Beauty queens must not voice conservative opinions



We read:

"Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton was crowned Miss USA on Sunday, but the big story to come out of the normally politics-free telecast was Miss California's comments regarding gay marriage. When asked by judge Perez Hilton, an openly gay gossip blogger, whether she believed in gay marriage, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, said "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

Keith Lewis, who runs the Miss California competition, tells FOXNews.com that he was "saddened" by Prejean's statement. "As co-director of the Miss California USA, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss California believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman," said Lewis in a statement. "I believe all religions should be able to ordain what unions they see fit. I do not believe our government should be able to discriminate against anyone and religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family."

Source

A follow-up report:

"Miss California is not backing down from the answer regarding gay marriage she gave on Sunday night's Miss USA telecast. Carrie Prejean told FOXNews.com that she had "no regrets" and was happy with the answer she gave when a Miss USA judge, the gossip blogger Perez Hilton, asked about her stance on same-sex marriage.....

Blogger Perez Hilton was also enraged, calling Prejean a "stuipd b***h" in a video tirade he aired on his blog.

But the backlash is having little affect on Prejean, 21, she says. "I wouldn't have had it any other way. I stated an opinion that was true to myself, and that's all I can do," she told Billy Bush, who hosted Miss USA, on his radio talk show on Monday.

"It did cost me my crown," Prejean continued. "It is a very touchy subject and [Hilton] is a homosexual, and I see where he was coming from and I see the audience would've wanted me to be more politically correct. But I was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs and your opinions for anything." "I feel like I won," she said. "I feel like I'm the winner. I really do."

Source

Her answer was very polite and given as her own view only but the Leftist media demand total submission to their agenda. But most of America will agree that she really is the winner.

Posted by John Ray.

AZ Governor: New Gun Laws Won't Secure Border

(Washington) In statements yesterday to a Congressional committee, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said that new gun laws won't solve border problems.

Brewer, testifying before a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, said a focus on new gun laws ignores the underlying problem: the failure of the federal government to secure the border. She said the problems of violence will go away once the government does its job.

The governor said the record to date has been that Washington has been unwilling to commit the necessary funds and personnel. She noted her own request for more National Guard soldiers along the border has been rebuffed.

"If we get the resources, if we get the support and the federal government does what they're supposed to be doing according to our Constitution, those problems will halt.''

And that, Brewer said, includes border violence.

"Stopping the flow of guns into Mexico won't stop Mexican cartels from obtaining guns elsewhere,'' she said. The governor said the evidence shows "other countries have large factories that are making guns.''

She repeated her opposition to new gun control laws after the hearing.

Once again, everything stems from inadequate border security and, according to Gov. Brewer, any discussion of gun control is simply a distraction.

UK Illegal Gets Prison for Terrorism Offenses

(Birmingham, England) In March 2008, a 27-year-old illegal alien, Pa Jobe, pleaded guilty in Birmingham Crown Court to crimes stemming from possessing an "arsenal" of information useful to a person committing an act of terrorism.

Pa Jobe admitted offences relating to recordings on his mobile phone of the exterior of West Midlands Police HQ, an Al-Qaeda manual and a third file entitled ‘How Can I Train Myself For Jihad’.

Interestingly, Jobe's lawyer Lawrence McNulty said that "Jobe had come to the UK hoping to earn enough money and obtain enough skills in order to return to the US from where he had been deported."

As an aside, it's not surprising that a deportee was planning his future illegal return to the U.S. In fact, one might assert that the whole U.S. deportation process is no more than an administrative and logistical speed bump foreign nationals encounter when trespassing on U.S. territory. Without border security, deportation is a wasted effort.

In ant event, Judge Melbourne Inman QC said he was convinced that Jobe, now 29, had become a radical Islamist and sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison. Of course, not mentioned in any of the reporting is what happens when Jobe gets out of prison. Most likely, Jobe will still be a radical Islamist.

Mississippi Woman Gets 18 Years Prison for Child Sex - Updated

(Madison County, Mississippi) Thirty-eight-year-old Tyshuna Cooper Ross was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in prison for child sex offenses.

* * * * *
Mississippi Woman Guilty in Child Sex Case - Updated
[Previous 12/16/08 post]
(Madison County, Mississippi) Thirty-eight-year-old Tyshuna Cooper Ross, has been convicted by a jury. She was found guilty at trial of sexual battery and gratification of lust stemming from a relationship with a 12-year-old boy.

Additional details of her crimes have also been reported.

On July 3, 2007, Ross called boys, ages 12 to 14, and told them she had been locked out of her house and asked them to meet her in her carport.

When the boys arrived, Ross was drinking alcohol, according to Guest. Ross offered the boys vodka and they accepted. They later went into the woods and continued to drink, and she and the 12-year-old began to kiss.

The following day, Ross again contacted the victim on his cell phone and told him she did not have a place to stay for the night.

The boy helped Ross sneak into his bedroom, where they engaged in sexual intercourse. Later that night, the mother of the victim walked into the boy's bedroom to find Ross in bed with her son.

The boy, who had a relationship with Ross' daughter, later told officers that Ross previously had provided him with alcohol and that she had seduced him and they had intercourse.

Ross admitted to providing alcohol to the victim and to sneaking into his room, but she denied having sex with him.

Sentencing has been scheduled for February 2nd when Cooper Ross faces possible life in prison.


* * * * *
Woman Jailed for Rape of Boy
[Previous 7/20/07 post]
(Brandon, Mississippi) A 37-year-old woman, Tyshuna Cooper Ross, was arrested this week for allegedly providing alcohol to two boys, ages 12 and 14, and raping one of them. Ross has been charged with one count of statutory rape and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Ross was booked into the Madison County Jail with bond set at $201,000.

Florida Woman Arrested for Sex with Male Teen

(Brooksville, Florida) A 32-year-old local woman, Vikki Suiters, has been arrested for allegedly engaging in a months-long sexual relationship with a 17-year-old boy. The victim's mother alerted the authorities on April 8.

The woman went to the sheriff's office the next day to make a recorded phone call to the suspect, Vikki Suiters, of 9521 Shaver Road.

During that phone call, Suiters reportedly admitted that she started having feelings for the boy in December 2008. She told the friend that she waited until he turned 17 before initiating a relationship in March, according to a report.

Suiters faces a charge of sexual activity with a minor.

Danny Ainge Heart Attack

(Boston, Massachusetts) Two days ago, Celtics' president Danny Ainge suffered a minor heart attack and was hospitalized. Arterial surgery was performed and he was sent home, reportedly, late yesterday.

Get well soon, Danny.

Interestingly, Ainge has been advised by his doctors not to watch his Boston Celtics team during the playoffs. Apparently, they fear the Celtics' performance would create too much stress.

Heh.

Cleric Demands "Abolish Conventional Justice"

(Islamabad, Pakistan) Say goodbye, the secular court system in Pakistan looks to be going away.

Pakistani pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad demanded the government abolish conventional justice in the northwestern Malakand area by April 23, replacing it with Islamic courts, or face a new round of protests.

“All the courts including the Supreme Court are not Islamic,” Rizwanullah Farooq, Muhammad’s son, said by telephone today, speaking on behalf of his father. “We don’t want these judges and we do not recognize them as they are preachers of unholy laws.”

I guess when one has a special kind of justice, conventional justice is simply unacceptable.

Editorial: Guns Are "Too Dangerous"

(Huntsville, Alabama) According to an opinion piece in the Huntsville Times, guns are "too dangerous" and they should only be owned by members of law enforcement and for self-defense within a person's household. Apparently, the writer of the piece, Marilyn Vaughn, believes that guns are responsible for murders and suicides in America, not people.

Marilyn Vaughn will likely be happy to know that her viewpoint is strongly supported by legislators in the United Kingdom who outlawed all private gun ownership and confiscated virtually every firearm held by Brits. Interestingly, the desired result was achieved. Decreased gun-related violence was recorded.

Unfortunately, there were unintended consequences. Without guns, those Brits with murder and suicide on their minds resorted to knives. Knife crime skyrocketed. In fact, the level of knife-related violent crime is one of the most significant societal problems in the UK, arguably more so than the level of crime that existed prior to the confiscation of firearms from the British public.

To counter the menace of knife crime, the nanny-state Brits have instituted a national knife control policy. Restrictions have been placed on who can own knives and who can buy knives but the philosophy of control through confiscation has been blocked by the fact that knives are used in kitchens. The British government has not yet proposed a kitchen knife security program but one must assume it's being considered.

Frankly, I believe that the elimination of guns actually increases the level of violent crime. Criminals are emboldened by knowing that their intended victims have no self-defense. Those who possess only marginal criminal inclinations will be more likely to act with the knowledge that they won't be killed.

In any event, I suggest that Marilyn Vaughn's thinking is flawed. Guns are not "too dangerous" any more than a knife and an ice pick and a baseball bat are too dangerous. However, outrage at the periodic slaughters perpetrated by the unstable is understandable. Elimination of guns or further control of guns, though, won't decrease the number of loonies in society. Those inclined to commit heinous acts will continue to be so inclined. Without guns, they'll do things differently.

21 Polo Ponies Die in Florida, Poison Suspected

(Wellington, Florida) Twenty-one polo ponies from Venezuela, arriving in Florida for the U.S. Open Polo Championship, have died from an unknown fatal illness. The horses collapsed as they were being unloaded from trailers. Authorities are awaiting test results.

A veterinarian who was at the scene said the tests will need to determine the trigger for what he believed was heart failure among the horses.

"Well clearly, it's an intoxication, clearly there's some sort of a poison," Dr. James Belden told NBC.

Belden said it remains to be seen "whether it's something in the environment or something that the horses were exposed to." He said the routine in the horses' stable ahead of the match was absolutely normal.

The horse carcasses will undergo necropsies by the Florida Agriculture Department.


[Update 4/23/09]

A report today says that a veterinarian ordered a prepared medication for the horses which is believed to have poisoned them. The medication is similar to Biodyl, a "French-made supplement that includes vitamins and minerals and is not approved for use in the United States." Horses treated with the compound died within three hours of receiving it.

The FDA is investigating the possibility that laws were broken.

Another nasty one for poor silly old Tom Yulsman

Tom Yulsman of CEJournal is one of the many purveyors of the recent "Antarctic crackup" story but he portrays himself as a reasonable commentator on climate change, open to all points of view. Therefore, on 18th., I challenged him to put up on his blog the latest report showing that the Antarctic is not melting overall at all. He put up an aggrieved reply on my blog post but has still NOT mentioned the latest report on his blog. He has exposed himself as a fraud.

I am too bored with the "Antarctic ice breaking up" story to post any more on it but if Tom wants to suffer a real crisis of faith, he should read this post. It shows -- complete with screen grabs -- that the Greenies trot out the same old false "crackup" story year after year.


Posted by John Ray.

Liberal closed-mindedness

A comment from a student majoring in journalism at Whitworth University, Spokane, WA, a Presbyterian liberal-arts college

"I hate being political. I hate the separation it causes between people of different ideologies. I hate the blind despising it causes towards those of a different political party than your own.

For four years at Whitworth I have remained apolitical for the sake of peacekeeping, my own sanity and conflict avoidance. I’ve sat amongst friends while they called members of my own ideology retarded, racist, Nazi, uneducated, uninformed, morally inferior, anti-feminist, elitist and many other less than pleasant names.

Since I am from Alaska, almost everyone I know pestered me about Sarah Palin and Ted Stevens during last year's elections. They would ask me where I'm from in Alaska, in the hopes that my answer would be Wasilla and that I would join them in the glee of bashing her. They would start a long-winded speech about how Palin loves shooting wolves from airplanes for sport, how she's ignorant because people claimed she said she could see Russia from her house and how Stevens is an ancient, corrupt politician who deserves to be hung out to dry.

After a while I just stopped responding to their questions. I stopped answering, not because I didn't have answers to their claims, but because they wouldn't ask me about Palin or Stevens for my insight or opinion. They asked me simply as a precursor to judging and bashing these people and issues.

The intolerance for any viewpoint other than their own was so impassioned that it was hard at times to be cordial while spending time with them. They were my friends, though, my closest friends. They spent hours loathing the intolerance of some fundamentalists, never stopping to think that being intolerant of those who are intolerant is still intolerance.

I am conservative. I am educated, I am not racist, I am not anti-feminist, nor am I any of the other things they claim that members of my ideology, and thus myself, are. The characterization of conservatives as mindless drones does nothing for this country except keep genuine debate from occurring between opposing views.

Source

Below is the concluding sentence of Whitworth's "mission" statement:

"Through its history, Whitworth has held fast to its founding mission to provide an education of mind and heart through rigorous and open intellectual inquiry guided by dedicated Christian scholars".

Whitworth is obviously a failure at its own mission. Is anyone there concerned about that? Unlikely.

I might send a link to this post to the President of Whitworth. Want to bet that his response is to start criticizing me rather than taking the beam out of his own eye? (Matthew 7:5). Nothing that he could say to his students would shift Leftist bigotry anyway so I suppose he might as well abuse me.

I myself was born and bred a Presbyterian and attended the recent Easter service at my local Presbyterian church but I can recognize nothing about Whitworth that sounds Presbyterian. The least they could do is drop the hypocrisy and erase all mention of their alleged Presbyterian connections.

Posted by John Ray.

The real story of Obama's decision making with the hostages off Somalia


AH, now it comes out: Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:

1. BHO wouldn't authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.
2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in "imminent" danger
3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction
4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.
5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams
6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies
7. BHO immediately claims credit for his "daring and decisive" behaviour. As usual with him, it's BS.

Read the following accurate account.

Philips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Philips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none was taken.

The guidance from National Command Authority — the president of the United States, Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostage’s life was in clear, extreme danger.

The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance from Washington and a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene-commander decided he’d had enough.

Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK47 one captor had leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.

There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage.

Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and [1] declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.

Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort. What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four day and counting standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

SOURCE

Posted by John Ray.

No Tea Party in Boston?

Mark Steyn comments on the Boston Globe editorial decision to not cover last week's Tea Party in Boston.

The original Boston Tea Party was so-called because it took place at Boston Harbor, which I gather is a harbor somewhere in the general vicinity of the Greater Boston area.

So there would appear to be what I believe the journalism professors call a “local angle” to Wednesday’s re-enactment.

Might be useful for a publication losing a million bucks a week and threatened with closure by a parent company that in one of the worst media acquisitions of all time paid over a billion dollars for a property that barely a decade later is all but worthless.

Heh. Well said.

Susan Boyle - Cry Me A River

Susan Boyle is a big hit. Reportedly, her video from Britain's Got Talent has been viewed 30 million times. Here is a tune she recorded previously - Cry Me a River.


Source

California Woman Arrested for Sex with Boy

(Millbrae, California) A 30-year-old local woman, Karen Swedberg, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in an ongoing sexual relationeship with a 15-year-old boy from Vacaville.

An investigation began after both the Millbrae and Vacaville Police received anonymous tips.

Swedberg was taken into custody without incident and detectives determined Swedberg was aware of the boy's age, reports said.

Swedberg was booked into custody at the Solano County Jail. No information reported regarding bail.

Teacher Takes Cheerleaders to Gay Bar

(Butler County, Ohio) A 37-year-old marketing teacher and cheerleading coach at Butler Tech, Lori Epperson, resigned her position Thursday after being investigated for taking four Edgewood High School cheerleaders to a gay male strip club in Dayton.

Butler Tech spokesman, Bill Solazzo, said the female students were all 17 or 18 years old.

According to Solazzo, the girls -- all cheerleaders at Edgewood High School -- had approached the teacher about the strip club idea.

The girls were students in Epperson's marketing class offered in the Edgewood schools through the Butler Tech program. Epperson also previously served as a coach for the district's eighth-grade cheerleaders.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the idea of taking high school kids to a bar, any bar, is exceedingly dumb. Taking them to a strip joint, to boot, is even dumber. I suggest that Epperson was trying to be friends with her students instead of providing adult supervision.

In an April 10 letter, Epperson apologized for taking the girls to the strip joint and explained what happened. She had assured the girls' parents that there would be no drinking and, consequently, obtained their permission.

Once there, she wrote, the girls' hands were stamped marking them as underage. However, the girls went upstairs where they were able to get drinks.

"After about 15 minutes, I went to look for them. They had found someone that was a brother of someone they knew. He bought them shots and cosmopolitans - a very strong drink. I told them we're leaving because they disobeyed me by drinking," she recounted.

One of the girls was "found in the bathroom throwing up" and had to be carried by Epperson to the car. She wrote that she "drove them home, lecturing the whole way."

Butler Tech school administrators will decide on Epperson's status April 21. It's not known whether the cheerleaders will be disciplined.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

California Social Worker, 33, and Boy, 14

(Merced, California) A 33-year-old social worker at a juvenile facility, Maricruz Torrez, was arrested yesterday for allegedly engaging in sex with 14-year-old boy she was supervising.

Authorities were alerted after the relationship between Torrez and the boy became common knowledge.

Investigators believe the sexual relationship started three months ago, he said.

They're also looking into whether she asked him to run away from the facility with the promise that she'd pick him up from a pre-arranged place, MacKenzie said.

Torrez was booked into custody at the Merced County Jail with bail set at $300,000.

Here we go again: Disagreeing with Obama is "racist"


We read:

"Liberal actress and political activist Janeane Garofalo, in all seriousness, said activists who attended tea parties are racists with dysfunctional brains in a recent prime-time television appearance. "Let's be very honest about what this is about. This is not about bashing Democrats. It's not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea party was about. They don't know their history at all.

It's about hating a black man in the White House," she said on MSNBC's "The Countdown" with Keith Olbermann Thursday evening. "This is racism straight up and is nothing but a bunch of teabagging rednecks. There is no way around that." Olbermann did not once try to challenge her on those assertions.

Source

Posted by John Ray.

Virtual Clinic Provides Online Health Care

Soon coming, presumably, to a neighborhood near you will be the virtual clinic, a kind of Internet cafe for people with boo-boos.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will launch a pilot project in which its 10,000 employees can use a "virtual clinic" to receive a live, 10-minute physician consultation for a flat fee. [...]

Once a doctor and patient have connected, they can communicate via webcam and instant messages.

Roy Schoenberg, who developed the virtual clinic software, said that physicians will have access to patients' electronic health records and that each virtual clinic visit will be added to a patient's EHR.

BCBS is hoping that the "virtual clinic" will play a significant role in transforming health care by making health care more convenient and cost-effective.

A somewhat similar tele-medicine system was launched in the state of Maine a few years ago which included diagnosing and treating patients with psychiatric problems . The intent there was to provide some level of health care to low-density population areas in the remote parts of the state. I haven't seen any reports on the effectiveness of the program in Maine.

Plans are for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield effort in Minnesota to be expanded to the general public.

In any event, I'm far from convinced that doctors can adequately examine patients on the Internet. In addition, I'll probably never feel comfortable about putting patient medical records on the Internet.

Companion post at SocGlory.

Problems With Glock 22, .40-Caliber

(Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Chief Flynn of the Milwaukee Police Department has issued a memo to the entire police force regarding a serious problem with the guns the officers carry.

The problem surfaced last year but the department didn't initiate timely corrective action. However, due to a shootout last weekend during which an officer was injured when his gun jammed, immediate measures are now being implemented.

"We had experienced a number of issues on the range with our issued Glock model 22, .40 caliber duty pistol magazines, which represents 45 percent of our issued weapons," said Flynn in the memo.

The chief became aware of the problem in January 2008. Since then, "Glock has replaced 2,700 pistol magazines at no cost to the Milwaukee Police Department," said Flynn in the memo.

The memo also said that the department addressed the issue with officers during a 2008 in-service firearms training session.

But, according to the memo, 300 weapons have been transitioned while 600 remain.

The department will work overtime until all weapons have been upgraded.