00Publius Contributor

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Media Bias - News - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Technology

Google is not warning its users of its role in one of largest cyber-security breaches ever on the Net

April 6, 2008 by

-By Scott Cleland

USA Today broke a much under-appreciated and potentially blockbuster Internet security breach story: “Google searchers could end up with a new type of bug.” Kudos to Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz, who reported it in USA Today, and also blogged on it at ZeroDayThreat.com, a site for their book “Zero Day Threat” which defines a Zero Day Threat as “a threat so new that no viable protections against it exist.”

In a nutshell, the article and blog post explain how cybercrook hackers have figured out how to use and leverage Google’s search engine results “to spread spam, and carry out scams. Typically it also lets the attacker embed a keystroke logger, which collects and transmits your passwords and any other sensitive data you type online.”

This new cyber scam ring is expected to spread rapidly, increasing from a “few dozen major websites” today, to “hundreds of high-profile websites” in the next few weeks.

“…in March alone… security researchers found several hundred thousand corrupted Web pages returned in common Google search queries.”

Why this is a big deal?
Continue reading “Google is not warning its users of its role in one of largest cyber-security breaches ever on the Net”

00Publius Contributor - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Taxes

So Sue Me

April 6, 2008 by

-By Vince Johnson

During political campaigns we hear a lot about the need for change. I’ve been hearing about change since I was wheeled around in a baby buggy and have decided it is true; whenever things get messy a change is required, and that includes politicians as well as diapers. On the other hand, some things are never changed. Like political promises. I have been hearing the same political promises since I was 12 years old (68 years ago) and things are messier than ever. We’ve all heard the same old line: Fiscal responsibility. Improvements in public education. Making college education more affordable. Reducing and simplifying income taxes. Affordable health insurance. Reducing government waste. Keeping America safe and secure via effective law enforcement.

But what about reality? Fiscal irresponsibility is at a level of chaos we cannot even imagine. The drop-out rate in our high schools keeps going up. College educations are becoming unaffordable for millions. Income taxes are going up for some, down for others, and getting far to complicated for most. Health insurance is far beyond the reach of several million Americans. Government squandering has reached catastrophic levels. Our immigration laws have not been effectively enforced for over 70 years.

The most alarming reality of all deals with our “News Media” which has chosen to report on all of the above in the least informative manner possible. They devote millions of dollars worth of prime time “news” to intimate details on the psychological problems of people like Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith. Barrels of ink are poured into stories about corporate scandals like Enron and Global Crossing. Tons of newsprint and glossy paper are wasted on political embarrassments arising from senatorial affairs in airport restrooms and escort services used by a state governor. News about the war and terrorism is a continual mix of confusing contradictions.
Continue reading “So Sue Me”

00Publius Contributor - Elections - GOP - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Thompson Visiting McCain This Weekend… So What?

April 5, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

MSNBC is reporting that Fred Thompson is visiting John McCain in Arizona this weekend.

From NBC/NJ’s Carrie Dann and Adam Aigner-Treworgy

NBC and National Journal have learned that former presidential candidate Fred Thompson is visiting GOP nominee John McCain at McCain’s Arizona cabin in Sedona this weekend.

No word of what’s been discussed, although a source with knowledge of the visit says that the purpose may be more of a relaxing weekend getaway than a business meeting. (The two men have been longtime personal friends, even during their overlapping presidential bids.)

Now let’s make short work of this meaningless bit of news. There is zero chance that McCain will pick Fred for VP, so get it right out of your heads. People are already saying that McCain is too old to be president and there is some validity to the point. But, Fred is too old for VP if you want to claim that McCain is too old for president! An old Fred isn’t going to offset the worry that McCain himself is too old.

Besides, Fred Thompson is too conservative for John McCain. I maintain that McCain will continue to contemptuously take conservatives for granted and that his VP pick will end up being a so-called moderate Republican — NOT a conservative.

After McCain picks his liberal VP he’ll then claim that HE is the conservative candidate of the pair. Then he will continue to ignore conservatives… in fact will go out of his way to prove he is NOT one of them… and he will aim squarely for the conservative Democrats and independents. They have been his base all along and he won’t forsake the liberals now.

Now, as to why Fred is going there? Just to show support, get a little news out that the conservative Fred is still pals with McCain… it’s all to keep in the news and has little to do with Fred having anything to do with the campaign much less becoming the VP pick. They may be discussing a few appearances together, but that is about it.

So, look at this report of Thompson visiting McCain as meaningless news.

Continue reading “Thompson Visiting McCain This Weekend… So What?”

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

Is Amazon.com Becoming a Publisher of Anti-Jew, Anti-US propaganda?

April 5, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Amazon.com sells millions of books, CDs and other products each year. So, we can’t necessarily expect the on-line retail giant to be morally responsible for every single last product and, where its book offerings are concerned, we shouldn’t ask them to become censors. But, selling a product someone else created and producing the product yourself are two different things. And, in this case, we might be seeing Amazon.com actually printing an anti-Jew, anti-US, “truther,” Holocaust denial book with their BookSurge subsidiary company. One wonders if Amazon.com is even aware they are suddenly in the business of publishing anti-semitic books?

And this early warning system is where education serves a chief role. Our schools are supposed to serve as the gatekeepers of what a society deems in good taste, important or necessary to learn. Our schools are also supposed to serve as a critic of sorts to teach students what to avoid or, if not avoiding, teach where certain philosophies that might prove harmful fit into world history. In other words, if Marx is discussed, the evil he is responsible for should be highlighted. If “Mein Kampf” is assigned, the results of Hitler’s hate should be a principle subject.

So, my point is books can sometimes be bad things depending upon what is in them. This seems to be a lesson that Amazon.com never learned. Or at the very least, it’s a lesson the on-line book giant never thought it a worthy one to consider.

Continue reading “Is Amazon.com Becoming a Publisher of Anti-Jew, Anti-US propaganda?”

00Publius Contributor - Budget - Congress - Dan Scott - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - Society/Culture - Taxes

Preventing the Next Housing Bubble

April 5, 2008 by

-By Dan Scott

This is the second time since 1987 that the country faced the consequences of a housing bubble. Both times, home builders, local governments, speculators, lending institutions, and home owners were at the center of the problem. It seems like the Bush Administration’s response to is a bureaucratic fix to systemic problem leaving us with uncertain outcomes the next time around. Trust me, there will be a third housing bubble in the future as long as all the actors in this drama are not held accountable for their part. The failure to hold people accountable means a guarantee that they will act in the same way again given the opportunity in the future.

So who are the actors in this drama and what part did they play? Home builders, local government, speculators, mortgage lenders and home owners. Let’s examine each actor starting with home builders. The home builders naturally wanting to turn a profit by building homes in the most efficient and profitable means use economies of scale and thus propose developments or tracts of houses to ensure a steady stream of income. The benefits of a planned community certainly are good for the consumer in that groups of new houses support each other’s value and bring the overall housing stock more into line with the current building codes, safety and energy efficiency. The problem occurs when builders ignore the housing market trends and flood the market with so many new homes that sales of existing and new homes suffer. The first response of a builder to a softening housing market is not to build less houses but give larger discounts in order to keep up the sales volume. They engage in price cutting since the time horizon they are looking at discounts the long term housing inventory because they are so invested in the fallacy that extrapolation is prediction. The extrapolation fallacy always occurs when someone refuses to consider that factors outside of their control will change and that all things are not equal forever. How do you tell the operator of a well oiled machine they are doing everything right but their efforts are becoming self defeating? The market forces act to curb this fallacy with the cold dose of dropping sales. However, the home builder is not alone in this extrapolation fallacy, others willingly participate to maintain the inertia of growth to create a bubble.
Continue reading “Preventing the Next Housing Bubble”

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

What should our reaction be when others pray for our conversion?

April 5, 2008 by 3 Comments

By Selwyn Duke

There recently was a story about a German Jewish leader, Charlotte Knobloch, who criticized Pope Benedict XVI for allowing a traditional Easter prayer that calls for the conversion of the Jewish people. Her reaction raises an interesting issue, as praying for conversion isn’t unique to Catholics any more than taking offense to it is unique to Jews. And to start this topic off, I’d like to pose a question: Who do you think would be more likely to take umbrage at being the object of such a supplication, a person of deep belief or one of the superficial variety?

Well, here is a little anecdote. I’m a man who takes his faith very seriously; I believe it is the Truth and that God should be at the center of one’s life. I also know a man who is Jewish and believes just the same. He is orthodox, praying at the appointed times every day – regardless of the situation – and abiding by every one of the 613 Judaic laws that pertain to his life. He is a very saintly, gentle man. And he also has expressed that his faith – not mine, needless to say – is the true one. Now, if I found out that he had prayed for my conversion to what he considers a superior faith, should I be offended?

In fact, neither his perspective nor such a desire would bother me a whit. While this may strike a Richard Dawkins type as strange, understand my position vis-à-vis his attitude: I’d expect nothing less. And anything else would truly be less, as the only thing a belief in the equality of all faiths would tell me is that his faith was lacking.
Continue reading “What should our reaction be when others pray for our conversion?”

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

Time-Warner: Vodka Ad Campaign Reconquers California for Mexico

April 4, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Taking the Reconquista concept all the way to the end, Absolut Vodka launched an ad campaign that appears on billboards and at least one magazine that features a map of the western U.S. and Mexico with nearly the entire west coast appearing as a part of Mexico. This ad appears in Quien Magazine, which is owned by Time Warner and also appears on billboards in Mexico. Quien claims a “total audience” of 513,000 readers in Mexico and the southwestern U.S.

The map covers what used to be Mexico’s claimed borders before our 1846 war with them from which the U.S. took possession of California, Texas, New Mexico, etc. But, the ad shows those states as part of Mexico with the “Estados Unidos De America” situated to the north and east of the “Absolut World” Mexico.

In a day when immigration issues are incendiary between our two countries, Time Warner accepting ads that stirs Mexico’s sentiments to “take back” parts of the U.S. (as the term Reconquista means) as their own territory is quite extraordinary.

One would think that such a hot button issue would have raised a few eyebrows with Time Warner? Even worse, this ad never raised a fuss with anyone even as ads for other products were pulled because of “offending” people.

Continue reading “Time-Warner: Vodka Ad Campaign Reconquers California for Mexico”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Denver City Hall Totally Sold Out to Unions

April 4, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

We just ran across this interesting article in the Rocky Mountain News by Vincent Carroll. Carroll bemoans the way that the Denver City council has so completely sold out to unions that even the fact that the city could save money on parking contract management fees makes them think unions are somehow under attack.

After all, kowtowing to union interests has gotten so pronounced that one council member objected last week to a proposed contract with a company to manage airport parking for fear that its modest management fee signified a covert plan to cut union staffing.

“That raised my eyebrows, and right away I thought that I hope that doesn’t come on the backs of the employees,” said councilman Paul Lopez.

In the normal course of affairs, it would be considered good news that the most highly rated bid for a $70 million, five-year parking contract also included the lowest management fee among four proposals. But such is Lopez’s union-centric view of the world – he worked as an organizer before his election last year – that even a management fee can’t be accepted at face value.

Believe it or not, Lopez is only one of several council members who have expressed reservations about the proposed fee for Standard Parking ($510,000 a year, as opposed to bids of $656,000, $790,000 and $1.3 million). It’s as if the company, which also operates parking at airports in Chicago, Kansas City, Cleveland and Portland, wasn’t competent to figure out what fee makes sense to its bottom line.

Council members didn’t only wonder whether the city might be better off paying a larger fee. They lectured the company on its duty to reach a “mutually agreeable” collective-bargaining deal. “Having a union representing our work force out at the airport is very important, particularly in light of the thousands of union members that are going to be flying in and seeing our city with the Democratic National Convention,” declared Chris Nevitt rather superfluously.

Meanwhile, Rocky reporter Daniel Chacon has discovered that Nevitt and two other council members seemingly functioned as informal negotiators on the union’s behalf during a recent meeting with labor leaders and Standard Parking executives. One company official told Chacon he was “a little taken aback” by the pre-meeting hugs between council members and union representatives.

And speaking of overkill, it’s been less than a month since the council approved a proclamation honoring Leslie Moody, president of the Denver Area Labor Federation. (Nevitt once ran a nonprofit think tank founded by the federation.) After three irritated council members made a point of vacating the chamber during the vote, Lopez offered this curious assessment, according to The Denver Post: “I respect their opinion. But there should be no controversy about the need for a living wage or access to health care or affordable housing.”

But of course there is controversy over the definition of “affordable housing” and how to provide it, the definition of a “living wage” and whether government should guarantee it, and the best way to cover the medically uninsured.

But I suppose you’d have to search beyond the confines of the labor federation to locate such differing views.

Amazing how in the hip pocket of the unions the city council is in Denver, eh? A shame, too.

Continue reading “Denver City Hall Totally Sold Out to Unions”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - Nancy Morgan - News - Race - Society/Culture

Debating Liberals

April 4, 2008 by

-By Nancy Morgan

How does one debate with a liberal? Sorry, under current rules, debate is not allowed. Just as our new national conversation on race is limited exclusively to authentic blacks, so is any semblance of debate with those on the left limited to those who accept the rules of debate, as defined by liberals.

Just as Boy Clinton redefined the meaning of sex, so have liberals redefined the meaning of debate. If your view doesn’t accord with the progressive, politically correct elites, the debate is relabeled an ‘argument’, your opinion is redefined as a ‘judgment’ and both are promptly dismissed.

By controlling language, the left controls and defines the issues. Hillary didn’t lie about being under fire in Bosnia, she merely misspoke. The rules stipulate that only conservatives lie. If you’re on the left, you’re either factually incorrect, mistaken or just plain human. Liberals call this a win-win situation, which is one of the few times they are factually correct.

If the member of the vast right wing conspiracy (conservative) persists in trying to debate the original issue, liberals then revert to personal attacks. Attacking the messenger as mean-spirited usually does the trick. The indignant liberal then has carte blanche to personally vilify the messenger while touting his own moral vitas. Very effective.
Continue reading “Debating Liberals”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Melanie Morgan - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Fox News Reports on Attacks

April 4, 2008 by

-By Melanie Morgan

This past week has been a very busy one for Move America Forward.

Fox News once again highlighted our comprehensive report on the plague of attacks against military recruiting centers by anti-military activists. You can see that news report here.

And this week we directed our legal counsel to make a formal request to the U.S. Attorneys office — asking the federal government to investigate whether the Berkeley City Council’s official anti-Marine position and encouragement of anti-war groups to “impede” the work of Marine recruiters constitutes a breach of law. You can see the news release annoncing this action here.

Now we need your help to fund this effort and pay for the legal costs we will incur. We are asking every Move America Forward supporter/member to make a contribution of at least $25 or $50. And to those who can afford a contribution of $100 or more, please please please, help us keep this fight going.

You can contribute online here.

Or if you have a PayPal account you can donate that way here.

Thank you all so much for pitching in! We will not allow our troops to come under assault or ridicule as happened to our Vietnam veterans!

– Melanie Morgan, Move America Forward
Continue reading “Fox News Reports on Attacks”

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

Teachers Unions, School Administrators enlist the PTA to Push SB2288, HB750

April 3, 2008 by

From Education Matters.us

From our friends over at Education Matters.us

The PTA, Teachers Unions, and school officials are hosting a meeting on Saturday, April 12th to push the $8 Billion Dollar tax increase known as HB750 or SB2288. Since this is being hosted at a school, I wonder if any of the groups hosting the event are paying for the facilities or are the taxpayers footing the bill.

A+ Illinois Group is also promoting this education forum at Winston Campus 4/12: (see flyer, below; and proponents of the Tax Swap, HB 750 (2007)and SB2288 (2008)). District 15/211 Leaders also to attend (see below).

From a Flier:

Make your plans to attend and participate in the most important community forum ever focusing on public education in the Northwest Suburbs.

The Northwest Suburban Area
Community Forum on Public Education
Saturday, April 12, 2008
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Winston Campus, Junior High
900 East Palatine Road
Palatine, Illinois

Community members, parents, school employees and patrons in the Northwest Cook and Lake County Suburbs are invited to attend this important community conference on education.

This event is free to all. Continental breakfast will be served.
Master of Ceremonies: Dann Gire, Film Critic, Daily Herald
Event Chair: Celina Watts, Region 43 Chair, Illinois Education Association
Outstanding featured presenters will include:

  • Robert McKanna, Ed.D, Superintendent, Palatine School District 15
  • William Dussling, School Board Member, Township High School District 214
  • Bob Kaplan, School Principal, Schaumburg District 54
  • John Braglia, President, District 211 Teachers Association, IFT
  • Keith Janosch, Special Education Inclusion Teacher, District 15
  • Alfonso Flores, Bilingual Teacher, District 15
  • Kathy Lange, 2005 National Educational Support Professional of the Year
  • Ilona Sala, President, Harper College Adjunct Faculty Association, IEA
  • Wayne Keen, Technology Support Specialist, River Trails District 26
  • Aaron Chun and Anthony Cerqua, Students, Lake Zurich High School
  • Joyce Sevarino, 2008 Illinois Educational Support Professional of the Year
  • Ruth Gloede, Assistant Superintendent CCSD 59

This event and open community dialogue session marks the first time in which parents, community members, the education community and leaders will come together in an open forum to discuss current issues and changes in public education in the Northwest Suburbs.

Conference planners expect a large turnout from the public, so secure your seat now.

Mark your calendar today!

Please RSVP to (847) 359-0300. Ask for Education Forum reservations.

Hosted by the Northwest Suburban Regions of the Illinois Education Association

Last year, the unions and school officials enlisted students and used taxpayer dollars to bus them to Springfield for a rally. I would venture to say they will probably do that again at some point this spring. To read the reports on last years taxpayer funded rallys:

Continue reading “Teachers Unions, School Administrators enlist the PTA to Push SB2288, HB750”

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

U of N Dakota Invites Terrorist to Speak to Students

April 3, 2008 by 1 Comment

Warner Todd Huston

Bill Ayers killed two policemen and assisted in the bombing of government buildings as a member of the notorious Weather Underground in the 1960s and 70s. Yet the University of North Dakota invited this killer to speak to the students as if he were a pillar of the community.

The extremist leftists in the Students for a Democratic Society organization invited the murderer to appear and the appearance is being promoted by UND’s Department of Educational Foundations and Research and the College of Education and Human Development.

Naturally, UND president Charles E. Kupchella is unconcerned over the invite claiming that the terrorists actions are no issue since they happened 40 years ago. “I do not see how anyone could logically conclude that the University has therefore endorsed the things a speaker is alleged to have done some 40 years ago,” Kupchella said to emails on the issue.

But, as Young Americans for Freedom chapter president Harald Brevik said, Ayers is in no way repentant for his crimes.

Brevik noted that in a 2001 interview with the New York Times, Ayers — looking back on his days as a fugitive — said, “I don’t regret setting bombs; I feel we didn’t do enough.” (In one of those weird quirks, the interview was published on Sept. 11, 2001.)

Leave it to the liberals in our universities to sanction the lionizing of a murderer.

Continue reading “U of N Dakota Invites Terrorist to Speak to Students”

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

The 2008 Pig Book

April 3, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Citizens Against Government Waste has issued their 2008 Pig Book, a report that details all the government waste snuck into the 2008 budget in Washington D.C.

The Congressional Pig Book is CAGW’s annual compilation of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. The 2007 Pig Book identified 2,658 projects at a cost of $13.2 billion in the Defense and Homeland Security Appropriations Acts for fiscal 2007. Only two of the 11 appropriations bills were enacted by Congress and the remaining nine were subject to a moratorium on earmarks. A “pork” project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures. To qualify as pork, a project must meet one of seven criteria that were developed in 1991 by CAGW and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition.

Wastes of money like $3 million of your tax money going to a golfing program in South Carolina, $3 million to help the diamond trade, $1million to manage noxious weeds in Idaho and there’s money for the National Mule and Packers Museum, and a walking tour of a tiny town in Virginia – with a population of 474.

We MUST stop government waste. The Great White Father in Washington is NOT our provider. Projects like the Pig Book keep the pressure on exposing government waste. Go check out this year’s pork project expose.

Continue reading “The 2008 Pig Book”

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

Politico: More Southern Bashing Over Carville Remark in Pa

April 3, 2008 by

Warner Todd Huston

Typical of too many Northern based media outlets, Politico indulged in a little South bashing today with a story on a remark about Pennsylvania spoken in 2006 by Clinton Democratic operative James Carville. In attempting to explain the political climate of the Keystone state, Carville basically said that state looked like Paoli (a suburb of Philadelphia) and Penn Hills (a suburb of Pittsburgh) with Alabama in between. Despite Carville’s claims that he didn’t mean it as any sort of slam, Politico and many Pennsylvanians are acting as if being compared to the culturally conservative and religious parts of Alabama is an outrageous insult. This incident just shows once again that the political elite and the media are utterly biased against the American Southland in general and religious Americans in particular.

Representative of the hate for the south imbued in our nose-in-the-air political operatives is public affairs consultant, Larry Ceisler who has “ties to the Democratic Party” in Pennsylvania. Ceisler told Politico that being compared to Alabama is a “slander.”

“People think it meant that basically there are two areas of the state where people can read and write and treat people with a certain amount of respect and the rest of the state is redneck trailer trash,” said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia public affairs consultant with ties to the Democratic Party. “It ended up being a slander on people who are living in those places. I would like to see the line retired.”

For his part, Carville claimed that he “meant the central and northern tier of the state were culturally conservative with a large number of churchgoers. Hence, the comparison to Alabama.” He says he in no way meant the quip as any sort of slanderous comparison.

Still, many lefties in the state are upset at the comparison anyway.

Continue reading “Politico: More Southern Bashing Over Carville Remark in Pa”

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

Google to ‘Shut Down’ Capitol Switchboard Over Global Warming

April 3, 2008 by 1 Comment

Warner Todd Huston

Ah, Earf Day. The day when all the Chicken Littles and the occasional boy who cried wolf can get their fifteen minutes of attention. Don’t we just love the warm and fuzzies of claiming the mantle of God and “saving” the Earf from global warming? Well, The Washington Times Fishwrap blog reports that Google has joined the fray to save the Earf and they are going to do it by helping Kathleen Rogers of Earth Day Network to shut down the phone switchboard at the Capitol in Washington D.C. with the calls from “concerned citizens” who think that calling Washington on the phone can somehow stop global warming..

A group of environmental activists has enlisted Google to help flood the congressional switchboard with one million phone calls on Earth Day urging lawmakers to enact eco-friendly measures.

I’m tingling with excitement already. If I thought I could alter the solar activities really responsible for global climate change just by making a phone call… well, imagine the power? Maybe I could use my house phone to stop a hurricane or tornado, or better yet, use my cell phone influence the scores of the next few Superbowls. Well, I’d just be in heaven.

Naturally, our Earf Day prez thinks global warming is the “biggest threat” we’ve ever faced. No hyperbole there.

Continue reading “Google to ‘Shut Down’ Capitol Switchboard Over Global Warming”

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

2007 Video of Barack Obama and Rev. Wright Signing Books Together

April 3, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Feb 8, 2007 Channel 2 News Chicago had a little puff piece on Senator Barack Obama discussing his soon to be launched presidential campaign. It happened to air just before Barack’s “60 Minutes” TV interview and it focused on Barack’s attendance at the Trinity United Church of Christ. The interesting thing about this video is that Barack is seen sitting side by side with Rev. Wright as they sign copies of Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope.” This chumminess seems to make the lie to the claim that Barack was in any way upset at his “spiritual mentor,” Rev. Wright.

It is curious why the CBS 2 video showing a beaming Barack and Wright has not been more widely played by the media, but it does prove that Barack only recently, in the middle of scrutiny and only in the last month, has found himself trying to claim he disagrees with the racist Rev. After all, he was still quite friendly with the ranting Rev. Wright in the CBS video of but a year ago.

It just goes to cast a heavy pall of doubt around Barack’s supposedly oh-so earnest claim that Wright’s long-time rhetoric now disturbs him. There is no evidence that this could be true as this not very widely seen video shows.

Continue reading “2007 Video of Barack Obama and Rev. Wright Signing Books Together”

00Publius Contributor - Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - News - Society/Culture - Taxes - Thomas Brewton

Can Government Fix the Over-Built Housing Market?

April 3, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Why did we get a massive over-building of single family homes and a plethora of bad mortgage loans?

Responding to Liberals’ Wall Street Pirouette, a reader wrote, among other observations:

I was right with you until… “the huge overproduction of housing would not have occurred.”

What “over-production”?

Remember: supply, demand and price balance except where force or fraud intervene, in a theoretical environment of scarcity. So, how do you precisely define “over-production” or “over-supply” or “surplus” or “shortage”?

My explanation:

Bottom line: the crash of the housing industry, the subprime mortgage meltdown, and the securitized debt disintegration that threaten the financial community originated with the Federal Reserve. In the extended period during the 1990s and into recent times, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan kept interest rates artificially low by flooding the market with excess money. Chairman Bernanke, who believes that the Depression was caused by the government’s failure to spend enough, is carrying on that destructive policy.
Continue reading “Can Government Fix the Over-Built Housing Market?”

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

Exposed: Another Celebrated Leftist ‘Artist’ Who Supported Hitler in the 1930’s

April 2, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Ed Driscoll gives us an interesting little video that shines the light of truth on the history of an architect who “fell in love with the Nazi regime” in the 1930’s. Philip Johnson, famed for his “Glass House” design, is one of America’s best known architects.

The left has celebrated Johnson for decades and upon his passing they eulogized him with care and love. But, as Jonah Goldberg reveals in his recent tome “Liberal Fascism”, the left has succeeded in whitewashing the past history of their many heroes who supported Hitler, Stalin, Fascism, Nazism, and Communism — the worst of history’s murderers and their murderous ideologies.

Take a few minutes to give this one a look see…

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

Warning: Unions Having Success Invading Healthcare Industry

April 2, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

This month a warning was noted on how successful unions have been in cajoling the healthcare industry in falling to union organizers.

Unions won 72 percent of representation (RC) elections held in healthcare in 2007 – versus a union win-rate of 62 percent in non-healthcare industries. The success rates for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) and various state nurses associations were even higher at 79, 80 and 83 percent, respectively. The SEIU accounted for 47 percent of all representation petitions filed in the healthcare industry in 2007.

A report has been issued by IRI Consultants detailing the danger that this unionizing incursion into the Healthcare industry can be.

The report raises concerns about potential impacts of corporate campaigns being conducted by SEIU and UNITE-HERE against vendors that support healthcare providers, including Aramark, Cintas and ServiceMaster.

Corporate campaigns are designed to damage an organization’s reputation and image by inflicting significant external pressure on an organization in hopes of gaining leverage. Union-sponsored campaigns often aim for negotiating strength or to force employers to accept “neutrality,” “free access” or “card check recognition” that make organizing workers far easier by side-stepping traditional secret-ballot elections overseen by the NLRB.

For more information call Sharon Allen at 312.422.3722.

00Publius Contributor - 2nd Amendment - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Chicago’s Kids Used as Political Pawns, School Budget Wasted on Anti-Gun Rally

April 2, 2008 by 3 Comments

Warner Todd Huston

Of course it is a good thing that our children become politically aware. We do want our kids exposed to political issues and ideas. But, it is another thing entirely to take school funds and buss kids all about the city to attend anti-gun rallies to support Mayor Daley’s anti-Constitutional ideas. And that is precisely what happened on April 1st.

Chicago’s ABC 7 News reported on this “anti-violence rally” that was more like an anti-gun rally. ABC reports that this rally had the “blessing” of school superintendents.

Students from Simeon Career Academy, 8147 S. Vincennes, left school Tuesday with the superintendent’s blessing. The students took part in an anti-violence rally at the Thompson Center. Empty desks and pairs of shoes symbolized the young men and women who have been killed.

Of course, the rally was not an “anti-violence” rally, as ABC headlined their report. It was but another attack on our Constitution in the form of an anti-gun rally.

Thus far 20 students have been killed by gunfire this season, and folks are naturally upset by this outrageous statistic.

Frustrated with the number of students killed by gunfire, community leaders are calling for the passage of new gun legislation. Hundreds of students joined in the movement to reverse a deadly pattern of young people being shot and killed. So far, 20 Chicago public students have been killed by gunfire this school year.

But, it is ridiculous to assume that merely getting rid of guns is the cure to this situation. Gang violence occurs because of societal troubles, not because guns are laying about within easy reach! In fact, these more stringent gun laws won’t do a single thing to stop “gun violence” because these laws will only affect law abiding citizens and gang scumbags are not buying their guns legally in the first place.

Want to stop young black men from using guns, joining gangs, and being killed in drive-by shootings? Impress upon black men that they should stay with the women who bear their children. Strengthen the black family in the black community. THAT is the cause of gang violence. Not guns.

And on top of all that, we have school administrators using school funds to buss our city’s children around at school expense to advocate for the wrong solutions. We have our children being used to further the political aims of those who would take away our Constitutional rights.

That is nearly as much an outrage as the violence that has plagued our schools.

Continue reading “Chicago’s Kids Used as Political Pawns, School Budget Wasted on Anti-Gun Rally”

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

Plagiarism a ‘Consequence of the Internet’? I Don’t Think So!

April 2, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Just once I’d like to see blame for one of our societal ills put in the proper place these days. Everyone has to finger point at everyone else while ignoring their own part in the mess. This incident, though, is just another bad example of blame put everywhere but where it belongs. In this case, the AP reports about a University of Texas at San Antonio incident of plagiarism of which Clemson University’s Daniel Wueste ridiculously blames on the Internet.

At the UofT, a student committee was convened to write an honor code to discourage cheating and plagiarizing, a rising problem in our Universities nation wide. Unfortunately, the student committee’s results lifted sections of Brigham Young University’s honor code that the UofT students found on-line. Yes, the code to discourage cheating and plagiarism was, in part, plagiarized.

AP gives us the details:

Student Akshay Thusu said that when he took over the project a month ago he inherited a draft by earlier project participants, including a group of students who attended a conference five years ago put on by The Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson.

Materials from the conference, which are used by many universities, were probably the main source of UTSA’s proposed code, Thusu said. That’s why parts of the Texas draft match word-for-word the online version of Brigham Young University’s code.

BYU credited the Center for Academic Integrity, but the San Antonio draft doesn’t.

But, what or who is at fault for this “oversight”? The AP asked Daniel Wueste, director of the Rutland Institute for Ethics at Clemson University why he thought this was becoming so prevalent?

“That’s the consequence of the Internet and the availability of things. It doesn’t feel like what would be in a book. You Google it and here it comes.”

I’m sorry, what? It’s Google’s fault, it’s the Internet’s fault?

Continue reading “Plagiarism a ‘Consequence of the Internet’? I Don’t Think So!”

00Publius Contributor - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Frank Salvato - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

The Insolent Arrogance of the Progressive-Left

April 2, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Frank Salvato

A recent event in Chicago illustrates the arrogance and narcissism of the Progressive-Left – and in particular the anti-war Progressive-Left. During Easter services at Holy Name Cathedral Catholic Church in Chicago, six anti-war protesters staged a political demonstration disrupting religious services. They shouted generic anti-war slogans and squirted fake blood on themselves and the parishioners in attendance. Their goal was to attract attention to themselves and – therefore – their cause. It worked.

The group of three men and three women, who call themselves Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War (interesting self-commentary on the three “men” involved), issued a statement saying they purposely targeted Holy Name Cathedral – specifically on Easter – to reach a large audience, including the press, which usually covers the services.

A representative of the International Solidarity Movement told the Chicago Tribune that he attended the protest to serve as a witness for the Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War.

Chicago Police removed the protesters and charged them with one count of felony criminal damage to property and two counts each of misdemeanor simple battery.

Where to begin…
Continue reading “The Insolent Arrogance of the Progressive-Left”

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

New York Times’ Lede Blog Quotes Huston on Plagiarism

April 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Apparently, Mike Nizza over at The New York Times blog The Lede picked up on the U of Texas plagiarism story I reported on the 31st. Writer Nizza also added my reaction from my Newsbusters posting in the piece.

In “Fighting College Plagiarism With Plagiarism?,” the Times quotes me to the effect that we can’t blame college plagiarism on the Internet as did Daniel Wueste, Director of the Center for Academic Integrity (as quoted by the AP).

Go on over to The Lede blog and take a look.

(By the way, for those unaware, the word “lede” is an old newspaper term to denote the most important, central point of a story. The lede is usually presented in the first few paragraphs of a story, preferably the very first one.)

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

Chris Hackett, a Conservative We Need in Pennsylvania, 10th District

April 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I know what you’re thinking…”I don’t live in Pennsylvania, so why should I care about a Congressional race there?” That really is a good question. Here is the answer: because our enemy does.

Here is the thing, the left does not only worry about their own individual races. A liberal in New York does not ignore a Congressional race in New Hampshire. A socialist in Georgia does not turn in disinterest from a race in Pennsylvania. They concern themselves with Congressional races all across the country.

We should, too. If we stay so parochial that we don’t bother supporting and rooting for conservative Congressional candidates from other states than the one in which we live, we are ceding the great battle ground to the left who WILL organize and support candidates from other areas.

So, along those lines I’d like to introduce you all to Chris Hackett who is running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. Chris announced his run for the seat last August.

Chris is intensely interested in budget cutting measures and anti-pork. Chris is an entrepreneur and owns SHS TechStaffing, a recruiting and temp staffing service, so he knows what it means to have a budget and hold to it.

The great conservative site RedState.com is endorsing him and I hope all of you talk a little about him on your blogs and encourage folks to send a little campaign money his way.

Now, we also have another reason as conservatives to support Chris Hackett. The establishment of the GOP (Yes those idiots that gave us Arlen Spector!) are supporting another GOP candidates whose only qualifications are that he is rich. They are supporting a guy named Dan Meuser. Meuser is no conservative and does not represent the constituency of the 10th District nearly as well as Hackett. We need to be sure and encourage old Danny boy to take a hike.

For some more details on the District and the situation there, Real Clear Politics has a great piece.

The RCP article reveals some interesting campaign money facts:

At the end of December, Meuser showed more than $650,000 raised, but almost 40 percent of that figure came from his own pocket. Hackett had raised $470,000, but one-third of that was his own money. In contrast, Carney had raised almost $1 million, ending the year with $760,000 in the bank and no debt.

So, now you see what I mean about drumming up donations to Hackett’s campaign and how they are desperately needed. Please donate any amount — even $10 bucks will help — by CLICKING HERE.

Remember, THIS is how the left beats us. They have small donors all over the place. We need to do the same to give our side a fighting chance.

And for those of you in the 10th District in Pennsylvania…VOTE CHRIS HACKETT!

Continue reading “Chris Hackett, a Conservative We Need in Pennsylvania, 10th District”

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

Take Your Apology and…

April 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

You know, outrage can be a good thing. It is often times useful for people to get outraged over a past slight so that a community might be spurred to action to correct real societal ills. But is the hanging of a “witch” or two over 300 years ago something we should waste our time being outraged over now?

Well, it seems to be a good idea as far as one outraged woman in Connecticut is concerned. Three years ago, Debra Avery discovered she was a direct descendent of one Mary Sanford, a woman hanged for being a witch in the Connecticut of 1692.

Yes, I said 1692.

Armed with the sudden knowledge that she is the eighth-generation great-granddaughter of Mary Sanford, Avery decided to take her case to the state legislature to have her ancestor exonerated. She claimed she was on a “personal mission” to wipe out a stigma on her family name. Legislators in Hartford said that they were considering a resolution to free descendants from that “stigma” of witchcraft accusations.

You’d be excused if you just rolled your eyes at the silliness of it all and you’d also be exhibiting the proper reaction to the whole business.

Continue reading “Take Your Apology and…”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - Race - Selwyn Duke

Cultural Affirmative Action

April 1, 2008 by

-By Selwyn Duke

In a way, I prefer the old, overt affirmative action. While it was government-sanctioned discrimination, at least it was, in some measure, more honest than our cultural affirmative action. There is such a thing. It’s when people in the market and media privilege others – sometimes unconsciously – based upon the latter’s identification with a “victim group.”

This phenomenon is what Geraldine Ferraro referred to recently when she addressed Barack Obama’s meteoric political rise and said, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.” Pundits have condemned her for this unfashionable utterance, but it’s no insight. It’s a truth hiding in plain sight.
What do you think Bill Clinton was referring to when he said that he wanted his cabinet to “look like America,” meritocracy or quota orthodoxy? Yet Clinton isn’t alone; he merely gave voice to common practice. Would Condoleezza Rice have been appointed Secretary of State and Joycelyn Elders (the poster girl for AA) Surgeon General if they weren’t black women? Would Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Connor have ascended to the Supreme Court and Janet Reno been Attorney General if they weren’t female? And, as Ferraro noted herself, she would never have been the 1984 vice-presidential candidate but for her fairer-sex status.

Cultural affirmative action manifests itself in all arenas, not just politics. A perfect example is Michelle Wie, the female golfer who set her sights on tackling the men’s tour. Based mainly on braggadocio and a fawning media bent on portraying her as an Amazon golfer who would teach the boys a lesson or two, she was granted entry into numerous PGA tournaments, even though untold numbers of male golfers were more deserving. Of course, some will point out that she is quite gifted. Others will say that the market spoke.
That is my point.
Continue reading “Cultural Affirmative Action”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Entertainment - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Kermit The Frog Hates Oil Companies? Next Muppet Movie Anti-Capitalist?

March 31, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

News has leaked out from the folks at Muppet central (The Jim Henson Company) that the next Muppet feature film will sport a story line that attacks oil companies. According to CHUD.com, the story will center around all our favorite Muppets producing a show to raise money to save their old theater. They need the money, of course, because an “evil character” is trying to buy the building so that he might tear it down to “get at the oil underneath.”

Why is it we have to turn everything into an anti-capitalism, anti-oil hatefest?

Even more alarming is the fact that it seems that the writer/director team pegged to head the project will be Jason Segel and Nick Stoller, the team that recently gave us the very R rated “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” One wonders if the Muppets will go from kid friendly to edgie and R rated? (I must admit that I would doubt the owners of the Muppet property would do that to their long standing kid friendly product, though.)

Continue reading “Kermit The Frog Hates Oil Companies? Next Muppet Movie Anti-Capitalist?”

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

Ill. Law to ‘Protect’ Taxpayers Would Rip Them off Instead

March 31, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

OK, let me get this straight. In order to “protect consumers,” the State of Illinois is considering a law that almost seems like a good idea at first hearing.

Currently, Illinois taxpayers can claim their unclaimed property, lost or abandoned property or overpaid property taxes for free. All an Illinois citizen need do is contact the state and the process can be started for free. And, currently the reclaimed overpaid property taxes alone amounts to some $20 million dollars per year not to mention the other items like re-claimed property, etc.

Sounds great, right?

Sure the “free” part sound great, but there is a catch. A citizen has to somehow find out that they are owed this windfall. And the state doesn’t lift a finger to alert any citizen that they have such a windfall coming their way.

So, to help unite the citizen with the overpaid taxes, there are businesses in the state that take the time to do the research and contact the Illinois citizens who are obviously unaware that they have property in their name or cash that is owed them. Then these companies help citizens reclaim the property and cash… all for a fee, of course.

Imagine this, evil business making money off citizens who can get the same thing done for free by the state! The gall of capitalism is revealed once again.
Continue reading “Ill. Law to ‘Protect’ Taxpayers Would Rip Them off Instead”

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

Green collar jobs to the rescue?

March 31, 2008 by

-By Michael M. Bates

It’s the latest. It’s the greatest. Green collar jobs are going to help turn around the economy if Democrats have their way.

Senator Barack Obama last month promised the government would spend $150 billion to create 5 million such jobs. At $30,000 a pop, that’s placing a great deal of faith in federal job training.

Even your typical white person has hopped on the green bandwagon. Also last month, Senator Hillary Clinton argued in a debate: “We can create at least five million new jobs. . . I helped to pass legislation to begin a training program for green collar jobs. I want to see people. . . trained to do the work that will put solar panels on roofs, install wind turbines, do geothermal, take advantage of biofuels.”

In all the excitement and all the campaign promises, it’s painless for them to overlook, if they ever knew, that federal job training programs have been less than a rousing triumph for many years.

Franklin Roosevelt initiated the Work Progress Administration to ease the mass unemployment of the Great Depression. My Mom lived through that era and said that WPA ended up standing for We Piddle Along to some Americans.

Another observer noted that the WPA gave a bad name to leaning on a shovel.
Continue reading “Green collar jobs to the rescue?”