That Opens The Door!

Barney Frank is not a chess player:

Tongue firmly in cheek, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Tuesday afternoon called on reporters to demand to see the birth certificate of new Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii).

As Djou (pictured here) was being sworn into office, Frank walked the hallway of the Speaker's Lobby off the House floor calling on the media to "do your job" and review Djou's papers. 

It was a small bit of payback for the enormous amount of attention some conservatives (and the media) paid to the is-the-president-really-from-America controversy.

if Djou was interested in being my hero for life he would request from the Hawaii Dept. of Health his full vital records file (which they make available to amateur genealogists and family members preparing, or battling over, estates).

Mr. Djou could then release the full file and tells us how long the process took, just so we could all see how easy it would be for Obama to scotch this birther silliness.

It may not happen, of course, since the press would switch to bitterly denouncing this as a cheap stunt, Barney Frank's bon mot notwithstanding.

That said, if any enterprising JOM reader was born in Hawaii (or knows someone who was), please give some thought to volunteering as a crash dummy.  Obviously, any file actually released would be heavily redacted, but still.

INSHALLAH:  Don't vex me with reality.

Comments

[bgates]

Tongue firmly in cheek, Rep. Barney Frank

aaaand that ends my lunchtime blog reading for life.

[MarkO]

I think that it would be great to show up Obama in any way possible. In his face. Unrelenting.

[Walter]

Tom must have hit a nerve somewhere--Microsoft Explorer now reports justoneminute.typepad.com as an "Unsafe Website".

[Dave (in MA)]

Obviously, any file actually released would be heavily redacted, but still.

Hopefully not by setting the background color of black .pdf text to black, as in the Blagoquiddick motion to subpoena our Organizer in Chief.

[Clarice]

And TM Weigel has called you a "birther" and Nut--see previous thread posts.

[lyle]

Tongue firmly in cheek, Rep. Barney Frank

Um...whose cheek?

[jimmyk]

"Um...whose cheek?"

Um...which cheek?

[Try Hang Gliding]

Do you even have to be a native born citizen to be a member of congress?

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Ewwwwwww. I can't believe Tom really intend for this thread to go where it is going. Tee hee.

Sullivan will be right on this arguing that what happens between the cheeks is a private matter.

[Jane]

Republicans on the senate judiciary have just sent a letter to Holder demanding a special prosecutor on Sestak.

What we need in November is subpoena power.

[Danube of Thought]

Do you even have to be a native born citizen to be a member of congress?

No.

[Clarice]

What we need in November is a Congressional majority fighting tooth and nail to repeal Obamacare and get a hold on federal spending, unconfirmed czars.

The subpoenas can wait.

[Rick Ballard]

"The subpoenas can wait."

Oh yeah - January 1, 2012 would be the appropriate moment for the issuance of a flood blizzard hurricane tidal wave few subpoenas. It would give little Barry Dunham something to think about as his Presidency draws to a close.

[lyle]

It would give little Barry Dunham something to think about as his Presidency draws to a close.

Ooh! Cheeky!

[Jane]

I dunno - with subpoena power comes everything else.

[Jane]

Actually I never thought about subpoena's until early this morning when I couldn't sleep. I turned on Hardball and Matthews was saying was the first thing he learned on capital going back to Nixon was - all that matters is who has subpoena power.

How haunting is that?

[Ignatz]

If we were so fortunate as to get a Republican majority we would have to hope against hope they would have the guts to nip one percent off of Barry's spending flood, so I'm not holding out much hope of subpoenas.
The Gingrich crowd rode in yapping about investigating this and subpoenaing that and essentially nothing came of it even with as wounded a clown at the helm as Clinton and as rich a target as the Jim Wright congresses.
Doubt they now have the stomach to go after a black Pres and AG.
Let's just hope they don't shoot themselves in both feet while simultaneously inserting them in their mouths, which they are at that same moment using to talk through their hats.

[Clarice]

Jane, I'd listen to iIgnatz long before I'd listen to Matthews. Just saying.

[Don2]

I have a Hawaiian Long form and the 'new' form.

I'd be happy to volunteer.

[Clarice]

Post it baby!

[Thomas Collins]

I hope subpoenas don't fly all over the place if the GOP takes over Congress. However, I think a few subpoena drone strikes at one specific target is in order. See LUN.

[Clarice]

Yes, the black panther case seems an open and shit exception and one for which the malfeasance should find few defenders, but the US Civil Rights Commission has already a case pending on DoJ's obligation to respond to its subpoena.

[Clarice]

In an interesting development Iran and Russia are fighting and Abbas (per Jerusalem Post) has attacked Iran as well:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas came out against Iran on Wednesday, calling his people ''hijacked, at the hands of the Iranians.'' ''The decision-making power is not in our hands,'' he told Egyptian television station Nile TV, possibly referring to Hamas's refusal to reconcile with Fatah at Teheran's behest. ''The Palestinian people's unity... is not in our hands.'' (Snip) Abbas went on to say that the Second Intifada was ''one of the biggest mistakes of our lives. [Former PA chief Yasser] Arafat did not want the Second Intifada to spread, but he was unable to stop it.''

Any wonder there are 33-or is it 34?--people Dubai claims are involved in the assassination of the Hamas biggie there? Dubai may have been the only country in the ME not involved in it.

[Joshua]

According to both Project Vote Smart and Wikipedia, Charles Djou was actually born in Los Angeles, California -- not in Hawaii. So his experience in getting a copy of his birth certificate would not be relevant to Obama's.

[w]

Djou should get the file and send a copy to Frank.

[Clarice]

*blushing* open and shUt******

[Thomas Collins]

Actually, Clarice, your original rendition also makes sense, given the crappy way in which DOJ has handled this.

[daddy]

FWIW,

The ">http://www.adn.com/2010/05/25/1293965/author-writing-about-palin-moves.html"> ADN reprint of the AP story about Sarah's new Alaskan Peeping Tom which WaPo reporter Weigel says is of zero importance/consequence, etc, has generated 280 comments in letters to the editor since yesterday.

Obviously Weigel is correct. It is of little interest. BTW, the ADN story on ">http://www.adn.com/2010/05/26/1295235/responders-move-slowly-on-alaska.html"> the BP Pipeline Leak which is catching national headlines across the Tube today has generated 5 (five) reader comments so far.

So the unimportance of an obnoxious stalker f%$#ing with the Palins only generated 275 more comments than the Oil Spill.
So move along folks, nothing to see here, but rest assured Weigel and the WaPo will tell us when something of consequence to citizens does occur.

[peter]

OT, a piece of my childhood just slipped away. Art Linkletter has died. (LUN) He was married for 75 years. ! Linkletter was a rare breed-- a socially conservative celebrity. I happened to pick up his autobiography at a used book fair when I was a kid. Very interesting.

[Rob Crawford]

Clearly Frank is motivated by racism and heterophobia.

[boris]

"*blushing* open and shUt"

Well I was going to say ... standards and all ...

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Freud at work again, Clarice.

[Jane says obamasucks]

I'm not sure I want to send out subpoenas, I just want the left to know I can.

I have no doubt all Black Panther docs have been altered.

[Rob Crawford]

I have no doubt all Black Panther docs have been altered.

I think the official line will be "redacted to protect privacy".

[daddy]

On a Barney Frank "Tongue in Cheek" thread we have
"open and shit" comments.

I thought the other post was the "Plug that damn Hole" thread.

BTW, What are you guys drinking? Can I have some?

[glasater]

I loved Art Linkletter also Peter. What was it--"Growing Old is Not for Sissies"?

He did a lot of good in this world and certainly influenced a generation or three of people.

Thanks for letting us know...

[Manuel Transmission]

Cavuto had a little segment at the end of his show today on Linkletter. The take away was having old geezers with canes coming up to Art and telling him they were one of his 'kids'. An amazing life.

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN for a clip of Art and his kids.

[Cecil Turner]

The ADN reprint of the AP story about Sarah's new Alaskan Peeping Tom . . .

Probably ought to be on the last thread, but this is somewhat interesting. McGinniss apparently spent a year in Anchorage in the 70's where his wife(?) worked for ADN and won a couple awards for a pipeline worker story. Her later quote about going back to school is apropos (in an ironic sort of way):

“More than a degree, I needed a supportive community where I could get creative work done,” she recalled.

Apparently hanging around Joe doesn't qualify, which appears to be a consensus view.

[matt]

If Art were with us today, he'd say "Democrats say the darndest things!"

[bunkerbuster]

Did someone say ``spending cuts?"
from Politico.com:
Obama rolls out spending cuts
With Republicans demanding more budget discipline, President Barack Obama rolled out a new regimen of spending cuts Thursday, promising nearly $17 billion in savings next year – much of it at the expense of vested interests often allied with his critics.
Democrats will feel some bite as well, but the Republican tilt is stronger from military contractors to oil and nuclear interests, bankers, wealthy farmers and Dick Cheney’s old home state of Wyoming.
About half the $17 billion will come from defense, much through the termination of billions in dollars of major aircraft programs. But other targets include oil and gas research in the Energy Department, a nuclear power demonstration program, and federal abandoned mine payments to Western coal states. With Republican Ted Stevens now gone from the Senate, his Alaska programs make for easy picking, and a proposed cut in subsidies for farmers appears to have been altered since February to now hit couples with annual sales over $1 million.

Can't wait to see what Republicans propose cutting. Medicare? Social Security? Education funding? One of these days the Teabaggers might just have to come up with a policy proposal that conforms with their faux-libertarian rhetoric. Or perhaps not...

[Extraneus]

I guess my position on subpoenas isn't politically smart, but I'm for jailing any government official who broke the law in their haste to implement the socialist utopia.

I don't think slowing slowing down the leftist juggernaut that's been strengthening since the early 1900s with a few minor pauses is a strategy. Either we get back to constitutional principles, and defeat the anti-constitutionalists in a rout, or we go with the realist approach and postpone our ultimate defeat, and maybe even secession. Perhaps there's another less extreme choice, but I can't think of it.

Someone said yesterday that if Thomas Jefferson were running for election today, he'd be driven out of town on a rail. I think it was Walter E Williams, filling in for Rush, and I think he was right.

I was also surprised that Clarice didn't say "open and carp."

[bunkerbuster]

And where were the birthers when the Cheney administration would not even tell the public which oil companies wrote its energy proposals or, even, who visited the White House? Talk about some things to hide...
It's not the stupidity as much as the hypocrisy.
Now, the exact same people who claim Obama has some kind of duty to make public his family records, college transcripts and so on, call a journalist who moves next door to their celebrity/politician hero a "creep."

[daddy]

Cecil,

Thanks for linking that column on McGinniss's wife. Nice to know she spent more time in VietNam than Blumenthal.

For those who may have forgotten, one of Sarah's previous neighbors, committed lefty and convicted Cocaine user Chip Thoma, ">http://www.conservatives4palin.com/2009/05/juneau-resident-attempts-to-close-down.html"> tried to get Sarah's daughter Piper's Lemonade Stand closed.

[bunkerbuster]

``the leftist juggernaut that's been strengthening since the early 1900s''

lol... so you've been losing for more than a century. If that were true, you'd think it might occur to you that, given the length and breadth of that failure, whatever pristine, theoretical right-wing utopia you had in mind somehow clashes with the realities of human nature.

[boris]

Barak out the preperation Hussein, the Obamarrhoids are back. lol

[matt]

bunkerbuster;

If you haven't noticed, the president is slashing the DoD budget by a lot more than a few billion, putting major capabilities at risk. Our bomber fleet is on average 50 years old; our tankers are being held together with duct tape, and we are going to be close to a 300 ship Navy very shortly.

NASA is toast, and he has assumed the position in his foreign policy and made us less safe.

His proposal to upgrade the nuclear capability at a cost of $80 Billion was laughable because he has Zero intention of carrying it out.

The man is a duplicitous fraud, and even your crazy ass coconspiracy theorists have had enough of many of his policies.

How's that environmental disaster plan of his working out? he has a freaking EPA, a Department of the Interior, and a Department of Energy with hundreds of thousands of employees and not a frickin one of them has a clue on how to approach, much less fix the mess. He is a disgrace to both right and left.

Most transparent administration ever? Hah! He shucked you, man.....

Go back to smoking that crack pipe.

[narciso]

He was also a filer of harassing ethics complaints against Governor Hickel, and the one behind the hated cruise head tax, which
has reduced tourism to the Alaska area

[Pagar]

The Lemonade Stand probably gives Piper Palin more private business experience than 99%
of the Leftists.

[Danube of Thought]

Several times today I've heard a marvelous audio clip of James Carville absolutely roasting Obama on his manifest failure in the wake of the oil catastrophe. What makes it even sweeter is that the guy interviewing him is George Stephanopolous. He just skins him alive, and deservedly so.

[daddy]

Obamacaresless.

[MarkO]

This marks the first time in my life I have enjoyed listening to Carville. Does this have any secondary Clinton meaning?

I see Obama does not want the health care mess described as "Obamacare," and should one of his children act out, she will have to take a different name.

He does not feel comfortable being responsible for anything. Being invisible has been useful for him up to now.

[daddy]

"Someone said yesterday that if Thomas Jefferson were running for election today, he'd be driven out of town on a rail."

If JFK was running for election today he'd be run out of town on a rail---"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Right Wing Wacko!

Plus the racist JFK appointed a former Nazi Rocket Scientist to the NASA Moon Landing Project, whereas Obama just fired a world class physicist from the "Plug The Damn Hole" project because his views on Gay Marriage weren't PC enuff. There's your leadership skills in action.

[centralcal]

Only a little off topic -

Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog has a post today about Moochelle speaking in Detroit, about "mentoring."

I really got a chuckle out of this portion of MOTUS:

The kids really liked the part of Lady M’s speech where she told them that Barack was not born President. She said he was no more gifted or skilled than any of them. That all they had to do to be president one day was to work really, really hard and have someone who will believe in, and back them. Unfortunately, we can’t tell you exactly who that is in Big Guy’s case, because they don’t want to come out from behind the curtain just yet.

[Clarice]

Dems miscalculated on immigration issue.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/05/26/publics-attitude-hardens-on-illegal-immigrants/>One winning theme after another

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

Obamataint - stench emanating from the bowels of this administration all the way to the asshole at the top .

[Janet]

Go back to smoking that crack pipe.
LOL!

"Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Tuesday afternoon called on reporters to demand..."

How dare Rep.Barney Frank demand anything. The fact that he is quoted in the MSM at all shows me they are not serious about the causes of our financial mess. As long as Fannie, Freddie, Barney, & Chris are still around...nothing has been cleaned up. How about some of the worthless "reporters" demand Barney tell them about his ex-boyfriend's employment at Fannie. Instead of yucking it up with ol Barney, maybe they could ask some questions.

[daddy]

Clarice,

On the immigration front, did you happen to catch the polite and humane way the Russians and Chinese (who we just apologized to for our Inhumane Border Enforcement) ">http://chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/25/content_9891277.htm"> humanely enforce their own Borders.

[Janet]

"Reporters" & Barney are mocking citizens that are interested in the sketchy background of a President that is ruining our country.
I guess I just don't see the humor in it.
No info is ever given...no birth certificate shown...just ridicule for whoever asks a question.

and I don't mind being called a birther so much, but I have questions about Obama's whole life. I'm more a hislifer or something.

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

Clarice,

you know that commercial that lauds kids for recognizing unfairness/dishonesty/scams when they see those implying that adults shouldn't fall for it either (little girl gets to ride a bike but can't leave the little rectangular box - "I asked if you wanted to ride the bike, I just never said how far HAHAHA)?

Americans are reacting with the same gut reaction to the immigration situation. We innately react to the unfairness and dishonesty and no amount of enticement will make us amenable to that little rectangular box.

BTW the "you've got to be shitting me" on the little girls face is priceless.

Sums up the whole attitude of taxpayers with Washington right now...

[daddy]

A bit OT, but for folks looking for employment in the Enlightened Autocracy of Guandong Province, the China Daily says there might be ">http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/27/content_9897080.htm"> a few job openings:

" SHENZHEN - Another employee of Foxconn Technology Group jumped to death Wednesday night just hours after the company chief promised better welfare and local government appealed to young workers to cherish their lives.

The latest casualty fell to his death from a dormitory building in a Shenzhen plant at around 11:20 pm Wednesday, a witness surnamed Ye told Xinhua over the phone. The death has been confirmed by Foxconn.

It was the 10th such death and 12th such fall at the plant in Shenzhen this year. Two Foxconn employees had survived their suicide attempts but sustained severe injuries."

No word in the story on what color is their retirement Parachute.

[Danube of Thought]

Just so we are all refreshed as to the basis for believing that someone in the White House committed a felony, let us return to the Philadelphia Inquirer for Saturday, February 20, 2010:

In the face of a White House denial, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak stuck to his story yesterday that the Obama administration offered him a "high-ranking" government post if he would not run against U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary.

A White House official "vociferously" denied his account yesterday as Sestak insisted on national television that he had told the truth, but declined for a second day to divulge details.

"I was asked a direct question . . . and I answered it honestly," Sestak said in a Fox News interview. "There's nothing more to go into."

Sestak made his startling claim Thursday during the taping of Comcast Network's Larry Kane: Voice of Reason, a public affairs show televised on Sunday evenings.

"Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?" Kane asked near the end of the 30-minute interview.

"Yes," Sestak answered.

He wasn't just offered a job. He was offered a job "to get out of this race." And he stands by the truthfulness of his answer.

[Danube of Thought]

Another new record for the Obama administration: food stamp expenditures reach all-time high.

The U.S. is now spending more on food assistance than at any time in its history, sparking a debate over whether the roughly 40 million people now receiving the latest version of food stamps at a cost of $73 billion a year are a symptom of a weak economy or are part of a long-term expansion in welfare and related programs. Food stamp supporters say the record-high spending is simply a reflection of the economic downturn over the last two years.

[glasater]

OT but an interesting tweet from the Major:

MajoratWH
RT @jaketapper: saw Sandy Berger & Frank Carlucci on way into WH. Reg meet NSC Advsr Jones has w/preds//Saw Zbig & Scowcroft too, leaving WH

[centralcal]

I saw that tweet too, glasater. Job interviews? (only kidding, mostly).

[Ranger]

Can't wait to see what Republicans propose cutting...

Posted by: bunkerbuster | May 26, 2010 at 05:58 PM

I guess you missed this yesterday:

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/05/25/gop-proposes-1-3-trillion-in-savings-over-next-10-years/>GOP proposes $1.3 trillion in savings over next 10 years

Some highlights:

Cancel Unused TARP Funds.

Cancel Unspent ‘Stimulus’ Funds.

Cut and Cap Discretionary Spending. Return non-defense discretionary spending to pre-Obama (fiscal year 2008) baseline levels. Saves up to $925 billion.

Reduce Government Employment. Hire one person for every two who leaves civilian government service until the workforce is reduced to pre-Obama levels (exempting the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs).

Freeze Government Pay. Freeze Federal civilian pay for 1 year.

Adopt the Legislative Line-Item Veto. Enact a constitutional line-item veto law.

Reform and Bring Transparency to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Create a Sunset Commission. Establish a commission to conduct systematic reviews of Federal programs and agencies, and make recommendations for those that should be terminated; and provide for automatic sunset of programs unless expressly reauthorized by the Congress.

[centralcal]

oh, DoT, driving home at lunch time today I only caught part of the news on the radio, but some So. Cal. legislator is preparing a bill to increase taxes to cover the cost of welfare reductions by Ahnald.

I hate all Democrats, but especially California Democrats. They are a special breed of insane.

[Extraneus]

U.S. Spending on Food Stamps at All-Time High

The U.S. is now spending more on food assistance than at any time in its history, sparking a debate over whether the roughly 40 million people now receiving the latest version of food stamps at a cost of $73 billion a year are a symptom of a weak economy or are part of a long-term expansion in welfare and related programs.

[snip]

"The number of food stamp recipients has more than doubled since 2000, and the cost of the program has more than tripled," said Chris Edwards, an expert on federal and state tax issues at the libertarian Cato Institute.

Though no one quibbles about the need for more forms of assistance during times of high unemployment, Edwards fears there is more going on here, that there is an effort to just keep expanding such programs.

Some government figures show that only 10 million people have a serious problem with hunger, Edwards said.

"The number of people on food stamps is four times higher than the number of people with a serious hunger problem," he said.

[centralcal]

He wasn't just offered a job. He was offered a job "to get out of this race." And he stands by the truthfulness of his answer.

Yeah, and I think that is why Durbin's widely reported comments this week were a warning shot to Sestak. Sestak needs to change his story and change it fast, or as Durbin would say "clarify" or "explain."

[anduril]

Ann on a roll: MODERN CIVIL RIGHTS: COCKFIGHTING AND SAME-SEX PROMS. It's all pretty good, but she heats up toward the end:

These days, a typical federal "civil rights" case is the one brought this year by the Game Fowl Breeders Association in New Mexico claiming their "civil rights" have been violated by a state law banning cockfighting.

Another modern "civil rights" lawsuit charged that a McDonald's restaurant violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by hanging a bathroom mirror two inches too high for people in wheelchairs. The error was made when employees replaced the original mirror, which had been destroyed by vandals, with a shorter one.

The restaurant owner, Ron Piazza, corrected the problem as soon as it was brought to his attention, but he got sued anyway. Curiously, the plaintiffs had retained their McDonalds' receipts, allowing them to claim damages for 27 separate visits to the restaurant.

And of course there are all the lesbians shutting down high school proms across the country because they can't take their girlfriends to the dance as the Founding Fathers intended.

This year's graduating class at Itawamba Agricultural High School in rural Mississippi will never have a school senior prom because the ACLU brought a lawsuit on behalf of Constance McMillen demanding that she be allowed to bring her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

With cockfighting bans and heterosexual proms, Martin Luther King's work remains unfinished!

Half a century ago, Democrats beat up the Freedom Riders. Today the Democrats insult the Freedom Riders by comparing them to irritating lesbians, lawsuit-happy disabled persons and cockfighters.

[centralcal]

Well, it was too good to last. It has been so wonderful around here the past two days.

Some absences do not make the heart grow fonder.

[glasater]

Centralcal-

Major was a little misleading in his retweet.

Jake Tapper describes the meeting as a "regular" meeting with his predecessors.

Tapper's tweets are not coming through for me even though I follow him.

[Extraneus]

Ooops, you beat me to it, DoT. Still worth repeating, though.

[matt]

daddy, those 'chutes were probably made in that factory. Having been there it is one of the scariest places I have seen. the workers are virtually imprisoned behind 14' walls at a complex that must be 2-3 square miles. Before the recession, there were almost 3000,000 employees there.

Terry Guo, the chairman, makes Simon Legree look like Mother Teresa. And that is where most of your Dell and Apple products come from.

[Clarice]

daddy, I wish I could drop Tom Friedman into his idea of paradise.

[Clarice]

Stephanie, I never saw that ad. Probably because I never watch television. But maybe it's because this area is about 90%dem..and prog dem at that.

[centralcal]

glasater: thanks for the clarification, but I did see Tapper's or Major's note that it is a regular meeting. Just being silly about the job interview stuff.

Tappers tweets are coming across for me. Maybe you need to follow him again - perhaps he got "un" followed somehow. lol.

[Threadkiller]

">http://forms.djou.com/charles_3.html"> Charles' father was born in Shanghai, China, and raised in Hong Kong. His mother was raised in Bangkok, Thailand. Charles was raised here in Hawaii.

Gee Bunker, since you allow Iranians, North Koreans and Martians, Is Djou natural born material?

I hope everyone here has realized that every time Obama is pressed on his incompetence, his people drop another birther comment. This is a complete sucker job.

"I want to see this paperwork, I want to see that paperwork, whaa whaa whaa." Cry all you want about the hidden, I am still telling you it does not matter towards future eligibility cases. It is in front of every last one of us.

Screw it.

Djou for Prez!!
Arnold for Prez!!
Who cares for Prez!!

TM, is it possible to concentrate all of these great minds to answer 2 simple questions?

Do we believe a dual citizen can be POTUS?

How can someone admit being born a British subject and still qualify as "natural born"?

[Jane says obamasucks]

Geez Matt and we were doing so well.

Don't feed the trolls.

[matt]

I'm sorry Jane. I'll try to do better....

on a completely different note, I think Olbermann's head is going to 'splode tonight at the O'Keefe outcome.

[narciso]

That headline for Shenzhen seems like a Python sketch, but then again most of life
feels like that now

[daddy]

Cecil,

Just doing a little background on McGinniss's wife and her awards as a reporter for the ADN. Haven't found any awards yet for the dead Pipeline guy stories, but ">http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1828&dat=19770519&id=ZDMeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RMAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2538,1906556"> this 1977 link says:

"Former Daily News Staffer Nancy Dohery won an honorable mention for her feature story, "Prostitution: Views from a Different World." Doherty interviewed 2 prostitutes for her award winning effort."

Your link ">http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/csj/031105/doherty.shtml"> here says: " She won the American Bar Association Gavel Award and the American Trial Lawyer Association First Prize in 1977 for a series of pieces she wrote about an Alaskan pipeline worker who died in jail."

When I go to ">http://www.abanet.org/publiced/gavel/newsg1970s.pdf"> this site AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION GAVEL AWARD WINNERS 1970's, her name does not appear at all, but the ADN of 11">http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dLgeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fL4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3690,816366&dq=the+american">11 July 1977 does say the ADN stories by Nancy Doherty won" a Certificate Of Merit, part of the Bar Associations Gavel Awards for 1977. I s'pose its all the same thing.

[Clarice]

I hope this is a harbinger of November:

Ras---"Minnesota voters have a reputation as slightly nutty left-wing populists, which the elections of Jesse Ventura and Al Franken did nothing to rebut. The latest survey from Rasmussen on the gubernatorial race and national issues may surprise, as Tom Emmer has a slight edge over all three Democratic contenders, but that’s not really the most surprising part. Minnesotans also want an end to ObamaCare and the passage of an immigration-enforcement bill similar to Arizona’s (via Eric Black): With Independence Party candidate Tom Horner officially in the mix, Minnesota’s gubernatorial race is a toss-up for now no matter which Democrat wins..."

[daddy]

DoT,

I'm beginning to think the Administration offered Sestak a job at that Chinese Factory I linked to.

[daddy]

Extraneous,

Our Anchorage School District just instituted ">http://www.asdk12.org/menus/"> Free Summer Meals to anyone 18 or younger at many of our schools around town.

Have no idea if this is part of an effort to increase the numbers you cite above accepting free food, but as far as I know this did not exist last year and somehow slipped in with little discussion or awareness and our School Budget has magically exploded as it does every year.

Is that happening to you guys in your school districts and we're just catching on now?

[daddy]

Matt,

Thanks for that info on the Shenzhen factory. Very Illuminating.

Too bad Sarah can't borrow some of those 14 foot walls to place between her and the new neighbor.

[Clarice]

I read that many schools are now offering free dinner to kids.

[Extraneus]

In honor of Stephanie.

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy?

We call it Riding the Gravy Train.

Tony Blair to earn millions as climate change adviser

[daddy]

One last Immigration story from the China Daily to cheer you up.

This Chinese grad student, who was put in jail in New Jersey last month for arguing with his teacher and threatening to burn down ">http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/25/content_9887402.htm"> The Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken which he attended, has been given a US taxpayer funded Lawyer. The Lawyer says the real reason the School is dealing with the student this way is because they are biased, so the Lawyer and student are now suing the school for racial discrimination.

The Lawyer also says: "If convicted, He might not be allowed to stay in the US."

A bummer perhaps to some folks, but me, being a glass half full kind of guy myself, interpret that to mean that if convicted of trying to burn down the school, this guy might actually be allowed to stay in the country.

Yippee and Kumbaya!

[Extraneus]

My son gets lunch at 9:45, alas not free, but I guess a 2:30 dinner shouldn't be out of the question at that rate.

[Pagar]

Doug Ross tells More than you ever wanted to know about food stamps/i.e. goverment deliberate efforts to get taxpayers hooked on free(?)stuff from the government.

[Jane says obamasucks]

I'm sorry Jane. I'll try to do better....

eh, you weren't alone and I was probably out of line.

[Jane says obamasucks]

I don't know where my comment went, but basically is said - Matt I was probably out of line. No sweat.

[centralcal]

Jane, I don't know if Matt was responding to "he who shall not be named" or not - since I don't read what "hwsnbn" posts.

So, not addressing Matt in any way, I would otherwise say that I agree with you. People who need attention, especially if it is negative attention, don't need to be humored or argued with. It is really best to just ignore them (unless, of course, they get too far over the top - as Cleo has been known to do frequently).

I appreciate when you speak up and say STOP, enough already!

[glasater]

The US gov has had a policy of free/cheap food for the best part of a century.
Ask Pofarmer about it....

Think things are going to change now?

[anduril]

There's a fascinating new book out: Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East. The author, Geoffrey Wawro is a professor of Military History who taught at the Naval War College for years. Here's how the book is described:

In many ways an attempt to explain the historical genesis of the bind in which the U.S. currently finds itself, the author’s main narrative threads are the U.S.’ complicated and often conflicting relationships with Israel and Saudi Arabia. All else, he suggests, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and perennial tensions with Iran, is to some extent a collateral consequence of these Israeli and Saudi allegiances. Noting many parallels between past mistakes and present challenges, this selection culminates in an earnest argument for a more coherent and historically honest foreign policy going forward. It’s an ambitious project, but Wawro’s considerable talent for seamlessly blending military, social, and political history (as well as his extensive archival elbow grease) makes it a success. --Brendan Driscoll

And here are some celebrity recommendations:

"A bold and comprehensive account of America's involvement in the Middle East. Quicksand cannot answer the haunting question posed by General David Petraeus during the 2003 invasion of Iraq-'Tell me how this ends?'-but Geoffrey Wawro's history does reveal how an extraordinary tale of idealism, politics, force, and miscalculation began and unfolded over the past century." -Rick Atkinson, author of An Army at Dawn

"Foreign policy is a chief responsibility of any American president, yet readers of Geoff Wawro's Quicksand will be shocked by the history he describes- presidents, members of Congress, and lobbyists who consistently sacrificed statesmanship to expediency, leaving the U.S. stuck in the Middle Eastern quicksand Wawro so richly describes."
-Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

[Danube of Thought]

When subpoena time rolls around, I would like to see a couple aimed at finding out just what went on with the cops escorting the SEIU thugs to that guy's house. In fact, I think some hearings about the SEIU generally would be good for the body politic.

[Clarice]

About the SEIU I agree. As fpr the cops, I wrote the Chief of Police of the Dist of Columbia and believe her version of events:The cops tailed the 14 SEIU buses to make sure they didn't break the law; when they got to the Md line they stopped. The Chevy Chase, Md force stood by and did nothing during the demonstration.

I have no reason to believe she lied to me; more recent accounts have backtracked off the DC escort claim and--trust me--there's no police force in the country that does a better job on handling demonstrations like that.

[narciso]

Yes, and it's courtesy of SEIU, which staffs the cafeterias