The ‘Top 5’ Most Loved and Hated States
Least liked: California.
Most liked: Hawaii // South Dakota ranked 4th most liked. Not bad at all.
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Food for thought:
Received from an e-mail correspondent:
Subject: Irony
The food stamp program, part of the Department of Agriculture, is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever.
Meanwhile, the Park Service, also part of the Department of Agriculture, asks us to “please do not feed the animals” because the animals may grow dependent and not learn to take care of themselves.
This is just too obvious!
Permits? What permits?
New bill takes shot at removing concealed weapon permit requirement
Unlike the first version bill (HB 1015), the current version (HB 1248) looks like a winner so far.
I like it! Of course permits will still be de rigueur for travel out of state (in states that grant reciprocity to SD).
What’s in a name from the Navy Secretary? Abused Naval Tradition
Navy ship-naming by Secretary mired in controversy
The USS Medgar Evers? The USS John Murtha? The USS Cesar Chavez?
The SECNAV has been turning new naval construction into a series of unpaid political advertisement…what is known in the ad world as “product placement” on a previously unimaginable scale.
Our Navy Secretary, Ray Mabus, has this diversity thing down cold. Each one of those ships was in a class that previous names of their sister ships had nothing to do with civil rights, or corrupt Democratic politicians. Ships are usually named after states, cities, even famous explorers and war heroes.
But Mabus has injected partisanship into this tradition, naming another ship for Democrat Gabriel Giffords, who has shown courage in her recovery from an assassination attempt but had expressed little interest in the military during her career on Capitol Hill.
As a retired Navy Chief, this form of political spoils is disrespectful of the traditions of the service that the Secretary is supposed to at least support and respect. Unfortunately, it’s just par for the course for the most blatantly anti-military administration in the history of the republic.
At least the blowback from this has apparently attracted even Mabus’ attention:
Naming of Navy ships returns to tradition
Recent choices drew criticism
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, under fire from Congress and veterans for naming ships after fellow Democrats and social activists, plans to announce another round of ship names in the near future that will be more traditional, a Pentagon official tells The Washington Times.
The official said Mr. Mabus has chosen names for five surface ships – three for war heroes and two for locations. Ships typically are named after states and cities.
“I think they would be more consistent with what most people would say traditions and naming conventions are,†the official said.
Of course, according to the SECNAV’s mouthpiece the objections to the prior politically biased naming had nothing to do with any change.
Asked whether this was a response to criticism, the official said: “It isn’t. I think if you look at these five additional ships, I think you’ll see examples that are very traditional.†The official said three ships would be named after highly decorated Navy or Marine Corps personnel.
Yeah, right!
Mr. Mabus, a former Mississippi governor, broke with Navy conventions in the past three years when he named an amphibious ship, two cargo ships and a littoral combat ship after two social activists and two fellow Democrats.
What really added insult to injury was the naming of the USS John Murtha…after the Murtha-f’er, without evidence, falsely accused Marines of murder in Iraq. (Charges were not substantiated in later proceedings.) What an insult to the Marines, and to the fleet. I pity the Sailors who will have to serve aboard ships with no Naval tradition or pride in their ship’s name.
Noted Harvard Lib Recognizes Modern Progressives’ Totalitarian Slant
Prof. Dershowitz calls Media Matters ‘Stalinist’
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, who was a key supporter of Obama in 2008, told WOR710 today that he could not vote for President Obama’s re-election unless the president cuts ties with the controversial anti-Israel group Media Matters. He also warned that Obama’s association with Media Matters – which was raised by the Daily Caller in an investigative series this week – will lose him support in the pro-Israel community:…
He went on to state unequivocally that he could not and would not ever vote for anyone associated with Media Matters (like Obama) who did not clearly and fully repudiate said organization and its running-mates.
Dr. Dershowitz must have gotten a really good cup of reality…but then, as a strong supporter of the existence of Israel, Samuel Johnson’s observation about the prospect of immanent hanging having a tremendous effect in focusing one’s mine. In any case, welcome him to the daylight!
More of that same old historical deja vu all over again
Someday it will go down as one of history’s most indelible ironies: the man who imposed birth control on Catholics was one without a valid birth certificate or any other kind of provable identity.
This is how future generations will read about how it all happened:
Read the article…the comparison is instructive.
Jesus wept!
Common Sense in 2012!
Sen. DeMint: “We don’t have shared goals with the Democratsâ€
Simple and to the point!
Here’s Sen. Jim DeMint talking with bloggers after opening CPAC. During his speech he said cautioned Republicans in Congress on compromising with Democrats.
“Compromise works well in this world when you have shared goals,†he said. “We don’t have shared goals with the Democrats.â€
“Elementary my dear Watson!”
LAPD Implements TV Show Technology?
LAPD Pioneers High-Tech Crime-Fighting ‘War Room’
The LAPD is fighting crime from a high-tech war room that gives it eyes all over the city. The surveillance hub is now a model for police forces around the world and KCAL9 got an exclusive tour inside from Chief Charlie Beck. “We are targets on our own soil,†says Beck. “We have to be ready. 
What began as a grass roots idea following the 9/11 terrorist attacks is now a state-of-the-art Real-time Analysis Critical Response center. It’s called the
Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU)RACR, and it’s located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.“This is a system that cuts through the red tape, that gets information to the people that need it,†says Chief Beck. He calls it “the brains of the department,
Twenty Fourtwenty-four/seven.â€Police in the activity center monitor live feeds of city and traffic cameras, counter-terrorism information, and real-time crime mapping, with cutting edge software
inspired by Fox Television’s “24”.
…er…disclosure: some of the above may not be exactly true…but fortunately the Chief was able to catch this material in the edit…although it was emotionally tough to red-line it! Oh well.
H/T to Jack Bauer.
PETA Wastes Court’s Time
Federal Judge Dismisses PETA Lawsuit Claiming SeaWorld Whales Are Slaves
An effort to free whales from SeaWorld by claiming they were enslaved made a splash in the news but flopped in court Wednesday….A federal judge in San Diego dismissed an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to grant constitutional protection against slavery to a group of orcas that perform at SeaWorld parks, saying the 13th amendment applies only to humans.
What? What sort of logic did he use that was apparently something that PETA was/is unable to comprehend.
“As ‘slavery’ and ‘involuntary servitude’ are uniquely human activities, as those terms have been historically and contemporaneously applied, there is simply no basis to construe the Thirteenth Amendment as applying to non-humans,†Miller wrote in his ruling.
A big “DUH!” for PETA.
Iran Promise: Apocalypse Now
Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel
Iran lays out legal case for genocidal attack against ‘cancerous tumor’
The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people.
The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide.
Just some spouting off of another cracked-pot Imam, right? Guess again:
The article, written by Alireza Forghani, a conservative analyst and a strategy specialist in [Grand Ayatollah] Khamenei’s camp, now is being run on most state-owned conservative sites, including the Revolutionary Guards’ Fars News Agency, showing that the regime endorses this doctrine….On Friday, in a major speech at prayers, Khamenei announced that Iran will support any nation or group that attacks the “cancerous tumor†of Israel. Though his statement was seen by some in the West as fluff, there is substance behind it.
Some “in the west” said that Mein Kampf was fluff too…until 1939. (By the way, in this context it’s worth noting that the literal, direct translation of the title of Adolf’s book is al Jihad and it’s a best seller in the Arab world these days…but I digress.)
The following is also of relevant interest:
The Iranian secret documentary “The Coming Is Upon Us†clearly indicates that these radicals believe the destruction of Israel will trigger the coming of the last Islamic Messiah and that even Jesus Christ, who will convert to Islam, will act as Mahdi’s deputy, praying to Allah as he stands behind the 12th Imam.
See the video:
Progressive Paradigm Proceeds
Noted from the Pierre Capital Journal:
Professionals meet to discuss environmental literacy
This virtually reeks of the long-standing progressive paradigm. Liberal/Progressives gotta love this approach. It sounds so…nice, who could possibly object?
A group of seven professionals – all holding positions that touch the environment in some way…
Foxes guarding the henhouse: all have a vested interest in the environmental bureaucratic industry.
…pondered ways to teach children about the natural world Wednesday at the South Dakota Discovery Center.
OK. This COULD be either a good or bad thing. The devil is in the details…some of the following details don’t give cause for optimism.
They attended a session that’s part of the Discovery Center’s effort to create an environmental literacy plan that can be used widely throughout the state. The center is tapping a grant by the Environmental Protection Agency to create resources for parents, superintendents, teachers and others in a position to teach children about the environment, said Anne Lewis the special projects director of the Discovery Center.
Hmmmm. EPA? By its record, not exactly a source of balanced information these days.
Marie Steckelberg, with Steckelberg Consulting, in Yankton, led the discussion by asking questions designed to elicit views about environmental education. Steckelberg said she’d taught science education at the University of South Dakota.
Let’s see. Ms. Steckelberg has an EdD – an Education Doctorate, and as noted in the article she taught science education…NOT the same thing as science. One other notable thing from her professional website is an expertise in grant writing…how to leap through the hoops of bureaucracy in order to gain access to the Federal cash spigot.
One of the participants, Paul Lepisto, is the regional conservation coordinator for the Izaak Walton League of America.
There are some good programs that the League promotes. There is also an orientation towards limiting and restricting access to needed resources, including energy resources. May be a wash overall, but based on this setting it seems like another progressive front, albeit a rather mild one compared to some other advocacy groups.
He said his goal was to draw a different kind of attention to nature. “(The more) we can do to get kids more in tune with the environment and natural resources and the love of spending time outdoors, the better,†he said.
Uh, anyone think about what the Boy Scouts do with this stuff? Ooops. Sorry. Not politically correct. My bad!
Lewis said a catalyst for an environmental literacy plan was a 2009 federal bill called “No Child Left Inside.†States with their own plans, she said, would be eligible to receive federal money if the legislation passed.
Ah yes…the prospect for a place at the Federal cash teat! If only that pesky Congress would realize the importance of this vital conditioning educational program and pass the bill…!
The legislation has languished, Lewis said,…
Oh, rats! (sarcasm alert!)
…but she noted the value for creating such plans nonetheless – and she said there were some other funding opportunities.
Yeah, maybe B.O. can figure out a way to call it stimulus, or something. If the Feds can cough up the cash, we’ll be waiting to do the job (and of course get a sweet pay package out of it all for planning and administrating this bit of progressive conditioning education.
A goal, she said, is “to help guide people in their sphere to develop environmental literacy skills.â€
Translation: We experts will educate all you yahoos out there, and only after we shove down your throats give you an appreciation for OUR view of “environmental literacy skills” will you too be fit to enter the participatory process.
By the way, searching the web tells one that the above-mentioned “No Child Left Behind” is presented in best left/lib/progressive terminolgy as “a movement”.