What a wonderful thing for Patti Patton Bader to be recognized in such a large way by Microsoft and the USO. Patti, as most of you know, is the founder of Soldiers Angels, an amazing organization that supports the troops in too many ways to list. Patti is a personal hero of mine and true inspiration to thousands of people who have been touched by her tireless dedication to the troops. Congratulations Patti, and to all of your Angels.
Microsoft Corp., in collaboration with the United Service Organizations (USO), is proud to announce the winners of the Microsoft Above and Beyond Awards. The awards recognize the contributions of citizens across the country who brighten the lives of U.S. troops throughout the world.
“These winners are remarkable examples of how everyday people can do extraordinary things,” said Curt Kolcun, Vice President of Microsoft Federal.
Effort Award: Patti Patton-Bader, Pasadena, Calif. Soon after Patton-Bader began sending care packages to her son in Iraq, she started a group of volunteers to “adopt” soldiers. Since then, the group’s 100,000 members have sent tens of thousands of care packages and hundreds of thousands of letters to make sure no soldier is forgotten while serving. Its motto: “May no soldier go unloved.”
For more on the awards, go here.
Patti joined us Sunday evening to tell us about the fundraising drive for Valour IT
You can send a tax deductable donation by mail to:
Soldiers’ Angels
Project Valour-IT Fund
1792 E. Washington Blvd
Pasadena, Ca 91104
…and some don’t. ESPN’s Rob Stone gets introduced to the hottest chili pepper in the world. Hillarity ensues.
Hat Tip: Awful Announcing
Terrorists are ‘running out of people to kill,’ says Obey
If violence is decreasing in Iraq, it may be because insurgents “are running out of people to kill,†House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) said Monday.
“There are fewer targets of opportunity,†Obey said in a speech to the National Press Club.
Obey was responding to a question about reports touted by Republicans that security is improving in Iraq and that President Bush’s “surge†strategy is working. He stressed that military success has not led to political reconciliation.
Talk about grasping at straws. Democrats should be ashamed of how low they have sunk.
Hat Tip: BizzyBlog. Speaking of BizzyBlog, I’ve voted for Tom Blumer in the Weblog Awards best business blog category.
Convicted al-Qaeda murderer complains about life in federal prison
NOVEMBER 6–An al-Qaeda operative serving life in prison for his role in the bombing of American embassies in Africa contends that his rights are being violated by U.S. jailers who have denied him access to Arabic publications and religious books, limited his mail privileges, and no longer allow him to use a Walkman.
No Walkman? Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.
For more on torture, here’s that noted conservative supporter of all things Bush, Alan Dershowitz,
This brings us to waterboarding. Michael Mukasey, whose confirmation as attorney general now seems assured, is absolutely correct, as a matter of constitutional law, that the issue of “waterboarding” cannot be decided in the abstract. Under prevailing precedents–some of which I disagree with–the court must examine the nature of the governmental interest at stake, and the degree to which the government actions at issue shock the conscience, and then decide on a case-by-case basis. In several cases involving actions at least as severe as waterboarding, courts have found no violations of due process.
The members of the judiciary committee who voted against Judge Mukasey, because of his unwillingness to support an absolute prohibition on waterboarding and all other forms of torture, should be asked the direct question: Would you authorize the use of waterboarding, or other non-lethal forms of torture, if you believed that it was the only possible way of saving the lives of hundreds of Americans in a situation of the kind faced by Israeli authorities on the eve of Yom Kippur? Would you want your president to authorize extraordinary means of interrogation in such a situation? If so, what means? If not, would you be prepared to accept responsibility for the preventable deaths of hundreds of Americans?
No, this isn’t a news parody.
John Kerry said yesterday that he is ready to rebut the charges of the Swift Boat Vets. Seriously.
Kerry says he’s doing this in case he runs for president again, which implies, given his age (63) that he isn’t too optimistic about the Democrats chances in 2008.
HatTip: Tom Maguire’s Just One Minute
Chesapeake Energy 3rd-quarter profit off 34 pct
HOUSTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Chesapeake Energy Corp on Tuesday reported a 34 percent decline in third-quarter earnings as natural gas prices fell from a year-ago and offset a jump in production.
Bad news, right? Wrong. Here’s what really happened,
Chesapeake Energy beats by $0.08, beats on revs Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.69 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.61; revenues rose 5.1% year/year to $2.03 bln vs the $1.92 bln consensus.
Reuters reports that profit was off 34% despite the fact that Reuters reports that the company beat consensus estimates by 12%?
Full Disclosure: I own a few hundred shares of CHK in a retirement account.
Hillary: “I wasn’t at my best the other night”
“I wasn’t at my best the other night,” Clinton told CNN’s Candy Crowley. “We have had a bunch of debates, and you know, I wouldn’t rank that up in my very top list.” Following the debate, Clinton’s opponents for the 2008 Democratic nomination (as well as Hillary detractors generally) criticized the New York senator for being dishonest and evasive, and for flip-flopping on several issues.
It’s time to move on. This is a time for healing. I feel her pain. Let’s do it for the children.
Or not.