Christmas Cuteness!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Be a Part of the GOP Red Twibbon Wave! #bethewave

On Friday, I created a twibbon (a badge for twitter profile pictures) that I've been wanting to make for over a year now: a red transparent twibbon to be placed on people's avatars to show their support for conservative GOP candidates.  There is a huge red GOP wave coming tomorrow on election day and I thought it would be cool to see Twitter turn into a sea of red.  It's already happening!  Over 400 people support #bethewave so far and have turned their twitter avatars red.

If you voted/are voting for GOP candidates, add the twibbon here!
My description:

On November 2nd, conservatives will take back our country and turn it RED again. Will you be a part of the wave? Wear your heart on your avatar and show your support for conservative candidates by adding this Twibbon! Let's turn Twitter and Facebook into a sea of red - a visual representation to the world of the red wave that is coming on Nov. 2! 

 My red twitter avatar:

Fav lines from NYT David Brooks' "No Second Thoughts":

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

They get all these crazy ideas in their heads, like not wanting to re-elect Blanche Lincoln.

...The Democrats’ problem, as some senior officials have mentioned, is that they are so darn captivated by substance, it never occurs to them to look out for their own political self-interest.

...Democratic House members who voted against health care are doing well in their re-election bids, while those who voted for it are getting clobbered.

As Nancy Pelosi put it at a $50,000-a-couple fund-raiser, “Everything was going great and all of a sudden secret money from God knows where — because they won’t disclose it — is pouring in.”

...Democrats were happy to benefit from millions of anonymous dollars in 2006, 2008 and today; that the spending by Rove’s group amounts to less than 1 percent of the total money spent on campaigns this year; that Democrats retain an overall spending advantage. Read more at www.nytimes.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e13i

Guess how many times "conservative" was used in WaPo's New Black Panthers article

In the WaPo article "Dispute over New Black Panthers case causes deep divisions," the authors took pains to tell readers that anyone questioning the NBP case was conservative, with no mention of any liberals or how far left the NBP is.



Total number of times the following words are written in the article:

conservative: 8

Republican: 7

Democrat: 4

liberal: 0

progressive: 0

left: 0



Get that? The two words conservative and Republican - 15 times.

The four words Democrat, liberal, progressive and left - 4 times



And here's one paragraph where "conservative" is written 3 times!

Amplify’d from www.washingtonpost.com

Adams, 42, was assigned as the lead lawyer. A voting section lawyer since 2005, he would later resign over the Obama administration's handling of the case, publicizing his views in conservative media. Administration supporters call him a conservative activist; other Justice Department lawyers say his views, while conservative, did not influence his work. Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/dvq7

Church, State and the First Amendment: What Coons needs to know

I read this article by Ken Paulson, the President of the First Amendment Center and had to respond to almost everything he wrote.

Church, State and the First Amendment: What O’Donnell needs to know

Sometimes political debates generate light as well as heat.

Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's question "Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" in an exchange Oct. 19 over teaching creationism in public schools tells us something about her but also reminds us of how often America's bedrock principles on government and religion are misunderstood.

Democratic candidate Chris Coons was quick to tell O'Donnell that religion and government are kept separate by the First Amendment.

"You're telling me that's in the First Amendment?" she responded.

Indeed it is.

Indeed it is NOT!  O'Donnell explicitly asks where in the Constitution the words "separation of church and state" appear and when Coons wrongly asserts it is in the First Amendment she seeks to clarify that he is indeed making the false statement that it is in the First Amendment.

Here's a quick take on what the First Amendment says -- and doesn't say:

Keeping government out of religion and religion out of government is a core principle of the First Amendment. The first 16 words say, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Keeping government out of religion is spelled out in the first 16 words, but what in those words keeps religion out of government and where are the words "separation of church and state" that Coons says can be found there?  

That means government can't limit our personal faith or favor one religion over others. [Yes].  It also means that creationism cannot be taught in America's public schools.   

Um, whaaaaaaat???  That is quite a leap!  Maybe that part can be found in the mythical version of the Constitution where the words "separation of church and state" appear...

The separation of church and state has been a cornerstone of American ideals for centuries. As early as 1640, Rhode Island founder and theologian Roger Williams cited the need for "a hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world."

Perhaps a better indication of the cornerstone of American ideals comes from the Declaration of Independence.  This non-secular document signed by the Continental Congress acknowledges that our rights are given from God.  It also references "Nature's God," "a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence," and "appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World."  Does this sound like the beginnings of a nation that would want to keep church and state separate?

James Madison, the author of the Bill of Rights, would later explain the need for this separation, saying, "religion and Govt. will both exist in greater purity,  the less they are mixed together."

Madison says church and state are respectively best when their joining is kept to a minimum.  That is not the same as saying that there must be a separation of church and state, nor is it saying that that is what was intended in the First Amendment. 

Fortunately, there are Congressional transcripts that can tell us what was discussed DURING the drafting of the Bill of Rights:

"Mr. Madison thought, if the word national was inserted before religion, it would satisfy the minds of honorable gentlemen.  He believed that the people feared one sect might obtain a pre-eminence, or two combine together, and establish a religion to which they would compel others to conform.  He thought if the word national was introduced, it would point the amendment directly to the object it was intended to prevent..."

Clearly Madison's concern was the establishment of a national religion on the whole country - kind of like how there's a Church of England - and NOT with abolishing religion from government altogether.

The words "separation of church and state" appear nowhere in the Constitution. That's true, [Thank you!] and O'Donnell's camp now says that's what she really meant.["NOW" says?  It was clear from the beginning that was what she meant!] The phrase stemmed from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. He cited the language of the First Amendment and said that it built "a wall of separation between Church and State." This was not just some poetic flourish. This was one of the nation's founders and author of the Declaration of Independence explaining exactly what the First Amendment means.

At least Paulson is careful here in saying that Jefferson was a founder and author of the Declaration - he was NOT an author of the Constitution.  In fact, he was in Europe while it was being drafted and his letter was written 10 years after the First Amendment was ratified.  While Jefferson is certainly an important forefather whose opinions are key to our understanding of the founding of our nation, he was not present and did not participate in the debates on the Bill of Rights and thus could not "explain[] exactly what the First Amendment means."

...
Later in the debate, O'Donnell challenged Coons to name the five freedoms of the First Amendment. He came up four freedoms short.

Welcome to the club. First Amendment Center surveys show that most Americans can name just one freedom in the First Amendment and only one in 25 can name all five — freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the rights of petition and assembly.

"Welcome to the club"??!!  That's all he gets for not knowing a basic tenet of the Constitution?!  While O'Donnell gets a long lecture despite her being correct that "separation of church and state" is nowhere written in the Constitution and Bill of Rights?!

Obviously this article was not written to inform or correct the record on the First Amendment, but to provide political cover for Coons' errors and continue the incorrect narrative that O'Donnell didn't know her Constitution.  

.

DC Schools Take Over Role of Parents - At Your Expense!

Yes, that's right, let's have the state take the burden off parents to raise their children.



And GREAT NEWS - you are paying for this!!!

Amplify’d from www.myfoxdc.com

DC Students Receive Dinner at School

Getting kids to eat three healthy meals a day can be a challenge, especially if money is tight. But D.C. Public Schools have found a way to take some of that burden off parents. They are now serving dinner at school.

And the best news of all is this is a federally-funded program. Read more at www.myfoxdc.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/dclg

First Lady above the law cuz she's "well liked" & "doesn't know what she's doing"

Yeah, um, I don't think that's the standard for the law...

Amplify’d from drudgereport.com

First lady Michelle Obama appears to have violated Illinois law -- when she engaged in political discussion at a polling place!

"You kind of have to drop the standard for the first lady, right?" the official explained late Thursday. "I mean, she's pretty well liked and probably doesn't know what she's doing." Read more at drudgereport.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/cr8p

On COC: This is exactly the point

The Chamber of Commerce is already being harassed by the Administration, why would they want to open up their donors to the same thing?! It would absolutely chill free speech - who would donate to non-profit causes they believed in if it would open them up to harassment by union bullies and Obama's thugs? That is exactly why they want those names - so they can intimidate the donors, launch investigations against them, and thus silence them.

Notice how they are not attacking any liberal organizations or unions who have the exact same circumstances as the COC - this is purely a political witch hunt designed to bring down Obama's enemies. It has NOTHING to do with transparency or fair elections - if so, Obama can start with HIMSELF and his own party

Bottom line: Dems are desperate and want to blame their upcoming losses on anything but themselves and their destructive policies.
.

Amplify’d from dailycaller.com

Chamber of Commerce’s position that disclosure of their donors would expose them to harassment, such as protests by labor unions at the homes of health insurance executives.

they don’t want to subject their donors to, in their view, harassment and intimidation from allies of the administration,” Tapper said.Read more at dailycaller.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/clf4

Wanted: Another Massachusetts Miracle - Beat Barney Frank!

Two things I never thought I'd see in my lifetime: the Red Sox win the World Series (and it happened TWICE!!!) and a Republican in Kennedy's seat (the PEOPLE's seat!)

I am now a believer in miracles! Never say never - anything can happen, you just gotta believe!

Now we have a chance to send Bahney Frank back home to his boyfriend's gay prostitution ring.

Bahney's rap sheet is a mile long, but perhaps his worst crime against the country was "rolling the dice" with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and helping usher in this recession by refusing to provide any oversight or reform to prevent their magnificent collapse of which he and others had PLENTY of warning.

We need another Massachusetts Miracle to get this guy out of office and begin our recovery. So get out there and help Sean Bielat beat Bahney Frank in MA-4! I just donated: http://seanbielat.org/

A GOP unknown is in striking range of Barney Frank

He began to think about running but didn't make a final decision until Jan. 19, when a certain Republican won election to the Senate from Massachusetts -- and did it by winning in Frank's district. "When Scott Brown won the 4th Congressional District, it became clear that not only could a Republican win here," says Bielat, "but there was a case to be made nationally to donors and supporters that this is winnable." Read more at www.washingtonexaminer.com

COOL! My blog made the list of 100 Excellent Conservative Blogs You Should Be Reading

I'm not really familiar with the blog "Masters of Education" but they created a list of "100 Excellent Conservative Blogs You Should Be Reading" and I'm honored to be on it along with other awesome blogs like Townhall, Drudge Report, Hot Air, Redstate, and Right Wing News!

Here I am at #55, in the Female Bloggers section:

55. Alexa Shrugged: This socially conservative female blogger likes to write about news stories that may make you think, and that you will probably never see on the mainstream news.

Front-Alley Abortions

Pro-choicers like to reminisce about the days of dangerous "back-alley" abortions but have things really changed since then?  They weren't called "back-alley" because they were done in a back alley, it was because illegal abortions were done in regular doctors offices but the women had to sneak in through the back door.  All Roe v. Wade did was legalize these "back-alley" offices and allow them to continue the same abortions but bring in people through the front door.  Legalization didn't make abortion any safer (except maybe for the livelihood of the abortionist), it was medical advances like penicillin that saved women's lives.

Front-alley abortion centers exist today, where heartless abortionists butcher women in dangerous and unsanitary conditions.  There is little to no regulation of abortion mills because holding them to standards that even tattoo parlors and veterinarian offices have to abide by would violate a "woman's right to choose!"  Instead of being so worried that having medical standards in place would shut down abortion centers and reduce "access" to abortion, maybe proaborts should be more concerned that their precious abortion centers are so unsanitary, and unsafe that they would have to close in the first place!

The mantra of "safe, legal, but rare" is a sham - they don't care about safety or reducing abortions, they only care that they're legal, no matter the cost to the women, families and children.

Some front-alley abortion mills in the news:

Judge Allows Louisiana Abortion Facility Not Meeting Safety Standards to Reopen
http://www.lifenews.com/state5461.html

The health department said it found the Hope Medical Group for Women abortion center failed to ensure a physician performed a physical exam of the mother prior to the abortion and failed to properly monitor vital signs of patients under anesthesia. 
 
It also did not have proper procedures in place for administering anesthesia and failed to have properly trained medical professionals administering anesthesia and engaging in other medical procedures related to it.

Abortion Practitioner With Problems Replaces One Who Killed Woman in Maryland
http://www.lifenews.com/state5465.html

Wartanian has a long and sordid history of malpractice suits and wrongful deaths reaching back decades, Newman notes, and he was involved in a 2001 Maryland scandal that led to reforms in the way the Board of Physicians disciplines doctors. But through it all, Wartanian has escaped discipline. 

Operation Rescue has issued a new report detailing Wartanian's legal woes and his history of incompetence that has led to the deaths of at least two babies not destined for abortions.

Suspended Abortion Practitioner Nicola Riley Putting Women at Medical Risk Utah
http://www.lifenews.com/state5485.html

Earlier this month, the Maryland Board of Physicians suspended the medical license of abortion practitioner Nicola I. Riley. Riley was a staff abortion practitioner of embattled abortion business owner Steven Chase Brigham but following the suspension, Riley has returned to her Utah home to do abortions there.
 
Riley was involved in the botched abortion in Elkton, Maryland, that led to the discovery of Brigham's scheme to circumvent late-term abortion laws.

She is accused of aiding and abetting the unlicensed practice of medicine whereby Brigham and his staff begin abortions at his New Jersey centers, which don't meet state health and safety laws to make them eligible to do later-term abortions, then transporting the women to Maryland for completion of the abortion. Brigham has been found to have injured women in two other similar abortions.

See also:
Blood Money: More Abortonists Butcher Their Customers

Kerry attacks Dem voters

"people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth" Um, you mean like "hope" or "change"?

Clueless voters are exactly how we got into this predicament! Informed, engaged voters are what's going to get us out of it in November!

Amplify’d from bostonherald.com

John Kerry: Democrats’ woes stem from uninformed voters

A testy U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday blamed clueless voters with short attention spans for the uphill battle beleaguered Democrats are facing against Republicans across the nation.

“We have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening,” Kerry told reporters after touring the Boston Medical Center yesterday. Read more at bostonherald.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/b6lg

h/t Erick Brockway

Blood Money: More Abortonists Butcher Their Customers

It always sickens me to hear pro-choicers hail abortion "doctors" as heroes.  In reality (if you get to see someone with a medical degree, not just an unqualified and unlicensed staff member) these front-alley abortionists are last-of-their-class quacks who ruthlessly butcher desperate women in dirty and unsafe conditions in order to turn a quick and easy buck.  Complications?  Too bad, gotta keep the assembly line in the abortion mill going - maybe if you're lucky they'll call 911 in a timely fashion, but then ask the ambulance to come without the lights flashing - bad for business dontchaknow.  They don't care about women, they only care about themselves and the almighty dollar.

Anyway, here are a couple of these Dr. Deaths who are finally paying a small price for killing or seriously injuring their customers:

Practitioner Who Killed Woman in Botched Abortion Loses Medical License
http://www.lifenews.com/state5444.html

Ferrer is accused of failing to properly administer pain medications, failing to monitor the patient’s respiration and ventilation, and failing to employ standard methods of care to resuscitate the patient. He is accused of giving her a fatal overdose of meperidine, a narcotic also known as Demerol.
...
The case was stagnant for years until the Maryland Board of Physicians, in April, filed a petition against Ferrer for "failure to meet the standard of quality care" in his negligent treatment of Crowe that resulted in her death. 
...
“I hope one day these same officials have to look this innocent young man in the eye and explain how they decided that veterinary clinics deserved more oversight and regulation than the facility that killed his mother,” Ames said. 

   Abortion Practitioner Agrees to License Suspension After Severely Injuring Teen
http://www.lifenews.com/state5445.html

Brigham is not allowed to do late-term abortions in New Jersey, one of the four states in which he owns an abortion business, because he doesn't meet the state's medical requirements. As a result, he has started late-term abortions for women there and transported them via rental car to his Maryland abortion centers to complete the abortions.

One abortion using this method went so poorly, Brigham was forced to take the teenager to a local Maryland hospital -- and she eventually had to be airlifted to Johns Hopkins Medical center because the abortion caused a perforated uterus and it required immediate surgery.

 
Practitioner Heads to Jail for Manslaughter, Killed Woman in Failed Abortion
http://www.lifenews.com/state5453.html

Laura, who was adopted at the age of four from Honduras by her parents, was 13 weeks into the pregnancy when she had the abortion. Osathanondh reportedly sedated her and did not have any other staff members on site who had appropriate medical training to monitor Smith's during the abortion.

Smith died shortly after the abortion, on September 13, 2007. Officials say Laura died from "cardiac pulmonary arrest during anesthesia during a voluntary termination of pregnancy" -- known as an abortion.

...
It said the abortion practitioner did not have any means of monitoring Smith's vital signs properly, did not have oxygen or a functioning blood pressure cuff, and said he "failed to adhere to basic cardiac life support protocol" and did not call 911 in a timely fashion. He was also accused of misleading his own staff by telling them he had given Smith oxygen during the abortion when he had not.

The Truth About Democrat Candidates

Get all your information here:
Travis Childers Dina Titus Carol Shea-Porter Ann Kuster Harry Teague John Hall Michael Arcuri Larry Kissell Earl Pomeroy Steve Driehaus Mary Jo Kilroy Zack Space Kathy Dahlkemper Bryan Lentz Patrick Murphy Chris Carney Paul Kanjorski John Spratt Stephanie Herseth Sandlin Roy Herron Chet Edwards Ciro Rodriguez Glenn Nye Tom Perriello Denny Heck Mike Oliviero Julie Lassa Steve Kagen Steve Raby Ami Bera Joe Garcia Trent Van Haaften Stephene Ann Moore John Callahan Jon Hulburd Jon Hurlburd Stephen Pougnet Lori Edwards Ravi Sangisetty Pat Miles Tarryl Clark Tom White Matthew Zeller Paula Brooks Manan Trivedi Brett Carter Suzan Delbene Colleen Hanabusa Robert Dold Cedric Richmond Lisa Murkowski Barbara Boxer Michael Bennet Alexi Giannoulias Robin Carnahan Paul Hodes Lee Fisher Joe Sestak Harry Reid Scott McAdams Kendrick Meek Charlie Crist Jack Conway Patty Murray Russ Feingold Richard Blumenthal Joe Manchin Chris Coons Ron Wyden Kirsten Gillibrand Mike McMahon Scott Murphy Bill Owens Heath Schuler Charlie Wilson Betty Sutton Kurt Schrader Mark Critz Lincoln Davis Rick Boucher Gerry Connolly Rick Larsen Ann Kirkpatrick Harry Mitchell Jerry McNerney John Salazar Betsy Markey Allen Boyd Alan Grayson Alan Grayson Suzanne Kosmas Jim Marshall Debbie Halvorson Bill Foster Phil Hare Baron Hill Leonard Boswell Frank Kratovil Gary McDowell Mark Schauer Mike Ross Dennis Cardoza Christopher Murphy John Barrow Melissa Bean Bruce Braley Dave Loebsack John Yarmuth Chellie Pingree Tim Walz Russ Carnahan Rush Holt Carolyn McCarthy Dan Maffei Bob Etheridge Mike McIntyre David Wu Jason Altmire Tim Holden David Cicilline Jim Matheson Ron Kind Bobby Bright Gabrielle Giffords Jim Costa Loretta Sanchez Ed Perlmutter Jim Himes John Carney Ron Klein Sanford Bishop, Jr. Walter Minnick Joe Donnelly Ben Chandler Gary Peters Ike Skelton John Adler Martin Heinrich

Lookin' Like a Fool with Your Gun on the Ground

This is a pretty funny story - criminals beware, your baggy pants can and will be used against you in a court of law!

Gun turned up after hands went up and pants fell down 
Court upholds cop's decision to pull up a suspect's baggy jeans. 

White Castle, weed and baggy pants. It has all the elements of a comedy, but throw in a concealed handgun, a suspected drug deal and a wardrobe malfunction, and it's a Minnesota Court of Appeals case that even compelled a judge to quote an "American Idol" audition.

St. Paul police officer Kara Breci and her partner spotted a possible drug deal in a car at a White Castle parking lot in November 2008. They ordered the men out of their vehicle and told them to put their hands in the air. That's when suspect Frank Irving Wiggins' baggy pants, already dangerously low at the knees, fell to the pavement.

... "Wiggins argues that affirming the district court would encourage officers to trample the privacy of young people who participate in this baggy-pants fashion trend. The concern is unwarranted.

"We are confident that our opinion will not be misconstrued to suggest that an officer can freely meddle with a person's clothes to the refrain, 'Pants on the ground, pants on the ground'..."

.

Project 2996: In Honor of Mildred Rose Naiman

My September 11th tribute as part of Project 2,996 is to Mildred Rose Naiman, 81, from Andover, MA, the town next to my hometown. According to WBZ Boston, over 200 people with ties to Massachusetts died on 9-11-01.

"Millie," as she was known to her loved ones, was on her way to California to visit her 2 sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren when she was killed. She was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to be hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center.

Born on March 24, 1920, Mildred Naiman worked at Western Electric Co. as a tester. In her later years, she lived in a self-proclaimed "bachelorette pad" - her apartment in a retirement community - where she was active in planning and organizing events with her friends.

In a profile published on January 6, 2002, her daughter-in-law, Carol Naiman, told the New York Times, "She had a little bit of a lead foot. She had been stopped for speeding and was totally insulted the officer would give an old woman a ticket."

Although the feisty great-grandmother had had several knee replacement surgeries, cataracts, and other health problems, she still loved to travel. Her son Russ said, "If something was wrong with her, she'd go to the doctor and say, 'Fix me up; I've got a lot of traveling to do.' "

While she needed the help of a wheelchair at the airport, she still managed to visit her family twice a year. The Sunday before her fatal flight, a family member had asked if she was afraid of flying; her granddaughter, Hope, remembers her reply: "No, I've gone everywhere already--to Germany, the Bahamas. I'm not afraid to fly."

Incredibly, on July 24, 2004, the New York Post reported that the medical examiner's office had identified her remains. Many 9-11 victims are still unaccounted for. I hope her family gained some sense of closure with this discovery and was able to finally put her body to rest.

Today, on the ninth anniversary of her death, we celebrate the life of Mildred Rose Naiman.

May she, and the other 2,995 ruthlessly murdered on that day, rest in peace.


9-11: NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGET

What if James Lee had been conservative?

Peter Roff has it exactly right:

Amplify’d from politics.usnews.com

If James Lee had been a member of a Tea Party group or an activist opposed to abortion rights the national media would be in the throes of ecstasy, describing his actions as the product of some sort of loosely organized effort that should have all Americans living in fear for their lives and their liberty. The Department of Homeland Security would probably announce the creation of some sort of task force to investigate his activities and root out his followers and allies. And President Barack Obama would no doubt address the issue in his weekly radio address. Read more at politics.usnews.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/9qh1

CA, of all places, builds $578M school - personally I would have drawn the line at the talking benches

Money quote (literally):
"New buildings are nice, but when they're run by the same people who've given us a 50 percent dropout rate, they're a big waste of taxpayer money," said Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution who sits on the California Board of Education.

LA unveils $578M school, costliest in the nation

At RFK, the features include fine art murals and a marble memorial depicting the complex's namesake, a manicured public park, a state-of-the-art swimming pool and preservation of pieces of the original hotel.

Not to mention "an ornate auditorium suitable for hosting the Oscars, and a faculty dining room that the superintendent says is 'better than most restaurants.'" 

The pricey schools have come during a sensitive period for the nation's second-largest school system: Nearly 3,000 teachers have been laid off over the past two years, the academic year and programs have been slashed. The district also faces a $640 million shortfall and some schools persistently rank among the nation's lowest performing.

Shhhhh, talking about over-spending, cash-strapped, union-run schools wasting even more taxpayer money is a "sensitive" issue!

The extravagance has led some to wonder where the line should be drawn and whether more money should be spent on teachers.

 Yeah, maybe it would have been better if they had focused on improving education for children.

donations should have been sought to fund the RFK project's talking benches commemorating the site's history

I think I would have drawn the line at the talking benches ...

skyrocketing material and land prices, rigorous seismic codes and unionized labor.

WHAT? Regulations and unions have driven up costs?!  NO WAY!

Read more at news.yahoo.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/94db

Socialized Health Care: Grand Failure

Peakes woman loses her baby, dignity while awaiting hospital treatment - Isn’t Canada’s health care grand?

Jonas, 32, sewed up his own leg after ER wait - Sweden’s health care is grand, too!

Obamacare Only Looks Worse Upon Further Review - Won’t US health care under Obama be grand!

It's not plagiarism, it's "trying on a persona"

Originality and uniqueness are on the wane?!?!?! I WEEP for the future! My generation is so shallow and superficial, no wonder they loved Obama! Just a generation of followers who are lazy and don't care about doing anything right - or perhaps anything at all.

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

“Our notion of authorship and originality was born, it flourished, and it may be waning,” Ms. Blum said.

She contends that undergraduates are less interested in cultivating a unique and authentic identity — as their 1960s counterparts were — than in trying on many different personas, which the Web enables with social networking.

“If you are not so worried about presenting yourself as absolutely unique, then it’s O.K. if you say other people’s words, it’s O.K. if you say things you don’t believe, it’s O.K. if you write papers you couldn’t care less about because they accomplish the task, which is turning something in and getting a grade,” Ms. Blum said, voicing student attitudes. “And it’s O.K. if you put words out there without getting any credit.” Read more at www.nytimes.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/8a2r

Told ya so! Adult stem cells are actually successful while embryonic is all "hope" and "change" and no substance. What is it about people fixating on promoting scientific research that kills a unique human life and has no evidence of curing anyone? Why has this been a cause celeb?

Is the culture of death that entrenched? Are they doing it just because it is unethical and want to push boundaries? That they want to debase human life to protect their "logic" for abortion, among other agendas?

Kudos to this article for actually talking about adult stem cells - most people don't realize there is such a thing, that they are actually successful in the real world, and think ALL stem cells are embryonic. They also think Bush made their research illegal when in fact he just banned federal funds (like those from people who are morally opposed to the practice) from paying for it.

Embryonic stem cells have thus far been a failure, cruelly inflating the hopes of people with truly tragic ailments and diseases while activists use their pain and hope to further their own agenda.

This issue has been on the back burner for a while (maybe because there have been no results to crow about) it's high time the truth is revealed.

Amplify’d from www.boston.com

Adult stem cell research far ahead of embryonic

example of many innovative therapies doctors are studying with adult stem cells. Those are stem cells typically taken from bone marrow and blood -- not embryos. For all the emotional debate that began about a decade ago on allowing the use of embryonic stem cells, it's adult stem cells that are in human testing today.

"That's really one of the great success stories of stem cell biology that gives us all hope

"That gives adult stem cells really a very interesting and potent quality that embryonic stem cells don't have," Read more at www.boston.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/89rb

Cross-posted at Right Wing News

Federal judge blocks key parts of Arizona immigration law | would "interfere" with feds ignoring law

Well if the feds' policies and objectives are to NOT enforce our country's laws and borders (which unfortunately we know is true), then YES Arizona's enforcement of the laws the feds are ignoring DOES interfere! BUT THAT'S A GREAT THING!

Amplify’d from www.latimes.com

"The federal government's ability to enforce its policies and achieve its objectives will be undermined by the state's enforcement of statutes that interfere with federal law," she wrote.Read more at www.latimes.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/856u

Forget Christie's comments on immigration - I'm upset he doesn't like Jersey Shore!

URL:  http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/110767...

The Hill: Christie: 'Jersey Shore' is insulting

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/82qc

Politico: Obama, student lefty | WHAT-Obama wasn't a dazzling writer & MSM missed an item from his past?! #tcot

Gee, maybe the books Obama published that the MSM and media fawn over were heavily edited or ghost written? Maybe that's why Obama was never forthcoming about sharing his student papers and writings. Maybe he's not as amazing as advertised!



And, journalists overlooking items from Obama's past? Imagine that! Hilarious.

Amplify’d from www.politico.com

Written just months before Obama graduated, this is not exactly his best work, but it offers a new glimpse of his very conventional campus liberalism of the time.

awful prose from a guy who can clearly write suggests he didn't exactly put heart and soul into this one

It's pretty funny that a bunch of journalists hunting through the Columbiana archives didn't find this gemRead more at www.politico.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/82pu

Politico: W.H. sends 2012 rescue team to Fla. | Dems aren't happy w/ gulf response

Amplify’d from dyn.politico.com

presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee, even characterized Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to the state as “a screw-up,” saying she was “embarrassed” by his speech.

“It was just so off target and out of touch with the reality of what’s going on over there,” Sink said in an interview at the Florida Democratic Party headquarters in Tallahassee.

“Sometimes, it’s just how you communicate, and when you go to Maine instead of coming down here it kind of sends a message,” said state Rep. Bill Heller, a DemocratRead more at dyn.politico.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/82jp

Politico: W.H. sends 2012 rescue team to Fla. | Dems aren't happy w/ gulf response

Amplify’d from dyn.politico.com

presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee, even characterized Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to the state as “a screw-up,” saying she was “embarrassed” by his speech.

“It was just so off target and out of touch with the reality of what’s going on over there,” Sink said in an interview at the Florida Democratic Party headquarters in Tallahassee.

“Sometimes, it’s just how you communicate, and when you go to Maine instead of coming down here it kind of sends a message,” said state Rep. Bill Heller, a DemocratRead more at dyn.politico.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/82jp

Some economic sense compared to Obama's lunacy

Favorite lines:

"unfortunate when extreme exaggeration emanates from the White House"

"That's nonsense"

"classic example of what not to do during bad economic times"

"serious viewpoints are defined as only those that support his position"

"surprising how many numerically challenged pronouncements come from this most scripted and political of White Houses"

"revoking the laws of arithmetic"

Amplify’d from www.wallstreetjournal.com

A president's most valuable asset—with voters, Congress, allies and enemies—is credibility. So it is unfortunate when extreme exaggeration emanates from the White House.

President Obama says "every economist who's looked at it says that the Recovery Act has done its job"—i.e., the stimulus bill has turned the economy around. That's nonsense. Opinions differ widely and many leading economists believe that its impact has been small. Why? The expectation of future spending and future tax hikes to pay for the stimulus and Mr. Obama's vast expansion of government are offsetting the direct short-run expansionary effect. That is standard in all macroeconomic theories.

So, as I and others warned in 2008, the permanent government expansion and higher tax rate agenda is a classic example of what not to do during bad economic times. Worse yet, all the subsidies, bailouts, regulations and mandates are forcing noncommercial decisions on the economy, which now awaits literally thousands of new diktats as a result of things like ObamaCare and the financial reform bill. The uncertainty is impeding investment and hiring.

The president does not say that economists agree that the high future taxes to finance the stimulus will hurt the economy. (The University of Chicago's Harald Uhlig estimates $3.40 of lost output for every dollar of government spending.) Either the president is not being told of serious alternative viewpoints, or serious viewpoints are defined as only those that support his position. In either case, he is being ill-served by his staff.

It is surprising how many numerically challenged pronouncements come from this most scripted and political of White Houses. One slip is eventually forgiven, but when a pattern emerges, no one believes it is an accident.

The stimulus bill has assumed certain mystic powers in administration discourse, but revoking the laws of arithmetic shouldn't be one of them.

his staff needs to avoid putting these exaggerations on the teleprompter. It undermines confidence and raises concerns about competence. It's doing nobody any good—not the economy and certainly not Mr. Obama.Read more at www.wallstreetjournal.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/7xo7

Millions for Road Signs? That's Stimulating? - $15 million project has only created 17 jobs!

I'd like to "Recover" some of that money! Nix that, ALL of that money!

Amplify’d from abcnews.go.com

On the road leading to Dulles Airport outside Washington, DC there's a 10' x 11' road sign touting a runway improvement project funded by the federal stimulus. The project cost nearly $15 million and has created 17 jobs, according to recovery.gov. However, there's another number that caught the eye of ABC News: $10,000. That's how much money the Washington Airports Authority tells ABC News it spent to make and install the sign – a single sign – announcing that the project is "Funded by The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act" and is "Putting America Back to Work." The money for the sign was taken out of the budget for the runway improvement project. Read more at abcnews.go.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/7sgo

CEO of Amplify comments on my post! This is why Amplify is awesome!

Read my post:

Look out, Fail Whale! Amplify is like Twitter, but BETTER

http://alexashrugged.amplify.com/2010/07/15/look-out-fail-whale-amplify-is-like-twitter-but-better/

Amplify’d from alexashrugged.amplify.com

Sue H   great post. Now if only I knew how to safe it as a favorite so I can reference it when I get around to using this more. 19 hours ago1 Reply

Eric Goldstein   Sue, you can Recommend it, which is sort of like a social favorite. It adds the post to your list of Recommended Amps and bumps it into the Newsfeed of people who have made you a Source on Amplify. Hope that helps. 17 hours ago3 Replys Read more at alexashrugged.amplify.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/7sdg

To Protest Hiring of Nonunion Help, Union Hires Nonunion Jobless Recruits

HAHA - "I don't know why I'm here, I just like walking around and yelling at people! Like I do everyday on the street corner, only now I get paid for it!"

Amplify’d from www.wallstreetjournal.com

Mr. Raye says he's grateful for the work, even though he's not sure why he's doing it. "I could care less," he says. "I am being paid to march around and sound off." Read more at www.wallstreetjournal.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/7sd8

Look out, Fail Whale! Amplify is like Twitter, but BETTER

Look out, Twitter!  We’ve seen the fail whale waaaaaay too often these past few weeks and people are starting to look into other ways to instantly share information online.  Enter Amplify, whose popularity has seemingly grown tremendously recently.  I’m definitely using it - I’d guess 90% of my Tweets in the last week were autoposted from Amplify.
Amplify is like Twitter, but better.  Here’s why:

-It has a Simple Bookmarklet that you drag and drop into your browser; when you are on a page you want to amplify, you click it and are immediately given the options to Clip This Page, Share the URL, Write a Post, and Microblog.

-Clip this page: When you’re reading an article and come across a great paragraph (or several paragraphs) that you simply can’t condense into 140 characters, you can clip exactly what you want, comment on it, and send it out - the title is used as your tweet
-Share the URL - Similar to Clip This Page except instead of attaching the paragraphs you clipped, just the url is attached
-Write a post: WYSIWYG - just like writing a blog post
-Microblog: Just like sending a Twitter update, but it gives you 500 characters

-Customization: Like Twitter you can post an avatar and background, but unlike Twitter, you can have all your social media links on your profile and add widgets, CSS, etc.
-Easy integration with other social media tools - you can choose for your Amp to auto post to Twitter, FB, Google Buzz, Posterous, Tumblr, Ping.fm, Plurk, Friendfeed, Diigo, Delicious and use your bit.ly account!

-You can also find friends who are using Amplify through Twitter, FB, and Google
.-Signing in and customizing your content from other tools is a breeze.

-And just this morning, I was thinking about how I wanted my Amps to post to my blog and in the afternoon, as if reading my mind, Amplify announced that it will now autopost to Blogger and Wordpress!!!

This is huge for me!  I’ve wanted to get back into blogging more but it’s hard for me to find the time.  A lot of what I blog is sharing articles and reacting to them - which is exactly what Amplify does!  So not only am I posting to Twitter and people who follow me as a source on Amplify, I’m also adding more frequent content to my blog.

Amplify is run by WordPress which is why it has so many great features and is so easy and familiar to use.  With the new ability to autopost to blogs, Amplify has the potential to reach millions more people and it makes me optimistic for future features and third party apps to come.  Top of my wishlist is lists for organizing your sources and a Tweetdeck-type application to view them.

So anyway, these are just SOME of the reasons Amplify is better than Twitter, and many other social media tools - I’m still learning and exploring the features and LOVING all the functionality!  I mean, Look at me, I’m actually sitting down to write a full blog post with NO links! So what are you waiting for?? Get Amped!