I figured the "liberal media" would have played this up more

Can't begrudge him for this effort though. A glimmer of light in a dismal administration.

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans has announced that President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have been selected as recipients of the 2012 Jerald Washington Memorial Founders' Award, the highest honor bestowed by the nation's homeless veteran assistance community.

President Obama is the first person to receive the award more than once. He was honored in 2009 as the first president in U.S. history to make ending veteran homelessness a priority of his administration. Within months of that event, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki announced the "Five-Year Plan to End Veteran Homelessness," an ambitious initiative to ensure veterans in crisis will never again be left to fend for themselves on the streets.

By June 2010, every member of the president's cabinet had signed onto "Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness," the nation's first comprehensive blueprint for multi-agency cooperation to end all homelessness in America. That historic document incorporated Secretary Shinseki's Five-Year Plan, which calls for increased access to housing, health care, income supports and homelessness prevention assistance for veterans and their families.

SacBee 

Dumbass Quote of the Day

Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history. - Pat Robertson

Between  Pat and the clown college of Dominionists, Reconstructionists, assorted NAR evangelicals......and pseudo-historian quack David Barton.....the level of entertainment available on the internet has probably never been higher.

Quote of the Day

Religion is like a penis. It's nice to have one and it's okay to be proud of it, but don't wave it around in public and don't try to ram it down my kid's throat at school.

Thought of the Day

From MSgt B's blog here.

War Porn

An interesting article was penned in last Sunday's Salon magazine in response to the controversial photos that have over time, leaked to the media. Photos that show our forces in theater acting in a manner that many might consider unprofessional. The author [John Rico] is a veteran of the Afghanistan campaign, and what he says is mostly correct, and a welcome addition to the national dialogue on war and how it affects our men and women.

What isn't exactly factual, is where either he or Salon write in the by-line: "All troops keep "war porn" stashes".

No. They all don't.

Whether he wrote that line or not, he does write further down: "Every single infantry soldier I know has a collection of war porn." Again, intersting notion, as I too was an Infantryman...for 22 fun filled years. If Rico includes generic, scenic photo's, pictures of the group of Hooah's and whatnot...then I would agree.

If Rico's contention is that every Infantry Soldier maintains a stash of affection for veiwing photos of dead and mangled bodies, then I couldn't disagree more. Perhaps some people are able to relieve or compartmentalize combat stress through such actions, but others see quite enough that will haunt them to their dying days....and would rather not have photographic souveniers to remind them.

Anyway, it's both a discussion that needs to be heard, and a point of view that is instrumental to understanding why it happens. Even if I don't see the value in the action.

Salon

Sad and true on so many levels

I've always taken intellectual offense to the "fighting for our freedoms" meme, even in the early days when I supported the Iraq war. That offense currently extends to the notion that we enjoy unprecedented freedoms in our own country. Liberty is more often used as a political cudgel than a guiding principle.

Your tax dollars at work.....

Even though by his own estimation he has very little prospect of winning the Republican nomination, Newt Gingrich is still likely costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars a day with his Secret Service detail on the campaign trail.

Gingrich reportedly requested Secret Service protection in February and was granted a detail in early March. In April 2008, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that it was then costing the agency roughly $38,000 a day to service each candidate receiving protection, which was then just Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Link 

Thanks Newt....

We lost a warrior 23 years ago today....

Remember Col Nick Rowe at SKK's site:

Let's all raise a glass in memory of an old pal and legendary Green Beret, Col. James Nicholas Rowe, who died 23 years ago today. Nick was ambushed and killed on 21 April, 1989, while driving to work in the Philippines. At the time, he was assigned to the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group in Manila.

He was only 51 when he died. I got to know him when I wrote about Vietnam-era prisoners of war for The Washington Times. I wanted Nick to tell me about POWs. Nick wanted me to help him get a posthumous Medal of Honor for his fellow captive, Rocky Versace. I included Nick's story and words in my 'Nam POW book, Prisoners of Hope.

Nick's story is an inspiration.

Tax Pot....Save Money

A recent report by Harvard Economist Jeffrey Miron, puts a financial spin on the ongoing debate about legalizing a recreational plant, which unlike alcohol, is a Schedule I Controlled Substance. wonder who has the better lobby in DC?

- Government prohibition of marijuana is the subject of ongoing debate.

- One issue in this debate is the effect of marijuana prohibition on government budgets. Prohibition entails direct enforcement costs and prevents taxation of marijuana production and sale.

- This report examines the budgetary implications of legalizing marijuana—taxing and regulating it like other goods—in all fifty states and at the federal level.

- The report estimates that legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. $5.3 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments, while $2.4 billion would accrue to the federal government.

- The report also estimates that marijuana legalization would yield tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco.

- Whether marijuana legalization is a desirable policy depends on many factors other than the budgetary impacts discussed here. But these impacts should be included in a rational debate about marijuana policy.

Link 

Uh-oh...someone's gone off the GOP reservation

[Tom] Ridge is a now businessman, consultant and philanthropist. Last month he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, but he remained critical of some of his fellow Republicans.

“I think, as a party, we sometimes come across as very judgmental and very self-righteous, and that doesn't play well to a lot of people,” he said. “Not just on political grounds, but in terms of the culture. We accept diversity in many different ways, and we need to be more clear about that and careful to express that.”

In particular, Ridge urged a more expansive approach to what he termed “the gay community,” noting that increased familiarity with gay people tends to lead to less judgmental politics. “I think that’s the right way to be,” he said. “Younger Americans on both sides of the aisle are saying, ‘Live and let live.’ ”

I've said it before and I'll say it again....if the GOP wants to stop sweating each election cycle and stay true to it's notions of individual liberty, it needs to own the civil liberties debate.

The evangelicals aren't going anywhere, but the Libertarians surely can.

Very cool find!

Twenty Spitfire fighter aircraft buried in Myanmar during World War II are to be dug up and shipped back to Britain, officials say.

The planes will be returned to Britain as a result of intervention by British Prime Minister David Cameron, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The planes had been buried more than 40 feet beneath the ground for nearly 67 years because of fears of Japanese occupation.

Link 

Civil-Military Relations and Battlestar Galactica

Though not the first combination of pop culture and political discourse, even in using BSG, but a thought provoking piece nonetheless.

ISA panel on popular culture

Thou Shalt Not Steal?

An anti-religious banner at a city park in Streator, Illinois was stolen on Saturday, and the atheist group that placed it there claims that the theft was a Class 4 felony under Illinois’ hate crime laws.


The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Nobody died for our sins. Jesus Christ is a myth” banner was placed in the park to protest the Christian signs and crosses that have been erected their ahead of Easter for the past five years. The eight-foot by three-foot banner was placed in the park on Thursday evening, but less than two days later it was gone.


Link

This Holy Day

It probably seems like I rag on religion a lot here, but it's not the faith that peeves me, it's what some people do in it's name and with it's supposed authority.

That being said, I truly hope that all of the faithful have a blessed and fulfilling day, on this Easter Sunday.

A Dilemma

I'm having a hard time deciding what simply irritates me more:

1. After a tragedy/crisis saying "We're all [fill in the blanks] now.

2. Celebutwit couple names [Bennifer, Brangelina, etc].

2. Stating any political disagreement as a "War on [whatever]".

Pistol Packin' VP?

So according to the chattering class, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez is a favorite for the number two job in the eventual-but-assured Romney candidacy.

I like what I see so far, but then again, I gave Sarah Palin the benefit of the doubt too......then she started talking.

I like the fact that is is pro-2nd Amendment, and I do know about her stance on gay marriage. Outside of what is typically found in the news, are there any major detractors with Martinez?

Martinez Bio

Glenn Beck and the Girl Scouts of America

A totally unbiased blog link of course........

Yep, they are the next big threat to America. Those cookie selling little girls will be out for the next few weeks selling cookies, but if you buy cookies you are supporting the Big Bad Liberal Machine called the American Girl Scouts. They might look cute and innocent but they are after your money to support a cause of brainwashing young girls to become Anti-American Feminist. This was the evil plan that has been in place for a 100 years and started by the Evil Anti-American Communist Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia. Who would of thought that the home city of Paula Dean had so much evil? 

Hopefully everyone that just read this paragraph knows that I'm just kidding around and making fun of Glenn Beck. Yes, he is after the Girl Scouts, which is very petty of him. He has to attack someone so he can get media attention and can try to keep his God status. The only media outlet to talk about the story is FOX, not a surprise. 

It's going to be interesting going door to door selling cookies this year. I wonder how many people will display their hate of the Girls Scouts fueled by Beck and FOX News to my little girls. This will just show my girls how many people can be brainwashed by the Media, which was one of the points in the Girl Scout book that upset Glenn Beck.

I just want to point out that I'm a Conservative Libertarian, that is Catholic, and a Stay at Home Mom. I'm a free thinking Conservative!

Run, Jump, Leap with Molly

But I'm sort of a fan of Social Darwinism....

"Disguised as [a] deficit reduction plan, it's really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It's nothing but thinly-veiled Social Darwinism. It's antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who's willing to work for it -- a place where prosperity doesn't trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. And by gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that's built to last -- education and training; research and development -- it's a prescription for decline." - Pres. Obama on the Ryan budget plan

No Mr President, the massive scale of entitlements is antithetical to both our history and our national ideals. Take some solace though....the Ryan plan doesn't go far enough.

Why do politicians lie?

“I was just reading something last night from the state of California,” Santorum regaled. “And that the California universities – I think it’s seven or eight of the California system of universities don’t even teach an American history course. It’s not even available to be taught.

Huh?

Santorum’s campaign headquarters could not be reached to clarify what Santorum was reading, but a perusal of course catalogs from the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges reveals a plethora of courses focusing on U.S. history.

Each of the state’s 112 community college campuses offers a course in U.S. history, according to community college spokesperson Paige Marlatt-Dorr.

At the UC and CSU, all undergraduates must take a U.S. history course in order to graduate, UC and CSU spokespeople said.

The only UC campus not to offer a U.S. history course is UC San Francisco — a medical school.

Link

This guy would conceivably ask for my vote?

A concept lost on the GOP

“I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative, I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative."

- David Cameron, British PM

This is the difference between Conservatives and Republicans; Individual liberty. Imagine the electoral success if they would hold true to the concept and own the civil liberty debate.

Duh....

Study: Military service makes men grumpier

A new study appears to support what recruiters have known for years: Military service transforms people. But for friends, family and future co-workers of recruits, the transformation may not be for the better. The study from Washington University in St. Louis found that military service — combat excluded — seems to make men less “agreeable.” And the effects appear to linger long after troops hang up their uniforms.


Well no shit. It's because we've spent half of our life being subjected to alternating bouts of extreme efficiency and  a complete lack of common sense. Not only is that going to linger in the form of perpetual pissedoffedness, it's going to make us utterly intolerant of both abject idiocy and anything remotely resembling the Good Idea Fairy.