I would like to say there is no news, but sorry, that isn’t true. Sorry this is late going up. Enjoy.
Lower Than a Snake’s Belly
Remember the WWI memorial the vets built in honor of their fallen buddies from WWI that was erected out the the middle of nowhere in the Mojave Desert? Some rat bastard has stolen it. The cross that was actually a memorial has been embroiled in a Supreme Court Case in one form or another for a decade.
Antibvbl.net covered the story of the Desert Cross back in October, 2009. Since then the land on which the cross was erected has been donated as private lands. Huffington Post reports:
By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News ServiceWASHINGTON (RNS) The war memorial cross at the center of a recent Supreme Court ruling has been stolen, a spokeswoman for the Mojave National Preserve said Tuesday (May 11).
A wooden box had covered the controversial cross, which has been the subject of court cases for almost a decade. A preserve staffer noticed the box was missing on Saturday; by the time a maintenance crew showed up Monday to replace it, the cross also had disappeared, spokeswoman Linda Slater said.
On April 28, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the cross to stay up and directed a district court to further consider a congressionally approved transfer of the cross to private land.
“This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people’s graves,” said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of Liberty Institute, which represents the caretakers of the World War I memorial and several veterans groups.
“It’s a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is reinstalled.”
According to CNN:
The 6-foot-tall metal structure was removed Sunday night from Sunrise Rock in a lonely stretch of the Mojave National Preserve, said government officials and veterans groups that have been fighting for years to keep the cross on national park land.
The National Park Service said it is investigating the incident; no arrests had been made as of Tuesday morning.
The high court on April 28 ruled the cross did not violate the constitutional separation of church and state. The American Civil Liberties Union, which had brought the original lawsuit to have the cross removed, promised to continue the court fight.
I consider myself a fairly strong establishment clause person. I very much believe in seperation of church and state…probably as much as some of the 2nd amendment people believe in their cause. However, at what point do people just go rabidly nuts on a subject?
This cross was erected back in the 1930’s by veterans of WWI to honor their buddies who didn’t make it home. Call it a grassroots memorial, if you will. It was out in the middle of no where in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It was honoring the dead. It wasn’t pushing religion even.
Whoever took the cross is a thief– a common thief. The individual(s) is lower than a snake’s belly. This person or persons doesn’t represent a cause. The memorial ought to be left alone. There is one remain WWI vet left in America. Those brave men who fought that horrible war now belong to time and the ages. Can’t people put aside their causes just this once? The cross that represents the memorial needs to be returned immediately.
The VFW has offered a reward for information that leads to the return of the memorial.
Senator Russell Pearce, author of Arizona’s illegal immigration legislation, seems to like Neo Nazi’s?
I think I will just let the readers make up their own minds about who Russell Pearce is and if THEY would feel comfortable with him legislating anything, much less immigration law.
Stephen Colbert on BP Oil Spill “No One Knows WHAT the F&@ck They Are Doing”
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Oil Containment Solution Randomizer | ||||
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This episode is hilarious in a sick sort of way. Stephen Colbert uses his “randomizer” to throw his hat into the ring of ideas to plug the oil leak.
On a serious note, how much more can the coast line of Louisianna handle? The SBA has set up a remote office to help small business owners apply for low interest (4%) loans in order to help them survive this crisis.
Bipartisanship to Save Natural Spaces Benefits Us All!
Why does it matter, why should we care about these natural spaces? Because it is our responsibility to ensure our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will have the benefits of our foresight. There aren’t any do-overs when it come to preserving these unique special areas. Once you pave over them they are gone,gone,gone.
You can’t buy a wetland or a mature forest by shopping on line. If we want to preserve the Rural Crescent, we must also in turn be fair to landowners. The state offers huge benefits to those who voluntarily conserve their land. Find out more! Don’t miss this great event sponsored by the Prince William Conservation Alliance.
WHEN:
Monday, May 17 – Doors open at 7:00 pm; program 7:30 to 9:00 pm
WHERE:McCoart Government Center, Board Chambers
The speakers will be Congressman Connelly, Supervisor May, Robert Davenport, Bob Lee, and Sara Richardson.
McDonnell appoints Nixons “Jew” Counter to Reform VA Govt ?
Seriously, Governor McDonnell could not find anyone more qualified? Fred Malek performed a despicable task for Nixon. Good people had their livelihoods affected by his actions. I am not a supporter of the mantra “I was just doing my job”. I am all in support of redemption and forgiveness, but ONE job, I would not put someone BACK in, was the job that person misused, thus betraying the public trust. Fred Malek has a right to work, but doesn’t have the right to ANY job. In fact, in my opinion, he summarily LOST that right when he counted “jews” for Nixon. From Not Larry Sabato:
UPDATE: Statement from Delegate David Englin:
While I support the effort to create a top-level commission to recommend policies to reform government, it is deeply disturbing that Governor McDonnell would appoint as its chair Fred Malek, whose history in “reforming” government includes creating lists of Jews serving in government to track and remove from government service. Was there really no more qualified individual in Virginia to lead this panel? Has he done anything to disavow and make amends for his previous anti-Semitism? Otherwise, it’s one more slap in the face from McDonnell to Jewish state employees, coming right on the heels of allowing uniformed state police chaplains to proselytize to Jewish troopers and their families. These continued missteps from the McDonnell Administration are distractions from the competent and effective governing Virginians expect and deserve.
UPDATE #2– Another Jewish Delegate speaks out. Statement from Delegate Adam Ebbin:It is cause for profound concern that Governor McDonnell would appoint Fred Malek to head his Commission on Government Reform. Malek’s Nixon administration record of creating a list of Jews–with an eye towards removing them from public service–is still alarming today. There are certainly many capable Virginians who could assume this important position
Here’s the story (condensed for space here, but viewable in full on Slate):…
Later that day (according to a July 3, 1971, tape widely publicized on its release by the National Archives in 1999), Nixon and Colson, now alone, had the following exchange:Nixon: Well, listen, are they all Jews over there?
Colson: Every one of them. Well, a couple of exceptions.
Nixon: See my point?
Colson: You know goddamn well they’re out to kill us., had the following conversation (this, too, is from the July 3, 1971, tape that was released in 1999):HaldemanAlso that day, Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. “Bob”
Nixon: Now, point: [Fred] Malek is not Jewish.
Haldeman: No.
Nixon: All right, I want a look at any sensitive areas around where Jews are involved, Bob. See, the Jews are all through the government, and we have got to get in those areas. We’ve got to get a man in charge who is not Jewish to control the Jewish … do you understand?
Haldeman: I sure do.
Nixon: The government is full of Jews. Second, most Jews are disloyal. You know what I mean? You have a [White House Counsel Leonard] Garment and a [National Security Adviser Henry] Kissinger and, frankly, a [White House speechwriter William] Safire, and, by God, they’re exceptions. But Bob, generally speaking, you can’t trust the bastards. They turn on you. Am I wrong or right?
President Obama to Nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan for Supreme Court Vacancy
According to the New York Times and MSNBC, President Barack Obama will nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan will be nominated for the Supreme Court vacancy. If confirmed, she will replace Justice John Paul Stevens.
According to Wikipedia,com:
Elena Kagan (pronounced /ˈkeɪɡən/),[2] born April 28, 1960[1]) is Solicitor General of the United States. She is the first woman to hold that office, having been nominated by President Barack Obama on January 26, 2009, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 19, 2009. Kagan was formerly dean of Harvard Law School and Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law at Harvard University. She was previously a professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. She served as Associate White House Counsel under President Bill Clinton. It has been reported by MSNBC and the New York Times that Kagan will be nominated to be the next U.S. Supreme Court justice, replacing John Paul Stevens, by President Obama on May 10, 2010.[3][4] If nominated and confirmed, she would become the fourth female Supreme Court justice in United States history and third on the court’s current bench. She would also be the eighth Jewish justice and the third on the current bench.
Dodd pledges hearings into market plunge
According to Politico:
Sen. Chris Dodd (D- Conn.) pledged Sunday that Congress will hold multiple hearings “right away” to explore how computerized trading allowed the markets to plunge suddenly this week.
“We need some answers pretty quickly on this issue,” the chairman of the Banking Committee said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
He said the Securities and Exchange Commission needs to “step up very quickly and let us know what happened here and what steps need to be taken.”
“I don’t think you need legislation in this area, my guess is,” Dodd said. “You need the regulators to step up and make sure that this high frequency trading, this flash trading that’s going on…that clearly is something we ought to take a look at.”
He appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the ranking member on the Banking committee. Shelby seemed to agree with each of Dodd’s points on the flash trading issue.
“I believe what’s really happened is the technology has gotten ahead of the regulators, and the regulators have got to get ahead of the technology,” Shelby said. “That’s going to be a big challenge down the road. Otherwise we could have more of this.”
Dodd said he asked Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the chairman of the relevant subcommittee, to spearhead the Senate’s examination.
Dodd also sought to use the bizarre market behavior as another reason why Congress must pass regulatory reform next week, which he said will create an “early warning system.”
“We’re trying to deal with systemic risk,” he said. “We need to get in place our bill, have the president sign it, so we have the tools to protect our economy from these kinds of events
Probably no one is more hell bent on leaving office with financial reform finalized and enacted into law than Senator Chris Dodd. Early on Dodd declined taking over Senator Kennedy’s committees so he could aggressively work towards finance reform. The bizarre freefall in the market on Wednesday has not been fully explained yet. At first finance experts thought it was the riots in Greece. Then they attributed the fall to human error, thinking someone had typed on a B (billion) instead of M (million). Then came the computer glitch theory. So far no definitive reason has been given for the Dow’s drop in 1000 points. It regained more than600 of those points 15 minutes later. However, it was one hell of a drop that set off national panic and the markets have not yet recovered.
Chris Dodd is determinted to seek reasons and to fix the situation so it can’t happen again. Meanwhile, some of the pundits are advising selling equities. No one is saying where people should put their investments, however. Those with 401ks simply don’t have that many options open to them, as a rule.
It is time for the naysayers, may of whom simply don’t have the knowledge to make complex financial recommendations, to shut up. It is time to put partisan politics aside, for the good of us all. Macro-economics is a complicated subject and one that after a point, lends itself simply to theory. Let’s bring in all the experts and disregard those who are experts only in their own minds.
Radio Interview with Greg and Caller Elena 5/8/10
Greg Letiecq interviews with ‘Sarge’ on the Jeff Fargas Show. Sarge is out in Arizona.
The show takes callers and Elena calls to throw in the other side of the story.
The podcast will appear. It takes about a minute. You will want to chose the May 8 if it isn’t chosen for you.
Sorry folks, it isn’t pretty but I got it here…sort of.
Bristol Palin Spotted Clubbing
Bristol Palin went clubbing Wednesday night, according to nydailynews.com. So what’s the big deal, other than she was under-age?
Oh Bristol, don’t you know by now that someone is always watching?
Miss Palin may have spent Wednesday morning celebrating the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy — but she spent Wednesday evening fretting that her cover would be blown at NYC hot spot 1Oak.
“Bristol was there around 1 a.m. with friends,” a partygoer says. “She was trying to have fun, but she looked like she was terrified that people would recognize her and start gawking. It seems like she couldn’t even relax.” A second denizen of the club backed up the sighting.
We can’t blame Bristol for being nervous: After spending all day at events like “The Harsh Truth: Teen Moms Tell All” — and tirelessly promoting her new good-girl image — showing up at a 21-and-over venue may not have been the best idea.
The Palins are making a huge mistake trotting out Bristol to be the poster child for abstinence-only pregnancy prevention programs. In the first place, its horribly hypocritical. A classic case of closing the barn door after the horse is out of the barn. Bristol Palin seems like a nice enough kid. She has a year old child, she is continuing her education. She was involved with a guy who should be the poster boy for who you want your daughter to stay away from. Her mother is now a millionaire politician turned author ex-governor, if having a ghost writer counts.
If we are to keep politicos kids as sacred cows, and I believe they are, then politico’s kids should not take public positions. Bristol Palin has a job to do. She needs to enjoy her youth at the same time she is raising her child. That’s not an easy task. She should not be expected to go out there and tell all the other kids to not have sex. My mother’s Day wish for Young Ms. Palin is that she toss aside politics and get on with the difficult task ahead of her which would be being a kid while raising a kid. It almost feels like she is having to serve penance because she had a kid. Bristol Palin owes none of us any apologies if she will just be herself.
[bold mine for those too lazy to read the post.]
The Pill Turns 50
What better tribute to mothers than a birthday party for The Pill. The Pill has probably been one of the top 5 inventions of the last century that has altered our society the most.
In Sunday’s Washington Post, columnist Elaine Tyler May celebrates The Pill:
Forget the single girl and the sexual revolution. The pill was not anti-mother; it was for mothers. And it changed motherhood more than it changed anything else. Its great accomplishment was not in preventing motherhood, but in making it better by allowing women to have children on their own terms.
A glance at history tells us that up through the late 19th century, nearly all women seemed to have endless children. My own grandfather was one of 9. These weren’t country people. Sure, they had rural roots but they weren’t having children to work the farm. They had children because they didn’t know how to not have children. Endless childbirth robbed women of their health and often their lives. My own great grandmother was a victim. It’s impossible to take a cursory walk through a 19th century cemetery without noticing the number of untimely deaths of women in their child-bearing years.
Women did a little better as they moved through the 20th century toward 1960, when the FDA approved the use of THE Pill for contraceptive purposes. Barrier methods of contraception as well as some chemical products improved a woman’s chanced of preventing unwanted pregnancy. However, it wasn’t until 1960 that The Pill really altered the way American couples married and had families.
The Pill wasn’t without great controversy. Even FDA approval was not easy to come by. There were moral and religious objections, social objections, and a fear that sexual behavior would somehow alter our sexual mores forever. Perhaps it did. However, there is something very liberating about being able to control one’s own reproduction. It is almost frightening to realize the Griswald vs. Connecticut wasn’t decided until 1965, making contraception of any kind a right of privacy. Griswold guaranteed that states could not prevent the use of contraception. Griswold isn’t 50 yet.
The pill: Making motherhood better for 50 years
From the Washington Post:
UVA President Sends Strong Message on Toxic Relationships and Domestic Abuse
UVA President John Casteen III delivered a chilling, emotional speech to those gathered at the candlelight vigil for slain lacrosse player Yeardly Love. His message should be repeated over and over in middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities, churches, libraries–just about anywhere there are women.
Casteen told the mourners that we are all responsible for getting people help who are entangled and trapped in toxic, violent relationships. We can not longer just tell our friends, relatives and acquaintances to ditch a toxic relationship. We have to step forward and perhaps make some of those unpopular calls. Doing so might just save someone’s life–someone like Yeardly Love’s life.
The fraternity of silence and the culture of hiding abuse can no longer be tolerated.
President Casteen’s remarks at the candlelight vigil for Yeardley Love:
There are profound ironies in our gathering here tonight for this purpose. This is the spring time. It’s the time of year for renewal, for new beginnings. And yet we have come here to grieve the ending of a young life, of Yeardley Love’s life, one full of promise and high prospects—and one not unlike yours.
I want to talk tonight about Yeardley Love, and I want to talk about you, and about this community—about us. Some of what I have to say is very hard. Bear with me, and listen.
Dissing Cinco de Mayo
According to MercuryHills.com:
All the brouhaha stems from Wednesday, when four teens wore red, white and blue garb on Cinco de Mayo, a day when many Latino students wore red, white and green to honor the defeat of the French military in Mexico in 1862.
Reached by cell phone today, one of the boys, Matthew Dariano, 16, said he was not at school today fearing there might be violence on campus. Instead, he and his mother were at a hotel doing satellite interviews with Fox News. He insisted that despite reports that he and his friends said unkind words to Latino students, “We didn’t say anything at all. We just wore our shirts.”
The assistant principal had asked the boys to turn their shirts inside out or go home, saying the clothing was “incendiary” on the Mexican holiday, and that he feared for the safety of the students. The boys thought that was “disrespectful” and two went home; their mothers called the media.
The boys are Dariano; Dominic Maciel, 15; and Daniel Galli and Austin Carvalho, both 16. Two of the boys are of Mexican heritage and two are not.
Dariano said he and his friends have not received any disciplinary actions for their behavior, but they have not received any type of apology either.
Wesley Smith, superintendent for the Morgan Hill Unified School District, said in a statement Thursday that the incident was “extremely unfortunate” and the boys should not have been disciplined for wearing “patriotic” clothing.
Free speech experts agreed with the district, saying political speech is protected even on a school campus as long as there is no basis that it will cause violence or physical harm.
About 100 Latino students walked out of class Thursday and marched to Morgan Hill City Hall to protest the boys’ action.
When does it just become the better part of valor to wear a neutral shirt?
The NY Daily News reports the same story with a little stronger flavor added:
A handful of California students got an unexpected lesson at their high school this week: Don’t wear your stars and stripes on Cinco de Mayo.
Five Morgan Hill, California students were asked to take off their American flag bandannas and turn their T-shirts inside out after students complained, according to NBC news in San Francisco.
Many members of Live Oak High School‘s large Mexican-American student population that felt it was offensive for the students to wear the American flag on a day that’s supposed to celebrate Mexican heritage.
When the boys refused to take off their flag t-shirts and bandannas, they were ordered to go to the principal’s office.
“They said we could wear it on any other day,” Live Oak student Daniel Galli said, “but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it’s supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today.”
The alleged concern was that the T-shirts would lead to fights on campus.
“They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended,” said Dominic Maciel.
The chastised teens’ parents were furious.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Julie Fagerstrom, Maciel’s mom, said. “All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature. They’re expressing their individuality.”
Morgan Hill Unified School District released a statement saying it does not agree with how Live Oak High School administrators handled this incident and that the boys would not be suspended.
Funny how 2 different reports seem to give a totally different version of an incident. I still want to know why kids are being allowed to wear bandanas. Gang attire alert.
This area is a suburb of Silicon Valley. It is not a barrio. It sounds to me like kids are being kids and schools are being schools. And some folks on both ‘sides’ know exactly which buttons to push. And the entire nation is at war over it.
Good for the kids who wore neutral white. It looks like maturity set in. No one wants their school to be an armed camp.
UPDATE: according to a video on Foxnews.com, the students say they were not suspended over the shirts. They chose to go home rather than change their shirts.
Timely and Chilling: PWC from an AZ Perspective
At least some folks will be well-known out in AZ. Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Central tells a story he describes as chilling and provocative. Funny the names that pop out at us from the Grand Canyon State. Meanwhile, theaters in Tempe continue to be sold out.
In 2007, Prince William County in Virginia enacted a policy requiring police officers to question anyone they had probable cause to believe was in the country illegally
That has a familiar ring to it.
Jon Stewart: The End of the World?
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Family Research Council’s European Gaycation | ||||
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There is too much going on in the world for Jon Stewart. Greece debt, Wannabe Bomber, oil rig explosions, Family research council folks hiring gays to haul their luggage, terrorists, rentboys…. So many stories!!!
