Where Are My Keys?

Why now?

Barack Obama made headlines when he made the decision to not wear a flag pin, saying it had become a substitute for "true patriotism".

So why is he wearing it now?  It seems to be "on" more than it is "off".

A test for Fourth of July..

How many can you get right?  I scored a 27.

Do as I say, not as I do..

Barack Obama is all about women earning equal pay, for equal work:

"Mr. McCain is an honorable man, we respect his service. But when you look at our records and our plans on issues that matter to working women, the choice could not be clearer," Obama told the audience in New Mexico, a voter-swing state. "It starts with equal pay. Sixty-two percent of working women in America earn half or more than of their family's income. But women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2008. You'd think that Washington would be united it its determination to fight for equal pay."

Unless it's his own campaign staff.  Turns out that there are fewer ladies than men on the Obama payroll, and they earn less then their male counterparts:

On average, women working in Obama's Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator. That's according to data calculated from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which covered the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2007. Of the five people in Obama's Senate office who were paid $100,000 or more on an annual basis, only one -- Obama's administrative manager -- was a woman.

The average pay for the 33 men on Obama's staff (who earned more than $23,000, the lowest annual salary paid for non-intern employees) was $59,207. The average pay for the 31 women on Obama's staff who earned more than $23,000 per year was $48,729.91. (The average pay for all 36 male employees on Obama's staff was $55,962; and the average pay for all 31 female employees was $48,729. The report indicated that Obama had only one paid intern during the period, who was a male.)

How does McCain fare, do you ask?

McCain, an Arizona senator, employed a total of 69 people during the reporting period ending in the fall of 2007, but 23 of them were interns. Of his non-intern employees, 30 were women and 16 were men. After excluding interns, the average pay for the 30 women on McCain's staff was $59,104.51. The 16 non-intern males in McCain's office, by comparison, were paid an average of $56,628.83.

Change?

Could it be true?

GWK thinks he's found a Paulie sighting!

Disgusting.

A new low.

It's not "nice" to ask the question, but it's actually a pretty good question. Yes, we all know that John McCain was captured and tortured in Vietnam (McCain won't let you forget). A lot of people don't know, however, that McCain made a propaganda video for the enemy while he was in captivity. Putting that bit of disloyalty aside, what exactly is McCain's military experience that prepares him for being commander in chief? It's not like McCain rose to the level of general or something. He's a vet. We get it. But simply being a vet, as laudable as it is, doesn't really tell you much about someone's qualifications for being commander in chief. If McCain is going to play the "I was tortured" card every five minutes as a justification for electing him president, then he shouldn't throw a hissy fit any time any one asks to know more about his military experience. Getting shot down, tortured, and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience. Again, it's not nice to say say, but we're not running for class president here. We deserve real answers, not emotional outbursts designed to quell the questions.

Let me get this straight-the Left excoriates Bush for not serving in the military, and now when the Republicans put forth a candidate who has served, the service isn't good enough. 

Unity.

Roger Stone, Hero.

Rick Reilly tells of Roger Stone, who saved two lives, and then lost his own.

Before you say it was "Evil Republicans"..

Check the whole article.  Seems like vandals "tagged" a whole bunch of City vehicles with anti-Obama slogans.  Who would do such a thing, but evil, racist Republicans, right?

This little snippet makes me thing otherwise:

The person or persons left a business card with political ramblings and other phrases such as ‘How ‘Bout them Gators’ and ‘Legalize Marijuana/ Stop Building Prisons’.

Sign of things to come for DIA?

So I'm in the airport, on my way to Salt Lake City for a business trip.  While I am waiting in the TSA line, I am watching the other folks in a different line.

There is a young-ish (mid 20's, I'd say) guy, long hair, goatee, t-shirt, and he is arguing with the TSA lady over his tube of toothpaste.  TSA "rules" say you can't have any liquids/gels over three ounces.  I learned the hard way a few trips ago that if you have a five ounce tube of toothpaste, and it's half full (or half empty, if you are Piker), the TSA goes by what is stamped on the container, not on the level of contents.  (Makes sense to me, but can't we entrust TSA to make a judgment call here?  If the tube is 3/4 gone, then let it go, if it's too close to call, pitch it.  We trust them to be able to determine what a bomb looks like in the x-ray machine, can't they estimate if the remaining amount in the tube is less than three ounces?  I digress.)  Anyway, the guy was pissed because he had just flown in to Denver yesterday, and whichever airport he originated from "let it slide".

The Denver TSA supervisor (who became involved, as the guy was becoming louder and more belligerent) simply said "Sir, I don't know what happened on your flight here, but the rules clearly tell us that we are required to dispose of liquids/gels in containers that are stamped more than three ounces."

I can understand the anger of the traveler-why is it one way at one airport, and a different way at another.

But his anger was directed at the wrong people.  He should have been upset at the people in whatever airport he originated, not the Denver TSA.  After all, Denver TSA did their job, followed procedure, and confiscated what they were supposed to.

As I was walking towards my gate, there were three TSA guys around him, and he was bellowing about his Civil Rights. 

Makes me wonder what things will be like at the beginning of August around these parts.

What types of activity might one expect in Iraq if we pull out too soon?

Well, look at what happened to Afghanis who were suspected by some Pakistanis of helping Americans.

"Whoever, for the sake of money, for the sake of America, harms the interest of the Islamic world will meet the same fate," he said.