00Publius Contributor

00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Google - Inernet - News - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

Why the EU’s concerned with a Google-Yahoo pact—Google is close to monopoly share in Europe

May 15, 2008 by

-By Scott Cleland

A Yahoo-Google search outsourcing pact arguably faces even more problems with European antitrust authorities than with the reported U.S. DOJ antitrust investigation, for two reasons:

First, this Yahoo-Google pact represents a horizontal market problem of collusion between leading direct search competitors; this is very different from the recent approval of the Google-DoubleClick merger, which was a vertical merger where DoubleClick was not found to be an actual direct competitor of Google. (Yahoo is universally viewed as one of Google’s top two direct competitors.)

Second, the market facts of search concentration in Europe put Google perilously close to the unofficial definition of a monopoly, which is 90% share of a market.
Continue reading “Why the EU’s concerned with a Google-Yahoo pact—Google is close to monopoly share in Europe”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - News - President - Religion - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Obama, Wright, Farrakhan, Together on 2006 Church Newsletter Cover

May 14, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

My friend Tom Blumer over at the bizzyblog found an interesting image showing an advertisement that appeared in the February 12, 2006 edition of the Trinity United Church of Christ’s newsmagazine, The Trumpet. It depicts Barack Obama along with other — um, shall we say “notable”? — folks like Louis Farrakhan, the racist Reverend Wright, and Elijah Muhammad (founder of the nation of Islam, the extremist branch that Farrakhan now heads up). These faces appear on a purportedly Christian Church’s newsmagazine.

It makes one wonder, if all the way back in 2006 Barack was on the cover of a magazine with Farrakhan, Wright and Muhammad, how can he claim he never knew of the extremist views of his “spiritual mentor” the racist Rev. Wright? It stretches credulity that Obama could have been so long oblivious of what was going on in his own church. doesn’t it? To be coupled with Farrakhan and Muhammad like that? It would be absurd to imagine that they put Obama’s face on the magazine without his knowledge and approval, wouldn’t it?

As Tom says about the extremist bent of Trinity United and Wright: what did Obama know and WHEN did he know it?

(For a bigger version of the image, clickHERE)

**Little Green Footballs ids some of the other faces on the cover for us…

  • Adam Clayton Powell — 1st row, 1st from left
  • Dick Gregory — 1st row, 2nd from left
  • Shirley Chisholm — 1st row, 4th from left
  • O. J. Simpson attorney Johnny Cochran — 1st row, 5th from left
  • Rosa Parks — 1st row, 6th from left
  • Rapper “Common” — 2nd row, 1st from left
  • Is that Robert Mugabe? — 2nd row, 2nd from left
  • Luther Vandross — 4th row, 1st from left
  • Ozzie Davis — 4th row, 2nd from left
  • Lou Rawls — 4th row, 3rd from left
  • Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad — 4th row, 5th from left

Notice who’s missing? Martin Luther King, Jr.!!

Continue reading “Obama, Wright, Farrakhan, Together on 2006 Church Newsletter Cover”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Gays - Media Bias - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Toledo Free Press Article Gets University Employee Fired

May 14, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

We are certainly used to seeing the MSM causing trouble for conservatives and this one is no different at least on that level. But the interesting thing here is that the trouble a social conservative discovered was as a result of what she wrote in the MSM as opposed to what was written about her by the MSM. It seems that the opinion editorial written by Crystal Dixon for the Toledo Free Press got her fired by the University of Toledo because… well, you know how universities are all about free expression and speech, right? Unfortunately for Dixon, though, hers wasn’t the proper, politically correct sort of speech that is officially approved of by the thugs at the University of Toledo.

You see, Crystal Dixon made the mistake of believing that this whole silly idea of “freedom of religion” also applied to our institutions of higher learning. She foolishly asserted in her Toledo Free Press op ed that as far as her religious beliefs are concerned, homosexuality is a choice made by the individual instead of some genetic predisposition, that someone chooses to engage in homosexual activities instead of assuming that being gay is forced upon one by “nature.”

Of course, Dixon based her entire op ed on her Christian religious beliefs. It was no hate filled rant and was quite civil, even tempered, and to the point. But the gay mafia inside the University of Toledo must be awfully powerful. Or, at the very least, fear of them was enough to stifle — no, execute — Mrs. Dixon over what the president of UoT must imagine is her wretched religious extremism.

President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs dashed off a letter summarily firing Mrs. Dixon from her $134,383 a year job as associate vice president for employee resources.

Continue reading “Toledo Free Press Article Gets University Employee Fired”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Immigration/Immigrants - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Border Fence Ruins Mother’s Day for Mexican Families

May 14, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

If you are looking for an eyerolling, maudlin Mother’s Day story, you don’t have to go any farther than the pages of the Washington Post to get a doosie. You see, Ashley Surdin of the WaPo gave us a tear-jerker of a tale about how the border fence between Mexico and the United States keeps Mothers from being with their children. Yes those mean Americans and their insistence on border security hurts Mommies. To that all I can say is, Oh brother!

In fact, the WaPo is even claiming that those poor Mexican Mothers can’t put their fingers through that nasty, rotten fence to touch the tears on their baby girl’s face because if they did they would be punished by the eeeevil U.S. government. And these poor, innocent Mommies are worried that things are getting worse because the U.S. is building “more fences.”

Again, I have to say “Oh, brother.” Are these people serious with this nonsense?

Look at this schmaltz…

Continue reading “Border Fence Ruins Mother’s Day for Mexican Families”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Dept. of Labor Tightening Unions Financial Disclosure Rules

May 14, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Dept. of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is changing the requirements for internal financial disclosures of unions requiring more details on finances and spending, the AP report on the 8th.

Unions are required annually to submit forms to the DOL detailing their financial information, but Federal officials have decided that the current forms lack enough detail to assure that unions aren’t engaging in fraud. The DOL is also proposing that smaller unions can use the less detailed forms unless they fall under indictment or other legal troubles which then will find them required to fill out the more detailed forms.

Continue reading “Dept. of Labor Tightening Unions Financial Disclosure Rules”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Europe - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton - UN

Questioning Pagan Gospel

May 14, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

A few things for the high priests of environmental paganism to ponder when they next forgather to worship their own egos.

Barton Bennett sent me a link for Dr. Walter Williams’s column reminding us how far from the truth is the junk science that flourishes like maggots in today’s cesspool of educational ignorance.

So far as I know, the self-anointed main stream news media in the United States have ignored one of the principal reasons for the British Labour Party’s crushing defeat in recent local elections: the public’s recognition, at last, of the devastating economic costs of meeting the carbon emissions standards to be imposed by the socialist commissars in the EU’s Brussels headquarters.

To sense the reaction when citizens finally are brought face-to-face with reality, read the following:
Continue reading “Questioning Pagan Gospel”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Illinois ConCon - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Vote ‘yes’ in November to constitutional convention

May 13, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the Southtown Star:

A poll taken earlier this year for the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs and released last week shows overwhelming public support for legislative term limits and recall of elected state officials.

The poll of about 1,000 Illinois residents taken in January found that 70 percent support both limits and recall. The numbers are close to a Glengariff Group poll taken late last year that showed 65 percent favored recall. Glengariff did not ask about term limits.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s astounding unpopularity was measured by a different poll released this month. According to the highly respected Ipsos firm, the governor has a 13 percent job approval rating, with 54 percent disapproving and 33 percent reporting mixed feelings.

That unpopularity, combined with the inability of the General Assembly to find timely solutions without an overwhelming amount of intraparty bickering, undoubtedly has fueled the demand for recall and term limits.
Continue reading “Vote ‘yes’ in November to constitutional convention”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - Military - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

AP: Military Hits Recruiting Goals Despite ‘Slow Economy,’ and ‘Unpopular War’

May 13, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Don’t you just love the MSM? They can’t even report good news without interjecting their doom and gloom, agenda driven verbiage into any report. This time it is the Associated Press with the good news that the Marines and the rest of America’s armed forces have reached their recruiting goals. In fact, many branches of the service exceeded them. All good news, right? Well, naturally the AP had to throw some cold water on the good tidings. You see, according to the AP the Marines fulfilled their recruiting goals because of a “slow economy” and despite Iraq being an “unpopular war.” They just can’t let it go, can they?

After giving us the details that the Marines surpassed their recruiting goals the AP had to remind us that U.S. forces were “stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan” and that those joining the service are doing so because — and here is that old canard again — “other job possibilities” are limited for them.

Recruiting is easier in a slow economy, which limits other job possibilities that are available. But officials also noted that the Army and Marines have added recruiters as well as bonuses and other special benefits to attract more recruits in the midst of the unpopular war in Iraq.

How “unpopular” can it be if the services are finding it so easy to fulfill their recruiting goals, anyway? And how many times do we have to prove the they-can’t-get-a-job claim made against our recruits is not true?

Continue reading “AP: Military Hits Recruiting Goals Despite ‘Slow Economy,’ and ‘Unpopular War’”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Family - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Nonsense ‘Survey’ Says Americans ‘Struggling in Life’

May 13, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

But this is just another so-called survey that is reported backwards. It turns out that, even by their unscientific criteria, 49 percent of the Americans they surveyed said that they were “thriving, with few health or money worries.” So, why is this reported as if the preponderance of our fellow citizens is claiming to be “struggling”?

Here is how Reuters begins their report:

Many Americans are struggling through life but only 4 percent are truly miserable, with no hope for the future, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Nearly half — 49 percent — describe themselves as thriving, with few health or money worries, according to the researchers at the global polling organization Gallup and health consulting firm Healthways.

Then the report goes on to say that 47 percent claim they are “struggling” and that 4 percent are without hope.

So, why did the survey get reported that Americans are “struggling” when most said they were doing just fine? Why, because it makes for a better beat-up-America story, that’s why.

Continue reading “Nonsense ‘Survey’ Says Americans ‘Struggling in Life’”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Israel - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Keeping Enemies Close? Hardly, He’s ONE of Them!

May 13, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Abe Greenwald over at Commentary Magazine had a blog post today that I couldn’t disagree with more. With the recent news that Robert Malley finally exited the Obama campaign over his past anti-Israeli ideology. Greenwald correctly states that the sort of anti-Jewish rhetoric that Malley and his own associates indulge in have no place in an American presidential contest (or any other contest for that matter), but where Greenwald goes wrong is to posit that Obama has somehow purposefully decided to keep “political enemies” close to him.

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” When it comes to following Don Corleone’s sage advice, Barack Obama is a natural. Sure, he’s tight with Ted Kennedy and Bill Richardson, but they didn’t baptize his kids (like Jeremiah Wright), or advise him on foreign policy (like Robert Malley). Obama’s talent for cleaving to his political enemies is definitely a “change” from politics as usual. But is it change we can believe in?

It is true that Obama has been linked to many people with extremist positions. There is the racist Reverend Wright who wants God to “damn America.” The anti-American, bomb maker — literal bombs, not metaphorical ones — William Ayers who has never apologized for his intent to murder his fellow Americans. Of course, Ayers wife, Bernadine Dohrn, a killer like her hubby. There is Obama’s tech advisor Larry Lessig who is fond of using anti-Christian slurs to introduce his lectures, and his chief campaign blogger Sam Graham-Felsen who is an admirer of communists and an activist for Parisian labor strikes, not to mention his angry, bitter wife, Michelle, who can’t find it in herself to be proud of the US. And there have been a slew of others large and small in his campaign that hold extremist, unAmerican ideas and who harbor hatred for the very country that Barack seems to want to become president of.

So, yes, Barack Obama does surround himself with enemies to the country. But are these extremists actually Barack’s “political enemies” as Greenwald paints them? Is Barack Obama “cleaving to his political enemies” as Greenwald states?

I can’t agree with Greenwald that Obama is cleaving to any “political enemies.” It seems more like he is indulging in “birds of a feather” because NO politician works closely with, and exposes his family to, people who supposedly hold positions that are violently antithetical to their own viewpoint.

Continue reading “Obama Keeping Enemies Close? Hardly, He’s ONE of Them!”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Frank Salvato - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture

Government of the People or By the Faction?

May 13, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Now comes news that George McGovern has called for Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the Democrat’s primary race. Pardon me for my raised eyebrow but how much of a fool would someone have to be to take campaign advice from the man who got slaughtered by Richard Nixon? Losing an election by a landslide really shouldn’t qualify someone to dispense political advice unless it’s how to deliver a concession speech without looking bitter.

The facts, as they present, make it abundantly clear to anyone not blinded by political emotionalism, anyone not hoodwinked by the bumper-sticker gotcha games of this election cycle, that the Democrat’s primary race is simply too close to call. Those backing Barack Obama who insist that Hillary Clinton can’t win are factually in error. With the existence of “superdelegates” and two disenfranchised state electorates the wildcards are in place. In fact, there are several scenarios that could play out that would see Hillary Clinton as the Democrats’ nominee. Whether any of them will play out remains to be seen but stranger things have happened.

The larger point here is this. To insist that a candidate – any candidate from any party – remove themselves from political contention when the contest is too close to decidedly understand the winner, when neither candidate can amass an insurmountable number of committed elected delegates, is to usurp the election process. Unless the Democrats want to go down in the history books as having been a dictatorially elitist political regime in the 2008 election cycle they must allow the convention and the convention process play out, a scenario that the DNC leadership is scurrying to avoid at all costs.

Continue reading “Government of the People or By the Faction?”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - GOP - Media Bias - News - Science - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Who Is Really Responsible For The High Prices You Pay For Gasoline?

May 12, 2008 by

Investor’s Business Daily has a great piece on why gas is so high these days. I need to pass it to all of you.

*******

For the last 28 years, Democrats in Congress and a few Republicans have again and again opposed our drilling for oil in Alaska’s ANWR area when we knew it contained at least 10 billion barrels of oil we could be using now.

IBD Series: Breaking The Back Of High Oil

  • For the past 31 years, Congress repeatedly prevented us from building any new oil refineries that we now badly need.
  • More recently, congressional Democrats defeated and discouraged any bill that would let us drill in the deep sea 100 miles out. However, it’s somehow OK for China to drill there.
  • As a further indictment of our Congress, since the 1980s it has continually stopped all building of nuclear power plants while France, Germany and, yes, Japan, plus 12 other major nations, did build plants and now get 20% to 80% of their energy from their wise and safe nuclear plant investments.
  • From 1990 to 2000, U.S. crude oil demand rapidly accelerated by 7.41 quadrillion BTUs, according to Department of Energy data. And our rate of foreign oil dependency dramatically increased while our domestic oil production steadily declined.

Under the eight Clinton years alone, U.S. oil production declined 1,349,000 barrels per day, or 19%, while our foreign imports increased 3,574,000 barrels per day, or 45%.

During this time, President Clinton vetoed ANWR drilling bills that would have clearly made Alaska our No. 1 state in the production of our own vitally needed oil supply, not only for all Americans but also for national defense emergencies.

So were Democrats and members of Congress together merely short-sighted, with only a few having any real business experience?
Continue reading “Who Is Really Responsible For The High Prices You Pay For Gasoline?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Sun-Times: To Heck With Clinton, Obama ‘Our First Woman President’

May 12, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

We can all painfully recall when back in 1998 New Yorker columnist Toni Morrison obsequiously called Bill Clinton our “first black president,” can’t we? I suppose it isn’t surprising that Morrison is now supporting Barack Obama since she is all about race, of course. It should be noted Obama is a tad blacker than Bill Clinton so the race mongers of the left are finally streaming to him after a slow start. Yes, the racemongers are a block sewn up by the Obama campaign at last. But this leaves the identity politics folks with a problem. What of the purported but fading “first woman president,” Hillary Clinton? Well, the Chicago Sun-Times is here to help us out with that, pulling a Morrison by calling Barack Obama “our first woman president.”

Sadly, columnist Carol Marin, a reporter with a reputation in Chicago of being a real reporter (in other words, one that reports, not one that emotes), unleashed the latest of the many absurdly adulatory honorariums bestowed upon Barack Obama by the pliant and sycophantic media. Sadly, Marin’s reputation may take a hit for this foolishness of calling Obama “our first woman president.”

If Bill Clinton was once considered America’s first black president, Obama may one day be viewed as our first woman president. While Clinton, the warrior, battles on, talks about toughness, and out loud considers nuking Iran, it is Obama who is full of feminine virtues.

(Bold my emphasis)

Good god will the hero worship and hyperbole never cease from the left side of the aisle? They claim we are too much about Reagan, yet we celebrate all of Reagan, not the least of which is his actual philosophy and policies.

Continue reading “Sun-Times: To Heck With Clinton, Obama ‘Our First Woman President’”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Get Ready– Barack Obama Win Means the End of Democracy in Unions

May 12, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

There will be dark days ahead for American business and the economy if Barack Obama becomes the president. Especially if his coattails brings an avalanche of Democrats into Congress. All because the first order of business for the next Congress will be passage of the “card check” ideas that unions have been pushing for since 2003. Once Obama and his cadre of anti-business, anti-democracy associates get in place, the card check idea will be good as gold. And the safety of prospective union members everywhere will be endangered.

Deceivingly called the “Employee Free Choice Act,” it is an effort by unions to allow them to use intimidation to force new union voters to agree to union organization and representation. David Weigel of Reason Magazine has a short explanation in the current issue.

What’s the Employee Free Choice Act? If you aren’t a lobbyist in Washington, a union worker, or an employer nervously trying to prevent your staff from organizing, you might not have followed the twisty history of the latest attempt to increase private-sector unionization. “Card check,” as it is usually known, would allow employees at a company to bypass secret-ballot elections and declare their intent to unionize by simply signing cards.

In other words, the secret vote will be taken away from prospective union members. This means, if an employee votes against agreeing to unionize, his no vote will be instantly obvious to everyone with whom he works. This also means that union thugs will be able to know exactly who stands against them. This opens the employee up to harassment by union thugs who want to push through unions because they will know the identity of every single worker that voted against them.
Continue reading “Get Ready– Barack Obama Win Means the End of Democracy in Unions”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Marie Jon - Media Bias - News - President - Religion

Only love can drive out hate: just words?

May 12, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Marie Jon’

Barack Obama first appeared on the national political scene as a uniter with hope and promise in his words. In 2004 when he gave his now-famous keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, Americans saw Obama emerge as someone special and unique. He was young and oozed poise and charisma. Without a doubt, the Democrat Party had their future presidential candidate in its sights.

Today, the Democrat National Party is stuck with nothing more than a leftist ideologue politician who uses empty words to astound those who sought after him.

Obama has lost his “Angel of Light” status, and he will never get it back. Today we see the Senator for what he is, a Marxist socialist with ties to highly questionable people. By November he will not be electable.
Continue reading “Only love can drive out hate: just words?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Newsweek: Republicans ‘Successfully Scaring Voters Since 1968,’ Obama’s ‘Steady, Calm, Focused Leadership’

May 11, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is a perfect example of the sort of wild-eyed leftism that is so infused into the very souls of every journalist that claims the mantle of the fourth estate. It’s also a perfect example of how they are in the tank for their messiah, Obama. Newsweek’s Rich Wolffe and Evan Thomas have presented a fawning review of how Barack Obama is so cool and collected under political fire, but warns their messiah that the GOP is still filled with meanies who have been “successfully scaring voters since 1968.” Of course, not a word is spoken of all the scare tactics that the Democrat Party has used since time immemorial and Wolffe and Thomas act as if their pals at the DNC are just innocents in the wilderness unfairly assaulted by those nasty Republicans.

After celebrating Obama’s new, gentler politics, Newsweek gets down to brass tacks to warn Obama about those awful Republicans.

If the candidate seemed weary and peevish or a little slow to respond at times, he never lost his cool. But the real test is yet to come. The Republican Party has been successfully scaring voters since 1968, when Richard Nixon built a Silent Majority out of lower- and middle-class folks frightened or disturbed by hippies and student radicals and blacks rioting in the inner cities. The 2008 race may turn on which party will win the lower- and middle-class whites in industrial and border states–the Democrats’ base from the New Deal to the 1960s, but “Reagan Democrats” in most presidential elections since then. It is a sure bet that the GOP will try to paint Obama as “the other”–as a haughty black intellectual who has Muslim roots (Obama is a Christian) and hangs around with America-haters.

But, let’s do a little review of the “scaring voters” that the Democrat Party has been a party to. And, heck, we don’t even have to go as far back as when the Democrats tried to cause fear that “miscegenation” would occur if Republicans were successful in ending slavery. Or the many decades of fear the Democrats spread with Jim Crow laws. No, we don’t even have to remind everyone that the largest number of members of the KKK were Democrats – heck, the Democrats even have an ex-KKK member as a Senator in West Virginia to this very day. Just about everyone knows these things even if the modern press wants us all to forget it.

Continue reading “Newsweek: Republicans ‘Successfully Scaring Voters Since 1968,’ Obama’s ‘Steady, Calm, Focused Leadership’”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Race - Warner Todd Huston

SPJ Suggests ‘Omitting Race’ in Crime Reporting

May 11, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Society of Professional Journalists has decided that it is best to leave a suspect’s race out of crime reporting except for “extraordinary” reasons. Of course, to the SPJ, “good reporting” means race info in a story about crime isn’t “useful to people in the community” even if the race of a suspect is part of a police report apparently. Despite their claim that they aren’t toeing the PC line, their explanation is filled with just the sort of reasoning based on PC thinking — one of which is that all whites are racists.

Some of you may remember the story in September of 2007 when the Sacramento Bee announced that they were revisiting their policy of including race in their crime stories. A particularly gruesome crime occurred that brought the Bee to revisit their policy when they reported on the suspect leaving out race while Internet reporting as well as the Bee’s own comments section on their internet posting of the story reported the race of the suspect anyway.

SPJ continues, however, to come down on the side of leaving the race of a suspect out of crime reporting. I find their reasons, though, less than convincing. In fact, their concerns are so broad as to make all reporting on every issue untenable if applied farther than just race in crime reporting.

Continue reading “SPJ Suggests ‘Omitting Race’ in Crime Reporting”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Warner Todd Huston

Sunday Funnies New Offer: 57 State Lapel Pin

May 11, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few days ago it was reported that Barack Obama was ever so proud to have visited all “57 states” on his campaign swing. But, I noticed that he still avoids wearing that U.S. flag lapel pin, just the same. Well, I have finally found out why Barack Obama won’t wear that darned ol’ U.S. flag pin. Until now he couldn’t find one with all “57 States” on it. Well, the folks over at Suitably Flip blog have solved the problem for the junior Senator from Illinois.

Just in for the 2008 campaign season is the new 57 state U.S. flag pin for all the infromationally challenged Senators on your shopping list. Barack can proudly wear his 57 state flag pin at all the great celebrations to come. Like the birthday for the state of Guam, or the celebration for the state of Harlem… you know, all those great parties he’ll get invited to as the nominee for one of the two or three democratic Parties out there.

Now I only have one question for the Senator. Is this the flag of the “Damn United States” or the regular one that the rest of us live in?

For those of you who have not seen the video, here it is:

Now, the Suitably Flip bloggers gave us a list of the other 7 states, but I think they missed the boat with their choices. After all, they missed one state that the Obama’s definitely visit quite often. The state of DENIAL!

And now for a hat tip you won’t believe. This funny bit came to my attention through Andrew Malcolm’s entry at the Los Angeles Times’ Top of the Ticket blog. Yeah, I find it hard to believe they had enough of a sense of humor to throw a dig at their messiah, too.

Continue reading “Sunday Funnies New Offer: 57 State Lapel Pin”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture

I just love Fox News

May 11, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Michael M. Bates

In fact, I don’t really love Fox News. I do, however, love saying that I just love Fox News. Simply expressing that view is enough to drive many liberals to rabid, foaming at the mouth frenzy. I mean, even more than their typical rabid, foaming at the mouth frenzy, which is not inconsiderable.

That’s because Fox News has a reputation, primarily among people who’ve dwelled too long on college campuses, for being dreadfully, unashamedly, intolerably conservative. Or, as they are wont to label anything deviating one iota from the prescribed liberal line, fascist.

Which is mildly amusing as a Fox News mainstay, Bill O’Reilly, is deemed by at least a few conservatives as not very conservative. In her book Slander, Ann Coulter – she of the long blond hair and short skirts – takes O’Reilly to task for his opposition to the death penalty and support for gun control. Add to that his all too eager acceptance of the global warming hysteria and his belief that poor little Elian Gonzalez deserved dispatch to the Castro Brothers’ prison known as Cuba, and you’ve got a guy Jeremiah Wright might find adequate.
Continue reading “I just love Fox News”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Outrageous: McClatchy Praises Terrorist’s ‘Charity Work’

May 10, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

McClatchy News — the paper chain that likes to claim they speak “truth to power” — is pleased to show us “another side” to the Iran backed Iraqi militia leader Muqtada al Sadr and that other side is his supposed “charity work.” It has been a common tactic of Muslim warlords and other terrorists to pretend at “charity” as they plan suicide bombings and targeted terror attacks among the very people they pretend to be helping with their “charity.” The so-called charity is but a screen to hide their terror activities behind, a salve to keep the locals from getting too uppity. But, McClatchy had their hearts go aflutter over Sadr’s “humanitarian aid” imagining it to be the “other” softer side of the terror chieftain giving Sadr a nice little bit of free positive publicity quite despite the truth of his murderous actions.

The McClatchy piece written by Shashank Bengali with the assistance of Leila Fadel and special correspondent Hussein Kadhim, detail all the wonderful works of Sadr as he helps people so brutally harmed by… you guessed it… the United States military.

Continue reading “Outrageous: McClatchy Praises Terrorist’s ‘Charity Work’”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Agrees to PROTECT Union Corruption, not Eliminate it

May 10, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, Barack Obama claims he is a reformer. He claims he wants to clean up Washington D.C. He acts as if he just wants the truth told to the people. Well, here is some truth. According to the Wall Street JournalBarack has promised the Teamsters that if they give him their support he will kill the current Federal oversight agency that was created to root out union corruption in the workplace.

Yes, Barack Obama has said that he wishes to protect corruption, not eliminate it. Has he agreed to turn his back on fighting corruption merely so that he might be able to count the votes of union thugs in his column?

It has been revealed by inside sources that Obama secretly promised the Teamsters that he will end the strict oversight that the Federal government has through an independent oversight board that was set up in 1992 because of the mob influence rampant in the Teamsters. Obama has claimed that he favors “examining” the review board, but refuses to state publicly what that means.

Continue reading “Obama Agrees to PROTECT Union Corruption, not Eliminate it”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - History - Media Bias - Nancy Salvato - News - Society/Culture

A More Perfect Union Rests on a Balance of Ideas

May 10, 2008 by

-By Nancy Salvato

“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” – James Madison, Federalist #51

Classical Philosophy

By reading the Greek historians Herodotus (484BC-425BC), Thucydides (460BC-395BC), known as the father of scientific history and political realism, Polybius (203BC-120BC), who wrote about political balance, and Plutarch (46AD-120AD) who emphasized the importance of virtue, and philosophers Plato (428BC-348BC), known for his theory of forms and Aristotle (384BC-322BC), who created a system of philosophy, and the Roman philosophers Cicero (106BC-43BC), the famous orator and historians such as Livy (59 BC – AD 17), the framers became well acquainted with the greatest thinkers of Greek and Roman civilizations.
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00Publius Contributor - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - GOP - News - Science - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Corn on the Cob, NOT Corn on the Car

May 9, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, here is the rub, you think you’re saving the planet and, therefore the human race, by proposing that we grow our gasoline in our corn crops instead of using those eeeevil fossil fuel, right? You say let’s make ethanol from our corn and all will be in balance? You feel really, really good about yourself — after all “feelings” are what counts, not results.

But, the next thing you know, they are starving in Haiti and rioting over the 40% rise in basic food costs because of you and your neato ethanol idea.

Now how do you feel? Are you saving people now?

Well Representatives Jeff Flake (R, Arizona James Sensenbrenner (R, Wisconsin) have introduced HR 5911, the Remove Incentives to Produce Ethanol Act of 2008 (RIPE Act) to curb this foolish over indulgence in ethanol production.

Flake laments the unintended consequences that the do-gooders in the envirowacko extreme caused with this absurd emphasis on ethanol production.

“This is a classic case of the law of unintended consequences. Congress surely did not intend to raise food prices by incentivizing ethanol, but that’s precisely what’s happened. A jump in food prices is the last thing our economy needs right now.”

And Sensenbrenner reminds us that all the supposed benefits of ethanol were never really proved out in reality.

“I have always been opposed to reformulated gasoline (RFG) because it doesn’t reduce the pollution it was supposed to, and in fact, increases other kinds of pollution,” said Sensenbrenner.

“Fuel mixed with ethanol is less efficient, and results in fewer miles per gallon for consumers,” Sensenbrenner continued. “Moreover, it’s extremely expensive, even in the Midwest, where although corn is abundant, the cost of converting it to ethanol, and the difficulties associated with transporting it, has made it more expensive than traditional gasoline. As a result, we are seeing dramatic price increases in corn, which is hitting families hard considering the prevalence of corn in food production and in animal feed.”

“The fact is, the ethanol industry has been subsidized for twenty-seven years and claims to still need the subsidies to survive,” Sensenbrenner added. “If an industry cannot survive without government support after twenty-seven years, there are more serious problems in place.”

With 25% of our corn crop suddenly going to ethanol production, the cost of foodstuff has seen a big inflation in costs, not just here in the US but all across the world. After all, if corn is to be subsidized by the government, farmers will gravitate to the crop that pays them the most. And since the US really does feed the world, less (corn) is not more (food) in this case.

Call your representative and tell them to support HR 5911.

Continue reading “Corn on the Cob, NOT Corn on the Car”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Inernet - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

The Next Right Project

May 9, 2008 by

-By Warner Toodd Huston

Last October, Patrick Ruffini wrote a piece for Hugh Hewitt’s blog titled Information Gaps on the Right wherein Ruffini reminded us that most news outlets unsurprisingly lean leftward. He pointed out that this is one of the serious disabilities for the conservative viewpoint getting a wider hearing. Ruffini also highlighted the vast sea of paid-for bloggers that lefties like George Soros and the like are floating out there. It all amounts to the left having far longer reach than we do to set the agenda for the national debate.

And it isn’t getting any better.

The Left also seems to be developing a lead in powerful feeders mechanisms that do little more than tee up information for other blogs. ThinkProgress provides a valuable service to the left by leveraging a full-time research staff to be the first to report and frame up news stories. Their content is rarely witty and original and isn’t meant to be. It’s just meant to provide context and a prod for others to cover these stories. The research backing also means they do the legwork to connect the dots in ways that bloggers rarely do. If John McCain says something today, they’re all about telling you what he said about the same thing in March, what he said in 2003, what he said in 1999, and so on.

Of course, there are a few places we can go as conservatives to get a more conservative take on the News. There is Michelle Malkin, Powerline blog, and a host of others. Not to mention the great work we do over at Newsbusters and I should remind people to make Newsbusters a daily visit for news on the liberal slant in the media. If you want a site that drives the agenda on that subject (liberal bias in the news) then Newsbusters is the place. (disclosure: I am a writer at Newsbusters, for those who don’t already know that)

So, the general thought is that we are behind the left in getting our agenda talked about. As Matthew Sheffield of Newsbusters said:

Ruffini’s point here is very well-taken and one I’ve been trying to get a lot of conservative groups to realize: the right is so far behind when it comes to original reporting and research online. Unfortunately, it’s been a tough job trying to convince people of the great need we have on the right for focused, targeted blogs.

So, what do we do about it? We HAVE to do something, right?

Well, Ruffini, Soren Dayton, and Jon Henke have teamed up to do just that. With a new project called The Next Right. They intend to fulfill the role of furthering the agenda like so many liberal blogs already do for their side.

It’s no secret that the right operates at a severe disadvantage to the left when it comes to building online political infrastructure. People point to ActBlue and Obama’s massive fundraising advantage, but the problem cuts deeper: netroots activists on the left have built critical mass around an idea that regular people on the Internet can get their hands dirty and remix Democratic politics. They not only raise money. They recruit candidates. They fund full-time investigative journalism to ambush Republicans. They act as a party whip, creating consequences for Democrats who, in their view, don’t act like Democrats. They volunteer and flock to states with key races. The right can build all the tools it wants, but without a narrative and a rallying point for action, it will be for naught.

So, take a quick stop over at the placeholder page for The Next Right at http://thenextright.com/. Sign up for an email notification when they are ready to go live. This is something to keep our eyes on folks. We really need to address our IDD problems…. that would be information deficit disorder!

Continue reading “The Next Right Project”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Misleading AP Headline: Comedy Daily Show Just Like O’Reilly

May 9, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Associated Press today wins first place for the most misleading headline in the MSM by saying that a study shows that Jon Stewart’s Comedy Central “The Daily Show” show is somehow “a lot like” Bill O’Reilly’s “The O’Reilly Factor.” The Thursday May 8 report is flippantly headlined, “Study of ‘Daily Show’: It’s a lot like O’Reilly,” but the following report does not exactly confirm the headline. It appears that the AP’s distorted headline was meant to equate “The O’Reilly Factor” to comedy in order to impugn the serious character of the hit Fox show and make of it but an exercise in comedy.

The AP piece is reporting on the results of a survey of a year’s worth of Stewart’s comedy talk show to see what sort of information Stewart’s show imparts to the many young people who are thought to turn to Stewart for most of their news coverage.

The final determination is that if young people are truly understanding the jokes that Stewart tells they must be getting more news elsewhere or the topical nature of the jokes would not be understood by viewers.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Paying Teachers NOT to Teach in NY

May 9, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

And for another perfect example of why teachers unions is antithetical to the welfare of the kids AND the budget of the state, we have a union that has forced the State of New York to spend $81 million dollars to pay teachers NOT to teach!

The New York Times gives us the wasteful tale of money paid for NO work.

The New Teacher Project, which estimates that the city has been paying $81 million over two years in salaries and benefits for teachers who have not been able to find permanent jobs.

Under the new free-market system, teachers who lose their jobs because of budget cuts, program curtailments or school closings are supposed to go into a reserve pool for a short time before they are hired elsewhere in the system. An overwhelming majority of more than 2,700 teachers sent into the pool in 2006 did just that.

So, these teachers are paid even if they don’t work?

This is the ultimate union job. Get paid a high salary, free health care, pension…. but not have to work AT ALL!

It doesn’t seem to occur to anyone that the solution is to fire teachers that you have no job for?

Apparently not.

Continue reading “Paying Teachers NOT to Teach in NY”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Senator Obama’s Friends

May 9, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

How indicative of his character and beliefs is Senator Obama’s having launched one of his political campaigns at the home of his friends Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers?

Who are Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers? And why would Senator Obama wish to associate his political beliefs with those of Dohrn and Ayers?

Might his friendship with these Weatherman terrorists of the 1960s and 70s be a clue to the voting record that led National Journal to rate Mr. Obama the most liberal member of the Senate?

The New York Times reported on September 11, 2001, ironically, the day the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were bombed:
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - GOP - Media Bias - News - Science - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

New Study: Conservatives are Happier Because They Hate Everyone

May 8, 2008 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

There is a news report starting to make the rounds amongst the MSM on a study that claims to have discovered why conservatives tend to be happier than liberals and it is just the sort of bilge that the MSM loves to promulgate. We may see more of it over the next several days because, while it is titled “Conservatives Happier Than Liberals,” it is basically saying that the reason conservatives are happier is because they just don’t care about other people. This purported research claims to pinpoint the reason conservatives are happier and it is because they have theirs and they don’t care if everyone else is poor and downtrodden. In contrast they claim liberals are less happy because they care more about people and are all heartbroken that people suffer “inequalities.”

Yes, they are telling us that if you’re a happy conservative, it’s because you are a hateful, meanie. Thank you New York University.

The two “researchers,” John Jost and Jaime Napier of New York University, claim an interest in understanding why religious extremism is connected to conservatives. Both have interests in “political conservatism and religious fundamentalism” wherein they seem to assume that conservatives are but fascists in deed if not name. On her webpage, for instance, Napier says that she is interested to “explore the relationship of political conservatism to ‘system justifying’ ideologies, such as opposition to equality, fair market ideology, economic system justification, and right-wing authoritarianism.” Why are conservatives fascists? Jamie wants to know.

Obviously these two researchers have predetermined that conservatism is an evil, oppressive ideology and they have set out to prove their thesis. With this in mind we can turn to the results of their recent “research” that claims that conservatives are happy because they hate everyone else.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Frank Salvato - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - Military - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Ceasefires in Islam: Not Always What They Seem to Be

May 8, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

It seems as though every other day we hear there is another “ceasefire” in the Middle East. This is chiefly because there is so much violent Islamofascist aggression throughout the Middle East but it is also because of something more. Just as there is no exact translation between the Arabic and English languages, we in the West would be wise to realize that this “inexactness” exists as a constant in the relationship between the cultures of Islam and Western Civilization. This convolution of conceptual understanding is aptly illustrated where the subject of military ceasefires is concerned.

In the West, a < href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceasefire">ceasefire is commonly understood to mean a temporary cessation of violence or hostilities for an agreed time period or within a defined geographical area. In many cases, ceasefires have been instituted to facilitate negotiations that produced an armistice, peace treaty or unconditional surrender. Regardless of the goal – achieved or sought – in most every ceasefire agreement the terms and conditions are clearly defined so that each side has a clear understanding of what is required and what is to be considered a breach of contract, as it were.

To say that we in the West are engaged in a clash of civilizations with the fundamentalist Islamic culture would be a fair statement. Hundreds if not thousands of radical jihadist groups are mounting a violent global offensive against Western Civilization in a third attempt at establishing a global Caliphate. This contention is validated by history and we need only be good students of events passed to understand it.
Continue reading “Ceasefires in Islam: Not Always What They Seem to Be”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Immigration/Immigrants - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

San Fran Chronicle Spreads False Immigration Raids Story

May 7, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The San Francisco Chronicle and the various demagogue politicians of Berkeley and Oakland, California should really be ashamed of themselves for ginning up into sensational “raids” a few arrests by ICE agents and making of them actions designed to empty those community’s schools of children. In reality a few routine U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in those cities occurred yesterday that had nothing to do with school children. Yet, these politicians shamelessly ran about the countryside waving their arms, serving grave warnings to ICE about their supposed targeting of school children, and ginning up parents with the false bravado of standing athwart ICE’s “harassment and fear.” But, with all the running about like Chicken Little claiming the ICE is falling, no raids either occurred or were even planned. To top it off, the San Francisco Chronicle reports the incident as the “fear across the communities” being “real” instead of correctly noting that these pandering pols in office made much ado about nothing just to inflate their own importance.

Apparently ICE made a few arrests at some homes in Berkeley and Oakland and that somehow sent a “wave of panic among parents” who were fooled into believing that ICE officers were about to raid all the schools in the area to snap up illegals for deportation.

The SFChron reports that “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were in both cities Tuesday, performing routine fugitive operations,” and that “officers arrested four family members at a Berkeley home and a woman at an Oakland residence.” Helpfully, the Chronicle lets us know that “they were not at schools.”

Virginia Kice, a spokesman for ICE, said that these operations happen nearly everyday, they are that common, and that there has never been any plan to raid a school. She informed the Chronicle that, “a school is not a place we would routinely conduct an enforcement operation for a variety of reasons.”

But this reality, this checkable fact of ICE operations, wasn’t going to stop Berkeley and Oakland’s pandering politicians from making political hay out of thin air, no siree.

Continue reading “San Fran Chronicle Spreads False Immigration Raids Story”