Tuesday Links

Some recent news and opinion:

From ABC News, according to a study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 42% of Americans don't know that Obamacare is the law.

In Townhall, John Hawkins gives us 30 reasons to dislike President Obama.

From Breitbart's Big Government, Tea Party Patriots gets ready to rally against the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill.

From the Washington Free Beacon, extremists with ties to Al Qaeda have been using the Boston area as a base ever since 1993.

From Yahoo News, many in the Muslim world want Sharia as the official law of their lands.

From The Examiner, a study finds that over a quarter million Somalis have died from famine and terrorism.

From The Blaze, the FDA has approved over-the-counter sales the "morning after" pill - to girls as young as 15.

From the Washington Post, some officials say that Obama is "moving toward" sending weapons to Syrian rebels.

The American Thinker asks, is Obama working hard or hardly working?

From CNS News, a Miami archbishop says that establishing gay marriage would spread "moral relativism" and eventually bring about tyranny.

The American Spectator tells the story of the "Pigs of Pigford".

From USA Today, a D.C. councilman has introduced a resolution calling for the Washington Redskins to change their name to the Redtails.

And from CBS Sports, San Diego cartoonist Steve Breen welcomes soon-to-be-Charger Manti Te'o.

Read More

Tsarnaev Gets New High-Profile Lawyer

The defense team for surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev has added Judy Clark, a high-profile lawyer from San Diego known for handling death penalty cases.  Her previous clients have included Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber; Jared Loughner, who shot congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tuscon; and Eric Rudolph, who bombed the Atlanta Olympics and several abortion clinics.  The appointment of Clark was approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler.

Read more at the Boston Herald, Newsday, Philadelphia Metro and the Brandon Sun.

Read More

Man Stabs Four At Albuquerque Church

At around 12:15 this afternoon, a man entered St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, yelled "fake preacher!", ran towards the choir, and stabbed four people, injuring two of them critically.  He was subdued by other members of the congregation, and later identified as Lawrence Capener, who is not himself a parishoner.  The victims were all taken to local hospitals.

Read more at KOAT, KOB, the Santa Fe New Mexican, and the Los Angeles Times.

Read More

The George W. Bush Library Opens & Other News

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated today in a ceremony attended by President Obama and former Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Bush.  The library is on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  Here are some stories from today's events:

From the Washington Post, the other presidents offer tributes to George W. Bush.

From CBS News, a look inside the George W. Bush library.

From the Los Angeles Times, the second President Bush gives his speech, affirming his faith in the U.S.

Fox News has some video highlights of the dedication.

The Christian Science Monitor wonders if Bush is "on the rebound".

Writing in CNN, Donna Brazile says that "Bush came through on Katrina."

From Business Insider, the Bush presidency in pictures.

From Weasel Zippers, Dubya's mom doesn't seem to too comfortable with his successor.

In other news:

From the Times Union, today is indeed World Penguin Day.  A hundred years ago the world saw the first professional photographs of Antarctic penguins.

From the Daily Mail, in Dubai, female U.S. sailor 1 - would-be rapist 0.

From the Miami Herald, a California filmmaker has been detained in Venezuela.

From the New York Daily News, Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, who has so far missed the entire season due to an ankle injury, promises to return.

From CNS News, one out of every five U.S. households is on food stamps.

From Kurier, about 40 Muslims in Vienna demonstrate for the Boston bomber.  Via Weasel Zippers, who provides a partial translation.

And from SF Gate, a school in the U.K. stops airport noise with domes.

Read More

Loys Station Covered Bridge

One of only six covered bridges still in use in Maryland, the Loys Station bridge was named for a nearby railroad station.  Originally constructed in 1848, the bridge may have been used by Union General George Meade pursuing Confederate troops retreating from Gettysburg.  In 1991, the bridge was damaged when a pickup truck was parked inside it and set on fire.  After undergoing repairs, the bridge was reopened in 1994.  The bridge's namesake railroad station is long gone, but the tracks are still in place.

Here's a view of the bridge from near its north end, with its east side in sunlight.

Looking directly through the bridge from its south end.

For more information on Loys Station Bridge, go here, and browse around the site to learn about the other five covered bridges in Maryland.

Read More

Canada Foils Terror Plot

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with some help from the American FBI, have prevented two men from carrying out a plan to derail a VIA passenger train.  The suspects were arrested in Montreal and Toronto.  They are not Canadian citizens, and are said to have been supported by "Al Qaeda elements in Iran".  At first, the RCMP would not indicate the nationalities of the two men, or how long they have been in Canada, but later stated that one was originally from Tunisia and the other from the United Arab Emirates.

Read more at BBC News, Yahoo News, USA Today, CTV News, The Age and Russia Today.

Read More

Music Break - Some Old Favorites

For this month's music break, I offer up some old favorites of mine.  Some are rather well known, and others more obscure, but that's just my tastes.

The first number Feel So Good, by Jefferson Airplane from their 1971 album Bark, written and sung by lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen.  At this time, the band had lost founding lead singer Marty Balin and longtime drummer Spencer Dryden.  Kaukonen and new drummer Joey Covington stepped up to contribute some lead vocals, along with holdovers Paul Kantner (also rhythm guitar) and Grace Slick (also piano).  After one more studio album, Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady left the Airplane, which would turn their side project Hot Tuna into their main gig.  Kantner and Slick would later regroup to create Jefferson Starship.

In 1981, Billy Squier released his Don't Say No album, which produced several hit singles.  My favorite song on the album was not one of them, but Too Daze Gone, a phrase that sometimes described how I felt back in those days.

During the 1980's, Joan Jett became famous with her cover of I Love Rock & Roll, but later came out with Fake Friends.

The 1972 double album Exile On Main Street by the Rolling Stones included Happy, which was sung by guitarist Keith Richards and released as a single.

During the early 1970's, the Edgar Winter Group had several hits, including the instrumental Frankenstein.  The band's style was a combination of Winter's blues influence and co-lead singer Dan Hartman's pop-rock, such as Hangin' Around.  Both are found on They Only Come Out At Night.

Read More