Grim proving ground for Obama’s housing policy
The candidate endorsed subsidies for private entrepreneurs to build low-income units. But, while he garnered support from developers, many projects in his former district have fallen into disrepair.
By Binyamin Appelbaum – Globe Staff / June 27, 2008
CHICAGO – The squat brick buildings of Grove Parc Plaza, in a dense neighborhood that Barack Obama represented for eight years as a state senator, hold 504 apartments subsidized by the federal government for people who can’t afford to live anywhere else.
But it’s not safe to live here.
About 99 of the units are vacant, many rendered uninhabitable by unfixed problems, such as collapsed roofs and fire damage. Mice scamper through the halls. Battered mailboxes hang open. Sewage backs up into kitchen sinks. In 2006, federal inspectors graded the condition of the complex an 11 on a 100-point scale – a score so bad the buildings now face demolition.
Grove Parc has become a symbol for some in Chicago of the broader failures of giving public subsidies to private companies to build and manage affordable housing – an approach strongly backed by Obama as the best replacement for public housing.
As a state senator, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee coauthored an Illinois law creating a new pool of tax credits for developers. As a US senator, he pressed for increased federal subsidies. And as a presidential candidate, he has campaigned on a promise to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that could give developers an estimated $500 million a year.
But a Globe review found that thousands of apartments across Chicago that had been built with local, state, and federal subsidies – including several hundred in Obama’s former district – deteriorated so completely that they were no longer habitable.
Grove Parc and several other prominent failures were developed and managed by Obama’s close friends and political supporters. Those people profited from the subsidies even as many of Obama’s constituents suffered. Tenants lost their homes; surrounding neighborhoods were blighted.
Some of the residents of Grove Parc say they are angry that Obama did not notice their plight. The development straddles the boundary of Obama’s state Senate district. Many of the tenants have been his constituents for more than a decade.
“No one should have to live like this, and no one did anything about it,” said Cynthia Ashley, who has lived at Grove Parc since 1994.
Obama’s campaign, in a written response to Globe questions, affirmed the candidate’s support of public-private partnerships as an alternative to public housing, saying that Obama has “consistently fought to make livable, affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods available to all.”
The campaign did not respond to questions about whether Obama was aware of the problems with buildings in his district during his time as a state senator, nor did it comment on the roles played by people connected to the senator.
Among those tied to Obama politically, personally, or professionally are:
Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama’s presidential campaign and a member of his finance committee. Jarrett is the chief executive of Habitat Co., which managed Grove Parc Plaza from 2001 until this winter and co-managed an even larger subsidized complex in Chicago that was seized by the federal government in 2006, after city inspectors found widespread problems.
Go to the Boston Globe’s newstory to finish reading this article and see the video of residents interviewed, and remember, Obama wants to give us a healthcare program, and based on this housing project and it’s outcome, I don’t think Mr. Obama is capable of pulling off all the Hope and Change he’s pushing.
Dave Ramsey’s rant says it all.
I was listening to Dave Ramsey’s radio show during my lunch hour last week and heard this rant and felt it sizes up my feelings about America, the free market and the way of life I grew up with. It is also why I feel the Fair Tax is the best option. I have pulled the transcript from Dave’s site and it is well worth the read.
Butt Scratching and Bass Fishing
A couple of weeks ago, I worked late like I sometimes need to do to run my business. It was a nice Tennessee summer evening, and I was enjoying the drive home. About 7:30, as I pulled to a stop light a few blocks from my office, I noticed a light on in the corner office of a friend’s office building. Through the twilight I could make out my friend’s silhouette as he bent over his desk. Being a fellow entrepreneur, I knew what he was doing.
He was looking over some receivables. Some turkey hadn’t paid him, and he was trying to make his accounts balance so he would have the cash to make it another day. In that instant, I had a flashback to some of the ridiculous statements I’ve been hearing on the talking-head news channels and from some individuals during this political year. And I’ll be honest—I instantly felt the heat of anger flow through my body.
Let me tell you why. You see, my friend who I saw working late—we’ll call him Henry—is a great guy. He’s what you want your son to grow up to be. He loves God, his country, his wife, and his kids. He didn’t have the academic advantage of attending a big-name university. Instead, he started installing heating and air systems as a grunt laborer after he graduated from high school. He was and is a very hard and diligent worker, and before long, the boss taught him the trade. But when he was 24, after 6 years of service, the company he was working for got into financial trouble and laid him off.
Henry still had his tools, so he bought an old pickup to haul around his materials and tools, and suddenly he was in business. He knew about heating and air-conditioning, but not about business, so he made a lot of mistakes.
He persisted. He took accounting and management at the community college to learn about business. He started reading books on business, HVAC, marriage, kids, God, and anything else someone he respected recommended. Today he is one of the best-read men I know. Soon, because of his fabulous service and fair prices, he developed a great reputation, and his little business began to grow.
Henry started 15 years ago, and now he has 17 employees whose families are fed because he does a great job. He is in church on Sunday and seldom misses his kids’ Little League games. Sometimes he has to miss a game because some poor soul has their AC go out in the 96-degree Tennessee summer heat, but Henry makes sure they are served. He is, by all standards, a good man. He is, by all standards, what makes America great.
Henry and I are friends, and so he asked me some financial questions last year. I learned in the process that his personal taxable income last year was $328,000. I smiled with pride for this 70-hour a week guy because he is living the dream.
At the stop light that evening, I also thought of another guy I know—and that is where the anger flash came from. We will call him John. While John does not have the same drive Henry has, I can say that he, too, is a good man.
John also graduated from high school and did not attend a big-name university. He went to work at a local factory 15 years ago. When 5:00pm comes around, John has probably already made it to his car in the parking lot. He comes in 5 minutes late, takes frequent breaks, and leaves 5 minutes early. However, to his credit, he is steady and works hard.
Over the years, due to his steadiness and seniority, he has worked his way up to about $75,000 per year in that same factory. He seldom misses his kid’s ballgames, but
… most nights you will find him in front of the TV where he has become an expert on “American Idol,” “The Biggest Loser,” and who got thrown off the island. When he is not in front of the TV, he spends a LOT of time and money bass fishing on our local lake. He never works over 40 hours a week and hasn’t read a non-fiction book since high school.
This is America, and there is nothing wrong with either set of choices. Nothing wrong, that is, until the politicians and socialists get involved …
How to talk to an Obama Cultist
A Democrat speaks out about how to talk with an Obama Borg:
On the topic of racism:
On the topic of experience:
On the topic of lobbyists:
On the topic of distractions:
On the topic of whining over using BHO’s full, real name:
Hat tip to Van Helsing for posting these on Moonbattery
Md. plantation attic holds 400 years of documents
Being a history nut and a recovering pack-rat, I absolutely found this story interesting and fun to read. Oh if those walls could talk… and judging by the volume of documents and writings found… they almost do! It’s from an Associated Press story, found on Comcast.net News.
CENTREVILLE, Md. — For four centuries, they were the ultimate pack rats. Now a Maryland family’s massive collection of letters, maps and printed bills has surfaced in the attic of a former plantation, providing a firsthand account of life from the 1660s through World War II.
“Historians are used to dealing with political records and military documents,” said Adam Goodheart, a history professor at nearby Washington College. “But what they aren’t used to is political letters and military documents kept right alongside bills for laundry or directions for building a washing machine.”
Goodheart is working with state archivists and a crew of four student interns to collect the documents, which were found stuffed into boxes, barrels and peach baskets.
“Look at this: ‘Negro woman, Sarah, about 27 years old, $25,’” Goodheart says, reading from a 19th century inventory. “It was as though this family never threw away a scrap of paper.”
The documents include maps, letters, financial records, political posters, even a lock of hair from a letter dated Valentine’s Day, 1801. There’s a love poem from the 1830s (in which a young man graphically tells his sweetheart what he’d do if he sneaked into her room on a winter’s night), along with war accounts and bills of sale from slaves and crops.
The papers come from several generations of the Emory family, prominent tobacco and wheat farmers who settled here on a land grant from Lord Baltimore in the 1660s.
The former Poplar Grove plantation is still in family hands, though the mansion now is used only as a hunting lodge. The documents were moldering in an attic until students touring the house started sorting through them this spring.
“I don’t believe any of us knew these papers were there,” said Mary Wood, an Emory cousin whose son inherited the plantation in 1998. “We didn’t go there all that often, and when you do, you don’t go up in people’s attics and look around.”
Washington College has had access to the plantation for years, but Goodheart said he assumed the papers in the attic weren’t old or important.
They aren’t in any particular order, and some are mouse-eaten tatters that look like something out of “The Da Vinci Code.”
“You really get a sense of the range of America through these papers,” said Edward Papenfuse, director of the Maryland State Archives, which will eventually house them.
Perhaps most strikingly, letters tell of a family’s torn allegiances during the Civil War. The Emorys lived on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, across Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore, where the plantation economy of the South ended and the abolitionist industrial North began.
It was a conflict the Emorys catalogued, anti-slavery petitions stacked alongside records of slaves sent to Natchez, Miss., and a packet of letters, still tied in silk ribbon, titled, “Correspondence with W.H. Emory and wife in regard to his resignation from U.S. Army, 1861.”
The Emorys owned slaves, but some signed an 1832 petition to the Maryland legislature calling for the gradual eradication of slavery.
One family member, William H. Emory, was a colonel in the U.S. Army when the Civil War began. He wrote out a resignation of his post, then changed his mind and fought for the Union.
Two sons also fought in the Civil War — one for the Union, one for the Confederacy. Bundles of letters from all family members detail their divided feelings. The family kept not just personal letters, but political posters about the conflict.
“These are things that usually do not survive,” Papenfuse said, pointing to a broadside blasting then-President Martin Van Buren for favoring voting rights for “every free negro.” “After the heat of a campaign, this printed matter was thrown out or put to other uses, including the outhouse.”
Not so at the Emory house, where even small scraps of paper were kept alongside military uniforms and other family heirlooms.
The collection also includes notes on an aspect of slavery historians know little about: the practice of renting slave labor to neighbors and plantations farther south.
“Scholars have not paid a great deal of attention to it, but this is something that helps recreate and draw back together the lives of these people who were considered chattel,” Papenfuse said.
Relatives are also curious to know what historians find.
“I can’t believe they didn’t throw this stuff out,” Wood said with a chuckle. “I mean, it’s kind of weird. It’s fascinating, though. I can’t believe that something might come out of it.”
Washington College Poplar Grove project: http://news.washcoll.edu/events/2003/06/fieldschool
Congressman teaches lesson on “DemoSpeak”
Representitive Thad McCotter (R-Michigan) on “How to speak Democrat”.
Courtesy of Van Helsing on Moonbattery and NiceDeb.
More thuggery from the Obama camp.
It seems that anyone who is part of the Obama Borg Collective considers it open season on any American who exercises their right to support another candidate. Paula Abeles, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, who was active in her campaign, has gone over to the John McCain campaign. What she has got out of altering her support from the Democratic Party to McCain has been emails and phone calls threatening her life and the lives and her children, from twisted Obama supporters. You know, we used to be the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, but that is quickly changing over to the Land of the Obama Borg (enslaved) and the home of the cowardly bullies that attack freedom loving Americans who disagree with the ObamaMessiah. All Americans should still have the right to vote how they want and express opinions and support for any candidate they please without threats. The Obama camp keeps showing us who they are and more would know ,except the MSM doesn’t have a word about this out there!!! They protect Obama from the truth getting out without fail. And if this is not telling enough, look who openly supports Obama on his own campaign site!
Marxists/Socialists/Communists for Obama
This group is for self-proclaimed Marxists/Communists/Socialists for the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency. By no means is he a true Marxist, but under Karl Marx’s writings we are to support the party with the best interests of the mobilization of the proletariat. Though the Democratic Socialists of America or the Communist Patty of America may have more Socialististic values, it is pointless to vote for these candidates due to the fact that there is virutally no chance they will be elected on a National level. The members of this group are not Leninists, Stalinists, etc. and do not support or condone the actions of North Korea, China, Cuba or any other self-procalimed “Marxist States.” They do not in anyway represent the Marxist philosophy nor do they represent Socialism/ Communsim. We support Barack Obama because he knows what is best for the people!
If that doesn’t give people a clue as to where we are headed with the ObamaMessiah, I don’t know what it will take. Just research “Black Liberation Theology” for more clues.
Stein: Stop Whining And Blaming Oil Companies.
From Ben Stein’s CBS Morning Commentary: May 25, 2008
Worried About Gas Prices? Ben Stein Says Don’t Look To Government Or OPEC To Help – (CBS) Like many of the rest of us this weekend, Contributor Ben Stein has his eye on the gas pump:
Topic A on everyone’s mind these days is the amazing price rise of oil and gasoline by historical standards. Herewith, some good news and some bad news.
First, the bad news: Nothing – and I mean nothing – the U.S. government does can stop the rise in the price of oil in the short run. Stopping buys for the emergency stockpile will have no effect at all. These purchases are less than one-tenth of one percent of daily worldwide demand. Cancelling the purchases is precisely the same as not paying life insurance premiums when you’re worried about money. It is nonsense.
Laws taxing oil speculators will do nothing. Most of the speculation is going on outside of U.S. jurisdiction anyway. And if we stopped having a free market in oil, it would go back to being an OPEC-fixed price. Do you think they would be kind to us? If so, why?
Taxing the oil companies is the worst possible idea. We should be giving them tax incentives to pump more oil, not punishing them for pumping oil … and their profits have absolutely zero to do with setting the price of gasoline at the pump.
Zero.
Finally, the worst news: Oil has been going up a lot faster than gasoline. That means gasoline might possibly have far more upward movement in price. Be prepared.
Now for the good news: Oil is a commodity. Usually commodity prices go in cycles. That means they usually (not always) go down after they have gone up sharply. It could and probably will happen this time, too.
In other words, it sure looks like a bubble, although a bubble that might last a long time.
But here’s even better news: You can get a more fuel efficient car; car dealers are very much in a mood to deal, and they will make it easier than you can even imagine to get a fuel saving car or truck.
And, you can drive less. Once in a while take mass transit. You have it in your power to save money on oil.
If everyone in the U.S. does this, it will affect the world demand for oil meaningfully, and will eventually move price downwards.
Or, we can just whine and blame the oil companies, – which will get us exactly nowhere.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
And another…
Running Out of Fuel, but Not Out of Ideas -
From the New York Times Business Section – BEN STEIN, Published: May 25, 2008
There is Will Rogers, the great sage and comedian, who famously commented during the Great Depression that America would be the first nation to “go to the poorhouse in an automobile.” This doesn’t sound comprehensible now, because driving a car is so basic to American life. But in those days, it was still something of a luxury and a novelty to have a car, and to drive it to the poorhouse was a contradiction in terms.
There are also scenes from the great “Mad Max” movies. In one of them, Australia has been reduced to chaos amid a cruel shortage of oil and gasoline. Men will kill in an instant for a few drops of precious gasoline to power their motorcycles, and life as we know it has stopped because of a deficiency of that magnificent stuff.
Most of all, the images are of the glory of driving cars, cruising through our towns and suburbs, just burning up gas with no particular place to go, to paraphrase Chuck Berry. Or of racing up and down freeways, heading out to the surf on time, with the car’s chrome heart shining in the sun, to paraphrase Neil Young. (Of course, I think of driving my own mighty Cadillac STS-V, hurtling along I-10 toward Rancho Mirage at 130 m.p.h., with my wife urging: “Great. Go faster.”)
Gasoline is unimaginably important in our lives in the United States. Without gas in virtually limitless supply, and at prices we could afford, American life would change. We could no longer afford to live so far from one another and from our jobs. We could no longer afford to cruise in cars incomparably larger than those of our counterparts in Europe and Asia. In a way, we would stop being America as we know it.
Maybe this would be a good thing. After all, do we really need to have a 6,000-pound S.U.V. take a 100-pound high school student across town to buy a Diet Coke? Do we really need cars so big that they have flat-screen televisions for the children in the back? Do we really need to pour so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? And it’s certainly not great to belch out immense quanta of carbon monoxide, a deadly poison.
But we have become addicted to gasoline. (I, of course, include my own bad self.) Even if we all bought smaller cars, we would need gasoline and lots of it — although a great deal less than what we use now. And while I have previously said, and I believe, that we are in a temporary price bubble, the prognosis for gasoline is grim in the long run.
Rememberances of my parents.
My mother died in 1997 and my father died in 2001. I find myself thinking back at the enormous impact they both had on my life, so I thought I would share a memory or two that I highly prize and invite you to do the same. I have very strong feelings about how all children need a lot of involvement with their parents and I was richly blessed because I have so many fond memories, that when I think back on the warmth of their love and concern for so many years of my life, it fills me with comfort and gratitude. Even now that they are gone, I still have those wonderful memories and it is a gift I so very much hope my own son’s will have when I am gone.
The one thing that I remember most about my mother, was the sense of pride I felt when she walked into a room. She was a working mother, a telephone operator at Indiana Bell for many years while I was growing up. One thing mother always did was allocate some of her “days off” to do things with us kids at our schools. She would work at one of our parties and sometimes just come to the school to have lunch with us. One memory that stands out in my mind was when she came for lunch when I was in 2nd grade. She was working split shifts at the time and decided to come have lunch with me before she went home to do housework and take a “nap” before going back to work another 4 hours that evening. She walked into the classroom in a very nice, classy dress, her hair and makeup meticulously done, but not over done and I felt so proud that she was my mother. We had lunch and talked and laughed, my teacher let her see some of my work and when we went to recess Mom walked the playgroud with me and many of the girls in my class walked with us and some held her other hand. Mother’s compassion and kindness lent her an aura of magic. When mother passed away, there were so many people that came for visitation, so many who hadn’t seen her for 30 or 40 years, but relayed some wonderful stories about her and why after so many years, they felt compelled to come and share them with us. I will always, in my mind and heart, carry her memory with me and have the comfort it gives me until I myself pass on. What a wonderful gift it is.
My father was a former Marine and a die maker for GM. He spent about 9 years coaching little league, was a tremendous joker and prankster, and you couldn’t go anywhere with him that usually serveral people would approach and greet him with great enthusiasm. Dad had the heart and soul of a saint as well. I remember when I was little, before I started school, he would get me up in the morning, dress me and put me in a ponytail, (usually he wasn’t too concerned whether my clothes matched, only that they were clean and pressed, and the ponytail was always crooked but neat) and we would go to run errands… the bank, the grocery, the post office and sometimes we’d meet Mom for lunch at the Beacon Pharmacy lunch counter or we’d just stop off at the gas station to see the older man who owned it and I would sit on the counter drinking a soda pop, listen to Dad tease the patrons and Bill would give me a handful of penny Tootsie Rolls! Dad had a way of making me feel like the Center of the Universe, so I understood from a young age why Mom married him. He was the most honorable, funny, trustworthy, man one could ever have for a Dad, a husband, a family member or a friend. He always valued his integrity and that value served him well always. And like my Mom, I was always proud to call him Dad (except maybe when he evil eyed my dates in high school????) LOL! That was my Dad!
Please feel free to share your valued memories of your parents. Sometimes, it can just improve the day to put them out there and smile. …musings of HoosierArmyMom
6 Ways You’re Wasting Gas
It’s not easy to break bad driving habits, but if you don’t, the money you lose on gas could wind up breaking your bank.
By Peter Valdes-Dapena – at CNNMoney dot com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — With all the worry over fuel prices, you’d think drivers would do whatever they can not to waste gas. But look around and you’ll see lots of them tooling around as if they owned their own tanker fleet. One of them might be you.
Here are six ways drivers typically waste gas on every trip:
1. Racing away from green lights
When the light turns green, you don’t have to take off as quickly as possible. That pedal under your right foot is called the “gas pedal” for a good reason. The more you press down on it, the more gas you’re pumping into the engine. Press lightly on the gas pedal, and you’ll still accelerate, and you’ll still get where you’re going. You might be surprised at how little pressure it takes to get your car up to speed in a reasonable time.
2. Racing up to red lights
When you’re driving down the street, and you see a light red light or stop sign up ahead, you should lay off the gas sooner rather than later.
There’s no point in keeping your foot on the gas until just before you reach the intersection. Let off the pedal sooner and give your engine a rest as you coast to the stop while braking gently. As an added benefit, your brake pads will last longer, too.
By themselves, these first two tips can improve your fuel economy around town by as much as 35 percent, according to tests conducted by automotive information Web site Edmunds.com.
3. Confusing the highway with a speedway
Even if it doesn’t involve hard acceleration, speeding wastes gas. The faster you go, the more air your vehicle has to push out of the way. It’s like moving your hand through water. The faster you try to move your hand, the harder the water pushes back.
In tests by Consumer Reports, driving at 75 miles per hour instead of 65 miles per hour reduced fuel economy by between 3 and 5 miles per gallon, depending on the vehicle.
4. Bumper-buzzing
Tailgating is a bad move for many reasons. First of all, it’s unsafe. You reduce your ability to react if the car in front of you slows or stops. It also means you have to pay ultra-close attention to that car which reduces your ability to scan for other hazards ahead of you and to the sides.
And tailgating wastes gas. Every time the driver ahead taps his brakes, you have to slow down even more than he did. (That’s because you can’t react immediately so you have to slow even more because you’re slowing down later.) Then you accelerate again to get back up to speed and resume your bumper-buzzing routine.
Hang back and you’ll be safer – plus you’ll be able to drive more smoothly and use less fuel. A good rule of thumb is to allow two seconds of space between your car and the one ahead. You can figure that out by counting off two seconds after the car in front of you passes an obvious landmark like an overpass.
5. Driving standing still
You’ve probably heard that it takes more gas to restart a car than to let it run. Maybe that used to be true, but it isn’t anymore. With modern fuel-injection engines, it takes very little extra gas to restart a car once it’s warmed up.
Idling, meanwhile, burns about a half-mile worth of gas every minute, according to the California Energy Commission. That’s why hybrid cars shut down their gasoline engines whenever they stop, even for a moment.
Now you don’t want to shut your engine down for every little stop in your regular, non-hybrid car – it’s not designed for that – but if you’re waiting for someone to run in and out of a convenience store, turn off the engine.
And don’t go through the drive-through at fast food restaurants. You’re already paying enough for the oil in those chicken nuggets.
Bonus tip: Don’t idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. It does your engine no good and it wastes gas. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm.
6. Short hops
For really short trips, take advantage of the opportunity to get some exercise. Try walking to the store instead of driving. You can save gas and burn a few calories instead.
If you can’t hoof it, save up your errands. A lot of short hops that let the engine cool down at home between trips can use twice as much gas as starting the car once and making a big sweep to all your stops, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Go to your farthest destination first so your engine has a chance to reach its optimal operating temperature. Then make your other stops on the way back. With the engine warmed up, the car will restart easily and run efficiently all the way home.
Injustice strikes again.
This artists rendering shows R&B singer R. Kelly, right, watching in court as prosecutors played the sex tape at the center of his child pornography trial in open court in Chicago on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, just hours after opening statements in which they accused the R&B singer of choreographing and starring in the footage with an underage girl. (AP Photo/Lou Chukman)
R Kelly, a celebrity R&B musician in Chicago, has been on trial. With a video tape showing him and a 14 year old cousin engaging in various sex acts, 4 family witnesses ID’ing the girl and many more witnesses ID’ing him, it still seems the jury couldn’t seem to find the man guilty. The fact that they allowed it to go for 4 years before going to trial, the young cousin refused to testify in the trial and denied it was her in the video, and the fact that all the other complaint’s on file (he seems to be a habitual pedophile!) were deemed inadmissible, probably has something to do with it. There are also many fans in Chicago who love this guy, there is a well documented level of corruption in the Chicago legal system… all in all, I think this man got away with this despicable crime (personal opinion). Now that he has probably paid out a lot of cash to “fix his problem”, I’m sure he will carry on with molesting little girls. I will be waiting for him to do this to someone’s child who can’t be paid off and won’t go away. No doubt, we will be hearing about this jerk again.
Story follows:
4 witnesses ID alleged victim in R. Kelly trial
By MICHAEL TARM – May 22, 2008 – Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Prosecutors trying to prove that a woman appeared in a sex tape with R. Kelly when she was underage — over her protestations that she didn’t — have turned to one of her childhood friends, the friend’s father and two relatives.
The R&B superstar is accused in the child pornography trial of videotaping himself having sex with a girl who may have been as young as 13. His attorneys have said Kelly is not on the tape and the alleged victim, now 23, denies she’s the person in the video.
To try to make their case, prosecutors put Simha Jamison, 24, on the stand Wednesday. She said she and the alleged victim were best friends for about 10 years, until their junior year in high school, and that she recognizes her friend as the one in the tape.
When prosecutors asked Jamison if she recognized the man in the tape, she leaned forward in the witness stand, peeked around the corner of the judge’s bench and identified Kelly.
She testified that she and her friend visited Kelly at his recording studio and at a Chicago basketball court dozens of times, starting when they were around the age of 12.
Her friend first introduced her to Kelly as “her godfather,” Jamison said, adding that the singer frequently gave her friend cash gifts — “no less than $100 and no more than $500.”
She said the two also visited the home where authorities say the sex tape was filmed between Jan. 1, 1998, and Nov. 1, 2000. Jamison said her friend never mentioned a sexual relationship with the star.
Defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. said the reason the alleged victim never told the witness she was having a sexual relationship with Kelly was because there wasn’t one and “because it’s not her on the tape.”
“Are you asking or telling me?” Jamison shot back.
“A brutal and delicious take-down of Frank Rich”
The following review of the book Ben Johnson and I have written, Party of Defeat: How Democrats and Radicals Undermined America’s War on Terror Before and After 9/11 appeared in Publisher’s Weekly:
Horowitz collaborates with his FrontPage Magazine coeditor Johnson in a vitriolic attack on the left’s “cowardly” betrayal of “the American cause,” singling out the antiwar stances of John Edwards, Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi for special reproach. According to the authors, “a nation divided during wartime is a nation that invites its own defeat,” and they argue that through ignorance and design, Democrats have obstructed presidential policy, undermined American security and continually failed to grasp the nature of the “Islamofascist” threat. Cataloguing Democratic miscalculations from the Carter administration on, the book asserts that Carter encouraged the Iranian revolution, Clinton fatally ignored bin Laden and Bush’s wiretapping program was perniciously leaked to the New York Times. Their earnest moralizing overshadows these compelling fact patterns as Horowitz and Johnson omit intellectual or historical contextualization that might ratchet down the fever pitch of their argument; sadly, this sensationalism comes at the expense of some truly effective excoriations of liberal figures—particularly a brutal and delicious takedown of Frank Rich. (Aug.)
I suspect the author of this review is a conservative — otherwise why would he enjoy our demolition of the leftist blowhard Frank Rich? He displays a distasteful trait, apparent among some conservatives, which is to distance himself from unpleasant truths. Thus he describes our book as “vitriolic” which it is not. The book doesn’t catalogue Democratic “miscalculations,” it describes Democratic betrayals; the book doesn’t “assert” that Carter encouraged the Iranian revolution; it shows that he did. It doesn’t claim that Bush’s wiretapping program was “perniciously leaked” to the NY Times; it states the fact that the government employees who leaked the program committed treason and the Times abetted it. Why can’t conservatives handle these truths?
To describe our book as “earnest moralizing” is to imply that the unprecedented sabotage of an American war effort by a major political party be sugar coated and treated as merely a regrettable lapse. Our book doesn’t omit contextualization (we show how the analogies to Vietnam are misguided and we describe the betrayal of the Iraq war as “unprecedented”), and our argument is conducted coolly, not at a fever pitch. To describe our heavily footnoted and dispassionately argued book as “sensationalism” is just another form of sabotage.
BTW this is the only review of the book to have appeared since it came out two months ago, although it is already in its third printing and has sold out at Amazon.
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An interesting response to Media Matters and George Soros from 2006… Horowitz has had their number for some time:
Soros’ Team Steps up to the Plate
By David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, August 04, 2006
Not surprisingly, the first malicious attack on the new book Richard Poe and I have written about George Soros’s Shadow Party comes from the George Soros-funded smear site MediaMatters, which is — not surprisingly– run by nationally famous and self-confessed liar, David Brock. Their “review” of The Shadow Party consists of 7,000 plus words of distortions, misrepresentations, fabrications and tendentious guilt-by-associations, without the slightest effort made to understand the book or reflect seriously on the information it provides. What follows is not a full-blown response to these slanders – that will come – but a sampling of one particular set of charges that provides a glimpse of the not surprisingly low level of the MediaMatters myrmidons. (Full disclosure: to avoid boring the reader I have focused on only the first three examples as they appear in sequence in one section of the attack. There are others.) The text that follows is verbatim from the MediaMatters website with my own comments interspersed in blue type:
I am a big fan of David Horowitz since I watched one of his lectures on “The Professors” on C-Span. He does his homework and speaks from having been on both sides of the fence, as he grew up with parents who were card carrying communists. From time to time I post some of his articles with few comments because he and the writers at www.FrontPageMag.com pretty much put the facts, references and documentation out there. If you have never been to the blog or seen Discover the Networks, it is a real education.
Meaty… take the Challenge!
The most anti-American, anti-War troll on the Web now has the opportunity to demonstrate whether or not he can actually debate his “issues” with documented facts and information!!! (Take on “The Right Wing Big Boys” if you will.) I’ll be watching and waiting to see if he has the Kaunas’s to do it! What better way to “debunk Rightwingers” and reach millions while you do it!
Frontpage’s $500 Challenge |
By David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, June 13, 2008
Since we don’t expect the blackout on our book to change, we are offering $500 to any critic of the war who has written for a reputable publication and wants to challenge our thesis. Contact ben@horowitzfreedomcenter.org to sign up.
Pakistani jihadist group declares jihad against U.S.
A June 12th post by Robert Spencer on Jihad Watch tells about a Pakistani terror group declaring Jihad against America… some ally, eh.
As if it weren’t being waged already, the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (Islamic Society and Community, not that this has anything do with Islam, of course) says it is going to wage jihad against the U.S. in retaliation for the recent air strikes. “JUI-F announces to wage Jihad against US,” from Online International News Network, June 12 (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):
CHARSADDA: Strongly condemning US air strikes in Mohmand Agency, Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (F) on Thursday staged a protest demonstration and announced to wage Jihad against US.
Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (F) under the able leadership of District Ameer and Former Member NA Maulana Sabad Gohar Shah took out a peaceful rally here on Thursday.
The Protesters under his leadership strongly condemn US air strikes in Mohmand Agency adding Government must ensure sovereignty of the country.
They described the incident as a naked aggression against Pakistan.
They were of the that the sacrifices meted by Muslim Ummah will not go in waste thus announcing to wage Jihad against US….
Another article points out what happens when a Pakistani ambassador speaks favorably about the United States and tries to remind Pakistanis how much we have helped them over the years. From the Online International New Network:
We should not forget America’s favors: Hussain Haqqani
NEW YORK: The new Pakistani ambassador to America Mr. Hussain Haqqani said that we should remember all the benefits and advantages we got from America and now its time to stop criticism and condemnation.
While addressing to “Celebration of Democracy” organized by Pakistan League of America he said that we have close ties with America since last 50 years and now we can’t afford any confrontation.. We should keep in mind the American aids we received in past so we shall be able to get more in future. Tolerance is a part of democracy and in democracy always the majority takes decisions but minority has the right to talk as well.
” Unfortunately Pakistani unions are not playing an effective role in America and public is moving to extremism, first we have to eliminate our differences and then to promote Pak-US relations and Pakistani embassy will play a fruitful role. I am not an ambassador for a single family yet to serve all the Pakistani community so all the crew of embassy will be available every time”, Mr. Haqqani included.
While answering a question he said that to discuss the recent Mehmand Agency issue, the military leadership of both countries would meet but the respect of national integrity is important as well.
A protest was also held against Mr. Haqqani at that time.
The danger of giving Constitutional rights to our enemies.
On Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer has an interesting article about just exactly what giving “Constitutional Rights” to the murdering terrorists at GITMO may cost us.
Scalia: Supreme Court decision on Gitmo “will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed”
And it will resurrect and create a plethora of judicial jihad cases that will tie up thousands of hours and millions of dollars. What is this about violating the Constitutional rights of people who are not American citizens? Apparently the U.S. Constitution applies to everyone in the world now. “High Court ruling may delay war crimes trials,” by Mark Sherman for Associated Press, June 12 (thanks to all who sent this in):
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay may challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.
In its third rebuke of the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court’s liberal justices were in the majority.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.” Kennedy said federal judges could ultimately order some detainees to be released, but that such orders would depend on security concerns and other circumstances.
President Bush was unhappy with the ruling. “We’ll abide by the court’s decision. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it,” the president said during a press conference in Rome. “It was a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree with those who dissented.”
Bush also said he would consider whether to seek new laws in light of the ruling “so we can safely say to the American people, ‘We’re doing everything we can to protect you.’”
It was not immediately clear whether this ruling, unlike the first two, would lead to prompt hearings for the detainees, some of whom have been held more than 6 years. Roughly 270 men remain at the island prison, classified as enemy combatants and held on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Read the rest of the article and comments that follow on Jihad Watch.
It is my personal belief that all the far left leaning liberals in this country, are only interested in doing the very things that will wreak the economy and get us all murdered by religious extremists who don’t belong here in the first place. These people don’t respect our Constitution, Laws or anything else about this country. They only respect Jihad and control via murder and terror. We would all be wise to hear what the Cheif Justice and Justice Scalia are saying.
HoosierArmyMom
Michelle Malkin has a post up on this subject as well.
Most interesting point made:
Howard Bashman has links to the ruling and oral argument transcript. Justice Scalia’s dissent says it all:
Both the Chief Justice and Justice Antonin Scalia issued dissenting opinions, and all four dissenters joined in both dissents. In his dissent, Justice Scalia writes, “The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.” Justice Scalia’s 25-page dissenting opinion concludes, “The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today. I dissent.”
One Girl – One Ride
Sometimes, young people absolutely amaze me … just like this young 12-yr old girl from Minnesota, who is doing something really spectacular for our Military personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq …
I just received an email from a Marine Mom Friend, with the web site shown below, and I am blown away by what this young lady has set out to do … she will be riding around the state of Minnesota on horseback this summer.
Her goal is to raise enough money to purchase land and build a Ranch where our Military Members can go free of charge for a well-deserved R&R!
Please help us get the word out about this young lady … just click the “Donate” button on her website, as all donations can be given at any Wells-Fargo Bank nationwide.
Make sure you go to her blog page and leave her a note of encouragement!
About
The author of this blog is a conservative Christian who seeks to express her own opinions regarding a wide range of issues confronting American society. She is a woman whom an American Soldier calls “Mom,” the daughter of a World War II Marine who, throughout his life, attributed his most important developmental experiences to his military service. I invite anyone to express his or her own point of view, but I will not tolerate any abridgment of common decency, including vulgar expressions, ad hominem attack, or any violation of civil law respecting libel or slander.
Sign the International petition in support of Free Speech worldwide and Geert Wilders.
“It does not take a majority to prevail… but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
Samuel Adams
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My Angel Dog… Annie, 1993-2008
Anyone who reads much on this blog, knows that my co-blogger and I are “dog people”. This post is about my best girl and angel dog whom I affectionately named “Annie” after the little Orphan chronicled by comic strip artist Harold Gray in 1924. She came to me when I was a single mother living in a rougher neighborhood with my son, who was then in kindergarten. On the day Annie “choose us”, my son was playing with his friend from Montessori school out in the front yard, and they came in the house excited, “Mommy, come see the dog we found”!! Out in my front yard was a gorgeous, black retriever. She wouldn’t come to us, but she didn’t go away. I went inside and got a bowl and put serveral cans of tuna in it and got another bowl and put milk in it. Then I opened the gate on the fence and put the milk on the patio and took the tuna around front and showed it to her. I let her follow me around to the back patio and put the bowl down, instructing the boys to go inside along with me so she’d come in the backyard to eat. After about 3 days of feeding her, she got to where she’d be in the backyard when we returned home from school and work. On day three she came inside the house. We cleaned her up, gave her a collar and she became a part of the family. I could tell, she had been a mommy as her breasts were still stretched from nursing and had been dumped. She was afraid of older, gray haired men and wouldn’t let them in the front door, she was terrified of thunderstorms and would shake if you raised your voice or arms above waist level. She was about 2 years old when I took her to the Vet to have her shots done and to get her spayed.
We worked through her fears that obviously stemmed from her being abused, and she was absolutely a joy around children. She helped me teach my young son the lesson of total love and loyalty and that sometimes you get so much better than you give. Annie became a part of our small family and always gave us love and joy without fail. Yesterday, we said goodbye to our sick angel as she peacefully passed on to the “Rainbow Bridge”. Thank you Annie for all the years of happiness and “best friendship” you gave us. You are sadly missed and will be lovingly remembered for the rest of our lives.
June 22, 2008 Posted by hoosierarmymom | Commentaries | Personal | 4 Comments