An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for February 2010
It’s About Control, Not Climate
Global Warming – Is There Anything It Can’t Do?
The Foundry
Tomorrow, NBC (which is owned by General Electric) will begin broadcasting the 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver, Canada. Only two events are scheduled for the opening day (alpine skiing and ski jumping), but even those events will be difficult to pull off. Why? There is no snow in Vancouver. And International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge knows exactly what is to blame: global warming. Rogge tells AFP: “Global warming of course is a worry, it is a worry for the entire world.”
Considering that NBC/GE has already received billions in TARP bailout cash from the Obama administration and is actively lobbying for a global warming energy tax bill so that it can receive billions more in government green-energy subsidies on top of the millions it already receives, we are sure to hear lots from NBC announcers about how the lack of snow in Vancouver is just another reason Washington needs to act now to stop global warming.
The RIGHT To Speak
Man Sues California Mall After Guard Arrests Him for Having Conversation About God
Imagine getting arrested for just striking up a conversation about religion in public.
That’s what happened to California resident Matthew Snatchko in 2006 when the youth pastor initiated a conversation about God with three shoppers at the Roseville Galleria mall.
The women gave Snatchko permission to broach the subject, but a nearby store employee said they “looked nervous,” so he ordered the evangelist to leave. After Snatchko refused, mall security arrested him.
The man asked permission to speak to the women, the women gave consent, and some yahoo decides they ‘looked nervous’? The women could have, at any time, ended the conversation. The fact they chose not to should be an indication they may have wanted to hear what the man had to say.
“He was put in handcuffs and hauled down to the mall’s security station and later booked at the local jail,” said Snatchko’s attorney Matthew McReynolds of the Pacific Justice Institute, a legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom.
Snatchko was later released and never charged with a crime, but he and the Justice Institute decided to challenge the constitutionality of Roseville Galleria’s restrictions on conversations about topics such as religion and politics.
Handcuffing a person who is exercising his/her 1st Amendment rights doesn’t sit well with me. A mall banning topics of conversations? Who are they to say what a person can talk about? I wonder how many kiosks were selling Obama t-shirts, plates, posters, etc.? Isn’t THAT violation of their ignorant rule? Is there are bookstore in this mall that sells Bibles? Or any books about the world’s religions? How about a Hallmark store that has cards relating to religious holidays?
“By roaming the mall and randomly approaching other mall visitors, plaintiff effectively circumvents any attempt by Westfield to reasonably regulate his expressive activities in the mall’s common areas,” the court document reads.
McReynolds confirmed Snatchko had been given the Courtesy Guidelines prior to his arrest but said the pastor “believed he was complying with them, and that they were being misinterpreted by the security guards who accused him of ‘soliciting,’ even though he was not selling anything.”
I see. So, you can talk to people in the mall, but it must be in specified locations. I don’t see how that’s not a violation of his 1st Amendment rights. The guards may well have been overstepping their bounds. I’ve had the acquaintance of several such ‘guards’, who thought they were the real thing (police). They tended to overstep their bounds on numerous occasion just because it made them feel like big shots. Kind of pathetic actually.
If this man was called to go to the mall, where many young people tend to congregate, then that’s what he has to do. I find it amazing that so many kids are wondering through life with no direction, no moral compass, and when they are offered a direction, someone has to step in and call a halt.
But constitutional attorney John Eastman says that “to require a permit to even speak about your religious faith to anybody in the mall starts looking like it’s unreasonable and might well be unconstitutional.”
Eastman, a professor at California’s Chapman University School of Law, says because Snatchko was seemingly engaged in a private conversation and not a public address, his speech would not have violated mall rules were it not for its content.
When any organization, be it a mall or a government, invades on a private, consensual, conversation, you know we are in big trouble. Just when did the sharing of faith become a sensitive issue? It use to be an extremely important part of American life. It still should be.
U.S: Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
California: SEC. 2.
(a) Every person may freely speak, write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of this right. A law may not restrain or abridge liberty of speech or press.
Praying for Justice
Toste murder trial begins with dramatic 911 tape
Emergency dispatch tapes played for jurors Wednesday revealed a frantic woman calling for an ambulance as her date lay dying in a downtown Santa Rosa parking garage.
(…)
“We need an ambulance . . . he was trying to protect us,” Griffin said on the tape. “He’s dying. He’s almost dead.”
(…)
The jury of nine women and three men listened to prosecutor Spencer Brady lay out the case in an hour-long presentation that relied on 911 recordings, video and dozens of still pictures, including shots of Toste’s body with bullet entry wounds in the chest and side.
Dear God! I cannot imagine the pain that Sally, Cathy, Thad and the others must have felt seeing those pictures. It breaks my heart, after all the pain they have been through over the last 3 years, that they have to relive the horror, it’s incomprehensible.
Related posts:
In Defense of the Second Amendment
Arrests Made……..FINALLY!
Tyranny
Iran Shuts Down Gmail, Announces National E-Mail Service
Iran’s telecommunications agency announced Wednesday that it has permanently suspended Google’s e-mail services and that a national e-mail service for Iranians will be rolled out soon.
It is not clear what effect the order has had on gmail in Iran. Google says in a statement, “We have heard from users in Iran that they are having trouble accessing Gmail. We can confirm a sharp drop in traffic, and we have looked at our own networks and found that they are working properly. Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possibly because we strongly believe that people everywhere should have the ability to communicate freely online. Sadly, sometimes it is not within our control.”
Isolation is the best way to turn your citizens into your subjects. Although, in Iran’s case, they did a pretty good job starting back in 1979. However, over the years, the reign has been loosened a smidge. Sadly, for the Iranians, they got a taste of freedom, and decided they wanted more. When they went to the polls to vote, they saw exactly how much under the thumb of tyranny they really were, and took matters into their own hands. The slaughter of innocents ensued, in the streets, and through the so called Iranian ‘justice’ system.
State controlled email? Great way to monitor what your people are saying. Want to limit their news from the outside world? Remove the satellite dishes. Who are you talking to? Search, or take, cell phones. And for goodness sake, do NOT wear the color green!
Ann on The Bought and Paid For Obama
Obama’s Owned — You Can Bank On It
by Ann Coulter
The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are bristling with the news that Republicans have decided now is the time to suck up to Wall Street. As the saying goes, there is no truer friend than a Wall Street arbitrageur — they are the salt-of-the-earth, the most loyal men who ever drew a breath!
What are Republicans thinking? While not every money-manipulator on Wall Street deserves to be treated like a heroin dealer, lots do. Could the Republicans be a little more discriminating in picking up the Democrats’ old friends?
The Democrats are acting as if they want to punish everyone in the financial services industry, including the innocent, while the Republicans seem to want to protect everyone on Wall Street, including the guilty.
If I Lived In Tennessee’s 9th……
… I would seriously consider voting for this young lady! Charlotte Bergmann is running as a Republican for the seat currently held by Steve Cohen. Cohen is being challenged, for the Democrat nomination, by the former Mayor of Memphis, Willie Herenton. That’s gonna be an interesting race. Willie doesn’t have a website, at least not that I can find, so I can’t link one. 
Ok, back to Charlotte. I don’t know much about her, other than what is on her website, but from what I’ve read, it will be very interesting to watch her progress. She seems like a very bright young lady, who would do the district proud. Heaven knows, with Memphis smack dab in the thick of things, the district desperately needs a new face, with new ideas!
Howdy!
Reckon this post got someone’s notice, eh? They could have saved themselves some trouble and just gone to The Foundry. Umm….since when is the U.S. House of Representatives in Manassas, VA? Curious.
Hey, did ya know this particular visitor uses Chrome? Wonder if they like it. I’ve been very hesitant to ‘upgrade’. Hmmm….
Weasel Time
Dumb As A Box Of Rocks!
Olbermann Paints ‘Tea Klux Klan’ as Wanting to Bring Back Jim Crow Laws
On Tuesday’s Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann highlighted suggestions by former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo that there should be civics literacy testing for registered voters made by Tancredo at the weekend’s Tea Party convention, which Olbermann referred to as the “Tea Klux Klan,” and painted Tea Party activists as wanting to deny minorities the right to vote using the tactics of the Jim Crow South. As if Tancredo wanted to discriminate against African-American voters, Olbermann referred to “Tancredo harking back fondly to the electoral strategies once used to keep poor people – specifically, explicitly, black people – from voting.”
Psst! Hey! Olberdouche! It was the DEMOCRATS who prevented people from voting….NOT the Republicans. What a total moron. His selective memory of actual history is absolutely amazing!
But ya know what? I’m starting to think that yes, in order to register to vote, you SHOULD have some knowledge of the issues, the candidates, and the Constitution. Odds are, if people had been educated, Obama would NEVER have been elected, John McCain would NEVER have gotten the nomination, and there would be a whole different batch of folks sitting in Congress right now from those who are sucking the life out of this country.
It’s the Democrats who are obsessed with color. It’s the Democrats who prove, on a daily basis, their bigotry. Is it wrong to expect people to be informed? Heaven knows, our public educational system isn’t teaching future voters the facts. And I don’t believe it’s unreasonable to expect those who do vote, to actually be ELIGIBLE to vote, as in LEGAL CITIZENS!
Just a thought.
Nature’s Alarm Clock
Magnitude 3.8 Quake Wakes Up Chicago Area
A small pre-dawn earthquake has hit northern Illinois, startling residents as far away as Michigan and Iowa, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit about 45 miles northwest of Chicago at 4 a.m. Wednesday. Scientists say the epicenter was southwest of the village of Gilberts in Kane County.
The USGS initially reported the magnitude as 4.3 but later downgraded it. USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughan says such quakes are rare in northern Illinois.
Ya know, if I was of the Pat Robertson mindset, I’d say God was sending a wake up call to the area. Hmmm… Nah…..not a big enough quake.
Demanding to Survive
Israeli Warships en Route to The Persian Gulf?
Will Nuclear Weapons Be Used Against Iran?
by J. D. Longstreet
Just a snippet:
Obama’s lack of support for Israel is another mistake, a HUGE mistake on his part. The American people, generally speaking, support Israel. We tend to always pull for the underdog, especially if that underdog is a democracy. Remember, the US was the first nation to recognize the State of Israel as a new state. We have supported Israel, to one degree or another, ever since — right up until Obama.
We would suggest the Obama Regime get real — and get real fast — because there is another player in all this – Russia. Russia will almost certainly be involved in any fight between Israel and Iran. They will be in the fray on the side of Iran. Russia has a very real interest in Iran as a countermeasure to what they see as U.S. Mideast dominance.
No matter how one interprets the latest news about the Israeli Missile Boat maneuvers, one thing is certain: Israel is preparing to strike Iran and destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. That is a given. It is also a given that no matter what Obama thinks about Israel, the US WILL be involved in the fight against Iran and Russia.
Read the whole post here.
If you have been paying close attention, you’ll know that little weasel in the leisure suit has been making big noises about destroying Israel, and pushing the rest of the world to the brink so he can pave the way for the mahdi. My understanding is that this guy, whoever, or whatever he might be, is the equivalent to the Christians anti-Christ. We don’t much cotton to the idea of bowing 5 times to Mecca, or having our heads whacked off if we don’t fall in line with the Muslim idea of governance.
While Israel may not see these moves by Iran in the same way Christians do, they are quite well aware that the weasel is dead serious about Israel being ‘eliminated from the pages of history.’ There’s some controversy over this statement, but to me, he IS pretty much saying ‘wiped off the map‘. Either way, he isn’t fond of Israel, or Jews, and has stated so on numerous occasions.
If Obama, and his cronies up there in D.C., don’t snap out of their stupor, we’re going to end up in a real ‘War to End All Wars”! Instead of running around the world apologizing to everyone, he should now be apologizing to Israel, for his lack of support against those who would see her destroyed. Contrary to what he would like to believe, not everyone thinks he’s some brilliant negotiator. He’s make the U.S. look weak to her enemies, and they are many. Russia is not our friend. China is not our friend. Muslim dominated countries are not our friends. Israel IS!
Amateur Hour
Is USA Today Serving the Goals of Al-Qaeda?
The Foundry
Yesterday, USA Today ran an editorial on the Obama administration’s handling of terrorism, writing: “Officials’ handling of Christmas Day attack looks like amateur hour.” Graciously given the space to respond to this charge, Obama administration Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan replied: “Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.”
Got that? The Obama administration considers any criticism of its national security policies, even from as benign a source as USA Today, as serving “the goals of al-Qaeda.” And the problems with Brennan’s letter don’t end there:
What are “progressives”?
I realize that I’m asking a lot here, but I think it would be in the best interest of those who consider them left, aka ‘progressive’, and the country, if they start paying attention.
Left off Part 7 cuz it was 20 seconds of “See ya tomorrow.”
Weasel Time
Are They Freaking Kidding??????
Tracking Your Taxes: Park Pork?
Two weeks ago, on a near party line vote, a huge Democratic majority in the House agreed to spend $50 million to buy the former cotton plantation on the island of St. Croix.
(…)
The mixture of dry forest and rangeland offers picturesque views of the Caribbean Sea, but good luck getting there. Critics in Congress say the purchase is wasteful and irresponsible, especially with unemployment at 10 percent and the nation in debt.
“Now is not the time to spend up to $50 million dollars of the taxpayers’ money to buy nearly 3,000 acres of beachfront property on a Caribbean Island,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, (R-Wash.), ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee. “We can’t afford a price tag for a new park in St Croix, just as many Americans will never be able to afford a visit there.”
Democrats approved the purchase, even though the National Park Service has yet to complete a study on the purchase.
“We don’t have the money to do this,” said Rep Jason Chaffetz, (R – Utah). “Currently the National Park Service has an estimated $9 billion in backlog maintenance on existing parks. Why should the people of Iowa, Rhode Island or California or Utah have to continue to pay and supplement the people there on St Croix for this property?”
I am dumbfounded! Literally….dumbfounded! The audacity of these …….people…. I am completely at a loss for words! There aren’t enough appropriate four lettered words to express my outrage if I was even able to get them out!
