Right As Usual

The Volokh Conspiracy has a good point to make about the politician's experience issue. He cites a post by Bill Stuntz, that looks at different types of experience : Time spent on a job Time spent in a management job Accomplishments They are different measures of experience. And the different candidates have varying degrees of the above.

This week's Blogs 4 Borders is especially poignant. It details the stories of Americans who've been victimized by illegals, and illustrates the little the government will do to protect them. Jake shows how the crime stats are twisted - victims are correctly identified as Hispanic, but their equally Hispanic perpetrators are ID'd as "white" - no mention of ethnicity. So, those crimes look like brutal Whites attacking helpless minorities. Remember that the next time you look at the crime statistics - they may be VERY misleading.

Hillary has just managed to get Michigan & Florida's full delegates restored. Is that a problem for Obama? Oh, NO, because: The credentials committee's work is expected to win ratification by the whole convention Monday. Florida has 211 delegates, including superdelegates, and Michigan has 157. Both states are expected to be battlegrounds in the November election. Restoring their voting rights increases the total number of delegate votes at the convention to 4,419. It will take 2,210 delegates to win the nomination. Obama ended the primaries with a 365-delegate lead over Clinton. Reinstating the Florida and Michigan delegates will not affect that lead because Obama has more endorsements from the states' superdelegates. Mercy me, he has the Superdelegate Endorsement! Like that can't change (and did, in his favor, during the primaries, when he seemed unstoppable). Lemme see, 211 (FL) + 157 (MI) = 366, by my count (of course, I'm just a women - you know we don...

I was checking out a fairly new blogger , who commented: Does anybody have a fail-safe way to meaningfully increase traffic? I've been blogging for a few months now, and it kind of sucks that only a few people actually read my blog. Readership is growing but tooooo slow for my ADHD tastes ... Friend, we've all been there. Initially, you feel as though you're rolling pebbles down a mountain. They start rolling, then stop. Some seem to gain momentum, then slow down. Occasionally, they hit another pebble, and you think you've got something started. No. That second pebble just teeters for a few mini-seconds, then settles back in place. It's a slow process. You can speed it up by taking topics from your latest posts, and doing a Google on those terms. When you get a blog hit, follow the link, and make a comment. Be sure to include a link to your post. Over time, you'll see traffic pick up. Yeah, I know, it seems to take forever! But, there' s a snowball...

That's OWM, as in Old White Man. Biden is verbose (some would say gassy), a long-time member of the Old Washington, and having the foreign relations experience that Obama lacks. That's the up side. The down side is that he is vulnerable on past episodes of lying, inflating his resume, and voting the standard liberal line throughout his career. Biden is Catholic, but one of those CINO types (Catholic In Name Only). From Wikipedia: While chairman, Biden presided over two of the most contentious U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings: Robert Bork in 1987 and Clarence Thomas in 1991. Biden has the legislative experience that Obama also lacks, and he has sponsored or helped shepherd multiple pieces of major legislation through the Senate. He's the one who made, on January 31 remark on fellow Democratic candidate and Senator Barack Obama, frequently transcribed as, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-lo...

Finally, finally, the American public is getting it - by it, I mean the importance of protecting and maintaining border security in the US. Check out this Rasmussen Report on the 69% of Americans who get it. Also, take a look at this video from the Freedom Folks. It's a 3-part interview with America's Toughest Sheriff.

Roger Simon analyzes the Obama rumors, and argues masterfully the position that, yes, they are important, and then goes on to explain WHY.

Oh, you just have to read this link. Just a sample: 1. Wrong. As in, “You are wrong.” This is a narrow, judgmental, bigoted swipe at people who have their own equally-valid definitions of morality (or choose not to have any morality at all). Just who are you anyway to say what is right or wrong? It’s not like there’s some Book out there, or God-given universal moral code, that would help decide this. We don’t need any God-based, or scripture-based morality to tell us what is right or wrong when we have human consensus (as embodied in the United Nations) to handle these matters for us. Numbers 3, 4, & 6 were my favorites.

I read this comment in Instapundit - Kevin Green thinks Caroline Kennedy will be the Obama VP. This would be HUGELY popular with the Baby Boomer demographic, who still hold Kennedy in high esteem. It MIGHT pacify the Hillary crowd, although I wouldn't bet on it. If announced early enough, it might just take the wind out of Hillary's sails, leaving her no option but to graciously applaud the choice. As a side benefit, Caroline is one of the few choices who would make Obama look experienced, by comparison.

Let me get this straight: This is a symbolic gesture - hey, Lady, you lost! Does anyone else think the Clintons have another agenda? Maybe one involving superdelegates being swayed to vote for another candidate, one who has shown that she can win the all-important blue collar white man vote. To do that, enough people have to either switch votes, or abstain on the first ballot. Could Hillary & Bill persuade delegates to grant that little favor? I think so. They campaigned for enough Democrats, they are owed favors by enough people, and, I'm guessing, they have enough dirt on enough people, that a little favor like that seems to be OK. Obama better watch his back. He thinks he's a strategist. He's a babe in the bouncy seat. Who's about to get dumped out.

TV is unbelievably boring, just now. What about the Olympics? Well, what about it? It's being held in a country (China), where abuses of human rights are commonplace. Russia just broke the peace, by invading Georgia (is there anyone so uninformed that they need to be reminded that it's NOT the US state?), and the judging, where subjectivity is allowed, is dreadful. The US presidential race has been reduced to soundbites, snickering (at John Edwards), and frenzied re-hash of any little tidbit of "news". When Paris Hilton's political video is the one that makes the most sense, I know it's time to veg out for a few weeks.

These aren't random street accidents.  They are targeted killings of superdelegates. I find it disturbing that so little attention is being paid to this. Blogged with the Flock Browser

Some ups: I finished my first week in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system.  If they got a grade on how they moved the new teachers through the system, they'd get a 97.  Not perfect, but, compared to the chaos of many major school systems at this time of year, it's a screaming success. And the HR staff are professional, competent, and absolutely the essence of Southern charm.  Kudos to them all. I managed to find many of the items I had packed from my last school.  And, I managed to get access to some software that I needed in the new school's computers - they are iMacs, version 9.1 OS.  Thanks to Vernier , who rushed me the information I needed - they're tops.  Call them if you need WONDERFUL science hardware and software. I finished the week having gone to Bally's EVERY DAY - I'm so proud of myself.  I'm moving better now, and expect that this change will pay off in increased flexibility and, hopefully, a loss of weight. Some downs: Russia invaded...

Today it was raining most of the day.  Naturally, I had a meeting at a corporate headquarters; it was a long slog in the rain, and I had no umbrella.  Need I mention that my hair looked like a bad 70s sitcom? I'm in meetings most of the week.  I can't say that I enjoy them; they are to be endured, as a prerequisite to the start of the school year. The real issue is that I won't have Internet access through my laptop.  It's limited to the desktops on the network.  So, lunchtime blogging updates are a thing of the past.  As I leave at an unGodly hour in the morning, I'm anticipating most of my blogging during the work week will be in the evening. Blogged with the Flock Browser

I found a thoughtful post on Front Page magazine, about how to handle military appropriations in the future.  James Jay Carafano, of the Heritage Foundation, analyzes the current call for virtually eliminating the military budget.  After the conclusion of a foreign war, Americans are tempted to slice the military budget to the bone, on the grounds that we can divert those funds to other activities (Butter, rather than Guns). Nothing could be more UN-secure.  The world organizations (NATO, UN, and the like) have shown that they are NOT committed to preserving the world's peace and security, but are swayed by political pressure, and will willingly abandon citizens to the vagaries of their country's (or a near neighbor's) imposed government.  So few of the UN's members qualify as having a freely-chosen government, they can't honestly take on the responsibility of policing the world. Not to mention the disgrace that many UN troops have become; stories of UN sexual assau...

Powerline has a fine analysis of the underlying factors in the Georgia-Russia conflict. It's all about the oil. The general consensus is that Russia's invasion of Georgia was triggered by the fear of losing an oil resource. Georgia only provides oil for about 1$ of the world's energy needs, but Russia didn't want to cede control over the flow of that oil.

I'm going to provide a quick update on news I've missed blogging about: The John Edwards Affair (like the Thomas Crowne Affair) What can I say? That his behavior was sleazy, selfish, and, ultimately, doomed to failure in the cover-up? Well, some are excusing it, saying that he was obviously under stress, due to his wife's illness. The trouble is, so was she - and she wasn't catting around. So, I don't think that dog will hunt. Russia slaps down Georgia (no, not the US Georgia, the Russian one). The breakaway provinces need to understand - Russia is like that estranged, psycho wife - she'll NEVER let you go, no matter how much you want it. You're HERS, for all eternity. Pity it had to happen during the Olympics. But, Russia will continue to participate, and the Games will go on. Wouldn't do to have a repetition of the Carter 1980 debacle, when we tried to get the Olympics cancelled. The rumor is that the "heckler" was a plant. Good idea...

OK, I was skeptical when I saw this site for prescription glasses. It's incredible stylish new frames from Zenni . Holy Toledo! Zenni Optical $ 8 Rx Eyeglasses . The selection is great. Several sample frames are below. The second frame is a children's one, with the comfortable saddle-style bridge. It's only $12.95 (there are available frames at $8.00, too. I just liked this one). That $8.00 price isn't just the frames - it's the entire pair of glasses. I thought, at first, that it was a typo. I'm looking at the most important section to me - the children's frames. I teach, and, for many of my students, affordable glasses are a luxury. When (come on, you know kids - it's not IF!) they lose or break their glasses, they have to wait for a long time until their family can afford more. I've spent more time looking at squinty-eyed kids, who lose out on their precious education because glasses are too expensive to replace. Even those with insuran...

Fox News is on the Washington Protest story. Not so many news outlets. Alexa Shrugged has a great story about What I Saw At the #dontgo Revolution. I'm so envious of her experience - unfortunately, I have commitments, and cannot travel to Washington, DC.

Day 3 has passed, and the Republican Refuseniks are still standing strong . At times on Tuesday, the third day of the Republican protest, nearly all of the chamber's 435 seats were filled with members, constituents, and tourists as lawmakers tried their best to project their voices without microphones to be heard. “One woman told me she had driven two and a half hours just to be here,” said Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. Monday, the Capitol police attempted to bar people who were visiting the Capitol building from entering the normally closed corridor leading to the Republican cloakroom, a tiny railroad-car type of an anteroom with a tiny kitchenette that leads onto the rear of the House floor. So members of Congress went roaming the halls of the neighboring congressional office buildings, and personally escorted groups of constituents onto the floor so they could hear the Republican protest firsthand. “Welcome to the people’s house,” Hensarling said when his turn came to speak in...

...and, as usual, that's considerably more than it's worth.

From CNN.com: "We'll continue at least this week," said Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia. "Then we'll see what we know." Price said 24 congressmen returned to the Capitol for Monday's session. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, said that 40 Republican members are committed to rotate in shifts throughout the week. Asked how long they'll be there, he said, "We'll be here as long as we can." Some details on the protest: Reporters and Republicans found themselves attempting electronic gymnastics, trying to contort around House rules that prevent recording on the chamber floor when the House is out of session. GOP congressmen were quickly turning to new technology, with lawmakers sending updates on the blogging site Twitter and Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, uploading video interviews he conducted with fellow representatives just outside the Republican cloakroom. Tire guages were handed out by a staffer, as a pointed commentary on Obama's remarks abou...

Update: The protest may NOT be over. Another story on Monday's actions. I hadn't heard anything on TV - I was not home when the early news was on, and I went to bed early. But, FoxNews covered it. Great article on why this all matters. Kristen Soltis, like me, is excited about the bottom-up way this protest came to fruition. It's a real example of The People taking control - how American!

Jake is back with another great videocast . He's blogging about the events in Postville, IA.

Click on the ad at the right for Linkworth , and sign up your blog for the service. It's easy, fast, and works for me. The referral ID is 5591.

Darn. Almost as soon as it started, the protest is over. However, Jim DeMint (SC-R) is talking about a shutdown , unless the Democrats agree to get rid of the drilling ban. "We don't want the government shutdown to be an issue, but the fact is the Democrats are so overconfident that they're willing to talk about a ban and they're willing to talk about raising taxes on gasoline, so this is just pretty incredible," said Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who is circulating a letter encouraging colleagues to demand that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, strike the drilling moratorium from the budget resolution. The public is on the side of drilling. It's time to let your Congreessmen hear from you (button on the Blogroll, near the bottom).

I've been following the protest actions of the Republicans in Congress, and it's something you've got to see. Check out the protest. I'll be updating for the duration - I'll be in a workshop next week, but, never fear, I'll find a way to post. Other web sources: Twitter has John Culberson , Pete Hoekestra , and qik videos

The family is in town, and we've been on the go. Tonight we're going to a Charlotte Knights game, against the Durham Bulls (yes, THAT team - not likely that Susan Sarandon or Kevin Costner will be there).