September 28, 2007

French Oil Giant TOTAL to Continue Operations in Burma

Total SA is one of the biggest foreign investors in Burma. Per Pravda, "A spokeswoman for Total told Dow Jones Newswires that Total had no intention of leaving because a "forced retreat" would open the way for competitors to take its place." (The French retreat from everything except the advance of democracy.)

Wiki: Although Total claims to maintain a "socially responsible investment" program, there has been recent controversy over its corporate involvement in Burma, despite recent European Union sanctions on new investment in the country due to its poor human rights record. Democratic activists have accused Total of propping up that country's brutal military junta...Total is currently involved in a joint venture with the military regime developing an offshore gas field in the Andaman Sea. The Burmese government in exile also criticises Total for allegedly funding rape, murder and genocide in Burma, as a result of hiring members of the military to guard their pipeline.

Total has been taken to court by six Burmese people who claimed they were used as forced labour in the preparation of Total's pipeline in Burma. Total paid the villages to drop the case in 2005. In 2005 a 14 year old girl was allegedly gang raped by sixteen members of the Burmese army employed by Total to guard their pipeline. Many activists feel Total has not taken adequate steps to bring those responsible to account.

Seawitch says: The courageous people of Burma are mostly employing peaceful tactics to gain their freedom from the military junta. They are being met with clubs, bullets, clubs, batons, tear gas and now the junta has taken away the most potent weapon the Burmese people have: the internet. She urges readers to contact the Chinese embassy.

MVRWC notes a new type of online protest:

How to participate:

1. Copy the following post to your blog, including this special number: 1081081081234

2. After a few days, you can search Google for the number 1081081081234 to find all blogs that are participating in this protest and petition.

Text below the fold: more...

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September 21, 2007

An Expert Weighs in on the Importance of Public Worship

Trivia question of the day: Who said this?:

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."
(Answer below the fold) more...

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September 19, 2007

Evan Maloney: What Are College Administrators Afraid Of?

Evan Coyne Maloney, film-maker extraordinaire, penned a good column for the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. He, of course, nails the crux of the problem quite eloquently:

Unfortunately, academia is not only becoming less open, but also more political. A recent study of campaign contributions found that academics put more money toward political candidates than the oil and gas industry, electric utilities, computer and Internet businesses, and pharmaceuticals. Considering how rapidly the cost of a college education is rising, I'm surprised that someone in Congress hasn't denounced higher education’s "obscene price increases" and "heartless gouging of the consumer."

What we do know is that the political donations of academics leans heavily toward one side of the ideological spectrum -- more than three-quarters of it goes to one political party. Perhaps not coincidentally, that political party tends to support higher taxes and more money for the academic industry. In other words, taxpayer money is paying the salaries of academics who use some of their salaries to fund politicians who support sending even more taxpayer money to those very academics. That's a nice setup.

Some might call it a culture of corruption. A culture of buying influence. An imbalance of perspective and opinion. A monopoly of thought.

Indoctrination factories. Interesting how the Democrats, always whining about "fairness," see no problems or conflicts of interest with the ongoing self-perpetuating and incestuous political and financial relationships between themselves and academia.

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September 09, 2007

Microsoft and Apple Pushing Hard to Pass Patent Overhaul Bill

It's a little bit outside of our regular subject matter, but those of you in tech businesses may be interested in knowing that the patent system we've had for 50 years may soon come to an end. Via Forbes:

Despite worries that lawmakers still don't have the depth of knowledge on this complex issue to understand its implications, the House of Representatives is expected to pass a controversial and complex bill on Friday that would set the stage for the broadest overhaul of the U.S. patent system in more than 50 years.

"We'd like to see more debate, more hearings, more negotiation," says Marc-Anthony Signorino, director of technology policy for the National Association of Manufacturers, one of the country's largest industry groups. "Even a brain surgeon needs to be trained for a while to understand how the brain works."

As expected, the patent overhaul passed the House and now moves to consideration by the Senate. This overhaul is happening largely thanks to heavy lobbying by Microsoft, Apple and Dell, which see light at the end of the patent tunnel:
"This issue has been considered in three different Congresses," says Steve Elmendorf, spokesman for the pro-reform coalition that counts Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) and Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) among its members. He notes that there have been numerous hearings and stakeholder meetings on the subject. Regarding lawmakers' grasp of the subject, he says, "That's a lot of what Congress does. They deal with complicated issues every day."
And that, folks, is the amazing thing about Congress. They often deal with complicated issues on fast-track time tables, and they sometimes get it partly right. Amazing...

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September 08, 2007

Video : Mitt Romney on Campaign Finance

Campaign finance limits are unpopular these days, and Mitt's all over the question with the currently-popular answer:

Of course, as with a lot of issues, Mitt was FOR IT before he was AGAINST IT. Back when campaign finance limits were popular, Mitt had this to say:

What is it with these Massachusetts guys?

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September 07, 2007

Video : Mary Katherine at the Texas Straw Poll

marykatherine.JPG

Mary Katherine plys the Fredbot for insider tips.

(click image to watch)

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September 06, 2007

Video : Ron Paul Circa 1988

A fiery Ron Paul on Morton Downey's show:

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August 28, 2007

Rasmussen on the GOP Race : How the Media Gets it Wrong

Rasmussen weighs in on the media hype vs. electoral reality:

Both Romney and Huckabee received a minor bounce in the polls for a few days [after the Iowa Straw Poll]. But, two weeks later, the national polls show that the Iowa event had virtually no impact. Romney remains mired in third place barely ahead of John McCain. Huckabee's support continues to be measured in the mid-single digits....

eporters have picked up on a story line that Fred Thompson's delay in entering the race has been a mistake. However, the polls show Thompson remains more of a threat to Giuliani's lead that Romney. His support is down a bit from its peak, but he's still showing a lot of potential.

Which brings us to our Fred Thompson Frank fact of the day:
Fred Thompson can know both the exact position and momentum of a particle. Furthermore, he knows Schroedinger's cat is dead because he personally strangled it.

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Michelle : Larry Craig = "Lying Crapweasel"

Michelle weighs in:

He’s not just a weasel.

He’s a lying crapweasel.

Should he resign? Well, yeah. If he cared about the dignity of his office, he would. But he obviously doesn’t, does he?

OK, I'm not sure "crapweasel" is really a word, but it sounds like an appropriate moniker for a good chunk of our national politicians on both sides of the aisle.

With 1,034 votes cast so far in Michelle's poll asking "Should Larry Craig resign?," the emphatic "Hell Yes" has garnered 56%, followed by "They're all crapweasels" at 21% and the simple yet timeless "Yes" at 20%.

The stalwart "11th Commandment" contingent weighs in at a small but respectable 3%. Bless their hearts...

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August 21, 2007

Rudy on the Right to Bear Arms

Sorry, folks, I just don't see the guy who said this getting the GOP nomination:

"My position for many years has been that just as a motorist must have a license, a gun owner should be required to have one as well. Anyone wanting to own a gun should have to pass a written exam that shows that they know how to use a gun, that they’re intelligent enough and responsible enough to handle a gun. Should both handgun and rifle owners be licensed...we’re talking about all dangerous weapons."
And no, it's not an anomaly: more...

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August 04, 2007

E-Voting Decertified in California

(Sacramento) Apparently, electronic voting machines have been challenged by experts and lost.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, bowing to fears of computer fraud, Friday decertified Los Angeles County's electronic voting system and sharply curtailed the use of two other machines that California counties had hoped to use to conduct the February 2008 presidential primary.

She said she would allow unlimited use of one system, Hart InterCivic, as long as security and auditing safeguards are implemented.

But in the case of two major companies -- Diebold Election Systems and Sequoia Voting Systems -- Bowen said she would allow just one machine per polling place, apparently to provide an accessible option for disabled voters.

A significant number of California counties have invested mucho dinero for their machines and now they won't be able to use them. I imagine they're pretty puckered. California's registrars will likely try to fight the decision.

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July 10, 2007

News Flash : Fred Thompson Has Made Up His Mind!

And the decision is...

[drum roll, please]...

...actually, how 'bout I just let Haystack tell you about it.

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July 04, 2007

Unknown Internet Filter Filtering Blogs

Attn: Robert Spencer: Yeah I had a similar reports of MPJ being blocked by one of the companies on your list. What I think this is, these companies all use the same internet filter provider. It works like a virus scanner. It goes and gets updates to categories and then blocks those. more...

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July 02, 2007

John McCain : Riding an Express Elevator to Electoral Hell

Being a "maverick" Republican and flipping off the conservative base over and over again is an effective way to get good press from the New York Times. It's surprisingly ineffective at endearing you to the conservative base:

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign, trailing top Republican rivals in money and polls, is undergoing a significant reorganization with staff cuts in every department, officials with knowledge of the shake-up said Monday.

Some 50 staffers or more are being let go, and senior aides will be subject to pay cuts as the Arizona senator's campaign bows to the reality of six months of subpar fundraising, these officials said.

Mark Steyn : Requiem for a Maverick?

Allah notes that McCain is just slightly ahead of Ron Paul in the odds. Ouch.

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June 29, 2007

Is the Conservative Grassroots Just a Paper Tiger?

Allah thinks so:

[Arlen Specter] is why I scoff at threats that we’re going to bounce those who voted for amnesty with primary challenges. If we had any power to get rid of incumbents, don’t you think we would have sent this tool packing decades ago?
I think Allah raises a decent point, but I also think an awful lot of folks in this country are just now waking up to how much the elite machinery protects its own. George W. Bush was able to give the Snarlin' Spectre a nice boost to fend off a primary challenge by Pat Toomey just a few years back. Any chance that Bush could swoop into Pennsylvania and give Spectre a big boost today? Not much.

It's not just Bush. The rank-and-file Republicans are a lot less likely today to trust the party leadership in general. I believe that collapse of trust is going to make a difference next year. How much of a difference remains to be seen.

If we can't pry the worst RINOs out in the primaries, then I may be more receptive to Ace's position on what to do about these guys in the general.

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June 27, 2007

Video : Fred Arrives in Nashville

The Tennessee FredHeads were on the scene in force and have the video.

UPDATE : They've posted more video from Fred's visit here, here and here.

The cute young girl at around 1:30 from the end is Courtney. Her blog is here.

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June 23, 2007

Chris Wallace Grills Rudy on Guns & Immigration

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June 11, 2007

Are You a FredHead?

Do you have recurring dreams of Fred Thompson taking the Presidential oath of office in January, 2009?

Are your three children (including both your daughters) named "Fred Dalton Thompson"?

Have you lobbied Congress to change the law so you can donate even more money to the Friends of Fred Thompson Exploratory Committee?

Do you stay up late at night thinking up ingenious (and mostly legal) new ways to support Fred Thompson?

If any of the above describes you, you are experiencing "Thompson Elative Compulsion Syndrome." By all accounts, this condition is highly contagious and spreading like a wildfire across the United States. Other known side effects are insomnia and an elevated heart rate.

Fortunately, there is no known cure, but there is now a support group.

We are the "FredHeads," a support group/political movement for all FredHeads everywhere.

As you've no doubt experienced, FredHeads are very big on talking about Fred Dalton Thompson. We love to talk about Fred.

That said, we think it's time for a little less talk and a little more action.

If you agree, just click here, and let's get moving:

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June 07, 2007

Charges Dropped in Police Dog Gurning Incident

A drunken woman makes faces at a police dog and gets arrested! Luckily, a prosecutor steps in and drops the charge:

CHELSEA, Vt. (AP) - A prosecutor has dropped charges against a woman who was arrested for staring at and making faces at a police dog.
"Prosecuting a woman for `staring' at a police dog is absurd," said her lawyer. "People are allowed to make faces at police dogs and officers to express their disapproval. It's constitutional expression," said public defender Kelly Green, who represented Jayna Hutchinson.
Disorderly conduct, public intoxication? Sure. Animal cruelty for allegedly upsetting a dog by making faces at it? C'mon.

Gurning, for those unfamiliar with the...sport.

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Pollster Frank Luntz on Fred Thompson

more...

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Poll: Thompson in 2nd Place Among Republicans

more...

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Fred and Hannity

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June 06, 2007

The "I'm With Fred" Sidebar Button

Get it here.

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Fred Thompson is Now Taking Contributions!!!

First, a message from Fred:

We’re entering a new phase of this process, and if I do take on this challenge, we’re not going to do things the same old way. The so-called ‘experts’ say we’re getting in too late. Well, I don’t buy it, and you don’t, either.

We’re going to plow some new ground and make a real difference for our nation.

Your support is going to help us bring to our fellow American the message of change and a call to return to the principles of our founding heritage. It’s critical that we address our nation’s challenges through the core ideals of self-governance, free markets, and the rule of law.

I believe there is a real sense across our country that we’re tired of the same old petty politics. Our fellow Americans want to see some real change. They want it in Washington, and they want it closer to home. They want a better future for themselves and for their families.

We can do it.

You can contribute through the FredHeadsUSA website (which means Ragnar gets a little credit for it) or directly through ImWithFred.com (which means he doesn't).

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Bill Kristol on George W.

Posted at The Daily Standard:

For President Bush, loyalty is apparently a one-way street; decency is something he's for as long as he doesn't have to take any risks in its behalf;and courage--well, that's nowhere to be seen. Many of us used to respect President Bush. Can one respect him still?
Ouch. Dean Barnett responds:
To answer Bill’s perhaps rhetorical exit question: Yes, but it seems to be getting tougher every day.

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