Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
While we're waiting
MNF-Iraq hasn't posted a new Freedom Minute yet. Meanwhile check out this picture.
Friday, June 13, 2008
New Feature
Since I obviously lack the self-discipline to manage a Today in History post, you know, like, daily, I've found something better.Iraqi Freedom Minute. Brought to you by the fine folks of The Multi-National Force - Iraq.
Even better is the Freedom Journal Iraq but the videos are a bit large to post here.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Save the Flame!
The Liberty Memorial, built to honor veterans of the "World War", is the home of the congressionally-designated national WWI museum. At the top of its 217-foot high tower is an "Eternal Flame", about to be extinguished due to budget shortfalls. It is estimated that the flame costs $45K/yr. to keep lit. For the next year, Pioneer Services will match your tax-deductible contribution, until the matched total hits that $45K level.
Help keep the flame burning at savetheflame.org!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Apparently, Mr. Garrison Keillor was in DC during the annual Rolling Thunder Ride to the Wall.
He was not impressed.
A patriotic bike rally is sort of like a patriotic toilet-papering or patriotic graffiti; the patriotism somehow gets lost in the sheer irritation of the thing. /snip You don't quite see the connection between that and these fat men with ponytails on Harleys.
One of those "fat men with ponytails" decided to educate him.
Rocky Mountain News.
Oh my goodness, Mr. Keillor has been inconvenienced once again. Imagine waiting for twenty minutes to cross the street while fat men in pony tails’ jammed the roadway. Worst, these are the same fat men, sans pony tails, and many pounds lighter, that slogged through the jungles of South Vietnam that Mr. Keillor and his college preppies defiled as baby killers.’ I guess us Vietnam Veterans have moved up in his world, now we are just pissing him off by making him wait to cross the street while thousands of brothers ride to the wall to pay respect to their fallen comrades. Respect that they never received when they came home from Southeast Asia. Mr. Keillor failed to mention that most of these grown men playing solider’ played solider forty years ago, saw their buddies die, cried in their bunkers, and prayed that they would make it home in one piece. Meanwhile Mr. Keillor studied English at the University of Minnesota and participated in demonstrations against the war.
There's really no better way to say it: Read the whole thing
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Remember D-Day
Learn about it from the U.S. Army:
June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.
On this day in 1944: 9,000+ Allied soldiers gave their lives to stop Hitler.
Man-Made Global Whining
Here's a lovely look by a professional meteorologist on how working in his profession is like working in climate science -- the dangers of trying to point out the truth: Global Whining vs. the Truth
And here's a must-read speech (really) on the whining, scheming and insanity of the Anthropogenic (i.e., Man-Made) Global Warming crowd by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher on the House floor, made 3 weeks ago during the debate on the economy-stiffling Lieberman-Warner bill that has temporarily been stopped. Dynamite. “Do you really think the world is filled with morons?”
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Hey, it worked in Fallujah
D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence.
Oddly enough, several folks didn't seem to think this is a good idea.
I wonder, should we put the deck chairs over by the port railing? There’s a much better view of the iceberg from over there.
Can you say Police State?
This. Is. America. You have obviously forgotten this.
And my personal favorite.
I hope that when the police ask for their papers, people will hand them a copy of the Bill of Rights too. It might prove instructive. If not, at least we'll all have the grim pleasure of saying "Here are my civil rights. Please take them."
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Proof of Life!
Bill has a new post up on E!3, entitled Proof of Life!, in which he gives some information on what he's been up to lately.
Lots of things rotten in the state of Pennsylvania
OK, this is going to be a long post. I have to give you a fair bit of background before getting into the current situation.
Back on July 7. 2005, the PA General Assembly unconstitutionally gave itself a huge pay raise in a secret late-night vote....
The state Supreme Court immediately ruled that the pay raise was legal. Luckily, this didn't go unnoticed and sparked incredible outrage among the populace. Many legislators stuck wet fingers into the air and decided that they couldn't accept such an unconstitutional raise (even though they'd voted for it) and pledged to give it back. That didn't save them. In the next election one sitting Supreme Court justice was denied retention (here in PA each judge must stand for a retention election after 10 years in office) and the other up for retention only got 52% of the vote (the average heretofore was about 70%) and subsequently resigned. 55 state legislators lost their seats, 24 by electoral defeat or disqualification, and 31 who chose to retire rather than face the voters.
We haven't forgotten and legislators in the upcoming election will be looked at very carefully. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the "payjacking" scandal has since retired.
Now we get to the meat of the current situation. On May 19 the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania filed a federal lawsuit against Ralph Cappy, the former Chief Justice of the PA Supreme Court. It alleges that Cappy made a secret deal to rule in favor of a slot machine law in return for pay raises for himself and other judges. The league was a plaintiff in the slots-law challenge that the court rejected. It says such a deal (or if there wasn't a deal, the fact that many legislators believed there was one) violated its due-process rights in the slots case. The suit also mentions Ronald Castille, Cappy's successor as Chief Justice.
Castille called the suit slanderous and said the league could face sanctions and its attorney, Paul Rossi, disciplinary action under federal court rules for making baseless charges about the Supreme Court. The league said Castille would violate the organization’s right to petition government under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution if he carries out a sanctions threat.
I neither know nor care what Castille's political allegiances are. This man has brought dishonor on the courts by his intimidation attempts and threats of retribution against an attorney following the rules and representing his client properly. If we had a General Assembly that could be trusted, he should be immediately impeached and removed from office. However, the leadership of the General Assembly is implicated in the collusion described in this lawsuit itself. Will we ever see honest government in PA? Perhaps it's time for the federal government to remove the Commonwealth government under Article IV, Section 4 of the US Constitution, which guarantees to every state a republican form of government. We certainly don't have one now in PA.
I've asked a lawyer acquaintance of mine who has argued cases before the US Supreme Court what it would take to seek relief under this portion of the Constitution. He said that it hadn't been considered enforceable for a very long time, but that he had cited that section recently in some of his arguments. He thought that there wasn't a very great chance of success in that sort of argument but that it might be worth trying if nothing else worked.
I've also talked to a few people about trying to get a RICO prosecution against the PA Supreme Court. I don't know what that would take either, but it seems worth investigating.
I'd welcome any ideas folks have. I get the feeling that things may get a good deal worse before they get better.
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Today in History: June 3
1850
Kansas City, Missouri is incorporated by Jackson County, Missouri as the "City of Kansas".
1864
Come away with me Lucille. Ransom E. Olds.
1916
The ROTC is established by Congress.
1965
Gemini 4 First space walk by an American.
Yesterday | Tomorrow
Monday, June 2, 2008
Today in History: June 2
1774
Intolerable Acts." The Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to let British soldiers into their homes, is reenacted. The founders considered this a serious enough imposition to codify The Third Amendment to the US Constitution.No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
1835
P.T. Barnum and his circus begin their first tour of the United States.
1896
Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for the radio. Stax of Wax would soon follow.
1966
Surveyor 1 lands on the moon.
Yesterday | Tomorrow
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Thanks, guys!
FOR Australian combat troops the war in Iraq is over.
The Defence Force in southern Iraq formally handed its commitment to the United States and lowered the Australian flag above Camp Terendak, at the US-run air base Tallil, at a ceremony yesterday morning.
Today in History: June 1
1890
HAL is born.The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns.
1926
Andy Griffith and Marilyn Monroe.
Yesterday | Tomorrow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
