May 18, 2009
Most of us hear stories of Airmen saving lives in combat, but an Airman who saves the lives of more than 300 passengers is definitely a story worth hearing.A fuel leak on a civilian aircraft caught the attention of Staff Sgt. Bartek Bachleda, 909th Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, during a flight from Chicago to Narita airport, Japan. After alerting the pilots and aircrew, the ranking pilot made the decision to divert the flight to San Francisco.
"I noticed the leak on the left side of the aircraft right behind the wing earlier during take-off," said Sergeant Bachleda.
Sergeant Bachleda continued analyzing the outflow of fuel to be 100 percent sure it was a leak while the plane was reaching cruising altitude. Almost an hour into the flight, he told a stewardess of the possible leak, but was given an unconcerned response.
Sergeant Bachleda then began to capture the possible leak on video. He then got the stewardess' attention by saying, "Ma'am it's an emergency." He identified himself to her and showed her the leak on video.
"She was completely serious and was no longer handing out drinks," he said. "I told her you need to inform your captain before we go oceanic."
The captain came from the cockpit to where Sergeant Bachleda was sitting to see the leak and view the video footage. Sergeant Bachleda said the captain and the crew were trying to figure out how the aircraft was losing 6,000 pounds of fuel an hour and then they knew exactly what was going on.
The captain made a mid-air announcement the flight would be diverted back to Chicago, but then changed it to San Francisco so passengers could catch the only existing flight to Narita airport.
Once the flight arrived in San Francisco, Sergeant Bachleda and a coworker were asked to stay back while the aircraft was deplaned. They waited for the arrival of investigators, the fire chief, and the owner of the airport to explain what went wrong.
"When we got off the airplane everyone was thanking us," said the sergeant.
While conversing with the captain, the sergeant said he was hesitant at first to inform them about the leak, but he knew it was abnormal. The captain said they would have never made it to Japan if it wasn't for him.
The two Airmen were placed in a hotel overnight and flew back to Japan the next morning. The airline company showed their appreciation by seating them first-class.
We came very close to having a major airline disaster here – but for the presence of a couple members of our all-volunteer military. For those who have heard that today’s armed forces are made up of anything less than America’s best and brightest, here is one more example of how that stereotype perpetrated by those who would devalue our military is utterly false. Men and women like Sergeant Bachleda are clearly the cream of the crop, not those with no options.
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On Sunday mornings, when many of their contemporaries are taking their seats in church pews, a group of young parents mingle in the living room of a suburban home while their children run around playing games.This congregation of Triangle residents has no creed or ceremony, just a desire to get together and offer each other support for rearing children without religion. Taking their cue from a primer of the same name, they call themselves Parenting Beyond Belief, and they meet nearly every Sunday, in a city park, an indoor playground or in people's homes.
But to what end are they gathering?
[T]hey share a disdain for organized religion and a desire to rear their children with the tools to think for themselves.
Now wait – they are gathering with the goal of raising their children to believe a certain way. And yet they then claim that they want the children to “think for themselves.” Odd – when one of the children asks a question that indicates they are thinking in a manner at variance with what their parents believe, how do they respond?
For example, when 6-year-old Evan Spiering announced one day that "God created the world," his father, Todd Spiering, answered, "Grandpa believes that. Some people believe other things."
But wait – why are they undermining what young Evan apparently thinks? Don’t they want him to “think for himself”? Seems to me that they really want Evan to hold to their own beliefs, rather than formulate his own.
But then again, since when have atheists been particularly consistent. As another article points out, inconsistency is inherent in how they approach the entire issue of God.
And then there's the question of why atheists are so intent on trying to prove that God not only doesn't exist but is evil to boot. Dawkins, writing in "The God Delusion," accuses the deity of being a "petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak" as well as a "misogynistic, homophobic, racist ... bully." If there is no God -- and you'd be way beyond stupid to think differently -- why does it matter whether he's good or evil?
Not only that – if they actually believe there is no God, then arguing over the nature of God is the equivalent of debating the color of a leprechaun’s blood. What it really comes down to, then, is that most such folks actually believe in God, but want a reason to refuse to follow.
This all reminds me of one of my friends in college who claimed to be an atheist because her aunt discontinued cancer treatment after prayerfully deciding that ending a painful and fruitless treatment was “accepting God’s will”. I’ll never forget the logically inconsistent argument – “If God’s will was for my aunt to die, then I refuse to believe in God any longer!” So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by the development of what can only be described as “atheist Sunday school” for small children.
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Hopefully we will have comments back in the near future. And feel free to email me any comments you do want to make -- who knows, I may just create a post about them as a regular feature.
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One requirement is the Motorcycle Helmets. Want to keep your skull intact in case f a wreck? A quality helmet is a must for you. Indeed, several years ago I lost a friend to a completely survivable accident because he chose to ride without one. I therefore implore you to make sure that you always ride with one, not only for your sake, but also for the sake of those you love.You might consider visiting leatherup.com for such a helmet. They have great products, including some fine German motorcycle helmets.
But you also need to protect your body. That is why I encourage folks to wear study clothing like jackets, motorcycle vests, boots, and gloves. At leatherup.com, you will also find these products at a good price. So love your hobby, but make sure to protect yourself with the right gear.
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But where do you get these devices? Well, if you live in Arizona, consider patronizing the folks at warningpower.com, which provides the safety products in your area. What sort of products do they have? All sorts, including many that are useful for a Construction Company, a government agency, or even a private individual. For example, they offer Traffic Control Devices and cones, sign posts, flags, banners and a host of other traffic safety equipment. You can even get things like hard hats, gloves, safety glasses, and flash lights for personal safety.
Vehicular warning lights are also a necessity, as these will help to give a clear view to travelers when there are other vehicles ahead And while they may not prevent all accidents, they certainly can help reduce their frequency.
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May 15, 2009
As Jaded as I Am . . . [Roger Clegg]. . . this really bothered me. The Washington Post had an op-ed today regarding the decision of the College Board to discontinue the AP exam for Latin literature, "which covers Cicero and four lyric poets." Buried in the penultimate paragraph, and stated not at all uncritically, is this sentence: "The College Board said this decision was related to the number of minority students taking the exam."
Now, I don't know if the exam should have been continued or not, but it is very sad if the reason it was discontinued was because the racial mix of students taking it was politically incorrect, and it is equally sad if this is considered an acceptable reason even by a teacher who is otherwise outraged at the College Board's action. O tempora, o mores!
What? The value of learning a particular field and the ability to earn credit in it is to be predicated upon the number of minority students? That is outrageous. After all, we would never accept the argument that there are too few white students taking an exam to justify continuing to give it – why accept the argument that the failure of a sufficient number of member of other racial/ethnic groups to take it renders it worthy of being discontinued?
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A protester from Texas has been sentenced to two years in prison for possessing Molotov cocktails during the Republican National Convention last September.U.S. District Judge Michael Davis on Thursday also sentenced Bradley Neal Crowder to three years of supervised release.
The 23-year-old Austin, Texas, man was part of a group from Austin that allegedly planned to disrupt the convention in St. Paul last September. He pleaded guilty in January.
Prosecutors say Crowder and a co-defendant made eight firebombs and planned to use them to retaliate against police for seizing their homemade riot shields. The co-defendant, David Guy McKay, 22, pleaded guilty in March and is due to be sentenced by Davis next Thursday.
Not nearly enough time – he and his cohorts ought to be in Gitmo getting waterboarded so that they would disclose the names of the rest of their little gang of terrorists.
And given the fact that these terrorists are prone to arson and come from Austin, I have to ask if the Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating them in relationship to the arson attack on the historic Governor’s Mansion during the state Democrat convention in Austin – an act which resulted in serious damage to the building.
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wenty songs that refer to women as "hos" and other derogatory names won't be played at the Arcadia High prom Saturday night.That's because senior Madeline Conrique and fellow members of the Women's Health and Issues Club brokered a deal with school administrators limiting songs with misogynistic themes and lyrics.
"Some of the songs call women `bitches' and `hos,' or refer to them as objects and treat them like animals," Conrique said. "We find that offensive."
A petition circulated on campus since last week asked students to support banning misogynistic songs from the prom; it garnered 130 signatures. About 1,000 students are expected to attend this weekend's event.
Of course, the group had wanted to ban 300 songs – something that the administration noted would have been virtually impossible to monitor. But they did get a compromise with the administration that would eliminate the 20 worst offenders.
Sadly, many students (including a lot of girls) objected to the ban despite the degrading lyrics. I’d call that a coarsening of the culture. And I’d argue that students claiming they like dancing to such music is not sufficient to keep the songs on the playlist – after all, I cannot imagine anyone arguing that a song which was chock-full of racist or anti-Semitic lyrics would ever be deemed acceptable, no matter how great the beat. It is a matter of standards and what message the school deems acceptable and is willing to sponsor.
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Former astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. will meet with President Obama in the Oval Office on Monday morning and likely will be appointed the new NASA administrator, a senior administration official told NBC News on Thursday.If he is chosen as expected, Bolden, a veteran of four spaceflights with more than 680 hours in Earth orbit, would be the first African-American appointed to NASA's top post. Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in 2003 as a major general.
My major criticism of the article is the focus on Bolden’s race. While that aspect of Bolden’s biography is interesting, it is merely a footnote to those of us who find the accomplishments of this man during his career with NASA to be the more compelling argument for making him head of NASA. Call it a “content of his character” thing. I certainly wish Bolden and the space agency well.
An interesting take on this move can be found at Bay Area Houston.
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![051309bo.jpg_20090512_16_53_19_81-282-400[1].imageContent](http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/images/051309bo.jpg_20090512_16_53_19_81-282-400[1].imageContent)
CHICAGO — The presidential popularity of the Obamas' new puppy Bo is complete. The company that makes Beanie Babies has released a shaggy black and white version of the dog named "Bo" — and he's selling fast.The company has previously run into trouble taking inspiration from the Obama family. The company released two dolls resembling the Obama children as part of its Ty Girlz collection but retired the names "Marvelous Malia" and "Sweet Sasha" after Michelle Obama said using her daughters' names was inappropriate.
The dolls were renamed "Marvelous Mariah" and "Sweet Sydney."
Less than a dozen "Bo" Beanie Babies were sent to the educational toy shop Learning Express in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles, and he sold out quickly, owner Aalap Shah said Wednesday.
"We were fortunate enough to receive a small shipment of 'Bo'," Shah said. "He sold out within a few hours. He was very popular. We can't wait to get some more in."
Oh come on!
Gag me with a squeaky toy!
Enough with the Obama overload.
Barack Obama is president.
He isnÂ’t king, and he isnÂ’t a god.
Do we really need to create little Obama idols at every opportunity? After all, I thought Barney was cute, but I didn’t feel the need for paraphernalia related to him – and my only reaction to Millie’s Book was that I was pleased the money went to charity. But this is simply one more aspect of Obama over-exposure.
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May 14, 2009
California does the former, but has refused to do the latter.
Hence this suit.
Students from 19 states yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from California officials for charging them significantly more than illegal aliens pay to attend state-run colleges.The 42 plaintiffs say California state lawmakers and the University of California board of regents knowingly violated a federal law enacted in 1996 that says any state that offers discounted in-state tuition to its illegal aliens must provide the same lower rates to all U.S. citizens.
California has a "unique" statute barring discrimination on the basis of geographic origin, said lead attorney Michael J. Brady.
Some students in the University of California system could be eligible for as much as $300,000 in total damages, he said.
Damages of $300K? I'm intrigued. What is the difference in tuition?
Mr. Brady said out-of-state students are paying $20,000 more than illegal aliens per year to attend schools in the University of California system. In the California state university system, the difference is $11,000 per year."And in the community college system in California, which has a total of 1.5 million students, the tuition differential is $6,000 a year," he said.
I don't see how we get to that figure for damages, unless the statute allows for punitive damages significanty beyond actual damages. But the really interesting issue is that the state of California really has no defense to offer due to the history of the statute in question.
Mr. Brady said California officials knew their tuition law that took effect in 2002 was unfair and illegal."Former Governor Gray Davis initially vetoed it, saying it violated federal law and that it would cost California $65 million [in damages]," Mr. Brady said. "He sent it back to the state Legislature with that warning, but they re-enacted the same law," which Mr. Davis eventually signed.
Mr. Brady said administrators of the University of California system also recognized that the state law was invalid, and they refused to implement it unless they were "given immunity." As a result, he said, California lawmakers enacted an "immunity statute," which says that if the state tuition law is declared illegal or unconstitutional, schools in the University of California system would not be held liable for retroactive tuition differences.
Even after it was vetoed on the grounds it was illegal, the legislature passed the bill again. And after the schools pointed out that the law put them at risk, the legislature attempted to immunize them from liability -- something that I don't see as possible given that state law is trumped by federal law in this instance. Any court would be bound to strike down the immunity statute as well, for the state cannot ban damages from federal lawsuits.
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Rep. John Murtha's opponent in the 2008 election claims the Pennsylvania congressman's chief of staff has threatened to have him recalled to active duty and court-martialed for campaigning while in the military, which is in violation of military code.Bill Russell, an Iraq war veteran who served with the Army, told FOXNews.com that Murtha's chief of staff, John Hugya, made the threat on two occasions -- first to his former commanding officer and then to his face in March.
"It's a terrible, terrible threat to make," said Russell, a Republican who lost to the Democratic powerhouse in November but plans to challenge him again in 2010. Asked if Murtha is trying to bully him out of a rematch, Russell said: "It was a direct intent to intimidate."
Russell was on active duty for a three-month period -- from April to July -- of his campaign for Congress last year. But he said he did not campaign during that period, as Hugya was suggesting, and so did not violate military code that prohibits doing so.
Abscam. Earmarks. Steering contracts to donors and family members. Threatening to subvert the military justice system to punish political opponents. What would Democrats do if a Republican were to engage in such a long record of misconduct? Why wonÂ’t they respond similarly to such actions by one of their own? And when will the people of his district send such a corrupt figure into a disgraced retirement?
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![14venus1.190[1].jpg](http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/images/14venus1.190[1].jpg)
Dr. Conard reported that the discovery was made beneath three feet of red-brown sediment in the floor of the Hohle Fels Cave. Six fragments of the carved ivory, including all but the left arm and shoulder, were recovered. When he brushed dirt off the torso, he said, “the importance of the discovery became apparent.”
The short, squat torso is dominated by oversize breasts and broad buttocks. The split between the two halves of the buttocks is deep and continuous without interruption to the front of the figurine. A greatly enlarged vulva emphasizes the “deliberate exaggeration” of the figurine’s sexual characteristics, Dr. Conard said.
No word yet if Keith Olbermann and other liberal commentators will call for Thomas to be removed from her role as a senior journalist with the White House press corps – or whether her politically correct liberalism renders her immune from the sort of criticism that accompanied the leaking of much less explicit photos of a topless Carrie Prejean.
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As President Obama approaches his first Supreme Court appointment, the question of how much scrutiny he should give to a candidate's health could rise to the surface once more.A frontrunner for the post, Judge Sonia Sotomayor of U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, is a Type One diabetic. It is one of the more compelling aspects to an already compelling biography. And while hardly a debilitating disease -- indeed, recent medical advancements have made it quite manageable to live with -- there remain enough late-in-life health implications to have sparked debate in legal, political and medical circles. Just how relevant are medical issues to Sotomayor's or any other potential Supreme Court nomination?
"It is obligatory [to look at this]" said Jeffrey Toobin, a legal analyst for CNN and author of "The Nine: Inside The Secret World of the Supreme Court." "The issue of duration of service for a Supreme Court nominee is critical to any president, and thus health and medical issues are very much at the forefront of their considerations... It would be irresponsible for any president not to make the health of the nominee a major subject of concern, because presidents want decades of service from their nominees."
Added another political operative who has worked on judicial nominations in the past: "I don't even think it is very sensitive. I think it is just obvious.... It is part of who we are. And so I think you find that there is almost in this day and age, there is almost no area of inquiry that is out of bounds."
Now do I think that there is a place to ask questions about Sotomayor’s diabetes? Perhaps, but only to the degree that there is any evidence that she is suffering from some seriously debilitating effects of the disease. As a Type Two diabetic, I know that there are possible complications to both forms of our disease, and that these potential future complications can be serious or even life threatening. But for most of us, they are not likely to be – yesterday I sat with an 85 year old woman who has been coping quite nicely with her Type Two diabetes for a couple of decades. My Type One cousin is a successful hospital administrator in a major Midwestern city who has progressed from insulin shots as a child to a pump as an adult to a pancreas transplant several years ago – she has been told that she can expect to live a normal lifespan with no real diminution of her ability to work or otherwise lead an active life.
Am I a fan of Sonia Sotomayor as a potential nominee to the High Court? No, but do think she may be better than some of the other options on Obama’s radar. But regardless of my lack of enthusiasm for the prospect of her becoming a justice, I don’t see her diabetes as something that should disqualify her in the eyes of the President – or during any confirmation fight. Given medical advances over the last few decades, diabetes is simply not a serious enough medical condition to keep her off the bench – as her service on both the district and circuit court levels has amply proved.
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Born and raised in Mozambique and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, Serodio, 45, has filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey medical school, claiming he was harassed and ultimately suspended for identifying himself during a class cultural exercise as a "white African-American.""I wouldn't wish this to my worst enemy," he said. "I'm not exaggerating. This has destroyed my life, my career."
The lawsuit, which asks for Serodio's reinstatement at the school and monetary damages, named the Newark-based University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and several doctors and university employees as defendants.
Filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, the lawsuit traces a series of events that Serodio maintains led to his 2007 suspension, starting with a March 2006 cultural exercise in a clinical skills course taught by Dr. Kathy Ann Duncan, where each student was asked to define themselves for a discussion on culture and medicine.
After Serodio labeled himself as a white African-American, another student said she was offended by his comments and that, because of his white skin, was not an African-American.
According to the lawsuit, Serodio was summoned to Duncan's office where he was instructed "never to define himself as an African-American & because it was offensive to others and to people of color for him to do so."
"It's crazy," Serodio's attorney Gregg Zeff told ABCNews.com. "Because that's what he is."
Serodio, who lives in Newark, said he never meant to offend anyone and calling himself African-American doesn't detract from another person's heritage.
Now let’s consider this for a minute. If I argued that it was somehow offensive for a black person to define him or herself as “American” because I’m an American and not black, I’d justifiably be called a racist. It is equally as racist for some blacks to seek to reserve the continent of Africa to themselves, given the multi-ethnic makeup of that continent. After all, while most people of sub-Saharan Africa are black, not all of them are. And in northern Africa, the vast majority are of an entirely different ethnic stock, a mixture of Arab and Semitic peoples among others. Are those individuals to be excluded from their African heritage in order to protect the hyper-sensitive feelings of racist blacks who want to lay claim to the continent as exclusively their own?
What’s more, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is a public institution. Is it the place of a public institution to define the race of its students and limit how some students view their heritage based upon those determinations? I would argue that the answer is self-evidently “NO!” To expel an individual from a professional school based upon their ethnic self-identification is simply intolerable. And equally unacceptable was the attempt by school officials to gag the student by forbidding him to speak or write in any public forum about the issue of race, ethnicity and culture – last time I checked, the First Amendment still applied to public institutions.
Why do I defend this gentleman? Perhaps it is because for several years I taught with a young woman who was born and raised in South Africa – a woman who proudly identified herself as an African. Perhaps it is because I do not know how else to identify an individual like Teresa Heinz Kerry, also born and raised in Mozambique, other than as an individual of unambiguously African heritage. And yes, perhaps because I frequently remind my students that the entire human race has its origin on the continent of Africa, and therefore we all have some claim to the continent on which our species emerged – and in that sense we are all African Americans.
H/T Discriminations
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May 13, 2009
Naked S.E. Houston man held in fatal shooting
Perhaps it would be a tragedy for the Houston Chronicle to fold -- if only because of the loss of headlines like that one.
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May 12, 2009
Doctors who work in HoustonÂ’s busiest maternity ward say theyÂ’re expecting an especially bustling June, leading some to conclude that Hurricane Ike was the perfect storm for making babies.
ItÂ’s been eight months since Ike knocked out the regionÂ’s electricity, leaving many with no television, Internet access or other distractions for days, if not weeks. Now thereÂ’s a curious bump in the number of women who are rounding out their third trimesters of pregnancy.
Several obstetrical practices associated with The WomanÂ’s Hospital of Texas are extra-busy these days with prenatal care.
“I looked, somewhat in shock, at my little book of deliveries for June, and it’s 26,” said Dr. John Irwin, president of Obstetrical and Gynecological Associates.
He routinely delivers 15 to 20 babies a month and called the Ike boomlet “a real phenomenon.” His colleagues in the 35-physician practice have seen a similar increase in patients who probably conceived during the powerless days after Ike.
“There’s about a 25 percent increase in the number of deliveries coming up in mid-June to mid-July,” said Irwin, also chief of surgery service at Woman’s Hospital.
I donÂ’t know why anyone would be surprised. Weather-related disasters like this one often produce such statistical anomalies, and I would not have expected Hurricane Ike to be any different. Indeed, one local OB/GYN is certain that is precisely the reason for the strange increase in babies due this summer.
Dr. Rakhi Dimino, an obstetrician/gynecologist with Houston WomenÂ’s Care Associates, is sure thereÂ’s something to this Ike baby boom.
SheÂ’s due June 10.
She was on call at WomanÂ’s as the hurricane passed over, and and left around noon that Saturday. She was with her husband at home until her office reopened the following Tuesday.
So what was happening at the Dimino home those two and a half days?
“What everybody else in Houston was doing,” said Dimino, 33, whose baby will be her first. “You can only do so much when there’s no television, nothing open and there’s nowhere to go.”
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NRSC chairman John Cornyn made the endorsement official this morning, casting Crist as the most electable candidate to hold the seat for the GOP."While I believe Marco Rubio has a very bright future within the Republican Party, Charlie Crist is the best candidate in 2010 to ensure that we maintain the checks and balances that Floridians deserve in the United States Senate," Cornyn said in a statement.
"Governor Crist is a dedicated public servant and a dynamic leader, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee will provide our full support to ensure that he is elected the next United States Senator from Florida.”The committee’s decision will make it tougher for former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio to raise money against Crist, given that the party has given the governor its stamp of approval. Rubio has won support from Florida conservatives and has a base in the Cuban-American community, but will need to raise a significant amount of money to credibly compete against Crist in the primary.
Now I’ll be honest – I like Rubio more than I like Crist. Rubio is popular and has the Cuban-American demographic going for him, not to mention more conservative. Crist, despite his unquestioned popularity with Florida voters, will be dogged by a certain rumor about him (irrelevant to his qualification for office, in my opinion) that has been given more public play in a current documentary. The real problem for me, though, is the fact that I believe that the GOP base should be picking the candidate, not the inside the Beltway crowd.
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Personally, I think the more topless photos, the better. But as a straight male, what do I know about beauty pageants?
Exactly right!
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I just cannot get behind this Star Trek rebirth. The whole thing is just so unrealistic. Not the warp speed or phasers or beaming about the universe - those are at least remotely plausible. I am talking about the fact that the starship Enterprise is composed entirely of officers and yet it still seems to function. Where are the non-commissioned officers (NCO), the petty officers and sergeants who actually make any military organization run? No, I can suspend disbelief over Klingons and tribbles, and I actively support the notion of green alien hotties. But the idea of a functioning military unit without sergeants is just a wormhole too far.
And may I take it a step further – where the heck are all the Master Chiefs and Senior Chiefs, if we are operating on a distinctly naval model? Even as an officer’s son, I learned early that the real work of the Navy could not have been accomplished without those senior enlisted men. How do they manage it on the Starship Enterprise.
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Taleban fighters have been using deadly white phosphorus munitions, some of them manufactured in Britain, to attack Western forces in Afghanistan, according to previously classified United States documents released yesterday.
White phosphorus, which can burn its victims down to the bone, has been found in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in regions across Afghanistan including in the south, where British troops are based. It has also been used in mortar and rocket attacks on American forces.
Last night the US military in Kabul condemned the use of white phosphorus by the insurgents as “reprehensible”. White phosphorus is banned as an offensive weapon under international rules of armed conflict.
And sadly, some of these weapons have been turned against civilians, another war crime. And yet somehow the opinion leaders in this country appear more concerned over terrorists getting their faces wet at Gitmo than over enemy activities that actually merit condemnation by civilized people.
But then again, such folks canÂ’t seem to muster sufficient outrage to condemn gas attacks on schoolgirls, either.
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Nicolle Wallace, a top adviser to George W. Bush and John McCainÂ’s presidential campaign, is adding a few names to the list of Republicans who might lead the GOP out of the wilderness.
Top among them? Actor Gary Sinise.
Wallace, writing on The Daily Beast, said she first heard the idea from a fellow Republican.
“The natural strengths that an actor brings to politics would come in handy to anyone going up against Obama in 2012,” she wrote. “We will need an effective communicator who can stand toe to toe with Obama’s eloquence.”
Sinise, also a musician, performs for U.S. troops and often champions veterans' causes.
The only thing he would be lacking would be the sort of experience that would actually qualify him to be president. Good grief – his resume is even thinner than Obama’s in 2008.
On the other hand, he might make a great candidate for Governor or Senator somewhere.
I prefer one of Wallace’s other names – General David Petraeus.
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‘Does he even know who the f— I am?’
Maybe he did, Megan, and maybe he didnÂ’t. But I think I speak for an awful lot of Americans when I say that he probably didnÂ’t care. I know that I sure donÂ’t.
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May 11, 2009
Apparently the Democrats operate differently.
ABC contributor George Will suggested former Sen. John Edwards was irresponsible to campaign for the Democratic Party nomination.
"Think about what a tragedy it would have been if he had won?" Will said.
I've talked to a lot of former Edwards staffers about this. Up until December of 2007, most on Edwards' staff didn't believe rumors about the affair.
But by late December, early January of last year, several people in his inner circle began to think the rumors were true.
Several of them had gotten together and devised a "doomsday" strategy of sorts.
Basically, if it looked like Edwards was going to win the Democratic Party nomination, they were going to sabotage his campaign, several former Edwards' staffers have told me.
They said they were Democrats first, and if it looked like Edwards was going to become the nominee, they were going to bring down the campaign.
Think about that one for a minute – they were willing to take the money paid by a candidate but not show him any loyalty. They decided he should not be president, but continued to draw a check anyway, while planning to sabotage the campaign if it appeared he would win.
Disgusting – absolutely disgusting.
George Stephanopoulos has reported on this “doomsday plan”. That is all well and good – but what he really needs to do is report the names of the staffers who were willing to co-opt the political process for their own personal gain, and to commit a fraud on the electorate for a paycheck.
And let me say that as deeply as I feel contempt for John Edwards, it does not approach the level of contempt I have for these staffers. Better that they be good Americans and not participate in the cover-up -- and allow the voters in the Democrat primary to have full information on all the candidates, which might have influenced the eventual outcome of the Democrat nomination. After all, would those Edwards voters have broken for Obama, giving him an earlier victory in the delegate hunt? Or would the displaced Edwards voters have broken for Hillary Clinton, turning the entire race on its head? And wouldnÂ’t either of those outcomes have been better for America?
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Husbands are allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, a Saudi judge said recently during a seminar on domestic violence, Saudi media reported Sunday.
Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said that "if a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment."
Remember – Muslims make up a huge percentage of the world’s population. And there are, of course, many Muslim countries that include sharia law as a part of their legal framework. Shouldn’t we give due consideration to the wisdom that law supplies? Or should we instead recognize that the laws and court rulings of foreign countries should have no bearing upon how our courts interpret our statutes and fundamental law.
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12:26 PM
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While racy photos of Miss California Carrie Prejean could cost the outspoken first runner up in the Miss USA pageant her crown, pageant officials don't seem to care about even steamier photos of Miss Rhode Island that appeared in a menÂ’s magazine.So is Prejean being targeted simply for her beliefs?
Alysha Castonguay posed for photos much more explicit and erotic than those that were leaked of Carrie Prejean. And while there is the disclosure issue, the bigger factor appears to be the desire of the pageant organizers to get rid of a young woman who had the audacity to take a conservative stance on a controversial social issue, a position that offended a loud and vocal segment of the liberal coalition (but which was in keeping with the beliefs of a majority of Californians). Even Alysha Castonguay sees the matter that way.
Castonguay even told gossip site TMZ that she felt Prejean was being targeted simply because she answered her pageant question by saying she favored limiting marriage to a man and a woman.
“I personally believe this situation is stemming from the controversy over her opinion and not a photo,” Castonguay said.
Seems to me that Donald Trump, the owner of the Miss USA organization, needs to intervene in order to save his brand.
H/T Don Surber
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Sykes was at her most vicious on the subject of Rush Limbaugh. "Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails. That's like saying, 'I hope America fails.' Or that 'I dont care if people are losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.' He just wants the country to fail. To me, that's treason. He's not saying anything differently than what Osama Bin Laden is saying." Then, turning to the president, Sykes added, "You might want to look into this, sir. Because I think maybe he was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on Oxycontin that he missed his flight."
Realizing she shocked the crowd with that remark, she said, "Too much? But you're laughing on the inside..."
But she wasn't done. "Rush Limbaugh [says] 'I hope the country fails." I hope his kidneys fail. How about that? He needs some waterboarding, that's what he needs."
And weren’t we told for the last eight years that questioning the patriotism of Americans who dissented from the policies of the president was beyond the pale – and that such Americans were engaged in the highest form of patriotism? And to accuse such Americans of treason – or suggest that they were the equivalent of terrorists (or, worse yet, to call them terrorists even if they had, in fact, engaged in acts of terrorism like those committed by Bill Ayers) – was utterly unacceptable and un-American.
Somehow, though, all those rules went out the window on Saturday night at the White House CorrespondentsÂ’ Dinner. And rather than express his disapproval, President Obama sat and laughed out loud as the semi-talented Ms. Sykes wished death on a political opponent and accused him of treason and terrorism.
Now the American press hates Limbaugh, whose audience is growing even as theirs is shrinking, so they are not particularly taken aback by such naked hatred in the name of politics. But I am particularly struck by the clear-headed response of Toby Harnden of the Telegraph.
"Obama seemed to think this bit was pretty hilarious, grinning and chuckling and turning to share the 'joke' with the person sitting on his right. There's not much room for differing interpretations of what Sykes said. She called Limbaugh a terrorist and a traitor, suggested that he be tortured and wished him dead. What was his crime? Hoping that Obama's policies - which he views as socialist - will fail. That's way, way beyond reasoned debate or comedy and Obama's reaction to it was astonishing...Obama laughing when someone wishes Limbaugh dead? Hard to take from the man who promised a new era of civility and elevated debate in Washington."
Now, though, we know exactly what constitutes civility and elevated debate in the age of Obama – and it sure isn’t elevated or civil by any reasonable person’s definition of those words. And it is fair to say that since Obama put his imprimatur upon that sort of “humor”, he has managed to disgraces himself and his office even further than he did during the first 100 days.
And as for Sykes – I’d suggest she has jumped the shark, but for the fact that she began her career on the far side of said aquatic predator.
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May 09, 2009
"From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, though: despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death," Feherty wrote in an a D Magazine piece welcoming former President George W. Bush back to Dallas.
Now my initial reaction to this comment was shock. It was followed by the desire to mock Feherty's comment with an equally inappropriate response that I won't include here in the interest of good taste and common decency. But in the end, I have to agree with the fifth columnists at Media Matters for (sic) America.
"Mr. Feherty's violent comments about Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are disgusting," said Media Matters President Eric Burns. "Suggesting that our troops would attack the leaders of the very democracy they've sworn to sacrifice their lives for is an insult to their integrity, honor, and professionalism. CBS Sports should demand its golf analyst apologize to our soldiers."
Well said -- and spot on.
UPDATE: NewsBusters has a very different take on the matter, pointing out that the piece was satirical in nature, and taking both MMA and Keith Olbermann to task over their failure to note what was said in the rest of the satirical article -- and noting that the piece was some seven-weeks old and that it came to national attention only after negative words from Rush Limbaugh's guest host on Friday.
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D, and
In one of its first acts, the Obama administration obtained a 120-day suspension of the military commissions; that will expire May 20. Human rights groups had interpreted the suspension as the death knell for military commissions and expected the transfer of cases to military courts martial or federal courts.Officials said yesterday that the Obama administration will seek a 90-day extension of the suspension as early as next week. It would subsequently restart the commissions on American soil, probably at military bases, according to a lawyer briefed on the plan.
While the rules are going to be modified, the fact is that these jihadi swine will be kept out of civilian courts and tried in a forum more akin to those used to try our military personnel. Seems reasonable to me -- after all, America's enemies should not get greater consideration than American soldiers -- and, indeed, do not merit even that much.
Personally, though, I believe that both administrations are wrong on this. What needs to happen is extensive enhanced interrogation, followed by summary execution with a bullet coated in bacon grease. No process is due to these enemies of civilization.
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Now he's siding with George W. Bush and Sarah Palin on protection for the polar bear.
The Obama administration will retain a Bush-era rule for polar bears, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Friday, in a move that angered activists who noted the rule limits what can be done to protect the species from global warming.The administration had faced a weekend deadline to decide whether it should allow government agencies to cite the federal Endangered Species Act, which protects the bear, to impose limits on greenhouse gases from power plants, factories and automobiles even if the emissions occur thousands of miles from where the polar bear lives.
"We must do all we can to help the polar bear recover, recognizing that the greatest threat to the polar bear is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change," Salazar said in a statement. "However, the Endangered Species Act is not the proper mechanism for controlling our nationÂ’s carbon emissions.
Especially since anthropomorphic global warming is a hoax that is well on its way to being discredited by good science on our climate. Besides, didn't i read recently that the polar bear population is up?
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That is where the idea of microchipping pets enters the picture. Microchips can't be lost and don't fade or become defaced. And at the Home Again Web Site, you get a great service to help you recover your pet should it become lost. For an annual subscription fee, HomeAgain members have telephone access to pet-recovery specialists and 24/7 emergency medical assistance at 1-888-HomeAgain. The program also includes up to $3,000 (less a $50 deductible) in medical pet insurance for lost pets and up to $500 in reimbursable travel expenses for pets found more than 500 miles from home.
And if you subscibe to their service, HomeAgain will make a donation to help shelter animals through a fundraising Web site specifically created to help shelter animals
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May 08, 2009
One of the nation’s largest liberal advocacy organizations, MoveOn.org , is resisting efforts to clear the Democratic primary field for Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter.The political arm of MoveOn flexed its muscle Friday by releasing the results of an online poll that showed the vast majority of the group’s roughly 170,000 members in Pennsylvania — 85 percent — would consider supporting a Democratic challenger against Specter.
The group expressed concern over Specter’s vote against President Obama’s $3.4 billion budget just one day after defecting to the Democratic Party. MoveOn also cited comments Specter made in an appearance on “Meet the Press” last weekend suggesting he would oppose a public health insurance option that some Democrats would like to see included in any health care reform proposal.
of course, a full 90% of MoveOn supporters would support Specter in the general election -- but he does need to get that Democrat nomination first, and it appears that the Democrat base -- as well as elected Democrats -- are balking at the prospect of welcoming him into the party.
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Texas Governor Rick Perry and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison find themselves essentially tied in an early look at their 2010 Primary battle.
The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey shows Perry attracting 42% of the vote while Hutchison earns 38%. Seven percent (7%) say theyÂ’d like to vote for somebody else and 13% are undecided.
Perry leads by 15 percentage points among conservative voters but Hutchison leads by 35 points among the moderates.
Favorability ratings for the two candidates are virtually even among Likely Republican Primary Voters. Perry is viewed Very Favorably by 26% and Very Unfavorably by 9%. The comparable numbers for Hutchison are 27% and 10%.
My concern is that this means a really divisive primary. However, given Rick PerryÂ’s weakness in the last election, I donÂ’t see him as a strong candidate for governor. Hutchison, on the other hand, would be able to defeat practically any candidate that the Dems put up against her next fall. That is why, in the end, I am backing her in this race.
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The Obama administration wants to cut almost in half a benefits program for the families of slain police and safety officers.
The president's proposed budget calls for cutting the Public Safety Officers' Death Benefits Program from $110 million to $60 million.
Justice Department budget documents say the reduction is being made because "claims are anticipated to decrease" because the number of officers killed in the line of duty has been decreasing.
One problem – that rationale is a lie. The rate of officers killed in the line of duty has been increasing, and is up some 20%. So tell me again why you want to cut the money set aside for dead cops and their families. I’m cure my brother the police officer would like to know as well, as would his wife and kids.
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Though more than 4,000 Louisiana homeowners have received rebuilding money only in the last six months, or are struggling with inadequate grants or no money at all, FEMA is intent on taking away their trailers by the end of May. The deadline, which ends temporary housing before permanent housing has replaced it, has become a stark example of recovery programs that seem almost to be working against one another.
Thousands of rental units have yet to be restored, and not a single one of 500 planned “Katrina cottages” has been completed and occupied. The Road Home program for single-family homeowners, which has cost federal taxpayers $7.9 billion, has a new contractor who is struggling to review a host of appeals, and workers who assist the homeless are finding more elderly people squatting in abandoned buildings.
Nonetheless, FEMA wants its trailers back, even though it plans to scrap or sell them for a fraction of what it paid for them.
“All I can say is that this is a temporary program, it was always intended as a temporary program, and at a certain point all temporary programs must end,” said Brent Colburn, the agency’s director of external affairs. He said there would be no extensions.
It has been 3 ½ years since Hurricane Katrina. Huge amounts of government assistance has been poured into the region impacted. Survivors of other disasters, like those of us who went through Hurricane Ike last fall, have received nothing near the level of assistance that was given to folks in New Orleans. Indeed, except for a few elderly and seriouslydisabled folks in my town, there is not a FEMA trailer to be seen despite a 12 foot storm surge. I was told flat-out that my wife and I didn’t qualify for a trailer or rental assistance because we had insurance to repair our house, even though it did not cover temporary housing for the seven months we were out of our home. We were expected to make due with our own resources, even in the immediate aftermath of the storm. I therefore cannot feel outraged that “temporary assistance” is ending for people who were impacted by a storm well over three years ago – and wonder why the New York Times doesn’t wander down here to Texas and investigate the relative lack of assistance that those of us in the Houston/Galveston area have received.
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11:56 AM
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According to an outline the company has been sharing privately with Washington legislators, the number of cars that GM sells in the United States and builds in Mexico, China and South Korea will roughly double.
The proportion of GM cars sold domestically and manufactured in those low-wage countries will rise from 15 percent to 23 percent over the next five years, according to the figures contained in a 12-page presentation offered to lawmakers in response to their questions about overseas production.
As a result, the long-simmering argument over U.S. manufacturers expanding production overseas -- normally arising between unions and private companies -- is about to engage the Obama administration.
Remember – GM is now Obama Motors after the bailout. Will Barry Hussein allow those good jobs with good wages and benefits go to foreigners in foreign countries? Or will he insist that the company that he has poured taxpayer money into keep employing American taxpayers?
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11:46 AM
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ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” on terrorist suspect Abu Zubaydah in September 2002, according to a report prepared by the Director of National Intelligence’s office and obtained by ABC News.The report, submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee and other Capitol Hill officials Wednesday, appears to contradict Pelosi’s statement last month that she was never told about the use of waterboarding or other special interrogation tactics. Instead, she has said, she was told only that the Bush administration had legal opinions that would have supported the use of such techniques.
The report details a Sept. 4, 2002 meeting between intelligence officials and Pelosi, then-House intelligence committee chairman Porter Goss, and two aides. At the time, Pelosi was the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee.
The meeting is described as a “Briefing on EITs including use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah, background on authorities, and a description of particular EITs that had been employed.”
EITs stand for “enhanced interrogation techniques,” a classification of special interrogation tactics that includes waterboarding.
What does this all mean? It means that Pelosi and other leading Democrats knew about waterboarding and other means used to extract usable intelligence from jihadis. It means that they either approved those techniques or that they lacked the courage to speak out about them at the time. And it means that we have seen a sustained campaign of falsehood from the Democrats about the issue.
Time to cue the Donkey Party theme song!
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May 07, 2009
"After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate," Ridge said in a statement, adding later, "The 2010 race has significant implications for my party, and that required thoughtful reflection. All of the above made my decision a difficult and deeply personal conclusion to reach. ... To those who believe that the Republican Party is facing challenges; they are right. To those who believe the Democratic Party is without its own difficulties, they are wrong. No one party has a monopoly on all of the answers. ... And so my desire and intention is to help my party craft solutions that both sides of the aisle can embrace."
Not surprising, given that Ridge currently claims Maryland as his home state. Despite his strong Pennsylvania roots, that could have been used against him in both the primary and the general election.
I see this as an unhappy outcome for the GOP. I donÂ’t see Pat Toomey as being able to beat Specter in the general election. Is there another strong Republican who can both win the nomination and the general election?
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01:49 PM
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The ex-senator's former lover - furious at being portrayed as a stalker in his wife's media tour - reportedly is taking revenge and will allow a paternity test for her baby after all.
Rielle Hunter previously refused to allow DNA testing on baby Frances, born in February 2008. Edwards, even after the admitted affair, insisted he wasn't the father.
Her friends said then she hoped they still had a future together and hoped to protect the philandering pol from further ruin.
But on the eve of Elizabeth Edwards' appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today to plug her new book, the National Enquirer reports that Hunter has changed her mind.
"Now she can see there's never going to be a future with John, and she feels he's lied about his promise to keep Elizabeth from trashing her in the book," an "insider" told the mag.
Well, Elizabeth did say that she didn’t know if John was the baby-daddy – this should settle the matter definitively. Perhaps it all has something to do with the fact that Rielle Hunter now realizes that Elizabeth isn’t going to die any time soon – and John Edwards isn’t coming back to her when she eventually does.
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Pirates have fired small arms weapons at a U.S. Navy supply ship off the coast of Eastern Somalia, the first attack of this kind since last year's surge in pirate attacks, the U.S. Navy said on Thursday.
The USNS Lewis and Clark was chased for about an hour on Wednesday morning by two pirates skiffs, but neither came closer than about one nautical mile to the U.S. vessel, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said in a statement.
The small arms fire fell well short of the U.S. ship which speeded up to evade the skiffs.
If these pirates really want to screw with the US Navy, why not let the US Navy screw back? After all, what needs to happen is for the pirates to fear the consequences of piracy more than they desire the profits – and death at the hands of their would-be prey would be a good start towards deterring piracy.
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01:39 PM
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