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My blog is worth $210,008.88.
How much is your blog worth?
I realize you get paid to say controversial shite all day long. Every once in a while you ought to take a gander at who gives you the freedom to flap your freakin' gums and think twice before you decide that zero-tolerance demands that your betters suffer for some bullshit like this.Anybody can be a blogospheric tough guy. Real-world tough guys play by different rules and, being personally acquainted with a few of those guys, I try to make a point of staying on their good side.
Amen. God has been merciful toward me, and it behooves me to urge mercy toward others. We fundamentalists would describe Allah as "lost," but let us not presume him lost beyond redemption. For who can be beyond the power of God?They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty . . . O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. . . . But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord . . . O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me . . . let me be delivered from them that hate me.
...scientific evidence means nothing to those with an anti-global warming agenda, who point to illegally hacked mails to try to prove that global warming is a hoax. Sadly for them, the anti-global-warming hysteria isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.You know whose global warming ideas I like? David Byrne's:Only now "the house" is the liberal fascist house of cards moreso than the planet.
The ugly part of this has more to do with scientists jockeying for position and arguing over how to best put forth their theories in a contentious political climate. The uglier part is those who are distorting this for the purpose of advancing anti-environmental theories.
Six charged in town hall disturbance
-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Disturbance," you morons? It was a beat-down. Organized labor violence. Kenneth Gladney was hospitalized.
More from Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit, Midwest Conservative Journal, Ed Driscoll, and Memeorandum.
At least ten students at a Florida middle school assaulted or encouraged assault of Jewish classmates in what they called "Kick a Jew Day". It was not the first incident of its kind. . . .I mean, hey, if wild-eyed speculation about Tea Parties inspiring murder in Kentucky is fair game, why not blame CJ for "Kick a Jew Day"?
A Jewish student at the North Naples Middle School in Florida informed the dean of students last Thursday that she was attacked. The next day, after Principal Margaret Jackson addressed students, her office was informed of at least ten students involved in such kicking incidents.
One student told the local NBC television station correspondent that the phenomenon was "very widespread, happening all over school." In a letter to school officials, the parents of a Jewish student said that their daughter was taunted and kicked by several other students. "Apparently many kids, all Jewish, were kicked during the day," the parent wrote.
The North Naples Middle School students who the principal said took part in the "Kick a Jew Day" attacks received a one-day, in-school suspension and their parents were informed.
Stacy, $10 for another pop at CJ or some other left-wing cretin, with a mention that I put you up to it, of course (and please).I'm always glad to add to your holiday cheer. Hit the tip jar.
Happy Thanksgiving!
(0) Modulo its own employees, and federal criminals*, the Federal Government should not interact with private citizens.Having set down that marker, let's see if and how we can apply this concept to the 10 items:
(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s "stimulus" bill.How about:
(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run health care.Divorcing the Federal government from individual citizens would kill ObamaCare, entitlements, and the 16th Amendment, if carried through to its logical conclusion.
(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation.Anyone connected with the mockery that is Warmaquiddick should be run out of DC on a rail and admonished never to open their dusty pie-holes in public again.
(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check.Anything SEIU and/or ACORN support is unlikely to be something free people would want. Nuke card check.
(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants.Yes.
(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges.Yes.
(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat.This needs to be strengthened. If the country is not supporting an actual Declaration of War, then we shouldn't go debasing our Constitution any more by further military adventurism.
(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act.Hmm. Principle 0 should keep the Federal hand off of everyone's naughty bits.
(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion.Again, Federal involvement with individuals, their marriages, their reproduction, their wallets, their retirements, etc. is at the heart of the problems besetting the country. Bureaucrats feel this passionate need to sculpt society, to boss other people around, to define "the right thing" and set about doing it. Amputate that notion!
(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.This is the Second Amendment. Where is the emphasis on the 10th?
Thanks to an anonymous source in an Associated Press story and a flurry of speculation by bloggers, however, this quiet community was imagined to be a seething cauldron of hatred stoked by Fox News, talk radio and Republican politicians. Clay County's state Sen. Robert Stivers told the Lexington Herald-Leader that "many in the media owe the county an apology." As Morgan Bowling said Tuesday afternoon, at times it seemed as if pundits were trying to turn Bill Sparkman into a "sacrificial lamb for ObamaCare."You can read the whole thing. And you should also read Michelle Malkin's rejoinder to Andrew Sullivan.
At the height of the national media glare, the Manchester Enterprise's young editor received an e-mail from New York: "What are you people, backwoods ignorant freaks?" the e-mailer wrote. "This crime is a reflection of all the residents of Clay County. . . . You are all disgusting pigs, and if one could level a curse at a community, then I curse the whole lot of you."
Morgan Bowling is only a few months into her journalism career, but she got a crash course about what can happen when irresponsible reporting leads to unfounded speculation.
Since this news came out, I've received several angry emails demanding that I apologize for saying Sparkman had been murdered by a right wing extremist.Right. And the connnection between the two phenomena -- the murder and the 9/12 March on D.C. -- was entirely imaginary, so long as we assume that Bill Sparkman didn't have something like that in mind in choosing the date of his demise.
The problem is, I never wrote anything like that. For the record, this was my post when the story broke, and I don't apologize for a single word:
"There's not enough information yet to say for sure what was behind this killing, so let's not jump to conclusions. But the description of the circumstances and the timing (around the time of the Washington DC tea party) raises a strong suspicion that anti-government sentiment may have been the motivation."
MANCHESTER, Kentucky -- Rodney Miller has lived nearly all his 56 years in Clay County, the only exception being when, as a young man, he moved to Indianapolis. He lived in the big city for two years without ever knowing his neighbors' names.Those are the kind of small-town people I know. It was their good names, and the reputation of an entire community, that were being smeared by the implication that they were a bunch of hateful yahoos who had lynched Bill Sparkman.
"The best people in the world live here," says Miller, sitting in the office of the Manchester Enterprise, where he directs advertising sales. "Down here, everybody knows everybody else." . . .
Figure 1,200 miles travel round-trip, at 25 cents per mile, that's $300. Five meals at $5/each, that's another $25. A carton of smokes, $50; ten cups of coffee, $20. If you add $125/night for a hotel room, I could make it a two-day trip for $500. . . .
So if the tip jar contributions between now and Sunday evening reach $300, I'll take it for granted that the rest will come through while I'm on the road. I could be filing reports with a Kentucky dateline by Monday noon.
That $300 threshold was reached within a matter of hours, and it is to you people -- too numerous to name, lest anyone be omitted from the honor roll -- whom the congratulations are owed. The honor roll can be extended to include all the bloggers who have linked my reports on the Kentucky case, and to Smitty, whose labors and skills deserve so much praise.The Honorable Mr. ManzulloWhether or not Congress votes a medal for military spouses, we should at least remember them in our prayers.
Illinois 16th District
Washington D.C.
Mr. Manzullo,
May this letter find you in a special state of Thanks for all of the sacrifices of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines during this Thanksgiving holiday season. And also, a warm Thanksgiving wishes to you, your family, and loved ones.
I have never written a member of Congress before, but something happened tonight that changed me forever. Something happened that made me realize that we, as a nation, are failing to recognize the daily sacrifices of a truly special group of people, a special group of people that our very nation depends on more than we've ever appreciated...up until now that is.
I received a call this evening from my son, Daniel, who has proudly served in our United States Marine Corps since September of 2007. As you probably know just hearing from our sons and daughters who are far away from home is cause enough to be thankful (they never have time to call us, am I right?), but this particular call made me especially thankful. Not for my son mind you, whom I'm VERY proud of, but for his new wife (and college sweetheart) Rachel, whom he married in a North Carolina courthouse (in front of exactly 5 people - including the judge) in June of this year. Let us all be thankful for our troops this holiday season, but let us also be thankful for their spouses, who put up with just as much as their counterparts, with even less of our thanks than they truly deserve.
We, as a nation, bestow great honor and tidings to those who don the uniform in defense of our freedoms and way of life. It is only fitting and proper that we do this, in order that we may show our deep appreciation and gratitude. The various medals we bestow upon them are in all cases worn with valour and pride by the patriots who fully deserve our accolades.
But, at the same time Mr. Manzullo, let us not forget those who silently serve behind those guardians of freedom, who in most cases walked away from everything they've ever loved to be with those who serve our flag.
Was there not a Mrs. Washington, a Mrs. MacArthur, or a Mrs. Chesty Puller (God rest his soul) who served our country just as faithfully as their hallowed and vaunted husbands? Was there not a Mrs. Grant or a Mrs. Lee whom their soldier husbands sought solace after the death and carnage of those battlefields of yesteryear? Do we not also owe THEM an official vote of thanks for all of the cares, worries, and support they provided in our Nation's hour of need?
The obvious answer to this is a resounding "YES!", and the time has come to bestow upon them an official Presidential Medal of recognition, a medal of elegance, ruggedness, and beauty for all of their hard-earned sacrifices, that up until now have never been fully appreciated.
It is they who wonder if their husbands or wives will ever return home. It is they who wonder if their kids will ever see their mother or father again. It is they who silently toil behind the curtain of freedom their husbands and wives so valiantly defend.
Mr. Manzullo, as a former married Marine myself I ask that you sponsor legislation that will officially award a Presidential Medal to all of those who've given up everything to be by the side of those who valiantly serve our cause of liberty. For every hero there's more than likely a wife or husband who helped to make it all possible. In this season of Thanksgiving let us remember them with a Presidential recognition medal they so valiantly and truly deserve.
May God bless our military wives and husbands, and may God bless The United States of America.
Nathan D.
Huntley, IL
Noted beta male and "many moons ago" entertaining blogger Allahpundit at Hot Air throws three Navy SEALs under the bus just to appease people who are only safe to be appeased, himself included, because of these rough men.Allahpundit, I've met Jimbo. In my estimation he's one of those best friend/worst nightmare kind of guys. Staying in the desired category isn't really hard, and you're admonished to recalibrate your ways.
Notice Malkin's formulation: "pointed his finger" or "immediately fingered." I said the "possibility" remained real and that "we'll see." How can you finger someone when you simultaneously say we do not yet know what happened for sure?This, from a post entitled "Correcting Michelle Malkin," as if Malkin -- who was right all along about the Sparkman case -- needs corrections from Dr. Andrew Sullivan, M.D., OB-GYN. Tell you what: We'll let Sarah Palin's Uterus be the arbiter here. We're not laughing with you, Sully, we're laughing at you.
Both the Department of Homeland Security and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have warned of a dramatic spike in antigovernment militia activity.Lower Glennbeckistan gets a shout-out from that dangerous redneck Michael Moynihan at Reason, who quotes some of the original lefty fear-mongering:
If conservative politicians and opinion leaders keep stoking fears about the government using census data to steal from or perhaps even round up law-abiding citizens, I am concerned that mentally unstable individuals will commit further acts of violence against census-takers next year. Republicans should condemn the hatemongers and make clear that the census is not only permitted, but required under the Constitution.We'll keep this in mind, next time the lefties accuse conservatives of fomenting paranoia.
MyDD
The gruesome lynching of this Census worker seems to bear a disturbing similarity to some of the worst hate crimes committed across this country. Regardless of what the motive for the killing may have been, why would a murderer(s) take such pains to so blatantly convey anger, fear, and vitriol towards a Census employee? Perhaps because some on the right have created an impression that Census employees are terrifying.
Earlier this summer, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) waged a high-profile, wildly-dishonest campaign against the Census.
ThinkProgress
Others, namely the type to kill a Census worker and string up his body as message to the government, may call it a retraining camp run by the "Feds."
This is the kind of violent event that emerges from a culture of paranoia and unsubstantiated attacks.
Huffington Post
From this profile of the cancer survivor and volunteer, it appears suicide is unlikely. We'll find out. But at some point, unhinged hostility to the federal government, whipped up by the Becks, can become violence. That's what Pelosi was worried about.
Andrew Sullivan
Send the body to Glenn Beck…Is it possible that the time has come for the FCC to consider exactly what constitutes screaming fire over the publicly owned airwaves? And what if Mr. Sparkman’s murderer(s) is never found? How many other lunatics will be emboldened to make their own anti-government statement as the voices of Beck, Limbaugh and Dobbs echo in their ears?
Nobody ever intended our public airwaves to be turned over to irresponsible voices. Maybe the time has come for the FCC to worry a bit less about wardrobe malfunctions and a whole lot more about those who would use our airwaves to make a name for themselves at the expense of the public they are suppose to serve–particularly when the expense comes in the form of blood.
True/Slant
The bizarre details of the death caused a firestorm of media coverage and widespread speculation on the Internet, including that someone angry at the federal government attacked Sparkman as he went door to door, gathering census information.That is wrong. It wasn't the "bizare details" that caused the "widespread circulation," it was an anonymous source -- an unauthorized federal law enforcement official -- who fed the "anti-government sentiment" meme to Devlin Barrett of the Associated Press D.C. bureau.
They'll pretend it never happened or better yet they knew it all along and this is just a rightwing attempt to smear them. The poor dears are always correct and the victims.Dave Weigel linked me (good) but couldn't resist taking another shot at Michelle Bachmann (bad).
Mr. Sparkman was counting on the media blaming the right for his death for his scam to work. He intentionally tried to frame us for his murder!Stop the ACLU has a round-up and I'm pushing deadline for the American Spectator, so let's let a Clay County resident have the last word:
As a rule it isn't proper to speak ill of the dead, but I'm just amazed that the dead was trying to speak ill of us. What a dishonorable act!
Many people felt the speculation and coverage of the death played on Appalachian stereotypes and gave Clay County an undeserved black eye.Good luck collecting that apology, senator. Being liberal means never having to say you're sorry.
"Everybody was saying, 'It's bad, but why are they saying this without letting the investigation go forward?' " said state Sen. Robert Stivers, a Republican who lives in the county.
Many in the media owe the county an apology, Stivers said.
Frankfort, Ky.) -- The Kentucky State Police Post 11 in London, with the assistance of the FBI, the U.S. Forest Service, the State Medical Examiner's Office and the Clay County Coroner's Office, has concluded the investigation into the death of William E. Sparkman, Jr.UPDATE 2:50 p.m.: Michelle Malkin hasn't forgotten, and Dan Riehl says Sparkman may even have faked cancer.
The investigation, based upon evidence and witness testimony, has concluded that Mr. Sparkman died during an intentional, self-inflicted act that was staged to appear as a homicide. While all the details of the investigation will not be released at this time, the unusual level of attention and speculation attributed to Mr. Sparkman's death necessitates this release of information.
The investigation indicates that Mr. Sparkman died of asphyxiation/strangulation at the same location where he was discovered in Clay County, Ky.
Despite the fact that Mr. Sparkman was found hands, feet and mouth bound with duct tape, rope around his neck and the word "FED" written on his chest, analysis of the evidence determined Mr. Sparkman's death was self-inflicted. A thorough examination of evidence from the scene, to include DNA testing, as well as examination of his vehicle and his residence resulted in the determination that Mr. Sparkman, alone, handled the key pieces of evidence with no indications of any other persons involved.
Witness statements, which are deemed credible, indicate Mr. Sparkman discussed ending his own life and these discussions matched details discovered during the course of the investigation. It was learned that Mr. Sparkman had discussed recent federal investigations and the perceived negative attitudes toward federal entities by some residents of Clay County. It was also discovered during the investigation that Mr. Sparkman had recently secured two life insurance policies for which payment for suicide was precluded.
All tips and leads, including those from the public, were thoroughly investigated but were found to be inconsistent with any known facts or evidence.
It is the conclusion of the Kentucky State Police, the FBI, the U.S. Forest Service, the State Medical Examiner's Office, and the Clay County Coroner's Office that Mr. Sparkman died in an intentional, self-inflicted act that was staged to appear as a homicide.
An Associated Press report said the FBI was "investigating whether anti-government sentiment" played a role in Sparkman's death. Law enforcement officials criticized that story, but the liberal blogosphere seized on it as proving that conservatives had fomented a killing rage among the yokels.Well, you biased bastards, I have not forgotten the perfidious role you played here, and you will not escape blame for your journalistic malpractice.
"Send the body to Glenn Beck," Internet pundit Rick Ungar proclaimed Thursday, also indicting Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann (a Republican who had warned that census data could be abused) among right-wingers presumed complicit in Sparkman's murder.
Saturday, the Atlantic Monthly's Andrew Sullivan fretted over "the most worrying possibility," namely that Sparkman's death was "Southern populist terrorism whipped up by the GOP and its Fox and talk radio cohorts."
About 11:00 p.m., Mr. Johnson arrived at St. Hope and instructed [her] to gather her things and come with him. Mr. Johnson drove to [her] apartment, which is managed by St. Hope Development and houses its AmeriCorps members, purportedly so that they could review the students' grades. While in [her] apartment, in which another AmeriCorps member had a separate bedroom, Mr. Johnson laid down on [her] bed. [The woman] sat on the edge of the bed to show him the grades, at which time Mr. Johnson "layed [sic] down behind me, cupping his body around mine like the letter C. After about 2-3 minutes or so, I felt his hand on my left side where my hip bone is."That's from WorldNetDaily, digging up more gold from the motherlode Grassley-Issa report (PDF) on the firing of AmeriCorps IG Gerald Walpin. The Democratic mayor of Sacramento seemed to think he could use the federally-funded St. HOPE program the way Eliot Spitzer used the Emperor's Club VIP call-girl agency.
SACRAMENTO SEX SCANDAL!Watever happened to selling newspapers, people? Dibs on the "Michelle Rhee sex video" Google-bomb, BTW. Now, somebody needs to hit my tip jar. My wife wants to go holiday shopping Friday.
Hizzoner's Hush-Money Teen Tango
Watchdog Whistle-Blower Claims
White House Arranged Cover-Up
Unless you spend a lot of time in wine chat rooms, you may have missed the recent controversies involving critic Robert Parker. The short version: Parker's publication, the Wine Advocate, was found to be violating its own strictures against freebies and fraternizing with wine importers, and a contributor he hired gave a high rating to a wine based on a sample that seemed to bear little resemblance to what was available on retail shelves. The back-to-back scandals . . . came to light via several wine Web sites, including Parker's own online discussion board. The Internet angle is actually the most significant aspect of this story, for it underscores how profoundly technology is changing the relationship between wine critics and consumers -- the relationship between you and me.Personally, I avoid wine just like I avoid whiskey (ever since Jack Daniel and I had a bad night at Ralph and Millie's Christmas party a few years ago). Above all, however, I avoid snobbery.
Muttley the Attorney General is facing blowback from New York City about the KSM trial.The 9/11 Never Forget Coalition, a diverse group of 9/11 victims, family members, first responders, active and reserve members of the military, veterans, and concerned Americans, is holding a November 24th press conference to discuss the details of their December 5th rally protesting the plan to bring the 9/11 terrorist conspirators to trial in New York City.It's almost as if the actual people of New York want the KSM trial as badly as the actual people of Chicago wanted the 2016 Olympics. Don't they know that there will be copious economic stimulus involved? Lots of billable hours, bread and legal circus for all?
The Coalition formed to fight the decision of President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to try the 9/11 co-conspirators in New York City’s federal court, effectively giving war criminals the same rights as American citizens while endangering the safety of all New Yorkers.
On June 27, 2008, Michelle Rhee, head of the Washington, D.C., school system, paid a visit to Gerald Walpin, who was inspector general of the government volunteer organization AmeriCorps. . . .OK, my head exploded not merely because Byron York scooped me again -- he's a good reporter -- but because the sex-scandal angle in the IG-Gate story is being ignored by the MSM.
Rhee, who later became engaged to marry Johnson, had been on St. Hope’s board of directors before taking over as chief of the District of Columbia system. Her apparent goal, as she visited Walpin, was to vouch for Johnson.
"The basic point of her meeting with me was to tell me what a great guy he was," Walpin recalls, "and what wonderful work he has done, and that maybe he had made mistakes administratively, but that she thought I should give as much consideration as possible to his good work in deciding what to do."
Sexual abuse accusations by St. HOPE Academy students against Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson were apparently covered up, possibly with "hush money," according to a 61-page report issued by congressional investigators. . . .And at the Hot Air Green Room:
The Grassley-Issa report says that agents of the inspector's general office who investigated the St. HOPE sex-abuse charges "immediately recognized what appeared to be improper handling of this allegation . . . and unethical conduct by Mr. Johnson's attorney," Kevin Hiestand, who was also the mayor's business partner.
What makes this so amazing to me is how the MSM’s political bias apparently trumps their basic news judgment.UPDATE: Michelle Malkin notices that the MSM is missing in action on the IG-Gate story, and Hot Air's Ed Morrissey says:
Teenage girls? Sex abuse? Powerful politicians? "Hush money"? Dude, if that story’s not front-page news, I don’t know is.
Will the national media finally take some interest in the story now? The White House not only deliberately misled Congress on Walpin’s firing, they also withheld these new documents until after Grassley and Issa made their initial report on the investigation on Friday. As Byron York notes, that takes the traditional Friday-night document dump to a whole new level. It also completely refutes any claim on transparency and openness from this administration.The joint report of House and Senate Republican investigative staff is here (PDF).
