On Wednesday, former presidential candidate and Fox host Mike Huckabee pushed back at conservative bloggers who were “uncivil” about his recent decision to bring First Lady Michelle Obama onto his show to talk about her campaign to fight child obesity.
Huckabee’s show was the first lady’s debut appearance on Fox News, and there was considerable push back from viewers. “Some bloggers, it seemed, wanted me to bring her on my show only if I yelled at her. Or it seemed they wanted me to hit her,” Huckabee told a crowd in Wichita, Kansas.
[Huckabee] said he disagrees with nearly every policy position of her husband, but that attacking people doesn’t accomplish anything. The viciousness of attacks from all sides, he said, are “disgusting … the anger and the meanness.”
Mediaitereports that Michelle Obama’s appearance on Huckabee gave the show its lowest ratings of 2010.
I like to bring Mike Huckabee out as a shining star every once in a while. Huckabee respresents a decency I like. Could I probably vote for him? No. He is far too conservative politically for me. But I can like him. Like goes a long way. When I feel like I am getting too partisan (and Marshall-gate has made me feel that way.) the decency of Mike Huckabee restores my sense of equilibrium.
Mr. Huckabee loves music and his band, the Little Rockers do a good job of highlighting artists who are not the stars of today. The Little Rockers are building employees at Fox News.
We need more Mike Huckabees who always represent civility in politics. In many ways, Huckabee admonishes us all as bloggers also. As we sit behind our computer screens, would we say some of the things that come out of the ends of our fingers to a person’s face? On Anti-bvbl, probably 95% of the time, yes. Those who virulently attack others usually don’t make it ‘out on the floor’ of this blog. However, not all blogs can make that claim. Mike Huckabee is a standard we all can admire whether we agree with his politics or not. Mike Huckabee is a gentleman.
Monday night about 7:30 pm, a 50 year old lady was run down in the street, right on Grant Avenue near Byrd Drive in Georgetown South. She was simply crossing the street with a friend. The car that hit her kept on driving without regard for her welfare. The lady’s family is currently looking all over for a car that might have the kind of body damage that happens when it strikes a human. The lady suffered life-threatening injuries.
It is horribly distressing to learn that someone in our area is so selfish and callous that they would not even stop after hitting someone with their vehicle. Hit and Run is a felony. What is also disturbing is that I cannot find the lady’s name anywhere in the news. This lady has a name and is currently fighting for her life in the hopital. Can our local news agencies tell us a name so we can wish her well? Can the community help the family with any needs she might have? Can we send flowers or cards? When do we protect privacy to this degree? Something is wrong here. The lady has a name.
UPDATE: The Manassas News and Messenger has updated its article on Ms. Morton who is struggling for her life at Inova Hospital. Meanwhile her relatives continue their quest to find the car who hit her. Ms. Morton was thrown 60 feet through the air. Full article
This is a horrible story and the driver of this vehicle should be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Meanwhile, our thoughts and prayers go out to Ms. Morton and her family. May she have a full recovery. Kudos to the Manassas News and Messenger for doing a follow-up story on this heinous crime.
According to the New York Times, data sharing between the C.I.A. and leading scientists has resumed.
The nation’s top scientists and spies are collaborating on an effort to use the federal government’s intelligence assets — including spy satellites and other classified sensors — to assess the hidden complexities of environmental change. They seek insights from natural phenomena like clouds and glaciers, deserts and tropical forests.
Basically speaking, US top scientists are receiving top security clearances to have access to C.I.A. reconnaisance material. This program was shut down by the Bush administration. It has the strong approval of the director of the C.I.A. and of leading scientists.
In the last year, as part of the effort, the collaborators have scrutinized images of Arctic sea ice from reconnaissance satellites in an effort to distinguish things like summer melts from climate trends, and they have had images of the ice pack declassified to speed the scientific analysis.
The trove of images is “really useful,” said Norbert Untersteiner, a professor at the University of Washington who specializes in polar ice and is a member of the team of spies and scientists behind the effort.
Scientists, Dr. Untersteiner said, “have no way to send out 500 people” across the top of the world to match the intelligence gains, adding that the new understandings might one day result in ice forecasts.
“That will be very important economically and logistically,” Dr. Untersteiner said, arguing that Arctic thaws will open new fisheries and sea lanes for shipping and spur the hunt for undersea oil and gas worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Westgate became an armed camp around 5:30 Friday night. Sirens screamed, a chopper swarmed overhead, Rescue squads streamed down the street as well as fire trucks. Prince William County police are searching for a man, David Marcelis Frye, age 37 and have issued warrants for him for aggrevated assault and malicious wounding. Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend was transported from the 96oo block of Lafayette Avenue to an area trauma unit with life-threatening injuries from knife wounds.
Frye is also wanted for making threatening phone calls and for failure to show up for court. Meanwhile this man is not in custody and is being sought by the police. He is black, with short hair, around 220 pounds and approximately 6 ft. tall.
Today President Obama spoke more forcefully as more information has unfolded. There were bits and pieces of information that should have been pieced together, which suggests that US intelligence dropped the proverbial ball. When 300 plus lives are at stake, our intelligence sources simply cannot afford to overlook connecting the dots:
According to the NY Times:
Mr. Obama addressed reporters in his second public statement on the matter in two days, announcing that a review already had revealed a breakdown in the intelligence system that did not properly identify the suspect as a dangerous extremist who should have been prevented from flying to the United States.
“A systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable,” Mr. Obama said. He said he had ordered government agencies to give him a preliminary report on Thursday about what happened and added that he would “insist on accountability at every level,” although he did not elaborate.
Mr. Obama alluded to the intelligence in his statement. “Had this critical information been shared, it could have been compiled with other intelligence and a fuller, clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged,” the president said. “The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America.”
Was President Obama tough enough today? Should he say ‘alleged?’ Should he be firing people? This is our second thread on the Christmas Underpants terrorist. I feel there needs to be more discussion. As long as Americans and other innocent people are cannon fodder for these deranged religious zealots. we need to talk and demand safety.
Time for a fireside chat about heroes in general and America security:
Yesterday the United States escaped yet another terrorist attack on a plane. A Nigerian ignited an incendiary device in his lap while the NW/Delta flight descended into the Detroit, Michigan airport. The flight originated in Amsterdam.
The terrorist who is being described as having Al Queda connections picked up his marching orders and incendiary device in Yemen. The terrorist, however, was unsuccessful. His actions were thwarted by some brave passenger on the flight. Basically he was jumped by passengers and flight attendants who ran towards him with fire extinguishers, according to witnesses.
We don’t know any full details yet and we do know that eye witness accounts are often inaccurate and lack accurate facts. However, on this blog we have discussed the concept of the ‘hero.’ Most of us have stated that we feel the term is overused and overworked and used to describe people who really haven’t showed extraordinary behavior. We just say ‘hero’ because its a nice word.
Are these passengers and flight attendants heroes for stopping a terror attack? What makes a real hero? We hope you will participate in our fireside chat. Click the arrow to start the fireplace.
An American Airlines plane originating from DC broke overshot the runway in Jamaica and broke apart. Witnesses report that the plane ran off the runway, through a fence and ended up on the beach very close to the water. There was substantial wing and engine damage and fuselage damage. The plane was carrying 148 people. About 40 were injured, some seriously.
Multiple sources have reported that the Virginia Civil War Events, Inc has withdrawn its request to partner with Prince William County as an events planner for the Sesquicentennial in 2011. ‘Withdrawn’ can be a temporary situation. It can simply mean ‘for now.’
The BOCS had decided to revisit the plans for the proposed Memorandum of Understanding with this group in January.
No explanation was provided via our sources. It could very well be that the harsh reality of the extremely austere budget cuts Virginia is facing signalled that there simply is no money. Or…The organization’s chair could be revising his plans. Stay tuned.
Ben Bernanke, the 56-year old chairman of the Federal Reserve, has been chosen as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2009. He is credited with saving the economy. The Federal reserve is the central bank of the U.S. It is perhaps the most important and least understood financial force shaping America, and thus, the world economy.
Bernanke isn’t part of the Washington dinner crowd. He prefers to be a homebody, and his wife gets him to help with the dishes.
Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time, had the following to say:
History is composed not only of what happened but of what didn’t happen. The latter, of course, is impossible to really know. We do know what happened to the U.S. and world economies during the past year, and it wasnt pretty. We know the damage caused by the plague of subprime mortgages and the fallout from risky investment vehicles that bankers invented but did not understand, and we know that we ourselves probably borrowed and spent more than we should have. What we don’t know is what the economy and our lives would look like if a few individuals had not acted on our behalf and had simply sat on their hands. We don’t know what didn’t happen, but I’m convinced that the economy would look much, much worse
The following 4 individuals were runners up: General McCrystal, Nancy Pelosi, Usain Bolt, and the Chinese worker.
People have different feelings about Bernanke. What we all have to agree on is we have no clue what would have happened had another financial road been taken.
My apologies. I embedded the wrong video. 12/17/09
Reminder, persons of the year are not always heroes. Quite often, they have been villans. The tradition started in 1927 and has featured people who have influenced the world, not necessarily in a good way. Click to see past selections.
Who is your favorite ‘person of the year?’ Who is your least favorite? Do you have your own story to tell? Who is the only person to be selected 3 times? When did the selection switch from Man of the Year to Person of the Year?
Polar Ice from Satellite view
Time for a fireside chat about heroes in general and America security:
