Primary Night UPDATED

I'm watching Delaware - live results here.

Right now?  O'Donnell is up 952 to 733.  It's early.

The Other McCain is live on scene.

Update:  Moving right along...O'Donnell 3963 to Castle 3236.  That's with 14% reporting.

Update 7:36:  The site is SLOW loading now!  We've got O'Donnell 8104 and RINO Castle 6660 and that's with 26% reporting.

 Update 7:38:  Including absentee votes, the totals are now O'Donnell 9,280 and RINO  7855.  That's with 31% reporting.

Update 7:44:  With 47% reporting it's O'Donnell at 15,145 and RINO at 12,186.  Stacy is reporting cheers of "Go Christine Go!"  at headquarters.

Update 7:51:  With 65% reporting we now have O'Donnell at 21,422 and RINO at 17,993.

Update 7:58:  And now we have 75% reporting and O'Donnell has 24,686 and Castle has 21,349.

Update:  8:00 p.m.and Stacy calls the race:  O'Donnell with 54% and Castle with 46%.

Last Thoughts:  And now the pontificating can REALLY begin as to whether or not O'Donnell can win the general election or not.  Has Delaware now turned over the potential Senate majority all because of the Tea Party?!   Mary Katharine Ham "retweets" that DE has gone from "Strong Rep: to Strong Dem".   On the other hand, Michelle Malkin notes that

Nine-term, cap&tax, bailout buddy Soros Republican Mike Castle has been denied a Senate seat. Thank you, @ChristineOD.

So can O'Donnell win a Senate seat?  The way I see it, maybe Delaware Republicans did sacrifice "the Senate majority" for the sake of ideology, but honestly, putting Castle back up there is no different than having a Democrat in the seat regardless of the designation after his name.  If Delaware voters wanted to send a message, I believe they just did.

Latest tally:  With 322 of 325 precincts reporting, O'Donnell has 30,429 and Castle holds 26,912.


Now let's see if New York puts Rangel back in there.
 

Repbulicans v. Conservatives in Delaware

Here's the video, via Matt Lewis, of  Krauthammer's negative outlook I posted yesterday of Christine O'Donnell's chances in Delaware today:



Stacy McCain scoffs and thumbs his nose at Dr. Krauthammer...meanwhile, John McCormack, who has been pulling against O'Donnell from the beginning, notes that the Democrat in that race polls 26 points better than O"Donnell.

This race has pitted Republicans against conservatives in a way I've never seen before. 

Follow the thread at Memeorandum today.

Something Fishy In Charlie's Camp

How in the world did I miss THIS story yesterday?

State Republicans moved the three-way U.S. Senate race to a new level Saturday, with party leaders pointing to an audit of their books they say implies Gov. Charlie Crist— now an independent candidate for U.S. Senate — ran up potentially "hundreds of thousands" of dollars in inappropriate charges.

Party Chairman and state Sen. John Thrasher said the expenses came to light during the just-completed forensic audit by Alston & Bird LLP — which was the examiner in energy giant Enron's 2002 bankruptcy. He said the party may sue their former standard bearer to get the money back.

Not surprised.  When you lie down with dogs...

And the defense?  Crist's camp is crying foul saying

..."party bosses" should "stop playing the same old political games and take a hard look at their own nominee" before attacking Crist.

Moral equivalency is seldom a good strategy. 

The Senate Calls a Mulligan on Part of Obamacare

The Senate will be voting Tuesday to repeal a portion of Obamacare.  Small steps!

Seriously, the onerous burden the bill  places on small businesses with regard to reporting purchases over $600 to a single vendor is about to bring a landslide of paperwork on the small business owner and no doubt would have forced more than a few out of business rather than hire some full time paper pusher to keep up with the task.

The WSJ gives an example:

Think about a midsized trucking company. The back office would have to collect hundreds of thousands of receipts from every gas station where its drivers filled up and figure out where it spent more than $600 that year. Then it would also need to match those payments to the stations' corporate parents.

And the Democrats who voted for this stupid thing are claiming now that they were blindsided and didn't understand that part.

That's just criminal, if you ask me.

Any one of those numbnuts who voted for this bill without reading it must GO.  It's bad enough if you voted for it and you DID read it, but at least you voted according to your principles (I guess.)  But to vote on such a massive power grabbing, life changing, Constitutionally questionable piece of horse manure like Obamacare without fully understanding all its implications is beyond criminal, especially when you consider the fact that said numbnuts won't be taking part in it themselves.

Amateurs.

Down to the Wire in Delaware

The Delaware Senate race is getting all kinds of buzz today because of the latest PPP poll putting Christine O'Donnell ahead of Mike Castle.  This race has garnered the attention of nearly every pundit from one end of the country to the other, including Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh. 

In this particular race the lines are sharply drawn and people feel strongly about their position.  Mark Levin is convinced that O'Donnell is the right candidate while Charles Krauthammer just told Brett Baier that a vote of O'Donnell is simply self-indulgent as she cannot win.  Krauthammer believes that Republican control of the Senate could rest on this one race.  He's not alone in that position, either; Ed Morrissey at Hot Air writes:

If control of the Senate comes down to this race, and it very well might, would it be better to have a Republican squish holding the seat and give the GOP control of the Senate floor and all the committees, or to hand it to either Harry Reid or Chuck Schumer for the next two-year period in which we’ll see at least one Supreme Court retirement and Obama still attempting to push through his radical agenda? 

Rush Limbaugh takes the opposite stance.  On his program today he drew parallels between O'Donnell, Sarah Palin, and Sharron Angle, suggesting that they threaten the ruling class because these women are "not like them."  Limbaugh points out that O'Donnell, for example, isn't being attacked because of her stance on any issues.  She's been attacked for numerous personal grievances, as Palin was, but not on the issues.   Nobody is digging into Mike Castle's personal life; just O'Donnell's. 

By the way, Rush also quoted from Professor Jacobson's blog today, too.  Big Time!  He referenced this post (which wins the Great Title Award of the Day) by the good Professor in which he said,

The "nuts and sluts" defense is a common employment law tactic whenever a female employee brings a claim.  It doesn't matter what the claim is, the defense -- after the usual legal mumbo jumbo -- will be something like this:

"She's nuts.  And by the way, pssst, she may be a slut."

That is the mode of attack Democrats use against conservative women.  Sarah Palin is the prime example, as she routinely is called crazy and is sexualized by the left (to the silence of liberal feminist groups).

The nuts part of the attack is being used against Christine O'Donnell in Delaware by the local Republican establishment, and also by two leading conservative magazines, The Weekly Standard and National Review. 

Rush said, "A Senate full of Mike Castles isn't going to get us anywhere...if that's our majority with a bunch of Mike Castles in there, we're in trouble."

So where do you go with that?  If you're a Delaware Republican, do you vote for the RINO just because he's supposedly electable?  Charles Krauthammer insisted Castle will win the general election:  "They'll call off the fight in the first round," he said.  O'Donnell, he said, doesn't stand a chance.

Does it really come down to how badly one wants the majority?  Can O'Donnell win the general election should she win the primary?  She's collected a number of big endorsements, including the NRA, Sarah Palin, Tea Party Express, and Senator James DeMint, yet FreedomWorks won't sign on.
Daniel Foster at The Corner suggests that O'Donnelll could actually win if she ran a smart campaign in the general election.

Michelle Malkin lays out the case for O'Donnell here.

It's a huge gamble, isn't it!  So much at stake.

Either way, the debate will be moot this time tomorrow.  We'll know how Delaware feels about it all soon enough.

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around: The 9/11 Round Up Edition

What a busy weekend!  I've been on the go all.weekend.long.  Yesterday was consumed with a million errands and yard work while today was filled with visiting my mom and school work.  I had to grade papers, update the gradebook and get lesson plans in order for the week.  I took time out yesterday to watch that messy LSU/Vandy game; was not too impressed with my Tigers.  If they don't get it together the big SEC teams with kill them.  Today, Steve and I went over to the Bossier Municipal Complex to see the flags put out by the kids from the Minden Youth Challenge program.  They put out over 3,000 flags in memory of the 9/11 victims.  Awesome sight.

Let's do a quick sift of the blogosphere and see what all I've missed while I've been busy this weekend:

There were some awesome 9/11 posts:
Camp of the Saints
Sister Toldjah
Althouse
Wyblog
Fishersville Mike
The Other McCain
Mind Numbed Robot
Left Coast Rebel
Reaganite Republican
Pundit and Pundette

Emptysuit reports that poverty is at an all time high.

Doug Ross reports on gun battles in Arizona between agents and smugglers.  Not good.

Pirate's Cove has the story of Obama's veto of solar panels at The White House.

Legal Insurrection has a must read post on The Southern Poverty Law Center.

Stacy McCain and Smitty have a great post on the 9/12 rally with lots of pictures, once they finally found the mall, that is.

Bride of Rove has an insightful conversation with a doctor.

Red has added a new word to her banned word list.

Ed Driscoll comments on the Paglia / Lady Gaga column.

There's lots more, I'm sure, but it's getting late and I have to do a couple more school related tasks before work tomorrow.  Here's hoping for a calm, sane week and I can finally get caught up.

Boehner Stars in Obama's Speech

I had to laugh at this line in The New Republic yesterday:

I think it's safe to say that President Obama has given up on bipartisanship, at least for the foreseeable future.

When was he ever practicing "bipartisanship"?  It's been Blame Bush and Blame Republicans ever since Obama walked onto the national stage.  Obamacare, the Stimulus and everything else this administration has rammed through Congress has been done strictly on party lines, for the most part, with Obama bellowing about Republicans being "the party of no" the entire time.

Yet he does still have his supporters.  And to them, I'm with Stacy McCain:

What’s really depressing is the thought that some percentage of the adult population greater than zero is so intensely stupid as to believe a speech composed chiefly of self-glorification, blame-shifting, naked partisanship, false dilemmas, class warfare and Keynesian claptrap.

Sad, but true.

And now it's not only Bush's fault, but Boehner's fault as Obama elevated Boehner's status by giving him eight shout outs in his speech.  Boehner must be pleased!

(AP Photo)

Seniors Out of Luck Under Obamacare

This is the kind of thing that makes my blood boil; it's the kind of thing that makes me double over with dry heaves when the libs paint themselves as the party of compassion:

In his analysis accompanying the recently released Annual Report of the Medicare Board of Trustees, Richard Foster, Medicare's chief actuary, noted that Medicare payment rates for doctors and hospitals serving seniors will be cut by 30% over the next three years. Under the policies of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, by 2019 Medicare payment rates will be lower than under Medicaid. Mr. Foster notes that by the end of the 75-year projection period in the Annual Medicare Trustees Report, Medicare payment rates will be one-third of what will be paid by private insurance, and only half of what is paid by Medicaid.

Altogether, ObamaCare cuts $818 billion from Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) from 2014-2023, the first 10 years of its full implementation, and $3.2 trillion over the first 20 years, 2014-2033. Adding in ObamaCare cuts for Medicare Part B (physicians fees and other services) brings the total cut to $1.05 trillion over the first 10 years and $4.95 trillion over the first 20 years. 

That's via Peter Ferrara and Larry Hunter at WSJ.  There's more and it's worse.  Read the whole thing.
 
And don't expect the Medicare Czar to get all up in arms about this.  It's exactly what Dr. Death Panel would want.  And let's not forget, AARP endorsed this garbage for their members, too.

Oh and if that doesn't rock your boat, you might take note of the fact that private insurance is going up too.

Yeah.  All that crap about "if you like your health care plan, you can keep it!"  was exactly that.  Crap.  

The party of compassion doesn't care much about your mother.  Or your grandmother.  Or you, for that matter. 

Joe Wilson was right.

Obama Finally Appoints .... Asian Carp Czar

Who said Obama's jobs initiative isn't working?  Why, he created one today.  One new job.

The Asian Carp Czar.

Yessir, John Goss is the man charged with keeping the offending Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes, and Obama is giving him a budget of nearly $80 million, to lead this "multi-pronged federal attack against Asian carp."

What could an Illegal Immigration Czar do with $80 million?  Suggestions?

Cross posted at Potluck

Big Government Bullies vs the Little Light Bulb

How many incandescent light bulbs can I stockpile before 2014 and where should I store them all?  Boy, you can bet I will be!

Via Memeorandum, this Washington Post story about the closure of the last GE plant in America to make incandescent light bulbs.  Two hundred workers will lose their jobs.  The jobs will go to China:

What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs.  The resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be immense. But the move also had unintended consequences. 

That was a Democratic Congress, by the way, pinning their hopes and dreams on AlGore's global warming fantasy.  

By 2014 all incandescent bulbs will be history and you'll be forced to use those squirrelly CFL bulbs filled with mercury and made in China that don't light worth a darn and cost three times as much.

Professor Jacobson is taking predictions on a Mexican light bulb cartel while Althouse is also planning to stock up on the good stuff.

Mark Krikorian at NRO has the best summation:

We can complain about this among ourselves all we want, but Republican candidates need to actually run on this sort of thing — acknowledge that it’s just a light bulb (or shower head or whatever), but that a government big enough to tell you what light bulb to use is a government big enough to take everything you have.

It's not JUST a light bulb, of course.  It's the ruling class telling you how to live your life.  Krikorian is absolutely correct that before you know it, the government will be so big and so powerful they'll tell you what kind of car to drive (oh..wait....) or how much water you can use, how much gasoline you can consume, where you must buy that gasoline and the exact chemical makeup of that gasoline.  Heck, before long they'll even be telling you what doctor you can see and what you can see him for and whether or not you can have that prescription regardless of your own ability to pay for it.  They'll even be telling you we can't be innovative and search our own oil reserves.  Worse than that, they'll try to tell us we can't tap those reserves even though we know where they are because, you know, we might kill a caribou in Alaska or offshore drilling could possibly be *gasp* dangerous.

Oh wait.  Well.  Of course they can tell us what kind of light bulbs to use.  They're in control of everything else already, aren't they.

Damn.

Sick as a Dog

I spent yesterday, Labor Day, flat on the couch trying to fight off some nasty sinus infection mess my husband decided to share with me.  (Love you, honey!)  After my good times last March - July dealing with pleurisy because of a similar situation, I'm headed to the doctor this afternoon;  no more tough-guy-I-can-fight-this crap for me. (BoR is thrilled to hear this, I know, as she implored me to go to the doctor for weeks last time.)  Hell, better go while I still can!

But that's beside the point.  The point was, I really wanted to blog about Obama's "dog" comment but I just feel to bleh to do it.  What's he got against dogs, anyway? 

Pundette covers this topic quite well and you should check her out;  I think she's absolutely correct when she notes that the strain of failure is showing on him.

And now he thinks a road building, infrastructure, union schmoozing stimulus is going to save his sorry self?  Think again.  Gawd, at least half of that would be spent on signs patting himself on the back.  And correct me if I'm wrong, but are those really lasting jobs, anyway?  No.  I didn't think so.

Okay, I'm carrying myself to work, then to a doctor, then back to the couch.  Behave yourselves today.

Update:  Did the doctor thing; three prescriptions later, I'm back on the couch.  See you tomorrow.

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around: Red Beans and Rice Edition

A day late, but since it's a holiday weekend, I guess it's okay that the FMJRA comes on Sunday rather than Saturday as is my custom.  I was busy poking around in Second Hand Rose yesterday and then today I've spent the entire day cleaning.  Overdue. Now, the weather chick is predicting cooler for tomorrow and I've got a pot of red beans and sausage going for this evening.  Steve has gone in search of The Horse Soldiers which was filmed around the Cane River and Oakland Plantation area and we've been wanting to watch it again ever since we went down there last month.

First, though, a sift through the blogosphere:

I have to say, this one cracks me up.  I mean, c'mon.  It's so typical of this White House.  I think this one seals the deal on the left's meme that GWB was an incompetent, illiterate boob.  Enough, already.

DaTechGuy weighs in on the left's attack of Stacy McCain's interview with Todd Palin.  Miss that one?    Stacy explains the situation here, while the original interview is here.  The bottom line is that they're using a tired, unreasonable personal slander of Stacy McCain against Todd Palin - a sort of "guilt by association" thing, except there's no guilt to begin with so...there ya go.  Left Coast Rebel also comments on the brouhaha as does Saberpoint.

I'm messing up up Pirates Cove's schedule with my tardy FMJRA and I promise to do better next week, Teach!  But he's got lots of good reads besides his round-up so check it out.

The Daley Gator reminds you that Alan Grayson is still a clod.

And Sister Toldjah makes the point that Harry Reid is almost as bad.

And for that matter, Adrienne isn't so sure about Obama, either.

Gorgeous!


And Professor Jacobson finally weighs in on the Delaware Senate primary.  I was hoping he would.

If you missed the news of Marco Rubio's father passing, you can get caught up at Ruby Slippers.

Red has the celebrity dirt today; Julia Roberts is not a nice person.

Oh I missed this today, but Pundette didn't.  An all new low.

No Sheeples Here is recruiting for Project 2996; she does such a great job at this.  Such poignant stories.

Little Miss Attila nods to the spambots.  I so hate those.  "Great post.  Thanks for posting this information!  Visit my site....."

Both Althouse and Critical Narrative are into The Times of India.

Bob Belvedere has a great post on our No Class First Couple; are they intentionally trying to demean the presidency? 

Cutest kids ever.

Mind Numbed Robot has a nifty round up when you're through with mine!

And with that, I'm off to watch movies, eat Red Beans & Rice, and enjoy an Octoberfest.  Enjoy your evening!

Take Another Trip to Second Hand Rose in Minden

We were on the go all day yesterday. It started out with my trip to The Glen to see my mom.  They were all decked out for the LSU game on her floor; they staff all had on LSU shirts and Mom's nurse, Fauna, was busy taping paw prints in purple and gold on resident's doors!  Luckily I'd had the presence of mind to bring Mom a new LSU t-shirt so we had her properly dressed for the day, too.

They were having a "tailgate party" for the residents and staff in the dining room with hot dogs and such in the afternoon which sounded like fun.  Fauna showed me a picture of the cake and it had "Geaux Tigers" on it!  About that time a resident came by on her scooter saying "Go North Carolina!"  Fauna game her an evil grin and tied purple and gold balloons to her scooter.  The lady made a face, pivoted her scooter and zoomed off down the hall, balloons flying behind her.

I left mom in the hands of her favorite aide and they went out to smoke.

Then Steve and I headed to Minden where sweet Milly Rose was hanging on to my cast iron tea kettle.  I saw some new treasures and will share some with you.  As soon as we walked into the shop, the dogs, Heidi and Rosalea came running up to greet us.  Milly was having a pretty good day with a steady stream of customers.

For some reason this time I was hung up on the jewelry cases and took lots of pictures of those:

That silver cross with the green stones caught my eye and I went back to it again and again.  Milly tried to deal with me all day on it but in the end I didn't leave with it.  I'm going to have to think about that one.  It's not something I'd normally wear; I don't wear much jewelry at all, but I liked it.

Here's another display case:

And one more jewelry item; I loved this piece:

You can't tell how really pretty it is in this picture; it's silver and those colored stones just sparkle like crazy in the light.  I kept wishing I knew someone to give it to.

She also had two very old, lovely men's pocket watches (still working!)  that might be that perfect Christmas gift if you know anyone in the market for one.  I didn't photograph them, however.

There were, of course, the normal crazy oddities that caught my eye, like I just cracked up over this mean looking piggy bank:

That expression on his face is great.

And how about these happy salt and pepper shakers?

Or this busy burro; he carries salt, pepper, oil and vinegar:

We ventured up to the third floor which is like your crazy aunt's attic, and that's where you'll find shelves and shelves of old books:

Dusty bicycles:

Furniture, and steamer trunks:

It gets hot up there, so we'll wait until it gets cooler before we do too much poking around up there; I'd love to comb through all those books, and no telling what's IN them.  The first one I picked up had an old greeting card tucked in it, and someone's forgotten packet of photo negatives.

We crept back down to the second floor and my eyes stopped on this cute stained glass topped bell for a moment:

...but I left it for someone else.  Bells aren't really my thing, but there are people that collect them.  Milly had a whole box of brass bells sitting on the floor near this one.

You into keys?  There are lots of those:

The table of random silver pieces caught my eye again this time and I'm still pondering this piece; I'm just not sure how much it will clean up:

I haven't bartered with Milly on this one yet, but if I did, she'd pull out a bottle of silver polish and we'd find out right then and there how it would clean up.  Maybe next time!

How about a brass pineapple?

Or a Flapper doll?

A fan?

Or the obligatory Elvis section?

Steve has his eye on this beer stein - the one with the pretzel handle:

I'm not sure what this fellow's original purpose was, but he's cast iron and he's funny:

And since The Teenager collects nutcrackers, I have my eye on this Tin Man one:

In the end, today, I left with my tea kettle, an old iron Coca-Cola bottle opener that screws to the cabinet or wall, an Iowa collectible spoon (I don't really collect spoons but Steve is from Iowa!) and a nifty pin Milly threw in as lagniappe!  Nobody leaves Milly's without a "little something extra."

We dashed home in time to eat at Nicky's Mexican restaurant and get on over to Code 3 for the LSU game.  Gawd, I see why we're ranked 21.  They tried really hard to give it away.  Luckily the clock ran out.

Have a happy Sunday and your FMJRA will be out shortly.

Oh, and by the way, Milly's shop, should you like to visit on your own, is at 509 Main St., in Minden, Louisiana.  If you go over, tell her I sent you!  She's got a website, too, but you'd do better to just call her (318-371-9830)  if you see something you want either in this post or my earlier one.  If you're looking for something in particular, give her a call; she's probably got it.  And she will always strike you a deal!

Opening Day

Opening Day!  And there's just enough nip in the air this morning where I could almost get away with making gumbo for the game, except Steve and I are headed to Minden this afternoon to see Milly and to pick up my cast iron tea kettle she's holding for me!  I'll take some more pictures of her treasures for y'all.

Gumbo or not, my LSU flag is already out and my LSU Doodle bangle ready to go!  We have an Opening Game festivity to attend this evening and I'll be carrying my super cute LSU gold purse!  (If you live around here and want to come watch the game with us, come on down to Code 3 right by the west gate of BAFB!)  Crazy fun.

FMJRA to come later, probably tomorrow.  Happy Saturday to you.

Christine O'Donnell Blows Open the Blogosphere

The Delaware Senate race has blown open a hole in the blogosphere this morning with bloggers like Ace, Stacy, and Dan Riehl drawing lines in the sand and taking sides.

Start with Ace who has a detailed post on why he can't support Christine O'Donnell for Senate and is opting instead for RINO Mike Castle:

That is to say: We cannot win full control of the Senate without a Republican in this seat. This seat has long been one of the seats we were just assuming we would win. Because Castle has been comfortably out front for a long, long time.  This is not some longshot pick-up where it really makes little difference because we have no realistic chance anyway, so might as well swing for the fences. We have been counting this as an easy pick-up. When you read "Republicans will pick up at least 7 seats" this is number two or three on that list, after the gimme Arkansas pick-up.  And we're going to toss this away? For what?  She can't win. Period.

You need to read his whole argument. The upshot is that he'd rather have RINO Castle in that seat than a Democrat and to vote for O'Donnell in the primary is to hand the seat over to the Dems in November.

Stacy and Smitty aren't moved by Ace's argument and are still putting their money on O'Donnell as is Michelle Malkin who makes the case that Castle is a RINO who supports cap and tax; I don't think anyone disagrees with that assessment.  But, we're talking about Delaware.

At Hot Air, Allahpundit is in Ace's court, asking "What exactly would be accomplished by nominating her," seeing an easy defeat in November if she wins the primary.

I guess it depends on if you want to send a message to RINOs like Castle that true conservatives can't support your blue votes, or if your concern is all about taking back control of the Senate, even if you have to vote for a RINO who won't vote your way all the time.  I don't think anybody ever expected Scott Brown to vote like a true conservative 100% of the time, and he hasn't.

Dan Riehl can't support Ace on this one either:

As I've said in an email to a few, if someone has issues with O'Donnell, I don't think they should support her. But, helping Castle run her down is stupid, when one could just as easily have posted to help Angle, or Miller, or Rubio.

Even Mark Levin stands up for O'Donnell in an email to John McCormack of The Weekly Standard. In an interview with McCormack, O'Donnell admits to using campaign contributions to pay her rent on her townhouse.  Levin asks:

Um, John, is this really a thoughtful interview?  Where is she on the issues that I and millions of my listeners care about?  Did you not want to delve into them for some reason?  Also, who pays Castle's rent?  Well, let's see, he's been on the government payroll for how long?  I guess we, the taxpayers, pay his rent.  You can do better.  

McCormack's interview is here.

You can watch more of the online debate via Memeorandum.

In the end, I suppose Delaware voters will go for Castle; he's got a comfortable lead, and again, it IS Delaware.  That's not to say that O'Donnell's message is in anyway off base; she's got all the right conservative positions.  It comes down to the question of whether you vote for your principles or you vote for who you think can win, and that's a question the voters in Delaware will have to consider on September 14.

Just Watch

Rig Explosion Reaffirms Moonbats Love for the Obamatorium

The latest on today's oil rig explosion from NOLA is that up to thirteen rig workers are being examined and treated at a Houma hospital but there is no word at this time about their condition.  However, Governor Jindal visited them this afternoon and according to NOLA:

Jindal said he visited with the workers and was pleased that none was injured. "They didn't have any visible injuries and they're eager to get home as soon as possible,'' the governor said.

Good news!

Left Coast Rebel has the unfolding of events today here (with photos!)

The Houma Courier points out that this rig is in much shallower water that the BP rig which blew earlier this year:

The platform is in about 340 feet of water and about 100 miles south of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay. It's location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP's well spewed oil and gas for three months after the April rig explosion.

The Times-Picayune has this graphic showing the relation of this rig to the BP rig.

There were seven active wells on this particular platform and they have been shut down.

Via The Dead Pelican also comes this NOLA report of the Coast Guard reporting a sheen in the water emanating from and unknown source:

[Jindal] said the company didn't believe any of them were leaking oil, but the Coast Guard has since reported seeing a mile-long sheen on the water stretching from the accident site, which is 102 statutory miles, or about 80 nautical miles, off the Louisiana coast.

It is unclear at this time where the oil or fuel that's making the sheen is coming from.

There is debate as to whether or not that sheen exists; the AP reports that there is no sheen.

Latest reports are that the fire has been contained "but is still burning."

And of course the rumors are already abounding about the origin of the disaster; so far I've seen where the Obama administration blew it up to reaffirm the need for the moratorium, that it was Bush's fault, that MoveOn.org is responsible...; and I'm not linking to them because perpetuating these silly suggestions isn't really helpful.  I only mention them to remind us all that the loons are still out there.

It remains a fact that the business of oil production is and has always been a dangerous one; the workers all understand that when they sign on, just as say, coal miners, for example, do.  Accidents happen.  Fortunately, in this case. safety training saved the lives of thirteen men and they had the good sense and wherewithal to use that training.

It is true that the Obamatorium is devastating to Louisiana:

[Eric] Smith [Associate Director of Tulane University's Energy Institute] says the impact of the moratorium will worsen in the months ahead. He says drilling rigs cost up to a million dollars a day, so oil companies cannot afford to leave them idle. He says eight rigs that were on their way to the Gulf were diverted to other locations after the ban was imposed, and two others have left since then.  "If you are a company like Murphy, which is one of the rigs that did leave, and you have prospects in Africa as well as here and you see you cannot drill in the Gulf for a couple of years and you are under contract for the rig for five years, you will just move it to Africa and work," he explained.

Recently-published reports show that US government officials have estimated the moratorium could cost around 23,000 US jobs.

This explosion is already causing the "I told you so" people to reaffirm the need for a moratorium on drilling. Via the L.A. Times comes this:

“Today’s news comes as no surprise,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. “Offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is like playing Russian roulette. Its not a matter of if something will go wrong, it’s a matter of when.”

I guess once all those windmills and solar panels spring up all over the country and all those mysterious "green jobs" emerge, we just won't have this kind of problem anymore. Either that or the libs will eventually realize we're a nation that is dependent on oil and we have plenty of our own without having to rely on foreign sources if they'd just let us go for it.

Team Obama Backs Away From Antique Firearms Sale

Candidate Obama said in 2008:

"I think there is an individual right to bear arms, but it's subject to commonsense regulation" like background checks, he said during a news conference. 

 What changed his mind?


Fox News had the story yesterday regarding the Obama administration's reversal of its earlier decision to allow the sale of 86,000 M1 Garand and 22,000 Carbines to American gun collectors.  As it turns out, the administration doesn't have so much confidence in "background checks" or other measures to guarantee that these collectible firearms do not end up in the hands of very bad people.  


The Volokh Conspiracy reported on this in mid-August, noting the historic aspect of the guns:

These self-loading were rifles introduced in 1926 and 1941. As rifles, they are especially well-suited to community defense in an emergency, as in the cases of community defense following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Along with AR-15 type rifles, the M1 rifles are the quintessential firearms of responsible citizenship, precisely the type of firearms which civic responsibility organizations such as the Appleseed Project teach people how to use. 

It's highly unlikely that these weapons would actually fall into the hands of drug dealers or terrorists any more than any other weapon can and unless the administration intends to ban all firearms then this decision doesn't make a lot of sense.

Collectors focused on historic military collectibles would have a treasure trove with these South Korean weapons which were used by American soldiers in the Korean War.  There are many collectors groups focused strictly on the M1 Garand alone.

Volokh looks at the legality of the sale:

But in fact, increasing gun density in the United States has been associated with steeply declining rates of gun accidents. In 1948 there were .36 guns per person. (That is, about one gun for every three Americans.) By 2004, there was nearly one gun for every American. In 1948, there were 1.6 fatal gun accidents per 100,000 persons. By 2004, the rate had fallen by 86%, so that there were .22 fatal accidents per 100,000 persons. (For underlying data, see Appendix B of my amicus brief in Heller.)


Legally, it is indisputable that the guns are importable. Being over 50 years old, the rifles are automatically “Curios and Relics” according to federal law. 27 CFR section 478.11. Accordingly, they are by statutory definition importable. 18 USC section 925 (e)(1). Notwithstanding the law, the Obama administration has the ability to pressure the South Korean government to block the sale of the guns.

 Fox reports that other administrations have dealt with this issue before:

The Clinton administration blocked sales of M1s and other antiquated military weapons from the Philippines, Turkey and Pakistan. It also ended the practice of reselling used guns owned by federal agencies, ordering that they be melted down instead.

In contrast, 200,000 M1 rifles from South Korea were allowed to be sold in the U.S. under the Reagan administration in 1987.

But, since candidate Obama professed concern for the Second Amendment and expressed faith in  those legal protections such as background checks, he should, in fact, allow these collectible firearms into the American market.

Hello, September!

Thank goodness August has gone.  It has worn out its welcome!

September bring the promise of cooler weather, changing leaves, and football.

I stayed up too late last night finishing the last Stieg Larsson book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  Fabulous.  I'm sad to be finished with the series but maybe that fourth book will get out one day.

Things at school are settling into a routine now and I'm feeling less overwhelmed with detail and paperwork as we get those things under control.  Classes are settling into their routines, too.  Our first home football game is Friday night and I have to work the gate, but it's okay; we have a three day weekend coming up! 

Tonight it's Cook Your Own Steak Night again at Hangar 2, on BAFB, and they have Octoberfest on tap! 

Life is good!

Dry Run Terror Plot Averted?

How does something like this continue to happen:

The two were allowed to board the flight at O'Hare airport last night despite security concerns surrounding one of them, the officials said.

The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, MI, and Hezem al Murisi, the officials said. A neighbor of al Soofi told ABC News he is from Yemen.

Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his "bulky clothing."

In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare. 

Incredible.  I can't wait for the explanation on this one.  "The system worked," maybe? 

Doodle Bangles ROCK!

Love, love, LOVE this bangle I received in the mail today from Jill!  LOVE!

It's LSU colors, of course, and I'll wear it every game day! 

I love it so much, I just ordered this one:

It's the school colors where I work.  Fun!

I don't wear much jewelry and stuff, but these are just fun.  I love them.

Now, I'm looking for the perfect Mardi Gras one!  Might have to pair two...

Check it out here and here; you can do your Christmas shopping!

Wrong on So Many Levels...

There is so much wrong with this picture (stolen from Tammy Bruce) and this article that I just don't know where to start.  Tammy covered the picture pretty well, and yes, there are a lot of cracks to be made about the umbrella situation here, but what jumped to my mind was "What in the hell is she wearing?"  Why, oh why, does our first lady feel such a penchant for dressing in patterned flour sacks?  I know.  It's petty to criticize Michelle's tacky wardrobe (which gets tackier as time goes on, if you've noticed), but I do long for some class and dignity from that quarter.

This Politico piece is something else altogether.  It just shows, once again, what a thin-skinned whiner this president is.  When Brian Williams asked Obama about the recent poll regarding Obama's faith, Obama's response was

“I can’t spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead,” quipped Obama, who took a deep breath to gather his thoughts when asked if the poll reflected his inability to communicate with voters.

“The facts are the facts. We went through some of this during the campaign — there is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get churned out there constantly,” said a visibly annoyed Obama, referring to “birthers,” who have waged a guerrilla campaign questioning either the existence or the validity of his Hawaiian birth certificate.

Did he really answer the question?  Williams asked about his faith, not his birth certificate.  And I don't think anybody asked him to plaster it on his forehead, but if he's volunteering....  Personally, I don't give a damn about either at this point, but it does seem that he sidestepped the question a little.  The birther question isn't necessarily the same as the Mulsim question.

But, that's beside the point.  

He was miffed at a question regarding the BP spill response as well, saying it's nothing at all like Katrina.  Did you notice that while he was boasting on his rapid response and quick efficiency in capping the spill in his Xavier speech yesterday, and while promising to stay with New Orleans until she's "all the way back," he had nothing to say about the moratorium.  Nothing.  Nada.  

He was also a bit miffed when Williams asked him to clarify his position on the mosque, proving again that he's missing the point upon which Americans are so angry with regard to this issue:

“I didn’t walk it back it all,” he said. “I was very specific with my team… The core value and principle that every American is treated the same doesn’t change… At [a White House Ramadan celebration], I had Muslim Americans who had been in uniform fighting in Iraq… How can you say to them that their religious faith is less worthy of respect?... That’s something that I feel very strongly about.”

Nobody is arguing the right to build a mosque or asserting that their religious faith isn't worthy of respect.  We're protesting the decision (as opposed to "right") to build it right there.  

I'd have expected him to be a little less petulant and defensive after a lovely vacation at the Vineyard....well rested and all that.  But there he was, nonetheless, in his typical defensive mode.  

Tiresome.

(More at Memeorandum)

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around: The Catching Up on a Sunday Edition

I hate to speak too soon, but things might be starting to settle down a little around here.  I'm about to get a handle on my work projects and I hope everything will settle into a normal routine soon.  I spent three hours this morning updating my teacher and course webpages; it would not have taken a normal person nearly as long, but I am technologically challenged in many ways.  This is why I use Blogger:  it's EASY.

Steve and I have been trying to take advantage of a kicked back weekend; I went out to see my mom yesterday for a bit, then Steve and I went to Prime Rib night at the Barksdale Club for dinner.  We called it an early night and today I worked on those webpages until I thought my head would explode and then headed out to the grocery store.  This afternoon I still have a little more work to do, but mostly I hope to get caught up on some reading and blogging.

Speaking of blogging, let's see what I can sift out of the web this morning:

Pirate's Cove has a personal account of the Glenn Beck rally.  How in the world can the numbers estimate vary sooo widely?  Doug Ross attempts to nail that one down.  Left Coast Rebel has LOTS of pictures.  No Sheeples Here adds her own perspective as well.

American Power takes on Obama's weekend address in which he claims credit for Iraq.

Mind Numbed Robot had quite the birthday celebration!

Sister Toldjah has Rubio's Republican response to Obama's weekly address yesterday in case you missed it, and I did, so I'm glad she posted it.

I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling through August; Professor Jacobson has similar feelings.  He did pick up on an interesting piece of subliminal deception, howerver.  Ed Driscoll joins in that discussion.

SWAC Girl has got fall fever.

And then there was the discussion at Adrienne's place over the unfortunate photo of Obama on his bicycle.  Little Miss Attila nails it as does Bride of Rove.

The Camp of the Saints is spinning some good tunes.   And speaking of....A Cop's Watch went to see Meatloaf!

The Daley Gator picks up on a post on The Green Police.  Woe to the flunkie who has to dig through my garbage...

Sandy has met her limits with the Shreveport Slimes over their editorial cartoon today, and echos what I hear many folks say.  I haven't taken the paper since 2003 and have not missed it.

Carol's Closet also noticed Charlie Crist's duplicity.

Grandpa John succeeds in simply grossing me out.

I've often wondered about Red's blog's name, and now I get it.  THAT's a corndog!

Pundette has an excellent roundup of newsy bits.

Wyblog is marking his calendar for Obama's next speech to schoolchildren.


And with that I've got to cut it off; I've been on this laptop all day long and need to get my dog's tennis ball out from under the couch; he's crying like he's lost his last friend.

Thumbs Down

The New York Times reports on the Glenn Beck rally this morning, suggesting it is "a thumb in the eye" of civil rights leaders that Beck's rally is on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and will be held from the very place that speech was delivered.

Remarkably, the Times does NOT, however, see the Ground Zero Mosque project as a "thumb in the eye" of the families and survivors of 9/11.

Here's a thumbs down to the NYT.

Update:  Here's the live stream of the Beck rally.  LOTS of folks there!

Charlie Crist Knows Waffles

So Charlie Crist would have us believe that he "misspoke" when he said he'd have voted FOR Obamacare.  What he really meant, he says now, is that he would have voted against it because it's too big and it cuts Medicare Advantage.  That was probably AFTER his handlers reminded him that lots of voters in Florida rely on Medicare Advantage and might think poorly of his position.  Oops.

It's kind of like his "misspoke" when he said he was absolutely going to run as a Republican in this Senate campaign:

“To put these rumors to rest once and for all, as we have said countless times before, Governor Crist is running for the United States Senate as a Republican. He will not run as an Independent or as a No Party Affiliation.

It's kind of like he "misspoke" when he spoke in support of the stimulus but backed off of that and said he never supported it.

"I know it will help my state and that's why I support it!"

While in November 2009 he says "I didn't endorse it!"

Actually, during the debate between Crist and Rubio in March of this year, Crist said he'd vote to repeal Obamacare but he's also said he would not scrap Obamacare.  Which is it?

Which is it, Charlie?  Make up your mind.