Daily Commentary – Monday, January 9, 2012 – Sheriff Joe Arpaio Announces Plans to Seek Re-Election

• Arpaio formally announced his plans on Thursday to seek a 6th term as Sheriff of Maricopa County AZ

Daily Commentary – Monday, January 9, 2012 Download

Conservative Author and Commentator Tony Blankley Dies at Age 63, Rest in Peace

Tony Blankley, Rest in Peace …

It is a sad day in the world of Conservative politics.  Conservative author, commentator, pundit and former editor of the Washington Times. Tony Blankly has died late Saturday night at age 63.  According to accounts, Blankly had been battling stomach cancer. Honestly, I had no idea he was even sick. Blankly always seemed to be one of the busiest, engaging, thoughtful and insightful pundits as he brought his talents to so many venues.

I always enjoyed Tony Blankley on “The McLaughlin Group,” as Tony would consonantly hand uber-lib Elenore Cliff her lunch and teach her a lesson in civics and the US Constitution. However, see below the Video PSA with Blankley and Swift be on the same side for the animals.

Mr. Blankley was an executive vice president of the Edelman public-relations firm in Washington, a visiting senior fellow in national-security communications at the Heritage Foundation, a syndicated newspaper columnist and an on-air political commentator for CNN, NBC and NPR.

He was also a regular weekly guest on “The McLaughlin Group.”

Mr. Blankley was editorial page editor of The Times from 2002 to 2007, and from 1990 to 1997 he served as press secretary and general adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and present GOP Presidential primary candidate commented on the passing of Tony Blankley:

“Tony was a very special person,” Gingrich said. “Everybody in our alumni who have heard about it have felt something in their hearts because he was more than a great professional. He was a great human being, he was a caring and loving person, he was a tremendous amount of fun, remarkably erudite and educated, and we will all miss him deeply.”

Tony Blankley Wiki

He was also a child actor, appearing as Rod Steiger’s child in The Harder They Fall (1955).[14] He graduated from UCLA[15] and graduated Loyola Law School in Los Angeles (with a J.D.).[16] He was admitted to the State Bar of California Bar in 1972, but has been ineligible to practice law in the State of California since 2002 for a failure to pay his bar member dues.[17] Blankley continued to write for the Washington Times; he also lectured at many universities and institutes. On 19 November 2009, Blankley presented his lecture – A Year out from the 2010 Congressional Elections – National Politics, Policy and their Communication at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.[18]

British Police Identify Body Found on Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Family Estate in Sandringham as Missing Latvian Student Alisa Dmitrijeva

The mystery is finally over of the body discovered on New Year’s Day by a dog walker on the British Royal Family’s estate in Sandringham. Detectives have determined that the remains found are that of missing 17 year old Latvian student Alisa Dmitrijeva who went missing from her home in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in August 2011, approximately 25 miles from where her body was found. Dmitrijeva was last seen in Friars Street, King’s Lynn, on 31 August and was reported missing by a family member a week later. The body was identified using palm records and DNA testing.

Norfolk police say the remains are those of Alisa Dmitrijeva, a 17-year-old Latvian student who went missing from her home in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in August.

The teenager’s family, who moved to the UK three years ago, said in a statement that they were devastated by the news and asked to be allowed to grieve in private.

Police said the body, found in woodland at Anmer, near Sandringham, west Norfolk, had been identified using palm records and DNA testing.

Dmitrijeva was last seen in Friars Street, King’s Lynn, on 31 August. She was reported missing by a family member a week later.

British police have not yet said what caused her death, but said detectives are “investigating the murder.”

Police are investigating activities that occurred around the site between the end of August and the end of September, Detective Chief Inspector Jes Fry said in a statement.

“We would like to identify people who may have worked in that area or were involved in organizing or running any specific events that may have taken place,” he said.

One Year Anniversary of Tucson Massacre (Jared Lee Loughner) at Rep. Gabby Giffords (AZ-D) Event, Six People Dead including 9 year old Christina Green & 12 Wounded … BTW, “We Can Still Do Better”, Much Better!

ONE YEAR LATER … IS THE CIVIL DISCOURSE IN THE US ANY BETTER OR WORSE … WHY ARE WE NOT DOING BETTER FOR CHRISTINA GREEN?

January 8, 2011 seemed like any other day in Tucson, Arizona. US Representative Gabrielle Giffords was having a meet and greet. Giffords was holding a constituent meeting called “Congress on Your Corner” in the parking lot of a Safeway store and all seemed normal and business as usual. Then it all changed, it violently changed forever.

Today is the one year anniversary of the “Tucson Massacre,” the day that a crazed and deranged  gunman Jared Lee Loughner opened fire upon innocent individuals, killing 8 and wounding twelve.  Among those senselessly killed were Gabe Zimmerman, a Giffords’ staffer, federal Judge John Roll and 9 year old Christina Green, a young girl taken from us all far too soon who was born on September 11, 2001. It is reported that Gabby Giffords will return to Tucson and  will attend the event with her husband, retired Navy captain Mark Kelly. Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Rabbi Stephanie Aaron and Dr. Peter Rhee, will also participate in Sunday’s event.

One year after a deranged gunman shot the Arizona congresswoman in the head and opened fire on dozens of others at a Tucson grocery store, the congresswoman and other survivors were gathering Sunday to reflect and move forward.

Churches and homes throughout the southern Arizona city will ring bells at 10:11 a.m. MST, the exact time the gunman shot Giffords and methodically moved down a line of people waiting to talk to her during a congressional meet-and-greet on Jan. 8, 2011.

Following the shooting and tragic death of so many, the deranged gunman Jared Lee Loughner indicted on 49 charges in Tuscon Massacre shooting & assassination attempt. However, as predictable as the sun will rise in the East and set in the West, a US District Court Judge Larry A. Burns ruled Jared Lee Loughner mentally incompetent to stand trial for his heinous acts.

What are the lessons learned and what can we take from this tragic event in out history where once again we are witness to the random and senseless killing at the hand of a crazed individual? No one can explain why Jared Lee Loughner did what he did. To explain the insane is insane its own right, EVIL is EVIL. However, to move away from the hateful political rhetoric that occurred following this tragic event might be something to learn from and make our society better as a nation.

Christina Green

During the Tucson Memorial Service/Pep Rally following the senseless murders of so many, President Obama refuted the far Left & MSM assertion of shooting responsibility … that it was caused by Talk radio and conservative speech …“It was not”. Changing the political discourse is one thing, and should occur; however, the acts of Loughner had nothing to do with the acts of an insane gunman.

President Obama called for a greater civil political discourse in America, if not for ourselves, then for our children and Christina Green, the 9 year old girl who was murdered Saturday at the hands of evil. However, if we are trying to make a world that our children would be proud of, wouldn’t it start by not placing a mountain of debt upon them?

And in Christina…in Christina we see all of our children.  So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.

So deserving of our love.

And so deserving of our good example.  If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost.  Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.

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New Details in Death of of George A. Smith IV Who Died on Honeymoon Mediterranean Royal Caribbean Cruise … FBI Russian Organized Crime Agents Join Investigation … Could it lead to Justice for George?

WILL THERE FINALLY BE JUSTICE FOR GEORGE?

“We have truth on our side. “My son’s life is not going to be in vain.” (Maureen Smith, George’s mother – Jan. 2006)

It has been six years since George A. Smith IV disappeared on July 5, 2005 while on his honeymoon in the Mediterranean on a Royal Caribbean cruise with his then wife, Jennifer Hagel Smith.  George’s body was never recovered; however, his body left bloodstains on an exterior overhang of the ship. Sadly, no one was ever held responsible for the death and disappearance of George Smith. Now the focus is on four men, among them three Russian-Americans from Brooklyn, New York.

Flash-forward to 2012 … there might just be new details  into George Smith’s death that could lead to answers and the truth as what happened to George Smith on that fateful night in 2005. Much of the information comes from the legal settlement with Royal Caribbean cruise line where they also agreed to hand over its investigative file on Smith’s disappearance, which includes witness statements made to Royal Caribbean and Turkish authorities by those who last saw Smith, as well as from cruise ship employees.

Attorney Michael Jones, who represents Smith’s family, said cruise line documents obtained in a settlement over the Greenwich man’s estate and the lawyer’s own questioning of the four young men who are believed to have escorted a heavily intoxicated Smith back to his room that night raise doubts about their account of events.

Attorneys for the men have said their clients did nothing wrong.

One of the men, Josh Askin of California, failed an FBI-administered polygraph test, Jones said. When questioned by Jones about Smith, Askin did not answer, instead invoking his Fifth Amendment right.

“The evidence suggests that Josh Askin and the boys know more than they have let on,” Jones said. “It’s time for them to come forward and tell what they know about George’s disappearance.”

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