tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84428472672131899912024-03-14T07:40:10.185-04:00Dave's NotepadRandom thoughts and observations from a linear-minded guy attempting to navigate my way through an increasingly non-linear world.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger459125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-71897340069751332532011-09-17T22:11:00.004-04:002011-09-17T22:50:00.502-04:00Change<p>Having now taken some time off to recharge the old batteries and to deal with some rather pressing issues, I am now posting regularly over at <a href="http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/">Fellowship of the Minds.</a></p><p>I am also going to be getting the Notepad back up and running as well in the coming days, so be sure and take a peek once in a while.</p><p>-Dave</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-64995825291142813422011-02-24T10:30:00.002-05:002011-02-24T10:34:28.541-05:00Wanna be Executed in Georgia? Just Have a Miscarriage<p>Sounds crazy, right? Of course it does, but if one kook of a state rep. has his way, <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/22/georgia-anti-abortion-bill-would-require-investigations-of-miscarriages/">that is exactly what could happen here in my home state.</a></p><p>People like Bobby Franklin give Christianity a bad name, are an embarrassment to my state, and have no business in public office at any level.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-45324674470050223282011-02-24T10:05:00.001-05:002011-02-24T10:07:15.659-05:00Remember These Bricks?<iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/694TX2lQ7Uo?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-39599399912377837422011-02-24T10:02:00.001-05:002011-02-24T10:06:29.417-05:00Palestinian Alarm Clock<iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X7_0NoRHOEM?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-72186102826486719612011-02-18T15:59:00.003-05:002011-02-18T16:08:46.534-05:00Busy Day in the House of Representatives<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfZWhBaR3kiU-Km4LIObJjPhUG24TWgtmGh-N3u3QQxBXwzeioWMf8pUZcP61otiBk99pQ-Bjz75g8Gw1csV2TJj94tvuC6yf5dCM_EtKE2a_r5xBoEIVjCIICC2pa5p3dbPxCsKMnOQ/s1600/no_obama+.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfZWhBaR3kiU-Km4LIObJjPhUG24TWgtmGh-N3u3QQxBXwzeioWMf8pUZcP61otiBk99pQ-Bjz75g8Gw1csV2TJj94tvuC6yf5dCM_EtKE2a_r5xBoEIVjCIICC2pa5p3dbPxCsKMnOQ/s200/no_obama+.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575139494656294610" /></a><br /><p>Via <a href="http://drudgereport.com/">Drudge</a>:</p><p><a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49781.html">House votes to overthrow 'czars'...</a></p><p><a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/02/house-health-care-block-funding-/1">House blocks health care law funds...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49830.html">Votes to defund Planned Parenthood...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/house-passes-amendment-to-block-funds-for-net-neutrality-order-20110217">Blocks 'net neutrality' funds...</a><br /></p><p>It's a good start, but my question is, when are they going to vote to defund Obama?</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-90244815389110208812011-02-11T09:26:00.005-05:002011-02-11T10:39:41.948-05:00The Repubs Aren't Getting It Done<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FkzijeOd2rpluZ3Ihcn9jZEn4swveLEc7Fb-rOvNRvRLzdZazIXAx1VfcQrowK3xyJQitwNYhqEDVTo4Em0hvBgG5cbzBS_Ez2zZXVxbwJYc8hxDFnSx9GP3a98xmspDJsDJWaqGKbI/s1600/distress-flag.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FkzijeOd2rpluZ3Ihcn9jZEn4swveLEc7Fb-rOvNRvRLzdZazIXAx1VfcQrowK3xyJQitwNYhqEDVTo4Em0hvBgG5cbzBS_Ez2zZXVxbwJYc8hxDFnSx9GP3a98xmspDJsDJWaqGKbI/s200/distress-flag.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572452412089141266" /></a><br /><p>Via <a href="http://boortz.com/">boortz.com</a>: <blockquote>Sorry, but thus far the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives has been anything but promising and stimulating. Okay, so they voted to repeal Obama care. Actually, that was an easy vote. They know it was going nowhere in the Senate, and it is said that happened the past that they knew that The Community Organizer would veto it, so let's just use the word "symbolic" and move on here. Then we have their attempt at cutting the budget. They announce a figure in the neighborhood of $75 billion. Then some reporters, including our own. Jamie Dupree, point out that the Republicans are using the old baseline budgeting trick. That is, they're announcing the budget cut not from present spending levels but from projected increased spending levels in future years. Now that's partially budget cut and partially reductions in future spending increases. This is not the sort of gamesmanship that the tea party voters signed up for last November. The real figure for Republican budget cut proposals? That would be somewhere in the $35 billion range; about one half of what they were trying to pass off to the voters as their grandiose attempt at cutting the federal budget.<br /><br />The truth here is that we have Republicans that are looking harder at their reelection chances -- harder at protecting their privileges, their perks, and their power -- then they are at doing the job the voters sent them to Washington to do last November.</blockquote><p>You will find the rest of Neal's take on things at this <a href="http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2011/02/so-far-disappointing.html">link</a>.</p><p>While I, too, am disappointed, I cannot say I am surprised. After all, these are still politicians, and they all seem to have only one goal, and that is to win reelection, no matter what letter follows their name.</p><p>Neal gives the republicans a C+, but I'm giving then a D- so far. While I'm not yet ready to declare last November's election a bust, I'm getting awfully close.</p><p>Let's hope the TEA Party supporters who were so instrumental in flipping the House last November will keep the pressure on those they sent to Washington, as this country is fast running out of time, as well as excuses.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-62301339669172485842011-01-29T14:15:00.003-05:002011-01-29T14:21:13.268-05:00Just Exactly Who Is Barry Hussein Soetoro Obama?<p>After listening very carefully to what our current POTUS and CIC had to say about the Egyptian uprising yesterday, I think it's time for the House of representatives to put aside the bug hunts for now, and start digging around in a very focused and expedited effort to find out just who exactly Barry Hussein Obama Soetoro is, as well as what foreign influences he may be working under.</p><p>This man has done nothing but stick his finger into the eyes of our traditional allies, sided with stinking communists (Honduras, China) and the camel-washing savages (Iran, Muslim Brotherhood, etc.) at every opportunity.</p><p>There is no possible way this impostor is an American, I don't care if he was born in the top of the Statue of Liberty.</p><p>As I see it, Barry Hussein Obama is the single greatest threat to this country currently out there.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-59357738081437504382011-01-28T10:02:00.005-05:002011-01-28T12:42:35.447-05:00They are Coming for our Guns<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNnn9K9fCmprn0NkFAsvAVUjE4mm4X0kCV3qoutPdoM4CnUZaToFzpB4D13wpITQdu2luwKIBEp-gj_xQ8bT-impppIBSiC1rnBOJWnsxS-78S3U0IqE8CfknDMkMXXq1GmtLquTH2aY/s1600/gun_control_both_hands.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNnn9K9fCmprn0NkFAsvAVUjE4mm4X0kCV3qoutPdoM4CnUZaToFzpB4D13wpITQdu2luwKIBEp-gj_xQ8bT-impppIBSiC1rnBOJWnsxS-78S3U0IqE8CfknDMkMXXq1GmtLquTH2aY/s200/gun_control_both_hands.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567288734017216818" /></a><br /><p>Anytime there is a nationally reported shooting you can always count on the lefty gun-grabbers to start falling out of the rafters and, in unison, begin screaming for even more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.</p><p>Notice I didn't say more restrictions on criminals, because the gun-snatchers don't care about criminals and their guns. After all, no gun law ever passed has ever kept a gun out of the hands of a determined criminal, and they know this, but it doesn't matter to them. Besides, the government pretty much knows who and where the criminals are, and they can round them up anytime they like.</p><p>No, the guns they fear and are working toward grabbing are the guns owned by you and me.</p><p>In the wake of the tragic shooting that recently took place in Tucson, the anti-gunners have wasted no time in pushing for even more restrictions on firearm ownership. Of course, further restrictions will do nothing to prevent future Tucsons from happening, but it does get the American sheeple more and more used to the idea of firearm regulation by the federal government - never mind that the federal government has no constitutional authority to regulate firearms to begin with.</p><p>In the days leading up to President Obama's SOTU address, many lefties in the MSM were expressing hope he was going to <a href="http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/checker.aspx?v=hdqGuzprVr">propose tougher gun restrictions</a>. I, too, was expecting Obama to do so, but for whatever reason, that didn't happen.</p><p>That is not to say that the current administration isn't planning on exploiting the Arizona tragedy to further advance their anti-gun agenda. On the contrary, they are presently gearing up to do exactly that.</p><p><a href="http://www.newsweek.com/">Via newsweek.com</a> (emphasis mine): <blockquote>At the beginning of his State of the Union address, President Obama tipped his hat to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who’s now recuperating in a Houston medical facility. But throughout the hourlong speech, <strong>he never addressed the issue at the core of the Giffords tragedy—gun control—and what lawmakers would, or should, do to reform American firearm-access laws.</strong><br /><br />[...]<p>But in the next two weeks, the White House will unveil a new gun-control effort in which it will urge Congress to strengthen current laws, <strong>which now allow some mentally unstable people, such as alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, to obtain certain assault weapons, in some cases without even a background check.</strong><br /><br />Tuesday night after the speech, Obama adviser David Plouffe said to NBC News that the president <strong>would not let the moment after the Arizona shootings pass without pushing for some change in the law</strong>, to prevent another similar incident. “It’s a very important issue, and one I know there’s going to be debate about on the Hill.”</blockquote><p>You will find the rest at this<a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/27/white-house-to-push-gun-control.html"> link</a>.</p><p>I am not aware of any state that allows people who have a history of mental instability to legally purchase a firearm. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but I would be willing to bet it is a fairly rare occurrence. And even if a background check causes a licensed dealer to reject the sale, that isn't going to stop the would-be criminal from obtaining a firearm from other sources. No law that could ever be written would prevent that.</p><p>Many of my fellow conservatives appear to be taking comfort in the fact that the republicans now have control of the House of Representatives, and this somehow means there will be no further restrictions imposed on gun ownership for at least the next two years.</p><p>I'm not so sure about that, as if there is one stark lesson history has taught us about government, it is that the larger and more powerful government becomes, the more corrupt and tyrannical it becomes, and the party affiliation of those running it doesn't seem to matter all that much.</p><p>Our founders new how evil and tyrannical big government could be, which is why they strove to place limits on it in our nation's founding document. </p><p>Sadly, we have strayed so far from that original ideal that we now have government taking half of what we earn and giving it to others, bureaucrats telling us what kind of cars we may own, what kind of light bulbs we may use, what we can and cannot eat, how much energy we may use, what doctors we can and cannot see, and molesting our daughters and feeling up our wives at our airports.</p><p>I could go on and on, but you get the picture.</p><p>The way things are going in America these days, I can easily envision a day when our God-given 2nd Amendment rights might very well be the only thing standing between us and a tyrannical, oppressive government. However, if we continue to allow said government to chip away at those rights, we are going to wake up one morning and find ourselves to be little more than government slaves.</p><p>Don't think it can't happen here. As recently as five years ago, I didn't think something like Barack Hussein Obama could happen here, either. </p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-62304620837623583802011-01-25T18:04:00.001-05:002011-01-25T18:04:58.477-05:00If Dave were giving the SOTU speech:My fellow Americans, the state of the union currently sucks, and it sucks worse as each day (hour?) passes.<br /><br />The state of our union will continue to deteriorate until Barack Hussein Obama has been bounced out of office, and his hideous policies have been reversed in their entirety.<br /><br />We can either do that now, or we can wait until November of 2012 comes around, and hope we will have acted in time to save this republic as it was founded.<br /><br />This is one case where good things are not going to come to those who wait.<br /><br /><p>Thank you, and may God bless America.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-47648540672039977062011-01-19T22:34:00.004-05:002011-01-19T22:47:16.571-05:00Obama Welcomes the Rise of the Chicoms<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrGAq5EI-kuLMeFgByYZsDQ5SOSeg8jIlYgyojYiC3XLtdnCdntj___971KXnm0PK6SnqJn1D_wj62-vGLcnG4_sFOC0t1OvcaOjuSrpJPX7A1K7ibrCWGGVGM9GBxEoi8cnnU_vvSwQ/s1600/chinese_flag.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrGAq5EI-kuLMeFgByYZsDQ5SOSeg8jIlYgyojYiC3XLtdnCdntj___971KXnm0PK6SnqJn1D_wj62-vGLcnG4_sFOC0t1OvcaOjuSrpJPX7A1K7ibrCWGGVGM9GBxEoi8cnnU_vvSwQ/s200/chinese_flag.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564109115490388050" /></a><br /><p>Via <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/">cbsnews.com</a>: <blockquote>China's rapid growth is often painted as a threat to American interests. But President Obama said today that the country's economic progress benefits the United States and opens the door to greater international stability and humanitarian progress.<br /><br />"We welcome China's rise," Mr. Obama said at a press conference at the White House with Chinese President Hu Jintao. "I absolutely believe that China's peaceful rise is good for the world, and it's good for America."<br /><br />He added, "We just want to make sure that that rise occurs in a way that reinforces international norms and international rules, and enhances security and peace, as opposed to it being a source of conflict either in the region or around the world."</blockquote><p>You can read the rest at this <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028958-503544.html">link</a>, if you can stomach it.</p><p>China is poised to eat our economic breakfast, lunch, as well as our dinner, and it appears the former community pisser-offer just pushed their chair much closer to the table.</p><p>Perhaps Nixon's opening the door to China wasn't such a hot idea after all.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-47541694025885006842011-01-19T21:17:00.006-05:002011-01-19T23:11:48.669-05:00House Votes 245-189 to Repeal ObamaCare<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mAmJTZZPha3E2_XFiuDwN5KBgVFrJQzOoseyPW8AIxzFxt1NLVXYh5HGX2d6itWc3XUQVL0L3Lde2kTbo-DhZCrUFaxozEDaiJVlU0I7ETpUUPAVkLCR6lsyCcDz6d3pHP6LGc-IB54/s1600/John_Boehner.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 108px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mAmJTZZPha3E2_XFiuDwN5KBgVFrJQzOoseyPW8AIxzFxt1NLVXYh5HGX2d6itWc3XUQVL0L3Lde2kTbo-DhZCrUFaxozEDaiJVlU0I7ETpUUPAVkLCR6lsyCcDz6d3pHP6LGc-IB54/s200/John_Boehner.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564089145350181762" /></a><br /><p>Well, <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47831.html">that's all well and good</a>, as it at least puts House critters on record.</p><p>What I want to know is, when are they going to pull out the knives and start gutting this atrocity, and thus de-funding it until there is no trace of it remaining - not a shadow, not even a speck of dust?</p><p>We're waiting, Mr Boehner.</p><p>(h/t: <a href="http://www.politico.com/">politico.com</a>)</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-91849323296637291282011-01-15T14:17:00.005-05:002011-01-15T15:34:05.174-05:00Royal Marshall Dead at 43<p>Royal Marshall, the producer of the <a href="http://boortz.com/">Neal Boortz Radio Show</a>, passed away suddenly in his home early this morning. For Royal's family, Neal, Belinda, all of us Boortz fans, and the City of Atlanta, this is a God-awful loss, as Royal was one of the highly talented people who made Neal's show truly great.</p><p>My thoughts and prayers go out to Neal, Belinda, the wife and two young daughters Royal left behind, and to all of those who worked with him, knew him, and loved him.</p><p>I had the pleasure of meeting Royal at the book signing for Neal's Fair Tax book at the Barnes and Noble on Barrett Parkway a few years back, where I had a brief conversation with him. He came across to me as a super nice guy and cheerfully signed my copy of Neal's book. I have never heard anything even remotely negative said about the guy.</p><p>Please pray for Royal's wife and daughters, the rest of his family, friends, coworkers, and all who knew him.</p><p>You can read more about Royal, including a brief note from Neal, at this <a href="http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2011/01/remembering-royal-marshall.html">link</a>.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-74067181359262677482011-01-14T09:30:00.003-05:002011-01-14T10:03:59.554-05:00Freedom On Global Decline<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilXd5jTqVTX3SvStUjDkbc6itEx19mTa0UGWyU7iQyvSI7aXJceRlZz261DHUW-pXdshMZygT_UOxPQoZxrRmypLa3tvvlj5S0dDzCQ7VKlMwK1hyphenhyphenaJKKukjxcu9mHNw_aP-23IoBGdUM/s1600/obey.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilXd5jTqVTX3SvStUjDkbc6itEx19mTa0UGWyU7iQyvSI7aXJceRlZz261DHUW-pXdshMZygT_UOxPQoZxrRmypLa3tvvlj5S0dDzCQ7VKlMwK1hyphenhyphenaJKKukjxcu9mHNw_aP-23IoBGdUM/s200/obey.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562057280911257074" /></a><br /><p>Via <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/">breitbart.com</a>:<blockquote>Global freedom declined for a fifth straight year in 2010 as authoritarian regimes dug in worldwide and crime and unrest plagued democracies like Mexico, a US watchdog said Thursday.<br /><br />In "Freedom in the World 2011" the Washington-based Freedom House said it had documented the longest continuous period of decline since it began compiling the annual index nearly 40 years ago.<br /><br />"A total of 25 countries showed significant declines in 2010, more than double the 11 countries exhibiting noteworthy gains," the group said.<br /><br />"Authoritarian regimes like those in China, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela continued to step up repressive measures with little significant resistance from the democratic world," it said</blockquote>You will find the rest at this <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=CNG.b7ab9f89dccc945f6545ca445a6fac5a.4a1&show_article=">link</a>.<br /><p>Sad to say, but the bulk of humanity has lived under some form of tyranny since the beginning of recorded history. Only a fortunate few have enjoyed living under relative freedom.</p><p>Our generation was among that fortunate few. I am not all that confident those coming behind us will enjoy the same level of freedom we did.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-89420244149704141122011-01-08T12:34:00.004-05:002011-01-08T12:49:35.204-05:00Former Community Pisser-Offer Pressing for Internet IDs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOu2yKlO_nnRvkC6G9oxGmfrUp2km57vD87Srk30fpK2m03Oi0paO_uEG8u7qeCE28dfQVULX5QsUmKv6y6R-7nQvG_jngFpUh7Qz9yMVPV28twOUIvlQxLy1UmskDig-95etHutBObw/s1600/comrade_Obama.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOu2yKlO_nnRvkC6G9oxGmfrUp2km57vD87Srk30fpK2m03Oi0paO_uEG8u7qeCE28dfQVULX5QsUmKv6y6R-7nQvG_jngFpUh7Qz9yMVPV28twOUIvlQxLy1UmskDig-95etHutBObw/s200/comrade_Obama.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559872467631920338" /></a><br /><p>Via <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20027837-501465.html">cbsnews.com</a>: <blockquote>STANFORD, Calif. - President Obama is planning to hand the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans, a White House official said here today.<br /><br />It's "the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to centralize efforts toward creating an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said.<br /><br />That news, first reported by CNET, effectively pushes the department to the forefront of the issue, beating out other potential candidates including the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The move also is likely to please privacy and civil liberties groups that have raised concerns in the past over the dual roles of police and intelligence agencies.<br /><br />The announcement came at an event today at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, where U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Schmidt spoke.<br /><br />The Obama administration is currently drafting what it's calling the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which Locke said will be released by the president in the next few months. (An early version was publicly released last summer.)<br /><br />"We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."<br /><br />The Commerce Department will be setting up a national program office to work on this project, Locke said.<br /><br />Details about the "trusted identity" project are unusually scarce. Last year's announcement referenced a possible forthcoming smart card or digital certificate that would prove that online users are who they say they are. These digital IDs would be offered to consumers by online vendors for financial transactions.<br /><br />Schmidt stressed today that anonymity and pseudonymity will remain possible on the Internet. "I don't have to get a credential if I don't want to," he said. There's no chance that "a centralized database will emerge," and "we need the private sector to lead the implementation of this," he said.<br /><br />Inter-agency rivalries to claim authority over cybersecurity have exited ever since many responsibilities were centralized in the Department of Homeland Security as part of its creation nine years ago. Three years ago, proposals were were circulating in Washington to transfer authority to the secretive NSA, which is part of the U.S. Defense Department.<br /><br /><p>In March 2009, Rod Beckstrom, director of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Center, resigned through a letter that gave a rare public glimpse into the competition for budgetary dollars and cybersecurity authority. Beckstrom said at the time that the NSA "effectively controls DHS cyber efforts through detailees, technology insertions," and has proposed moving some functions to the agency's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters.</p></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-76306715628250119292011-01-07T10:12:00.004-05:002011-01-07T10:41:16.650-05:00The Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxk0GN3BHXSYp238RwnngE-nyLpbTE2VkE_NlbE6ZViQLhI8EVyVZ0EbVECAxMuLQ_pic8K1ToHDKype0BbilArHkyd05qT_3WzzeOrUMB3d-ryw-EdvYcwsSlbP2SUzCR_1rc_lpCfU/s1600/ambulance_chasers.jpeg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 114px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxk0GN3BHXSYp238RwnngE-nyLpbTE2VkE_NlbE6ZViQLhI8EVyVZ0EbVECAxMuLQ_pic8K1ToHDKype0BbilArHkyd05qT_3WzzeOrUMB3d-ryw-EdvYcwsSlbP2SUzCR_1rc_lpCfU/s200/ambulance_chasers.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559467764417063074" /></a><br /><p>I am posting this mostly for fun, but also to demonstrate just how ludicrous and out-of-joint our society is becoming in this grossly over-barristered nation. </p><p>Via <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/">cnsnews.com</a>: <blockquote>(CNSNews.com) – A lawsuit against a restaurant for failing to offer artichoke-eating instructions and a convicted killer’s lawsuit to receive electrolysis as part of a state-funded sex change are among the top five Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010 compiled by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.<br /><br />The Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign was launched by ILR to raise public awareness of the impact that abusive lawsuits have on small businesses, communities, and individuals. Small business account for 64 percent of new jobs in the economy, and they paid $105.4 billion in tort liability costs in 2008.<br /><br />“While many of these lawsuits are humorous and others quite troubling, the damage inflicted by abusive litigation is very real,” said ILR President Lisa Rickard. “More litigation is something we can ill afford in this troubled economy that desperately needs more jobs, not more lawsuits.”<br /><br />Number five on the list was the lawsuit filed by Dr. Arturo Carvjal, a doctor with a family practice in Hollywood, who sued Houston’s Restaurant because he was sent to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and discomfort after eating an entire artichoke.</blockquote><p>You can read the rest at this <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/artichoke-eating-instructions-and-electr">link</a>.</p><p>And we wonder why our society is sliding into the gutter.</p><p>We need a <a href="http://www.pointoflaw.com/loserpays/">Loser Pays</a> system, as that would bring a swift end to much of this hideous, expensive nonsense that only lines the pockets of the trial lawyers and drives up the cost of everything for everybody.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-5267796290487652522011-01-07T09:19:00.007-05:002011-01-07T10:04:36.730-05:00Time to Erase the U.S. Department of "Education"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq61DpZcOwMx4FArIr2SuIVUuHGgQ_IE0ToHEmcScvkPDbAt8eV6ODtYtPT-W0jitNOvaO7Xku_MbzIbtsyUXMM2dD6UXu3QWM-6yBxh2wfeUK3yntq10MycVj15JkDD_ivt3yytu0KLo/s1600/indoctrination-center-ahead.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq61DpZcOwMx4FArIr2SuIVUuHGgQ_IE0ToHEmcScvkPDbAt8eV6ODtYtPT-W0jitNOvaO7Xku_MbzIbtsyUXMM2dD6UXu3QWM-6yBxh2wfeUK3yntq10MycVj15JkDD_ivt3yytu0KLo/s200/indoctrination-center-ahead.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559456952260900514" /></a><br /><p>It has only been around for thirty years, consumed hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and yet our government educational system seems to be turning out more morons than ever before.</p><p>Not only that, but this parking lot for otherwise unemployable bureaucrats is promoting things that are not a little hostile to my concept of freedom and liberty by using our tax dollars to push the written works of America-hating commie scum such as <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2314">Saul <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Alinsky</span></a> and <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/theclowardpivenstrategypoe.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cloward</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Piven</span></a>, to name just a few.</p><p>It's time to pull the plug on one of the most useless (not to mention dangerous) federal agencies in existence.</p><p>Via Doug Ross at <a href="http://directorblue.blogspot.com/">directorblue.blogspot.com</a>: <blockquote>You may be surprised to discover that the Department of Education did not even exist until 1980.<br /><br />Yet, over the last three years alone, the Department has spent roughly a third of a trillion dollars with copious amounts of 'Stimulus' spending sent directly to the bosses of the teachers' unions.<br /><br />I think even progressives would agree that the Department of Education has been an abysmal failure. Hundreds of billions of dollars were spent in just the last few years alone with literally no measurable effect.<br /><br />But the progressives claim they need more money.<br /><br />I disagree. I recommend we excise the entire Department of Education and save tens of billions of dollars a year. Whatever they're doing isn't working and has never worked. And the United States survived just fine for over 200 years without an Education Department</blockquote>You can read the rest at this <a href="http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/01/great-news-us-department-of-education.html">link</a>.<br /><p>I am hoping (perhaps somewhat naively) that the 112<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">th</span> House of Representatives is serious about getting a handle on out-of-control spending and cutting out much of the fat that has built up in the federal government over the years.<br /></p><p>It seems to me that the Department of Education is as good a place to start as any.</p><p>Then they can turn there attention (and their knives) to the EPA, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">DoE</span>, PBS, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">NEA</span>, FCC, IRS, and a whole host of other federal agencies that are nothing more than places for fat-ass bureaucrats to park their over-fed behinds for forty hours a week, and that have no constitutional basis for existence.</p><p><em>If</em> the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">repubs</span> have the stones to do it.</p><p><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">They'd</span> better, as the near-term survival of this republic is at stake.</p><p><br /></p><p>(h/t: <a href="http://boortz.com/">Boortz.com</a>)<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-58055387838675759412011-01-06T09:31:00.006-05:002011-01-20T23:18:52.323-05:00Creeping Tyranny Confirmed: N.Y. Town Bans Smoking on Sidewalks<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UXbIZMefPUsSkwyxwvW7z0w9jZDyPDEzwipsQA18IhLeULp2CgRR_MrHni9Irv9zW4PZ4xiNacZ7FUx0cFnxV6Ef65bFKSI6gb6w0Jgu_oQGjHHdMrcgZfXgfBhamkNyPVF28meiYD0/s1600/No_Smoking_Comrade.jpeg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UXbIZMefPUsSkwyxwvW7z0w9jZDyPDEzwipsQA18IhLeULp2CgRR_MrHni9Irv9zW4PZ4xiNacZ7FUx0cFnxV6Ef65bFKSI6gb6w0Jgu_oQGjHHdMrcgZfXgfBhamkNyPVF28meiYD0/s200/No_Smoking_Comrade.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559086272986643538" /></a><br /></p><p>If you smoke and are planning a trip to Great Neck, N.Y. any time soon, you had better refrain from lighting up on a sidewalk in front of a business, because it could end up costing you $1000.</p><p>Via <a href="http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/long_island/NY-Village-Smoking-Ban-20110105-apx">myfoxny.com</a>: <blockquote>GREAT NECK, N.Y. - A village on Long Island's "gold coast" is banning smoking on public sidewalks in front of businesses. Violators could face a $1,000 fine.<br /><br />The Great Neck village board approved the ban Tuesday night. It claims to be the first municipality in the state to enact such a restriction.<br /><br />Mayor Ralph J. Kreitzman says the ban was enacted after officials got complaints about smokers standing outside stores in the village. He says the law will also benefit pedestrians who might have been subjected to second-hand smoke.<br /><br />Kreitzman says, "I have no problem with people smoking. They just shouldn't do it in a place that harms other people."<br /><br />Kreitzman tells Fox 5 that, despite the hefty fines violators could face, the ban is not an attempt to raise money for the village.<br /><br />The mayor says code enforcement agents will be out to look for violations and he hopes the police will also help with enforcement.<br /><br />One smoker told Fox 5 News, "I'm waiting for them to ban smoking in my yard, at my house, is it going to go that far?"<br /><br />The law apparently has a loophole. It is not illegal to smoke in the street.<br /><br />Neighboring New York City is currently considering a smoking ban in parks and pedestrian plazas.</blockquote><p>There are local governments already passing laws to ban people from smoking <a href="http://www.channel3000.com/health/20127351/detail.html">inside their own domiciles.</a></p><p>How long will it be before the government starts telling people they can't light up on their own front porch?</p><p>This used to be a free country. I don't know what happened to it, but if the American sheeple don't soon wake up and pull their heads out of their asses, our chances of ever getting that country back are going to go up in smoke.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-29574085526215552472011-01-04T12:27:00.006-05:002011-01-04T14:08:54.943-05:00Is America (As Founded) Retrievable?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzXGNdDQs7fDk6i9nfSXOT9cl9qLOH2b4dm6yGUj11JMbTLmg3kfRO5faOfpuRDog_7RkBcLZztaHgRY-TC6WmDKSvC8dCsmBxJMo0bFtewhCVPIdwik1gy4Bjq-DNxWICPeVKT60DU8/s1600/distress-flag.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzXGNdDQs7fDk6i9nfSXOT9cl9qLOH2b4dm6yGUj11JMbTLmg3kfRO5faOfpuRDog_7RkBcLZztaHgRY-TC6WmDKSvC8dCsmBxJMo0bFtewhCVPIdwik1gy4Bjq-DNxWICPeVKT60DU8/s200/distress-flag.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558409405868994866" /></a><br /><p>I have to confess that I really don't know anymore. I once believed there was no way the American people would sit idly buy while their country was stolen right out from under their noses. Now that I am watching it happen, and in broad daylight no less, right in front of God and everybody, I am beginning to think our last chance to save our republic via the voting booth came and went in November of 2008. Perhaps it was even further back than that, now that I really think about it.</p><p>My friend Tom in NC at <a href="http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/">Fellowship of the Minds</a> has written a piece that very much mirrors my own thoughts as to where we currently are as a nation. </p><p>It is not a comfortable read:<blockquote>I don’t know what it is going to take before the American people say enough is enough. Do we not see what is happening? Do we not care that our government is ruining our and our children and grandchildren’s future for decades to come? Are we simply not willing to take own destinies in our hands and fight back?<br /><br />This president and this government care nothing for our opinions, care not when millions of us gather in Washington, D.C. to protest their policies, and care not when we vote overwhelmingly against those policies. We now have control of the House but the liberals still control the Senate and the White House.<br /><br />I fear that the Republicans are sometimes too willing to compromise instead of fight, and as we all know, we can’t take two more years of liberal policies. Our economy and our infrastructure will essentially collapse under the weight of socialism. It is only a matter of time before our country becomes a police state; it has already started in our airports with invasive searches and in our healthcare with bureaucrats making life and death decisions for us. Soon the FCC will control the Internet in direct violation of the first amendment to the Constitution.</blockquote>You will find the rest of this excellent post <a href="http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/waning-optimism/">here.</a><br /><p>I hope, no, pray that now that the holidays are behind us that the American people will start to pay very close attention to what is happening in our nation's capitol, as any more complacency on our part could very well be fatal to our republic - and that right soon.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-11308847845530900002011-01-04T10:31:00.006-05:002011-01-04T11:10:50.598-05:00Creeping Tyranny?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpZiQ7J-i_kkFJwsFu6z1uPtzrhAFOgcHsghfW0IecjBcHfi3IJ6LhV1VpPelRcs_OQse-BXeRjtezxrgrYIhdmn9vv8AdxqKLXSnjsVAq4P5j8BA5N9Y32h5ax1A9Rh-HjMTtnDvKWg/s1600/American_decline.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 122px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpZiQ7J-i_kkFJwsFu6z1uPtzrhAFOgcHsghfW0IecjBcHfi3IJ6LhV1VpPelRcs_OQse-BXeRjtezxrgrYIhdmn9vv8AdxqKLXSnjsVAq4P5j8BA5N9Y32h5ax1A9Rh-HjMTtnDvKWg/s200/American_decline.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558363442093930418" /></a><br /><p>There were approximately 31,000 laws passed by state legislatures in 2010 - and that doesn't include what was passed by the 111th Congress on the federal side.</p><p>There are actually some pretty good laws in the mix. One example is a law passed in Iowa which makes it more difficult for local sheriffs to deny concealed carry permits.</p><p>But knowing government as I do, I am guessing the bulk of the laws passed across the fruited plain are just more restrictions on freedom, liberty and commerce. One example here are laws passed in both St. Louis and St. Louis County that prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants.</p><p>Yep, the tyranny of the <em>pleasure police</em> marches on.</p><p>You can read about it at this <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704735304576058221048255628.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsFifth">link</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-55953393399450076972011-01-04T10:18:00.003-05:002011-01-04T10:27:47.977-05:00NYC Marxists Prefer To Be Called "Progressives"<div align="left"><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZsTeXRQKvRI" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br /></div><div align="center">A commie by any other name is still a commie</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">What I truly find fascinating about this is that these morons are too f'ing stupid to recognize that Barack Hussein Obama is putting their favorite form of government into place as I write this.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">(h/t: <a href="http://weaselzippers.us/2011/01/02/video-growing-marxist-movement-in-nyc-say-they-prefer-to-be-called-progressives/">weaselzippers.us</a> via <a href="http://boortz.com/">Boortz.com</a>)</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-47410759999770969632011-01-03T09:07:00.004-05:002011-01-03T19:36:09.390-05:00Congratulations to Mike Smith and the Atlanta Falcons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6UO0RY8N6gC5GpARQhq-uK-gwovFRzbliZPBdSaqRwGnTHJjevlfHShato4BgYJ-nx0tX18cSo-8gT-ogHgNUVDJ6iMhhIlpNnr6wjuCGRkk7tRtJkrWjKAG5cYKQyIRuZGc4qvuVNo/s1600/Falcons_logo.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6UO0RY8N6gC5GpARQhq-uK-gwovFRzbliZPBdSaqRwGnTHJjevlfHShato4BgYJ-nx0tX18cSo-8gT-ogHgNUVDJ6iMhhIlpNnr6wjuCGRkk7tRtJkrWjKAG5cYKQyIRuZGc4qvuVNo/s200/Falcons_logo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558077485268589490" /></a><br /><p>Three years ago, Mike Smith took over the head coaching position of an NFL team that was in utter disarray. The Michael Vick fiasco was playing out, and the recently-hired head coach Bobby Petrino had left town under cover of darkness mid-season and had run off to Arkansas to coach the Hogs.</p><p>It was a very bleak time for us long-suffering Falcon's fans, as it seemed Arthur Blank, who had mercifully purchased the team from the Smith family, just didn't have what it took to be an effective NFL owner. Yes, he had brought the exciting Michael Vick to town, but then had run off Dan Reeves (the only coach to ever lead us to a Super Bowl), and had hired Jim Mora, Jr., and then Petrino when Mora didn't work out.</p><p>What happened next concerned many here in Atlanta when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Smith_(American_football)">Mike Smith</a> (who no one here had really ever heard of) was tapped for the head coaching job, and promptly named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Ryan">Matt Ryan</a>, the just-drafted rookie from Boston College, as his starting QB. Thus began the Mike Smith era.</p><p>The Falcons took off and immediately started winning football games, which surprised many around here not a little bit. Hmm, maybe things weren't as bleak as we though. They fininished the 2008 season at 11-5 and a wild-card playoff berth, to the utter delight of us long suffering fans.</p><p>The Falcons went on to lose their wild-card playoff game, but even so, we here were pretty happy with the way the season had gone - much better than anyone around here had even dreamed possible, and we thus spent the off-season looking forward to 2009.</p><p>The 2009 season was a bit of a let down, though finishing 9-7 was still above .500 - the first time in franchise history the Falcons had managed to post back-to-back winning seasons. Matt Ryan had been injured for a time, as well as had some other key players, but one thing I was beginning to notice was an emerging MO that was very different from most Falcons teams from the past.</p><p>They weren't quitting anymore.</p><p>So many times, year after year, had I sat and watched the seemingly hapless birds blow a lead and then just give up and quit. This team was different in that respect, along with some others, too. They were fun to watch again, and the last time I could say that about the Atlanta Falcons was back in the '98 Super Bowl year, during which I attended every regular season home game.</p><p>This year, they managed a 13-3 record, their second best ever behind a 14-2 run in '98, and earned home field advantage in the playoffs which, given their stellar home record over the last three seasons, is huge for this team. Yeah, they lost a couple of tough ones, particularly that second to last game against the Saints, but you never once got the feeling they had given up at any time during the season.</p><p>The real football season starts next weekend with the wild card match ups. By next Monday we will know who the Falcons will be facing the following week.</p><p>Then we'll find out just what kind of team we really have.</p><p><strong>GO FALCONS!</strong></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-30534626861131921972011-01-03T07:37:00.006-05:002011-01-03T08:30:16.193-05:00F.I.R.E. Going After Campus Speech NAZI's Wallets?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yl7BWDhAebTVjuZhxuYDvSnBL39XGwdXs9879mIkKwlSvDn_cYnM_v7jtWO-g0_dsFUGjxC7F19wsC2bkZIWpTq-mhpIu0bEthD_B0-SCt5xNRDXkuTYvP0woZhPy7JD9vCchKR9Few/s1600/PC_sherrif.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 174px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yl7BWDhAebTVjuZhxuYDvSnBL39XGwdXs9879mIkKwlSvDn_cYnM_v7jtWO-g0_dsFUGjxC7F19wsC2bkZIWpTq-mhpIu0bEthD_B0-SCt5xNRDXkuTYvP0woZhPy7JD9vCchKR9Few/s200/PC_sherrif.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557950132747961474" /></a><br /><p>I have <a href="http://davesnotepad.blogspot.com/2008/12/our-nations-universities-bastions-of.html">posted previously</a> concerning <a href="http://thefire.org/">The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education</a> (F.I.R.E.), an organization I have been following for some years now, as they are among the few entities out there who are putting up a viable fight to see that the 1st Amendment rights of the students of our nation's institutions of higher learning are upheld.</p><p>Their successes have been many, yet even so, many university and college administrators/professors still seem to believe they can trample all over the rights of their student expressing themselves in the form of "speech codes," intimidation, threats, and other PC nonsense - and can do so with no personal financial risk to themselves.</p><p>Thanks to the efforts of F.I.R.E., <a href="http://thefire.org/article/12663.html">that may be about to change</a>: <blockquote>PHILADELPHIA, December 22, 2010—Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) warned the presidents and top lawyers at nearly 300 public colleges and universities across the nation that they and their staff should be ready to pay out of their own pockets if they continue to violate their students' free speech rights.<br /><br />"For too long, public college administrators have been intentionally violating the free speech rights of their students, secure in the knowledge that they won't personally lose a dime should a court rule against them," said FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley. "This has given administrators the opportunity to censor whatever opinions they dislike and make all of us pay for it. But thanks in large part to FIRE, the excuse that makes this possible—that they 'didn't know' that students had free speech rights—is quickly vanishing."<br /><br />FIRE is putting them on notice by sending a certified mailing this week to the presidents and general counsel of 296 of the biggest and most prestigious public colleges across the nation, highlighting significant legal developments from the past year. FIRE's mailing warns these top administrators that with the state of the law on campus speech codes clearer now than ever before, they and their employees violate the speech rights of students at their own financial peril, as they can no longer count on "qualified immunity" to shield them from liability.<br /><p>[...]</p><p>Administrators should also be aware of a recent federal case in Georgia coordinated by FIRE, in which a federal district court determined that former Valdosta State University president Ronald Zaccari was not shielded from personal liability for violating the clearly established rights of student Hayden Barnes. (Zaccari is currently appealing that decision.) This is a major finding against a former university president, and if upheld, it will serve as important federal precedent for holding future administrative malefactors personally responsible for their abuses of student rights.</blockquote><p>You can read the rest at this <a href="http://thefire.org/article/12663.html">link</a>.<br /></p><p>It's about bloody time.<br /></p><p>Funny how libs are always so generous when it comes to spending other people's money, but when it comes to their own, the weld their wallets shut tighter than Fort Knox.</p><p>Maybe now that the possibility of being held personally liable for defecating all over the rights of their students will cause at least a few of them to pause and consider the consequences of their blatantly illegal actions before implementing them.</p><p>I'll be keeping an eye on this latest development.<br /></p><p>Who knows? Perhaps freedom of expression will survive in the last places you would ever consider it threatened.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-88066862763610265502011-01-03T04:23:00.005-05:002011-01-03T08:37:15.571-05:00Dave Barry on 2010: 'It Was...a Disaster'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20Bwp-cKnP7dwAX0eKmtZt22oqhvd33MaKPvT7ZZxp2NAIa0_siWU7rvmIIiTtsedlyuYH_H65-loJqqMz5xXorgmYUi4Q1-M8rs1T6Pc9S2l17qMb5tPRyFUATkJR4PgNiinMYwZsF4/s1600/Dave_Barry.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 163px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20Bwp-cKnP7dwAX0eKmtZt22oqhvd33MaKPvT7ZZxp2NAIa0_siWU7rvmIIiTtsedlyuYH_H65-loJqqMz5xXorgmYUi4Q1-M8rs1T6Pc9S2l17qMb5tPRyFUATkJR4PgNiinMYwZsF4/s200/Dave_Barry.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557896038190880114" /></a><br /><p>Dave Barry, in his usual irreverent and humorous style, takes a look back at the year that was, where he breaks events down by the month - the BP oil spill, runaway Toyotas, Iranian nukes, the economy, the November election, and a whole lot more. It is definitely worth a read.</p><p>Via <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/">miamiherald.com:</a> <blockquote>Let’s put things into perspective: 2010 was not the worst year ever. There have been MUCH worse years. For example, toward the end of the Cretaceous Period, the Earth was struck by an asteroid that wiped out 75 percent of all the species on the planet. Can we honestly say that we had a worse year than those species did? Yes we can, because they were not exposed to Jersey Shore.<p>So on second thought we see that this was, in fact, the worst year ever. The perfect symbol for the awfulness of 2010 was the BP oil spill, which oozed up from the depths and spread, totally out of control, like some kind of hideous uncontrollable metaphor. (Or, Jersey Shore.) The scariest thing about the spill was, nobody in charge seemed to know what to do about it. Time and again, top political leaders personally flew down to the Gulf of Mexico to look at the situation first-hand and hold press availabilities. And yet somehow, despite these efforts, the oil continued to leak. This forced us to face the disturbing truth that even top policy thinkers with postgraduate degrees from Harvard University — Harvard University! — could not stop it.</p><p>The leak was eventually plugged by non-policy people using machinery of some kind. But by then our faith in our leaders had been shaken, especially since they also seemed to have no idea what to do about this pesky recession. Congress tried every remedy it knows, ranging all the way from borrowing money from China and spending it on government programs, to borrowing MORE money from China and spending it on government programs. But in the end, all of this stimulus created few actual jobs, and most of those were in the field of tar-ball collecting.</p></blockquote><p>You will find the rest at this <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/01/v-fullstory/1992746/dave-barrys-2010-year-in-review.html">link</a>.</p><p>Not much you can add to that. Let us all hope things will get better in 2011. A lot better.</p><p><strong>Happy New Year, everybody!</strong></p><p><br /></p><p>(h/t:) <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/">RealClearPolitics</a></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-14353664998630253062010-12-27T09:20:00.004-05:002010-12-27T09:29:27.112-05:00The Camel-Washer's Very Busy Christmas<a href="http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/jihad-bells/">While reading this</a>, just keep telling yourself how peaceful the "religion" of Islam is.<br /><br />Yeah, I know. Didn't work for me, either.<br /><br /><br />(H/T: My friend Eowyn at <a href="http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/">Fellowship of the Minds</a>)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442847267213189991.post-29817775746898470812010-12-15T12:06:00.001-05:002010-12-15T12:07:36.866-05:00Christmas with Achmed the Dead Terrorist<object width="640" height="390"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kkhbUrsFyVM&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object><div align="center"><br />Too funny!</div><div align="left"><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1