Sunday, March 14, 2010

Gitmo's Indefensible Lawyers

WSJ "...the Amnesty International brochure was better than the Manchester Manual. It cued detainees that the abuses at Abu Ghraib "were not an aberration." The brochure told them that images from the Iraqi prison were consistent with "numerous allegations of torture and ill-treatment reported from detention centres in Afghanistan, Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay." The message to the detainees was clear: If you want to claim you are being tortured, here is a vast menu of examples from which to choose."

California unemployment and Oklahoma’s growth – it’s the ‘Grapes of Wrath’ in reverse

True Slant "The Joads have spent a few generations in California and may be wondering if they left a little too much behind on that dusty farmland that their Okie forebears squatted. And with more than 1 in 4 people jobless in Imperial, the county that abuts San Diego County in southern California, the ones going east to destinations like Oklahoma City just might be making the right bet."

The tea-party movement will change the GOP.

Michael Barone "The Republicans for the last two decades have been a party whose litmus tests have been cultural issues, especially abortion. The tea partiers have helped to change their focus to issues of government overreach and spending. That may be a helpful pivot, given the emergence of a millennial generation uncomfortable with crusading cultural conservatism.It’s not clear whether the tea partiers’ influence on Republicans will last as long as the anti-war cohort’s imprint on Democrats has. But their concern — the fact that government spending is on a trajectory to increase far beyond revenues — seems likely to persist. In which case a spontaneous movement that no one predicted and that no one person led could end up, again, reshaping one of our great political parties."

Forget About the Economy… Statist Obama & the Radicals in Congress Plan to Revamp Education System Next

Gateway Pundit "President Barack Obama unveiled his plan for a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s school system Saturday, proposing changes he says would shift emphasis from teaching to the test to a more nuanced assessment of judging school and student progress."

Saturday, March 13, 2010

More Economic Suicide: Obama Administration Bans Offshore Drilling For 3 Years

Gateway Pundit "Obama’s Secretary of Energy recently announced a three-year offshore drilling ban. Investor’s Business Daily reported, via Planet Gore: 'Our secretary of energy pushes bio-refineries and windmills to oil executives at an energy conference as the administration announces a three-year offshore drilling ban. This is a policy for economic suicide.' "

Scrambling for votes, Democrats face uphill climb to pass healthcare reform

The Hill "Pelosi is clearly down in the vote count. Thirty-four House Democrats are either firm no votes or leaning no, according to The Hill’s whip list. Dozens more are undecided."

Political Cartoons by Eric Allie

RE: A New Low

Commentary "Reaction to the administration’s war of words against the Israeli government is starting to come in. The ADL, which rarely weighs in publicly on such matters and even more rarely chastises an American president, blasted the Obama administration with a statement declaring: 'We are shocked and stunned at the Administration’s tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem...' "

The Problem with Blaming Insurance Companies

American Thinker "The President proposes and some unwittingly agree that we would be better off if the government controlled the types of healthcare insurance provided and the cost for such coverage. What this overly simplified argument leaves out is that the premium increases by the Insurance Companies are to offset the rising "benefit expenses" that they payout. Premium increases are the Insurance Companies attempt to stay in business."

Attorney General Withheld Seven Legal Briefs From Senate During Nomination Process

Atlas Shrugs "Holder knew that advocating for Jose Padilla, aka Abdullah al-Muhajir or Muhajir Abdullah, found guilty of conspiring to kill people in an overseas jihad and to funded and supporedt overseas terrorism would have been a nomination killer."..."Who would confirm an attorney general who litigates, advocates for an enemy that wants to conquer and kill this nation?"

Democrats Now Total Threat to Nation's Future

Warning Signs by Alan Caruba. ------------------------------------ ---- And this from Warning Signs: (Video)

Texas: New standards in history class

Houston Chronicle "The board's success in exposing students to more conservative government and cultural principles follows similar efforts in recent years to put a more conservative imprint on other public school subjects, including a back-to-basics English language arts and reading curriculum two years ago and adding caveats to the teaching of evolution when adopting new biology curriculum standards last year." More here: "“We are adding balance,” said Dr. Don McLeroy, the leader of the conservative faction on the board, after the vote. “History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left.” "