Monday, January 31, 2011

Where Art Thou Now????

In light of our nation's current divisions, and in honor of Thomas Paine's birthday on Jan. 29, let us revisit the great man's extraordinary rhetoric. "These are the times that try men's souls," Paine famously wrote. "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."


Those words are from the first of more than a dozen articles in Paine's "Crisis" series, published between 1776 and 1783, each addressing the American Revolution's changing tide.

When that first one was published in December 1776, America was at war, its existence was on the line, and yet the vision of a united republic was beginning to fade.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Heh...Heh...Heh....

In Russia...



The would-be suicide bomber was planning to detonate a suicide belt bomb near Red Square, a plan that was foiled when her wireless carrier sent her an SMS while she was still at a safe house, setting off the bomb and killing her. The message reportedly wished her a Happy New Years,...


Oops is right.

Sunday, January 09, 2011

From our FRIENDS in the California 4th Court of Appeals...

We granted review in this case to decide whether the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution permits law enforcement officers, approximately 90 minutes after lawfully arresting a suspect and transporting him to a detention facility, to conduct a warrantless search of the text message folder of a cell phone they take from his person after the arrest.

We hold that, under the United States Supreme Court's binding precedent, such a search is valid as being incident to a lawful custodial arrest.

We affirm the Court of Appeal's judgment.

Deeper and deeper in to the quagmire we fall.....

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Sacrifice?????

Seems we're all giving up a piece of our pie (remember this quote?) so that Michelle Obama can say, "Let them eat cake" while she and her husband dine on, well...things like this while on vacation in Hawaii:


* A trio of appetizers: Wong's seafood cake, a tomato with li hing mui dressing and Wong's famous "soup and sandwich," a two-color Big Island tomato soup and foie gras grilled cheese sandwich.


* Lobster lasagna


* Ginger-crusted onaga


* The President's favorite entree, soy-braised shortribs.


* And his favorite dessert, "The Coconut," coconut ice cream covered with dark chocolate, in a shape that looks exactly like half a coconut, served with a colorful array of tropical fruits.