In case you missed it, the New York Times is doing a series devoted to making our war veterans into monsters. John Hinderaker at PowerLine nails it perfectly. A ‘must read.’
h/t Bruce Kesler at Democracy Project
Yearly Archives: 2008
Today’s Special
Dennis Kucinich sure sounds like he’s stuck on stupid. He wants a recount. Wrong campaign Dennis. That was 8 years ago.
Democrat Dennis Kucinich, who won less than 2 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, said Thursday he wants a recount to ensure that all ballots in his party’s contest were counted. The Ohio congressman cited “serious and credible reports, allegations and rumors” about the integrity of Tuesday results.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for making sure every vote gets counted. What’s different now is, I was all for it in the 2000 election too, but his party was not! That’s why hundreds of us were in front of the court house on election night to make sure that the military overseas votes would be counted. Some say that without our involvement and Joe Scarborough, that the election would have gone the other way.
Hear and see a stirring message from the man known as the great communicator. As relevant today as it was 44 years ago.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pbp0hur9RU[/youtube]
Does the name John Burt sound familiar? He is an anti-abortion activist 
who was tied to violence at abortion centers, like one where a a few people, including an ‘abortion doctor,’ were shot and killed. Most recently though, he’s been appealing his case on ‘four counts of lewd or lascivious child molestation and one count of lewd/lascivious misconduct around . . .
a 15-year-old girl in his care at Our Fathers House, a Christian-based boarding school for pregnant teens.
Burt, sentenced in 2004 to 18 years in prison has lost his last appeal available to him.
aSide Order
Sir Edmund Hillary, First Man to Conquer Mount Everest, Dies at 88.
Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century’s greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.
Sen. Clinton has a touching story about how she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, world famous adventurer. Even though she was born way before Hillary climbed Mt. Everest. She has another touching story about how that happened.
Then there’s the advice a 911 operator had to tell a caller at the scene where a mother, who ‘didn’t know she was pregnant’, had a baby on the toilet and tried to flush it away.
Is the baby still in the toilet? YES . Take it out of the toilet.
Thankfully, the baby was revived and is OK. Thank goodness for the 911 operator, she saved a life. 911 operators often don’t get the credit they deserve for having to deal with people like that.
Ever seen a ‘fainting goat?’ A clip of a news story about a most peculiar breed of animals.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg[/youtube]
Enough Is Enough Weekend, Jan 12
If you’ve ever thought enough is enough about something, don’t worry, you’re in great company. This weekend is Enough is Enough weekend, brainchild of Rev. Delman Coates. The issue of music and videos degrading blacks in every way imaginable, among them doing or selling drugs, violence and other illegal activity , and the over sexation (is that a word?) and exploitation of the black woman. The BET awards this Saturday night, Jan 12, 2007, in Washington D.C., 7p.m. at the Warner Theater is the perfect place to exercise a little freedom and join the Enough is Enough Campaign. Rev. Coates, in his own words . . .
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l42IsA3sR3s[/youtube]
If you’ll be in Washington DC or New York City over the weekend, then you can join in the protest. Matter of fact, any weekend will do but this weekend also is the BET awards in Washington. “What’s the depth of your love, what’s the quality of your service to black folk” says Tavis Smiley, in speaking on the subject of the harmful material focused on blacks and the black community and how to combat it. It’s more than just that, here is Tavis Smiley in his own words in this clip from the 11/08/07 Tom Joyner Morning Show.
h/t: La Shawn Barber
Iran Gives Green Light To Fire, The Soros Wing Of The Party
That’s one way to look at it. Speaking of the Iranian Navy provocation in the Hormuz Strait last Sunday. According to the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad version, the video of it is a fake. As long as he believes that it is a fake, American propaganda, then he wouldn’t mind the next time it happens and they get blown out of the water. If it isn’t his Navy, it must be ours. And don’t you think Ahmadinejad would like to see that?
Just kick ass. No names left to take. Thanks for your support Mahmoud.
And the motive for such a fake would be what? Well, according to Robert Fantina, an American who moved to Canada after the 2004 election, it could be what the Iranian media suggests, a show designed to be an excuse to invade Iran. What are Robert Fantina’s credentials you ask? They are:
Robert Fantina is a long-time activist for peace and social justice. Originally involved in the Dennis Kucinich presidential campaign in 2004, he eventually worked as a district organizer through MoveOn.org on the Kerry campaign in Florida.
To him, history repeats itself. “The similarities to the Gulf of Tonkin incident are alarming,” he says.
As an aside, or, as an added bonus, there is another story in this story. When I write about ‘the George Soros wing’ of the Democrat party, Robert Fantina’s credentials says it better than I have ever said. It’s not those neocons talking trash about the Democrat party. It is more like revealing the people behind the party.
NewsBusted TV, Episode 129
NewsBusted TV is back after a few weeks off for the holidays. NewsBusted TV is a webcast on news of the day with a comedic slant as seen from the political Right. Among the topics in this episode is Huckabee v. Romney and Hillary’s like-ability.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i6lmhGoxc0[/youtube]
Hillary, Polls and Lessons Learned?
Today’s New Hampshire primary election was newsworthy and educational. Imagine a presidential candidate getting a bump for coming across as ‘being human.’ You don’t need the writers guild to take that thought somewhere. Some thought Hillary’s emotional moment to be the ‘Howard Dean scream’ equivalent, however, at least for now, it turned out to be good for her. According to everyone in the media, that was a warm and fuzzy moment, not a breakdown, and it showed she is human. That’s the same thing Terry McAuliffe, among the Clintons’ closest advisers, is also saying. So everyone agrees that portraying Sen. Clinton as being human is something that was needed, and helpful.
Can we stop paying attention to POLLS? 12 hours ago, Clinton people were lowering expectations, calling less than a 10 point loss would still be good. But that’s always the story. When you win you win, and when you lose you win. Turns out she won by 3 percent. Ostensibly a 13 percent reversal. I remember the good old days when these primaries got no more media coverage than reporting who won this one and who won that one. Period. Today, it is the only news for 24/7, and it’s only January. I’m beginning to miss car chases on TV, Britney Spears, and the latest on Anna Nichole Smith.
So what did Sen. Hillary Clinton, the most experienced candidate on the planet, with a 35 year record of change and experience, have to say about her victory in New Hampshire? You will be glad to know that just last week she found her own voice. She said . . .
“Over the last week, I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice”
That’s a start.
Washington Post: N.Y. Senator Defies Polls, Edges Obama
Lunch Counter Discussion Grand Opening
I am pleased to announce that The Lunch Counter now has a discussion forum area made for current technology. It’s called Lunch Counter Discussion. It has RSS capabilities built-in to monitor a topic or the whole forum. The bbPress software is far superior in so many ways, not the least of which is effective spam protection, to the old technology forum software it replaces.
The Lunch Counter Discussion is open for bidness. Although, the forum is not a business and there are no ads. This is the place for you to opine and carry on a discussion on a topic of your choosing and where others can respond. It could be fun or boring. That’s up to you. But it is a great platform (no pun intended) to run on. Same rules on net etiquette apply there as here.
And rest assured, if you want to be anonymous, you will be.
link: Lunch Counter Discussion
UPDATE: 1/27/09 It turned out to be boring so the forum is closed unless and until there are enough people willing to have a civil debate on issues of the day.
Cleaning Up Bayou Texar
Referring to this post from last November, I made a point that a local conservation group, the Emerald Coastkeepers, seemed more interested in suing companies with deep pockets and not interested in trying to find out where the sewage comes from that has repeatedly caused the Health Department to close Bayou Texar from human contact. Turns out, they are interested in the sewage problem in the bayou.
Larry B. Johnson, the volunteer in charge of Bayou Texar for the Emerald Coastkeepers is on their board of directors. Larry and I are on the same page on the subject of sewage in the bayou and I have agreed to volunteer to find an end of the sewage problem that has plagued the bayou for so many years. So that’s where I got involved, and now have something to report.
There was a study published by the University of West Florida in September 2006 that was, at that time, the most comprehensive analysis of water quality in Bayou Texar ever done. The Health Department has it for your review on their website. You might need a lawyer and a chemist standing by to assist you in deciphering it. It is very detailed.
After looking at the survey and knowing how many years Bayou Texar has had a sewage problem, I set out to find some answers to these questions. If you have any questions to add, please let me know.
- Does the Health Dept know which systems are in failing condition?
- Where are they? Names and addresses.
- Are any of the properties with failing septic systems within 50 feet of an ECUA sewer?
- If yes, has the Health Dept taken steps to force the property owners to comply?
- Has the Health Dept notified the property owners to repair their systems and if so, have the property owners complied?
- Who is responsible for this problem continuing, the Health Dept or the property owners, or both?
- Are there any outstanding orders for the ECUA to do any sewer hookups, and if so, how many?
- Of those hook-up orders, how many of them are on the offending septic systems in the bayou?
With the cooperation of the Health Department and the ECUA, I can report that there are no septic systems facing Bayou Texar. All of the properties on the bayou are on city sewer. I don’t know how long that has been the case, but it is the case now.
Enforcement of codes as relates to sewage falls under the purview of the Health Department. And, according to Philip Davies there, the methods of enforcement they use are definitive and seem to work well. Most often it is handled with a little education to the property owner, and gets into a legal issue if necessary, but in either case, their actions are effective in correcting a problem.
Davies also said that there is a new study currently underway by UWF that is focused on determining the sources of the fecal contamination in the bayou, which necessarily includes Carpenter’s Creek. Carpenter’s Creek, which feeds into the bayou, extends from the bayou on up to beyond Olive Rd and Old Palafox. One quickly realizes how difficult a project this is when you appreciate the size of the area to examine.
There are currently no pending work orders for the ECUA to hookup residents to the sewer system in the Carpenter’s Creek area and no pending actions by the Health Department to residents in the Carpenter’s Creek area.
I questioned whether the dog park on the bayou was the culprit and the answer is no, it is not. Despite the fact that the testing site the Health Department uses for the bayou is right at the dog park, the fecal contamination is not coming from it. They use that site, as opposed to other locations on the bayou, because that is the part of the bayou that has the most public activity.
That is all I have to report at this time. Will report back with a progress report on the current survey that UWF is doing and when they think it will be finished.
UPDATE 01/08/08: Dr. Richard (Dick) Snyder, the biologist responsible for the current study, was prompt to reply to questions I had regarding the study. Thank you Dick for your quick reply. These were the questions . . .
When do you anticipate completing the report? Will the report, or the work being undertaken to produce a report, actually determine the sources or pathology of the fecal contamination as relates to specific properties along the waterway, including rainwater runoff sources? After determining what is happening to the bayou and why things are happening to the bayou, will making recommendations for remediation of the waterway be part of your report or subsequent reports? Is the subject study a UWF financed project or a federal, state, county or city grant-financed project? Basically, who is paying for it?
This is Dr. Snyder’s reply, which addresses every question, in his own words.
The study will be done over two years to incorporate annual variation in water levels. We will try to identify contaminated ground water as opposed to runoff, with the idea that the groundwater will more likely be septic or sewer malfunction. The data will be given to the DOH and ECUA for them to address any identified problems. Financing is from a fine levied against the Target Corp. for contaminating Carpenter’s Creek, through the West Florida Planning Council and with input from the Bayou Texar Foundation, who is providing some additional funding.
So from the standpoint of what happens next as far as sewage in the bayou is concerned, we wait for the report in late 2009 or early 2010. I suppose we can rest easy in the fact that there are no septic systems in use on the bayou itself. The problem appears to be upstream. Meanwhile, residents around Carpenter’s Creek should know to keep an eye out for septic system failures or sewage system failures and report them to the Health Department (595-6722) or the ECUA (969-3303).
Was ABC’s New Hampshire Debate A Debate?
It was good to see the ‘new’ format with the presidential wannabes actually debating. No staged questioners, just the media questioning the candidates, and the candidates questioning each other. It was informative, that is, until the democrats had their turn.
Discussing illegal immigration, a major concern of people of both parties, apparently isn’t a concern to ABC News where democrats are concerned. Why is it that ABC left the country wondering where the Democrat candidates stand on the subject of immigration? I felt short-changed by ABC.
After the republicans had their turn, there was a little gaggle that lasted about 12 minutes. And it was informative and, I thought, useful. After the democrats had their turn, the gaggle was about 45 minutes. Wazupwidat? Matter of fact, during and after the debate, it was hard to discern any difference in policies between the dems on the panel. It seemed more like a pep rally of people running against Bush, who isn’t running, than something designed to inform potential voters. And we still don’t know their intentions on immigration, drivers licenses, sanctuary cities, the border, amnesty, health care, education concerning illegals, et al..
For some reason, ABC did get opinions from both parties on the war on terror. That was good. We can see the differences there. One wants to get out after winning, the other wants to get out before winning. However, there was not one question about what they would do with or about the Patriot Act, or even waterboarding. Last night John Edwards said that ‘we should use every tool available’ to fight the war on terror. That would have to include the Patriot Act. FLASH: Edwards has said that the patriot act should be scrapped. Edwards has said that the war on terror is just a Bush created bumper sticker. But those contradictions from Edwards and the others went unchallenged. Not very helpful in informing the voting public.
On the subject of illegal immigration for democrats, they were mute. It seems like ABC just came up with an alternative to planting questioners, which is, not asking the same questions of both parties and, letting them contradict themselves without question.