What were they thinking? Supreme Court limits local gun bans

Oh Boy! Now Chicago can get back to the good old days of Al Copone!

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Justices rebuff Chicago, which defended ban as reasonable exercise of local power

As It Stands: Misunderstood connections: The Crusades, jihads and 9/11

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 06/27/2010 01:27:21 AM PDT

Who cared about the history of the Crusades before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks? History buffs, I suppose. If you were like me, your history classes barely scratched the surface on why the Crusades were waged.

My knowledge of the Crusades, after graduating from high school, was easily summed up in one paragraph. When Osama bin Laden described the United States' war on terrorists as a new crusade against Islam, I decided to revisit the subject. After some research, I thought I had a better understanding of the Crusades, and moved on to other subjects.

In a sound-bite world, a crusade quickly became a term freely used by both sides to resurrect past conflicts between two world religions. In the popular view, when I was growing up, the Crusaders were the good guys. Living in the West had something to do with that, I'm sure. The rationale was that the Crusaders spread the word of God and saved souls from Satan's minions, the Muslims.

My view changed, as the years went by, to the opinion the Crusaders invaded a peaceful Muslim society more advanced than their own. Their purpose was to loot, take land and force their religion on to those they subjugated. I saw them as opportunists jumping on an imperialistic bandwagon called the Catholic Church.

Read the rest here.

                                   WHOSE READING TODAY’s COLUMN?

READ COMENTS FROM DOCTOR BULLDOG and RONIN Blog (Conservative News, Views, & Analysis of Events)

Another Blog called “FAITHFUL NEWS” is carrying today’s column.

Another Blog called “OPEN SUNSCRIBER” also picked it up.

Here’s an interesting website WTCDEMOLITION that’s sharing my column this morning.

Comment Forum Topix at Times-Standard – today’s column

Judge in oil spill case sells energy stocks

For a portrait in corruption we need go no further than U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman’s blatant backing for more oil drilling immediately…

Feldman struck down government's moratorium on deepwater drilling

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman’s disclosure report, which covers investments for 2009, shows he owned eight energy-related investments including stock in Exxon Mobil Corp.

However, in an attachment to the report, the judge said he sold his Exxon Mobil stock this June when he was hearing the oil spill case.

In last year's disclosure report, Feldman owned up to 16 energy-related investments.

Among the assets sold was stock in Transocean, the Switzerland-based company that owned the drilling rig operated by BP that is now spewing oil into the Gulf.

Tomb raiders hit Iraqi sites as U.S. troops leave

'No guards, no fences, nothing' to protect oldest treasures of civilization

Obama’s Hypocrisy Highlighted By Dealings With Lobbyists

President Obama may be a nice guy, but he’s proving to be a phony in many ways. This collusion with lobbyists leads back to Day One when you look at how many lobbyists he appointed to prime positions in his government. 

Coffee shops used for discreet lobbyist meetings

Meetings outside the White House avoid official visitor registration

Here’s how business is really done in the Obama administration:

“Here at the Caribou on Pennsylvania Avenue, and a few other nearby coffee shops, White House officials have met hundreds of times over the last 18 months with prominent K Street lobbyists — members of the same industry that President Obama has derided for what he calls its “outsized influence” in the capital.”

Here’s what’s happening:

“But because the discussions are not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, they are not subject to disclosure on the visitors’ log that the White House releases as part of its pledge to be the “most transparent presidential administration in history.”

Obama’s disconnect with the public:

“The off-site meetings, lobbyists say, reveal a disconnect between the Obama administration’s public rhetoric — with Mr. Obama himself frequently thrashing big industries’ “battalions” of lobbyists as enemies of reform — and the administration’s continuing, private dealings with them.

Obama: Reform will hold Wall St. ‘accountable’

This ought to be interesting. We’ve been hearing about financial reform for over a year now.

The question now is, what are the details? Is it really something that’s going to change the way business is done on Wall Street? Color me suspicious:

The Bill represents biggest rewrite of Wall Street rules since Great Depression

Photo: Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT), center, and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), right, talk during a recess from a committee conference on Wall Street reform to hammer out sweeping changes in financial regulation legislation on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Thursday.

Warning: this sign is really funny

 

 

 

 

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You have to read the whole sign to see how clever it is. Found in a Canadian campground. 

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Doctor aka ‘Candy Man’ tied to 68 overdose deaths is found guilty

A federal jury on Thursday found Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife guilty of illegally prescribing painkillers to dozens of patients who later died.

If you lived in Wichita, Kansas and wanted prescription painkillers all you had to do was see the “Candy Man,” Dr. Stephen Schneider (shown here).

He was known as the “Candy Man” on the streets because it was so easy to get powerful painkillers from him with practically no questions asked – other than cursory on-the-spot examinations. Now, he and his wife, are paying the piper for their scheming that has caused dozens of deaths.

 

Bizarre comic books going back over 6 decades

HANSI The Girl Who Loved The Swastica is a classic (1938) bizarre comic.

There’s more to see if you go here.

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PREVENTIVE MAINTAINCE, 1951

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The 10 silliest things ever said by politicians

Comedians would probably not exist without politicians, whose speeches have always been full of splendidly stupid quotes:

Go here for a list of the top 10 moronic mutterings from politicians worldwide.

My favorite is the following from George W. Bush (pictured here trying to concentrate while someone asks him a question!):

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." – Washington, D.C., August 5, 2004 – George W. Bush.

The Big Eye is ready to fly over the skies of Texas

Holy drones Batman! Robots are patrolling the Tex-Mex border!

Unmanned drone set to patrol Texas border

PHOTO: An unmanned Predator drone taxis in El Mirage, Calif., after a test flight over the Mojave Desert. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the use of unmanned aircraft to patrol the Texas-Mexico border.