Liberals may think it's fun to threaten to rape camera operators and hit Fox News' Mike Tobin and threaten to break his neck on live national television, but it's turning the media against them. Reporters are professionals and they tend not to tolerate attacks on their colleagues.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Liberals 'get bloody' for Wisconsin, Part VI: Liberal strikes down 5'1" girl
One of the older videos of Wisconsin protesters attacking people for expressing a differing point of view, but also one of the more disturbing.
A large liberal in a CWA shirt puts a fist into the face of Tabitha Hale, who obviously was very threatening at 20 years old, towering over him at 5'1" and armed with a deadly flip cam.
He probably lost points with other liberals for forgetting to threaten to rape her, as an increasing number of Wisconsin protesters are now doing.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
A large liberal in a CWA shirt puts a fist into the face of Tabitha Hale, who obviously was very threatening at 20 years old, towering over him at 5'1" and armed with a deadly flip cam.
He probably lost points with other liberals for forgetting to threaten to rape her, as an increasing number of Wisconsin protesters are now doing.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Liberals 'get bloody' for Wisconsin, Part V: Liberals assault reporter on national TV
Liberal hits reporter Mike Tobin as he reports live on national television. Over the din of enraged liberals chanting "FOX NEWS LIES!!!!!" you can faintly hear organizers plead with protesters to "stay peaceful" as they hit Tobin and try to forcibly shut down the broadcast.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Liberals 'get bloody' for Wisconsin, Part IV: Liberal threatens to break reporter's neck on national TV
During the debate over health care, do you remember seeing four to five new videos a day of Tea Partiers attacking reporters or threatening to break their necks or rape them, or of Tea Partiers punching, slapping and threatening to rape women?
If this is what liberals do when cameras are pointed at them, imagine what they do to people with different political views when there's no prosecutable evidence.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
If this is what liberals do when cameras are pointed at them, imagine what they do to people with different political views when there's no prosecutable evidence.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Everything's bigger in Texas, including the vote counts
The annual TV news report on a proud Texas tradition, state legislators running from desk to desk of absentee lawmakers so they cast multiple floor votes.
You'd think one smart one would get a long stick so he can hit even more desks.
You'd think one smart one would get a long stick so he can hit even more desks.
Report: Texas QB scores near-perfect on Wonderlic
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is reporting Univ. of Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, a product of Southlake Carroll High School, racked up a near-perfect score on the NFL Combine's Wonderlic test.
The Star-Telegram reports McElroy scored 48 out of a possible 50. That would be one of the best scores in 35 years since former Cincinnati Bengals punter and Harvard graduate Pat McInally became the only player to ever score 50 in 1975.
Of course, had McElroy played in an option system like Georgia Tech or a service academy, he would have developed the additional super-awareness to pick up those final two points.
The Star-Telegram reports McElroy scored 48 out of a possible 50. That would be one of the best scores in 35 years since former Cincinnati Bengals punter and Harvard graduate Pat McInally became the only player to ever score 50 in 1975.
Of course, had McElroy played in an option system like Georgia Tech or a service academy, he would have developed the additional super-awareness to pick up those final two points.
Liberals 'get bloody' for Wisconsin, Part III: Dem to GOP woman, "You are f-----g dead!"
Democrat Wisconsin State Rep. Gordon Hintz, already famous for a deranged rant on the House floor and his arrest on prostitution charges, decided to turn the crazy to 11 last Friday after the House voted to approve the Budget Repair Bill.
Unable to stop the majority vote, Democrat lawmakers ran around the House floor wearing t-shirts provided by their union bankrollers, pumping their fists at Republicans and urging the protesters in the gallery to try and shut down the proceedings with stamping and screaming.
That's when Hintz turned to Republican State Rep. Michelle Litjens and screamed, "You are f-----g dead!"
Hintz's screaming taunt of a woman comes a month after he was picked up by Appleton, Wisc. police for asking a female massage parlor employee to sexually pleasure him for money.
It also comes after a week of videotaped assaults on citizens and threats of rape, gang rape and sodomy of women and reporters by liberals backing efforts to organize Wisconsin's government against its citizens.
After lecturing the nation on civility and urging people to tone things down, doesn't Obama have a responsibility to tell his supporters and the union bosses who bankroll him to stop hitting, slapping, punching out and threatening to kill and rape those with different opinions, especially women?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Unable to stop the majority vote, Democrat lawmakers ran around the House floor wearing t-shirts provided by their union bankrollers, pumping their fists at Republicans and urging the protesters in the gallery to try and shut down the proceedings with stamping and screaming.
That's when Hintz turned to Republican State Rep. Michelle Litjens and screamed, "You are f-----g dead!"
Hintz's screaming taunt of a woman comes a month after he was picked up by Appleton, Wisc. police for asking a female massage parlor employee to sexually pleasure him for money.
It also comes after a week of videotaped assaults on citizens and threats of rape, gang rape and sodomy of women and reporters by liberals backing efforts to organize Wisconsin's government against its citizens.
After lecturing the nation on civility and urging people to tone things down, doesn't Obama have a responsibility to tell his supporters and the union bosses who bankroll him to stop hitting, slapping, punching out and threatening to kill and rape those with different opinions, especially women?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Citizens prefer government shutdown, and recognize Democrat efforts to bungle budget
A lot has changed between 2011 and 1995, most notably the fact the average citizen's access to national political information isn't controlled by just two left-of-center newspapers and four left-of-center broadcast and cable networks.
The "democratization" of information means the average citizen in 2011 is far better informed than the citizen of 1995, and the difference is showing as Democrat efforts to force a goverment shutdown look as though they'll backfire.
* Fifty-nine percent of unaffiliated likely voters, and fifty-eight percent of all likely voters, would rather the government shut down than Congress authorize a budget extension that doesn't cut spending (Rasmussen, Feb. 28, 2001.)
* By a six-point margin, likely voters are also more likely to blame Democrats than Republicans should the government shut down (The Hill, Feb. 28, 2001.) That's likely because House Republicans worked extra-long days, often until the early morning hours, to get a budget resolution over to the Democrat-controlled Senate, which decided to go on vacation and skip town.
What about those polls showing support for big spending? Look at the sample. Networks and liberal special interests often commission polls of "registered voters" and "adults" to skew the sample. Polls of "registered voters" dilute the voting public by throwing in people who got a voter registration card at the DMV and don't care enough to show up to vote, while polls of "adults" dilute it even further by watering down the sample with mass numbers of people who are so politically unaware they didn't even bother to register.
It doesn't speak well of the left-of-center point of view when the only way to get a poll result that backs your opinion is to poll people who have no idea what Congress or a budget are.
Elections are decided by those who turn out and vote, and poll after poll show Americans want spending drastically reduced, and they recognize the fact Democrats are now resorting to hiding out like fugitives and sabotaging budget negotiations to protect the silk pockets and plush bank accounts of the union bosses who control them.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
The "democratization" of information means the average citizen in 2011 is far better informed than the citizen of 1995, and the difference is showing as Democrat efforts to force a goverment shutdown look as though they'll backfire.
* Fifty-nine percent of unaffiliated likely voters, and fifty-eight percent of all likely voters, would rather the government shut down than Congress authorize a budget extension that doesn't cut spending (Rasmussen, Feb. 28, 2001.)
* By a six-point margin, likely voters are also more likely to blame Democrats than Republicans should the government shut down (The Hill, Feb. 28, 2001.) That's likely because House Republicans worked extra-long days, often until the early morning hours, to get a budget resolution over to the Democrat-controlled Senate, which decided to go on vacation and skip town.
What about those polls showing support for big spending? Look at the sample. Networks and liberal special interests often commission polls of "registered voters" and "adults" to skew the sample. Polls of "registered voters" dilute the voting public by throwing in people who got a voter registration card at the DMV and don't care enough to show up to vote, while polls of "adults" dilute it even further by watering down the sample with mass numbers of people who are so politically unaware they didn't even bother to register.
It doesn't speak well of the left-of-center point of view when the only way to get a poll result that backs your opinion is to poll people who have no idea what Congress or a budget are.
Elections are decided by those who turn out and vote, and poll after poll show Americans want spending drastically reduced, and they recognize the fact Democrats are now resorting to hiding out like fugitives and sabotaging budget negotiations to protect the silk pockets and plush bank accounts of the union bosses who control them.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Why Wisconsin matters
And why government shouldn't be allowed to organize against its own people.
The village of Palatine, Illinois has just 67,000 people and over 400 municipal government employees. But the number of those village employees making over $100,000.00 a year more than doubled between 2009 and 2010, from 43 to 88.
Not only are 20 percent making over $100,000.00 a year in a village where the average income for an entire household is $63,321, the average government employee making six figures saw his wages skyrocket 14.85 percent. The average American gets what averages out to just 0.15 percent each year over the last 20 years.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
The village of Palatine, Illinois has just 67,000 people and over 400 municipal government employees. But the number of those village employees making over $100,000.00 a year more than doubled between 2009 and 2010, from 43 to 88.
Not only are 20 percent making over $100,000.00 a year in a village where the average income for an entire household is $63,321, the average government employee making six figures saw his wages skyrocket 14.85 percent. The average American gets what averages out to just 0.15 percent each year over the last 20 years.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Liberals 'get bloody' for Wisconsin, Part II: Liberal threatens to rape, sodomize camera operator
Anything radical Muslims can do, American liberals can do better.
A left-wing protest in Rhode Island to support Wisconsin's efforts to organize government against its own citizens gets ugly when one enraged liberal slaps, and then threatens to rape and sodomize a member of the media, specifically the poor camera operator for a public access TV station who happens to be filming him.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
A left-wing protest in Rhode Island to support Wisconsin's efforts to organize government against its own citizens gets ugly when one enraged liberal slaps, and then threatens to rape and sodomize a member of the media, specifically the poor camera operator for a public access TV station who happens to be filming him.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Liberals 'get bloody' for Wisconsin, Part I: Liberal literally foams at mouth, says he'll take baseball bat to Tea Partiers
The self-proclaimed "meanest liberal in the world" says the time for talk it over, and it's time to "get violent." Challenges pro-taxpayer advocates to boxing match, says he'll take "a baseball bat" to Tea Partiers.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Liberals deface Wisconsin's memorial to war dead
Liberals backing efforts to organize government against its citizens decide the state capitol's official memorial to Wisconsin's combat casualties would be better used like a campus bulletin board. When asked why, they get nasty.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Tonight's Awful Bedtime Movie: The Incredible Melting Man (1977)
Movies about astronauts exposed to radiation and becoming monsters don't have a good track record.
"The Crawling Hand."
"Monster A Go-Go."
And now "The Incredible Melting Man."
This 1977 turkey, one of IMDB's "Bottom 100," is the tale of the lone survivor of a three-man mission to Saturn that turns him into a murderous monster. He only kills a few people, all in brief shots, over the span of 84 minutes so strap in for 82 minutes of meandering, pointless filler.
While orbiting the planet, Steven West and two other astronauts are attacked by stock footage. The movie fails miserably to explain what happens, much less how he managed to make the seven-year trip back to Earth from Saturn all by himself while unconscious and in what appears to be just a few hours. The unconscious West awakens in a military hospital. There he finds he's been exposed to radiation and his flesh is melting away.
That's all he needs to know to go on a murderous rampage. His first victim is the nurse who finds him, who he chases in slow motion for no reason. West is followed by groovy doctors who try to stop his poorly-directed campaign of bloodshed and plot holes.
There's one scene where West tears off the head of a fisherman who looks like Eddie Deezen. He tosses it into a river and it bursts open like a cantaloupe when it hits rocks.
There's also a scene where he kills an elderly couple after what has to be ten excruciating, pointless minutes of the two talking about nothing. It's not a good idea to make your audience want the victims to die.
There's also an inexplicable scene in which a man is thrown into power lines and several pointless minutes where you're forced to watch a woman knit.
The film ends with a janitor calmly scooping up what's left of West and tossing him into a trash can.
The movie stinks. It's five pounds of movie in an eighty pound sack. At least the makeup effects are pretty good for a low budget 1970s film, of which I seem be to watching a lot of.
Fun Facts:
One of the victims is a young Jonathan Demme. One can only imagine the horrors of appearing in this film led him to direct "Silence of the Lambs."
"The Incredible Melting Man" was originally meant to be a parody of 1950s horror films but the studio changed directions in the middle of filming and decided to make it a serious film. Unsurprisingly the studio was American International Pictures, which churned out hundreds of exploitation and cheap drive-in films between the 1950s and 1970s. They figured out the secret to profitable film making was it could be as cheap and poorly-made as possible, but if you produce something a 19-year old boy will like it will make money.
Questions That Need Answers And Other Observations:
Saturn looks a lot like public domain footage of the Earth and solar flares.
So, the explosion or whatever it is kills his crew and knocks him unconscious, but he manages to fly back to Earth from Saturn? (The trip would take seven years in real life.)
Why are they using time-lapse photography in a real-time scene?
Why did they mike the grocery bag?
They shot a couch, skinned it and made curtains out of it.
Half of the dialogue in this movie has nothing to do with the movie.
Was there any editing?
Bold move casting Anton LaVey as the crime scene photographer.
Why do you have random gawkers at a crime scene in the middle of the wilderness?
Wait, his hospital pajamas were dark blue, and now they're white? Apparently the monster killed the continuity guy.
Another scene shot in slow motion for no reason. I'm not kidding when I say I think they're using slow motion to pad out the length of the film.
And another pointless scene that doesn't advance the plot to pad out the film.
Another pointless flashback to the space accident scene? That's the third time. How badly did they come up short in the pre-release run time?
Okay, I'm halfway through the movie and they still haven't explained what happened or what's going on. I'm beginning to think the director made a really cool movie, lost the film, and replaced it with surveillance footage of his life.
Was anything cut from the film? This thing is 2% plot and 98% people just standing around doing nothing.
And we flash back to the space flight for a fourth time. Still nothing happening in this movie.
Plot hole: The problem is his muscle tissue is melting away, yet the problem is he's freakishly strong.
I think the monster killed the movie's editor.
Yet another scene of pointless, rambling, inane conversation and nothing happening?
The movie is three-fourths done and they're finally getting around to actual plot points?
Was this an anthology of ten short, plotless films?
Did everyone look like Gabe Kaplan in the 70s?
Finally, something happens! She chops his arm off and he runs away. Unfortunately the scene just runs on as she falls against a wall and cries for a long time. You can cut away now. Anytime. Next scene? GET ON WITH IT!
His pistol turned into a shotgun?
This thing got 3.2 out of 10 stars on IMDB. That's 2.2 stars too many.
Wait. He gets STRONGER as he melts? Then why did his arm fall off when it was fanned at with a kitchen knife?
Apparently the human body is 70% fireworks and flash paper.
WAIT!!!! The entire point of the movie was he had to be stopped because he got stronger and stronger as he melted (which makes no sense) but he's finally stopped because he melted?
So, the janitor find a pile of blood, tissue and organs and just scoops it up and tosses it in the trash like its perfectly normal? What kind of power plant is this?
Two lies that need to be countered.
The Wisconsin budget reforms DO NOT take away someone's right to join a union. They simply require a union to use a method other than collective bargaining to negotiate benefits for government workers. Government employees can still collectively bargain wages.
Also, unions are not required by law to provide the same benefits to non-union members they do union members. They actually reject the option to negotiate only for members and fight to put non-members into their agreements so they can use the "we have to take care of freeloaders" argument in future negotiations.
If a union boss' lips are moving, he's lying.
Also, unions are not required by law to provide the same benefits to non-union members they do union members. They actually reject the option to negotiate only for members and fight to put non-members into their agreements so they can use the "we have to take care of freeloaders" argument in future negotiations.
If a union boss' lips are moving, he's lying.
The real numbers about campaign cash and the Wisconsin governor's race
Koch PAC to Walker: $43,000.
Union bosses to Tom Barrett: $334,556.
Unions bosses spent 778% more than Koch.
Three different unions gave more than Koch.
Government employee union bosses gave $67,750 in the race, 58% more than Koch.
Koch provided Walker with less than 0.5% of his funds.
Union bosses provided his Democrat opponent with a little more than 6% of his funds.
Those figures are direct contributions only. They do not include the in-kind contributions of volunteers, staff, facilities and equipment unions provide in amounts that often top their cash contributions.
Union bosses to Tom Barrett: $334,556.
Unions bosses spent 778% more than Koch.
Three different unions gave more than Koch.
Government employee union bosses gave $67,750 in the race, 58% more than Koch.
Koch provided Walker with less than 0.5% of his funds.
Union bosses provided his Democrat opponent with a little more than 6% of his funds.
Those figures are direct contributions only. They do not include the in-kind contributions of volunteers, staff, facilities and equipment unions provide in amounts that often top their cash contributions.
The Reality: Fat Cat Government Unions vs. Underfunded Kochs
Keep these figures in mind next time a union stooge tells you Wisconsin's budget reforms are a battle between poor, destitute unions and the comic book supervillian Kochs who are buying elections.
Twelve of the twenty-one biggest campaign bankrollers in the United States are unions, funneling close to a half-billion dollars into the bank accounts of Democrats. The Kochs, whom Democrats claim fund everything, clock in at #83.
The Kochs have spent a little less than three percent of what unions did, $11 million from the Kochs to nearly $350 million from the unions. And ten percent of that Koch money went to Democrats, so in reality the Kochs are an even greater disadvantage.
The AFSCME, the nation's biggest government union, alone blows the Kochs out of the water. They've pumped over $43 million into the pockets of candidates, four times what the Kochs gave, making just one government union the nation's third-biggest campaign bankroller.
Only two groups are bigger, #2 AT&T (which split its contributions almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats) and #1 ActBlue. The single biggest campaign bankrolling special interest in the nation gave 99% of its $51 million-plus bankwad to Democrats. In fact, of the top 21 campaign contributing groups in the country, only four gave a majority of their contributions to Republicans.
So keep that in mind a well-funded union stooge tells you they're fighting "big money" in Wisconsin.
Twelve of the twenty-one biggest campaign bankrollers in the United States are unions, funneling close to a half-billion dollars into the bank accounts of Democrats. The Kochs, whom Democrats claim fund everything, clock in at #83.
The Kochs have spent a little less than three percent of what unions did, $11 million from the Kochs to nearly $350 million from the unions. And ten percent of that Koch money went to Democrats, so in reality the Kochs are an even greater disadvantage.
The AFSCME, the nation's biggest government union, alone blows the Kochs out of the water. They've pumped over $43 million into the pockets of candidates, four times what the Kochs gave, making just one government union the nation's third-biggest campaign bankroller.
Only two groups are bigger, #2 AT&T (which split its contributions almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats) and #1 ActBlue. The single biggest campaign bankrolling special interest in the nation gave 99% of its $51 million-plus bankwad to Democrats. In fact, of the top 21 campaign contributing groups in the country, only four gave a majority of their contributions to Republicans.
So keep that in mind a well-funded union stooge tells you they're fighting "big money" in Wisconsin.
Limbaugh picks up on how government unions work
Limbaugh gets around to making the point I made last week -- government employee unions exists solely because they are an easy way to route millions of taxpayer dollars into the bank accounts of Democrat campaigns.
That's why Democrats are stopping at nothing, including faked polls, outright lies, occupying state capitols and punching out young women, to preserve their power to organize against taxpayers.
Here's how government unions work, and why Democrats have declared war on citizens to preserve them.
1) Tax money goes into a government paycheck.
2) A portion of those tax dollars are skimmed off the top by a union boss as "dues" -- totaling millions.
3) The union boss redirects much of those tax dollars into the bank accounts of Democrat politicians as "contributions."
This it ends there? Wrong. Government employee unions are a self-replicating tax hike machine in which insatiable consumers of tax dollars organize against taxpayers for the sole purpose of making them pay higher taxes.
1) Government employee union bosses spend redistributed your tax dollars electing politicians who vote to hire more government employees.
2) More government employees means more taxpayer dollars pumped into the bank accounts of government employee union bosses.
3) Goverment union bosses spend their now-larger ban accounts to elect even more liberal politicians, who vote to create even more government employees.
4) Repeat ad nauseum until you run out of other people's money and drive the state into virtual bankruptcy.
Travis' Letter from The Alamo, February 24, 1836
Commandancy of the Alamo
Bexar, Fby. 24th, 1836
To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world
Fellow Citizens & Compatriots
I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender nor retreat.
Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & of everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country.
Victory or Death
William Barret Travis
Lt. Col. Comdt.
P. S. The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.
Travis
Bexar, Fby. 24th, 1836
To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world
Fellow Citizens & Compatriots
I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender nor retreat.
Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & of everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country.
Victory or Death
William Barret Travis
Lt. Col. Comdt.
P. S. The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.
Travis
Media coverage at CPAC
I got to speak last Thursday with POLITICO about American Tradition Partnership’s mission, our participation in CPAC 2011 and our efforts to secure a recorded vote on the REINS Act. POLITICO is one of the nation’s most respected political newspapers.
A short snippet from the interview begins at the 0:47 mark.
The Soros-funded outlet, The Independent, covers my work at CPAC in both its Colorado and D.C. editions in the story, "Anti-green group crows about squashing ‘radical environmentalist’ Newt Gingrich in CPAC straw poll," claiming I "derail(ed) the presidential aspirations of former Republic Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington."
They also whine I "got credit for one of the nastiest campaign pieces in Colorado last November, sending out a mailer with the face of state Sen. Gail Schwartz superimposed over the body of Donald Trump with the tagline “You’re Fired!” It was a reference to Schwartz’s strong advocacy for renewable energy legislation that the groups view as job-killing attacks on the oil and gas and coal industries."
They weren't campaign pieces.
The New American also covers the "Power-Grabbing Newt" information campaign in "Newt Gingrich's Environmentalism Hurts Him at CPAC." The quotes attributed to me aren't verbatim what I said (I didn't found ATP, and we only oppose Gingrich's agenda. As a 501(c)4 we only oppose legislation and proposals, not candidacies.) but he gets the gist of it well.
I also had great conversations with Tea Party Radio, The Washington Examiner and The Washington Times, where we should be getting placement soon.
A short snippet from the interview begins at the 0:47 mark.
The Soros-funded outlet, The Independent, covers my work at CPAC in both its Colorado and D.C. editions in the story, "Anti-green group crows about squashing ‘radical environmentalist’ Newt Gingrich in CPAC straw poll," claiming I "derail(ed) the presidential aspirations of former Republic Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington."
They also whine I "got credit for one of the nastiest campaign pieces in Colorado last November, sending out a mailer with the face of state Sen. Gail Schwartz superimposed over the body of Donald Trump with the tagline “You’re Fired!” It was a reference to Schwartz’s strong advocacy for renewable energy legislation that the groups view as job-killing attacks on the oil and gas and coal industries."
They weren't campaign pieces.
The New American also covers the "Power-Grabbing Newt" information campaign in "Newt Gingrich's Environmentalism Hurts Him at CPAC." The quotes attributed to me aren't verbatim what I said (I didn't found ATP, and we only oppose Gingrich's agenda. As a 501(c)4 we only oppose legislation and proposals, not candidacies.) but he gets the gist of it well.
I also had great conversations with Tea Party Radio, The Washington Examiner and The Washington Times, where we should be getting placement soon.
ATP sinks Gingrich in CPAC Straw Poll
ATP sinks Gingrich in CPAC Straw Poll
Speaker’s long record of radical environmentalism bombs with CPAC voters after ATP’s ‘Power-Grabbing Newt’ campaign
WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished a disappointing fifth with just five percent of the vote in the annual CPAC Presidential Straw Poll after American Tradition Partnership distributed “Power-Grabbing Newts” documenting his vocal advocacy of radical environmentalism. Gingrich finished 26 points out of first place.
“American Tradition Partnership delivered a message to Newt Gingrich. Your record of radical environmentalism should stay on that love seat with Nancy Pelosi. ATP members urge Speaker Gingrich to renounce radical environmentalism and adopt a conservative message of less government and more freedom,” said ATP Executive Director Donald Ferguson, referencing an ad Gingrich filmed with Pelosi to promote former vice-president “Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection.”
“No one can side with the radical greens against people, property and prosperity without being held accountable, even if you cover up your green agenda with conservative rhetoric,” said Ferguson. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat running for a small town city council or the Republican former Speaker of the House seeking a presidential bid, American Tradition Partnership will hold you accountable. Big Green’s political puppets cannot hide from accountability, whether they are in Georgia, Iowa or New Hampshire.”
“Whether it’s fighting to protect the EPA, opposing conservative efforts to repeal job-killing green laws, calling for wealth redistribution to enforce ‘environmental compliance’ or demanding the U.S. give up national sovereignty to please global greens, Newt Gingrich may try to paint himself Republican red, but his record is radical green. No wonder he was roundly rejected after ATP informed conservatives of his real agenda,” said Ferguson.
With a coveted speaking slot, exhibiting organization and book signing, hosting three panels and a reception and screening two films, Gingrich’s presence dominated that of other presumptive presidential candidates. CPAC looked to be a launching pad for a Gingrich presidential bid. Instead, the Republican powerhouse cratered after ATP informed voters of Gingrich’s long record of supporting massive tax hikes, increased government power and international regulatory regimes to enforce what he calls “environmental compliance.”
The twenty-five quotes were pulled from Gingrich’s books, “A Contract With The Earth,” “Winning The Future” and “Real Change.” Along with the flyer of quotes, CPAC attendees were given a sticky lizard toy, dubbed a “Power-Grabbing Newt” to promote the information campaign.
Supported by grassroots activists, American Tradition Partnership is a fast-growing national conservative organization fighting the liberal agenda of environmentalism and its calls for increased government power and taxation.
The text of the flyer follows:
BIG GREEN GOVERNMENT 101
WHO SAID IT? NEWT GINGRICH OR AL GORE?
A POP QUIZ FROM AMERICAN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP (AmericanTradition.org)
Hint: These are all recent Newt Gingrich statements.
I WAS A GREEN PUPPET WHEN IT WASN’T COOL: “When I first ran for Congress I was the natural candidate of most environmental groups…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 168
CREATE GLOBAL SPENDING REGIMES: “If the United States challenged Europe and Japan to join it in financing a world biodiversity refuge system and tied foreign aid into the process of maintaining biodiversity, we could probably save a very high percentage of the earth’s biological richness…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Pages 170-171
SPREAD THE WEALTH, TO GREENS: “The United States should support substantial research into climate change, managing the response to climate change, and in developing new non-carbon energy systems.” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 171
PUT DC IN CONTROL: “The federal government should establish measurable standards for a healthy environment…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 172
CASH FOR CLUNKERS? MORE, PLEASE: “A tax credit to subsidize energy efficient cars (including a tax credit for turning in old and heavily polluting cars) is another idea we should support.” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 174
INDOCTRINATE THEM YOUNG: “As a young professor at West Georgia College, I taught in the second Earth Day in 1971 and coordinated an interdisciplinary environmental studies program.” Newt Gingrich, “Real Change,” Page 196
NEWT ENDORSES ‘CASH FOR CLUNKERS,’ AGAIN: “There ought to be a tax break for trading in old cars that use a lot of petroleum and emit a lot of pollution.” Newt Gingrich, “Real Change,” Page 204
WE MUST PROTECT THE ESA “That is why I worked so diligently as Speaker of the House to protect the Endangered Species Act, historic legislation that has been mired in controversy…The Endangered Species Act is an excellent example of the value of civility, consultation and collaboration.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages XII & 51
THE EARTH NEEDS A GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER “Government, at all levels, should be a facilitator for entrepreneurial, private-sector innovations and the formation of private-public environmental partnerships.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 13
STOP THE CONSERVATIVES FROM LIMITING GOVERNMENT POWER “For that reason, we have supported its (the Endangered Species Act’s) continuation against all challenges by private citizens, interest groups, and congressional opponents.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 53
CREATE NEW GOVERNMENT SPENDING PROGRAMS “The U.S. government operates endowments for the humanities and the arts…Perhaps, it is time we consider a new endowment for conservation and the environment.” “Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 115-116 [NOTE: As Speaker, Gingrich told conservatives he wanted to eliminate the wasteful National Endowment for the Arts. Now he cites it as an example of a government spending spree that needs to be duplicated.]
SPEND ‘SIGNIFICANT’ TAX MONEY IN THE U.S., AND AROUND THE WORLD “Significant resources should be set aside to protect hallowed sites such as the Galapagos Islands, the Virguna Volcanoes in Central Africa, and Georgia’s Okenfenokee Swamp, to name a few.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 117
MILITANT ENVIRONMENTALISM…LITERALLY? “John Muir, for most of his adult life, experienced nature in spiritual overtones…He even favored using the armed forces to enforce environmental law…However, with the inexorable advance of the urban realm, the defense of forested land assumes a greater urgency as we strive to sustain the highest-quality standards for our nation’s air, water, and land.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 127
HOORAY FOR RECORD-BREAKING SPENDING HIKES! “Our national parks and wildlife reserves require more vigorous protection. With an eye toward strengthening his environmental legacy in the 2007 federal budget, President Bush requested the largest increase for national park funding in our nation’s history. We should expect nothing less than excellence from our national park system.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 130-131
ENVIRONMENTALISM, OUR GLOBAL RELIGION OF PEACE “Far from becoming a new source of global discord, environmentalism, which binds nations to a common concern, will be the best thing that’s ever happened to international relations.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 149-150
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IS THE SOLUTION “We will need to organize a series of high-level global conferences that focus on specific [environmental] problems…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 158
GOVERNMENT IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF INNOVATION “…the type of arduous research that produces real breakthroughs can only be funded by astute governments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 167
NEWT WANTS TO BRING BACK CARTER ENERGY POLICIES “America used to be that kind of government [that spent millions of tax dollars on “energy research” welfare programs,] but our commitments have wavered in recent years so government incentives for energy research will be issues in future political campaigns.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 1
+667
NEWT LOVES THE UN’S KYOTO TREATY GLOBAL APPROACH “Mobilizing other countries to join us will not be as easy as it may appear. Many of the countries that signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol are lagging behind on their commitments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 168
STOP CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION TO THE ESA “The act [Endangered Species Act] has been, by any measure, a very successful guardian of wildlife and habitat and any attempt to weaken it should be resisted.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 170
NEWT INVENTS A NEW DISEASE ONLY ENVIRONMENTALISM CAN CURE “…our children, according to Louv, run the risk of acquiring ‘nature deficit disorder,’ a malady that he describes as a contributing factor to a recognized mental health construct, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Nature deficit disorder, not yet acknowledged by scientists or clinicians, is a working hypothesis that Louv believes helps to explain the onset of ADHD, and he proposes that exposure to nature should be offered as a therapy for children who have difficulty attending to stimuli and learning in conventional classrooms. His call for research in this domain is compelling.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 182
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SHOULD REDISTRIBUTE INCOME TO ‘STIMULATE’ GREEN COMPLIANCE “Local governments operate much closer to the origin of environmental problems, and they have begun to provide tax incentives and large cash rewards for environmental compliance…While the motivation is driven by the application of tax dollars, the effect is rewarding rather than punitive…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 194
DON’T CUT GOVERNMENT, JUST MAKE IT NICER “…our government, at all levels, must be modernized to successfully partner, let alone compete, with the private sector.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 196
MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE IS A FACT “We agree that there is plenty of evidence that global climate change is occurring…While humanity is certainly causing its fair share of the change, scientists are still not able to precisely pinpoint the extent of the change, or the margin of error in their estimates.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 200
GIVING TAX DOLLARS TO LIBERALS IS OUR ONLY HOPE “In spite of the demonstrated liberal leanings in academia, we have nothing but respect for the nation’s scientists. They represent America’s best hope to protect the environment. We support a dramatic increase in science and technology research and development because we desperately need to understand global climate change and other environmental phenomena.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 201
MOTHER EARTH NEEDS ALL YOUR INCOME “Needless to say, an appropriate and significant investment of public and private funding to renew the earth will pay dividends.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 202
Massive tax hikes? Massive new government spending? Federal and global regulation?
Real conservatives, like American Tradition Partnership, disagree.
Tell “Power-Grabbing Newt” what you think of his radical liberal agenda.
Get your own “Power-Grabbing Newt.” Visit ATP, Table 802, in the Exhibit Hall.
# # #
Speaker’s long record of radical environmentalism bombs with CPAC voters after ATP’s ‘Power-Grabbing Newt’ campaign
WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished a disappointing fifth with just five percent of the vote in the annual CPAC Presidential Straw Poll after American Tradition Partnership distributed “Power-Grabbing Newts” documenting his vocal advocacy of radical environmentalism. Gingrich finished 26 points out of first place.
“American Tradition Partnership delivered a message to Newt Gingrich. Your record of radical environmentalism should stay on that love seat with Nancy Pelosi. ATP members urge Speaker Gingrich to renounce radical environmentalism and adopt a conservative message of less government and more freedom,” said ATP Executive Director Donald Ferguson, referencing an ad Gingrich filmed with Pelosi to promote former vice-president “Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection.”
“No one can side with the radical greens against people, property and prosperity without being held accountable, even if you cover up your green agenda with conservative rhetoric,” said Ferguson. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat running for a small town city council or the Republican former Speaker of the House seeking a presidential bid, American Tradition Partnership will hold you accountable. Big Green’s political puppets cannot hide from accountability, whether they are in Georgia, Iowa or New Hampshire.”
“Whether it’s fighting to protect the EPA, opposing conservative efforts to repeal job-killing green laws, calling for wealth redistribution to enforce ‘environmental compliance’ or demanding the U.S. give up national sovereignty to please global greens, Newt Gingrich may try to paint himself Republican red, but his record is radical green. No wonder he was roundly rejected after ATP informed conservatives of his real agenda,” said Ferguson.
With a coveted speaking slot, exhibiting organization and book signing, hosting three panels and a reception and screening two films, Gingrich’s presence dominated that of other presumptive presidential candidates. CPAC looked to be a launching pad for a Gingrich presidential bid. Instead, the Republican powerhouse cratered after ATP informed voters of Gingrich’s long record of supporting massive tax hikes, increased government power and international regulatory regimes to enforce what he calls “environmental compliance.”
The twenty-five quotes were pulled from Gingrich’s books, “A Contract With The Earth,” “Winning The Future” and “Real Change.” Along with the flyer of quotes, CPAC attendees were given a sticky lizard toy, dubbed a “Power-Grabbing Newt” to promote the information campaign.
Supported by grassroots activists, American Tradition Partnership is a fast-growing national conservative organization fighting the liberal agenda of environmentalism and its calls for increased government power and taxation.
The text of the flyer follows:
BIG GREEN GOVERNMENT 101
WHO SAID IT? NEWT GINGRICH OR AL GORE?
A POP QUIZ FROM AMERICAN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP (AmericanTradition.org)
Hint: These are all recent Newt Gingrich statements.
I WAS A GREEN PUPPET WHEN IT WASN’T COOL: “When I first ran for Congress I was the natural candidate of most environmental groups…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 168
CREATE GLOBAL SPENDING REGIMES: “If the United States challenged Europe and Japan to join it in financing a world biodiversity refuge system and tied foreign aid into the process of maintaining biodiversity, we could probably save a very high percentage of the earth’s biological richness…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Pages 170-171
SPREAD THE WEALTH, TO GREENS: “The United States should support substantial research into climate change, managing the response to climate change, and in developing new non-carbon energy systems.” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 171
PUT DC IN CONTROL: “The federal government should establish measurable standards for a healthy environment…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 172
CASH FOR CLUNKERS? MORE, PLEASE: “A tax credit to subsidize energy efficient cars (including a tax credit for turning in old and heavily polluting cars) is another idea we should support.” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 174
INDOCTRINATE THEM YOUNG: “As a young professor at West Georgia College, I taught in the second Earth Day in 1971 and coordinated an interdisciplinary environmental studies program.” Newt Gingrich, “Real Change,” Page 196
NEWT ENDORSES ‘CASH FOR CLUNKERS,’ AGAIN: “There ought to be a tax break for trading in old cars that use a lot of petroleum and emit a lot of pollution.” Newt Gingrich, “Real Change,” Page 204
WE MUST PROTECT THE ESA “That is why I worked so diligently as Speaker of the House to protect the Endangered Species Act, historic legislation that has been mired in controversy…The Endangered Species Act is an excellent example of the value of civility, consultation and collaboration.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages XII & 51
THE EARTH NEEDS A GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER “Government, at all levels, should be a facilitator for entrepreneurial, private-sector innovations and the formation of private-public environmental partnerships.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 13
STOP THE CONSERVATIVES FROM LIMITING GOVERNMENT POWER “For that reason, we have supported its (the Endangered Species Act’s) continuation against all challenges by private citizens, interest groups, and congressional opponents.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 53
CREATE NEW GOVERNMENT SPENDING PROGRAMS “The U.S. government operates endowments for the humanities and the arts…Perhaps, it is time we consider a new endowment for conservation and the environment.” “Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 115-116 [NOTE: As Speaker, Gingrich told conservatives he wanted to eliminate the wasteful National Endowment for the Arts. Now he cites it as an example of a government spending spree that needs to be duplicated.]
SPEND ‘SIGNIFICANT’ TAX MONEY IN THE U.S., AND AROUND THE WORLD “Significant resources should be set aside to protect hallowed sites such as the Galapagos Islands, the Virguna Volcanoes in Central Africa, and Georgia’s Okenfenokee Swamp, to name a few.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 117
MILITANT ENVIRONMENTALISM…LITERALLY? “John Muir, for most of his adult life, experienced nature in spiritual overtones…He even favored using the armed forces to enforce environmental law…However, with the inexorable advance of the urban realm, the defense of forested land assumes a greater urgency as we strive to sustain the highest-quality standards for our nation’s air, water, and land.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 127
HOORAY FOR RECORD-BREAKING SPENDING HIKES! “Our national parks and wildlife reserves require more vigorous protection. With an eye toward strengthening his environmental legacy in the 2007 federal budget, President Bush requested the largest increase for national park funding in our nation’s history. We should expect nothing less than excellence from our national park system.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 130-131
ENVIRONMENTALISM, OUR GLOBAL RELIGION OF PEACE “Far from becoming a new source of global discord, environmentalism, which binds nations to a common concern, will be the best thing that’s ever happened to international relations.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 149-150
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IS THE SOLUTION “We will need to organize a series of high-level global conferences that focus on specific [environmental] problems…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 158
GOVERNMENT IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF INNOVATION “…the type of arduous research that produces real breakthroughs can only be funded by astute governments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 167
NEWT WANTS TO BRING BACK CARTER ENERGY POLICIES “America used to be that kind of government [that spent millions of tax dollars on “energy research” welfare programs,] but our commitments have wavered in recent years so government incentives for energy research will be issues in future political campaigns.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 1
+667
NEWT LOVES THE UN’S KYOTO TREATY GLOBAL APPROACH “Mobilizing other countries to join us will not be as easy as it may appear. Many of the countries that signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol are lagging behind on their commitments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 168
STOP CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION TO THE ESA “The act [Endangered Species Act] has been, by any measure, a very successful guardian of wildlife and habitat and any attempt to weaken it should be resisted.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 170
NEWT INVENTS A NEW DISEASE ONLY ENVIRONMENTALISM CAN CURE “…our children, according to Louv, run the risk of acquiring ‘nature deficit disorder,’ a malady that he describes as a contributing factor to a recognized mental health construct, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Nature deficit disorder, not yet acknowledged by scientists or clinicians, is a working hypothesis that Louv believes helps to explain the onset of ADHD, and he proposes that exposure to nature should be offered as a therapy for children who have difficulty attending to stimuli and learning in conventional classrooms. His call for research in this domain is compelling.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 182
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SHOULD REDISTRIBUTE INCOME TO ‘STIMULATE’ GREEN COMPLIANCE “Local governments operate much closer to the origin of environmental problems, and they have begun to provide tax incentives and large cash rewards for environmental compliance…While the motivation is driven by the application of tax dollars, the effect is rewarding rather than punitive…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 194
DON’T CUT GOVERNMENT, JUST MAKE IT NICER “…our government, at all levels, must be modernized to successfully partner, let alone compete, with the private sector.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 196
MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE IS A FACT “We agree that there is plenty of evidence that global climate change is occurring…While humanity is certainly causing its fair share of the change, scientists are still not able to precisely pinpoint the extent of the change, or the margin of error in their estimates.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 200
GIVING TAX DOLLARS TO LIBERALS IS OUR ONLY HOPE “In spite of the demonstrated liberal leanings in academia, we have nothing but respect for the nation’s scientists. They represent America’s best hope to protect the environment. We support a dramatic increase in science and technology research and development because we desperately need to understand global climate change and other environmental phenomena.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 201
MOTHER EARTH NEEDS ALL YOUR INCOME “Needless to say, an appropriate and significant investment of public and private funding to renew the earth will pay dividends.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 202
Massive tax hikes? Massive new government spending? Federal and global regulation?
Real conservatives, like American Tradition Partnership, disagree.
Tell “Power-Grabbing Newt” what you think of his radical liberal agenda.
Get your own “Power-Grabbing Newt.” Visit ATP, Table 802, in the Exhibit Hall.
# # #
No Party For Old Moderates
The next time you hear a Democrat bleating there's no room for moderates in the Republican Party, remind them of this -- the Democrat Leadership Council, the centrist Democrat organization that launched Bill Clinton into the White House, has been killed off by Democrats for not being sufficiently leftist.
"The Democratic Leadership Council, the iconic centrist organization of the Clinton years, is out of money and could close its doors as soon as next week, a person familiar with the plans said Monday," Ben Smith of POLITICO reports this morning.
"The DLC, a network of Democratic elected officials and policy intellectuals had long been fading from its mid-'90s political relevance, tarred by the left as a symbol of 'triangulation' at a moment when there's little appetite for intra-party warfare on the center-right," Smith reports.
Not only are moderates not welcome in the Democrat Party, they can't even get together without being pursued with pitchforks and torches.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
"The Democratic Leadership Council, the iconic centrist organization of the Clinton years, is out of money and could close its doors as soon as next week, a person familiar with the plans said Monday," Ben Smith of POLITICO reports this morning.
"The DLC, a network of Democratic elected officials and policy intellectuals had long been fading from its mid-'90s political relevance, tarred by the left as a symbol of 'triangulation' at a moment when there's little appetite for intra-party warfare on the center-right," Smith reports.
Not only are moderates not welcome in the Democrat Party, they can't even get together without being pursued with pitchforks and torches.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Imprisoning citizens for fun and profit
"Do you think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power the government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."
That was Dr. Ferris, of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," describing to industrialist Hank Reardon why they were persecuting him, and how government criminalizes innocent citizens.
Sadly, it's no longer fiction. Salt Lake City's KSL reports:
That was Dr. Ferris, of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," describing to industrialist Hank Reardon why they were persecuting him, and how government criminalizes innocent citizens.
Sadly, it's no longer fiction. Salt Lake City's KSL reports:
It was a shocking experience for Dena Long-Christensen, sitting in a cell in the Salt Lake County Jail for nearly two weeks among people charged with serious crimes.
Her cellmate, for example, was spending time on charges of aggravated assault. Long-Christensen's crime? Selling flower baskets from her home...
...A four-month investigation by KSL-TV discovered Long-Christensen's case is but one of several examples of questionable activities inside city-run justice courts, which operate outside the purview of the state's judiciary. Critics of the justice courts cite examples of judges issuing random rulings, sidestepping normal rules of jurisprudence and sometimes doling out harsh punishment for relatively minor infractions...
...The courts operate with virtually no oversight beyond that of the sponsoring cities, which rely on the courts as municipal cash cows, generating millions of dollars in fines and fees every year.
Kimberly Beazer's case is one example. She believes the court tried to coerce her into pleading guilty and paying a $200 fine instead of getting her day in court...
...The money generated by these courts runs into the millions of dollars, according to the most recent report on justice court revenue for fiscal year 2010. Last year, justice courts collected nearly $60 million from fines. The top five cities and counties with the most money raised through justice court include Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Sandy, Davis County and Utah County respectively. The five combined totaled more than $16.5 million.
According to Utah statute, if a city or county does not have an established justice court, the money collected from misdemeanor offenses are split with half going to the city or county and half going to the state. But if a city or county establishes its own justice court, all revenue collected stays within the municipality.
"The justice courts are extremely profitable. There is a financial motive for keeping these courts," Hart said...
Tonight's Awful Bedtime Movie: The Atomic Brain/Monstrosity (1964)
I had planned on watching "Teenagers From Outer Space," but LP Florida Director Karl Dickey reminded me there's another movie with an even more inane plot and wooden acting, 1964's "Monstrosity," best known for its use on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" under its alternate title "The Atomic Brain."
Long story short, it's another one of the thousands of movies in which pretty young women are threatened by an evil scientist and his subhuman assistant in a rural mansion that is eventually destroyed in a laboratory fire.
I'm not kidding. I've seen about six of them in just the last month (VooDoo Man, Frankenstein's Daughter, etc.) But this one has an entertainingly creepy old lady.
The creepy old lady places as ad looking for domestic help, strangely specific in her demand for young female applicants only. No, she's not played by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Creepy old lady's creepy gigolo picks up the trio of responders: a sweet Mexican girl, a voluptuous blonde with what is supposed to be an English accent but instead sounds like she's eating peanut butter and the smart, cute, good girl you know will be the last one alive. There they are inspected by the creepy couple's creepy doctor.
Creepy Inc.'s plan is simple. Lop off the top of one young girl's skull, plop old lady's brain inside and viola, old lady lives on as a stunningly attractive young girl. Well, a stunningly attractive young girl with the top of her head stitched on. They probably should have thought that one out.
Creepy doctor decides to test his experiment by putting the brain of creepy old lady's cat into the cute Mexican girl's head. No explanation of how you keep the cat's brain from rolling around in there, or what they did with a perfectly good human brain.
The complications of putting a cat's brain into a human body come to light when Mexican girl/cat claws out the eye of horrible English accent girl, falls off the roof and doesn't land on her feet. They're going to need a bigger shoe box.
Oh, and there's a cute zombie girl who was another successful test run wanders around, and there's some kind of man-dog or werewolf from an unrelated and unexplained experiment. That doesn't go well either.
And I'm not sure what the deal is with movies about unethical scientists made between then 1940s and 1960s, but the movie ends with, yes, a laboratory fire.
But there's a twist. Instead of putting old lady's brain into the cute, good girl, the doctor put it into the cat, which survives the fire. No explanation of how you cram a human brain into a cat's skull without it looking like a broken tube of biscuits.
The movie makes it seem like the old lady will seek her revenge, but she's now a stray cat. I mean, she can't talk, she doesn't have thumbs and she'll be dead in ten years anyway.
So if you're scoring at home, that's one dead zombie girl, one dead man-dog, one dead Mexican cat-girl, a dead girl missing both an eye and a comprehensible English accent, a dead gigolo, a dead old lady with no brain and a Mexican girl's brain with no body. Sounds like inventory at the Neverland Ranch.
The movie stinks, but at least the old lady is a pretty cool movie villain.
WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: Filmed under the title "Monstrosity" and later promoted with the title "The Atomic Brain," it should be re-released today under the new title "Escape From Cher's House."
Oops: DNC's 2012 convention theme is Communist party slogan
From this morning's Washington Post:
"President Barack Obama's selection of this Southern city [Charlotte, N.C.] for the 2012 Democratic convention signals he will try to reassemble his diverse coalition of 2008 supporters and fight for the conservative-leaning states that helped him win the White House...The convention's apparent theme - The People's Convention - indicates that the president will try to rekindle the grass-roots flavor of his groundbreaking 2008 bid."
I thought the term "The People's Convention" sounded vaguely familiar. There's good reason why:
* "The People's Convention" Party is a socialist former political party in Ghana, that merged with others to become the Convention People's Party, which advocates socialist revolution.
* "The People's Convention" was also a revolutionary government proposed by U.K. socialists in the 1940s to overthrow Parliament. The idea of "The People's Convention" was so radical even the Communist Party of Great Britain refused to support it.
* Today "The People's Convention" is a radical protest group promoted by The Socialist Worker, which bills itself "A Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Paper In Britain."
* And, ironically, "The People's Convention" was the name of a mass protest organized by a coalition of 70 communist and socialist community organizations to picket the 2000 Democrat National Convention for not being liberal enough.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
"President Barack Obama's selection of this Southern city [Charlotte, N.C.] for the 2012 Democratic convention signals he will try to reassemble his diverse coalition of 2008 supporters and fight for the conservative-leaning states that helped him win the White House...The convention's apparent theme - The People's Convention - indicates that the president will try to rekindle the grass-roots flavor of his groundbreaking 2008 bid."
I thought the term "The People's Convention" sounded vaguely familiar. There's good reason why:
* "The People's Convention" Party is a socialist former political party in Ghana, that merged with others to become the Convention People's Party, which advocates socialist revolution.
* "The People's Convention" was also a revolutionary government proposed by U.K. socialists in the 1940s to overthrow Parliament. The idea of "The People's Convention" was so radical even the Communist Party of Great Britain refused to support it.
* Today "The People's Convention" is a radical protest group promoted by The Socialist Worker, which bills itself "A Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Paper In Britain."
* And, ironically, "The People's Convention" was the name of a mass protest organized by a coalition of 70 communist and socialist community organizations to picket the 2000 Democrat National Convention for not being liberal enough.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
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