Watch Gibbs Squirm:

SLAMDUNK!  Fox New's Gretchen Carlson absolutely has White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for lunch this morning.  Gibbs refused (5 times) to answer a simple question - that being whether President Obama will give credit to George W. Bush for the success of the Surge in Iraq for enabling troops to be withdrawn.  And remember, it was President Bush who signed the SOFA agreement in 2008 mandating for the withdrawal of US Troops by 2011.

FLASHBACK 2007: Senator Obama:  "The Surge Will Fail"

THE INTERNET RADIO NETWORK:

Many of our COMMON CENTS readers may be unaware but we have had a sister site for some time now:  The Internet Radio Network. At the IRN you can listen to over 80 of your favorite Radio Shows via Free Streaming Audio. The shows include Politics (Rush, Sean, Levin,, Glenn Beck), Religious Programing, Investing, Sports and much, much more!

Studies show that the Talk Radio Audience has successful upscale demographics and usually:

• have an income over $75,000 (vs. median US income of $48,200)
• have graduated college
• own their residence
• are likely to use the Internet
• are 25-65 years old (with the numbers of women listeners steadily increasing)

Listen to The Internet Radio Network here.

Glenn Beck reflects on the 8-28 Rally the day after

On his first radio show after the huge Restoring Honor Rally at the Lincoln Memorial radio talk show host Glenn Beck reflects on the huge crown and the media reaction to it.

Hurricane Earl:

Hurricane Earl is out there and may be threatening the East Coast of the United States later in this week.  Earl is forecast to grow into a major hurricane.  Check back with Common Cents for updates on Hurricane Earl.

Weather.com Hurricane Central


NOAA Public Advisory


National Weather Service - Hurricane Central

The best editorial page you will find...

is Investor's Business Daily.  IBD published outstanding, easy-to-read editorials that extol the virtues of free markets and capitalism.  Please go here daily...


Junk Science:   Deere & Co., a major player in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, drops out, saying the group's legislative strategy is no longer a foundation for moving forward. Is cap-and-trade dead?

Health Insurance:  Forty percent of all individual policyholders in California will soon be stuck with higher premiums. They could shop around for a better deal, but government has severely limited their options. 

How brilliant can President Obama be?  Every person, newscaster and commentator always prefaces any, even the mildest criticism, of President Obama's policies with some statement about how dazzlingly brilliant the man is. Liberals, conservatives, independents — it never changes. Why is this? And most important of all, is it true?

Politics:  If there's one agency that's been made useless by its leaders, it's Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If, under a new policy, being here illegally is no longer reason enough for deportation, why does it still exist?  

Finance:  Warnings about America's impending financial car wreck are being sounded, loud and clear. The only question is whether those driving the car will slam on the brakes before it's too late.

Regulation:  The U.S. Supreme Court says Americans have an individual right to keep and bear arms. The EPA says the bullets for those guns may be banned as an environmental hazard.

Glenn Beck's 8-28 Rally "Restoring Honor"

Several hundred thousand people (possibly up to a million) were on the National Mall Saturday today to hear Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin , Michelle Bachman and more speak at the 8-28 Restoring Honor Rally:

Hat Tip to Watch Glenn Beck.com

Sarah Palin's speech at Glenn Beck's 9-28 Restoring Honor Rally

Albert Pujols accepts his Hope Award from Tony LaRussa.

And of course be sure to visit the official site Restoring Honor 8.28.10

Election Results:

Today is election day in Louisiana and West Virginia.  We bring you the results here:

• Louisiana Secretary of State Election Results:

• KTBS Election Results
•  
• West Virginia Secretary of State Election Results 

Friday Night Videos:

Victory is the only option



Steve Forbes:  "“He feels that, in terms of what he’s done, long-term it will make him a great President – put him on Mount Rushmore:


Ronald Reagan "Those voices don't speak for us"


Glenn Beck:  Restoring Honor to our Nation


Fox News: The Green Swindle - How concern about the environment turned into global warming hysteria

Video: Trapped Chilean miners make a video for their families

By now we all know about the collapse of the mine in Chili that trapped over 33 Chillean miners.  These miners have made a video for their families and the world through a video camera that was lowered into the mine via an air tunnel.

Toyota Quality Updates:

Common Cents proudly brings you today's "Toyota Quality Updates". As always be sure to check back to get the latest breaking Toyota Quality Updates:

Toyota voluntarily recalled more than 1.1 million 2005 through 2008 model Corolla sedans and Matrix hatchbacks on Thursday over faulty engine-control computers that could cause the vehicles to stall in traffic. The huge recall — Toyota's 15th in 2010 — came just two days after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it was ratcheting up its investigation of the stalling problem. NHTSA said it has received 163 complaints.  Toyota blamed the faulty computer — called an electronic control module, or ECM — for the stalling and said it will replace them in the recalled vehicles. The company said it has three unconfirmed reports of crashes, including one involving an injury.  Owners will be informed of the recall by mail in September, then will get a second letter when dealers have the parts for the repair.  Toyota spokesman John Hanson said he couldn't estimate the cost of the recall.  Of all of the 5.8 million cars that Toyota has recalled since Jan. 1, this is the first that involves a problem with the engine computer. Toyota continues to defend the ECM against allegations that it might be at fault in some sudden-acceleration incidents, which have already prompted two huge Toyota recalls for mats that can jam the gas pedal and pedals that can stick open.  Some auto-safety advocates say it raises new doubts about the ECMs.  "If you can get it wrong on stalling, you can get it wrong on unintended acceleration," says Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C.  And Sean Kane of Safety Research & Strategies said the stalling problem is similar to runaway car problems in that the computers don't always create diagnostic trouble codes that let mechanics or investigators figure out what went wrong. "The heart of the problem is really their inability to detect the problem."  But Toyota's Hanson said the stalling issues are not at all linked to unintended acceleration. And he says "in no case" have electronics failures been connected to an instance of unintended acceleration.  Toyota has known about the stalling problem for years.

Read the rest of the story here.

  Previous Toyota Recall Updates

• Toyota finishes in 21st place in latest JD Powers survey
• Toyota STOPS sales of Camrys and 7 other recalled models
• Corolla - Steering Problems affect 2009 and 2010 models 
• Updated Lexus recall list
• PRIUS:   Brake problems with Toyota's hybrid
• Toyota recalls 3.8 million cars on floor mat issue  
• Tragedy Aug. 28 was at least the fifth fatal crash in the U.S. over the last two year
• So far 102 reports, 13 crashes, 5 deaths and 17 injuries...  
• NY Times: President of Toyota apologizes 
• Toyota Recalls 97,500 Corollas and Scions for brake malfunction 
• Toyota Recalls 688,314 Sedans over defective parts   
• Toyota Recalls 259,119 Camrys in China
• Toyota Recalls 2006 - 2007 Yaris Models  
• Toyota to Recall more than 1.35 million cars worldwide
• Toyota Recalls 214,500 Lexus vehicles in USA 
• Toyota Recalls 58,000 cars in Canada
• Toyota Recalls 533,000 Pickup Trucks and SUVs due to 11 accidents and 6 injuries 
• Toyota California Plant that manufactures Corolla and Tacoma to close in March
• Millions of Toyota &and Lexus vehicles w/ throttle control problems
• Feds launch probe on 2000 - 2001 Toyota Tundras
• Toyota Sales:  DOWN 16.1% in September
• Lexus GX-460 wins Consumer Reports "DON'T BUY" award

GLOBAL WARMING ALERT:

COMMON CENTS proudly brings you today's Global Warming alert.  Ever since Al Gore has released his movie "An Inconvenient Truth" the Earth's temperatures have continued to cool.  In fact, since the release of his movie the average temperature on Earth has cooled 0.74 degrees F (0.39 C). 

The latest global averaged satellite temperature data for June 2009 reveals yet another drop in the Earth's temperature. This latest drop in global temperatures means despite his dire warnings, the Earth has cooled .74°F since former Vice President Al Gore released "An Inconvenient Truth" in 2006.  According to the latest global satellite data courtesy of the University of Alabama in Huntsville and made into an easy to read graph by algorelied.com: "For the record, this month's Al Gore / 'An Inconvenient Truth' Index indicates that global temperatures have plunged approximately .74°F (.39°C) since Gore's film was released," noted algorelied.com. (See satellite temperature chart here with key dates noted, courtesy of www.Algorelied.com - Also see: 8 Year Downtrend Continues in Global Temps)  Gore -- who is fond of saying the Earth has a "fever" -- has not yet addressed the simple fact that global temperatures have dropped since the release of his global warming film. (Gore has also not addressed this: Another Moonwalker Defies Gore: NASA Astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin rejects global warming fears: 'Climate has been changing for billions of years' - Moonwalkers Defy Gore's Claim That Climate Skeptics Are Akin To Those Who Believe Moon Landing was 'Staged')  A record cool summer has descended upon many parts of the U.S. after predictions of the "year without a summer." There has been no significant global warming since 1995, no warming since 1998 and global cooling for the past few years. (Also see: Scientists Write Open Letter to Congress: 'Earth has been cooling for ten years' - 'Present cooling was NOT predicted by the alarmists' computer models, and has come as an embarrassment to them' - July 1, 2009)  In addition, New peer-reviewed scientific studies now predict a continued lack of global warming for up to three decades as natural climate factors dominate. (See: Climate Fears RIP...for 30 years!? - Global Warming could stop 'for up to 30 years! Warming 'On Hold?...'Could go into hiding for decades' study finds – Discovery.com – March 2, 2009 )

10 Minute Ticker:

Tropical Storm Earl:

Tracking Cone for Tropical Storm Earl

Hurricane Danielle:

5 Day Tracking Cone

VP Joe Biden:
We are moving in the right direction

Gateway Pundit:
Vandal who firebombed Democrat Office was a Dem Operative

Google Voice:
Make phone calls via Gmail

Michelle Malkin:
Obama's Beltway Chainsaw Massacre

Seeking Alpha:
7 companies likely to RAISE their dividends in September

Battle for the House:

GOP poised to take control of chamber in November!

Primary Night Victory Speeches:

Marco Rubio's Victory Speech

John McCain's Victory Speech

Rick Scott won the GOP nomination for Florida Governor

Hat Tip The Shark Tank

Election Results: Arizona, Alaska, Florida and Vermont (and Oklahoma runoffs)

Today is Primary Day in the great states of Alaska, Vermont, Florida and Arizona.  These states are conducting primaries in a myriad of races.  In addition, Oklahoma has a number of runoff elections tonight.  Common Cents brings you the results here:

Florida Election Results:

• Florida Secretary of State Election Results

• Miami Herald election day coverage

Arizona Election Results:

• Arizona Secretary of State Election Results

• Arizona Republic coverage of Election Day 

Alaska Election Results:

• Alaska Secretary of State Election Results

• Anchorage Daily News coverage of Election Day 

Vermont Election Results:

• Vermont Secretary of State Election Results

Oklahoma Election Results (runoffs):

•   Oklahoma Secretary of State Election Results

Superlative! Judge William Young lays down the law on Terrorist Richard Reid

Remember the Shoe Bomber Richard Reid? On a December 22, 2001 flight from Paris to Miami, British citizen Richard Reid attempted light a fuse connected to plastic explosives in his shoe. He was subdued and restrained by passengers on that flight and taken into custody.Faced with eight charges, Reid surprised federal prosecutors by pleading guilty to all charges. During his sentencing hearing on January 30, 2003, Reid claimed to be a member of the al-Qaida terrorist network, admitted allegiance to Osama Bin Laden, Islam and Allah, and declared himself an enemy of the United States. In response to Reid's inflammatory remarks, Judge William Young had a similarly scathing speech prepared. any e-mail versions, not surprisingly, have changed from the original - some subtly and others more radically. Forwarders' comments often blend with Moore's original text.Here is a partial transcript of the sentencing hearing, as posted on CNN.com:

JUDGE YOUNG: Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.  On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutive one with the other. That's 80 years.
On Count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you on each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of $2 million.
The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.
The Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment.
The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need not go any further.
This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and a just sentence. It is a righteous sentence. Let me explain this to you.
We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is all too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost respect.
Here in this court where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for justice.
You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a terrorist.
And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not treat with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists.
We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.
So war talk is way out of line in this court. You're a big fellow. But you're not that big. You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders.
In a very real sense Trooper Santiago had it right when first you were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were and you said you're no big deal. You're no big deal.
What your counsel, what your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing.
And I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you. But as I search this entire record it comes as close to understanding as I know.
It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose.
Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely.
It is for freedom's seek that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their, their representation of you before other judges. We care about it. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties.
Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms.
Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here, in this courtroom, and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done.
The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged, and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.
See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag still stands for freedom. You know it always will. Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.

Tropical Storm Danielle:

Tropical Storm Danielle has formed in the mid Atlantic.  It is forecast to become a hurricane and threaten Bermuda later in the week.  Common Cents brings you Tropical Storm Danielle's Storm Tracks:

Weather.com
Tropical Update

NOAA:
Tropical Weather Outlook

Tropical Storm Danielle Tracking Cone

Tropical Storm Danielle Computer Models

Video: FNS Chris Wallace interviews IL Governor Rod Blagojevich:

This Blagojevich Interview is Pure Gold.  Fox New's Chris Wallace does an outstanding job of asking tough questions of indicted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich:

Robbery - Federal Employees make TWICE what Private Sector workers make

And they get far better benefits and pensions.  This is unsustainable folks - there is no way this can continue.  In California there are over 10,000 retired State Workers who make over $100,000 in retirement pay.  And to make things worse - what do they really do?  Where is the profit motive or the business incentive here.  Many of them can not even tell you what they do - they may have a title but as far as productive work.  The bottom line is we have created an elite ruling class that is completely oblivious to the economic realities that most Americans face on a daily basis.





At a time when workers' pay and benefits have stagnated, federal employees' average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn, a USA TODAY analysis finds. Federal workers have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years in a row. The compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade. Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available. The federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year.
 Read the rest of the story here.

My hero NJ Governor Chris Christie lets Public School Teacher have it:

Friends of Common Cents:

Light blogging today.  In the meantime check out these excellent sites:


The BulletProof Monk

PaleoCon Command Center

Sarge Charlie
 
Recovering Liberal

The Liberty Republican

I Like Cheese

Carol's Blog

Radical Truth Debate

Wax Lips

The Current

Bread upon the Waters

Newsbusters

VICTORY IN IRAQ

Amazing editorial by the Wall St. Journal.  We wish every American could read it!

When the men and women of Fourth Brigade, Second Infantry Division deployed to Iraq in April 2007 as part of President Bush's surge, American soldiers were being killed or wounded at a rate of about 750 a month, the country was falling to sectarian mayhem, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had declared that the war was "lost."
On Wednesday, the "Raiders" became the last combat brigade to leave Iraq, having helped to defeat an insurgency, secure a democracy and uphold the honor of American arms.
The classic lament about the war in Iraq is that it achieved little at a huge cost in American lives, treasure and reputation. That view rests on a kind of amnesia about the nature of Saddam Hussein's regime, his 12-year defiance of binding U.N. resolutions, the threat he posed to its neighbors, the belief—shared by the Clinton and Bush Administrations and intelligence services world-wide—that he was armed with weapons of mass destruction, the complete corruption of the U.N. sanctions regime designed to contain him, and the fact that he intended to restart his WMD programs once the sanctions had collapsed.
Those were the realities when the coalition marched into Iraq. In supporting the war on the eve of that invasion, we noted that "the law of unintended consequences hasn't been repealed" and that "toppling Saddam is a long-term undertaking," while warning that "liberal pundits and politicians are fickle interventionists" who were "apt to run for moral cover" when the going got tough. As they did.
Their opposition might well have led to defeat had not Mr. Bush defied Congress and the recommendations of his own Iraq Study Group in favor of the 2007 surge, which history will likely recall as Mr. Bush's finest hour. To his credit, President Obama has also delivered on the "responsible withdrawal" he promised in his campaign.
This admirable American effort has now given Iraqis the opportunity to govern themselves democratically. We supported the Iraq invasion primarily for reasons of U.S. national security. But a successful war also held the promise that it could create, in a major Arab state, a model for governance that would result in something better than the secular or religious dictatorships that have so often bred brutality and radicalism—which has increasingly reached our own shores. The fact that Iraq has a functioning judiciary, and that Iraqi voters have rejected their most sectarian parties at the polls, is cause for hope that the country is moving in that direction.

Read the rest of this amazing editorial, Victory in Iraq here.

Video: Meet the GOP Senate Candidates:

Linda McMahon is running for Senate in Connecticut:


Congressman Mark Kirk is running for Senate in Illinois



Carly Fiorina is running for Senate in California


Sharron Angle is running for the US Senate in Nevada


Ron Johnson is running for the Senate in Wisconsin

Video: Too Cool... President Bush welcomes the troops back to DFW Airport

We posted pictures the other day but the video is obviously much better.  The sincerity and appreciation these men and women have toward their former Commander in Chief is impressive.  No matter what your feelings about President Bush just watch how the troops react to him after returning from Iraq and returning to Dallas - Ft Worth Airport

Required Readings (Thursday Edition):

Unexpectedly:
New jobless claims jump to 500,000

Mitt Romney:
How to Grow Jobs and Shrink Government

Gateway Pundit:
Happy Cost of Government Day!

Roger Clemens:
Ex Red Sox & Yankee pitcher charged with 6 counts including perjury

Brett Favre:
10 questions asked & answered about Favre's return

Rasmussen Reports:
Poll:  82% want voters to show ID before voting

Video: Sarah Palin on the Record with Greta Van Susteren

As seen on Foxnews.com ANWR: A National Security Need?   Sarah and Todd Palin take Greta on a tour of ANWR, Prudhoe Bay, make a case for drilling for oil in ANWR.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Email is just too slow! Mindset of the College Class of 2014

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014

Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992. This kind of makes you feel old.  For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead.
1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
3. “Go West, Young College Grad” has always implied “and don’t stop until you get to Asia…and learn Chinese along the way.”
4. Al Gore has always been animated.
5. Los Angelenos have always been trying to get along.
6. Buffy has always been meeting her obligations to hunt down Lothos and the other blood-suckers at Hemery High.
7. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.
8. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities.
9. Had it remained operational, the villainous computer HAL could be their college classmate this fall, but they have a better chance of running into Miley Cyrus’s folks on Parents’ Weekend.
10. A quarter of the class has at least one immigrant parent, and the immigration debate is not a big priority…unless it involves “real” aliens from another planet.
11. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.
12. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.
13. Parents and teachers feared that Beavis and Butt-head might be the voice of a lost generation.
14. Doctor Kevorkian has never been licensed to practice medicine.
15. Colorful lapel ribbons have always been worn to indicate support for a cause.
16. Korean cars have always been a staple on American highways.
17. Trading Chocolate the Moose for Patti the Platypus helped build their Beanie Baby collection.
18. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess.
19. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.
20. DNA fingerprinting and maps of the human genome have always existed.
21. Woody Allen, whose heart has wanted what it wanted, has always been with Soon-Yi Previn.
22. Cross-burning has always been deemed protected speech.
23. Leasing has always allowed the folks to upgrade their tastes in cars.
24. “Cop Killer” by rapper Ice-T has never been available on a recording.
25. Leno and Letterman have always been trading insults on opposing networks.
26. Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.
27. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.
28. They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day.
29. Reggie Jackson has always been enshrined in Cooperstown.
30. “Viewer Discretion” has always been an available warning on TV shows.
31. The first computer they probably touched was an Apple II; it is now in a museum.
32. Czechoslovakia has never existed.
33. Second-hand smoke has always been an official carcinogen.
34. “Assisted Living” has always been replacing nursing homes, while Hospice has always been an alternative to hospitals.
35. Once they got through security, going to the airport has always resembled going to the mall.
36. Adhesive strips have always been available in varying skin tones.
37. Whatever their parents may have thought about the year they were born, Queen Elizabeth declared it an “Annus Horribilis.”
38. Bud Selig has always been the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.
39. Pizza jockeys from Domino’s have never killed themselves to get your pizza there in under 30 minutes.
40. There have always been HIV positive athletes in the Olympics.
41. American companies have always done business in Vietnam.
42. Potato has always ended in an “e” in New Jersey per vice presidential edict.
43. Russians and Americans have always been living together in space.
44. The dominance of television news by the three networks passed while they were still in their cribs.
45. They have always had a chance to do community service with local and federal programs to earn money for college.
46. Nirvana is on the classic oldies station.
47. Children have always been trying to divorce their parents.
48. Someone has always gotten married in space.
49. While they were babbling in strollers, there was already a female Poet Laureate of the United States.
50. Toothpaste tubes have always stood up on their caps.
51.  Food has always been irradiated.
52. There have always been women priests in the Anglican Church.
53. J.R. Ewing has always been dead and gone. Hasn’t he? 
54. The historic bridge at Mostar in Bosnia has always been a copy.
55. Rock bands have always played at presidential inaugural parties.
56. They may have assumed that parents’ complaints about Black Monday had to do with punk rockers from L.A., not Wall Street.
57. A purple dinosaur has always supplanted Barney Google and Barney Fife. 
58. Beethoven has always been a dog.
59. By the time their folks might have noticed Coca Cola’s new Tab Clear, it was gone.
60. Walmart has never sold handguns over the counter in the lower 48.
61. Presidential appointees have always been required to be more precise about paying their nannies’ withholding tax, or else.
62. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine. 
63. Their parents’ favorite TV sitcoms have always been showing up as movies.
64. The U.S, Canada, and Mexico have always agreed to trade freely.
65. They first met Michelangelo when he was just a computer virus.
66. Galileo is forgiven and welcome back into the Roman Catholic Church.
67. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always sat on the Supreme Court.
68. They have never worried about a Russian missile strike on the U.S.
69. The Post Office has always been going broke.
70. The artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg has always been rapping.
71. The nation has never approved of the job Congress is doing.
72. One way or another, “It’s the economy, stupid” and always has been.
73. Silicone-gel breast implants have always been regulated.
74. They’ve always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi Channel.
75. Honda has always been a major competitor on Memorial Day at Indianapolis.

Hurricane Katrina: Myth vs. Reality

Later this month we will mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  Perhaps no event in modern American history is more misunderstood and the facts so little known.  The left, along with their allies in the State Run Media, have forever used the tragedy of Katrina to denigrate and insult President Bush.  Remember, that disaster relief has always been a local  matter - never a Federal Matter.  The reality about Katrina is more than a little different than what we have been told for 5 years now.  Please read this little fact sheet about Katrina and pass it on...


Popular Mechanics recently had a fantastic story titled Myths about Katrina.  COMMON CENTS brings you the highlights:

Myth #1: “'The aftermath of Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonment's of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history.’—Aaron Broussard, president, Jefferson Parish, La., Meet the Press, NBC, Sept. 4, 2005”  - For those that have forgotten, Broussard is the man that cried on Meet the Press the Sunday after Katrina hit, claiming that a co-worker’s mother died in New Orleans as a result of the delay in the rescue effort. Broussard’s claims were later thoroughly discredited. In addition, Broussard was responsible for dismissing all of the pump operators in Jefferson Parish before the storm arrived, and is in the middle of a lawsuit filed by parish residents that claim this decision was largely responsible for the flooding.

That said, PM didn’t agree with Broussard’s assertions regarding this matter either:

“Bumbling by top disaster-management officials fueled a perception of general inaction, one that was compounded by impassioned news anchors. In fact, the response to Hurricane Katrina was by far the largest—and fastest-rescue effort in U.S. history, with nearly 100,000 emergency personnel arriving on the scene within three days of the storm’s landfall.”

Certainly, it seems hard to categorize 100,000 workers as an abandonment. Unlike many in the media that make such bold statements without verification, PM backed up its position with actual facts. How refreshing:

“Dozens of National Guard and Coast Guard helicopters flew rescue operations that first day—some just 2 hours after Katrina hit the coast. Hoistless Army helicopters improvised rescues, carefully hovering on rooftops to pick up survivors. On the ground, ‘guardsmen had to chop their way through, moving trees and recreating roadways,’ says Jack Harrison of the National Guard. By the end of the week, 50,000 National Guard troops in the Gulf Coast region had saved 17,000 people; 4000 Coast Guard personnel saved more than 33,000.”

As the proof is often in the pudding, PM bolstered its view on this myth with the following conclusion:

“While the press focused on FEMA’s shortcomings, this broad array of local, state and national responders pulled off an extraordinary success—especially given the huge area devastated by the storm. Computer simulations of a Katrina-strength hurricane had estimated a worst-case-scenario death toll of more than 60,000 people in Louisiana. The actual number was 1077 in that state.”

It’s amazing how quickly the press forgot their own highly publicized casualty estimates in the tens of thousands, and saw no victory in that number coming in 90 to 95 percent less than they had advertised.

Myth #2: “'This is a once-in-a-lifetime event.’—New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, press conference, Aug. 28, 2005”  - Regardless of how this storm was being hyped at the time, we now know that Katrina’s wind-strength significantly diminished in the final hours as it approached New Orleans. As PM put it:

“Though many accounts portray Katrina as a storm of unprecedented magnitude, it was in fact a large, but otherwise typical, hurricane. On the 1-to-5 Saffir-Simpson scale, Katrina was a midlevel Category 3 hurricane at landfall. Its barometric pressure was 902 millibars (mb), the sixth lowest ever recorded, but higher than Wilma (882mb) and Rita (897mb), the storms that followed it. Katrina’s peak sustained wind speed at landfall 55 miles south of New Orleans was 125 mph; winds in the city barely reached hurricane strength.  “By contrast, when Hurricane Andrew struck the Florida coast in 1992, its sustained winds were measured at 142 mph. And meteorologists estimate that 1969’s Category 5 Hurricane Camille, which followed a path close to Katrina’s, packed winds as high as 200 mph.”

The reality is that had the levees held there would have been comparatively little damage to New Orleans as a result of this storm. However, in PM’s view, there is another issue raised by this disaster that has gone largely ignored:

“According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the Atlantic is in a cycle of heightened hurricane activity due to higher sea-surface temperatures and other factors. The cycle could last 40 years, during which time the United States can expect to be hit by dozens of Katrina-size storms. Policymakers-and coastal residents-need to start seeing hurricanes as routine weather events, not once-in-a-lifetime anomalies.” 

Myth #3: “'Perhaps not just human error was involved [in floodwall failures]. There may have been some malfeasance.’—Raymond Seed, civil engineering professor, UC, Berkeley, testifying before a Senate committee, Nov. 2, 2005”  - There’s been a lot of second-guessing and finger pointing concerning the levee design, and who was responsible for their failure. According to PM, these were all built according to specifications:

“Most of the New Orleans floodwall failures occurred when water up to 25 ft. high overtopped the barriers, washing out their foundations. But three breached floodwalls-one in the 17th Street Canal and two in the London Avenue Canalshowed no signs of overtopping. Accusations of malfeasance were born after the Army Corps of Engineers released seismic data suggesting that the sheet-pile foundations supporting those floodwalls were 7 ft. shorter than called for in the designa possible cause for collapse. In December 2005, PM watched Corps engineers pull four key sections of the 17th Street Canal foundation out of the New Orleans mud. The sections were more than 23 ft. long-as per design specifications. ‘I had heard talk about improper building before the sheet-pile pull,’ the Corps’ Wayne Stroupe says. ‘But not much since.’”

Myth #4: “'They have people … been in that frickin’ Superdome for five days watching dead bodies, watching hooligans killing people, raping people.’—New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Sept. 6, 2005”  -  Some of the most pathetic and shameful reporting on Katrina dealt with the supposed violence occurring in both the streets and at the Superdome. As PM declared, almost all of these reports turned out to be similar to the rubbish that piled up around New Orleans:

"Both public officials and the press passed along lurid tales of post-Katrina mayhem: shootouts in the Superdome, bodies stacked in a convention center freezer, snipers firing on rescue helicopters. And those accounts appear to have affected rescue efforts as first responders shifted resources from saving lives to protecting rescuers."

In reality, although looting and other property crimes were widespread after the flooding on Monday, Aug. 29, almost none of the stories about violent crime turned out to be true:

"Col. Thomas Beron, the National Guard commander of Task Force Orleans, arrived at the Superdome on Aug. 29 and took command of 400 soldiers. He told PM that when the Dome’s main power failed around 5 am, ‘it became a hot, humid, miserable place. There was some pushing, people were irritable. There was one attempted rape that the New Orleans police stopped.’”

What were some of the other numbers?

“The only confirmed account of a weapon discharge occurred when Louisiana Guardsman Chris Watt was jumped by an assailant and, during the chaotic arrest, accidently shot himself in the leg with his own M-16.  “When the Superdome was finally cleared, six bodies were found—not the 200 speculated. Four people had died of natural causes; one was ruled a suicide, and another a drug overdose. Of the four bodies recovered at the convention center, three had died of natural causes; the fourth had sustained stab wounds.”

Some mayhem, huh? And how about the supposed anarchy in the streets, or snipers shooting at rescue operators?

“‘The vast majority of people [looting] were taking food and water to live,’ says Capt. Marlon Defillo, the New Orleans Police Department’s commander of public affairs. ‘There were no killings, not one murder.’ As for sniper fire: No bullet holes were found in the fuselage of any rescue helicopter.”

Myth #5: “‘The failure to evacuate was the tipping point for all the other things that … went wrong.’—Michael Brown, former FEMA director, Sept. 27, 2005”  -  This myth is particularly delicious given the press’s newfound adoration of Brown, even though their complaints about his performance in September got him fired. Regardless, when you look at the arithmetic and the facts, this really was a very successful evacuation. PM agreed:

“When Nagin issued his voluntary evacuation order, a contraflow plan that turned inbound interstate lanes into outbound lanes enabled 1.2 million people to leave New Orleans out of a metro population of 1.5 million. ‘The Corps estimated we would need 72 hours [to evacuate that many people],’ says Brian Wolshon, an LSU civil engineer. ‘Instead, it took 38 hours.’”

Another myth in this regard was that the only people that didn’t evacuate were those that couldn’t. Not so according to PM:

“Later investigations indicated that many who stayed did so by choice. ‘Most people had transportation,’ says Col. Joe Spraggins, director of emergency management in Harrison County, Ala. ‘Many didn’t want to leave.’ Tragic exceptions: hospital patients and nursing home residents.”

Myth #6: “‘We will rebuild [the Gulf Coast] bigger and better than ever.’—Haley Barbour, Miss. Gov., The Associated press, Sept. 3, 2005”  -  There’s been much discussion in the media concerning what should be done with New Orleans after its destruction. PM offered a bold view in this regard. Its premise was that the current National Flood Insurance Program rewards people who live in coastal areas subject to floods, with some making multiple claims for very large sums of money:

“Just 1 to 2 percent of claims were from ‘repetitive-loss properties’-those suffering damage at least twice in a 10-year period. Yet, those 112,000 properties generated a remarkable 40 percent of the losses-$5.6 billion. One homeowner in Houston filed 16 claims in 18 years, receiving payments totaling $806,000 for a building valued at $114,000.  “Just as significantly, the five Gulf Coast states accounted for half the total of repetitive-loss costs nationwide. Taxpayers across the country are paying for a minute number of people to rebuild time and time again in the path of hurricanes.”

By contrast, the government doesn’t view tornado or earthquake damage with anywhere near as broad a scope:

“Folks in Tornado Alley and along the San Andreas fault don’t get federally backed insurance, so why should taxpayers subsidize coastal homes, many of them vacation properties?”

Great question. So, what’s the answer that PM offered which few media would have the guts to espouse?

“Before we start rebuilding ‘bigger and better,’ Congress should reform the flood insurance program. A good start: Structure premiums so the program is actuarially sound and clamps down on repetitive claims.”

Myth #7: “‘You have a major energy network that is down … We could run out of gasoline or diesel or jet fuel in the next two weeks here.’—Roger Diwan, managing director, Oil Markets Group, PFC Energy, Business Week, Sept. 1, 2005”
Probably not unintentionally, PM saved the best myth for last. Some of the worst media reporting surrounding this hurricane was directly related to energy prices. In fact, we quickly heard how this was going to cause massive job cuts around the country, lead to a recession, send gasoline to $5 per gallon, and kill the Christmas shopping season.  Much like most economic predictions from the media, none of these prognostications materialized. And, according to PM, the media were all wet regarding how much damage was done to the nation’s energy complex:

“Initially, the pictures from the gulf looked bleak: oil rigs washed up along the coast, production platforms wrecked. In truth, Katrina inflicted minimal damage to the offshore energy infrastructure. Only 86 of the gulf’s 4000 drilling rigs and platforms were damaged or destroyed, and most of those were older, fixed platforms atop unproductive wells.”

Read the entire story here.

5 Minute Ticker:

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Senator Harry Reid:
Build the NY City Mosque somewhere else

Gulf Oil Spill:
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Dustin Johnson:
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Gateway Pundit Video:

Ambassador Bolton: "Israel has 8 days to attack Iran"

Charities: Liberals vs. Conservatives

Liberals love to rant about how caring and giving they are - and conversely how mean spirited and tight fisted they believe conservatives to be.  Actually the opposite is true - as we will show here:

People who identify themselves as conservatives donate money to charity more often than people who identify themselves as liberals. They donate more money and a higher percentage of their incomes.  It is not that conservatives have more money. Liberal families average 6 percent higher incomes than conservative families.

So is the fact that most of the states that voted for John Kerry during the 2004 election donated a lower percentage of their incomes to charity than the states that voted for President Bush.  Conservatives not only donate more money to charity than liberals do, conservatives volunteer more time as well. More conservatives than liberals also donate blood. "If liberals and moderates gave blood at the same rate as conservatives, the blood supply of the United States would jump about 45 percent."
You can read the article here

Another great article on conservative vs. liberals generosity is here.
Liberals like to be known as generous and giving but the facts are otherwise. Sarah Palin and her husband Todd just trounced Senator Biden's family in terms of their charity giving. Consider:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made considerably less money than rival Sen. Joe Biden, but the Palin family gave more to charity in the last two years than Biden has in the last eight combined, according to Palin's tax records released Friday afternoon. Palin, the running mate of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and her husband Todd reported meager earnings from 2006 and 2007, at least by presidential-politics standards.
In 2006, the Palins paid $11,944 in taxes on $127,869 in income. In 2007, they paid $24,738 on $166,080.
But in 2006, they donated $4,880 to charity, and in 2007, they donated $3,325.
By contrast, Biden (D-Del.), Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate, has donated a total of $3,690 since 1998 despite his higher Senate salary, according to an analysis posted by National Review. Read about it here.

 With that said here are some outstanding charities that we wish you would give to:

Catholic Charities The largest private network of social service organizations in the United States works to support families, reduce poverty, and build communities.

The Red Cross: The American Red Cross helps prepare communities for emergencies and keep people safe every day thanks to caring people who support our work

Habitat for Humanity:  You’re helping families to break the cycle of poverty and build long-term financial security. Habitat’s affordable, no-profit house payments free up money for food, child care, medicine and other necessities. And research has shown that decent housing improves health, increases children’s educational achievement and strengthens community ties.

Food For The Poor:  is the number one international relief and development charity in the United States, feeding 2 million poor every day. Our Christian relief programs and projects are helping children and the poorest of the poor by providing food, housing, health care, education, water projects, emergency relief and micro-enterprise assistance in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Video: The couples that pray together - stay together!

As seen on Fox and Friends it is true - the couple that Prays Together - Stays Together!

Only 0.3% of couples that pray together get divorced!

Follow the PGA Championsip here:

Today is the final round of the 96th annual PGA Championship from Whistling Straights Golf Course in Kohler, WI.  You can follow all of the action via these great links:


CNN-SI:  Nick Watney and a cast of youngsters take charge 

ESPN:  PGA Leaderboard 

Official PGA homepage:  Watch highlights video here 

Official PGA homepage:  Complete statistics 

Fox Sports:  Tiger's swing fails him at PGA 

Golf.com:  Live blog of today's action

Saturday Reads:

More controversy:
President Obama strongly backs Islamic Mosque near 9-11's Ground Zero

Hot Air.com

The Eternal Stimulus Package

Redstate.com

The Obama Tax hikes of 2011

USA Today:
Amazing - Federal workers earn TWICE their private sector counterparts

Gateway Pundit:
Confidence in State Run Media matches all time low

PGA Championship:
Live blog of the today's action

IBD Editorial:
Obamanomics is destroying jobs

Video:
Jet Blue Flight Attendant Steven Slater's great escape

Video: 11 Reasons to vote for Democrats in November

SPREAD THE WORD! This outstanding video lays out in simple layman's terms the 11 most compelling reasons to vote for the Democrat Party in November.

Hat Tip I Own The World

VIDEO: Meet the GOP House Candidates:

As we often document on Common Cents the Democratic Party has been a disaster for this country.  They have managed to take an unemployment rate that was 4.4% when they were elected to run Congress four years ago to more than 9.5%.  They have more than quadrupled the budget deficit.  (It was -$176 Billion in 2006).  Two out of the last the years the Democrats running Congress have not EVEN PASSED A BUDGET.  These fools would have to improve to get to incompetent.  They are beneath a failure.  They need to be replaced and fired.

With that said here are some videos by rising stars in the Republican Party.  Please view the videos and pass them on.

Alan West of Florida gets it!

"If it's about the lives of my men and their safety, I'd go through Hell with a gasoline can . . . There is not a person in this room I would not sacrifice my life for." -Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Allen B. West

Keith Fimian (R-VA) is running the the 9th Congressional District of Virginia

Renee Ellmers is running for Congress against Liberal Bob Ethridge in North Carolina

Tim Scott is running for Congress in South Carlina's 1st Congressional District

No one has a bigger target on her back than Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann

The for VPs son Ben Quayle is running for Congress in Arizona's 3rd Congressional District

The Rev Michel Faulkner is running against Charlie Rangel in the November election

Photos: George W. Bush greets American troops at Dallas-Ft Worth airport

Priceless.  These pictures are simply priceless.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, made a surprise visit to U.S. troops this afternoon.
They showed up at the USO in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. There they mingled with the returning soldiers, thanked them, chatted and posed for photos as proof of the unexpected encounter for folks back home.
The USO just posted an assortment of the photos on its Facebook page, which quickly drew a growing list of appreciative comments.
"What an AWESOME moment," Robert Rowe wrote. "If anyone can't see the President and First Lady's love for our nations troops, they must be dead or blind. May God Bless them ALL !" Richard Cruz wrote: "The look on that kid's face says it all...."

And Shirley Lovely Fry added: "A President and First Lady who love their country and their country's military."  Read the rest of the story here.