One of my emails notified me that a Michael Crescenz, a classmate of mine, will be buried Monday May 12 in Arlington Cemetery. He was killed 40 years ago, in Viet Nam. Ah, it’s been many years since I thought of Michael, and even then I remember him as a young boy, not as the […]

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Now we know who a Vanderburgh County Indiana poll worker was arguing with in the now semi popular exclusive WTVW FOX7 video showing possible electioneering practices at an Evansville Polling Precinct.
The Evansville Courier and Press is reporting that the Democratic Poll representative was bickering with was Republican Leon “Big Man” Collins. Collins is running to […]

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Crank the Wayback Machine to Summer, 2005. When the U.S. Supreme Court allowed New London, Connecticut, to use eminent domain to take the property of people living and doing business in the waterfront neighborhood of Fort Trumbull. The Supreme’s decision on Kelo v. New London was the cherry on an ugly sundae. New London […]

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I love hospice, because I’m old enough to remember when dying patients ended up in hospitals, or we docs would try to make house calls and try to get neighbors to help give adequate care in their homes. But with hospice, nurses helped me care for my patients by checking them frequently at home, and […]

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US President George Bush has joined his top diplomat in suggesting that the growing prosperity of India’s large middle class is contributing to rising food prices around the world
He said “So, for example, just as an interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That’s bigger […]

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Credit card fees, which a lot of consumer groups, have called out as unfair and abusive are in the news again. Today, the Federal Reserve Board proposed changes, which some believe have been a long time coming.
From the Federal Reserve’s press release:
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday proposed rules to prohibit unfair practices regarding credit […]

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CNN IBN which is trying to steal a march over NDTV in Poll related coverage in India has come up with the first pre poll election survey regarding Karnataka Polls. Covering a sample size of 5124 , CNN IBN is going to town with its prediction that Congress would form the next Government in Karnataka […]

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After the fiasco two weeks ago, when the Illinois Senate buried Rep. Franks’ recall amendment (HJCRA28), Senator Hendon introduced his own recall amendment in the Senate. This version (SJCRA70) is substantially similar to Rep. Franks’ recall but has a few changes: the ability to recall judges, the Governor and Lt. Governor have to be […]

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The small but prosperous Gulf kingdom of Bahrain has appointed a new Ambassador to the United States.
And she is Jewish.
Surprised?
Most Americans can’t tell a Shiite from a Sunni, or a Farsi from an Arab.
And a lot of blogs seem to think “Arab =Muslim”, a generalization that would come as a surprise to Lebanese Christians or […]

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In New York’s Times Square on Sunday afternoon, Armenians, documentary filmmakers, politicians and historians who refuse to allow the nearly successful genocidal campaign by the Ottoman Turks to be forgotten, gathered to mark the 93rd year of the atrocity and of the Turkish denials.
The two-hour event featured the usual speeches – you know, that quote […]

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I’ve often written about borderless crime being committed with a click of a mouse, as well as, the lines that law enforcement jurisdictions impose, which can make investigative and prosecution efforts, frustrating.
The Attorney General and the Justice Department are announcing a new strategy to go after the problem.
From the press release on fbi.gov:
Today, Attorney General […]

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There has been much, (mostly right wing inspired) press about former President Jimmy Carter meeting with Hamas. The Bush(ette) mouthpiece Condoleeza Rice has been rather outspoken about the ex presidents effectiveness, and even his usefulness in attempting to bring peace to a part of the ever turbulent Middle East.
The latest ‘go around’ involves a discrepancy […]

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Well, I guess it’s time to say goodbye. You know, take leave, adieu, farewell, so long, auf Wiedersehen.

Anyway, I had this strange dream last night. It went something like this:
Hermann: Now, you’ve got to listen to me! Do you have any idea what you’d have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances […]

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I grew up loving Israel unquestioningly.  I come from a Christian fundamentalist background, so, much the Wahabi, I believed what I was told.  It was not until I saw Paradise Now, the groundbreaking Palestinian film, that my opinions on the matter become more open.  This is a film about that happening in the life of […]

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Just two months after Homeland Security head honcho Michael Chertoff extolled the wonderful test project of the Virtual Border Fence prototype near Tucson, Arizona. The project has been scrapped.
The fence consisted of 9 towers constructed along a 28 mile length of the Arizona/Mexico boarder. Armed with all sorts of exotic gadgetry this virtual fence was […]

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(London, UK) The UK based Autism Awareness Campaign has urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling to reach out to the vulnerable and help families with autism during what is now a time of crisis. According to campaigners, the credit crunch will hurt the poor, the most vulnerable sections […]

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It has been reported that a meeting of the justice ministers of EU has  agreed that using the Internet to publish bomb recipes or call for acts of terrorism to be committed should count as a criminal offence. The members have agreed to introduce the law […]

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Pregnant lady notices that she is leaking fluid, and promptly heads home to deliver her baby boy.
Except that she was in Texas at the time, and “home” is Anchorage, Alaska.
When asked why she chose to give birth at home, the father, who is best known for the Iron Dog race but who works along with […]

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April 22 is here–Earth Day, and Scorched Earth Day in Pennsylvania. Only fools predict political outcomes this year. I qualify. So here’s what’s going to happen.
Hillary will probably win the primary. If she wins by any more than two percent, she will trumpet her triumph as a come-from-behind victory, even though she started with a 20 […]

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It’s bad enough for a straight-A wind energy Musterschuler (model student) like Germany to suddenly fall back to fifth place in class (at least when it comes to the number of turbines installed last year, that is), but to be passed up in the process by the Mother of all Umweltsünder (environmental sinners), the United […]

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An EARTH DAY SPECIAL from Churchill’s Parrot blog
Granted Karl Marx was a bitter, self-loathing, misanthrope, half-crazed with envy and his own depraved world view, but at least he had integrity.  When advocating the implementation of his beloved communism, for instance, he made no attempt to sugar coat what would be required:
“The proletariat will use its […]

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Think the old Pink Floyd “we don’t need no education” line only replace it with democracy and that’s what you’ve got here in Germany, folks. If you trust these latest survey results, that is (which I don’t, nicht wirklich). Hey, that was from The Wall, wasn’t it? How ironic.

Anyway, according to the Leipzig Institute for […]

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I was happy when the Pope addressed the UN on Human Rights.
In various places where I’ve worked, I’ve run into human rights issues, from sterilizing Native American women, to lots of money for  “pill ladies” in African villages without running water, to displacing people from farms lands designated for a certain race, to allowing out […]

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The purpose of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been eroded and molded to fit 21st century liberal sensibilities; that is to say, to take it as much out of the public square as possible.  When Thomas Jefferson responded to the Danbury Baptists, he was responding to a specific question — government interfering […]

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Should a painter be allowed to decide what he or she paints?  Should a musician be allowed to decide what music to play or write?  Should a photographer be allowed to decide what pictures to take? 
In New Mexico, the answer to that last question is a resounding, “No.”
The New Mexico Human Rights Commission ruled […]

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It’s true! Would hysterical conservatives lie to you about a Godless Muslim Koran-fondling wild man like Scary Barry? A man who doesn’t always wear a flag pin on his lapel? That was mighty careless of him. You’d think the Anti-Christ would be a little more devious than that. Since Christ was clearly a white American, […]

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New Yorkers can thank their lucky SARs that X Governor Eliot Spitzer had a thing for hookers. Or more accurately– for pricey hookers run by international criminals who laundered payments through shell companies. If Spitzer had been doing cheap cash and carry on the streets of Albany (contrary to official reports, Mayor Jerry Jennings hasn’t […]

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Citizen involvement in political affairs is slowly dying.  Even with internet activism on the rise, mainly because it’s easier than actually going out and doing something, people are becoming more disjointed from the political process in their countries.  This leaves activism as a form which is found more towards the fringes of any given political […]

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Business Entities have of late been realizing that threats from Cyber Space have increased beyond the critical point where they can either be ignored or covered as a normal business loss. As Cyber Crime is getting more and more targeted towards financial benefits, the CEOs need […]

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In their stump speeches Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) have done their best to create what Washington Post columnist George Will calls “economic hypochondria,” and their surrogates in the MSM are laboring mightily to find everyday folks who can put a face to the suffering the candidates claim is caused by the “housing […]

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