It seemed like such a practical and good arrangement, the kind that moms have been making with each other since the beginning of time: One woman would watch her friends’ kids while they waited for the school bus so the other women could go to their jobs.
And then the Michigan Department of Human Services stepped in to tell the Good Samaritan mother that she was facing fines and possible jail time for running an illegal day care center.
“To me, this is just a friend helping a friend, plain and simple,” Lisa Snyder said during an interview with TODAY’s Matt Lauer from her Middleville, Mich., home Tuesday.
“Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved.”
-Nicolo Machiavelli, "The Prince"
In wake of the disclosure that Iran's been secretly developing (at least one) secret underground uranium enrichment facility (sounds like spies were caught) or face more harsh words and stern warnings from the "outraged" international community, Iran offers the following response:
Iran said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles during military drills Sunday by the elite Revolutionary Guard, a show of force days after the U.S. warned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility it was secretly constructing.
Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, said Iran also tested a multiple missile launcher for the first time. The official English-language Press TV showed pictures of at least two missiles being fired simultaneously and said they were from Sunday's drill in a central Iran desert. In the clip, men could be heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" as the missiles were launched.
"We are going to respond to any military action in a crushing manner and it doesn't make any difference which country or regime has launched the aggression," state media quoted Salami as saying. He said the missiles successfully hit their targets.
President Obama's biggest weakness is the perception (and the reality?) that he is "no George W. Bush"; that military action as a means of kumbaya diplomacy is off the tables and not an option. In short, President Obama is not feared.
Ahmadinejad praises Obama. Castro praises Obama. Chavez praises Obama. Now why do you suppose this is?
George W. Bush was feared (at least in his first term, up until he became damaged politically).
Gee, I wonder what NK's been up to in the shadow of the media spotlight on Iran.
Barack H. Obama is loved. Is America any safer? Cross-posted at Flopping Aces
Iran pre-emptively declares to IAEA, "Hey....guess what, guys?", after learning we've known about it.
Apparently we've known about this for a while (since the Bush administration). No surprises, really. What's amusing is "more harsh words" from the international community. Like that's going to accomplish much of anything.
I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. A part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies and a belief on, on certain critical issues, America had acted unilaterally without regard for the interests of others.
And this is has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism which, too often, has served as an excuse for collective inaction.
~~~
After all, it is easy to walk up to this podium and point fingers and stoke divisions. Nothing is easier than blaming others for our troubles and absolving ourselves of responsibility for our choices and our actions. Anybody can do that.
Like blaming the previous Administration for the state of affairs today and giving validity to misperceptions? Good grief!
“Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right,” - Venezuelan “president” Hugo Chavez
A tourist is reflected in the window of a shop displaying shirts and pouches bearing an image President Barack Obama’s face imprinted over that of China’s late leader Mao Zedong, in the popular tourist area of Houhai in central Beijing September 21, 2009. The shop has sold thousands of products bearing the “Oba Mao” design since stocks arrived just over a month ago, the shop owner said. REUTERS/David Gray
No, I’m not saying our president is a communist….I’m just sayin’….*snicker*
Anti-Afghan Forces detonate a rocket on a convoy in Afghanistan with children in the immediate area. The 951st EN Sapper Co, attached to Task Force Spartan, treat Afghan children wounded when they are conducting a routine patrol near Charkh Afghanistan and their convoy is struck by a rocket. Spc Chris Baker of Task Force Spartan, 10th Mountain Division, reports.
Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day...Aaarrgh!
Ahoy thar mateys! Why shiver me timbers, September 19th be once again International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Aaaarrr!
Hoist up the Jolly Roger, me hearties, and enjoy the sweet trade o' swashbloggin' t'day...aarrgh! And watch out for them thar land lubbers an' lily-livered liberal scallywags, who dare tax yer booty and steal your grog!
Make them Sons of a Biscuit Eater walk the plank or keelhaul thar carcasses across Davy Jones' Locker instead....aarrr!
Glenn Beck just wrapped up what had to be the most compelling radio I’ve heard… and lately, most of his shows have been pretty compelling.
Whew, where to start? Well, how about this: you should make it a point to do two things today: watch his TV show at 5 ET this afternoon on Fox News, and hit the Big Government website an hour earlier at 4 ET.
Here’s what you’ll find – the latest video sting of ACORN. This one in a San Bernardino ACORN office where the employee can’t talk fast enough about the connections they have to politicians (naming them by name) and even an admission of murder.
Scott Baker of Breitbart TV’s The B-Cast was on during Glenn’s final segment, connecting the dots between POTUS advisor Valerie Jarrett and Obama’s past,
I made another video, this year, to memorialize the events of 9/11:
Mixed into the images from 9/11/2001, are related images from its aftermath: Iraq, Afghanistan, the War on Terror.
And please remember David Reed Gamboa-Brandhorst and his fathers, Daniel and Ron....3 among the 2,996 stolen from us that Tuesday morning, 8 years ago....
How many of you remember what it was like to be 3 years old? How many of you can remember what you did just 3 years ago? How many of you have projected 3 years into the future, thinking that 3 years was a long time away to be planning for, that far in advance? How many of you have ever imagined what it would be like if 3 years was the average life expectancy? How would you spend your time if 3 years was all that you had left to live? 4 years to graduate from high school...4 years is the norm to earn an undergraduate degree from college. What could 3 years give you? What could you give back to the world and to your country, in just 3 short years?
David Reed Gamboa-Brandhorst was born June 23, 1998. That same month, an enemy of the United States few Americans knew about, Osama bin Laden, was placed on the FBI's most wanted list. 2 months later, on August 7th, the world saw simultaneous bomb attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. 224 were killed, including 12 U.S. citizens. Worst was yet to come...
We owe it to ourselves as Americans- as patriots- to personalize the loss of our fellow citizens, then and now. They are our brothers and sisters; our fellow Americans, and fellow human beings.
The lessons of September 11th: Always remember, and never forget.
When Handouts, Charity, and American Generosity Fuels Resentment
Sgt. Donald Herring from the Army's 64th Armored Regiment distributes toys to Iraqi children during a joint patrol with Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood. oleg popov, reuters
Not everyone appreciates being offered handouts. It can be quite insulting.
Apparently, all those instances of American soldiers passing out toys and candy and school supplies to Afghan children might be doing some harm in counterinsurgency operations. Instead of goodwill, such handouts may be breeding resentment by shaming and embarrassing Afghan parents who aren't able to provide such items for their children, themselves.
Apparently, the three most requested books according to journalist Besan Sheikh, out of a library of 13,500 books at Guantanamo Bay, by the 229 remaining detainees at Gitmo are:
1) The Harry Potter novels
2) Cervantes’ Don Quixote
3) Barack Obama’s Dreams from my Father
Hmm...3 works of fiction? Followed by religious tomes. I'd be curious to know which ones.
Regarding President Obama's Address to School Kids
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the importance of education while at an event at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, September 8, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES POLITICS EDUCATION)
It was a fine speech; the best I've heard him deliver. I think any child pulled out of school due to parental political partisanship missed out on a beautiful, presidential message.
Mike posted earlier on how Democrats plan to memorializecommemorate the events of September 11th, this year:
Van Jones, an Obama environmental adviser, said 9/11 would be an opportunity to “connect, to find other people in your peer group who are also passionate about repowering America but also greening up America and cleaning up America.”
We need to get down on our knees and thank these Native American communities. But also the Latino community, Asian community, and every other community that’s willing to come here and help us out, ’cause we obviously need some help. We need some wisdom from someplace else. ‘Cause what we’ve come up with here don’t make no sense at all."
* [W]hat about our sisters and brothers that are in prison right now?
Yeah, America's the worst of all possible nations- a blight upon the planet earth that "don't make no sense at all". Throw it all out- bathwater, baby, and all.
Any surprise he’d also believe 9/11 was orchestrated by the machinations of our government than by Islamic takfiri terrorists?
GWoRIT vs. OCO: Which has made/is making America Safer?
The shadow of the head of U.S. President Barack Obama falls upon a copy of the U.S. Constitution as he makes a speech on America's national security at the National Archives in Washington, May 21, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Coming on the heels of Cheney's FOX News Sunday interview, in which the former Vice President leveled criticism toward the current President that he is increasing America's vulnerability to terrorism, is an interview by Jake Tapper with the president’s National Security Adviser, Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.). Jones claims that under the Obama Administration, we have been more successful in putting terrorists out of business and in improving international relations:
"This type of radical fundamentalism or terrorism is a threat not only to the United States but to the global community," Jones said. "The world is coming together on this matter now that President Obama has taken the leadership on it and is approaching it in a slightly different way - actually a radically different way - to discuss things with other rulers to enhance the working relationships with law enforcement agencies - both national and international."
Jones said that "we are seeing results that indicate more captures, more deaths of radical leaders and a kind of a global coming-together by the fact that this is a threat to not only the United States but to the world at-large and the world is moving toward doing something about it."
The former Marine General didn't provide any specific numbers to back up his claim, but he said "there is an increasing trend and I think we seen that in different parts of the world over the last few months for sure." He added that he was not "making a tally sheet saying we are killing more people, capturing more people than they did -- that is not the issue."
