BluegrassBulletin.com

Was The Obama Birth Lawsuit By Reserve Officer A Scam?

Some are saying that the lawsuit being claimed as a victory over the birth issue of current president Barack Hussein Obama was a scam and that any claim of victory is equally bogus.

David Weigel revealed yesterday that Cook was a member of the Free Republic message board. While that is story enough for some, there's an overlooked detail to be gleaned from Cook's March 25th post there. In it he shares an "e-mail from Dr. Orly Taitz", detailing developments in a class action suit "on behalf 120 military officers, many of high rank" challenging the legality of President Obama as Commander in Chief.

Taitz has a history of unsuccessful efforts to get the Supreme Court to review the "Commander in Chief" issue, and she has actively solicited military participants for those suits. In fact, in his March 25th Free Republic post, Cook says "As a Plaintiff in this class action, I get mailing from Dr. Taitz from time to time. This is an attachment to one of those mailings."

In short - Cook never had to go in the first place. Unlike most soldiers who deploy as part of a unit, Cook - a reservist - had volunteered to go as an individual augmentee. The Army generally seeks volunteers to fill such assignments first - if no one does so then a non-volunteer is tapped.

It may be helpful to recap the timeline here.

March: Cook acknowledges he's among the plaintiffs in a class-action suit "on behalf of 120 military officers" challenging President Obama's authority as Commander in Chief.

In May, Cook tells the Army he wants to be sent to Afghanistan.

In June, the Army accepts Cooks offer.

In July, Cook sues to "get out" of that assignment, based on the same grounds (Obama not qualified) and using the same attorney (who actively seeks military members to participate in such suits) for a previous suit he was involved in that pre-dates his volunteering to deploy to Afghanistan.

Even without going to court, the Army says - essentially - hey, no problem. You were the one who wanted to go in the first place.

Actually, there is one "Major" problem. Because Cook waited to the last minute to withdraw his volunteer status, either someone is going to get a very short notice non-volunteer assignment, or else the unit in Afghanistan will have to get by without one soldier for a while. Since that soldier would be a field grade officer, it's likely that the position will be of some significance.

But hey, at least he got his name in the papers. (However, those unfamiliar with the term "Blue Falcon" are encouraged to Google it.) [Mudville Gazette]

Thank You To All My Readers- BluegrassBulletin Is Two Years Old This Week

I want to thank all of you who read, link to, share and email the work published here on The Bluegrass Bulletin.  We are two years old this week.

In those two years many blogs have faded from the scene.  Some new ones have cropped up, only to stop updating articles and eventually have gone dark.  Not The Bluegrass Bulletin.

Other than the occasional times when pressing matters have necessitated that my attention be directed elsewhere, we have published thousands of articles, received thousands of comments and now have a readership which exceeds that of many newspapers.

In the last two years the New Media has begun to take root.  Some have used their first amendment rights with a limited sense of responsibility.  I have striven to bring you news, commentary, opinion and humor with a dedication to quality writing and respect for the privilege you have given me by being a loyal reader.

In the year to come I urge you to participate more, to share your thoughts and feelings and to invite others to come here.  Whether we agree or not, we are a community.

Thank you.

Watch This Video Shot At An Arab Festival In Dearborn Michigan And Decide For Yourself

This video was posted at Gateway Pundit today.  It shows a group of people attending an Arab festival in Dearborn Michigan and the conflict which took place there. Watch the video. What do you think?

Blog Forces Washington Post To Cancel Plans To Sell Access

After it was reported by the blog POLITICO that the Washington Post had sent out a flier looking to sell access to high ranking Obama officials for $25,000, the paper has now canceled those plans.

Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" —  Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.

With the Post newsroom in an uproar after POLITICO reported the solicitation, Weymouth said in an email to the staff that "a flier went out that was prepared by the Marketing department

and was never vetted by me or by the newsroom. Had it been, the flier would have been immediately killed, because it completely misrepresented what we were trying to do."

She made it clear however, that The Post, which lost $19.5 million in the first quarter, sees bringing together Washington figures as a future revenue source. “We do believe that there is a viable way to expand our expertise into live conferences and events that simply enhances what we do - cover Washington for Washingtonians and those interested in Washington,” she said. “ And we will begin to do live events in ways that enhance our reputation and in no way call into question our integrity.”  [POLITICO]

Good for Politico.  It's about time the "New Media" got credit for being the watchdog of the "Old Media".

David Adams Temporarily Abandons "Kentucky Progress" Blog To Work For Rand Paul

David Adams, a respected voice of conservatism in Kentucky, has announced that he is suspending his involvement with the widely regarded political blog, "Kentucky Progress" to take a position as a consultant with the Rand Paul exploratory committee.

MORE HERE

Privacy Concerns Over A Facebook Application

The Financial Times is reporting that the European Union is taking a hard look at some applications on social networking sites, such as Facebook, with an eye toward protecting privacy.

According to the article applications such as the "We're Related" application may allow other for profit interests to obtain valuable personal data about Facebook users without those users receiving adequate warnings.

By letting other applications ride on top of their systems, tapping into personal data about their members, the networks have sought both to tie in users for longer and create money-making opportunities.

However, regulators say tighter rules are needed to protect personal data given to these third-party developers. In particular, they believe developers should be subject to tough European Union privacy and data protection rules, even when the companies concerned are located far from Europe.

“Users don’t know their information is being collected and used,” by third parties, [said Jeff Chester a US Privacy advocate].

As a big fan of Facebook and its "free use" policy, I hope the imposition of any regulations are very specifically targeted.  Any broad sweeping regulations would seem to be anathema to liberty.

The "Iranian Twitter Revolution"

Great read for those of you looking for an overview of the role "Twitter" has played so far in the ongoing Iranian revolution at Human Events:

If you’re not posting to the #iranelection hashtag with your green-overlayed avatar, chances are you’re missing what is probably the single most important political use of technology in history: The Iranian “Twitter Revolution.”

For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is essentially an enormous chat room but with a few very important modifications: Users can “follow” other users, getting each “tweet” those users send out -- you don’t have to see every message from every Twitter user. Tweets are limited to 140 characters, so you never have to read long rants. You can reply or you can “retweet,” sending out a tweet you received so that your followers, who may be a different group than those you follow, can see something you think important. And, most importantly for the purposes of using Twitter as an effective informational and organizing tool, you can attach a “hashtag” (a pound sign “#” followed by letters and/or numbers) to a tweet and users can follow particular hashtags.

Make no mistake: This is a huge threat to the Iranian regime -- a pro-liberty movement being fomented and organized in short sentences. And while we’ve talked about “mass communication” for decades, we’ve never truly seen communication for the masses until these past few days.

Despite being old men with little exposure to leading-edge technology, Iran’s ruling Guardian Council understands the essential value of communication to freedom: If they can communicate freely, no people can be long enslaved.

READ FULL STORY HERE

"Where's Dad?"

A recent survey has concluded that people are spending less time with family and more time on the Internet, particularly in social media groups like Facebook.

On a recent vacation to Hilton Head to visit with my sister and her husband I was gleefully blogging away with my Facebook page open when I received an audible signal that someone wanted to open a chat session with me.  When I clicked on the Facebook tab to open the chat, it was my brother in law, sitting out on the deck with his laptop, about 15 feet away.

Here on the farm my wife routinely text messages me on my Blackberry rather than calling out that dinner is ready.  I know more about my daughter in laws activities from her wall photos on Facebook than from conversations with her in person.

Though I have a 24 hour phone number in my law practice, I get more requests for advice from other lawyers by chat than by phone.

If I come home and can't find my wife, the first place I go looking is on the computer where she is reading my blog, listening to my radio show or communicating with nieces and nephews.

Oh well, at least we are staying in touch, sorta.

British Court Rules Against Blogger Anonymity

A British blogger sued the Times in order to prevent them from "outting" his name as the publisher of a widely popular blog written under the name "Night Jack".  The court however ruled that blogging is "essentially a public rather than a private activitiy" and ruled against him.

The author was a police officer who blogged about pending cases.  The court also ruled that there was a public interest argument against him remaining anonymous under these circumstances.

As the world of blogging grows, laws and regulations are sure to follow.  What is now perhaps the freest of all mediums of expression will someday feel the pressures of government closing in. 

KEEP ALERT!

Glad I'm Part of "Radio For Conservatives" It's Getting Lots Of Attention

Thrilled to have my show, "The Marcus Carey Perspective" now playing on rfcradio.com, "Radio For Conservatives". 

Rfcradio.com hosts are getting tons of attention.

Tabitha Hale, of Smart Girl Politics has been listed as one of the 15 "hottest" conservative women in the "new media". [Right Wing News]

Mark Steyn hosted a show for "Brass Balls Radio" on RFC.

And Steve Schippert talks about his new gig at rfcradio.com on the front page of National Review Online.

Gotta say, I'm very glad to be a part of this dynamic lineup of talent.