Of Jacobins and Girondins

No greater love...

2012-01-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

Fellow Marines Call On Kyle Carpenter to Receive The Medal of Honor for Using His Body to Shield Others from Grenade Blast

Semper Fidelis,
Brantigny

..Jon Stewart's Rare Show of Hypocrisy Lights Up Cable TV

2012-01-25T18:37:00.000-08:00

..By Bob Bartelby

I am a huge fan of comedian Jon Stewart. I think he should run for president. He'd make a great one. That said, I am an equal opportunity commentator, and as such it would be unconscionable for me to allow Stewart a free pass after Tuesday evening's blatant hypocrisy regarding former Massachusetts governor and likely also-ran Mitt Romney.

According to the Huffington Post, Stewart blasted Romney, (who according to CBC earned $21.7 million in 2010) for his earnings and his low tax rate. "How in the world do you, Mitt Romney, justify making more in one day than the median American family makes in a year -- while paying the same tax rate as the guy who scans shoes at the airport?" asked Stewart. Romney's effective earnings, all from investments, as he is per his own words according to the New York Times, unemployed work out to about $57,000 per day in fiscal year 2010.

Here's the problem: According to celebritynetworth.com, Stewart earns $15 million per year as his salary on "The Daily Show." We can assume, because that is a job, he pays closer to the 30 percent rate than Romney's 13.9 percent.

However, that's only part of the picture. Stewart is also estimated to have a net worth of $80 million. Depending on how he is invested, he is also earning a substantial income from his $80 million nest egg. Even if he is invested conservatively, he's likely earning investment income of $4 million per year, which would be taxed at a rate equal to Romney's. Indeed, between investment income and book royalties, and his salary, more than likely Stewart earns more money in the fiscal year than Romney despite paying a marginally higher tax rate.

Stewart goes on to blast Romney for having lobbied against tax reform that would have been detrimental to his personal holdings, but the fact is Stewart benefits from the tax laws too, and as such should have disclosed the same.

Of course, rich men don't want to pay more taxes than they currently do. But what I can't figure out is why anyone thinks the rich man should like taxation any more than the poor man does. That's just insane. I love "The Daily Show" and its contribution to the national dialog, but that bit was just plain hypocritical. Come on, Jon. You're better than that...

Well Jon what cha got to say?

Liberalism is a disease.

Brantigny

..Court: Oklahoma can't enforce Sharia law ban

2012-01-11T05:21:00.000-08:00

DENVER (Reuters) - A federal appeals court upheld an injunction against a voter-approved ban on Islamic law in Oklahoma on Tuesday, saying it likely violated the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against religion.

A three-member panel of the Denver-based U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the rights of plaintiff Muneer Awad, a Muslim man living in Oklahoma City, likely would be violated if the ban on Sharia law takes effect.

The decision upholds the ruling of a lower federal court.

"While the public has an interest in the will of the voters being carried out ... the public has a more profound and long-term interest in upholding an individual's constitutional rights," the appeals court said in a 37-page written decision.

The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed the ruling, calling it "a victory for the Constitution and for the right of all Americans to freely practice their faith."

Oklahoma's "Save Our State Amendment," which was approved by 70 percent of state voters in 2010, bars Oklahoma state courts from considering or using Sharia law.

The lawsuit challenging the measure was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Awad, who is director of the Oklahoma chapter of CAIR.

A federal judge in Oklahoma City issued a court order in November 2010 barring the measure from taking effect while the case is under review, finding a substantial likelihood that Awad would prevail on the merits.

The Council said the Oklahoma amendment is among 20 similar proposed laws introduced in state legislatures nationwide.

Defenders of the amendment say they want to prevent foreign laws in general, and Islamic Sharia law in particular, from overriding state or U.S. laws.

But foes of the Oklahoma measure, also called State Question 755, have argued that it stigmatizes Islam and its adherents and violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment prohibition against the government favoring one religion over another.

State Senator Anthony Sykes, one of the measure's sponsors, called the decision an attempt "to silence the voice of 70 percent of Oklahoma voters. At some point we have to decide whether this is a country of, by and for the judges, or of, by and for the people."

Opponents also say it could nullify wills or legal contracts between Muslims because they incorporate by reference specific elements of Islamic prophetic traditions.

Well as long as Muslims aren't offended...

this appeals court is made up of appointed judges, not elected ones. Therefore they do not have to bend to the will of the people. When foreign law overrules US and state law sovereignty ends.

Brantigny

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

2012-01-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick look into the three former Fannie Mae executives who were directly responsible for the Wall Street meltdown.

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregularities in Fannie Mae's accounting activities. Raines left with a "golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear.

Tim Howard - was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard "was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a "stable pattern of earnings" at Fannie. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004. Howard's Golden Parachute was was estimated at $20 Million!

Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million." Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae. Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.

WHAT ARE THEY DOING NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES?Raines works for the Obama Campaign as his Chief Economic Advisor!

TIM HOWARD?Howard is a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama under Franklin Raines!!

JIM JOHNSON?Johnson was hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee. (I guess that means biden is retiring to Delaware...)

Kinda makes you sick to your stomach. Kinda like letting the Fox into the hen house and holding the door open for them.

You choose the company you keep and you are known by that company. The list of malefactors in the Obama admisinstration is growing by leaps and bounds.

Brantigny

Senate legalizes bestiality in the Armed Forces

2011-12-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

This had to come. Once the procription against Homosexuals serving in the Military was overturned by a pagan Senate and signed into law by an equally pagan president those portions of military law which outlawed sodomy and bestiality had to go as well. Unfortunately for the nbaby genuises the left in the General Article 134. which reads: "Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court." So this would have to be the charge used for inapproprate sex between and adult and a minor. Enlistment is open to youths at age 17.

Three conservative Senate Republicans – Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) – joined Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in voting “NO” on the bill. However don't get so ready to congratulate them for a moral desision. Their not voting for had morre to do with self promotio rather than the Glory of God. none of them spoke out in Senate debate against the sodomy/bestiality provision leading up to the vote. And none said they voted against the bill because of the provision.

“Dr. Coburn voted against the bill because it didn't do enough to fix the long term challenges at the Pentagon,” a Coburn spokesman told CNSNews.com asked McCain: “Senator, did you read the Defense authorization bill that was passed last week? Were you aware of the language that repealed the ban on sodomy and bestiality?” “On what?” McCain replied.

A spokesman for Lee, meanwhile, said that the senator does not support doing away with the Article 125 law on sodomy and bestiality, but his vote was prompted by concerns over the fact that the bill allows U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism to be detained in the U.S. by the military for an indefinite period.

In fact, only one member of Congress spoke out against the provision last Thursday night – and he was in the House of Representatives, not the Senate.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) took to the House floor to condemn the provision just as the Senate was voting.

“If the Senate language passes the House, they’ve stricken the language that prohibits bestiality in the military in their overzealous effort to try to advance same-sex marriage among our military and use it as a social experiment,” King said for the Congressional Record.

The Associated Press (via the Boston Globe) is reporting that the Democratic-controlled US Senate has passed the $662 billion 2012 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act).

The NDAA covers everything from jet strike fighters to housing for military families.

It also de-criminalizes both sodomy and bestiality.

In a press release from the US Senate Committee on the Armed Services (Chairman - Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI) from June 17, 2011, under the Military Personnel Policy section (page 9), it clearly states that the Committee has added to the Fiscal Year 2012 NDAA the following;

Also repeals Article 125 of the UCMJ, relating to the offense of sodomy.

The Library of Congress has recorded and saved for posterity every letter and number associated Senate bill, S. 1867. Specifically;

S.1867National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

Sec. 920c. Art. 120c. Other sexual misconduct
(d) Repeal of Sodomy Article- Section 925 of such title (article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is repealed.

On an official US Air Force website, Article 125 of the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) formerly prohibited both sodomy and bestiality.

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration , however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.

(b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

The official website for the US Senate has listed by name the 93-7 vote in favor of the NDAA.

Rome at its end could not have thought up a better way to bring about it's downfall.

Brantigny

Saudi Arabia and the woman driver.

2011-12-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

In a country known for Washington politicians making the most obtuse connexions and repeating these "observations' as truth (see latest Bidenism), Saudi Arabia has raised the bar on stupid...

Here is the report by Muslim Clerics...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- If women were allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, sex and pornography would surge and homosexuality would be more prevalent, conservative Muslim scholars said.

So sex, pornography and homosexuality are pervasive in Saudi Arabia.

Academics at the Majlis al-Ifta al-Aala, the country's top religious council, said relaxing the rules concerning women drivers would eventually lead to "no more virgins," The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Huh? Post hoc ergo propter hoc. The lack of virgins is possible because the virgins would escape to Bahrain and hence to the west.

The scholars, working with a former professor at the conservative King Fahd University, presented their conclusions in a report to the country's legislative assembly.

The report said allowing women to drive would "provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce."

Saudi Arabia is the only country that bans women from driving. Women caught driving can be lashed.

In September, Shaima Jastaniya was sentenced to 10 lashes after she was caught driving in Jeddah. International outrage about the sentence prompted King Abdallah to overturn it.

Despite criticism about the law by rights organizations and other leaders, resistance to reform is strong within the conservative royal family and among clerics.

The Saudi government is considering a proposal to ban women from displaying their eyes if they are deemed too "tempting," the Telegraph reported. Women already must cover most of their bodies in public.

Incidentally having been to that area of the world I have to say that Saudi women go to Bahrain to drive. Even in Muslim countries who have Shariah women are allowed to drive.

No word from the Administration how this will affect the economy, but that statement will be forthcoming.

Please step to the back of the car please.

Brantigny

MAMA Economy Explained

2011-11-15T07:45:00.001-08:00

Brantigny

Wall Street Occupiers complain they are being robbed—by other protesters

2011-10-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

Listed under the Law of Unintended Consequences. "When you voice the demand for property to be redistubuted, don't complain if your property is redistributed. That is what you intended."

There may be honor among thieves but not in Zuccotti Park, where, the New York Post reports, “brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind.”

One protester, a kitchen and legal-team volunteer from Fort Lauderdale, is quoted as saying: Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment. I had my Mac stolen—that was like $5,500. Every night, something else is gone. Last night, our entire [kitchen] budget for the day was stolen, so the first thing I had to do was … get the message out to our supporters that we needed food!

And here I would have thought Wall Street greed was the protesters’ biggest problem.

The cat burglars sneaked into the makeshift kitchen at the park overnight and made off with as much as $2,500 in donated cash from right under the noses of volunteers as they slept.

A security volunteer from Brooklyn told the Post he planned to get tough with the predatory perps: I’m not getting paid, but I’m not gonna stand for it. Why people got to come here and do stupid stuff? All it does is make people not wanna come here anymore.

The volunteer, whose name is Harry Wyman, didn’t clarify what he considered “stupid stuff,” a term some might broadly apply to everything that has gone on in the park since the protests began five weeks ago.

At one point yesterday, Wyman and other volunteers briefly scuffled with a man standing near a park entrance with a pail shouting “Donations!” and pocketing the cash people tossed in the bucket.

Why that was frowned upon is not clear since no code of conduct or manifesto exists, detailing protesters’ rights and responsibilities.

So let me get this straight, the anarchists are calling for rules?

Brantigny

Local students join the 'Occupy Wall Street' protest

2011-10-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

WRAL in Raleigh reported that a handful of local college students may not be able to physically join protesters in New York, but are joining them locally in spirit.

Students from NC State University, UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University have launched their own version of Occupy Wall Street protests on their respective campuses.

Protesting everything from a weak economy to "U.S. imperialism" to campus safety to full funding for food stamps, students walked out of classes earlier today.

Tens of UNC students gathered at the steps of the university's Wilson Library as part of their Occupy Campus demonstration.

As quoted by WRAL, student Denise Mitchell stated;

"Apart from the message of Occupy Wall Street, which is people over profit, is that UNC students, regardless of political or socio-economic background, have issues on this campus. Students just don't feel like they're being heard by the university."
..

According to 3d year student Matt Hickson;

"(We want) to have all of these groups that we have that do great work apart come together and work on the interconnectedness of the issues that we face and how important they are to our future."

Do They Really Feel Our Pain?

According to the NC State University official website, one year's worth of tuition for state residents is $18,427 and out-of-staters pay $31,362.

UNC's in-state tuition costs are $20,660 per year. Out-of-state students shell out $41,140.

Duke University doesn't differentiate between in-state and non-state students - everyone pony's up a whopping $55,690 per school year.

It's unclear how many of the protesters actually paid for their own tuition.

My son-in-law David is a graduate of Duke University, class of 2006. He worked for everything he got. Our daughter Genevieve graduating from Meredith College in 2007, she worked for everything she got. We are very proud of them both. David is now working on his doctorate, and Genevieve teaches French in the same district from which she graduated. This did not happen by leaving class and protesting.

The Flea Baggers pretending to occupy Wall street, and Chicago, and Charlotte, and LA, wish not for equality of opportunity but for equality of outcome. In a free society this is not possible.

Brantigny

The law of intended consequenses...

2011-10-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

This goverment in its agenda towards legislation of morality and, Advance of same-sex marriage deepens concern for religious liberty.

By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The widening campaign by gay rights advocates to promote same-sex marriage as a civil rights issue is forcing Catholic and other religious institutions to confront charges of intolerance and discrimination.

Also at risk, say church officials working on the legal front, is the way religious institutions and individuals opposed to same-sex marriage conduct business from hall rentals to receiving government contracts for social services.

Recently, the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., withdrew from all state-funded social service contracts, citing increasing clashes between state law and church teaching on same-sex relationships. The Diocese of Rockford stopped offering state-funded adoptions and foster care services when the Illinois civil unions legislation took effect June 1. Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Joliet and Springfield and Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois in Belleville also have been involved in legal proceedings with the state since then.

In 2006, Catholic Charities in San Francisco and Boston stopped adoption placements when laws required equal treatment of applicants in same-sex relationships.

Elsewhere, including New York where a same-sex marriage law took effect July 24, church institutions are carefully monitoring how such laws are being applied and are vigilant for threats to religious liberty in the areas of taxes, housing, education and employment.

"The general issue is the definition of marriage creates many, many rights, not just one," explained Anthony R. Picarello Jr., general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "So changing the definition of marriage creates changes throughout the legal system."

Those changes can affect a wide range of practices far beyond marriage such as whether:

-- A private individual can deny renting an apartment to a same-sex couple on religious grounds.

-- A public school teacher who refuses to talk about same-sex marriage as a justice issue can continue to teach.

-- A counselor's license can be revoked for declining to accept same-sex couples as clients.

-- A religious organization that does not recognize same-sex marriage can be considered discriminatory by a state or local government and lose any contract for services.

"Redefining marriage has a multiplier effect," Picarello explained to Catholic News Service. "The problems proliferate. The problems that we see under mere sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws multiply by order of magnitude when marriage is redefined.

"Marriage is a legal lever, because in our society we have a legal infrastructure that rewards those who support marriage, and punishes those who oppose it. When that legal structure ... is then applied to a relationship that isn't marriage, the people who object to that definition are going to suffer severe disadvantages," he added.

Picarello pointed to the February announcement by the Justice Department that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act -- DOMA -- because it is biased and prejudicial against homosexuals and therefore is discriminatory as among the mounting challenges facing religious institutions opposed to same-sex marriage.

"They basically suggested that any law that distinguishes between same-sex couples and different sex couples, whether it's for purposes of marriage or anything else, violates the Constitution if the government is doing it, (that) the government can't make those distinctions," Picarello said.

"But all DOMA does is define marriage as it's always been defined," he said. "The church stands behind that definition and now the church has been lumped in with bigots and haters."

For states to imply such a comparison is a major leap because it dismisses religious tradition and the morality of same-sex relationships while portraying religious objections to same-sex marriage as equivalent to racial discrimination.

The religious liberty issue has largely been played out at the state level. Same-sex marriage has been legalized through legislation or by court decisions in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Illinois and Rhode Island this year enacted civil union laws; come Jan. 1 civil unions will become legal in Delaware and Hawaii.

In California, Proposition 8, a ballot initiative approved by voters in 2008 to ban same-sex marriage remains in the courts and may end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Same-sex marriage is banned by law or constitutional amendment in the remaining 40 states.

In states where same-sex marriage has been enacted by law, at least a basic religious exemption has been included. The breadth of the exemption varies with some jurisdictions offering a general exemption from performing same-sex marriages to more wide-ranging protections like those in Connecticut that spell out specific protections for religious institutions.

Michael C. Culhane, executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference, lobbied for three exemptions following the state Supreme Court's 2008 decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

In addition to the normal exemption for clergy from participating in a same-sex marriage ceremony, Connecticut's law has one provision protecting fraternal societies from providing insurance benefits to anyone if doing so violates the free exercise of religion and another safeguarding the rights of a religious organization in the delivery of adoption, foster care or social services as long as government funds are not involved.

"In the long hours we ended up with a very strong religious exemption," Culhane said. "We were very, very happy."

In Iowa, where the state Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal, Tom Chapman, executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference, said the church has been minimally affected by the court's decision.

"We have the same concerns a lot of places do and would have," he said. "For example, Catholic schools in Iowa are accredited by the state. So anything that can be required in public schools can be required in Catholic schools as well."

The likelihood that the issue will be addressed by the legislature is slim, Chapman told CNS.

"My own feeling is there is a desire on everybody's part who wants same-sex marriage to leave it alone because they don't want us to have a defense of marriage amendment or legislation (that could restrict same-sex marriage)," he said.

Such an exemption in Illinois' civil unions law failed to resolve the dilemma faced by the Peoria Diocese. The predicament arose when state Department of Children and Family Services mandated that the diocesan Catholic Charities system end the practice of referring adoptions and foster placements to same-sex couples to another agency. Catholic Charities appealed, but lost in court, leading the diocese to back out of all state contracts for social services.

Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, told CNS that state law affords protections for religious practice, but that the state has the right to contract with any agency it for the delivery of services.

"The danger is that faith-based organizations will get crowded out of the provision of services that are desperately needed," he said.

Even with specific exemptions for religious institutions, individuals everywhere face possible infringements on the practice of their faith, said Daniel Avila, policy adviser for marriage and family to the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.

"Even if you think you're protected and this is not an issue in your own state, given you have a state DOMA, they should be quite aware of events happening at the national level that could then bring these very issues and problems into their own lives," he said.

Avila suggested that at least two cases, including California's legal battle over Proposition 8, will likely make their way to the U.S. Supreme Court and determine the legal status of same-sex marriage in the country.

The cases are likely two years away, he said.

That leaves states to follow their own course on what actions are discriminatory and what are not and religious organizations guessing which way they will go.

Brantigny

Joe Biden speaks again...

2011-10-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Joe Biden used scare tactics in a speech in Flint, Michigan to push for the passage of President Obama's jobs bill. "Hey Joe! The democrats voted against the bill!"

Brantigny

How the 99% lives

2011-10-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

A photo from Occupy Wall Street, a poor protester counts his cash...

Everything is not as it seems.

Brantigny

Judge Judy - This Is Who We Are Supporting With Taxes

2011-10-05T06:08:00.000-07:00

My prison case load is full of people just like this guy. "Do not confuse me with the truth." This is a reflection of his feeling of entitlement, which is prominent in the United States by groups who are slaves to the government.

What he is thinking is, "...if the money comes in from the Government it doesn't really matter for what use it was intended..." What have we created with this sense of entitlement, especially wth this ...fellow is, a well educated idiot. It is obvious that college after 3 years has not taught him to be self responsibilty. The woman in her 30 years has not learned any better.

The Law of Unintended Circumstances, specifically states a lazy person with no ambition tends to remain so while that lazy person with no ambition receives government aid. Multiply this fellow by millions.

Hunger and homelessness is a great motivator. Heartless?, No, tough Love.

Brantigny

NC Governor Perdue jokes (?) about suspending Congressional elections for two years

2011-09-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

File this in the random-things-politicians-say file. Speaking to a Cary Rotary Club today, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggested suspending Congressional elections for two years so that Congress can focus on economic recovery and not the next election.

"I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that," Perdue said. "You want people who don't worry about the next election."

The comment -- which came during a discussion of the economy -- perked more than a few ears. It's unclear whether Perdue, a Democrat, is serious -- but her tone was level and she asked others to support her on the idea. (Read her full remarks below.)

Later Tuesday afternoon, Perdue's office clarified the remarks: "Come on," said spokeswoman Chris Mackey in a statement. "Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve."

The Republicans sure are taking it seriously as they look to score political points. Here's a statement from GOP spokesman Rob Lockwood:

“Now is a time when politicians need to be held accountable more than ever. To suspend an election would be removing the surest mechanism that people have to hold politicians accountable: the right to vote. Does the Governor not believe that people of North Carolina have the ability to think for themselves about whether or not the actions of elected officials are working?"

UPDATED: GOP House candidate Paul Coble didn't think much of Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's idea that congressional elections be suspended for two years so Congress can concentrate on the economy.

“That’s a proposal that only the politicians that have worsened our economic mess could appreciate,” said Coble, who is chairman of the Wake County commissioners. “Governor Perdue and the politicians in Washington may fear the message voters send next November.” Read more:

The question is was she really joking? Quite possibly she had one of those Freudian slips and her real thoughts slipped out. My state is one of those in which both houses received veto proof Republican majorities. This was the first time since the 19th century in which the Republicans controlled both houses at the same time.

Pat McCrory former Mayor of Charlotte NC. wrote on his Facebook Page, "Not only does this bizarre commentary suggest ignoring the Constitution, but does Governor Perdue forget her own inability to work with the Legislature, regardless if controlled by Democrats or Republicans?"

Brantigny

Open mouth insert foot

2011-09-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

Between President Obama and Vice President Biden this team has insulted just about everybody.

Brantigny

Cherchez la femme

2011-09-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

Office Depot fires exec in 'improper relationship'

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — The head of Office Depot Inc.'s international division was fired, effective Monday, for having an "improper relationship" with a co-worker, the company said.

Office Depot said the fired executive was Charlie Brown. It did not identify the other employee or describe that person's job title or fate.

"Charlie Brown was terminated for having an improper relationship with another associate," Chairman and CEO Neil Austrian said in a statement. "The company has a zero tolerance policy in this regard."

No replacement was named.

Austrian said Office Depot's top officials in Europe and Asia now will report to him, and Chief Financial Officer Mike Newman will oversee the company's joint venture in Mexico and its business in Latin America overall.

The shares rose 8 cents, or 3.9 percent, to close at $2.13. They rose another 7 cents after hours. The stock has traded between $1.94 and $6.25 the past year.

The Little Red Haired Girl...

Brantigny

Linus has been suggested in a possible replacement move.

Porn magnate funds $1 million quest to embarrass Perry

2011-09-23T05:21:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Pornographic magazine publisher Larry Flynt offered $1 million on Thursday to anyone with proof of "an illicit sexual liaison" involving leading Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry. more

This post needs no comment.

Brantigny

Earth Quake take

2011-08-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Congressman Maxine Waters is calling for a congressional investigation for the ties between yesterday's earthquake and the Tea-Party. Fox news reports that the quake may be the result of the founding fathers turning over in their graves, while President Obama claims it is Bushs fault.

Chuck Norris regrets that he may have accidently caused the quake when he stamped his foot.

Brantigny

Joe Wilson ‘you lie!’ comment has been justified

2011-08-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

I was shocked by the comment of Joe Wilson in 2009. Not because I agree with anything that P-BO says but because of where Joe Wilson said it... remember...

“You lie!” Republican Rep. Joe Wilson famously shouted at President Obama during a 2009 televised presidential address to a joint session of Congress.

The outburst, prompted by Obama pledging his health care reform bill would not benefit illegal immigrants, provoked outrage from liberals, not to mention a steely death-glare from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

But now Wilson says time has proved him right.

In an appearance on Fox News’ America Live on Wednesday, Wilson said a recent award of $28 million to community health care centers around the country will no doubt benefit illegal immigrants, despite Obama’s pledge.

Department of Health and Human Services spokesmen have confirmed $8.5 million of the grant will go to centers serving migrant and seasonal farm workers, saying patients will not be asked about immigration status. The centers will offer primary care to all residents who come in.

“It is clearly providing money that should be going to American citizens to illegal immigrants,” Wilson said. “It’s even worse than I thought. They won’t even ask for status.”
On his campaign website, Wilson wrote: “It is inevitable that they will serve illegal aliens. The president specifically promised the American people that ‘Obamacare’ would not cover those who are here illegally. He misled all of us.”

The Department of Health and Human Services shot back, saying the patients still must pay for care.

“By statute, health centers are required to provide primary health care to all residents of the health center’s service area without regard for ability to pay,” spokesman Chris Stenrud wrote in an email to Fox. “However, health centers do not provide free care. All health center patients are expected to contribute to the cost of their care.”

Joe Wilson was right.

Brantigny

Homeland Security

2011-08-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

Homeland Security has revealed it's new quick reaction forces which will be utilized in airports as a deterrent to those who do not wish to use the scanners. The reaction force is seen here testing out it's All Weather capability.

Brantigny

Your Social Security Card a lesson in history.

2011-08-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the message, NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION, was removed.
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An old Social Security card with the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message.

Our Social Security

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be
Completely voluntary,

No longer Voluntary

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program, It is now currently 7.65% on the first $90,000

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from
their income for tax purposes each year, It is no longer tax deductible

4.) That the money the participants put into the independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the
general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security
Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and, Under Johnson the money was moved to ...The General Fund and Spent

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income. Under Clinton & Gore Up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month --and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to 'put away' -- you may be interested in the following:

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

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Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

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Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the 'tie-breaking' deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US

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Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!

------------ -- ------------ --------- ----- ------------ --------- ---------

Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away! ...And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!

Here is Chris Matthews talking about "House GOP Not Too "Horny" To Meet The Public" What!

See this Video

The rant is the same Chris Matthews drivel but listen to what he adds at the end. Now I know what the difference is between Social Security and Medicare but the operation of creating a crisis is what brought Social Security from a supplement for the elderly to the most overpowering bit of social engineering.

Brantigny

Cat up a tree.

2011-08-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, look up at a tree at Rideau Hall in Ottawa for their cat, "Lord Uxbridge", that had escaped during their visit to Canada. When later asked about this incident the Prince remarked, "They couldn't get he old boy down until I came along. "It was a near run thing and it wouldn't have done at all if I hadn't of been there." Rather.

Brantigny

Wigger day?

2011-08-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

Black Student Sues Minnesota High School for Celebrating 'Wigger Day'

Published August 04, 2011

RED WING, Minn – A black student is suing her former Minnesota high school for celebrating "Wednesday Wigger Day," where white students pretended to be black during homecoming week, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday.

Quera Pruitt, who graduated from Red Wing High School last year, filed the lawsuit last week, saying the "wigger" celebration caused her to be so depressed that she almost dropped out of school.

The slang word "wigger" is commonly used to refer to a white person who copies the mannerisms, language and fashions commonly associated with American black culture.

"It's offensive to black folks and, frankly, it's offensive to anyone," said Joshua Williams, Pruitt's lawyer.

Pruitt claims Wigger Day, also known as "Wangsta Day," was held between 2007 and 2009and is claiming $75,000 in damages.

The school district, however, rejects the accusations outright.

"The district denies the allegations that it has created a racially hostile environment and looks forward to meeting these allegations in court," district superintendent Karsten Anderson said in a written statement.

Nearly 900 high school students are enrolled in the school district, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of St. Paul. Three percent are black. Read more:

I believe if the style and clothes worn by many black students in High School wasn't allowed there wouldn't be a problem. In our permissive society the homeless look is allowed to proliferate, lawlessness is not only winked at but encouraged.

Naturally the race card has to be played so that the already finacially burdened school system can pay.

Brantigny

'No porn or prostitution': Islamic extremists set up Sharia law controlled zones in British cities

2011-07-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

Islamic extremists have launched a poster campaign across the UK proclaiming areas where Sharia law enforcement zones have been set up.

Communities have been bombarded with the posters, which read: ‘You are entering a Sharia-controlled zone – Islamic rules enforced.’

The bright yellow messages daubed on bus stops and street lamps have already been seen across certain boroughs in London and order that in the ‘zone’ there should be ‘no gambling’, ‘no music or concerts’, ‘no porn or prostitution’, ‘no drugs or smoking’ and ‘no alcohol’.

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary has claimed responsibility for the scheme, saying he plans to flood specific Muslim and non-Muslim communities around the UK and ‘put the seeds down for an Islamic Emirate in the long term’.

In the past week, dozens of streets in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Newham have been targeted, raising fears that local residents may be intimidated or threatened for flouting ‘Islamic rules’.Read more:

Britains now face the result of a liberal emmigration policy.

Brantigny

Media matters

2011-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

I remember when GWB was president the left wing media named every causualty in Iraq and Afganistan, where are they now.

Brantigny

Religion of Peace revisited

2011-06-21T06:18:00.000-07:00

I believe it was George W. Bush who called Islam the religion of peace yet we seem to be continually besieged with enemies who are wearing the badge of Islam. Now I do not know who told Dubya that lie but it has become the phrase of choice when fooling ourselves about the true ideas of Islam. Peaceful? Read on...

Reuters – Left...A girl, identified by the police as eight-year-old Sohana Javaid, sits during at a news conference in Islamabad…

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – An eight-year-old Pakistani girl was kidnapped by Islamist militants who forced her to wear a suicide vest to attack security forces, police said on Monday.

Police produced the girl, identified as Sohana Javaid, before a news conference broadcast on Pakistani television channels.

The girl recalled how she was kidnapped from her hometown of Peshawar and brought to the Lower Dir district in the northwest.

"There were two men and two women sitting in a car. They kidnapped me," she told reporters in Dir.

Forced to wear a suicide vest, she was transported to a security check post.

"They put one suicide vest on me, but it did not fit. Then they put on a second one," Sohana said. "I threw away the vest and started shouting (for help) as I came close to the checkpost and they (security forces) took me into custody."

There was no way to independently verify the story.

Pakistani authorities, who are facing a stubborn Taliban insurgency, have in the past produced would-be suicide bombers in front of television cameras. But they have been men or boys.

Suicide bombings by women are rare in Pakistan.

The Taliban have been blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan.

I never heard of Catholics kidnapping an 8 year old to wear a suicide vest.

Brantigny

Obama's Quagmire...

2011-06-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

"...Syndicated columnist George Will is an exception to the Washington rule. When he was asked by ABC’s This Week host Christiane Amanpour if he believed Obama’s bombing of Libya was the “right thing to do,” Will replied: “I do not. We have intervened in a tribal society, in a civil war. And we have taken sides in that civil war on behalf of a people we do not know or understand, for the purpose—not a vow, but inexorably our purpose—of creating a political vacuum by decapitating the government. Into that vacuum, what will flow we do not know and cannot know...”

Trying hard to hide on his decision to attack Libya, President Obama and his Democratic sycophants have done that which he has accused George W. Bush of doing, becoming bogged down in a war. Racing to the White house in 2008, he promised to end the war in Iraq, and the war in Afghanistan (in reality the same war). He has done neither, and has in fact attacked without the consent of the Congress, Libya. For what purpose? Thus far he has not arrived at a good reason. A onetime friend of Kadfi and now an enemy, he appears at a loss for what to do next. The White House rules of engagement has all but cut off the trigger fingers of the fighting men who are being placed in harms way. Other than blowing holes in the desert not much has come of this. Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi does not show a sign of coming out and so this president has violated the first of the principles of war, Objective. there is no objective in engaging in action in Libya.

This are the principles of war: ( I learned these in High School, in military Science. Some on may want to point these out to Mr Obama.

Objective – Direct every military operation toward a clearly defined, decisive and attainable objective. The ultimate military purpose of war is the destruction of the enemy's ability to fight and will to fight. (Italics are mine)

Offensive – Seize, retain, and exploit the initiative. Offensive action is the most effective and decisive way to attain a clearly defined common objective. Offensive operations are the means by which a military force seizes and holds the initiative while maintaining freedom of action and achieving decisive results. This is fundamentally true across all levels of war.

Mass – Mass the effects of overwhelming combat power at the decisive place and time. Synchronizing all the elements of combat power where they will have decisive effect on an enemy force in a short period of time is to achieve mass. Massing effects, rather than concentrating forces, can enable numerically inferior forces to achieve decisive results, while limiting exposure to enemy fire.

Economy of Force – Employ all combat power available in the most effective way possible; allocate minimum essential combat power to secondary efforts. Economy of force is the judicious employment and distribution of forces. No part of the force should ever be left without purpose. The allocation of available combat power to such tasks as limited attacks, defense, delays, deception, or even retrograde operations is measured in order to achieve mass elsewhere at the decisive point and time on the battlefield. ...

Maneuver – Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power. Maneuver is the movement of forces in relation to the enemy to gain positional advantage. Effective maneuver keeps the enemy off balance and protects the force. It is used to exploit successes, to preserve freedom of action, and to reduce vulnerability. It continually poses new problems for the enemy by rendering his actions ineffective, eventually leading to defeat. ...

Unity of Command – For every objective, seek unity of command and unity of effort. At all levels of war, employment of military forces in a manner that masses combat power toward a common objective requires unity of command and unity of effort. Unity of command means that all the forces are under one responsible commander. It requires a single commander with the requisite authority to direct all forces in pursuit of a unified purpose. (he or she should have a rudimentary understanding of what the military is for. It is for breaking things, not passing out hamburgers.)

Security – Never permit the enemy to acquire unexpected advantage. Security enhances freedom of action by reducing vulnerability to hostile acts, influence, or surprise. Security results from the measures taken by a commander to protect his forces. Knowledge and understanding of enemy strategy, tactics, doctrine, and staff planning improve the detailed planning of adequate security measures.

Surprise – Strike the enemy at a time or place or in a manner for which he is unprepared. Surprise can decisively shift the balance of combat power. By seeking surprise, forces can achieve success well out of proportion to the effort expended. Surprise can be in tempo, size of force, direction or location of main effort, and timing. Deception can aid the probability of achieving surprise. ...

Simple – Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and concise orders to ensure thorough understanding. Everything in war is very simple, but the simple thing is difficult. To the uninitiated, military operations are not difficult. Simplicity contributes to successful operations. Simple plans and clear, concise orders minimize misunderstanding and confusion. Other factors being equal, parsimony is to be preferred.

Shortly it will be 10 years since we began the War on Terror, which has end in sight. What shall we call the War in Libya? Obama's War?

Go here to see who it is exactly we have coupled ourselves.

Brantigny

Wise words.

2011-06-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

"Beware of the doctor, whose wife sells cemetery plots, whose brother owns a granite quarry, and whose father deals in shovels."

Brantigny

Ok this is just stupid...

2011-06-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

Entrance into the European Union has not been a good idea. The latest ploy? Feed the hamsters before humans. Eurpean Union=Loss of sovereignty.

Of mice and men: European court raps France over hamster plight

By Laura Rozen laura Rozen – Fri Jun 10, 8:18 am ET

Europe's highest court warned France Thursday that it needs to do more to protect the hamster: the Great Hamster of Alsace, to be precise, which is western Europe's last remaining species of hamster in the wild.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled Thursday that France needs to modify its agriculture and urban growth policies to preserve the Great Hamster or face fines of $25 million, the New York Times Steve Erlanger reports.

The Great Hamster "can grow up to 10 inches long, has a brown-and-white face, white paws and a black belly," Erlanger notes. There are thought to be about 800 of the creatures left in France.

The problem?

The Great Hamster likes to eat things like alfalfa and grass. And French farmers have gradually replaced those crops with corn, "which is not ripe in the spring when the hamster awakens from six months of hibernation," hungry and ready to mate, Erlanger writes.

The hamster must therefore "make longer and more hazardous journeys as its grazing area shrinks because of new highways and housing developments," he writes.

"Protection measures for the Great Hamster put in place by France were insufficient ... to ensure the strict protection of the species," the court of Justice decided. France's Ecology Ministry had no immediate comment on the ruling, Erlanger wrote.

Brantigny

"I did not have text with that woman... oops maybe I did.

2011-06-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

Weiner fesses up: He sent the dirty pictures

...Ah the liberal democrat admitted it. After denying that he did it, Anthony Weiner now admits -- he did it. What's the "it?" He sent lewd photos of himself via Twitter and Facebook to at least six women. (See here.) And he not only lied about it, but he smeared Andrew Breitbart at Biggovernment.com who exposed Weiner's perverted behavior. Weiner says he won't resign. No doubt he will go on to bigger things and higher office. That seems to be the norm for liberal sex addicts. And you can't blame a guy for trying. Lying seemed to work for Bill Clinton and Barney Frank. You know it all depends on the creativity of your definitions... more...

A real Weiner (snitzel)

I am certainly tired of hearing of Anthony Wieners weiner.

Brantigny

D-Day Omaha Beach

2011-06-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

Lest we ever forget.

Jhesu+Marie,
Brantigny

Is this Monk, or President Obama?

2011-06-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Editorial: An entourage more royal than the Queen's
Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 03/31/2009 Dale Mc Feathers

...Obama arrived with 500 staff in tow, including 200 Secret Service agents, a team of six doctors, the White House chef and kitchen staff with the president's own food and water.

...And, according to the Evening Standard, he also came with "35 vehicles in all, four speech writers and 12 teleprompters." For sure, our president was not going to be at a loss for words... more...

The only thing this auto is missing is a way to make it over bumps.

Stimulus.

Brantigny

13 year old pulled from class for interrogation by Secret Service.

2011-05-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

This administration has repeatedly commented on how inhanced and other forms of interrogation for terrorists was illegal. Perhaps this does not apply to American citizens.

Government bullies pull a 13 year old out of class and interrogates him with out a lawyer, or his mother about what he put on facebook. Is this Administration so worried that it hauls a 13 year old in to "talk" to him? Is water boarding next?

A Tacoma seventh grader faced federal interrogation at school for what he posted on his Facebook page. His mom said it all happened without her knowledge or permission.

Timi Robertson said she had just finished lunch with a friend Friday when she got a phone call from her son's school.

"I answered it, and it's the school security guard who's giving me a heads up that the Secret Service is here with the Tacoma Police Department and they have Vito and they're talking to him," Robertson said.

After Osama bin Laden was killed, 13-year-old Vito LaPinta posted an update to his Facebook status that got the Feds attention.

"I was saying how Osama was dead and for Obama to be careful because there could be suicide bombers," says LaPinta.

A week later, while Vito was in his fourth period class, he was called in to the principal's office.

"A man walked in with a suit and glasses and he said he was part of the Secret Service," LaPinta said. "He told me it was because of a post I made that indicated I was a threat toward the President."

The Tacoma school district acknowledged a Secret Service agent questioned Vito and that it was a security guard who called Vito's mom because the principal was on another call. The school district said they didn’t wait for Vito’s mother to get there because they thought she didn't take the phone call seriously.

"That's a blatant lie," Robertson said.

The teen’s mom says she rushed to Truman Middle School immediately and arrived to discover her son had already been questioned for half an hour.

"I just about lost it," she said. "My 13 year-old son is supposed to be safe and secure in his classroom and he's being interrogated without my knowledge or consent privately."

The seventh grader said that once his mom showed up, the agent finished the interview and told him he was not in any trouble. Now he's more careful about what he posts online.

His mother says she isn't financially able to take legal action but hopes her family's story raises awareness about the treatment she said her son endured.

The Seattle branch of the Secret Service did not respond to requests for comment. KCPQ-TV

Where is the outrage from the leftist media? Ariana where are you.

Brantigny

Xray of one of two trucks full of Illegals

2011-05-18T07:53:00.001-07:00

TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) — Police in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state found 513 migrants on Tuesday inside two trailer trucks bound for the United States.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants travel through Mexico each year in the hopes of reaching the United States, but this was the largest group rescued in recent years.

Chiapas state police discovered the migrants while using X-ray equipment on the trucks at a checkpoint in the outskirts of city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, the National Immigration Institute said in a statement.

Police also arrested four people accused of smuggling the migrants, who are from Central and South America and Asia, Chiapas state prosecutors said in a statement.

The alleged smugglers tried to escape police but were chased down and captured, prosecutors said.

The immigration institute said 410 of the migrants were from Guatemala, 47 from El Salvador, 32 from Ecuador, 12 from India, six from Nepal, three from China and one each from Japan, the Dominican Republic and Honduras. There were 32 women and four children among them.

The migrants told authorities they had agreed to pay $7,000 to be taken to the United States, the institute said.

In January, Chiapas state authorities discovered 219 migrants squeezed into a trailer truck.

Most of those migrants were from Central America but six were from Sri Lanka and four from Nepal.

The conditions of Mexico and the way the government there treats it's citizens is a human rights crime. Instead of attacking Lybia perhaps we should turn south and free our Mexican neighbors from their oppresive government. After beating them we can rebuild their country as we did Germany under the Marshall Plan.

Brantigny

Bear sightings lock down schools in NC

2011-05-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

North Carolina is still a partial wilderness even though it has been settled since 1704.

Garner, N.C. — Children were being kept inside two Garner schools Wednesday morning after a bear was seen in the area, Wake County schools spokesman Greg Thomas said.

The bear was most recently seen at Garner Magnet High School. It walked along a fence surrounding the football and baseball practice fields, then headed west.

Raleigh Animal Control officers first got several calls about a bear near Woodland and Kelly roads around 8 a.m. About a half-hour later, Garner police got calls about a bear in woods near Hall Boulevard.

Officers spotted the bear themselves, then called state wildlife officers and notified nearby residents by phone.

Students are being kept inside Garner Magnet High School and Timber Drive Elementary School as a precaution, Thomas said. Vandora Springs Elementary School has resumed operating as normal.

Earlier, Timber Drive and Vandora Springs were under a Code Yellow lockdown, meaning that all the doors were locked while classes and indoor activities continued as usual.

Police urged people to leave the bear alone.

Well Duh!

Brantigny

500 Seals fought In Viet Nam, these fellows have met all 20,000 of them

2011-05-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

Now a days I laugh and say I never met a former Soldier, or Sailor who wasn't a Green Beret or Seal. I even had an inmate tell me he was a former memebr of the Legion Etranger...

Steve Waterman, a former Navy diver, spends his time exposing fake Navy SEALs.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — As long as there have been Navy SEALs, there have been men pumping up their resumes or thumping their chests in bars with bogus claims of being one of the Navy’s elite warriors.

The latest crop includes a Pennsylvania minister who let his congregation believe he was a SEAL and repeated the lie to a newspaper, and there’s no sign of such bogus claims abating anytime soon, especially after a secretive team of Navy SEAL commandos killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

A retired Navy SEAL from Virginia who devotes much of his time to outing the phonies said he’s receiving 40 to 50 inquiries a day from people suspicious of claims by friends, neighbors or colleagues who say they’re SEALs. Their doubts are usually confirmed with just a few checks.

The Naval Special Warfare Command also receives a steady stream of inquiries about possible SEALs, the vast majority of which are debunked, said Lt. Cate Wallace, spokeswoman for the command in California.

And Larry Bailey, a retired SEAL from Chocowinity, N.C., estimates he and friends who are former SEALs have exposed 35,000 phonies through the years.

“There were about 500 SEALs that operated in Vietnam, and I’ve met all 20,000 of them,” Waterman joked.

Wannabes lie to get free beers, to get women into bed, to further their civilian careers or to get military benefits. But what really bugs retired SEAL Don Shipley is that they‘re stealing someone else’s valor – credit due to those who put themselves in harm’s way.

“The more outrageous a story is, in a lot of cases, the more it’s believed. These guys do a terrible amount of damage,” said Shipley, of Chesapeake, Va.

It’s easy to see why folks look up to the SEALs, trained to fight on sea, air and land, because they undergo some of the toughest military training in the world.

Out of each group of SEAL recruits, 70 percent fail to make it through a six-month training course that’s a test of mental and physical toughness, said Lt. Cate Wallace, spokeswoman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in California.

Those who become bona fide SEALs wear a gold trident. There are just 2,500 on active duty, many serving in the world’s most dangerous places.

What’s especially frustrating about people who have been exposed as frauds, Bailey said, is when they continue lying about their service.

Wallace said that those who are blatant in their deception or threaten the public safety are turned over to the U.S. attorney’s office for investigation.

In Pennsylvania, the Rev. Jim Moats from the Christian Bible Fellowship Church in Newville was called out by Shipley after he was quoted in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg talking about his life as a SEAL in Vietnam.

Later, he admitted he lied.

“It’s an ego-builder, and it’s just simply wrong,” Moats told the newspaper.

He didn’t return a call from The Associated Press.

Moats has plenty of company. These days, Bailey and several others are exposing phonies through a website, stolenvalor.com.

Steve Waterman, a retired Navy diver from South Thomaston, Maine, and a website participant, said it’s easy to ferret out the real deal from the phonies. Dead giveaways are loose tongues and bravado; SEALs are discreet, Waterman said.

Waterman, author of the book “Just a Sailor,” never had any desire to become a SEAL. “I watched them train. That was scary enough for me,” he said.

Shipley agreed that SEALs don’t talk about their exploits.

“It makes us uncomfortable,” he said. “We don’t like talking about it. But these (phonies), that’s what they crave. They like talking about cutting people’s throats.”

Last weekend, several dozen SEALs joined together as a Navy warship was christened at Maine’s Bath Iron Works in the name of Lt. Michael Murphy, a SEAL officer killed in Afghanistan.

Murphy scrambled into a clearing, exposing himself to a hail of Taliban gunfire in order to get a clear signal to call in reinforcements during a firefight on June 28, 2005. He was shot and later died along with two other members of his SEAL team and another 16 rescuers whose helicopter was shot down.

Nathanael “Lalo” Roberti, a former SEAL, was supposed to be on the helicopter that was shot down. He and seven others were ordered off because it was too heavy.

“I lost 11 of the best friends I’ve ever known, and some of the best men America has to offer,” said Roberti, who lives in San Diego.

“These guys are the tip of the spear.” from the Blaze...

Real Veterans can tell the bull shit.

Brantigny

Planned Parenthood

2011-04-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Planned Parenthood

SNAP PSYCHIATRIST SENT TO PRISON

2011-04-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

OH SNAP!

Dr. Steve Taylor, a Louisiana psychiatrist who has worked with the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), has been sentenced to two years in prison for possession of child pornography.

The news drew the following response from Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

How many more morally debased psychiatrists are working with SNAP? Did SNAP leaders know about the leisure-time activities of Dr. Taylor? When did they know and what did they do about it? It's time we learned the truth. What we know already is nauseating.

In 2008, Dr. Taylor's computer was seized by the authorities after they learned that he was downloading child pornography. He was jailed on 107 counts at the time, and in September of last year a grand jury indicted him. The court accepted a plea bargain from him this week.

Dr. Taylor got off easy, at least according to his own standards. In 2003, speaking for SNAP clients, he argued that the confidentiality of the confessional seal should not be respected by the law. In a contemptuous statement against the Catholic Church, he voiced his objections to a unanimous decision by the Louisiana House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice protecting the confidential communication of priests, ministers, rabbis and other clergy members. He said at the time that the seal has to be broken because "We have faces now."

Well, SNAP, we now have the faces of the children your colleague downloaded to feed his sick habits. If breaking the priest-penitent privilege is something you support, will you now support turning over the patient records of Dr. Taylor? Will you support a probe of this matter? What if there is more evidence against him? What if there are more victims? You're always looking for new victims, aren't you? Strike when the iron is hot—who cares about psychiatrist-patient privilege?

Brantigny

Controversial pro-Obama priest would leave Church rather than take position at high school

2011-04-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

The first words that children learn in Catholic school Kindergarten is "Obediance." Well they did when I was in Sister Mary Rategunde's Kindergarten class.

LifeSiteNews.com) – Controversial Catholic priest, Father Michael Pfleger of the Archdiocese of Chicago, has said publicly that he would leave the Church rather than submit to his appointment by Archbishop Francis George to the position of principal at Leo Catholic High School.

Fr. Pfleger has become notorious in recent years for his controversial views, including his highly public support for pro-abortion politicians, including President Barack Obama, and views on women’s ordination.

Over this past weekend, Fr. Pfleger announced on the public radio program, “Smiley & West,” that if he were given no alternative to his post at the Catholic high school, he would look for a position outside the Catholic Church.

“I want to try to stay in the Catholic Church,” Pfleger told show hosts Smiley and West. “If they say ‘You either take this principalship of [Leo High School] or pastorship there or leave,’ then I’ll have to look outside the church.”

Pfleger added, “I believe my calling is to be a pastor. I believe my calling is to be a voice for justice. I believe my calling is to preach the Gospel. In or out of the church, I’m going to continue to do that.”

Fr. Pfleger has been pastor at St. Sabina Catholic Church for some 30 years. Pfleger insisted he believed preaching and advancing the cause of social justice in a Catholic framework is his real calling.

A full-time position at Leo High School was out of the question, he said. “I’ve always said I could not do something that I don’t feel called or equipped to do,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “A full-time position at Leo is not something I’m equipped to do. I think Leo has made it clear they don’t see any need for me to come there. For both sides, it would be a lose-lose.”

Pfleger also said publicly on radio that he believes conservative Catholics and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are to blame for his proposed move. The priest says he is worried many Catholics of a more conservative vein have complained to the archbishop about his more controversial views, for example his support for women’s ordination and pro-abortion candidates.

Parishioners at St. Sabina’s also worry that if a more traditional priest were transferred to the parish, they would lose the “different kind of worship service” they enjoy with Fr. Pfleger.

“[Conservative Catholic and NRA complaints] combined and I guess the cardinal didn’t have anything to do one morning and decided he wanted to get rid of me again,” said Pfleger.

Pfleger told his parishioners that he wrote Archbishop George expressing his objections to a high school post. “It would be wrong to say what was in the letter without the cardinal’s response,” Pfleger told the packed church, according to Chicago Sun Times. “I have sent my suggestions and thoughts to the cardinal. I have also said to the cardinal that my desire is to remain at St. Sabina’s.”

Brings to mind this book about Marvin K Mooney

Brantigny

Why the 9/11 conspirators will not face the death penalty

2011-04-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON -- President Obama will have to personally sign the death warrant for 9/11mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed if the military tribunal he's going to face sentences him to the ultimate penalty.

Mohammed would likely have faced the death penalty in a civilian proceeding -- an avenue the Obama administration rejected yesterday after confronting withering pressure from lawmakers and families of Sept. 11 victims.

They did not want the trial held in lower Manhattan, only blocks from the scene of the monstrous crime.

The rules governing special military commissions, updated by a 2009 law, are entirely different.

The lives of the defendants would be in the hands of a jury of military officers in Guantanamo Bay who would follow special rules for evidence and witnesses.

Among the rules buried in a 2010 procedural manual is a provision that gives Obama ultimate authority over the man prosecutors will charge led the conspiracy to plan the deadly attacks.

"A punishment of death may be ordered executed only by the President," according to the manual.

The president would also have the authority to "commute, remit, or suspend the sentence, or any part thereof, as he sees fit."

But such a reprieve would be highly unlikely.

Obama has written that he backs the "ultimate punishment" in cases that are "heinous" and "beyond the pale."

A Senate staffer told The Post, "there are going to be all kinds of charges brought up on these [defendants] so they'll [Mohammed and his four co-conspirators] certainly be eligible for the death penalty."

But Joanne Mariner, who directs the human-rights program at Hunter College, said, "It's likely to be a really unpredictable trial.

"I've seen KSM in court. He basically tries to plead guilty every time he comes into the courtroom," she said.

That, strangely, could cause difficulty for prosecutors, because military-commission rules are ambiguous on whether a guilty plea is sufficient to get a defendant to the penalty phase.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have proposed legislation to clarify that defendants like Mohammed could still be executed if they choose to plead guilty and avoid trial.

Meanwhile, the White House and Attorney General Eric Holder backed the decision to try to Mohammed and his four co-conspirators at Guantanamo -- after realizing there was so much opposition to trying them in New York. Read more:

If they are sentenced to death, Obama will lose a voting base.

Brantigny

(un-) Consious Men Apologizing to Women

2011-04-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Idiots.

Brantigny

End of an era.

2011-02-28T11:29:00.001-08:00

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Frank Buckles enlisted for World War I at 16 after lying about his age. He made it home again and ultimately became that war's last surviving U.S. veteran, campaigning for greater recognition for his comrades-in-arms before dying at 110.

Buckles, who also survived being a civilian POW in the Philippines in World War II, died of natural causes Sunday at his home in Charles Town, biographer and family spokesman David DeJonge said. He was 110.

Buckles had been advocating for a national memorial honoring veterans of the Great War in the nation's capital and asked about its progress weekly, sometimes daily.

"He was sad it's not completed," DeJonge said Monday. "It's a simple straightforward thing to do, to honor Americans."

When asked in February 2008 how it felt to be the last of his kind, he said simply, "I realized that somebody had to be, and it was me." And he told The Associated Press he would have done it all over again, "without a doubt."

On Nov. 11, 2008, the 90th anniversary of the end of the war, Buckles attended a ceremony at the grave of World War I Gen. John Pershing in Arlington National Cemetery.

He was back in Washington a year later to endorse a proposal to rededicate the existing World War I memorial on the National Mall as the official National World War I Memorial. He told a Senate panel it was "an excellent idea." The memorial was originally built to honor District of Columbia's war dead.

Born in Missouri in 1901 and raised in Oklahoma, Buckles visited a string of military recruiters after the United States entered the "war to end all wars" in April 1917. He was repeatedly rejected before convincing an Army captain he was 18. He was actually 16 1/2.

"A boy of (that age), he's not afraid of anything. He wants to get in there," Buckles said.

Details for services and arrangements will be announced later this week, but DeJonge said Buckles' daughter, Susannah Flanagan, is planning for burial in Arlington National Cemetery. In 2008, friends persuaded the federal government to make an exception to its rules and allow his burial there.

Buckles had already been eligible to have his cremated remains housed at the cemetery. To be buried underground, however, he would have had to meet several criteria, including earning one of five medals, such as a Purple Heart.

Buckles never saw combat but joked, "Didn't I make every effort?"

"We have lost a living link to an important era in our nation's history," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki. "But we have also lost a man of quiet dignity, who dedicated his final years to ensuring the sacrifices of his fellow 'Doughboys' are appropriately commemorated."

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller called Buckles "a wonderfully plainspoken man and an icon for the World War I generation" and said he will continue fighting for the memorial Buckles wanted.

"He lived a long and rich life as a true American patriot," said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, "and I hope that his family's loss is lightened with the knowledge that he was loved and will be missed by so many."

The family asked that donations be made to the National World War One Legacy Project. The project is managed by the nonprofit Survivor Quest and will educate students about Buckles and WWI through a documentary and traveling educational exhibition.

More than 4.7 million people joined the U.S. military from 1917-18. As of spring 2007, only three were still alive, according to a tally by the Department of Veterans Affairs: Buckles, J. Russell Coffey of Ohio and Harry Richard Landis of Florida.

The dwindling roster prompted a flurry of public interest, and Buckles went to Washington in May 2007 to serve as grand marshal of the national Memorial Day parade.

Coffey died Dec. 20, 2007, at age 109, while Landis died Feb. 4, 2008, at 108. Unlike Buckles, those two men were still in basic training in the United States when the war ended and did not make it overseas.

The last known Canadian veteran of the war, John Babcock of Spokane, Wash., died in February 2010.

There are no French or German veterans of the war left alive.

Buckles served in England and France, working mainly as a driver and a warehouse clerk. An eager student of culture and language, he used his off-duty hours to learn German, visit cathedrals, museums and tombs, and bicycle in the French countryside.

After Armistice Day, Buckles helped return prisoners of war to Germany. He returned to the United States in January 1920.

Buckles returned to Oklahoma for a while, then moved to Canada, where he worked a series of jobs before heading for New York City. There, he again took advantage of free museums, worked out at the YMCA, and landed jobs in banking and advertising.

But it was the shipping industry that suited him best, and he worked around the world for the White Star Line Steamship Co. and W.R. Grace & Co.

In 1941, while on business in the Philippines, Buckles was captured by the Japanese. He spent more than three years in prison camps.

"I was never actually looking for adventure," Buckles once said. "It just came to me."

He married in 1946 and moved to his farm in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle in 1954, where he and wife Audrey raised their daughter. Audrey Buckles died in 1999.

In spring 2007, Buckles told the AP of the trouble he went through to get into the military.

"I went to the state fair up in Wichita, Kansas, and while there, went to the recruiting station for the Marine Corps," he said. "The nice Marine sergeant said I was too young when I gave my age as 18, said I had to be 21."

Buckles returned a week later.

"I went back to the recruiting sergeant, and this time I was 21," he said with a grin. "I passed the inspection ... but he told me I just wasn't heavy enough."

Then he tried the Navy, whose recruiter told Buckles he was flat-footed.

Buckles wouldn't quit. In Oklahoma City, an Army captain demanded a birth certificate.

"I told him birth certificates were not made in Missouri when I was born, that the record was in a family Bible. I said, 'You don't want me to bring the family Bible down, do you?'" Buckles said with a laugh. "He said, 'OK, we'll take you.'"

He enlisted Aug. 14, 1917, serial number 15577.

Weapons of Mass Effect?

2011-02-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

...A curious interview by a local San Diego news station has some people wondering if terrorists are sneaking “weapons of mass effect” (WMEs) into the country through the sunny city’s ports. And while the idea may seem implausible, statements made by a port official, and the attempt by a public affairs official to direct his answer, appear to suggest WMEs have been found in San Diego.

While local ABC affiliate KGTV (ABC 10) was investigating San Diego port security last week, the news station interviewed Al Hallor, the assistant port director and an officer with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). During the conversation, reporter Mitch Blacher asked if Hallor’s office had ever found any WMEs in San Diego. Hallor admitted that while such devices have not been found at the port of San Diego, they have been found...

I wonder if Al Hallor has been transfered to a post near the artic circle for this answer...

If I were to be asked if I believe the goverment lies to it's citizens I wound have to say yes.

Brantigny

Modern day Martyrs.

2011-02-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

...When we hear the word 'Martyr' we often imagine hard headed person who is so convinced in his/her faith that they are ready to give up their lives no matter what cometh their way. St.Lucia comes to mind, as she refused to give up her Catholic faith and as a result was brutally tortured, as the Romans pulled out her eyes as she was praising our Lord... more...

Jhesu+Marie,
Brantigny

Race baiting congress woman hates commercial,

2011-02-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Represenative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas for keeping us straight on this...

Pepsi showed this on Superbowl Sunday, but they should have passed it by "big sister" first.

..."sure enough, here comes the dumbest woman in the Congress to whine about it. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) took to the House floor Tuesday night to criticize what she called a "demeaning" Pepsi ad that aired during the Super Bowl.

In the ad for Pepsi Max, a black woman sitting on a park bench gets angry with her husband after an attractive, white female jogger sits down next to the couple and smiles and waves at the man.

After the man smiles back, his girlfriend or wife gets angry and whips her Pepsi Max can at him. The man ducks, and the can hits the attractive jogger in the head. The ad is titled "Love hurts."

I guess this should be the lesson for Pepsi. In order to avoid any "controversy" or "outrage" from the simpletons out there, be sure you have commercials with only black people or only white people. Don't ever mix the two races together or you'll be under siege by the race-mongers"... more here...

Brantigny

Federal government controls the message

2011-02-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

Kappa Kappa Kappa frat

2011-02-03T05:15:00.000-08:00

Hope College students protest school's response to "KKK" postersHOLLAND, Mich.- Students at hope college are not happy with their school's response to a racially-charged fake fraternity.

Close to 200 Hope College students took to the streets this morning to protest the college's response to recent racially motivated incident on campus.(via/WZZM13.com)

Posters were recently put up around campus, promoting a fake fraternity called "Kappa, Kappa, Kappa," and playing up the acronym "KKK."

"I was scared. I was actually scared," said Black Student Union Vice President Robert Phillips. "This poster says nothing but hate. It's murder, it's ignorance."

Those who took part in today's march are not satisfied with the president's written response. He condemns the posters, but students say it doesn't go far enough to create a inclusive feeling among people of all colors on campus.

"It just came off as an 'us' versus 'them'. We wanted to make sure that we're not here as a separate community," Phillips said. "We're here as one community and we're going to fight for the same issues."

"The way that it was worded, it make it sound like students of color our gracing our campus in a different way," said Hope Senior Julia Peterson. "They become 'the other."

Peterson says she expected a response, but that a march on campus may have been a bit extreme.

"I do think it was a bit of an overreaction," Peterson says. "The act itself was not intended, in my opinion, to be overtly racist."

During the march, students from the BSU presented letters to the president, addressing issues with race and diversity.

Student leaders say the confrontation was positive and they believe the administration is taking them seriously.

"The march wasn't to bash the administration, It was to let everyone know that we're here as one body, one spirit," Phillips said. "When things like that happen, we're here together, not as us versus them."

Note: An interesting result: While the students in the fake fraternity attempted to address issues with race and diversity it failed to prevent self-segregation among the protesters in the above photo.

Brantigny

Chris Matthews

2011-02-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

One lesson I learned early check your sources, especially if you are a "Journalist". Note to the guy who got a tingle up his leg at the mention of Barack Obama winning the election. The Panama Canal is in... (drum roll please) PANAMA!-hence the name.

see more here...

A proffesor once told me that if one fact in a paper is wrong the paper must be discounted, because it casts a doubt upon the veracity of the whole.

Brantigny

A dog story

2011-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

This story is all in fun. (Mostly)

I live in North Carolina. The newspapers around our neighborhood are replete with stories that announce the latest shoe polish colour coming in at the Super ***mart, the price of pig snouts, or how many leaves the 'bacca plants have gotten up to. OK, maybe not that bad but it is ridiculously poor, (and biased). So when I heard this story on the radio I ran to the birdcage to see if I had missed something. Apparently they missed it too.

When a dog bites a man, it is not newsworthy.

When a man bites a dog, it is also not newsworthy, (this is a rural area after all)

But when a 3 legged dog shoots his owner, THAT is news worthy!

I don't know how the dog lost it's leg, but I suspect the shooting was revenge, so this popped into my mind, "I shot him 'cause he shot my paw", but I won't go there.

I know that some will not believe me so here is the story...

Brantigny

Robert Howard, Hero.

2011-01-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

What is not worth a Canadian Dollar?

2011-01-13T07:18:00.001-08:00

The US dollar, it has been losing it's value against the Canadian dollar since last August. Chart.

Brantigny

Bhutan police raid homes to stub out smoking habit

2011-01-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Coming to a nation near you. Government unchecked.

THIMPU, Bhutan (Reuters Life!) – Bhutan police can raid homes of smokers in a search for contraband tobacco and are training a special tobacco sniffer dog in a crackdown to honor a promise to become the world's first smoke-free nation.

Buddhist Bhutan, where smoking is considered bad for one's karma, banned the sale of tobacco in 2005, but with a thriving tobacco smuggling operation from neighboring India, the ban failed to make much of an impact.

But legislation passed in the new year, granting police powers to enter homes, is set to stub out the habit, threatening five years in jail for shopkeepers selling tobacco and smokers who fail to provide customs receipts for imported cigarettes.

Smoking in private is not illegal in the Himalayan kingdom, but as the sale of cigarettes is banned, smokers are restricted to 200 cigarettes or 150 grams of other tobacco products a month that can be legally imported. And they must provide a customs receipt when challenged by police.

The Bhutan Narcotic Control Agency has started raids, with officials allowed to enter homes if someone is seen smoking or if officials have reason to believe there is illegal tobacco there.

There has been widespread grumbling about the new rule.

"When it comes to the penalties in the tobacco control act, it is, in every sense of the word, draconian," the country's largest selling newspaper, Kuensel, said in an editorial.

The Tobacco Act was passed in a joint sitting of parliament, with opposition from only four of the 65 voting members.

"It's a new year. And I have a new year's wish: that the first person to be caught and jailed under the Tobacco Control Act is a member of parliament," opposition leader Tshering Tobgay wrote on his popular blog.

Illegal cigarette sales - previously a major source of income for small shops - have almost stopped as shopkeepers say it will be difficult to hide tobacco from the sniffer dog.

"The sniffer dog is being trained at the moment. The dog will be able to sniff out tobacco products," said Major Phub Gyaltshen of the Royal Bhutan Police.

Bhutan's prime minister said the law cannot be called draconian and it was passed in the "collective wisdom" of the members of parliament.

"It is cancerous, both in the literal and the metaphoric sense, cancerous to society and to individual and in many ways it is no different from psychotropic drugs, for which the penalty in certain countries is death," Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley said.

Brantigny

I am a non-smoker.

Veterans laid to rest.

2011-01-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

I remember when I first enlisted in the Marine Corps; Upon arriving at an airport in my uniform I was often spit upon and abused as a "baby killer", "murderer", "facist" and the like. Why? Hate. Unfortunately, the legacy which existed then continues in a small way. Here is a list of veterans who were abandoned, forgotton, homeless... Who most likely died alone, in any event their bodies were never claimed, until they were buried with dignity. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, and Rep. Steve Israel, D–Huntington, for their tributes to these warriors.

Anderson Alston – U.S. Army Master Sergeant Anderson Alston was a combat veteran in WWII. He joined the US Army in August 1943 and was honorably discharged on March 1946.

Rafael Arroya – Private First Class Rafael Arroya joined the US Army in August 1959 and was honorably discharged in July 1971.

Barry Carl Brooks – Veteran Barry Carl Brooks joined the US Air Force in August 1957 and was honorably discharged in 1969. His rank is unknown.

John Cronin – Sr. Airman John Cronin joined the US Air Force in August 1955 and was honorably discharged in May 1958.

Donald Degault – Private Donald DeGault was a sharpshooter in the US Army. He joined the US Army in April 1963 and was honorably discharged in December 1965.

Nichols Ernest – Private Nichols Ernest joined the US Army in August 1953 and was honorably discharged in August 1956.

Clifford Henry – Petty Officer Second Class Clifford Henry was a Medical Field Service Technician in the US Navy, as well as a Small Arms Marksman.

Henry Hightower – Private Henry Hightower joined the US Army in March 1943 and was honorably discharged in September 1943.

Frederick Hunter – Private Frederick Hunter joined the US Army in January 1968 and was honorably discharged in January 1971.

Theodore Jackson – Private Theodore Jackson joined the US Army in March 1975 and was honorably discharged in October 1979.

Miguel Lugo – Private First Class Miguel Lugo joined the US Army in January 1954 and served with the Artillery. PFC Lugo was honorably discharged in January 1956.

Myron Sanford Mabry – Veteran Myron Sanford Madry joined the US Navy in May 1960 and was honorably discharged in July 1971. His rank is unknown.

Thomas Miller – Corporal Thomas Miller joined the US Army in May 1951 and was honorably discharged in May 1954.

Michael Nardi – Private Michael Nardi joined the US Marine Corps in September 1964 and was honorably discharged in October 1967.

Charles Nicholson – Private Charles Nicholson joined the US Marine Corps in December 1963 and was honorably discharged in July 1964.

John Palazzo – Seaman Apprentice John Palazzo joined the US Navy in January 1965 and was honorably discharged in January 1967.

Robert Prioleau – Spec. 4 Robert Prioleau joined the US Army in November 1958 and was honorably discharged in February 1962.

James Rose – Veteran James Rose served in the US Army and was honorably discharged. His rank is unknown.

Robert Thompson – Veteran Robert Thompson joined the US Air Force in January 1952 and was honorably discharged in January 1956. His rank is unknown.

Steven Wrighton – Private Steven Wrighton joined the US Army in June 1970 and was honorably discharged in October 1970.

In a moving ceremony Saturday morning at Calverton National Cemetery, 20 veterans – most homeless when they died and all unclaimed by family or loved ones – were laid to rest with full military honors.

The bodies of each were carried in separate hearses that had assembled at 8:30 a.m. in Fresh Meadow, Queens, to begin a procession to Calverton. On the last leg of the journey – Rte. 25 – they passed beneath a series of arches flying American flags, formed by bucket trucks from area fire departments, from the William Floyd Parkway to the entrance to the cemetery.

Once at Calverton, each casket was removed from a hearse one at a time by a Marine honor guard and carried into a tent that had been erected for the occasion. The 20 were from Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, their bodies stored in morgues, some from as far back as 2006, unclaimed and alone.

“We’re here for one overriding reason, and that is the belief that no veteran should pass abandoned and alone,” said John Caldarelli of the Missing in America Project, who served as master of ceremonies.

“Today, in a brief moment of time, we will be their family, we will be their loved ones,” he said. More...

We can never afford to abandon our veterans.

Brantigny

Dupnik has it wrong.

2011-01-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Acording to Yahoo commentary...

Pima County Sheriff Said what Was on the Minds of Many

When Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik declared how "unbalanced people... respond to vitriol that comes out of certain mouths," this elected official finally took a stand against those who use violent rhetoric. Dupnik was referring to a possible motive for the shooting in Tucson, Ariz., which claimed the lives of six people and wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

I am glad this Sheriff is not the sheriff in this county. This is without a doubt the most irresponsible thing a peace officer could say.

This fellow loughner was reputed to be mentally unstable. Fox news reported that the pistol he used was legally purchased, which means to me that the pistol was registered. In this state (North Carolina) it is the sheriff who signs off on registered weapons. Was Sheriff Dupnik remiss in his duties as sheriff and grant a license for this pistol? What kind of back ground check was done? Does Loughner have a police record? Was the sheriff aware of this fellow?

When a liberal uses the words toxic rhetoric it is an attack on free speech. It is an attack on the constitution. The first amendment is all about speech which is offensive. It is only vitriol when a conservative says something a leftest doesn't agree with. I seem to remember that the left published a book about assassinating president Bush. I remember a movie which portrayed President Bush being assassinated. Where was the concern over vitriol then?

Sheriff Dupnik should for the good of his county resign.

I remember more, but I am already being watched...

Jacobins and Girondins.

God Save the King.

Brantigny

Disturbing video shows attacks on disabled victims

2011-01-07T05:36:00.000-08:00

As in abortion the most helpless are the most abused. I am sickened by this story.

Thomas Watkins, Associated Press – Fri Jan 7, 2:02 am ET

LOS ANGELES – Graphic video footage obtained by the sheriff's department shows several men sexually assaulting at least 10 profoundly disabled women, some of them in diapers, officials said Thursday.

The assaults came to light when an unknown man dumped a bundle of 11 DVDs at the Los Angeles County sheriff's station in March. Attached to the videos was a note saying he had pulled them from a computer hard drive that another man had asked him to clean.

Some of the assaults were carried out in what appeared to be a residential care facility and one of the suspects seemed himself to be disabled.

Detectives have spent the last several months trying to pull clues from the grainy videos. After the footage was enhanced, they were able to capture the images of four men who carried out assaults, though there could be as many as 10 suspects total.

"It shocked the conscience," said Detective Ron Anderson of the special victims unit, which reviewed the DVDs. "These people are truly defenseless."

The footage was not released to the public but authorities described what they had seen. In one video, an obese man in a wheelchair is seen pushing himself into a small bedroom while wearing a diaper. His back is covered in scars and he appears to be a paraplegic resident of a care facility.

The man pulls himself onto a woman's bed, removes both his own and her diaper, then assaults her, authorities said.

"He then hoisted himself onto the floor, scooted across the floor, out of the doorway and disappeared from the camera's view," Anderson said.

In another video, a man leads another suspect into a room then leaves him alone to assault a woman. The victims appear to be both mentally and physically disabled and none gives any sort of consent. Some of the assaults occur on beds and one takes place on a collection of bean bags on the floor.

"After one horrendous assault, one of the victims was picked up and thrown back into a wheelchair," Sgt. Dan Scott said.

Detectives hope that by going public with the case, someone will recognize a suspect or a location where an assault took place. They also want to speak to the man who gave them the videos and stressed that he could remain anonymous.

"He is not in any trouble, we are just seeking more information from him," Scott said.

The videos were mainly captured by security cameras in the victims' room, though some recordings are from hand held cameras.

One suspect was wearing a baseball cap with "LA" on it and another has an orange T-shirt that is printed with the year 2008. Authorities think the videos were made locally in the last three years but could have come from anywhere in the country.

Detectives are working with TV show "America's Most Wanted," which is planning a segment on the case, Anderson said.

Brantigny

House to open with reading of Constitution

2011-01-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

It will no doubt be a revelation to many on the Jacobin side of this house.

The 112th Congress will start with a reading of the Constitution for the first time in history.

ArticleComment WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. House Republican leaders, fulfilling a pledge to make the chamber Constitution-focused, open Thursday's session by reading the document.

Historians say the exercise will be the first time the Constitution has been read in chamber although it has been inserted as part of the congressional record.

The man responsible, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., told Fox News the reading goes beyond a simple ninth-grade civics lesson.

"This is a very symbolic showing to the American people," Goodlatte said, "and it's a powerful message to members of Congress. We are a nation of laws, not of men."

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio will kick off the exercise by reading the Constitution's preamble, Fox said. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., is schedule to read Article 1, Section 1, followed by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reading Article 1, Section 2.*

Goodlatte estimated it will take about 90 minutes to read the Constitution and all of its amendments. He said representatives will use one copy of the document that will be passed among members during the reading.

Republicans have changed House rules to require proposed legislation to cite the section of the Constitution giving Congress the authority to enact the measure.

Read more: here...

Brantigny

* Poetic justice.

Article 1 - The Legislative Branch
Section 2 - The House

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.) (The previous sentence in parentheses was modified by the 14th Amendment, section 2.) The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Son of Iran shah kills himself in U.S.

2011-01-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

BOSTON (Reuters) – Prince Alireza Pahlavi, younger son of the late Shah of Iran, committed suicide on Tuesday in Boston, according to his brother.

"It is with immense grief that we would like to inform our compatriots of the passing away of Prince Alireza Pahlavi," Reza Pahlavi, the Shah's older son, said on his website, rezapahlavi.org.

Pahlavi, 44, took his life early on Tuesday at his Boston home "plunging his family and friends into great sorrow," the note said.

It said he struggled for years to overcome depression over the fate of Iran and the loss of his father and sister.

Boston police were investigating a suspected suicide that occurred shortly after 2 a.m. local time. Boston media reported that Pahlavi shot himself in his apartment in the city's South End neighborhood.

The Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and died in Egypt a year later. His daughter Leila died in a London hotel room in 2001 of a drug overdose.

Born in Tehran in 1966, Alireza Pahlavi attended schools in Iran before traveling in 1979 to the United States, where he obtained degrees at Princeton and Columbia universities.

Pahlavi had attended Harvard University in pursuit of a PhD in Ancient Iranian studies. A Harvard spokesman said Pahlavi was not currently a student.Original article, here.

May God have mercy...

Brantigny

Goddess of Love emerges into foaming Cypriot row

2010-12-23T05:48:00.000-08:00

If God had wanted us naked he would have made us that way. Now that Islam and not "offending them" has become the occupation of the politically correct world this cannot be suprising... Jus sayin'

NICOSIA (Reuters Life!) – She may be the ancient Greek Goddess of Love, but a picture of a nude Aphrodite on the new passport of Cyprus has set more than hearts racing.

Cypriot diplomats are furious with the interior ministry for failing to consult with the foreign ministry before issuing passports with a depiction of a naked immortal that might offend conservative foreign cultures.

"They are worried that civilians and diplomats could get into trouble, particularly traveling to very conservative Islamic countries," the authoritative Phileleftheros daily newspaper wrote on Thursday.

The interior ministry said it was too late to change them, the newspaper said.

Local legend says Aphrodite (also known as Venus to the ancient Romans) emerged from the sea on a crest of foam just off the Mediterranean island.

The image on the new biometric passports is modeled on a Greek marble statue of a completely naked Aphrodite in the Cyprus Museum located in the capital Nicosia.

Brantigny

Obama Team Plots New Gitmo Order

2010-12-22T12:02:00.000-08:00

At the same time he is giving away our defenses, Obama's fertile mind returns to his campaign promises...

...The Obama administration is preparing an executive order to allow indefinite detention at the prison at Guantanamo Bay—and administration officials insist this is part of the plan to close the prison forever. The White House has long supported creating prolonged detention for some of Gitmo detainees—preferably in a facility in the U.S.—but the plan could be crippled this week if Congress bans the transfer of the detainees for trial. An administration task force considers 48 of the 174 detainees too dangerous to be released... more it at The Washington Post

Brantigny

364 days a year...

2010-12-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano might want to take another look at her department's schedule.

The Department of Homeland Security is working “24/7, 364 days a year,” Napolitano said Monday in an apparent gaffe. Or was it? Hmmm...

“We are thousands of people are working 24/7, 364 days a year to keep the American people safe,” the former Arizona governor said on ABC News.
Read more:

Brantigny

In other news the President's 8th vacation has been postponed.

It's OK, Amelie's Gnome went to London.

Where are your priorities?

2010-12-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

I need heat to watch tv. If I am in here freezing and my dip is too hard for my chips, they keep crackin' it ain't no fun. I can tell you. So what is up with this cutting off funding? ...and now what else? My kid can't play this X-Box under the tv. Now who's gonna pay for that? It is all George Bush's fault!

...And my pipes are froze up too!

Brantigny

WOODY MARSHALL/THE TELEGRAPH,

Showing her Georgia Power bills in the one warm room of her home, Raymeica Kelly explains how her mother, sister and herself were turned away from the Energy Assistance Program on Wednesday morning after standing in line for four hours. All three complained that the system the Macon-Bibb County Economic Opportunity Council uses to give out the assistance needs improving.

Bones found on island might be Amelia Earhart's

2010-12-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

I love a good mystery. They are throught provoking. Being and aviation nut anyway this is one of my favorite mysteries... This is when they were pilots and not just drivers.

This image shows Earhart standing in front of the Lockheed Electra in which she disappeared in July 1937. Born in Atchison, Kansas, in 1897, Earhart did not begin flying until after her move to California in 1920. After taking lessons from aviation pioneer Neta Snook in a Curtiss Jenny, Earhart set out to break flying records, breaking the women altitude records in 1922.

By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Sean Murphy, Associated Press – Sat Dec 18, 12:47 am ET

NORMAN, Okla. – The three bone fragments turned up on a deserted South Pacific island that lay along the course Amelia Earhart was following when she vanished. Nearby were several tantalizing artifacts: some old makeup, some glass bottles and shells that had been cut open.

Now scientists at the University of Oklahoma hope to extract DNA from the tiny bone chips in tests that could prove Earhart died as a castaway after failing in her 1937 quest to become the first woman to fly around the world.

"There's no guarantee," said Ric Gillespie, director of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, a group of aviation enthusiasts in Delaware that found the pieces of bone this year while on an expedition to Nikumaroro Island, about 1,800 miles south of Hawaii.

"You only have to say you have a bone that may be human and may be linked to Earhart and people get excited. But it is true that, if they can get DNA, and if they can match it to Amelia Earhart's DNA, that's pretty good."

It could be months before scientists know for sure — and it could turn out the bones are from a turtle. The fragments were found near a hollowed-out turtle shell that might have been used to collect rain water, but there were no other turtle parts nearby.

Earhart's disappearance on July 2, 1937, remains one of the 20th century's most enduring mysteries. Did she run out of fuel and crash at sea? Did her Lockheed Electra develop engine trouble? Did she spot the island from the sky and attempt to land on a nearby reef?

"What were her last moments like? What was she doing? What happened?" asked Robin Jensen, an associate professor of communications at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., who has studied Earhart's writings and speeches.
Since 1989, Gillespie's group has made 10 trips to the island, trying each time to find clues that might help determine the fate of Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan.

Last spring, volunteers working at what seemed to be an abandoned campsite found one piece of bone that appeared to be from a neck and another unknown fragment dissimilar to bird or fish bones. A third fragment might be from a finger. The largest of the pieces is just over an inch long.

The area was near a site where native work crews found skeletal remains in 1940. Bird and fish carcasses suggested Westerners had prepared meals there.
"This site tells the story of how someone or some people attempted to live as castaways," Gillespie said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. "These fish weren't eaten like Pacific Islanders" eat fish.

Millions of dollars have been spent in failed attempts to learn what happened to Earhart, a Kansas native declared dead by a California court in early 1939.
The official version says Earhart and Noonan ran out of fuel and crashed at sea while flying from Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island, which had a landing strip and fuel.

Gillespie's book "Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance," and "Amelia Earhart's Shoes," written by four volunteers from the aircraft group, suggest the pair landed on the reef and survived, perhaps for months, on scant food and rainwater.

Gillespie, a pilot, said the aviator would have needed only about 700 feet of unobstructed space to land because her plane would have been traveling only about 55 mph at touchdown.

"It looks like she could have landed successfully on the reef surrounding the island. It's very flat and smooth," Gillespie said. "At low tide, it looks like this place is surrounded by a parking lot."

However, Gillespie said, the plane, even if it landed safely, would have been slowly dragged into the sea by the tides. The waters off the reef are 1,000 to 2,000 feet deep. His group needs $3 million to $5 million for a deep-sea dive.
The island is on the course Earhart planned to follow from Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island, which had a landing strip and fuel. Over the last seven decades, searches of the remote atoll have been inconclusive.

After the latest find, anthropologists who had previously worked with Gillespie's group suggested that he send the bones to the University of Oklahoma's Molecular Anthropology Laboratory, which has experience extracting genetic material from old bones. Gillespie's group also has a genetic sample from an Earhart female relative for comparison with the bones.

The lab is looking for mitochondrial DNA, which is passed along only through females, so there is no need to have a Noonan sample.
Cecil Lewis, an assistant professor of anthropology at the lab, said the university received a little more than a gram of bone fragments about two weeks ago. If researchers are able to extract DNA and link it to Earhart, a sample would be sent to another lab for verification.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. That's why we're trying to downplay a lot of the media attention right now," Lewis said. "For all we know, this is just a turtle bone, and a lot of people are going to be very disheartened."
Under the best circumstances, the analysis would take two weeks. If scientists have trouble with the sample, that time frame could stretch into months, Lewis said.
"Ancient DNA is incredibly unpredictable," he said.

Other material recovered this year also suggested the presence of Westerners at the isolated island site:
• Someone carried shells ashore before cutting them open and slicing out the meat. Islanders cut the meat out at sea.
• Bottles found nearby were melted on the bottom, suggesting they had been put into a fire, possibly to boil water. (A Coast Guard unit on the island during World War II would have had no need to boil water.)
• Bits of makeup were found. The group is checking to see which products Earhart endorsed and whether an inventory lists specific types of makeup carried on her final trip.

• A glass bottle with remnants of lanolin and oil, possibly hand lotion.
In 2007, the group found a piece of a pocket knife but didn't know whether it was left by the Coast Guard or castaways. This year, it found the shattered remains of the knife, suggesting someone had smashed it to extract the blades. Gillespie speculated a castaway used a blade to make a spear to stab shallow-water fish like those found at the campsite.

Following Earhart's disappearance, distress signals picked up by distant ships pointed back to the area of Nikumaroro Island, but while pilots passing over saw signs of recent habitation, the island was crossed off the list as having been searched, Gillespie said.

In 1940, a British overseer on the island recovered a partial human skeleton, a woman's shoe and an empty sextant box at what appeared to be a former campsite, littered with turtle, clamshell and bird remains.
Thinking of Earhart, the overseer sent the items to Fiji, where a British doctor decided they belonged to a stocky European or mixed-blood male, ruling out any Earhart connection.

The bones later vanished, but in 1998, Gillespie's group located the doctor's notes in London. Two other forensic specialists reviewed the doctor's bone measurements and agreed they were more "consistent with" a female of northern European descent, about Earhart's age and height.
On their own visits to the island, volunteers recovered an aluminum panel that could be from an Electra, another piece of a woman's shoe and a "cat's paw" heel dating from the 1930s; another shoe heel, possibly a man's, and an oddly cut piece of clear Plexiglas.

The sextant box might have been Noonan's. The woman's shoe and heel resemble a blucher-style oxford seen in a pre-takeoff photo of Earhart. The plastic shard is the exact thickness and curvature of an Electra's side window.

The body of evidence is intriguing, but Gillespie insists the team is "constantly agonizing over whether we are being dragged down a path that isn't right."

Hmmm the games a foot!

Brantigny

"I don't like solitary confinement..." It's too much like being in prison

2010-12-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

From theBlaze

WikiLeaker Bradley Manning ‘Very Annoyed’ With ‘Torturous’ Solitary Confinement

Posted on December 15, 2010 at 6:45 pm by Meredith Jessup

Is Pfc. Bradley Manning actually being tortured?

According to left-leaning Salon.com, yes. But according to most reasonable people, absolutely not.

As you may know, Army Private Bradley Manning stands accused of leaking tens of thousands of classified national security documents to WikiLeaks to publish on the internet. The 22-year-old has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Va., for five months after being arrested and held in a military jail in Kuwait.

According to Fox News, Manning was exposed after bragging he was the one who leaked classified videos and hundreds of thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables.

Pfc. Manning was charged on July 5 with four specifications under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for violating Army Regulation 25-2 (Information Assurance Policy), and eight specifications under Article 134 for violating federal statutes related to the receipt of classified information (18 U.S.C. 793) and wrongful access of a government computer (18 U.S.C. 1030).

But while he remains in military custody, some of Mannings’ sympathizers are supporting him from outside his jail cell.

On Wednesday, Salon’s Greg Greenwald wrote about the “inhumane conditions” of Manning’s detention, claiming the detainee’s solitary confinement and inability to read newspaper or surf the internet amount to “torture.”

From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement. For 23 out of 24 hours every day — for seven straight months and counting — he sits completely alone in his cell. Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he’s barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions. For reasons that appear completely punitive, he’s being denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed (he is not and never has been on suicide watch). For the one hour per day when he is freed from this isolation, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs.

In sum, Manning has been subjected for many months without pause to inhumane, personality-erasing, soul-destroying, insanity-inducing conditions of isolation… Just by itself, the type of prolonged solitary confinement to which Manning has been subjected for many months is widely viewed around the world as highly injurious, inhumane, punitive, and arguably even a form of torture.

An organization founded to provide funding for Manning’s legal defense calls his detention “unjust” and has even set up a campaign to send the imprisoned Private holiday greetings. Meanwhile, Huffington Post reports that Manning himself is “very annoyed” with his current situation.

“We were aware of those situations and we were hoping that they would improve without applying public pressure through the media,” Jeff Paterson, who runs Manning’s legal defense fund, told The Huffington Post. “His attorney and supporters were hoping that this could be taken care of through the appropriate channels.”

Paterson says that Manning is “very annoyed” at the conditions of his confinement, adding that he is primarily upset at his inability to exercise. “He sits in this small box, for the most part only to take a shower – he just sits and eats and four months have gone by.”

Manning may face additional charges and his trial date will be set after the military conducts a thorough assessment of his mental state and ability to stand trial.

Gee that is too bad. I feel for you, no really...

Brantigny

I know you are just loving that Marine Corps Brig. Just wait if you get hard labor, 'cause in the Marine Corps hard labor means hard labor. I am sure you will be annoyed there too, so don't be too suprised.

Rebels recognized by the French Crown

2010-12-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

233 years ago today, the Kingdom of France recognized these United States.

Brantigny

Women are stupid...er so says the Qu'ran

2010-12-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

Quran surrah..Tabari I:280 "Allah said, 'It is My obligation to make Eve bleed once every month as she made this tree bleed. I must also make Eve stupid, although I created her intelligent.' Because Allah afflicted Eve, all of the women of this world menstruate and are stupid."

A legacy of Islamic women...

God save them.

Jhesu+Marie.
Brantigny

Another wikileak spectacular? Vatican withholding Galactic Federation of Light Truth to the World..

2010-12-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

There was a time when this nonsense would not have found a place on the mainstream news.

Brantigny

But wait there is more...

2010-12-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

States cannot print their own money, but what about counties?

...Right now, there is some consideration being put into the creation of a local currency for El Paso County in Colorado. It would operate in a similar manner to Berkshares, the Plenty, The Lewes Pound, and The Icatha Hour... more...

Brantigny

As if the last post wasn't bad enough...

2010-12-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

British design firm seeks to rebrand American currency with Obama on dollar bill.

...Dowling Duncan — a graphic design firm with offices in San Francisco and Newark, England — thinks that American currency needs a new look, so its designers have submitted an entry in the "Dollar Rede$ign Project," which bills itself as a movement to "rebuild financial confidence and revive our failing economy" by rebranding the U.S. dollar... more...

It just gets worse and worse...

...Obama aside, Dowling Duncan eschews the traditional presidential portrait in favor of higher-concept graphic images on the bills. The firm envisions an American Indian teepee on the $5 bill, the Bill of Rights on the $10, a mashup of American ingenuity on the $20, a bald eagle and 50 stars on the $50, and FDR's image and a list of his accomplishments in his first 100 days as president on the C-note...

Does that mean the Obama note will have his only accomplishments on his 1 dollar note? If there is only one is that a list?

Brantigny

Government can’t print money properly

2010-12-06T16:03:00.000-08:00

As a metaphor for our troubled economic and financial era -- and the government's stumbling response -- this one's hard to beat. You can't stimulate the economy via the money supply, after all, if you can't print the money correctly.

Because of a problem with the presses, the federal government has shut down production of its flashy new $100 bills, and has quarantined more than 1 billion of them -- more than 10 percent of all existing U.S. cash -- in a vault in Fort Worth, Texas, reports CNBC.

"There is something drastically wrong here," one source told CNBC. "The frustration level is off the charts."

Officials with the Treasury and the Federal Reserve had touted the new bills' sophisticated security features that were 10 years in the making, including a 3-D security strip and a color-shifting image of a bell, designed to foil counterfeiters. But it turns out the bills are so high-tech that the presses can't handle the printing job.

More than 1 billion unusable bills have been printed. Some of the bills creased during production, creating a blank space on the paper, one official told CNBC. Because correctly printed bills are mixed in with the flawed ones, even the ones printed to the correct design specs can't be used until they 're sorted. It would take an estimated 20 to 30 years to weed out the defective bills by hand, but a mechanized system is expected to get the job done in about a year.

Combined, the quarantined bills add up to $110 billion -- more than 10 percent of the entire U.S. cash supply, which now stands at around $930 billion.

The flawed bills, which cost around $120 million to print, will have to be burned.

The new bills are the first to include Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's signature. In order to prevent a shortfall,the government has ordered production of the old design, which includes the signature of Bush administration Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. That, surely, is not the only respect in which the nation's lead economic officials would like to turn back the clock to sometime before the 2008 financial crisis.

So let me see if I get this right. It cost 120 million to print, it will take a computer a year to sort the bad bills from the good bills, and because it has to be redone the old plates will have to be used with George Bush's signature and George Bush's Treasury Secretarys signature on them. Ok I got it. Giethner just resign and bring back the old SecTres. It will cost us less. This is the buffon administration.

Brantigny

New TSA Slogans...

2010-11-29T10:09:00.000-08:00

With TSA's announcement of "enhanced" security checks at the airports, they've come out with a new list of slogans to improve their image:

01. Can’t see London , can’t see France … unless we see your underpants
02. We’re the creepy uncle of federal agencies
03. You’re in good hands with TSA
04. Pants on the ground
05. 2-4-6-8, we grab your junk or you’ll be late
06. Under Obamacare, this counts as your annual physical
07. It’s not a grope, it’s a “freedom pat”
08. Don’t worry, my hands are still warm from the last guy
09. No shirt, no shoes, no pants… Have a nice flight
10. You can’t spell molestation without TSA
11. If we said you body was a security risk, would you hold it against us?
12. Consult a physician if pat-downs last more than 4 hours
13. Sometimes you feel like a grope, sometimes you don’t
14. We’d offer you a cigarette, but this is a smoke free facility
15. TSA Club Card: with every 12 pat-downs, you get a free reach-around
16. The Few. The perverts. The TSA
17. Putting the T & A in TSA
18. Grope and change! Yes, we can!
19. We put our right hand in, we pull our right hand out, we put our left hand in and we shake it all about!
20. We are the people your mother warned you about
21. TSA: If we guarded the border, there would be no illegal aliens
22. TSA: Or as it’s known in the industry, “second base”
23. We feel your anger
24. We handle more nuts than a squirrel
25. We palm more balls than the NBA
26. ALL YOUR JUNK ARE BELONG TO US
27. If we don’t get off, you don’t get on
28. Don’t grope me, Bro!
29. We wear the glove, you bear the love!
30. Before you fly the friendly skies, I want to feel your silky thighs
31. Hickory , dickory dock, give us a chance we’ll grab your… well, you get the idea
32. Who’s your Daddy?
33. No need to pee in a cup, we just want to feel you up

Thanks to Genevieve,

Brantigny

The Religion of Peace

2010-11-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here we see the faces of the nuns, priests, 4 year old babies caught by the TSA during their pat and frisk operations at airports around the nation. As you can see they are all hardened Catholics... By Michelle Malkin via Les Femmes, The Truth...

Brantigny

Auspicious date for a wedding or a marriage by the numbers.

2010-11-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

Prince William and Kate Middleton's choice of wedding day is a very positive one that will lead to a strong and stable marriage, a leading numerologist said today.

Expert Pauline Rose said April 29 2011 is a "good day" to tie the knot.

"To start with you have two 11s in the date because two and nine make 11.

Hmmm, Isn't that the same wedding date chosen by that crazy couple Dolph and Eva in 1945? Running a marriage by the numbers.

Jus' askin'.

Brantigny

Relighting the Flames of War, Korea.

2010-11-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

^0 year ago, my father was stationed in the Navy aboard the USS Lyman K Swenson off the coast of Korea. He didn't talk a lot about his time in the Navy in the Korean War. I think he believed it would never come again. After High School I joined the Marine Corps and I wound up in Korea which is something of a legend in the history of the Corps. The south was peaceful, green and lit. I will weep if my fathers war reignites.

Two South Korean marines were killed and 17 others injured, as well as three civilians, after North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow sea, 50 miles off the South's northwest coast in an area close to a disputed sea border. Sky News

The attack, which comes days after it emerged that North Korea was pressing ahead with its illegal nuclear programme, marks a serious further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

A presidential statement said the shelling “constitutes a clear armed provocation.”

“Furthermore, its reckless shelling of civilian targets is unpardonable.

“North Korean authorities must take responsibility.”

The incident is believed to have been sparked by South Korean military exercises in the area, which the North had objected to.

Officials said “dozens” of artillery rounds had landed on Yeonpyeong. Other reports suggested around 200 shells could have been fired in the attack which began at 2.34pm local time (7.34am GMT).

F-16 fighter jets were scrambled and South Korean land-based forces returned fire on the North as civilians were evacuated to emergency bunkers, according to witnesses quoted by the Seoul-based cable news television channel YTN.

Pictures from the channel showed plumes of smoke rising from the island, which is the largest in a clutch of smaller islands, with a population of less than 1,300 people.

“Houses and mountains are on fire and people are evacuating. You can't see very well because of plumes of smoke," a witness on the island told YTN. “People are frightened to death and shelling continues as we speak," the witness added.

The US issued a statement saying it "strongly condemns" the attack, urging it to halt its "belligerent action".

Naoto Kan, Japan's prime minister, said he had ordered his ministers to prepare for any eventuality.

"I ordered (ministers) to make preparations so that we can react firmly, should any unexpected event occur," Mr Kan said.

"We will make preparations so that whatever happens, we will be able to deal with it."

Russia called for both sides to avoid any escalation of violence, while China, the North’s closest international ally, said it was “concerned” over the situation.

“We hope the relevant parties do more to contribute to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, adding that China was still seeking information on the clash. "The situation needs to be verified," he said.

The islands were the scene of three skirmishes between the navies of North and South Korea in 1999, 2002 and most recently in 2009 when a North Korean patrol ship was set on fire by South Korean gunfire.

The attack comes after nearly two years of deteriorating relations between the two Koreas, which reached a nadir last March after the sinking of a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, with the loss of 46 lives.

South Korea has since cut off almost all humanitarian aid to the North, a near bankrupt-state that has been under tight international sanctions since conducting a second nuclear bomb test in 2009 in defiance of UN agreements.

The North has also been facing a degree of political turmoil this year as their ailing leader Kim Jong-il prepares the ground for a dynastic succession that will see power being handed to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. By Peter Foster, Beijing 9:41AM GMT 23 Nov 2010

N. Korea threatens additional attacks, accuses S. Korea of provocation By Sam Kim

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea threatened to continue "merciless" strikes on South Korea on Tuesday after the communist state launched a deadly artillery attack across their western sea border.

In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, the North's top military command accused the South Korean military of initiating the exchange by shooting toward its side.

The President was woke up and told. Obama delivered a strong message to the North Koreans. I am sure that the message has made an impression on Kim.

Brantigny

What would Huck Finn do?

2010-11-23T05:33:00.000-08:00

My daughter, a high school teacher in Vance County NC sent me an email concerning the budget shortfall for the next fiscal year. My question is, "I thought and it was portrayed as such, that a State Lottery was supposed to cure all the problems with funding education," what is the truth? My other daughter tells me that my grandaughters and grandson currently do not have text books because the county can not afford them. Who is running the schools in this county, Huck Finn?

"Teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, fewer courses and less help for struggling students are some of the consequences if North Carolina's public school funding is cut by 5 or 10 percent, according to information released last week. The Office of State Budget and Management required government agencies to identify budget cuts at these two levels in anticipation of the 2011-12 fiscal year. To read more about how these potential cuts will impact public schools, please visit the NCDPI website at http://www.blogger.com/www.ncpublicschools.org and click on the appropriate link under “News.”"

From the NC State Education Llottery web site...

Where the Money Goes

In August 2005, the North Carolina State Lottery Act (H. 1023) and the 2005 Appropriations Act (S. 622) was signed into law, which established the North Carolina Education Lottery. View Legislation.

The State Lottery Act, in order to increase and maximize the available revenues for education purposes, prescribes the following guidelines as to how each lottery dollar will be spent which are to be adhered to the extent practicable. Retailers receive a 7% commission for selling tickets. Up to 8% may be spent on administration. At least 50% will be paid out in prizes and as nearly as practicable 35% will be transferred to the Education Lottery Fund at the Office of State Budget and Management. 100% of the net proceeds of the North Carolina Education Lottery go to education programs.

5 percent goes to the Education Lottery Reserve Fund to be used when lottery proceeds fall short of target. The Reserve Fund may not exceed $50 million.

The commission shall distribute the remaining net revenue of the Education Lottery Fund in accordance with the Lottery Act. The Office of State Budget and Management will then distribute the proceeds as follows:

50 percent of the total remainder shall be used for reduction of class size ratios in early grades to 18 children per teacher and for prekindergarten programs for at-risk four year olds who would not otherwise be served in high-quality settings.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/

40 percent of the total remainder shall be used for school construction. Roughly 65 percent of this total shall be distributed to each county based on total school enrollment. The remaining 35 percent of this total shall be distributed to each county with average effective county property tax rates above the state average based on total school enrollment.
http://www.schoolclearinghouse.org/

10 percent of the total remainder shall be used for college scholarships for students who qualify for the federal Pell Grant. These scholarships can be used at North Carolina public and private universities and community colleges.

Brantigny

I am having trouble believing this.

2010-11-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

From Yahoo news...

Pope: condoms can be justified in some cases

AP – Pope Benedict XVI holds the pastoral staff during a consistory inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, …

By NICOLE WINFIELD and FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Nicole Winfield And Frances D'emilio, Associated Press – Sat Nov 20, 1:51 pm ET

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI says in a new book that condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop the spread of HIV, a stunning comment for a church criticized for its opposition to condoms and for a pontiff who has blamed them for making the AIDS crisis worse.

The pope made the comments in a book-length interview with a German journalist, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," which is being released Tuesday. The Vatican newspaper ran excerpts on Saturday.

Church teaching has long opposed condoms because they are a form of artificial contraception, although it has never released an explicit policy about condoms and HIV. The Vatican has been harshly criticized for its opposition.

Benedict said that condoms are not a moral solution. But he said in some cases, such as for male prostitutes, they could be justified "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection."

Benedict called it "a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way of living sexuality."

He used as an example male prostitutes, for whom contraception is not an issue, as opposed to married couples where one spouse is infected. The Vatican has come under pressure from even some church officials in Africa to condone condom use for monogamous married couples to protect the uninfected spouse from getting infected.

Benedict drew the wrath of the United Nations, European governments and AIDS activisits when he told reporters en route to Africa in 2009 that the AIDS problem on the continent couldn't be resolved by distributing condoms.

"On the contrary, it increases the problem," he said then.

Journalist Peter Seewald, who interviewed Benedict over the course of six days this summer, raised the Africa condom comments and asked Benedict if it wasn't "madness" for the Vatican to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.

"There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility," Benedict said.

But he stressed that it wasn't the way to deal with the evil of HIV, and elsewhere in the book reaffirmed church teaching on contraception and abortion, saying: "How many children are killed who might one day have been geniuses, who could have given humanity something new, who could have given us a new Mozart or some new technical discovery?"

He reiterated the church's position that abstinence and marital fidelity is the only sure way to prevent HIV.

Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, the Vatican's longtime top official on bioethics and sexuality, elaborated on the pontiff's comments, stressing that it was imperative to "make certain that this is the only way to save a life." Sgreccia told the Italian news agency ANSA that that is why the pope on the condom issue "dealt with it in the realm of ecceptionality."

The condom question was one that "needed an answer for a long time," Sgreccia was quoted as saying. "If Benedict XVI raised the question of exceptions, this expection must be accepted ... and it must be verified that this is the only way to save life. This must be demonstrated," Sgreccia said.

Christian Weisner, of the pro-reform group We Are Church in the pope's native Germany, said the pope's comments were "surprising, and if that's the case one can be happy about the pope's ability to learn."

William Portier, a Catholic theologian at the University of Dayton, a Marianist school in Ohio, said he had not read the report in the Vatican newspaper, but he said it would be wrong to conclude that the comments mean the pope has made a fundamental, broad change in church teaching on artificial contraception.

"He's not going to do that in an offhand remark to a journalist in an interview," Portier said.

In other comments, Benedict said:

• If a pope is no longer physically, psychologically or spiritually capable of doing his job, then he has the "right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign."

• On Islam, in Europe, he declined to endorse such moves as France's banning the burqa or Switzerland's citizen referendum to forbid topping mosques with minarets.

"Christians are tolerant, and in that respect they also allow others to have their self-image," Benedict replied when asked if Christians should be "glad" about such initiatives. "As for the burqa, I can see no reason for a general ban."

• He was surprised by the scale of clerical sex abuse in his native Germany and acknowledged that the Vatican could have better communicated its response. "One can always wonder whether the pope should not speak more often."

• On Pope Pius XII, the wartime pontiff accused by some Jewish groups of staying publicly silent on the Holocaust: Some historians have asked the Vatican to put Pius' sainthood process on hold until the Holy See opens up its archives from his papacy. But Benedict said an internal "inspection" of those unpublished documents failed to support "negative" allegations against Pius.

"It is perfectly clear that as soon as he protested publicly, the Germans would have ceased to respect" Vatican extraterritoriality of convents and monasteries who were sheltering Jews from the Nazi occupiers in Rome. "The thousands who had found a safe haven ... would have been surely deported," Benedict argued.

In the book, Benedict also offers insights into his private life, saying he enjoys watching TV at home in the evenings with his secretaries and the four women who take care of his apartment, preferring the evening news and an Italian TV show from decades ago "Don Camillo and Peppone" about a parish priest and his bumbling assistant.

He said he always wears his white cassock, never a sweater, and wears an old Junghans watch that was left to him by his sister when she died. When he prays, he said, he prays to the Lord as well as the saints and considers himself good friends with Sts. Augustine, Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas.

So more comments when I find out the whole story.

Brantigny

Hangin' in the boys room

2010-11-18T12:52:00.001-08:00

Now that he doesn't (officially) smoke the prez had to find other ways to relax...

Brantigny

TSA handbook

2010-11-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

This gets better and better

Traveling with Pets

Our security procedures do not prohibit you from bringing a pet on your flight. You should contact your airline or travel agent, however, before arriving at the airport to determine your airline's policy on traveling with pets.

Security Screening

You will need to present the animal to the Security Officers at the checkpoint. You may walk your animal through the metal detector with you. If this is not possible, your animal will have to undergo a secondary screening, including a visual and physical inspection by our Security Officers.

Your animal will NEVER be placed through an X-ray machine. However, you may be asked to remove your animal from its carrier so that the carrier can be placed on the X-Ray machine.

TSA.

Everyone needs to show up to a flight with a dog or a cat.

What if a blind Nun shows up with her seeing eye dog.

Brantigny

Well, that went as planned

2010-11-18T08:12:00.001-08:00

Attorney General Eric Holder another Obama putz, failed in his bid to bring another terrorist to justice. His plan of trying the detainees beginning with Ghailani, ended with a acquittal on all save 1 count. That is 105 not guilty verdicts to 1 guilty. It is now a 100 to 1 chance that a terrorist will go free. Good work, Eric.

First (non)conviction unlikely to help Obama shut Gitmo.

Ghailani Verdict: Guilty on Only 1 Count

FOX News By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Matt Apuzzo, AP – Thu Nov 18, 6:10 am ET

WASHINGTON – The first court conviction of a Guantanamo Bay detainee did little to push President Barack Obama closer to shuttering the island prison, making it increasingly likely his campaign promise will remain unmet by the time his current term expires.

Jurors in New York City on Wednesday convicted Ahmed Ghailani of conspiracy to blow up government buildings in the al-Qaida attacks on two U.S. embassies in 1998, but they acquitted him on more than 280 other charges. He is the only person transferred from Guantanamo Bay for trial since the U.S. began filling the military prison in Cuba eight years ago.

In some ways, the conviction was a vindication for an administration that believes the judicial system established by the Constitution has proved itself capable of handling terrorism cases.

Predictions of new terrorist attacks and huge police expenses surrounding the trial never materialized. Ghailani now faces 20 years to life in prison, longer than three of the four sentences handed down by military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay.

Despite the acquittals, which included murder counts for each of the 224 people killed in the bombings, the Justice Department said it was pleased Ghailani faces up to life in prison and said it would seek that sentence.

But senior officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions, conceded that the one-count conviction, combined with big electoral wins for Republicans this month, will make it harder to close the prison.

The administration had hoped for an overwhelming conviction to help ease congressional opposition to Obama's long-stymied plan for moving the detainees to U.S. soil. The administration must notify Congress before any transfer, and Republicans have said they would block such efforts.

"They couldn't come close to getting that done when the Democrats were in charge," said Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who is expected to be the next chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "There's no way they're going to get it now that Republicans are in charge."

Administration officials believe there are only a handful of options for closing Guantanamo Bay:

• Prosecute the detainees. Some, like Ghailani, could face criminal trials. Others could face military commissions. Regardless, the administration wants those trials in the U.S., not at Guantanamo.

• Transfer some prisoners to other countries. Many already have been cleared for release. But Yemeni citizens make up the largest contingent, and the U.S. doesn't trust Yemen to monitor them if they are released. Two failed airline bombings originating in Yemen in the past year have made such release efforts even more difficult.

• Hold prisoners indefinitely. Top administration officials have said they don't like the idea but would consider it in some form, if the detainees were held inside the U.S. with some review by courts.

Ghailani's conviction does not make any of those options easier. When Obama announced, days after his election, that he would close Guantanamo within a year, he had hoped to move detainees to a refurbished old prison in Thomson, Ill.

Even if, somehow, that plan were to get resurrected early next year, much of 2011 would be spent renovating the facility. Actually transferring detainees would get pushed back to 2012, a presidential election year in which political differences are amplified and compromises are rare.

The Ghailani case also did little to resolve the question of what will happen to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks.

The Justice Department had planned to prosecute those cases in civilian courts, but the administration reversed course amid political opposition. The move left a sour taste with some prosecutors, who felt the White House was letting political considerations influence the department, a criticism Democrats often lobbed at President George W. Bush.

Ghailani, like Mohammed, was held for years in a secret CIA prison overseas and subjected to some of the harshest interrogation tactics. His trial was seen as a test of whether those actions would sink the case or whether prosecutors could salvage a conviction. Prosecutors could face the same challenge in the 9/11 trials.

A federal judge prohibited prosecutors from calling a key witness in the Ghailani case, saying the witness had been identified while Ghailani was interrogated at the CIA prison.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is seen as key to any deal to close Guantanamo, said late Wednesday that he was disappointed with the Ghailani verdict and said the government was endangering the nation "by criminalizing the war."

"We are at war with al-Qaida," Graham said. "Members of the organization and their associates should be treated as warriors, not common criminals."

Brantigny

More TSA woes.

2010-11-17T06:23:00.000-08:00

Well PBo has been in the White House now for a little less than 2 years. Here is an example of his change... A seven year old terrorist or is it a case of unreasonableness.

In truth, I and many people know that this sort of search and the place where it is conducted really do not solve the problem. All terrorists know that they will get searched. How many terrorists have we caught in the TSA line? We have caught terrorist in the plane, lighting his underwair, lighting his shoes, or carrying a couple of bottles of explosive.

All a terrorist need do is go into the check-in counter and detonate himself or herself.

Stop the terrorists before they get into the airport. Profile! Profile! Profile!

This video was shown to me by my daugther Genevieve, who through no fault of her own looks middle eastern, named by me with a name which is almost unpronounceable by everyone except Frenchmen, and who can not go into an airport with out being searched.

Here is another story...

TSA pats down a screaming toddler

You might think a 3-year-old would whiz through security. A child is non-threatening, wears slip-on shoes, and carries little luggage.

Mandy Simon suffered through a TSA pat down.

Not the case for Mandy Simon who was passing through security with her dad at the airport in Chattanooga, Tenn.

A TSA employee gave Mandy the pat down and she started screaming and kicking her legs. Her dad, Steve, happens to be a TV reporter and caught 17 seconds of the ordeal on his cell phone (watch video).

Why was Mandy searched in the first place? She started crying when she was asked to put her teddy bear through the X-ray machine. This made it difficult for her to walk calmly through the metal detector and she set the machine off twice, which meant she "must be hand-searched."

If the TSA is going to search kids, maybe they need a little training on how to do it--or at least employees should have a few lollipops or stickers in their pockets.

A picture may be found here...

Brantigny

I'm done talking about this now.

The terrorists have won...

2010-11-15T12:55:00.001-08:00

When we are afraid of a nuns...and not Muslims. er... What's this thing with a cross and these bed things?

Brantigny

Nanny State Attacks

2010-11-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

The same California city which reelected Cruella de Ville's twin sister Nancy, has become the arbiter of what you get to serve your children in San Franciso. The Nanny Stae strikes back.

San Francisco bans most Happy Meals

The city's board of supervisors votes to forbid restaurants from giving away toys with meals with high levels of calories, sugar and fat
Santa Clara By Sharon Bernstein, Tribune Newspapers

7:27 p.m. CDT, November 2, 2010

San Francisco's board of supervisors has voted, by a veto-proof margin, to ban most of McDonald's Happy Meals as they are now served in the restaurants.

The measure will make San Francisco the first major city in the country to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat.

The ordinance also would require restaurants to provide fruits and vegetables with all meals for children that come with toys.

"We're part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice," said Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure. "From San Francisco to New York City, the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country is making our kids sick, particularly kids from low income neighborhoods, at an alarming rate. It's a survival issue and a day-to-day issue."

Just after the vote, McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud said, "We are extremely disappointed with today's decision. It's not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for."

The ban, already enacted in a similar measure by Santa Clara County, was opposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who was vying to be lieutenant governor in Tuesday's election. But because the measure was passed by eight votes — one more than needed to override a veto — his opposition doesn't matter unless one of the supervisors changes his or her mind after the promised veto.

Under the ordinance, scheduled to take effect in December 2011, restaurants may include a toy with a meal if the food and drink combined contain fewer than 600 calories, and if less than 35 percent of the calories come from fat.

Over the last few weeks, the proposed ban caused a stir online and on cable television, with supporters arguing that it would help protect children from obesity, and opponents seeing it as the latest example of the nanny state gone wild.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty, whose swing vote provided the veto-proof majority, said critics should not dismiss the legislation as a nutty effort by San Franciscans. "I do believe the industry is going to take note of this. I don't care how much they say, 'It's San Francisco, they're wacked out there.'"

Proud, the McDonald's spokeswoman, said the city was out of step with the mainstream on the issue.

"Public opinion continues to be overwhelmingly against this misguided legislation," she said. "Parents tell us it's their right and responsibility — not the government's — to make their own decisions and to choose what's right for their children."

Oak Brook-based McDonald's is not the only fast-food chain to offer toys with children's meals, but because it is so prominent the company has become a key face of opposition to the ban.

Daniel Conway, spokesman for the California Restaurant Association, bemoaned the ordinance's passage and contrasted it with San Franciscans' exuberant feelings after the Giants won the World Series on Monday night.

"One day you're world champions, and the next day, no toys for you," Conway said.

He said the industry could respond in a number of ways to the ordinance. Some might continue to include toys but charge separately for them. Others might reformulate their meals so that they comply with the law. Restaurants might also simply stop offering children's meals altogether, he said.

Proud said the company does offer more healthful menu options, including apple slices that can be ordered with kids' meals instead of french fries.

The vote was held the same day that McDonald's reintroduced nationwide its McRib sandwich, a pressed pork patty that gets half its calories from fat and has a cultlike legion of fans.

Mar said it would lead the fast-food giant and other restaurants to provide more healthful food for kids. The ban, he said, was crucial to the fight against childhood obesity and the illnesses that go along with it, including diabetes and the risk of heart problems and stroke. The cost of fighting those diseases, he said, will be in the billions.

"It's astronomical how much it's going to cost if we don't address it," Mar said. "It's incredible the crisis that's going to hit us."

Brantigny

What's in a name?

2010-11-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

Spain decends into the pit. Shame on the King for being such a woose.

Spain may upend name game in gender equality push

MADRID – A name in Spain might not stay the same.

Spain's Socialist government has found a new place to push for gender equality, seeking to erase all vestiges of male bias from the country's double-barreled last names.

Spaniards have two surnames, and under current law for registering babies, either the father's or the mother's can come first. Traditionally, however, it is the dad's and in cases of disagreement among the parents, the father's name automatically takes priority.

But under a bill presented to Parliament, if a couple does not specify an order or cannot agree on one, a child's last names would be assigned in alphabetical order.

"I think this is good and also much more egalitarian," Jose Antonio Alonso, a Socialist Party spokesman in the lower chamber of Parliament, said Thursday.

Opposition conservatives called the change unnecessary and vowed to fight it.

Most Spaniards use both last names, such as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, although some use just one, like the singer Julio Iglesias. In some Latin American countries, people are also legally obliged to have two last names.

Zapatero prides himself on being a defender of gender equality and women's rights.

Brantigny

on this Date

2010-11-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

November 4, in 1501 Arthur, the Prince of Wales, and this betroved, Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, met for the first time. More is here...

Also on this date, in 1755, Marie-Antoinette, the Reine-martyr is baptised...

Lastly today in 1911, Charles I of Austria marries Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma.

Jhesu+Marie,
Brantigny

Waid a minit!

2010-11-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

Obama: A “Credible Terrorist Threat Against Our Country”
October 29, 2010 5:17 PM

Calling it a “credible terrorist threat against our country,” that the administration is taking “very seriously,” President Obama came to the briefing room of the White House today to brief press on the terror threat.

The president confirmed that the two suspicious packages were bound specifically for two places of Jewish worship in Chicago – located in Dubai and East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom.

“An initial examination of those packages has determined that they do apparently contain explosive m material,” he said.

The president said he was alerted last night by his top counterterrorism advisors, John Brennan.

“I directed the Department of Homeland Security and all our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to take whatever steps are necessary to protect our citizens from this type of attack,” the president said noting that the measures led to additional screening of some planes in Newark and Philadelphia and DHS also taking steps to enhance the safety of air travel, including additional cargo screening.

“We will continue to pursue additional protective measures for as long as it takes to ensure the safety and security of our citizens. I have also directed that we spare no effort in investigating the origins of these suspicious packages and their connection to any additional terrorist plotting.”

The president said they are still pursuing the fact, but they do know the packages originated in Yemen.

“We also know that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens and our friends and allies.”

Noting that John Brennan spoke with President Saleh of Yemen today he said the Yemeni government has pledged their full cooperation to an investigation.

“The events of the past 24 hours underscores the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism,” Obama said, “As we obtain more information, we'll keep the public fully informed. But at this stage, the American people should know that the counterterrorism professionals are taking this threat very seriously and are taking all necessary and prudent steps to ensure our security.”

The White House says the president’s schedule, at this time, will not change, He is due to appear at a rally this evening in Charlottesville Virginia and spend most of the weekend campaigning in the lead up to the midterm elections, hitting stops in Chicago and Philadelphia, among others.

-Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller

I thought we weren't going to call them terrorists anymore. So is the leader of the regime saying we are threatened by terrorists?

We don’t use the word terrorist anymore….

Brantigny

Sarah Palin on Juan Williams

2010-10-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Just as in the old Soviet Union, when a party member was suspected of disloyalty he was purged. With the Purging of Juan Williams from NPR and of Rick Sanchez from CNN the Party is showing it's displeaure with freedom of speech. It doesn't matter if we disagree, I recognize their rigth to say their mind. Only the left is intolerant of counter revolutionaries.

Juan Williams: Going Rogue.

by Sarah Palin on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 1:45pm.

At a time when our country is dangerously in debt and looking for areas of federal spending to cut, I think we’ve found a good candidate for defunding. National Public Radio is a public institution that directly or indirectly exists because the taxpayers fund it. And what do we, the taxpayers, get for this? We get to witness Juan Williams being fired from NPR for merely speaking frankly about the very real threat this country faces from radical Islam.

We have to have an honest discussion about the jihadist threat. Are we not allowed to say that Muslim terrorists have killed thousands of Americans and continue to plot the deaths of thousands more? Are we not allowed to say that there are Muslim states that aid and abet these fanatics? Are we not allowed to even debate the role that radical Islam plays in inciting this violence?

I don’t expect Juan Williams to support me (he’s said some tough things about me in the past) – but I will always support his right and the right of all Americans to speak honestly about the threats this country faces. And for Juan, speaking honestly about these issues isn’t just his right, it’s his job. Up until yesterday, he was doing that job at NPR. Firing him is their loss.

If NPR is unable to tolerate an honest debate about an issue as important as Islamic terrorism, then it’s time for “National Public Radio” to become “National Private Radio.” It’s time for Congress to defund this organization.

NPR says its mission is “to create a more informed public,” but by stifling debate on these issues, NPR is doing exactly the opposite. President Obama should make clear his commitment to free and honest discussion of the jihadist threat in our public debates – and Congress should make clear that unless NPR provides that public service, not one more dime.

Mr. President, what say you?

Brantigny

Well blow me down...

2010-10-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Wikileaks probably got a suprise this week when it posted it's latest batch of leaks. To wit: Wikileaks posted a document which shows that the US did in fact locate and photograph weapons of mass destruction. I bet if they read the leaks they wouldn't have postd that one. It just doesn't fit with the left wing agenda, Bush bad, Obama good.

Wikileaks proves WMD found in Iraq
Rick Moran

This is not surprising news to anyone not predisposed to call President Bush a liar about WMD.

Ed Morrissey:

In this case, the surprise isn't the data but the source. Wikileaks' new release from purloined files of the Department of Defense may help remind people that, contrary to popular opinion and media memes, the US did find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and in significant quantities. While the invasion of Iraq didn't find huge stockpiles of new WMDs, it did uncover stockpiles that the UN had demanded destroyed as a condition of the 1991 truce that Saddam Hussein abrogated for twelve years.

Glenn Reynolds:

I SAID BEFORE THAT WIKILEAKS' JULIAN ASSANGE WAS CLEARLY A TOOL, BUT WHOSE? Well, so far the two biggest scoops from the latest document dump are that the infamous Lancet study was bogus, and that WMDs were found in Iraq in quantity. Neither of these stories is actually news to people who were paying attention, but now - conveniently enough just before an election, and even nicely timed for George W. Bush's new book release - these stories are getting a fresh round of play. . . .

The Lancet studies on Iraqi deaths, one released the weekend before the 2004 election, the second released less than a week before the 2006 election, not only wildly overestimated Iraqi deaths from the war, they smeared the US military. The civilian casualties were horrific but nowhere near what those two bogus studies purported to show.

As for WMD, no new weapons were found but the fact that there was so much of it still in Iraq after the UN was supposed to have gotten rid of it is significant. Don't expect any apologies from the rest of the world or even any acknowledgment that they were wrong. The narrative is set and nothing will change it.
American Thinker

WikiLeaks Show WMD Hunt Continued in Iraq – With Surprising Results

Brantigny

NPR fires Juan Williams for Muslim remarks on Fox

2010-10-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

Juan you have just been taught a lesson. For the Left, Freedom of Speech only exists only when it agrees with the left. An idea of your own, a word which does not meet the approval of the left is not allowed. Disagree and you are gone. Silly liberal. Even the Jacobins killed Danton.

NPR terminated the contract of Juan Williams on Wednesday after comments the veteran journalist and news analyst made about Muslims on Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor."

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly stirred up controversy last week on "The View" after making the blanket statement that "Muslims killed us on 9/11," a comment that led to co-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walking off the set.

On Monday, O'Reilly asked Williams if there is a "Muslim dilemma" in the United States. The NPR analyst and longtime Fox News contributor agreed with O'Reilly that such a thing exists, and added that "political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality."

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams continued. "You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Some commentators and a leading Muslim civil rights organization took issue with Williams' comments.

The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan wrote Wednesday morning that Williams' statement about fearing Muslims on planes is an example of bigotry. "What if someone said that they saw a black man walking down the street in classic thug get-up," Sullivan wrote. "Would a white person be a bigot [if] he assumed he was going to mug him?'

The Council for American-Islamic Relations sent out a press release Wednesday afternoon calling on NPR to address the matter. Nihad Awad, the organization's national executive director, called the comments "irresponsible and inflammatory" and said they "should not pass without action by NPR."

They certainly didn't. NPR took action Wednesday night and put out a statement regarding the severing of Williams' contract: "His remarks on 'The O'Reilly Factor' this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."

You can watch Williams' comments below:

Williams often appears on Fox as the liberal counterpart to one of the network's conservative hosts or guests. But some NPR listeners -- an audience certainly more left-leaning than Fox's conservative one -- don't see Williams as an advocate for progressive politics when he appears on the cable news network.

Last year, NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard wrote that Williams had become a "lightning rod" among NPR's staff and noted many complaints from listeners after an appearance on O'Reilly's show.

Williams had described First Lady Michelle Obama as having a "Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress thing going," a reference to the militant African-American activist. After those comments, NPR executives asked that NPR's logo be removed when he appears on Fox News.

It can be expected that Fox hosts, especially O'Reilly, will have something to say about NPR's decision.

CNN host Rick Sanchez fired over on-air remarks

Bernie Goldberg, a Fox News contributor and author of several books on what he describes as liberal media bias, offered his take Thursday morning in an email to The Upshot.

"So Juan Williams is fired for saying something the liberals at NPR find controversial?" Goldberg said. "One more piece of evidence that liberals have forgotten how to be liberal."

Goldberg continued: "These are the kind of people who brag about how open-minded they are -- as long as you agree with them. And here's the dirty little secret: lots and lots of liberals feel the same way Juan does when they get on an airplane. And a lot of those liberals work at NPR. Juan's 'crime' was saying it out loud."

Weekly Standard Editor and Fox contributor Bill Kristol also had some choice words for NPR, which he dubbed "National Politically-correct Radio." Kristol concluded a post about the firing by saying: "NPR -- unfair, unbalanced ... and afraid."

By Michael Calderone

Brantigny

Update: JUAN WILLIAMS: I Was Fired for Telling the Truth

more...

Barack by the numbers!

2010-10-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S RECORD FROM THE OUTRAGEOUS TO THE ABSURD

$26.2 Trillion: Projected Federal Debt In 2020 Due To Obama’s Binge Spending. (OMB, 7/23/10)

$13.6 Trillion: Current National Debt. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 10/19/10)

$8.5 Trillion: Cumulative Deficits Caused By President Obama’s Proposed Budget, FY2011-2020. (OMB, 7/23/10)

$3.9 Trillion: Total Cost Of The Democrats’ Tax Hike To Taxpayers. (Joint Committee On Taxation, 8/6/10)

$3.0 Trillion: Amount Added To The National Debt Since Obama Took Office. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 10/19/10)

$2.5 Trillion: True Cost Of ObamaCare Once Fully Implemented. (Sen. Max Baucus, Floor Remarks, 12/2/09)

$1.42 Trillion: Federal Budget Deficit For FY2009 – Highest In U.S. History. (Congressional Budget Office, 10/7/10)

$1.29 Trillion: Federal Budget Deficit For FY2010 – Second Highest In U.S. History. (Congressional Budget Office, 10/7/10)

$868.4 Billion: American Debt Held By China. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 10/19/10)

$831 Billion: Net Interest Payment On Our National Debt In 2020 Due To Obama’s Budget. (OMB, 7/23/10)

$814 Billion: Price Tag Of Obama’s Failed Stimulus. (Bloomberg, 8/20/10)

$575 Billion: Amount Of Medicare Cuts In ObamaCare. (CMS Chief Actuary Richard S. Foster, Memo, 4/22/10)

$569.2 Billion: Amount Of Taxes In ObamaCare. (Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 3/18/10)

$10 Billion: The Cost Of The Teacher Union Bailout. (The Washington Post, 10/8/10)

$54 Million: Amount Of Stimulus Funds Spent On A Napa Valley Wine Train. (ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” 2/2/10)

41.8 Million: Number Of Americans Receiving Food Stamps. (Bloomberg, 10/5/10)

40 Million: Number Of Businesses That Will Be Burdened By The Onerous IRS 1099 Requirement. (The Washington Post, 8/29/10)

$18 Million: Cost Of The Stimulus Website Recovery.org. (ABC News’ “The Note“ Blog, 7/8/09)

14.8 Million: Unemployed Americans. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

9.5 Million: Americans Working Part-Time For Economic Reasons. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

6.1 Million: Americans Unemployed For Longer Than 27 Weeks. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

5.4 Million: Number Of Properties Receiving Foreclosure Filings Since Obama Took Office. (RealtyTrac, Accessed 10/19/10)

3.8 Million: Increase In the Number Of People Who Were In Poverty In 2009 Over 2008. (NPR, 9/16/10)

2.6 Million: Jobs Lost Since Stimulus Was Passed. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

2.3 Million: Private Sector Jobs Lost Since Stimulus Was Passed. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

1.2 Million: Americans That Have Given Up Looking For Work. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

964,900: Number Of Jobs That Could Be Lost Per Year Under Cap And Trade. (Tax Foundation, 3/09)

89,000: The Number Of Stimulus Checks Sent to Dead Or Incarcerated People. (The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire" Blog, 10/7/10)

$43,000: Your Share Of The National Debt. (“The Daily History Of The Debt Results,” TreasuryDirect, Accessed 10/19/10; U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov, Accessed 10/19/10)

23,000: The Number Of Jobs Obama Knew His Drilling Moratorium Could Kill. (The Wall Street Journal, 8/21/10)

22,000: Number Of Seniors In MA, NH And ME That Will Lose Their Medicare Advantage Plans As A Result Of ObamaCare. (The Boston Globe, 9/28/10)

$1,761: Cost To American Families Per Year As A Result Of Cap And Trade. (CBS News' "Taking Liberties" Blog, 9/16/09)

$1,540: The Amount Of The Tax Hike The Average Middle Class Family Will See As A Result Of The Dems’ Tax Hike. (Tax Foundation, 8/1/10)

1099: The IRS Form Every Business Will Have To File After Doing $600 Worth Of Business With A Vendor. (CNNMoney.com, 5/5/10)

100: Percent Of GDP That Our National Debt Will Rise To In 2012. (Office Of Management And Budget, 7/23/10)

83: Number Of Fundraisers Obama Has Attended As Of 10/12/10. (CBS News' Mark Knoller’s Twitter Feed, Accessed 10/19/10; CBS News, 8/16/10)

80: Percent Of Small Businesses That Could Be Forced To Change Health Care Plans As A Result Of ObamaCare. (The Washington Post, 6/15/10)

79: Percent Of Stimulus Funds For Wind, Solar And Geothermal Energy Projects That Went To Foreign Firms. (Investigating Reporting Workshop/ABC’s World News Tonight/Watchdog Institute, 2/8/10)

68: Percent Of Americans Who Think The Stimulus Was A Waste. (The Hill's “Briefing Room” Blog, 10/5/10)

60: Percent Of Young Voters Who Are “More Cynical About Politics” Now Than When Obama Was Elected. (The Huffington Post, 9/15/10)

58: Percent Of Ohioans Who Say Obama’s Frequent Visits To The State Make No Difference In How They’ll Vote. (The Hill, 10/19/10)

53: Rounds Of Golf Played By President Obama Since Taking Office. (CBS News' Mark Knoller’s Twitter Feed, Accessed 10/19/10; CBS News' Mark Knoller’s Twitter Feed, Accessed 10/19/10 )

49: Visits To The White House By Andy Stern, Former President Of SEIU. (WhiteHouse.gov, Accessed 10/19/10)

37: Number Of Town Halls Obama Has Done Since Taking Office. (CBS News’ Mark Knoller’s Twitter Feed, Accessed 10/19/10)

33.3: Average Number Of Weeks It Takes An Unemployed Worker To Find A Job. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

30: Number Of Waivers Granted To Businesses So That The White House Could Avoid Admitting ObamaCare Was Making People Lose Their Health Care Plans. (USA Today, 10/7/10)

27: Percent Increase In Premiums By Some Insurers In Colorado As A Result Of ObamaCare. (The Denver Post, 9/20/10)

25: DVDs Given To The UK’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown On His First Visit. (The Daily Mail (UK), 3/9/10)

20: Straight Months That Food Stamp Participation Has Hit A Record. (Bloomberg, 10/5/10)

17.1: Percent Of Americans Either Unemployed Or Working Part-Time For Economic Reasons. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

14: Straight Months With Unemployment Above 9.5%. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 10/8/10)

9: Number Of Vacations Taken By President Obama. (CBS News, 8/19/10)

4: Out Of 10 Likely Voters Who Once Backed Obama But Are Less Supportive Or No Longer Support Obama. (Bloomberg, 10/12/10)

2: Place In The Line Of Succession That Joe Biden Believes He Is In (Hint: He’s #1). (CBS News’ Mark Knoller’s Twitter Feed, Accessed 10/19/10)

2: Visits To The White House By Actor George Clooney. (E! Online, 10/12/10)

1: Number Of White House Investigations. (CBS News, 10/6/10)

1: Teacher Union Bailout To Motivate Teacher Unions For Midterm Elections. (The Washington Post, 10/8/10)

0: Other People Obama Will Have Left To Blame For His Failures In 2012. (The American People, 11/6/12)

Brantigny

Statistics at GOP

Another Wackjob

2010-10-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

It seems that every religion has its wackos...

Yosef: Gentiles exist only to serve Jews
By JONAH MANDEL 10/18/10

According to Rabbi, the lives of non-Jews in Israel are safeguarded by divinity, to prevent losses to Jews.
Talkbacks (79)
The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews, according to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the head of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and a senior Sephardi adjudicator.

“Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel,” he said in his weekly Saturday night sermon on the laws regarding the actions non-Jews are permitted to perform on Shabbat.

According to Yosef, the lives of non-Jews in Israel are safeguarded by divinity, to prevent losses to Jews.

“In Israel, death has no dominion over them... With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money.

This is his servant... That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew,” Yosef said.

“Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat.

That is why gentiles were created,” he added.

Yosef’s Saturday night sermons have seen many controversial statements from the 90-year-old rabbi. In August, Yosef caused a diplomatic uproar when he wished a plague upon the Palestinian people and their leaders, a curse he retracted a few weeks later, when he blessed them along with all of Israel’s other peace-seeking neighbors.

Brantigny

DOH!

2010-10-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Just what we need...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "The Simpsons" just got a blessing from the Vatican.

The official Vatican newspaper has declared that beer-swilling, doughnut-loving Homer Simpson and son Bart are Catholics -- and what's more, it says that parents should not be afraid to let their children watch "the adventures of the little guys in yellow."

"Few people know it, and he does everything to hide it. But it's true: Homer J. Simpson is Catholic", the Osservatore Romano newspaper said in an article on Sunday headlined "Homer and Bart are Catholics."

The newspaper cited a study by a Jesuit priest of a 2005 episode of the show called "The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star". That study concludes that "The Simpsons" is "among the few TV programs for kids in which Christian faith, religion and questions about God are recurrent themes."

The Simpsons pray before meals, and "in its own way, believes in the beyond," the newspaper quoted the Jesuit study as saying.

It's the second time the animated U.S. TV series, which is broadcast in 90 countries, has been praised by the Vatican.

But executive producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly on Monday he was in "shock and awe" at the latest assertion, adding that the Simpsons attend the "Presbylutheran" First Church of Springfield.

"We've pretty clearly shown that Homer is not Catholic," Jean said. "I really don't think he could go without eating meat on Fridays -- for even an hour."

In December 2009, the Osservatore Romano described the show as "tender and irreverent, scandalous and ironic, boisterous and profound, philosophical and sometimes even theological, nutty synthesis of pop culture and of the lukewarm and nihilistic American middle class."

"The Simpsons", which introduced the catch-phrase "D'oh", is the longest-running prime-time TV series in the United States and is now in its 22nd season.

As if the protestants don't think the Church is a cartoon in itself.

Brantigny

Well DOH!

2010-10-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well, this is embarrassing. A county in Texas has mistaken Chile's flag for its own state flag. On absentee ballets in Atascosa County, voters are seeing the flag from the South American country instead of the one from the mighty Lone Star state. And it's not like this just started. The mix-up has been going on for years.

It appears to have been a simple mistake gone horribly and hilariously wrong. And, in fairness, the two flags are mighty similar. Both are red, white, and blue, and feature a large white star on the left side.

Nobody even noticed the mistake until Tony Knudson, an absentee voter in Japan, caught on. After seeing the error, the astute voter remarked to the Austin American-Statesman, "I guess it's funny in some way, but my initial reaction was more disbelief that no one had noticed." See the difference below.

Chile

Texas

Election officials have since fixed the mistake, but not before the searches went through the roof. Online lookups for "texas flag vs chile flag" are soaring as are queries on "texas flag pictures" and "what does the chile flag look like."

Bloggers across the Web are chiming in the gaffe. The story has been picked up by everyone from the Washington Post to the San Francisco Chronicle. Even the UK's Telegraph is having a bit of fun.

But this is hardly the first ballot error in the good ol' USA. In 2008, some absentee voters in New York were given ballots that said "Barack Osama." And earlier this month, a postal union election had to be delayed because — you guessed it — too many ballots were lost in the mail.

Democracy — it's not as easy as it looks.

Not to be the least here is my entry. Can't say that North Carolinians are any different, working at a state agency the NC flag and American Flag have both been run up the flag poles upside down. Maybe if the emphasis was not on diversity and more on history we would know what the flag looks like.

Brantigny

McDonald’s Happy Meal resists decomposition for six months

2010-10-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

You see, you stupid people, WE, the elite, the pointy headed, we know what is best for you. We control the volume, we control the picture. We will tell you what to drink, what to eat, what to watch, what to listen to, what to believe... You are unable to to think for yourselves. That is what WE are here for...

By Brett Michael Dykes

Vladimir Lenin, King Tut and the McDonald's Happy Meal: What do they all have in common? A shocking resistance to Mother Nature's cycle of decomposition and biodegradability, apparently.

That's the disturbing point brought home by the latest project of New York City-based artist and photographer Sally Davies, who bought a McDonald's Happy Meal back in April and left it out in her kitchen to see how well it would hold up over time.

The results? "The only change that I can see is that it has become hard as a rock," Davies told the U.K. Daily Mail.

She proceeded to photograph the Happy Meal each week and posted the pictures to Flickr to record the results of her experiment. Now, just over six months later, the Happy Meal has yet to even grow mold. She told the Daily Mail that "the food is plastic to the touch and has an acrylic sheen to it."

Davies -- whose art has been featured in numerous films and television shows and is collected by several celebrities -- told The Upshot that she initiated the project to prove a friend wrong. He believed that any burger would mold or rot within two or three days of being left on a counter. Thus began what's become known as "The Happy Meal Art Project."

"I told my friend about a schoolteacher who's kept a McDonald's burger for 12 years that hasn't changed at all, and he didn't believe me when I told him about it," Davies told us. "He thought I was crazy and said I shouldn't believe everything that I read, so I decided to try it myself."

Davies' friend was the person who should have done the additional research. Wellness and nutrition educator Karen Hanrahan has indeed kept a McDonald's hamburger since 1996 to show clients and students how resistant fast food can be to decomposition.

As for Davies, she said that she might just keep her burger and fries hanging around for a while as well.

"It's sitting on a bookshelf right now, so it's not really taking up any space, so why not?" she said. It ceased giving off any sort of odor after 24 hours, she said, adding: "You have to see this thing."

In response to Davies' project, McDonald's spokeswoman Theresa Riley emailed The Upshot a statement defending the quality of the chain's food. Riley's email also blasted Davies' "completely unsubstantiated" work as something out of "the realm of urban legends."

"McDonald's hamburger patties in the United States are made with 100% USDA-inspected ground beef," Riley wrote. "Our hamburgers are cooked and prepared with salt, pepper and nothing else -- no preservatives, no fillers. Our hamburger buns are baked locally, are made from North American-grown wheat flour and include common government-approved ingredients designed to assure food quality and safety. ... According to Dr. Michael Doyle, Director, Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, 'From a scientific perspective, I can safely say that the way McDonald's hamburgers are freshly processed, no hamburger would look like this after one year unless it was tampered with or held frozen.'"

The question is so what? If I want to et a happy meal or treat my grandchildren to eat a happy meal that is my business. It is not the business of some government official, some long haired Harvard grad, or the First Lady, (who should really stop being phootgrahed with an ice cream cone). For a bunch of liberals who shout "stay ut of my bedroom!" I retort, "Stay out-o-ma belly!"...

Brantigny

'I am proud to be a traitor to America': U.S. citizen mocks his homeland in 'Al Qaeda magazine'

2010-10-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

An American citizen has written about his pride at leaving the U.S. and joining Al Qaeda in Yemen.

In Inspire - an English-language magazine produced by Al Qaeda supporters on the Arabian Peninsula - Samir Khan mocks the U.S. intelligence agencies and pledges his support to the terrorist group.

U.S. officials believe the 24-year-old from from North Carolina is the driving force behind the magazine, which includes articles on conducting attacks and features messages from terrorist leaders. More...

Brantigny

Minnesota first, next the nation

2010-10-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

Denn heute gëhort uns Deutschland, Und morgen die ganze Welt we have heard this before...

Monday, October 11, 2010 Les Femmes, the Truth...

It's really interesting. Liberals fight to prevent conscience laws to protect Christian medical personnel and pharmacists who refuse to participate in killing babies, but they let Muslims censor innocuous speech and even violate the rights of others. Can you imagine the outcry if a Christian cab driver refused to drive to an abortion mill? We've already seen the outcry against pharmacists at Walmart and other chains who refuse to dispense drugs to kill babies. Obviously refusing to handle pork is a more serious issue and more deserving of protection than refusing to kill babies.

In a related matter, the Washington Post last Sunday refused to run the "Non Sequitur" comic strip by Wiley Miller because it spoofed the controversy over the Danish cartoon strips that caused riots by depicting Muhammad. The cartoonist actually didn't portray Muhammad at all, but imitated the children's Where's Waldo series with a busy page of pictures. The Post's ombudsman, Andrew Alexander, responding to critics in this morning's Post wrote:

Miller is fuming. The award-winning cartoonist, who lives in Maine, told me the cartoon was meant to satirize "the insanity of an entire group of people rioting and putting out a hit list over cartoons," as well as "media cowering in fear of printing any cartoon that contains the work 'Muhammad.'"

"The wonderful irony [is that] great newspapers like The Washington Post, that took on Nixon...run in fear of this very tame cartoon, thus validating the accuracy of the satire," he said by e-mail.

Well, this is the Twilight Zone world of America today. Sharia Law today in Minnesota, tomorrow in Washington,D.C. Demographically, the world is becoming Muslim. Study this table from the late 90s showing the growth of Islam relative to other religions. Minnesota illustrates the demographics on a small scale, but it's happening all over the world with devastating results for many cultures. The Christian west is going the way of the dodo bird and every country in Europe is showing the stress of democracy trying to coexist peacefully with a fundamentalist theocracy. Islam is unwilling to coexist. Either our culture succumbs to their demands or else. As the Muslim population grows, we will be seeing more and more dramatically the impossibility of our Republic surviving.

La mort à islam
Brantigny

The Truth About Christopher Columbus

2010-10-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

Christopher Columbus

By Tommy De Seno

Published October 11, 2010 | FoxNews.com

I’m sure it’s happened to you, as it did to me, again, last night: Some starry-eyed collegian told me that Christopher Columbus shouldn’t be celebrated because of his treatment of native Americans. Oh, and surprise, surprise, she was armed with nothing more than her university professor’s insistence.

If Mark Twain was right that a lie can travel halfway around the world before truth has a chance to put on its shoes, imagine the damage a lie can do over 500 years.

Let me introduce you to Francisco de Bobadilla – liar and Columbus usurper. The criticism of Columbus today comes from de Bobadilla. Who was he? The man who wanted Columbus’s job as governor of Hispaniola.

In 1500 the King and Queen sent him to North America to investigate claims that Columbus wasn’t being fair to the European settlers (which means Columbus was protecting the Indians). So de Bobedilla came here, and in just a few short days did his investigation (with no telephones or motorized vehicles to help him), and promptly arrested Columbus and his brothers for Indian mistreatment and sent them back to Spain, sans a trial. Oh and, he also appointed himself governor. Coup de coeur for power lead to coup d’ etat, as usual.

The King and Queen out these shenanigans and sent for be Bobadilla two years later, but he drowned on the trip home. Columbus was reinstated as admiral.

But what we know of Columbian malfeasance comes from a defrocked liar, de Bobadilla.

Nor was Columbus involved in the slave trade, as critics like Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky have asserted. One of his boats crashed in Haiti. He had no room for 39 men, so he started a colony there.

Columbus came back a year later to find that the Taino Indians killed all of them and left them where they fell. Columbus went to war with the Tainos and took 500 of them as prisoners of war, not slaves. They were released after the war.

Big difference, of course.

It is also wrong to blame Columbus for bringing genocidal microbes to kill native Americans. His detractors make fun of him for thinking he was in the East. So was his evil plan then to bring disease to wipe out the East?

Europeans didn’t know anything about germs until Italian physicist Girolamo Fracastoro proposed the theory 40 years after Columbus died.

Also, had an Indian built a boat and traveled to Europe and back, he would have contaminated the Indians too. Transcontinental contamination was going to happen at some point, making the first carriers irrelevant.

Brown University recently changed the name of the Columbus Day holiday to “Fall Weekend” due to the Columbus slave allegations. Hypocrisy alert: Brown University was partly founded with slave trade money, according to the university's own reports. But they didn’t vote to change the name of their college!

Hypocrites.

Happy Columbus Day!

Tommy De Seno is a writer and an attorney. Read more from Tommy De Seno at JustifiedRight.com.

Jhesu+Marie,
Brantigny

Websites denounce British Muslim soldiers

2010-10-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

The question of British Muslims joining the Army, said to have been a key issue behind the suspected Birmingham beheading plot, has been buzzing around the internet.

The debate was inflamed by the death of Muslim Lance-Corporal Jabron Hashmi in Afghanistan in July. A posting on a website carrying the name Hizb ut-Tahrir called him a "Muslim traitor who got what he deserved". The site was later disowned by the radical group of the same name.

On another site, Mahmud Abdul Baari, a follower of the exiled preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, called Hashmi a terrorist, adding: "Although born Muslim [he] grew up to become an apostate traitor to Islam and professional terrorist who unlike members of al-Qa'eda took a salary."

A member of a chatroom run by the Followers of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah, said joining the British Army or police is "clearly haram [forbidden] and a sin." One leading member of the group said that anyone who did the following was a non-believer: "applying for jobs that are asking Muslims to join the MI5 to infiltrate the community; co-operating with the Government by asking Muslim parents to spy on their children; working with deviant sects who ask us to join the crusading British Army; swearing an oath of allegiance to the fallible Queen".

A fatwa [religious ruling] by a man calling himself Afdal al-Jihad and posted on a mainstream web community is titled "Muslims serving in an Army of Kuffar" [non-believers]. Al-Jihad says: "Muslims cannot fight under the banner of kuffar or with them; Muslims must avoid attaching themselves to nation states; Muslims must avoid harming and fighting other Muslims."

On a web forum called the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, not all the visitors agreed that it was un-Islamic to join the Army. But many said swearing allegiance to the Queen was against Islam.

Original Article

Brantigny

A cartoon about Mormonism, banned in Utah

2010-10-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

This cartoon has been attacked by Mormons, and they have attempted to ban is publication. The statements made in this film are corroborated in Dr Martins book Kingdom of the Cults.

Brantigny

Out of their own mouth

2010-10-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, how many Muslims need to say it before we in the west get the message?

Key points,

Sharia will dominate the world.
There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim.
Eventually the flag of Islam will fly over the White House.

Brantigny

Alligator Bait?

2010-09-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

I thought that when PeBO became president all the race problems would go away.

Brantigny

Notre Dame 88 Still in the Middle of It

2010-09-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

...Remember when our abortion extremist president spoke at Notre Dame's (ND) graduation while cops arrested pro-lifers outside? When was that? ...Let's see...May 2009...have you forgotten already? Well, the 88 pro-lifers arrested haven't. They are still in the midst of the persecution (oops...) prosecution. They recently claimed a victory, though, when St. Joseph County, Indiana Circuit Court Judge Michael Scopelitis ruled that their lawyers from the Thomas More Society may depose former Notre Dame Student Affairs Administrator William Kirk... more...

Brantigny