This Stanley Kurtz story is a must-read. Here's a taste:

Given the precedent of his earlier responses on Ayers and Wright, Obama might be inclined to deny personal knowledge of the educational philosophy he was so generously funding. Such a denial would not be convincing. For one thing, we have evidence that in 1995, the same year Obama assumed control of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, he publicly rejected “the unrealistic politics of integrationist assimilation,” a stance that clearly resonates with both Wright and Carruthers. (See “No Liberation.”)

And as noted, Wright had invited Carruthers, Hilliard, and like-minded thinkers to address his Trinity congregants. Wright likes to tick off his connections to these prominent Afrocentrists in sermons, and Obama would surely have heard of them. Reading over SSAVC’s Annenberg proposals, Obama could hardly be ignorant of what they were about. And if by some chance Obama overlooked Hilliard’s or Carruthers’s names, SSAVC’s proposals are filled with references to “rites of passage” and “Ptahhotep,” dead giveaways for the anti-American and separatist ideological concoction favored by SSAVC.

We know that Obama did read the proposals. Annenberg documents show him commenting on proposal quality.

Posted by: Slublog at 06:51 AM | Comments (90)
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When the aliens appeared over Eufala, Physics Geek was in first place.

So he'll be their first round of experiments. They always go for the brainy ones, you can tell from the interviews.

1 Physics Geek 51
2 mesablue 49
2 DrZin 49
2 moflicky 49
2 Yeah Right Whatever 49

and the rest of the best...

more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:14 AM | Comments (21)
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During the debate liveblogs, a phrase I find myself typing often is "TAX CREDITS ARE NOT TAX CUTS." It's usually in response to Barack Obama's promise to "cut taxes for 95% of Americans," a promise that as of now, has gone frustratingly unexamined by the media and largely unchallenged by the McCain campaign.

The Wall St. Journal looks at Obama's proposals, and the results aren't pretty. In addition to creating a larger de facto welfare state, the Obama tax plan would actually increase taxes on low-income and middle-class workers:

Because Mr. Obama's tax credits are phased out as incomes rise, they impose a huge "marginal" tax rate increase on low-income workers. The marginal tax rate refers to the rate on the next dollar of income earned. As the nearby chart illustrates, the marginal rate for millions of low- and middle-income workers would spike as they earn more income.

Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned from working overtime or taking a new job. As public policy, this is contradictory. The tax credits are sold in the name of "making work pay," but in practice they can be a disincentive to working harder, especially if you're a lower-income couple getting raises of $1,000 or $2,000 a year.

Posted by: Slublog at 05:10 AM | Comments (54)
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Expectations are apparently high worldwide.

Trend expected to carry through to Alabama tomorrow (I got this from JackM, it's the straight dope. They shall lead us from Dothan).

I for one welcome our new 401k-saving overlords.

more info here:

more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 09:22 PM | Comments (83)
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Well, technically, it's still a holiday weekend, and, technically, Ace hasn't declared an end to Open Blog.

I put the question mark after "Overnight Thread" since last night's overnight thread was posted at around 5:45 a.m. this morning.

Anyhoo, here's the deal. Ace has been getting a ton of grief for doing "teaser posts" lately. Well, here's your chance to prove that you're better than he is. Post your best "teaser post" in the comments. Please make them as goofy as possible.

Let's face it, we all need a laugh about now, don't we?

And, if you actually have a real news tip, well, that's above my paygrade.

Posted by: Open Blog at 09:20 PM | Comments (56)
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So, when you regain consciousness in a motel room bathtub full of ice after that night of wild monkey sex with the hot chick from the club, and your sack feels like its one or two short of standard issue, and there's a note taped to your chest saying "call 911", you'll know what happened..

Scientists have derived potentially therapeutic stem cells from adult, human testicles—a development that may eventually make new medical treatments possible while avoiding moral dilemmas...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:37 PM | Comments (46)
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I hope. To be posting later on AP. (I hope.) I'd've waited for it to post but I gotta knock off soon. I'll roll the dice that this is accurate.

Not a RICO suit -- a similar but not equivalent suit under Ohio's Corrupt Activity Act, seeking dissolution of ACORN. Figure it has to be ACORN Ohio only.

To be filed Tuesday morning in in the Court of Common Pleas, Warren
County, Ohio

A suit on behalf of citizens asking for, among other things, the
dissolution of ACORN.

For violation of the Ohio Corrupt Activity Act

The suit lists 19 predicate acts in Ohio and 40 out-of-state predicate
acts.

The suit demands a trial by jury.

Hardly the blockbuster I promised, I know. And the "RICO" thing was wrong as well.

Bear in mind this is a private, third-party suit, probably brought by a conservative organization, or just a few citizens. Not really the imprimatur of the DoJ here.

Not saying it couldn't lead to something. But there's not going to be any big splash about it.

Bump [Gabe]: The complaint, filed by the Buckeye Institute (a think tank), is available here (PDF). If nothing else, it is a useful catalogue of ACORN's most recent misdeeds.

I don't know enough about Ohio's Corrupt Activity Act to say whether they've got a good case, but this gives me pause: Under the Ohio Corrupt Activity Act, the core violations being alleged are forgery, uttering forged documents, tampering with writings and records, and uttering tampered writings or records. I'd have to check the statutes and find the definitions, but Acorn's practice of obtaining multiple registrations from individuals does not, at first blush, appear to be any of these things.

Obtaining voter registrations for Mickey Mouse might fall into one of those categories, but that type of activity isn't listed in the complaint. They seem to focus on the multiple fraudulent registrations instead.

Somebody shoot me some knowledge. Does that sound like forgery or tampering with writings and records to you?

Posted by: Ace at 08:31 AM | Comments (58)
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(Yeah, itÂ’s old, but I havenÂ’t seen these photos of it before so STFUÂ…indulge me here)

”Last month (April, ’08 ed.), the US Navy and General Dynamics took the lid off the new U.S.S. Independence littoral combat ship (LCS). This beast will sail close to the shore and throw everything imaginable at an enemy—from armored vehicles and helicopters to shells, torpedoes and missiles. Plus, it can hustle at a rumored 60 knots. Basically, that means the enemy will have a difficult time escaping the wrath of this mighty vessel no matter where they are.”

AhhÂ…thatÂ’s what I likeÂ…an affordable Star Destroyer. From the photo below it looks like they were actually building this beast in a hanger. IÂ’m fairly sure this thing can launch itself into orbit. Rumour is that the top speed is 60 knots, which is roughly equivalent to warp 9.5. It reminds me somewhat of another ship which represented a similar leap in technology: This one.

IÂ’m betting the Russians, Chinese and their Dominion allies are soiling themselves at the prospect of seeing this thing on the horizon. (Which they wonÂ’t because itÂ’s also stealthy)

Much larger pic of the ship is here so you can revel in the freakish awesomeness of the thing. Print it out at poster size and tack it up on your wall. After all, isnÂ’t it really about time you replaced that Farah Fawcett poster with something a little more current and sexy?

PS: I'm not sure what Navy specs are for the height of ship rails, and there aren't any humans in the photo, but typically railings are between 36" and 42" high in the civvie world, so picture that as more than half a person standing behind the top deck railing in order to get a sense of scale. Also, I've come to the opinion that the ship should've been named "Animal Mother," but the USMC doesn't get to pick ship names since the swabbies just consider them cargo. Feel free to have a flame war regarding that topic. I'm an Army brat so I could care less.

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:28 PM | Comments (96)
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And I don't mean that in a good way!

Posted by: Ace at 07:16 PM | Comments (72)
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Lower down there's a story about Tim Mahoney's(D-FL) "mistress payoff" scandal and the question was raised in comments if he had a challenger. He does, Tom Rooney. Wexler (Moonbat-FL) from my district also has a republican challenger this year. Last time he went unchallenged.

In other FL news: some fascist homeowner association is prohibiting people from displaying campaign signs in their yard.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 05:07 PM | Comments (155)
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