Saturday, May 12, 2007

Nancy Grace to take over for Rosie on The View? - TV Squad

Nancy Grace to take over for Rosie on The View? - TV Squad:

"Sources inside Court TV are saying that one of the reasons why Nancy Grace has
decided to leave Court TV (besides the fact that they are changing their name
and what they cover) is that she really wants to host the ABC morning show, and
couldn't seriously discuss terms with ABC while she was still under contract."


I so hope this rumor turns out to be true. Nancy Grace is one of my favorite people, it would be so fun to see her on the show with the girls.

Bill Moyers Commentary - 'I'm Harry'

Crooks and Liars » 30 Years Of War Profiteering Ahead For Western Oil Companies

Crooks and Liars » 30 Years Of War Profiteering Ahead For Western Oil Companies:

"The 'IoS' today reveals a draft for a new law that would give Western oil
companies a massive share in the third largest reserves in the world. To the
victors, the oil? That is how some experts view this unprecedented arrangement
with a major Middle East oil producer that guarantees investors huge profits for
the next 30 years"


Here is a radical idea. Follow me on this one, oil companies moving into Iraq stand to make a good deal of money - what allows them to move into Iraq. One of those dominant things that is allowing these companies to operate in Iraq is the lives of our soldiers. American soldiers have fought and died for Iraq to be a place where business can be done, without them the country would still be under Saddam and any business that was done would be illegal and operated under a dictator.

Ayn Rand was insistent that no one be used as a means to someone else's ends. What that means for me in Iraq is that the oil money that is set to return to companies moving into Iraq should be shared with the soldiers of the American armed forces. It was the effort of these brave men and womyn who put their lives on the line that enables the business to take place, and they deserve payment for their services.

I know that the armed forces pays them, but that is for their service in protecting us as a nation. The oil companies who have gained more than the rest of us on their lives should pay back more than the rest of us. I am not suggesting a huge tax that would make business and investment profitless. A small percentage of the total profits split between those who served and the close family of those who died would provide a fair amount of funds for those families.It would also just be a great way to thank them for their courage.

Support the troops. End the war. Take action May 26th, 27th, 28th.

Support the troops. End the war. Take action May 26th, 27th, 28th.:

"As Americans, we are blessed by that sacrifice and support, which keeps us safe
and keeps us strong.
As patriots, we call on our government to support our
troops in the most important way it can - by ending this war and bringing them
home.
This Memorial Day weekend, we will all take responsibility for the
country we love and the men and women who protect it. We will volunteer, we will
pray, and we will speak out. Each of us has a responsibility to act, a duty to
our troops and to each other. Support the troops. End the war.As Americans, we
are blessed by that sacrifice and support, which keeps us safe and keeps us
strong.
As patriots, we call on our government to support our troops in the
most important way it can - by ending this war and bringing them home.
This
Memorial Day weekend, we will all take responsibility for the country we love
and the men and women who protect it. We will volunteer, we will pray, and we
will speak out. Each of us has a responsibility to act, a duty to our troops and
to each other. Support the troops. End the war.As Americans, we are blessed by
that sacrifice and support, which keeps us safe and keeps us strong.
As
patriots, we call on our government to support our troops in the most important
way it can - by ending this war and bringing them home.
This Memorial Day
weekend, we will all take responsibility for the country we love and the men and
women who protect it. We will volunteer, we will pray, and we will speak out.
Each of us has a responsibility to act, a duty to our troops and to each other.
Support the troops. End the war."


I am unhappy about the way this war is often framed as those on the one side that want the war to end, and those on the other side that want to fight it forever. President Bush and the republicans have more to gain than anyone else is seeing this war come to an end. It was a major factor in driving the republicans from power, so they too want the war to be something behind them.

The question is how do we end this war, and how do we leave the country when we leave. There are those who want us to become involved in Darfur, while also wanting us to pull out of Iraq. Would they be happy if we took all our Iraq troops and put them in Darfur? I think that instead they would complain about the mess we left Iraq in and that we should have done more to fix it - while talking about an illegal occupation of Sudan.

There are those people in the world that will always hate whatever America does. There are those people in the world that have no historical memory and think that the past is forgotten. I have not forgotten the protests and the conspiracy theories surrounding our involvement in Kosovo, a war that America gained nothing from.

Green Wombat: Citi to Invest $50 billion to Fight Global Warming

Green Wombat: Citi to Invest $50 billion to Fight Global Warming:

"Citi, the financial services multinational formerly called Citigroup, has
pledged to spend up to $50 billion over the next decade to invest in renewable
energy and other green technologies. Citi, the financial services multinational
formerly called Citigroup, has pledged to spend up to $50 billion over the next
decade to invest in renewable energy and other green technologies. "


I think we can always get more done when we work with those we disagree with than against them. There is so much truth, and so many ways to view it - how could we assume we know it all.

Media Blog on National Review Online

Media Blog on National Review Online:

"May 10, 2007 — EDITOR'S NOTE: News Corp., The Post's corporate parent, employs
some 47,000 people on five continents. Yesterday, Chairman and CEO Rupert
Murdoch announced the company's dramatic plans to become fully carbon-neutral by
2010. Below are some of his remarks to News Corp. employees explaining why, and
how, we'll do it - and that this is only the start. "


I had an interesting conversation about this today. I mentioned I had read about this on the internet and this guy said he doubted it. I went on that there is reason to believe it is true because Murdoch is not an idiot- which he right away said that he thought he was (I think anyone who thinks an idiot could run News Corp. is an idiot and a willful idiot at that). I mentioned that it could save the company money, and that Murdoch would never turn his back on something that could save money. The man replied that money wasn't everything, got impatient and walked off.

I wonder sometimes why that the left hates so strongly. Why hate Starbucks with such venom, it does good things for its workers, it does good things for education and it is working to do better on the environmental and free trade areas. It used to be said that the left was based on a politics of hatred and envy, and I find that hard not to believe sometimes. Talk to people about McDonalds working to make their food healthier and some of them will tell your right out that they will still hate McDonalds.

Does it make sense to hate a business just because it is big, and how big does it have to be before you should start hating it.

A major problem with the approach that many take towards corporations is that it undermines their causes. Suppose there is a restaurant that sells chickens, it is a fast foot chain and it is fighting for its small part of the market. To do that it has to cut corners on cost to under sell its competitors. It does this by buying chickens from farms that treat their chickens poorly. Now suppose a new president takes over the company, he has heard the complaints and wants to make a change. He makes the commitment to get the best healthiest chickens he can - and has to raise the price to make up for that. If the left continues to treat him with disgust and hatred, the business will go down because the change will not generate new customers and the old ones will leave seeking lower prices. No business can or will take a loss for long, corners will get cut again to lower that price and be competitive. On the other hand if the parties on the left work with the company president and support the company and the change results in a continued profit - the change will remain. Not only that but one business making money doing the right thing can leverage the industry to higher standards.

Today Giuliani is for civil unions, two weeks ago he opposed them, but three weeks ago he was for them - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Today Giuliani is for civil unions, two weeks ago he opposed them, but three weeks ago he was for them - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth:

"It's all so confusing. Just two weeks ago, Rudy came out opposed to civil
unions, even though he was previously for civil unions. Now today Rudy is again
for civil unions. While it's nice that Rudy is finally telling the truth about
his being a liberal, it's still disturbing that he's flip-flopped twice in the
past two weeks on this issue. He did the same thing on abortion (the media has
been paying attention to the abortion flip-flop, but missed the gay one). So
which Rudy is which, why did he flip flop (twice), and how do we know he won't
flip flop again when it's next convenient? I mean, the man lied to the American
people during the presidential debate, got caught, and now is changing his
position again as a result. Lying is kind of a big deal."


I think that if Giuliani could talk to the conservatives in a language that liberals didn't understand he would tell them that he was pro-life and anti-gay rights. Suppose the magic mayor then went to the liberals the next night, and he could talk to them in a language that conservatives wouldn't understand, he would be pro-choice and support gay rights. The one thing that I mistrust about Giuliani more than anything is this, that he has no morals about his political goals.

Romney now basing his presidential decision-making on his religion, but don't you dare ask him about his religion - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Romney now basing his presidential decision-making on his religion, but don't you dare ask him about his religion - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth:

"So which one is it? Is Mitt Romney's Mormon religion off limits for everybody
but Mitt Romney? It's okay for him to give a religious reason for policy
decisions, but not okay for anyone else to inquire more about Romney's religion.
What other policy decisions is Mitt Romney going to make based on the Mormon
religion? Romney, like so many folks on the religious right (even though Romney
isn't really religious right, he's a far-left liberal who's only now pretending
to be a right-winger) firmly believe that their religion should be the basis of
every political decision they make, but when you ask just what their religion is
all about, they get all offended, when they're the ones who made their religion
an issue to start with.

And let's not ignore what's really going on
here. Romney is worried that the religious right, and a lot of Americans, won't
vote for him because he's a Mormon. So he's now quoting the Bible to show that
he's really one of us. The real reason most Americans won't vote for Romney is
because he's a lying hypocrite whose views on everything from guns, to gays, to
the environment, to abortion change every two years based on the political
winds."


I think that there is some subtle language in understanding my point here. It is one thing to look at a religion and say that you disagree with this or that aspect of it. It is clearly another to talk about that religion and those who are followers of it as if they are lower than your religion.

I think that the religion of a candidate has a role in understanding what kind of person they are and in turn what kind of leader they are. I think that if done respectfully, which there is no reason it can't be - there is room to talk about religion and its effects on politics.

The problem comes when you move from a discussion to slander, when you write someone off based on their religion alone. When you demean someone not for who they are, or the ideas that they hold but because of the ideas that you disagree with in their religion. There is a shocking truth that some people can follow a religion and admit that it has and does make mistakes, some may disagree with ideas held by their faith but still have faith.

Poll: Congress, Bush share low approval - Politics - MSNBC.com

Poll: Congress, Bush share low approval - Politics - MSNBC.com:

"WASHINGTON - People think the Democratic-led Congress is doing just as dreary a
job as President Bush, following four months of bitter political standoffs
that
have seen little progress on Iraq and a host of domestic issues."


This backs what I have been saying for weeks now. The American public did not hand over power to the Democrats so that they could play these games with the White House. I believe that the American people wanted to see change in Washington, every election we attempt to make changes in Washington, just to find that while the names have changed, the system is the same as it always was. The same system that was not meeting the peoples needs under the Republican control is not meeting the peoples needs under the Democrats. If someone wants to gain the respect of Americans it isn't that hard, sit down at a table and have an honest discussion about the war in Iraq. There will be a time and place about to talk about how we got into the war and if it was right, lets fix it first.

My suggestion is that a strong democrat and a strong republican should come out, form a third party and run their own candidate - one that will change the system in a way that the other two parties either can't or won't.

Mickey Mouse character back on Hamas TV - Focus on Israel/Palestinians - MSNBC.com

Mickey Mouse character back on Hamas TV - Focus on Israel/Palestinians - MSNBC.com:

"JERUSALEM - A weekly children's show on a Hamas-run TV station featuring a
Mickey Mouse lookalike preaching Islamic domination was broadcast as usual
Friday, two days after the Palestinian information minister said it would be
suspended immediately."


It is sad to see hatred being taught to children so young, all the more so because it is using an image that many of them have grown to trust. As long as this kind of teaching is given to our young we will not have peace, when Jews teach their children to hate Arabs, and Arabs teach their children to hate Jews, seeds for a new generation of hate and violence are sown.

ABC News: '08 Candidates Keeping Tax Info Secret

ABC News: '08 Candidates Keeping Tax Info Secret:

"Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.,worked for a hedge fund while heading a
poverty center in between his presidential campaigns. But since he isn't
telling, voters can't know how much money he earned. "


Is this information really all that important in understanding what kind of president these candidates will make? I don't think that the amount of money a person makes is of real value as an understanding of what kind of leader they will be.

Michelle Malkin: Sharia creep on campus

Michelle Malkin: Sharia creep on campus:

"Showing profound disregard for free speech and freedom of the press, Tufts
University has found a conservative student publication guilty of harassment and
creating a hostile environment for publishing political satire. Despite
explicitly promising to protect controversial and offensive expression in its
policies, the Tufts Committee on Student Life decided yesterday to punish the
student publication The Primary Source (TPS) for printing two articles that
offended African-American and Muslim students on campus. The Foundation for
Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which has spearheaded the defense of TPS,
is now launching a public campaign to oppose Tufts’ outrageous actions.
“We
now know that Tufts’ promises of free expression are hollow,” FIRE President
Greg Lukianoff said. “By punishing political expression—the type of expression
at the very core of the right to free speech—Tufts has shown that, in spite of
its promises, it has no regard for its students’ fundamental rights. Such
hypocrisy must not go unchallenged.”"


I have a couple of concerns about this issue.

One is the slow loss of our ability to speak freely by movements on the left that want every word that is said to be unoffensive to everyone. The Freedom of Speech is not the freedom to say what is popular, that is a freedom no one needs. The Freedom of Speech is the freedom to say what is un-popular, the idea being that the strongest ideas will lead and the weakest will fall on their own weight.

Two, I wonder honestly if the same action would be taken if the target had been Christian, instead of Muslim. I am not a Christian and I am not trying to put forward some Christian victim idea, but just question the equality with which this is being administered.

Three how large does a group have to be to be offended and thus have the right that speech be limited on them?

Four, many of these groups are groups that are involved in subjects that need to be honestly discussed. If we are talking about the land of Israel, we cannot have an honest discussion if every point made against Israel is going to be label hate speech. The same could be said about Islam, the world should have a discussion about what is Islam and what is the role that it can play in the modern world. The Christian church went through a transformation, when it had to adjust to a new place in the world - perhaps Islam needs to do the same. However, if every call for reform is going to be label Islamophobia then the discussion is going to go no where.

Media Matters - Limbaugh's knee-jerk response to "Fort Dix Six": "[C]ould it be" Clinton's fault?

Media Matters - Limbaugh's knee-jerk response to "Fort Dix Six": "[C]ould it be" Clinton's fault?

On the May 9 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, discussing the
alleged conspiracy to attack Fort Dix, N.J., Rush Limbaugh baselessly speculated that
the 1998-1999 resettlement program for Kosovar refugees from the Balkans could have brought
several of the alleged conspirators to the United States: "The Clinton
administration may have brought these people -- we don't know if five of the six
were in part of this group, but oh, man!" In fact, only one of the six
individuals involved in the alleged Fort Dix plot was reportedly part of the Kosovo refugee
program. Limbaugh has yet to acknowledge that his speculation was wrong.


As the extremes move farther and farther to their extremes and grow more and more rabid, they are pushing the middle out of the field. This is not only because they are being pushed into the fringes themselves by political forces, but those who are not moving to the edges are simply dropping out of the electoral system all together. As that happens the extremes gain power, and become stronger - at the same time less and less people are taking an active role in the act of government.

The main vehicle for this attach machine is to look for links that exist between events and make something of those events regardless of any honest meaning. This is one reason I don't trust Michael Moore, he does the same thing in his movie when he talks about the Bin Ladens being taken out of the country after 9/11. I am sure that any Arab that had the money to fly would want to leave the country, the family of the attacker has reason to fear. Does that fear mean a connection - no. Now Rush is talking about how one of the planners of the Fort Dix attack came to the US under a program during the Clinton administration, the assumption being that these attacks can be blamed on the Clinton administration, which I find to be groundless. Lets talk about how the group organized, and the ideas that they believed in, those are key factors, how they got here is not.

Hotline On Call: The "Mistake" Obama Didn't Really Make

Hotline On Call: The "Mistake" Obama Didn't Really Make:

"Obama was right. In the US, Japanese-made cars would get 45 m.p.g. assuming
they were subjected to the US fuel economy test cycle. Here's the wonky paper he
based his claim on. [MARC AMBINDER]"


Maybe he was right after all, you be the judge.

Another Obama Error: Will Media Report It? | NewsBusters.org

Another Obama Error: Will Media Report It? NewsBusters.org:

"The domestics certainly haven't flooded showrooms with gas/electric hybrids
like the Japanese. But in fairness, the newest Japanese assembly plant in the
U.S. produces 14-m.p.g. Toyota Tundra pickups, not Prius hybrids rated at 60
m.p.g.

'While our fuel standards haven't moved from 27.5 miles per
gallon in two decades, both China and Japan have surpassed us, with Japanese
cars now getting an average of 45 miles to the gallon,' Obama said.

'I'm
not sure where he got that figure,' Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said. 'No
carmaker gets 45 m.p.g. Ours is closer to 30 m.p.g.'"


If Obama is going to keep making these blunders, people are going to start getting him confused with Al Gore.

An Open Declaration of War Against The House Republican Leadership | Redstate

An Open Declaration of War Against The House Republican Leadership Redstate:

"The House Republican Leadership just does not get it and they will not take us
seriously until we flex our muscle against them. We must fight the House GOP and
we must fight today."


Elements of the conservative wing of the Republican Party are waging a war on the party leadership over a position given to Ken Calvert. The position in on the House Appropriations Committee, and Calvert's holding the position is being questioned by what is seen as a record of questionable actions. Ironically Calvert was given the position after John Dolittle had to step down after corruption charges of his own.

6 Reasons Bill O'Reilly Is Probably Crazy [Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid]

6 Reasons Bill O'Reilly Is Probably Crazy [Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid]:

"6. O'Reilly created a chart purporting to show a vast array of powerful forces
financed by George Soros devoted to attacking him and destroying Democracy As We
Know ItTM.
5. Bill O'Reilly claimed that the French economy was in trouble
because he called for a boycott of that nation for their opposition to the Iraq
war. As evidence he cited a publication called the Paris Business Review. No
such publication exists (well, maybe).
4. Bill O'Reilly had an on-air freak
out when NY Times columnist and economics professor Paul Krugman cited research
from Media Matters for America. He went on to compare Media Matters to Fidel
Castro and the KKK. Nowhere on Media Matters' website is there any expressed
support for white supremacy or communism.
3. Bill O'Reilly said that white
people were afraid to say things to black people.
2. Bill O'Reilly screamed
that Geraldo Rivera wanted anarchy because Rivera didn't think that the most
important element of a drunk driver killing two children was the fact that the
driver was an illegal alien (as opposed to him being a murderer).
1. Bill
O'Reilly thinks that gay marriage will lead to people marrying goats, dolphins,
and ducks."


There really is something about O'Reilly that is crazy. I think it is one thing to talk about people who want the end of the Iraq war as being wrong, it is another to say that they hate America. O'Reilly's rhetorical language stirs the pot of national discussion but does little to address the important problems. He has been waging a war against Soros and his movements in the media and on the internet. To argue that he doesn't have a right to have his voice heard, is to imply that Rupert Murdoch does not have the right to have his voice heard.

Gabby Babble: Drew Barrymore Named UN Ambassador

Gabby Babble: Drew Barrymore Named UN Ambassador:

"'I am honored and humbled to accept this challenging and rewarding
assignment, I can’t think of any issue that is more important than working to
see that no schoolchild in this world goes hungry.'"


I think Barrymore is a beautiful womyn and a good person and I think that this will work out well. Best of luck to her on her new pursuit.

Portland: The indie city - May 1, 2007

Portland: The indie city - May 1, 2007:

"(FSB Magazine) -- With its arena-sized farmers' markets and scarcity of
brand-name retail chains, Portland celebrates local bounty and independent
artisans. If you're one of the million tourists attending the 100th anniversary
of Portland's Rose Festival on May 31, don't miss Portland Saturday Market
(portlandsaturdaymarket.com), the nation's largest open-air arts and crafts
fair. "


Portland is one of the best places I have lived, for sure one of my all time favorite cities.

700 Club's Accu-Wrath Weather Forecast

Listen to Angelina Jolie Interview

Listen to Angelina Jolie Interview:

"Listen as actress and goodwill ambassador, Angelina Jolie voices her
thoughts on conflict and strife throughout the world as well as her beliefs on
marriage and the challenge of being a strong role model to her four
children."

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video and Audio: O’Reilly tackles Akon; MM and Laura Ingraham blast the NYT’s Akon misreporting

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video and Audio: O’Reilly tackles Akon; MM and Laura Ingraham blast the NYT’s Akon misreporting:

"Michelle was on the Laura Ingraham show today to discuss Akon and
the Ft. Dix terror case. They took on the NYT for portraying Akon as the
innocent victim of vengeful rightwing punditry. Take a listen."

Beth Hart

Brian Williams Explains NBC VA Tech Decision to Letterman?

O'Reilly: "I'd like to have an honest media"

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