Saturday - September 08, 2007

Daily Fred Thompson Attack

Today’s entry comes from Michael Reagan, son of the Gipper, and GOPUSA.com

A Few Questions For Fred Thompson
By Michael Reagan
September 7, 2007

Fred Thompson’s opening shot in launching his campaign on the Jay Leno show was impressive, but now he has to forget the sound bites and the folksy advice and get down to brass tacks.

To begin with, he has to give the voters in the primary states a good reason to pick him over all the other Republican candidates. He has to tell them not only where he stands on the issues, but also what he plans to do about them.

It’s not enough to say he wants a better America—after all, everybody wants that. He has to spell out how he plans to get there.

What is he going to do to give us the smaller government candidates keep promising but never seem to provide?

What is he going to do to win the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism?

How does he plan to create a fairer income tax system that rewards hard work rather than punishes it?

He needs to answer those questions and be very specific in his answers.

He goes on from there, demanding the Fred answer all of these questions with exacting detail before he can be taken seriously.  He doesn’t want to hear anything about how Fred “feels” unless it is how he feels about the people.

Sheesh.  What a putz.

They guy is making his first stump speech and is supposed to have already layed out his entire plan for peace on earth?

Posted by Drew458     on 09/08/2007 at 08:00 AM   
Filed Under: • Republicans •  
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   Friday - September 07, 2007

Friday Diversion

Pillage the Village!

Picking up and throwing villagers to steal their hard-earned money is what its all about

Play Pillage The Village

Posted by Drew458     on 09/07/2007 at 10:03 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
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Daily Fred Thompson Attack

This morning’s attack comes from Brad Blakeman of Freedom Watch.  He feels that all networks, cable included, should pull all episodes of “Law and Order” now that Fred is running.  The argument is that it gives him a clear advantage to have his mug on the air in a fictional TV show.

Heh.

Link to MSNBC Video

Posted by Drew458     on 09/07/2007 at 08:39 AM   
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   Thursday - September 06, 2007

What Happens When You Lend Money To Poor People?

This is rich.  Finally, someone on Wall Street is talking about this “sub-prime” fiasco with some clarity.

A Wall Street Trader Draws Some Subprime Lessons

By Michael Lewis

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg)—So right after the Bear Stearns funds blew up, I had a thought: This is what happens when you lend money to poor people.

Don’t get me wrong: I have nothing personally against the poor. To my knowledge, I have nothing personally to do with the poor at all. It’s not personal when a guy cuts your grass: that’s business. He does what you say, you pay him. But you don’t pay him in advance: That would be finance. And finance is one thing you should never engage in with the poor. (By poor, I mean anyone who the SEC wouldn’t allow to invest in my hedge fund.)

That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from the subprime crisis. Along the way, as these people have torpedoed my portfolio, I had some other thoughts about the poor. I’ll share them with you.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/06/2007 at 05:48 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
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New Button

Inspired by Misha, I’ve created my own Fred08 Button.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/06/2007 at 02:13 PM   
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Muslim Students in America

Found this over at lgf

At the University of Texas, the Student Association was having a “Back to School” day for clubs and organizations to show themselves to the students.  The Muslim Student Association (MSA) had a guy with a microphone interviewing students.  This is called The Missing Hijab 2 & the Jew

It’s bad enough that he’s trying to intimidate the young lady about her decision to not wear a Hijab, but when he gets to the Jewish man and asks: “What would you think is the biggest accomplishment of the Jews in America?” and before he can answer, he spouts: “9/11?”

Sick.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/06/2007 at 01:43 PM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA •  
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It’s Official

Fred made his announcement on Leno last night.  Here are the clips:

Then you can go to Fred08 and watch his announcement video.

Let the games begin!

Posted by Drew458     on 09/06/2007 at 07:35 AM   
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   Wednesday - September 05, 2007

Fred’s First Ad

Fred08/I’m With Fred

Posted by Drew458     on 09/05/2007 at 11:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Republicans •  
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Ain’t This The Truth?

h/t: sdkar

Posted by Drew458     on 09/05/2007 at 09:35 AM   
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VYGER

30 years ago today, the Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched.  The craft is now 13 light-minuteshours away from earth and still sending back images. 

Wired Magazine has compiled a set of pictures from the craft’s extensive trip.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/05/2007 at 08:34 AM   
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   Tuesday - September 04, 2007

Congrats

It won’t happen often, but in this case, it is a clear win for all of us.

Bloggers Win Before the FEC

Ah, summer, the time for daydreams, like when BlogCritics.org’s John Bambenek believed he could haul DailyKos before the Federal Election Commission and have a hearing where he’d prove that we were violating the law by failing to register as a political committee.

Vacation’s over, and the FEC has unanimously determined that DailyKos qualifies as a media entity under federal law, and thus none of the site’s expenditures count under federal law for determining whether a political committee was formed.  Just like a newspaper isn’t charged with making a campaign contribution by editorializing on behalf of a candidate, neither is this site:

Kos Media qualifies as a media entity in its function of operating DailyKos. DailyKos is available to the general public and is the online equivalent of a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication as described in the Act and Commission regulations. Additionally, DailyKos is precisely the type of online media presence the Commission contemplated when revising the media exemption provided in 11 C.F.R. §§ 100.73 and 100.132.  An examination of DailyKos and other supporting materials demonstrates that the site’s primary function is to provide news and commentary to millions of viewers through its “blog” entries providing news stories with links to “breaking news,” original political commentary, and calls to action. Like traditional media outlets such as newspapers and magazines, DailyKos has a publisher, Moulitsas, who appears to retain editorial control over the content of the site, and a list of contributing editors, who along with Moulitsas appear to be “front page posters” and draft stories. Further, registered users of DailyKos may post responsive comments, which are similar to letters to the editors in traditional media outlets.

In addition, Kos Media’s creation and distribution of the DailyKos falls within the scope of the exemption. First, the complaint does not allege, nor does publicly available information indicate, that Kos Media is owned or controlled by a political party, committee, or candidate. Second, by creating and distributing the DailyKos, containing news stones with links to “breaking news,” original political commentary and calls to actions akin to editorials, Kos Media is acting within its legitimate press function that qualifies it as a press entity. As such, Kos Media’s creation and distribution of the DailyKos falls within Kos Media’s legitimate press. function. Moreover, Kos Media’s operation of DailyKos is the type of activity contemplated by the Commission during its rulemaking regarding the media exemption....

While the complaint asserts that DailyKos advocates for the election of Democrats to federal office, the Commission has repeatedly stated that an entity that would otherwise qualify for the media exemption does not lose its eligibility because it features news or commentary lacking objectivity or expressly advocates in its editorials the election or defeat of a federal candidate.

Blogging is just as much media as TV, Radio and newsprint.  Hopefully, no other bloggers will have to be dragged into court to prove it again. 

Congrats KOS, you did well in fighting this one.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/04/2007 at 10:06 PM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • News-Briefs •  
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Gun-Free Bliss

Chicago, for all intents and purposes, is supposed to be gun-free.  That is, there are an abundance of real laws on the books that should keep any type of handgun out of the city.  It is ILLEGAL to have a handgun in Chicago, period.

Here’s the news from the long weekend:

* A 26-year-old man was shot and killed while he and two friends were riding bicycles home after eating in the area of North and Western avenues at about 3:22 a.m. Chris Himel suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest at 1513 N. Maplewood Ave.

* The body of 27-year-old Luis Gonzalez was found in the street at 1907 N. Keystone Ave. at about 11:20 a.m. Gonzalez, of the 4100 block of N. St. Louis Ave., was found in a back yard, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. An autopsy found that Gonzalez died of a gunshot wound to the back and his death was ruled a homicide.

* Two men were shot, one critically injured, in separate gang-related shootings that occurred minutes apart and about a mile away from each other on the South Side Friday afternoon.

A gunshot victim was taken in serious condition to Mount Sinai Hospital from a shooting about 1 p.m. at 2525 W. 45th St., according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Richard Rosado.

At 1:14 p.m., a Fire Department ambulance was sent to West 42nd Street and South Albany Avenue for another gunshot victim, who was critically injured and also taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, Rosado said.

The men were both shot on the street in unrelated incidents that appeared gang-related, according to a Deering District police lieutenant.

*Two men were wounded—one fatally—in a drive-by shooting in the West Pullman neighborhood Friday night. They were standing on the sidewalk on the 12000 block of South Wentworth Avenue when a red Oldsmobile Cutlass pulled up and someone started shooting. Leroy Fentress, 23, of the 12000 block of S. Wentworth Ave., was killed in the shooting. The other man, a 24-year-old, was shot in the right ankle.

No, that wasn’t the whole weekend....that was Friday.

Here’s Saturday, Sunday and Monday:

* A 17-year-old Harvey man was killed and two other males, ages 15 and 18, were wounded in a shooting in the West Side’s Lawndale neighborhood early Saturday.

*Officers heard shots fired in the 1600 block of South Homan Avenue about 4 a.m. Saturday and found an unidentified man in his 20s who had been shot multiple times. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.

* A 24-year-old man was killed while picking up food from a South Side takeout restaurant in what police say may have been a gang-related shooting on the South Side Saturday night.

*A 29-year-old man was killed and a woman, whose age was unknown, was injured in a shooting at a party in a vacant lot on the South Side Saturday night.

*A 26-year-old man was seriously wounded when he was shot multiple times in a robbery attempt on the 8100 block of South Kingston Avenue about 11:50 p.m. Saturday.

*Saturday’s violence wasn’t confined to the city. A 16-year-old boy, identified as Rick Ybarr, was found lying on the ground near an alley behind 1239 Otto Boulevard in Chicago Heights late Saturday. The boy appeared to have suffered two gunshot wounds—one to the front of his left thigh and one to the lower right abdomen—and was pronounced dead just before 4 a.m. Sunday.

*Early Sunday, two drive-by shootings happened blocks away and about a half-hour apart from each other on the Northwest Side.

The first shooting took place in the 2500 block of North Tripp Avenue about 2:30 a.m.  A 22-year-old man was walking when two men drove by and fired at him, striking him in the left foot.
At about 3:10 a.m., a 31-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to both legs when two gunman fired at him from a passing vehicle as he walked on the 2400 block of North Kostner Avenue.

*A shooting at a traffic light on the South Side Sunday left a 22-year-old man dead and the female driver injured.

* Two men were killed Sunday evening in a drive-by on the South Side.

*Two men were shot, one reportedly fatally, while traveling in a car on the South Side Sunday night.

* Five people were wounded in an apparent gang-related shooting on the Northwest Side early Monday.

So I count about 25 people killed or injured by what is supposed to be completely impossible in the Windy City. 

Hey gun banners:  What is your answer to this?  Do you want us to believe that passing yet another round of bans will change one damn thing?  What would the outcomes of some of these incidents have been had the victims been able to defend themselves legally?

Posted by Drew458     on 09/04/2007 at 11:36 AM   
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NY Daily News on Fred

What does the New York Daily News think about Fred?

There are those inclined to sneer that Fred Thompson ultimately has not much more than Hollywood star power going for him. Could be. But then, Americans didn’t elect Ronald Reagan simply because he used to be that nice man on “General Electric Theater,” and Arnold Schwarzenegger is not governor of California just because people liked him so much in “Conan the Destroyer.”

Committed Fredheads, for their part, are sure that what they’ve got in their man, a lawyer and former U.S. senator, is a genuine pure-conservative alternative to the other Republican presidential candidates, one who is certain to give Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney at least a few cold sweats.

Well, maybe yes, maybe no. At the very least, Thompson’s impending candidacy does immediately reenergize a race that has, let’s be honest here, settled into a sort of stupefying torpor after all these umpty-ump months - and brings new light to several ongoing campaign issues. Thompson is absolutely pro-life, period, no waffling about it. He is solidly pro-Second Amendment, period, no dithering. He’s a gung-ho war on terror man, a no-nonsense border security man. America is about to find out whether Republicans lean more toward Thompson’s unabashed purity on social issues - or toward the practical executive experience touted by Giuliani and Romney.

To date, Thompson has played his cards cannily, and he walks into this party with Favorite New Flavor all over him. American politics has, of course, seen his likes before. Thus, Thompson’s serious test starts now. Voters will make up their minds soon enough whether he’s just another pretty face.

Pro Life?  Check
Pro Gun?  Check
WoT?  Check
Border Security?  Check
Punches Hippies?  Check

What’s there not to like?

Posted by Drew458     on 09/04/2007 at 11:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Republicans •  
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The Attack That Never Was

Hot Air has the scoop on a very interesting story from the UPI.

Iraq’s already burdened electricity sector took another hit Thursday as assailants attacked a plant in southern Baghdad, shutting it down.

The casualty count hasn’t been released, but workers were sent to the hospital after an armed group laid siege to the al-Doura power plant, setting one unit on fire and damaging a second, an Iraq Electricity Ministry source told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

“Unknown gunmen attacked last night,” the source said, “depriving thousands of people in and around al-Doura of electricity.”

“The attackers also set ablaze a fire engine while trying to put out the fire,” he added. “Works of the plant rehabilitation needs security to prevail in this hot spot area. The area cannot be controlled easily despite the huge security forces’ reinforcements arriving there.”

There’s a minor problem with this story. According to a source we have on the scene who works at that plant, a person we have heard from before and have every reason to trust, the attack never happened. The plant is still in full operation. No fire truck was set ablaze. There was small arms fire in the area that night, but other than that, nothing. Nada.

You can go to the Hot Air link and read the email their source on the ground sent, as well as a video proving that the plant is running just fine.

Interestingly, three days after this story came out, there was an attack at the plant.  I wonder if this was a leak gone bad, as in it was sent out too early, in anticipation of the action?

Posted by Drew458     on 09/04/2007 at 10:13 AM   
Filed Under: • Media-Bias •  
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