KISS's U.S. Military's Salute!

 The following arrived today in my email. I have never paid any attention to KISS but the video is very moving.

KISS's U.S. Military's Salute!

The music will blow you away. I've always thought that Gene Simmons and the band "KISS" were a bunch of strange people. But it seems I have been wrong on this issue. This was filmed in Iraq on a USO Tour at a U.S. Marine Base. Play It and Send it to every single person you know

Aiken Standard and Media Bias

The following AP story by Jim Davenport appeared in The State today. The same story was published in the Augusta Chronicle. The Aiken Standard published what appeared to be the entire story but in fact it was edited in a way that exposes it's bias. I have highlighted the remarks that were dropped in the Aiken Standard version.


EDITOR UPDATE: The managing editor of the Aiken Standard emphatically denies any bias in editing the following article and asked for it to be removed.He informed me that the story was too long for the space available so it had been edited from the bottom by an assistant in accordance with standard practice.No bias was intended. Even so I believe that a fair and balanced AP report was substantially changed and readers should be informed. I also hope that in the future the Aiken Standard will pay more attention to editing of such stories.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina GOP governor candidate Nikki Haley is changing more than the face of state politics.

She has altered positions on tax pledges and on Republicans who voted for bank bailouts. She has also been meeting privately to reassure business leaders after her campaign called the state Chamber of Commerce a "big fan of bailouts and corporate welfare."

Republicans are quick to defend their nominee when asked about Haley's sometimes jarring shifts.

"I think that, respectfully, this is a case of trying to make the facts fit the story rather than the story fit the facts," said Joel Sawyer, the state Republican Party's executive director.

Haley's status as a rising star has diverted attention from her political record as she begins a race against Democrat Vincent Sheheen, a Senate colleague in the Legislature.

When Haley first ran for the state House in 2004, she told The State newspaper's editorial board she was against signing the Americans for Tax Reform "no new taxes" pledge.

"No one wants to see taxes raised, but I think that it would be closed-minded to sign a pledge," Haley told the Columbia paper's editors.

Yet in a debate in May, Haley claimed she had signed the group's pledge - even though Americans for Tax Reform had no pledge from Haley at the time of the debate. ATR state affairs director Patrick Gleason recalled Haley's campaign had spoken about becoming a pledge signer in March, but his group didn't receive her signed pledge until after the debate.

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey explained: "Unlike Vince Sheheen, Nikki has been so consistently against tax increases that she figured there was no harm in making a pledge to do what her record already proves is her position."

Sawyer said that while Haley was in the Legislature, she saw pledge signers breaking the pledge and people who called themselves fiscal conservatives spending liberally.

"I think it makes sense to put some sort of assurance out that you're not going to behave in the same sort of way you've seen others vote around her," Sawyer said.

In an April interview with The Associated Press, Haley said no member of Congress who voted for the Wall Street and banking system bailout should be re-elected. What about U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, who represents her district? "Absolutely not," Haley said. But earlier this month, Haley's campaign said Wilson's overall record merited support.

"In the case of Joe Wilson, she's supporting the conservative candidate in the race," Sawyer said.

"It's a hands-down easy choice," Godfrey said.

Haley told voters in the primary she was the only GOP candidate who had voted against using federal stimulus money.

But during the 2009 budget debate, Haley had voted to spend federal stimulus cash. She later voted against final passage of the budget and to sustain a veto of the stimulus cash. She called the earlier votes procedural. "What matters to the people of this state, what matters to the people of this country is the final vote that affects the people," she said.

Sheheen's campaign notes he led efforts to force Gov. Mark Sanford to take federal stimulus cash from the Obama Administration. On that point, Haley's campaign agrees.

"There's a day-and-night difference between Nikki Haley and Vince Sheheen on the stimulus," Godfrey said. "Sheheen is the biggest champion in the General Assembly of the Obama big spending approach."

Last month, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, which had endorsed U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Sheheen in the primary, decided not to endorse Haley. The campaign brushed it off. "The state chamber is a big fan of bailouts and corporate welfare, so it's no surprise that they would prefer a liberal like Vincent Sheheen over a conservative like Nikki Haley," Godfrey said earlier this month.

Business leaders fear that Haley could have the same at-odds relationships with lawmakers that Sanford had, slowing progress on some of their interests. Haley has embarked on a series of close-door meetings to reassure them and introduce herself. People have come out of those meetings saying Haley makes a convincing case.

"There's a very big difference between the state Chamber of Commerce's board and actual business leaders," Godfrey said. He added that Haley "will meet directly with business leaders every day of the week to work on ways to improve our state's economy."

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CITY COUNCIL UPDATE FROM DICK DEWAR

APPROVAL TO DISCONTINE CITY COMMERCIAL GARBAGE SERVICE – Council agree to discontinue providing commercial garbage services to companies within the City of Aiken. There are some issues still to be resolved regarding a few downtown businesses.

DISCUSSION OF ZERO BASED BUDGETING – Zero Based Budgeting is a technique that sets all budgets to nil at the beginning of the year and requires from the departments that they justify all of their expenditures, not just those exceeding the budget. Money is allocated to the departments based on merit and not based on the previous year budget plus or minus some percentage such as in many traditional budgeting systems.

I am delighted to report that City Council agreed to begin the process of zero base budgeting beginning in the October time frame. We will do so on a Department by Department basis. The public is invited to attend any or all of our meetings.

APPROVAL AND MODIFICATION OF LOCAL SALES TAX MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – The Aiken County Tax Committee which is formed to evaluate and approve the final list of capital projects list for Aiken County Council met shortly before our Council Meeting began. They rejected all allocations that Aiken City Council had approved for non-profit agencies. Specifically they included $1 million for the SPCA, $350,000 for the African-American Center, $500,000 for the Teen Center, and $400,000 for the YMCA. Assistance City Manager Richard Pearce also reported that the Tax Committee retained the $200,000 previously allocated to the Railroad Depot based on his statement that the Railroad Depot would be a City facility before monies are raised from the extension of the Capital Sales Tax project if it is approved by voters in November.

As a result of the Committee’s rejections the City Council needed to re-allocate $2.25 million. We did so as follows: $1 million to Animal Control, $500,000 to Open Space, $150,000 for Hopelands/Rye Patch Building Renovations ,$300,000 to Renovate Existing Public Safety Headquarters, and $300,000 for the Railroad Depot. The County Tax Committee must meet one more time to give final approval for this list. If the Committee rejects the additional $300,000 for the Railroad Depot as well as the $200,000 already approved by the committee the City Council has voted to allocate the entire unallocated $500,000 to Water/Sewer Infrastructure. The Tax Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, July 26 at 6:00 P. M. at Aiken County Chambers.

The issue of using public money for the Railroad Depot is both historic and emotional. It is historic because there are some in our community who feel that the building of the railroad depot replica is of significant historical importance and ought to be remembered in some way. In fact, many in our community have felt strongly enough about this project to contribute personal funds to the project. These private contributions represent a significant percent of the total needed to complete the construction. It is emotional because there are many in the community who do not feel that public money should have been used to construct this facility. That said, it must be noted that City Council has continually supported the use of public money for this building since the process began in 1999. It voted to allocate $250,000 in Accommodations Tax money and to assume responsibility for maintenance of the building (now estimated to be approximately $75,000 to $100,000 per year). The City Tourism Office will be located in the building.

Jane Vaughters and Dick Smith consistently opposed the use of public money and were outvoted by a 5-2 margin. During my campaign, I heard clearly from many residents that they did not favor using public money for the Railroad Depot. Both Reggie Ebner and I have voted against using public money for this project at every opportunity. We first voted against the inclusion of $200,000 for the depot in Capital Project Sales Tax and then again against the additional $300,000 for this same program at our last meeting.

It is clear that the Railroad Depot building will become a city building in the near future. It was built on City land with Council’s concurrence ( tacitly or formally). Council will be asked to vote to accept ownership of the building at our August or September meeting and the votes are there to approve the request. I have objected to the fact that this project has not been part of our budget process and has used a “back door” for approval. Long term planning and financial management controls have been questionable given the relationship of the Aiken Corporation to the City of Aiken. Keep in mind that the Aiken Corporation is an outgrowth of the Aiken Downtown Development Association (ADDA) and was established to diversify and expand the City’s economic base and improve the quality of life in Aiken. It was established as a non-profit development corporation and a public-private partnership between the Aiken Corporation and the City of Aiken. On their own, they have initiated several projects for which the City has had to assume some financial responsibility. Several members of City staff are and have been active participants with the Aiken Corporation for many years.

I am also concerned that approval of the Local Option Sales Tax Program is in jeopardy because this project is included. While the $500,000 represents a small fraction of the total of approximately $138 million, some in the community may not vote to renew the Capital Sales Tax measure expected to be on the November ballot.

My email contained a list of the approved projects. It is not possible to include the list in this posting. If you want a copy of the approved list, please email me at fastwalk1@gforcecable.com and I will send it to you.

PRAYER BEFORE COUNCIL MEETINGS – The Aiken Standard has reported that the City received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation objecting to the prayer before our Council meetings. While we will make some changes to procedures, our intent is to continue to say a prayer before each Council meeting and to do so in compliance with all laws. We will follow the practice in use by the South Carolina Legislature.

TELEVISING COUNCIL MEETINGS – Last week the City of Rock Hill was recognized by the Municipal Association of South Carolina for upgrading their local access television channel. They have improved the televising of their City Council meetings and are looking for other ways to make Rock Hill government more transparent.

As many may have noticed, the Aiken Standard no longer televises City Council meetings on a regular basis. They have told me that the will televise future meetings as their schedule permits.

I investigated a contract with a private vendor, but determined it to be too expensive at this time. They would have put our City Council meetings on the web and made them available on demand on a 24 hour basis.

I could use some help on this issue. If you want to view our City Council meetings on our local access Channel (4) or want to view them on the web, please let members of the Council know your views. When they only hear from one or two Councilmembers on an issue, they don’t feel compelled to take action. We could also televise Planning Commission, Design Review Board, Board of Zoning Appeals and other meetings of importance. My goal is to make our city operations as transparent as possible.

NEXT COUNCIL MEETING – Our next Aiken City Council meeting will be on August 9, 2010. I will send an update before then highlighting our agenda.

Power Line on the New Black Panther Case

Power Line once again gives great coverage to an important story downplayed by the MSM.

THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY CASE: JUST BLOW IT

Paul Mirengoff has been deliberating over the proper weight to be accorded the story involving the dismissal the case against the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia by the powers-that- be in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. I'm one of those who thought it was a big story, not so much because of the dismissal per se as because of the rationale underlying it. According to whistleblower J. Christian Adams, the dismissal derived from the Obama Department of Justice's view that voting rights cases should be pursued depending on the race of the victim and/or the perpetrator.More

Get this -- now she's too popular | The Augusta Chronicle

This is too funny not to share.


Get this -- now she's too popular | The Augusta Chronicle