Occupy Denver, in conjunction with the other Occupy groups has announced tomorrow to be a day for a "general strike".
They plan to rally at Civic Center Park around noon, and then march through downtown from 12:30 to 1:30.
At that point they plan to return to the park and per a spokesperson, " occupy
until dusk with teach ins, music, trading stations, food, and activities
for all".
May Day, as May 1 is sometimes known, is celebrated as International Worker's Day in over eighty countries. For years it has been used to celebrate the labor movement, and Occupy is not going to ditch that trend.
On July 20, the muchly anticipated third part of the Batman trilogy comes out, in The Dark Knight Rises.
The third movie is set eight years after the end of the second. Batman (reprised by Christian Bale) is still a wanted fugitive, but he must return after the terrorist leader Bane (Tom Hardy) takes over the city.
Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine all return in their respective roles. Anne Hathaway makes her entrance as Catwoman, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays John Blake.
To most of us Catwoman is a familiar character. But if you didn't follow the comics, you might not know Bane at all.
The movie does look it will be just as good as the previous two, and it will be interesting to see how they use it to end the series.
Between May 2 and 10, Exercise Olympic Garden will be taking place in, around, and over London. During the exercise the Royal Navy, Air Force, and Army will practice various scenarios in which the games could be threatened.
Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said, "Support for the Olympic Games
will be an important task for defense in 2012 and this exercise is
about pushing our people and our systems to the limit to ensure that we
are ready for the challenge. The majority of this exercise will be played out in full
view of the public and I hope that it will have a secondary effect of
reassuring the British people that everything possible is being done to
ensure this will be a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games."
A total of 23,700 security personnel will be used during the Games. That number will include 13,500 military as well as police, private security guards, and some volunteers.
Some controversy has arisen over the possibility of surface to air missiles being deployed, in the area, for added protection during the games. Concerns mostly are over debris falling from them if they are used.
Microsoft has invested $300 million in Barnes & Nobles' Nook.
Immediately after the deal was announced, stocks for both companies rose.
Microsoft benefits from the deal, by getting a foot in the e-book market; while Barnes & Nobles gets additional funding and backing.
Barnes & Noble has been discussing splitting their digital business into a separate company. If they did so, Microsoft would have a 17.6% hold in the company.
Liberty Media already has an investment in the Nook, that would give it a 16.6% stake if a new company is formed.
On April 30, 1803 the United States makes the Louisiana Purchase from France. The sale more than doubled the size of the US.
In 1801, Spain had signed a secret treaty, with France, to give back the territory known as Louisiana. Reports of the treaty reached America, causing much unease amongst the Americans who had been settling further and further west, as much of their supplies came up the Mississippi River, through New Orleans.
American leaders were so worried about the situation, that they began considering an alliance with England. At the same time as that was being discussed, a special envoy was sent to France, to negotiate for the purchase of New Orleans.
On April 11, 1803 the French surprised the Americans by asking straight out, what the US would pay for all of Louisiana. Negotiations were quick, and the US bought the whole 828,000 square miles of Louisiana for $15 million. That price amounted to less than three cents an acre.
Thirteen new states would eventually come out of the area.
Tonight we saw a small bit of the power that unified Conservatives have. We rallied together towards a common cause. That of defending one of our own. When Chris was suspended, for defending his wife, did we sit back and go 'O, that's a shame'. Like hell we did! We gathered the troops tweeting "#FreeChrisLoesch", "NoSeriouslyFreeChrisLoesch", "FreeChrisLoeschNow".
In answer to an organized attack on one of our own, we brought the war to them. And guess what happened, the liberals lost. That is what happens when all of the conservatives in the US unite, we win. And not only do we win, this country wins, for liberalism is the anti-freedom, and this country is based on freedom.
Many of us, very much including myself, have been disenchanted as we see that it does not appear there will be an actual conservative taking the nomination for President. More and more I heard that, "all was lost", "we need to split the vote", or some such things. And they weren't just coming from other people, I know I heard them in my own thoughts as well.
I am not in the least a fan of Mitt Romney. He is not a conservative. I've attacked him from time to time. But I have to hope he'll be better than Obama. Cause that looks to really be the choice we face. Voting for Obama, not voting at all (which is a vote for Obama), splitting the vote (which is a vote for Obama), or voting for Romney. So if it comes down to it, I will vote for Romney, for we must hang together or hang separately.
However, time is not up yet. There are some primaries left. And most importantly, there is the convention yet to be held. Until the convention is held, nothing is set in stone. Tonight showed us how powerful we can be when we unite.
Now imagine this. What if every conservative in America, not just the ones on Twitter, could rally behind an actual conservative candidate. If that happened, a conservative would not only take the Republican nomination, but from there take the Presidency as well.
But the real difficulty is finding one conservative in whom all conservatives could rally. I do not have an answer for you there. Many of the candidates who've already given up, were more conservative than Romney. Could one of them be brought back? Yes, if the conservative nation put down it's differences and asked them to. Or is there another, one who didn't run who they could unite behind? Again, I don't know that. I do know that it is necessary, and that it is possible.
United, conservatives will win everything. Conservatives are the silent (thought not as silent as liberals would wish) majority. Rally the troops, stop being so silent. Get together and unite behind a single actual conservative. If we don't, the peaceful future looks bleak.
Twitter went ablaze Sunday night as Chris Loesch found himself suspended. He was suspended after defending his wife, Dana Loesch, who was receiving death and rape threats from a group of liberals.
Apparently, the same liberal group, that had been threatening Dana, got together and reported Chris for spam until Twitter automatically suspended the account.
Conservatives rallied around the hashtag #FreeChrisLoesch and others, managing to trend world wide. After about an hour Twitter reinstated him.
Calls for the Twitter algorithms to be changed have started up as well. Most suggesting that they simply be changed to not allow users to mark someone as spam, without stating why.
Update: Chris's account has been suspended again. Conservatives can now be seen rallying to #FreeChrisLoeschAgain. Calls of "All night long if necessary" have been seen.
Liberal elements on Twitter used the same method as they did the first time. And they are continuing to brag about doing so.
Information on other conservatives who've had or are having the same problem is coming to light.
The Twitter executives will have a headache when they wake up in the morning.
2nd Update: About 11am MDT Twitter finally, and supposedly permanently, reinstated Chris's account.
They also stated that they did the same for the other uses who were victims of the same behavior.
The Peninsula Shield Force is holding war games in the Persian Gulf, Sunday and Monday.
These games are being called "Islands of Loyalty" and come amidst tensions between the UAE and Iran over islands that are located in the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, in April, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited one of the islands. In response UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Mohammed Gargash, said
his nation was “fed up” with the Iranians’ “occupation” of the land. Dialogue between the two countries has become increasingly stronger since.
The Strait of Hormuz have been an extremely tense area ever since Iran threatened to close it, starting last December. Nearly a fifth of the world's oil is transported through the strait.
Peninsula Shield Force is made up of troops from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE.
A bill that is now in front of the Colorado house would penalize local areas for blocking or delaying oil and gas drilling.
Currently communities receive severance-tax revenues if they're affected by energy development.
The bill would penalize them by blocking them from receiving the extra revenue, if they do anything instill restrictions on oil and gas companies.
If passed, it would make Colorado all the more desirable for oil and gas producers.
Oil and gas finds within the state, have added it to the list of states which may each have more oil resources than Saudi Arabia. And then there's the natural gas to be looked at as well.
Wyoming, Alaska, and Utah are the others on that list. The Dakotas, Nebraska, Montana, and Idaho are each possibilities as well.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin in Moscow over the weekend.
Keqiang stated that Russia and China see completely eye to eye on Syria and North Korea. The two countries have vetoed UN resolutions to increase sanctions against Syria, and are against the use of foreign troops to end the situation there.
They have both condemned an earlier launch by North Korea. But they both urge the rest of the world to remain patient with the defiant country.
He also said that the two countries signed trade agreements totaling at least $15 billion. They include contracts in, "transport, energy, communications, high technology and investment projects".
Earlier this month, the two countries held joint military exercises. The countries are working together to ensure that the world is no longer dominated by the United States.
Police in Northern Ireland found a 600lb unexploded bomb, on Thursday. They were able to disable it safely.
The bomb was found in an abandoned van in Newry, near the border with the Republic of Ireland. It is one of the largest ever found.
Chief Superintendent Alasdair Robinson stated that it could have caused "death and massive destruction" and that it had been "fully primed and ready for use".
This is the third attempted attack in the Newry area over the last few weeks, and police are believed to be the intended targets. Dissident Irish Republican Army groups are believed to be the plotters.
Early Saturday, a small bomb was found and disarmed by police, in Belfast. This one had been placed under a parked vehicle.
Saturday afternoon saw a rally, staged by mainstream Republicans, to protest violence.
On Saturday, the Lebanese navy reported that they intercepted a ship that was carrying weapons and ammunition to Syrian opposition forces.
The ship, which had come from Libya, was carrying three containers filled with crates containing all sorts of weapons.
Syrian government officials have repeatedly accused Lebanon of allowing weapons to be smuggled through their territory.
The weapons, which included heavy weapon ammo, rocket propelled grenades, and fragmentation explosives, was apparently set to be delivered to the Syrian Free Army, one of the leading opposition groups.
On April 29, 1986 the Seattle Mariners visited the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Roger Clemens, pitching for Boston, became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw twenty strikeouts in a nine inning game.
Twenty strike outs in a game has been managed three times since. Once each by Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson. And again by Roger Clemens, making him not only the first person to do it, but the only one to do it twice.
The previous record of nineteen had been set by St. Louis Cardinal Steve Carlton in 1969, and tied by Met Tom Seaver in 1970 and California Angel Nolan Ryan in 1974.
The most strikeouts in a game is still owned by Washington Senators' Tom Cheney, who in 1962 had twenty-one strikeouts in sixteen innings.
Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Egypt, closed the embassy in Cairo, and closed the consulates in Suez and Alexandria.
The move came after protests took place in front of all three locations, and threats were made against the staffs.
Egyptians were protesting the arrest of Egyptian lawyer Ahmed el-Geza. Saudi Arabia has sentenced him to a flogging and a year in prison for trying to smuggle drugs.
However, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights says that el-Geza was detained for demanding that Saudi Arabia treat Egyptian residents better and for criticizing the kingdom on it's human rights record.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have a tense history, as the two often compete for power in the region. Saudi Arabia has been particularly displeased with Egypt's revolution last year. Some Egyptians threaten to help bring revolution to Saudi Arabia.
The United States and Japan have agreed upon a deal that would see 9,000 US Marines withdraw from Okinawa. The move will cut the US presence, on Okinawa, almost in half.
Around 5,000 of the troops will be re stationed on Guam. About 2,700 will be sent to Hawaii. The rest will be spread out amongst other US bases around the Pacific.
US Marines on Okinawa have been the cause of several diplomatic incidents over the years. This move is expected to help to ease tensions between the local populace and the troops.
Okinawa has been occupied by the US since near the end of WWII, when US forces captured it from Japan. Japan was given the islands back in 1979, but the troops remained to fend off the Communist threat.
The troop relocation will cost an estimated $8.6 billion. Japan has agreed to pay for $3.1 billion of that. As Marines leave the island, the land they vacate will be turned over to the Japanese government.
April 27, 1773 the British Parliament passes the Tea Act in an effort to save the East India company from bankruptcy.
The British Prime Minister Lord North, ignored the possibility that the colonists would protest the taxation.
But to the colonists it was further proof of the tyranny they were facing. The colonists, however, felt differently.
When the first British ships carrying tea under the new tax, reached Boston harbor, the colonists demanded they return to England. Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to have them sent back.
On December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams and around sixty other members of the Sons of Liberty boarded the ships disguised as Mohawk Indians and dumped the tea into the harbor.
The British responded by passing the Coercive Acts, known by the colonists as the Intolerable Acts. The acts closed Boston harbor to trade, put Massachusetts under martial law, set British officials above the law in America, and required colonists to house British troops. The colonists responded to those by forming the First Continental Congress.
May 14, 1948 Israel gains independence, becoming the first and only democratic republic in the Middle East. Most of the world was quick to recognize the new state, except the Arab countries. They declared war.
In a series of conflicts, with short ceasefires between, the young Israeli nation successfully fought off the hordes of invaders. On March 10, 1949 a cease fire was signed, which recognized Israeli independence, and set borders.
The road since has not been an easy one. Many struggles have faced the nation, including more wars and attempted invasions.
To this day, the country is randomly attacked by rockets from it's neighbors. Suicide bombers, are a constant threat. Regimes in other countries pledge to eradicate Israel. Even when not being fired upon, their borders are being threatened by international negotiations to form a Palestinian state.
Yet somehow, the Israeli people not only survive, but thrive. They continue to grow a culture that is one of the most appreciative of life, that the world has ever seen.
Israel marks their independence day as being the 5th of Iyar, from the Jewish calendar. Due to laws, it is often celebrated on the 4th and 6th of Iyar instead.
April 26, 1986, an explosion rocks the Soviet nuclear plant at Pripyat, Ukraine, known as Chernobyl.
Scientists at the plant attempt an experiment, for which none of them are trained, and a near worst case scenario results.
Thirty-two are killed, and thousands are poisoned by the radiation that the explosion spreads. Millions of acres of forest and farmland are poisoned as well.
At first the USSR tried hiding the explosion, but Swedish scientists publicly announced their readings of the radiation cloud.
Seven people, including two currently employed by the Transportation Security Administration, have been charged with narcotics conspiracy.
Three of them were drug runners, who successfully bribed TSA agents to look the other way when they came through with their drugs.
The other four are current and former TSA screeners, who took the bribes. They could face life in prison for their crimes.
Bribes were in amounts of up to $2,400. All five of the incidents took place at Los Angeles International Airport. As much as twenty kilos of cocaine was smuggled through at one time.
One of the couriers mistakenly went to the wrong check point, was caught, and then informed on his co-conspirators. After which the DEA used their own agents to bribe the TSA agents, and then arrested them.
Philippe Croizon, the first quadruple amputee to swim the English Channel has announced his next goal.
He and friend, Arnaud Chassery, will spend this summer swimming between the continents, and therefore around the world.
Croizon swims with the aid of prosthetic devices, specially designed for swimming.
"We are going to symbolically link the five continents, two little
people like us, two little men, we're going to be able to build a bridge
between the continents. That means that we're going to bring them together. Which means no one
is very far from each other. So even if we have different political
opinions, or skin colors, or even with our disabilities, we all live on
the same planet. And that's the clear message we want to send."
They will connect most of the continents (except Antarctica and South America) by swimming across straits that separate them. The first target will be between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, there by connecting Asia and Australia. Later, they will cross the Red Sea, Asia to Africa; the Strait of
Gibraltar, Africa to Europe; and the Bering Strait, Asia to America.
The swimming routes cover over fifty-three miles, and will take them about forty-five hours total swimming time to complete.
A large explosion, on Thursday morning, took out an entire building in Hama, Syria, killing as many as seventy people. Rescuers continue to dig through the rubble in search of survivors and the dead.
Opposition groups claim that security forces either shelled or launched a rocket at the site. Whereas, the government claims that the explosion was by an accident amongst anti government bomb makers.
International human rights groups are unsure what actually occurred, and asked the UN observers to investigate. No word yet from them.
It is actually quite possible that, that government forces did shell the building, causing a bomb being made by anti government forces to detonate. Whatever the truth, we may never know. Either way it continues to show how little peace there actually is in the country.
Wednesday, brought reports of as many as twenty-five being killed around the country. That total includes civilians, opposition fighters, government troops, security forces, and a member of the Red Crescent.
France has suggested to the UN that the time is past for observers, and that international troops are necessary to enforce peace.
On Wednesday, Burger King announced that by 2017, it will get its egg and pork supplies, from 100% cage free animals.
So far only 9% of the company's supplies are cage free. It is unclear
how the company expects to accomplish the remaining 91% in under 5
years.
Burger King is the world's second biggest fast food chain, and it's big promise will force other companies to make similar jumps.
Both McDonald's and Wendy's had already announced that they would work to the same goal, but neither of them set a time table.
Companies such as Wal-Mart and Costco, have already moved their private label eggs to 100% cage free. Hellmann's, Sonic, Subway, Ruby Tuesday, Kraft Food and ConAgra
Foods have all pledged to work towards it as well.
Studies have shown that it costs one cent more an egg, for cage free eggs. A study has not yet been completed to find the difference in cage free pork.
Greece has announced that it is halting benefits to over 200,000 people.
Investigations showed that benefits were continuing to go out to families of people who were dead, and others who had falsified their information in order to receive pensions.
Greece states that ending those accounts will save them nearly $1 billion, and that they will also be recouping all money that was fraudulently taken.
The government blames the previously uncaught fraud on people lying to authorities who were either too overwhelmed or corrupt.
Investigations are continuing, and Greece hopes to save even more money, as they catch more people.
According to budget information released earlier this month, the pension fund used up 44% of it's year's budget, within the first quarter.
In March, the United States Senate passed a bill that requires all new vehicles, starting with 2015 models, to have a "black box".
Many are concerned with the ease of which such devices would allow the government to track you.
Officially it would only record data before, during, and after a car crash and a privacy provision is included. But it does give the government the authority to access
the black box in a number of circumstances including: court order,
consent of the owner, an investigation or inspection, or to determine
the need for emergency responses.
Additionally, the same bill allows the IRS to revoke passports of anyone who owes more than $50,000 in back taxes. An odd combination that has some conspiracy theorists in rabid form.
Some theorists have stated that if this technology was ever combined with biometric scanners, the government could control whether or not you could drive your own vehicle, where you could, or when you could.
Hamas has announced that it will begin executing anyone found to be collaborating with Israel.
The head of security in the Gaza Strip, Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad, made the announcement and also stated that they had arrested ten known collaborators.
Earlier in April, a Palestinian man was hanged by Hamas after being charged with being an informant for Israel. His identity was not released by Hamas.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the execution, stating that they had not authorized it. Executions are not supposed to take place without PA President Mahmoud Abbas' permission.
In the past Hamas, had granted pardons to collaborators who turned themselves in, confessed, and repented.
A series of lines, symbols, roads, and structures in Northern China, near the Mongolian border, have been spotted through the use of Google Maps. They are near where China performs it's space operations, nuclear program, and some of it's most top secret military maneuvers.
The Telegraph was nice enough to link to the Google Maps location of some of them, and they are there. However the others weren't clearly marked, so not so easily found.
It is completely unknown what purpose they serve. The location would definitely suggest that it has some sort of military application. But as they are unrecognizable, everything is just guesses at this point.
Some were clearly built up, in some form or another, by the shadows the pictures show. Others you can't tell if area's were painted or just bulldozed flat.
April 24, 1916 the Irish Republican Brotherhood is joined by militant socialists in an uprising against British rule. They launched attacks against British government buildings in Dublin and seized the General Post Office.
Their success prompted them to declare Irish independence. By the morning of the 25th, they controlled most of the city.
British response came that evening, and by the 29th the rebellion was no more. It's leaders, who survived, were executed for being traitorous rebels, but to the Irish they became martyrs.
Armed riots continued and in 1921, twenty-six of the thirty-two counties of Ireland won independence. In 1949, they became a totally separate republic. The other six counties, would remain under British rule though.
The Irish Republican Army was formed in the north, and in the 60's civil unrest began. A three way conflict began, as the IRA fought the British army, and Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants fought each other.
Peace talks began in the 90's, but it took til 2005 for a cease fire to happen. Twas then that the IRA pledged to lay down arms, and seek their goals purely through peaceful means.
Til this day, the Easter Rebellion is credited as being the birth of Irish independence.
So, I'm standing in line, exhausted, and waiting to get through airport security in Charlotte, on my way home from #BLOGCONCLT. For whatever reason, the line seems particularly slow and long.
Finally, I got my bin and proceeded to go through the drill: shoes, laptop, watch, jacket--but midway through the TSA strip tease, I glanced over at the next line. A woman was carefully trying to explain to her daughter what was going on.
The girl couldn't have been more than 6, with the kind of perfectly blonde hair that brunettes like me can hardly fathom. She was nodding, listening to her mother but seemed obviously perplexed, on the edge of being frightened. First time flying I suspected.
She was a trooper. She allowed her shoes to be removed, all the while tightly hugging some kind of comforting stuffed toy. She loosened her grip only enough to take her mother's hand and walk through the metal detector. But of course, it is never that simple.
TSA Agent: I'm sorry, she can't bring that through. Mother: Its just a toy. TSA Agent: Ma'am, it needs to go on the conveyor. Mother: All right fine. To her daughter. Honey, we need to put your bunny through the machine. Little Girl: But its my bunny! Mother: I know, it will only take a moment. Little Girl: But, but---
Apparently the injustice was too great for words. To her credit, she did not throw a tantrum or even cry. She just solemnly gave up her bunny to another TSA agent who had stepped up to make sure the stuffed animal was appropriately handed over and searched. The agent then walked back around and ran a quick swipe over the bunny before even putting it on the machine.
This incident probably sounds tame compared to some of the horror stories about children being searched, the infirm humiliated and general injustice. However, to me, it was a poignant example of how much our "security" has lost touch with reality. The simple image of a girl having her stuffed animal, a symbol which should resonate with so many of us as an item of eternal love and safety, taken from her to be checked for explosives embodies everything wrong with this system.
I doubt anyone reading this doesn't already feel violated, directly or indirectly, by these procedures. Therein lies the problem, no matter your political persuasion, TSA is universally regarding as having serious problems. STILL.
In September, a petition was created at We The People, an arm of the White House's online outreach. The petition went live in September 2011 and requested to abolish the TSA. By December it had more than 30,000 signatures, gaining viral support. The rapidly growing number of signatures forced the White House to respond. Their answer? "Thanks for playing along but we aren't actually going to do anything." Only months earlier the White House promised to use these petitions to deal with the issues most important to Americans. But when Americans called them on it, the response was gutless redirection; merely an explanation on why the TSA exists.
Even Congress tried to take the TSA to task this past March. CSPAN showed the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee admonishing the TSA about their budget. The hearing resolved nothing but the tone of the joint committees was anything but pleasant. Interestingly, right after this brutal review, the TSA rolled out their "PreCheck" program as something "coming soon, we promise!" But based on previous government promises, not only will it not fix anything, the definition of "soon" will transform into a date indeterminate.
And finally, let's not forget Jonathan Corbett's video showing the straight-up ineffectiveness of the TSA with his blog about the body scanners. (Note: he is going to court involving the TSA now, so consider donating to this guy.) The TSA blog laughed him off, pretty much running him down as just "some blogger". It is the single most commented on post for their blog, with over 400 responses. Not a single one agrees with "Bob" the TSA writer. (It is also worth noting that the TSA blog only let's you see about 10 posts and does not allow you to view previous posts without a direct link. However, the amount SEO connected to that piece will force it to come up in a google search.) Every response to this blog was angry. In fact, I assume this post led to the newly instated TSA policy about deleting "off-topic" comments from their blog.
This leaves us with only one question left: Why, with this reaction from the public, does the TSA still exist--and what will finally force it to disappear?
Blockbuster has announced that it will be moving it's corporate headquarters from McKinney, Texas to the Meridian International Office Park in Douglas County, near Denver, Colorado.
The company is offering it's 150 corporate employees, the opportunity to move with them. The average salary is nearly $100,000.
Colorado's Economic Development Commission offered the company $2.5 million in tax credit, over the next five years, if they would make the move.
Last year, when Blockbuster went bankrupt, they were bought by Colorado based Dish Network. Dish is the second largest satellite-TV company, and is planning to expand into mobile broadband as well.
The TSA always seems to find itself in trouble these days. Whether it's feeling up grandma, sharing body scans of people they deem attractive, or threatening small children.
A family was on it's way home from a wedding in Wichita, Kansas, when grandma set off the alarms. Their four year old girl, was scared and ran to grandma, giving her a quick hug. TSA's response was to start yelling at the little girl.
The terrified little girl, did what children do, she tried running away from the scary monster that was now threatening to give her a full body pat down. After the family was dragged into a side room, the little girl still could not stop crying, and would not allow TSA to touch her. TSA officers continued to yell at the girl, demanding she stop crying, so that they could search her.
Having no luck, the TSA officer's called for back up, saying they had an uncooperative suspect. A supervisor came and calmed the situation down, eventually allowing the family back through security. To add to it, TSA sent word ahead that there was a difficult passenger coming through, and so at the their connecting airport they were approached by airport staff. However the employees at Denver, backed right off when they were shown that it was a little girl.
When approached by various media outlets, TSA commented that everything was done correctly by their personnel. They state that the four year old had acted suspiciously so the officers were completely in the right for their treatment of her.
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the enemy. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Ephesians 6:10-18
Most of you, whether Christian or not, will have heard those words at some point. Few of us, even as Christians, realize the true importance of them. With the armor on every day, you will be better protected not just from spiritual attacks, but human ones as well.
If every day, you are nothing but truth, righteousness, faith, and yet ready to fight with purity then who could ever truly attack you. You would have nothing for their attacks to latch onto. The full armor, is perfect, and has no chinks or holes in it. Spiritually that is incredibly important. The Word of God is listed twice in the armor, showing how important it is in a Christian's spiritual walk.
But there's another way to look at it. As Conservative Americans, we find ourselves in a battle against evil forces that wish to destroy our nation's soul. Christian or not, we need to protect ourselves from the attacks of socialism and the left wing agenda. We can do that by daily being nothing but truthful, righteous, faithful, and ensuring we live in ways that can not be used against us.
Just taking truth alone, look at how much that hurts our enemy. They literally can not handle the truth. Every time the light of truth is shone upon the left, they lose that fight. Truth is their arch enemy, even more so than we are. It is also a key part of your defense. If you're not based in truth, they can use whatever you've been untruthful about, against you.
Righteousness is knowing you are fighting the good fight, you are doing what is right and are fully embracing it. If you're embracing nothing but truth, then you can know you are do the right thing. They just simply go hand in hand. Without righteousness, you're character will be weak against their attacks. If you're strong in righteousness, you won't fall prey to the temptations that trip so many.
We should never want to fight, we should be ready with a gospel of peace. War is an ugly thing. But sometimes it is necessary. And right now we are in one of those times. If we don't fight against the powers of darkness, then they will win. There's a reason a sword is mentioned later. The foundation of a desire of peace is what plants you in the knowledge you're doing what is right. It allows you to stand strong against the enemy's assaults.
The shield of faith is extremely necessary. If you don't believe in the cause, or that we can win, then you've no protection. Without faith in yourself and the Republic, then you'll find yourself cowering in a corner without hope. Faith is what allows you to stand up and take the attacks from the enemy. Because with faith, as long as you've truth and righteousness on your side, you're in the right.
A helmet of salvation on this political battlefield for the US, is your mind free of doubt, lies, or anything unrighteous. It's that clarity that balances with faith to bring peace to your soul.
And now we are to the sword. The sword where you combine all into one, and move from using them to protect yourself, to launching the offensive against those who seek your destruction. If you're a blogger, your blog is your sword. If you're a politician, your speeches and votes are your swords. If you don't have the rest of the armor in place and in use, then your sword won't be worth anything, it'll bend against the enemy. However if you do have all in place, in use, and properly; your sword will cut through any of the enemy's defenses, leaving them unable to attempt the destruction and evils that they seek.
As we mostly do news and opeds, this is going to be a little different. It's been awhile since we just had a blog on the site, but I felt it necessary to describe this past weekend at Blog Con CLT.
For those of you who didn't go, or didn't know about it, Blog Con CLT was a blogger's convention that took place at the Hilton in Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend. Freedom Works and The Franklin Center were extremely kind enough to put it on for us. The amazing Tabitha Hale, did such a great job with running things.
I started off leaving Thursday morning, taking my first plane trips in six years. No, I don't hate or fear flying, I just really love driving. Honestly, hoping that when I get to go on one again, I'll be able to make a road trip out of it, picking people up on the way. Talk about oooShiny!
I was very excited for the trip, and found that I had a really hard time concentrating on the book I was reading. Last year when Blog Con was in Denver, I couldn't get it off work, and so only made it there the last night. I felt like I had missed out on a lot, and very much wanted to take advantage of all that this one would have to offer.
Especially exciting to me was meeting people I hadn't yet, and seeing people I'd met before, that I really enjoy being around. Another primary goal was promoting this site. We're still little, and I knew this would be a great chance to network and find more writers.
The flight to Dallas, and the second to Charlotte, were fairly uneventful. When I got to Charlotte, I had a first. See I'd never been in a taxi before. I don't even think I'd had the opportunity to use one before. Definitely not the need. O twasn't anything exciting or anything, but definitely a first. Check it off the list.
I got to the hotel, checked in, dropped my bag off, and off I went to join everyone at Ri Ra Irish Pub. Got lost on the way, thanks to the directions the hotel gave me, but thankfully ran into an awesome security guard who didn't know the Pub, but did know the street. Luckily I was only one block away. Had I kept going the way the hotel sent me, I would've really gotten lost and been past the place.
As soon as I was at Ri Ra's I ran into one of the first people I'd ever met off of Twitter, Michelle, and got my first big hug, which was quickly followed by another from Ree, whom I hadn't met til then, and an introduction to Greg. Blog Con was off to a great start.
Checking into foursquare and the Blog Con CLT hashtag on Twitter, I saw several people I needed to meet were there. Went about doing my rounds meeting people, and seeing those from before as well. Food was becoming a priority though, so I grabbed a bacon cheeseburger from the place, they wouldn't do a double :(, and had drinks and some conversations with new meets like Andrew Lawton, Karen, and Holly; old friends like Jimmie Bise (who had been so helpful to met last year), David, Amelia, Irina, Andrew, Kemberlee, and April; and met some that I hadn't known even on Twitter yet.
With Sarah
Once I was done eating, got back to making rounds, and ran into two of my favorite people ever, Sarah and Kira! For a bit there was some salsa dancing, which I had fun with even though I was rusty by ten years. I kept mingling and finally got to meet both Katie and Jamie! Both of whom are so completely oooShiny and I had been looking forward to meeting, and am very glad I got to.
After a bit, some of us (20-30) decided food was again wanted, and Ri Ra's kitchen was closed. So off we went, and ended up at Carolina Ale House. They knew what a 'double' bacon cheese burger is. Though they didn't have pepper jack cheese either. I believe I found out that North Carolina only carries cheddar for burgers. Whilst there, we all sang happy birthday to Katie, who'd just turned 25 the day before.
Somewhere during the time at Ri Ra and Ale House, Stephen Kruiser saw me, and not only remembered me from last year, but knew stuff about me. That was an awesome moment for me, as he's someone I very much look up to.
With Katie
Ale House eventually had last call, somehow no one got cut off before then, including the one who totally dropped his (name withheld to protect those who couldn't hold their liquor ;) ) glass when going for a toast. We went back to the hotel, where some of us (Katie, Jamie, Kruiser, Fingers, Thomas, and I) went up to Fingers' room. That time there, was one of the funniest times in my life. I literally ended up rolling on the floor laughing. Thomas, is seriously one of the funniest drunks ever!
Around 2 tiredness was starting to kick in, so we all went our separate ways. The first night of Blog Con was over. Friday was the beginning of the actual conference.
I was so proud of myself Friday morning. Despite everything I woke up at 7, so as to be sure to be there for all of the conference. Stupid me though, laid back down after showering, and next thing I knew it was almost 10. I'd missed the first two hours of everything. Total fail.
Rushing down stairs, I found the remain of a continental breakfast. At which time I tweeted my lament: "No mimosas or rum & juice? What kind of continental breakfast is this?" But seriously the breakfast was great, and just what was needed. Good news was my roomie, Sam, had finally made it in, after his flights had been delayed. During the first day I ended up sitting next to Scott, great sarcastic comments and jokes were made all day long. I got to meet such people as Lori, Mary, Sister Toldjah, Jen, and Eye on Politics.
Not long after I made it into the conference room, Matthias Shapiro and Alex Lundry began a talk on data visualization. If you know me, you know I'm not a graphics guy or that artistic. But I definitely appreciate it, and that was a great lecture. I learned some things from them, that hopefully I'll get to use. Matthias' debt road trip video is awesome, and you need to watch it, if nothing else for the knowledge you'll gain.
They wouldn't be the last to teach me things. Lee Doren's talk on how to use youtube effectively was brilliant. He was followed by Steven Crowder who gave an inspiring short speech, that rallied the troops. Following that was Katie Pavlich, who's book, Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and Its Shameless Coverup, you should really check out.
For lunch there was sandwiches provided for us, though many people left for other places. Around then I ran into Matt, who if you didn't you missed out as he's got a bright future ahead of him. Those of us who grabbed food and then came back for Jimmie and Finger's discussion on how to podcast, made a great choice, as that was an extremely informative talk, that hopefully I'll be putting to use by the end of summer.
After their talk was probably the one time that everyone was actually in the same place. The debut of part of Occupy Unmasked by Citizens United left us all wanting to see the whole thing. For some it was a difficult time, due to Andrew Breitbart's predominant role in the film.
The movie was a great start to the tribute for him. The unveiling of the poster brought many of those who hadn't yet, to tears. It was a completely emotional time, and further united us.
Slaying the legacy media, was the next workshop. Pamela Gellar, John Nolte, and the others on it gave us some great information on how to fight against the evil empires of main stream media. During that time the hotel put out a great spread of dried fruit and nuts, powering us through the afternoon Lachlan Markay and Trent Seibert followed with information and resources on how to dig deep to find what you need for a story.
From there we moved on to a candidates reception. Sadly there was no free bacon with the free alcohol. Sean Bielat, who is running in Massachusetts was the highlight there. America really needs him in office. At the reception I got to meet many more people, including Kat (who I had many great convos with throughout Blog Con), Gay Patriot, John, Melody, and Duane. Tony Katz was awesome enough to talk to me some more, and go over some basic radio production things.
Kruiser Kabana
Eventually, a group of us made our way over to Jackalope Jack's for karaoke. Much great times were had, and lots of hoarse voices were the result. From there I ended up going back to the hotel, going up to the Kruiser Kabana!
There I continued meeting a few people, including Sean (apparently the first blogger there ever was), Kevin, and Laura, but mostly got to chat more with people I'd already met.
Unfortunately, we (well some of us) were too loud, and ended up pissing off the hotel's night manager. A little drama ensued, but everything got worked out, after the agreement that there'd be no more Kruiser Kabana that night or the next in the rooms.
Saturday's conference began a little bit later, so we all got just a bit more sleep. I was luckily enough to sit with Katie and Jennie throughout the day, as well as Ree for a bit, and we had some great laughs.
Again great speeches. Matt Kibbe began, reminding us that the government had n"ever seen a million people show up on the mall, demanding less". Dean Clancy gave us great hope, with his prediction of a 60% chance of Obamacare being overturned in it's entirety. He was followed by Liz Mair, Dana Loesch, Guy Benson, and Tony Katz. They explained ways to promote yourself, and your writing, without being annoying.
During lunch Ben Howe and Duane Lester showed us how to edit a video to make it get more hits. 11 Reasons to Vote For Democrats was a huge hit at the conference. And later, in the afternoon, the real trouble started. Twas then that the hotel put out a table full of candy, popcorn, and crackerjacks for our snack. Great idea for bloggers, most of whom were just finally getting past hang overs, and had been pounding caffeine. But seriously it was amazing!
Kurt Schlichter and James Skyles gave us some very important information on some legal issues. Especially making it clear that you need to have someone who is on the bar, in your own state. Schlichter apparently won't work unless there's the possibility of river front property. In the midst of that the excited screams from Kristina Ribali began. Senator Orrin Hatch was going to face a primary in Utah! Mandy Nagy and Brandon Darby explained how to dig up dirt on the opposition. And then to close it all came Kruiser. His speech totally fired me up, and just thinking back on it is pumping my blood faster.
Saturday night, a private room with our own four bowling lanes, a bar, pool tables, and pizza had been setup for us at Strike City. I personally took great enjoyment from lots of bowling, til my shoulder started getting sore (funny how nearly 75 frames will do that). After that I mingled and met some more great people including Cameron, Emilia, and Amy. Some of my favorite conversations of the weekend took place whilst there.
A group of us, then left in search of a new bar to go to. We first tried Howl at The Moon. None of us will ever go there again. They had a cover, as did many of the places around there. But they also had a 4square offer that if you checked in, you got in free. We all checked in, and they refused to honor it. Howl at The Moon, officially became boycotted by Blog Con after that. And remember this if you're ever there, go anywhere else.
Eventually we ended up at Fitzgerald's Irish Pub. That was a great decision. Chill place, where we all found drinks we liked and had fun. Though we did see people line dancing to rap there. After a while there, we heard that Kruiser had managed to get the hotel to have a private party for us at their bar, so we headed back.
With Kat
After many more great conversations, my energy started crashing though. So went around to all who were still there, and made my goodbyes. On the way out, I realized I hadn't gotten any pics with anyone the whole time. Luckily I did manage to get three over the next couple minutes. Those pics are the ones you've seen in this blog.
The next morning I got up, had a few more goodbyes, and went my way to the airport. There I was lucky enough to spend some time before my flight, chatting with Jamie. Actually almost missed my flight. Good thing they paged for "Passenger Sangster".
Ironically, most of us went home on Earth Day. So Blog Con CLT celebrated by either flying thousands of miles, or driving hundreds of miles. When I got home, I was met by my dad in his 8in lifted off roading monster of a Jeep.
All in all, Blog Con CLT was an oooShiny time. Tabitha, her team, Freedom Works, and the Franklin Center did an amazing job with everything. Without their working so hard for us, it would've been a lesser time. I honestly can't think of a way they could've improved it. O wait, there's one, bacon.
We all got to see that not only is conservatism big on Twitter, but for many of us it is big in our lives. This country matters to us, and we not only will do, but are doing our best to see it saved and improved.
The Hilton City Center, was great. Spectacular jobs by the staff. Even keeping the bar open late for us, and treating us all extremely well. If we were to have another conference in Charlotte, that'd be the place to do so.
This blog, which has become an epic length, doesn't even cover all of
what went on, nor in any detail. Whoever you are, if you're reading
this, and you're interested in saving the United States, blogging,
conservative politics, and having fun; you really should get to the next
Blog Con.
If I don't mention you above, sorry! Y'all meant a lot meant to me, and I
really didn't mean to leave anyone out. Some of you, I can't remember
your twitter handle, others your real name, some of you neither (I know
total fail on my part); but I do remember your faces and the great
memories you gave me. Who knows, I may have a sudden mental click and you'll find yourself added later.
Thanks to Kira for letting me add the compilation video she made of Blog Con CLT Pics:
North Korean military cut into national TV to make a special announcement. (Original translation by BNONews edited by TORARADICAL.com)
In view of the situation getting graver as the days go by, the NPRK Supreme Command special operation action group issues the following notice upon authorization:
The special actions of our revolutionary armed forces will soon meet the reckless challenge of the group of traitors.
Those actions are an eruption of public anger and resentment, and a sacred war of all service personnel and people to protect the dignity of our supreme leadership.
Their targets are the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors, the arch criminals, and the group of rat like elements, including conservative media destroying the mainstay of the fair public opinion.
Once the above said special operations kick off, they will reduce all the rat like groups and the bases for provocation to ashes in three of four minutes, in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style.
Our revolutionary forces do not make empty threats.
This is an extremely unusual bold threat from the North. One which in some form they will have to back with action, due to the extremely public nature of the statement.
Things are already tense after the earlier attempted launch of a rocket by North Korea.
Japan and South Korea have called emergency meetings. Their troops, and those of the US in the area have gone on alert.
Update: Korean Central News Agency (North Korean state run media) has now released their own article about it. They have been nice enough to include an English version.
Theories about the promised destruction are leaning towards it being a cyber attack.
After having over an eighty percent turnout, France is one step closer to finishing the presidential elections. Socialist Francois Hollande has taken the lead with 28.6% of the vote, whilst President Nicholas Sarkozy trails with 27.1%.
The vote today did not decide the final election, but narrowed it down to the final two candidates. There had been ten to choose from in this vote. Final voting occurs on May 6.
Marine Le Pen came in third with 18.1% and Sarkozy will have to win over a good portion of her far right votes, in order to be able to beat Hollande. For her National Front party it was a huge night, as they gained their highest number of votes ever.
Communist Jean-Luc Melenchon, who had nearly 12%, urged his followers to back Hollande. Francis Bayrou, considered the top centrist, took 9%. The remaining five candidates, split only about five percent of the vote.
This is the first time, during the Fifth Republic, that a
returning President has failed to win the first round. Current polls suggest Hollande will win. If Sarkozy can
not sway enough to his side, he will become the first incumbent not to win the election since 1981. At that time socialist Francois Mitterrand was elected for two terms.
"The choice is simple, either continue policies that have failed with a
divisive incumbent candidate or raise France up again with a new,
unifying president," Mr Hollande said. He promises to raise taxes on the rich and on corporations, increase the minimum wage, lower retirement to sixty, and higher sixty thousand new teachers.
Sarkozy promises to continue working on lowering the national debt. He also wants to create a tax that would tax anyone who moved out of France for tax reasons.
Violence continues in Bahrain as the people protest their government, and the government continues to send troops in to enforce peace.
One of the protest leaders, Salah Abbas Habib, was found beaten to death on Saturday. Witnesses state that police were responsible. Many other protesters were beaten as well, though none so severely.
The Minister of the Interior said an investigation was under way and asked for calm.
Protesters are trying to get the international formula one race cancelled.
Bahrain has been racked with protests for over a year now. The original protests were cracked down upon by government troops, who were joined by soldiers from Saudi Arabia.
The US has been very silent on condemning the brutality of the government. US Fifth fleet is head quartered in the country, and it is a crucial ally of the US.
The UN Security Council has approved the expansion of it's peace mission in Syria from the current thirty, up to 300. Joined to the expansion was a demand from the council, that violence end immediately.
Critics point out that the UN brokered cease fire, has only really been effective when the peace keepers are in the way of fire. Also, only seven of the thirty peace keeper/observers have made it to Syria so far.
Homs, had been still being shelled until the observers arrived at the town. At that point government forces did cease fire. Arrests and firing upon protestors have continued in many cities. Attacks on government forces have not fully ceased either.
Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Vikings have been unable to come to an agreement on the Vikings' demand for a new stadium. The current contract ended last year, but it has been agreed that they'll stay through this year in the old stadium.
The Vikings have been angling for a $975-million stadium to be built
partly on the Metrodome site, with the state shouldering $398 million of
the load, the city paying $150 million, and the Vikings and the NFL
covering the remaining $427 million.
Minnesota has recently helped both the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota gain new stadiums. The Vikings are massively popular in the state, but other places might be willing to give them the stadium they desire.
Reports place a plane belonging to Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, as being in Southern California. Rumors are that he's met with Los Angeles city officials. Los Angeles has been without an NFL team since they lost both the Raiders and Rams to other cities.
A baby born in Pakistan with six legs is doing well after doctors removed the four extra limbs. Jamal Raza, the director of National Institute of the Child Health in Karachi said it was a case of parasitic conjunction.
Parasitic conjunction is a condition where multiple babies were present in the womb, but conjoined, and then only one baby formed fully.
The Pakistani government announced that it will be taking care of all the expenses for the family.
The Chinese have announced the release of twenty-one Vietnamese fishermen. For over a month the fisherman were detained for fishing near the Paracel Islands.
Both China and Vietnam claim the islands. China however controls them by default through occupation forces.
Earlier this month Chinese fishermen were caught fishing illegally in globally recognized Philippine waters, that China claims is theirs. This caused a standoff due to Chinese naval forces showing up to block the Philippines from making arrests.
China has become increasingly hostile and demanding that their claims, to nearly the entire South China Sea, be recognized.
April 21, 1918 the Red Baron is shot down by enemy fire.
Manfred von Richthofen, the son of a Prussian noble had been in the cavalry until 1915. It was then that he switched over to the Imperial Air Service and began terrorizing the skies.
In 1917, he switched from an Albatross biplane to a Fokker triplane. He had the plane painted completely red, in honor of his old cavalry regiment. The plane earned him the nickname, The Red Baron.
With 80 victories under his belt, he was by far the greatest pilot in WWI. But on April 21, he went too far behind enemy lines, and was shot down. British troops recovered his body, and at the age of 25, he was buried with full military honors.
The Texan army is reeling from multiple defeats at the hands of the Mexican army. The Alamo has fallen, and there seems to be nothing but retreat.
On, April 21, 1836, the Texas militia under Sam Houston launch a surprise attack against the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna.
The attack is completely effective, the Mexican army is routed, and many including Santa Anna are captured. In exchange for his freedom, Santa Anna agrees to recognize Texan independence.
Sam Houston would be elected President of the Lone Star Republic, and guide it towards becoming the twenty-eighth state.
Starbucks has announced that they will stop using the "crushed bug" dye that colors their strawberry frappuccinos, raspberry swirl cake, and red velvet whoopie pie.
The company had been receiving lots of grief over the last months, since it had been discovered that the Cochineal dye Starbucks had been using, is made from the juice of crushed beetles.
Cochineal dye is also used in many foods and cosmetic products. Many lipsticks and shampoos use it. Yogurt's often do as well.
Starbucks will begin using lycopene, a tomato-based extract. They expect to be completely switched over, in all stores, by the end of April.
