Correspondence Committee

Yes, we're open.

2010-10-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

Looks like our regular site is just about impossible to use right now (Bare can explain - I'm lost - but it is a problem beyond our control) so we can use the Blogspot for now...let's just make this an open thread. Back on the normal site ASAP. xoxoxoox - dc (a/k/a Correspondence Committee).

UPDATE 10/3/10 11:15PM PST: We're having ongoing problems, so I'm going to leave this open for now. There's no registration required here, so if you see anything hinky, please ignore it - a moderator will get to it asap. Sorry for all the trouble - it's not C2 itself, so it's not something we can just fix, unfortunately. Thanks for understanding.

Thank you!

2009-11-05T14:19:00.000-08:00

Thank you for participating here at our Blogspot. This site will now be used for C2 announcements only, and as a backup site should the primary site go offline for some reason. If you are looking for us, we can be found at CorrespondenceCommittee.com.

Thank you!

Friends help you move. Real friends help you move websites.

2009-11-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's moving day.

First, we want to thank everyone who has ever lifted a finger to help around here - moderators, contributors, everyone - it couldn't have been done without you. We also want to thank all those who have contributed their intelligence, insight, wit, puns, and experience in the comments - you made this place, and we're confident it will be you who make the new site as well.

Hopefully, everything is going smoothly enough for all of you that you're inside already - but if not, you can report any difficulties you're having here and we'll check in from time to time.

If you didn't receive an invitation to c2.com and you expected to, or if you would like to be included in the community, you may send mail to membership@correspondencecommittee.com.

This blogspot will remain our emergency backup site, and a place where we'll make announcements; we will eventually be setting comments to moderation here, meaning they will need to be approved before they're published - we won't be able to watch the site, so we feel that's best. Typically there will only be the occasional open thread available for posting if you can't, for some reason, use the new site but need to connect.

It could take a few days to get everyone settled in and comfortable (and as of this writing, there are at least three recurring bugs happening - and just know that we can manually set up accounts if we have to, so if you have a lot of trouble working that out, we can take care of it), so again, your patience is very much appreciated. And if you see light at the end of the tunnel, that's the sky, not a train. I think. ; )

Now let's finally DO THIS THING!!! : )

P.S. Oh yeah: http://correspondencecommittee.com/

UPDATE: No one will be able to watch Blogspot overnight, so we'll close comments until tomorrow and open it back up on this thread so you can let us know if you're having technical issues preventing you from getting into the new place. You'll be able to post here sometime tomorrow, late morning Pacific Standard Time. Good night!

Today in History: November 2nd

2009-11-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy 237th Birthday, Correspondence Committee! (See the 1772 entry below for details)

Highlights of this day in history: President Harry Truman wins re-election in an upset; South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem killed after coup; Howard Hughes flies his 'Spruce Goose'; Game show scandal rocks early TV; Singer K.D. Lang born.

Other notable November 2nd events include:

1772 – American Revolutionary War: Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren form the first Committee of Correspondence.

1783 – In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gives his "Farewell Address to the Army".

1898 – Cheerleading is started at the University of Minnesota with Johnny Campbell leading the crowd in cheering on the football team.

1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station.

1936 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.

1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.

1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

C2 Bug reports here please/Fruitcup ongoing downstairs.

2009-11-02T02:31:00.000-08:00

Fruitcup is going on downstairs, but if you have an issue with the new site (can't log in, can't post, etc.) please report your issues here if you are unable to post them in the Help & Support forum on the new site. Bare can take a look at this thread tomorrow and see what he can do.

A couple of hints so far:

Some people using Firefox are having trouble posting; if they leave the thread and come back, it often works. (Still trying to figure that one out.) Some people using Safari are seeing a string of characters across the top of their screens that randomly go away.

If you attempt logging in too many times (I'm sorry, I don't know how many chances you get), you'll be locked out and you'll have to get unlocked by one of us, and go through password recovery.

Bare probably knows what a lot of this is about, but he has a real job and probably won't get to it for a few hours - but you can let us know here, or there if you are able to post.

Thank you for your patience. This will likely take a few days to get all straightened out, but it's part of the process, so go through it, we must. : )

UPDATE: Please post any C2 technical issues in the "we're moving" thread at the top of the page from now on; it will be closed overnight but will most likely open up sometime late morning Pacific Standard Time if you need to get in touch with us and can't get in the new site. Thanks!

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-11-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-11-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

AFTER-PUB OPEN - bring your drinks over here!

2009-11-01T19:03:00.001-08:00

The Liberty Pub - OPEN

2009-11-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

C2 Afternoon OPEN - we're moving soon!

2009-11-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Guys, here's an open. Sorry for the amount of news neglect you're suffering today, but we are very close to being ready to send you all your registration emails (you may wake up to them), and we're making final preparations for that. We expect to be "home" tomorrow (oh - and wait until you hear the bit of history trivia Pi Guy made us aware of last night!) - so please keep each other informed on what's happening in the world for the next 24/48 or so hours while we tie the bow on this site for you. We're just about there, and things are looking good. The Pub will be open and hopping as usual at 5:00PM PST/8:00PM EST. More info to come SOON! - CC

"Republican" Scozzafava Endorses Democrat After Exiting N.Y. Congressional Race

2009-11-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed her former Democratic opponent Sunday in the race for an upstate New York congressional seat, shaking up the contest for the second day in a row after exiting the race Saturday.

Scozzafava dropped out after Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman experienced a late-in-the-game surge. The move was expected to consolidate GOP voters behind Hoffman on Tuesday.

More...

NAIL MEET HEAD: Krauthammer (again)

2009-11-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

In Afghanistan, President Obama has run out of "blame Bush" passes

Old Soviet joke:

Moscow, 1953. Stalin calls in Khrushchev.

"Niki, I'm dying. Don't have much to leave you. Just three envelopes. Open them, one at a time, when you get into big trouble."

A few years later, first crisis. Khrushchev opens envelope 1: "Blame everything on me. Uncle Joe."

A few years later, a really big crisis. Opens envelope 2: "Blame everything on me. Again. Good luck, Uncle Joe."

Third crisis. Opens envelope 3: "Prepare three envelopes."

In the Barack Obama version, there are 50 or so such blame-Bush free passes before the gig is up. By my calculation, Obama has already burned through a good 49. Is there anything he hasn't blamed George W. Bush for? The economy, global warming, the credit crisis, Middle East stalemate, the deficit, anti-Americanism abroad — everything but swine flu.

Read the rest.

NFL Sunday OPEN

2009-11-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

Rush Limbaugh: Hutch Writes a Hot Column

Partial transcript:

RUSH: Well, look who got through. Our good friend the Reverend Dr. Ken Hutcherson from Seattle, former player, National Football League and now a man of the cloth in Seattle. Hutch, great to have you here. What's up, buddy?

HUTCH: How you doing, my man?

RUSH: Pretty good.

HUTCH: Are you okay?

RUSH: Yeah. Oh, yeah, I'm fine.

HUTCH: Hey, that was great from the Senator from Iowa. I just want to congratulate you. He laid it out on Goodell.

RUSH: Steve King, I was stunned when I saw that. It was a fabulous job. I was very moved by it.

HUTCH: I tell you that's the kind of defense that needs to be done about what's going on in America. And, Rush, you know, I sent you an article that I was asked to write. And I just laid it out on the truth, and it's too much to talk about on the air, but I have sent it out to places like the American Thinker, sent it out to American Spectator, Washington Post, but it seems it needs to be said, it needs to be said why they are attacking you. I'm not going to let it go. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. They have attacked my friend and brother. There's things that need to be said to African-Americans that they need to hear, that they don't want to hear. That's in the article. And there's things that need to be said to America about why the white male is being attacked, and that's coming from an African-American. And I'm going to get this out because it needs to be said.

RUSH: He [Hutch] sent me the column that he wrote. He was asked by -- I won't mention the publication -- he was asked to submit it. When they got it, it was too hot, it was too hot, it was too hot. So he's shopping it to other places. Did you say the American Thinker just now? Did you send it to them?

HUTCH: Yes, I sent to American Thinker --

RUSH: You sent to the Washington Post -- all they'll have to do is read it Hutch and they'll be blown away. I don't think they'll ever, ever publish it, but if it's too hot for anybody, we'll put it on my website.
RUSH: Absolutely. We'll give them a chance to try it, bro. I just want you to know, I'm not dropping this.

RUSH: I appreciate it. I love you.

HUTCH: Love you, bro.

Sunday Morning Above the Fold

2009-11-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

We're Governed by Callous Children
Americans feel increasingly disheartened, and our leaders don't even notice.

The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the third quarter. We should be dancing in the streets. No one is, because no one has any faith in these numbers. Waves of money are sloshing through the system, creating a false rising tide that lifts all boats for the moment. The tide will recede. The boats aren't rising, they're bobbing, and will settle. No one believes the bad time is over. No one thinks we're entering a new age of abundance. No one thinks it will ever be the same as before 2008. Economists, statisticians, forecasters and market specialists will argue about what the new numbers mean, but no one believes them, either. Among the things swept away in 2008 was public confidence in the experts. The experts missed the crash. They'll miss the meaning of this moment, too.

HT:Littleoldlady

After all the fuss, govt health plan to cover few

After all the noise over Democrats' push for a government insurance plan to compete with private carriers, coverage numbers are finally in:

Two percent.

That's the estimated share of Americans younger than 65 who'd sign up for the public option plan under the health care bill that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is steering toward House approval.

The underwhelming statistic is raising questions about whether the government plan will be the iron-fisted competitor that private insurers warn will shut them down or a niche operator that becomes a haven for patients with health insurance horror stories.

HT: Realwest

Today in History: November 1st

2009-11-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Highlights of this day in history: The Stamp Act takes effect; The United States explodes the first hydrogen bomb; Sistine Chapel paintings are first shown to the public; The Algerian War of Independence begins; Walter Payton dies.

Other notable November 1st events include:

1520 – The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of mainland South America, connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, is first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during his global circumnavigation voyage.

1604 – William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1611 – William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1800 – US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).

1870 – In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast.

1894 – Nicholas II becomes the new Tsar of Russia after his father, Alexander III, dies.

1896 – A picture showing the unclad (bare) breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time.

1941 – American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.

1957 – The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.

1968 – The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X.

1982 – Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of their factory in Marysville, Ohio.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-11-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

The Official Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks and candy! BOO!!!

2009-10-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

As Halloween Night winds down, I leave you with a tale of a Halloween night at the home of a family who treat every day as if it's Halloween. They're the Addams Family, and the episode is Halloween, Addams Style.

I hope you've enjoyed C2's Halloween Liberty Pubs and After-Pubs, and thank you for watching and posting!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

2009-10-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Now, we're not going to let our Pumpkin King off easily here on Halloween. He gets a good roasting (literally) in Night Ghoulery.

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

2009-10-31T17:00:00.001-07:00

We've made it! This is Halloween, so I give you This Is Halloween, the opening song from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: The paranormal or unexplained

2009-10-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween, so why not?

Michael Medved tells the story of camping on a Civil War battlefield as a young man, and hearing the sound of soldiers marching in the night - weapons clanging, boots hitting the ground...is he a fruitcake? Have you ever witnessed something you thought was paranormal? Or perhaps just something you could not explain? It could be something good, or something bad...something that happened to you, or someone else. Tell us about it here! Creepy, scary, or just strange stories of any kind will do. We won't even ask you if you're making them up or not. ; )

Connections: The Long Chain (Part 7 of 10)

2009-10-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

The Long Chain is the title of this week's Connections episode. Last week, we followed a path in history from the assembly line to the development of the airplane.

What happened the last time an efficient cargo-carrier was developed? This week, James Burke starts with the Dutch Fluyt ships, which were remarkably similar in principle to the modern 747, and takes us to a long history of disease, war, famine and empires, to end at the last place you'd expect.

Following the video are links to further research on the major topics of this episode, with ones that reveal the ending, as always, purposefully left out.

Links:

Boeing 747
Fluyt
Hoorn
Dutch East India Company
Bank of England
Triangular trade
Edward Lloyd
Lloyd's of London
Mary Celeste
Shipworm
Tar
Pitch
Great Northern War
Turpentine
Revolutionary War
Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald
Coal tar
Copper
Copper sheathing
James Watt
Cotton mill
William Murdoch
Frederick Albert Winsor
Gas Light and Coke Company
Gasometer
The Great Stink
Ammonia
Naphtha
Natural rubber
Charles Macintosh
Thomas Hancock
Spice trade
Anopheles Mosquito
Malaria
Cinchona
Quinine
Gin and tonic
William Henry Perkin
Mauveine
BASF
Hoechst AG
Agfa
Bayer
Indigo-Marsch
Eugénie de Montijo
Analgesic
Combine harvester
Rye bread
Junker
Fertilizer
Fritz Haber
Nitric acid
Sodium nitrate
Haber–Bosch process
Henri Moissan
Calcium carbide
Acetylene
Adolph Frank
Heinrich Caro
Potash
Wuppertal monorail
Wilhelm II
World War I
Oxyacetylene welding
Fritz Klatte
1939 New York World's Fair
Polymer

C2 Afternoon News

2009-10-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

HotAir: Scozzafava quits after Siena poll; Update: Hoffman campaign asking for endorsement?

Nine U.S. banks seized in largest one-day haul

U.S. authorities seized nine failed banks on Friday, the most in a single day since the financial crisis began and the latest stark sign that substantial parts of the nation's banking industry are being crippled by bad loans.

The move brought the total number of failed banks in 2009 to 115 -- their highest annual level since 1992 -- with analysts expecting more to come. Among the lenders seized Friday was Los Angeles-based California National Bank, in what was the fourth-largest U.S. bank failure this year.

Advertising firm suing Alan Grayson

Both sides agree that when Grayson hired North Woods to help promote his campaign last year, he promised them a $20,000 payment – commonly referred to as a win bonus – if he emerged victorious in Florida’s eighth congressional district.

Grayson won the campaign and was elected to his first term in Congress – but never paid North Woods the $20,000 win bonus, both sides acknowledge. More than a year later, North Woods has filed suit against Grayson to collect the bonus, and another $50,000 for breach of contract, since Grayson’s campaign hired another advertising firm late in the campaign, allegedly violating an exclusivity clause in the North Woods contract.

NYT's Zeleny Again Involved in Obama Story Scrub

After Times organ grinder -- er, reporter -- Jeff Zeleny got a hold of the story, most of the harshness went away, as did Baker's original story. All of a sudden, at the same URL, there was no reference to tarnished presidential prestige. A dismissive assertion that the embarrassment "would fade in a news cycle or two" appeared. There was also a mention of Obama's 25-minute meeting with Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal that was not in the original. The reference to falling poll numbers also disappeared.

Well, the Times has just pulled a similar stunt in its coverage of President Obama's Wednesday night/Thursday morning visit to Dover Air Force Base. Once again, Jeff Zeleny is involved.

Obama names 110 White House visitors (H/T: Running Bare - who points out that 'Malik Shabazz' appears on the list; must be a different Malik Shabazz, not this guy; Jake Tapper says there are 59 people by that name on whitepages.com, so...)

The list released at 4:30 p.m. Friday includes just about 110 names with 481 visits. Those names were among those requested by members of the public so far, for visits during the period from Inauguration Day through July. (That's why we know of visits by the wrong Bill Ayers, the wrong Angela Davis, etc., but we don't know of visits by countless unnamed lobbyists.) Members of the public who used the White House online form to check names did not receive a personal reply indicating whether or not the request was received, or whether the name appeared on the list, so the system provides no feedback. Does the absence of Bill Clinton's name on the list mean that he has not been to the White House, or that the request wasn't received by the White House online system?

A request for the complete records of all visitors from the first months of the administration, filed by msnbc.com, was rejected by the White House, and an appeal is pending. The news organization requested the names of all visitors to the Obama White House beginning with Inauguration Day. Msnbc.com has filed an administrative appeal with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.

Saturday Morning OPEN

2009-10-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Some pretty big breaking news this morning (via HotAir): Scozzafava quits after Siena poll; Update: Hoffman campaign asking for endorsement?

Saturday Morning Bulldog Edition

2009-10-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

If you haven't got your own copy of ....

A BILL
To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans
and reduce the growth in health care spending, and
for other purposes.

It's only 1990 page of mind boggling bureaucrateze.

(B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sentence of section 1919(h)(2)(A)(ii) of the 19
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 20
1396r(h)(2)(A)(ii)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and some portion of such funds may be used to support activities that benefit residents, including assistance to support and protect residents of afacility that closes (voluntarily or involuntarily) or is decertified (including offsetting costs of relocating residents to home and community based settings or another facility), projects that support resident and family councils and other consumer involvement in assuring quality care in facilities, and facility improvement initiatives approved by the Secretary (including joint training of facility staff and surveyors, providing technical assistance to facilities under quality assurance programs, the appointment of temporary management, and other activities approved by the Secretary)’’.

What Budget Gimmicks are Liberals Using to Pass Their Agenda?

The “doc fix” bill, was part of a sneaky liberal strategy to pass President Barack Obama’s $1 trillion-plus health care overhaul by transferring a quarter of its cost into a separate, and completely unpaid for, bill. The White House thought that if it bought off all of the business interests involved, opposition to the plan would whither. In one sense, the plan worked—Washington lobbyists for drug companies, insurance giants and hospitals have all spent millions of dollars for lobbying and television ads in support of Obamacare.

Can't Achieve Public Option Without Deception

But regardless of how much lipstick they put on this pig, it still is a government takeover of the health care system that would all but eliminate private insurance and force millions of Americans into a government-run system. Apparently the House leadership has decided that if at first you can't get the votes by being honest about your true intentions, lie, lie, again.

ObamaCare's Scary October Surprise

Stung by a rising tide of resistance and a closing window of opportunity, House Democrats have unleashed a new version of ObamaCare, weighing in at 1,990 pages and with a $1 trillion price tag. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promises to ram it through quickly, exhibiting a disdain for her countrymen that makes Marie Antoinette look like a populist.

The Democrats are going for broke, which means we'll all be broke if this is not stopped. The "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (HR 3962) is so comprehensive that it even micromanages restaurant menus and vending machines. That's a clear signal that this is not about health care. It's about whether the people of the United States will allow power-mad Washington politicians to plunge us into the kind of top-down socialism that is strangling Western Europe and has devastated economies and destroyed freedom wherever it is imposed.

President Obama promised "transparency" and that any bill would be written in public. That was a lie. This monstrosity was hatched behind closed doors. He promised that it would not "add a dime to the federal deficit," which he has already tripled since taking office. It was another lie. No one can honestly believe that a gargantuan takeover of the nation's $2.5 trillion health care industry will save taxpayers money. No government program results in savings. They grow exponentially, create dependent constituencies that lobby for yet more tax dollars, and empower bureaucrats for whom mission failure ensures more staff, more money and more power. There is simply no governing restraint such as a profit motive or anxious stockholders. The voters? Surely you jest. They are far, far away and kept in check by a compliant leftist media. At least, so far.

Social Engineering in the Guise of Health Care Reform

A few months ago we were surprised to get a number of phone calls from the media asking about the original health care bill, H.R. 3200, containing "home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children."

Today in History: October 31st

2009-10-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: Martin Luther leads start of Protestant Reformation; President Lyndon B. Johnson halts U.S. bombing of North Vietnam; India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated; Magician Harry Houdini dies.

Other notable October 31st events include:

1864 – Nevada (click here for correct pronunciation) is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.

1917 – World War I: Battle of Beersheba – "last successful cavalry charge in history".

1941 – After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.

1943 – World War II: An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar-guided interception.

1959 – Lee Harvey Oswald attempts to renounce his American citizenship at the US Embassy in Moscow, USSR.

1997 – 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward, convicted by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, jury of second-degree murder the day before, is sentenced to life in prison.

1999 – Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.

1999 – Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-10-31T02:00:00.000-07:00

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

2009-10-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Halloween! C2 has been celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

And now, let's turn to some classical music by Modest Mussorgsky and Franz Schubert. What does this have to do with Halloween? Very little, unless you turn to Disney's original 1940 film Fantasia, which combined Ave Maria and Night on Bald Mountain in a piece title after the latter work.

It begins with the demon Chernabog, who summons restless souls from their graves on Walpurgis night...

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

2009-10-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Halloween! C2 has been celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

This video is a black-and-white student film from 1982, based on an original poem by the student. Since the poem mentioned Vincent Price, and the student was working for Disney at the time, some connections and arrangements were made to get Vincent Price himself to do the narration.

Whatever happened to that film student? He's doing quite well - his name is Tim Burton. The film is called Vincent.

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

2009-10-30T17:00:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is Halloween! C2 has been celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Besides being the night before Halloween, it's also the 71st anniversary of the classic 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air presentation of War of the Worlds that caused panic among thousands of Americans.

Since we're presenting scary and fun Halloween classics, here's the full original radio broadcast, as it was heard on October 30, 1938. Being a radio broadcast, the video track consists of just stationary pictures, so start this up in another browser tab or window (so you can hear it while posting and reloading without interruption), and get a feel for what it must've been like 71 years ago today.

C2 Afternoon News

2009-10-30T14:30:00.001-07:00

US: Massachusetts can't force gay marriage benefits

States that allow gay marriage can't force the federal government to provide benefits to those couples, the Obama administration argued Friday in court papers in a lawsuit by Massachusetts.

The Justice Department is at odds with Massachusetts—the first state to allow gay marriage—over a 1996 federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Massachusetts sued in July, saying that law is discriminatory and deprives gay couples in the state of some federal spousal benefits.

US warily leans to new Iran sanctions over nukes

Frustrated by Iran's continued defiance of demands to come clean on its nuclear program, the Obama administration is leaning toward imposing new sanctions, even if it must act alone.

Senate, White House agree on reporter protections

The White House, key senators and media representatives have reached a compromise on legislation to protect reporters from being forced to disclose their confidential sources in federal court.

Senate supporters of the so-called media shield bill said Friday that the deal gives the government authority to override those rights in certain national security cases.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the agreement "strikes the right balance between national security concerns and the public's right to know." He said it would preserve a strong defense for reporters trying to protect sources while making sure the government can do its job of protecting citizens.

NAIL MEET HEAD: Thomas Sowell

2009-10-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Thomas Sowell: Dismantling America: Part II

Many years ago, at a certain academic institution, there was an experimental program that the faculty had to vote on as to whether or not it should be made permanent.

I rose at the faculty meeting to say that I knew practically nothing about whether the program was good or bad, and that the information that had been supplied to us was too vague for us to have any basis for voting, one way or the other. My suggestion was that we get more concrete information before having a vote.

[...]

After the faculty meeting was over, I told a colleague that I was stunned and baffled by the faculty's fierce response to my simply saying that we needed more information before voting.

"Tom, you don't understand," he said. "Those people need to believe in that man. They have invested so much hope and trust in him that they cannot let you stir up any doubts."

Years later, and hundreds of miles away, I learned that my worst misgivings about that program did not begin to approach the reality, which included organized criminal activity.

The memory of that long-ago episode has come back more than once while observing both the actions of the Obama administration and the fierce reactions of its supporters to any questioning or criticism.

Read the rest.

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

2009-10-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Today's story to sip your coffee by:

DNC Uses Flag Desecration Video to Raise Funds

A Democratic fundraising video on President Obama's political Web site shows an American flag mural being covered in graffiti and desecrated with slogans about health care reform.

As a heart monitor beeps ominously in the background, a graffiti artist paints over the Stars and Stripes with phrases criticizing opposition to the Democratic legislation, including "profit over life" and the crossed-out words "death panel." The whole flag is eventually smeared with paint and blacked out.

The Daily Broadside - 10/30

2009-10-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Big Hollywood: CAIR Seeks HBO Apology for ‘Curb’ Episode Mocking Jesus

A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called on HBO to apologize for an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in which the main character splattered urine on a painting of Jesus.

Honduras interim government touts agreement on coup

Interim President Roberto Micheletti has ordered his negotiators to sign an agreement that could lead to the reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, but that leaves the decision in the hands of the Supreme Court and Congress.

Micheletti says the agreement would create a power-sharing government and bind both sides to recognize the Nov. 29 presidential elections.

Zelaya's team is not saying whether it intends to sign the agreement, which Micheletti called a "significant concession" on his part.

So-Called 'Death Panel' Measure Survives in House Health Bill

The Medicare end-of-life planning provision that 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said was tantamount to "death panels" for seniors is staying in the latest Democratic health care bill unveiled Thursday.

The provision allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death.

Passports Linked to 9/11 Found in Pakistan

Soldiers displayed passports seized in the operation, among them a German document belonging to a man named Said Bahaji. That matches the name of a man thought to have been a member of the Hamburg cell that conceived the 9/11 attacks. Bahaji is believed to have fled Germany shortly before the attacks in New York and Washington.

The passport included a tourist visa for Pakistan and a stamp indicating he'd arrived in the southern city of Karachi on Sept. 4, 2001.

Another passport, from Spain, bears the name of Raquel Burgos Garcia. Spanish media have reported that a woman with the same name is married to Amer Azizi, an alleged Al Qaeda member from Morocco suspected in both the 9/11 attacks and the Madrid train bombings in 2004.

(H/T: JCM)

Congressman Flake Releases Statement Regarding His Vote Against Honoring the 2560th Birthday of Confucius (H/T: Pi Guy)

Washington, D.C., Oct 28 - Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today released the following statement regarding his vote against H.Res.784, a bill “honoring the 2560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius and recognizing his invaluable contributions to philosophy and social and political thought.”

“He who spends time passing trivial legislation may find himself out of time to read healthcare bill,” said Flake.

Today in History: October 30th

2009-10-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: Escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested; The Lamborghini is unveiled for the first time; Michael Jordan briefly comes out of retirement; Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds.

BONUS: Listen to the complete original October 30th, 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air presentation of War of the Worlds here.

Other notable October 30th events include:

1864 – Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch".

1905 – Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly.

1922 – Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy.

1944 – Anne Frank and sister Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

1945 – Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color barrier.

1950 – Pope Pius XII witnesses "The Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican.

1974 – The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire.

1975 – The New York Daily News runs the “Ford to City: Drop Dead” headline.

1985 – Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.

2009 - The USS New York, an amphibious transport dock made with metal from the World Trade Center Towers, is officially commissioned.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-10-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

2009-10-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Looking back over the past Halloweens, you start to realize certain things.

It's astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness takes control...

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

2009-10-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Tonight's feature, released in 1953, is the first film ever to be rated X in Great Britain, yet it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in the US. I give you Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN, but Brandy might be late tonight.

2009-10-29T17:00:00.001-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

This video is a special request by doppelganglander.

Tonight's ingredients for horror and fun: A nightmarish traveling carnival, the offer to live out your secret fantasies, and two innocent 13-year-old boys. From the combined efforts of Walt Disney Studios and Ray Bradbury, I give you Something Wicked This Way Comes.

POLITICO: DNC attacks Palin 'lies'

2009-10-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

Ben Smith at Politico: DNC attacks Palin 'lies'

The Democratic National Committee, keeping up its drumbeat of harsh new-media campaigns against GOP leaders, is rallying Democrats to attack Sarah Palin where she communicates -- on Facebook.

In an email to its list (after the jump) and a web page, the committee is pushing supporters to go after Palin on the social media site for alleged "lies" that range from her claim that disabled people will have to stand before "death panels" -- widely viewed as outlandish -- to the more arguable claim (the DNC calls it a "myth") that a public option "will crowd out private insurers."

"A lot of folks use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family. For Sarah Palin, it's a great way to spread lies about health insurance reform," writes DNC executive director Jen O'Malley Dillon in the email.

C2 Afternoon News

2009-10-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Cash for Clunkers cost taxpayers $24,000 per real sale

The Cash for Clunkers program provided federal subsidies of up to $4500 for those car owners willing to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle in exchange for certain classes of gas guzzlers. In all, the C4C program generated over 690,000 sales in the few weeks that it ran, with an average subsidy of $4,348 per sale. How many of these, though, would have bought a new car in the near future anyway? According to a new study by Edmonds, an industry analyst, only 125,000 of these sales would have not been made without C4C — which brings the subsidy to about $24,000 per actual successful incentive (via Snapped Shot).

KAUS: Anita Dunn's Alibi - The Case of the Confusing Chinese?

Obama Communications Director Anita Dunn says she was only cribbing from Lee Atwater when she approvingly quoted from Mao Tse-Tung in a graduation speech. ... Funny thing, though. I can't find a place where Atwater cited Mao. I can find lots of places where Atwater referenced Sun Tzu, whose Art of War he supposedly carried around in dog eared form. ... Hmmm ....

Document Dump: 'Pelosicare' links here

Feds: Son of slain Michigan Islamic leader arrested

DETROIT – Authorities captured the son of the slain leader of a radical Detroit-area Islamic group in Canada on Thursday, a day after the FBI arrested several members and a raid at a suburban warehouse ended in gunfire.

The FBI asked for the public's help in catching two of the 11 suspects in the case still at large, and they emphasized that the group, a faction of the radical U.S. Sunni Islamic group Ummah, held beliefs that were not at all representative of mainstream Islam.

"Any Muslim who took a look at what these people believed would not recognize this as the Muslim faith," Andrew Arena, the head of the FBI in Detroit.

ON THE LEFT: Gore Vidal

2009-10-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

Breathtaking, on so many levels:

Author Gore Vidal Labels Polanski Victim a ‘Young Hooker’

Plenty of celebrities issued crazy statements in their efforts to defend director and rapist Roman Polanski but none went as far as author Gore Vidal did when he labeled Polanski's victim a "young hooker."

In an Oct. 28 interview with The Atlantic's John Meroney about a variety of topics, Vidal claimed he didn't "give a f---" about the Polanski case. "Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she's been taken advantage of?"

Vidal claimed "there was a totally different story at the time that doesn't resemble anything that we're now being told," and pinned the blame for the outcry against Polanski on anti-Semitism.

"The media can't get anything straight. Plus, there's usually an anti-Semitic and anti-fag thing going on with the press - lots of crazy things," elaborated Vidal. "The idea that this girl was in her communion dress, a little angel all in white, being raped by this awful Jew, Polacko - that's what people were calling him - well, the story is totally different now from what it was then."

C2 A.M.: Michelle Malkin exposes new "Media Justice" movement

2009-10-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Obama’s FCC, liberal churches, and the “media justice” mob

The motto of the “So We Might See” anti-”hate speech” campaign is: “Without media justice, there will be no social justice!” The same Marx-loving “social justice” crowd is behind the “media justice” mob — including George Soros’s Open Society Institute, Media Democracy Fund, and Media Matters; the Ford Foundation; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; etc., etc., etc. Their goal: government redistribution of media wealth. As “The Media Justice Fund” put it: The movement “is grounded in the belief that social and economic justice will not be realized without the equitable redistribution and control of media and communication technologies.” And there’s that phrase “transformative change” again...

Free speech is under attack. Read the rest.

The Daily Broadside - 10/29

2009-10-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Stimulus jobs overstated by thousands

A Colorado company said it created 4,231 jobs with the help of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. The real number: fewer than 1,000.

A child care center in Florida said it saved 129 jobs with the help of stimulus money. Instead, it gave pay raises to its existing employees.

Elsewhere in the U.S., some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two, three, four or even more times.

Obama revives military trials at Guantanamo

President Barack Obama brought back Bush-era military trials for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday by signing new rules into law that will give detainees stronger legal rights in court.

Obama approved the new rules—most of which he proposed in May—as part of a $680 billion defense policy bill that cut some pricey and overlapping military weapons programs.

Democrat Apologizes for Calling Woman a 'Whore', Obama Calls Him 'Outstanding'

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) has apologized for calling a top adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke a “whore.”

“I offer my sincere apology to Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke,” Grayson said in an emailed statement. “I did not intend to use a term that is often, and correctly, seen as disrespectful of women.”

In the emailed statement, Grayson gave further context to the comment, saying it was made “last month in the context of the debate over whether the Federal Reserve should be independently audited, was inappropriate, and I apologize.”

1-year poll shows changed views on Obama

"There's a kind of realism that's taken over, that 'the change you can believe in' — people have woken up and seen that as kind of a talking point, and I think there's some disappointment, some deflation," says Lawrence Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. "On the other hand, when you take into account he's been president during the sharpest economic decline since the Great Depression, it's astounding that his support is not weaker."

BONUS VID: Rep. Steve King Questions Roger Goodell on Limbaugh Comments (H/T: HotAir)

Today in History: October 29th

2009-10-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: 'Black Tuesday' on Wall St. as the Great Depression begins; Osama bin Laden admits ordering the Sept. 11th attacks; Suez crisis heats up; McKinley assassin executed; John Glenn returns to space.

Other notable October 29th events include:

1390 – The first trial for witchcraft in Paris begins.

1467 – Battle of Brustem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege.

1618 – English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.

1921 – The Harvard University football team loses to Centre College, ending a 25 game winning streak. This is considered one of the biggest upsets in college football.

1923 – Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

1960 – In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (who later takes the name Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight.

1966 – National Organization For Women is founded.

1969 – The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.

1994 – Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran is later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton).

2004 – In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-10-29T02:00:00.000-07:00

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - AN AMERICAN SASQUATCH IN LONDON

2009-10-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Every year, the Simpsons do a special Halloween episode known as the “Treehouse of Horror”. Most are classics, but one of the best is Treehouse of Horror V, where they parodied The Shining, Crime and Punishment and Soylent Green.

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - NIGHTMARE ON SQUATCH STREET

2009-10-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

A mysterious older man moves in next door to a boy who is a monster movie fan. Is this mysterious new neighbor a real vampire?

Courtesy of the New Twilight Zone comes the episode called MONSTERS!, starring Ralph Bellamy.

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - THE RETURN OF SQUATCH

2009-10-28T17:00:00.001-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Yep - you've already guessed it by the screen shot, so we'll go right to the late Michael Jackon's music video, Thriller!

Around the 'Net: Some Things Never Change / Here Comes "Health"/ Truce

2009-10-28T14:30:00.001-07:00

Democratic donors rewarded with White House Perks

During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings.

High-dollar fundraisers have been promised access to senior White House officials in exchange for pledges to donate $30,400 personally or to bundle $300,000 in contributions ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, according to internal Democratic National Committee documents obtained by The Washington Times.

Pay czar: No need to take on more authority

The Obama administration's "pay czar" who reduced pay for executives at seven major corporations doesn't want broader powers over the rest of the financial sector.

"I'm perfectly comfortable, thank you, limited to these seven companies," Kenneth Feinberg told a congressional committee Wednesday.

But Feinberg, who ordered cutting top executive compensation at the seven companies in half, told lawmakers that the standards he used should guide the broader marketplace.

Woman arrested for trying to trade sex for World Series tickets

Married with children, current Penn grad student in liberal arts and onetime assistant PR director at the University of Pennsylvania, she posted an ad on Craigslist.com: "DESPERATE BLONDE NEEDS WS TIX (Philadelphia)

"Diehard Phillies fan - gorgeous tall buxom blonde - in desperate need of two World Series Tickets. Price negotiable - I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!"

House Democrats prepare to unveil health bill

House Democrats are poised to unveil health care legislation that would vastly alter America's medical landscape, requiring virtually universal sign-ups and offering a new government-run plan for people without affordable coverage.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was making plans to release the bill Thursday morning, contingent on the outcome of a meeting of House leaders Wednesday afternoon, according to lawmakers and aides.

The WellPoint Revelation: Private insurance premiums could triple under ObamaCare

Washington is captivated by the Senate melodrama over the so-called public option, salivating at the ring of Harry Reid's political bell (see below). But the most important health-care questions continue to be about the policy substance—particularly those that Democrats don't want asked.

Foremost among them is: How will ObamaCare affect insurance premiums in the private health-care markets? Despite indignant Democratic denials, the near-certainty is that their plan will cause costs to rise across the board. The latest data on this score come from a series of state-level studies from the insurance company WellPoint Inc.

HotAir: White House, FNC declare truce

A senior Obama adviser says that, even though the West Wing has been roundly criticized by both adversaries and some allies for blasting Fox as an arm of the Republican Party and not a real news organization, administration insiders are pleased with how things stand.
The fuss has energized core Democrats who have wanted Obama and his advisers to get tough with Fox and other critics of the administration, the adviser says. And it has made the point that Fox is an outlier in the journalistic community, a notion that many liberals embrace…

One drawback, which even Obama aides concede, is that Fox is using the quarrel with the White House as a public-relations tool to stir up its own support among conservatives and to boost ratings. “They’re still at it,” says a senior Obama aide, who adds that White House officials don’t expect to fire another shot in the battle unless Fox strikes first.

PLANET OBAMA: FNC? Biased. MSNBC, not so much.

2009-10-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Obama Advisor Tells CNN Fox Is Biased, Won't Comment On MSNBC

A senior White House advisor on Tuesday told Campbell Brown that Fox News is biased, but refused to comment when the CNN host asked her, "Well, then do you also think that MSNBC is biased?"

During a taped interview at the Woman's Conference in California later broadcast on CNN's "Campbell Brown," Valerie Jarrett sidestepped this marvelous question and instead haplessly said, "I don't want to just generalize all Fox is biased or that another station is biased."

Bonus vid (H/T HotAir): Krauthammer "speaks truth to power". Of course, it's on FOX News, so take it with a grain of salt. /

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

2009-10-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

Something to kick around over coffee from the Who Didn't See This Coming? File:

Ex-Letterman writer claims hostile environment

A former writer for David Letterman said she quit his NBC talk show in part because of alleged sexual favoritism and a hostile work environment.

Nell Scovell, writing for Vanity Fair online Tuesday, said she had no intention of filing a lawsuit and wasn't seeking revenge.

"I wanted to shine a light on gender inequality in that particular workplace," Scovell, who went on to a successful Hollywood career, said in a telephone interview.

Read the rest.

The Daily Broadside - 10/28

2009-10-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Analysis: US making plans for Iran nuke strategy (H/T: Ace)

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is quietly laying the groundwork for long-range strategy that could be used to contain a nuclear-equipped Iran and deter its leaders from using atomic weapons.

U.S. officials insist they are not resigned to a nuclear Iran and are pressing negotiations to prevent it from joining the world's nuclear club. But at the same time, the administration has set in place the building blocks of policies to contend with an Iran armed with atomic weapons.

Grim Milestone: October Deadliest Month in Afghanistan… Fatalities Triple Under Obama (H/T: Pi Guy)

Report: Afghan president's brother gets CIA pay

The CIA's ties to Karzai, who is a suspected player in the country's illegal opium trade, have created deep divisions within the Obama administration, the Times said.

Allegations that Karzai is involved in the drug trade have circulated in Kabul for months. He denies them.

Critics say the ties with Karzai complicate the United States' increasingly tense relationship with his older brother, President Hamid Karzai. The CIA's practices also suggest that the United States is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban

What if Bush had done that?

A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser.

Snubbing the Dalai Lama.

Signing off on a secret deal with drug makers.

Freezing out a TV network.

Doing more fundraisers than the last president. More golf, too.

President Barack Obama has done all of those things — and more.

What’s remarkable is what hasn’t happened. These episodes haven’t become metaphors for Obama’s personal and political character — or consuming controversies that sidetracked the rest of his agenda.

Today in History: October 28th

2009-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: Harvard University founded; President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty; Gateway Arch completed.

Other notable October 28th events include:

1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established.

1919 – The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.

1936 – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

1985 – Sandinista Daniel Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua and makes peace overtures to the United States.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™ - SELF-SERVE

2009-10-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

C2ers, you'll have to grab your own fruitcup tonight; littleoldlady has an issue with her home she's currently dealing with, and she can't be here. Because we're not sure if anyone would be around to moderate the thread, we're going to close comments. (And just to be clear, it's not C2 members we'd be concerned about in that regard.) We'll open back up for the history thread at 5:00AM PST/8:00 AM EST. See you then!

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

2009-10-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Did you know Dave Seville collects masks? It's this unusual hobby that inspires Alvin and the Chipmunks to sing one of their big hits - Witch Doctor!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

2009-10-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Back in 1976, ABC thought it would be a good idea to produce and broadcast The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. It's scary, but in a far different way than most of these other Halloween videos.

The video features Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from the classic 1939 Wizard of Oz film), "Witchiepoo" (Billie Hayes), Tim Conway, Roz Kelly (Best known as "Pinky" Tuscadero on Happy Days), Florence Henderson, Billy Barty, Betty White, Donny & Marie Osmond and KISS.

Below it's shown as the full special, but it's one of those programs that you can jump around, and it still remains just as coherent.

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

2009-10-27T17:00:00.001-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Now it's time to learn your ABCs - Halloween style! This video is Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies.

C2 Afternoon OPEN - Featuring that dastardly Dick Cheney

2009-10-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

The Tone of Left-Wing Radio: Dick Cheney Eats Jewish or Muslim Babies

Last Wednesday, former vice president Dick Cheney received the Keeper of the Flame award from the Center for Security Policy in Washington, where he denounced President Obama for dithering on Afghanistan. This sent several left-wing columnists and radio hosts into a rage. But there’s rage, and then there’s the wild ravings of host Mike Malloy, who was thinking Cheney was a baby-eater:

Cheney, by the way looks very ruddy; I couldn't get over that like he must have feasted on a Jewish baby, or a Muslim baby; he must have sent his people out to get one and bring it back so he could drink its blood, because that's what somebody like Cheney does to get that ruddy look.

It was scary to see. This was not makeup; and the weird part is there were no dribbles of blood down his tux. But it was very clear that he had been eating the blood of a Jewish or a Muslim baby. He wouldn't eat a Christian baby. If he ate the blood of a Christian baby, there's something in the old writings that said that instantly the trap door to Hell opens and you disappear into the smoke, so it's got to be a Muslim or a Jewish baby; and you drink the blood and you're healthy again if you're somebody like Dick Cheney.

And they call Glenn Beck nuts.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Gay marriage/asylum

2009-10-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Gay man says Brazilian husband denied asylum; Sen. Kerry had backed the couple's request on humanitarian grounds

A gay Brazilian man has been denied asylum by the Obama administration and won't be reunited with his American husband in the U.S., the husband said Monday.

Tim Coco said Attorney General Eric Holder did not act on a Friday deadline in the case of Genesio "Junior" Oliveira, effectively denying the 30-year-old Brazilian man's request for asylum in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.

Read the rest.

ON THE LEFT: Nina Totenberg

2009-10-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Totenberg: Bush White House 'More Like the Mob' in Freezing Out Media Outlets

Discussing the Obama White House's quest to discredit and banish the Fox News Channel, NPR's Nina Totenberg declared going “on the offensive publicly against Fox was not too bright” and she recalled how, in contrast, the Bush White House “just cut people dead, it froze them out, you know it froze whole institutions out, didn't talk about it.”

Putting it in the most-nefarious light, she charged on the weekly Inside Washington: “It was much more like the Mob.” Seemingly ruing Team Obama's miscue in not matching the Bush method, Totenberg asserted that “when you talk about it, you diminish your influence.”

Read the rest.

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

2009-10-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

A news item to read while you sip your coffee:

Survey: US support for Israel strong

The American people's strong support for Israel remains constant and their support for action to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power has substantially increased, according to a new nationwide survey released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Monday.

The survey's findings demonstrate that Americans recognize Israel as a strong and loyal US ally, are skeptical about "peace dividends" that would be realized by Israel stopping all settlement construction and believe that a Palestinian state must not be established until the Palestinians demonstrate a commitment to end violence and accept Israel's legitimacy.

The Daily Broadside - 10/27 Part II

2009-10-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Daily Broadside - 10/27

2009-10-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

New hotel owner hounded by racism charges

TAOS, N.M. - Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.

The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.

Obama: "I may be skinny but I'm tough"

After weeks in which he has been angrily criticized by some on the right, to the point of creating a poster image of him with a Hitler mustache, Obama told a fund-raising event that some of his supporters have been expressing concern to him.

"I've tried to explain ... just because I'm skinny doesn't mean I'm not tough. I don't rattle. I'm not going to shrink back, because now is the time for us to continue to push and follow through on those things that we know have to be done but have not been done in decades," he said.

US up to 55 mln swine flu vaccine doses short: official

The United States will face a swine flu vaccine shortfall of 45 to 55 million doses by the end of the year but half of the population could still be vaccinated, according to a senior US official.
"I don't think we will get to the original goal" of 195 million influenza A(H1N1) vaccine doses delivered during the US government's fall vaccination campaign, said Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Man who threw feces in CA courtroom gets 31 years

A man who sneaked a bag of his feces into a San Diego courtroom during his home-invasion robbery trial, smeared it on his lawyer and threw it at jurors has been sentenced to 31 years in prison.
Superior Court Judge Frank Brown on Monday sentenced Weusi McGowan for robbery, burglary and two assault charges stemming from the feces-flinging incident during his January trial.

McGowan, who attorneys say suffers from mental illness, had asked for a mistrial because he believed jurors had seen him in restraints when he entered the courtroom.

Pelosi: Health care 'public option' needs new name

In an appearance at a Florida senior center, the Democratic leader referred to the so-called public option as "the consumer option." Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., appeared by Pelosi's side and used the term "competitive option."

Both suggested new terminology might get them past any lingering doubts among the public—or consumers or competitors.

Today in History: October 27th

2009-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: The Federalist Papers are published in New York City; President Theodore Roosevelt is born; Egypian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin win Nobel Peace Prize; John Cleese is born; Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918.

BONUS: View and download your own FREE copy of the Federalist Papers here.

Other notable October 27th events include:

312 – Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross.

1682 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded.

1904 – The first underground New York City Subway line opens.

1954 – Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force.

1964 – Ronald Reagan delivers his "A Time for Choosing" speech on behalf of Republican candidate for president, Barry Goldwater.

1971 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.

1992 – United States Navy radioman Allen R. Schindler, Jr. is brutally murdered by shipmates for being gay, precipitating first military, then national, debate about gays in the military that resulted in the United States "Don't ask, don't tell" military policy.

1997 – October 27, 1997 mini-crash: Stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-10-27T02:00:00.001-07:00

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

2009-10-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

In this video, Bluto and Popeye battle to scare each other on Halloween. It's Fright To The Finish.

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

2009-10-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

The closer we get to Halloween, the more ghosts seem to be around. We need somebody to get rid of all of them, but who ya gonna call?

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

2009-10-26T17:00:00.001-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Tonight's video has a bit more fun in it. It's the classic Peanuts Halloween TV special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Around The 'Net: Healthcare

2009-10-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

Senate on Verge of Health Bill With 'Public' Plan

WASHINGTON -- Top Senate Democrats are close to finalizing their health bill and could unveil a measure as soon as early this week that would include stiffer penalties on employers who fail to provide health coverage.

Senate leaders plan to submit the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate as soon as Monday, and make the legislation public as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Details of the legislation could change, but its broad outlines are becoming clear. Employers with more than 50 workers wouldn't be required to provide health insurance, but they would face fines of up to $750 per employee if even part of their work force received a government subsidy to buy health insurance, this person said. A bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee had a lower fine of up to $400 per employee.

Dems push for benefits to kick in by 2010

Democrats are pushing Senate leaders and the White House to speed up key benefits in the health reform bill to 2010, eager to give the party something to show taxpayers for their $900 billion investment in an election year.

The most significant changes to the health care system wouldn’t kick in until 2013 – two election cycles away. With Republicans expected to make next year a referendum on health care reform, Democrats are quietly lobbying to push up the effective dates on popular programs, so they'll have something to run on in the congressional midterms.

MoveOn turns fire on the White House

With the news that President Obama appears to prefer a public plan with a trigger instead of an opt-out, the left has started to mobilize. MoveOn blasted an email out to supporters this afternoon asking them to call the White House to oppose the trigger option favored by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe.

NAIL MEET HEAD: Krauthammer, Barone

2009-10-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Krauthammer: Obama's war against Fox News

Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster. Now he's put a horse's head in Roger Ailes' bed.

Not very subtle. And not very smart. Ailes doesn't scare easily. The White House has declared war on Fox News. White House communications director Anita Dunn said that Fox is "opinion journalism masquerading as news." Patting rival networks on the head for their authenticity (read: docility), senior adviser David Axelrod declared Fox "not really a news station." And Chief of Staff Emanuel told (warned?) the other networks not to "be led (by) and following Fox."

Meaning? If Fox runs a story critical of the administration — from exposing White House czar Van Jones as a loony 9/11 "truther" to exhaustively examining the mathematical chicanery and hidden loopholes in proposed health care legislation — the other news organizations should think twice before following the lead. The signal to corporations is equally clear: You might have dealings with a federal behemoth that not only disburses more than $3 trillion every year but is extending its reach ever deeper into private industry — finance, autos, soon health care and energy. Think twice before you run an ad on Fox.

Read the rest.

Michael Barone: O's embarrassment

PRESIDENT Obama, who found time to go on a 24-hour jaunt to Copenhagen on Oct. 2 to seek the 2016 Olympic Games for Chicago, apparently can't find the time for a 24-hour trip to Berlin on Nov. 9 for a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Well, we all have our priorities, and the president can't be everywhere at once, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will surely represent America ably in Berlin.

Still, it seemed an odd decision to me -- until I went back and got the speech that candidate Obama delivered on July 24, 2008, to a crowd of 200,000 in the Tiergarten in Berlin. As I reread the text, it struck me that there would be an embarrassing contrast between what Obama said in Berlin 15 months ago and many policies he has been pursuing as president.

More

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

2009-10-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

The Daily Broadside - 10/26

2009-10-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yankees beat Angels to reach 40th World Series

The New York Yankees advanced to their 40th World Series by rallying to beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 in game six of the American League championship series.

The Yankees fell behind early but battled back with three runs in the fourth inning to win the series four games to two and reach their first World Series in six years.

New bill to make seizure of US companies easier: report

A bill to be introduced in Congress by a key ally of President Barack Obama would make it easier for the US government to seize control of troubled financial institutions that are considered too big to be allowed to fail, The New York Times reported.

Citing a senior administration official, the newspaper said the measure would be proposed this week by Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, after extensive consultations with Treasury Department officials.

AP's Woodward Fact-Checks Health Insurance Company Profits, Finds Them 'Anemic'

In the health care debate, Democrats and their allies have gone after insurance companies as rapacious profiteers making "immoral" and "obscene" returns while "the bodies pile up."

Ledgers tell a different reality. Health insurance profit margins typically run about 6 percent, give or take a point or two. That's anemic compared with other forms of insurance and a broad array of industries, even some beleaguered ones.

Suicide bombers target Iraqi ministries, kill 132

A pair of suicide bombers driving trucks packed with explosives detonated outside the Ministry of Justice and the Baghdad provincial administration, killing 132 Iraqis and wounding more than 500, police officials told Voices of Iraq.

The blasts set nearby cars ablaze and blew out windows in nearby buildings, adding to the casualties. The facade of the Ministry of Justice was smashed, and the building flooded after water pipes burst during the explosion.

Today in History: October 26th

2009-10-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: The last natural case of smallpox is discovered; "Baby Fae" receives a heart transplant from a baboon; The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law; The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona.

Other notable October 26th events include:

1774 – The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1775 – King George III goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution.

1825 – The Erie Canal opens.

1861 – The Pony Express officially ceased operations.

1905 – Norway becomes independent from Sweden.

1951 – Boxer Joe Louis comes out of retirement to fight Rocky Marciano.

1958 – Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France.

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

2009-10-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing after-pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Of course, it's not truly Halloween unless you hear Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Monster Mash!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

2009-10-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

Imagine, you have the power to take a dead human body, and give it life again. What would you do? Naturally, teach it to sing Puttin' On The Ritz!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

2009-10-25T17:00:00.001-07:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween! C2 is celebrating all this week, by introducing liberty pub posts with a fun, scary Halloween classic!

What better way to kick things off than to bring 2 masters of horror together, by having Vincent Price perform Edgar Allen Poe's classic poem, The Raven?

C2 Afternoon OPEN

2009-10-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

NAIL MEET HEAD: Mark Steyn

2009-10-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Mark Steyn: Obama a tough guy, at least with Fox News

Benjamin Disraeli's most famous advice to aspiring politicians was: "Never complain and never explain." For the greatest orator of our time, a man who makes Churchill, Lincoln and Henry V at Agincourt look like first-round rejects on "Orating With The Stars," Barack Obama seems to have pretty much given up on the explaining side. He tried it with health care with speech after speech after exclusive interview for months on end, and the more he explained the more unpopular the whole racket got. So he declared that the time for explaining is over, and it's time to sign on or else.

Meanwhile, to take the other half of the Disraeli equation, Obama and his officials and their beleaguered band of surrogates never stop complaining. If you express concerns about government health care, they complain about all these "racists" and "domestic terrorists" obstructing his agenda. If you wonder why the president can't seem to find time in his hectic schedule of international awards acceptance speeches to make a decision about Afghanistan, they complain that it's not his fault he "inherited" all these problems. And, if you wonder why his "green jobs" czar is a communist 9/11 truther, and his National Endowment for the Arts guy is leaning on grant recipients to produce Soviet-style propaganda extolling Obama policies, they complain about Fox News.

Read the rest.

Official C2 Rush Limbaugh NFL Sunday Thread - Week 7

2009-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday Morning Above the Fold

2009-10-25T07:34:00.001-07:00

Instead of the usual Sunday morning fare, a blast of brilliance from the past.
Grab a cup of coffee and danish and spend 30 minutes with Milton Friedman.

Today in History: October 25th

2009-10-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: Adlai Stevenson shows photos of Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba; The United Nations admits the People's Republic of China and expels Taiwan; The US and allies invade Grenada; "Charge of the Light Brigade" -The Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War; Geoffrey Chaucer dies; Payne Stewart dies in a plane crash.

Other notable October 25th events include:

1415 – The army of Henry V of England defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.

1760 – George III becomes King of Great Britain.

1917 – Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution, involving the capture of the Winter Palace, Petrograd, Russia.

1944 – Heinrich Himmler orders a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates, a loosely organized youth culture in Nazi Germany that had assisted army deserters and others to hide from the Third Reich.

1995 – A commuter train slams into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.

2007 – The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ 380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-10-25T02:04:00.000-07:00

Help yourselves!

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

AFTER-PUB OPEN - bring your drinks over here!

2009-10-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

The Liberty Pub - OPEN

2009-10-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

C2 Coffee Bar Book Thread: What are you reading?

2009-10-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's a sleepy Saturday, so let's talk books. What's on your nightstand right now?

Connections: Thunder in the Skies (Part 6 of 10)

2009-10-24T13:00:00.001-07:00

This week's Connections episode is titled Thunder in the Skies. In Wheel of Fortune, James Burke took us along the path we followed a path from computers to the assembly line.

Due to the assembly line, we rely more and more on the same fire. Due to the Little Ice Age in medieval times, more and more people also relied on the same common fire. James Burke takes us on a journey from that older common fire to another important invention.

Following the video are links to further research on the major topics of this episode, with ones that reveal the ending, as always, purposefully left out.

Links:

Production line
Energy development
Little Ice Age
Manor house
Hardwick Hall (map)
Chimney
Stairway
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Tapestry
Knitting
Button
Wainscoting/Paneling
Plasterwork
History of hygienic practices
Kitchen
Rotisserie
Window
Deforestation: Pre-industrial history
Jamestown, Virginia
Basilisk (cannon)
Carding
Calamine brass
Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche
Robert Mansell
Viscount Grandison
Abraham Darby I
Thomas Newcomen
Steam engine
James Watt
John Wilkinson (industrialist)
Industrial Revolution
Joseph Priestley
Soda water
Alessandro Volta
History of whaling
Edwin Drake
Gottlieb Daimler
Wilhelm Maybach
Gasoline
Spray nozzle
Automobile
Emil Jellinek
Mercédès Jellinek
Wilhelm Kress

Saturday Morning OPEN

2009-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Something to chew on with your waffle this morning: AP: House health care bill exceeds $1 trillion

WASHINGTON - Health care legislation taking shape in the House carries a price tag of at least $1 trillion over a decade, significantly higher than the target President Barack Obama has set, congressional officials said Friday as they struggled to finish work on the measure for a vote early next month.

A trillion here, a trillion there. Pretty soon, you're talking about...ahhhhh, forget it. We are so screwed. (H/T for mentioning this issue to me: realwest.)

Saturday Morning Bulldog Edition

2009-10-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

45,000 uninsured deaths?
By William Tate

Yet Democrats, and their media sock puppets, have shamelessly exploited highly questionable estimates of uninsured deaths as agitprop to shoehorn the entire population into just such a government-run health care system -- on steroids.

They cite an exaggerated claim that 45,000 Americans die each year because they don't have health insurance. That figure comes from a study funded by your federal tax dollars, even though it was recently distributed to the media by Physicians for a National Health Program, a fringe, pro single-payer group based in Chicago, the report's release scheduled to sway the healthcare debate.

[snip]

The figure could be as high as 44,000, it could be 35,000, but their estimate that is most closely tied to the original data -- with the least extrapolation on their part -- is 27,000. And they admit that any or all of their guesses could be off as much as 11% because "those initially recorded as being uninsured" may be misclassified.

[snip]

By contrast, a comprehensive study of over 35,000,000 -- yes, that's million -- acute care records over a recent three-year period concludes that preventable medical mistakes actually cause a similar number of deaths in the government-run Medicare program. The sixth annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospital Study examined records "among Medicare patients at virtually all of the nation's 5,000 non-federal hospitals" from 2005-2007 and determined that over 92,000 deaths were attributable to medical errors, about the same as the average estimate in the uninsured study.

"Baghdad" Jim McDermot lets the cat out of the bag.

Building a house of health (Rep. Jim McDermott)
By Rep. Jim McDermott

When one builds a house there is not unlimited money available, so choices have to be made. None of these decisions are simple or easy, but they will be made over the course of the next three years as we build the house of health. Cost estimates will be made, but anyone who has done home construction knows that unexpected things come up which require decisions.

...things come up which require decisions decisions like who gets care, how much care, who will be denied because it's not cost effective.

Prognosis improves for public insurance

Democratic leaders in the Senate and House have concluded that a government-run insurance plan is the cheapest way to expand health coverage, and they sought Friday to rally support for the idea, prospects for which have gone in a few short weeks from bleak to bright.

The shift in momentum is so dramatic that many lawmakers now predict that President Obama will sign a final bill that includes some form of government-sponsored insurance for people who do not receive coverage through the workplace. Even Democrats with strong reservations about expanding government's role in the health-care system say they are reconsidering the approach in hopes of making low-cost plans broadly available.

Lies about number of uninsured, lies about number of unisured deaths, lies about medical costs bankrupting families, lies about the costs, lies about rationing.

Every Democrat talking point to "sell" health care reform is damn lie.

Lieberman discusses Goldstone with Ban

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke on the telephone with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon late Thursday on several Middle East issues, among them the Goldstone report which alleges that Israel may have committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last winter.

Lieberman told Ban "a distorted reality" has been created wherein international forums give an automatic majority to countries where concern for human rights is a very low priority. Lieberman cited Cuba, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as countries making the international arena "hypocritical and prejudiced."

The truth and the Useless Nations are strangers.

Final for something a bit different. From 1979, Milton Freeman pwns Phil Donahue on capitalism and greed.

Today in History: October 24th

2009-10-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Highlights of this day in history: Dawn of the UN; Dwight Eisenhower vows to end the Korean War; Suspects caught in D.C.-area sniper shootings; Concorde makes last trans-Atlantic flight; Civil rights activist Rosa Parks dies; Gene Roddenberry dies.

Other notable October 24th events include:

1590 – John White, The governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to England after an unsuccessful search for the "lost" colonists.

1857 – Sheffield F.C., the world's first football club, is founded in Sheffield, England.

1861 – The First Transcontinental Telegraph line across the United States is completed, spelling the end for the 18-month-old Pony Express.

1901 – Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

1917 – The day of the October revolution, The Red Revolution.

1926 – Harry Houdini's last performance, which is at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.

1929 – "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.

1931 – The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic.

1947 – Walt Disney testifies to the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.

1980 – Government of Poland legalizes Solidarity trade union.

2008 – "Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experienced the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-10-24T01:44:00.001-07:00

Help yourselves!

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

2009-10-24T01:44:00.000-07:00

Help yourselves!

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

2009-10-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Correspondence Committee

Yes, we're open.

Thank you!

Friends help you move. Real friends help you move websites.

Today in History: November 2nd

C2 Bug reports here please/Fruitcup ongoing downstairs.

Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

AFTER-PUB OPEN - bring your drinks over here!

The Liberty Pub - OPEN

C2 Afternoon OPEN - we're moving soon!

"Republican" Scozzafava Endorses Democrat After Exiting N.Y. Congressional Race

NAIL MEET HEAD: Krauthammer (again)

NFL Sunday OPEN

Sunday Morning Above the Fold

Today in History: November 1st

Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™

The Official Late Night Chill Open Thread

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks and candy! BOO!!!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: The paranormal or unexplained

Connections: The Long Chain (Part 7 of 10)

C2 Afternoon News

Saturday Morning OPEN

Saturday Morning Bulldog Edition

Today in History: October 31st

Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

C2 Afternoon News

NAIL MEET HEAD: Thomas Sowell

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

The Daily Broadside - 10/30

Today in History: October 30th

Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN, but Brandy might be late tonight.

POLITICO: DNC attacks Palin 'lies'

C2 Afternoon News

ON THE LEFT: Gore Vidal

C2 A.M.: Michelle Malkin exposes new "Media Justice" movement

The Daily Broadside - 10/29

Today in History: October 29th

Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - AN AMERICAN SASQUATCH IN LONDON

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - NIGHTMARE ON SQUATCH STREET

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - THE RETURN OF SQUATCH

Around the 'Net: Some Things Never Change / Here Comes "Health"/ Truce

PLANET OBAMA: FNC? Biased. MSNBC, not so much.

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

The Daily Broadside - 10/28

Today in History: October 28th

Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™ - SELF-SERVE

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

AFTER-PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

C2 Afternoon OPEN - Featuring that dastardly Dick Cheney

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Gay marriage/asylum

ON THE LEFT: Nina Totenberg

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

The Daily Broadside - 10/27 Part II

The Daily Broadside - 10/27

Today in History: October 27th

Good morning, afternoon, evening *everyone*!™

The Official C2 Late Night Chill Open Thread

AFTER PUB: Halloween Edition - bring your drinks!

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN #2

The Liberty Pub - Halloween Edition - OPEN

Around The 'Net: Healthcare

NAIL MEET HEAD: Krauthammer, Barone

C2 Morning Brew - OPEN

The Daily Broadside - 10/26

Today in History: October 26th

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™ - SELF-SERVE

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™

Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone!™