Wake up America

Comedian Bernie Mac, Dead at 50 Posted: 09 Aug 2008 12:09 PM CDT Actor and comedian Bernie Mac died at a Chicago area hospital from complications related to pneumonia. He was only 50 years old. The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease. More at Fox News. Just because he was funny as all get out, here is one of his clips, via Youtube (link is to more than one of his clips, enjoy them all. RIP Bernie Mac.

The Saga Of The John Edwards Affair Continues As Sister of Mistress Asks For DNA Test Posted: 09 Aug 2008 12:33 PM CDT Following the National Enquirer's investigation into John Edwards has been quite an experience. Lies, media bias, denial and accusations were exposed like a badly written novel. It continues today with Hunter's family demanding DNA tests. I have never followed a National Enquirer story until the Edward's saga and it was quite an eye opener for me. There were just so many details provided in the one story reported about Edwards being trapped and cornered in the Beverly Hilton hotel restroom, that I felt there were questions that needed to be answered. I reported about the media's refusal to investigate, their emails to media bloggers "requesting" them to not cover the issue, John Edward's denials and calling the story "tabloid trash" while claiming it was untrue, Edward's supporters at Daily Kos banning their own writer for daring to mention it and a money trail showing that Edward's backers and friends were paying to have his mistress, Rielle Hunter, relocated. Fox News, for all the criticisms leveled against them, did stand up and actually investigated and found what no other media outlet would even attempt to look for when they interviewed one of the security guards that helped escort Edwards from the restroom and kept reporters away from him. Kudos to them for keeping their eye on the ball. To my mother, may she rest in peace, I apologize for all the times I teased you mercilessly for picking up the Enquirer every week. Yesterday John Edwards admitted that the affair with Rielle Hunter, which the National Enquirer reported about last October, was true, despite his denials to the contrary for all the months between then and now. ABC News' Bob Woodruff conducted an interview with Edwards, which aired last night and the full transcript can be found here. Both Edwards and his wife Elizabeth provided statements to the press, which I added as updates to yesterdays pieces. (Listed as previous related posts at the bottom of this post) Today ABC News reports that the saga has not ended because during the interview Edwards admitted the affair, but denied that he was the father of Hunter's baby which was born in February of this year. In Edward's statement, he did say "I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established." To that end, Hunter's her younger sister Melissa told ABC News that people should "stop bad-mouthing" her sister and she goes on to challenge Edwards to keep his pledge and have the DNA tests done. In the first reaction from Hunter's family, her younger sister Melissa told ABC News that Edwards should immediately follow through on his pledge to take a paternity test. "I would challenge him to do so," the sister said. "Somebody must stand up and defend my sister," she said. "I wish that those involved would refrain from bad-mouthing my sister." In his interview Edwards claims that he only met with Hunter at the Beverly Hilton hotel to try "to keep this from becoming public." He also admitted that the latest meeting which the National Enquirer exposed was not the only contact he had with Hunter and that they had "other telephone" contacts. He also admits that he had not told his wife of the meeting with Hunter prior to going to the hotel. Hunter had been hired by John Edwards to produce Web documentaries for the Edwards campaign, at a cost of $114,000. Those were called "Plane Truths", video found here. There are only two possibilities here, he either is or is not the father of Frances Quinn. If he is not, the DNA tests would confirm it fast and put an end to this saga once and for all. His wording, via ABC News, regarding the DNA test, was "I would welcome participating in a paternity test. I'm only one side of the test, but I'm happy to participate in one." That suggests that he is willing to participate, but leaves open the question of whether Hunter will. If he is, then people would wonder why he came clean about the affair but refused to acknowledge the baby. The timing would explain that because if the baby is his, then that would mean, from the timing of the birth, that John Edwards had continued the affair, even after his wife was re-diagnosed with cancer. For the sake of Edwards, his wife Elizabeth, his children and his loyal supporters and friends, Edwards should insist on the DNA test to put this saga to bed once and for all and let the chips fall where they may. If he is not the father, and his willingness to take the test suggests he may not be, then he can, at least, prove that much of the National Enquirer story wrong. Previous pieces: John Edwards Video Speaking To Mistress, Rielle Hunter for 'Plane Truths'; Elizabeth Edwards' Statement Added John Edwards Admits To Sexual Affair Reported By National Enquirer; Updated with Edwards' Statement and Reactions National Enquirer Publishes Spy Photos of John Edwards and Alleged Love Child Bloggasm, LA Times Blog Editor, National Enquirer and John Edwards Fox Confirms Portion of National Enquirer Story About John Edwards Meeting Mistress LA Times 'Asks' Their Bloggers To Not Report On National Enquirer's John Edwards Story: Update- Fox Interviews Hotel Security, Verifies Enquirer Story John Edwards Caught Meeting His Lover .

McCain and Obama's Statements On War Between Georgia and Russia Posted: 09 Aug 2008 10:48 AM CDT Commentary below statements. John McCain's statement: Today news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally-recognized border into the sovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory. What is most critical now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces. The consequences for Euro-Atlantic stability and security are grave. The government of Georgia has called for a cease-fire and for a resumption of direct talks on South Ossetia with international mediators. The U.S. should immediately convene an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to call on Russia to reverse course. The US should immediately work with the EU and the OSCE to put diplomatic pressure on Russia to reverse this perilous course it has chosen. We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia's security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation. Finally, the international community needs to establish a truly independent and neutral peacekeeping force in South Ossetia. Barack Obama's statement: I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war. Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis. The NYT shows that 1,500 are dead already and the Washington Post has one called "Stopping Russia". THE OUTBREAK of fighting between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia was sudden but not surprising. Conflict has been brewing between Moscow and its tiny, pro-Western neighbor for months. The flashpoints are two breakaway Georgian provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- the latter being the scene of the latest fighting. The skirmishing and shelling around Georgian villages that prompted Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to launch an offensive against the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, may or may not have been a deliberate Russian provocation, to which Russia's tank and air assault was the inevitable follow-up. How the international community handles this situation is critical and TigerHawk states the situation spectacularly: Another is that Barack Obama took the same position as a European Union that is very worried that Russia will cut off its supplies of natural gas and the most politically weak president since Jimmy Carter's hostage year of 1980. Neither are in a position to do anything other than call for completely ineffectual international condemnation. John McCain understands, however, that the next president will have the difficult task of persuading Europe -- all over again -- that it should side with Pax Americana rather than be Finlandized by the resurgent Russian Federation. Winning the political argument inside Europe and the other states peripheral to Russia will require clear American leadership, precisely as it did in the 1940s and 1950s. Transnational progressive platitudes run the risk of losing the important argument over the security of Europe and the other weak powers on Russia's frontier. George W. Bush has given up out of political weaknesses and organizational exhaustion, Barack Obama is giving up out of transnational romanticism, and John McCain is signaling the world that the United States under his leadership will be a reliable ally. The Politico is right, this was the "3am" moment, but their analysis is wrong, because you do not caution the victim to show restraint, you tell the aggressor to back the hell off.....as John McCain did. Once again Obama proves without a doubt that he is too inexperienced to deal with a world crisis and would not be a reliable ally. I would take it a step further to say that most people I have spoken to do not trust Russia and never have. Russia has also been one of the UN weak links in getting strong meaningful sanctions against Iran and has been directly responsible for watering them down to the point that they have been ineffective. I cannot see Obama's statement giving those people very much encouragement that he can be trusted to handle a serious crisis that involves Russia. .

John Edwards Video Speaking To Mistress, Rielle Hunter for 'Plane Truths'; Elizabeth Edwards' Statement Added Posted: 09 Aug 2008 11:44 AM CDT [Update on top] Elizabeth Edwards' statement and video called "plane truths" of John Edwards, produced by his mistress, Rielle Hunter, found here. Edwards finally admitted to the affair (story here) and now video is online of Edwards speaking to Rielle Hunter, his mistress, during his campaign and while they were having their affair. Hat Tip Top of the Ticket for the video via LiveLeak (video shown below). Hunter was hired in 2006 to make a series of behind-the-scenes campaign videos on Edwards for his ultimately unsuccessful run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Those videos were exhibited on the Edwards website for a brief time last year. Then, they disappeared. However, The Ticket has obtained Chapter I of those videos called, in ironic hindsight, "Plane Truths." Much more over at Top of the Ticket, go....read. [Update] Elizabeth Edwards' statement, via DailyKos: Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some – most recently – caused by the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences. None of these has been easy. But we have stood with one another through them all. Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him. John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private. The pain of the long journey since 2006 was about to be renewed. John has spoken in a long on-camera interview I hope you watch. Admitting one's mistakes is a hard thing for anyone to do, and I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame. The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown. But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue. I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John's conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time. [Update] Let us not forget John Edwards extreme hypocrisy. Here is Edwards on Clinton on Feb. 12, 1999: I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen. Perhaps a reason why he continues to deny the child? Then go follow the money. What a tool Edwards is...really! Previous pieces: John Edwards Admits To Sexual Affair Reported By National Enquirer; Updated with Edwards' Statement and Reactions National Enquirer Publishes Spy Photos of John Edwards and Alleged Love Child Bloggasm, LA Times Blog Editor, National Enquirer and John Edwards Fox Confirms Portion of National Enquirer Story About John Edwards Meeting Mistress LA Times 'Asks' Their Bloggers To Not Report On National Enquirer's John Edwards Story: Update- Fox Interviews Hotel Security, Verifies Enquirer Story John Edwards Caught Meeting His Lover .

Court Reverses Itself, California Parents Can Homeschool Without Teaching Credentials Posted: 08 Aug 2008 03:25 PM CDT Hat Tip Malkin. The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles reversed it's Feb. 28, 2008 ruling saying that parents that homeschool their children must be credentialed. There are an estimated 166,000 children in California that are taught at home by their parents and after the February ruling there was concern that students that were taught by parents that were not credentialed would be listed as truants. Today the court reversed their prior ruling. (PDF here) After hearing from an array of objectors that included state education officials and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the court agreed to reconsider the case and issued a new ruling today that reached the opposite conclusion: State law allows home schooling, although children can be required to attend school if they're being abused or neglected at home. Although the compulsory-education law hasn't changed since 1929, some alter laws "demonstrate an apparent acceptance by the Legislature that home-schooling is taking place in California, with home schools allowed as private schools," Justice H. Walter Croskey, author of the earlier ruling, wrote in today's 3-0 decision. The California Homeschool Network explains this ruling, saying "Today's court ruling held that (1) California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education; and (2) the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared a dependent. Homeschooling, therefore, remains a legal educational option in California." Many are sighing a breath of relief right now and others are celebrating this decision. .

John Edwards Admits To Sexual Affair Reported By National Enquirer; Updated with Edwards' Statement and Reactions Posted: 08 Aug 2008 05:09 PM CDT [Updates below] Edwards statement added. After consistently denying the National Enquirers claims that he had an affair with Rielle Hunter, John Edwards finally admits that he did have an affair with Hunter and continues to deny he is the father of Hunter's baby. Edwards admits he lied about the affair while he was running his presidential campaign after the National Enquirer first exposed the affair late last year. Back in October of 2007, Edwards made his denials publicly, saying, "The story is false, it's completely untrue, it's ridiculous." He repeated those denials just a couple of weeks ago when the National Enquirer reported about Edwards meeting with Hunter at the Beverly Hilton hotel. Recently, the National Enquirer cornered Edwards at the Beverly Hilton hotel and this story once again entered the news stream although many major news organizations did not cover the National Enquirer claims. ABC News has now announced that Edwards is admitting to his extra-marital affair and that he repeatedly lied about the affair on the presidential campaign trail. Edwards today admitted the National Enquirer was correct when it reported he had visited Hunter at the Beverly Hills Hilton last month. John Edwards does continue to deny being the father of Rielle Hunter's baby after the National Enquirer produced photos they allege is John Edwards holding the child, and says he does not love Hunter. According to Edwards, he claims he knows he is not the father based on timing of the baby's birth on February 27, 2008, saying he ended his affair with Hunter too soon to be the father. Edwards said the affair began during the campaign after she was hired. Hunter traveled with Edwards around the country and to Africa. Edwards said his wife, Elizabeth, and others in his family became aware of the affair in 2006. Yesterday it was reported that Democratic party members were insisting that John Edwards deal with this issue before they could decide his role in the Democratic National Convention saying he could lose his speaking spot if he did not do so. [Update] Listening to a National Enquirer employee on television saying they stand by their assertion that he is the father and challenging Edwards to take a DNA test and promising to publish the results no matter what they are. Charlotte Observer brings up a blast from the past.. Edwards regarding Clinton in 1999: I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen. [Update] Edwards' statement: In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough. I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby. It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help. I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say. It is being reported on television that Edwards and his wife Elizabeth might be making a public statement, if and when he does, I will try to provide the video. Reactions are starting to come out. Former campaign manager David Bonior said in an e-mail statement, "I am disappointed and angry. Thousands of friends and supporters of Senator Edwards put their faith and confidence in him, and he has let them down. Young supporters who put their time and energy into his campaign with a newfound energy and idealism for politics have been betrayed by his actions. But the issues we cared about and fought for — poverty, worker justice, clean environment and health care for all — are issues worth continuing to fight." It is being reported on television that Edwards and his wife Elizabeth might be making a public statement, if and when he does, I will try to provide the video. Previous pieces: National Enquirer Publishes Spy Photos of John Edwards and Alleged Love Child Bloggasm, LA Times Blog Editor, National Enquirer and John Edwards Fox Confirms Portion of National Enquirer Story About John Edwards Meeting Mistress LA Times 'Asks' Their Bloggers To Not Report On National Enquirer's John Edwards Story: Update- Fox Interviews Hotel Security, Verifies Enquirer Story John Edwards Caught Meeting His Lover

Mayor Calls For Frederal Probe After SWAT Kicked In Door Of Home And Shot Dogs Posted: 08 Aug 2008 01:43 PM CDT Mayor's press conference on YouTube here and below. A Maryland Mayor is demanding a federal probe after SWAT raided his house and shot his dogs. Evidently drug smugglers are sending drugs to unsuspecting victims in order to smuggle them into the country. Two men have been arrested, one of which is a FEDEx deliveryman who according to the plan, drops the drugs off, leaving a box on the doorstep and another man picks them up. The FBI have opened up an investigation into a July 29, 2008 raid upon the a Maryland Mayor's house, Cheye Calvo, after SWAT burst in, without knocking, and shot the family dogs, killing them. The Prince George's County Police Department, with the sheriff's special operations team assisting, had been investigating the drug smuggling operation and after arriving home from walking the family dogs, Chase and Payton, his mother-in-law told him that a package had arrived for his wife. He was upstairs changing when he heard the commotion downstairs from the authorities kicking in the door and he was brought downstairs in boxer shorts, handcuffed and then was forced to the floor next to his mother-in-law, near the bodies of his dead dogs lying in their own blood. Calvo asserts that when he asked to see the warrant for the raid, he was refused and according to the CNN report, Maryland does not offer "no-knock" warrants and the authorities did not knock before entering. Calvo wants an independent investigation start because he claims the departments cannot be trusted to do an internal investigation. While he was being held, Calvo said, he told police he is the town's mayor, but they didn't believe him. Berwyn Heights has its own police force, he said, but Prince George's County police did not notify the municipal authorities of their interest in his home or the package. "They didn't know my name. All they knew was my wife's name. They matched that to the registration of the car," Calvo said. "It was that lack of communication that really led to what has really been the most traumatic experience of our lives." After the raid, arrests were made in the package interception scheme. The incident has prompted the couple to call for a federal investigation because, they say, they don't believe police are capable of conducting an internal investigation. Calvo's states, "They've said they've done nothing wrong. I didn't sign up for this fight, but I think what we have to do now is make changes to how Prince George's County police and Prince George's County sheriff's department operate." The police, via spokeswoman Sharon Taylor, expressed sympathy for the animal's deaths, but stopped short of apologizing and stated "We've done these similar kinds of operations over and over again, to the tune of removing billions of dollars of drugs from the community and without people or animals being harmed. We don't want any of our operations to result in the injury or loss of anybody, and certainly not animals." The police say they shot the dogs because they felt threatened. According to the Washington Post story about this incident, Police Chief Melvin C. High said that Calvo and his wife were probably innocent victims of the conspiracy yet he defended the actions of the policemen who conducted the raid. In a press conference, Calvo, surrounded by county elected leaders and friends, states "We have witnessed a frightening law enforcement culture in which the law is disregarded, the rights of innocent occupants are ignored and the rights of innocent animals mean nothing. A shadow was cast over our good names. We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us." .

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