Ah, Texas; the "Lone Star" state. The state that gave us the roughest, toughest, meanest, nastiest President ever! And even her son, George W Bush became President later on. Land of the super nuts like Ron and Rand Paul (Rand grew up there),Louis Gohmert, Randy "Screaming 'Baby Killer'" Neugebauer, and the guy who apologized to BP Oil after the spill, Joe Barton. Also, Rick "Whoops" Perry (we sure loved you wearing that Brokeback Mountain jacket, dude) and who can forget Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, who once told a group of college students that “the greatest threat to America is not necessarily a recession or even another terrorist attack…The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias".

And now we have Jr. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Texas - land of the dinosaurs.
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4 comments (Latest Comment: 02/18/2013 04:39:11 by Will in Chicago)

On Tues evening, overshadowed by the State of the Union speech, was the sad end to a sad story that was playing out like a latter-day Rambo movie. LAPD officer Christopher Dorner died in a mountain cabin in Big Bear California either by fire or gunfire - likely self-inflicted. There are many who say this tragedy was only a matter of time. The difference was that Dorner had the training to actually carry it out.

His "manifesto" was a diatribe against the entrenched racism and bigotry that sits like a cancer in the heart of the LAPD. He set out to target those he felt wronged him when tried to report it and fight it. He is certainly no hero, but more a symptom of a dysfunctional organization that needs to be sanitized with sunlight from top to bottom.
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52 comments (Latest Comment: 02/16/2013 02:46:52 by TriSec)

Last night America was treated to one of our most venerated spectacles: the State of the Union address. Like all things official and governmental, there was the usual bit of pomp and circumstance as various groups of people were announced and paraded in, with lots of smiles and handshakes and schmoozing.

Finally, it was President Obama's turn, and he made his way to the dais. Perfunctory as always, the Speaker announced "Ladies and Gentlemen - the President of the United States" and as if on-cue - a standing ovation ensued. All of it is predictable and silly and entertaining to watch. And then - the President got down to business.
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92 comments (Latest Comment: 02/13/2013 22:26:00 by Raine)

By now I am sure you have heard the surprising news that Pope Benedict is stepping down from the Papacy. Who will the next Pope be?
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64 comments (Latest Comment: 02/12/2013 01:14:35 by livingonli)

Good Morning.

Last week, I wrote a blog about Scouting and the ongoing debate about our national membership policy. Well, it's another week, and another week with Scouting in the headlines, so it's another blog about Scouting.

National Leadership is hung up on just two words out of the many hundreds, if not thousands, of words and directives that make up what it is to be a scout.

"Morally Straight".

These words come from the membership oath, and as I described it last weekend:

. . . and morally straight.
To be a person of strong character, your relationships with others should be honest and open. You should respect and defend the rights of all people. Be clean in your speech and actions, and remain faithful in your religious beliefs. The values you practice as a Scout will help you shape a life of virtue and self-reliance.
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7 comments (Latest Comment: 02/09/2013 23:44:45 by Will in Chicago)