Area417

Bush Seeks New Low

Bush approves Dubai's purchase of an engineering company that supplies our military.

Hat tip: Daily Kos

Link: Bush approves Dubai defense purchase

Texas: Vicious Attack On Hispanic Teen

Things are clearly getting out of control...

Two white teens, ages 17 and 18, brutalized a 16-year-old Hispanic boy over their belief that he had tried to kiss a 12-year-old (white) girl at a party in Texas.

The attackers forced the boy out of the Saturday night house party, beat him and sodomized him with a metal pipe, shouting epithets "associated with being Hispanic," said Lt. John Martin with the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

They then poured bleach over the boy, apparently to destroy DNA evidence and left him for dead, authorities said. He wasn't discovered until Sunday, 12 hours after the attack.

The victim, who was not identified, suffered severe internal injuries and remained in critical condition Thursday.

The Harris County prosecutor does not believe the victim will live. If he does die, then the older attacker, who is 18, could face the death penalty.

God help us all.

Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan

Link: BREITBART.COM - 2 Teens Charged in Attack at Texas Party.

Alaska, You're No. 1...In Pork

Alaska has ranked numero uno in pork-per-capita for the last 16 years.

Last year, Alaska received a widely publicized federal appropriation of $453 million for two bridges in remote areas of the state. In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and during a time of congressional belt-tightening, the project quickly became an embarrassment to the state.

 

Alaska citizens proposed giving the money back to Congress to spend on rebuilding the Gulf Coast, and Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) proposed a state-funded public relations campaign to clean up Alaska’s reputation for milking U.S. taxpayers.  Despite the citizens’ pleas, Alaska did not give back the money.

Link: Alaska No. 1 in 'pork' per capita, again.

Anger With Congress Is Growing

According to the Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans "would like to see most members of Congress defeated in November."

The GOP is taking the biggest ratings hit, with only 40% of those surveyed saying they have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party. That's down 4% from February and the lowest rating the GOP's had in 14 years.

The Democratic Party has a somewhat more positive image (47% favorable); but this also is the lowest recorded by Pew. However, the Democrats hold a decided advantage over the Republicans as the party better able to reform the government.

Independent voters are leaning toward the Socialists Democrats.

The Democrats' strength in the midterm ballot test continues to stem from their advantage among independent voters. Half of independents (51%) say they favor the Democratic candidate in their district, compared with just 31% who say they will vote Republican.

Link: Pew Research Center: Congress Faces Record Public Discontent.

Holly Ashcraft Gets New Defense

Holly Ashcraft, the University of Southern California student who has been charged in the death of her infant (see earlier post) has a new lawyer--Mark Geragos.

Geragos has had some other notable clients: Scott Peterson, Susan McDougal, Winona Ryder, and Gary Condit.

There is a preliminary hearing slated for May 23rd, but one could expect that date to be pushed back due to the change in defense.

Jean Rosenbluth, a law professor at USC, says the change in lawyers is often used as "a tactic to delay the legal process and stay out of jail."

Ashcraft might be looking for an attorney who can "get her side of the story out there," and Geragos certainly has "a good relationship" with members of both law enforcement and the media, Rosenbluth said.

She agreed that the prosecutor is "outmanned" with Geragos and his law firm as Ashcraft's defense team, adding that prosecutors are "almost always outmanned" in cases where the defendant can hire private counsel.

Links: Daily Trojan online

Fair Tax Blogburst

“Every new sweeping tax law Congress enacts -— always called a ‘reform’ —- makes the job even more complicated and, if possible, more confusing. And the tax code longer. But we’re all supposed to swear, on penalty of perjury, that we’ve done our best to find it… Is tax reform the answer? It’s more like the problem, since every reform tends to complicate tax law only more. And the longer and worse the tax code gets, the less chance there is of really reforming the thing. What to do? Don’t mend it, end it. Abolish the tax code and start all over. Think about it: Would anybody starting from scratch come up with a system as indecipherable and counterproductive as the one we’ve got? So why not opt for a clean break with the past? Abolish the Internal Revenue Code and begin anew.” —Paul Greenberg

“[The tax code] is a monstrosity and there’s only one thing to do with it. Scrap it, kill it, drive a stake through its heart, bury it and hope it never rises again to terrorize the American people.” -Steve Forbes

I can think of not one single person who thinks that the income tax is not broken. As Paul Greenberg asks above, “Would anyone starting from scratch come up with a system as indecipherable and counterproductive as the one we’ve got?” Not hardly. The only question is, what do we replace it with? This week we’re going to keep it short and simple, because you have a homework assignment.

We can argue till the cows come home about the relative benefits of the Fair Tax, the Flat Tax, and the Income Tax (are there benefits to the Income Tax?), but “the proof is in the pudding”, as they say.

Please take the time you might spend reading a longer post, and visit The FairTax Calculator. There are eight (8) fields to complete, you’ll probably need your income tax return and a current paycheck for yourself and your spouse (if you’re married). After doing that, click “Submit” to get your results. Don’t forget to read the note at the bottom of the screen regarding your FICA (Social Security) taxes!

Then comment on this blog regarding the results. Would you like to see the FairTax implemented? I’m betting the answer will be a resounding Yes!

Cynthia McKinney

Update: Police report states that McKinney struck the officer in the chest with a closed fist. Details on CNN. If you watch the video of her "apology," you can see her almost grit her teeth.

I admit that I'm prejudiced against Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Not because she's black, but because she's a wanker.

So, to check my attitude, I went to a couple of very smart people who just happen to be black.

baldilocks says "Tell Ms. McKinney to 'get thee to a physician' in order to fix her possible thyroid issue. It may not change her politics, but at least she might become a bit more sane and coherent." (For comparison, she's posted McKinney's picture alongside another well-known, bug-eyed fruit loop.)

Hmmm. baldilocks put a whole 'nother spin on it. I hadn't thought about a medical reason for her behavior. If I were Ms. McKinney, I'd latch onto that excuse like someone had just tossed me a lifeline.

Bob Parks, of Black & Right writes "...it didn't take long for this to not only become a story of the victimization of a poor, defenseless woman, but of racial persecution as well. Like we didn't see this coming."

Maybe McKinney  could become a triple-threat victim of gender, ethnicity and medical disability! Think of the possibilities...

There again, maybe McKinney is the poster child for the new-and-improved, bad-ass Democratic party.  (ChronWatch calls it the "first aggressive move by a Democrat in years!")

(For new arrivals to this planet, Cynthia McKinney is a Congresswoman (GA) who recently struck a capitol policeman for grabbing  her highness's arm--see my earlier post)

Update: In the interest of fair play, I thought I'd post an attractive picture of McKinney.

Any wonder that she wasn't recognized?

Springfield Audit Signature Drive

You can help gather signatures for the audit of the city of Springfield.

When: Today! April 22nd
When: Sam's Club parking lot, 3660 E. Sunshine Street
When: Meet up at 12 noon

Fair Tax Blogburst

In honor of everyone's favorite day of the year, Terry and I decided to grab his camcorder and catch  up with some of the foot soldiers in the Fair Tax campaign. Of course, April 17th was D-Day since April 15th fell on a Saturday, so we ventured to the main U.S. Post Office for Birmingham, Alabama, camcorder in hand. If you are one of the prudent souls who actually plans ahead in their preparation, watching your fellow denizen is quite comical on Tax Day. A post office branch is no less similar to that of a colony of ants as they scurry about battling their fellow procrastinators.

We hoped to catch some perspectives from fellow volunteers to illustrate the appeal of the Fair Tax, and to illustrate how everyone who reads this BlogBurst can see how easy it is to get involved as we all attempt to have this proposition move forward in Congress. Further, this just goes to show what each of the BlogBurst participants know, but, hopefully, it will move forward in showing how inefficient our current system truly is. Regardless of whether these individuals procrastinated, this is needless wasted time and energy that could be better spent.

Click the link below to view the video. It will open in a separate window.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to join us, please e-mail Terry or Jonathan. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

Springfield Tax Rally

Our tax code, all 3.4 million words of it, has become so complicated that the U.S. Government Accountability Office, in a review of 19 professionally prepared returns, found that all contained at least one error. (see Capital Eye: Not-So-Happy Returns)

Give voice to your dissent! Let Missouri's elected representatives know how you feel about our present tax system by joining local radio personality, Vince Jericho, on Monday, April 17th.

• Location: Springfield's Main Post Office, 500 W. Chestnut Expressway
• Time: Monday, April 17th, 6-8 p.m.

Even if you prefer something other than the Fair Tax, let our government know that you are unhappy with the current system. and expect them to support real, substantial tax reform!

As Vince would say, "GET OFF THE COUCH!"