The architect who so carefully designed the much feared Tampa Bay Buccaneer defense will grace Raymond James Stadium with his presence one last time this Sunday as the Raiders travel to Tampa to face the Bucs. Monte Kiffin will leave the Bucs after this season to join the staff at the University of Tennessee where his son Lane was recently named head coach. During his thirteen year tenure as the Buc's defensive coordinator, no other team in the NFL has allowed fewer points.
Monte will pass the torch to defensive backs coach Raheem Morris who, at 32 years of age, is younger than players Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber. Although young and with big shoes to fill, Morris' high energy attitude will fit nicely into the Tampa defensive scheme, especially if he continues with Kiffin's legendary Tampa 2 defense.
The Bucs will honor Kiffin during half time of Sunday's game in a bittersweet ceremony. Good luck Monte, you will be sorely missed, and SEC quarterbacks and running backs, beware!
Approximately 2040 years ago, far from Florida in the small village of Bethlehem, a young, frightened teen aged girl gave birth to a baby not conceived by her husband. She had not the luxury of a beautiful birthing suite at the hospital and a kind attending physician, but through a series of unfortunate events, found herself laboring in a smelly barn. This apparent illegitimate birth proved itself the most legitimate conception in history.
This young girl carried not only the privilege but also the heavy burden and responsibility of raising no ordinary baby, but the son of God himself, a baby fully human and paradoxically, fully God. We've all failed at times raising and mentoring our offspring but imagine the weight of raising a God-child.
The mighty God and creator of all existence enveloped himself in flesh and blood and entered our reality to serve as a surrogate for the sins of all the earth so as to nail them to a cross and permanently defeat evil.
So during this holiday season, rather than dwell on your own misery and burdens, focus on others less fortunate and how you may serve them. Remember the overwhelming sacrifice made for us by our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and their families at home. God Bless all and Merry Christmas!
P.S. Keep in mind that Jesus never celebrated Christmas but observed Hanukkah so a special blessing to God's chosen people! Thanks for the greatest gift of all.
It saddened me last Wednesday to learn of the death of football legend Sammy Baugh. The 94 year old Baugh passed from the many complications associated with old age.
A three sport athlete at Texas Christian and signed to professional baseball and football contracts, Sammy played for the Washington Redskins from 1937 until 1952 as quarterback, defensive back and punter. Baugh earned the distinction of the Redskins highest paid player when he signed a 1937 contract for $8,000 per year.
Sammy led the league many years in passing, interceptions and punting and still holds several records, including most seasons leading the league in passing and most seasons with the lowest interception percentage. Baugh entered the Football Hall of Fame in 1963 as part of the original 17 man inaugural class. Arguably, the best football star ever, Sammy played during a time when men were men and not prima donnas. I feel somewhat connected to the man since I possess an old leather helmet signed by "Slinging Sammy" himself.
In heaven, I'm certain Sammy was greeted by the Minister of Defense, Reggie White, who will help him become acclimated! Thanks Sammy for what you've contributed to America's favorite sport.
Earlier today, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court denied the application for a stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, filed by attorney Orly Taitz on behalf of Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate on the Ron Paul ticket. Ms. Taitz, a rare combination attorney and dentist, claimed that Barack Obama fails to qualify as President of the United States because he lacks status as a natural born citizen. Similar lawsuits filed earlier by Phillip Berg, Leo Donofrio, and Cort Wrotnowski met with the same fate. Although Justice Kennedy denied the application for a stay, Ms. Taitz still retains the option to resubmit to another justice of her choosing. Ms. Taitz also serves as co-counsel representing Alan Keyes and others in another suit challenging Obama's citizenship. That suit still awaits a hearing in California Superior Court.
For those not in the know, many question whether Barack Obama is eligible to be President under the qualifications stated in Article II of the U.S. Constitution:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President
There are several possible scenarios that put Obama in a situation where he may not qualify as "natural born".
a) Obama's mother Stanley Anne Dunham was American but his father was from Kenya which at the time was part of the British Protectorate. So at birth, young Obama was a citizen of the United States, Kenya, and Great Britain. Many legal experts feel that this caused divided loyalties preventing one from being natural born according to the intent of the original framers of the constitution.
b) Obama's parents divorced when he was two years and his mother married an Indonesian national, Lolo Soetoro. Some records indicate that Soetoro adopted Obama when the family moved to Jakarta, where he lived and attended school under the name, Barry Soetoro. Some feel that when Soetoro adopted Obama, he automatically forfeited his U.S. citizenship.
c) Others claim that Obama was born in Kenya rather than Hawaii as he contends. Much of this argument stems from a rather questionable interview conducted in Swahili of Obama's paternal grandmother. It also relies on a strange interview with a mysterious forensic expert who feels that the birth certificate that the Obama campaign posted online is a forgery.
I'm no legal expert but in my opinion the Lightfoot lawsuit, a Berg clone with elements of Donofrio thrown in, appeared hastily prepared and poorly written. Ms. Taitz managed to ram the case through the legal system blazingly fast. Hopefully she will be better prepared when the Alan Keyes suit comes to fruition.
Enjoy the two accompanying YouTube videos of Orly explaining the details of both cases. It's interesting to note that Orly Taitz, who escaped the totalitarian Soviet regime, cannot claim natural born status either.
Excitement erupted in a press conference during George Bush's surprise visit to Iraq. An Iraqi journalist, evidently unimpressed or enraged by what the President had to say, tossed not one, but two shoes directly at Bush. The smiling Bush ducked the assault as security and secret service subdued the angry Iraqi.
I already miss John McCain. He's a sincere, genuine man filled with integrity, and has a sharp, witty sense of humor. Enjoy this clip from the Late Show with David Letterman featuring McCain doing a Blagojevich imitation and also voicing his opinion of the corrupt governor.
Utilizing frantic damage control tactics, President Elect Barack Obama must now expend a tremendous amount of effort, better spent on structuring a transition, on distancing himself and staff members from the controversy surrounding Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. FBI agents pulled Blagojevich from his bed early Tuesday morning charging him with a multitude of federal corruption charges including attempts to sell the Senate seat recently vacated by Obama.
How interconnected and entangled are our new President Elect, described as the messiah by Louis Farrakhan, and the foul mouthed corrupt governor of Illinois?
Obama served as a senior advisor and one of the chief architects alongside both Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod to the successful 2002 Blagojevich campaign. Blagojevich endorsed Obama for Illinois state legislature, U.S. Senate in 2004 and for the 2008 presidential race, and Obama reciprocated during the 2002 and 2006 Illinois gubernatorial races. Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel and senior advisor, David Axelrod, played key roles in the campaign electing both Obama and Blagojevich. Additionally, Emmanuel filled the congressional seat vacated by Blagojevich when he was elected as governor. Tony Rezko served as chief fundraiser for both Blagojevich and Obama before being federally indicted for bribery.
David Axelrod began his career as a Hyde Park journalist so I'm sure it won't be long before we realize that neighborhood heavyweights Bill Ayers and Louis Farrakhan are also entangled in this capacious web. We watched as Jesse Jackson, Sr. wept during Obama's acceptance speech and then hear later that his son Jesse Jackson, Jr. attempted to buy Obama's vacant senate seat from the perfidious Blagojevich.
After observing the close connection between these devious characters, one must ask how long before the teflon candidate Obama becomes entrenched by his own trail of deceit and corruption? It appears that Obama has already exceeded the controversies surrounding Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush before his own presidency has even commenced.
If tradition holds true, the lawsuit filed by Cort Wrotnowski vs. Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of State, and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, questioning the natural born citizenship and presidential eligibility of Barack Obama was dismissed without comment earlier today as the nine justices met in private conference. The court granted three certiorari today indicating that Wrotknowki's suit was summarily denied.
Wrotnowski presented a well written and documented, concise case aided by attorney, Leo Donofrio, whose case had been rejected days earlier by the court. The basis of both suits alleged that Obama could never declare status as a natural born citizen due to his father's Kenyan citizenship which also fell under British jurisdiction.
Rather than entertain the merit of Wrotnowski's case, the court ruled that he does not hold legal standing and is therefore unable to bring civil action against Obama.
Although not as well prepared, another case on behalf of vice presidential candidate Gail Lightfoot also sits before the court and should be able to prove standing.
After 54 years of printing hot gossip and randy rumors, the Globe apparently published it's very first true story this week concerning the mystery of Barack Obama's birth. The supermarket tabloid's cover dated December 9th states "Obama Election Illegal" in huge type. In another history breaking moment, that headline alone may prove to be enough to cause this crazed conservative to shell out the $2 or $3 necessary to see what's on the inside because their website only posts this teaser.
The smelly, corrupt ties to President Elect Obama continue as Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich finds himself in FBI custody for conspiring to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama as well as other federal corruption charges. When will we tire of the stench emanating from Chicago? Regardless of any ties between the two, certainly the teflon candidate will escape another near disaster.
In a drastic departure from the Friday night norm, this middle aged headbanger, accompanied by his lovely wife, visited City of Palms Stadium in downtown Fort Myers to enjoy the 99 X-Mas Ball sponsored by local alternative rock station 99-X WJBX. Doors opened at 4:00 pm for a 5:00 start but most arrived during the show featuring Framing Handley, and missed the entire set of local band, Pushmower.
The crescendo began when Orange County, California metal band Atreyu took the stage, followed by Florida grown Shinedown fronted by the overly theatrical Brent Smith, and climaxed during the set of the epitome of Orange County metal, Avenged Sevenfold.
The teeny boppers certainly outnumbered us young only at heart but apparently a great time was had by all!
Enjoy the bootleg video of Atreyu performing "Bleeding Mascara".
For those of you too young to remember, I Started a Joke was a big 1960's hit for the BeeGees when they were still a semi-cool pop band similar to the Beatles or Turtles, way before the 1970's disco invasion that almost destroyed the music industry.
But in this case, I'm the one who started a big joke that apparently has turned into somewhat of an internet rumor. I'm certain that most reading this blog are aware of the controversy surrounding the natural born citizenship status of President Elect Barack Obama. A couple of weeks ago, when Mr. Obama started naming cabinet positions, I commented on obamacrimes.com that he appeared to be recreating the Clinton administration so that when he became disqualified to serve as president, Hillary Clinton would assume the position through the electoral process and she would appoint Obama as Secretary of State. Believe me, this has absolutley no basis in fact, it was only meant as a joke.
Several days after I posted that comment, I began reading other comments posted as well as blog articles referring to the switch that was about to take place. One poor rumor spreader even elaborated on the exact chronology that would soon occur.
To set the record straight, I would like to let all know that I started the rumor and there is no factual basis. If it by chance does become reality, then I guess that's a good example of life imitating art!
Tonight's Countdown with Keith Olberman on MSNBC featured a small exchange between George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley and Olberman concerning the case being conferenced tomorrow by the U.S Supreme Court, which was filed by retired New Jersey attorney Leo Donofrio questioning the natural born citizenship status of President Elect Barack Hussein Obama. Olberman utilizes an extremely biased interviewing technique continually bashing George Bush and the conservative right, insinuating that supporters and plaintiffs involved in any of the "certificate-gate" cases are "crackpots". During the interview, Professor Turley claimed that these cases had little chance of being heard by the Supreme Court primarily due to their lack of legal standing, regardless of merit.
After the interview, I the inquisitive reporter investigated the somewhat smug, Jonathan Turley, and suprisingly discovered this excerpt from his own website's bio:
Among his current cases, Professor Turley represents Dr. Ali Al-Timimi, who was convicted in Virginia in 2005 of violent speech against the United States. He also represents Dr. Sami Al-Arian, accused of being the American leader of a terrorist organization while he was a university professor in Florida.
Jonathan Turley has made a career of protecting known terrorists from having their constitutional rights "violated". It serves as no wonder that Olberman and Turley colluded to protect the "One".
Olberman consistently attempted to steer the conversation toward the insanity of people claiming that Obama may have been born somewhere other than Honolulu rather than addressing the real subtance of the Donofrio case which is the aspect of divided loyaties and the tri-citizenship with Kenya and Great Britain, as well as the United States. Donofrio claims that according to the Constitution, those born under divided loyaties cannot, by law, be declared natural born citizens.
Regardless of the bias displayed by the liberal Keith Olberman, good luck, Mr. Donofrio, during the Supreme Court conference tomorrow, and God bless!
One of the attorneys, Orly Taitz, DDS, esquire, representing Alan Keyes and others in their lawsuit questioning the natural born citizenship status of Barack Obama filed yesterday another lawsuit in California Supreme Court. In this suit, Ms. Taitz represents Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate for Ron Paul, three Constitutional Party electors, one Ron Paul elector, and several voting citizens against Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State. The suit is a petition for extraordinary emergency writ of mandumus for stay of certification of the 2008 presidential election. This newest filing by Dr. Taitz appears to be very well written, properly documenting and referencing applicable case law and precendent. The majority of the plaintiffs can positively prove legal standing and this suit focuses more on the divided loyalties occuring from dual citizenship rendering one a citizen, but not "natural born." Ms. Taitz briefly touches upon the issue of the vault copy birth certificate but not to the point of allowing that to be the primary focal point of the case. Very well done, Orly! You certainly have your hands full. How do you find the time to practice law and dentistry?
On December 1st, Illuminati Pictures released a 60 second television ad outlining the constitutional issues that some question regarding the eligibility of Barack Obama to serve as President of the United States, primarily due to his questionable status as a natural born citizen per Article II of the Constitution. Janet Porter of Faith2Action is currently attempting to raise money on her website to air the commercial on national television prior to December 15th when the electoral college meets. Below is the actual clip:
Under reported for whatever reasons, Saxby Chambliss won the runoff election against challenger Jim Martin in Georgia yesterday to retain his Senate seat and prevent the Democrats from owning a filibuster proof Senate. Although the Obama campaign pumped in millions of dollars and kept their Georgia field offices open to support Martin, the extra campaigning that Sarah Palin and John McCain did for Chambliss paid off as he won handily 57% to 42%. Hopefully the Democrats occupying less than 60 Senate seats will help to preserve the checks and balances intended by our founding fathers.
Congratulations Saxby and Good Luck, you'll need it!
In studying what little one may find about the history of President Elect Barack Obama, I realized a discrepancy between the common reports of mother Stanley Ann Dunham's (better known as Ann Dunham) college education and reality.
Dunham enrolled at the University of Hawaii in the fall of 1960, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama, Sr. Already three months pregnant, she married the senior Obama in February of 1961 and gave birth to young Obama in August of that same year. It's reported that she took a collegiate break to care for the baby while her husband continued his studies. According to the university registrar, she resumed classes at the University of Hawaii in the spring of 1963 and graduated with a BA in Mathematics in 1967.
Prior to moving to Hawaii with her parents in 1960, the Dunhams lived in Mercer Island, Washington, where she attended high school. So not surprisingly, a Stanley Ann Dunham registered at the University of Washington for the fall semester of 1961 and attended there through the spring semester of 1962.
This appears a bit odd to me. Why would a newly married nineteen year old leave her parents and husband to attend a university 2668 miles away with a three week old baby? How is this even possible logistically?
This bit of knowledge adds further fuel to the fire concerning the mysteries regarding the birth and history of our new President Elect. Although pure speculation at this point, it also increases the possibility that young Obama's birth occurred somewhere other than Honolulu such as Coast Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya which has been widely rumoured.
President George Bush presents the perfect ideologically target for Al-Qaeda operatives and other Muslim extremists. He represents everything about the west that they despise. His white American Christian upbringing, his use of alcohol, and his successful entrepreneurial endeavors represent the perfect opponent for their jihad. It's easy to recruit martyrs to your cause when you have such an ideal example of American capitalism.
But Barack Obama represents a different view to the world of the much hated United States. The gun toting, rough speaking cowboy disappears and is replaced by a smooth talking, world traveler, as ethnically diverse as anyone. As Commander-in-Chief, he'll represent a familiarity that they'll find difficult to oppose. The die hard jihadists will continue to find his entire being repelling but how much harder will it be to recruit the common mahadra student or mosque worshipper to fight a man who resembles them in name and appearance more than any other President in the entire history of the United States?
The war of words and propaganda began early when Osama bin Laden's chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri condemned Obama as a "house negro" doing the bidding of his white masters.
During the presidential debates, Obama threatened to invade Pakistan if it became necessary to defeat bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, something that both George Bush and John McCain oppose.
The world appears a bit leery of the new American Commander-in-Chief. Apparently, they will be just as uncomfortable with him and the possible unknown as he will be learning the ropes of his new job.
It came as little surprise the other day when I read the article by Chelsea Schilling featured on World Net Daily regarding the censorship by Google of the conservative blog Atlas Shrugs for anti-Obama articles according to it's publisher, Pamela Geller. Daily hits to the website have dropped from as high as 45,000 per day to less than a hundred after Geller featured a story about a certified forensic expert claiming the Barack Obama Certification of Live Birth posted on Daily Kos and other sites a forgery and an obvious fake. Why would that comes as any surprise as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, prepares to leave the internet giant to assume a position in the Obama cabinet?
I've noticed this political censorship occurring on a much smaller scale during the last several months. I noticed as far back as September that articles I posted that were not favorable toward Obama appeared quickly in top 10 searches but several days later completely disappeared, but yet when I wrote an article during the same time frame about a 1972 Harley shovelhead formerly owned by David Lee Roth of Van Halen fame, the article still appears high on search lists. Many articles that I wrote painting either John McCain or Sarah Palin in a positive light never appeared in the search engines at all.
I've also noticed similar occurrences on sites owned by Google such as YouTube and Blogger. Videos on YouTube that even hinted about Obama's Muslim heritage often disappeared after only a few views. As late as this date, when clicking on Leo Donofrio's blog, Natural Born Citizen, one receives the following warning: "Possible Blogger Terms of Service Violations". I searched the site rather carefully and could find nothing offensive or in violation of Bloggers' Terms of Service.
Almost comedically, Google's partisanship shines through when searching the word "idiot", a YouTube video declaring, "Is Bush an idiot?" displays at number 4 and when searching the word "messiah", "Is Barack Obama the Messiah?" rings in at number four on the list. We all realize that the Google censorship team consists of a group of 20-something geeks in cubicles but please try to be a little more center of left. I always thought that liberals despised censorship.
Google, you've done a great job throughout your short but highly successful history so don't let politics become the monkey on your back. Please keep the censors busy scrubbing kiddy porn while the internet remains a free applicable place for debate on American politics.
