We can’t call The New Americanism The New Patriotism because the corporate neocons have already bastardized the term so severely that the phrase would never fit. The new part really isn’t patriotism, anyway. It’s something truly new, a subtle combination of protectionism, tribalism, and patriotism that is neither divisive nor exclusionary, and it certainly isn’t […]

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20-year old Joshua Lipton received a 2-year sentence in a Rhode Island court after he drove drunk and caused a crash that very seriously injured another driver.
Two weeks after Lipton was charged, he attended a Halloween party dressed as a “jail bird” - and the photos showed up on Facebook, a popular social networking site. […]

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By Lawrence Meyers
I’m a value investor.  I love it when the market unfairly marks a stock down to ridiculous prices.  Such a thing is happening right now to hotel REIT Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT).  The market has been selling anything that has to do with real estate, mortgages, financials, and travel.  Lucky for me, […]

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It was fitting that UME decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Moody Blues by re-releasing their first seven albums. A greater tribute to a band I can not think of. UME was kind enough to send me a copy of the remastered CD’s, and I have to admit that I was like a […]

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Amanda Howard, 18, found herself pregnant, single and unemployed and not knowing where to turn to next when Lauren Gash, 20, from Missouri and Alisa Betts of Atchison, Kansas lured her from her home by promising to take her to get some baby clothes for her unborn child. They went to a hotel room in […]

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I am a firm believer in free speech, however there comes a point where the boundaries of tastefulness get breached. While it may be OK to do that in the privacy of your own home, it clearly is unacceptable on the radio. Yes, I know it can be argued that no one is forcing us […]

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A former UnitedHealthCare worker, who stole the personal and financial information of at least 1100 University of California, Irvine students has been arrested in Dallas, Texas.
Michael Tyrone Thomas, of Fort Worth, was arrested at his home and is being held on $300,000 bail. The authorities are alleging Thomas stole the information while working at UnitedHealthCare […]

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From Churchill’s Parrot blog. 

“He was an Irish patriot, true and fearless. When in future times the Irish Free State is not only prosperous and happy, but an active and annealing force… regard will be paid by widening circles to his life …”  

Sir Winston wrote those words in his epic “World Crisis” of one Michael Collins, […]

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Suicide Nations?
[With all due respect for the anxieties of Israelis in the face of a nuclear threat from Iran, I don’t believe that either Israel or Iran is a suicide nation. Presumably most of the individual suicide bombers have either been depressed or fanatics. But I don’t believe two nations with […]

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New York City has officially become the first U.S. city to enforce a new rule requiring chain restaurants to post a calorie count on their menus for items sold which went into effect Friday.
Now health inspectors can fine fast food restaurants and casual dining chains up to a $2000 fine if they do not have […]

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Wednesday Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, called medics and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital carrying a newborn wrapped in a towel, complaining that the baby was still dirty from birth. She told the medics that the baby was hers but after tests were done it was determined the baby didn’t belong to her so […]

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David Schussler
Property demands proper caretaking and stewardship. Whether an acre, a car, a dog, a can opener, or a gun. The idea of personal lifetime ownership or that the government should be the owner of anything is outrageous. It is hard to understand how individuals can even own property. It, in no way belongs to […]

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Bank failures and bank runs are phrases that hearken back to the era of the Great Depression, during which there was more than 9,000 bank failures, with – according to some historians – depositors losing $140 billion by 1933. While the banking system has evolved and changed since that era, the fact remains that bank […]

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I almost swallowed my teeth.
Susan Faludi has an editorial in the NYTimes essentially saying that Obama is a wimp, and that she is happy about it.
Faludi’s theory is that we are beyond the macho paridigm (she uses a statue “the rescue” of a man protecting his wife and newborn from a Native American attack as […]

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