Scorpions on a Plane

There are all kinds of hazards in flying these days:

An Oregon man got a big surprise on a commercial flight from Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska, when he was stung by a scorpion while sitting in his plane seat.

Jeff Ellis of West Linn said he was trying to sleep on a red-eye Alaska Airlines flight June 17 when he felt something in his sleeve and tried to brush it away. He said he felt the crawling again, looked down and saw the culprit.

"I picked my hand up and said, 'Oh, my God. That's a scorpion,'" Ellis told KPTV.

He said he grabbed the scorpion with a napkin and showed it to his girlfriend, but not before it stung him on the elbow.

"At first I didn't believe him," said Suzanne Foster, Ellis' girlfriend. "But then I saw it. He held the napkin up for me to see, and I saw the tail wiggling. I pretty much jumped out of my seat."

Foster called for the flight attendant as Ellis noticed his elbow burning. He said it felt like a bee sting.

Two doctors on board checked out Ellis, while the flight crew called for medics to meet the plane at the Anchorage airport.

The flight originated from Austin, Texas, where Alaska Airlines officials believe the scorpion got on board.

He'll probably get fined by the Interior Department for taking an endangered species across state lines.

Symbolic Anti-Nuke Sculpture Falling Apart....Just Like the Anti-Nuke Movement

How appropriate:

Cartoonist Paul Conrad would probably draw pleasure from the newest fallout surrounding his anti-nuclear war sculpture in Santa Monica.

Two decades after its controversial placement in their downtown Civic Center, city officials worry that the stylistic mushroom-cloud artwork depicting the horror of atomic warfare is falling apart.

Exposure to salt air has caused the sculpture's fiberglass base to deteriorate, loosening some of the fasteners that hold the intertwined chains that form the 26-foot mushroom cloud.

Conrad was a die-hard leftist. His cartoons were a litany of anti-sanity, anti-Republican drivel. It's fitting that his sculpture, like his ideology, is falling apart.

Judge Not Lest Ye Also be Caught on Camera Having an Affair

I'm sure there's more than a few guys celebrating this story (from the Daily Caller):

Why don't you sit down right here, Chris Hansen... -- To Catch a Philanderer? The NY Post writes: "NBC News reporter Chris Hansen, who's made a living nailing sexual deviants on his hidden-camera 'To Catch a Predator' series, was secretly filmed in a romantic extramarital tryst with his Florida TV-reporter girlfriend, according to an explosive report in The National Enquirer. Hansen, 52, the married father of two, has been carrying on with Kristyn Caddell, 30, for four months -- and was recorded last Friday taking Caddell to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Manalapan, Fla., for a 'romantic dinner' before the couple shacked up in Caddell's Palm Beach apartment, according to the Enquirer." Those pesky hidden cameras! Well, at least Hansen will have something to talk about if he ever runs into John Edwards. 

You'd think of all people he'd know not to do that, but there's an arrogance that comes with fame and power. We see it all the time with politicians.

Minority Parents Rally Against NAACP and New York City Teacher Union

This is a positive sign:

Minority parents in New York have a message for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT): you are hurting our children.

In New York Monday, charter school parents staged another of several rallies to voice opposition to a lawsuit brought by the UFT and NAACP against the New York City Department of Education. If the organizations are successful with their suit, it would prevent enrollment or re-enrollment in 17 charter schools and stop the closure of 22 public schools.

The UFT and NAACP’s decision to sue has roiled inner city parents who depend on charter schools to ensure their children get a good education.

On Monday a slew of parents appeared before UFT headquarters to protest. Nearly a month earlier the NAACP felt their wrath when another estimated 3,000 people showed up at State Administrative Building in Harlem, carrying signs reading “NAACP don’t divide unite,” to protest the NAACP’s involvement.

“I am the product of the public school system that allows 70 percent or more of its black men to not graduate from high school,” said Candido Brown, a charter school teacher at May’s rally. “I could barely believe my ears when I found out that the NAACP was trying to shut down some of the most successful schools serving black and brown children in our city. NAACP, do not take away this awesome education from our children.”

Good parents are good parents, regardless of race, economic status, or anything else, and these parents want what's best for their kids. It's clear the NAACP and unions do not.

Be Sure to Attend a July 4th Parade This Year...Especially if You're Not a Republican

Because nothing fixes Democrats like a good old Fourth of July parade:

Democratic political candidates can skip this weekend's July 4th parades. A new Harvard University study finds that July 4th parades energize only Republicans, turn kids into Republicans, and help to boost the GOP turnout of adults on Election Day.

"Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard.

"The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century. Survey evidence also confirms that Republicans consider themselves more patriotic than Democrats. According to this interpretation, there is a political congruence between the patriotism promoted on Fourth of July and the values associated with the Republican party. Fourth of July celebrations in Republican dominated counties may thus be more politically biased events that socialize children into Republicans," write Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott and Bocconi University Assistant Professor Andreas Madestam.

Their findings also suggest that Democrats gain nothing from July 4th parades, likely a shocking result for all the Democratic politicians who march in them.

"There is no evidence of an increased likelihood of identifying as a Democrat, indicating that Fourth of July shifts preferences to the right rather than increasing political polarization," the two wrote.

Let's face it, patriotism is not a strong suit of many Democrats, so I'm sure these parades are quite painful for them. However, for those who still have a degree of humanity left, a parade might be just what they need to bring them back from the dark side.

No Valid Boarding Pass, No Passport, No Problem!

A major TSA fail:

CBS News has confirmed that authorities are looking into a shocking security breach that took place at John F. Kennedy International Airport last week.

Investigators say Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, a Nigerian, boarded Virgin America Flight 415 to Los Angeles without a valid passport or identification, using an expired boarding pass for a flight the day before that belonged to someone else.

Officials say Noibi got through security and was able to board the plane. No one noticed until the flight was airborne when a flight attendant realized Noibi was sitting in a seat that was supposed to be vacant.

He showed the attendant the expired boarding pass that was in someone else’s name and then showed him a University of Michigan identification card with his picture on it.

Maybe if this guy had only been a 95-year old woman with terminal cancer the TSA would have checked him out.

Generic Republican Up By 4 Over Obama

Of course, generic Republicans don't run for president, so when an actual name is plugged in the numbers probably won't be this good (from Rasmussen):

A generic Republican candidate now holds a four-point lead over President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup. It's the fifth week in a row that the GOP candidate has been ahead and the widest gap between the candidates to date.


The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds a generic Republican candidate earns support from 46% of Likely U.S. Voters, while the president picks up 42% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

When you put a real name in the survey the numbers are going to change. If the nominee is Mitt Romney I'm not sure the GOP would still lead. If it turns out to be Rick Perry, it could be GOP+10.

Journalist Tells the Truth and Then Quickly Apologizes

How incompetent are they over at MSNBC?  They don't even know how to hit the 7-second delay button:

Mark Halperin, editor-at-large for Time, called President Obama “a dick” on Thursday on a popular MSNBC morning show and then quickly apologized.

“I thought he was a dick yesterday,” Halperin, who also is a senior political analyst for MSNBC, said on Morning Joe, referring to the President’s conduct during his press conference.

Host Joe Scarborough hoped to prevent the comment from being broadcast, saying, “Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing? I can’t believe… don’t do that. Did we delay that?”

Just minutes later, Halperin quickly apologized to the president and viewers for his choice of words. “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology. I shouldn’t have said it. I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say that,” Halperin said.

“We’re going to have a meeting after the show,” Scarborough said.

According to Scarborough, there had been a mishap with the seven-second delay button – a new executive producer apparently didn’t know how it worked. “You are supposed to know how to do the job,” Scarborough said of his producer. “I would tell you what I think of him, but he doesn’t know what button to push.”

As far as Halperin's comment goes, truth is always a defense.

UPDATE: Truth hurts - Halperin suspended indefinitely.

President Divisive

Yesterday's class warfare economic press conference was a new low point for Obama.  Mr. Unity has become President Divisive, seeking to pit one group of Americans against another based on false charges and demagoguery.  The Morning Jolt email has a couple of reactions:

The Lonely Conservative is left shaking his head:

What we're witnessing is a desperate man. He sees the polls, and his fundraising failures, so he's pulling out all the stops.

Oh, and he also forgot to mention that the Porkulus bill he signed that was passed by his party included tax breaks to promote private jet sales. If he wanted the private jet industry to go out of business why did he throw away millions of dollars on it?

At Red State, Repair Man Jack has had enough:

If the majority of Americans really and truly believe that cutting the size of government, when struggling under $14Tr of national debt, equates to a desire to snuff puppies, we deserve a national default. If the majority of Americans truly believe they have a right to extract a loan for their tuition costs out of some other person's paycheck, America is massively overdue for a well-deserved 2nd Great Depression. If the majority of people really believe the National Weather Service won't just hire replacements from Korea or China; where students go to class at college sober, they are in for a grievous upset and disappointment.

Barack Obama's rhetoric on this issue is toxic, disingenuous and deliberately divisive. He actually seems to want Americans to hate one another just a wee tad more. If the choice he presented us with were actually honest and accurate, my decision would still be easy. "J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!"

My fear is that too many of the GOP congressional members will be panicked by all of this and will make a bad deal on the debt ceiling. NO NEW TAXES, PERIOD! Make the government live within its means by cutting stupid programs that infest the budget. Don't tie the hands of America's future generations with more debt.

Don't forget, GOP, this president wants to win in 2012 so he's just as worried, if not more so, than you are. Hold tough.

Morning Email

From Amazon.com:

Unfortunately, Governor Brown has signed into law the bill that we emailed you about earlier today. As a result of this, contracts with all California residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program are terminated effective today, June 29, 2011. Those California residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned before today will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

So, every one of the thousands of Californians who received a small income from Amazon sales through their websites has now been shut out thanks to the idiots in Sacramento. You see, they can't tell the difference between a brick-and-mortar store and an ad run on a website. They're morons.

I was wrong yesterday when I suggested that California residents would no longer be able to use Amazon. They still can, and in fact I highly encourage it. I'm going to go out of my way to look for opportunities to buy things I need via Amazon or other out-of-state internet services rather than give my money to the State of California in the form of sales taxes. California can go to...well, you know.

Thank You Gov. Moonbeam and All The Democrats in the CA Legislature

I was just notified by Amazon that my Associates contract with them will be cancelled the day the new Internet tax law goes into effect.  If you're a California resident you will not be able to purchase anything from Amazon, nor will you be able to act as their agent through the Associates program.

Thanks, Democrats.

I've been predicting this ever since the bill was first proposed.  All that money the Dems were counting on from Internet sales will not happen. People will find other ways to get what they want.

I may be talking to some out-of-state relatives if I have a big Internet purchase coming up.

Sent via HolyCoast.com mobile.

"Me and Paul Revere"

Steve Martin and the Steep County Rangers have a new single coming - "Me and Paul Revere", the story of Paul Revere's ride as told by his horse.  Take a listen here and you'll note the story matches up quite well with the version told by Sarah Palin and much mocked by the history-challenged press.

Political Photo of the Day

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, on the hunt for liberals, manning the waist gun of the last flying B-24 Liberator in March, 2009:

He also took a turn in the co-pilot's seat:

Very cool. Sure beats the heck out of this:

John Lennon, Republican

Officially, no, since he wasn't a U.S. citizen, but it appears he may have grown up in his final years:

John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death - according to the tragic Beatles star's last personal assistant.

Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 to Lennon's death at the end of 1980 and he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan who enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self.

In new documentary Beatles Stories, Seaman tells filmmaker Seth Swirsky Lennon wasn't the peace-loving militant fans thought he was while he was his assistant.

He says, "John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.

"He'd met Reagan back, I think, in the 70s at some sporting event... Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young (peace) demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that... He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me.

"I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist... He enjoyed really provoking my uncle... Maybe he was being provocative... but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism.

"He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he'd been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy's naivete."

You know the old saying: If you're not a liberal when you're young it because you have no heart. If you're not a conservative when you're older it's because you have no brain.

I hope this story is based on truth. It might make up for that detestable song "Imagine".

Obama Scolds Private Jet Owners and Yet His Stimulus Bill Gave Them Tax Credits

Is anyone surprised?  In today's press conference Obama trotted out the tried-and-true class warfare card, scolding private jet owners who receive tax breaks on their purchases.  But in February, 2009, Obama's own stimulus bill made that possible:

Just a few months after lawmakers scolded auto executives for flying to Washington in private jets, Congress approved a tax break in the stimulus package to help businesses buy their own planes.

The incentive - first used to help plane makers recover from the 2001 terror attacks - sharply reduces the upfront tax bill for companies who buy assets such as business planes.

The aviation industry, which is cutting jobs as it suffers from declining shipments and canceled orders, hopes the tax break in the economic-stimulus bill just signed by President Barack Obama will persuade more companies to buy planes and snap a slump in general aviation that began last year.

"This is exactly the type of financial incentive that should be included in a stimulus bill," said Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan. in an interview. His state lost at least 6,900 jobs at Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft, both based in Wichita.

Twitter was quite active on the issue:

@iowahawkblog: Obama doesn't want executives traveling on $20m private jets. He wants them traveling on $20b public trains.

@ExJon: I'd like to pre-emptively thank all Hollywood celebrities for giving up their private jets. #Obama12

Obama operates as though none of us have Google.

Have Jewish Voters Finally Had Enough of Obama?

They've been a pretty reliable vote for Democrats but that could be changing:

If several dozen interviews with POLITICO are any indication, a similar conversation is taking place in Jewish communities across the country. Obama’s speech last month seems to have crystallized the doubts many pro-Israel Democrats had about Obama in 2008 in a way that could, on the margins, cost the president votes and money in 2012 and will not be easy to repair.

“It’s less something specific than that these incidents keep on coming,” said Ainsman.

The immediate controversy sparked by the speech was Obama’s statement that Israel should embrace the country’s 1967 borders, with “land swaps,” as a basis for peace talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized on the first half of that phrase and the threat of a return to what Israelis sometimes refer to as “Auschwitz borders.”

Obama’s Jewish allies stressed the second half: that land swaps would — as American negotiators have long contemplated — give Israel security in its narrow middle, and the deal would give the country international legitimacy and normalcy.

But the noisy fray after the speech mirrored any number of smaller controversies. Politically hawkish Jews and groups such as the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Emergency Committee for Israel pounded Obama in news releases. White House surrogates and staffers defended him, as did the plentiful American Jews who have long wanted the White House to lean harder on Israel’s conservative government.

Based on the conversations with POLITICO, it’s hard to resist the conclusion that some kind of tipping point has been reached.

What will be interesting in the next few days is now Obama responds to the Gaza Flotilla, the fleet of terrorist sympathizers (and some Obama supporters like the Code Pink founder) who are planning to try and run the Israeli naval blockade. If Obama doesn't strongly condemn the provocation by these people he may finish of his relationship with the Jewish community altogether.

L.A. County Bans Shopping in Grocery Stores

Well, not exactly, but they have banned the use of plastic bagsA and that will not bode well for business:

A sweeping ban on plastic grocery bags will go into effect July 1 for unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

The bag ban was touted by county supervisors as an environmental measure to rid the county of "urban tumbleweed" that pollutes landfills and gets washed out to sea. Paper bags will still be available, but customers will be charged 10 cents per bag.

The effort is intended to encourage shoppers to bring reusable bags to the market for shopping.

But what it will really do is encourage shoppers to go elsewhere where they don't have to be bothered with silly regulations.

And how many people will get sick because they're walking around with reusable Petri dishes of bacteria? The Law of Unintended Consequences is sure to raise its ugly head.

Today's Reading List

From the Daily Caller's Matt Lewis: The Quotable Rogue: The Ideals of Sarah Palin in Her Own Words.  From the Daily Caller:

TheDC's Matt Lewis is the editor of the new book, The Quotable Rogue: The Ideals of Sarah Palin in Her Own Words, and our own Jamie Weinstein interviewed him about it. Here's Lewis on his reasons for publishing the book: "I was attracted to this project for two reasons: 1) Sarah Palin is arguably the most significant woman of the first decade of the 21st century, and 2) As some of her supporters have pointed out to me, she is the most 'known, unknown' figure in American politics. A lot of people, for example, still believe that she said, 'I can see Russia from my house.' She never said that. That was actually comedian Tina Fey. But people still think Palin said that. When you actually read Palin’s real quotes in context, they are quite compelling." Maybe WaPo and the NYT can crowdsource her quotes for any evidence of scandal. That trick always works.

Could be interesting.

Need a Billion $1 Coins? Nobody Else Does Either.

But I know where you can get them if you change your mind:

In the basement of a Baltimore vault the size of a soccer field, 1 billion dollar coins are just sitting there. Thanks, Congress.

NPR’s Planet Money reporters recently investigated the $1 presidential coin program, which was a Congressional effort to get more $1 coins into circulation while also trying to be educational.

The problem is that nobody really wants them. Well, not nobody. Sixty percent of the coins make it into circulation. But that other 40 percent? They’re sitting in vaults. In fact, the Fed’s even running out of space for them.

Each coin costs the government 30 cents to make, so the piles in those vaults have cost the government $300 million so far, according to NPR.

The whole thing started in 2005, when the Presidential $1 Coin Act was written into law. While the legislation seemed to have good intentions, when the U.S. Mint started producing the coins a couple years later, the demand just wasn’t there. I mean, had you even heard of the presidential $1 coins, let alone seen one?

At the same time, the legislation mandated that a certain number of Sacagawea coins be made in conjunction with the presidential coins, which has now amounted to one Sacagawea for every president. And I think we know how well those coins went over....

At the moment, the program is still moving forward, and NPR projects that by the time it’s finished, 2 billion coins could be sitting in the Fed’s vaults.

Just to show you how successful the marketing plan for this presidential dollar coin program has been, it's been around since the law passed in 2005 and I just heard about it today...and I'd like to think of myself as a relatively well-informed person. I have seen a Sacagawea coin a time or two, but couldn't get rid of them fast enough.

This is the classic case of government trying to mandate what the market wants and failing rather badly.

Huntsman's Popularity Among Republicans Plummets

That'll happen when the mainstream media is singing your praises:

Although former Utah Gov. and former Ambassador to China Huntsman received considerable news coverage last week with the formal announcement of his candidacy, his image among Republicans is getting worse, not better. . . . More significantly, Huntsman's Positive Intensity Score is down to 2 from 5 a week ago. Earlier this year it had been as high as 15.

The GOP let the mainstream media appoint their last presidential candidate. That's not going to happen again.

Weekly KHND Interview Podcast

Here's the podcast from yesterday's KHND Radio Interview.

The Messiah Needs to Become A Manager

Those are the words of David Brooks who analyzed three different political management styles, and looks at Obama's last (with a shot at JFK in the process):

The third case study is the most unexpected: President Obama’s Convening Approach. First, some context: In 1961, John F. Kennedy gave an Inaugural Address that did enormous damage to the country. It defined the modern president as an elevated, heroic leader who issues clarion calls in the manner of Henry V at Agincourt. Ever since that speech, presidents have felt compelled to live up to that grandiose image, and they have done enormous damage to themselves and the nation. That speech gave a generation an unrealistic, immature vision of the power of the presidency.

President Obama has renounced that approach. Far from being a heroic quasi Napoleon who runs the country from the Oval Office, Obama has been a delegator and a convener. He sets the agenda, sketches broad policy outlines and then summons some Congressional chairmen to dominate the substance. This has been the approach with the stimulus package, the health care law, the Waxman-Markey energy bill, the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill and, so far, the Biden commission on the budget.

As president, Obama has proved to be a very good Senate majority leader — convening committees to do the work and intervening at the end.

All his life, Obama has worked in nonhierarchical institutions — community groups, universities, legislatures — so maybe it is natural that he has a nonhierarchical style. He tends to see issues from several vantage points at once, so maybe it is natural that he favors a process that involves negotiating and fudging between different points of view.

Still, I would never have predicted he would be this sort of leader. I thought he would get into trouble via excessive self-confidence. Obama’s actual governing style emphasizes delegation and occasional passivity. Being led by Barack Obama is like being trumpeted into battle by Miles Davis. He makes you want to sit down and discern.

But this is who Obama is, and he’s not going to change, no matter how many liberals plead for him to start acting like Howard Dean.

The Obama style has advantages, but it has served his party poorly in the current budget fight. He has not educated the country about the debt challenge. He has not laid out a plan, aside from one vague, hyperpoliticized speech. He has ceded the initiative to the Republicans, who have dominated the debate by establishing facts on the ground.

Now Obama is compelled to engage. If ever there was an issue that called for his complex, balancing approach, this is it. But, to reach an agreement, he will have to resolve the contradiction in his management style. He values negotiation but radiates disdain for large swathes of official Washington. If he can overcome his aloofness and work intimately with Republicans, he may be able to avert a catastrophe and establish a model for a more realistic, collegial presidency.

The former messiah will have to become a manager.

I don't think he can do it. He's never managed...anything. It's not his gift and the country is paying for it.

Economic Cartoon of the Day

Seen on Facebook:

Did the Giants Fan Beaten at Dodger Stadium Incite the Attack?

Nothing can excuse the brutal attack on San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow following the opening day game at Dodger Stadium, but new video and witness statements have emerged that may suggest that Stow was involved in altercations with Dodger fans during the game:

A Los Angeles Dodgers fan claims a San Francisco Giants fan who was brutally beaten at Dodgers stadium on opening day was acting out during the game.

Juan Banda told TMZ Monday that Bryan Stow was inciting Dodgers fans by screaming, "I [sic] rather eat my own feces than eat a Dodger dog."

Banda says he told Stow he was crossing the line with his comments.

"Told him (Stow) it was one thing to root for your team, but you are crossing the line. He didn't say much. Neither him or his buddies who were with him."

Banda told TMZ that Stow "did have a mouth."

"Maybe he said the wrong thing to the wrong guys."

Los Angeles police are examining the video that TMZ posted Monday showing Stow and Banda having words with each other.

The video shows a man in a blue Dodgers hat and jersey pointing a finger at someone in a black and orange shirt who resembles Bryan Stow. The man is a foot or two away. The hands of the man in the black shirt are up defensively. The Dodgers fan then curses in Spanish and turns away.

Unfortunately, Stow was injured so badly he cannot speak in his own defense. We may never know exactly what happened that day.

I can tell you from experience that Dodger fans can be hard to be around if you're a fan of their opponent. The most fight-filled game I ever saw was a game between the Dodgers and the Angels that was played at Angel Stadium. There were fights in the stands throughout the game, and we almost walked right into a brawl as we headed out to the main corridor. Fists were flying between several Dodger fans and stadium security. It was kind of an ugly night.

The Democrat Logo in Action

h/t Hillbuzz:

Political Headline of the Day

From WOR Radio:

Former U.S. U.N. Ambassador John Bolton calls Hillary "an afterthought at the White House" says she is "nearly irrelevant."

Probably true, but she could become relevant again real quick if she'd decide to challenge Obama for the Dem nomination.

And I think she'd win, too.

The Constitution Still Matters

Time Magazine isn't sure, and in their July 4th issue they have questions that Thomas Sowell is all too willing to answer for them:

More than a hundred years ago, so-called "Progressives" began a campaign to undermine the Constitution's strict limitations on government, which stood in the way of self-anointed political crusaders imposing their grand schemes on all the rest of us. That effort to discredit the Constitution continues to this day, and the arguments haven't really changed much in a hundred years.

The cover story in the July 4th issue of Time magazine is a classic example of this arrogance. It asks of the Constitution: "Does it still matter?"

A long and rambling essay by Time magazine's managing editor, Richard Stengel, manages to create a toxic blend of the irrelevant and the erroneous.

The irrelevant comes first, pointing out in big letters that those who wrote the Constitution "did not know about" all sorts of things in the world today, including airplanes, television, computers and DNA.

This may seem like a clever new gambit but, like many clever new gambits, it is a rehash of arguments made long ago. Back in 1908, Woodrow Wilson said, "When the Constitution was framed there were no railways, there was no telegraph, there was no telephone,"

In Mr. Stengel's rehash of this argument, he declares: "People on the right and left constantly ask what the framers would say about some event that is happening today."

Maybe that kind of talk goes on where he hangs out. But most people have enough common sense to know that a constitution does not exist to micro-manage particular "events" or express opinions about the passing scene.

A constitution exists to create a framework for government -- and the Constitution of the United States tries to keep the government inside that framework.

From the irrelevant to the erroneous is a short step for Mr. Stengel. He says, "If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it certainly doesn't say so."

Apparently Mr. Stengel has not read the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Perhaps Richard Stengel should follow the advice of another Stengel -- Casey Stengel, who said on a number of occasions, "You could look it up."

Does the Constitution matter? If it doesn't, then your Freedom doesn't matter.

Exactly. The left wants a Constitution that "lives" and sways to the beat of political correctness. That's not how rules are supposed to work, and the Constitution is the set of rules by which our country is governed. "Living" rules are meaningless rules.

By the way, just to show you how far our news magazines have fallen, while Time is doing naval contemplation over the Constitution, Newsweek is photoshopping pictures of Princess Diana into shots of her new daughter-in-law.  Glad they're focusing on the important stuff.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Chokes On Her Own Charges

It's a regular Peyton Place up there in Madison these days.  The Chief Justice is accusing Justice David Prosser (the winner in the recent close Supreme Court election) of "choking" her during a heated discussion, but as more facts come to light it's clear the Chief is engaging in some very partisan politics:

The week before the legislature was set to re-pass the collective-bargaining provision, three of the four conservative justices were ready to issue a ruling reinstating the union law as originally passed. Prosser, on the other hand, wanted to wait longer, to avoid the appearance that the court was rushing their decision through. Prosser thought he had an agreement with liberal Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to delay release of the opinion until Tuesday of the following week.

As Monday arrived, there was no word from Abrahamson on whether the decision would be issued the next day. At 5:30 p.m., Prosser and the other conservative justices marched around the chambers, looking for Abrahamson, who was found in Justice Bradley’s office. Prosser stood outside Bradley’s door, talking to the justices in Bradley’s office. The discussion got heated, with Prosser expressing his lack of faith in Abrahamson’s ability to lead the Court.

According to one witness, Bradley charged toward Prosser, shaking her clenched fist in his face. Another source says they were “literally nose to nose.” Prosser then put his hands up to push her away. As one source pointed out, if a man wants to push a woman who is facing him, he wouldn’t push her in the chest (unless he wants to face an entirely different criminal charge). Consequently, Prosser put his hands on Bradley’s shoulders to push her away, and in doing so, made contact with her neck.

At that moment, another justice approached Bradley from behind and pulled her away from Prosser, saying, “Stop it, Ann, this isn’t like you.” Bradley then shouted, “I was choked!” Another justice present replied, “You were not choked.” In a statement following the incident, Bradley maintained Prosser “put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold.”

On Monday night, Bradley called Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs to talk to him about the incident. On the morning of Wednesday, June 15, Tubbs joined the justices in a closed-door meeting, where he discussed “issues relating to workplace violence.”

During the meeting, Chief Justice Abrahamson actually reenacted the incident on Chief Tubbs — no doubt an amusing sight, as the diminutive Abrahamson mimicked choking the tall, portly police chief. During her demonstration, Abrahamson emphasized that Prosser had exerted “pressure” on Bradley’s throat.

“There was no pressure,” interrupted the justice who had initially broken up the incident between Bradley and Prosser. “That’s only because you broke us apart,” shot back Bradley. This exchange led several meeting attendees to believe Bradley was making up the charge, as they took her rejoinder as an admission that there was no pressure applied to her neck.

During the Wednesday meeting, Bradley urged the justices present to take a vote on whether Prosser should be forced into anger-management counseling. The threat was implicit — if they didn’t vote her way, she would be forced to “take the next step” against Prosser, which they took to mean filing a restraining order against him. The other justices balked, wondering whether they even had the authority to order Prosser into any type of counseling. Some thought it would be “demeaning” to Prosser to have to go to counseling when he had done nothing wrong. In the end, Bradley realized she didn’t have enough justices on her side and no vote was taken.

To date, Bradley has not filed any kind of charges against Prosser. Instead, the story was leaked to the George Soros–funded Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, who used three anonymous sources to back up Bradley’s story. There were six justices present at the time of the incident, four of whom would be more likely to back Prosser’s version of the story. That leaves Abrahamson and Bradley as the only two remaining justices present. One source present speculated the third source may have been Bradley’s law clerk, who likely didn’t actually see the confrontation but may have head Bradley shout “I was choked.”

There's a little bit more at the link. It appears that with the exception of Gov. Walker the state is run by children. Certain they act like children, and the people that follow them are very much the same (see Drum Circles, Wisconsin Capitol Building).

War On Terror Cartoon of the Day

h/t Yid with Lid:

There's a good post with everything you need to know about this latest terrorist-loving Gaza Flotilla here.

We Should Welcome Immigrants But Not Coddle Them

I'm going to use this story to launch a rant I've been thinking about for awhile:

He congratulated the graduating class of 2011, but one but one principal’s commencement speech actually offended some in the crowd.

The graduating class at Whittell High School has only 30 students. Just a few weeks ago during graduation their principal gave an encouraging speech congratulating his students and their parents.

“Class of 2011, I want to congratulate you for all your accomplishments this year,” said Principal Crespin Esquivel.

He then said the same thing in Spanish, making sure his commencement speech could also be understood by his Spanish speaking parents and students who make up the second largest group of the school.

“I figured why not do it in Spanish? I think it’s important for me to make sure all the families feel comfortable,” said Esquivel.

"Comfortable." We don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable...except the people who realize they live in America where English is the language of everyday life and business and people are no longer encouraged to learn it.

When immigrants were migrating by the millions in the 1800's and early 1900's we welcomed them to our shores, but we didn't worry about making them comfortable. They knew they'd arrived in a country where they could go as far as their talent and work ethic took them, and they understood that if they wanted to do business in this country they had to learn English. There were no social programs and nobody gave them anything. They earned everything they had.

If they were uncomfortable, they had to fix it.

At some point the attitude changed. Immigrants weren't expected to do much of anything - just come here and we'll feed you, house you, and make sure everything you need is in your native language.

We basically enslaved them and limited their options.

Liberals knew that if a person is made comfortable enough in his own language he won't feel the need to learn English, and non-English speakers are easier to control because they can go only so far. They're more likely to be dependent on government services and when able, will be more likely to vote for the party that promises them the most. It was a plan for perpetual power.

I'd love to know how long some of those Spanish speaking parents in the crowd in Nevada have been in the country and why they're not fluent in English? What stopped them from learning?

Today we not only welcome immigrants, we coddle them. We make them dependent instead of encouraging independence. It's all part of the plan to create an increasingly pervasive government.

And it's a terrible disservice to people who could live much better lives if they were compelled to learn our language.

Being Successful in a Welfare State Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be

Just ask British singer Adele (from Daily Caller):

Adele didn't realize her money belongs to the government -- British singer Adele may be rollin' in the dough, but now she's learning the pitfalls of daring to be successful while living in a welfare state. As Charles C. Johnson at National Review notes, the vocalist recently gave voice to her despair at giving half her income to the government, telling Q Magazine: "I use the NHS, I can’t use public transport any more, doing what I do, I went to state school . . . ! Trains are always late, most state schools are s[***], and I’ve gotta give you like 4 million quid, are you ’avin a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from [debut album] 19, I was ready to go ’n’ buy a gun and randomly open fire." As Johnson notes, "At only 23 and worth a rumored £6 million, the chanteuse could be forgiven her harsh words. Careening from award to award — her latest album, 21, became the first in 2011 to sell 2 million copies last week and tops the charts in 15 countries — she hasn’t had time to learn the diva deal that the political Left affords stars: Make your music, but don't have any politics but ours." And right on cue, she's already being pilloried by the miserable communists at the Guardian. That's what she gets for working hard, making the best of her natural abilities, and daring to think she should be allowed to keep more than half of what she earns. 

Coming to a country near you if we don't stop it.

Senate Dems Plan to Push Amnesty Again

Perhaps they don't think they took enough of a beating in 2010:

Sen. Dick Durbin plans to make a full-court press Tuesday to revive the debate over a controversial proposal to give illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children a path to legal status, as the Obama administration moves on a separate track to grant what some describe as "amnesty" to the same group.

Durbin, D-Ill., in announcing the first-ever Senate hearing on the so-called DREAM Act, said his proposal would "make our country stronger." Under the plan, which passed the House last year but died in the Senate, illegal immigrants who came here as children and complete two years of college or military service could earn legal status.

It's doubtful that will pass this time, but the Administration is taking no chances. They'll just pass amnesty via executive fiat:

The memo issued June 17 from ICE Director John Morton instructs staff to consider 19 factors when exercising "prosecutorial discretion" -- or the discretion an ICE attorney has in deciding whether and how to pursue or dismiss an immigration case.

The factors include how long an illegal immigrant has been in the United States as well as their criminal history. But the list also includes factors similar to those in the DREAM Act -- like whether the suspect arrived in the U.S. as a "young child," whether the suspect is pursuing an education, and whether the suspect has served in the military.

The memo made clear that certain factors -- like whether a suspect came to the U.S. as a child -- should weigh in their favor, while other factors -- like a criminal history -- should weigh against them.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, decried the new set of instructions, describing it as a gift to DREAM Act proponents. Though Durbin is pushing anew to pass the legislation, the now GOP-controlled House is unlikely to approve any such bill, even if it clears the Senate.

"By administrative fiat, they are achieving a grand-scale amnesty for large classes of illegal aliens that they have been unable to accomplish with the stalled DREAM Act legislation," FAIR said in a statement last week.

But the ICE memo falls in line with an effort by the Obama administration to prioritize immigration cases, so that illegal immigrant criminals are typically deported while those not accused of serious crimes are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. ICE statistics show that during the Obama administration, the number of removals for non-criminal illegal immigrants has gone down while the number of removals for illegal immigrant criminals has gone up.

This is all about buy votes in the Hispanic community, and creating new Democrats once these people are fully legalized. Nothing more. The Democrats don't care any more about the Hispanic community than they care about the black community. Get them in line and keep them dependent - that's the Democrat plan for all of us.

The Next Failed Attempt to Counter the Tea Party

Many have tried and many have fallen, but where there's a lefty cause there's a communist willing to try and lead it (from Daily Caller):

Another day, another failed attempt to counter the Tea Party -- The Coffee Party. The Other 95 Percent. One Nation. US Uncut. F*** Tea. The list of pathetic, astroturfed attempts to show those teabaggers how to start an awesome political movement goes on and on. Now there's a new one: The American Dream Movement. It's the usual stuff: tax the rich, raise taxes on the wealthy, take more money from those who are more successful, etc. And you'll never guess who's in charge of it: Van Jones! Hello? Hey, come back! Jones kicked things off with a live two-hour speech that was livestreamed on their website, which was probably enough to kill the whole thing right there. Brandon Stewart at the Foundry has the lowlights: "In one particularly shocking part of his speech, Jones seemed to compare conservatives to terrorists, saying, 'Paul Ryan’s budget would knock out more critical American infrastructure than our sworn enemies ever dreamed of knocking out.' This is specially dangerous territory for one such as Jones, who has found himself in trouble before for signing a petition suggesting that America was at fault on 9/11 or complicit in al-Qaeda's attacks on our nation—the so-called truther movement... Perhaps the major conceit in Jones’s address was the notion that the economy is a zero-sum game where the success of one person hinders your ability to succeed. If you're not doing well, it’s because someone else is getting ahead at your expense. 'We’re not broke,' Jones said early on in his presentation, 'We’ve been robbed.'" From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. What's more American than that? 

I give it six months.

"Peace Activists" Aboard the Gaza Flotilla Plan to Kill IDF Soldiers

They should never get the chance.  Sink the flotilla before it gets anywhere near the beach:

Army info suggests radical elements equipping some vessels talking part in sail with bags containing chemicals, most likely sulfur, to use against soldiers taking over vessels…

Military elements monitoring the Gaza flotilla said that radical elements taking part in the sail have said they were planning “surprises for the IDF” and plan to kill many soldiers.

The information suggests that radicals are planning to equip some of the vessels with bags containing chemicals, possibly sulfur, which they will use against soldiers who may try to take over the ships.

It has recently been estimated that only eight ships will take part in the sail, instead of 15. Some 500 activists are expected to board the vessels, half the original estimated number. They will include several prominent Hamas members such as Amin Abu Rashad, who heads a charity in Holland and Mohammed Ahmed Hanoun.

The IDF boarded the vessels last time they tried this and they almost lost some people. No sense taking a chance this time. One missile per boat ought to do it.

TSA Headline of the Day

If you run the TSA you can't be happy seeing this at the top of Drudge:

TSA: WE DIDN'T TAKE OFF HER DIAPER

Unfortunately, the TSA has quickly become the classic government bureaucracy, and with it soon to be unionized, it won't get any better. The organization has a set of rules and policies and nobody...NOBODY...is to depart from them under any circumstances. That makes for an organization where common sense is no longer common and rigid fealty to arbitrary rules becomes the expected norm. Employees are not allowed to think for themselves, because the penalty for doing so is to become out-of-step with the rest of the robots, and we can't have that.

Put all that together and you get TSA agents demanding a terminally ill 95-year old woman take off her adult diapers...after a 45 minute search process.  The agency should be horribly embarrassed...but I'm not sure they have the capacity anymore.

Video of the Day

A Marine home from Afghanistan surprises his sister at her college graduation:

Welcome home, Marine!

Political Quote of the Day

The quote doesn't come from a politician but from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, but politicians should take note:

“We have repeatedly held that leveling the playing field is not a legitimate government function."

Exactly correct. There are always going to be haves and have-nots and no amount of government intervention is going to change that or somehow make it "fair".

This reminds me of something that came up during Roberts' confirmation hearings:

The Dems have this "little guy vs. big guy" thing in their minds where the little guy is always right and the big guy is always evil. John Roberts gave a brilliant answer to a question which summed up the role of the judiciary very nicely, and completely torched the Dems "the little guy should always win" view of justice. Here's what he said (h/t Rush Limbaugh):

ROBERTS: I had someone ask me in this process, I don't remember who it was, but somebody asked me, you know, "Are you going to be on the side of the little guy," and you obviously want to give an immediate answer, but as you reflect on it, if the Constitution says that the little guy should win, the little guy is going to win in court before me. But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well, then the big guy is going to win because my obligation is to the Constitution. That's the oath. The oath that a judge takes is not that I'll look out for particular interests; I'll be on the side of particular interests. The oath is to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States, and that's what I would do.

Your State Department At Work

Aren't they supposed to be working ending the war in Libya or something...anything...important?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that the State Department played an instrumental role in “sealing the deal” for pop-rock star Lady Gaga to perform at a gay pride rally in Rome, Italy.

Clinton specifically pointed to a letter that David Thorne, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, sent to Lady Gaga urging her to participate in the event.

“And then there is the work that our embassy team in Rome has been doing,” Clinton said. “Two weeks ago they played an instrumental role in bringing Lady Gaga to Italy for a Euro Pride concert.

If they can get my quartet on the stage of the National Quartet Convention in Louisville all will be forgiven.

Tire Slashing is a Hate Crime, but Only If You Think The Wrong Thing While You're Doing It

From crime-ridden Chicago, where roving gangs have been having quite a time lately, comes this report:

Was the vandalism of 51 floats for the Gay Pride Parade this past weekend a hate crime?

Police say they are not investigating it as such. But the parade organizer and the owner of the floats both said they believe it was....

Associated Attractions owner Chuck Huser said all 51 floats being stored at the warehouse had two of their tires punctured. He and his staff found all the floats leaning to one side when they arrived at 5 a.m. Sunday to start pulling them out for the parade.

“Every single one,” Huser said. “They didn’t single out one float. They did them all.”

Equality. Absolutely in keeping with the theme of the parade.

Seriously, though, this story points out exactly what's wrong with hate crime legislation. Instead of punishing the act, they want to add punishment because of the thought that may have been behind the act. Since our criminal justice system has yet to come up with a way to read our thoughts, and at this point you're still supposedly free to think whatever you want to think as long as you don't act on it, hate crime legislation is quite simply unconstitutional.

Postal Service Plunges While FedEx Soars

Maybe it's time to privatize the whole thing:

Private postal services have flourished as the US public mail system struggles, and the differences were never more clear on Wednesday.

On the same day that FedEx Corp announced a booming 33-per-cent jump in profits, the US Postal Service (USPS) declared an emergency end to its contributions to the health insurance portion of the federal pension fund for its workers.

The move by the public mail deliverer, effective on Friday, will save it 800 million dollars between Friday and the end of the fiscal year on September 30, Dave Partenheimer of the USPS said.
Without the savings from the emergency suspension, Partenheimer said the USPS could run out of funds by October.

It's not only that private mail systems have cut into postal service income. The increasing use of the internet for communication has practically stopped the art of letter writing and snail-mail deliveries.

FedEx, UPS and other private delivery services do a good, fast and efficient job because they know if they don't they'll lose customers. They don't have a monopoly on certain mail segments the way the US Postal Service does. Although I've never had any serious complaints with the way my local postal officials do their jobs, the organization as a whole is going to have to step up and convince Americans that their services are worthwhile if they want to survive without being an increasing burden on American taxpayers. At some point, if first class postal rates continue to rise, people will just stop using them and seek alternatives, as they've already done with many forms of communication.

Electronic communication has become so commonplace that a couple of years ago I had to show my teenage son how to address an envelope. He'd never done it.  There's a whole generation coming up that will have no use for most USPS services.

UN Foundation: Only Propaganda Will Save Us From Global Warming

And must silence all the "climate deniers":

Former Democratic Sen. Tim Wirth of Colorado, now the president of the UN Foundation, said the flooding and forest fires in the United States this year are evidence of "the kind of dramatic climate impact" climate change models have predicted and that those in the know on climate change must “undertake an aggressive program to go after those who are among the deniers.”

In a UN Foundation conference call about climate change, from Svalbard, Norway on Thursday, Wirth said, “[W]e have to--I think, again as I’ve suggested before--undertake an aggressive program to go after those who are among the deniers, who are putting out these mistruths, and really call them for what they’re doing and make a battle out of it. They’ve had pretty much of a free ride so far, and that time has got to stop.”

Wirth also said it was a good thing that people such as weather forecasters have come together “to try to explain climate change and climate impacts when they’re doing the evening news and talking about the weather, which is where most people in the United States get their information. That’s going to be, I think over a period of time, an extremely important set of steps to take.”

Groupthink.  We must get TV weather people to quit screwing around in front of the green screen and start indoctrinating the viewers on global warming.  That's just creepy.

The UN Foundation was started by TV tycoon and eccentric nut Ted Turner, a guy with more money than brains and who's convinced himself that we're all gonna die from global warming.  It must be tough to hold onto that dream while the climate refuses to cooperate.

Obama: Remember When I Was Cool?

Daily Caller has the details:

Remember when Obama was cool? -- Not as vividly as he does! He's been running around lamenting the big change from Hope to Nope, and he wants to remind you that it's kinda your fault. Politico reports: "Barack Obama’s second presidential campaign seems destined to lack 2008's gleam of insurgency — and nobody knows it better than Obama. At a series of recent fundraisers, the president lamented his loss of cool, his transformation from fresh to familiar, from edgy to establishment. 'I’m sort of old news,' he told supporters at a New York fundraiser last week. 'I know that it’s not going to be exactly the same as when I was young and vibrant and new,' he mused. 'And there was — posters everywhere, hope. The logo was really fresh. And let’s face it, it was cool to support me back then....' Obama has mourned his tattered coolness at about half a dozen recent fundraisers." Is this just his usual narcissistic self-pity? Or is he trying to head off the inevitable criticism from his voters who've been paying attention and realize they've been duped? Maybe his new campaign slogan will be "Obama 2012: Older But Wiser." Although considering his performance in office so far, he's only really nailed the "older" part. Come on, America, just because you're tired of him and he can't exactly run on his record, that's no reason not to reelect him, right? How about an ovation for old time's sake? Just a quick one. Aw, don't be like that. Can he at least get a pity vote? 

Out: "Hoping" he'll be a good president. In: Reality.

The Jesus and Mary Inanimate Object Tour Makes a Local Stop

I don't know how I missed this story from last week, but it appears the Son of God has made a local stop (from the OC Register):

How much would you pay for an old, wooden chair that you can't even sit in? Resident Lou Balducci is hoping at least $25,000.

Balducci has listed an old patio rocking chair, purchased at HomeGoods some 10 years ago, on eBay with a starting bid price of $25,000. But this isn't just any old rocking chair; it's one that bears the image of what Balducci believes to be Jesus Christ.

Balducci first noticed the anomaly in February as he and his wife were preparing to throw away a pair of rocking chairs that had sat in their backyard for years. The chairs' wood was rotting and their supports were broken. White paint flaked off anytime the chair was moved or touched.
His wife had thrown away the chairs' rain-soaked cushions a few days before. Balducci stood outside on the back patio, smoking a cigar and staring at the pair of barren, unusable chairs when something caught his eye. In a paint-chipped, rotting knot of wood near the base of one chair's backrest, Balducci saw the face of Jesus as he knows him to be.

Balducci is not "super religious," he said, though the experience has led him not to doubt the existence of God. But he said he knows there are others out there who might be able to appreciate more than he does what some have come to call "the Jesus chair." Additionally, he said he was hesitant to give it to any of his children, who all have young children of their own.

I'll bet he heard angels singing when he thought he could get some sucker to pay $25 grand for that chair. Sadly, no one bid on it. I'm guessing that chipped paint Jesus images just don't go for what they used to. It's part of Obama's recession - there's just not as much desire for Messiahs as there once was.

For previous stops on the Jesus and Mary Tour, click on the "Virgin Mary" label below.

New York Times Gears Up for the Campaign to Re-Elect Obama

Jed Babbin takes it to the New York Times:

It's been a bad month for the New York Times. The feeding frenzy it tried to stir up over Sarah Palin's e-mails left the sharks unfed. And the "investigative" story that was supposed to prove Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be an unethical scoundrel fell flat because its theory was unsupported by the facts.

To top it all off, the Times is -- for the third time in as many years -- in an open feud with New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan for what the gentleman correctly labels anti-Catholic reporting.

But none of that will change the Times' behavior. The Times is preparing itself for a huge push to re-elect President Obama and will leave no story unpublished that could possibly help Obama or hurt his opponent, regardless of who it is.

How did the New York Times -- the paper of Abe Rosenthal, R.W. "Johnny" Apple and Bill Safire -- become the paper of Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd? What changed it from the liberal paper that had been most fair to Ronald Reagan to the home of angry liberalism?
What happened? Pinch happened.

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. -- known as "Pinch," a diminutive of his father's nickname, "Punch" -- became the paper's publisher in 1992 and has steadily transformed what was a newspaper into an ideological tool of the left. The final stage of that transformation will be completed in September, when Jill Abramson becomes the paper's executive editor.

Read the rest of it here.

The only good thing that can be said about the Times these days is at least they don't try to hide the bias anymore. It's right out there for everybody to see. And with thousands of other news sources readily available online there's really no reason for the Times to be considered America's news source anymore.

Justice Scalia: Try Parenting Instead

This morning the Supreme Court handed down the last opinions of this term and one of the cases involved California's law prohibiting the sale or rental of violent video games to kids under 18.  Justice Scalia, the smartest guy on the court as far as I'm concerned, wrote the opinion which basically said that parents are better arbiters of what kids should be doing than the state.  From the AP via Don Surber:

The Supreme Court says California cannot ban the rental or sale of violent video games to children.

The high court agreed Monday with a federal court’s decision to throw out California’s ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Sacramento said the law violated minors’ rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments.

The law would have prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under 18. Retailers who violated the act would have been fined up to $1,000 for each infraction.

The court on a 7-2 vote said the law was unconstitutional.

More than 46 million American households have at least one video-game system, with the industry bringing in at least $18 billion in 2010.

The First Amendment isn't always pretty and sometimes it allows stuff that we don't like. That's why kids come with parents who can make those judgments that are no business of the state.

Good call, Justice Scalia and the other six that joined that opinion.

In another case, the court threw out Arizona's campaign finance law, stating that it imposes a "substantial burden on speech".  Another good call, though this one was 5-4.

Campaign donations are political speech and therefore should not be regulated (that's my opinion, and not the court's).

The Audacity of Dopes

Wanna know who's dumb enough to challenge the Israeli Defense Force and try and run the naval blockage of Gaza?  These people.  They're the passengers on a poorly named vessel "Audacity of Hope".  Gee, I wonder where that name came from?

It's a collection of American morons who are apparently hoping to follow in the footsteps of Rachel Corrie.  Remember her?  Here's a photo:

She was the Southern California woman who went to the Gaza Strip, and while taking a break from burning American flags and chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans, decided to try and stop an IDF bulldozer that had been sent to destroy the home of a suicide bomber.  Corrie got herself tenderized when the bulldozer refused to stop for her moral superiority.

Given that the head of Code Pink is one of the Audacity of Dopes, perhaps a well placed torpedo or anti-ship missile could remove that inflamed boil from the butt of Mother Earth.

UPDATE:  The dopes may not be sailing after all:

Six ships which were slated to take part in the Gaza-bound flotilla are being detained by the Greek port authorities, Ynet learned Sunday night.

Senior officials in Jerusalem have confirmed the report, which followed a Sunday decision by Greece to stop the US vessel "Audacity of Hope" from participating in the sea-bound convoy.

While the organizers of the maritime convoy claim that more than 1,500 activists are set to take part in the initiative, it now appears that no more than seven ships, carrying 200-500 passengers, will participate in the flotilla.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Sunday that Israel will not allow any ships to breach its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

L.A. Dodgers File for Bankruptcy

Just breaking on the local Los Angeles news stations - the Los Angeles Dodgers have filed for bankruptcy.  This appears to be Frank McCourt's last ditch attempt to hang on to the club.  Reports are he doesn't have the cash to make payroll which is due on the 30th.

UPDATE from KNBC:

The LA Dodgers have filed for bankruptcy protection, according to a spokesman for the team.

The move comes after a flurry of activity in the team's ownership saga, which included last week's decision by Major League Baseball to reject the team's proposed TV deal with Fox. Dodgers owner Frank McCourt cites Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig's interference with club operations and refusal to approve the deal as the cause for Monday's bankruptcy filing.

In a news release, the team said Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will provide the Dodgers with a process to address its immediate financing requirements and obtain the capital necessary to ensure the baseball franchise's long-term financial stability.

McCourt said the Dodgers have tried for almost a year to have Selig approve the Fox transaction, saying it would make the Dodgers one of the strongest capitalized franchises in Major League Baseball.

Dems: It Depends On What the Definition of "Taxes" Is

Here's some Bill Clinton-quality word parsing by the Democrats:

House Democrats have demanded that a deficit-reduction deal include measures to raise tax revenue but they argue those proposals shouldn’t be viewed as proposed tax increases.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (S.C.), the assistant House Democratic leader and a member of the debt-limit negotiating team, said Sunday that closing tax loopholes are not the same as tax increases.

“The fact of the matter is, we have on the table all kinds of revenue raises that [Republicans] keep calling tax increases. How do you call closing loopholes to oil companies that are making billions of dollars in profits, closing up these loopholes that would generate $40 to $50 billion in revenue, how do you call that a tax hike?” Clyburn said on ABC News’s "This Week".

“That is no tax hike. You only hike taxes when you raise rates,” he argued.

Uh..no. If you change the law in such a way as to require someone to pay more in taxes - such as removing a loophole or deduction - that's a tax hike.

Clyburn is proof that we don't send our best and brightest to congress.

Palin is Still the Favorite Among Republicans

She still hasn't announced if she's running, but there are a lot of Republicans hoping she'll be in the race (h/t Don Surber):

Republicans still give Romney the highest favorability rating among announced candidates, at 61 percent. Palin, who’s keeping everyone guessing about her intentions, is holding steady, too, with a 63 percent favorability rating.

Bachmann’s favorability rating jumped from 41 percent to 54 percent among Republicans. A third still have no opinion about her, and it’s too soon to tell if her boost will endure or was a June phenomenon.

Huntsman, who announced his candidacy this week but still is relatively unknown nationally, had a 23 percent favorability rating among Republicans. He’s gotten better known — 59 percent had no opinion about him in the latest poll, down slightly from 66 percent a month earlier. But the result was an increase in those with an unfavorable opinion, from 11 percent to 17 percent, with a greater uptick among tea party supporters.

Pawlenty, one of the first to get into the race, saw his favorable ratings rise 10 percentage points to 43 percent. His support among tea party backers was up 11 points.

The poll was conducted June 16-20 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The survey included 429 Republicans, and that subset had a larger, 6.2 percentage point margin of error.

For the record, I'm not one of those hoping she gets in the race. I still think her brand has been fatally damaged among non-GOP voters and she wouldn't fare well in the general election.

I think Rick Perry could be the guy, though.

Dem Congresswoman Wants to Stop Military Sponsorship in NASCAR

Among other sports and recruiting activities:

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, who has spent months trying to eliminate military sponsorship of NASCAR, is expected to introduce an amendment to next year’s Pentagon appropriations bill that would reduce money going to advertising for motor sports, fishing, wrestling and ultimate-fighting events.

While the congresswoman is intent on eliminating military money in NASCAR, the sport is widely noted as being one of the most ardent supporters of the troops and considered a good place to engage potential recruits.

That amendment's going nowhere. I'm sure the military understands the value of sports sponsorship and the contact they make with potential recruits.

This isn't just a way for Congress to reduce spending, it's an attack on Red America which is well represented by NASCAR.  And a direct shot at the military, which apparently is not well liked by McCollum.

Today's TSA Outrage

Common sense is official dead:

An elderly woman in the late-stages of leukemia was forced to undergo 45 minutes of additional screenings last Saturday when she tried to board a flight out of Northwest Florida Regional Airport, her daughter told FoxNews.com

Lena Reppert, 95, was to say her final goodbyes to her daughter before she made what would most likely be her last flight to her native Michigan. After eight years of battling leukemia, doctors say she doesn’t have much time to live.

“She said she wanted to be closer to her grave,” Jean Weber, her daughter, told FoxNews.com. “I knew it would probably be the last time I ever see her.”

But when Reppert made it to the check-in line, Transportation Security Association agents singled her out because she was in a wheelchair. Wheelchairs require other security measures to be employed since they don’t go through metal detectors.

“So they brought my mom to the side, and two agents just started patting her,” Reppert said. “Eventually they found something that appeared to be hard and they said could be a concealed weapon.”

She said two female agents wheeled her mom into a private room where they performed a more thorough inspection, and found that Reppert was wearing a Depend adult diaper.

“It was hard because the underwear was bunched up,” Weber said, adding that she was not in the room as her mother was patted.

After 45 minutes, the mother and daughter were given two options: either don't fly, or lose the Depend. The women chose the latter.

“I ran with her to the bathroom and stripped her down,” Weber recalled. “I got back to the line and just started bawling.”

Weber said the emotional toll was too much. From perhaps seeing her mother for what could be the last time, to having to see her mother go through all the security measures, “I just cried and said, ‘Please can you let her through, she’s just so sick,” she said.

Chances are while the TSA agents were messing with this poor old sick woman, three other women in hijabs walked through the screening unmolested.

Ceremony at Gold Cup Soccer Match in Pasadena, CA Conducted All in Spanish

And the U.S. team's goalkeeper is not happy:

Goalkeeper Tim Howard was still upset after the U.S. lost the Gold Cup final, but his strongest reaction had nothing to do with the four goals Mexico slotted in his net.

After El Tri's 4-2 victory at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Howard blasted CONCACAF officials for conducting the title ceremony in Spanish.

"CONCACAF should be ashamed of themselves," Howard said. "I think it was a [expletive] disgrace that the entire postmatch ceremony was in Spanish. You can bet your ass that if we were in Mexico City, it wouldn't be all in English.

"But that's not why we lost the game. They've got some special players who put us in some bad situations."

In addition to crediting Mexico's talented playmakers for the victory, Howard was complimentary about the largely pro-Mexico crowd.

"It was a good crowd today," Howard said. "They were up for it, doing the wave, it was what we expected. We know it's going to be like this."

Nonetheless, Howard seemed visibly upset when officials tried to line the U.S. up for a team photo after the ceremony was conducted in Spanish.

Asked about it afterward, he said: "It never ceases to amaze me all that stuff."

When the U.S. is treated in other countries the way we treat foreign teams here, then I'll stop complaining about this stuff. This is Southern California, not Northern Mexico.

Where's the Fire Part 2

Newport Engine 64, all lit up, heads up Marine Way on a call.  Balboa Island has to be the toughest place in the county to drive a fire truck.

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Where's the Fire?

Newport Beach Truck 63 sits parked on the street next to the Balboa Island fire station. Note the cool patriotic paint scheme.

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Wild Goose

John Wayne's old converted minesweeper Wild Goose glides through Newport Harbor on a sightseeing tour.

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Heroin On the Rise in South Orange County

When I think of the area in which I live I don't think of heroin or other opioids as being a major problem. That's something for the inner cities.

But I'm wrong:

Our sons and daughters are killing themselves and we've got to do something.

Let's start by acknowledging our growing heroin problem.

In reviewing coroner records for South County and beach cities from 2007-2010, I found some 80 accidental opioid-related deaths for people 24 and younger.

One boy was 14.

And that grim tally doesn't include deaths this year – such as the 16-year-old South County girl who died March 26 of a suspected heroin overdose.

The death rate, of course, is just the visible tip. In a part of the world known for fun in the sun – and money — teens and young adults are getting wrecked on opioid-class prescriptions, and especially heroin, like never before.

A few months ago, when Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Lance Christensen received a call from the county's Special Enforcement Team about someone hiding a sock in the bushes on Meandering Trail in Las Flores, it was particularly troubling.

Deputies from the department's Special Enforcement Team eventually found a high school freshman, just 16, prepped to sell dozens of tiny, colorful balloons filled with heroin.

And Christensen knew the kid had plenty of waiting buyers.

I've met Deputy Christensen a couple of times. He's the deputy that was assigned to the high school where my wife worked and often had to deal with drug problems involving campus students.  Apparently there is no shortage of work for him and his fellow deputies.

Here are some disturbing numbers provided by the author:

I examined the coroner's compilation of overdoses in South County and several beach cities. I focused on those areas because experts said that's where heroin is the biggest problem and that its use has been growing since last summer.

I found that heroin, opiates, or a mix of similar drugs figured in the accidental deaths of some 80 people 24 and younger.

The 14-year-old victim lived in Silverado, a place most of us think as bucolic canyon country. He died less than a year ago from something called tremadol, an opioid.

I also discovered a tragic trend for South County and beach city opioid-related deaths: Even before last summer, the numbers started to climb.

In 2007, there were 18 deaths. Four were women the same age or younger than my 23-year-old daughter.

The following year, 17 young adults died. Among the cities where they died: Mission Viejo, Laguna Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch, Lake Forest, Newport Beach.

In 2009, 21 young people died. One was a 16-year-old girl from Huntington Beach. She overdosed on a variety of drugs including hydromorphone, an opioid.

Last year was the worst. Twenty-four young adults died in South County and beach communities of opioid-related causes.

Other places that saw young people accidentally overdose in 2010 included San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel.

While most victims were male, young women and girls accounted for nearly 20 percent of the accidental deaths.

In addition, there were seven opioid-related suicides. One incident on May 25, 2008 resulted in the deaths of two 21-year-old women in San Clemente.

Read the rest of it here.

Philly Mob Attacks a Sears Store

Perhaps they wanted to get in before the chain shuts down:

A mob of about 40 people stormed into the Sears department store on 69th Street Thursday, and in a flash stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, officials said.

Police were able to round up 15 juveniles and one adult, 19, all from West Philadelphia.

“They came in on the El train and hit Sears,” police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. “They stole sneakers, socks, watches, whatever they could get their hands on, and left.

“Imagine the guts of this gang of young hoodlums. One was 11 years old. The others arrested ranged from 12 to 16 years old. They planned this out earlier in the day on a social networking site. It was pre-planned. They got on the El, got off at 69th Street Terminal and walked up the hill to Sears.”

Memo to the writer: There are no "guts" involved in a mob attack. Mobs are where cowards hang out.

This wasn't the only mob attack of the day:

Tonight, around 11 p.m., a group of at least 60-70 African American youth marched down one of the side streets (W. Thrush) to the 4 lane main drag (Sheridan). They were yelling threats to white residents. Things such as we need to kill alll the white people around here. They were physically intimidating anyone calling for help from the police. They were surrounding cars. Cars on the main drag had to slam on their brakes to either avoid the youth blocking not only all four lanes, but a large section of the side street as well. fights were breaking out among them. They were rushing residents who looked out their doors, going on to porches, yelling threats to people calling the police for help.

Cars were doing U turns on the streets just to avoid the mob, mostly male. One youth stated his grandfather was white and several assaulted him on the spot. One police officer answered the call. The youth split into two large groups, one heading north, the other south. They were also yelling racial threats to the police officer but he was outnumbered. Another police car did not show up until after the youth finally dispersed and the patty wagon (van) also eventually showed up.

Residents are very shaken, both black and white alike. This is the fifth large mob action in about a month with smaller groups of 10-12 are out threatening children and adults a few evenings a week or later into the night. The times vary, even occuring during the day. In talking to the police officer, they are short staffed. Residents were advised to simply keep inside and to lock their doors. In other words buckle down, it’s not even safe to sit on your porch or go into your yards.

Seems to be an epidemic of this kind of stuff going on. Whatever happened to the rainbows and unicorns?