Say NO to the Sam Tax

Here's how you can fight back. Refer this to the ballot. Email me at Victoria@kpam.com to get in the queue to get your petition to stop this.
Hear who's involved in the referral, here. Listen at 5pm at KPAM 860 for more details.
It's not the business of Portland city government what kind of car you drive, but Sam Adams says it is. He's willing to go to the mat to change water billing from quarterly to monthly to make his Car Tax more palatable, which tells me:
1) this isn't "temporary" (15 years--long enough for you to forget about it),
2) it won't stay $4.50/household for long,
3) they want us to "trust" them. I understand why they would want us to, but the question is why would we?
Tax money has been spent

Cars in the Crosshairs: No to Car Tax. Portland City Council Meeting this Morning. Be There. WITH UPDATE**

I and several other 5th Listeners (there may have been more upstairs) attended the City Council meeting to be heard about the car tax and were told there would be not testimony. More below: When I asked Sam Adams why before the meeting began he said it was because it was a second reading of the ordinance. When I asked him how that could be since he had just combined the three separate ordinances and changed the language at the behest of the petroleum industry just last week, he told me that, while true, the entire time that political battle waged the one ordinance was always on the agenda. Well, the media missed it and I did too. Sam's finagling with the rules wins again. And you, taxpayers, you lose. They voted to pass the tax.
If I'd been allowed to testify, this is what I would have said:

Good Morning, my name is Victoria Taft, I live in the City of Portland and am a radio talk show host on KPAM 860.
I’m here today as a citizen to urge you to reconsider and please say “no” to this tax today and begin looking inside the city budget for money to be able to repair roads and streets.
Commissioners say that for 15 years road repair and maintenance has been allowed to languish and now it has reached a critical mass…so you need to do something now.
I don’t doubt for a minute that the city has allowed the roads to degrade. There are some potholes out there that could swallow small children.
But let’s be clear here.
The money that previously was used for street maintenance has been spent elsewhere.
You, and the commissioners before you, chose to spend that money on other things.
Even your recent $34,000,000 surplus isn’t being used to fill any potholes or fix any roads.
You’ve chosen to spend money on—among other things-- a statue in homage to a group that flouts the law every week…the Zoobombers…
You’ve had money to spend on tax abatements, subsidies, streetcars, pissoirs for drunks, paying the rent for illegal aliens, acting as a matchmaker between illegal aliens and employers who hire them illegally, gridlock inducing bike boxes, and the so called “voter owned elections” which you didn’t see fit to allow the voters to vote on.
And don’t get me started on the tram.
Now you—The city commissioners---in the guise of maintaining the streets---want to have a hand in choosing the kinds of cars we drive, how much we drive them, and –for that intrusion---stick us with a bill every month …a billing change which will cost –in your estimation---$14 million more.
Those billing costs alone would fill 200,000 potholes.
This money will be used for much more than street maintenance…it will go yet again to fund more of the city commissioners’ pet projects.
Out of a $3 billion dollar budget you’d think you’d have found a few shekels to spend on road maintenance.
Now you say you want us to trust you…that THIS time you’ll spend the money correctly.
Please say “no” to this extraordinary interference in the lives of Portlanders, please say “no” to this unprecedented tax or--- at the very least…let Portlanders vote on this tax increase.

The City Council today takes up Sam Adams' "Safe, Sound and Green Streets Proposal," otherwise known as the CAR TAX.
If this were just another tax you might suck it up and pay it, but Sam comes after cars with both guns blazing by charging each household a monthly fee (which costs the city an additional $14,000,000.00 to do --because the tax would be added to your water bill which would now go from quarterly to monthly) with businesses being charged by the square foot and both being assessed a certain amount of car trips per month. If you drive a certain kind of car, such as a Toyota PIOUS, you'll get a rebate, if you don't you'll pay more. If you take mass transit you get a rebate; if you don't as much you'll pay more. What does mass transit and miles per gallon have to do with road maintenance? Add to this the sister measure by Multnomah County of assessing a car registration fee and the state's interest in increasing the gas tax and you begin to understand that this isn't just about fixing the back log of street repairs, this is an assault on the car. It begins to make it the city and county's business what kind of car you drive, how much, and charging you for it.

Assessing cars a use fee for using the streets is already done through gas taxes, registration fees, licensing, and DEQ.

President May Cave on Enviro Economy Grab. Call Him Now: 202-456-1111

From Junk Science.com

Bush to endorse cap-and-trade in State of the Union?

Trade press rumor is that White house advisors are debating whether President Bush should endorse cap-and-trade legislation in tonight’s State of the Union.

Now would be a good time to contact the White House and urge the President NOT to support global warming regulation! Just say "no" to Kyoto.

Send e-mail to comments@whitehouse.gov or call 202-456-1111. Do it now.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 2:26 pm and is filed under General, Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Democrats: National Security Takes Back Seat to Trial Lawyers

That's really the gist of the show down in the Senate today about making permanent the FISA statute that allows national security spooks to listen in to phone conversations of suspected terrorists. (WaPo story here) The Bush Administration wants to exempt telephone companies from lawsuit liability for helping the government to listen in to the phone conversations. Democrats, who answer to the tort bar, want to leave phone companies open to jack pot justice for helping the federal government for any reason.
It is not unreasonable to allow the phone companies exemptions for helping the United States' national security needs. We definitely need to keep watch on this practice; that's only reasonable; but the Democrats' continuing blockade of this legislation makes them look weak (again) on national security and makes them look like they're once again willing to denigrate national security to score political points with the moveon.commie crowd.
Before you get scrappy about warrantless wiretaps, let me just tell you that they do--eventually--get warrants AND there are many other searches that can take place without warrants. Former terrorist prosecutor Andy McCarthy gives you the deets here.

Kennedy Endorses Obama: Help or Hindrance?

The recent Obama as Jesus art installation.
Let's see that's Caroline Kennedy, Patrick (2am vote) Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy.

Irony: Schumachers Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees to Protesters Who Put Them Out of Business!

Help them here.

The judge:

"Although the (Schumachers) may have had meritorious claims against people whose names they did not know, or even against the City of Portland," Mosman wrote, "they sued people against whom they had no evidence for $6.6 million, sought to restrict their First Amendment rights, and disparaged their reputations with accusations of criminal conduct, terrorist affiliations and responsibility for 'shutting down' a business whose financial solvency was questionable before the protesting activities began."

Maybe if the City of Portland had lifted a finger to help enforce the law and call these anarchists to account they Schumachers would have had the evidence.

Caption Contest

Kucinich: Out

Time for the Big Dunce! Final Fool Nominations Open Now!

Last year's Final Fool was Rosie O'Donnell.
Who will this year's be? It's up to you and your nominations. You may email me at victoria@victoriataft.com or put them in your comment on the blog.

Stimulus? Extend Marginal Tax Rate Cuts to Produce More Growth

How will you spend your $600?

IF YOU WORK: If you paid $300.00 in income taxes you'd get $600 "REBATE"

If you're married: $1200.00
For each child: $300.00

If you work but pay NO TAXES and make $3000.00, you get a $300.00 'rebate.'
IF YOU'RE A COUPLE AND MAKE OVER $170,000.00 NO REBATE.
Businesses will be able to get tax breaks for equipment investment.

Wall Street Journal Graphic
See that graphic from the Wall Street Journal? That shows productivity increases as shown by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). See that big spike after 2003? That's the Bush marginal tax decreases going into effect. Why not make those permanent? Obviously it's not a panacea, but dropping money from planes seems a rather ineffective way to stimulate the economy.
From Investor's Business Daily:

Some 116 million American families will get rebate checks of $600 to $1,200, along with an additional $300 per child. The 116 million families include 35 million that don't pay taxes. So their "rebates" will really amount to one-time welfare payments.

We all like getting checks from the government. But as we've said, this scheme will only take money from some people and give it to others. Some of the money will be saved, some will go to pay down debt and some will be spent on imports. How is that "stimulus"?

Of the plan's total $150 billion in cost, $50 billion will go to businesses. No, it's not a "giveaway," as some have styled it. Businesses will take their breaks and create new products, new jobs and more wealth for all Americans. In time, they will also pay more in taxes, not less. If it's a giveaway, it's to all Americans — not business.

OHSU Pushes Financial Panic Button; Still No Call for Tort Reform, However.

OHSU, after pilfering $200m of the Tobacco settlement(with state consent--thanks, Neil!) , urban renewal funds, PDX funds, etc, to build the tram, SoWa, etc, finds itself in another crucial bind after the state supreme court ruled the quasi public/private teaching university and research facility does not qualify for the state's $200K limited liability cap. See Zero story here.

In short: they've gotta pay just like every other hospital in America if they're found liable for a screw up.

Welcome to the terror dome that is the real world of docs in the box.

Yet, what to do when the cold, hard reality of the real world hits the ivory tower??? OHSU has announced 200 layoffs, closure of rural health care clinics, reductions in medical school admissions and tearing out the kitchen sink. Their world had come to an end. Their tram was left dangling in the wind...

But apparently they've decided to blame their woes on one case. The case of a baby deprived of oxygen after birth, whose parents have sued. Who knew? Jack Bog's blog has a treatment of the case here and Steve Duin has some enlightening observations about OHSU's fiscal accountability (or lack thereof) here in The Zero.

Nowhere, however, does anyone suggest overall tort reform to lessen the liability damages for every doctor and medical facility. Or would that cause too much consternation in their journalati and tort bar circles?

I think people should be compensated for their losses and pain and suffering, don't get me wrong. It's the additional huge punitive damages, lawyers fees, and other costs ladled on that bust the system. Welcome to the real world, OHSU.

Portland Check Jack Scheduled for Vote Wednesday

Mayor Moonbeam and the Rainbow City Council meet Wednesday at 9:30 at council HQ.
Saltzman and Potter will be out of town but there will still be a quorum.
Please contact these council members, be respectful but please tell them that Portlanders can handle no more new taxes. We're tapped out.
More later.

Commissioner Erik Sten
503-823-3589
503-823-3596 (fax)
erik@ci.portland.or.us
503-823-4682

Office of City Commissioner Sam Adams
Phone: (503) 823-3008
Fax: (503) 823-3017
commissionersam@ci.portland.or.us

Randy Leonard
rleonard@ci.portland.or.us

Mayor Potter’s 24-Hour Opinion Line: 503-823-4127
Mayor’s Office Front Desk: 503-823-4120

Dan Saltzman

Phone: 503 823-4151

email: dan@ci.portland.or.us

MLK DAY 2008. "Our God is Marching On" Montgomery, Ala, 1965

Our God Is Marching On!

March 25, 1965. Montgomery, Ala.

My dear and abiding friends, Ralph Abernathy, and to all of the distinguished Americans seated here on the rostrum, my friends and co-workers of the state of Alabama, and to all of the freedom-loving people who have assembled here this afternoon from all over our nation and from all over the world: Last Sunday, more than eight thousand of us started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama. We have walked through desolate valleys and across the trying hills. We have walked on meandering highways and rested our bodies on rocky byways. Some of our faces are burned from the outpourings of the sweltering sun. Some have literally slept in the mud. We have been drenched by the rains. [Audience:] (Speak) Our bodies are tired and our feet are somewhat sore.

But today as I stand before you and think back over that great march, I can say, as Sister Pollard said—a seventy-year-old Negro woman who lived in this community during the bus boycott—and one day, she was asked while walking if she didn’t want to ride. And when she answered, "No," the person said, "Well, aren’t you tired?" And with her ungrammatical profundity, she said, "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested." (Yes, sir. All right) And in a real sense this afternoon, we can say that our feet are tired, (Yes, sir) but our souls are rested.

They told us we wouldn’t get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, (Well. Yes, sir. Talk) but all the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, "We ain’t goin’ let nobody turn us around." (Yes, sir. Speak) [Applause]

Now it is not an accident that one of the great marches of American history should terminate in Montgomery, Alabama. (Yes, sir) Just ten years ago, in this very city, a new philosophy was born of the Negro struggle. Montgomery was the first city in the South in which the entire Negro community united and squarely faced its age-old oppressors. (Yes, sir. Well) Out of this struggle, more than bus [de]segregation was won; a new idea, more powerful than guns or clubs was born. Negroes took it and carried it across the South in epic battles (Yes, sir. Speak) that electrified the nation (Well) and the world.

Yet, strangely, the climactic conflicts always were fought and won on Alabama soil. After Montgomery’s, heroic confrontations loomed up in Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and elsewhere. But not until the colossus of segregation was challenged in Birmingham did the conscience of America begin to bleed. White America was profoundly aroused by Birmingham because it witnessed the whole community of Negroes facing terror and brutality with majestic scorn and heroic courage. And from the wells of this democratic spirit, the nation finally forced Congress (Well) to write legislation (Yes, sir) in the hope that it would eradicate the stain of Birmingham. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave Negroes some part of their rightful dignity, (Speak, sir) but without the vote it was dignity without strength. (Yes, sir)

Once more the method of nonviolent resistance (Yes) was unsheathed from its scabbard, and once again an entire community was mobilized to confront the adversary. (Yes, sir) And again the brutality of a dying order shrieks across the land. Yet, Selma, Alabama, became a shining moment in the conscience of man. If the worst in American life lurked in its dark streets, the best of American instincts arose passionately from across the nation to overcome it. (Yes, sir. Speak) There never was a moment in American history (Yes, sir) more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger (Yes) at the side of its embattled Negroes.

The confrontation of good and evil compressed in the tiny community of Selma (Speak, speak) generated the massive power (Yes, sir. Yes, sir) to turn the whole nation to a new course. A president born in the South (Well) had the sensitivity to feel the will of the country, (Speak, sir) and in an address that will live in history as one of the most passionate pleas for human rights ever made by a president of our nation, he pledged the might of the federal government to cast off the centuries-old blight. President Johnson rightly praised the courage of the Negro for awakening the conscience of the nation. (Yes, sir)

On our part we must pay our profound respects to the white Americans who cherish their democratic traditions over the ugly customs and privileges of generations and come forth boldly to join hands with us. (Yes, sir) From Montgomery to Birmingham, (Yes, sir) from Birmingham to Selma, (Yes, sir) from Selma back to Montgomery, (Yes) a trail wound in a circle long and often bloody, yet it has become a highway up from darkness. (Yes, sir) Alabama has tried to nurture and defend evil, but evil is choking to death in the dusty roads and streets of this state. (Yes, sir. Speak, sir) So I stand before you this afternoon (Speak, sir. Well) with the conviction that segregation is on its deathbed in Alabama, and the only thing uncertain about it is how costly the segregationists and Wallace will make the funeral. (Go ahead. Yes, sir) [Applause]

Our whole campaign in Alabama has been centered around the right to vote. In focusing the attention of the nation and the world today on the flagrant denial of the right to vote, we are exposing the very origin, the root cause, of racial segregation in the Southland. Racial segregation as a way of life did not come about as a natural result of hatred between the races immediately after the Civil War. There were no laws segregating the races then. And as the noted historian, C. Vann Woodward, in his book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, clearly points out, the segregation of the races was really a political stratagem employed by the emerging Bourbon interests in the South to keep the southern masses divided and southern labor the cheapest in the land. You see, it was a simple thing to keep the poor white masses working for near-starvation wages in the years that followed the Civil War. Why, if the poor white plantation or mill worker became dissatisfied with his low wages, the plantation or mill owner would merely threaten to fire him and hire former Negro slaves and pay him even less. Thus, the southern wage level was kept almost unbearably low.

Toward the end of the Reconstruction era, something very significant happened. (Listen to him) That is what was known as the Populist Movement. (Speak, sir) The leaders of this movement began awakening the poor white masses (Yes, sir) and the former Negro slaves to the fact that they were being fleeced by the emerging Bourbon interests. Not only that, but they began uniting the Negro and white masses (Yeah) into a voting bloc that threatened to drive the Bourbon interests from the command posts of political power in the South.

To meet this threat, the southern aristocracy began immediately to engineer this development of a segregated society. (Right) I want you to follow me through here because this is very important to see the roots of racism and the denial of the right to vote. Through their control of mass media, they revised the doctrine of white supremacy. They saturated the thinking of the poor white masses with it, (Yes) thus clouding their minds to the real issue involved in the Populist Movement. They then directed the placement on the books of the South of laws that made it a crime for Negroes and whites to come together as equals at any level. (Yes, sir) And that did it. That crippled and eventually destroyed the Populist Movement of the nineteenth century.

If it may be said of the slavery era that the white man took the world and gave the Negro Jesus, then it may be said of the Reconstruction era that the southern aristocracy took the world and gave the poor white man Jim Crow. (Yes, sir) He gave him Jim Crow. (Uh huh) And when his wrinkled stomach cried out for the food that his empty pockets could not provide, (Yes, sir) he ate Jim Crow, a psychological bird that told him that no matter how bad off he was, at least he was a white man, better than the black man. (Right sir) And he ate Jim Crow. (Uh huh) And when his undernourished children cried out for the necessities that his low wages could not provide, he showed them the Jim Crow signs on the buses and in the stores, on the streets and in the public buildings. (Yes, sir) And his children, too, learned to feed upon Jim Crow, (Speak) their last outpost of psychological oblivion. (Yes, sir)

Thus, the threat of the free exercise of the ballot by the Negro and the white masses alike (Uh huh) resulted in the establishment of a segregated society. They segregated southern money from the poor whites; they segregated southern mores from the rich whites; (Yes, sir) they segregated southern churches from Christianity (Yes, sir); they segregated southern minds from honest thinking; (Yes, sir) and they segregated the Negro from everything. (Yes, sir) That’s what happened when the Negro and white masses of the South threatened to unite and build a great society: a society of justice where none would pray upon the weakness of others; a society of plenty where greed and poverty would be done away; a society of brotherhood where every man would respect the dignity and worth of human personality. (Yes, sir)

We’ve come a long way since that travesty of justice was perpetrated upon the American mind. James Weldon Johnson put it eloquently. He said:

We have come over a way

That with tears hath been watered. (Yes, sir)

We have come treading our paths

Through the blood of the slaughtered. (Yes, sir)

Out of the gloomy past, (Yes, sir)

Till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam

Of our bright star is cast. (Speak, sir)

Today I want to tell the city of Selma, (Tell them, Doctor) today I want to say to the state of Alabama, (Yes, sir) today I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, that we are not about to turn around. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. (Yes, sir)

Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. (Yes, sir) The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The wanton release of their known murderers would not discourage us. We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) Like an idea whose time has come, (Yes, sir) not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. (Yes, sir) We are moving to the land of freedom. (Yes, sir)

Let us therefore continue our triumphant march (Uh huh) to the realization of the American dream. (Yes, sir) Let us march on segregated housing (Yes, sir) until every ghetto or social and economic depression dissolves, and Negroes and whites live side by side in decent, safe, and sanitary housing. (Yes, sir) Let us march on segregated schools (Let us march, Tell it) until every vestige of segregated and inferior education becomes a thing of the past, and Negroes and whites study side-by-side in the socially-healing context of the classroom.

Let us march on poverty (Let us march) until no American parent has to skip a meal so that their children may eat. (Yes, sir) March on poverty (Let us march) until no starved man walks the streets of our cities and towns (Yes, sir) in search of jobs that do not exist. (Yes, sir) Let us march on poverty (Let us march) until wrinkled stomachs in Mississippi are filled, (That's right) and the idle industries of Appalachia are realized and revitalized, and broken lives in sweltering ghettos are mended and remolded.

Let us march on ballot boxes, (Let’s march) march on ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena.

Let us march on ballot boxes until the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs (Yes, sir) will be transformed into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens. (Speak, Doctor)

Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until the Wallaces of our nation tremble away in silence.

Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until we send to our city councils (Yes, sir), state legislatures, (Yes, sir) and the United States Congress, (Yes, sir) men who will not fear to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.

Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march. March) until brotherhood becomes more than a meaningless word in an opening prayer, but the order of the day on every legislative agenda.

Let us march on ballot boxes (Yes) until all over Alabama God’s children will be able to walk the earth in decency and honor.

There is nothing wrong with marching in this sense. (Yes, sir) The Bible tells us that the mighty men of Joshua merely walked about the walled city of Jericho (Yes) and the barriers to freedom came tumbling down. (Yes, sir) I like that old Negro spiritual, (Yes, sir) "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho." In its simple, yet colorful, depiction (Yes, sir) of that great moment in biblical history, it tells us that:

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, (Tell it)

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, (Yes, sir)

And the walls come tumbling down. (Yes, sir. Tell it)

Up to the walls of Jericho they marched, spear in hand. (Yes, sir)

"Go blow them ramhorns," Joshua cried,

"‘Cause the battle am in my hand." (Yes, sir)

These words I have given you just as they were given us by the unknown, long-dead, dark-skinned originator. (Yes, sir) Some now long-gone black bard bequeathed to posterity these words in ungrammatical form, (Yes, sir) yet with emphatic pertinence for all of us today. (Uh huh)

The battle is in our hands. And we can answer with creative nonviolence the call to higher ground to which the new directions of our struggle summons us. (Yes, sir) The road ahead is not altogether a smooth one. (No) There are no broad highways that lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions. But we must keep going.

In the glow of the lamplight on my desk a few nights ago, I gazed again upon the wondrous sign of our times, full of hope and promise of the future. (Uh huh) And I smiled to see in the newspaper photographs of many a decade ago, the faces so bright, so solemn, of our valiant heroes, the people of Montgomery. To this list may be added the names of all those (Yes) who have fought and, yes, died in the nonviolent army of our day: Medgar Evers, (Speak) three civil rights workers in Mississippi last summer, (Uh huh) William Moore, as has already been mentioned, (Yes, sir) the Reverend James Reeb, (Yes, sir) Jimmy Lee Jackson, (Yes, sir) and four little girls in the church of God in Birmingham on Sunday morning. (Yes, sir) But in spite of this, we must go on and be sure that they did not die in vain. (Yes, sir) The pattern of their feet as they walked through Jim Crow barriers in the great stride toward freedom is the thunder of the marching men of Joshua, (Yes, sir) and the world rocks beneath their tread. (Yes, sir)

My people, my people, listen. (Yes, sir) The battle is in our hands. (Yes, sir) The battle is in our hands in Mississippi and Alabama and all over the United States. (Yes, sir) I know there is a cry today in Alabama, (Uh huh) we see it in numerous editorials: "When will Martin Luther King, SCLC, SNCC, and all of these civil rights agitators and all of the white clergymen and labor leaders and students and others get out of our community and let Alabama return to normalcy?"

But I have a message that I would like to leave with Alabama this evening. (Tell it) That is exactly what we don’t want, and we will not allow it to happen, (Yes, sir) for we know that it was normalcy in Marion (Yes, sir) that led to the brutal murder of Jimmy Lee Jackson. (Speak) It was normalcy in Birmingham (Yes) that led to the murder on Sunday morning of four beautiful, unoffending, innocent girls. It was normalcy on Highway 80 (Yes, sir) that led state troopers to use tear gas and horses and billy clubs against unarmed human beings who were simply marching for justice. (Speak, sir) It was normalcy by a cafe in Selma, Alabama, that led to the brutal beating of Reverend James Reeb.

It is normalcy all over our country (Yes, sir) which leaves the Negro perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of vast ocean of material prosperity. It is normalcy all over Alabama (Yeah) that prevents the Negro from becoming a registered voter. (Yes) No, we will not allow Alabama (Go ahead) to return to normalcy. [Applause]

The only normalcy that we will settle for (Yes, sir) is the normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all of God’s children. The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy that allows judgment to run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. (Yes, sir) The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy of brotherhood, the normalcy of true peace, the normalcy of justice.

And so as we go away this afternoon, let us go away more than ever before committed to this struggle and committed to nonviolence. I must admit to you that there are still some difficult days ahead. We are still in for a season of suffering in many of the black belt counties of Alabama, many areas of Mississippi, many areas of Louisiana. I must admit to you that there are still jail cells waiting for us, and dark and difficult moments. But if we will go on with the faith that nonviolence and its power can transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows, we will be able to change all of these conditions.

And so I plead with you this afternoon as we go ahead: remain committed to nonviolence. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding. We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man. (Yes)

I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?" (Speak, sir) Somebody’s asking, "How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?" Somebody’s asking, "When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?" Somebody’s asking, "When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, (Speak, speak, speak) plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, (Speak) and truth bear it?" (Yes, sir)

I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, (Yes, sir) however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, (No sir) because "truth crushed to earth will rise again." (Yes, sir)

How long? Not long, (Yes, sir) because "no lie can live forever." (Yes, sir)

How long? Not long, (All right. How long) because "you shall reap what you sow." (Yes, sir)

How long? (How long?) Not long: (Not long)

Truth forever on the scaffold, (Speak)

Wrong forever on the throne, (Yes, sir)

Yet that scaffold sways the future, (Yes, sir)

And, behind the dim unknown,

Standeth God within the shadow,

Keeping watch above his own.

How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. (Yes, sir)

How long? Not long, (Not long) because:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; (Yes, sir)

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; (Yes)

He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; (Yes, sir)

His truth is marching on. (Yes, sir)

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; (Speak, sir)

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat. (That’s right)

O, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant my feet!

Our God is marching on. (Yeah)

Glory, hallelujah! (Yes, sir) Glory, hallelujah! (All right)

Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on. [Applause]

The Zero's No Hero Here. Bias Abounds.

Above picture from the Oregonian.
I'm not a big fan of the feds telling locals how to do their jobs but, let's be honest, there are some good things about No Child Left Behind. Holding teachers accountable for imparting knowledge that kids need to know and testing those kids to make sure they learn is the least we can do. The teachers union hates it. I understand. There are many TERRIFIC teachers in Oregon and for them NCLB dumbs down the process because THEY CAN DO BETTER. Alas, not all teachers are so great, hence NCLB.
But lest you wonder what The Zero feels about NCLB just look at the picture they chose to run taken during a speech by the Education Secretary Margaret Spelling in Portland. No bias here. Sure.

Portland Asks...Him to Leave?

Are YOU in Favor of Higher Taxes to Build Bike Paths, Repair Roads, Fund Street Cars?

Portland Biz Journal poll is asking pretty much the same question here.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics... Will MSM FINALLY Expose Apparent Fraud in Iraq "Civilian" Death Counts

The National Journal is an inside the beltway, on the down low type of publication read by media elites. Will they now expose the badly flawed-- to the point of fraudulent-- claims made by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health researchers who, with minimal "peer review," published this mess in the Lancet? Not once but twice? BOTH occasions purposely timed to drop RIGHT BEFORE ELECTIONS in 2004 and 2006??

Here's the story and below are some excerpts from it. The ridiculous claims of 650,000 deaths of Iraqi civilians raised eyebrows at not only the White House, Pentagon, and the lefty group, Iraq Body Count (excerpt from a previous story below), and Stephen Moore (himself a statistics expert) in the Wall Street Journal, but now from a source maybe the MSM will --trust? Probably not. But now you can once again see for yourself how the books were apparently cooked.

The authors of the original "studies" all but shout out that their data were preordained. Half the study was paid for by people the researchers wouldn't name and one they would reveal: George Soros' Open Society Institute. You remember him. He's the one who spent $30,000,000 of his own money to try to beat the G 4-3 in the last election--right before the first phony study was released.

Well, I'm no statistician so let's take a look at some of the more interesting findings experts consulted by the National Journal revealed:

How to explain the enormous discrepancy between The Lancet's estimation of Iraqi war deaths and those from studies that used other methodologies? For starters, the authors of the Lancet study followed a model that ensured that even minor components of the data, when extrapolated over the whole population, would yield huge differences in the death toll. Skeptical commentators have highlighted questionable assumptions, implausible data, and ideological leanings among the authors, Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, and Les Roberts.

Some critics go so far as to suggest that the field research on which the study is based may have been performed improperly -- or not at all. The key person involved in collecting the data -- Lafta, the researcher who assembled the survey teams, deployed them throughout Iraq, and assembled the results -- has refused to answer questions about his methods.

"The authors refuse to provide anyone with the underlying data," said David Kane, a statistician and a fellow at the Institute for Quantitative Social Statistics at Harvard University. Some critics have wondered whether the Iraqi researchers engaged in a practice known as "curb-stoning," sitting on a curb and filling out the forms to reach a desired result. Another possibility is that the teams went primarily into neighborhoods controlled by anti-American militias and were steered to homes that would provide information about the "crimes" committed by the Americans.

Fritz Scheuren, vice president for statistics at the National Opinion Research Center and a past president of the American Statistical Association, said, "They failed to do any of the [routine] things to prevent fabrication." The weakest part of the Lancet surveys is their reliance on an unsupervised Iraqi survey team, contended Scheuren, who has recently trained survey workers in Iraq.

Design And Implementation
Critics say that the surveys used too few clusters, and too few people, to do the job properly.

Black-Box Data
With the original data unavailable, other scholars cannot verify the findings, a key test of scientific rigor.

Ideological Bias
Virtually everyone connected with the study has been an outspoken opponent of U.S. actions in Iraq. (So are several of the study's biggest critics, such as Iraq Body Count.) Whether this affected the authors' scientific judgments and led them to turn a blind eye to flaws is up for debate.

The anti war Iraq Body Count group has said in a previous story about the discrepancies:

The IBC says that such assertions suggested incompetence/fraud on a massive scale by hospitals and ministries, self-destructive behaviour by the wounded, an utter failure by agencies to notice decimation of the male population and an abject media failure to observe the scale of events.

The IBC concludes: "In the light of such extreme and improbable implications, a rational alternative conclusion to be considered is that the authors have drawn conclusions from unrepresentative data. In addition, totals of the magnitude generated by this study are unnecessary to brand the invasion and occupation of Iraq a human and strategic tragedy."

Hillary Cries: Pop Up Video Version *UPDATED

Are WaPo wags forgetting that she cried in order to get the chick vote? This shows "women are experienced" enough. Homie, please.

The path to the presidency is rarely smooth, but the turmoil of the past few weeks disrupted what had appeared to be an extraordinarily methodical march to the Democratic nomination.

A campaign built on a strategy of establishing that a woman was experienced enough to be president succeeded so much that suddenly Clinton became the symbol of status quo

running against the agent of change, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Lulled into false confidence by a gusher of money and sky-high poll numbers, the Clinton team recognized the threat late and was forced to retool literally on the fly as it jetted from Iowa to New Hampshire last Thursday night.

When in Doubt, Cry... What a Pair.

Hillary's Going for it. First Laughs. Then Tears. Now (Phony?) Shirt Ironing Antics.

Hillary LEADS Obama in NH. Maybe Crying Helped!

From Zogby

Democrats NH Tracking	1-1/4	1231/13
Clinton	32%	32%
Obama	28%	26%
Edwards	20%	20%
Richardson	7%	7%
Kucinich	3%	3%
Biden	2%	2%
Dodd	1%	1%
Undecided	7%	8%

Republicans NH Tracking	1-2/5	1-1/4	1231/13
McCain	31%	32%	34%
Romney	32%	30%	30%
Huckabee	12%	12%	10%
Giuliani	7%	9%	9%
Paul	6%	7%	7%
Thompson	3%	3%	2%
Hunter	1%	<1%	1%
Undecided	7%	7%	6%

Hillary Cries

Looks Like Swiftboat Weather...Who's Next?

A candidate will be "swiftboated" Monday at the National Press Club. Question: If the claim is true, can you call it "swiftboating?" Here's the email I got this weekend:

Candidate to be Swift-Boated Tomorrow in D.C

Press Advisory

Who: A leading major U.S. Presidential Candidate
Why: This years' Swift-Boating" will occur with the release of a new book published by Revelation Press and available this week. The author is concerned about the danger of this candidate misleading the American people if they were to become president. Built around irrefutable hard and cold facts – these allegations come from a former TV business news editor, a twice-decorated military veteran who shares this candidate's party affiliation – and who has known the candidate personally since their college days. This book literally gives "chapter and verse" about this candidate's less-than-candid candor with the American people. Unlike "Rather-Gate" and the original "Swift Boat" book, this former TV journalist's book is no fabrication – it is supported by 10 pages of meticulously-researched end-notes citing original source material supporting every factual assertion about the candidate's failure to shoot straight with the American people, and this breach-of-faith's implications for the Presidency.

Where: National Press Club, Murrow Room, Washington D.C.

When: 1:30 p.m. January 7, 2008

The Best Email of the Week

In a news conference Deanna Favre announced she will be the starting QB for the Packers this coming Sunday. Deanna asserts that she is qualified to be starting QB because she has spent the past 16 years married to Brett while he played QB for the Packers. During this period of time she became familiar with the definition of a corner blitz, and is now completely comfortable with other terminology of the Packers offense. A survey of Packers fans shows that 50% of those polled supported the move.

Does this sounds idiotic and unbelievable to you? Well, Hillary Clinton makes the same claims as to why she is qualified to be President and 50% of democrats polled agreed. She has never run a City, County, or State.
When told Hillary Clinton has experience because she has 8-years in the White House, Dick Morris stated, "So has the pastry chef."

Illegal Alien is 'Texan of the Year'

When you can't argue f