Like Slimey Cockroaches & their crooked President, Liberals Spread Disease

[redcliffsw]

Got that right.  The casino lifestyle is to raise money for the government to indoctrinate the kids
with Federal values - socialization. 

[srkruzich]

when you hear that phrase "its for  the children" you can bet its going to be a rough ride.  Liberals mantra which has  nothing to do with children.  If they gave a  crapabout  the children, they  would quit  stealing money from  the parents.   

             

Sounds promising for the kids, huh?[/font][/size][/b]

[Warph]

     

Obama's war on coal can be stopped, not reversed, says CEO of coal company

By: Neil W. McCabe
8/24/2012 06:15 AM

The founder and CEO of the nation's 12th largest coal producer told Human Events in an exclusive interview that President Barack Obama's war on coal has done permanent damage to America's competitiveness.

"It can be stopped, but it cannot be reversed," said Robert E. Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy, a privately-held coal producer based in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

Obama is planning to close 175 power plants by 2020, roughly equivalent to 83,000 megawatts, he said. Most of the plants will go off the grid by 2014.

The physical reality is that idle coal mines or coal-fired electric generating plants atrophy, he said.

"Those plants are not designed to remain idle," he said. "The boilers and turbines are made to keep heat in them and they start deteriorating very rapidly."

The same is also true for coal mines, he said.

"A coal mine is a living thing," Murray said. "Once you stop the operation of a coal mine, they flood very quickly, and secondly, the roof conditions, even if you can keep it pumped out, slake."

"The roof slakes, the roof spalls — these are mining terms," he said. "As the moisture in the air goes underground from the hot air outside into the 58 degrees underground, the air currents just cut the roof down like a knife. The mine was a living thing. When it dies, you cannot bring it back."

Romney understands that there is a whole segment of the American economy, and the American scheme of things, that is being destroyed, Murray said.

"I've been with Romney a number of times, and some of that was one-on-one," he said. "I can't betray a confidence, and never would, but I can tell you, he gets it."

Murray said after working 31 years at a NYSE-traded coal company, he led a leveraged buyout of one of the company's mines in 1988. Today, Murray Energy is the 12th largest producer of coal with 3,300 employees.

"My sons are fifth-generation coal miners and we were coal miners in Scotland and Wales before that," he said.

"What has happened in the last three years is unprecedented in the history of the coal industry," he said.

"Barack Obama and his appointees and his political supporters are destroying the United States' coal industry deliberately," Murray said.



When he was running for president, Obama vowed to bankrupt any new coal-fired plant with regulations, he said.

"While Joe Biden said he wanted 'No coal in America,'" he said.

"They are making good to their promises to their radical constituencies on the Left Coast and California and in New England and elsewhere," said the coal executive, who is a graduate from an advanced management program at the Harvard Business School and holds a bachelor's in mine engineering from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

"Coal-fired electrical generation has historically been $0.04 per kilowatt hour," he said. "Wind and solar power that Obama promotes is $.22 per kilowatt hour."

"People who manufacture a product for the global market are not going to be able to compete," he said.

Electricity from coal is cheap and reliable, he said.

"In 2011, there was major flooding in Ohio, and the power was not available, and the utility commission required American Electric Power, the country's largest coal-fired producer of electricity, to stay connected to 3,800 megawatts of wind power on their system," he said.

"When the floods were on, and they needed the power, he drew on his wind power and he had 18 megawatts — 'cause the wind wasn't blowing," he said.

"We can not for economic reasons, for security reasons, continue this insanity," he said.

"It is insanity to set forth on this future for a staple we need," he said.

"China has been building a 500-megawatt coal-fired plant every week, for years," he said.

"What'll be happening is that they are going to have the low-cost electricity generation and it's going to make the United States of America even less competitive in the global marketplace, because China will have the low-cost electricity," he said. "We will end up exporting more jobs to China."

At the last quarterly auction of a group of electric power companies from 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states the prices for 2015 and 2016 were bid up to a price eight times what the power price was in 2011 and 2012, he said.

After the auction, utilities put out statements explaining why they bid the prices up so high, Murray said.

"There are going to be brownouts and blackouts because of the shortage of power and because they are required by the utility commissions to keep the lights on, the heat on, so they bid it up because Obama is closing all of these coal-fired $.04-a-kilowatt power plants," he said.

There is also a human dimension to the coal business, because so many families depend on the jobs provided by coal, he said.

At one event in Wheeling, W.Va., organized by Murray, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spent an evening with 800 of his workers and their families, he said. "Afterwards, Romney looked out at the people there and said to me privately: 'I'll remember this night forever.'"

Murray, who as a young miner was once trapped in a dark mine for 12 hours, said he has one unionized mine, the first one he bought.

"I have dealt with the unions all my life and I understand them very well."

Murray said union members through the years have threatened him and his family with harm. "My life has been threatened by them repeatedly during the 55 years that I have been active in the coal industry."

"I say to my union employees: 'Why do you let the United Mine Workers take $2,500 a year in dues from you and put it on a guy that is eliminating your job?'" he said. "They just hang their heads."

"I know these men, they get intimidated by the United Mine Workers and they are afraid to vote them out," he said.

It is more than just his workers' jobs that are at risk, he said.

Studies of the economic impact of the coal industry show that because of its place in the food chain, it has a tremendous multiplier effect, he said.

"It's up to 11 to 1, and that's to provide the goods and services to our people that our mines require, so with that multiplier, our company accounts for some 40,000 jobs," he said.

"If these people, who I know by name, lose their homes, they have no one to sell them too."

"What happens is that these people that I know by name, who just want to work in honor and dignity, are denied that right," he said.

"These people then go from the positive to the negative side of the ledger, permanently for the rest of their lives — and this is not the America I cherish," he said.

"I grew up very poor," he said. "My dad was paralyzed in a mining accident when I was nine-years-old, I supported my mother and my dad from the time I was 16."

"Obama is eliminating jobs by the tens of thousands in areas where there is nothing else for these people to do," Murray said.

"You give a 52-year-old man, who's never had a decent job after working for 30 years, you give that man a job and he just starts bawling in your office," he said.

"Obama has never had a job, he's never created a job, he's never seen that," he said. "I see it every day."

Murray said the president and federal regulators target his company.

"I can't get permits that other coal companies get," he said. "I get scrutiny from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor, Mine and Safety Administration and the Department of the Interior's office of coal mining that other companies don't get."

"I have a target on my back," he said. I've been doing this for 55 years and it's unbelievable that it is happening in the United States of America," he said.

"When Obama and his appointees push on Bob Murray, I push back harder — but, I get frightened," he said. "I am frightened at the moment because of what they do."

But, he will continue to push back, he said.

"Why? Because, I know the names of those thirty-three hundred people, "Murray said. "Everything that they have is going to be destroyed."

[Warph]

       

Signs Suggest Iran Is Speeding Up Work on Nuclear Program

By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: August 23, 2012

WASHINGTON — International nuclear inspectors will soon report that Iran has installed hundreds of new centrifuges in recent months and may also be speeding up production of nuclear fuel while negotiations with the United States and its allies have ground to a near halt, according to diplomats and experts briefed on the findings.

Almost all of the new equipment is being installed in a deep underground site on a military base near Qum that is considered virtually invulnerable to military attack. It would suggest that a boast by senior Iranian leaders late last month — that the country had added upward of 1,000 new machines to its installation despite Western sabotage — may be true.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/middleeast/signs-that-iran-is-speeding-up-nuclear-work.html?_r=2&ref=world&pagewanted=all

[Warph]

     

ICE agents sue Janet Napolitano over immigration order

By: Hope Hodge
8/23/2012 07:17 PM

http://nation.foxnews.com/janet-napolitano/2012/08/23/exclusive-10-ice-agents-sue-napolitano-over-deportation-policies?intcmp=fly

Ten agents with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement are suing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for relief after Napolitano signed a directive they claim forces them to violate federal law.

Napolitano's directive, Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children," would make some illegal aliens immune to deportation proceedings if they meet certain criteria, such as coming to the U.S. before the age of 16 and maintaining a clean felony record. The order has already led to situations in which ICE agents have to choose between keeping step with the administration and carrying out their duty, the plaintiffs say.

According to the lawsuit filed today in the Dallas division of Texas District Court, ICE agent Samuel Martin was assaulted by an illegal alien who had been picked up from the El Paso County Jail by immigration officials and then tried to escape custody. The alien was released without charges under protest from the agents, who were told the action was according to the administration's new immigration policies. Martin is now one of the plaintiffs in the case.

In another incident cited in the lawsuit, plaintiff James Doebler was issued a suspension notice after arresting an illegal immigrant and issuing the individual a notice to appear in court.

During a Thursday afternoon conference call with reporters, the plaintiffs' attorney Kris Kobach compared the new immigration orders to the Operation Fast and Furious debacle, in that both incidents required agents to go against the laws they were sworn to uphold.

"This lawsuit is based on the core principle that no administration, Republican or Democrat, should order federal law enforcement agents to break federal law," he said.

Lead plaintiff Christopher Crane told reporters the primary intent of the lawsuit was to protect agents from civil litigation or disciplinary action as they attempt to execute their federal duties.

The new directive, Crane said, was just one of a series of controversial immigration policies supported by President Barack Obama, such as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, that were creating yawning loopholes in the system and failing to have their desired effect.

"Out in the field, folks are calling it the inmate act, the criminal's dream act. It's very confusing for us out in the field," Crane said.

The lawsuit asks for a stay on enforcing Napolitano's directive and for reimbursement of all court costs incurred by the plaintiffs.

[Warph]

     

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/08/24/football-is-the-new-smoking

Football Is the New Smoking

By Daniel J. Flynn on 8.24.12 @ 6:09AM

Even George Will is on board, trying to haul America's Game off the field.

This morning, fat kids across America ran wind sprints until they vomited, drove sleds like beasts until muscle collapse, and alternated between jogging in place and hitting the deck so frequently that it jarred even the insides of onlookers. And they do it all again this afternoon.

This isn't a federal anti-obesity initiative. It's football.

Two-a-days are good for you. Video-game addiction, blasting ear buds to "11," and treating Skittles as one of the four food groups are not. Madly, it's the fitness-inducing pastime of teenage boys that public health crusaders inveigh against as though an end-around were as dangerous as a pack of Marlboro Reds. They're not called health nuts for nothing.

Football star Junior Seau's autopsy released Monday by the San Diego County medical examiner revealed no brain damage. What cerebral malady caused so many otherwise sensible people to reflexively blame the linebacker's suicide on decades of violent football collisions?

"Football's in trouble for two reasons," George Will explained in the wake of Seau's suicide on ABC's This Week. "First of all, the human body is not built for the violence that is inherent in football at the highest level. Second, people are going to watch football differently from now on, because they're going to feel a little bit like the spectators in the Coliseum in Rome, watching people sacrificed for their entertainment, with a kind of violence that is unseemly -- third suicide in 15 months."

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1504457

It may surprise the bow-tied baseball buff to learn that total suicides among Major League Baseball players greatly outnumber suicides among National Football League athletes. Should a numbskull baseball-hater have made a connection between Hideki Irabu's recent self-inflicted death and, say, his 98 mph fastball, surely George Will would recognize the logical fallacy at work.

And certainly Will isn't writing any columns about the dangers of baseball in the wake Wednesday's $14.5 million settlement between defendants including Little League and a young pitcher left brain damaged after being struck in the heart by a batted ball. Like most intelligent people, the columnist recognizes that partaking in beneficial activities -- travel, work, exercise, sex, eating -- involves risk.

Why should football alone be judged by its risks but not its rewards?

There is a witch hunt quality to the Fourth Estate's football fixation. The dubious connections made between on-field trauma and off-field drama -- suicides, meltdowns, violence -- ranks somewhere between shark-sighting sensationalism and SARS alarmism in the annals of journalistic irresponsibility. The facts don't warrant the conclusions drawn.

Suicide-by-football fits too neatly into the narrative. And when the facts don't fit, those seeking to sack football sack the facts. "For all players who play five or more years," George Will reported in his column earlier this month, "life expectancy is less than 60; for linemen it is much less." This isn't true.

The study commissioned by the NFL Players Association and conducted by federal researchers found that athletes who lasted five or more years in the league between 1959 and 1993 lived longer than the average American male. As USA Today reported in May, "A records-based study of retired players conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) concludes that they have a much lower death rate than men in the general population, contrasting the notion that football players don't live as long."

Who would have believed that there are health benefits to running back-and-forth for four quarters on a hundred yard field?

"Facts are stubborn things," John Adams reflected. More stubborn are prejudices.

Some people have a cultural aversion to football. Robert Maynard Hutchins, who jettisoned the original "Monsters of the Midway," was one such man. Whenever I feel the urge to exercise, Hutchins famously quipped, I lie down until the feeling goes away. One grasps why the gridiron held no charms for such a man. The University of Chicago president found football a non sequitur for an academic institution, so in 1939 he killed off a program that once had been national champion. The Great Books devotee remarked, "Football has the same relation to education that bullfighting has to agriculture." Perhaps so, but the analogy works for men's gymnastics, too, which Hutchins spared from elimination.

The pigskin is as out of place in risk-averse America as it was at books-intense University of Chicago. In a nation where children socialize with other children in adult-surveilled play dates, where walking to school shows bad parenting, and where lawyers jump in on schoolyard fights, kids crashing into other kids at full speed seems so 20th century.

The anachronistic nature of football that makes it so off-putting to our overprotected culture is also what makes the game, and its players, so incredibly popular. We don't admire the ordinary. Football has never appeared as extraordinary as it does right now.

[Warph]

Woman who Saved 30 Babies is Hailed in China

http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/24/13438436-as-she-nears-death-woman-who-saved-30-babies-from-trash-is-hailed-in-china

As she nears death, woman who saved 30 babies from trash is hailed in China


Lou Xiaoying, right, lies in the hospital with one of her daughters, center. Lou, now 88 and suffering from kidney failure, found and raised more than 30 abandoned babies from the streets of Jinhua, in eastern Zhejiang province, China, where she made a living recycling rubbish.

By Tianzhou Ye, NBC News

BEIJING – "What?! No, she is alive in the hospital," exclaimed Zhang Jingjing through the phone lines.

Zhang was responding to concern on Weibo, China's popular Twitter-like service, claiming that Lou Xiaoying, her adoptive mother, had died.

The worry was understandable, for Lou, 88, has been hailed a hero in China for reportedly saving more than 30 abandoned babies from trash cans and dumps over the past four decades.

Lou is suffering from kidney disease in the hospital, but, according to her daughter, she's still alive.

"My mother has gotten better," Zhang, 33, reported. "The hospital has spared us much expense. They have also minimized the kinds of medicines that my mom has to use. Money collected from donations has helped us a lot, too."

Helping others

Lou, who was born in 1924 in Fujian Province, collected and recycled garbage to make a living. She and her husband, who died 17 years ago, had two biological children, a daughter and a son.

Over the years of scavenging, Lou found 30 children who had been abandoned, mostly as a result of China's strict one-child policy. She and her husband adopted three daughters while the remaining children, mostly girls, were passed to other people to start new lives.

According to an article in Britain's Daily Mail, Lou found her first abandoned child, a girl, when she was out collecting garbage in 1972.

"She was just lying amongst the junk on the street, abandoned. She would have died had we not rescued her and taken her in," she said, according to the Daily Mail report. "I realized if we had strength enough to collect garbage, how could we not recycle something as important as human lives?"

"These children need love and care. They are all precious human lives," she added. "I do not understand how people can leave such a vulnerable baby on the streets."

Zhang told NBC News that "at one point, there were 12 members in the family" living in a deserted temple on the outskirts of the city of Jinhua, about 200 miles south of Shanghai. "It wasn't until 1987 when they were building a railway and wanted to remove our temple, did [authorities] find out about our family," she added.

The family's future was complicated by the rigid household registration system designed to control the movement of China's 1.3 billion people. Known in Chinese as hukou, the central government classifies people as either city dwellers or rural peasants, which determines not only a citizen's residence but also what kind of social services and schools they are eligible for.

Because they were living "off the grid," none of Lou's adopted children had a hukou. But Zhang said that people in the area soon heard about the family and help came along.

"There were some communal donations which helped two of us adopted ones go to school. But my oldest adopted sister, who is now 40, has never gone to school," said Zhang.

Even in old age, Lou kept going out to collect trash several times a day. In 2007, Lou discovered a boy, Zhang Qilin, in a dumpster. She adopted the boy, who is now 7, as her grandson; his adoptive father is Lou's biological son.

The youngster encountered the same problem of not having a hukou. But after a series of reports about Lou in the local Jinhua Daily, followed by other reports in the Chinese and international press, Zhang was granted permission to attend a public school called Jindong District Experimental School in Jinhua. In addition, his hukou registration process is now under way.

'Grandma Lou deserves her dreams to be fulfilled'

Fang Qing, the principal of the public school, spoke with NBC News about Lou's youngest adoptee.

"I take for granted that every child in China has a right to education, no matter what his background is like," Fang said, adding that the school would keep a special eye on Zhang Qilin.

"Grandma Lou deserves her dreams to be fulfilled. Good people should be rewarded with good," Fang said.

Many netizens have chimed in on Weibo about Lou's heroism.

"What would the world be like if only we have a few more people like Grandma Lou. I respect you, Grandma," wrote one user.

Lou's concern for others lives on in her daughter, Zhang, who agreed to be interviewed as long as no foreign donation appeal would be made through NBC.

"We are not in a very positive position financially," she said, "but neither do we lack money now for my mother's medical treatments. ... We are very grateful, but we are doing fine now."

Asked if she has ever thought about finding her biological parents, Zhang answered "No" resolutely. "She has always been my mother."

[Warph]

                 


            For how much can you now buy Iran's nuclear warhead?

There is a saying: time is money... But this expression has changed. Its meaning has changed. In the 21st century, the more accurate expression is that time is security.

I do not know why this is so. Maybe the global financial crisis that has destroyed the economies of many countries is to blame.

With each passing day Iran and the Islamic world come closer to developing nuclear weapons.

Is this so hard to see? Is it not clear that Iran's nuclear program was not created for peaceful purposes?

Haven't all the latest speeches by the President, religious leaders, the President of parliament and other leaders of the Islamic Republic confirmed this fact?

The fact that the Saudi king put Ahmadinejad in the place of honor when they met, and that Iranian officials have recently visited Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria -- doesn't all this matter more than what they say to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton?

The Iranian Minister of Industries and Business, Mehdi Ghazanfari, during a meeting with the Iraqi Minister of Industry, Ahmed Nassir Dalli Al Karboli, stressed the importance of close ties between Iran and Baghdad in the field of economics and industry, and said that it was important to improve bilateral relations through joint investment.

Mehdi Ghazanfari announced Iran's readiness to invest and implement infrastructure projects in Iraq, provide for the needs of that country, and supply the Iraqi market a variety of industrial and agricultural products.

Ahmed Nassir Dalli Al Karboli, in turn, said that Iran is a developed industrialized power, and called for greater cooperation in the field of mining.

He said that Iraq needs Iran's experience in manufacturing and mining, and stressed the need to expand bilateral cooperation in the automotive industry and the creation of joint businesses.

The Iraqi minister pointed out that in Iraq the door for Iranian investors is always open.

Can anyone believe that the oil embargo and economic sanctions alone can stop Islamic supremacism? Unfortunately, I am not one of them.

How can we trust only sanctions, when the current U.S. administration cannot even convince its partners and allies to boycott the Islamic Republic of Iran?

Isn't that reason enough? Is Iran a democratic state? Does it not infringe upon the rights of citizens? Is it threatened by anyone? Does it not pose a danger? And for whom? Does it not pose a threat to the world both militarily, politically and economically?

Again I remember the time when the world was suspicious of the Soviet Union. What distinguishes Iran from that country? Just the fact that in the Soviet Union there lived people of different faiths.

In the USSR, there was the KGB. In Iran there are the "Revolutionary Guards."

In the Soviet Union one could get killed for dissent; in Iran, too.

The Soviet Union ruled by an aggressive anti-human ideology; Iran does, too. It is Islam.

In the USSR, people were forced to learn Lenin's books; in Iran, the book of Muhammad.

The General Secretary of the Communist Party, Khrushchev, gave the world the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 14, 1962, and nearly caused a nuclear war. The Soviet Union supported the Arabs living in Palestine. Iran, too.

So where's the difference?

Iran does the same things, but this time it's much more serious. There are new technologies and more hate. The hatred that comes from the ideology of Islam. And America is not the same, either. Unfortunately.

Well, at that time, during the days of the Soviet Union, the Obama administration did not rule America. If it had, I would not be alive to write to you now. Yes, and many other millions would never have seen the sunlight.

A delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Rowsch Nuri Shaways arrived August 14 on an official visit to Tehran.

The Deputy Prime Minister was accompanied by the Ministers of Industry, Trade, Energy and Finance, as well as by the heads of the central bank and customs administration of Iraq.

In a three-day visit, they discussed issues of economic relations between Iraq and Iran and opened a branch of the Iraqi bank in Iran.

Iran will aid the Iraqi reconstruction grid and establish the export electricity to Syria, ISNA reported on Thursday, with reference to the Iranian Minister of Energy, Majid Namdz.

Namdz made this statement during a meeting with Energy Minister Karim Aftanom of Iraq.

According to Namdz, Iraq does not have sufficient electrical capacity to transfer the necessary amount of energy to the country. Since Iraq is now experiencing some technical problems with electrical power, Iran will provide help. At the end of September Iran plans to provide the necessary equipment.

Iraq imports from Iran 1200 MW of electricity per day. In July, Iraq's debt to Iran for electricity amounted to 500 million dollars.

In addition, through Iraq, Iran sells electricity to Syria and Lebanon.

"We will establish the supply of electricity from Iran to the Iraqi city of Basra," said Namdz, adding that the first contract was just about to be signed.

In July, Iran and Syria signed two memoranda of understanding on expansion of bilateral cooperation in the field of electricity and water.

In one of the memos, Iran will initially export 50 MW of electricity to Syria through Iraq. In the next phase, electricity exports will increase to 200 MW.

As a result of an economic development plan, in 2015, Iran will increase power generation by 25 GW, and bring it up to 73 GW of energy, the minister said.

Iran currently exchanges electricity with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Hmmmm.....

The 16th NAM Summit, to be held from 26 to 31 August in Tehran, is a historic opportunity for Iran, in the mind of the Islamic leadership.

The Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran for parliamentary affairs, Lutfullah Furuzanda, said that Iran participates in the dialogue about justice and Islamic awakening, and the convening of the 16th NAM Summit in Tehran is a historic opportunity to further this dialogue.

Furuzanda added that the member countries of NAM demonstrate the essence of the Islamic Revolution, the trust and participation of the people, and the progress and achievements of Iranian experts in the nuclear arena, as well as the nature of the sanctions against Iran.

Furuzanda also stressed the need to expose the true face of the imperialists and Zionists, and said that if the member countries of NAM do not come together and start a common dialogue, world imperialism will continue its expansionist policies until it is destroyed as a movement.

And it all happens in the 21st century. Does this meeting and all other such meetings not represent a danger to global security? Who, where, when, why -- all go to Tehran.

Is such a meeting not the best way to share or sell information, as well as scientific achievements and technology?

Can we assume that the countdown has already begun?

Ten, nine, eight ... three... two..... ONE....

   

[Warph]

RNC Convention Postponed Until Tuesday, August 28th

Posted by Jim Hoft on Saturday, August 25, 2012, 6:16 PM


The Republican National Convention has been postponed until Tuesday due to Hurricane Isaac.

Politico reported:


Republican National Convention President and CEO Bill Harris made the following statement: "Our chief priority is the safety of the residents of Florida, of those visiting the Convention, and all those in Gulf Coast states who may be impacted by Tropical Storm Isaac. We have been working closely with the campaign, the party, and state and local officials for months to ensure a successful, enjoyable convention. Federal, state and local officials assure us that they are prepared to respond, if needed, and the scheduling changes we are announcing today will help ensure the continued safety of all participants – our foremost concern. We are also committed to keeping the delegates and guests of the convention well informed about the situation, and we will continue providing updates in the hours and days ahead."

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus made the following statement: "Due to the severe weather reports for the Tampa Bay area, the Republican National Convention will convene on Monday August 27th and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, August 28th. After consulting with Governor Scott, NOAA and local emergency management officials, we are optimistic that we will begin an exciting, robust convention that will nominate the Romney-Ryan ticket.

[Warph]

Neil Armstrong Dead at 82 – First Man to Walk on the Moon

Posted by Jim Hoft on Saturday, August 25, 2012, 2:36 PM

Former Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died today at the age of 82.

"That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind."

Reuters reported:

Former U.S. astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has died at the age of 82, U.S. media reported on Saturday.

Neil had the rare ability to unite the people of the world. He was probably a proud American and the American people are no doubt proud of him, but he wasn't just yours.  He did the whole world proud that day, it doesn't matter what your nationality, race or religion is.  He was a human, same as everyone else, and he represented Earth.  He truly was a hero of Earth and a great pioneer. His name will live on forever and so will his iconic words.

Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days after his birthday on August 5, to relieve blocked coronary arteries.

As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the moon's dusty surface, Armstrong said: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

The Apollo 11 moon mission turned out to be Armstrong's last space flight. The following year he was appointed to a desk job, being named NASA's deputy associate administrator for aeronautics in the office of advanced research and technology.