BMEWS
 
Sarah Palin's presence in the lower 48 means the Arctic ice cap can finally return.

calendar   Friday - October 31, 2008

A Taste of Things To Come?

Obama boots 3 newspaper’s reporters from his Obaplane

All 3 papers had endorsed McCain

Journalists from three major newspapers that endorsed John McCain—the Washington Times, the New York Post and the Dallas Morning News—have been booted from Barack Obama’s campaign plane for the final leg of the presidential race.

The Washington Times reported Friday that it was notified of the Obama campaign’s decision Thursday evening—even though the paper has covered Obama from the start.

Executive Editor John Solomon told FOXNews.com that the Obama campaign said it didn’t have enough seats on the plane, but “I don’t think the explanation makes sense to us.”

“We’ve been traveling since 2007 with him. ... We’re a relevant newspaper—every day we break news,” Solomon said. “And to suddenly be kicked off the plane for people who haven’t covered it as aggressively or thoroughly as we are ... it sort of feels unfair.”

He said the newspaper protested but was turned down again by the campaign.

“I can only hope that the candidate who describes himself as wanting to unite the nation doesn’t have some sort of litmus test for who he decides gets to cover the campaign,” Solomon said, noting that the Obama campaign’s decision came just two days after the paper endorsed McCain.

According to the Web site The Drudge Report, the three newspapers’ reporters were told to find alternative transportation by Sunday so that the plane could accommodate “network bigwigs” and reporters from two black magazines, Essence and Jet.

Via Drudge:
“The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states—and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!
The NY POST, WASHINGTON TIMES and DALLAS MORNING NEWS have all been told to move out by Sunday to make room for network bigwigs—and possibly for the inclusion of reporters from two black magazines, ESSENCE and JET, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. Despite pleas from top editors of the three newspapers that have covered the campaign for months at extraordinary cost, the Obama campaign says their reporters—and possibly others—will have to vacate their coveted seats so more power players can document the final days of Sen. Barack Obama’s historic campaign to become the first black American president. ”

Via the Washington Times:
“This feels like the journalistic equivalent of redistributing the wealth. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars covering Senator Obama’s campaign, traveling on his plane, and taking our turn in the reporter’s pool, only to have our seat given away to someone else in the last days of the campaign,” said Washington Times Executive Editor John Solomon. News organizations typically pay campaigns for the cost of traveling on the candidate’s planes.

The Washington Times endorsed Mr. McCain on Tuesday.

“I hope the candidate that promises to unite America isn’t using a litmus test to determine who gets to cover his campaign,” Mr. Solomon said. ”

There ya go. Given the boot. Because of their paper’s views? Or because they weren’t elite bigwigs? Or because a couple black reporters needed those seats?

Signs and portents folks, signs and portents.




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“And stay out!”


or maybe not? Looks like McCain has played a similar game himself.

Dallas Morning News Editor Bob Mong told FOXNews.com that the “indication” from the Obama campaign was that they were kicked off the plane since they don’t represent a national outlet and they don’t represent a swing state.

“We argued that [considering] the size of the Morning News and stature, we obviously would want to be on board,” Mong said. “We’re obviously not happy about it, and continue to protest.”

He said, in fairness, that the McCain campaign recently pulled Morning News staff off the Republican’s plane when space became an issue—but he said the Morning News would be back on McCain’s plane again this weekend.

Obama is not the only candidate to play hardball with the press. McCain’s campaign has reportedly barred Time columnist Joe Klein and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, who have been critical of the Republican candidate, from the Republican candidate’s plane.

Well, I’d say banning Klein and Dowd is understandable. “critical” is the understatement of the decade with regards to them. And Mong’s case was obviously temporary and due to actual overcrowding.

maybe this is just a case of uppity reporters getting their noses out of joint over losing a free ride


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/31/2008 at 12:12 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsMedia-Bias •  
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HALLOWEEN 2008 AND MEMORIES OF BETTER YEARS PAST.


A FEW THOUGHTS AT HALLOWEEN, 2008.

I suppose we all enjoy being frightened, as long as there’s no real danger to us.
That would explain why horror shows have been popular.
It certainly explains the popularity of the radio programs of my day.

Programs such as SUSPENSE, THE INNER SANCTUM and LIGHTS OUT to name just three.

An aside if I may and an interesting one. There are only two sounds in radio that are trademarked.  The creaking door of Inner Sanctum, and the NBC chimes.

I am not concerned with movies here but something oft referred to as the “Theater of the mind.” And trust me, it was.

Even commercials could be scary and one in particular, the Bromo Seltzer radio commercial leading into Inner Sanctum.

I think to fully appreciate what I’m saying the expression, you had to be there applies. 


The Bromo Seltzer radio commercial has never been equalled for chills.  Sure, you modern kids that were brought up with blood and gratuitous gore might not get all tingly.  But keep in mind the era I’m writing about.  The 1940’s to about 1953 or possibly 1955.  When I was growing up in the 40’s, it was a slower time, there wasn’t any TV yet, movies could be scary, The Mummy comes to mind, and sex hadn’t been invented yet. So for sheer thrills, listening to a radio mystery alone, at night , with the lights out, was thrilling.

The ad agency for Bromo Seltzer might have been the first to use something we’d call techie today. Well, I might.  They did it with the human voice and an organ. The organ of course was the staple for radio mysteries and soapers. 

Bromo Seltzer sponsored Inner Sanctum and you can easily find the program online today.  The commercial itself was boring as most are, BUT , the intro and lead right up to the show was creepy.
“Fight headache, threeeeee waaaaaysss – chug-chug- bromo seltzer, bromo seltzer, bromoseltzer..  Each repeat of the product name building and speeding up and giving the impression of a train leaving the station … choo-choo and that lonesome whistle leading up right onto that evening’s show.  Sometimes that was the best part of the program.  It set the stage for what was coming.

Bromo_Seltzer2_CUT.mp3

One of the times I believe my generation, and my parents as well, could justly use the term “The Good Old Days” and not suffer by comparison with more modern times and technology, was radio.
Roma Wines sponsored SUSPENSE, one of the most literate and well done programs of it’s time, referred to as the theater of thrills.  A producer of that show was the late William Spier who hired Orson Wells long before he became theee Orson Wells.  I know that because I did an interview with Mr. Spier at his home in Ct. many years ago.  He also wrote and directed a good many of the shows.

I feel so darn bad now that I hadn’t saved all the photos I had from so many years ago of some truly talented and wonderful people.
Of particular interest here is a show titled, “THE HOUSE IN CYPRESS CANYON.”
Even as an adult, that show and one other Suspense offering, “THE THING ON THE FORBLE BOARD” are still remembered by me today as chilling.  But by far the scariest was The House in Cypress Canyon.  It’s a much better offering in the chill factor then War of the Worlds. I would urge you to listen to it if you can make the time.  Go ahead. Listen to it and see if you don’t agree.
But it should be listened to as we did. With nothing to get in the way or interrupt the listening and concentration.  I guess we were pretty lucky. There wasn’t anything else to take our attention or get in the way.

http://ia341011.us.archive.org/2/items/SUSPENSE2/45-12-05_The_House_In_Cypress_Canyon.MP3

Apologies for the quality on the above. It’s simply there if anyone want to link and listen.  The quality isn’t bad all the way through and it’s still worth it.

And there was everyone’s other favorite along with Suspense, “THE INNER SANCTUM.”

After some three or so bars of organ music, the show would open and you’d hear Raymond turning a door knob and next you’d hear the sound of a squeaking door.
A longish squeak that of course suggested menace. 

The Inner Sanctum was hosted by Raymond. He called us friends, in a very creepy sort of way.  Good evening friends, won’t you come in.  This way. With his words and vowels drawn out and a slight menacing sound to his chuckle which wasn’t a chuckle at all.  Squeeeek went that door and once we were inside … SLAM
Then came some graveyard humor, and a laugh that was intended to make the listener shiver.  It always did.

People listened as much to hear Raymond as they did the program. Perhaps more. And believe me, he was always worth listening to, with that creepy yet somehow humorous voice. 

After the first commercial break Raymond would come back and immediately bring us back into his dark world and it was as though we’d never left for the break.
At the end of the program our host would intone; Well, now it’s time to close the squeaking door of the Inner Sanctum until next week.
So good niii-ight… Pleasant dreammmmssss?” Heh-heh-heh-heh-haaaaaaaaaaa!
And the way he drew out that word dreams as his voice rose at the end in a question, absolutely raised shivers up the spine.
(Sound effect: Squeaking door sloooowly closes shut.)

this link is just the intro and out, for the program. For brevity I cut out the show. But this short 1:52 clip give you the idea.
Inner_Sanctum_410518_Dead_Freight_CUT_CUT.Mp3

Raymond Edward Johnson was a great,great actor and voice from that period.  I had the honor to meet and be part of a group that helped the great man in his later years
when he was destitute and living alone in much reduced circumstances. We hunted for him and he was found, in a wheel chair and living on the second floor of a resident hotel in NH, overweight, broke and forgotten by all. He thought. Well not quite. We got him out of the hotel and into a VA hospital and in months he lost weight, his color was back as much as it would ever get, and he was on the mend.  In a sense. 
He was still suffering as he had for many years from MS.  But I met and shook hands with and helped a man I’d listened to for so long.  He gave me an old reel to reel tape which may well be the only one in existence, of dramatic readings he’d done in better years.  The man was a master of his craft.

In the early days of radio actors played multiple parts on many shows.  For example, Raymond was also Mandrake the Magician, Kato, on the Green Hornet, Don Winslow, of Don Winslow of the Navy and that’s just naming a few.
His sister was also in radio btw.  She played on a show my grandmother would never miss called, Ma Perkins.  Not for young boys of course. Boring to any but grandmas.

Raymond suffered from Multiple Sclerosis for a very long time. Called to Hollywood at one point, and I had the still photos once of the audition scenes, he just could not hide his condition although he tried.  He had a cane by then and tried to hide that. But his condition gave him away.

In 1997 he appeared at a gathering of the Friends of Old Time Radio. He delivered a reading from a portable bed.

Do you recall a movie with Richard Gere called “Power?” The year was 1986. 
In that movie, the lead played by Gere is on a private jet. He’s got a pair of drummers sticks and I think he was tapping out Sing-Sing-Sing with BG’s recording in the background.  We saw this movie in the theater.  So, this short man whose face you do not see is walking up the isle and Gere says to him, “Hi Jackson.” The actor replies hello back.  No more then a word and that was all we’d see of him.
I was the only person in that audience who knew exactly who that guy was with his one line word.  Damn near fell outta my seat.  Told the wife, my god. That was Jackson Beck. That was Jackson Beck.  I waited through the whole movie for his return but of course he never did.  But there was his name in the credits at the end of the movie. 

Who was Jackson Beck? Just the little man with the VERY BIG voice on radio who announced for every boy in America, “Look, Look up in the sky.  It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No. IT’S SUPERMAN.”

He worked right up into old age doing hundreds of voice overs and no doubt you’ve heard him on commercials in the 80s, on TV.  He was really short and so when I first met him at a dinner and gathering our radio organization held in Ct., I was shocked.
I expected someone huge because he had this large voice. No a loud voice mind you.  But big. 

So, what I’d intended as a Halloween thing has turned into a trip down memory lane.

It couldn’t be helped and no apologies forthcoming.  I’ve had a lifelong love affair with radio and am happy that for a brief time in my life, I too was a tiny part of the business.  But gosh, I wish it could have been in the 30s and 40s.  I was born too late.  I should also confess that being in love with radio is also somewhat like being in love with an unfaithful mistress.

image
RAYMOND EDWARD JOHNSON
JULY 1911 - AUGUST 2001

Stay Tuned


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 10/31/2008 at 10:30 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff •  
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Double Dipper

Joe Biden is running for Vice President

Joe Biden is running for Senator


Both at the same time





I just heard this on the news. Somehow - I don’t live in Delaware after all - I’ve missed this one. I’m still on my first cup of coffee, so it’s too early for me to go digging through the Constitution and various US Codes to check on the legality of it, but this doesn’t “taste” right. By which I mean that the story is true; Biden is running for both positions at the same time. It just feels unethical to me. Doubling down and covering your bets is an Ok practice at the casino, but it isn’t what I’d call proper behavior for a candidate.

If you are running for one office you should not also be running for another. The news people say he is likely to be re-elected to his Senate position. The other news people talk non-stop about how the polls say Obama-Biden ticket has the Big Ticket all but sewn up. What happens if he wins both? Do we have any actual rules that prohibit him from double dipping? Can he be both Senator and President of the Senate at the same time? One man, two votes? Or would his double win force him to give up one of the jobs, allowing it to be filled by appointment, completely ignoring the will of the people? Neither result is right in my opinion.

My sense of right and wrong tells me that it is also wrong for any of these candidates to hold onto their elected positions while campaigning for another office. McCain, Obama are Senators. So is Clinton. So was Kerry. And so on. Palin is a state Governor. How much Senating or Governoring are these people doing right now? And considering that this election season has gone on for a full two years now, and the previous one was nearly as long? I think the people in their states are being ripped off. If they aren’t, then their absence from their paying jobs shows just how unnecessary those elected jobs really are.

But what about incumbents? Well, let them run for re-election. As long as they put in 32 hours a week or more - the basic definition of a full time job - on their elected position, they can campaign all they want. Give them a time card or something.

When you reach for the gold ring on the merry-go-round of life you have to lean out. That means taking a bit of risk. Running for two positions at the same time isn’t leaning out. It’s making sure a brass ring is also within easy reach. This is not a bold and daring move I would expect a prospective leader would take. It feels like cheating.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/31/2008 at 08:11 AM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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They’re Worried

I’ve been telling people for weeks that the election is not over and The One does not have the gigantic lead that he appears to have.  Steve over at WizBang! has been doing excellent work looking at the poll numbers and why they are not necessarily as bad as they seem.

Kim DuToit has been saying “7 states” for weeks now, believing that “Urkle” will get only seven states when it is all said and done.

I believe him.  In fact, I bet someone breakfast on it this week.

Over at Jim Treacher’s place, I found a link to this NY Times hit piece:

Growing Doubts on Palin Take a Toll, Poll Finds

I agree with Jim, if they weren’t scared out of their minds, the tone of the left would be much, much different than it is right now. 

Keep talking to your friends and co-workers.  Keep up the pressure.  Keep telling the truth. 

We will win.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/31/2008 at 08:19 AM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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calendar   Thursday - October 30, 2008

Oh no way. Just no way.

Rancino sends me two links from the very far right edge of the blogosphere.

Naughty cheesecake nekkid pictures of the Obamomma and the theory that Frank Marshall Davis is Obama’s actual father.

See? We’re practically middle of the road in comparison.

I don’t buy it. Either one. But I kinda like the 1958 bad-girl FMPs. They even look rainbow colored.

Maybe I need a new posting category called Really Wild Theories, Conspiracy and Otherwise.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 11:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-StuffInsanity •  
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Limping Back into the Game

Hey folks, a voice from the past emerges from the darkness.  I’m going to try and post a little something here and there to amuse you.  This was created by a friend of mine today.  We should have had the bumper stickers made weeks ago.

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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 09:06 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsPolitics •  
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Nice cache catch

via Bill Roggio’s Long War Journal, some news from the war in Iraq. Remember Iraq? Remember that there’s a war going on over there? Funny, it never makes the news anymore.

Iraqi troops uncovered a massive weapons cache and factory inside the northeastern neighborhood of Sadr City. The cache contained 34 of the deadly explosively-formed penetrators (EFPs), the weapons that are the hallmark of the Iranian-backed Shia militias. This is the third large cache found in Sadr City since Oct. 20.

EFPs are a kind of shaped charge IED that can disable or destroy just about any vehicle out there, up to and including tanks. Very. Bad. News. In the past, these have been smuggled in from Iran.

The find is “significant as it included the machines used by the enemy to manufacture explosively-formed penetrators – the number one killer of our US soldiers,” said Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Division Baghdad.

The soldiers found 34 EFPs, 53 copper plates and 40 shaped plates, which are used for the EFP’s shaped warhead, 160 blocks of C4 explosives, and 14 107 mm rockets and launch rails. Also found were three presses and a punch, machinery that is thought to be used to mill the copper plates into the cone-shaped warhead.

Since Oct. 20, Iraqi troops found two other large caches in Sadr City. A raid by troops from the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade of the 11th Iraq Army Division on Oct. 20 resulted in the discovery of 61 rockets, 368 mortar rounds, 263 mortar tubes, shape charges, an IED, 32,000 rounds of ammunition, seven DSHKA machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades launchers and grenades, and other equipment.

The same Iraqi Army unit also found a large cache in Sadr City the day prior. The troops found 15 EFPs, an IED, two 72.5 mm rockets, two 64 mm rockets, numerous RPG launchers and warheads and hand grenades, and other equipment.

In all, 49 of the deadly EFPs have been found by Iraqi troops since Oct. 20.

Sounds like the Iraqi Army is doing a pretty fine job. And, along with our guys, they’re rounding up “insurgents” and Qod Force fighters at a good rate - several dozen so far this month, including a couple of the money men.

Qods Force has supported various Shia militias and terror groups inside Iraq, including the Mahdi Army, which it helped build along the same lines as Lebanese Hezbollah. Iran denies the charges, but captive Shia terrorists admit to being recruited by Iranian agents, and then transported into Iran for training.

Bravo. Well Done. And there’s more, including the capture of 180 AQ “suspects”. Go read the rest.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 06:35 PM   
Filed Under: • IranIraqMilitaryWar On Terror •  
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Ramirez makes the cut

"He cares about nothing or no-one. He is completely evil.  If he wins the Prize, mortal men will suffer an eternity of darkness and slavery beneath his boot.”

(how could I resist a Ramirez quote?)



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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 06:07 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsFun-Stuff •  
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I told ya so

Here’s the latest, recycled, and utterly expected election season story from CNN: We can’t trust the voting machines! Paper Trails! Hacking! Chads!


Voting machines could bring Election Day glitches



Eight years after Florida’s hanging chads exasperated voters and helped usher in sweeping changes in voting technology, many election observers remain concerned about the accuracy of the electronic voting systems most Americans will use November 4.

Touch-screen machines can occasionally fail or register votes for unintended candidates. Optical-scan systems can have trouble reading paper ballots that are too long or marked with the wrong ink. At least one study suggests that electronic voting machines can be easily hacked.

And some 9 million voters, including many in the battleground states of Ohio and Florida, will use equipment that has changed since March, increasing concerns about errors next Tuesday.

“You can be almost certain that there will be irregularities in some places around the country,” said Rep. Rush Holt, D-New Jersey. “The problem now is that roughly a third of voters nationwide will use unverifiable electronic machines. So if there are uncertainties, there will be no way to resolve them.”

And so on, for paragraphs.

“We have to hope that there aren’t problems with the accuracy.”

SSDD. Because destroying faith in the system is one of the basic tenets of a commie/socialist takeover plot.

You want a paper trail? Fine. But how do you keep the ballot secret? Easy. You ask Drew to come up with a solution in 10 seconds or less.

Hmmm ... cogitate ... cogitate ... Ah Ha!

First, you hook up one of those little label printers that you can get everwhere for $50 or less to the voting machine.

Then you write a simple bit of code that outputs several numbers:
1) The number of your state, the number of your polling station, the voting machine at that polling station, and which voter at that machine that you are. Example: 47 1063 15 258
2) How you voted for each of the selections/questions/positions. Number them. 0=NO, 1=YES, 3=candidate 1, 4=candidate 2, etc. Example: 11 20 31 42 52 61
3) Last number is a date and time stamp. When you sign in at your table, the time will also be noted. Example 2008 11 04 16:34:27.25 God help you if your voting timestamp is earlier than your login timestamp.

This is EXACTLY what it will look like:

image

Ta freakin dah! A paper trail, and your vote is still private. Scale the thing so that it can handle a fairly large number of things to vote on, with a couple dozen choices each. And I bet it still comes out to way less than 250 characters, spaces included. Which means ... hang on ...

The vote tallies would no longer be delivered. The actual votes themselves would. At 250 digital characters per voter, you would be able to store 4 voter’s votes per “K”. Which means 1024 votes per “Meg”. Which means a bit more than a million votes per “Gig”. Which means, in an era when you can buy a PC with more than half a terabyte of hard drive space on it, that you could store the entire nation’s actual votes on what is these days a normal sized hard drive.

And any time anyone wanted to prove the system, all they need to do is show up with their paper with the bar codes on it. There’s a scanner at the polling place. There’s a scanner at the county office. There’s a scanner at the state office. And another one down in DC.

Just for fun, about once every 15 minutes some random voter is asked to scan their paper anyway. You hook the scanner up inside a voting booth to a spare voting machine. They scan their paper, and the machine lights up with their choices. That machine has NO voting button, just for safety. Each polling station takes a handful of slips to county. Each county takes a handful to State. Each State takes a handful to DC, and they all get checked.

Don’t want to waste time actually delivering the hard drives, just to count the votes the first time through? Then send the tallies in by secure encryption. One encrypted data line is the same as the next. You just don’t tell anybody what the phone numbers are. But the HDs get delivered anyway, and run, data copied and tabulated. And those totals would be the formal, official totals at the county, state, and national level. Want to do a recount? You could recount the ENTIRE COUNTRY in about a minute and a half. Under a second if you give the data to one of them big government computers. Worried about naughtiness in the computer? Assign 100 random programmers to review the code and watch the compilation. Because the code is dead simple. It would only be a few hundred lines worth. A geeky 10 year old could write it.

For the cost of what Americans donate to the election campaign, plus maybe a few weeks worth of budget for the war in Iraq, this could be installed all across the country.  And we’d never have to hear this worrisome, degenerate “don’t trust the system, man”, socialist crap from CNN again.

In the meantime, here’s a much simpler system that’s been around for years now. Even the update was free.

image




Instant Update:
I spent another 10 seconds thinking about this after I posted. The voter would need reassurance that the paper bar code slip has the correct information on it. Ok, ... done. You’d want an extra button on the voting machine that gets labeled “Ready To Cast Vote”. Press it and it generates the bar code slip. Right above the voting machine is another machine. It has a screen and a slot and two buttons. Feed your slip in the slot, it reads it, and the screen lights up with a full size copy of your vote. If you press the “Verified: Screen agrees with voting machine” button it then clears the screen. At that point you press the “Cast Your Vote” button on the voting machine. If what you see does not agree and you press the “NO” button, it reads the slip again. You get 3 tries, at which point it signals a poll worker for help. When you cast your actual vote, the second machine gives you your slip back, possibly now imprinted with “Official Vote”. Ok, this doubles the cost of the system. But hey, what’s a 100% cost overrun when we’re talking about a government project? And besides, I spent an extra 10 seconds thinking about it.

Instant Updated Update:
Forget the secondary system. Forget the bar coding. The slip prints in plain English:

Voter: 358
Date: 11/04/2012 8:34:27 AM
President: Palin / Jindal
Senator: Zimmer
Animal Control Officer: Pearce
Question 1: NO
Question 2: NO

Read the slip, check the machine, cast your vote. It would be your responsibility to keep the bit of paper private and secure. Hey, I just saved the government 10 billion dollars!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 03:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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But, this is Joe Biden’s State!

Delaware Woman Denied Gun Purchase
Cops: She’s too old. And female.

(via Kim’s)

Gun purchase glitch raises question

Delaware State Police stopped Alvina Vansickle from purchasing a .22-caliber pistol for self-defense because she was too old and a woman, said Superintendent Col. Thomas MacLeish.

The outrage that followed led to the revelation that Delaware State Police had been keeping lists of gun buyers for years; state law requires them to destroy these records after 60 days.

Without so much as a traffic ticket, the 81-year-old Lewes resident should have sailed through the mandatory state police background check when she tried to buy a Taurus revolver from Charlie Steele’s Lewes gun shop last August.  Problems started after Steele made the required phone call to state police for approval of the firearms transaction. An employee in the state police Firearms Transaction Approval Program noticed Vansickle’s age and gender, and brought the sale to an immediate halt.

Vansickle’s application was then routed to Sgt. Benjamin Nefosky, who heads the firearms approval unit. According to MacLeish, the transaction was halted over concerns “based upon age and gender.”

MacLeish said the initial call taker “was concerned this individual never purchased a weapon before. Age and gender caused her to take caution.”

As to whether age and gender are included in the state statute as legitimate reasons to reject a firearms purchase, MacLeish stated, “No, they are not.”

Lawson said Nefosky told him he searched seven years of firearms transaction records to see if Vansickle had ever bought a gun before.

In an interview with The News Journal, MacLeish claimed all paper firearms records are destroyed every 60 days.  The electronic records, however, are another story.

“Our review of our electronic records indicated we had a glitch in the system, back to August 2005,” he said. “They have since been purged.”

Oh, it’s just a computer glitch. Oh, bullshit. As someone who used to write computer code for a living, let me tell you that nothing that ever happens in a computer program is an accident. Computers do exactly what you tell them to do, nothing less and nothing more. Somebody wrote some code that kept a list of gun purchasers, and they did it deliberately. This was an attempt by the police to play sneaky games with the law.

“Oh, we got rid of the paper copy!” But kept a digital one, that could be accessed about 10 million times faster.

“Oh, don’t worry, that file has been purged!” Yeah, but what about the hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual full and incremental backups that have been going on since August 2005? That record still exists; my bet is that there are at least (does fast math in head) One Thousand Three Hundred full or partial digital copies of it. And you’d better call Iron Mountain because most of those won’t even be on site.

This is a lie. The Delaware cops kept this information on purpose, regardless of the law. And they have people working for them that use their “feelings” to deny you your rights. And that’s Ok with the cops: it’s just “taking caution”.  But remember, now that SCOTUS has decided Heller, that Obama supports your right to own a gun. Even though he felt DC’s gun laws were constitutional before Heller was decided. And his running mate, Joe Biden from Delaware, feels the same way.

Fire the whole damn bunch of them, and then start slapping down lawsuits, from the “cautious” buttinsky woman at FTAP right on up to the Superintendent of the Delaware State Stasi Police. And the code should be gone over, every single line. Twice.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 12:54 PM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
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Another letter to the left

Dear Abbey Useful Idiots Plain Old Idiots Obama Voters

Another letter to Obama voters

Blogger BlackisWhite over at Taxes, Stupidity, and Death writes a great little essay that shows why Obavoting is pretty stupid.

I added the paragraph headers.

I got ya reparations, right here

For white people who have this feeling that they are somehow responsible for slavery and subsequent injustices, I assure you, you are not. The last 40 years brought an end to Jim Crow, segregation, and inequality of opportunity. Good people, black and white, sacrificed, and in some cases died, to bring these promises to fruition. Not only was opportunity opened to all, remediation was imposed in education, admission to colleges and universities, and the job market in the form of lowered standards, quotas, and affirmative action, and today’s trendy belief, diversity. Add these to the blood shed in the Civil War, and the debt is paid.



But that’s racist!

The years since the Civil Rights Movement have not seen all the promise that everyone might have hoped. The good news is that this can be fixed. The bad news is that you have to decide to step up and claim your birthright as an AMERICAN, and reject your victim rights as African-Americans. The doors were opened to you, but by and large, you decided to continue to select leaders who put their best interests first, and their lip service to your needs as the bones they will toss to you. Many of you chose the slavery of the attitude that the government owes this or that, and when members of your own community step outside of that mindset and build success, and then tell you that you can do the same, you berate them and belittle them as sellouts ...



Stand up next Tuesday and cast a vote for your own choices. You can choose to continue to choose, or you can choose to surrender all rights and responsibilities and settle for what the government chooses to give to you. It really shouldn’t be a difficult decision.

There’s a lot more at the link. Good job!

Via the Rott


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 12:10 PM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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children who walk to class each day along 5,000ft cliff ledge.  (A MUST SEE)

I can hardly believe this.  I keep getting away from Moonbat stuff but then, how do you avoid this?

If you go to the link, you’ll be able to see a full view and it really is a sight to see.

Here in the UK it would most assuredly violate Health and Safety act.

Be sure and see these enlarged. Awesome!

School drop-off: The children who walk to class each day along 5,000ft cliff ledge

By Eddie Wrenn
Last updated at 2:05 PM on 30th October 2008

For most parents the school-run may seem death-defying, but it usually only consists of a quick drive or walk to the gates.

So spare a thought for the families of Gulucan village in West China, who take their lives in their hands every day with a a school walk which involves navigating a narrow path carved into a 5,000-ft cliff-side.

It is the only way they can get to the school, which with its five concrete rooms is the known as the best construction in the village.

image
Cliff-top walk: The daily walk to and from Gulucun Primary school certainly takes some courage with a 5,000ft sheer drop on one side.


image
High school: The tiny village can be seen nestled in the bottom right of the picture.

http://tinyurl.com/6fdm7u


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 10/30/2008 at 11:41 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeEducation •  
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Criminals on probation committed 120 murders in two years.

Well, here I am again with a posting from not so merry olde England.

Not just because of the nature of this story and I promise not for any kind of shock value.  I got to thinking, if the number is this high here in a country with a population so much smaller then then the USA, good grief.  What must it be like back home in America?
Has anyone published reports like this?  I’m sure they must have.

So, there are at least 120 people whose futures ended the day criminal scum were allowed probation.

Maybe it’s just meself that’s fallen off the edge of the planet.  I don’t understand this at all. Is there any way to understand?

Criminals on probation committed 120 murders in two years
Criminals being supervised by the Probation Service have committed more than 120 murders in two years, official figures have revealed.

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:39PM GMT 30 Oct 2008

Between April 2006 and April this year, offenders serving community sentences and suspended sentences were convicted of a total of 121 murders.

There were a total of 1,004 serious crimes committed by offenders being supervised by the Probation Service, including 22 attempted murders, 103 rapes and 682 other serious violent or sexual offences.

Another 374 alleged offences committed by criminals in the community have yet to come to trial.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice also showed a rise in the number of offenders being spared jail and given community-based sentences instead.

Some 162,650 offenders started supervised community sentences in 2007, a 5 per cent rise from 2006.

The number of offenders supervised by the Probation Service was 242,720 at 31 December 2007, up 3 per cent on the previous year.

The disclosure will put new pressure on ministers over their drive to keep offenders out of jail because of prison overcrowding.

Earlier this week it was revealed that prisoners set free early to cut jail numbers have been accused of three murders. Offenders released under the “end of custody licence” system have also been accused of 8 acts of wounding and 170 other violent crimes.

The Ministry of Justice insisted that the vast majority of offenders on probation had originally committed only minor offences, giving no clue that they would later commit serious crimes when on probation.

The Ministry said: “Any serious offence is of great concern and the Probation Service condemns the actions of any individual who is responsible for these offences.

“The Probation Service knows the impact crimes have on victims and their families and is constantly working towards having the best possible systems in place to supervise these offenders in the community and protect the public.

“The number of SFO (Serious Further Offence) convictions against all offenders supervised by the Probation Service was around 0.3% last year. We recognise that each of the offences has a victim, to whom we extend our sympathies.

“The vast majority of SFOs are committed by offenders given a community order by the court, having been convicted of less serious offences.

“In most cases, nothing in their previous offending histories has indicated that they would be capable of such serious offences.”

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of Napo, the probation officers’ union, said: “The number of offenders involved in further serious crimes is less than 0.5 per cent of the total under supervision.

“Obviously we would like to get that figure as low as we can but we are dealing with people with mental health problems, drug and alcohol addictions and further offences are inevitable.”

http://tinyurl.com/5zfstu


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 10/30/2008 at 10:48 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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2001 radio interview revisited

Just because the internet was all over Obama’s 2001 radio interview the other day doesn’t mean that the rest of the nation is even aware of it yet. Keep spreading the word! A day or two spent focusing on this is NOT enough. And sometimes it takes a day or two for some authors to work up a good essay on the subject. That’s Ok by me.

Very simply, our Constitution was written to limit the power of government. That’s the whole concept behind America: We The People have the power and the rights; government of all forms should be minimal. That’s why the Constitution writes about “negative liberties” as B. Hussein Obama put it in that interview. That’s all that should be there when talking about the powers of the government. He just doesn’t get it. Constitutional Professor, my pustulant posterior.

Laura Hollis writes a good one in today’s Town Hall. It’s worth a read, if only to help fine tune your own talking points around the water cooler.

Just as he tried to prove to everyone that his patriotism was demonstrated by the lack of symbols of the United States, so he is now arguing that his passion for the Constitution is demonstrated by his commitment to shredding it.

Well sure ... his side believes that the “ultimate expression of patriotism is dissent” ... so this attitude means Obama must be the ultimate patriot, right? The Left are morons.

In a radio interview given in 2001, Obama reveals yet again about what he means by ‘equality,’ when he says, “…the Supreme Court never entered into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society.”

Bad?  Sure.  Because now it’s not just “spread the wealth” a little bit (antithetical as that already is to American notions of hard work and prosperity).  It’s that “redistribution of wealth” is part and parcel of Obama’s vision of what is “political and economic justice” in this society.

But it is much worse.  Because this Harvard-educated lawyer then announces that the United States Supreme Court when headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, was “not radical enough,” in its pursuit of civil liberties, because “it didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.”

If this has not stopped you dead in your tracks, either you don’t understand, or you’re already dead.

Well, it didn’t actually stop me in my tracks. I figured out ages ago that this guy was an anarchist commie, just like his “fellow traveler” mommy and absent babydaddy, just like Davis, Wright, Ayers, and all his other mentors, and the New Party in Chicago he once belonged to. This coffin has so many nails in it there’s no room for the corpse!

Obama is engaging in dangerous demagoguery when he suggests that we the people of the United States need him – or the government he wants in place – to give us rights we don’t already have.

This deceitful view was echoed when he was introduced by Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur in Ohio earlier this week, who said that Americans “needed a Second Bill of Rights guaranteeing all Americans a job, health care, homes, an education, and a fair playing field for business and farmers.” This is no “bill of rights,” it is a bill of attainder (look it up).  Those found “guilty” would be anyone wealthier, more successful, or more prosperous than any other.  And the punishment?  The very things Obama and the Democrats are already pushing for: high taxes, and even seizure and redistribution of all American’s private property.

I am stunned beyond belief that these blunt admissions do not give otherwise patriotic Obama supporters (and this describes the vast majority of them) serious pause.

… Blinded by the light(worker) ...

I’m not mocking Ms. Hollis at all, just inserting a few of my own comments. Spend a few minutes reading her essay, then get back out there spreading the word.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/30/2008 at 08:16 AM   
Filed Under: • CommiesPolitics •  
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