Bob Barr: A Real Choice
June 27th, 2008 by Steve
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Andrew Sullivan’s Observation of the Day
June 13th, 2008 by Steve
“Can you imagine if Clinton had simply waived the FISA law and tapped phones without a warrant? Or detained people without charges for years on end? Bob Barr would be the Republican nominee by now.”
Here’s the background for the quote.
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Rest in Peace, Mary Anne
June 2nd, 2008 by Steve
Mary Anne Blake, wife of former Birmingham City Councilman Dr. Jimmy Blake, died this morning in a tragic motor vehicle accident. Jimmy is a good friend of mine, and I’d like to offer condolences and prayers from my entire family to his.
While we’ve talked on the phone since then, I last saw Jimmy a few weeks ago when he joined my family, a few friends and former Congressman Bob Barr for dinner at a restaurant in Five Points South.
My fondest memory of Mary Anne is when she spent all day with me working a polling place during the 2005 Birmingham City Council election. Her reputation, energy and character helped sway a lot of votes at that box that day. I really enjoyed working with her.
The world will never be quite the same after the loss of Mary Anne Blake.
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H/T to Rolf…
May 30th, 2008 by Steve
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The funniest article I’ve seen in some time…
May 30th, 2008 by Steve
…is over at the American Spectator.
Meet the New Barry Goldwater
By Quin Hillyer
Published 5/30/2008 12:08:23 AM Many conservatives realistic enough to know there will never be “another Reagan” nevertheless wish at least for another Barry Goldwater. They don’t realize that we already have one. His name is John McCain.
What’s next on the agenda at the Spectator? Suggesting that President Bush and Paul Wolfowitz be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
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Philly police: Kicking ‘em when they’re already down
May 7th, 2008 by Steve
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Barr to Debate at Oxford University
May 7th, 2008 by Steve
Former Congressman Bob Barr has been invited to speak at the Oxford Union at the University of Oxford, the world’s most prestigious debating forum. Several U.S. Presidents have spoken at Oxford, including former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon.
The topic of the debate will be “This House Believes that 1984 has Arrived.” Barr will discuss topics for which he is well-known in the United States, such as privacy, surveillance, and government power. Barr’s debate colleagues include Lord Tom McNally, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Those opposed to Barr include Gerad Baker, Editor of the US Times, Steve Richards, Editor of Politics for the Independent, and Howard Stapleton, inventor of the [Mosquito Alarm].
The debate will be Thursday May 8th at 6:30 pm BST.
Barr, a former Member of Congress (1995-2003), also served previously as a US Attorney and with the Central Intelligence Agency. He is a lawyer and currently works with national organizations on issues related to privacy and national security.
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Libertarian Wackos
April 22nd, 2008 by Steve
The headline may read “Candidate doesn’t mind being labeled ‘wacko’” — but I certainly resent being associated with those who think ‘wacko’ is a good thing. I’m certain to anger some of my fellow Libertarians with this view, but I’m beyond the point of caring. We’ve got one fruitloop running for office in Utah who says he’s “the Ron Paul of Utah congressional politics” while closing his campaign announcement by stating that the news media are “ignoring signs of extraterrestrial visits and the military’s blockade of information about outer space visitors.”
From the article:
“I don’t mind being seen as a wacko because to me, the world looks completely wacked,” said Buchman, the Libertarian nominee for the seat of Republican Rep. Rob Bishop. Buchman wore a black tie covered in planets and stars and galaxies to the news conference at the National Press Club in Washington.
There is also the website LibertariansForJustice.org, which states:
We’ve already had a farce of an official investigation, I doubt if another governmental investigation will be real until something changes. That something is an end-run around the official media. Until the mass media covers the dozens of panels, grand juries and other unofficial investigations that the 9/11 truth community has already had including their conclusions & all their evidence, nothing will change.
It gets even better:
I think a day will come, perhaps not too long from now when such a large segment of the population has tuned out of TV & mainstream radio & newspapers that the corporations will notice that they have lost a large segment of the consumer population’s business. They will have to advertise with the alternative news sources in order to get business. This will change everything. In the meantime, don’t sponsor the corporate machine. Turn off your TV & turn on the alternatives. Don’t buy from large corporations, sponsor small, locally owned businesses. Sponsor the companies that advertise in the alternative media. The whole nation has begun to buy organic food, this is a beginning. When the whole nation buys alternative media we will get a real 9/11 investigation & hopefully get our democratic republic back as well.
Of course, a creepy video they display overlaps their online poll, which is filled with very biased questions. They could have left another option, something along the lines of “Do you think 9/11 Truthers are nutso?” I’m sure this option would receive the greatest number of votes.
Fortunately, their website design skills are probably superior to their organizational skills.
I’ve put a lot of time, energy and money into helping the Libertarian Party to become a more mainstream, viable and legitimate political party. If you start seeing people like me leaving the LP, you’ll certainly know why.
Keep in mind that I was the one who had to deal with the national media in 2006 when our blue guy turned the Senate blue.
As a parting thought, maybe the nutballs are right. The melting point of steel is warmer than the temperature of Pluto and we have no known fuels which can melt steel girders. We don’t have the technology to force buildings to defy the laws of gravity. Perhaps it stands to reason that the Martians are truly to blame for 9/11. The theory make sense because of the timing of the secret government plot to declassify Pluto as an actual planet. If you don’t like my hypothesis, then disprove it.
Beam me up, Scotty!
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Alabama Legislative update from NO2REALID
April 9th, 2008 by Steve
House Joint Resolution 13
pposing Alabama’s participation in the Federal REAL ID program.This Resolution is stalled in the RULES COMMITTEE.
The members of the Rules Committee are:
Ken Guin, Chair; James Buskey, Vice Chair; Ron Johnson, Ranking Minority Member; Barbara Boyd, Craig Ford, Blaine Galliher, Todd Greeson, Randy Hinshaw, Richard Laird, Jack Page, Arthur Payne, John Robinson, Rod Scott, Pebblin Warren, Cam Ward
Members of this committee are intentionally stalling this Resolution. Please contact each of the members and express to them your wishes to have the Resolution pass out of Committee immediately!
The Resolution :
* recognizes Constitutional principles violated by the federal Real ID act including American citizens’ right to move about freely within our nation objects to “massive federal databases containing the driver’s license information on every American, accessible to every state motor vehicle employee ….”
* cites the significant risk of identify theft inherent in the Real ID system and its monetary costs to the state “says REAL ID would provide little security benefit and still leave identification systems open to insider fraud, counterfeit documentation, and database failures”…
Members to be contacted: Read the rest of this entry »
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Changes: I gotta new job
April 8th, 2008 by Steve
I’m now working for the Bob Barr 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee. Here’s my first blog entry there. And of course, we have web gadgets:
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Sweet Home Leningrad
March 31st, 2008 by Steve
Here’s the description:
Prepare yourself for this one - maybe with a Stoli martini or two.
Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Red Army had an official choir composed of male soldiers and musicians. It still exists. The Red Army Choir performs throughout Russia to this day.
Now consider the Finnish rock band called The Leningrad Cowboys. A little while ago, they held a concert in Russia, in which - to the screaming applause of Russkie teen-agers - they got the Red Army Choir to join them on stage for a performance of “Sweet Home Alabama.” In English. You couldn’t make this up.
Here’s the video:
As an Alabamian who was in Germany when the wall came a tumblin’ down, this one is pretty cool to me.
H/T to GMH.
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Five Years, Four Thousand Deaths
March 24th, 2008 by Steve
Happy Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq War (sarcasm intended), America! Perhaps we should place 4,000 red, white and blue candles on the cake. Once again, Bush promised victory in Iraq, but he once claimed that we have already achieved victory there.
We may have just hit the five-year mark, but outside of Neoconland, no one is wishing each other Happy Anniversary tidings.
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Governor Riley’s Sexual Misconduct
March 21st, 2008 by Steve
From the Daily Show:
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Ron Paul Girl Gets the Boot
March 21st, 2008 by Steve
The gory details here:
Liv’s Last Video? - video powered by Metacafe
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Those Decatur Nazis
March 14th, 2008 by Steve
I’m not talking about the anti-smoking Nazis or the tax increase Nazis, either. From the AP:
DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — From the ground, the Wesley Acres Methodist retirement home looks like any other building. But fly over in an airplane, and the outline is unmistakable: It’s one big swastika.
Prompted by complaints from a Jewish activist, the agency that owns the government-funded building is planning to alter its shape to disguise the Nazi symbol. The move comes just a few years after a $1 million design modification meant to quiet similar complaints from a U.S. senator.
“The difficulty is there are a limited number of options for fixing a building that has been there for some time,” said Mike Giles, counsel for the Methodist Homes Corp. of Alabama and Northwest Florida. “We have to come up with a way to fix an appearance that we want solved and not hurt our residents.”
Wesley Acres provides government-subsidized housing for 117 low-income people ages 62 and above. Most have no reason to suspect their hallways take on a sinister shape.
The one-story building, designed in the mid-1970s and completed in 1980, underwent a $1 million alteration in 2001 with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development following complaints by Democratic Sen. Howell Heflin, who has since died. But the addition of two wings did little to hide the offensive shape, and in some ways accentuates it.
Above, you’ll see the satellite view of the building from Google Maps.
H/T to Nick Gillespie.
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