tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-144393172024-03-07T14:38:47.809-05:00bigworldIt's a big world out there. Keep track of World and National issues from credible news sources, and enlightening commentators here at Big World Blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-40781679691419396972018-11-25T00:30:00.001-05:002018-11-25T00:30:32.344-05:00<font face="Times" size="1" class=""><br class=""></font><div class=""><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">What a surprise! <a href="http://floor.patentsiliconbeach.com" class="">http://floor.patentsiliconbeach.com</a></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">I'm totally impressed!</div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><br class=""></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Ron Lisy</div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><font face="Times" size="1" class=""><br class=""></font></div><font face="Times" size="1" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </font></div> <br class="">Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-83100032995353017282018-10-03T18:45:00.000-04:002018-10-03T19:03:00.400-04:00Re:<div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span class=Heading1Char><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:115%'><span class=MsoIntenseEmphasis><span style='color:windowtext'><a href="http://opportunity.lunte.net"> <span style='font-style:normal'>http://opportunity.lunte.net</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=MsoIntenseEmphasis><sup><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></sup></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Ron Lisy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=MsoIntenseReference><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-9826478610220524762018-08-25T10:02:00.000-04:002018-08-25T10:03:58.263-04:00Re:<div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://term.junkyardtampa.com">http://term.junkyardtampa.com</a><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>Ron Lisy</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-37462897661239456152018-03-13T06:38:00.000-04:002018-03-13T06:46:17.894-04:00<div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:115%'><em><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://release.therealjake.com">http://release.therealjake.com</a></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:115%'><em><sup><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></sup></em></p><p class=MsoNormal>Ron Lisy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:115%'><em><sup><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></sup></em></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:115%'><em><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:115%'><em><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-7700520052909554272007-12-16T23:58:00.000-05:002007-12-17T00:09:00.050-05:00Huckabee At-Large Petition LinksClick here for the PDF of the At-Large petitioning instructions- <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/914923/AT-LARGEPetitionCirculatingInstructions?ganalyticst_from_send_to_friend=1&secret_password=2hx5pkgmy55f3pja8ow1">http://www.scribd.com/doc/914923/AT-LARGEPetitionCirculatingInstructions?ganalyticst_from_send_to_friend=1&secret_password=2hx5pkgmy55f3pja8ow1</a><br /><br /><br /><br />Click here for the PDF of the Ohio At-Large Delegate Petition (8 pages)- <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/914922/Huckabee-atlarge-delegate-petitions?ganalyticst_from_send_to_friend=1&secret_password=2hhmn04r4danv3iazbtr">http://www.scribd.com/doc/914922/Huckabee-atlarge-delegate-petitions?ganalyticst_from_send_to_friend=1&secret_password=2hhmn04r4danv3iazbtr</a><br /><br /><br /><br />Click here for the PDF of the Ohio At-Large Alternate Petition (8 pages)- http://<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/914915/Huckabee-AtLarge-alternate-petitions?ganalyticst_from_send_to_friend=1&secret_password=1j8pj37rnanxfae4vcax">www.scribd.com/doc/914915/Huckabee-AtLarge-alternate-petitions?ganalyticst_from_send_to_friend=1&secret_password=1j8pj37rnanxfae4vcax</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-87110178333614266012007-12-13T13:29:00.001-05:002007-12-13T13:29:47.641-05:00Jim Trakas to Announce his candidacy for Ohio 10th District Congressional<H2><B><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">For Immediate Release Contact: Steven M. Backiel</SPAN></FONT></B></H2> <H2><B><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Wednesday, December 12, 2007 (216) 621-5417</SPAN></FONT></B></H2> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><STRONG><B><U><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: none"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></U></B></STRONG></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><STRONG><B><U><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">REPUBLICAN EVENT ADVISORY</SPAN></FONT></U></B></STRONG></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> For several months, Chairman Rob Frost has worked to recruit a top tier candidate for The United States Congress in the seat abandoned by Presidential Candidate Dennis J. Kucinich, who recently denounced the United States of America on Syrian state television and voted against a memorial resolution commemorating the lives of those lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.</SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> We are pleased to announce that The Republican Party will vigorously contest the 10th Congressional District with a high profile, established and seasoned candidate. With the strong cooperation of Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert T. Bennett, Vice Chairman Kevin DeWine, Chairman Rob Frost and the leadership of The Republican Party of Cuyahoga County, Former State Representative Jim Trakas of Independence will announce his candidacy for The United States Congress this Saturday. </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> We are inviting anyone who wants to be part of this effort to attend Jim's announcement to the public. Below are the details, and coffee and donuts will be served.</SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT color=#000000><B><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">WHAT:</SPAN></FONT></B> Announcement of <B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Jim Trakas</SPAN></B>, Candidate for The U.S. House of Representatives District 10</FONT></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT color=#000000><B><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">WHEN:</SPAN></FONT></B> Saturday December 15, 2007 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.</FONT></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT color=#000000><B><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">WHERE:</SPAN></FONT></B> City of Independence City Hall Council Chambers, 6800 Brecksville Road </FONT></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Independence</SPAN></FONT>, Ohio 44131. City Hall is located on State Route 21, Brecksville Road on the Northwest Quadrant of Selig and Brecksville Roads, North of Rockside and South of </FONT></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Pleasant Valley Roads in the city of Independence.</SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> If you would like to join Jim in the announcement, please contact Steven Backiel at RPCC HQ at 216-621-5417 or </SPAN></FONT><A href="mailto:sbackiel@cuyahogacountygop.com" __doClobber__="true"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000>sbackiel@cuyahogacountygop.com</FONT></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000> so that we may plan accordingly.</FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> Be a part of political history for this special announcement of the campaign that will restore effective, in touch and rational leadership to Greater Cleveland's West Side</SPAN></FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal><B><I><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></FONT></I></B></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"># # #</SPAN></FONT></div> <div class="AOLPromoFooter"> <hr style="margin-top:10px;" /> More new features than ever. Check out the new <a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003" target="_blank">AOL Mail</a>!<br/> </div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-34912747888331880702007-11-28T18:05:00.000-05:002007-11-28T18:06:50.536-05:00MIKE HUCKABEE IS A FISCAL CONSERVATIVE<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG>by Dick Morris,</STRONG></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=1>Published on <SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">TheHill.com</SPAN> on November 28, 2007.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT face="Times New Roman">As Mike Huckabee rises in the polls, an inevitable process of vetting him for conservative credentials is under way in which people who know nothing of Arkansas or of the circumstances of his governorship weigh in knowingly about his record. As his political consultant in the early '90s and one who has been following Arkansas politics for 30 years, let me clue you in: Mike Huckabee is a fiscal conservative.<BR><BR>A recent column by Bob Novak excoriated Huckabee for a "47 percent increase in state tax burden." But during Huckabee's years in office, total state tax burden — all 50 states combined — rose by twice as much: 98 percent, increasing from $743 billion in 1993 to $1.47 trillion in 2005.<BR></FONT></SPAN><SPAN><BR><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT face="Times New Roman">And he can win in Iowa.<BR><BR>When voters who have decided not to back Rudy Giuliani because of his social positions consider the contest between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, they will have no difficulty choosing between a real social conservative and an ersatz one.<BR><BR>Romney, who began as a pro-lifer and switched in order to win in Massachusetts, and then flipped back again, cannot compete with a lifelong pro-lifer, Huckabee.<BR><BR>But Huckabee's strength is not just his orthodoxy on gay marriage, abortion, gun control and the usual litany. It is his opening of the religious right to a host of new issues. He speaks firmly for the right to life, but then notes that our responsibility for children does not end with childbirth. His answer to the rise of medical costs is novel and exciting. "Eighty percent of all medical spending," he says, "is for chronic diseases." So he urges an all-out attack on teen smoking and overeating and a push for exercise not as the policies of a big-government liberal but as the requisites of a fiscal conservative anxious to save tax money.<BR><BR>So what happens if Huckabee wins in Iowa? With New Hampshire only five days later, his momentum will be formidable. The key may boil down to how Hillary does in Iowa. Hillary? Yes. If she loses in Iowa, most of the independents in New Hampshire will flock to the Democratic primary to vote for her or against her. That will move the Republican electorate to the right in New Hampshire — bad news for Rudy, good news for Huckabee. But if she wins in Iowa, there will be no point in voting in the Democratic primary and a goodly number will enter the GOP contest, giving Rudy a big boost.<BR><BR>And afterward? If Romney wins Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina, sweeping the early primaries, Giuliani will have a very tough task to bring him down in Florida or on Super Tuesday. It can be done, but it's tough. But if Romney loses in Iowa (likely to Huckabee) then Rudy can survive the loss of Iowa and even New Hampshire without surrendering irresistible momentum to Romney.<BR><BR>In any event, neither Hillary nor Giuliani will be knocked out by defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire. Their 50-state organizations, their national base and their massive war chests will permit them to fight it out all over the United States. Even if they lose the first two contests, they will remain in the race and could well come back to win. </FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV><BR> <DIV><FONT style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black">.</FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Check out AOL Money & Finance's list of the <A title="http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001" href="http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001" target="_blank">hottest products</A> and <A title="http://money.aol.com/top5/general/ways-you-are-wasting-money?NCID=aoltop00030000000002" href="http://money.aol.com/top5/general/ways-you-are-wasting-money?NCID=aoltop00030000000002" target="_blank">top money wasters</A> of 2007.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-18555053632136937722007-10-10T12:25:00.001-04:002008-12-09T21:14:08.234-05:00Championship Series Schedule<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV><IMG id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119725710045046946 style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubRD_33kzP5AvMwAmGO8QiOrONRr3_r7z55rb7a8Vg7YJa-r7MoA2pqibZsqUSgGjdBA0LJqTjisI-QqGG6deuiNUc-f6sH1Hf47rz7fRQYLJ0Rd8OtCiRH8H6OiN25UlxmpD/s400/ALCS+Sked.gif" border=0></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Although apparently the Yankees may be pinch hitting for the tribe in ALCS game 4...:)</DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-72359102187682461302007-10-02T12:07:00.000-04:002007-10-02T12:08:13.276-04:00Ronald Reagan Breakfast<STRONG><FONT size=1> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3>To help celebrate my upcoming birthday on October 30th. (well maybe that's not why-- but it's still happening)<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>the Lake County Republican Party will be hosting the first annual Ronald Reagan Breakfast on Tuesday October 30<SUP>th</SUP> at LaMalfa, 5783 Heisley Road in Mentor.</FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3> </FONT></div> <div class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3>Tickets are $25 per person.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You can view and or download the invitation flier at </FONT><A href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/351728/Reagan-Breakfast-flyer" target=_blank><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000066 size=3>http://www.scribd.com/doc/351728/Reagan-Breakfast-flyer</FONT></A></div> </FONT></STRONG><div class="AOLPromoFooter"> <hr style="margin-top:10px;" /> Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free <a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/index.htm?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000970" target="_blank">AOL Mail</a>!<br/> </div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-9372534710428130372007-09-21T16:25:00.001-04:002007-09-21T16:25:17.683-04:00The Ride is Over at Geauga Lake<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>Exclusive from Crain's Cleveland Business<BR><SPAN class=boldtext>By <A title=http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/personalia?ID=&category=contact href="http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/personalia?ID=&category=contact">JOHN BOOTH</A><BR><BR></SPAN><SPAN class=gray>4:05 pm, September 21, 2007</SPAN><BR><BR> <P> <P>Geauga Lake's amusement rides won't be back for 2008, parent company Cedar Fair announced Friday afternoon.<BR><BR>"The market demand simply isn't there to support the park in its current structure," Cedar Fair spokeswoman Stacy Frole said. She said Wildwater Kingdom, the $25 million water park Cedar Fair built on the south side of the lake, "has really been the most popular attraction at Geauga Lake. We believe that's where the property is going to succeed — as a water park."<BR><BR>Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel said in a statement: "Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom has been recognized as one of the finest water parks in the country. Since its opening in 2005, Wildwater Kingdom has been the park's highest-rated attribute."<BR><BR>The future of the rides on the 119-year-old amusement park's north side, including the classic Big Dipper wooden roller coaster, is uncertain.<BR><BR>"Our planning and design department is going through and analyzing what the best use for all of our assets are," Ms. Frole said. "Will some rides be located to other (Cedar Fair) parks? Yes." She would not specify which rides might be going to which other Cedar Fair properties. Cedar Fair also owns Cedar Point amusement park.<BR><BR>Mr. Kinzel and Cedar Fair chief operating officer Jack Falfas shared the news with employees at Geauga Lake in person. Park general manager Bill Spehn is expected to retain his position, according to Ms. Frole. </P><BR></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-32987829737436224992007-09-18T09:36:00.001-04:002007-09-18T09:36:42.073-04:00Good Riddance, Linc Chaffee<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>From <A title=http://www.politics1.com/ href="http://www.politics1.com/"><FONT color=#0080ff>www.politics1.com</FONT></A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Former <IMG height=109 src="http://politics1.com/news/chafee.jpg" width=77 align=right>US Senator Lincoln Chafee -- who was defeated last year for re-election -- revealed Sunday to the <I>Providence Journal </I>that he had quietly "disaffiliated" in his voter registration from the Republican Party two months ago. Chafee said he hadn't mentioned it until now simply because nobody had asked before. The NRSC spent a significant amount of money on advertising that helped Chafee narrowly survive a conservative primary challenege. Chafee emphasized he still feels close to many in the Rhode Island Republican Party, but his objections were entirely focused upon the national party. "It's not my party any more," he explained. Chafee's criticism was mainly focused upon three areas: "abandoning fiscal conservatism" by passing tax cuts without spending cuts and thus creating a "permanent deficit"; the Iraq War; and the lack of GOP support for environmental protection. Chafee says he very much enjoys his current job as a distinguished visiting fellow at Brown University.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>This brings to memory a meeting I had where several Ohio Republican Party staffers were in attendance, telling us how their campaign operation had helped carry Chaffee over the top in his nomination defense over his conservative challenger, MAYOR Steven Laffey. (That's right an elected Mayor of a major Rhode Island City-- not an unelectible kook). But all that mattered was that Chafee SAID he was a Republican, and was the incumbent. Well, now he's admitted what anyone with any sense knew all along Linc Chafee IS NOT A REPUBLICAN. Say hello to Jim Jeffords, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV><STRONG> <EM>--Ron Lisy</EM></STRONG></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-60774354935421771532007-09-12T10:06:00.001-04:002007-09-12T10:06:13.741-04:00Armey leads effort against email tax<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV>From the email box..... </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <CENTER><FONT size=5><B>From the Leader's Desk: Armey's Plan to Beat the Email Tax Again</B></FONT></CENTER> <DIV><BR><BR>While taxes may be one of life's certainties, the internet has, so far, miraculously managed to escape the clutches of revenue-hungry government tax collectors. That may change if Congress doesn't get its act together – and fast. <BR><BR></DIV> <DIV> <TABLE cellPadding=10 align=right> <TBODY> <TR> <TD><A title=http://www.townhallmail.com/gjsszks_qniarom.html href="http://www.townhallmail.com/gjsszks_qniarom.html"><IMG title=http://www.townhallmail.com/gjsszks_qniarom.html alt=http://www.townhallmail.com/gjsszks_qniarom.html src="http://www.freedomworks.org/email/images/armey_150.jpg" border=1></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV> <DIV>Back in 1998, when I was the House Majority Leader in Congress, we passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act, imposing a three-year moratorium on state and local taxes on internet access. The moratorium came just as some local governments began to extend their very high telecommunications taxes to internet access. State and local governments want to tax your cable modem or DSL bill, as well as internet services, and the internet backbone, but our bill stopped them cold. Our goal was simple: encourage the spread of the internet by preventing government from strangling it in its crib with high taxes.<BR><BR>Since then Congress has passed multiple extensions of the internet tax moratorium, the latest of which expires this November. This time around, Congress should make the ban on internet taxes permanent. Two bills, S. 156 in the Senate and H.R. 743 in the House, would do just that, but movement thus far has been stagnant and the clock is ticking. <BR><BR><FONT size=3><STRONG><A title=http://www.townhallmail.com/emeeunu_qniarom.html href="http://www.townhallmail.com/emeeunu_qniarom.html">[Take Action]</A></STRONG></FONT> <BR><BR>State and local internet access taxes could add 20 percent to 25 percent to the average internet consumer's bill – a tax hike of about $150 per year. That may not sound like much in Washington, D.C., but it could strand millions of low-income Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide. And higher internet charges could hinder small business from gaining access to the technology they need to compete with larger companies. Schools, libraries, and other educational and research institutions with limited budgets would also take a hit. <BR><BR>Supporters of new internet taxes make the case that Congress' "Hands Off the Internet" strategy has served its purpose. The internet is no longer an infant technology, they say. After all, internet use in the United States has soared from about 36 percent of the population at the end of 1998 to over 70 percent today. <BR><BR>But in the warp-speed world of the internet, that's yesterday's news. America still lags far behind our economic competitors when it comes to wiring homes and businesses with high-speed internet access or broadband. Even though the internet was largely invented here (but not by Al Gore!), America still ranks 16th in the world in terms of broadband deployment, behind countries like South Korea and Japan. <BR><BR>Widespread broadband deployment is the key to unleashing a new round of internet-driven gains in productivity and entrepreneurial activity. Respected economists estimate that 1.2 million new jobs would be generated by the broadband build-out, enough growth to generate more in taxes than states and localities hope to raise by taxing your internet access, e-mail, and other online services. <BR><BR>So why not just extend the moratorium for another two years or so? Because making broadband available on a near-universal basis will require billions in private investment by technology companies willing to build next generation networks like fiber-to-the-home. And companies are hesitant to put that capital at risk as long as the tax man keeps lurking right around the corner, always threatening to milk consumers and potentially destroy a good portion of the mass market for broadband. <BR><BR>Members of Congress have a choice to make. They can give the green light to state and local governments to saddle internet users with myriad new taxes and fees. Or they can lock the tax man away permanently and throw away the key. That should be a pretty easy call. <BR><BR>Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and let them know how you feel about taxes on your email. Thanks in advance for taking action!<BR><BR><FONT size=3><STRONG><A title=http://www.townhallmail.com/rzeeawn_qniarom.html href="http://www.townhallmail.com/rzeeawn_qniarom.html">Take Action!</A></STRONG></FONT> <BR><BR>Sincerely,<BR><IMG alt="Armey signature" src="http://www.freedomworks.org/images/armey/armeysig.jpg"><BR>Dick Armey<BR>Chairman<BR>FreedomWorks.org</DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-76414550449934639522007-09-05T12:29:00.001-04:002007-09-05T12:29:22.301-04:00Right Angle is reporting that U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor has died...<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <H2 class=posttitle><A title="Permanent link to Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-5) Has Died" href="http://www.rightangleblog.com/2007/09/05/rep-paul-gillmor-has-died/" rel=bookmark>Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-5) Has Died</A> </H2> <P class=postmeta><FONT color=#ffff80><SPAN class=post-date>Sep 5, 2007 at 11:57 am - </SPAN><SPAN>Submitted By: <A title="Visit Matthew's website" href="http:///" rel=external>Matthew</A></SPAN> </FONT></P> <DIV class=postentry><!-- sphereit start --> <P><FONT color=#ffff80>I don't think it has been reported anywhere yet as of noon today.</FONT></P> <P><A href="http://www.robertbluey.com/" modo="false"><FONT color=#ffff80>Robert Bluey</FONT></A><FONT color=#ffff80> from the Heritage Foundation sent me this forwarded email:</FONT></P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT color=#ffff80>Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 11:50 AM<BR>Subject: Rep. Paul Gillmor - R-OH died last night</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ffff80>When he did not show up at the office today, staff went to his apartment and found that he had died. No cause of death but Boehner said it appears he may have died of a heart attack — though Cap Police is investigating.</FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT color=#ffff80>My prayers are with his family.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ffff80></FONT> </P> <P><FONT color=#ffff80>Rep. Gillmor on Wikipedia-- <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gillmor">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gillmor</A></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get a sneak peek of the all-new <A title="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" href="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-57570848432042507192007-08-09T15:35:00.001-04:002007-08-10T17:10:53.435-04:00Cigar Tax Update<span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><h1><span style="font-size:78%;">by </span><a onclick="zT(this,'18/1YF/Ze')" href="http://cigars.about.com/mbiopage.htm"><span style="font-size:78%;color:#0073bf;">Gary Manelski</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;">,<br />Your Guide to </span><a onclick="zT(this,'18/1Yw')" href="http://cigars.about.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;color:#0073bf;">Cigars</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;">.<br /></span><a onclick="zT(this,'18/1CG')" href="http://cigars.about.com/gi/pages/stay.htm"><span style="font-size:78%;color:#0073bf;">Stay up to date</span></a></h1><div class="bltxt">Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed their own versions of bills to continue, and provide additional funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, by increasing the federal excise tax on tobacco products - including cigars. Congress is now on vacation for the month of August, but they will attempt to reconcile their differences before the end of September, when the current program is scheduled to expire. A joint bill will then be sent to the President, who must approve the legislation before it becomes the law of the land. However, President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation, so both the House and Senate will need enough votes to override the veto. Therefore, at this point, anything is still possible.<br /><br />Here are the latest proposed increases in the federal excise tax on cigars:<br /><br />Current Tax: $.05 per cigar<br />House Version: 33% tax rate with a maximum tax of $1 per cigar<br />Senate Version: 53% tax rate with a maximum tax of $3 per cigar<br /><br />Under the House version, the new tax would be $1 on cigars costing $3 or more, and 33% on cigars costing less than $3. Under the Senate version, the new tax would be $3 on cigars costing $5.65 or more, and 53% on cigars costing less than $5.65. Although the House version is less damaging to cigar smokers, a $1 tax still represents an increase of 2,000%, compared to a nickel. According to the current results of our <a href="http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-cigars&tid=313"><span style="color:#0073bf;">ongoing opinion poll</span></a>, 48% of cigar smokers would quit smoking if the tax was raised to $0.25 or more per cigar. If the tax was raised to $.050 or more per cigar, 80% of cigar smokers would stop smoking cigars. This would virtually put an end to the cigar industry as we now know it.<br /><br />Unless you want to pay $25 to $75 more for your next box of cigars, the time to act is now!<br /><br /><center><span style="font-size:180%;color:#0073bf;"><b><a href="http://rtda.org/legislation.html">Click Here For No New Cigar Taxes</a></b></span></center></div><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">ALSO HERE IS A YOUTUBE VIDEO ON THE CIGAR TAX FROM ROCKY PATEL OF PATEL PREMIUM CIGARS <object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ayi8zWrBwug"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ayi8zWrBwug" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /></span><span style="color:#99ff99;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-84576981786008279822007-08-06T07:52:00.000-04:002007-08-06T07:54:17.549-04:00Husted on School Choice in OhioFrom: <a title="mailto:Jon.Husted@ohr.state.oh.us" href="mailto:Jon.Husted@ohr.state.oh.us">Husted, Jon</a><br />Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 9:11 AM<br />Subject: School Choice in Ohio<br />July 16, 2007<br /><br />RE: School Choice in Ohio <br /><br />In his State of the State speech on March 14, 2007, Ohio’s new Governor, Ted Strickland vowed to strike a blow against school choice by placing a moratorium on charter schools, cutting funding to them and eliminating the Ed Choice Scholarship Program – a statewide voucher program for children trapped in chronically underperforming schools.<br /><br />In a March 29 editorial, the Wall Street Journal noted, “New Governor Ted Strickland has decided that one of his first priorities should be an assault on public and private school choice.” Students, parents, educators and legislators, quickly rallied in order to respond to the policies set forth by the governor in his executive budget proposal that would have virtually eliminated the school choice options that were serving nearly 100,000 of our state’s children.<br /><br />I write today to let you know we defeated the Governor’s proposals to eliminate school choice and actually advanced the school choice agenda in Ohio.<br /><br />With the strong case that the advocates for school choice made during the months of debate, we were able to pass the budget in the House, restoring the school choice provisions, 97-0. The Senate followed with a 33-0 vote, and eventually the Governor signed the bill. However, it was not before he line-item vetoed the special needs voucher program – a new program we had included in the bill.<br /><br />I want to reassure all, especially the parents and special needs students that we will not let the special needs issue die and will work to change the Governor’s mind and the law.<br /><br />Overall, this was a success story, not just because we restored and advanced school choice, but because we have begun to change hearts and minds.<br /><br />I thank you for the work you are doing to promote school choice. Your support is meaningful in this success story, and it is my hope that Ohio can serve as an example of why school choice is so important and the lives it touches everywhere. Be sure that I will continue to work to preserve and expand the opportunity for children to learn in a school of their choice.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Jon A. HustedSpeaker<br />Ohio House of Representatives<br /><br /><br />Enclosure: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/230749/PreservingSchoolChoiceforOhioStudentsandParents">Preserving School Choice for Ohio Students and Parents</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-37569038810086662542007-07-26T17:46:00.001-04:002007-07-26T17:46:22.295-04:00Protecting Police More Important Than Helping Donors<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV><FONT size=1><FONT face=Verdana><STRONG>For Release</STRONG>: July 26, 2007<BR><B>Contact</B>: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or </FONT></FONT><A title=mailto:dalmasi@nationalcenter.org href="mailto:dalmasi@nationalcenter.org"><FONT face=Verdana size=1>dalmasi@nationalcenter.org</FONT></A> <BR><BR> <CENTER><FONT class=bold3 face="Verdana,Arial, Helvetica,sans-serif" size=3> <CENTER><FONT size=2><BR>Protecting Police Officers More Important Than Helping Political Donors, Group Says<I></B><BR></FONT></FONT></I></I></FONT></CENTER><BR><BR><FONT class=reg3 face="Verdana,Arial, Helvetica,sans-serif" size=2> <DIV align=left> <DIV align=left><I>Washington, D.C. - </I>Congress should not put the lives of law enforcement officials at risk to benefit its trial lawyer contributors, says Deneen Borelli of the national black group Project 21.<BR><BR>Congress is now considering overturning the Tiahrt Amendment, a measure that restricts certain gun data from being shared outside of the law enforcement community. Project 21 members are opposing any action that allows trial lawyers, politicians, criminals and others from accessing federal gun trace information.<BR><BR>"The only possible purpose served by overturning the Tiahrt Amendment is to aid the anti-gun lobby and make it easier for trial lawyers to sue gun manufacturers," said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli. "Killing the Tiahrt Amendment would also be a great thing for criminals. Not only could they learn they are the subject of an investigation, but also the identity of special agents and informants."<BR><BR>The Tiahrt Amendment - named after its chief sponsor, Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) - was first enacted in 2003. It amends the appropriations legislation that funds the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to restrict the sharing of the contents of the Firearms Trace System that is administered by the BATFE's National Trace Center. Under the terms of the amendment, data regarding guns involved in crimes is restricted to domestic and foreign law enforcement and prosecutors as it relates to the investigation and prosecution of specific crimes and for national security, intelligence and counterterrorism purposes. Trace data is also inadmissible in evidence and cannot be subpoenaed.<BR><BR>Project 21's Borelli added: "I am a gun owner. I was appalled when a local newspaper decided to publish my name and the names of other registered gun owners in my area. It was an outrageous violation of my privacy rights. Overturning the Tiahrt Amendment could allow this violation of privacy and safety to occur on a larger and more dangerous scale."<BR><BR>The origin of the Tiahrt Amendment comes from a 2002 court decision that allowed trial lawyers to access the BATFE's trace data to gather information for potential lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute has also written about how trace data has been used by special interest groups to overstate gun violence figures.<BR><BR>Amendment supporters also want to protect the confidentiality of the federal database because the release of some information contained in it may compromise investigations and reveal the identities of undercover officers. The Fraternal Order of Police supports the Tiahrt Amendment "because of our concern for the safety of law enforcement officers and the integrity of law enforcement investigations." In 2006, then-BATFE director Carl J. Truscott said the Amendment "protects... sensitive data from indiscriminate disclosure."<BR><BR>Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992. For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or <A title=mailto:dalmasi@nationalcenter.org href="mailto:dalmasi@nationalcenter.org">dalmasi@nationalcenter.org</A>, or visit Project 21's website at <A title=http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1015299&r=1014502&t=489777677&l=1&d=88583516&u=http://www.project21.org/P21Index.html&g=0&f=88583518 href="http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1015299&r=1014502&t=489777677&l=1&d=88583516&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eproject21%2eorg%2fP21Index%2ehtml&g=0&f=88583518">www.project21.org/P21Index.html</A>.<BR><BR> <DIV align=center>- 30 -</DIV> <DIV align=center> </DIV> <DIV align=center><FONT face=Arial>National Center for Public Policy</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=center><FONT color=#999999 size=1>501 Capitol Court, N.E.<BR>Washington, D.C. 20002<BR>(202) 543-4110<BR>Fax (202) 543-5975<BR>E-Mail: </FONT><A title=mailto:info@nationalcenter.org href="mailto:info@nationalcenter.org"><FONT size=1>info@nationalcenter.org</FONT></A><BR><FONT color=#999999 size=1>Web: </FONT><A title=http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1015299&r=1014502&t=489777677&l=1&d=88583508&u=http://www.nationalcenter.org&g=0&f=88583518 href="http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1015299&r=1014502&t=489777677&l=1&d=88583508&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2enationalcenter%2eorg&g=0&f=88583518"><FONT size=1>www.nationalcenter.org</FONT></A></DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV></CENTER></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get a sneak peek of the all-new <A title="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" href="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-23201326860178520292007-07-20T14:25:00.000-04:002007-07-20T14:26:07.297-04:00Fat Albert Gore on the environment<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5dvINdATg5g"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5dvINdATg5g" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-27423242709512321362007-07-12T11:17:00.001-04:002007-07-12T11:17:42.091-04:00Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads <FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <TABLE class=contentpaneopen> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top align=left width="70%" colSpan=2> <DIV><SPAN class=contentauthor>By Elana Schor, </SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=contentauthor>The Hill</SPAN></DIV></TD></TR> <TR> <TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>July 11, 2007 </TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the "D.C. Madam," said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals.</SPAN> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"></P> <DIV style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; FLOAT: left"> <DIV id=beacon_236 style="LEFT: 0px; VISIBILITY: hidden; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0px"><IMG style="WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px" height=0 alt="" src="http://ad.thehill.com/adlog.php?bannerid=236&clientid=238&zoneid=33&source=&block=0&capping=0&cb=4e1047be4b3477f7b21962a03a414160" width=0></DIV><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT></DIV>As Vitter remained missing in action for two Senate votes on defense policy, Flynt insisted that he exposed the conservative lawmaker's sexual indiscretions only because they contradicted Vitter's longtime defense of the "sanctity of marriage."</SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT> <P></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"If someone's living a life contrary to the way they're advocating ... then they become fair game," Flynt told reporters. "I don't want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the area of morality."</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">In addition to the phone records of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of prostitution and racketeering by federal authorities, Flynt is mining responses to an ad he placed last month in <EM>The Washington Post</EM>. The ad promised a million-dollar reward for anyone providing evidence of illicit encounters with members of Congress.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The 20-plus new leads, Flynt said, come from the newspaper ad and not Palfrey. The <EM>Hustler</EM> publisher, arrested and jailed multiple times during his decades-long career, vowed to provide clear proof and only out lawmakers whom he perceives to be hypocrites.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"You guys always know, [from] the past, I deliver," Flynt said. "And if I fail to, the mainstream media will crush me like a bug."</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles. Flynt, an unabashed Democrat, acknowledged that the GOP provides him with easier targets.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"<SPAN style="COLOR: black">Republicans are more fun because they get caught so easily," Flynt said. "They've been living a repressed life all their life. Democrats are liberal — they wear it on their sleeve. Their sex life is what it is. They don't spend their whole life trying to cover it up."</SPAN></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Flynt released the particular wireless phone bill containing Vitter's phone number on Palfrey's calling list, confirming that the Louisianan contacted the escort service while serving in the House. Flynt also claimed to have testimony from five New Orleans prostitutes about their sexual encounters with Vitter, adding that that quintet would likely share the $1 million bounty with Palfrey.</SPAN></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get a sneak peak of the all-new <A title="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" href="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>.</FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-13226071003196351072007-07-11T12:56:00.001-04:002007-07-11T12:56:07.577-04:00Tancredo: Donation from Planned Parenthood physician reflects immigration stance<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV>Chad Groening <BR><SMALL><A href="http://www.onenewsnow.com/"><FONT size=2>OneNewsNow.com</FONT></A><BR></SMALL></DIV> <DIV>Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo says he won't return a campaign donation from a medical doctor who has ties to Planned Parenthood. The Colorado congressman says the donation had nothing to do with abortion, but rather the physician's support of Tancredo's immigration policy.</DIV> <DIV><BR><SPAN class=floatimgleft><IMG alt=RepTomTancredoR-Colo.jpg src="http://www.onenewsnow.com/images/stories/RepTomTancredoR-Colo.jpg" < a></SPAN></MTIFEXTRAFIELDS> </DIV> <DIV>Recently the Sam Brownback campaign sent out an e-mail saying Tancredo accepted thousands of dollars in donations from Dr. John Tanton, the founder of the Northern Michigan Planned Parenthood Association. But Tancredo says Tanton's donation is related to the doctor's affiliation with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). In fact, FAIR's website says Tanton is the original founder of the organization.</DIV> <DIV> <DIV class=entry-more id=more> <P>"John Tanton is on the board of FAIR. His issue is immigration," says Tancredo. "He supports me because of my position on immigration, and he certainly doesn't ever ask me to do anything even remotely connected with the issue of abortion -- because he knows, of course, how I feel." A senior advisor to the Tancredo campaign describes the candidate's pro-life record as "unassailable."</P> <P>Tancredo says he is disappointed that Senator Brownback (R-Kansas) is trying to imply that accepting the donation means he somehow supports abortion. "[O]f course I have a longer record of pro-life commitment than does Senator Brownback," says the Colorado lawmaker. "My record on abortion is as pure and clean as one could be in opposition to it."</P> <P>He argues that returning the campaign contribution would suggest that it somehow had sway on his abortion position. "If I were to give this money back, there would be some indication that I believed it had some influence over me," says Tancredo, "but of course, I know why he's supports me, and it's got nothing to do with that."</P> <P>Tancredo says he wonders how Brownback can possibly know all of the people that support his campaign financially and if they are people with whom he is in total agreement.</P> <P><FONT size=1>All Original Content </FONT><A href="http://www.onenewsnow.com/policies.php#01"><FONT color=#653332 size=1>Copyright</FONT></A><FONT size=1> 2006-2007 American Family News Network - All Rights Reserved</FONT><BR></P></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-747394490443988552007-07-11T12:26:00.001-04:002007-07-11T12:26:12.110-04:00Holy See says immigrants rights and duties go together<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV class=noticia_titulo_principal><IMG alt="" src="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/Migrants%20and%20Infirm.jpg"></DIV> <P><SPAN class=noticia_byline>Brussels, Jul 11, 2007 / 10:15 am (<A href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/" target=_self>CNA</A>)</SPAN>.- Speaking at the Global Forum on Migration in Brussels, Belgium, Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples said that the human dignity and freedoms of immigrants must be respected.</P> <P>The Global Forum is an initiative that is being sponsored by the United Nations to build a more cohesive and uniform approach to policies on migration and development among its member nations. </P> <P>Addressing those gathered in English, the archbishop recalled how "migrants contribute to their host country's well-being, and also because of this their human dignity must be respected and their freedoms guaranteed: the right to a dignified life, to fair treatment at work, to have access to education, health and other social benefits, to grow in competence and develop humanly, to freely manifest their culture and practice their religion. </P> <P>At the same time, the archbishop was sure not to neglect the responsibilities of migrants either. "Rights and duties go together." "Migrants have the duty to respect the identity and the laws of the country of residence, strive for proper integration (not assimilation) into the host society and learn its language. They are to foster esteem and respect for their host country, even to the point of loving and defending it. </P> <P>In a remark that is particularly relevant in the United States, the archbishop addressed the issue of illegal immigrants. "Unfortunately, among them there are immigrants in an irregular situation, who, however, independently of their legal status, have inalienable human dignity. Therefore their rights must be safeguarded and not ignored or violated." </P> <P>"An irregular migration status, in fact, does not mean criminality. The solution is better international cooperation that discourages irregularity, with increased legal channels for migration." </P> <P>Archbishop Marchetto concluded his talk by renewing the call made by the Pope in his Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees for "governments who have not yet done so, to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and the Members of their Families."</P></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-33101025459518133702007-07-11T11:07:00.001-04:002007-07-11T11:07:27.912-04:00Democrats to name new Summit County Executive<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV><FONT size=3><EM>Public meeting, panel vote Thursday at North High</EM></FONT><BR><STRONG>By Katie Byard</STRONG><BR><STRONG>Beacon Journal staff writer</STRONG><BR></DIV> <DIV>The Summit County Democratic Central Committee will pick a new county executive <BR>Thursday evening at Akron' s North High School.<BR></DIV> <DIV>So far , Summit County Councilman Tim Crawford and county Democratic Party Chair Russ Pry have expressed interest in the position. ''No one else is campaigning for it, though someone could still run that night,'' Pry said Tuesday. The winner will finish the term of the now-retired James McCarthy, and will have the option of running for election to a full four - year term in November 2008. McCarthy , 67, retired on June 30 after being the county's top official for nearly seven years.</DIV> <DIV><BR>Anyone seeking the job now must be nominated by a member of the central committee at Thursday's gathering. The committee will meet at 7 p.m. at North High , 985 Gorge Blvd . The meeting is<BR>open to the public. Each candidate will be given five minutes to address the gathering . Committee members then will vote by secret ballot.</DIV> <DIV><BR>Th e votes should be tallied by 8 p.m., Pry said. Pry, who lives in A kron , said Tuesday that if he is not elected T hursday , he will not run in 2008. R ejection by committee members would mean ''I need to think about doing something else,'' Pr y said.</DIV> <DIV><BR>Crawford , D - N orton , said that if he does not win T hursday , he will run for the post in 2008 or seek re - election to his County Council seat. ''I'm still enjoying the political arena"</DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-78324126068498296562007-06-01T13:13:00.001-04:002007-06-01T13:13:33.282-04:00The Goal Is Freedom: A Democracy of Dunces?<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <H1><FONT size=3>News & Commentary</FONT></H1> <H2><I><FONT size=2>June 1, 2007</FONT></I></H2>by Sheldon Richman <BR><BR><I><A href="mailto:srichman@fee.org?subject=">Sheldon Richman</A> is the editor of </I>The Freeman<I> and "In brief."</I> TGIF<I> appears Fridays.</I><BR><BR> <P align=left>When pro-free-market critics of democracy explain why laissez faire is not a winning election issue, they usually say that voters have a no incentive to research economic policy because one vote won't sway the election and the expected payoff to any individual voter is infinitesimal. So they, quite rationally, vote on other bases. This "rational ignorance" leaves space for special interests to have their way, despite the fact that if the voters paid attention to what was going on, they wouldn't put up with it.</P> <P align=left>That explanation leads to the conclusion that democracy does not work because outcomes diverge from what people really want but are powerless to obtain. On the other hand, fans of democracy think that the rejection of laissez faire shows the system is working just fine. But both sides agree that voters are rational (employing reason) under the circumstances.</P> <P align=left>Which story is true? Maybe neither. </P> <P align=left>Bryan Caplan's new book, <I>The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies</I>,<I> </I>which is beginning to make a splash (see this <A href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/magazine/27wwln-idealab-t.html?ref=magazine"><I>New York Times Magazine</I> article</A>), offers another reason why consistent pro-market policies don't do well: Voters feel that interventionist policies are good policies and have no incentive of any kind to acquire information that would upset long-held preferences.. He turns to this explanation because he finds too many problems with the rational-ignorance alternative. As Caplan writes,</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P align=left>In the naive public-interest view, democracy works because it does what voters want. In the view of most democracy skeptics, it fails because it does <I>not </I>do what voters want. In my view, democracy fails <I>because </I>it does what voters want. </P></BLOCKQUOTE> <P align=left>For Caplan, as for other economists and political theorists, the basic problem is that in a democracy, individuals don't pay the price for their preferences:</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P align=left>In economic jargon, democracy has a built-in <I>externality</I>. An irrational voter does not hurt only himself. He also hurts everyone who is, as a result of his irrationality, more likely to live under misguided policies. Since most of the cost of voter irrationality is <I>external -- </I>paid for by <I>other people</I>, why not indulge? If enough voters think this way, socially injurious policies win by popular demand.</P></BLOCKQUOTE> <P align=left>If bad economic policies are winning political platforms, the majority of voters are getting what they want. This is not good news.</P> <P align=left>Caplan says lots of people systematically (not randomly) make foolish choices at the ballot box about economic policies because they dogmatically believe those policies are good for the country. They don't understand the benefits of the free market, and would resist the evidence. He quotes Ludwig von Mises in agreement: "There is no use deceiving ourselves. American public opinion rejects the market economy." But this doesn't imply that they also make foolish choices in their private lives, because the political and personal arenas are substantially different. At the level of personal economic choice, the chooser bears most of the costs. If you want to buy Cheerios, your choice is decisive, you enjoy or suffer the consequences, and act accordingly in the future. If you vote for a protectionist, your choice is not decisive (the winner would have won anyway) and you don't bear all the consequences but only a minute fraction of them. I nearly applauded when I read Caplan's words asking us to "drop specious analogies between markets and politics, between shopping and voting." </P> <P align=left>When shopping, you won't refuse to examine a bad idea for long because it's costly <I>to you</I>. But, Caplan writes, "the price of ideological loyalty is close to zero. So we should <I>expect </I>people to 'satiate' their demand for political delusion, to believe whatever makes them feel best."<BR><BR></P> <P align=left><FONT color=#0000ff><B>Antimarket Bias</B></FONT></P> <P align=left>Why do people have faith that bad economic polices are good? Because they incorporated biases into their worldview as they grew up and have no desire to examine them. Most people don't study economics, and most who do don't let their studies "corrupt" their biases. Market ideas are not intuitive. Caplan points out that while political scientists have been empirically documenting voters' systematic bias against free markets, economists have failed to assimilate the findings. "Economists' blind spot is particularly hard to excuse because they stand at the end of a long tradition with a lot to say about bias," Caplan writes. "Many of the most famous economists of the past, like Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat, obsessed over the public's wrongheaded beliefs about economics, its stubborn resistance to basic principles like opportunity cost and comparative advantage." (It's why Bastiat wrote about <A href="http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=3227">"what is not seen"</A> and why, in our time, Manual Ayau called his article on comparative cost <A href="http://www.fee.org/pdf/the-freeman/Ayau1004.pdf">"The Most Elusive Proposition" [pdf].</A>)</P> <P align=left>Caplan breaks the bias down into four varieties: antimarket bias, antiforeign bias, make-work bias, and pessimistic bias. Antimarket bias refers a "tendency to underestimate the economic benefits of the market mechanism." This comes from the counterintuitiveness of spontaneous order ("invisible hand"), win-win exchange, general good arising from self-interested action, the social role of profit, market pricing, and so on. I think this bias stems partly from the derogation of self-interest so common in religion and moral philosophy. Caplan writes, "<I>...[Adam] Smith's thesis [that general good grows out our private gain] was counterintuitive to his contemporaries, and remains counterintuitive today.</I>" </P> <P align=left>Antiforeign bias means underappreciation of the benefits of trading with people in other countries. This apparently results, primarily, from some natural but unreasonable fear of foreigners, as well as a lack of understanding about the division of labor and law of comparative advantage, or costs. The result is a disposition against unconditional free trade. Even when trade is liberalized, it has to be done in a perverse way -- by promising it will lead to more <I>exports</I>, which is irrational since it's imports (consumption opportunities) that people ought to be concerned about. That misplaced concern goes back to the reason Adam Smith wrote <I>The Wealth of Nation</I>, the public's mistaking money for wealth. </P> <P align=left>The make-work bias, Caplan writes, is the "tendency to underestimate the economic benefits of conserving labor." It shows up whenever something -- technology, foreign competition, whatever -- makes particular domestic jobs unnecessary. Here's a way to think about that bias. Imagine that a person from America circa 1800 traveled to our era in a time machine. You show him your iPod and explain what it does. He says, "That's wonderful, but really, you people are foolish. How can you have workers making those things when they are needed to grow food?" The answer, of course, is that they aren't needed to grow food because machines and knowledge enable us to grow far more food than was grown in 1800 with a far smaller fraction of the population. Yet popular prejudice would have it that when people were no longer needed on the farm, they faced a life of unemployment. What's missing? That fact that wants always exceed resources and labor. So when we can accomplish a task with fewer resources and less labor, the savings are available for new things we couldn't afford yesterday. There's no need to make work, which wouldn't be hard to do anyway. We can create jobs whenever we want -- by, for instance, outlawing any machinery invented after 1920 -- but we wouldn't be creating prosperity. Quite the opposite.</P> <P align=left>The final category of bias is the pessimistic bias -- "a tendency to overestimate the severity of economic problems and underestimate the (recent) past, present, and future performance of the economy." This is the prevalent belief that the present does not live up to some golden age. Of course, back in that supposed golden age, people were saying the same thing about some previous golden age, and so on, ad infinitum. Caplan notes that this belief has been attributed to the gradualness of progress (Smith) and to human nature (David Hume). Regardless of the cause, the tendency toward pessimism seems resistant to facts. People think ours is an era of decline, while economists argue over whether the rate of <I>growth</I> is slowing or not.</P> <P align=left>Caplan's thesis is more complex than I've indicated here, so interested readers should buy the book. (<A href="http://cato.org/pubs/pas/pa594.pdf">Here's an extract [pdf].</A>) I've not dealt with many questions, such as the role of special interests and whether government's systematic historical intervention on behalf of business has tainted people's sense of what "free markets" and capitalism mean. But the core of the thesis strikes me as sound. It's not what voters don't know that brings them trouble, but what they know that isn't so. (That's Artemus Ward applied to politics.)</P> <P align=left>Caplan's solution is to "rely more on private choice and the free market." Good idea, though you'd have to get people to vote for that, so I'm not sure how effective that will be. Economic education for the public also would also seem in order. But just straightforward teaching won't be enough, for as Caplan elaborates, people hold fast to their errors through "emotional commitment." "A good teacher could change some minds, but the best teacher in the world would be lucky to convince half," he writes. Dogma dies hard.</P> <P align=left>At the very least, this implies that the case for liberty must be pressed across the entire cultural front, especially in movies and novels where emotions as well as reason can be appealed to. We must find emotional commitments in the population that are consistent with freedom. Libertarian strategic wisdom may well begin with Jonathan Swift's insight: "It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."</P></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-75240391488660541552007-06-01T13:05:00.000-04:002007-06-01T13:06:03.686-04:00Speaking Up for Freedom<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 0.75pt solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BACKGROUND: white; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 0.75pt solid; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none"> <P class=MsoNormal style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; mso-border-left-alt: solid #666666 .75pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid #666666 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in"><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><A title=http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson href="http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson"><SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: none; mso-font-width: 100%; text-underline: none"><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA1.1180717529@aol.com" title=http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson height=60 alt=http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson width=65 border=0 DATASIZE="2674" ID="MA1.1180717529" ></SPAN></A></SPAN></FONT><SPAN class=verdana14bold1><SPAN class=red10bold1><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#a00202 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"></SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; mso-border-left-alt: solid #666666 .75pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid #666666 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in"><SPAN class=verdana14bold1><SPAN class=red10bold1><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#a00202 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">By Fred Thompson</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; COLOR: #171717; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><BR></SPAN></FONT></B><SPAN class=verdana9blue1><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#003466 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Friday, June 1, 2007</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; COLOR: #171717; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><BR></P></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#a00202 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #a00202; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B> <P></P></DIV></NOBR><SPAN id=intelliTXT><SPAN id=columnBody> <DIV align=center> <TABLE style="mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt" cellPadding=0 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD id=tblcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in"> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717"><SPAN id=ctl00_cphMain_ctrlColumnDetail_ucColumnCache_ColumnBodyLabel></SPAN>Well, he's done it. Hugo Chavez was already systematically silencing criticism of his autocratic rule through threats and intimidation. Journalists have been threatened, beaten and even killed. Now he's shut down the last opposition television networks in Venezuela and arrested nearly 200 protesters – mostly students. It's a monumental tragedy and the Venezuelan people will pay the price for decades to come. Americans are also at risk as he funds anti-American candidates and radicals all over Latin America. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717">It's equally tragic that the U.S. is in no position to provide the victims of this emerging dictator with the truth. There was a time, though, when Americans were on the front lines of pro-freedom movements all over the world. I'm talking about the "surrogate" broadcast network that included Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, often called "the Radios." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV style="FLOAT: right"> <DIV id=pnlImage> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt"><FONT face=Verdana color=blue size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA2.1180717529@aol.com" height=200 width=300 border=0 DATASIZE="7190" ID="MA2.1180717529" ></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><BR></SPAN></FONT><SPAN class=verdana10grey1><FONT face=Verdana color=#666666 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN id=lblCaption>In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks during a meeting with retired people in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, May 29, 2007. Chavez defended his decision not to renew the license of a popular opposition-aligned television network and warned he might crack down on another critical TV station, accusing it of trying to incite attempts on his life. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office) </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717">When Ronald Reagan was elected, he greatly empowered the private, congressionally funded effort and handpicked the Radios' top staff to bring freedom to the Soviet Union. Steve Forbes led the group. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717">Cynics still say that the USSR fell of its own weight, and that President Reagan's efforts to bring it down were irrelevant, but Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev say differently. Both have said that, without the Radios, the USSR wouldn't have fallen. The Radios were not some bland public relations effort, attracting audiences only with American pop music. They engaged the intellectual and influential populations behind the Iron Curtain with accurate news and smart programming about freedom and democracy. They had sources and networks within those countries that sometimes outperformed the CIA. When Soviet hardliners and reformers were facing off, and crowds and tanks were on the streets of Moscow and Bucharest, the radios were sending real-time information to the people, including the military, and reminding them of what was at stake. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717">Then we won the Cold War. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and America relaxed. Military downsizing began and the Radios began to reduce broadcast air time to target countries. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717">Now, of course, we know that the Islamofascists, many trained by the old Soviets, were making plans and plots of their own. Unfortunately, the plans to broadcast a pro-freedom message into Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Kurdistan and Ukraine were shelved or diluted. Reagan's ideological audacity was replaced with a more "diplomatic" tone. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717">And see where it's got us? Not only has Islamic totalitarianism spread without a true ideological challenge, many of the freed Soviet bloc countries are slipping back into repression. Russia is making the same old threats and even protecting Iran's efforts to build nukes. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717">We'll never know if Afghanistan might have rejected al Qaeda if America had actively engaged that country as we did those Eastern Europeans. We can't know if Venezuelans would have chosen liberty over the false security of authoritarianism if they had been challenged to face the issues. I do know, though, that it's time for a new generation of Americans to stand up for freedom -- like others before us. And this time, we'll have a whole new set of media technologies. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV> <DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 0.75pt solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BACKGROUND: white; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 0.75pt solid; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none"> <P style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center; mso-border-left-alt: solid #666666 .75pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid #666666 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in" align=center><I><FONT face=Verdana color=#171717 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #171717; FONT-STYLE: italic">Fred Thompson is an actor and former Senator. His radio commentary airs on the <A title=http://www.abcradio.com/ href="http://www.abcradio.com/"><SPAN style="mso-font-width: 100%">ABC Radio Network</SPAN></A> and be blogs on <A title=http://www.abcradio.com/blog.asp?id=15663 href="http://www.abcradio.com/blog.asp?id=15663"><SPAN style="mso-font-width: 100%">The Fred Thompson Report</SPAN></A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></I></P></DIV></SPAN></SPAN></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-38121518336190055792007-04-18T21:08:00.001-04:002007-04-18T21:08:17.581-04:00Democratic Presidential Candidates respond to Supreme Court abortion decision<FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px">Thanks to Diane Stover and Gary Lankford for passing these on to me................</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px"> </DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px"> </DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px"><A title=http://johnedwards.com/ href="http://johnedwards.com/" target=_blank><B><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">John Edwards for President</SPAN></FONT></I></B></A><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 14px"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"> </SPAN></FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"><BR></SPAN></FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><I><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">Apr 18, 2007</SPAN></FONT></I></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 14px"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">Chapel Hill, North Carolina</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"> – Senator John Edwards released the following statement about today's 5-4 Supreme Court ruling upholding the federal abortion ban.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span><B><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">"I could not disagree more strongly</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"> with today's Supreme Court decision. The ban upheld by the Court is an ill-considered and <B>sweeping prohibition</B> that does not even take account for serious threats to the health of individual women. This hard right turn is a stark reminder of why Democrats cannot afford to lose the 2008 election. Too much is at stake - starting with, as the Court made all too clear today, a woman's right to choose."</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px; LINE-HEIGHT: 14px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=3><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 11px"><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 10px; LINE-HEIGHT: 14px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=3><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 11px"><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#474747 size=3><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 11px">4/18/2007</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#474747 size=5><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"><B>Hillary Clinton Statement on Supreme Court's Gonzales v. Carhart Decision</B></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#000000><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">Washington, DC -- "This decision marks a dramatic departure from four decades of Supreme Court rulings that upheld a woman's right to choose and recognized the importance of women's health. Today's decision blatantly defies the Court's recent decision in 2000 striking down a state partial-birth abortion law because of its failure to provide an exception for the health of the mother. As the Supreme Court recognized in Roe v. Wade in 1973, this issue is complex and highly personal; the rights and lives of women must be taken into account. <B>It is precisely this erosion of our constitutional rights that I warned against when I opposed the nominations of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito."</B></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#474747 size=3><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#474747 size=3><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#474747 size=5><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"><B>Barack Hussein Obama Statement</B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#474747 size=3><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#474747><B><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=1><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 4px"><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></SPAN></FONT></B></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span face=Arial><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"><B>I strongly disagree</B> with today's Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women. As Justice Ginsburg emphasized in her dissenting opinion, this ruling signals an <B>alarming</B> willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman's medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient. I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of <B>equal rights for women.</B> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14439317.post-56272830400634599962007-03-31T10:12:00.001-04:002007-03-31T10:12:32.956-04:00A Message Regarding the Vacancy on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections<A title=http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http://www.ronlisy.com/ href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ronlisy.com%2F" target=_blank><IMG title=http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ronlisy.com%2F height=114 alt=http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ronlisy.com%2F src="http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101076301029/img/4.jpg?a=1101598400022" width=135 border=0 name=ACCOUNT.IMAGE.4></A> <DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 15px solid; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #666666; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #666666; BORDER-BOTTOM: #666666 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif" bordercolor="#666666"><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif" face="Trebuchet MS,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif" color=#000000 size=3><B>A message from Ron Lisy</B></FONT></DIV><IMG title="" height=224 alt="" src="http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101076301029/img/3.jpg?a=1101598400022" width=168 align=right border=0 name=ACCOUNT.IMAGE.3><STRONG><FONT size=3><FONT face="Arial Narrow" color=#3b5462>Dear Friends, </FONT> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></STRONG></IMG><FONT face=Arial color=#857458>As you are probably aware, our friend Republican Cuyahoga County Board of Elections member Sally Florkiewicz has announced her intention to resign from the Board effective April 2nd. </FONT> <DIV> </DIV>This follows a politically charged demand from Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to all four Cuyahoga county Board of Elections members to resign their positions. <DIV> </DIV>Of the four members, only Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of Elections remains seated on the Board past April 2nd. <DIV> </DIV>Many of you are also aware that I have been employed at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for the past nine months, joining the Board staff soon after the May 2006 primary debacle. <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV align=center><A title=http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http://www.ronlisy.com/ href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ronlisy.com%2F" target=_blank><IMG title=http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ronlisy.com%2F height=150 alt=http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=wqhdg5bab.0.9atrg5bab.fhbguobab.7&ts=S0234&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ronlisy.com%2F src="http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101076301029/img/2.jpg?a=1101598400022" width=200 vspace=2 border=0 name=ACCOUNT.IMAGE.2></A></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've learned the nuts and bolts of the elections process, and seen many areas where the Board needs to improve. I believe it is crucial that our faith in the elections process be restored, and the value of the county taxpayers' dollars be respected. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>Several of you have stated that this experience and insight along with my previous activities with the Republican Party, and as an elected member of Bedford City Council would make me an ideal candidate for the Board of Elections vacancy. <DIV> </DIV>Although I am flattered at the suggestion, and did give it active consideration, <STRONG>I will not be a candidate for this vacancy.</STRONG> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In my opinion, an extremely qualified candidate, and an extremely committed Republican has stepped forward and declared himself a candidate -- <STRONG>that person is Judge Jeff Hastings.</STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><IMG src="http://www.judgehastings.com/images/Judge%20Hastings%20Proofs%20011.jpg" align=right></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jeff is an ideal person for this seat, with experience in the Ohio Attorney General's office under <EM>both </EM>Betty Montgomery and Jim Petro, experience serving as Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, and a stint as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge, which earned him wide praise for his judicial temperment and legal skills--and nearly re-election despite running against a "legendary name" and the Democratic tidal wave in Ohio.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jeff Hastings will do us proud on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I hope that you will attend the meeting of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party Central & Executive Committees, scheduled for Wednesday April 4th at 6 to 8 pm, Independence Civic Center, 6363 Selig Drive in Independence and join me in supporting Judge Jeff Hastings for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>With Regards,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif" size=5>Ron Lisy</FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0