Judson Phillips, president of Tea Party Nation, thinks that it makes sense that voting rights in the United States should be restricted to those who own property. He believes that property owners have more of a “vested stake” in a community than do people who do not own property. That’s what he claimed on a weekly program hosted by Tea Party Nation recently.
It is a conceit of human nature to believe that only our species is capable of selfless devotion or incredible bravery under fire. In December 1941 on an island in the Pacific, a black Newfoundland dog laid that notion to rest. Attached to “C” Force of the Canadian Royal Rifles Regiment stationed on Hong Kong Island, Gander was the mascot to a besieged army of Allies surrounded by an overwhelming Japanese force bent its destruction. Gander had come to the Canucks on a parole basis. Christened “Pal,” the strong, loyal, and calm animal had been banished from his home for accidentally scratching a child during play. The Rifles were based at Gander, so the name of the animal was a foregone conclusion. Gander became an instant hit and a morale booster for an army fearing the worst.
After being dumped by Amazon, WikiLeaks is now hosted on Bahnhof AB, a Swedish ISP, servers, located in a former nuclear bomb shelter carved out of solid bedrock in the Pionen White Mountains in downtown Stockholm. Although PayPal has ceased allowing donations to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange is being sought for arrest by Interpol, the WikiLeaks documents are secure. However, the servers are still vulnerable to a denial-of-services attack. Would the U.S. launch a denial-of-services attack on an ISP of an ally?
H/T: Bahnof.
-David Drumm (Nal)
You have to click the link on the video and watch it on YouTube.
Parker Brothers Choppers, a Florida bike shop, has put together 10 custom-built, street-legal Tron Lightcycles. One could be yours for a mere $55,000. Looks uncomfortable for long rides but who cares, I want one.
H/T: Wired.
-David Drumm (Nal)
We’ve seen on this blog how lack of girth can be a “Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free” card for some folks. Can the “Bust Defense” to crimes be far behind? Well, it’s here now—just a tad east. Tokyo pinup model, Serena Kozakura, won her 2008 criminal case using her 44’s. No violence involved, just a little physics to prove that she was unable to fit through a hole. Seems our buxom lassie was charged with breaking into the home of an ex-boyfriend to confront the man about seeing another woman. When the hole in the man’s “kicked-in” door was measured it was determined that Kozakura’s 44 inch bust would not fit the space. The trial court convicted her anyway rejecting the OJ “if it doesn’t fit ….” defense, but an appeals court reversed.
Two adipose Oklahoma women have been accused of trying to steal $2,600 worth of goods from a T J Maxx store. The would-be robbers, Ailene Brown, 28, and Shmeco Thomas, 37, used the folds of their skin and body fat to hide the shoplifted articles—which included three pairs of jeans, gloves, and a wallet. In an attempt at mammary malfeasance, one of the women is said to have tried to smuggle three pairs of boots out of the store underneath her breasts. A booty boob job that was a bust!
Sarah Palin’s new book, America By Heart: Reflections On Faith, Family and Flag, repeats the debunked myth that George Washington, at his first inauguration, added the phrase “So help me God” to the oath of office. The myth was started by Washington Irving and repeated by Rufus Wilmot Griswold in his 1854 book The Republican Court, or, American Society in the Days of Washington.
Washington Irving told the story of how he was present at the first inauguration.
Submitted by -David Drumm (Nal) — guest editor
Tuesday of this week I was to appear at the Travis County Court House for possible jury selection. Along with 45 others, I was number 28, I filed into the court room for voir dire from the attorneys representing the plaintiff and defendants. I had already filled out a basic questionnaire on-line. The judge explained that this was a civil trial and twelve of us would be selected.
Visitors to the State Capitol here in Richmond are invariably drawn to Virginia’s cascading marble and bronze tribute to her greatest native sons, the George Washington Equestrian Monument. High atop rides George Washington pointing the way– first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. Just below and in a rather pensive mood, stands the “Sage of Monticello,” Thomas Jefferson, flanked by Chief Justice John Marshall, orator Patrick Henry, and the rest of Virginia’s intelligentsia of the Revolution and Founders of the Republic. Oh, Virginia doesn’t forget its allegorical figures either — Justice, Independence, Bill of Rights, Revolution, and even Finance, all have their own bronze embodiments just one tier below. The monument stands for all the Commonwealth values and aspires to be.
Even by Kentucky standards, it was stunning. Democratic Governor Steve Beshear standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Evangelical Right to announce a $37 Million tithe in tax incentives to finance a creationist theme park named “Ark Encounter.”
Continue reading “It’s Not Job – It’s Jobs, You Ninny: KY Taxpayers “Jobbed” By Governor/Religion”
Sometimes a story just makes you put down the newspaper, take a deep breath, and scream. The
Warren Commission’s man-you-love-to-hate, JFK assassin, and subject of all manner of conspiracy theories, Lee Harvey Oswald, is the gift that keeps on re-gifting. A LA auction house has the badly damaged pine box, sans body of course, on the block. The coffin was exhumed by Oswald’s widow, Marina, to test yet another conspiracy theory that a body double was actually in the box and not the man with the magic bullet. No dice. The body was that of Oswald.
Continue reading “Holiday Gift For The Assassin With Everything: Oswald’s Coffin At Auction”
In Peshawar, Maulana Yousef Qureshi, the imam of a major mosque is not satisfied with the prosecution of Asia Bibi for blasphemy. He has offered a bounty to anyone who kills her for insulting Islam.
Continue reading “Leading Pakistani Cleric Offers Reward For Anyone Who Kills Woman Who Insulted Islam”
In Hayden, Idaho, one family has a unique way of spreading the holiday cheer . . . or fear. A family has displayed a Klansman snowman with a dangling noose in front of their home and neighbors are calling for action to remove the offensive display.
A day after Amazon was forced to block Wikileaks, the site is again offline in an alleged campaign by the United States to prevent the public from seeing the whistleblower material. This includes a disclosure, discussed last night on Countdown, that the Obama Administration has been misleading the public and actually moved to force Spain to drop its prosecution of American officials for war crimes and torture.
Continue reading “Is the United States Engaging In Unlawful Cyber Attacks Against Carriers of Wikileaks?”
In Indiana, Angela J. Boyd, 38, was in the midst of a moving eulogy at her daughter’s funeral when it was interrupted by her brother in a truly soap-opera moment. The brother stood up to say that his 15-year-old niece was very much alive.
Continue reading “Mother Arrested After Funeral For Daughter Whom She Falsely Claimed Was Raped and Murdered”