Obama the Lying Arrogant Bastard Strikes Again: "I Know Most About Judaism of Any President"

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Someone recently challenged me when I said Obama presents himself as being the smartest guy in the room. They asked me to come up with examples. Aside from proclaiming himself the 4th Best President in History, and inserting himself into presidential bios on the White House website, now Obama is claiming he knows more about Judaism than any other President.

Does the arrogance of this jerk know any boundaries?

From Breitbart:

According to the liberal Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, President Obama met yesterday with “about 20 Conservative Jewish community leaders.” At that meeting, Ha’aretz reports, Obama “stressed he probably knows about Judaism more than any other president, because he read about it.” He also asked why nobody questioned House Speaker John Boehner’s or Senator Mitch McConnell’s support for Israel. “I [am] not going to tell you again how I even feel about Israel, but why [are] we still talking about it?” he complained. He even told these Jewish leaders that “all his friends in Chicago were Jewish – and at the beginning of his political career he was accused of being a puppet of the Israel lobby.”

This is insipid in every respect. To begin at the beginning, Obama clearly does not know the most about Judaism of any president. John Adams knew Hebrew. Harry Truman knew about Jewish history. George W. Bush knew about Jewish principles. In fact, there’s a solid case to be made that Obama knows the least about Israel – at least if his behavior and views on the Middle East are any indicator. He may think he knows about Judaism, but what he really “knows” likely comes from Israel-haters

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Obama at the UN

"At the UN, President Obama called on other countries to help us track down and eliminate radicals and extremists. But they told Obama, 'Hey, the Tea Party is your problem buddy' " - Jay Leno.

Tips Trik Internet Gratis XL 1 juni 2012

Tips Trik Internet Gratis XL 1 juni  2012 - Kabar bagus dari Baccalah untuk pecinta internet gratisan. Kali ini Baccalah akan share Trik
Internet Gratis lagi. Setelah sebelumnya berbagi trik internet gratis
Telkomsel, kali ini giliran untuk Sim card XL. Tips Trik Internet Gratis XL 1 juni  2012 ini khusus untuk browser HP. Jadi tanpa menggunakan browser Opera Mini. Berikut adalah triknya.

Book Review : AVSI Judaism - Norman Solomon 7*

I had a bit of an autodidactic spree before starting a degree course and read a few of Oxford University Press' A Very Short Introduction series, and generally they are very good little books, offering a necessarily brief yet reasonably academic view into the topic of each book.

AVSI Judaism is the fourth of the religion introductions I have read after Linda Woodhead's Christianity, Eleanor Nesbitt's Sikhism and Islam by Malise Ruthven. Of the four, Woodhead writes clearly and distinctly and stands back from the subject in a proper academic fashion, Nesbitt and Solomon both appear slightly too close to the religion they are describing, and Ruthven's book is in parts a baffling impenetrable collage of concepts, ideology and phrases that left me little the wiser at the end.

Solomon has chosen to write in a very simple style, perhaps the accusation overly simple could be levelled at some points, his use of language does sometimes come across as a kindly old man teaching a class of six year olds.  Never the less, Solomon explains the tenets, practices and history in a clear and succinct style, albeit shaded by obvious proximity to and love of his subject.

The ongoing tension and clashes between Jewish Israel and the Muslim Middle East are obviously hard to describe for anyone who has a vested interest, and I feel that Solomon did not manage to stand back far enough from this difficult part of the subject.  Solomon talks about the Jewish military concept of tohar ha-nesheq with its demand that soldiers must take care to avoid collateral damage and civilian casualties, but he does not make it clear whether he thinks that Israel's armed forces embrace this concept.

In other places Solomon's love for Judaism shines through, especially in the chapter on home life.  These points aside though, it is a good description of one of the world's great religions, easy to read and understand and gain a basic understanding of the subject in hand.

FOTO: Emilie Nereng, Blogger Tercantik Dan Seksi Asal Norwegia

FOTO: Emilie Nereng, Blogger Tercantik Dan Seksi  Asal Norwegia
Cantiknya blogger cantik asal Norwegia. Namanya Emilie Nereng, namun
orang kerap memanggilnya Voe. Dialah blogger populer dari Norwegia yang
cantik dan ramah. Ingin tahu lebih lanjut? Klik www.voeblog.no,
didalamnya banyak berisi foto cantik dan kegiatan kesehariannya yang
sayangnya ditulis dalam bahasa Norwegia. Dan inilah wajah

Ini Dia, Yuyen Wanita Pembunuh 4 Juta Nyamuk

Yuyen Wanita Pembunuh 4 Juta Nyamuk, warga Taiwan yang sehari-hari beternak babi sukses membunuh lebih
dari 4 juta nyamuk. Atas prestasinya ini, ia pun mendapatkan hadiah
sebesar USD 3 ribu, atau sekitar Rp 30 juta.

Penghargaan ini diberikan oleh perusahaan perangkap nyamuk ramah
lingkungan, Imbictus International. Sebelumnya, mereka memang mengadakan
sebuah kontes di seluruh wilayah Taiwan

Reader Says I Shouldn't Interview Doheny

     One frequent participant in this blog says I should not be allowed to interview Matt Doheny on the HOTLINE on June 20.
  Graham should not conduct the interview - he is in the tank for Doheny and cannot be expected to "fair or balanced."
A neutral third party should conduct the interview, if it is to have any credibility.
   That's what Dan Francis says.
    I am a supporter of Mr. Doheny and have contributed to his campaign, but my job on the HOTLINE is not to be "fair and balanced".   The HOTLINE is an opinion show and if someone else is brought in to do interviews, then it's just an interview done by someone else in our studio. It is not the HOTLINE.
     Frankly, I am surprised a candidate would risk the unscripted format and unanticipated questions. My history is one of always being courteous and trying to bring out the guests beliefs. However, I do have to ask certain questions as there is an obligation to the listeners.
      Anyone who comes on the show realizes this and that's why some don't come on.
       There's nothing I could ask that would be a shocker and any decent candidate will have rehearsed possible zingers.
       Besides Dan, who would you have interview the candidate ? 

WDT: Grants Funding Competing Boutique Still Operations

      Why do people get government grants to create hobby businesses like distilleries to make boutique liquors ?
      A second distillery planned for Jefferson County is being started by a former executive at Venus Swimwear.
      He says a grant funded Clayton distillery is a threat...Whatever happened to the democracy of the market place ?
Watertown Daily Times | Developer says grant-funded Clayton business jeopardizes distillery plans

Supreme Court Nominations: Another Reason to Consider Voting For Romney

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

American double standards, and Artur defects.

You ever wonder why there are different rules in A-merry-ca for different people?

Now I am no Diddy fan. But why is his kid catching heat from certain folks because he got a merit based football scholarship and his daddy has a few million dollars in the bank? Doesn't this happen all the time? Why should the Combs family give back the money? The children of rich folks get scholarships all the time and you never hear a word about it. But I suppose, that in some circles,  this is different.

Sorry, I have issues with UCLA for other reasons. Giving Diddy's son a free ride is fine with me if he deserves it.

"In an interview with CNN, education contributor Dr. Steve Perry defended Combs' merit-based scholarship, saying he earned it fair and square. At the Upstate New York prep school where Combs recently graduated, he maintained a 3.75 GPA while playing cornerback for the football team.

"He's done what he needs to do to be successful and in 'Ameritocracy' we have to accept that no matter who your father is, whether he be rich, poor or absent, that you can in fact be successful on your own merit," Perry said."

Yes Dr. Perry, even a rich Negro father.

You ever wonder how it is that when certain people commit heinous crimes there are all kinds of excuses made for them? "He was happy sometimes, but not really. He was kind of disgruntled.."

Take this dude in my sister's hometown of Seattle, for instance. This guy took out five total strangers and they are saying that he had "psychiatric problems". No s^%*! If you kill five people just because you can, I would say that there is something wrong with you: You are a psycho killer. Not just "disgruntled". You are no different than these little urban thugs who kill for drug money or because they were disrespected.   

But we are used to this type of double standard here in America. Certain people snuff out their kids and they end up in a mental hospital. Certain people, on the other hand, not so much.

Finally, I want to talk about my man Artur Davis. Artur is the dude who thought that his black ass could win a statewide election in Alabama. Artur is still mad at you Negroes for not supporting him in his run for Gov. So now, Artur, like a good house Negro, is taking his jigging skills to the republican party. Yes, Artur has defected from you democrats.

"After GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s failed attempt to ingratiate himself with black voters last week the Republican Party is cheering the defection of one time Congressional Black Caucus member Artur Davis of Alabama. The former Democratic Congressman and candidate for governor has grown disenchanted with the party and become a Republican. This move brings a legitimate African-American political figure into the fold of the GOP, while simultaneously giving the Republican Party a chance appeal to appeal to a broader coalition of voters. Davis told Fox News that he made his decision in part because he is disappointed in President Obama and the direction that the country is headed under his leadership.

Davis, who is certainly no stranger to controversy, is one of just a handful of Democrats that opposed the president’s health care reform bill and the only member of the CBC to vote against it. Davis is defending his decision to leave the Democratic Party and argues that the party is intolerant of those who do not tow the partisan line." [Source] 

Artur is free to join whatever gang he pleases, but Artur is wrong to support people who would trample over our precious right to vote.

"Former U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, who represented Alabama in Congress as a Democrat, stole the show at a Houston voter ID summit last weekend, according to a post at the right-leaning Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF). In a speech, Davis compared some of the worst abuses perpetrated on blacks during the Civil Rights Movement to the requirement that a voter offer photo ID before receiving a ballot

“This is not a billy club,” Davis reportedly said, holding up a photo ID. “This is not a fire hose…. This is not Jim Crow….”

The speech came at a summit for True the Vote, which CFIF fellow Quin Hillyer described as “a growing, bipartisan, multi-racial, national movement to ensure that elections are conducted with integrity and without polling-place antagonism.” Brentin Mock, writing at TheNation.com, called the voter fraud issue True the Vote addresses a “hoax” and said the group is affiliated with Tea Party groups." [Source]

Yes, Artur "stole the show". A good jig to will do that every time.



 

  

Future Of The Left Stream

How about starting the day with a stream of the new Future Of The Left album, The Plot Against Common Sense? No review, as Im listening to it right now, and thought you should join in. Thanks to Spin for this!

Stream the album here.

2nd Amendment, Front and Center at Temecula Constitution Class

"[T]he people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them." --Zacharia Johnson, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788

The Second Amendment does not give you the right to keep and bear arms.  The Second Amendment does not protect you against the government taking away your guns.  Your rights are given to you by God, and protecting your rights are your responsibility.

In the Washington DC v. Heller case in 2008 the Supreme Court of the United States determined that the right to bear arms is an individual right, as opposed to a collective right which would only allow the bearing of arms for the purpose of participating in government approved groups, such as law enforcement agencies.

The Anti-Federalists feared the creation of a central government because they feared the federal government would become tyrannical, and stomp all over the people’s rights. Therefore, even though the Constitution in the first seven articles did not give the federal government any authority over gun rights, those skeptical over the creation of a central government wanted an amendment that clarified clearly that the federal government had no authority to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.

All powers belonged to the States prior to the writing of the Constitution. The first seven articles did not give to the federal government the authority to regulate firearms, therefore, any legislative power over gun rights is a state power. The 2nd Amendment simply confirms that.  The argument then becomes about the tyranny of the States. In other words, if the 2nd Amendment does not apply to the States, what keeps the States from infringing on gun rights?

The State Constitutions, and the people, hold the responsibility of restraining the States from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms. The Founding Fathers were not concerned with a tyranny of the States because the State governments are closer to the people, and therefore the people have a much easier time acting to ensure the State governments do not infringe on individual rights.

The only thing that can put our rights in jeopardy concerning State governments would be if we became so complacent that we stopped taking action to protect our rights.

Once again, with freedom comes responsibility.

The question asked often is, “Why did the Founding Fathers put so much importance on gun rights?”

In early American society the need to be armed was necessary for protecting one’s property, facilitating a natural right of self-defense, participating in law enforcement, enabling people to participate in an organized militia system, deterring a tyrannical government, repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, and hunting.

The right to keep and bear arms is not merely about protecting your home, or hunting, though those are important too. The primary point of the 2nd Amendment is to protect us against all enemies, foreign and domestic, which could include a potentially oppressive central government.

Noah Webster in his “An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution,” in 1787 said it clearly: “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States."

Some will argue that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to our current society because the militia is a thing of the past.

The National Guard now serves as the organized militia envisioned by the Founding Fathers, but an unorganized militia also exists.

Title 10 of the United States Code provides for both "organized" and "unorganized" civilian militias. While the organized militia is made up of members of the National Guard and Naval Militia, the unorganized militia is composed entirely of private individuals.

United States Code: Title 10 – Armed Forces, Subtitle A – General Military Law
Chapter 13 – The Militia:

Sec. 311. Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are -

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of
the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

Other than age, health, gender, or citizenship, there are no additional provisions for exemption from membership in the unorganized militia. While it is doubtful that it will ever be called to duty, the United States civilian militia does legally exist.

The recent case of McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), which challenged the City of Chicago’s ban on hand guns, brought to the surface the debate over whether or not the 2nd Amendment only applies to the Federal Government.

The 5-4 Decision of the McDonald v. City of Chicago case by the U.S. Supreme Court holds that the 2nd Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms in all cities and States. The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that originally the 2nd Amendment applied only to the Federal Government, but it is in the opinion of the court that the 14th Amendment incorporates the Bill of Rights, therefore applying those amendments, and more specifically the 2nd Amendment, to the States.

The decision by the Supreme Court, in this case, makes all State laws on fire arms null and void. By applying the 2nd Amendment to the States, that means the Second Amendment is supreme over any and all State laws on firearms.  However, studying the language of the Second Amendment carefully, one concludes that would mean all persons are allowed to possess a firearm, for the language of the Second Amendment also makes all federal gun laws null and void.  After all, the final words, “shall not be infringed” carries no exceptions.

The reason that the Second Amendment is absolute in its language is specifically because it was intended to only apply to the federal government.  The federal government shall not infringe on the right to keep and bear arms in any way, but the States retained the authority to regulate guns as necessary based on the needs and allowances of the local electorate.

The U.S. Constitution applies to the federal government except where specifically noted otherwise.

In reference to McDonald v. Chicago, I am uneasy anytime the federal government tells a city or state what they have to do.

If we give the federal government the right to tell cities they have to allow gun ownership, what stops them from doing the opposite later? This case created a precedent of allowing the federal government to dictate to the states and cities what they have to do, and in that I recognize a great danger to state sovereignty.

----------

Join us tonight in Temecula at Faith Armory gun store (next to Birth Choice) on Enterprise Circle West at 6:00 pm for our discussion on the 2nd Amendment.

I will also discuss at the beginning a little on the discussion on the Constitution I had with Dr. Larry Arnn, and our disagreements on issues like Judicial Review and Nullification.

Senate Passes Bill Waiving 24-Hour Waiting Period For Military Members to Get Married | New York State Senate

   Try hanging out in the City Clerk's office and you won't think you are doing the military a favor by waiving the 24 hour waiting period to get married after getting a license.
     Those who stand in defense of marriage would be shocked at how cavalier attitudes are towards the institution.
      Marriage is too easy to get into, not too difficult. There should be a ten day waiting period and a three day period afterwards to cancel it all without prejudice.
Senate Passes Bill Waiving 24-Hour Waiting Period For Military Members to Get Married | New York State Senate

Conservatives Believe in Community, Just Not Through Government Dictate

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The liberal left's argument is about as old as they get. Because the right-wing conservative republicans are against entitlement programs including welfare, food stamps, and now Obama's health care law, the liberal left democrats claim the GOP is out to starve the poor, leave the homeless freezing in the cold, and force grandma to have no health care, social security, and for her to resort to eating cat food.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Recently, in the Washington Post, liberal commentator E.J. Dionne, Jr. goes so far as to headline one of his articles with, "Conservatives used to care about community. What happened?"

Like the rest of the liberal left community, liberal left progressives have decided to believe their own bullcrap.

Dionne proclaims in the first paragraph that, "Conservatives are no longer allowed to acknowledge that government can improve citizens' lives."

The opening premise allows him to stuff just about anything he wants into his accusation. However, it is no secret that Republicans, or at least the ones that are of the conservative stripe, believe in limited government, and that it is not government's job to improve citizens' lives, or at least in the manner that Mr. Dionne is implying. Freedom hinges on our ability to pursue our own happiness, through hard work, self-reliance, and individual decision making. That is not to say that conservatives don't believe in fostering community. Conservatives just believe that fostering community is done through individualism, and the voluntary decision to participate in civic activities. When government does it, instead of individuals based on their own voluntary decisions, it stops being about community and becomes about buying votes through what politicians can offer through entitlements, and authoritarian control by the central system of governance.

Mr. Dionne goes on to say, "Today's conservatism is about low taxes, fewer regulations, less government - and little else."

Hasn't that always been the primary emphasis of the GOP platform?

Dionne's accusations go further, listing a number of republicans whose seats are in danger because of not-so-conservative actions in office.

What does the democrats think of their own that dare to be pro-life? Or pro-marriage? How about those gun-toting democrats? Aren't they reprimanded for daring to challenge the liberal mindset? Besides, it is not that the voters are abandoning community, or are ready to chuck their representatives because those rats dared to collaborate with some democrats. Conservative GOP voters have realized that republicans that have bought into the establishment way of doing things, and shun the Constitution as evidenced by their actions and voting record, are a part of the problem. The failure of the federal government, and the rise of draconian policies, are not just because of the democrats that are in place, but because of the establishment republicans that refuse to adhere to their claimed conservative principles. Since they refuse to represent the people as the people wish, their seats are in danger. That is how a republic works.

Unlike Mr. Dionne's warped opinion that America's prosperity comes from the government as much as from the private sector, the fact is capitalism and freedom from governmental regulations and intrusion is what made this nation strong over the last two centuries. Individual accomplishments, successes, and the creation of wealth promotes the community. The successful person becomes more involved in his community, creates jobs as his business thrives, and provides goods for the community. By putting the individual first, the community ultimately benefits. When community is placed higher than the individual, and government tries to dictate to communities through measures of control, the community breaks down and fails, and ultimately the individuals become slaves to The State.

The importance of individual groups to the community, like family units, corporations, and in the long run the individual states, is not a sign of communitarianism, but also a salute to individualism. Those "communal units," as Mr. Dionne calls them, succeed when they act on a voluntary, individual basis.

The Washington Post's commentator is right in the fact that Americans do have a healthy tension between individualism and community, but through the individual decision to contribute to their community, not through governmental dictates. Government is not supposed to be charity, and it is not supposed to replace the churches as the hubs of community involvement. Liberty does in fact include a responsibility to community, but once again, as a voluntary and individual decision, without the direct influence of government.

When government compels an individual to give to their community through national community organizations, or by the redistribution of wealth, that is not liberty. That is tyranny through government dictate.

Further down the article Dionne begins to really show his ignorance for history, and the Constitution, bringing up the Marine Hospital Service system of 1798, and then calling John Adams a great conservative President.

The "socialized medicine" he is referring to was more like the Veterans Administration, and less like Obamacare, than Mr. Dionne realizes. The Ports were federally owned, and the people placed in that "AdamsCare" were federal employees. As for Adams being conservative, Dionne's wrong there, too. He was a federalist, though Adams was admittedly a moderate member of the Federalist Party, and the federalists overall desired bigger government. The people, however, did not agree with the Federalist Party's idea of an ever-expanding federal government, and that is why the party faded away during the 1820s.

President Taft, also called a conservative by Mr. Dionne, is heralded in the author's article as being the man behind a federal housing program. In reality, Taft was a fiscal conservative, but not so conservative on everything else. And regardless of if he was a Republican or a Democrat, a federally funded housing program is still unconstitutional. Just because some Republican in history decided to support such a program it doesn't mean that he represents the platform of conservatism as Mr. Dionne implies.

Mr. Dionne's examples then brings up Eisenhower's creation of the interstate highway system, and the federal student loan programs, in the 1950s. Again, just because Eisenhower was a republican, it does not mean that everything he did was conservative. In the case of the interstate highway system, which is a State responsibility, not a federal one, Eisenhower actually did exactly what James Madison refused to do in 1817. The Federal Public Works bill of 1817 was vetoed by Madison because it was unconstitutional, and the Congress made the same arguments in their bill in 1817 as did the Congress to Eisenhower in the 50s. The difference is that Eisenhower did not have the same understanding of the original intent of the Constitution as Madison did, and erroneously signed an unconstitutional bill into law.

In the article Mr. Dionne misrepresents Ronald Reagan's humor regarding taxes drastically, and also misrepresents Reagan's view of community, as well. Of course Reagan promoted community, with people working together, tidy neighborhoods, and the importance of the centrality of families and neighborhoods. All of those things are important, but they ought to be achieved without governmental interference. Refusing to allow government intrusion does not make Conservatives anti-community, but instead makes them people who understands the limiting principles of the Constitution, and the importance that community is something that is fostered by individuals on a voluntary basis, not by an overly intrusive government.

Mr. Dionne including George W. Bush in his article was the richest of all. I agree, Bush 43 was not a conservative when it came to his domestic policies, therefore by Dionne using Dubya's presidency as an example of conservatism shows us that the writer has no clue what conservatism is truly about. Bush's No Child Left Behind law, and the prescription drug benefit, were examples of Bush's progressive nature on domestic issues. I don't care how often the man called himself a "compassionate conservative." Actions speak louder than words, and those actions by Bush were anything but conservative.

Government, unlike what the liberal leftists like Mr. Dionne believes, is not supposed to possess the role of serving the common good. That is our responsibility. The federal government is there to promote the General Welfare by protecting the union from foreign enemies, ensuring the union remains united by acting as a mediator in disputes between the States, and making laws that promote and preserve the union pursuant of the Constitution - and nothing else.


Mr. Dionne goes on to blame today's difficult political environment on the conservatives being unwilling to play ball. The problem, my dear Mr. Dionne, is actually coming from the democrats. They have moved so far to the left that the conservative voters are sincerely afraid. We are watching this President use executive orders to bypass Congress, and pass draconian laws like Obamacare designed to enlarge the federal government's authoritarian control over the populace. The voters believe that if we don't stop this socialist madness, we will lose our country. Conservatives are not being partisan and anti-community. They are afraid that this nation as founded is slipping through their fingers, and believe the way to get it turned around is to resort to what worked originally to make us the great and prosperous nation we are. Those principles are present in the pages of the Constitution, and include limited government, low taxation (and in reality an absence of direct taxation), low government spending that only follows Constitutional guidelines and can be paid back by the present generation, and community through individual successes and voluntary choices. That is the America they remember, and the community we are trying to return to.

Mr. Dionne can throw around as many scare tactics, misrepresentations, and allude to people like McCarthy all he wants, but in the end, it comes down to the facts, and he has those all fouled up.

Community is an individual endeavor, not a governmental mandate, and the sooner people like E.J. Dionne realizes that, the sooner we can get back to the United States as it was founded, and not one built in the progressive image that the Founding Fathers would have never desired.


-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Conservatives used to care about community. What happened? - Washington Post

James Madison's Veto of Federal Public Works Bill, 1817 - Constitution.org

Defending Obamacare, Professor Einer Elhauge of Harvard Law School Reveals His Constitutional Ignorance - Political Pistachio

Doheny Throws the Bomb.....To Appear on HOTLINE on June 20

    Congressional candidate Matt Doheny has agreed to appear on America's Favorite Noontime Talk Show on June 20,  just six days before the GOP primary that pits him against upstart candidate Kellie Greene.
     I will attempt to invite Ms. Greene for a date of her choosing. I sincerely hopes she appears.

Candidate Doheny With His Signature Footballs

In preparation for the interview I will bone up by reading the Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and Gawker.



On Nationalism, A Rebuttal

"A nation is a group of people united by a mistaken view about the past and a hatred of their neighbours." - Karl Deutsch (1912-1992), Czech political and social scientist.

On Nationalism

"A nation is a great solidarity created by the sentiment of the sacrifices which have been made and those which one is prepared to make in the future." - Ernest Renan (1823-1892), French writer, philosopher and political theorist.

Nihiti! For Ostland! Prost!

Nihiti's album For Ostland came out this week. I posted about their 'The Ringing In (The Sun Is Rung)' track last year - what a crazy bag of awesome that was! Well, the longplayer does ramp up the insidious, glacier-cold electronics that grew out of the tail end of their last album Other People's Memories. I have to say I miss some of the no wave leanings that floated around the periphery of their earlier tracks, yet these new songs certainly hold a stronger sense of self for the band, albeit a dark, aberrant one, especially with the industrial noise that bursts forth in unexpectedly painful yet blissful waves. May these sonic vampires never come out of the shadows.


For Ostland is on Lo Bit Landscapes - get it in smoky transparent vinyl here.

WDT: What did the new city manager do at the National Security Agency?

      For the MSM the city manager designee is an enigma shrouded in a mystery. They want to know what she did at the NSA and want to know all sorts of other stuff that I told them was none of their business.
      Sharon Addison takes over the job on July 16 and in the meantime John Krol (who celebrates a birthday tomorrow)   continues doing the manager job.
      City Council vetted all the candidates carefully using their own criteria. The appointee was presented at a news conference at which there were few questions ask. I am sure there will be plenty of time for everyone to get to know her, but the first priorities are her learning as much about city operations and staffing before July, and finishing out her duties at her current job.
        My advice to her was that Mr. Krol is the manager and there's not much to say until she is...in other words, stay under the cone while you can.
Watertown Daily Times | What did the new city manager do at the National Security Agency?

PetroPlus: The Soros, Obama, ACORN Connection

Read About PetroPlus's bankruptcy at Zero Hedge

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Donkey Jaw In The Dunes

Seeing as the past few days has had me delving into some back catalogue stuff, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to talk about this record that has been slaying me all over again the past couple weeks. When Damon McMahon AKA Amen Dunes first came onto the scene, I was a little nonplussed. Unlike my first impressions of John Maus (that I didn't "get" it), the New Yorker just didn't grab me the way that other psych bands did. I appreciated some of his efforts - I was an immediate fan of 'Two Thousand Islands' and a couple other tracks off 2009's DIA - but I thought that Amen Dunes were going to be one of those bands that lots of people dug, but I didn't. It happens.


But then Through Donkey Jaw happened. When Sacred Bones put this out, as you can guess I didn't jump all over it like a virginal teen. I still felt that, whilst McMahon could straddle genres like a cowboy astride a rampant bull, he sometimes got swept away by the power of his ambitions - or even trampled underneath them. Not so here. The chopping and changing from drone to fuzzed out psych to intricate guitar meltdowns to falsetto soirees. McMahon's vocals transcend here, yet such confidence is evident across the board. His new-found band have helped to graft flesh on the bones, but truth be told they are only augmenting what is clearly inherent here. McMahon, and therefore Amen Dunes, are getting better with time. The erraticism fits within the paradigm of the band aesthetic now, much more controlled than its scattershot predecessors.

It's funny how much of an about-turn Through Donkey Jaw has been for me. If you haven't checked it out, you are doing yourself a major disservice. You can grab the record from Sacred Bones here.

Amen Dunes - Baba Yaga
Amen Dunes - Jill

Mayor Bloomberg Seeks Ban on Large Sodas

       The city that never sleeps won't let you get a soft drink over 16 ounces if Mayor Bloomberg has his way. Hizzoner wants to halt those establishments regulated by the City Health Department from selling sugary drinks over a pint.
       Of course the City doesn't regulate stores, so you can't stop sale there, Mr. Mayor.
       Oh, the reasoning for  all this nanny state stuff....Fighting obesity.
Mayor Bloomberg wants to cap the size of sweetened drinks in bid to cut obesity - NYPOST.com

WDT: Nude man on Watertown street

      Was I the only would-be scribe to ask if nude walker Robert Palmer was addicted to love ?
Watertown Daily Times | Nude man on Watertown street

NY POST: Manhattan student who 'bedded' teacher Julie Warning won $400 in wager from his buddies

       Here in Watertown today, I noticed the local paper led with the "Nude Man in the Street" story in its on-line edition.  That's pretty edgy for here as usually it's something about water levels or not-for-profits that leads.
       Imagine if we had what the NY Post has this week. A hot-for-teacher story in which Manhattan students pooled their money in a bet on who could bed the hot history teacher.
      The lucky student was pictured smooching on the cover of the popular tabloid and the teacher is quickly reaassigned to a rubber room, but still is getting paid.

                          18 Year Old Student Eric Arty Wins $400 and Notoriety
 Today the 18 year old student is mugging for the media, crowing over his wager winnings.
        This kind of story would be sensory overload for the staid and sober NNY media barons.
EXCLUSIVE: Manhattan student who 'bedded' teacher Julie Warning won $400 in wager from his buddies - NYPOST.com

The Daily News Has Their Own Steamy Story from the Education Beat

   And at the rival Daily News, their teacher-sex story involves a 35 year old Brooklyn teacher "tutoring" an eleventh grader with a month-long "sex romp."
Married teacher accused of having monthlong sex romp with student at same school where two female colleagues were caught naked together - NY Daily News

WDT: Interest in Primary So Lean, Letters to the Editor Comprise Coverage

      Not everyone is lining up behind the prohibitive favorite for the GOP nomination for Congress in the newly minted 21st District.  A letter writer to the Times says the local Tea Party group is not in lockstep behind Matt Doheny although the groups chairman is holding a fundraiser for the Watertown businessman thought to be the likely winner of the June 26 primary.
       There is a rival faction backing or at least considering upstart candidate Kellie Greene.
        No one knows what to expect out of this primary. Mr. Doheny has been travelling the district relentlessly, focusing on the three new counties added to the eastern end of the sprawling land mass.
        For their part, Team Doheny is playing down the expectation game arguing a showing in the 40s by Greene would not be significant and that a 60-40 win would be huge. Besides they say only seven or eight percent of the party registrants will likely vote since the primary is for the first time in decades not being held in September and there is no media hype or advertising being done in the run up.
         Observers (and there are few of them) would chatter that a Greene showing north of 30% would be an indication of softness in party support for Doheny, which would make a party line win November more difficult. Numbers in the 40s would prompt head scratching.
         This race is not about reaching across the aisle. It's about whipping up what's left of the true believers in Republicanism.  The registration advantage does not guarantee a win, as we know.  It's about turning out the faithful and that's what a primary can demonstrate.
         Ironically, Ms. Greene cannot win in November anyway, since Mr. Doheny already has the two minor party lines. Without uniting the Indy and Conservative line with the GOP line, no one can beat Rep. Bill Owens.  That's not being mean, just being honest.
Watertown Daily Times | No endorsements from the Tea Party

Collapse Christianity

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Islamism and the liberal left get along better than they should. Liberalism supports militant feminism, while Islam treats women worst than slaves. Liberalism supports the homosexual lifestyle, treating gays as if they are members of a minority group. Islam hangs gays from nooses, beheads them, and worse. Liberalism demands that all remnants of religion be removed from government, and the public square. Islam combines religion and government into a theocratic authoritarian system that includes encouraging their followers to kill in the name of the ideology for the sake of salvation. So, why is it, with these drastic differences, do Muslims in America tend to be democrats, and the liberals bend over backwards to appease Islam when these two groups share almost no common ground, and if anything, reside on the extreme opposing ends of most issues?

Among the answers is the fact that Islam and liberalism have common enemies. Among those enemies, at the top of the list, is Christianity. Both ideologies, in their quest to rise to the level of ruling elite, hate the Christian Faith, and they are both working to collapse Christianity.

Islam and the secular liberal left both think they may have something. . .

In the case of secularism, the Theory of Evolution, they believe, is their saving grace. One scientist has predicted that the answers are on the horizon, and the debate over evolution will be over soon enough.

The thing is, these knuckle-heads have been saying this regularly over the last hundred years.

Do we adapt? I suppose a little, but not enough to change a species into another one. Doesn't that idea fly in the face of the "like begets like" law of nature?

Besides, until the evolutionists can come up with a definitive answer about how it all began, and they won't without including intelligent design by God, their arguments fall flat.

Islam would rather rely on age-old propaganda by the gnostics and the Muslims' own village idiots to try to silence Christianity. Islam's latest claim is an old one, and has been proven as fake over and over and over. In the case of their current example, The Gospel of Barnabas, the likely writer is a Spanish Muslim from the Middle Ages.

Centuries after the Gospels were written (the Gospels, many argue, were completed by A.D. 60), a Pagan-like group called Gnostics decided to write books challenging Christianity. Their propaganda included claims that Jesus never died on the cross, had offspring, and so forth. Writer Dan Brown made the silly renditions of the Story of Christ famous with his book, The Da Vinci Code." Their books inspired copy-cats, and before long a whole group of non-Christian gospels claiming to be of Christian origin emerged.

The Gospel of Barnabas has been embraced by the Muslims, with a claim that the book even foretells the emergence of Mohammad. The book uses strong language to denounce the teachings of Apostle Paul, in a sense trying to nullify nearly all of the New Testament. Among the flaws of the book is that the Apostle Barnabas received that name only after the ascension of Jesus because of the generous act he had done which had heartened the spirits of the early Christians. The Gospel of Barnabas has Jesus call him by this name some three years before he ascended to heaven.

The writing of Barnabas does not even date back to before the time of Muhammad, much less shortly after the death of Christ. According to experts, the Gospel of Barnabas dates at least seven hundred years after the time of Muhammad and it is in the circumstances of no historical value at all.  The book is a clear forgery, but because of their hate for Christianity, the Muslim World will probably remain blind to that fact.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Scientist: Evolution debate will soon be history - Yahoo News

Gospel of Barnabas Will Cause Christianity's Collapse, Iran Claims - U.K. Mail Online

Origins and Sources of the Gospel of Barnabas - John Gilchrist

Notable news items

Official propaganda. Yeah, I know that we're surrounded by propaganda these days. This blog has been fighting the NDAA for a while -- and the fight just became more significant than ever, now that we learn of a new provision which allows the DoD to foist lies on the American public.

The NDAA amendment lifts bans on propaganda that have been around since the 1940s, neutralizing laws put in place to protect the American people from its government’s own “misinformation” campaigns.

“It removes the protection for Americans,” a Pentagon official told Buzzfeed, who broke the story. "There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.”

The amendment would remove all distinction between a hostile foreign audience and American one, turning the massive information operation apparatus within the federal government against its own people.

Click on the link to learn what you can do.

Speaking of propaganda... New York City just played into the hands of conservative propagandists who want to portray "blue state" governments as intrusive and controlling. In order to combat obesity, New York just banned restaurants and movie theaters from selling sugary sodas in sizes over 16 ounces.

In the first place, this kind of regulation really is intrusive and controlling. Government has no business telling citizens which foods they may or may not consume, as long the public is not misled into buying spoiled or poisonous foodstuff. In the second place, the plan is foolish and unworkable, since most fast food joints (and some movie theaters) offer free refills. In the third place -- what about diet drinks? 

The divine gaffe. Normally, I dislike our media's focus on the Great Gaffe Game, since these inane "gotcha" moments never amount to anything significant. But I do love this one; it comes from Mitt Romney's new phone app.

In fact, I consider "AmerCIA" to be the finest blunder that any politician has given us since Ronald Reagan's sublime "Facts are stupid things."

Bravo, Mitt! May "AmerCIA" enter the lexicon!

The SEC is useless. You already knew that, of course. But just in case you didn't, check out Matt Taibbi's latest: "SEC: Taking on Big Firms is 'Tempting,' But We Prefer Whaling on Little Guys."

The S.E.C. in recent years has failed in almost every possible way a regulator can fail to police powerful criminals. Failure #1 was that it repeatedly fell down on the job even when alerted to problems at big companies well ahead of time by insiders.

The S.E.C.’s attitude toward whistleblowers at powerhouse companies has not just been aloof or indifferent, it’s been downright hostile at times. Whistleblowers commonly report being treated as though they're the criminal.

In the last year or so I’ve heard from several attorneys who represent smaller clients who tell me they’re flabbergasted, watching the S.E.C. give the Chases, Goldmans, and Citigroups free ride after free ride while their pockmarked little clients at fledgling public companies get served the whole regulatory meal for minor disclosure violations – even cases that simply involve bad paperwork, where money isn’t even stolen. If you’re a little tech startup and there’s a $100,000 problem in your books, you can expect the full Princess Bride torture machine treatment, with multiple agents assigned to your case, serious criminal penalties, asset seizures, etc.

Have we been told the truth about the Syrian massacre? This is a huge damned story -- one which I have been rather too cowardly to deal with, since the initial questioning of the official version appeared on some rather "iffy" sites, including one run by the dreaded Alex Jones. But now the BBC is lending credence to the theory that the massacre was committed not by the Syrian government but by the America-supported rebels.

Yes, him again. I don't want to pay much more attention to the Brett Kimberlin meme, since no-one outside of the right seems interested. To the denizens of Glenn Beckistan, Evil Kimberlin is the most insidious liberal mastermind since the manufactured menace of Saul Alinsky. But to everyone else, he's still "Brett who...?"

That said, I must make note of the latest news, since it is rather astounding. The backstory: Kimberlin got into a tiff with a blogger named Aaron Walker, a conservative who hates him -- really, really hates him, with that special kind of hyper-hate known only to jilted lovers and far rightists in the throes of rage-gasm. I don't know the details, but apparently Kimberlin, claiming harassment, asked for a restraining order (or something similar, as provided by Maryland law) against this Walker fellow. Walker, of course, complained that Kimberlin was harassing him.

Frankly, I expected this courtroom row to go against Kimberlin, if only because the guy's rep is lower than an ant's ankles. We're talking about an ex-con who had been jailed for a very serious crime, and who was later portrayed as a con artist in a book by a New Yorker writer. One would not expect a judge to show Brett Kimberlin any favor.

I still don't know exactly what happened in that Maryland courtroom, but whatever it was -- not only was Kimberlin exonerated, Walker has gone to jail.

Judge ruled that case was built upon FALSE NARRATIVE that Aaron Walker created as revenge plot against Mr. Kimberlin.

Judge ruled that Aaron Walker did in fact ASSAULT Mr. Kimberlin.

Judge ruled that Medical Records that Mr. Kimberlin had produced at a prior trial were in fact legitimate medical records pertaining to the assault – and not forged documents as Mr. Walker had claimed in a number of articles.

Judge ruled that Mr. Walker had a clear purpose/motive in inciting people to attack Mr. Kimberlin.

Video that Aaron Walker used to claim exoneration did not in fact exonerate him of an assault.

It is difficult or impossible to feel much sympathy for a man with Brett Kimberlin's record, so one can only imagine how Walker behaved in that courtroom if he evinced such a reaction from a judge. As noted above, I do not yet know the details of this case. But I do know this: A restraining order is a restraining order, assault is assault, the law is the law, and even people we do not like have rights. Kimberlin paid for his crimes, and now Walker must do likewise.

A Suggestion

Pretty much every week I get advertising fliers and letters from various food companies that promise better prices, better products and of of course the current most favoured buzz word of the ad-man, solutions, solutions, solutions.  Well here is a solution I would actually like.

Next week we have a double bank holiday.  Bank holidays are times when many catering businesses and quite busy, Christmas, New Year, May Day, and of course this bank holiday for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  All of the food companies, who spend so much time and effort trying to persuade the catering industry how wonderful they are, will be closed for the bank holidays.  This means that we have to take our deliveries for fresh food for Monday and Tuesday (and perhaps Wednesday if it is food for breakfast/lunch service) on Saturday, or even Friday if it is one of those 'solution' based companies whose solution is not to work on a weekend.

My solution then is for the food supply industry to be more flexible, get their arses into gear and deliver food when we actually need it.  It isn't just a question of freshness, although I gather some butchers are warning customers not to order fresh chicken products as they would fall outside the 5 day safety margin. It is often a question of refrigerated storage, many catering businesses simply do not have enough cold space to carry goods for a busy 4-5 day period.

I'm going to give Lishman's of Ilkley a plug here.  Lishman's will be open on Tuesday, which is vital to me as I have a large order placed with them, which I could not possibly carry in my cold storage over the weekend. So thanks to David for opening, and thanks to Stuart and the team who will be making hundreds of burgers and sausages for me on Tuesday morning, I appreciate the effort, thank you.

Factoid

Norman Mailer

"A factoid is a questionable or spurious (unverified, false, or fabricated) statement presented as a fact, but with no veracity. The word can also be used to describe a particularly insignificant or novel fact, in the absence of much relevant context. The word is defined by the Compact Oxford English Dictionary as "an item of unreliable information that is repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact".

Factoid was coined by Norman Mailer in his 1973 biography of Marilyn Monroe. Mailer described a factoid as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper", and created the word by combining the word fact and the ending -oid to mean "similar but not the same". The Washington Times described Mailer's new word as referring to "something that looks like a fact, could be a fact, but in fact is not a fact".

Factoids may give rise to, or arise from, common misconceptions and urban legends." - Wikipedia

Finding Diamonds At The Center Of California

Another 7" I've been itching to get to. Funny Not Funny Records have put some ace music out in the past - their Super Vacations/Eternal Summers and Elephant Child/Demon Beat splits were especially great - and here is a newie, a two track sprawler from Virginia act The Diamond Center. It's a delight to have a 7" run for almost quarter of an hour, and the quality on offer is devastating. The tracks have a heaving quality, an intake of breath, that pulses like a living organism. The quiet/loud dynamic that is prevalent in psych music is evident, but also warranted, driving the tension in these tracks, yet also handled with warmth and care rather than haphazardly bludgeoning their songs to death. It's a lullaby of a release - deceptively beautiful, seductively soporific.


You can grab the 7" here.

Diamond Center - California

Culture of the Washington Establishment: Unanimous Consent

According to Senator DeMint, 90% of bills that are passed into law don't even get debated. Passing bills without a roll call vote is called Unanimous Consent, and is a practice that flies in the face of the Founding Fathers.

The importance of debate to the Founders was made evident by the very nature of the Constitutional Convention, and the State ratifying conventions.  The purpose of the system as founded included debate. Arguing the merits of these bills is important. Debate in Congress is what separates us from authoritarian systems where the legislatures are rubber stamps for the executive. The roll call vote, with debate, is one of the things that makes us exceptional, and is an important part of the checks and balances designed into our governmental system.

Obama, when Congress doesn't come to an agreement, claims it is proof that Congress is broken. The Founding Fathers see partisan battles and debates in the Houses of Congress as our government working exactly as designed. Dictatorships are efficient. Republics are a slow grind. . . for a reason.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Showdown in Drive-Thru

By Douglas V. Gibbs

I am not a big fast-food connoisseur, but occasionally I will grab something from the junk food menu. I do have fast-food I prefer if I do go for it, preferring places that are Southern California products, like In-N-Out Burger, Miguel's Jr., and Wahoo's Fish Taco. More rarely, I will go to Taco Bell, McDonald's, Subway, Jack in the Box, or Arby's. Burger King, Del Taco, Wendy's and El Pollo Loco even more rarely. I can't stand KFC (so my wife eats alone when he has a craving for fried chicken).

Anyway, one thing I do like at McDonald's quite a bit is their Mango/Pineapple smoothie. I find myself grabbing one of those at least once every week or two. Today, after picking up my truck from the Smog Test shop, I had a hankering for one of those smoothies, and pulled into the Drive-Thru.

I was third in line, but the line behind me grew rapidly, growing down the driveway and around the corner into the parking lot. I could tell, after the mega-order that took forever from the vehicle in front of me, that the person on the speaker was a little flustered.

"Can I take your order?"

I was figuring she'd be thrilled with my simple, one item, order.

"A large, Mango/Pineapple smoothie, please. Oh, and I have a coupon for a dollar off."

"I'll have your total at the window."

The woman with the huge order had paid and was waiting for her monster-order when I pulled up to the first window. I gave the young woman the coupon, and then began fishing for change from my coin holder as I waited for the final verdict on the damage.

After studying the coupon, the woman in the window said, "You have to get a medium or a large with this coupon."

I remembered saying "large" when I ordered. I never order any other size of the smoothie. Perhaps she didn't hear me since it was among the first words of my order.

"I asked for a large."

"No you didn't," she replied. "I have you down for a small."

Perplexed, I was silent a moment. Before I could repeat that I know I had asked for a large, the woman said, "So, which will it be? Medium, or large?"

"I asked for a large," I repeated.

Then the young woman really surprised me. "I didn't ask you what you asked for. I asked you what you want."

McDonald's has been on my black list for a while. I check every order at the window because they are notorious for leaving things out. One store got so bad that I have stopped going to it.  The final straw was when I had bought 12 burgers, got home, and not a single one had a patty of meat in it.

One time I was at a McDonald's near a construction job I was on, and as me and the guys sat down after getting our order I noticed that instead of giving me a double cheeseburger meal, the guy had given me the two cheeseburger meal. When I confronted him about it, he told me I said two cheeseburgers, and I didn't get my proper order until going to a manager.

This woman, however, was taking McDonald's bad record with me to the limit. However, being the usually pretty calm person I am, I replied, "I asked for a large originally, and since then it hasn't changed."

She came up with the total, I gave her the money, and as she handed me the receipt, she added, "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

I know that us older folks are sort of like the ones before us, and the ones before them, in the sense that we have doubts about the next generation just as those before us did. But the rudeness of this generation is really out of control. I can't count how many times I have seen people throw both arms out the window to flip another person off with both hands, fights at intersections over someone looking at someone wrong, I have seen people throw bottles of Sobe at each other at a gas station, and once a person lowered his shoulder into me as he passed me at a Wal-Mart. When I said something, he flipped me off, laughed, and walked away.

At what point does the next generation get so bad that something needs to be said?

I understand that this is not indicative off all members of the younger generation. Thank God there are those that aren't a bunch of arrogant, narcissistic punks. Every once in a while a younger person will call me Sir, or show that they understand the concept of respecting one's elders, or even respect itself beyond the surface claim of respect by their generation. I am not generally lumping all young folks into the mix of jerks, but it seems that the jerks of this generation out number those that aren't, and the lengths the jerks are willing to go to be jerks has worsened.

As I pulled around the woman with the big order was waiting for the rest of her order in one of those "wait here for your food" spaces. I parked my car and walked into the restaurant.

I asked for the manager. I didn't want to jeopardize anyone's job, but this kind of treatment of customers is not good for the store, or for the company as a whole. Perhaps the person was reprimanded, perhaps they have a long record of acting this way and it hurt her chances for promotion or keeping her job. Maybe, though I hope this is not the case, they shrugged it off or laughed it off as the rantings of a ridiculous old guy.

I wonder.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Fake video footage and very real voter suppression.

You would think that with all that money they have available to them (Almost a billion and counting.Thank you Supremes.) the news network for dummies would come up with a better ad. for attacking his Oness. We are used to FOX making up stuff to suit their narrative, but actually putting fake footage in an ad is over the top for an organization that styles itself as a legitimate news network. (Stop laughing. They really do think that they are legitimate)

Update:

"Fox News’ Executive Vice President of Programming, Bill Shine, tells Yahoo News, “The package that aired on ‘Fox & Friends’ was created by an associate producer and was not authorized at the senior executive level of the network.”

Stay classy winnguts; blame the "associate producer". The GOP already got their $100,000 worth of air time free of charge.

Someone needs to tell Flipper that if he plans to become president of the United States, it would help to learn how to spell A-m-e-r-i-c-a.

And I know, I know, as someone who likes to make up my own words and butcher the spelling of various words from time to time, I have no room to talk. But hey, I am not running for president of these divided states, and I am not paid a ton money to help run and coordinate a presidential campaign. 

Finally, I am glad that the AG took my advice and is all over this attack on our right to vote here in America.

"WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Eric Holder told African-American clergy leaders Wednesday that a wave of new state laws on voting and legal challenges to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 may jeopardize rights they helped fight for in the civil rights era.

"Despite our nation's long tradition of extending voting rights ... a growing number of our fellow citizens are worried about the same disparities, divisions and problems that - nearly five decades ago - so many fought to address," Holder told a meeting of the Conference of National Black Churches convened by the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss the laws.

"In my travels across the country, I've heard a consistent drumbeat of concern from citizens, who - often for the first time in their lives - now have reason to believe that we are failing to live up to one of our nation's most noble ideals. And some of the achievements that defined the civil rights movement now hang in the balance."

Holder spoke in response to an array of new voting measures enacted by several mostly Republican state governments that proponents say are needed to protect against voter fraud and to prevent illegal immigrants from voting. However, the mostly Democratic black caucus - along with several civil rights, voting rights and civil liberties groups - contends that the laws are really efforts to suppress the votes of minorities and others.

Since last year, at least 15 states have passed laws that include requiring people to show government-approved photo identification or proof of citizenship before they register or vote. Other changes that states have adopted or some legislatures are considering include restricting voter-registration efforts by third-party groups, such as the League of Women Voters and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; curtailing or eliminating early voting; doing away with same-day voter registration; and rescinding the voting rights of convicted felons who have served their time.

A study last year by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University says the changes could restrict voting access to 5 million people, most of them minorities, elderly or poor. The NAACP estimates that about 25 percent of African-Americans don't possess the proper documentation to meet ID requirements in some states; the figure is 11 percent for the overall population." [Source]

Now I need all of you Negroes to get off your butts and start paying attention to what is happening in your country. People died so that you all could have the rights that you enjoy, now they are being chipped away by back room deals and greedy and unscrupulous poli-tricksters. Wake the f*&k up!

And for the record, some of you house Negroes who choose to side with these people ---who would take away the hard fought rights of your people---- are no better than the lone sell out who gave up Denmark Vesey 190 years ago today. 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/30/2824580/voting-rights-gains-of-60s-in.html#storylink=cpy

Always Updating...The Mayors Bar Website Continues to be the Gin Mill Leader

    Some updates to the http://www.mayorsbar.com/  website.
    We added a link to the local newspaper at their request.  And we added a link to Liz Benjamin, which she did not request.
     We also have a coupon offer that the drinking public will want to take note of......

Straining To Read Your Mind Over All The Blood...

Here's another 7" from the not too distant past. Massachusetts noise punkers Psychic Blood pumped out this dissonant, vitriolic 7" and it's a corker. Strain is two songs that disappear down a corrugated iron tunnel filled with miscreants and crushed syringes. Both the title track and 'Drudgefest' lay it down like an eczema rash, so bad for you but you can't help but frantically itch. Think Wipers with a rabid fascination for serrated glass. Dirty, tetanus stuff. I wish I could say more - and I probably could - but my gums are bleeding from gnashing my teeth. Psychic Blood have an album on the way called Autumn Curses. Can. Not. Wait.

Psychic Blood - Strain

Don't drink more than 3 glasses of wine a week: Oxford study claims slashing the official alcohol limit would save 4,500 lives a year | Mail Online

    Geeeez...I thought I was being sociable having my three glasses of merlot with dinner...Now the do gooders say it should be three glasses a week.
     Holy cow...I don't smoke or snort...and I eat broccoli and try to stay active...and I'll be damned if the health nuts take away my sociability....
      They'll have to pry my Yellowtail from my cold, dead fingers !
Don't drink more than 3 glasses of wine a week: Oxford study claims slashing the official alcohol limit would save 4,500 lives a year | Mail Online

The sanest thing anyone has said during the past four years

I don't have much time to write at the moment, but I'd like to get this video in front of those few who haven't yet seen this. Maher summarizes an argument which has become the main point and purpose of this blog. These are the sanest words on Obama ever uttered.

It's clear that Maher doesn't really like Obama. At all. And he doesn't seem very happy with the Dems in general. Yet everyone knows that Maher gave a million bucks to the Democrats this year. This indicates not that the Dems are doing much good, but that the Republicans have become just that scary.

I would love to sit out this election. I would love to tell readers that Obama's failure has been so miserable that we should cede full control of all three branches of government to the GOP. Let them screw it all up again, and when they do, maybe we can find a real Democrat who will return this country to what I call the "New Deal normal" -- to the polices that made this country prosperous between 1940 and 1980.

I would like to espouse that plan -- but I can't. The Republicans really are just that scary. It is clear to me that these sub-Birchian zealots consider democracy an impediment to the implementation of their proposed Libertarian paradise. If those maniacs take over, the American experiment may not last.

Governor Cuomo Launches Summer Tourism Advertising Campaign | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

    Go with what works....That's why Governor Cuomo is bringing back the successful "I Love NY" tourism campaign.  The catch logo and jingle made New Yorkers feel good about living in the tax capital of the nation.
    It's just like Mario is back....
Governor Cuomo Launches Summer Tourism Advertising Campaign | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

Dumbing Down of America Exposed in Florida Schools

By Douglas V. Gibbs

It has been no secret that we are having an educational crisis in the United States.  Public schools are doing worse and worse, unable to compete with private schools, homeschooled children, and for that matter the rest of the world. Some suggest that this is on purpose. By dumbing down our children we are preparing the future generations for more easily accepting authoritarian control by leftist systems of governance.

We are raising young people in our public schools that are illiterate. We are cramming them with bad information from experimental teaching techniques, political correctness, and liberal philosophies so that they will be good, obedient citizens. Informed voters think for themselves, and seek freedom. A dumbed down population is always eager to depend on the government overlords. Mind-numbed followers don't ask questions.

History is our students' worst subject. They can't even answer the simplest questions about history in regards to the Revolutionary War, World War II, or the Korean War. The fault partly lies in the fact that history textbooks are poorly written, and partly because they are not being taught the information in the first place. I remember when my nephew came to me upset because in his History Class they skipped the chapter about the U.S. Constitution. When he inquired why, the teacher explained to him that the class was limited in time and had to skip unnecessary lessons.

In addition to skipping over important parts of history, new history uses political correctness, and caters to pop culture and particular groups in an effort to appease the same groups the leftist political wing-nuts are also trying to appease. As a result, the generations of students that come out of our schools don't know our past, and as the old dictum goes, he who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it.

Educational malpractice in the public schools is not only a problem presented by liberal democrats and Marxists that have infiltrated our educational system, but is also the fault of bone-headed, and unconstitutional, legislation like the "No Child Left Behind" Act. The law that was Bush 43's baby, despite its good intentions, worsened our education system, took the emphasis away from knowing our history, and of course was unconstitutional just like the Education Department. The federal government has no authority over education in this country. That is a local issue, and for good reason.

The problem is, the local systems have been so influenced by federal dictate that they have also become a part of the madness that is dumbing down America. An example revealed itself recently in Florida schools where, because only 27% of the students were able to pass a fourth grade state written exam, the Florida Department of Education lowered the performance level standard. The decision was made by a four-three vote, reasoning that the kids did so poorly because the test was too hard.

Yes, I just defended that our schools belong in local hands, and here we are with a state board doing stupid things too. Understand, though, that is because of the federal, and hard left, influence.

If our public schools are to succeed, they need to change their models, right down to the curriculum, to models that work. In the United States, those models are home-schooling and private schools (largely the ones of the Christian nature). Discipline, a strict curriculum based on un-revised history, phonetics, traditional math techniques, and a strict moral structure, all contribute to the success of these models, and they do it on budgets much smaller than those of the public schools.

While Florida's public school system is arguing that a state test is too hard when it expects a fourth grader to know what a camel is, at the private school and home school level kids are aware of the entire animal kingdom. . . and the details of why, and how, we fought for our independence during the Revolutionary War.

It is time for a change back to the more traditional methods, or there will never be improvement, and the next generation will be lost to the authoritarian dictates of a worsening progressive and authoritarian government system.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

The Dumbing Down of America - Human Events

Liberalism and the Dumbing Down of America - American Thinker

Florida Lowers Passing Grade for State Writing Exam After Over 70 Percent of Fourth Graders Fail - Fox News

Syria Massacre: Blood on Leftist Hands

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran was as a result of Jimmy Carter's policies enabling the rise of an Islamist faction in Iran when he turned his back on The Shah of Iran. Barack Obama has done the same in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Syria. Thanks to Obama's Middle East policies, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other similar Islamist groups, are taking control and are radicalizing the Muslim nations of the region.

In Syria, the Houla massacre of people continues. Last weekend more than a hundred people, half of them children, lay dead under the onslaught of the Islamic killing machine.

The United Nations finally condemned the murderers, as has American officials.

Bashar al-Assad has been on a killing spree in Syria for a year and a half. Obama verbally went after Mubarak because the people cried for his removal, and it was not only none of our business in that case, but Mubarak, though a heavy handed leader, had kept the peace, was willing to abide with the treaty with Israel, and worked with the United States. Obama worked with NATO to attack Libya, and Ghadafi was also a heavy handed ruler. The guy needed to someday be gone. But with the Muslim Brotherhood waiting for an opportunity, and the timing of intervention by The West was atrocious. All of this has now led to the battle in Syria, and the death in Syria, and the murders are a direct result of the policies of the international leftists in the area.

In Iraq a dictator that had been acting in a manner that was a direct threat to the United States, and allies (namely Israel) was removed, and then a force remained to help the country adjust to its new order so that the Islamists did not gain control - so the comparison the liberal left wants to make cannot be applied.

What is interesting to me is that Assad's killing in Syria, now six months short of being two years long, never got a peep out of the U.N. or the Obama administration. Why? They didn't have to, they didn't want to offend the Muslims, and in all reality Islam and the Leftists have similar enemies (Judaism and Christianity) so they try not to give each other too hard of a time. But last weekend's slaughter of women and children appalled the world so much, the U.N. and American Left figured now they ought to condemn the brutality. It was a political move, and nothing more.

Since early 2011 the death toll under the brutal fist of Assad's regime has reached 13,000. I'll be damned if I want the U.N. to necessarily get involved, though. We saw what happened when the United Nations peacekeeping department arrived in Rwanda. The slaughter of 800,000 continued, and worsened.

The primary problem is that international leftists and American liberals refuse to see the potential of the Muslim War Machine. It reminds me of Neville Chamberlain before World War II trying to make nice-nice with Hitler. The Middle East is becoming, even more so than before, a death arena, and our ally, Israel, is their primary target. Islam will not stop until they have destroyed Israel, killed every Christian and Jew they can get their hands on, and dominate the world with their 7th Century madness. The Left thinks they can reason with these people, thinks they can appease these people, and then when the worst happens finally pulls out a condemnation.

Understand, the problem is not the people, it is the ideology. But as long as these people adhere to the dangerous and barbaric ideology of Islam, the war will not stop, and we will need to engage it. This is not warmongering. This is reality. And realize, Russia is doing what she can to arm the madness.

The Leftists did not do anything about Rwanda until it was too late, and I am afraid the same thing may be happening in Syria. It is Neville Chamberlain all over again.

As for the U.N. investigation into the Syrian massacre? Remember, these are the same people whose watch the U.N. Oil for Food scandal went down under.

In the case of the United States, it is in our best interest to tell the United Nations goodbye, and exit that organization as fast as we can.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Russian arms shipment en route to Syria - Reuters

Syria Blames Rebels for Houla Massacre - Yahoo News

U.N. Talk Only Exploits Syrian Massacre - Canada Free Press