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 Coronado |
Supporting the Services by J. F. Kelly, Jr. 7/3/08 |
Blackwater Worldwide, a provider of security and security training for military, law enforcement and other government agencies, recently tried to build a military training facility in rural east San Diego County. Plans included live firing ranges, helicopter landing facilities and an urban combat simulation area. That project drew the ire of local residents, environmental activists, U.S. Representative Bob Filner (D-Calif.) and a gaggle of peace activists.
More recently, the company announced plans to open an indoor training facility in a warehouse in Otay Mesa, near the Mexican border. That project drew the anger of San Diego city officials, local residents and, of course, the usual assortment of anti-military activists. Blackwater obtained a federal court order allowing it to operate the facility which the U.S. Navy says is needed to provide small arms training. The company claimed that the city was in noncompliance with that order by holding up a final permit and not allowing a portion of the project, including a ship simulator, to be built. According to a company attorney, the city’s chief building official placed 64 conditions on the permit including wheelchair access. [more]
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Marc Newman
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- The Way of a Man with a Maid
Real Romance in WALL-E
by Marc T. Newman [media reviewer/critic] 7/3/08 Nine Feet Tall
Let The Tallest Man Win The Oval
by Steve Finefrock - Hollywood Forum [scriptwriter] - Bosnia Helped Fund the 9/11 Attacks on America
by Julia Gorin [pundit/comedian]
 Sacramento |
The Legislature Needs a Spending Limit Nanny by Jon Coupal 7/2/08 |
Here's a riddle. What is 150 years old, but has less self control than a toddler?
That's right, it's the California Legislature, whose profligate spending has put our state almost $20 billion in the red. Over and over again it has proven Ronald Reagan's maxim that "government is like an infant -- an insatiable appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."
Fiscal incontinence is nothing new to Sacramento. Back in 1979, Proposition 13 co-author Paul Gann put a reasonable limit on the ballot that tied new spending to inflation and population growth. Voters agreed and the system worked so well that, in 1987, Governor George Deukmejian actually returned money to the taxpayers.
Tellingly, Senate Pro-tem David Roberti, objected, saying, "When you've got it, you spend it." Problem is lawmakers have shown a willingness to spend it even when they don't "got it." [more]
 Los Angeles |
from ExileStreet.com If You Are Just Starting To Think About This Election by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic] 7/1/08 |
Sad News: There is an Election Coming
Normal people, those with actual lives, do not follow every poll on Real Clear Politics. If you have a good life, then it is likely that you are only vaguely aware that soon you will have to TIVO past even more political ads. You know there is an election this year, but like a trip to the dentist, you have put off the unpleasant task of deciding on a candidate. Fortunately for you, there are now only two candidates left with any chance of actually being the president.
Many (if not most) American voters only know three things about the two guys running for President:
1. Neither of them is named Clinton or Bush.
(A pause to thank God for His mercies.)
2. One is young and cool.
3. The other is old and a war hero.
Blessed is the man who does not check Rasmussen Report three times a day. If you are this person, congratulations on living a peaceful life. The genius of the republic is that it allows a man to be a patriot without being a politico. [more]
 Los Angeles |
Barbarians Inside Gate As Kids Lose A Cool Pool by Doug McIntyre [radio host/scriptwriter] 6/30/08 |
I was a very pale child and have grown into a nearly translucent adult. So, I'm no expert on swimming pools, public or private.
But I do have some vague memories of splashing around in a public pool screaming "Marco!" to some other kid's distant "Polo!" And I remember the taste of heavily chlorinated water bubbling out my nostrils as my brother Jeff held my head under - in fun, of course - for what seemed to me a nearly homicidal length of time. Everyone seemed to get a chuckle, so who am I to say blue lips and no circulation isn't funny?
Yes, summer is here, and that means children from all over Los Angeles will be flocking to the 47 pools run by the Department of Recreation and Parks. Make that 46 pools. The 109th Street oasis has been closed due to thuggery. [more]
 Los Angeles |
from ExileStreet.com A Skeptic’s View Of Voting by Burt Prelutsky [scriptwriter] 6/30/08 |
With the November election more or less around the corner, we are coming up on one of those traditions that should be stuck away in a kitchen drawer where we all keep pieces of string and out-of-date supermarket coupons. I’m referring to those crusades staged every four years by talk show pundits and editorial writers to shame us all into voting.
They love to remind us of all the brave men who have bled and died so that we would be free to cast our ballots. What they inevitably overlook is that millions and millions of people who never had the slightest bit of actual freedom have been free to vote. Joseph Stalin regularly won elections with a plurality of 99.9%. So did Saddam Hussein. Dictators can always win elections, but sometimes they simply decide they’re not worth the bother. The real distinction between people who are free and those who aren’t is that free men have the option of not voting. [more]
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