SOMETHING IN THE AIR

Speaking at a tea party? You're fired!
'I shouldn't have to trade my constitutional rights for a paycheck'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: June 03, 2010
5:01 pm Eastern


By Chelsea Schilling
© 2010 WorldNetDaily


When an assistant state attorney in Florida spoke at several tea-party rallies about her beliefs and the Constitution, her boss, a prominent Democrat, fired her – but now protesters are taking to the streets to get her job back.

Former Live Oak prosecutor KrisAnne Hall, was ousted May 24 by Democrat Robert "Skip" Jarvis, state attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit of Florida, after he said she refused to stop speaking at tea-party rallies, on the radio and to the Suwannee County Republican Executive Committee.

Hall, a 40-year-old mother and U.S. Army veteran who describes herself as a "constitutional originalist" and "fan of American Revolutionary history," sought an injunction in federal court to allow her to continue speaking. Three days later, Jarvis received the motion and fired her. Now Hall is suing, claiming her First Amendment rights have been violated.

"I shouldn't have to trade my constitutional rights for a paycheck," she told Florida's Fox 30 News. "If we don't learn why we have the Constitution that we have, we are doomed to repeat the history that brought it to us."


Tea partiers rally for fired prosecutor

The North Central Florida 9/12 Project called an 11 a.m. "free speech" rally outside Jarvis' office in Live Oak, telling tea-party protesters to "bring your signs and let people know that you are standing up for our constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of speech."

Hall spoke to WND while the rally was taking place.

"There are about 100 people," she said. "I'm really impressed because that's good for our little town. They've come from as far as Tallahassee."

According to her request for an injunction, Hall had made an appearance on a local radio program and "addressed a variety of issues of public concern, including constitutional originalism, the legal dispute between the State of Florida and the federal government over the recent national health care bill and the threat posed by large federal budget deficits."

The Gainesville Tea Party released a copy of Hall's April speech to its group, noting that she spoke about the Constitution, the Founding Fathers and the importance of informing and educating oneself.

Hall claims she didn't discuss cases handled by the state's attorney's office during her speaking engagements, and she was introduced only as an attorney with expertise in constitutional matters. Hall also explained that she spoke at the events on her own time as a private citizen – not an employee of the state's attorney's office.

"I never said anything bad about my office," she told WND. "I never said anything bad about my boss. I never talked about my cases."

She added, "When I stand up to speak, I don't consider myself a motivational speaker. I consider myself a teacher. That's why I was asked to come and speak on the Constitution, based on the perspective of our Founding Fathers and blend it with current events. I think that's what my speeches did."

Jarvis, who claims Florida law allows him to appoint and fire his assistants without cause, wrote a series of e-mails on April 22 and 23, according to the complaint. He told her to stop speaking before a "fringe right-wing group" and ordered her to "disassociate yourself from these folks."

"He wrote a letter to my attorney telling him that he could hire and fire me at will and I had a choice to make: I could speak or I could work for him," Hall said. "He was clearly throwing down the gauntlet, saying you can keep your First Amendment rights or you can work for me."

However, as the chairman of the Suwannee County Democratic Executive Party, Jarvis himself was involved in politics and spoke at political events while he was the assistant state attorney.

"I spoke to Democrats, Republicans, independents, everybody in that room," he told Florida's CBS 47 Action News. "It was on unity because I started out, 'Look to you left. Look to your right. Everybody in this room is an American.'"

Hall said, "He was the Suwannee county chairman for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate – all while he was an assistant state attorney under our previous boss, Jerry Blair."


Hall 'spoke against the government'

However, he claims Hall went too far because she spoke out against the government.

"The position I've seen her advocate in some of her speeches is that 'We the people think differently, and only we the people think like me.' That is very divisive," Jarvis said.

But Hall told the station she's not against the government and she's only attempting to convey the importance of the Constitution.

More on this Story

Town Bans Bottled Water Sales
Supporters Cite Oil Used To Make Bottles

POSTED: 1:31 pm EDT April 30, 2010
UPDATED: 7:37 am EDT May 1, 2010


CONCORD, Mass. -- The town of Concord has banned the sale of bottled drinking water in town beginning in 2011.

"We only have one planet and I just don't want to see it spoiled," said Jean Hill, who introduced the measure at Concord's Town Meeting.

Hill said that New York, Illinois and Virginia, as well as more than 100 cities, have taken action to cut spending on bottled water.

The measured passed by Concord would allow the sale of refillable containers of water, which could still be sold and delivered in town. Only plastic bottles that companies cannot reuse would be banned.

More on this Story

Stupidity reigns with this idiocity, they ban a most healthful drink, but not ban the sugary pop drinks, no they just tax the heck out of those, cant tax the water like they can the addictive sugary pop drinks.

How on earth can one expect the 'government' to act in favor of anyone's health when they do stupid things like this?

The Lame-O excuse given doesnt hold against all the other plastic bottled stuff they still allow to be sold in stores.

Black Hopefuls Pick This Year in G.O.P. Races
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: May 4, 2010


Among the many reverberations of President Obama’s election, here is one he probably never anticipated: at least 32 African-Americans are running for Congress this year as Republicans, the biggest surge since Reconstruction, according to party officials.

The House has not had a black Republican since 2003, when J. C. Watts of Oklahoma left after eight years.

But now black Republicans are running across the country — from a largely white swath of beach communities in Florida to the suburbs of Phoenix, where an African-American candidate has raised more money than all but two of his nine (white) Republican competitors in the primary.

Party officials and the candidates themselves acknowledge that they still have uphill fights in both the primaries and the general elections, but they say that black Republicans are running with a confidence they have never had before. They credit the marriage of two factors: dissatisfaction with the Obama administration, and the proof, as provided by Mr. Obama, that blacks can get elected.

“I ran in 2008 and raised half a million dollars, and the state party didn’t support me and the national party didn’t support me,” said Allen West, who is running for Congress in Florida and is one of roughly five black candidates the party believes could win. “But we came back and we’re running and things are looking great.”

But interviews with many of the candidates suggest that they felt empowered by Mr. Obama’s election, that it made them realize that what had once seemed impossible — for a black candidate to win election with substantial white support — was not.

“There is no denying that one of the things that came out of the election of Obama was that you have a lot of African-Americans running in both parties now,” said Vernon Parker, who is running for an open seat in Arizona’s Third District. His competition in the Aug. 24 primary includes the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, Ben Quayle.

Princella Smith, who is running for an open seat in Arkansas, said she viewed the president’s victory through both the lens of history and partisan politics. “Aside from the fact that I disagree fundamentally with all his views, I am proud of my nation for proving that we have the ability to do something like that,” Ms. Smith said.

State and national party officials say that this year’s cast of black Republicans is far more experienced than the more fringy players of yore, and include elected officials, former military personnel and candidates who have run before.

Mr. Parker is the mayor of Paradise Valley, Ariz. Ryan Frazier is a councilman in Aurora, Colo., one of four at-large members who represent the whole city. And Tim Scott is the only black Republican elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives since Reconstruction.

“These are not just people pulled out of the hole,” said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a black conservative group. That is “the nice thing about being on this side of history,” he said.

More on this Story

New recycling bins with tracking chips coming to Alexandria
By: Markham Heid
Examiner Staff Writer
May 6, 2010


Alexandria residents soon will have to pay for larger home recycling bins featuring built-in monitoring devices.

The City Council added a mandatory $9 charge to its residents' annual waste collection fee.

That cash -- roughly $180,000 collected from 19,000 residents-- will pay for new larger recycling carts equipped with computer microchips, which will allow the city to keep tabs on its bins and track resident participation in the city's recycling program.

"If you know who's participating in the programs, you can focus your education and outreach to those who are not participating," said Stacy Herring, Alexandria's recycling coordinator.

Rich Baier, Alexandria's environmental services program director, said the city will use direct mailing campaigns and public presentations to target neighborhoods -- not individuals -- that lag when it comes to recycling.

"We're just trying to get the biggest bang where we need it for the buck," Baier said. "We don't want to get into exactly what people are recycling."

The new carts will come in sizes ranging form 25 to 65 gallons, and will sport wheels and lids. While the $9 charge is mandatory, residents may keep their old 18-gallon bins if they so choose.

Councilman Frank Fannon, the lone City Council member to oppose the new recycling bins, said he was against increased government spending, not recycling.

"I thought this was just another fee that we didn't have to pass on to the residents," he said.

More on this Story

07 May 2010 05:45:26 AM

Mickey Rourke - Mickey Rourke's Actor Dislike

Mickey Rourke has little time for other actors and says many of them ''suck'' at their jobs.


Mickey Rourke doesn't respect many other actors.

The 57-year-old star - who received critical acclaim for his role as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson' in 'The Wrestler' - believes few people in Hollywood are as professional as they let on and claims many of them "suck".

He said: "You can be less than mediocre and be a f*****g movie star. I have respect for very few actors and actresses. Some of them get a lot of acclaim but just because their movie made $200 million at the box office; they still suck. I got no respect for them and I used to let them know it."

However, the leading man now prefers to keep out of arguments with other actors, and maintains dignity when he doesn't like a co-star.

More on this Story

HOMELAND INSECURITY

Scathing report: Tea partiers just like Timothy McVeigh
Claims they believe government has secret plans for martial law

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: March 02, 2010
9:23 pm Eastern


By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily


A new attack by the Southern Poverty Law Center charges the tea-party movement is "shot through" with radical ideas and tied with "hate groups," "furious anti-immigrant vigilante groups" and "so-called 'Patriot' groups."

The SPLC report, "Rage on the Right, The Year in Hate and Extremism," assails Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., for "plugging" anti-government ideas and Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt for daring to promote Second Amendment gun rights.

The SPLC's Mark Potok warns "so-called 'Patriot' groups – militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose 'one-world government' on liberty-loving Americans – came roaring back after years out of the limelight."

The report echoes themes in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report last year that characterized "right-wing extremists" as opponents of abortion and illegal immigration and supporters of gun rights and third-party political candidates.

The SPLC said the "radical right" "caught fire last year."

"The 'tea parties' and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups," Potok wrote, "but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism."

The report cited an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll that affirmed only one-quarter of the nation thinks government can be trusted and the "anti-tax tea party movement is viewed in much more positive terms than either the Democratic or Republican parties."

"The signs of growing radicalization are everywhere. Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs suggesting that the 'tree of liberty' needs to be 'watered' with 'the blood of tyrants,'" the SPLC report said.

The quote, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants," is from Thomas Jefferson.

The report noted the Conservative Political Action Conference last month was co-sponsored by groups such as the John Birch Society, "which believes President Eisenhower was a Communist agent," and Oath Keepers, "a Patriot outfit formed last year that suggests, in thinly veiled language, that the government has secret plans to declare martial law and intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps."

Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, told WND such accusers try to link activists with terrorists such as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, because their arguments have no substance.

The SPLC did just that, stating in its report that there are "an astonishing 363 new Patriot groups" that appeared last year.

"That is cause for grave concern. Individuals associated with the Patriot movement during its 1990s heyday produced an enormous amount of violence, most dramatically the Oklahoma City bombing that left 168 people dead," the report said.

Oath Keepers, Rhodes said, "has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorists like Timothy McVeigh."

He said his group doesn't advocate the overthrow of the government, "whether local, state or national."

"We want our government to return to the constitutional republic which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution defined and instituted," he said.

Oath Keepers are members of law enforcement or the military who have sworn – again – to uphold the U.S. Constitution against any illegal orders that might be given.

"We hope for a return to a constitutional republic free from fear and hatred. We hate only tyranny. We are Oath Sworn Americans who want the Constitution returned to its legal and rightful place, intact, as the ultimate Law of the Land," his website said.

Rhodes said officers naturally presume orders to be lawful and follow them, but they also must be aware that there have been instances of unlawful orders.

More on this Story

Pa. school official defended in webcam spy case


Feb 20, 3:54 PM (ET)

By RON TODT


PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A suburban Philadelphia school district accused of secretly switching on laptop computer webcams inside students' homes says it never used webcam images to monitor or discipline students and believes one of its administrators has been "unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked."

The Lower Merion School District, in response to a suit filed by a student, has acknowledged that webcams were remotely activated 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing, lost or stolen laptops - which the district noted would include "a loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus."

"Despite some reports to the contrary, be assured that the security-tracking software has been completely disabled," Superintendent Christopher W. McGinley said in a statement on the district's Web site late Friday. Officials vowed a comprehensive review that McGinley said should result in stronger privacy policies.

Harriton High School student Blake Robbins and his parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the district, its board of directors and McGinley. They accused the school of turning on the webcam in his computer while it was inside their Penn Valley home, which they allege violated wiretap laws and his right to privacy.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, alleges that Harriton vice principal Lindy Matsko on Nov. 11 cited a laptop photo in telling Blake that the school thought he was engaging in improper behavior. He and his family have told reporters that an official mistook a piece of candy for a pill and thought he was selling drugs.

Neither the family nor their attorney, Mark Haltzman, returned calls this week seeking comment. A listed number for Matsko could not be found.

"We believe that the administrator at Harriton has been unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked in connection with her attempts to be supportive of a student and his family," the statement on the Lower Merion School District site said. "The district never did and never would use such tactics as a basis for disciplinary action."

A district spokesman declined further comment on the statement Saturday.

More on this Story

'Dead' woman alive and well in Sanford and fighting Social Security

By WFTV
WFTV Staff Writer

Posted: 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010


SEMINOLE COUNTY — A Seminole County woman called WFTV for help after she couldn't open a bank account or even upgrade her cell phone, because the Social Security Administration had declared her dead.

The mix-up started when her husband died. Karen Paladino lives in Sanford with her two dogs, but according to the Social Security Administration, she is dead.

"I have been deceased since October 2008 and I was verified by a family member supposedly according to this paper," Paladino said.

Paladino discovered the mistake when she went to the Social Security office in Sanford to apply for disability benefits.

"They said I was deceased I said, 'No I am not, I am right here," she explained.

Paladino's spent the last year submitting paper work, her birth certificate and marriage license to try to get the government to bring her back to life.

"Pronouncing me dead has spread like a disease over my whole life. It's making me crazy," she said.

She can't open a bank account, can't buy a new car or upgrade her cellphone because when the businesses enter her Social Security number into their system, she's listed as dead.

More on this Story

Human error blamed for mud volcano

February 12, 2010 - 11:59AM
AFP

Scientists have unveiled fresh evidence that gas drillers were to blame for unleashing a mud volcano in Indonesia's East Java that claimed 14 lives and displaced tens of thousands of people.

In a paper published by the journal Marine and Petroleum Geology on Friday, a group led by experts from Britain's Durham University said the new clues bolstered suspicions the catastrophe was caused by human error.

The company being fingered for the disaster, drilling firm Lapindo Brantas, replied in the same journal that the "Lusi" mud volcano was unleashed by an earthquake at Yogyakarta, 280 kilometres away.

Lusi's mud has been devouring land and homes in Sidoarjo district since May 2006, imperilling as many as 100,000 people through subsidence and inflicting damage at $US4.9 billion ($A5.5 billion), according to an estimate by an Australian expert.

Durham professor Richard Davies said drillers, looking for gas nearby, had made a series of mistakes.

They had overestimated the pressure the well could tolerate, and had not placed protective casing around a section of open well.

Then, after failing to find any gas, they hauled the drill out while the hole was extremely unstable. By withdrawing the drill, they exposed the well hole to a "kick" from pressurised water and gas from surrounding rock formations.

The result was a volcano-like inflow that the drillers tried in vain to stop, he said.

More on this Story

Hello Everybody.
I want to say that Don't buy cheap medicine because it has many side effects.Please do this when you buy medicine.
1. Ask your doctor about side effects when he/she prescribes the medicine. Your doctor should have the latest information regarding the medication you are being prescribed.
2. Discuss side effects with your pharmacist. Your local pharmacist can tell you the side effects on any medication that your receive.
3. Read the information that comes with your medication. Often times, medicine will be accompanied by a pamphlet that lists known side effects.

Thanks.