I'll be honest with you -- I've encountered a lot of specialty stores in my time, including some really specialized sites on the internet. After all, if you can find your niche, you can eventually grow your business into something much larger and expansive that it is the day that you begin. But i have to be honest -- when I first heard about the website at BuyRailings.com, I was a bit taken aback. That really seems like a pretty precise niche they are out to fill.

But then I looked at the site, and I was really surprised at the sorts of products that you can get at BuyRailings.com. I was thinking exclusively of stair rails, but found out there is so much more. Indeed, there are all sorts of guard rails and bar rails and other items that you and I encounter every single day that fall into the category of railing. Take the handrails along many hallways -- they have them. Similarly, the guard rails that are used to guide customers into well-organized lines in some businesses are also among the products they sell. And then there is the old-fashioned bar rail. And their selection and inventory of items is quite good. Drop by and take a look at everything they've got!

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I've intentionally kept out of the FLDS saga, not blogging upon it because it so quickly became so complicated and convoluted that I ceased being able to tell what was true, what was conjecture, and what was outright lies. And while I initially supported the raid, I also understood the importance of returning some -- but not necessarily all -- of the children to their parents. Taking that many kids could not be justified.

But one striking point through all of this is the claim made by the FLDS members that no underaged girls were married off as part of the cult's practice of "spiritual marriage". How, then, can they now make this statement?

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints made the startling announcement Monday that it will no longer allow underage girls to marry adults within their sect.

* * *

As the transfers were taking place, Willie Jessop, an FLDS member and the group's Texas spokesman, said: "In the future, the church commits that it will not preside over any marriage of any woman under the age of legal consent in the jurisdiction in which the marriage takes place."

The announcement applies to both the group's "spiritual" unions and legal marriages. The minimum age to marry in Texas is 16, but only with parental permission.

"The church believes in purity, cleanliness and innocence, and our children and families are the cornerstone of our lives and religion," Willie Jessop said. "We hope this modest clarification will alleviate recent concerns and allow this church and its families to reside in peace among its neighbors."

Now hold on -- I thought they already didn't allow such marriages. Doesn't this constitute an admission that they did -- and the initial move to protect young girls from sexual exploitation by older men was, in fact somewhat justified (even if the initial phone call was a hoax)?

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After all, Bob Barr is at least willing to denounce professional racists and refuse to taint his campaign with their money. When racist scum-suckers posted an endorsement of Bob Barr (including an attack on John McCain's adopted daughter) in several locations around the web, here's how Barr's campaign manager responded on his behalf.

The Barr campaign is not going to be a vehicle for every fringe and hate group to promote itself. We do not want and will not accept the support of haters. Anyone with love in their heart for our country and for every resident of our country regardless of race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation is welcome with open arms.

Tell the haters I said don't let the door hit you on the backside on your way out!

Contrast that to Ron Paul's long-time association with bigots and refusal to divest himself of cash from known professional racists.

I won't vote for Bob Barr -- but I at least retain some respect for him.

H/T LGF

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This one is important to note -- especially in light of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. On this day in 1989, the oppressors of the people of the People's Republic of China crushed the voice of the people when they called for democratic reform in Red China.

Some still suffer for their heroism.

China is still holding about 130 activists from the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said, calling on the government to free them on the 19th anniversary of the crackdown that falls today.

China should honor its pledge to improve human rights by releasing the prisoners before the Beijing Olympics in August when the square will be used for functions, the New York-based group said.

China tightened security at Tiananmen Square, authorizing police to randomly search visitors, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported last month. ``Security around Tiananmen is very important and has great international influence,'' it cited Zhang Peili, an official at the municipal government law office, as saying at the time.

Chinese soldiers, backed by tanks, killed an estimated 2,000 pro-democracy activists in and around Tiananmen Square and in other Chinese cities on June 3-4, according to Human Rights Watch. The death toll included Chinese citizens who massed in Beijing streets to stop the army reaching the square, it said.

We must never forget the sacrifices of these heroic young people who stood up against one of the most oppressive regime of our times.

Soccer Dad supplies this video that documents the evil committed by the Red Chinese dictators in Tiananmen Square nineteen years ago.

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There are at least some peacemakers in the religion of Peace.

A Muslim Indian seminary which is said to have inspired the Taliban has issued a fatwa against terrorism, insisting that Islam is a religion of peace.

Senior clerics from the 150-year-old Darul Uloom Deoband issued the edict saying they wished to wipe out terrorism. "Islam rejects all kinds of unjust violence, breach of peace, bloodshed, murder and plunder and does not allow it in any form," said the rector, Habibur Rehman, to the cheers of thousands of students. Many held placards saying "Islam means peace", while others chanted.

"The religion of Islam has come to wipe out all kinds of terrorism and to spread the message of global peace," Mr Rehman added.

The Deoband institute was established in the aftermath of the 1857 uprising against British rule, an uprising that was brutally suppressed by the imperial forces. Highly influential, it controls thousands of smaller seminaries and madrassas around the world, from Britain to Afghanistan.

Of Britain's 1,400 mosques, about 600 are run by Deobandi-affiliated clerics. Seventeen of the UK's 26 Islamic seminaries follow Deobandi teachings, which produce about 80 per cent of all domestically trained Muslim clerics.

Now, if only the terrorists will listen. After all, given the decentralized nature of Islam, there is no Pope to issue decrees that are binding upon all the faithful. In this particular case, I certainly wish there were.

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And I can think of no more fitting tribute than this video, surrounded by some of the greats he inspired.

Musician Bo Diddley has died at the age of 79.

The Grammy-winning singer-guitarist died of heart failure in Florida, his spokeswoman said.

He had suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke which affected his ability to speak.

He rose to fame in 1955 when he topped the R&B charts with Bo Diddley. His other hits include Who Do You Love, Before You Accuse Me, and Mona.

The legendary singer and performer was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat.

His so-called "Bo Diddley beat" influenced rockers from Buddy Holly, to Bruce Springsteen and U2.

Rest in peace.

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Just remember -- this is what Hillary, Barack, and the rest of the Democrats are promising you when they promote their universal health care schemes.

A woman who was refused free NHS cancer treatment after she paid for extra drugs has died, reigniting the debate over whether patients should be allowed to "top up" their care.

Linda O'Boyle and her husband Brian, both retired health workers, decided to pay for treatment in addition to that available on the NHS in order to prolong her life.

Mrs O'Boyle was told that meant she was considered a private patient and so had to pay for all her treatment.

Government guidelines currently ban patients from mixing public and private care.

* * *

When Mrs O'Boyle, who had three children and four grandchildren, developed bowel cancer and began having chemotherapy, doctors said she could boost her chances of fighting the disease by adding the drug cetuximab.

It is not routinely funded by the NHS but she decided to use her savings to pay for it.Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust then withdrew her free treatment, including the chemotherapy drug she was receiving.

In other words, because Mrs. O'Boyle affirmatively attempted to improve her health by seeking the best in medical care, she was denied access to even the minimal level of care provided by the government.

In my book, that is murder.

And now the Democrats want to bring such a medical rationing system here.

Don't tell them no -- tell them HELL NO!

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1 To bad she couldn't have died the American way, with an insurance bureaucrat declining coverage. Until all Universal Health Care plans are run absolutely perfectly, we should continue to tolerate our ridiculously expensive system, its frightening inequities, and mediocre results. As long as some beneficiary of UHC must sit for 15 minutes before receiving high-quality care without paying for it, I will continue to happily wait for an hour to be seen briefly by a nurse practicioner . . .

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jun 2 03:50:55 2008 (n1xH/)

2 Except, of course, if you have been paying attention to the news about the health care systems in Canada and the UK -- the ones that are most often cited by universal health care advocates -- stories like this are the exception rather than the rule. Why do you think that Canadians cross the border to the US to pay privately for routine tests procedures? Because they are told that it will three months before they can get an MRI for that suspected torn ligament in their knee, rather than three days. And since in the British system they will simply stop doing surgeries during the last couple of months of the year because they have burned through their budget, it ain't a question of "sitting 15 minutes for high-quality care". Nut hell -- the true-believers in socialism always believe that Karl Marx's solutions will finally work if only they get to be in charge of implementing them, never mind that they have failed every time they have ever been tried anyplace.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jun 2 04:01:28 2008 (YtsIz)

3 If I had the time, I would fill my tank with government-subsidized gas, on the socialized roads, to your socialized place of employment, and tell you what I think of your criticism. But, on the other hand, the conversation could get heated, in which case the socialized police department might get involved. Of course, the roads, military, trash pick-up, parks and police are complete failures every time they have ever been tried anyplace . . .

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jun 2 06:04:00 2008 (n1xH/)

4 Nice try, Dan -- but it does not work. Government should only be providing those things that the people cannot provide for themselves -- thus military and police services are legitimate. As for my place of employment -- I'll be the first to tell you that I believe the public school system ought to be privatized so that it can run more efficiently.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jun 2 09:21:55 2008 (YtsIz)

5 Actually, the argument works fine. We can purchase our own security if you socialists would not prevent us from having our own military. Some places do have their own trash pick-up, though studies show that the privatizes systems underperform the "socialistic" ones. We can certainly have private toll roads. And we're communicating on a socialistic internet.

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jun 2 11:48:44 2008 (IU21y)

6 Actually, it really does not. Familiarize yourself with the concept of "public goods".

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jun 2 12:40:05 2008 (YtsIz)

7 As in a healthy public?

Posted by: Dan at Tue Jun 3 03:06:15 2008 (IU21y)

8 Doesn't fit the definition. The people can provide health care for themselves without government intervention in a way that they cannot provide military protection for themselves.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Tue Jun 3 04:57:31 2008 (YtsIz)

9 Don't you think the millions of uninsured, including tens of millions of children and elderly, prove you wrong? If we're all expected to have enough money to pay for our own health care, why shouldn't we have enough money to pay for our own roads and police? And military? You admitted above that the story you told was the exception rather than the rule in countries that are blessed with single-payer systems. Why are our uninsured less worthy than a poor Brit or Canadian? Why should American children suffer, while French kids get basic care? There will always be exceptional cases, where some unlucky person gets ignored or maltreated. That happens in all countries where humans run the health system.

Posted by: Dan at Tue Jun 3 07:31:21 2008 (VQXBf)

10 I mis-typed -- they are the rule rather than the exception.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Tue Jun 3 10:32:20 2008 (YtsIz)

11 And again, you are clearly not familiar with the economic concept i referenced, so I'm not going to try to debate you when we are not even working with the same definition of a key term.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Tue Jun 3 10:48:00 2008 (YtsIz)

12 I know the definition, but I rather enjoyed showing how myopic your view of the proper role of government is. Faux-libertarianism is one of the most mockable stances. Happily for all except the insurance insurance industry, we're going to have universal health care within the first 4 years of President Obama's administration. It'll probably take a few more years before we totally get rid of the medical insurance industry, though. (As an aside, your comment screening will not allow the phrase "insurance" followed by "company".)

Posted by: Dan at Wed Jun 4 16:37:45 2008 (IU21y)

13 I'm not engaged in a faux-libertarianism. I'm engaged in a very real conservatism. President Obama? I don't think so. Democrats are rushing to back John McCain. And as far as the two words go, that has something to do with a previous spammage problem.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Wed Jun 4 23:41:00 2008 (YtsIz)

14 "A woman who was refused free NHS cancer treatment after she paid for extra drugs has died." We have often many similar subtitles in our newspapers, just with a small difference, usually it's something like "Woman died because of late diagnosis" "Man died because of late treatment" I don't say public health insurance is generally bad, on the other hand you should have the right to choose something different and to pay for it if you want. But that's almost not possible in Canada. As a Toronto life insurance broker I have been always fan of private health insurance, but any effort to spread it is blocked... anyway, the best health care is the one you don't need Best wishes! Lorne

Posted by: Life Insurance Canada at Sat Jun 7 02:59:47 2008 (wmA+H)

15 It'll probably take a few more years before we totally get rid of the medical insurance industry, though. (As an aside, your comment screening will not allow the phrase "insurance" followed by "company".)

Posted by: Pearle Lindberg at Tue Sep 11 00:30:27 2012 (SMcr0)

16 As an aside, your comment screening will not allow the phrase "insurance" followed by "company"

Posted by: Rayna Urbina at Wed Sep 12 00:42:19 2012 (FTPQj)

17 Hello, Thanks for this fine blog. I think it is really a great topic to write about on my blog. Also here is some nice information:

Posted by: Maida Sells at Fri Nov 9 00:26:54 2012 (Ltlc/)

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Looks like the Islamo-censors are back again, out to punish Denmark with acts of terror because of the reprinting of the Muhammad cartoons. After all, there have been repeated threats towards Danish embassies, including this one, since the February reprinting of the inoffensive drawings that offend the sensibilities of those whose brains are addled by extremist Islam.

Now they've tried to blow up ">the Danish Embassy in Pakistan.

At least eight people have been killed in a car bomb attack near the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, according to reports.

About 30 people were wounded. An embassy worker was among the dead and three were hurt, but no Danish citizens died, Danish officials said.

The embassy building and several vehicles outside were damaged.

It was not clear who carried out the attack, as Pakistan's main militant group recently declared a ceasefire.

Pakistan's top Taleban warlord Baitullah Mehsud is in peace talks with the authorities in an attempt to end fighting in the country's north-west.

Some Danish embassies around the world have been threatened since a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad was reprinted in Danish newspapers in February.

The cartoons, deemed offensive to Islam, led to worldwide protests when they were first printed in September 2005.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says suspicion for the attack has fallen on al-Qaeda, as the network's number two Ayman al-Zawahri denounced the cartoons in a recent video.

The Danes remain unbowed!

Per Stig Møller, the foreign minister, blamed the attack on 'dark forces that want to destroy Pakistan's relationship with others'.

'We will not give them that victory,' he said at a press conference in Copenhagen. He that the relationship between the Danish and Pakistani governments is as strong as ever, saying that the bombing 'is also an attack against Pakistan's government and their security people'.

Terror cannot be allowed to win the battle. Freedom of speech and of the pres cannot be abandoned because the most hateful and extreme engage in terrorism and other acts of violence in response.

So to all you jihadi swine out there, here they are -- and you can kiss my big fat bacon grease smeared kaffir ass if you don't like it.

More coverage at Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang

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As I noted when his health problems came to light, I don't think that now is the time to attack Ted Kennedy for all the crappy deeds of his past. Human decency and compassion requires that we offer our best wishes for a full recovery.

Today is one of those days, as he undergoes surgery related to the brain tumor that was discovered following his seizures.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) will undergo surgery this morning at Duke University to try and remove a highly lethal tumor that doctors discovered in his brain last month.

In a statement, the 76-year-old Democratic icon said he would fight the grim prognosis he was given in May through a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The operation, which is being performed by neurosurgeon Allan H. Friedman of Duke University Medical Center, is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and last about six hours.

Kennedy said in his statement that he expected to remain at Duke for about a week after the operation, and start radiation and chemotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital shortly thereafter.

Kennedy was diagnosed in mid-May with a malignant glioma, a highly aggressive type of tumor that doctors say can never be completely destroyed. About half of the 10,000 people found to have such tumors in the United States each year die within 12 months; three-quarters of them are dead within two years.

My prayers are with the Massachusetts senator at this time, and with his family as they wait with a man they love despite his many flaws. At a time like this politics is irrelevant and love of our fellow man should be the rule.

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A bit over a decade ago, my wife was the pastor of a small rural congregation of the United Church of Christ in southern Illinois, and I worked for the county mental health agency in the next county. We lived in the century old parsonage next to the church and a cemetery that dated back to the Civil War and half-a-mile from the nearest neighbor.

Neat as that was, we were also 10 miles from the nearest gas station. Even so, I would often play the "how low can you go" game with my car's gas gauge in the last few days before payday -- and inevitably lost the bet five miles from the nearest gas station. Fortunately, a county sheriff happened by a few minutes later and took me to town for gas. It never dawned upon me that there might be something newsworthy about my situation.

But the fine folks at the Washington Post seem to think there is.

Brent Saba had just dropped a church group off at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday morning and was heading north on Interstate 95 when it happened: His 15-passenger van ran out of gas.

Saba, a 24-year-old church pastor, made it to the shoulder just past the Ben Franklin Bridge and waited more than 30 minutes for someone to stop and lend him a cell phone. Then he waited a while longer for AAA to arrive with fuel.

With gas prices hovering at $4 a gallon, motorists like Saba are putting less fuel in their tanks _ then coming up empty on the highway.

Though national statistics on out-of-gas motorists don't exist, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that drivers unwilling or unable to fill 'er up are gambling by keeping their tanks extremely low on fuel.

DUH! If you put less gas in the tank you run out sooner or need to fill up more often. If you run out of gas because you have tried to stretch enough fuel for 150 miles to drive 200 miles, you are not going to be successful unless you have gale force tail winds at all times.

And the MSM thinks this is news? I guess there aren't any serious issues to report on.

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I live only a few blocks from the water, so I see some really dangerous things done out there on a regular basis. Unfortunately, one of the most dangerous combinations I see is drinking and boating -- a combination every bid as dangerous as drunk driving.

Boating Operating Under the Influence is really a dangerous practice. But it is possible to get Boating Education Online to help you operate your water craft more safely. Here's an example of information about Arizona Boating safety that contains information relevant to every state..

Remember -- Boat Safe, Boat Smart, Boat Sober.

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It has been rumored for weeks, and now appears set to break tomorrow.

And this one is going to sting MUCH WORSE than Wright or Pfleger.

And left-winger Larry Johnson is set to break news about it at 0900 on Monday, June 2.

New and dramatic developments. This is a heads up. IÂ’ll post the news Monday morning by 0900 hours. Now I know why people who have seen the videotape say it is stunning. BarackÂ’s headaches are only starting.

Imagine that -- the day before he is set to clinch the nomination, a bombshell of his wife's racist comments at Trinity UCC (if rumors are correct) is set to break. Johnson wants to blame Rove, but my money is on Hillary Clinton. The GOP would wait until the last week of October or even November 1 to break this story.

Obama's problem? He can throw his grandmother under the bus. He can throw Jeremiah Wright under the bus. he can throw Michael Pfleger under the bus. He can even throw his entire 8000 member church under the bus. But how on earth do you manage to throw your wife, the mother of your children, under the bus?

UPDATE: Valerie Plame's ex-boyfriend seriously under-delivers again.

I learned over the weekend why the Republicans who have seen the tape of Michelle Obama ranting about “whitey” describe it as “STUNNING.” I have not seen it but I have heard from five separate sources who have spoken directly with people who have seen the tape. It features Michelle Obama and Louis Farrakhan. They are sitting on a panel at Jeremiah Wright’s Church when Michelle makes her intemperate remarks. Whoops!! When that image comes out it will enter the politcal ads hall of fame. It will be right up there with the little girl plucking daisy petals in the famous 1964 ad LBJ used against Barry Goldwater.

But he raises some other, much more important issues related to Obama's connection to racists.

Barack may have quit his church but his religious problems are not over. Barack Obama has a Nation of Islam problem that will receive more attention in the coming days. Before Barack came on the scene, THE MAN in his political district was Louis Farrakhan. No one could take Alice Palmer’s seat without Farrakhan’s blessing. No one. I do not fault Barack Obama for seeking out the blessing of Farrakhan, but the story of what was done behind the scenes to get rid of Barack’s predecessor—Alice Palmer—has not been told. A knowledgeable source tells me that Tony Rezko played a direct role in this feat. And Rezko has been tight with Farrakhan.

It also should come as no surprise that Barack hired two members of the Nation of Islam to work on his staff—Jennifer Mason and Cynthia K. Miller. (And no, I am not merely recycling info initially reported by Debbie Schlussel. I have two independent Chicago sources for this info.) If Jeremiah Wright and Michael Pfleger had kept their yaps buttoned none of this would mean much. But the fact that both men have been—until scrubbed from the website in recent weeks—listed as spiritual advisors to Barack Obama and also are very close to Louis Farrakhan, forces the question about Barack’s faith and beliefs.

In probing those matters we begin to understand that the Nation of Islam has been a critical component of Barack ObamaÂ’s base of support. And, I am told, Louis Farrakhan has been careful to use Tony Rezko as the intermediary in his relationship with Barack. This is not guilt by association, this is guilt because of actual relationship. Farrakhan, Wright, and Pfleger are each on tape in various settings spewing the most vile racists garbage in the guise of preaching. Barack Obama, up to this point, has tried to pretend he had no idea that these men had these thoughts or said these things.

I've got trouble with Johnson's use of anonymous sources here -- but these matters have all been in the public domain in some form or fashion over the last several months, only to be overlooked by the MSM as they fawn over Barack Obama.

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Congressman Alcee Hastings, whose major distinction is being one of only seven federal judges in the entire history of the United States to be impeached and removed from office for committing high crimes and misdemeanors, is boycotting the Democrat Convention over the decision of the DNC to give the delegates of Florida and Michigan only half a vote each, made this historically inaccurate statement.

At the beginning of our great countryÂ’s history my ancestors were counted as only 2/3 of a person....

Well, not exactly -- in reality it was 3/5 of a person, and only for purposes of representation in Congress.

Interestingly enough, I wrote about this very topic earlier this evening in response to one of my students in my college-level American Government class.

There is this popular notion that the Three-Fifths Compromise means that blacks were three-fifths of a human being. However, if you go back and read it in the Constitution, it deals with a very different issue -- should property be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.

The Northern delegates argued no -- that if slaves were chattel, then they should no more be counted for purposes of representation that cows, pigs, or chickens were. Their goal was to see to it that slave-owners, who acted in violation of the principles of liberty and equality by holding slaves, did not also do violence to the principle of self-government by gaining extra representation by counting those who would not EVER have a voice in government. In short, they were
operating on the principle that those who were entitled to neither liberty, equality, nor self-government under the laws of those states that recognized slavery (northern and southern -- slavery was legal in at least 10 of the 13 states at this time, though more prevalent in the South) should not be included in the total inhabitants of the state who would be represented in Congress.

The Southern delegates, on the other hand, took a pointedly different tack -- they were more than willing to count slaves as their equal in terms of being numerically represented in Congress, even as they denied them liberty, equality, and self-government.

It is really easy (and popular) to condemn the Three-Fifths Compromise today, with the benefit of 221 years of hindsight. After all, that extra representation that the slave-holding aristocracy of the South gained enabled the region's "peculiar institution" to continue for at least three decades beyond what it would have if the Northern delegates had prevailed -- and during that time the forces of slavocracy were able to foist the Missouri Compromise on the nation, along with the Kansas-Nebraska Act and various Fugitive Slave Laws, not to mention the infamous Gag Rule that for a decade forbade Congress to even consider the issues of abolition and emancipation by consigning citizen petitions on those subjects to oblivion without hearing in violation of the First Amendment right of the people to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

However, you got to the meat of the issue in your last sentence -- a majority of those who met in Philadelphia in 1787 recognized that the nation needed to replace the Articles of Confederation with something that created a more functional national government. And so they compromised on the issue, leaving it to future generations to deal with a question they could not.

Consider this, my friends -- without the Three-Fifths Compromise, there would have likely been no Constitution. Not only that, but very possibly the government of the Articles of Confederation would have collapsed within a few years, and with it the fledgling United States of America. for all that it was a compromise with evil (one for which this nation has paid dearly in every generation), are not we and the world better off for it having been made in order to preserve America as one nation?

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And as far as I am concerned, he ought to obey it.

A Washington Times reporter has been subpoenaed by a federal judge who wants him to reveal the sources for a story he wrote about an engineer convicted of conspiracy to export U.S. defense technology to China.

National security reporter Bill Gertz was ordered to appear before U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in June, the newspaper reported Saturday. The judge has also requested e-mail messages, files and correspondences.

Gertz cited U.S. government sources in a 2006 story saying that Justice Department officials approved an indictment against Tai Mak and that four of Mak's relatives would also be charged.

Mak's attorneys had objected to Gertz's story, contending the government violated a federal rule barring federal officials from giving information about grand jury proceedings to outsiders. Carney ordered an investigation to determine who leaked the information.

“We will be presenting our case to the judge and we remain hopeful that he will be receptive to the arguments we present to him in trying to preserve Bill's and the Times' First Amendment right to report the news and his other legal rights as well,” Times executive editor John F. Solomon said.

The four family members were eventually indicted. All have pleaded guilty to related offenses in exchange for leniency. Mak is serving a 24-year sentence in federal prison.

It is my profound hope that the judge is not at all receptive to the arguments put forward by the Washington Times and its attorneys. Members of the press are not royalty, and ought to be mandated to obey curt orders in exactly the same way other citizens. Given that Gertz may well be a witness to the criminal disclosure of grand jury testimony, he must be compelled to obey.

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Even though the hate monger claims that I and many like me do.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, who helped reignite Barack Obama's pastor problems by mocking Hillary Clinton, said this evening he's received "thousands of hate threats" since his videotaped pulpit rant.

"They want to kill me," Pfleger told parishioners during a service in a St. Sabina Church chapel on Chicago's South Side this evening. "It's been very ugly."

Not as ugly as your words at Trinity, Mikey. You are just reaping what you have sown.

But seriously, i don't want you dead.

You are much more useful alive -- because you will be unable to keep your mouth shut for long, and you will violate your promise to Cardinal George just like you violated your promise of obedience when you refused his directive to change parishes at the end of your third term as pastor of St. Sabina six years ago.

Just like Jeremiah Wright, i expect you to be a gift that keeps on giving -- and your death would prevent that.

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What's missing here?

SHREVEPORT, La. - Two judges were convicted Saturday of taking bribes to set low bonds or remove court holds on defendants.

A federal jury convicted state District Judge Michael Walker and Caddo Parish Juvenile Court Judge Vernon Claville on one count each of racketeering. The charge carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Claville was accused of taking bribes to remove court holds from juveniles so they could get bond.

Walker oversaw the drug section of his court and was accused of taking bribes to quickly set bonds, reduce them, recall arrest warrants or remove probation holds.

Defense attorneys argued the case was based on inconclusive recordings and testimony.

Where's the party affiliation of these public officials? Oh, that's right, it doesn't matter -- because the correct answer is DEMOCRAT!

I guess that it must now be a part of the AP stylebook that party affiliation for convicted public officials shall be disclosed only if they are Republicans

Posted by: Greg at 07:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Guess what rich liberal has skipped out on paying taxes like the rest of us?

It initially appeared to simply be a case of his tax-avoidance shell corporation failing to pay a relatively paltry amount -- $2269.50

New York State has issued a tax warrant against Keith Olbermann for failure to pay taxes on his humbly named personal corporation, Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc. Olbermann is listed in legal records as the President of Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc.

A call to the Albany County Clerk's Office in upstate New York confirmed that the warrant is still outstanding and that Olbermann has still failed to pay his back taxes. State records show that Olbermann's company failed to pay $2,269.50 in state taxes. A judgement was entered against Olbermann last summer (Docket Date: 8/21/2007), just weeks before Olbermann closed on a a luxurious $4.2 mm condo at Trump Palace, at 200 East 69th Street.

By the way -- you've just gotta love the name of the tax-dodging corporation -- Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc.. I wonder, would that make him Emperor Keithius Smallpenius of the Olbermann Broadcasting Empire?

But it turns out that there may be a reason for setting up the corporation -- some personal tax issues that go back several years.

A search of records in New York State turned up another Judgement against Keith Olbermann - this one for Keith personally not his "Empire" shell corporation). The Judgement was filed on 7/27/2000 for $21,565.

California records show yet another judgement - this one for a whopping $77,425 - which was filed on 9/21/2001. I guess Keith's professed patriotic fervor in the wake of 9/11 had cooled by the time his tax bill was due. This one was filed in Los Angeles County. Records indicate that Keith was finally got around to resolving the matter four months later.

All together Keith's tax warrants and judgements now exceed $100,000.

How do you miss a $77K tax payment? That is more than most Americans make in a year. But at least he seems to have paid it. It remains unclear, though, whether Olbermann ever made good on that other $21K of money owed to the government. Makes me wonder if the Olbermann Media Empire is really nothing but a way of protecting his assets from those personal judgments.

UPDATE: While MSNBC tried to spin Olbermann out of this one, it now appears that Emperor Keithius Smallpenius has in fact had $150K in tax leans against him or his shell corporation over the last 9 years.

H/T Newsbusters

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Posted by: Greg at 03:11 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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But in a way which I believe is utterly insufficient to defuse the controversy that has dogged him for some three months. Indeed, his stated reasons for quitting make it clear that, his disassociation is less about any fundamental disagreement with what goes on at Trinity than it is about the cost of him membership there to his campaign and the behavior of the media in covering the racist church.

"We don't want to have to answer for everything that's stated in the church," the Democratic front-runner said. "We also don't want the church subjected to the scrutiny that a presidential campaign legitimately undergoes."

Sorry, Barry -- you stayed a part of Trinity UCC for two decades and praised it in both of your books, even though the very things that you claim constitute “a cultural and a stylistic gap” have been a part of what goes on at Trinity for that entire time.

How timid is Obama in the break from the extremist theology and rhetoric of Trinity UCC? Consider this.

"I'm not denouncing the church and I'm not interested in people who want me to denounce the church," he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and "the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them."

Got that? If you are concerned about what you heard from Wright, Pfleger, and Otis Moss, Barack Obama isn't interested in you (though he believes you ought to vote for him -- otherwise you no doubt are a racist). And given that it is Otis Moss, the new pastor at Trinity who was so effusive in his praise for Michael Pfleger in the video we've all seen (and who invited him to preach), I'd have to argue that the new pastor is every bit as guilty of the sins of the past as Jeremiah Wright -- and that he merits equal scrutiny. And given the response of the congregation to Pfleger's sermon (watch the background and listen to the crowd response), I'd argue that the whole congregation does merit serious scrutiny.

And let's be honest -- among the scrutiny deserved by Trinity UCC is an investigation by the IRS for violation of restrictions on political activity by a tax exempt organization AND under the standard enunciated by the Supreme Court in Bob Jones University v. United States, namely that an organization that practices racism is ineligible for a tax exemption as a charity even if it meets all other requirements.

Obama indicated he won't be making a choice of a new church until after November. Anyone want to bet that it will be a church just like Trinity UCC -- if not Trinity UCC itself, should he lose the election this fall? After all, the folks he claims to be the bad actors in all this (Wright & Pfleger) won't be there, and neither Moss nor the institution itself have done anything wrong in his eyes -- and as a failed candidate for president, will his choice of church really merit any scrutiny at all?

Here's the whole press conference in which Obama discusses the decision.

He ight be able to get away with that limp-wristed position except for the fact that less than a year ago he was more than willing to denounce a different group of religious believers for what the believe and say.

"Somewhere along the way faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart... Faith got hijacked partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, whoÂ’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us.

So let's get this straight -- those who support traditional values and traditional Christian theology merit denunciation by Obama, but the race-baiters and their followers at Trinity UCC (ant Pfleger's St. Sabina Catholic Church) do not. After all, haven't they "stopped [using] faith to bring us together and started [using] it to drive us apart"? Given that double standard, I guess he wasn't lying when he said yesterday that he isn't people who disagree with him, is he?

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Posted by: Greg at 12:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Why Jews Are Right To Suspect Obama's Advisers by Bookworm Room, and Deep Thoughts with Biggie Smalls by Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal.  Here's where you can find the full results of the vote:

Posted by: Greg at 12:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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