25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi

Eric's Poetic Probing

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[Written May 29th]
Today began inbrilliant color as David, Dennis, and I woke up early to watch the sunriseagainst the background of Buvumu Islands. The three of us made the 25-minutehike along the shore of Lake Victoria, through the village of Katonga, and upthe rocky incline to the center of Lingira Island, this time unaccompanied byJack and Simba, our canine companions who almost always follow at our feet andstubbornly refuse to ever waiver their protection. The narrow alleyways betweenthe mud huts of Katonga were already bustling with people when we passedthrough.  Both mothers and childrenpaused their chores and watched curiously as we walked, but replied and smiledwarmly when we greeted them in Luganda. Following a few young boys herdinggoats along the path outside of the village, the three of us diverted and cutthrough the thick brush that halos the island’s raised center. Contrary to ourinitial thoughts, we made it to the top of the hill with time to spare. Davidand Dennis found comfortable seats on large rocks protruding from the ocean ofoluwanyi, the tall grass that covers the top of the island. I, on the otherhand, found a seat less comfortable on a forgiving termite mound, but luckilythe termites must not have minded. Soon the painted sky gave way to amagnificent Ugandan sun, which immediately saturated the landscape around us inlight. I have never seen clouds quite like these. We sat there in a silenceaccompanied only by the hum of a lake fly cloud some ten million strong, and feltthe waves of heat begin to bake the ground.
Today alsomarks the first of our work with the Water Kegs. The first couple kegs will beless assembly and more experiment as we work together to tweak and perfect thedesign to best fit the needs of the people. We plan to build 100 filters, buthave enough that we can experiment with different local materials andtechniques. In addition to the actual filter assembly, we are preparing to goout into the camps to survey the people’s habits and understanding of humanrights and water sanitation. The results will hopefully help to illuminate thespecific needs of the community in regards to our goals for the water filters.Titus, the chairman of Lingira Village, is very excited about the project—hisopinion is crucial for its success.
Everyonesends their hellos and well wishes. Jeebale.
Eric

Eric's Poetic Probing #2

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Precedingthe numerous stories and perspectives we each intend to post in the comingweeks, I’ve taken the liberty to post one of the many poems I wrote while inUganda. Enjoy.
Eric

Untitled #1
Wood boats long line

the muddy shore,Each bow pointing regally
towards horizonless Lake Victoria.
Men called kinyamas for their strength,
in uniform blue,
carrying women and children
to and from each boat.
Even a suited businessman,
riding a kinyama’s shoulders, avoids walkingthrough the mud.But for a traveler like me,
who wouldn’t want a piece of Victoria
fastened to their feet?

Rashida Manjoo women's rights lecture

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"After the Violence: The Dream ofAnother Reality"Thursday, September 20, 6:30 pmVandeBerg Auditorium, Pyle Center, 702Langdon St.Free and open to the public
"A native of South Africa, Manjoo is an internationallyrecognized lawyer, teacher, and advocate who has worked to advance women’srights and human rights around the world. She serves as an Advocate of the HighCourt of South Africa and associate professor in the University of Cape Town’sDepartment of Public Law."
More info here:http://international.wisc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/08/24/mildred-fish-harnack-lecture-to-feature-womens-advocate-rashida-manjoo/

WEAC and DPI = Sexualization of Wisconsin's Schoolchildren

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Time for concern.


If you are not aware of the campaign to sexualize minor children in some of Wisconsin's public schools, you might want to scroll through the items posted below such as:
1)  WEAC's $325,000 donation to Defeat the One Man-One Woman Traditional Marriage Amendment in 20062)  WEAC's support for Planned Parenthood's Sex Ed Mandate last Session3)  WEAC's opposition to the Pro-Family/Parents' Rights bill this Session to repeal Planned Parenthood's Mandate4)  Internal memos sent through the Capitol about what is happening at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction which is headed by Tony Evers.5)  An email that was forwarded to us from a member of the American Family Association about an incident that took place in the Shawano School DistrictTaxpaying parents, are these the values you want taught to underage children with your tax dollars?

Transparency in Wisconsin's School Districts. What's YOUR District's Rating?

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Our West Bend School District received a "D" for lack of transparency with information concerning:
  • TAXES
  • MEETINGS
  • CONTRACT
  • AUDITS
  • PUBLIC RECORDS (ouch!)
  • BACKGROUND CHECKS (double ouch!)
Unfortunately, this is the norm across the board. (Only four districts receiving anything higher than a D.) If our kid came home with a report card that had D's in every subject, justified it by saying it's what everyone else got, that wouldn't sit well, would it?  Same goes for this report card. We can do better.  We should do better.
What did YOUR school district get?  Click HERE to find out!

24 Şubat 2013 Pazar

Video: Joe Biden Gropes Women At Swearing In Ceremony

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Jan. 3, 2013 - In a stunning abuse of power and alcohol, Joe Biden put his mitts on women of all ages just before the U.S. Senate swearing-in ceremonies today.

Biden was laying hands on women as they posed for photos in the Senate chambers in the U.S. Capitol Building. Biden made off-color jokes and remarks that might get anybody else fired if they were overheard saying them at a company function. The phrase "hostile work environment" comes to mind when watching these videos.

In the first video, a woman in a blue dress politely hugs Biden and then tries to pull away. Nope. At 10 seconds into the video, Biden has a lock grip on the lady's rib cage. He pulls her back against himself with some force, then almost cops a feel with his left hand. While Biden's behavior was weird, I cannot honestly say that he was trying to feel up anybody. But it sure looks bad.

In the second video here, Biden made a weird joke about frisking. "Spread your legs," he said at 0:06 in this video, "you're going to be frisked."

To be fair, Biden was looking straight at the photographer when he said that. The official photographer told the group to "drop your hands" to their sides, and Biden made a bad attempt to turn that into a joke about being frisked.

"Spread your legs your gonna be frisked," said Biden. "Drop your hands," he said, mocking the photographer. Then "You say that to somebody in North Dakota and they think it's a frisk. 'Drop your hands to the side,' and you think you're in trouble, right? They tell you to drop your hands to the side."

Sure, the joke was stupid and made no sense. Biden is apparently so dumb that he doesn't know that cops never tell people to drop their hands to their side, but tell them to raise their hands over their heads. However, it was obvious that he was not making a sexual remark, as some of my less intelligent, tinfoil hat-wearing blogger colleagues are wrongly suggesting.

Do you like gladiator movies, officer?
"These are the types of casualties that are the result of the Joe Biden Experience," wrote Jordan Sargent at Gawker. "Imagine working with this guy every single day. Would you love it or want to jump off of a building? Are those mutually exclusive?"

Imagine Joe Biden as an employee at your company. How long would it be before you were put out business by women - and even a few men - who sued because he made them feel threatened and sexually abused?

Biden, as Jordan Sargent might say, was just being Biden. He's crude, unsophisticated dork.  Was he trying to cop a feel in the Senate chambers? Nah. Did tell a woman to spread her legs? Nah, he was making a bad joke about being detained by peace officers. Is this typical Joe Biden behavior unbecoming of a Vice President of the United States, and is it embarrassing to the nation? Yah, it really is.

Was Biden just trying to be Mister Fun with some harmlessly exaggerated friendliness? Probably. But what makes Biden so damned creepy is that he's non-stop, like the class clown that doesn't know how or when to shut up.

Remember his supremely creepy smiling and laughing during his debate with Paul Ryan? Yah, same thing going on there. Biden just can't dial it down when he should, and once he dials it up the knob seems to  get stuck on stupid.

Related:
  • Watch Joe Biden's Afternoon Swearing in (and Frisking) the New Senate Atlantic Wire
  • Joe Biden Was Being Verrrrrrrrrry Joe Biden Today Gawker

Democrat NH Legislator Wants to Make State "So Unwelcoming That Some Will Choose Not to Come"

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Jan. 4, 2013 - A state legislator in New Hampshire thinks that restricting people's freedoms is a good idea. Really. Cynthia Chase, 69, Democrat and fan of Saul Alinsky, is worried about a movement called the "Free Staters," who are Libertarians determined to "free" New Hamphire. Chase is a member of New Hampshire's House of Representatives. She represented the Cheshire 3 district from 2010 to 2012, and has represented the Cheshire 8 district since December 5, 2012.

"Thanks to the Free State Project," says their Facebook page, "thousands of liberty-minded people are moving to New Hampshire, working within and without its political system to reduce the size and scope of government. The plan is to inspire 20,000 or more pro-liberty activists to join our efforts to reduce burdensome taxation and regulation, reform state and local law, opt out of federal mandates, protect individual rights, expand free markets, restore constitutional federalism, and much more."

In the video above, Tom Woods of Liberty Classroom discusses Chase's disturbing comments. "I reported on this story in the most recent issue of my e-letter," wrote Woods on Dec. 28. "New Hampshire State Representative Cynthia Chase is appalled that people who believe in nonviolence (i.e., people who belong to the Free State Project) are moving to her state. She suggests that the way to keep freedom-seeking people out of the state is to take away some of New Hampshire’s freedom."

Rep. Cynthia Chase
Freedom hater: Cynthia L. Chase
"In the opinion of this Democrat, Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing today," wrote Chase in a comment at BlueHampshire.com on Dec. 21.  "There is, legally, nothing we can do to prevent them from moving here to take over the state, which is their openly stated goal.  In this country you can move anywhere you choose and they have that same right.  What we can do is to make the environment here so unwelcoming that some will choose not to come, and some may actually leave. One way is to pass measures that will restrict the 'freedoms' that they think they will find here."

Would Cynthia Chase pass laws that apply only to "Free Staters?" That would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution, and probably of the NH constitution as well.

Here's an irony: No doubt Chase has no problem with illegal immigrants moving into her state and demanding all kinds of exemptions and freebies. She no doubt has worked to make "the environment" in NH as welcoming as possible for them, but she would like to work against the free movement of fellow American citizens. Chase is, apparently, very selective in her xenophobic paranoia.  Another irony: Cynthia Chase is herself an outsider. She's not even a native of New Hampshire. She is from Rhode Island and admitted to the Sentinel Souce that she has lived in the Granite State only since January 2006.

BlueHampshire is a "progressive" website, where "progressives" can express their "progressive" anti-liberty sentiments. Cynthia Chase comments there as "cyndychase." Her profile reveals that she considers Saul Alinsky a hero. Her bio says that she is a "Retired kindergarten teacher, former naval officer, adjunct prof. at KSC, married, mother of 2 and grandmother of 2 1/2. In my first term proudly representing Cheshire 3 (Keene)." 

To freedom haters like Cynthia Chase, those goals sound good. To rational Americans, they are frightening. Chase is so freaked out about the Free Staters that she's publicly calling for measures that would make New Hampshire inhospitable to them. Apparently, Chase and her like-minded Democrats have not considered that this will also make New Hampshire a less desirable place in which to live for many other people as well, including her own constituency.

Related:
  • NH Democrat: 'Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing today' Reason
  • Free State movement not embraced by all Granite Staters Union Leader
  • NH ‘Progressives’ Brag About Xenophobia and Bigotry FreeKeene.com
  • “You’re not welcome here!” Says the NH State Rep. From Rhode Island FreeKeene.com
  • John Stossel interviews Free State Project Prez & Founder YouTube
  • Free State Project website

American Spirit Arms Leaves BofA, Moves To Local Bank

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American Spirit Arms
Jan. 7, 2013 - Bank of America (BofA) tried to take the law into its own hands in late December when it froze the deposits of gun manufacturer American Spirit Arms. Late this morning, however, American Spirit announced that it has "gotten most of the deposits and have set up new accounts with a local bank."

Joseph P. Sirochman, owner of American Spirit Arms, says that BofA put his company's deposits on hold and under "further review." He says a bank employee told him, "We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet." Needless to say, Sirochman was very upset. On December 29, he posted about the ordeal on Facebook

This update was posted by American Spirit Arms at 10:45 AM CST, January 7, 2013 as a comment to the original post on Facebook (below):

I first want to thank all of you that have called, emailed and posted your support. I also wanted to post an update and to clear up some questions... BANK OF AMERICA started holding American Spirit Arms deposits for REVIEW on 12-18-12. Since that time we had to fight tooth and nail to get them released... We have now gotten most of the deposits and have set up new accounts with a local bank. Again I want to thank everyone for the outpour of support on this matter and believe because of you we were able to get our deposits..

Sincerely and Many Thanks,

Joseph P Sirochman

American Spirit Arms

Note: Sirochman's post got a lot of comments, and they're still coming in. Many commenters are urging him to sue BofA. A typical comment: "Get a good attorney and sue them... I am quite sure you will win, I would go for a few years worth of receipts for the damage done to your reputation and your business..."

Following is Sirochman's original Facebook post on December 29, 2012.

My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms and I wanted to share my recent experience with Bank of America .(which we have been doing business with for over 10 years)…. Everyone is familiar with the latest increase in guns sales, dealers selling out of inventory, Manufacturers back logged for months, large revenue all generated in the last two weeks …. American Spirit Arms is no exception to the overwhelming demand.

What we have experienced is that our web site orders have jumped 500% causing our web site e-commerce processing larger deposits to BANK OF AMERICA ... Well, this through up a huge RED Flag with Bank of America. So they decided to hold the deposits for further review, meaning that the orders/payments that were coming in through the web, ( being paid by the customer and that were shipped out by American Spirit Arms ), the BANK was keeping (UNDER REVIEW )... as you could imagine this made me furious… After countless hours on the phone with BANK OF AMERICA I finally got a manager in the right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on hold for FURTHER REVIEW …HER EXACT WORDS WERE …

"WE BELIEVE YOU SHOULD NOT BE SELLING GUNS and PARTS ON THE INTERNET"

I flipped the F**k Out and told them that they have no right to make up their own new rules and regs, that we are a firearms manufacturer with all the proper licensing FFL (Federal Firearm license ), SOT and that we follow all Federal and All States’ rules and regulations on shipping Firearms and parts... and that we are also Audited by ATF and Homeland Security on a regular basis … She said that she understands that but that the deposits will be released after they have a chance to review and clear them …I told her that this was unacceptable and the those deposits (that were a week old by now ) needed to be released ASAP, that we are a small business and rely on the revenue to run and stay operational.

After that being said another Manager got involved and released one of the deposits (to help out )… So far to date after two weeks of sales only 1/3 of collected internet sales have been released ..I am still pissed and looking for another bank and options …

I just thought the public should know ..

I will keep everyone posted on new developments ..

Sincerely 

Joseph P Sirochman
American Spirit Arms
16001 N Greenway Hayden Loop, Suite B
Scottsdale AZ 85260
480-367-9540 phone
480-367-9541 fax

Related:
  • BofA Freezes Licensed Gun Manufacturer’s Deposits Iconic Surrealism blog
  • Bank of America Freezes Spirit Arms Deposits Bells A Ringing blog
  • A Visit to American Spirit Arms (includes a video tour) Gunlab.net
  • American Spirit Arms Facebook Page

Eco-Friendly Light Bulbs Increase Cancer Risk, Says University Study

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"Eco-friendly" CFL: Deadly
Incandescent:
Safer, Simpler

Jan. 7, 2013 - Those energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs that the Leftists in Congress are forcing upon us are potentially deadly, says a study by the prestigious Stony Brook University on Long Island, NY.

The bulbs are  advertised as "eco-friendly" and less expensive to use, but they have serious drawbacks. Aside from causing a mercury spill hazard materials event when broken, we now learn that they emit extreme levels of ultra violet radiation. The bulbs are also called "compact fluorescent light" (CFL) bulbs.

“When there is something in your house, you don’t perceive any danger, you wouldn’t get that close to an x-ray in a doctor’s office,” says Miriam Rafailovich, Professor of Materials Science at Stony Brook University in New York. That's from a report by CBS4 Miami, which also noted that the study "found that the bulbs emit rays so strong that they can actually burn skin and skin cells." CBS4 quoted Marcia Simon, a Professor of Dermatology, who said, "The results were that you could actually initiate cell death."

The radiation hazard is in addition to the potential mercury hazard. In fact, the mercury hazard caused by a broken CFL bulb is great enough that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published special instructions under the heading "Cleaning Up a Broken CFL - What to Do if a CFL Breaks."

Inside a CFL, argon gas and mercury vapor are stimulated by the flow
of electricity, producing UV light. This light hits the phosphor coating
painted inside the bulb and causes it to fluoresce. The phosphor
blocks most but not all of the UV light, which is radiated along
with visible light.  Joseph Tart/EHP SOURCE
The EPA also has special advice for disposing of the CFLs to help prevent mercury spilling into the environment. The EPA never did that, and never will, for incandescent bulbs because there is no need: They are not hazardous either in the home or in a landfill.

Thinking about using white light-emitting diode (LED) lighting as a safe, economical alternative? Think again, eco-freaks: A study by Fabio Falchi, Pierantonio Cinzano, Christopher D. Elvidge, David M. Keith and Abraham Haim and published in the Journal of Environmental Management in 2011suggests that LED light diminishes melatonin, a hormone needed for a variety of bodily functions. As if that wasn't bad enough, LEDs "actually contain lead, arsenic and a dozen other potentially hazardous substances, according to...published research," reports Science Daily.

Think about this the next time you snuggle up with a book under one of those damned "eco-friendly" bulbs. Remember that the cell death you are experiencing has been forced upon you by the wackos in the environmental movement and the dim bulbs in Congress who banned many conventional incandescent bulbs.

"As of January 1, 2013 stores will still be able to sell their current stock of those bulbs, but will not be able to order or import 75 watt incandescent bulbs," reports WSAW7 News. "Last year, 100 watt bulbs were taken off the market. And next January, 60 and 40 watt bulbs will be taken off the market."

FIPEL lighting. Image: BBC
The attack on many incandescent bulbs was put into law by passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which was supported by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush but make no mistake: It was championed by the Left and strongly opposed by conservatives and many in the Republican Party. If you or a family member go blind or develop melanoma because of these bulbs, write a thank you note to the EPA.

A final, optimistic note: Not all is negative in the world of indoor lighting. Researchers have made promising headway in the development of FIPEL lighting. As reported by tested.com, "FIPEL, which stands for field-induced polymer electroluminescence.... is a type of light that produces a calm, steady white light as efficiently as LEDs and is also bendable, which is a huge plus over traditional bulbs. FIPEL uses carbon nanotubes dispersed in a polymer to create light when exposed to an alternating current." The inventor of the FIPEL lighting is Dr. David Carroll, professor of physics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, says BBC News. The Fipel bulb, says Prof. Carroll, creates light without heat, contains no mercury or caustic chemicals, and don't shatter. He says the bulb has a low manufacturing cost and, says BBC, "believes the first production runs will take place in 2013."

No doubt, the research for more efficient lighting will continue. For now, we're saddled with LEDs and CFLs. The future, if you'll pardon a pun, looks brighter.

Related:
  • Retailers to Phase out 75 Watt Incandescent Light Bulbs WSAW7 News
  • Not all household incandescent light bulbs are going to disappear Cleveland.com
  • LED Products Billed as Eco-Friendly Contain Toxic Metals, Study Finds Science Daily
  • Compact Fluorescent Lights Dumping Mercury Directly into Landfills Natural News
  • Major Health Hazards of Using CFL Bulbs B2B Business News
  • Ultraviolet Leaks from CFLs National Institutes of Health (NIH.gov)
  • IKEA Plans CFL Phase-Out by 2016 Earth911.com 
  • Recycling and Disposal After a CFL Burns Out EPA.gov
  • Light Bulbs That Kill Freedoms Outpost
  • Sick of Fluorescents? New Technology Provides Flicker-Free Light Smithsonian Mag 
  • The Democrats' War on Science Aids Our Enemies American Thinker

Alex Jones Beclowns Himself On Piers Morgan Tonight: Full Interview

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Alex Jones on Piers Morgan Tonight, Jan. 7, 2013
Alex Jones on Piers Morgan Tonight, Jan. 7, 2013
Nuttier than squirrel crap
Jan. 8, 2013 - Man, this is hot stuff. Alex Jones was on Piers Morgan Tonight yesterday, and sparks flew. Here is the full video of that encounter, below, which was taped in CNN's studios in New York.

It was one of the best drubbings that Morgan has experienced since rock legend and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent kicked his arse back in May, 2011.

There was a table between Morgan and Nugent, but on Monday there was no barrier between Jones and Morgan. They sat inches away from each other, and for much of the encounter Morgan actually looked frightened, as though he feared that Jones would physically attack him at any moment.

Unfortunately, Jones came of (as usual) as a complete nutter. He's one of those guys who, no matter what he says, it tends to sound crazy. His verbal style is, well, crazy. But the fact is that Jones is a dishonest fear-mongering opportunistic egoist, with a delusional paranoid personality that is either real or very well feigned. VIDEO BELOW.

The sparks came almost entirely from Jones, the fiery and possibly insane right wing talk show host and conspiracy theory monger. Jones happens to be the guy who started the "Deport Piers Morgan" petition to the White House, by the way. Morgan, a foppish left winger and disgraced former newspaper editor self-exiled from the U.K., was not able to stiffen his spine enough to truly stand up to Jones's gravel-voiced ranting. It was political theater, two clowns going at each other, each the unwitting straight man to the other's unwitting funny man. More below the video...



Fans of Morgan will say he won. Fans of Jones will disagree. I am a fan of neither. Morgan is a liberal panderer who cannot think outside the constraints of Left Think. Jones is clown who panders to the paranoid, uneducated tinfoil hat-wearing folks on the Right. In my opinion, both lost in the great arena of public opinion. Morgan, as he so often manages, comes off as lame. Jones comes off as a loud mouthed bully boy. Those who watched the encounter without a strong bias toward either man probably came away with the opinion that both Jones and Morgan were ineffective in presenting their arguments.

After the show's taping, Alex Jones went back to his hotel room and, as BuzzFeed notes, "made some videos for his YouTube channel accusing Mayor Michael Bloomberg of 'stalking' him and sending crackheads after him." And THAT kind of behavior is why I, a conservative, simply cannot like Alex Jones. Perhaps he's crazy. Perhaps he considers his followers to be crazy. Or both.

“If something happens to us, or we’re killed by crackheads, it was the NYPD or mafia [Bloomberg] hired,” Jones said in one of his hotel room videos. BuzzFeed also noted that "Jones made a separate video in the hotel bathroom, titled 'We Are in NYC: Pray For Us'," in which he said that NY Mayor Bloomberg was "stalking us outside."

Alex Jones does a show as the Joker:
No, this is NOT Photoshopped.
I'm sure that some people hang onto every word uttered by Alex Jones, actually believing his nonsense. No rational person would believe that Bloomberg, or people working for him, are interesting in stalking Jones. For years now, he's been telling his low-IQ audience faithful that there is a death contract on his head by the Illuminati, the Bilderbergers, the U.S. Government, rogue elements within the U.S. Government, and others. Either he's making that up or those Evil Doers are completely inept in tracking him down and making it look like he fell down a flight of stairs.

As a conservative, I am embarrassed by Alex Jones. I believe that he is not representative of the majority of us on the Right. Conservative idol Glenn Beck's own "The Blaze" website noted Jones's craziness in a post about Jones's weird behavior after the Piers Morgan interview. And here's the thing: Piers Morgan and his producers knows that, which is why they brought nutter Jones on as a golden opportunity to let him make a spectacle of himself and, in theory anyway, discredit the pro-Second Amendment people and conservatives in general.

Glenn Beck understands this and said this on his radio broadcast today: "Piers Morgan is trying to have gun control. He is trying to make everybody who has guns and who believes in the Second Amendment to be a deterrent to an out of control government look like a madman. So now he immediately books the madman and makes him look like a conservative. He’s not a conservative."

But I'll tell you this much: If Alex Jones does have a fatal, accidental fall down a stairwell, tens of thousands of morons will insist that the Tri-Lateral Commission and its allies in the push for a New World Order had something to do with it. Some might even insist that Piers Morgan was involved, which would actually be more believable given his public humiliation by Jones on Monday.

Related:
  • The Lameness of Piers Morgan, As Seen in His Alex Jones Interview Slate
  • Alex Jones's Insane Post-Piers Morgan Selfie Videos BuzzFeed
  • Alex Jones: I Made CNN Producer Cry Prison Planet 
  • Alex Jones detained by TSA agents because he refused to take his shoes off' Daily Mail
  • Glenn Beck Rips Apart ‘Madman’ Alex Jones For ‘Crazy’ Piers Morgan Rant Mediaite
  • Alex Jones says gays are the result of “chemical warfare operation” Mofo Politics
  • Controlled Opposition – How to spot a fake leader Truth In 7 Minutes
  • Alex Jones sold you out for 85 cents! YouTube
  • 42 STUPID Alex Jones PREDICTIONS YouTube
  • Alex Jones--Light Bulbs are Spying on You YouTube
  • Alex Jones Movie Trailer Parody YouTube

23 Şubat 2013 Cumartesi

7th Circuit Appeals Court will not reconsider decision to strike down Illinois' ban on concealed carry

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The question now seems to be whether Illinois will appeal to the Supreme Court.  My own hope is that they do appeal.  This is the best case to create a precedent on concealed carry laws.

A federal appeals court won't reconsider an earlier ruling that Illinois' concealed carry ban is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Illinois' ban in December and gave lawmakers until June 8 to legalize the concealed carry of firearms.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked for all 10 judges to review the decision, saying it conflicted with decisions by other federal appellate courts and goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court has held. . . .
Thanks very much to Tony Troglio for this link.

New Fox News piece: Will Obama push us over the edge?

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My newest Fox News piece starts this way:
Obama thinks he has a mandate for change. But this is the man who ran for president in 2008 promising to “cut net spending” and to shrink the federal government; a man who promised that his “stimulus” spending was only temporary. 
Obama hid regulations from view until after his reelection. The press maintained the fiction that Obama supports the Second Amendment and is no threat to citizens’ keeping guns for self-defense. Yet the day after his reelection, Obama called for the UN Arms Trade Treaty negotiations to be started again, and a few weeks later he promised to put the full force of the federal government behind a push for massive new gun control. 
Even on taxes, Obama’s post-election demands contradicted the positions on which he campaigned. Sure he promised higher taxes on “the rich.” But during the campaign he said that he wanted $800 billion from them. As soon as Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, agreed to raise that amount by eliminating various credits and deductions for high-income taxpayers, Obama announced that he really wanted twice that amount. . . . 

What the Obama administration predicts for gun control regulations

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From The Hill Newspaper:
The gun lobby is citing the nine-page memo in ads running in 15 states, including several swing states with Senate elections next year. In the ad, the NRA says the memo proves that the administration “believes that a gun ban will not work without mandatory gun confiscation” and thinks universal background checks “won't work without requiring national gun registration,” according to the AP. . . .

New piece at National Review: "Ted Cruz Sets the Record Straight on Guns"

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My new piece at National Review starts this way:
Newly elected senator Ted Cruz has jumped right into the fray. So far he is the only senator who has dared challenge the many blatant falsehoods President Obama and many congressional Democrats have been pushing regarding guns, in particular the bogus claim that 40 percent of gun sales are done without background checks. 
Unsurprisingly, his willingness to speak out has recently made Cruz a target of the media. While he has come in for a range of attacks from the New York Times, recently Politifact has focused on his statement: “the jurisdictions with the strictest gun-control laws, almost without exception . . . have the highest crime rates and the highest murder rates.” In the last case, they labeled his statement “false.” 
Is the “false” rating deserved? In Politifact’s explanation, it becomes more than a little bit obvious that their verdict is seriously strained, not least because they do acknowledge that context clarifies Cruz’s point. When using the term “strictest gun-control laws,” the senator was referring to gun bans (either a ban on handguns or all guns), and he was referring to so-called panel data as the evidence. 
This makes a considerable difference  . . . .

TSA: Protecting The Skies From Wheelchair-Bound 3-Year-Olds

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(By Andrew MacKie-Mason)

TSA "officers" in St Louis recently detained a 3-year-old wheelchair-bound girl, demanding to pat her down. The girl's parents were apparently even willing to allow the pat down, subject to the more-than-reasonable request that they be able to video record the screener, presumably to ensure that she remained appropriate.

The TSA "officer" in question, like many law enforcement "officials," apparently didn't take kindly to being met with anything less than total and immediate obsequience. She incorrectly informed the parents that it was illegal to record the video, and things seem to have snowballed from there.
TSA offered a half-baked apology to the family after the incident, but qualified the apology with a blog post full of attempts at justification and excuse. Here are some aspects of that blog post.
Our officer did initially mention a pat-down. We admit this was confusing, and contributed to a stressful situation. Very quickly, a manager was able to step in and give guidance.
The entire incident took over half an hour. Either the manager didn't arrive very quickly, or the manager wasn't much help.
Also, our officer told the passenger that it was illegal to film at the checkpoint. This is not the case, and you can take a look at our filming policy here.
If this was an isolated incident of a single TSA "officer" claiming that filming is illegal, it would be one thing. But it's not. Every single passenger-shot video of a TSA incident that I've seen includes at least one "officer" asserting that the filming is illegal. None of them are ever able to provide anything remotely approaching a citation for that assertion, but that doesn't stop them from harassing passengers until they stop filming.

In this case, the TSA "officers" were intimidating enough that the mother apparently didn't feel comfortable getting their faces on camera. That's unfortunate, because it means that the "officers" are shielded from the public scrutiny they deserve over this incident. Change only occurs where there's accountability.
Neither the child nor the parent was detained. TSA does not have the authority to detain passengers. Only Law Enforcement Officers can detain passengers.
Let's take a moment to admire the logic of this claim. TSA is using the fact that it's illegal for them to detain people as evidence that they did not detain them. "We didn't do anything wrong, because we're not allowed to do things wrong." I wish I'd known about that one when I was a child.

In fact, TSA detains people all the time. I've been detained by TSA "officers" on numerous occasions. Whenever a TSA "officer" tells you to stand in a certain spot and doesn't allow you to leave, you're being detained. They can play word games as much as they want, but the fact of the matter is they detain passengers whether they have the authority to or not.
Incidents like this can trigger a lot of emotions, but please keep the TSA’s mission in mind. We are committed to maintaining the security of the traveling public.
This is the epitome of everything that is wrong with TSA's attitude. In their minds, it apparently boils down to "we are trying to keep people safe. Anyone who says anything bad about us is getting in our way, and is therefore making the world more dangerous." I know it's trite, but who will protect us from TSA? Who will protect us from the "officers" who want to pat down 3-year-old girls without the accountability of video recording?

You can see the video shot by the mother (which covers only part of the incident) below.

22 Şubat 2013 Cuma

Eric's Poetic Probing

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[Written May 29th]
Today began inbrilliant color as David, Dennis, and I woke up early to watch the sunriseagainst the background of Buvumu Islands. The three of us made the 25-minutehike along the shore of Lake Victoria, through the village of Katonga, and upthe rocky incline to the center of Lingira Island, this time unaccompanied byJack and Simba, our canine companions who almost always follow at our feet andstubbornly refuse to ever waiver their protection. The narrow alleyways betweenthe mud huts of Katonga were already bustling with people when we passedthrough.  Both mothers and childrenpaused their chores and watched curiously as we walked, but replied and smiledwarmly when we greeted them in Luganda. Following a few young boys herdinggoats along the path outside of the village, the three of us diverted and cutthrough the thick brush that halos the island’s raised center. Contrary to ourinitial thoughts, we made it to the top of the hill with time to spare. Davidand Dennis found comfortable seats on large rocks protruding from the ocean ofoluwanyi, the tall grass that covers the top of the island. I, on the otherhand, found a seat less comfortable on a forgiving termite mound, but luckilythe termites must not have minded. Soon the painted sky gave way to amagnificent Ugandan sun, which immediately saturated the landscape around us inlight. I have never seen clouds quite like these. We sat there in a silenceaccompanied only by the hum of a lake fly cloud some ten million strong, and feltthe waves of heat begin to bake the ground.
Today alsomarks the first of our work with the Water Kegs. The first couple kegs will beless assembly and more experiment as we work together to tweak and perfect thedesign to best fit the needs of the people. We plan to build 100 filters, buthave enough that we can experiment with different local materials andtechniques. In addition to the actual filter assembly, we are preparing to goout into the camps to survey the people’s habits and understanding of humanrights and water sanitation. The results will hopefully help to illuminate thespecific needs of the community in regards to our goals for the water filters.Titus, the chairman of Lingira Village, is very excited about the project—hisopinion is crucial for its success.
Everyonesends their hellos and well wishes. Jeebale.
Eric

Eric's Poetic Probing #2

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Precedingthe numerous stories and perspectives we each intend to post in the comingweeks, I’ve taken the liberty to post one of the many poems I wrote while inUganda. Enjoy.
Eric

Untitled #1
Wood boats long line

the muddy shore,Each bow pointing regally
towards horizonless Lake Victoria.
Men called kinyamas for their strength,
in uniform blue,
carrying women and children
to and from each boat.
Even a suited businessman,
riding a kinyama’s shoulders, avoids walkingthrough the mud.But for a traveler like me,
who wouldn’t want a piece of Victoria
fastened to their feet?

Rashida Manjoo women's rights lecture

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"After the Violence: The Dream ofAnother Reality"Thursday, September 20, 6:30 pmVandeBerg Auditorium, Pyle Center, 702Langdon St.Free and open to the public
"A native of South Africa, Manjoo is an internationallyrecognized lawyer, teacher, and advocate who has worked to advance women’srights and human rights around the world. She serves as an Advocate of the HighCourt of South Africa and associate professor in the University of Cape Town’sDepartment of Public Law."
More info here:http://international.wisc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/08/24/mildred-fish-harnack-lecture-to-feature-womens-advocate-rashida-manjoo/

WEAC and DPI = Sexualization of Wisconsin's Schoolchildren

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Time for concern.


If you are not aware of the campaign to sexualize minor children in some of Wisconsin's public schools, you might want to scroll through the items posted below such as:
1)  WEAC's $325,000 donation to Defeat the One Man-One Woman Traditional Marriage Amendment in 20062)  WEAC's support for Planned Parenthood's Sex Ed Mandate last Session3)  WEAC's opposition to the Pro-Family/Parents' Rights bill this Session to repeal Planned Parenthood's Mandate4)  Internal memos sent through the Capitol about what is happening at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction which is headed by Tony Evers.5)  An email that was forwarded to us from a member of the American Family Association about an incident that took place in the Shawano School DistrictTaxpaying parents, are these the values you want taught to underage children with your tax dollars?

Transparency in Wisconsin's School Districts. What's YOUR District's Rating?

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Our West Bend School District received a "D" for lack of transparency with information concerning:
  • TAXES
  • MEETINGS
  • CONTRACT
  • AUDITS
  • PUBLIC RECORDS (ouch!)
  • BACKGROUND CHECKS (double ouch!)
Unfortunately, this is the norm across the board. (Only four districts receiving anything higher than a D.) If our kid came home with a report card that had D's in every subject, justified it by saying it's what everyone else got, that wouldn't sit well, would it?  Same goes for this report card. We can do better.  We should do better.
What did YOUR school district get?  Click HERE to find out!

21 Şubat 2013 Perşembe

Appearance on Glenn Beck's radio program to talk about my new book

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A transcript and audio of my interview with Glenn is available here.
GLENN: John Lott is one of my favorite thinkers, especially when it comes to ‑‑ well, when it comes to facts and figures, you know, he’s probably best known for his work on guns, guns by the numbers. I think his name is ‑‑ the name of his book is More Guns, Less Crime, and it is the ‑‑ it is the standard bearer, I think, for that kind of stat, and you won’t read that anyplace else. Well, he has turned his attention now to what this administration is doing and what this government is doing to push us over the brink. That’s the name of his new book called At The Brink. Will the man who won’t be named on this program without a $20 fine, will “that guy” push us over the edge is the subtitle and John is with us now. Hi, John, how are you? 
LOTT: Great to talk to you. Thank you very much for having me on. 
GLENN: You bet. You’re taking this on, and I wonder if we can ever come back from this because I look at the facts that you have in this. I just look at the things when you talk about the stimulus and how the stimulus is going to go down in history as the most expensive economic failure in all of history. You want to make that point first before I ask you the question on it? . . .

Helping people in high crime areas defend themselves: The Armed Citizen Project

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This is an interesting project located in Houston, Texas:
The Armed Citizen Project is dedicated to facilitating the armingof law abiding citizens, and analyzing the relationship between increased firearm availability and crime rates. We will choose a mid-high crime neighborhood in Houston, and offer defensiveweapons to citizens that can pass a background check, and that will take our safety, legal, andtactical training. . . . 

Newest piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Misleading claims about what new proposals will do"

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My newest piece starts this way:
President Obama's continued call on Friday for "commonsense proposals to make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun" is something that everyone agrees with. Unfortunately, the president is misleadingly claiming what his proposals would do, and they are more likely to do more harm than good. 
Consider "background checks." According to Obama and gun-control advocates, "40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check." That is just false. Only if you were to classify family inheritances and gifts as "purchases" would you get a number anywhere near that high. . . .

More vote fraud in Hamilton County, Ohio

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So there are no examples of vote fraud?  Possibly all this explains the very high voter turnout rate that they had in that county that drove the state barely to Obama.
Authorities also are investigating if she voted in the names of four other people, too, for a total of six votes in the 2012 presidential election. 
"I'll fight it for Mr. Obama and for Mr. Obama's right to sit as president of the United States," Richardson vowed when asked about the voter fraud investigation that is now under way. 
Richardson is one of 19 people suspected of illegal voting by the Hamilton County Board of Elections in the last election. . . .
More vote fraud here:
Another case of alleged voter fraud was brought to the attention of the the Hamilton County Board of Elections Tuesday, this time involving two Sisters of Charity.  
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters sent a letter to Board of Elections director Tim Burke saying there's probable cause to believe criminal activity has occurred in the case of deceased voter Sister Rose Marie Hewitt. 
Sisters of Charity confirm that Hewitt died on Oct. 4 of last year. 
Board of Elections documents obtained in an open records request indicate Hewitt applied for an absentee ballot on Sept. 11, but it wasn't received by the board until after she died. . . .

Teacher outrageously gives zeros to students who wrote about hunting and a gun show

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These teachers are just trying to traumatize students about guns.  From Fox News:
An English teacher at Denton High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area allegedly refused to grade two student reports because they discussed guns. 
MyFoxDFW.com reports that the teacher, Dewey Christian, told his students to write a report on anything they wanted. 
Marshall Williams, one of Christian's students, told the station he chose to write about a Fort Worth gun show he had attended. He said Christian told him he would get a zero on the assignment because of the topic. 
Another student, Alex Wright, said Christian rejected his report because it mentioned hunting. 
After telling his mother, Kimberly Williams, about the incident, she and Marshall met with Christian, according to the report. 
Kimberly Williams' cell phone video recording of the meeting reportedly shows Christian explaining that he refused to grade the report because of concerns about school violence. . . . .

20 Şubat 2013 Çarşamba

The take-no-prisoners LGBT march to world domination claims yet another casualty: Olympic wrestling

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It must be the computer world's cohort of virginal young maidens who can't get enough of the tingly tight-singlet action of "wrestling-boner videos."

by Ken

By and large, the most insidious conspiracies, I think we can agree, are the ones that are so well hidden, that even seem so improbable, as to be off the conspiracy boards altogether. By this standard, there is no conspriacy insidiouser than the Gay War on Wrestling.

I've been meaning to get around to this for going on a week, but what with this and that, you know how it is. Anyway, here's the heart of the conspiracy, as reported in a Valentine's Day HuffPost post by Meredith Bennett-Smith (links onsite):

Olympic Wrestling Canceled Because Of Gay Conspiracy, Russian Coach Claims

The Huffington Post  |  By Meredith Bennett-Smith
Posted: 02/14/2013 9:13 am EST  |  Updated: 02/15/2013 3:16 pm EST

A Russian coach furious about the International Olympic Committee's recent decision to remove wrestling from the 2020 Olympics has made an inflammatory claim about who is to blame for the move.

Speaking to Russian sports site R-Sport, Russian wrestling coach Vladimir Uruimagov said that the IOC's decision was evidence of a gay conspiracy.

"If they expel wrestling now, that means that gays will soon run the whole world,” Uruimagov said, adding that cutting wrestling from the Olympic program was "a blow to masculine origins.”

Visit R-Sport to read what else Uruimagov had to say.
Uruimagov's allegations follow recent criticism leveled at the IOC for not pushing back hard enough against participating countries that criminalize homosexuality, R-Sport notes.

Meanwhile, Russia's anti-gay propaganda bill, which is expected to pass the legislature, may be indicative of the pervasiveness of homophobia in Russia. . . .
Meredith goes on to report on the campaign for the "anti-propaganda" bill, in which pretty much anything that makes public mention of homosexuality as anything other than a scourge of the devil would apparently qualify, and to note the noticeable anxiety, as reported even by USA Today (yes, USA Today, that insidious LGBT propaganda rag -- "Sochi Olympics will test gay rights," by Kelly Whiteside), on the part of gay 2014 Olympic hopefuls about the political climate to be expected at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, on Russia's Black Sea coast.

NOW THE FIRST THING TO BE SAID
ABOUT THE GAY WAR ON WRESTLING . . .


. . . and by now I'm probably the last person on the planet to say it, is that nobody on the planet, as far as I'm aware, loves wrestling more than Teh Gays. For participants, after all, it is the touchy-feeliest of athletic competitions, and for spectators it is, um, the hunky-doriest. (Sure, swimming and diving may be more, er, revealing, and the gymnasts and skaters can be pretty darned hot, but the wrestlers are engaged in contact sport of what we might call the second-most-intimate kind.

For the record, as I understand it, while wrestling has indeed been voted off the "automatic" list for Winter Olympic "sports" by the relevant committee of the International Olympic Committee, it's not yet necessarily "out." Most obviously, one place has been left open for which all the left-out-in-the-cold winter sports can still apply. Or of course the committee could come to its senses.

Rather obviously, wrestling isn't like those joke make-believe "sports" that somehow find their way into both the Summer and the Winter Games. What's more, it wasn't targeted, as the IOC folk, sworn guardians of Olympic purity, seem to be claiming, because it's unpopular or doesn't sell out its matches. The problem is more likely that its considerable popularity doesn't translate well to revenue-generating via TV ratings. My guess, though, is that Teh Gays are doing everything in their power to pump up those Olympic wrestling ratings.

"It is necessary," Coach U told R-Sport, "for millions around the world who understand that this is a man’s sport and who understand the need to continue the human race to go out and explain their position to the Olympic Committee." Yes, right, a man's sport. Perhaps Coach U hasn't noticed the flourishing YouTube culture of what we might call "wrestling-boner videos."

Then again, I could be wrong. It could be that those videos are being posted and viewed by the computer world's cohort of virginal young maidens who can't get enough of this tingly tight-singlet action.


That's Coach U with, um, one of his boys. Yessiree, it's a man's sport, ladies and germs!

Mississippi Finally Makes It Official-- Slavery Is Now Illegal In The Virtute Et Armis State

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Mississippi is also known as the Magnolia State and the Hospitality State... but Virtute et Armis is more befitting in the context of a state that took until this week to finally ratify the 13th Amendment a century and a half late. That was the one that abolished slavery. At least Mississippi is, by some way of thinking, ahead of Mali, Niger and Mauratania!
After Congress voted for the 13th Amendment in January 1864, the measure went to the states for ratification.

On Dec. 6, 1865, the amendment received the three-fourths' vote it needed when Georgia became the 27th state to ratify it. States that rejected the measure included Delaware, Kentucky, New Jersey and Mississippi.

In the months and years that followed, states continued to ratify the amendment, including those that had initially rejected it. New Jersey ratified the amendment in 1866, Delaware in 1901 and Kentucky in 1976.

But there was an asterisk beside Mississippi. A note read: “Mississippi ratified the amendment in 1995, but because the state never officially notified the US Archivist, the ratification is not official.”

...The resolution passed both the Mississippi Senate and House.

“It was unanimous,” [state Sen. Hillman] Frazier recalled. “Some didn’t vote, but we didn’t receive a ‘nay’ vote.”

The last paragraph of the resolution called on the secretary of state to send a copy to the Office of the Federal Register.

Why the copy was never sent in 1995 remains unknown.
Someone in Mississippi was inspired and movie when he, a private citizen, saw Lincoln which moved him to complain to the Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who agreed to file the paperwork and make it official. He did and, as of last week, it's now official. Only 44% of Mississippi voters cast their ballots for President Obama in November. Around 32 million American adults can't read (14%). Mississippi ranks dead last among the states in adult literacy; they are also the most religious state. Mississippi, which has the highest food stamp dependency in America (20.8%), is also the most obese state (34%). It is one of only 5 states-- all from the Old Confederacy-- with no minimum wage. Mississippi is last in almost everything good and first in almost everything bad. Texans laugh that Mississippi is the state that keeps in out of last place. And, now, last to give up on slavery. Watch the video up top; it goes a long way towards explaining all of this.

On the other hand, Mississippi and other teabag states have a different interpretation of what slavery is than... well, what slavery is. Watch this brief right-wing discussion and be sure to wait and listen to the well-dressed crackpot at the very end:



Hubris... Still No Accountability-- Forget Bush And Cheney, What About Steny Hoyer And Steve Israel?

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Rachel Maddow's presentation of Hubris lived up to the promise. Maddow explained why the film is so important in her introduction when she pointed out how LBJ hoodwinked Congress into going to war against Vietnam. 40 years later it happened again. In the clip above, Bush and Cheney are shown still refusing to admit they were wrong or even to apologize to the families of thousands of Americans and Iraqis whose lives their perfidy destroyed. I was touched that the one person who was truly remorseful, Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican from North Carolina, a Republican who has, since then, been one of Congress' most independent voices on either side of the aisle. Walter Jones voted for that war because he was duped by his president. What about the 81 Democrats-- a minority among Democrats in Congress but without whose support there would have been no war-- who voted for it? Hubris doesn't deal with them.

Did they vote for the war because they were too stupid and incompetent to know they were being duped? Or were they in on the scam? In either case, shouldn't they be held to account by the voters? They haven't been. Instead, Iraq War-mongers like Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Steve Israel (D-NY) and Joe Crowley (D-NY) have climbed the ladder of party leadership and now run the congressional Democrats. What a disgusting, repulsive political party! Will we ever hear an apology from Steny Hoyer or Steve Israel? Sure we will-- the same day we hear one from John McCain or Dick Cheney. Our political elites failed us. David Swanson agrees that Hubris could have gone a lot further.
As our government was making a fraudulent case to attack Iraq in 2002-2003, the MSNBC television network was doing everything it could to help, including booting Phil Donahue and Jeff Cohen off the air. The Donahue Show was deemed likely to be insufficiently war-boosting and was thus removed 10 years ago next week, and 10 days after the largest antiwar (or anything else) demonstrations in the history of the world, as a preemptive strike against the voices of honest peaceful people.

From there, MSNBC proceeded to support the war with mild critiques around the edges, and to white-out the idea of impeachment or accountability.

But now MSNBC has seen its way clear to airing a documentary about the fraudulent case it assisted in, a documentary titled Hubris. This short film (which aired between 9 and 10 p.m. ET Monday night, but with roughly half of those minutes occupied by commercials) pointed out the role of the New York Times in defrauding the public, but not MSNBC's role.

Yet, my primary response to that is joy rather than disgust. It is now cool to acknowledge war lies. Truth-tellers, including truth-tellers rarely presented with a corporate microphone, made that happen.

  ...[U]sing Maddow as the presenter and narrator of a film about Republican war lies during a period of unacknowledged Democratic war lies unavoidably gives the thing a partisan slant. Watching Hubris, I was reminded of something that Michael Moore tweeted last Friday: "Senate Repubs: U started 2 illegal wars that broke the treasury & sacrificed the lives of thousands of our troops & countless civilians."

Of course, the Senate that gave us the two wars in question was in reality controlled by Democrats, and the war lies were pushed hard by Senators Kerry, Clinton, and their comrades.  Hubris touches on this reality but not with sufficient clarity for most viewers-- I suspect-- to pick up on it.

...The Hubris version of Colin Powell's lies at the United Nations is misleadingly undertold.  Powell was not a victim.  He "knowingly lied."

The same goes for Bush, Cheney, and gang. According to Hubris it may have just been incompetence or hubris. It wasn't. Not only does overwhelming evidence show us that Bush knew his claims about WMDs to be false, but the former president has shown us that he considers the question of truth or falsehood to be laughably irrelevant. When Diane Sawyer asked Bush why he had claimed with such certainty that there were so many weapons in Iraq, he replied: "What’s the difference? The possibility that [Saddam] could acquire weapons, If he were to acquire weapons, he would be the danger."

What's the difference?  In a society based on the rule of law, the difference would be a criminal prosecution. MSNBC and Hubris steer us away from any ideas of accountability. And no connection is drawn to current war lies about Iran or other nations.

  But the production of programs like this one that prolong Americans' awareness of the lies that destroyed Iraq are the best hope Iran has right now. MSNBC should be contacted and applauded for airing this and urged to follow up on it.
Monday we looked at the list of some of today's DC powerbrokers-- like the aforementioned Hoyer, Israel and Crowley-- who backed Bush's unprovoked attack on Iraq, either because they were too stupid to see through the tissue of lies or because they were in on the con. They're nearly as responsible as Bush and Cheney for the deaths and destruction and for the three trillion dollars in tax payer money wasted. The implication, of course, is that they shouldn't be in Congress today. I'd also like to reiterate that the majority of Democrats in the House voted against the war, including, to name a few who are often in the news these days, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jim Clyburn (D-SC), John Conyers (D-MI), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), John Lewis (D-GA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Mark Udall (D-CO), Tom Udall (D-NM) and Maxine Waters (D-CA).

Many of these Democrats have also climbed the leadership ladder. Nancy, even if someone hemmed in by war-mongers and corporate whores Hoyer, Israel and Crowley, is the House's top dog and half a dozen are now in the Senate. Clyburn is also in the top rung of House leadership and Becerra may be one of the only hopes for a post-Pelosi progressive Democratic House leadership. Meanwhile of the 6 Republicans who voted NO that day, 5 (including Ron Paul) are no longer in public service and only one is still in the House, libertarian Jimmy Duncan (R-TN), still a backbencher after 25 years in Congress... although he is co-chairman of the Congressional Friends of Scotland Caucus.

Bush and Cheney got a lot of the appearance of public momentum and support for their evil little project from the most simple-minded and easy to manipulate dullards in the population: evangelicals. According the Max Bumenthal's reporting in Republican Gomorrah, the regime had a strategy for mobilizing the religionists on the far right.
When Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the White House deployed [convicted criminal Chuck] Colson to market the war to fellow evangelicals in the context of St. Augustine's Just War doctrine-- a dubious exercise considering Augustine's explicit rejection of preemptive, unilateral warfare. Meanwhile, the popular televangelist and former Southern Baptist Convention president Charles Stanley warned, in a February 2003, sermon, that those who opposed or disobeyed the U.S. government in its drive to war "will receive condemnation upon themselves" from God.

...Evangelicals rallied to Bush's side with unmatched fervor, supporting the invasion and its eventually discredited justifications in a greater percentage than any other demographic group. The Christian-right leaders who orchestrated this PR push waited patiently for their reward, hoping that the appointment of far-right nominees to the federal bench and Supreme Court was not far off.