Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

• CA-Sen: Barbara Boxer aide charged with possession of pot
  A senior aide for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was arrested Tuesday for attempting to bring marijuana into the Hart Senate Office Building, according to U.S. Capitol Police reports.

  Marcus Stanley, who served as a senior economic adviser and at one time worked on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — chaired by Boxer — was stopped by a police officer Tuesday morning when he allegedly tried to “remove and conceal” a leafy green substance from his pocket during a security screening at the Constitution Avenue door of the Hart building around noon, according to a Capitol Police report.
  +++++++
  OOPS

  (tags: barbara_boxer)
• CA-Sen: Barbara Boxer's attacks on Carly Fiorina over Iran sales mislead
  Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is omitting critical details as she has criticized her GOP opponent, Carly Fiorina, over past sales of Hewlett-Packard Co. equipment to Iran.

  Boxer issued the latest attack on Fiorina during a campaign event this week. The three-term incumbent said HP was "skirting American law at the time" and that the products could have ended up in the Iranian military.

  She also directly accused Fiorina of attempting to get around a U.S. trade embargo.

  But Boxer is not telling the complete story. No federal agency has sanctioned HP for the sales of printers and printer supplies. Fiorina herself has never been implicated as having any knowledge of them.
  ++++++
  Boxer is behind and getting desperate.

  Fiorina has said she was unaware of the sales, which were made through a distributor and started before she became CEO in 1999.

  (tags: barbara_boxer carly_fiorina)
• Where WFB Got It – “the rightwardmost viable candidate" Castle in Delaware
  There’s been a lot of talk about how we have to support the “moderate” in Delaware, like good little prags. (I’m just being snarky. Supporting Castle is the right thing to do. I guess.) And everybody’s quoting WFB about why we have to do it.

  I thought readers — especially newish ones — would like to know where WFB got it. Many years ago, Bill’s friend John Kenneth Galbraith was asked which Democrat he would like to see win the presidential nomination. He replied, “The leftwardmost viable candidate.” So Bill picked that up, in his own terms: “the rightwardmost viable candidate.”

  End of history lesson . . .
  ++++++++
  WFB did get it and the boats did rise.

  (tags: William_F_Buckley)
• Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas
  The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.
  The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.

  "Now what're we going to do?" said Toby Savolainen, 49, who like many others worked for decades at the factory, making bulbs now deemed wasteful.

  During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.
  ++++++
  Green jobs for China

  (tags: unemployment)
• ObamaCare Shocker: Insurers Pin Rate Hikes on Health Law
  Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections.

  Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators.

  These and other insurers say Congress's landmark refashioning of U.S. health coverage, which passed in March after a brutal fight, is causing them to pass on more costs to consumers than Democrats predicted.
  ++++++
  Not surprising at all. Obama's health care reform was always about redistribution and who pays.

  (tags: Obamacare)

Danish Muhammad Cartoonist Kurt Westergaard

Kurt Westergaard is retired now but continues to draw honors for freedom of speech.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the bravery of a Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad at an award ceremony honoring his achievements for freedom of speech.

In her speech praising illustrator Kurt Westergaard, “who has had to fear for his life since the publication of the cartoons in 2005,” Merkel emphasized Wednesday that media freedom is an important element of rights in Europe.

“It does not matter if we think his cartoons are tasteful or not, if we think they are necessary and helping or not,” Merkel said at the ceremony in the city of Potsdam. The question, she said, was, “Is he allowed to do this? Yes, he is.”

There have been at least three attempted attacks on the 75-year-old Westergaard or his newspaper, the Danish the Jyllands-Posten, since he and 11 other artists angered Muslims around the world by creating the Muhammad cartoons four years ago. Protesters in Muslim countries have torched Danish and other Western embassies.

Westergaard’s cartoon, which he said took 45 minutes to draw, was considered by many Muslims the most offensive of the 12. He has rejected calls to apologize, saying poking fun at religious symbols is protected by Denmark’s freedom of speech.

The cartoon:

Of course, not everyone was pleased.

Merkel’s appearance at the award ceremony drew criticism from Muslim groups, who perceived it as an endorsement of Westergaard’s cartoon. Aiman Mazyek, general secretary of Germany’s Muslim Council, told public radio Deutschlandradio that Merkel is honoring the cartoonist who sullied “our Prophet … and thereby all Muslims.”

Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, rejected the criticism and said Merkel’s message was to underscore the importance of freedom of speech.

Westergaard continues to live under police protection.

The latest CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll has Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer leading the race against Republican Carly Fiorina.

If the election for U.S. Senate were held today and the candidates were Barbara Boxer, the Democrat and Carly Fiorina, the Republican, who would you be more likely to vote for? (IF UNSURE:) As of
today, who do you lean more toward? (RANDOM ORDER)

                                                     Boxer           Fiorina          Neither (vol.)       Other (vol.)       No Opinion
Registered Voters
Sept. 2-7, 2010                                48%             44%              5%                     *                        3%

But, look at the Pollster.com poll averages and the trend line. The margin of error in the latest poll is 3.5%.

As I said before, I think Carly Fiorina will win this race by about 3 points. She will pull away about a week before the election.

Sorry Andy, I loved your show when I was a young boy growing up but you and Opie (Ron Howard) gave us Obama as President and ObamaCare.

Shame on the both of you.

Too bad about your brand but you deserve it.

How bad is it for Democrats in North Carolina? Even Sheriff Andy Taylor is taking a beating in the polls.

Andy Griffith – star of the Andy Griffith Show, a Manteo resident and noted endorser of Democratic causes and candidates – has seen his approval ratings plummet, according to a poll published Tuesday by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling.

The Democratic pollster found that Griffith’s approval rating has fallen 25 points since 2008. Griffith has been a closer for Democrats, an unimpeachable saintly figure who fills his rare political spots with folksy charm and obvious references to his role as a small-town North Carolina sheriff.

In July he cut an ad for the U.S. government promising “good things” to come from the Democratic-backed health care law. The ad prompted five Republican U.S. senators to accuse the Obama administration of using taxpayer money to bolster his policies.

And as the poll suggests, the ad may have tainted the Griffith brand.