Psephologists among us

Are you a psephologist? I looked it up. It means the scientific study of elections. Stephen Green quotes Paul Rahe from an article Rahe wrote in Ricochet: "In my opinion, none of the psephologists mentioned above has reflected on the degree to which the administrative entitlements state – envisaged by Woodrow Wilson and the Progressives, instituted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and expanded by their successors – has entered a crisis, and none of them is sensitive to the manner in which Barack Obama, in his audacity, has unmasked that state’s tyrannical propensities and its bankruptcy. In consequence, none of these psephologists has reflected adequately on the significance of the emergence of the Tea-Party Movement, on the meaning of Scott Brown’s election and the particular context within which he was elected, on the election of Chris Christie as Governor of New Jersey and of Bob McDonnell as Governor of Virginia, and on the political earthquake that took place in November, 2010. That earthquake, which gave the Republicans a strength at the state and local level that they have not enjoyed since 1928, is a harbinger of what we will see this November."

I hope he is right!
Read more here:  http://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2012/08/09/the-problem-with-beijing-andor-washington/?singlepage=true

Mainstreaming sharia through non-violent stealth jihad

Andrew McCarthy asserts that the Muslim Brotherhood's ties to the Obama administration serve the  Brotherhood's purposes more than do its ties to al Qaeda.
http://pjmedia.com/andrewmccarthy/

Some right brain-inducing music

Need some help engaging your right brain today? Paco Enterprises brings us the Andrew Sisters. This would be as foreign to today's youth as their music is to me!
found here: http://pacoenterprises.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-andrews-sisters-sing-dance-with.html

Practicing Christianity

Now here is a classy woman. We can all be proud of her.
I found this video here: http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/01/now-heres-how-you-strike-back-at-the-evil-chick-fil-a/
via http://pacoenterprises.blogspot.com/2012/08/somewhere-arrogant-douchebag-smolders.html

Scary

Obama tells women in Colorado that Romney wants to take them back to the 1950s. And the problem with that would be?
I don't know which scares me most, this president, or these women.
I found this video here: http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/08/08/Obama-Scaring-Woman-Voters-Promises-Romney-Will-Take-Them-Back-to-The-Oppression-of-1950s
via this clever post: http://pacoenterprises.blogspot.com/2012/08/if-only.html

Cutting watermelon, apples, and cucumbers with playing cards

This man needs to get a life.

I found this video here:http://pacoenterprises.blogspot.com/2012/08/52-card-cut-up.html

Obama rallys Colorado women to fight for free contraceptives

President Obama brings Sandra Fluke to Colorado to campaign for government-paid contraception. Hot Air sends a reporter to interview the women who attended the rally. 

Keep it moving, Mitt

John Podhoretz has some advice for Mitt Romney:
"So here’s why he should be talking about other things, releasing plans, giving speeches on big topics—because it’s the only way he can control the discussion. If he says the same thing about the economy every single day, he bores. He provides nothing new for anyone to fix on. He has to feed the beast. And it can’t just be that he puts his toe gingerly in the welfare-reform pool one day and then defend himself for three days after. It all has to keep moving.

In any case, if he doesn’t start putting things down on paper and develop the themes in speeches and get specific so that there is some meat on the bones of his policies, what on earth is he going to talk about for the next 88 days? Whether or not he killed a woman? This is a race he should be able to win, so if he loses, it won’t be because Obama won it. It will be because he lost it—and we’re seeing exactly how that might happen right now."

The media finds one more advocate for gun control!

You are going to think I am pulling your leg, but I'm not. This is true. I was just listening to talk radio. The hour came to an end. Before I could get to the radio to turn it off, ABC News came on. One of their first stories was that they had found someone who is for gun control. His name? Son of Sam! Yes, that Son of Sam; a guy named David Berkowitz, I think. They interviewed him in prison. He must think he now has a chance of release, and he wants to make sure the rest of us are unarmed.

Freebies for violence against "under-disciplined" ethnic groups

If these articles by Hans Bader and Heather McDonald do not make your blood boil, nothing will. They write about the ill effects of the efforts of the Holder Justice Department and the Duncan Education Department to require schools to stop disciplining black students disproportionately to other students: "Blacks were three and a half times more likely to get suspended or expelled than their white peers. (The fact that white boys were over two times as likely to be suspended as Asian and Pacific Islander boys was discreetly ignored, though it would seem to imply antiwhite bias as well.)"

"The homicide rate among males between the ages of 14 and 17 is nearly ten times higher for blacks than for whites and Hispanics combined. Such data make no impact on the Obama administration and its orbiting advocates, who apparently believe that the lack of self-control and socialization that results in this disproportionate criminal violence does not manifest itself in classroom comportment as well."

Refusing to hold students accountable for their misbehavior only guarantees their future failure. "When students see no consequences for bad behavior, not only do they continue to misbehave, but the behavior worsens, with more and more students joining in." "School systems are jettisoning whole swaths of their discipline practices in order to avoid disparate impact."

Who are the winners and who are the losers? The legal profession and the training profession are the winners.  "The losers are the kids. Protecting well-behaved students’ ability to learn is a school’s highest obligation, and it is destroyed when teachers lose the option of removing chronically disruptive students from class. Nor does keeping those unruly students in class do them any favors. School is the last chance to socialize a student who repeatedly curses his teacher, since his parent is obviously failing at the job. Remove serious consequences for bad behavior, and you are sending a child into the world who has learned precisely the opposite of what he needs to know about life."

Read much more, including some graphic examples.
Heather McDonald's article is here:  http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_3_school-discipline.html

Hans Bader's article is here: http://www.openmarket.org/2012/08/09/obama-administration-aggravates-the-minority-achievement-gap-increases-risk-of-school-violence/#more-58905

An exciting choice

Now this would be an exciting choice: Petraeus for Vice Presidential running mate with Romney! I hope Romney reads this post by Michael Walsh, not only for the Petraeus recommendation, but also for the warning about nominating Portman or Palenty. http://pjmedia.com/michaelwalsh/2012/08/08/two-cents-on-the-veepstakes/?singlepage=true

Unfit

Glenn Reynolds writes at InstaPundit: "It is becoming clear that Obama is not only intellectually, but also morally unfit to hold the office of President." He is referring to this editorial from Investors Business Daily:

"Unable to run on his record, President Hope-and-Change has built a campaign based entirely on scurrilous lies about Mitt Romney. But the latest reaches a historic, despicable low.
That ad features a man claiming that after Bain Capital closed his steel plant, he lost his job and his insurance, and shortly thereafter his wife died of cancer.
Even it were true, trying to blame Romney for his wife’s death defies credulity. But the facts are all wrong.
Romney had left Bain to run the summer Olympics two years before Joe Soptic lost his job in 2001. And his wife had her own job and insurance at that time. She later took a disability leave and lost her coverage, and her cancer was apparently symptom-free until she checked into a hospital for pneumonia in 2006.
The ad, sponsored by an Obama “super-PAC” was too much even for the in-the-Obama-tank press. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer called it “a pretty outrageous claim,” and Sam Stein of the Obama-worshipping Huffington Post said it went “too far.”
The Obama campaign has refused to denounce the ad, which is understandable, since when you lie as often as it does, the lines of propriety start to get blurry."

Sports, politics, or misery?

It is usually easier to engage people enthusiastically about sports than politics. That may be especially true here in the Denver area, where 41,000 fans showed up to watch the Denver Broncos play a practice scrimmage last week! Broncomania is alive and well, with mile high expectations for the team, which is now under the experienced leadership of quarterback Peyton Manning. Tonight is the first preseason game for the Broncos, as they play the Bears in Chicago.

However, today should also be a big political day in Colorado, as both presidential candidates are campaigning in the state. Obama is speaking at Colorado College, which is the only possible liberal venue in Colorado Springs. Romney is also in Colorado Springs, and he can choose anywhere in the city for a hospitable audience. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio is with Romney.

Two men were standing near me in the store where I work. I asked which of the three events were they most interested in. They both replied, "none of the above!" Both of them expressed disgust at the inability of Republicans and Democrats to get anything done, with the Democrats controlling the Senate, and the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives. They also did not like either presidential candidate. I asked them if either of them had another candidate they would have preferred. They took a while to answer, then one said that he liked Ron Paul in 2008 when he was an independent or libertarian candidate.

So let me get this straight. You wish one party controlled both houses of Congress, but you don't like any of the Republican or Democrat candidates? You want a libertarian or independent Congress? When, exactly, will that happen? Rather than determining which of the two major parties is closest to your views, and working to elect a majority from that party in each house of Congress and the presidency, you prefer to sit on the sidelines and gripe and complain?

Being with loved ones

The last two days have been wonderful with Jon, Greg, and Sara here. One of the stops was Elitch's, Denver's amusement park. The kids had a ball, but Sara wasn't so sure in the beginning. I started her out on the ferris wheel, which I thought was probably the mildest of all the rides. "Dad, I trusted you...what are you doing?" But, before long, she was into the swing of things, trying everything in sight. The photo at the top is of her and Jon trying to climb rope ladders in search of big prizes.

Are your prison bars inside or outside of your own mind?

Are you in prison? Who put you there? Are the bars inside or outside of your own mind? Are you becoming an angry liberal in search of the Lost Entitlement? Bob at One Cosmos writes today about these and other related topics, and warns, "Don't think for one moment that people don't take perverse and sadistic pleasure in their victim status, for it is oddly empowering to participate in the subjugation of oneself. In psychoanalysis it's called "identification with the aggressor." The latter is the stock-in-tirade of fatemongers such as Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and the left in general."

Are you "pushed around" by the past, or "lured" by the future? "Now, when a patient comes in for treatment, it is again often because they are a victim of Fate, or the Curse of the Mind Parasites: "The person who is ill and comes to analysis either because of neurotic symptoms, or characterological fissures, or psychotic ideas and pains, can be described as a fated person. That is, he is suffering from something which he can specify and which has a certain power in his life to seriously interfere with his capacity to work, find pleasure, or form intimate relationships."
To read more about all of that, the love of wisdom, and the expression of one's own personal idiom, please go here:  http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-you-are-and-who-you-be.html

Bet on it!

While waiting for commercials to run their course on talk radio, do you ever go to NPR? I do, and I have noticed something. While reporting on Romney or some other candidate who is not the chosen candidate of the left, invariably, the reporter will put that candidate in the worst light possible. You can bet on it, and, if you can get some takes, you'll become very rich very soon!

Surprise yourself!

Do you have certain events in your life that are sure to trigger strong emotions? Maybe a former lover who is still part of your life? Maybe being physically separated from your kids? Yeah, me, too! Being aware of those realities is a good first step toward solving the problem. Realizing your vulnerability, consciously take steps to protect your health. That is easier said than done. Would prayer help? If we place as much or more value on seeking God's will, as we do on whatever benefits we think we are getting by handling our emotions our way, we might be pleasantly surprised at what we discover!

Bring on the right brain circuitry!

Today as I was managing my left and right brain circuitry, I was, as usual, realizing that the left brain was dominating. I thanked my left brain for its dependability and hard work, but told it to take a breather, so I could try out some right brain circuitry. As I consciously tried to utilize my right brain, I noticed that a song was playing inside my mind. It was Moon River by Andy Williams. I am sure I had not heard that song in many years, but there it was, embedded in my memory! The easy, relaxed rhythm was just right for calling on the right brain to do its thing.

That got me to thinking of the differences between the songs I heard on the radio in my youth, and the songs my kids are hearing today. Moon River and songs like that were immensely popular. Remember Volare by Dean Martin? My suitemate in college sang that song every day, just to show off his Italian heritage! Those songs encouraged listeners to "chill out," and "go with the flow, man."

Enjoy life, and try not to let little things upset you.

Obama's birthday

Barack Obama turned 51 this week. Michelle Obama, always ready with a compliment, said he looks 50. Obama told a Florida crowd, "It wouldn't be bad" if he could capture Florida's electoral votes as a birthday present. How about, "the best present I could get would be if every American who wanted a job could get one." No, he wouldn't say that, because everything always has to be about him.

An inspiration

One of my colleagues at work walks very slowly with the use of a cane. I asked him about his legs. He said, "I'm one of Jerry's kids." From birth he has struggled with muscular dystrophy. He told me, "At age 59 I'm supposed to be in a wheel chair, but I never gave up. I'm a fighter." I told him he is also an inspiration. He asked me why. I told him, because you never gave up." He is on his feet all day every day. I have never heard him complain.

Weaving an impossible dream into gold

Mark Kizla's column in today's Denver post is a must read. He writes about teen Olympic star Missy Franklin winning her third gold medal in this year's Olympic games. http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_21232787/colorados-missy-franklin-shatters-world-record-third-gold

Was it intelligent design, or evolution?

Who invented the internet? Was it intelligent design, or evolution? Read this very clever and informative piece by Robert David Graham here:  http://erratasec.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/who-invented-internet-evolution-or.html

Paying close attention to the media is the best way to become misinformed!

After paying close attention to every media outlet in the days after the Aurora massacre, I came away with misinformation. That misinformation was best characterized by this post written by William Saletan in Slate:

"What distinguished Holmes wasn’t his offense. It was his defense. At Columbine, Harris and Klebold did their damage in T-shirts and cargo pants. Cho and Loughner wore sweatshirts. Hasan was gunned down in his Army uniform. Holmes’ outfit blew these jokers away. He wore a ballistic helmet, a ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, a throat protector, a groin protector, and tactical gloves. He was so well equipped that if anyone in that theater had tried what the National Rifle Association recommends—drawing a firearm to stop the carnage—that person would have been dead meat. Holmes didn’t just kill a dozen people. He killed the NRA’s answer to gun violence."

Except, what Saletan wrote was not true. Here is what Robert David Graham wrote at his blog Errata Security:

         "Unusual events like the Colorado shooting bring out the stupid in people. A good example is this Schneier link to a horrible article on Slate that attempts to refute gun advocates by pointing out the shooter had body armor.

         Except the shooter didn't have any significant body armor. He had a combat vest whose purpose is to hold extra magazines. I can't find a single source confirming that he was wearing metal plates that would've stopped a bullet.

        Refuting this nonsense is what Wikipedia is for. It says (as of 2012-08-01): "He was dressed in black and wore a gas mask, a load-bearing vest, a ballistic helmet, bullet-resistant leggings, a throat protector, a groin protector and tactical gloves". A bullet-proof vest isn't in the list, and none of the other items would've stopped a bullet either. At most, they might provide some protection against a knife if the theater goers had mobbed the shooter.

        Moreover, as the Wikipedia article on bullet-proof vests, they aren't really bullet-proof. They are resistant to bullets and help improve survivability. They don't allow you to continue firing into a theatre while getting hit by bullets from victims firing back. Getting shot by a .45 calibre stops whatever you are doing, regardless of the armor you are wearing."

The person who got me thinking about this was Michael Brown, former Undersecretary of Homeland Security, who now practices law in Colorado and is the co-host of a talk radio program. Brown is the one who took the time to cite both the Saletan and Graham articles. I give him credit for being the person who is trying to correct the misinformation. His post is here: http://www.michaelbrowntoday.com/2012/08/james-holmes-the-hysteria-surrounding-the-aurora-theater-massacre/#comment-13636

My own misinformation on the subject comes from reading and listening to every available piece of information that came out in the media in the days following the massacre, and from not being knowledgeable about guns and gear.

Obama, Dems seek to restrict military voting in Ohio

Mike Flynn writes at Breitbart.com, "If anyone proposes legislation to combat voter fraud, Democrats will loudly scream that the proposal could "disenfranchise" some voter, somewhere. We must ensure, they argue, that voting is easy and accessible to every single voter. Every voter, that is, except the men and women of our military."

On July 17th, the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in OH to strike down part of that state's law governing voting by members of the military. Their suit said that part of the law is "arbitrary" with "no discernible rational basis."
Currently, Ohio allows the public to vote early in-person up until the Friday before the election. Members of the military are given three extra days to do so. While the Democrats may see this as "arbitrary" and having "no discernible rational basis," I think it is entirely reasonable given the demands on servicemen and women's time and their obligations to their sworn duty."

Read more here:  http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/02/obama-campaign-sues-to-restrict-military-voting
Via Instapundit

Courageous Christians

A terrible humanitarian crisis is on-going in southern Sudan. Christians, if they refuse to renounce Christ, are being killed or having their limbs broken off by Muslin terrorists. Laura Ingraham interviewed a Catholic bishop this morning who is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to stop the slaughter. You can hear the interview here: http://www.lauraingraham.com/pg/jsp/charts/streamingAudioMaster.jsp;jsessionid=9817F658283479930CA51DD7312A2E5A?dispid=302&headerDest=L3BnL2pzcC9tZWRpYS9mbGFzaHdlbGNvbWUuanNwP3BpZD0xMzMwOQ==

What risks do you and I take as Christians? How do people know we are Christians? Or, do they?

Victim

Flipping through the radio dial while driving home from work, I heard NPR refer to the Fort Hood, Texas murderer Major Nadal Hasan as a Muslim. There was no mention of his religion by President Obama or NPR when the news of his mass murder was first reported. They did not want us to get an impression that he may be killing people because of his religion. Now, they mention his religion, because he is a victim of a mean military judge who wants him to shave his beard, because beards are not allowed under Army regulations. So now that he is a victim, it is okay to mention his religion.

Caption time

Can you come up with a caption for this photo of a TSA agent examining a traveler? Please no obscenities. I found this at KHOW radio in Denver.

Contemptuous

Mark Steyn seems just a little pissed: "in a land where every mewling babe in the American nursery is born with a debt burden of just under $200,000, the president brags that only his party is “compassionate” to have no plan whatsoever even to attempt to do anything about this, no way, no how, not now, not ever." He concludes, "Obama-sized government ends nowhere good, and in his Chicago-style contempt for checks and balances he’s telling us that, if you enjoyed the first term, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet."

Read the whole thing here:  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/295488/our-contemptuous-president-mark-steyn?pg=2

Chick-fil-A and freedom of speech

Allen West likes him some Chick-fil-A. Not only that, but he likes freedom of speech.
I found this here: http://www.bizpacreview.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.details&ArticleId=756822&returnTo=michele-kirk

Stewart smacks Reid

Jon Stewart chooses Harry Reid as his target this week.
I found this here: http://www.bizpacreview.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=News.details&ArticleId=759096&returnTo=Local-News

"A threat to the very fabric of civilized society"

Emily at Naked D.C. writes, "No woman really and truly needs free birth control, because women already have free birth control. It’s called not having sex with men who you don’t want to have a child with. Or headaches." Nevertheless, if free birth control is the only way to stop your incessant bitching, Senator Harkin is for it. Emily ends with "Because heaven knows, a woman who has cramps is a threat to the very fabric of civilized society, such that it clearly falls under both the Necessary and Proper Clause and Congress’ vested interest in promoting the general welfare as prescribed in the preamble to the United States Constitution."
Read more here:  http://nakeddc.com/2012/08/01/tom-harkin-says-you-need-birth-control-pills-because-you-pms-like-a-bitch/

Law, schmaw

Are there going to be huge job cuts in January by defense contractors? Will workers be given 60 day notices as law requires for mass layoffs? If so, wouldn't that be the first week in November? Are we not voting on November 6? Go here to read how the Department of Labor is telling contractors to evade the law, so there will be no political fallout to the Obama campaign:  http://nakeddc.com/2012/08/01/the-cancer-of-politics-spreads-to-the-dept-of-labor/

If a robin leads you into a forest, follow him!

Here is a beautiful story about a robin leading a Robin to Saint Francis. Robin Starfish is the best photographer I have experienced, and so much more. http://robinstarfish.blogspot.com/2012/07/robins-wood.html

Can anyone explain this to me?

I first heard this yesterday on NPR, while waiting for commercials to end on the talk radio stations. New polls conducted by New York Times, CBS and Quinnipiac are showing Obama with big leads in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Then, in today's Denver Post, there is a full page story with a large photo of Obama talking to a packed crowd in Akron, Ohio. Nevertheless, voters in each state, by double-digit margins, say his policies would hurt, rather than help, their personal financial situation if he were to be re-elected. What were the "double digits?" Ten percent? Twenty percent? Thirty percent? Forty percent? Fifty percent? More? How can you say his policies would hurt your personal financial situation, then say you are going to vote for him? It does not make sense!

Skip the academics; call the cops!

Today's big story regarding the Aurora massacre is that the psychiatrist who was treating James Holmes became so concerned about his behavior that she brought her concerns before the campus-wide threat-assessment team in June. I want to know if the threat-assessment team includes law enforcement personnel. If not, why not?

Oops, I just read The Denver Post story on the subject, and it includes this sentence: "the group does not include CU-Denver police." Again, why not?  The Post says "the group is an ad hoc group of high level academic employees skilled at assessing potential threats on campus." For my money, skip the academics, and call the cops!

Amazing!

Annie Zhou, age 8 (same age as my daughter, Sara) plays Bach.
I found this here: http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/?p=18462

"The individual is the smallest minority of all!"

Two of my favorite people, Pamela Geller and Ezra Levant, discuss Mayor Bloomberg's latest foray into nannyism.
I found this video here:  http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/nanny-bloomberg_2.html

Did you know that restaurants in NYC have removed the table salt, because of Bloomberg's edict?

Is Rush right, as usual?

Rush Limbaugh said a couple of things yesterday that I think are worth pondering. One was about Sarah Palin and John McCain. You probably heard that Dick Cheney opined this week that McCain erred in selecting Palin as his V.P. nominee. Rush said Palin "was not the mistake on the GOP ticket."

With regard to this year's election, Rush said he does not know one person who voted against Obama in 2008 who is now going to vote for Obama. On the other hand, there are many who are saying they voted for Obama in 2008, but who are not going to do that in 2012.

Rush also expressed his support for the Tea Party and the Chic-fil-A revolutions, as people called in from all over America to report large crowds at Chic-fil-A restaurants. Chic-fil-A's CEO was criticized by the intolerant mayors of Chicago and Boston for expressing support for traditional marriage.

Update: Today Rush called for the F.B.I. and I.R.S. to interview Senator Harry Reid, who has been saying that someone at Bain Capital told him that Romney paid no taxes for ten years.

Were they saying thank you?

This Washington Post column by Ed Rogers poses some interesting questions. "If the president and his ally Warren don't think business builders deserve credit for their accomplishments, are they giving an inadvertent tribute to the 1 percent of taxpayers who pay for 37 percent of the government they credit for the entrepreneurs’ success? Or to the 5 percent, who paid for more than half of the government that they want to grow? When Warren suggested the government "the rest of us paid for"was responsible for private-business success, was she saying thanks to the 5 percenters? Obviously no such thanks was intended by Warren or Obama." Read more here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-insiders/post/you-didnt-build-that-hangs-over-democrats/2012/08/02/gJQAXpNWRX_blog.html (via Instapundit)

Today Governor Romney is here in Colorado speaking to people at the Jefferson County fairgrounds out near where I used to live in Golden.  It is a gorgeous morning with the usual bright sunshine and blue skies.

What will happen in 2012?

Remember this video shot by a University of Pennsylvania student in 2008? The Holder Justice Department decided not to prosecute this man with a billy club intimidating voters at a polling place in Philadelphia.
I found it here, where there is an excellent discussion of the issue: http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/2012/07/federal-court-finds-direct-political.html

"C'mon man; I'm serious!"

Conan O'brien says the Obama team is experimenting with a few new slogans, since Forward does not seem to be generating much enthusiasm. Here they are:
I found the video here: http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/2012/07/conan-obrien-unveils-obamabiden-new.html

Should we be blaming them or thanking them?

Scott Brown is running for re-election in Massachusetts against Elizabeth Warren. Here is an ad his team produced, featuring some of our past and current leaders.
I found it at Mike's America, who wonders if Romney should be producing similar ads: http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/2012/08/scott-brown-ad-compares-great-statesmen.html

Fun facts to consider when grocery shopping

Can you name the eight vegetables used to make V8 Juice? These and a few other fun grocery facts can be found here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/124337

Civility? Really?

Gore Vidal died Tuesday at age 86. Here is a video of him getting under the skin of the father of modern conservatism, William Buckley.
I found it here: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/video-of-the-day-gore-vidal-vs-william-f-buckley-in-1968/260581/

"Cuisinarts of the air"

"The mammoth footprints of industrial wind installations fragment prime habitats, drive species out of their nesting areas, and further threaten already endangered species with extinction. Wind turbines are slaughtering eagles, bats, and other magnificent flying creatures worldwide." Moreover, the economics are negative, these giant bird killers are making people ill and driving some from their homes, trashing peoples’ property values, and forever changing the character of the area.
 http://www.masterresource.org/2012/08/local-wind-subsidies-more-waste-new-york-states-money-road-to-nowhere/#more-21043


Update: Is Big Environmentalism giving Big Wind a pass? Yes! The bird slaughter is now up to 500,000 per year, with one thousand being eagles:  http://www.masterresource.org/2012/07/windpower-versus-wildlife/

Update 2: Go here to view a video documenting the slaughter of golden eagles and other magnificent birds: http://essinova.com/video/show/179-Fatal-Attraction-Birds-and-Wind-Turbines

Is entrepreneurial America dead?

"Small businesses declined by 53 percent between 1977 and 2010. Meanwhile, the reports says, the share of self-employed Americans has been declining since 1991—dropping more than 20 percent by 2010: http://www.cnbc.com/id/48302681

Why? Here are three points to consider: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=209444

What should your home really be worth?

What should your home really be worth? You may not like this answer: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=209482

Romney's press secretary tells the American press to show some respect (He said some other things, too)

Romney's press secretary Rick Gorka made news today. Here is the account I found at The Daily Mail. "Mr Gorka's remarks came hours before a major foreign policy speech in the Polish capital in which Romney praised the central European nation for becoming what he said was a model of small government and free enterprise.
The former Massachusetts governor said that 'rather than heeding the false promise of a government-dominated economy, Poland sought to stimulate innovation, attract investment, expand trade and live within its means' after the Communist era.
'The world should pay close attention to the transformation of Poland’s economy,' Romney said.
'A march toward economic liberty and smaller government has meant a march toward higher living standards, a strong military that defends liberty at home and abroad, and an important and growing role on the international stage.'
Mr Gorka's angry words to reporters were made Tuesday morning when Romney visited a monument to Poland's war dead with the Warsaw mayor.
Reporters began shouting questions at the presumptive Republican nominee from behind a rope line because, they said, he has answered only three queries from the traveling press corps.
A CNN reporter shouted: 'Gov Romney are you concerned about some of the mishaps of your trip?'

Gov Romney do you have a statement for the Palestinians?' a New York Times reporter asked

'What about your gaffes?' chimed in a Washington Post writer.'Governor Romney do you feel that your gaffes have overshadowed your foreign trip?' asked the Times journalist.

 Governor Romney just a few questions sir, you haven't taken but three questions on this trip from the press!' the CNN reporter protested.
That's when Mr Gorka stepped in: 'Show some respect,' he told the American journalists.
When a New York Times reporter said he was trying to get answers to his question, Gorka responded harshly.
'Kiss my a**. This is a Holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect,' he said.
Later, he told a Politico reporter to 'shove it.'
About 30 minutes later, the spokesman called reporters and apologized.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181571/Kiss--Romneys-aide-curses-reporters-Poland-latest-world-tour-gaffe.html#ixzz22G9U3lJ1

Update: After writing this post I went over to The Other McCain to see what Stacy had to say. It is worth a read here:  http://theothermccain.com/2012/07/31/the-gop-school-of-media-relations/

Now it's infant formula

Now Mayor Bloomberg wants NYC hospitals to keep infant formula locked up. Moreover, he doesn't want hospitals to give coupons for infant formula to women who have given birth in NYC hospitals. He favors breast-feeding. What heterosexual man doesn't?  Somehow, though, I think the good mayor would have a hard time being elected to any office here in the west, or in most of the southern states.

Update: Laura Ingraham writes: "Apparently a mother's choice only matters when it comes to ending an infant's life, not fostering it."

Proudly representing America

Want some inspiration? Take a look at the young woman holding the American flag. She is Missy Franklin, 17, who will be a senior in high school in Denver this fall. The first thing she said in an interview after winning the gold medal in the backstroke yesterday was that she is thankful to God for the gifts He has given her. The second thing she said was that she was grateful that her parents could be with her on this occasion.

Mark Kizla, Denver Post columnist, has more here: http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_21195825/missys-american-grit

He's goin' to Jackson

Over at Camp of the Saints, I found this sweet memory.
http://thecampofthesaints.org/2012/07/15/oh-i-wish-i-was-in-the-land-of-cotton/

Sharia tourism

Jihad Watch notes that just in time for Ramadan an Egyptian tourism agency has made arrangements for those who want a Sharia vacation. My dermatologist would be impressed: no possibility for this woman to get skin cancer on her vacation.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/07/just-in-time-for-ramadan-egypt-introduces-sharia-tourism.html

Has the right abandoned the resistance-to-jihad movement?

Is a blogger's best path to money and traffic to abandon the fight against jihad and Islamist supremacy? That is what Robert Spencer alleges today at his blog Jihad Watch. He mentions Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Fox News, Drudge, Rush, Kathryn Lopez of National Review, Mark Levin, and Michael Savage. He says the propaganda line is that Islam is a Religion of Peace that has been hijacked by a tiny minority of extremists."It's ironic that a central part of the Leftist/Islamic supremacist myth about freedom fighters is that there is some lucrative "Islamophobia industry" and that people are in this for money and fame, when actually the path to money and fame today is to dissemble and downplay the reality of jihad and Islamic supremacism, and their root causes within Islam itself."
 http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/07/how-the-right-abandoned-the-resistance-to-jihad.html

Also today Pamela Geller writes at Atlas Shrugs about The Right's Dirty Little Secret.
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/07/why-the-right-wing-blogosphere-doesnt-cover-islam.html

A commenter named Arthur at Jihad Watch said this:
"It all has to do with sponsors, investors, money and power. People on the right need sponsors and investors, and businesses are deathly afraid of being ostracized by powerful Muslim groups and individuals.
This is why I think that Mr. Spencer made a giant mistake by seeming to characterize the efforts to oppose Islamic expansion as a Left vs. Right battle. (The explanation is that he initially got a lot more invitations from Rightist media.)
It has nothing to do with Left vs. Right. It has to do with intelligent, courageous, & honest vs. stupid, uninformed, spineless, morally bankrupt, and dishonest."

Connecting

Here is a guy who is using his right brain! I'm feeling more connected to fellow human beings already. How about you?
I found this at the indispensable blog Jaded Haven, which has now gone silent, but I hope not for long: http://jadedhaven.wordpress.com/

A modern Julie Andrews?

from Daphne at Jaded Haven, whom many of us will miss big time: http://jadedhaven.wordpress.com/

How do men break the pattern of clamming up during arguments?

The psychologist who writes The Iron Shrink blog asks why men tend to clam up during conflicts with their spouses. He lists five reasons, and gives detailed explanations of each.

• Men ain't supposed to talk
• We feel we cannot win
• We get angry
• It pains us to argue with you
• History drives us

How do we break the pattern? He has four suggestions:

• Define the problem
• Focus on the pattern, not the person
• Interrupt the pattern as early as possible
• Be patient and willing to practice

Read the whole thing here: http://ironshrink.com/2012/07/five-reasons-men-go-silent-and-what-to-do-about-it-part-two/

Sarah Palin: should she have been the presidential candidate, or vice-presidential candidate?

Dick Cheney says it was a mistake for John McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate. InstaPundit  agrees, kind of. Glenn says she should have been picked at the presidential, not vice presidential candidate! He points out that McCain was in the lead until he rushed to Washington to support the bailout.

Drones changing the way we fight wars

The Denver Post has a story today by New York Times writer Elisabeth Bumiller about drone pilots. Studying terrorist suspects in very close detail brings an intimacy with the intended target never experienced by pilots flying at 20,000 feet or eve by ground troops. Does that make it more difficult to pull the trigger?

According to Bumiller, the Air Force has 1300 drone pilots for missions in Afghanistan, and the CIA has more for missions in Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen and who-knows-where-else?

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_21188376/their-pilots-drones-put-new-twists-familiar-war

"Accepting" random violence of mass murderers

Today's provocative sub-headline in The Denver Post goes all the way across the first page: Post-Columbine mass murders have occurred with alarming - and to some, accepted - frequency. The actual story only mentions one person, a 20-year-old woman from Colorado Springs, who states that violence is accepted as a daily part of life by her peers. The key word here is "accepted." The headline writer implies that some accept violence as a part of every-day life. The article implies that is more commonly "accepted" by young people, because in their lifetimes they have seen media coverage of many random massacres, whereas us older folks rarely heard of such things. However, we had the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and the attempted assassinations of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

Does "accepted" mean condoned? I think the headline implies that.

 Here is the on-line version, with a changed headline: http://www.denverpost.com/theatershooting/ci_21188378

Choosing the right, or the left

Is it an accident that each of us has both a left and right hemisphere brain? No, I don't think so. If, then, it is not an accident, shouldn't we honor how we are created, and learn to use both? But, how? By paying attention to what circuitry is running at any given time. Are you feeling "in the moment," carefree, connected to others, grateful for the miracle of life, then your right brain is probably dominating. If you are incessantly worrying, running negative tapes over and over, or just analyzing, using language and logic, or arguing your point, your left brain is dominating.

The key is to be aware of the circuitry that is dominating, and choose which of the marvelous assets you want to utilize in the particular circumstance you find yourself in. If you are choosing to be in an argument with a know-it-all elitist put-down-artist leftist, call on the skills of your left brain! If your boss calls you in to give you your annual evaluation, and your boss does not want to hear your ideas about how his business can better serve its customers, then smile and nod, and call on your right brain to help you keep your job until Obama is voted out of office by left-brain dominated voters in November, and the economy starts to revive, and you can go get a job in a business that cares about its customers!

Manipulating readers by the wording of headlines

I think I should have a regular daily post showing how The Denver Post slants the news toward the liberal viewpoint. One of the main ways they do this is through the way they word their headlines and sub-headlines. I think that is on purpose, because they know that many readers just look at headlines, and do not actually read what is written below the headline.

Here's one from yesterday. Big bold headline: Israel: Ally or threat? The actual story is about how Israel spies on our spies. Why not? What reason do they have to believe that Obama is their friend? Is Israel our ally, or a threat? Why would liberal newspapers like the Post be more threatened by Israel, than they are by countries like Egypt, where Islamists are rising to power, and will issue edicts as to how people can dress, what they can eat, what they can say, and whom they must hate.

Here is the on-line version, with a changed headline:  http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_21180623/us-sees-israel-tight-mideast-ally-spy-threat

"How do you like them apples?"

This morning I visited the brilliant Iowahawk blog, and this is what I found:

"You Didn't Build That

Readings from the Book of Barack
¹ In the beginning Govt created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the economy was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the ATMs, and the Spirit of Govt was hovering over the land.

³ And Govt said, “Let there be spending,” and there was spending. ⁴ Govt saw that the spending was good, and that it separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ Govt called the spending Investments, and this he did in the first day.
⁶ Then Govt said, “Let there be roads and bridges across the waters, and let dams divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ Thus Govt made the infrastructure and the patronage jobs for eternity under the firmament from the Potomac which was above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸ And Govt called the firmament Washington. This Govt did on the second day.
⁹ Then Govt said, “Let the regulations and the guidlines under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the Bureaus appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ And Govt called the Bureaus demigovts, and the gathering together of them He called AFSCME. And Govt saw that it was good.
¹¹ Then Govt said, “Let there be police, and firefighters, and teachers according to their kind, for they will create more jobs”; and it was so. ¹² And then Govt bade the void bring forth crime, and arson, and stupidity, that each would yield seed to bring forth more police, and firefighters, and teachers, and jobs. And Govt saw that it was good. ¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day.
¹⁴ On the fourth day Govt said, “Let Us make the economy in Our image, according to Our likeness; let it have dominion over the cars of the road, over the appliances of the supercenters, and over the pet groomers of the strip malls, over all the clickthroughs of Amazon and over every creepy thing of the Dollar Stores.” ¹⁵ So Govt created the economy in His own image; services and wholesale and retail He created them. ¹⁶ Then Govt blessed them, and Govt said to them, “Be fruitful and use the multiplier effect; fill the land with jobs; thou have dominion over thy realm, within limits, as long and thou remember to get thy permits and tithe thy taxes, for they are good. Hope to see you at the fundraiser.”
¹⁷ And on the fifth day Govt made an official Govt holiday, and headed off for a 3-day golf weekend at Camp David. But first Govt said to the economy, "you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, except the tree of Knowledge. There is a serpent in that thing, and thy health care does not cover it."
¹⁸ So when Govt was on vay-cay the economy set about the garden, plowing its fields and generating revenue for the glory of Govt. They obeyed the regulations and were not ashamed.
¹⁹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the balanced, publicly-funded birds the Lord Govt had made to sing news to the economy. The serpent was on the AM band. He said to the retail sector, “Did Govt really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ”
²⁰ "Only yours, serpent," said the retail sector.
²¹ “Don't be a wuss,” the serpent said to the retail sector. ²² “For Govt knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will wise to Govt's scam.”
²³ When she saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, and also free to download, she took some and ate it. She emailed a copy to her wholesaler, and he ate it; and then the wholesaler to the manufacturer, and he to the servicer. ²⁴ Then the eyes of all of them were opened, and they realized they were being taxed naked; so they outsourced fig leaves to make coverings for themselves.
²⁵ Then the economy heard the sound of the Lord Govt returning from vay-cay with the demigovts Osha and Tarp and Irs. It was the cool of the day, and they were hiding their profits from the Lord Govt among the trees of the garden. ²⁶ But the Lord Govt called to the manufacturer, “Where are you?”
²⁶ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid, so I sought a tax shelter.”
²⁷ And Govt said, “Who told you that your profits were yours? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? ”
²⁸ The man said, “The retailer made me —she has a thing for serpents.”
²⁹ Then the Lord Govt said to the retailer, “What is this you have done?”
³⁰ And she said to the Lord Govt, “Don't take that tone with me, fat boy. And why should I give you my profits?”
³¹ The Lord Govt was in wrath, and said, “For I am the Lord Govt, creator of Eden! ³² I gave unto you the roads and bridges, and schools and cops, brought unto you of gentle showers of Tarp and Stimulus and rivers of Subsidy, I am the purifier of the waters, cleanser of the air, without which you and your profits would not exist. Thus all that thou have created is created by Us. Thus ye shall render unto Govt what is Govt's, and this is the Word of your Lord.”
³³ At these words, Solydra and Gm and Seiu and all the Cronyans and Laborites dropped to their knees in trembling fear and supplicated themselves before the Lord, presenting Him golden gifts of contributions.
³⁴ Then the retailer said to Govt, “And who created you?”
³⁵ In righteous anger did the Lord Govt again rise up and said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Tri-Delts and the Dekes, I am and have always been! I am the great cosmic turtle on which you and the entire economy rest.”
³⁶ "And on whom do you rest, turtle?" said the retailer in blasheme.
³⁷ "Do not mock me with your knowledge trickery, harlot!" said the Lord Govt. "I am turtles all the way down."
³⁸ So the Lord Govt said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust 
    all the days of your life.
39 And I will keep you from tenure
    and grants and the airwaves,
    and condemn you to the bowels of internet."

⁴⁰ Then the Lord Govt turned the retailer and the manufacturer and the wholesaler and all the servicers, and said,

“I will make your taxes and regulations very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to profit. 
You shall be afflicted with plagues of audits,
    the coming of Osha, and the trials of Irs.
By the sweat of thy brow you will earn thy living
    until you return it to Me.
You will suffer the droughts of subsidy and stimulus,
    and will thirst forever. You're welcome." 

⁴¹ And so the Lord Govt banished the economy from paradise, and bade them go outsource to the Far East of Eden. And as the chastened economy slouched out of of Babylon He said unto them,
⁴⁰ "How do you like them apples?"

 http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2012/07/you-didnt-build-that.html

Federal Judge: Catholic business owners have constitutional rights!

From Newsmax (not from the Denver Post): "A Colorado business owned by a Catholic family does not have to comply with President Barack Obama's new healthcare mandate that private employers provide employees with insurance coverage of birth control, a Colorado federal judge ruled on Friday.

U.S. District Judge John Kane in Denver temporarily blocked the government from the enforcing the contraception requirement against the religious owners of Hercules Industries Inc, a private manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.

The ruling only affects this plaintiff but opens the door for any company to seek relief on religious grounds. Lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services argued that a temporary exemption for Hercules would interfere with the government's ability to implement the law. But Kane was not persuaded.

"This harm pales in comparison to the possible infringement upon (the Newland family's) constitutional and statutory rights," the judge wrote. He noted that the government had already created numerous exceptions for religious employers, exempting over 190 million health plan participants.

The law posed an imminent harm to the company's owners by forcing them to support contraception, sterilization and abortion in violation of their religious beliefs or face steep fines, Kane said.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Contraceptive Mandate Suffers Court Blow as Catholic Business Wins Crucial Court Case

"We may soon find out what happened to much of Saddam's WMD"

Invincible Armor links to a piece at Investors.com alleging that Iraq transferred its chemical weapons to Syria shortly before the U.S. launched Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

"As Sada told the New York Sun, two Iraqi Airways Boeings were converted to cargo planes by removing the seats, and special Republican Guard units loaded the planes with chemical weapons materials.

There were 56 flights disguised as a relief effort after a 2002 Syrian dam collapse.
There were also truck convoys into Syria. Sada's comments came more than a month after Israel's top general during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Moshe Yaalon, told the Sun that Saddam "transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria."

Both Israeli and U.S. intelligence observed large truck convoys leaving Iraq and entering Syria in the weeks and months before Operation Iraqi Freedom, John Shaw, former deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, told a private conference of former weapons inspectors and intelligence experts held in Arlington, Va., in 2006.

According to Shaw, ex-Russian intelligence chief Yevgeni Primakov, a KGB general with long-standing ties to Saddam, went to Iraq in December 2002 and stayed until just before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Anticipating the invasion, his job was to supervise the removal of such weapons and erase as much evidence of Russian involvement as possible.

 We may soon find out what happened to much of Saddam's WMD."
 http://news.investors.com/article/618875/201207191902/syria-chemical-weapons-came-from-iraq-.htm?p=full

Do you fear the drones?

In From the Cold has a piece about drones. "The civilian drone market is about to explode, with scores of companies and organizations, public and private, set to send UAVs aloft, mostly in support of surveillance and security functions."

"As is often the case, technology has leap-frogged ahead of legal and privacy concerns, forcing everyone to play catch-up.  Except in this case, there appears to be relatively little concern about the civil liberties aspect."
Read his whole analysis here:  http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2012/07/fear-drones.html

"Freed from Gitmo, and given the opportunity to kill again"

In From the Cold has a story about a man who was freed from Gitmo, returned to his adopted homeland of Sweden, and set free to kill again, as he is a suspect in the recent killing of Israeli youth on a bus in a Bulgarian resort. http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2012/07/tehran-strikes-back.html

Owning our power

Now for the important part. If you haven't read the previous post immediately below this one, go ahead; I'll wait. Okay, glad you're back. Dr. Taylor goes on to write about our power. Do you believe you have power? You have the power to choose how you respond to stimulation coming in through your sensory system at any time. Emotions? They only stay in your blood stream for 90 seconds, unless you choose to hang on to them longer and let that circuit continue to run. As Taylor writes, "Moment by moment, I make the choice to either hook into my neurocircuitry or move back into the present moment, allowing that moment to melt away as fleeting physiology."

By acknowledging the characters of both her left and right hemispheres, she realizes that she always has alternative ways of responding. If we own our power to make choices consciously, instead of just being on automatic pilot, we take responsibility for what we attract into our lives. She does that by consciously re-aligning herself with the present, and not allowing her left brain "story teller" to dominate.

How about other interactions with other people? She recognizes that she does not need to either victimize herself or "take your actions and mistakes personally. Your stuff is your stuff, and my stuff is my stuff. Feeling deep inner peace and sharing kindness is always a choice for either of us. Forgiving others and forgiving myself is always a choice. Seeing this moment as a perfect moment is always a choice."

Tending the garden of our minds

I often write here about brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor's book My Stroke of Insight. The reason I like it so much is  because of what she says about the need to balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain. She lost the functioning of her left hemisphere, after a stroke. The right hemisphere was all she had, until after eight years she fully regained the functioning of her left hemisphere. However, during that eight year struggle, she came to appreciate the right hemisphere, and she became determined to have a balance between the two hemisphere as she recovered.

Taylor recommends that we learn to tend carefully the garden of our minds. By that she means we need to "carefully manage what goes on inside our brains." In fact she consciously chose not to recover certain functions that had previously been performed by her left brain. "The portion of my left mind that I chose not to recover was the part of my left hemisphere character that had the potential to be mean, worry incessantly, or be verbally abusive to either myself or others."

More from Dr. Taylor: "My right hemisphere is all about right here, right now. It bounces around with unbridled enthusiasm and does not have a care in the world. It smiles a lot and is extremely friendly. In contrast, my left hemisphere is preoccupied with details and runs my life on a tight schedule. It is my more serious side. It clenches my jaw and makes decisions based upon what it learned in the past. It defines boundaries and defines everything as right/wrong or good/bad. My right mind is all about the richness of the present moment. It is filled with gratitude for my life, and everyone and everything in it. It is content, compassionate, nurturing, and eternally optimistic. Many of us make judgments with our left hemisphere, and then are not willing to step to the right (that is, into the consciousness of our right hemisphere) for a file update. My right mind is open to new possibilities and thinks out of the box. It is not limited by the rules and regulations of the left mind that created that box."

But, she goes on to say, "as much as I obviously adore the attitude, openness, and enthusiasm with which my right brain embraces life, my left mind is equally amazing." She then gives a detailed account of the many remarkable functions provided by the left brain.

Killer was being "treated" by psychiatrist

So, today the news is that the killer was seeing a psychiatrist, the medical director of the student health services at the C.U. Medical Center. No information yet available as to the nature or length of the treatment. But, psychiatrists treat people with mental problems, right? And psychiatrists are legally required to notify law enforcement when the psychiatrist perceives that something about the patient may constitute a threat to himself or others.

At the very end of the Denver Post article linked below, the authors introduced information about the psychiatrist that raises questions about the psychiatrist. In 2005 she was "reprimanded" by the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners for prescribing drugs for herself, her husband, and an employee. How did the Board of Medical Examiners find out about that? Who reported her? And it was way back in 1997 that she prescribed the allergy drug Claritin for herself. In 1998 she prescribed the anti-anxiety drug Xanax for herself, provided 4 Xanax pills for an employee in 1999 and provided the sleep aid Ambien for her husband three times (three different prescriptions?); the article does not say in what year she prescribed the drug for her husband. If her last incident of inappropriate prescribing was in 1999, how come it was six years later that her case came before the state Board of Medical Examiners? What was the nature of the referral to the Board of Medical Examiners?

When Holmes left the C.U. program, turning in his student access card "around" June 10, did he continue seeing his psychiatrist, or did she refer him to other doctors for follow up treatment? Did he reveal his plans to her? Did she contact police? I think that psychiatrist will probably be "lawyering up" real soon, and maybe taking a few Xanax pills, too.

Meanwhile, the defense and prosecution are fighting over who gets access to the notebook Holmes sent to his psychiatrist. The prosecution denies the accuracy of  reports from Fox News and NBC. Prosecution denies they have been looking at the contents of the notebook. Do you believe that? The defense wants it.

http://www.denverpost.com/theatershooting/ci_21174600/aurora-theater-shooting-suspect-was-being-treated-by?nstrack=sid:5779133|met:300|cat:0|order:1

Maybe he should not have messed with Catholics!

I found this here: http://www.imao.us/index.php/2012/07/best-use-of-slow-motion-fire-and-dramatic-music-to-make-a-political-point/

You told me you were not available!

Romney zings NBC's Brian Williams!
I found this here: http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/26/nbcs-brian-williams-to-romney-will-you-pick-an-incredibly-boring-white-guy-for-vp-romney-to-williams-you-told-me-you-were-not-available/
Via IMAO

He loves it

Jon, Sara, and Greg's mom will love this video.
I found this here: http://www.imao.us/index.php/2012/07/video-greatest-parody-of-the-worst-song/#respond

Go ahead and use a plastic bag

George Carlin ridicules the environmental whackos.
I found this here: http://www.peekinthewell.net/blog/the-planet-is-fine/#respond

We have our election-year issue

The blogger at The House of Eratosthenes believes we have our election-year issue: between the "Yes, you built that" people, and the "no, you didn't build that" people: http://www.peekinthewell.net/blog/wrong-in-context/#comments

Satire from Sunny

Sunny, as her 2008 self, interviews her 2012 self. I found it here: http://www.peekinthewell.net/blog/

Sunny makes a sandwich, er, well, she didn't really build it...

Reaping what they have sowed

Pat Buchanan has a new column in which he alleges that the Republican Party has made three historic blunders that may insure its death:

"First, the party, intimidated by name-calling, refused to stop a tidal wave of immigration that brought 40 million people here whose families depend heavily on government. We needed a time-out to assimilate them and see them move out of the tax-consuming sector of the nation.

Republicans acquiesced in the importation of a new electorate that may provide the decisive votes to send the party to the ash heap of history.

Second, Republicans, when enacting tax cuts, repeatedly dropped millions of taxpayers off the rolls, creating a huge class that contributes little to pay for the expanding cornucopia of benefits it receives.

Third, the social revolution of the 1960s captured the culture and converted much of the nation. According to a new Pew poll, the number of Americans who profess a belief in no religion at all has tripled since the 1990s and is now one in five of our countrymen.

If your racial and ethnic voter base is aging, shrinking and dying, your moral code is being rejected, and the tax-consuming class has been allowed to grow to equal or to dwarf the taxpaying class, the Grand Old Party has a problem. But then so, too, does the country."

Read more here: http://www.creators.com/opinion/pat-buchanan.html
Via Rush Limbaugh

I understand points one and two, but I do not see how point three is a blunder of the GOP. Rush Limbaugh says he is going to discuss Buchanan's piece in his radio program today, so maybe I will understand point three better, and how it is the fault of the GOP.

Why The Denver Post needs a competitor

The Denver Post has a large bold headline today: Romney stirs London tiff. Romney honestly answered some questions from a journalist about London's preparations to host the Olympics. The Post article is completely negative and one-sided against Romney.

Update: Piers Morgan says Romney was telling the truth: 

Update 2: Today's bold headline in the Denver Post is After gaffe, on to Israel, referring to Romney going on to Israel.
Rodent reading the paper is from : http://www.theospark.net/2012/07/pic-dump_30.html

Is Ken Salazar the new Eric Holder?

Bridget Johnson wonders if Ken Salazar is the new Eric Holder. Senator Vitter told PJ Media, "“Our nation’s energy policy has turned into a slow-paced bureaucratic mess – largely due to the Department of Interior and Secretary Salazar.” There seems to be a race between Holder and Salazar as to who can create the most damage to our country.
Read the details here:  http://pjmedia.com/blog/is-salazar-the-new-holder/?singlepage=true
Via Instapundit

A progressive mayor

Boston Mayor Tom Menino wants Chick-fil-A not to be able to come into that city, hire employees, and provide food for customers. Why? Because the CEO of Chick-fil-A supports traditional marriage.

However, the same mayor supports all-but-giving city-owned land to a mosque which lists as a spiritual guide a man who is for killing gays and encouraging women to become suicide bombers. Read more here: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/20220727poultry_excuse_mayor_radical_imam_ok_but_not_chick-fil-a/
Via Instapundit

If these are ranchers' friends, who are ranchers' enemies?

Ranchers in Colorado better think twice if they think they have friends in the U.S. Department of Agriculture or in the U.S. Senate. The USDA newsletter to its employees warns that "The production of meat, especially beef (and dairy as well), has a large environmental impact. According to the U.N., animal agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gases and climate change. It also wastes resources. It takes 7,000 kg of grain to make 1,000 kg of beef. In addition, beef production requires a lot of water, fertilizer, fossil fuels, and pesticides." The newsletter urges employees to consider going meatless on Mondays.

A group of western senators has written a letter of complaint. No senators from Colorado or New Mexico signed the letter. Note that the U.N. is the source of guidance for the USDA. Read the whole thing here: http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/07/26/citing-u-n-veg-arguments-usda-encourages-meatless-mondays-for-employees/
Via Instapundit

Sane and evil, or paranoid schizophrenic?

A commenter at the Have You Had Enough Therapy? blog makes these observations about the Aurora killer and mental health treatment programs: "The mental health system is pretty underfunded and uncoordinated.

No psychiatric hospital wants to keep any one for any length of time and when they do release people they are always "stable" with a GAF of 60. However, treatment after such a hospitalization is spotty and ad hoc.

Even if you are a danger to yourself or others, you only get to stay for 3 to 7 days and are then released.

The entire psychiatric system needs to be rethought and restructured so that people with serious organic disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are better handled over a longer term.

Fortunately for the public, most of the time those with serious organic disorders are only a danger to themselves or their immediate family.

Like one paranoid schizophrenic who decided to swim a mile in the ocean with one of his small children while leaving the other one alone on a beach. Or the guy who decided to dump gasoline around his daughter's house because she wouldn't let him in.

And those two examples are of relatively high functioning people with organic brain disorders.

Until I got into this line of work I had no idea that these disorders really even existed. It's not something that's generally discussed in suburbia.

 My brother-in-law's the psychiatrist.

I'm just the lawyer who has to read the psychiatric records to prove mental impairments in court. The fun part is interviewing the client about suicide attempts and hallucinations.

Never thought I would spend any part of my professional life talking about auditory and visual hallucinations.

I never really believed that mental illness existed until I took this job. The weirdest vibes come from the people who are manic. I'd never seen anything like that before.

This guy just seems like he's been hit with the onset of paranoid schizophrenia.

Columbine was evil (one was clearly a sociopath; the other one was an idiot sidekick). Not too much mental illness there. They wanted to kill people for fun.

This guy looks and acts like someone who actually did what the voices in his head told him to do.

He could be faking it, but the entire series of events seems off. If you wanted to kill as many people as possible for fun, why would you tell the police that your apartment was rigged with explosives after you just got done shooting up a theater?

If you're sane and evil, you would want the bomb to go off, so you would keep your mouth shut so that you would become even more famous/notorious to get a higher "kill count"."

Read more here:  http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-psychosis-of-james-holmes.html

Getting it wrong, part three

The big story on the Aurora Massacre yesterday was the notebook sent by the killer to a C.U. Medical School psychiatrist. It arrived at C.U. Monday, and prompted the evacuation of the campus for three hours. No one in law enforcement would discuss the contents with The Denver Post, but Fox News, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, NBC, and CNN all reported that law enforcement sources said that the contents included drawings about a massacre. As part of his graduate studies at the Anschutz Medical Center campus, Holmes was enrolled in a course taught by a psychiatrist entitled, "Biological Basis of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders."

Fox News was the first to report the story, and they got one important detail wrong, according to C.U. authorities.. They said the package arrived on July 12 and sat on a loading dock until Monday.

Update: Why would law enforcement officials talk to national news outlets, but not to the Denver Post? Post columnist Joanne Ostrow points out that one father of an eyewitness to the shootings told a Post reporter that they could not talk to the Post because they had signed an "exclusive contract" with "Entertainment Tonight." Ostrow alleges that "television producers quickly locked up eye witnesses, legal experts, and others."

Update 2:: Or is it because The Denver Post has already lost credibility with law enforcement? Is it checkbook journalism, or sour grapes?

Update 3: Fox News is sticking to its story, that the package had sat in the "mailroom," not a loading dock, since July 12. The defense has filed a motion regarding the contents of the package being protected by Dr./patient relationship; so now the defense is asserting that Holmes was being treated by the psychiatrist to whom he sent the package.

Compelling stories

Go to the The Denver Post online today to read some compelling stories about the massacre in Aurora.

One is about Rebecca Ann Wingo, who was one of the people murdered.

Another is about grenades, gunpowder, and gasoline found in the murderer's apartment.

Another is about difficulties medical responders had.

And another is about a survivor who gave birth to a son yesterday. The father is in a coma in the hospital, after being shot at the theater.

Another victory for Project Veritas!

James O'Keefe has this wonderful satiric video interviewing union bosses for a project in which they dig holes, then fill them back up with the dirt they dug.
I found it here: http://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2012/07/they-never-learn.html

"A disarmed citizenry is much more vulnerable."

Grim's Hall has a piece analyzing the mass shooting problem. "An armed citizenry can sometimes stop these attacks, whereas a disarmed citizenry is much more vulnerable.

Carrying a gun is kind of a pain, really, and the odds that something like this shooting will come up are small enough that most people may not think it's worth the hassle. However, a former Marine who happened to take his pistol to the movies that night could have stopped the attack earlier. This is in fact the best defense to an attack in progress, since it is an unpredictable factor from the point of view of the killer. He can avoid the police, but he can't be sure about the concealed weapons in the audience.

There's a second reason that is less obvious. The kind of mind that chooses this path is capable of worse. Even Timothy McVeigh, far from the smartest man in the world, could concoct a huge bomb. This fellow appears to have been brilliant: there's no limit to what kind of harm he could have created if he had chosen that route.

This is to say that the easy availability of firearms, and the glamour they are endowed with culturally, acts as a kind of brake on the harm done by mass killers. Firearms are less deadly than bombs, they take longer to do their work, and you have to be right there operating them in person. That exposes you to being stopped mid-act by armed citizens, and potentially even to the police arriving (although that is unlikely, since 'longer than a bomb' is still only 'a few minutes' rather than 'instantly'). You are available to be stopped before the harm is completed. You're easier to catch afterwards. Finally, a single person with a firearm can only kill so many people because of weight limits on how much ammunition he can carry.

For all these reasons, the best response is to encourage the carrying of arms by citizens."
 http://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2012/07/an-analysis-of-mass-shooting-problem.html

Getting it wrong, Part two

The Denver Post (paper edition) claimed this morning that James Holmes was awarded $171,024 from the National Instittues of Health for his first year of graduate school at The University of Colorado. Of that, $26,000 was alloted for "personal expenses." However, in their on-line edition, it says, "Holmes' studies were funded in part by a grant to the university from the Eunice Kennedy Schriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. That $176,000 grant supports six Ph.D. students for one year. Pre-doctoral students supported by the training grant receive a $21,600 stipend per year in 12 monthly installments to help defray living expenses." Which is it, Denver Post? Can you please get the story right?


The Dean of the Medical School is quoted by the Post as saying,

"You have to understand that the program directors are with these students daily. This is not something where they're saying, 'Oh, maybe I'll see the student in six months,' " he said. "This is a family. It's a team-building environment. They're very much in contact with the students in the program.

"Especially with any student that might have any kind of academic or other difficulty — those are the ones that program leadership would focus their interest on, more than anyone, the students who are in need of help."

Good job, Medical School faculty.

Read more: CU officials defend academic, personal support available to Holmes - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21140571/cu-officials-defend-academic-personal-support-available-holmes#ixzz21azW3tnS

Update: A big thank you to Glenn Reynolds and welcome to Instapundit readers!

Getting it wrong

Here is another thing ABC got wrong in its reporting on the Aurora massacre. When Holmes' mother told an ABC reporter "Yes, you have the right person," she was referring to herself as being the mother of James Holmes.

ABC's Brian Ross was the one who tied Holmes to the Tea Party, when the actual Tea Party member whose name is James Holmes is a man in his fifties.

Update: Go here to see the Jon Stewart video in which Stewart scathingly indicts ABC and Brian Ross:  http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-tears-apart-abc%E2%80%99s-brian-ross-for-false-tea-party-report-on-aurora-shooter/

Update 2: The blogger at In From the Cold remembers a time when a journalist cared about "getting it right." http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2012/07/when-journalism-was.html

"A bargain struck with God often transforms the petitioner more than the object of any plea"

Remember Zell Miller? Grim's Hall has a piece on him. Miller credits the U.S. Marine Corps and God for straightening out his life. "“I had a conversion. I had a late life conversion. I changed my views on several things. This had to do with my son going blind, and me having to carry him to the doctor with his hand on my shoulder.... I prayed and prayed that they could do something about his sight,” Miller said.

The prayers seemed to work. “He can see pretty good out of one eye right now.” But a bargain struck with God often transforms the petitioner more than the object of any plea. “I changed on a lot of things. Not just abortion, but my whole life in general. I was a pretty rough character in my younger days. I needed to change,” Miller said.

 http://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-word-with-zell-miller.html

Three who died in Aurora while protecting their girlfriends

Three of the twelve who were murdered by the Aurora gunman were killed as they were protecting their girlfriends. Above are two of those men, with their girlfriends. Go here to read about all three men: Jon Blunk, 26, Alex Teves, 24, and Matt McQuinn, 27:http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/the_victims_boyfriends_saved_their_lAZ3ZF4nbDsTyPkeAAkZsM
Via Grim's Hall

Diagnostic impressions of a killer

Schizophrenic? Evil? All kinds of suppositions are being considered to describe the Aurora killer. The diagnosis I think I liked best came from one of the people who was shot, but survived. "He just looks like a pathetic freak," said McKayla Hicks. "I just want him put away forever."