Vacation anyone?

If money and time did not restrain you, where would you like to spend your next vacation?

Would it be a busy city or a quiet retreat? Would you take someone with you to share the experience or would you prefer to do it alone? The choice is up to you, after all this is your fantasy vacation.

What would you take with you? Books, music, or empty suitcases for shopping?

Do you like to take pictures while on vacation? And do you share your pictures?

Will you check your email, voicemail, Facebook, or MyFaceSpaceSite? (I know a shameless plug).

Tell me about your adventure.

Private Long

Private William Long.

Does the name mean anything to you?

Dr. George Tiller mean anything to you?

Both men met their deaths about a month ago in gun violence from a single gunman.

Dr. Tiller was murdered in a church in Wichita, Kansas and Private Long was murdered on a street in Little Rock, Arkansas. Both men became targets for what they did with their lives. Dr. Tiller for being an abortionist, Private Long for being a soldier.

An attack on a military target on the streets of American gets little notice from the news media.

Media bias once again? I understand the attraction of reporting on Dr. Tiller. He had a high profile, people had already heard of him because of his connection to Kathleen Sebelius, so his death is truly newsworthy. My first reaction when I heard the first reports of an unidentified abortion doctor being shot in Kansas was to wonder if it was Dr. Tiller.

Private Long on the other hand was a young man unknown except to those in his circle of friends and family. Private Long gained notoriety only in his death. But the media was reluctant to report on his death at the hands of a Muslim convert in an act of domestic terrorism.

Is there a bias toward making bad examples out of murders of abortionist doctors, while minimizing the threat of terrorism on American streets?

Could Private Long's killer be charged with a 'hate crime'?

Mario Lavandeira's Problem Week

Poor Mario Lavandeira (aka Perez Hilton) just can't get a break this week.

First he insults and gets an assault from an associate of the Black Eye Peas singer Will.I.Am. and now he insults Michael Jackson fans when he blogs that Michael was doing a publicity stunt, instead of having an actual heart attack.

Fox News reports Mario wrote, “Supposedly, the singer went into cardiac arrest ...” Hilton wrote in his blog, before stating, “We are dubious!!”

“Either he’s lying or making himself sick,” the blog continued. Then it urged those who had purchased tickets for Jackson’s series of concerts in London to “get your money back!”

Jackson fans were not amused. “That guy (Mario) is seriously sick in the head. He does more harm that good and he needs to get off the internet now,” wrote one blogger, in a fairly typical response.

Some people will do anything (like pirate someone's name, be insulted by someone's opinion, taunt a celebrity, and figure everyone else is as manipulative as yourself when it comes to publicity) to extend their fifteen minutes of fame and Mario's time is up.

Since Mario is a big heel do you think he might reinvent himself as Jim Shue?

Celebrity Deaths

Unfortunate timing for Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon to depart the stage.

Seeing Farrah's Story last month helped to demystify a legend. I sometimes forget that behind the fame and fortune is a human being with struggles, pains and fears trying to see their way through this adventure called life.

The essence of life is it begins with potential and you try to use that potential to leave the world a better place because of your existence. That universal struggle is what makes us human.

Ed McMahon was a great entertainer as Johnny Carson's foil and should also be remembered as the first host of Star Search in the early '80's.

With the 24 hour cable news coverage of the death of Michael Jackson there will be little about his life that will be unknowable. I don't want to diminish his contributions to music and entertainment but I wonder why such extensive coverage? If his life hadn't taken such an odd turn with the surgeries, skin condition, germophobia, child abuse lawsuits, surrogate motherhood for his children, etc. would we have seen endless news coverage of his death?

Was his life like the auto accident on the highway that everyone has to slow down and look at?

Last Survivor of the Titanic

The last survivor of the Titanic disaster died at age 97 on Sunday. Millvina Dean was just two months old when the ship sank in the North Atlantic. She survived along with her mother and brother, but her father died in the sinking.

If you have ever seen a documentary on the Titanic you have probably seen Millvina.





Ninety-seven years have passed since that dark cold night in April.

More Media Bias?

"GOP senators sidestep harsh criticism of Sotomayor

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer – 18 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Leading GOP senators on Sunday offered more subtle criticism of the first Hispanic nominated to the Supreme Court, but passed up the chance to stifle racially charged critiques of Sonia Sotomayor by some fellow Republicans.

The party out of power in Washington is struggling to develop a unified political strategy to oppose the Supreme Court nominee. "

But further in the article the following quotes are reported:

"I definitely think we need to have the respectful tone and we need to look at the record," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican from Hispanic-heavy Texas. "We need to have the responsibilities that have been put on us by the Constitution taken very seriously."

"She brings a form of bigotry or racism to the court," Limbaugh said on his radio program last week.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday refused to criticize that remark, although he said it doesn't represent his view.

"I think that she is a person who believes that her background can influence her decision. That's what troubles me," said Sessions, R-Ala. Although he would prefer that they not call Sotomayor a racist, he said, "people have a free right to speak and say what they want and make the analogies that they want."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said that he doesn't think Sotomayor is a racist. However, Graham, who is white, said she should apologize for comments that suggest "all the hardship she has gone through makes her better than me."

Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate and a Judiciary member, declined to call Sotomayor a racist.

"I'm not going to get drawn into characterizations before I have even met her," Kyl said.

Short of saying that anyone that uses the word racist when describing Judge Sotomayor should be arrested what more can five Republican Senators do 'to stifle racially charged critiques'?

Should the Senators even be trying to stifle free speech?

With 59 Democrat votes in the Senate (60 if the Minnesota election is settled in favor of Al Franken) I don't think there is any doubt that Judge Sotomayor will be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. To suggest that the Republican party is trying to oppose the nomination as stated in the second paragraph is ridiculous. President Obama will have his nominee confirmed, but it is the role of the Senate to 'advise and consent' not just roll over and say 'Yes, Sir'.

Abortion Doctor Murdered

Dr. George Tiller, described by the Associated Press as a prominent late-term abortion provider, was murdered today. Dr. Tiller is known for being a large contributor to HHS Secretary Sebelius when she was governor of Kansas, and he is also known for being acquitted earlier this year on 19 violations of Kansas law related to abortions he provided.

Although I am on the opposite side of the abortion debate from Dr. Tiller, I find it to be a sad day in Kansas. Murder is not a justifiable crime. May his family find peace.