If this precedent in Iowa is allowed to stand and expand, it might be.

An Iowa State trooper who was investigated after it was shown that he forwarded an e-mail showing mug shots of people wearing Obama t-shirts has been suspended for 30 days.

Sgt. Rodney Hicok was at home and off-duty when he forwarded the e-mails, said an official with the Iowa Department of Public Safety Bureau and Professional Standards.

The e-mail made disparaging remarks about 15 people in the photos and referred to Obama as having "quite a fan base."

Hicok was not making a racial statement, the official said, but, rather, a political statement.

Hicock was also forced to make an apology for what the state acknowledges was his private, off-duty political speech regarding the President of the United States and his supporters.

Now I initially was not disturbed by this decision. After all, I wondered if he might have obtained the mug shots using his official position. Had that been the case, some punishment might have been appropriate.

But I did a little further digging (actually, I clicked the link at the end of the story that took me to the original story about the investigation). Look where he obtained the mug shots in question, and then tell me that this email was in any way a legitimate basis for any sort of punishment.

The e-mail has a photo that was originally posted on TheSmokingGun.com, according to the ISP, and it was forwarded by Hicok to colleagues inside and outside the department.

No misconduct there – the images in question came from a website that posts documents in the public domain. On what basis, therefore, is punishment being meted out against this trooper? Political speech is, by any standard, fully protected by the First Amendment – even if you are a police officer and even if the target you lampoon is the President and his supporters.

Unless, of course, the “Era of Hope’N’Change” includes the contraction and retraction of our civil liberties...

H/T Gateway Pundit, Malkin

Posted by: Greg at 12:08 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 352 words, total size 3 kb.

Congratulations, Stump!

At 10 years old, Stump the Sussex spaniel should be well into his dotage. Instead, the dog who technically retired four years ago took home Best in Show on Tuesday at the 133rd Annual Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Garden, becoming the oldest to win the award.

Stump, a Houston dog, nearly died a couple of years back when he fell seriously ill. To see him recovered – and now the top dog in the US – is a wonderful thing.

Good dog!

Posted by: Greg at 11:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 95 words, total size 1 kb.

Barack Obama has had his "killer rabbit" moment. He hit his head on the door of marine One because he forgot to duck.

Could you imagine the sort of response that this thing would have gotten if it had been George W. Bush? But as we know from another recent Obama gaffe, the press will ignore or minimize the event, as wil the Leftosphere. However, let me offer this in the same spirit of bipartisanship that was displayed by liberals during the eight years of the Bush Administration.

Posted by: Greg at 03:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 94 words, total size 1 kb.

Apparently the criticism of Islam and the terrorism it inspires will be grounds for banning traveling to the UK under the regime of PM Gordon Brown.

Geert Wilders had been refused entry to the United Kingdom to broadcast his controversial anti-Muslim film Fitna in the House of Lords.

Mr Wilders said he had been told that in the interests of public order he will not be allowed to come to Britain.

He responded to the decision in fighting mood, telling reporters that he still intended to travel to London.

He said: "I shall probably go to Britain anyway on Thursday. Let us see if they put me in chains on arrival. It is an unbelievable decision made by a group of cowards."

Mr Wilders is under 24-hour police protection because of his anti-Muslim stance.
He has been receiving death threats from Muslim groups outside Holland since the anti-Koran film appeared on the internet earlier this year.

In other words, vocal opposition to the Koran-inspired terrorism engaged in by Islamists like those who bombed the London subways in 2005 will get you banned by the UK, while Muslim preachers of hate continue to espouse the same ideology in British mosques. I guess the next step will be to get Queen Elizabeth into a burqa for public occasions, lest the Mohammadan horde become outraged.

My colleagues and I have been planning a trip to the UK for our students for next spring. I will now be recommending another destination -- after all, I would no more take kids to the UK than I would to North Korea or Iran given the sad state of human rights that now exists in formerly-Great Britain.

More at Hot Air, JoshuaPundit, Founding Bloggers, Jawa Report

UPDATE: Columnist and author Melanie Phillips offers this insight from the UK:

So letÂ’s get this straight. The British government allows people to march through British streets screaming support for Hamas, it allows Hizb ut Tahrir to recruit on campus for the jihad against Britain and the west, it takes no action against a Muslim peer who threatens mass intimidation of Parliament, but it bans from the country a member of parliament of a European democracy who wishes to address the British Parliament on the threat to life and liberty in the west from religious fascism.

It is he, not them, who is considered a ‘serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society’. Why? Because the result of this stand for life and liberty against those who would destroy them might be an attack by violent thugs. The response is not to face down such a threat of violence but to capitulate to it instead.

The author of Londonistan offers a great description of the decision in the closing paragraph -- "spinelessness".

Posted by: Greg at 01:30 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 485 words, total size 4 kb.

1 comment2, Whole Life Insurance Photos
, 58528, Christian Debt Consolidation Great
, )), Real debt consolidation non profit
, ffes, Automobile Insurance Rules All Kinds
, pfxqxr, Good budget car insurance
, 0457,

Posted by: gunzone at Thu Apr 30 09:05:54 2009 (zZ6t1)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Soldiers are not cops. Marines are not cops. Sailors are not cops. Airmen are not cops.

Hopefully no one is surprised by those statements. After all, we know that they are fighting men and women.

But the decision by our inept new president to treat terrorists as criminals rather than enemies may mean that all of those incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay may need to be released – because if they are going to get civilian trials with all the protections accorded the Americans arrested for crimes in this country, then all evidence and confessions obtained heretofore will have to be thrown out. Why? Because the terrorists taken on the field of battle were not read their Miranda rights by the fighting men who captured them and were not accorded rights given criminal suspects under the Bill of Rights and relevant Supreme Court interpretations thereof.

Accused in a 2002 grenade blast that wounded two U.S. soldiers near an Afghan market, Mohammed Jawad was sent as a youth to Guantanamo Bay. Now, under orders by President Obama, he could one day be among detainees whose fate is finally decided by a U.S. court.

But in a potential problem, Pentagon officials note that most of the evidence against Jawad comes from his own admissions. And neither he nor any other detainee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was ever told about their rights against self-incrimination under U.S. law.

The Miranda warning, a fixture of American jurisprudence and staple of television cop shows, may also be one of a series of constructional hurdles standing between Obama's order to close the island prison and court trials on the mainland.

A procession of similar challenges -- secret evidence, information from foreign spy services and coerced statements -- also could spell trouble for prosecutors.

All of these problems illustrate the larger difficulty that lies ahead as the nation moves from the "law of war" orientation used by the Bush administration in dealing with detainees to the civilian legal approach preferred by Obama.

Yep, Barry Hussein has really screwed the pooch on this one. By muddying the distinction between war and criminal justice, he has virtually guaranteed that the enemy will be released to return to the field of battle where he can kill more American soldiers – and civilians.

Are there aspects of the Bush policies on the detainees that reasonable people can quibble over? Yeah, I suppose there are. But the one thing that sensible folks cannot dispute is that he – like FDR during WWII – recognized that fighting a war is very different from fighting crime, and that dealing with the enemy is very different from dealing with lawbreakers. Barack Obama does not understand that – and having campaigned on a promise to undo the Bush policies and treat terrorism as an exercise in criminal justice rather than national defense, he will be hard pressed to step back from his absurd plans. Even if that means that America will be objectively less safe from terrorism than it was during the Bush years.

Andrew McCarthy offers a fantastic analysis of the other flaws of ObamaÂ’s proposed solution to the problem of Gitmo in a fine article in National Review.

UPDATE: Allahpundit points to this little gem from Sarah Palin back during the campaign.

Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he's worried that someone won't read them their rights.

Turns out she hit it right on the head. And it only took the LA Times five months to show that her concerns were dead on.

Posted by: Greg at 01:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 607 words, total size 4 kb.

I donÂ’t see any other way to interpret the fact that widespread physical abuse of students by faculty and staff went unreported to police and led to termination in only under 5% of documented cases while Arne Duncan ran the Chicago Public Schools.

Hundreds of students have allegedly been beaten by teachers, coaches and staff at Chicago Public Schools. 2 Investigator Dave Savini continues his ongoing investigation involving the illegal use corporal punishment.

* * *

The 2 Investigators found reports of students beaten with broomsticks, whipped with belts, yard sticks, struck with staplers, choked, stomped on and pushed down stairs. One substitute teacher even fractured a student's neck.

But even more alarming, in the vast majority of cases, teachers found guilty were only given a slap on the wrist.

CBS 2 informed former Chicago Public School CEO Arne Duncan of our investigative findings shortly before he was promoted to U.S. Secretary of Education.

"If someone hits a student, they are going to be fired. It's very, very simple," Duncan said.

Before heading to Washington, he vowed to take action.

"Any founded allegation where an adult is hitting a child, hitting a student - they're going to be gone," Duncan said.

But that's not what happened under Duncan's watch. Of the 568 verified cases, only 24 led to termination. Records show one teacher who quote "battered students for several years" was simply given a "warning" by the Board of Education.

And another student was given "100 licks with a belt." The abuse was substantiated, but the records show the teacher was not terminated.

Now I don’t have a problem with corporal punishment in schools – but it has to have proper limits and oversight. That clearly did not happen in Chicago under Arne Duncan – the man whose management and reform model is seen by Barack Obama as being just what is needed in nationwide. Most of the cases in which abuse was documented led to nothing more than a metaphorical slap on the wrist after teachers assaulted students. Not only that, but it appears that the district was remiss in failing to report these cases of child abuse (much less the mere accusations that the district decided were not credible) to the proper authorities for investigation and criminal prosecution

Now I cannot help but note that the Chicago media was all over reports that priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago sexually abused children and that they were allowed to continue serving in active ministry, usually after some sort of rehabilitation program rather than reporting them to Child Protective Services and the local police. There was lots of deeply concerned hand-wringing in the press over the “betrayal of the children by those who had a responsibility to protect them.” Will we get the same sort of rhetoric from the media over these incidents and the failure of the district to safeguard kids? Will there be the same outrage over the failure to call CPS and/or the police when a child has been abused – something that is mandated of school district employees under Illinois law? And what of Arne Duncan? Will he be the next Obama appointee – and first confirmee – to fall victim to their own scandalous illegal conduct that was not fully vetted by the Obama team?

Posted by: Greg at 12:56 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 572 words, total size 4 kb.

Looks like there's been another large tomb discovered at the necropolis of Saqqara.

A storehouse of 30 Egyptians mummies has been unearthed inside a 2,600-year-old tomb, in a new round of excavations at the vast necropolis of Saqqara outside Cairo, archeologists said Monday.

The tomb was located at the bottom of a 36 foot (11-meter) deep shaft, announced Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass and eight of the mummies were in sarcophagi, while the rest had been placed in niches along the wall.

Hawass described the discovery as a "storeroom for mummies," dating to 640 B.C. and the 26th Dynasty, which was Egypt's last independent kingdom before it were overthrown by a succession of foreign conquerors beginning with the Persians.

The tomb was discovered at an even more ancient site dating back to 4,300-year-old 6th Dynasty.

Most of the mummies are poorly preserved and archeologists have yet to determine their identity or why so many are in a single room. One of the sarcophagi is made of wood and bears the name Badi N Huri, but no title.

"This one might have been an important figure, but I can't tell because there was no title," Hawass' assistant Abdel Hakim Karar told The Associated Press.

He added that the rest of the sarcophagi — including four which are tightly sealed — have yet to be opened yet.

This find is unusual, given that the use of such rocky niches were common in much earlier periods, rather than in late periods like the 26th Dynasty. It is unclear which sarcophagus is pictured above.

Posted by: Greg at 06:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 268 words, total size 2 kb.

Once again, dissent is not patriotic in the Era of Hope'N'Change.

After all, Alec Baldwin has done so much more on behalf of America than John McCain.

To John McCain. You need to keep quiet, John McCain. You lost. . . . You gotta shut up, John McCain.

Yep, that's right -- a bona fide war hero who has spent his entire adult life in service to the United States had better shut up because some punk actor tells him to -- simply because the war hero doesn't support the policies of the current administration.

Of course, maybe John McCain should be grateful that Baldwin didn't call for a lynch mob to drag him out of his home as Baldwin did in the case of Congressman Henry Hyde.

Posted by: Greg at 05:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 142 words, total size 1 kb.

Because after all, dissent is no longer patriotic in the Era of Hope'N'Change.

Now that America has a liberal President, it is apparently no longer acceptable for a private citizen to express disagreement with the White House in Keith OlbermannÂ’s world. On ThursdayÂ’s Countdown show, MSNBC host Olbermann delivered his latest "Special Comment" rant, this time calling for former Vice President Cheney to "leave this country," and made a suggestion that Cheney, who recently criticized President ObamaÂ’s plans for handling counterterrorism, should somehow be "made to desist" from such criticism. Olbermann: "You, Mr. Cheney, you terrified more Americans than did any terrorist in the last seven years, and now it is time for you to desist, or to be made to desist."

The Countdown host, who never showed any concern that his tirades against the Bush administration would "undermine" the war on terrorism, accused Cheney of "trying to sabotage" Obama’s "efforts against terrorism," and made a number of vulgar implications in attacking Cheney – including twice pronouncing the former Vice President’s first name with emphasis as if to call him by a vulgar word; saying that he would tell Cheney to "shove it"; and asking which "orifice" Cheney was pulling numbers from about the recidivism rate of former Guantanamo detainees.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

After several plugs, during which he claimed that "his [CheneyÂ’s] policies contributed to the worst attack ever on American soil," and said he would tell Cheney to "shove it," Olbermann began his "Special Comment":

Flatly, it may be time for Mr. Cheney to leave this country. The partisanship, divisiveness, and naiviete to which he ascribed every single criticism of his and President BushÂ’s delusional policies of the last eight years have now roared forth in a destructive and uninformed diatribe from Mr. Cheney that can only serve to undermine the nationÂ’s new President, undermine the nationÂ’s effort to thwart terrorism and undermine the nation itself.

The MSNBC host soon read a quote from CheneyÂ’s interview remarking that "When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an al-Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry." Olbermann shot back: "More concern, Mr. Cheney? What delusion of grandeur makes you think you have the right to say anything like that?"

Where shall we begin dealing with the words of this loud-mouth buffoon who claimed to be a patriot while actively seeking to tear down the previous occupant of the Oval Office in language significantly less respectful that those used by the former vice president?

1) What "delusion of grandeur" makes Cheney think he has the right to say what he said? Well, aside from having some three decades more experience in the field of national security than Mr. Obama does (which certainly qualifies Dick Cheney as more of an expert on such matters than either Obama or Olbermann), I suppose it might be this:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

That settles the question of what Dick Cheney thinks gives him the right to speak his mind freely in this country, wouldn't you agree? And furthermore, the notion that Dick Cheney should be "made to desist" from making such comments is advocacy of the wholesale violation of his civil liberties, you friggin' brownshirt. Clearly YOU are more concerned about the rights of terrorists than you are about the rights of Americans -- making you objectively pro-terrorist, Keith.

2) "Flatly, it may be time for Mr. Cheney to leave this country." What's that, Keith? Good God! That isn't even "America: Love it or leave it." It is "America: Support Obama or get out." What next, Ubermoron? Forced deportation? Or internment in reeducation camps like those found in Red China during the Cultural Revolution for those of us who fail to support Dear Leader Hope'N'Change?

3) Weren't you one of the folks who argued throughout the last administration that "dissent is the highest form of patriotism"? Why, then, do you seek to suppress speech that said standard shows to be objectively more patriotic than your felating of the current regime? Could it be that you rally believe that "dissent is the highest form of patriotism only when the president has an R after his name"?

You know, we hear a lot about the "Fairness Doctrine" and "hate speech in media". Seems to me that any hearings on talk radio should be expanded to include the cable propaganda outlets like MSNBC -- with Keith Olbermann as the prime example of what hte speech in media really looks like.

Posted by: Greg at 02:59 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 875 words, total size 6 kb.

One of the chief exporters of radical fundamentalist Islam has made it quite clear that religious freedom is not an option in within its borders.

A Saudi Arabian official says mosques can be the only places of worship in his country, rejecting pressure to change heavy restrictions on religious besides Islam.

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, implements a strict version of Islamic law.

It told a United Nations meeting that the kingdom allows other religions in private.

But the vice president of the Saudi human rights commission said Friday that establishing houses of worship for non-Islamic religions was too sensitive an issue.

Zaid Al-Hussain tells the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva that there could be no debate. Other countries have urged Saudi Arabia to abolish laws that breach basic human rights such as freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion or belief.

I guess we should not be too surprised. After all, Saudi Arabia has a piss-poor record on human rights in general – why should anyone expect it to suddenly go against one of the fundamental tenets of the faith that is at the root of that hostility to human rights? After all, Saudi Arabia is also one of those nations seeking to use the UN to curtail freedom of speech internationally when it is used to speak negatively about Islam, seeking to move the world forward into the seventh-century Hijaz.

Posted by: Greg at 12:31 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
Post contains 248 words, total size 2 kb.

If advocates of “reproductive choice” would argue against “a woman’s right to choose” when that choice involved having kids like the mother of the recently born octuplets.

Look at this from Ellen Goodman.

Does anyone have a right to tell anyone else how many kids to have? Can only people who can afford them bear children? Do you need a husband to have a baby? These are questions that make us feel queasy when we are talking about old-fashioned families. But they take on a new flavor in the unregulated wild west of fertility technology.

* * *

This is more than an individual decision. Suleman's babies weighed between 1 pound 8 ounces and 3 pounds 4 ounces. They will cost at least $1 million in neonatal care and more if they have the typical range of disabilities for premature babies. The meter is running at the neonatal unit.

“More than an individual decision”? What about the “my body, my choice” rhetoric of the feminist movement over the last four decade? Is Goodman really advocating that childbearing is not a decision best left between a woman and her doctor? Does she now advocate that some government bureaucrat be able to step in and determine who can have children through in vitro methods, and how many? And when she defines the decision by Nadya Suleman to have eight embryos implanted as “mal-mothering” because of her unwillingness to abort, does she not recognize the implicit slippery slope that leads to China’s one child policy with its regime of forced abortions (or its functional equivalent)? For that matter, does this advocate of nationalizing medicine not see that her complaints about the cost of saving these babies presages eventual government decisions to limit and deny care that is “too expensive”, even if it leads to the deaths of some to whom government has magnanimously given “free healthcare”?

Odd, isnÂ’t it, how a liberal like Goodman becomes shockingly illiberal when she does not approve of how some exercise the freedom which she advocates. And amazing, too, that she does not appear to see (or care about) the Big Brother-esque implications of her own arguments. More proof that within every well-intentioned liberal there is a moralistic dictator trying to claw his/her way out.

H/T Don Surber

Posted by: Greg at 12:28 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 386 words, total size 3 kb.

Once again, a rich liberal insists that the government should force him to pay more taxes.

IÂ’m the chief executive of a publicly traded company and, like my peers, IÂ’m very highly paid. The difference between salaries like mine and those of average Americans creates a lot of tension, and IÂ’d like to offer a suggestion. President Obama should celebrate our success, rather than trying to shame us or cap our pay. But he should also take half of our huge earnings in taxes, instead of the current one-third.

Then, the next time a chief executive earns an eye-popping amount of money, we can cheer that half of it is going to pay for our soldiers, schools and security. Higher taxes on huge pay days can finance opportunity for the next generation of Americans.

Of course, there is a flaw in Reed HastingsÂ’ logic. As we well know, increased taxes lower the amount of revenue received. Also, experience shows us that changing the way in which such compensation packages are taxed simply results in changes in how that compensation is received to legally avoid the taxes.

But if Hastings really feels that he isnÂ’t paying enough, there is an option available to him. Since 1843 there has been a fund established under the US Treasury department for individuals to patriotically give more to the US government. All Hastings really needs to do is write a check for the money he believes he is undertaxed, payable to the United States Treasury, and mail it to the following address:

In effect, Hastings will be raising his own taxes. That way he can celebrate his success by paying what he believes he owes this country – without, of course, imposing his own sense of guilt and/or moral superiority on the rest of America.

Anyone want to speculate upon the odds of his actually writing that check?

Posted by: Greg at 12:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 344 words, total size 2 kb.

Otherwise the world as we know it will come to an end!

President Barack Obama says the time for talk on an economic recovery package is over and "the time for action is now."

Speaking at the Energy Department, Obama made a fresh plea for the stimulus plan that the Senate is debating. He cited the latest bad economic news of jobless claims as another reason for quick action.

He said: "The time for talk is over, the time for action is now."

Republicans and some Democrats have expressed reservations about the growing price tag of the package—more than $900 billion. Senate Democratic leaders hope to have a bill completed by Friday.

Earlier today, Obama warned that failure to pass an economic recovery package could plunge the nation into an even longer, perhaps irreversible recession, as senators searched for compromises to whittle down the enormous bill.

Of course, it could be that the real reason is that Congress and the American people might become more aware of this information from the no-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

In other words, the “stimulus” plan is a long-term drag on the economy. But that doesn’t matter to Obama, Pelosi and Reid – they have left-wing constituencies that need rewarding right now!

Posted by: Greg at 12:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 304 words, total size 2 kb.

Folks in Kentucky have been freezing and dying for a week since ice storms devastated the state, but Barack Obama only got around to making a disaster declaration on February 5.

President Barack Obama on Thursday issued a major disaster declaration for Kentucky in the wake of a deadly ice storm, ordering federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts.

Gov. Steve Beshear sought the major disaster status earlier this week. The storm has been blamed for 27 Kentucky deaths.

My guess is that Barry Hussein was too busy scarfing down the leftover waygu beef from his Super Bowl shindig do be bothered to act on behalf of those impacted by the storm. After all – Kentucky voted Republican, and the media hasn’t bothered giving the human suffering there much coverage, so there was no political up side to immediate action.

More at Gay Patriot.

Posted by: Greg at 12:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 160 words, total size 1 kb.

I remember how hard it was sometimes to meet others with common interests back in my single days. The internet, though, makes it easier, given the ability to find chat sites. For example, those interested in interracial relationships can find those with similar interests in the Interracial Chat Rooms at InterracialChatCity.com. Is the person you want to meet there, waiting for you?

Posted by: Greg at 12:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 68 words, total size 1 kb.

After all, it is only the publicÂ’s money, so why should government officials actually disclose how they are planning on spending it?

"Yes, we do, we have our list, we've been talking to people. We did not put that out publicly because once you start putting it out publicly, you know, the newspapers, the media is going to be ripping it apart," Daley said.

"It's very controversial. Yes, we have ready projects from the Board of Education to the City Colleges to the Park District to the CTA and the city of Chicago. Oh yes. Us and New York decided not to do that. We thought we could go directly into the federal bureaucracies and the different departments," the mayor added.

Besides, with all Daley’s dirtbag cronies in the current administration (up to and including the one in the Oval Office), he probably figure he can go back to operating like his father did – with no accountability whatsoever. Transparency in government be damned.

Posted by: Greg at 12:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 186 words, total size 1 kb.

Let's be honest -- recessionary times suck. We've all seen the problems being faced by the world around us -- lost jobs, weakening currencies, low consumer spending. And it is quite true that in such times what is bad for business is bad for the country.

But if you have a business you want to keep afloat in these lean economic times, you have to persevere even though the times are especially tough. In this weakening economy, it apepars that everyone is struggling financially. Many folks, for better or for worse, are therefore making use of credit cards to tide themselves over through the bad times -- but that means that business owners must therefore be able to accept those credit cards in order to keep their businesses going. That means, of course, that you have to put out a little money in order to make more, since there are certainly costs involved in setting yourself up to take those payments.

In such situation, you might even find yourself taking out a Business Loan in order to continue to be able to invest in your business through the hard times. But where do you get yourself a business lifeline? Consider, if you will, OnlineCheck.com and their fast business loans. It could be the difference between sinking and swimming for your business.

Posted by: Greg at 12:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 225 words, total size 1 kb.

You know, wait for the kid to be born alive and then leave it to die. What in a more civilized time was called INFANTICIDE.

Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.

* * *

One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

Remember, Barack Obama voted against making this illegal back when he was in the Illinois Legislature. He firmly believed then, and believes now, that a woman who pays for a dead baby is entitled to a dead baby, even if the “product of conception” is so inconsiderate as to survive the attempt to exterminate it in the womb.

Now there are several issues here that need consideration.

1) If this incident took place in 2006, why have no charges been brought for 2 ½ years?

2) Why havenÂ’t Florida authorities shut this abortuary down, instead of just yanking the abortionist's medical license?

3) Isn’t this just one more indication that only the lowest quality “medical professionals” are involved in the abortion industry?

4) Is anyone troubled by the fact that Ms. Williams has filed suit against the clinic that killed her baby after she had already paid them to kill the child?

Barry Hussein holds a primetime press conference on Monday night. Will any of his fan club the reporters have the courage to ask him about this incident and his prior actions in opposing the punishment of those who leave babies to die so as to prevent women from being “punished with a baby”?

Posted by: Greg at 12:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 364 words, total size 3 kb.

Well, we've not had much to celebrate around here since Hurricane Ike, but i suspect that will be changing in the next month or so. We are going to be getting back into the house sometime relatively soon, and you can bet there will be a celebration to go with that big event. But my wife and I have already been looking forward to having more folks in once we have settled in. I'm already pretty sure that we will be holding a big Pre-Season Pigskin Party in August. After all, we are Texans fans -- so we will round up all sorts of football-themed decor from Celebrations.com. They are a great source for theme party ideas and all the related party goods. We'll make it an indoor/outdoor tailgate party for ourselves and a few friends during the first away game of the pre-season.

Then there will be the holiday parties -- and there are also great planning tips at Celebrations.com. Check them out!

Posted by: Greg at 12:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 168 words, total size 1 kb.

I don’t know about you, but I find it intriguing that an Islamic group would host an event on “peace” featuring a pair of unrepentant terrorists.

Bill Ayers spent his brief 20 minutes in front of attendees at Cahn Auditorium charging the audience of students to "do something."

"If you ask, you might learn, and if you learn, you might have to," Ayers said during Muslim-cultural Students Association's highly anticipated event nearly three months in the making.

Although the former Weather Underground leader was not encouraging the 350 in attendance to take to the sort of violence he engaged in during the 1960s, he repeatedly challenged them to question the conventional wisdom.

The event, entitled "Peaceful Progress: A Discourse on Effecting Change,"

What qualifications does Ayers have to speak on “Peaceful Progress”? He and his fellow Weatehrmen were terrorists. That includes his wife, Bernardine Dohrn. They are therefore uniquely UNQUALIFIED to on the subject.

And why would members of the “religion of peace” choose terrorists to speak on that topic? What does it tell us about their faith?

Posted by: Greg at 01:56 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 182 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, down here in Houston we are in the run-up to that grand celebration of cowboys, cowgirls, and livestock known as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This year I'm looking forward to wearing one of the things I survived from Hurricane Ike last fall -- a brand new pair of Justin boots that I had just gotten a few days before the arrival of the storm. Of course, there was only one place in Houston to gt them -- Cavender's Boot City, which I've always found to be the top outfitter of western clothes and accessories from companies like Ariat, Lucchese, Justin, and Wrangler. In fact, I expect to be making a trip their direction in the next couple of weeks, shopping for the final item of rodeo wear -- a cowboy hat. What do you folks think -- black, white, gray or silver? And who knows, we might just get my darling wife a pair of ladies' cowboy boots to match mine as well. Best of all, they have a great web presence as well, for all you folks not blessed to be here in Texas.

Posted by: Greg at 01:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 194 words, total size 1 kb.

He performed horrendous medical experiments upon Jews and other prisoners as a concentration camp doctor, so why is it no surprise that he found some sort of comfort in a faith that despises Jews in his later years.

One of the most wanted Nazi war criminals, Aribert Heim or "Doctor Death," lived for years as a quiet, pious Muslim in a small hotel on the edge of Islamic Cairo, where he was known as Doctor Tarek.

Concealed in the labyrinthine streets of the largest city in Africa and the Middle East, the man wanted for killing hundreds of concentration camp victims with horrific medical experiments found refuge until his death in 1992.

"He was like a giant, not very chatty but he never missed a prayer at the mosque," remembers Gamal Abu Ahmed, who today lives in Dr Death's former room on the sixth floor of the Qasr el-Medina hotel.

May he and his ilk burn in Hell for all eternity.

Posted by: Greg at 01:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 177 words, total size 1 kb.

Since when does death constitute the breaking of a lease?

The ex-husband of one of the nine people killed at a Christmas Eve party in Covina has received demands from a landlord to pay the dead woman's rent.

Broadcrest Foothill Apartment Homes claims Alicia Ortiz broke her lease on an Upland apartment when she and her 17-year-old son were killed by her sister's disgruntled ex-husband. The landlord informed her former husband, Carlos Ortiz, that she gave "insufficient notice to vacate." The company says it is owed $2,821 in rent and penalties.

The itemized invoice claimed Ortiz's estate owes $1,655, plus payment for 12 days rent and other fees for the weeks after she died.

Imagine that – Ortiz and her son were so inconsiderate of their contractual obligations that they went out and got themselves murdered. Apparently she should have notified the company in advance of their impending murder.

HereÂ’s hoping that every resident of this complex chooses not to renew their leases, and that no others move in. After all, this demand is simply beyond the pale.

Posted by: Greg at 01:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 188 words, total size 1 kb.

Failure to disclose income as required by House rules and federal law FOR THREE DECADES.

A new report says that Rep. Charles B. Rangel failed to disclose what became of thousands of dollars in assets over the past three decades.

The report identifies 28 separate instances within the past 30 years where he failed to report in congressionally-mandated filings on personal assets. The report from the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation was based on a review of Rangel's filings from 1978 to the present.

The researchers write, "Assets worth between $239,026 and $831,000 appear or disappear with no disclosure of when they were acquired, how long they were held, or when they were sold."

I wonder when Queen Nancy will act to remove this unethical alligator from the congressional swamp?

Posted by: Greg at 01:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 138 words, total size 1 kb.

Dahlia Lithwick offers an interesting observation about the current liberal justices of the Supreme Court and the sort of justice various liberals have said that Obama needs to appoint when a vacancy occurs. But in the midst of it all, she offers this observation that makes a lot of sense – but which is also a telling point about the “great” liberal justices of generations past.

It's sometimes said that in addition to being voiceless, or at least librarian-voiced, the court's liberals cannot see big. Thus we often hear that the court's liberals lack a revelatory constitutional vision. Sunstein, for instance, once lamented the "absence of anything like a heroic vision on the court's left." He writes longingly of Marshall and Brennan as "the Court's visionaries, offering a large-scale sense of where constitutional law should move." What Scalia has always done so much more effectively than anyone else at the court is sell his view of originalism and textualism. He has a coherent interpretive rulebook to which he almost always adheres. Oh, and he can explain it in 60 seconds on 60 Minutes.

Yes, it is “the vision thing” – but in the course of explaining another point about the vision of the three justices she shows the fundamental difference between a Scalia and a Brennan or a Thurgood Marshall.

Whether they persuade by the force of their personality, a la Brennan; or their life story, a la Marshall; or their browbeating analysis, a la Scalia, the big justices tend to be the ones with the big ideas.

But consider the basis upon which the three justices mentioned persuade others. In the case of Brennan, it was his personality. In the case of Marshall, it was his biography. In the case of Scalia, though, it is the expounding of rigorous legal reasoning grounded in the text of the Constitution. In effect, Lithwick is calling for a move away from the founding document, with decisions instead being based upon the whims and preferences of the men (or women) on the bench. So much for being a nation of laws.

Posted by: Greg at 01:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 360 words, total size 2 kb.

Invading a speech and shutting down the speaker is not democracy, no matter how loudly the hooligans in question make the claim that it is.

houting "This is what democracy looks like!" about 100 protesters stormed a hotel ballroom Tuesday where Mayor Michael Bloomberg was addressing an economic forum and accused him of ignoring the concerns of working-class New Yorkers.

A few minutes into the mayor's speech at a Manhattan hotel, the demonstrators charged in, chanting and waving signs that said, "Mayor Bloomberg, talk to us about the future of NYC!"

Protesters said the demonstration was organized by a coalition that advocates for communities. They said Mr. Bloomberg has ignored the concerns of working-class New Yorkers, favoring the rights of rich developers instead.

Organized by :a coalition that advocates for communities”? I wonder – could that be ACORN? It seems possible – but why aren’t we told for sure?

I'm curious -- is this the kind of Hope'N'Change the Community-organizer-in-Chief told us we should believe in?

Posted by: Greg at 04:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 174 words, total size 1 kb.

HereÂ’s the plan.

1) Arrange for women to be raped.

2) Raise the issue family shame and honor killings.

3) Convince them to strap on bombs to commit murder as a form of redemption.

A WOMAN suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has confessed to organising their rapes so she could later convince them that martyrdom was the only way to escape the shame.

Samira Jassam, 51, was arrested by Iraqi police and confessed to recruiting the women and orchestrating dozens of attacks.

In a video confession, she explained how she had mentally prepared the women for martyrdom operations, passed them on to terrorists who provided explosives, and then took the bombers to their targets.

What an evil woman. Such a person can only be produced by an evil ideology that warps the human psyche – and we all know what that is.

HereÂ’s hoping for her quick conviction and rapid execution.

Sadly, it appears that this is not the only use of sexual assault to recruit unwilling participants for bombings -- and that these Islamofascists don't limit its use to women.

Posted by: Greg at 04:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 199 words, total size 1 kb.

I donÂ’t often urge that convicts be pardoned. And these days, when Wall Street crimes are in the news again, this one is probably goes against the grain of popular sentiment. But sometimes a person who has served his sentence and then engaged in exemplary civic-minded behavior ought to receive a pardon out of gratitude for his good works. And one such person is Michael Milken, the one-time junk bond king.

In the 16 years since his release from prison, disgraced junk-bond king Michael Milken has beaten prostate cancer, raised hundreds of millions of dollars for medical research and reshaped an image tarnished by a 1990 conviction for securities fraud.

* * *

Milken. . . recovered from the disease and started a foundation that has raised more than $350 million for cancer research. He has also donated millions more for scholarship and education programs, and launched the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute, an economic think tank.

I don’t minimize Milken’s earlier misdeeds. But like Chuck Colson, we see in Milken a man who really has been changed by his experience and demonstrated that he is truly rehabilitated. He has no right to a pardon – which is, after all, a privilege extended by the president – but Milken has become the model of what we ought to want to see more of our citizen become.

Posted by: Greg at 03:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 237 words, total size 2 kb.

Allowing a historical building to retain its historical character is simply common sense. But to then attempt to suppress the free speech rights of the building owner is even worse. And to waste so many tax dollars on a pair of battles that the government could not win is not only foolish, but is also irresponsible.

But thatÂ’s what happened in Ogden, Utah.

A man who has fought for a decade to restore a nearly century-old painted sign advertising beer has emerged victorious.

In 1998, Bruce Edwards' request to restore the painted sign on his C.C. Keller building on the city's 25th Street was denied by the Ogden Landmarks Commission. Edwards said one member of the commission said no because the sign advertised beer and didn't fit a family-friendly image for the thoroughfare.
But recently, the commission approved a renewed request.

"I outlasted 'em," Edwards said. "And the bottom line is, I was right."

The original wording on the sign dates back to about 1910 and is painted on the north side of the two-story brick structure. It reads, "Every hour upon the hour for about an hour Drink Becker's Beer — Ogden's Famous Beer."

After his request was denied, Edwards and the city got into a war of sorts. In 2000, Edwards put up a sign in the window of his then-vacant building hammering the city with insults. The City Council then passed an ordinance forbidding signs like Edwards'.

The battle moved to court, where in 2005 a judge sided with Edwards, saying the city had violated his First Amendment rights. So the critical sign stayed and the landmarks commission denied his request to restore the beer sign again.

After more time in court, Edwards applied again last year and finally got the long sought-after approval.

No word on how much money the battle cost the city.

But a hearty hoist of the beer stein to Bruce Edwards for fighting the good fight on behalf of free speech and property rights.

Posted by: Greg at 03:50 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 342 words, total size 2 kb.

What the Grey Lady said in the headline.

Australian Court Jails Muslim Cleric

Sounds shocking. What possible reason could the court have had for jailing the “Muslim Cleric”?

A Muslim cleric convicted of forming a terrorist cell in Australia was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison, bringing the countryÂ’s largest terrorism trial to a close. Six of his followers were ordered to serve between six and 10 years in prison.

I’m curious – why wasn’t the headline “Australian Court Jails Muslim Terrorists”? Why didn’t they disclose the most important information in the headline?

Posted by: Greg at 03:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 100 words, total size 1 kb.

If Tom Daschle’s “limousine liberal” venality and Nancy Killefer’s penny-ante tax offenses disqualify them from posts that include spending tax dollars, how can Tim Geithner stay on in a position that includes collecting those tax dollars?

Not only did Geithner neglect to pay his taxes, he turned a buck by doing so—accepting payments from his employer for the very purpose of offsetting those taxes. When he took the money, he signed a statement promising to pay the taxes and then ignored his obligations—for years. Protected by a statute of limitations, he did not pay his 2001–02 taxes until his nomination made them a public issue.
If Daschle’s tax problems should bar him from managing the federal health-services bureaucracy and Killefer’s preclude her from scrutinizing the budget, how is it that Geithner’s transgressions—the worst of the lot—are insufficient to disqualify him from managing the same Internal Revenue Service whose attentions he evaded?

I argued against GeithnerÂ’s confirmation when his misdeeds first came to light. Now that two other appointees have been forced out over tax issues, the argument against his serving as Secretary of the Treasury is even more compelling. Perhaps he and President Obama need to learn the lesson of the little parable that my father kept taped to his bedroom mirror when I was a kid.

Sometime when you're feeling important;
Sometime when your ego's in bloom
Sometime when you take it for granted
You're the best qualified in the room,
Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that's remaining
Is a measure of how you will be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you'll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.
The moral of this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There's no indispensable man.

Secretary Geithner may be a great guy, and may have many skills and qualifications for his office – but his transgressions are such that he is and should be disqualified from holding a position that oversees the collection of taxes. After all, even if he is “uniquely qualified” for the post, his failure to pay taxes ought to be uniquely disqualifying for the job.

H/T Hot Air

Posted by: Greg at 01:39 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 429 words, total size 3 kb.

It might, because nationalizing the health care system will kill off private sector medical care, including abortuaries.

Follow the logic for a moment. LetÂ’s say Progressive (socialist) Democrats are successful at unleashing their command and control utopia on the civilian population. The long term result will be the death of private medicine (among many other private markets). No problemo, some say, because healthcare is a right and only the government can properly secure that right at any cost.

The unintended consequence would be that over the long run, the only place where an abortion would be available is inside the national health system, leaving only the black market for women who wish to remain anonymous and undocumented by the state, (think very young scared girls and cheating spouses).

Then take it one step further, and consider for a moment how long state run abortion services would remain in business after the political pendulum swings back in the conservative direction (or do you think that Republicans will never be in power ever again?) At that point, the pro-lifers will only have to turn off the spigot at one source to eliminate most safe abortion options.

WhatÂ’s more, the cutoff of funds will be quite popular with Americans, a clear majority of whom believe that the government ought not be paying for abortions regardless of whether or not they support abortion being legal. And unless we are going to have the courts reverse decades of jurisprudence and begin ruling that government is obligated to fund the exercise of fundamental rights (in which case I want my domain name and computer paid for under the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and of the press), there will be no recourse.

Posted by: Greg at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 300 words, total size 2 kb.

A year ago, ChicagoÂ’s Holy Name Cathedral was closed so that major structural renovations could be completed. In August it reopened. It will be closed again for some time after todayÂ’s major fire.

An extra-alarm blaze that broke out this morning at Holy Name Cathedral downtown caused extensive fire damage to the roof and attic, but spared the cathedral's sanctuary.

Cardinal Francis George said the cathedral's roof would have to be rebuilt and there was considerable water damage inside. "Chicago has always bounced back from fires and I think we'll bounce back from this," the cardinal said as he left the church.

The fire may have been related to some renovation. Work was being done on pillars in the cathedral and on some deteriorating wood high in the rafters, according Jimmy Lago, chancellor of the Chicago Archdiocese. He said a worker was present at the time the fire broke out, but didn't know if he was working in the area where the fire started.

May God bless the parishioners of Holy Name Cathedral and the people of the Archdiocese of Chicago. And may God also bless the firefighters who put themselves on the line to preserve as much of this historic building as they did.

I ordinarily donÂ’t find it appropriate for reporters to inject their personal feelings into a news story, but in this case I donÂ’t see how it is possible to not do so in the case of a building that has been the spiritual hub of a city for such a long period of time. That is part of why I was touched by this passage in one report.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine was emotional on the scene.

"What you can see, basically, is the smoke billowing the roof, but what you see in your mind's eyes are all the events and all the emotional moments," Levine said. "My mind goes back to Luciano Pavarotti singing 'Ave Maria' when Pope John Paul II was here. My mind goes back to the funeral of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin inside; the people that were standing around outside and watching. My mind goes back to so many emotional events in the building, which is really a part of the fabric in the community."

Indeed, my mind goes back to the five priesthood ordinations I attended and/or participated in at Holy Name Cathedral during and after my time as a seminarian at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in the early 1990s. Indeed, it was at the last of these (as members of my seminary class was ordained) ordinations that I was blessed with a sense of peace with my departure from the seminary and a recognition that my vocation in life lay in marriage and teaching. It is therefore a special place for me, and so I count myself among those who share in the sense of loss brought by this morningÂ’s events. But I know that after the loss associated this event will come a resurrection that mirrors that of Christ himself, and it is my hope that from this experience will flow much grace upon those whose lives have been impacted today.

Posted by: Greg at 01:36 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 536 words, total size 3 kb.

Because Racism, Sexism, Classism and Low Rent Vulgarity as usual are just a part of the Democrat family values espoused over at Bay Area Houston. After all, what else are we to make of this post.

OK. This is getting strange. Palin was pallin' around with Perry purposely at the Governors Political Convention. Here we have two sort of attractive peppy politicians (I threw up a little in my mouth), with Palin pouting the trailer trash grandma look, and Perry with the perfectly quaffed hair, lookin to score politically. And score he does.

Palin has come out swinging with a one night endorsement of Rick Perry for another 4 years of screwing us Texans.

While a bunch of politicians have gone to Washington, hat in hand, seeking a bailout, Governor Perry has left his hat in my hotel room while he sticks his hand out for whatever giveaways the Federal governement will give. Rick Perry is true to conservative principles even when others think the party suck. I like that about him: he doesnÂ’t care who blows, he acts on who does.

And clearly, she does. If she was looking to score a date with Rick Perry, that endorsement just might do it for her. I can see her being dragged around from hotel to hotel on Perry's campaign across Texas speaking to a group of hard dicks, with her yee-ha, howdy-doody, folksy, hot grandmother with an 18 year old unwed mother look. And the retards of the republican party eating it up like a buck toothed hillbilly getting a $2 lap dance at the C-Sec Nudie Bar.

Perry wouldn't have it any other way.

So let’s look at what we have here. Blog author John Cobarruvias engages in racist and classist insults towards white people from working class backgrounds – clearly such folks don’t have any place in politics (or at least not GOP politics – he still worships at the altar of the Clintons). As for his “buck toothed hillbilly” comment, I’d like to remind him that the buck-toothed hillbilly vote is what originally brought his fellow Democrats like Senator Robert Byrd (D-KKK) into office.

And letÂ’s not pass on his tendency to objectify women in politics, in this case comparing a successful governor to a stripper. I guess we shouldnÂ’t be surprised. A couple of weeks ago he decided that a lobbyist event for female legislators that included pedicures was indicative of members of the organization having foot fetishes.

Then there is the vulgarity that he believes passes as witty political commentary providing meaningful insight on the issues of the day. What it really shows is his own warped sexuality, which is apparently stuck somewhere around the level of the typical thirteen-year-old.

Oddly enough, John sees himself as an opponent of racism, a supporter of women, and an advocate for the lower and middle class, while claiming that Republicans are on the wrong side of all of those issues. Seems to me that he actually is suffering from what psychologists call projection, seeing non-existent faults in others while being blind to their presence in himself. But on the bright side, at least he didn't call for the lynching of these Republicans.

Posted by: Greg at 01:32 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 562 words, total size 4 kb.

ThatÂ’s what they call their new satellite.

Iran has successfully sent its first domestically made satellite into orbit, the country's president announced Tuesday, claiming a significant step in an ambitious space program that has worried many international observers.
The satellite, called Omid, or hope in Farsi, was launched late Monday after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the order to proceed, according to a report on state radio. State television showed footage of what it said was the nighttime liftoff of the rocket carrying the satellite at an unidentified location in Iran.

Of course, the current regime in Teheran is noted for its exaggerations regarding its military and space technology. It will be interesting to see if this can be independently verified.

But if it is, it means that Iran has rockets that can hit Israel and Europe -- and may not be far from having the capacity to hit the USA. Will this development result in a CHANGE in the policies of the Obama Administration.

Posted by: Greg at 01:10 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 170 words, total size 1 kb.

I like Sarah Palin. I voted for her. I might (but only might) vote for her again in the future. But I do not feel guided by this endorsement.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has endorsed Rick Perry for re-election, calling him the "true conservative" in a primary election showdown with fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Palin, who electrified the GOP base as the party's vice presidential nominee last year, has strong support among the party's social conservatives. Her endorsement appeared aimed at undercutting Hutchison's appeal with GOP women. Both groups will be important in picking the party's nominee in next year's Republican primary.

Sorry, Sarah, but Rick Perry lost my vote when he decided to play doctor with every little girl in Texas. He lost my vote with his wishy-washiness on border issues. He lost my vote when he lied about property tax reform and implemented a ruinous business tax. None of that is particularly conservative in my book. IÂ’ll stand with Kay Bailey Hutchison instead.

Posted by: Greg at 01:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 182 words, total size 1 kb.

I have long been a Michael Steele fan. He is, dare I say it, my kind of Republican – a guy who is interested in reaching out to everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or religion, without compromising on the essentials of conservatism. To the degree that his race matters to me, it is a plus – if it helps him to reach out to African-Americans who are skeptical of the GOP, that makes it a positive factor – but it certainly is not a negative to me and most Republicans with whom I have worked over the year. I supported him for GOP chairman, and am pleased by his victory.

And I must say that I like what I hear from him in this new position. We Republicans have needed a chairman who has grassroots support and the courage to say what it really means to be a Republican – that we are a party that supports human life, civil rights and civil liberties, and a strong national defense.

Posted by: Greg at 01:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 177 words, total size 1 kb.

Let’s see – a college kid does something sort of dumb, like so many other college kids. Why is it news? Because he is among the most elite athletes in the world today, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.

Now let’s be honest – taking a hit off of the bong was a dumb thing to do. But his response and that of the IOC are absolutely correct.

The International Olympic Committee expressed confidence Monday that Michael Phelps will learn from his "inappropriate behavior" and continue to serve as a role model after a British newspaper published a photo of him inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at last year's Beijing Olympics, apologized and acknowledged "regrettable behavior" after the picture was published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World.

"Michael Phelps is a great Olympic champion," the IOC said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press on Monday. "He apologized for his inappropriate behavior. We have no reason to doubt his sincerity and his commitment to continue to act as a role model."

Of course, the media has had a field day with the story, and really has not separated the issue of performance enhancing drugs from recreational drugs. Just call it one more sign of media cluelessness.

And for those of you who are surprised by my position – yes, I do support legalization (or at least decriminalization) of marijuana, even though it is a substance that I’ve never had any particular interest in using. I’d classify it along with tobacco and alcohol – substances that I either don’t use or don’t use often, but which I personally find inoffensive if they are used responsibly and in moderation.

Posted by: Greg at 01:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 297 words, total size 2 kb.

And counting.

It is easy to project yourself as a clean politician after making your debut in South Side Chicago with buddies like Rahm Emanuel. US president Obama has appointed more than 17 lobbyists after talking big on anti-lobbyist Governance and rooting corruption out of the American Government.

And Barry Hussein has only been president for 14 days – meaning that he has given more than 1.2 waivers a day. At this rate he will be employing every lobbyist in Washington by the time the 2012 election rolls around.

And then there is the pair of tax cheats and the guy who urged Clinton to give dicey pardons.

In other words, this is shaping up to be one of the dirtiest administrations ever.

Is it time to appoint the special prosecutor yet?

H/T Hot Air

UPDATE: Here's a partial list -- though it doesn't include some of the appointees or Tom Daschle, who was a lobbyist in all but name.

Here are former lobbyists Obama has tapped for top jobs:

• Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm [now confirmed].


• Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.


• William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.


• William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use.


• David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric.


• Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.


• Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone.


• Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003.


• Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.


• Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.


• Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.


• Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the presidentÂ’s assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005.

Posted by: Greg at 12:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 472 words, total size 3 kb.

AinÂ’t it great what computer technology can do?

Using age progression software to regress a portrait of our nationÂ’s first First Lady, historians have come up with a very different image of the dowdy old matron we see depicted in the history books.

Examination of records from her lifetime reveal an intelligent, competent, and passionate woman who would certainly have been a proper match for the studly young man we know George Washington to have been. It certainly makes one wonder if there was the sort of lively intellectual repartee between these two that we know existed between John and Abigail Adams – a couple who we also know had a smoldering passion for each other as well.

Posted by: Greg at 12:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 126 words, total size 1 kb.