Sound of Music Villa Open

The von Trapp family’s villa opened to the public for the first time, as a hotel and museum, over the weekend in Salzburg, Austria, Agence France-Presse reported. Seventy years after the family fled Austria for the United States, the estate opened its doors in Aigen, a suburb in the southeastern part of the city. For 15 years the villa was the home of Baron Georg von Trapp, his seven children and Maria, their governess, who became their stepmother. The story of their escape after the Nazi occupation of the country inspired “The Sound of Music,” the Broadway musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein and an Oscar-winning film.

The 9,450-square-foot villa was the family’s home from 1923 to 1938. But the late-19th-century house, by the Italian architect Valentin Ceconi, was not featured in the 1965 Robert Wise movie because at the time of filming it was used by missionaries, who still own the house. In 1939 the home was confiscated by the Nazis and used as a residence by Heinrich Himmler. Maria von Trapp, 94, the second eldest daughter, with her brother Johannes von Trapp and their sister-in-law Erika von Trapp, were present at the opening on Friday. “It’s very nice to be here,” she said. “I feel like home again.”

Rush Limbaugh: The Engine of Conservatism

Rush Limbaugh celebrated his 20th Anniversary on the air on Friday, August 1, 2008. Many columnists penned words complimentary of Rush this week. President Bush called the show on Friday. Many of the tributes were so well done that we decided to highlight them here for you. Check out the Radio Equalizer too. The Libs can’t stand it! They’re celebrating at the Wide Awakes Cafe. Right Pundits add to the story. 20 years of the EIB.

Ann Coulter: When Rush came along, it’s not just that there was no conservative talk radio to speak of. AM radio was dying. And the idea of a national show three hours a day at a time of day when Republicans are at work must have seemed ludicrous to even his friends.

By being the first and the most successful public conservative, Rush made it leagues easier for those of us who followed him. Among other things, he flushed out liberals and forced them to deploy all their idiotic talking points against him. By now, we’ve heard the same denunciations so often, we can lip-sync liberal attacks on us. But when Rush started out doing conservative radio, there was no Fox News, there were no other national conservative talk-radio hosts, there was no Drudge Report. Rush just had to stand there taking bullets by himself.

Barack Obama: The One

A hilarious new McCain advertisement with a lot of truth.

Democrats Don’t Care About $10 A Gallon Gas

Update: Check out Stop the ACLU, Captain Ed at Hot Air, A Line of Sight, Yeah, Right, Whatever, Lake Minetonka Liberty, Take time to read this unrelated post at The Mudville Gazette.

Senator Mitch McConnell plays Ken Salazer for a fool. This should be a Republican campaign commercial.

Newt Gingrich has the answer for the Moonbat leftsists.

Classic Rush Moment: CBS Evening News With Katie Couric

Rush hit the nail on the head in this taped appearance on the Katie Couric News Hour. Rush’s truth speaks even better today than when he delivered this during Katie’s first week. She was rated #1 that week, and Rush helped get her there.

more about “Classic Rush Moment: CBS Evening News…“, posted with vodpod

Phyllis Schlafly Hits A High Note on Rush

Today, August 1, 2008, is the 20th Anniversary of the national radio broadcast, The Rush Limbaugh Show. Three cheers for Rush today! Like many other Rush fans, I remember the first time I heard Rush. I was driving the car and listening to the radio on fairgrounds road in Xenia township. It took me a while to get the Rush style and the very sharp sarcasm that he employs to make his point. Before long, I was saying “mega-dittos” over in my head as Rush tells the TRUTH about the United States every day. Listening to Rush Limbaugh is synonymous with the best days I have spent in the summer in these last eighteen years. I’ll never forget Rush coming on the air the day after the congressional election in November 1994. It was a great day! I have written to Rush to ask him to replay this clip on the show today.

Rush Limbaugh lives out the “prairie-fire” grassroots, conservative tradition of Ronald Reagan. Congratulations to the Maha-Rushie on this great day for America!

By PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY | Posted Thursday, July 31, 2008 4:30 PM PT

Rush Limbaugh’s 20-year domination of talk radio is a remarkable testament to the durability of conservative ideas as well as to Limbaugh’s skill and courage in explaining controversial conservative principles in an entertaining style.

Limbaugh has been the top-rated radio talk show since rankings started 17 years ago, and nobody else is even close. Listeners realize his extraordinary talent for timing and relevance anytime he uses a substitute host.

One secret to Limbaugh’s success is that he is not intimidated into appeasing the organized pressure groups that frighten so many others into platitudinous mush. He takes them all on: the radical feminists, the wacky environmentalists, the open-borders crowd, and even President George W. Bush’s deviation from conservatism.

Barack Obama Sounds More Like Jimmy Carter Every Day

Barack Obama is the Jimmy Carter of the 21st Century.

WASHINGTON – If you think there isn’t urgency to getting Congress to drop its bans on offshore drilling and development of the ANWR oil reserves, listen to what Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had to say in Missouri yesterday.

“There are things you can do individually, though, to save energy,” Obama said. “Making sure your tires are properly inflated – simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling – if everybody was just inflating their tires? And getting regular tune-ups? You’d actually save just as much!”

That’s his energy plan? Inflate your tires? Get more tune-ups?

Come think about it, Jimmy Carter might have made a little more sense than Obama. Watch Jimmy blow his stack, it is laughable.

Hot Air, Carter’s Love-In Hits Sour Notes, Jimmy Carter, The Worst President of my Lifetime, Ten Stupid Things Said By Liberals in Just Four Days: Special Jimmy Carter Edition, A Confused Moonbat inadvertently admits that Obama lied, Newsbusters, MacsMind, AJ Strata, As always, check out the fabulous Olbermann Watch,