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00Publius Contributor - China - Democrats/Leftists - Europe - History - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

2008 Olympics

August 10, 2008 by

I just wanted to let everyone know that I won’t be writing about the Olympics or covering it in any way. I feel that every American (including President Bush) that are in attendance at the Olympics are traitors to democracy and civilization.

These commie bastards are our enemies. Each and every Chinese citizen (and I use that term very euphemistically), each man, woman and child are enemies to the USA, the west, and basic civilization. They look at us as enemies and we should return the favor. Look where pretending that “they really don’t mean it” got us where it concerns Muslims!

China should be treated as the lepers that they are, not as useful and legitimate citizens of the international community.

Warner Todd Huston
Editor/Owner of Publius’ Forum

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Liberty’s Asylum

April 28, 2008 by

A few months ago I met a bunch of great folks at a blogger’s conference in Chicago. Since then we’ve begun to try and get more involved together and we’ve decided to call our little network “Liberty’s Asylum.”

Proud member of Liberty’s Asylum!, a FeedBurner Network.

Check out all our affiliated blogs. There’s some great stuff out there.

Flight 93 - News - Patriotism - Uncategorized

Flight 93 Memorial Update…

March 5, 2008 by

Islamic symbolism causing fundraising problems for Flight 93 Memorial

Blogburst logo, no accident

Pennsylvanians know about the Islamic symbolism in the Flight 93 Memorial, and have stopped donating. The first indication came last September when State Senator Jane Orie came aboard as a fundraiser. She got a quick education in growing controversy.

In a 9/11 radio interview with Pittsburgh talker Fred Honsberger, Orie explained why she hoped the Flight 93 families would get back together and revisit their design choice:

Orie: “No matter who it is, and no matter where I went today for 9/11 events, everybody brought up this crescent. Whether it is intentional or not, it is disturbing to people.”

Honsberger: “So everyone is bringing it up to you.”

Orie: “Absolutely.”

At that time, the Memorial Project had collected about $12.5 million, far short of the huge design’s anticipated 60 million dollar price tag. Six months later the amount sits at “A little more than $12 million.” It is possible that they are actually spending more on their fundraising efforts than they are raising.

Bill Steiner, who has been rustling up opposition on the ground in PA, dropped by Somerset recently and had a conversation with Memorial Project Superintendent Joanne Hanley. She appeared beleaguered, and confided that fundraising was sluggish, suggesting that the memorial would probably have to be built in stages. Presumably she meant something other than the normal stages of building, but was anticipating delays.

Now this week the Somerset Daily American has an editorial complaining that the whole state seems to be dumping on Somerset County, bemoaning amongst other things the lack of funding for the Flight 93 Memorial.

This is not the preferred way to stop architect Paul Murdoch’s terroist memorial mosque from being built. The damn thing ought to just be stopped by those in government who are in a position to stop it, so that a new and fitting design can be selected. At that point, money will be needed, but for now, with Murdoch in full command of the hijacked memorial, lack of money is what is needed. Starving the engines of fuel is one way to keep the hijacker from reaching his target, and until the hijacker is stopped, nothing else matters.

The people get it, and are voting with their pocketbooks. When are our our elected representatives going to step up and do their part?

Senator Orie is not the only Pennsylvania state legislator who has expressed concern, but Congressman Tancredo is as yet the only politician to actually call for the crescent design to be scrapped. If our representatives can’t be leaders, can’t they at least be followers?

To join our blogbursts, email Cao (caoilfhionn1 at gmail dot com) with your blog’s url.
Continue reading “Flight 93 Memorial Update…”

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Political Vindication Radio

March 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I was a guest on Political Vindication Radio last week and thought I’d put in a plug for the show hosted by Frank and Shane.

Frank and Shane run a great show and we visited for the better part of an hour. We spoke on the left-wing bias in the media with topics ranging from the AP, Scientific American Magazine, the New York Times and many other news outlets.We talked of the subtle bias of labels and how the media skews the discussion of current events in favor of the left. There were laughs and seriousness.

It was a great time and I highly recommend Political Vindication Radio for anyone interested in some solid political talk-radio. I must thank Frank and Shane for their kind treatment and for welcoming me in

Political Vindication Radio

Join Frank and Shane every Tuesday Live at 6 p.m. PST

Call in to our show at (646) 652-4598

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William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008)

February 27, 2008 by

From NRO’s Kathryn Jean Lopez

I’m devastated to report that our dear friend, mentor, leader, and founder William F. Buckley Jr., died overnight in his study in Stamford, Connecticut.

After year of illness, he died while at work; if he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas.

As you might expect, we’ll have much more to say here and in NR in the coming days and weeks and months. For now: Thank you, Bill. God bless you, now with your dear Pat. Our deepest condolences to Christopher and the rest of the Buckley family. And our fervent prayer that we continue to do WFB’s life’s work justice.

****

And I must add my own condolences to the Buckley family. I may not always have agreed with William F. Buckley, Jr., but he was an intellectual giant of the conservative movement and his perspective, civility and wit will be missed.

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Flight 93 Memorial News…

February 14, 2008 by
Flight 93 blogburst logo: It points to Mecca! Lizard link: Push it!

Dr. Daniel Griffith (“anything can point to Mecca, because the earth is round“) is still trying to convince the press that the Flight 93 crescent does not point to Mecca. In an email to the Park Service and the press this week, he tried to make it sound as if Alec Rawls is calculating the orientation of the crescent by using techniques that can be manipulated to achieve any desired result:

Based on Alec’s arguments, one could claim that the memorial is oriented toward the Vatican.

The Flight 93 crescent can indeed be seen as pointing to the Vatican, for the simple reason that the Vatican sits on the great circle line between the crash site and Mecca.

This is what Griffith represents as some concocted method for calculating the orientation of the crescent: the great circle method!

This “shortest distance” or “straight line” direction to Mecca (curving only in the over the horizon direction) is the relevant direction because this is the way that Muslims calculate the direction to Mecca. (There was a debate about it in the 1980’s and 90’s, largely settled by this nondescript looking analysis.)

Here is the great circle line from the Flight 93 crash-site to Mecca:

Crash-site to Kaaba30%

(Click-pic for larger image. Great circle calculator here.)

Here is the great circle line from the crash-site to the Vatican:

Crash-site to Vatican35%

This calculator rounds to the nearest degree, so Mecca and the Vatican both are presented as lying on the great circle line that, from the crash site, proceeds 55° clockwise from north.

Continue reading “Flight 93 Memorial News…”

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The Disgrace of the Flight 93 Memorial

February 7, 2008 by

Where is the lizard army?

Pennsylvania is on fire. Tom Burnett’s color advertisement in the Somerset Daily American, asking the people of Somerset to protest the crescent memorial to Flight 93, raised a great deal of awareness. At least four television stations covered the controversy, and there were two news stories in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review alone.

Those who went on to read Alec Rawls’ more detailed advertisement (exposing the fraudulent Park Service investigation of the giant Mecca-oriented crescent) are burning mad, and are taking up Tom Sr.’s call for state and Congressional investigations. Word is that two Pennsylvania state representatives, one Democrat and one Republican, are hot enough to co-sponsor a resolution initiating a state investigation.

That is a long way from actually getting an investigation. The hurdles are still huge, and it would sure be a big help if the high traffic conservative bloggers were pitching in. Charles Johnson and Michelle Malkin played a critical role in raising the initial alarm when the Crescent of Embrace design was unveiled in September 2005. Both also helped to expose the phony redesign, which leaves every particle of the original design completely intact.

But since 2006, nothing. For two years, as the revelations about the Memorial Project have become ever more explosive, the fire-hoses have ignored what will undoubtedly become one of the biggest scandals in American history.

This is a difficult story for our high traffic bloggers. With Flight 93 family members on both sides, no one can weigh in without checking the facts, and our high traffic bloggers are all stretched too thin to check the facts. Charles Johnson only has two eyes and two ears. No one can say he ought to do anything, when there is no way he ought to even be able to do a quarter of what he does.

Johnson’s lizard army, on the other hand, has thousands of eyes and thousands of ears. The question is whether this sensory system is connected to the lizard brain. Is there any trickle-up at LGF?

Continue reading “The Disgrace of the Flight 93 Memorial”

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Statement from Sen. Fred Thompson

January 22, 2008 by

McLean, VA – Senator Fred Thompson today issued the following statement about his campaign for President:

“Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - Nancy Morgan - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Hillary has the most experience of all the candidates – by far

January 4, 2008 by

-By Nancy Morgan

With the assassination of Benizir Bhutto this week, the focus of the presidential race has shifted. The new defining issue and buzz word of the day for presidential contenders is ‘experience.’ By that measure, Hillary leads the pack. Hands down. Her experience far outweighs that of all the other candidates combined.

Take Pakistan: If Hillary was President right now, I have no doubt Pakistan would not be erupting in violence. As a matter of fact, Bhutto’s assassination would most likely be spun as a suicide. Key evidence would be covered up, facts would be conveniently realigned and, with the help of the media, as in the Vince Foster ‘suicide,’ anyone who questioned the prevailing line would be quickly consigned to the ranks of the vast right wing conspiracy. Period. Case closed.

Hillary’s past experience would prove invaluable in confronting a host of other important issues facing America today. Recently, Hillary proclaimed that if she were elected president, the price of oil would immediately drop. Just so. Hillary’s past experience in the futures market, which netted her a cool $99,537.00 on a total investment of $1,000 shows how adept she is in manipulating the futures market. (That translates to a 9,987% return.) Truly astounding. I have no doubt that if Hillary were elected, oil prices would go down and America could go back to the days of the incandescent light bulb. Experience counts.
Continue reading “Hillary has the most experience of all the candidates – by far”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - History - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - President - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Why I Don’t Want Your Kid to Vote

January 2, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Every election year we are presented with stories about the vaunted “youth vote.” We are told how we must get the kids to the polls, we are told that the candidates are working hard to court the youth vote and we are given story after story of the efforts of one organization or another that is trying to excite young people to vote. We are presented with these stories as if it is a good thing that kids under 21 should vote, that it is somehow a desired thing. Well, I am going to say right here and now that I don’t want anyone under the age of 21 to vote. So, please, do keep your uninformed kid home on Election Day.

Many people will recall the reported words of the venerable Ben Franklin who said upon exiting the final session of the Constitutional convention that our representatives had created a republic “if we could keep it.” By this, Franklin meant that it is up to each of us to learn the issues, understand the principles upon which our system was created, as well as the mechanics of the system itself in order to cast an informed vote that will uphold those principles and keep our government orderly. This all means that it is incumbent upon each of us to stay informed and to educate ourselves.

I will not, of course, claim that all people under 21 are inherently incapable of becoming such a well-rounded and informed citizen. In some cases, there are surely 19 year-olds that are smarter, more informed, and trustworthy than certain 30 year-olds out there. This is beyond question. But one cannot make general rules for society by honing in on every individual case. One must strike for the best general rule and the general rule here is that people under 21 do not care a whit about government and will, therefore, make for uninformed — maybe even dangerous — voters.

Continue reading “Why I Don’t Want Your Kid to Vote”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Frank Salvato - Military - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - UN - Uncategorized

A Standing Army for the United Nations

January 1, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

There are many disturbing issues to contemplate in the world. From the dangers of aggressive Islamofascism to the pomposity and arrogance of the American elected class (and those vying to be included) the world stands witness to myriad threats and power grabs. But two power grabs opens the door for the United Nations to both amass sovereign rights and to fund and assemble a military force under its own banner.

That the United Nations is a corrupt and ineffective institution is an understatement. The list of illegal activities and instances of institutionalized bigotry are so numerable that they weave a tapestry of embarrassment that would incite any governmental body with integrity to disband. Truth be told, they can‚t even agree on a definition for “terrorism.” As they say, absolute power corrupts, absolutely.

An example of the UN‚s corrupt leadership can be seen in the Oil-for-Food scandal, one of the larger blemishes on the face of the organization. Alas, it is a blemish that the secular-progressive press failed to expose in detail. You see, a few corrupt world leaders ˆ we‚ll cite Jacque Chirac as a prime example ˆ were utilizing their seats on the UN Security Council to hold the United States and aligned coalition countries at bay while they violated the resolutions put in place by that very organization. Their actions defrauded the Oil-for-Food program of millions if not billions of dollars and enriched Saddam Hussein in the process.
Continue reading “A Standing Army for the United Nations”

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

Parents Launch Drive for Equal Educational Opportunity

January 1, 2008 by

-By Israel Teitelbaum

Parents seeking improved educational options have launched a national grass roots drive timed to coincide with the coming presidential primary. This affords us our best opportunity in decades to leverage our votes in exchange for legislation that will provide equal educational opportunity for every child. A nation founded on individual liberty should not be financially coercing parents to send their children to government-run schools.

Leading the grass roots drive is Larry Cirignano, a leading community activist on issues of importance to families, such as life, liberty and equal educational opportunity for all children. He was recently the target of trumped up charges of assault for preventing an ACLU activist from disrupting an anti-gay marriage rally in Worcester, Massachusetts. After a week long trial Cirignano was found NOT guilty by a jury of his peers.

Major organizations lending support to this effort include National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, Torah Communications, Sephardic Voters League, Family Research Council, Center for Equal Opportunity, New Jersey Family Policy Council, American for Tax Reform, CatholicVote.org, SchoolChoiceVoter.org, and the list is growing.
Continue reading “Parents Launch Drive for Equal Educational Opportunity”

00Publius Contributor - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Predictions 2008

January 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here are a few of my predictions for 2008:

  1. If either Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani are the GOP nominee, the Democrats will easily win the White House because the conservatives will stay home in droves.
  2. If Ron Paul and Michael Bloomberg run as independents… the Dems still win because Paul will siphon off more GOP voters than Bloomberg will siphon from the Dems. But if Paul stays out and Bloomberg runs, his entrance just might cut in favor of the GOP candidate. Neither Paul nor Bloomberg can win on their own, of course.
  3. Rosie O’Donnell will get even fatter in 2008.
  4. Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf will be assassinated.
  5. The GOP will continue to fight the good fight against the Dem Congress making great headway and setting themselves up for some excellent wins in 2010.
  6. Britney Spears will go into rehab. She will be photographed having a pillow fight there with Lindsay Lohan.
  7. Neither the Chicago Bulls, the Cubs, the White Sox, nor the Bears will win much of anything.
  8. Speaking of Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley will be involved in a scandal that he claims not to know anything about.
  9. Kieth Olberman will have a brain aneurism… if he does, indeed, have a brain, that is.
  10. Rush Limbaugh will say he is right about something or another, probably in his first show of the New Year.
  11. Hillary Clinton will say someone is out to get her. But, it won’t be Bill because he hasn’t been interested in her for about 20 something years.
  12. And I will make some liberal somewhere mad. A lot. Repeatedly.

OK most of those aren’t out too far on a limb, but I never said I was any Sylvia Brown. Or maybe I am better than that because her prediction record is really, really horrible.

Happy New Year, y’all.

00Publius Contributor - News - Patriotism - Podcasting - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Voice of Liberty Podcast Episode #9

December 31, 2007 by

Happy New Year! This is our last podcast of the year and we’re looking forward to a prosperous new year and conservative gains in November’s elections. Our weekly listenership has grown into the three-figure domain – next stop – four figures. We appreciate you listening to the podcast, and we especially appreciate when you tell your friends. Our audience is growing quickly, and there are going to be some very exciting changes coming in the new year. Stay tuned for further details.

In this week’s episode, Andrea Shea-King looks back on her year. Warner Todd Huston reveals the vacuousness of political correctness. The Blue Collar Muse wonders aloud why Mrs. Clinton continues to promote the failed notion of socialism. Host John McJunkin wraps up the episode with Reason Number Eight Why Mrs. Clinton Will Never Be President.

Download Podcast-Duration: 00:29:30

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

Reuters: Will You People Stop Using ‘Surge’ and ‘Post 9-11′?

December 31, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is the time of year for lighthearted fluff for most news agencies and it is usually a welcome respite from hard news as we all get ready to celebrate the arrival of “Baby New Year.” The year-end list is a staple of that happy, fluff and we get them up the wazoo, for sure. The list of “overused words” is one of those that we see every year, as well, and Reuters gives us a list by which they hope we wring out a few overused words and phrases as we ring in 2008. But, I am a bit dismayed over the choice of two of the words and phrases they want us to forget. The first is “post 9/11″and the other one is “surge.” The choice of words and phrases in the case of these particular two seems to be made not only with a left leaning bias, but with a bias that leads to the sort of dangerous ignorance that caused 9/11 and the surge in the first place. The ignorance of head-in-the-sand, looking the other way that allowed Islamofascism so so easily sneak up on all of us is rampant with the inclusion of these two in this list.

Reuters writer Andrew Stern gives us this first paragraph:

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A “surge” of overused words and phrases formed a “perfect storm” of “post-9/11” cliches in 2007, according to a U.S. university’s annual list of words and phrases that deserve to be banned.

While most of the words and phrases that the public relations department at Michigan’s Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie chose for their list is innocuous fun, including “surge” and “post 9/11” seems to me a dangerous inclusion.

Such phrases as “post 9/11” and “surge” have also outlived their usefulness, they said. Surge emerged in reference to adding U.S. troops in Iraq but has come to explain the expansion of anything.

“Post 9/11” has “out lived its usefulness”? How so? Has the danger of radical Islam passed us by? HARDLY! To make people forget 9/11 is a travesty and will open us right up to the sort of complacency that we wallowed blissfully in on September 10th, 2001 — a blissful ignorance that was shattered so horribly. Does Reuters and Lake Superior State University want us to return to 9/10 thinking? When one sees that they also want us to forget about Bush’s “surge” policies in Iraq, as well, it would seem that forgetting is exactly what they want. It’s all just so passé, huh?

There was also one other somewhat disturbing bit in their year-end list of over used words and phrases.

Continue reading “Reuters: Will You People Stop Using ‘Surge’ and ‘Post 9-11′?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Inernet - Media Bias - News - Technology - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

More Lazy Reporting From UPI: Internet ‘Not Ideal’ For Political Ads

December 31, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As we point out on a daily basis, the MSM is heavily left leaning and biased. But this isn’t the MSM’s only failing. They are also extremely lazy. Leftist or not, and take little time to really think about the news nor do any research about what they are reporting. Take this UPI report for instance: “Political videos not reaching Web viewers.” In this one, the UPI is claiming that political video on the web isn’t “reaching Web viewers” and that it isn’t the “ideal way” for candidates to reach voters, but the story itself does not satisfactorily prove such a conclusion at all. When compared to the percentage of actual voting adults, for instance, the penetration might be quite favorable toward political videos reaching those they are aimed at. So, why report it as a negative? Because they neither employed reason nor research while writing their article, that’s why.

UPI claims the following:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) — Just over one-third of U.S. adults who have watched online video report watching a political video, a Harris Poll found.

The survey suggests online video is not an ideal way for political candidates to reach voters. However, that 35 percent figure represents millions of people.

While “one-third” of America’s adult population seems low, when we take a more full view of the statistics, we see that it isn’t as bad as it seems but we also see that this poll isn’t much help in making any determination as to whether or not political ads on the Internet are effective.

For one thing, only 73% of our adult population has internet connection in the first place according to a Pew Research finding (Download PDF file here). Now, according to the U.S. Census Bureau there are about 220 million adults in the U.S. so that means that of that 220 million, about 165 million some Americans have internet connection. One third of that 165 million, then, means that around 55 million or so adults are watching video with political content on the Internet.

55 million is a whole bunch o’folks, sure, but what does that mean to actual votes cast and are Internet videos actually making a difference in politics? There certainly is no way to know that from this report.

Let’s take a quick look at the voting stats.

Continue reading “More Lazy Reporting From UPI: Internet ‘Not Ideal’ For Political Ads”

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

Honestly, is this the best we can do?

December 31, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Michael M. Bates

In little more than 200 years, we’ve gone from George Washington, who could not tell a lie, to modern political figures who will never be mistaken for the indispensable man.

Barack Obama is running an ad in Iowa that ballyhoos his “scrupulous honesty.” That bouquet was tossed by Time magazine’s Joe Klein.

The candidate’s scrupulous honesty must have been sorely strained in his dealings with Democratic fat cat and wheeler-dealer Tony Rezko, soon on trial for an assortment of fraud schemes. Rezko was widely known to be under Federal investigation by the time Obama approached him, hoping he’d “develop an interest” in buying some land that just happened to adjoin a parcel owned by the senator.

Mr. Obama’s honesty was brought into question from the moment he announced his candidacy for president. That’s because the day after his 2004 election to the U.S. Senate, he forcefully vowed that he wouldn’t run for president before the end of his full six-year term.

The Chicago Sun-Times carried the story:

“‘I was elected yesterday,’ Obama said. ‘I have never set foot in the U.S. Senate. I’ve never worked in Washington. And the notion that somehow I’m immediately going to start running for higher office just doesn’t make sense.

‘So look, I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years, and my entire focus is making sure that I’m the best possible senator on behalf of the people of Illinois.”’

He further elaborated: “Look, I’m a state senator who hasn’t even been sworn in yet. My understanding is that I will be ranked 99th in seniority. . . I’m going to be spending the first several months of my career in the U.S. Senate looking for the washroom and trying to figure out how the phones work.”

Responding to unrelenting reporter questions on the matter, he said that he was definite that he wouldn’t run for president in 2008. He even termed the question itself “silly.” So who’s laughing now?

Not Senator Clinton, who’s shown herself grievously honesty-challenged more than a few times over the years. One poll of likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers found that Barry beats Mrs. Clinton 2-1 as the more honest and trustworthy candidate.
Continue reading “Honestly, is this the best we can do?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton - Uncategorized

Rebuild a Welfare-State-Dependent New Orleans?

December 31, 2007 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

The New York Times editorial board still believes in the fairyland of Stalinist dictatorship of the proletariat in which all the shots are called by the collective government’s commissars.

The Times editorialists implicitly are horrified at the prospect that New Orleans might be rebuilt by free-market forces responding to present-day economic reality. Their prescription is back (and I do mean backwards) to the Nanny State.

As noted in New Orleans: The Harsh Moral and Political Realities, New Orleans has for generations been rotten at the core as a consequence of the welfare state inaugurated by Huey Long in the 1920s. The last thing needed, by its former welfare-dependent residents or by its working population, is to sink again into the swamp of socialist despond.
Continue reading “Rebuild a Welfare-State-Dependent New Orleans?”

00Publius Contributor - Education - Entertainment - Media Bias - News - Science - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

PBS Make ‘Documentary’ Full of Lies

December 31, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not long ago, I wrote a piece on how our PBS stations have been foisting a so-called documentary on the wife of thinker Albert Einstein and how she supposedly had a large hand in his famous scientific theories. It’s all bunk, of course, but PBS is foisting this piece of junk biography on the public, none-the-less. Worse, our tax dollars are going to help pay for these lies.

In that piece from August, I introduced you all to the exhaustive work of one Allen Esterson who has tirelessly been trying to get PBS to pull their support for this flawed “documentary.” Since that time, Mr. Esterson has not ceased his efforts and saw fit to give me an update that I thought I’d share you all of you.

Dear Mr Huston,

I thought you might be interested in the latest developments re PBS and “Einstein’s Wife”. In regard to the film, David Davis, VP National Production OPB, has informed me that the broadcasting rights have expired. However, on the “Einstein’s Wife” website PBS is continuing to promote the grossly misleading and dishonest film, and the DVD is still being sold by PBS.

As I anticipated when I (indirectly) heard that the writer Andrea Gabor had been commissioned to rewrite the website material, the revised web pages (posted in late September) continue to propagate false and misleading contentions. While no longer claiming that Mileva Maric co-authored the celebrated 1905 papers, Gabor contends that during their marriage Maric took part in “longstanding give-and-take” discussions of physics, which “almost certainly yielded some help with mathematical proofs”. The facts are that there is not a single known document in which Maric expresses any ideas, or even views, of her own on physics, nor a single specific report of any such ideas, nor any hint in letters to her closest friend over three decades of any such discussions. As to her giving help with mathematical proofs, even her Zurich Polytechnic entrance exam average grade in mathematics was mediocre, and her final diploma mathematics grade was a dismal 2.5 on a scale 1-6. In contrast, Einstein was precociously gifted in mathematics, and mastered the basics of differential and integral calculus by the time he was 15. In his Ph.D. thesis submitted to Zurich University in 1905 the mathematics was so difficult that the relevant sections were given to a math specialist to assess, and he reported that “the manner of treatment demonstrates *a thorough command of the mathematical methods involved*” (emphasis in original).
Continue reading “PBS Make ‘Documentary’ Full of Lies”

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

Wash. Monthly Blog Shows for Left, Name Calling = Political Analysis

December 30, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Now With Updates…Kristol responds to critics and Benen Responds to me!

Washington Monthly has a blog called Political Animal that is also picked up by the CBS News website. It is written by Kevin Drum, but recently has been guest penned by a former Clinton intern and Internet gadfly named Steve Benen who makes no bones about the fact that he is an extreme leftist. Looking over his Wash. Monthly blog posts shows that he also makes no bones about the fact that his chief mode of political analysis is to name call his opponents. None of his recent work, though, goes nearly as far as the hatred he displayed for conservative Bill Kristol, newly minted New York Times columnist and Editor of the Weekly Standard magazine. It looks like someone forgot to administer Stevie’s distemper shots or something, but it does go to show that the left is pretty comfortable with wild-eyed name calling in place of real political discourse.

Benen calls Kristol a “cast off from Time magazine,” a writer of “shallow, predictable tripe,”an embarrassment,” a speaker with “bitter, sycophantic belligerence,” a “thug,” “clownish,” and says that The New York Times has “damned standards and consequences” to have hired him. That’s quite a litany of name calling all stuffed into one short post nearly half of which consists of pulled quotes from other sources. Benen calls Kristol that many names in only six short paragraphs three of which are merely sentences instead of full paragraphs.

Quite an achievement, really.

The amusing thing is that Benen was an intern in the Clinton White House speech writing office! Looks like young Stevie wasn’t a very attentive intern, eh? Unless, he learned his potty mouth from Hillary who, form all accounts, was a screaming, lunatic while co-president in the 1990s.

Continue reading “Wash. Monthly Blog Shows for Left, Name Calling = Political Analysis”

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

Teamsters Official Charged with Extortion, Embezzlement

December 30, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The New York Sun brings us the heartwarming Christmas tale of union corruption, extortion and embezzlement,once again. This time it is Anthony Rumore who is accused of trying to order union members to “contribute” money to his own defense fund to help him fund his legal efforts concerning pervious charges of wrongdoing.

Prosecutors accuse Anthony Rumore, 63, of ordering members of his union to perform personal services and collect contributions for a legal defense fund he established in response to earlier accusations of wrongdoing by a union review board.

There is no free will in a union, ya know? Someone shudda told them union members to just shut up and pay… oh, wait. Rumore DID do that.

According to the indictment, Mr. Rumore ordered union officers, business agents, and staff to work as his personal chauffeur and run personal errands, including picking up his daughters from high school and installing a roof, skylight, and deck at his second home in Lakeview, Pennsylvania.

Employees did not raise objections because they feared being fired, the indictment said.

This isn’t Rumore’s first spot o’ trouble, either.

In 2003, prosecutors say Mr. Rumore ordered his staff to collect $30,000 in contributions from union members for a legal defense fund he created in response to a disciplinary proceeding against him by a court-appointed board that monitors the union. The panel charged Mr. Rumore with embezzlement and improper behavior for his alleged role in similar activities that federal prosecutors described today.

Like the sequel to “Home Alone” said, “Merry Christmas you dirty rat.”
Continue reading “Teamsters Official Charged with Extortion, Embezzlement”

00Publius Contributor - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - News - President - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

The Church of Huck: Growing Government in the Name of Religion

December 30, 2007 by 1 Comment

By Selwyn Duke

There is a candidate in the presidential race who has a serious religion problem. No, it’s not Mormon Mitt or recently-religious Rudy. It is Mike Huckabee.

Just for the record, I share Huck’s faith in Jesus Christ. Not only have I no problem with religion in public life, I also understand that one can’t really separate a person’s world view from his politics. The political is merely a reflection of the spiritual; our politics doesn’t emerge in a vacuum.

So what is my problem with Huck? Do I accuse him of false religiosity?

No, what scares me is that his beliefs are all too real.

To that enormous secular conservative voting block out there, I will say, be not afraid. It’s not that Huck would impose religion through government. No, his actions would truly offend you.

He would impose statism in the name of religion through government.
Continue reading “The Church of Huck: Growing Government in the Name of Religion”

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

The Indians Just Quit US! …Or DID They?

December 29, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Sioux Indians “Withdraw From the USA”? Or not!

Here is the kind of story that really proves how little the MSM bothers to research things, how they often simply print glorified press releases without doing any real “journalism,” and how the defective end product gets picked up and regurgitated like it is suddenly a “fact.” In this one we have the story of “the Lakota Sioux Indians” announcing that “they” have withdrawn from agreed upon treaties with the US government and that they are now a sovereign nation, no longer to be called citizens of the USA. Problem is “the Lakota Sioux Indians” that have made this announcement are just an unaffiliated group of Indian activists the leader of whom does not represent the official Lakota tribe leadership! Yet here is the news media reporting this story as if all “the Lakota Sioux Indians” have banded together and quit the union.

Take this report from USA Today: Lakota withdraw from treaties, declare independence from U.S.

The Lakota Sioux Indians, whose ancestors include Sitting Bull, Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from all treaties their forefathers signed with the U.S. government and have declared their independence. A delegation delivered the news to the State Department earlier this week.

Wow, it sounds momentous, alright. But, who says that “the Lakota Sioux Indians” have abandoned their treaties?

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,” said Russell Means, a longtime Indian rights activist. “This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically Article 6 of the Constitution,” which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land.

And who is this Russell Means? He is a long time Indian activist and sometimes Hollywood actor who does not officially represent any tribe, that’s who. It takes the local press to make this clear. The Rapid City Journal of Rapid City, South Dakota informs us that, “Means’ group is based in Porcupine on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,” and that “it is not an agency or branch of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Means ran unsuccessfully for president of the tribe in 2006.”

Yet in report after report, this Means character is presented as if he is “the Lakota Sioux” when, in truth, all he really is, is A Lakota Sioux — not a representative of all of them. He does not represent American Indians except as a tangential, activist. He has no authority to make this “declaration of Independence” from the U.S.A. for “the” Lakota or any other American Indian tribe for that matter.

Continue reading “The Indians Just Quit US! …Or DID They?”

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

Minn. Star Trib: ‘More People’ Against Religious Christmas? Is 27% ‘More’?

December 29, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is the sort of ridiculousness that makes people distrust the media. The Minneapolis Star Tribune published a story that breathlessly proclaims that “More people say there should be less of a Christian emphasis placed on the holidays” making it appear that a Christian Christmas is falling into disfavor with the American people. Wow, how dire for Christianity! Yet when you look closer at the story, it turns out that only 27% of those responding to a poll are saying such a thing. It happens that 64% say there should be more focus on the birth of Jesus during Christmas. So, with such an overwhelming percentage in favor of the religious content of Christmas why is the headline focused on the anti-Christian sentiment? As a result of that negative focus, should someone simply read the headline, a false impression that contradicts the facts is quickly fostered.

But even as the headline and first few paragraphs of the story is focused on a negative reaction to the Christian content of Christmas, the actual stats show that the great preponderance of Americans are strongly in favor of the religious nature of the season. Still, the first two paragraphs of the story wallow in the negative.

While a majority of American adults still believe that Jesus should be the focus of the holiday season, a growing segment of the population disagrees.

A recent poll conducted by the Rasmussen Reports found that 27 percent of respondents said that there should be less of a Christian emphasis on the holidays. That’s up 10 percentage points from a year ago when just 17 percent of adults felt that way.

But wait. These supposedly anti-Christian Christmas celebrants are no where near a majority.

Still, 64 percent of respondents said that the holiday season should focus more on the birth of Jesus. That’s down one percentage point from 2006, when 65 percent felt that way, and eight percentage points from two years ago when 72 percent said Jesus should be the reason for the season.

Only the American media can see 64 percent approval as a reason to proclaim that “more people” are against something. Not only that, but those approving is only down 1 point from last year, a statistically meaningless move.

Continue reading “Minn. Star Trib: ‘More People’ Against Religious Christmas? Is 27% ‘More’?”