Tag: News

This is why I do not watch Fox News Channel much anymore

As a rule, I am not much into playing the “Race Card.” Because the left tends to do that a bit much, even with the Nation’s first black President. But, this here was just incredibly stupid and yes, it did sound racist.

The Video:

The Story:

Via Huffington Post:

Desiline Victor, a 102-year-old woman, received a standing ovation during the State of the Union on Tuesday for her resolve to vote. Fox News hosts Brian Kilmeade, Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer, however, wondered what the “big deal” was.

Victor made two trips and waited three hours to vote in Miami in November. President Obama spoke about the need to protect voting rights during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, and pointed to Victor, who was there as a guest of Michelle Obama, as an example.

Kilmeade, MacCallum and Hemmer did not seem to think she deserved one, though. Speaking on Kilmeade’s radio show on Thursday, MacCallum said that the issue had no place in the State of the Union because it could be handled on the “municipal level… Get the town council on that one.”

“How long was she on line?” Hemmer asked.

“What’s the big deal? She was happy,” MacCallum argued. “She waited on line, she was happy that she voted.”

“They held her up as a victim!” Hemmer alleged. “What was she the victim of? Rashes on the bottom of her feet?”

Oh yeah, that is weapons-grade stupid right there and a bit racist . Digby, who blogs at Hullabaloo; whom I am not a huge fan of — but when she is right, she is right, says the following and man is she ever right here:

The woman is 102 years old! Rashes on her feet! My God, that anyone had to try more than once to vote is shocking but that it happened to a woman who was born nearly a decade before women had the right to vote — and spent most of her life being denied the right as an African-American by jerks like these three privileged white people — is shameful.

These people represent the lizard brain of the Fox News base: heartless, petty and relentlessly, overwhelmingly stupid. This is Roger Ailes’ legacy.

I got news for Digby, If she doesn’t think that Rupert does not encourage such stuff, she is crazy; of course he does. …and to think, I used to be right in there, blogging along with these people that believed this very thing. Because I was actually foolish enough to believe that with this people, it was not about race, but simply about the issues that I disagreed with, when it came to blacks and Obama. Soon, I started to realize that it was not about the issues; it was about a resentment towards blacks. It was not outward or outright racism, but rather nuanced racism and resentment. Here’s a perfect example of it here, which is in the blogosphere, but it is the same mentality.

Now, let me be clear; I do not believe that ALL Conservatives are racists. However, I do believe that there are a good enough number of them that are racist, and this should worry anyone in the Republican Party. The reason these people believe that they are justified to be able to joke around about stuff like this, is because they happen to believe that the Republican Party was on the right side of the slavery issue, which is factually correct — and because they happen to reject the idea of “Political Correctness.” Something that I entirely understand as a Non-PC person myself. However, this here goes well beyond political correctness, and ventures off into bigotry and racism. It is a line that Fox News should not cross at all.

Also too, and I am just going to break the silence and speak my mind. This stuff right here folks is why Mitt Romney lost the election. Yes, I know about changing demographics and such. But the truth is, this here and some of the goings on with the Kristol and Podhoretz crowds, is why we lost the 2012 election. People know when they are being sold a line of bullshit and that is what was being sold by the right and people knew it. It was little things, like this here; and people saw that and said, “I do not want someone in the white house who believes that sort of a thing.” Because of that, we lost and we lost big. I say, “We” because I voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. I do not regret that vote either. I stood for what I believed in; and it was not this sort of crap here, that is for sure.

Here is hoping, that by 2016, the GOP does learn its lesson on stuff like this, and the Fox News Channel gets its stuff together by then. Although, to be quite honest. I just do not believe that they have it in them to change. You just cannot retrain Bull Conner’s brain. It is just that simple.

Own too much stuff? Your city can call you a hoarder, set your house on fire and tear it down

This is unreal.

Check the video:

The local story via The Downriver News Herald:

TAYLOR — Cleanup after an early morning house fire continued throughout the day today on Goddard Road near Oak.

The house in the 23300 block of Goddard, across from the main fire station and City Hall, continued to smolder as it was being torn down at 11 a.m.

The house had been vacant for 20 years and was filled with debris in what Fire Chief Bob Tompos called a “hoarder situation.”

The fire started at 5 a.m. in the basement, Deputy Chief Dan Reynolds said, although the cause is still being investigated.

Debris inside was at window level on the main floor and about 6 inches from the ceiling in the basement. The attic also was filled.

Once the fire began, entry to the residence was obstructed by the items inside, which Reynolds estimated were 85 percent garbage.

With no one inside, responders contained the fire and poured water on it, Tompos said.

A section of the first floor was found collapsed into the basement due to the weight of the debris and fire damage inside, Reynolds said, contributing to the decision to raze the structure.

The fire burned for about two hours before being extinguished, although numerous hot spots smoldered and continued to crop up, delaying the demolition.

So, there you have it. Like to collect stuff? Don’t do it in Taylor, Michigan. because if you do; they’ll tear your house down. I got $5 that says someone from the city had that house torched, because someone was complaining about it and the city was powerless to do anything about it. So, about five in the morning, someone, most likely paid by the city, torched the house.

Just to be honest, I cannot prove my allegations at all. But I can tell you this; I have friends who live over in that city and the corruption in that it city is quite well known, and has been going on for years. Why do you think that the city is having so many problems? Because the past leadership over there was horrible corrupt for years— just like Ecorse and Detroit.

Even it is was a “hoarder,” does not that city have to get permission from the owners to tear it down like that, whatever happened to property rights? Whatever happened to getting a order from a court to tear something down, before just barging onto someone’s property and razing a building? Could not the fire dept just stay out and keep the fire from spreading? It just sounds like progressive leadership and city gone horrible wrong, if you ask me.

On the resignation of the Roman Catholic Church Leader Joseph Ratzinger

My Mother and Father always taught me never to say anything bad about other people’s religion. So, I will forgo the wish to waylay the Roman Catholic Church. However, because I am Baptist, and very much a Fundamentalist Christian —– I steadfastly refuse to call that man Pope, father, or anything else like that. Having said that, I was stunned to see this news this morning. Here is the official word from the guy:

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

via Vatican Radio – Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation at end of month.

I realize to many this man is like the leader of the papal Church and because of that, I can understand why many people were shocked to see that he resigned. First time it has happened, was 600 years ago in 1415; so I can see why this would be a great shock to many.

So, to you, Joe, I wish you the best in retirement; I can only imagine how rough of a job that can be. I mean, being the leader of that big of a cult Religion, must be terrible rough on a guy.

Blogger reactions from those I care to link to, Via Memeorandum, of course: Da Tech Guy’s Blog, Twitchy, The Anchoress, Hot Air, The Other McCain,Scared Monkeys, Red Alert Politics and The PJ Tatler, American Spectator, The Spectacle Blog, , Outside the Beltway, Hugh Hewitt’s TownHall Blog

Taking Religion out of the Military?

I have mixed feelings about this one:

“Soldiers with minority religious beliefs and atheists often feel like second-class citizens when Christianity is seemingly officially endorsed by their own base,” American Atheists president David Silverman told Fox News. “We are very happy the Pentagon and the Army decided to do the right thing.” A military spokesman told Fox News the cross was literally dismantled and will be removed from the base to be in “compliance with Army regulations and to avoid any misconception of religious favoritism or disrespect.” “After a Christian prayer, the cross was removed from the roof of the chapel,” the spokesman said. “During the removal, the cross was dismantled; however the cross was reassembled and currently awaits transportation to a larger operational base.” The military told Fox News the cross will only be brought out during Christian services and will be designated as a “non-permanent religious symbol.” Silverman said a Christian chapel on an Army base in Afghanistan could have put American troops in danger. “It inflames this Muslim versus Christian mentality,” he said. “This is not a Muslim versus Christian war — but if the Army base has a large chapel on it that has been converted to Christian-only, it sends a message that could be interpreted as hostile to Islam.” An Army spokesman said all chapels must be religiously neutral. “The primary purpose of making a chapel a neutral, multi-use facility is to accommodate the free exercise of religion for all faith groups using it,” he said. “We take the spiritual fitness of our Soldiers seriously and encourage them to practice their faith and exercise their beliefs however they choose.” Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, of the Family Research Council, told Fox News a Christian cleansing of the military is under way. “I don’t think you can categorize it any other way,” he said. “There is a strong effort, led partially by the Administration as well as by atheist groups to destroy the identity of who we are as a nation and that means robbing us of our history.” —- Military: Crosses Removed ‘Out of Respect for Other Faiths’ | FOX News & Commentary: Todd Starnes

On one hand, I would hate to think that having Christian symbols on a battle front could be putting our Military at risk. On the other hand, I would hate to see Christianity being removed from the Military entirely. However, we are in a Muslim Nation is Afghan region; one would think that the Military would want to be respectful of those people and their culture.

It is a mixed bag, and all the more reason why we really need to get out of that Country. Our mission is done there; we killed Osama and we need to leave. We do not want to make the same mistake the Russians made there. Besides all that, Al-Qaeda has moved into other regions and is much more a threat to other interests in other parts for the world now.

So, to this Independent, the quicker we leave, the better.

Let’s not prejudge this one

I am still not feeling that great, but I feel the need to write about this story here.

The Story:

8:23 p.m. — It was a “horrific” crime scene that confronted deputies Saturday night: Calvary church Pastor Greg Griego; his wife, Sarah; and their three youngest children dead — fatally shot multiple times with a “military-style” assault rifle and other weapons — at their South Valley home.

The suspect in custody is the couple’s 15-year-old son, Nehemiah Griego, who neighbors said often wore “nothing but camouflage” and wanted to be in the army.

“I’ve never seen a scene quite like this,” Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston said at a news conference Sunday morning.

The teen is accused of using several weapons, including a “military style” assault rifle, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, to kill his parents and three youngest siblings.

The sprawling home is in the 2800 block of Long Lane, a dirt road in the South Valley just off Old Coors Road. The couple had a total of 10 children, but it appeared only the three youngest and the 15-year-old were at home at the time of the shootings. — Source

I notice that this 15-year-old, that did this shooting was raised in a Christian home. I also notice that the shooter’s Father was a so-called “Pastor.” Let me say this about this shooting, and this does not take away from the shooter’s guilt at all, okay? But, there is always a motive for these sort of shootings — always. For all we know, this so-called “Pastor” could have molested his son or something worse. The last thing we need to blame is guns and gun culture on this one.

Kids do not “bug out” as they call it, and shoot the parents for no reason at all. It simply does not happen. This guy was doing something to cause his son to want to kill him. period, end of story. As someone who has been a Christian for 30 years, and basically grew up in the “Church World” as it is called; I happen to know that abuse, of all sorts, is rampant in those circles; sexual, physical and yes, even mental. I have seen some of it, and yes, I even was almost a victim of it myself once. Thankfully, God was gracious and I never had anything serious happen to me.

But, again, I think we all need to take a step back and let the police figure the who, what, where, and why; and leave the posturing alone on this one. Like I said, for all we know, this kid could have acted out or simply protecting himself from a monster. We just do not know those facts. I know about Sandy Hook, okay? But, I happen to think that this one might be different. I hope I am wrong, that this kid just had a mental issue or something. But, I have a sinking feeling that I might just be right.

Related: CNN: ‘Horrific’ New Mexico shooting leaves 5 dead; investigators arrest 15-year-old

Others: The Hinterland Gazette, Addicting Info, The Moderate Voice

White House considering executive action on guns

I knew this was coming, it was just a matter of time; and unlike this idiot here, who believes that the following headline was overdone. I happen to believe it to be very true:

drudgeheadline

From the Weekly Standard:

Vice President Joe Biden revealed that President Barack Obama might use an executive order to deal with guns. 

“The president is going to act,” said Biden, giving some comments to the press before a meeting with victims of gun violence. “There are executives orders, there’s executive action that can be taken. We haven’t decided what that is yet. But we’re compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action that we believe is required.”

Biden said that this is a moral issue and that “it’s critically important that we act.”

Biden talked also about taking responsible action. “As the president said, if you’re actions result in only saving one life, they’re worth taking. But I’m convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of americans and take thousands of people out of harm’s way if we act responsibly.”

Biden, as he himself noted, helped write the Brady bill.

Eric Holder was scheduled to be at the meeting that’s currently take place at the White House. 

Ah yes, this ought to be very interesting to see what these Marxist gun grabbers come up with; as the Godfather of Chicago said, never let a crisis go to waste. As for what the idiot above that I linked to said about Drudge’s headline, I give you the words of Lew Rockwell:

In my experience, gun controllers are violent people, and private gun-owners are not. That is, gun controllers support mass murder; they just want it to be a monopoly of soldiers, police, etc. They would be glad to see Alex and the rest of us shot. Gun owners tend to abhor personal violence, and would only use it in defense of their family, themselves, and their property. And this is not a left-right issue. Non-commissar leftists like the late Alexander Cockburn are anti-gun control; neocons like Bill Kristol or the Randites are pro-gun control. Here is something that all good people across the spectrum can agree on: the state should be disarmed; the people should be packing.

It will be an amazing thing to see just whom on the right caves to the Marxist’s demands of gun surrender, or “control” as they like to call it. I just wonder which one of the Neoconservatives will fall first and say, :”Well, we have to have some sort of control!” I expect that Podhoretz or Kristol will be the first ones to falter to the demands of this administration.

Again, I do not know if having Alex Jones coming out as the circus act for the far right was a good idea, it may have just given the White House the ammo (sorry…) it needed to get what it wanted to carry out. Needless to say, there is going to be political fallout from something like this and it is not going to be good for the Democrats. I just hope that the GOP is ready to stage a comeback in 2014 or 2016. But from the looks of things at the moment, the GOP has some serious image issues, especially when it comes to the middle class.

Your big government at work

This ought to cause anyone, of any political stripe to be a bit concerned:

The federal government will continue to access Americans’ emails without a warrant, after the U.S. Senate dropped a key amendment to legislation now headed to the White House for approval.

Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved an amendment attached to the Video Privacy Protection Act Amendments Act (which deals with publishing users’ Netflix information on Facebook pages) that would have required federal law enforcement to obtain a warrant before monitoring email or other data stored remotely (i.e., the cloud).

The Senate was set to approve the video privacy bill along with the email amendment, which would have applied to a different law, the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act. But then senators decided for reasons unknown to drop the amendment.

via Top Stories – Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain Warrant to Monitor Email – AllGov – News.

You have to know why this happened; President Obama told the Democrats and the Republicans to drop the amendment. As the Government, is the name of peace and security, is basically violating constitutional rights.

Now to be clear; I am not using this blog posting to just bash President Obama. President George W. Bush and the neoconservative Republicans were doing the same thing during the Bush Presidency. So, if we are  to bemoan Obama for this, we should be fair and inform people that Bush was doing the same thing.

When Bush was doing it, the neoconservatives and their defenders in the blogosphere were wetting themselves with glee about it. Now that Obama is in the white house, and is continuing with the polices of Bush, the Neoconservatives are all but silent about it and some are complaining.

Why I see it, those who institute unconstitutional policies, should not complain when the other party continues with those polices.

(H/T Reddit)