"Both parties have equally participated in abandoning the limited role of the federal government," says Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma).

 Coburn new book, The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting Our Economy, argues that Republicans and Democrats together have brought the U.S. to the brink of fiscal calamity. 

First elected to the house in 1994 as part of the "Republican Revolution," Coburn is a staunch fiscal and social conservative, who’s been outspokenly critical of members of his own party for compromising their principles out of political expedience. Coburn has publicly taken former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to task for lacking leadership and resolve during his battles with the Clinton White House to cut spending in the mid-90s.
 
Coburn, who’s known in the senate as "Dr. No" for vetoing almost all new spending initiatives, says the federal budget is rife with "waste, fraud, and duplication." In 2006, Coburn co-sponsored legislation that created USASpending.gov, which makes publicly accessible a list of all recipients of government funds. In 2010, Coburn was instrumental in getting the Government Accountability Office to undertake researching and documenting wasteful government programs.
 
ReasonTV’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Sen. Coburn to discuss wasteful spending, cutting entitlements, the need for free-market health care, and whether he’s losing faith in the government’s ability to enforce values.
 
Click here to go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions of the video.

And for those in Oklahoma that complain Congress is not doing the job we sent them to do … take heart.  Senator Tom Coburn is the exception that proves the rule. 

For his intelligent studious good work, excellent leadership and ongoing fearless presentations to call Congress and the public to foundations of principle and honor – pray daily for Senator Coburn. 

At least 12 people have been killed and up to 50 injured after a mass
shooting at a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" at a suburban Denver
movie theater, police say. 

At least 12 dead and 50 injured after gunman opens fire during showing of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ at Aurora, Colo., theater. Police say they have a suspect in custody, identified as James Holmes, 24, who witnesses say was armed with a rifle and handguns, and who wore a bullet-proof vest and gas mask.
 
The suspect, identified by federal law enforcement officials as James Holmes, 24, is in police custody. KUSA reports that Holmes kicked down an emergency door at the theater, threw in some type of a smoke bomb and began shooting when moviegoers started to run.
 
Witnesses say they heard a series of explosions and up to 20 gunshots after the scene grew chaotic. About 100 witnesses were taken to a local high school to be questioned by police.
 
Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the Aurora, Colo., theater after frantic 911 calls around 12:30 a.m. local time, officials said.
 
Holmes reportedly fired shots inside the theater and fled to the parking lot and was confronted by police already at the theater for crowd control.
 
Holmes wore a bulletproof vest, police said, and was carrying a rifle and two handguns. The handguns may have been placed in the theater before the shooting.
 
FBI spokesman Jason Pack said there’s no indication in the investigation so far of any connection to terrorism.

Click here to read the latest from Fox News. 

The location of the sightseers’ and honeymooners’ allure, one Niagara Falls, moves approximately 5 feet upstream each year (natural erosion).

One slang phrase for lobster is “sea bug.” These so-called sea bugs had become so abundant in the 18th century along America’s northeast coastline that the crustaceans were sometimes used as a field fertilizer. The lobsters were despised as a food source and were often included in prison inmates’ meals in order to extend a stern admonition as to how harsh conditions could be for those committing crimes.

The newt is a diminutive salamander with remarkable regenerative capabilities regarding legs, internal organs and skin. Medical researchers and biologists have recently removed a particular newt’s eye lens more than a dozen times and each time the newt has grown a new lens biologically identical to the original. The hope is to someday understand the process well enough to regrow body parts on humans.

Norman Rockwell is an American artist who became famous partially because he created more than 300 covers for The Saturday Evening Post and a particular soft drink company (see image page right). What many folks do not know is that an artist named J. C. Leyendecker drew more covers for that particular magazine than did the renowned Rockwell.

Reclamation: New Zealand’s Campbell Island suffered the fate of many unspoiled isles once rats were locally introduced. Literal havoc was wreaked upon the indigenous wildlife, especially the native birds. However, after an operose (clean word) campaign, the island has been declared rat-free. (One wonders whether a similar campaign might succeed in D.C.) Native flora and fauna are making remarkable recoveries on Campbell Island.

The widely-recognized Chevrolet insignia was copied from some wallpaper designs that Billy Durant deemed attractive while in Paris (1913). Mr. Durant (founder of General Motors) ordered that the symbol that he “originated” was to be emblazoned on all his new Chevrolet automobiles.

For decades pioneers feared a mysterious disease that caused extreme pain and death. The mother of Abraham Lincoln was felled by the affliction in 1818. It was not until 1927 that “trained medical researchers” were able to determine that the cause of the malady was an herb known as white snakeroot. Whenever cows happen to eat this plant, milk from said bovines becomes deadly toxic for humans. An ironic bit of trivia is that the Shawnee medicine men had long known about the effects of white snakeroot but apparently were never asked.

Well, you might plan a visit to Niagara Falls before the natural wonder disappears – and do have a pleasant weekend.