Paranormal researchers in New Orleans claim to have figured out who the spirits are that "inhabit" a French Quarter hotel.

Investigators with the International Society of Paranormal Research unveiled their findings Friday at a news conference at the allegedly haunted 118-year-old Hotel Monteleone on Royal street. Dr. Larry Montz and psychic medium Daena Smoller said much of their research was caught on film.

"We have identified the ghosts and the tragic circumstances that brought their spirits to roam the hotel," according to a hotel news release. "Some of them are past employees who continue to make their rounds, others are former guests who have extended their stays into the afterlife, and others were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Remember, "We are ready to believe you!"

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Technically, this is a "sparkling wine," not a "champagne," since it's made in California as opposed to the Champagne region of France, but you get the picture.

The Niebaum-Coppola Winery has released a "mini-container" of champagne, marketed in -- get this -- a pop-top can.

"Every crazy idea always sounds crazy at the beginning until somebody says, "Why didn't I think of that?" says Joel Robins of Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery, which makes the Sofia Blanc de Blancs mini.

The winery has produced 2.4 million cans for a national introduction and some of them have showed up in metro Atlanta, in the hip westside club Compound and a handful of liquor stores. And Robins predicts a future as rosy as Sofia's packaging, right down to the little pink straw.

At $4 a pop the drink is being touted as a convenient choice for boats, baseball stadiums, bridal showers and, yes, golf carts.

But I don't know if I'm ready to toss a six-pack of champagne in the cooler as opposed to a six pack of brew.

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Syndicated columnist Joseph Perkins penned an editorial in yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune that highlights some of the good things that the late former president Ronald Reagan did for black America.

Andrew Brimmer, the Harvard-trained black economist, the former Federal Reserve Board member, estimated that total black business receipts increased from $12.4 billion in 1982 to $18.1 billion in 1987, translating into an annual average growth rate of 7.9 percent (compared to 5 percent for all U.S. businesses.

Black social scientist Bart Landry estimated that that upwardly mobile cohort grew by a third under Reagan's watch, from 3.6 million in 1980 to 4.8 million in 1988. His definition was based on employment in white-collar jobs as well as on income levels.

Indeed, between 1982 and 1988, total black employment increased by 2 million, a staggering sum. That meant that blacks gained 15 percent of the new jobs created during that span, while accounting for only 11 percent of the working-age population.

Meanwhile, the black jobless rate was cut by almost half between 1982 and 1988. Over the same span, the black employment rate – the percentage of working-age persons holding jobs – increased to record levels, from 49 percent to 56 percent.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that the number of black managers and officers in corporations with 100 or more employees increased by 30 percent between 1980 and 1985.

During the same period, the number of black professionals increased by an astounding 63 percent.

Based on these and other statistics, the opposite is true.

The one thing -- the only thing -- that these so-called leaders can point at is that Ronald Reagan was [gasp] a Republican!

And in order to keep the masses doing what they want them to do, they have to paint the GOP as "evil." When nothing could be further from the truth...

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The National Cathedral has published the bulletin for today's funeral service.

Former US Senator John Danforth, an ordained Episcopal minister, will be officiating the service, which starts at 11:30 AM ET.

For those of you who will not be able to view the service on television, C-Span, MSNBC, CBS News, ABC News, and most likely most local television station websites will all stream the service live; many radio stations and radio station websites will do likewise.

C-SPAN 1: (RealPlayer | WMP 9/10)
CBS News
MSNBC/NBC News
CityPulse 24 Toronto
WRC-TV/DT Washington

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And now for something completely different...

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Jimmy Kimmel's late night ABC show is not shown here in Atlanta. I get to watch it once in a while on WABC New York via satellite (I love my DirecTV system!). Atlanta residents couldn't have watched the show last night even if local affiliate WSB-TV weren't such sticks in the mud.

Kimmel got himself in hot water during halftime of the Pistons-Lakers NBA Finals game Tuesday night.

During an interview with ABC studio host (and Ann Arbor resident) Mike Tirico, Kimmel made an off the cuff remark about Detroit and riots.

Kimmel, when asked by ABC Sports commentator Mike Tirico who he was rooting for, replied, "Besides the fact I'm a Lakers fan, I realize they're going to burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win."

"What I said about Pistons fans during halftime was a joke, nothing more. If I offended anyone, I'm sorry," he said. "Clearly, over the past 10 years, we in L.A. have taken a commanding lead in post-game riots. If the Lakers win, I plan to overturn my own car."

The show is back on tonight, albeit later than it's usual 12:05AM slot, following tonight's NBA Finals game.

Will there be more contrition from Kimmel? Tune in and find out...

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Ray Charles
1930-2004

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Even though black Americans prospered significantly under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Rev. Jesse "The Gypsy" Jackson continues to spread the mantra of "Republican bad! Democrat good!"

"As he left office, a Lou Harris poll found nearly 80 percent of blacks considered his administration oppressive," CNN correspondent Adaora Udoji noted to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Tuesday night.

Jackson readily concurred, acknowledging that Reagan's relationship with blacks was "very hostile." In an earlier CNN interview Jackson observed, "Reagan believed in states' rights and Jefferson Davis, I believe in the Union and Abraham Lincoln."

According to statistics gathered from a number of sources, including the 1990 US Census, black unemployment fell faster than white unemployment during the Reagan years.

Los Angeles radio host Larry Elder in a 1999 op-ed for the Ethnic News Watch. "Black teenage unemployment fell faster than did white teenage unemployment. And blacks started businesses at a rate faster than that of whites.

"In 1981," Elder continued, "the nation's poverty rate stood at 14 percent. It declined to 11.6 percent in 1988, Reagan's last year in office."

Other mainstream media sources, including the vaunted New York Times had to admit that poverty had lessened during the Reagan Administration -- which flies directly in the face of Jackson's claims this week.

In addition, high school graduation rates for black students increased, narrowing the education gap with white students.

All of this happened during the Reagan years; years when, according to Jesse Jackson and other professional peddlers of black victimhood (like the NAACP's Julian Bond, for example), black progress was turned back decades.

I talked about Julian Bond's predeliction for shoe leather yesterday. It seems that Jesse Jackson ought to join him in the "idiot statement" department.

Unfortunately, the members of the Soul Patrol, who thrive on keeping black Americans thinking they are victims of society; coupled with the useful idiots in the mainstream American press, won't let truths like this be heard other than by a miniscule number of Americans.

And after all, if CNN says that we've been victimized, then it must be true, right?

Yassuh. Right, boss. Anything you say.

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Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is planning on introducing legislation shortly that would rename the Pentagon the "Ronald Reagan Defense Building," in memory of the late 40th President.

This is the latest in a batch of measures to honor Reagan.

The Tennessee Republican plans to attach an amendment to the next defense appropriations bill, NBC-TV's Washington affiliate reported Wednesday.

Reagan is credited with the military's reconstruction and revitalization after being gutted under the Carter Administration.

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NAACP head Julian Bond, who seems to have a habit of shoving his Florsheim's into his mouth, did it again this week, when talking about the late Ronald Reagan.

"For many Americans, this was a time best forgotten," said Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP and a longtime civil rights activist. "He was a polarizing figure in black America. He was hostile to the generally accepted remedies for discrimination. His appointments were of people as equally hostile. I can't think of any Reagan policy that African Americans would embrace."

Julian, how about programs geared toward small businesses that directly resulted in the largest increase in new black-owned businesses since the Renaissance? How about other tax programs that helped to move more black households into the middle class than anything else before or since?

Should I continue? You seem to like the taste of shoe leather...

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A new release by Project 21 (of which I'm proudly a member of), highlights comments by several members on the passing of President Ronald Reagan.

• Ak'Bar Shabazz (Atlanta, Georgia): "We all mourn the passing of a great leader. As Americans, we bask in the freedoms that Reagan had the clarity of vision to secure. All future presidents will be measured by the great examples that he provided."

• James Coleman (Los Angeles, California): "I spent my youth as a leftist radical after becoming disillusioned with what I saw as the hesitant policies of the civil rights mainstream. Ronald Reagan convinced me that the conservative movement was my home. As for African-Americans, we can only hope that someday we all recognize the benefits we experienced and continue to experience from the Reagan legacy. Black businesses and businesses owned by women prospered greatly in the 80s. There is a national purpose that was solidified and set the basis for the optimism that sustains our youth and keeps our military vital in such dangerous times. Whether we realize it or not, Ronald Reagan set a philosophical tone that lasts to this day and may indeed sustain us through the hard times ahead."

• Donald Scoggins (Springfield, Virginia): "Through his determination and forward thinking, President Reagan paved the way that saw the destruction of communism abroad, as well as here at home. After decades of paralyzing government social programs, Reagan was instrumental in establishing a national climate that allowed for the elimination of welfare as we know it."

• Mychal Massie (Zion Hill, Pennsylvania): "Leaders such as the late President Reagan can only be fully appreciated in their passing. While they are admired and referenced in life, it is history that ultimately provides their legacy. I believe that history will reward Ronald Reagan with the honor he justly deserves. He reminded America that ours was a country to be proud of and that our way of life was the envy of the world. And this he did in a way few have before him and none have since him."

Reagan will become more appreciated -- especially by many here at home -- now that he is gone, and a more objective eye can be cast on his work.

Reagan was the architect of the fiscal recovery of the 1980s, and helped to fuel the entrepreneurship that fueled the advances of the biotech, internet and real estate sectors that began during the latter years of the Reagan Administration and continued nearly to the end of the century.

Reagan, contrary to the whining that has gone on by pundits far and wide the past few days, was the architect and driving force that caused the fall of the Soviet Union.

And though many on the left get upset by Reagan's cuts of some social programs, the dollars saved from those cuts allowed the nation to recover from a recession that the Carter Administration left the nation in, and restored the adventurous spirit of all Americans.

Civil rights critics, then and now, go out of their way to claim that Reagan set civil rights for blacks back more than fifty years, yet cannot point to any one thing that he did -- outside of eliminating a number of social programs. Reagan put in place programs that allowed and encouraged entrepreneurial growth for all people, black, white and otherwise. Black businesses flourished in this country as a result of this, at an unprecedented rate.

After a decrease in black owned and operated businesses in the 60s and 70s, those businesses -- in all economic sectors -- began to grow at a rate that continues unabated to this day.

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A new ad for the upcoming remake of The Stepford Wives, due later this month, goes over the line.

The ad shows National Security Director Condoleezza Rice nude from the waist up, covering her breasts with her arms, and Hillary Clinton as a "Stepford" housewife baking cookies.

The pictures move across the screen very quickly, but they caught the eye of a Kansas City woman, who recorded the spot to make sure of what she was seeing.

Becky Reynolds said when she taped and watched the ad again, she "realized it was even worse" than what she'd suspected.

"It's just inappropriate, and it needs to be stopped," Reynolds said.

Reynolds says the less-than-perfect images in the advertisement for the new film will keep her out of the theater. Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice in 'Stepford Wives' ad Pat Gray, who works with Northstar Marketing Group, said the ad shows bad taste toward Rice and Clinton.

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The headline says it all.

The solo artist was on the last leg of his European tour in Dublin, when he announced -- to much cheering and applause -- the death of President Ronald Reagan. Then the singer said something downright offensive (to which he got even bigger cheers and applause from the crowd).

"Bush should have died, not Reagan..."

Then again, there are quite a few moonbats in THIS country with the same view.

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St. Simons Island, GA is quiet this week; many of the locals having shipped out to parts unknown.

Nearby Sea Island is hosting leaders from across the world as a part of the G8 Summit.

Protesters and much of the press, alike are about 60 miles north of there in Savannah. But many protesters appear to have stayed home, which leaves the press taking pictures of each other.

Well, at least with one exception.

E Jane Dickson of the UK's Independent, apparently with nothing good to say, is having fun inventing negative spin on the gathering and the setting.

...it was announced a year ago that President Bush would be hosting the 2004 G8 Summit on Sea Island (Sea Island as in cotton, as in slaves)...

...around half the islands' residents have evacuated, scared silly by the double, and largely undifferentiated, threats of international terrorism and violent protest.

He has just heard a rumour that 2,000 body bags have been delivered to the clapboard Chamber of Commerce across the road from the bookstore. This intelligence is passed around like a joint at a fortysomething party, a delicious whiff of recreational danger. Five minutes later, one of the island's fire chiefs drops by, fresh from a briefing. It's not a rumour. The body bags are here, together with a refrigerated lorry to take away the corpses. "I liked it better when it was a rumour," says Larry.

The entire Independent article reads like that, chock full of quotes and anecdotes, carefully crafted to make Georgia and Georgians look like backwoods hicks.

The article quickly glosses over the fact that St. Simons is a high-end resort community, and that many of the residents are not full-time residents. The article goes out of it's way to suggest that the community is "under siege" by the confab, when, if anything, it's under siege by reporters like Dickson, desperate for some kind of controversy or action to report on. All that's left is to either report on the sea turtles of the coastal beaches, or make stuff up.

Guess which one Dickson chose?

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Democrats in Congress aren't happy with the notion, but Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is set to introduce a bill which would replace Alexander Hamilton's face with that of President Ronald Reagan on the ten dollar bill.

The decision as to who is on the face of money ultimately resides with the Secretary of the Treasury, but currently, Democrats on the Hill are opposed to the notion of their long-time political nemesis being on the ten-spot.

"Ronald Reagan did many things during his presidency that deserve to be remembered," says Todd Webster, a spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, "and Democrats and Republicans will discuss how best to honor his legacy."

After this week's ceremonies mourning Reagan's death, leaders of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project plan to begin lobbying Congress to make the Reagan ten dollar bill a reality.

UPDATE 2P ET: US Rep Dana Rohrbacher is also sponsoring a bill to replace Andrew Jackson's face with Reagan's on the $20. This is a measure that will probably get even wider support, as Jackson is more widely despised than 'co-founding father' Hamilton.

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1 Yep. The 10 is a good idea -- but PLEASE not that photo!!

Posted by: Indigo at June 08, 2004 06:41 AM (shQXa)

2 While the heart may be in the right place, I think everyone should yield respectfully to Nancy Bush in matters like this. She's already expressed her discomfort over the dime idea.

Posted by: Lola at June 08, 2004 08:34 AM (V1eTE)

3 i think without a shadow of a doubt put him on the 20 dollar bill. andrew jackson was the sorry son-of-a-bitch that was in charge of the trail of tears, the removal of the cherokees, choctaws, chickasaws, creeks, and seminoles from their native homes in the southeast to oklahoma, thousands of people dying in that stupid move. reagan may not have been perfect, but he got the berlin wall torn down and led to the demise of communism in russia and eastern europe. who would you rather have as a face on your 20 dollar bill? a genocidal asshole like andrew jackson or someone that saw millions of people liberated from oppressive governments?

Posted by: cherokee at June 09, 2004 05:28 PM (4ZMen)

4 Reagan was a good speaker...as far as memorizing lines go. If only the current president could be half as good at pleasing his handlers. Reagan was a B-movie actor who was lucky that the political climate was in shambles in the 1980s. This is the guy who promised Iran missles if they would wait to release the hostages when he was elected...you may remember the split-screen action of his inauguration and the hostages being set free. Reagan did what he set out to do and that was to make the rich richer and make the deficits larger (trickle-down economics hell). He also took a lot of credit for ending the cold war..which he did do some good..however the war on terror should have started under his administration instead of pulling out us out of Lebanon and not retaliating for the strikes on our marine bases. Iran-Contra was as much grounds for impeachment as was a BJ.

Posted by: Irancontra at June 10, 2004 10:18 AM (brG4j)

5 I love the idea of Reagan on the $10 bill. He was a great man and one of America's best leader!! He is a role model that young Americans should follow!!!! Honor him!!!!

Posted by: Steve Wallace at June 10, 2004 12:55 PM (S2nxn)

6 I don't know a lot about politics, but as a collector of coins and currency I think the concept of somehow implementing Reagan's portrait into our currency is a great Idea. I think the dime idea is good, because we'd have the oppurtunity to use a new coin design honoring the former president, while still maintaining the classic Roosevelt portrait. But overall I think the paper currency idea is the bravest and most exciting concept.

Posted by: Jacob Goering at June 10, 2004 07:06 PM (0AEEl)

7 Why not create a $5, $10 or $20 dollar gold coin to commemerate President Reagan instead of changing the current currency?

Posted by: Michael Morris at June 11, 2004 03:32 AM (ErOeR)

8 Because Franklin Mint has already done that. Probably at least twice by now. It's high time to put the man's likeness on coinage people will actually use.

Posted by: McGehee at June 12, 2004 12:06 PM (BCOpM)

9 In response to irancontra's statement; Yea Reagan promised Iram Missles, but they were to be fired AT them if they didn't release the hostages by the time he took office. This is why the hostages were released, and this the flaw in Carter's "soft diplomatic" gestures... you have to stand tough against terrorist.

Posted by: Dennis at October 05, 2004 11:43 AM (KFlLP)

10 In response to irancontra's statement; Yea Reagan promised Iram Missles, but they were to be fired AT them if they didn't release the hostages by the time he took office. This is why the hostages were released, and this the flaw in Carter's "soft diplomatic" gestures... you have to stand tough against terrorists.

Posted by: Dennis at October 05, 2004 11:45 AM (KFlLP)

11 I can't believe that some people want to change the picture on the Ten Dollar Bill. Why would we replace a picture of the man who designed this nation's economy with a picture of the man who has ruined it? Now, as for the Twenty Dollar Bill, Jackson needs to go, but Reagan was almost as bad as Andrew Jackson was.

Posted by: Michael Kossin at November 11, 2004 02:14 PM (/HwAS)

12 DONT REMOVE OUR FOUNDING FATHERS!!!!!

Posted by: BJ at January 16, 2005 02:51 PM (1EznH)

13 NOOOOOO! Alexander Hamilton was truly a great first secratary of treaury and helped our tiny country get out of a huge debt. He was also a very useful soldier in the american revoultion. Plus it is likely that he wrote 51 essays for the federalist. He helped our nation Oh so much, why remove him from he started?

Posted by: Carla at May 03, 2005 11:51 AM (V35fl)

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From Drudge:

Controversy develops over Reagan funeral speakers...

'President Clinton really held out all hope the funeral would be a nonpartisan event, like Nixon's was,' a top Clinton source said on Tuesday morning. 'He's angry and disappointed neither he nor President Carter have been asked to speak, as of yet'...

The top source says Clinton has been critical that both Bush presidents will address the crowd gathered at National Cathedral.

Former President George H.W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney will join President Bush in eulogizing Ronald Reagan, Reagan's office announced. Presiding over the service will be former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, who is an ordained Episcopal priest. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the Rabbi Harold Kusher will give readings, while Irish tenor Ronan Tynan will sing.

What would he do: "I'm sorry Reagan's dead...Oh, by the way, buy my book! It's coming out next week at a bookstore near you!"

Of course, he'd follow it with a Nelson Muntz-like, "HA! Ha!"

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As of now, the name of George W. Bush will not be on the November ballot in Illinois.

The reason for this is that Illinois state law requires the names for the November ballot be submitted by the end of August -- a full week and a half ahead of the Republican National Convention, as scheduled this year.

The state legislators have been trying to work on a solution, but Illinois Democrats are doing their level best to forstall any opportunity to alleviate the dilemma.

Barring legislative action, a federal court may have to step in to force election officials in the state of Illinois to place President Bush's name on the November ballot.

Illinois has 21 electoral votes up for grabs this fall; in 2000, Al Gore won Illinois handily, 55% to 42%.

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Nigerian-born member of Parliament in the Netherlands, has strong views on Islam, much as many do in this country.

She was raised as a Muslim but has recently become agnostic. She has an incredible command of the Dutch langue and is a sharp debater. She abhors woolly, placating rhetoric, which is so typical of Dutch politics. According to a recent poll she ranks second among the most popular politicians in Holland. And her political star is still rising. Yet her political message stirs a lot of controversy, especially among Muslim radicals.

It was the criticism by the late Pim Fortuyn (the Dutch politician who was killed by an animal rights activists) of the impact of Islam on Dutch society which sharpened her awareness of the threat of Muslim radicalism. Fortuyn openly qualified the Islam as a backward religion and Ayaan Hirsi Ali shares this view. When she was still in the socialist party she wanted to put the issue high on the political agenda. But the party did not support her view, because it was afraid that it would play into Fortuyn's hands. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is especially critical of the lack of tolerance for dissenting opinions among Muslims, as well as their oppression of women.

According to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the emotions incited by her statements, especially among radical Muslims, underscores the state of the Islam. (Radical) Muslims are incapable of self-reflection. Consequently, any critical remark is perceived as an offense.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of Parliament, recently offered a guy a knife and invited him to stab her when he told her he hoped the "Mojahedin" would kill her due to her sharp and very public criticisms of Islam (he backed down).

Hirsi Ali — who once wrote Islamic prophet Mohammed was a pervert for taking a 12-year-old girl as one of his wives — has frequently been the target of death threats.

The politician wrote in her latest column that she often received death threats by phone and in the mail, but this incident made the biggest impression on her.

Two years ago, she had to hide out in the US for months and these days she is accompanied by bodyguards when in public.

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