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Check out the top 10 topics from last week.
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Dutch 'coffee' shops face smoking ban
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Marijuana bars -- euphamistically called "coffee shops" -- in the Netherlands have a challenge – a new smoking ban. The ban only effects tobacco, not marijuana, but many of the Dutch pot smokers like to mix their weed with tobacco. Now, they will have to go outside to smoke any cigarette with tobacco in it.
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 Myway.com: Dutch marijuana coffee shops brace for smoking ban
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Tenured teachers hard to fire
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If you want to commit a serious crime without losing your job, your best bet is to become a tenured teacher in New York. Because of union contracts, it often costs taxpayers $250,000 just to fire one incompetent teacher. Some teachers remain on the payroll even after being convicted of serious felonies, requiring districts to hold disciplinary hearings behind prison walls.
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Myway.com: Superintendent: Bad tenured teachers hard to fire
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Americans are world's top drug users
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Despite some of the world’s most punitive drug laws, the U.S. leads the world in illegal drug consumption. A study released Monday revealed that 16.2 percent of Americans had tried cocaine at least once, and 42.4 percent had used marijuana. In the Netherlands, where drug policy is more permissive than the United States, 1.9 percent of survey participants said they had used cocaine and 19.8 percent marijuana. Researchers noted uncertainty over how honestly people report their own drug use, but still concluded that drug use "does not appear to be simply related to drug policy."
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breitbart.com: Americans are world's top drug users: study
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Cooper may have immunity in co-op claim
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Congressman Jim Cooper may have broken the law when he logged into a password protected Website with the help of a whistle-blower – but he may also be protected from legal action – because he is a member of Congress. A legal expert says members of Congress have broad immunity when conducting legislative business.
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The Tennessean: Cooper may have political immunity in breach
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Brits ponder personal 'cap and trade'
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If you think proposed “cap and trade” carbon creddit schemes will only affect businesses – that they won’t apply to you – take a gander across the pond. The British are already contemplating the next step, personal CO2 rations. Under a Parliamentary committee proposal, all British adults would be given "carbon allowances" that they would be required to spend when buying gasoline, airline tickets, electricity or natural gas. Britons who wanted more credits than they were issued could try to buy them from those who hadn't spent their allotment. Welcome to Al Gore’s Utopia.
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National Center for Policy Analysis: BRITISH RATIONING
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Six die when two medical helicopters collide in AZ
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Six people are dead after two medical helicopters collided Sunday about a half-mile from a northern Arizona hospital. It happened near Flagstaff Medical Center and a few
hundred yards away from a neighborhood, which was spared falling debris.
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Yahoo News: 6 die as medical helicopters collide over Arizona
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Tomatoes may not be source of salmonella
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The FDA is now considering the possibility that it wasn’t tomatoes after all that led to an outbreak of salmonella cases. Since they have put a clamp on all of the suspected varieties of tomatoes, and salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is checking to see if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating newly harvested tomatoes.
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The Tennessean: Tomatoes may not be cause of outbreak
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Metro schools search firm fired in Ohio
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That search firm hired to find Nashville’s next director of schools was fired this month by another school board. Cincinnati's school board decided to sever ties with the firm because of concerns about poor background checks and a perception the firm panned local candidates in favor of outsiders, according to reports in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
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The Tennessean: Firm Metro hired to find next schools director was fired in Ohio
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Obama's success threatens affirmative action support
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Now that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president, and the favorite to win the November election, liberals have a problem. If Americans make a black person the leading contender for president, as nationwide polls suggest, how can racial prejudice be so prevalent and potent that it justifies affirmative action -- special efforts to place minorities in coveted jobs and schools?
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Myway.com: Obama's success fuels affirmative action's foes
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Buffalo to boy -- get out of my picture
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A family visiting Yellowstone National Park is marveling at the snapshots they were able to get by asking their 12-year-old son to stand 2 feet from the mature bull bison. That one where the bison flipped him 10 feet into the air is a real hoot. Park rules require visitors to remain at least 25 yards from all the animals. Apparently, there’s a good reason for that rule.
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kcwy13.com: Buffalo Attacks Child In Yellowstone N.P.
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Ralph Rant -- Hillary promises return of 1990s
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April 21, 2008 -- If you are pining for a return of the 1990s, there are a few things you might be forgetting.
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President Bush details progress in Iraq
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March 26, 2008 -- In a speech that was widely underreported, President Bush makes the case that there has been both political and economic progress in Iraq.
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Obama 'stands by his man'
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Mar. 23, 2008 -- If Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination for president, and wants to put a woman on his ticket, he should forget Hillary, and recruit the late Tammy Wynette. Why? Listen.
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Weak dollar, high oil prices not natural
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March 7, 2008 -- Economist John Tamny argues that the high price America has to pay for oil today is largely a product of the weak dollar, which he says is the fault of bad policy on the part of the Bush administration.
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Bill would ban smoking in cars
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Feb. 12, 2008 -- State Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) drew a lot of fire for sponsoring a bill that would ban smoking in cars with children present. Here's the interview that started it all.
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Sen. Alexander on health care, taxes
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Jan. 8, 2008 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander discusses his 2008 wish list, including health car and tax changes.
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Ronald's Reagan's biggest blunder
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Nov. 26, 2007 -- Ronald Reagan was a very good, if not great conservative president, but he wasn't perfect and not everything he did was conservative. Now, two of the front-runners in the 2008 presidential race are eager to repeat his biggest mistake. This premeditated Ralph rant sounds the warning bell.
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Al Qaeda's 20-year plan
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Oct. 26, 2007 -- Our sworn enemy, al Qaeda, has a specific goal and a plan to meet it. Here's your mini-course in that plan. (approx 10 minutes)
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Sen. Corker Defends SCHIPS vote
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Oct. 19, 2007 -- U.S. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee defends his vote to expand the government healthcare program, SCHIPS. (about 9 minutes)
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Saving Private Fred
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July 16, 2007 -- Here's a premeditated Ralph rant on one of my biggest pet peeves -- the estate tax, aka "death tax." People don't have much fondness for the "rich" people the tax effects. Maybe it's because they don't know anyone like Fred.
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Al Gore on Iraq - then and now
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June 13, 2007 -- It can be very enlightening to revisit speeches that people made in the past. This is a review of a speech that Al Gore would probably prefer you forget.
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Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector on illegal workers
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May 25, 2007 -- The author of oft-cited research on the social cost of immigrant labor discusses, defends and elaborates on his report.
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Premeditated Ralph Rant -- Targeted Taxes
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May 21, 2007 -- People put way too much thought in to what makes a tax "fair." Government should be priced the same as any other product. You pay the same price as Bill Gates for a gallon or gas or milk. Why should government services be different?
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God is not great?
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May 8, 2007 -- British born journalist and author Christopher Hitchens writes a book blaming religion for most of the world's problems. His beef is not just with religious fanatics, but mainstream religious beliefs too. He defended his thesis on Nashville's Morning News with Ralph Bristol.
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Premeditated Ralph Rant -- Gas taxes
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May 8, 2007 -- It seems some Tennessee lawmakers want to raise gas taxes because their parts of the state don't get enough highway dollars. But can this be true? Some of the gas tax revenue doesn't even go to highway construction and maintenance? Not just some -- a lot.
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Tenet: We all thought they had WMD
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May 2, 2007 -- Former CIA Director George Tenet defends the information he gave to President Bush that was used to justify the war with Iraq, but strangely refuses to say whether he thinks the Iraq War is an integral part of the overall war with terrorists.
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The China Connection
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March 12, 2007 -- Dr. Tim Kane of the Heritage Foundation, an economist and expert on international relations, discusses U.S.-China economic relations. If you're a protectionist, this might burn your ears. (approx 16 min)
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Is Islam a peaceful religon -- part 1
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Feb. 27, 2007 -- Author Robert Spencer discusses the question, "Is Islam a peaceful religion?" Part One -- Runs 14:17
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Is Islam a peaceful religon -- part 2
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Feb. 27, 2007 -- Author Robert Spencer discusses the question, "Is Islam a peaceful religion." Part 2 -- Runs 18:50
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Click here to see view the albums in Ralph's photo gallery.
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Social Security Calculator
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Use this Heritage Foundation calculator to see what your payroll taxes would have produced for your retirement if they had been invested in a conservative portfolio of stock and bonds.
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Distribution of Federal Income Taxes
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October, 2007 -- This is the latest IRS table reflecting the distribution of personal income and personal income taxes for Americans.
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The Founders' Almanac
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Find notable events, useful quotations, primary documents and other information about and from the nation's Founding Fathers.
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Snopes.com
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When you receive an e-mail with information you think might be suspect, check it out before forwarding it. This is one of the best sites for checking the veracity of items forwarded to you.
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 Ralph Bristol is a 30-year veteran of radio and TV broadcasting. He is a US Air Force veteran and holds a BS degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Ralph was a radio and TV reporter, anchor and news director in Missouri and Illinois before joining WORD Radio in Greenville/Spartanburg, SC in 1995.
In the spring of 2007, Supertalk 99.7 WWTN beckoned Ralph to Nashville. Ralph defies political labels, and has no partisan loyalties, but can best be described as a libertarian/conservative. Ralph writes and speaks extensively on education, tax and economic issues. In his spare time, Ralph terrorizes golf courses, invents useful things with sharp tools and dead wood, and entertains audiences with irreverent humor and contrarian insight. Invite him to speak to your group at your own risk. |
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