Tom Tryon of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune goes out on a limb and bravely talks about discussing race in America in his column, "If we are confined to corners, we can't build on racial progress".

Tom talks about demographics and census figures. One interesting thing Tom points out is that the "Census shows 81 percent of Americans as white, 13 percent as black and 4 percent as Asian. But the Census also shows that 14 percent of Americans identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race -- the fastest-growing group."

What Tom may have discovered is Hispanics self-identify as white. Hispanics don't identify themselves in terms of ethnicity but rather origin. They view themselves as part of the whole cloth of America.

What we and most Americans found troubling about the sermons of Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. was his emphasis on blackness, his Afrocentric church doctrine and anti-American rhetoric. Dr. Wright for over 35 years has been preaching segregation, hate and sedition to his congregation. He has been rewarded by his community, his state and the nation for doing so.

What is most troubling about the political speech of Senator Obama is his statement, "I can no more disown him [Dr. Wright] than I can disown the black community."

Many Americans see Dr. Wright, and Senator Obama's failure to disown him, promoting a belief system that says blacks must be "confined to a corner" in order to be viable. Being black trumps all else, including being American.

To have meaning in their lives blacks must hate "whitey" and "white America" and damn America according to Pastor Wright. Dr. Wright preaches the "we are owed" doctrine of black power.

What is more disturbing is the recent glowing support of Dr. Wright from Reverend John H. Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ, Reverend Michael Pfleger of the Saint Sabina church of Chicago, Senator Obama, political pundits, the media and some leaders in the black community.

Dr. Wright preached racial segregation and sedition. The same segregation, racial slurs and hate speech that Tom rightly points out came from Southern Democrats such as former Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate George Wallace.

Recently we had a comment posted on this blog saying that there are two Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations in Newtown. One for "whitey" and one for the blacks. This is segregation of the most heinous sort on a day that is supposed to celebrate racial equality.

We fully agree with Tom when he ends his column with, "If we ignore our common challenges, if we fail to embrace our common beliefs, religious and secular, we will simply remain in the corners we define by race, afraid and unable to bridge our differences."

The operative words are "common beliefs". What beliefs we have in common defines us as American. History has shown that for a multi-ethnic nation to survive it must have a strong common belief system that trumps race.

Americans rightly are shocked, afraid and angry when they hear black separatist rants. The black community must denounce not only the rhetoric of Dr. Wright but the man himself and those of a similar ilk, who Senator Obama describes as being in a "time warp".

We agree with Tom, some in our community need to get out of their corner and meet the majority of us in the middle of the room.

There is an article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune titled, "A plan to cap local government".

This plan is called the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). We ask that you immediately send an e-mail to the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission supporting TABOR. The commissioners need to know how Florida's taxpayers feel about taking away from government the ability to tax us.

To send an e-mail or write a letter to the full commission expressing your support of this plan – send correspondence to Kathy Torian at Florida TBRC, Holland Building, Suite 245, 600 S. Calhoun Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1300 or email her at Torian.kathy@leg.state.fl.us. Request that your correspondence be sent to all Commission members.

According to the article, "The plan...would cap all taxes, fees and other revenue increases at the rate of inflation and population growth. Exceeding that cap would require voter approval...it is not just a chance to cut taxes even further, it is a step toward forever throttling the size of government."

"I think there's a direct correlation between the size of your government and the health of your economy," said House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami. We agree.

The plan would require voter approval of even the smallest increase in taxes or fees. What a fantastic plan.

"When we went across the state, the two things that we heard from almost every single individual that came up and spoke was 'provide property tax relief and get a hold of government spending,'" said Patricia Levesque, currently the executive director for former Gov. Jeb Bush's education think tank. "Government shouldn't grow faster than we should pay for it."

Patricia and Representative Rubio have it right.

We believe that government closest to the people is best. We also believe that voters should decide if they should be taxed. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" depends on individuals keeping their hard earned dollars and passing their wealth on to their families. The more money in the taxpayers pockets the stronger the economy. The stronger the economy the better for our cities, counties and the state of Florida.

Please send your e-mail today to the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission supporting TABOR.

According to Time magazine, "In a [1956] special session of the [Democratic controlled] Florida legislature, the state house of representatives passed four bills to circumvent a state supreme court ruling that the Florida school segregation laws are invalid. The bills would enable county boards of education to assign pupils and teachers to schools on the basis of intelligence, ability, and "cultural background.'' One representative objected that "some Negro pupils have higher IQs than some white pupils." Snapped a backer of the bill: "But who is going to give the tests?"

The Governor of Florida in 1956 was Democrat Thomas LeRoy Collins (pictured to the left). Democratic Governor Collins publicly condemned the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

As a side note you should also know about The Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (known as the Johns Committee) established by the Democratic Florida Legislature in 1956, during the era of the Second Red Scare and the Lavender Scare.

The Florida committee undertook a wide-ranging investigation of potentially subversive activities by academics, civil rights groups, and suspected communist organizations, and also attempted to eliminate homosexuals from state government and public education.

The Johns Committee was named after Democratic Governor of Florida Charley Eugene Johns.

In the Sarasota Herald-Tribune article by Carol E. Lee, "Reconciliation of racist past stirs in Captital", there is a lot Carol does not tell you about the role of Democrats and the racist past of Florida.

For example, not mentioned in the article is that the all white Florida state legislature of 1956 was also all Democrat and that the Democrats and their KKK "friends" had eliminated Republicans from elected office in Florida by the early 1900s.

The article mentions that there were 63,000 slaves in Florida before the Civil War, but fails to mention that the slave owners were Democrats and fails to mention that the Republican Party was founded in 1854 as the anti-slavery party, that it won the Civil War against the pro-slavery Democratic Party and that the Republican Party passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution that ended slavery, provided the vote for black men, and outlawed racial discrimination. Almost every Democrat voting NO.

Of the almost 3,000 people lynched by the KKK: 2,000 were black, 1,000 were white, and almost all were Republicans.

Really, it ought to be the white Democrats who apologize to all Republicans and all black residents of Florida for the many historic crimes of the white Democratic Party. The rehabilitation of the Democratic Party begins with it acknowledging its extensive racist history.

Have you ever noticed the primary difference between liberals and conservatives?

Liberals attack government to get more of it.

Conservatives attack government to get less of it.

Our very liberal friend and former editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Waldo Proffitt is the perfect example. In his column, "Hostile takeover of government" he remembers the good old days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mr. Big Government himself.

FDR gave us Social Security, which is about to bankrupt this country. If FDR had supported private savings accounts in the 1930s we would all be millionaires by now. How could FDR have known that government would take the money we put into Social Security and use it to feed more government rather than invest it in our economy? Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme ever.

Anyway, Waldo rants against the usual suspects President George W. Bush and former Governor Jeb Bush, "So, here in Florida, with a Bush as president and a Bush as governor, we got a double-strength prescription: Cut taxes, cut services, dismantle regulations. Cripple Social Security. Turn over Medicare to private companies. Make it more expensive for children to get medical care. Make it more expensive to attend college, and more difficult to fund decent public schools. Do not spend enough to maintain roads, bridges and other elements of the infrastructure."

We say fantastic, congratulations to GWB and Jeb. Let's do more of it. Less government regulation, privatize Social Security, privatize and deregulate Medicare, cut taxes, cut non-essential services, privatize our state colleges and universities, provide real school choice by providing vouchers to parents, eliminate the onerous property taxes and move them over to the fairer sales tax, and let families bear the burdens of taking care of their own by empowering them.

Take all the money saved from doing these things and give it to the people and families that pay taxes. Do not give it to those who do not pay taxes. We want to see a national sales tax and elimination of the income tax because one taxes consumption and other productivity. If we can't do this immediately then let's start with a flat tax and have everyone in America pay something toward our national defense. That is fair.

As for the S&L crisis of the 1970s we say we are glad it happened, just as we are glad we are having a sub-prime problem now. That is how the markets work. Lenders gave money to more and more people so they could buy their own homes. Some were speculators and they got burned, good. Some were honest families that stretched their budget to have the American dream, let's try to help them with lower interest rates or a temporary freeze in rates. Some were given loans to feed the greed of the market, punish the predatory lenders. Otherwise let the market correct itself. Will we all feel some pain? Yes. Will we get through this crisis? Yes.

The thing that is really is disgusting about Waldo's article is his "cheap shot" at Senator John McCain. Waldo refers to the Keating Five congressional investigation that was part of the S&L crisis. The Keating Five were 4 Democrats and one Republican.

After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Democrats Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings, while Democrat John Glenn and Republican John McCain had been only minimally involved. The Committee recommended censure for Cranston and criticized the other four for "questionable conduct."

That is it. In reality the lawyer who headed up the investigation said that he recommended that Senator McCain be dropped from the investigation. The Senate Ethics Committee disagreed because if they did that then it would only be Democrats left. They needed a token Republican - John McCain.

Waldo knows this and still slings mud. Sad that Waldo would stoop so low. But that is what former employees of the New York Times do. Sling mud without basis in fact. We call that in the blogosphere "tabloid journalism".

We agree with Ronald Reagan who said, "Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

If we stop feeding the government baby we will get less you know what coming out the other end.

Just kidding.

Can you imagine what would happen if three prominent Republican governors had major sex scandals? Can you imagine the media outrage. The "culture of corruption" stories. The damning of all Republicans because of the violations of a few. The instant call for investigations and dismissals. The calls from Congress for a special prosecutor.

Well, don't worry you aren't seeing any of these things because the three governors are all Democrats.

What you do see are talking heads, pundits and psychologists coming to the rescue and acting as scandal denyers. We hear that the affairs of Governor and Mrs. Paterson are personal issues and that their coming out and talking about it, after he was sworn in of course, are heroic. Give me a break.

Former Democratic Governor Elliot Spitzer is a hypocrite at best and guilty of multiple crimes at worst for hiring prostitutes over a period of years and paying over $80,000 for their services.

Former Democratic Governor of New Jersey McGreevey had a gay relationship with man who he hired to run the states homeland security program. Then it turns out he, another gay boyfriend (and his personal driver) and his wife had a sexual tryst.

Finally, Democratic Governor Paterson is still in office after admitting having multiple trysts with multiple women, one of whom was a state employee.

Senator Craig's toe tapping is nothing compared to what our friends the Democrats have done in the last few months to make politicians the scorn of all, except the liberal media, social scientists, psychologists, the Democratic National Committee, the National Organization of Women, feminists, gays, teachers unions and labor unions, of course.

The liberal Sarasota Herald-Tribune's editorial board has an interesting article lamenting the removal of Dr. Deborah Rice from an EPA panel titled, "Chemical conflicts".

They and the Democratic leadership are concerned that politics may get in the way of public health and safety because Dr. Rice was not allowed to stay on a panel reviewing the potential dangers of a chemical (olybrominated diphenyl ether [PBDE] known as deca) used in flame retardants in electronic equipment.

What the Herald-Tribune does not tell you is that Dr. Rice is also an expert on the effects of methylmercury exposure to children and adults.

In 2003 Dr. Rice addressed the effects of methylmercury to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. During this testimony she concluded that, "at least eight studies have found an association between methylmercury levels and impaired neuropsychological performance in the child....there is a substantial percentage of women of reproductive age in the United States with levels of methylmercury in their bodies above what EPA considers a safe level."

She when on to say, "As a result of this, over 300,000 newborns each year are exposed to methylmercury above levels US EPA believes to be “safe”....increased exposure to methylmercury may result in atherosclerosis, heart attack, and even death from heart attack in men, suggesting that an additional large segment of the population may be at risk as a result of environmental methylmercury exposure."

This is the same Herald-Tribune editorial board that touted a new energy bill passed by the Democratic Congress this year in their editorial, "Jump start for energy policy".

Dropped into this new energy bill by the Democrat leadership in Congress is a provision to mandate the phase-out of the 125-year-old incandescent bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of trendy, supposedly energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), pictured above.

These bulbs contain mercury!

Mercury helps create the increased efficiency of a CFL bulb. If the bulb breaks, the mercury will contaminate an area. Secondly, when these millions of bulbs burn out they will be disposed of into our land fills.

Our question is why didn't the Democratic leadership listen to Dr. Rice and the serious health consequences of mercury? Given the current health risks from mercury exposure why did they add this new risk and mandate that the risk be brought into American homes?

It is interesting how the Democratic leadership is concerned when a scientist that disagrees with the chemical industry is dismissed from a panel but that same scientist is not listened to by the Democratic leadership when it comes to the dangers of another chemical made by the same industry that they mandate be put in all our homes.

Democrats mandating the use of light bulbs that contain mercury is like mandating the use of toys or paint that contain lead. There is no difference. Democrats are putting our children, our homes and our lives at risk in the name of the environment.

This is insane. What do you think?

Tallahassee–With one month to go until the tax filing deadline, you may not have received your return or even filed your 2007 taxes. The Democrat-led United States Congress, though, has already voted to increase your taxes for next year. Yesterday, the Democrat-led United States Senate passed the biggest tax increase in history by passing a 2009 budget that fails to extend President Bush’s tax cuts and includes $1 trillion dollars in discretionary spending.

“People in Florida and across the nation are increasingly concerned about the economy, and they want our leaders to take a new direction when it comes to the economy that doesn’t leave the middle class behind,” noted Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer. “But U.S. Senator Bill Nelson isn’t listening to Florida voters—instead, he is up in Washington, joining Senators Clinton and Obama to vote for every tax increase in sight,” said Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer.

The Club For Growth's Andrew Roth Notes The Democrats' FY 2009 Budget Would Result In "The Largest Tax Hike In U.S. History." "The Democrats' FY09 budget does not extend the Bush tax cuts. As a result, Americans are set to be hammered with the largest tax hike in U.S. history." (Andrew Roth, "Tax Hike Impact By Congressional District," The Club For Growth's Blog, www.clubforgrowth.org).

Bill Nelson Joined Clinton and Obama to Raise Taxes On Individuals Earning As Little As $31,850. "Under both Democratic plans, tax rates would increase by 3 percentage points for each of the 25 percent, 28 percent and 33 percent brackets. At present, the 25 percent bracket begins at $31,850 for individuals and $63,700 for married couples. The 35 percent bracket on incomes over $349,700 would jump to 39.6 percent." (Andrew Taylor, "Presidential Hopefuls To Vote On Budget," The Associated Press, 3/13/08)

Clinton, Obama and Nelson Voted Against Providing Death Tax Relief For Small Businesses, Family Ranches And Farms By Increasing The Exemption Amount And Lowering The Top Tax Rate. "Kyl, R-Ariz., amendment no. 4191 that would adjust the resolution to allow for a $5 million estate tax exemption for small businesses, family ranches and farms, and allow for a maximum estate tax rate of 35 percent." (S. Con. Res. 70, CQ Vote #50: Rejected 50-50: R 48-1; D 2-47; I 0-2, 3/13/08, Clinton, Obama and Nelson Voted Nay)

This is a blog report on a press conference at the National Press Club reporting dangerous terrorist acts by anti-war leftist groups like Code Pink and A.N.S.W.E.R (part of the World Workers Party, a communist organization) perpetrated against military recruiters. These people are getting dangerous.

Anti-war protests are scheduled for March 19th, the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, in Tampa, Florida by the following anti-war/Socialist/Communist/radical Islamic groups.

Some of these groups have terrorist connections such as the Muslim American Society, which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood:

A.N.S.W.E.R. Florida
Florida Peace Action Network
St. Pete for Peace
Progressive Democrats of America-FL
Tampa Bay Veterans for Peace
Nature Coast Coalition for Peace and Justice
The Refuge Ministries
Code Pink Tampa Bay
Peace Now Citrus County
Military Families Speak Out - Florida
Muslim American Society - Tampa Chapter
Friends of Human Rights
Green Bridge Patriots
Code Pink Sarasota
Tampa 9/11 Truth
Code Pink Florida
Socialist Party of Tampa Bay
Immigrants United for Freedom
First United Church of Tampa Social Action Committee
Green Party of Florida
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship of Tampa Bay
Islamic Community of Tampa (ICT)
Pinellas County Democratic Party
Project Vote Count

You guys won’t believe the scene at the National Press Club today.

We at Move America Forward were releasing our investigative report on the nationwide plague of attacks against military recruiting centers. (The Sedition Report)

Congressman John Carter (co-sponsor of the Semper Fi Act) was there speaking. So too was Debbie Lee, mother of the 1st Navy Seal killed in Iraq.

Then, midway through the news conference, members of Code Pink, International ANSWER and Global Exchange start heckling, screaming, yelling.

They said our claims of improper actions by anti-war radicals were all lies, that the anti-military activists have been nothing but peaceful.

They tried to shout down our speakers, and when we asked for security to remove them they refused to go, resulting in the forced eviction by security - despite their efforts to physically resist being removed.

Congressman Carter was whisked out for his safety and then the anti-war radicals chased down Congressman Carter’s staff. Soon thereafter as I was walking to another appointment I found myself stalked by the radicals who pulled up in a car yelling obscenities at me for daring to report on their disgusting conduct.

These people proved our point today! They did exactly what we’ve accused them of doing at military recruiting centers when they storm in, occupy the office, halt the work of recruiters and refuse to leave.

What angers me most is that these people don’t stop there. They’ve planted bombs at recruiting centers (not just Times Square but St. Louis too!). They pumped eight rounds of gunfire into the Denver military recruiting center. They’ve set fire to recruiting centers in San Jose, CA and Asheville, NC.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The complete report - including citations where their supporters cheer on the acts of violence - and our new national ad campaign focusing on this issue are at the Move America Forward website.

I’m attaching a photo of one of the anti-war radicals who stood up, stripped off his clothes to reveal a pink jacket, and began screaming down our speakers at the news conference.

Folks - we struck a nerve. These people DO NOT want their seditious behavior exposed. Well, that makes me even MORE determined to do just that, and I know it will have the same effect on you as well!

For more on the Winter Soldier II conference go to Michele Malkin's blog.

We absolutely loved the Sarasota Herald-Tribune's editorial, "Another election mess".

The editorial is a great analysis of the train wreck about to happen in the Democratic Party. We will not go over the gory details of how the Democratic National Committee (DNC) disenfranchised Florida's and Michigan's voters by stripping them of their delegates. Reams have been written about that by us and others.

What is really great to watch is how the Democrats, the party of every person votes and every vote is counted, is trying to figure out the right way to allow the Democratic voters in Florida and Michigan to have a "re-do".

Florida Democratic primary voters already cast their ballots. As the Herald-Tribune points out, "Seven weeks ago, more than 57,000 Democrats in Sarasota and Manatee counties voted for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Statewide, another 1.4 million Democrats cast ballots in the presidential preference primary — one of Florida's highest-ever turnouts."

Note the "one of Florida's highest-ever turnouts". Not according to Al Sharpton. According to the New York Sun, "Laying the groundwork for a court battle that could divide the Democratic Party, the Reverend Al Sharpton is threatening to sue the Democratic National Committee if it counts Florida's primary results in the official presidential delegates tally." Reverand Sharpton is concerned that "some" voters did not go to the polls in Florida because their delegates would not count. Neat argument. We hope the law suit goes forward.

Sorry Hillary even though you won the Florida primary by 50% over Barack's 33% you can't count it. Hillary is disenfranchised along with the 50% of Democratic primary voters in Florida for the sake of "some" who did not go to the polls.

So now comes the talk of a re-do mail in ballot. Not so fast. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan told ABC News that there is a "security issue" with a mail-in ballot. "How do you make sure that hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million or more ballots can be properly counted and that duplicate ballots can be avoided?" Mr. Levin has vivid memories of how absentee ballots have routinely been abused in Detroit and other cities by unscrupulous candidates.

In Florida, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Miami has her own issues with a mail-in ballot. "It's fraught with problems and now is not the time to be experimenting when we're talking about stakes this high," she says. "We still have very raw nerves from the 2000 recount."

For a party that tends to pooh-pooh concerns about voter fraud, it's refreshing to see a few key Democrats alert to the problems of having ballots distributed and handled outside the supervision of election officials.

By the way. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune tries to pin this mess on the Republican led Florida legislature for voting to move the primary date up. What they forget to tell you is that our very own Sarasota Representative Keith Fitzgerald, who is a Democrat, voted for the legislation. Keith is now going around town trying to explain his vote, saying part of the bill was the elimination of touch screen machines in Florida. The legislation would have passed without Keith's vote.

This is fun to watch. More coming soon.

The liberal media loves to beat up on the salaries of CEOs that run large multi-national companies. I am not sure if it is envy or just their idea that everyone should get the same salary, like in communist North Korea or Cuba, except for Kim Jung Il and Raoul Castro, of course.

In today's liberal Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial, "Golden safety nets" they lament that former CEO of Merrill Lynch Stanley O'Neil, "managed to take home $161 million -- money O'Neal was owed from prior years."

According to the salaryphobes on the editorial board, "Any way you slice $161 million -- with due respect to O'Neal's long and productive career at Merrill Lynch -- that's quite a mountain of clams. His farewell check is 47 times more than what the average Ph.D. holder earns through his or her entire work life."

Is the editorial board saying don't get a Ph.D. and go into business for yourself because you can make much more by not even having a college degree, like Bill Gates?

What the Herald-Tribune doesn't tell you is the obscene salaries that others make who have no responsibilities for the lives of thousands of employees, run companies that are global and provide meaningful products and services that create jobs and keep America great.

Who are these people with obscene salaries, who do very little, provide no useful product or service and for all practical purposes are simply making money off us poor citizens with no return on our investment? The liberal media's favorites - sports figures, rappers and the Hollywood elite.

The highest paid 25 athletes in the National Football league got from $11,100,000 to $30,750,000 a year in 2007 according to USA Today. That is an average salary of $13,876,800.

For the NBA's New York Nicks according to SI.com the total team salary for 2006-2007 was $117,024,192 for 19 players. That is an average salary of $6,158,168.

The top three female actors Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz, according to the Hollywood Reporter make $15,000,000+ a movie.

Rappers 50 cent and Diddy made $50,000,000 and $36,000,000 respectively according to New York magazine.

These NFL and NBA players, rappers, and actresses have responsibility only for themselves and perhaps a few staffers and personal handlers. They do not run large corporations that provide work to millions of Americans. They entertain. They do not deal with foreign governments and run international corporations. They play football, basketball, rap, and play act (like when we were kids). I have not heard of a one with a Ph.D. Have you?

We are not complaining about the outrageous salaries of entertainers. We are all for those with talent getting paid whatever the market will bear. We also agree with CEOs of major corporations getting what they deserve as determined by their Board of Directors and shareholders.

We quote Oprah Winfrey who made $223,000,000 last year, "I don't think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good."

That is what America is all about, "the pursuit of happiness".

This story is from the Idaho Statesman.

Planned Parenthood of Idaho officials apologized Wednesday for what they called an employee's "serious mistake" in encouraging a donation aimed at aborting black babies.

They also criticized The Advocate, a right-to-life student magazine at the University of California-Los Angeles, for trying to discredit Planned Parenthood employees in seven states in a series of tape-recorded phone calls last summer.

The call to Idaho came in July to Autumn Kersey, vice president of development and marketing for Planned Parenthood of Idaho.

On the recording provided by The Advocate, an actor portraying a donor said he wanted his money used to eliminate black unborn children because "the less black kids out there the better."

Kersey laughed nervously and said: "Understandable, understandable. ... Excuse my hesitation, this is the first time I've had a donor call and make this kind of request, so I'm excited and want to make sure I don't leave anything out."

On Tuesday, The Advocate released transcripts and audio recordings of this phone call and another to fundraising representatives in Ohio.

The student editor-in-chief of The Advocate said she's not surprised by Planned Parenthood's response and that the unedited recordings speak for themselves. The activist students think Planned Parenthood targets minorities and minority neighborhoods.

On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood of Idaho "firmly and unequivocally" denounced racial bias, admitted making a mistake and said the group had taken corrective action.

"A fundraising employee violated the organization's principles and practices when she appeared to be willing to accept a racially motivated donation," said CEO Rebecca Poedy in a written statement. "We apologize for the manner in which this offensive call was handled. We take full responsibility for the actions of the fundraising staff member who created the impression that racism of any form would be tolerated at Planned Parenthood. We took swift action to ensure that each of our employees understands their responsibility to communicate clearly with donors about the fact that we believe in helping all individuals, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation, make informed decisions about their reproductive health care."

A spokeswoman for the organization would not say whether further disciplinary action was taken against Kersey, saying that was a personnel matter.

A longtime anti-abortion activist and conservative lobbyist - Idaho Values Alliance Executive Director Bryan Fischer - called Kersey's response in July reprehensible and said she should have been fired.

"It turns out that blatant racism is alive and well in Idaho, but it's not coming from the Aryan Nation types - it's coming from way-left organizations like Idaho's own Planned Parenthood," Fischer said. "They should have stridently rebuked that donor for being a racist and a bigot and refused to take that money."

The national Planned Parenthood office did not return phone calls Wednesday, but local officials denounced the editor of The Advocate as "a known anti-choice extremist."

"While the actions of our staff member were unacceptable, it's also unacceptable for opponents of abortion to use racist, deceptive tactics to smear Planned Parenthood," Poedy said. "The race-baiting tactics on display in this case are not news 'exposes,' but rather the product of the most cynical form of politicking."

Lila Rose, the UCLA student who led the Planned Parenthood investigation as The Advocate's editor-in-chief, said it is sad that the organization would focus on what the students did.

"They do not change their ways," Rose said. "They attack the whistleblower."

Nationwide, Planned Parenthood received about $902 million in revenue in 2005-06, according to its annual report. Private donations made up about 24 percent, or $212 million.

"It is unacceptable for a nonprofit to accept donations that target specific races," Rose said.

The Advocate is waiting for responses from Idaho and Ohio before releasing recordings from Planned Parenthood organizations in several other states, she said. In the meantime, the magazine is calling for UCLA to cut its ties with Planned Parenthood.

It is legal in Idaho for someone who makes a phone call to secretly tape it.

The liberal media keeps pounding on our involvement in the war against radical Islam. There are four major fronts in this war: Africa, Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan. America is directly involved in three of these fronts, NATO in one, and our ally Israel is fighting for its life in the fourth.

Liberals are so risk adverse and so afraid of doing something that can cause us to use our military power, treasure and blood that they want to prohibit the U.S. from getting involved in anything. This is called isolationism. Isolationism cut our military by one third during the 1990s and got us 9/11. So much for isolationism.

Liberals have used a series of arguments since the war against radical Islam began to get us to disengage from the war against radical Islam specifically and the world stage in general.

However, after 9/11 the liberals did a turn around. It was a huge bi-partisan majority in Congress that approved going first into Afghanistan and then Iraq.

When the war in Iraq began going badly we saw the liberals do another turn around, some say for political gain.

We saw a series of liberal arguments over time to disengage from the war on radical Islam: the death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq (even though the toll was the lowest of any previous war), the civil war in Iraq (it ended with the surge), the government in Iraq not reconciling (they now have passed a series of laws that reconcile the parties), and the cost of the war (even though Congress continues to fund the war on a bi-partisan basis).

Now we have a new liberal argument to disengage from the war against radical Islam - the health and welfare of our soldiers and their families. Finally, we get to something we can all agree to. Taking care of our troops.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune uses this argument in its editorial, "Shorter combat tours are a start" to get us to disengage from the war against radical Islam. This is the first time that we can remember that the editorial board has been interested in the health and welfare of our soldiers and their families. Someone correct us if we are wrong.

It would be nice if they really meant it, history tells us they don't. We have not seen the Herald-Tribune cover any of the Sarasota County Veterans Commission meetings. We have never had them ask what legislative initiatives veterans support to take care of our troops and their families. We have not seen them give front page, above the fold coverage to veterans issues, unless it is something a soldier did bad. We have not seen them care enough to send reporters to the annual Veterans Day and Memorial Day parades and give large scale front page coverage to these events. We have not seen the Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial board take up the cause of any veterans issue until today.

My concern is they are using this as simply another ploy to convince American's we should take care of our troops by losing the war.

We fully support shorter combat tours for our soldiers. Certainly combat tours are stressful and lead to various psychological issues including PTSD. Every war has had the same issues. WWII saw millions of our citizens serve 3 or more years in combat in the Pacific and European theaters. They turned out to be the "Greatest Generation". If you want to know about multiple combat tours ask Florida Senator Mike Bennett. He volunteered for and served four combat tours in Vietnam. If you want to know about combat tours ask County Commissioner Paul Mercier, Colonel USMC (Ret.) John Saputo, Master Gunnery Sergeant (Ret.) Eugene (Top) Harrison, or any of the over 53,000 veterans living in Sarasota County.

According to Lee F. Kichen, VFW Veteran Service officer at the VA Medical Center, Bay Pines, FL, "Length of tours have little impact on severity of PTSD. Severity may or may not be predicated on the intensity of the combat stressor. WWII vets had in some cases 34-36 months of sustained combat showing the the same symptomology as someone who experienced one isolated mortar attack of two rounds. Apparently, the Herald-Tribune is falling prey to a lot of urban mythology without looking at what is still emerging science. Quite frankly we can't make any generalizations, like those in the editorial."

The real problem is the size of our forces. We currently have approximately 760,000 soldiers in the Army, which was the end strength of the Army after operation Desert Storm in 1992.

If the Herald-Tribune and its editorial board really want to help our soldiers, help fight the war against radical Islam and protect America they would campaign for a major increase in troop strength in our Army and a larger Marine Corps. They would also fight for an increase in the national defense budget to recruit, train, deploy and sustain a 1,000,000+ man Army.

You cannot have pre-9/11 troop levels and expect us to meet the global threats facing the United States.

We await tomorrow's editorial supporting our soldiers, veterans, their families and orphaned children.

E pluribus unum, the motto found on the Great Seal of the United States, was adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782. Originally suggesting that out of many colonies or states emerged a single nation, it has come to represent the bedrock ideal that out of many peoples, races, and ancestries has emerged a single people and nation.

In a recent editorial by Tom Tryon titled, "Unity within diversity colors the canvas of our communities" the concept of unity versus diversity is raised.

Tom points out, "Embracing Our Differences is sponsored by Coexistence Inc., a local nonprofit organization directed by both quiet and outspoken community leaders." This group asked Tom to comment on their upcoming event, which "demonstrate[s] in a positive way that diversity enriches our lives.".

Tom makes several statements that we fully agree with. Tom calls for an, "equal commitment to finding, supporting and celebrating common values that promote the common good."

Tom points out that, "One of the world's pre-eminent social scientists, Robert Putnam, has written that his research has shown that diversity can pose a threat to social cohesion if it's not accompanied by commitments -- by individuals, by communities -- to bridging differences and building social solidarity."

Finally, Tom says, "it's equally vital for people and communities to pursue and foster solidarity built upon common belief in fundamental principles and inalienable rights. Differences can define and bond, but they can also divide -- deeply, as history has shown."

After reading Tom's column we went to the Coexistence, Inc. website. We were troubled by a quote on the site by Tom Robbins, a writer who has supported the use of hallucinogenic drugs in some of his books. We called Michael Shelton, Executive Director of Coexistence, Inc. about this quote. A voice mail from Mr. Shelton indicated that it was from an old site (a link to the quote is on the current site and goes to the page with forms to request school bus support). Mr. Shelton also said on the voice mail that he didn't think the quote was a problem but it generally reflected the idea behind the Embracing our Differences event.

The Robbins' quote is, " “Equality is not in regarding different things similarly, equality is in regarding different things differently.” This comment appears on the surface divisive and not in keeping with what Tom Tryon says in his column and what most Americans believe.

We called Michael back to thank him for responding to our first call about the Tom Robbins quote. We got his voice mail and left a message saying we had another question for him. This second question was about what Tom said in his column about the need to build social solidarity. Michael never returned our second call.

We wrote an earlier column, "Diversity exhibit in Sarasota?" outlining our concerns that "diversity" is code for "multiculturalism" and "diversity politics".

Multiculturalism advocates a society that extends equitable status to distinct cultural and religious groups, no one culture predominating. Advocates for the adoption of official policies of multiculturalism often argue that cultural diversity is a positive force for a society's nationhood or cultural identity.

Multiculturalism contrasts with monoculturalism. Monoculturalism implies a normative cultural unity or cultural homogeneity. Where a nation has accepted high levels of immigration, monoculturalism has been accompanied by varieties of assimilationist policies and practices to encourage forms of acculturation to (and protection of) the norms of the dominant culture.

The United States is based on monoculturalism. Peoples of diverse ethnic, religious, educational, social and cultural backgrounds come to the United States to become Americans.

We believe the time and money spent on a "diversity and tolerance" exhibit would be put to better use teaching our children about our Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution. Maybe next year we can have a "United We Stand" exhibit in Sarasota sponsored by Coexistence, Inc.

We hope Coexistence, Inc., the Steering Committee and those that attend the event get the message that we are one people, one state and a unique nation in this world.

We hope all, especially the children, learn at the Embracing Our Difference event that we are truly "one nation under God, with Liberty and Justice for all".

Well the liberal media is elated that solar power in Florida just got a boost from the Public Service Commission (PSC).

In their editorial, "Fueling solar power" the Sarasota Herald-Tribune says that, "The PSC, which regulates utilities, approved a rule change that triples the credit for excess solar energy that homeowners and businesses sell to power companies. The PSC also expanded the size of solar electric systems that qualify for the program and broadened the types of systems eligible to all sources of solar energy, not just photovoltaic cells."

Here we go, government subsidizing one thing over another and thereby trying to impact the market. We believe, like Milton Friedman, that the government solution to any problem is worse than the problem itself. Our question is who is paying for the credits? We consumers are, of course.

This is the same as subsidizing corn for ethanol in the Midwest that has the environmentalists up in arms because the fertilizer run off into the Gulf of Mexico has dramatically impacted the "dead zone".

Something that the editorial board says however is misleading at best and mis-information at worst. They state, "Locally, the PSC's new rule could help attain a goal set last Friday at a gathering of community leaders in Sarasota: that half of the homes and buildings in Sarasota County will have solar water heaters in five years. It was among the proposals made at the Environmental Summit for Action, which drew 180 representatives of the local, state and federal governments, community groups, businesses and environmental organizations."

In fact, there were only 97 participants remaining (not the implied 180) that voted on this "idea". According to the SCOPE post summit e-mail we received this was an "idea" and not a proposal. Most of the elected officials and nearly half of the participants left during the lunch break and never saw, discussed or voted on these "ideas". I have asked the Herald-Tribune to print a clarification.

Of course, 97 participants at a limited access summit do not equate to nor reflect the wants, needs and desires of the other 370,000 residents of Sarasota.

In the editorial the cost of implementing the "idea" that 50% of the "buildings" in Sarasota County would have solar water heaters is mentioned - between $3,000 and $5,000 for a single family home and much higher for larger systems.

What the editorial does not tell you is that a good standard water heater is around $300 and a tank less water heater system sold by Tankless, Inc. a Sarasota based green manufacturing company costs from $800 to $1,000 for a home with two adults, two teenage children and two showers. A tank less water heater saves the average home 70+% on their electricity bill because it only runs when used, unlike a standard water heater that runs 24 hours a day.

What they also don't tell you is that when the sun goes down or it is cloudy, no hot water. What if you go to work early before the sun comes up (remember daylight savings time) and want a hot shower? What if you take a shower in the evening? We also know people who have put solar powered pool heaters on their roofs and have serious problems with roof leaks and roof maintenance afterward.

Here are some cons of solar energy from PowerPedia:

• Limited areal power density: For electrical generation with photovoltaics, the average irradiation power density is approximately 1 kW/m² usable by 8-15% efficient solar panels.
• Intermittency: It is not available at night and is reduced when there is cloud cover, decreasing the reliability of peak output performance or requiring a means of energy storage. For power grids to stay functional at all times, the addition of substantial amounts of solar generated electricity would require one or more of the following;
  • energy storage facilities, such as Pumped-storage hydroelectric facilities, are needed to 'gapfill' low points in solar generation
  • other renewable energy sources (i.e., wind, geothermal, tidal, wave, ocean power, etc) would need to be active, or
  • backup conventional powerplants would be needed. There is an energy cost to keep coal-burning power plants 'hot', which includes the burning of coal to keep boilers at temperature. Natural gas power plants can quickly come up to full load without requiring significant standby idling. Without changes in the energy supply and control system (such as a shift to using current hydropower as nighttime/backup across wider regions or the incorporation of more renewable power), few coal power plants could be displaced, according to critics.
• Locations at high latitudes or with frequent substantial cloud cover offer reduced potential for solar power use.
• Solar cells produce DC which must be converted to AC when used in currently existing distribution grids. This incurs an energy penalty of 5-10%.
  

We want to say that we are not against solar water heaters or the companies that produce, market or sell them. We like companies that make standard water heaters, and companies like Tankless, Inc. a local green manufacturing company that builds, markets and sells tank less water heater systems. These companies should be able to compete in our markets on a level playing field.

Government should stay out of the way and not try to pick winners and losers. Government certainly should not impose upon the consumer one proposal or "idea" over another. Consumers should look at the pros and cons and costs of each system and make a decision.

This Friday I attended an event convened by Sarasota Openly Promotes Excellence (SCOPE). It was titled, Summit for Environmental Action or SEA. I signed up for the summit on the SCOPE web site and was vetted by the staff before I was issued an invitation.

Sponsors of the summit were some rock solid businesses in the Sarasota, Florida community including two developers. When I arrived I went around the room to meet new people and say hello to many there who I knew. There were a number of politicians there from the state, county and cities in Sarasota County and beyond.

The introduction was given by good friend, brilliant future thinker and SCOPE Executive Director Tim Dutton. Tim pointed out the diversity of the group. People from business, neighborhood associations, environment groups, government, old, young and us retired.

The opening speaker was Nick Gladding, who's idea it was to hold such a summit. Nick said the purpose of the summit was to come up with an actionable environmental plan for our area.

The issues selected for discussion at the Summit were Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Water Issues, Living Locally and Energy Use.

Each of us participated in small-group sessions about two of the four issues. At the end of the day, all participants came together to hear a review of all issues and voted on the action plans they think are the best.

I was part of the Energy Use session in the morning and the Water Issues in the afternoon. The process was designed to brain storm new ideas and reach consensus.

As I got further into the summit I recognized that while the group was diverse demographically it was generally of one mind environmentally.

I came to the summit as a "bright green". Bright green environmentalism aims for a society that relies on new technology and improved design to achieve gains in ecological sustainability without reducing (indeed, increasing) the potential for economic growth and attending to human needs.

I came to advocate two solutions: for water, the use of Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) systems to solve our water problem and nuclear power to help us conserve our precious fossil fuels. I also came as a believer in global warming but a serious skeptic that it is human caused. I came not believing in carbon footprints, carbon credits and the need to reduce our carbon emissions. I also came believing that individuals and markets create change, not government.

Well I found myself almost alone and my ideas out of the environmental mainstream thinking at the summit. This is why I was disappointed in the summit and am skeptical of its outcomes.

Let me give you some examples.

1. The keynote speaker was Godo Stoyke. He has written several books about how to use technology to save energy, that is good. What is bad is that he is doing it to reduce carbon emissions and part of his belief system is carbon credits, taxes on carbon and carbon trading. All of these are what I call eco-socialism. I went up to Godo after his presentation and asked him what percentage of all green house gases were CO2. He said 70%. This is completely false. In fact, 95% of all green house gases are caused by water evaporation, of the remaining 5% only 1% is CO2. Of that 1% only 3% is produced by using fossil fuels. Human impact is negligible. Godo did not want to hear that.

2. I asked Godo about the many recent studies finding that global warming is caused by activity on the sun. He categorically dismissed these studies as not scientific because they have not been published in journals like Science. This, of course is not true. Godo has a vested interest in carbon based global warming, that is how he makes his money.

3. In casual conversations with some local distinguished environmental activists my idea for solving the water problem using ASR technology was dismissed. One local water expert brushed it off with the comment that when you extract the water for reuse it can have contaminants in it. My comeback was we remove the contaminants. He raised the cost of doing so, I raised the cost of not doing so. So much for ideas to solve our water problem from a local "expert".

4. In the above conversation I said that nuclear must be on the table to provide our long term power needs. I was immediately put upon. When I pointed out that my friend and environmental proponent Dr. Meg Lowman believes as I do the group was taken aback.

5. When I participated in my assigned working group I found the majority favored policies forcing environmental compliance, most wanting to teach their idea of environmental orthodoxy (via education) to our children and citizens, one member advocating tripling the price we pay for water to force conservation, another advocating a building moratorium (he is an elected official) and consensus for more government intervention, policy, and regulation.

6. The vast majority of attendees were, from my observations, committed environmentalists and therefore came with baggage.

7. After the noon break we lost about half of the morning participants. In the morning opening session we had about 190 attendees, by the closing voting we had around 96 attendees. My concern is those who stayed for the afternoon session and final voting were environmental group thinkers. They ended up presenting the final issues and voting on them. As expected the vast majority (75%+) voted "strongly agree" or "agree" with the actions to be taken.

My voice for individual responsibility for environmental behavior, market driven solutions, use of technology and innovation was drowned out by the din calling for more government and a control growth agenda.

I await the published results and action plan. When I have it I will comment again.

I remain concerned that those in attendance only re-enforced their belief system. They will sadly continue to do the same things and expect different results.