[Link: lubbockonline.com...]

Submitted by Dr. Brian Carr on May 21, 2012 - 7:15pm

 

Document located at

 

http://www.lubbockgop.org/documents/LCRP -2012%20Pl atform%20Final.pdf

 

     This past week the local Republican Party released their 2012 platform. Prepared by twelve men and one woman the 27 page document outlines the apparently shared belief in matters of local, state and federal politics. A broad review of various subjects is made and actions needed are offered.

     In examining the document's narrative I wonder if the positions taken are in keeping with what local citizens who identify themselves as Republican actually believe. Having been born and raised in Lubbock and making it my home for over 55 years I am concerned to see the inflammatory and questionable evidence backed stances offered in the document. It may be that the local GOP has been hijacked by a more extremist faction of the party.

According to this document, if you are a Republican in Lubbock you believe that:

Affirmative action should be repealed

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 should be thrown out

The Ten Commandments should be displayed without any interference wherever it should be placed

We should oppose the recognition of and granting of benefits to people who represent themselves as domestic partners without being legally married.

That the definition of marriage is one of a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between one natural man and one natural women. (I'm not sure what a natural man or women is and the document does not offer any definition)

The issuance of a marriage license to a same-sex couple would be a felony

That the legislature should rescind no-fault divorce laws.

That you support Covenant Marriage (again no definition of this)

That you believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases.

That homosexual partners should be denied insurance or retirement benefits

That the Texas sodomy laws should be restored

That innocent human life must be respected and safeguarded from fertilization to natural death (this position would mean that many forms of currently used birth control would become illegal and that, if used, the individuals involved would be guilty of murder)

That advanced directives and other end of life decision by individuals would be outlawed

That the physically dangerous RU-486 "morning after pill" be made illegal

That you oppose any school-based clinics and/or youth impact centers located at, sponsored by, or funded by any state agency or public school district

That no homosexual should have the right to custody or adoption of a minor child and that visitation with minor children by such persons should be prohibited

That you support an immediate transition to a system of private pensions away from the current social security system

That you recognize that AIDS and HIV infection represent a threat to human health and you support declaring HIV a "dangerous, infectious, communicable disease"

You support amendment of the Americans with Disabilities Act to exclude from its definition those persons with infectious diseases, substance addiction, behavior disorders, homosexual practices and mental stress

You oppose any sex education other than abstinence until heterosexual marriage

You want to repeal government-sponsored programs that deal with early childhood development

You want to remind administrators and school boards that corporal punishment is effective and legal in Texas

You demand that bilingual education be removed from school

You support the instruction of "Intelligent Design" as a proper theory of origin in school

You support allowing Concealed Handgun License holders to carry concealed weapons on the grounds and in buildings of publicly owned institutions of learning

You support the right of citizens to open carry handguns

You urge repeal of minimum wage laws and prevailing wage laws

You want to repeal the Occupational Safety and Health Act and to abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration

You want to do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring and/or developing nuclear weapons

     I am unsure how this document was reviewed but a sampling of Republicans who I asked to review the language felt ill-at-ease with many aspects of the position put forth. If indeed this is the view of the majority of Republicans in Lubbock then it is justified to be put forth. However, if many in the ranks of Republicans are distressed by the positions taken then they face a challenge to retake their party.

  

[Link: thescoopblog.dallasnews.com...]

First, I think Evan Smith, CEO & editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune, deserves credit for being the first person to flag this broadly on the Interweb (though when he did, on Sunday afternoon, he wasn't sure it was legitimate).

Second, I'm typing VERY carefully as I write this. And I intend to run spell-check -- twice -- before I hit publish.

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs had its commencement on Saturday.

Now, if you were in charge of that commencement, what's the most embarrassing typo that you could possibly have on the cover of the printed program? (Hint: What's the worst possible way that you could misspell "public"?)

Naturally, that's what happened:

 

 

Jim Romenesko reports that the folks at the LBJ School are mortified. He quotes an assistant dean for communications as saying, "It's beyond embarrassing."

New copies of the program are being printed, with "Public" -- and, it is hoped, all other words -- spelled correctly.

The dean of the school wrote a letter to the 2012 graduates (quoted in full by Romenesko) in which he conveyed "our deepest apologies" for the "inexcusable" mistake.

The school also sent out a tweet apologizing for "the egregious typo in our commencement program."

Actually, the school did that twice, Romenesko says.

In the first tweet (since deleted), "egregious" was spelled wrong.

 

Now if the school had been named for JFK........

[Link: news.yahoo.com...]

Forty-two years after his selfless act of heroism during the Vietnam war saved the lives of his fellow soldiers, Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr. posthumously received the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on Wednesday.

President Obama presented the nation's highest decoration for valor to Sabo's widow, Rose Mary Brown, and brother, George Sabo.

The then 22-year-old Sabo died on May 10, 1970 as his patrol was ambushed near a remote border area of Cambodia. The attack by North Vietnamese troops killed seven of Sabo's fellow soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division and would come to be known as the "Mother's Day ambush."

A White House statement announcing Sabo's receipt of the Medal of Honor in April described how Sabo gave his life that day to silence the enemy fire.

According to the release, Sabo charged enemy positions and killed several North Vietnamese fighters while drawing fire away from his unit.

Later, Sabo used his body to shield a wounded soldier from the blast of a tossed grenade. Wounded by automatic weapons fire, he crawled towards an enemy bunker and dropped a grenade that "silenced the enemy fire, but also ended Specialist Sabo's life."The statement said Sabo's "indomitable courage and complete disregard for his own safety saved the lives of many of his platoon members."

Sabo's commanders nominated him for the Medal of Honor, but the request may not have been properly processed and was subsequently lost.
A campaign to correct the oversight began in 1999 when Tony Mabb, a researcher for the 101st Airborne Division Association's magazine, came across a thick file of Sabo's paperwork in the National Archives.

Mabb contacted members of Congress who worked to extend the statute of limitations for nominations for the Medal of Honor so Sabo's case could be reviewed. Nominations for the Medal have to be made within three years after the incident.

After legislation was passed in 2008 that eliminated that hurdle, the Army's recommendation that Sabo should receive the Medal of Honor was forwarded to the White House in 2010. The White House announced in April that President Obama would posthumously award the medal to Sabo's family.

Sabo immigrated with his family from Austria as a toddler. He met Rose Mary at a high school football game and after dating for two years they were married in 1969 after he received his draft notice.

The 30 days of Army leave he received before being deployed overseas were the only time he and his wife would spend together as a married couple before he was killed in action the following May.
In April, Brown told the Army News Service: "I couldn't be more proud of him."

[Link: blogs.discovermagazine.com...]

The Dawn mission has been orbiting the asteroid Vesta since July 2011. It's taken thousands of images of the 500 kilometer-wide (300 mile) rock since then, and JPL just released an amazing video which uses real data from Dawn to simulate flying over the asteroid.

Youtube Video

Wow. The animation at Marcia Crater (the bottom crater making up the Snowman triple impact) is especially beautiful and realistic!

Dawn is scheduled to leave Vesta in August and then take a long, slow voyage to the even-larger asteroid Ceres, arriving in 2015. So we still have several months of riveting images of Vesta to look forward to.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

[Link: seattletimes.nwsource.com...]

I think Frank Sinantra used a nun disguise in one of his World War 2 capers. I wonder if that's where they got the idea?

Muslim leaders fear use of the disguises could put Muslim women in danger or make them objects of scrutiny. They've offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the robbers.

By Michael Muskal

Los Angeles Times

A string of bank robberies, carried out by people disguised in traditional Islamic woman's garb, has prompted concerns among religious, government and law-enforcement officials in the Philadelphia area.

The robberies, at least five since December, were carried out by people wearing full-length robes and veils to hide hair and part of the face, according to some surveillance tapes broadcast by local TV stations in Philadelphia. Muslim leaders fear use of the disguises could put Muslim women in danger or make them objects of scrutiny.

The Muslim leaders offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the robbers.

The use of Muslim disguises seems to be contained to the Philadelphia area, according to Muslim groups and law-enforcement officials.

In the past, bank security officials elsewhere raised concerns about the potential for Muslim headscarves to hide identity, Amina Rubin, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said by telephone from Washington, D.C.

They were worried that the scarves might hide faces from security cameras; when shown that the scarves don't do that, they were satisfied, she said.

In the Philadelphia case, the robbers tried to hide their identity as much as possible, also wearing face veils.

Although the only recent reports involving Muslim attire designed to hide the identity come from that area, a council official said there may have been a handful of similar reports over the years from elsewhere.

The robberies and disguises have reignited concerns that arose from the radical Islamic attack against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

Civil-rights groups have warned that some Muslims have been targeted for surveillance and investigation since then.

There is a danger that the disguised robbers could inflame ethnic tensions. "These type of cowards set us back," Philadelphia Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. said.

[Link: sports.yahoo.com...]

"why the Stanley cup is made of metal....."

There are now a million pieces of Alabama's national championship trophy to go around.

During the weekend's A-Day festivities, a parent of a current player tripped on a rug that was under the display case and the Waterford Crystal football crashed to the ground shattering into a million little pieces.

The trophy, which was handmade in Ireland and worth $30,000, was in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility where Nick Saban's office is located.

(Photo courtesy of Alex Scarborough via Twitter)

Associate Athletics Director for Football Communications Jeff Purinton told AL.com the school is in the process of getting the football replaced.

That undisclosed parent shouldn't feel too bad, this isn't the first time the crystal football has been broken. In 2008, then-recruit Orson Charles broke Florida's national championship trophy while admiring it.

And in 2006, Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan allowed the crystal basketball to slip off his fingertips and onto the stage during the team's Midnight Madness event. Luckily, that was a joke. A cruel, cruel joke.

Who knows if we'll find out the name of the clumsy parent (I have a feeling we will), but something like this can't bode well for his son's playing time.

- - -

[Link: www2.nbc17.com...]

Sheesh! It's an epidemic

CHARLOTTE, N.C. --

A passenger on US Airways flight 1697 from Charlotte to Ft. Myers, Fla., had to be restrained and put in hand ties after attacking the flight crew, according to police and airline officials.

NBC-17 reporter Jonathan Carlson witnessed the aftermath in the Ft. Myers terminal, and spoke exclusively with members of the flight crew onboard flight 1697. 

They say the woman got out of her seat and attacked the crew, kicking them, spitting in their faces and knocking one flight attendant to the ground. 

Carlson observed one female flight attendant with bruises and bandages up her arms in addition to scratch marks.

The flight, which originated in Newark and stopped in Charlotte, arrived in Ft. Myers shortly after 6 p.m. and was greeted by police and EMS. The woman was taken out of the airport by police once the plane arrived. She was observed by medics in the terminal before being taken away. During that time she was screaming and crying. 

The flight crew said a Lee County Florida sheriff's deputy happened to be on board and helped tackle the woman. Flight attendants say the woman complained of being scared of flying shortly before she became violent.

Passengers on board flight 1697 were shaken; one saying the woman was restrained against a wall before being tied. Others praised the flight crew on how they handled the situation.

The same flight crew on flight 1697 flew the return flight to Charlotte later Tuesday night. That flight arrived safely around 9:30.

As a result of the incident, Peggy Albedhady-Sanchez, of Union City N.J., was charged with Interfering with an Aircraft, and Battery.

Police say once the plane landed, they found the woman restrained in the back of the plane, still combative.

Three members of the flight crew stated to police they were the victims of her assault.

They say she became irate after they refused to serve her alcohol.

In addition to the female flight attendant assaulted, the other two were slapped in the jaw and kicked in the groin according to the police report.

The woman also broke an arm rest on the plane during the incident.

According to The Jersey Journal, the woman's hometown newspaper, the woman's family claims a combination of medication and alcohol may have been to blame for the outburst. They say she was distraught over the loss of a loved one.

Sanchez remained in jail, and could face federal charges as well.

......the woman complained of being scared of flying shortly before she became violent.

Yeah, I've been a pilot for 42 years but I'm getting scared, too, with freaks like this and that Captain Bat Guano character from Jetblue popping up.

[Link: upressonline.com...]

Holy Darwin!

Associate Professor Stephen M. Kajiura was reviewing with his evolution class in GS 120 for a midterm when FAU student Jonatha Carr interrupted him: "How does evolution kill black people?" she asked. Kajiura attempted to explain that evolution doesn't kill anyone.

And then, Carr became violent.

A fellow classmate, Rachel Bustamante, was sitting behind Carr prior to her outburst and noticed she had been avoiding looking at the professor until 11:35 a.m. -- that's when she snapped. The classmate reported that Kajiura was discussing attraction between peacocks when Carr raised her hand to ask her question about evolution. She asked it four times, and became increasingly upset each time Kajiura's answer failed to satisfy her.

A video taken by Bustamante shows Carr ranting and threatening to kill the professor and several students. At this point, the witness who contacted the police claimed, "No one was comfortable in the room. I realized the situation was escalating and went out to call the police." Seconds later, Carr walked down an aisle of the classroom and slammed the palm of her hand into the forehead of a male student.

Kajiura stayed in the room, trying to keep the class calm, while a few students stepped out to call police. "She became increasingly belligerent," he said. "It was at this point, a highly emotionally charged individual who was no longer capable of responding rationally. She was threatening to kill both me and the students in the class."

Then Carr made her way to the back of the classroom. "Some [FAU technician] came in and ordered her to get out," Kajiura said. "He ordered her to leave the room, and they got into a physical altercation. Several other individuals jumped in and tried to help him."

Kajiura said he didn't recognize Carr prior to her outburst, but after looking through his records, he found that she emailed him right after Spring Break. "She had sent me a very nice email asking about one of the lab problems," he said.

The professor mentioned the entire ordeal took no more than 10 minutes, and he went back to lecturing, although only half the class remained. "No one could concentrate," Bustamante said. "Everyone gave up and started texting."

Bustamante gave the professor a copy of the fight, which she recorded on her cell phone and posted on Facebook and YouTube. Kaijura went on to praise his students, claiming they were "Absolutely fantastic. They acted responsibly."

Check back at upressonline.com for more updates. If you have any information on the incident involving Jonatha Carr and professor Kajiura, please email universitypress@gmail.com

Correction: The UP initially reported that Jothana Carr assaulted and was removed from Stephen M. Kajiura's class by a FAU technician. The UP  has since learned that she assaulted Justin White, director of the Spanish language program, and that White was one of the men in the video seen escorting Carr from the evolution class.

[Link: www.dailymail.co.uk...]

Uber-weird. I had never heard of this before. Great pics at link.

It sounds like the bizzare script of a Hollywood B-movie.

In a parallel universe the Nazis have won the war, Adolf Hitler moves to LA where he mingles with the stars of the silver screen while running his evil empire from a luxurious ranch deep in the LA hills.

But during the 1930s, American sympathisers were so confident this exact scenario was actually going happen they spent millions building a deluxe compound ready for their fuhrer's imminent  arrival.

Equipped with a diesel power plant, 375,000 gallon concrete water tank , giant meat locker, 22 bedrooms and even a bomb shelter, the heavily guarded estate was home to a community of Hollywood fascists who hoped to ride out the war there.

There were further plans to build five libraries, a swimming pool, several dining rooms and a gymnasium with money from Germany.

But on the day after Pearl Harbour, as America entered World War Two, police raided the premises and rounded up the the 50 or so American fascists who were living there.

Today the eerie landmark lies in ruins, daubed with graffitti, and awaiting the bulldozers so it can be turned into a picnic area for hikers - a soon-to-be forgotten slice of American history.

Close to the homes of actors and directors such as Stephen Spielberg, the site has been a magnet for historians, curiosity-seekers and modern-day nazis.

At one point after the war it became an artists colony and was home to the novelist Henry Miller.

The compound was equipped with a diesel power plant, 375,000 gallon concrete water tank , giant meat locker, 22 bedrooms and even a bomb shelter

It was built by the Silver Shirts, a sinister group of 1930s fascists who took their name from Hitler's Brown Shirts grass roots organisation.

Fascism had been on the rise in the wake of the Great Depression and the Silver Shirts were one of the most fanatical organisations.

The 55-acre ranch, was sold to mining fortune heiress Jessie Murphy in 1933 by screen cowboy Will Rogers.

In the next few years, Murphy struck up a relationship with a German man known only as Herr Schmidt. Unbeknown to her Schmidt was Hitler's agent in America.

He persuaded her to invest $4million ($66 million today) to transform the property into a nazi stronghold fit for Hitler.

Historian Randy Young told the Sunday Express: 'This was supposed to be the seat of American fascism from where Hitler would one day run the United States.

'The neighbours were a little freaked out by the construction and weird happenings, but until war broke out, they thought they were just eccentric people.'