Edgelings.com » Editing Their Way to Oblivion: Journalism Sacrificed For Power and Pensions

Meanwhile, I watched with disbelief as the nation’s leading newspapers, many of whom I’d written for in the past, slowly let opinion pieces creep into the news section, and from there onto the front page. Personal opinions and comments that, had they appeared in my stories in 1979, would have gotten my butt kicked by the nearest copy editor, were now standard operating procedure at the New York Times, the Washington Post, and soon after in almost every small town paper in the U.S.

But what really shattered my faith - and I know the day and place where it happened - was the War in Lebanon three summers ago. The hotel I was staying at in Windhoek, Namibia only carried CNN, a network I’d already learned to approach with skepticism. But this was CNN International, which is even worse. I sat there, first with my jaw hanging down, then actually shouting at the TV, as one field reporter after another reported the carnage of the Israeli attacks on Beirut, with almost no corresponding coverage of the Hezbollah missiles raining down on northern Israel. The reporting was so utterly and shamelessly biased that I sat there for hours watching, assuming that eventually CNNi would get around to telling the rest of the story . . .but it never happened.

But nothing, nothing I’ve seen has matched the media bias on display in the current Presidential campaign. Republicans are justifiably foaming at the mouth over the sheer one-sidedness of the press coverage of the two candidates and their running mates. But in the last few days, even Democrats, who have been gloating over the pass - no, make that shameless support - they’ve gotten from the press, are starting to get uncomfortable as they realize that no one wins in the long run when we don’t have a free and fair press. I was one of the first people in the traditional media to call for the firing of Dan Rather - not because of his phony story, but because he refused to admit his mistake - but, bless him, even Gunga Dan thinks the media is one-sided in this election.

Edgelings.com » Editing Their Way to Oblivion: Journalism Sacrificed For Power and Pensions

Guess which journalist won't be given the keys to the executive MSM washroom anytime soon.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

BAM STAFFERS PULL THEIR BOGUS OHIO BALLOTS - New York Post

Thirteen campaign workers for Barack Obama yesterday yanked their voter registrations and ballots in Ohio after being warned by a prosecutor that temporary residents can't vote in the battleground state.

A dozen staffers - including Obama Ohio spokeswoman Olivia Alair and James Cadogan, who recently joined Team Obama - signed a form letter asking the Franklin County elections board to pull their names from the rolls.

The letter - a copy of which was obtained by palestra.net, a Fox News affiliate - came a day after prosecutor Ron O'Brien publicly urged out-of-state campaign workers for both Obama and John McCain to "examine your conscience" before the elections board beings begins opening absentee ballots today.

Earlier in the week, O'Brien spoke with lawyers for both camps and urged them to make sure their staffs met permanent-residency rules, or face possible felony charges.

Also pulling his ballot yesterday was Hofstra University grad Jake Smith, an Obama volunteer who had voted in Knox County, Ohio.

On Thursday, O'Brien cut a deal with 13 out-of-staters, including four from New York, who tossed out their already-cast ballots and admitted they didn't meet residency requirements.

BAM STAFFERS PULL THEIR BOGUS OHIO BALLOTS - New York Post


I'm confused...what deal is there to make?  they knowingly committed a crime, just like walking into a store and taking money, and they get to say "we're sorry"?  where's the outrage from the typically outraged democrats always screaming "they stole the elections"?  maybe they're too busy filling out false ballots to watch the news?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Secret, Foreign Money Floods Into Obama Campaign

Another fine endorsement for the One: Newsmax.com – Secret, Foreign Money Floods Into Obama Campaign

Unlike the McCain campaign, which has made its complete donor
database available online, the Obama campaign has not identified donors
for nearly half the amount he has raised, according to the Center for
Responsive Politics (CRP).

Federal law does not require the campaigns to identify donors
who give less than $200 during the election cycle. However, it does
require that campaigns calculate running totals for each donor and
report them once they go beyond the $200 mark.

Surprisingly, the great majority of Obama donors never break the $200 threshold.

(snip)

“We and seven other watchdog groups asked both campaigns for more
information on small donors,” he said. “The Obama campaign never
responded,” whereas the McCain campaign “makes all its donor
information, including the small donors, available online.”

(snip)

A Newsmax analysis of the 1.4 million individual contributions in
the latest master file for the Obama campaign discovered 1,000 separate
entries for Mr. Good Will, most of them for $25.

In total, Mr. Good Will gave $17,375.

(snip)

In June, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a public speech praising Obama, claiming foreign nationals were donating to his campaign.

(snip)

A pair of Palestinian brothers named Hosam and Monir Edwan contributed
more than $31,300 to the Obama campaign in October and November 2007,
FEC records show.

At this rate, obvious Hollywood and other media elite might be relegated to the back of the line when "donations" are repaid by an Obama administration.  That's after Gadhafi, random Palestinians, and the hosts of "mysterious" $200 patrons get their special favors first.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Quiet on the set

Barack Obama Lies

This Obama myth debunking from a website that has quite a list of similar myth debunking.  I've heard this one a couple of times, in various forms.  It's kind of funny when you think about it.  Supposedly inspired and supported by the Royal Kennedy clan, the Obama mythology is rolled up into the (corrupt and elitist) Kennedy mythology.  One mythological dynasty reaching out to a new mythology figure.

Obama went
on to tell his audience that the Kennedys -- Jack and Bobby -- decided
to do an airlift. They would bring some young Africans over so that
they could be educated and learn all about America.

His grandfather heard that call and sent his son, Barack Obama, Sr., to
America.The problem with that scenario is that, having been born in
August 1961, the future senator was not conceived until sometime in
November 1960. So, if his African grandfather heard words that "sent a
shout across oceans," inspiring him to send his goat-herder son to
America, it was not Democrat Jack Kennedy he heard, or his brother
Bobby, it was Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Actually, Senior was awarded an American sponsored scholarship in
economics to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He was selected by a
former Kenyan cabinet minister, the late Tom Mboya, who was earmarked
as the successor to Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first prime minister.

The presumption was that Senior would return to Africa and use his "Western-honed skills in a new Kenya."

Too bad it didn't happen that way.  And why would an African goat-herder find the US appealing?  Wasn't Eisenhower-era US miserable for minorities and the poor?  This was before civil rights, womans-lib, welfare for all...how would a goat-herder from Africa fare in that evil white man's world?

More of Obama's "white lies" at Barack Obama Lies.

hmmm...can I say "white lies" and not be considered racist?

There's a lot of chaff at that "Lies" website, but there is some pretty interesting stuff about BO's very expensive house at a cut rate price and bottom basement mortgage, his serendipitous neighbor, and the  "hiding" of his grandparents....the white ones...who actually raised him, paid for his expensive school and but that story seems hidden from public view b/c their race might not appeal to BO's progressive audience.  Can't bootstrap yourself from single-mom poverty to Havard Law School if you've got well to do white grandparents to pay for everything.

I also like the one about BO's mom being on food stamps/welfare while she's getting her PhD.  Check out the math on that story!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The audacity of resume-padding

The audacity of resume-padding (or, why Obama makes things up) | America Decides 2008 | Jerusalem Post

This article does a run down of something I've been wondering for awhile:  the claim of 20 years of public service does add up mathematically. Seven years as State Senator, mostly spent planning to be a US Senator, and now three years as a US Senator, mostly spent planning to be US President.  So when has he actually done the job he was elected to do, and how does it add up to 20 years?

I like this summary the best:

Look at his record: he's now completed over half of a Senate term; yet, is there even one signature issue he has taken hold of, other than his own presidential run? Similarly, as the New York Times recently pointed out, Obama spent twelve years on the University of Chicago Law School faculty--singularly famous for its intellectual ferment and incubator of scholarship--and produced not even a single scholarly paper. He was President of Harvard Law Review, but wrote nothing himself. Even as a state legislator for seven years-or community organizer for three years, there is little that shows his imprint. OK, to be fair, he did write two books. About himself.

For all his glowing job titles, Obama has never gotten much done. Is it any wonder that his spokesmen respond with sweeping generalities when asked what Obama has actually accomplished relevant to the presidency?

There are also holes in his claim to being a "Constitutional Law Professor"...but that he was simply a lecturer at a Chicago area university.    

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Obama Taxes - Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Maybe more like a Socialist in Capitalist's clothing--a wardrobe of expensive business suits that us poor working class could never afford, unless we get the appropriate gov't handout....oops i mean tax cut!

From the WSJ:

One of Barack Obama's most potent campaign claims is that he'll cut
taxes for no less than 95% of "working families." He's even promising
to cut taxes enough that the government's tax share of GDP will be no
more than 18.2% -- which is lower than it is today.

AP

It's a clever pitch, because it
lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he's
also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%.
But how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a
third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all? There are
several sleights of hand, but the most creative is to redefine the
meaning of "tax cut."

For the Obama Democrats, a tax cut is no longer letting you keep
more of what you earn. In their lexicon, a tax cut includes tens of
billions of dollars in government handouts that are disguised by the
phrase "tax credit." Mr. Obama is proposing to create or expand no
fewer than seven such credits for individuals:

- A $500 tax credit ($1,000 a couple) to "make
work pay" that phases out at income of $75,000 for individuals and
$150,000 per couple.

- A $4,000 tax credit for college tuition.

- A 10% mortgage interest tax credit (on top of the existing mortgage interest deduction and other housing subsidies).

- A "savings" tax credit of 50% up to $1,000.

- An expansion of the earned-income tax credit that would allow
single workers to receive as much as $555 a year, up from $175 now, and
give these workers up to $1,110 if they are paying child support.

- A child care credit of 50% up to $6,000 of expenses a year.

- A "clean car" tax credit of up to $7,000 on the purchase of certain vehicles.

Here's the political catch. All but the clean car credit would be
"refundable," which is Washington-speak for the fact that you can
receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other
words, they are an income transfer -- a federal check -- from taxpayers
to nontaxpayers. Once upon a time we called this "welfare," or in
George McGovern's 1972 campaign a "Demogrant." Mr. Obama's genius is to
call it a tax cut.

The Tax Foundation estimates that under the Obama plan 63 million
Americans, or 44% of all tax filers, would have no income tax liability
and most of those would get a check from the IRS each year. The
Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis estimates that by 2011,
under the Obama plan, an additional 10 million filers would pay zero
taxes while cashing checks from the IRS.

The total annual expenditures on refundable "tax credits" would rise
over the next 10 years by $647 billion to $1.054 trillion, according to
the Tax Policy Center. This means that the tax-credit welfare state
would soon cost four times actual cash welfare. By redefining such
income payments as "tax credits," the Obama campaign also redefines
them away as a tax share of GDP. Presto, the federal tax burden looks
much smaller than it really is.

The political left defends "refundability" on grounds that these
payments help to offset the payroll tax. And that was at least
plausible when the only major refundable credit was the earned-income
tax credit. Taken together, however, these tax credit payments would
exceed payroll levies for most low-income workers.

It is also true that John McCain proposes a refundable tax credit -- his $5,000 to help individuals buy health insurance. We've written before that we prefer a tax deduction for individual health care, rather than a credit.
But the big difference with Mr. Obama is that Mr. McCain's proposal
replaces the tax subsidy for employer-sponsored health insurance that
individuals don't now receive if they buy on their own. It merely
changes the nature of the tax subsidy; it doesn't create a new one.

There's another catch: Because Mr. Obama's tax credits are phased
out as incomes rise, they impose a huge "marginal" tax rate increase on
low-income workers. The marginal tax rate refers to the rate on the
next dollar of income earned. As the nearby chart illustrates, the
marginal rate for millions of low- and middle-income workers would
spike as they earn more income.

Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in
vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned from working
overtime or taking a new job. As public policy, this is contradictory.
The tax credits are sold in the name of "making work pay," but in
practice they can be a disincentive to working harder, especially if
you're a lower-income couple getting raises of $1,000 or $2,000 a year.
One mystery -- among many -- of the McCain campaign is why it has
allowed Mr. Obama's 95% illusion to go unanswered.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

UT No.1 in college football poll after win over OU | Sports | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

UT No.1 in college football poll after win over OU | Sports | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Oktoberfest left-overs

Blogged with the Flock Browser

This is about all that remains from our mini-Oktoberfest, so if you didn't get what you wanted, you're too late!

The official menu included homemade pretzels, german potato salad, lots and lots of grilled sausages, spaeztle casserole, and lots of deserts brought over by guests. And Oktoberfest beer by Sam Adams, as well as real german mustard. There might have been some real pear flavored schnapps available too.

The pretzels were a big hit...so to satisfy the requests, here's the recipe I used from "Good Eats", a TV show on the food network. We watch all of the episodes we can of Good Eats...the host is kinda kooky, but we like the food science he brings to the show. And great recipes too. This one is really easy and makes great tasting pretzels.

Word of warning: don't use an expensive pan when you dip the pretzels in boiling water/baking soda mixture in the recipe. One of our expensive, Calphalon pans that originally had a dark finish on the aluminum now has a bright shiny finish where the boiling baking soda stripped away the coating. We used a stainless steel finished pan on the second batch, with no problems. Still waiting to hear from Calphalon on whether our ugly pan is still safe to use! Any chemistry majors out there care to explain the reaction?

Introducing the Senator from the great state of ACORN

Article from the NRO

What if Barack Obama's most important radical connection has been hiding
in plain sight all along? Obama has had an intimate and long-term
association with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now (Acorn), the largest radical group in America. If I told you Obama
had close ties with MoveOn.org or Code Pink, you'd know what I was
talking about. Acorn is at least as radical as these better-known
groups, arguably more so. Yet because Acorn works locally, in carefully
selected urban areas, its national profile is lower. Acorn likes it that
way. And so, I'd wager, does Barack Obama.

This is a story we've largely missed. While Obama's Acorn connection has
not gone entirely unreported, its depth, extent, and significance have
been poorly understood. Typically, media background pieces note that, on
behalf of Acorn, Obama and a team of Chicago attorneys won a 1995 suit
forcing the state of Illinois to implement the federal "motor-voter"
bill. In fact, Obama's Acorn connection is far more extensive. In the
few stories where Obama's role as an Acorn "leadership trainer" is
noted, or his seats on the boards of foundations that may have supported
Acorn are discussed, there is little follow-up. Even these more
extensive reports miss many aspects of Obama's ties to Acorn.

An Anti-Capitalism Agenda
To understand the nature and extent of Acorn's radicalism, an excellent
place to begin is Sol Stern's 2003 City Journal article, "ACORN's Nutty
Regime for Cities." (For a shorter but helpful piece, try Steven
Malanga's "Acorn Squash.")

Sol Stern explains that Acorn is the key modern successor of the radical
1960's "New Left," with a "1960's-bred agenda of anti-capitalism" to
match. Acorn, says Stern, grew out of "one of the New Left's silliest
and most destructive groups, the National Welfare Rights Organization."
In the 1960's, NWRO launched a campaign of sit-ins and disruptions at
welfare offices. The goal was to remove eligibility restrictions, and
thus effectively flood welfare rolls with so many clients that the
system would burst. The theory, explains Stern, was that an impossibly
overburdened welfare system would force "a radical reconstruction of
America's unjust capitalist economy." Instead of a socialist utopia,
however, we got the culture of dependency and family breakdown that ate
away at America's inner cities - until welfare reform began to turn the
tide.

While Acorn holds to NWRO's radical economic framework and its
confrontational 1960's-style tactics, the targets and strategy have
changed. Acorn prefers to fly under the national radar, organizing
locally in liberal urban areas - where, Stern observes, local
legislators and reporters are often "slow to grasp how radical Acorn's
positions really are." Acorn's new goals are municipal "living wage"
laws targeting "big-box" stores like Wal-Mart, rolling back welfare
reform, and regulating banks - efforts styled as combating "predatory
lending." Unfortunately, instead of helping workers, Acorn's living-wage
campaigns drive businesses out of the very neighborhoods where jobs are
needed most. Acorn's opposition to welfare reform only threatens to
worsen the self-reinforcing cycle of urban poverty and family breakdown.
Perhaps most mischievously, says Stern, Acorn uses banking regulations
to pressure financial institutions into massive "donations" that it uses
to finance supposedly non-partisan voter turn-out drives.

According to Stern, Acorn's radical agenda sometimes shifts toward
"undisguised authoritarian socialism." Fully aware of its living-wage
campaign's tendency to drive businesses out of cities, Acorn hopes to
force companies that want to move to obtain "exit visas." "How much
longer before Acorn calls for exit visas for wealthy or middle-class
individuals before they can leave a city?" asks Stern, adding, "This is
the road to serfdom indeed."

In Your Face
Acorn's tactics are famously "in your face." Just think of Code Pink's
well-known operations (threatening to occupy congressional offices,
interrupting the testimony of General David Petraeus) and you'll get the
idea. Acorn protesters have disrupted Federal Reserve hearings, but
mostly deploy their aggressive tactics locally. Chicago is home to one
of its strongest chapters, and Acorn has burst into a closed city
council meeting there. Acorn protestors in Baltimore disrupted a
bankers' dinner and sent four busloads of profanity-screaming protestors
against the mayor's home, terrifying his wife and kids. Even a Baltimore
city council member who generally supports Acorn said their intimidation
tactics had crossed the line.

Acorn, however, defiantly touts its confrontational tactics. While Stern
himself notes this, the point is driven home sharper still in an
Acorn-friendly reply to Stern entitled "Enraging the Right." Written by
academic/activists John Atlas and Peter Dreier, the reply's avowed
intent is to convince Acorn-friendly politicians, journalists, and
funders not to desert the organization in the wake of Stern's powerful
critique. The stunning thing about this supposed rebuttal is that it
confirms nearly everything Stern says. Do Atlas and Dreier object to
Stern's characterizations of Acorn's radical plans - even his
slippery-slope warnings about Acorn's designs on basic freedom of
movement? Nope. "Stern accurately outlines Acorn's agenda," they say.

Do Atlas and Dreier dismiss Stern's catalogue of Acorn's disruptive and
intentionally intimidating tactics as a set of regrettable exceptions to
Acorn's rule of civility? Not a chance. Atlas and Dreier are at pains to
point out that intimidation works. They proudly reel off the increased
memberships that follow in the wake of high-profile disruptions, and
clearly imply that the same public officials who object most
vociferously to intimidation are the ones most likely to cave as a
result. What really upsets Atlas and Dreier is that Stern misses the
subtle national hand directing Acorn's various local campaigns. This is
radicalism unashamed.

But don't let the disruptive tactics fool you. Acorn is a savvy and
exceedingly effective political player. Stern says that Acorn's key
post-New Left innovation is its determination to take over the system
from within, rather than futilely try to overthrow it from without.
Stern calls this strategy a political version of Invasion of the Body
Snatchers. Take Atlas and Dreier at their word: Acorn has an openly
aggressive and intimidating side, but a sophisticated inside game, as
well. Chicago's Acorn leader, for example, won a seat on the Board of
Aldermen as the candidate of a leftist "New Party."

Obama Meets Acorn
What has Barack Obama got to do with all this? Plenty. Let's begin with
Obama's pre-law school days as a community organizer in Chicago. Few
people have a clear idea of just what a "community organizer" does. A
Los Angeles Times piece on Obama's early Chicago days opens with the
touching story of his efforts to build a partnership with Chicago's
"Friends of the Parks," so that parents in a blighted neighborhood could
have an inviting spot for their kids to play. This is the image of
Obama's organizing we're supposed to hold. It's far from the whole
story, however. As the L. A. Times puts it, "Obama's task was to help
far South Side residents press for improvement" in their communities.
Part of Obama's work, it would appear, was to organize demonstrations,
much in the mold of radical groups like Acorn.

Although the L. A. Times piece is generally positive, it does press
Obama's organizing tales on certain points. Some claim that Obama's
book, Dreams from My Father, exaggerates his accomplishments in
spearheading an asbestos cleanup at a low-income housing project. Obama,
these critics say, denies due credit to Hazel Johnson, an activist who
claims she was the one who actually discovered the asbestos problem and
led the efforts to resolve it. Read carefully, the L. A. Times story
leans toward confirming this complaint against Obama, yet the story's
emphasis is to affirm Obama's important role in the battle. Speaking up
in defense of Obama on the asbestos issue is Madeleine Talbot, who at
the time was a leader at Chicago Acorn. Talbot, we learn, was so
impressed by Obama's organizing skills that she invited him to help
train her own staff.

And what exactly was Talbot's work with Acorn? Talbot turns out to have
been a key leader of that attempt by Acorn to storm the Chicago City
Council (during a living-wage debate). While Sol Stern mentions this
story in passing, the details are worth a look: On July 31, 1997, six
people were arrested as 200 Acorn protesters tried to storm the Chicago
City Council session. According to the Chicago Daily Herald, Acorn
demonstrators pushed over the metal detector and table used to screen
visitors, backed police against the doors to the council chamber, and
blocked late-arriving aldermen and city staff from entering the session.

Reading the Herald article, you might think Acorn's demonstrators had
simply lost patience after being denied entry to the gallery at a packed
meeting. Yet the full story points in a different direction. This was
not an overreaction by frustrated followers who couldn't get into a
meeting (there were plenty of protestors already in the gallery), but
almost certainly a deliberate bit of what radicals call "direct action,"
orchestrated by Acorn's Madeleine Talbot. As Talbot was led away
handcuffed, charged with mob action and disorderly conduct, she
explicitly justified her actions in storming the meeting. This was the
woman who first drew Obama into his alliance with Acorn, and whose staff
Obama helped train.

Surprise Visit
Does that mean Obama himself schooled Acorn volunteers in disruptive
"direct action?" Not necessarily. The City Council storming took place
in 1997, years after Obama's early organizing days. And in general,
Obama seems to have been part of Acorn's "inside baseball" strategy. As
a national star from his law school days, Obama knew he had a political
future, and would surely have been reluctant to violate the law. In his
early organizing days, Obama used to tell the residents he organized
that they'd be more effective in their protests if they controlled their
anger. On the other hand, as he established and deepened his association
with Acorn through the years, Obama had to know what the organization
was all about. Moreover, in his early days, Obama was not exactly a
stranger to the "direct action" side of community organizing.

Consider the second charge against Obama raised by the L.A. Times
backgrounder. On the stump today, Obama often says he helped prevent
South Side Chicago blacks, Latinos, and whites from turning on each
other after losing their jobs, but many of the community organizers
interviewed by the L. A. Times say that Obama worked overwhelmingly with
blacks.

To rebut this charge, Obama's organizer friends tell the story of how he
helped plan "actions" that included mixed white, black, and Latino
groups. For example, following Obama's plan, one such group paid a
"surprise visit" to a meeting between local officials considering a
landfill expansion. The protestors surrounded the meeting table while
one activist made a statement chiding the officials, after which the
protestors filed out. Presto! Obama is immunized from charges of having
worked exclusively with blacks - but at the cost of granting us a peek
at the not-so-warm-and-fuzzy side of his community organizing.
Intimidation tactics are revealed, and Obama's alliance with radical
Acorn activists like Madeleine Talbot begins to make sense.

"Non-Partisan"
The extent of Obama's ties to Acorn has not been recognized. We find
some important details in an article in the journal Social Policy
entitled, "Case Study: Chicago - The Barack Obama Campaign," by Toni
Foulkes, a Chicago Acorn leader and a member of Acorn's National
Association Board. The odd thing about this article is that Foulkes is
forced to protect the technically "non-partisan" status of Acorn's
get-out-the-vote campaigns, even as he does everything in his power to
give Acorn credit for helping its favorite son win the critical 2004
primary that secured Obama the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate.

Before giving us a tour of Acorn's pro-Obama but somehow "non-partisan"
election activities, Foulks treats us to a brief history of Obama's ties
to Acorn. While most press accounts imply that Obama just happened to be
at the sort of public-interest law firm that would take Acorn's "motor
voter" case, Foulkes claims that Acorn specifically sought out Obama's
representation in the motor voter case, remembering Obama from the days
when he worked with Talbot. And while many reports speak of Obama's
post-law school role organizing "Project VOTE" in 1992, Foulkes makes it
clear that this project was undertaken in direct partnership with Acorn.
Foulkes then stresses Obama's yearly service as a key figure in Acorn's
leadership-training seminars.

At least a few news reports have briefly mentioned Obama's role in
training Acorn's leaders, but none that I know of have said what Foulkes
reports next: that Obama's long service with Acorn led many members to
serve as the volunteer shock troops of Obama's early political campaigns
- his initial 1996 State Senate campaign, and his failed bid for
Congress in 2000 (Foulkes confuses the dates of these two campaigns.)
With Obama having personally helped train a new cadre of Chicago Acorn
leaders, by the time of Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign, Obama and
Acorn were "old friends," says Foulkes.

So along with the reservoir of political support that came to Obama
through his close ties with Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and
other Chicago black churches, Chicago Acorn appears to have played a
major role in Obama's political advance. Sure enough, a bit of digging
into Obama's years in the Illinois State Senate indicates strong concern
with Acorn's signature issues, as well as meetings with Acorn and the
introduction by Obama of Acorn-friendly legislation on the living wage
and banking practices. You begin to wonder whether, in his Springfield
days, Obama might have best been characterized as "the Senator from
Acorn."

Foundation Money

Although it's been noted in an important story by John Fund, and in a
long Obama background piece in the New York Times, more attention needs
to be paid to possible links between Obama and Acorn during the period
of Obama's service on the boards of two charitable foundations, the
Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation.

According to the New York Times, Obama's memberships on those foundation
boards, "allowed him to help direct tens of millions of dollars in
grants" to various liberal organizations, including Chicago Acorn,
"whose endorsement Obama sought and won in his State Senate race." As
best as I can tell (and this needs to be checked out more fully), Acorn
maintains both political and "non-partisan" arms. Obama not only sought
and received the endorsement of Acorn's political arm in his local
campaigns, he recently accepted Acorn's endorsement for the presidency,
in pursuit of which he reminded Acorn officials of his long-standing
ties to the group.

Supposedly, Acorn's political arm is segregated from its "non-partisan"
registration and get-out-the-vote efforts, but after reading Foulkes'
case study, this non-partisanship is exceedingly difficult to discern.
As I understand, it would be illegal for Obama to sit on a foundation
board and direct money to an organization that openly served as his key
get-out-the-vote volunteers on Election Day. I'm not saying Obama
crossed a legal line here: Based on Foulkes' account, Acorn's
get-out-the-vote drive most likely observed the technicalities of
"non-partisanship."

Nevertheless, the possibilities suggested by a combined reading of the
New York Times piece and the Foulkes article are disturbing. While
keeping within the technicalities of the law, Obama may have been able
to direct substantial foundation money to his organized political
supporters. I offer no settled conclusion, but the matter certainly
warrants further investigation and discussion. Obama is supposed to be
the man who transcends partisanship. Has he instead used his post at an
allegedly non-partisan foundation to direct money to a supposedly
non-partisan group, in pursuit of what are in fact nakedly partisan and
personal ends? I have no final answer, but the question needs to be
pursued further.

In fact, the broader set of practices by which activist groups pursue
intensely partisan ends under the guise of non-partisanship merits
further scrutiny. Consider the 2006 report by Jonathan Bechtle, "Voter
Turnout or Voter Fraud?" which includes a discussion of the nexus
between Project Vote and Acorn, a nexus where Obama himself once
resided. According to Bechtle, "It's clear that groups that claimed to
be nonpartisan wanted a partisan outcome," and reading Foulkes's case
study of Acorn's role in Obama's U.S. Senate campaign, one can't help
but agree.

Radical Obama
Important as these questions of funding and partisanship are, the larger
point is that Obama's ties to Acorn - arguably the most politically
radical large-scale activist group in the country - are wide, deep, and
longstanding. If Acorn is adept at creating a non-partisan, inside-game
veneer for what is in fact an intensely radical, leftist, and
politically partisan reality, so is Obama himself. This is hardly a
coincidence: Obama helped train Acorn's leaders in how to play this
game. For the most part, Obama seems to have favored the
political-insider strategy, yet it's clear that he knew how to play the
in-your-face "direct action" game as well. And surely during his many
years of close association with Acorn, Obama had to know what the group
was all about.

The shame of it is that when the L. A. Times returned to Obama's
stomping grounds, it found the park he'd helped renovate reclaimed by
drug dealers and thugs. The community organizer strategy may generate
feel-good moments and best-selling books, but I suspect a Wal-Mart as
the seed-bed of a larger shopping complex would have done far more to
save the neighborhood where Obama worked to organize in the
"progressive" fashion. Unfortunately, Obama's Acorn cronies have blocked
that solution.

In any case, if you're looking for the piece of the puzzle that confirms
and explains Obama's network of radical ties, gather your Acorns this
spring. Or next winter, you may just be left watching the "President
from Acorn" at his feast.

Oct 04, 2008 - Dandy Days

Dandy Days came to the neighborhood! Parade made up of mostly “off road” golf carts, and lots of county and neighborhood emergency vehicles. Even Santorini had fun.

Later, we walked to the picnic grounds and had a really fun day. Beautiful weather, that’s for sure.

Even later, we dashed off for the Kastner’s house and had cake for Niamh’s pre-birthday birthday party. Then we dashed off to Richmond to go to Niamh’s new favorite restaurant...Texas do Brazil Churrascaria. Funny thing that Sharon likes it “almost” as much as Niamh. Coincidence? hmmmm....? Good steaks and full tummies for all.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Unusual photos

you know me, i like to take lots of photos. but i was TDY until just this weekend and a friend of ours took some photos of fran while i was gone. i am not sure i recognize the type of camera they used, but it says fran at the top, so i guess it is a photo of fran, just from an unusual vantage point.

the image does look a little familiar though...is there anybody out there can help me out with this? :)

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Speaking of Star Trek....

Doesn't this guy look familiar?



My Name is Obama, and I find Obama-coddling very illogical

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Everything I need to know about Politics...

...I learned on Star Trek:

From Wall St Journal “Best of the Web”:

September 22, 2008 -- 4:30 p.m. EDT

The Washington Post Paradox
A recurring theme in the old "Star Trek" series was the machine run amok. An intelligent computer, entrusted with some important task, would conclude that human beings were imperfect because they do not always act logically. Because humans are imperfect, the computer would reason, they must be destroyed. (This seems like a bit of a leap, but maybe it made sense in the '60s.)

Invariably, Captain Kirk and the other protagonists would save mankind by using illogic to fight the computer. They would feed the computer some paradox or logically incoherent statement, such as "Everything I say is a lie," which would overload the computer's logic circuits and destroy it.

Last week John McCain's campaign put out an ad criticizing Barack Obama for his ties to Franklin Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae. The ad said that Obama relies on Raines "for 'advice on mortgage and housing policy.' " The Washington Post claims that the McCain ad is "a stretch":

So what evidence does the McCain campaign have for the supposed Obama-Raines connection? It is pretty flimsy, but it is not made up completely out of whole cloth. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers points to three items in the Washington Post in July and August. It turns out that the three items (including an editorial) all rely on the same single conversation, between Raines and a Washington Post business reporter, Anita Huslin, who wrote a profile of the discredited Fannie Mae boss that appeared July 16. The profile reported that Raines, who retired from Fannie Mae four years ago, had "taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters."

So the Washington Post is saying you can't believe McCain's ad because it is based on reporting in . . . the Washington Post. The Washington Post is not a reliable source of information, according to the Washington Post.

But if the Washington Post is not a reliable source of information, how can we believe the Washington Post when it says it's not a reliable source of information? But if we don't believe the Washington Post when it says it's not a reliable source of information, then we must believe the Washington Post is a reliable source of information, in which case how can we believe the Washington Post is not a reliable source of information. But if . . .

You get the picture. Clearly this is part of a sinister plot by the Obama-coddling mainstream media to induce madness in all Americans who have the capacity for logical thought, rendering them unable to vote and ensuring the election is decided by Obama backers who act totally on emotion.

Then again, it may not work. After all, "Star Trek" was only a TV show.

Obama-coddling by the MSM is clearly illogical.

Beach View

Nice beach day here on the PCB! I think that autumn might finally be coming. Mornings are cool, but by the afternoon, it is hot and humid again. Can't wait to get back to Va to see the fall colors arrive.

HB on the beach?

German beer makes it worth dealing with the rednecks. Real German beer (imported daily from Munich) significantly raises my tolerance of mullets and NASCAR t-shirts. The oompah band is a stretch, but a good Maibock is worth it.

This place is a fairly good copy of the Vegas version which is a fairly good copy of the Munich original.

I think few locals or tourists realize this is a copy of a very old beer hall in Germany. I'm sure more than a few are disappointed they don't serve Miller lite!

Yes, I confess...I'm a beer snob.

Early Christmas

Wonder what's in the box? Of course Fran will disagree, but this might be her early Christmas present...a new MacBook!

Her old ibook died last week. Seems it suffered from a logic board fault that was part of a repair program. I remembered looking it up when I first found out a few years ago, but the S/N didn't fall within the correct range...at the time. I looked it up again and found it was expanded and did include this poor little ibook. I think that the cost of repair for such an old laptop might not really be worth it.

So, after years of owning apple computers, this is the only serious hardware failure i've ever experienced. After 15-20 computers and peripherals, that's not too bad...especially considering that ibook had worked well for 6+ years and had been dragged all over the world. Not too bad at all.

Working or not, i know Fran will probably not want to part with her coveted little ibook. I don't see it going in the trash!

Hurricane Ike passing by

Hurricane waves generated from Hurricane's Ike presence in the gulf. I'm TDY to Tyndall again and staying in the condo on Panama City Beach. I didn't realize the effect of the hurricane would be felt so far away and didn't realize the size of the surf until I got in the room and checked over the balcony. If you click on the photo it should expand and then you can see people walking along the beach for a sense of scale.

Brazilian Fourth of July

very colonial of her!

i'm experimenting with a new blogger (macjournal 5) and posting images (via iphoto to picasa, via iphoto to flickr) and posting directly from flock browser while logged into flickr.

so this is a test photo that is still a very nice photo on its own.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Liberal elitists must have been busy eliting that night...

...or busy smelling each other's farts at a West Coast Smug-fest, because  TV ratings results show:  "Republican convention was most-watched convention on television -- ever..."

and:

MCCAIN SPEECH 10-11:15PM

FOXNEWS 9.2 MILLION
NBC 8.7 MILLION
ABC: 6.0 MILLION
CBS: 5.3 MILLION
CNN 4.8 MILLION
MSNBC 2.5 MILLION

Obviously only a few unimportant peons bothered to watch the RNC.  Who'd bother watching a show if there weren't any Greek temple backdrops to pontificate from?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Hey O, your bias is showing!

OPRAH'S STATEMENT: "The item in today's Drudge Report is categorically
untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah
Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I
decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a
candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any
of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic
interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over."

I actually agree with the Big O on this one.  What we need is more coke-heads pushing their books and ditzy actors pushing their movies.  And lots more Diet of the Month Club discussions.

She should stick to hard core stuff like that and leave all the confusing political discussions and exposes to the real journalists like Whoopsi Goldberg and Rosie O'Crazy.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Gloria Steinem must be rolling over in her grave

oh wait...she's not dead yet. If that's the case...i wonder where Ms Steinem's outrage is at over NYT analysis "gems" like this over the Palin VP pick:

“When I first heard about Palin, I was impressed,” said Pamela Moore, a mother of two from Birmingham, Ala. But upon reading that Ms. Palin’s special-needs child was three days old when she went back to work, Ms. Moore began questioning the governor’s judgment. Partly as a result, she plans to vote for Senator Barack Obama.

Guess all those years of feminist talk didn't convince "liberal thinkers" like Ms Moore that women have a place outside the kitchen. But it does seem to have had an impact on conservatives like Ms Palin.

Who'd have thought?

Windows strikes again!

Blue Screen of Death Strikes Bird's Nest During Opening Ceremonies

I'm sure it wasn't a stolen copy of windows.  What, don't believe me?  Check the passport!

(link has pictures)

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Inflation update: Price of Hope outpaces Price of Change

From http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/399

Suburban Democrats are hosting a fundraiser for Barack Obama this Friday
that puts a real price on all the Democrats talk.

Tickets to the event will get you into a showing of "Bleacher Bums," a
skit comedy at the Arlington Heights Performing Arts Center based on
Wrigley Field.

But attendees can get more than a show - they can get a word.
'Hope Supporters' can contribute $500 to land four seats at a table near
the front of the stage and a special mention during the show.

'Action Supporters' get one reserved seat and a special mention for
$100.
And then the lowly 'Change Supporter' gets just a plain old seat for
$50.

Maybe The One will increase the taxes on the top 5% of all optimists to
cover the growing Hope Deficit.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The Goracle must be rolling over in his grave!

Disaster! Not enough limos for limo libs in Denver

Oh wait, what am I thinking? The Goracle isn't dead. He's busy printing up some new carbon credits to sell to his earth-friendy, eco-first democratic limousine buddies.

C'mon guys...just redistribute the limo wealth (raise taxes) so all there are more limos to go around

Blogged with the Flock Browser

PETA might be kooks, but at least they are still Kapitalists

PETA wants to advertise vegan message on border fence:

FTFA:  PETA says its billboards would picture "fit and trim" Mexicans in their own country, where their diet is more in line with the group's mission. Another image on the sign would portray obese American children and adults "gorging on meaty, fat- and cholesterol-packed American food."

I guess "too poor to afford food" is the new "fit and trim" diet craze.  Those crazy illegal aliens, they just don't realize how good they've got it at home!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

By the will of Allah, grocery shopping just got easier!

Labor Day, who needs it? What we need is a mandatory religious holiday instead!

"Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be granted the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr."

I submitted the following letter to Tyson Customer Service

I have read about your company's decision to drop Labor Day in favor of granting workers a day off for a religious observation instead. (story at http://www.wsmv.com/news/17063986/detail.html#-) From a very short search online, Labor Day is defined as a Federal holiday, and a state holiday observed by all 50 US States.

So the way it appears is that Tyson Foods has opted to ignore a Federal/State holiday in favor a religious holiday, and mandated it for all workers, irrespective of the particular religious affiliation of the workers. This smacks of religious preference, in a country that is founded on religious choices and freedom of religion.

This country is also founded on free trade and nearly all US businesses adhere to the standard "the customer is always right".

This customer is choosing to never again purchase any Tyson products because of your company's decision to favor a minority religious holiday over a federal and state holiday. I have a feeling I will not be the only consumer making this decision.

If you look at the comments at the end of the news story, alot of people indicate they will not be buying Tyson chicken any more either. Unfortunately there are alot of ugly comments included in the "discussion". Name calling and slurs don't really add much to the "logical" debate of Tyson's decision.

Maybe I'll just have an big ol' greasy serving of bacon the next time I have an urge for chicken.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Ok, found an even better brewpub

It was so good, I brought some home!  More than once!

So today's recommendation is Moose's Tooth brewpub.  My favorite is the Beartooth Ale...wow!  Finally a bear I can live with!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Dinner

All cleaned up, not a bad looking fish!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Fishing in Anchorage

Went fishing after work.  Turns out fishing was downtown on Ship Creek, about 10 minutes from the office.  Lots of mud, lots of other people fishing, lots of tangle lines, but it paid off.  Now if I can just figure out how to get this back to Virginia!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

So you know how many cities have interactive maps showing where the bars and restaurants are? Here's an interactive map for Anchorage. Those dots aren't where you can find a Starbucks, that's a map tracking the locations of bears!

Note the "purple bear" seems to be quite at home on Elmendorf. I haven't seen a bear yet, but I did see a moose walk out of the woods near the squadron that I work at. Not what I expected to see next to the flightline!

Now this is journalism!

Why we need more stories like this! Please Obamessiah, do not punish me!

Status check

I'm late for my next tourist adventure. I keep promising more photos (I'm still overdue on Yellowstone and Gettysburg photos, now that I think about it) but I have to run out and do some more tourist stuff...so the photos will have to wait...again.

Here are a couple of shots just for fun...

No media bias here...move along, nothing to see...

Putting Money Where Mouths Are: Media Donations Favor Dems 100-1

Article actually does follow the money. Is anyone surprised?

Oh mighty Goracle, Alaska is calling you a liar!

From the local paper: "Right now the so-called summer of '08 is on pace to produce the fewest days ever recorded in which the temperature in Anchorage managed to reach 65 degrees."

Lucky me, I get to see Alaska's coldest summer ever. I should have brought a better coat. Damn you global warming!

North to Alaska

Go north, the rush is on.

Not so much of a rush, but I am here to work.  I'll be posting photos of non-work adventures here.

Today's recommendation : Glacier Brewhouse.  Awesome cask conditioned IPA last night.  Too bad they don't sell bottles to go!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Reducing my Carbon Footprint

Ok Goracle, let's see what you got!

Unfortunately due to the impending rain and my "learner's permit" (go ahead and snicker...a Harley rider with a learner's permit) my personal carbon reduction vehicle is located safely in the garage.

Al Gore -- You win!

The Goracle has shamed me enough and finally convinced me to do something to reduce my carbon footprint. Why, oh why didn't I see the light before now?

I'll report back later with the details of my sacrifice to the carbon footprint gods. For now, you'll just have to settle for the special report teaser advertisements and special report theme music:

Harry Reid is making me sick

From the Politico, Harry Reid present youtube evidence he is a total buffoon.

Evidently there is a new phase to global warming. Global warming now has the power to make people sick. That's according to sensationalists like Harry Reid. So not only does evil petroleum minutely increase the world's minute CO2 levels enough to melt the polar ice caps in just a few short years (despite the discovery of an arctic volcano that just miiiight have something to do with it), evil oil also is making poor americans sick. (never mind the rest of the world, since sensationalism seems to be an american monopoly)

Bad oil! BAD!

Wait...I have an idea...maybe it's not oil that is making us sick, it's the high level of bureaucratic manure that seems to be appearing at unnatural levels in all forms of media these days. Why, I think I might make a study of the increasing levels of bureaucratic manure (BM) in the political environment, the effects it has on increasing levels of US nausea, and it's side effects on the patience of the rest of the world.

I'll bet there is a direct link between BM and US nausea. There is in our house. And that is good enough for me to start spreading sensationalist headlines of my own, ala MSM evening talking heads:

"Tonight's headlines; some experts say there is increasing evidence that the rising levels of Washington BM is having a negative effect on American health. What does that mean for you? Our special report begins right after our special report theme music and special report graphics"

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0708/Harry_Reid_No_1_on_YouTube_today.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqR0Ui0g3wI

All Bullshit Channel (ABC) is at it again

Once again, the idiots at one of the MSM news outlets are trying to make the news instead of just reporting it.

Despite not actually being in a recession, they have decided to hold a "Recession Rescue" DIY.  Do they even read their own drivel before "reporting" it?

They've even got graphics and, gasp, Recession Rescue Recipes, so you know they're serious! (cue dramatic graphics and theme music, so you know i'm serious!)

The sad thing is, there are alot of sheep out there watching this and then getting all panicky as they drive to work in their 10mpg 5-ton SUV, while texting the "news" to their friends.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Pickett's Charge!

145 years after the real Pickett's Charge, this is the only attack I'm willing to meet head-on.

We have met the true enemy on the fields of gettysburg. It is beer!

Something's rotten in Los Angeles

The latest from the La-La land: "9th Circuit's chief judge posted sexually explicit matter on his website"

Funny that it comes to light when the same judge is presiding over an obscenity trial. I'm sure that no one in California thinks anything is wrong with either a judge posting naked women on his personal website nor do they think he should recuse himself from a case dealing with obscenity masquerading as "art".

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Happy Birthday

To me

From the beaches...back to the (desert) mountains!

It seems like I haven't unpacked my suitcase in ages. I only return home long enough to wash clothes and switch from coats and sweaters to short sleeve shirts.

Anyways, I'm back in Las Vegas (back at the MGM...of course!) for another TDY. Hopefully things will work out and I will not be here a full 2 weeks. We'll see.

Anyways, back into the same routine as earlier this year...time to hit Starbucks on the way to the base.

From the mountains to the beaches

Last week snow, this week surf

We were back at Emerald Isle for the traditional Seymour Johnson Memorial Day Beach weekend. We still know quite a bit of current and former SJ F15E types and were able to spend the weekend with old friends. Good times, good food, lots of silliness...and looking forward to it again next year! Pictures to follow...sure, sure....

All BS Channel (ABC) journalism

So-called news reporter Charlie Gibson "wonders" out loud about how long McCain might live, even though he is only 6 years younger than McCain, hinting that McCain might be too old to be president. Earth to Charlie Gibson: we all die someday.

Besides, isn't that age discrimination? Does that make Gibson a bigot. Wondering out loud here...if Gibson is an age bigot, does that make him potentially a racial bigot too? And, still wondering out loud here, if he might be a racial bigot, maybe Gibson is secretly in the KKK?

What's next, positing the odds whether or not Hildawg will get breast cancer or Obama will get sickle cell anemia?

I suggest that there is a 100% probability so-called news reporters will look like buffoons and reduce (even further) their credibility trying to guess how much longer any candidate will live or the chances someone will come down with dementia solely based on age...all the while passing off such wonderings as "National News".

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Does this gas crunch make my butt look big?

This journalistic gem from ABC "News":

"I don't really get out and enjoy things anymore, I just kind of sit at
home and go to and from work and grocery shopping and that's it,"
Giamei said.

Giamei is adopting measures to minimize her fuel use.

"My entire ride to and from work, I look at the gas tank to just see
how much fuel it's using and it really is amazing," she said. "So, I'm
even trying to drive below the speed limit to use less gas, and it's
just a constant looking at my fuel gauge to see how much gas I've used,
so, as soon as it goes below half a tank, I think, 'Oh, my God, I have
to put gas in my car again.'"

So, increasing gas prices has forced this poor woman to sit on the couch and watch her butt grow, but also taught her that cars have a gas gauge? At least her carbon footprint is shrinking while her couchprint is growing.

I guess it is a step in the right direction that she realizes that slower speeds consume less fuel. I just hope that all that "constant looking" isn't too distracting. After all, how's she supposed to make a mobile phone call while driving with all those distracting speed limits and fuel consumption calculations?

Hey lady, that speed limit thing...it's a limit, not a mandatory speed. Physics...what a wonderful thing.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Day 6 - Grand Tetons

The drive from Yellowstone was sad, the first day in the Tetons cloudy and cold. But today...Wow!!

Day 5 - Onward to the Tetons

After 4 days, 5 grizzlies, 1 black bear, 1 coyote, tons of elk and buffalo, time to say goodbye to Yellowstone, Hello Tetons.

Day 3 - Lower Falls of Yellowstone

Day 3 - Five feet of snow definitely keeps the tourists away

Still lots of snow - perfect for pictures and keeping the tourist population low

RV Pickup Day - Yellowstone Bound

First stop - Gas pump...holy cow! 55 Gallons at $3.80 per gallon...you do the math!

The grizzly bears are going to love this!

I think there is a mistake with our RV Reservation

And Rosie Finally Makes Sense to me

Rosie O'douchebag understands Crackpot Reverend Wright. "It (Reverent Wright's crackpot statements) made sense to me", which finally allows me to understand Rosie. 

She's an idiot.  An idiot unfortunately too close to a microphone and TV camera.  An idiot "journalists" like to "interview" b/c they know they will always get an idiotic reply that plays well to the tabloid obsessed country that tunes in to see celebrity trainwrecks.

One of Rosie O'retard's factoids--"there is a
righteous indignation about people who were only considering
three-fourths a person until fairly recently in our history"

Let's see...Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution actually talks about a Three-fifth's compromise clause and is part of the Constitution adopted in 1787.  Slavery was abolished in 1865 and the Three-fifth's compromise went away as part of the 14th amendment in1868.

so...math in public:

the difference between 3/4 and 3/5 is 3/20.  just in case you've forgotten your fractions: 3/4 - 3/5 = 15/20 - 12/20 = 3/20.  But hey, what's 3/20ths of a person when you don't know what you're talking about anyways.

1865 - 1787 = 78 years that the Three-fifth's compromise was in effect.
2008 - 1865 = 143 years that the Three-fifth's compromise has not been in effect.

So unless she is confused and/or was born sometime in the early 1900's, then she doesn't have a real grasp about "recent" history.  But what's 100 years or so when you don't know what you're talking about anyways.

And so Rosie O'retarddedouchbag spells out in plain english, backed up by simple math, that she truly doesn't know what she is talking about.  (And I don't even have the time to disprove her "memory" that the US government gave syphilis to black Americans in a reference to the Tuskagee experiments later on in the same "interview".)

And Rosie finally makes sense to me.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Didn't expect to find this at the Hill AFB museum

Hill AFB has a museum and I had some time to kill. I knew it had a couple of F-4s, even an RF-4, so I had to pay respects to the Phantoms on sticks.

Imagine my surprise to see this hulk out front. I flew this type of aircraft while as an instructor at NAS Pensacola. They were stretched, painted Navy training orange and white, and had an F-16 radar stuffed in the nose. I think the navy is still flying these old bucket of bolts.

I'll post photos of the F-4s later. I've gotta run and do some work for my helpless F-22 pilots for tomorrow's JDAM drops and the flight home later this week.

What is a social browser?

I'm test driving "Flock", advertised as a social browser.  Sounds like something you need to be immunized against.  We'll see how it works.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

I'm not an A**hole, really I'm not!

My rental car at SLC. Whale skin hub caps and all leather cow interior optional.

When I arrived at the rental car company here at SLC, they had some boring land yacht waiting for me. So I asked what else they had available. Fran and I have been considering getting another car in light of rising fuel prices; something with higher gas mileage but something comfortable. Our current cars only get 20-25 MPG.

So before I could ask about hybrids the lady said, "How about a Hummer?" (Without even a STS!)

Immediately visions of snarling earth firsters and foaming at the mouth Global Warmers appeared on my left shoulder, waving their fingers, scolding me about my carbon footprint and rising sea levels.

Cheerful visions of money covered oil company execs and gold chain dangling rap-stars appeared on my right shoulder, giving each other high fives, whooping it up and yelling "yo, go for it dawg"!

So what did I do? To paraphrase Dennis Leary:

You know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna get myself a 2008 Hummer
Hot red!
With whale skin hub caps
An all leather cow interior
And big brown baby seal eyes for headlights

YEAH!

And I'm gonna drive around in that baby
At 115 miles per hour
Getting one mile per gallon
Sucking down Quarter Pounder cheeseburgers from McDonalds in the old-fashioned non-biodegradable Styrofoam containers

And when I'm done sucking down those grease-ball burgers
I'm gonna wipe my mouth with the American flag
And then I'm gonna toss the Styrofoam containers right out the side
And there ain't a Goddamn thing anybody can do about it

You know why?
'Cause we got the bomb, that's why!

So I drove 115 mph straight to McDonalds.

It's only fitting, because after all, I am here in SLC to help drop bombs!

The rest of Dennis Leary's song can be read here

Crazy minister talks crazy talk again; Bush to blame

Jeremiah Wright is on the Republican "payroll" according to View co-host Joy Behar.

Why am I not surprised by this opinion, and yet, why do I even care?

Even better, let's put the typical newsanchor "journalism" intro on it so then we can call it news and blast it on the evening non-journalistic half-hour news show...

"Democratic Experts say: Reverend Wright Might Be Being
Paid By the Republicans"

Can someone out there come up with theme music too, we've got a non-jounalistic half-hour news show to produce! A news ticker teaser would be good too...


http://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2008/cyb20080501.asp#5