The importance of philosophy or a world view in a society is so often overlooked. America is free because our Founding Fathers believed that freedom was something worth dying to obtain. They believed this for several reasons. For one, being mostly devout Christians they understood the importance of morality, responsibility and duty. While the Bible taught them to obey the King, it also showed them that there comes a time when that obedience became wrong: when the King's laws or actions opposed Godly morality, as it had in the late 1700s.

But another factor weighed heavily on their individualistic world-view—most of them were farmers.

City dwellers have always existed depending on others for many thing but also having others depend on them.  Rural dwellers, namely farmers, on the other hand, existed fairly independently, often not needing others for anything. Therefore farmers have always been the core of individualism in any society. That so many Americans were farmers in the 1700s (as much as 95% of the population by some estimates) instilled an individualism that fueled the eventual rebellion against abuses by the British crown.

Over the years, though, more and more of our population shifted from farming to other sources of income. The 20th century brought the agribusinesses or mega-farms, that manipulated prices to drive more and more small farmers out of business. With the help of nearsighted (or possibly corrupt) politicians, agricultural subsidies were introduced that crippled the small farmers even more. While promoted as a way of helping the family farmers, subsidies went almost exclusively to the large farmer who didn't need them, and who used them to push more and more small farmers out of business. Price caps reduced the profits so that the small farmers struggled to survive. Mega farms had such large crops that price caps actually helped them, by expanding their market share as even more small farmers could no longer afford to stay in business.

Why has there been such an unmerciful war waged against the small farmer? Profit is really only a side benefit. Power is the real motive.

When the depression hit most farmers suffered greatly not just from the depression itself, but from the droughts that had helped bring about the Depression. But amidst that chaos was a factor rarely mentioned. Many Black farmers escaped much of the hardship of the depression, because due to prevailing racism, they were unable to get loans to help expand their farms prior to the Depression, so when it hit, they had no loans to repay, and were able to keep their farms while most white farmers watched bankers take theirs. Their independence, forced as it may have been, saved them.

But that core of independence was a threat to those who wanted to drive America to a more socialistic society. The individual family farms had to go.

Today we still have family farmers who stubbornly struggle to continue the traditions brought down to them from our Founding Fathers. They are an admirable lot, and a thorn in the side of those who work to quash the American spirit of Rugged Individualism. But their value to America as a whole goes well beyond what food they provide. They remain a symbol of what America is really about.

If the family farms are totally replaced by corporate agribusinesses, we've not only handed our food production over to entities known for focusing on money more than ethics, we also have allowed to vanish a part of our population that helped remind us of who we are, and where we came from. Regardless of your ethnicity or heritage, there were farmers there that defined the better part of what that heritage stood for. We can't afford to lose that.

From the Associated Press...

Sen. John McCain, a passionate advocate of limits on campaign finances, is turning down government matching funds for the primary to free him to spend more money as he prepares for a general election contest.

McCain, who appears headed to win the Republican presidential nomination, sent letters to the Federal Election Commission and the Treasury Department notifying them of his decision to withdraw from the presidential election financing system.

McCain had asked to participate in the public system last summer when his campaign, his fundraising and his poll numbers hit a low point that threatened to unravel his candidacy.

Though the FEC declared him eligible to receive $5.8 million in December, the money would not have become available until next month. By accepting the money, moreover, McCain would have been required to limit his spending for the primary to about $54 million — an amount the campaign was close to reaching now.

By not taking the money, McCain is free to raise more and to promote his presidential candidacy until the Republican nominating convention in September.

Why, isn't that nice, the king of campaign finance reform is turning down Federal funds for his campaign. But here's the rest of the story...

As Sen. John McCain assumes the GOP front-runner mantle, his long-standing, but little-noticed association with left-wing donors such as George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry is receiving new attention among his Republican critics.

In 2001, McCain founded the Alexandria, Va.-based Reform Institute as a vehicle to receive funding from George Soros' Open Society Institute and Teresa Heinz Kerry's Tides Foundation and several other prominent non-profit organizations....

Rick Davis, McCain's current campaign manager, was paid $110,000 a year by the Reform Institute for a consulting position, according to the group's 2003 Form 990 filing with the IRS.

In 2004, Davis advanced to the position of Reform Institute president, with an annual salary of $120,000, according to the group's 2004 Form 990....

Carla Eudy, a senior advisor on McCain's 2008 presidential campaign who until recently headed fundraising, was paid $177,885 in 2005 to serve as the Reform Institute's secretary-treasurer.

So apparently McCain's idea of campaign reform is to use the law to hamstring others, while he soaks up massive political donations through loopholes in the law he himself helped create. He can afford to turn down Federal funding, because he's getting back door funding from notorious Socialists who see him as a candidate beneficial to their goals.

Anybody getting funding form George Soros and Teresa Heinz doesn't have my vote.

From the Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle via KRIV in Houston...

In Tulsa, Okla., the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has estimated that 15,000 to 25,000 illegal immigrants have left the area. One builder estimated that 30 percent of the Hispanic work force left Tulsa....

Which means more jobs for legal residents at competitive scales. Funny that while Liberal democrats pretend to be for "the worker" illegal immigration is something big business is for because it gives them an abundant supply of extremely cheap labor. The alternative is a fair wage for legal workers, which benefit the average working person, but hurts big business. Republicans, supposedly pro-big business and anti-worker, opposes the kind of leniency that allows rampant illegal immigration. seems the stereotypes aren't ringing true.

Enrique Hubbard, Mexico's consul general in Dallas, said a dozen Mexican families from Oklahoma have applied for consular documents listing their new homes in the Dallas area. He expects more to arrive because jobs are available in north Texas....

They're here illegally, yet the Mexican government keeps track of them?

Texas' reputation as a welcoming destination has experts predicting more immigrants will come to Houston and other cities in the state. Texas has not passed any statewide law targeting the employment of undocumented workers.

No, more illegal immigrants. Oklahoma welcomes legal immigrants, but the A s s. Press seems unable to comprehend the distinction. perhaps they perceive any dark-haired, brown-eyed, Spanish-speaking person as just another wet-back, and have no interest in bothering with further distinctions. That's what is normally considered to be racist, but it is the people who note the difference between law-abiding Hispanic citizens, law-abiding, legal immigrants, and law-breaking illegal immigrants, that are called "racist". How's that for turning logic upside down.

It occurred to me that Oklahoma's new law against illegal immigrants may be why we don't seem to be experiencing the economic problems other states are claiming to have. We  are having a surge of new, higher-paying jobs due to the exodus of illegal immigrants and the need for employs at a reasonable pay to fill those, now vacant, jobs.

From the New York Times...

An end to Hollywood’s long and bitter writers’ strike appeared close on Saturday, as union leaders representing 12,000 movie and television writers said they had reached a tentative three-year deal with production companies.

The strike, which began Nov. 5, remains in effect until the governing boards of the two writers’ guilds gauge the sense of their membership in mass meetings on both coasts this weekend and decide whether to end the walkout. The mood at the New York meeting on Saturday afternoon was one of supportive optimism, with a touch of wariness, and the Los Angeles gathering was set to take place late in the evening. The boards are expected to meet as early as Sunday, and the strike could be over by Monday morning.

Of course there's another, more pressing reason to end the strike. As the election get into swing, the DNC will be depending on the propaganda Hollywood always injects into movies and television shows during an election year.

Not that it's always successful.

Take the movie Dave for example. With a lot of effort to make Kevin Kline look as much like George Bush senior as possible, by the time the movie hit the theaters, the behavior of the president in the movie was almost identical to that of Bill Clinton, except that the president in the movie didn't arrange to have dozens of people systematically killed or intimidated to prevent them from testifying against him. And by the time the movie hit the theaters, the election was over. The intent was clear, though.

Then there's the movie An American President. Timed better so the DVD release would hit at the height of the 1996 election. Rush Limbaugh, at the time, commented on the propaganda effect of the movie as well as the subtle message regarding Hillary Clinton (The president in the movie was a widower, signifying, according to Rush, Hollywood's disdain for Hillary and their wish for her to be out of the way so Bill could pursue other romantic interest, not understanding that the Clinton's marriage never prevented Bill from pursuing other romantic interests.) The movie's main theme was how the President's opposition mercilessly harassed him regarding his "innocent" relationship with a female lobbyist (played by Annette Bening). This was of course followed by the real-life, "merciless harassing" of Bill Clinton for his "innocent relationships" with Paula Jones, Kathleen Wiley and Juanita Broderick, not to mention Monica Lewinski, Geniffer Flowers and Elizabeth Ward Gracen. (The last three were at least willing, as opposed to the first three).

Lately Hollywood has dropped much of its subtly in inserting propaganda in movies, but still tries to be somewhat coy about the DNC bias in television. But in all honesty, trying to pretend they don't inject political propaganda in television programs is like pretending most Black Americans don't vote based solely on race. It's part of the societal fiction in which we all know its true, but will politely pretend is not.

Notice the timing of the writer's strike. Any movie script to be used for the campaign would have been written long ago. But television scripts will need to be written now. Also, by postponing current shows, there's a very good chance the usual TV season will now be pushed into the summer, meaning new shows airing through the months leading up to the general election, not reruns, that few people watch. The USA network already broke ground on unusual TV seasons, the major networks can now follow suit, based on the success of the USA networks odd seasons, as well as the hidden reason of putting out fresh propaganda during a time they normally would have had only stale reruns, which happens to be the height of the election year.

Those writers knew they had Hollywood by the short hairs, didn't they.

From the Palm Beach Post...

Wary consumers of all kinds, worried about the safety of the food supply, are finding an extra layer of confidence in food that is certified kosher, whether at restaurants or grocery stores....

"Kosher," which means fit or proper, was the most frequently used claim on new products launched in the United States in 2007. With 3,984 new food products and 728 new beverages, kosher beat out "all-natural," which had 2,023 foods and 405 beverages, according to Mintel's Global New Products Database.

It's not coincidental that the surge in kosher labels came during a year of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to products such as chicken pot pies and peanut butter, including the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history....

Food manufacturers say kosher certification has become a must because some consumers will not buy anything that is not certified.

Kevin McElvaney, marketing manager at Domino Foods in Yonkers, N.Y., said almost all of Domino's products have been certified kosher for at least 20 years....

The story goes on to mention that Tropicana has had its orange juice certified as kosher for almost 30 year, having a yearly inspection by a rabbi to make sure they follow all the requirements. Lipton, Nabisco and Keebler also have kosher products.

This doesn't just appeal to Jews and some Christians. Moslems note that the requirements for kosher food is similar to the Islamic requirements for halal.

So why the success of a religious designation over a government designation ("all-natural", "USDA first class", etc.)? Because people are sick and tired of government designations becoming meaningless after bureaucrats redefine the terms. That expected when FDA decision makes ride a revolving door between jobs in the food industry and jobs in the government agency that oversees that same industry. The food bureaucrats know which side their bread is buttered (pun intended). So "all-natural" has now been defined as including quite a few chemicals few people really consider natural.

On the other hand the definition of kosher is not one that can easily be changed. And those seen as experts in deciding what is and isn't kosher have a much higher motivation than hefty, under-the-table bonuses by mega-food companies. This is an excellent example of how religion provides what the government has failed to. We need to apply the same solution to social programs, and strip out of the Federal budget all the money people would have been donating to charity if the IRS weren't robbing them blind.

The short version (emergency appeal to bloggers)
My wife an attractive 40-year-old was fired from her job, based solely on the accusation from her 50-year-old supervisor that she had sexually harrassed him. This supervisor had already made an innapropriate comment toward my wife, and has before had an affair with a married woman under his authority. Because sexual harrasment is considered "gross misconduct" our health insurance was terminated immediately. We, however, were not informed of this until today, two weeks later, when we called to arrange for COBRA payments. We have two children with a rare congenital condition which requires frequent doctor visits and daily medication. because of their condition, one of us had to stay home. Linda got the insurance, so I became Mr. Mom. This can be a very serious condition, Our little girl had to be rushed to the emergency room just three weeks ago, simply from wearing herself out on a sleepover at a friend's house.

We are making an appeal to raise funds to cover medical expenses for our children until we can either resolve this, or find insurance, and with serious pre-existing conditions, that won't be easy. We've already had to miss labs requested by their pediatric endochrinologist because of uncertainty about our health insurance. At the top of the page, in the sidebar is a donation button where you can assist via PayPal.

The long version
My wife, Linda Carlton, worked for Tulsa's Whirlpool plant for over 10 years. The reason she took the job in the first place is because we have two children with a rare congenital condition that requires frequent doctor visits and medication so we needed the insurance. We just got an emergency room bill for my daughter's trip there three weeks ago, for almsot $900. Since one of had to stay home with our children, I have been able to build up businesses on the internet to match roughly a third to a half of her income. They are fairly solid and growing, but are still inadequate to cover our financial needs. I also created and manage the most visited site on the internet for the congenital condition my children have. Visitors to the site have told me that the information and communication channels I provide have saved numerous lives. The site is and always has been a work of charity.

In December my wife's immediate supervisor make an innapropriate remark of a romantic nature to her. He had in the past had an affair with a married woman who worked under him, and in spite of it being against company policy and in spite of him taking little effort to hide it, he was able to continue with the affair until this woman finally left. She is willing to testify to the facts of his involvement with her while she was employed there. Apparently fearing that his pecadilloes were about to catch up with him, my wife's supervisor initiated a campaign of harrasment immediately after she rebuffed his advances. She was hauled into Human Resources and warned to "keep her conversation professional" as if somehow she had been the one targeting him.

Last month Linda spent a week in Phoenix, Arizona on a company sponsored Habitat for Humanity build, the second one she's gone on. She spent the week helping to build houses which were all far larger than the one we ourselves live in. Before she left to go to Phoenix, though, she had an urgent question regarding the trip and tried to contact her supervisor. She eventually tried to see if she could reach him at home, but not exactly sure of his number she left messages in hopes that it was the right one.

Only a few days after returning from the trip, she was once again hauled into Human Resources, this time with the absurd claim that her phone calls constituted "insubordination" and "sexual harrasment", and was fired on the spot. The phone messages themselves, were never offered as proof, since they contained nothing remotely resembling sexual harrasment.

We attempted to go through the company's appeals process, but it quickly became apparent that it serves solely as a delay and annoy tactic to make the fired emplyee give up and not challenge the decision. When the company refused to allow me to accompany my wife to the second meeting, we told them continuing would be fruitless. Ultimately they ignored any and all salient factors and simply rubber-stamped the decision. Even the final appeal, to a "peer" review committee would have been stacked with buddy's of Linda's former boss and a handful of waged employees, too afraid for their jobs to go against the company.

The financial situation we are trying to deal with by raising money via our blogs. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

The insult to my wife's character we are also using the internet to address, by making public the way a corporation, Whirlpool, that makes roughly $18 billion a year treats the women who work for them. Whirlpool boasts of their "diversity networks" to ensure better treatment of various groups such as women, Blacks, Native Americans, etc. But in 2005 Whirlpool settled a class action lawsuit filed by a number of Black applicants who claim they were denied employment because of their race. Now we are seeing that they seem to be allowing an atmosphere of intimidation and hostility toward women, leaving them vulnerable to the sexual whims of their supervisors.

Whirlpool insists that the "perception" of this supervisor in and of itself is adequate "proof" to accuse my wife of sexual harrasment. What do you percieve Whirlpool is actually doing? You can let them know by calling or emailing...

Whirlpool Tulsa
Phone: (918) 274-6000 (leave a message for Jim Gifford)

Whirlpool Corporation
Phone: (269) 923-5000
Internet: http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/general/contact/default.asp

I remember seeing a news report, years ago about children, then grown, who had been taken from their parents at an early age by the Communist government of East Germany, and handed over, as a reward, to Communist friendly couples who wanted a child to adopt. The family the child was taken from was one which the government wished to punish. After the fall of the Soviet Union, parents who had lost their children searched for them, only to find their children, as adults, in denial that the parents that raised them would have participated in such a horrific crime, thus responding with hatred and bitterness to their real parents, who brought such unwanted news.

Today, WorldNetDaily reports that 15-year-old German homeschool-student, Melissa Busekros, has now disappeared from the psychiatric ward she'd been forcibly placed in. Her parents are frantic, and fellow homeschoolers in German and the US are outraged.

"Neither the parents nor their attorney are informed where Melissa is arrested now," said an urgent statement from Netzwerk-Bildungsfreifeit," the German homeschool advocacy organization.

"The situation is [horrifying] for the girl and the parents," said the statement, which was written in German and then translated into English

It continues to amaze me what outrages those who hold such a pathological hatred for homeschooling will stoop to.

Previous coverage...
  German teen imprisoned in Psych hospital for wanting to be homeschooled

From the Associated Press...

Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed a measure Monday that would have made English the official language of Nashville, saying it was unconstitutional, unnecessary and mean-spirited.

"This ordinance does not reflect who we are in Nashville," Purcell said.

They don't speak English in Nashville? That's news to me!

The measure passed 23-14 last week by the Metro Council required all government documents to be in English, except when multilingual communications are required by federal rules or are needed "to protect or promote public health, safety or welfare."...

Purcell said his legal staff had advised him the bill violated the U.S. and state constitutions and would be costly to defend.

Sounds like he needs to fire the third-graders he's using for "staff" and hire some people who actually know the law.

"If this ordinance becomes law, Nashville will become a less safe, less friendly and less successful city," Purcell said. "And as mayor, I cannot allow that to happen."

What a dolt? How in the world would making English the official language make the city less safe? I can see how having an idiot for a mayor could make the city less safe, but making English the official language?

From MSNBC...

“Most country stations aren’t playing the [Dixie] Chicks, and they aren’t going to start now,” said Jim Jacobs, owner of WTDR-FM, a country radio station in Talladega, Ala.

The awards might have the opposite effect, sparking another radio backlash against the group. Country broadcasters said Monday that the group’s five Grammys show how out of touch the Recording Academy is from the average country fan.

“I think (the listeners) are outraged,” said Tony Lama, program director for KXNP in North Platte, Neb. “This is rural, conservative America. They are just disgusted.”

Speaking of disgusting, check out this line from the MSNBC article...

Country radio may not be ready to embrace them again, but the Grammy runaway suggests that a significant portion of the rest of the country has come around to their way of thinking.

From the official Grammy site...

A GRAMMY is awarded by The Recording Academy's voting membership...

The Academy has three levels of membership available:

VOTING: professionals with creative or technical credits on six commercially released tracks (or their equivalent). These may include vocalists, conductors, arrangers, and other fields directly related to the creative or technical process of producing recordings....

So exactly how are the handful a "professionals with creative or technical credits on six commercially released tracks", the "rest of the country"? I guess to snobby elites like MSNBC anyone not in some form of media are not worth noticing.

After gloating over media stories reporting her firing, Amanda Marcotte ahs now announced that she has quit the Edwards campaign.

I'm very familiar with these "resignations" that come amidst political scandal. I was once fired from a job after being used as a convenient scapegoat for a supervisor's misconduct. My firing, of course, was call a "mutual decision", which I quickly corrected. It looks better if the person quits rather than being fired, because it allows the boss to maintain a sympathetic appearance, while continuing a pretense of victimization on behalf of the fired. I had no desire to play political games then, but apparently Marcotte is willing to. But then it really wasn't Edwards fault (maybe carelessness, but not intentional) that her offensive writing was made even more public than it already was. In the end the pretense of her resigning serves to keep Edwards from looking as foolish, and still allows Marcotte to claim to be the victim.

I don't seem to recall the Liberals being all that sympathetic when Ben Domenech resigned from the Washington Post over stuff he did as a high school student. I'd say the Libs made their bed and are whining about having to sleep in it.

Other coverage: Ace of Spades HQ, politburo diktat 2.0, The Agonist, Andrew Olmsted dot com, The Daily Dish, A Second Hand Conjecture, Beltway Blogroll, The Navel of the Internet, Betsy's Page, The Fix, Don Surber, Blue Crab Boulevard, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Corner, culturekitchen, Daily Pundit, Decision '08, Eunomia, Eunomia, Liberal Values, Lonewacko, The Jawa Report, Happy Furry Puppy Story, The Sideshow, Sister Toldjah, Stop The ACLU, The Reaction, The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, UrbanGrounds, Wizbang, World-O-Crap, BLACKFIVE, Booman Tribune, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Classical Values, Heading Left, Jay Reding.com, MyDD, MyDD, MyDD, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Oliver Willis, Outside TheBeltway, Vox Popoli, Pam's House Blend, The Politico, PostWatch, ProfessorBainbridge.com ®, ProfessorBainbridge.com ®, QandO, The American Street, Reason Magazine, Riehl World View, Bill's Bites, Taylor Marsh, The Carpetbagger Report, The Political Pit Bull, Slog

 

The American Episcopal church is the main regional "incarnation" of the Church of England or the Anglican church. Most people aren't aware that there are actually several American denominations that fall under what is referred to as the Anglican Communion. I have a friend who is a priest in the International Communion of Charismatic Episcopal Churches, which is one of the more conservative groups within the Anglican Communion, although not as large as the Episcopal Church.

The problem Rowan Williams, the current leader of the Anglican Communion, faces is that many of the conservative branches of the overall group are very much opposed to the Liberal turn the American Episcopal church has taken, and to make matters worse, any "solution" requires them to seek "compromise" with, Katharine Jefferts Schori, the woman elected as the head of the American Episcopal Church, who advocates ordaining active homosexuals as priests and bishops. The conservative churches see Schori herself as a reprobate, unfit to represent the American Episcopals.

It is revealing to see the language the London Telegraph has chosen to use in describing the various sides.

From the London Telegraph...

Anglican officials are hoping that divisions between hardliners and moderates will surface within this group over the next two days, allowing Dr Williams to appeal to the middle ground. "Much will depend on whose voices dominate the Global South caucus," said one.

Ideological battles can often be won by whichever side is allow to define the terms. The London Telegraph is showing which side they are rooting for my calling the Conservatives "hardliners" and the Liberals, "moderates".  That ignores the stubborn...hard line...Liberals have taken in insisting on rewriting scripture to suit their convenience, and also ignoring that the extreme Liberal position of the American Episcopal church is hardly moderate.

What I find most incredulous about the story is the complete absence of any reference to the problem of Schori, a woman, elected to an office scripturally reserved for men only (1st Timothy 3:2)

Other stories...
More Episcopal congregations flee Liberalized denomination
First of many expected congregations to leave Episcopal Church
"Church" of England endorses infanticide
Liberals find sauce for the goose, rather untasty
More from the Episcopal pseudo-church
Episcopalians and Presbyterians abandon any semblance to real Christianity
Anglican split: Sheep among wolves
Liberals v. Extreme Liberals in fight over pseudo church

London Sunday Times

An experiment that hints we are wrong on climate change

When politicians and journalists declare that the science of global warming is settled, they show a regrettable ignorance about how science works. We were treated to another dose of it recently when the experts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued the Summary for Policymakers that puts the political spin on an unfinished scientific dossier on climate change due for publication in a few months’ time. They declared that most of the rise in temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to man-made greenhouse gases.

The small print explains “very likely” as meaning that the experts who made the judgment felt 90% sure about it. Older readers may recall a press conference at Harwell in 1958 when Sir John Cockcroft, Britain’s top nuclear physicist, said he was 90% certain that his lads had achieved controlled nuclear fusion. It turned out that he was wrong. More positively, a 10% uncertainty in any theory is a wide open breach for any latterday Galileo or Einstein to storm through with a better idea. That is how science really works.

Twenty years ago, climate research became politicised in favour of one particular hypothesis, which redefined the subject as the study of the effect of greenhouse gases. As a result, the rebellious spirits essential for innovative and trustworthy science are greeted with impediments to their research careers. And while the media usually find mavericks at least entertaining, in this case they often imagine that anyone who doubts the hypothesis of man-made global warming must be in the pay of the oil companies.

---

The Washington Times

Global-warming skeptics cite being 'treated like a pariah'

Scientists skeptical of climate-change theories say they are increasingly coming under attack -- treatment that may make other analysts less likely to present contrarian views about global warming.

"In general, if you do not agree with the consensus that we are headed toward disaster, you are treated like a pariah," said William O'Keefe, chief executive officer of the Marshall Institute, which assesses scientific issues that shape public policy.

"It's ironic that a field based on challenging unproven theories attacks skeptics in a very unhealthy way."

WorldNetDaily

Congressmen vow to investigate 'Tiller the Killer'

Members of Congress have promised to look into concerns expressed by the leaders of several pro-life organizations outraged by a decision by a prosecutor in Kansas to dismiss criminal charges filed by the state attorney general against an abortionist.

 Actually it sounds more like a polite brush-off to me. While the story is 28 paragraphs long, what I quoted is the bulk (and pretty much the essence) of the information on the Congressmen. Politics are dirty, and it gets no dirtier than what filthy-rich abortionists are willing to do to continue to make money murdering children.

---

Drug smuggler left cell phone in van

The Department of Homeland Security's report on the case of imprisoned Border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean notes the drug smuggler they pursued left behind his cell phone, but there appears to be no evidence investigators made any attempt to identify him.

I'm glad WND is hammering away at this story. Every day more dirt leaks out about how the government handled this case. Eventually something will emerge to explain why investigators and prosecutors violated the law to  falsely imprison two border guards while protecting a known drugs smuggler and illegal alien.

---

Focus on the Family 'anti-gay' ad rejected

Officials ... said Clear Channel Outdoor refused – without giving a reason – to sell Focus on the Family advertising space on its billboards, and lawyers for the Colorado Springs-based family advocacy group now are requesting an explanation from Clear Channel CEO Mark May.

"While we certainly understand that many are not tolerant of our message of hope, we are shocked that Clear Channel would refuse our billboards. This is not the first time this company has decided to censor 'Love Won Out' – and we are determined that our message will not be stifled," [Melissa] Fryrear [who directs the Focus on the Family gender issues department and is a speaker at the "Love Won Out" conference] said.

Of course censorship is the only way those on the left can counter a reasonable argument.

San Fancisco Chronicle

Defense claims bias in Russert reaction

Russert earlier testified that, contrary to what Libby had told a federal grand jury, he did not tell Libby about CIA operative Valerie Wilson...

Defense lawyer Theodore Wells showed the jury a videotape of an interview that Russert gave to radio talk show host Don Imus on the morning that Libby was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington in October 2005....

Wells said the tape suggested that Russert was jubilant at the thought that Libby might be indicted, reflecting a bias he held against Libby for entangling him in the leak case.

Russert responded, under questioning, that he did not recall the appearance...

Hang on here. The whole point of Russert testifying is that Libby says Russert told him something and Russert said he didn't. Meanwhile they play Russert a tape of an interview and Russert can't remember the interview?!? Are you following this? If Russert can't remember doing an interview with Imus, why would his claim that he never told Libby about Plame have any credibility? Wouldn't an interview with Imus be a bit more memorable than tossing a causal comment about what was common knowledge (Plame's CIA status) to Libby?

USA Today

New York county nearing 100 inches of snow

New York's governor declared a disaster in Oswego County, where five straight days of lake-effect squalls have dumped nearly 100 inches of snow, and even more snow was forecast through the weekend.

---

San Francisco Chronicle

Speaker, Republicans clash in global warming hearing GOP member insists Pelosi take questions about her plans

...Republicans made clear to Pelosi that they will try to block her effort to steamroller a bill through Congress, which they warn could raise energy costs and harm the U.S. economy.

"We can't figure out how to write a cap-and-trade bill that does not cause an immediate spike in natural gas prices," said Ralph Hall of Texas, the ranking Republican on the committee, referring to limits on greenhouse gas emissions. "Factories won't compete with utilities to buy gas. Rather, they will move to India and China, where there are no pollution controls, inevitably worsening global emissions."

---

Jewish World Review

Global Warming Turns People Gay

Global warming alarmists — despite their best efforts — seem incapable of convincing the Bush administration. So here's my suggestion. Make the scientists tell the president that global warming turns people gay.

The idea came to me after seeing a Super Bowl Snickers commercial, and learning of the "controversy" that followed it. In the ad, two guys chewing on either end of the candy bar inadvertently touch lips. Shocked, they decide to do something "manly" and demonstrate their heterosexuality. How? They pull down their shirts and rip off their chest hairs. A pro-gay-rights group called the ad homophobic and demanded the Snickers people stop showing it. Clearly America runs rampant with gay-haters.