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Other News For The Week Of May 10 - May 16

This thread is for the busy bees of S&L to post news items themselves.

In order to make the articles as readable as possible, please try to stick to the format described in the first of these weekly editions here.

Of course articles that fit under the topic of a recent thread should be posted there. As always, remember to excerpt heavily and to provide a link to the original source.

Related Articles:

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 12:01 am. You can leave a response.

84 Responses to “Other News For The Week Of May 10 - May 16”

Noyzmakr
May 9th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
From Chicago’s ABC 7 News:

‘Empty Shoes’ exhibit draws controversy
May 08, 2008
By Theresa Gutierrez

A group opposed to illegal immigration has created a display of empty shoes at an Elgin campus to signify Americans killed by illegal immigrants.

The Elgin-based Association for Legal Americans created the display “Empty Shoes, Empty Hearts,” which includes pictures and information about 25 victims across the country who died in crimes perpetrated by illegal immigrants.

The exhibit is on display for two days at Elgin Community College.”I think it is very interesting. They have tried to convey a message here and they have done it with these shoes,” said Stephen Fenstermacher, Elgin student.

“It is not only one group committing these crimes it is other groups as well,” said Denisse Ayala, Elgin student.

Story and Video Here

I love it when our side uses the left’s tactics against them.

Watch the video so you can see the typical liberal complain about how the anti-illegal group is “manipulating the tragedies”.

Oh, like the left does on every issue like the “empty boots” displays against the war or brainwashing and using children to push global warming.
Noyzmakr
May 10th, 2008 at 12:12 am
From those tax hounds at the Associated Press:

Records show Sharpton owes overdue taxes, other penalties

May 9

By DAVID B. CARUSO

NEW YORK (AP) - Big corporations give him money. Presidential candidates seek his endorsement. He has influential friends in Congress and the governor’s mansion. The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged over the past decade as perhaps the nation’s most prominent civil rights leader, a status that was demonstrated again this week when he led protests against police brutality that briefly shut down six of Manhattan’s major bridges and tunnels.

But he still carries baggage from his early days as a fire-breathing agitator: Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate that Sharpton and his business entities owe nearly $1.5 million in overdue taxes and associated penalties.

Now the U.S. attorney is investigating his nonprofit group, a probe that an undeterred Sharpton brushes off as the kind of annoyance that civil rights figures have come to expect from the government.

“Whatever retaliation they do on me, we never stop,” he told the AP. “I think that that is why they try to intimidate us.”

Over the past year, Sharpton’s lawyers and the staff of his nonprofit group, the National Action Network, have been negotiating with the federal government over the size of his debt, which they dispute. The group has also been trying to pay off tens of thousands of dollars it owes for failing to properly maintain workers compensation and unemployment insurance.

Charlie King, the organization’s interim executive director, said both Sharpton and the group he leads were unprepared for their rise in stature in recent years and had trouble dealing with big jumps in donations and income.

“The infrastructure was trying to keep up with that pace, and it was not a perfect fit,” he told the AP on Friday. “The National Action Network may not have been perfect, but nothing was going on that was untoward.”

He said the organization has new accountants and a new administrative team, and the group recently finally filed long-overdue tax returns.

Sharpton’s own debts include $365,558 owed in New York City income tax and $931,397 in unpaid federal income tax, according to a lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service last spring. His for-profit company, Rev. Al Communications, owes the state another $175,962 in delinquent taxes.

As for Sharpton’s personal tax debt, King said Sharpton has started paying it off but contends that faulty record-keeping by the National Action Network led the government to overestimate his tax liability.

Tax headaches are nothing new for Sharpton. The 53-year-old minister has been assailed over his career for running up big tax debts and failing to abide by rules governing his charities and election committees. He is perpetually being sued for failing to pay his bills.

In December, Sharpton revealed that as many as 10 of his associates had received grand jury subpoenas. A person familiar with the investigation told the AP that the FBI and IRS are probing whether Sharpton or his organization committed tax crimes or violations related to his 2004 presidential campaign, during which he was forced to return public matching funds for breaking fundraising rules.

If any of this worries Sharpton, you’d never know it. He is pressing ahead with his latest campaign - an effort to persuade the Justice Department to bring civil rights charges against New York City police detectives who fired 50 shots and killed an unarmed groom as he left his bachelor party.

Over the past few weeks, Sharpton has kept a high profile, promising to lead weekly demonstrations until new charges are brought against police detectives acquitted of manslaughter April 25 in the November 2006 death of Sean Bell.

“He is as focused as ever,” said Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, a Queens Democrat who has also rallied for police reforms since the Bell case. “He is probably more effective now than he was in the past, than he has ever been.”

Sharpton was arrested and spent a few hours in jail Wednesday for being among the marchers who blocked the Brooklyn Bridge to protest the verdict.

On Thursday, Sharpton said he may soon add another cause - the case of three shooting suspects who appeared to have been beaten and kicked by police during an arrest in Philadelphia.

Sharpton has been investigated before, and always walked away clean.

In 1990, he was acquitted of tax fraud and charges that he stole from one of his charities. He followed that up with what was essentially another victory in a tax case by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to file a state return.

In the latest probe, the official overseeing the investigation is U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell - the same Brooklyn-based prosecutor whom Sharpton is urging to file criminal charges in the Bell shooting. Campbell’s office has said it is reviewing the case but declined to comment further.

Sharpton’s reputation has undergone a remarkable renaissance since the Tawana Brawley days in 1987, when he was accused of helping create a hoax in which the 15-year-old girl claimed she had been kidnapped and raped by a gang of whites that included a police officer and a prosecutor. A grand jury concluded that Brawley made the story up.

Since the late 1990s, his civil rights group has grown from a small outfit, with a few hundred thousand dollars in annual revenue, to an organization that now routinely takes in $1 million to $2 million per year, thanks partly to corporate support.

Donors have included beer giant Anheuser-Busch, which gave more than $100,000 last year, and Forest City Ratner, a real estate development company that courted black leaders for support of a plan to build an NBA arena in Brooklyn. PepsiCo, for several years, gave Sharpton a compensated position on one of its advisory boards.

The group also enjoys financial support from the state’s top politicians.

New York Gov. David Paterson has transferred at least $28,000 from his own re-election committee to the National Action Network since 2001. Rep. Charles Rangel, a top Democrat in Congress, has been another major backer, giving at least $83,000. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has given $10,000.

“Everybody who runs for office in the Democratic Party wants to meet with him,” said former Mayor Ed Koch, who once battled Sharpton but now calls him a friend and a “bona fide leader.”

Koch said Sharpton’s past will always be an issue with some whites, and he disagreed with the decision to engage in civil disobedience over the Bell case. But the former mayor believes the respect Sharpton enjoys among blacks is well earned.

“He is willing to go to jail for them,” Koch said. “And he is there when they need him.”

http://apnews.myway.com//artic.....FIAG0.html

Who does Al think he is, Wesley Snipes?
BillK
May 10th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Yes, she’s going for “minute 16″ of fame!

From the AP:

Plame seeks to resurrect lawsuit in CIA leak case

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former CIA operative Valerie Plame is trying to resurrect a lawsuit against those in the Bush administration she says illegally disclosed her identity.

A federal judge dismissed Plame’s lawsuit last year, saying there was no basis to bring a case. Plame’s lawyers asked a federal appeals court Friday to send the case back before the judge and force him to consider its merits.

Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, sued Vice President Dick Cheney; his former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby; former White House political adviser Karl Rove and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Plame’s CIA position was revealed in a syndicated newspaper column in 2003, during a time when her husband was criticizing the march to war in Iraq. Armitage and Rove were the original sources for that story, which Plame believes was retribution for Wilson’s criticism.

The article touched off a lengthy criminal investigation. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald never charged anyone with the leak but convicted Libby of obstruction and lying to investigators.

During the trial, it was revealed that Libby and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer also discussed Plame with reporters.

Plame says those leaks violated her constitutional rights. But U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case, saying the law requires Plame’s complaints be raised under the Privacy Act. Plame’s attorneys say that law is insufficient. They asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to send the case back to Bates for reconsideration.

http://www.9news.com/news/worl.....ryid=91482

Has everyone forgotten (conveniently) that Plame was never a covert employee of the CIA, and as such there was nothing to “leak”?!?!

She’s not even living in fantasy land, she and her hubby have gone so far beyond that…
Noyzmakr
May 10th, 2008 at 12:20 am
From YouTube:

Obama claims he’s visited 57 states

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws

By Obama’s count, he’s been to 57 states with one left to go and his staff wouldn’t allow him to go to Alaska or Hawaii.

That makes 60 states!

And this guy want’s to be our president.

Keep going Hillary, he’s going to drop from exhaustion at any minute.
Noyzmakr
May 10th, 2008 at 12:26 am
…U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case, saying the law requires Plame’s complaints be raised under the Privacy Act. Plame’s attorneys say that law is insufficient.

And by insufficient they mean they can’t sue for enough money under that law.

Poor Valerie and Joe, It cost a lot of money to pretend you fit into the “in” crowd.
BillK
May 10th, 2008 at 2:50 am
Today’s commentary on modern life in the US:

Deputies: Louisiana Teens Poisoned 2 3-Year-Olds With Glass Cleaner, Detergent and Paint

NATCHITOCHES, La. — Two teenagers are accused of contaminating milk that two 3-year-olds drank while attending programs at Lakeview High School in Natchitoches Parish, according to authorities.

Deputies said the young children were taken to a hospital after drinking the milk. They were taken to Natchitoches Regional Medical Center, where they were observed and released.

Deputies arrested a 16-year-old and booked him into the Ware Juvenile Detention Center in Coushatta. The juvenile’s name was not released.

Seventeen-year-old Chasman J. Evans was arrested and booked into the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center.

Both teens were booked with mingling harmful substances.

The two suspects are accused of mixing glass cleaner, liquid detergent and paint and putting the substance into two 8-ounce milk bottles. The bottles were then placed back in the lunchroom cooler.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354724,00.html

I’m sure the perpetrators will get counseling.
BillK
May 10th, 2008 at 3:15 am
From the incredibly left-wing Madison, WI Capital Times:

Reject GOP’s voter suppression scheme

State Rep. Jeff Stone, a Milwaukee County Republican who represents a traditionally Democratic district, has a plan to keep his seat in the Legislature.

Stone wants to make voting harder — in some cases, impossible — for young people, the elderly, the poor, the disabled, people of color and members of other demographic groups that tend to back Democrats.

As soon as the U.S. Supreme Court issued a wrong-headed decision upholding Indiana’s restrictive voter identification law, Stone was promising to make Wisconsin Hoosier country. The Indiana law was designed by win-at-any-cost Republican strategists in Washington with the goal of depressing Democratic turnout in that state.

“It is time that we get this passed here in Wisconsin,” growled Stone, who for years has worked to erect barriers to voter participation. “There are no excuses left for not having this as part of our election process.”

The “this” that Stone describes is a burdensome requirement that voters produce a photo ID or jump through a series of additional hoops before they can cast a ballot.

The League of Women Voters, civil rights and disability rights organizations, as well as groups representing the elderly, have all raised practical objections to the stringent requirements that Stone and his allies seek to implement as part of a plan devised by former White House political czar Karl Rove to realize his dream of gaming the system sufficiently to establish permanent Republican dominance of American politics.

A divided Supreme Court has given Stone some ammunition. But Wisconsin does not have to let him shoot down democracy with it.

Democrats, independents and responsible Republicans — of which there are still many in this state — should heed the wisdom of Justice David Souter, who argued in his dissent from last week’s ruling that Indiana’s voter ID law “threatens to impose nontrivial burdens on the voting rights of tens of thousands of the state’s citizens.”

The same would be the case in Wisconsin.

And we know precisely which groups would be disenfranchised. According to a University of Wisconsin study:

– Roughly 23 percent of people aged 65 and over lack a valid photo ID.

– Roughly 70 percent of African-American young adults, ages 18-24, lack a valid driver’s license — the primary form of photo ID — while roughly 65 percent of Hispanic young adults lack a driver’s license.

– Disproportionate numbers of African-American and Hispanic adults in Milwaukee County lack a photo ID. Indeed, Stone’s requirement would hit minority citizens three times as hard as whites. …

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/284929

You have got to be kidding.

How do those without a photo ID cash a check? They can’t even enter a Federal building, will the liberal lawmakers saying this is voter disenfranchisement have any problem knowing their constituents can’t see them at work?

No, perhaps they prefer that.

Note also the games they play - a complaint about those 65 and over lacking photo ID becomes a complaint that 70% of African-Americans aged 18-24 lack a valid driver’s license.

How many of those do you think hold a valid photo ID? Since you can’t go to a bar or buy alcohol without one?

Though I of course had a driver’s license when in college, many, many folks had a separate photo ID - among other reasons because then if you lost your ID while out drinking you didn’t have the hassle of having to replace your driver’s license.

Instead the left gives platitudes like:

Unfortunately, if Wisconsin implements a photo requirement similar to Indiana’s law, that reversal will only come after eligible voters have been discouraged from casting ballots.

If you can’t take the five minutes to get a photo ID before you vote, you shouldn’t be allowed to as you obviously don’t have two brain cells to rub together to decide who to vote for on your own.

But you’ve got to love how it’s now an evil Karl Rove “plot” to discourage Democratic voters at the polls.

Riiiiight.
Noyzmakr
May 10th, 2008 at 3:47 am
BillK, That’s got to be about the most slanted “news” story I think I’ve ever read. Hell, I thought NBC was bad. Sheeezz!

I mean, is the Madison, WI. Capital Times a newspaper or a Marxist news letter? That’s just incredible.

Do the editors and publishers of that paper even try to hide their bias? It certainly doesn’t appear so.

I’ll say it again…..Sheeezz!!
sheehanjihad
May 10th, 2008 at 6:09 am
Photo ID should be required for any voting of any kind. Those who complain about having to identify themselves are usually the ones with something to hide about themselves. That, plus the fact that the democrat “vote early and vote often” mantra is more difficult when identification is required…..and of course, dead people are hard pressed to present an ID…..illegals cant vote six times a day if they have to produce an ID…..sure, I can understand why the Madison Pravda is upset…..democrat doesnt mean democratic….how the hell can one afford to buy votes when pesky ID laws prevent it?

Liberal newspapers exist for a reason. They offer anyone with a sane viewpoint, and common sense a glimpse of what things would be like if the left was given the ability to rule unimpeded. And, what is humorous…..how quickly this paper would be burned to the ground if the laws they say are so unfair didnt exist……
wardmama4
May 10th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I would have to assume that this is just too incindiary (or ironic) for O bom ah’s campaign and of course the DNC propaganda machine, oops the msm to report:
From the TimesOnline

Barack Obama sacks adviser over talks with Hamas

One of Barack Obama’s Middle East policy advisers disclosed yesterday that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas – prompting the likely Democratic nominee to sever all links with him.

Robert Malley told The Times that he had been in regular contact with Hamas, which controls Gaza and is listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation. Such talks, he stressed, were related to his work for a conflict resolution think-tank and had no connection with his position on Mr Obama’s Middle East advisory council.

“I’ve never hidden the fact that in my job with the International Crisis Group I meet all kinds of people,” he added. . .

http://tinyurl.com/66mklt

Notice it is a British newspaper and that this little event occurred after evil McAmnesty’s ‘attack’ re: O bomb ah’s Hamas endorsement. . .

This would be funny - if it weren’t a candidate for the POTUS.

And someone in Michelle Malkin’s commentors section on this piece (which is where I got the link) made the remark that is at the core of the issue - Soros. He is funding the group this (now) fired guy belongs to (not to mention so many others that are inciting sedition, treason and all around mayhem in the US). The commentor’s suggestion is take out Soros - and watch the cockroaches - well actually he made a zombie reference- stumble away from the scene of the crime.

Makes sense - we have all gone after the puppet - O bomb ah - and ignored the puppet master. Surely that vaulted institution of all grand financial wonder and intimidation - the IRS - could find some impropriety whither it be between Soros and the ‘non-profits’ he is funding or better between O bomb ah and the Soros machine?!?

We need to remove O bomb ah and McAmnesty and get some real candidates who give a damn about America and keeping her the greatest nation in the world.
wardmama4
May 10th, 2008 at 9:23 am
-’Plame seeks to resurrect lawsuit in CIA leak case’- given this was not, is not and never will be a ‘criminal case,’ I can’t resist:[done by me when Plamegate was 'hot' but oh so very appropriate right now]
Plame sung to the tune of Fame
I’m gonna be in the press forever
I’m gonna learn how to lie
I’m gonna make it to hollywood
Bushie, remember my name!

Bushie, look at me (please) and tell me what you see
You ain’t seen the rest of me yet.

Give me time and I’ll make you forget the the truth.
I got more in me, and you can not get it for free.
I can lie out of hand
Don’t you know who I am (covert CIA agent)?

Remember my name, Plame!
I’m gonna be in the press forever
I’m gonna learn how to lie,
I feel an interview comin’ together
People will see me and cry Plame!

I’m gonna make it to hollywood
Light up the sky like a Plame. Plame!
I’m gonna be in the press forever
Bushie, remember my name
remember, remember, remember
remember, remember
remember, remember, please remember

Bushie don’t touch me, ’cause you can’t
make it right (unless you go to jail forever)
You can keep me in the press
give me an interview and take all my lies
Bushie, I’ll be tough. Too much is not enough no
I can ride my lies till you’re in jail
ooh, I got what it takes.

Plame, I’m gonna be in the press forever.
wardmama4
May 11th, 2008 at 7:58 am
SG - come on - I think that this -’Obama claims he’s visited 57 states’- deserves it’s own big (and remarkably pic’d) thread line - imagine the field day we could have - and maybe, perhaps just maybe - someone or some news org will actually pick it up. . .

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!
SG
May 11th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
“I think that this -’Obama claims he’s visited 57 states’- deserves it’s own big (and remarkably pic’d) thread line.”

I disagree. There is plenty to get on Mr. Obama about, but making a big to-do an obvious slip of the tongue is a little silly in my opinion.

And it probably helps BO in the long run.

Of course you could always post about it in “The Hive” thread.
wardmama4
May 11th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
SG - ‘but making a big to-do an obvious slip of the tongue’ - maybe but darn - doesn’t seem anyone cares about the big stuff against him - a little fun never hurt anyone. Especially in an election year when all 3 candidates are not worth pulling the lever (or punching the chads, or coloring in the block, or pointing the marker at the screen) for.

Actually this is getting old - which I think is exactly what the Dems/msm planned when they launched election central on Nov. 8, 2006 - to beat the dead horse so long and so boringly that no one except the rabid bdsers would vote in Nov 2008, thereby guaranteeing a Dem win.

But I will bow to your leadership and just laugh amongst my family and friends about the Idiot who would be POTUS.
BillK
May 12th, 2008 at 6:33 am
From a whining Los Angeles Times:

Domestic spying far outpaces terrorism prosecutions

As more Americans are watched, fewer cases are made. The trend concerns civil liberties groups as well as some lawmakers and legal experts.

By Richard B. Schmitt

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans being secretly wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court — one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing — has continued to decline, in some cases precipitously.

The trends, visible in new government data and a private analysis of Justice Department records, are worrisome to civil liberties groups and some legal scholars. They say it is further evidence that the government has compromised the privacy rights of ordinary citizens without much to show for it.

The emphasis on spy programs also is starting to give pause to some members of Congress who fear the government is investing too much in anti-terrorism programs at the expense of traditional crime-fighting. Other lawmakers are raising questions about how well the FBI is performing its counter-terrorism mission.

The Senate Intelligence Committee last week concluded that the bureau was far behind in making internal changes to keep the nation safe from terrorist threats. Lawmakers urged that the FBI set specific benchmarks to measure its progress and make more regular reports to Congress.

These concerns come as the Bush administration has been seeking to expand its ability to gather intelligence without prior court approval. It has asked Congress for amendments to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to make it clear that eavesdropping on foreign telecommunications signals routed through the U.S. does not require a warrant.

Law enforcement officials say the additional surveillance powers have been critically important in ways the public does not always see. Threats can be mitigated, they say, by deporting suspicious people or letting them know that authorities are watching them.

“The fact that the prosecutions are down doesn’t mean that the utility of these investigations is down. It suggests that these investigations may be leading to other forms of prevention and protection,” said Thomas Newcomb, a former Bush White House national security aide. He said there were half a dozen actions outside of the criminal courts that the government could take to snuff out potential threats, including using diplomatic or military channels.

Although legal experts say they would not necessarily expect the number of prosecutions to rise along with the stepped-up surveillance, there are few other good ways to measure how well the government is progressing in keeping the country safe.

“How does one measure the success? The short answer is we aren’t in a great position to know,” said Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor. With prosecutions declining, he said, the public is left with imperfect and possibly misleading ways to gauge progress in the Bush administration’s war on terrorism — such as the number of secret warrants the government issues or the number of agents it assigns to terrorism cases.

“These are the only tracks in the snow left by terrorism investigations, if there are no more counter-terrorism prosecutions,” Richman said. “This is why, more than ever, there is a pressing need for congressional oversight, for accountability at the top of the [Justice] department, and for public confidence in the department.” …

http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....9444.story

Of course the big lie to this is the conceit that “more Americans are watched.”

Most of the surveillance added since 9/11 has been aimed at foreign nationals, not American citizens.

Then again, with today’s immigration rules, the whole notion of “American citizen” is one the left would like to convice the public is antiquated.

Of course as has long been the case in the intelligence arena, the thing to remember is that intelligence successes are never known; intelligence failures are what make history.
BillK
May 12th, 2008 at 6:43 am
The San Francisco Chronicle tries to generate something else for you to worry about:

Nanoparticles scrutinized for health effects

By Ann Fernholm

Windows cleaned by raindrops, white sofas immune to red wine spills, tiles protected from limescale buildup - new products created from minute substances called nanoparticles are making such domestic dreams come true.

Based on tiny particles 10,000 times thinner than a strand of hair, the products are some of the early widespread applications of nanotechnology, the science of manipulating atoms and molecules. Nanoparticles are showing up in everything from fabric coatings to socks to plush teddy bears.

In the best-case scenario, these nanoparticles are harmless and can help spare the environment from the overuse of polluting cleaning agents.

But some scientists are concerned that these seemingly magical materials are hitting the market before their effects on human health and the environment have been sufficiently studied.

If a chemical substance has been commercialized before, on a larger than nano-scale, and is included in the Toxic Substances Control Act Chemical Substance Inventory, it is considered as “existing” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - and the nano-scale version of the material requires no further testing.

Scientists such as Jennifer Sass of the Natural Resources Defense Council say they think that’s a mistake, and that nanoparticles should be treated as new and different materials.

That’s because the few scientific reports available suggest that nanoparticles can pose a threat to human health and to the environment. For example, fish swimming in water containing modest amounts of fullerenes, soccer-ball-shaped nanoparticles made out of 60 carbon atoms, showed a large increase in brain damage. These are the same types of fullerenes being used in various skin products. …

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....10BB88.DTL

Why is it the left gets away with labeling the right as those who want to keep the nation living in fear?

With a name like the “National Resources Defense Council” one might or might not guess that they’re an extremely left wing propaganda group:, whose aims include:

• Curbing Global Warming
• Moving America Beyond Oil
• Reviving Our Oceans
• Stemming the Tide of Toxic Chemicals
• Accelerating the Greening of China

…

http://www.nrdc.org/

In fact they unashamedly bill themselves as “The Earth’s Best Defense.”

Bottom line, liberal group releases “fear” PSA, and the MSM runs with it.
BillK
May 12th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Woo hoo, time to smoke up!

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Next president might be gentler on pot clubs

By Bob Egelko

Ever since California voters became the first in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, the state has faced unyielding opposition from the federal government, which insists it has the power to prohibit a drug it considers useless and dangerous.

That could all change with the next presidential election.

As the candidates prepare for a May 20 primary in Oregon, one of 12 states with a California-style law, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has become an increasingly firm advocate of ending federal intervention and letting states make their own rules when it comes to medical marijuana.

His Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, is less explicit, recently softening a pledge she made early in the campaign to halt federal raids in states with medical marijuana laws. But she has expressed none of the hostility that marked the response of her husband’s administration to California’s initiative, Proposition 215.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, has gone back and forth on the issue - promising a medical marijuana patient at one campaign stop that seriously ill patients would never face arrest under a McCain administration, but ultimately endorsing the Bush administration’s policy of federal raids and prosecutions.

Political battles over exempting medical patients from marijuana laws have been fought mostly in statehouses and at ballot boxes since 1996, when California voters repealed state criminal penalties for those who used the drug with their doctor’s approval. But the federal government has played an important role in limiting the scope of those state laws, and their effectiveness over the next four years may be determined by the next president.

President Bill Clinton’s administration opposed the California law from the start and won a court case allowing it to shut nonprofit organizations that supplied medical marijuana to members. Clinton’s Justice Department also tried to punish California doctors who recommended marijuana to their patients by revoking their authority to prescribe any drugs, but federal courts backed the doctors.

The Bush administration has gone further, raiding medical marijuana growers and clinics, prosecuting suppliers under federal drug laws after winning a U.S. Supreme Court case, and pressuring commercial property owners to evict marijuana dispensaries by threatening legal action. The administration has also blocked a University of Massachusetts researcher’s attempt to grow marijuana for studies of its medical properties.

Since 2001, federal prosecutors have won convictions in at least 28 California drug cases where defendants claimed they were supplying or using medical marijuana, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Prosecutors have filed charges in 22 more cases, and authorities have raided 10 growers or dispensaries without filing charges, the group says.

The presidential candidates haven’t discussed the issue in speeches or debates, but medical marijuana advocates regularly questioned them in Iowa and New Hampshire. The most sweeping changes were proposed by second-tier candidates - Democrats Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd and Republican Ron Paul called for repealing federal criminal penalties for marijuana - but of the remaining contenders, Obama has been the friendliest to advocates of medical marijuana.

At a November appearance in Audubon, Iowa, Obama recalled that his mother had died of cancer and said he saw no difference between doctor-prescribed morphine and marijuana as pain relievers. He said he would be open to allowing medical use of marijuana, if scientists and doctors concluded it was effective, but only under “strict guidelines,” because he was “concerned about folks just kind of growing their own and saying it’s for medicinal purposes.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....10FD53.DTL

Heck, the federal government doesn’t bother to enforce immigration laws now, why not just toss out drug laws as well?

How long do you think Obama’s supporters would allow him to get away with the “medicinal” phrase?
BillK
May 12th, 2008 at 6:52 am
From an ever-hopeful AP:

Retailers likely to post grim 1st-quarter results

By Anne D’Innocenzio

After slashing inventory and cutting expenses, the retail industry is still bracing for the largest overall quarterly profit decline in at least nine years when merchants report their first-quarter earnings this week.

Faced with one of the worst consumer spending climates in almost two decades, stores are going to have to find clever ways to attract increasingly thrifty shoppers contending with higher gas and food bills and a slumping housing market.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a new online feature Friday that offers tips from financial expert Ellie Kay on how consumers can stretch their budgets, even beyond the store. Rival Target Corp. aims to add some sizzle to an inexpensive clothing collection by designer Rogan Gregory by selling it first at upscale Barneys New York before shipping it to its own shops for a limited period.

“What smart stores are doing is creating a new store experience — both online and off — so you are not just a merchandise retailer but an experience retailer,” said Craig R. Johnson, president of consultancy Customer Growth Partners. “It’s all about what you can do to set yourself apart.”

Retailers reported better-than expected sales at established stores for April, but that doesn’t mean that shoppers have been in the mood to splurge. Business was boosted by heavy discounting and a quirk in the calendar that meant an extra shopping day compared with the year-ago period.

The strain is expected to surface in the industry’s first-quarter earnings, which are expected to show an overall 14.9 percent decline, said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass. He said that would be the biggest year-over-year quarterly decline since at least 1999, when he started tracking the data.

That outlook compares with a projection in January for 5.3 percent profit growth.

Still, the earnings picture would be worse if retailers hadn’t been prudent about cutting costs and scaling back inventory, Perkins said.

Analysts had feared that increased discounting across the industry would lead more retailers to lower their earnings outlooks, but that didn’t happen. In fact, Kohl’s Corp. and teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. were among a handful of retailers that raised their earnings forecasts based on better-than-expected sales.

But while plenty of stores, from grocery chains to discounters, are offering enticements to try to grab a share of the $107 billion in tax rebate checks being distributed to 130 million households, analysts expect that any lift will be modest and temporary.

“I don’t see any fundamental changes that are going to loosen up the wallet for consumers,” said Michael Appel, a managing director of Quest Turnaround Advisors. He noted that stores are going to have to keep discounting and also come up with “exciting merchandise.”

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, reported a better-than-expected sales gain for April but said that the “economy continues to get tougher” and customers are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday. …

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....006D68.DTL

Yay! We’ve been telling you for months how horrible the economy is day in and day out and people are spending less!

We in the MSM don’t report the news, we create it.
BillK
May 12th, 2008 at 7:55 am
It’s amazing things like this even need to be “brought up.”

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:

Car allowance scrutinized

Collection by jailed alderman prompts measure to halt it in some situations

By Larry Sandler

After reports that former Ald. Michael McGee was collecting his car allowance from jail, another Milwaukee alderman has introduced a measure to cut off the payments for Common Council members who can’t perform their duties.

Ald. Terry Witkowski’s ordinance would halt an alderman’s transportation allowance - currently $337 a month - if “the member is incapacitated for an entire month by illness, injury or otherwise fails to discharge the duties of the office.”

Sitting in jail would fit that definition, Witkowski said.

McGee was arrested last Memorial Day and charged with shaking down business owners for bribes, buying votes and conspiring to have a man beaten. He has been held in jail since then awaiting trial. But because he has not been convicted of any felonies, he remained in office and on the city payroll until his term ended April 14.

While in jail, McGee tried to handle some city business by phone, even introducing legislation and running unsuccessfully for re-election. But he couldn’t attend any council meetings and council President Willie Hines Jr. kicked him off all the committees on which he had served.

The Journal Sentinel reported last month that McGee was paid $67,023 behind bars. That included $3,443 for the car allowance, even though the state had revoked his driver’s license before he was arrested.

All aldermen receive the car allowance without filing any mileage reports or gasoline receipts. Even if an alderman doesn’t drive, the money could cover bus and taxi fares, Witkowski noted.

“We can’t create a law retroactively, but we can make sure that if, God forbid, something like this should happen in the future . . . we can do something about it,” Witkowski said.

The measure will be considered Thursday by the council’s Finance & Personnel Committee.

In an unrelated development, an ethics statement filed by McGee shows that he reported receiving three cell phones, worth a total of $150, from Magic Foods, the store that prosecutors have alleged was the center of McGee’s vote-buying operation during a 2007 recall campaign.

Magic Foods owner Jack Kheirieh is now a key witness in the case against McGee and ran unsuccessfully for his seat in the Feb. 19 primary. Kheirieh declined to comment on the cell phones, citing the criminal case.

The ethics statement was filed by McGee in late December, along with other papers required for his re-election bid. It was supposed to cover his financial interests in 2006, but the cell phones were not mentioned on the 2006 ethics report he filed as an incumbent alderman. …

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=749488

It keeps getting better and better.

Nice to know that he was paid $3443 for a car he not only couldn’t legally drive but of course, being behind bars, couldn’t use even if he had a legal driver’s license.
cigarskunk
May 12th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Quick note - saw Obama at a press conference in what I believe they said was Texas - he was talking about patriotism and as you remember, he said that he wont wear a flag lapel pin because its a fake show of patriotism.

Well guess what was on his lapel?

I think a pict (if anyone can find it) of this conference along with his original comments about lapel pins would be great!
DEZ
May 12th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
cigarskunk
Rumor has it that the flag pin you speak of has 57 stars!
greybeard
May 12th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Hiya cigarskunk!
On oct 4th 2007 I think was first day he was asked about not wearing a pin.

“You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin,” Obama said. “Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq War, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest. “

…Shortly after 9/11…I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest.” …Like, shortly after hearing Reverend Wright’s 911 speech??

On October 5th he expanded his patriotic thoughts with:
“I don’t mind people wearing pins or putting stickers on their cars as a show of support for their country or their cause” states Obama. [after all i sell a lot of logos pins Tshirts stickers at my web site] “I am, however, irritated by the notion that so doing makes them somehow superior to those who don’t.”

my response to Obama (at my site and I think here also is)
It’s so nice of Obama to not mind people showing their support for their country…but what irritates me, is the notion that Senator Obama doesn’t seem to understand that The symbol of the USA, it’s pins, stickers and Flag, does not make people feel superior.
Mr. Obama — it makes them feel “PROUD!”

Something i think the Obam’s and their crowd have demonstrated to lack withint themselves.

guess what was on his lapel ?
I am not sure to your time date reference- but I believe last month it was for ONE DAY that he wore a flag pin when he was asked to at a rally. He (publicly) “had no other choice probably”
- i found a clip of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....h_response
Noyzmakr
May 12th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
From a dissapointed Reuters:

Al Qaeda says key member killed in Afghanistan - web
Sun May 11, 2008

DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - A prominent member of al Qaeda was killed in fighting with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website on Sunday.

Abu Suleiman al-Otaibi, formerly one of the group’s leaders in Iraq, was killed in a “fierce battle with the worshipers of the cross” in Paktia, it said without giving the date of the battle.

Another al Qaeda member, identified as Abu Dejana al-Qahtani, also died in the fighting, it added.

The leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said Qahtani left Iraq about six months ago without giving further details…

http://in.reuters.com/article/.....8020080511

Another one bites the dust. Hooray for freedom!
take_no_prisoners
May 12th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
“Al Qaeda says key member killed in Afghanistan”

May he spend eternity standing submerged in a pig manure holding pond up to his nostrils with the input chute continuously splashing new manure on his head–God be willing!
Noyzmakr
May 12th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
From The Douglas Report:

8 Ways Illegal Immigrants Are Making You Sick

BALTIMORE, MD -”I’ll be the first one to step up and get a tear in my eye about huddled masses yearning to breathe free and live “the American Dream” in this “Land of Opportunity. But the cold fact is
that today, too many people go around the system and sneak into America from countries with
markedly lower and even non-existent health standards. But these people are bringing more than
just cheap labor with them… In some of these countries—Mexico included—diseases that you
only read about in Victorian novels (cholera, TB, typhoid, and even plague) are daily occurrences.
It’s no coincidence that all of these diseases are now on the rise right here in the U.S.

That’s right: Diseases we did away with long ago are “mysteriously” beginning to reemerge.
These are the same diseases that terrorized Americans for hundreds of years. Maybe it’s been too
long for everyone to remember what it was like when people lived in constant fear of diseases
like these. Surely if they remembered, alarm bells would be sounding loud and clear—and people
wouldn’t worry so much about the need for cheap labor, and the fear of being perceived as racist.
What a load of bull.

You can call me a racist all you want, but if turning a blind eye to (or heaven forbid, welcom-
ing with open arms) these illegals means opening up my children’s children to these awful dis-
eases, you can forget it. I won’t stand for what these moochers are doing to our land, our school-
rooms or our hospitals—and neither should you.

And keep in mind that coming into our country LEGALLY means you’ve been screened for
these diseases. It’s those that ignore the system and make their own rules that are putting us at risk.

Allow me to put some names to these faces of disease. I just hope that you never have to meet them. (Continued at website)

(The link is a PDF file)
http://form.douglassreport.com.....Report.pdf

Ah yes, even more reasons to stop the madness that is our illegal immigration problem.

Coming to a family member near you soon.(Hopefully not, but the odds are getting bad)

My sister’s a travel nurse(RN) and she’s told me that she and other health professionals are seeing illegals and others with diseases, viruses, bacterias and other equally scary finds, all over this country, that can barely be found in text books. And that’s just the tip of that iceberg.
bullforever
May 12th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
…And the MSM just keeps finding ways to spin…you knew it had to be from the AP

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24584577

WASHINGTON - The Marine Corps far surpassed its recruiting goal last month and could eventually be more than a year ahead of schedule in its plan to grow the force to 202,000 members.

All military services met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals in April, with the Marine Corps signing 142 percent of the number it was looking for, the Pentagon said.

The Army signed 101 percent of its goal, recruiting 5,681 against a goal of 5,650. The Navy and Air Force met their goals — 2,905 sailors and 2,435 airmen.

The Marine Corps enlisted 2,233 recruits against a goal of 1,577.

“The Marine Corps, if they continue to achieve the kind of success they have had, could meet their growth figures more than a year early,” Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters. That would mean by around the end of 2009.

Perfect, just the facts. The way reporting SHOULD be done.

But wait a minute, this is the AP, so we must endure having them tell us the reasons why.

Stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon last year recommended that the Army be increased by about 65,000 soldiers to a total of 547,000, and the Marines be increased by 27,000 to 202,000.

Recruiting is easier in a slow economy, which limits other job possibilities that are available. But officials also noted that the Army and Marines have added recruiters as well as bonuses and other special benefits to attract more recruits in the midst of the unpopular war in Iraq

Could recruiting not be up because there are a lot of men and women who actually beleive in what our Military is accomplishing? Nope, not according to the AP, it MUST be because of this alleged reccession.

Folks, I am a recruiter for a civillian company here in the U.S. We can’t find enough qualified people to hire. My counterparts across the Country are having the same problem. I find it funny that the AP cites a “slow economy” for the indisputable reason recruiting numbers for our Military are up, when in fact, there are so many unfilled job openings in this Country that we are forced every year to hire over 80,000 (Federal cap on new visas each year) new non-immigrant workers on H-1B visa work permits to try and fill the gaps in skilled labor. These H-1B visas last years, with an option to extend 2 more years. Each year, every single one of them is renewed…thats nearly 1 million workers from foreign Countires working here to perfom jobs legally because there are not enough U.S. Citizens to fill all of the openings. But ya, Military Recruiting is exceeding goals because the economy sucks…RIIIIIIIIIGHT
BillK
May 12th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
From the Los Angeles Times, another in the “McCain can’t win” series:

Bob Barr to run for president as Libertarian

The former GOP congressman from Georgia accuses the government of irresponsible spending. He says McCain can’t call himself a true conservative. Clinton and Obama campaign in West Virginia.

By Johanna Neuman

WASHINGTON — Bob Barr, a former congressman from Georgia and a former Republican, today announced his candidacy for president as a Libertarian who would rein in federal spending and foreign wars.

“The government has run amok fiscally,” he said at a press conference. Saying that during the first quarter of this year the private sector was losing millions of jobs while the federal government was “hiring with enthusiasm,” Barr added, “As the American people see their standard of living falling, the standard of government keeps going up.”

Expected to win the nomination of the Libertarian Party when it holds its convention in Denver over the Memorial Day weekend, Barr, 59, criticized Republican John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, for not being a true conservative.

“There’s not a great deal of substance there in terms of a commitment to cutting the size of government,” Barr said He said no one who had authored the McCain-Feingold campaign reforms that cap individual donations could call himself a conservative, “at least with a straight face.”

Barr also lashed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for saying that if Iran threatens Israel’s existence, the United States should “obliterate Iran.” Calling the New York senator’s statement “tremendously dire,” Barr called the possibility of Iran possessing nuclear weapons “remote” and said he has seen “no evidence that indicates that is an imminent likelihood.”

Saying both the Republican and Democratic Parties have “bought into a system of running a charity called the United States of America,” Barr blasted programs that use public funds to educate the children of illegal immigrants and maintain foreign military bases “that have no more efficacy in the 21st century.”

“The federal government needs to get away from the notion that simply because we have all this money in the Treasury — or we can borrow more money — that we can provide all these services,” he said. “That is not responsible government.” …

http://www.latimes.com/news/po.....1407.story

Barr’s right on spending, of course, but anyone actually voting for the Libertarian candidate may as well stay home for all the good it will do.

I also don’t think even McCain himself asserts he’s a conservative, so that argument falls flat as well.
Sharps Rifle
May 12th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Bill, that’s a good article…I have something to add to it, though:

This is an essay I wrote for my Yahoo blog, and I would like to run it past the group here…

An Open Letter to John McCain

Dear Senator McCain,

As you are probably aware, I am not one of your biggest fans. In fact, to say that I distrust you and suspect you would sell any and all Conservatives out just to get a good word from George Stephanopolis on Sunday morning would be an understatement of Biblical proportions. I’ve observed your political career since I was an undergraduate, and through my own military service (Air Force), and have seen you go from what seemed to be a staunch Conservative to an opportunistic hack not worthy of sitting on a county level weed control board, let alone president of the greatest nation on Earth fighting a war for its very survival.

However, since you’ve managed through some bizarre quirk of fate to have attained by default the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency, I feel impelled to offer you some advice from a fellow “foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution.”

First, I’d quit dissing Conservatives. The whole world is aware that you’re at best a moderate and at worst a liberal. Your collegiality with Ted Kennedy and Harry Reid make that abundantly clear. But like it or not, you’ll need Conservatives if you expect to get elected in November. Do NOT assume that the prospect of an Obama or Clinton II presidency would be enough to bring them to vote for you. I voted for you in my state’s primary solely because the other option was a certifiable lunatic who would surrender to the Islamic enemy and hope for clemency. After I cast my vote, I proceeded to shower until the soap and hot water ran out, since I felt so dirty for having voted so wildly against my principles. Say a few good words about Conservatives, and say a few good things about your own party. We’ll know you don’t mean them, but it will at least make you seem less offensive to us.

Second, quit “reaching out” to the Democrats. They wouldn’t vote for you if you held a gun to their heads. You know that, we know that, the media CERTAINLY knows that. Persisting in trying to make them think you’re their friend only makes you look like a fool. If you don’t realize that your “friends” across the aisle will stick a knife in your back so fast that it’d make a sonic boom, then you’re too clueless to be even considered for President and you should step aside and let a less foolish person take over the nomination. At present the Republicans have very few people worthy of being trusted with that position, and the Democrats have none, so again, at least try to act like you have the good sense to stand for something. We know you have no principles other than getting yourself elected President, but at least fake being to the right of Obama or Clinton. Yes, it’s a fraud, but no more than what we’re all used to from politicians, and perhaps you might also convince a few people who haven’t been paying attention to the real you to vote for you.

Next, pick a good vice presidential candidate. Even though you’ll never change your positions to convince people that you have even the remotest conservative tendencies, if you expect to have a scintilla of support from the Right (and make no mistake, you will need Conservative support if you don’t want to be a footnote in the history books). Some of the punditry in this country have been pushing for Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Please don’t select him. That would be pandering of the worst sort, and would harm Louisiana by robbing them of a governor who has ethics, administrative talent and, most importantly, A FUTURE. If he were to leave office and run for vice president on your ticket, a very bright rising Conservative star would be snuffed out at the beginning if you lost the election.

A better choice would be former Maryland lieutenant governor and present GOPAC chairman Michael Steele. Steele has Conservative bona fides, executive and administrative ability second to none, comes from an eastern state, and is young enough to take over for you if your health issues ever become front burner again. Trust a critic on this, you could do far worse and not much better.

If you want to secure the Conservative vote (yes, I know, you don’t want the Conservatives…we embarass you, and we just “don’t get it”, but humor me for a wee bit longer), announce who you’d want to serve in your cabinet before the RNC convention. A few suggestions, most of whom would show that you indeed want competence and experience in your administration:

Fred Thompson for Secretary of State. He has experience, gravitas and presence. Give him a mandate to “clean out the deadwood at State,” and he’d do it. You’d have the most ethical and effective State Department in history. John Bolton as National Security Advisor. He’d actually be a better Secretary of State, but do you really believe that Chuck Schumer would even let Bolton’s name make it to committee, let alone to the Senate floor? No, he wouldn’t. As National Security Advisor, he doesn’t need a confirmation hearing, and you’d be getting the best in the business to advise you. Mitt Romney for Secretary of the Treasury. Romney’s business skills and financial knowledge are above reproach. The only better choice would be Steve Forbes, but I doubt he’d take the cut in pay. If Romney could rein in the Olympics and Massachusetts, imagine what he could do with the Federal budget. Rudy Giuliani as Attorney General. Issue a “no gun control” order, he’d follow it. Yes, he has an ego almost as large as yours, but he has the talent to back it up…plus, he’s a team player. Any anti-terrorism measures that DoJ would have to handle, you know he’d carry them out with skill, professionalism and competence. Tom Tancredo at DHS. Senator McCain, to be frank, you have ZERO credibility when it comes to border security or enforcement of immigration laws. You could be standing next to a concrete wall, extolling how firm it is against illegals, and the rest of us would be looking for cracks, gates and tunnels. A choice of Tom Tancredo for DHS would signal the end of the Chertoff/bureaucrat era and the beginning of the “let’s actually do something” era. It might actually give you the credibility you need if you ever wanted *snicker* “comprehensive immigration reform” to be considered again. Duncan Hunter at Department of Defense. Hunter was a junior officer in the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) in Vietnam. He’s had to follow some of the ridiculous orders that have come down from the Pentagon, and would bring a different perspective to DoD. Plus, since his son is an active duty Marine Corps officer, Hunter would be able to develop and implement plans to increase force size and improve force structure in order to win this war! (And when it comes to the War, differentiate yourself from Bush by pressing for victory, not for just “accomplishing the mission.” That alone would be worth a million votes.) Mike Huckabee at Health and Human Services. That’s a touchy-feely office that would suit him fine. Put him there, then zero it out. That would solve two problems with one blow.After assembling your cabinet, stop doing things that display questionable intelligence. As an example, don’t make speaches to La Raza. That’s a Hispanic supremecist group. They no more will vote for you than they would Tom Tancredo. All appearing before these groups does is make you look like either a sap or a traitor. Also, take down the Spanish website! This is an English speaking country, and if you’re making a subtle appeal to illegals, that raises a question: What part of “illegal” is unclear to you? These aren’t the huddled masses at Ellis Island, these aren’t Mexicans who filled out the paperwork and came in in accordance with U.S. law…these are people who broke the law by crossing the border without paperwork or even at a lawful border crossing, and are violating our laws by staying here! That isn’t a hard concept for most Americans to grasp, but you and certain other Senators (Lindsey Graham, most notably), apparently are unable to wrap your minds around the concept of rule of law and just want to change the status of the illegals in apparent hope that such an action will net you their votes. You won’t get the votes of law breakers, so why bother? Concern yourself with enforcing the law, and you’ll get more votes from legal immigrants and native-born Americans…try it. You’ll be surprised at how well it works.

Since January, according to the Washington Times, you’ve only managed to secure 45 percent of the vote of your own party. You can’t win unless you have your own party on board with your campaign. Democrats disgusted with Hillary Clinton, or displeased with Barack Obama won’t win this election for you…you need Conservatives in your own party to achieve that victory, and unless you stop badmouthing your party’s base, you won’t win a thing!

I have no desire to see a Clinton regime redux, nor do I want to see an Obama presidency. These two’s economic illiteracy and rhetorical demogoguery appall me, as do the statements they’ve made which are blatantly Marxist. I don’t consider you to be even remotely the candidate of my choice, but you at least have a spark of conservatism in you…it may never be the roaring flame of Ronald Reagan, but at least it isn’t the glacial cold of Obama’s or Clinton’s socialism. If you want to win the presidency, you need to feed that spark, and so far, you’ve made all the moves of going after it with a fire extinguisher. That won’t gain you victory, and worse: It may sentence this country to a fate it might not survive.

Please think of the United States’ needs and not your desires. I think we’d rather have someone who talked a good game and at least played a little bit of it, than someone who neither talks nor plays the game. Play the game, Senator. Act like a Conservative, and you’ll win big. Carry on as you have, and you’ll lose miserably…and so will the United States.
BillK
May 12th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
From the San Francisco Chronicle, an idea that could only come from Government:

Feds in the dark about taking GG Bridge tolls

By Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross

Adding an extra dollar to peak-hour commutes across the Golden Gate Bridge is supposed to make the trip faster by discouraging people from crossing at the busiest times.

So bridge officials were a little befuddled when, in the days leading up to hatching the new plan, federal transportation wonks weighed in - strongly suggesting that the new toll be $6.50 all day long.

Bridge authorities explained that A) it was the feds’ own idea to charge more at peak times and B) a $6.50 toll would be self-defeating, because toll takers would have to make change, which in turn would lead to even bigger backups.

The feds’ response: How about a $7 toll - but give everyone a coupon for $1 off on their next trip? That way it would still come out to $6.50.

And you wonder why things are so screwed up in Washington.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....10K0A9.DTL

No comment, just a heavy sigh that your taxes are paying for Washington intelligentsia to come up with schemes like this.
Noyzmakr
May 12th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Great letter Sharps!

BillK, I find myself no longer suprised by the stupidity of people in this country. I sigh with you.
BillK
May 13th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Wait, it gets better.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

New way to help homeless: Feed a meter

By Cecilia M. Vega and Heather Knight

Rather than tossing loose change into a panhandler’s empty cup, San Francisco officials want you instead to slide your spare quarters and nickels into a homeless meter.

The city’s latest attempt to deal with one of its most vexing problems will be unveiled in coming weeks in the form of 10 old parking meters installed in some of the most heavily panhandled areas, The Chronicle has learned.

Money deposited in the meters would go directly to charities that help the homeless. The goal, officials say, is to reduce panhandling and to educate tourists and residents about the problem with giving money directly to people on the streets.

“The reason people are panhandling is because there’s a market for panhandling,” Mayor Gavin Newsom said Monday. “We’re not helping these individuals by handing out cash. If there was strong evidence to suggest this helped people turn their lives around, we would not be using this approach.”

The bright orange meters, donated by the city’s Department of Parking and Traffic, will be scattered along places like Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that typically attract a steady stream of daily panhandlers. The meters will be accompanied by signs telling people how they can give money to help the homeless.

The slogan for the program and accompanying advertising campaign will be plastered on the meters: “Be a part of change. Don’t give change.”

The plan is to have the Department of Parking and Traffic employees who collect money from actual parking meters also collect money from the homeless meters. The money would be divided among local nonprofit organizations, Newsom said.

A handful of cities around the country, including Denver and Baltimore, also have installed the meters in recent years. And while they haven’t necessarily been lucrative endeavors, some cities have seen less panhandling as a result. …

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....10L13S.DTL

Can you imagine what would happen if a conservative came up with a plan like this?

Even the homeless advocates realize it’s nuts:

But local advocates for the homeless laughed - and gasped - when they were told about the idea Monday.

Sister Bernie Galvin, executive director of Religious Witness with Homeless People, called the meter idea “utterly ridiculous.” She said it was based on a stereotype that all panhandlers use every nickel and dime to buy drugs and alcohol.

“Forget the children, forget the mothers who are struggling to raise their family homeless or in inadequate housing,” she said. “Will the city never give up on trying to find ways to make the lives of homeless people harder?”

Here’s the quote that would have any Republican strung up:

Newsom contends that most of the panhandlers in San Francisco aren’t actually homeless, but supplementing government assistance with the money people give them.

Lest you think this idea is wacky:

Paul Boden, director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project that deals with homelessness issues, recalled attempts under previous mayors to place jars by cash registers in businesses and sell coupons for services that could then be handed over panhandlers. He said the meters idea was especially “asinine” and San Francisco’s all-time, second-worst idea to curb panhandling.

The worst, he said, was a failed proposal during Willie Brown’s administration to equip homeless people with credit-card machines like those used for retail purchases. People could swipe their cards and choose how much to donate, with 80 percent going to homeless programs and 20 percent to the individual panhandlers.

I hope Rush reads this tomorrow on-air, because he’ll fall off his chair laughing.
BillK
May 13th, 2008 at 1:49 am
From the AP; let the whining begin as you know it will:

Hundreds Arrested in Immigration Raid at Iowa Meatpacking Plant

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Federal immigration agents on Monday arrested at least 300 people during a raid at a Postville meat processing plant.

The raid by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was the largest such operation in Iowa history, said Matt M. Dummermuth, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.

Dummermuth said the raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant came after months of planning. Agriprocessors is the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355178,00.html

Oh, the poor children whose parents were taken away from them!

How dare the government split up families and induce fear!!

Never mind that the childrens’ parents are criminals.

They’re just trying to “make a better life.”

So are most all thieves.
BillK
May 13th, 2008 at 1:52 am
Today’s “Beat on Bush” piece from the AP:

Former State Department Officials Allege U.S. Cover Up of Iraqi Government Corruption

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees.

Arthur Brennan, who briefly served in Baghdad as head of the department’s Office of Accountability and Transparency last year, and James Mattil, who worked as the chief of staff, told Senate Democrats on Monday that their office was understaffed and its warnings and recommendations ignored.

Brennan also alleges the State Department prevented a congressional staffer visiting Baghdad from talking with staffers by insisting they were too busy. In reality, Brennan said, the staffers were watching movies at the embassy and on their computers. The staffers’ workload had been cut dramatically because of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s “evisceration” of Iraq’s top anti-corruption office, he said.

The State Department’s policies “not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government,” Brennan told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

The U.S. embassy “effort against corruption — including its new centerpiece, the now-defunct Office of Accountability and Transparency — was little more than ‘window dressing,”‘ he added. …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355195,00.html

Is the Iraqi Government corrupt? Perhaps no more so than our own.

The article can be distilled to “disgruntled Government workers complain to Senate Democrats, MSM makes it news.”

Sen. Byron Dorgan, head of the Democratic Policy Committee, said the latest testimony is disheartening in light of al-Radhi’s previous estimate that corruption had cost Iraq — and U.S. taxpayers — some $18 billion.

“One would have expected that our own government would have been doing everything it could to support” Iraq’s anti-corruption efforts, said Dorgan, D-N.D.

But “that was simply not the case. On the contrary, our own government contributed to the culture of corruption,” he added.

Learned, no doubt, from watching US politicians in action.
Gila Monster
May 13th, 2008 at 1:53 am
I’m still laughing BillK, homeless meters, ….bwaahaahaahahahaha!! Leave it to SanFranNan’s ilk to come up with something so completely asinine, LOL…

Good job Sharps, John Bolton for DefSec, gotta love it.
BillK
May 13th, 2008 at 1:56 am
From a triumphant AP:

Pentagon Drops Charges Against ‘20th’ 9/11 Hijacker

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called “20th hijacker” in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.

Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks. Authorities say al-Qahtani missed out on taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the U.S. by an immigration agent.

But in reviewing the case, the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford, decided to dismiss the charges against al-Qahtani and proceed with the arraignment for the other five, said Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, the Saudi’s military lawyer.

Crawford dismissed the charges Friday without prejudice, meaning they can be filed again later, but the defense only learned about it Monday, Broyles told The Associated Press.

The attorney said he could not comment on the reasons for the dismissal until discussing the case with lawyers for the other five defendants. Officials previously said al-Qahtani had been subjected to a harsh interrogation authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, confirmed the case was proceeding against the five defendants and that their arraignment will be within 30 days of the charges being served at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Gordon declined further comment since the Office of Military Commissions had not yet released the formal announcement about the legal developments.

The five defendants include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the terrorist attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people, and Ramzi Binalshibh, who is said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and al-Qaida leaders. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all of them.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355242,00.html

So, they dismissed charges against one of six, and that’s the headline.

No bias there.
BillK
May 13th, 2008 at 1:58 am
GM, as much as the homeless meters are funny, I just can’t stop laughing at the image of equipping the homeless with credit card swipe machines…
navycopjoe
May 13th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Something stinks here, need some help from the fly boys.

MoveOn ad features pro-Obama Republican
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - John Weiler is a Southern California police detective, a Republican, an Air Force veteran and self-described conservative. He is starring in a television commercial in support of Barack Obama.

Top entertainment figures, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, selected the ad in a contest run by the liberal group MoveOn.org for the best 30-second pro-Obama television spot.

“I’m a veteran, I served under President Ronald Reagan and under the first President Bush,” Weiler says in the ad. “I’ve been a Republican since before I could actually vote. We need somebody in the White House that is strong. We need somebody who’s gonna represent the left and the right, the Democrat and the Republican, everybody. I’m a lifelong Republican and I’m voting for Barack Obama.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...../moveon_ad

and the money shot:
‘He served in the Air Force from 1983 to 1989, leaving the service as a master sergeant.’

Any thoughts on this?
Sharps Rifle
May 13th, 2008 at 6:37 am
‘He served in the Air Force from 1983 to 1989, leaving the service as a master sergeant.’

I was there during much of that time, and lemme tell ya:

NO ONE makes E-7 in six years! I’ve known a few (a VERY few…normally ones who came in as E-3 and have the line number for E-5, but don’t sew it on until after they start their second enlistments) who made E-5 in four, but E-7’s are usually there for fifteen or 16 years before they get that rank.

I’m willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, though, and assume Yahoo made a mistake on the dates.
cigarskunk
May 13th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I think we should have some fun with the Obama 57 gaff - give them a taste of Quail potato bashing, so, in that spirit, here’s some jokes to start the ball rolling -

Q - What’s Obama’s favorite brand of ketchup?
A – Heinz 57

Q – How many bitter, gun clutching, xenophobic, religious people does Obama think it takes to screw in a light bulb?
A – 57

Q – What’s Obama’s favorite movie?
A – Passenger 57

Q – (for the math geeks) What’s Obama’s favorite number in the 23-aliquot tree?
A – The first composite member

Q – What’s Obama’s favorite interstate to drive?
A – Highway 57 through Illinois

Q – Who’s Obama’s favorite baseball player?
A - New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana

Q – What’s Obama’s favorite song?
A - 57 Channels (and Nothin’ On) by Bruce Springsteen

Q – How does Obama spell potato?
A – f-i-f-t-y-s-e-v-e-n

Q – What’s Obama’s IQ?
A – 57
Noyzmakr
May 13th, 2008 at 11:44 am
BillK writes… GM, as much as the homeless meters are funny, I just can’t stop laughing at the image of equipping the homeless with credit card swipe machines…

Do you swipe the card in the crack of their rear end like they do strippers?
San Francisco is funny! ROFLMAO!!!
—————————————————————————————————————
Sen. Byron Dorgan, head of the Democratic Policy Committee, said the latest testimony is disheartening in light of al-Radhi’s previous estimate that corruption had cost Iraq — and U.S. taxpayers — some $18 billion.

How many hundreds of billions of dollars has Byron Dorgan cost the taxpayers?
pagar
May 13th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
“We need somebody who’s gonna represent the left and the right, the Democrat and the Republican, everybody. I’m a lifelong Republican and I’m voting for Barack Obama.”

The AP article I saw said Staff Sgt which should be much more likely, I had been out a long time by the time he got out, but no one I ever heard of made M/Sgt that fast.

But my real question is: what does he see in Obama that tells him that Obama is gonna do what he wants. I think the only person Obama cares about is Obama, and I don’t see how anyone can say that so far, Obama has represented anyone one else well.
wardmama4
May 13th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
cigarskunk - I thought you would enjoy this article:
from GOP USA

Is Obama Smarter Than A 5th Grade Jaywalker?
By Doug Patton
May 13, 2008

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has an indicted, Syrian-born Chicago shyster named Tony Rezko for a financial mentor. He has a screwball, race-baiting, America-hating pastor named Jeremiah Wright for a spiritual mentor. He has an unrepentant domestic terrorist named William Ayers for a political mentor. And he has one of the angriest wives ever to aspire to the position of First Lady.

Obama refuses to wear a flag lapel pin because he thinks it is more patriotic to criticize his country than to support it, or even to wear a symbol of its support. . . On top lapelgate and pastorgate and bittergate, now comes stategate. It seems that the brilliant Barack Obama doesn’t know how many states there are in our union.

http://tinyurl.com/5m5tay

I loved your jokes - very well done!
BillK
May 13th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I’d expect this email from the DNC or the Obama or Hillary campaigns, but I just got this load of #$@! from the McCain campaign:

Team McCain,

This week our campaign is promoting John McCain’s long-term commitment to providing market-based solutions to climate change and highlighting ways we can all protect our environment. We’re also taking this week to launch a new section of our store - complete with eco-friendly items.

In our new store section, we’re proud to offer eco-friendly t-shirts and polo shirts made from biodegradable fabric, as well as organic cotton hats and shopping bags. You can also buy travel mugs and notebooks made from recycled materials. Please show your support for John McCain by purchasing these items (or any other store item) by following this link.

Our campaign believes we can each do our part to protect the environment. You can take action today by visiting the eco-friendly section of our store. Please take the time today to visit the campaign’s official store to purchase your eco-friendly McCain gear and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same. Also, click here to see a new section of JohnMcCain.com that lays out John McCain’s plan to combat climate change by establishing a market-based system to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mobilize innovative technologies, and strengthen the economy.

Thank you,
Rick Davis
Rick Davis
Campaign Manager

P.S. Please take the a few minutes today to visit our new eco-friendly section of the official John McCain 2008 store. You’ll find environmentally friendly gear - everything from t-shirts to shopping bags - to show your support for John McCain. Please visit the store today!

So, once again, is there really any difference among the candidates this November?
JohnMG
May 13th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Need you ask? What else would anyone expect from the NYT’s favorite maverick. The moron could almost coast to the WH if he’d just keep his mouth shut. But no, Johnnie Mac just has to put his thumb in our collective eye again. As I’ve said before, this is why senators make lousy presidents. They are so out of touch that they tend to believe their own press releases.
Noyzmakr
May 13th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
So basically McCain joined the Global Warming hoax so he could sell t-shirts. What a complete idiot and I renounce him completely.

Days ago I made the prediction that mcCain would win in a landslide. Shows what i know huh?

I really hate that SOB and I’m voting for Bob Barr and I don’t care if obama gets elected. At least after an Obama presidency the country will swing so violently right that we’ll be on top for two decades. Just like after Carter. F*ck McCain!!!!
bullforever
May 13th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
“polo shirts made from biodegradable fabric” ……..

Cotton; it’s not just for breakfast anymore…..hehehehe
JohnMG
May 13th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
“polo shirts made from biodegradable fabric” ……..

He must be smoking his underwear!

Hemp, anyone?
U NO HOO
May 13th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Meters for the homeless…I thought maybe the homeless were going to squat in parking spaces and benevalent passers-by would feed the meter.
BillK
May 14th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Prepare for the favorable press blitz now.

From Daily Variety:

MICHAEL MOORE MAKING ‘9/11′ SEQUEL

Documentary to be released in 2009

By Pamela McClintock and Anne Thompson

Michael Moore is making a sequel to “Fahrenheit 9/11″ for Overture Films and Paramount Vantage, which will shop the project to international buyers when the Cannes Film Festival and market get under way today.

The two companies are co-financing and co-producing the untitled doc, which will be released next year. Overture will distribute the film domestically, while Vantage will handle international.

Moore may be leaving the Weinstein Co. — where he made his last two films, including “Fahrenheit 9/11″ — but Overture and Vantage are no strangers to the filmmaker. Overture CEO Chris McGurk and chief operating officer Danny Rosett were both at MGM and United Artists, home of Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine.”

Moore also knows Vantage topper Nick Meyer, former president of Lionsgate’s international arm. Lionsgate teamed with Bob and Harvey Weinstein and distributed “Fahrenheit 9/11″ after Disney refused to let Miramax do so. Lionsgate again teamed with the Weinsteins to distribute Moore’s most recent docu, “Sicko.”

“Fahrenheit 9/11,” a scathing indictment of George W. Bush’s war on terrorism and a hit at the worldwide box office, won the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2004. “Bowling for Columbine” also played at Cannes, and “Sicko” preemed at the fest last year.

Moore’s new doc could play at Cannes next year, if it isn’t released earlier in the spring. He’s already at work on the film.

“Clearly, we have a movie of global appeal here. Michael Moore is a very talented filmmaker, and this is a branded property,” Meyer said, adding that the Weinsteins helped build that brand.

Sequel will pick up where “Fahrenheit 9/11″ left off. In the time since, Bush’s popularity has plummeted, while the Iraq war continues and the economy falters.

“It’s a vote of confidence on Michael’s part and a great partnership for all of us,” Rosett said. “There is a voracious appetite for this kind of commentary.” …

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