Or more rightfully known at the Baseball Promotion From Hell. But if July 12, 1979 at Comiskey Park put the fork in disco, the better our sick culture is for it. Because disco really sucks.
I’ll stick with the bobble-head promotions.
Hey, that’s Greg Gumbel.
Of course, it was only a few years later that we were tortured with Duran Duran, Madonna, Boy George, and the rest of the MTV pop generation.
I have not posted anything on the NASCAR/Jeremy Mayfield/drug test situation…until now.
Now, it’s getting weird.
Actually, the story is concerning the Euphrates River drying up. But to have the Old Gray Lady actually referencing prophecy from the Book of Revelation…from the Holy Bible…is startling in itself. (I prefer the King James Version passage instead of the NIV, but who’s complaining.)
h/t: Joel Rosenberg. Joel states:
To be clear, we will not see the complete fulfillment of Revelation 16 until during the seven-year period of judgment and bloodshed that the Bible calls the “Tribulation.” Indeed, it is possible that we will see the drought end and the Lord bless Iraq with abundant water in the coming years that will make the prophecy cited seem all that more dramatic in its proper time. Only time will tell. But it’s certainly another curious development.
President Obama’s stimulus bill calls for massive increases in every form of welfare, leading Heritage Foundation researcher Robert Rector to declare that the legislation “murdered welfare reform.”
Rector says President Obama’s stimulus bill is merely a foot in the door to a permanent policy of taxing future generations in order to provide larger welfare today.
Forbes.com: Memory Forms at 30 Weeks in the Womb
Study finds fetuses showed short-term memory of 10 minutes at this stage in development
The NEA recently held its annual convention in San Diego, California, where members voted on two issues of importance to those involved in the culture war.
Hmmm. Why would the National Education Association support homosexual marriage and abortion? Neither issue will increase enrollment in public schools.
Now when it comes to conservatives…
During the meeting, the organization’s retiring general counsel, Bob Chanin, complained that “conservative and right-wing bastards” are after the NEA and its state affiliates.
Ah, the (altered) state of American public education. Thanks Bob and all the liberal educrats in the NEA for your moonbat-consistency.
A Obamacare flowchart from Healthcare Horserace (h/t: TCOT)
Want to see the amount of red tape that we will be dealing with if Obamacre is slipped through to law? The House GOP has come up with a handy-dandy chart that will help you follow the red tape from the president down to YOU.
Click HERE to download your own, full sized PDF version of the chart… and prepare to be disgusted and amazed.
Anyone wild-hoggin’ at Carlisle Fairgrounds this weekend? I’ll probably be fishing and target shooting myself. But some of the talent and craftsmanship on display is incredible. (No, I’m talking about the bikes, not Miss Carlisle Bike Fest!)
Jul 17 – Jul 19, 2009
Adult Admission: Fr.- Sun. $8
Child Admission: under 12- FREE
Gate Times: Fr. 9am-7pm / Sa. 8am-7pm / Sun. 9am-4pm
The Carlisle Bike Fest has been crafted with all motorcyclists in mind. This weekend-long event draws from the V-twin, chopper, foreign, domestic and custom markets. The entertainment, vendors and activities draw thousands of bikers to the Fairgrounds for this show.
To H-E-double-toothpicks with the Republicans and costs!
To H-E-double-toothpicks with small business and the economy!
Obama-and-His-Mudjority want trillion-dollar-plus socialized healthcare and they want it yesterday!
From a Bloomberg article via Gateway Pundit.
President Barack Obama may rely only on Democrats to push health-care legislation through the U.S. Congress if Republican opposition doesn’t yield soon, two of the president’s top advisers said.
“Ultimately, this is not about a process, it’s about results,” David Axelrod, Obama’s senior political strategist, said during an interview in his White House office. “If we’re going to get this thing done, obviously time is a-wasting.”
Will enough “blue dogs“ have the political fortitude to slow down the monster?
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey sells out to the pro-abortion legislation. So much for standing up for the unborn.
Steven Malanga posts at RealClearMarkets on another too-good-to-be-true story in investing and finances. This time, it’s Lenny Dykstra.
The Lenny Dykstra tale is like the story of the housing bubble itself. Both were always too good to be true, filled with plenty of warning signs that were ignored by a public and a media that gobbles up a good investing narrative if it promises riches without reservation.
Mr. Malanga summarizes the sad truth about the next big opportunity:
Even as Lenny crashes into bankruptcy and our financial system struggles to recover from the bubble, some people right now are eagerly buying into the next set of implausible stories (”Make millions off foreclosures! Invest in commodities now!”). No amount of new regulation or oversight will protect them, because there’s no legislating against gullibility and the apparently overwhelming desire for a quick score.
updated 7.15.09, 6:10pm…
FoxNews: Sotomayor Declines to Give View on Abortion, Gun Rights
Sonia Sotomayor repeatedly declined to give her view on abortion Wednesday, but expressed dismay that her former boss would say that he “guarantees” she’ll support abortion rights.
Again, the “non-answers” speak loud and clearly where this liberal judge stands on the Second Amendment and abortion.
On a related note, the NRA is apparently “growing more alarmed” on Sotomayor’s fitness for the SCOTUS.
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Judge Sonia Sotomayor says a lot of words but provides no real answers on how she would vote for incorporation of the Second Amendment. Gun owners should be alarmed with her I-have-friends-who-hunt/one-of-my-godchildren-is-a-member-of-the-NRA talking points which are a total waste of oxygen. Dave Workman’s column addresses the non-answer answers.
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On the overall “performance” of Judge Sonia Sotomayor before the Senate panel, well…not great. Ed Morrissey writes:
…so-so would be putting it kindly. If Sonia Sotomayor was a Broadway musical, she would have closed on opening night. The reviews have been, to put it mildly, awful — and not all from the Right, either.
Her performance rubs off on the not-so-Obamessiah:
…every prevarication and stumble Sotomayor makes deepens the impression that Obama is not a competent executive. That’s the real danger for Obama in these hearings….
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Jennifer Rubin on the evasions and misstatements of Sotomayor:
The outcome previously was thought not to be in doubt and there was speculation that she might even match Chief Justice John Roberts’ 78-vote total. But then she came before the Senate Judiciary Committee and began to tell one “jaw-dropper” (as a U.S. senator labeled one of her answers) after another, raising doubts about her credibility.
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Many gun owners and especially PAFOA members are supporting John Noble through his ordeal. Pittsburgh’s KDKA reports that closing arguments will occur on Thursday. Gunservatively joins in support of Mr. Noble and that all charges be dismissed against him.
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The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a brief article today on Mr. Noble.
John Noble, 51, of Industry, who had a license for the weapon, said he broke no laws and only wanted to hand out fliers about gun rights during the Aug. 29 rally for then-presidential candidate Obama in a park near the Beaver County Courthouse.
State police said Noble’s actions created a clear public alarm and caused a significant breakdown in rally security because officers had to leave manned security posts to arrest and disarm Noble, who is charged with disrupting a meeting and disorderly conduct. His trial began Wednesday.
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More extensive article from the July 15th edition of the Beaver County Times & Allegheny Times.
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Tim Macy, Vice-Chairman of Gun Owners of America, writes that the U.S. Senate must vote NO on Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
In defending her decision that the states could enact any form of gun control they wished — with absolutely no regard to the Second Amendment — Judge Sonya Sotomayor has developed a new love for Nineteenth Century court opinions.Demonstrating that she was programmed in her responses, Sotomayor defended one of her earlier legal opinions by citing “footnote 23″ of Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion in the DC v. Heller case last year.But, when pressed by questioner Orrin Hatch yesterday, Sotomayor could not recite the contents of that footnote or the holdings of the cases which it cited. As it turns out, the footnote on which Sotomayor claims to rely, cited — without approval — two Nineteenth Century cases which rejected the notion that the Second Amendment was ‘incorporated’ to apply to the states.But those were also the days when the Supreme Court held that the rights protected in the First Amendment did not apply to the states. Apparently, Sotomayor wants to base her anti-gun philosophy on antiquated decisions from an era when the U.S. Supreme Court was spitting out racist decisions.Her answers got even worse today when Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma asked her, point blank, “Is there a constitutional right to self-defense?” Sotomayor said that was an “abstract question” and that she couldn’t think of a Supreme Court case that addressed that issue.Coburn said he didn’t want a legal treatise on what Supreme Court holdings have said, rather, he wanted her own personal opinion. Sotomayor would not answer the question, although when pressed, she equated self-defense with vigilantism!Folks, do you see how important it is to stop this nomination? GOA mailed its members postcards opposing Sotomayor not too long ago. Please make sure you have mailed those in. We need a multi-pronged offensive right now where our Senators are receiving snail mail, email and phone calls.And, we need ALL PRO-GUN ORGANIZATIONS to take a stance AGAINST this nominee.Organizational spokesmen can talk a good game and say they have serious “concerns” about Sotomayor. That’s all well and good. But unless those organizations (big and small) rate each Senator’s vote on Sotomayor — when she’s clearly anti-gun — then those supposed “concerns” are just meaningless.Senators have to hear from ALL the pro-gun organizations — big and small — that they are going to rate this vote during the 2010 election. Otherwise, those organizations are just Paper Tigers.We can’t let this anti-gun judge infiltrate U.S. Supreme Court! She is dangerous on so many levels — but, especially, on Second Amendment rights.GOA considers her nomination to be of the most important gun votes in the HISTORY of the US Senate. We can’t think of any other nominee in recent history who has taken such a horrid stand on the basic right of self-defense.She says that she will follow the precedent in the DC v. Heller (2008) case. But even if she does, that only means that she will vote to apply the Second Amendment in Washington, DC. She has already ruled this year in Maloney v. Cuomo that the amendment doesn’t apply to where you live.
Jim Irvine, Chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, takes an interesting look at the diversity of the gun owner population in the USA. This vast “bloc” can overlap and include:
and even…
New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense has posted this petition for Corzine’s “task force” on gun laws in the Garden State. (FYI: You may need to have a login/account to actually “sign” the petition, if interested.)
Text of the petition:
The most basic function of our American form of government is to protect the rights and liberties of it’s citizens.
The Governor, Senate Speaker and Assembly President of the State of New Jersey will be appointing a ‘Task Force’ to determine how the constant encroachments of gun control laws have impacted the law abiding citizens of the State of New Jersey while having little to no impact on violent crime relative to other states in the nation with normalized gun laws.
The presumed goal of this task force is to have the law abiding gun owners represented, so as to fully comprehend the impact upon us of laws which affect the law-abiding, but which have had little to no impact upon criminals.
The anti-gun position has been overwhelmingly represented in this administration, legislature and appointed positions, so that naming yet more to sit on this panel would defeat its purpose and further disenfranchise law-abiding gun owners,
We, the undersigned, do hereby call upon the Governor, Senate Speaker and Assembly President to appoint only those who are known to be firearms- and 2nd Amendment ‘friendly’ persons to the panel, and require those persons to be submitted for approval by the recognized representatives of the law-abiding firearms community who shall have power to reject any proposed panel member whose position is known, or suspected to be, anti-gun.
That is, the Democratic health care plan. The Foundry summarizes how the liberal-sneaks are trying to hide the true costs of this legislative monstrosity:
Yesterday House Democrats unveiled their much anticipated health care plan the same day that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a preliminary scoring of the bill putting a $1.3 trillion price tag on the effort. Weighing in at 1,018 pages, that comes to $1.264 billion per page. But even this analysis understates the true costs of the bill. The CBO only scores bills on a ten-year time frame, and House Democrats have designed their bill to obscure the catastrophic long-term fiscal path it places our country on.
This plan is a job-killer:
One element includes a “pay-or-play” requirement that forces employers to either purchase health insurance for their employees or pay a fine. The CBO released a separate study Monday showing that this provision would kill jobs: “[I]f employers who did not offer insurance were required to pay a fee, employees’ wages and other forms of compensation would generally decline by the amount of that fee from what they would otherwise have been.”
The 55-month federal sentence imposed Tuesday on former Sen. Vincent Fumo, one of the most powerful and corrupt politicians of the past two decades, was a “slap on the hand” and a “travesty of justice,” according to observers from a wide range of backgrounds.
“When the jury spoke back in March, they did so unambiguously and found him guilty on all counts,” said [Former U.S. Attorney Pat] Meehan, who had stepped down and is considering a run for governor.
“We are sending the wrong message to those in power that if you abuse the public trust, don’t worry because the punishment will be weak,” Meehan said.
Wow, do I still live in New Jersey??? IMHO, this is (almost) exactly how the corrupt liberal politicians get treated by the corrupt liberal judges in the Peoples Republic. Except, of course, that Fumo would have been appointed to the U.S. Senate by now.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor says a lot of words but provides no real answers on how she would vote for incorporation of the Second Amendment. Gun owners should be alarmed with her I-have-friends-who-hunt/one-of-my-godchildren-is-a-member-of-the-NRA talking points which are a total waste of oxygen. Dave Workman’s column addresses the non-answer answers.
_____
On the overall “performance” of Judge Sonia Sotomayor before the Senate panel, well…not great. Ed Morrissey writes:
…so-so would be putting it kindly. If Sonia Sotomayor was a Broadway musical, she would have closed on opening night. The reviews have been, to put it mildly, awful — and not all from the Right, either.
Her performance rubs off on the not-so-Obamessiah:
…every prevarication and stumble Sotomayor makes deepens the impression that Obama is not a competent executive. That’s the real danger for Obama in these hearings….
_____
Jennifer Rubin on the evasions and misstatements of Sotomayor:
The outcome previously was thought not to be in doubt and there was speculation that she might even match Chief Justice John Roberts’ 78-vote total. But then she came before the Senate Judiciary Committee and began to tell one “jaw-dropper” (as a U.S. senator labeled one of her answers) after another, raising doubts about her credibility.
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updated 7.15.09…
Michelle Malkin goes into greater detail about Mr. Holdren in her syndicated column and extensive posting. Also, the Obama administration has (just shockingly) dismissed the criticism of Holdren’s extreme views on forced population control.
…the White House has responded to rising blogosphere unease with Holdren’s cultish ideas by pooh-poohing Holdren’s co-authorship of the nutball manifesto, Ecoscience. Team Obama told the Washington Times that Holdren “never has been an advocate for policies of forced sterilization.”
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h/t to Sue Cirba for posting about Obama’s sick science czar, John Holdren.
Here is the Zombietime article on John Holdren’s extreme views.
In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:
• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation’s drinking water or in food;
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
• People who “contribute to social deterioration” (i.e. undesirables) “can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility” — in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational “Planetary Regime” should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans’ lives — using an armed international police force.
Hope and change, people!
I continue to post warnings about this bill, especially for Christians who (still) preach the Word of God.
Warner Todd Huston posts at RedState:
This bill is an egregious example of liberal overreach. If passed we will see any manner of sexual perversions legitimized as unassailable and any crime or speech against these proclivities will be suddenly termed a “hate crime.” We will also see crimes against gays and lesbians suddenly deemed as somehow worse than crimes against straight people simply by the virtue that the victims are gay.
This morning’s AFA Action Alert text:
We have confirmation that a vote on the Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes bill (S.909) will happen this week. It is likely that the bill will be introduced as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. If the Senate approves the Hate Crimes amendment, President Obama will sign it into law.
The Hate Crimes legislation would authorize the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute certain bias-motivated crimes based on the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Even more troubling is that S.909 could create special protections for pedophiles. Democrats voted down an amendment to the bill that would have excluded pedophilia and other “sexual orientations” from the definition of “sexual orientation.”
For years, AFA and other pro-family groups have issued warnings about federal Hate Crimes legislation. The reality is that the purpose of this bill is to silence those who speak out against homosexuality. If the legislation passes, pastors could be prosecuted under the federal inducement statute for preaching the biblical view of homosexuality. For example, a person could commit an act of violence against a homosexual individual and blame it on the pastor’s sermon. Similar laws have been used to prosecute religious speech in the U.S. at the state level and abroad.
The Foundry warns about the possibility of “make believe people” statistical sampling in the upcoming 2010 Census.
Left-leaning groups want to include millions of pretend people in the real-life 2010 Census. It almost happened in 2000. This time, they might get their way.
Conservatives are worried that…
…having learned from the failure of Bill Clinton’s high-profile push for census sampling, the [Obama] administration has adopted a stealth approach by claiming not to support sampling while hiring a Census Bureau Director who does.
Bobby Eberle posts at The Loft:
Sotomayor would do well to heed the advice of John Roberts. If judges simply called balls and strikes, not only would the judicial system work as it was intended, but bad laws would quickly become evident, and legislators could change them. We ARE looking for an umpire. Not someone who has empathy for some and prejudice for others.
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Nelson Lund’s article posted July 12 at RealClearPolitics entitled Sotomayor and the Second Amendment.
President Obama has said that he wants judges whose “deepest values” will help them decide the 5 percent cases that are truly difficult. Judge Sotomayor’s deepest values apparently caused her to ignore the precedents that would have vindicated the right of Americans to have the tools they need to protect themselves from violent criminals. Can anyone expect that to change if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court?
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Sonia Sotomayor faced tough questions from the Judicial Committee’s top Republican who accused her of changing her 2001 statement suggesting a “wise Latina” would usually reach better conclusions than a white man without similar experiences.
Sotomayor reverses herself:
“My play on those words fell flat. It was bad.”
and
“I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gendered group has an advantage in sound judgment.”
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Ritual reassurances, ritual reassurances.
Soto re-explains her wise Latina comments: It was a “bad play on words” that “fell flat.”
So bad she repeatedly used it a half-dozen times before friendly audiences.
Spin, lady, spin.
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Sotomayor said what about Roe being “settled law”???
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Distraction-distraction-distraction from the Dums in Washington. Hunting Dick Cheney in the scandalous Washington summer sure beats focusing on the lousy healthcare and cap-and-tax legislation proposed by Barry and his mudjority party in Congress.
Jonah Goldberg writes on the non “Cheney scandal” story:
…from what I can tell this Cheney scandal story (much hyped in our little New York Times digest thingamajig), is the mother of all nothingburgers.
It’s hard for me not to see it as a ploy by Democrats to distract from the fact that the stimulus bill is a dud, healthcare is going badly and cap-and-trade looks like a disaster. The base always enjoys beating up on Cheney and the press likes that stuff too.
Andy McCarthy adds:
…the story has already been mortally undermined by General Michael Hayden, the former CIA director. Gen. Hayden has explained to NPR that while he led the agency (for two years from 2006 through the end of the Bush administration) neither Vice President Cheney nor anyone else directed him not to brief Congress about the sketchy covert program directed at Qaeda leaders. This contradicts the silly NYTimes report that caused all this weekend’s hullabaloo.
Must read analysis from Wesley Pruden about the senator-clown Al Franken and the “native criminal class” seated in Washington.
Alliance Defense Fund news release:
Importance of Europe’s ‘Roe v. Wade’ case grows exponentially with elevation in status
ADF attorneys represent Family Research Council in landmark abortion case
Monday, July 13, 2009
STRASBOURG, France — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys defending legal protections for pre-born children in Ireland at the European Court of Human Rights say the importance of the case has grown exponentially with the court’s decision to move the case to its Grand Chamber. Cases decided in the Grand Chamber are binding on all lower chambers and on all member states. A decision in the case will set an official policy on the issue for Europe.
“No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is worthless. Ireland’s constitutional amendment defending innocent life is under attack, and now the stakes have just gotten higher,” said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska, who is based in Europe. “With the case moving to the Grand Chamber, the ramifications of the decision that is eventually reached in the case are massive.”
“The case is not only pivotal to Europe; it is pivotal to America as well,” Kiska added. “With ever-greater frequency, American courts have considered what other countries are doing when deciding their own cases. This case could be the Roe v. Wade of Europe, so its importance should not be underestimated.”
In the suit, A v. Ireland, which the court announced Wednesday was being moved up from a lower chamber of the court, ADF attorneys are defending the Ireland policy on behalf of the Family Research Council. ADF and FRC filed a joint brief in November 2008 along with two other pro-life organizations at the court’s request after it allowed the groups to intervene as defendants in the case.
Three women who sought an abortion in Ireland sued under the European Convention on Human Rights to overturn the country’s legal protections for pre-born children. The three, who ultimately obtained abortions in Britain, are fighting to establish a “right” to abortion in Ireland. Currently, abortions are permitted in Ireland only when it is necessary to save the life of the mother. The women are also seeking a precedent that would open the door to abortion as a right in most of Europe under the European Convention on Human Rights.
“This case could mean the difference between life and death for countless pre-born children who have been guaranteed protection under the Constitution of Ireland,” said Kiska. “For countless nations, life is in the balance for an untold number of pre-born children in the future.”
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ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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