This just in: Shirley Sherrod is planning to sue Andrew Breitbart, whose blog ran with a story accusing her of being racist. There has been no confirmation to the rumor that the basis of Sherrod’s lawsuit is that Breitbart’s actions brought to light the ineptitude of both the Obama Administration and the NAACP, as well as causing Howard Dean to stick his foot in his mouth.
It’s been interesting to see the continued liberal ranting regarding the Sherrod incident – that of USDA offical Shirley Sherrod being forced to resign due to the publication of a partial video of her allegedly espousing racist views. Over the weekend, Howard Dean ignorantly attributed the whole mess to the “absolutely racist” FoxNews, despite the fact that Sherrod resigned before FoxNews had aired the video footage. Even Sherrod herself is cashing in on her Warhol minutes, claiming that Andrew Breibart (whose website the original video was posted) wants to take us back to the days of slavery.
Now, I thought that Obama’s election had elevated us beyond the racial divide of our past? I thought that Obama and, presumably, his administration, would usher in the era when persons were judged not by the color of their skin?
In Owning up to jumping the gun, my previous post on the Sherrod incident, the author of the piece at the New Mexico Independent refers to certain conservatives (originally) claiming that Sherrod was guilty of “reverse racism”. Well let’s be clear – racism is racism – any belief that one race is superior to another. There is no such thing as “reverse racism”, regardless of whether the views expressed are from blacks against whites. That blacks, or people of color, may suffer from racism more often than whites does not change the definition of the word racism.
From the New Mexico Independent,
You know that lady Shirley Sherrod? The black USDA worker in Georgia who was forced to resign after a conservative website (the one behind the mostly debunked Acorn videos) screamed reverse racism while peddling a misleading clip of a speech Sherrod gave on race?
Hmmm. I’d say a rewrite is necessary. How about?
You know that lady Shirley Sherrod? The black USDA worker in Georgia who was forced to resign after an incompetent White House rushed to judgment, and threw her under the bus, even though their only evidence was an obviously incomplete video posted on a conservative website?
Since even the infamous FoxNews did not play the video clip until after the resignation, one has to wonder: Just how paranoid, of conservative websites, is the White House? Evidently, this paranoid:
On a sidenote, if we’re bending over backwards to claim that the Acorn videos are “mostly” debunked, then let’s at least note that Tea Partiers are “mostly” not racist.
If Tea Partiers think the NAACP condemning the Tea Party as racist is, essentially, an irrelevant action, then what do you suppose members of al Qaeda will think of President Obama condemning al Qaeda as being racist?
From a Facebook friend,
Q: What do Twilight and the World Cup have in common?
A: They’re 90 minutes, nothing happens, no one scores, and if you don’t like it, it’s because you “just don’t get it”.
Is there a turn in the tide regarding gun rights? As a result of the recent Supreme Court ruling on 2nd Amendment rights, a DA in Wisconsin will not prosecute certain state laws restricting the use or carrying of firearms. Some of the laws he will not prosecute include:
prohibiting uncased or loaded firearms in vehicles; prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons, including firearms; prohibiting the possession of firearms in public buildings; and prohibiting the possession of firearms in establishments where alcohol may be sold or served.
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Besides not letting them learn to read, black slaves couldn’t own guns either. Justice Clarence Thomas likens restrictions to the 2nd Amendment to tactics used by racists. From his opinion on the McDonald v. Chicago suit,
Militias such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia, the White Brotherhood, the Pale Faces and the ’76 Association spread terror among blacks. . . . The use of firearms for self-defense was often the only way black citizens could protect themselves from mob violence.
By the way, Otis McDonald, of McDonald v. Chicago, is black.
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And lastly, regarding the 2nd Amendment, a cogent and well thought out argument. Excerpt,
In no other country, at no other time, has such a right existed. It is not the right to hunt. It is not the right to shoot at soda cans in an empty field. It is not even the right to shoot at a home invader in the middle of the night.
It is the right of revolution.
Written not by a Tea Partier or Right-wing Gun Nut, but by a very liberal author at Daily Kos.
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Well, if we can’t ban gunsmoke, then how about… smoke?
Under the new law, smoking is prohibited in indoor and outdoor areas frequented by the public, including sidewalks, parking garages, bars, restaurants, stores, stadiums, playgrounds and transit centers. Lighting up outside is also banned in places that are within 20 feet of indoor areas.
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There won’t be any smoke around our family meal, though. In Family Meal as Therapy, we read,
…there is something about a shared meal–not some holiday blowout, not once in a while but regularly, reliably–that anchors a family even on nights when the food is fast and the talk cheap and everyone has someplace else they’d rather be. And on those evenings when the mood is right and the family lingers, caught up in an idea or an argument explored in a shared safe place where no one is stupid or shy or ashamed, you get a glimpse of the power of this habit and why social scientists say such communion acts as a kind of vaccine, protecting kids from all manner of harm.
At risk to my standing at my place of employment, I make it a point to have dinner with my family. It matters.
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What about Jeremiah 29:10? Never read a Bible verse; especially Jeremiah 29:11.
Wednesday July 4th 1804, we Set out Eairly & passed the mouth of the outlet of a large lake which comes in on the north Side. this pond or lake is large & their has been a Great many bever found in it, high land on the South Side & praries, we Delayed a Short time at noon to dine. a Snake bit Jo. Fields on the out Side of his foot, this was under the hills near the praries on the South Side, we passed a Creek on the South Side about 15 yards wide. comes out of the large prarie, and as it has no name & as it is the 4 of July, Capts. name it Independence Creek we fired our Bow piece this morning & one in the evening for Independance of the U. S.
– Sgt. John Ordway, Lewis & Clark Expedition, 4 July 1804
America, bless God.
“Anaphylaxis is an acute multi-system severe type I hypersensitivity reaction.” Such a reaction is brought on by the human body reacting to an allergen, or allergens, which it perceives as poisonous. Those persons, who happen to have a hypersensitivity towards certain allergens, such as peanuts, will experience an allergic reaction upon exposure to said allergens. The reaction, which runs in a cascade manner, has the potential to progress into anaphylactic shock, a condition where the body’s airways are swelled and constricted, and cardiac arrest occurs. In other words, if left immediately untreated, a person going into anaphylactic shock will most likely die.
Enter a post at both hellinahandbasket and Chicago Boyz in which James Rummel likens the banning of peanuts from commercial airline flights as one example of our leaning towards a nanny-state environment. From the Chicago Boyz post,
I’m voicing my bemusement over this situation because I just heard that there are tentative plans to have the US government ban all peanuts on commercial flights.
No more peanuts for you, you healthy bastard! Your inflight snack, which is nothing more than an ounce or two of roasted nuts, might cause the poor bastard sitting next to you to keel over from the odor!
My private charity for 18 years was a free self defense course for violent crime survivors, and I specialized in the elderly and disabled. I don’t think anyone can credibly claim that I am unsympathetic to the plight of those suffering from disabilities.
But banning peanuts because someone sitting somewhere on an entire airplane might be allergic? If there are people out there that are so hypersensitive to something so prevalent in our society, then they should be living inside of a bubble somewhere. If the problem is so deadly, their bodies so sensitive, then they could be passing someone in the street who ate a peanut butter sandwich and die in their tracks!
Now I read James on a pretty regular basis. He’s very level headed. While I can understand his frustration at the notion of losing access to airline peanuts, albeit for a few hours at a time for however many (or few) times he travels by air, I do take exception towards his attitude about those persons who do have a medically confirmed hypersensitivity towards peanuts (to be specific). His expecting someone so hypersensitive to live in a bubble is tantamount to expecting his disabled, elderly students, confined to wheelchairs / walkers, to stay in their homes and not bother the rest of us able-bodied persons to accommodate them as we get on with our daily business.
Yet, why the push for banning allergens, such as peanuts, from airline flights? In a word, time. As I mentioned earlier, the anaphylactic shock reaction is a cascade function, which is neither initiated or limited simply by the amount of allergen perceived. Therefore, reactions can occur with minute contact and reactions, once started, can progress into full anaphylactic shock. Once such a reaction occurs, treatment with epinephrine must be immediate. Those individuals who are diagnosed with hypersensitivity typically carry two doses of epinephrine with them at all times. However, while these injections provide immediate reversal of the allergic reaction, their effectiveness is limited in time (~30 minutes). Hence, it may be necessary to provide the individual with additional medical care.
This is why you see advocacy for limiting or banning allergens from airline flights and you don’t see advocacy for banning peanuts from, say, baseball games. I doubt that people, who are hypersensitive to peanuts, would choose to attend a major league baseball game, what with the bags of peanuts flying about. However, if they were to make the poor decision to attend such a game, and if they were to find themselves in anaphylactic shock, then a call to 911 would typically find paramedics at their side within minutes. The differences between the airline flight and the baseball game should be clear: need vs. want, non-accessible vs. accessible medical facilities.
A commenter, emfdl, at hellinahandbasket, states,
Ban ‘em for all I care; I take my own peanut butter crackers with me when I fly. And I’m sorry, but if someone has that big a problem with an allergy, best they should stay in their air controlled bubble and let the rest of the world get on with life.
I don’t know who the person is, but if he truly believes that statement, then he’s an ignorant fool. And heaven help the likes of emfdl if they take that attitude while amongst me and my loved ones who suffer from allergic hypersensitivity.
Whenever I’ve heard of someone suffering a heart attack, while onboard an airline flight, it seems that the flight always diverts to the closest airport in order to provide that individual with the care they need. Rather than write-off individuals, with medically confirmed hypersensitivity, shouldn’t we extend them the same level of concern we do to other disabilities?
Also ref: The Peanut Allergy Answer Book
Capitalistic greed as our problem? I’ve been hearing a lot of that lately. Especially when traversing topics such as the BP oil spill or nationalized healthcare. Add to it the bit about inequality among the masses and you’ve usually put the cherry on top. Self-deprecatory statements, such as,
Moreover, I am also enraged by the sheer amount of greed, which exists in our country today—and not just our country, but it is passing onto other nations too.
seem to make it pretty clear – it’s the fault of those greedy, capitalistic Americans.
If greed was truly the problem, then we should all become sincere communists (I know, that’s an oxymoron). But greed isn’t the problem… it’s selfishness. Selfish rich, selfish poor, selfish capitalists, selfish communists, etc.
And there’s no human way around that.
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And about those rich folk… in the Bible. Interesting thoughts at Stand to Reason.
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NOTICE – No Guns Allowed A law, in New Mexico, is going into effect which will allow concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit holders to dine in establishments which have a beer & wine license. Restaurant owners do have the prerogative, however, to not allow such permit holders to bring their weapons into the restaurant, simply by posting a notice on the premises. From the Santa Fe New Mexican,
The law, passed by the Legislature this year, will allow people with concealed-carry licenses to take their guns into restaurants with beer-and-wine licenses. However, restaurant owners have the right to keep guns out of their establishments. All they have to do is post a sign.
Wow. I had no idea it was so simple to keep guns out of an establishment! Maybe someone should start posting these types of signs at bank entrances?
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Too bad they didn’t have a “no guns allowed” sign. From the Orange County Register,
Police are looking for a male suspect in connection with an armed robbery that took place in Yorba Linda on Sunday.
The robbery occurred around 12:54 p.m. when a lone man walked into the Round Table Pizza on Yorba Linda Boulevard near Lakeview Avenue, brandished a black handgun and demanded money from the cashier, Brea Police Sgt. Bill Smyser said.
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The unengaged president. Mark Steyn provides, as always, a good read. An excerpt,
To return to Cohen’s question: “Who is this guy? What are his core beliefs?” Well, he’s a guy who was wafted ever upward – from the Harvard Law Review to state legislator to United States senator – without ever lingering long enough to accomplish anything. “Who is this guy?” Well, when a guy becomes a credible presidential candidate by his mid-40s with no accomplishments other than a couple of memoirs, he evidently has an extraordinary talent for self-promotion, if nothing else. “What are his core beliefs?” It would seem likely that his core belief is in himself. It’s the “nothing else” that the likes of Cohen are belatedly noticing.
You can please some of the people, some of the time, but… Evidently, the city of New Haven has removed the words “in the year of our Lord” from its high school diplomas, this year (HT: First Things). From the school superintendent,
I’m surprised it took this long for someone to notice it. We certainly don’t want to offend anyone.
Well, actually, you are offending someone – me! I think what you really should say is that you don’t want to offend secularists.
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And here I thought they were communists. China is predicted, for next year, to surpass the U.S. in manufacturing output. Could there be a profit motive there?
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Who’s going where? Interactive map, from Forbes, showing the numbers of people moving to and from various counties in the U.S.
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When you outlaw guns… Over the weekend, in Chicago, 54 people were shot, with 10 of them being killed. Chicago has, since 1982, had a ban on new handgun registrations. Imagine how many people would have been shot had there been no handgun ban for almost the last 30 years. Oh no, wait – imagine how many people would have been able to defend themselves, if there had been no handgun ban at all.
Well, some of us tried to warn our fellow Americans about Obama’s lack of experience.
“Barack Obama’s incompetence, if indeed he is incompetent, results directly from a flawed political and media process that allowed such a candidate to go forward. It’s a failure of quality control. It’s an indictment of the gatekeepers and of the media in particular. They didn’t look the gift horse in the mouth and now it turns out he’s wearing dentures. It wasn’t President Obama’s fault that he aspired to a job he had no preparation for: a man’s entitled to try for as much as he can get … will you give a billion dollars, please … but only a fool would let him. And the fools in this case would do well not to ask for him to try harder. At some point the only way they can redeem themselves is to stop digging and realize that they, not he, are to blame for this fix.”
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I suppose, then, we should re-write our founding documents?
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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – the trailer is out.
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From the common sense department:
Women in always-intact marriages who worship at least weekly are more likely to have had fewer lifetime sexual partners than those in other family structures who never worship.
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Good guy wins another one. Let’s see, another attempted robbery, and another store-owner dispatching the would-be robber. And, again, this one is in Chicago, which means that the individual who engaged in self-defense could face prosecution. As they say, “better to be tried by 12, than carried by 6.”
Can we say, “home school”? Student achievement, in grades K-12, has been flat since 1970, yet inflation-adjusted spending per student has doubled, from $75,000 to $150,000.
From the article,
The extra $75,000 we’re now spending has done wonders for public school employee union membership, dues revenue, and political clout. It’s done a whole lotta nothin’ for student learning…
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Shooting from the hip. Well if the Sundance Kid can pick off targets, shooting from the hip, and if Officer John McClane can grab his duty weapon, duct-taped to his back, and shoot two bad guys with his last two rounds, then it makes perfect sense we should mandate that law enforcement, rather than simply shooting at and possibly killing armed suspects, shoot the guns out of the hands of armed suspects. I suppose lessons will be forthcoming from Hollywood.
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Who’s your Daddy? It’s one thing to be left an orphan, or without a parent, due to unforeseen events. Yet it’s another thing to intentionally be brought into this world, through means of anonymous sperm donor IVF, with no regards to the effects of such an unnatural arrangement. Consider the following findings of sperm-donor-children-with-anonymous-fathers who are now coming of age:
- two-thirds agree, “my sperm donor is half of who I am;”
- about half are disturbed that money was involved in their conception;
- nearly half say they have feared being attracted to or having sexual relations with someone to whom they are unknowingly related;
- two-thirds affirm the right of donor offspring to know the truth about their origins; and
- about half of donor offspring have concerns about or serious objections to donor conception itself, even when parents tell their children the truth.
And let’s not forget that they have no part in the simple act of picking out, and sending, a Father’s Day card…
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The question isn’t, How does the Republican Party cater to disenchanted Latinos? but, How does the Republican Party demonstrate to Latinos that even immigrants need to follow the rule of law?
80 year-old man, with a gun, vs. an armed home invader: home invader loses. This happened in Chicago, where the current law forbids the ownership of pre-ban handguns. Do you think the intruder’s gun was registered?
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Hiker, with a gun, vs. an unarmed grizzly bear: grizzly bear loses. However, this hiker was armed with a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol… not the best choice if one happens to run into a grizzly bear. This hiker was very lucky.
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Forget about the color of Obama’s skin… is it really that thin?
Barack Obama — a man who was as unprepared to be president as any man in our lifetime — has over the last 16 months shown that he is overmatched by events. His poll numbers continue to drop, his health care proposal is becoming less rather than more popular, the oil spill in the Gulf is badly eroding his image for leadership and competence, and his party has been battered in election after election since November. We have now reached the point where Democrats are running against Obama and his agenda in order to survive (witness Mark Critz in Pennsylvania).
Back in the day, at my blog New Covenant, I would periodically run a set of posts highlighting various current events or issues at hand, known as Rusty Nails. Similar to Mark’s Things Heard and Doug’s Friday Link Wrap-Up, I’ll be starting up a Stones Cry Out version of Rusty Nails.
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I’m looking through you. So, Sir Paul is happy to have a President who knows what a library is? Has Sir Paul become a U.S. citizen or is he simply giving us some unsolicited opinion? Anyway, maybe our current President knows what a library is, but he also thought: we have 58 states, Switzerland has its own language, England and the U.K. are interchangeable, the word “Orion” is pronounced “Ore-EEon”, the U.S. constitution was written 22 centuries ago, the word “corpsman” is pronounced “corpse-man”, and… Please, Paul, stick to singing.
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Why do I need to learn math, after all, I’ll NEVER use it! Maybe. Or maybe not. It seems that 20% of borrowers with poor math skills experienced foreclosure, while only 5% of those with strong math skills did.
The inability to perform simple mathematical calculations is likely to negatively impact a borrower’s ability to manage a household budget. In addition, such an inability may adversely affect the borrower’s ability to choose the appropriate type of mortgage given his or her current financial status and expected future financial situation. Both of these scenarios would likely put a borrower at risk of falling behind on his or her mortgage.
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Well, then, take a numeracy quiz. Better yet, have your children take the quiz.
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What happens when the populace has more guns? 14,000,000 guns sold in the U.S. in 2009.
