Manning do the same. If ever there was a question about whether Eli Manning was a great quarterback in his own right, he settled that with an MVP performance tonight.

And in doing so, Eli Manning and the New York Giants pulled off what has to be the greatest upset in Super Bowl history, if not in the entire history of the NFL. They stopped the Patriots from achieving a perfect season in a year marred by a cheating scandal that has called into question their early victories, and even their previous Super Bowl victories.

And what a game it was.

The Giants had the perfect answer for the suddenly imperfect Patriots: a big, bad defense and an improbable comeback led by their own Mr. Cool quarterback, Eli Manning.

In one of football's biggest shockers, New York shattered New England's unbeaten season as Manning hit Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard fade with 35 seconds left in the Super Bowl. Sunday's 17-14 win was the Giants' 11th straight on the road, and the first time the Patriots tasted defeat in more than a year.

It was the most bitter of losses, too, because New England (18-1) was one play from winning, but its defense couldn't stop a 12-play, 83-yard drive that featured a spectacular leaping catch by David Tyree, who scored New York's first touchdown.

Tom Brady, the league's Most Valuable Player and winner of his first three Super Bowls, was battered all game. He was sacked five times, hurried a dozen more, and at one point wound up on his knees, his hands on his hips following one of many poor throws.

Hardly a familiar position for the record-setting quarterback. And a totally strange outcome for a team that seemed destined for historic glory.

Oddly, it was a loss to the Patriots that sparked New York's stunning run to its third Super Bowl and sixth NFL title. New England won 38-35 in Week 17 as the Patriots became the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go spotless through the regular season. But by playing hard in a meaningless game for them, the Giants gained something of a swagger.

Their growing confidence carried them through playoff victories at Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay, and then past the mightiest opponent of all.

And i can't help but comment upon the behavior of Bill Belichick in leaving the field before the final snap and in not offering his congratulations to the Giants in his post-game interview. Quality and class clearly won tonight.

Posted by: Greg at 03:35 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I'm on record as supporting wide latitude for religious believers seeking exemptions from rules so as not to violate their right to freely exercise their religion.

But when you are talking about seeking an exception that endangers the health of patients because your religious beliefs go against basic hygiene rules, I have no sympathy for you.

Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.

Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.

Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be "bare below the elbow".

The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.

Minutes of a clinical academics' meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children's hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns.

Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University. Minutes from a medical school committee said that "a number of Muslim females had difficulty in complying with the procedures to roll up sleeves to the elbow for appropriate handwashing".

Sheffield University also reported a case of a Muslim medic who refused to "scrub" as this left her forearms exposed.

Documents from Birmingham University reveal that some students would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, and warn that it could leave trusts open to legal action.

It is very simple -- if the burqa babes want to follow sharia law, they can. However, they can't be doctors if they do. After all, you do not have the right to infect a patient with a life-threatening disease in the name of your religious faith.

After all, this isn't a medical professional refusing to participate in abortions or refusing to dispense birth control or abortifacient drugs. This is someone who insists that they can't follow basic medical protocol to provide even a minimum amount of protection to patients.

Posted by: Greg at 04:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Stricter laws in Oklahoma and Arizona regarding border jumping immigration criminals are pushing such folks into Texas, where such laws have not been passed.

We need to make passing such laws a priority.

Illegal immigrants are flowing into Texas across its long borders. But they aren't just swimming across the Rio Grande from Mexico or making dangerous treks through the rugged desert.

Instead, a new rush of illegal immigrants are driving down Interstate 35 from Oklahoma or heading east to Texas from Arizona to flee tough new anti-illegal immigrant laws in those and other states.

Though few numbers are available because illegal residents are difficult to track, community activists say immigrants have arrived in Houston and Dallas in recent months, and they expect hundreds more families to relocate to the Bayou City soon.

''They're really tightening the screws," said Mario Ortiz, an undocumented Mexican worker who came to Houston after leaving Phoenix last year. ''There have been a lot coming — it could be 100 a day."

The growing exodus is the result of dozens of new state and local laws aimed at curbing illegal immigration. The two toughest measures are in Oklahoma and Arizona.

The Oklahoma statute, which took effect in November, makes it a crime to transport, harbor or hire illegal immigrants. Effective Jan. 1, the Arizona law suspends the business license of employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers. On a second offense, the license is revoked.

Texas has a choice. We can welcome lawbreakers and assume the extra tax burden that they impose on every citizen and legal immigrant in the state. Or we can impose similar laws here, encouraging many of these invaders to self-deport. Texas can be a part of the firewall against those who break our nation's laws, or we can be their preferred point of entry and place of residence. I know which position most Texans take, and demand that our legislators follow the will of the people during the next legislative session.

Posted by: Greg at 04:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The author is talking about the situation in Detroit, where Mayor Kwame Fitzpatrick has been disclosed to have carried on a sexual affair with a subordinate that also included up to 300 sexual text messages A DAY. His wife is standing by her philandering husband, and author Geveryl Robinson is disturbed by that decision.

And you can't tell me that the observation does not also apply to one of the candidates in the presidential race.

So let me get this straight. Her husband lied to her, lied to the city, lied under oath, sent some other broad 300 love/sex text messages A DAY and she pledged her undying love for him?

I just don't get it.

Why is it that so many high-profile women stay with men who constantly cheat on them? Why do so many relatively intelligent women choose to stay with philandering losers whose idea of monogamy is having one mistress at a time? If you ask me, Mrs. Kirkpatrick needs to do two things: pimp slap her husband, and then call a divorce lawyer.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read, "Vote for Monica Lewinsky's Ex-Boyfriend's Wife for President in 2008." Can you believe that? It's sad, but the reality is when ladies, especially high profile ladies, stay with their trampy husbands it sends a message that quite frankly I don't appreciate.

I don't view a woman who consistently puts up with her husband's infidelities as a "strong woman." It's quite the contrary. Only a woman with low self-esteem would subject herself to constant humiliation and disrespect by the man who vowed to "forsake all others."

I understand that we should forgive, but forgiveness does not always mean reconciliation. If someone is truly sorry for his or her behavior then the behavior will cease. However, if a person continues to repeat the behavior that he or she has apologized for, then that person is NOT REMORSEFUL.

That bumper sticker Robinson mentions really does illustrate teh point. Hillary Clinton, who spent years defending the indefensible when her husband engaged in serial infidelity and lied about it to the American people and under oath to a court, is not a strong woman. Indeed, she is a weak, pathetic soul who merits our pity, not our admiration or respect -- and certainly not our votes. Just as the infidelity of Rudy Giuliani removed him from consideration for the presidency for many of us, so too should the co-dependent enabling behavior of Mrs. Clinton be viewed as a disqualifying factor when she clearly intends to involve the philandering scumbag in her administration.

Posted by: Greg at 04:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It is a number that I had never really considered before -- there are some 88,000 missing American servicemen from the wars of the twentieth century, 79,000 of them from WWII.

Of those, the remains of some 35,000 are classified as "recoverable" by the military, generally meaning that they were not lost at sea.

More than six decades after the end of World War II, the families of men like Joe Huba are making a new push to find and bring home the remains of their missing and dead. After years when survivors accepted the solace of mass memorials and unknown-soldier graves, a younger generation is seeking something much more personal.

The relatives are spurred by strides in DNA matching, satellite mapping and Internet archives, and by a new advocacy group impatient with the pace of the military unit that tracks down remains.

“We owe these men for giving their lives — we can’t just leave them in jungles, on mountainsides,” said Lisa Phillips, 45, president of the group, World War II Families for the Return of the Missing, which was formed in 2006 to compete with organizations pressing for recoveries from the conflicts in Vietnam and Korea. “There’s that saying, ‘No one left behind,’ and we’ve left a generation behind.”

The search has its pitfalls, Ms. Phillips admits. Discoveries about how a loved one died can prove more disturbing than ignorance. International swindles and treasure hunters complicate the sheer challenge of identifying remains after so many years.

And some relatives have come up empty-handed after expensive private searches, like a Minnesota man who has spent thousands of dollars on underwater dives off Yap Island in the South Pacific without finding his uncleÂ’s sunken B-24.

The sad reality is that many of these heroes will never make it home. But the desire to keep looking -- to find that loved one for the surviving family members -- is strong. And even if remains are truly unrecoverable, we do have an obligation to try to honor them as fully as they honored our nation by giving their lives for us.

Posted by: Greg at 04:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And my first reaction was "Didn't he die years ago?"

I guess not.

Former Agriculture Secretary Earl L. Butz, who was forced from office in 1976 after making a racial joke and was once a dean at Purdue University, died Saturday. He was 98.

Mr. Butz had been in poor health recently and died during a family visit at his sonÂ’s home in Washington, said Randy Woodson, dean of the College of Agriculture at Purdue.

Mr. Butz, a farm economist and free-market advocate, had a relaxed and earthy style that won him acclaim as an after-dinner speaker but caused problems in his public life. Controversy began swirling around him after President Nixon appointed him secretary of agriculture in 1971. He figured in public disputes on issues like foreign grain sales and high meat prices.

Mr. Butz was forced to resign in October 1976 after telling a joke that was derogatory to blacks. The slur was overheard by John W. Dean III, the White House counsel to Nixon who was jailed in the Watergate scandal, and Mr. DeanÂ’s report on it was published in Rolling Stone magazine.

Two years earlier, Mr. Butz apologized to the Vatican after criticizing the Roman Catholic ChurchÂ’s stand on birth control by using a mock Italian accent while referring to the pope.

“Let’s be honest, I’m controversial,” he said at the time. “I don’t hesitate to speak my mind.”

Oddly enough, the responses to the to the two incidents shows the relative level of acceptance of different forms of bigotry in America. The relatively mild racial joke was, and remains, grounds for ending the career of anyone in political life. On the other hand, the same sort of joke and/or statement regarding Catholic moral teachings are now considered to be mainstream, and I've heard the same sentiment that Butz expressed come out of the mouth of left-wing political with no consequence. In other words, anti-black racism has been marginalized, while anti-Catholicism (along with a number of other forms of religious bigotry expressed towards those with traditional religious beliefs) has become an accepted part of political dialogue in this country.

Posted by: Greg at 04:07 AM | Comments (41) | Add Comment
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If your business markets toys, you need to learn about milf. Milf is one of the leading Chinese outsourcing companies and can meet your needs in a with quality products and professional service. They have become a force to reckoned with in the industry because they understand just what you need and deliver it.

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Do you know these two low-rent, white trash criminals? They stole from a Girl Scout selling her cookies. How low can you get?

What scum they are!

The State Attorney's Office will decide whether to charge two teens who admit they robbed a 9-year-old Girl Scout selling cookies outside of a Boynton Beach supermarket.

"I thought that it was a really mean thing to do, and I was sad after," Girl Scout Gracie Smith told WPBF News 25.

Authorities said that a 17-year-old girl in a hot-pink sweatshirt approached Smith outside of a Winn-Dixie supermarket at Hypoluxo and Jog roads in Boynton Beach Wednesday evening and asked the girl what her favorite cookies were. Police told WPBF that, while Smith was telling the teen about her favorite Cinna-Spins, the teen snatched an envelope containing about $167 off of Smith's table, hopped into another teen's car and drove away.

You know, that would be offensive enough, but it actually gets worse.

Smith's mother, Charlene Rubenstrunk, told WPBF that the girls returned to the store Thursday to taunt her daughter.

"They are within 10 feet of the same kid they just robbed last night and there is nothing anybody can do about it. I find that offensive," Rubenstrunk said.

The girls, whose names are not being released because they are minors, told WPBF that they were not remorseful for the crime, and that they did it because they "needed money."

"We went through all that effort to get it, we got all these charges and we had to give the money back. I'm kind of pissed," one of the girls told WPBF.

The other girl told WPBF that she was upset because police found them.

"I'm not sorry, I'm just pissed that I got caught," the girl said.

Seems to me that this pair needs to be charged and sentenced as adults, with a little time in jail. After all, the sentence would be nothing more than career skills training for these two girls, who no doubt have many years of prostitution and drug dealing arrests ahead of them, before they get sentence to life in prison for allowing their latest crack-dealing boyfriends sexually abuse and murder their children.

In the mean time, I hope someone exposes the names of these two thieving bitches so that the world can hold them up to the ridicule they deserve.

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You mean it took a judge to figure this out?

The father of Britney Spears was named her temporary conservator Friday, putting him in control of her welfare a day after she was whisked to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

While James Spears was named conservator of the troubled pop star herself, he and an attorney, Andrew Wallete, were name conservators of her estate. The singer's mother, Lynne Spears, also showed up for the unannounced hearing in Superior Court.

The court also issued a restraining order against Britney Spears' sometimes manager and friend, Sam Lutfi, and gave permission to change the locks on her estate and remove anyone who is there.

A court creates conservatorships when a person cannot care for themselves or handle their affairs. Commissioner Reva Goetz said Spears would be under conservatorship until Feb. 4, at which time another hearing will be held.

I'm not gloating. Really, I'm not.

It is just that this sad young woman has made such a spectacle of herself in recent weeks, including an armed standoff with the cops, that this outcome is long overdue.

She needs significantly more help than she is going to get in three days.

And frankly, i am saddened by the whole situation -- and the fact it has taken so long to help this girl.

Posted by: Greg at 03:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bravo to Senator DeMint for seeking to eliminate all earmarks for Berkeley, California after the passage of a series of seditious acts attacking the United States Marine Corps and treasonously interfering with recruitment during time of war.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.

DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city's downtown.

"This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint said in a prepared statement. "The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money."

"If the city canÂ’t show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer-funded handouts," he added.

What sort of savings tot he taxpayers are we talking about following the elimination of subsidies for these unAmerican al-Qaeda supporters?

DeMint said he will draft legislation to rescind any earmarks dedicated for the City of Berkeley in the recently passed appropriations bill — which his office tallied to value about $2.1 million. He said that any money taken back would be transferred to the Marines.

DeMint's office provided a preliminary list of items that would be subject to his proposal:

— $975,000 for the University of California at Berkeley, for the Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, which may include establishing an endowment, and for cataloguing the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui.

— $750,000 for the Berkeley/Albana ferry service.

— $243,000 for the Chez Panisse Foundation, for a school lunch initiative to integrate lessons about wellness, sustainability and nutrition into the academic curriculum.

— $94,000 for a Berkeley public safety interoperability program.

— $87,000 for the Berkeley Unified School District, nutrition education program.

Personally, I want to see something more.

I want to see legislation forbidding the expenditure of any federal funds for any purpose other than military recruitment, military training, military retirement pay and VA benefits in Berkeley. That means no welfare benefits and no social security checks, as well as no financial aid for students at UC-Berkeley. Let the city replace such funding out of its own budget.

And why do we need to cut Berkeley off completely? Because they are aiding and abetting in the disruption of a US government office and helping to interfere with military recruitment.

As the right-wing blogosphere railed and a U.S. senator vowed financial retaliation against the Berkeley City Council for its effort to boot the Marine Corps out of town, three war protesters ratcheted up pressure from the left by chaining themselves Friday to the front door of the downtown Marine recruiting office.

The demonstrators snapped their locks shut at 7 a.m. and spent the next 7 1/2 hours blocking the door, waving and chanting as hundreds of cars driving by honked in support. Finally, at 2:30 p.m., police snipped the chains and arrested them.

Two of the three were cited for blocking a business and released, and the third was booked into jail on an unrelated traffic warrant, police said.

Excuse me, but the police should have snapped those chains and hauled them away in 7 1/2 minutes, not 7 1/2 hours.

For that matter, I think we now need to bring the FBI into this mix, and see about federal charges because of this.

Heated words were exchanged whenever people tried to enter or leave the office, but the protest was peaceful.

"You guys are just cannon fodder!" the chained protesters shouted at three teenage boys who walked past the office and said they wanted to go inside. "They want to train you to kill babies!"

The teenagers turned around and left.

At one point, UC Berkeley student Kyrolos El Giheny walked up to the front door and tried to go inside to talk to Lund about a possible Marine career. He was unable to get past the chained protesters.

"They told me, 'No business as usual today,' " El Giheny said. "It's kind of nutty. It's really an infringement on my rights."

Not only that, it is a violation of federal law. We need immediate arrests and prosecutions -- not just of those who actively interfere with the operation of this recruiting office, but also of the city officials who are aiding and abetting their crime.

And while you are at it, feel free to contact Osama's allies and express your discontent. And since Berkeley is home of the 1960s Free Speech Movement, I won't even suggest that you be respectful and avoid profanity.

Contact info:

Mayor - Tom Bates
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704
Email: mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us
TEL: (510) 981-7100
FAX: (510) 981-7199
TDD: (510) 981-6903
Office Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

====================
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
====================
Linda Maio
Phone: (510) 981-7110
FAX: (510) 981-7111
Email: lmaio@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Darryl Moore
Phone: (510) 981-7120
Email: dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Maxwell Anderson
Phone: (510) 981-7130
Email: manderson@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Dona Spring
Phone: (510) 981-7140
Email: spring@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Laurie Capitelli
Phone: (510) 981-7150
Email: lcapitelli@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Betty Olds
Phone: (510) 981-7160
Email: olds@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Kriss Worthington
Phone: (510) 981-7170
Email: kworthington@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Gordon Wozniak [NOTE: Wozniak voted AGAINST the offensive resolutions]
Phone: (510) 981-7180
Email: GWozniak@ci.berkeley.ca.us

City Auditor
Ann Marie
TEL: (510) 981-6750, TDD: (510) 981-6903
Email: auditor@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Complete coverage from Michelle Malkin.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Rosemary's Thoughts, A Blog For All, guerrilla radio, 123beta, Right Truth, Leaning Straight Up, Cao's Blog, Big Dog's Weblog, The Pet Haven, Conservative Cat, Adeline and Hazel, third world county, Faultline USA, Nuke Gingrich, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, Wolf Pangloss, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Dumb Ox Daily News, A Newt One, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 03:41 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Metal working and plastic molding are two fast-growing and technically demanding industries. The items manufactured by these industries include both finished products and the component parts for other consumer products. The key to making quality parts is making sure that you use quality equipment, such as good injection molding machinery.

Where do you get high quality equipment for these fields? One of the best companies to deal with is KD Capital. They have a wide selection of CNC Machinery so that you can get what you need at the best prices. And if you can get the equipment at a good price, that decreases the cost of your finished product and makes you more competitive.

Posted by: Greg at 02:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Don Surber, who usually is quite critical of the press in such cases, says he thinks the AP deserves a pass on the failure of the AP to include party identification in its story about vote-fraud indictments in Duval County, Texas because the Texas Attorney General's office didn't include party identification in the press release. I suppose one could make that argument -- but does that therefore imply that the AP is nothing more than a press release re-write service rather than an actual journalistic entity? And what of the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News -- and every other news Texas organization -- failing to take the time to add the information about party identification, and you see that there is clearly something wrong with the coverage of the story.

Especially since there appear to be other shenanigans going on in Duval County involving the Democrats, and have been for years. Democrat money-man Mauricio Celis who is charged with falsely claiming to be a lawyer and impersonating a law enforcement officer (and also under investigation for money-laundering involving Mexican drug cartels), had an actual badge issued by the Duval County sheriff that he used to help perpetrate that fraud.

For that matter, Democrat election fraud in Duval County has a long tradition. One of the most celebrated incidents of election fraud in Texas history (indeed, in all of US history) involves the final 202 votes of the 1948 senatorial primary, curiously cast in alphabetical order and signed with the same pen in the same handwriting, that gave Lyndon Johnson the nomination and hence the general election victory.

I know that las example is six decades ago, but it serves to illustrate that such fraud by Democrats in that county is a long-standing and well-documented tradition. As such, the party affiliation of those facing charges of election fraud is highly relevant and should be included by Texas media outlets, if not national ones.

Posted by: Greg at 02:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Are you without health insurance? Are you looking for affordable short term health insurance, or maybe even something longer term?

Well, there may be a good fit for you. People's Health Insurance offers you what you need quickly. They are a licensed insurance agency and can help you with everything from the application process to understanding the policy benefits, plan pricing, and health provider networks. They are able to help you to find. for example, a quality Illinois health insurance plan that is reasonably priced. That will help you to meet that need for health care that you and your family need, at a price that you can afford.

Posted by: Greg at 06:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Vote fraud indictments in Duval County.

Four Duval County residents were charged Thursday with illegally handling ballot applications and mail-in ballots that belonged to other voters during the 2006 primary election.

The four San Diego residents indicted Thursday by a Brooks County grand jury were: Lydia Molina, 70; Maria "Kena" Soriano, 71; Elva Lazo, 62; and Maria Trigo, 55.

* * *

The defendants are accused of delivering mail-in ballot applications to Duval County residents who were ineligible to vote by mail, according to the news release. Only those who are disabled, 65 or older, or expect to be out of the county during an election are eligible to vote by mail.

The news release says that once the ballots were sent to the residents and completed, the defendants allegedly retrieved them and mailed them to the registrar to be counted without identifying themselves on the carrier envelope.

Texas law requires that those who provide assistance identify themselves on carrier envelopes used to transmit mail-in ballots.

One little detail is missing, though -- the party affiliation, which is especially significant given the fact that this was fraud in a primary election.

Fortunately, the folks at NewsBusters ferreted out the answer in a two year old news story.

All who voted in Duval County are registered Democrats.

Why am I not surprised -- by the party affiliation of the fraudsters, or by the media's refusal to disclose that information.

Posted by: Greg at 02:49 PM | Comments (331) | Add Comment
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Remote control detonation of mentally retarded women in the midst of pet markets – how much lower can these sub-human Islamists sink?

Two women thought to suffer from Down's syndrome may have been unwilling suicide bombers in twin blasts that killed up to 73 people at pet markets in Baghdad today.

The first bomber instantly killed 45 people at a packed pet market in Baghdad in the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in six months.

A separate attack shortly after killed 20 people and wounded scores at a bird market in southern Baghdad.

The death toll from the two bombings increased throughout the day to at least 73.

The chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, Brigadier General Qassim al-Moussawi, claimed the female bombers apparently had Down's syndrome and the explosives were detonated by remote control, indicating the women may not have been willing attackers, according to his office.

Bolstering that claim, local police said the woman in the first attack sold cream in the morning at the market and was known to locals as "the crazy lady".

What needs to happen here is massive retaliation – including execution of any member of a terrorist group. No forgiveness, no mercy – these individuals have shown they merit none. Send the Marines to hunt them down like the dogs they are.

And perhaps we can also get the Berkeley City Council to grant Code Pink a free parking space in downtown Baghdad, and direct the city attorney to write a letter to al-Qaeda telling them that they are “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” – you know, since Berkeley and Code Pink are on the same side as al-Qaeda in the struggle against Islamist Terrorism, their words might carry more weight with the terrorists.

More from Malkin

Posted by: Greg at 12:32 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Maybe -- or maybe not.

"True Conservative," going up on national cable and in some markets, aims to address McCain's problems with his own party and make the Gipper connection.

"A proud social conservative," notes the spot.

Am I the only one who think he begs the question of how conservative is McCain really is on those social issues?

After all, he just failed to name a single one of them in this ad.

But still, I won't go this far.

In the latest sign that a conservative backlash is starting to build against John McCain, conservative commentator Ann Coulter said Thursday she is prepared to vote for Hillary Clinton over the Arizona senator in a general election match up.

Speaking on Fox's "Hannity and Colmes," Coulter took aim at the GOP frontrunner, and suggested he was little more than a Republican in name only.

"If you are looking at substance rather than if there is an R or a D after his name, manifestly, if he's our candidate, than Hillary is going to be our girl, because she's more conservative than he is," Coulter said. "I think she would be stronger on the war on terrorism."

Coulter took aim at McCain's positions — particularly his fervent anti-torture stance — and said he and Clinton differ little on the issues. Coulter also said she is prepared to campaign on Clinton's behalf should McCain win the party's nomination.

"John McCain is not only bad for Republicanism, which he definitely is — he is bad for the country," she said.

I'll take McCain on a lot of issues over Hillary or Obama, because he is manifestly more conservative than either. Liberal and conservative groups agree on that in their ratings of the three. And on a number of key issues where he disagrees with my principles, he is still no worse that either of his Democrat rivals -- and is better on many others. And while I would much prefer Mitt Romney, I simply cannot imagine standing by and delivering the presidency into the hands of either Billary II or the wet-behind-the-ears Obama.

I hope Coulter and those like her come to their senses before they do great harm to this country.

Posted by: Greg at 12:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Frankly, I want to know who these three knuckle-dragging food fascists think they are.

FEBRUARY 1--Mississippi legislators this week introduced a bill that would make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve obese patrons. Bill No. 282, a copy of which you'll find below, is the brainchild of three members of the state's House of Representatives, Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows. The bill, which is likely dead on arrival, proposes that the state's Department of Health establish weight criteria after consultation with Mississippi's Council on Obesity. It does not detail what penalties an eatery would face if its grub was served to someone with an excessive body mass index.

I guess that Mayhall, Read, and Shows donÂ’t believe that Mississippi has any real problems in need of legislative action, and are therefore looking to intrude into areas where the state has no business. As such, it is time for them to submit their resignations, or for the voters to remove their sorry carcasses from office.

Posted by: Greg at 12:00 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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