Dana Reeve, the widow of Christopher Reeve, died today of lung cancer.

Rest in Peace Dana.

Our prayers go out to Dana and Christopher’s young son Will (13) and the rest of the family.

Heard on Fox News.

At the press briefing today: Video at The Political Pit Bull emphasis mine.

Q Scott, while you were gone the Internet reported the President’s statement to Bill Sammon: “I find it interesting that the old way of gathering news is slowly but surely” being – “losing market share. It is interesting to watch those media conglomerates try to deal with the realities of a new kind of world.” And my question first: Considering this presidential statement, when can we expect that what he termed the old and market-losing media will have their reserved seats in the two front rows of this press room reassigned to the new media?

MR. McCLELLAN: Boy, that’s one I don’t really want to open up right now. (Laughter.) I don’t get into book promotions — obviously, you do. But I do look forward to reading that one.

Q Did the President watch any of the Academy Awards for prostitution and sodomy last night?

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m not aware that he caught any of it. I don’t know — I don’t know what you’re referring to, either. Les, I’m going to move on. I just don’t —

Q No, no, just one other —

MR. McCLELLAN: Les, no. I think we’ll stop it at that.

Q He had four.

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, but —

Q Human events —

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m not going to dignify any more with a response.

What on earth was that all about?

Jay is working on getting the site back up. It appears that the account was suspended for

causing extreme high load on the server his wordpress database is causing a high load.

More as it is known…

Matt at GOP Bloggers has received word that tomorrow Bill Frist will introduce an amendment to ban flag desecration. He’ll have more information as it comes available.

One of the most insidious forms of media bias is the failure to report. After all, if a tree falls in a forest……Oftentimes the charge that the media has failed to report something is easily defendable. There are, after all, only so many pages in a paper, only so many minutes of a nightly newscast. It becomes less easy to defend when the media has focused on one side of a story while completely omiting another. Coverage of Iraq is the best example. We have daily accounts of suicide bombings, but we have no reporting of any accomplishments there, none.

Once again we are on the brink in the Mideast as Iran attempts to acquire nuclear capabilities. While the media has been busily reporting the (principally media created) “Bush knew the levies would breach” story, we learn that the previous Iranian nuclear negotiator has been bragging to the Iranian elite about Iran’s success at playing the international community while proceeding with their nuclear plans.

Recall that Iran has vowed to eliminate Israel from the face of the planet. They consider the U.S. the “Great Satan”. They openly sponsor terrorism. And now comes news that their negotiations with the E.U. regarding their nuclear ambitions have been a ruse to buy time.

It’s difficult to fathom any news story that is more important than this one. Yet it is virtually nowhere to be seen or read.

At what point does negligent reporting become grossly negligent or even fraudulent?

Lady Jane asks What are you reading?

Name the book or books you are currently reading or about to start, by title and genre.

Go ahead, Follow that Meme!

All it needs now is President Bush’s signature. (source)

89-10

One abstention: Inouye (D-HI)

Nays:

All democrats except for the one wannabe.

At least the Senators from Illinois voted correctly…

This story was out last year (the Hindustan Times had a story on March 30, 2005) and I wrote about it here.

Today (via Stop The ACLU) we learn more.

Leaders of the former Soviet Union were behind the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981, an Italian parliamentary investigative commission said in a report.

A final draft of the report, which is due to be presented to parliament later this month, was made available to Reuters on Thursday by the commission president, Senator Paolo Guzzanti.

Hostettler asks Legion to help confront ACLU

Courier Press

Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., called veterans who belong to the American Legion to fight again, “to defend our sacred liberties.”

“This battle will be fought with letters, e-mails, phone calls and personal visits,” he said.

The enemy? The American Civil Liberties Union.

Hostettler was speaking Tuesday to 700 members of the American Legion who are in Washington for an annual convention. Tuesday afternoon, many of them went to lobby their representatives, and Hostettler’s bill, the Public Expression of Religion Act, was on their list of requests.

Hostettler told the crowd that Gibson County’s Ten Commandments display challenge began because “a local strip club owner said he was offended. If he meant it troubled his conscience, the monument is a benefit to the community.”

Chuckles rippled throughout the hotel ballroom, and then applause.

Ultimately, the display was held to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

But often it goes the other way. Hostettler said, “The more cases they win, the more this false right is reinforced.”

Hostettler told the group he has failed to get the bill made into law in four consecutive congressional sessions, and this is the fifth time he’s tried.

“We need to pass PERA, and we need to pass PERA now,” he said. He urged American Legion members to spread the word to their friends that they oppose “the ACLU and their minions who would enrich themselves at the expense of our Constitution.”

Hostettler closed the speech by saying although the ACLU wouldn’t like him saying so, “May He (God) continue to bless the United States of America.”

This is important legislation that needs to be passed. YOU need to contact YOUR Representative and tell them to support this. You can read about PERA here. Now, seriously, contact your representative. You can find their contact info here.

This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please email Jay or Gribbit. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 150 blogs already on-board

Over at Real Clear Politics I clicked on a link to an LA Times editorial that really blew my mind…

The editorial is titled “Why pick on Wal-Mart?”

The editorial talks about recent legislative actions to force Wal-Mart to spend a specific amount of money to offer health coverage to their employees. The editorial calls this bullying and intimidation. The editorial also states

This kind of legislative intimidation is bad for a couple of reasons. First, it’s arbitrary and unfair. Why not go after companies with 5,000 employees? Or 50? Or ones with employees who wear funny hats and ask, “You want fries with that?”

I’ve wondered that too. Why only Wal-Mart and not all the stores in the mall? Why not all the fast food outlets? Why not pick on all retail outlets? Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the U.S., but there are plenty of other large retailers as well…