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In 2011 Mitt Romney donated about $4 million of his income to charity but only claimed about half of it for tax deductions,

"…which has led some liberals to imply that he was keeping his tax rate artificially high."

Parse that complaint if you will.

I want to know how much the Zero donated. Of his own money,not the 6 trillion of taxpayer's money.

Craig Ferguson On Society Celebrating Youth - Why Everything Sucks (3:16 minute long video clip).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UKUZ42T9diU

I don't know, Justthinkin, but Joe Biden donated an average of just $369 a year over the last ten years.

Sort of pales in comparison to Romney's $4m last year, but then Romney was just trying to "keep his tax rate artificially high." I guess he paid those taxes in artificial money.

Entirely related: In "Who Really Cares - The Myth of the Compassionate Secular-Left", Shannon Love of Chicago Boyz cites the following from Arthur C. Brooks' "Who Really Cares", which looks at the measurable differences in charitable behaviour between liberals and conservatives:

...when factors like average dollar amounts donated are examined, the differences become striking: “In 2000, households headed by a conservative gave, on average, 30 percent more money than a household headed by a liberal.” This, despite the fact that families headed by liberals earned more on average than conservative families.

The trend remains the same if we consider party affiliation. Registered Republicans were more likely to give, and to give more, than registered Democrats. This tendency carries over in other important ways, young conservatives belonged to more community organizations than their liberal counterparts, they were more likely to donate blood, and they also expressed a greater willingness to make sacrifices for loved ones.

Love:

If you really care, if you’re really motivated by a desire to help others, you give your own time and money, period. Taking money from others to give to those in need can be and often is an utterly selfish act because the taker gains power and sometimes wealth themselves by being the ones who control the transfer of wealth. The lessons of Communism and Fascism demonstrate that those who argue the most strongly for “compassionate” violence-based redistribution by the state, don’t have to be compassionate themselves at all.

Is it just me or is anyone else absolutely sick of hearing about the latest poll? it seems that everyone in the MSM and talk radio show hosts are OBSESSED with them. Ughhh, sick, sick, sick I am of them!!!

Robert - it's going to be a rough few weeks.

Robert W.
They're obsessed with "their candidate" losing. With all the work they've done, it's almost incomprehensible to them.

EBD,
Joe Biden, just an average guy in an average guy's house:
http://www.celebrityhousepictures.com/joe-biden.php

Re: Austrian musicians.

What comes to mind is sausage, beer, saurkraut and perogies. Oh yeah, and heartburn!

Nice tune! Thanx!

Glad you like it, Plainzdrifter. Beer, bratwurst, beer, music, beer, sauerkraut, beer, alpine music in the great outdoors, beer -- you're giving me the travel bug. Now, could you give me some beer?

RT: Excerpts from a great column by Mark Steyn:

The more that U.S.-government officials talk about the so-called film Innocence of Muslims (which is actually merely a YouTube trailer) the more they confirm the mob’s belief that works of "art" are the proper responsibility of government. Obama and Clinton are currently starring as the Siskel & Ebert of Pakistani TV, giving two thumbs down to Innocence of Muslims in hopes that it will dissuade local moviegoers from giving two heads off to consular officials. "The United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video,” says Hillary Clinton. “We absolutely reject its content, and message." "We reject the efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others," adds Barack Obama. There follows the official State Department seal of the U.S. embassy in Islamabad."

He notes that Hillary Clinton saw the Broadway musical Book of Mormon, which contains a song that translates as "F*** you, God", and that after the performance she stood and cheered.

Why does Secretary Clinton regard “F*** you, God” as a fun toe-tapper for all the family but “F*** you, Allah” as “disgusting and reprehensible”? The obvious answer is that, if you sing the latter, you’ll find a far more motivated crowd waiting for you at the stage door. So the “leader of the free world” and “the most powerful man in the world” (to revive two cobwebbed phrases nobody seems to apply to the president of the United States anymore) is telling the planet that the way to ensure your beliefs command his “respect” is to be willing to burn and bomb and kill. You Mormons need to get with the program.

Read the whole thing here.

Obama's dangerous consistency

Qaradawi struck a moderate tone. He called on his followers to stop rioting against the US. Rather than attack the US, Qaradawi urged his Muslim audience to insist that the US place prohibitions on the free speech rights of American citizens by outlawing criticism of Islam - just as the Europeans have done in recent years in the face of Islamic terror and intimidation.

http://carolineglick.com/

"Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and his government are planning to bring out the National Guard into the streets of Caracas and the states of Miranda and Vargas, the most densely populated and urbanized areas of the country, in case some of the Venezuelan people protest against alleged fraud in the results of the upcoming presidential election or they come out to celebrate victory for the opposition."

http://babalublog.com/2012/09/surpise-hugo-chavez-readies-armed-forces-to-seize-control-after-election/

"I really take offense at Jimmy Carter coming out today, two weeks before the Venezuelan Presidential election and saying that “As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we’ve monitored, I would say the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world”

http://devilsexcrement.com/2012/09/21/jimmy-carter-get-lost-stop-meddling-in-venezuela/

Islam needs a theatre district.

http://weaselzippers.us/2012/09/22/pakistani-islamists-protesting-mohammed-film-beat-up-journalists-for-not-covering-their-mob/

PET Cemetery Report: Liberalism's Mohammedanism.

Multiculturalism's natural end result.
...-

"Parents shackled at child's funeral"

"Dozens of mourners attended the girl’s funeral, which was held at the Al-Rashid Mosque."

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2012/09/23/20223891.html

ii - If you don't like it here, feel free to go back to a country that works according to the principles you espouse. We want no part of your world, so don't try to bring it here. If you hate it here so much why did you come in the first place?

From Grist;
Starbucks Steps Up For Wind Energy
Congress Yawns.
http://grist.org/news/starbucks-steps-up-for-wind-energy-congress-yawns/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=gristmill

h/t Maggies Farm

What Obama and Clinton should do, is stand up for the rights and freedoms of the US and its Constitution.

So, they should never, ever, apologize, as a government, for the free speech of individual citizens. Instead, they should have said to the 'outraged Islamists':

'A basic axiom of our Constitution is the right of individual free speech. Speech may be factual, it may be opinions; it may be supportive, it may be offensive; it may be innovative, it may be stabilizing. In all cases, the right of the individual to express and explore is a fundamental right of our society. We stand by and support this basic right.

We understand that your society rejects this right of the individual to think and express themselves. We acknowledge this axiom within your society. But, your society has no right to dictate to us the basic principles of our society. You have no right to resort to violence to force us to live by your views.'

Period.

Now we can be absolutely sure of Quebec's students ultimate goal. Western Canada will foot the bill.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/09/22/montreal-student-protest-classe-tuition.html

Let the refrendum campaign begin.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/23/world/meast/pakistan-film-bounty/

Pakistan's Railway Minister has offered a reward of $100,000 to anyone who kills the maker of "Innocence of Muslims".

I wonder of Prez Obama will have anything to say about this.

dmorris, what should Obama do? Certainly not the disgraceful grovelling apologies of both him, Clinton and his administration. Instead, he should do his sworn duty and stand up for the Constitution.

He should say that the US stands for a basic principle of freedom of speech. This freedom includes both agreeable and offensive speech.

No country has the right to order the US to change its constitution but just as the US allows freedom of speech in its domain then it accepts the freedom of speech found in Islamic nations, where imams regularly preach that the US should be hated; where they regularly preach that the US is an evil nation and its people are all infidels.

Where the US draws the line is advocacy of violence against its people. Just as the US rejects violence as a means of expression, then it rejects the violence proposed and encouraged by the religiouso and political authorities in the Islamic nations.

Period.

The Dream: left-liberalism.

"But the students’ bid for for free access to universities brings to mind something I have long dreamed of: a totally free society, no money, no credit cards, no bartering of any kind, no economic system at all . . Each citizen contributes in a job role, perhaps only a three-day workweek because we wouldn’t need any sort of financial institutions, i.e. a lot of today’s jobs would be redundant, and everybody gets everything they need and more . . .".

...-

"Quebec Students in the Streets Again: The Beginning of the End of the Economic System?"

"So, I’m thinking, maybe these students demonstrations against tuition fees will spread, and lead to an end of the economic system, a world in which everything is free?

Sigh . . .

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one” — John Lennon

Jillian"

...-

"Creation of a dream world

The final realm will have no end and Gnostics have knowledge of the goal. The dream world is a very important social force.

Its motivations

The order of a society is intelligible but its existence is not. It may cease to exist without right or reason and this is a horror that is hard to bear. The tendency is to extend the meaning of a society's order to the fact of its existence."

"The New Science of Politics"

"by Eric Voegelin, published in 1952."

http://watershade.net/ev/ev-nsp.html

Iran has again threatened Israel. This latest threat says that if they believe Israel is planning to attack,they will launch a pre-emptive strike,including striking USA bases.

" He warned that Israel “cannot imagine our response – and it will sustain heavy damage and that will be a prelude to its obliteration."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/iran-could-launch-pre-emptive-strike-on-israel-commander-says/article4561930/

Great music. Shot outside Lake Diefenbaker I imagine. Quite a relief after hearing about Pussy Riot and SFH.

Nice to see well dressed men who tip their hats to a woman.

O'narcissist Dreamer.

"Obama earns three Pinocchios for his comments about Fast and Furious."

...-

"Obama’s Univision denial that Fast and Furious started on his watch"

"“I think it’s important for us to understand that the Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program begun under the previous administration. When Eric Holder found out about it, he discontinued it. We assigned a inspector general to do a thorough report that was just issued, confirming that in fact Eric Holder did not know about this, that he took prompt action and the people who did initiate this were held accountable.”

— President Obama during Univision interview, Sept. 20, 2012"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-univision-denial-that-fast-and-furious-started-on-his-watch/2012/09/21/7726b4ba-041f-11e2-8102-ebee9c66e190_blog.html

Neo-AGW Progress Report.

Rating: AAA+ + + Serial Killer Frost Has Returned.

"The freezing temperatures across Iowa marks an end to the growing season."

It's Not Fair!

...-

"Coldest Temperatures in Months for Many"

"Residents of Spencer, Iowa woke up to a temperature of 24 degrees, Sunday morning. Sub-freezing temperatures were common across Iowa Sunday.

If that is not cold enough, it was only 18 degrees in Tioga, North Dakota, Sunday morning. This ties Stanley, Idaho for the coldest temperature in the continental United States for the month of September.

The freezing temperatures across Iowa marks an end to the growing season. It has been a difficult season for farmers across the state, and the Midwest and general. The good news is, the crops that survived the drought have advanced far enough so that impacts from the freezing temperatures were minimal.

Iowa will not be the only state feeling the chill. Frost and freezing advisories are in effect as far south as Kentucky, Monday morning."

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/coldest-temperatures-in-months/77854

Good points. You know who else is nuts? Joe Biden.

I mean, what?....??......

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/249292696328486913

ET,"what should Obama do"?

It appears Mr.Nakoula is an American citizen,or at least he's been living there for about 20 years,so Obama should make an official protest to the government of Pakistan, and demand the arrest of the Minister of Railways,who put out the "hit" on the film maker.

It's no different than if a Mafia gangster put out a hit on an American citizen, it's bloody illegal.

Mr.Obama should,in no uncertain terms, tell the government of Pakistan that they will consider any action taken against Mr.Nakoula as an act of aggression against the United States of America,by Pakistan,and the U.S. and will act accordingly.

Or is it now okay for any Muslim to murder an American citizen without fear of reprisal?

If Mr.Obama is to ever show any statesmanship, this is the time.

I won't hold my breath.

There are two posters, "ii" and "ok" whose ramblings I can not understand. It's not simply a matter of poor english writing skills but rather the incomprehensible nature of the message..... what the hey are they talking about? Am I alone in this?

David - it's the same person. She's been around forever. She's Iranian and she's having a bad weekend because of some demos going on on in Toronto.