Memphis: Where Section 8 people go, so does Crime.

Crime: Not surprising, just because you give people the ability to move from bad areas to move to not so bad areas doesn't mean everything gets left behind. All you are doing is moving the pieces around

About six months ago, they decided to put a hunch to the test. Janikowski merged his computer map of crime patterns with Betts’s map of Section8 rentals. Where Janikowski saw a bunny rabbit, Betts saw a sideways horseshoe (“He has a better imagination,” she said). Otherwise, the match was near-perfect. On the merged map, dense violent-crime areas are shaded dark blue, and Section8 addresses are represented by little red dots. All of the dark-blue areas are covered in little red dots, like bursts of gunfire. The rest of the city has almost no dots. Betts remembers her discomfort as she looked at the map. The couple had been musing about the connection for months, but they were amazed—and deflated—to see how perfectly the two data sets fit together. She knew right away that this would be a “hard thing to say or write.” Nobody in the antipoverty community and nobody in city leadership was going to welcome the news that the noble experiment that they’d been engaged in for the past decade had been bringing the city down, in ways they’d never expected. But the connection was too obvious to ignore, and Betts and Janikowski figured that the same thing must be happening all around the country. Eventually, they thought, they’d find other researchers who connected the dots the way they had, and then maybe they could get city leaders, and even national leaders, to listen.

The “Gathering Storm” report that worried over an upcoming epidemic of violence was inspired by a call from the police chief of Louisville, Kentucky, who’d seen crime rising regionally and wondered what was going on. Simultaneously, the University of Louisville criminologist Geetha Suresh was tracking local patterns of violent crime. She had begun her work years before, going blind into the research: she had just arrived from India, had never heard of a housing project, had no idea which were the bad parts of town, and was clueless about the finer points of American racial sensitivities. In her research, Suresh noticed a recurring pattern, one that emerged first in the late 1990s, then again around 2002. A particularly violent neighborhood would suddenly go cold, and crime would heat up in several new neighborhoods. In each case, Suresh has now confirmed, the first hot spots were the neighborhoods around huge housing projects, and the later ones were places where people had moved when the projects were torn down. From that, she drew the obvious conclusion: “Crime is going along with them.” Except for being hand-drawn, Suresh’s map matching housing patterns with crime looks exactly like Janikowski and Betts’s. Nobody would claim vouchers, or any single factor, as the sole cause of rising crime. Crime did not rise in every city where housing projects came down. In cities where it did, many factors contributed: unemployment, gangs, rapid gentrification that dislocated tens of thousands of poor people not living in the projects. Still, researchers around the country are seeing the same basic pattern: projects coming down in inner cities and crime pushing outward, in many cases destabilizing cities or their surrounding areas. Dennis Rosenbaum, a criminologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told me that after the high-rises came down in Chicago, suburbs to the south and west—including formerly quiet ones—began to see spikes in crime; nearby Maywood’s murder rate has nearly doubled in the past two years. In Atlanta, which almost always makes the top-10 crime list, crime is now scattered widely, just as it is in Memphis and Louisville. ....If replacing housing projects with vouchers had achieved its main goal—infusing the poor with middle-class habits—then higher crime rates might be a price worth paying. But today, social scientists looking back on the whole grand experiment are apt to use words like baffling and disappointing. A large federal-government study conducted over the past decade—a follow-up to the highly positive, highly publicized Gautreaux study of 1991—produced results that were “puzzling,” said Susan Popkin of the Urban Institute. In this study, volunteers were also moved into low-poverty neighborhoods, although they didn’t move nearly as far as the Gautreaux families. Women reported lower levels of obesity and depression. But they were no more likely to find jobs. The schools were not much better, and children were no more likely to stay in them. Girls were less likely to engage in risky behaviors, and they reported feeling more secure in their new neighborhoods. But boys were as likely to do drugs and act out, and more likely to get arrested for property crimes. The best Popkin can say is: “It has not lived up to its promise. It has not lifted people out of poverty, it has not made them self-sufficient, and it has left a lot of people behind.”

Canada allows Islamic terrorist leader to visit.

Canada: Sponsored by Islamic Society of North America.

Qazi Hussein Ahmad has been banned from more than 25 countries across Europe and the Middle East for the activities of the Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) organization that he heads. Terrorism analysts around the world have noted JEI’s close ties to al-Qaeda, and Qazi has publicly defended Osama bin Laden, admitting to meeting with him on several occasions and claiming that no definitive proof exists of bin Laden’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks. In an October 2002 interview with Der Speigel Qazi went so far as to deny al-Qaeda’s existence altogether and defended his group’s support of the Taliban, saying that “they were just and honorable men, who brought peace to Afghanistan.” With that kind of extremist rhetoric and close associations with known terrorist organizations currently at war with the United States, it is troubling that the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) had Qazi Hussein Ahmad as one of its featured speakers at its annual Canadian conference last month. The ISNA-Canada conference was run jointly with the Muslim Students Association and Muslim Youth of North America, and endorsed by the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Circle of North America, and the Muslim Association of Canada.

But Mark Steyn could be banned, what the hell is up with Canada?

West Coast mayors decry immigration raids

Immigration: The usual suspects demand ICE not take on businesses that have illegal workers.

Three West Coast mayors are asking the leaders of other cities to take a stand against workplace immigration raids that they say hurt local economies and may force companies to relocate. At the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors this week in Miami, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels will ask their colleagues to challenge how the government raids businesses in search of illegal workers. They want Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to focus on businesses that exploit workers, such as those that violate wage and safety laws, not "responsible employers" that contribute to economies, their resolution says. "We've never taken the position that you shouldn't enforce the law," Villaraigosa says. "What we've said is, in a time of limited resources, we should prioritize our enforcement. At a time when we don't have the resources to go after criminals, we're going after legitimate businesses and workers instead. That doesn't make sense." The resolution will be discussed by a committee Saturday and, if approved, will go to all the mayors for a vote Monday. ....Barbara Coe, chairwoman of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, which works to raise awareness of illegal immigration, counters that raids don't hurt the economy, illegal immigrants do. Some employers hire illegal immigrants instead of legal workers so they can pay them lower wages, she says. "Cheap labor is the bottom line," she says. "There are American workers who will fill those jobs in a heartbeat."

So you have three elected mayors with a high illegal alien population saying screw the American workers. Nice

Obama gives the green light for Racist campaign.

Politics: The nutters have already said anything about Black Jesus that wasn't praise and idolification is nothing more than racism. Now Obama has given the green light to go hogwild about it.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Republicans to highlight the fact that he is black as part of an effort to make voters afraid of him. ADVERTISEMENT "It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid. "They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?" He said he was also set for Republicans to say "he's got a feisty wife," in trying to attack his wife Michelle. "We know the strategy because they've already shown their cards. Ultimately I think the American people recognize that old stuff hasn't moved us forward. That old stuff just divides us," he said.

Obama: You Clinton women supporters.. Get over it!

Politics: This was arrogant and dumb thing to say.

Sources at the meeting said that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a Clinton supporter, expressed the desire that Obama and his campaign would reach out the millions of women still aggrieved about what happened in the campaign and still disappointed that Clinton lost. Obama agreed that a lot of work needs to be done to heal the Democratic Party, and that he hoped the Clinton supporters in the room would help as much as possible. According to Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Obama then said, “However, I need to make a decision in the next few months as to how I manage that since I’m running against John McCain, which takes a lot of time. If women take a moment to realize that on every issue important to women, John McCain is not in their corner, that would help them get over it.” Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., a longtime Clinton supporter, did not like those last three words — “Get over it.” She found them dismissive, off-putting. “Don’t use that terminology,” Watson told Obama.

Watson better watch her tone, you don't talk to Black Jesus like that, his supporters will not be pleased.

Obama changes presidential seal to his image.

Politics: I can't wait for the flag makeover with his face faded behind the stars and "In Obama we trust" put on coins. The term arrogant comes to mind.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a meeting of Democratic Governors at the Chicago History Museum in Chicago Friday, June 20, 2008. A new seal debuted on Obama's podium Friday, sporting iconography used in the U.S. presidential seal, the blue background, the eagle clutching arrows on left and olive branch on right, but with symbolic differences. Instead of the Latin 'E pluribus unum' (Out of many, one), Obama's says 'Vero possumus', rough Latin for 'Yes, we can.' Instead of 'Seal of the President of the United States', Obama's Web site address is listed. And instead of a shield, Obama's eagle wears his 'O' campaign logo with a rising sun representing hope ahead. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Update#: NYTIMES blog : The Great Seal of Obamaland?

Chicago Tribune giving away Obama t-shirts with new subcriptions.

Media: Via Newsbusters.

So on my way to Saloon Democrats, I stop by the Walgreens on Clark and Lake. And what do I see just inside the entry? A woman with a bunch of baseball hats and tee-shirts trying to sell subscriptions to the Chicago Tribune.

The deal is, if you sign up for the Chicago Tribune at one dollar a week, you can get one of the hats or teeshirts for free. And what's on the teeshirt? Why "Obama" of course. It wasn't the official campaign logo but it was his name splashed across the white cotton fabric. The only reason I noticed is because the woman called out to everyone entering the store saying they could get a free "Obama" teeshirt if they signed up for the Tribune.

Objective subscription signing.

Teen ‘pregnancy pact’ has 17 girls expecting

Culture: I don't want to hear anything about the complexities, nuances or the hard life for teens in this day and age. This is a result of a complete lack of morals and values being taught to them by worthless parents/guardians. They are bringing in new life into this world and already putting two strikes on them for their selfish act.

A Massachusetts city is investigating an apparent teenage "pregnancy pact" that has at least 17 high-school girls expecting babies, four times more than last year, including many aged 16 or younger. A high school health clinic in the city of Gloucester became suspicious after seeing a surge in girls seeking pregnancy tests. Local officials said Thursday nearly half of those who became pregnant appear to have entered into a pact to have their babies together over the year. "Some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Gloucester High School principal Joseph Sullivan told Time magazine, which broke news of the pact on its Web site.

Bloggers Get Obama Accuser Hauled Off in Handcuffs

Politics: In the end, this was stupid. The guy is on the fringe of the fringe to get him arrested only makes him more of a story. The other angle to take from this even though it's Sinclair is liberal bloggers went thru the motions to shut the guy up by having him arrested which is scary.

South Africa the coward ducks Mugabe discussion.

Africa: As has become the normal behavior for South Africa, they have meddled and ducked any sort of condemnation of Mugabe even with opposition members getting killed off before the runoff election. South Africa is supposed to be the shining example of the New Africa but has become nothing more than a shining example of cowardice to lead in this crisis.

South Africa snubbed an American effort to present a unified front condemning the Zimbabwe government for fomenting pre-election violence, sending a low-level representative to a discussion on the issue Thursday led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart from Burkina Faso. ....Diplomats in the meeting said the representatives of various African nations, including Tanzania, Morocco and Kenya, all voiced support for bringing increased pressure on Zimbabwe to allow fair elections to proceed in the June 27 run-off vote for president — though the Burkina Faso minister said it was premature to consider sanctions against Zimbabwe. The criticism was echoed by other African officials on Thursday. Earlier in the day, a group of government ministers from southern Africa bluntly criticized President Robert Mugabe for the unchecked political violence in the country, saying there was “every sign” that next week’s presidential run-off election “will never be free nor fair.” Zimbabwe’s neighbors, who rarely criticize Mr. Mugabe publicly, voiced their increasing impatience with his government just a day after President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the regional mediator, met with Mr. Mugabe and the opposition standard-bearer, Morgan Tsvangirai, in the latest effort to produce a credible runoff. The Tanzanian foreign minister, Bernard Membe, said at a news conference in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial hub, that he and his colleagues would urge their presidents to “do something urgently so that we can save Zimbabwe,” Reuters reported. Mr. Membe’s statements were remarkable because of Tanzania’s long history of support for Mr. Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. Tanzania is also the current chair of the African Union, the continent’s highest representative body.

At least Tanzania has something resembling balls to speak out.

Mexico demands UN blocks executions of criminals in America.

Crime: Mexico is demanding UN court tell the states they can't execute their citizens after the Supreme Court said the President doesn't have the right. States having to follow UN based laws? That ain't happening anytime soon.

Mexico made an emergency appeal to the U.N.'s highest court Thursday to block the execution of its citizens on death row in the U.S. Mexico's chief advocate Juan Manuel Gomez-Robledo said the U.S. was ''in breach of its international obligations'' by disregarding a 2004 judgment by the U.N.'s International Court of Justice, which ruled Mexicans were denied the right to consular advice after their arrests, as guaranteed by an international treaty. The court, informally known as the World Court, has ruled that the Mexicans were entitled to ''review and reconsideration'' of their trials and sentences to determine whether the violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention affected their cases. President Bush accepted the judgment and asked state courts to review the cases. Texas refused, and the issue went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled last March by a 6-3 vote that Bush lacked the authority to compel state courts to comply with the judgment from The Hague. The Vienna Convention cannot be binding on the states unless Congress enacts legislation enforcing it as federal law, the Supreme Court said. Mexico listed five of its citizens slated to die. The first, on Aug. 5, is Jose Medellin, 33, condemned in the gang rape and murder of two teenage girls 15 years ago. Texas authorities have said Medellin's case has been reviewed by state and federal courts and that he had been given the same right as any American citizen. But Mexico said in its appeal to the World Court that the U.S. obligation to follow international law also applies to individual states. ''The United States cannot invoke municipal law as justification for failure to perform its international legal obligations,'' it said. The International Court of Justice is the U.N.'s judicial arm for resolving legal disputes among member states. Its decisions are binding and not subject to appeal, and only rarely have they been defied. Though it has no power of enforcement, the court can report any failure to abide by its decisions to the Security Council.

Chavez may stop oil to Europe over immigrant law

Immigration: Latin/South America countries do not like the idea that Europe is going to crack down on illegal immigrants since it cuts off money being sent home which for some make up a great deal of overall revenue.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday threatened to stop selling oil to European countries if they apply a new ruling on illegal immigrants that is criticized in Latin America and by human rights groups. ADVERTISEMENT European Union lawmakers ruled on Wednesday that illegal immigrants can be detained for up to 18 months and face a reentry ban of up to five years. "We can't just stand by with our arms crossed," Chavez said at an event to celebrate his OPEC country's oil supplies to South America attended by Paraguay's visiting president-elect, who also criticized the law. Millions of Latin Americans live in Europe, many from poor Andean countries and war-weary Colombia. For centuries colonized by European nations, after independence Latin America also received waves of European immigrants escaping the major wars and economic crises of the 20th century. "Venezuelan oil will not go to the countries that apply this shameful directive. I'll say it now, Venezuelan oil will not go," Chavez said. The socialist ally of Cuba also threatened to expel investments made by such countries, warning he would draw up a list of their business in the OPEC member nation. "We are ready to do this now," he said. "Here in Venezuela at least, they won't be missed."

UK Police chase UFO over Cardiff

UK: Spiffy!

A police helicopter crew gave chase to a UFO after it almost collided with their aircraft near a military base. The pilot was forced to bank sharply to avoid being hit by the mystery aircraft as the helicopter was returning to the Ministry of Defence base of St Athan, near Cardiff. The three crew, who described the UFO as 'flying saucer-shaped', then gave chase, getting as far as the North Devon coast before they ran low on fuel, it was reported. The police aircraft was hovering at 500ft and waiting clearance to land on June 7, when those onboard spotted the other craft hurtling towards them from below.

First pic of saucer over Cardiff, it was found out it was just making a fuel stop.

Martha Stewart banned from the UK

UK: Martha Stewart banned from entering the UK but Abu Qatada, Bin Laden's 'right-hand man' is set free to live off welfare and can't be kicked out of the UK. Spectacular.

Mexico freezes prices as food costs soar

Mexico: This will be until the end of the year and then all hell breaks loose as the market reacts to be distorted for the last 7 months.

When did mini notebook makers become stupid?

Tech: The whole freaking point about the mini notebooks or netbooks were they are small but act with enough features to be a second notebook that did just enough to be a companion to your regular computer. The big excitement came from the fact the prices were cheap say under 400 bucks.

Somewhere along the line a couple of makers have forgotten about the price point and just focused on the size, the problem with that is the price is now for some models like the ASUS Eee PC 1000H well in the range of a regular notebook. It would be stupid not to just get the regular which would be more useful at the higher price than any of the mini versions.

Lets start focusing on price and features again especially you Asus.

Sweden approves monitoring its people.

Sweden: Who knew the Sweds had it in them to get this hardcore.

Swedish lawmakers voted late on Wednesday in favour of a controversial bill allowing all emails and phone calls to be monitored in the name of national security. The vote, one of the most divisive in Sweden in recent years, had initially been scheduled for early Wednesday but was postponed after more than one-third of MPs voted to send the bill back to parliament's defence committee "for further preparation." After the committee required that the centre-right government safeguard individual rights further in an annex to the law to be voted on in the autumn, the bill narrowly passed with 143 votes in favour, 138 opposed and one parliamentarian abstaining. Critics have slammed the proposal as an attack on civil liberties that would create a "big brother" state, while supporters say it is necessary to protect the country from foreign threats. The new law, set to take effect on January 1st, 2009, will enable the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) -- a civilian agency despite its name -- to tap all cross-border Internet and telephone communication. But although the government said only cross-border communications would be monitored, all communications risk getting caught in the net since some internet servers are located abroad and FRA would need to check all emails to determine whether they have crossed the border.

Obama: Oh Hai. NAFTA not the bloodsucking monster I said it was.

Politics: John McCain pulls a stunt like this and the media would be all over him. Obama? They understand its political talk.

The general campaign is on, independent voters are up for grabs, and Barack Obama is toning down his populist rhetoric - at least when it comes to free trade. In an interview with Fortune to be featured in the magazine's upcoming issue, the presumptive Democratic nominee backed off his harshest attacks on the free trade agreement and indicated he didn't want to unilaterally reopen negotiations on NAFTA. "Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified," he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake," despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy. Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself," he answered. Obama says he believes in "opening up a dialogue" with trading partners Canada and Mexico "and figuring to how we can make this work for all people."

Al Qaeda leader living in the UK in book says Terrorise the non-believers.

UK: Now we stop to sneer and laugh at the UK for only a moment because they actually have an Al Qaeda leader living on benefits who was just released from jail pretty much mocking their justice system.

Suspected Al Qaeda leader Abu Qatada is celebrating his release from prison with the release of a book in which he urges Muslims to commit terrorist attacks in the West. In the 71-page tract, published in English translation on the internet, he repeatedly claims that fighting jihad, holy war, is obligatory for all Muslims and urges them to 'terrorise' non-believers. Security sources say his clear incitement to violence makes a mockery of the decision to set him free. The preacher of hate, who has been described as Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, was released on bail from Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire on Tuesday after the blocking of his deportation to Jordan, where he is wanted on terror charges. A judge ruled there were no grounds to keep him in jail, but the Special Immigration Appeals Commission imposed unprecedented conditions on his release, including a stipulation that he observe a 22-hour curfew and wear an electronic tag. He will be under round-theclock surveillance in a MI5 safehouse and is specifically banned from contacting Bin Laden. Counter-terrorism officials believe that Qatada, 47, remains a grave threat to national security and will be furious to learn he has yet again flouted the law by publishing his sickening views as he is set free.

Canadian judge overturns father's grounding of 12-year-old

Canada: This is where we mock and laugh at Canada.

OTTAWA - If you deny your children access to TV or withhold their allowance, can they take you to court? And win? That implausible scenario emerged after a judge in Gatineau, Que., sided with a 12-year-old girl who challenged her father after he refused to let her go on a school trip for disobeying his orders to stay off the Internet. Experts in family law and child welfare say they were dumbfounded by last Friday's ruling by Superior Court Justice Suzanne Tessier. "As a lawyer and as a parent," said Ottawa family lawyer Fred Cogan, "I think it's state interference where the court shouldn't be interfering. "I've got six kids," Cogan said. "I certainly wouldn't want a judge watching over everything that I do, and I wouldn't want my kids being able to run to the judge." .....The father, who is divorced but has legal custody of his daughter, cut off her Internet access after she chatted on websites he had tried to block. She then used a friend's Internet connection to post inappropriate pictures of herself, Beaudoin said. After discovering that, the father told his daughter she couldn't go on the three-day school trip. According to Beaudoin, the daughter "slammed the door" and went to live with her mother, who was willing to let her take the trip. However, the school wouldn't allow the girl to go unless both parents consented or she obtained a court order. That prompted the girl, with her mother's support, to take legal action against her father, culminating in Friday's ruling. According to Beaudoin, Tessier found that denying the trip was unduly severe punishment. The fact that the girl is now living with her mother also factored into the judge's ruling, she said. The father, who is appealing the decision, was "devastated" by the ruling, Beaudoin said. He is refusing to take his daughter back "because he has no authority over her."

Lets dismiss for now the evil that is the mother and focus on the idiot judge. How does the judge not realize that she is not being played, how dumb it is to overrule the father who points out the reasons why she is grounded. Canada is living up to its reputation as the pleasant totalitarian country between this and the Mark Steyn inquisition.

Maryland raids Baltimore mayor's house in past finances probe.

Nation: Corruption in City Hall!

Maryland state prosecutors raided the home of Mayor Sheila Dixon yesterday as part of an investigation into past spending practices at City Hall, the most aggressive move so far in the years-long probe.

After spending more than seven hours inside, state prosecutors and police emerged from Dixon's house - in Hunting Ridge, along the city's western border with Baltimore County - carrying boxes, folders and a blue cooler they had brought in with them.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the search and gave no indication of what they were looking for or what they removed from Dixon's home. Asked about the raid as she left her house yesterday morning, Dixon responded: "Ask them."

The mayor kept to her schedule, and several political allies defended her publicly, but the search - a strong indication that Dixon is at the center of the investigation - had a disquieting effect on City Hall.

Virginia panel hears praise for illegal immigration.

Immigration: There is something irritating that illegals are bold enough to go to state government and demand outright you make them legal after breaking the law.

Laura Guajardo is a civil engineer from Mexico. She came to the United States illegally and now works as a nanny in Roanoke, she said. During a hearing at Roanoke's city hall Tuesday, Guajardo told the Virginia Commission on Immigration about her life in this country. She was one of about a dozen people who addressed the commission, almost all of whom pointed to the contributions that illegal immigrants make to the economy and recommended that state laws be amended to make it easier for them to legalize their status. "We're not bad people, we're not terrorists," Guajardo said in Spanish, while an interpreter translated. Tuesday's meeting was the second of five hearings on immigration that will be held throughout Virginia. After the hearings, the commission, which has been meeting since September, will report back to lawmakers and the governor's office, said Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, chairman of the commission. ..."We don't ask to be a citizen, we just want to be here and work and do the right thing," Guajardo told the commission Tuesday. She pays sales taxes when she goes to the store. And she's earned the trust of her employers, she said. But she doesn't have a driver's license. ....Rachel MacKnight, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley, said Virginia should extend Medicaid benefits to immigrants, which would make them less likely to go to emergency rooms for basic medical care. "If we were to extend some of these benefits, not only would we do the right thing for poor immigrants, but we also would be saving the state some money," she said.

We would be saving money if illegals were not given everything on a silver platter and immigration laws were enforced. Also, sales taxes is paid by everyone automatically so you are not doing anyone a favor by paying them. Just because you pay a sales tax doesn't mean you should get a break.

EU adopts tough rules on illegal immigrants.

EU: I do object to the holding illegals up to 18 months in "jail." There is no need for that if found illegal you should just kick them out.

The European Parliament on Wednesday overcame opposition from left-leaning lawmakers to rubber stamp a new set of common rules for expelling illegal immigrants from the 27-nation bloc. Under the new guidelines, illegals in the EU can be held in specialized detention centers _ not jails _ for no more than 18 months before being expelled. EU nations must provide migrants basic rights, including access to free legal advice, and unaccompanied children or families with kids should be held only as a last resort.

Firefox v3 is tremendous.

Web: Just on the loading speed of sites I would recommend it to anyone who uses just IE.

Senators Deny Knowing Of Home Loan Favoritism

Business: Basically all these Senators are idiots who have no clue about their loans.

Senate banking committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd said yesterday that he knew he was part of a "VIP" mortgage program offered by Countrywide Financial, but he said he was not aware that the privilege included waiving fees that regular customers must pay to obtain lower interest rates. Dodd (D-Conn.) -- who reportedly received the special treatment as part of the company's "Friends of Angelo" program, named for chief executive officer Angelo Mozilo -- said loan officers told him and his wife in 2003 that they would be part of an exclusive program. But the couple assumed the plan gave them unspecified courtesies and did not ask whether it included a waiver of the fees, known as points, or a reduced interest rate on their loans, the senator said. "I don't know that we did anything wrong. I negotiated a mortgage at a prevailing rate, a competitive rate. . . . I did what I was supposed to do," Dodd told reporters at a news conference called to discuss the matter and legislation to address the nation's housing crisis. The Senate ethics committee has begun a preliminary investigation of the special treatment afforded Dodd and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who received a one-point reduction on his Countrywide mortgage.

It must be nice to have so much money that you don't pay attention to the interest rate on your loan, especially for someone on the banking committee.

Fernandez defends Argentine grain export tax

World: What happens when a leftist has no clue about economics and demands social justice with businesses being her source of income.

President Cristina Fernandez on Tuesday defended an increase in export taxes on grains that has riled many farmers, and she called on them to respect the law in protesting her policies. All my life I have soldiered in this party, which always believed in social justice, in the redistribution of income, which caused us to win and lose elections," she said in a nationally televised address from the presidential palace. "But we were always respectful of the popular will." Fernandez, of the center-left Peronist movement, made her plea for comity a day after massive demonstrations in various cities blocked traffic and paralyzed much of the country. In a concession to her critics, Fernandez said the increase in taxes on exports of grains that she instituted in March by decree will be debated by Congress. But there is little likelihood that the Congress will order major changes, since her party controls both houses. But Hilda Duhalde, an opponent of Fernandez, was not persuaded. "It's true that they have a majority in both houses, but we have to put white on black and watch out for the small- and medium-sized producers, who are the ones suffering," she said. Argentina raised export taxes in March by more than 10 percent. Fernandez has said growers have benefited from rising world prices and the profits should be spread to help the poor. Farmers have countered that they need to reinvest the profits and that the higher taxes make it difficult for them to make a living.

Winnie the Pooh Obama's security advisor

Terrorism: Lord help us, we are going to get killed under Obama's security advisors.

Richard Danzig, who served as Navy Secretary under President Clinton and is tipped to become National Security Adviser in an Obama White House, told a major foreign policy conference in Washington that the future of US strategy in the war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh, which can be shortened to: if it is causing you too much pain, try something else. Mr Danzig told the Centre for New American Security: “Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security.” He spelt out how American troops, spies and anti-terrorist officials could learn key lessons by understanding the desire of terrorists to emulate superheroes like Luke Skywalker, and the lust for violence of violent football fans.

He actually never does just that what we are doing now is wrong and should change but to what is never explained. We already figured out the down and out persona that gets a boost from a charismatic figure to lead the way giving a sense of purpose blah blah blah.

The implication is more understanding and feelings towards terrorists instead of killing them while disrupting future operations by any means necessary.

West Midlands police spends £100,000 for Sikh 'terror' suit

UK: West Midlands police last seen paying Channel 4 a ton of money for a wrong prosecution and denying chasing Christians out of Muslim areas is in another farce.

A police project that involved spending £100,000 helping a Sikh officer find a chemical and biological attack suit to fit over his turban and beard has been described as "ridiculous". ....The cost of the 18-month project has been estimated at £100,000 and has been criticised for being a "ridiculous" waste of taxpayers' cash. John Mellor, a former West Midlands Police chief superintendent, said: "Taking 18 months out of an officer's duties and the colossal cost of the project is indefensible." The protective suits are essential for protection in the event of a chemical or biological attack. A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "West Midlands Police is a diverse organisation, which both serves and recruits from a diverse community. No Sikh officer has applied and been 'turned down' from joining the operational support unit because of faith issues. "However, it has been identified that for some members of the Sikh faith, the removal of the turban to wear a helmet and the wearing of a respirator could be problematic. "As an employer committed to equality and diversity, we are working to try to find a solution to what is a national issue."

So this is what a politically correct police department looks like in practice. This group is the keystone cops of the UK.

Can the Enemy Build a Super-Soldier?

Military: Forget the enemy, America better have plans in the work to build a super-soldier. Technology is at a point where a lot of sci fi examples can be made into reality at early stages.

Toronto Star sides with Mark Steyn?

Media: As the ongoing fiasco that is the prosecution of Mark Steyn and Macleans. The Toronto Star comes down on the side of free speech and freedom of expression.

Canada's Criminal Code already provides for a two-year jail term for inciting or promoting hatred against identifiable groups. Libel laws can be invoked. And provincial press councils field complaints. Does society need to cast more of a chill on press freedom in order to combat discrimination? Polemicists such as Steyn are better countered in the marketplace of ideas. Readers who feel ill-served are free to go elsewhere. Parliament and the legislatures should rethink laws that have the effect of targeting opinions rather than actions. As Alan Borovoy of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has argued on these pages, human rights commissions should concern themselves with discriminatory behaviour, not discriminatory opinion. "Generally, the answer to bad speech is good speech," he wrote. Wise words, from a respected rights advocate.

I am going to faint.

Muslim stylist wins £4,000 payout for "hurt feelings."

UK: The pussification of the once great empire where the sun never set is now complete. Bushra Noah is the goofy sensitive stylist who was rejected 25 times before she got an interview with Sarah Desrosiers who turned her down because she lived too far and she wanted stylists who would show their own hair.

Noah threw a fit and filed a complaint about religious discrimination with a employment tribunal panel. They rejected that notion but still ordered the shop owner to pay 4000 pounds( over 8000 US dollars) because her feelings were hurt.

The owner of a hair salon has been ordered to pay £4,000 compensation to a Muslim stylist who was turned down for a job because she wears a headscarf. Bushra Noah accused Sarah Desrosiers of religious discrimination when she failed to offer her a job at her Wedge salon in King's Cross, central London. An employment tribunal panel dismissed the 19-year-old's claim but upheld her complaint of indirect discrimination. Ms Desrosiers said she needed stylists to showcase alternative hairstyles. During the hearing Ms Noah, who lives in Acton, west London, told the tribunal that she was "devastated" that she was not offered the job of assistant stylist "due to my headscarf". ....Ms Desrosiers told the tribunal she was surprised it had not been mentioned earlier and expected her staff to reflect the "funky, urban" image of her salon. The panel found that Ms Noah had been badly upset by the 15-minute interview . She was awarded £4,000 damages for "injury to feelings". In its judgment, the panel stated: "We were satisfied by the respondent's evidence that the claimant was not treated less favourably than the respondent would have treated a woman who, whether Muslim or not, for a reason other than religious belief wears a hair covering at all times when at work." It added: "There was no specific evidence before us as to what would (for sure) have been the actual impact of the claimant working in her salon with her head covered at all times." Speaking after the ruling the salon owner said: "I never in a million years dreamt that somebody would be completely against the display of hair and be in this industry. I don't feel I deserve it."

The UK has gone completely mad and look for more cases of hurt feelings to pop up after this stupid decision.

Publisher withdraws textbook after Mohammed cartoon error.

Norway: Getting blamed for one cartoon when its actually another would make people paranoid.

Evo Morales whines about Europe enforcing immigration policies

Immigration: It is sort of unseemingly to see a country's leader whine that Europe is putting its foot down on illegals in the Guardian.

European citizens arrived in Latin and North America en masse, without visas or conditions imposed on them by the authorities. They were simply welcomed, and continue to be in Latin America. They came to exploit the natural wealth and to transfer it to Europe, with a high cost for the native population. Yet the people, property and rights of the migrants were always respected.

Contrast the European "return directive", to be voted on in the European parliament this week. It imposes harsh terms for detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants, regardless of the time they have spent in European countries, their work situation, their family ties or their achievements in integrating themselves into local society.

The EU is now the main destination for migrants around the world, because of its positive image of space, prosperity and public freedom. The great majority of migrants contribute to, rather than exploit, this prosperity.

They are employed in public works, construction, cleaning, hospitals and domestic work. They take the jobs the Europeans cannot or will not do. Maintaining the relationship between the employed and the retired by providing generous income to the social security system, the migrant offers a solution to demographic and financial problems in the EU.

For us, our emigrants represent help in development that Europeans do not give us (few countries reach the minimum objective of 0.7% of GDP in development assistance). Latin America received, in 2006, a total of $68bn sent back from abroad, more than the total foreign investment in our countries. My country, Bolivia, received more than 10% of its GDP in such remittances.

There is the problem that Evo has with the EU putting in this system. The money being sent back will be tightened and he needs to look in the mirror on why foreign investment is so little considering Evo is nationalizing industries and imposing ridiculous terms that make no sense for companies to do business with him. This is the same sort of mentality a lot of Latin/South American leaders, encourage them to head north or east in this case and send money back. It save them the trouble of actually putting reforms in their own countries so this practice can stop.

If the return directive becomes law, we will not be morally able to deepen negotiations with the EU, and we reserve the right to legislate so European citizens have the same obligations for visas that Europe imposes on the Bolivians, according to the diplomatic principle of reciprocity.

....Okay? I seriously doubt I could show up at the Bolivia airport and be waved thru without some sort of papers. This is a non-issue and for someone who rails against capitalism, he sure as hell doesn't want the system to be changed if it hurts his bottom line.

It's easy to program USA Network and Spike TV on weekends.

Random: Seriously.

Spike TV Executive: So what we got for the weekend?
Spike TV Programmer: Uh... CSI marathon?
Spike TV Executive: Make it so.

Over at USA Network: So what we got for the weekend?
USA Network Programmer: We got a whole bunch of Law and Order stuff.
USA Network Executive: Which series?
USA Network Programmer: They all run together, just press play.
USA Network Executive: Works for me.

China's largest mall in the world = Big ole bust.

World: China post industrial building boom doesn't seem to have a lot of actual planning involved.

The people who work at the South China Mall, in the muggy, factory-filled city of Dongguan, have the honor of passing each day in the biggest shopping mall on the face of the planet. In theory, it’s a glorious place: a seven-million-square-foot retail-and-entertainment behemoth in the heart of China’s southern Pearl River Delta, the wealthiest region in a nation that boasts the world’s biggest population and its fastest-growing major economy. The mall is part of China’s new arsenal of superlatives: the world’s largest airport terminal, the highest train track, the golf resort with the most holes. The employees of this giant mall could, if they wanted, spend their breaks driving bumper cars, browsing for house-wares, strolling along a Venetian canal, petting fake herons in an indoor rain forest, or gazing at an eighty-five-foot replica of the Arc de Triomphe – all, of course, without leaving the premises. They could also picnic next to the bell tower of St Mark’s Square in Venice, soak up the ambience of San Francisco, or take a ride on the mall’s indoor-outdoor roller coaster, a 553-meter flying railway known as Kuayue Shi Kong, or “Moving Through Time and Space”. As it happens, it’s just those things – time and space – that give so much trouble to the workers here. They have too much of both. On a recent Friday afternoon, an amusement-park employee, slouched in a forsaken ticket booth, tried to kill time by making origami. Another worker slept, with perfect impunity, on a table. In front of the haunted house attraction, one attendant was doing hand-stands while two others looked blankly on. There was nothing else to do, because the South China Mall, which opened with great fanfare in 2005, is not just the world’s largest. With fewer than a dozen stores scattered through a space designed to house 1,500, it is also the world’s emptiest – a dusty, decrepit complex of buildings marked by peeling paint, dead light bulbs, and dismembered mannequins. “They set out to be the biggest, and hoped that being the biggest would be the attracting factor,” says David Hand, a retail analyst at Jones Lang LaSalle in Beijing, who has followed the project. “It hasn’t delivered.”

Whoopi Goldberg is a classless bitch

Politics: Whoopi entertains the Broadway liberals with a typical Tom Joyner show like snark over Justice Thomas.

I had this whole rant about how stupid Whoopi is and the audience who both have this idea what and how a black person should act and ideas they believe in ready to go. Screw it, I am tired. The title says it all. End of discussion.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Captain America?

Entertainment: Keep pretty boy away from this iconic role, I don't need Captain America becoming Captain Planet.

Andrew Cuomo/Verizon take down usenet groups.

Web: This is a bad precedent forced by Andrew Cuomo and done by Verizon.

Verizon Communications confirmed on Thursday that it will stop offering its customers access to tens of thousands of Usenet discussion areas, including the alt.* groups that have been a free-flowing area for discussions for over two decades. Eric Rabe, a Verizon spokesman, said only a subset of discussion groups, or newsgroups, would be offered to customers in the future. In Usenet parlance, those newsgroups are called the big 8; they include complex procedures for newsgroup creation and deletion and even boast a formal management committee. Rabe had told us earlier in the week that some newsgroups would be restricted, but didn't have the details until we spoke with him on Thursday. No law requires Verizon to do this. Instead, the company (and, to varying extents, Time Warner Cable and Sprint) agreed to restrictions on Usenet in response to political strong-arming by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat. Cuomo claimed that his office found child porn on 88 newsgroups--out of roughly 100,000 newsgroups that exist. In a press release, he took credit for the companies' blunderbuss-style newsgroup removal by saying: "We are attacking this problem by working with Internet service providers...I commend the companies that have stepped up today to embrace a new standard of responsibility, which should serve as a model for the entire industry." Usenet is a pre-Web technology that, for most of its history, relied on companies, Internet service providers, and universities to operate servers that would exchange messages posted by their users. Each server operator can choose what newsgroups they wish to offer. Today, some companies like Supernews, Giganews, and Usenet.com offer newsgroup access for a fee. (Unlike, say, mailing lists, Usenet has no central repository.) What this means in practice is that, thanks to the New York state attorney general, Verizon customers will lose out on innocent discussions. Verizon is retaining only eight newsgroup hierarchies, even though over 1,000 hierarchies exist.

So instead of going after the pedo sickos, Verizon gets forced to shut down nearly all access to the usenet. Its a bomb to kill a bug in your house method that won't work. Now usenet access is a small part now of the internet and most users get access via dedicated providers. But if Cuomo can do this with Verizon, what to make him stop from going after Giganews and other providers?

Shocker! People don't like racetracks for Vegas style gambling.

South Florida: The article wants to blame the legislature and the restrictions for the race track slots not being a revenue maker like they promised years ago.

"The competitive disparity between the Seminoles and the racetracks in Broward County is enormous any way you slice it," said Joe Weinert, vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group in Atlantic City, which analyzes the gambling industry nationwide. "The way it's set up there, they aren't even close." That's not what was envisioned in 2004, when almost 70 percent of Broward voters approved the slot machine amendment, which was designed to close the gap between racetracks and the tribe. It passed despite strong opposition from then-Gov. Jeb Bush and conservative North Florida legislators. Unable to defeat the measure, Bush and his allies set out to destroy it, State Sen. Steve Geller, D- Hallandale Beach, and others say. Legislators imposed a 50 percent tax rate, among the highest in the country, and allowed the casinos to open just 12 hours each day, while the Seminoles never close. "I believe that the Legislature, especially the House, designed the laws and the tax rate to make it impossible for the racetracks to make any money," said Geller, a strong supporter of the tracks. "The Florida Legislature was forced into this by the voters, but they never accepted what the voters told them to do."

The problem is who the hell goes to a race track to have a Vegas type experience? The Hard Rock and even the Coconut Creek Indian casinos are miles better than anything at the race tracks. The biggest name the Pompano Harness Track which is located in a dump of a area and has zero entertainment value unlike the Hard Rock casino.

Weinert, the gaming analyst, said local racetrack operators are partly to blame because they had unrealistic expectations. "If you look around the country, racetracks are never going to be on a par with Indian casinos; they are just different types of operations," Weinert said.

Exactly. Considering the dire problems of the racing industry down here which will die away because they are not bringing in young gamblers, this casino plan was a hail mary that was a fail concept on paper and now we are seeing it in reality.

Argentina town raises 'Che' Guevara statue

Weird: Finally, all the Che lovers have a spot to idol worship other than getting a t-shirt from a mall kiosk.

MIA construction costs could rise by $100M

South Florida: Miami Airport has cost overruns? There is a shocker considering its under prepentual construction. Thats the one thing about Miami-Dade, give them a project to do and the costs always skyrocket above the stated budget for it. Of course in the old days(80's-90's) you would get the feds down here and arrest numerous officials for kickbacks and outright fraud. I am sure that is cleaned up by now.

Louisiana vote drive, fraud or legit?

Politics: The NYTIMES takes the position of an overwhelmed registrar office because of so many new voters.

Project Vote and Acorn, a left-wing national organizing group, have teamed up to conduct large voter drives across the country, with the goal of registering 1.2 million people by Labor Day. They have already submitted 600,000 applications, said Michael Slater, the deputy director of Project Vote. Acorn is among several groups registering voters in Louisiana. The Obama campaign itself has announced a 50-state registration drive known as “Vote for Change.” It remains unclear whether election officials will be prepared to handle more registrations and the potential for overwhelming turnout on Election Day, Mr. Slater said. “Party politics is driving up registration at unusually high rates,” he said. He added that it was too soon to tell how much of the gap between black and white registration had closed before the primaries, which produced record turnouts in many states. Democratic officials said the Louisiana drive, which was called Voting is Power, had produced 74,000 applications by the time it concluded last week. Registrars in the four main parishes where the drive operated report numbers closer to 50,000, but there is no breakdown of how many were submitted to other parishes. Registrars have reported that as many as a third of the applications cannot be entered into the system, and many of the rest require more information. The state Republican Party called the operation “the Dems’ phony registration drive.” Democrats say the burden is on the registrars to double-check and verify application information. “Instead of throwing up complaints, they should be working to get as many people as possible registered,” said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington, which paid for the drive because Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, is up for re-election and her voter base in New Orleans was eroded by Hurricane Katrina.

Local News has a different angle as in massive voter fraud is probably happening.

Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said Tuesday he will meet today with a Democrat-affiliated group responsible for a voter registration effort that is inundating East Baton Rouge and other parish registrars with bogus and incomplete applications. Dardenne said his investigators are trying to determine if any state election laws have been violated as thousands of voter registration cards have been dumped on registrars offices through the efforts of VIP. “We have some very real concerns about the data we are getting from them,” Dardenne said. VIP is a Washington, D.C., group hired by national Democrats to register some 70,000 new voters in advance of the presidential and other federal elections this fall. ....Two cards received in Caddo Parish had George W. Bush as the voter applicant with a 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. address in Shreveport, Dardenne said. Other cards have been filed for prisoners who cannot vote and dead people. In Jefferson Parish, a voter registration card was filed for the registrar of voters.

Its Louisiana and politics, safe bet election fraud is happening.

Year 1: Gaza safer, but life is desperate

Middle East: Safer in the sense that you could walk without worry about crime in North Korea, the problem is you would be in North Korea.

After last June's takeover (or coup d'etat, as Fatah supporters call it), Hamas quickly imposed law and order, tried to reacquaint Gaza's drivers with long-forgotten traffic regulations, launched a municipal cleanup campaign, and forced the release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who had been held in captivity for almost six months. Chaos-weary Gazans applauded all of these initiatives. But the honeymoon ended quickly as reality sank in. Since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January 2006, and even more so since last year's takeover, Israel has tightened its siege of Gaza. Israel has restricted supplies of gasoline, diesel and electricity to Gaza, limited the amount of food and other goods entering the strip, and made it virtually impossible for manufacturers and farmers in Gaza to export anything to the outside world. Israeli officials say these measures are intended to pressure Hamas, which is on the U.S. government list of terrorist groups, to stop its members and other factions from firing mortars and rockets into Israel. Israel Defense Forces reports that 1,500 Qassam rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza in 2007, and 2,383 in the past six years. As a result, almost all of Gaza's factories have shut down and thousands of workers have lost their jobs. Between 70 and 80 percent of the population is dependent on food supplied by the United Nations Refugee Works Agency, set up after more than 700,000 Palestinians became refugees after the war that resulted in Israel's creation in 1948. Life in Gaza, never easy, in the last year has become a grinding daily struggle to make ends meet. For the vast majority of Gazans, it means they must spend much of their time trying to secure basic commodities. Such as cooking gas, which comes from Israel. In the past, when supplies were plentiful, it was sold from the back of trucks and donkey carts. Not anymore. When there are supplies, people flock to a few distribution centers. One is a hot, crowded compound north of Gaza City, where the stench of gas is so strong you shudder with fear that someone will light a cigarette and the whole place will go up in flames. People have to wait for their cooking gas for hours some claim days, in the hot sun. There I met a woman who identified herself as Um Wadi'a (the mother of Wadi'a), who at 2 p.m. told me she had been waiting since 5 a.m. She said she had run out of cooking gas three days before. Typical of so many people here, she blamed both main Palestinian factions for her woes. "Hamas hasn't done anything for us, nor has Fatah," she said. "All those people want is to sit comfortably on their thrones."

Pay as you go internet, broadband style

Web: Sigh, I thought I was done with this back in the dial up AOL days, but now the gatekeepers are starting to bring back the pay as you go and usage limits. This will only stop any web advancement and considering the direction its going with more bandwidth applications, not a good thing.

The Time Warner plan has the potential to bring Internet use full circle, back to the days when pay-as-you-go pricing held back the Web’s popularity. In the early days of dial-up access, America Online and other providers offered tiered pricing, in part because audio and video were barely viable online. Consumers feared going over their allotted time and bristled at the idea that access to cyberspace was billed by the hour. In 1996, when AOL started offering unlimited access plans, Internet use took off and the online world started moving to the center of people’s daily lives. Today most Internet packages provide a seemingly unlimited amount of capacity, at least from the consumer’s perspective ....Mr. Bowling said that “typical Internet usage” would not be affected. But on the Internet, “typical” use is constantly being redefined. “The definitions of low and high usage today are meaningless, because the Internet’s going to grow, and nothing’s going to stop that,” said Eric Klinker, the chief technology officer of BitTorrent. As the technology company Cisco put it in a recent report, “today’s ‘bandwidth hog’ is tomorrow’s average user.”

Black Conservatives: Don't Fall For It

Politics: Baldilocks points out the obvious about black conservatives thinking about voting for Obama just to make history.

One of today's Yahoo News headlines informs us that 'Black conservatives [are] conflicted on Obama campaign.' Armstrong Williams, Rep. J.C. Watts, General Colin Powell, Senator Edward Brooke and, sadly, my friend Joseph C. Phillips may be falling into the trap which I have repeatedly described--one lined with pride and with fear: pride of race and fear that Obama is the last chance for a black president to be elected. (GOPAC chairman Michael Steele isn't going for the okey doke, however; but that may be only due to his position.) People say that women have problems thinking objectively and strategically. Well, I'm seeing a whole group of men who are having that problem. Friends, you're letting the nearness of a dream's seeming fulfillment blind you to what will likely come after that ephemeral happiness is dissipated, after the novelty has worn off: the nightmare. And guess who will get blamed for that short-sightedness? Not just you. With 90+ percent of black Americans voting Democrat regardless of who the candidate is, it will be bad enough as it is. But I, for one, expect you, black conservative Republican men to have enough balls to stand on principle, not on your emotions. You've shown your testicular fortitude by being publicly conservative against a tide of Identity Politics. Don't start behaving like castrati now. Stop thinking selfishly. We're not choosing a President of Black American Dream Fulfillment; we're choosing a President of the United States.

Bravo! I understand the notion of the making history, white liberals are chomping at the bit to say the voted for the first black president which Hillary found out trumped voting for the first female president. But it is a stupid, superficial reason to vote for a politician to the highest office in the land.