URGENT! Project Valour-IT Needs Your Donations For Injured Troops

The Soldiers Angels Project Valour-IT provides laptops to severely injured members of all the armed forces. These are troops who have either disabled or lost hands, arms, eyesight, etc that would prevent them from using a computer. The Department of Defense provides voice activated software for them to use the laptop. It's just one more way to help those providing our freedom. Can you think of a better reason to give your donations?

Every cent raised for Project Valour-IT goes directly to the purchase and shipment of laptops and other technology for severely wounded service members. As of November 2008, Valour-IT has distributed over 2700 laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines across the country, and is now expanding its mission to include other technology that supports physical and psychological recovery.

Valour-IT accepts donations in any amount to support our mission, but also offers a sponsorship option for laptops.  An individual or organization may sponsor a wounded soldier by completely funding the cost of a laptop and continuing to provide that soldier with personal support and encouragement throughout recovery. This has proved to be an excellent project for churches, groups of coworkers or friends, and members of community organizations such Boy Scouts.

Originally Valour-IT provided the voice-controlled software that accompanies the laptops, but now works closely with the Department of Defense Computer/electronic Accommodations Program (CAP): CAP supplies the adaptive software and Valour-IT provides the laptop.  In addition, DoD caseworkers serve as Valour-IT’s “eyes and ears” at several medical centers, identifying patients in need of laptops and other technological support for their recovery.

My team is the Army team. I chose the Army team because I personally know many soldiers in the Army, many of them being to Iraq at least once. One of them was my cousin who was injured in a roadside bomb explosion on his Bradley. He suffered burns on his face, neck, and hands. The story is here.

To donate to the Army team, it's right here below:

If you wish to donate to other branches, click here

U.S. Marines & Their Families Lead Humanitarian Mission In Iraq

Despite what you may have heard or think, there is actually good things occurring in Iraq. The Border Transition Team 4222 Marines mission is to train Iraqi Security Forces in Anbar Province, Iraq. It then grew to also providing medical and dental aid for Iraqi civilians. SSgt. Dragonslayer's wife told me about this project that her friend started. They get donations of toys, clothes, non-perishable foods, etc, and send them to The BTT 4222 Marines, who then give them to Iraqi families.

If you would like to donate something, or would like more information about what is needed, please click the "Donate Now" button below to automatically send an email or the email is iraqmission@gmail.com. Someone will be in touch with you shortly

Here is some of the article from the Marines website:

Their mission is to train, mentor and advise Iraqi Security Forces on Anbar’s border, but the Marines of Border Transition Team 4222 don’t forget to provide help to western Anbar’s civilian population.

“Helping them out helps the mission out greatly, as far as winning them over,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class John H. Holscher, corpsman, BTT 4222. “Turning them from the impression that the military is bad, that all we do is kick in doors and cause hell, it’s not like that at all. We’re trying to help them.”

The transition team headed up a small civil affairs engagement here Oct. 24 to provide local Iraqis with medical, dental and logistical aid. Though it’s not part of their primary mission, team members here have learned that reaching out to the Iraqi people will make them more likely to reach out to Marines.

“It’s important we gain their trust, if we have their trust they’ll talk to us and tell us where (foreign fighters) are, and we’re able to eradicate any insurgent presence,” said Gunnery Sgt. Rob T. Mantilla, operations chief. “It provides safety for us to maintain contact with these people; we keep them safe and they keep us safe.”

[...]

“This is the face of Iraq right here, you could see it in their faces that we make a difference to them, one at a time. And if that’s what it takes, then that’s what we have to do,” said Mantilla, 36, Jersey City, N.J.

The project kick-started when Mantilla talked to his girlfriend about the dismal living conditions of a few of the more isolated Iraqi families. She took it on herself to contact different stateside associations, looking for donations of clothes and food.

“(Mantilla) just told me about how the kids had barely anything, so I decided to go on (the internet) and post an ad for all unwanted stuffed animals and toys,” said Erika C. Duke, 25, Escondido, Calif. “Everyone responded, (and) wanted to give me shoes, clothes and toys.”

Mantilla told other team members about Duke’s success, and the idea snowballed from there. Soon the team’s loved ones combined their efforts.

“People started writing home and things just started flowing in from back home, with lots of support from friends and family, and the whole inspiration was to help the locals out,” said Capt. Will D. Whaley, operations officer.

An outpouring of aid filled one of the Marines’ huts. Brown boxes filled to the breaking point with aid. Some bundles of clothes were separated by size and tied off with inspirational messages written in Arabic.

“It just to teach them that, although we have cultural differences, and maybe have a different belief system, we’re still goodhearted people that care for other people,” said Whaley, 32, Phoenix.

The locals thanked their visitors with chai tea and hummus bread. Kids ran around the Marines, laughing, playing with their new toys and trying on new clothes.

Here's some pictures of the kids getting the donated food, clothes and toys.

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

From Iraq Mission

Obama's Plan To Make A Bad Economy Much Worse

I was reading a post over at Ace Of Spades and they had linked to Obama's transitional website, change.gov. The agenda part of the website had been scrubbed after some interesting information appeared. But, thanks to Google, we have a cached page.

The interesting tidbit I found was that Obama wants to raise minimum wage to $9.50/hr.

Increase the Minimum Wage: As president, Obama will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011 and index it to inflation so full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing – things so many people take for granted.

Now combine this minimum wage increase with the higher taxes he plans to impose on business. This is just another cost that is passed on to the consumer. That $9.50 is not going to make your life easier when prices increase because of higher taxes and higher wages.

That's CHANGE we can believe in.

U.S. Treasury Submits To Islam, Shariah-Compliant Finance

Am I the only one that thinks the world is going to end up as a giant train wreck?

The U.S. Treasury Department is submitting to Shariah - the seditious religio-political-legal code authoritative Islam seeks to impose worldwide under a global theocracy.

[...]

"Islamic banking" is a euphemism for a practice better known as "Shariah-Compliant Finance (SFC)." And it turns out that this week the Treasury will be taking officials from various federal agencies literally to school on SFC.

The department is hosting a half-day course entitled "Islamic Finance 101" on Thursday at its headquarters building. Treasury's self-described "seminar for the policy community" is co-sponsored with the leading academic promoters of Shariah and SCF in the United States: Harvard University Law School's Project on Islamic Finance. At the very least, the U.S. government evidently hopes to emulate Harvard's success in securing immense amounts of Wahhabi money in exchange for conforming to the Islamists' agenda. Like Harvard, Treasury seems utterly disinterested in what Shariah actually is, and portends.

Unfortunately, such submission - the literal meaning of "Islam" - is not likely to remain confined long to the Treasury or its sister agencies. Thanks to the extraordinary authority conferred on Treasury since September, backed by the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the department is now in a position to impose its embrace of Shariah on the U.S. financial sector. The nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury's purchase of - at last count - 17 banks and the ability to provide, or withhold, funds from its new slush-fund can translate into unprecedented coercive power.

Concerns in this regard are only heightened by the prominent role Assistant Treasury Secretary Neel Kashkari will be playing in "Islamic Finance 101." Mr. Kashkari, the official charged with administering the TARP fund, will provide welcoming remarks to participants. Presumably, in the process, he will convey the enthusiasm about Shariah-Compliant Finance that appears to be the current party line at Treasury.

There's much more to this article. Head over to the Washington Times commentary to read the rest.

 

h/t: Pat Dollard

Who Is Obama's Chief Of Staff, Rahm Emanuel?

He appears to be a bit mentally unstable.

At a dinner to celebrate President Clinton's first election victory, Mr Emanuel began to name those who he believed had earned his enmity. As he listed the names of those he saw as traitors, he grabbed a steak knife, stood up and began plunging the knife into the table and shouting "Dead! Dead! Dead!" after each name.

"When he was done, the table looked like a lunar landscape," one witness recalled. "It was like something out of The Godfather. But that's Rahm for you."

Nor was this an isolated incident – one pollster who fell out with Mr Emanuel received a rotting fish in the post as a warning not to cross him again.

The Most Amazing Thing Ever! Stunt Plane Loses Wing

In the air shows I've been to, there's been some close calls. The year before I went to Dayton's show, a pilot crashed and died. But this video is one of the most amazing things I've seen. The pilot loses a wing during his performance...watch what happens next.

 

***UPDATE 11/8/08***

You know the saying "if it's too good to be true, it probably is"? Well this video is a product of good editing. It's an R/C plane until the very end, then a real plane is put in.

No one is more disappointed than I am.

What Happens To The Obama Supporters?

 

h/t: Jawa & This ain't Hell

I Woke Up With An Ugly

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

I Thought This Was Hilarious

Most Of The MSM Has Called The Election For Obama

I've been dealing with people freaking out all night. I'm not freaking out. All the precincts have not reported yet. Until those votes are counted, the very large number of absentee votes, early votes, and military votes won't be counted. If I wake up tomorrow and find out that Obama is officially the president, then I will get depressed. After that, Conservatives need to work together to take over congress in 2010.

This is all I'm going to post about at this time. I will have more to say tomorrow. I'm still hoping when I wake up, the exit polls were wrong.

I Voted Today

Not knowing what the polls would be like tomorrow, I decided to go the board of elections today and vote early. I gathered up my mom and brother and headed over. I had to stand in line for an hour and a half before I got to vote. It didn't help that there were only 2 machines there.

As much as I hated to do it, I voted for McCain. So there's 3 votes for McCain anyhow.

Pastor Manning On Barack Hussien Obama

I stole this from the comment section at Free Republic. Some of this waaay over the top and most of it made me laugh.

Human Slinky

Supreme Court Sides With Voter Registration Fraud

The Supreme Court has said that it's perfectly okay to not have to verify thousands of potentially fraudulent votes. They didn't look into voter registration and voter fraud, they looked into whether or not the Ohio GOP had the right to sue the Secretary of State Brunner.  This whole situation gets more pathetic each day.

The Supreme Court sided Friday with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations.

The justices overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio's top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility.

[...]

In a brief unsigned opinion, the justices said they were not commenting on whether Ohio is complying with a provision of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 that lays out requirements for verifying voter eligibility.

Instead, they said they were granting Brunner's request because it appears that the law does not allow private entities, like the Ohio GOP, to file suit to enforce the provision of the law at issue.

***UPDATE***

The official court ruling:

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 08A332
JENNIFER BRUNNER, OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE
v. OHIO REPUBLICAN PARTY ET AL.
ON APPLICATION FOR STAY
[October 17, 2008]
PER CURIAM.

On October 9, 2008, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered a temporary restraining order (TRO) directing Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio Secretary of State, to update Ohio’s Statewide Voter Registration Database (SWVRD) to comply with Section303 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), 116 Stat. 1708, 42 U. S. C. §15483(a)(5)(B)(i).* The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the Secretary’s motion to vacate the TRO. The Secretary has filed an application to stay the TRO with JUSTICE STEVENS as Circuit Justice for the Sixth Circuit, and he has referred the matter to the Court. The Secretary argues both that the District Court had no jurisdiction to enter the TRO and that its ruling on the merits was erroneous. We express no opinion on the question whether HAVA is being properly implemented. Respondents,however, are not sufficiently likely to prevail on the question whether Congress has authorized the District Court to enforce Section 303 in an action brought by a private litigant to justify the issuance of a TRO. See Gonzaga Univ. v. Doe, 536 U. S. 273, 283 (2002); Alexander v. Sandoval, 532 U. S. 275, 286 (2001). We therefore grant the application for a stay and vacate the TRO.

It is so ordered.

——————
*Title 42 U. S. C. §15483(a)(5)(B)(i) (2000 ed., Supp. V) states, in relevant part:
“The chief State election official and the official responsible for the State motor vehicle authority of a State shall enter into an agreement to match information in the database of the statewide voter registration system with information in the database of the motor vehicle authority to the extent required to enable each such official to verify the accuracy of the information provided on applications for voter registration.”

Barack The Plumber

I received this in an email from Americans for Limited Government.

McCain Shows A Sense Of Humor At The A.E. Smith Memorial Dinner

 

Is This The Change We Want From Obama?

Here's an interesting video about a man Obama campaigned for in Kenya, (at taxpayer expense mind you).

You tube video of Barack Obama in Kenya supporting Raila Odinga, the election and violence afterwards.

Odinga was the agent of change

Obama Supporters Raid Palin Campaign Stop, Chant "NO USA"

Some Obamabots decided to raid Palin's campaign stop in Carson, CA and while McCain/Palin supporters were chanting "USA! USA!", the Obamabots were chanting "NO USA! NO USA!" These people are so pathetic.

That defining moment happened at Carson, California, where Sarah Palin addressed throngs of an estimated 20,000 at the tennis stadium at the Home Depot Center.

The throngs who showed up to see and hear Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin were chanting, “USA! USA!”

Obama supporters on the same scene fomenting for revolution were chanting “No USA! “No USA!”

[...]

Back at Carson’s Home Depot Center, sheriffs escorted out five or six Obamabots as the crowds were chanting “USA!” USA!”

“Sarah riffed on one, saying something like, “We fight for their freedoms as well”.

Obama & Biden's 3 Letter Word - J-O-B-S

Millions of people want to put these people in charge of a multi-billion (or trillion) dollar budget and they can't count past three?

 

More Voter Fraud, Vote From Home Organization

It's not only the MSM leading the charge against voter fraud in Ohio and elsewhere, it's also Palestra.net, The College Network. Their new investigation shows the fraudulent actions of the group Vote From Home.

Volunteers for an Ohio-based grassroots organization have been casting early ballots in Ohio despite living in other states, according to an investigation by Palestra, a Web video-based college news network.

At least 12 members of the group, Vote From Home, have registered to vote in Ohio, and two have cast ballots, including one from Scarsdale, N.Y.

Oxford University graduate students started the group to capitalize on Ohio's new early voting law and they have been registering homeless people to help fulfill their mission.

Ohio Sec Of State Brunner Continues To Aid Voter Fraud Despite Court Order

I knew this story was breaking last night, but I was too tired to do a post about it. This isn't incompetence, this is about putting a Dem in the White House at any cost. Even if that means aiding groups like ACORN in violating laws. Brunner has been sitting on 200,000 questionable ballots and is refusing to allow local election officials to check the validity. Even under an order from the 6th District Court of Appeals, she is refusing. Now she has appealed to the Supreme Court.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has appealed a case involving the verification of new voter registrations in the state to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Brunner said the appeal of a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling was filed late last night directly with Justice John Paul Stevens because he oversees the 6th Circuit.

Stevens can outright grant Brunner's request for an emergency order putting the lower court's ruling on hold, reject it, or ask the full Supreme Court to consider the matter.

The appeal, filed by the Ohio attorney general's office, "urgently asks this court to restore order to Ohio's election, which was destabilized" by the lower court "based on a flawed understanding of a simple provision of federal law."

Brunner said her office still is trying to comply with the lower court's order to provide county elections boards with the names of newly registered voters whose personal information do not match state Bureau of Motor Vehicles or federal Social Security records.

Initial estimates are that as many as 200,000 of the nearly 660,000 people who have registered to vote in Ohio since Jan. 1 have mismatches.

My Thoughts On The Final Debate

McCain brought up Bill Ayers, ACORN, abortion, & socialist policies. I believe he was on the attack most of the night and had Obama on the defense, forcing Obama to continually explain himself. I learned that Obama isn't confident enough in himself to waiver off the campaign talking points.

I think McCain did exactly what he needed to do. He went after Obama on his economic policies, foreign policies, & his ties to radical groups. He kind of faded off at the end, but was strong through the first 3/4 of the debate. He didn't quite deliver the KO on each topic, but I think he did enough to give undecided's some doubt about Obama.

However; I feel if some of these people haven't decided by now, they're not going to vote. There's too much of a difference between the candidates to be undecided. You have one ideology or the other. McCain is a moderate Conservative and Obama is a far left-wing nut.

Is this opinion likely to be heard in the post debate shows...no, it's not. Even on Fox News you have the Republican defeatists and Juan (Brit Hume's bitch) Williams all praising Obama and criticizing McCain. On Greta's show, they have Hillary Clinton.

What the hell is wrong with everybody?!

I'm getting worked up too soon. Now the idiot that co-hosts Hannity's show is talking. I despise Alan Colmes

Obama's Wrong Values

Ohio Issue 6 - Allowing A Casino In Ohio: I Vote Yes

I've seen commercials go back and forth, for and against, but didn't really know which to believe. So I did what any other voter SHOULD be doing and research the issues. Let me state that I'm FOR legalized gambling in Ohio. Let me also state that there is a 99% chance I would never step foot in a casino (it's just not my thing). Ohio has been trying to stifle any attempts at legalized gambling because they fear it would cut into their government monopoly known as the state lottery.

The profits from the state lottery are supposed to go to the schools. When you figure in pay-outs, promotion, supplies, terminals, etc, there's not a lot of profit left over. Opponents of the Issue say that legalized gambling will decrease the amount of money going to the schools.

I would guess that the state lottery would not be hurt by legalized gambling. It's far easier to go into a store and buy a Mega Millions ticket for a $1 or a few instant scratch-off tickets than spend an evening in a casino. People like myself, who have no desire to go to a casino, are still going to buy those tickets. I don't know anything about casino games and I am certainly not going to lose a lot of money trying to learn.

Opponents also state that the casino isn't required to pay taxes. That's untrue, as I will post the language of the issue below. It states that Ohio requires a tax of up to 30% of gross receipts minus payouts. If you don't know Ohio, let me tell you, they will get that 30%. They will probably also pass some other specialty tax to get more money from the casino. Yet, they wonder why business are leaving.

More jobs + more taxes = better infrastructure, social services, & economic improvement

So that's my thoughts on the issue, in a nutshell, not an ACORN nutshell mind you.

***UPDATE...read the comments for this post. I debated a person in the comments about Issue 6 and added more thoughts there***

Here's the language on the ballot.

ISSUE #6
PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION BY INITIATIVE PETITION FOR A
CASINO NEAR WILMINGTON IN SOUTHWEST OHIO AND DISTRIBUTE TO
ALL OHIO COUNTIES A TAX ON THE CASINO
(Proposed by Initiative Petition)

To adopt Section 6a to Article XV of the Ohio Constitution

This proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution would:

1. Authorize one privately owned casino with a required minimum initial investment of
$600 million dollars on a 94-acre site located near the northwest corner of State Route 73
and Interstate 71 in southwest Ohio in Chester Township near Wilmington, Clinton
County, Ohio.

2. Require the casino to pay a tax of up to 30% on its gross receipts for gaming less payouts.
The taxes are to be used first to pay expenses of regulating and collecting taxes from the
casino, then for funding of gambling prevention and treatment programs, and the
remainder to be distributed in the amount of 10% to Clinton County and 90% to the
remaining counties based on population and to be used at each county’s discretion.

3. Reduce the tax paid by the casino authorized by this amendment to the lesser of the rate
taxed on another casino or 25%, in the event another casino is permitted in Ohio in the
future.

4. Require that the casino be subject to all other applicable types of taxes that are currently
in effect in Ohio.

5. Authorize the casino to conduct any game permitted in the State of Nevada, or any state
adjacent to Ohio, including any type of card or table games, slot machines, and electronic
gaming devices, except bets on races or sporting events. Only persons age 21 and over
would be permitted to place bets. Amounts of bets would not be subject to any limits
now or in the future. Days and hours of operation would not be subject to limits.

6. Set aside the application to the casino of all local and state laws and any constitutional
provisions that would prohibit the operation of this privately owned casino, including any
local zoning law that would prohibit or place restrictions on a casino from operating on
the property in question.

If approved, this proposed amendment shall take effect 30 days after the election.

Obama Interfered With Iraq Agreement

I was waiting for Drudge to post the link for about 30min. Obama interfering with foreign policy, if that's not a violation of some law, it should be. He's a useless senator who is trying to undermine the current administration's policies. Is there no end to the arrogance of this man?

At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi leaders in private conversations that the president shouldn't be allowed to enact the deal without congressional approval.

Mr. Obama's conversations with the Iraqi leaders, confirmed to The Washington Times by his campaign aides, began just two weeks after he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination in June and stirred controversy over the appropriateness of a White House candidate's contacts with foreign governments while the sitting president is conducting a war.

Some of the specifics of the conversations remain the subject of dispute. Iraqi leaders purported to The Times that Mr. Obama urged Baghdad to delay an agreement with Mr. Bush until next year when a new president will be in office - a charge the Democratic campaign denies.

Ohio Secretary Of State Brunner's Ballot Policy Ruled Illegal By Court

She is doing nothing else but aiding and abetting the fraudulent activities of ACORN which is trying to win Obama the presidency at any cost. A federal judge ruled that her actions were unconstitutional.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is breaking federal law by not giving county elections boards the chance to determine whether new voter registrations are fraudulent, a federal judge ruled this evening.

"It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the United States," said Judge George C. Smith of U.S. District Court in Columbus in upholding the Ohio Republican Party's request for a court order.

Brunner's office said she is filing an immediate appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

[...]

Brunner's office had been doing the computerized verification, but the GOP argued that Brunner had not made the names available to county elections boards. The judge gave her a week to comply.

[...]

In his 16-page ruling, Smith cited the "millions of qualified electors across the state of Ohio whose confidence in the electoral process will be undermined if new voter registrations are not verified in accordance with (federal law), and if unqualified individuals are permitted to cast votes. This would demean the voting process and unlawfully dilute the votes of qualified voters."

Brunner said in a statement that her office "will do everything within its power to ensure that the state's 88 county boards of elections can continue to allow early voting to proceed uninterrupted and to assist them with their preparation to ensure a smooth election for the voters of Ohio."

5 Million Fraudulent Mortgages Held By Illegals

I'm just so sick of seeing article after article of how illegals are sucking the life out of this country. Between tax dollars spent, fraud & other criminal activity, and their imposition in the job market they are sucking the life out of this country. I pray for the day each and every one of them are sent back, dead or alive.

One illegal alien was arrested this year in Tucson after allegedly using a stolen social security number to buy two homes and rack up over $780,000 in bad debt.

Some five million fraudulent home mortgages are in the hands of illegal aliens, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

It's not known how many of those have contributed to the subprime housing mortgage meltdown, but it has affected every state, including Arizona.

The problem began years ago when banks were forced to give mortgages without confirming social security numbers or borrower identification.  As a result, illegal immigrants were able to obtain home mortgages which they could not afford.

I would like to know who the geniuses were that forced banks to give mortgages without a social security number or any identification? I know the answer, it begins with a D and ends with emocrats.

This Day In History 1967 Dou-Che Guevara Is Killed

On this day, Oct 9, 1967, Obama poster boy and Marxist Dou-Che Guevara was killed by the Bolivian Gov't.

Later that morning on October 9, Bolivian President René Barrientos ordered that Guevara be killed. The executioner was Mario Terán, a sergeant in the Bolivian army who had drawn a short straw after arguments over who would get to shoot Guevara broke out among the soldiers. To make the bullet wounds appear consistent with the story the government planned to release to the public, Félix Rodríguez ordered Terán to aim carefully to make it appear that Guevara had been killed in action during a clash with the Bolivian army.

Moments before Guevara was executed he was asked if he was thinking about his own immortality. "No," he replied, "I'm thinking about the immortality of the revolution." Che Guevara also allegedly said to his executioner, "I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man."Terán hesitated, then pulled the trigger of his semiautomatic rifle, hitting Guevara in the arms and legs. Guevara writhed on the ground, apparently biting one of his wrists to avoid crying out. Terán shot him again, this time hitting him fatally in the chest – at 1:10 pm, according to Rodríguez. In all Guevara would be shot nine times. This included five times in the legs, once in the right shoulder and arm, once in the chest, and lastly in the throat.

Obama A Member Of The Socialist "New Party"

Before we get to the article, here's the link to the New Party page on Wikipedia. Even though the official New Party was disbanded in the late 1990's, it still maintains a website. However; the New Party website has been scrubbed of any and all information.

From Politically Drunk on Power VIA NewsBusters:

From the October 1996 Update of the DSA 'New Party':
"New Party members are busy knocking on doors, hammering down lawn signs, and phoning voters to support NP candidates this fall. Here are some of our key races...
Illinois: Three NP-members won Democratic primaries last Spring and face off against Republican opponents on election day: Danny Davis (U.S. House), Barack Obama (State Senate) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary)."

Link To The New Party Update

 

Beyond the archived web page from the Socialist New Party is the recognition by the "Progressive Populist" magazine in November 1996 that Obama was indeed an acknowledged member of the Socialist Party.
"New Party members and supported candidates won 16 of 23 races, including an at-large race for the Little Rock, Ark., City Council, a seat on the county board for Little Rock and the school board for Prince George's County, Md. Chicago is sending the first New Party member to Congress, as Danny Davis, who ran as a Democrat, won an overwhelming 85% victory. New Party member Barack Obama was uncontested for a State Senate seat from Chicago. "

Link To The November 1996 Progressive Populist Article

 

The Democratic Socialist Party of America published in their July/August Edition of New Ground 47 Newsletter.
"The Chicago New Party is increasely becoming a viable political organization that can make a different in Chicago politics. It is crucial for a political organization to have a solid infrastructure and visible results in its political program. The New Party has continued to solidify this base...
the NP's '96 Political Program has been enormously successful with 3 of 4 endorsed candidates winning electoral primaries. All four candidates attended the NP membership meeting on April 11th to express their gratitude. Danny Davis, winner in the 7th Congressional District, invited NPers to join his Campaign Steering Committee. Patricia Martin, who won the race for Judge in 7th Subcircuit Court, explained that due to the NP she was able to network and get experienced advice from progressives like Davis. Barack Obama, victor in the 13th State Senate District, encouraged NPers to join in his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration."

Link To DSA Article

 

There's a whole lot more. Currently, there is two lengthy posts about it. Part I & Part II

Barney Frank Pulls Out The Race Card, Tries To Divert Attention

Barney Frank, once again, is denying any responsibility for our current financial mess and is instead, playing the race card. According to Rep. Frank, any criticism of the financial crisis is a racially motivated attack on poor people. Wow.

Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that Republican criticism of Democrats over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that's racially motivated.

The Massachusetts Democrat, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the GOP is appealing to its base by blaming the country's mortgage foreclosure problem on efforts to expand affordable housing through the Community Reinvestment Act.

[...] 

"They get to take things out on poor people," Frank said at a mortgage foreclosure symposium in Boston. "Let's be honest: The fact that some of the poor people are black doesn't hurt them either, from their standpoint. This is an effort, I believe, to appeal to a kind of anger in people."

[...]

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio called Frank's remarks "a lame, desperate attempt to divert Americans' attention away from the Democratic party's obstruction of reforms that would have reined in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and helped our nation avoid this economic crisis."

"Congressman Frank should retract his ridiculous statements and start taking responsibility for the role he and other top Democrats played in putting Main Street Americans in this mess," Boehner said.

What Happened? Dems And Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

Um, I think this is what you would call a failed economic policy.

 

Taken from Jawa

Oh and this is just priceless. Barney Franks' "Partner" was a Fannie Mae executive.

Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefited from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.

So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions.

Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie.

 

H/T: AOSHQ

FINALLY! Jury Finds O.J. GUILTY!

It's about time this piece of trash goes to jail for something.

O.J. Simpson, the former football star who was famously cleared of murder in the 1990s "Trial of the Century," was found guilty on all charges in his Las Vegas kidnapping and robbery case on Friday.

Simpson, 61, was convicted along with co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart on the 13th anniversary of his controversial 1995 acquittal and immediately ordered jailed by Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass.

Both could face up to life in prison.

The star-athlete-turned-actor appeared emotional as the verdict was read late on Friday night, and winced as he was handcuffed by marshals and led from the courtroom into a holding cell.

Dick Morris vs Alan Colmes

I absolutely despise Alan Colmes. I think he's totally incompetent and shouldn't be on the same show with Sean Hannity. There's plenty of other Democrats that do the job better than Colmes.

But anyway, here's Dick Morris lashing Alan Colmes about Democrat talking points.

Bill O'Reilly vs Barney Franks

It was fun to see that crook, Barney Franks, getting yelled at, but it really wasn't constructive. Bill O'Reilly is a blowhard that thinks the more he talks and the louder he gets, the more right he is. By not letting Franks at least respond without O'Reilly talking over him, was pointless. Let him answer, then blast him.

House Passes Corporate Welfare Bill 263-171

Isn't this just terrific. Why is it that the gov't thinks they can make money from this? If that was really the case, don't you think other investors would jump all over this?

 

***UPDATE***

About an hour after approving the bailout, the Dow went from +235 to -60 and still sinking. There's still plenty of time to make up ground, but I think this whole thing is a joke.

Previously: Think The Bail Out Is Supposed To Help Wall St & Main St?

Think The Bail Out Is Supposed To Help Wall St & Main St?

"Hundreds of billions of dollars are going to bail out FOREIGN INVESTORS. They know it, they demanded it, and the bill has been carefully written to make sure that can happen." - Brad Sherman , D-California"

 

Must See Video; The Mortgage Mess Summed Up In 10 Minutes

***I had to bump this, originally posted 9/26/08 2:12PM***

I took this from America is an Obamanation!

 

 

***UPDATE 10/2/08***

The above video was removed by YouTube after Time Warner complained of copyright infringement, who, by the way, donated over $300,000 to Obama's campaign.

Here is the new video:

Dish Network's Obama Channel, All Obama All The Time

Tonight, a friend of mine sent me a picture message of her Dish Network channel guide.

 

Yes, channel 73 is the Obama channel. It's Obama 24/7. I find this extremely disturbing.

House Kills Bailout, Senate Approves It

Thankfully; House Republicans voted down the $700B corporate welfare bill. Wall St tried to tell the government they better give them money by the DOW dropping 700+ points. I lost money in my IRA and my mom lost money in her 401K. I would rather lose everything than give them one friggin penny.

Oh, and Rep. Bob Latta is off my "list", he voted against it and Sen. George Voinovich is back on it, he voted for the new bill.

The Senate passed the bill 74-25, with Obama actually voting something other than "present".

My Thoughts On The Debate

I already know who I'm voting for, but I tried to look at the debate as an undecided voter.

I believe the first three questions about the financial mess were a tie. The rest of the debate, which focused on foreign policy, I think McCain easily won. He had Obama on the defensive the whole night. McCain saved the best for last and had a slam dunk. His comments about his experience, qualifications, and Obama needing on-the-job training really nailed it.

*Watching Fox News contributor Juan Williams take on it, big surprise he thinks Obama took it. I was waiting for Brit Hume to make him his bitch again.

I don't think any debate will have any affect on those who have already picked their candidate. It's geared towards the undecided and those who mildly support either candidate.

Newsbusters has already called out Obama for misrepresenting Kissinger's statement about meeting unfriendly nations.

Henry Kissinger believes Barack Obama misstated his views on diplomacy with US adversaries and is not happy about being mischaracterized. He says: "Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality."

I'm sure there will many more tomorrow. Fact Check doesn't have anything up yet because of technical difficulties.

Dems Aren't Spending Enough Money, Want $56 Billion More

In just the last few days, Congress has passed $25B in "loans" for automakers, they're currently negotiating a $700B corporate welfare bill, and now they want $56B for another "stimulus". The Dems are calling it "an economic recovery package that will help middle-class families struggling in the weakening Bush-McCain economy". The economy didn't start going downhill until the Dems took over congress.

Senate Democratic leaders unveiled their $56 billion economic stimulus package on Thursday, less than an hour before leaving to meet President Bush at the White House to continue the fragile negotiations on the financial rescue bill.

Calling it “an economic recovery package that will help middle-class families struggling in the weakening Bush-McCain economy,” Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) pitched the plan with the familiar mantra of “not forgetting Main Street.” The plan includes a $7.5 billion down payment on $25 billion in loans for the struggling auto industry.

“Democrats believe that we must urgently pass another economic recovery package that will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying American jobs and prevent cuts in critical services for millions of Americans,” Reid said in a statement. “With the economic news only getting worse each day, I call on the president, Sen. McCain and congressional Republicans to join us to quickly get this done for American families.”

Byrd said the plan compensates for “failing to invest in America … the Bush administration has fiddled while Rome has burned.”

I love it when people give me money. I've been looking to purchase a new DSLR camera. However; now is not the time. I would rather that money go to securing the borders & ports, and to the military so they can kill more jihadi's.

A Reply From The Office Of Sen. Voinovich (Corporate Welfare)

I finally received a reply from Sen. Voinovich. I'm sure it's entirely coincidental that I received this today after several hits from the Senate and House.*cough* *cough*

Anyways...

Thank you for contacting my office.  I genuinely appreciate your e-mail and thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.  As with all communications with my office, your views have been recorded.

Every day, I hear from the people of Ohio through their phone calls, letters and faxes to my office.  As you can imagine, I also receive a significant number of e-mails daily.  Mass-generated e-mails sent by a third-party group, which are usually form text, have hindered my ability to respond to the e-mails, phone calls, letters and faxes that I receive.  Due to the increasing number of mass-generated e-mails received by my office, effective March 16, 2007, my office will be implementing changes to the constituent correspondence process.

Consequently, I have established a new system on my website to better serve Ohio constituents.  If you would like a written response to your e-mail, please go to http://voinovich.senate.gov and click on the CONTACT tab to fill out the web CONTACT FORM.  By filling out this form, you will receive a written response from my office.

Thank you for your patience.  Should you experience any problems with my web CONTACT FORM, please call my office at 202-224-3353 and my staff will be happy to guide you through the electronic correspondence process.

Sincerely,

George V. Voinovich
United States Senator

What he's saying is that he doesn't want any petitions, or organized email campaigns by groups such as ConservativeAlerts.com. If he impedes the ability to easily send emails on important issues, he doesn't have to hear about it.

McCain To Put Country First, Obama Puts Campaigning First

As many of you know by now, McCain has suspended his campaign in order to head to Washington and help deal with the financial mess. It's a tremendous risk for him because even if he is instrumental in any result, who's going to report it? If Obama swoops in, changes one word, he will receive all the praise and adulation from the press.

Obama said a president should be able to do two things at the same time. Any decent president would forego any campaign stops or PR events to handle a REAL situation. But it's quite evident that Sen. Obama couldn't even do one thing at the same time. That one thing is being a senator. This Ain't Hell has good write up about this.

I agree with McCain that both candidates for president should be there negotiating and debating the solution to the financial mess. Of course, Obama doesn't. I suppose he will be the only debater at the debate tomorrow, yet, I will bet anything he still makes a fool of himself. I hope the moderator asks Obama about how much Fmr. Fannie Mae & Lehman Brothers executive Jim Johnson had to do with the financial mess. Jim Johnson was chosen to help Obama pick his VP candidate. You can read about how bad Jim Johnson screwed up by reading this (.PDF, skip to page 168 to read the conclusion)

My hope is that McCain goes to Washington and says, "This is ridiculous, we're not bailing out anybody".

While we're on the subject of the corporate welfare bill, The Jawa Report has a post including prominent Conservative and their thoughts on it.

Does anyone really think that corporate welfare will be limited to $700B? We already have $25B for automakers. Once the government gets a hold of this, it will include more businesses for more reasons. Don't forget, there's not a bill passed that doesn't include pork for special interests.

More On The Corporate Welfare

After sending emails to the president, Sen. Voinovich(R), Sen. Brown(D), and Rep. Latta(R), I got one reply. Yes, 1 reply. I received an auto reply from Sen. Brown and then received a detailed email today. Nothing from Voinovich or Latta...Not even a auto reply.

Here's a notice for Sen. Voinovich and Rep. Latta, I hold deep grudges, so I will be campaigning for your Republican challengers.

Rep. Latta took over the seat that was held by Paul Gillmor, who died last year. Rep. Gillmor always replied by email and I even received a reply in the mail a few times. I knew it would be hard to replace Rep. Gillmor, and Rep. Latta surely is not filling that void.

Anyways; I was going to post the reply from Sen. Brown, but deleted it before I thought about posting it.

For anyone interested in reading the Dept of Treasury proposal you can download it from Sen. Browns website, or click here. It's only 6 pages, which is frightening when we're talking about how $1 trillion is going to be spent.

Did anyone happen to notice that automakers are up for $25B in "loans"? This is in addition to the financial bail out package.

When did this become a Communist state where the government funds businesses?

PETA Wants Ben & Jerry's To Use Breast Milk

I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.

PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."

In a statement Ben and Jerry's said, "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child."

Passing Gas In Police Station = Battery On A Police Officer

Because it stunk really bad.

As if getting a DUI wasn’t enough, a man arrested for driving under the influence got in a lot more trouble at the police station.

Police stopped Jose Cruz on Route 60 in South Charleston Monday night for driving with his headlights off.

Then, he failed sobriety tests and was arrested.

When police were trying to get fingerprints, police say Cruz moved closer to the officer and passed gas on him. The investigating officer remarked in the criminal complaint that the odor was very strong.

Cruz is now charged with battery on a police officer, as well as DUI and obstruction.

Another Reason Why We Should Not Bail Out Companies

The federal government should not be in the business of bailing out businesses. Especially when those businesses are committing fraud.

The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.

Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. also is under investigation.

The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said.

The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing and are in the very early stages.

Officials said the new inquiries bring to 26 the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the past year.

Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.

Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out why these companies were posting profits quarter after quarter, then all of a sudden...boom! they're about to go under. Call it sketchy math, cooking the books, Enron-esque, whatever, but the last thing that should be done is reward them for improper business tactics or incompetent management. Businesses fail everyday, what makes these companies any more important? The answer is...they're not. Sure the economy will take a hit for short period of time, but it always bounces back. It will make businesses not take anything for granted and restructure from top to bottom. U.S. automakers and airlines should be put on notice too.

I've already sent emails to President Bush and my congress-critters telling them to dump this plan. You can do the same easily by going to Conservative Alerts and entering your info.

 

***UPDATE***

Read this newer post about the bailout. Think the bail out is supposed to help Wall St & Main St?

Comerica Bank Still Sucks, But Things Are Looking Good For Former Norwalk Furniture Employees

Yes, Comerica still sucks, and I hope they crash and burn. However; a group of Norwalk investors are in the process of purchasing the former Norwalk Furniture company. 300-350 of the former employees will be called back as early as next week. Unfortunately for those manufacturing facilities outside of Norwalk, they are not included in the purchase.

Norwalk Furniture has a new owner and work is expected to resume this week.

Local investors purchased the property and they are waiting for the paperwork to go through, said Jim McTevia, of McTevia and Associates, Management and Financial Consultants.

"There's not a lot to restructure there," McTevia said, hinting work could begin as early as Tuesday.

Norwalk Furniture Chairman Jim Gerken announced last week the 106-year-old company would not reopen, but that it was looking for somebody to purchase the business and reopen it under a new name.

"Nothing has happened in the two weeks the company has been down," McTevia said.
The Norwalk facility was purchased intact, including the land, buildings, machinery, inventory and work in progress.

"A group of local Norwalk business people were the successful purchaser," McTevia said. "The paperwork is in progress now ... the down payment is in escrow. All of the buyers are from the Norwalk area.

"It looks like Norwalk Furniture will be up and operating. They (the new owners) will be not commenting until the paperwork is completed.

Anti-Obama Shirt Gets 5th Grader Suspended

The 5th grader, according to the school, "...was not suspended for wearing the shirt, but for willful disobedience and defiance". He was told to take the shirt off or turn it inside out. He refused. We all know what would happen if this was a "anti-McCain" or "anti-Bush" shirt...NOTHING.

The family is planning to sue the school district, which they should. The shirt isn't even a false statement. Just look at Obama's good buddy Bill Ayers.

An 11-year-old in Aurora says his first amendment rights are being trampled after he was suspended for wearing a homemade shirt that reads "Obama is a terrorist's best friend."

The fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School wore it on a day when students were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism.

The boy's father Dann Dalton describes himself as a "proud conservative" who has taken part in some controversial anti-abortion protests. Dalton says the school made a major mistake by suspending his son for wearing the shirt.

Illegal Immigrants The Real Victims Of Hurricane Ike

Yeah. That's how you can summarize this Reuters article in a few words.

"They don't have resources and they don't have legal status, and we are concerned that they might not ... have water or electricity," said Fernando Garcia, the director of the Border Network for Human Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"People are afraid to reach out for help as they don't know if immigration (police) will detain them or not," he said.

There are more than one million undocumented workers in Texas, with many living in Houston and surrounding areas hit by the hurricane, according to the Border Network.

With drivers' licenses and Social Security numbers as the keys to unlocking government aid, assistance such as emergency food stamps and help with temporary housing are largely unavailable for this population.

[...]

"The question of benefits and who can apply after a disaster is a big issue," said The National Council of La Raza spokeswoman Sara Benitez. "That has been a really big issue in the Gulf Coast."

La Raza, a Washington-based advocacy group for Latinos, plans to release a report next month that examines what it sees as unfair treatment of undocumented workers after U.S. disasters, and recommends changes in U.S. policy that specifically would alter disaster assistance programs to benefit Latinos.

You keep seeing different variations of the question, "How do the "undocumented" workers get relief from the government"?

The answer is simple, they don't. The American government should only give relief to American citizens. If the illegals don't like it, I will gladly assist them in returning to their home country.

Why Comerica Bank Sucks III

After two investment firms failed to negotiate new terms with Comerica bank and executives of Norwalk Furniture, the 106 year old company is now history. Several thousand people are now without a job in several states. Of all the financial institutions that have gone under, Comerica bank  should've been the first.

The only hope left for the now former Norwalk Furniture employees is that a new furniture company comes in and buys the company. I'm going to assume that if a new company purchases Norwalk Furniture, it will be for the name and the buildings will remain empty. If a new company would decide to resume production at the facilities, I'm sure the wages will be considerably lower.

I can only hope for the best for the employees.

 

Previously:

Why Comerica Bank Sucks!

Why Comerica Bank Sucks II

My New Project

I've been slacking off a lot lately on updating this blog. It's not intentional, I've just been working on some new things.

I love air shows, and I love taking photo's of air shows. So I decided to try to improve both. I'm working on selling some of my photo's and I've created a cafepress store which features products with some of my aviation photography.

The reason I'm doing this is to obviously make money, but almost all of that money will go towards a new camera and my ability to go to more air shows. Even a close show like Cleveland, I easily drop $200 for one day when you figure gas, tickets, food, & camera batteries. You're at the mercy of the vendors at air shows because you cannot take food, water, or coolers.

Unfortunately; I can only use one photo at this time. It's of the United States Air Force Legacy Flight. Money from the first few sales will go towards the premium membership where I can use more photo's.

So, check it out. Buy something while you're there...or not. It's up to you.

 

The TASPics name just stands for Tim's Air Show Pics. It's not a product of a genius marketing team.

 

Air shows I plan to attend in 2009:

Thunder over Michigan

Indianapolis Air Show

Dayton Air Show

Cleveland Air show

and the show I would absolutely love to go see...Joint Services Open House at Andrews AFB. It's pretty much the greatest air show known to man.

2008 Cleveland Air Show

Saturday, August 30th, I made the trip over to Cleveland to watch the air show. This year was much better than last year. I believe the US Navy Blue Angels are what pushed it over the top. Last year, the USAF Thunderbirds performed. I thought they were great. Now they are just good, the Blue Angels are great.

What I thought were just ordinary pictures, actually turned out to be great thanks to various backgrounds.

First off was a picture of a USMC Humvee. I was just taking a pic of the Humvee, after I got home I realized how nice the skyline of Cleveland looked in this pic.

 

 

The second picture is of the Blue Angels. I'm still learning how to photograph planes going several hundred miles per hour. I basically just click and pray. But this one has the sun in the background.

 

If you've never seen a C-5 in person, you cannot appreciate how enormous it is. While traveling to the airport, the tail was the first thing I seen.

 

 

 

I once again got distracted by the shiny objects. This one was a B-17G called "Yankee Lady"

 

 

 

Of course; I almost always find something completely unrelated to the air show that captures my attention.

A giant cow. Look at the back of the RV at the rear of the cow.

 

 

Complete with giant teats.

 

Now for a couple Blue Angels pics. The first pic is of Fat Albert. It's the Blue Angels maintenance plane that also does a demo.

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to post more, but I have to remember those who may have dial-up. So CLICK HERE and it will take you to the photo album where there is a whole lot more great pictures. I think there's about 420 pictures in the album

I Haven't Gone Missing...

Just been really busy recently. I also went to the Cleveland Air Show this past Saturday. Pics will be in the next post.

Some things that occurred over my time away.

Sarah Palin named McCain's VP. Holds some very conservative viewpoints. Ideally; I would've like her to complete one full term as governor. Hopefully; she will be a partner and not window dressing. Being 44 and still smokin' hot doesn't hurt either.

Hurricane Gustav hits Louisiana. It's absolutely shocking that they managed to get it right this time. I wonder if it has anything to do with the REPUBLICAN governor that was recently elected. hmmmmm.

OBAMA/BIDEN '08

I probably will be still be sleeping when the news breaks that will allow the world to spin again, but it looks more and more like Joe Biden from Delaware is going to be Obama's VP pick. If it is, great choice Obama. That ship is going to sink faster than the titanic.

I just received a text from CNN stating they confirmed Biden IS the VP pick. AP is reporting it also.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware is Barack Obama's pick as vice presidential running mate, The Associated Press has learned.

Biden, 65, is a veteran of more than three decades in the Senate, and one of his party's leading experts on foreign policy, an area in which polls indicate Obama needs help in his race against Republican rival John McCain.

The official who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt a text-message announcement the Obama campaign promised for Saturday morning.

 

As for McCain's VP, I'm sure he will piss off all Conservatives and select Romney or Lieberman.

Condi Tells It Like It Is, Tells Russians To Shut It Regarding Threats To Poland

Secretary of State Condolezza Rice told the Russians, you attack Poland, you attack the US.

Russia's foreign ministry today threatened to go beyond diplomatic protests in response to the signing of a U.S.-Polish deal to base part of an American missile defense system in Poland, which borders part of Russia.

The latest threat came after a top Russian general said Poland would risk a military strike if it allowed the base and as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed Russia's saber rattling, saying the threats "border on the bizarre."

"When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988," Rice said, according to The Associated Press. "It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around."

Russia Still Has Yet To Withdraw From Georgia, Soldiers Taken Prisoner, US Humvees Stolen

Why did it only take Russia less than 24 hours to launch an invasion into Georgia, but a week after they were supposed to withdraw, they're still there? Could it be because they had planned all along to invade Georgia, but had no plans to withdraw?

Georgian soldiers have been taken prisoner because they weren't at their base. They were handcuffed, blindfolded, and held at gunpoint. The Russians have also stolen US Humvees while they were at port awaiting shipment back to the US. The Russians are also continuing to destroy the infrastructure of Georgia.

Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.

The move came as a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left the strategic city of Gori in the first sign of a Russian pullback of troops from Georgia after a cease-fire intended to end fighting that reignited Cold War tensions.

The two countries on Tuesday also exchanged prisoners. However, Russian soldiers seized Georgians in Poti — the country's key oil port city — and commandeered four U.S. Humvees that had been used in U.S.-Georgian military exercises.

Germany Supports NATO Membership For Georgia

They should've supported them the first time around, but nonetheless, better late than never. I wonder what kind of fits the Russians will throw this time?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is offering strong support for Georgia, saying the country is on track to become a member of NATO.

Merkel flew to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Sunday, two days after she met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In a speech Sunday, Merkel also suggested that NATO could help rebuild the tattered Georgian military.

It's Official: Beer-Goggles Are For Real

The next time you wake up with an ugly in your bed, just remember...it's not your fault.

THE next time you hear someone blaming "beer goggles" for their behaviour, you may have to believe them. People really do appear more attractive when our perceptions are changed by drinking alcohol.

There have been few previous attempts to investigate the idea that people seem to find others more attractive when drunk. In 2003, psychologists at the University of Glasgow, UK, published a study in which they asked heterosexual students in campus bars and cafés whether they had been drinking, and then got them to rate photos of people for attractiveness. While the results supported the beer goggles theory, another explanation is that regular drinkers tend to have personality traits that mean they find people more attractive, whether or not they are under the influence of alcohol at the time.

To resolve the issue, a team of researchers led by Marcus Munafò at the University of Bristol in the UK conducted a controlled experiment. They randomly assigned 84 heterosexal students to consume either a non-alcoholic lime-flavoured drink or an alcoholic beverage with a similar flavour. The exact amount of alcohol varied according to the individual but was designed to have an effect equivalent to someone weighing 70 kilograms drinking 250 millitres of wine - enough to make some students tipsy. After 15 minutes, the students were shown pictures of people their own age, from both sexes.

Both men and women who had consumed alcohol rated the faces as being more attractive than did the controls (Alcohol and Alcoholism, DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agn065). Surprisingly, the effect was not limited to the opposite sex - volunteers who had drunk alcohol also rated people from their own sex as more attractive.

Did Anyone Know Racewalking Was An Olympic Sport?

If you haven't seen it...words cannot describe how ridiculous it is.

Taliban Militants Are The Preferred Food Of Military Dogs

Military Dogs are out in the field for long hours too. When they get a craving, there's only one thing that suppresses their hunger...Taliban militants!

US coalition dogs bit two fleeing suspected Taliban militants during an operation in eastern Afghanistan in which a total of eight insurgents were detained, the coalition said Friday.

The raid Thursday in the Muslim country's Paktika province targeted a Taliban subcommander wanted for kidnapping, killing Afghan soldiers and involvement in roadside attacks, it said.

During the operation, "two militants attempted to flee and were pursued by coalition military working dogs," the coalition said in a statement. "Both militants received dog-bite injuries, one of which required treatment on scene by coalition medical personnel."

1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a coalition spokesman, would not say what kind of dogs were used in the raid, but said the troops will "use dogs when we need to." Perry did not know if the targeted Taliban subcommander was among those detained and the statement did not specify.

In Islamic tradition, dogs are shunned as unclean and dangerous.

Now That Poland Agreed To Missile Defense, Russia Threatens Nukes

Russians have escalated their hissy-fit to new levels. Now they say Poland may face a nuclear attack by allowing interceptor missiles to be based there.

A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.

The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.

Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, feels it is aimed at Russia's missile force.

"Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent," Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying.

He added, in clear reference to the agreement, that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them." Nogovitsyn that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems, he said, according to Interfax.

After Russia's invasion of Georgia, what now for the West?

Another great piece by John Bolton:

As bad as the bloodying of Georgia is, the broader consequences are worse. The United States fiddled while Georgia burned, not even reaching the right rhetorical level in its public statements until three days after the Russian invasion began, and not, at least to date, matching its rhetoric with anything even approximating decisive action. This pattern is the very definition of a paper tiger. Sending Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice to Tbilisi is touching, but hardly reassuring; dispatching humanitarian assistance is nothing more than we would have done if Georgia had been hit by a natural rather than a man-made disaster.

The European Union took the lead in diplomacy, with results approaching Neville Chamberlain’s moment in the spotlight at Munich: a ceasefire that failed to mention Georgia’s territorial integrity, and that all but gave Russia permission to continue its military operations as a “peacekeeping” force anywhere in Georgia. More troubling, over the long term, was that the EU saw its task as being mediator – its favorite role in the world – between Georgia and Russia, rather than an advocate for the victim of aggression.

Even this dismal performance was enough to relegate NATO to an entirely backstage role, while Russian tanks and planes slammed into a “faraway country”, as Chamberlain once observed so thoughtfully. In New York, paralyzed by the prospect of a Russian veto, the UN Security Council, that Temple of the High-Minded, was as useless as it was during the Cold War. In fairness to Russia, it at least still seems to understand how to exercise power in the Council, which some other Permanent Members often appear to have forgotten.

The West, collectively, failed in this crisis. Georgia wasted its dime making that famous 3am telephone call to the White House, the one Hillary Clinton referred to in a campaign ad questioning Barack Obama’s fitness for the Presidency. Moreover, the blood on the Bear’s claws did not go unobserved in other states that were once part of the Soviet Union. Russia demonstrated unambiguously that it could have marched directly to Tbilisi and installed a puppet government before any Western leader was able to turn away from the Olympic Games. It could, presumably, do the same to them.

Read the rest.