Christie said, he wouldn't put "my name near something that stupid."

I'm not a huge Cris Christie fan, but his response to an inane bit of proposed legislation makes me laugh. 

New Jersey's cats and dogs won't have to submit to seatbelt-like harnesses when they ride in cars so long as Christopher J. Christie is governor.

Christie said he would not sign a "stupid" proposal pending in the Legislature that would require motorists to secure their animals while in moving vehicles.

Democrats, who control the Senate and General Assembly, are wasting their time with the measure, said the first-term Republican, who is confronting a shortfall in revenue and whose constituents face the highest residential property taxes in the nation and the worst unemployment rate in three decades.
 

Some cat lady Assemblywoman wants to make pets wear seat belts.  Christie says what's on his mind.  What's not to love.

"This will tell you everything you need to know about how New Jersey runs under the Democrats," Christie said Thursday night on his monthly Ask the Governor broadcast on New Jersey 101.5 radio. "They're actually spending their time on this."

"Let's not cut taxes," Christie said. "Let's not plug the holes in the property-tax cap. Let's not get shared services so we can reduce property taxes. Let's not pass ethics reform so these part-time legislators will have to tell you what money they're getting and where they're getting it from."

The Diligent Pay for the Indigent...

Peco Energy Co. electricity customers are about to get a jolt in their bills.

The Philadelphia utility's residential price for electricity is slated to increase 21.5 percent on Monday.

The increase from 8.64 cents per kilowatt hour to 10.5 cents amounts to $13.95 a month for a customer using 750 kilowatt hours (kWh).
 

Wow...21% increase in the cost of electricity in a heartbeat.  That's a tough one to swallow, especially if you are feeling the squeeze of the piss poor economy in any fashion.  I wonder what caused it.

 Peco spokeswoman Cathy Engel Menendez said the increase was mostly caused by the utility's undercollection of revenue in the second quarter of this year. She said the utility already projects that its price will return below 9 cents on Jan. 1.
 

On the surface, it's not as bad as it appeared.  The rates will (likely) drop again after the first of the new year.  The cause of the increase is what annoys me.  "Undercollection of revenue" is another way of saying deadbeats.  It used to be that when someone didn't pay their bill, the electric company (or in this situation, the distributor of power) would just cut off you electricity.

Now, if you don't pay your bill, someone else has to pick up the slack.  Responsible folks, who pay their invoices end up paying more.  It's similar to the housing mortgage issue.  Some folks set up a mortgage they could afford, while making sacrifices to do so.  Others signed onto a contractual agreement that they could not possibly support.   Those making the poor decisions in that regard rarely feel the repercussions of those decisions, because liberal politicians are too willing to bail them out.  Life's lesson is never taught. 

This very issue, and the housing issue are a microcosm of the 47% in this country who don't pay taxes. 

Our Ancestors Ate Dirt

(Another little something I wrote ages ago.)


______________________



Our Ancestors Ate Dirt

I'm on the fence. While I have significant respect for our ancestors, I'm beginning to think they might have been a little touched. Our generation has the distinction of inventions and enhancements related to computers, televisions, sporting equipment and the like. Our ancestors had a much more down to earth search to achieve innovation.

Somewhere along the way, in the very basic sense of the word, our ancestors determined various types of items could be subjected to oral consumption. In other words, they set the trend on what we eat. How they came up with some of this stuff can only suggest that a considerable number of inhabitants of our previous centuries were traipsing around sticking things in their mouths at every opportunity. What’s worse is that most of these culinary treasures first required a prerequisite digging around in the dirt. Perhaps it was instinctual.

If you have a toddler at home, try this little experiment. Place the little dickens in the middle of a freshly prepared garden patch. I’ll wager you have to wait all of two minutes before hand goes to a wad of topsoil, and rebounds right up to the mouth for a little sample. It’s instinctual, and our ancient ancestors were more in touch with those internal impulses. Simply put, the earlier the date, the more likely they were to eat dirt.

Take marshmallows as an example. Someone in ancient Egypt had the revelation to dig up the root of a Marsh Mallow bush. Now, these bushes grew to about six feet tall and could only be located in the salt marshes where salt water and fresh water met.

They weren’t something you’d stumble across while going for a walk. What I’d like to know is who was the first one to stick it in his mouth. If it were up to Freud, he would deduce that a majority of man’s greatest culinary discoveries were motivated by an oral fixation. Then again, Freud probably giggled like a school girl every time he saw a train enter a mountain tunnel.

Don’t misinterpret me here. I think it’s great that Egypt had their dirt eaters. Marsh Mallow root was used in Ancient Greece as a medicine for such things as sore throats, toothaches and more. Apparently, the original medicine was added to a sugar mixture, and the eventual transformation is what want-to-be pyromaniacs stick in campfires present day.

Root Beer is another one of those curious discoveries. Today, the name is so common place that few ponder the fact that genuine root beer, actually, involved a whole mess of stuff that you and I would spend most of our Saturday afternoon raking off our pristine lawns.

Charles Hires’ parents likely had to resort to tying the poor kid’s hands behind his back when he was a scrapper. For in his adulthood he’d stick anything in his mouth. The Hires version of “root beer” evolved from an herbal tea he used to brew in the mid 1800’s. He took his inspiration from “small beers” developed in colonial times. Such things as allspice, birch bark, coriander, juniper, ginger, wintergreen, hops, burdock root, dandelion root, spikenard, pipsissewa, guaiacum chips, sarsaparilla, spicewood, wild cherry bark, yellow dock, prickly ash bark, sassafras root*, vanilla beans, hops, dog grass, molasses and licorice fit the bill. My Border Collie eats grass periodically. I don’t see him getting a patent application anytime soon, however.

There are plenty of interesting examples of our ancestors eating dirt. The origins are steeped in medicinal qualities, spiritual enlightenment, vitality, and just plain curiosity. While a number of these risk takers were pioneers in a multitude of evolved products that we eat today, one has to contemplate the thought of the first person who stuck it in his mouth. There aren’t a lot of noteworthy new culinary delights discovered in present times. You might think that’s because most of the basic finds occurred many years in the past. I tend to think that Mothers are to blame. In fact, there is a simple phrase that has, no doubt, stunted the entire food discovery movement altogether. There’s nothing really documenting the exact date that the phrase was first instituted. However, I’ll go out on a limb and hypothesize that somewhere in the early twentieth century someone’s maternal instincts overcame a child’s internal impulses with the, now, coined phrase….

“Don’t stick that in your mouth…you have no idea where that’s been.”

Now, about that five second rule…

Mitt and Bebe Gonna Do Some Jawing...

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has scheduled a phone call for late morning Friday with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

President Obama refused to meet with Netanyahu on his trip to the United States, and the Israeli government presumably thought a meeting with the opposition candidate in the absence of one with the sitting president would be too provocative. But there was apparently an eagerness on the Israeli prime minister's part to talk with Romney in order to help win as broad American support as possible for the red lines he outlined in his United Nations speech with respect to the Iranian nuclear program.
 

How will the White House handle the telephone call between the leader of Israel and their Republican opposition?  Simple...they will ignore it.  If anyone has the audacity to bring it up to Kid Carney at the White House press briefing, he will shrug and go onto the next question.

The mainstream media will barely mention it.  Because if they do take exception to the Republican candidate talking with a sitting world leader "behind their backs," the press will have to report it.  Then, they will have to actually report that President Obama is the first president in over twenty years not to take any meetings following the United Nations General Assembly, right at the time where the Middle East is coming apart, and the world's economy is in the crapper.

How will the White House handle this call?  They will ignore it, because they have to in order to cover up President Obama's detached incompetence.  Personally, I wish they would meet in person and openly so that the mainstream media would have to report on the absence of Obama.  They would try to savage Mitt for his audacity.   But, I think most Americans would side with him, and have a clearer picture of just what kind of pre-adolescent idiot sits on the throne at present.

Can I Buy You a Drink, or Should I Just Give You the Money?

A 1 percent tax on billionaires around the world. A tax on all currency trading in the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound sterling. Another “tiny” tax on all financial transactions, including stock and bond trading, and trading in financial derivatives. New taxes on carbon emissions and on airline tickets. A royalty on all undersea mineral resources extracted more than 100 miles offshore of any nation’s territory.

The United Nations is at it again: finding new and “innovative” ways to create global taxes that would transfer hundreds of billions, and even trillions, of dollars from the rich nations of the world — especially the U.S. — to poorer ones, in line with U.N.-directed economic, social and environmental development.
 

Show of hands, please...who believes that any such taxes would end up in the hands of poorer countries?    No...they wouldn't end up there.  Considering the fact that the UN refuses to do an all encompassing and legitimate audit of its finances, there is a good chance you would never know where the money would go.  And, that is the goal. 

 

Say Goodnight, Gracie...and Nice Job, Professor

Professor William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection lowers the boom on Senate candidate, Elizabeth Warren.  It's all over but the incessant Democrat lying...

Elizabeth Warren represented Massachusetts client in Massachusetts
 

...WITHOUT A LICENSE.

Double Edged Sword

Citing the high cost of the kidney- and liver-cancer medicine, India's patent authority in March forced Bayer to grant a compulsory license on the Nexavar to Natco Pharma so that a cheaper copy of the potentially lifesaving drug will be accessible to local patients.

Germany-based Bayer in May appealed against the grant of the compulsory license. It had also sought a stay on the sales of generic Nexavar by the Indian company until the appellate body decided on its petition.
 

I'll break that down for you.  Bayer spent billions upon billions on research and development  to create a drug to address kidney and liver cancer.  India thinks it costs too much, so a local company produces a cheaper generic version of the drug.

India's patent court then decided to require Bayer to provide a license to the knock-off pharmacutical company in India.  So, in short, Bayer will never recover the costs to create this drug. 

Now...before you call me a cold-blooded capitalist placing cold hard cash over the sanctity of life, allow me to ask you one question:

Will Bayer be more or less likely to innovatively create similar drugs in the future?

Bastardizing Chivalry

(As they say on Monty Python..."and now for something completely different."  I wrote this a few years ago)

_______________


"Bastardizing Chivalry"
The origins of chivalry, for the most part, can be traced back to the 12th Century. Amusingly, the word, itself, comes from the word ‘cheval.’ That means "horse.” The tin man sitting on the cheval would be the ‘chevalier.’ He became the emissary of ‘chevalerie.’ So, by default, the truly chivalrous one must eat out of a bucket, sleep standing up, and jump the occasional fence.

French Literary figure of the 1800’s , Honore de Balzac tells us “the motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one." That quote finds de Balzac early in this life. Years later he was to provide comment that could, possibly, be considered a recant.

“A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband."

Weighty words from one considered an intellectual. Unfortunately, I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode and immediately regressed into the belief that a blind wife would be an annoyance. Blind wives, as they say, would be a little messier around the house. There’s no way she would get all the crumbs. However, I’d relish the opportunity to let the house go a bit. In addition, you could let yourself go. A blind wife would never know if you are good looking or not. She would never know if you’re good enough for her (shameless rip offs of Seinfeld Episode 114).

Tough call.

Modern day chivalry seems to have a varying mileage. Somehow, the concept has always been considered interaction between those of the opposite of sex. As a result, some arbitrary actions are perceived to be an emphasis on dominance; male over female. Those folks need to lighten up a tad. It’s not like I hold the door for unattractive women.

I’m kidding.

Respected author, Albert Geurard, seems to think less of chivalry. He went so far as to call it “the most delicate form of contempt." Well, that’s just not true. Winona Ryder with pockets is the most delicate form of contempt. What people fail to realize is that there are some droll historical truths attached to our, everyday, acts of chivalry.

For example, we are all familiar with the most recognized progeny of the “Code la Chevalries,” door holding. We do it for those with their hands full. Perhaps we do it for the opposite sex. Most of us do so as a courtesy to all making an entrance without consideration of gender. It’s just a civil gesture. However, back in the 1200’s a knight might hold wide the entry for m’lady simply out of the consideration that an adversary with raised sword or battle axe lay wait out of sight just beyond the frame. Really, it’s true. That is the clear origin of such an act.

(Feel free to insert your own “battle axe” pun here)

There is, also, the act of holding the lady’s coat behind her so that she can gain easier access. A wonderful and thoughtful gesture to be sure. It can, in duplicity, be an act of irritation as well; at least in my family. For as long as I can remember, my father would always hold my mother’s coat for her. Every single time, he would pinch shut one of the sleeves and watch with sophomoric delight as she searched in vain for that elusive opening. I tried that once (ONCE) with my girlfriend. It didn’t go over well, but I’m healing.

There are times when chivalry gets in the way of safety. The act must be fluid, subtle, and in good sense I’m afraid. Fraser Marlton-Thomas knows well that lesson.

Christmas Day 2005, the young man in royal service to the Queen of England noticed her majesty stand up during the dinner at Sandringham. Responding immediately, he pulled the chair back from the table assuming that she was about to visit the buffet. Unfortunately, the Queen had planned on sitting back down straight away. Her Highness ended up on her “hindness.”

We have a multitude of chivalrous, idiosyncratic behaviors that can be deployed in the name of consideration and courtesy. In fact, we have some efforts that are outdated, but we still do them. For instance, it is considered proper for the man to walk closest to the street when escorting a woman down the avenue. This action predates macadam. When you perform this thoughtful gesture, my friend, you are shielding your main squeeze from the perils of fast passing carriages, and rut accumulated mud puddles. If you still employ this ritual of civility I salute you. Mud puddles and carriages have given way to drive by’s and souped-up Toyotas.

Chivalry, evolved from a horse; acheval, really holds no hard and fast rules. Courtesy seems to be the guiding principle. I think there is something to be said for acting in moderation. Take Mark Twain’s advice in that regard. He said, “I can always tell which is the front end of a horse, but beyond that, my art is not above the ordinary.” I would, only, add that ignoring chivalry altogether can hold the same menace attributed to not recognizing the south end of that same horse.

Holding the sleeve shut packs a perfidious kick.

Whoa...Is this Something?

Blazing Cat Fur has a post up suggesting that it's possible that the producer of the "Innocence of Muslims" film that the White House blames for the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa was previously involved in fraud with someone named Eiad Salameh. 

Per Walid Shoebat:

Eiad Salameh Shu’aybat my first cousin (Salameh’s son) is wanted by the United States for major fraud most likely linked to financial terrorism. He was involved in a passport fraud operation (provided to me by Farid my brother), Enfamil milk scam, and holds an illegal Israeli passport that was fraudulently obtained to smuggle himself in and out of Israel proper. His United States citizenship was also obtained by fraudulently by claiming to be a Mexican farm worker. In fact a litany of stories on embezzlement and fraud can be tracked on Eiad. Here is one small example of a scam he did totaling $617,267 :
 

In the court reporter's Proceedings copy, it is suggested that  Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the eventual producer of the film went out of his way to cooperate with authories on the fraud case to the effect that the court recognized same.  Arguably, there appears to be wording in the Proceedings that would suggest that Nakoula would make a ripe Federal source (snitch), which is what the post at The Smoking Gun is implying.

So, think about that.  Eiad Salameh is involved in the fraud, and appears to have a long history of fraud.  Salameh is not a Coptic Christian.  In fact, Walid Shoebat (in the past a radicalized Muslim and former Muslim Brotherhood member, now a converted Christian) indicates a history on Salameh that implies Muslim terrorist ties.   Nakoula, a Coptic Christian who made a film showing Islam in a negative light...and the potential for Nakoula to be a Federal snitch. 

How's your imagination working right now?

Eva the Lunch Lady

Mark Levin nailed this one.  Michelle Obama throws around this self-important nonsense about how school lunches are going to solve the obesity problem.  The very concept is failed from the start.  In short, it's none of the wife of the president's business how other people eat...or look.  That should be the end of the argument.  But, she meddled with the school lunch program.

Under her direction, high school students can't have more than 850 calories per school meal.  Personally, if I was still in high school, I'd be a bit angry...and hungry.  I was a 6'6" jock who was always active.  I had not an ounce of fat on me, and unless I topped out at about 2,600 calories per meal, I'd start losing muscle mass (internal cannibalization).  I think she wants every student to look like the scrawny, choom smoking nit-wit she married.

Healthy men require between 2,200 and 2,800 calories per meal.  Women require between 1,800 and 2,200. 

"But I think Michelle Obama is the new Eva Peron with her lunch standards," Levin said. "Like she knows something about this. She knows as much as I do. Eat carrots and celery. Yum, yum.

"But I'm gonna tell you something. These students - they're showing us the way. Mark, what do you mean? I want you to listen to this.

"Kyle Olsen, Townhall. 'Complaints against Michelle Obama's new lunch menu mount. In Wisconsin, high school athletes are complaining about not getting to eat each day, due to the skimpy new school lunch menu mandated by the US Department of Agriculture and First Lady Michelle Obama.'

Now They Want to Shoot Us

Hey...remember when that big lump Garrison Keillor wrote his little soliloquy right after the Obama election in 2008:

"The world expects us to elect pompous yahoos and instead we have us a 47-year-old prince from the prairie who cheerfully ran the race, and when his opponents threw sand at him, he just smiled back. He’ll be the first president in history to look really good making a jump shot. He loves his classy wife and his sweet little daughters. He looks good in the kitchen. He can cook Indian or Chinese but for his girls he will do mac and cheese. At the same time, he knows pop music, American lit and constitutional law. I just can’t imagine anybody cooler. Look at a photo of the latest pooh-bah conference — the hausfrau Merkel, the big glum Scotsman, that goofball Berlusconi, Putin with his B-movie bad-boy scowl, and Sarkozy, who looks like a district manager for Avis — you put Barack in that bunch and he will shine.

It feels good to be cool and all of us can share in that, even sour old right-wingers and embittered blottoheads. Next time you fly to Heathrow and hand your passport to the man with the badge, he’s going to see “United States of America” and look up and grin. Even if you worship in the church of Fox, everyone you meet overseas is going to ask you about Obama and you may as well say you voted for him because, my friends, he is your line of credit over there. No need anymore to try to look Canadian."
 

Yeah...the gaydar went off, but that's not why I brought it up.  It's worth a re-read just for the guffaws and the snorts at just how absolutely off the rocker wrong he was. 

Monkey Labor

Top Ten reasons not to use monkeys as bartenders.
10. Full body hairnets destroy the relaxed atmosphere.
9. Alcohol and lower primates never ends well.
8. Too much confusion over the whole ‘monkey bars’ thing.
7. Excrement wars.
6. The mystery of the disappearing banana liqueur.
5. PETA protesting for better wages.
4. Too many old guys with accordions hanging around.
3. No more sports on the televisions; all Animal Planet all the time.
2. Work stoppage if someone inadvertently says, “no more monkeybusiness.”
1. And the #1 reason not to use monkeys as bartenders…Planet of the Apes…nuff said.

Oh...It's Just a Small Percentage of Muslims That Cause All the Problems

 

 

Yeah...like the whole country of Saudi Arabia...

Right Back At Ya, Dipshit

 

So the Iranian political machine (think: meat grinder) is waving around their victim flag and threatening to sue the US President for violation of the UN Blasphemy Laws...which aren't really laws, but resolutions. 

Javad Mohammadi, a deputy head of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR)

A senior Iranian official says US President Barack Obama could face legal action in connection with the production of an anti-Islam movie by an American Jew.

“A complaint could be filed with US courts against Obama for his violation of articles 18 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) calling for respect of faiths,” Javad Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR), said on Sunday.

“Article 18 and 27 of the ICCPR, adopted by the United Nation [sic], stipulate that the religion and the rights of the minorities should be respected,” Mohammadi said.
 

Since we're talking about the  respect of religion and minorities, let's take a look at  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments earlier today:

"We don't even count them as any part of any equation for Iran. During a historical phase, they (the Israelis) represent minimal disturbances that come into the picture and are then eliminated," he added.

In 2005, Ahmadinejad called Israel a "tumor" and echoed the words of the former Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, by saying that Israel should be wiped off the map.
 

UN Blasphemy Resolutions are worthless, and truly diametrically opposed to the concept of Free Speech.  But, it is interesting to see the absolute hypocrisy of Ahmadinejad (aka: I'm a nutjob).   For some reason, he always reminds me of some low-level criminal buffoon, bit player in a James Bond flick, or Yakov Smirnoff's younger and less amusing (which is saying something) brother.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure the UN Blasphemy resolutions were meant to step in front of wholesale genocide.

Another Form of Liberal Media Bias

USA Today (Gannet Owned) is the second most circulated daily media newspaper in the country.  They are second only to the Wall Street Journal. 

Today they have a full board of articles dealing with the 2012 Election.  Every single article deals with the presidential election except one.  That one article deals with Todd Aiken's US Senate race.  There are thirty-three (33) US Senate seats up for grabs.  There are four hundred-thirty-five (435) up for grabs in the US House.

The only article in US politics highlighted in the USA Today election coverage other than the presidential race plays close attention to the embarrassment of the Republican Party.  There were 468 other choices to focus on specifically, but they chose to do an article on the individual Republican who casts the worst shadow on the party.

That is media bias as well.

Gotta Ruv the ILONY

Tim Blair notes that China is hosting a conference on Intellectual Property rights.  The irony is astounding, and Blair provides a wonderful link to all the automobile knock-offs China offers.  But, let's not stop there. 

Check some of these actual products on the Chinese market:

THE WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY IS A PATENTLY OBVIOUS AND PURPOSEFUL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY VIOLATION.  That's what happens when you live under a government directive that specifically discourages innovation.  THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS COMMUNISM.

 

Elizabeth Warren Really Dislikes Microscopes

I've come to the conclusion that you just don't want to get William  Jacobson looking in your direction if you have anything to hide.  Today, he posts rather convincing evidence that Elizabeth Warren (Democrat candidate for Mass. Senate) was practicing law in Massachusetts without a license. 

If you're not familiar with Ms. Warren, just think fake Indian, and it'll come to you:

Warren represented not just Travelers, but numerous other companies starting in the late 1990s working out of and using her Harvard Law School office in Cambridge, which she listed as her office of record on briefs filed with various courts. Warren, however, never has been licensed to practice law in Massachusetts.

We Don't Trust You....Get it?

Breitbart's Big Journalism highlights the Khalidi Video that the LA Times refuses to release in any form.  The partial basis for their refusal is below, and described more thoroughly at BBJ.

In the case of the Khalidi video, the unnamed source agreed to share the illuminating bit of video evidence with Wallsten, but only with the understanding that the reporter could not reproduce or rebroadcast the images. The journalist had to make a decision: Do I agree to that condition and get to see evidence that no other reporter has seen of Obama meeting with Palestinian Americans? Or do I insist on a full public release of the video, with the likely outcome that the source would share nothing?

Wallsten pushed for the release of the video but when the source would not agree, Wallsten agreed to accept more limited access to the recording. He agreed not to reveal his source nor share the video with anyone else.

The net result: The world got a story that showed Obama the political operator, sliding between two opposite and highly contentious worlds. The audience did not get to view the video, but it got far more than it had without The Times’ reporting. That's the nature of some journalistic negotiations; giving up the perfect to obtain the very good.
 

The big problem with such a position by the LA Times is that they can't take such a posture unless they are beyond reproach.  They are not.  We are left to trust the journalist to have presented a story that stuck to the facts and forms valid opinion, and that he would not have glossed over facts that would reflect badly on the President.  Unfortunately, the media in general, and the LA Times in particular have compromised their credibility, and lost the trust of a majority of free thinking Americans.  It is reflected in the polls (reflecting trust in today's media), and more importantly in their flailing circulation.

In short...we don't trust the LA Times to act fairly and appropriately.   Therefore, the excuses above fall on deaf ears.  RELEASE THE DAMN TAPE!!!!

Ignorance and Pakistan are Synonymous

WASHINGTON - In the wake of anti-America protests in many parts of the world over an anti-Islam film, the US needs to rethink about its concept of free speech, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said.

“It is not good enough to say it’s free speech, it should be allowed. I think if this does provoke action against American citizens or Americans anywhere else in the world, then maybe we do need to rethink how much freedom is OK,” Hina told CNN in an interview.
 

Some think that the only reason Hina Rabbani Khar was appointed to her initial position in the Finance Ministry was because Prime minister Shaukat Aziz  was giving her the high hard one at the time.  Even if that isn't true, there is no way in hell that she would be holding as high a position as she is if there hadn't been significant influence from the "west" to allow women to hold prominent positions in society.

In reference to her comments relative to the primary cause of the unrest in her country being attributed to the 1st Amendment rights in the United States?   Well, allow me to demonstrate how that works:

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Kahr is an ignorant, deluded jackass.  The real problem is not free speech in America.  It is the infantile, irrational and violent over-reactions of her own subjects as they kill, damage and burn in their Thank Muhammed It's Friday (TMIF) demonstrations.

Going Postal

Cutting costs only goes so far in easing serious budget deficits, so the USPS is looking to junk mail as a rescue remedy to add more revenues.
 

Wonderful.  Now, how about a dose of truth serum.

Where I reside (somewhere on the east coast) there are eight (8) full service postal service offices within less than 10 miles.  Of those eight (8) locations, only one has more than 10,000 residents.  It is, also, a college town.

Most of the others have less than 500 residents in total.

"Cutting costs only goes so far" because the USPS is unwilling to make those hard cuts.   It's as simple as that.

Obama's Foreign Policy Excuses

President Obama (and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) spent an inordinate amount of time and resources trying to rationalize the behavior of irrational Muslims rioting across the Middle East.  The White House went out of their way to insist (yes...insist) that a hack film that no one saw, or cared about (until put in the limelight by the current administration) was seen as the cause of the murder, property damage and arson.

The only reason for this focus by the White House, was to provide the American main stream media an opportunity to blame some other reason than the President's horrendous foreign policy initiatives or lack thereof.

So the press pumped up the coptic Christian youtube video as the cause of the Muslim riots across the globe.

Anyone with half a brain could see where this would lead (even ignoring the disregard for the 1st Amendment Rights we are supposed to enjoy in this country).  Where it would lead is to allow the violent, murderous, and irrational Muslims an excuse to continue in their stupidity.  Where it would lead is to giving the impression, not only of weakness and appeasement, but to the Jihadists around the globe thinking that there actions are acceptable. 

For example:

ISMAILIA, Egypt: An Islamist militant group based in Egypt’s Sinai has claimed responsibility for a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli soldier in the restive peninsula where jihadi groups have gained a foothold.

Three gunmen were also killed in Friday’s attack, which the group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdes said was in response to an anti-Islam film that has sparked worldwide protests and violence. A second Israeli soldier was wounded in the attack.
 

... In a statement on an Internet site often used by jihadi groups, Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdes said it had named the operation as an “attack to discipline those insulting the beloved Prophet,” a reference to the film that mocked Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The group accused Jews of involvement in the film, but did not explain how.
 

This is what the self-preserving, self-important jackasses in the White House and the State Department wrought.  This is what the American media allowed them to do.  People are still dying because they allowed this "excuse" to prevail in the minds of irrational violent Muslims to protect their own posteriors from the blowback of horrible foreign policy stances and absences.