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00Publius Contributor - News - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Lesson: Pugnacity is Not Telegenic

October 30, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Variety is reporting that conservative radio talker Laura Ingraham has been signed by Fox News Channel as a floating replacement host to fill in when the regular hosts of “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity & Colmes” are not available. She is also pegged to appear on other programs not revealed.

In a press release, Ingraham said, “After years of guest appearances on FOX, I couldn’t be happier about the opportunity to add my voice to FNC’s stellar lineup.”

This is quite good news for both Ingraham and Fox. For that matter, it is good news for the viewer as well as conservatives because Ingraham is an articulate conservative that can easily go head-to-head against the best (or worst as the case may be) that the left has to offer. I look forward to seeing Ingraham taking on the left on Fox News in the near future. She also has been known not to let folks on her own side get off easily when they have disappointed her conservative principles, so she is not going to be just another yes man… or yes woman… for the right.

I wish Laura luck and look forward to seeing more of her.

So what, you may ask, did I mean by my headline about pugnacity not being telegenic?

Because, Ingraham is taking the place of the apparently departed Michelle Malkin and therein lies the tale.

Now, before you go imagining that I am attacking Michelle, let me disabuse you of that notion. Michelle is an incredibly beautiful, smart woman and is one of the few thus far who have been able to translate her presence on the Internet to wider exposure than the WWW. She has appeared on TV, published a book, and gotten columns in the MSM. She has been quite successful thus far and has deserved that success.
Continue reading “Lesson: Pugnacity is Not Telegenic”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Penn. Union Boss Brags About What Dems Will “Do” for Them

October 30, 2007 by

Bucks County AFL-CIO president Tom Bates posted a You-Tube video bragging about all the great things that a pair of Bucks County Democrats are going to do for unions. “Great” things like assuring heavy union contracting for country construction and shutting out non-union contractors and legislating health care plans crafted to union bosses desires.

But, even as the AFL-CIo has donated $47,000 to the Bucks county Democrat Party Campaign Committee, Democrats claim there is no quid pro quo.

But, someone forgot to tell good ‘ol Tommy Bates…

Nah. Dems aren’t going to pay the AFL-CIO back for all their campaign donations. REALLY they won’t!

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - Society/Culture - The Law - Uncategorized

Homeless for Hillary No Occident

October 30, 2007 by

-By Michael M. Bates

Some things never change. The Los Angeles Times last week reported that in New York City Hillary Clinton brings fresh meaning to Chinese take out. Her campaign’s hauling in bundles of cash from impoverished Chinese areas. Dishwashers, waiters, street vendors, and other folks not normally considered fat cats are generously donating.

Said a $1,000 campaign contributor: “They informed us to go (to a Clinton fundraiser), so I went.” Ah, doing what you’re told, just like in the old country. “Everybody was making a donation, so I did too. Otherwise I would lose face.”

The Times looked at 150 of those in the Chinese community giving money to Mrs. Clinton. Most aren’t registered to vote. A full third of them couldn’t be located using property, telephone, or business records. Newspaper staffers found some campaign contributors not living at the addresses they supplied and no one there had ever heard of them.
Continue reading “Homeless for Hillary No Occident”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Marie Jon - Media Bias - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Fires Politicized “California Dreaming”

October 30, 2007 by

-By Marie Jon’

“California Dreaming” and fires have lived side by side since the “The Grapes of Wrath.” It is absolutely amazing how Senator Harry Reid would manage to tie global warming to the fires in California. Well, like Gump would say “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Reid’s words prove that there’s not one thing that this partisan hack won’t politicize. The Democrat senator has not one admirable character trait to emulate, unless you’re fond of desert rats. When it comes to being crude and asinine, dirty Harry and his ilk never disappoint his far left cronies, who sound just like him. They are, at best, disingenuous on any given subject.

Reid was quoted during a press conference: “As you know, one reason that we have the fires burning in Southern California is global warming. One reason the Colorado Basin is going dry is because of global warming.” Indeed, how absurd.

Too many people don’t know the history of our great nation including the prolonged drought that created the Dust Bowl days. Throughout the 1930’s, drought and dry winds damaged, parched, and literally blew away the topsoil. Dust storms in the Great Plains, including, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, became an agricultural nightmare. Was that global warming? The answer is no. Al Gore was born March 31, 1948. He wasn’t around to try to panic the entire world with his global warming theories.

The liberal biased media is once again using its propaganda machinery during this overwhelming tragedy in California by throwing global warming into the mix while reporting on the fires that are still burning.
Continue reading “Fires Politicized “California Dreaming””

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

Lawmakers Threaten Private Company to Help Union

October 29, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A gaggle of State Senators in the State of Washington have signed a letter written on official state Legislature letterhead threatening to remove state funding from an Olympia-based health care service, Behavioral Health Resources. The problem is, this harassment is illegal and has landed these union thugs masquerading as legislators in hot water.

Several Democratic legislators may have violated state ethics laws when they signed a letter scolding a private nonprofit mental-health-care provider for using “hostile” and “anti-union” bargaining tactics in recent contract talks.

The letter, which was sent this month to the director of Olympia-based Behavioral Health Resources (BHR), was written on official Washington state Legislature letterhead.

The Legislative Ethics Board has ruled recently that it is illegal for lawmakers to use public resources to advocate for one side in a private dispute.

Oopsie!

So, how did this come about?
Continue reading “Lawmakers Threaten Private Company to Help Union”

00Publius Contributor - Education - GOP - Israel Teitelbaum - News - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Battle the Enemy On Their Own Turf!

October 29, 2007 by

-By Israel Teitelbaum

Conservatives can win big in if they were willing to fight the Libs on their own turf. But they refuse to do so. Why?

Even optimistic Republicans have already conceded the Congress in the coming election and are merely “hopeful” about the presidency. This is the result of facts now on the ground, in accordance with the present polling. Although conservatives are engaged in numerous battles, ranging from family issues to national defense, they will only do battle from a position of defense – on their own turf – and refuse to go on the offensive. You can’t win a football game without going on the offensive. How can you win in politics with such a strategy?

The source of power – the engine – of the left is obviously the $500 billion-a-year educational monopoly, which they control – where 89 percent of our nation’s children are indoctrinated. This is a system that has been failing the American people for many decades, contributed to the destruction of countless lives and communities, and is directly responsible for the decline of our culture. Yet, our political leaders are afraid to stand up the $2 billion per-year unions which amply grease the wheels of government and the mainstream media.
Continue reading “Battle the Enemy On Their Own Turf!”

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

Is Crackdown on Illegals Working?

October 29, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The New York Times is scolding us mean ‘ol Americans for hurting the Mexican economy. You heard that right, we are hurting them! The Times is mad at us because illegal Mexican immigrants are sending fewer U.S. dollars from here in the states back home to Mexico. The Times is all about the gnashing of teeth and the wearing of sackcloth because our so-called “flagging American economy” and our mean spirited “enforcement campaign against illegal workers” is hurting Mexican families who have grown used to the bounty of U.S. dollars being sent home form their law breaking relatives in the states. Can you say “Oh, Boo Hoo?” The Times even continues to use their new euphemism for this illegal leaching of our money to a foreign nation, calling it “remittances” instead of theft like it should be called.

The Times tries to make Americans feel guilty by claiming that the fact that these “remittances” sent home are drying up means that these poor Mexicans can’t pay for medicine and clothes.

For years, millions of Mexican migrants working in the United States have sent money back home to villages like this one, money that allows families to pay medical bills and school fees, build houses and buy clothes or, if they save enough, maybe start a tiny business.

But after years of strong increases, the amount of migrant money flowing to Mexico has stagnated. From 2000 to 2006, remittances grew to nearly $24 billion a year from $6.6 billion, rising more than 20 percent some years. In 2007, the increase so far has been less than 2 percent.

Yeah… as the old joke goes, “women and children hardest hit.”

And what is causing this dip in “remittances?”

Migrants and migration experts say a flagging American economy and an enforcement campaign against illegal workers in the United States have persuaded some migrants not to try to cross the border illegally to look for work. Others have decided to return to Mexico. And many of those who are staying in the United States are sending less money home.

Somehow the fact that illegal immigrants are having trouble stealing our money and sending it off to some foreign land where it benefits no American does not make me all that weepy. The Times assures us, though, that “in Mexico, families are feeling squeezed.”

… and where is the part where we should care about this, again?
Continue reading “Is Crackdown on Illegals Working?”

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

What WAS That Confederacy Thingie All About, Anyway?

October 29, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Does anyone know anything about American history anymore?

Apparently, a BBQ baron from South Carolina has decided to drop the old Southern Cross, C.S. battle flag at some of his restaurants. But he isn’t getting rid of his Confederate theme because he is replacing it with the Stars and Bars, the first national flag of the Confederacy.

In case you are confused as to which flag is which…

Here is the Southern Cross, the battle flag of many of the Confederacy’s field armies:

And here is the first national flag of the government of the Confederate States of America, the Stars and Bars:

Apparently this restaurant owner changed the flag so that he could avoid the “racist” epithet, but here is the thing: No one knows anything about history in this story, apparently. The Southern Cross was the battle flag of the armies of the Confederacy and few common Confederate soldiers fought specifically for slavery. However, the Stars and Bars was created by the government of the Confederate states and THAT entity was made for the express purpose of safeguarding slavery through the vehicle of States’ Rights. So, of the two, the one this BBQ guy just decided to use is far more one that represents slavery than the old battle flag he was using in the first place!

Not that the nitwits that have attacked him for using the Southern Cross understands that fact.

Also, there was another idiot in the story and that was one Lonnie Randolph, president of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People who said:

“Whether, it’s the first national or the last national flag, that does not change history, and the intent, and purpose that that group stood for – which was to overthrow the government of America – doesn’t change with the garment that they hang off their pole,” he said.

Here is an uneducated lout that obviously knows ZIP about American history.

The Confederacy had no intention of trying to “overthrow the government of America,” you fool. The Confederacy wanted to SEPARATE from the US and start their own country! It isn’t the same thing at all. Though, with as bad as our schools are, it wouldn’t surprise me if this dolt simply couldn’t tell the difference.

Just once I’d like to see some historical knowledge displayed by people over this Confederate flag issue. Is that too much to ask for?
Continue reading “What WAS That Confederacy Thingie All About, Anyway?”

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

I Have A Dream

October 29, 2007 by

-By Nancy Morgan

Martin Luther King’s ‘Dream’ has fallen by the wayside. His ‘dream’ of having blacks judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin is no closer to being realised than it was more than 40 years ago when he first articulated his vision of a color free future.

Not, as current black ‘leaders’ assert, because racism is alive and well in America. But because the current politically correct orthodoxy has effectively banned any type of judgement. All judgement is now off limits. (Unless you’re one of the lucky few who does the judging.) Judging others has been deemed at best, hurtful. At worst, a hate crime. Thus, any reference which challenges the liberal template of race, such as, say, having an opinion, has become a social crime with very real penalties.

The latest casualty of this perverse policy is one of the world’s most highly regarded scientists, Dr. James Watson, who won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of the structure of DNA. The wrath of the left has descended upon Dr Watson for daring to opine that intelligence, IQ, may vary among different races.

Set aside the fact that his assertion may hold some merit, as proven by Charles Murray and Abigail Thernston’s ‘Bell Curve’ study. The fact is that Dr Watson dared to challenge the left’s holy trinity of race, i.e.:

All blacks are victims of racism
Whatever misfortune befalls them is Whitey’s fault
America is still a racist nation.
Continue reading “I Have A Dream”

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

Can We Please Define “Racism”?

October 29, 2007 by

-By Selwyn Duke

James Watson, the geneticist who helped unravel the structure of DNA, came under fire for saying that Africans are not as intelligent as Westerners. Aside from his remarks being deemed baseless and unscientific, he has quite predictably been labeled “racist.” Why, some thought police even want him charged under Britain’s Orwellian “racial hatred laws” (Watson is conducting a speaking tour in Britain presently).

In light of this tendency to apply the “R-word,” one that claims as victims late sportscaster Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder, manager of the Cincinnati Reds Dusty Baker, former baseball commissioner Al Campanis, late NFL player Reggie White and many others, I have a question.

What is “racism”?

Is it simply voicing beliefs about differences among races? Am I a racist if I say that blacks have darker skin and frizzier hair? No, I suppose not. What about if I point out that blacks commit an inordinate amount of crime and that 70 percent of black children are born out-of-wedlock, versus 27 percent for whites? Well, in our culture that is borderline. But why? On what basis should we determine what is “racist”?
Continue reading “Can We Please Define “Racism”?”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - The Law - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Hillary Clinton: Biggest Campaign Finance Fraud in History

October 28, 2007 by 1 Comment

Can anyone tell me why this is no where on the MSM? OK, I know it’s because the Media are covering for their queen, Hillary, but, MAN does she have set of steel ones. She is guilty of the biggest campaign finance fraud in American history and the MSM remain silent.

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

Even Good Iraq News Means War’s Loss to Media

October 28, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

What is it about leftist pundits and their singular inability to accept good news about Iraq — if they acknowledge any good news at all — or, when they bother to report good news, their inexcusable usage of that news to formulate illogical policy suggestions in order to prove the war in Iraq is lost? Of this no better example can bee seen than a recent column by Time Columnist Joe Klein, who, while duly reporting the extremely good news in Iraq, draws all the wrong conclusions from that info based solely on his desire to cut and run in his titled, “The Ramadi Goat Grab.” The MSM just cannot accept ANY good news from Iraq without spinning it as verging on failure.

Klein writes on how promising the national political situation is in Iraq in his piece revealing how, “the Ramadi goat grab may turn out to be a significant moment in the stabilization of Iraq.” Of course, he can’t resist adding a “… or, since this is Iraq, maybe not.” One can understand pessimism in matters Middle Eastern, but his usage of the word “may” was plenty enough qualifying language, wouldn’t you say? His addition of “maybe not” just screams of Klein trying to keep the hatemongers of the anti-war blogosphere off his rear end.

Still, Klein gives us some very good news:

The level of attacks against U.S. forces has fallen dramatically across the country. There have been days, in recent weeks, when even Baghdad approached a tolerable level of urban violence and criminality. “And the Ramadi meeting wasn’t at all unique,” a senior U.S. diplomat told me. “You’ve had mass meetings of tribal leaders from Anbar and Karbala provinces,” which are the Sunni and Shi’ite heartlands, respectively. “The governors of those provinces were literally building trenches on their border, and they are now meeting regularly. You had the highest-ranking Sunni politician in the country, Tariq al-Hashemi, go to Najaf to meet with the leading Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini Sistani. All of this would have been unthinkable only a few months ago.”

So, what does Klein draw from this situation? Two questions (that turns out not to be two questions), the conclusions of which do not make too much sense.
Continue reading “Even Good Iraq News Means War’s Loss to Media”

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

What do Google’s earnings tell us about the FTC/EU review of Google-DoubleClick? and Google?

October 28, 2007 by

-By Scott Cleland

In addition to delivering another spectacular quarter of revenue growth, Google provided some new and current information that is highly relevant to the FTC and EU review.

First, compelling evidence of Google’s market power is mounting.

Google continues to take massive market share rapidly, which is evidence of market power and network effects

  • Google’s over all revenue growth of 57% was more than double the already torrid 27% growth of the online advertising industry overall per IAB.
  • Google’s revenue growth from its pure Google.com sites was even higher, 68%, or 150% faster than the industry at large.
  • That amazing amount of out-performance and separation is far from normal and is not found in competitive markets of this size — indicating that market power and network effects are at work.

Google’s pricing power is increasing

Google’s reported numbers and answers to questions told us indirectly that Google is effectively raising prices on its Adsense customers. While Google uses the euphemism “Traffic Acquisition Costs,” TAC is also conversely a proxy for the price that Google extracts from its Adsense customers.

Google said in its earnings release and in Q&A, that TAC percent of revenue share fell — indicating that Google is having to share less of its collected revenue with its customers, in other words, Google’s Adsense price is going up. To take massive market share quickly like Google is currently doing, would normally require deep price discounts to accomplish.

The fact that Google is taking massive market share while it is also raising prices is pretty compelling evidence of Google market power.

Moreover, if you look at Google’s 3Q07 earnings slides they show that Google traffic aquisition costs have fallen 20% in less than 3 years; conversely that means the price they have been able to exract from their Adsense partners has increased 20% in less than three years.

So what?
Continue reading “What do Google’s earnings tell us about the FTC/EU review of Google-DoubleClick? and Google?”

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

FBI: LA State Senator is Money Laundering — Did AP Mention He’s a Democrat?

October 27, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Today it’s being reported that Louisiana State Senator Derrick Shepherd stands accused by the FBI of money laundering. The AP duly reported the messy story surrounding this charge, of course. Their story was long and exhaustive for an AP report. Only one tiny, little thing seems to have been forgotten by the AP. They seem to have forgotten to mention that Shepherd is a Democrat. I know… shocking, eh?

This is just another in a long, long line of MSM reports — and AP reports in particular — where a report on criminal activity by an elected official seems to lack party identification… IF that criminal activity is perpetrated by a Democrat, of course.

The AP begins with:

State Sen. Derrick Shepherd helped a felon launder nearly $141,000 in bogus construction bond fees last year, keeping nearly half the money, an FBI agent said.

So, what was it that this State Senator did to assist this felon launder money?

According to an account of the hearing by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Smith testified that Shepherd, an attorney who often handles personal injury cases, wrote “settlement proceeds” on memo lines of checks to Moyo, but there is no evidence that he did any legal work for her.

Smith said Moyo signed five checks totaling $140,686 – two bearing notes that they were for bond fees – to Shepherd’s account. Shepherd kept about $65,000 of Moyo’s money and returned the remaining amount, the agent testified.

Nice scam, eh?
Continue reading “FBI: LA State Senator is Money Laundering — Did AP Mention He’s a Democrat?”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Senate Now to Attack OLMS, Too

October 27, 2007 by

First the left in the House led by Nancy Pelosi attacked the union watchdog group, the Office of Labor Management Standards, by trying to cut its budget. Even though it is one for the few successful government offices, prosecuting corrupt union officials, the Democrats in the House tried to cut its budget as a payback to unions that don’t like being held accountable. Now the Senate Democrats are getting into the act.

Amid debate on H.R. 3043, the FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, the Senate is patting itself on the back for providing in their version of the bill $9.6 billion more than president Bush requested. But there is one little area they want to cut: the OLMS.

While the both the Senate and the House are seeking to raise spending on all sorts of programs, including all those in this bill in question, the LOMS faces a 4 percent cut in its budget.

Gee, why do ya think that is? Why, its because the Democrats want to help unions escape prosecution for their wide spread fraud, of course.

As the NAM says:

Cutting the budget of OLMS will only serve to benefit union bosses at the expense of hard working, dues paying union workers. Again, we ask for your support of the Sessions amendment which would restore the much needed funding to OLMS so that this important agency can continue protecting America’s workers.

And who can argue with that logic?

00Publius Contributor - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton - Uncategorized

Applying Christianity

October 27, 2007 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

It has to be more than an intellectual understanding. We must strive to live it.

Pastor Steve Treash’s sermon at Black Rock – Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) was the last in a series on the practical application of Christian principles to family life.

Those sermons’ messages can be summarized under the headings of:

Love of God: Families must have a spiritual passion for God and godly life. They must converse about God and with God. They must pray together.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Mark 12:28-30)

Love for Other People: Jesus continued: The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:31)

Christianity is a positive, not a negative and critical faith. Other people must see in us the positive effect of the Holy Spirit. A cold and critical manner is the opposite.
Continue reading “Applying Christianity”

00Publius Contributor - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Taxes - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

NYTimes: There’s Not Enough Taxes Out There

October 26, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

John F Kennedy once defended his stance on lower taxes with the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats.” But, if the New York Times has its way they would change that to a “a rising tax tide swamps all boats.” Or at least one would be excused for thinking that upon reading an unsigned editorial that laments “A Dearth of Taxes” in the U.S. today. Stating that a “zeal” to cut taxes is “misguided,” the Times whines that the U.S. government doesn’t bring in the kind of tall cash in taxes that European countries do. But, this confiscatory policy that the Times pines for assumes one thing and one thing only: that government will spend that money well. And THAT is the main reason that Americans are against high taxes in the first place, government does NOT spend our money well and everyone but the Times seems to know it.

This is just one more example of how far out of the mainstream of American thought the folks at the New York Times are. In fact, it shows how downright unAmerican the Times truly is. After all, didn’t we start this country over a matter of disagreement on a 2 pence tax on tea? But, let’s not let any unAmerican attitude dissuade the New York Times from their desires to remake the country in their ideal socialist image, shall we?

The Times begins their paean to European anti-capitalism with a jab at the current field of GOP contenders for the White House.
Continue reading “NYTimes: There’s Not Enough Taxes Out There”

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

The AP Becomes Retiring Chinese Official’s Biggest Fan

October 26, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Man, after reading this AP report on the retiring of a Chinese official, you’d think that the folks at the Associated Press were star struck by this communist oppressor. I mean, I’ve seen less adulation on a Britney Spears fan site! You wouldn’t expect to see more slobbering, sycophancy from a 12-year-old waiting in line to see the latest boy band to appear. Their adulation of vice premier Miss Wu Yi ranges from calling her a “master problem solver,” to saying she has “charm,” and an “unusual degree of personal warmth.” You’d think that the AP is ready to cast her as the new Aunt Bee in a remake of The Andy Griffith Show.

Starting out with obvious marvel at Yi’s indispensability for those lucky Chinese, AP seems to totally forget that she is part of an oppressive communist regime that kills people daily, oppresses all manner of religious sects, and withholds the basic freedoms from their people.

For the past decade, when Chinese leaders had a mission of national importance, they gave it to one woman.

Can’t you just feel them sighing with infatuation as they write?

And the AP is duly impressed with her list of recent duties.
Continue reading “The AP Becomes Retiring Chinese Official’s Biggest Fan”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Media Bias - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Baltimore Teachers Union Protests Chief… Or Did They?

October 26, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

It was claimed that 150 members of the Baltimore teachers union had gathered to protest in front of school system headquarters to protest an issue the union has with school Chief Andres Alonso. The story in the Baltimore Sun tries its best to make it seem a united cause by teachers but one upon reflection it becomes obvious that the 150 protesters were not who they pretended to be. In a teachers union of 12,000 members a showing of 150 is bad enough a representation but when many of the 150 protesters aren’t even teachers, well, doesn’t that say how little support this union has on the issue? So, if many of the so-called protesters at this rally weren’t even members of the union in question… just who IS the Baltimore teachers union representing?

At issue is whether the schools should require teachers to spend at least 45 minutes per week in planning sessions with colleagues. The union says that teachers don’t have time for planning for their own class work, much less time to be forced to meet with colleagues. Alonso claims he won’t budge from his position and therefore the union wants him fired.

Not earth shattering conflict, to be sure and the fact that the issue isn’t moving too many of Baltimore’s teachers to protest shows that. Yet, even as they can’t get much support from their own members the union is still pressing forward with their own agenda.

Here is what the Baltimore Sun says about the makeup of the 150 protesters. Two of the 150 were a city councilwoman and a national union official, neither of whom represent the actual teachers of Baltimore.

Among those who turned out to support the union was Edward J. McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which has 1.2 million members. And City Councilwoman Sharon Green Middleton, who spoke at the protest, said she would introduce a resolution asking the council to intervene on behalf of teachers.

And here is the most telling paragraph in the story:

Last night’s protest attracted more than just teachers. Some education advocates used the rally to further their argument that the city should have an elected school board, rather than the current structure where the mayor and governor appoint the board jointly. Other unions, including electrical workers, sent representatives to show their support.

So, let’s consider this. There were only 150 protesters in the first place. If we take away the “other unions” and advocates for separate issues how many ACTUAL teachers union members were at this thing?

It seems that the original 150 out of 12,000 members is even smaller still.
Continue reading “Baltimore Teachers Union Protests Chief… Or Did They?”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Energy - IER - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Technology - Uncategorized

Ethanol Conspiracy Theories Ignore Fuel’s Legitimate Shortcomings

October 26, 2007 by

IER Press Release

“Cellulosic ethanol is akin to the tooth fairy; it’s an entity that many believe in, but no one ever actually sees.”–“The Senate’s Ethanol Delusion,” by Robert Bryce, Energy Tribune

Washington, DC—Yesterday, Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dineen issued a statement urging Congress to pump billions of subsidies into ethanol. Dineen’s rhetoric begs lawmakers to create an artificial market for ethanol, build the extra infrastructure needed for transport, and condemns anyone who speaks about its shortcomings as part of a “coordinated offensive of mistruths”. These statements undermine the effort to have a serious debate about the right way to diversify our energy sources and increase America’s energy security. The ethanol industry has been getting super-sized subsidies for more than two decades. Throughout that time, cellulosic ethanol has always been “right around the corner.” We should be looking to innovators and entrepreneurs to develop the next great technological breakthroughs in energy—not to lobbyists seeking more handouts in Washington.

Despite Dineen’s accusation of an “insidious campaign” by the fossil fuels industry against biofuels, there are a myriad of legitimate concerns about ethanol. Those concerns include, but are not limited to, ethanol’s effect on food prices, its huge water demands, and its overall financial cost. (For more on this see the recent Wall Street Journal editorial, “Ethanol’s Water Shortage”)

Continue reading “Ethanol Conspiracy Theories Ignore Fuel’s Legitimate Shortcomings”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - News - Taxes - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Internet Tax Ban Extended for 7 Years

October 26, 2007 by

** UPDATE ** from my post from a few days ago.

Senate Passes Internet Tax Moratorium

The Senate on Thursday night approved a seven-year extension of a moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet access.

The Senate voice vote came a little over a week after the House passed a bill calling for a four-year moratorium. The tax ban, first approved in 1998, is set to expire Nov. 1.

Attempts in both the House and Senate to make the ban permanent in recent weeks were unsuccessful despite strong support for the idea.

Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in a joint statement called the agreement “a commonsense victory both for Internet users and for state and local governments.”

The two chambers will have to reach a compromise on the length of the ban and other differences before the bill can be sent to the White House for President Bush’s signature.

Too bad they let this pass without making it permanent. I guess it is too much to expect the Congress to let go a grip on even a possible future tax!

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

New News Agency Funded By Left-wing Billionaires, Bias Question Ignored by MSM

October 25, 2007 by 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new and supposedly nonpartisan news agency named ProPublica is about to start offering free of charge its “investigative journalism” created with “moral force” to newspapers and other news sources soon and so far the announcement has been met with favorable coverage by the MSM. But, ProPublica is being founded and funded by Herbert and Marion Sandler, a pair of left-wing billionaires responsible for funding such groups as the Center for American Progress and MoveOn.org and other far left Democrat backing organizations, yet the MSM seems unconcerned that highly partisan, left-wing backers are funding this effort. Somehow, the MSM can’t imagine that any leftist bias could possibly infect this new “news” agency.

Now, imagine how the MSM would be clicking tongues if a news agency were to be founded by a well-known conservative. Imagine how the MSM would be throwing around the word “bias” with abandon and how they would assume right off the bat that such a new news agency couldn’t possibly be a real news source because the founder of it was a conservative. Would the opposite situation elicit such clucking? Would the MSM scoff at the claim of non-partisan reporting if a left-wing activist started a news agency?

Well, we don’t have to ponder this as a hypothetical situation because both have come true with Fox News and ProPublica. How often do we see the MSM and other partisans attacking Fox News for being founded by Roger Ailes, a well-known conservative? Yet, the same is NOT the case for the founding of this new effort in “journalism.”
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - Nancy Morgan - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Dems Sabotage War Effort

October 25, 2007 by

-By Nancy Morgan

Cemetery workers are the new victims in the war on terror. Oh, for the good old days when bodies were piling up and they could feed their families.

Last week saw a dramatic drop in Iraqi death rates, a clear sign the surge is working. America, the Iraqi people and the cause of freedom are prevailing against a foe that would have the world regress to the 6th century. How does the media report this spectacular news?

McClatchy newspapers on Tuesday reported:

As Violence Falls in Iraq, Cemetery Workers Feel The Pinch
“A drop in violence around Iraq has cut burials in the huge Wadi al Salam cemetery here by at least one-third in the past six months, and that’s cut the pay of thousands of workers who make their living digging graves, washing corpses or selling burial shrouds”

In an effort at balance and to remind the world that Bush’s war is still, well, pretty awful, the article continues, “Even with less violence, many of those buried here are victims of the war, and the tragedy of each loss offers a counterpoint to workers’ worries about money.”

This is what passes for fair and balanced in the mainstream media. Ya gotta admire their consistency, if not their world view. Faced with the uncontrovertible fact of progress in Iraq, the media still manages to make lemonade from lemons.
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00Publius Contributor - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Military - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Gov’t Pork That Endangers Our Troops

October 24, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Today’s pork report centers on the porcine efforts of Representative David Wu, Democrat from Oregon, who wrung out of the Congressional budget a $2 million earmark for T-Shirts that were supposed to go to the U.S. Marines. Of course, Wu forgot to notice that the very shirts he had surreptitiously appropriated Federal money for were deemed a danger to our troops health by the very branch upon which he had wished to bestow the fruits of his pork barreling.

According to the Associated Press:

PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon Rep. David Wu fought criticism Monday following a report in the Seattle Times that he got the U.S. Marines to buy shirts that can melt in battle, causing severe burns.

Of course, this treasury raiding by Wu was to pay back a company that gave him campaign donations, the ol’ quid pro quo rears its ugly head.

Wu helped get a $2 million earmark in the 2006 budget for InSport, a Beaverton company in his district. The report found InSport, parent company Vital Apparel and executives from both companies donated more than $7,000 to Wu.

The problem is that the shirts that Wu set up as a mandate for the Marines to take delivery of were made of nylon and shirts made of such material have been deemed a danger to the troops seeing battle “after finding the fabric melts in intense heat, adhering to the skin” causing severe burns to our injured troops.

“This essentially creates a second skin and can lead to horrific, disfiguring burns,” Capt. Lynn E. Welling, the 1st Marine Logistics Group head surgeon, who conducted research in Iraq, told the Seattle Times.

Nice job, Wu. Glad you’re there for our troops.

Then, to make matters worse, Wu inserted another $1 million in at another time to purchase the very same shirts again!
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00Publius Contributor - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Military - News - Security/Safety - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Did the Resolution Condemning Turkey Create a Constitutional Crisis?

October 24, 2007 by

-By Frank Salvato

Recently, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by US Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), passed a resolution that recognized the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide. While the circumstances surrounding the slaughter are disputed, the killings did occur. The larger questions this action presents could very well be as disturbing as the killings themselves. What was there to gain by issuing this non-binding resolution at this moment in time? And, did the issuance of the non-binding resolution usurp the Executive Branch’s authority to establish foreign policy?

Article II of the United States Constitution addresses the Executive Branch and in specific the powers of the presidency. Section 3 of Article II reads:

“He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.”

It is the part of Article II, Section 3 that states, “…he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers;…” that applies to the issue set forth here.

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

Internet Taxes to Come on Halloween?

October 24, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

You want scary? Try the fact that the moratorium on government taxation of the Internet comes to an end on October 31st. And, in true fright movie fashion, it happens at midnight. One expects a crack and flash of lightning to occur over the Capitol just as the witching hour tolls. But, will there be a wave of villagers with pitchforks to stop it? That’s up to all of us.

At midnight on October 31st, the temporary ban keeping local, state and Federal governments from taxing the Internet will lapse. The House of Representatives voted to extended the ban for four more years but the Senate has yet to act. But, rather than just extending this ban, Congress should rally to make the ban permanent.

This ban does not affect all taxes on the Internet, though. As the Heritage Foundation explains:

The extent of the moratorium is often misunderstood. It does not exempt Internet providers from most taxes of general applicability, such as corporate income taxes or property taxes, and does not exempt Internet sales from general state sales taxes, although the collection of such taxes from out-of-state vendors is problematic. It does prohibit all taxes on Internet access services–such as AOL accounts. Surcharges on Internet bills like those often present on cell phone bills, for example, are prohibited, as are “bit” taxes based on Internet usage. In addition, any taxes that single out Internet services or transactions for special or higher fees are also banned.

And this is just the thing. The Internet has been a source for great growth and wealth building as well as a source for news and information for the people, one that they can utilize to improve their own lives without the filter of a corporation, government or controlling entity upon them.

Should this tax lapse we will open the door to impose overburdening taxes on Internet service providers and consumers just at a time when we should be doing all we can to encourage growth. Taxes necessarily kills growth, to be sure, and now is not the time to begin hampering the growth of the Internet. Especially in light of the fact that the U.S.A. is falling behind in the availability of high speed, broadband Internet connections.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - News - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Restore Funding For Fighting Union Corruption

October 24, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

David Denholm of the Public Service Research Council gives us the update on the OLMS:

On Thursday, October 18 the Senate voted 47 to 46 to kill an amendment by Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions to the 2008 Labor-HHS Appropriation Bill, H.R. 3043, that would have restored funding for the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) to its 2007 level.

Two Republican (In Name Only) Senators, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Ted Stevens of Alaska, voted with the Democrats to defeat this amendment.

The OLMS is the only government agency charged with monitoring labor union finances and rooting out union corruption. It has been doing an excellent job. So excellent, in fact, that the Union Bosses’ friends in Congress are reducing its funding, despite the fact that they found reasons to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more than the President requested in other parts of the Labor-HHS appropriation bill.

Now is the time to begin urging President Bush not only to veto H.R. 3043 but, just as importantly, to mention the need to restore OLMS funding in his veto message

My fear is that if he doesn’t make a strong point of this the Democrats will cut a few hundred million dollars of fat from the bill and return it to him without restoring OLMS funding.

Folks, we need to get our representatives in Congress to understand that we won’t allow the Democrats to cover for union corruption anymore. If the Dems want to claim that they are the ones that want to eliminate the so-called “culture of corruption,” then we must hold their feet to the fire and actually live up to their words.

But, the defunding of the OLMS that the Dems are involved in certainly makes the lie to their claims to care about fighting corruption!
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Islam - Islamofascism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

The Left Tries to Quash Free Speech

October 24, 2007 by 1 Comment

Once again, the fascist left tries to quash free speech on one of our oppressive University campuses. Here is a great report on it from some folks who banded together to record the event on video and photographs.

Nonie Darwish at Berkeley during Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.

“Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” is a nationwide series of lectures and presentations organized by conservative writer David Horowitz and his various organizations. On the evening of October 22, dozens of famous speakers gave lectures at universities around the country, mostly on the subject of Islamic extremism. The presenter at U.C. Berkeley that evening was Nonie Darwish, an Arab-American author and feminist who has become a Muslim apostate and vociferous critic of radical Islam.

Her appearance at Cal was sponsored by the Berkeley College Republicans, and strongly opposed by several left-wing groups and Muslim organizations, including World Can’t Wait, the Muslim Students Association, and Students for Justice in Palestine. Her speech was even condemned by the ASUC, the official student governing body at Berkeley.

Please, please go to the site and view the hate spewed by the anti-American left infesting our schools.

The report was created by a coalition of folks trying to get out the word.

This report is an experiment in collaborative online journalism. The photos on this page were taken by seven different photographers, each working independently and unknown to one another, who submitted their pictures, videos and observations to a central editor, where they were compiled into a single report. The online nicknames of the seven “citizen journalists” are: bbuck, Chicken Kiev, Dan K., Luvpotion v.9.0, Marwan’s Daughter, neocon hippie, and Temmy. The central editor who created this report — and who did not actually attend the event itself — was me, zombie, the proprietor of this site. I edited the images and videos, and wrote the captions and introduction; the citizen journalists took the photos and videos, and provided first-hand observations and notes, which are the basis of this report.

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

94% of Unions Fail OLMS Audits

October 23, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Just a quick note about the “success” rate of unions and their audit compliance from Ed Morrissey.

The OLMS points out far too many “inconvenient truths”, as one Democrat might put it. For instance, it reported that only 43 of 643 union audits showed financial compliance. That’s a whopping 6%, meaning 94% of all unions can’t pass a financial audit. It doesn’t seem very surprising, since millions of worker dollars end up at the Democratic Party. If a group of publicly-held corporations had a 6% failure rate for their financial audits, the Democrats and unions would scream bloody murder, let alone a 94% failure rate.

Now, imagine how the left would be all over that if such a failure rate were to be had from groups supporting conservative causes. They’d be all over it with their “Republican culture of corruption” rhetoric, for sure.

Remember how the left was all up in arms about Enron? Amazing how silent they are about unions, isn’t it?
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - History - Islam - Islamofascism - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Why Do We Allow America’s Enemies to Run Schools Here?

October 23, 2007 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

With such a headline, you’d be excused for assuming this piece is just another attack on our failing schools, just another screed against the evils of teachers unions, or a whack against the left wing lunatics who run our universities. No, this time the title is no mere hyperbole. This time it says exactly what it means for in the state of Virginia a school is being run by radical Islamists, funded by a foreign nation, and under condemnation from the U.S. government. In this time of war, the State of Virginia really is allowing our enemies to run a school teaching Islamist hate to our children right in our midst.

A private Islamic school funded by the Saudi government is being accused by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom of teaching Wahhabi Islamism to 1,000 K-12 children in Fairfax County, Virginia. Wahhabism is the strict and hateful brand of Islam that buttresses the twisted ideas of people like Usama bin Laden and his al Qaeda organization and the Taliban extremists in Afghanistan and it is guiding the daily class work of some of Virginia’s children.

The Commission reports that the curriculum at the Islamic Saudi Academy reflects the religious intolerance taught at schools in Saudi Arabia where intolerance and bigotry against Jews and Christians is the norm. In part, the Commission’s report states that, “significant concerns remain about whether what is being taught at the ISA promotes religious intolerance and may adversely affect the interests of the United States.”

Naturally the school and its minders in the Saudi embassy profess shock and dismay that they’d be questioned about their efforts to teach their own brand of “truth” to American children. But, it isn’t just extreme Islamism that the school is faulted for. The Commission also warned that the close operational ties and funding scheme between the school, the Saudi embassy and the government of Saudi Arabia may violate U.S. law restricting the activities of foreign embassies.

This school was in the news once before, too. After the Sept. 11th attacks by radical Islamists, a former valedictorian of the school, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was convicted of, and is now serving a 30-year prison sentence for, plotting the assassination of president H. W. Bush in 2005. Ali became an al Qaeda member while attending college in Saudi Arabia after graduation from the school in Virginia.
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