ACORN and the Seven Squirrelies

What a surprise. The two of the Seven (one independent, six Democrats) who voted to continue ACORN funding in the Senate are from Illinois--Burris and Durbin. Here's another gaggle of seven, from the DC Protest on the 12th: Shanky, Sleazy, Fishy, Queeny, Dopey, Cheaty, and Gaffy.

Photo by Murray

ACORN isn't going anywhere!

John Fund thinks ACORN may be finally running off the rails. That’s ridiculous.

“On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 to strip Acorn, the premier community organizing group on the left, of more than $1.6 million in federal housing money meant to assist low-income people obtain loans and prepare tax forms. This dramatic step followed last Friday's decision by the U.S. Census Bureau to sever its ties with the organization, one of several community groups it was partnering with to conduct the nation's head count.

Both of these actions came after secretly recorded videos involving employees in Acorn's Brooklyn, N.Y., Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md. and San Bernardino, Calif. offices were televised on Fox News. The videos were recorded by two independent filmmakers who posed as a prostitute and a pimp and said they were planning to import underage women from El Salvador for the sex trade. They asked for and received advice on getting a housing loan and evading federal taxes.

In response, Acorn has so far fired four of the employees seen on the videos. But it claimed the videos were "doctored" and accused critics of a smear campaign and "racist coverage" of the incidents.

Such rhetoric in the past has deflected scrutiny of Acorn tactics, such as street demonstrations and boycotts against banks to force lower credit standards for home loans, which a congressional report found contributed to the subprime loan mess. But now Acorn may be finally running off the rails.”

I think his story in today’s WSJ is only the 2nd or 3rd WSJ has ever done on ACORN, and it's on the opinion page, which is usually conservative--the newslant is always liberal/progressive. Yesterday Charlie Gibson laughed and guffawed when asked about it on a radio interview. He’d never heard of these tapes showing the corruption and willingness to bring in sex slaves. Unless we get some serious investigation by our main stream media which have been in the tank for Obama and his colleague, cohorts and mentors from the beginning to assuage their own guilt for past unpunished racist crimes, we’re toast on this one. Any questioning of ACORN is now also "racist" because of its close ties with Obama, even though it's owned and run by white guys, one being the brother of the union leader of SEIUS, also a work horse for Obama. This story, as ridiculous as it is, gets attention because of the sex angle. Sex slavery is a global business--it's a horrible crime and not just because you don't like ACORN. Racism is when American liberals want to get heated about the 18th century which they can't do a thing about, but not the 21st.

ACORN is in violation of a number of laws, first and foremost, the tax laws for 501-charity and non-profits. They were a one candidate, one party front during the whole 2008 campaign and that's a violation of the tax laws. They registered illegals to vote, and bussed out of state voters here in Ohio. They took money from the Obama campaign to get out the vote. Barney Frank had them bussed to homes of CEOs after his mccarthysque hearings; Obamacare organizers had them bussed to the town hall meetings on health care to shout down concerned voters. I'd heard of ACORN voter intimidation and fraud investigations long before I'd ever heard of Barack Obama. But they certainly knew him!

ACORN appears under so many false and misleading patriotic scam names with beautiful, professional web sites--foreclosure workshops, tax preparers, poverty clinics, food distributors, after school care programs, etc.--it would take the combined forces of all the fresh faced wannabee journalists and unpaid interns at NYT, LATimes and WSJ to ferret them out.

With Holder as our AJ and Geithner head of IRS, there's no way they are going to spin off ACORN from Obama's close circle of advisors.

Will it be one more tax on marriage?

Obama wants to punish the most productive, the biggest contributors to the government in terms of taxes, even more. The top quintile. These are the ones whose wealth is transferred to the bottom fifth.



86% of the households in the top 5% are married couple families. Only 19% in the lowest 5th are married couple families. Also, the people in the top fifth have attained more education, with people holding professional degrees doing considerably better than PhDs. Is this "gap" so difficult to understand? Two people make more money than one. Check! One person working full time earns more than one person receiving transfer payments in the form of food stamps, subsidized housing and Medicaid. Check! What's so hard about that math?

Now, Obama is an educated man with a professional degree and he's married. He's made a ton of money writing about himself and being in government. Shouldn't he be able to figure out that he's killing the golden goose with his punitive tax plan? Since he doesn't mind telling people what to do, maybe he should just tell women to stay in school and get married before having a baby, instead of promising them that he'll take care of them as long as they're in the lowest quintile.

Murray reports on 9/12, pt. 2

The March began an hour early because the plaza could no longer contain the number of patriots as they just kept coming in with each Metro stop. So at 10:30 they began the March up Pennsylvania Ave. with a small but appropriate Revolutionary Band leading the way. It started smooth with the patriots positioned by state as best they could. I heard that every state was represented. As we marched the patriots would break into song and chant. The ones in the back would start a voice wave that was awesome. You could hear it coming from behind and reaching a crescendo as it got to us. We then joined in and you could hear it progress on up to the front. The singing and voice wave repeated as we progressed up Pennsylvania Ave. There were people on the sidelines cheering us on with personal cameras everywhere. There had to be a million pictures taken that day.

Capitalism was not dead as there were people selling flags, tee shirts, food and beverages. One old timer was pretty clever. He set up shop right in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave. selling bagels and bottled water. The patriots were young, old, people limping and in wheelchairs. It was a fantastic sight.

When we reached The National Mall it was an impressive sight. People as far as your eye could see. They were everywhere. The Fox news truck was there and as we paraded past their truck the people chanted we love Fox News. The CNN truck was there also. ABC, NBC, and CBS choose not to show up for this un-newsworthy event. We stood and listened to the various speakers for about an hour on the far side of the pond.

Unfortunately the sound system was inadequate and could not provide enough power to reach the thousands in attendance. We could only understand the speakers with the loudest voices. It was here that we started to hear from the crowd about how many people were in attendance. The numbers were from 10,000 to 2 million. It was next to impossible to be accurate because as we were walking back to the Metro around 2:00 p.m., people were still showing up and arriving. My best guess would be around 50,000 to 100,000. But to put this number into it's proper prospective, you must understand that not only were we on the far east coast but there were over 800 other "Tea Parties" going on in major cities all over the country.

So, what do we have here? We have one of the largest civil protest ever against our federal government in this country and the news media ignores it. ( Except Fox News) Our President leaves town to continue to campaign for HIS causes and our representatives cower where they can't be reached. Now, here we are at the very spot that thousands of citizens (many who are in this March) paid their respects to our new President at his inauguration and what does he do in return ? He and his cohorts turn their backs on the patriots of this country and refused to even acknowledge we exist. To me, this is like a declaration of war against their own countrymen! When you consider that our representatives, our President, the newspapers and the video news media all ignore the patriots of this country, there has to have been a carefully planned conspiracy that has been a long time in the making. There can be no other conclusion. They are muting the spirit of hope and change that is driving the patriots to rise up and be heard. How else can you explain that our President and the media are together to fight the spread and existence of the grass-roots movement if it isn't a conspiracy? Why, every major newspaper is involved.

All I can say is what I saw on 9/12 tells me that the patriots are prepared to fight for the preservation of our great country. They are definitely not going to sit idly by and watch the current administration destroy the greatest country in the world. Do you want to join this fight or watch this great country be destroyed? If you are interested in joining then you can do yourself a favor and watch Fox News as they are the only news service that I know of that keeps you up to date on what your government is doing to you while you are not looking. Someone said, "Do not pay attention to what Obama says, but what he does!" I wish I would have said that.

Murray reports on 9/12, pt. 1

I would have sent this sooner but you have to understand that you're dealing with a 71 year old that drove 950 miles, marched 3 miles, and then drove back 950 miles over 4 days. I was pooped. But it was worth every minute and I would do it again.

When we got to the Freedom Plaza at 9:30 a.m. on 9/12 and saw the thousands of patriot grass-root protesters already filling the square it was AWESOME! It was emotional, inspiring and encouraging. It was all of those things because it proved that the SPIRIT OF AMERICA was alive. The spirit that started this country of ours and built it to greatness.

I left Mt. Morris and picked up my son-in-law in Sidney, Ohio. We stayed at a motel in Rockville, Md. When we went for breakfast the next morning the motel breakfast area was packed with patriots from Michigan. The excitement had already started. These people came prepared to voice a message to our President and representatives. The message wasn't just about healthcare as some will lead you to believe, it was about that plus all the reckless spending that has taken place the last several months. These people weren't the dangerous, threatening, angry "mob" that the Democrats claim is behind the protest. They were simply frustrated grass-roots taxpayers who do not agree with the direction our government is taking us. They wanted someone to listen to the voices of the masses. So far they have been muted by the press, the video networks and their own representatives. The lens caps remain on the network's cameras.

We took the Metro down to the Freedom Plaza where the March was to begin. While I was waiting at one of the changeovers I had two young ladies eyeing my sign which read PUT "WE THE PEOPLE" BACK IN GOVERNMENT. One of them ask what it was all about. I ask them if they knew what was happening that day and they said no. They had not heard of The March on Washington. So I turned my sign over to the message on the other side which read WHERE IS? NBC, CBS, ABC and said this is the reason why. I told them this was going to be one of the largest civil protest ever and the media has not considered it newsworthy. They asked good questions and I provided answers. Healthcare care up and one lady said she didn't have health insurance. I told her that if Obamacare went through she would have no choice, she would have to buy health insurance. She didn't know what to say. When it was time to leave they shook my hand and thanked me for providing them with the information about what was happening that day in their city and to their country.

We boarded the Metro and the excitement was mounting as we made each stop along the way and more and more patriots boarded. By the time we reached Freedom Plaza the Metro was so jammed packed it was almost impossible for passengers to get on or off. Then it happened. We walked out to the plaza around 9:30 and there they were. Thousands of grass-roots patriots already assembled in the square for a March that wasn't to begin until 11:30. There they were both young and old from everywhere across the country. Signs and flags waving with singing and chanting U.S.A ! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! I was moved. I was overjoyed. I was proud. I was glad I was a part of this and wished every grass- root patriotic American could feel that moment of electricity and power that can be achieved peacefully. The crowd was in unison singing, "God Bless America" and The National Anthem. Their many sign messages were clear, precise and to the point. There where no disagreements or arguments taking place as to what direction the country should take. People were friendly but focused and determined to have their messages be heard and seen by their representatives.

Van Jones and Louis Caldera both hired by Podesta

Center for American Progress is a leftist think tank funded by George Soros and founded by the well-connected John Podesta, President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, and President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff for the presidential transition. Located in Washington, D.C., the Center for American Progress, according to Wikipedia, has a campus outreach group, Campus Progress, and a sister advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Citing the significant number of its staff and former staff that have been appointed to positions in the Obama Administration, Time magazine recently declared that there is "no group in Washington with more influence at this moment in history." (Here's what CAP thinks of conservatives--they poll their own readers.)

CAP is also a foster home for the under-the-bus Obama appointees. Louis Caldera, the head of the White House military office forced out over the controversial Air Force One photo-op over the Statue of Liberty, became a senior fellow at CAP in June. Then Podesta also took in Van Jones, the recently resigned-in-the-middle-of-the night green czar of Obama. Podesta had a weepy (or was it wee-wee'd--I can't locate it) letter published in the Wall Street Journal extolling Van Jones virtues.

Actually, Jones, a "truther," says he "chose to quit rather than cost Obama the political capital it would have taken to save his job, saying now was not the time for the President to turn his attention from his agenda." (NY Daily News) Is it right wing McCarthyism and smears?

All Jones did was adjust the focus of the same “career” he’d always had – that of radical left-wing activist – to focus on pushing the latest fashionable excuse for all the same policies the left always wants.

The “revolution” Jones seeks would re-order the entire economy to take state control of private wealth and redistribute it to the hapless proletariat. This is the same agenda the Democratic Party has embraced for more than a generation, offering whatever excuse might sell the idea. They’ve been trying to sell poverty and health care as excuses to do this since at least the 1960s. Even the anti-war movement is, at least in part, about wanting to re-allocate the Pentagon budget for social do-gooder programs administered by the agencies and nonprofits that employ so many of these people. Dan Calabrese

So you see, it really wasn't his fault. Still you wonder what sort of mischief he will be up to sharing office space with Caldera and anyone else Podesta has taken in.

We're looking out for you (pimp and prostitute) says ACORN

The DC office of ACORN is a bit more sophisticated and savvy than the Baltimore office, but they are sure looking out for their clients, especially the cute guy who wants to become a politician. Need to hire any tax preparers? I hear they are looking for work.

Too much exposure?

Is this over exposure or just naked power?

Good news: Obama to appear on five separate chat shows Sunday morning to push ObamaCare

He won't appear on Fox or the Foodie nextwork. One commenter wrote: “An apple Obama a day, keeps the doctor away.”

The Signage at the 9/12 Protest

From a friend of a friend of a friend--Paula's account of 9/12 in DC. And this is just a small part of it. But it will probably go viral, and you'll see it.

Signage was amazing. . .swastikas everywhere. . .well, not exactly. I saw one sign that had two swastikas on it but the message was "Never Again." I carried two signs: "Don't ruin the health-care that saved my life" with a pink breast cancer ribbon and "to PresBO: if you misrepresent, we will call you out." I guess the last one could be considered a threat, but wasn't considered that when the president said it. Hobie's signs were pretty extreme: "Stop the Spending" and "Cut the Bureaucracy." Most signs were home-made, as we can't afford those slick things used by the unions.

American ingenuity in slogans always amazes me. Some of my random favorites were:

-- a very artistic skull and crossbones draped in black: "He lied, Grandma died"

-- picture of MLK: "he had a dream".....picture of BHO: "we got a nightmare"

-- "czar strangled banner" - a "flag" with pictures of the 30+ czars on the field of blue

-- "even my dog has a birth certificate"

-- "ACORN: because every pimp needs a federally funded home" (if you don't understand this one, you've not done your homework)

-- "Democrats have ACORN; Republicans need to grow some NUTS"

-- "bankrupting America - one unread bill at a time"

-- "tell the czar the peasants are pissed"

-- "28 years ago I fled communism and now it is catching up with me"

-- "Obamacare = Rationed Care," held by a well-costumed grim reaper

-- a picture of a backbone, and the words "Republicans need to grow one"

-- "national health care is like a hospital gown - you think you are covered but you are not" - you can imagine the visual that went with that.

-- "Congressional pink slips - coming soon"

-- "Stop bailing - you're drowning my kids"

-- "Truly toxic assets - U.S. Senate and House...stop whining and start resigning"

-- "seniors should not become shovel-ready projects"

-- "we are here to give corrupt public servants end-of-job counseling"

-- "get your hands off my private sector"

-- "what about transparency?"

-- "under Barack, America will go Ba-roke"

-- "I love my country but not this government'

-- "Bankrupt America?....yes we can"

-- "pucker up, Nancy...kiss my astroturf" (again, if you don't understand...homework time)

-- "Save the Constitution"

-- "Will the real Barack Obama please stand up?"

-- "stop, think, read, vote"

-- "Bush Republicans bankrupted America - Obama socialists are destroying what is left"

and my personal favorite,

-- "Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant." - James Madison

Interestingly enough, Rep. Joe Wilson was the man of the day, garnering more references than Obama or anyone else. Lots of signs indicated that, although he said it in the wrong place, the sentiment was correct. Not just about the president, but about most politicians.

Governor Strickland's illegal immigrant problem

Henry Guzman, Ohio's Safety Director, resigned in August. About a year late. From AP:

[His] Department of Public Safety delayed a proposed crackdown [on registrations and plates for illegals] for more than a year, a newspaper [Columbus Dispatch] reported Sunday.

Director Henry Guzman, whose last day is Friday, delayed the proposed crackdown after meeting with Latino business owners and those who profited by charging fees to falsify power-of-attorney forms to obtain registrations for illegal immigrants, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Guzman announced his resignation last Aug. 27 because of a feud with State Highway Patrol Superintendent Richard Collins, who also resigned.

Guzman did not know that so-called "runners" - Latinos with legal U.S. residency who collected fees of more than $100 each to get the registrations - were present at a July 31, 2008, meeting to discuss a crackdown on the policy scheduled to begin the next day, officials said. Car dealers, financing and insurance company officials were worried about their bottom lines and undocumented workers' ability to drive and support their families.

New restrictions didn't take effect until Aug. 24 of this year. The new policy requires a valid driver's license number or state ID number for the person receiving the registration when power-of-attorney forms are used. . .

Ohio House Minority Leader Bill Batchelder, a Medina Republican, said the new policy should have been in place to keep undocumented workers from getting registrations. Any problems could be worked out over time, he said.

"I'm absolutely baffled," Batchelder said. "They were intentionally permitting the law to be violated. It's unbelievable."

Records show that BMV investigators have considered Ohio to be a haven for the registration of vehicles by illegal immigrants - inside and outside the state - for at least four years.

Ohio only required a Social Security number for a person to register a vehicle on behalf of another with a power-of-attorney form. Federal law prohibited the state from checking the numbers to verify identities.

Read the blog of Kyle Sisk. He notes that our Republican governor was humiliated for far less.

Again, it looks like the Republicans and our ever vigilant "free press" were asleep at the switch. That automobile registration means they could register to vote--a fact I'm sure was not lost on ACORN. But not to worry. A runner could earn $8,000 a week getting license plates for illegals, and so it's sort of Guzman's stimulus plan.

Bill Maher's sexism and racism

He's good at finding subliminal racism in others, like an abbreviation for "negative," but stuck on stupid about sexual slavery and "don't teach them to read" advice from ACORN. Just google Bill Maher and ACORN. Oops. Nothing there. Oh, except to shoot the messenger.

Glenn Beck’s army of zombie retirees are marching on Washington in protest of, well, everything. It’s the Million Moron March, although they won’t get a million of course, because many will be confused and drive to Washington state. But they will make news, because people who take to the streets always do. They’re at the town hall screaming at the congressmen, we’re on the couch screaming at the TV.

So folks, he calls you morons for expecting your representatives to represent you, but sex slavery of children is just not worth commenting about. He says you, Democrats and Republicans and Independents, can't find Washington DC. I think the last count was around 2 million. On ACORN, he's tongue tied. Slavery only matters to a liberal if it happened in the 18th century.

One year anniversary since Lehman and Ike

Yes, Hurricane Ike also hit Ohio with $553 million in losses, the second most expensive storm to ever hit. But unless you live here, you probably don't remember. The Lehman crisis you may recall--lots of news stories about it yesterday. WSJ (9-15) our nation's most liberal newspaper (can't find a thing to report about ACORN) had several related comments, op-eds and observations:

Speeches were made which the authors (By John Cochrane and Luigi Zingales) paraphrase tongue in cheek: "The financial system is about to collapse. We can't tell you why. We need $700 billion. We can't tell you what we're going to do with it." from "Lehman and the financial crisis" "One year, 2 CEO's and $82 billion since the government rescue of AIG, monsters are still rattling in the closet." Dennis K. Berman, "The Game." "At the height of the [housing] boom, just 20% of Universal Lending [Denver] mortgages were backed by FHA, which guarantees loans to borrowers who can't afford big down payments. Today FHA accounts for more than 80% of his business," more government, more paper work, but more sales. It's no longer free enterprise for Peter Lansing. "Today I think of my self as a government contractor. . . Plan B is to sell pencils on the corner." John Helsinrath, "No easy exit." Gee, I hope all those doctors who think a public option is OK for health insurance are paying attention to Mr. Lansing's business.

Keep in mind FHA always had a higher rate of foreclosure, so don't expect that to change, except to climb higher, like your taxes. Also notice that the same non-profits that funnelled people (for a handsome fee skimmed from the government, the agent, the buyer and the lender) into homes they couldn't afford, are now (for a handsome fee) offering foreclosure workshops and tax advice. Meanwhile, yesterday we were treated to the most tepid good economic news by Gregory Zuckman (for rich people who gamble) I think I've ever seen in the Wall Street.

1. Stocks are up nearly 50% since early March. 2. Housing markets are stabilizing. 3. So are auto markets. (Sorry Chrysler dealers and pension plans) 4. Consumer confidence was higher in mid-September than was originally forecast. 5. Labor markets, although grim, are stabilizing. 6. Global trade is rebounding. 7. Durable goods orders are climbing. 8. Core inflation rates are trending lower in many countries. 9. Inflation seems to be under control. 10.Risky bonds are climbing.

Wow. I'm underwhelmed.

If you want to witness a real hate crime

Just go to Google and type in "Hate crimes against women." Personally, I don't think special laws are needed for specific groups--gays, blacks, the elderly, etc. Most black men are killed by other black men; most gays are killed by other gays; most elderly are not abused, but are injured from their own confusion and neglect. Hate crimes are just laws to trip up the white majority--they rarely apply to minorities. But if there were a need for a special kind of law to hang someone twice for the same crime, it should be those against women. We saw the President of the United States jump to the defense of Louis Gates, with no knowledge of the situation, a man who had been locked out of his house and the police called when it appeared to a neighbor that he was trying to break in. We saw him speak out on the death of Tiller an abortionist; and the death of a museum guard. All men. Meanwhile, all over the nation, women were being beat up, raped and murdered, and not a peep from Washington.

Shortly before we left northern Ohio to return home, the local Toledo stations were all reporting the death of a women tied up and weighted down with cement blocks and dropped in a marina. You probably didn't hear about it. I'd call that hate, wouldn't you? Last summer it was the pregnant white Akron mother killed by her black policeman boyfriend, and father of her toddler who witness his mother being shot. No one called that a hate crime. What about the young girl held prisoner in the back yard of her captor, raped and forced to bear his children? Sounds like hate, not lust. Only the bizarre story could bump Michael Jackson off the news for a few minutes. And remember the guy who shot up that exercise class? How many women did he kill? He didn't even know them. But they were women. Now they've found the body of Annie Le, the missing Yale student and bride to be, hidden in the basement of a medical building.

The despicable crimes against the women of Darfur at the UN refugee camp in Chad so far exceed anything that happened at Abu Graib or Gitmo, you can't even put them in the same category. But what gets the headlines? Whatever fits the liberal agenda, and feminism aside, which these days won't even speak out against Muslim oppression for fear of losing their position on the left, crimes against women really aren't important. . . because they are. . .after all. . . just women.

Fix Health Care Policy

Yes, let's. . . Fix Health Care Policy

The Problem. Obama wants to make all the decisions.

The Solution. Individuals and families make the decisions.

America's health care system is one-sixth of the entire economy -- larger than Britain's. Restructuring something that large and complex in one massive bill rammed through Congress is a fool's errand.

Remembering how we got here

Was it just two years ago we woke up to the damage the sub-prime loans and putting people into mortgage products they couldn't possibly pay was going to do to all of us? Usually, I don't search out Wikipedia for answers, but this little paragraph really sums it up nicely. The numbers refer to its footnotes.

The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.[1][2][3]

Congress passed the Act in 1977 to reduce discriminatory credit practices against low-income neighborhoods, a practice known as redlining.[4][5] The Act requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage regulated financial institutions to meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered, consistent with safe and sound operation. (See full text of Act and current regulations.[1] To enforce the statute, federal regulatory agencies examine banking institutions for CRA compliance, and take this information into consideration when approving applications for new bank branches or for mergers or acquisitions.[6]

Reading through it, you see all the intentions were good--by community activists, the FHA, Fannie and Fred, oh, and lookee here

Community groups only slowly organized to take advantage of their right under the Act to complain about law enforcement of the regulations."

So soon banks and lending institutions were being threatened and pushed into unwise credit risks by these "community groups," [who were taking their cut from the applicants.] Hmmm. Now those same groups are threatening Americans who are exposing them--like the film maker in the Baltimore ACORN and Glenn Beck and Fox News. [I don't know if they've intimidated NYT and CNN and broadcast news, but they are certainly quiet.] Time to wake up, folks, You've been scammed big time--the intentions of the Democrats 30 years ago were good (I was one so I know). And the Republicans and business CEOs fell in line and were afraid of being called racists if they resisted. Who could not support a welfare mother or a Latina housekeeper with suspect documentation getting her own home?

Interesting that I got to this article through another article on "Centrally Planned Economies" which used the CRA to show how it's done in America.

English Pronunciation

Last week I was at a local department store attempting to spread some money around to help the economy (I got a lovely one piece, full coverage swim suit for only $6 marked down from $40 and I don't even swim!) and I was behind a good old boy with tattooed arms neck to wrist who was attempting to be pleasant with the Pakistani check out clerk. I didn't understand a word he was saying; and I'm sure she didn't either. When it was my turn, I was tempted to mention it to her, but wasn't sure how much English she knew other than the basics--did you find what you need and sign here.

I noticed OSU has a class that even non-foreign students are allowed to take called

Pronunciation
Understanding English Pronunciation
02 credit hours
"An overview of the English sound system, with emphasis on understanding meaningful distinctions in rhythm, stress, and reductions. In-class practice of listening and speaking skills."

I'm pretty good with accents and dialects, but I have to say, this guy really put me to the test, and I failed. I've taken the on-line pronunciation quizes. Have no idea how authoritative they are, but apparently I'm part Canadian.

Rebuke your representative

if she tries to vote on a formal House rebuke of Joe Wilson. He has already apologized and the President accepted it. Harry Reid and John Murtha have never apologized to anyone for their outrageous speeches and acts, and they never will.

Donations pouring in for Wilson

Politico reports

"A source on Rep. Joe Wilson's campaign says his fundraising has broken $1 million -- and surpassed that of his Democratic rival, Rob Miller -- since his outburst of "You lie!" during President Obama's address to Congress Wednesday.

The source said Wilson's current tally is $1,005,021 from 18,859 donations amid a high-profile campaign on the Drudge Report and elsewhere telling conservatives that Wilson is "under attack" for his willingness to take on Obama.

Wilson, who initially apologized for his words, is now riding a reaction that has surpassed the liberal backlash to his words: Miller has raised less than $900,000, according to the Democratic fundraising site ActBlue -- though still more than enough to envigorate his challenge. [this was updated later to a million for miller]

Still, Wilson's success -- despite having been criticized by Republican leaders -- represents the power of the conservative grassroots to reward politicians who confront the White House in the sharpest terms. Link.

That's a lot of small donations. Want to bet on the big guns donating to Miller like Soros, Move it over, ACLU etc.? Also, if you wish to contribute, I'd use snail mail. The wackos have hacked his site.

Notice Politico's wording and scare quotes. (Liberal site which struggles with fairness) Why is a Drudge Report called high profile, but ALL the MSM supporting Obama isn't? And Reid's calling Bush a liar and loser many times wasn't sharpest terms, but Wilson's spontaneous outburst was?

No trash day

Over at The Lonely conservative there is an interesting photo essay about the lack of trash left by the tea party folks. She has photos of the Obama inauguration compared to the 9/12 tea party. Maybe it's people who walk the talk, (the green-goes have bad manners but talk a good line), or maybe these protesters just bent over during the walk and looked for a trash receptacle. Being primarily conservatives, they've probably figured out tax dollars have to clean up trash. The photos of the trash left after the Obama event were the worst I've ever seen and apparently there wasn't a very timely pick up afterwards. Sort of a foretaste of what would happen to the economy. But just as the media has underestimated the number who attended, they'll probably over estimate the trash problem it created.

We'll try to get a first hand report from Murray when he returns.

Hispanic Pastors respond to ELCA Sexuality statement

"We have received with profound sadness the ELCA Churchwide Assembly decision of passing a Social Statement on Human Sexuality which significantly changes the historical teaching and practice of the Church on Sexuality. We have also read with great disappointment and grave concern the changing of our ministry standards, allowing non-celibate homosexual pastors, associates in ministry, diaconal ministers, and deaconesses to serve as rostered leaders in the ELCA.

We, Hispanic ELCA rostered leaders of the Florida-Bahamas Synod, REPUDIATE these new policies, declaring them to be incompatible with Christian teaching, the tradition of the Christian Church, and our consciences. As Martin Luther did in his own day, we reject the idea that ANY human being, prelate, council, or Assembly, can rightfully vote to invalidate the teachings of Holy Scripture.

It is clear to us that the ELCA has decided to stop recognizing the Authority of the Bible, presenting a different and diluted Gospel not in accordance with the teaching of the Scriptures (Galatians 1:6-10). Therefore, we RENOUNCE the decision of the Churchwide Assembly and will continue to uphold the clear Biblical standards for marriage, family, and sexuality."

From the CORE website

If you haven't been following this painful, long drawn out battle, read "How the ELCA Left the Great Tradition for Liberal Protestantism" at Christianity Today.

Right before the vote on the Social Statement a totally unexpected tornado hit the Minneapolis Conference Center where we were meeting as well as the huge Central Lutheran Church next door, knocking the cross off one of its towers. Orthodox voting members saw the work of God in the tornado's cross-toppling effects and in the vote that passed with a .666 majority. Revisionists noted that the sun came out after the vote. In response the orthodox quipped that the sun comes out almost every day, but rogue tornados are pretty rare!