Quote of the Day
People will accept your ideas much more readilyif you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first.
David H. Comins
Image of the Day
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| Via LFC: Why the Economy Has Remained Weak |
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| Via IPI From our last GREAT President: YES, saving the people from oppressive government and debt is SPOT ON! |
I didn't officially endorse Chris McDaniel, the conservative challenger to incumbent Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS),but it was clear from context--I have repeatedly disparaged career politicians and Cochran's "bring home the bacon to Mississippi" closing campaign was particularly nauseating. McDaniel beat Cochran in the primary but barely missed the majority needed to avoid a runoff. I think there was some attempt by the Cochran campaign to recruit crossover Mississippi blacks in an attempt to fearmonger over Tea Party backing of McDaniel. I think RCP had polled a 6-point advantage for the challenger heading into today's runoff, but apparently Cochran edged out McDaniel by a point to win renomination.
I also stayed quiet over the race to succeed Cantor as House Majority Leader after his stunning primarily loss; I like Congressman Labrador, but I wasn't surprised to see McCarthy, the whip and odds-on favorite, win the post. However, Scalise, a Southern conservative, did succeed McCarthy as whip, which is a nice consolation prize for Tea Party conservatives.
On a more positive note, we may finally have the poster boy of corporate welfare, the Export-Import Bank, on the ropes. Boehner notably stepped away from endorsing renewal as he has done in the past; House Financial Services Committee chair Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) opposes the bank, and new Majority Leader McCarthy surprised me favorably by coming out in favor of letting the bank's charter expire at the end of the fiscal year.
Chart of the Day
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| Via Cato Institute |
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| HT Jeff Widener of the Associated Press. |
Tiananmen 25th Anniversary Memorial Service from All Girls Allowed on Vimeo.
Out of Touch
“But they don’t see me as part of the problem,” she told the [Guardian, “because we pay ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of people who are truly well off, not to name names; and we’ve done it through dint of hard work.” Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, have earned well over $100 million giving paid speeches and writing books since leaving the White House in 2001. Hey, you think it’s easy traveling around and giving all those $200,000 speeches?Do you think it's easy finding gullible people thinking anything the Zipper clan has to say is worth $200K for an evening? Heck, for that amount of money, you get Barry for half a year, and he throws in 400 speeches for "free". She works hard for the money, so hard for it, honey... I bet it pays better than picking watermelons all day, doesn't it, Zipper?
According to the Hill: President Clinton: 'Dead broke' comments were 'factually true'
Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday defended his wife Hillary Clinton's recent comments on wealth, saying she is “not out of touch." “It is factually true that we were several million dollars in debt,” Clinton said, as Hillary Clinton and his daughter Chelsea looked on. The former president argued that the reporters asking his wife the questions “should put this in some sort of context.”
Time For Sentencing Reform
Follow-Up Odds and Ends
- Miriam Ibrahim, recently released from convictions for adultery/apostasy in Sudan and sentenced to flogging and hanging (she is a Christian whose father was Muslim; Sudan considered her Muslim by birth and does not recognize marriages to Christians under Sharia law) was rearrested for unspecified reasons as she attempted to fly out of Sudan with her family.
- Important Update: I have updated my June 16 post on the Victoria Wilcher story. Familiar readers may remember the widely reported story out of the Jackson, MS area about how a 3-year-old girl, who was earlier tragically assaulted by her grandfather's three pit bulls, losing her right eye, experiencing paralysis on the right side of her face and suffering facial bone injuries and scars, was being driven home from a medical appointment by her grandmother; the grandmother allegedly decided to stop by a KFC outlet on the way home to buy some mashed potatoes with gravy and iced tea. A KFC store employee reportedly approached them in the restaurant, said that Victoria's appearance was disturbing to other customers and asked them to leave
Overnight there has been a leak of an investigation of the purported incident done for KFC. Serious questions have been raised; the initial outlet specified was no longer in business; videotapes at another outlet showed no evidence of the two, and a review of store transactions do not show the alleged transactions. The family member running the page claims that she got some details wrong in her post. There are other issues, e.g, involving the timing of the girl's feeding tube removal; I'm also confused why the initial post on the website in mid-June referred to a week-old incident but the investigation focused on mid-May.
Was it a hoax/scam? I will point out that the family did not approach KFC and ask for money; KFC around the time the story went viral made an unconditional $30K gift towards Victoria's medical bills. The subsequent FB entry was written earlier today. Since then I had frequented the webpage which came down in the interim; the relative was getting flamed from a number of sources; some people who made donations were demanding their money back (note: the girl's medical condition and expenses are very real). I was hoping to see a more substantive response from the family's pro-bono lawyer. What I've seen suggests that the attorney has stated that the investigation isn't over, and the grandmother is adamant that the incident happened. I don't think the family ever expected that initial post about the incident would go viral as it did. At present, I'm keeping an open mind, thinking/hoping that there was some confusion about details; it's very easy to see how some insensitive people can do or say the wrong thing in dealing with people whom look differently than others--you name it: height, size, looks, etc., and how an indignant grandmother might respond to her grandchild being treated badly. I'm also confused, given the massive coverage, why the media hadn't reported discrepancies earlier. At the present time, I am skeptical of the grandmother's claims but retain an open mind. One thing, though: little Victoria is responsible for none of this; kudos to the surgeon whom has offered to treat the sweetie free of charge and to the source offering a prosthetic right eye replacement.
Here is what I posted on the issue to one of my Facebook contacts:This is what's posted by the webpage: "I promise its not a hoax, I never thought any of this would blow up the way it has. The article circling the web calling this a hoax is untrue. The article it self say the investigation is not complete. It is not over until KFC releases a statement. The media outlet running this story is not connected with KFC. The family has not asked for anything, a attorney is handling all the media publicity for the family pro bono. Please do not believe untrue media. I have personally watched this family go without to provide for Victoria. They have not and would not do anything to hurt Victoria in any way."
I would withhold judgment; it could be simply the wrong KFC outlet was identified or the day or some other incidental fact. I remember back in Houston I was sitting at a T intersection into Westheimer (a major street); another car was sitting in/blocking the inbound lane. Long story short, as traffic cleared, without looking, he cut into my lane and speared my left fender. When I filed the police report, I was focusing more on the fact he was sitting in a lane to the left of me and not that it was an inbound lane. So I described the street as having more lanes than it did--had nothing to do with the fact of the accident. The corrupt insurance company noticed the discrepancy of the street description and used it to deny the claim (I eventually got the claim paid, but it involved my tricking the other driver into admitting in writing he ran into me.)
Of course, fast food hoaxes happen all the time going after restaurants they think have big pockets. However, I don't think the grandmother made up a story and spoke to the media; she had nothing to gain. They didn't go to KFC and ask for anything before going to the media. I think some good questions about details have been raised. I will say if I had been the grandmother, I would have kept my store receipt...Facebook Corner
(Bastiat Institute). "On June 16, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that a law-abiding citizen cannot buy a gun for another law-abiding citizen." Who here will continue buying presents for their friends and family, continue selling their spare goods at yard sales, and continue being free no matter what a bunch of totalitarian jerks in black robes tell them?
The idea that 5 black-robed idiots can tell me what I can do with my property is an abomination and a direct assault on our unalienable rights.
(LFC). Same topic.
This is a very small gray area. We have the right to bear arms, but that right can be removed through due process of law. That is why we have background checks in the first place.
I am in favor of allowing these sales/trades to proceed, but holding anyone accountable if that person has had their rights removed (just as a gun dealer would be if he ignored a negative background check). The corollary to that would be *free and accessible* background checks to all, not just gun dealers.
This begs the question of the background check in the first place. No, the idea that mobocracy can define away our constitutional rights to the point our liberty is, at best, nominal in nature is fundamentally unacceptable.
(Drudge Report). BORDER MESS: 'HOMELAND' UNDERWEAR CRISES URGENTLY NEED 42,000 PAIRS!
These are children and for the moment guests in our country. The preponderance of responses to this story are SHAMEFUL, grossly insensitive. The character of our nation will be reflected in the quality of our response to this humanitarian problem.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Gary Varvel and Townhall |
Dan Fogelberg, "Longer"
