Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Not of Supreme Caliber.

You gotta wonder where Obama finds these winners?



Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's pick to become the newest Supreme Court justice, is on the record with some controversial remarks about 'diversity,' 'judicial activism' and female judges vs. male judges.

For example, the New York Times reported that in 2001, at the annual Judge Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture, Sotomayor had this to say:

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

“Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences,” she said later, regarding non-white, female judges, “our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.”

Also, there is a 2005 video of Sotomayor, speaking with potential law clerks, saying that a “court of appeals is where policy is made.” She added: “And I know — I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don’t make law. I know. O.K. I know. I’m not promoting it. I’m not advocating it ...”

So here she is laughing about using the bench to make policy. Please fight this woman's confirmation.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Just What We Needed!

From CNSNEWS.COM

.

According to an analysis of climate legislation performed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the cap-and-trade system favored by President Barack Obama and many congressional Democrats could potentially damage the U.S. manufacturing sector and force jobs to move overseas.

The policy, under certain scenarios, for example, “can cause domestic production … to shift abroad,” reads the EPA analysis, and result in greater greenhouse gas emissions in countries that do not have similar cap-and-trade rules.

Further, the EPA’s Apr. 20 preliminary analysis of the bill, sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), shows that the plan would reduce U.S. manufacturing capacity 0.3 percent by 2020 and by nearly 1.5 percent by 2050.

Had the bill not been revised late last week after negotiations between industrial state Democrats and Waxman and Markey, U.S. manufacturing reportedly would have shrunk 0.9 percent by 2020.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Meet The New Boss. Same As The Old Boss.



I don't often listen to this woman but I couldn't resist this bit of revelation.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Believe In Eugene



I don't normally enjoy hip-hop but this one's pretty catchy.

Could You Be Any More Evasive???



Keep in mind that this is the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve. This is the extent in which our money is being managed.

Not Your Grandmother's Girl Scouts

From the WND


While the Boy Scouts continue to be persecuted for standing by their original values, you know God, country, no gay leaders camping with little boys, etc. it appears that the Girl Scouts on the other hand have drank the Kool-aid and jumped the shark.(I can't think of anymore cliches)

In 1993 the Girl Scouts USA decided to make God optional in its program at the national convention in Minneapolis.
From the Girl Scout curriculum, the organization's promise is now:
Girl Scouts of the USA makes no attempt to define or interpret the word "God" in the Girl Scout Promise. It looks to individual members to establish for themselves the nature of their spiritual beliefs. When making the Girl Scout Promise, individuals may substitute wording appropriate to their own spiritual beliefs for the word "God."
Now girls from 6th to 8th grade will read quotes from Buddha and study symbols rooted in pagan mythology and popular New Age tools. They will be introduced to feminist and erotic poems, and read quotes from Harriet Woods, pro-abortion former head of the National Women's Political Caucus.

In the next age group, for teens in the ninth and tenth grades, girls are taught about wage disparities between the sexes, and a lack of assets and senior management positions held by women.

"Girltopia" poses the questions, "When women don't earn enough, what happens to their children?" and "How could everyone help create a Girltopia?"

When teens reach their junior and senior years in high school, they begin a Girl Scouts curriculum called "Your Voice Your World: The Power of Advocacy." It encourages young women to begin "raising their voices as advocates" and follow the examples of other young people who are speaking out on causes such as global warming, universal health care
, racism and child poverty.

One question asks, "What policies is our city putting in place to combat global warming?"

Teens are then asked to generate a list of causes they are passionate about. One example suggests girls "propose new environmental protection laws for waterways in your state."

The text encourages Girl Scouts to take their ideas and list steps necessary to accomplish goals on advocacy charts. It provides the following suggestion for a cause:

I worry about all the waste in using plastic bags and how their use in my community contributes to global warming. One example is the supermarket – do we really need to be using all those plastic bags?

The list goes on and on. Please read the entire article.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Jail Beds or Bureaucracy

Just when I think these guys can't be more out of touch with the people and their responsibility as county commissioners, they lower the bar even lower.
First they vote for a gas tax that the people had turned down 2-3 times, later having to resend the tax under mounting public pressure which probably resulted in Bobby Greens replacement.
Now 3 of the 5 commissioners along with the rest of the Budget Committee have decided to not fund the needed jail beds and deputies but rather add to the counties bureaucracy.

Who says we need the jail space? Well there's Sheriff Russ Burger. There are all the Circuit Court judges. There's Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Representative Peter DeFazio who all begged Congress for the money in the first place to salvage our deteriorating corrections facility. And there's Eugene City Councilman Mike Clark who made a passionate plea for the public to show up at the meeting and voice their concerns.

Led by Commissioner Pete Sorenson the board choose to:
Remove $3,237,695 for 84 jail beds.

ADD $250,000 FOR THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONER ASSISTANTS TO HELP PROVIDE BETTER CONSTITUENT SUPPORT AND IMPROVE PUBLIC TRUST.
ADD $82,618 FOR A "RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ANALYST" TO HELP IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL FUNDING SOURCES AND INCREASED EFFICIENCIES IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
ADD $29,100 FOR "BOARD OF COMMISSIONER COMMUNITY MEETINGS" TO ENHANCE PUBLIC TRUST BY LISTENING AND LEARNING.

Just a suggestion guys, reduce the number of commissioners to three via recall. Rob Handy can't be recalled until he has been in office for 6 months. But Sorenson and Bill Fleenor can.
When you make choices like these I see no need for assistants, Resource Development Analysts, or meeting to enhance the public trust by listening and learning when you seem to be doing neither.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Just a Little Less Freedom

The District 4 Court of Appeals said it was "more than a little troubled" that it is apparently legal for Wisconsin police to attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody's movements without obtaining search warrants.
As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights -- even if the drivers aren't suspects.

Officers do not need to get warrants beforehand because GPS tracking does not involve a search or a seizure, Judge Paul Lundsten wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel based in Madison.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Does This Woman Have A Chance?



I sure hope so.
Ex CEO of eBay Meg Whitman is the California GOP candidate for governator.
While it is pointed out that she has in the past appeared to support federal funding for programs for the children of undocumented immigrants, she said Wednesday that "we have to prosecute illegal aliens and criminal illegal aliens in all of our cities, in every part of California."

She also said that "We have to stop that" referring to San Francisco and L.A.'s "sanctuary city" ordinances.


She attended public school from kindergarten through the 12th grade. In 1973 she entered Princeton University -- as part of the fourth class of women to attend the school. She graduated with a degree in economics and went on to Harvard Business School where she earned a Master in Business Administration.

Her 30-year career includes helping companies, such as Stride Rite, Bain & Company and Procter & Gamble, and working on much-loved brands, such as Mr. Potato Head, Keds and Barney. At FTD, she helped a network of florists strengthen their business networks. And at Hasbro and Disney, she helped spark the imaginations of children and encouraged them to live to their full potential with educational toys, shows and programs.

In 1998, she joined a start-up company in Silicon Valley. At the time, few people could see the potential in a company with 30 employees and a little over $4 million in revenue. But Meg did. She was inspired by what she saw -- a company dedicated to helping millions of people reach their goals of launching and building their own businesses. And she knew. This was the company for her.
more

In 10 years, Meg grew the company to more than 15,000 employees and nearly $8 billion in revenue, with a network of 12 million users in California alone. Under her leadership, eBay expanded globally and developed a culture and infrastructure that turned eBay into an unparalleled business success story. Using her expertise in brand-building and consumer marketing, she turned eBay into a household name and revolutionized the way goods are bought, sold and paid-for on line.

At each of these companies, Meg's mission became helping others achieve theirs. At the same time, she was learning important lessons about inspiring individuals to pursue their dreams. She encouraged the independence, the self-determination and the hard work of customers and employees. And she was learning important lessons about the impact an unrestrained government can have on small business owners and large corporations.

Meg is a strong leader who believes in the power of community -- that people working together can make a difference for all of us. She brought that leadership and that power of community to businesses in the state. And she will do the same for government in California.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

My Tinfoil Hat Is Atwitch

If the fact that Obama has recently placed the direction of the 2010 census under the direct control of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (they formerly were in the Commerce Dept.) to aid in the reapportionment of congressional seats to their advantage didn't stir your interest, perhaps this report from the World Net Daily will:

Some people are upset over an army of some 140,000 workers hired in part with a $700 million taxpayer-funded contract to collect GPS readings for every front door in the nation.

"Imagine if you will, that there are a number of people in a neighborhood that could not find the addresses they are tasked with finding. They are not locals, maybe are unable to read a map, or perhaps do not have the time to pull out a map, and they need to find you with specific GPS coordinates. Their devices would lead them to your front door with these coordinates. Imagine a crisis is afoot, and martial law
is put into place. U.S. troops need to round up particular folks," he wrote.

"Let's take this a step further. After all, with Barack Obama desiring to decrease the number of folks in the military, and with forces committed worldwide, we may not have sufficient military forces at home to deal with a rising national emergency. If the government decided to rely on foreign troops, perhaps United Nations personnel, most of which may not understand the street signs, much less know the lay of the land, they could use GPS devices to direct them to your front door," he wrote.

They came to my house last week, I happened to be outside. I thought it was very strange that she just asked me about other structures and the address and then scurried off.
How about you?

Remember-It's All About The Kids!

How hard is it to remove an entrenched teacher from a public school? Evidently in L.A. it's dang near impossible.
L.A. Times
5/609:


For seven years, the Los Angeles Unified School District has paid Matthew Kim a teaching salary of up to $68,000 per year, plus benefits.

His job is to do nothing.

Every school day, Kim's shift begins at 7:50 a.m., with 30 minutes for lunch, and ends when the bell at his old campus rings at 3:20 p.m. He is to take off all breaks, school vacations and holidays, per a district agreement with the teacher's union. At no time is he to be given any work by the district or show up at school.

He has never missed a paycheck.

In the jargon of the school district, Kim is being "housed" while his fitness to teach is under review. A special education teacher, he was removed from Grant High School in Van Nuys and assigned to a district office in 2002 after the school board voted to fire him for allegedly harassing teenage students and colleagues. In the meantime, the district has spent more than $2 million on him in salary and legal costs.

Because these non-working teachers are so numerous the district has decided to order them to continue their routine of nothingness at home. All total the housed teachers in the L.A. district collect about $10 million a year even as the district is contemplating massive layoffs due to budget cuts.

This problem is not isolated to California. New York City has about 550 home non-schoolers. Chicago has about 30.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Banned in Britain



The British seem to be a little hypocritical when it comes to who they let into their wonderful multicultural utopia. They have banned Michael Savage from entering England because they don't appreciate his "hate speech".
They didn't seem to have a problem with paying for a Muslim cleric who has defended suicide bombers to attend a conference on Islam in Turkey however.
The Government paid for Yusuf al-Qaradawi and his wife to fly from their home in Qatar to Istanbul for the two-day event, and for their accommodation in a five-star hotel.
The 80-year-old cleric was the focus of furious protests in 2004 when he visited Britain as a guest of London mayor Ken Livingstone.
Mr al-Qaradawi, who has also called for the execution of homosexuals and opposed equal rights for women, addressed the opening day of the £300,000 conference.

Dom DeLuise RIP



The wonderful and energetic Dom DeLuise died yesterday. Here is a great example of his wit. He will be missed.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Adios Senator Specter




Good riddance to Senator Arlen Sphincter. Recently the long time Republican announced that he was switching to the Democratic party. But not without using the cancer death of conservative Republican Jack Kemp as one of the reasons he left the party.
On CBS's Face the Nation Mr. Specter continued: "If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine."
Fact is, according to the APHA the American Public health Association, Mr. Specter voted in the public interest only 12% of the time.
So whether Mr. Specter is willing to vote the party line despite his convictions or he simply has no convictions, he is now in the correct party.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Quote of the day




stolen from Dvorak Uncensored.

Friday, May 01, 2009

MULTICULTURALISM II



Food for thought. Watch this video and decide where we might be in 20 years. Read Mark Steyn's-"America Alone-The End Of The World As We Know It" if you don't already feel the urgency to reverse the course we are on.