Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger
I guess I am a little naïve, but I was shocked to read that the Obama Administration has a secret legal interpretation of the Patriot Act that is so large in its scope that some Senators consider it a whole new law! Continue reading “Double Secret Probation”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Skylar Capo, an 11-year-old aspiring veterinarian in Fredericksburg Virginia, rescued a baby woodpecker from the jaws of the family cat in her Dad’s backyard. Her mother, Alison Capo, agreed to take the baby woodpecker home to make sure it was safe and uninjured. On the way home, they stopped by Lowe’s and took the caged bird inside to keep it out of the heat of their car.
Continue reading “Girl Saves Baby Woodpecker – Mom Gets Fined $535”
After leaving Mont St. Michel, we drove to Normandy and the incredible port city of Honfleur. As a history nut, I always wanted to visit Honfleur but I was not prepared for its beauty. We booked two nights at Le Cheval Blanc hotel right windows on two sides looking out over the small harbor and old section. The kids were immediately enchanted by the town.
Continue reading “Day 16: Honfleur”
Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
The wrath from the right has been scortching ever since VP Joe Biden commented that certain freshman tea party congressmen were acting “like terrorists” in negotiations to raise the debt ceiling. There was equally no love lost when John McClain commented that the tea party freshman were acting as “deceivers” and their ideas were “bizarro.”
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger
Weren’t we told that if the Debt Ceiling was not raised that the Triple A credit rating of the United States would suffer? I guess the credit agencies don’t care if 1.8 Million jobs are lost in the process! Continue reading “The New Debt Deal May Cost Up To 1.8 Million Jobs!”
Contributed by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
My wife sent this video to me. It brought me tears and inspiration of hope for life and for humanity.I hope that it moves you as well.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Xiaotingia zhengi is the name of a 155 million-year-old fossil found in China and described in the latest issue of Nature. It’s a chicken-sized, feathered beast similar to Archaeopteryx. This new fossil provides us with a more detailed picture of bird evolution.
Most people approaching Mont Saint-Michel from miles away suddenly gasp when the massive monastery comes into view — perched on the top of a mountain in the middle of sandy flats. It is one of the world’s most beautiful and inspiring sights. Visiting Mont Saint-Michel easily surpassed all of my expectations — built up over many years. It is a testament to the creativity and brilliance of man. Everyone should put this on their bucket list for a visit.
Continue reading “Day 14: Mont Saint-Michel”
Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
UPDATED: It is the position of the American Psychological Association that homosexuality is not a choice or a mental illness, but rather a normal variant of sexual orientation for a certain percentage of society. They came to this stand based upon scientific research that showed no connection between homosexuality and psychopathology. In addition to considering homosexuality a normally occurring human behavior, the APA does not support therapies to change sexual orientation and points out that there is no reliable science to suggest such therapies are effective. The APA also issued a resolution opposing discriminatory legislation and initiatives aimed at LGBT people.
In addition, geneticists have also found a link between genes and sexual orientation. While the ongoing studies have not been definitive is establishing genetics as the sole determining factor in human sexual orientation, they do indicate that both genes and environmental factors do play a role in determining sexual orientation. This comports with the research upon which the APA used to set their policies.
The stance of the country’s most recognized psychological professional association and the psychological, sociological and genetic research goes right to the heart of what’s going on in Anoka, Minnesota. Suicide, like sexual orientation, has environmental components influencing the behavior. Research has shown that ambient temperature and duration of sunlight are the dominant environmental influences on suicide, but that social cohesion, socioeconomic status, and social support are also important influences. The situation in Anoka involves students, teachers, school policies, religiously based politics and the suicides and attempted suicides of teenagers. It is not a pretty story.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
The 2010 elections which gave the Republican Party the majority in the House of Representatives was seen as the elevation of a “Grassroots Movement”, composed of the spontaneously combusted wrath of ordinary citizens fed up with a bloated government. It was indeed a seminal moment for those people who disdained taxation, government handouts in entitlements, and the seeming waste of our tax dollars. The initial angry explosion was a reaction to the proposal and passage of the Health Care Bill. Rallies were organized, town hall meetings disrupted and a “hit list” of both Republican and Democratic members of Congress circulated.
The initial mainstream media reaction to this nascent movement was one of disdain, particularly because it was seen as an “out of the Beltway movement”, thus not to be taken seriously. However, this changed in a large part led by FOX News and copied by its “wannabe” CNN. Led by these Cable outlets, thirsting for sensation to fill their 24/7 news maws, all media began to follow suit, not wanting to be left behind. I find it interesting though that as late as April 22, 2010, Politico, hardly a left wing outlet, noted that unwarranted attention and media frenzy had begun, elevating the status of this purported movement: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36185.html It is ironic that this article, while laying out the irrational amount of attention given to the Tea Party, at its end discounts the effect the movement would have on the election. Its authors certainly were not prescient.
Lost in the tumult of media exaggeration and sensationalism was the fact that this was not at all a grass roots movement of average Americans, but a crafty example of political manipulation laid out in tandem with the compliance of Rupert Murdoch’s news network’s assault upon all things they deem liberal. The prime mover in this is Richard “Dick” Armey, a former Texas Republican Congressman, House Majority Leader, and major senior lobbyist at a worldwide lobbying firm. Armey created the mythology of a grass roots movement, guided its progress, arranged, and then paid for its “spontaneous” events.
Continue reading “Tea Party and the Myth of a Grassroots Movement”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
It appears that Americans for Prosperity, a group co-founded by the Koch Brothers, may be involved in voter shenanigans in Wisconsin. According to David Catanese at Politico, AFP “is sending absentee ballots to Democrats in at least two Wisconsin state Senate recall districts with instructions to return the paperwork after the election date.” Think Progress has reported that the AFP mailer isn’t actually a ballot but a “form letter that looks like a normal absentee ballot application.” The Absentee Ballot Processing Center that is printed on the last page of the AFP mailer is actually registered to a right-wing advocacy group called Wisconsin Family Action PAC—and not to an actual processing center or election board.
Eric Kleefeld of Talking Points Memo reported that an organization called Wisconsin Right to Life had previously used that same address (Absentee Ballot Application Processing Center, P.O. Box 1327, Madison WI 53701-1327) “for absentee ballot application letters and phone calls that were sent out shortly before the July 12 Democratic primaries, but after the official deadlines for the applications.”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Newt Gingrich has what appears to be an insurmountable lead over his Republican rivals in the number of followers on Twitter. Gingrich has an amazing 1,325,903 followers whereas Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann haven’t even cracked 100,000. Gingrich complained that the elite media are ignoring his Twitter army.
There’s just one problem, most of his prodigious following is fake.
In planning our trip around France this year, there was one place that intrigued me: La Colaissiere. This castle (with parts dating back to the Fourteenth Century) is a glorious structure sitting on an impeccably maintained estate in the Loire Valley. You may recall that I recounted another wonderful trip earlier to the Loire Valley — a place filled with great wine and chateaus. I had read that La Colaissiere was in the middle of nowhere but worth the trip. Both statements are true. La Colaissiere is a unique and magical experience for anyone who has not been raised in a Medieval castle. It is living history for anyone with the sense to drive a little out of their way for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Continue reading “A Jewel In Brittany: La Colaissiere”
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger
Since we have been all so absorbed by the ongoing political saga involving the imaginary debt ceiling crisis, I thought it would be therapeutic to discuss something totally unrelated to that nonsense. As you will recall, the CIA destroyed hundreds of hours of video tape documentation of the infamous CIA Torture Program during the last Administration. Continue reading “The CIA Destroyed Evidence..So Why Shouldn’t They Be Held in Contempt?”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Given the temptations to imbibe in New Orleans and the benefits of a father-son weekend, Billy Joe Madden of Mississippi probably thought he was doing the right thing taking his son along to serve as designated driver. Still, something looked odd to Louisiana Troopers as they saw the Hattiesburg resident passed out in the passenger seat of his pickup truck as it tooled erratically along Interstate 12 while he son “manned” the wheel and as his unsuspecting daughter slept in the back seat. Seems our responsible drinker and father of two felt it quite proper to let his eight-year old son drive the pickup to Dallas –as in Texas –even as his 4 year-old daughter slept. Troopers were not so sanguine and booked Billy Joe (you just can’t make this up) on two counts of child desertion, parent allowing a minor to drive, open container and two counts of no child restraint and no seatbelt. Both of Madden’s children were turned over to child welfare authorities and were awaiting the arrival of a family member who could take custody of them, police said. Billy Joe remains in jail in lieu of his $1,400.00 bond. Who’d bail him out for this anyway?