The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will run a successor institution, IndyMac Federal Bank FSB, starting next week, the Office of Thrift Supervision said in an e-mail yesterday. The regulator blamed U.S. Senator Charles Schumer for creating a “liquidity crisis” after a letter on June 26, in which he expressed concern that the bank may fail.

[Israeli] Army sources said Wednesday that since the beginning of this year there have been several dozen cases of Israeli civilians mistakenly entering [Palestinian] Area A, because of GPS navigational errors…. (link)

“A new poll shows that the two longtime Republican elected officials from Alaska, Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, face serious obstacles to winning reelection.”

The GOP will never regain a majority until it sheds itself of the likes of Young & Stevens.

Planet Slayer - Greenhouse Calculator

The Avg Aussie should die at 9. I should die a 4. I’m 33. Hahahahha. I hate the planet.

HT: The Smallest Minority

While I’m often happy to point out Republicans who act like Democrats *cough* Bush *cough* or Republicans who were Democrats *cough* Sonny *cough*, McCain is no Democrat. Sure he has had issues with our party - but that just makes him smarter than those of us who actually supported the man who grew government by more than LBJ, mis-managed a war into near defeat, and sullied the concepts of limited government and conservatism with his nonsense of “compassionate conservatism”.

Yes, many people disagreed with McCain’s attempt at immigration reform. Many Republicans wonder about his position on man-made global warming and the need for carbon rationing. Many conservatives are still angry over his gutting of free-speech via campaign finance “reform”.

But John McCain has been right on a whole lot of issues where the grassroots Republicans have been wrong. McCain said we didn’t have enough troops and that Don Rumsfeld was mis-managing the mission in Iraq. McCain was right, the grassroots were wrong.

McCain said we should not have tax cuts without also cutting spending. Bush, Hastert and Frist spent like drunken sailors and the grassroots went silently along. McCain was right - the grassroots were wrong.

John McCain voted against the largest entitlement expansion since the Great Society. A massive entitlement program pushed by a (so-called) Republican President and enacted by a (so-called) Republican Congress. McCain was right - the GOP leadership was wrong.

John McCain spent five hellish years in a Vietnamese prison camp being tortured by the VietCong and their Chinese enables. Yet while in Congress, John McCain voted to establish normalized trade relations with Vietnam and China and bring both of those countries the miracles of Capitalism.

John McCain may not be the most conservative person the GOP could have nominated, but he is a hell of a lot better than the guy we nominated in 2000 and 2004, and a whole lot more conservative than the folks who were running Congress for the past 10 years.

At the Libertarian National Committee meeting today, Mary Ruwart moved to reconstitute the Advertising and Publications Review Committee, seconded by R. Lee Wrights. Ruwart said “We recently had a press release that recommended more government, and if it had been reviewed it probably wouldn’t have gone out.” Secretary Bob Sullentrup pointed out that the APRC has been created and abolished multiple times, and said that if it gets reconstituted it should be done in a way that won’t require abolishing it yet again.

Ruwart suggested that the APRC be created and then its chartering language be improved. Wrights objected to hearing from staff about potential problems in the operational details of the APRC, and said “This committee does the business of the party, not staff.” LP Media Director Andrew Davis said that even a 12-hour turnaround time can miss a news cycle. Redpath said he had a policy of reviewing “anything that might be controversial”, but he admitted it did not happen with the recent controversial press release. The APRC was re-created, with Aaron Starr and Pat Dixon voting no. Its members will be Wrights, Ruwart, Starr, Jingozian, Flood, and they will have no authority until they create and win approval for new chartering language for it.

The Executive Committee was populated with the four officers and Mark Hinkle, Michael Colley, and Jim Lark.

I’ve highlighted the interesting bits. The APRC is also known as the purity committee. I’d love to see how this works with someone like Barr as the nominee. Purists tying the hands of the party staff trying to help the presidential campaign. Thats Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld levels of incompetence there.

Wrights is a nice guy and all, but you can tell he’s got no idea what being on a Board of Directors is about if he objects to hearing what the employees have to say.

Wrights and Starr hate each other with a passion, and on a commitee with no authority this is probably all meaningless. It will be interesting to see if this is the last gasp of the kooks or the start of a come-back. I’m actually suprised Barr got the nod. It was close. After the reformers gutted the platform in Portland, I expected to radicals to be back in more force for Denver. Denver is also a lot easier and cheaper to get to - which does factor into things as their is a reverse coorelation between radicalism and affluence in the LP.

HT: Third Party Watch

Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.
more stories like this

Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott.

‘‘The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,’’ Malkin yowls in her syndicated column. (Dunkin’ Donuts yanks Rachael Ray ad - The Boston Globe)

While it might be premature (he hasn’t announced) I’m endorsing one of the strongest fiscal conservatives in the General Assembly: Senator David Shafer.

Senator Shafer is a tireless champion for the taxpayer. He has opposed tax increases, even when the Republicans proposed them! He has led the charge on both zero based budgeting and spending limitation. His zero based budgeting bill passed both the Senate and House this year, and his idea to return budgetary surpluses was incorporated into Senate Resolution 20, and at least one version of the Speaker’s tax reform initiative.

Most big thinkers are not effective lawmakers, but David is the kind of guy who both thinks outside the box and knows how to translate ideas into law. Tapping the Tennessee River to secure a long term supply of water for North Georgia, creating a privately funded Umbilical Cord Blood Bank to save postnatal tissues and encourage nonembryonic stem cell research and deregulating cable and telecommunications to improve customer choice are among his many initiatives.

David is talking with financial backers and I have no doubt that he can raise the money to be the effective. He is one of the top GOP fundraisers in the state, with a large network of donors and plenty of political IOUs from the candidates and elected officials he has helped.

He is the type of candidate who can bring the various factions of the Georgia Republican Party together. He was an early and strong backer of both Casey Cagle for Lieutenant Governor and Karen Handel for Secretary of State, he will be able to work with the next Governor, no matter who that might be.

If you agree with me that David Shafer would make a great Lieutenant Governor, drop David an email david at vote david dot com and encourage him to run.