George Tiller, the Wichita doctor who became a national lightning rod in the debate over abortion, was shot to death this morning as he walked into church services.
Tiller was shot just after 10 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th, where he was a member of the congregation. Witnesses and a police source confirmed Tiller was the victim.
No information has been released about whether a suspect is in custody.
This story, that headline immediately brought to mind this cartoon about a previous abortionist's murder:
The career Justice lawyers were on the verge of securing sanctions against the men earlier this month when their superiors ordered them to reverse course, according to interviews and documents. The court had already entered a default judgment against the men on April 20.
(snip)
A Justice Department spokesman on Thursday confirmed that the agency had dropped the case, dismissing two of the men from the lawsuit with no penalty and winning an order against the third man that simply prohibits him from bringing a weapon to a polling place in future elections.
Oh, cool. So long as he doesn't bring his nightstick next time around. How about a big mag flashlight? Is that okay? Please! Why would they do this? Lack of evidence? Or maybe the charges were exaggerated, right? Apparently not:
To support its evidence, the government had secured an affidavit from Bartle Bull, a longtime civil rights activist and former aide to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. Mr. Bull said in a sworn statement dated April 7 that he was serving in November as a credentialed poll watcher in Philadelphia when he saw the three uniformed Panthers confront and intimidate voters with a nightstick.
Inexplicably, the government did not enter the affidavit in the court case, according to the files.
"In my opinion, the men created an intimidating presence at the entrance to a poll," he declared. "In all my experience in politics, in civil rights litigation and in my efforts in the 1960s to secure the right to vote in Mississippi ... I have never encountered or heard of another instance in the United States where armed and uniformed men blocked the entrance to a polling location."
Mr. Bull said the "clear purpose" of what the Panthers were doing was to "intimidate voters with whom they did not agree." He also said he overheard one of the men tell a white poll watcher: "You are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker."
He called their conduct an "outrageous affront to American democracy and the rights of voters to participate in an election without fear." He said it was a "racially motivated effort to limit both poll watchers aiding voters, as well as voters with whom the men did not agree."
As if we didn't have enough emotional states being relabeled mental illnesses or disabilities, now we have word from the L.A. Times that some scientists want us to regard Bitterness as mental illness:
Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at something important, such as a job, relationship or activity, Linden says. When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the promotion, their spouse files for divorce or they fail to make the Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them. Instead of dealing with the loss with the help of family and friends, they cannot let go of the feeling of being victimized. Almost immediately after the traumatic event, they become angry, pessimistic, aggressive, hopeless haters.
Does this seem bizarre to you? I think I can track where these miserable creeps came from. When I was a kid we played dodgeball. You may not remember it because so many schools have banned it from their playgrounds, but basically you had a bunch of kids throwing a ball at each other and knocking them out of play until there was a winner. Or maybe you played football/softball/baseball/soccer? Whatever game you played, the end result was the same: one winner and one loser.
Somewhere along the way, someone got the idea that we shouldn't have winners and losers because the losers feelings were inevitably hurt: they got the idea they weren't special or weren't good enough... or something equally terrible and personal. Even though it was all supposed to be in the name of fun, it was now a Very Bad Thing to have winners AND losers. They all needed to be winners or kids were going to feel bad. We needed to Make Life Fair. Endings to games required everyone being victorious and rewarded with a hearty "Good Effort!" No hurt feelings, no losers, no bitterness. Just... fair.
I personally think the government worked on eliminating competition to indoctrinate successive generations of kids into going along to get along so there would be no free thinkers, no individuals, no free market competition nurtured into believing that once they grew up they could be all they could be. Can you look at the up and coming generations of adults and imagine them, as a whole, creating life-changing inventions such as the telephone? Building the Hoover Dam? In certain subtypes of people you can see it, but on the whole....? Well, I digress. Back to the angry victim class.
And I know these people. I believe they are the ones I see when I am out in the world, usually in mundane retail locations like the market or bookstore or even just on the road. You've seen them, too.
They are the unfriendly people who walk right between you and the items you're browsing without the courtesy of an "excuse me".
The people who walk right through a door you're holding open for them without a nod.
The ones who do everything short of scowl and growl when you ask them if they wouldn't mind using that barcode scanner hanging from their belt so you know how much that item your kid really really wants costs.
Those drivers you wave into your lane who don't reciprocate with the universal "thank you" gesture.
Apparently these are the people we were warned about. At some point in their lives they all were Losers. They lost the game, the round, the race, the ball.
And now... they're the next class of people who will receive special dispensations for their medical conditions. Want to pay someone's tab because they are so bitter at tripping during the big race that they came in second? Because as soon as their "condition" is classified as a mental illness, these same people will end up on welfare, disability and walking around getting paid to be an angry hater.
They can even come up with a clever acronym for these people, these life-isn't-fair-and-I-want-mine types. And I'm not talking about PTED: Post-trauamtic EMBITTERMENT disorder. How about the WAMs: What About Mines?
And you know something else? The president knows them....it's all coming around. And though we know his wife is one of them too (...who can forget her diatribe on the campaign trail of being proud of her country for the first time...) remember this juicy nugget?
I don't think Obama realized that the people he was talking TO were the bitter Americans. Not the ones who he accused of "bitterly cling(ing) to guns or religion". The ones who voted for him in overwhelming numbers. Because they were told, and believed, that he was going to level the playing field, share the wealth, even the score.
That last mile can only be determined on the basis of one's deepest values, one's core concerns, one's broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one's empathy.
Nearly every man and woman (and millions of children!) in this great and free country knows that Justice is Blind, so where are the scholars on the left who should stop and wonder aloud why the President of the United States, a law school graduate, not know one of the basic tenets of one of our primary branches of government?
Senate Republicans investigating Sonia Sotomayor’s record are zeroing in on a speech she delivered in 2001 in which she stated her hope that a “wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences,” including appreciation for Latin-American cuisine, “would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
They are also taking a close look at the Supreme Court nominee's skepticism, expressed in the same speech, about whether it is possible for judges to “transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices.”
...
“Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see,” Sotomayor said. “My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.”
Sotomayor also claimed: “For me, a very special part of my being Latina is the mucho platos de arroz, gandoles y pernir — rice, beans and pork — that I have eaten at countless family holidays and special events.”
So, yeah. Race, experience, gender, class... whether or not you like Latin-American cuisines... apparently it all matters. Who knew? I'd say that I qualify too, seeing I make a pretty mean Arroz con Pollo... but, then I read about how 60% of her decisions have been overturned by higher courts and realize that there is a lot more to being a qualified justice than either she, or the president understand. Maybe I'll send them a copy of The United States Constitution as a present... tucked inside a copy of The Great One's Men in Black.
About La Raza:
Any questions? Oh, I know, I know. It should say "This is OUR land", not "ARE land"... but if you point that out you're just an elitist English-was-your-first-language bigot.
the blob is between about 30 miles and 60 miles in diameter and extends from a depth of about 47 miles to at least 310 miles beneath Earth's surface.
I'd say "giant" is an understatement. Although being constrained by the limits of our planet's size, I know it doesn't hold a candle to that other giant blob in our universe, the "largest thing in our universe". Long-lost Baby Blob?
Come to think of it... this could explain the sinking of the Luxor and Mandalay Bay...
The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be married under state law.
The decision virtually ensures another fight at the ballot box over marriage rights for gays. Gay rights activists say they may ask voters to repeal the marriage ban as early as next year, and opponents have pledged to fight any such effort. Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote.
While I'm shocked that this was upheld by the CA Supremes... the state has a history of overturning propositions and decisions made by the state's voters... I don't expect it to stand for long. One way or another they'll overturn it.
I'm still trying to understand why one of the rallying cries in support of gay marriage is "get the government out of my bedroom". Isn't that exactly where you're inviting the government when you demand that it legalizes gay marriage? Into your bedroom? Abortion, too, come to think of it.
Thank you. To our American men and women who have served our great country and protected our freedom all around the world... Thank you. To our American men and women who selflessly serve now to protect our freedom, our values and our lives... Thank you....to Dad, Poppa W, Grandpa S, and Grandpa M...to Uncle G and Cousin A... and to our adopted soldiers and sailors at home and overseas... Thank you.
Memorial Day weekend come and gone: I was a little homesick this time around. For the sound of freedom that used to fly over our heads when we lived just north of Miramar and those beautiful fighter jets would scream overhead. We made it to the country fair Friday night for some fireworks for the kids to enjoy. The rides were packed so L only got to enjoy 2. It was good to see her feeling better than she has for almost a month. And she won a goldfish so we have some new family zoo members. It was a good time. Sounds, sights, smells.. All that junk food at the fair had me on the computer late at night reading liporexall reviews to remind myself to stay on track for losing the pregnancy weight. I actually took the 2 littlest ones home early before the fireworks show, which was probably good because I heard from L it was really loud and kinda scary at first.
But... our oldest B knows I love fireworks so they brought some home for me. Enjoy.
Okay, so I had to turn the heater back on the other night when they were calling for "patchy frost" but now that 6 yr old L has been unofficially diagnosed with 'probable' Lyme disease that pretty much tells me that summer is definitely here. Summer and all the disease-ridden creepy-crawlies that come with it.
It was only a couple weeks ago that I had written about finding a tick in L's hair... just not the kind that carries Lyme. However, according to her pediatrician you rarely see the deer tick that bites & infects you. That's true because I never knew I had been bit when I found out 2 yrs ago, summertime again, that I had Lyme. This time around we only knew something was up with L because it had been a few weeks with her having flu-like symptoms finally culminating in the trademark bull's eye rash on her back.
We won't get the official results from the blood test back for at least a week, but they've already started her on the wamma-jamma dose of antibiotics. If she's anything like me, and I already know she's a tough kid, the meds will have her feeling better in a week. And to give you an idea of what a truly amazing girl she is, she's already trying to get me to let her go back outside to hunt for more bugs with her very favorite bug-catching kit.
When I was growing up, I remember it first was defined as a Warm Puppy. Then later it was a Warm Gun. Today it could be both of those definitions among a list of other more heart-held moments & pleasant comforts:
Warm baby kisses. Warm hugs from my daughters & husband. Warm words from a friend. Warm coffee.
And if the results of a Pew Research study in the news today on Yahoo is any indication, things around here are only going to get better! Because apparently Happiness Is ... Being Old, Male and Republican:
Americans grow happier as they age, surveys find. And a new Pew Research Center survey shows the tendency is holding up as the economy tanks.
Happiness is a complex thing. Past studies have found that happiness is partly inherited, that Republicans are happier than Democrats, and that old men tend to be happier than old women.
It's hard to think of a picture of President Ronald Reagan without picturing that infectious smile. or Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. and William F Buckley Jr. Vice President Dick Cheney, too.
When I think of "Happy, Male, Republican" these fine men seem to spring to mind immediately. Them and our two dads: one in OR and one in CA. Don't worry dads... as you know already "old" is relative.
It's been a strange spring so far. Practically nonexistent & replaced by both winter & summer days. Unfortunately, I discovered that the increase in warmer days has brought my 2nd least favorite visitor around: that West Nile carrier the mosquito. L is already getting little bites that we've tried to prevent but the sprays just give her a rash. I'm already firing up the grill more often & I'd like to get our pool set up again without us all wearing snuggies so I ended up trying to find something to help protect us. I finally found a mosquito magnet review that was so believable & backed by so many customers, I shared it with my mom who has legions of the pests out on their goat ranch. Not only did the mosquito magnet work but I couldn't believe how many of the disease-ridden blood suckers were caught in the trap! It's much less obtrusive than I initially thought once the yard placement is worked out and while I like citronella candles & oil a lot less mess! I'm definitely going to get another trap for the front yard too so L can get back to playing basketball with her dad, too.
Still have a ton going on with the little ones all making rounds to their doctors. I've been following the Pelosi/CIA Lied story fairly closely this week. Is anything else being covered on the news? and no, I am not complaining! I found Marc at What I Think? has written an excellent piece about the Speaker and the circus:
Madame Speaker may not be bounced out of Congress but she may lose her seat. Of course they'll have to pry the gavel from her hands.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich didn't mince words when he offered his own assessment of Pelosi's ever-evolving what-she-knew stories:
"I think she has lied to the House, and I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal. I don't think the Speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters,” Gingrich said.
He continued: "I think this is the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I've seen in my lifetime."
"She is a trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowist of purposes, and she dishonors the Congress by her behavior."
"Speaker Pelosi's the big loser, because she either comes across as incompetent, or dishonest. Those are the only two defenses,” Gingrich said. “The fact is she either didn't do her job, or she did do her job and she's now afraid to tell the truth.”
Some crossing Mexico off 'to-do' list (where were these people when the State Dept warned Americans over the past few years against traveling to Mexico due to the the thousands being killed yearly due to drug violence?)
Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution approved on the floor late Tuesday.
Under the modified organizing resolution, Specter will not keep his committee seniority on any of the five committees that he serves on and will be the junior Democrat on all but one — the chamber’s Special Committee on Aging. On that committee, he will be next to last in seniority.
As a result, Specter — who as a Republican was ranking member on the Judiciary Committee and a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, as well as ranking member of the panel’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education — will now rank behind all the other Democrats, at least until the end of this Congress.
Senate Democrats are unlikely to let GOP leaders fill the seats vacated by Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) on the Judiciary and Appropriations panels with another Republican, deciding instead to keep the overall size of the committees the same for the remainder of the 111th Congress.
The move means Democrats will see their margins grow by one on both panels, while Republicans will see their numbers shrink by one. Specter bolted from the GOP last week to join the Democratic Party. Republicans had hoped to fill Specter’s vacancies on Judiciary and Appropriations with a new GOP Senator, but Democrats thus far are refusing.
Aside from the myriad of cliches that keep coming to mind: ...
the grass isn't always greener
look before you leap
one man's trash is another man's treasure
...I have very little to add even as one of the Senator's constituents, so will pull up a fine quotation for the moment from one of my very favorite people:
Everyone's favorite community organizer ACORN is again under investigation, this time in Nevada where the state's Attorney General has charged them with voter fraud. Where previous (and current!) investigations into the group's voter registration practices have mostly been directed to "renegade" workers, this time they'll have a hard time blaming overzealous kids. From the Las Vegas Sun:
Throughout 2008, ACORN employed canvassers to register people to vote in Nevada, the complaint said. ACORN paid the canvassers between $8 and $9 an hour, but made continued employment and continued compensation based on the canvasser registering 20 voters per shift. Those who failed to sign up 20 voters per shift were terminated, the complaint said.
From July 27 through Oct. 2 ACORN also provided additional compensation under a bonus program called "Blackjack" or "21+" that was based on the total number of voters a person registered.
A canvasser who brought in 21 or more completed voter registration forms per shift would be paid a bonus of $5.
The Blackjack program was created by employee Christopher Edwards, field director for the Las Vegas office. ACORN timesheets indicate that corporate officers of ACORN were aware of the Blackjack bonus program and failed to take immediate action to stop it.
Amy Busefink was ACORN's deputy regional director who was also aware of the Blackjack program and aided and abetted the scheme by approving Edwards' bonus program.
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) is undoubtedly up in arms about this. As soon as he denounces President Obama's former employer & client for their continued illegal activities and has them stricken from every stimulus and bailout bill where they have been earning billions of taxpayer dollars, I'll post it here.
Until then, enjoy one of the all-time viral videos of Elections 2008: The Lowdown on ACORN by WPtG:
It was bound to happen after juggling 3 of 4 kids all sick with colds/flu. Today became one of those mom days spent entirely around taking care of sick/injured children. On Friday six-year L slipped and fell on the foyer tiles while running and bit her lip, splashing blood all over herself and the floor, causing the natural kid reaction: sheer panic. Once I got her cleaned up she clued me in on her tooth hurting. I took a look and sure enough she'd chipped a chunk from one of her 2 adult teeth - front top center. It was still early so I called the dentist but they'd taken off for the weekend already. I then called the pediatrician (they'd left early too!) to ask if there was a rule of thumb involving stitches... from my description she didn't need them but I was advised to keep an eye on it in case it didn't close on its own.
Today I managed to get in touch with the dentist and it sounds like L will be needing a cap/crown for her tooth: they'll see her tomorrow. L then told me her shoulder was 'really itchy' and could I 'put some stuff' it? I took a look and around her collar bone was a c-shaped smattering of small red welts where she'd scratched herself. She's been outside when it hasn't been raining with the return of spring and I already had been bit by a few mosquitoes by myself. Cortaid to the rescue.
I then decided it would be a good idea to try to cut her unruly mane of hair today. It's only shoulder-length but she's such an active kid that the waviness just seems to cause tons of knots. We washed her hair and she was upside down while I towel-dried it, I found a tiny tick about an inch in from the hair line on the back of her neck. Ugh! I'd already been bit myself and ended up with lyme disease from one of the little beasts last summer so didn't completely panic: been there/done that. I got it off cleanly with tweezers and bagged it just in case.
A call into the pediatrician and based on my description of the c-shaped welts on shoulder and we have an appointment later today. I decided since the tick was still alive and safely bagged up it'd be interesting to look them up and make it an educational project for L. The kid is so bug-crazy the Easter bunny gave her a bug catching kit along with the candy in her Easter basket.
It turned out to be a good thing I kept the tick: based on the white markings on its back the tick I pulled off her head is a dog tick not a deer tick. So that will help her doctor know what to look for in terms of tick-borne diseases since per the CDC dog ticks don't transmit lyme disease. The alternatives aren't any better but it's better to be sure she's getting tested for the right infection should it come to that.
It's going to be a busy couple of days. I wouldn't trade a second of any of it.
Guns purchased legally in the United States this year could outfit two armies – and not just any armies, the armies of China and India, according to new government reports cited by a website for sport-shooting enthusiasts.
The federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System database statistics show there were more than 3.7 million background checks during the first three months of this year, compared to about 8 million annually not even a decade ago, according to the documentation assembled by Ammoland.com.
That's not individual guns, that's background checks, the organization pointed out. If a purchaser obtains two, three or even four guns at a time, often there is only one background check.
"You also bought 1,529,635,000 rounds of ammunition in just the month of December. Yeah, that is right, that is billion with a 'b.' This number takes no account of reloading or reloaded ammunition," the report said.
If you're one of the proud American millions who have indulged in your Constitutionally Protected 2nd Amendment Right and either started or added to your own firearms collection, I highly recommend subscribing to the YouTube channel kickedintheballs2000 for everything from reviews to assembly instructions to shooting tips.
The numbers are in! I'd like to thank my Entrecard friends & visitors who were the top ten droppers in the month of April. Please pay them a visit: I highly recommend every one of them be added to your rounds!
Especially when….many of the legal cases against the president are consistent in their simplicity. They just ask Barack Obama to show that he’s a natural-born citizen.
Obama could…
Choice A: Authorize the State of Hawaii to produce his long-form certified birth certificate and give Courts the definitive evidence they need to dismiss these silly eligibility lawsuits.
Or…
Choice B: Use hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions to oppose and defend the lawsuits, and threaten the plaintiffs with financial sanctions.
Hmmm. Choice A, or Choice B?
According to Politico, “the FEC allows elected officials to use campaign funds to pay legal fees only if the action/investigations arise as a result of their tenure in office or campaigns.”
He obviously can't keep up with everything he promised the American people on his way to the White House so don't hold your breath waiting for any cooperation from him or any of his government enablers on this matter. No matter, they have their talking points well in hand:
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