Time out for a little shameless self-promotion. Not for this blog, but for Philly’s Cheesesteaks & Hoagies, our family business. Like most transplants from the Philadelphia region, when you’re out and about the country, you’re wishing you knew where you could get a good cheesesteak. So on the subject of cheesesteaks, I can’t help but to agree with Pensacola Restaurant & Dining Reviews blog, the place for them in Pensacola is Philly’s.
related link: Pensacola Restaurant & Dining Reviews
Great news for those people, like myself, who have moved away from the Philadelphia area and miss seeing the Mummers Parade. According to Mummers.com, the 2008 parade on New Years Day will be broadcast on SuperStation WGN for FOUR 4 FOUR HOURS starting at 2pm/et!
Hip Hip, Hooray!
Question is, will you be broadcasting a one-hour show on Sunday that was mentioned during today’s parade as the Best of the Best? It wasn’t clear by the announcer if she was talking of WGN or PHL17 (the local Philadelphia TV station) that was having the 1-hour special this Sunday that would feature the best entrants in each category, including, of course, the ones that we didn’t see today.
And to Lynn (below), according to their website they are on DirectTV and Dish Network.
I’ll post their reply here about whether they will be having the 1-hour special this Sunday. I suppose if enough of you contact them, that they’ll put something on their website about it too.
UPDATE 1/2/2008 : I got a reply from WGN on the Sunday recap. Unfortunately it wasn’t what I was hoping to hear. The recap mentioned above must have been for the local Philly station PHL17. WGN has no plans for it. To WGN’s credit, they responded promptly and promised to forward my suggestions to the management, to do a complete show even if it means showing some of it later in the day as pre-recorded, and a webcast simulcast.They seem totally receptive to feedback. I’d encourage everyone to send a courteous request to keep the Mummers coming and to make contingency plans for delays like what happened yesterday. Also it would be nice to thank them for trying to bring the Mummers to America. Remember, they’re in Chicago. I don’t think they have a complete understanding of the significance of the Mummers Parade in our lives. I guess what happened yesterday would be like having a Chicago hot dog without a bun.
Our best hope to succeed Musharraf in Pakistan just got assassinated, meeting the same fate as her father and brothers. The same way that the pro-democracy anti-Syrian political leaders in Lebanon were assassinated over the last few years. Most recently about a month ago.
For the head-in-the-sanders out there, those who don’t believe there is a war on terror, this is what the war on terror is. It is between Islamofascists, the radical terrorists that use Islam as their pass to murder, and suicide bombers and assassins as their ballot for oppression and Taliban-style governance, and, people who prefer democratic style governance. This is what we are fighting and what we have been fighting from the time we first went into Afghanistan. This is your wake-up call.
related links: Reuters | Washington Post | CNN, In Bhutto’s own words | CNN, Lebanon president steps down | AP: Countries condemn Bhutto killing
Update 12/31/07: video of the attack
You know, it’s too bad that somebody got killed and two others injured when a Siberian tiger had the opportunity to do what Siberian tigers do. It is hard to believe that there were no security cameras there for the protection of the animals as well as to monitor bad behavior of tourists.
The wheels of justice start turning at Club Gitmo, otherwise known as Guantanamo Bay, for the first detainee.
The Office of Military Commissions announced today that charges have been sworn against Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi of Saudi Arabia. The accused, al Darbi, is the brother-in-law of the Flight 77 hijacker al Mihdhar. Flight 77 is the plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11.
The sworn charges are: Conspiring with others , to attack civilians, to murder in violation of the law of war, to destroy property in violation of the law of war, to hazard a vessel and to commit terrorism, and Providing Material Support to Terrorism. Mr. al Darbi was allegedly involved in planning attacks on a vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and off the coast of Yemen.
I’m sure he’s a really nice guy who was abused as a child by his father. Ah, but I could be wrong. At any rate, the enemy combatants down there are about to have their day in court in the form of a military commission. The last time this was done was in World War II.
related link: Guantanamo detainee charged | Please, Don’t Pet The Terrorist
True to form, the highly touted energy bill does zip, zero, nada towards getting more energy. If the
politicians were honest, they would have called it a conservation bill. The highlights of the bill are changing light bulbs, mixing bio-fuels with fossil fuels, and squeezing the auto industry into the go-cart business. OK, the last one is a bit of hyperbole, but it is a prime example of the upside-down thinking in how to solve our demand for energy by nationalizing the auto industry without actually nationalizing the auto industry.
The government’s Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. crude oil field production declined to 1.9 billion barrels in 2005 from 3.5 billion in 1970, and the share of our oil that is imported has increased to 60% from 27% in 1985.
In a purely economic sense, this bill does nothing to increase supply and everything to limit demand, as if we can conserve our way out of being dependent on foreign oil.
And from a March 2005 post, Energy Policy Isn’t . . .
For the liberals and the democrats in general, it seems their idea of an energy policy is to do whatever you can to not use it. But more than that, it’s also important not to get it. We declare oil and coal fields national parks. How does that reduce dependence on foreign oil? It’s been over 3 years now that the President’s energy policy has been ignored. The time for a change is long overdue.
Absolutely nothing has changed.
related links: H.R. 6 | The Energy Policy That Isn’t | Energy Policy Isn’t | Fossil Fuels Out-Green Biofuels | Good Intentions Gone Bad, Biofuel, A Liberal Record Of Failure
May God’s love be with you, your family, and our troops and their families, this day and every day.
So get away from the computer and be with your family already.
Some images certainly are worth a thousand words. Some don’t need explaining. Some do. Take Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ and UNICEF’s ‘Photo of the Year’ for example.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, selected as Time Magazines ‘Person of the Year‘ for 2007 evokes a certain disdain from people who love freedom. Putin fears freedom. Freedom is a bad word in Putin’s Russia. (The pose for this picture looks eerily familiar.)
Putin has jailed and assassinated journalists and political opponents. He has used his country’s oil and natural gas resources as blackmail towards his neighbors, formerly part of the old Soviet Union. His administration was complicit in the United Nations’ OFF (Oil For Food) program, taking Saddam’s bribe money to bypass sanctions. He is not a cooperative participant in limiting Iran’s nuclear ambitions in enriching uranium. And lately, he is laying the groundwork to remain in a position of power in Russia after his term as president expires by becoming a ‘Prime Minister.’
I concur with President Bush on Time Magazine’s selection. . .
At a news conference today, Bush said the magazine honored Putin for being a consequential leader, but added, the “question is, consequential to what end?” Bush said the key will be what Russia looks like 10 years from now.
For those who would bow to the wishes and jurisdiction of the United Nations, consider this picture. It was selected by UNICEF as the Photo of the Year. 
The groom, Mohammed, looks much older than his 40 years. The bride, Ghulam, is still a child; she just turned 11. Photographer Stephanie Sinclair, who took the photo last year in Afghanistan, asked the just-turned 11 year old bride what she felt on the day of her engagement.
“Nothing,” said the girl, according to Sinclair. “I do not know this man. What am I supposed to feel?”
She’s about to feel what it is like to be raped and treated as a slave. UNICEF is a part of the United Nations that does a lot to feed and care for children around the world. However, they are woefully absent in putting an end to pedophilia in the Islamic world. In fact, putting an end to this practice is not even on their agenda. Just look at their ‘World Fit For Children‘ declaration published Dec. 13, 2007.
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kul Gautam said . . .
“This short but powerful declaration calls for the pursuit of a common vision to ensure the well-being of all children with a collective sense of urgency.”
Ask that 11 year old girl how she feels now, if she is still alive. The ‘optional protocols’ by member states is all gums, no teeth. No mention of this barbaric practice of selling children to be brides. To wit . . .
3. We reaffirm our commitment to the full implementation of the Declaration and Plan of Action contained in the outcome document of the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly on children, entitled “A world fit for children”, recognizing that their implementation and the fulfillment of obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocols thereto and other relevant international instruments are mutually reinforcing in protecting the rights and promoting the well-being of all children. In all our actions, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
The track record of the United Nations in corruption, child abuse, rape, and pedophilia ought to be enough to repulse its members, and reason enough to suggest they move their headquarters to a country that is not offended by their actions, or, in this case, inaction.
Last NewsBusted TV for this year.
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Here is your Civics Lesson for Today.
Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in D.C., one from New Jersey, another from Tennessee and the third, Florida. They go with a White House official to examine the fence.
The Florida contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. “Well,” he says, “I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me.”
The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me.”
The New Jersey contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$2,700.” The official, incredulous, says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?” The New Jersey contractor whispers back, “$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence.”
“Done!” replies the government official.
I don’t know how else to characterize it when politicians believe, and so far get away with, that because they are elected representatives of the people that they are immune from criminal investigations. It’s enough to make Tony Soprano jealous.
The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision limiting law enforcement searches of congressional offices, arguing that the sweep of the ruling last summer may kill ongoing public corruption investigations.
Acting Solicitor General Gregory G. Garre, in a petition filed this week, urged the high court to weigh in on how far the “speech or debate” clause of the Constitution goes in insulating members of Congress from legal action. In the meantime, he said, “investigations of corruption in the nation’s capital and elsewhere will be seriously and perhaps fatally stymied.”
Hiding behind the ‘speech or debate’ clause of the Constitution creates a safe haven for criminal behavior. Who thinks that was the intention of the founding fathers?
related links:
U.S. Asks High Court to Nix ‘Speech-or-Debate’ Ruling | Best defense is a good admission? | Jefferson plays the race card | Congressman Indicted In Washington | Nation’s Capitol Is No Safe Haven For Corrupt Politicians
