We Won in Iraq; Gotta Love the Civility; The Power of Wasington D.C.'s Corrupt Culture; Pilots Forgetting How To Fly; The Myth of Liberal Tolerance; Go With Your Gut Feeling

Hurricane Irene wasn't that bad. In fact, it was downgraded to a tropical storm. Even our hurricanes are being downgraded.---Leno

• We won the war in Iraq. In fact, we beat Syria and Iran, both countries who supplied the insurgency and al-Qaeda. And we beat al-Qaeda in Iraq. Yet, "victory" has yet to be proclaimed.
• Gotta love that civility in D.C. Congressman Andre Carson (D) said the Tea Party wants to see black people lynched.  Really folks, how do these knuckleheads get elected anyway? It's undeniable---there are too many stupid voters in this country.
• And that brings me to the "myth of liberal tolerance." Over the years, we've seen countless conservatives attacked by the Left on our colleges campuses (many of those attacks have been physical from Ann Coulter to Pat Buchanan and many others). And just recently, labor leaders in Wisconsin are refusing to allow Republicans to take part in a labor day parade---a taxpayer funded parade in Wausau.
• If you recall, all those young freshmen congressmen and women promised us "real" change or no more of the same-ol', same ol'. Well, it appears the power of D.C. corrupt culture has already affected their behavior. USA Today reports in their piece, "Freshmen Push Bill That Help Donors," that it's business as usual even with the new, young guns. Craig Holman of the watchdog group, Public Citizens, was quoted as saying, "the incoming freshmen have learned business-as-usual on Capital Hill..." In fact, these new freshmen congress creeps are even setting fundraising records. Pay-to-Play appears to be more powerful than even they thought it would be.
• Many are awaiting the president's new jobs plan (if you recall, he had several already and they've been a bust). Yet, even at this late date in his administration, he fails to offer any new initiatives).
• Why are several states better off than others fiscally (Texas, the Dakotas as two examples)?--- because they cut their spending, they cut back on over-regulation by the government and they cut back on taxes or don't have some specific taxes). Wow, that sounds vaguely familiar to the GOP plan.
• Several stories appeared in the news this week about commercial airline pilots forgetting how to fly. Apparently, pilots rely so much on computer systems in aircraft these days, their basic flying skills are suffering. In fact, at least 3 major plane crashes were found to be a result of pilot errors due to lost skill sets.  And how much control of their aircraft do pilots have during flight time?---a whopping 3 minutes---during takeoffs and landings.
• Many of us who spent years on the management and executive levels know this to be true: Usually our gut instinct about making decisions is the right one. A recent study at the University of Alberta in Canada confirmed this finding. They found that our gut instinct and usually the first one is the right one in making decisions.
• Regarding that "Arab Spring" in Egypt, an Egyptian cleric declared if Christians make trouble for Muslims, they will be exterminated. You gotta love this Religion of Peace folks.