Kermit The Frog Hates Oil Companies? Next Muppet Movie Anti-Capitalist?

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Entertainment, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

News has leaked out from the folks at Muppet central (The Jim Henson Company) that the next Muppet feature film will sport a story line that attacks oil companies. According to CHUD.com, the story will center around all our favorite Muppets producing a show to raise money to save their old theater. They need the money, of course, because an “evil character” is trying to buy the building so that he might tear it down to “get at the oil underneath.”

Why is it we have to turn everything into an anti-capitalism, anti-oil hatefest?

Even more alarming is the fact that it seems that the writer/director team pegged to head the project will be Jason Segel and Nick Stoller, the team that recently gave us the very R rated “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” One wonders if the Muppets will go from kid friendly to edgie and R rated? (I must admit that I would doubt the owners of the Muppet property would do that to their long standing kid friendly product, though.)

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Ill. Law to ‘Protect’ Taxpayers Would Rip Them off Instead

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

OK, let me get this straight. In order to “protect consumers,” the State of Illinois is considering a law that almost seems like a good idea at first hearing.

Currently, Illinois taxpayers can claim their unclaimed property, lost or abandoned property or overpaid property taxes for free. All an Illinois citizen need do is contact the state and the process can be started for free. And, currently the reclaimed overpaid property taxes alone amounts to some $20 million dollars per year not to mention the other items like re-claimed property, etc.

Sounds great, right?

Sure the “free” part sound great, but there is a catch. A citizen has to somehow find out that they are owed this windfall. And the state doesn’t lift a finger to alert any citizen that they have such a windfall coming their way.

So, to help unite the citizen with the overpaid taxes, there are businesses in the state that take the time to do the research and contact the Illinois citizens who are obviously unaware that they have property in their name or cash that is owed them. Then these companies help citizens reclaim the property and cash… all for a fee, of course.

Imagine this, evil business making money off citizens who can get the same thing done for free by the state! The gall of capitalism is revealed once again.
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Green collar jobs to the rescue?

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Global Warming, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Science, Society/Culture | No Comments

-By Michael M. Bates

It’s the latest. It’s the greatest. Green collar jobs are going to help turn around the economy if Democrats have their way.

Senator Barack Obama last month promised the government would spend $150 billion to create 5 million such jobs. At $30,000 a pop, that’s placing a great deal of faith in federal job training.

Even your typical white person has hopped on the green bandwagon. Also last month, Senator Hillary Clinton argued in a debate: “We can create at least five million new jobs. . . I helped to pass legislation to begin a training program for green collar jobs. I want to see people. . . trained to do the work that will put solar panels on roofs, install wind turbines, do geothermal, take advantage of biofuels.”

In all the excitement and all the campaign promises, it’s painless for them to overlook, if they ever knew, that federal job training programs have been less than a rousing triumph for many years.

Franklin Roosevelt initiated the Work Progress Administration to ease the mass unemployment of the Great Depression. My Mom lived through that era and said that WPA ended up standing for We Piddle Along to some Americans.

Another observer noted that the WPA gave a bad name to leaning on a shovel.
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You-Tuber Puts Me To Music!

March 30, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Islam, Islamofascism, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Security/Safety, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last week a You-Tube poster named Karen Smith contacted me and wanted to know if it was OK if she put one of my pieces to music and up on the venerable You-Tube. I said that I didn’t mind at all… and so she did.

The article she chose was called “Free Expression Quashed: YouTube Removes ‘Blasphemies’ Against Islam”, in which I took You-tube to task for allow radical Islamists in Pakistan to censor the video service itself. Not only did You-Tube bow to Islamofascist pressure to stop “insults to Islam” get into Pakistan, but You-Tube agreed to stop such so-called insults on every You-Tube service in the world!

Well, here is the result of Karen’s work and I have to say, I enjoyed it.

Thanks for the effort, Karen. I hope we don’t see You-Tube ban our Karen, though.

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Mich. Speaker of House Employs State Paid Thugs to Stop Recall Effort

March 30, 2008 | Filed Under Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 9 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is a story that details how far Democrats will go to destroy the people’s ability to be heard in government. It also shows Democrat’s penchant to abuse their power, their blatant waste of government funds, and the incestuous relationship that the anti-democratic process unions have with Democrats.

Up in Michigan, the thieves in the Democrat Party voted in a gigantic tax increase. Michigan has been mired in a one state recession for quite a while and Governor Jennifer Granholm’s only solution has been to raise taxes to pay for government “shortfalls” — and by “shortfall” you can read government waste. Well, after years of this localized recession in Michigan, the state legislature finally OKayed this massive tax increase meant to “save” the state from its financial ills.

Now, remember, this increase was supposed to make up for deficits in current commitments. Of course, as soon as the tax increase was passed, Governor Granholm and the state Democrats passed a new budget that raised spending by $760 million dollars. And the state GOP has reckoned that the Granholm tax increases has taken more than $602 million dollars from the pockets of Michigan families just since October of last year.

It is a typical Democrat Party mess of overspending, high, punitive taxes, lost business and a big hurt put on the average citizen.

So, what is the recourse that the people of Michigan have to address these wasteful politicians? The recall. Michigan has a recall law whereby citizens can gather 8,000 signatures to recall any politician under the Governor that they have decided no longer serves them. And a recall effort has been launched against Democrat Speaker of the Michigan House, Andy Dillon.

So, as these citizen activists who are sick of being bled to death by the uncaring masters in the state capitol of Lansing fanned out into Redford Township to ask the folks to sign their recall petition, they were met with harassment from state workers and union members imported for the purpose. The recall effort is all perfectly legal and serves as a fine example of the people acting in the democratic way to try and change the bad habits of their representatives in government, but the unions and the Democrats headed by Speaker Dillon are wholly against this expression of freedom and liberty.

What could be more democratic, more quintessentially American than a recall effort?

Apparently the Democratic Party and Speaker Andy Dillon are not so interested in the democratic process.
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Did French Soldiers Torture Congolese Citizens?

March 30, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Foreign Policy, Media Bias, Military, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Swedish military officials are accusing the French army of torturing civilians in Congo during their participation in the EU-led Artemis mission to stop marauding bandit bands plaguing the north-eastern part of the country.

Operation Artemus, the first major EU-led military effort, was supposed to mark a new era in joint European military operations. The short lived mission was active only a few months ending on Sept. 1 of 2003.

Now the Swedish military is accusing the French of torturing those whom they were supposed to be protecting.

According to the Swedish television news magazine Uppdrag Granskning, Swedish soldiers observed their French compatriots as they tortured a Congolese man in civilian clothes for hours, allegedly beating and strangling him. According to the report, the episode didn’t end until the Swedish soldiers went to the French commander.

Now, we can certainly look to France to investigate this incident and, if found to be true, we should expect them to prosecute these soldiers. But, I want to caution Americans from pointing to this with triumphalism.

We have to wonder why it has taken from 2003 to 2007 to report this torture claim? Second and most importantly, we cannot point at the “French” and say that “they” torture. This sort of behavior is not a French military policy and was likely just the actions of single soldiers. Even if a local French commander either encouraged or simply looked the other way while these things were occurring (if they really did) we cannot claim that it was any sort of official policy to the point where we can say “the French torture.” Any more than we can say with factual confidence that the U.S. military had any sort of policies that would have sanctioned the foolishness in Abu Ghraib.

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The Very Predictable and Very Convenient Deadlock

March 30, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Race, Society/Culture, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

Some will say the Clinton/Obama bashing and counter bashing is a clever orchestration arranged by moles working for Al Gore. The more they bash and counter-bash, the bigger the hero he will be when he suddenly arrives just in time to convert his party into an unstoppable effort to put himself in the Oval Office.

Others will say this is simply a case of mismanaged political strategies that are playing into Al Gores hands. This scenario was predictable so why not sit back and wait for the most appropriate moment to make a move? Why should he spend his money or energy running for President until his opponents spend all of theirs convincing America that neither one is fit to be President?

Is the Clinton/Obama deadlock by design or by accident? I say it doesn’t matter. I say it is not only “convenient” to Gore’s ambitions, it was sufficiently predictable to count on as a stepping stone of “heroic” proportions. When two candidates are perceived as equally inexperienced, it is predictable that both candidates will focus on the other’s weaknesses rather than the issues. When two candidates have a young and extremely dedicated following, there will be impulsive trash talk and there will also be emotionally driven remarks that belittle those they were aimed at them as well as those who uttered them. In their efforts to tear each other apart, they will tear themselves apart. And Mr. Gore will arrive as a great and benevolent hero without spending a dime!
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Obama HAS to Hate America or Lose ‘Black Vote’

March 29, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, News, President, Publius Contributor, Race, Religion, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Friday, March 28th, Barack Obama made his latest stab at explaining away why he spent 20 years as a comfortable member of the volatile and racist Trinity United Church of Christ on the south side of Chicago. This was the church where Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr. bellowed sermons filled with hate for whites and the United States of America as well as a church that published anti-Jew, pro Hamas terrorist articles in church newsletters. And, like all Obama’s other “explanations on this matter” this one leaves a lot to be desired.

This time, Obama tried his best to make us believe that he would have quit the church over Rev. Wright’s racist, hate filled rants if the good Rev. hadn’t retired first – even though it was only a year ago. In an excerpt from an upcoming interview CNN reports that Obama earnestly hoped to assure America that Wright’s rhetoric was “outrageously wrong” and that his brand of “religion” would have caused Barack to quit the church had it continued.

The problem is, when you look at what Barack really said, it does not assure us that he would have left the church over Wright’s obscenities any more than a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar could be believed should he say that it was the last time he intended to steal a cookie. It’s easy to claim what you would have done after being caught at something. But the proof is in the pudding as history shows what was really done. Barack didn’t leave the church over Wright or anything else. He sat in that congregation with his wife and children nodding his head and saying “Amen” to Wright’s 20 some years of railing against the United States.

Barack talked about the controversy on ABC’s “The View” and tried to sound as if he was somehow disturbed by Wright’s long history of anti-Americanism and racist diatribes.

“Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn’t have felt comfortable staying there at the church,” the senator said.

To ferret out the real truth here, let’s break Obama’s claim down line for line, let’s Fisk the rhetoric, if you will. (Barack’s words follow in bold)

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Are You An Authentic White?

March 29, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Media Bias, Nancy Morgan, News, Publius Contributor, Race, Religion, Security/Safety, Society/Culture | No Comments

-By Nancy Morgan

Are you an authentic white person? For the answer to that, we need to go to the current authentic black community. They are the ones who define who is and who is not an authentic member of their race. Be they black or white. (Since Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc., have not yet amassed political clout, they’re excluded from being categorised by their skin color.)

The reigning Black elite have decided that authentic ‘typical white people’ are inherently racist. As Obama so blithely stated, this prejudice is inbred and rears its ugly head every time a white encounters a black. For those whites who believe reparations to date, in the form of trillions of dollars, affirmative action, special dispensations and a color-coded justice system, have adequately addressed the shame of their ancestors’ sin of slavery, well, it hasn’t. We are informed that racial prejudice is still rampant in American society. If you don’t see it, its because it has taken the more insidious form of ‘institutional racism.’

Not to worry, Obama assures us we can change. Phew. Just elect him President, and by virtue of the moral authority inherent in his skin color, he will kindly inform and advise his fellow Americans, excuse me, his fellow white americans, on the proper obeisance and reparations due all black people. Oops, I meant, all ‘authentic’ black people. Uncle Toms like Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, and other successful black people who succeeded on their own merit are not ‘authentic,’ and most decidedly not representative of the oppressed black community.
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Senator Obama and Christian Love

March 29, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Family, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Society/Culture, Thomas Brewton | No Comments

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Distressing remarks from the Senator’s pastor have been hashed and rehashed, but something more needs to be said.

In addition to assessing the inflammatory preaching by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in terms of patriotism and decency, let’s also examine it from the viewpoint of Christian love.

Let’s acknowledge at the outset that we in the general public do not know the typical content of Rev. Wright’s sermons, whether his condemnation of the United States and of whites was an aberration or the norm.

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)

But, however humanly understandable may be Rev. Wright’s vitriol reported in the media, it is far removed from the teachings of Jesus.
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Sun-Times Blames City Taxpayers, Not City Government, for Chicago Budget Shortfall

March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Chicago Sun-Times really pulled a whopper in their March 26th piece about a tax on bottled water that the Chicago City Council passed earlier this year. Chicago levied a 5 cent a bottle tax on each unit of bottled water sold in the city expecting to raise $875,000 a month on the tax. But somehow this windfall to the city has yet to be realized with the tax booty so far only amounting to $554,000. Because of this “below expected” revenue the Sun-Times claimed that this shortfall is “exacerbating a budget crunch” for the city.

I’m sorry Sun-Times but a tax shortfall isn’t “exacerbating a budget crunch.” The city itself is doing the “exacerbating” not the taxpayers. The City Council created a never before heard of tax and then spent the money it assumed it’d get. But then it didn’t get it. How can we blame the taxpayers who avoided the tax — legally avoided it, I might add — for any “budget crunch”? The budget crunch is the fault of wild spending by the Chicago City Council, not by the taxpayers not being bled enough.

In fact this new obscenity of a tax reveals a perfect example of human nature in action. The spendthrifts on the Chicago City Council created a new confiscatory tax out of thin air by placing a 5 cent tax on every bottle of water in the city. So, what happened? The suburbs found that, to avoid the tax, Chicago residents streamed into the suburbs and bought their water by the skids full in those neighboring towns.

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If You’re a Teenager, Listen up

March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, GOP, Government, Corruption, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Vince Johnson | No Comments

-By Vince Johnson

This picture was taken back in 1950’s when I was in my teens. If you don’t know who I am, your parents or teacher will. They will probably tell you how I blew the whole deal after I got to the top of the world. Well that’s OK, because it’s true. In 1977, I was 42 and worth millions, but I messed up big time. I was addicted to drugs. I overdosed. The end wasn’t pretty and I didn’t make it.

So now let me tell you about another kind of addiction. It is going on in your Congress. The “addiction” I’m talking about has to do with borrowing money. Congress is absolutely hooked on borrowing money. Tons and tons of money. Check this number: $9,000,000,000,000! That’s $9 trillion! That’s how much money Congress has borrowed to cover their hog wild spending. If I made $100 million a year, I would have to work 90 thousand years to pay it off! If your calculator doesn’t have enough zeros, check it out with your math teacher.

Here’s what you ought to keep in mind. They are borrowing most of that money from YOU!
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Good News From the Graveyard!

March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Family, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Society/Culture, Thomas Brewton | No Comments

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Jesus is Risen!

Pastor Steve Treash preached the sermon for Easter Sunday at the Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church in North Stamford, Connecticut.

The good news is that death is dead; fear has fled; and new life is ahead.

Jesus came to free us from the fear of death, to unite us with God in eternal life.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

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LATimes’ Dan Rather-Like Forged Documents in Rapper Attack Story

March 27, 2008 | Filed Under Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Entertainment, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

It looks like the L.A.Times has had to apologize for a false story they published last week that implicated rapper Sean”Diddy” Combs in a 1994 assault on Tupac Shakur during a so-called rapper’s war hit. The L.A. Times had to do an internal investigation when the website The Smoking Gun published an account detailing that the documents the L.A.Times used to base their story upon were forged and that the person who forged them was a well known con man on the rap music scene who pulled one over on the LAT — big time!

Yeah, the L.A.Times has an awful lot of egg on its face with this mess. The AP reports that TSG’s proof makes the LAT look like a bunch of bumbling idiots.

The Smoking Gun said the documents seemed phony because they appeared to be written on a typewriter instead of a computer, included blacked-out sections not typically found in such documents, and other reasons. The Smoking Gun story claims the documents were created by a convicted con man and music fan with a history of exaggerating his place in the rap music world.

Originally the LAT claimed their story was based on FBI records, interviews with people who were there at the time, and some FBI informants. Curiously enough, none of the sources were named in the LAT story, the whole thing being based on the ever famous, journalist’s best source, the “unnamed sources.” Naturally Sean “Diddy” Combs denied he had any part in the attacks on Shakur and it’s no wonder he’d say that because the LAT piece was full of puff, Daddy. Yeeh. Uh.

Now, let’s admit that Publius’ Forum isn’t the Rapper’s paradise it could be. If only we’d wear our pants a little lower and get some more gold plating on our teeth we’d be sure to be right in with the best rap fans across the country. I’d have to also admit that it might be a bit tough for the bulk of us to lower our IQs low enough to be for real fans, but we all could try a little harder, couldn’t we, G?

Still, seeing as how we Publius’ Forum “ain’t all dat,” you might wonder why this story is appearing on our site? Well, dawg, that’d be a good question… so I won’t be frontin’ ya, an all.

The main point of this story is that the LAT really dropped the ball here. TSG had a very extensive report revealing how badly the Times did on this one and it forced the LAT to admit their “mistake” (read shoddy journalism there). It certainly leads one to wonder how many other stories they’ve published in the past are as badly researched and sourced as this one?

Now, while we here on Publius’ Forum lament the loss of stature that this story might cause the LAT in particular and the MSM in general, we can’t help harkening back to a little story about president Bush’s Nat’l Guard service that Dan Rather tried to foist on the American public that also turned out to be based on forged documents.

That CBS report was widely discredited by just about everyone, too. I have to say, though, that I don’t quite recall Dan Rather’s big apology on that one. So, apparently the L.A.Times is all prepared to apologize to some thug rappers for a story based on forged documents, but the president gets bupkis from a forged document story that defamed him.

I’m juss sayin’. Ya know what I’m sayin’, dawg?

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Citizens Revolt Against Boston PD’s Jackbooted Gun Hunt

March 27, 2008 | Filed Under 2nd Amendment, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, The Law, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few months ago, the Boston police department announced it would form a squad of uniformed police that would roam about certain “high risk” neighborhoods on the hunt for guns. The plan would be that these police squads would arrive at the doors of home owners, knock a few times, and “politely” ask residents if they would consent to a warrantless search of the premises — as if asking nicely was all the state needs to do to make it OK to abrogate the Constitution!

Well, apparently the community has discovered what a violation of trust and Constitutional rights this sort of jackbooted action would be. According to the Boston Globe, residents have “surprised” the police by intense opposition to the plan. The Boston Globe reports the shock and aw shucks of the police.

Boston police officials, surprised by intense opposition from residents, have significantly scaled back and delayed the start of a program that would allow officers to go into people’s homes and search for guns without a warrant.

The program, dubbed Safe Homes, was supposed to start in December, but has been delayed at least three times because of misgivings in the community. March 1 was the latest missed start date.

Apparently, citizens are a bit alarmed that the police imagine that they can just roam about preemptively “stopping” crimes that have yet to be committed. One community group has been circulating a petition to stop the program cold.

And here is the claim that the police have for their little program…

Police would ask parents or legal guardians for permission to search homes where juveniles ages 17 and under are believed to be holding illegal guns. Police would only enter homes into which they have been invited and, once inside, would only search the rooms of the juveniles.

This is an outright falsehood. Police legally CANNOT be limited to a single goal like they would be with a warrant. If the police enter a home, whether bidden or unbidden, they are obligated to act on anything that raises their suspicions. In effect, even if the homeowner imagined that they were only going to have police enter under a single premise, any violations the police see upon entering is fair game for police actions. In other words, by inviting police into the home, the homeowner is opening himself up to trouble even if he imagines the police are only there for one reason!

Community members are beginning to realize this fact, too.

Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who has attended meetings about the plan, said those warnings are unnerving.

“People on the street may say: ‘This is great. I’m letting them in,’ ” she said. “But those are the people I’m concerned about, because they haven’t been educated about the hazards.”

What we have here is an violation of the Constitution, plain and simple. The police may have what some might consider good intentions. But, destroying the Constitution even for good intentions is no way to go about improving the community.

I hope that the communities in Boston continue to oppose these illegal police policies. So far, they are doing a good job doing so.

____________

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

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Media Doesn’t Get Why Hollywood’s Dismal Iraq War Pics Are Flopping

March 27, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Entertainment, Media Bias, Military, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

On the 25th, the Washington Post served up a lament for Hollywood’s dismal box office returns for the many Iraq war pictures it has churned out over the last several years, wondering why they have all failed so spectacularly? The whole article amounts to the Post just not understanding why moviegoers have stayed away in droves from these dark and dismal movies. But with the anti-Military, anti-American point of view depicted in every single one of these movies, it is no surprise that Americans have ignored these self-denigrating flicks. After all, with soldiers really taking casualties on the battlefield, who wants to see a film that tells us all it’s OUR fault?

Still, the Washington Post is mystified.

After five years of conflict in Iraq, Hollywood seems to have learned a sobering lesson: The only things less popular than the war itself are dramatic films and television shows about the conflict… A spate of Iraq-themed movies and TV shows haven’t just failed at the box office. They’ve usually failed spectacularly, despite big stars, big budgets and serious intentions.

The Post then goes on to wonder if audiences are “turned off by the war, or are they simply voting against the way filmmakers have depicted it?” As the post asks that question, you’d think they are on the verge of understanding. But, this question is dropped right away as the story details one flop after another. Ridiculously, the Post seems puzzled by the fact that audiences have not just mindlessly followed into the theater the “big stars, big budgets and serious intentions” of these failed flicks and no further attempt is made in this story to explore the public’s disinterest.

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Battle Royal Between CA Nurse Union and Services Employee Union

March 14, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Health, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

OK, folks, grab the popcorn and settle in for this hilarious tale of union against union. It’s an epic battle of lies, underhandedness, brute force, and sweetheart deals that pits the California Nurses Association (CNA) against the Services Employees International Union (SEIU). The two unions are at each other’s throats for the prize of representing employees in the Catholic hospitals of the state of Ohio.

Here’s the Beginning of Our Story

Three years ago the SEIU cruised into the state of Ohio to organize the workers in the Catholic hospitals there, cozied up to management promising to make the burden on employers as light as possible, and set out to organize the employees.

By cozying up to management the SEIU hoped to smooth any ruffled feathers that management might have over agreeing that their employees join the union. The plumb SEIU president Andy Stern hoped to pull out of Ohio’s pie was the 8,300 workers in the Catholic hospitals in Ohio, a number that Stern was salivating to add to his burgeoning union’s numbers.

As it happens, the SEIU had worked out a deal with the hospital administrators to the effect that neither the union nor the administrators would assault the employees with all-out efforts against each other. And with that deal in place, the SEIU took the next three years to negotiate the deal.

Success was close at hand with an employee vote on joining the union set to come off this very week.

But the hopes for harmony and love for all was soon to be demolished with the entrance into the story of the California Nurses Association — a group that even The New York Times called “an unusually militant union.”

The Plot Thickens

Just as the SEIU thought everything was going swimmingly, the CNA arrived in town ready to destroy the “rigged scam” of a deal that the SEIU had worked out with the Catholic hospitals administrators.

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My Husband, The Judge

March 14, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, History, Media Bias, Nancy Morgan, News, President, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture | No Comments

-By Nancy Morgan

Living In Liberal La-La Land

As a child of the sixties, I was brought up in a time when there was still respect for America’s institutions. Be they banks, government, doctors, businesses, charities or churches. I accepted without question their authority, and assigned to them the respect due to the pillars and foundations of American society. I assumed they were honorable and above question.

Then life happened. Enron, pedophile priests, corrupt politicians, and the general politicizing of government and affiliated organizations. By the time I reached the age of 39, the only institution I accepted blindly and without question was the judiciary. The rule of law was set in stone. Or so I thought.

Then, along came Steve*. As a judge, he had society’s imprint as ‘Honorable’. He also had a sense of humor and a very nice physique. Best of all, he wanted me. Finally, a man with the two attributes I considered essential for marriage, trust and respect. We got married in April of 1992.

Steve presided over civil settlements in the Superior Court of ——–. Lawyers would come to him before trial on civil suits, to see if a settlement could be reached. Steve settled most of the cases before him, saving the costs and anguish of a trial. He would come home from work and over dinner, we would talk about the cases he had ruled on that day.
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Network News Ratings Tumble Among Viewers Aged 18-34

March 13, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

According to Media Life Magazine, the three big network evening news broadcasts have slipped badly in the key 18 to 34 age bracket. At the same time, though, the Cable news nets have picked up among that same demographic. All three network newscasts have lost numbers since last year, with Katie Couric having the worst slide of the three.

According to Media Life, the main reason the evening news shows have been losing so steadily is because the Internet and Cable can give news at any time the viewer is ready to take their news whereas the evening news must be specifically scheduled into the viewer’s lives. Media Life claims that the 18 to 34 age group just “never got into the evening news habit” — a pretty plausible point.

The Internet is a big factor for this age group:

Much of it takes place on the internet. A recent Zogby poll found that 55 percent of 18-29s cite the internet as their primary news source… By the time 6:30 rolls around, they’ve gotten the story, and there’s little Gibson or Williams or Couric have to add.

So what are the numbers? Here is what Media Life reported as the latest numbers through the beginning of March.

Season to date, the “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” is down the most among 18-34s, off 21 percent from a 0.86 rating last year, to a 0.68, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Carat. In the same span, Couric has fallen 14.6 percent in 25-54s and 16 percent among 35-64s.

ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” has slipped 13.5 percent among 18-34s, from a 0.96 to a 0.83, while falling 5.6 percent with 25-54s and 3.3 percent with 35-64s.

NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” has dipped the least in 18-34s, where it also leads, off 10.1 percent, from a 1.09 to a 0.98. That’s compared to dips of 7.7 percent among 25-54s and 5 percent with 35-64s.

This is good news for those who would love to see TV network news gone the way of the dinosaurs. I’d say that once the Baby Boomers begin to fade into history, they will take the regular network news with them because the generations after the Boomers have little need or interest in the big three news outlets.

These falling ratings are really bad news for network news, though. They have no where to go but down unless they can figure a way to re-ignite viewership among younger viewers.

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Senate to Vote on 1 Year Pork Diet

March 13, 2008 | Filed Under Congress, Democrats/Leftists, GOP, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Senator Jim DeMint, champion in the fight against wasteful Congressional spending called “earmarks,” is at it again today. He is proposing that the Senate approve a 1 year ban on earmark spending.

The Politico reports:

The first-term South Carolina Republican introduced the earmark moratorium after becoming convinced that the GOP’s participation in the provisioning of home-state pork — as well as its ties to lobbyists and all their “shameless requests” — had cost the party control of the House and the Senate in 2006.

Well, apparently the Senate is going to take this issue up today, so call your senator and tell him to support this measure.

It’s possible we can make headway against wasteful gov’t spending today, especially since it seems that all three presidential candidates are supporting the measure. The word is that McCain, Clinton and Obama are coming back to the Senate today to vote to approve the moratorium.

If this gets past, we have a year to work to eliminate them forever.

So, let’s go people. Contact your Senators and tell them that you want some responsibility in Washington for a change.

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