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I was raised to feel lucky to be an American. I woke up early this July 4th morning, and was inspired to read the Declaration of Independence, word for word, perhaps for the first time since I last visited Washington D.C. as a tourist with my folks.My dad, who is 87, and one of the individuals who fought in a war to defend this country, reads that special document every day.  He keeps a copy of it in a frame he made himself in his workshop.  And in honor of today, he took it off the wall and put it on an easel at the front door for all visitors to see.  In case the wording was too small, he made typed photocopies of the Declaration of Independence as give-aways too, and stacked those up beside a red, white and blue striped hat he found.  And of course he is flying the American flag.  My mom and dad are old school.  These things all have meaning, as they should, and it's more than just a day at the park.More...

Feeling Lucky About Freedom

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Thanks to the ever watchful and observant Ms. Sparky, always on the lookout for the latest in contractor malfeasance, I want to share this latest news on the newly announced suspensions of PWC/Agility executives.Some may recall that last year, on November 9, 2009 to be precise, a Criminal Indictment was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against the Public Warehousing Company  (PWC) aka Agility DGS Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Kuwait, for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy to Commit an Offense), 18 U.S.C. § 1031 (Major Fraud Against the United States), and 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Fraud by Wire).  PWC was indicted on allegations it overcharged the U.S. government on a multibillion-dollar contract to supply food for troops in Kuwait and Iraq.More...

Just Another Day in Helping Make the U.S. Military the Best Supplied in Human History

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As I sit here and write on July 4th, I wonder how all my friends, both civilian and military are faring in Afghanistan and Iraq.  It feels unfair that they are there and I am not with them.  Supporting them and talking about the desire to leave while not knowing how to come home. Sharing stories while cherishing the community that grows closer, under tough, stressful and even deadly conditions, in such a short time.With all the mayhem here in the States, politicians not managing the wars (or the country) well, their jobs seem ever more daunting.  The mission is to rebuild; to leave both Iraqis and Afghans with a better life.More...

July 4th: Time to Revisit America's Mission

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- BP's costs for the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill climbed nearly half a billion dollars in the past week, raising the oil giant's tab to just over $3 billion for work on cleaning and capping the gusher and payouts to individuals, businesses and governments.London-based BP PLC, the largest oil and gas producer in the Gulf, released its latest tally of response costs Monday. The total of $3.12 billion was up from $2.65 billion a week earlier. The figure does not include a $20 billion fund for Gulf damages BP created last month.More...

Gulf Oil Spill Cost Now $3 Billion

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Don't vote for anyone running for congress this year unless they have signed The Pledge below.  We don't have to wait until Congress changes the laws regarding special interests, lobbying or money in politics or the courts rule that corporations aren't the same as people, they never will.  We can act now.  And we don't need a constitutional amendment or constitutional convention to make it happen.If we can make candidates sign The Pledge, Congress will begin to act in the interests of the people instead of solely for monied special interests, banks and corporations.  Surprisingly, the economy will begin to improve immediately as we start to address the real problems facing Americans rather than just those affecting Wall Street banks.  It will also lead to better legislation across the board including health care, the environment and immigration reform once we return the power of our government back to its people and restore our one person, one vote democracy.

How to Quickly Fix Our Government (and Our Economy)

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President Obama hosted a bipartisan group of Senators at the White House last Tuesday to talk about the path forward on comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. He made a strong case for passing a bill that "makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy" by holding polluters responsible for their emissions. As expected, there was not a consensus in the room on the best way to proceed and most Republicans continued to oppose any limits at all. One breakthrough came from Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who issued a statement after the meeting calling for Congress "to develop legislation that is pragmatic, reduces uncertainty, and creates business opportunities for a carbon-free economy of the future, without further harming our economy of today" by capping emissions from the power sector. Senator Kerry indicated that he was open to a compromise that would scale back the scope of his proposal.

In an online "Open for Questions" session after the meeting, Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, reiterated the president's commitment to a comprehensive approach that treats energy and climate as two sides of the same coin and puts a price on carbon emissions. She noted that there was a lot of discussion about how to do that during the White House meeting including discussion of a "stationary source only" cap.

Can We Get on the Road to the Emission Reductions We Need by Starting with a Cap on Stationary Sources?

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The Daily Szep,   Hating Mankind

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Did the word puppeteer originate in Chicago? The evidence suggests that it did, although it's never easy to close the book on any etymological investigation.In the July issue of Chicago magazine, Graham Meyer compiled a fascinating list of "The Top 40 Chicago Words -- Our Contributions to the English Language". One word that did not make it onto his list was puppeteer. But by a coincidence, around the same time that this issue of Chicago hit newsstands, I happened to mention the word's local origins in a short piece I wrote for the Chicago Reader's "Best of Chicago" issue ().More...

Chicago, "Puppeteer" City

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If we give in on religious liberty, we will lose credibility with oppressed peoples around the world. We give a license to the states that violate human rights. We fail to assist totalitarian states in their movement toward freedom. And, most of all, we cease to be true to ourselves -- cease to be a nation that, more than any other, testifies to the compatibility of modernity and religion.

--Joseph Bottum, editor of First Things (June 28, 2010)More...

Doing Away with the Right to Be Different: The Assault on Religious Freedom

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Another couple who found love on ABC have called it quits. Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski, who met on 'The Bachelorette' last season, have broken up, Us Weekly reports."I love him and I'm really sad, but I have to look out for me," Jillian told Us.More...

Bachelorette Jillian Harris & Ed Swiderski SPLIT: Breakup For Reality Couple