Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Shiloh, Israel’s Capital for 400 Years, Being Uncovered

The discoveries just keep coming proving that Israel has every right to claim this land as their homeland. (Pictures of excavation at link.)

• Shiloh, Israel’s Capital for 400 Years, Being Uncovered

As Israel’s enemies attempt to deny the nation’s connection to its homeland, archaeologists keep digging at the facts.

In Shiloh, north of Beit El, excavations are currently being carried out under the auspices of the Archaeological Staff Officer for Judea and Samaria in the IDF Civilian Administration Antiquities Unit and the Binyamin local authority.

Shiloh was where the Holy Sanctuary – precursor to the Holy Temple – stood for about 400 years during the era of the Judges. It is first mentioned in the Book of Joshua, which also states that the Holy Sanctuary was built there. In the Book of Samuel, Shiloh is mentioned as a religious center, where Elkana and his family go to give sacrifices to G-d. During that pilgrimage, Elkana’s wife, Hana, asks G-d to give her a son – and eventually gives birth to Samuel the Prophet.

[...]

Archaeological findings indicate that a Jewish presence continued at Shiloh until the year 722 BCE, when the Kingdom of Israel was defeated by Assyria. According to the Book of Judges and the Mishna, unwed Jewish women traditionally went to the vineyards of Shiloh to dance on Tu B’Av.

Health Care Law Confirms What Many Fear, that Reform Morphed into a Monstrosity…God help us all

• AMERICA’S NEW HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REVEALED
  Updated Chart Shows Obamacare’s Bewildering Complexity

Washington, DC – Four months after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously declared “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it,” a congressional panel has released the first chart illustrating the 2,801 page health care law President Obama signed into law in March.

Developed by the Joint Economic Committee minority, led by U.S Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the detailed organization chart displays a bewildering array of new government agencies, regulations and mandates.

“For Americans, as well as Congressional Democrats who didn’t bother to read the bill, this first look at the final health care law confirms what many fear, that reform morphed into a monstrosity of new bureaucracies, mandates, taxes and rationing that will drive up health care costs, hurt seniors and force our most intimate health care choices into the hands of Washington bureaucrats,” said Brady, the committee’s senior House Republican. “If this is what passes for health care reform in America, then God help us all.”

[...]

In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwhelming complexity of new regulations and taxes, the chart portrays:

• $569 billion in higher taxes;
• $529 billion in cuts to Medicare;
• swelling of the ranks of Medicaid by 16 million;
• 17 major insurance mandates; and
• the creation of two new bureaucracies with powers to impose future rationing: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the Independent Payments Advisory Board.

Brady admits committee analysts could not fit the entire health care bill on one chart. “This portrays only about one-third of the complexity of the final bill. It’s actually worse than this.”

Judge Blocks Key Provisions of Arizona Law SB1070

What I glean is that the judge issued a preliminary injunction against enforcing some provisions of the law without throwing the whole thing out. Of course, it will now go to the ultra-liberal 9th Circuit for a permanent ruling.

• Federal Judge Blocks Portions of Arizona Illegal Immigration Law

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked some of the toughest provisions in the Arizona illegal immigration law, putting on hold the state’s attempt to have local police enforce federal immigration policy.

Though the rest of the law is still set to go into effect Thursday, the partial injunction on SB 1070 means Arizona, for the time being, will not be able to require police officers to determine the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton also struck down the section of law that makes it a crime not to carry immigration registration papers and the provision that makes it a crime for an illegal immigrant to seek or perform work.

You can read the ruling HERE.

RELATED:

• Judge: Public Has No Idea What Its Interests Are

You know, if you want to hold your own citizenship cheap, that’s fine. But when you start holding others’ cheap, including those who’ve immigrated legally, then I’ve got a problem with you.

• Gov. Jan Brewer Should Ignore Judge Bolten – Declare State Emergency**Bolten Errs, It’s Still Illegal not Carry Immigration Documents

UPDATE: Spoke to a border town law enforcement official. Nothing in the ruling prohibits them from asking for immigration status, only that it’s not required. They plan on asking when suspicious of status.

Additionally Bolton’s ruling is illegal. No matter what anyone says officers can still arrest immigrants for failing to carry immigration papers.
Title 8 of the U.S. Code. Section 1304e requires that “every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him.” Those who fail to comply will be guilty of a misdemeanor and will be fined $100 and can be imprisoned up to 30 days.

All local law enforcement officers throughout the US can enforce this law as they can any other federal law in the performance of their duties. Judge Bolten’s ruling should be vacated on this point immediately, it’s in error.

• Andy McCarthy More than Critical at Judge’s Ruling

The judge also employs a cute bit of sleight-of-hand. She repeatedly invokes a 1941 case, Hines v. Davidowitz, in which the Supreme Court struck down a state alien-registration statute. In Hines, the high court reasoned that the federal government had traditionally followed a policy of not treating aliens as “a thing apart,” and that Congress had therefore “manifested a purpose ... to protect the liberties of law-abiding aliens through one uniform national system” that would not unduly subject them to “inquisitorial practices and police surveillance.” But the Arizona law is not directed at law-abiding aliens in order to identify them as foreigners and subject them, on that basis, to police attention. It is directed at arrested aliens who are in custody because they have violated the law. And it is not requiring them to register with the state; it is requiring proof that they have properly registered with the federal government — something a sensible federal government would want to encourage.

Judge Bolton proceeds from this misapplication of Hines to the absurd conclusion that Arizona can’t ask the federal government for verification of the immigration status of arrestees — even though federal law prohibits the said arrestees from being in the country unless they have legal status — because that would tremendously burden the feds, which in turn would make the arrestees wait while their status is being checked, which would result in the alien arrestees being treated like “a thing apart.”

The ruling ignores that, in the much later case of Plyler v. Doe (1982)......

Read much more

Is everyone really confused yet, no, well read this:

• What Judge Bolton’s Injunction Doesn’t Say—By: NRO Staff
  

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

What Is Going on with Our Weather?

According to the local TV news report, there is a giant mass of cold water off the coast of California, about the size of the United States, that is giving us such cold weather. It is noon of July 27th and it is 64 degrees out. The chart shows what the average temps for Temecula are normally. So far, we have had only three days since the start of Summer that are even close to the normal range. We are even under the average temps seen in January. So much for that glowbull warming.

“We’re not that far removed from what most Americans are going through”

So says Obama. I say BULLSH!T. At this moment, I have a grand total of $7.36 in my bank account. I cannot even afford to drive across town, let alone take 3 very expensive vacations in one month to places like Spain, Florida, or Martha’s Vineyard. If it weren’t for the generosity of a couple of readers, I wouldn’t have been able to pay my yearly service provider fees to keep this blog going or even to continue my Internet service. I live with two people where one is working for half wages in order to work at all and the other saw her job go South due to business closure. I can’t refill my blood pressure or bone medicine for lack of funds. Blood pressure medicine the doctor says I need, but I know is needed because of the constant financial stress we are under. No President Obumbler, you are very far removed from what Americans are going through. I’ve got plenty of skin in the game, certainly a hell of a lot more than you and all your scamming pals.

Real Reporters Compete — They Don’t Collaborate

Yesterday I asked, “Where has old-fashioned journalistic competition gone?” I love it when I get my question answered in less than 24 hours.

• Unlike the Partisan Hacks Masquerading as Journalists on the ‘JournoList,’ Real Reporters Compete — They Don’t Collaborate

Real journalists will talk among themselves about ideas and bounce stories off colleagues they can trust, but to form a club with a clear political agenda is something mobsters would be proud of. As General George S. Patton said, “If everybody’s thinking alike then somebody is not thinking.” There’s a lot of people here not thinking.

I think it is a given that the majority of leftists are extremely immature, almost like middle school children. Is there a parent alive who hasn’t heard her child grouse, “Mommmmm, everyone else is doing it!”? And how many of us have retorted with, “Would you follow everyone off a cliff because ‘everyone’ is doing it?” I think it is obvious that these Journolistas would since their immature brains figure they are invincible and as long as Mommy and Daddy don’t find out, they are home free.

This collaboration will be discounted by each of those on the list. They will ignore, deflect and discount their participation in this cabal. The only hope of the JournoListas is that their uninformed viewers/listeners/readers don’t find out, or don’t care, that they plot their agenda driven dribble with other media to work as copy machines for Democrats. They are media people who want always to be seen and heard, but on this issue, blindness is golden.

UPDATE:

Oh no, there is another one.

• JournoList 2: the TownHouse Listserv?

But let’s forget about the JournoList for a moment and turn our eyes to another listserv out there in Google.  I’m referring to Matt Stoller’s private, invitation-only TownHouse listserv.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Stoller, he’s a progressive blogger-turned-senior policy advisor for Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL).  Now we all know what we can do besides teach with a history degree, but I digress.

According to SourceWatch:

Townhouse provides the online equivalent of a political backroom for Democratic Party-aligned advocates, consultants and lobbyists. On this closed listserv selected liberals — including bloggers Glenn Greenwald, Markos Moulitsas and Atrios; film maker Robert Greenwald; leaders of liberal think tanks such as Robert Borosage of Campaign for America’s Future; Wes Boyd, Tom Matzzie and other leaders of MoveOn; and other Democratic campaign and PR consultants — can confidentially discuss and debate their issues, strategies and tactics.

An article on Salon reports: “Townhouse began after the disastrous 2004 election, when young Democratic activists began meeting on Sundays for beers at Townhouse Tavern, a subterranean watering hole in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood…

Through it all, Stoller controlled the membership. If you stayed in his graces, and met the group’s qualifications, you got yourself a ticket to both the electronic and the alcoholic conversations. At all times, the whole enterprise was declared off the record, to be spoken of in hushed tones only with others who knew the proverbial secret handshake. … the public introduction of Townhouse now presents the big-name bloggers and online activists with a transparency dilemma. On the one hand, bloggers like to talk of themselves as a democratic, grass-roots movement. (Moulitsas often conflates himself with the entire ‘people-powered movement’ in his blog posts.) On the other hand, the blogosphere boasts an emerging leadership elite, which is increasingly profiting on its insider status in both the Democratic Party and among one another.”

And via Instapundit:

Peter Wehner: JournoListers Risked Their Integrity. Risked? “What we have, in short, is intellectual corruption of a fairly high order. From what we have seen and from what those like Tucker Carlson and his colleagues (who have read the exchanges in detail) say, Journolist was — at least in good measure — a hotbed of hatred, political hackery, banality, and juvenile thuggery. . . . Journolist provides a window into the mindset of the journalistic and academic left in this country. It is not a pretty sight. The demonization and dehumanization of critics is arresting. Those who hold contrary views to the Journolist crowd aren’t individuals who have honest disagreements; they are evil, malignant, and their voices need to be eliminated from the public square. It is illiberal in the extreme. . . . Those who participated in Journolist undoubtedly hope this story will fade away and be forgotten. I rather doubt it will. It is another episode in the long, downward slide of modern journalism.”

and

• What Does It Take To Be A “Hero” Of JournoList?

Monday, July 26, 2010

Healing the Country Starts with Men Like Allen West

We need so many more like this man!

• Allen West for Congress

Catching Up with This and That

I’m happy to report that I’ve restored most of my system. I have most of my files and about half of my programs restored. What a hassle the last 10 days have been with many sleepless nights struggling with backups that wanted to crash over and over. Now, it is just a matter of some housekeeping and a small amount of maintenance and then going online to find some of my more favorite downloaded utilities and programs that somehow got lost. That sound you hear is me making a huge sigh of relief that I was able to recover almost all of my most commonly used programs and all my pictures, some which would have been irreplaceable.

So, lots has been happening since I went down and I’m not only catching up personally, but trying to catch you up as well.

The big reveal this past week was the names and associations of the members of Journolist. It is a chilling revelation, even to someone like me who follows politics closely and has no allusions that what we are given by the legacy media is unbiased. Proof that you should NEVER believe anything these so-called journalistas tell you without doing some active research on your own. Yes, there are many names you’ve never heard mentioned, but take a look at the affiliations. For instance, will you be so willing to take anything written at Politico at face value now that you see three of their contributors on the list? Whether you lean right or left, this Journolist endeavor should give you pause. Do we really want the press debating on making coordination with Obama explicit? The press was given special status by our Founding Fathers and the Constitution because its role is to be a watchdog on government, not a cheerleader for one side or the other. Where has old-fashioned journalistic competition gone? No need to answer that. Many of those on the list come out of schools in an age where competition is frowned upon and actively discouraged because someone has to lose and that might be bad for dear little Johnny’s or Janie’s self-esteem.

Here is the list as published by Buckeye Texan via Doug Ross Journal:

1. Spencer Ackerman – Wired, FireDogLake, Washington Independent, Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect
2. Ben Adler – Newsweek, POLITICO
3. Mike Allen - POLITICO
4. Eric Alterman – The Nation, Media Matters for America
5. Marc Ambinder - The Atlantic
6. Greg Anrig – The Century Foundation
7. Ryan Avent – Economist
8. Dean Baker - The American Prospect
9. Nick Baumann – Mother Jones
10. Josh Bearman – LA Weekly
11. Steven Benen - The Carpetbagger Report
12. Jared Bernstein – Economic Policy Institute
13. Michael Berube - Crooked Timber (blog), Pennsylvania State University
14. Lindsay Beyerstein - (blogger)
15. Joel Bleifuss - In These Times
16. John Blevins – South Texas College of Law
17. Sam Boyd - The American Prospect
18. Rich Byrne - Playwright and freelancer
19. Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic
20. Jonathan Chait – The New Republic
21. Lakshmi Chaudry - In These Times
22. Isaac Chotiner – The New Republic
23. Michael Cohen – New America Foundation
24. Jonathan Cohn – The New Republic
25. Joe Conason – The New York Observer
26. David Corn – Mother Jones
27. Daniel Davies – The Guardian
28. David Dayen - FireDogLake
29. Brad DeLong – The Economists’ Voice, University of California at Berkley
30. Ryan Donmoyer - Bloomberg
31. Kevin Drum – Washington Monthly
32. Matt Duss – Center for American Progress
33. Eve Fairbanks – The New Republic
34. Henry Farrell – George Washington University
35. Tim Fernholz – American Prospect
36. James Galbraith - University of Texas at Austin (professor)
37. Todd Gitlin – Columbia University
38. Ilan Goldenberg - National Security Network
39. Dana Goldstein – The Daily Beast
40. Merrill Goozner - Chicago Tribune
41. David Greenberg - Slate
42. Robert Greenwald - Brave New Films
43. Chris Hayes – The Nation
44. Don Hazen - Alternet
45. Michael Hirsh - Newsweek
46. John Judis – The New Republic, The American Prospect
47. Michael Kazin - Georgetown University (law professor)
48. Ed Kilgore – Democratic Stategist
49. Richard Kim – The Nation
50. Mark Kleiman - The Reality Based Community
51. Ezra Klein - Washington Post, Newsweek, The American Prospect
52. Joe Klein - TIME
53. Paul Krugman – The New York Times, Princeton University
54. Lisa Lerer - POLITICO
55. Daniel Levy – Century Foundation
56. Alec McGillis – Washington Post
57. Scott McLemee - Inside Higher Ed
58. Ari Melber - The Nation
59. Seth Michaels – MyDD.com
60. Luke Mitchell – Harper’s Magazine
61. Gautham Nagesh – The Hill, Daily Caller
62. Suzanne Nossel – Human Rights Watch
63. Michael O’Hare - University of California, Berkeley
64. Rick Perlstein – Author, Campaign for America’s Future
65. Harold Pollack – University of Chicago
66. Foster Kamer – The Village Voice
67. Katha Pollitt – The Nation
68. Ari Rabin-Havt - Media Matters
69. David Roberts - Grist
70. Alyssa Rosenberg – Washingtonian, The Atlantic, Government Executive
71. Alex Rossmiller – National Security Network
72. Laura Rozen – Politico, Mother Jones
73. Greg Sargent – Washington Post
74. Thomas Schaller – Baltimore Sun
75. Noam Scheiber – The New Republic
76. Michael Scherer - TIME
77. Mark Schmitt – American Prospect
78. Adam Serwer – American Prospect
79. Thomas Schaller - Baltimore Sun (columnist), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (professor), FiveThirtyEight.com (contributing writer)
80. Julie Bergman Sender - Balcony Films
81. Walter Shapiro – PoliticsDaily.com
82. Nate Silver - FiveThirtyEight.com
83. Jesse Singal – The Boston Globe, Washington Monthly
84. Ben Smith - POLITICO
85. Sarah Spitz – NPR
86. Adele Stan – The Media Consortium
87. Kate Steadman – Kaiser Health News
88. Jonathan Stein – Mother Jones
89. Sam Stein - The Huffington Post
90. Jesse Taylor – Pandagon.net
91. Steven Teles – Yale University
92. Thoma - The Economist’s View (blog), University of Oregon (professor)
93. Michael Tomasky – The Guardian
94. Jeffrey Toobin – CNN, The New Yorker
95. Rebecca Traister - Salon (columnist)
96. Cenk Uygur - The Young Turks
97. Tracy Van Slyke - The Media Consortium
98. Dave Weigel - Washington Post, MSNBC, The Washington Independent
99. Moira Whelan – National Security Network
100. Scott Winship – Pew Economic Mobility Project
101. Kai Wright - The Root
102. Holly Yeager – Columbia Journalism Review
103. Rich Yeselson – Change to Win
104. Matthew Yglesias – Center for American Progress, The Atlantic Monthly
105. Jonathan Zasloff – UCLA
106. Julian Zelizer - Princeton professor and CNN contributor
107. Avi Zenilman – POLITICO

UPDATE:

• Journey Into the Media’s Heart of Darkness

How ironic that on a day when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The Daily Caller released 15 pages of JournoListers’ email exchanges about a dark and demented conspiracy regarding my son, Trig.

It’s tough to fittingly describe these numerous members of the mainstream media who actively engaged in the debate about this conspiracy back when I was first introduced as John McCain’s running mate, and it’s impossible to legitimize any “prominent” media publication that continues to traffic in this bizarre narrative today. It wasn’t just a few fringe characters in that JournoList discussion. It included writers for major newspapers, magazines, and online news publications. Those participating in this immature exchange in attempts to plant seeds of doubt and falsely accuse even included a famous historian.

This JournoList exchange exposes the warped nature of today’s media, thus explaining why many of us are forced, in fairness to the public, to utilize other mediums to communicate until the mainstream media wakes up and begins respecting the public’s intelligence and desire for truth in reporting. There is a sickness and darkness in today’s liberal media. With revelations like the JournoList exchanges, may the light keep shining to expose the problem.

I am already sick of the Shirley Sherrod debacle and have no reason to cover it. For the latest, Bob Owens has a post up that will bring you somewhat up to date with links to fuller discussions. You can follow the link to Dan Riehl and see if you agree that her husband is a real piece of nastiness.

• The “Full Sherrod”

Getting away from politics and to things that are just cool:

• Spitzer Telescope Finds First-Ever Buckyballs in Space

Spitzer Finds Buckyballs in Space An artist’s depiction..  NASA/JPL-Caltech

And now that I’ve gotten a post ready to go, I’ve discovered a problem with a couple of my folders that need immediate attention. Be back later with more.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Blog and Computer Problems

Due to a complete system crash and unrecoverable error, Pal2Pal has been down since last Thursday. First thought was that my three year old laptop had bitten the dust and since I have zero funds to buy a new one or even a used one off eBay, it was panic time. After a couple of days of trying every trick I could think of, I finally had to admit that the ultimate was inevitable and couldn’t make things worse, so I used the restore to factory default option, which, of course, wipe off everything except the factory defaults. I wasn’t too worried since I’m set up for full online storage system backups. This would have been great except that I couldn’t get online to get to it for several days and even after I finally reestablished a connection, I couldn’t keep it up long enough to accomplish a restore. I’m still working on that. Anyway, we are up to the extent that posting is possible, but not much else and I still have at least two to three more days of fighting this problem and getting back to normal. 

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Klavan: Obama’s Beach Blanket Recovery: It’s Happy, Snappy & Incredibly Crappy

Temecula-Inland Empire: Rally July 16 at Duck Pond- John and Ken

Rally July 16 at Duck Pond- John and Ken

Great Oak High School Band to Arizona so they can participate in the Fiesta Bowl Band Competition!
Support their trip to Arizona

Pat & Oscars Restaurant

29375 Rancho California Road

Temecula, CA 92591

(951) 695-2422

It’s time to celebrate our success!  We reached our goal of $50,000!  Thanks to all who donated to send the Great Oak High School Band to Arizona so they can participate in the Fiesta Bowl Band Competition!

Join John and Ken this Friday, July 16th from 2-7 pm at the Pat & Oscars Restaurant in Temecula.  John and Ken will be presenting the check to the band.

This is your way to fight back against the boycotts and support the Arizona Economy!  Come and show your support for Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law! 

Come early about 2:30 and join us in a support rally for Arizona on the corner of Inez and Rancho California (by the Duck Pond) Please bring your signs, flags and patriotism for:

• Support for Arizona

• Support for E-Verify

• Support Buycott of Arizona Services and Products

• Boycott Sanctuary Cities

• Boycott cities Boycotting Arizona

After our rally, we will join the John and Ken show.

Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border 2: Drugs, Guns and Illegal Aliens

This is so intolerable it makes my blood boil.

(H/T) La Shawn Barber via the Center for Immigration Studies

Well is Capped, Oil Leak Stops

Let’s celebrate. Yea!

• Oil leak stopped for first time since April

BP said Thursday that it has stopped oil from leaking out of its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico. The gusher has been throttled for the first time since the April 20 blowout on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon.

Kent Wells, BP’s senior vice president of exploration and production, told reporters that a new capping mechanism shut off the flow of crude from the Macondo well at 3:25 p.m. EDT. He made the announcement after engineers gradually shut off valves to test the pressure. The engineers are monitoring the pressure to see whether the new cap and the well bore hold.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Women Have Better Memories than Men

I love it when scientific studies prove the obvious.

• Women ‘have better memories than men

The study carried out a number of memory tests on almost 4,500 men and women from East Anglia.

The cognitive and physical performance of each participant, currently aged between 48 and 90 years, was assessed.

The preliminary results give a strong indication that women’s memories function better than men, with women making an average of 5.9 fewer errors on a specific test of memory than men.

This clear difference remains unchanged regardless of age.

[...]

The final study will have analysed 10,000 participants.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Andrew Klavan: Limp Economy? Flaccid Philosophy? Diagnosis: Electile Dysfunction

I can truthfully say, “I was NOT there.”

Friday, July 09, 2010

Sarah Palin Puts Out the Call to All Mama Grizzlies (Video)

Yes, getting between a Mama Bear and those she loves is a dangerous place to be. C’mon Moms!

Unemployment Chart Since 1995

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics via Redstate

More and more it is becoming clear that it is going to take a real miracle worker with outstanding leadership talent to fix the country after this disastrous Obama administration is history. We need someone with the proven fix-it ability of a Mitt Romney with the charisma of someone like Sarah Palin. Someone with mega experience beyond just claiming he/she is smart because they have an Ivy League education. In fact, we would be smart never to elect another headtripping Ivy Leaguer again. This country is far too big and diverse to trust it again to someone who knows nothing but academic theories cemented by latenight gab sessions of equally clueless academics. Most of all we need someone who knows what it is like to get his or her hands dirty, isn’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and get to work next to real people, someone who knows what it is like to struggle and earn a living or run a business. And most of all someone who appreciates American exceptionalism and counts on it to turn this country around and give back to the people some pride in themselves and in their accomplishments.

Via NRO:

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

The Obama Administration Protected Black Panther Who Advocates Killing White Babies

Who are the real racists? I say Obama, Holder, and the Democratic Party.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

The Menaissance: The Restrosexual is Born Anew

As Glenn Reynolds would say, “Faster Please!”

Sunday, July 04, 2010

A Message from Arizona Governer Brewer to All Patriots

Today, we received official notice of the federal government’s lawsuit against the state of Arizona.

I am sure you will agree with me that the Administration’s lawsuit is an outrageous use of taxpayer money and a sure sign that the President is more interested in politics than securing our southern border.

This lawsuit follows the President’s immigration speech in which he called for comprehensive immigration reform that – not surprisingly – includes a path to citizenship for those who entered our country illegally.

Let me be clear, I will defend the rule of law all the way to the Supreme Court of this land if necessary. I will continue to demand that the Federal government live up to its responsibility to control our Southern border and to protect our homeland. And, I will oppose the President’s amnesty plan.

But I need your immediate help today.

In order to respond to President Obama’s lawsuit I have set up a legal defense fund to pay the legal fees that Arizona has been forced to incur as a result of all of these lawsuits.

I urge all Americans who want a secure border to contribute to this fund immediately.

This is not just an Arizona issue, this is an American issue. Are we or are we not going to enforce the rule of law in America? The burden alone should not be shouldered by Arizonans. Arizona needs you to answer the call today, right now.

Click here to contribute now.

Make no mistake; Arizona’s immigration law affects the safety and well-being of every U.S. citizen. The federal government has failed to enforce the rule of law.

As long as the Federal Government refuses to do its job, I will ensure that Arizona continues to live by a rule of law.

Your immediate donation of $250, $125, $75 or whatever you can afford you can afford will go directly into fighting President Obama’s lawsuit. I do ask that you make this very important commitment today so we can immediately begin to defend against the President’s actions.

Arizona is the front line of our nation’s illegal immigration crisis. The federal government is broken and our border is not secure. That is why Arizona had to act.

I will not stop fighting to protect our country. I will defend us in federal court and we will continue to do the job President Obama refuses to do.

Join me today by clicking here now.

Sincerely,

Governor Jan Brewer

Please help if you are able.

Happy Birthday America

1776

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776


The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

2010

(It) will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

-- A letter from John Adams to wife Abigail - July 3, 1776 in anticipation of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

RELATED:

Check out Andrew Breitbart’s latest launch: BIG PEACE

• American Flag Farthest From Home Is Leaving Solar System

This July 4th, U.S. citizens around the world may proudly display American flags to celebrate Independence Day while away from home, but they won’t hold a candle to the farthest American flag in history, which is leaving the entire solar system behind on NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft.

The spaceflying American flag is a not a huge version of Old Glory, but will be the only one flying more than 10.5 billion miles (16.9 billion km) from Earth this Fourth of July. It is riding on Voyager 1, a 33-year-old space probe on the outskirts of our solar system.

Another far-flung American flag is flying on Voyager 2, which is about 8.6 billion miles (13.8 billion km) from Earth. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are on trajectories to leave the solar system behind after passing through a magnetic bubble-like region called the heliosphere.

[...]

Voyager 2’s space flag is a 16-inch (40-cm) long version of the Stars and Stripes made of Dacron that engineers painstakingly sewed into the insulating blankets
of the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which launched in 1977 on a tour of the solar system’s gas giant planets. A similar flag is flying on the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which also launched in 1977 but is not as far from Earth as Voyager 2. [Voyager mission photos.]

The American flags riding the Voyager probes are not the only distant U.S. standards out in space. Flags were planted on the moon by American astronauts during the six Apollo lunar landings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. NASA probes to Mars and elsewhere also include the U.S. standard.

And when all is said and done, it is all about our children and the country we leave for them:

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Elena Kagan - Updated

I’ve watched the confirmation hearings for Elena Kagan the past couple of days.  I deliberately tried to avoid any pre-hearing opinions about her and I tried hard to look at her as a justice of the law capable of interpreting the Constitution without political bias. I came to the hearing with as blank a Kagan slate as possible, figuring, of course, that she is a done deal as far as confirmation, so I was determined to keep an open mind and not let politics come into play. Unfortunately, I found her to be a decidedly unlikeable person, the kind of person I’d last maybe 10 minutes around in person before I would feel compelled to remind her that not everyone thinks being a law school Dean, even if it was Harvard, or being Solicitor General, is somehow a great achievement. Maybe in the lazy world of academia and Obamaland government bureaucracy these are great credentials, but what, if anything, does she know about the real world, populated by real, hard working people of action. For some strange reason, as I watched her testimony, I couldn’t get the detestable Jamie Gorelick out of my mind.

I found the fact that she defended (and possibly lied) about her role in the partial birth abortion decision especially disturbing. How anyone can defend the practice of yanking babies out of the womb by the feet and then sticking a probe into their brain to kill them off is incomprehensible to me. Dems scream bloody murder about some water poured over a terrorist’s face, yet they cheer on and support those, such as Kagan, who publicly support this ghoulish practice that is real torture of a living human being. And as she was so arrogantly defending her decision to bar the military recruiters from being part of Harvard’s career center it was hard to believe. Her words said she has the utmost respect for our military men and women, her body language and her actions made me wonder if I could see her nose growing. If she truly had any respect for the military, Obama would never have nominated her in the first place.

As to the Senators, as expected the Dems threw her a bunch of soft balls that she handled with all the skill you would expect from a well prepped nominee. Specter seemed slightly perturbed with her today, but then he is always a jerk at these confirmation hearings. The GOP Senators asked some good questions, but then seemed lost on how to follow up. The whole exercise seemed like a colossal waste of time.

UPDATED:

I had forgotten that I wanted to highlight this statement of Kagan’s:

Yahoo News writes:

“In her opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Elena Kagan vowed to show restraint and deference to Congress and the will of the people if ultimately confirmed to the Supreme Court, emphasizing the court “must recognize limits on itself and respect the choices made by the American people.”

“The Supreme Court is a wondrous institution,” Kagan said. “But the time I spent in other branches of the government reminds me that it must always be a modest one — properly deferential to the decisions of the American people and their elected representatives.”

Excuse me if I’m being dumb here, but way back in the dark ages when I was still in school, I’m sure that we were taught that the beauty of this country is the three independent branches of government with a Supreme Court system of justices appointed for life so that they are NOT subject to the whims of the people or the political whims of Congress. Where is her deference to the Constitution. Isn’t that her duty should she make it to the Court? Yet here she is proclaiming that she can and will allow political whims to govern her decisions. For this statement alone, she should not be confirmed. She obviously does not understand the job she is nominated to fill.

For more discussion on this aspect of Kagan’s hearing, see:

• Kagan’s Testimony Reveals A Weak Constitution

Monday, June 28, 2010

BREAKING: Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) Has Died

Robert Byrd, the longest serving member of Congress, has died at age 92.

More later…

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Gov. Jan Brewer: You Go Girl!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Is California Turning on Obama?

In my neighborhood in Southern California (known as the Inland Empire), Obama and his many elected minions are toast, but to hear Northern Californians agreeing is great news. This state has been driven into the ground by the democrats who keep getting elected in large population centers of Northern California and the Los Angeles inner cities areas. To see “Don’t call me M’am” dumb as a box of rocks Boxer go down would be a banner day.

Ed Morrissey writes:

...Since winning 61% of the vote in November 2008, California voters have cooled considerably on Hope and Change, with Obama dropping to a 46/49 approval rating. And that spells bad news for Barbara Boxer…

Survey USA has not released the data for this poll yet, but they do have the data for the poll taken just five weeks ago on the same question. The sample in that poll gives Democrats a +7 advantage over Republicans, which may be a shade low but is still in the ballpark.  Five weeks ago, Obama had a 51/44 approval rating, and still had an eight-point advantage among independents, 52/44.  He did worst among retirees and homemakers and in the Central Valley and Inland Empire regions, and best in the Bay area, not surprisingly.

Unfortunately for Boxer, she has to run in the whole state and not just the Bay area.  If Obama’s star is fading, Boxer’s will be descending even further, and for the same reasons — a lousy economy and too much spending.  Voters can’t punish (or support) a President in a midterm election, but they can take out their frustrations on those who closely aligned themselves to him, which Boxer has certainly done over the last two years.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Adult Stem Cells Being Used to Restore Sight

Wow! This is a major development and fantastic news. I have a special interest since my Mother suffered from macular degeneration and I’ve been told that the tendency can be inherited. Also, I suffered from hystoplasmosis of my right eye when I was in my late teens. This infection leaves scar tissue on the retina that interferes with my full field of vision. I don’t know if this terrific discovery will work for either the macular degeneration or my own problem, but it sure is a start. In fact the article states that it does not work for problems affecting the retina, but I would like to add the word YET. You have to believe.

The approach would not help people with damage to the optic nerve or macular degeneration, which involves the retina. Nor would it work in people who are completely blind in both eyes, because doctors need at least some healthy tissue that they can transplant.

• Stem cells reverse blindness caused by burns

Dozens of people who were blinded or otherwise suffered severe eye damage when they were splashed with caustic chemicals had their sight restored with transplants of their own stem cells — a stunning success for the burgeoning cell-therapy field, Italian researchers reported Wednesday.

The treatment worked completely in 82 of 107 eyes and partially in 14 others, with benefits lasting up to a decade so far. One man whose eyes were severely damaged more than 60 years ago now has near-normal vision.

“This is a roaring success,” said ophthalmologist Dr. Ivan Schwab of the University of California, Davis, who had no role in the study — the longest and largest of its kind.

So far there has been zero uses for embryonic stem cells, but adult stem cells are proving to be the answer.

(H//T) to the Anchoress, who writes:

Four years ago, the score was Adult Stem Cells 72, Embryonic Stem Cells 0. Successful therapeutic applications from embryonic cells are still at 0.

Tax Cuts Not To Blame For Deficits.

Getting it all in perspective:

• Tax Cuts Not To Blame For Deficits

This and That and All Around - Updated

I’m beginning, operative word beginning, to feel slightly better. The muscle relaxant and the new pain medication seem to be doing the trick, at least to the point that if I’m careful, don’t walk too far or stand too long, I can actually enjoy an hour or two of relief at a time. I saw the doctor this morning and he is worried about my blood pressure bouncing all over the place. I tried to tell him that it is going up, up, up when the pain is really bad and comes back to more normal levels when the pain is under control. Then, I had to hear about how my cholesterol is way too low. I said, “Did I hear you right, Doctor, you said ‘too low’?” The tests showed it is at 90 and apparently it is just as dangerous to have too low cholesterol as too high. Who knew? So, I’m under doctor’s orders to go eat some greasy food and slather on the butter. The good news, for me anyway, is losing 10 pounds this month. I normally have more trouble keeping weight on than getting it off, but 3 or 4 years of a very sedentary lifestyle due to my back, showed on the scale to the tune of about 25 lbs. All the running around to all the different doctors, labs, clinics, etc. is probably why those pounds just melted away. I certainly haven’t been dieting and how do you get your cholesterol up and diet, sounds counterproductive to me. I still have to go and have the bone density scan and start some new physical therapy, both of which I’m going to get on this week, finally. I just wasn’t up to the therapy these past few weeks because of the pain, but today I’m kind of looking forward to it, so I think with the lowering of the pain, I’m in a better place psychologically as well as physically.

I know I’ve left the blog slide badly during this time. I said this before, but I’ll repeat, when my pain is in overdrive, I just don’t care much about anything, have zero patience, and find it extremely hard to type.

Today, however, has been a news packed day.

General McChrystal out, Petreaus back wearing two hats with CENTCOM and Afghanistan. The Rolling Stone article that started this whole mess is here. I hope the irony of appointing Bush’s man, Petreaus, the architect of the Iraq surge that Obama so objected to, is not lost on everyone.

The USA won its soccer match over Algeria with a last minute goal to finish 1-0 and advances to the round of 16 in the World Cup.

A robotic submarine ran into the Deep Horizon Well and now the cap has had to be removed for repair, sending the oil gushing into the Gulf back to the earlier days’ levels.

The longest match in Wimbleton history was called for darkness for the 2nd night in a row. They have played 10 hours and that score is not for the match, but for a set, however, the survivor will have match. The score for the 5th and final set between Isner and Mahut stands at 59 to 59.

The Feds put a stop to building sand berms to protect the Louisiana marshes and shore.

On a sadder note, remains of 72 people found at World Trade Center site as the work around the site continues. Finding more bodies after nearly 9 years is kind of creepy.

I am going to keep my blood pressure down and not comment on any of the above, other than to say, “Congrats! USA!,” and the Obumbler is still incompetent, although I think we have learned now once and for all that the only thing that lights a fire under Obama is to bruise his ego.

Two best quotes I’ve read today, one that made me laugh out loud:

Via the Anchoress “Buyers Remorse Among the Seniors:”

Obama will see McChrystal, not regarding how to win a war as to which Obama is commander-in-chief, but to give [General] McChrystal a dressing down because the latter hurt Obama’s witty-bitty fweeings. We don’t have a man in the White House. We have a giant ego, unattached to morals, intelligence, strategic skills or anything else useful.

Tom Maguire provides today’s funny:

But the oil well in the gulf is now uncapped and spewing freely, while adjustments are made.  Are you kidding me?  When are Pelosi/Reid/Obama going to put up a bill that repeals Murphy’s Law?

UPDATE:

• BP reinstalls cap on Gulf of Mexico oil leak

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Where There Is Cr@p, Can the Fly Be Far?

If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians Americans will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are. Bible: Exodus 8:21

Friday, June 18, 2010

Napolitano: Shakedown of BP? You Betcha!