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POPS Thomas Sowell: Random Thoughts
But what this means is that even the record-breaking federal deficit understates the government's real financial liabilities, because agencies like FDIC and the Federal Housing Authority are likely to need increased amounts of money to keep going. An e-mail from a reader says that liberals like to take the moral high ground, even though their own moral relativism means that there is no moral high ground. I doubt whether the man responsible for the massacre at Fort Hood will pay with his life for the lives that he took. He may well be free again someday. We can only hope that he does not get a hero's welcome when he arrives in some terror-sponsoring country, the way the Lockerbie bomber did. A recent study by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights showed that, after the housing boom and bust, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asian Americans and American Indians all reduced their subprime mortgage loans. Only politicians seem not to have learned anything from the economic disaster ...
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POPSA quiet voice for gay marriage Many of these former spouses -- from those who still feel raw resentment toward their exes to those who have reached a mutual understanding -- see the legalization of same-sex marriage as a step toward protecting not only homosexuals but also heterosexuals. If homosexuality was more accepted, they say, they might have been spared doomed marriages followed by years of self-doubt. "It's like you hit a brick wall when they come out," Brooks said. "You think everything is fine and then, boom!" Carolyn Sega Lowengart calls it "retroactive humiliation." It's that embarrassment that washes over her when she looks back at photographs or is struck by a memory and wonders what, if anything, from that time was real. Did he ever love her?
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POPSPELOSI: Buy a $15,000 Policy or Go to Jail Or you could pay a fine for, you know, being alive. I had joked before about them eventually taxing you for breathing to cut down on CO2 emissions, but I never though they would really tax you for doing nothing more than being alive.
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POPSCarrie Prejean Goes Down. Literally! Of course, all of this should have little effect on her career. If anything it will add fuel to it with the way Americans are infatuated with hypocrites and fallen angels. Vivid Entertainment Group, which specializes in adult films, made an offer of a million dollars to Prejean back in May to make a movie for them. Seems she might be a natural. This could only raise her value in the porn market. Practice makes perfect. I'm curious as to how all the rightwing Prejean backers will spin this and find a way to blame this on everyone but Prejean. I might even turn on Fox News to check it out. With Prejean's looks and attitude, she may end up with her own show over there since credibility isn't a factor in Fox's hiring practices. And for those of you who don’t remember who actually won the Miss California Pageant, her name is Tami Ferrell from Malibu. How soon we forget those with actual morals.
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POPSItaly Convicts 23 Americans In CIA Terrorist Kidnapping Case 
One of those convicted, former Milan consular official Sabrina De Sousa, accused Congress of turning a blind eye to the entire matter. "No one has investigated the fact that the U.S. government allegedly conducted a rendition of an individual who now walks free and the operation of which was so bungled," she said, speaking through her lawyer Mark Zaid. Despite the convictions capping the nearly three-year Italian trial, several Italian and American defendants – including the two alleged masterminds of the abduction – were acquitted due to either diplomatic immunity or because classified information was stricken by Italy's highest court. The case has been politically charged from the beginning, with attempts to mislead investigators looking into the cleric's disappearance and derail the judicial proceedings once the trial was under way. But the Italian-American relationship, conditioned on such issues as participation in the Afghan campaign, is unlikely to be hurt by the convic
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POPSIt's Never Easy {{iamonetoo}} told me once that she didn't understand why it had to be so hard to be herself. She could have taken the easy way. But she didn't and I admire her. Social change is hard, long and difficult work. It will often spawn hatred by other's who are just ignorant of human differences. That's ok; the struggle of civil rights for everyone is always worth it :)
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POPSHot newas:Stephen Gately wanted kids with partner Andy Cowles Stephen Gately spoke about his desire to have children in his final interview before his death. The Boyzone, 33, admitted he'd discussed starting a family with his civil partner Andy Cowles. ‘The one big thing I see in my life is children,' he said. ‘I'd love to be a dad. Andrew and I are always talking about how amazing it would be. ‘It is something that we need to look into properly. 'But I don't think I'd ever feel fully fulfilled in my life if I didn't experience the job of being a father.'
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POPSRepublicans Need to Dump the Neoconservatives The republicans need a "tea party" within their own camp! The Bush and present GOP "conservatives" are pushing big government Statism as much as Democrats, with only a different slant. Wars for democracy are a key element of both parties now. There is an insidious philosophy underlying this acceptance of the "natural" growth of statism. Neoconservative columnist David Brooks wrote ... we need "a vigorous One Nation Conservatism ... by making the nation great, individuals are able to join their narrow concerns to a larger national project." Actually, it was originally the Democrats that used to believe in curtailing the powers of the Federal government. (This was after the Civil War where they were called Dixie-crats). See this related Clipmark: Danger--America Becoming Statist, First Bush Now Obama
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POPSProp 8 Redux Now it's Mains turn, keep your eye on this. What happen here can have major impact
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POPSNAU-USANORTH Logo This is alarming as it appears to be further evidence that we are already living in the North American Union. Rather than announce it because they know there would be resistance, they integrate us without our permission or knowledge.
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POPSNoor Almaleki is Dead :( :( Let's pray Rifqa Bary isn't next. Btw: I met Pam Geller, Robert Spencer and a whole wack of other awesome folks at the International Legal Conference of Free Speech and Religion last week in Washington Dc. It was a real honor. You can hear much more about the conference at : http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2009/11/legal-conference-on-freedom-of-speech.html#readfurther (and on a much needed lighter note, I had the good fortune to run into Steven Crowder at Dulles Airport last night and got to thank him for his work---he was exactly like he is in the videos---good guy )
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POPSCalifornia's Broken Model In what respects, then, does California "excel"? California's state and local government employees were the best compensated in America, according to the Census Bureau data for 2006. And the latest posting on the website of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility shows 9,223 former civil servants and educators receiving pensions worth more than $100,000 a year from California's public retirement funds. The "dues" paid by taxpayers in order to belong to Club California purchase benefits that, increasingly, are enjoyed by the staff instead of the members.
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POPSABTA seeks improved financial protection for holidaymakers ABTA - The Travel Association is liaising with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department for Transport in order to offer travellers who book their flights and accommodation separately the same level of financial protection as those opting for package holidays.