Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

UPDATE: Meet Susan Frishkorn at the Santa Rosa County Democratic Party Luau, 3-7 p.m., Gulf Breeze Shoreline Park, South, (cost for the luau is $25, Susan will gab with ya about politics for free):
Flier for Santa Rosa County Democratic Party Luau

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and regional: teacher beware, 15-years boys will get ya 15 months, first comes the laswuit, now two graduations, is it better to be a dog than a black man in the South, who's your family?, and

Nation and international: countdown to dismissal, are you ready to protest, Cha-Ching, Baby, Cha-Ching, Justice Hillary Clinton?, Oprah unmasked, is it collateral damage, or murder?, more changey stuff, now it's Scrabble, is there no more respect for tradition anymore, I Wish I Was in Dixie (this after rise up and be counted Confederate Southern Americans (we love our country, we only wish it didn't exist and we still had slaves), does christian fundamentalism threaten world peace? , will it create a 'Communist Chocolate Hellhole', and religious evil or anti-Semitic like bigotry?

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events!

Teacher Beware, 15-Years Boys Will Get Ya 15 Months

Two former Jay teachers who had sex with students each were sentenced to 15 months in state prison today. Read the Pensacola News Journal, Ex-teachers get jail

Would a male teacher get more?

The Thelma and Louise of Republi-CON Politics

UPDATE: President Palin? Not likely, she's just a "media psychodrama." Read The New York Times, Who Will Lead the Republican Party?

Read the Washington Post, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann meet Thelma and Louise.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Are Teabaggers the New Liberal Radicals?

UPDATE: Who are the Teabaggers? Angry older white Republican men, generally. Take a look at the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, Polling the Tea Party.

Does the Tea Party rage against the machine echo the 60's radicalism from the opposite end of the political spectrum? Read The New York Times, The Wal-Mart Hippies.

I'm sooooo confused?!?

Everyman For Himself Paradise

Don't like modern society and government. Want to get away from it all. Then read The New York Times, Embracing a Life of Solitude.

The article includes a list of Five Destinations for Solitude Seekers.

Have fun all you antimodernist neo-Luddites, and send me a note (by bottle or bird of course) telling me of the benefits of subsistence living!

Does Christian Fundamentalism Threaten World Peace?

Chuck Baldwin is the pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, and was the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

In his latest column, Army Report Says Christians Threaten US Foreign Policy, Baldwin discusses a paper written at the School of Advanced Military Studies, United State Army Command and Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. An abstract of the paper, titled Strategic Implications of American Millennialism, states:

Since the beginning of the Republic, various forms of millennial religious doctrines, of which dispensational pre-millennialism is the most recent, have shaped U.S. national security strategy. As the dominant form of millennialism in the U.S. evolves, it drives changes in U.S. security policy and subsequent commitment of the instruments of national power. Millennial ideas contribute to a common American understanding of international relations that guide our thinking irrespective of individual religious or political affiliation. Millennialism has great explanatory value, significant policy implications, and creates potential vulnerabilities that adversaries may exploit.

In the simplest usage of the word, millennialism refers to any belief system, religious or secular, which anticipates a purification of society or the world through dramatic and sweeping change. In the U.S. today, the most well-known and influential form of millennialism is a religious variant known in formal, theological parlance as dispensational pre-millennialism. This contemporary form of millennialism took shape during the 1970s and has significantly shaped current U.S. security policy. Dispensational pre-millennialism is loosely based on depictions of battle between the forces of good and evil in the biblical Book of Revelation. In the U.S., dispensational pre-millennialism contends that in the very near future Jesus Christ will ‘rapture,’ or remove his church from the Earth. A period of intense tribulations and battles will follow, culminating with a cataclysmic defeat of Satan. Jesus would then establish an earthly kingdom for 1,000 years – the millennium. Today, the theological doctrines of dispensational pre-millennialism contribute significantly to American culture. This has resulted in a pervasive sense of determinism and pessimism that has significant implications for U.S. security policy around the world.

Military leaders, planners and strategists require greater understanding of American millennial thought. Millennialism shapes both American culture and U.S. government policy. While most Americans are influenced to some degree by the ideas of pre-millennialism, many are unaware of the philosophical or theological underpinnings. Military leaders charged with interpreting policy into strategy and acting on behalf of the nation on the international stage cannot afford to remain ignorant of the effects of pre-millennialism. Due to a general lack of awareness of millennialism and an uneasy reticence to discuss religious factors, understanding and analysis of our own policies and motives is often deficient. Additionally, the cultural imprint that derives from millennialism impairs our understanding of the words, actions and motives of other actors on the world stage. These factors can be problematic for any military leader or planner attempting to achieve U.S. Government policy objectives through strategy, operations and programs.

What do you think?

Foreign Policy By Assassination

"Whether or not drone missile strikes and assassination plots are legal, are they a good idea?" Read The New York Times, The Price of Assassination.

How would you respond if a foreign country was assassinating local people in your community?

I Wish I Was in Dixie

UPDATE IV: "The God of History bounds the Confederacy in its own chains." Read the declarations off secession and the words of the Vice-President of the Confederacy at The Atlantic, The Ghost of Bobby Lee.

Try as they might, Republi-con can't deny history.


UPDATE III: Confederate History Month celebrates the "fight over freedom or the Constitution or states' rights. But the "right" that was being fought over was the ability to own human beings, compel their labor, buy and sell them as if they were livestock, exploit them sexually and torture or kill them if they tried to escape." Read the Washington Post, Haley Barbour's 'diddly' sense of slavery's history.

Confederate History Month -- just more Republi-con revisionist history.


UPDATE II: Read the Chicago Tribune, It’s not hate, it’s hateful history.

I wonder if this will become an issue in the 2010 Arizona and Florida primary elections. Hey McCain and Hayward and Crist and Rubio, will you sign proclamations for Confederate History Month?


UPDATE: Open mouth, insert foot. Read the Washington Post, McDonnell's apology raises questions about what he really believes.

A celebration of heritage or pining for the good old days of segregation and white supremacy. Read the Washington Post, Confederates in the statehouse and Bob McDonnell can't change Virginia's history of slavery.

Bet those nostalgic for slavery can't wait to hear that ol' favorite, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," I'm sure "old darky's heart" miss "old Massa."

First, limos, private jets and night out at a lesbian bondage nightclub, now Dixie. What next, blackface minstrelsy singing at the 'cross lighting.'

No veepstakes for him.

Time to Wake Up?

UPDATE II: With major Tea party rallies planned for April 15th, a new group is preparing to disrupt the movement. "[S]ick and tired of that loose affiliation of racists, homophobes, and morons; who constitute the fake grass-roots movement which calls itself "The Tea Party,"" Crash The Tea Party intends to infiltrate Tea Party groups "in an effort to propagate their pre-existing propensity for paranoia and suspicion . . . [and] exaggerate their least appealing qualities (misspelled protest signs, wild claims in TV inter views, etc.)."


UPDATE: For more on the Coffee Party, read The New York Times, Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu.

First the Tea Party, now the Coffee Party, for those who want to give "voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them."

Is this just more astroturfing?

And what next, the Milk Party?

How about the NoBull Party, where our motto would be NoBull.

Salty Language

"Uttering a taboo word in public is a great hierarchy-buster." Vice Presidents do it. Even Navy sailors are known to utter a profanity or three. "For those who use them, swear words are linked to emotion in a visceral way."

But have attitudes changed about insulting, rude, vulgar language? Not in California where it is Cuss Free Week. Read The New York Times, Why Do Educated People Use Bad Words?

There is even a No Cussing Club!

Congressman Tickler, The Republi-CON's New Golden Boy

UPDATE III: "[M]ale staffers complained that [he] touched them in a sexual manner, came up with reasons to have staffers travel alone with him on overnight trips, and expressed a desire to have sex with the men in the office."

Name that "The Republi-con New Golden Boy."


UPDATE II: In case you missed the story:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sour Gropes
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

UPDATE: From the Washington Post:

Gotta love those Republi-con values, defending a male Congressman who engaged in 'tickle fights' with his male staffers. Read Time, The Massa Circus Takes the Air out of Glenn Beck. and the New York Daily News, Ex-Rep. Massa confesses to 'inappropriate' text messages in bizarre Glenn Beck interview.

When it comes to vilifying the Naive-ocrats, it is hard to leave Beck-zarre speechless.

Justice Hillary Clinton?

Justice John Paul Stevens is retiring. So let the specualtion begin. Read The Atlantic, Hillary to the Supreme Court? and Vanity Fair, Supreme Court Justice Hillary Clinton?

She "has all the makings of a full-throated, strong-minded liberal stalwart on the bench.” And if the Republi-cons blocked a vote, he could threaten to nominate her husband.

But does Obama have the stomach for a confirmation fight?

Power Corrupts

UPDATE: Just how 'bad' is Oprah? Just ask Vernon Winfrey, who raised the future mogul and media queen as his daughter. “She may be admired by the world, but I know the truth. “So does God and so does Oprah. Two of us remain ashamed.”

That's as bad an insult as I've heard in a while.

Even if it just celebrity power.

Read the Washington Post, Kitty Kelley's new book: Oprah has a diva snit in Washington antique store; "does not do stairs."

Just ask The Cheetah.

Cheer Up Monday

From a friend:

The Original Computer:

Memory was something you lost with age
An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity
A keyboard was a piano
A web was a spider's home
A virus was the flu
A CD was a bank account
A hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived

And if you had a 3.5 inch floppy.
You just hoped nobody ever found out!?!


For the women:

With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when the re is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, Holy crap, look how smart I am!

Must be where 'Smart Ass' came from!

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and regional: welcome to Bubba-ville, where we prosecute the dead, stupid is as stupid does, is it better to be a dog than a black man in the South, who's your family?, and

Nation and international: is he the master of PR, , is it collateral damage, or murder?, more changey stuff, now it's Scrabble, is there no more respect for tradition anymore, I Wish I Was in Dixie (this after rise up and be counted Confederate Southern Americans (we love our country, we only wish it didn't exist and we still had slaves), limos, and private jets and a lesbian bondage nightclub , oh my!, help the weak die, does the pastor condone cop killing?, Tuesday, August 24, 2010, will it create a 'Communist Chocolate Hellhole', and religious evil or anti-Semitic like bigotry?

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events!

Prosecuting the Dead

"The Arts Council of Northwest Florida misappropriated funds by paying its expenses with money it was supposed to give to local arts organizations, the State Attorney's Office said.

The State Attorney's Office announced Thursday that it was charging the now-defunct council with two counts of making false official statements. No official associated with the group was charged."

Read the Pensacola New Journal, Arts Council of Northwest Florida faces 2 charges

Read the press release, report (page 2), and information (page 4) from the State Attorney's Office charging the 'council' with two counts for making false official statements:

State Attorney's Office, Press Release Re Arts Council

What is the point of the prosecution. And what if no one appears to represent 'the now-defunct council,' figuratively I mean. Why would anyone hire a lawyer?

Talk about a waste of time. So what is the real purpose?

One local blogger says "Escambia County remains “Bubba-ville USA." (Bubba-ville USA includes other parts of NW Florida.)

So is the meaningless prosecution of a dead organization to assuage the public's anger at the misdeeds of the local good ol' boys?

Who's Your Family?

I thought of the question when I read the following in the Pensacola News Journal, Santa Rosa sets fees for Navarre Fishing Pier:

The Santa Rosa County Commission unanimously approved a schedule of user fees for the new Navarre Fishing Pier this morning. That includes annual passes for: adult, $240; seniors, $225, and youth, $200.

Originally, the proposed fee schedule included a family pass for $500, but pier manager Dorothy Slye pulled that idea off the schedule because of the potential complication such a pass could create, including what constitutes a family.

Not such an easy question to answer anymore?

Tune in tomorrow, and we'll try to help the Commission answer the question.

With Washington Bankrupt, Banksters Now Loot Main Street

The "nation's biggest banks are ripping off American cities with the same predatory deals that brought down Greece." Read Rolling Stone, Looting Main Street.

Who needs foreign enemies when ya got the Banksters, with help from their friends the Republi-cons, preying on tax payers and looting the future. Don't you just love deregulation!

And China laughs all the way to the bank.

Is It Collateral Damage, or Murder?

WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting a shooting (they called it indiscriminate slaying) of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters had been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the shooting (again they say unprovoked slaying) of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.



WikiLeaks calls it collateral murder. What do you think?

What would you think if a foreign country did that in an American city/town? Is it necessary to point out the harm done to world opinion?

Was the Iraq war worth the cost?

P.S. It reminds me of the death of Victor Steen.

How Now Republi-CONs

Which party will lead the way forward? Read The New York Times, Who’s Up for Building Bridges?

"It takes more than just saying no to thrive in the 21st century."

Religious Evil

UPDATE III: "On Good Friday, the Pope's personal preacher suggested in his sermon that criticism of the Pope reminded him of shameful aspects of anti-Semitism." Read or listen to, NPR, 'Churchgate': The Scandal That Won't Go Away.

So is it bigotry? Read Vanity Fair, The Catholics Aren't the Jews, They're the Soviets.


UPDATE II: "Why is the Catholic Church more prone to self-pity than self-reflection?" Read The New York Times, Devil of a Scandal.


UPDATE: "The Catholic Church, which gave up its credibility for Lent, can’t hide behind smoke and mystique as it faces a cascade of child sexual abuse cases." Read The New York Times, Should There Be an Inquisition for the Pope?

"As an archbishop in Germany, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, expended more energy pursuing theological dissidents than sexual predators." Read The New York Times, Doctrine Preoccupied Benedict as Archbishop.

More Changey Stuff

To allow, or not to allow, proper nouns? Read the Washington Post, U.S. players react to news that new Scrabble version will allow proper nouns.

Get over it people, it's just a game.

Help the Weak Die

What does society do to those who would torment another to suicide? Read the Washington Post, Kids gone wild, parents gone missing.

When it is everyone for themselves, there will be coercion, cruelty, and a lack of empathy.

Does the Pastor Condone Cop Killing?

Chuck Baldwin is the pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, and was the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

In his latest column, Baldwin appears to condone killing cops. Read The Hutaree Militia Raid, in which he references and approves of an "excellent column entitled “Casus Belli.” In that blog posting, the writer states "it is not necessarily a crime to kill a police officer."

The writer then cites a very, very old case to argue that a person is "not obliged to submit to an unlawful arrest, and he "had the right to use such force as was absolutely necessary to resist an attempted illegal arrest...." Quoting John Bad Elk v. The United States.

BEWARE, it is a crime to resist an arrest with force, even an illegal arrest.

REMEMBER, where the democratic election of government prevails and the law limits the power of government so that neither life, nor liberty, nor property can be taken by the state without due process of law, there is no justification for violence.

The pastor should be ashamed of himself.

The Large Hadron Collider Will Create a 'Communist Chocolate Hellhole'

So says a traveler from the future. He also claims a future of limitless power, the end of poverty and Kit-Kats for everyone. Read CNET UK, Man arrested at Large Hadron Collider claims he's from the future.

Personally, I prefer peanut butter with my chocolate. But Kit Kat Peanut butter never caught on.

Happy Easter!

All I need to know I learned from the Easter Bunny:

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There's no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
Some body parts should be floppy.
Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans.
Good things come in small, sugar coated packages.
The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.
To show your true colors, you have to come out of the shell.

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

Sub Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Usually on Fridays you can listen to me, the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- no political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

I can't make it today but I'll be back next week. Until the next show, post a comment or two.

Bon Appétit

UPDATE III: BBQ RULES : We'll be entering the BBQ season shortly. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...

(1) The woman buys the food.

(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.

(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.

(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part:

(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine...

(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.

(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat.

Important again:

(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...

(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.

(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off' and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women!


UPDATE II: Reposted for Super Bowl Sunday.

Also, think fat, salt and crunch AKA fried pigskins (actually pork fat). Read The New York Times, For the Big Game? Why, Pigskins.


UPDATE: Manly BBQ needs a Man's Grill! Now this is a BBQ guaranteed to get everyone's attention. It should be towed with the barrel facing backwards, then you wouldn't have to worry about anyone tailgating you! My guess is the owner is from Texas!!!!!!

Ok, ya don't like French, but this ain't French cooking:















Looks yummy.

Called "The Bacon Explosion," but modestly called by its inventors "the BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes." It has swept the Internet blogs and I blog so I thought I'd let ya know.

Get the recipe at: The New York Times, Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog.
And invite me to your Superbowl party for a taste.

UPDATE: For more details, see BBQAddicts.com, Bacon Explosion: The BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes.

Some Republi-CON Political Expeditures: Limos, Private Jets and a Lesbian Bondage Nightclub

What a party! Read the Washington Post, The party's over for RNC head Michael Steele.

No wonder I call them Republi-cons.

Stress Relief

Play this at work and you should get a lot of peace and quiet:

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and regional: is it better to be a dog than a black man in the South, and

Nation and international: why is the Antichrist trying to give us health care, is it just part of the deception, rise up and be counted Confederate Southern Americans (we love our country, we only wish it didn't exist and we still had slaves), the Amish way of forgiveness, and save a life.

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth!

100 Years Later

UPDATE VII: You hear the Republi-cons say it frequently, doctors are quitting because of health care insurance reform. It is true that doctors are leaving private practice, but to practice with hospital and health systems. Read The New York Times, More Doctors Giving Up Private Practices.

Republi-cons never miss a chance to con the public.


UPDATE VI: The commentator who called the reform bill a Republi-con Waterloo after having warned of the "harm that our overheated talk is doing to" the Republi-cons was David Frum, the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. And he's been fired from his job at the American Enterprise Institute for not being a loyal enough party member.

There is a good reason the party's color is red.


UPDATE V: Rusty Limballs said that if the Health Care Reform Bill passes Congress, he was going to move to Costa Rica:



Hasta la vista, baby!


UPDATE IV: Who needs the center, it is the end times. Read The Christian Science Monitor, Shock poll: Why do so many Republicans think Obama is a socialist, a Muslim, or even the anti-Christ?

But what happens if the apocalypse never comes?


UPDATE III: The Republi-con formula to win elections -- fear, anger, and hatred = votes and donations, and sometimes violence. Read the Washington Post, Lawmakers concerned as health-care overhaul foes resort to violence.

Those waskly Republi-cons better watch out, history shows that a "nasty public image -- arrogant, mean, small-minded -- [can be] difficult to discard . . . if by exciting your base you lose the center, then you lose the next election too."


UPDATE II: It's déjà vu all over again. The latest health care reform effort is alot like Massachusetts' health care law. Don't take my word for it. Read what the Governor of Massachusetts wrote about the plan in 2006. Read the Wall Street Journal, Health Care for Everyone? We've found a way.

BTW, who was the Governor of Massachusetts in 2006? Mitt Romney. And what did he say in support of Massachusetts' insurance mandate? "I proposed that everyone must either purchase a product of their choice or demonstrate that they can pay for their own health care. It's a personal responsibility principle."


UPDATE: From the Washington Post, Health care horrors:



And to where are those Republi-cons running? To court (coincidentally enough here in Pensacola). Read the Pensacola News Journal, Health care lawsuit in Pensacola court.

Those waskly Republi-cons, running to court, hoping for a little judicial activism where, to paraphrase the CONservatives themselves, the court will substitute its own political opinion for the applicable law and legislate from the bench, and in so doing, take for itself the powers of Congress, rather than limiting itself to the powers traditionally given to the judiciary. Oh does the irony of it all make your head spin.

And the shrill of doom can be heard already. One conservative commentator is calling the reform bill a Republi-con Waterloo, after having warned of the "harm that our overheated talk is doing to" the Republi-cons.

Others, the latest day of infamy in America, comparing the legislation, believe it or not, to enactment of the Fourteenth Amendment to protect the original three-fifths people.

Of course others are singing Hail the Conquering Professor.

But all the "bombastic declarations from both sides about the impending disaster (Republicans) or nirvana (Democrats) being ushered in" are a little early if you ask me, since no one knows whether the reform will work.

Some changes are easy to understand. Read The New York Times, For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes. And ignorance will be bliss no longer at your favorite eatery. Read The New York Times, Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains.

As for why Pensacola, read the Pensacola News Journal, Why did attorneys general file health care lawsuit in Pensacola?, which quotes Jay Wolfson, a health care attorney and law professor at Stetson University and the University of South Florida, who said Pensacola's makeup is attractive to those opposing the health care legislation:

"It's a much more conservative district and more likely to reflect the conservative attitudes of those residents of the state," he said.

With such a right-leaning electorate in Pensacola, McCollum could make great political strides, win or lose, as a result of spearheading the lawsuit, Wolfson said.

"Mr. McCollum is running for election to a new office," Wolfson said. "One cannot pretend that the political incentives for things politicians do are not important."

So McCollum is hoping for an election day boost. But why the Northern District of Florida, and why the Pensacola Division? My guess, 3 out of 3 -- Judges Vinson, Collier, and Rodgers were appointed by Republican Presidents.

I don't know if the odds were better in any other division in the country of getting a Republican appointee. I guess the Republi-cons were hoping for an ill-informed political decision. I doubt that in any case, and especially not in this case.

BTW, Judge Vinson got the case.

So stay tuned, it will be an interesting case.

And I predict the most likely outcome in the district court is dismissal, with court declining to rule in the case because the matter in controversy is a political question. And if there is a decision on the merits at the district court level, the court will likely find the law constitutional under the Commerce Clause.

Bets on the outcome anyone?

(Note: I make no prediction above the district court level, although I'm inclined to believe that even Robert would shy away from emasculating Supreme Court precedent to the extent necessary to rule in favor of the Republi-cons in this case, even considering outlier case of Bush v. Gore, the case that can never be cited.)

"For almost a century, presidents and members of Congress have tried and failed to provide universal health benefits to Americans. The cost of health care has spiraled; in 2008, one in six dollars was spent on health care, and an estimated 46 million people were without coverage." For a timeline of health care reform efforts, see The New York Times, A History of Overhauling Health Care.

Who better on Republi-CON Family Values?

UPDATE: No time to be Governor, the Rogue Diva goes Hollywood. Read the Washington Post, Discovery makes it official: "Sarah Palin's Alaska" to TLC.

Still cashin in, she's reportedly asking for up to $1.5 million per episode.

Still cashin in, the Rogue Diva will let a publisher put her name on a book about a "celebration of American virtues and strengths." Read Entertainment Weekly, Sarah Palin to pen a second book.

You'll find it in the fiction section.

End the Duopoly

UPDATE: For more on breaking "the oligopoly of our two-party system," read The New York Times, A Tea Party Without Nuts.

The writer quotes Larry Diamond, a Stanford University democracy expert, “If you don’t get governance right, it is very hard to get anything else right that government needs to deal with. We have to rethink in some basic ways how our political institutions work, because they are increasingly incapable of delivering effective solutions any longer.”

The writer notes that "[w}hen your political system punishes lawmakers for the doing the right things, it is broken. That is why we need political innovation that takes America’s disempowered radical center and enables it to act in proportion to its true size, unconstrained by the two parties, interest groups and orthodoxies that have tied our politics in knots."

Given the way the health care debate played out, I agree.

And China laughs all the way to the bank.

You've heard me complain about partisanship and America's political duopoly. For one proposed solution to those problems, read The New York Times, To Reduce Partisanship, Get Rid of Partisans, which suggests that states "should abolish party primaries and institute first round, qualifying elections with the top two earning the chance to compete in November."

What do you think?

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

UPDATE: As discussed on today's program, read Rueter, Insurer targeted HIV patients to drop coverage.

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and regional: is it better to be a dog than a black man in the South and who's afraid of the big slow roundabout?, and

Nation and international: the census, counting or prying?, no complaint with the death penalty in this case, how'd Oscar do, does talk radio make you happier, and save a life.

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth!

Useful or Useless Beer Facts?

Happy St. Patrick's Day. In celebration, what The Opinionated Beer Page calls some useless beer facts:

Unlike wines, most beers should be stored upright to minimize oxidation and metal or plastic contamination from the cap. High-alcohol ales, however, which continue to ferment in their corked bottles, should be stored on their sides.

Studying the experimentally induced intoxicated behavior of ants in 1888, naturalist John Lubbock noticed that the insects that had too much to drink were picked up by nest mates and carried home. Conversely, drunken strangers were summarily tossed in a ditch.

Despite the month implied by its name, Munich's annual 16-day Oktoberfest actually begins in mid-September and ends on the first Sunday in October.

The familiar Bass symbol, a red triangle, was registered in 1876 and is the world's oldest trademark.

According to a journal entry from 1636, farm workers in the colony of Quebec not only received an allowance of flour, lard, oil, vinegar, and codfish; they were also given "a chopine of cider a day or a quart of beer."

In 1965, a Belgian royal decree mandated that lambics must contain a minimum of 35% wheat. It also ordered that labels state the name and location of the brewery.

Beck's in not only Germany's top export beer, it also accounts for 85% of all German beer exports to the United States.

Pennsylvania has had more breweries in its history than any other state. In 1910 alone, 119 of the state's towns had at least one licensed beermaker.

In their efforts to regulate beer quality, the ancient Babylonians, who were among history's earliest brewers, decreed that any commercial beermaker who sold unfit beer would be drowned in his/her own libation.

Bottle caps, or "crowns," were invented in Baltimore in 1892 by William Painter. Painter proved his invention's worth when he convinced a local brewer to ship a few hundred cases of beer to South America and back and they returned without a leak.

Beer advertising matchbook covers have become sought-after collectibles on Internet auction sites. A 1916 matchbook promoting Brehm's Brewery in Baltimore brought $43, while a 1930s cover promoting Eastside Beer from Los Angeles went for $36.

Beer and video games have a long association. Tapper, originally a 1983 arcade game and now a computer one, tests players' skills by challenging them to coordinate the movements of beers, a bartender, empty mugs, and patrons.

An 18-year study by the National Institute on Aging found that 50-plus men who consumed a drink a day during middle age scored significantly better on cognitive tests later in life than did non-drinkers.

Gilroy, home of the Coast Range Brewing Company since 1995, is the self-proclaimed "Garlic Capital of the World."

In ancient Babylon, women brewers also assumed the role of temple priestesses. The goddess Siris was the patron of beer.

On October 17 of 1814, a rupture in a brewery tank containing 3,500 barrels of beer caused a flood of fatal proportions in the London parish of St. Giles. The wave of beer swept victims off their feet, dashed them against walls, and buried them under debris. Two houses were demolished in the sea of beer suddenly loosed upon town, and nine people lost their lives in the flood of suds.

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month", or what we know today as the "honeymoon".

There are 19 different versions of Guinness.

According to a diary entry from a passenger on the Mayflower, the pilgrims made their landing at Plymouth Rock, rather than continue to their destination in Virginia, due to lack of beer.

In the US, a barrel contains 31 gallons of beer.

The first beer cans were produced in 1935.

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer is where "rule of thumb" comes from. (Actually, a reader pointed out to us that "rule of thumb" actually comes from some Irish saying regarding beating your wife. However, since this is a beer page and not a wifebeating page, the temperature fact stands.)

In 1788, Ale was proclaimed "the proper drink for Americans" at a parade in New York City.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".

The original text of the Reinheitsgebot only had three ingredients: Barley, hops, and water. Yeast wasn't mentioned for another 35 years.

George Washington had his own brewhouse on the grounds of Mount Vernon.

After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle, often without armor or even shirts. In fact, "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.

The Budweiser Clydesdales weight up to 2,300 pounds and stand nearly 6 feet at the shoulder.

12 oz of a typical American pale lager actually has fewer calories than 2 percent milk or apple juice.

A beer is NOT just a beer. All told, there are 27 different styles of beer, with a further breakdown of 49 substyles.

Actually, some of those facts sounded like they might be pretty useful someday.

A Preview of the 2010 Republi-CON Cat Fight

UPDATE IX: And even more fiscal CONservative hypocrisy. Before Rubio got a hold of the GOP credit card to double bill the party and state taxpayers for flights and meals, it appears he played "fast and loose with the rules" governing political action committees (PACs) to pay friends, family members and $74,000 in undocumented expenses. Read St. Petersburg Times, A lavish rise for Rubio.


UPDATE VIII: More fiscal CONservative hypocrisy. It appears that Rubio racked up $250 million in budget requests for hometown spending during eight years in the Florida House. Read the The Miami Herald, Marco Rubio's money requests for Miami-Dade could be an issue.

Like Ray Sansom, a NW Florida Republi-con who was this term's Florida House Speaker until he was forced out and who finally resigned office on the eve of an ethics hearing. (He still faces criminal charges in connection with his budget dealings)

"Rubio's public job as a legislator dovetailed with his private interests.

One appropriation for Miami-Dade County was sought by lobbyists who worked at his law firm. Another item aided a friend's fight for a Florida Turnpike contract. Other proposals gave big sums to Florida International University and Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Rubio later worked as a consultant."

Republi-cons have no shame.


UPDATE VII: The $130 barber shop charge to the Republi-con Party of Florida credit card -- was it for a hair cut or 'back wax?' Read CNN, Crist: Rubio charged credit card for back wax.

That sounds like it might hurt!


UPDATE VI: With the Republi-cons, you just need to talk the talk. Read CBS4. com, Poll: Rubio Destroying Crist In Senate Race.


UPDATE V: The cat fight is heating up with allegation that Rubio is a fiscal CONservative. Read FOXNews, Rubio Battles Reports of Lavish Charges to Florida GOP Credit Card, The Miami Herald, Wine, groceries, car repair: What Florida's Rubio charged to GOP, The Miami Herald, Marco Rubio: Double-billing of flights 'a mistake', and The Miami Herald, Charlie Crist jumps on Marco Rubio, Ray Sansom similarities.

But will it matter to the Republi-cons:

"Lucky for him most of the hardcore “conservative” voters don’t actually pay attention to this sort of thing. Fox News would never in a million years give this story any air time, so the people Rubio is trying to appeal to aren’t going to know anything about it. As long as he says that he’ll lower taxes, the average “conservative” voter could care less what else he does. He could use public money to build a rocket-ship to fly into the sun, and as long as some wealthy republicans are paying $100 a year less in property taxes, no one will ever complain."

UPDATE IV: Will the country become ungovernable after big election wins by the Republi-con Party in 2010? Read The New York Times, Paranoia Strikes Deep.


UPDATE III: So what did the 2009 off-year election portend? Will there be a putch in the Republi-con party? Read the Washington Post, Attack of the Palinite and The myth of '08, demolished.


UPDATE II: Has the right "devolved into a wacky, paranoid cult that is as eager to eat its own as it is to destroy President Obama?" Read The New York Times, The G.O.P. Stalinists Invade Upstate New York.


UPDATE : Read Time, A GOP Civil War in Upstate New York.

As previously noted, the 2010 Florida Senate race is shaping up to be Washington leadership v. grassroots, whether to moderate the political agenda or go all-in conservative hypocrisy, whether the campaign theme should be hope for the future or fear and loathing.

But if you can't wait until 2010, then there is a preview. Read The New York Times, Right Battles G.O.P. in a Pivotal Race in New York.

Are the Republi-cons torching the big tent?

Sub Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Usually on Fridays you can listen to me, the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- no political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

I can't make it today but I hear that Ken will substitute. I'll be back next week to deprogram you. Until then, read two more great op-eds from The New york Times:

On health care reform: Health Reform Myths, and

On Obama, the Centrist: Getting Obama Right.

Palin 2012

What more can I say:



From Dvorak Uncensored.

And for those who missed the movie, read about the global cataclysm predicted for 2012.

Destroying America With Fear, Anger and Hatred

UPDATE II: Fear, anger and hatred = Republi-con votes. But fear, anger and hatred also = Republi-con donations.

Don't take my word for it, see the PowerPoint presentation from the RNC Financial Leadership Meeting, page 29.

It appears that those waskly Republi-cons rely on two types of donors: dumb and dumber. Really, don't take my word, read the PowerPoint presentation, which describes dumb donors, those small donors who are "visceral," "reactionary" and motivated by "fear," and the dumber voters, those large donors who are "calculated," "ego-driven" and motivated by "access."

And what do these dumb and dumber donors get, tchotchkes.

Look it up, so you know what you are worth to those Republi-cons.


UPDATE: Rantings of paranoid, conspiracy theorist, talk show hosts can kill. Read True/Slant, Does Austin Plane Crash Pilot’s Rambling Suicide Note Sound Like An Alex Jones Manifesto? and the Washington Post, Joseph Stack's familiar anti-government tune.

Of course, this is nothing new. Read The Daily Beast, Wingnut Rage Boils Over.

BTW, my original post was made before the the plane attack:

Does ridicule and assaults on patriotism or character as vehicles to marginalize 'others' undermine democracy? Read the Washington Post, How the conservative media harm democracy.

Fear, anger and hatred is a vicious cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy -- as Republi-con destroy America, they blame others for their actions.

And China laughs.

Cute Commercial

It has a happy ending:

Take a Virtual Vacation

First stop, the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, but you better have a high-speed connections.

Click and hold the left mouse button to turn. (Not too fast or you'll get dizzy.) Each screen has a + and - in lower left for Telephoto or Wide Screen.

Enjoy.

Hypocrite or Fraud?

Palin, a fierce opponent of health-care reform, "told a Canadian audience her family used to go to Canada to get medical care when she was growing up."

Yet in one instance she cited, Palin "told an alternate version of the story that had her family traveling south by ferry to Juneau from Skagway for treatment of her brother's burned foot, rather than to Canada, according to a 2007 report posted by the Skagway News."

Read the Washington Post, Palin says her family went to Canada for health care when she was young.

So, is Palin a hypocrite or fraud?

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

UPDATE: Local weekend events:

Gulf Coast Renaissance Faire -- where John Krause will be collecting petition signatures.

Pensacola BBQ Contest

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and regional: one dead black kid, who cares?, and the FL Republi-con cat fight is heating up with allegation that Rubio is a fiscal CONservative and

Nation and international: Obama the Clueless, what next, the Milk Party?, who's the conservative now?, and save a life.

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth!

It All Down Hill From Here, For Health Care Reform That Is

UPDATE: The cost of doing nothing, paying about 75% more for health care:



Read The New York Times, The Cost of Doing Nothing on Health Care.

We pay one way or another, since half the people in the country cheat and get their health coverage courtesy of Uncle Sam.

Of course the health care industry calls it profit, which is why they oppose reform.

There was a 'summit' yesterday. In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation. The topographic terms "acme", "apex", "peak", "summit", and "zenith" are synonyms.

But in this case it was a health care 'summit' with politicos (can you say boring) so I skipped it. If you did too, read the recaps in The New York Times, Afflicting the Afflicted and Not as Dull as Expected!

Obama claims his plan will cover XX million uninsured. He should challenge the Republi-cons to come up with a plan that would credibly cover half that number. Then, if they do, he should promise to pass both proposals on one condition -- if the the Republi-cons proposal fails to achieve that number within one year, it would automatically be canceled and replaced by his plan.

Call the Republi-con bluff!

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and regional: one dead black kid, who cares?, time for nuclear war in Santa Rosa County? and state Republi-con fiscal conservative hypocrisy and

Nation and international: time to prosecute Goldman Sachs as a criminal racket, that snitch in your pocket, and save a life.

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth!

Who Was Joe Stack?

As a follow-up to our discussion on the show Friday where I posed the question: "Who was Joe Stack: terrorist, right-wing Teabagger, left wing Communist, 'True American Hero' praised on Facebook, or anxious and disillusioned American whose fear, anger and hatred was exploited by the Republi-cons? (Read Chuck Baldwin, I Wish Joe Stack Had Not Killed Himself!)"

Read The New York Times, The First Tea-Party Terrorist?

Culture or Politics, What Makes a Country Great?

Test case -- Iraq, where it is yet to be determined whether "new politics triumph over its cultural divides, or [if] cultural divides sink its fledgling democracy." Read The New York Times, Iraq’s Known Unknowns, Still Unknown.

Does Snake Taste Like Chicken?

For all you Florida hunters, here is your chance to find out. Read the Washington Post, Python hunting season set for South Florida.

I put this under the NW FL Area label because I couldn't figure where else to post it. But for all you Indiana Jones ophidiophobics, no need to fear in these parts, it gets too cold in NW Florida during the winter for these big snakes.

Do You Know Politics?

Take the Pew News IQ test.

How did ya do?

Save a Life

There is a new method for doing CPR, called Continuous Chest Compression CPR:

The Snitch in Your Pocket

Governments like control and hate criticism. And now they can track people 24/7, well at least anyone with a cell phone.

Earlier this month the Justice Department acknowledged that, just like Iran, it could use cell phone records to identify political protesters. Read Newsweek, The Snitch in Your Pocket.

Very scary if you ask me.

Why Do Republi-Cons Hate America So Much?

Republi-cons must hate America because they are doing their best to undermine the middle class and bankrupt the country.

To understand how, read The New york Times, The Bankruptcy Boys.

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and regional: cheap and easy news-casting (a followup to the great government snoverreaction of 2010 (another example of the government and media exploiting fear), and

Nation and international: time to attack Texas for sheltering a terrorist (or was he just a Teabagger or misguided tax protestor), how Americans support terrorism (in more ways than acknowledged) is it déjà virtual all over again? and congratulations Tiger.

Today's poll: Who was Joe Stack: terrorist, right-wing Teabagger, left wing Communist, 'True American Hero' praised on Facebook, or anxious and disillusioned American whose fear, anger and hatred was exploited by the Republi-cons? (Read Chuck Baldwin, I Wish Joe Stack Had Not Killed Himself!)

Or was it just a false flag op staged by the government.

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth!

The Obama Legacy

UPDATE: Cheney says he'll be a one-termer. If so, what then?

How about Justice Obama? Read the Washington Post, Supreme Court Justice Barack Obama.

Yes he can have a legacy. "He [just ] needs to redefine what his administration hopes to achieve." Read The New York Times, What’s Next, Mr. President?

The article suggest five steps to "America’s faith in its own institutions," including "leading a campaign of brazen honesty with the American people. . . [to] lay out the fiscal realities and explain that voters cannot continue to demand programs they are unwilling to pay for."

P.S. He better hurry because those waskly Republi-cons are up to no good. Their "crusade against health reform has relied, crucially, on utter hypocrisy: Republicans who hate Medicare, tried to slash Medicare in the past, and still aim to dismantle the program over time, have been scoring political points by denouncing proposals for modest cost savings — savings that are substantially smaller than the spending cuts buried in their own proposals.

And if Democrats don’t get their act together and push the almost-completed reform across the goal line, this breathtaking act of staggering hypocrisy will succeed."

Read about it at The New York Times, Republicans and Medicare.