Window Wonderland Photo Series Marks Format Change at WNC Citizens Blog

I will be posting a series of photos of last night's Window Wonderland held in Franklin, NC last night throughout the weekend on my photoblog to mark the official format change from political commentary to local Photo/Video Blog. Check it out!

There are already two posts up, the warning post and the first post.

I decided to change the format at WNC Citizens Blog in August, but didn't want to fully reveal the reasons at the time because of the concern about tipping my hand to the local lefty bloggers about the NCGA Project, which is nearly finished and ready to launch on January 28, 2009.

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Climate Change Resources

This article by AshVegas is so sad. When I saw the report earlier this month that spoke of the cold nature of November 2008...I knew it would go unreported (or unobserved) by those worshipping at the feet of Al Gore.

You can read about how cold November was as I posted about it on December 3rd.

One thing that lefties forget...we are still in a period of relatively high temperatures, and will continue to be until the current downtrend takes us below 50 year averages, then hundred year averages, and perhaps even 500 hundred year averages if the sun doesn't come out of it's current stupor.

Perhaps I am keen on these things because I use Technical Analysis to make money in the stock market by recognizing the onset of trends early on to maximize my profit potential.

Here are some websites that I would like to suggest for those who are honest truth seekers, and not believing the lie that there is such a thing as "Scientific Consensus"...which is merely a euphemism for "Politically Approved Science".

Watts Up With That?

He has a delightful series called "How not to measure temperature" which is currently has 79 posts in that series alone where he (and his intrepid band of readers) reveal sloppy data acquisition methods.


He also has an excellent list of resources in regards to monitoring the climate.

Digital Diatribes

This guy is an excellent number cruncher. He does a monthly temperature analysis and creates many, many, many charts of short term, medium term and long term temperature trends.

The data for November 2008 are analyzed by UAH and RSS.



ICECAP (International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project)

This amazing website gathers posts about climate change from all over the globe and put them in one spot for easy access. They also have an excellent stable of experts to draw upon for articles for the website, and their Climate Library is full of interesting reading that could be heretical to those who believe that man is catastrophically warming the earth.

Solar Cycle 24

This amazing website was put together by an Amateur Radio Operator (VE3EN) to monitor solar conditions because conditions on the sun greatly influence radio transmission and reception on the earth.

The website boasts an excellent Message Board that is blessed with some very knowledgeable participants. Of particular interest to those concerned with whether or not the earth is warming or cooling are the sections Solar Cycle 24/Spaceweather that concerns itself with observation and analysis of solar conditions and the Global Warming and Weather Discussions that observe and analyze climate trends and take positions on where the climate trends are going. Hold on to your hat,because it get get rough sometimes!

The Resource Links are also required reading.

Al Fin is a science and technology blogger who keeps an eye on the climate. Although not so much lately, perhaps because there are many more people paying attention to it than used to. He was one of the first that I relied upon as a resource, and his sidebar is crammed full of the finest science resources.

NC Media Watch

Russ Steele has a good eye for good articles on climate change.

There are more resources and blogs out there, and the number is growing as the evidence of a new cooling trend accumulates. If there are resources that I have grievously overlooked or excluded, leave a comment and I'll probably include them, especially given the predilection for Legacy Media outlets and lefty bloggers to ignore and/or belittle them. I look forward to the day when they can no longer deny that the sun has far more of an effect on our climate than humans do.

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Senate Republicans find Their Spine, Vote Against Auto Bailout Bill

**12-15-2008** Welcome FoPs! (Friends of Petulant) Check out my new Christmas video.

Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), the lead GOP negotiator, said the sides were on the brink of a deal on the amendment he had offered. Representatives from the United Auto Workers -- who were present for most of the negotiations -- would not agree to a specific date, Corker said.

"We offered any day -- any day -- in 2009," Corker said.

Minutes after the talks failed, the Senate voted on the bailout measure that had been approved Wednesday by the House on a largely party-line vote, 237-170. In the Senate, the vote was 52-35, eight votes short of the 60 needed to override a Republican filibuster. Of those voting yes, 10 Republicans joined 42 Democrats.

"It's disappointing that Congress failed to act tonight," the White House said in a statement. "We think the legislation we negotiated provided an opportunity to use funds already appropriated for automakers and presented the best chance to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy while ensuring taxpayer funds only go to firms whose stakeholders were prepared to make difficult decisions to become viable."

Source: Washington Post

I am very glad that some Republicans have found their spines, and stood against this awful form of lemon socialism that was supported by the Democrats and President George W Bush. What worries me is that there was 10 Republicans who supported this socialist bill. They were: Kit Bond of Missouri, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Susan Collins of Maine, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and John Warner of Virginia.

Of those that are returning to the 111th Congress in January 2009, I would like to see investigations begun by their constituents for a suitable replacement to run in the primary. They should be reminded that the "R" beside their name should mean that they are opposed to socialism.

My US Senators split their votes on this with Burr voting against it and Dole voting for it.

That is interesting. On the earlier bailout bill, Burr voted for and Dole against. Are there no reliable Republicans available to be our Senators?

Here is the Roll Call on this vote. Why the online newspapers couldn't link to it is beyond me...goodness knows, they link to other stuff.

The next eight years are going to be very long indeed. I sure hope we get some relief in 2010, but I ain't holding my breath.

Previously: Congressman Shuler Votes With Republicans On Big Three Bailout

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Scenes From A Rainy Morning Part V

I love photos like this that have people moving in them during an exposure. It adds an otherworldly quality.

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Wild Weather Day Continues For Carolinas

Starting out with heavy rains, we have seen Tornado Watches in the mid day, and tonight, we have a Winter Weather Advisory on for the mountains with possibility for two inches above 3500 feet.

Which leaves me out.

Stay safe out there, people and keep an eyeball peeled on the National Weather Service page.

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No Re-election Bid for Mayor Pat McCrory

According to Jeff Taylor at the Meck Deck, Mayor Pat McCrory will not be seeking re-election as mayor of Charlotte in 2009.

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Scenes From A Rainy Morning Part IV

This is Hunter Library...chock full of students cramming for finals at 7am.

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Here Come the Replicators!!!

Oh. Dear.




Is it too late to stop this madness before they take over?

Source: Oobject
Hat Tip: @bencrowder

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Fall Edition of Weathervane Available

For those of you interested, the Greenville-Spartanburg Office of the National Weather Service has the Fall Edition of The Weathervane available for download as a pdf file.

It looks like today is a busy day weather wise in the Carolinas...

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Scenes From A Rainy Morning Part III

This courtyard tree has been a subject of mine before. I left the shutter open for two seconds with an ISO Speed of 400.

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Asheville City Council Report For Dec 9th

Leslee Kulba, wordsmith of the John Locke Foundation's western blog, Wild West, has her latest notes up (via Tim Peck) on the Asheville City Council blog. You can watch the video of the meeting as you read along if you wish.

This is something I would like to see happen for all the local government bodies in western North Carolina, and am in the process of creating a type of infrastructure for those wordsmiths who don't want to go through the trouble of setting up their own blog. As soon as I can free up some time, I will be attending the monthly county commissioner meetings in Macon County, and reporting on those meetings.

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Scenes From A Rainy Morning Part II

This doorway looks spooky at the end of a sinuous pathway.

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Scenes From A Rainy Morning, Part I

This morning, I turned a two minute walk into a twenty minute excursion into a dark and glorious wonderland while I played with my camera. There are about a dozen or so (I haven't counted them) that I will be posting here throughout the day. Stay Tuned.

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Flood Watch for WNC

I just love the fearlessness in which the National Weather Service experiments with new colors on their maps. (not!) We are under a Flash Flood Watch beginning at 6am, and here are the particulars in that lovely NWS font:

* FROM 6 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING

* A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE GULF OF
MEXICO TODAY...RESULTING IN PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY
RAINFALL. STORM TOTAL RAINFALL COULD EXCEED 3 INCHES IN PLACES.
THIS MAY CREATE SOME FLOOD PROBLEMS...PARTICULARLY IN AREA THAT
RECEIVED HEAVY RAINFALL YESTERDAY.

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON
CURRENT FORECASTS.

YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
FLOOD WARNINGS. THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP.

And here is the short term forecast...

432 AM EST THU DEC 11 2008

.NOW...
A LARGE AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN IS ADVANCING NORTH FROM
GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA AND WILL OVERSPREAD WESTERN NORTH
CAROLINA THIS MORNING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE A QUARTER TO A
HALF INCH IN AN HOUR AT TIMES. STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL EXPERIENCE
RAPID RISES WHERE THE HEAVIEST RAIN FALLS. PEOPLE WHO ARE
TRAVELING SHOULD DRIVE WITH CAUTION DUE TO THE POTENTIAL FOR
HYDROPLANING AND RAPID CHANGES IN VISIBILITY.

So, stay safe and away from those flood-prone areas!

As always, please refer to the National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg Office for official weather information.

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Congressman Shuler Votes With Republicans On Big Three Bailout

After battling through the weekend to reach a compromise with congressional Democrats, the White House yesterday dispatched Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to sell the plan to restive Republican senators. But many GOP lawmakers emerged from a combative luncheon with Bolten unconvinced the plan would compel Detroit automakers to make the painful changes necessary to restore them to profitability.

After mostly partisan debate, the House voted 237 to 170 to approve the measure. But with Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) and other conservatives threatening to block consideration of the measure, even some Republican advocates of the bailout said it is unlikely to attract sufficient GOP support to win approval in the closely divided Senate.

"I don't think the votes are there on our side of the aisle," said Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), a stalwart champion of the auto industry. "Some effort needs to be made to respond the concerns of my colleagues."

Source: WaPo

Here is how the North Carolina delegation voted:

For Passage of Bailout Bill

Bob Etheridge (NC-02);Brad Miller (NC-13);David Price (NC-04);Mel Watt (NC-12)

Against Passage of Bailout Bill

GK Butterfield (NC-01); Howard Coble (NC-06); Virginia Foxx (NC-05); Robin Hayes (NC-08); Walter Jones (NC-03); Patrick McHenry (NC-10); Mike McIntyre (NC-07); Sue Myrick (NC-09); Heath Shuler NC-11)

Source: Roll Call Vote #690

Bill Text: HR 7321 Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act (not yet posted, but will be here)

I am glad to see Congressman Shuler voting with the Republicans on this issue.

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American Truth Warriors for Dec 10th

Tonight, Jimmy Z will discuss the Blago Hoohah and SonLit Knight will discuss his opinion of President-elect Obama's birthplace!

The show starts at 7pm Eastern and runs for 2 hours. A microphone will appear when the show is on air...and the show will automatically podcast for future listening a few minutes after the show ends.

You can listen here, or join the chatroom at BlogTalk Radio.

These guys run the most excellent blog A Newt One.

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World's Smartest Mouse

World's Smartest Mouse - Watch more Free Videos
Just think about the time this guy invested in teaching the course to the mouse!

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Border Battle: Over 350 Killed in Tijuana

Mexico's attorney general says organized-crime slayings more than doubled this year. More than 350 people have been killed in Tijuana since the end of September. As drug cartels battle for control of the border city's key smuggling routes into the U.S. market. KPBS Border Reporter Amy Isackson and Vicente Calderón with the TijuanaPress.com have teamed up to determine what message these murders are sending, and what's being done to curb the problem.

Source: KPBS
Hat Tip: @krug

And as if that were bad enough...34 were killed in one weekend two weeks ago as Drug Lords fought for the right to deliver drugs to drug users in America. So...if your drugs come from the Tijuana area, here's your sign:

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Carolina Stompers Begin Regular Reporting

Rejoice my fellow conservatives!!!


Abandon All Hope, All Ye Progressives Who Enter The Stomper Website!!!

The Carolina Stompers have posted some news item in the last few days you should check out:

JOE THE PLUMBER SAYS McCAIN "APPALLED" HIM

WHAT DID OBAMA KNOW ABOUT BLAGO'S DEMANDS
- Unanswered questions alarm anti-corruption investigators


KELLY MILLER - ASHEVILLE'S NEW CITY COUNCIL MEMBER


The intrepid crew of conservatives at the Carolina Stompers are operating within the very belly of the Progressive Beast in Buncombe County...my prayers and good thoughts are with them as they battle for truth, justice and the American way!!!

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Fallstreak Hole

This is a cool cloud formation called a Fallstreak Hole I shot while driving home night before last. I was too tired to stop, so I shot it out the window of my truck as I drove home.

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BREAKING--Governor of Illinios Arrested by Feds

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home, The Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday, the next step in a three-year federal corruption investigation of "pay-to-play politics" in the governor's administration.

The Tribune said federal authorities were permitted by a judge to record the governor secretly before the November election after raising concerns that a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama would be tainted. That's the latest in an investigation that has included recordings of the governor and the cooperation of one of his closest friends.

The U.S. attorney's office would not confirm the information to FOX News.

A Blagojevich spokesman said he was unaware of the development.

"Haven't heard anything -- you are first to call," Lucio Guerrero said in an e-mail.

Source: Fox News

Hat Tip: Live News Cameras (via email alert)

**1.23pm**

Download the 76-page Federal Indictment.

Here is how the news broke on channel 7 in Chicago:


and here is SJ-R.com political writer Bernard Schoenburg discussing Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief-of-staff John Harris being taken into custody:

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Ronald Reagan on Socialism & Liberalism

Over at the social network I founded this past summer, there is a video of a speech by Ronald Reagan that begins thusly:

Now back in 1927 an American socialist, Norman Thomas, six times candidate for president on the Socialist Party ticket, said the American people would never vote for socialism. But he said under the name of liberalism the American people would adopt every fragment of the socialist program. There are many ways in which our government has invaded the free precincts of private citizens, method of earning a living; our government is in business to the extent of owning more than 19,000 businesses covering 47 different lines of activity. This amounts to 1/5th of the total industrial capacity of the United States.

Check out the entire ten minute video at Carolina Conservatives. (I have rebranded the group from WNC Conservatives to reflect a wider target membership.

Reagan speaks from the grave against the progressive plans to destroy our way of life. Sadly...many Republicans have also fallen for the plan, or have been swayed by peer pressure.

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Red Skies in the Morning and an Update

I took this in Cullowhee, NC yesterday morning and was grieved that I had left my tripod at home so they picture isn't as sharp as I would like it to be at this exposure...but my rifle instructor didn't call me Rock-Steady for nothing!!!

I also apologize for neglecting this blog somewhat over the past few days. I am in the final stages of a large project and have been busy on the phone (who has been giving out my phone number?!?) marshaling resources and commitments; as well as playing graphics designer. 

An anon benefactor has seen fit that I have a real video camera, and for that I am grateful...and shocked at how much memory it is going to take to process video at this new level. I suppose that Window Wonderland will be my first official project with the new camera, but I will not be able to process the video until the Monday after because I do not have a FireWire 4 pin to 4 pin cable, and I refuse to pay $30 at Radio Shack for one. I may just burn the project to my DVD Recorder, then copy it from the DVD to my machine.

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More Zero Tolerance Insanity: 10 Yr. Old with Toy Gun Arrested, Fingerprinted

NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. -- The latest case of zero-tolerance at the public schools has a 10-year-old student sadder and wiser, and facing expulsion and long-term juvenile detention. And it has his mother worried that his punishment has already been harsher than the offense demands.

"I think I shouldn't have brought a gun to school in the first place," said the student, Alandis Ford, sitting at home Thursday night with his mother, Tosha Ford, at his side.

Alandis' gun was a "cap gun," a toy cowboy six-shooter that his mother bought for him.

"We got it from Wal-Mart for $5.96," Tosha Ford said, "in the toy section right next to the cowboy hats. That's what he wanted because it was just like the ones he was studying for the Civil War" in his fifth-grade class at Fairview Elementary School.

[SNIP--here comes the insane part--TP]

Alandis was charged with possessing a weapon on school property and with terroristic acts and threats.

"On the school bus," on Tuesday, Alandis said, "when I dug into my bookbag trying to get my phone out, the boy beside me, he reached in my bookbag and got it [the toy gun] and started telling everybody, 'He's got a gun, he's got a gun,' and spread it around the whole bus. So I put it back in my bookbag."

But he said the students kept shouting, "He's going to shoot all y'all, he's got a gun, he's going to bring it to school and shoot all y'all." Did Alandis ever say anything like that or make any threatening moves with his toy gun? "No!"

Source: Channel 11 Atlanta
Hat Tip: Free Republic (not hot linked because it is a Gannet new source)

Commentary

This is insanity. This poor child has been subjected being to jack-booted treatment by the police and the public school system. Heaven forbid any relative of mine is ever treated like this...

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The NC General Assembly Will Never Be The Same...

January 28, 2008

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The John Batchelor Show for Dec 7th

It's Sunday night, and that means it's time for John Batchelor!





Here is his website.





The show starts at 7pm Eastern, and continues for six hours of the best radio you will find anywhere, as only John Batchelor can deliver it with his stable of experts...




And here is where you can listen to the show live online:



New York, WABC-AM 770 7-10PM ET;



Washington DC, WMAL-AM 630 7-9PM ET;



San Francisco, KSFO-AM 560;



Los Angeles,KFI-AM 640;






Schedule for Tonight: (all six hours are on the same link now)






The first two hours are below to whet your appetite:

Tora, Tora, Tora Special.

705P ET: Bob Shrum, NYU, re the job losses and the economy and the challenge/risk for the Obama administration ad the Pelosi/Reid Congress. What will make the Democratic Party survive the next two years of grim tidings and bad budgets? Is Tom Daschle the right man to start healthcare reform from HHS? Who will lead in the Senate and House? Ted Kennedy?

720P: Charlie Gasparino, CNBC, re the job losses worst in 30 years, re the deaf and dumb auto executives and the silence of the Congress re the bailout, re the joblessness and the Congress finally moves, re the prospect of TARP 2.

735P: Professional Roundtable with Diana West, author, Jim McTague, Barron's and John Fund, Wall Street Journal; re the auto bailout politics, is this GOP vs Dem, right vs. left, Main vs Wall Street, or just UAW phobia? The Japanese attack Detroit, "Tora Tora Tora" again.

750P: Continued re the Franken/ Coleman recount, re the 111th Congress and the Shape of Things to Come (cheaper).

805P: Larry Kudlow, CNBC "Kudlow & Company," re Tennessee Bob Corker wants the autos to restructure their debt at 30 cents on the dollar before the bailout -- how does this improve Detroit and help the case to the COngress; re the jobless rate soars, re the oil price sinks, re TARP 2?

820P: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents Major Jewish Organizations, re pledge by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Minority Whip Eric Cantor that Iran will not get the atomic weapon, re the relations between the 111th Congress and Israel, re Hugo Chavez, the Reds and the Panama Canal.

835: Financial Professionals, with John Tamny, RealClearMarkets.com, Simon Constable,Dow Jones, Aaron Task, Yahoo Finance, re the swan song of the Big Three, re the mockery of Michael Moore that we should buy them on Ebay, re the cost of a GM bankruptcy.

850P: Continued, re jobless number and the worst recession since 1982 so far, re the Fed options.

905P: Stephen Flurry, The Trumpet, re the excavations of the City of David in Jerusalem and the discovery in 2008 of a sealed tunnel that may have been used in the tenth century BC to allow David and his army to conquer the Jebusite fortress. Re the discoveries in the City of David. 2 Samuel 5:8.

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Pearl Harbor Bombed 67 Years Ago Today

Here is how the listeners of WCCO heard it during the Sunday New York Philharmonic...

And here are some more places where you can read more of what happened on that day, and what followed after...

Pearl Harbor Raid

Eyewitness to History

And here is a John Ford Documentary about the Pearl harbor Raid:

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He Chose The Nails

Max Lucado Website.

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Funhouse Self Portrait

Another photo from last Sunday's Christmas Parade.

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Report says homosexuality linked with health problems

PRESS RELEASE

Study reveals differences in health care access and status for gays and lesbians; even larger disparities reported by bisexuals.

• Download a copy of the results from the surveys

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has released the nation’s first statewide population-based look at health disparities based on sexual orientation. The report revealed significant disparities among people who identified as homosexual or bisexual in the areas of access to care, self-reported health status, anxiety, depression, suicide ideation, smoking, binge drinking, illicit drug use, sexual assault victimization, intimate partner violence, disability, obesity, asthma and heart disease.

Data for the report was obtained through Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys undertaken in the state between 2001 — when a question on sexual orientation was added to the survey — and 2006.

Some of the findings from the report include:

• The odds of being a current smoker were 2.5 times greater for gays and lesbians compared to heterosexuals.

• Bisexuals were 3.1 times more likely than heterosexuals to report feeling tense or worried.

• Lesbians were 2.2 times more likely than heterosexual women to be obese.

• Bisexuals were 4.4 times and gays/lesbians 1.5 times more likely than heterosexuals to report their health as "poor" or "fair."

Researchers found that in many cases the disparities were even greater for bisexuals than for gay/lesbians when compared with their heterosexual counterparts. Dr. Kerith Conron, Research Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the report, said, "This report identifies major health disparities faced by lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Bisexuals particularly face greater health disparities in the areas of mental health and violence victimization. Specific interventions should be developed to work with the bisexual population in these areas."

Health officials also hope that the report will stimulate further study on ways to reduce and eliminate health disparities faced by gay, lesbian and bisexual people. Stewart Landers, MDPH Senior Researcher on the project, added that "the valuable insights provided by this report highlight the importance of adding sexual orientation questions to population-based surveys, such as the BRFSS undertaken by each state."

The project was supported with funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

# # #

Source: Massachusetts Dept of Health and Human Services
Hat Tip: A Christian Voice

The evidence keeps rolling in as to the destructive nature of this lifestyle. Of course, Political correctness would have us ignore the evidence in favor of political goals...like the lies behind the Global Warming Hoax.

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We Three Deer

From Sunday's Christmas Parade.

Previously:

(VIDEO) Behind The Scenes of the Franklin Christmas Parade

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The Capitalist Manifesto

The solution is simple...let Capitalism work!

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Will SCOTUS Issue Bench Warrant For Obama's Arrest?

The United States Supreme Court, guarantor of our Constitution, gave Barack Obama until December 1st to respond to allegations that he has not provided certification of his eligibility to run for President by being a natural born citizen. That date came and went with no response from Obama. Not, mind you, merely a lack of sufficient evidence but no response at all. Source.

As a consequence, the court has no choice but to issue a bench warrant for his arrest, charging him with contempt of court. Further, because he refused to provide the Constitutional proofs, the Court can- and must- rule him ineligable and declare all General Election and Primary votes for him to be invalid.

Source: A Newt One

December 5, 2008 - The time period for Barack Obama to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit expired on December 1, 2008. The Supreme Court has been silent as of this date. It appears the U.S. Supreme Court will not uphold the Constitution. America is truly in danger when the U.S. Supreme Court Justices refuse to perform their sworn duty. The news media will not even report on this important event. Our congressional leaders are also remaining silent. The financial crisis has been brought about by those seeking more power. Tear America down, and then create the New America controlled by the elite. It appears America has fallen without a shot being fired.

Source: Stop Obama

I honestly do not know what to think of this, and do not think that ther are enough justices on the Supreme Court Of The United States with the stomach for a Constitutional Crisis. It will be interesting to read the opinion of Clarence thomas and Antonin Scalia on this matter.

*Note to Lefties...I am merely reporting on what others have said. If you have a problem with it, please take it up with them. I grow tired of lefty commenters who take a shot (mostly an Ad Hominem) and leave, rarely enagaging in an honest debate on the issues.

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Terrorism Survival Bundle

I ran across a reference to this at Ron Coleman's blog.

It is a Terrorism Survival Bundle for mobile computing devices, and here is the sales pitch:

If and when there is another terrorist attack, you need to know immediately what to do, no matter where you are or what you are doing. Your chances of minimizing the danger and inconvenience are enhanced if you've made common-sense preparations in advance, as well as knowing what to do afterwards.

• The Bundle includes Terrorism Survival Plan Database and Terrorism Survival Response Database
• Planning & response for terrorist attack scenarios
• Full-color Cover Page, Storage Card Compatibility, Searchable Records

including a section on USA Travel:

• Terrorism Travel Planner - USA:
• Planning, including Planning a Trip, Before You Leave, What to Wear, and What Not to Wear
• Packing, including Checked Bags, Prohibited Items, Firearm Requirements, Locks, and Carry-ons
• Airport, including At the Airport, and Reducing Inspection Delays
• Special Circumstances, including Children, Health Problems, Religious Concerns, Sports/Camping Equipment, and Summer Travel
• Latest Developments, including RFID Test in Las Vegas, Halloween Costumes, Baggage Airline Guest Services, and TSA-approved Locks for Sale
• Travel Information, including Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Complaints/Problems, Travel Resources, and 120 Airline Toll-Free Numbers

Source: Stephenson Strategies

I am gratified to see a reference to firearms in the software bundle. My Terrorism Survival Bundle starts with a .45 with extra ammo clips, a Bug Out Bag, and ends with extra food and blankets always being in the cab of my truck.

I have no mobile computing device, except for a laptop that has a fried battery. I have an inverter for it to use in my truck...but should think about getting a laptop that has a working battery if I have to ditch the truck.

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Good Works: Wreaths Across America

The Wreaths Across America story began over 15 years ago when Worcester Wreath Company (a for-profit commercial business from Harrington, Maine) began a tradition of placing wreaths on the headstones of our Nation's fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery during the holidays.

Over that period of time, Worcester Wreath has donated 90,000 wreaths which were placed by volunteers in a wreath-laying ceremony each December. But as word spread, the mission to Remember; Honor; and Teach about the sacrifices made by our veterans has captured the hearts and minds of many communities across the Country.

In December 2007, 286 participating locations hosted Wreaths Across America ceremonies overseeing the placement of 32,553 wreaths on the headstones of those who served and sacrificed for our freedoms. In 2008 that number will exceed 350 locations and 100,000 wreaths placed in honor!

Source: Wreaths Across America
Related: Worcester Wreath Company

This year's wreath-laying ceremonies will be held concurrently on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at Noon Eastern time.

Here are the locations in North Carolina:

N.C. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Thomasville

Salisbury National Cemetery - Salisbury

Salisbury National Cemetery Annex - Salisbury

Wilmington National Cemetery - Wilmington

New Bern National Cemetery - New Bern

Raleigh State Capital Veterans Memorial

Coastal State Veterans Cemetery - Jacksonville

Bryson War Memorial - Bryson City

Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery - Spring Lake

Raleigh National Cemetery - Raleigh

Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery - Black Mountain

Fort Bragg Main Post Cemetery - Fort Bragg

North Carolina Veteran's Freedom Park, Cary


For information in other states, click here.

And, as if that weren't enough, the thirty tractor trailers filled with wreaths are escorted by Patriot Guard Riders from Maine to Virginia, making more than twenty stops along the way on a journey that ends at Arlington National Cemetary.

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Newsprint Death Watch Continues...

CHICAGO-- Newspaper and newspaper groups are likely to default on their debt and go out of business next year -- leaving "several cities" with no daily newspaper at all, Fitch Ratings says in a report on media released Wednesday.

"Fitch believes more newspapers and newspaper groups will default, be shut down and be liquidated in 2009 and several cities could go without a daily print newspaper by 2010," the Chicago-based credit ratings firm said in a report on the outlook for U.S. media and entertainment.

Fitch is generally pessimistic across the board, assigning negative outlets to nearly all sectors from Yellow Pages to radio and TV and theme parks. But the newspaper industry is the most at risk of defaulting, it says.

"Much of the business risk for the media sector is likely to continue to be concentrated within the newspaper sub-sector," the report says. "Fitch expects newspaper industry revenue growth will be negative for the foreseeable future as both ad pricing and linage will be under pressure within each of the four main components of newspaper companies' revenue streams: circulation and local, classified and national advertising. Newsprint costs could rise, and it could be difficult to offset revenue declines with cost cuts."

Source: Editor & Publisher (read the article)

Commentary

More bad news for the Democrat Party Stenography Association. If papers focused on reporting news instead of the party line, they might do better. I have canceled all my newspaper subscriptions over the course of a few years because I perceived an unhealthy lefty stance, a laziness in reporting real news, local or national.

I think papers could still pull their fat out of the fire if they were to build their online activities to keep up with fast-breaking news, link more to other "non-newspaper sources" of information in the community and incorporate more ways of producing revenue streams from that content. I have some ideas, but it won't be for free.

Which reminds me...most of the local papers don't incorporate RSS Feeds to push content out the door to draw readers to their website...and those that do, have odd implementation.

Previously:

Asheville Citizen Times Is Insane,
Lays Off Top Web People

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Irwin To Challenge Shuler? Shuler To Challenge Burr?

According to Under the Dome, Former Henderson County Sheriff George Irwin is "seriously looking into" running against Congressman Shuler in 2010.

The source of the information is an unsigned editorial in the Hendersonville Times-News.

I got a kick out of speculation that Congressman Shuler may challenge US Senator Richard Burr for his seat in 2010. In particular this paragraph (emphasis mine):

But if the Burr seat is an attractive target for Democrats, it is no certainty that Shuler is the right choice to carry the fight. Shuler has no statewide campaign experience and is untested as a debater. And if the Burr seat really looks like a plausible pickup a year from now, other Democrats will be tempted, including Attorney General Roy Cooper, whose 2.5 million votes was more than anyone in the state on Nov. 4.

That reminds me that Senator Burr probably has nothing to worry about regarding a debate, because Congressman Shuler was for debating his opponents before he was against debating his opponents.

To drive the point home, here is a video or two that I am sure will get plenty of playtime the next time Congressman Shuler runs for office...whether he is defending his current seat...or is seeking a new one:

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November 2008 Coldest in Ten Years for Asheville Region

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**update...Dec 12, 2008** Local lefty AshVegas has swallowed the koolaid on Global Warming. His website won't allow me to post a link to this article (and he hasn't been approving my comments for publication as of late, so I''ll be linking to this article from a newer article.
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Global Warming? I don't think so! It sounds like the data is indicative of a cooling trend, such as the growing glaciers in Alaska and Norway.

According to the National Weather Service, this past November was the coldest in ten years, and the 8^th COLDEST EVER.

From the NWS website:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
702 PM EST TUE DEC 2 2008

...COLD NOVEMBER ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS...

LAST MONTH WAS THE COLDEST NOVEMBER IN OVER TEN YEARS AT ASHEVILLE AND GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG...AND THE COLDEST NOVEMBER IN OVER 30 YEARS AT CHARLOTTE.

AT ASHEVILLE...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 43.0 DEGREES...MAKING
LAST MONTH THE COLDEST NOVEMBER SINCE 42.3 DEGREES WAS RECORDED IN 1997...AND THE 8TH COLDEST NOVEMBER EVER. THE COLDEST NOVEMBER EVER AT ASHEVILLE AVERAGED 41.2 DEGREES IN 1976.

AT CHARLOTTE...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 46.6 DEGREES...MAKING
LAST MONTH THE COLDEST NOVEMBER SINCE 44.1 DEGREES WAS RECORDED IN 1976...AND THE 5TH COLDEST NOVEMBER EVER. NOVEMBER 1976 WAS THE COLDEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD.

AT GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 48.7
DEGREES...MAKING LAST MONTH THE COLDEST NOVEMBER SINCE 46.9 DEGREES WAS RECORDED IN 1997...AND THE 17TH COLDEST NOVEMBER EVER. THE COLDEST NOVEMBER EVER AT GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG AVERAGED 43.2 DEGREES IN 1901.

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Saxby Chambliss Defeats Jim Martin in Runoff

This is very good news indeed!

The libertarians very nearly spoiled this race...and the US Senate by forcing a runoff in the US Senate Race between US Senator Saxby Chambliss and Challenger Jim Martin.

Here are the numbers as of 3.20am:

57.4% 1,220,854 Saxby Chambliss
42.6% 905,637 Jim Martin

Source: Georgia Secretary of State
Related: Senator Chambliss
Related: Chambliss for Senate
Related: Martin for Senate

Commentary

America dodged a bullet in this runoff. The President-elect Obama has been denied his fillibuster-proof majority in the US Senate.

I hope that this will help Senator Saxby Chambliss grow a spine, and move to the right, and dispense with his previous RINOism...and to give hope to the base of the Republican Party that we can defeat the Obamites at their own game.

So far, to my knowledge, there are no maps showing results by county on a map. I am sure that later this morning, someone will produce that map (if they haven't already) and I'll post it (or a link to it) here.

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Asheville Citizen Times Is Insane, Lays Off Top Web People

According to Ashvegas, the latest round of layoffs at the Asheville Citizen-Times have claimed online gurus Doug Mayer and John Yenne.

Commentary

I think I can safely say without fear of being (successfully) sued that the Asheville Citizen-Times is insane and has not the first clue about the potential for the online news market. Not a freaking clue.
If I had the money...I would hire these two in a heartbeat and establish them in an online news website.

I am also glad that the AC-T doesn't get it, for that will leave the bloggers and the (I hate to say it) Mountain Xpress as content kings (or queens) for online information in our area.

John Yenne created the AshVid Network.

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World's Oldest Lolcat Found (103 years old)

more animals
Check out the story of the photo.

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A Ride Across Cowee Mountain

A little something different than my ususal fare...

...a portion of my ride home yesterday set to music.

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Snow Day At Thunder Pig Studios

I am calling it a day. No more work from me today.

Look for videos of the Franklin Christmas Parade tomorrow.

It's good to be the boss.

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A Tribute to Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg

The murdered Rabbi speaks in this video:


Visit Arutz Sheva to read more about the husband and wife murdered by Islamic terrorists in Mumbai for being Jewish.

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Lefty Anti-Americans BEG To Be Shot

Some lefty anit-Americans held some "street theater" to brighten the holiday mood in...wait for it...San Fransisco over the weekend. The group called Operation First Casualty and Zombietime has photos of the lunacy.

Hat Tip: The Jawa Report

Commentary

If I were on a jury, I would not convict anyone who shot one of these retards, even if they went back to their car and shot them execution-style.

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Wal-Mart Stampede Dynamics

Neo-neocon does a bang-up job of doing what the Legacy Media (and Wal-Mart hating lefties) have failed to do...apply a little thought to the situation.

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Pentagon To Deploy 20,000 Troops To...The United States

The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.

There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.

But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dedicating 20,000 troops to domestic response -- a nearly sevenfold increase in five years -- "would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said in remarks last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the realization that civilian authorities may be overwhelmed in a catastrophe prompted "a fundamental change in military culture," he said.

Source: WaPo (read the rest there)

Commentary

Counter-attack coming from dullard civil libertarians any minute now as the "Art Bell" and "Alex Jones" retards work themselves into a lather (blather?).

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Mumbai Terrorists Used Internet Resources During Attack

The Mumbai terrorists used an array of commercial technologies -- from Blackberries to GPS navigators to anonymous e-mail accounts -- to pull off their heinous attacks.

For years, terrorists and insurgents around the world have used off-the-shelf hardware and software to stay ahead of bigger, better-funded authorities. In 2007, former U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid complained that, with their Radio Shack stockpile of communications gear, "this enemy is better networked than we are." The strikes that killed at least 174 appears to be another example of how wired today's "global guerrillas" can be.

As they approached Mumbai by boat, the terrorists "steered the vessel using GPS equipment," according to the Daily Mail. A satellite phone was later found aboard.

Once the coordinated attacks began, the terrorists were on their cell phones constantly. They used BlackBerries "to monitor international reaction to the atrocities, and to check on the police response via the internet," the Courier Mail reports.

Source: Danger Room (be sure to read the whole thing)

Commentary

The police cut local cable, satellite and Television broadcasts during the attacks, but were still unable to stop the terrorists from accessing the resources of the Internet...and they were foolish to think that they could.

I wonder how many free or freely available Wi-Fi networks were available to the terrorists to use (aside from their satphones) that the police could not even shut down even if they wanted to?

There is one thing that could have lessened the carnage. A citizenry self-armed and willing to defend themselves.

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Snow Falling at WCU

I just took a few quick shots of the snow falling on the campus of Western Carolina University this morning and thought it would help put you in the mood for Christmas:

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Winter Weather Forecast For WNC Mountains

I posted about the National Weather Service forecast on WNC Citizens Blog. Good grief...it's just 3 inches, people!

How are you gonna start reacting when Global Cooling starts becoming more evident...and we start getting snow storms like when I was a kid? 18 to 24 inches at a time!!!

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Waiting For Godot The Christmas Parade

I'll be posting photos and video of the Franklin, NC Christmas Parade throughout the day.

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